WATER QUALITY CRITERIA DOCUMENTS
Background
Water quality standards and criteria are the foundation for a wide range of programs under the Clean Water Act. Specifically, under section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act it requires EPA to develop criteria for water quality that accurately re...
Aquatic Life Criteria - Cadmium Documents
Documents pertaining to 2016 Acute and Chronic Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium (Freshwater, Estuarine/marine). These documents contain the safe levels of Cadmium in water that should protect the majority of species.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA DOCUMENT(S) FOR LEAD
This collection of documents intend to assess the latest scientific information on the health and environmental fate and effects of lead to provide scientific bases for periodic review and possible revision of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for lead.
Biological Water Quality Criteria
Page contains links to Technical Documents pertaining to Biological Water Quality Criteria, including, technical assistance documents for states, tribes and territories, program overviews, and case studies.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Koenig, John C.; Billitti, Joseph W.; Tallon, John M.
1979-01-01
Quality assurance criteria are described for manufacturers and installers of solar photovoltaic tests and applications. Quality oriented activities are outlined to be pursued by the contractor/subcontractor to assure the physical and operational quality of equipment produced is included. In the broad sense, guidelines are provided for establishing a QA organization if none exists. Mainly, criteria is provided to be considered in any PV quality assurance plan selected as appropriate by the responsible Field Center. A framework is established for a systematic approach to ensure that photovoltaic tests and applications are constructed in a timely and cost effective manner.
Documents pertaining to Acute and Chronic Ambient Water Quality Aquatic Life Criteria for Atrazine (Freshwater and Salt Water) and revised Ecological Fate and Effects Risk Assessment for Atrazine. (Fact Sheet)
Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical ...
In February 2006, EPA released the final document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants. Tropospheric or surface-level ozone (O3) is one of six major air pollutants regulated by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the U.S. Clean Air Act. As mandated by the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must periodically review the scientific bases (or criteria) for the various NAAQS by assessing newly available scientific information on a given criteria air pollutant. This document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants, is an updated revision of the 1996 Ozone Air Quality Criteria Document (O3 AQCD) that provided scientific bases for the current O3 NAAQS set in 1997. The Clean Air Act mandates periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, also referred to as criteria pollutants, including ozone.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA CARBON MONOXIDE, EXTERNAL REVIEW DRAFT
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgates the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the basis of scientific information contained in criteria documents. The last air quality criteria document for carbon monoxide (CO) was completed by EPA in 1991. This...
Microbial (Pathogen)/Recreational Water Quality Criteria
Documents pertaining to Recreational Human Health Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Microbial Organisms (Pathogens). These documents include safe levels for cyanotoxins microcystin and cylindrospermopsin, and Coliphage to protect human health.
Human Health Water Quality Criteria and Methods for Toxics
Documents pertaining to Human Health Water Quality Criteria and Methods for Toxins. Includes 2015 Update for Water Quality Criteria, 2002 National Recommended Human Health Criteria, and 2000 EPA Methodology.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR OZONE AND RELATED PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS
The Clean Air Act requires periodic (5-year) update revision of criteria and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone. The previous revision of the criteria contained in the Air Quality Criteria Document (AQCD) for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants was co...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgates the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the basis of scientific information contained in air quality criteria documents. The previous ozone (O3) criteria document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Ph...
[Formal quality assessment of informed consent documents in 9 hospitals].
Calle-Urra, J E; Parra-Hidalgo, P; Saturno-Hernández, P J; Martínez-Martínez, M J; Navarro-Moya, F J
2013-01-01
Informed consent forms are very important in the process of medical information. The aim of this study is to design reliable formal quality criteria of these documents and their application in the evaluation of those used in the hospitals of a regional health service. Criteria have been designed from the analysis of existing regulations, previous studies and consultation with key experts. The interobserver concordance was assessed using the kappa index. Criteria evaluation was performed on 1425 documents of 9 hospitals. A total of 19 criteria used in the evaluation of the quality of informed consent forms have been obtained. Kappa values were higher than 0,60 in 17 of them and higher than 0,52 in the other 2. The average number of defects per document was 7.6, with a high-low ratio among hospitals of 1.84. More than 90% of the documents had defects in the information on consequences and contraindications, and in about 90% it did not mention the copy to the patient. More than 60% did not comply with stating the purpose of the procedure, a statement of having understood and clarified doubts, and the treatment options. A tool has been obtained to reliably assess the formal quality of the informed consent forms. The documents assessed have a wide margin for improvement related to giving a copy to the patient, and some aspects of the specific information that patients should receive. Copyright © 2012 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (Final Report, 2004)
EPA has completed the process of updating and revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (PM) as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the Criteria Document). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA carry out a periodic revi...
2016 Draft Estuarine/Marine Copper Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria
Documents pertain to Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality criteria for Copper (2016 Estuarine/marine). These documents contain the safe levels of Copper in water that should protect to the majority of species.
Air Quality Criteria for Lead (Final Report, 1986)
The Air Quality Criteria documents evaluate and assesse scientific information on the health and welfare effects associated with exposure to various concentrations of lead in ambient air. The literature through 1985 has been reviewed thoroughly for information relevant to air qua...
Fact Sheet: Notice of Ambient Water Quality Criteria Document for Tributyltin (TBT) - Final
Information pertaining to 2004 Final Acute and Chronic Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Tributyltin (TBT) for freshwater and saltwater. This fact sheet includes the safe levels of TBT that should protect the majority of species.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PARTICULATE MATTER, VOLUMES I-III
There is no abstract available for these documents. If further information is requested, please refer to the bibliographic citation and contact the Technical Information Staff at the number listed below.
42 CFR 420.303 - HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... 42 Public Health 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and... Books, Documents, and Records of Subcontractors § 420.303 HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records. HHS will generally request books, documents, and records from a subcontractor only if one...
42 CFR 420.303 - HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... 42 Public Health 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and... Books, Documents, and Records of Subcontractors § 420.303 HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records. HHS will generally request books, documents, and records from a subcontractor only if one...
42 CFR 420.303 - HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... 42 Public Health 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and... Books, Documents, and Records of Subcontractors § 420.303 HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records. HHS will generally request books, documents, and records from a subcontractor only if one...
Drinking Water Criteria Document for Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) (Final Draft, 1985)
The Office of Drinking Water (ODW), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has prepared a "Drinking Water Criteria Document on Ethylene Dibromide (EDB)". The Criteria Document is an extensive review of the following topics: Physical and chemical properties of ethylene dibromide, to...
Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (Second External Review Draft)
This second external review draft of the Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants, Volumes I-III (Ozone Criteria Document) is being released for public comment and for review by EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) r...
42 CFR 420.303 - HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICARE PROGRAM PROGRAM INTEGRITY: MEDICARE Access to Books, Documents, and Records of Subcontractors § 420.303 HHS criteria for requesting books, documents, and records...
Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (Final Report, 2006)
In February 2006, EPA released the final document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants. Tropospheric or surface-level ozone (O3) is one of six major air pollutants regulated by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the U.S...
National Recommended Water Quality Criteria
The National Recommended Water Quality Criteria is a compilation of national recommended water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and human health in surface water for approximately 150 pollutants. These criteria provide guidance for states and tribes to use in adopting water quality standards.
Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (First External Review Draft)
This first external review draft of the Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (Ozone Criteria Document) is being released in January 2005 for public comment and for review by EPA's Clean A...
Criteria for assessment of bridge aesthetic and visual quality
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rozentale, I.; Paeglitis, A.
2017-10-01
The bridge designers should find an ideal balance between structure, economy, buildability, aesthetics, durability and harmony with industrial or natural landscape. During the last years, the society has adopted documents providing procedures for evaluation of the impact of the structural appearance on surrounding landscape. The European Landscape Convention defines the landscape as an area perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors. The Convention indicates the methods for clear and objective assessment of the landscape’s visual qualities. The esthetical qualities of bridge structures, appearance and attraction should satisfy not only the technicians - engineers and architects, but mostly the surrounding population. Each of these groups has a different perception of esthetical qualities of structure. Many authors have used different methods and criteria for assessment of bridge aesthetics. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the bridge aesthetic and visual quality assessment methods and criteria.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PARTICULATE MATTER DOCUMENT
A Planning Document was produced by NCEA/RTP and reviewed by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) (62 FR 55201, October 23, 1997). In FY99, a workshop draft of the PM AQCD was completed, a peer input workshop held, and an External Review Draft released for public ...
EPA develops water quality criteria based on the latest scientific knowledge to protect human health and aquatic life. This information serves as guidance to states and tribes in adopting water quality standards.
EPA is in the process of updating and revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (PM) as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the Criteria Document). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA carry out a periodic review and re...
Quality in End User Documentation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Morrison, Ronald
1994-01-01
Discusses quality in end-user documentation for computer applications and explains four approaches to improving quality in end-user documents. Highlights include online help, usability testing, technical writing elements, statistical approaches, and concepts relating to software quality that are also applicable to user manuals. (LRW)
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR LEAD, VOLUMES 1-4. (1983) FIRST EXTERNAL REVIEW DRAFT
The document evaluates and assesses scientific information on the health and welfare effects associated with exposure to various concentrations of lead in ambient air. The literature through 1983 has been reviewed thoroughly for information relevant to air quality criteria, altho...
Shortt, S E D; Guillemette, Jean-Marc; Duncan, Anne Marie; Kirby, Frances
2010-01-01
The rapid increase in the use of the Internet for continuing education by physicians suggests the need to define quality criteria for accredited online modules. Continuing medical education (CME) directors from Canadian medical schools and academic researchers participated in a consensus process, Modified Nominal Group Technique, to develop agreement on the most important quality criteria to guide module development. Rankings were compared to responses to a survey of a subset of Canadian Medical Association (CMA) members. A list of 17 items was developed, of which 10 were deemed by experts to be important and 7 were considered secondary. A quality module would: be needs-based; presented in a clinical format; utilize evidence-based information; permit interaction with content and experts; facilitate and attempt to document practice change; be accessible for later review; and include a robust course evaluation. There was less agreement among CMA members on criteria ranking, with consensus on ranking reached on only 12 of 17 items. In contrast to experts, members agreed that the need to assess performance change as a result of an educational experience was not important. This project identified 10 quality criteria for accredited online CME modules that representatives of Canadian organizations involved in continuing education believe should be taken into account when developing learning products. The lack of practitioner support for documentation of change in clinical behavior may suggest that they favor traditional attendance- or completion-based CME; this finding requires further research.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PARTICULATE MATTER, VOLUMES I-III, (EXTERNAL REVIEW DRAFT, 1995)
There is no abstract available for these documents.
If further information is requested, please refer to the bibliographic citation and contact the Technical Information Staff at the number listed above.
Quality of nursing documentation: Paper-based health records versus electronic-based health records.
Akhu-Zaheya, Laila; Al-Maaitah, Rowaida; Bany Hani, Salam
2018-02-01
To assess and compare the quality of paper-based and electronic-based health records. The comparison examined three criteria: content, documentation process and structure. Nursing documentation is a significant indicator of the quality of patient care delivery. It can be either paper-based or organised within the system known as the electronic health records. Nursing documentation must be completed at the highest standards, to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare services. However, the evidence is not clear on which one of the two forms of documentation (paper-based versus electronic health records is more qualified. A retrospective, descriptive, comparative design was used to address the study's purposes. A convenient number of patients' records, from two public hospitals, were audited using the Cat-ch-Ing audit instrument. The sample size consisted of 434 records for both paper-based health records and electronic health records from medical and surgical wards. Electronic health records were better than paper-based health records in terms of process and structure. In terms of quantity and quality content, paper-based records were better than electronic health records. The study affirmed the poor quality of nursing documentation and lack of nurses' knowledge and skills in the nursing process and its application in both paper-based and electronic-based systems. Both forms of documentation revealed drawbacks in terms of content, process and structure. This study provided important information, which can guide policymakers and administrators in identifying effective strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of nursing documentation. Policies and actions to ensure quality nursing documentation at the national level should focus on improving nursing knowledge, competencies, practice in nursing process, enhancing the work environment and nursing workload, as well as strengthening the capacity building of nursing practice to improve the quality of nursing care and
Müller-Staub, Maria; Lunney, Margaret; Odenbreit, Matthias; Needham, Ian; Lavin, Mary Ann; van Achterberg, Theo
2009-04-01
This paper aims to report the development stages of an audit instrument to assess standardised nursing language. Because research-based instruments were not available, the instrument Quality of documentation of nursing Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes (Q-DIO) was developed. Standardised nursing language such as nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes are being implemented worldwide and will be crucial for the electronic health record. The literature showed a lack of audit instruments to assess the quality of standardised nursing language in nursing documentation. A qualitative design was used for instrument development. Criteria were first derived from a theoretical framework and literature reviews. Second, the criteria were operationalized into items and eight experts assessed face and content validity of the Q-DIO. Criteria were developed and operationalized into 29 items. For each item, a three or five point scale was applied. The experts supported content validity and showed 88.25% agreement for the scores assigned to the 29 items of the Q-DIO. The Q-DIO provides a literature-based audit instrument for nursing documentation. The strength of Q-DIO is its ability to measure the quality of nursing diagnoses and related interventions and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Further testing of Q-DIO is recommended. Based on the results of this study, the Q-DIO provides an audit instrument to be used in clinical practice. Its criteria can set the stage for the electronic nursing documentation in electronic health records.
DEVELOPMENT OF MARINE WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
The U.S. Environmental Protectional Agency has developed guidelines for deriving numerical national water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic organisms and their uses. These guidelines provide the method for deriving water quality criteria, including minimum data base...
Lapham, W.W.; Wilde, F.D.; Koterba, M.T.
1997-01-01
This is the first of a two-part report to document guidelines and standard procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey for the acquisition of data in ground-water-quality studies. This report provides guidelines and procedures for the selection and installation of wells for water-quality studies/*, and the required or recommended supporting documentation of these activities. Topics include (1) documentation needed for well files, field folders, and electronic files; (2) criteria and information needed for the selection of water-supply and observation wells, including site inventory and data collection during field reconnaissance; and (3) criteria and preparation for installation of monitoring wells, including the effects of equipment and materials on the chemistry of ground-water samples, a summary of drilling and coring methods, and information concerning well completion, development, and disposition.
Documenting an ISO 9000 Quality System.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fisher, Barry
1995-01-01
Discusses six steps to follow when documenting an ISO 9000 quality system: using ISO 9000 to develop a quality system, identifying a company's business processes, analyzing the business processes; describing the procedures, writing the quality manual, and working to the documented procedures. (SR)
[Criteria of quality of structure in rehabilitation units with inpatient treatment].
Klein, K; Farin, E; Jäckel, W H; Blatt, O; Schliehe, F
2004-04-01
The structure of a rehabilitation unit is an important feature of the quality of care. Adequate and qualitatively good structures provide the basis for appropriate therapy offers and treatment and eventually, a better health for rehabilitants. The quality of structures is generally recorded without any evaluation of the aspects in particular. The definition of standards is the basis for such an evaluation. The project presented is aimed at the definition of relevant structural standards for rehab units with inpatient treatment for musculoskeletal, cardiac, neurological, gastroenterological, oncological, pneumological and dermatological diseases. Here, the distinction between basal criteria which have to be fulfilled by every rehab unit with inpatient treatment and criteria important for a well-aimed assignment of patients with specific needs ("assignment criteria") should be made. Apart from the documentation of structural attributes, the structural quality of a rehab unit can be described individually as well as in comparison with other units. Relevant structural criteria were defined in expert meetings by means of a modified Delphi-technique with five inquiries. Overall, 199 "basal criteria" and "assignment criteria" were defined. All criteria can be assigned to the two domains general structural characteristics (general characteristics and equipment of rooms; medical/technical equipment; therapy, education, care; staff) and process-related structures (conceptual frames; internal quality management; internal communication and personnel development). The structural standards are applicable to units for musculoskeletal, cardiac, neurological, oncological, gastroenterological, dermatological and pneumological rehabilitation financed by the two main providers of rehabilitation, the statutory pension insurance scheme and the statutory health insurance scheme for all other five indications. The definition of structural standards agreed by experts in a formal consensus
Research Notes - Openness and Evolvability - Documentation Quality Assessment
2016-08-01
UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Notes – Openness and Evolvability – Documentation Quality Assessment Michael Haddy* and Adam Sbrana...Methods and Processes. This set of Research Notes focusses on Documentation Quality Assessment. This work was undertaken from the late 1990s to 2007...1 2. DOCUMENTATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT ......................................................... 1 2.1 Documentation Quality Assessment
40 CFR 227.31 - Applicable marine water quality criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Applicable marine water quality... § 227.31 Applicable marine water quality criteria. Applicable marine water quality criteria means the criteria given for marine waters in the EPA publication “Quality Criteria for Water” as published in 1976...
40 CFR 227.31 - Applicable marine water quality criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Applicable marine water quality... § 227.31 Applicable marine water quality criteria. Applicable marine water quality criteria means the criteria given for marine waters in the EPA publication “Quality Criteria for Water” as published in 1976...
40 CFR 227.31 - Applicable marine water quality criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2012-07-01 2011-07-01 true Applicable marine water quality... § 227.31 Applicable marine water quality criteria. Applicable marine water quality criteria means the criteria given for marine waters in the EPA publication “Quality Criteria for Water” as published in 1976...
EPA is in the process of updating and revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the Criteria Document). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA carry out a periodic review and revisio...
References and documents pertaining to Acute and Chronic Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Lead. These documents include the safe levels of Lead in water that should protect the majority of species.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Ammonia
Documents related to EPA's final 2013 Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Ammonia (Freshwater). These documents pertain to the safe levels of Ammonia in water that should protect to the majority of species.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Copper
Documents pertain to Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality criteria for Copper (2007 Freshwater, 2016 Estuarine/marine). These documents contain the safe levels of Copper in water that should protect to the majority of species.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Cadmium
Documents pertaining to 2016 Acute and Chronic Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium (Freshwater, Estuarine/marine). These documents contain the safe levels of Cadmium in water that should protect to the majority of species.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Atrazine
Documents pertaining to Acute and Chronic Ambient Water Quality Aquatic Life Criteria for Atrazine (Freshwater and Salt Water). This document contains the safe levels of Atrazine in water that should protect to the majority of species.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Carbaryl
Documents pertaining to 2012 Final National Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Carbaryl (Freshwater, Estuarine/marine). These documents contain the safe levels of Carbaryl in water that should protect to the majority of species.
EPA is in the process of updating and revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the Criteria Document). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA carry out a periodic review an...
Use of Electronic Documentation for Quality Improvement in Hospice
Cagle, John G.; Rokoske, Franziska S.; Durham, Danielle; Schenck, Anna P.; Spence, Carol; Hanson, Laura C.
2015-01-01
Little evidence exists on the use of electronic documentation in hospice and its relationship to quality improvement practices. The purposes of this study were to: (1) estimate the prevalence of electronic documentation use in hospice; (2) identify organizational characteristics associated with use of electronic documentation; and (3) determine whether quality measurement practices differed based on documentation format (electronic vs. nonelectronic). Surveys concerning the use of electronic documentation for quality improvement practices and the monitoring of quality-related care and outcomes were collected from 653 hospices. Users of electronic documentation were able to monitor a wider range of quality-related data than users of nonelectronic documentation. Quality components such as advanced care planning, cultural needs, experience during care of the actively dying, and the number/types of care being delivered were more likely to be documented by users of electronic documentation. Use of electronic documentation may help hospices to monitor quality and compliance. PMID:22267819
Aquatic Life Criterion - Selenium Documents
Documents pertaining to the 2016 Acute and Chronic Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Selenium (Freshwater). These documents include what the safe levels of Selenium are in water for the majority of species.
Space shuttle flying qualities and criteria assessment
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Myers, T. T.; Johnston, D. E.; Mcruer, Duane T.
1987-01-01
Work accomplished under a series of study tasks for the Flying Qualities and Flight Control Systems Design Criteria Experiment (OFQ) of the Shuttle Orbiter Experiments Program (OEX) is summarized. The tasks involved review of applicability of existing flying quality and flight control system specification and criteria for the Shuttle; identification of potentially crucial flying quality deficiencies; dynamic modeling of the Shuttle Orbiter pilot/vehicle system in the terminal flight phases; devising a nonintrusive experimental program for extraction and identification of vehicle dynamics, pilot control strategy, and approach and landing performance metrics, and preparation of an OEX approach to produce a data archive and optimize use of the data to develop flying qualities for future space shuttle craft in general. Analytic modeling of the Orbiter's unconventional closed-loop dynamics in landing, modeling pilot control strategies, verification of vehicle dynamics and pilot control strategy from flight data, review of various existent or proposed aircraft flying quality parameters and criteria in comparison with the unique dynamic characteristics and control aspects of the Shuttle in landing; and finally a summary of conclusions and recommendations for developing flying quality criteria and design guides for future Shuttle craft.
BASIS FOR PRIMARY AIR QUALITY CRITERIA AND STANDARDS
The Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office and the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards are charged with responsibility for reviewing and assessing air quality criteria and air quality standards, respectively. Since adoption of the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments, the...
Experiences with the European guidelines on quality criteria for radiographic images in Tanzania
Muhogora, W. E.; Nyanda, A. M.; Kazema, R. R.
2001-01-01
Objective assessment of the quality of radiographic images is practically a difficult task and protocols that address this problem are few. In 1996, the European union published nearly objective image quality criteria to unify the practices in Europe. However, experience with these criteria in countries of lower health care levels is little documented. As a case study in Tanzania, we present the general performance of European guidelines in some Tanzanian hospitals to a total of 200 radiographs obtained from some common x‐ray examinations. The results show that more than 70% of chest (PA), lumbar spine (AP), and pelvis AP radiographs passed the quality criteria, while the performance of lumbar spine LAT x‐ray examinations was about 50% and therefore less satisfactory. The corresponding mean entrance dose to the patient for specified x‐ray techniques was of range 0.08–0.56 mGy, 3.1–7.7 mGy, 2.53–5.4 mGy, and 4.0–16.78 mGy for chest PA, lumbar spine AP, pelvis AP and lumbar spine LAT x‐ray examinations, respectively. Although a good number of observers were not well familiar to the guidelines, the quality criteria have been found useful and their adoption in the country recommended. The need to provide relevant education and training to staff in the radiology departments is of utmost importance. PACS number(s): 87.57.–s, 87.52.–g PMID:11686743
[Quality criteria in medicine: which limits?].
Minvielle, E
2006-06-01
This article aims to develop a critical appraisal of the criteria's development in medicine. The COMPAQH (Coordination for Measuring Performance and Assuring Quality in Hospitals) project (Ministry of Health/ High Authority of Health/ National Institute of Medical Research) helps to support this analysis. This project based on the test of 42 Quality indicators (QI) gives findings not only about the manner to build criteria, but also to interpret and diffuse results among physicians and hospital managers. Criteria must be elaborated in a pragmatic way. They must be in compliance with practice guidelines supported by scientific evidences. The associated risk is to create and develop a normative medicine. Collaboration with professional societies may be useful in preventing this risk.
Aquatic Life Criteria - Tributyltin (TBT)
Documents pertaining to 2004 Final Acute and Chronic Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Tributyltin (TBT) for freshwater and saltwater. These documents include the safe levels of TBT that should protect the majority of species.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-12-21
... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-OW-2011-0466; FRL-9609-3] Notice of Availability of Draft Recreational Water Quality Criteria and Request for Scientific Views AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency... Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the draft document Recreational Water...
Criteria for High Quality Biology Teaching: An Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tasci, Guntay
2015-01-01
This study aims to analyze the process under which biology lessons are taught in terms of teaching quality criteria (TQC). Teaching quality is defined as the properties of efficient teaching and is considered to be the criteria used to measure teaching quality both in general and specific to a field. The data were collected through classroom…
Peusschers, Elsie; Twine, Jaryth; Wheeler, Amanda; Moudgil, Vikas; Patterson, Sue
2015-04-01
To describe completeness and accuracy of recording medication changes in progress notes during psychiatric inpatient admissions. A retrospective audit of records of 54 randomly selected psychiatric admissions at a metropolitan tertiary hospital. Medication changes recorded on National Inpatient Medication Chart (NIMC) were compared to documentation in the clinical progress records and assessed for completeness against seven quality criteria. With between one and 32 medication changes per admission, a total of 519 changes were recorded in NIMCs. Just over half were documented in progress notes. Psychotropic and regular medications were more frequently charted than 'other' and 'if required' medications. Documentation was seldom comprehensive. Medication name was most frequently documented; desired therapeutic effect or potential adverse effects were rarely documented. Evidence of patient involvement in, and an explicit rationale for, a change were infrequently recorded. Revealing substantial gaps in communication about medication changes during psychiatric admission, this audit sheds light on a previously undescribed source of medication error, warranting attention. Further research is needed to examine barriers to best practice, to support design and implementation of quality improvement activities but in the interim, attention should be addressed to development and articulation of content and procedures for documentation. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.
Adopting Quality Criteria for Websites Providing Medical Information About Rare Diseases.
Pauer, Frédéric; Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Lührs, Verena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, Thomas Of; Ückert, Frank; Graf von der Schulenburg, Johann-Matthias; Hartz, Tobias
2016-08-25
The European Union considers diseases to be rare when they affect less than 5 in 10,000 people. It is estimated that there are between 5000 and 8000 different rare diseases. Consistent with this diversity, the quality of information available on the Web varies considerably. Thus, quality criteria for websites about rare diseases are needed. The objective of this study was to generate a catalog of quality criteria suitable for rare diseases. First, relevant certificates and quality recommendations for health information websites were identified through a comprehensive Web search. Second, all considered quality criteria of each certification program and catalog were examined, extracted into an overview table, and analyzed by thematic content. Finally, an interdisciplinary expert group verified the relevant quality criteria. We identified 9 quality certificates and criteria catalogs for health information websites with 304 single criteria items. Through this, we aggregated 163 various quality criteria, each assigned to one of the following categories: thematic, technical, service, content, and legal. Finally, a consensus about 13 quality criteria for websites offering medical information on rare diseases was determined. Of these categories, 4 (data protection concept, imprint, creation and updating date, and possibility to contact the website provider) were identified as being the most important for publishing medical information about rare diseases. The large number of different quality criteria appearing within a relatively small number of criteria catalogs shows that the opinion of what is important in the quality of health information differs. In addition, to define useful quality criteria for websites about rare diseases, which are an essential source of information for many patients, a trade-off is necessary between the high standard of quality criteria for health information websites in general and the limited provision of information about some rare diseases
Document segmentation for high-quality printing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ancin, Hakan
1997-04-01
A technique to segment dark texts on light background of mixed mode color documents is presented. This process does not perceptually change graphics and photo regions. Color documents are scanned and printed from various media which usually do not have clean background. This is especially the case for the printouts generated from thin magazine samples, these printouts usually include text and figures form the back of the page, which is called bleeding. Removal of bleeding artifacts improves the perceptual quality of the printed document and reduces the color ink usage. By detecting the light background of the document, these artifacts are removed from background regions. Also detection of dark text regions enables the halftoning algorithms to use true black ink for the black text pixels instead of composite black. The processed document contains sharp black text on white background, resulting improved perceptual quality and better ink utilization. The described method is memory efficient and requires a small number of scan lines of high resolution color documents during processing.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Driver, C.J.
1994-05-01
Criteria for determining the quality of liver sediment are necessary to ensure that concentrations of contaminants in aquatic systems are within acceptable limits for the protection of aquatic and human life. Such criteria should facilitate decision-making about remediation, handling, and disposal of contaminants. Several approaches to the development of sediment quality criteria (SQC) have been described and include both descriptive and numerical methods. However, no single method measures all impacts at all times to all organisms (U.S. EPA 1992b). The U.S. EPA`s interest is primarily in establishing chemically based, numerical SQC that are applicable nation-wide (Shea 1988). Of the approachesmore » proposed for SQC development, only three are being considered for numerical SQC on a national level. These approaches include an Equilibrium Partitioning Approach, a site-specific method using bioassays (the Apparent Effects Threshold Approach), and an approach similar to EPA`s water quality criteria (Pavlou and Weston 1984). Although national (or even regional) criteria address a number of political, litigative, and engineering needs, some researchers feel that protection of benthic communities require site-specific, biologically based criteria (Baudo et al. 1990). This is particularly true for areas where complex mixtures of contaminants are present in sediments. Other scientifically valid and accepted procedures for freshwater SQC include a background concentration approach, methods using field or spiked bioassays, a screening level concentration approach, the Apparent Effects Threshold Approach, the Sediment Quality Triad, the International Joint Commission Sediment Assessment Strategy, and the National Status and Trends Program Approach. The various sediment assessment approaches are evaluated for application to the Hanford Reach and recommendations for Hanford Site sediment quality criteria are discussed.« less
Adopting Quality Criteria for Websites Providing Medical Information About Rare Diseases
Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Lührs, Verena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, Thomas OF; Ückert, Frank; Graf von der Schulenburg, Johann-Matthias; Hartz, Tobias
2016-01-01
Background The European Union considers diseases to be rare when they affect less than 5 in 10,000 people. It is estimated that there are between 5000 and 8000 different rare diseases. Consistent with this diversity, the quality of information available on the Web varies considerably. Thus, quality criteria for websites about rare diseases are needed. Objective The objective of this study was to generate a catalog of quality criteria suitable for rare diseases. Methods First, relevant certificates and quality recommendations for health information websites were identified through a comprehensive Web search. Second, all considered quality criteria of each certification program and catalog were examined, extracted into an overview table, and analyzed by thematic content. Finally, an interdisciplinary expert group verified the relevant quality criteria. Results We identified 9 quality certificates and criteria catalogs for health information websites with 304 single criteria items. Through this, we aggregated 163 various quality criteria, each assigned to one of the following categories: thematic, technical, service, content, and legal. Finally, a consensus about 13 quality criteria for websites offering medical information on rare diseases was determined. Of these categories, 4 (data protection concept, imprint, creation and updating date, and possibility to contact the website provider) were identified as being the most important for publishing medical information about rare diseases. Conclusions The large number of different quality criteria appearing within a relatively small number of criteria catalogs shows that the opinion of what is important in the quality of health information differs. In addition, to define useful quality criteria for websites about rare diseases, which are an essential source of information for many patients, a trade-off is necessary between the high standard of quality criteria for health information websites in general and the limited
2004-07-01
sampler, project manager, data reviewer, statistician , risk assessor, assessment personnel, and laboratory QC manager. In addition, a complete copy of...sample • Corrective actions to be taken if the QC sample fails these criteria • A description of how the QC data and results are to be documented and...Intergovernmental Data Quality Task Force Uniform Federal Policy for Quality Assurance Project Plans Evaluating, Assessing, and Documenting
Development of Criteria and Procedures for Management of Classified Document Collections.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rea, Jack C.
The report describes work done in development of criteria and procedures for management of collections of classified documents. Material is presented on philosophy of operation, concept of user service, accession and retention. Much of the discussion is based upon the concept of conversion to a microfiche-oriented library; however, hard copy…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barth, John; Burk, Zona Sharp; Serfass, Richard; Harms, Barbara Ann; Houlihan, G. Thomas; Anderson, Gerald; Farley, Raymond P.; Rigsby, Ken; O'Rourke, John
This document, one of a series of reports, focuses on the adoption of principles of quality management, originally developed by W. Edwards Deming, and the Baldrige Criteria for use in education. These processes and tools for systemic organizational management, when comprehensively applied, produce performance excellence and continuous improvement.…
Holderried, Martin; Bökel, Ann-Catrin; Ochsmann, Elke
2018-05-01
In order to save and control the processes and quality of medical services, a suitable steering system of all relevant documents is essential from the point of view of clinical quality management. Systems supporting an automated steering system of documents are called document management systems (DMS), and they also enter the healthcare sector. The use of DMS in the German healthcare sector has hardly been investigated so far. To close this knowledge gap, interviews were carried out with German university hospitals over a six-month period and subjected to a qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. In total, 25 university hospitals agreed to participate in this study, 19 of which have been working with a digital DMS for about six years on average. There was a great variety among the IT systems used. Document management and usability of the DMS as well as its integration into existing IT structures were key decision-making criteria for the selection of a digital DMS. In general, the long-term usability of the DMS is supported by regular evaluation of one's own requirements for the system, administration and training programs. In addition, DMS have a positive effect on patient safety and the quality of medical care. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.
TECHNICAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL FOR WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
This Technical Guidance Document provides comprehensive guidance on procedures for quality assurance and quality control for waste containment facilities. he document includes a discussion of principles and concepts, compacted soil liners, soil drainage systems, geosynthetic drai...
TECHNICAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL FOR WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
This Technical Guidance Document provides comprehensive guidance on procedures for quality assurance and quality control for waste containment facilities. The document includes a discussion of principles and concepts, compacted soil liners, soil drainage systems, geosynthetic dr...
DEVELOPING WATER QUALITY CRITERIA FOR SUSPENDED AND BEDDED SEDIMENTS
The U.S. EPA’s Framework for Developing Suspended and Bedded Sediments (SABS) Water Quality Criteria (SABS Framework) is a nationally-consistent process for developing ambient sediment quality criteria for surface waters. The SABS Framework accommodates natural variation among wa...
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-04-04
... aquatic life water quality criteria applicable to waters of New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and California's San Francisco Bay. In 1992, EPA promulgated the National Toxics Rule or NTR to establish numeric water quality... Water Quality Standards; Withdrawal of Certain Federal Water Quality Criteria Applicable to California...
Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Air Pollution Control Administration (DHEW), Washington, DC.
To assist states in developing air quality standards, this book offers a review of literature related to atmospheric particulates and the development of criteria for air quality. It not only summarizes the current scientific knowledge of particulate air pollution, but points up the major deficiencies in that knowledge and the need for further…
Agency-wide Quality System Documents
Quality specifications for EPA organizations as defined by EPA Directives are internal policy documents that apply only to EPA organizations. The Code of Federal Regulations defines specifications for extramural agreements with non-EPA organizations.
Standard classification of software documentation
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tausworthe, R. C.
1976-01-01
General conceptual requirements for standard levels of documentation and for application of these requirements to intended usages. These standards encourage the policy to produce only those forms of documentation that are needed and adequate for the purpose. Documentation standards are defined with respect to detail and format quality. Classes A through D range, in order, from the most definitive down to the least definitive, and categories 1 through 4 range, in order, from high-quality typeset down to handwritten material. Criteria for each of the classes and categories, as well as suggested selection guidelines for each are given.
Aquatic Plant Water Quality Criteria
The USEPA, as stated in the Clean Water Act, is tasked with developing numerical Aquatic Life Critiera for various pollutants found in the waters of the United States. These criteria serve as guidance for States and Tribes to use in developing their water quality standards. The G...
40 CFR 227.31 - Applicable marine water quality criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Applicable marine water quality criteria. 227.31 Section 227.31 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) OCEAN DUMPING CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR OCEAN DUMPING OF MATERIALS Definitions § 227.31 Applicable marine water quality...
40 CFR 227.31 - Applicable marine water quality criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Applicable marine water quality criteria. 227.31 Section 227.31 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) OCEAN DUMPING CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR OCEAN DUMPING OF MATERIALS Definitions § 227.31 Applicable marine water quality...
Jakob, J; Marenda, D; Sold, M; Schlüter, M; Post, S; Kienle, P
2014-08-01
Complications after cholecystectomy are continuously documented in a nationwide database in Germany. Recent studies demonstrated a lack of reliability of these data. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a control algorithm on documentation quality and the use of routine diagnosis coding as an additional validation instrument. Completeness and correctness of the documentation of complications after cholecystectomy was compared over a time interval of 12 months before and after implementation of an algorithm for faster and more accurate documentation. Furthermore, the coding of all diagnoses was screened to identify intraoperative and postoperative complications. The sensitivity of the documentation for complications improved from 46 % to 70 % (p = 0.05, specificity 98 % in both time intervals). A prolonged time interval of more than 6 weeks between patient discharge and documentation was associated with inferior data quality (incorrect documentation in 1.5 % versus 15 %, p < 0.05). The rate of case documentation within the 6 weeks after hospital discharge was clearly improved after implementation of the control algorithm. Sensitivity and specificity of screening for complications by evaluating routine diagnoses coding were 70 % and 85 %, respectively. The quality of documentation was improved by implementation of a simple memory algorithm.
E-nursing documentation as a tool for quality assurance.
Rajkovic, Vladislav; Sustersic, Olga; Rajkovic, Uros
2006-01-01
The article presents the results of a project with which we describe the reengineering of nursing documentation. Documentation in nursing is an efficient tool for ensuring quality health care and consequently quality patient treatment along the whole clinical path. We have taken into account the nursing process and patient treatment based on Henderson theoretical model of nursing that consists of 14 basic living activities. The model of new documentation enables tracing, transparency, selectivity, monitoring and analyses. All these factors lead to improvements of a health system as well as to improved safety of patients and members of nursing teams. Thus the documentation was developed for three health care segments: secondary and tertiary level, dispensaries and community health care. The new quality introduced to the documentation process by information and communication technology is presented by a database model and a software prototype for managing documentation.
Spectrum analysis on quality requirements consideration in software design documents.
Kaiya, Haruhiko; Umemura, Masahiro; Ogata, Shinpei; Kaijiri, Kenji
2013-12-01
Software quality requirements defined in the requirements analysis stage should be implemented in the final products, such as source codes and system deployment. To guarantee this meta-requirement, quality requirements should be considered in the intermediate stages, such as the design stage or the architectural definition stage. We propose a novel method for checking whether quality requirements are considered in the design stage. In this method, a technique called "spectrum analysis for quality requirements" is applied not only to requirements specifications but also to design documents. The technique enables us to derive the spectrum of a document, and quality requirements considerations in the document are numerically represented in the spectrum. We can thus objectively identify whether the considerations of quality requirements in a requirements document are adapted to its design document. To validate the method, we applied it to commercial software systems with the help of a supporting tool, and we confirmed that the method worked well.
Initial Steps toward Validating and Measuring the Quality of Computerized Provider Documentation
Hammond, Kenric W.; Efthimiadis, Efthimis N.; Weir, Charlene R.; Embi, Peter J.; Thielke, Stephen M.; Laundry, Ryan M.; Hedeen, Ashley
2010-01-01
Background: Concerns exist about the quality of electronic health care documentation. Prior studies have focused on physicians. This investigation studied document quality perceptions of practitioners (including physicians), nurses and administrative staff. Methods: An instrument developed from staff interviews and literature sources was administered to 110 practitioners, nurses and administrative staff. Short, long and original versions of records were rated. Results: Length transformation did not affect quality ratings. On several scales practitioners rated notes less favorably than administrators or nurses. The original source document was associated with the quality rating, as was tf·idf, a relevance statistic computed from document text. Tf·idf was strongly associated with practitioner quality ratings. Conclusion: Document quality estimates were not sensitive to modifying redundancy in documents. Some perceptions of quality differ by role. Intrinsic document properties are associated with staff judgments of document quality. For practitioners, the tf·idf statistic was strongly associated with the quality dimensions evaluated. PMID:21346983
Developing Water Quality Criteria for Suspended and Bedded Sediments (SABs)
This paper provides an introduction to SABS and water quality criteria and discusses the types and status of water quality criteria that have been or are currently being used by the States, Canada and elsewhere.
Development of Handling Qualities Criteria for Rotorcraft with Externally Slung Loads
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hoh, Roger H.; Heffley, Robert K.; Mitchell, David G.
2006-01-01
Piloted simulations were performed on the NASA-Ames Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) to explore handling qualities issues for large cargo helicopters, particularly focusing on external slung load operations. The purpose of this work was based upon the need to include handling qualities criteria for cargo helicopters in an upgrade to the U.S. Army's rotorcraft handling qualities specification, Aeronautical Design Standard-33 (ADS-33E-PRF). From the VMS results, handling qualities criteria were developed fro cargo helicopters carrying external slung loads in the degraded visual environment (DVE). If satisfied, these criteria provide assurance that the handling quality rating (HQR) will be 4 or better for operations in the DVE, and with a load mass ratio of 0.33 or less. For lighter loads, flying qualities were found to be less dependent on the load geometry and therefore the significance of the criteria is less. For heavier loads, meeting the criteria ensures the best possible handling qualities, albeit Level 2 for load mass ratios greater than 0.33.
Improving the Quality of Electronic Documentation in Critical Care Nursing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stevens, Brent
2017-01-01
Electronic nursing documentation systems can facilitate complete, accurate, timely documentation practices, but without effective policies and procedures in place, a gap in practice exists and quality of care may be impacted. This systematic review of literature examined current evidence regarding electronic nursing documentation quality. General…
eEurope 2002: Quality Criteria for Health related Websites
2002-01-01
Background A number of organisations have begun to provide specific tools for searching, rating, and grading this information, while others have set up codes of conduct by which site providers can attest to their high quality services. The aim of such tools is to assist individuals to sift through the mountains of information available so as to be better able to discern valid and reliable messages from those which are misleading or inaccurate. Objective Recognising that European citizens are avid consumers of health related information on the internet and recognising that they are already using the types of rating system described above, the European Council at Feira on June 19-20 2000 supported an initiative within eEurope 2002 to develop a core set of Quality Criteria for Health Related Websites. The specific aim was to draw up a commonly agreed set of simple quality criteria on which Member States, as well as public and private bodies, may draw in the development of quality initiatives for health related websites. These criteria should be applied in addition to relevant Community law. Methods A meeting was held during 2001 which drew together key players from Government departments, International Organisations, non-governmental organisations and industry, to explore current practices and experiments in this field. Some sixty invited participants from all the Member States, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States of America took part in the meeting of June 7-8, 2001: they included delegates from industrial, medical, and patient interest groups, delegates from Member States' governments, and key invited speakers from the field of health information ethics. These individuals, and many others, also took part in the web-based consultation which was open from august to November 2001. Results The broad headings for quality criteria identified include Transparency and Honesty, Authority, Privacy and data protection, Updating of information, Accountability
[Written information for patients: From papers to documents].
Cortés-Criado, M C
2014-01-01
There is a high variability in the level of information intended for patients, with different content, format and presentation. To determine the perceived safety of the patients treated at the Country Hospital of Melilla (HCML) and to assess the quality of the documents using criteria adapted to the «International Patient Decision Aid Standards» (IPDAS). Descriptive study of the documents given to patients by the HCML. They included questionnaires on perceived safety, classification of the documents, and the level of adherence to the IPDAS criteria. The Information given to patients during their stay in the HCML, their participation in decision-making, and the information about medication, did not exceed the average on the acceptance scale. Only 40 documents were studied (of the 131 collected), on being published in-house, and were classified, following the definitions of the RAE, into instructions (20), recommendations (14) and guidelines (6). Of these, only the 27.5% showed hospital logo. In the content analysis according to the IPDAS criteria, there was an overall adherence rate of 24.1% in instructions, 24.8% in recommendations, and 61.5% in guidelines. The perception of patient safety expressed in the questionnaire, and its assessment according IPDAS criteria, shows there may be a significant improvement within the organization. Furthermore, the quality of patient documentation provided can help decision making. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
77 FR 30280 - Final National Recommended Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Carbaryl-2012
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-05-22
... national recommended water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life from effects of carbaryl... developed the aquatic life criteria based on EPA's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National Water Quality... quality standards for protecting aquatic life and human health. These criteria are intended to protect...
The validation of AORN recommended practices in Finnish perioperative nursing documentation.
Tiusanen, Teija Susanna; Junttila, Kristiina; Leinonen, Tuija; Salanterä, Sanna
2010-02-01
In Finland, there are no common guidelines or recommended practices for perioperative documentation. Thus, perioperative nursing documentation varies from one operating department to another. To create minimum criteria for nursing documentation in Finland, we conducted an investigation in a university hospital district in 2006. Purposive sampling was used to invite experts in perioperative nursing documentation (N = 42) to serve as a Delphi panel. The final criteria are 120 items, 71% of which are based on the AORN standards and recommended practices. These criteria may be used to educate students and new perioperative personnel and to enhance the quality of nursing practice. To ensure relevance and usability, the criteria should be tested in various perioperative settings with a variety of surgical patients. Copyright 2010 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
CORAL REEF BIOLOGICAL CRITERIA: USING THE CLEAN ...
