POCT Testing and Importance of Operator Lock-out

Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) is usually performed at the patient’s bedside by healthcare providers other than laboratory- trained professionals. Rapid growth of POCT is supported by numerous factors which include healthcare provider efficiency, improving diagnostic insight and better patient outcomes. This project study is done to make sure POCT users have adequate training to ensure and enhance the quality and patient safety. The individual performing these tests to be trained properly before he/she is approved to operate the POC devices. One method to ensure POCT operators have met the required training is the lock out approach which will not allow them to perform testing until they have completed the required training. The more recent POCT devices have built in operator lock-out features. This added feature of lock-out alerts the user of the operational time lag. Non-competent users can be locked out with the help of this software and this will ensure an un-trained user will not perform testing. The operator lock-out minimizes error, ensures patient safety and is an important feature for quality control improvement. In this study, we conducted surveys with health care providers who perform POCT in two hospitals: University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). The result of the study showed operators of the POCT devices were interested in ensuring proper training and competency of the operators. They were interested in having a lock out process and the ability to use an emergency release code during an emergency situation so that the testing can be done in a timely method. Maintaining a valid competency for all operators through a competency assessment plan and a continuous educational program will ensure un-interrupted services to the needed patients and avoid the use of the lock-out feature. Providing a special code to be used by locked-out operator during emergencies, is an added benefit to the patient care. The future is promising with this technology, so it is important to have a good system in place. Operator lock-out is a safeguard to the patient care beside it is a compliance and one of the quality improvement tool

Modified confidence intervals for the Mahalanobis distance

Reiser (2001) proposes a method of forming confidence interval for a Mahalanobis distance that yields intervals which have exactly the nominal coverage, but sometimes the interval is View the MathML source (0,0). We consider the case where Mahalanobis distance quantifies the difference between an individual and a population mean, and suggest a modification that avoids implausible intervals

Effect of Enclosure and Open Grazing on Diet Selection, Relative Preference Index and Voluntary Intake by Sheep at El-Khuwei Locality North Kordofan State Sudan

The nutritive value of a pasture depends mainly on its in-take and the selection animals exert in consuming the different species or the various parts of a determined plant (Mayes and Dove 2000). Animal production in North Kordofan State is mainly traditional depending on natural rangeland (Cook and Fadlalla 1987; DHP 1998). The State is rich in animal and range resources. It contains more than 13 million head of sheep, goats, camels and cattle (IFAD 2011). The study aims to provide information that contributes to a better understanding of the plant-animal inter-actions through knowledge of diet botanical composition, forage biomass production and voluntary intake

Effect of Enclosure on Botanical Composition, Forage Biomass and Other Range Productivity Parameters in a Semi-Arid Area of El-Khuwei Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan

Animal production in North Kordofan State is mainly traditional depending on natural rangeland (Cook and Fadlalla 1987), (DHP, 1998). The State has an area of about 25 million ha of which 14.5 million ha is rangeland (Africover 2004). It is among the leading Sudanese States in animal and range resources. It contains more than 13 million heads of sheep, goats, camels and cattle (IFAD 2011). This paper deals with the effect of enclosure and stage of maturity on botanical composition, forage biomass production and other range productivity parameters in this semi-arid area

Business Information Visualization: A Visual Intelligence-Based Framework

Business Intelligence aims to improve decision quality. Research on BI achieving this goal is inconclusive, yet BI is still one of the top priorities among CIOs and is an active IS research area. A better understanding of the relationship between human intelligence and BI capabilities may lead to more fruitful BI endeavors. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that links capabilities of Business Information Visualization, a key modern BI enabler, to non-verbal (visual) intelligence abilities, and suggests propositional guidelines of how BI could improve decision making by impacting these intelligence abilities. The paper demonstrates that there is strong research support to suggest such linkages. Better understanding of what human abilities are important for better decisions, and what specific BI capabilities are needed to support these abilities will help improve the design, deployment, and utilization of BI tools, and, hopefully ultimately, achieve more efficient and effective business decisions

Constraint violations in stochastically generated data: Detection and correction strategies

We consider the generation of stochastic data under constraints where the constraints can be expressed in terms of different parameter sets. Obviously, the constraints and the generated data must remain the same over each parameter set. Otherwise, the parameters and/or the generated data would be inconsistent. We consider how to avoid or detect and then correct such inconsistencies under three proposed classifications: (1) data versus characteristic parameters, (2) macro- versus microconstraint scopes, and (3) intra- versus intervariable relationships. We propose several strategies and a heuristic for generating consistent stochastic data. Experimental results show that these strategies and heuristic generate more consistent data than the traditional discard-and-replace methods. Since generating stochastic data under constraints is a very common practice in many areas, the proposed strategies may have wide-ranging applicability.Scopu

The Impact of Foreign Workers on Society's Islamic Creed

Socialization is one of the most important social processes. It transforms the child from a biological being to a social being. It constitutes the human and social behavior of the individual. It is the first pillar on which the elements of personality are based. Also, it is an important process in teaching what one likes and does not like to do under different circumstances. But, when the process of socialization is in the hands of domestic workers, multiple problems arise as a link to different cultures, religions, values, and principles.This study discusses the reality of foreign workers in general in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and domestic workers in particular as they are being one of the family members; so they have a direct impact on children and their upbringing, then affects the social and creed values. Also, it searches the role of family and state in reducing their importation and avoiding their effects

Effect of Growth Stage on the Macro Mineral Concentrations of Forbs and Grasses in a Semi-Arid Region of Sudan

Ruminants grazing forages in severely mineral-deficient areas may be more restricted by this condition than by inadequacy of energy or protein. Mineral imbalances in soils and forages are responsible for low production and reproduction in grazing livestock. As grazing livestock are not usually offered mineral supplements apart from common salt, they depend upon forages for their requirements. However forages rarely fully satisfy all mineral requirements. Mineral intakes of livestock are influenced by the factors that determine the mineral content of plants and their seeds. The concentrations of minerals in plants depend largely on plant genotype, soil environment, climate and stage of maturity. Leguminous species are generally much richer in macro-elements than grasses growing in similar conditions, whether temperate or tropical. The objective of this study is to assess the status of the macro-mineral elements Na, K, P, Ca, and Mg in the dominant native species during the flowering and seed set stages of plant growth at Sheikan Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan

Dry Matter Intake, Digestibility and Diet Selection by Sheep Grazing on Reseeded and Naturally Regenerating Range Sites at Sheikan Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan

The aim of this study was to evaluate range quality for sheep from reseeded and naturally regenerating (un-reseeded) range sites at Sheikan Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan. The study area suffers from over-grazing, excessive tree cutting and frequent cyclic droughts, which have led to a domination of short–lived un-preferred annual plants

The Impact of Conversation Between Couples

Family is one of the most important social institutions responsible for social upbringing and social control, which plays a fundamental role in the normal and abnormal behavior of its members through the type of behavioral models it provides. Family relations have gained great importance in Islam, since the family is the smallest unit in society building. This study will use the inductive method to achieve the objectives of the study in examining the role of conversation between couples in creating balanced family and society. In the beginning family, conversation, and marriage will be defined. The view and laws of Islam will be devoted to marital relations and the importance of dialogue between spouses to create a stable family and balanced society. Keywords: social control, Family, conversation, societ