A cloud-based production system for information and service integration: an internet of things case study on waste electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xi Vincent; Wang, Lihui

2017-08-01

Cloud computing is the new enabling technology that offers centralised computing, flexible data storage and scalable services. In the manufacturing context, it is possible to utilise the Cloud technology to integrate and provide industrial resources and capabilities in terms of Cloud services. In this paper, a function block-based integration mechanism is developed to connect various types of production resources. A Cloud-based architecture is also deployed to offer a service pool which maintains these resources as production services. The proposed system provides a flexible and integrated information environment for the Cloud-based production system. As a specific type of manufacturing, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) remanufacturing experiences difficulties in system integration, information exchange and resource management. In this research, WEEE is selected as the example of Internet of Things to demonstrate how the obstacles and bottlenecks are overcome with the help of Cloud-based informatics approach. In the case studies, the WEEE recycle/recovery capabilities are also integrated and deployed as flexible Cloud services. Supporting mechanisms and technologies are presented and evaluated towards the end of the paper.

Integration mechanisms and hospital efficiency in integrated health care delivery systems.

PubMed

Wan, Thomas T H; Lin, Blossom Yen-Ju; Ma, Allen

2002-04-01

This study analyzes integration mechanisms that affect system performances measured by indicators of efficiency in integrated delivery systems (IDSs) in the United States. The research question is, do integration mechanisms improve IDSs' efficiency in hospital care? American Hospital Association's Annual Survey (1998) and Dorenfest's Survey on Information Systems in Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems (1998) were used to conduct the study, using IDS as the unit of analysis. A covariance structure equation model of the effects of system integration mechanisms on IDS performance was formulated and validated by an empirical examination of IDSs. The study sample includes 973 hospital-based integrated health care delivery systems operating in the United States, carried in the list of Dorenfests Survey on Information Systems in Integrated Health care Delivery Systems. The measurement indicators of system integration mechanisms are categorized into six related domains: informatic integration, case management, hybrid physician-hospital integration, forward integration, backward integration, and high tech medical services. The multivariate analysis reveals that integration mechanisms in system operation are positively correlated and positively affect IDSs' efficiency. The six domains of integration mechanisms account for 58.9% of the total variance in hospital performance. The service differentiation strategy such as having more high tech medical services have much stronger influences on efficiency than other integration mechanisms do. The beneficial effects of integration mechanisms have been realized in IDS performance. High efficiency in hospital care can be achieved by employing proper integration strategies in operations.

Special Medicare reimbursement and fraud and abuse considerations for management services organizations, medical foundations, and integrated delivery systems.

PubMed

DeMuro, P R; Owens, J F

1994-01-01

This chapter discusses certain Medicare reimbursement and fraud and abuse considerations for management services organizations (MSOs), medical foundations, and integrated delivery systems. It stresses the necessity of a business plan, the sources of capitalization that might be used in creating an integrated delivery system, and their effect on Medicare reimbursement. It also discusses related party principles and considerations and the Medicare "incident to" regulations. Furthermore, it discusses the application of certain Medicare safe harbor regulations on MSOs' structures and services, and those of medical foundations and integrated delivery systems.

Integrating child welfare, juvenile justice, and other agencies in a continuum of services.

PubMed

Howell, James C; Kelly, Marion R; Palmer, James; Mangum, Ronald L

2004-01-01

This article presents a comprehensive strategy framework for integrating mental health, child welfare, education, substance abuse, and juvenile justice system services. It proposes an infrastructure of information exchange, cross-agency client referrals, a networking protocol, interagency councils, and service integration models. This infrastructure facilitates integrated service delivery.

Academic Research Integration System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Surugiu, Iula; Velicano, Manole

2008-01-01

This paper comprises results concluding the research activity done so far regarding enhanced web services and system integration. The objective of the paper is to define the software architecture for a coherent framework and methodology for enhancing existing web services into an integrated system. This document presents the research work that has…

A Framework for Sharing and Integrating Remote Sensing and GIS Models Based on Web Service

PubMed Central

Chen, Zeqiang; Lin, Hui; Chen, Min; Liu, Deer; Bao, Ying; Ding, Yulin

2014-01-01

Sharing and integrating Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System/Science (GIS) models are critical for developing practical application systems. Facilitating model sharing and model integration is a problem for model publishers and model users, respectively. To address this problem, a framework based on a Web service for sharing and integrating RS and GIS models is proposed in this paper. The fundamental idea of the framework is to publish heterogeneous RS and GIS models into standard Web services for sharing and interoperation and then to integrate the RS and GIS models using Web services. For the former, a “black box” and a visual method are employed to facilitate the publishing of the models as Web services. For the latter, model integration based on the geospatial workflow and semantic supported marching method is introduced. Under this framework, model sharing and integration is applied for developing the Pearl River Delta water environment monitoring system. The results show that the framework can facilitate model sharing and model integration for model publishers and model users. PMID:24901016

A framework for sharing and integrating remote sensing and GIS models based on Web service.

PubMed

Chen, Zeqiang; Lin, Hui; Chen, Min; Liu, Deer; Bao, Ying; Ding, Yulin

2014-01-01

Sharing and integrating Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System/Science (GIS) models are critical for developing practical application systems. Facilitating model sharing and model integration is a problem for model publishers and model users, respectively. To address this problem, a framework based on a Web service for sharing and integrating RS and GIS models is proposed in this paper. The fundamental idea of the framework is to publish heterogeneous RS and GIS models into standard Web services for sharing and interoperation and then to integrate the RS and GIS models using Web services. For the former, a "black box" and a visual method are employed to facilitate the publishing of the models as Web services. For the latter, model integration based on the geospatial workflow and semantic supported marching method is introduced. Under this framework, model sharing and integration is applied for developing the Pearl River Delta water environment monitoring system. The results show that the framework can facilitate model sharing and model integration for model publishers and model users.

Quebec mental health services networks: models and implementation

PubMed Central

Fleury, Marie-Josée

2005-01-01

Abstract Purpose In the transformation of health care systems, the introduction of integrated service networks is considered to be one of the main solutions for enhancing efficiency. In the last few years, a wealth of literature has emerged on the topic of services integration. However, the question of how integrated service networks should be modelled to suit different implementation contexts has barely been touched. To fill that gap, this article presents four models for the organization of mental health integrated networks. Data sources The proposed models are drawn from three recently published studies on mental health integrated services in the province of Quebec (Canada) with the author as principal investigator. Description Following an explanation of the concept of integrated service network and a description of the Quebec context for mental health networks, the models, applicable in all settings: rural, urban or semi-urban, and metropolitan, and summarized in four figures, are presented. Discussion and conclusion To apply the models successfully, the necessity of rallying all the actors of a system, from the strategic, tactical and operational levels, according to the type of integration involved: functional/administrative, clinical and physician-system is highlighted. The importance of formalizing activities among organizations and actors in a network and reinforcing the governing mechanisms at the local level is also underlined. Finally, a number of integration strategies and key conditions of success to operationalize integrated service networks are suggested. PMID:16773157

Integration of hybrid wireless networks in cloud services oriented enterprise information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shancang; Xu, Lida; Wang, Xinheng; Wang, Jue

2012-05-01

This article presents a hybrid wireless network integration scheme in cloud services-based enterprise information systems (EISs). With the emerging hybrid wireless networks and cloud computing technologies, it is necessary to develop a scheme that can seamlessly integrate these new technologies into existing EISs. By combining the hybrid wireless networks and computing in EIS, a new framework is proposed, which includes frontend layer, middle layer and backend layers connected to IP EISs. Based on a collaborative architecture, cloud services management framework and process diagram are presented. As a key feature, the proposed approach integrates access control functionalities within the hybrid framework that provide users with filtered views on available cloud services based on cloud service access requirements and user security credentials. In future work, we will implement the proposed framework over SwanMesh platform by integrating the UPnP standard into an enterprise information system.

Integrated services plus drug treatment as a system alternative to crime control and parole.

PubMed

Danzer, Graham

2012-01-01

Integrated services have the potential to facilitate recovery in drug offenders as well as reduce criminal recidivism. This is significant given that prison overcrowding has led many drug offenders to be released from custody into society via the "reentry movement." Offenders incarcerated for many years often return to society with medical, mental health, behavioral, and drug abuse issues. These issues have been found in similar populations, including those with severe mental illness and the homeless, for which integrated services has shown to have a significant impact on improving functioning. Thus the argument of this article is that because integrated services have shown to be effective with somewhat similar populations, integrated services can be effective in treating paroled drug offenders. These benefits are expected to be to a greater degree than that achieved by current system policy regarding paroled drug offenders being supervised by parole officers rather than case managers facilitating integrated services.

Improvement of emotional healthcare system with stress detection from ECG signal.

PubMed

Tivatansakul, S; Ohkura, M

2015-01-01

Our emotional healthcare system is designed to cope with users' negative emotions in daily life. To make the system more intelligent, we integrated emotion recognition by facial expression to provide appropriate services based on user's current emotional state. Our emotion recognition by facial expression has confusion issue to recognize some positive, neutral and negative emotions that make the emotional healthcare system provide a relaxation service even though users don't have negative emotions. Therefore, to increase the effectiveness of the system to provide the relaxation service, we integrate stress detection from ECG signal. The stress detection might be able to address the confusion issue of emotion recognition by facial expression to provide the service. Indeed, our results show that integration of stress detection increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the emotional healthcare system to provide services.

'Drug adherence levels are falling down again': health worker perceptions of women's service utilization before and after integration of HIV/AIDS services into general care in India.

PubMed

Shukla, Shrivridhi; Muchomba, Felix M; McCoyd, Judith L M

2018-06-01

Integrated models of HIV/AIDS service delivery are believed to have advantages over stand-alone models of care from health planners' and providers' perspectives. Integration models differ, yet there is little information about the influence of differing models on workers' beliefs about models' efficacy. Here, we examine the effect of integration of HIV care into the general health system in India. In 2014, India replaced its stand-alone model of HIV service delivery-Community Care Centers (CCCs)-with a purported integrated model that delivers HIV medical services at general hospitals and HIV psychosocial services at nearby Care and Support Centers (CSCs). We examine 15 health workers' perceptions of how change from the earlier stand-alone model to the current model impacted women's care in a district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Results indicate that (1) Women's antiretroviral (ART) adherence and utilization of psychosocial support service for HIV/AIDS suffered when services were not provided at one site; (2) Provision of inpatient care in the CCC model offered women living in poverty personal safety in accessing HIV health services and promoted chances of competent ART usage and repeat service utilization; and (3) Although integration of HIV services with the general health system was perceived to improve patient anonymity and decrease chances of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, resource shortages continued to plague the integrated system while shifting costs of time and money to the patients. Findings suggest that integration efforts need to consider the context of service provision and the gendered nature of access to HIV care.

Laboratory Integration and Consolidation in a Regional Health System.

PubMed

Cook, Jim

2017-08-01

Health systems face intense pressure to decrease costs and improve services as the health care delivery system in the United States undergoes tremendous change due to health care reform. As health systems grow, like any business, they are forced to explore standardization to realize and maintain efficient practices. Clinical services, such as laboratory medicine, are more difficult to integrate due to wider variation in acceptable practice and culture, compared with other services. However, changes to laboratory service are imperative if health care professionals expect to survive and thrive in the new business environment. In this article, I describe the advocation efforts of the System Laboratory Council group toward implementation of a standardization process that we call integration, to improve the efficiency of the Laboratory Services department of our health system, the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS). © American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Service Integration: Challenging Systems To Meet Families' Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Elie

This report offers an evaluation of services for families in New York State, finds that system is in chaos, and proposes a 5-year commitment to integrate programs and funding in six agencies. The report finds that billions of federal, state, local, and private dollars are committed annually to support separate service systems with no imperative…

Integrated delivery systems focus on service delivery after capitation efforts stall.

PubMed

2005-03-01

Integrated delivery systems focus on service delivery after capitation efforts stall. Integrated delivery systems are going through changes that are focusing the provider organizations more on delivering care than managing risk, says Dean C. Coddington, one of the leading researchers into capitated organizations and a senior consultant with McManis Consulting in Denver.

On Line Service Composition in the Integrated Clinical Environment for eHealth and Medical Systems

PubMed Central

García-Valls, Marisol; Touahria, Imad Eddine

2017-01-01

Medical and eHealth systems are progressively realized in the context of standardized architectures that support safety and ease the integration of the heterogeneous (and often proprietary) medical devices and sensors. The Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE) architecture appeared recently with the goal of becoming a common framework for defining the structure of the medical applications as concerns the safe integration of medical devices and sensors. ICE is simply a high level architecture that defines the functional blocks that should be part of a medical system to support interoperability. As a result, the underlying communication backbone is broadly undefined as concerns the enabling software technology (including the middleware) and associated algorithms that meet the ICE requirements of the flexible integration of medical devices and services. Supporting the on line composition of services in a medical system is also not part of ICE; however, supporting this behavior would enable flexible orchestration of functions (e.g., addition and/or removal of services and medical equipment) on the fly. iLandis one of the few software technologies that supports on line service composition and reconfiguration, ensuring time-bounded transitions across different service orchestrations; it supports the design, deployment and on line reconfiguration of applications, which this paper applies to service-based eHealth domains. This paper designs the integration between ICE architecture and iLand middleware to enhance the capabilities of ICE with on line service composition and the time-bounded reconfiguration of medical systems based on distributed services. A prototype implementation of a service-based eHealth system for the remote monitoring of patients is described; it validates the enhanced capacity of ICE to support dynamic reconfiguration of the application services. Results show that the temporal cost of the on line reconfiguration of the eHealth application is bounded, achieving a low overhead resulting from the addition of ICE compliance. PMID:28594371

On Line Service Composition in the Integrated Clinical Environment for eHealth and Medical Systems.

PubMed

García-Valls, Marisol; Touahria, Imad Eddine

2017-06-08

Medical and eHealth systems are progressively realized in the context of standardized architectures that support safety and ease the integration of the heterogeneous (and often proprietary) medical devices and sensors. The Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE) architecture appeared recently with the goal of becoming a common framework for defining the structure of the medical applications as concerns the safe integration of medical devices and sensors. ICE is simply a high level architecture that defines the functional blocks that should be part of a medical system to support interoperability. As a result, the underlying communication backbone is broadly undefined as concerns the enabling software technology (including the middleware) and associated algorithms that meet the ICE requirements of the flexible integration of medical devices and services. Supporting the on line composition of services in a medical system is also not part of ICE; however, supporting this behavior would enable flexible orchestration of functions (e.g., addition and/or removal of services and medical equipment) on the fly. iLandis one of the few software technologies that supports on line service composition and reconfiguration, ensuring time-bounded transitions across different service orchestrations; it supports the design, deployment and on line reconfiguration of applications, which this paper applies to service-based eHealth domains. This paper designs the integration between ICE architecture and iLand middleware to enhance the capabilities of ICE with on line service composition and the time-bounded reconfiguration of medical systems based on distributed services. A prototype implementation of a service-based eHealth system for the remote monitoring of patients is described; it validates the enhanced capacity of ICE to support dynamic reconfiguration of the application services. Results show that the temporal cost of the on line reconfiguration of the eHealth application is bounded, achieving a low overhead resulting from the addition of ICE compliance.

Career Education for Mental Health Workers. Integrative Seminar in Human Service. Human Service Instructional Series. Module No. 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redcay, Shirley

This module on an integrative seminar in human service is one of a set of six developed to prepare human services workers for the changing mental health service delivery system. A total of eight objectives are included to help students integrate previously learned knowledge and skills into a process of assessing service need, developing treatment…

[Financing, organization, costs and services performance of the Argentinean health sub-systems.

PubMed

Yavich, Natalia; Báscolo, Ernesto Pablo; Haggerty, Jeannie

2016-01-01

To analyze the relationship between health system financing and services organization models with costs and health services performance in each of Rosario's health sub-systems. The financing and organization models were characterized using secondary data. Costs were calculated using the WHO/SHA methodology. Healthcare quality was measured by a household survey (n=822). Public subsystem:Vertically integrated funding and primary healthcare as a leading strategy to provide services produced low costs and individual-oriented healthcare but with weak accessibility conditions and comprehensiveness. Private subsystem: Contractual integration and weak regulatory and coordination mechanisms produced effects opposed to those of the public sub-system. Social security: Contractual integration and strong regulatory and coordination mechanisms contributed to intermediate costs and overall high performance. Each subsystem financing and services organization model had a strong and heterogeneous influence on costs and health services performance.

Teaching Service Modelling to a Mixed Class: An Integrated Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deng, Jeremiah D.; Purvis, Martin K.

2015-01-01

Service modelling has become an increasingly important area in today's telecommunications and information systems practice. We have adapted a Network Design course in order to teach service modelling to a mixed class of both the telecommunication engineering and information systems backgrounds. An integrated approach engaging mathematics teaching…

Research on application information system integration platform in medicine manufacturing enterprise.