Coral reefs are declining at unprecedented rates worldwide due to multiple interactive stressors including climate change and land-based sources of pollution. The Clean Water Act (CWA) can be a powerful legal instrument for protecting water resources, including the biological inhabitants of coral reefs. The objective of the CWA is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of water resources. Coral reef protection and restoration under the Clean Water Act begins with water quality standards - provisions of state or Federal law that consist of a designated use(s) for the waters of the United States and water quality criteria sufficient to protect the uses. Aquatic life use is the designated use that is measured by biological criteria (biocriteria). Biocriteria are expectations set by a jurisdiction for the quality and quantity of living aquatic resources in a defined waterbody. Biocriteria are an important addition to existing management tools for coral reef ecosystems. The Technical Support Document “Coral Reef Biological Criteria: Using the Clean Water Act to Protect a National Treasure” will provide a framework to aid States and Territories in their development, adoption, and implementation of coral reef biocriteria in their respective water quality standards. The Technical Support Document “Coral Reef Biological Criteria: Using the Clean Water Act to Protect a National Treasure” will provide a framework for coral re
78 FR 52192 - Final Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria For Ammonia-Freshwater 2013
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-08-22
... ambient water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life from effects of ammonia in freshwater... life criteria are developed based on EPA's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National Water Quality... quality standards for protecting aquatic life and human health. EPA's recommended water quality criteria...
Ride qualities criteria validation/pilot performance study: Flight test results
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nardi, L. U.; Kawana, H. Y.; Greek, D. C.
1979-01-01
Pilot performance during a terrain following flight was studied for ride quality criteria validation. Data from manual and automatic terrain following operations conducted during low level penetrations were analyzed to determine the effect of ride qualities on crew performance. The conditions analyzed included varying levels of turbulence, terrain roughness, and mission duration with a ride smoothing system on and off. Limited validation of the B-1 ride quality criteria and some of the first order interactions between ride qualities and pilot/vehicle performance are highlighted. An earlier B-1 flight simulation program correlated well with the flight test results.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR LEAD (SECOND EXTERNAL REVIEW DRAFT)
The Clean Air Act mandates periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, also referred to as criteria pollutants, including lead. Under the review process, EPA's Office of Research and Development develops a criteria docu...
Quality of medicines in Canada: a retrospective review of risk communication documents (2005–2013)
Almuzaini, Tariq; Sammons, Helen; Choonara, Imti
2014-01-01
Objective To explore the quality and safety of medicines in Canada. Design A retrospective review of drug recalls and risk communication documents conveying issues relating to defective (ie, substandard and falsified) medicines. Setting The Health Canada website search for drug recalls and risk communication documents issued between 2005 and 2013. Eligibility criteria Drug recalls and risk communication documents related to quality defect in medicinal products. Main outcome measure Relevant data about defective medicines reported in drug recalls and risk communication documents, including description of the defect, type of formulation, year of the recall and category of the recall or the document. Results There were 653 defective medicines of which 649 were substandard. The number of defective medicines reported by Health Canada increased from 42 in 2005 to 143 in 2013. The two most frequently reported types of defects were stability (205 incidents) and contamination issues (139 incidents). Some of these defects were found to be more prominent and repetitive over other types within some manufacturers. Tablet formulation (251 incidents) was the formulation most frequently compromised. No significant differences were observed between the manufacturers and distributors in the number of substandard medicines reported under each defect type. There were only four falsified medicines reported over the 9-year period. Conclusions Substandard medicines are a problem in Canada and have resulted in an increasing number of recalled medicines. Most of the failures were related to stability issues, raising the need to investigate the root causes and for stringent preventative measures to be implemented by manufacturers. PMID:25361839
Web-based X-ray quality control documentation.
David, George; Burnett, Lou Ann; Schenkel, Robert
2003-01-01
The department of radiology at the Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics has developed an equipment quality control web site. Our goal is to provide immediate access to virtually all medical physics survey data. The web site is designed to assist equipment engineers, department management and technologists. By improving communications and access to equipment documentation, we believe productivity is enhanced. The creation of the quality control web site was accomplished in three distinct steps. First, survey data had to be placed in a computer format. The second step was to convert these various computer files to a format supported by commercial web browsers. Third, a comprehensive home page had to be designed to provide convenient access to the multitude of surveys done in the various x-ray rooms. Because we had spent years previously fine-tuning the computerization of the medical physics quality control program, most survey documentation was already in spreadsheet or database format. A major technical decision was the method of conversion of survey spreadsheet and database files into documentation appropriate for the web. After an unsatisfactory experience with a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) converter (packaged with spreadsheet and database software), we tried creating Portable Document Format (PDF) files using Adobe Acrobat software. This process preserves the original formatting of the document and takes no longer than conventional printing; therefore, it has been very successful. Although the PDF file generated by Adobe Acrobat is a proprietary format, it can be displayed through a conventional web browser using the freely distributed Adobe Acrobat Reader program that is available for virtually all platforms. Once a user installs the software, it is automatically invoked by the web browser whenever the user follows a link to a file with a PDF extension. Although no confidential patient information is available on the web site, our legal
Multiple Criteria Evaluation of Quality and Optimisation of e-Learning System Components
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kurilovas, Eugenijus; Dagiene, Valentina
2010-01-01
The main research object of the paper is investigation and proposal of the comprehensive Learning Object Repositories (LORs) quality evaluation tool suitable for their multiple criteria decision analysis, evaluation and optimisation. Both LORs "internal quality" and "quality in use" evaluation (decision making) criteria are analysed in the paper.…
Human Variome Project Quality Assessment Criteria for Variation Databases.
Vihinen, Mauno; Hancock, John M; Maglott, Donna R; Landrum, Melissa J; Schaafsma, Gerard C P; Taschner, Peter
2016-06-01
Numerous databases containing information about DNA, RNA, and protein variations are available. Gene-specific variant databases (locus-specific variation databases, LSDBs) are typically curated and maintained for single genes or groups of genes for a certain disease(s). These databases are widely considered as the most reliable information source for a particular gene/protein/disease, but it should also be made clear they may have widely varying contents, infrastructure, and quality. Quality is very important to evaluate because these databases may affect health decision-making, research, and clinical practice. The Human Variome Project (HVP) established a Working Group for Variant Database Quality Assessment. The basic principle was to develop a simple system that nevertheless provides a good overview of the quality of a database. The HVP quality evaluation criteria that resulted are divided into four main components: data quality, technical quality, accessibility, and timeliness. This report elaborates on the developed quality criteria and how implementation of the quality scheme can be achieved. Examples are provided for the current status of the quality items in two different databases, BTKbase, an LSDB, and ClinVar, a central archive of submissions about variants and their clinical significance. © 2016 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.
Internet Interventions for Long-Term Conditions: Patient and Caregiver Quality Criteria
Murray, Elizabeth; Stevenson, Fiona; Gore, Charles; Nazareth, Irwin
2006-01-01
Background Interactive health communication applications (IHCAs) that combine high-quality health information with interactive components, such as self-assessment tools, behavior change support, peer support, or decision support, are likely to benefit people with long-term conditions. IHCAs are now largely Web-based and are becoming known as "Internet interventions." Although there are numerous professionally generated criteria to assess health-related websites, to date there has been scant exploration of patient-generated assessment criteria even though patients and professionals use different criteria for assessing the quality of traditional sources of health information. Objective We aimed to determine patients' and caregivers' requirements of IHCAs for long-term conditions as well as their criteria for assessing the quality of different programs. Methods This was a qualitative study with focus groups. Patients and caregivers managing long-term conditions used three (predominantly Web-based) IHCAs relevant to their condition and subsequently discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the different IHCAs in focus groups. Participants in any one focus group all shared the same long-term condition and viewed the same three IHCAs. Patient and caregiver criteria for IHCAs emerged from the data. Results There were 40 patients and caregivers who participated in 10 focus groups. Participants welcomed the potential of Internet interventions but felt that many were not achieving their full potential. Participants generated detailed and specific quality criteria relating to information content, presentation, interactivity, and trustworthiness, which can be used by developers and purchasers of Internet interventions. Conclusions The user-generated quality criteria reported in this paper should help developers and purchasers provide Internet interventions that better meet user needs. PMID:16954123
Taylor, Benjamin B; Parekh, Vikas; Estrada, Carlos A; Schleyer, Anneliese; Sharpe, Bradley
2014-01-01
Physicians increasingly investigate, work, and teach to improve the quality of care and safety of care delivery. The Society of General Internal Medicine Academic Hospitalist Task Force sought to develop a practical tool, the quality portfolio, to systematically document quality and safety achievements. The quality portfolio was vetted with internal and external stakeholders including national leaders in academic medicine. The portfolio was refined for implementation to include an outlined framework, detailed instructions for use and an example to guide users. The portfolio has eight categories including: (1) a faculty narrative, (2) leadership and administrative activities, (3) project activities, (4) education and curricula, (5) research and scholarship, (6) honors, awards, and recognition, (7) training and certification, and (8) an appendix. The authors offer this comprehensive, yet practical tool as a method to document quality and safety activities. It is relevant for physicians across disciplines and institutions and may be useful as a standalone document or as an adjunct to traditional promotion documents. As the Next Accreditation System is implemented, academic medical centers will require faculty who can teach and implement the systems-based practice requirements. The quality portfolio is a method to document quality improvement and safety activities.
Approach to developing numeric water quality criteria for ...
Human activities on land increase nutrient loads to coastal waters, which can increase phytoplankton production and biomass and potentially cause harmful ecological effects. States can adopt numeric water quality criteria into their water quality standards to protect the designated uses of their coastal waters from eutrophication impacts. The first objective of this study was to provide an approach for developing numeric water quality criteria for coastal waters based on archived SeaWiFS ocean color satellite data. The second objective was to develop an approach for transferring water quality criteria assessments to newer ocean color satellites such as MODIS and MERIS. Spatial and temporal measures of SeaWiFS, MODIS, and MERIS chlorophyll-a (ChlRS-a, mg m-3) were resolved across Florida’s coastal waters between 1998 and 2009. Annual geometric means of SeaWiFS ChlRS-a were evaluated to determine a quantitative reference baseline from the 90th percentile of the annual geometric means. A method for transferring to multiple ocean color sensors was implemented with SeaWiFS as the reference instrument. The ChlRS-a annual geometric means for each coastal segment from MODIS and MERIS were regressed against SeaWiFS to provide a similar response among all three satellites. Standardization factors for each coastal segment were calculated based on differences between 90th percentiles from SeaWiFS to MODIS and SeaWiFS to MERIS. This transfer approach allowed for futu
Evaluation of High-Speed Civil Transport Handling Qualities Criteria with Supersonic Flight Data
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cox, Timothy H.; Jackson, Dante W.
1997-01-01
Most flying qualities criteria have been developed from data in the subsonic flight regime. Unique characteristics of supersonic flight raise questions about whether these criteria successfully extend into the supersonic flight regime. Approximately 25 years ago NASA Dryden Flight Research Center addressed this issue with handling qualities evaluations of the XB-70 and YF-12. Good correlations between some of the classical handling qualities parameters, such as the control anticipation parameter as a function of damping, were discovered. More criteria have been developed since these studies. Some of these more recent criteria are being used in designing the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). A second research study recently addressed this issue through flying qualities evaluations of the SR-71 at Mach 3. The research goal was to extend the high-speed flying qualities experience of large airplanes and to evaluate more recent MIL-STD-1797 criteria against pilot comments and ratings. Emphasis was placed on evaluating the criteria used for designing the HSCT. XB-70 and YF-12 data from the previous research supplemented the SR-71 data. The results indicate that the criteria used in the HSCT design are conservative and should provide good flying qualities for typical high-speed maneuvering. Additional results show correlation between the ratings and comments and criteria for gradual maneuvering with precision control. Correlation is shown between ratings and comments and an extension of the Neal/Smith criterion using normal acceleration instead of pitch rate.
Greene, Laurence; Sapir, Tamar; Moreo, Kathleen; Carter, Jeffrey D; Patel, Barry; Higgins, Peter D R
2015-09-01
In recent years, leading organizations in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have developed quality measures for the care of adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. We used chart audits to assess the impact of quality improvement educational activities on documented adherence to Physician Quality Reporting System measures for IBD. Twenty community-based gastroenterologists were recruited to participate in baseline chart audits (n = 200), a series of 4 accredited educational activities with feedback, and follow-up chart audits (n = 200). Trained abstractors reviewed randomly selected charts of adults with moderate or severe Crohn's disease. The charts were retrospectively abstracted for physicians' documented performance of the 2013 Physician Quality Reporting System IBD quality measures. We compared the physicians' baseline and posteducation rates of documented adherence with 10 of these measures. In a secondary analysis, we compared preeducation with posteducation difference scores of low-performing physicians, those whose baseline documentation rates were in the lowest quartile, and the rest of the cohort. At baseline, documentation of mean provider-level adherence to the 10 quality measures ranged from 3% to 98% (grand mean = 35.8%). In the overall analysis, baseline and posteducation rates of documented adherence did not differ significantly for any of the measures. However, for 4 measures, preeducation to posteducation difference scores were significantly greater among low performers than physicians in the highest 3 quartiles. The results of this preliminary pragmatic study indicate that quality improvement education affords the potential to improve adherence to Physician Quality Reporting System quality measures for IBD among low-performing gastroenterologists.
Flying qualities design criteria applicable to supersonic cruise aircraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chalk, C. R.
1980-01-01
A comprehensive set of flying qualities design criteria was prepared for use in the supersonic cruise research program. The framework for stating the design criteria is established and design criteria are included which address specific failures, approach to dangerous flight conditions, flight at high angle of attack, longitudinal and lateral directional stability and control, the primary flight control system, and secondary flight controls. Examples are given of lateral directional design criteria limiting lateral accelerations at the cockpit, time to roll through 30 deg of bank, and time delay in the pilot's command path. Flight test data from the Concorde certification program are used to substantiate a number of the proposed design criteria.
Müller-Staub, Maria; Lunney, Margaret; Lavin, Mary Ann; Needham, Ian; Odenbreit, Matthias; van Achterberg, Theo
2010-04-01
The instrument Q-DIO was developed in the years 2005 till 2006 to measure the quality of documented nursing diagnoses, interventions, and nursing sensitive patient outcomes. Testing psychometric properties of the Q-DIO (Quality of nursing Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes.) was the study aim. Instrument testing included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, interrater reliability, item analyses, and an assessment of the objectivity. To render variation in scores, a random strata sample of 60 nursing documentations was drawn. The strata represented 30 nursing documentations with and 30 without application of theory based, standardised nursing language. Internal consistency of the subscale nursing diagnoses as process showed Cronbach's Alpha 0.83 [0.78, 0.88]; nursing diagnoses as product 0.98 [0.94, 0.99]; nursing interventions 0.90 [0.85, 0.94]; and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes 0.99 [0.95, 0.99]. With Cohen's Kappa of 0.95, the intrarater reliability was good. The interrater reliability showed a Kappa of 0.94 [0.90, 0.96]. Item analyses confirmed the fulfilment of criteria for degree of difficulty and discriminative validity of the items. In this study, Q-DIO has shown to be a reliable instrument. It allows measuring the documented quality of nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes with and without implementation of theory based, standardised nursing languages. Studies for further testing of Q-DIO in other settings are recommended. The results implicitly support the use of nursing classifications such as NANDA, NIC and NOC.
Air Quality Criteria for Oxides of Nitrogen (Final Report, 1993)
This criteria document focuses on a review and assessment of the effects on human health and welfare of the nitrogen oxides, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and the related compounds, nitrites, nitrates, nitrogenous acids, and nitrosamines. Although the emphasis is ...
Institutional and economic influences on quality of nursing documentation.
Parker, L E; Wells, K B; Buchanan, J L; Benjamin, B
1994-01-01
This study evaluates the quality of nursing documentation within the hospital record for a particularly vulnerable group of patients, the depressed aged. Specifically, the effects of prospective payment, unit type, hospital type, and nurse staffing levels on nursing documentation within hospital charts were assessed.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Criteria Documents for the Protection of Aquatic Life in Ambient... water quality criteria to protect against acute effects in aquatic life and is the highest instream... any aquatic life or human health use classifications in the Water Quality Control Plans for the...
Water quality criteria for hexachloroethane: Final report
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Davidson, K.A.; Hovatter, P.S.; Ross, R.H.
1988-03-01
The available data regarding the environmental fate, aquatic toxicity, and mammalian toxicity of hexachloroethane, which is used in military screening smokes, were reviewed. The USEPA guidelines were used to generate water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and its uses and of human health. 16 tabs.
Hardy, M.A.; Leahy, P.P.; Alley, W.M.
1989-01-01
Several pilot projects are being conducted as part of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The purpose of the pilot program is to test and refine concepts for a proposed full-scale program. Three of the pilot projects are specifically designed to assess groundwater. The purpose of this report is to describe the criteria that are being used in the NAWQA pilot projects for selecting and documenting wells, installing new wells, and sampling wells for different water quality constituents. Guidelines are presented for the selection of wells for sampling. Information needed to accurately document each well includes site characteristics related to the location of the well, land use near the well, and important well construction features. These guidelines ensure the consistency of the information collected and will provide comparable data for interpretive purposes. Guidelines for the installation of wells are presented and include procedures that need to be followed for preparations prior to drilling, the selection of the drilling technique and casing type, the grouting procedure, and the well-development technique. A major component of the protocols is related to water quality sampling. Tasks are identified that need to be completed prior to visiting the site for sampling. Guidelines are presented for purging the well prior t sampling, both in terms of the volume of water pumped and the chemical stability of field parameters. Guidelines are presented concerning sampler selection as related to both inorganic and organic constituents. Documentation needed to describe the measurements and observations related to sampling each well and treating and preserving the samples are also presented. Procedures are presented for the storage and shipping of water samples, equipment cleaning, and quality assurance. Quality assurance guidelines include the description of the general distribution of the various quality assurance samples (blanks, spikes, duplicates, and
Development of longitudinal handling qualities criteria for large advanced supersonic aircraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sudderth, R. W.; Bohn, J. G.; Caniff, M. A.; Bennett, G. R.
1975-01-01
Longitudinal handling qualities criteria in terms of airplane response characteristics were developed. The criteria cover high speed cruise maneuvering, landing approach, and stall recovery. Data substantiating the study results are reported.
Performance criteria and quality indicators for the post-analytical phase.
Sciacovelli, Laura; Aita, Ada; Padoan, Andrea; Pelloso, Michela; Antonelli, Giorgia; Piva, Elisa; Chiozza, Maria Laura; Plebani, Mario
2016-07-01
Quality indicators (QIs) used as performance measurements are an effective tool in accurately estimating quality, identifying problems that may need to be addressed, and monitoring the processes over time. In Laboratory Medicine, QIs should cover all steps of the testing process, as error studies have confirmed that most errors occur in the pre- and post-analytical phase of testing. Aim of the present study is to provide preliminary results on QIs and related performance criteria in the post-analytical phase. This work was conducted according to a previously described study design based on the voluntary participation of clinical laboratories in the project on QIs of the Working Group "Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety" (WG-LEPS) of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). Overall, data collected highlighted an improvement or stability in performances over time for all reported indicators thus demonstrating that the use of QIs is effective in the quality improvement strategy. Moreover, QIs data are an important source for defining the state-of-the-art concerning the error rate in the total testing process. The definition of performance specifications based on the state-of-the-art, as suggested by consensus documents, is a valuable benchmark point in evaluating the performance of each laboratory. Laboratory tests play a relevant role in the monitoring and evaluation of the efficacy of patient outcome thus assisting clinicians in decision-making. Laboratory performance evaluation is therefore crucial to providing patients with safe, effective and efficient care.
Evaluation models and criteria of the quality of hospital websites: a systematic review study
Jeddi, Fatemeh Rangraz; Gilasi, Hamidreza; Khademi, Sahar
2017-01-01
Introduction Hospital websites are important tools in establishing communication and exchanging information between patients and staff, and thus should enjoy an acceptable level of quality. The aim of this study was to identify proper models and criteria to evaluate the quality of hospital websites. Methods This research was a systematic review study. The international databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, PubMed, Proquest, Ovid, Elsevier, Springer, and EBSCO together with regional database such as Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Persian Journal Citation Report (PJCR) and IranMedex were searched. Suitable keywords including website, evaluation, and quality of website were used. Full text papers related to the research were included. The criteria and sub criteria of the evaluation of website quality were extracted and classified. Results To evaluate the quality of the websites, various models and criteria were presented. The WEB-Q-IM, Mile, Minerva, Seruni Luci, and Web-Qual models were the designed models. The criteria of accessibility, content and apparent features of the websites, the design procedure, the graphics applied in the website, and the page’s attractions have been mentioned in the majority of studies. Conclusion The criteria of accessibility, content, design method, security, and confidentiality of personal information are the essential criteria in the evaluation of all websites. It is suggested that the ease of use, graphics, attractiveness and other apparent properties of websites are considered as the user-friendliness sub criteria. Further, the criteria of speed and accessibility of the website should be considered as sub criterion of efficiency. When determining the evaluation criteria of the quality of websites, attention to major differences in the specific features of any website is essential. PMID:28465807
Evaluation models and criteria of the quality of hospital websites: a systematic review study.
Jeddi, Fatemeh Rangraz; Gilasi, Hamidreza; Khademi, Sahar
2017-02-01
Hospital websites are important tools in establishing communication and exchanging information between patients and staff, and thus should enjoy an acceptable level of quality. The aim of this study was to identify proper models and criteria to evaluate the quality of hospital websites. This research was a systematic review study. The international databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, PubMed, Proquest, Ovid, Elsevier, Springer, and EBSCO together with regional database such as Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Persian Journal Citation Report (PJCR) and IranMedex were searched. Suitable keywords including website, evaluation, and quality of website were used. Full text papers related to the research were included. The criteria and sub criteria of the evaluation of website quality were extracted and classified. To evaluate the quality of the websites, various models and criteria were presented. The WEB-Q-IM, Mile, Minerva, Seruni Luci, and Web-Qual models were the designed models. The criteria of accessibility, content and apparent features of the websites, the design procedure, the graphics applied in the website, and the page's attractions have been mentioned in the majority of studies. The criteria of accessibility, content, design method, security, and confidentiality of personal information are the essential criteria in the evaluation of all websites. It is suggested that the ease of use, graphics, attractiveness and other apparent properties of websites are considered as the user-friendliness sub criteria. Further, the criteria of speed and accessibility of the website should be considered as sub criterion of efficiency. When determining the evaluation criteria of the quality of websites, attention to major differences in the specific features of any website is essential.
76 FR 67437 - Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Carbaryl-2011
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-11-01
... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0787; FRL-9483-8] Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water... criteria for the protection of aquatic life from effects of carbaryl (EPA-820-D-11-001). The draft criteria document incorporates the latest scientific knowledge on the toxicity of carbaryl to aquatic life. The...
Primary display latency criteria based on flying qualities and performance data
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Funk, John D., Jr.; Beck, Corin P.; Johns, John B.
1993-01-01
With a pilots' increasing use of visual cue augmentation, much requiring extensive pre-processing, there is a need to establish criteria for new avionics/display design. The timeliness and synchronization of the augmented cues is vital to ensure the performance quality required for precision mission task elements (MTEs) where augmented cues are the primary source of information to the pilot. Processing delays incurred while transforming sensor-supplied flight information into visual cues are unavoidable. Relationships between maximum control system delays and associated flying qualities levels are documented in MIL-F-83300 and MIL-F-8785. While cues representing aircraft status may be just as vital to the pilot as prompt control response for operations in instrument meteorological conditions, presently, there are no specification requirements on avionics system latency. To produce data relating avionics system latency to degradations in flying qualities, the Navy conducted two simulation investigations. During the investigations, flying qualities and performance data were recorded as simulated avionics system latency was varied. Correlated results of the investigation indicates that there is a detrimental impact of latency on flying qualities. Analysis of these results and consideration of key factors influencing their application indicate that: (1) Task performance degrades and pilot workload increases as latency is increased. Inconsistency in task performance increases as latency increases. (2) Latency reduces the probability of achieving Level 1 handling qualities with avionics system latency as low as 70 ms. (3) The data suggest that the achievement of desired performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 120 ms. (4) These data also suggest that avoidance of inadequate performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 150 ms.
Quality and correlates of medical record documentation in the ambulatory care setting
Soto, Carlos M; Kleinman, Kenneth P; Simon, Steven R
2002-01-01
Background Documentation in the medical record facilitates the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Few studies have assessed the quality of outpatient medical record documentation, and to the authors' knowledge, none has conclusively determined the correlates of chart documentation. We therefore undertook the present study to measure the rates of documentation of quality of care measures in an outpatient primary care practice setting that utilizes an electronic medical record. Methods We reviewed electronic medical records from 834 patients receiving care from 167 physicians (117 internists and 50 pediatricians) at 14 sites of a multi-specialty medical group in Massachusetts. We abstracted information for five measures of medical record documentation quality: smoking history, medications, drug allergies, compliance with screening guidelines, and immunizations. From other sources we determined physicians' specialty, gender, year of medical school graduation, and self-reported time spent teaching and in patient care. Results Among internists, unadjusted rates of documentation were 96.2% for immunizations, 91.6% for medications, 88% for compliance with screening guidelines, 61.6% for drug allergies, 37.8% for smoking history. Among pediatricians, rates were 100% for immunizations, 84.8% for medications, 90.8% for compliance with screening guidelines, 50.4% for drug allergies, and 20.4% for smoking history. While certain physician and patient characteristics correlated with some measures of documentation quality, documentation varied depending on the measure. For example, female internists were more likely than male internists to document smoking history (odds ratio [OR], 1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 – 2.83) but were less likely to document drug allergies (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35 – 0.75). Conclusions Medical record documentation varied depending on the measure, with room for improvement in most domains. A variety of characteristics correlated with
AN ECOEPIDEMIOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
The USEPA's Draft Framework for Developing Suspended and Bedded Sediments Water Quality Criteria is based on an ecoepidemiological approach that is potentially applicable to any chemical or non-chemical agent. An ecoepidemiological approach infers associations from the co-occurre...
Rotorcraft handling-qualities design criteria development
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Aiken, Edwin W.; Lebacqz, J. Victor; Chen, Robert T. N.; Key, David L.
1988-01-01
Joint NASA/Army efforts at the Ames Research Center to develop rotorcraft handling-qualities design criteria began in earnest in 1975. Notable results were the UH-1H VSTOLAND variable stability helicopter, the VFA-2 camera-and-terrain-board simulator visual system, and the generic helicopter real-time mathematical model, ARMCOP. An initial series of handling-qualities studies was conducted to assess the effects of rotor design parameters, interaxis coupling, and various levels of stability and control augmentation. The ability to conduct in-flight handling-qualities research was enhanced by the development of the NASA/Army CH-47 variable-stability helicopter. Research programs conducted using this vehicle include vertical-response investigations, hover augmentation systems, and the effects of control-force characteristics. The handling-qualities data base was judged to be sufficient to allow an update of the military helicopter handling-qualities specification, MIL-H-8501. These efforts, including not only the in-house experimental work but also contracted research and collaborative programs performed under the auspices of various international agreements. The report concludes by reviewing the topics that are currently most in need of work, and the plans for addressing these topics.
Certification Criteria for Linked Learning Pathways
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, 2010
2010-01-01
Pathways offer a promising strategy for transforming high schools and improving student outcomes. However, to achieve these desired results, pathways must be of high quality. To guide sites in planning and implementing such pathways, a design team of experts developed the criteria outlined in this document. Sites can choose to go through a…
The derivation of water quality criteria of copper in Biliu River
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zheng, Hongbo; Jia, Xinru
2018-03-01
Excessive copper in water can be detrimental to the health of human and aquatic life. China has promulgated Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water to control water pollution, but uniform standard values may cause under-protection or over-protection. Therefore, the basic research work on water quality criteria of water source or reservoir is urgently needed. This study deduces the acute and chronic Water Quality Criteria (WQC) of copper in Biliu River by Species Sensitivity Distribution method (SSD). The result shows that BiDoseResp is the most suitable model and the acute and chronic water quality benchmark of copper are 10.72 µg•L-1 and 5.86 µg•L-1. This study provides basis for the construction of water quality standard of Liaoning and the environmental management of Biliu River.
Maximizing the accuracy of field-derived numeric nutrient criteria in water quality regulations.
McLaughlin, Douglas B
2014-01-01
High levels of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus can cause unhealthy biological or ecological conditions in surface waters and prevent the attainment of their designated uses. Regulatory agencies are developing numeric criteria for these nutrients in an effort to ensure that the surface waters in their jurisdictions remain healthy and productive, and that water quality standards are met. These criteria are often derived using field measurements that relate nutrient concentrations and other water quality conditions to expected biological responses such as undesirable growth or changes in aquatic plant and animal communities. Ideally, these numeric criteria can be used to accurately "diagnose" ecosystem health and guide management decisions. However, the degree to which numeric nutrient criteria are useful for decision making depends on how accurately they reflect the status or risk of nutrient-related biological impairments. Numeric criteria that have little predictive value are not likely to be useful for managing nutrient concerns. This paper presents information on the role of numeric nutrient criteria as biological health indicators, and the potential benefits of sufficiently accurate criteria for nutrient management. In addition, it describes approaches being proposed or adopted in states such as Florida and Maine to improve the accuracy of numeric criteria and criteria-based decisions. This includes a preference for developing site-specific criteria in cases where sufficient data are available, and the use of nutrient concentration and biological response criteria together in a framework to support designated use attainment decisions. Together with systematic planning during criteria development, the accuracy of field-derived numeric nutrient criteria can be assessed and maximized as a part of an overall effort to manage nutrient water quality concerns. © 2013 SETAC.
Boyd, Jamie M; Burton, Rachael; Butler, Barb L; Dyer, Dianne; Evans, David C; Felteau, Melissa; Gruen, Russell L; Jaffe, Kenneth M; Kortbeek, John; Lang, Eddy; Lougheed, Val; Moore, Lynne; Narciso, Michelle; Oxland, Peter; Rivara, Frederick P; Roberts, Derek; Sarakbi, Diana; Vine, Karen; Stelfox, Henry T
2017-08-01
The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the content validity of quality criteria for providing patient- and family-centered injury care. Quality criteria have been developed for clinical injury care, but not patient- and family-centered injury care. Using a modified Research AND Development Corporation (RAND)/University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Appropriateness Methodology, a panel of 16 patients, family members, injury and quality of care experts serially rated and revised criteria for patient- and family-centered injury care identified from patient and family focus groups. The criteria were then sent to 384 verified trauma centers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for evaluation. A total of 46 criteria were rated and revised by the panel over 4 rounds of review producing 14 criteria related to clinical care (n = 4; transitions of care, pain management, patient safety, provider competence), communication (n = 3; information for patients/families; communication of discharge plans to patients/families, communication between hospital and community providers), holistic care (n = 4; patient hygiene, kindness and respect, family access to patient, social and spiritual support) and end-of-life care (n = 3; decision making, end-of-life care, family follow-up). Medical directors, managers, or coordinators representing 254 trauma centers (66% response rate) rated 12 criteria to be important (95% of responses) for patient- and family-centered injury care. Fewer centers rated family access to the patient (80%) and family follow-up after patient death (65%) to be important criteria. Fourteen-candidate quality criteria for patient- and family-centered injury care were developed and shown to have content validity. These may be used to guide quality improvement practices.
Using Inspections to Improve the Quality of Product Documentation and Code.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zuchero, John
1995-01-01
Describes how, by adapting software inspections to assess documentation and code, technical writers can collaborate with development personnel, editors, and customers to dramatically improve both the quality of documentation and the very process of inspecting that documentation. Notes that the five steps involved in the inspection process are:…
Maung, K; Ohnmar, H; Than, W; Ramli, M; Najwa Hanim, M R; Ali Sabri, R; Ahmad Zafri, A B
The purposes of this study were to investigate the documentation of the DSM-IV-TR- Criteria A in diagnoses of schizophrenia and to identify the symptoms associated with over diagnosis of schizophrenia. This study involved a retrospective review and analysis of data from case notes. Data of 107 newly diagnosed patients with schizophrenia were keyed in and analyzed using SPSS v 19. The cases were then evaluated for the use of the DSM-IV-TR- Criteria A. Over diagnosis was noted in 37.39% of the patients. Disorganised behaviour (12.5%), affective flattening (12.5%), hallucination (16%) and non-bizarre delusion (18.3%) significantly contributed to the over-diagnosis of schizophrenia. Symptoms such as non-bizarre delusion and hallucination were the most commonly used in over-diagnosing schizophrenia and were statistically significant with p ≤0.05. There was a significant lack of DSM-IV-TR Criteria A among the data documented to diagnose schizophrenia and non-bizarre delusion and hallucination were the most commonly used in over-diagnosing schizophrenia. This key problem needs to be addressed. The reliability of a diagnosis is indispensable and achievable with the proper clinical application of DSM-IV-TR Criteria A. The DSM-IV-TR Criteria have been perceived to be useful and reliable and is most widely used throughout the world.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-02-15
... ``criteria pollutants.'' The air quality criteria are to ``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge... criteria. The revised air quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the... Related to the Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and...
Development of flying qualities criteria for single pilot instrument flight operations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bar-Gill, A.; Nixon, W. B.; Miller, G. E.
1982-01-01
Flying qualities criteria for Single Pilot Instrument Flight Rule (SPIFR) operations were investigated. The ARA aircraft was modified and adapted for SPIFR operations. Aircraft configurations to be flight-tested were chosen and matched on the ARA in-flight simulator, implementing modern control theory algorithms. Mission planning and experimental matrix design were completed. Microprocessor software for the onboard data acquisition system was debugged and flight-tested. Flight-path reconstruction procedure and the associated FORTRAN program were developed. Algorithms associated with the statistical analysis of flight test results and the SPIFR flying qualities criteria deduction are discussed.
Adolescent bariatric surgery: a systematic review of recommendation documents.
Childerhose, Janet E; Alsamawi, Amal; Mehta, Tanvi; Smith, Judith E; Woolford, Susan; Tarini, Beth A
2017-10-01
Bariatric surgery has been performed on adolescents since the 1970s, but little is known about the guidance offered to providers in recommendation documents published in the United States. A systematic review was conducted to generate a complete record of all US recommendation documents and describe variability across the documents. This study had 3 aims: to identify the developers, examine selection criteria, and document reasons why developers have recommended this intervention for adolescents. Four databases (MEDLINE, National Guidelines Clearinghouse, Trip, and Embase) ertr searched, followed by a hand search. Documents were eligible for inclusion if they satisfied 5 criteria: written in the English language; developed and published by a US organization; comprised a clinical practice guideline, position statement, or consensus statement; offered a minimum 1-sentence recommendation on bariatric surgery for the treatment of obesity or related co-morbidities; and offered a minimum 1-sentence recommendation on bariatric surgery for children, adolescents, or both. No date limits were applied. Sixteen recommendation documents published between 1991 and 2013 met our inclusion criteria: 10 clinical practice guidelines, 4 position statements, and 2 consensus statements. Nine were produced by medical organizations, 3 by surgical organizations, and 4 by public health/governmental bodies. One document recommended against bariatric surgery for minors, and 15 endorsed the intervention for this population. Body mass index (a measure of obesity calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters) thresholds were the selection criteria most often provided. Minimum age varied widely. Of the 15 endorsing documents, 10 provided a reason for performing bariatric surgery on minors, most often to treat obesity-related co-morbidities that threaten the health of the adolescent. We make 3 suggestions to improve the quality of future recommendation documents
Research across the disciplines: a road map for quality criteria in empirical ethics research.
Mertz, Marcel; Inthorn, Julia; Renz, Günter; Rothenberger, Lillian Geza; Salloch, Sabine; Schildmann, Jan; Wöhlke, Sabine; Schicktanz, Silke
2014-03-01
Research in the field of Empirical Ethics (EE) uses a broad variety of empirical methodologies, such as surveys, interviews and observation, developed in disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Whereas these empirical disciplines see themselves as purely descriptive, EE also aims at normative reflection. Currently there is literature about the quality of empirical research in ethics, but little or no reflection on specific methodological aspects that must be considered when conducting interdisciplinary empirical ethics. Furthermore, poor methodology in an EE study results in misleading ethical analyses, evaluations or recommendations. This not only deprives the study of scientific and social value, but also risks ethical misjudgement. While empirical and normative-ethical research projects have quality criteria in their own right, we focus on the specific quality criteria for EE research. We develop a tentative list of quality criteria--a "road map"--tailored to interdisciplinary research in EE, to guide assessments of research quality. These quality criteria fall into the categories of primary research question, theoretical framework and methods, relevance, interdisciplinary research practice and research ethics and scientific ethos. EE research is an important and innovative development in bioethics. However, a lack of standards has led to concerns about and even rejection of EE by various scholars. Our suggested orientation list of criteria, presented in the form of reflective questions, cannot be considered definitive, but serves as a tool to provoke systematic reflection during the planning and composition of an EE research study. These criteria need to be tested in different EE research settings and further refined.
Longitudinal flying qualities criteria for single-pilot instrument flight operations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stengel, R. F.; Bar-Gill, A.
1983-01-01
Modern estimation and control theory, flight testing, and statistical analysis were used to deduce flying qualities criteria for General Aviation Single Pilot Instrument Flight Rule (SPIFR) operations. The principal concern is that unsatisfactory aircraft dynamic response combined with high navigation/communication workload can produce problems of safety and efficiency. To alleviate these problems. The relative importance of these factors must be determined. This objective was achieved by flying SPIFR tasks with different aircraft dynamic configurations and assessing the effects of such variations under these conditions. The experimental results yielded quantitative indicators of pilot's performance and workload, and for each of them, multivariate regression was applied to evaluate several candidate flying qualities criteria.
Nair, Bala G; Peterson, Gene N; Newman, Shu-Fang; Wu, Wei-Ying; Kolios-Morris, Vickie; Schwid, Howard A
2012-06-01
Continuation of perioperative beta-blockers for surgical patients who are receiving beta-blockers prior to arrival for surgery is an important quality measure (SCIP-Card-2). For this measure to be considered successful, name, date, and time of the perioperative beta-blocker must be documented. Alternately, if the beta-blocker is not given, the medical reason for not administering must be documented. Before the study was conducted, the institution lacked a highly reliable process to document the date and time of self-administration of beta-blockers prior to hospital admission. Because of this, compliance with the beta-blocker quality measure was poor (-65%). To improve this measure, the anesthesia care team was made responsible for documenting perioperative beta-blockade. Clear documentation guidelines were outlined, and an electronic Anesthesia Information Management System (AIMS) was configured to facilitate complete documentation of the beta-blocker quality measure. In addition, real-time electronic alerts were generated using Smart Anesthesia Messenger (SAM), an internally developed decision-support system, to notify users concerning incomplete beta-blocker documentation. Weekly compliance for perioperative beta-blocker documentation before the study was 65.8 +/- 16.6%, which served as the baseline value. When the anesthesia care team started documenting perioperative beta-blocker in AIMS, compliance was 60.5 +/- 8.6% (p = .677 as compared with baseline). Electronic alerts with SAM improved documentation compliance to 94.6 +/- 3.5% (p < .001 as compared with baseline). To achieve high compliance for the beta-blocker measure, it is essential to (1) clearly assign a medical team to perform beta-blocker documentation and (2) enhance features in the electronic medical systems to alert the user concerning incomplete documentation.
Improving program documentation quality through the application of continuous improvement processes.
Lovlien, Cheryl A; Johansen, Martha; Timm, Sandra; Eversman, Shari; Gusa, Dorothy; Twedell, Diane
2007-01-01
Maintaining the integrity of record keeping and retrievable information related to the provision of continuing education credit creates challenges for a large organization. Accurate educational program documentation is vital to support the knowledge and professional development of nursing staff. Quality review and accurate documentation of programs for nursing staff development occurred at one institution through the use of continuous improvement principles. Integration of the new process into the current system maintains the process of providing quality record keeping.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-05
... proposing to amend the federal regulations to withdraw human health and aquatic life water quality criteria... to its surface water quality standards (New Jersey Administrative Code 7:9B), including aquatic life... pollutants covered in the 2002 and 2006 actions, New Jersey adopted water quality criteria for aquatic life...
Space Tethers: Design Criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tomlin, D. D.; Faile, G. C.; Hayashida, K. B.; Frost, C. L.; Wagner, C. Y.; Mitchell, M. L.; Vaughn, J. A.; Galuska, M. J.
1997-01-01
This document is prepared to provide a systematic process for the selection of tethers for space applications. Criteria arc provided for determining the strength requirement for tether missions and for mission success from tether severing due to micrometeoroids and orbital debris particle impacts. Background information of materials for use in space tethers is provided, including electricity-conducting tethers. Dynamic considerations for tether selection is also provided. Safety, quality, and reliability considerations are provided for a tether project.
Landing flying qualities evaluation criteria for augmented aircraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Radford, R. C.; Smith, R.; Bailey, R.
1980-01-01
The criteria evaluated were: Calspan Neal-Smith; Onstott (Northrop Time Domain); McDonnell-Douglas Equivalent System Approach; R. H. Smith Criterion. Each criterion was applied to the same set of longitudinal approach and landing flying qualities data. A revised version of the Neal-Smith criterion which is applicable to the landing task was developed and tested against other landing flying qualities data. Results indicated that both the revised Neal-Smith criterion and the Equivalent System Approach are good discriminators of pitch landing flying qualities; Neal-Smith has particular merit as a design guide, while the Equivalent System Approach is well suited for development of appropriate military specification requirements applicable to highly augmented aircraft.
Water Quality Criteria for Human Health and Aquatic Life
Collaborative effort with the Office of Water to provide science in support of the development and implementation of new or revised ambient water quality criteria for microbial and chemical contaminants for human health and aquatic life. The research also addresses implementation...
Zingg, W; Castro-Sanchez, E; Secci, F V; Edwards, R; Drumright, L N; Sevdalis, N; Holmes, A H
2016-04-01
With the aim to facilitate a more comprehensive review process in public health including patient safety, we established a tool that we have termed ICROMS (Integrated quality Criteria for the Review Of Multiple Study designs), which unifies, integrates and refines current quality criteria for a large range of study designs including qualitative research. Review, pilot testing and expert consensus. The tool is the result of an iterative four phase process over two years: 1) gathering of established criteria for assessing controlled, non-controlled and qualitative study designs; 2) pilot testing of a first version in two systematic reviews on behavioural change in infection prevention and control and in antibiotic prescribing; 3) further refinement and adding of additional study designs in the context of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control funded project 'Systematic review and evidence-based guidance on organisation of hospital infection control programmes' (SIGHT); 4) scrutiny by the pan-European expert panel of the SIGHT project, which had the objective of ensuring robustness of the systematic review. ICROMS includes established quality criteria for randomised studies, controlled before-and-after studies and interrupted time series, and incorporates criteria for non-controlled before-and-after studies, cohort studies and qualitative studies. The tool consists of two parts: 1) a list of quality criteria specific for each study design, as well as criteria applicable across all study designs by using a scoring system; 2) a 'decision matrix', which specifies the robustness of the study by identifying minimum requirements according to the study type and the relevance of the study to the review question. The decision matrix directly determines inclusion or exclusion of a study in the review. ICROMS was applied to a series of systematic reviews to test its feasibility and usefulness in the appraisal of multiple study designs. The tool was applicable
Jin, Xiaowei; Wang, Zijian; Wang, Yeyao; Lv, Yibing; Rao, Kaifeng; Jin, Wei; Giesy, John P; Leung, Kenneth M Y
2015-08-01
The potential use of toxicity data for nonnative species to derive water quality criteria is controversial because it is sometimes questioned whether criteria based on species from one geographical region provide appropriate protection for species in a different region. However, this is an important concept for the development of Chinese water quality criteria or standards. Data were assembled on 38 chemicals for which values were available for both native and nonnative species. Sensitivities of these organisms were compared based on the 5% hazardous concentration values and the species sensitivity distribution from a literature review. Results of the present study's analysis showed that there is approximately 74% certainty that use of nonnative species to generate water quality criteria would be sufficiently protective of aquatic ecosystems in China. Without applying any assessment factor to the water quality criteria generated from nonnative species, the uncertainty would be 26% when the native Chinese species might be under protection. Applying an assessment factor of 10 would offer adequate protection to native Chinese species for approximately 90% of tested chemicals and thus reduce the uncertainty from 26% to 10%. © 2015 SETAC.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Chung, D.; Ascanio, X.
