Towards the National Health Information Network in the United States of America

The Health Infrastructure in the U.S. is called the National Health Information Network (NHIN) which is composed of regional Health Information Exchange (HIE) hubs. This approach has been exercised since 2008. However, there is a lack of one top-down comprehensive architecture of this system, which is being developing by each state individually. This paper provides the top-down model of such architecture, perhaps the first one which is made. The paper defines basic components of that system. Also some issues of security and privacy of stored and exchanged data are disputed. In the end, the paper provides conclusions regarding the issues of its implementation

Identity lost: the affects of trauma and culture on Cambodian refugees

Includes bibliographical references.This project analyzes the affects of trauma and culture change on Cambodian refugees. The horrors Cambodians experienced at the hands of Pol Pot had a dramatic impact on the 150,000 refugees who immigrated to America in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Extreme culture shock added to the difficulty these refugees had in adapting to life in America. Traditional Cambodian culture is discussed, highlighting how Cambodians practiced religion, education, and gender roles before the war and how life afterward has changed them. Due to the vast differences between American and Cambodian beliefs and the delicate nature of the refugee state of mind, the Khmer have neither successfully continued life as they knew it in Cambodia nor fully adopted American culture

The Principles of Good Health Care in the U.S. in the 2010s

The purpose of this investigation is to define the principles of good health in the U.S. in the 21st century. The interdisciplinary, civilizational methodology is applied to establish roots of this health care at the national level. Among findings are; well-being of Americans” is the constitutional opportunity of an American, good health of Americans is a constituent of their well-being, basic health care should be perceived as the controlled right of a citizen. Human and societal wisdom requires mentally healthy people. Human and societal wisdom requires well educated citizens. The state of health care of the Americans is in a state which is not appropriate for the most richest and powerful country in the world. The quality of health care is at the level of 54 percent. Vision of American society has been defined as well as its goals and strategies for the next 17 years, till 2030. Practical implications: If the integration of well-being, health care, and information infrastructure-oriented components into one comprehensive solution is not provided and if each one is treated in isolation, the improvements in health care won’t be lasting and positive. Social implications suggest: political will and leadership at all levels of the nation must reach agreement; otherwise the society will be declining in its physical and mental health

The Impact of Agriculture on African Civilization in the 21st Century

The purpose of this paper is to define the impact of agriculture on African Civilization in the 21st century. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary big-picture view of the African Civilizations. The multifaceted layers of civilizations will be analyzed as interdependent with the agricultural development of African societies. Among the findings are: Sub-Saharan Africa falls short of meeting its agricultural needs. Only one of two individual Africans has access to clean and enough water. Energy and supply of electricity are woefully inadequate and unreliable. Agriculture as a foundation for development and modernization for Africa is too limited. Environmental degradation and poor methods of farming make it difficult for African societies to reduce poverty and maintain sustainable environment. Practical implication: In order to develop agriculture as an economic engine, it is critical for African societies to establish and adopt Integrated Infrastructure of Agriculture (IIA). Such a developmental scheme would focus on small-hold farms. This would be made interdependent to a broader scope of developmental task under requisite institutes to be known as the Institute for Agricultural Development (AIAD) and African Food and Agriculture Organization (AFAO). Social implication: Addressing the productive capacity for small farmers and setting in place progressive plans the implementation of modernized agricultural production, processing, and distribution are expressions of a recovering civilization. Originality: The evolution of agriculture in African Civilization will be analyzed from the particular small scale farm to the broad big picture of industrial method of farming and producing in the 21st century

Optical coherence tomography for vulnerability assessment of sandstone

Sandstone is an important cultural heritage material, in both architectural and natural settings, such as neolithic rock art panels. The majority of deterioration effects in porous materials such as sandstone are influenced by the presence and movement of water through the material. The presence of water within the porous network of a material results in changes in the optical coherence tomography signal intensity that can be used to monitor the wetting front of water penetration of dry porous materials at various depths. The technique is able to detect wetting front velocities from 1 cm s_1 to 10~6 cms-1, covering the full range of hydraulic conductivities likely to occur in natural sandstones from pervious to impervious. © 2013 Optical Society of America

Optical coherence tomography for the non-invasive investigation of the microstructure of ancient Egyptian faience

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive subsurface 3D imaging technique based on the Michelson interferometer. The non-invasive nature of OCT and its speed of acquisition makes it possible to image large volumes of intact objects to yield a complete overview of the microstructure. The production methods for ancient Egyptian faience were first investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of the microstructure in polished sections and microprobe analysis of the composition of the glass phases. These studies were based on original Egyptian faience objects and laboratory reproductions of faience beads made using three different production methods. The microstructure of the same laboratory samples and the Egyptian faience objects from the British Museum Research Laboratory Collection are re-examined using OCT

Traces of former restorations of Raphael’s La Muta as seen by Optical Coherence Tomography

A preprint of the article published in "Raffaello, La Muta Indagini e restauro", edited by M. Ciatti and M.R Valazzi (Edifir, Firenze, 2015), pp. 117-119

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for examination of artworks

Chapter in the book: Bastidas D., Cano E. (eds) Advanced Characterization Techniques, Diagnostic Tools and Evaluation Methods in Heritage Science. Springer, Cham, 2018, pp 49-59 , doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-75316-4, Authors’version after embargo periodOptical coherence tomography is a fast, non-invasive technique of structural analysis utilising near-infrared radiation. Examples of using OCT, for obtaining cross-sectional images of objects of craftsmanship and an easel painting have been shown. Issues regarding the technique of execution and destruction phenomena were resolved non-invasively. In some cases, the secondary alterations can be identified and localised within the object’s structure which helps in authentication of the artwork

Optical Coherence Tomography for Examination of Parchment Degradation

A novel application of Optical Coherence Tomography utilizing infrared light of 830 nm central wavelength for non invasive examination of the structure of parchment, some covered with iron gall ink, is presented. It is shown that both the parchment and the ink applied are sufficiently transparent to light of this wavelength. In the study, Spectral OCT (SOCT) as well as Polarisation Sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) techniques were used to obtain cross-sectional images of samples of parchment based on scattering properties. The second technique was additionally employed to recover the birefringence properties and the optical axis orientations of the sample. It was shown that freshly produced parchment exhibits a degree of birefringence. However, this property declines with ageing, and samples of old parchment completely depolarise the incident light