PubMed

Deng, Wu; Zhao, Huimin; Zou, Li; Li, Yuanyuan; Li, Zhengguang

2012-08-01

Computer and information technology popularizes in the medicine manufacturing enterprise for its potentials in working efficiency and service quality. In allusion to the explosive data and information of application system in current medicine manufacturing enterprise, we desire to propose a novel application information system integration platform in medicine manufacturing enterprise, which based on a combination of RFID technology and SOA, to implement information sharing and alternation. This method exploits the application integration platform across service interface layer to invoke the RFID middleware. The loose coupling in integration solution is realized by Web services. The key techniques in RFID event components and expanded role-based security access mechanism are studied in detail. Finally, a case study is implemented and tested to evidence our understanding on application system integration platform in medicine manufacturing enterprise.

Customer Decision Making in Web Services with an Integrated P6 Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhaohao; Sun, Junqing; Meredith, Grant

Customer decision making (CDM) is an indispensable factor for web services. This article examines CDM in web services with a novel P6 model, which consists of the 6 Ps: privacy, perception, propensity, preference, personalization and promised experience. This model integrates the existing 6 P elements of marketing mix as the system environment of CDM in web services. The new integrated P6 model deals with the inner world of the customer and incorporates what the customer think during the DM process. The proposed approach will facilitate the research and development of web services and decision support systems.

Barriers and enablers to integrating maternal and child health services to antenatal care in low and middle income countries.

PubMed

de Jongh, T E; Gurol-Urganci, I; Allen, E; Jiayue Zhu, N; Atun, R

2016-03-01

Antenatal care (ANC) represents a delivery platform for a broad range of health services; however, these opportunities are insufficiently utilised. This review explores key barriers and enablers for successful integration of health s"ervices with ANC in different contexts. Data from peer-reviewed and grey literature were organised using the SURE checklist. We identified 46 reports focusing on integration of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, syphilis or nutrition services with ANC from Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Perspectives of service users and providers, social and political factors, and health system characteristics (such as resource availability and organisational structures) affected ease of integration. Health system factors, context and stakeholders must be considered for integrated antenatal care services. © 2016 The Authors. BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Is health systems integration being advanced through Local Health District planning?

PubMed

Saunders, Carla; Carter, David J

2017-05-01

Objective Delivering genuine integrated health care is one of three strategic directions in the New South Wales (NSW) Government State Health Plan: Towards 2021. This study investigated the current key health service plan of each NSW Local Health District (LHD) to evaluate the extent and nature of health systems integration strategies that are currently planned. Methods A scoping review was conducted to identify common key principles and practices for successful health systems integration to enable the development of an appraisal tool to content assess LHD strategic health service plans. Results The strategies that are planned for health systems integration across LHDs focus most often on improvements in coordination, health care access and care delivery for complex at-risk patients across the care continuum by both state- and commonwealth-funded systems, providers and agencies. The most common reasons given for integrated activities were to reduce avoidable hospitalisation, avoid inappropriate emergency department attendance and improve patient care. Conclusions Despite the importance of health systems integration and finding that all NSW LHDs have made some commitment towards integration in their current strategic health plans, this analysis suggests that health systems integration is in relatively early development across NSW. What is known about the topic? Effective approaches to managing complex chronic diseases have been found to involve health systems integration, which necessitates sound communication and connection between healthcare providers across community and hospital settings. Planning based on current health systems integration knowledge to ensure the efficient use of scarce resources is a responsibility of all health systems. What does this paper add? Appropriate planning and implementation of health systems integration is becoming an increasingly important expectation and requirement of effective health systems. The present study is the first of its kind to assess the planned activity in health systems integration in the NSW public health system. NSW health districts play a central role in health systems integration; each health service plan outlines the strategic directions for the development and delivery of all state-funded services across each district for the coming years, equating to hundreds of millions of dollars in health sector funding. The inclusion of effective health systems integration strategies allows Local Health Districts to lay the foundation for quality patient outcomes and long-term financial sustainability despite projected increases in demand for health services. What are the implications for practice? Establishing robust ongoing mechanisms for effective health systems integration is now a necessary part of health planning. The present study identifies several key areas and strategies that are wide in scope and indicative of efforts towards health systems integration, which may support Local Health Districts and other organisations in systematic planning and implementation.

Integrated multimedia information system on interactive CATV network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Meng-Huang; Chang, Shin-Hung

1998-10-01

In the current CATV system architectures, they provide one- way delivery of a common menu of entertainment to all the homes through the cable network. Through the technologies evolution, the interactive services (or two-way services) can be provided in the cable TV systems. They can supply customers with individualized programming and support real- time two-way communications. With a view to the service type changed from the one-way delivery systems to the two-way interactive systems, `on demand services' is a distinct feature of multimedia systems. In this paper, we present our work of building up an integrated multimedia system on interactive CATV network in Shih Chien University. Besides providing the traditional analog TV programming from the cable operator, we filter some channels to reserve them as our campus information channels. In addition to the analog broadcasting channel, the system also provides the interactive digital multimedia services, e.g. Video-On- Demand (VOD), Virtual Reality, BBS, World-Wide-Web, and Internet Radio Station. These two kinds of services are integrated in a CATV network by the separation of frequency allocation for the analog broadcasting service and the digital interactive services. Our ongoing work is to port our previous work of building up a VOD system conformed to DAVIC standard (for inter-operability concern) on Ethernet network into the current system.

A Tailored Concept of Operations for NASA LSP Integrated Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, Clark V.

2016-01-01

An integral part of the Systems Engineering process is the creation of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) for a given system, with the ConOps initially established early in the system design process and evolved as the system definition and design matures. As Integration Engineers in NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), our job is to manage the interface requirements for all the robotic space missions that come to our Program for a Launch Service. LSP procures and manages a launch service from one of our many commercial Launch Vehicle Contractors (LVCs) and these commercial companies are then responsible for developing the Interface Control Document (ICD), the verification of the requirements in that document, and all the services pertaining to integrating the spacecraft and launching it into orbit. However, one of the systems engineering tools that have not been employed within LSP to date is a Concept of Operations. The goal of this project is to research the format and content that goes into these various aerospace industry ConOps and tailor the format and content into template form, so the template may be used as an engineering tool for spacecraft integration with future LSP procured launch services.

Engineering healthcare as a service system.

PubMed

Tien, James M; Goldschmidt-Clermont, Pascal J

2010-01-01

Engineering has and will continue to have a critical impact on healthcare; the application of technology-based techniques to biological problems can be defined to be technobiology applications. This paper is primarily focused on applying the technobiology approach of systems engineering to the development of a healthcare service system that is both integrated and adaptive. In general, healthcare services are carried out with knowledge-intensive agents or components which work together as providers and consumers to create or co-produce value. Indeed, the engineering design of a healthcare system must recognize the fact that it is actually a complex integration of human-centered activities that is increasingly dependent on information technology and knowledge. Like any service system, healthcare can be considered to be a combination or recombination of three essential components - people (characterized by behaviors, values, knowledge, etc.), processes (characterized by collaboration, customization, etc.) and products (characterized by software, hardware, infrastructures, etc.). Thus, a healthcare system is an integrated and adaptive set of people, processes and products. It is, in essence, a system of systems which objectives are to enhance its efficiency (leading to greater interdependency) and effectiveness (leading to improved health). Integration occurs over the physical, temporal, organizational and functional dimensions, while adaptation occurs over the monitoring, feedback, cybernetic and learning dimensions. In sum, such service systems as healthcare are indeed complex, especially due to the uncertainties associated with the human-centered aspects of these systems. Moreover, the system complexities can only be dealt with methods that enhance system integration and adaptation.

Software as a service approach to sensor simulation software deployment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webster, Steven; Miller, Gordon; Mayott, Gregory

2012-05-01

Traditionally, military simulation has been problem domain specific. Executing an exercise currently requires multiple simulation software providers to specialize, deploy, and configure their respective implementations, integrate the collection of software to achieve a specific system behavior, and then execute for the purpose at hand. This approach leads to rigid system integrations which require simulation expertise for each deployment due to changes in location, hardware, and software. Our alternative is Software as a Service (SaaS) predicated on the virtualization of Night Vision Electronic Sensors (NVESD) sensor simulations as an exemplary case. Management middleware elements layer self provisioning, configuration, and integration services onto the virtualized sensors to present a system of services at run time. Given an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment, enabled and managed system of simulations yields a durable SaaS delivery without requiring user simulation expertise. Persistent SaaS simulations would provide on demand availability to connected users, decrease integration costs and timelines, and benefit the domain community from immediate deployment of lessons learned.

The tsunami service bus, an integration platform for heterogeneous sensor systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haener, R.; Waechter, J.; Kriegel, U.; Fleischer, J.; Mueller, S.

2009-04-01

1. INTRODUCTION Early warning systems are long living and evolving: New sensor-systems and -types may be developed and deployed, sensors will be replaced or redeployed on other locations and the functionality of analyzing software will be improved. To ensure a continuous operability of those systems their architecture must be evolution-enabled. From a computer science point of view an evolution-enabled architecture must fulfill following criteria: • Encapsulation of and functionality on data in standardized services. Access to proprietary sensor data is only possible via these services. • Loose coupling of system constituents which easily can be achieved by implementing standardized interfaces. • Location transparency of services what means that services can be provided everywhere. • Separation of concerns that means breaking a system into distinct features which overlap in functionality as little as possible. A Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as e. g. realized in the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) and the advantages of functional integration on the basis of services described below adopt these criteria best. 2. SENSOR INTEGRATION Integration of data from (distributed) data sources is just a standard task in computer science. From few well known solution patterns, taking into account performance and security requirements of early warning systems only functional integration should be considered. Precondition for this is that systems are realized compliant to SOA patterns. Functionality is realized in form of dedicated components communicating via a service infrastructure. These components provide their functionality in form of services via standardized and published interfaces which could be used to access data maintained in - and functionality provided by dedicated components. Functional integration replaces the tight coupling at data level by a dependency on loosely coupled services. If the interfaces of the service providing components remain unchanged, components can be maintained and evolved independently on each other and service functionality as a whole can be reused. In GITEWS the functional integration pattern was adopted by applying the principles of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) as a backbone. Four services provided by the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) which are essential for early warning systems are realized compliant to services specified within the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). 3. ARCHITECTURE The integration platform was developed to access proprietary, heterogeneous sensor data and to provide them in a uniform manner for further use. Its core, the TSB provides both a messaging-backbone and -interfaces on the basis of a Java Messaging Service (JMS). The logical architecture of GITEWS consists of four independent layers: • A resource layer where physical or virtual sensors as well as data or model storages provide relevant measurement-, event- and analysis-data: Utilizable for the TSB are any kind of data. In addition to sensors databases, model data and processing applications are adopted. SWE specifies encoding both to access and to describe these data in a comprehensive way: 1. Sensor Model Language (SensorML): Standardized description of sensors and sensor data 2. Observations and Measurements (O&M): Model and encoding of sensor measurements • A service layer to collect and conduct data from heterogeneous and proprietary resources and provide them via standardized interfaces: The TSB enables interaction with sensors via the following services: 1. Sensor Observation Service (SOS): Standardized access to sensor data 2. Sensor Planning Service (SPS): Controlling of sensors and sensor networks 3. Sensor Alert Service (SAS): Active sending of data if defined events occur 4. Web Notification Service (WNS): Conduction of asynchronous dialogues between services • An orchestration layer where atomic services are composed and arranged to high level processes like a decision support process: One of the outstanding features of service-oriented architectures is the possibility to compose new services from existing ones, which can be done programmatically or via declaration (workflow or process design). This allows e. g. the definition of new warning processes which could be adapted easily to new requirements. • An access layer which may contain graphical user interfaces for decision support, monitoring- or visualization-systems: To for example visualize time series graphical user interfaces request sensor data simply via the SOS. 4.BENEFIT The integration platform is realized on top of well known and widely used open source software implementing industrial standards. New sensors could be added easily to the infrastructure. Client components don't need to be adjusted if new sensor-types or -individuals are added to the system, because they access the sensors via standardized services. With implementing SWE fully compatible to the OGC specification it is possible to establish the "detection" and integration of sensors via the Web. Thus realizing a system of systems that combines early warning system functionality at different levels of detail (distant early warning systems, monitoring systems and any sensor system) is feasible.

Numbers, systems, people: how interactions influence integration. Insights from case studies of HIV and reproductive health services delivery in Kenya

PubMed Central

Mayhew, Susannah H; Warren, Charlotte E; Collumbien, Martine; Ndwiga, Charity; Mutemwa, Richard; Lut, Irina; Colombini, Manuela; Vassall, Anna

2017-01-01

Abstract Drawing on rich data from the Integra evaluation of integrated HIV and reproductive-health services, we explored the interaction of systems hardware and software factors to explain why some facilities were able to implement and sustain integrated service delivery while others were not. This article draws on detailed mixed-methods data for four case-study facilities offering reproductive-health and HIV services between 2009 and 2013 in Kenya: (i) time-series client flow, tracking service uptake for 8841 clients; (ii) structured questionnaires with 24 providers; (iii) in-depth interviews with 17 providers; (iv) workload and facility data using a periodic activity review and cost-instruments; and (v) contextual data on external activities related to integration in study sites. Overall, our findings suggested that although structural factors like stock-outs, distribution of staffing and workload, rotation of staff can affect how integrated care is provided, all these factors can be influenced by staff themselves: both frontline and management. Facilities where staff displayed agency of decision making, worked as a team to share workload and had management that supported this, showed better integration delivery and staff were able to overcome some structural deficiencies to enable integrated care. Poor-performing facilities had good structural integration, but staff were unable to utilize this because they were poorly organized, unsupported or teams were dysfunctional. Conscientious objection and moralistic attitudes were also barriers. Integra has demonstrated that structural integration is not sufficient for integrated service delivery. Rather, our case studies show that in some cases excellent leadership and peer-teamwork enabled facilities to perform well despite resource shortages. The ability to provide support for staff to work flexibly to deliver integrated services and build resilient health systems to meet changing needs is particularly relevant as health systems face challenges of changing burdens of disease, climate change, epidemic outbreaks and more. PMID:29194544

Integrating Community Services for Young Children and Their Families. Policy Briefs, Report 3, 1993.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunesh, Linda G.; Farley, Joanne

This policy brief reports on the status of state policies and programs that relate to integrating community services for children and families. Problems with the current service delivery system are discussed, and guidelines for creating a profamily system through effective collaboration are outlined. Information from a questionnaire on early…

Semantic Registration and Discovery System of Subsystems and Services within an Interoperable Coordination Platform in Smart Cities.

PubMed

Rubio, Gregorio; Martínez, José Fernán; Gómez, David; Li, Xin

2016-06-24

Smart subsystems like traffic, Smart Homes, the Smart Grid, outdoor lighting, etc. are built in many urban areas, each with a set of services that are offered to citizens. These subsystems are managed by self-contained embedded systems. However, coordination and cooperation between them are scarce. An integration of these systems which truly represents a "system of systems" could introduce more benefits, such as allowing the development of new applications and collective optimization. The integration should allow maximum reusability of available services provided by entities (e.g., sensors or Wireless Sensor Networks). Thus, it is of major importance to facilitate the discovery and registration of available services and subsystems in an integrated way. Therefore, an ontology-based and automatic system for subsystem and service registration and discovery is presented. Using this proposed system, heterogeneous subsystems and services could be registered and discovered in a dynamic manner with additional semantic annotations. In this way, users are able to build customized applications across different subsystems by using available services. The proposed system has been fully implemented and a case study is presented to show the usefulness of the proposed method.

A systematic approach to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of integrated health services.

PubMed

Reynolds, Heidi W; Sutherland, Elizabeth G

2013-05-06

Because of the current emphasis and enthusiasm focused on integration of health systems, there is a risk of piling resources into integrated strategies without the necessary systems in place to monitor their progress adequately or to measure impact, and to learn from these efforts. The rush to intervene without adequate monitoring and evaluation will continue to result in a weak evidence base for decision making and resource allocation. Program planning and implementation are inextricability linked to monitoring and evaluation. Country level guidance is needed to identify country-specific integrated strategies, thereby increasing country ownership. This paper focuses on integrated health services but takes into account how health services are influenced by the health system, managed by programs, and made up of interventions. We apply the principles in existing comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks in order to outline a systematic approach to the M&E of integration for the country level. The approach is grounded by first defining the country-specific health challenges that integration is intended to affect. Priority points of contact for care can directly influence health, and essential packages of integration for all major client presentations need to be defined. Logic models are necessary to outline the plausible causal pathways and define the inputs, roles and responsibilities, indicators, and data sources across the health system. Finally, we recommend improvements to the health information system and in data use to ensure that data are available to inform decisions, because changes in the M&E function to make it more integrated will also facilitate integration in the service delivery, planning, and governance components. This approach described in the paper is the ideal, but its application at the country level can help reveal gaps and guide decisions related to what health services to prioritize for integration, help plan for how to strengthen systems to support health services, and ultimately establish an evidence base to inform investments in health care. More experience is needed to understand if the approach is feasible; similarly, more emphasis is needed on documenting the process of designing and implemented integrated interventions at the national level.

STRS Radio Service Software for NASA's SCaN Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mortensen, Dale J.; Bishop, Daniel Wayne; Chelmins, David T.