1996-05-01
The Department of Energy has issued a technical standard for long-term (>50 years) storage and will soon issue a criteria document for interim (<20 years) storage of plutonium materials. The long-term technical standard, {open_quotes}Criteria for Safe Storage of Plutonium Metals and Oxides,{close_quotes} addresses the requirements for storing metals and oxides with greater than 50 wt % plutonium. It calls for a standardized package that meets both off-site transportation requirements, as well as remote handling requirements from future storage facilities. The interim criteria document, {open_quotes}Criteria for Interim Safe Storage of Plutonium-Bearing Solid Materials{close_quotes}, addresses requirements for storing materials with less thanmore » 50 wt% plutonium. The interim criteria document assumes the materials will be stored on existing sites, and existing facilities and equipment will be used for repackaging to improve the margin of safety.« less
Research across the disciplines: a road map for quality criteria in empirical ethics research
2014-01-01
Background Research in the field of Empirical Ethics (EE) uses a broad variety of empirical methodologies, such as surveys, interviews and observation, developed in disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Whereas these empirical disciplines see themselves as purely descriptive, EE also aims at normative reflection. Currently there is literature about the quality of empirical research in ethics, but little or no reflection on specific methodological aspects that must be considered when conducting interdisciplinary empirical ethics. Furthermore, poor methodology in an EE study results in misleading ethical analyses, evaluations or recommendations. This not only deprives the study of scientific and social value, but also risks ethical misjudgement. Discussion While empirical and normative-ethical research projects have quality criteria in their own right, we focus on the specific quality criteria for EE research. We develop a tentative list of quality criteria – a “road map” – tailored to interdisciplinary research in EE, to guide assessments of research quality. These quality criteria fall into the categories of primary research question, theoretical framework and methods, relevance, interdisciplinary research practice and research ethics and scientific ethos. Summary EE research is an important and innovative development in bioethics. However, a lack of standards has led to concerns about and even rejection of EE by various scholars. Our suggested orientation list of criteria, presented in the form of reflective questions, cannot be considered definitive, but serves as a tool to provoke systematic reflection during the planning and composition of an EE research study. These criteria need to be tested in different EE research settings and further refined. PMID:24580847
Air Quality Criteria for Lead (First External Review Draft)
Background:
The Clean Air Act mandates periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, also referred to as criteria pollutants, including lead. Under the review process, EPA's Office of Research and Development d...
Wilbanks, Bryan A; Geisz-Everson, Marjorie; Boust, Rebecca R
2016-09-01
Clinical documentation is a critical tool in supporting care provided to patients. Sound documentation provides a picture of clinical events that can be used to improve patient care. However, many other uses for clinical documentation are equally important. Such documentation informs clinical decision support tools, creates a legal record of patient care, assists in financial reimbursement of services, and serves as a repository for secondary data analysis. Conversely, poor documentation can impair patient safety and increase malpractice risk exposure by reflecting poor or inaccurate information that ultimately may guide patient care decisions.Through an examination of anesthesia-related closed claims, a descriptive qualitative study emerged, which explored the antecedents and consequences of documentation quality in the claims reviewed. A secondary data analysis utilized a database generated by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Foundation closed claim review team. Four major themes emerged from the analysis. Themes 1, 2, and 4 primarily describe how poor documentation quality can have negative consequences for clinicians. The third theme primarily describes how poor documentation quality that can negatively affect patient safety.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches for Quality Control of Genome-Wide Association Studies
Malovini, Alberto; Rognoni, Carla; Puca, Annibale; Bellazzi, Riccardo
2009-01-01
Experimental errors in the genotyping phases of a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) can lead to false positive findings and to spurious associations. An appropriate quality control phase could minimize the effects of this kind of errors. Several filtering criteria can be used to perform quality control. Currently, no formal methods have been proposed for taking into account at the same time these criteria and the experimenter’s preferences. In this paper we propose two strategies for setting appropriate genotyping rate thresholds for GWAS quality control. These two approaches are based on the Multi-Criteria Decision Making theory. We have applied our method on a real dataset composed by 734 individuals affected by Arterial Hypertension (AH) and 486 nonagenarians without history of AH. The proposed strategies appear to deal with GWAS quality control in a sound way, as they lead to rationalize and make explicit the experimenter’s choices thus providing more reproducible results. PMID:21347174
Multi-criteria decision making approaches for quality control of genome-wide association studies.
Malovini, Alberto; Rognoni, Carla; Puca, Annibale; Bellazzi, Riccardo
2009-03-01
Experimental errors in the genotyping phases of a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) can lead to false positive findings and to spurious associations. An appropriate quality control phase could minimize the effects of this kind of errors. Several filtering criteria can be used to perform quality control. Currently, no formal methods have been proposed for taking into account at the same time these criteria and the experimenter's preferences. In this paper we propose two strategies for setting appropriate genotyping rate thresholds for GWAS quality control. These two approaches are based on the Multi-Criteria Decision Making theory. We have applied our method on a real dataset composed by 734 individuals affected by Arterial Hypertension (AH) and 486 nonagenarians without history of AH. The proposed strategies appear to deal with GWAS quality control in a sound way, as they lead to rationalize and make explicit the experimenter's choices thus providing more reproducible results.
Nonlinear filtering for character recognition in low quality document images
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Diaz-Escobar, Julia; Kober, Vitaly
2014-09-01
Optical character recognition in scanned printed documents is a well-studied task, where the captured conditions like sheet position, illumination, contrast and resolution are controlled. Nowadays, it is more practical to use mobile devices for document capture than a scanner. So as a consequence, the quality of document images is often poor owing to presence of geometric distortions, nonhomogeneous illumination, low resolution, etc. In this work we propose to use multiple adaptive nonlinear composite filters for detection and classification of characters. Computer simulation results obtained with the proposed system are presented and discussed.
North, Frederick; Richards, Debra D; Bremseth, Kimberly A; Lee, Mary R; Cox, Debra L; Varkey, Prathibha; Stroebel, Robert J
2014-03-20
Clinical decision support (CDS) has been shown to be effective in improving medical safety and quality but there is little information on how telephone triage benefits from CDS. The aim of our study was to compare triage documentation quality associated with the use of a clinical decision support tool, ExpertRN©. We examined 50 triage documents before and after a CDS tool was used in nursing triage. To control for the effects of CDS training we had an additional control group of triage documents created by nurses who were trained in the CDS tool, but who did not use it in selected notes. The CDS intervention cohort of triage notes was compared to both the pre-CDS notes and the CDS trained (but not using CDS) cohort. Cohorts were compared using the documentation standards of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN). We also compared triage note content (documentation of associated positive and negative features relating to the symptoms, self-care instructions, and warning signs to watch for), and documentation defects pertinent to triage safety. Three of five AAACN documentation standards were significantly improved with CDS. There was a mean of 36.7 symptom features documented in triage notes for the CDS group but only 10.7 symptom features in the pre-CDS cohort (p < 0.0001) and 10.2 for the cohort that was CDS-trained but not using CDS (p < 0.0001). The difference between the mean of 10.2 symptom features documented in the pre-CDS and the mean of 10.7 symptom features documented in the CDS-trained but not using was not statistically significant (p = 0.68). CDS significantly improves triage note documentation quality. CDS-aided triage notes had significantly more information about symptoms, warning signs and self-care. The changes in triage documentation appeared to be the result of the CDS alone and not due to any CDS training that came with the CDS intervention. Although this study shows that CDS can improve documentation, further study is needed
NASA Lewis Wind Tunnel Model Systems Criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Soeder, Ronald H.; Haller, Henry C.
1994-01-01
This report describes criteria for the design, analysis, quality assurance, and documentation of models or test articles that are to be tested in the aeropropulsion facilities at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The report presents three methods for computing model allowable stresses on the basis of the yield stress or ultimate stress, and it gives quality assurance criteria for models tested in Lewis' aeropropulsion facilities. Both customer-furnished model systems and in-house model systems are discussed. The functions of the facility manager, project engineer, operations engineer, research engineer, and facility electrical engineer are defined. The format for pretest meetings, prerun safety meetings, and the model criteria review are outlined Then, the format for the model systems report (a requirement for each model that is to be tested at NASA Lewis) is described, the engineers that are responsible for developing the model systems report are listed, and the time table for its delivery to the facility manager is given.
Arnold, W Ray; Warren-Hicks, William J
2007-01-01
The object of this study was to estimate site- and region-specific dissolved copper criteria for a large embayment, the Chesapeake Bay, USA. The intent is to show the utility of 2 copper saltwater quality site-specific criteria estimation models and associated region-specific criteria selection methods. The criteria estimation models and selection methods are simple, efficient, and cost-effective tools for resource managers. The methods are proposed as potential substitutes for the US Environmental Protection Agency's water effect ratio methods. Dissolved organic carbon data and the copper criteria models were used to produce probability-based estimates of site-specific copper saltwater quality criteria. Site- and date-specific criteria estimations were made for 88 sites (n = 5,296) in the Chesapeake Bay. The average and range of estimated site-specific chronic dissolved copper criteria for the Chesapeake Bay were 7.5 and 5.3 to 16.9 microg Cu/L. The average and range of estimated site-specific acute dissolved copper criteria for the Chesapeake Bay were 11.7 and 8.3 to 26.4 microg Cu/L. The results suggest that applicable national and state copper criteria can increase in much of the Chesapeake Bay and remain protective. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality copper criteria near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, however, need to decrease to protect species of equal or greater sensitivity to that of the marine mussel, Mytilus sp.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Koenig, John C.; Billitti, Joseph W.; Tallon, John M.
1979-01-01
The environmental issues and evaluation criteria relating to the suitability of sites proposed for photovoltaic (PV) system deployment are identified. The important issues are defined, briefly discussed and then developed into evaluation criteria. System designers are provided with information on the environmental sensitivity of PV systems in realistic applications, background material which indicates the applicability of the siting issues identified, and evaluation criteria are defined to facilitate the selection of sites that maximize PV system operation.
Computer-aided documentation. Quality, productivity, coding, and enhanced reimbursement.
Foxlee, R H
1993-10-01
Physicians currently use technology, where appropriate, to improve patient care, for example, MRI and three-dimensional radiotherapy dose planning. One area that has seen limited benefit from current technology is in documenting of medical information. Review of related literature and directed interviews. Technology is available to assist in documenting the initial patient encounter. Patient care, quality of practice, and reimbursement may be improved with careful implementation. It will be worthwhile for practices to examine how to implement this technology to obtain the potential benefits.
Water quality criteria (WQC) designate the maximum concentrations of water-borne toxicants that do not adversely affect specific protection goals under certain natural conditions. As the foundation of water quality standards, WQC provide a critical scientific basis for environmen...
Criteria for assessing the quality of mHealth apps: a systematic review.
Nouri, Rasool; R Niakan Kalhori, Sharareh; Ghazisaeedi, Marjan; Marchand, Guillaume; Yasini, Mobin
2018-05-16
Review the existing studies including an assessment tool/method to assess the quality of mHealth apps; extract their criteria; and provide a classification of the collected criteria. In accordance with the PRISMA statement, a literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBase, ISI and Scopus for English language citations published from January 1, 2008 to December 22, 2016 for studies including tools or methods for quality assessment of mHealth apps. Two researchers screened the titles and abstracts of all retrieved citations against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The full text of relevant papers was then individually examined by the same researchers. A senior researcher resolved eventual disagreements and confirmed the relevance of all included papers. The authors, date of publication, subject fields of target mHealth apps, development method, and assessment criteria were extracted from each paper. The extracted assessment criteria were then reviewed, compared, and classified by an expert panel of two medical informatics specialists and two health information management specialists. Twenty-three papers were included in the review. Thirty-eight main classes of assessment criteria were identified. These were reorganized by expert panel into 7 main classes (Design, Information/Content, Usability, Functionality, Ethical Issues, Security and Privacy, and User-perceived value) with 37 sub-classes of criteria. There is a wide heterogeneity in assessment criteria for mHealth apps. It is necessary to define the exact meanings and degree of distinctness of each criterion. This will help to improve the existing tools and may lead to achieve a better comprehensive mHealth app assessment tool.
ASSESSING BIOACCUMULATION FOR DERIVING NATIONAL HUMAN HEALTH WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is revising its methodology for deriving national ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) to protect human health. A component of this guidance involves assessing the potential for chemical bioaccumulation in commonly consumed fish ...
State-of-Science Approaches to Determine Sensitive Taxa for Water Quality Criteria Derivation
Current Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC) guidelines specify pre-defined taxa diversity requirements, which has limited chemical-specific criteria development in the U.S. to less than 100 chemicals. A priori knowledge of sensitive taxa to toxicologically similar groups of che...
2014-01-01
Background Clinical decision support (CDS) has been shown to be effective in improving medical safety and quality but there is little information on how telephone triage benefits from CDS. The aim of our study was to compare triage documentation quality associated with the use of a clinical decision support tool, ExpertRN©. Methods We examined 50 triage documents before and after a CDS tool was used in nursing triage. To control for the effects of CDS training we had an additional control group of triage documents created by nurses who were trained in the CDS tool, but who did not use it in selected notes. The CDS intervention cohort of triage notes was compared to both the pre-CDS notes and the CDS trained (but not using CDS) cohort. Cohorts were compared using the documentation standards of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN). We also compared triage note content (documentation of associated positive and negative features relating to the symptoms, self-care instructions, and warning signs to watch for), and documentation defects pertinent to triage safety. Results Three of five AAACN documentation standards were significantly improved with CDS. There was a mean of 36.7 symptom features documented in triage notes for the CDS group but only 10.7 symptom features in the pre-CDS cohort (p < 0.0001) and 10.2 for the cohort that was CDS-trained but not using CDS (p < 0.0001). The difference between the mean of 10.2 symptom features documented in the pre-CDS and the mean of 10.7 symptom features documented in the CDS-trained but not using was not statistically significant (p = 0.68). Conclusions CDS significantly improves triage note documentation quality. CDS-aided triage notes had significantly more information about symptoms, warning signs and self-care. The changes in triage documentation appeared to be the result of the CDS alone and not due to any CDS training that came with the CDS intervention. Although this study shows that CDS
Fact Sheet: Revised National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health
2003 Revised National Recommended Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health. 15 Pollutants revised criteria will be published including, chlorobenzene, cyanide, endrin, ethylbenzene, lindane, thallium, toluene, and more.
This Technical Guidance Document is intended to augment the numerous construction quality control and construction quality assurance (CQC and CQA) documents that are available far materials associated with waste containment systems developed for Superfund site remediation. In ge...
Criteria to Extract High-Quality Protein Data Bank Subsets for Structure Users.
Carugo, Oliviero; Djinović-Carugo, Kristina
2016-01-01
It is often necessary to build subsets of the Protein Data Bank to extract structural trends and average values. For this purpose it is mandatory that the subsets are non-redundant and of high quality. The first problem can be solved relatively easily at the sequence level or at the structural level. The second, on the contrary, needs special attention. It is not sufficient, in fact, to consider the crystallographic resolution and other feature must be taken into account: the absence of strings of residues from the electron density maps and from the files deposited in the Protein Data Bank; the B-factor values; the appropriate validation of the structural models; the quality of the electron density maps, which is not uniform; and the temperature of the diffraction experiments. More stringent criteria produce smaller subsets, which can be enlarged with more tolerant selection criteria. The incessant growth of the Protein Data Bank and especially of the number of high-resolution structures is allowing the use of more stringent selection criteria, with a consequent improvement of the quality of the subsets of the Protein Data Bank.
Ernst, E J; Speck, Patricia M; Fitzpatrick, Joyce J
2011-12-01
With the patient's consent, physical injuries sustained in a sexual assault are evaluated and treated by the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) and documented on preprinted traumagrams and with photographs. Digital imaging is now available to the SANE for documentation of sexual assault injuries, but studies of the image quality of forensic digital imaging of female genital injuries after sexual assault were not found in the literature. The Photo Documentation Image Quality Scoring System (PDIQSS) was developed to rate the image quality of digital photo documentation of female genital injuries after sexual assault. Three expert observers performed evaluations on 30 separate images at two points in time. An image quality score, the sum of eight integral technical and anatomical attributes on the PDIQSS, was obtained for each image. Individual image quality ratings, defined by rating image quality for each of the data, were also determined. The results demonstrated a high level of image quality and agreement when measured in all dimensions. For the SANE in clinical practice, the results of this study indicate that a high degree of agreement exists between expert observers when using the PDIQSS to rate image quality of individual digital photographs of female genital injuries after sexual assault. © 2011 International Association of Forensic Nurses.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 90.510 Section 90.510....510 Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective...
The present Supplement to the Second Addendum (1986) to the document Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides (1982) focuses on evaluation of newly available controlled human exposure studies of acute (a\\1h) sulfur dioxide (SO2) exposure effects on pulmonary ...
Performance measures and criteria for hydrologic and water quality models
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Performance measures and criteria are essential for model calibration and validation. This presentation will include a summary of one of the papers that will be included in the 2014 Hydrologic and Water Quality Model Calibration & Validation Guidelines Special Collection of the ASABE Transactions. T...
Towards quality criteria for regional public health reporting: concept mapping with Dutch experts.
van Bon-Martens, Marja J H; Achterberg, Peter W; van de Goor, Ien A M; van Oers, Hans A M
2012-06-01
In the Netherlands, municipal health assessments are carried out by 28 Regional Health Services, serving 418 municipalities. In the absence of guidelines, regional public health reports were developed in two pilot regions on the basis of the model and experience of national health reporting. Though they were well received and positively evaluated, it was not clear which specific characteristics determined 'good public health reporting'. Therefore, this study was set up to develop a theoretical framework for the quality of regional public health reporting in The Netherlands. Using concept mapping as a standardized tool for conceptualization, 35 relevant reporting experts formulated short statements in two different brainstorming sessions, describing specific quality criteria of regional public health reports. After the removal of duplicates, the list was supplemented with international criteria, and the statements were sent to each participant for rating and sorting. The results were processed statistically and represented graphically. The output was discussed and interpreted, leading to the final concept map. The final concept map consisted of 97 criteria, grouped into 13 clusters, and plotted in two dimensions: a 'product' dimension, ranging from 'production' to 'content', and a 'context' dimension, ranging from 'science' to 'policy'. The three most important clusters were: (i) 'solution orientation', (ii) 'policy relevance' and (iii) 'policy impact'. This study provided a theoretical framework for the quality of regional public health reporting, indicating relevant domains and criteria. Further work should translate domains and criteria into operational indicators for evaluating regional public health reports.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 91.608 Section 91.608... with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed engine is one whose final test...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 89.510 Section 89.510... Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed engine is one whose final...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 89.510 Section 89.510... Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed engine is one whose final...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 91.608 Section 91.608... with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed engine is one whose final test...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 91.608 Section 91.608... with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed engine is one whose final test...
Jones, Roger; Hunt, Claire; Stevens, Richard; Dalrymple, Jamie; Driscoll, Richard; Sleet, Sarah; Smith, Jonathan Blanchard
2009-01-01
Background Although gastrointestinal disorders are common in general practice, clinical guidelines are not always implemented, and few patient-generated quality criteria are available to guide management. Aim To develop quality criteria for the management of four common gastrointestinal disorders: coeliac disease, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. Design of study Qualitative study including thematic analysis of transcripts from patient focus groups and content analysis of published clinical practice guidelines. Emergent themes were synthesised by a consensus panel, into quality criteria for each condition. Setting Community-based practice in England, UK. Methods Fourteen focus groups were conducted (four for coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease, and two for GORD) involving a total of 93 patients (64 females, 29 males; mean age 55.4 years). Quality criteria were based on patients' views and expectations, synthesised with an analysis of clinical practice guidelines. Results A chronic disease management model was developed for each condition. Key themes included improving the timeliness and accuracy of diagnosis, appropriate use of investigations, better provision of information for patients, including access to patient organisations, better communication with, and access to, secondary care providers, and structured follow-up and regular review, particularly for coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Conclusion This study provides a model for the development of quality markers for chronic disease management in gastroenterology, which is likely to be applicable to other chronic conditions. PMID:19520018
The Baldrige Award for Education: How To Measure and Document Quality Improvement.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arcaro, Jerome S.
This volume describes in practical terms how schools and colleges can use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award assessment as a tool to document and measure areas of existing quality and to identify areas for improvement. This Award is currently given annually to recognize quality in business companies with plans to expand it to include…
Schnabel, M; Mann, D; Efe, T; Schrappe, M; V Garrel, T; Gotzen, L; Schaeg, M
2004-10-01
The introduction of the German Diagnostic Related Groups (D-DRG) system requires redesigning administrative patient management strategies. Wrong coding leads to inaccurate grouping and endangers the reimbursement of treatment costs. This situation emphasizes the roles of documentation and coding as factors of economical success. The aims of this study were to assess the quantity and quality of initial documentation and coding (ICD-10 and OPS-301) and find operative strategies to improve efficiency and strategic means to ensure optimal documentation and coding quality. In a prospective study, documentation and coding quality were evaluated in a standardized way by weekly assessment. Clinical data from 1385 inpatients were processed for initial correctness and quality of documentation and coding. Principal diagnoses were found to be accurate in 82.7% of cases, inexact in 7.1%, and wrong in 10.1%. Effects on financial returns occurred in 16%. Based on these findings, an optimized, interdisciplinary, and multiprofessional workflow on medical documentation, coding, and data control was developed. Workflow incorporating regular assessment of documentation and coding quality is required by the DRG system to ensure efficient accounting of hospital services. Interdisciplinary and multiprofessional cooperation is recognized to be an important factor in establishing an efficient workflow in medical documentation and coding.
Practice and documentation of palliative sedation: a quality improvement initiative
McKinnon, M.; Azevedo, C.; Bush, S.H.; Lawlor, P.; Pereira, J.
2014-01-01
Background Palliative sedation (ps), the continuous use of sedating doses of medication to intentionally reduce consciousness and relieve refractory symptoms at end of life, is ethically acceptable if administered according to standards of best practice. Procedural guidelines outlining the appropriate use of ps and the need for rigorous documentation have been developed. As a quality improvement strategy, we audited the practice and documentation of ps on our palliative care unit (pcu). Methods A pharmacy database search of admissions in 2008 identified, for a subsequent chart review, patients who had received either a continuous infusion of midazolam (≥10 mg/24 h), regular parenteral dosing of methotrimeprazine (≥75 mg daily), or regular phenobarbital. Documentation of the decision-making process, consent, and medication use was collected using a data extraction form based on current international ps standards. Results Interpretation and comparison of data were difficult because of an apparent lack of a consistent operational definition of ps. Patient records had no specific documentation in relation to ps initiation, to clearly identified refractory symptoms, and to informed consent in 60 (64.5%), 43 (46.2%), and 38 (40.9%) charts respectively. Variation in the medications used was marked: 54 patients (58%) were started on a single agent and 39 (42%), on multiple agents. The 40 patients (43%) started on midazolam alone received a mean daily dose of 21.4 mg (standard deviation: 24.6 mg). Conclusions The lack of documentation and standardized practice of ps on our pcu has resulted in a quality improvement program to address those gaps. They also highlight the importance of conducting research and developing clinical guidelines in this area. PMID:24764700
Audit cycle of documentation in laser hair removal.
Cohen, S N; Lanigan, S W
2005-09-01
Lasercare clinics are one of the largest providers of skin laser treatment in the United Kingdom, in both private sector and National Health Service. Laser hair removal is performed by trained nurses following written protocols. Choice of laser and fluence is tailored to Fitzpatrick skin type. We audited and re-audited documentation of six criteria in patients receiving laser hair removal (signed consent, Fitzpatrick skin type, use of appropriate laser, appropriate fluence, patient satisfaction and objective assessment) across 13 clinics at different points in time. Data were obtained on 772 treatments. Overall findings revealed excellent documentation of consent, use of appropriate laser and fluence (median 100%), good documentation of skin type (median 90%) and poor documentation of patient satisfaction and objective assessment (median 67% and 53%, respectively). Comparison between baseline and repeat audit at 6-8 months (nine clinics) showed significant improvement across clinics in these latter two criteria [patient satisfaction: odds ratio (OR) 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15-0.78, P=0.01; objective assessment: OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.07-0.50, P=0.0003 (Mantel-Haenszel weighted odds ratios)]. We conclude that quality of documentation was generally and consistently high in multiple clinics and that re-auditing led to significant improvement in poor scores. This simple measure could easily be implemented more widely across many disciplines.
Space shuttle program: Lightning protection criteria document
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1975-01-01
The lightning environment for space shuttle design is defined and requirements that the design must satisfy to insure protection of the vehicle system from direct and indirect effects of lightning are imposed. Specifications, criteria, and guidelines included provide a practical and logical approach to protection problems.
Document of standardization of enteral nutrition access in adults.
Arribas, Lorena; Frías, Laura; Creus, Gloria; Parejo, Juana; Urzola, Carmen; Ashbaugh, Rosana; Pérez-Portabella, Cleofé; Cuerda, Cristina
2014-07-01
The group of standardization and protocols of the Spanish Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (SENPE) published in 2011 a consensus document SENPE/SEGHNP/ANECIPN/SECP on enteral access for paediatric nutritional support. Along the lines of this document, we have developed another document on adult patients to homogenize the clinical practice and improve the quality of care in enteral access in this age group. The working group included health professionals (nurses, dietitians and doctor) with extensive experience in enteral nutrition and access. We tried to find scientific evidence through a literature review and we used the criteria of the Agency for Health-care Research and Quality (AHRQ) to classify the evidence (Grade of Recommendation A, B or C). Later the document was reviewed by external experts to the group and requested the endorsement of the Scientific and Educational Committee (CCE) and the group of home artificial nutrition (NADYA) of the SENPE. The full text will be published as a monograph number in this journal. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.
Putting ISO 9000 Standards and Baldrige Quality Criteria To Work Now in Public Education.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Don
1999-01-01
The National Association for Industry-Education Cooperation (NAIEC) creates an approach for school system improvement that combines the necessary standards for achieving mileposts of the Baldrige Quality Criteria and the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 9000 Standards for Education. Together, the Baldrige Criteria and ISO…
Kleczka, Bernadette; Musiega, Anita; Rabut, Grace; Wekesa, Phoebe; Mwaniki, Paul; Marx, Michael; Kumar, Pratap
2018-06-01
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #3.8 targets 'access to quality essential healthcare services'. Clinical practice guidelines are an important tool for ensuring quality of clinical care, but many challenges prevent their use in low-resource settings. Monitoring the use of guidelines relies on cumbersome clinical audits of paper records, and electronic systems face financial and other limitations. Here we describe a unique approach to generating digital data from paper using guideline-based templates, rubber stamps and mobile phones. The Guidelines Adherence in Slums Project targeted ten private sector primary healthcare clinics serving informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Each clinic was provided with rubber stamp templates to support documentation and management of commonly encountered outpatient conditions. Participatory design methods were used to customize templates to the workflows and infrastructure of each clinic. Rubber stamps were used to print templates into paper charts, providing clinicians with checklists for use during consultations. Templates used bubble format data entry, which could be digitized from images taken on mobile phones. Besides rubber stamp templates, the intervention included booklets of guideline compilations, one Android phone for digitizing images of templates, and one data feedback/continuing medical education session per clinic each month. In this paper we focus on the effect of the intervention on documentation of three non-communicable diseases in one clinic. Seventy charts of patients enrolled in the chronic disease program (hypertension/diabetes, n=867; chronic respiratory diseases, n=223) at one of the ten intervention clinics were sampled. Documentation of each individual patient encounter in the pre-intervention (January-March 2016) and post-intervention period (May-July) was scored for information in four dimensions - general data, patient assessment, testing, and management. Control criteria included
Estimation of Effect Thresholds for the Development of Water Quality Criteria
Biological and ecological effect thresholds can be used for determining safe levels of nontraditional stressors. The U.S. EPA Framework for Developing Suspended and Bedded Sediments (SABS) Water Quality Criteria (WQC) [36] uses a risk assessment approach to estimate effect thre...
A survey-based benchmarking approach for health care using the Baldrige quality criteria.
Jennings, K; Westfall, F
1994-09-01
Since 1988, manufacturing and service industries have been using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to assess their management processes (for example, leadership, information, and analysis) against critical performance criteria. Recognizing that the typical Baldrige assessment is time intensive and dependent on intensive training, The Pacer Group, a consulting firm in Dayton, Ohio, developed a self-assessment tool based on the Baldrige criteria which provides a snapshot assessment of an organization's management practices. The survey was administered at 25 hospitals within a health care system. Hospitals were able to compare their scores with other hospitals in the system, as well as the scores of a Baldrige award winner. Results were also analyzed on a systemwide basis to identify strengths and weaknesses across the system. For all 25 hospitals, the following areas were identified as strengths: management of process quality, leadership, and customer focus and satisfaction. Weaknesses included lack of employee involvement in the quality planning process, poor design of quality systems, and lack of cross-departmental cooperation. One of the surveyed hospitals launched improvement initiatives in knowledge of improvement tools and methods and in a patient satisfaction focus. A team was formed to improve the human resource management system. Also, a new unit was designed using patient-centered care principles. A team re-evaluated every operation that affected patients on the unit. A survey modeled after the Baldrige Award criteria can be useful in benchmarking an organization's quality improvement practices.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ashwin, Paul; Abbas, Andrea; McLean, Monica
2015-01-01
This article examines the ways in which a high-quality system of undergraduate education is represented in recent policy documents from a range of actors interested in higher education. Drawing on Basil Bernstein's ideas, the authors conceptualise the policy documents as reflecting a struggle over competing views of quality that are expressed…
Handling qualities criteria for the space shuttle orbiter during the terminal phase of flight
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stapleford, R. L.; Klein, R. H.; Hob, R. H.
1972-01-01
It was found that large portions of the military handling qualities specification are directly applicable. However a number of additional and substitute criteria are recommended for areas not covered or inadequately covered in the military specification. Supporting pilot/vehicle analyses and simulation experiments were conducted and are described. Results are also presented of analytical and simulator evaluations of three specific interim Orbiter designs which provided a test of the proposed handling qualities criteria. The correlations between the analytical and experimental evaluations were generally excellent.
78 FR 70040 - Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides-Health Criteria
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-11-22
... (NO 2 ). The Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), in conjunction with additional technical and policy... the secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for NO 2 , in conjunction with a review of the secondary NAAQS for... called an Air Quality Criteria Document). The ISA, in conjunction with additional technical and policy...
Alava, Juan José; Ross, Peter S; Lachmuth, Cara; Ford, John K B; Hickie, Brendan E; Gobas, Frank A P C
2012-11-20
The development of an area-based polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) food-web bioaccumulation model enabled a critical evaluation of the efficacy of sediment quality criteria and prey tissue residue guidelines in protecting fish-eating resident killer whales of British Columbia and adjacent waters. Model-predicted and observed PCB concentrations in resident killer whales and Chinook salmon were in good agreement, supporting the model's application for risk assessment and criteria development. Model application shows that PCB concentrations in the sediments from the resident killer whale's Critical Habitats and entire foraging range leads to PCB concentrations in most killer whales that exceed PCB toxicity threshold concentrations reported for marine mammals. Results further indicate that current PCB sediment quality and prey tissue residue criteria for fish-eating wildlife are not protective of killer whales and are not appropriate for assessing risks of PCB-contaminated sediments to high trophic level biota. We present a novel methodology for deriving sediment quality criteria and tissue residue guidelines that protect biota of high trophic levels under various PCB management scenarios. PCB concentrations in sediments and in prey that are deemed protective of resident killer whale health are much lower than current criteria values, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of high trophic level marine mammals to persistent and bioaccumulative contaminants.
Deriving Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Standards
Tango, Peter J.; Batiuk, Richard A.
2013-01-01
Achieving and maintaining the water quality conditions necessary to protect the aquatic living resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries has required a foundation of quantifiable water quality criteria. Quantitative criteria serve as a critical basis for assessing the attainment of designated uses and measuring progress toward meeting water quality goals of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. In 1987, the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership committed to defining the water quality conditions necessary to protect aquatic living resources. Under section 303(c) of the Clean Water Act, States and authorized tribes have the primary responsibility for adopting water quality standards into law or regulation. The Chesapeake Bay Program partnership worked with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop and publish a guidance framework of ambient water quality criteria with designated uses and assessment procedures for dissolved oxygen, water clarity, and chlorophyll a for Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries in 2003. This article reviews the derivation of the water quality criteria, criteria assessment protocols, designated use boundaries, and their refinements published in six addendum documents since 2003 and successfully adopted into each jurisdiction's water quality standards used in developing the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load.
Comeau, Robyn; Craig, Catherine
2014-03-01
Documentation of deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia is a valuable communication skill necessary for residents to attain during residency training. Our objective was to determine whether the teaching of documentation of shoulder dystocia in a simulation environment would translate to improved documentation of the event in an actual clinical situation. We conducted a cohort study involving obstetrics and gynaecology residents in years 2 to 5 between November 2010 and December 2012. Each resident participated in a shoulder dystocia simulation teaching session and was asked to write a delivery note immediately afterwards. They were given feedback regarding their performance of the delivery and their documentation of the events. Following this, dictated records of shoulder dystocia deliveries immediately before and after the simulation session were identified through the Meditech system. An itemized checklist was used to assess the quality of residents' dictated documentation before and after the simulation session. All eligible residents (18) enrolled in the study, and 17 met the inclusion criteria. For 10 residents (59%) documentation of a delivery with shoulder dystocia was present before and after the simulation session, for five residents (29%) it was only present before the session, and for two residents (18%) it was only present after the session. When residents were assessed as a group, there were no differences in the proportion of residents recording items on the checklist before and after the simulation session (P > 0.05 for all). Similarly, analysis of the performance of the10 residents who had dictated documentation both before and after the session showed no differences in the number of elements recorded on dictations done before and after the simulation session (P > 0.05 for all). The teaching of shoulder dystocia documentation through simulation did not result in a measurable improvement in the quality of documentation of shoulder dystocia in
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. 86.610-98 Section 86.610-98... quality level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed vehicle is one whose final deteriorated test results...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. 86.610-98 Section 86.610-98... quality level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed vehicle is one whose final deteriorated test results...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. 86.610-98 Section 86.610-98... quality level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed vehicle is one whose final deteriorated test results...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. 86.610-98 Section 86.610-98... quality level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed vehicle is one whose final deteriorated test results...
[Quality control criteria in the surgical management of advanced ovarian cancers].
Querleu, D; Narducci, F
2009-12-01
Two concurrent policies can be proposed to improve the quality of care for ovarian cancer surgery: organization of care, audit. The two policies are not to be opposed: the efficacy of any policy must be audited, targets are more rapidly reached and more easily audited when an underlying organization is available. However, the arbitrary definition of criteria is a challenge. The interpretation of results depends on the context of each individual center. There is a definite risk of unwanted effects: competition to reach the cut-off if quantitative caseload criteria are demanded, reduction of the quality of cytoreduction if the complication rate is included, selection of patients if the rate of complete cytoreduction is chosen as a major parameter. Quality control must encompass the standard of preoperative workup, the quality of operative report, the complication rate and the oncological outcome. Although quantitative yearly caseload requirements may contribute to the quality of care, it seems more pertinent to recall the prerequisites that the surgeon must fulfil before undertaking a surgery for ovarian cancer. Knowledge of the specific features of the disease and of all the components of its medical management, skills in general surgical procedures required to complete staging and cytoreduction, and contribution to a multidisciplinary team involved in clinical research are mandatory. Even though no definitive proof is available, the available information tend to show a superiority of the standard of surgical care provided by experienced or specialized surgeons.
[Multimodal document management in radiotherapy].
Fahrner, H; Kirrmann, S; Röhner, F; Schmucker, M; Hall, M; Heinemann, F
2013-12-01
After incorporating treatment planning and the organisational model of treatment planning in the operating schedule system (BAS, "Betriebsablaufsystem"), complete document qualities were embedded in the digital environment. The aim of this project was to integrate all documents independent of their source (paper-bound or digital) and to make content from the BAS available in a structured manner. As many workflow steps as possible should be automated, e.g. assigning a document to a patient in the BAS. Additionally it must be guaranteed that at all times it could be traced who, when, how and from which source documents were imported into the departmental system. Furthermore work procedures should be changed that the documentation conducted either directly in the departmental system or from external systems can be incorporated digitally and paper document can be completely avoided (e.g. documents such as treatment certificate, treatment plans or documentation). It was a further aim, if possible, to automate the removal of paper documents from the departmental work flow, or even to make such paper documents superfluous. In this way patient letters for follow-up appointments should automatically generated from the BAS. Similarly patient record extracts in the form of PDF files should be enabled, e.g. for controlling purposes. The available document qualities were analysed in detail by a multidisciplinary working group (BAS-AG) and after this examination and assessment of the possibility of modelling in our departmental workflow (BAS) they were transcribed into a flow diagram. The gathered specifications were implemented in a test environment by the clinical and administrative IT group of the department of radiation oncology and subsequent to a detailed analysis introduced into clinical routine. The department has succeeded under the conditions of the aforementioned criteria to embed all relevant documents in the departmental workflow via continuous processes. Since the
Photovoltaic system criteria documents. Volume 4: Review criteria for photovoltaic applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Koenig, John C.; Billitti, Joseph W.; Tallon, John M.
1979-01-01
Guidelines are provided for the organization, preparation and conduct of program reviews for photovoltaic applications. These criteria apply to all photovoltaic applications. They include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Conceptual design review; (2) Preliminary design review; (3) Critical design review; and (4) Operational readiness review. Contract goal's and objectives are met through program monitoring for cost, schedule, and performance for both managerial and technical elements for all PV applications activities.
These documents provide allocations of phosphorus loads to Lake Champlain to meet water quality criteria, describe basis for allocation for future growth, & describe how implementation measures were simulated to determine that allocations can be achieved
48 CFR 46.203 - Criteria for use of contract quality requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Criteria for use of contract quality requirements. 46.203 Section 46.203 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...) Commercial (described in commercial catalogs, drawings, or industrial standards; see part 2); or (2) Military...
48 CFR 46.203 - Criteria for use of contract quality requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Criteria for use of contract quality requirements. 46.203 Section 46.203 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...) Commercial (described in commercial catalogs, drawings, or industrial standards; see part 2); or (2) Military...
48 CFR 46.203 - Criteria for use of contract quality requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Criteria for use of contract quality requirements. 46.203 Section 46.203 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...) Commercial (described in commercial catalogs, drawings, or industrial standards; see part 2); or (2) Military...
48 CFR 46.203 - Criteria for use of contract quality requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Criteria for use of contract quality requirements. 46.203 Section 46.203 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...) Commercial (described in commercial catalogs, drawings, or industrial standards; see part 2); or (2) Military...
48 CFR 46.203 - Criteria for use of contract quality requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Criteria for use of contract quality requirements. 46.203 Section 46.203 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...) Commercial (described in commercial catalogs, drawings, or industrial standards; see part 2); or (2) Military...
A conditional probability approach using monitoring data to develop geographic-specific water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life is presented. Typical methods to develop criteria using existing monitoring data are limited by two issues: (1) how to extrapolate to an...
Development of reclaimed potable water quality criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Flory, D. A.; Weir, F. W.
1979-01-01
In order to minimize launch requirements necessary to meet the demands of long-term spaceflight, NASA will reuse water reclaimed from various on-board sources including urine, feces, wash water and humidity condensate. Development of reclamation systems requires the promulgation of water quality standards for potable reuse of the reclaimed water. Existing standards for domestic U.S. potable water consumption were developed, but do not consider the peculiar problems associated with the potable reuse of recycled water. An effort was made to: (1) define a protocol by which comprehensive reclaimed water potability/palatability criteria can be established and updated; and (2) continue the effort to characterize the organic content of reclaimed water in the Regenerative Life Support Evaluation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldman, Juliette D. G.; Collier-Harris, Christine A.
2017-01-01
Quality school-based sexuality education is important for all children and adolescents. The global trend towards students' earlier, longer, and technologically connected pubertal experience makes the timely provision of such education particularly significant. Quality international sexuality education documents are available for teachers…
McDonald, Heather; Charles, Cathy; Gafni, Amiram
2011-01-01
Abstract Context Promoting patient participation in treatment decision making is of increasing interest to researchers, clinicians and policy makers. Decision aids (DAs) are advocated as one way to help achieve this goal. Despite their proliferation, there has been little agreement on criteria or standards for evaluating these tools. To fill this gap, an international collaboration of researchers and others interested in the development, content and quality of DAs have worked over the past several years to develop a checklist and, based on this checklist, an instrument for determining whether any given DA meets a defined set of quality criteria. Objective/Methods In this paper, we offer a framework for assessing the conceptual clarity and evidence base used to support the development of quality criteria/standards for evaluating DAs. We then apply this framework to assess the conceptual clarity and evidence base underlying the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) checklist criteria for one of the checklist domains: how best to present in DAs probability information to patients on treatment benefits and risks. Conclusion We found that some of the central concepts underlying the presenting probabilities domain were not defined. We also found gaps in the empirical evidence and theoretical support for this domain and criteria within this domain. Finally, we offer suggestions for steps that should be undertaken for further development and refinement of quality standards for DAs in the future. PMID:22050440
Ernst, E J; Speck, P M; Fitzpatrick, J J
2012-01-01
Digital photography is a valuable adjunct to document physical injuries after sexual assault. In order for a digital photograph to have high image quality, there must exist a high level of naturalness. Digital photo documentation has varying degrees of naturalness; however, for a photograph to be natural, specific technical elements for the viewer must be satisfied. No tool was available to rate the naturalness of digital photo documentation of female genital injuries after sexual assault. The Photo Documentation Image Quality Scoring System (PDIQSS) tool was developed to rate technical elements for naturalness. Using this tool, experts evaluated randomly selected digital photographs of female genital injuries captured following sexual assault. Naturalness of female genital injuries following sexual assault was demonstrated when measured in all dimensions.
Ghadri, Jelena-Rima; Wittstein, Ilan Shor; Prasad, Abhiram; Sharkey, Scott; Dote, Keigo; Akashi, Yoshihiro John; Cammann, Victoria Lucia; Crea, Filippo; Galiuto, Leonarda; Desmet, Walter; Yoshida, Tetsuro; Manfredini, Roberto; Eitel, Ingo; Kosuge, Masami; Nef, Holger M; Deshmukh, Abhishek; Lerman, Amir; Bossone, Eduardo; Citro, Rodolfo; Ueyama, Takashi; Corrado, Domenico; Kurisu, Satoshi; Ruschitzka, Frank; Winchester, David; Lyon, Alexander R; Omerovic, Elmir; Bax, Jeroen J; Meimoun, Patrick; Tarantini, Guiseppe; Rihal, Charanjit; Y-Hassan, Shams; Migliore, Federico; Horowitz, John D; Shimokawa, Hiroaki; Lüscher, Thomas Felix; Templin, Christian
2018-06-07
Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a poorly recognized heart disease that was initially regarded as a benign condition. Recently, it has been shown that TTS may be associated with severe clinical complications including death and that its prevalence is probably underestimated. Since current guidelines on TTS are lacking, it appears timely and important to provide an expert consensus statement on TTS. The clinical expert consensus document part I summarizes the current state of knowledge on clinical presentation and characteristics of TTS and agrees on controversies surrounding TTS such as nomenclature, different TTS types, role of coronary artery disease, and etiology. This consensus also proposes new diagnostic criteria based on current knowledge to improve diagnostic accuracy.
