Investigation of the transfer of septum microbial contamination by hypodermic needles

The likelihood of the transfer of microbial contamination from the surface of a vial septum into the vial liquid, by penetration of a hypodermic syringe needle, has been investigated. Experimental work was carried out with vials containing sterile microbial growth media and the use of needles of three different diameters. Three different concentrations of microbes on the surface of the vial septum (10, 100, and 1000) were used. Microbial contamination that was transferred into the growth media was determined by incubation of the vials following penetration of the septum by the needles.Contamination was detected in 87% of all the vials tested, and was generally found to increase as the concentration of septum challenge organisms and needle diameter increased

Markets vs. Monopolies in Education: A Global Review of the Evidence

Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes for American children? That question cannot be answered by looking at domestic evidence alone. Though innumerable "school choice" programs have been implemented around the United States, none has created a truly free and competitive education marketplace. Existing programs are too small, too restriction laden, or both. To understand how genuine market forces affect school performance, we must cast a wider net, surveying education systems from all over the globe. The present paper undertakes such a review, assessing the results of 25 years of international research comparing market and government provision of education, and explaining why these international experiences are relevant to the United States. In more than one hundred statistical comparisons covering eight different educational outcomes, the private sector outperforms the public sector in the overwhelming majority of cases. Moreover, that margin of superiority is greatest when the freest and most market-like private schools are compared to the least open and least competitive government systems (i.e., those resembling a typical U.S. public school system). Given the breadth, consistency, relevance, and decisiveness of this body of evidence, the implications for U.S. education policy are profound

Confidence level solutions for stochastic programming

We propose an alternative approach to stochastic programming based on Monte-Carlo sampling and stochastic gradient optimization. The procedure is by essence probabilistic and the computed solution is a random variable. The associated objective value is doubly random, since it depends on two outcomes: the event in the stochastic program and the randomized algorithm. We propose a solution concept in which the probability that the randomized algorithm produces a solution with an expected objective value departing from the optimal one by more than $\epsilon$ is small enough. We derive complexity bounds for this process. We show that by repeating the basic process on independent sample, one can significantly sharpen the complexity bounds

Cost Savings as a Result of Bortezomib Vial Sharing in Albania

The costs associated with current and emerging therapies, as well as supportive care, are significant and pose a tremendous financial burden to both patients and healthcare system. The objective of this study was to calculate the cost savings as a result of bortezomib vial sharing in the University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” Tirana. This study was a retrospective analysis of the use of bortezomib in patients with multiple myeloma, using vial sharing technique to minimize wastage. The study has been conducted during the period January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015 before vial sharing and January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 after vial sharing, thereby enabling us to share vial contents between patients. We compared the cost in euro for the treatment with bortezomib in order to determine the cost savings of vial sharing and cost-efficacy of individualised preparation. As a result, the cost savings for one cycle/patient using vial sharing was calculated 226.81 euro, a reduction of 25.96% compared to the period when we did not use vial sharing. During January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015 the average treatment cost was calculated 873.36 euro/cycle/patient, compared with January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 when it was calculated 646.55 euro/cycle/patient. Due to cost savings of each treatment cycle we administered 62 individualised preparations of bortezomib more during January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 for the same budget allocated. The same approach should be adopted for other suitable drugs prepared in the University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” Tirana

State of Utah v. Arden Ray Warner : Brief of Respondent

THIS IS AN APPEAL FROM A CONVICTION OF POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, A THIRD DEGREE FELONY, IN VIOLATION OF UTAH CODE ANN. § 58-37-8(2)(a)(i) (Supp. 1988), IN THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR SUMMIT COUNTY, THE HONORABLE J. DENNIS FREDERICK, JUDGE, PRESIDING

Designers and paradoxical injunctions : How designerly ways of thinking are faced with contradiction

International audienceIn 1956, anthropologist Gregory Bateson developed the concept of “double bind” in order to explain the mechanisms of communication in schizophrenia, in which the individual must constantly deal with conflicting demands. This “Effort to Drive the Other Person Crazy”, as said psychoanalyst Harold Searles in 1959, is a particular way of thinking that can be called “paradoxical thinking”. Nowadays, in a changing world faced with global issues, everyone agrees on that Design has a major role to play in re-inventing the future. In such a context, designers from all countries are faced with a dramatic responsibility: they are expected to be able to solve all problems. This is why modern designerly ways of thinking tend to turn into a kind of creative “paradoxical thinking”. In this paper, we try to briefly describe three of those designerly paradoxical injunctions and try to focus on how, from a psychological point of view, thinking as a designer today is a true tightrope walking exercise

On an approach to provide space diversity to an ultra wideband time hopping pulse position modulated wireless communication system

The hypothesis question, which is addressed in this PhD dissertation, is how to use two transmission antennas in an Ultra Wide Band Time Hopping Pulse Position Modulation system to take advantage of space diversity in such a way as to not significantly degrade the communication link compared to using only one transmit antenna. In answering the hypothesis question, this dissertation proposes a novel technique, based on Space Time Spreading, to allow an Ultra Wideband Time Hopping Pulse Position Modulation system to obtain full advantage from space diversity using two transmit antennas and one receive antenna, showing how such a Multiple Input Multiple Output system is designed. This is achieved with the added advantage of transmitting the same two symbols simultaneously on each antenna link. This means that for the proposed system, should a fade occur on one of the two antenna links, the two symbols transmitted will still be received with a slight increased cost in average Bit Error Rate (BER) performance as Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) or measured Eb/No is increased. Results are first provided for wideband Space Time Spreading in the presence of Multiple Access Interference when using two, four and eight transmit antennas. A system is developed in simulation using modules provided by MATLABs Simulink program. It is then shown that using low correlation Wysocki spreading code set results in an improved BER performance compared to the more often used Walsh Hadamard spreading code set. A Simulink Ultra Wide Band Pulse Position Modulation Single Input Single Output system is developed and validated against published peer reviewed material. This is then modified to consider the use of Space Time Spreading in a Single Input Single Output system and it is shown that improved performance over an Ultra Wide Band Pulse Position Modulated Single Input Single Output is possible. It is also shown that this improvement allows the transmission of two symbols in the same time that the original system only transmits one symbol. The thesis also investigates a system which uses two transmit antennas but a hard decision is made on a chip by chip basis. Its performance, compared to an equivalent Single Input Single Output comparable system, is suboptimal. It does, however, have the advantage that it sends two symbols in the same time that the equivalent Single Input Single output Ultra Wide Band Pulse Position Modulation system sends one, and its implementation is simpler to codify. Also, it has the feature that both symbols are sent simultaneously on each antenna link. The simulator is then modified to make a hard decision after all chips of a spreading sequence for two antennas are received and it is shown that this system, in simulation and analysis, has a similar performance to that for a comparable Single Input Single Output system with the added advantage that both antenna links send the same two symbols simultaneously. It is further demonstrated in simulation and analysis that such systems can be affected by Multiple Access Interference. In addition, it is shown, using simulation, that the choice of spreading sequence set does have an impact on the average BER performance of the proposed Space Time Spreading Time Hopping Ultra Wideband Pulse Position Modulation system. The thesis finally proposes some extensions using the developed simulator which are outlined in future work

Antropología, género, salud y atención

Esteban, M. L.; Comelles J. M., i Díez, M. (eds). Antropología, género, saludy atención, Barcelona, Bellaterra, 2010, 352 pàgine