2012-01-01

NASAs Space Communication and Navigation(SCaN) Testbed was launched to the International Space Station in 2012. The objective is to promote new software defined radio technologies and associated software application reuse, enabled by this first flight of NASAs Space Telecommunications Radio System(STRS) architecture standard. Pre-launch testing with the testbeds software defined radios was performed as part of system integration. Radio services for the JPL SDR were developed during system integration to allow the waveform application to operate properly in the space environment, especially considering thermal effects. These services include receiver gain control, frequency offset, IQ modulator balance, and transmit level control. Development, integration, and environmental testing of the radio services will be described. The added software allows the waveform application to operate properly in the space environment, and can be reused by future experimenters testing different waveform applications. Integrating such services with the platform provided STRS operating environment will attract more users, and these services are candidates for interface standardization via STRS.

STRS Radio Service Software for NASA's SCaN Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mortensen, Dale J.; Bishop, Daniel Wayne; Chelmins, David T.

2013-01-01

NASA's Space Communication and Navigation(SCaN) Testbed was launched to the International Space Station in 2012. The objective is to promote new software defined radio technologies and associated software application reuse, enabled by this first flight of NASA's Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture standard. Pre-launch testing with the testbed's software defined radios was performed as part of system integration. Radio services for the JPL SDR were developed during system integration to allow the waveform application to operate properly in the space environment, especially considering thermal effects. These services include receiver gain control, frequency offset, IQ modulator balance, and transmit level control. Development, integration, and environmental testing of the radio services will be described. The added software allows the waveform application to operate properly in the space environment, and can be reused by future experimenters testing different waveform applications. Integrating such services with the platform provided STRS operating environment will attract more users, and these services are candidates for interface standardization via STRS.

General practice integration in Australia. Primary health services provider and consumer perceptions of barriers and solutions.

PubMed

Appleby, N J; Dunt, D; Southern, D M; Young, D

1999-08-01

To identify practical examples of barriers and possible solutions to improve general practice integration with other health service providers. Twelve focus groups, including one conducted by teleconference, were held across Australia with GPs and non GP primary health service providers between May and September, 1996. Focus groups were embedded within concept mapping sessions, which were used to conceptually explore the meaning of integration in general practice. Data coding, organising and analysis were based on the techniques documented by Huberman and Miles. Barriers to integration were perceived to be principally due to the role and territory disputes between the different levels of government and their services, the manner in which the GP's role is currently defined, and the system of GP remuneration. Suggestions on ways to improve integration involved two types of strategies. The first involves initiatives implemented 'top down' through major government reform to service structures, including the expansion of the role of divisions of general practice, and structural changes to the GP remuneration systems. The second type of strategy suggested involves initiatives implemented from the 'bottom up' involving services such as hospitals (e.g. additional GP liaison positions) and the use of information technology to link services and share appropriate patient data. The findings support the need for further research and evaluation of initiatives aimed at achieving general practice integration at a systems level. There is little evidence to suggest which types of initiatives improve integration. However, general practice has been placed in the centre of the health care debate and is likely to remain central to the success of such initiatives. Clarification of the future role and authority of general practice will therefore be required if such integrative strategies are to be successful at a wider health system level.

Integrated Distributed Directory Service for KSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghansah, Isaac

1997-01-01

This paper describes an integrated distributed directory services (DDS) architecture as a fundamental component of KSC distributed computing systems. Specifically, an architecture for an integrated directory service based on DNS and X.500/LDAP has been suggested. The architecture supports using DNS in its traditional role as a name service and X.500 for other services. Specific designs were made in the integration of X.500 DDS for Public Key Certificates, Kerberos Security Services, Network-wide Login, Electronic Mail, WWW URLS, Servers, and other diverse network objects. Issues involved in incorporating the emerging Microsoft Active Directory Service MADS in KSC's X.500 were discussed.

A City Parking Integration System Combined with Cloud Computing Technologies and Smart Mobile Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Her-Tyan; Chen, Bing-Chang; Wang, Bo-Xun

2016-01-01

The current study applied cloud computing technology and smart mobile devices combined with a streaming server for parking lots to plan a city parking integration system. It is also equipped with a parking search system, parking navigation system, parking reservation service, and car retrieval service. With this system, users can quickly find…

'Trust and teamwork matter': community health workers' experiences in integrated service delivery in India.

PubMed

Mishra, Arima

2014-01-01

A comprehensive and integrated approach to strengthen primary health care has been the major thrust of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) that was launched in 2005 to revamp India's rural public health system. Though the logic of horizontal and integrated health care to strengthen health systems has long been acknowledged at policy level, empirical evidence on how such integration operates is rare. Based on recent (2011-2012) ethnographic fieldwork in Odisha, India, this article discusses community health workers' experiences in integrated service delivery through village-level outreach sessions within the NRHM. It shows that for health workers, the notion of integration goes well beyond a technical lens of mixing different health services. Crucially, they perceive 'teamwork' and 'building trust with the community' (beyond trust in health services) to be critical components of their practice. However, the comprehensive NRHM primary health care ideology - which the health workers espouse - is in constant tension with the exigencies of narrow indicators of health system performance. Our ethnography shows how monitoring mechanisms, the institutionalised privileging of statistical evidence over field-based knowledge and the highly hierarchical health bureaucratic structure that rests on top-down communications mitigate efforts towards sustainable health system integration.

Integration between terrestrial-based and satellite-based land mobile communications systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arcidiancono, Antonio

1990-01-01

A survey is given of several approaches to improving the performance and marketability of mobile satellite systems (MSS). The provision of voice/data services in the future regional European Land Mobile Satellite System (LMSS), network integration between the Digital Cellular Mobile System (GSM) and LMSS, the identification of critical areas for the implementation of integrated GSM/LMSS areas, space segment scenarios, LMSS for digital trunked private mobile radio (PMR) services, and code division multiple access (CDMA) techniques for a terrestrial/satellite system are covered.

Development of an integrated medical supply information system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Eric; Wermus, Marek; Blythe Bauman, Deborah

2011-08-01

The integrated medical supply inventory control system introduced in this study is a hybrid system that is shaped by the nature of medical supply, usage and storage capacity limitations of health care facilities. The system links demand, service provided at the clinic, health care service provider's information, inventory storage data and decision support tools into an integrated information system. ABC analysis method, economic order quantity model, two-bin method and safety stock concept are applied as decision support models to tackle inventory management issues at health care facilities. In the decision support module, each medical item and storage location has been scrutinised to determine the best-fit inventory control policy. The pilot case study demonstrates that the integrated medical supply information system holds several advantages for inventory managers, since it entails benefits of deploying enterprise information systems to manage medical supply and better patient services.

Non-communicable diseases and HIV care and treatment: models of integrated service delivery.

PubMed

Duffy, Malia; Ojikutu, Bisola; Andrian, Soa; Sohng, Elaine; Minior, Thomas; Hirschhorn, Lisa R

2017-08-01

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are a growing cause of morbidity in low-income countries including in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Integration of NCD and HIV services can build upon experience with chronic care models from HIV programmes. We describe models of NCD and HIV integration, challenges and lessons learned. A literature review of published articles on integrated NCD and HIV programs in low-income countries and key informant interviews were conducted with leaders of identified integrated NCD and HIV programs. Information was synthesised to identify models of NCD and HIV service delivery integration. Three models of integration were identified as follows: NCD services integrated into centres originally providing HIV care; HIV care integrated into primary health care (PHC) already offering NCD services; and simultaneous introduction of integrated HIV and NCD services. Major challenges identified included NCD supply chain, human resources, referral systems, patient education, stigma, patient records and monitoring and evaluation. The range of HIV and NCD services varied widely within and across models. Regardless of model of integration, leveraging experience from HIV care models and adapting existing systems and tools is a feasible method to provide efficient care and treatment for the growing numbers of patients with NCDs. Operational research should be conducted to further study how successful models of HIV and NCD integration can be expanded in scope and scaled-up by managers and policymakers seeking to address all the chronic care needs of their patients. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Semantic Registration and Discovery System of Subsystems and Services within an Interoperable Coordination Platform in Smart Cities

PubMed Central

Rubio, Gregorio; Martínez, José Fernán; Gómez, David; Li, Xin

2016-01-01

Smart subsystems like traffic, Smart Homes, the Smart Grid, outdoor lighting, etc. are built in many urban areas, each with a set of services that are offered to citizens. These subsystems are managed by self-contained embedded systems. However, coordination and cooperation between them are scarce. An integration of these systems which truly represents a “system of systems” could introduce more benefits, such as allowing the development of new applications and collective optimization. The integration should allow maximum reusability of available services provided by entities (e.g., sensors or Wireless Sensor Networks). Thus, it is of major importance to facilitate the discovery and registration of available services and subsystems in an integrated way. Therefore, an ontology-based and automatic system for subsystem and service registration and discovery is presented. Using this proposed system, heterogeneous subsystems and services could be registered and discovered in a dynamic manner with additional semantic annotations. In this way, users are able to build customized applications across different subsystems by using available services. The proposed system has been fully implemented and a case study is presented to show the usefulness of the proposed method. PMID:27347965

The Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems Program: Project BASICS, 1987-1988. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Carey, Cecilia

The Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems Program (Project BASICS) is a federally-funded program of instructional and support services provided to 122 students at a Queens high school. The program's aim was to develop English literacy skills and appreciation of cultural diversity, and to prepare students for the psychosocial…

Health systems facilitators and barriers to the integration of HIV and chronic disease services: a systematic review.

PubMed

Watt, Nicola; Sigfrid, Louise; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Hogarth, Sue; Maimaris, Will; Otero-García, Laura; Perel, Pablo; Buse, Kent; McKee, Martin; Piot, Peter; Balabanova, Dina

2017-11-01

Integration of services for patients with more than one diagnosed condition has intuitive appeal but it has been argued that the empirical evidence to support it is limited. We report the findings of a systematic review that sought to identify health system factors, extrinsic to the integration process, which either facilitated or hindered the integration of services for two common disorders, HIV and chronic non-communicable diseases. Findings were initially extracted and organized around a health system framework, followed by a thematic cross-cutting analysis and validation steps. Of the 150 articles included, 67% (n = 102) were from high-income countries. The articles explored integration with services for one or several chronic disorders, the most studied being alcohol or substance use disorders (47.7%), and mental health issues (29.5%). Four cross-cutting themes related to the health system were identified. The first and most common theme was the requirement for effective collaboration and coordination: formal and informal productive relationships throughout the system between providers and within teams, and between staff and patients. The second was the need for adequate and appropriately skilled and incentivized health workers-with the right expertise, training and operational support for the programme. The third was the need for supportive institutional structures and dedicated resources. The fourth was leadership in terms of political will, effective managerial oversight and organizational culture, indicating that actual implementation is as important as programme design. A fifth theme, outside the health system, but underpinning all aspects of the system operation, was that placing the patient at the centre of service delivery and responding holistically to their diverse needs. This was an important facilitator of integration. These findings confirm that integration processes in service delivery depend substantially for their success on characteristics of the health systems in which they are embedded. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Health systems facilitators and barriers to the integration of HIV and chronic disease services: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Watt, Nicola; Sigfrid, Louise; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Hogarth, Sue; Maimaris, Will; Otero-García, Laura; Perel, Pablo; Buse, Kent; McKee, Martin; Piot, Peter; Balabanova, Dina

2017-01-01

Abstract Integration of services for patients with more than one diagnosed condition has intuitive appeal but it has been argued that the empirical evidence to support it is limited. We report the findings of a systematic review that sought to identify health system factors, extrinsic to the integration process, which either facilitated or hindered the integration of services for two common disorders, HIV and chronic non-communicable diseases. Findings were initially extracted and organized around a health system framework, followed by a thematic cross-cutting analysis and validation steps. Of the 150 articles included, 67% (n = 102) were from high-income countries. The articles explored integration with services for one or several chronic disorders, the most studied being alcohol or substance use disorders (47.7%), and mental health issues (29.5%). Four cross-cutting themes related to the health system were identified. The first and most common theme was the requirement for effective collaboration and coordination: formal and informal productive relationships throughout the system between providers and within teams, and between staff and patients. The second was the need for adequate and appropriately skilled and incentivized health workers—with the right expertise, training and operational support for the programme. The third was the need for supportive institutional structures and dedicated resources. The fourth was leadership in terms of political will, effective managerial oversight and organizational culture, indicating that actual implementation is as important as programme design. A fifth theme, outside the health system, but underpinning all aspects of the system operation, was that placing the patient at the centre of service delivery and responding holistically to their diverse needs. This was an important facilitator of integration. These findings confirm that integration processes in service delivery depend substantially for their success on characteristics of the health systems in which they are embedded. PMID:28666336

Remote Sensing: A valuable tool in the Forest Service decision making process. [in Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanton, F. L.

1975-01-01

Forest Service studies for integrating remotely sensed data into existing information systems highlight a need to: (1) re-examine present methods of collecting and organizing data, (2) develop an integrated information system for rapidly processing and interpreting data, (3) apply existing technological tools in new ways, and (4) provide accurate and timely information for making right management decisions. The Forest Service developed an integrated information system using remote sensors, microdensitometers, computer hardware and software, and interactive accessories. Their efforts substantially reduce the time it takes for collecting and processing data.

Simulation Facilities and Test Beds for Galileo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlarmann, Bernhard Kl.; Leonard, Arian

2002-01-01

Galileo is the European satellite navigation system, financed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC). The Galileo System, currently under definition phase, will offer seamless global coverage, providing state-of-the-art positioning and timing services. Galileo services will include a standard service targeted at mass market users, an augmented integrity service, providing integrity warnings when fault occur and Public Regulated Services (ensuring a continuity of service for the public users). Other services are under consideration (SAR and integrated communications). Galileo will be interoperable with GPS, and will be complemented by local elements that will enhance the services for specific local users. In the frame of the Galileo definition phase, several system design and simulation facilities and test beds have been defined and developed for the coming phases of the project, respectively they are currently under development. These are mainly the following tools: Galileo Mission Analysis Simulator to design the Space Segment, especially to support constellation design, deployment and replacement. Galileo Service Volume Simulator to analyse the global performance requirements based on a coverage analysis for different service levels and degrades modes. Galileo System Simulation Facility is a sophisticated end-to-end simulation tool to assess the navigation performances for a complete variety of users under different operating conditions and different modes. Galileo Signal Validation Facility to evaluate signal and message structures for Galileo. Galileo System Test Bed (Version 1) to assess and refine the Orbit Determination &Time Synchronisation and Integrity algorithms, through experiments relying on GPS space infrastructure. This paper presents an overview on the so called "G-Facilities" and describes the use of the different system design tools during the project life cycle in order to design the system with respect to availability, continuity and integrity requirements. It gives more details on two of these system design tools: the Galileo Signal Validation Facility (GSVF) and the Galileo System Simulation Facility (GSSF). It will describe the operational use of these facilities within the complete set of design tools and especially the combined use of GSVF and GSSF will be described. Finally, this paper presents also examples and results obtained with these tools.

SOA-based model for value-added ITS services delivery.

PubMed

Herrera-Quintero, Luis Felipe; Maciá-Pérez, Francisco; Marcos-Jorquera, Diego; Gilart-Iglesias, Virgilio

2014-01-01

Integration is currently a key factor in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), especially because of the ever increasing service demands originating from the ITS industry and ITS users. The current ITS landscape is made up of multiple technologies that are tightly coupled, and its interoperability is extremely low, which limits ITS services generation. Given this fact, novel information technologies (IT) based on the service-oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm have begun to introduce new ways to address this problem. The SOA paradigm allows the construction of loosely coupled distributed systems that can help to integrate the heterogeneous systems that are part of ITS. In this paper, we focus on developing an SOA-based model for integrating information technologies (IT) into ITS to achieve ITS service delivery. To develop our model, the ITS technologies and services involved were identified, catalogued, and decoupled. In doing so, we applied our SOA-based model to integrate all of the ITS technologies and services, ranging from the lowest-level technical components, such as roadside unit as a service (RSUAAS), to the most abstract ITS services that will be offered to ITS users (value-added services). To validate our model, a functionality case study that included all of the components of our model was designed.

Low earth orbit satellite/terrestrial mobile service compatibility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheriff, R. E.; Gardiner, J. G.

