43 research outputs found

    Medical health knowledge management using wireless network: Moroccan hospitals case study

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    Hospitals and medical health services are large business that we have to make them successful for their earned profits and incomes. Unifying the communication in hospitals can approve the environments and avoid the problems faced. Wireless networks are very useful in large crowded places like hospitals. Wireless technology has empowered the medical health systems by reducing the paperwork that nurses or doctors have to deal with them whole day. Its primary purpose is to ensure effective care of patients by increasing the accuracy and speed of health care. This paper highlights patients' knowledge management in hospitals using the wireless communication since the rate of medical errors has increased lately. The intention of this paper is to utilize an advanced technology to help hospitals raise the rate of care of patients throughout the use of mobile data collection device that transmits data to a centralized database to raise the visibility of data to the receivers

    Solving the Klein-Gordon equation using Fourier spectral methods: A benchmark test for computer performance

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    The cubic Klein-Gordon equation is a simple but non-trivial partial differential equation whose numerical solution has the main building blocks required for the solution of many other partial differential equations. In this study, the library 2DECOMP&FFT is used in a Fourier spectral scheme to solve the Klein-Gordon equation and strong scaling of the code is examined on thirteen different machines for a problem size of 512^3. The results are useful in assessing likely performance of other parallel fast Fourier transform based programs for solving partial differential equations. The problem is chosen to be large enough to solve on a workstation, yet also of interest to solve quickly on a supercomputer, in particular for parametric studies. Unlike other high performance computing benchmarks, for this problem size, the time to solution will not be improved by simply building a bigger supercomputer.Comment: 10 page

    The association between histamine 2 receptor antagonist use and Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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    Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major health problem. Epidemiological evidence suggests that there is an association between acid suppression therapy and development of CDI. Purpose We sought to systematically review the literature that examined the association between histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and CDI. Data source We searched Medline, Current Contents, Embase, ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus from 1990 to 2012 for all analytical studies that examined the association between H2RAs and CDI. Study selection Two authors independently reviewed the studies for eligibility. Data extraction Data about studies characteristics, adjusted effect estimates and quality were extracted. Data synthesis Thirty-five observations from 33 eligible studies that included 201834 participants were analyzed. Studies were performed in 6 countries and nine of them were multicenter. Most studies did not specify the type or duration of H2RAs therapy. The pooled effect estimate was 1.44, 95% CI (1.22–1.7), I2 = 70.5%. This association was consistent across different subgroups (by study design and country) and there was no evidence of publication bias. The pooled effect estimate for high quality studies was 1.39 (1.15–1.68), I2 = 72.3%. Meta-regression analysis of 10 study-level variables did not identify sources of heterogeneity. In a speculative analysis, the number needed to harm (NNH) with H2RAs at 14 days after hospital admission in patients receiving antibiotics or not was 58, 95% CI (37, 115) and 425, 95% CI (267, 848), respectively. For the general population, the NNH at 1 year was 4549, 95% CI (2860, 9097). Conclusion In this rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis, we observed an association between H2RAs and CDI. The absolute risk of CDI associated with H2RAs is highest in hospitalized patients receiving antibiotics

    Cost of hospital management of Clostridium difficile infection in United States - a meta-analysis and modelling study

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    Background: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of infectious nosocomial diarrhoea but the economic costs of CDI on healthcare systems in the US remain uncertain. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for published studies investigating the direct medical cost associated with CDI hospital management in the past 10 years (2005-2015) and included 42 studies to the final data analysis to estimate the financial impact of CDI in the US. We also conducted a meta-analysis of all costs using Monte Carlo simulation. Results: The average cost for CDI case management and average CDI-attributable costs per case were 42,316(90 42,316 (90 % CI: 39,886, 44,765)and 44,765) and 21,448 (90 % CI: 21,152, 21,152, 21,744) in 2015 US dollars. Hospital-onset CDIattributable cost per case was 34,157(90 34,157 (90 % CI: 33,134, 35,180),whichwas1.5timesthecostofcommunityonsetCDI( 35,180), which was 1.5 times the cost of communityonset CDI ( 20,095 [ 90 % CI: 4991, 4991, 35,204]). The average and incremental length of stay (LOS) for CDI inpatient treatment were 11.1 (90 % CI: 8.7-13.6) and 9.7 (90 % CI: 9.6-9.8) days respectively. Total annual CDI-attributable cost in the US is estimated US6.3(Range: 6.3 (Range: 1.9-$ 7.0) billion. Total annual CDI hospital management required nearly 2.4 million days of inpatient stay. Conclusions: This review indicates that CDI places a significant financial burden on the US healthcare system. This review adds strong evidence to aid policy-making on adequate resource allocation to CDI prevention and treatment in the US. Future studies should focus on recurrent CDI, CDI in long-term care facilities and persons with comorbidities and indirect cost from a societal perspective. Health-economic studies for CDI preventive intervention are needed.Sanofi PasteurSCI(E)[email protected]

    Optimization of Water Network Synthesis for Single-Site and Continuous Processes: Milestones, Challenges, and Future Directions

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    Electrical Power Savings in Pump and Compressor Networks via Load Management

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    Large industrial plants commonly use multiple parallel units in pump and compressor networks for improved reliability. Sometimes, installed equipment capacity can far exceed actual requirements. This excess capacity can be translated into energy cost savings through “optimum load management”. A key decision parameter in determining the operating policy is the Trigger Point at which to switch from N units to N+1, and vice versa. The Trigger Point is defined as the actual flow rate at which the switching is made to the “ideal” (generally maximum) flow rate at which the switching should be made. At the plant under study, the implicit Trigger Point was generally found to be around 85%, probably because this made it easy to have a smooth transition during the switching operation. A number of pumping and compression networks were analyzed to determine what the potential savings would be if this trigger point were increased to 90 or 95%. The savings potential was found to range from 0 to 23%, with an average of 4.4%. Our study demonstrated that by tightening up operating policies to make sure that the minimum number of machines is being run, significant cost savings are possible with zero capital investment, and negligible sacrifice in operating flexibility or reliability. This paper describes the methodology used, as well as representative results from our study

    Energy Management Program of an Integrated National Oil Company in the Middle-East

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    Saudi Aramco is the largest oil producer/exporter in the world, with a maximum sustained production capacity of over 10 MM bpd of crude oil and 8,000 MM scfd of natural gas. The Company operates approximately 32 large Gas-Oil Separation Plants (GOSPs), 5 wholly-owned oil refineries processing 1600 MBD of crude, 5 gas-processing plants, and 2 condensate fractionation plants. The Company’s total in-Kingdom energy consumption in 2005 was over 50,000 MMBtu/h of fuel gas and liquids, and 1.55 GW of purchased power. In 2000, the Company published its corporate energy policy, which envisioned a 50% reduction in the corporate energy KPI over a 10-year period. A high-level Energy Management Steering Committee was established to develop strategies to achieve this objective. By the end of 2005, the corporate energy KPI was reduced to 76.5 from its baseline value of 100 in 2000, on track with projections. This paper addresses the critical elements of a successful energy management program. It describes the organizational structure, strategies employed, resources required, and results achieved. It also describes some of the challenges encountered, both expected and unexpected, especially with respect to non-technical issues such as culture change, knowledge sharing, human resources, project financing, and politics. The paper will provide valuable insights into how to organize and successfully execute a comprehensive energy management program for large bureaucratic corporations with multiple plants and that should be of interest to corporate energy managers and government energy policy makers
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