Ghadri, Jelena-Rima; Wittstein, Ilan Shor; Prasad, Abhiram; Sharkey, Scott; Dote, Keigo; Akashi, Yoshihiro John; Cammann, Victoria Lucia; Crea, Filippo; Galiuto, Leonarda; Desmet, Walter; Yoshida, Tetsuro; Manfredini, Roberto; Eitel, Ingo; Kosuge, Masami; Nef, Holger M; Deshmukh, Abhishek; Lerman, Amir; Bossone, Eduardo; Citro, Rodolfo; Ueyama, Takashi; Corrado, Domenico; Kurisu, Satoshi; Ruschitzka, Frank; Winchester, David; Lyon, Alexander R; Omerovic, Elmir; Bax, Jeroen J; Meimoun, Patrick; Tarantini, Guiseppe; Rihal, Charanjit; Y.-Hassan, Shams; Migliore, Federico; Horowitz, John D; Shimokawa, Hiroaki; Lüscher, Thomas Felix; Templin, Christian
2018-01-01
Abstract Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a poorly recognized heart disease that was initially regarded as a benign condition. Recently, it has been shown that TTS may be associated with severe clinical complications including death and that its prevalence is probably underestimated. Since current guidelines on TTS are lacking, it appears timely and important to provide an expert consensus statement on TTS. The clinical expert consensus document part I summarizes the current state of knowledge on clinical presentation and characteristics of TTS and agrees on controversies surrounding TTS such as nomenclature, different TTS types, role of coronary artery disease, and etiology. This consensus also proposes new diagnostic criteria based on current knowledge to improve diagnostic accuracy. PMID:29850871
[Quality criteria and indicators of women's health care].
Mandú, Edir Nei Teixeira
2005-04-01
In this article, quality criteria and indicators of the basic care of the woman's health are presented with emphasis on the sexual and reproductive health that can be used in the management of supervision practices. In its elaboration, formulations regarding the evaluating practice, the managerial work, the full care to the woman's health (sexual and reproductive) are taken into consideration, besides proposals of the Health Ministry for monitoring the attention to this specific group. It focuses mainly on care and vigilance actions as to the women's health and on organizational and managerial aspects of such care.
Tools Used to Evaluate Written Medicine and Health Information: Document and User Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Luk, Alice; Aslani, Parisa
2011-01-01
This study aims to identify and review tools used to evaluate consumer-oriented written medicine (WMI) and health (WHI) information from a document and user perspective. Articles that met the following inclusion criteria were reviewed: studies evaluating readability, presentation, suitability, quality of WMI/WHI. A total of 152 articles were…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cooke, Brian
The criteria used for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award can provide community colleges with a strategic tool for college planning, management, assessment, and accreditation. The Criteria focus on two measurable objectives for institutional effectiveness: the delivery of educational value to current and future students through instruction…
The specific requirements for taxa diversity of the 1985 guidelines have limited the number of ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) developed for aquatic life protection. The EPA developed the Web-based Interspecies Correlation Estimation (Web-ICE) tool to allow extrapolation of...
Considerations in the Derivation of Water Quality Criteria for Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals
When the USEPA’s 1985 guidelines for deriving numerical water quality criteria (WQC) for the protection of aquatic life were developed there was little anticipation that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) would be come a widespread environmental issue. While the basic guidelin...
Application of frequency domain handling qualities criteria to the longitudinal landing task
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sarrafian, S. K.; Powers, B. G.
1985-01-01
Three frequency-domain handling qualities criteria have been applied to the observed data to correlate the actual pilot ratings assigned to generic transport configurations with stability augmentation during the longitudinal landing task. The criteria are based on closed-loop techniques using pitch attitude, altitude rate at the pilot station, and altitude at the pilot station as dominating control parameters during this task. It is found that most promising results are obtained with altitude control performed by closing an inner loop on pitch attitude and closing an outer loop on altitude.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hayhurst, Kelly J. (Editor)
2008-01-01
The Guidance and Control Software (GCS) project was the last in a series of software reliability studies conducted at Langley Research Center between 1977 and 1994. The technical results of the GCS project were recorded after the experiment was completed. Some of the support documentation produced as part of the experiment, however, is serving an unexpected role far beyond its original project context. Some of the software used as part of the GCS project was developed to conform to the RTCA/DO-178B software standard, "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification," used in the civil aviation industry. That standard requires extensive documentation throughout the software development life cycle, including plans, software requirements, design and source code, verification cases and results, and configuration management and quality control data. The project documentation that includes this information is open for public scrutiny without the legal or safety implications associated with comparable data from an avionics manufacturer. This public availability has afforded an opportunity to use the GCS project documents for DO-178B training. This report provides a brief overview of the GCS project, describes the 4-volume set of documents and the role they are playing in training, and includes configuration management and quality assurance documents from the GCS project. Volume 4 contains six appendices: A. Software Accomplishment Summary for the Guidance and Control Software Project; B. Software Configuration Index for the Guidance and Control Software Project; C. Configuration Management Records for the Guidance and Control Software Project; D. Software Quality Assurance Records for the Guidance and Control Software Project; E. Problem Report for the Pluto Implementation of the Guidance and Control Software Project; and F. Support Documentation Change Reports for the Guidance and Control Software Project.
Jeong, Seung-Woo; An, Youn-Joo
2014-01-01
This study suggested the first Korean site-specific ecological surface water quality criteria for the protection of ecosystems near an artillery range at a Korean military training facility. Surface water quality (SWQ) criteria in Korea address human health protection but do not encompass ecological criteria such as limits for metals and explosives. The first objective of this study was to derive site-specific SWQ criteria for the protection of aquatic ecosystems in Hantan River, Korea. The second objective was to establish discharge criteria for the artillery range to protect the aquatic ecosystems of Hantan River. In this study, we first identified aquatic organisms living in the Hantan River, including fishes, reptiles, invertebrates, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and amphibians. Second, we collected ecotoxicity data for these aquatic organisms and constructed an ecotoxicity database for Cd, Cu, Zn, TNT, and RDX. This study determined the ecological maximum permissible concentrations for metals and explosives based on the ecotoxicity database and suggested ecological surface water quality criteria for the Hantan River by considering analytical detection limits. Discharge limit criteria for the shooting range were determined based on the ecological surface water quality criteria suggested for Hantan River with further consideration of the dilution of the contaminants discharged into the river.
Papadakos, Janet; Trang, Aileen; Wiljer, David; Cipolat Mis, Chiara; Cyr, Alaina; Friedman, Audrey Jusko; Mazzocut, Mauro; Snow, Michelle; Raivich, Valeria; Catton, Pamela
2014-04-01
The criteria for determining whether resources are included in consumer health library collections are summarized in institutional collection development policies (CDPs). Evidence suggests that CDPs do not adequately capture all of these criteria. The aim of this study was to describe the resource review experience of librarians and compare it to what is described in CDPs. A phenomenological approach was used to explore and describe the process. Four consumer health librarians independently evaluated cancer-related consumer health resources and described their review process during a semi-structured telephone interview. Afterward, these librarians completed online questionnaires about their approaches to collection development. CDPs from participating libraries, interview transcripts, and questionnaire data were analyzed. Researchers summarized the findings, and participating librarians reviewed results for validation. Librarians all utilized similar criteria, as documented in their CDPs; however, of thirteen criteria described in the study, only four were documented in CDPs. CDPs for consumer health libraries may be missing important criteria that are considered integral parts of the collection development process. A better understanding of the criteria and contextual factors involved in the collection development process can assist with establishing high-quality consumer health library collections.
Papadakos, Janet; Trang, Aileen; Wiljer, David; Mis, Chiara Cipolat; Cyr, Alaina; Friedman, Audrey Jusko; Mazzocut, Mauro; Snow, Michelle; Raivich, Valeria; Catton, Pamela
2014-01-01
Objectives: The criteria for determining whether resources are included in consumer health library collections are summarized in institutional collection development policies (CDPs). Evidence suggests that CDPs do not adequately capture all of these criteria. The aim of this study was to describe the resource review experience of librarians and compare it to what is described in CDPs. Methods: A phenomenological approach was used to explore and describe the process. Four consumer health librarians independently evaluated cancer-related consumer health resources and described their review process during a semi-structured telephone interview. Afterward, these librarians completed online questionnaires about their approaches to collection development. CDPs from participating libraries, interview transcripts, and questionnaire data were analyzed. Researchers summarized the findings, and participating librarians reviewed results for validation. Results: Librarians all utilized similar criteria, as documented in their CDPs; however, of thirteen criteria described in the study, only four were documented in CDPs. Conclusions: CDPs for consumer health libraries may be missing important criteria that are considered integral parts of the collection development process. Implications: A better understanding of the criteria and contextual factors involved in the collection development process can assist with establishing high-quality consumer health library collections. PMID:24860261
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER PROGRAMS WATER QUALITY STANDARDS Establishment of Water Quality Standards § 131.11 Criteria. (a) Inclusion of pollutants: (1) States must adopt those water quality criteria that protect the designated use. Such criteria must be based on sound...
Fisher Sand & Gravel New Mexico, Inc. General Air Quality Permit: Related Documents
Documents related to the Fisher Sand & Gravel – New Mexico, Inc., Grey Mesa Gravel Pit General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities in Indian Country.
Flying qualities criteria for GA single pilot IFR operations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bar-Gill, A.
1982-01-01
The flying qualities criteria in general aviation (GA) to decrease accidents are discussed. The following in-flight research is discussed: (1) identification of key aerodynamic configurations; (2) implementation of an in-flight simulator; (3) mission matrix design; (4) experimental systems; (5) data reduction; (6) optimal flight path reconstruction. Some of the accomplished work is reported: an integrated flight testing and flight path reconstruction methodology was developd, high accuracy in trajectory estimation was achieved with an experimental setup, and a part of the flight test series was flown.
Sivertsen, Jorun; Graverholt, Birgitte; Espehaug, Birgitte
2017-01-01
Dysphagia is common after stroke and represents a major risk factor for developing aspiration pneumonia. Early detection can reduce the risk of pulmonary complications and death. Despite the fact that evidence-based guidelines recommend screening for swallowing deficit using a standardized screening tool, national audits has identified a gap between practice and this recommendation. The aim was to determine the level of adherence to an evidence-based recommendation on swallow assessment and to take actions to improve practice if necessary. We carried out a criteria-based clinical audit (CBCA) in a small stroke unit at a Norwegian hospital. Patients with hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack were included. A power calculation informed the number of included patients at baseline ( n = 80) and at re-audit ( n = 35). We compared the baseline result with the evidence-based criteria and gave feedback to management and staff. A brainstorming session, a root-cause analysis and implementation science were used to inform the quality improvement actions which consisted of workshops, use of local opinion leaders, manual paper reminders and feedback. We completed a re-audit after implementation. Percentages and median are reported with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Among 88 cases at baseline, documentation of swallow screening was complete for 6% (95% CI 2-11). In the re-audit ( n = 51) 61% (95% CI 45-74) had a complete screening. A CBCA involving management and staff, and using multiple tailored intervention targeting barriers, led to greater adherence with the recommendation for screening stroke patients for dysphagia.
Recommended Water Quality Criteria for Octahydro-1,3,5,7-Tentranitro-1, 3,5,7-Tetrazocin (HMX).
1989-03-27
possible to derive water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life following USEPA guidelines. Based on the NOAEL of 50 mg/kg/day from the 13-week...special reference to those on human, mammalian, and aquatic health effects, and to generate water quality criteria for drinking water and for the...and discussed below. Aquatic Invertebrates Bentley et al. (1977) performed static acute toxicity tests on four species of freshwater invertebrates
Air Quality Modeling Technical Support Document for the Final Cross State Air Pollution Rule Update
In this technical support document (TSD) we describe the air quality modeling performed to support the final Cross State Air Pollution Rule for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
Automobile ride quality experiments correlated to iso-weighted criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Healey, A. J.; Young, R. K.; Smith, C. C.
1975-01-01
As part of an overall study to evaluate the usefulness of ride quality criteria for the design of improved ground transportation systems an experiment was conducted involving subjective and objective measurement of ride vibrations found in an automobile riding over roadways of various roughness. Correlation of the results led to some very significant relationships between passenger rating and ride accelerations. The latter were collapsed using a frequency-weighted root mean square measure of the random vibration. The results suggest the form of a design criterion giving the relationship between ride vibration and acceptable automobile ride quality. Further the ride criterion is expressed in terms that relate to rides with which most people are familiar. The design of the experiment, the ride vibration data acquisition, the concept of frequency weighting and the correlations found between subjective and objective measurements are presented.
In this technical support document (TSD) EPA describes the air quality modeling performed to support the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) preliminary interstate transport assessment Notice of Data Availability (NODA).
38 CFR 17.508 - Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency. 17.508 Section 17.508 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Confidentiality of Healthcare Quality Assurance Review...
38 CFR 17.508 - Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency. 17.508 Section 17.508 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Confidentiality of Healthcare Quality Assurance Review...
38 CFR 17.508 - Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency. 17.508 Section 17.508 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Confidentiality of Healthcare Quality Assurance Review...
38 CFR 17.508 - Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency. 17.508 Section 17.508 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Confidentiality of Healthcare Quality Assurance Review...
38 CFR 17.508 - Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Access to quality assurance records and documents within the agency. 17.508 Section 17.508 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Confidentiality of Healthcare Quality Assurance Review...
Gondek, John C; Gensemer, Robert W; Claytor, Carrie A; Canton, Steven P; Gorsuch, Joseph W
2018-06-01
Acceptance of the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) to derive aquatic life criteria, for metals in general and copper in particular, is growing amongst regulatory agencies worldwide. Thus, it is important to ensure that water quality data are used appropriately and consistently in deriving such criteria. Here we present a suggested BLM implementation framework (hereafter referred to as "the Framework") to help guide the decision-making process when designing sampling and analysis programs for use of the BLM to derive water quality criteria applied on a site-specific basis. Such a framework will help inform stakeholders on the requirements needed to derive BLM-based criteria, and thus, ensure the appropriate types and amount of data are being collected and interpreted. The Framework was developed for calculating BLM-based criteria when data are available from multiple sampling locations on a stream. The Framework aspires to promote consistency when applying the BLM across datasets of disparate water quality, data quantity, and spatial and temporal representativeness, and is meant to be flexible to maximize applicability over a wide range of scenarios. Therefore, the Framework allows for a certain level of interpretation and adjustment to address the issues unique to each dataset. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Jacobson, Therese M; Thompson, Susan L; Halvorson, Anna M; Zeitler, Kristine
2016-01-01
Prevention of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers requires the implementation of evidence-based interventions. A quality improvement project was conducted to provide nurses with data on the frequency with which pressure ulcer prevention interventions were performed as measured by documentation. Documentation reports provided feedback to stakeholders, triggering reminders and reeducation. Intervention reports and modifications to the documentation system were effective both in increasing the documentation of pressure ulcer prevention interventions and in decreasing the number of avoidable hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.
Issen, Laurel; Woodcock, Thomas; McNicholas, Christopher; Lennox, Laura; Reed, Julie E
2018-04-09
Despite criticisms that many quality improvement (QI) initiatives fail due to incomplete programme theory, there is no defined way to evaluate how programme theory has been articulated. The objective of this research was to develop, and assess the usability and reliability of scoring criteria to evaluate programme theory diagrams. Criteria development was informed by published literature and QI experts. Inter-rater reliability was tested between two evaluators. About 63 programme theory diagrams (42 driver diagrams and 21 action-effect diagrams) were reviewed to establish whether the criteria could support comparative analysis of different approaches to constructing diagrams. Components of the scoring criteria include: assessment of overall aim, logical overview, clarity of components, cause-effect relationships, evidence and measurement. Independent reviewers had 78% inter-rater reliability. Scoring enabled direct comparison of different approaches to developing programme theory; action-effect diagrams were found to have had a statistically significant but moderate improvement in programme theory quality over driver diagrams; no significant differences were observed based on the setting in which driver diagrams were developed. The scoring criteria summarise the necessary components of programme theory that are thought to contribute to successful QI projects. The viability of the scoring criteria for practical application was demonstrated. Future uses include assessment of individual programme theory diagrams and comparison of different approaches (e.g. methodological, teaching or other QI support) to produce programme theory. The criteria can be used as a tool to guide the production of better programme theory diagrams, and also highlights where additional support for QI teams could be needed.
Use of SSDs in the USA – endangered species and water quality criteria
Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) are used in the United States (US) in the development of national ambient water quality criteria (AWQC), with site-specific and numeric modifications to protect sensitive taxa including threatened and endangered species. The US Environment...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 90.510 Section 90.510....510 Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective... failed engine is an engine whose final test results pursuant to § 90.509(b), for one or more of the...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 90.510 Section 90.510....510 Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective... failed engine is an engine whose final test results pursuant to § 90.509(b), for one or more of the...
Baumel, Amit; Birnbaum, Michael L; Sucala, Madalina
2017-08-01
The purpose of this review was to identify and classify key criteria concepts related to the evaluation of user-facing eHealth programs. In line with the PRISMA statement methodology, computer searches of relevant databases were conducted for studies published between January 1, 2000 and March 1, 2016 that contained explicit quality criteria related to mHealth and eHealth products. Reference lists of included articles, review articles, and grey literature (e.g., books, websites) were searched for additional sources. A team of nine experts led by the first author was gathered to support the classification of these criteria. Identified criteria were extracted, grouped and organized using an inductive thematic analysis. Eighty-four sources - emanating from 26 different courtiers - were included in this review. The team extracted 454 criteria that were grouped into 11 quality domains, 58 criteria concepts and 134 concepts' sub-groups. Quality domains were: Usability, Visual Design, User Engagement, Content, Behavior Change/Persuasive Design, Influence of Social Presence, Therapeutic Alliance, Classification, Credibility/Accountability, and Privacy/Security. Findings suggest that authors around the globe agree on key criteria concepts when evaluating user-facing eHealth products. The high proportion of new published criteria in the second half of this review time-frame (2008-2016), and more specifically, the high proportion of criteria relating to persuasive design, therapeutic alliance and privacy/security within this time-frame, points to the advancements made in recent years within this field.
A study of undue pain and surfing: using hierarchical criteria to assess website quality.
Lorence, Daniel; Abraham, Joanna
2008-09-01
In studies of web-based consumer health information, scant attention has been paid to the selective development of differential methodologies for website quality evaluation, or to selective grouping and analysis of specific ;domains of uncertainty' in healthcare. Our objective is to introduce a more refined model for website evaluation, and illustrate its application using assessment of websites within an area of ongoing medical uncertainty, back pain. In this exploratory technology assessment, we suggest a model for assessing these ;domains of uncertainty' within healthcare, using qualitative assessment of websites and hierarchical concepts. Using such a hierarchy of quality criteria, we review medical information provided by the most frequently accessed websites related to back pain. Websites are evaluated using standardized criteria, with results rated from the viewpoint of the consumer. Results show that standardization of quality rating across subjective content, and between commercial and niche search results, can provide a consumer-friendly dimension to health information.
SYSTEMATIC PROCESS TO SELECT CHEMICALS FOR NEW AND REVISED AMBIENT WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes and periodically updates ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) for the protection of human health and aquatic life through its authority under Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act. The number of toxic chemicals generated ...
ANOPP programming and documentation standards document
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1976-01-01
Standards defining the requirements for preparing software for the Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP) were given. It is the intent of these standards to provide definition, design, coding, and documentation criteria for the achievement of a unity among ANOPP products. These standards apply to all of ANOPP's standard software system. The standards encompass philosophy as well as techniques and conventions.
Wang, Ning; Yu, Ping; Hailey, David
2015-08-01
The nursing care plan plays an essential role in supporting care provision in Australian aged care. The implementation of electronic systems in aged care homes was anticipated to improve documentation quality. Standardized nursing terminologies, developed to improve communication and advance the nursing profession, are not required in aged care practice. The language used by nurses in the nursing care plan and the effect of the electronic system on documentation quality in residential aged care need to be investigated. To describe documentation practice for the nursing care plan in Australian residential aged care homes and to compare the quantity and quality of documentation in paper-based and electronic nursing care plans. A nursing documentation audit was conducted in seven residential aged care homes in Australia. One hundred and eleven paper-based and 194 electronic nursing care plans, conveniently selected, were reviewed. The quantity of documentation in a care plan was determined by the number of phrases describing a resident problem and the number of goals and interventions. The quality of documentation was measured using 16 relevant questions in an instrument developed for the study. There was a tendency to omit 'nursing problem' or 'nursing diagnosis' in the nursing process by changing these terms (used in the paper-based care plan) to 'observation' in the electronic version. The electronic nursing care plan documented more signs and symptoms of resident problems and evaluation of care than the paper-based format (48.30 vs. 47.34 out of 60, P<0.01), but had a lower total mean quality score. The electronic care plan contained fewer problem or diagnosis statements, contributing factors and resident outcomes than the paper-based system (P<0.01). Both types of nursing care plan were weak in documenting measurable and concrete resident outcomes. The overall quality of documentation content for the nursing process was no better in the electronic system than in
Munyisia, Esther N; Yu, Ping; Hailey, David
2011-02-01
To date few studies have compared nursing home caregivers' perceptions about the quality of information and benefits of nursing documentation in paper and electronic formats. With the increased interest in the use of information technology in nursing homes, it is important to obtain information on the benefits of newer approaches to nursing documentation so as to inform investment, organisational and care service decisions in the aged care sector. This study aims to investigate caregivers' perceptions about the quality of information and benefits of nursing documentation before and after the introduction of an electronic documentation system in a nursing home. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted three months before, and then six, 18 and 31 months after the introduction of an electronic documentation system. Further evidence was obtained through informal discussions with caregivers. Scores for questionnaire responses showed that the benefits of the electronic documentation system were perceived by the caregivers as provision of more accurate, legible and complete information, and reduction of repetition in data entry, with consequential managerial benefits. However, caregivers' perceptions of relevance and reliability of information, and of their communication and decision-making abilities were perceived to be similar either using an electronic or a paper-based documentation system. Improvement in some perceptions about the quality of information and benefits of nursing documentation was evident in the measurement conducted six months after the introduction of the electronic system, but were not maintained 18 or 31 months later. The electronic documentation system was perceived to perform better than the paper-based system in some aspects, with subsequent benefits to management of aged care services. In other areas, perceptions of additional benefits from the electronic documentation system were not maintained. In a number of attributes, there
Documentation of quality improvement exposure by internal medicine residency applicants.
Kolade, Victor O; Sethi, Anuradha
2016-01-01
Quality improvement (QI) has become an essential component of medical care in the United States. In residency programs, QI is a focus area of the Clinical Learning Environment Review visits conducted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The readiness of applicants to internal medicine residency to engage in QI on day one is unknown. To document the reporting of QI training or experience in residency applications. Electronic Residency Application Service applications to a single internal medicine program were reviewed individually looking for reported QI involvement or actual projects in the curriculum vitae (CVs), personal statements (PSs), and letters of recommendation (LORs). CVs were also reviewed for evidence of education in QI such as completion of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) modules. Of 204 candidates shortlisted for interview, seven had QI items on their CVs, including one basic IHI certificate. Three discussed their QI work in their PSs, and four had recommendation letters describing their involvement in QI. One applicant had both CV and LOR evidence, so that 13 (6%) documented QI engagement. Practice of or instruction in QI is rarely mentioned in application documents of prospective internal medicine interns.
U.S. recreational water quality criteria: a vision for the future
Fujioka, Roger S.; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N.; Kirs, Marek
2015-01-01
This manuscript evaluates the U.S. Recreational Water Quality Criteria (RWQC) of 2012, based upon discussions during a conference held 11–13 March 2013, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The RWQC of 2012 did not meet expectations among the research community because key recommended studies were not completed, new data to assess risks to bathers exposed to non-point sources of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were not developed, and the 2012 RWQC did not show marked improvements in strategies for assessing health risks for bathers using all types of recreational waters. The development of the 2012 RWQC was limited in scope because the epidemiologic studies at beach sites were restricted to beaches with point sources of pollution and water samples were monitored for only enterococci. The vision for the future is development of effective RWQC guidelines based on epidemiologic and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) studies for sewage specific markers, as well as human enteric pathogens so that health risks for bathers at all recreational waters can be determined. The 2012 RWQC introduced a program for states and tribes to develop site-specific water quality criteria, and in theory this approach can be used to address the limitations associated with the measurements of the traditional FIB.
U.S. Recreational Water Quality Criteria: A Vision for the Future
Fujioka, Roger S.; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N.; Kirs, Marek
2015-01-01
This manuscript evaluates the U.S. Recreational Water Quality Criteria (RWQC) of 2012, based upon discussions during a conference held 11–13 March 2013, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The RWQC of 2012 did not meet expectations among the research community because key recommended studies were not completed, new data to assess risks to bathers exposed to non-point sources of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were not developed, and the 2012 RWQC did not show marked improvements in strategies for assessing health risks for bathers using all types of recreational waters. The development of the 2012 RWQC was limited in scope because the epidemiologic studies at beach sites were restricted to beaches with point sources of pollution and water samples were monitored for only enterococci. The vision for the future is development of effective RWQC guidelines based on epidemiologic and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) studies for sewage specific markers, as well as human enteric pathogens so that health risks for bathers at all recreational waters can be determined. The 2012 RWQC introduced a program for states and tribes to develop site-specific water quality criteria, and in theory this approach can be used to address the limitations associated with the measurements of the traditional FIB. PMID:26184253
Nuwer, M R; Sigsbee, B
1998-02-01
Medicare recently announced the adoption of minimum documentation criteria for the neurologic examination. These criteria are added to existing standards for the history and medical decision-making. These criteria will be used in compliance audits by Medicare and other payors. Given the current federal initiative to eliminate fraud in the Medicare program, all neurologists need to comply with these standards. These criteria are for documentation only. Neurologic standards of care require a more complex and diverse examination pertinent to the problem(s) under consideration. Further guidance as to the content of a neurologic evaluation is outlined in the article "Practice guidelines: Neurologic evaluation" (Neurology 1990; 40: 871). The level of history and examination required for specific services is defined in the American Medical Association current procedural terminology book. Documentation standards for examination of children are not yet defined.
Photovoltaic module certification and laboratory accreditation criteria development
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Osterwald, Carl R.; Zerlaut, Gene; Hammond, Robert; D'Aiello, Robert
1996-01-01
This paper overviews a model product certification and test laboratory accreditation program for photovoltaic (PV) modules that was recently developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Arizona State University. The specific objective of this project was to produce a document that details the equipment, facilities, quality assurance procedures, and technical expertise an accredited laboratory needs for performance and qualification testing of PV modules, along with the specific tests needed for a module design to be certified. The document was developed in conjunction with a criteria development committee consisting of representatives from 30 U.S. PV manufacturers, end users, standards and codes organizations, and testing laboratories. The intent is to lay the groundwork for a future U.S. PV certification and accreditation program that will be beneficial to the PV industry as a whole.
Pache, G; Saueressig, U; Baumann, T; Dürselen, L; Langer, M; Kotter, E
2008-06-01
Evaluation of the impact of a new, dynamic computer-aided quality manual application (QMA) regarding the acceptance and efficiency of a quality management system (QMS) according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000. The QMA combines static pages of HTML with active content generated from an underlying database. Through user access rights, a hierarchy is defined to create and administer quality documents. Document workflow, feedback management and employee survey were analyzed to compare the performance of the new QMH with the formerly used static version. Integration of a document editor and automated document re-approval accelerated the document process by an average of 10 min. In spite of an increase of the yearly document changes of 60%, the administration effort was reduced by approximately 160 h. Integration of the feedback management system into the QMA decreased handling time from an average of 16.5 to 3.4 days. Simultaneously the number of feedback messages increased from 160 in 2005 to 306 in 2006. Employee satisfaction was raised (old: 3.19+/-1.02, new: 1.91+/-0.8). The number of users who partook in the QMA more than once a week also increased from 29.5% to 60%. The computer-aided quality manual application constitutes the basis for the success of our QMS. The possibility to actively participate in the quality management process has led to broad acceptance and usage by the employees. The administration effort was able to be tremendously decreased as compared to conventional QMS.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... level and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. 86.610-98 Section 86.610-98... and passing and failing criteria for Selective Enforcement Audits. (a) The prescribed acceptable quality level is 40 percent. (b) A failed vehicle is one whose final deteriorated test results pursuant to...
Detection of low numbers of microplastics in North Sea fish using strict quality assurance criteria.
Hermsen, Enya; Pompe, Renske; Besseling, Ellen; Koelmans, Albert A
2017-09-15
We investigated 400 individual fish of four North Sea species: Atlantic Herring, Sprat, Common Dab, and Whiting on ingestion of >20μm microplastic. Strict quality assurance criteria were followed in order to control contamination during the study. Two plastic particles were found in only 1 (a Sprat) out of 400 individuals (0.25%, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.09-1.1%). The particles were identified to consist of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) through FTIR spectroscopy. No contamination occurred during the study, showing the method applied to be suitable for microplastic ingestion studies in biota. We discuss the low particle count for North Sea fish with those in other studies and suggest a relation between reported particle count and degree of quality assurance applied. Microplastic ingestion by fish may be less common than thought initially, with low incidence shown in this study, and other studies adhering to strict quality assurance criteria. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
EHR Documentation: The Hype and the Hope for Improving Nursing Satisfaction and Quality Outcomes.
OʼBrien, Ann; Weaver, Charlotte; Settergren, Theresa Tess; Hook, Mary L; Ivory, Catherine H
2015-01-01
The phenomenon of "data rich, information poor" in today's electronic health records (EHRs) is too often the reality for nursing. This article proposes the redesign of nursing documentation to leverage EHR data and clinical intelligence tools to support evidence-based, personalized nursing care across the continuum. The principles consider the need to optimize nurses' documentation efficiency while contributing to knowledge generation. The nursing process must be supported by EHRs through integration of best care practices: seamless workflows that display the right tools, evidence-based content, and information at the right time for optimal clinical decision making. Design of EHR documentation must attain a balance that ensures the capture of nursing's impact on safety, quality, highly reliable care, patient engagement, and satisfaction, yet minimizes "death by data entry." In 2014, a group of diverse informatics leaders from practice, academia, and the vendor community formed to address how best to transform electronic documentation to provide knowledge at the point of care and to deliver value to front line nurses and nurse leaders. As our health care system moves toward reimbursement on the basis of quality outcomes and prevention, the value of nursing data in this business proposition will become a key differentiator for health care organizations' economic success.
REVISING EPA'S GUIDELINES FOR THE DERIVATIONS OF AQUATIC LIFE AMBIENT WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
Henry, T.R., H.E. Bell, C.G. Delos, R.J. Erickson, K.M. Kubena and F.L. Mayer. In press. Revising EPA's Guidelines for the Derivation of Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria (Abstract). To be presented at the SETAC Fourth World Congress, 14-18 November 2004, Portland, OR. ...
Using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in Teaching: One Criteria, Several Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Belohlav, James A.; Cook, Lori S.; Heiser, Daniel R.
2004-01-01
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) has influenced the thinking and operations within organizations from all sectors of the American economy. This paper presents the experiences of three faculty members who have used the Criteria for Performance Excellence and the underlying concepts of the MBNQA to enhance the learning experiences…
New Optic Nerve Sonography Quality Criteria in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Traumatic Brain Injury
Johnson, Garrett G. R. J.; Gillman, Lawrence M.; Faqihi, Fahad; Balhamar, Abdullah; Mahmood, Nasir Nasim; Alharthy, Abdulrahman; Lazaridis, Christos
2018-01-01
Background New sonographic quality criteria to optimize optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurements were suggested. The latter were correlated to elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Aim We investigated whether ONSD measurements were correlated to simultaneous ICP measurements in severe TBI. Methods Forty patients with severe TBI (Marshall Scale ≥II and GCS ≤8) participated in the study. All patients had an intraparenchymal ICP catheter inserted, while ONSD was measured bilaterally, upon admission and over the next 48 hours, based on the new sonographic criteria. A total of 400 ONSD measurements were performed, while mean ONSD values of both eyes were used in the analysis. Results ONSD measurements were strongly correlated to ICP values (r=0.74, p < 0.0001). Receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed that the ONSD cutoff value for predicting elevated ICP was 6.4 mm when using the mean of both eyes (AUC = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.80 to 0.95; sensitivity = 85.3%, specificity = 82.6%). Linear regression analysis nested models revealed that sex (p=0.006) and height (p=0.04) were significant predictors of ONSD values. Conclusion When applying the new sonographic quality criteria, ONSD is strongly correlated to ICP in severe TBI. Whether to use such criteria to monitor ONSD as a proxy for ICP trend in TBI remains to be further explored. PMID:29854448
Drinking-water-criteria document for phthalic acid esters (PAES). Final report
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Not Available
1991-08-01
The document provides the health effects basis to be considered in establishing the MCLG. To achieve the objective, data on pharmacokinetics human exposure, acute and chronic toxicity to animals and humans, epidemiology and mechanisms of toxicity are evaluated for phthalic acid esters. Specific emphasis is placed on literature data providing dose-response information. Thus, while the literature search and evaluation performed in support of the document has been comprehensive, only the reports considered most pertinent in the derivation of the MCLG are cited in the document. The comprehensive literature data base in support of the document includes information published up tomore » 1986; however, more recent data may have been added during the review process.« less
Assessing health status and quality-of-life instruments: attributes and review criteria.
Aaronson, Neil; Alonso, Jordi; Burnam, Audrey; Lohr, Kathleen N; Patrick, Donald L; Perrin, Edward; Stein, Ruth E
2002-05-01
The field of health status and quality of life (QoL) measurement - as a formal discipline with a cohesive theoretical framework, accepted methods, and diverse applications--has been evolving for the better part of 30 years. To identify health status and QoL instruments and review them against rigorous criteria as a precursor to creating an instrument library for later dissemination, the Medical Outcomes Trust in 1994 created an independently functioning Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). In the mid-1990s, the SAC defined a set of attributes and criteria to carry out instrument assessments; 5 years later, it updated and revised these materials to take account of the expanding theories and technologies upon which such instruments were being developed. This paper offers the SAC's current conceptualization of eight key attributes of health status and QoL instruments (i.e., conceptual and measurement model; reliability; validity; responsiveness; interpretability; respondent and administrative burden; alternate forms; and cultural and language adaptations) and the criteria by which instruments would be reviewed on each of those attributes. These are suggested guidelines for the field to consider and debate; as measurement techniques become both more familiar and more sophisticated, we expect that experts will wish to update and refine these criteria accordingly.
ISO 9002 as Literacy Practice: Coping with Quality-Control Documents in a High-Tech Company
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kleifgen, Jo Anne
2005-01-01
This study describes the process by which a circuit board manufacturing company became certified in an international quality control program known as ISO 9002. Particular attention is paid to how quality documents were made and used in actual practice and to the relationship between these standardized procedures (official literacies) and…
[Legal quality criteria of expert opinions in liability for medical malpractice].
Neu, Johann
2017-09-01
In litigation regarding to liability for medical malpractice the court itself for lack of medical expert knowledge cannot judge a claimed error in treatment. That applies too for the question if there is causation between the error in treatment and claimed damage to patient's health. In this respect, the court is dependent on a medical expert and is bound to his assessment, unless there is no quality deficit in respect of medical and/or legal criteria. The more the medical expert knows the legal background of physician's liability for medical malpractice, the less is the risk of legal quality deficits in his expert opinion and thereby also of judicial errors by court. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Investigating Criteria That Seventh Graders Use to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coiro, Julie; Coscarelli, Carla; Maykel, Cheryl; Forzani, Elena
2015-01-01
This article presents qualitative findings from a study that examined the types of criteria that middle school students use to evaluate the quality of online information and sources for a Web-based research assignment. Open-constructed responses from four critical evaluation items were compiled from diverse seventh graders in a representative,…
Currò, Vincenzo; Buonuomo, Paola Sabrina; Zambiano, Annaluce; Vituzzi, Andrea; Onesimo, Roberta; D'Atri, Alessandro
2007-01-01
The aim of this study is to verify the usefulness for parents of a web evaluation framework composed of ten quality criteria to improve their ability to assess the quality level of medical web sites. We conducted a randomised controlled trial that included two groups of parents who independently evaluated five paediatric web sites by filling out two distinct questionnaires: group A with the evaluation framework, group B without it. 40 volunteers were recruited from parents referring to the General Paediatrics Out-patients Department who satisfied the following eligibility criteria: Internet users, at least 1 child under 12 months old, no professional skill in Internet and medicine. The survey was taken between February 2, 2000 and March 22, 2000. Parents evaluated each web site and assigned a score, compared with a gold standard created by a group of experts. Suggesting evaluation criteria to parents seem useful for an improvement of their ability to evaluate web sites.
TQM (Total Quality Management) SPARC (Special Process Action Review Committees) Handbook
1989-08-01
This document describes the techniques used to support and guide the Special Process Action Review Committees for accomplishing their goals for Total Quality Management (TQM). It includes concepts and definitions, checklists, sample formats, and assessment criteria. Keywords: Continuous process improvement; Logistics information; Process analysis; Quality control; Quality assurance; Total Quality Management ; Statistical processes; Management Planning and control; Management training; Management information systems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chalabi, Zaid; Milojevic, Ai; Doherty, Ruth M.; Stevenson, David S.; MacKenzie, Ian A.; Milner, James; Vieno, Massimo; Williams, Martin; Wilkinson, Paul
2017-10-01
A decision support system for evaluating UK air quality policies is presented. It combines the output from a chemistry transport model, a health impact model and other impact models within a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. As a proof-of-concept, the MCDA framework is used to evaluate and compare idealized emission reduction policies in four sectors (combustion in energy and transformation industries, non-industrial combustion plants, road transport and agriculture) and across six outcomes or criteria (mortality, health inequality, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, crop yield and air quality legal compliance). To illustrate a realistic use of the MCDA framework, the relative importance of the criteria were elicited from a number of stakeholders acting as proxy policy makers. In the prototype decision problem, we show that reducing emissions from industrial combustion (followed very closely by road transport and agriculture) is more advantageous than equivalent reductions from the other sectors when all the criteria are taken into account. Extensions of the MCDA framework to support policy makers in practice are discussed.
In this technical support document (TSD) we describe the air quality modeling performed to support the proposed Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
Shoulder dystocia documentation: an evaluation of a documentation training intervention.
LeRiche, Tammy; Oppenheimer, Lawrence; Caughey, Sharon; Fell, Deshayne; Walker, Mark
2015-03-01
To evaluate the quality and content of nurse and physician shoulder dystocia delivery documentation before and after MORE training in shoulder dystocia management skills and documentation. Approximately 384 charts at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus involving a diagnosis of shoulder dystocia between the years of 2000 and 2006 excluding the training year of 2003 were identified. The charts were evaluated for 14 key components derived from a validated instrument. The delivery notes were then scored based on these components by 2 separate investigators who were blinded to delivery note author, date, and patient identification to further quantify delivery record quality. Approximately 346 charts were reviewed for physician and nurse delivery documentation. The average score for physician notes was 6 (maximum possible score of 14) both before and after the training intervention. The nurses' average score was 5 before and after the training intervention. Negligible improvement was observed in the content and quality of shoulder dystocia documentation before and after nurse and physician training.
Hong, Na; Li, Dingcheng; Yu, Yue; Xiu, Qiongying; Liu, Hongfang; Jiang, Guoqian
2016-10-01
Constructing standard and computable clinical diagnostic criteria is an important but challenging research field in the clinical informatics community. The Quality Data Model (QDM) is emerging as a promising information model for standardizing clinical diagnostic criteria. To develop and evaluate automated methods for converting textual clinical diagnostic criteria in a structured format using QDM. We used a clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) tool known as cTAKES to detect sentences and annotate events in diagnostic criteria. We developed a rule-based approach for assigning the QDM datatype(s) to an individual criterion, whereas we invoked a machine learning algorithm based on the Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) for annotating attributes belonging to each particular QDM datatype. We manually developed an annotated corpus as the gold standard and used standard measures (precision, recall and f-measure) for the performance evaluation. We harvested 267 individual criteria with the datatypes of Symptom and Laboratory Test from 63 textual diagnostic criteria. We manually annotated attributes and values in 142 individual Laboratory Test criteria. The average performance of our rule-based approach was 0.84 of precision, 0.86 of recall, and 0.85 of f-measure; the performance of CRFs-based classification was 0.95 of precision, 0.88 of recall and 0.91 of f-measure. We also implemented a web-based tool that automatically translates textual Laboratory Test criteria into the QDM XML template format. The results indicated that our approaches leveraging cTAKES and CRFs are effective in facilitating diagnostic criteria annotation and classification. Our NLP-based computational framework is a feasible and useful solution in developing diagnostic criteria representation and computerization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Section 3. The SPARROW Surface Water-Quality Model: Theory, Application and User Documentation
Schwarz, G.E.; Hoos, A.B.; Alexander, R.B.; Smith, R.A.
2006-01-01
SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) is a watershed modeling technique for relating water-quality measurements made at a network of monitoring stations to attributes of the watersheds containing the stations. The core of the model consists of a nonlinear regression equation describing the non-conservative transport of contaminants from point and diffuse sources on land to rivers and through the stream and river network. The model predicts contaminant flux, concentration, and yield in streams and has been used to evaluate alternative hypotheses about the important contaminant sources and watershed properties that control transport over large spatial scales. This report provides documentation for the SPARROW modeling technique and computer software to guide users in constructing and applying basic SPARROW models. The documentation gives details of the SPARROW software, including the input data and installation requirements, and guidance in the specification, calibration, and application of basic SPARROW models, as well as descriptions of the model output and its interpretation. The documentation is intended for both researchers and water-resource managers with interest in using the results of existing models and developing and applying new SPARROW models. The documentation of the model is presented in two parts. Part 1 provides a theoretical and practical introduction to SPARROW modeling techniques, which includes a discussion of the objectives, conceptual attributes, and model infrastructure of SPARROW. Part 1 also includes background on the commonly used model specifications and the methods for estimating and evaluating parameters, evaluating model fit, and generating water-quality predictions and measures of uncertainty. Part 2 provides a user's guide to SPARROW, which includes a discussion of the software architecture and details of the model input requirements and output files, graphs, and maps. The text documentation and computer
A. Dennis Lemly
1997-01-01
This paper describes a method for deriving site-specific water quality criteria for selenium using a two-step process: (1) gather information on selenium residues and biological effects at the site and in down-gradient systems and (2) examine criteria based on the degree of bioaccumulation, the relationship between mea-sured residues and threshold concentrations for...
Fast words boundaries localization in text fields for low quality document images
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ilin, Dmitry; Novikov, Dmitriy; Polevoy, Dmitry; Nikolaev, Dmitry
2018-04-01
The paper examines the problem of word boundaries precise localization in document text zones. Document processing on a mobile device consists of document localization, perspective correction, localization of individual fields, finding words in separate zones, segmentation and recognition. While capturing an image with a mobile digital camera under uncontrolled capturing conditions, digital noise, perspective distortions or glares may occur. Further document processing gets complicated because of its specifics: layout elements, complex background, static text, document security elements, variety of text fonts. However, the problem of word boundaries localization has to be solved at runtime on mobile CPU with limited computing capabilities under specified restrictions. At the moment, there are several groups of methods optimized for different conditions. Methods for the scanned printed text are quick but limited only for images of high quality. Methods for text in the wild have an excessively high computational complexity, thus, are hardly suitable for running on mobile devices as part of the mobile document recognition system. The method presented in this paper solves a more specialized problem than the task of finding text on natural images. It uses local features, a sliding window and a lightweight neural network in order to achieve an optimal algorithm speed-precision ratio. The duration of the algorithm is 12 ms per field running on an ARM processor of a mobile device. The error rate for boundaries localization on a test sample of 8000 fields is 0.3
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and... LICENSING OF PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION FACILITIES Pt. 50, App. B Appendix B to Part 50—Quality Assurance... report a description of the quality assurance program to be applied to the design, fabrication...