1993-01-01

Digital cellular mobile 'second generation' systems are now gradually being introduced into service; one such example is GSM, which will provide a digital voice and data service throughout Europe. Total coverage is not expected to be achieved until the mid '90's, which has resulted in several proposals for the integration of GSM with a geostationary satellite service. Unfortunately, because terrestrial and space systems have been designed to optimize their performance for their particular environment, integration between a satellite and terrestrial system is unlikely to develop further than the satellite providing a back-up service. This lack of system compatibility is now being addressed by system designers of third generation systems. The next generation of mobile systems, referred to as FPLMTS (future public land mobile telecommunication systems) by CCIR and UMTS (universal mobile telecommunication system) in European research programs, are intended to provide inexpensive, hand-held terminals that can operate in either satellite, cellular, or cordless environments. This poses several challenges for system designers, not least in terms of the choice of multiple access technique and power requirements. Satellite mobile services have been dominated by the geostationary orbital type. Recently, however, a number of low earth orbit configurations have been proposed, for example Iridium. These systems are likely to be fully operational by the turn of the century, in time for the implementation of FPLMTS. The developments in LEO mobile satellite service technology were recognized at WARC-92 with the allocation of specific frequency bands for 'big' LEO's, as well as a frequency allocation for FPLMTS which included a specific satellite allocation. When considering integrating a space service into the terrestrial network, LEO's certainly appear to have their attractions: they can provide global coverage, the round trip delay is of the order of tens of milliseconds, and good visibility to the satellite is usually possible. This has resulted in their detailed investigation in the European COST 227 program and in the work program of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). This paper will consider the system implications of integrating a LEO mobile service with a terrestrial service. Results will be presented from simulation software to show how a particular orbital configuration affects the performance of the system in terms of area coverage and visibility to a terminal for various locations and minimum elevation angle. Possible network topologies are then proposed for an integrated satellite/terrestrial network.

Integrating Social Services and Home-Based Primary Care for High-Risk Patients.

PubMed

Feinglass, Joe; Norman, Greg; Golden, Robyn L; Muramatsu, Naoko; Gelder, Michael; Cornwell, Thomas

2018-04-01

There is a consensus that our current hospital-intensive approach to care is deeply flawed. This review article describes the research evidence for developing a better system of care for high-cost, high-risk patients. It reviews the evidence that home-centered care and integration of health care with social services are the cornerstones of a more humane and efficient system. The article describes the strengths and weaknesses of research evaluating the effects of social services in addressing social determinants of health, and how social support is critical to successful acute care transition programs. It reviews the history of incorporating social services into care management, and the prospects that recent payment reforms and regulatory initiatives can succeed in stimulating the financial integration of social services into new care coordination initiatives. The article reviews the literature on home-based primary care for the chronically ill and disabled, and suggests that it is the emergence of this care modality that holds the greatest promise for delivery system reform. In the hope of stimulating further discussion and debate, the authors summarize existing viewpoints on how a home-centered system, which integrates social and medical services, might emerge in the next few years.

PRISMA: Program of Research to Integrate the Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy. A system-level integration model in Quebec

PubMed Central

MacAdam, Margaret

2015-01-01

The Program of Research to Integrate the Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA) began in Quebec in 1999. Evaluation results indicated that the PRISMA Project improved the system of care for the frail elderly at no additional cost. In 2001, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services made implementing the six features of the PRISMA approach a province-wide goal in the programme now known as RSIPA (French acronym). Extensive Province-wide progress has been made since then, but ongoing challenges include reducing unmet need for case management and home care services, creating incentives for increased physician participation in care planning and improving the computerized client chart, among others. PRISMA is the only evaluated international model of a coordination approach to integration and one of the few, if not the only, integration model to have been adopted at the system level by policy-makers. PMID:26417212

Integration of HIV/AIDS services into African primary health care: lessons learned for health system strengthening in Mozambique - a case study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Introduction In 2004, Mozambique, supported by large increases in international disease-specific funding, initiated a national rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and HIV care through a vertical "Day Hospital" approach. Though this model showed substantial increases in people receiving treatment, it diverted scarce resources away from the primary health care (PHC) system. In 2005, the Ministry of Health (MOH) began an effort to use HIV/AIDS treatment and care resources as a means to strengthen their PHC system. The MOH worked closely with a number of NGOs to integrate HIV programs more effectively into existing public-sector PHC services. Case Description In 2005, the Ministry of Health and Health Alliance International initiated an effort in two provinces to integrate ART into the existing primary health care system through health units distributed across 23 districts. Integration included: a) placing ART services in existing units; b) retraining existing workers; c) strengthening laboratories, testing, and referral linkages; e) expanding testing in TB wards; f) integrating HIV and antenatal services; and g) improving district-level management. Discussion: By 2008, treatment was available in nearly 67 health facilities in 23 districts. Nearly 30,000 adults were on ART. Over 80,000 enrolled in the HIV/AIDS program. Loss to follow-up from antenatal and TB testing to ART services has declined from 70% to less than 10% in many integrated sites. Average time from HIV testing to ART initiation is significantly faster and adherence to ART is better in smaller peripheral clinics than in vertical day hospitals. Integration has also improved other non-HIV aspects of primary health care. Conclusion The integration approach enables the public sector PHC system to test more patients for HIV, place more patients on ART more quickly and efficiently, reduce loss-to-follow-up, and achieve greater geographic HIV care coverage compared to the vertical model. Through the integration process, HIV resources have been used to rehabilitate PHC infrastructure (including laboratories and pharmacies), strengthen supervision, fill workforce gaps, and improve patient flow between services and facilities in ways that can benefit all programs. Using aid resources to integrate and better link HIV care with existing services can strengthen wider PHC systems. PMID:20180975

A New Method for Conceptual Modelling of Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gustas, Remigijus; Gustiene, Prima

Service architecture is not necessarily bound to the technical aspects of information system development. It can be defined by using conceptual models that are independent of any implementation technology. Unfortunately, the conventional information system analysis and design methods cover just a part of required modelling notations for engineering of service architectures. They do not provide effective support to maintain semantic integrity between business processes and data. Service orientation is a paradigm that can be applied for conceptual modelling of information systems. The concept of service is rather well understood in different domains. It can be applied equally well for conceptualization of organizational and technical information system components. This chapter concentrates on analysis of the differences between service-oriented modelling and object-oriented modelling. Service-oriented method is used for semantic integration of information system static and dynamic aspects.

‘Trust and teamwork matter’: Community health workers' experiences in integrated service delivery in India

PubMed Central

Mishra, Arima

2014-01-01

A comprehensive and integrated approach to strengthen primary health care has been the major thrust of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) that was launched in 2005 to revamp India's rural public health system. Though the logic of horizontal and integrated health care to strengthen health systems has long been acknowledged at policy level, empirical evidence on how such integration operates is rare. Based on recent (2011–2012) ethnographic fieldwork in Odisha, India, this article discusses community health workers' experiences in integrated service delivery through village-level outreach sessions within the NRHM. It shows that for health workers, the notion of integration goes well beyond a technical lens of mixing different health services. Crucially, they perceive ‘teamwork’ and ‘building trust with the community’ (beyond trust in health services) to be critical components of their practice. However, the comprehensive NRHM primary health care ideology – which the health workers espouse – is in constant tension with the exigencies of narrow indicators of health system performance. Our ethnography shows how monitoring mechanisms, the institutionalised privileging of statistical evidence over field-based knowledge and the highly hierarchical health bureaucratic structure that rests on top-down communications mitigate efforts towards sustainable health system integration. PMID:25025872

Numbers, systems, people: how interactions influence integration. Insights from case studies of HIV and reproductive health services delivery in Kenya.

PubMed

Mayhew, Susannah H; Sweeney, Sedona; Warren, Charlotte E; Collumbien, Martine; Ndwiga, Charity; Mutemwa, Richard; Lut, Irina; Colombini, Manuela; Vassall, Anna

2017-11-01

Drawing on rich data from the Integra evaluation of integrated HIV and reproductive-health services, we explored the interaction of systems hardware and software factors to explain why some facilities were able to implement and sustain integrated service delivery while others were not. This article draws on detailed mixed-methods data for four case-study facilities offering reproductive-health and HIV services between 2009 and 2013 in Kenya: (i) time-series client flow, tracking service uptake for 8841 clients; (ii) structured questionnaires with 24 providers; (iii) in-depth interviews with 17 providers; (iv) workload and facility data using a periodic activity review and cost-instruments; and (v) contextual data on external activities related to integration in study sites. Overall, our findings suggested that although structural factors like stock-outs, distribution of staffing and workload, rotation of staff can affect how integrated care is provided, all these factors can be influenced by staff themselves: both frontline and management. Facilities where staff displayed agency of decision making, worked as a team to share workload and had management that supported this, showed better integration delivery and staff were able to overcome some structural deficiencies to enable integrated care. Poor-performing facilities had good structural integration, but staff were unable to utilize this because they were poorly organized, unsupported or teams were dysfunctional. Conscientious objection and moralistic attitudes were also barriers.Integra has demonstrated that structural integration is not sufficient for integrated service delivery. Rather, our case studies show that in some cases excellent leadership and peer-teamwork enabled facilities to perform well despite resource shortages. The ability to provide support for staff to work flexibly to deliver integrated services and build resilient health systems to meet changing needs is particularly relevant as health systems face challenges of changing burdens of disease, climate change, epidemic outbreaks and more. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

A case analysis of INFOMED: the Cuban national health care telecommunications network and portal.

PubMed

Séror, Ann C

2006-01-27

The Internet and telecommunications technologies contribute to national health care system infrastructures and extend global health care services markets. The Cuban national health care system offers a model to show how a national information portal can contribute to system integration, including research, education, and service delivery as well as international trade in products and services. The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the context of the Cuban national health care system since the revolution in 1959, (2) to identify virtual institutional infrastructures of the system associated with the Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal (INFOMED), and (3) to show how they contribute to Cuban trade in international health care service markets. Qualitative case research methods were used to identify the integrated virtual infrastructure of INFOMED and to show how it reflects socialist ideology. Virtual institutional infrastructures include electronic medical and information services and the structure of national networks linking such services. Analysis of INFOMED infrastructures shows integration of health care information, research, and education as well as the interface between Cuban national information networks and the global Internet. System control mechanisms include horizontal integration and coordination through virtual institutions linked through INFOMED, and vertical control through the Ministry of Public Health and the government hierarchy. Telecommunications technology serves as a foundation for a dual market structure differentiating domestic services from international trade. INFOMED is a model of interest for integrating health care information, research, education, and services. The virtual infrastructures linked through INFOMED support the diffusion of Cuban health care products and services in global markets. Transferability of this model is contingent upon ideology and interpretation of values such as individual intellectual property and confidentiality of individual health information. Future research should focus on examination of these issues and their consequences for global markets in health care.

A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal

PubMed Central

2006-01-01

Background The Internet and telecommunications technologies contribute to national health care system infrastructures and extend global health care services markets. The Cuban national health care system offers a model to show how a national information portal can contribute to system integration, including research, education, and service delivery as well as international trade in products and services. Objective The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the context of the Cuban national health care system since the revolution in 1959, (2) to identify virtual institutional infrastructures of the system associated with the Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal (INFOMED), and (3) to show how they contribute to Cuban trade in international health care service markets. Methods Qualitative case research methods were used to identify the integrated virtual infrastructure of INFOMED and to show how it reflects socialist ideology. Virtual institutional infrastructures include electronic medical and information services and the structure of national networks linking such services. Results Analysis of INFOMED infrastructures shows integration of health care information, research, and education as well as the interface between Cuban national information networks and the global Internet. System control mechanisms include horizontal integration and coordination through virtual institutions linked through INFOMED, and vertical control through the Ministry of Public Health and the government hierarchy. Telecommunications technology serves as a foundation for a dual market structure differentiating domestic services from international trade. Conclusions INFOMED is a model of interest for integrating health care information, research, education, and services. The virtual infrastructures linked through INFOMED support the diffusion of Cuban health care products and services in global markets. Transferability of this model is contingent upon ideology and interpretation of values such as individual intellectual property and confidentiality of individual health information. Future research should focus on examination of these issues and their consequences for global markets in health care. PMID:16585025

DIY-style GIS service in mobile navigation system integrated with web and wireless GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Yongbin; Wu, Jianping; Fan, Caiyou; Wang, Minqi; Dai, Sheng

2007-06-01

Mobile navigation system based on handheld device can not only provide basic GIS services, but also enable these GIS services to be provided without location limit, to be more instantly interacted between users and devices. However, we still see that most navigation systems have common defects on user experience like limited map format, few map resources, and unable location share. To overcome the above defects, we propose DIY-style GIS service which provide users a more free software environment and allow uses to customize their GIS services. These services include defining geographical coordinate system of maps which helps to hugely enlarge the map source, editing vector feature, related property information and hotlink images, customizing covered area of download map via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and sharing users' location information via SMS (Short Message Service) which establishes the communication between users who needs GIS services. The paper introduces the integration of web and wireless GIS service in a mobile navigation system and presents an implementation sample of a DIY-Style GIS service in a mobile navigation system.

An Architecture for Integrated Regional Health Telematics Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-25

that enables informed citizens to have an impact on the healthcare system and to be more concerned and care for their own health . The current...resource, educational, integrated electronic health record (I- EHR ), and added value services [2]. These classes of telematic services are applica...cally distributed clinical information systems . 5) Finally, added-value services (e.g. image processing, information indexing, data pre-fetching

The influence of nursing care integration services on nurses' work satisfaction and quality of nursing care.

PubMed

Ryu, Jeong-Im; Kim, Kisook

2018-06-20

To investigate differences in work satisfaction and quality of nursing services between nurses from the nursing care integration service and general nursing units in Korea. The nursing care integration service was recently introduced in Korea to improve patient health outcomes through the provision of high quality nursing services and to relieve the caregiving burden of patients' families. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from a convenience sample of 116 and 156 nurses working in nursing care integration service and general units, respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t tests and one-way analysis of variance. Regarding work satisfaction, nursing care integration service nurses scored higher than general unit nurses on professional status, autonomy and task requirements, but the overall scores showed no significant differences. Scores on overall quality of nursing services, responsiveness and assurance were higher for nursing care integration service nurses than for general unit nurses. Nursing care integration service nurses scored higher than general unit nurses on some aspects of work satisfaction and quality of nursing services. Further studies with larger sample sizes will contribute to improving the quality of nursing care integration service units. These findings can help to establish strategies for the implementation and efficient operation of the nursing care integration service system, for the improvement of the quality of nursing services, and for successfully implementing and expanding nursing care integration service services in other countries. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Specialty pharmaceuticals care management in an integrated health care delivery system with electronic health records.

PubMed

Monroe, C Douglas; Chin, Karen Y

2013-05-01

The specialty pharmaceuticals market is expanding more rapidly than the traditional pharmaceuticals market. Specialty pharmacy operations have evolved to deliver selected medications and associated clinical services. The growing role of specialty drugs requires new approaches to managing the use of these drugs. The focus, expectations, and emphasis in specialty drug management in an integrated health care delivery system such as Kaiser Permanente (KP) can vary as compared with more conventional health care systems. The KP Specialty Pharmacy (KP-SP) serves KP members across the United States. This descriptive account addresses the impetus for specialty drug management within KP, the use of tools such as an electronic health record (EHR) system and process management software, the KP-SP approach for specialty pharmacy services, and the emphasis on quality measurement of services provided. Kaiser Permanente's integrated system enables KP-SP pharmacists to coordinate the provision of specialty drugs while monitoring laboratory values, physician visits, and most other relevant elements of the patient's therapy. Process management software facilitates the counseling of patients, promotion of adherence, and interventions to resolve clinical, logistic, or pharmacy benefit issues. The integrated EHR affords KP-SP pharmacists advantages for care management that should become available to more health care systems with broadened adoption of EHRs. The KP-SP experience may help to establish models for clinical pharmacy services as health care systems and information systems become more integrated.

Tailoring a ConOps for NASA LSP Integrated Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, Skip Clark V., III

2017-01-01

An integral part of the Systems Engineering process is the creation of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) for a given system, with the ConOps initially established early in the system design process and evolved as the system definition and design matures. As Integration Engineers in NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), our job is to manage the interface requirements for all the robotic space missions that come to our Program for a Launch Service. LSP procures and manages a launch service from one of our many commercial Launch Vehicle Contractors (LVCs) and these commercial companies are then responsible for developing the Interface Control Document (ICD), the verification of the requirements in that document, and all the services pertaining to integrating the spacecraft and launching it into orbit. However, one of the systems engineering tools that have not been employed within LSP to date is a Concept of Operations. The goal of this paper is to research the format and content that goes into these various aerospace industry ConOps and tailor the format and content into template form, so the template may be used as an engineering tool for spacecraft integration with future LSP procured launch services. This tailoring effort was performed as the authors final Masters Project in the Spring of 2016 for the Stevens Institute of Technology and modified for publication with INCOSE (Owens, 2016).

Integration of mobile satellite and cellular systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drucker, Elliott H.; Estabrook, Polly; Pinck, Deborah; Ekroot, Laura

1993-01-01

By integrating the ground based infrastructure component of a mobile satellite system with the infrastructure systems of terrestrial 800 MHz cellular service providers, a seamless network of universal coverage can be established. Users equipped for both cellular and satellite service can take advantage of a number of features made possible by such integration, including seamless handoff and universal roaming. To provide maximum benefit at lowest posible cost, the means by which these systems are integrated must be carefully considered. Mobile satellite hub stations must be configured to efficiently interface with cellular Mobile Telephone Switching Offices (MTSO's), and cost effective mobile units that provide both cellular and satellite capability must be developed.

Integration of mobile satellite and cellular systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drucker, Elliott H.; Estabrook, Polly; Pinck, Deborah; Ekroot, Laura

By integrating the ground based infrastructure component of a mobile satellite system with the infrastructure systems of terrestrial 800 MHz cellular service providers, a seamless network of universal coverage can be established. Users equipped for both cellular and satellite service can take advantage of a number of features made possible by such integration, including seamless handoff and universal roaming. To provide maximum benefit at lowest posible cost, the means by which these systems are integrated must be carefully considered. Mobile satellite hub stations must be configured to efficiently interface with cellular Mobile Telephone Switching Offices (MTSO's), and cost effective mobile units that provide both cellular and satellite capability must be developed.

Including safety-net providers in integrated delivery systems: issues and options for policymakers.

PubMed

Witgert, Katherine; Hess, Catherine

2012-08-01

Health care reform legislation has spurred efforts to develop integrated health care delivery systems that seek to coordinate the continuum of health services. These systems may be of particular benefit to patients who face barriers to accessing care or have multiple health conditions. But it remains to be seen how safety-net providers, including community health centers and public hospitals--which have long experience in caring for these vulnerable populations--will be included in integrated delivery systems. This issue brief explores key considerations for incorporating safety-net providers into integrated delivery systems and discusses the roles of state and federal agencies in sup­porting and testing models of integrated care delivery. The authors conclude that the most important principles in creating integrated delivery systems for vulnerable populations are: (1) an emphasis on primary care; (2) coordination of all care, including behavioral, social, and public health services; and (3) accountability for population health outcomes.

Integrated Marketing Communications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Jim

2004-01-01

Integration has become a cliche in enrollment management and student services circles. The term is used to describe everything from integrated marketing to seamless services. Often, it defines organizational structures, processes, student information systems, and even communities. In Robert Sevier's article in this issue of "College and…

Single, Integrated, Service-Centric Model of Military Health System Governance

DTIC Science & Technology

and effectiveness of operational medical support. According to the Joint Concept for Health Services (JCHS), the need for integrated medical support...that keeps pace with the operational agility and organizational flexibility requirements to support globally integrated operations is clear. This

Perceiving integration of a complementary medicine service within a general surgery department through documentation of consultations: a thematic analysis.

PubMed

Schiff, Elad; Ben-Arye, Eran; Attias, Samuel; Sroka, Gideon; Matter, Ibrahim; Keshet, Yael

2012-12-01

This study aims to examine the meaning and practical implications of integration of a complementary medicine-based surgery service in a hospital setting (CISS--Complementary/Integrative Surgery Service) through analysis of consultation reports associated with this service. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate CISS consultation reports in a hospital electronic consultant charting system during the first half year of the service's activity. 304 consultation reports were analyzed. Nurses initiated significantly more consultations than physicians (55% vs 7%). Consultation requests were gradually more focused on specific symptoms, possibly manifesting a better understanding of the scope of complementary medicine in the surgery setting. CISS practitioners responded in more biomedical language over time, albeit offering a more holistic perspective regarding patients' needs as well as clarifications regarding the nature of the treatment they provided. Diverse communication patterns in consultations evolved over time representing dynamics in multiple levels of integration of the CISS. Documented communication through consultations can provide a window to the process of integration of complementary medicine-based services in health systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation of Service Learning and Civic Engagement for Computer Information Systems Students through a Course Project at the Hashemite University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Khasawneh, Ahmad; Hammad, Bashar K.

2013-01-01

Service learning methodologies provide information systems students with the opportunity to create and implement systems in real-world, public service-oriented social contexts. This paper presents a case study of integrating a service learning project into an undergraduate Computer Information Systems course titled "Information Systems"…

Issues in the Linkage and Integration of Treatment and Rehabilitation Services for Chronically Mentally Ill Persons.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woy, J. Richard; Dellario, Donald J.

1985-01-01

Compares and contrasts characteristics of the mental health system and the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) service system; examines environmental, intraorganizational, and interorganizational variables as they pertain to potential for linkages between mental health and VR providers; and discusses implications for improved integration of treatment…

An Integrated Ecological Modeling System for Assessing Impacts of Multiple Stressors on Stream and Riverine Ecosystem Services Within River Basins

EPA Science Inventory

We demonstrate a novel, spatially explicit assessment of the current condition of aquatic ecosystem services, with limited sensitivity analysis for the atmospheric contaminant mercury. The Integrated Ecological Modeling System (IEMS) forecasts water quality and quantity, habitat ...

47 CFR 76.1608 - System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent status. 76.1608 Section 76.1608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE...

47 CFR 76.1608 - System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent status. 76.1608 Section 76.1608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE...

47 CFR 76.1608 - System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent status. 76.1608 Section 76.1608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE...

47 CFR 76.1608 - System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent status. 76.1608 Section 76.1608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE...

47 CFR 76.1608 - System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false System technical integration requiring uniform election of must-carry or retransmission consent status. 76.1608 Section 76.1608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE...

Integrated Semantics Service Platform for the Internet of Things: A Case Study of a Smart Office

PubMed Central

Ryu, Minwoo; Kim, Jaeho; Yun, Jaeseok

2015-01-01

The Internet of Things (IoT) allows machines and devices in the world to connect with each other and generate a huge amount of data, which has a great potential to provide useful knowledge across service domains. Combining the context of IoT with semantic technologies, we can build integrated semantic systems to support semantic interoperability. In this paper, we propose an integrated semantic service platform (ISSP) to support ontological models in various IoT-based service domains of a smart city. In particular, we address three main problems for providing integrated semantic services together with IoT systems: semantic discovery, dynamic semantic representation, and semantic data repository for IoT resources. To show the feasibility of the ISSP, we develop a prototype service for a smart office using the ISSP, which can provide a preset, personalized office environment by interpreting user text input via a smartphone. We also discuss a scenario to show how the ISSP-based method would help build a smart city, where services in each service domain can discover and exploit IoT resources that are wanted across domains. We expect that our method could eventually contribute to providing people in a smart city with more integrated, comprehensive services based on semantic interoperability. PMID:25608216

Integrated semantics service platform for the Internet of Things: a case study of a smart office.

PubMed

Ryu, Minwoo; Kim, Jaeho; Yun, Jaeseok

2015-01-19

The Internet of Things (IoT) allows machines and devices in the world to connect with each other and generate a huge amount of data, which has a great potential to provide useful knowledge across service domains. Combining the context of IoT with semantic technologies, we can build integrated semantic systems to support semantic interoperability. In this paper, we propose an integrated semantic service platform (ISSP) to support ontological models in various IoT-based service domains of a smart city. In particular, we address three main problems for providing integrated semantic services together with IoT systems: semantic discovery, dynamic semantic representation, and semantic data repository for IoT resources. To show the feasibility of the ISSP, we develop a prototype service for a smart office using the ISSP, which can provide a preset, personalized office environment by interpreting user text input via a smartphone. We also discuss a scenario to show how the ISSP-based method would help build a smart city, where services in each service domain can discover and exploit IoT resources that are wanted across domains. We expect that our method could eventually contribute to providing people in a smart city with more integrated, comprehensive services based on semantic interoperability.

Process-oriented integration and coordination of healthcare services across organizational boundaries.

PubMed

Tello-Leal, Edgar; Chiotti, Omar; Villarreal, Pablo David

2012-12-01

The paper presents a methodology that follows a top-down approach based on a Model-Driven Architecture for integrating and coordinating healthcare services through cross-organizational processes to enable organizations providing high quality healthcare services and continuous process improvements. The methodology provides a modeling language that enables organizations conceptualizing an integration agreement, and identifying and designing cross-organizational process models. These models are used for the automatic generation of: the private view of processes each organization should perform to fulfill its role in cross-organizational processes, and Colored Petri Net specifications to implement these processes. A multi-agent system platform provides agents able to interpret Colored Petri-Nets to enable the communication between the Healthcare Information Systems for executing the cross-organizational processes. Clinical documents are defined using the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture. This methodology guarantees that important requirements for healthcare services integration and coordination are fulfilled: interoperability between heterogeneous Healthcare Information Systems; ability to cope with changes in cross-organizational processes; guarantee of alignment between the integrated healthcare service solution defined at the organizational level and the solution defined at technological level; and the distributed execution of cross-organizational processes keeping the organizations autonomy.

Critical insights for a sustainability framework to address integrated community water services: Technical metrics and approaches.

PubMed

Xue, Xiaobo; Schoen, Mary E; Ma, Xin Cissy; Hawkins, Troy R; Ashbolt, Nicholas J; Cashdollar, Jennifer; Garland, Jay

2015-06-15

Planning for sustainable community water systems requires a comprehensive understanding and assessment of the integrated source-drinking-wastewater systems over their life-cycles. Although traditional life cycle assessment and similar tools (e.g. footprints and emergy) have been applied to elements of these water services (i.e. water resources, drinking water, stormwater or wastewater treatment alone), we argue for the importance of developing and combining the system-based tools and metrics in order to holistically evaluate the complete water service system based on the concept of integrated resource management. We analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of key system-based tools and metrics, and discuss future directions to identify more sustainable municipal water services. Such efforts may include the need for novel metrics that address system adaptability to future changes and infrastructure robustness. Caution is also necessary when coupling fundamentally different tools so to avoid misunderstanding and consequently misleading decision-making. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Standards for Data Exchange and Case Management Information Systems in Support of Comprehensive Integrated School-Linked Services. Version 2.0.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Far West Lab. for Educational Research and Development, San Francisco, CA.

This report is intended as a guide for local comprehensive integrated school-linked services sites and software vendors in developing and implementing case management information systems for the exchange and management of client data. The report is also intended to influence new development and future revisions of data systems, databases, and…

Metadata-Driven SOA-Based Application for Facilitation of Real-Time Data Warehousing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pintar, Damir; Vranić, Mihaela; Skočir, Zoran

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has already been widely recognized as an effective paradigm for achieving integration of diverse information systems. SOA-based applications can cross boundaries of platforms, operation systems and proprietary data standards, commonly through the usage of Web Services technology. On the other side, metadata is also commonly referred to as a potential integration tool given the fact that standardized metadata objects can provide useful information about specifics of unknown information systems with which one has interest in communicating with, using an approach commonly called "model-based integration". This paper presents the result of research regarding possible synergy between those two integration facilitators. This is accomplished with a vertical example of a metadata-driven SOA-based business process that provides ETL (Extraction, Transformation and Loading) and metadata services to a data warehousing system in need of a real-time ETL support.

Frail elderly patients. New model for integrated service delivery.

PubMed Central

Hébert, Rejean; Durand, Pierre J.; Dubuc, Nicole; Tourigny, André

2003-01-01

PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED: Given the complex needs of frail older people and the multiplicity of care providers and services, care for this clientele lacks continuity. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: Integrated service delivery (ISD) systems have been developed to improve continuity and increase the efficacy and efficiency of services. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Program of Research to Integrate Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA) is an innovative ISD model based on coordination. It includes coordination between decision makers and managers of different organizations and services; a single entry point; a case-management process; individualized service plans; a single assessment instrument based on clients' functional autonomy, coupled with a case-mix classification system; and a computerized clinical chart for communicating between institutions and professionals for client monitoring. CONCLUSION: Preliminary results on the efficacy of this model showed a decreased incidence of functional decline, a decreased burden for caregivers, and a smaller proportion of older people wishing to enter institutions. PMID:12943358

The Allegheny initiative for mental health integration for the homeless: integrating heterogeneous health services for homeless persons.

PubMed

Gordon, Adam J; Montlack, Melissa L; Freyder, Paul; Johnson, Diane; Bui, Thuy; Williams, Jennifer

2007-03-01

The Allegheny Initiative for Mental Health Integration for the Homeless (AIM-HIGH) was a 3-year urban initiative in Pennsylvania that sought to enhance integration and coordination of medical and behavioral services for homeless persons through system-, provider-, and client-level interventions. On a system level, AIM-HIGH established partnerships between several key medical and behavioral health agencies. On a provider level, AIM-HIGH conducted 5 county-wide conferences regarding homeless integration, attended by 637 attendees from 72 agencies. On a client level, 5 colocated medical and behavioral health care clinics provided care to 1986 homeless patients in 4084 encounters, generating 1917 referrals for care. For a modest investment, AIM-HIGH demonstrated that integration of medical and behavioral health services for homeless persons can occur in a large urban environment.

The Allegheny Initiative for Mental Health Integration for the Homeless: Integrating Heterogeneous Health Services for Homeless Persons

PubMed Central

Gordon, Adam J.; Montlack, Melissa L.; Freyder, Paul; Johnson, Diane; Bui, Thuy; Williams, Jennifer

2007-01-01

The Allegheny Initiative for Mental Health Integration for the Homeless (AIM-HIGH) was a 3-year urban initiative in Pennsylvania that sought to enhance integration and coordination of medical and behavioral services for homeless persons through system-, provider-, and client-level interventions. On a system level, AIM-HIGH established partnerships between several key medical and behavioral health agencies. On a provider level, AIM-HIGH conducted 5 county-wide conferences regarding homeless integration, attended by 637 attendees from 72 agencies. On a client level, 5 colocated medical and behavioral health care clinics provided care to 1986 homeless patients in 4084 encounters, generating 1917 referrals for care. For a modest investment, AIM-HIGH demonstrated that integration of medical and behavioral health services for homeless persons can occur in a large urban environment. PMID:17267708

Measuring Integration of Cancer Services to Support Performance Improvement: The CSI Survey

PubMed Central

Dobrow, Mark J.; Paszat, Lawrence; Golden, Brian; Brown, Adalsteinn D.; Holowaty, Eric; Orchard, Margo C.; Monga, Neerav; Sullivan, Terrence

2009-01-01

Objective: To develop a measure of cancer services integration (CSI) that can inform clinical and administrative decision-makers in their efforts to monitor and improve cancer system performance. Methods: We employed a systematic approach to measurement development, including review of existing cancer/health services integration measures, key-informant interviews and focus groups with cancer system leaders. The research team constructed a Web-based survey that was field- and pilot-tested, refined and then formally conducted on a sample of cancer care providers and administrators in Ontario, Canada. We then conducted exploratory factor analysis to identify key dimensions of CSI. Results: A total of 1,769 physicians, other clinicians and administrators participated in the survey, responding to a 67-item questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis identified 12 factors that were linked to three broader dimensions: clinical, functional and vertical system integration. Conclusions: The CSI Survey provides important insights on a range of typically unmeasured aspects of the coordination and integration of cancer services, representing a new tool to inform performance improvement efforts. PMID:20676250

Distributed spatial information integration based on web service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, Hengjian; Zhang, Yun; Shao, Zhenfeng

2008-10-01

Spatial information systems and spatial information in different geographic locations usually belong to different organizations. They are distributed and often heterogeneous and independent from each other. This leads to the fact that many isolated spatial information islands are formed, reducing the efficiency of information utilization. In order to address this issue, we present a method for effective spatial information integration based on web service. The method applies asynchronous invocation of web service and dynamic invocation of web service to implement distributed, parallel execution of web map services. All isolated information islands are connected by the dispatcher of web service and its registration database to form a uniform collaborative system. According to the web service registration database, the dispatcher of web services can dynamically invoke each web map service through an asynchronous delegating mechanism. All of the web map services can be executed at the same time. When each web map service is done, an image will be returned to the dispatcher. After all of the web services are done, all images are transparently overlaid together in the dispatcher. Thus, users can browse and analyze the integrated spatial information. Experiments demonstrate that the utilization rate of spatial information resources is significantly raised thought the proposed method of distributed spatial information integration.

Distributed spatial information integration based on web service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, Hengjian; Zhang, Yun; Shao, Zhenfeng

2009-10-01

Spatial information systems and spatial information in different geographic locations usually belong to different organizations. They are distributed and often heterogeneous and independent from each other. This leads to the fact that many isolated spatial information islands are formed, reducing the efficiency of information utilization. In order to address this issue, we present a method for effective spatial information integration based on web service. The method applies asynchronous invocation of web service and dynamic invocation of web service to implement distributed, parallel execution of web map services. All isolated information islands are connected by the dispatcher of web service and its registration database to form a uniform collaborative system. According to the web service registration database, the dispatcher of web services can dynamically invoke each web map service through an asynchronous delegating mechanism. All of the web map services can be executed at the same time. When each web map service is done, an image will be returned to the dispatcher. After all of the web services are done, all images are transparently overlaid together in the dispatcher. Thus, users can browse and analyze the integrated spatial information. Experiments demonstrate that the utilization rate of spatial information resources is significantly raised thought the proposed method of distributed spatial information integration.