Ride quality criteria and the design process. [standards for ride comfort
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ravera, R. J.
1975-01-01
Conceptual designs for advanced ground transportation systems often hinge on obtaining acceptable vehicle ride quality while attempting to keep the total guideway cost (initial and subsequent maintenance) as low as possible. Two ride quality standards used extensively in work sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are the DOT-Urban Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle (UTACV) standard and the International Standards Organization (ISO) reduced ride comfort criteria. These standards are reviewed and some of the deficiencies, which become apparent when trying to apply them in practice, are noted. Through the use of a digital simulation, the impact of each of these standards on an example design process is examined. It is shown that meeting the ISO specification for the particular vehicle/guideway case investigated is easier than meeting the UTACV standard.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Minana, Molly A.; Sturtevant, Judith E.; Heaphy, Robert
2005-01-01
The purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Software Quality Plan is to clearly identify the practices that are the basis for continually improving the quality of ASC software products. Quality is defined in DOE/AL Quality Criteria (QC-1) as conformance to customer requirements and expectations. This quality plan defines the ASC program software quality practices and provides mappings of these practices to the SNL Corporate Process Requirements (CPR 1.3.2 and CPR 1.3.6) and the Department of Energy (DOE) document, ASCI Software Quality Engineering: Goals, Principles, and Guidelines (GP&G). This quality plan identifies ASC management andmore » software project teams' responsibilities for cost-effective software engineering quality practices. The SNL ASC Software Quality Plan establishes the signatories commitment to improving software products by applying cost-effective software engineering quality practices. This document explains the project teams opportunities for tailoring and implementing the practices; enumerates the practices that compose the development of SNL ASC's software products; and includes a sample assessment checklist that was developed based upon the practices in this document.« less
Nevrekar, Viraj; Panda, Prasan Kumar; Wig, Naveet; Pandey, R. M.; Agarwal, Praveen; Biswas, Ashutosh
2017-01-01
Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be performed as per the international guidelines; however, compliance to these guidelines is difficult to assess. This study was conducted to determine the compliance to American Heart Association (2010) guideline on CPR documentation by among resident physicians before and after resident training (two arms). Methods: This pre–postinterventional quality improvement study was conducted in a referral center, North India. Data of hospitalized in-hospital CPR patients were collected in the form of quality indicators (checklists) as defined by the guideline and compared between two arms of before–after resident training. Residents were given appropriate training in CPR technique as per the guideline. The compliance of CPR documentation was assessed pre- and post-intervention. Results: The baseline arm compliance of various components of CPR documentation was low. The postintervention arm compliances of all components significantly increased (baseline, 2.5% to postintervention, 15.11%, P = 0.03). Individual components assessed were documentation of assessment of responsiveness (65% to 77.9%, P = 0.19), assessment of breathing (37.5% to 58.1%, P = 0.03), assessment of carotid pulse (62.5% to 79%, P = 0.05), rate of chest compressions (20% to 39.5%, P = 0.04), airway management (62.5% to 82.5%, P = 0.02), and compressions to breaths ratio (12.5% to 31.4%, P = 0.02). Documentation of chest compression rate compared to nondocumentation (12 of 42 vs. 11 of 84, P = 0.04) was independently associated with a higher rate of return of spontaneous circulation. The study however did not show any survival benefits. Conclusions: This study establishes that the compliance to CPR documentation is poor as assessed by CPR documentation content and quality, which improves after physician training, but not up to the mark level (100%) that may be due to busy Indian hospital settings and human behavioral factors. Due to ethical
40 CFR 132.3 - Adoption of criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... with: (a) The acute water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 1 of this part, or a... chronic water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 2 of this part, or a site-specific... QUALITY GUIDANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM § 132.3 Adoption of criteria. The Great Lakes States and...
40 CFR 132.3 - Adoption of criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... with: (a) The acute water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 1 of this part, or a... chronic water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 2 of this part, or a site-specific... QUALITY GUIDANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM § 132.3 Adoption of criteria. The Great Lakes States and...
40 CFR 132.3 - Adoption of criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... with: (a) The acute water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 1 of this part, or a... chronic water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 2 of this part, or a site-specific... QUALITY GUIDANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM § 132.3 Adoption of criteria. The Great Lakes States and...
40 CFR 132.3 - Adoption of criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... with: (a) The acute water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 1 of this part, or a... chronic water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 2 of this part, or a site-specific... QUALITY GUIDANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM § 132.3 Adoption of criteria. The Great Lakes States and...
Wang, Ning; Björvell, Catrin; Hailey, David; Yu, Ping
2014-12-01
To develop an Australian nursing documentation in aged care (Quality of Australian Nursing Documentation in Aged Care (QANDAC)) instrument to measure the quality of paper-based and electronic resident records. The instrument was based on the nursing process model and on three attributes of documentation quality identified in a systematic review. The development process involved five phases following approaches to designing criterion-referenced measures. The face and content validities and the inter-rater reliability of the instrument were estimated using a focus group approach and consensus model. The instrument contains 34 questions in three sections: completion of nursing history and assessment, description of care process and meeting the requirements of data entry. Estimates of the validity and inter-rater reliability of the instrument gave satisfactory results. The QANDAC instrument may be a useful audit tool for quality improvement and research in aged care documentation. © 2013 ACOTA.
Menthol sensory qualities and smoking topography: a review of tobacco industry documents.
Yerger, Valerie B; McCandless, Phyra M
2011-05-01
To determine what the tobacco industry knew about the potential effects of menthol on smoking topography-how a person smokes a cigarette. A snowball strategy was used to systematically search the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu) between 1 June 2010 and 9 August 2010. We qualitatively analysed a final collection of 252 documents related to menthol and smoking topography. The tobacco industry knew that menthol has cooling, anaesthetic and analgesic properties that moderate the harshness and irritation of tobacco. Owing to its physiological effects, menthol contributes to the sensory qualities of the smoke and affects smoking topography and cigarette preference. Our review of industry studies suggests that the amount of menthol in a cigarette is associated with how the cigarette is smoked and how satisfying it is to the smoker. If menthol in cigarettes was banned, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering, new/experimental smokers might choose not to smoke rather than experience the harshness of tobacco smoke and the irritating qualities of nicotine. Similarly, established menthol smokers might choose to quit if faced with an unpleasant smoking alternative.
Menthol sensory qualities and smoking topography: a review of tobacco industry documents
McCandless, Phyra M
2011-01-01
Objective To determine what the tobacco industry knew about the potential effects of menthol on smoking topography—how a person smokes a cigarette. Methods A snowball strategy was used to systematically search the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu) between 1 June 2010 and 9 August 2010. We qualitatively analysed a final collection of 252 documents related to menthol and smoking topography. Results The tobacco industry knew that menthol has cooling, anaesthetic and analgesic properties that moderate the harshness and irritation of tobacco. Owing to its physiological effects, menthol contributes to the sensory qualities of the smoke and affects smoking topography and cigarette preference. Conclusion Our review of industry studies suggests that the amount of menthol in a cigarette is associated with how the cigarette is smoked and how satisfying it is to the smoker. If menthol in cigarettes was banned, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering, new/experimental smokers might choose not to smoke rather than experience the harshness of tobacco smoke and the irritating qualities of nicotine. Similarly, established menthol smokers might choose to quit if faced with an unpleasant smoking alternative. PMID:21504930
A design procedure and handling quality criteria for lateral directional flight control systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stein, G.; Henke, A. H.
1972-01-01
A practical design procedure for aircraft augmentation systems is described based on quadratic optimal control technology and handling-quality-oriented cost functionals. The procedure is applied to the design of a lateral-directional control system for the F4C aircraft. The design criteria, design procedure, and final control system are validated with a program of formal pilot evaluation experiments.
Water quality criteria for colored smokes: Solvent Yellow 33, Final report. [Contains glossary
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Davidson, K.A.; Hovatter, P.S.
1987-11-01
The available data on the environmental fate, aquatic toxicity, and mammalian toxicity of Solvent Yellow 33, a quinoline dye used in colored smoke grenades, were reviewed. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidelines were used in an attempt to generate water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and its use and of human health. 87 refs., 2 figs., 13 tabs.
Garner, Kimberly K; Dubbert, Patricia; Lensing, Shelly; Sullivan, Dennis H
2017-01-01
The Measuring What Matters initiative of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association identified documentation of a surrogate decision maker as one of the top 10 quality indicators in the acute hospital and hospice settings. To better understand the potential implementation of this Measuring What Matters quality measure #8, Documentation of Surrogate in outpatient primary care settings by describing primary care patients' self-reported identification and documentation of a surrogate decision maker. Examination of patient responses to self-assessment questions from advance health care planning educational groups conducted in one medical center primary care clinic and seven community-based outpatient primary care clinics. We assessed the concordance between patient reports of identifying and naming a surrogate decision maker and having completed an advance directive (AD) with presence of an AD in the electronic medical record. Of veterans without a documented AD on file, more than half (66%) reported that they had talked with someone they trusted and nearly half (52%) reported that they had named someone to communicate their preferences. Our clinical project data suggest that many more veterans may have initiated communications with surrogate decision makers than is evident in the electronic medical record. System changes are needed to close the gap between veterans' plans for a surrogate decision maker and the documentation available to acute care health care providers. Published by Elsevier Inc.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a review of the air quality criteria and the primary (health-based) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The major phases of the process for reviewing NAAQS include the following: (...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a review of the air quality criteria and the primary (health-based) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for sulfur oxides (SOx). The major phases of the process for reviewing NAAQS include the following: (1) ...
Birkner, B
2000-09-01
The objectives of certification and accreditation are the deployment and examination of quality improvement measures in health care services. The quality management system of the ISO 9001 is created to install measures and tools leading to assured and improved quality in health care. Only some experiences with certification fulfilling ISO 9001 criteria exist in the German health care system. Evidence-based clinical guidelines can serve as references for the development of standards in quality measurement. Only little data exists on the implementation strategy of guidelines and evaluation, respectively. A pilot quality management system in consistence with ISO 9001 criteria was developed for ambulatory, gastroenterological services. National guidelines of the German Society of Gastroenterology and Metabolism and the recommendations of the German Association of Physicians for quality assurance of gastrointestinal endoscopy were included in the documentation and internal auditing. This pilot quality management system is suitable for the first steps in the introduction of quality management in ambulatory health care. This system shows validity for accreditation and certification of gastrointestinal health care units as well.
Sparks, Rachel; Salskov, Alex H; Chang, Anita S; Wentworth, Kelly L; Gupta, Pritha P; Staiger, Thomas O; Anawalt, Bradley D
2015-01-01
Complete documentation of patient comorbidities in the medical record is important for clinical care, hospital reimbursement, and quality performance measures. We designed a pocket card reminder and brief educational intervention aimed at hospitalists with the goal of improving documentation of 6 common comorbidities present on admission: coagulation abnormalities, metastatic cancer, anemia, fluid and electrolyte abnormalities, malnutrition, and obesity. Two internal medicine inpatient teams led by 10 hospitalist physicians at an academic medical center received the educational intervention and pocket card reminder (n = 520 admissions). Two internal medicine teams led by nonhospitalist physicians served as a control group (n = 590 admissions). Levels of documentation of 6 common comorbidities, expected length of stay, and expected mortality were measured at baseline and during the 9-month study period. The intervention was associated with increased documentation of anemia, fluid and electrolyte abnormalities, malnutrition, and obesity in the intervention group, both compared to baseline and compared to the control group during the study period. The expected length of stay increased in the intervention group during the study period. A simple educational intervention and pocket card reminder were associated with improved documentation and hospital quality measures at an academic medical center.
US EPA is working with state and local partners in Florida to develop numeric water quality criteria to protect estuaries from nutrient pollution. Similar to other nutrient management programs in Florida, EPA is considering status of seagrass habitats as an indicator of biologic...
Reyes, Cynthia; Greenbaum, Alissa; Porto, Catherine; Russell, John C
2017-03-01
Accurate clinical documentation (CD) is necessary for many aspects of modern health care, including excellent communication, quality metrics reporting, and legal documentation. New requirements have mandated adoption of ICD-10-CM coding systems, adding another layer of complexity to CD. A clinical documentation improvement (CDI) and ICD-10 training program was created for health care providers in our academic surgery department. We aimed to assess the impact of our CDI curriculum by comparing quality metrics, coding, and reimbursement before and after implementation of our CDI program. A CDI/ICD-10 training curriculum was instituted in September 2014 for all members of our university surgery department. The curriculum consisted of didactic lectures, 1-on-1 provider training, case reviews, e-learning modules, and CD queries from nurse CDI staff and hospital coders. Outcomes parameters included monthly documentation completion rates, severity of illness (SOI), risk of mortality (ROM), case-mix index (CMI), all-payer refined diagnosis-related groups (APR-DRG), and Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP) metrics. Financial gain from responses to CDI queries was determined retrospectively. Surgery department delinquent documentation decreased by 85% after CDI implementation. Compliance with SCIP measures improved from 85% to 97%. Significant increases in surgical SOI, ROM, CMI, and APR-DRG (all p < 0.01) were found after CDI/ICD-10 training implementation. Provider responses to CDI queries resulted in an estimated $4,672,786 increase in charges. Clinical documentation improvement/ICD-10 training in an academic surgery department is an effective method to improve documentation rates, increase the hospital estimated reimbursement based on more accurate CD, and provide better compliance with surgical quality measures. Copyright © 2016 American College of Surgeons. All rights reserved.
Geuss, S; Jungmeister, A; Baumgart, A; Seelos, R; Ockert, S
2018-02-01
In prospective reimbursement schemes a diagnosis-related group (DRG) is assigned to each case according to all coded diagnoses and procedures. This process can be conducted retrospectively after (DC) or prospectively during the hospitalization (PC). The use of PC offers advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness and documentation quality without impairing patient safety. A retrospective analysis including all DRG records and billing data from 2012 to 2015 of a surgical department was carried out. The use of PC was introduced into the vascular surgery unit (VS) in September 2013, while the remaining surgical units (RS) stayed with DC. Analysis focused on differences between VS and RS before and after introduction of PC. Characteristics of cost-effectiveness were earnings (EBIT-DA), length of stay (LOS), the case mix index (CMI) and the productivity in relation to the DRG benchmark (productivity index, PI). The number of recorded diagnoses/procedures (ND/NP) was an indicator for documentation quality. A total of 1703 cases with VS and 27,679 cases with RS were analyzed. After introduction of PC the EBIT-DA per case increased in VS but not in RS (+3342 Swiss francs vs. +84, respectively, p < 0.001). The CMI increased slightly in both groups (+0.10 VS vs. +0.08 RS, p > 0.05) and the LOS was more reduced in VS than in RS (-0.36 days vs. -0.03 days, p > 0.005). The PI increased in VS but decreased in RS (+0.131 vs. -0.032, p < 0.001), ND increased more in VS (+1.29 VS vs. +0.26 RS, p < 0.001) and NP remained stable in both groups. The use of PC helps to significantly improve cost-effectiveness and documentation quality of in-patient hospital care, essentially by optimizing LOS and cost weight in relation to the DRG benchmark, i. e. increasing the PI. The increasing ND indicates an improvement in documentation quality.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lyons, Janet, Ed.
1976-01-01
This issue of "Illinois Libraries" contains the papers delivered at a 1974 workshop on government publications in microform. Twelve articles focus on such issues as: 1) reasons to collect microforms; 2) criteria for selecting microform documents; 3) microform hardware and software; 4) procurement procedures; 5) bibliographic control; and…
Gandara, Esteban; Ungar, Jonathan; Lee, Jason; Chan-Macrae, Myrna; O'Malley, Terrence; Schnipper, Jeffrey L
2010-06-01
Effective communication among physicians during hospital discharge is critical to patient care. Partners Healthcare (Boston) has been engaged in a multi-year process to measure and improve the quality of documentation of all patients discharged from its five acute care hospitals to subacute facilities. Partners first engaged stakeholders to develop a consensus set of 12 required data elements for all discharges to subacute facilities. A measurement process was established and later refined. Quality improvement interventions were then initiated to address measured deficiencies and included education of physicians and nurses, improvements in information technology, creation of or improvements in discharge documentation templates, training of hospitalists to serve as role models, feedback to physicians and their service chiefs regarding reviewed cases, and case manager review of documentation before discharge. To measure improvement in quality as a result of these efforts, rates of simultaneous inclusion of all 12 applicable data elements ("defect-free rate") were analyzed over time. Some 3,101 discharge documentation packets of patients discharged to subacute facilities from January 1, 2006, through September 2008 were retrospectively studied. During the 11 monitored quarters, the defect-free rate increased from 65% to 96% (p < .001 for trend). The largest improvements were seen in documentation of preadmission medication lists, allergies, follow-up, and warfarin information. Institution of rigorous measurement, feedback, and multidisciplinary, multimodal quality improvement processes improved the inclusion of data elements in discharge documentation required for safe hospital discharge across a large integrated health care system.
Aspirational Model Teaching Criteria for Psychology
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Richmond, Aaron S.; Boysen, Guy A.; Gurung, Regan A. R.; Tazeau, Yvette N.; Meyers, Steven A.; Sciutto, Mark J.
2014-01-01
In 2011, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology commissioned a presidential task force to document teaching criteria for model psychology teachers in undergraduate education. The resulting list of criteria reflects activities related to face-to-face course interaction and online teaching, training, and education; course design; implementation…
De Schrijver, Adinda; Devos, Yann; De Clercq, Patrick; Gathmann, Achim; Romeis, Jörg
2016-08-01
The potential risks that genetically modified plants may pose to non-target organisms and the ecosystem services they contribute to are assessed as part of pre-market risk assessments. This paper reviews the early tier studies testing the hypothesis whether exposure to plant-produced Cry34/35Ab1 proteins as a result of cultivation of maize 59122 is harmful to valued non-target organisms, in particular Arthropoda and Annelida. The available studies were assessed for their scientific quality by considering a set of criteria determining their relevance and reliability. As a case-study, this exercise revealed that when not all quality criteria are met, weighing the robustness of the study and its relevance for risk assessment is not obvious. Applying a worst-case expected environmental concentration of bioactive toxins equivalent to that present in the transgenic crop, confirming exposure of the test species to the test substance, and the use of a negative control were identified as minimum criteria to be met to guarantee sufficiently reliable data. This exercise stresses the importance of conducting studies meeting certain quality standards as this minimises the probability of erroneous or inconclusive results and increases confidence in the results and adds certainty to the conclusions drawn.
Sampling criteria in multicollection searching.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gilio, A.; Scozzafava, R.; Marchetti, P. G.
In the first stage of the document retrieval process, no information concerning relevance of a particular document is available. On the other hand, computer implementation requires that the analysis be made only for a sample of retrieved documents. This paper addresses the significance and suitability of two different sampling criteria for a multicollection online search facility. The inevitability of resorting to a logarithmic criterion in order to achieve a "spread of representativeness" from the multicollection is demonstrated.
Systematic Documentation: Structures and Tools in a Practice of Communicative Documentation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alnervik, Karin
2018-01-01
Swedish preschool teachers must systematically document activities in the preschool in order to evaluate the quality of these activities. Pedagogical documentation is one form of documentation that is proposed. The aim of this article is to discuss and create knowledge of structures and tools based on different communicative aspects of pedagogical…
Application of frequency domain handling qualities criteria to the longitudinal landing task
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sarrafian, S. K.; Powers, B. G.
1985-01-01
Under NASA sponsorship, an in-flight simulation of the longitudinal handling qualities of several configurations for the approach and landing tasks was performed on the USAF/AFWAL Total In-Flight Simulator by the Calspan Corporation. The basic configuration was a generic transport airplane with static instability. The control laws included proportional plus integral gain loops to produce pitch-rate and angle-of-attack feedback loops. The evaluation task was a conventional visual approach to a flared touchdown at a designated spot on the runway with a lateral offset. The general conclusions were that the existing criteria are based on pitch-attitude response and that these characteristics do not adequately discriminate between the good and bad configurations of this study. This paper describes the work that has been done to further develop frequency-based criteria in an effort to provide better correlation with the observed data.
Criteria for clinical audit of the quality of hospital-based obstetric care in developing countries.
Graham, W.; Wagaarachchi, P.; Penney, G.; McCaw-Binns, A.; Antwi, K. Y.; Hall, M. H.
2000-01-01
Improving the quality of obstetric care is an urgent priority in developing countries, where maternal mortality remains high. The feasibility of criterion-based clinical audit of the assessment and management of five major obstetric complications is being studied in Ghana and Jamaica. In order to establish case definitions and clinical audit criteria, a systematic review of the literature was followed by three expert panel meetings. A modified nominal group technique was used to develop consensus among experts on a final set of case definitions and criteria. Five main obstetric complications were selected and definitions were agreed. The literature review led to the identification of 67 criteria, and the panel meetings resulted in the modification and approval of 37 of these for the next stage of audit. Criterion-based audit, which has been devised and tested primarily in industrialized countries, can be adapted and applied where resources are poorer. The selection of audit criteria for such settings requires local expert opinion to be considered in addition to research evidence, so as to ensure that the criteria are realistic in relation to conditions in the field. Practical methods for achieving this are described in the present paper. PMID:10859855
Schaeffer, Blake A; Hagy, James D; Conmy, Robyn N; Lehrter, John C; Stumpf, Richard P
2012-01-17
Human activities on land increase nutrient loads to coastal waters, which can increase phytoplankton production and biomass and associated ecological impacts. Numeric nutrient water quality standards are needed to protect coastal waters from eutrophication impacts. The Environmental Protection Agency determined that numeric nutrient criteria were necessary to protect designated uses of Florida's waters. The objective of this study was to evaluate a reference condition approach for developing numeric water quality criteria for coastal waters, using data from Florida. Florida's coastal waters have not been monitored comprehensively via field sampling to support numeric criteria development. However, satellite remote sensing had the potential to provide adequate data. Spatial and temporal measures of SeaWiFS OC4 chlorophyll-a (Chl(RS)-a, mg m(-3)) were resolved across Florida's coastal waters between 1997 and 2010 and compared with in situ measurements. Statistical distributions of Chl(RS)-a were evaluated to determine a quantitative reference baseline. A binomial approach was implemented to consider how new data could be assessed against the criteria. The proposed satellite remote sensing approach to derive numeric criteria may be generally applicable to other coastal waters.
2011-01-01
Human activities on land increase nutrient loads to coastal waters, which can increase phytoplankton production and biomass and associated ecological impacts. Numeric nutrient water quality standards are needed to protect coastal waters from eutrophication impacts. The Environmental Protection Agency determined that numeric nutrient criteria were necessary to protect designated uses of Florida’s waters. The objective of this study was to evaluate a reference condition approach for developing numeric water quality criteria for coastal waters, using data from Florida. Florida’s coastal waters have not been monitored comprehensively via field sampling to support numeric criteria development. However, satellite remote sensing had the potential to provide adequate data. Spatial and temporal measures of SeaWiFS OC4 chlorophyll-a (ChlRS-a, mg m–3) were resolved across Florida’s coastal waters between 1997 and 2010 and compared with in situ measurements. Statistical distributions of ChlRS-a were evaluated to determine a quantitative reference baseline. A binomial approach was implemented to consider how new data could be assessed against the criteria. The proposed satellite remote sensing approach to derive numeric criteria may be generally applicable to other coastal waters. PMID:22192062
Water Quality Criteria for Copper Based on the BLM Approach in the Freshwater in China
Zhang, Yahui; Zang, Wenchao; Qin, Lumei; Zheng, Lei; Cao, Ying; Yan, Zhenguang; Yi, Xianliang; Zeng, Honghu; Liu, Zhengtao
2017-01-01
The bioavailability and toxicity of metals to aquatic organisms are highly dependent on water quality parameters in freshwaters. The biotic ligand model (BLM) for copper is an approach to generate the water quality criteria (WQC) with water chemistry in the ambient environment. However, few studies were carried out on the WQCs for copper based on the BLM approach in China. In the present study, the toxicity for copper to native Chinese aquatic organisms was conducted and the published toxicity data with water quality parameters to Chinese aquatic species were collected to derive the WQCs for copper by the BLM approach. The BLM-based WQCs (the criterion maximum criteria (CMC) and the criterion continuous concentration (CCC)) for copper in the freshwater for the nation and in the Taihu Lake were obtained. The CMC and CCC values for copper in China were derived to be 1.391 μg/L and 0.495 μg/L, respectively, and the CMC and CCC in the Taihu Lake were 32.194 μg/L and 9.697 μg/L. The high concentration of dissolved organic carbon might be a main reason which resulted in the higher WQC values in the Taihu Lake. The WQC of copper in the freshwater would provide a scientific foundation for water quality standards and the environment risk assessment in China. PMID:28166229
Ride quality criteria. [transportation system interior and passenger response to environment
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stephens, D. G.
1977-01-01
Ride quality refers to the interior or passenger environment of a transportation system as well as the passenger response to the environment. Ride quality factors are illustrated with the aid of a diagram presenting inputs to vehicle, the vehicle transfer function, the ride environment, the passenger response function, and the passenger ride response. The reported investigation considers the ride environment as measured on a variety of air and surface vehicles, the passenger response to the environment as determined from laboratory and field surveys, and criteria/standards for vibration, noise, and combined stimuli. Attention is given to the vertical vibration characteristics in cruise for aircraft and automobile, the aircraft vibration levels for various operating regimes, comparative noise levels during cruise, the discomfort level for a 9 Hz sinusoidal vibration, equal discomfort contours for vertical vibration, subjective response to noise in a speech situation, and noise and vibration levels for constant discomfort contours.
[Law courts and clinical documentation].
Jiménez Carnicero, M P; Magallón, A I; Gordillo, A
2006-01-01
Background. Until 2004, requests for clinical documentation proceeding from the Judicial Administration on Specialist Care of Pamplona were received in six different centres and were processed independently, with different procedures, and documents were even sent in duplicate, with the resulting work load. This article describes the procedure for processing requests for documentation proceeding from the Law Courts and analyses the requests received. Methods. A circuit was set up to channel the judicial requests that arrived at the Specialist Health Care Centres of Pamplona and at the Juridical Regime Service of the Health System of Navarra-Osasunbidea, and a Higher Technician in Health Documentation was contracted to centralise these requests. A proceedings protocol was established to unify criteria and speed up the process, and a database was designed to register the proceedings. Results. In the course of 2004, 210 requests for documentation by legal requirement were received. Of these, 24 were claims of patrimonial responsibility and 13 were requested by lawyers with the patient's authorisation. The most frequent jurisdictional order was penal (43.33%). Ninety-three point one five percent (93.15%) of the requests proceeded from law courts in the autonomous community of Navarra. The centre that received the greatest number of requests was the "Príncipe de Viana" Consultation Centre (33.73%).The most frequently requested documentation was a copy of reports (109) and a copy of the complete clinical record (39). On two occasions the original clinical record was required. The average time of response was 6.6 days. Conclusions. The centralisation of administration has brought greater agility to the process and homogeneity in the criteria of processing. Less time is involved in preparing and dispatching the documentation, the dispatch of duplicate documents is avoided, the work load has been reduced and the dispersal of documentation is avoided, a situation that
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-11-02
... Administrator identifies and lists certain pollutants which ``cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.'' The EPA then issues air quality criteria... establishes primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS...
This document may be of assistance in applying the New Source Review (NSR) air permitting regulations including the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements. This document is part of the NSR Policy and Guidance Database. Some documents in the database are a scanned or retyped version of a paper photocopy of the original. Although we have taken considerable effort to quality assure the documents, some may contain typographical errors. Contact the office that issued the document if you need a copy of the original.
Feuerstein, Joseph D; Castillo, Natalia E; Siddique, Sana S; Lewandowski, Jeffrey J; Geissler, Kathy; Martinez-Vazquez, Manuel; Thukral, Chandrashekhar; Leffler, Daniel A; Cheifetz, Adam S
2016-03-01
Quality measures are used to standardize health care and monitor quality of care. In 2011, the American Gastroenterological Association established quality measures for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but there has been limited documentation of compliance from different practice settings. We reviewed charts from 367 consecutive patients with IBD seen at academic practices, 217 patients seen at community practices, and 199 patients seen at private practices for compliance with 8 outpatient measures. Records were assessed for IBD history, medications, comorbidities, and hospitalizations. We also determined the number of patient visits to gastroenterologists in the past year, whether patients had a primary care physician at the same institution, and whether they were seen by a specialist in IBD or in conjunction with a trainee, and reviewed physician demographics. A univariate and multivariate statistical analysis was performed to determine which factors were associated with compliance of all core measures. Screening for tobacco abuse was the most frequently assessed core measure (89.6% of patients; n = 701 of 783), followed by location of IBD (80.3%; n = 629 of 783), and assessment for corticosteroid-sparing therapy (70.8%; n = 275 of 388). The least-frequently evaluated measures were pneumococcal immunization (16.7% of patients; n = 131 of 783), bone loss (25%; n = 126 of 505), and influenza immunization (28.7%; n = 225 of 783). Only 5.8% of patients (46 of 783) had all applicable core measures documented (24 in academic practice, none in clinical practice, and 22 in private practice). In the multivariate model, year of graduation from fellowship (odds ratio [OR], 2.184; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.522-3.134; P < .001), year of graduation from medical school (OR, 0.500; 95% CI, 0.352-0.709; P < .001), and total number of comorbidities (OR, 1.089; 95% CI, 1.016-1.168; P = .016) were associated with compliance with all core measures. We found poor documentation
Rationales for the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Willett, John C. (Editor); Merceret, Francis J. (Editor); Krider, E. Philip; O'Brien, T. Paul; Dye, James E.; Walterscheid, Richard L.; Stolzenburg, Maribeth; Cummins, Kenneth; Christian, Hugh J.; Madura, John T.
2016-01-01
Since natural and triggered lightning are demonstrated hazards to launch vehicles, payloads, and spacecraft, NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) follow the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LLCC) for launches from Federal Ranges. The LLCC were developed to prevent future instances of a rocket intercepting natural lightning or triggering a lightning flash during launch from a Federal Range. NASA and DoD utilize the Lightning Advisory Panel (LAP) to establish and develop robust rationale from which the criteria originate. The rationale document also contains appendices that provide additional scientific background, including detailed descriptions of the theory and observations behind the rationales. The LLCC in whole or part are used across the globe due to the rigor of the documented criteria and associated rationale. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) adopted the LLCC in 2006 for commercial space transportation and the criteria were codified in the FAA's Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for Safety of an Expendable Launch Vehicle (Appendix G to 14 CFR Part 417, (G417)) and renamed Lightning Flight Commit Criteria in G417.
Assessing the Quality of Academic Libraries on the Web: The Development and Testing of Criteria.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chao, Hungyune
2002-01-01
This study develops and tests an instrument useful for evaluating the quality of academic library Web sites. Discusses criteria for print materials and human-computer interfaces; user-based perspectives; the use of factor analysis; a survey of library experts; testing reliability through analysis of variance; and regression models. (Contains 53…
Race to the Top District Competition: The Data Quality Campaign's Comments on ED's Proposed Criteria
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Data Quality Campaign, 2012
2012-01-01
The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) submits these comments in response to the US Department of Education's (ED) draft requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions for the Race to the Top District (RTT-D) competition. DQC applauds ED for including the following components of the proposal: (1) Data is acknowledged throughout the…
40 CFR 132.3 - Adoption of criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
...) The acute water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 1 of this part, or a site... water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life in Table 2 of this part, or a site-specific....3 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER PROGRAMS WATER QUALITY...
Mohammed, Siti Asma; Yusof, Maryati Mohd
2013-04-01
Poor information quality (IQ) must be understood as a business problem rather than systems problem. In health care organization, what is required is an effective quality management that continuously manages and reviews the factors influencing IQ in health information systems (HIS) so as to achieve the desired outcomes. Hence, in order to understand the issues of information quality management (IQM) practices in health care organizations, a more holistic evaluation study should be undertaken to investigate the IQM practices in health care organizations. It is the aim of this paper to identify the significant evaluation criteria that influence the production of good IQ in HIS. Six selected frameworks and best practices both from health informatics and information systems literature have been reviewed to identify the evaluation criteria from the perspective of human, organizational and technological factors. From the review, it was found that human and organization factors are of greater significance in influencing HIS IQ. Our review depicts that there is still shortage in finding a comprehensive IQM evaluation framework. Thus, the criteria from the frameworks reviewed can be used in combination for more comprehensive evaluation criteria. Integrated IQM evaluation criteria for HIS are then proposed in this study. Poor IQ is the result of complex interdependency within sociotechnical factors in health care organization and lack of formal and structured IQM practices. Thus, a feedback mechanism such as evaluation is needed to understand the issues in depth in the future. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Raes, Patricia; Angstwurm, Matthias; Berberat, Pascal; Kadmon, Martina; Rotgans, Jerome; Streitlein-Böhme, Irmgard; Burckhardt, Gerhard; Fischer, Martin R
2014-01-01
Amended in 2013, the current version of the German Medical Licensure Regulation contains structural specifications that are also required of non-university institutions involved in Practical Year clinical training. The criteria are worded in relatively general terms. Furthermore, not all of the structural specifications can be readily applied to every subject area. In order to ensure commensurability in Practical Year instruction in Germany, not least in light of recently introduced Practical Year mobility, it is necessary to define consistent quality criteria for Practical Year training. The authors therefore propose a catalogue of criteria for the quality management process in Practical Year instruction facilities. In January 2014, the board of directors of the German Society for Medical Education decided to establish a committee comprised of representatives from various German medical faculties. In a process similar to the Delphi methodology, the group developed criteria for structure, process and outcome quality in Practical Year training in Germany. The criteria developed for structure, process and outcome quality apply to Practical Year training in academic teaching hospitals and university medical centres. Furthermore, modalities for review are proposed. The present catalogue of criteria is intended to contribute to the formation of a basis for the most consistent quality standards possible for Practical Year instruction in Germany.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Clevenson, S. A.; Leatherwood, J. D.; Hollenbaugh, D. D.
1983-01-01
Balka (1981) has identified the attainment of a 'jet-smooth' ride as a primary goal of the helicopter industry for commercial and certain military helicopters. It was noted that criteria accounting for both multiple axis vibration and interior noise are needed. The present investigation has the objective to present a vibration and interior noise data base in a format suitable for direct evaluation of aircraft ride quality. The investigation is also concerned with an assessment of the measured environment against available criteria as an indication of the state-of-the-art for current machines. Interior noise and vibration measurements were obtained on eight military helicopters during routine operational flights. The data are presented in the form of a number of parameters.
Fanucchi, Laura; Yan, Donglin; Conigliaro, Rosemarie L
2016-07-06
Communication errors are identified as a root cause contributing to a majority of sentinel events. The clinical note is a cornerstone of physician communication, yet there are few published interventions on teaching note writing in the electronic health record (EHR). This is a prospective, two-site, quality improvement project to assess and improve the quality of clinical documentation in the EHR using a validated assessment tool. Internal Medicine (IM) residents at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UK) and Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine (MMC) received one of two interventions during an inpatient ward month: either a lecture, or a lecture and individual feedback on progress notes. A third group of residents in each program served as control. Notes were evaluated with the Physician Documentation Quality Instrument 9 (PDQI-9). Due to a significant difference in baseline PDQI-9 scores at MMC, the sites were not combined. Of 75 residents at the UK site, 22 were eligible, 20 (91%) enrolled, 76 notes in total were scored. Of 156 residents at MMC, 22 were eligible, 18 (82%) enrolled, 40 notes in total were scored. Note quality did not improve as measured by the PDQI-9. This educational quality improvement project did not improve the quality of clinical documentation as measured by the PDQI-9. This project underscores the difficulty in improving note quality. Further efforts should explore more effective educational tools to improve the quality of clinical documentation in the EHR.
Formulation of image quality prediction criteria for the Viking lander camera
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Huck, F. O.; Jobson, D. J.; Taylor, E. J.; Wall, S. D.
1973-01-01
Image quality criteria are defined and mathematically formulated for the prediction computer program which is to be developed for the Viking lander imaging experiment. The general objective of broad-band (black and white) imagery to resolve small spatial details and slopes is formulated as the detectability of a right-circular cone with surface properties of the surrounding terrain. The general objective of narrow-band (color and near-infrared) imagery to observe spectral characteristics if formulated as the minimum detectable albedo variation. The general goal to encompass, but not exceed, the range of the scene radiance distribution within single, commandable, camera dynamic range setting is also considered.
Saupe-Heide, M; Gerlich, C; Lukasczik, M; Musekamp, G; Neuderth, S; Vogel, H
2013-12-01
As required by German law, inpatient institutions offering prevention and rehabilitation measures for mothers, fathers and children are obliged to implement external quality assurance measures. In 2 pilot projects funded by the German federal association of health insurance funds, external quality assurance procedures for in-hospital prevention and rehabilitation of mothers and fathers were analyzed with the aim of developing a set of instruments for the description of structural characteristics in this area of health care and to evaluate its appropriateness. Concerning structure-related quality, the project included a) designing and evaluating a questionnaire, b) the definition of assessment criteria for subsequent comparative data analyses, and c) the description and documentation of the current state in the field of rehabilitation and prevention for mothers, fathers and children. To document structural quality comprehensively, a modular questionnaire was developed and tested in a survey of 115 inpatient prevention and rehabilitation institutions for mothers, fathers and children. Involving an expert panel, preliminary basic and selection criteria were defined in order to assure a conducive assessment with regard to structural attributes. The majority of institutions had provider agreements for both prevention and rehabilitation. Measures for mothers/fathers with children were predominant; only 7 institutions exclusively treated mothers and fathers. Institution sizes varied strongly. Major indications included psychosomatics, dermatology, and pneumology. Overall, structural conditions of the institutions showed a high standard. Potential for development was found with regard to some aspects of the conceptual framework of institutional practice and the implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in diagnostics. In this article, the degrees of fulfillment with relation to the structural dimensions are presented
The Gideon Criterion: The Effects of Selection Criteria on Soldier Capabilities and Battle Results
1982-01-01
United States Army Recruiting Command RESEARCH MEMORANDUM 82-1 AD______ I I THE GIDEON CRITERION: THE EFFECTS OF SELECTION CRITERIA ON SOLDIER...and Evaluation Directorate Fort Sheridan, Illinois 60037 83 05 09 056 ii 1 DISCLAIMER NOTICE THIS DOCUMENT IS BEST QUALITY PRACTICABLE. THE COPY...FURNISHED TO DTIC CONTAINED A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PAGES WHICH DO NOT REPRODUCE LEGIBLY. j1 ... 4 ’ t c " " .. THE GIDEON CR17RION’. THE EFFECTS OF
Management Documentation: Indicators & Good Practice at Cultural Heritage Places
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eppich, R.; Garcia Grinda, J. L.
2015-08-01
Documentation for cultural heritage places usually refers to describing the physical attributes, surrounding context, condition or environment; most of the time with images, graphics, maps or digital 3D models in their various forms with supporting textural information. Just as important as this type of information is the documentation of managerial attributes. How do managers of cultural heritage places collect information related to financial or economic well-being? How are data collected over time measured, and what are significant indicators for improvement? What quality of indicator is good enough? Good management of cultural heritage places is essential for conservation longevity, preservation of values and enjoyment by the public. But how is management documented? The paper will describe the research methodology, selection and description of attributes or indicators related to good management practice. It will describe the criteria for indicator selection and why they are important, how and when they are collected, by whom, and the difficulties in obtaining this information. As importantly it will describe how this type of documentation directly contributes to improving conservation practice. Good practice summaries will be presented that highlight this type of documentation including Pamplona and Ávila, Spain and Valletta, Malta. Conclusions are drawn with preliminary recommendations for improvement of this important aspect of documentation. Documentation of this nature is not typical and presents a unique challenge to collect, measure and communicate easily. However, it is an essential category that is often ignored yet absolutely essential in order to conserve cultural heritage places.
Dionne, Shannon G.; Granato, Gregory E.; Tana, Cameron K.
1999-01-01
A readily accessible archive of information that is valid, current, and technically defensible is needed to make informed highway-planning, design, and management decisions. The National Highway Runoff Water-Quality Data and Methodology Synthesis (NDAMS) is a cataloging and assessment of the documentation of information relevant to highway-runoff water quality available in published reports. The report review process is based on the NDAMS review sheet, which was designed by the USGS with input from the FHWA, State transportation agencies, and the regulatory community. The report-review process is designed to determine the technical merit of the existing literature in terms of current requirements for data documentation, data quality, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), and technical issues that may affect the use of historical data. To facilitate the review process, the NDAMS review sheet is divided into 12 sections: (1) administrative review information, (2) investigation and report information, (3) temporal information, (4) location information (5) water-quality-monitoring information, (6) sample-handling methods, (7) constituent information, (8) sampling focus and matrix, (9) flow monitoring methods, (10) field QA/QC, (11) laboratory, and (12) uncertainty/error analysis. This report describes the NDAMS report reviews and metadata documentation methods and provides an overview of the approach and of the quality-assurance and quality-control program used to implement the review process. Detailed information, including a glossary of relevant terms, a copy of the report-review sheets, and reportreview instructions are completely documented in a series of three appendixes included with this report. Therefore the reviews are repeatable and the methods can be used by transportation research organizations to catalog new reports as they are published.
Study of Army Design Hover Criteria
2017-09-01
SPECIAL REPORT RDMR-AE-17-02 STUDY OF ARMY DESIGN HOVER CRITERIA Douglas V. Horacek Command Analysis Directorate Aviation...OF THE ARMY POSITION UNLESS SO DESIGNATED BY OTHER AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTS. TRADE NAMES USE OF TRADE NAMES OR MANUFACTURERS IN THIS REPORT...Study of Army Design Hover Criteria 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Douglas V. Horacek and Mark E. Calvert 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
Environmental Technology Verification Program Quality Management Plan, Version 3.0
The ETV QMP is a document that addresses specific policies and procedures that have been established for managing quality-related activities in the ETV program. It is the “blueprint” that defines an organization’s QA policies and procedures; the criteria for and areas of QA appli...
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-03-16
... limits in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and may affect Clean Water Act... approves revised numeric water quality criteria applicable to the Great Lakes System, thereby meeting the...'s basis for this decision is that Limited Aquatic Life waters only support an invertebrate community...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Federal Water Pollution Control Administration.
Contained are reports of five subcommittees of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Water Quality Criteria. Subcommittees were recreation and aesthetics; public water supplies; fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife; agricultural uses; and industrial water supplies. Each committee report contains discussion of the problem area, criteria…
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Compliance with acceptable quality level and passing and failing criteria for selective enforcement audits. 89.510 Section 89.510... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Selective Enforcement Auditing § 89.510...
Failures in communication through documents and documentation across the perioperative pathway.