An integrated information system for the acquisition, management and sharing of environmental data aimed to decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Loggia, Goffredo; Arnone, Elisa; Ciraolo, Giuseppe; Maltese, Antonino; Noto, Leonardo; Pernice, Umberto

2012-09-01

This paper reports the first results of the Project SESAMO - SistEma informativo integrato per l'acquisizione, geStione e condivisione di dati AMbientali per il supportO alle decisioni (Integrated Information System for the acquisition, management and sharing of environmental data aimed to decision making). The main aim of the project is to design and develop an integrated environmental information platform able to provide monitoring services for decision support, integrating data from different environmental monitoring systems (including WSN). This ICT platform, based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA), will be developed to coordinate a wide variety of data acquisition systems, based on heterogeneous technologies and communication protocols, providing different sort of environmental monitoring services. The implementation and validation of the SESAMO platform and its services will involve three specific environmental domains: 1) Urban water losses; 2) Early warning system for rainfall-induced landslides; 3) Precision irrigation planning. Services in the first domain are enabled by a low cost sensors network collecting and transmitting data, in order to allow the pipeline network managers to analyze pressure, velocity and discharge data for reducing water losses in an urban contest. This paper outlines the SESAMO functional and technological structure and then gives a concise description of the service design and development process for the second and third domain. Services in the second domain are enabled by a prototypal early warning system able to identify in near-real time high-risk zones of rainfall-induced landslides. Services in the third domain are aimed to optimize irrigation planning of vineyards depending on plant water stress.

Implementation of Service Learning and Civic Engagement for Students of Computer Information Systems through a Course Project at the Hashemite University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Khasawneh, Ahmad; Hammad, Bashar K.

2015-01-01

Service learning methodologies provide students of information systems with the opportunity to create and implement systems in real-world, public service-oriented social contexts. This paper presents a case study which involves integrating a service learning project into an undergraduate Computer Information Systems course entitled…

45 CFR 1634.1 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... legal services. The purposes of such a competitive system are to: (a) Encourage the effective and... Services to the Poor through an integrated system of legal services providers; (b) Provide opportunities... Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR GRANTS...

Advancing health system integration through supply chain improvement.

PubMed

Rosser, Mike

2006-01-01

Collaboration is a key element to success in the provision of sustainable and integrated healthcare services. Among the many initiatives undertaken to improve service quality and reduce costs, collaboration among hospitals in Ontario has been difficult to achieve; however, voluntary collaboration is vital to achieving transformation of the magnitude envisioned by system leaders.

Off the Shelf Cloud Robotics for the Smart Home: Empowering a Wireless Robot through Cloud Computing.

PubMed

Ramírez De La Pinta, Javier; Maestre Torreblanca, José María; Jurado, Isabel; Reyes De Cozar, Sergio

2017-03-06

In this paper, we explore the possibilities offered by the integration of home automation systems and service robots. In particular, we examine how advanced computationally expensive services can be provided by using a cloud computing approach to overcome the limitations of the hardware available at the user's home. To this end, we integrate two wireless low-cost, off-the-shelf systems in this work, namely, the service robot Rovio and the home automation system Z-wave. Cloud computing is used to enhance the capabilities of these systems so that advanced sensing and interaction services based on image processing and voice recognition can be offered.

Off the Shelf Cloud Robotics for the Smart Home: Empowering a Wireless Robot through Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Ramírez De La Pinta, Javier; Maestre Torreblanca, José María; Jurado, Isabel; Reyes De Cozar, Sergio

2017-01-01

In this paper, we explore the possibilities offered by the integration of home automation systems and service robots. In particular, we examine how advanced computationally expensive services can be provided by using a cloud computing approach to overcome the limitations of the hardware available at the user’s home. To this end, we integrate two wireless low-cost, off-the-shelf systems in this work, namely, the service robot Rovio and the home automation system Z-wave. Cloud computing is used to enhance the capabilities of these systems so that advanced sensing and interaction services based on image processing and voice recognition can be offered. PMID:28272305

Application Agreement and Integration Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Driscoll, Kevin R.; Hall, Brendan; Schweiker, Kevin

2013-01-01

Application agreement and integration services are required by distributed, fault-tolerant, safety critical systems to assure required performance. An analysis of distributed and hierarchical agreement strategies are developed against the backdrop of observed agreement failures in fielded systems. The documented work was performed under NASA Task Order NNL10AB32T, Validation And Verification of Safety-Critical Integrated Distributed Systems Area 2. This document is intended to satisfy the requirements for deliverable 5.2.11 under Task 4.2.2.3. This report discusses the challenges of maintaining application agreement and integration services. A literature search is presented that documents previous work in the area of replica determinism. Sources of non-deterministic behavior are identified and examples are presented where system level agreement failed to be achieved. We then explore how TTEthernet services can be extended to supply some interesting application agreement frameworks. This document assumes that the reader is familiar with the TTEthernet protocol. The reader is advised to read the TTEthernet protocol standard [1] before reading this document. This document does not re-iterate the content of the standard.

Supporting the need for an integrated system of care for youth with co-occurring traumatic stress and substance abuse problems.

PubMed

Suarez, Liza M; Belcher, Harolyn M E; Briggs, Ernestine C; Titus, Janet C

2012-06-01

Adolescents are at high risk for violence exposure and initiation of drug use. Co-occurring substance use and trauma exposure are associated with increased risk of mental health disorders, school underachievement, and involvement with multiple systems of care. Coordination and integration of systems of care are of utmost importance for these vulnerable youth. This study delineates the negative sequelae and increased service utilization patterns of adolescents with a history of trauma, substance abuse, and co-occurring trauma and substance abuse to support the need for integrated mental health and substance abuse services for youth. Data from two national sources, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment demonstrate the increased clinical severity (measured by reports of emotional and behavioral problems), dysfunction, and service utilization patterns for youth with co-occurring trauma exposure and substance abuse. We conclude with recommendations for an integrated system of care that includes trauma-informed mental health treatment and substance abuse services aimed at reducing the morbidity and relapse probability of this high-risk group.

GITEWS, an extensible and open integration platform for manifold sensor systems and processing components based on Sensor Web Enablement and the principles of Service Oriented Architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haener, Rainer; Waechter, Joachim; Fleischer, Jens; Herrnkind, Stefan; Schwarting, Herrmann

2010-05-01

The German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is a multifaceted system consisting of various sensor types like seismometers, sea level sensors or GPS stations, and processing components, all with their own system behavior and proprietary data structure. To operate a warning chain, beginning from measurements scaling up to warning products, all components have to interact in a correct way, both syntactically and semantically. Designing the system great emphasis was laid on conformity to the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) specification by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The technical infrastructure, the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) follows the blueprint of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). The TSB is an integration concept (SWE) where functionality (observe, task, notify, alert, and process) is grouped around business processes (Monitoring, Decision Support, Sensor Management) and packaged as interoperable services (SAS, SOS, SPS, WNS). The benefits of using a flexible architecture together with SWE lead to an open integration platform: • accessing and controlling heterogeneous sensors in a uniform way (Functional Integration) • assigns functionality to distinct services (Separation of Concerns) • allows resilient relationship between systems (Loose Coupling) • integrates services so that they can be accessed from everywhere (Location Transparency) • enables infrastructures which integrate heterogeneous applications (Encapsulation) • allows combination of services (Orchestration) and data exchange within business processes Warning systems will evolve over time: New sensor types might be added, old sensors will be replaced and processing components will be improved. From a collection of few basic services it shall be possible to compose more complex functionality essential for specific warning systems. Given these requirements a flexible infrastructure is a prerequisite for sustainable systems and their architecture must be tailored for evolution. The use of well-known techniques and widely used open source software implementing industrial standards reduces the impact of service modifications allowing the evolution of a system as a whole. GITEWS implemented a solution to feed sensor raw data from any (remote) system into the infrastructure. Specific dispatchers enable plugging in sensor-type specific processing without changing the architecture. Client components don't need to be adjusted if new sensor-types or individuals are added to the system, because they access them via standardized services. One of the outstanding features of service-oriented architectures is the possibility to compose new services from existing ones. The so called orchestration, allows the definition of new warning processes which can be adapted easily to new requirements. This approach has following advantages: • With implementing SWE it is possible to establish the "detection" and integration of sensors via the internet. Thus a system of systems combining early warning functionality at different levels of detail is feasible. • Any institution could add both its own components as well as components from third parties if they are developed in conformance to SOA principles. In a federation an institution keeps the ownership of its data and decides which data are provided by a service and when. • A system can be deployed at minor costs as a core for own development at any institution and thus enabling autonomous early warning- or monitoring systems. The presentation covers both design and various instantiations (live demonstration) of the GITEWS architecture. Experiences concerning the design and complexity of SWE will be addressed in detail. A substantial amount of attention is laid on the techniques and methods of extending the architecture, adapting proprietary components to SWE services and encoding, and their orchestration in high level workflows and processes. Furthermore the potential of the architecture concerning adaptive behavior, collaboration across boundaries and semantic interoperability will be addressed.

Progress of Geomagnetism towards integration of data and services in EPOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flower, Simon; Hejda, Pavel; Chambodut, Aude; Curto, Juan-Jose; Matzka, Jürgen; Thomson, Alan; Korja, Toivo; Rasmussen, Thorkild; Smirnov, Maxim; Viljanen, Ari; Kauristie, Kirsti

2017-04-01

The geomagnetism community is involved in the European Plate Observing System (EPOS), a European Research Infrastructure through which science communities will offer a number of services that will integrate to simplify cross-disciplinary research. The Geomagnetism community will provide data from geomagnetic observatories, from producers of geomagnetic indices and events, from geomagnetic models and from magneto-telluric observations. A number of these services (data from the INTERMAGNET network and the World Data Centre, indices and events from the International Service of Geomagnetic Indices and the access to the International Geomagnetic Reference Field and World Magnetic Model) will be integrated into EPOS systems in the first wave of services to be connected. This poster will describe the contribution from geomagnetism to EPOS. It will include a description of the data and services that the geomagnetic community will provide and also discuss how metadata will be made available from the community to the EPOS core IT systems. Finally it will describe how the provision of geomagnetic services in EPOS will be guided and governed by members of the community .

Implementing and measuring the level of laboratory service integration in a program setting in Nigeria.

PubMed

Mbah, Henry; Negedu-Momoh, Olubunmi Ruth; Adedokun, Oluwasanmi; Ikani, Patrick Anibbe; Balogun, Oluseyi; Sanwo, Olusola; Ochei, Kingsley; Ekanem, Maurice; Torpey, Kwasi

2014-01-01

The surge of donor funds to fight HIV&AIDS epidemic inadvertently resulted in the setup of laboratories as parallel structures to rapidly respond to the identified need. However these parallel structures are a threat to the existing fragile laboratory systems. Laboratory service integration is critical to remedy this situation. This paper describes an approach to quantitatively measure and track integration of HIV-related laboratory services into the mainstream laboratory services and highlight some key intervention steps taken, to enhance service integration. A quantitative before-and-after study conducted in 122 Family Health International (FHI360) supported health facilities across Nigeria. A minimum service package was identified including management structure; trainings; equipment utilization and maintenance; information, commodity and quality management for laboratory integration. A check list was used to assess facilities at baseline and 3 months follow-up. Level of integration was assessed on an ordinal scale (0 = no integration, 1 = partial integration, 2 = full integration) for each service package. A composite score grading expressed as a percentage of total obtainable score of 14 was defined and used to classify facilities (≤ 80% FULL, 25% to 79% PARTIAL and <25% NO integration). Weaknesses were noted and addressed. We analyzed 9 (7.4%) primary, 104 (85.2%) secondary and 9 (7.4%) tertiary level facilities. There were statistically significant differences in integration levels between baseline and 3 months follow-up period (p<0.01). Baseline median total integration score was 4 (IQR 3 to 5) compared to 7 (IQR 4 to 9) at 3 months follow-up (p = 0.000). Partial and fully integrated laboratory systems were 64 (52.5%) and 0 (0.0%) at baseline, compared to 100 (82.0%) and 3 (2.4%) respectively at 3 months follow-up (p = 0.000). This project showcases our novel approach to measure the status of each laboratory on the integration continuum.

Local inpatient units may increase patients' utilization of outpatient services: a comparative cohort-study in Nordland County, Norway.

PubMed

Myklebust, Lars Henrik; Sørgaard, Knut; Wynn, Rolf

2015-01-01

In the last few decades, there has been a restructuring of the psychiatric services in many countries. The complexity of these systems may represent a challenge to patients that suffer from serious psychiatric disorders. We examined whether local integration of inpatient and outpatient services in contrast to centralized institutions strengthened continuity of care. Two different service-systems were compared. Service-utilization over a 4-year period for 690 inpatients was extracted from the patient registries. The results were controlled for demographic variables, model of service-system, central inpatient admission or local inpatient admission, diagnoses, and duration of inpatient stays. The majority of inpatients in the area with local integration of inpatient and outpatient services used both types of care. In the area that did not have beds locally, many patients that had been hospitalized did not receive outpatient follow-up. Predictors of inpatients' use of outpatient psychiatric care were: Model of service-system (centralized vs decentralized), a diagnosis of affective disorder, central inpatient admission only, and duration of inpatient stays. Psychiatric centers with local inpatient units may positively affect continuity of care for patients with severe psychiatric disorders, probably because of a high functional integration of inpatient and outpatient care.

Local inpatient units may increase patients’ utilization of outpatient services: a comparative cohort-study in Nordland County, Norway

PubMed Central

Myklebust, Lars Henrik; Sørgaard, Knut; Wynn, Rolf

2015-01-01

Objectives In the last few decades, there has been a restructuring of the psychiatric services in many countries. The complexity of these systems may represent a challenge to patients that suffer from serious psychiatric disorders. We examined whether local integration of inpatient and outpatient services in contrast to centralized institutions strengthened continuity of care. Methods Two different service-systems were compared. Service-utilization over a 4-year period for 690 inpatients was extracted from the patient registries. The results were controlled for demographic variables, model of service-system, central inpatient admission or local inpatient admission, diagnoses, and duration of inpatient stays. Results The majority of inpatients in the area with local integration of inpatient and outpatient services used both types of care. In the area that did not have beds locally, many patients that had been hospitalized did not receive outpatient follow-up. Predictors of inpatients’ use of outpatient psychiatric care were: Model of service-system (centralized vs decentralized), a diagnosis of affective disorder, central inpatient admission only, and duration of inpatient stays. Conclusion Psychiatric centers with local inpatient units may positively affect continuity of care for patients with severe psychiatric disorders, probably because of a high functional integration of inpatient and outpatient care. PMID:26604843

International organizations to enable world-wide mobile satellite services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anglin, Richard L., Jr.

1993-01-01

Numbers of systems exist or have been proposed to provide world-wide mobile satellite services (MSS). Developers of these systems have formulated institutional structures they consider most appropriate for profitable delivery of these services. MSS systems provide niche services and complement traditional telecommunications networks; they are not integrated into world-wide networks. To be successful, MSS system operators must be able to provide an integrated suite of services to support the increasing globalization, interconnectivity, and mobility of business. The critical issue to enabling 'universal roaming' is securing authority to provide MSS in all of the nations of the world. Such authority must be secured in the context of evolving trends in international telecommunications, and must specifically address issues of standardization, regulation and organization. Today, only one existing organization has such world-wide authority. The question is how proponents of new MSS systems and services can gain similar authority. Securing the appropriate authorizations requires that these new organizations reflect the objectives of the nations in which services are to be delivered.

Divergent modes of integration: the Canadian way.

PubMed

Jiwani, Izzat; Fleury, Marie-Josée

2011-01-01

The paper highlights key trajectories and outcomes of the recent policy developments toward integrated health care delivery systems in Quebec and Ontario in the primary care sector and in the development of regional networks of health and social services. It particularly explores how policy legacies, interests and cultures may be mitigated to develop and sustain different models of integrated health care that are pertinent to the local contexts. In Quebec, three decades of iterative developments in health and social services evolved in 2005 into integrated centres for health and social services at the local levels (CSSSs). Four integrated university-based health care networks provide ultra-specialised services. Family Medicine Groups and network clinics are designed to enhance access and continuity of care. Ontario's Family Health Teams (2004) constitute an innovative public funding for private delivery model that is set up to enhance the capacity of primary care and to facilitate patient-based care. Ontario's Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) with autonomous boards of provider organisations are intended to coordinate and integrate care. Integration strategies in Quebec and Ontario yield clinical autonomy and power to physicians while simultaneously making them key partners in change. Contextual factors combined with increased and varied forms of physician remunerations and incentives mitigated some of the challenges from policy legacies, interests and cultures. Virtual partnerships and accountability agreements between providers promise positive but gradual movement toward integrated health service systems.

Applying Semantic Web Services and Wireless Sensor Networks for System Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berkenbrock, Gian Ricardo; Hirata, Celso Massaki; de Oliveira Júnior, Frederico Guilherme Álvares; de Oliveira, José Maria Parente

In environments like factories, buildings, and homes automation services tend to often change during their lifetime. Changes are concerned to business rules, process optimization, cost reduction, and so on. It is important to provide a smooth and straightforward way to deal with these changes so that could be handled in a faster and low cost manner. Some prominent solutions use the flexibility of Wireless Sensor Networks and the meaningful description of Semantic Web Services to provide service integration. In this work, we give an overview of current solutions for machinery integration that combine both technologies as well as a discussion about some perspectives and open issues when applying Wireless Sensor Networks and Semantic Web Services for automation services integration.

Integrating adaptive management and ecosystem services concepts to improve natural resource management: Challenges and opportunities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Epanchin-Niell, Rebecca S.; Boyd, James W.; Macauley, Molly K.; Scarlett, Lynn; Shapiro, Carl D.; Williams, Byron K.

2018-05-07

Executive Summary—OverviewNatural resource managers must make decisions that affect broad-scale ecosystem processes involving large spatial areas, complex biophysical interactions, numerous competing stakeholder interests, and highly uncertain outcomes. Natural and social science information and analyses are widely recognized as important for informing effective management. Chief among the systematic approaches for improving the integration of science into natural resource management are two emergent science concepts, adaptive management and ecosystem services. Adaptive management (also referred to as “adaptive decision making”) is a deliberate process of learning by doing that focuses on reducing uncertainties about management outcomes and system responses to improve management over time. Ecosystem services is a conceptual framework that refers to the attributes and outputs of ecosystems (and their components and functions) that have value for humans.This report explores how ecosystem services can be moved from concept into practice through connection to a decision framework—adaptive management—that accounts for inherent uncertainties. Simultaneously, the report examines the value of incorporating ecosystem services framing and concepts into adaptive management efforts.Adaptive management and ecosystem services analyses have not typically been used jointly in decision making. However, as frameworks, they have a natural—but to date underexplored—affinity. Both are policy and decision oriented in that they attempt to represent the consequences of resource management choices on outcomes of interest to stakeholders. Both adaptive management and ecosystem services analysis take an empirical approach to the analysis of ecological systems. This systems orientation is a byproduct of the fact that natural resource actions affect ecosystems—and corresponding societal outcomes—often across large geographic scales. Moreover, because both frameworks focus on resource systems, both must confront the analytical challenges of systems modeling—in terms of complexity, dynamics, and uncertainty.Given this affinity, the integration of ecosystem services analysis and adaptive management poses few conceptual hurdles. In this report, we synthesize discussions from two workshops that considered ways in which adaptive management approaches and ecosystem service concepts may be complementary, such that integrating them into a common framework may lead to improved natural resource management outcomes. Although the literature on adaptive management and ecosystem services is vast and growing, the report focuses specifically on the integration of these two concepts rather than aiming to provide new definitions or an indepth review or primer of the concepts individually.Key issues considered include the bidirectional links between adaptive decision making and ecosystem services, as well as the potential benefits and inevitable challenges arising in the development and use of an integrated framework. Specifically, the workshops addressed the following questions:How can application of ecosystem service analysis within an adaptive decision process improve the outcomes of management and advance understanding of ecosystem service identification, production, and valuation?How can these concepts be integrated in concept and practice?What are the constraints and challenges to integrating adaptive management and ecosystem services?And, should the integration of these concepts be moved forward to wider application—and if so, how?

Integrating care for individuals with FASD: results from a multi-stakeholder symposium.

PubMed

Masotti, Paul; Longstaffe, Sally; Gammon, Holly; Isbister, Jill; Maxwell, Breann; Hanlon-Dearman, Ana

2015-10-05

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has a significant impact on communities and systems such as health, education, justice and social services. FASD is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that results in permanent disabilities and associated service needs that change across affected individuals' lifespans. There is a degree of interdependency among medical and non-medical providers across these systems that do not frequently meet or plan a coordinated continuum of care. Improving overall care integration will increase provider-specific and system capacity, satisfaction, quality of life and outcomes. We conducted a consensus generating symposium comprised of 60 experts from different stakeholder groups: Allied & Mental Health, Education, First Nations & Métis Health, Advocates, Primary Care, Government Health Policy, Regional FASD Coordinators, Social Services, and Youth Justice. Research questions addressed barriers and solutions to integration across systems and group-specific and system-wide research priorities. Solutions and consensus on prioritized lists were generated by combining the Electronic Meeting System approach with a modified 'Nominal Group Technique'. FASD capacity (e.g., training, education, awareness) needs to be increased in both medical and non-medical providers. Outcomes and integration will be improved by implementing: multidisciplinary primary care group practice models, FASD system navigators/advocates, and patient centred medical homes. Electronic medical records that are accessible to multiple medical and non-medical providers are a key tool to enhancing integration and quality. Eligibility criteria for services are a main barrier to integration across systems. There is a need for culturally and community-specific approaches for First Nations communities. There is a need to better integrate care for individuals and families living with FASD. Primary Care is well positioned to play a central and important role in facilitating and supporting increased integration. Research is needed to better address best practices (e.g., interventions, supports and programs) and long-term individual and family outcomes following a diagnosis of FASD.

Knowledge exchange and integrated services: experiences from an integrated community intellectual (learning) disability service for adults.

PubMed

Farrington, C; Clare, I C H; Holland, A J; Barrett, M; Oborn, E

2015-03-01

This paper examines knowledge exchange dynamics in a specialist integrated intellectual (learning) disability service, comprising specialist healthcare provision with social care commissioning and management, and considers their significance in terms of integrated service delivery. A qualitative study focusing on knowledge exchange and integrated services. Semi-structured interviews (n = 25) were conducted with members of an integrated intellectual disability service in England regarding their perceptions of knowledge exchange within the service and the way in which knowledge exchange impinges on the operation of the integrated service. Exchange of 'explicit' (codifiable) knowledge between health and care management components of the service is problematic because of a lack of integrated clinical governance and related factors such as IT and care record systems and office arrangements. Team meetings and workplace interactions allowed for informal exchange of explicit and 'tacit' (non-codifiable) knowledge, but presented challenges in terms of knowledge exchange completeness and sustainability. Knowledge exchange processes play an important role in the functioning of integrated services incorporating health and care management components. Managers need to ensure that knowledge exchange processes facilitate both explicit and tacit knowledge exchange and do not rely excessively on informal, 'ad hoc' interactions. Research on integrated services should take account of micro-scale knowledge exchange dynamics and relationships between social dynamics and physical factors. © 2014 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Design of a terminal solution for integration of in-home health care devices and services towards the Internet-of-Things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pang, Zhibo; Zheng, Lirong; Tian, Junzhe; Kao-Walter, Sharon; Dubrova, Elena; Chen, Qiang

2015-01-01

In-home health care services based on the Internet-of-Things are promising to resolve the challenges caused by the ageing of population. But the existing research is rather scattered and shows lack of interoperability. In this article, a business-technology co-design methodology is proposed for cross-boundary integration of in-home health care devices and services. In this framework, three key elements of a solution (business model, device and service integration architecture and information system integration architecture) are organically integrated and aligned. In particular, a cooperative Health-IoT ecosystem is formulated, and information systems of all stakeholders are integrated in a cooperative health cloud as well as extended to patients' home through the in-home health care station (IHHS). Design principles of the IHHS includes the reuse of 3C platform, certification of the Health Extension, interoperability and extendibility, convenient and trusted software distribution, standardised and secured electrical health care record handling, effective service composition and efficient data fusion. These principles are applied to the design of an IHHS solution called iMedBox. Detailed device and service integration architecture and hardware and software architecture are presented and verified by an implemented prototype. The quantitative performance analysis and field trials have confirmed the feasibility of the proposed design methodology and solution.

Mergers and integrated care: the Quebec experience.

PubMed

Demers, Louis

2013-01-01

As a researcher, I have studied the efforts to increase the integration of health and social services in Quebec, as well as the mergers in the Quebec healthcare system. These mergers have often been presented as a necessary transition to break down the silos that compartmentalize the services dispensed by various organisations. A review of the studies about mergers and integrated care projects in the Quebec healthcare system, since its inception, show that mergers cannot facilitate integrated care unless they are desired and represent for all of the actors involved an appropriate way to deal with service organisation problems. Otherwise, mergers impede integrated care by creating increased bureaucratisation and standardisation and by triggering conflicts and mistrust among the staff of the merged organisations. It is then preferable to let local actors select the most appropriate organisational integration model for their specific context and offer them resources and incentives to cooperate.

Mergers and integrated care: the Quebec experience

PubMed Central

Demers, Louis

2013-01-01

As a researcher, I have studied the efforts to increase the integration of health and social services in Quebec, as well as the mergers in the Quebec healthcare system. These mergers have often been presented as a necessary transition to break down the silos that compartmentalize the services dispensed by various organisations. A review of the studies about mergers and integrated care projects in the Quebec healthcare system, since its inception, show that mergers cannot facilitate integrated care unless they are desired and represent for all of the actors involved an appropriate way to deal with service organisation problems. Otherwise, mergers impede integrated care by creating increased bureaucratisation and standardisation and by triggering conflicts and mistrust among the staff of the merged organisations. It is then preferable to let local actors select the most appropriate organisational integration model for their specific context and offer them resources and incentives to cooperate. PMID:23687474

Primary Care and Public Health Services Integration in Brazil’s Unified Health System

PubMed Central

Wall, Melanie; Yu, Gary; Penido, Cláudia; Schmidt, Clecy

2012-01-01

Objectives. We examined associations between transdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based practice, and primary care and public health services integration in Brazil’s Family Health Strategy. We aimed to identify practices that facilitate service integration and evidence-based practice. Methods. We collected cross-sectional data from community health workers, nurses, and physicians (n = 262). We used structural equation modeling to assess providers’ service integration and evidence-based practice engagement operationalized as latent factors. Predictors included endorsement of team meetings, access to and consultations with colleagues, familiarity with community, and previous research experience. Results. Providers’ familiarity with community and team meetings positively influenced evidence-based practice engagement and service integration. More experienced providers reported more integration and engagement. Physicians reported less integration than did community health workers. Black providers reported less evidence-based practice engagement than did Pardo (mixed races) providers. After accounting for all variables, evidence-based practice engagement and service integration were moderately correlated. Conclusions. Age and race of providers, transdisciplinary collaboration, and familiarity with the community are significant variables that should inform design and implementation of provider training. Promising practices that facilitate service integration in Brazil may be used in other countries. PMID:22994254

Technical and economic feasibility of integrated video service by satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, K. M.; Kwan, R. K.; White, L. W.; Garlow, R. K.; Henderson, T. R.

1992-01-01

A feasibility study is presented of utilizing modern satellite technology, or more advanced technology, to create a cost-effective, user-friendly, integrated video service, which can provide videophone, video conference, or other equivalent wideband service on demand. A system is described that permits a user to select a desired audience and establish the required links similar to arranging a teleconference by phone. Attention is given to video standards, video traffic scenarios, satellite system architecture, and user costs.

Integrated AUTODIN System Architecture Report. Part 1.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-12-01

necessary standards; (2) identify the roles and relationships of components of the Integrated AUTODIN System; (3) establish an Inter -Service/Agency ANPE...provide a network access element now designated the Inter -Service/Agency AMPE (I-S/A AMPE). The AUTODIN I ASCs will be phased out by "phasing in...further access area needs provided by an Inter -Service/Agency AMPE, which can serve all DoD users in an area and interface either AUTODIN I or AUTODIN

MODELING THE DYNAMICS OF THE INTEGRATED EARTH SYSTEM AND THE VALUE OF GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES USING THE GUMBO MODEL. (R827169)

EPA Science Inventory

A global unified metamodel of the biosphere (GUMBO) was developed to simulate the integrated earth system and assess the dynamics and values of ecosystem services. It is a `metamodel' in that it represents a synthesis and a simplification of several existing dynamic gl...

The Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems Program, BASICS 1988-1989. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Barrera, Marbella

In its second year, the Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems (BASICS) Program served 104 limited-English-proficient students at Bayside High School in Queens (New York City). Project goals were to develop English literacy skills, produce an organizing framework of thinking and language skills across the curriculum, generate a…

Mobile satellite communications in the 1990's

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Jai

1992-07-01

The evolution of Inmarsat global services from a single market and single service of the 1980's to all of the key mobile markets and a wide range of new terminals and services in the 1990's is described. An overview of existing mobile satellite services, as well as new services under implementation for introduction in the near and longer term, including a handheld satellite phone (Inmarsat-P), is provided. The initiative taken by Inmarsat in the integration of its global mobile satellite services with global navigation capability derived from GPS (Global Positioning System) and the GLONASS (Russian GPS) navigation satellite systems and the provision of an international civil overlay for GPS/GLONASS integrity and augmentation is highlighted. To complete the overview of the development of mobile satellite services in the 1990's, the known national and regional mobile satellite system plans and the various recent proposals for both orbiting and geostationary satellite systems for proving handheld satellite phone and/or data messaging services are described.

The development of integrated service centre system for professional teachers empowerment in North Sumatera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gultom, S.; Simanjorang, M. M.; Muchtar, Z.; Mansyur, A.

2018-03-01

Based on Act number 12 in year 2012 the function of higher education is related to individual, social community, knowledge and technology development. Hence, higher education providers need to think and develop policies in order to improve their service and fulfil the higher education function. As part of the effort to fulfil its function Universitas Negeri Medan (Unimed), which historically was a pre-service teacher training institute, should has a special interest on improving teachers’ professionalism. The Act number 14 in year 2005 described requirements for professional teacher, including academic qualification and set of competencies possessed by the teacher. The Act also guaranties teachers’ right to have opportunities for improving their competencies and academic qualification through training and other professionalism development programme. The question is how this guarantee can be implemented. In order to answer this question a developmental study has been done which aimed on developing an integrated service centre system for professional teachers empowerment. As the name implies, this integrated service centre system is expected to be a real manifestation of Unimed’s support towards the improvement of professional teachers quality, which in the end will boils down to the improvement of national education services quality. The result of this study is an integrated service centre system for professional teachers empowerment that fulfils the professionalism principles described in the Act number 14 in year 2005, which has been developed by considering problems faced by and also supports needed by teachers post certification programme.

The impact of programs for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV on health care services and systems in sub-Saharan Africa - A review.

PubMed

Mutabazi, Jean Claude; Zarowsky, Christina; Trottier, Helen

2017-01-01

The global scale-up of Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services is credited for a 52% worldwide decline in new HIV infections among children between 2001 and 2012. However, the epidemic continues to challenge maternal and paediatric HIV control efforts in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), with repercussions on other health services beyond those directly addressing HIV and AIDS. This systematised narrative review describes the effects of PMTCT programs on other health care services and the implications for improving health systems in SSA as reported in the existing articles and scientific literature. The following objectives framed our review:To describe the effects of PMTCT on health care services and systems in SSA and assess whether the PMTCT has strengthened or weakened health systems in SSATo describe the integration of PMTCT and its extent within broader programs and health systems. Articles published in English and French over the period 1st January 2007 (the year of publication of WHO/UNICEF guidelines on global scale-up of the PMTCT) to 31 November 2016 on PMTCT programs in SSA were sought through searches of electronic databases (Medline and Google Scholar). Articles describing the impact (positive and negative effects) of PMTCT on other health care services and those describing its integration in health systems in SSA were eligible for inclusion. We assessed 6223 potential papers, reviewed 225, and included 57. The majority of selected articles offered arguments for increased health services utilisation, notably of ante-natal care, and some evidence of beneficial synergies between PMTCT programs and other health services especially maternal health care, STI prevention and early childhood immunisation. Positive and negative impact of PMTCT on other health care services and health systems are suggested in thirty-two studies while twenty-five papers recommend more integration and synergies. However, the empirical evidence of impact of PMTCT integration on broader health systems is scarce. Underlying health system challenges such as weak physical and human resource infrastructure and poor working conditions, as well as social and economic barriers to accessing health services, affect both PMTCT and the health services with which PMTCT interacts. PMTCT services increase to some extent the availability, accessibility and utilisation of antenatal care and services beyond HIV care. Vertical PMTCT programs work, when well-funded and well-managed, despite poorly functioning health systems. The beneficial synergies between PMTCT and other services are widely suggested, but there is a lack of large-scale evidence of this.

Towards a taxonomy for integrated care: a mixed-methods study

PubMed Central

Valentijn, Pim P.; Boesveld, Inge C.; van der Klauw, Denise M.; Ruwaard, Dirk; Struijs, Jeroen N.; Molema, Johanna J.W.; Bruijnzeels, Marc A.; Vrijhoef, Hubertus JM.