Braaf, Sandra; Riley, Robin; Manias, Elizabeth
2015-07-01
To explore how communication failures occur in documents and documentations across the perioperative pathway in nurses' interactions with other nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists. Documents and documentation are used to communicate vital patient and procedural information among nurses, and in nurses' interactions with surgeons and anaesthetists, across the perioperative pathway. Previous research indicates that communication failure regularly occurs in the perioperative setting. A qualitative study was undertaken. The study was conducted over three hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. One hundred and twenty-five healthcare professionals from the disciplines of surgery, anaesthesia and nursing participated in the study. Data collection commenced in January 2010 and concluded in October 2010. Data were generated through 350 hours of observation, two focus groups and 20 semi-structured interviews. A detailed thematic analysis was undertaken. Communication failure occurred owing to a reliance on documents and documentation to transfer information at patient transition points, poor quality documents and documentation, and problematic access to information. Institutional ruling practices of professional practice, efficiency and productivity, and fiscal constraint dominated the coordination of nurses', surgeons' and anaesthetists' communication through documents and documentation. These governing practices configured communication to be incongruous with reliably meeting safety and quality objectives. Communication failure occurred because important information was sometimes buried in documents, insufficient, inaccurate, out-of-date or not verbally reinforced. Furthermore, busy nurses were not always able to access information they required in a timely manner. Patient safety was affected, which led to delays in treatment and at times inadequate care. Organisational support needs to be provided to nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists so they have sufficient time to complete
Rahman, Md Rejaur; Shi, Z H; Chongfa, Cai
2014-11-01
This study was an attempt to analyse the regional environmental quality with the application of remote sensing, geographical information system, and spatial multiple criteria decision analysis and, to project a quantitative method applicable to identify the status of the regional environment of the study area. Using spatial multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) approach with expert knowledge in this study, an integrated regional environmental quality index (REQI) was computed and classified into five levels of regional environment quality viz. worse, poor, moderate, good, and very good. During the process, a set of spatial criteria were selected (here, 15 criterions) together with the degree of importance of criteria in sustainability of the regional environment. Integrated remote sensing and GIS technique and models were applied to generate the necessary factors (criterions) maps for the SMCE approach. The ranking, along with expected value method, was used to standardize the factors and on the other hand, an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied for calculating factor weights. The entire process was executed in the integrated land and water information system (ILWIS) software tool that supports SMCE. The analysis showed that the overall regional environmental quality of the area was at moderate level and was partly determined by elevation. Areas under worse and poor quality of environment indicated that the regional environmental status showed decline in these parts of the county. The study also revealed that the human activities, vegetation condition, soil erosion, topography, climate, and soil conditions have serious influence on the regional environment condition of the area. Considering the regional characteristics of environmental quality, priority, and practical needs for environmental restoration, the study area was further regionalized into four priority areas which may serve as base areas of decision making for the recovery, rebuilding, and
Guidelines for Document Designers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Felker, Daniel B.; And Others
Intended to improve the quality of public documents by making them clearer to the people who use them, this book contains document design principles concerned with writing documents that are visually distinct, attractive, and easily understood. Following an introduction, the major portion of the book presents the 25 principles, each of which…
Document Delivery: Evaluating the Options.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ward, Suzanne M.
1997-01-01
Discusses options available to libraries for document delivery. Topics include users' needs; cost; copyright compliance; traditional interlibrary loan; types of suppliers; selection criteria, including customer service; new developments in interlibrary loan, including outsourcing arrangements; and the need to evaluate suppliers. (LRW)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sammonds, R. I.; Bunnell, J. W.
1981-01-01
A moving base simulator experiment demonstrated that a wings-level-turn control mode improved flying qualities for air to ground weapon delivery compared with those of a conventionally controlled aircraft. Evaluations of criteria for dynamic response for this system have shown that pilot ratings correlate well on the basis of equivalent time constant of the initial response. Ranges of this time constant, as well as digital system transport delays and lateral acceleration control authorities that encompassed level 1 through 3 handling qualities, were determined.
Moll, F H; Rathert, P; Fangerau, H
2013-12-01
Quality criteria are necessary for the evaluation and rating of scientific collections of medical associations and are necessary for their development in order to argue within the scientific community or with other relevant actors.
1 CFR 17.3 - Criteria for emergency publication.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... 1 General Provisions 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Criteria for emergency publication. 17.3..., AND PROCESSING OF DOCUMENTS FILING FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AND PUBLICATION SCHEDULES Emergency Schedule § 17.3 Criteria for emergency publication. The emergency schedule is designed to provide the fastest...
1 CFR 17.3 - Criteria for emergency publication.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-01-01
... 1 General Provisions 1 2014-01-01 2012-01-01 true Criteria for emergency publication. 17.3 Section..., AND PROCESSING OF DOCUMENTS FILING FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AND PUBLICATION SCHEDULES Emergency Schedule § 17.3 Criteria for emergency publication. The emergency schedule is designed to provide the fastest...
1 CFR 17.3 - Criteria for emergency publication.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-01-01
... 1 General Provisions 1 2013-01-01 2012-01-01 true Criteria for emergency publication. 17.3 Section..., AND PROCESSING OF DOCUMENTS FILING FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AND PUBLICATION SCHEDULES Emergency Schedule § 17.3 Criteria for emergency publication. The emergency schedule is designed to provide the fastest...
Human activities on land increase nutrient loads to coastal waters, which can increase phytoplankton production and biomass and potentially cause harmful ecological effects. States can adopt numeric water quality criteria into their water quality standards to protect the designa...
Document Delivery for the '90s and Beyond.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fitzsimmons, Joseph J.
1996-01-01
The story of the pony express offers lessons for today's document delivery. Pricing, policy, competition, and evolving technology need to be considered. To evaluate future options, researchers need to examine: types of document delivery; benefits of combining outside services with in-house systems; criteria for selecting technologies and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seymour, Daniel
This report summarized observations of administrators at nine colleges in the Academic Quality Consortium (AQC) who assessed the performance of their institutions using the Malcolm Baldrige criteria as a guideline. These criteria include leadership, information and analysis, strategic planning, human resource development and management, management…
High angle of attack flying qualities criteria for longitudinal rate command systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wilson, David J.; Citurs, Kevin D.; Davidson, John B.
1994-01-01
This study was designed to investigate flying qualities requirements of alternate pitch command systems for fighter aircraft at high angle of attack. Flying qualities design guidelines have already been developed for angle of attack command systems at 30, 45, and 60 degrees angle of attack, so this research fills a similar need for rate command systems. Flying qualities tasks that require post-stall maneuvering were tested during piloted simulations in the McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Manned Air Combat Simulation facility. A generic fighter aircraft model was used to test angle of attack rate and pitch rate command systems for longitudinal gross acquisition and tracking tasks at high angle of attack. A wide range of longitudinal dynamic variations were tested at 30, 45, and 60 degrees angle of attack. Pilot comments, Cooper-Harper ratings, and pilot induced oscillation ratings were taken from five pilots from NASA, USN, CAF, and McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. This data was used to form longitudinal design guidelines for rate command systems at high angle of attack. These criteria provide control law design guidance for fighter aircraft at high angle of attack, low speed flight conditions. Additional time history analyses were conducted using the longitudinal gross acquisition data to look at potential agility measures of merit and correlate agility usage to flying qualities boundaries. This paper presents an overview of this research.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sammonds, R. I.; Bunnell, J. W., Jr.
1980-01-01
A moving-base simulator experiment conducted at Ames Research Center demonstrated that a wings-level-turn control mode improved flying qualities for air-to-ground weapons delivery compared with those of a conventional aircraft. Evaluations of criteria for dynamic response for this system have shown that pilot ratings correlate well on the basis of equivalent time constant of the initial response. Ranges of this time constant, as well as digital-system transport delays and lateral-acceleration control authorities that encompassed Level I through Level III handling qualities, were determined.
1980-06-01
Environmental Hazard Assessment -. .’.’ASK ORDER I j EVELOPMENT OF DATA BASE REQUIREMENTS I . .oR HUMAN HEALTH BASED WATER QUALITY CRITERIA | COR MILITARY...Requirements for Human Sep a -1979- June 89 Health Based Water Quality Criteria for Military -%4,o ER Reevcle/ Reuse Applications Is 8_ 3.7__=1_...KEY WORDS (Continue on reverse aide If neceseary and Identify by block number) Water Reuse, Water Recycle, Water Quality Criteria, Human Health
Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document
2007-05-01
The primary purpose of this Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document (OEBGD) is to provide criteria and management practices to be used by ...establishes standards for environmental compliance at Department of Defense controlled or operated installations in countries for which no FGS have been established.
Feng, C L; Wu, F C; Dyer, S D; Chang, H; Zhao, X L
2013-01-01
Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) are usually used in the development of water quality criteria and require a large number of toxicity values to define a hazard level to protect the majority of species. However, some toxicity data for certain chemicals are limited, especially for endangered and threatened species. Thus, it is important to predict the unknown species toxicity data using available toxicity data. To address this need, interspecies correlation estimation (ICE) models were developed by US EPA to predict acute toxicity of chemicals to diverse species based on a more limited data set of surrogate species toxicity data. Use of SSDs generated from ICE models allows for the prediction of protective water quality criteria, such as the HC5 (hazard concentration, 5th percentile). In the present study, we tested this concept using toxicity data collected for zinc. ICE-based-SSDs were generated using three surrogate species (common carp (Cyprinus carpio), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Daphnia magna) and compared with the measured-based SSD and corresponding HC5. The results showed that no significant differences were observed between the ICE- and the measured-based SSDs and HC5s. Furthermore, the examination of species placements within the SSDs indicated that the most sensitive species to zinc were invertebrates, especially crustaceans. Given the similarity of SSD and HC5s for zinc, the use of ICE to derive potential water quality criteria for diverse chemicals in China is proposed. Further, a combination of measured and ICE-derived data will prove useful for assessing water quality and chemical risks in the near future. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-04-22
... ``cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or... Document Related to the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of availability. SUMMARY: The Office of Air Quality...
Methods for Environments and Contaminants: Criteria Air Pollutants
EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) has set primary (health-based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, often referred to as criteria air pollutants (or simply criteria pollutants).
Issues in Commercial Document Delivery.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marcinko, Randall Wayne
1997-01-01
Discusses (1) the history of document delivery; (2) the delivery process--end-user request, intermediary request, vendor reference, citation verification, obtaining document and source relations, quality control, transferring document to client, customer service and status, invoicing and billing, research and development, and copyright; and (3)…
40 CFR 1508.10 - Environmental document.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Environmental document. 1508.10 Section 1508.10 Protection of Environment COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TERMINOLOGY AND INDEX § 1508.10 Environmental document. Environmental document includes the documents specified in § 1508.9 (environmental...
40 CFR 1508.10 - Environmental document.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Environmental document. 1508.10 Section 1508.10 Protection of Environment COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TERMINOLOGY AND INDEX § 1508.10 Environmental document. Environmental document includes the documents specified in § 1508.9 (environmental...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... LAKES SYSTEM Pt. 132, App. A Appendix A to Part 132—Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Methodologies... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Methodologies for Development of Aquatic Life Criteria and Values A Appendix A to Part 132 Protection of...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... LAKES SYSTEM Pt. 132, App. A Appendix A to Part 132—Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Methodologies... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Methodologies for Development of Aquatic Life Criteria and Values A Appendix A to Part 132 Protection of...
Altin, Dag; Frost, Tone Karin; Nilssen, Ingunn
2008-04-01
In order to achieve the offshore petroleum industries "zero harm" goal to the environment, the environmental impact factor for drilling discharges was developed as a tool to identify and quantify the environmental risks associated with disposal of drilling discharges to the marine environment. As an initial step in this work the main categories of substances associated with drilling discharges and assumed to contribute to toxic or nontoxic stress were identified and evaluated for inclusion in the risk assessment. The selection were based on the known toxicological properties of the substances, or the total amount discharged together with their potential for accumulation in the water column or sediments to levels that could be expected to cause toxic or nontoxic stress to the biota. Based on these criteria 3 categories of chemicals were identified for risk assessment the water column and sediments: Natural organic substances, metals, and drilling fluid chemicals. Several approaches for deriving the environmentally safe threshold concentrations as predicted no effect concentrations were evaluated in the process. For the water column consensus were reached for using the species sensitivity distribution approach for metals and the assessment factor approach for natural organic substances and added drilling chemicals. For the sediments the equilibrium partitioning approach was selected for all three categories of chemicals. The theoretically derived sediment quality criteria were compared to field-derived threshold effect values based on statistical approaches applied on sediment monitoring data from the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The basis for derivation of predicted no effect concentration values for drilling discharges should be consistent with the principles of environmental risk assessment as described in the Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment issued by the European Union.
McLean, Andrew; Lawlor, Jenine; Mitchell, Rob; Kault, David; O'Kane, Carl; Lees, Michelle
2015-02-01
To evaluate the impact of More Learning for Interns in Emergency (MoLIE) on clinical documentation in the ED of a large regional hospital. MoLIE was implemented at The Townsville Hospital (TTH) in 2010, and has since provided ED interns with structured off-floor teaching and a dedicated clinical supervisor. A pre- and post-intervention study was conducted using retrospective medical record review methodology. Charts were selected by identifying all TTH ED patients seen by interns in the period 2008-2011. Two hundred pre-intervention records (2008-2009) and 200 post-intervention records (2010-2011) were reviewed. These were randomly selected following an initial screen by an ED staff specialist. The quality of clinical documentation for five common ED presentations (asthma, chest pain, lacerations, abdominal pain and upper limb fractures) was assessed. For each presentation, documentation quality was scored out of 10 using predefined criteria. An improvement of two or more was thought to be clinically significant. Mean scores for each group were compared using a Student's t-test for independent samples. Mean documentation scores (and 95% confidence intervals) were 5.55 (5.17-5.93) in 2008, 5.42 (4.98-5.86) in 2009, 6.37 (5.99-6.75) in 2010 and 6.08 (5.71-6.45) in 2011. There was a statistically but not clinically significant improvement in scores pre- and post-intervention (P ≤ 0.001). The introduction of MoLIE was associated with a small but statistically significant improvement in documentation, despite an 80% increase in intern placements. These results suggest that structured training programmes have potential to improve intern performance while simultaneously enhancing training capacity. The impact on quality of care requires further evaluation. © 2015 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.
Park, Tae-Jin; Lee, Jong-Hyeon; Lee, Myung-Sung; Park, Chang-Hee; Lee, Chang-Hoon; Moon, Seong-Dae; Chung, Jiwoong; Cui, Rongxue; An, Youn-Joo; Yeom, Dong-Hyuk; Lee, Soo-Hyung; Lee, Jae-Kwan; Zoh, Kyung-Duk
2018-09-01
Ammonia is deemed one of the most important pollutants in the freshwater environment because of its highly toxic nature and ubiquity in surface water. This study thus aims to derive the criteria for ammonia in freshwater to protect aquatic life because there are no water quality criteria for ammonia in Korea. Short-term lethal tests were conducted to perform the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) method. This method is widely used in ecological risk assessment to determine the chemical concentrations to protect aquatic species. Based on the species sensitivity distribution method using Korean indigenous aquatic biota, the hazardous concentration for 5% of biological species (HC 5 ) value calculated in this study was 44mg/L as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). The value of the assessment factor was set at 2. Consequently, the criteria for ammonia were derived as 22mg/L at pH7 and 20°C. When the derived value was applied to the monitoring data nationwide, 0.51%, 0.09%, 0.18%, 0.20%, and 0.35% of the monitoring sites in Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River, Youngsan River, and lakes throughout the nation, respectively, exceeded this criteria. The Ministry of Environment in Korea has been considering introducing water quality standard of ammonia for protecting aquatic life. Therefore, our results can provide the basis for introducing the ammonia standard in Korea. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Quality Evaluation of Nursing Observation Based on a Survey of Nursing Documents Using NursingNAVI.
Tsuru, Satoko; Omori, Miho; Inoue, Manami; Wako, Fumiko
2016-01-01
We have identified three foci of the nursing observation and nursing action respectively. Using these frameworks, we have developed the structured knowledge model for a number of diseases and medical interventions. We developed this structure based NursingNAVI® contents collaborated with some quality centred hospitals. Authors analysed the nursing care documentations of post-gastrectomy patients in light of the standardized nursing care plan in the "NursingNAVI®" developed by ourselves and revealed the "failure to observe" and "failure to document", which leaded to the volatility of the patients' data, conditions and some situation. This phenomenon should have been avoided if nurses had employed a standardized nursing care plan. So, we developed thinking process support system for planning, delivering, recording and evaluating in daily nursing using NursingNAVI® contents. It is important to identify the problem of the volatility of the patients' data, conditions and some situation. We developed a survey tool of nursing documents using NursingNAVI® Content for quality evaluation of nursing observation. We recommended some hospitals to use this survey tool. Fifteen hospitals participated the survey using this tool. It is estimated that the volatilizing situation. A hospital which don't participate this survey, knew the result. So the hospital decided to use NursingNAVI® contents in HIS. It was suggested that the system has availability for nursing OJT and time reduction of planning and recording without volatilizing situation.
Permanent Ground Anchors : Stump Design Criteria
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1982-09-01
This document summarizes the main design methods used by the principal investigators in the design of permanent ground anchors, including basic concepts, design criteria, and analytical techniques. The application of these design methods are illustra...
Giacomelli, Nino; Yongping, Yang; Huber, Franz K; Ankli, Anita; Weckerle, Caroline S
2017-03-14
Background: Dang gui (Apiaceae; Angelica sinensis radix) is among the most often used Chinese medicinal plants. However, hardly anything is known about its value chain and its influence on the main marker compounds of the drug. The aim of this study is to investigate the value chain of dang gui in Gansu and Yunnan, and the analysis of the marker compounds ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide concentration in relation to quality criteria such as the production area and size of the roots. Methods: During six months of field research in China, semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders of the value chain were undertaken and plant material was collected. High-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used for semi-quantitative analysis of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide. Results: Small-scale household cultivation prevails and in Gansu-in contrast to Yunnan-the cultivation of dang gui is often the main income source of farmers. Farmers and dealers use size and odor of the root as main quality criteria. For Chinese medicine doctors, Gansu as the production area is the main criterion. Higher amounts of ferulic acid in plant material from Yunnan compared to Gansu were found. Additionally, a negative relation of root length with both ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide as well as head diameter with ferulic acid were found. Conclusions: HPTLC is a valid method for semi-quantitative analysis of the marker compounds of dang gui . However, the two main marker compounds cannot explain why size and smell of the root or production area are seen as quality criteria. This hints at the inherent difficulty to correlate quality notions of medicinal plants with specific chemical compounds. With respect to this, more attention should be paid to quality in terms of cultivation and processing techniques.
Kopanz, Julia; Lichtenegger, Katharina M; Sendlhofer, Gerald; Semlitsch, Barbara; Cuder, Gerald; Pak, Andreas; Pieber, Thomas R; Tax, Christa; Brunner, Gernot; Plank, Johannes
2018-02-09
Insulin charts represent a key component in the inpatient glycemic management process. The aim was to evaluate the quality of structure, documentation, and treatment of diabetic inpatient care to design a new standardized insulin chart for a large university hospital setting. Historically grown blank insulin charts in use at 39 general wards were collected and evaluated for quality structure features. Documentation and treatment quality were evaluated in a consecutive snapshot audit of filled-in charts. The primary end point was the percentage of charts with any medication error. Overall, 20 different blank insulin charts with variable designs and significant structural deficits were identified. A medication error occurred in 55% of the 102 audited filled-in insulin charts, consisting of prescription and management errors in 48% and 16%, respectively. Charts of insulin-treated patients had more medication errors relative to patients treated with oral medication (P < 0.01). Chart design did support neither clinical authorization of individual insulin prescription (10%), nor insulin administration confirmed by nurses' signature (25%), nor treatment of hypoglycemia (0%), which resulted in a reduced documentation and treatment quality in clinical practice 7%, 30%, 25%, respectively. A multitude of charts with variable design characteristics and structural deficits were in use across the inpatient wards. More than half of the inpatients had a chart displaying a medication error. Lack of structure quality features of the charts had an impact on documentation and treatment quality. Based on identified deficits and international standards, a new insulin chart was developed to overcome these quality hurdles.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mogensen, Finn; Schnack, Karsten
2010-01-01
Action competence has been a key concept in educational circles in Denmark since the 1980s. This paper explores the relationship between the action competence approach and recent discourses of education for sustainable development (ESD), competence and quality criteria. First we argue that action competence is an educational ideal, referring to…
Assay Characterization Guidance Documents | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research
CPTAC characterized assays are defined as those that meet the criteria described in the Assay Characterization Guidance Document. This guidance document aligns with recommendations by the research community as “fit-for-purpose” validation requirements of targeted proteomics assays.
NASA Glenn Wind Tunnel Model Systems Criteria
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Soeder, Ronald H.; Roeder, James W.; Stark, David E.; Linne, Alan A.
2004-01-01
This report describes criteria for the design, analysis, quality assurance, and documentation of models that are to be tested in the wind tunnel facilities at the NASA Glenn Research Center. This report presents two methods for computing model allowable stresses on the basis of the yield stress or ultimate stress, and it defines project procedures to test models in the NASA Glenn aeropropulsion facilities. Both customer-furnished and in-house model systems are discussed. The functions of the facility personnel and customers are defined. The format for the pretest meetings, safety permit process, and model reviews are outlined. The format for the model systems report (a requirement for each model that is to be tested at NASA Glenn) is described, the engineers responsible for developing the model systems report are listed, and the timetable for its delivery to the project engineer is given.
21 CFR 820.40 - Document controls.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-04-01
... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Document controls. 820.40 Section 820.40 Food and... QUALITY SYSTEM REGULATION Document Controls § 820.40 Document controls. Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control all documents that are required by this part. The procedures shall...
21 CFR 820.40 - Document controls.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-04-01
... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Document controls. 820.40 Section 820.40 Food and... QUALITY SYSTEM REGULATION Document Controls § 820.40 Document controls. Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control all documents that are required by this part. The procedures shall...
21 CFR 820.40 - Document controls.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-04-01
... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Document controls. 820.40 Section 820.40 Food and... QUALITY SYSTEM REGULATION Document Controls § 820.40 Document controls. Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control all documents that are required by this part. The procedures shall...
21 CFR 820.40 - Document controls.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-04-01
... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Document controls. 820.40 Section 820.40 Food and... QUALITY SYSTEM REGULATION Document Controls § 820.40 Document controls. Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control all documents that are required by this part. The procedures shall...
21 CFR 820.40 - Document controls.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-04-01
... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Document controls. 820.40 Section 820.40 Food and... QUALITY SYSTEM REGULATION Document Controls § 820.40 Document controls. Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control all documents that are required by this part. The procedures shall...
Document fraud deterrent strategies: four case studies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mercer, John W.
1998-04-01
This paper discusses the approaches taken to deter fraud committed against four documents: the machine-readable passport; the machine-readable visa; the Consular Report of Birth Abroad; and the Border Crossing Card. General approaches are discussed first, with an emphasis on the reasons for the document, the conditions of its use and the information systems required for it to function. A cost model of counterfeit deterrence is introduced. Specific approaches to each of the four documents are then discussed, in light of the issuance circumstances and criteria, the intent of the issuing authority, the applicable international standards and the level of protection and fraud resistance appropriate for the document.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Malkoske, Kyle; Nielsen, Michelle; Brown, Erika
A close partnership between the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicist’s (COMP) Quality Assurance and Radiation Safety Advisory Committee (QARSAC) has resulted in the development of a suite of Technical Quality Control (TQC) Guidelines for radiation treatment equipment, that outline specific performance objectives and criteria that equipment should meet in order to assure an acceptable level of radiation treatment quality. The framework includes consolidation of existing guidelines and/or literature by expert reviewers, structured stages of public review, external field-testing and ratification by COMP. The adopted framework for the development and maintenance of themore » TQCs ensures the guidelines incorporate input from the medical physics community during development, measures the workload required to perform the QC tests outlined in each TQC, and remain relevant (i.e. “living documents”) through subsequent planned reviews and updates. This presentation will show the Multi-Leaf Linear Accelerator document as an example of how feedback and cross-national work to achieve a robust guidance document. During field-testing, each technology was tested at multiple centres in a variety of clinic environments. As part of the defined feedback, workload data was captured. This lead to average time associated with testing as defined in each TQC document. As a result, for a medium-sized centre comprising 6 linear accelerators and a comprehensive brachytherapy program, we evaluate the physics workload to 1.5 full-time equivalent physicist per year to complete all QC tests listed in this suite.« less
Duplicate document detection in DocBrowse
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chalana, Vikram; Bruce, Andrew G.; Nguyen, Thien
1998-04-01
Duplicate documents are frequently found in large databases of digital documents, such as those found in digital libraries or in the government declassification effort. Efficient duplicate document detection is important not only to allow querying for similar documents, but also to filter out redundant information in large document databases. We have designed three different algorithm to identify duplicate documents. The first algorithm is based on features extracted from the textual content of a document, the second algorithm is based on wavelet features extracted from the document image itself, and the third algorithm is a combination of the first two. These algorithms are integrated within the DocBrowse system for information retrieval from document images which is currently under development at MathSoft. DocBrowse supports duplicate document detection by allowing (1) automatic filtering to hide duplicate documents, and (2) ad hoc querying for similar or duplicate documents. We have tested the duplicate document detection algorithms on 171 documents and found that text-based method has an average 11-point precision of 97.7 percent while the image-based method has an average 11- point precision of 98.9 percent. However, in general, the text-based method performs better when the document contains enough high-quality machine printed text while the image- based method performs better when the document contains little or no quality machine readable text.
Lalji, U C; Jeukens, C R L P N; Houben, I; Nelemans, P J; van Engen, R E; van Wylick, E; Beets-Tan, R G H; Wildberger, J E; Paulis, L E; Lobbes, M B I
2015-10-01
Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) examination results in a low-energy (LE) and contrast-enhanced image. The LE appears similar to a full-field digital mammogram (FFDM). Our aim was to evaluate LE CESM image quality by comparing it to FFDM using criteria defined by the European Reference Organization for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services (EUREF). A total of 147 cases with both FFDM and LE images were independently scored by two experienced radiologists using these (20) EUREF criteria. Contrast detail measurements were performed using a dedicated phantom. Differences in image quality scores, average glandular dose, and contrast detail measurements between LE and FFDM were tested for statistical significance. No significant differences in image quality scores were observed between LE and FFDM images for 17 out of 20 criteria. LE scored significantly lower on one criterion regarding the sharpness of the pectoral muscle (p < 0.001), and significantly better on two criteria on the visualization of micro-calcifications (p = 0.02 and p = 0.034). Dose and contrast detail measurements did not reveal any physical explanation for these observed differences. Low-energy CESM images are non-inferior to FFDM images. From this perspective FFDM can be omitted in patients with an indication for CESM. • Low-energy CESM images are non-inferior to FFDM images. • Micro-calcifications are significantly more visible on LE CESM than on FFDM. • There is no physical explanation for this improved visibility of micro-calcifications. • There is no need for an extra FFDM when CESM is indicated.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Neal, Joan; Echternacht, Lonnie
1995-01-01
Experimental groups used four decision-making techniques--reverse brainstorming (RS), dialectical inquiry (DI), devil's advocacy (DA), and consensus--in evaluating writing assignments. Control group produced a better quality document. Student reaction to negative features of RS, DI, and DA were not significant. (SK)
1979-03-01
AD-AO87 683 WATER AND AIR RESEARCH INC GAINESVILLE FL F/6 13/2 SUMMARY AND EVALUATION OF AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATA IN RELAT-ETC(U) MAR 79 J H...F1 ’ " LII r , N \\I .<A -U AND EVALUATION OF AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATA IN RELATION TO ESTABLISHING WATER QUALITY CRITERIA FOR MUNITIONS-UNIQUE... aquatic environment and t water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic organisms1 Vt- ,., Chemical properties, analytical methods
Nomura, Aline Tsuma Gaedke; Silva, Marcos Barragan da; Almeida, Miriam de Abreu
2016-11-21
to analyze the quality of nursing documentation by comparing the periods before and after the preparation for the hospital accreditation, using the Quality of Nursing Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes - Brazilian version (Q-DIO- Brazilian version). observational study of interventions conducted in a university hospital. Nursing documentation of 112 medical records for the period before and 112 for the period after the hospital accreditation were compared using the Q-DIO instrument - Brazilian version. Data were statistically analyzed. there was a significant improvement in the quality of nursing documentation. When the total score of the instrument was evaluated, a significant improvement was observed in 24 out of the 29 items (82.8%). there was commitment to the shift of culture by means of the interventions carried out, which resulted in the conquest of the quality seal ensured by the Joint Commission International. analisar a qualidade dos registros de enfermagem, comparando o período antes e depois do preparo para a acreditação hospitalar, fazendo uso do Quality of Nursing Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes - Versão brasileira (Q-DIO-Versão brasileira). estudo observacional de intervenções realizado em um hospital universitário. Comparados os registros de enfermagem em 112 prontuários referentes ao período anterior a acreditação hospitalar e 112 ao período posterior, por meio do instrumento Q-DIO - Versão brasileira. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente. houve melhora significativa da qualidade dos registros de enfermagem. Quando avaliado o escore total do instrumento evidenciou melhora significativa em 24 dos 29 itens (82,8%). houve empenho à mudança de cultura por meio das intervenções realizadas, refletida na conquista do selo de qualidade da Joint Commission Internacional. analizar la calidad de los registros de enfermería, comparando los períodos antes y después de la preparación para la acreditación hospitalaria
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wiley, Jennifer; Hastings, Peter; Blaum, Dylan; Jaeger, Allison J.; Hughes, Simon; Wallace, Patricia; Griffin, Thomas D.; Britt, M. Anne
2017-01-01
This article describes several approaches to assessing student understanding using written explanations that students generate as part of a multiple-document inquiry activity on a scientific topic (global warming). The current work attempts to capture the causal structure of student explanations as a way to detect the quality of the students'…
Statistical Framework for Recreational Water Quality Criteria and Monitoring
Discussion between the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the EPA Office of Water (OW), which is charged with setting criteria in accordance with the BEACH Act of 2000, have made it clear that in-depth statistical guidance for such criteria is needed. In January 20...
National Recommended Water Quality Criteria - Organoleptic Effects
These criteria are based on organoleptic (taste and odor) effects. Because of variations in chemical nomenclature systems, this listing of pollutants does not duplicate the listing in Appendix A of 40 CFR Part 423.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Young, K.; Voemel, H.; Morris, D.
2015-12-01
set. The second improvement was to define appropriate criteria needed for documentation and metadata so that data users have all of the relevant information needed to properly use and understand the complexities of these measurements.
Design criteria for payload workstation accommodations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Watters, H. H.; Stokes, J. W.
1975-01-01
Anticipated shuttle sortie payload man-system design criteria needs are investigated. Man-system interactions for the scientific disciplines are listed and the extent is assessed to which documented Skylab experience is expected to provide system design guidance for each of the identified interactions. Where the analysis revealed that the reduced Skylab data does not answer the anticipated needs candidate criteria, based on unreduced Skylab data, available prior research, original analysis, or related requirements derived from previous space programs, are provided.
AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR LEAD (1977)
The document summarizes current knowledge about the relationships between airborne lead and consequent effects on man and his environment. The effects that have been observed to occur when airborne lead has reached or exceeded specific levels for time periods constitute the centr...
Assessing decision quality in patient-centred care requires a preference-sensitive measure
Kaltoft, Mette; Cunich, Michelle; Salkeld, Glenn; Dowie, Jack
2014-01-01
A theory-based instrument for measuring the quality of decisions made using any form of decision technology, including both decision-aided and unaided clinical consultations is required to enable person- and patient-centred care and to respond positively to individual heterogeneity in the value aspects of decision making. Current instruments using the term ‘decision quality’ have adopted a decision- and thus condition-specific approach. We argue that patient-centred care requires decision quality to be regarded as both preference-sensitive across multiple relevant criteria and generic across all conditions and decisions. MyDecisionQuality is grounded in prescriptive multi criteria decision analysis and employs a simple expected value algorithm to calculate a score for the quality of a decision that combines, in the clinical case, the patient’s individual preferences for eight quality criteria (expressed as importance weights) and their ratings of the decision just taken on each of these criteria (expressed as performance rates). It thus provides an index of decision quality that encompasses both these aspects. It also provides patients with help in prioritizing quality criteria for future decision making by calculating, for each criterion, the Incremental Value of Perfect Rating, that is, the increase in their decision quality score that would result if their performance rating on the criterion had been 100%, weightings unchanged. MyDecisionQuality, which is a web-based generic and preference-sensitive instrument, can constitute a key patient-reported measure of the quality of the decision-making process. It can provide the basis for future decision improvement, especially when the clinician (or other stakeholders) completes the equivalent instrument and the extent and nature of concordance and discordance can be established. Apart from its role in decision preparation and evaluation, it can also provide real time and relevant documentation for the patient
In 1998, EPA published its draft revision to the methodology for deriving ambient water quality criteria to protect human health. Four methods were proposed to determine lipid-normalized bioaccumulation factors based on freely-dissolved water concentrations (BAFs) for nonpolar or...
A. Dennis Lemly
1999-01-01
Local water quality criteria for selenium should be based on an assessment of the degree of toxicological hazard to fish and wildlife, which is influenced by the spatial and temporal variation of the selenium cycle at the site under consideration. The physical area from which measurements are taken to evaluate selenium residues and biological effects, i.e., the...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wyman, Steven K.; And Others
This exploratory study establishes analytical tools (based on both technical criteria and user feedback) by which federal Web site administrators may assess the quality of their websites. The study combined qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to achieve the following objectives: (1) identify and define key issues regarding…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a review of the air quality criteria and the secondary (welfare-based) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM). The major phases of the ...
Degraded document image enhancement
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Agam, G.; Bal, G.; Frieder, G.; Frieder, O.
2007-01-01
Poor quality documents are obtained in various situations such as historical document collections, legal archives, security investigations, and documents found in clandestine locations. Such documents are often scanned for automated analysis, further processing, and archiving. Due to the nature of such documents, degraded document images are often hard to read, have low contrast, and are corrupted by various artifacts. We describe a novel approach for the enhancement of such documents based on probabilistic models which increases the contrast, and thus, readability of such documents under various degradations. The enhancement produced by the proposed approach can be viewed under different viewing conditions if desired. The proposed approach was evaluated qualitatively and compared to standard enhancement techniques on a subset of historical documents obtained from the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. In addition, quantitative performance was evaluated based on synthetically generated data corrupted under various degradation models. Preliminary results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Nguyen, S M; Thamm, D H; Vail, D M; London, C A
2015-09-01
In veterinary medical oncology, there is currently no standardized protocol for assessing response to therapy in solid tumours. The lack of such a formalized guideline makes it challenging to critically compare outcome measures across various treatment protocols. The Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group (VCOG) membership consensus document presented here is based on the recommendations of a subcommittee of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) board-certified veterinary oncologists. This consensus paper has used the human response evaluation criteria in solid tumours (RECIST v1.1) as a framework to establish standard procedures for response assessment in canine solid tumours that is meant to be easy to use, repeatable and applicable across a variety of clinical trial structures in veterinary oncology. It is hoped that this new canine RECIST (cRECIST v1.0) will be adopted within the veterinary oncology community and thereby facilitate the comparison of current and future treatment protocols used for companion animals with cancer. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ENHANCED STREAM WATER QUALITY MODELS QUAL2E AND QUAL2E-UNCAS: DOCUMENTATION AND USER MANUAL
The manual is a major revision of the original QUAL2E program documentation released in 1985. It includes a description of the recent modifications and improvements to the widely used water quality models QUAL-II and QUAL2E. The enhancements include an extensive capability for un...
IRIS Summary and Supporting Documents for Methylmercury ...
In January 2001, U.S. EPA finalized the guidance for methylmercury in the water quality criteria for states and authorized tribes. The links below take you to the best resources for this guidance. This final Guidance for Implementing the January 2001 Methylmercury Water Quality Criterion provides technical guidance to states and authorized tribes on how they may want to use the January 2001 fish tissue-based recommended water quality criterion for methylmercury in surface water protection programs (e.g., TMDLs, NPDES permitting). The guidance addresses questions related to water quality standards adoption (e.g., site-specific criteria, variances), assessments, monitoring, TMDLs, and NPDES permitting. The guidance consolidates existing EPA guidance where relevant to mercury.
Vietnamese Document Representation and Classification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nguyen, Giang-Son; Gao, Xiaoying; Andreae, Peter
Vietnamese is very different from English and little research has been done on Vietnamese document classification, or indeed, on any kind of Vietnamese language processing, and only a few small corpora are available for research. We created a large Vietnamese text corpus with about 18000 documents, and manually classified them based on different criteria such as topics and styles, giving several classification tasks of different difficulty levels. This paper introduces a new syllable-based document representation at the morphological level of the language for efficient classification. We tested the representation on our corpus with different classification tasks using six classification algorithms and two feature selection techniques. Our experiments show that the new representation is effective for Vietnamese categorization, and suggest that best performance can be achieved using syllable-pair document representation, an SVM with a polynomial kernel as the learning algorithm, and using Information gain and an external dictionary for feature selection.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bushnell, M.; Waldmann, C.; Hermes, J.; Tamburri, M.
2017-12-01
Many oceanographic observation groups create and maintain QA, QC, and best practices (BP) to ensure efficient and accurate data collection and quantify quality. Several entities - IOOS® QARTOD, AtlantOS, ACT, WMO/IOC JCOMM OCG - have joined forces to document existing practices, identify gaps, and support development of emerging techniques. While each group has a slightly different focus, many underlying QA/QC/BP needs can be quite common. QARTOD focuses upon real-time data QC, and has produced manuals that address QC tests for eleven ocean variables. AtlantOS is a research and innovation project working towards the integration of ocean-observing activities across all disciplines in the Atlantic Basin. ACT brings together research institutions, resource managers, and private companies to foster the development and adoption of effective and reliable sensors for coastal, freshwater, and ocean environments. JCOMM promotes broad international coordination of oceanographic and marine meteorological observations and data management and services. Leveraging existing efforts of these organizations is an efficient way to consolidate available information, develop new practices, and evaluate the use of ISO standards to judge the quality of measurements. ISO standards may offer accepted support for a framework for an ocean data quality management system, similar to the meteorological standards defined by WMO (https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/qassurance.html). We will first cooperatively develop a plan to create a QA/QC/BP manual. The resulting plan will describe the need for such a manual, the extent of the manual, the process used to engage the community in creating it, the maintenance of the resultant document, and how these things will be done. It will also investigate standards for metadata. The plan will subsequently be used to develop the QA/QC/BP manual, providing guidance which advances the standards adopted by IOOS, AtlantOS, JCOMM, and others.
Gehring, Nicole D; McGrath, Patrick; Wozney, Lori; Soleimani, Amir; Bennett, Kathryn; Hartling, Lisa; Huguet, Anna; Dyson, Michele P; Newton, Amanda S
2017-06-21
Researchers, healthcare planners, and policymakers convey a sense of urgency in using eMental healthcare technologies to improve pediatric mental healthcare availability and access. Yet, different stakeholders may focus on different aspects of implementation. We conducted a systematic review to identify implementation foci in research studies and government/organizational documents for eMental healthcare technologies for pediatric mental healthcare. A search of eleven electronic databases and grey literature was conducted. We included research studies and documents from organization and government websites if the focus included eMental healthcare technology for children/adolescents (0-18 years), and implementation was studied and reported (research studies) or goals/recommendations regarding implementation were made (documents). We assessed study quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and document quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II. Implementation information was grouped according to Proctor and colleagues' implementation outcomes-acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, cost, feasibility, fidelity, penetration, and sustainability-and grouped separately for studies and documents. Twenty research studies and nine government/organizational documents met eligibility criteria. These articles represented implementation of eMental healthcare technologies in the USA (14 studies), United Kingdom (2 documents, 3 studies), Canada (2 documents, 1 study), Australia (4 documents, 1 study), New Zealand (1 study), and the Netherlands (1 document). The quality of research studies was excellent (n = 11), good (n = 6), and poor (n = 1). These eMental health studies focused on the acceptability (70%, n = 14) and appropriateness (50%, n = 10) of eMental healthcare technologies to users and mental healthcare professionals. The quality of government and organizational documents was high (n = 2), medium (n = 6
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tarelnik, V.; Belous, A.; Antoszewski, B.; Zukov, A.
2017-08-01
In this paper are presented the recommendations for material’s selections of the mechanical seals rings and basic productive and operating requirements. The system of a directional selection of technology that ensures the required quality of working surfaces of the mechanical seals rings covers their entire life cycle. The mathematical frictional model is proposed as an instrument for calculating a linear and weighing abrasion of the mechanical seals rings and helps to improve selection’s criteria and the most rational method of strengthening.
WCATS: Waste Documentation, Course No. 8504
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Simpson, Sandy
2016-04-14
This course was developed for individuals at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) who characterize and document waste streams in the Waste Compliance and Tracking System (WCATS) according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, Department of Energy Orders, and other applicable criteria. When you have completed this course, you will be able to recognize how waste documentation enables LANL to characterize and classify hazardous waste for compliant treatment, storage, and disposal, identify the purpose of the waste stream profile (WSP), identify the agencies that provide guidance for waste management, and more.
Kidanto, Hussein Lesio; Wangwe, Peter; Kilewo, Charles D; Nystrom, Lennarth; Lindmark, Gunnila
2012-11-21
Criteria-based audits (CBA) have been used to improve clinical management in developed countries, but have only recently been introduced in the developing world. This study discusses the use of a CBA to improve quality of care among eclampsia patients admitted at a University teaching hospital in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The prevalence of eclampsia in MNH is high (≈6%) with the majority of cases arriving after start of convulsions. In 2004-2005 the case-fatality rate in eclampsia was 5.1% of all pregnant women admitted for delivery (MNH obstetric data base). A criteria-based audit (CBA) was used to evaluate the quality of care for eclamptic mothers admitted at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after implementation of recommendations of a previous audit. A CBA of eclampsia cases was conducted at MNH. Management practices were evaluated using evidence-based criteria for appropriate care. The Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines, local management guidelines, the WHO manual supplemented by the WHO Reproductive Health Library, standard textbooks, the Cochrane database and reviews in peer reviewed journals were adopted. At the initial audit in 2006, 389 case notes were assessed and compared with the standards, gaps were identified, recommendations made followed by implementation. A re-audit of 88 cases was conducted in 2009 and compared with the initial audit. There was significant improvement in quality of patient management and outcome between the initial and re-audit: Review of management plan by senior staff (76% vs. 99%; P=0.001), urine for albumin test (61% vs. 99%; P=0.001), proper use of partogram to monitor labour (75% vs. 95%; P=0.003), treatment with steroids for lung maturity (2.0% vs. 24%; P=0.001), Caesarean section within 2 hours of decision (33% vs. 61%; P=0.005), full blood count (28% vs. 93%; P=0.001), serum urea and creatinine (44% vs. 86%; P=0.001), liver enzymes (4.0% vs. 86%; P=0.001), and specialist review within 2 hours of
The GRADE approach and Bradford Hill's criteria for causation.
Schünemann, Holger; Hill, Suzanne; Guyatt, Gordon; Akl, Elie A; Ahmed, Faruque
2011-05-01
This article describes how the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to grading the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations considers the Bradford Hill criteria for causation and how GRADE may relate to questions in public health. A primary concern in public health is that evidence from non-randomised studies may provide a more adequate or best available measure of a public health strategy's impact, but that such evidence might be graded as lower quality in the GRADE framework. GRADE, however, presents a framework that describes both criteria for assessing the quality of research evidence and the strength of recommendations that includes considerations arising from the Bradford Hill criteria. GRADE places emphasis on recommendations and in assessing quality of evidence; GRADE notes that randomisation is only one of many relevant factors. This article describes how causation may relate to developing recommendations and how the Bradford Hill criteria are considered in GRADE, using examples from the public health literature with a focus on immunisation.
Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, 2002.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD.
The education criteria presented in this guide are designed to help organizations use an integrated approach to organizational performance management that results in delivery of ever-improving value to students and stakeholders. Implementation of the criteria will contribute to improvement of education quality, improvement of overall…
Evaluation of Research Ethics Committees: Criteria for the Ethical Quality of the Review Process.
Scherzinger, Gregor; Bobbert, Monika
2017-01-01
Repeatedly, adequacy, performance and quality of Ethics Committees that oversee medical research trials are being discussed. Although they play a crucial role in reviewing medical research and protecting human subjects, it is far from clear to what degree they fulfill the task they have been assigned to. This eventuates in the call for an evaluation of their activity and, in some places, led to the establishment of accreditation schemes. At the same time, IRBs have become subject of detailed legislation in the process of the ongoing global juridification of medical research. Unsurprisingly, there is a tendency to understand the evaluation of RECs as a question of controlling their legal compliance. This paper discusses the need for a quality evaluation of IRBs from an ethical point of view and, by systematically reviewing the major ethical guidelines for IRBs, proposes a system of criteria that should orientate any evaluation of IRBs.
Nevada Test Site Waste Acceptance Criteria
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office
This document establishes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site (NTS) will accept low-level radioactive (LLW) and mixed waste (MW) for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the NTS Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) for storage or disposal.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Agricultural Curriculum Materials Service.
This report contains 26 performance assessments for documenting student employability skills. Each performance assessment consists of the following: a competency; a terminal performance objective (outcome); competency builders and pupil performance objectives (criteria for documenting mastery of the objective); applied academic competencies;…
Oreja-Guevara, Celia; Montalban, Xavier; de Andrés, Clara; Casanova-Estruch, Bonaventura; Muñoz-García, Delicias; García, Inmaculada; Fernández, Óscar
2013-10-16
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological inflammatory demyelinating disease. Specialists involved in the symptomatic treatment of this disease tend to apply heterogeneous diagnostic and treatment criteria. To establish homogeneous criteria for treating spasticity based on available scientific knowledge, facilitating decision-making in regular clinical practice. A group of multiple sclerosis specialists from the Spanish Neurological Society demyelinating diseases working group met to review aspects related to spasticity in this disease and draw up the consensus. After an exhaustive bibliographic search and following a metaplan technique, a number of preliminary recommendations were established to incorporate into the document. Finally, each argument was classified depending on the degree of recommendation according to the SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) system. The resulting text was submitted for review by the demyelinating disease group. An experts' consensus was reached regarding spasticity triggering factors, related symptoms, diagnostic criteria, assessment methods, quality of life and therapeutic management (drug and non-drug) criteria. The recommendations included in this consensus can be a useful tool for improving the quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients, as they enable improved diagnosis and treatment of spasticity.
Brix, Kevin V; DeForest, David K; Tear, Lucinda; Grosell, Martin; Adams, William J
2017-05-02
Biotic Ligand Models (BLMs) for metals are widely applied in ecological risk assessments and in the development of regulatory water quality guidelines in Europe, and in 2007 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recommended BLM-based water quality criteria (WQC) for Cu in freshwater. However, to-date, few states have adopted BLM-based Cu criteria into their water quality standards on a state-wide basis, which appears to be due to the perception that the BLM is too complicated or requires too many input variables. Using the mechanistic BLM framework to first identify key water chemistry parameters that influence Cu bioavailability, namely dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pH, and hardness, we developed Cu criteria using the same basic methodology used by the USEPA to derive hardness-based criteria but with the addition of DOC and pH. As an initial proof of concept, we developed stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) models for species that have been tested over wide ranges of DOC, pH, and hardness conditions. These models predicted acute Cu toxicity values that were within a factor of ±2 in 77% to 97% of tests (5 species had adequate data) and chronic Cu toxicity values that were within a factor of ±2 in 92% of tests (1 species had adequate data). This level of accuracy is comparable to the BLM. Following USEPA guidelines for WQC development, the species data were then combined to develop a linear model with pooled slopes for each independent parameter (i.e., DOC, pH, and hardness) and species-specific intercepts using Analysis of Covariance. The pooled MLR and BLM models predicted species-specific toxicity with similar precision; adjusted R 2 and R 2 values ranged from 0.56 to 0.86 and 0.66-0.85, respectively. Graphical exploration of relationships between predicted and observed toxicity, residuals and observed toxicity, and residuals and concentrations of key input parameters revealed many similarities and a few key distinctions between the
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Powers, B. G.
1972-01-01
The magnitude and frequency of occurrence of aircraft responses and control inputs during 27 flights of the XB-70 airplane were measured. Exceedance curves are presented for the airplane responses and control usage. A technique is presented which makes use of these exceedance curves to establish or verify handling qualities criteria. This technique can provide a means of incorporating current operational experience in handling qualities requirements for future aircraft.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-01-26
... for public comment a second draft assessment document titled, Quantitative Health Risk Assessment for... quantitative analyses that are being conducted as part of the review of the national ambient air quality...-Focused Visibility Assessment--Second External Review Draft and Quantitative Health Risk Assessment for...
Kerr, Cicely; Murray, Elizabeth; Burns, Jo; Turner, Indra; Westwood, Mark A; Macadam, Catherine; Nazareth, Irwin; Patterson, David
2008-01-01
Internet interventions can help people to self-manage chronic disease. However, they are only likely to be used if they meet patients' perceived needs. We have developed an Internet intervention in two stages to meet the needs of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). First, user-generated criteria were applied to an existing US-based intervention called 'CHESS Living with Heart Disease' which provides information, emotional and social support, self-assessment and monitoring tools, and behavioural change support. This identified the development work required. Then we conducted a user evaluation with a panel of five patients with CHD. Overall, users generally made positive comments about the information content. However they were critical of presentation, ease of navigation through the content, understanding what was offered in the different services and finding the information they were after. Applying user-generated quality criteria proved useful in developing an intervention to meet the needs of UK patients with CHD.
Do European hospitals have quality and safety governance systems and structures in place?
Shaw, C; Kutryba, B; Crisp, H; Vallejo, P; Suñol, R
2009-02-01
Internal systems for quality and safety were assessed in 89 hospitals in six European states, by external teams using standardised criteria and procedures, as part of the Methods of Assessing Response to Quality Improvement Strategies (MARQuIS) project. The assessments were made primarily to identify the current use of quality management systems in the sample hospitals, and also to demonstrate a potential tool for comparable assessment of hospitals in general. The large majority of the hospitals had a formal, documented infrastructure to manage quality and safety, but a significant minority had no designated mission, programme or coordination. In two-thirds of hospitals, the governing body was active in defining policy and programmes for improvement, and received reports on quality, safety and patient satisfaction at least once a year. The brief on-site assessments identified systematic variations, within and between countries, in structures and processes of governance and to document the uptake of best practice. Unacceptable variations in practice could be reduced, to the benefit of consumers and providers, by developing and publishing basic organisational standards relevant to all European states. The simple assessment criteria designed for this project could be developed into a practical tool for self-assessment, peer review or benchmarking of hospitals across national borders. This assessment, combined with explicit, relevant and achievable standards, could provide a vehicle to promote the voluntary uptake of best practice and consistency in quality and safety among hospitals in Europe.
Data Quality Objectives for Tank Farms Waste Compatibility Program
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
BANNING, D.L.
1999-07-02
There are 177 waste storage tanks containing over 210,000 m{sup 3} (55 million gal) of mixed waste at the Hanford Site. The River Protection Project (RPP) has adopted the data quality objective (DQO) process used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (EPA 1994a) and implemented by RPP internal procedure (Banning 1999a) to identify the information and data needed to address safety issues. This DQO document is based on several documents that provide the technical basis for inputs and decision/action levels used to develop the decision rules that evaluate the transfer of wastes. A number of these documents are presentlymore » in the process of being revised. This document will need to be revised if there are changes to the technical criteria in these supporting documents. This DQO process supports various documents, such as sampling and analysis plans and double-shell tank (DST) waste analysis plans. This document identifies the type, quality, and quantity of data needed to determine whether transfer of supernatant can be performed safely. The requirements in this document are designed to prevent the mixing of incompatible waste as defined in Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-040. Waste transfers which meet the requirements contained in this document and the Double-Shell Tank Waste Analysis Plan (Mulkey 1998) are considered to be compatible, and prevent the mixing of incompatible waste.« less
13 CFR 108.360 - Evaluation criteria.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Evaluation criteria. 108.360... (âNMVCâ) PROGRAM Evaluation and Selection of NMVC Companies § 108.360 Evaluation criteria. SBA will... criteria— (a) The quality of the Applicant's comprehensive business plan in terms of meeting the objectives...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dostal, P.; Krasula, L.; Klima, M.
2012-06-01
Various image processing techniques in multimedia technology are optimized using visual attention feature of the human visual system. Spatial non-uniformity causes that different locations in an image are of different importance in terms of perception of the image. In other words, the perceived image quality depends mainly on the quality of important locations known as regions of interest. The performance of such techniques is measured by subjective evaluation or objective image quality criteria. Many state-of-the-art objective metrics are based on HVS properties; SSIM, MS-SSIM based on image structural information, VIF based on the information that human brain can ideally gain from the reference image or FSIM utilizing the low-level features to assign the different importance to each location in the image. But still none of these objective metrics utilize the analysis of regions of interest. We solve the question if these objective metrics can be used for effective evaluation of images reconstructed by processing techniques based on ROI analysis utilizing high-level features. In this paper authors show that the state-of-the-art objective metrics do not correlate well with subjective evaluation while the demosaicing based on ROI analysis is used for reconstruction. The ROI were computed from "ground truth" visual attention data. The algorithm combining two known demosaicing techniques on the basis of ROI location is proposed to reconstruct the ROI in fine quality while the rest of image is reconstructed with low quality. The color image reconstructed by this ROI approach was compared with selected demosaicing techniques by objective criteria and subjective testing. The qualitative comparison of the objective and subjective results indicates that the state-of-the-art objective metrics are still not suitable for evaluation image processing techniques based on ROI analysis and new criteria is demanded.
SU-E-T-60: A Plan Quality Index in IMRT QA That Is Independent of the Acceptance Criteria
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kim, D; Kang, S; Kim, T
2015-06-15
Purpose: In IMRT QA, plan quality evaluation is made based on pass rate under preset acceptance criteria, mostly using gamma-values. This method is convenient but, its Result highly depends on what the acceptance criteria are and suffers from the lack of sensitivity in judging how good the plan is. In this study, we introduced a simple but effective plan quality index of IMRT QA based on dose difference only to supplement such shortcomings, and investigated its validity. Methods: The proposed index is a single value which is calculated mainly based on point-by-point comparison between planned and measured dose distributions, andmore » it becomes “1” in an ideal case. A systematic evaluation was performed with one-dimensional test dose distributions. For 3 hypothetical dose profiles, various displacements (in both dose and space) were introduced, the proposed index was calculated for each case, and the behavior of obtained indices was analyzed and compared with that of gamma evaluation. In addition, the feasibility of the index was assessed with clinical IMRT/VMAT/SBRT QA cases for different sites (prostate, head & neck, liver, lung, spine, and abdomen). Results: The proposed index showed more robust correlation with the amount of induced displacement compared to the gamma evaluation method. No matter what the acceptance criteria are (e.g., whether 3%/3mm or 2%/2mm), it was possible to clearly rank every case with the proposed index while it was difficult to do with the gamma evaluation method. Conclusion: IMRT plan quality can be evaluated quantitatively by the proposed index. It is considered that the proposed index would provide useful information for better judging the level of goodness of each plan and its Result is independent of the acceptance criteria. This work was supported by the Radiation Technology R&D program (No. 2013M2A2A7043498) and the Mid-career Researcher Program (2014R1A2A1A10050270) through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded
Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, 2003.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, WI.
The criteria described in this document are the basis for organizational self-assessments, for making awards, and for giving feedback to applicants. They are built upon the following values and concepts: visionary leadership; learning-centered education; organizational and personal learning; valuing faculty, staff, and partners; agility; focus on…
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Koenig, John C.; Billitti, Joseph W.; Tallon, John M.
1980-01-01
The criteria is defined for auditing photovoltaic system applications and experiments. The purpose of the audit is twofold: to see if the application is meeting its stated objectives and to measure the application's progress in terms of the National Photovoltaic Program's goals of performance, cost, reliability, safety, and socio-environmental acceptance. The information obtained from an audit will be used to assess the status of an application and to provide the Department of Energy with recommendations on the future conduct of the application. Those aspects are covered of a site audit necessary to produce a systematic method for the gathering of qualitative and quantitative data to measure the success of an application. A sequence of audit events and guidelines for obtaining the required information is presented.
Determination of criteria weights in solving multi-criteria problems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kasim, Maznah Mat
2014-12-01
A multi-criteria (MC) problem comprises of units to be analyzed under a set of evaluation criteria. Solving a MC problem is basically the process of finding the overall performance or overall quality of the units of analysis by using certain aggregation method. Based on these overall measures of each unit, a decision can be made whether to sort them, to select the best or to group them according to certain ranges. Prior to solving the MC problems, the weights of the related criteria have to be determined with the assumption that the weights represent the degree of importance or the degree of contribution towards the overall performance of the units. This paper presents two main approaches which are called as subjective and objective approaches, where the first one involves evaluator(s) while the latter approach depends on the intrinsic information contained in each criterion. The subjective and objective weights are defined if the criteria are assumed to be independent with each other, but if they are dependent, there is another type of weight, which is called as monotone measure weight or compound weights which represent degree of interaction among the criteria. The measure of individual weights or compound weights must be addressed in solving multi-criteria problems so that the solutions are more reliable since in the real world, evaluation criteria always come with different degree of importance or are dependent with each other. As the real MC problems have their own uniqueness, it is up to the decision maker(s) to decide which type of weights and which method are the most applicable ones for the problem under study.
Acceptance Criteria Framework for Autonomous Biological Detectors
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dzenitis, J M
2006-12-12
The purpose of this study was to examine a set of user acceptance criteria for autonomous biological detection systems for application in high-traffic, public facilities. The test case for the acceptance criteria was the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) operating in high-traffic facilities in New York City (NYC). However, the acceptance criteria were designed to be generally applicable to other biological detection systems in other locations. For such detection systems, ''users'' will include local authorities (e.g., facility operators, public health officials, and law enforcement personnel) and national authorities [including personnel from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the BioWatch Program,more » the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)]. The panel members brought expertise from a broad range of backgrounds to complete this picture. The goals of this document are: (1) To serve as informal guidance for users in considering the benefits and costs of these systems. (2) To serve as informal guidance for developers in understanding the needs of users. In follow-up work, this framework will be used to systematically document the APDS for appropriateness and readiness for use in NYC.« less
Ecotoxicological criteria for final storage quality: Possibilities and limits
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zeyer, Josef; Meyer, Joseph
Landfills are complex chemical and biological reactors whose internal processes are often beyond the immediate control of process engineers. Therefore, the concept of a "Final Storage Landfill" may be deceptive. Furthermore, traditional approaches to establishing discharge criteria and treatment requirements for industrial effluents may not work well for landfill emissions. Factories can often be treated as steady-state processes whose inputs and outputs are predictable; however, landfills are batch reactors whose contents and emissions may be unknown and will vary temporally and spatially. If the contents of a landfill are known, the sequence of chemical reactions can be predicted qualitatively. Even if that sequence is predictable, though, quantitative ecotoxicological criteria will be difficult to establish, and risk assessments based on chemical "laundry lists" will be questionable. The situation is not hopeless, though. New approaches can be developed to monitor and predict landfill emissions. We believe these will include (1) testing (biological and chemical) of internal components of landfills as well as emissions; (2) development of laboratory and/or field methods in which the chemical and biological evolution of landfills can be studied at accelerated rates, thus allowing better prediction of future emissions; and (3) flexible ecotoxicological criteria that are adaptable to the evolving nature of landfill emissions. These criteria should be based on complementary chemical analyses and biological tests that fit into a hierarchical (decision-tree) hazard assessment strategy.
Review and Synthesis: Criteria for the Evaluation of Organizational Communication Effectiveness.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farace, Richard V.; And Others
Twenty-one criteria for assessing communication effectiveness in organizations provide the basis for discussion in this document. Grouped under the general heading of communication rules, the criteria are described according to five categories: structure, messages, media, communicator, and potpourri (factors that affect the decision making of…
Recommendations for and Documentation of Biological Values for Use in Risk Assessment
The document was prepared by the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Cincinnati, OH for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. The document consists of an extensive compliation of values gleaned from published li...
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Schroeder, P.R.; Gibson, A.C.; Dardeau, E.A.
This technical note has a twofold purpose: to describe a technique for comparing the predicted quality of surface runoff from confined dredged material disposal areas with applicable water quality standards and to document a computer program called RUNQUAL, written for that purpose as a part of the Automated Dredging and Disposal Alternatives Management System (ADDAMS).
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Palermo, M.R.; Schroeder, P.R.
This technical note describes a technique for comparison of the predicted quality of effluent discharged from confined dredged material disposal areas with applicable water quality standards. This note also serves as documentation of a computer program called EFQUAL written for that purpose as part of the Automated Dredging and Disposal Alternatives Management System (ADDAMS).
Jürgens, Clemens; Grossjohann, Rico; Czepita, Damian; Tost, Frank
2009-01-01
Graphic documentation of retinal examination results in clinical ophthalmological practice is often depicted using pictures or in handwritten form. Popular software products used to describe changes in the fundus do not vary much from simple graphic programs that enable to insert, scale and edit basic graphic elements such as: a circle, rectangle, arrow or text. Displaying the results of retinal examinations in a unified way is difficult to achieve. Therefore, we devised and implemented modern software tools for this purpose. A computer program enabling to quickly and intuitively form graphs of the fundus, that can be digitally archived or printed was created. Especially for the needs of ophthalmological clinics, a set of standard digital symbols used to document the results of retinal examinations was developed and installed in a library of graphic symbols. These symbols are divided into the following categories: preoperative, postoperative, neovascularization, retinopathy of prematurity. The appropriate symbol can be selected with a click of the mouse and dragged-and-dropped on the canvas of the fundus. Current forms of documenting results of retinal examinations are unsatisfactory, due to the fact that they are time consuming and imprecise. Unequivocal interpretation is difficult or in some cases impossible. Using the developed computer program a sketch of the fundus can be created much more quickly than by hand drawing. Additionally the quality of the medica documentation using a system of well described and standardized symbols will be enhanced. (1) Graphic symbols used to document the results of retinal examinations are a part of everyday clinical practice. (2) The designed computer program will allow quick and intuitive graphical creation of fundus sketches that can be either digitally archived or printed.
NEVADA TEST SITE WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, NEVADA SITE OFFICE
This document establishes the U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site will accept low-level radioactive and mixed waste for disposal. Mixed waste generated within the State of Nevada by NNSA/NSO activities is accepted for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the Nevada Test Site Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site for storage or disposal.
NACA documents database project
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Smith, Ruth S.
1991-01-01
The plan to get all the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) collection online, with quality records, led to the NACA Documents Data base Project. The project has a two fold purpose: (1) to develop the definitive bibliography of NACA produced and/or held documents; and (2) to make that bibliography and the associated documents available to the aerospace community. This study supports the first objective by providing an analysis of the NACA collection and its bibliographic records, and supports the second objective by defining the NACA archive and recommending methodologies for meeting the project objectives.
Retrieval Performance Prediction and Document Quality
2007-09-01
can help. However, there are hard-to-expand queries that the method fail to detect. One is “ Legionnaires disease ” [delta average precision (REL-QL...0.248, model comparison score:-0.256 ] where documents can contain the terms “ legionnaire (meaning soldier)” and “ disease ” (and 99 related words...yet not be about Legionnaires ’ disease , leading to a low comparison score despite its hard-to-expand status. 4.5 Summary Several prediction
ISS Crew Transportation and Services Requirements Document
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Lueders, Kathryn L. (Compiler)
2015-01-01
Under the guidance of processes provided by Crew Transportation Plan (CCT-PLN-1100), this document with its sister documents, Crew Transportation Technical Management Processes (CCT-PLN-1120), Crew Transportation Technical Standards and Design Evaluation Criteria (CCT-STD-1140), and Crew Transportation Operations Standards (CCT-STD-1150), and International Space Station (ISS) to Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Interface Requirements Document (SSP 50808), provides the basis for a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) certification for services to the ISS for the Commercial Provider. When NASA Crew Transportation System (CTS) certification is achieved for ISS transportation, the Commercial Provider will be eligible to provide services to and from the ISS during the services phase of the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP).
32 CFR 2700.12 - Criteria for and level of original classification.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... Criteria for and level of original classification. (a) General Policy. Documents or other material are to... authorized or shall have force. (d) Unnecessary classification, and classification at a level higher than is... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Criteria for and level of original...
Quality of outpatient clinical notes: a stakeholder definition derived through qualitative research.
Hanson, Janice L; Stephens, Mark B; Pangaro, Louis N; Gimbel, Ronald W
2012-11-19
There are no empirically-grounded criteria or tools to define or benchmark the quality of outpatient clinical documentation. Outpatient clinical notes document care, communicate treatment plans and support patient safety, medical education, medico-legal investigations and reimbursement. Accurately describing and assessing quality of clinical documentation is a necessary improvement in an increasingly team-based healthcare delivery system. In this paper we describe the quality of outpatient clinical notes from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. Using purposeful sampling for maximum diversity, we conducted focus groups and individual interviews with clinicians, nursing and ancillary staff, patients, and healthcare administrators at six federal health care facilities between 2009 and 2011. All sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using open, axial and selective coding. The 163 participants included 61 clinicians, 52 nurse/ancillary staff, 31 patients and 19 administrative staff. Three organizing themes emerged: 1) characteristics of quality in clinical notes, 2) desired elements within the clinical notes and 3) system supports to improve the quality of clinical notes. We identified 11 codes to describe characteristics of clinical notes, 20 codes to describe desired elements in quality clinical notes and 11 codes to describe clinical system elements that support quality when writing clinical notes. While there was substantial overlap between the aspects of quality described by the four stakeholder groups, only clinicians and administrators identified ease of translation into billing codes as an important characteristic of a quality note. Only patients rated prioritization of their medical problems as an aspect of quality. Nurses included care and education delivered to the patient, information added by the patient, interdisciplinary information, and infection alerts as important content. Perspectives of these four stakeholder
Evaluating co-creation of knowledge: from quality criteria and indicators to methods
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schuck-Zöller, Susanne; Cortekar, Jörg; Jacob, Daniela
2017-11-01
Basic research in the natural sciences rests on a long tradition of evaluation. However, since the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) came out in 2012, there has been intense discussion in the natural sciences, above all amongst researchers and funding agencies in the different fields of applied research and scientific service. This discussion was intensified when climate services and other fields, used to make users participate in research and development activities (co-creation), demanded new evaluation methods appropriate to this new research mode. This paper starts by describing a comprehensive and interdisciplinary literature overview of indicators to evaluate co-creation of knowledge, including the different fields of integrated knowledge production. Then the authors harmonize the different elements of evaluation from literature in an evaluation cascade that scales down from very general evaluation dimensions to tangible assessment methods. They describe evaluation indicators already being documented and include a mixture of different assessment methods for two exemplary criteria. It is shown what can be deduced from already existing methodology for climate services and envisaged how climate services can further to develop their specific evaluation method.
Casanueva, Felipe F; Barkan, Ariel L; Buchfelder, Michael; Klibanski, Anne; Laws, Edward R; Loeffler, Jay S; Melmed, Shlomo; Mortini, Pietro; Wass, John; Giustina, Andrea
2017-10-01
With the goal of generate uniform criteria among centers dealing with pituitary tumors and to enhance patient care, the Pituitary Society decided to generate criteria for developing Pituitary Tumors Centers of Excellence (PTCOE). To develop that task, a group of ten experts served as a Task Force and through two years of iterative work an initial draft was elaborated. This draft was discussed, modified and finally approved by the Board of Directors of the Pituitary Society. Such document was presented and debated at a specific session of the Congress of the Pituitary Society, Orlando 2017, and suggestions were incorporated. Finally the document was distributed to a large group of global experts that introduced further modifications with final endorsement. After five years of iterative work a document with the ideal criteria for a PTCOE is presented. Acknowledging that very few centers in the world, if any, likely fulfill the requirements here presented, the document may be a tool to guide improvements of care delivery to patients with pituitary disorders. All these criteria must be accommodated to the regulations and organization of Health of a given country.
Electronic Document Delivery: New Options for Libraries.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leach, Ronald G.; Tribble, Judith E.
1993-01-01
Examines commercial electronic document delivery services that are available to academic libraries. Highlights include collection development issues; criteria for selection and evaluation; remote access systems, including CARL UnCover 2, Faxon Finder and Faxon Xpress, ContentsFirst and ArticleFirst, and CitaDel; and on-site access systems,…
Design criteria for the light duty utility arm system end effectors
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pardini, A.F.; Kiebel, G.R.
1995-12-01
The purpose of this document is to provide criteria for the design of end effectors that will be used as part of the Light Duty Utility Arm (LDUA) System. Actual component design, fabrication, testing, and inspection will be performed by various DOE laboratories, industry, and academia. This document augments WHC-SD-TD-FRD-003, `Functions and Requirements for the Light Duty Utility Arm Integrated System` (F). All requirements dictated in the F shall also be applicable in this document. Whenever conflicts arise between this document and the F, this document shall take precedence.
Documentation of Criteria for Promotion in a Higher Education Broadcast Journalism Discipline.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reppert, James E.
All institutions of higher learning have slightly different techniques of promoting and tenuring their faculty. The author compiled this document to provide resourceful pointers to future Broadcast Journalism and Mass Communication professors in the writing and organization of their applications. This collection of materials traces one tenured…
Durán, I; Beiras, R
2013-10-01
Acute water quality criteria (WQC) for the protection of coastal ecosystems are developed on the basis of short-term ecotoxicological data using the most sensitive life stages of representative species from the main taxa of marine water column organisms. A probabilistic approach based on species sensitivity distribution (SSD) curves has been chosen and compared to the WQC obtained applying an assessment factor to the critical toxicity values, i.e. the 'deterministic' approach. The criteria obtained from HC5 values (5th percentile of the SSD) were 1.01 μg/l for Hg, 1.39 μg/l for Cu, 3.83 μg/l for Cd, 25.3 μg/l for Pb and 8.24 μg/l for Zn. Using sensitive early life stages and very sensitive endpoints allowed calculation of WQC for marine coastal ecosystems. These probabilistic WQC, intended to protect 95% of the species in 95% of the cases, were calculated on the basis of a limited ecotoxicological dataset, avoiding the use of large and uncertain assessment factors. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Recreational Water Quality Criteria Limits
This set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) provides an overview of NPDES permitting applicable to continuous dischargers (such as POTWs) based on water quality standards for pathogens and pathogen indicators associated with fecal contamination.
Air pollution and public health: a guidance document for risk managers.
Craig, Lorraine; Brook, Jeffrey R; Chiotti, Quentin; Croes, Bart; Gower, Stephanie; Hedley, Anthony; Krewski, Daniel; Krupnick, Alan; Krzyzanowski, Michal; Moran, Michael D; Pennell, William; Samet, Jonathan M; Schneider, Jurgen; Shortreed, John; Williams, Martin
2008-01-01
This guidance document is a reference for air quality policymakers and managers providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based information on key determinants of air quality management decisions. The document reflects the findings of five annual meetings of the NERAM (Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management) International Colloquium Series on Air Quality Management (2001-2006), as well as the results of supporting international research. The topics covered in the guidance document reflect critical science and policy aspects of air quality risk management including i) health effects, ii) air quality emissions, measurement and modeling, iii) air quality management interventions, and iv) clean air policy challenges and opportunities.
Goal-oriented evaluation of binarization algorithms for historical document images
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Obafemi-Ajayi, Tayo; Agam, Gady
2013-01-01
Binarization is of significant importance in document analysis systems. It is an essential first step, prior to further stages such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), document segmentation, or enhancement of readability of the document after some restoration stages. Hence, proper evaluation of binarization methods to verify their effectiveness is of great value to the document analysis community. In this work, we perform a detailed goal-oriented evaluation of image quality assessment of the 18 binarization methods that participated in the DIBCO 2011 competition using the 16 historical document test images used in the contest. We are interested in the image quality assessment of the outputs generated by the different binarization algorithms as well as the OCR performance, where possible. We compare our evaluation of the algorithms based on human perception of quality to the DIBCO evaluation metrics. The results obtained provide an insight into the effectiveness of these methods with respect to human perception of image quality as well as OCR performance.
Berrevoets, Marvin Ah; Ten Oever, Jaap; Sprong, Tom; van Hest, Reinier M; Groothuis, Ingeborg; van Heijl, Inger; Schouten, Jeroen A; Hulscher, Marlies E; Kullberg, Bart-Jan
2017-08-15
The Dutch Working Party on Antibiotic Policy is developing a national antimicrobial stewardship registry. This registry will report both the quality of antibiotic use in hospitals in the Netherlands and the stewardship activities employed. It is currently unclear which aspects of the quality of antibiotic use are monitored by antimicrobial stewardship teams (A-teams) and can be used as indicators for the stewardship registry. In this pilot study we aimed to determine which stewardship objectives are eligible for the envisioned registry. We performed an observational pilot study among five Dutch hospitals. We assessed which of the 14 validated stewardship objectives (11 process of care recommendations and 3 structure of care recommendations) the A-teams monitored and documented in individual patients. They provided, where possible, data to compute quality indicator (QI) performance scores in line with recently developed QIs to measure appropriate antibiotic use in hospitalized adults for the period of January 2015 through December 2015 RESULTS: All hospitals had a local antibiotic guideline describing recommended antimicrobial use. All A-teams monitored the performance of bedside consultations in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and the prescription of restricted antimicrobials. Documentation and reporting were the best for the use of restricted antimicrobials: 80% of the A-teams could report data. Lack of time and the absence of an electronic medical record system enabling documentation during the daily work flow were the main barriers hindering documentation and reporting. Five out of 11 stewardship objectives were actively monitored by A-teams. Without extra effort, 4 A-teams could report on the quality of use of restricted antibiotics. Therefore, this aspect of antibiotic use should be the starting point of the national antimicrobial stewardship registry. Our registry is expected to become a powerful tool to evaluate progress and impact of antimicrobial
Okwen, Patrick Mbah; Maweu, Irene; Grimmer, Karen; Margarita Dizon, Janine
2018-06-14
Good-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) provide recommendations based on current best-evidence summaries. Hypertension is a prevalent noncommunicable disease in Africa, with disastrous sequelae (stroke, heart, and kidney disease). Its effective management relies on good quality, current, locally relevant evidence. This paper reports on an all African review of the guidance documents currently informing hypertension management. Attempts were made to contact 62 African countries for formal guidance documents used nationally to inform diagnosis and management of hypertension. Their quality was assessed by using Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE) II, scored by 2 independent reviewers. Differences in domain scores were compared between documents written prior to 2011 and 2011 onward. Findings were compared with earlier African CPG reviews. Guidelines and protocols were provided by 26 countries. Six used country-specific stand-alone hypertension guidelines, and 10 used protocols embedded in Standard Treatment Guidelines for multiple conditions. Six used guidelines developed by the World Health Organization, and 4 indicated ad hoc use of international guidance (US, Portugal, and Brazil). Only 1 guidance document met CPG construction criteria, and none scored well on all AGREE domain scores. The lowest-scoring domain was rigour of development. There was no significant quality difference between pre-2011 and post-2011 guidance documents, and there were variable AGREE II scores for the same CPGs when comparing the African reviews. The quality of hypertension guidance used by African nations could be improved. The need for so many guidance documents is questioned. Adopting a common evidence base from international good-quality CPGs and layering it with local contexts offer 1 way to efficiently improve African hypertension CPG quality and implementation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Announcement—guidance document for acquiring reliable data in ecological restoration projects
Stapanian, Martin A.; Rodriguez, Karen; Lewis, Timothy E.; Blume, Louis; Palmer, Craig J.; Walters, Lynn; Schofield, Judith; Amos, Molly M.; Bucher, Adam
2016-01-01
The Laurentian Great Lakes are undergoing intensive ecological restoration in Canada and the United States. In the United States, an interagency committee was formed to facilitate implementation of quality practices for federally funded restoration projects in the Great Lakes basin. The Committee's responsibilities include developing a guidance document that will provide a common approach to the application of quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) practices for restoration projects. The document will serve as a “how-to” guide for ensuring data quality during each aspect of ecological restoration projects. In addition, the document will provide suggestions on linking QA/QC data with the routine project data and hints on creating detailed supporting documentation. Finally, the document will advocate integrating all components of the project, including QA/QC applications, into an overarching decision-support framework. The guidance document is expected to be released by the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office in 2017.
Quality Document Examples (Record of Decision of the Year Contest)
This page provides document examples with clear documentation that are consistent with the Superfund Program's policy and regulations. The examples provided here are the winners of the Superfund ROD of the Year Contest (1999-2004)
Sharkey, Siobhan; Hudak, Sandra; Horn, Susan D; Spector, William
2011-04-01
The goal of this article was to enhance understanding of the On-Time Quality Improvement for Long-term Care Program, a practical approach to embed health information technology into quality improvement in nursing homes that leverages certified nursing assistant documentation and knowledge, supports frontline clinical decision making, and establishes proactive intervention for pressure ulcer prevention.
77 FR 71191 - 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-11-29
... Criteria AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of availability of the 2012... for beach monitoring, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), for the detection of enterococci... managing recreational waters, such as predictive modeling; the EPA is providing a beach action value for...
Data Quality Screening Service
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Strub, Richard; Lynnes, Christopher; Hearty, Thomas; Won, Young-In; Fox, Peter; Zednik, Stephan
2013-01-01
A report describes the Data Quality Screening Service (DQSS), which is designed to help automate the filtering of remote sensing data on behalf of science users. Whereas this process often involves much research through quality documents followed by laborious coding, the DQSS is a Web Service that provides data users with data pre-filtered to their particular criteria, while at the same time guiding the user with filtering recommendations of the cognizant data experts. The DQSS design is based on a formal semantic Web ontology that describes data fields and the quality fields for applying quality control within a data product. The accompanying code base handles several remote sensing datasets and quality control schemes for data products stored in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF), a common format for NASA remote sensing data. Together, the ontology and code support a variety of quality control schemes through the implementation of the Boolean expression with simple, reusable conditional expressions as operands. Additional datasets are added to the DQSS simply by registering instances in the ontology if they follow a quality scheme that is already modeled in the ontology. New quality schemes are added by extending the ontology and adding code for each new scheme.
Wang, Tieyu; Zhou, Yunqiao; Bi, Cencen; Lu, Yonglong; He, Guizhen; Giesy, John P
2017-07-01
There is a need to formulate water environment standards (WESs) from the current water quality criteria (WQC) in China. To this end, we briefly summarize typical mechanisms applied in several countries with longer histories of developing WESs, and three limitations to formulating WESs in China were identified. After analyzing the feasibility factors including economic development, scientific support capability and environmental policies, we realized that China is still not ready for a complete change from its current nation-wide unified WES system to a local-standard-based system. Thus, we proposed a framework for transformation from WQC to WESs in China. The framework consists of three parts, including responsibilities, processes and policies. The responsibilities include research authorization, development of guidelines, and collection of information, at both national and local levels; the processes include four steps and an impact factor system to establish water quality standards; and the policies include seven specific proposals. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.
46 CFR 221.65 - Criteria for determining penalty.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Criteria for determining penalty. 221.65 Section 221.65 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS AFFECTING MARITIME CARRIERS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES REGULATED TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING DOCUMENTED VESSELS AND OTHER MARITIME INTERESTS Civil...
Nevada Test Site Waste Acceptance Criteria (NTSWAC)
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
NNSA /NSO Waste Management Project
This document establishes the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office, Nevada Test Site Waste Acceptance Criteria (NTSWAC). The NTSWAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site will accept low-level radioactive (LLW) and LLW Mixed Waste (MW) for disposal.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Front-of-pack labeling systems may provide additional guidance to that already available to facilitate the identification of foods that improve diet quality. We examined the association between choosing foods that meet criteria of an established front-of-pack labeling system with food-group and nutr...
The Clinician-Educator Pathway in Radiology: An Analysis of Institutional Promotion Criteria.
Jhala, Khushboo; Kim, Jisoo; Chetlen, Alison; Nickerson, Joshua P; Lewis, Petra J
2017-12-01
To provide radiology departmental promotional committees and vice chairs of education with a more global perspective on the types of academic activity valued by institutions to aid in their faculty mentoring and standardizing of the Clinician-Educator (ClinEd) pathway. Ninety-two research schools were ranked into three tiers. Ranking was correlated with the presence of a ClinEd track. Thirty promotion documents (ten from each tier) were analyzed to identify common criteria. Differences in guidelines between tiers were assessed by the frequency distribution of criteria. Tier 1 had a significantly greater proportion of schools with a ClinEd track than tier 2 (73% versus 44%, p < 0.05). Thirty-nine criteria were identified and organized into four categories teaching (13), scholarship (12), service/clinical excellence (7), and research (7). The top five included meeting presentations, trainee evaluations, leadership in committees, development of teaching methodologies and materials, and publication of book chapters. First and second tier schools were most similar in frequency distribution. The criteria for the ClinEd promotion track still vary across institutions, though many commonalities exist. A handful of innovative criteria reflect the changing structure of modern health care systems, such as incorporation of online teaching modules and quality improvement efforts. As health care changes, guidelines and incentive structures for faculty should change as well. The information gathered may provide promotion committees with a more global perspective on the types of academic activity valued by modern-day institutions to aid in the national standardization of this pathway and to assist in faculty mentoring. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Experienced quality factors: qualitative evaluation approach to audiovisual quality
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jumisko-Pyykkö, Satu; Häkkinen, Jukka; Nyman, Göte
2007-02-01
Subjective evaluation is used to identify impairment factors of multimedia quality. The final quality is often formulated via quantitative experiments, but this approach has its constraints, as subject's quality interpretations, experiences and quality evaluation criteria are disregarded. To identify these quality evaluation factors, this study examined qualitatively the criteria participants used to evaluate audiovisual video quality. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 60 participants after a subjective audiovisual quality evaluation experiment. The assessment compared several, relatively low audio-video bitrate ratios with five different television contents on mobile device. In the analysis, methodological triangulation (grounded theory, Bayesian networks and correspondence analysis) was applied to approach the qualitative quality. The results showed that the most important evaluation criteria were the factors of visual quality, contents, factors of audio quality, usefulness - followability and audiovisual interaction. Several relations between the quality factors and the similarities between the contents were identified. As a research methodological recommendation, the focus on content and usage related factors need to be further examined to improve the quality evaluation experiments.
Human Research Program Unique Processes, Criteria, and Guidelines (UPCG). Revision C, July 28, 2011
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chin, Duane
2011-01-01
This document defines the processes, criteria, and guidelines exclusive to managing the Human Research Program (HRP). The intent of this document is to provide instruction to the reader in the form of processes, criteria, and guidelines. Of the three instructional categories, processes contain the most detail because of the need for a systematic series of actions directed to some end. In contrast, criteria have lesser detail than processes with the idea of creating a rule or principle structure for evaluating or testing something. Guidelines are a higher level indication of a course of action typically with the least amount of detail. The lack of detail in guidelines allows the reader flexibility when performing an action or actions.
[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].
Martínez-Castelao, Alberto; Górriz, José L; Bover, Jordi; Segura-de la Morena, Julián; Cebollada, Jesús; Escalada, Javier; Esmatjes, Enric; Fácila, Lorenzo; Gamarra, Javier; Gràcia, Silvia; Hernández-Moreno, Julio; Llisterri-Caro, José L; Mazón, Pilar; Montañés, Rosario; Morales-Olivas, Francisco; Muñoz-Torres, Manuel; de Pablos-Velasco, Pedro; de Santiago, Ana; Sánchez-Celaya, Marta; Suárez, Carmen; Tranche, Salvador
2014-11-01
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society. The aspects included in the document are: Concept, epidemiology and risk factors for CKD. Diagnostic criteria, evaluation and stages of CKD, albuminuria and glomerular filtration rate estimation. Progression factors for renal damage. Patient remission criteria. Follow-up and objectives of each speciality control. Nephrotoxicity prevention. Cardio-vascular damage detection. Diet, life-style and treatment attitudes: hypertension, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycemia, smoking, obesity, hyperuricemia, anemia, mineral and bone disorders. Multidisciplinary management for Primary Care, other specialities and Nephrology. Integrated management of CKD patient in haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant patients. Management of the uremic patient in palliative care. We hope that this document may be of help for the multidisciplinary management of CKD patients by summarizing the most updated recommendations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].
Martínez-Castelao, Alberto; Górriz, José L; Bover, Jordi; Segura-de la Morena, Julián; Cebollada, Jesús; Escalada, Javier; Esmatjes, Enric; Fácila, Lorenzo; Gamarra, Javier; Gràcia, Silvia; Hernández-Moreno, Julio; Llisterri-Caro, José L; Mazón, Pilar; Montañés, Rosario; Morales-Olivas, Francisco; Muñoz-Torres, Manuel; de Pablos-Velasco, Pedro; de Santiago, Ana; Sánchez-Celaya, Marta; Suárez, Carmen; Tranche, Salvador
2014-11-01
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society. The aspects included in the document are: Concept, epidemiology and risk factors for CKD. Diagnostic criteria, evaluation and stages of CKD, albuminuria and glomerular filtration rate estimation. Progression factors for renal damage. Patient remission criteria. Follow-up and objectives of each speciality control. Nephrotoxicity prevention. Cardio-vascular damage detection. Diet, life-style and treatment attitudes: hypertension, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycemia, smoking, obesity, hyperuricemia, anemia, mineral and bone disorders. Multidisciplinary management for Primary Care, other specialities and Nephrology. Integrated management of CKD patient in haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant patients. Management of the uremic patient in palliative care. We hope that this document may be of help for the multidisciplinary management of CKD patients by summarizing the most updated recommendations. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Espana.
Air Quality Criteria for Oxides of Nitrogen (Final Report, 1982)
This document is an evaluation and assessment of scientific information relative to determining the health and welfare effects associated with exposure to various concentrations of nitrogen oxides in ambient air. The document is not intended as a complete, detailed literature rev...
Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants (1978)
This document consolidates and assesses current knowledge regarding the origin of ozone and other photochemical oxidants and discusses their effect on health, vegetation, certain ecosystems, and materials. This document summarizes current data on the effects of oxidant/ozone in t...
50 CFR 23.32 - How do I apply for a U.S. CITES document?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How do I apply for a U.S. CITES document... FAUNA AND FLORA (CITES) Application Procedures, Criteria, and Conditions § 23.32 How do I apply for a U.S. CITES document? (a) To apply for a U.S. CITES document, you must complete a standard application...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ivankova, Nataliya V.
2014-01-01
In spite of recent methodological developments related to quality assurance in mixed methods research, practical examples of how to implement quality criteria in designing and conducting sequential QUAN [right arrow] QUAL mixed methods studies to ensure the process is systematic and rigorous remain scarce. This article discusses a three-step…
Odhiambo-Otieno, George W; Odero, Wilson W O
2005-03-01
The District Health Management Information Systems (DHMISs) were established by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Kenya more than two decades ago. Since then, no comprehensive evaluation has been undertaken. This can partly be attributed to lack of defined criteria for evaluating them. To propose evaluation criteria for assessing the design, implementation and impact of DHMIS in the management of the District Health System (DHS) in Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in three DHSs in Kenya: Bungoma, Murang'a and Uasin Gishu districts. Data was collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and documents' review. The respondents, purposely selected from the Ministry of Health headquarters and the three DHS districts, included designers, managers and end-users of the systems. A set of evaluation criteria for DHMISs was identified for each of the three phases of implementation: pre-implementation evaluation criteria (categorised as policy and objectives, technical feasibility, financial viability, political viability and administrative operability) to be applied at the design stage; concurrent implementation evaluation criteria to be applied during implementation of the new system; and post-implementation evaluation criteria (classified as internal - quality of information; external - resources and managerial support; ultimate - systems impact) to be applied after implementation of the system for at least three years. In designing a DHMIS model there is need to have built-in these three sets of evaluation criteria which should be used in a phased manner. Pre-implementation evaluation criteria should be used to evaluate the system's viability before more resources are committed to it; concurrent (operational) - implementation evaluation criteria should be used to monitor the process; and post-implementation evaluation criteria should be applied to assess the system's effectiveness.
Garcia, V.; Conway, C.J.
2009-01-01
Because reliable estimates of nesting success are very important to avian studies, the defnition of a “successful nest” and the use of different analytical methods to estimate success have received much attention. By contrast, variation in the criteria used to determine whether an occupied site that did not produce offspring contained a nesting attempt is a source of bias that has been largely ignored. This problem is especially severe in studies that deal with species whose nest contents are relatively inaccessible because observers cannot determine whether or not an egg was laid for a large proportion of occupied sites. Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) often lay their eggs ≥3 m below ground, so past Burrowing Owl studies have used a variety of criteria to determine whether a nesting attempt was initiated. We searched the literature to document the extent of that variation and examined how that variation influenced estimates of daily nest survival. We found 13 different sets of criteria used by previous authors and applied each criterion to our data set of 1,300 occupied burrows. We found significant variation in estimates of daily nest survival depending on the criteria used. Moreover, differences in daily nest survival among populations were apparent using some sets of criteria but not others. These inconsistencies may lead to incorrect conclusions and invalidate comparisons of the productivity and relative site quality among populations. We encourage future authors working on cavity-, canopy-, or burrow-nesting birds to provide specific details on the criteria they used to identify a nesting attempt.
Forensic document analysis using scanning microscopy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shaffer, Douglas K.
2009-05-01
The authentication and identification of the source of a printed document(s) can be important in forensic investigations involving a wide range of fraudulent materials, including counterfeit currency, travel and identity documents, business and personal checks, money orders, prescription labels, travelers checks, medical records, financial documents and threatening correspondence. The physical and chemical characterization of document materials - including paper, writing inks and printed media - is becoming increasingly relevant for law enforcement agencies, with the availability of a wide variety of sophisticated commercial printers and copiers which are capable of producing fraudulent documents of extremely high print quality, rendering these difficult to distinguish from genuine documents. This paper describes various applications and analytical methodologies using scanning electron miscoscopy/energy dispersive (x-ray) spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and related technologies for the characterization of fraudulent documents, and illustrates how their morphological and chemical profiles can be compared to (1) authenticate and (2) link forensic documents with a common source(s) in their production history.
NEVADA TEST SITE WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA, JUNE 2006
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NEVADA SITE OFFICE
This document establishes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site (NTS) will accept low-level radioactive (LLW) and mixed waste (MW) for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the NTS Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) for storage or disposal.
Manpower Planning Criteria Manual, Construction Grants Section.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Texas State Dept. of Water Resources, Austin.
This document presents the material developed in conjunction with a project directed to test a methodology that a state water pollution control agency can use in determining its manpower and training needs. Included is a compilation of the manpower planning criteria used to relate numbers and types of personnel with deferred workloads. It also…
5 CFR 575.108 - Approval criteria and written determination.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... REGULATIONS RECRUITMENT, RELOCATION, AND RETENTION INCENTIVES; SUPERVISORY DIFFERENTIALS; AND EXTENDED ASSIGNMENT INCENTIVES Recruitment Incentives § 575.108 Approval criteria and written determination. (a) For each determination to pay a recruitment incentive under this subpart, an agency must document in...
Towards Phenotyping of Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria.
Löbe, Matthias; Stäubert, Sebastian; Goldberg, Colleen; Haffner, Ivonne; Winter, Alfred
2018-01-01
Medical plaintext documents contain important facts about patients, but they are rarely available for structured queries. The provision of structured information from natural language texts in addition to the existing structured data can significantly speed up the search for fulfilled inclusion criteria and thus improve the recruitment rate. This work is aimed at supporting clinical trial recruitment with text mining techniques to identify suitable subjects in hospitals. Based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria of 5 sample studies and a text corpus consisting of 212 doctor's letters and medical follow-up documentation from a university cancer center, a prototype was developed and technically evaluated using NLP procedures (UIMA) for the extraction of facts from medical free texts. It was found that although the extracted entities are not always correct (precision between 23% and 96%), they provide a decisive indication as to which patient file should be read preferentially. The prototype presented here demonstrates the technical feasibility. In order to find available, lucrative phenotypes, an in-depth evaluation is required.
NASA Software Documentation Standard
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1991-01-01
The NASA Software Documentation Standard (hereinafter referred to as "Standard") is designed to support the documentation of all software developed for NASA; its goal is to provide a framework and model for recording the essential information needed throughout the development life cycle and maintenance of a software system. The NASA Software Documentation Standard can be applied to the documentation of all NASA software. The Standard is limited to documentation format and content requirements. It does not mandate specific management, engineering, or assurance standards or techniques. This Standard defines the format and content of documentation for software acquisition, development, and sustaining engineering. Format requirements address where information shall be recorded and content requirements address what information shall be recorded. This Standard provides a framework to allow consistency of documentation across NASA and visibility into the completeness of project documentation. The basic framework consists of four major sections (or volumes). The Management Plan contains all planning and business aspects of a software project, including engineering and assurance planning. The Product Specification contains all technical engineering information, including software requirements and design. The Assurance and Test Procedures contains all technical assurance information, including Test, Quality Assurance (QA), and Verification and Validation (V&V). The Management, Engineering, and Assurance Reports is the library and/or listing of all project reports.
Semantic Clinical Guideline Documents
Eriksson, Henrik; Tu, Samson W.; Musen, Mark
2005-01-01
Decision-support systems based on clinical practice guidelines can support physicians and other health-care personnel in the process of following best practice consistently. A knowledge-based approach to represent guidelines makes it possible to encode computer-interpretable guidelines in a formal manner, perform consistency checks, and use the guidelines directly in decision-support systems. Decision-support authors and guideline users require guidelines in human-readable formats in addition to computer-interpretable ones (e.g., for guideline review and quality assurance). We propose a new document-oriented information architecture that combines knowledge-representation models with electronic and paper documents. The approach integrates decision-support modes with standard document formats to create a combined clinical-guideline model that supports on-line viewing, printing, and decision support. PMID:16779037
Vaona, Alberto; Marcon, Alessandro; Rava, Marta; Buzzetti, Roberto; Sartori, Marco; Abbinante, Crescenza; Moser, Andrea; Seddaiu, Antonia; Prontera, Manuela; Quaglio, Alessandro; Pallazzoni, Piera; Sartori, Valentina; Rigon, Giulio
2011-12-01
Many medical journals provide patient information leaflets on the correct use of medicines and/or appropriate lifestyles. Only a few studies have assessed the quality of this patient-specific literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of JAMA Patient Pages on diabetes using the Ensuring Quality Information for Patient (EQIP) tool. A multidisciplinary group of 10 medical doctors analyzed all diabetes-related Patient Pages published by JAMA from 1998 to 2010 using the EQIP tool. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using the percentage of observed total agreement (p(o)). A quality score between 0 and 1 (the higher score indicating higher quality) was calculated for each item on every page as a function of raters' answers to the EQIP checklist. A mean score per item and a mean score per page were then calculated. We found 8 Patient Pages on diabetes on the JAMA web site. The overall quality score of the documents ranged between 0.55 (Managing Diabetes and Diabetes) and 0.67 (weight and diabetes). p(o) was at least moderate (>50%) for 15 of the 20 EQIP items. Despite generally favorable quality scores, some items received low scores. The worst scores were for the item assessing provision of an empty space to customize information for individual patients (score=0.01, p(o)=95%) and patients involvement in document drafting (score=0.11, p(o)=79%). The Patient Pages on diabetes published by JAMA were found to present weak points that limit their overall quality and may jeopardize their efficacy. We therefore recommend that authors and publishers of written patient information comply with published quality criteria. Further research is needed to evaluate the quality and efficacy of existing written health care information. Copyright © 2011 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Multisource data fusion for documenting archaeological sites
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Knyaz, Vladimir; Chibunichev, Alexander; Zhuravlev, Denis
2017-10-01
The quality of archaeological sites documenting is of great importance for cultural heritage preserving and investigating. The progress in developing new techniques and systems for data acquisition and processing creates an excellent basis for achieving a new quality of archaeological sites documenting and visualization. archaeological data has some specific features which have to be taken into account when acquiring, processing and managing. First of all, it is a needed to gather as full as possible information about findings providing no loss of information and no damage to artifacts. Remote sensing technologies are the most adequate and powerful means which satisfy this requirement. An approach to archaeological data acquiring and fusion based on remote sensing is proposed. It combines a set of photogrammetric techniques for obtaining geometrical and visual information at different scales and detailing and a pipeline for archaeological data documenting, structuring, fusion, and analysis. The proposed approach is applied for documenting of Bosporus archaeological expedition of Russian State Historical Museum.
Mental Status Documentation: Information Quality and Data Processes
Weir, Charlene; Gibson, Bryan; Taft, Teresa; Slager, Stacey; Lewis, Lacey; Staggers, Nancy
2016-01-01
Delirium is a fluctuating disturbance of cognition and/or consciousness associated with poor outcomes. Caring for patients with delirium requires integration of disparate information across clinicians, settings and time. The goal of this project was to characterize the information processes involved in nurses’ assessment, documentation, decisionmaking and communication regarding patients’ mental status in the inpatient setting. VA nurse managers of medical wards (n=18) were systematically selected across the US. A semi-structured telephone interview focused on current assessment, documentation, and communication processes, as well as clinical and administrative decision-making was conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. A thematic analytic approach was used. Five themes emerged: 1) Fuzzy Concepts, 2) Grey Data, 3) Process Variability 4) Context is Critical and 5) Goal Conflict. This project describes the vague and variable information processes related to delirium and mental status that undermine effective risk, prevention, identification, communication and mitigation of harm. PMID:28269919
Mental Status Documentation: Information Quality and Data Processes.
Weir, Charlene; Gibson, Bryan; Taft, Teresa; Slager, Stacey; Lewis, Lacey; Staggers, Nancy
2016-01-01
Delirium is a fluctuating disturbance of cognition and/or consciousness associated with poor outcomes. Caring for patients with delirium requires integration of disparate information across clinicians, settings and time. The goal of this project was to characterize the information processes involved in nurses' assessment, documentation, decisionmaking and communication regarding patients' mental status in the inpatient setting. VA nurse managers of medical wards (n=18) were systematically selected across the US. A semi-structured telephone interview focused on current assessment, documentation, and communication processes, as well as clinical and administrative decision-making was conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. A thematic analytic approach was used. Five themes emerged: 1) Fuzzy Concepts, 2) Grey Data, 3) Process Variability 4) Context is Critical and 5) Goal Conflict. This project describes the vague and variable information processes related to delirium and mental status that undermine effective risk, prevention, identification, communication and mitigation of harm.
Gaia DR2 documentation Chapter 1: Introduction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
de Bruijne, J. H. J.; Abreu, A.; Brown, A. G. A.; Castañeda, J.; Cheek, N.; Crowley, C.; De Angeli, F.; Drimmel, R.; Fabricius, C.; Fleitas, J.; Gracia-Abril, G.; Guerra, R.; Hutton, A.; Messineo, R.; Mora, A.; Nienartowicz, K.; Panem, C.; Siddiqui, H.
2018-04-01
This chapter of the Gaia DR2 documentation describes the Gaia mission, the Gaia spacecraft, and the organisation of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC), which is responsible for the processing and analysis of the Gaia data. Furthermore, various properties of the data release are summarised, including statistical properties, object statistics, completeness, selection and filtering criteria, and limitations of the data.
[Recommendations for the control of documents and the establishment of a documentary system].
Vinner, E
2013-06-01
The quality management system that must be implemented in a MBL to meet the requirements of the standard NF EN ISO 15189 is based, among other things, on the creation and use by staff of a documentary system approved and updated. This documentary system is constituted by external documents (standards, suppliers' documents...) and internal documents (quality manual, procedures, instructions, technical and quality recordings...). A procedure of the documentary system control must be formalized. The documentary system should be modeled in order to identify the various procedures to be drafted and the incurred risks in the case a document would be missing in this system. Each document must be indexed in a unique way and document management must be carried out rigorously. The use of document management software is a great help to manage the life cycle of documents.
Shuhaimi-Othman, M.; Nadzifah, Y.; Nur-Amalina, R.; Umirah, N. S.
2012-01-01
Freshwater quality criteria for iron (Fe), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were developed with particular reference to aquatic biota in Malaysia, and based on USEPA's guidelines. Acute toxicity tests were performed on eight different freshwater domestic species in Malaysia which were Macrobrachium lanchesteri (prawn), two fish: Poecilia reticulata and Rasbora sumatrana, Melanoides tuberculata (snail), Stenocypris major (ostracod), Chironomus javanus (midge larvae), Nais elinguis (annelid), and Duttaphrynus melanostictus (tadpole) to determine 96 h LC50 values for Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn. The final acute value (FAV) for Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn were 74.5, 17.0, 165, and 304.9 μg L−1, respectively. Using an estimated acute-to-chronic ratio (ACR) of 8.3, the value for final chronic value (FCV) was derived. Based on FAV and FCV, a criterion maximum concentration (CMC) and a criterion continuous concentration (CCC) for Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn that are 37.2, 8.5, 82.5, and 152.4 μg L−1 and 9.0, 2.0, 19.9, and 36.7 μg L−1, respectively, were derived. The results of this study provide useful data for deriving national or local water quality criteria for Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn based on aquatic biota in Malaysia. Based on LC50 values, this study indicated that N. elinguis, M. lanchesteri, N. elinguis, and R. sumatrana were the most sensitive to Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn, respectively. PMID:22919358
Critiquing bachelor candidates' theses: are the criteria useful?
Kapborg, I; Berterö, C
2002-06-01
Nursing education programmes should be at an academic level and connected to research. In Sweden, empirical studies are generally required in order to obtain a Bachelor's degree; hence, in some cases, these studies are replaced by a literature review. A study was conducted using 11 criteria. Thirteen theses produced in a department of nursing science were examined, elaborated and reproduced by reviewing international and national literature. Thereafter, the criteria themselves were scrutinized. Principal findings when critiquing the theses were that in eight theses the purpose was dearly identified and well defined in relation to the study accomplished; in three theses the purpose was indistinct and vague; and in two the definitions and research questions were lacking. The topic was relevant for the area of nursing in all theses. General problems identified were poor spelling and grammar, and unsatisfactory thesis structure. This article discusses whether criteria are useful when examining the Bachelor candidates' theses. The authors report that the criteria seemed to be useful, giving some guidance for scrutinizing theses and facilitating correspondence. Criteria could be appropriate guidelines for using to increase the quality of the theses as well as the quality of nursing.
Moore, K K
1995-01-01
The objectives of this analysis were to examine the literature and compare and contrast (a) qualities preferred in preprofessional dietetics students by directors of internships and approved preprofessional practice programs (AP4s), (b) characteristics needed to succeed in a scientific field, (c) traits emphasized by dietetics training programs compared with those most valued by employers, (d) skills needed by high-level managerial dietitians and those in business and communications, and (e) qualities dietitians have aspired to develop for increased competitiveness in the marketplace. Even though the revised Standards of Education have been in place since 1988, recent evaluation of criteria for internship and AP4 admission has shown traditional emphasis on academic performance and the importance of work experience. Success in scientific pursuits has been linked with more than innate intelligence; a drive for success and enthusiasm for learning are also involved. Internships foster mostly technical learning, so development of skills in human and conceptual areas are somewhat lacking. These skills, which have been identified as valuable to employers, need greater development or more consistent identification in the selection and training process. Perhaps serious consideration should be given to applicants for preprofessional programs who have shown leadership qualities through extracurricular activities or who have given themselves the opportunity to develop and improve these skills. Such students might hasten the metamorphosis of dietetics practitioners toward improved levels of compensation and professional fulfillment.
Arbyn, M; Anttila, A; Jordan, J; Ronco, G; Schenck, U; Segnan, N; Wiener, H; Herbert, A; von Karsa, L
2010-03-01
European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening have been initiated in the Europe Against Cancer Programme. The first edition established the principles of organised population-based screening and stimulated numerous pilot projects. The second multidisciplinary edition was published in 2008 and comprises approximately 250 pages divided into seven chapters prepared by 48 authors and contributors. Considerable attention has been devoted to organised, population-based programme policies which minimise adverse effects and maximise benefits of screening. It is hoped that this expanded guidelines edition will have a greater impact on countries in which screening programmes are still lacking and in which opportunistic screening has been preferred in the past. Other methodological aspects such as future prospects of human papillomavirus testing and vaccination in cervical cancer control have also been examined in the second edition; recommendations for integration of the latter technologies into European guidelines are currently under development in a related project supported by the European Union Health Programme. An overview of the fundamental points and principles that should support any quality-assured screening programme and key performance indicators are presented here in a summary document of the second guidelines edition in order to make these principles and standards known to a wider scientific community.
Regional differences in prescribing quality among elder veterans and the impact of rural residence
Lund, BC; Charlton, ME; Steinman, MA; Kaboli, PJ
2014-01-01
Purpose Medication safety is a critical concern for older adults. Regional variation in potentially inappropriate prescribing practices may reflect important differences in health care quality. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to characterize prescribing quality variation among older adults across geographic region, and to compare prescribing quality across rural versus urban residence. Methods Cross-sectional study of 1,549,824 older adult veterans with regular Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care and medication use during fiscal year 2007. Prescribing quality was measured by 4 indicators of potentially inappropriate prescribing: Zhan criteria drugs to avoid, Fick criteria drugs to avoid, therapeutic duplication, and drug-drug interactions. Frequency differences across region and rural-urban residence were compared using adjusted odds-ratios. Findings Significant regional variation was observed for all indicators. Zhan criteria frequencies ranged from 13.2% in the Northeast to 21.2% in the South. Nationally, rural veterans had a significantly increased risk for inappropriate prescribing according to all quality indicators. However, regional analyses revealed this effect was limited to the South and Northeast, whereas rural residence was neutral in the Midwest and protective in the West. Conclusions Significant regional variation in prescribing quality was observed among older adult veterans, mirroring recent findings among Medicare beneficiaries. The association between rurality and prescribing quality is heterogeneous, and relying solely on national estimates may yield misleading conclusions. While we documented important variations in prescribing quality, the underlying factors driving these trends remain unknown, and they are a vital area for future research affecting older adults in both VA and non-VA health systems. PMID:23551647
Quality Assurance Program Plan for SFR Metallic Fuel Data Qualification
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Benoit, Timothy; Hlotke, John Daniel; Yacout, Abdellatif
2017-07-05
This document contains an evaluation of the applicability of the current Quality Assurance Standards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Standard NQA-1 (NQA-1) criteria and identifies and describes the quality assurance process(es) by which attributes of historical, analytical, and other data associated with sodium-cooled fast reactor [SFR] metallic fuel and/or related reactor fuel designs and constituency will be evaluated. This process is being instituted to facilitate validation of data to the extent that such data may be used to support future licensing efforts associated with advanced reactor designs. The initial data to be evaluated under this program were generatedmore » during the US Integral Fast Reactor program between 1984-1994, where the data includes, but is not limited to, research and development data and associated documents, test plans and associated protocols, operations and test data, technical reports, and information associated with past United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews of SFR designs.« less
de Oliveira, Neurilene Batista; Peres, Heloisa Helena Ciqueto
2015-01-01
To evaluate the functional performance and the technical quality of the Electronic Documentation System of the Nursing Process of the Teaching Hospital of the University of São Paulo. exploratory-descriptive study. The Quality Model of regulatory standard 25010 and the Evaluation Process defined under regulatory standard 25040, both of the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission. The quality characteristics evaluated were: functional suitability, reliability, usability, performance efficiency, compatibility, security, maintainability and portability. The sample was made up of 37 evaluators. in the evaluation of the specialists in information technology, only the characteristic of usability obtained a rate of positive responses of less than 70%. For the nurse lecturers, all the quality characteristics obtained a rate of positive responses of over 70%. The staff nurses of the medical and surgical clinics with experience in using the system) and staff nurses from other units of the hospital and from other health institutions (without experience in using the system) obtained rates of positive responses of more than 70% referent to the functional suitability, usability, and security. However, performance efficiency, reliability and compatibility all obtained rates below the parameter established. the software achieved rates of positive responses of over 70% for the majority of the quality characteristics evaluated.
[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].
Martínez-Castelao, Alberto; Górriz, José L; Bover, Jordi; Segura-de la Morena, Julián; Cebollada, Jesús; Escalada, Javier; Esmatjes, Enric; Fácila, Lorenzo; Gamarra, Javier; Gràcia, Silvia; Hernández-Moreno, Julio; Llisterri-Caro, José L; Mazón, Pilar; Montañés, Rosario; Morales-Olivas, Francisco; Muñoz-Torres, Manuel; de Pablos-Velasco, Pedro; de Santiago, Ana; Sánchez-Celaya, Marta; Suárez, Carmen; Tranche, Salvador
2014-01-01
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society. The aspects included in the document are: Concept, epidemiology and risk factors for CKD. Diagnostic criteria, evaluation and stages of CKD, albuminuria and glomerular filtration rate estimation. Progression factors for renal damage. Patient remission criteria. Follow-up and objectives of each speciality control. Nephrotoxicity prevention. Cardio-vascular damage detection. Diet, life-style and treatment attitudes: hypertension, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycemia, smoking, obesity, hyperuricemia, anemia, mineral and bone disorders. Multidisciplinary management for Primary Care, other specialities and Nephrology. Integrated management of CKD patient in haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant patients. Management of the uremic patient in palliative care. We hope that this document may be of help for the multidisciplinary management of CKD patients by summarizing the most updated recommendations. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.
2017 Draft Aquatic Life Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater
EPA has released draft updated aluminum aquatic life ambient water quality criteria for freshwater under Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act. EPA will accept public comments on the draft criteria for 60 days upon publication in the Federal Register.
40 CFR 255.11 - Criteria for identifying agencies.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... quality management planning agencies designated under section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control... State water quality management agencies. (d) Planning objectives will influence agency selection... IDENTIFICATION OF REGIONS AND AGENCIES FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Criteria for Identifying Regions and Agencies...
Dysplastic naevus: histological criteria and their inter-observer reproducibility.
Hastrup, N; Clemmensen, O J; Spaun, E; Søndergaard, K
1994-06-01
Forty melanocytic lesions were examined in a pilot study, which was followed by a final series of 100 consecutive melanocytic lesions, in order to evaluate the inter-observer reproducibility of the histological criteria proposed for the dysplastic naevus. The specimens were examined in a blind fashion by four observers. Analysis by kappa statistics showed poor reproducibility of nuclear features, while reproducibility of architectural features was acceptable, improving in the final series. Consequently, we cannot apply the combined criteria of cytological and architectural features with any confidence in the diagnosis of dysplastic naevus, and, until further studies have documented that architectural criteria alone will suffice in the diagnosis of dysplastic naevus, we, as pathologists, shall avoid this term.
Criteria for evidence-based practice in Iranian traditional medicine.
Soltani Arabshahi, SeyyedKamran; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Shams-Ardakani, MohammadReza; Bigdeli, Shoaleh
2015-07-01
The major difference between Iranian traditional medicine and allopathic medicine is in the application of evidence and documents. In this study, criteria for evidence-based practice in Iranian traditional medicine and its rules of practice were studied. The experts' views were investigated through in- depth, semi-structured interviews and the results were categorized into four main categories including Designing clinical questions/clinical question-based search, critical appraisal, resource search criteria and clinical prescription appraisal. Although the application of evidence in Iranian traditional medicine follows Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) principles but it benefits from its own rules, regulations, and criteria that are compatible with EBM.
Parents on the web: risks for quality management of cough in children.
Pandolfini, C; Impicciatore, P; Bonati, M
2000-01-01
World Health Organization on drugs for children. For each checklist, the web page contents were analyzed and quantitative measurements were assigned. Of the 19 web pages identified, 9 explained the purpose and/or mechanism of cough and 14 the causes. The most frequently mentioned pharmacological treatments were single-ingredient suppressant preparations, followed by single-ingredient expectorants. Dextromethorphan was the most commonly referred to suppressant and guaifenesin the most common expectorant. No documents discouraged the use of suppressants, although 4 of the 10 web documents that addressed expectorants discouraged their use. Sixteen web pages addressed nonpharmacological treatment, 14 of which suggested exposure to a humid environment and/or extra fluid. In most cases, the criteria in the technical appraisal checklist were not present in the web documents; moreover, 2 web pages did not provide any of the items. Regarding content completeness, 3 web pages satisfied all the requirements considered in the checklist and 2 documents did not meet any of the criteria. Of the 3 web pages that scored highest in technical aspect, 2 also supplied complete information. No relationship was found, however, between the technical aspect and the content completeness. Concerning the quality of the health information supplied, 10 pages received a negative score because they contained more incorrect than correct information, and 1 web page received a high score. This document was 1 of the 2 that also scored high in technical aspect and content completeness. No relationship was found, however, among quality of information, technical aspect, and content completeness. As the results of this study show, a parent navigating the Internet for information on the home management of cough in children will no doubt find incorrect advice among the search results. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
Potential Impact of DSM-5 Criteria on Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence Estimates
Maenner, Matthew J.; Rice, Catherine E.; Arneson, Carrie L.; Cunniff, Christopher; Schieve, Laura A.; Carpenter, Laura A.; Van Naarden Braun, Kim; Kirby, Russell S.; Bakian, Amanda V.; Durkin, Maureen S.
2014-01-01
IMPORTANCE The DSM-5 contains revised diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the DSM-IV-TR. Potential impacts of the new criteria on ASD prevalence are unclear. OBJECTIVE To assess potential effects of the DSM-5 ASD criteria on ASD prevalence estimation by retrospectively applying the new criteria to population-based surveillance data collected for previous ASD prevalence estimation. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional, population-based ASD surveillance based on clinician review of coded behaviors documented in children’s medical and educational evaluations from 14 geographically defined areas in the United States participating in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network in 2006 and 2008. This study included 8-year-old children living in ADDM Network study areas in 2006 or 2008, including 644 883 children under surveillance, of whom 6577 met surveillance ASD case status based on the DSM-IV-TR. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Proportion of children meeting ADDM Network ASD criteria based on the DSM-IV-TR who also met DSM-5 criteria; overall prevalence of ASD using DSM-5 criteria. RESULTS Among the 6577 children classified by the ADDM Network as having ASD based on the DSM-IV-TR, 5339 (81.2%) met DSM-5 ASD criteria. This percentage was similar for boys and girls but higher for those with than without intellectual disability (86.6% and 72.5%, respectively; P < .001). A total of 304 children met DSM-5 ASD criteria but not current ADDM Network ASD case status. Based on these findings, ASD prevalence per 1000 for 2008 would have been 10.0 (95% CI, 9.6–10.3) using DSM-5 criteria compared with the reported prevalence based on DSM-IV-TR criteria of 11.3 (95% CI, 11.0–11.7). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Autism spectrum disorder prevalence estimates will likely be lower under DSM-5 than under DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria, although this effect could be tempered by future adaptation of diagnostic practices and
The Advocacy Portfolio: A Standardized Tool for Documenting Physician Advocacy.
Nerlinger, Abby L; Shah, Anita N; Beck, Andrew F; Beers, Lee S; Wong, Shale L; Chamberlain, Lisa J; Keller, David
2018-01-02
Recent changes in health care delivery systems and in medical training have primed academia for a paradigm shift, with strengthened support for an expanded definition of scholarship. Physicians who consider advocacy to be relevant to their scholarly endeavors need a standardized format to display activities and measure the value of health outcomes to which their work can be attributed. Similar to the Educator Portfolio, the authors here propose the Advocacy Portfolio (AP) to document a scholarly approach to advocacy.Despite common challenges faced in the arguments for both education and advocacy to be viewed as scholarship, the authors highlight inherent differences between the two fields. Based on prior literature, the authors propose a broad yet comprehensive set of domains to categorize advocacy activities, including advocacy engagement, knowledge dissemination, community outreach, advocacy teaching/mentoring, and advocacy leadership/administration. Documenting quality, quantity, and a scholarly approach to advocacy within each domain is the first of many steps to establish congruence between advocacy and scholarship for physicians utilizing the AP format.This standardized format can be applied in a variety of settings, from medical training to academic promotion. Such documentation will encourage institutional buy-in by aligning measured outcomes with institutional missions. The AP will also provide physician advocates with a method to display the impact of advocacy projects on health outcomes for patients and populations. Future challenges to broad application include establishing institutional support and developing consensus regarding criteria by which to evaluate the contributions of advocacy activities to scholarship.
Borkowski, A; Lee, D H; Sydnor, D L; Johnson, R J; Rabinovitch, A; Moore, G W
2001-01-01
The Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service of the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System is inspected biannually by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). As of the year 2000, all documentation in the Anatomic Pathology Section is available to all staff through the VA Intranet. Signed, supporting paper documents are on file in the office of the department chair. For the year 2000 CAP inspection, inspectors conducted their document review by use of these Web-based documents, in which each CAP question had a hyperlink to the corresponding section of the procedure manual. Thus inspectors were able to locate the documents relevant to each question quickly and efficiently. The procedure manuals consist of 87 procedures for surgical pathology, 52 procedures for cytopathology, and 25 procedures for autopsy pathology. Each CAP question requiring documentation had from one to three hyperlinks to the corresponding section of the procedure manual. Intranet documentation allows for easier sharing among decentralized institutions and for centralized updates of the laboratory documentation. These documents can be upgraded to allow for multimedia presentations, including text search for key words, hyperlinks to other documents, and images, audio, and video. Use of Web-based documents can improve the efficiency of the inspection process.
(Docket A-93-02) Category V-B: Final Support Documents
This Index lists supporting documents related to the decision to certify that the Department of Energy had met the compliance criteria established by EPA in 40 CFR Part 194 and the disposal regulations set by EPA in 40 CFR Part 191.
Compilation of historical water-quality data for selected springs in Texas, by ecoregion
Heitmuller, Franklin T.; Williams, Iona P.
2006-01-01
Springs are important hydrologic features in Texas. A database of about 2,000 historically documented springs and available spring-flow measurements previously has been compiled and published, but water-quality data remain scattered in published sources. This report by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, documents the compilation of data for 232 springs in Texas on the basis of a set of criteria and the development of a water-quality database for the selected springs. The selection of springs for compilation of historical water-quality data in Texas was made using existing digital and hard-copy data, responses to mailed surveys, selection criteria established by various stakeholders, geographic information systems, and digital database queries. Most springs were selected by computing the highest mean spring flows for each Texas level III ecoregion. A brief assessment of the water-quality data for springs in Texas shows that few data are available in the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains, High Plains, East Central Texas Plains, Western Gulf Coastal Plain, and South Central Plains ecoregions. Water-quality data are more abundant for the Chihuahuan Deserts, Edwards Plateau, and Texas Blackland Prairies ecoregions. Selected constituent concentrations in Texas springs, including silica, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, strontium, sulfate, chloride, fluoride, nitrate (nitrogen), dissolved solids, and hardness (as calcium carbonate) are comparatively high in the Chihuahuan Deserts, Southwestern Tablelands, Central Great Plains, and Cross Timbers ecoregions, mostly as a result of subsurface geology. Comparatively low concentrations of selected constituents in Texas springs are associated with the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains, Southern Texas Plains, East Central Texas Plains, and South Central Plains ecoregions.
Best practice in clinical audit document.
2016-12-01
A guide to best practice in clinical audit has been published by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership. It outlines updated criteria for best practice to support clinicians and clinical audit staff with planning, designing and carrying out audits.
Durán, I; Beiras, R
2017-05-01
Probabilistic environmental quality criteria for Naphthalene (Nap), Phenanthrene (Phe), Fluoranthene (Flu), Pyrene (Pyr), Triclosan (TCS), Tributyltin (TBT), Chlorpyrifos (CPY), Diuron (DUR), γ-Hexaclorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), Bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-Nonylphenol (4-NP) were derived from acute toxicity data using saltwater species representative of marine ecosystems, including algae, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms and chordates. Preferably, data concerns sublethal endpoints and early life stages from bioassays conducted in our laboratory, but the data set was completed with a broad literature survey. The Water Quality Criteria (WQC) obtained for TBT (7.1·10 -3 μg L -1 ) and CPY (6.6· 10 -3 μg L -1 ) were orders of magnitude lower than those obtained for PAHs (ranging from 3.75 to 45.2 μg L -1 ), BPA (27.7 μg L -1 ), TCS (8.66 μg L -1 ) and 4-NP (1.52 μg L -1 ). Critical values for DUR and HCH were 0.1 and 0.057 μg L -1 respectively. Within this context, non-selective toxicants could be quantitatively defined as those showing a maximum variability in toxicity thresholds (TT) of 3 orders of magnitude across the whole range of marine diversity, and a cumulative distribution of the TT fitting to a single log-logistic curve, while for selective toxicants variability was consistently found to span 5 orders of magnitude and the TT distribution showed a bimodal pattern. For the latter, protective WQC must be derived taking into account the SSD of the sensitive taxa only. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How to Build Your Own Document Camera for around $100
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Orden, Stephen
2010-01-01
Document cameras can have great utility in second language classrooms. However, entry-level consumer document cameras start at around $350. This article describes how the author built three document cameras and offers suggestions for how teachers can successfully build their own quality document camera using a webcam for around $100.
User Documentation for Multiple Software Releases
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Humphrey, R.
1982-01-01
In proposed solution to problems of frequent software releases and updates, documentation would be divided into smaller packages, each of which contains data relating to only one of several software components. Changes would not affect entire document. Concept would improve dissemination of information regarding changes and would improve quality of data supporting packages. Would help to insure both timeliness and more thorough scrutiny of changes.
Quality Assurance Specifications for Planetary Protection Assays
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Baker, Amy
As the European Space Agency planetary protection (PP) activities move forward to support the ExoMars and other planetary missions, it will become necessary to increase staffing of labo-ratories that provide analyses for these programs. Standardization of procedures, a comprehen-sive quality assurance program, and unilateral training of personnel will be necessary to ensure that the planetary protection goals and schedules are met. The PP Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QAQC) program is designed to regulate and monitor procedures performed by labora-tory personnel to ensure that all work meets data quality objectives through the assembly and launch process. Because personnel time is at a premium and sampling schedules are often de-pendent on engineering schedules, it is necessary to have flexible staffing to support all sampling requirements. The most productive approach to having a competent and flexible work force is to establish well defined laboratory procedures and training programs that clearly address the needs of the program and the work force. The quality assurance specification for planetary protection assays has to ensure that labora-tories and associated personnel can demonstrate the competence to perform assays according to the applicable standard AD4. Detailed subjects included in the presentation are as follows: • field and laboratory control criteria • data reporting • personnel training requirements and certification • laboratory audit criteria. Based upon RD2 for primary and secondary validation and RD3 for data quality objectives, the QAQC will provide traceable quality assurance safeguards by providing structured laboratory requirements for guidelines and oversight including training and technical updates, standardized documentation, standardized QA/QC checks, data review and data archiving.
Travelling Policies and Contextual Considerations: On Threshold Criteria
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nir, Adam; Kondakci, Yasar; Emil, Serap
2018-01-01
Educational policy borrowing has become rather common in our globalised world. However, the literature lacks contextual criteria that may be employed by researchers and policy makers to assess the correspondence of a particular policy to the local context of a borrowing system. Based on a secondary analysis of documents and research reports, this…
How Do I Get In? Criteria Shaping the High School Course Recommendation Process
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bernhardt, Philip Evan
2014-01-01
Academic tracking is a common practice in American high schools. While its impact on the lives of teachers and students is well documented, few studies pay close attention to the criteria used to determine high school students' academic trajectories or how teachers select and apply these criteria. This review, which examines the types of…
Intelligent Document Gateway: A Service System Case Study and Analysis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Krishna, Vikas; Lelescu, Ana
In today's fast paced world, it is necessary to process business documents expediently, accurately, and diligently. In other words, processing has to be fast, errors must be prevented (or caught and corrected quickly), and documents cannot be lost or misplaced. The failure to meet these criteria, depending on the type and purpose of the documents, can have serious business, legal, or safety consequences. In this paper, we evaluated a B2B order placement service system that allows clients to place orders for products and services over a network. We describe the order placement service before and after deploying the Intelligent Document Gateway (IDG), a document-centric business process automation technology from IBM Research. Using service science perspective and service systems frameworks, we provide an analysis of how IDG improved the value proposition for both the service providers and service clients.
Shihundla, Rhulani C; Lebese, Rachel T; Maputle, Maria S
2016-05-13
Recording of information on multiple documents increases professional nurses' responsibilities and workload during working hours. There are multiple registers and books at Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in which a patient's information is to be recorded for different services during a visit to a health professional. Antenatal patients coming for the first visit must be recorded in the following documents: tick register; Prevention of Mother-ToChild Transmission (PMTCT) register; consent form for HIV and AIDS testing; HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) register (if tested positive for HIV and AIDS then this must be recorded in the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) wellness register); ART file with an accompanying single file, completion of which is time-consuming; tuberculosis (TB) suspects register; blood specimen register; maternity case record book and Basic Antenatal Care (BANC) checklist. Nurses forget to record information in some documents which leads to the omission of important data. Omitting information might lead to mismanagement of patients. Some of the documents have incomplete and inaccurate information. As PHC facilities in Vhembe District render twenty four hour services through a call system, the same nurses are expected to resume duty at 07:00 the following morning. They are expected to work effectively and when tired a nurse may record illegible information which may cause problems when the document is retrieved by the next person for continuity of care. The objective of this study was to investigate and describe the effects of increased nurses' workload on quality documentation of patient information at PHC facilities in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. The study was conducted in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, where the effects of increased nurses' workload on quality documentation of information is currently experienced. The research design was explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The population consisted of all nurses who
Feßler, Andrea T; Kaspar, Heike; Lindeman, Cynthia J; Peters, Thomas; Watts, Jeffrey L; Schwarz, Stefan
2017-02-01
Cefoperazone is a third generation cephalosporin which is commonly used for bovine mastitis therapy. Bacterial pathogens involved in bovine mastitis are frequently tested for their susceptibility to cefoperazone. So far, the cefoperazone susceptibility testing using 30μg disks has been hampered by the lack of quality control (QC) ranges as well as the lack of interpretive criteria. In 2014, QC ranges for 30 μg cefoperazone disks have been established for Staphylococcus aureus ATCC ® 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC ® 25922. As a next step, interpretive criteria for the susceptibility testing of bovine mastitis pathogens should be developed. For this, 637 bovine mastitis pathogens (including 112 S. aureus, 121 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 103 E. coli, 101 Streptococcus agalactiae, 100 Streptococcus dysgalactiae and 100 Streptococcus uberis) were investigated by agar disk diffusion according to the document Vet01-A4 of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) using 30μg cefoperazone disks and the results were compared to the corresponding MIC values as determined by broth microdilution also according to the aforementioned CLSI document. Based on the results obtained and taking into account the achievable milk concentration of cefoperazone after regular dosing, the following interpretive criteria were proposed as a guidance for mastitis diagnostic laboratories: for staphylococci and E. coli ≥23mm (susceptible), 18-22mm (intermediate) and ≤17mm (resistant) and for streptococci ≥18mm (susceptible), and ≤17mm (non-susceptible). These proposed interpretive criteria shall contribute to a harmonization of cefoperazone susceptibility testing of bovine mastitis pathogens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Inspection criteria ensure quality control of parallel gap soldering
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Burka, J. A.
1968-01-01
Investigation of parallel gap soldering of electrical leads resulted in recommendation on material preparation, equipment, process control, and visual inspection criteria to ensure reliable solder joints. The recommendations will minimize problems in heat-dwell time, amount of solder, bridging conductors, and damage of circuitry.
Systematic Review of International Colposcopy Quality Improvement Guidelines.
Mayeaux, Edward J; Novetsky, Akiva P; Chelmow, David; Choma, Kim; Garcia, Francisco; Liu, Angela H; Papasozomenos, Theognosia; Einstein, Mark H
2017-10-01
The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Colposcopy Standards Committee organized multiple working groups to draft colposcopy standards for the United States. As part of this project, international quality assurance and improvement measures were examined. The quality improvement working group performed a systematic review of the literature to collate international guidelines related to quality improvement. Source guidelines were collected using searches in Medline, Google Scholar, the International Federation of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy Web site, other regional colposcopy group's Web sites, and communications with International Federation of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy board of directors' members and other expert members of various national groups. Once identified, the sources were reviewed by multiple workgroup members for potential guideline materials. Fifty-six unique documents were identified, of which 18 met inclusion criteria and contributed data to the analysis. Information was abstracted and grouped by related subject. Wide variation exists in colposcopy guidance and quality indicators from regional and national colposcopy societies. Abstracted international guidelines are presented.
Krishnan, B; Prasad, G Arun; Madhan, B
2016-09-01
Proper and adequate documentation in operation notes is a basic tool of clinical practice with medical and legal implications. An audit was done to ascertain if oral and maxillofacial surgery operative notes in an Indian public sector hospital adhered to the guidelines published by the Royal College of Surgeons England. Fifty randomly selected operative notes were evaluated against the guidelines by RCS England with regards to the essential generic components of an operation note. Additional criteria relevant to oral and Maxillofacial Surgery were also evaluated. Changes were introduced in the form of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery specific consent forms, diagram sheets and a computerized operation note proforma containing all essential and additional criteria along with prefilled template of operative findings. Re-audit of 50 randomly selected operation notes was performed after a 6 month period. In the 1st audit cycle, excellent documentation ranging from 94 to 100 % was seen in 9 essential criteria. Unsatisfactory documentation was observed in criteria like assistant name, date of surgery. Most consent forms contained abbreviations and some did not provide all details. Additional criteria specific to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery scored poorly. In the 2nd Audit for loop completion, excellent documentation was seen in almost all essential and additional criteria. Mean percentage of data point inclusion improved from 84.6 to 98.4 % (0.001< P value <0.005). The use of abbreviations was seen in only 6 notes. Regular audits are now considered a mandatory quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first completed audit on operation notes documentation in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from India. The introduction of a computerized operation note proforma showed excellent improvement in operation note documentation. Surgeons can follow the RCS guidelines to ensure standardization of
Definition and documentation of engineering processes
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McDonald, G.W.
1997-11-01
This tutorial is an extract of a two-day workshop developed under the auspices of the Quality Engineering Department at Sandia National Laboratories. The presentation starts with basic definitions and addresses why processes should be defined and documented. It covers three primary topics: (1) process considerations and rationale, (2) approach to defining and documenting engineering processes, and (3) an IDEFO model of the process for defining engineering processes.
Priorities for Water Quality Criteria and Standards Programs FY 2017-2018
This document recommends priorities for states and authorized tribes as they plan WQS actions and updates in the upcoming two fiscal years. The document addresses new regulatory requirements in 40 CFR part 131 issued in August 2015.
Nonlinear Flying Qualities Criteria for Large-Amplitude Maneuvers
1984-12-01
theory which are pertinent to the formation of a nonlinear flying qualities methodology. This report surveys nonlinear system theory and describes...the development of an applied flying qualities methodology based on a canonical system theory and using research in relative controllability...The Nonlinear Flying Qualities (NFQ) for Large-Amplitude Maneuvers Program examined promising techniques from nonlinear analysis and nonlinear system
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-11-10
... To Support Specific Success Criteria in the Standardized Plant Analysis Risk Models--Surry and Peach... INFORMATION: NUREG-1953, ``Confirmatory Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis to Support Specific Success Criteria in the... document entitled: NUREG-1953, ``Confirmatory Thermal- Hydraulic Analysis to Support Specific Success...