2015-01-01

Introduction Building integrated services in a primary care setting is considered an essential important strategy for establishing a high-quality and affordable health care system. The theoretical foundations of such integrated service models are described by the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care, which distinguishes six integration dimensions (clinical, professional, organisational, system, functional and normative integration). The aim of the present study is to refine the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care by developing a taxonomy that specifies the underlying key features of the six dimensions. Methods First, a literature review was conducted to identify features for achieving integrated service delivery. Second, a thematic analysis method was used to develop a taxonomy of key features organised into the dimensions of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care. Finally, the appropriateness of the key features was tested in a Delphi study among Dutch experts. Results The taxonomy consists of 59 key features distributed across the six integration dimensions of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care. Key features associated with the clinical, professional, organisational and normative dimensions were considered appropriate by the experts. Key features linked to the functional and system dimensions were considered less appropriate. Discussion This study contributes to the ongoing debate of defining the concept and typology of integrated care. This taxonomy provides a development agenda for establishing an accepted scientific framework of integrated care from an end-user, professional, managerial and policy perspective. PMID:25759607

Towards a taxonomy for integrated care: a mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Valentijn, Pim P; Boesveld, Inge C; van der Klauw, Denise M; Ruwaard, Dirk; Struijs, Jeroen N; Molema, Johanna J W; Bruijnzeels, Marc A; Vrijhoef, Hubertus Jm

2015-01-01

Building integrated services in a primary care setting is considered an essential important strategy for establishing a high-quality and affordable health care system. The theoretical foundations of such integrated service models are described by the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care, which distinguishes six integration dimensions (clinical, professional, organisational, system, functional and normative integration). The aim of the present study is to refine the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care by developing a taxonomy that specifies the underlying key features of the six dimensions. First, a literature review was conducted to identify features for achieving integrated service delivery. Second, a thematic analysis method was used to develop a taxonomy of key features organised into the dimensions of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care. Finally, the appropriateness of the key features was tested in a Delphi study among Dutch experts. The taxonomy consists of 59 key features distributed across the six integration dimensions of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care. Key features associated with the clinical, professional, organisational and normative dimensions were considered appropriate by the experts. Key features linked to the functional and system dimensions were considered less appropriate. This study contributes to the ongoing debate of defining the concept and typology of integrated care. This taxonomy provides a development agenda for establishing an accepted scientific framework of integrated care from an end-user, professional, managerial and policy perspective.

An Overview of the Concept of Operations for Assembly, Integration, Testing and Ground Servicing Develoed for the MPCV-ESM Propulsion System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bielozer, M.; VanLear, Benjamin S.; Kindred, N.; Monien, G.; Schulte, U.

2014-01-01

A concept of operations for the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) and the Ground Systems Development Operations (GSDO) of the European Service Module (ESM) propulsion system has been developed. The AIT concept of operations covers all fabrication, integration and testing activities in both Europe and in the United States. The GSDO Program develops the facilities, equipment, and procedures for the loading of hypergolic propellants, the filling of high-pressure gases, and contingency de-servicing operations for the ESM. NASA and ESA along with the Lockheed Martin and Airbus Space and Defense are currently working together for the EM-1 and EM-2 missions in which the ESM will be flown as part of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The NASA/ESA SM propulsion team is collaborating with the AIT personnel from ESA/Airbus and NASA/Lockheed Martin to ensure successful integration of the European designed Service Module propulsion system, the Lockheed Martin designed Crew Module Adapter and the heritage Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System Engines (OMS-E) being provided as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). This paper will provide an overview of the current AIT and GSDO concept of operations for the ESM propulsion system.

An Overview of the Concept of Operations for Assembly, Integration, Testing and Ground Servicing Developed for the MPCV-ESM Propulsion System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bielozer, Matthew C.

2014-01-01

A concept of operations for the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) and the Ground Systems Development Operations (GSDO) of the European Service Module (ESM) propulsion system has been developed. The AIT concept of operations covers all fabrication, integration and testing activities in both Europe and in the United States. The GSDO Program develops the facilities, equipment, and procedures for the loading of hypergolic propellants, the filling of high-pressure gases, and contingency de-servicing operations for the ESM. NASA and ESA along with the Lockheed Martin and Airbus Space and Defense are currently working together for the EM-1 and EM-2 missions in which the ESM will be flown as part of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The NASA/ESA SM propulsion team is collaborating with the AIT personnel from ESA/Airbus and NASA/Lockheed Martin to ensure successful integration of the European designed Service Module propulsion system, the Lockheed Martin designed Crew Module Adapter and the heritage Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System Engines (OMS-E) being provided as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). This paper will provide an overview of the current AIT and GSDO concept of operations for the ESM propulsion system.

A Successful Model for a Comprehensive Patient Flow Management Center at an Academic Health System.

PubMed

Lovett, Paris B; Illg, Megan L; Sweeney, Brian E

2016-05-01

This article reports on an innovative approach to managing patient flow at a multicampus academic health system, integrating multiple services into a single, centralized Patient Flow Management Center that manages supply and demand for inpatient services across the system. Control of bed management was centralized across 3 campuses and key services were integrated, including bed management, case management, environmental services, patient transport, ambulance and helicopter dispatch, and transfer center. A single technology platform was introduced, as was providing round-the-clock patient placement by critical care nurses, and adding medical directors. Daily bed meetings with nurse managers and charge nurses drive action plans. This article reports immediate improvements in the first year of operations in emergency department walkouts, emergency department boarding, ambulance diversion, growth in transfer volume, reduction in lost transfers, reduction in time to bed assignment, and bed turnover time. The authors believe theirs is the first institution to integrate services and centralize bed management so comprehensively. © The Author(s) 2014.

Rochester New York Integrated Transit Demonstration : Volume 3. Appendices.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-03-01

The Rochester Integrated Transit Demonstration (RITD) was designed to assess the roles of demand-responsive transit services in a regionwide transit system that includes an extensive fixed-route bus network. The demonstration extended transit service...

Rochester New York Integrated Transit Demonstration : Volume 2. Evaluation Report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-03-01

The Rochester Integrated Transit Demonstration (RITD) was designed to assess the roles of demand-responsive transit services in a regionwide transit system that includes an extensive fixed-route bus network. The demonstration extended transit service...

Rochester New York Integrated Transit Demonstration : Volume 1. Executive Summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-03-01

The Rochester Integrated Transit Demonstration (RITD) was designed to assess the roles of demand-responsive transit services in a regionwide transit system that includes an extensive fixed-route bus network. The demonstration extended transit service...

Integration of Mobil Satellite and Cellular Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drucker, E. H.; Estabrook, P.; Pinck, D.; Ekroot, L.

1993-01-01

By integrating the ground based infrastructure component of a mobile satellite system with the infrastructure systems of terrestrial 800 MHz cellular service providers, a seamless network of universal coverage can be established.

DS-MAC: differential service medium access control design for wireless medical information systems.

PubMed

Yuan, Xiaojing; Bagga, Sumegha; Shen, Jian; Balakrishnan, M; Benhaddou, D

2008-01-01

The integration of wireless networking technologies with medical information systems (telemedicine) have a significant impact on healthcare services provided to our society. Applications of telemedicine range from personalized medicine to affordable healthcare for underserved population. Though wireless technologies and medical informatics are individually progressing rapidly, wireless networking for healthcare systems is still at a very premature stage. In this paper we first present our open architecture for medical information systems that integrates both wired and wireless networked data acquisition systems. We then present the implementation at the physical layer and differential service MAC design that adapts channel provisioning based on the information criticality. Performance evaluation using analytical modeling and simulation shows that our DS-MAC provides differentiated services for emergency, warning, and normal traffic.

Talking about the institutional complexity of the integrated rehabilitation system-the importance of coordination.

PubMed

Miettinen, Sari; Ashorn, Ulla; Lehto, Juhani

2013-01-01

Rehabilitation in Finland is a good example of functions divided among several welfare sectors, such as health services and social services. The rehabilitation system in Finland is a complex one and there have been many efforts to create a coordinated entity. The purpose of this study is to open up a complex welfare system at the upper policy level and to understand the meaning of coordination at the level of service delivery. We shed light in particular on the national rehabilitation policy in Finland and how the policy has tried to overcome the negative effects of institutional complexity. In this study we used qualitative content analysis and frame analysis. As a result we identified four different welfare state frames with distinct features of policy problems, policy alternatives and institutional failure. The rehabilitation policy in Finland seems to be divided into different components which may cause problems at the level of service delivery and thus in the integration of services. Bringing these components together could at policy level enable a shared view of the rights of different population groups, effective management of integration at the level of service delivery and also an opportunity for change throughout the rehabilitation system.

E-health and healthcare enterprise information system leveraging service-oriented architecture.

PubMed

Hsieh, Sung-Huai; Hsieh, Sheau-Ling; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Lai, Feipei

2012-04-01

To present the successful experiences of an integrated, collaborative, distributed, large-scale enterprise healthcare information system over a wired and wireless infrastructure in National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). In order to smoothly and sequentially transfer from the complex relations among the old (legacy) systems to the new-generation enterprise healthcare information system, we adopted the multitier framework based on service-oriented architecture to integrate the heterogeneous systems as well as to interoperate among many other components and multiple databases. We also present mechanisms of a logical layer reusability approach and data (message) exchange flow via Health Level 7 (HL7) middleware, DICOM standard, and the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise workflow. The architecture and protocols of the NTUH enterprise healthcare information system, especially in the Inpatient Information System (IIS), are discussed in detail. The NTUH Inpatient Healthcare Information System is designed and deployed on service-oriented architecture middleware frameworks. The mechanisms of integration as well as interoperability among the components and the multiple databases apply the HL7 standards for data exchanges, which are embedded in XML formats, and Microsoft .NET Web services to integrate heterogeneous platforms. The preliminary performance of the current operation IIS is evaluated and analyzed to verify the efficiency and effectiveness of the designed architecture; it shows reliability and robustness in the highly demanding traffic environment of NTUH. The newly developed NTUH IIS provides an open and flexible environment not only to share medical information easily among other branch hospitals, but also to reduce the cost of maintenance. The HL7 message standard is widely adopted to cover all data exchanges in the system. All services are independent modules that enable the system to be deployed and configured to the highest degree of flexibility. Furthermore, we can conclude that the multitier Inpatient Healthcare Information System has been designed successfully and in a collaborative manner, based on the index of performance evaluations, central processing unit, and memory utilizations.

A Methodological Approach to Encourage the Service-Oriented Learning Systems Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diez, David; Malizia, Alessio; Aedo, Ignacio; Diaz, Paloma; Fernandez, Camino; Dodero, Juan-Manuel

2009-01-01

The basic idea of service-oriented learning is that a learning environment should be conceived as a set of independent units of learning packaged as learning services. The design, development and deployment of a learning system based on integrating different learning services needs both a technological platform to support the system as well as a…

Information Systems Integration and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Adoption: A Case from Financial Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lam, Wing

2007-01-01

Increasingly, organizations find that they need to integrate large number of information systems in order to support enterprise-wide business initiatives such as e-business, supply chain management and customer relationship management. To date, organizations have largely tended to address information systems (IS) integration in an ad-hoc manner.…

Home e-health system integration in the Smart Home through a common media server.

PubMed

Pau, I; Seoane, F; Lindecrantz, K; Valero, M A; Carracedo, J

2009-01-01

Home e-health systems and services are revealed as one of the most important challenges to promote Quality of Life related to Health in the Information Society. Leading companies have worked on e-health systems although the majority of them are addressed to hospital or primary care settings. The solution detailed in this paper offers a personal health system to be integrated with Smart Home services platform to support home based e-care. Thus, the home e-health system and architecture detailed in this research work is ready to supply a seamless personal care solution both from the biomedical data analysis, service provision, security guarantee and information management s point of view. The solution is ready to be integrated within the Accessible Digital Home, a living lab managed by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for R&D activities.

An architecture for integrating distributed and cooperating knowledge-based Air Force decision aids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nugent, Richard O.; Tucker, Richard W.

1988-01-01

MITRE has been developing a Knowledge-Based Battle Management Testbed for evaluating the viability of integrating independently-developed knowledge-based decision aids in the Air Force tactical domain. The primary goal for the testbed architecture is to permit a new system to be added to a testbed with little change to the system's software. Each system that connects to the testbed network declares that it can provide a number of services to other systems. When a system wants to use another system's service, it does not address the server system by name, but instead transmits a request to the testbed network asking for a particular service to be performed. A key component of the testbed architecture is a common database which uses a relational database management system (RDBMS). The RDBMS provides a database update notification service to requesting systems. Normally, each system is expected to monitor data relations of interest to it. Alternatively, a system may broadcast an announcement message to inform other systems that an event of potential interest has occurred. Current research is aimed at dealing with issues resulting from integration efforts, such as dealing with potential mismatches of each system's assumptions about the common database, decentralizing network control, and coordinating multiple agents.

Placing ecosystem services at the heart of urban water systems management.

PubMed

Garcia, X; Barceló, D; Comas, J; Corominas, Ll; Hadjimichael, A; Page, T J; Acuña, V

2016-09-01

Current approaches have failed to deliver a truly integrated management of the different elements of the urban water system, such as freshwater ecosystems, drinking water treatment plants, distribution networks, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Because the different parts of urban water have not been well integrated, poor decisions have been made for society in general, leading to the misuse of water resources, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and increased overall treatment costs. Some attempts to solve environmental issues have adopted the ecosystem services concept in a more integrated approach, however this has rarely strayed far away from pure policy, and has made little impact in on-the-ground operational matters. Here, we present an improved decision-making framework to integrate the management of urban water systems. This framework uses the ecosystem service concept in a practical way to make a better use of both financial and water resources, while continuing to preserve the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impact of integration of sexual and reproductive health services on consultation duration times: results from the Integra Initiative.

PubMed

Siapka, Mariana; Obure, Carol Dayo; Mayhew, Susannah H; Sweeney, Sedona; Fenty, Justin; Vassall, Anna

2017-11-01

The lack of human resources is a key challenge in scaling up of HIV services in Africa's health care system. Integrating HIV services could potentially increase their effectiveness and optimize the use of limited resources and clinical staff time. We examined the impact of integration of provider initiated HIV counselling and testing (PITC) and family planning (FP counselling and FP provision) services on duration of consultation to assess the impact of PITC and FP integration on staff workload. This study was conducted in 24 health facilities in Kenya under the Integra Initiative, a non-randomized, pre/post intervention trial to evaluate the impact of integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services on health and service outcomes. We compared the time spent providing PITC-only services, FP-only services and integrated PITC/FP services. We used log-linear regression to assess the impact of plausible determinants on the duration of clients' consultation times. Median consultation duration times were highest for PITC-only services (30 min), followed by integrated services (10 min) and FP-only services (8 min). Times for PITC-only and FP-only services were 69.7% higher (95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) 35.8-112.0) and 43.9% lower (95% CIs -55.4 to - 29.6) than times spent on these services when delivered as an integrated service, respectively. The reduction in consultation times with integration suggests a potential reduction in workload. The higher consultation time for PITC-only could be because more pre- and post-counselling is provided at these stand-alone services. In integrated PITC/FP services, the duration of the visit fell below that required by HIV testing guidelines, and service mix between counselling and testing substantially changed. Integration of HIV with FP services may compromise the quality of services delivered and care must be taken to clearly specify and monitor appropriate consultation duration times and procedures during the process of integrating HIV and FP services. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Impact of integration of sexual and reproductive health services on consultation duration times: results from the Integra Initiative

PubMed Central

Siapka, Mariana; Obure, Carol Dayo; Mayhew, Susannah H; Fenty, Justin; Initiative, Integra; Vassall, Anna

2017-01-01

Abstract The lack of human resources is a key challenge in scaling up of HIV services in Africa’s health care system. Integrating HIV services could potentially increase their effectiveness and optimize the use of limited resources and clinical staff time. We examined the impact of integration of provider initiated HIV counselling and testing (PITC) and family planning (FP counselling and FP provision) services on duration of consultation to assess the impact of PITC and FP integration on staff workload. This study was conducted in 24 health facilities in Kenya under the Integra Initiative, a non-randomized, pre/post intervention trial to evaluate the impact of integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services on health and service outcomes. We compared the time spent providing PITC-only services, FP-only services and integrated PITC/FP services. We used log-linear regression to assess the impact of plausible determinants on the duration of clients’ consultation times. Median consultation duration times were highest for PITC-only services (30 min), followed by integrated services (10 min) and FP-only services (8 min). Times for PITC-only and FP-only services were 69.7% higher (95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) 35.8–112.0) and 43.9% lower (95% CIs −55.4 to − 29.6) than times spent on these services when delivered as an integrated service, respectively. The reduction in consultation times with integration suggests a potential reduction in workload. The higher consultation time for PITC-only could be because more pre- and post-counselling is provided at these stand-alone services. In integrated PITC/FP services, the duration of the visit fell below that required by HIV testing guidelines, and service mix between counselling and testing substantially changed. Integration of HIV with FP services may compromise the quality of services delivered and care must be taken to clearly specify and monitor appropriate consultation duration times and procedures during the process of integrating HIV and FP services. PMID:29194545

The effects of integrated care: a systematic review of UK and international evidence.

PubMed

Baxter, Susan; Johnson, Maxine; Chambers, Duncan; Sutton, Anthea; Goyder, Elizabeth; Booth, Andrew

2018-05-10

Healthcare systems around the world have been responding to the demand for better integrated models of service delivery. However, there is a need for further clarity regarding the effects of these new models of integration, and exploration regarding whether models introduced in other care systems may achieve similar outcomes in a UK national health service context. The study aimed to carry out a systematic review of the effects of integration or co-ordination between healthcare services, or between health and social care on service delivery outcomes including effectiveness, efficiency and quality of care. Electronic databases including MEDLINE; Embase; PsycINFO; CINAHL; Science and Social Science Citation Indices; and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant literature published between 2006 to March 2017. Online sources were searched for UK grey literature, and citation searching, and manual reference list screening were also carried out. Quantitative primary studies and systematic reviews, reporting actual or perceived effects on service delivery following the introduction of models of integration or co-ordination, in healthcare or health and social care settings in developed countries were eligible for inclusion. Strength of evidence for each outcome reported was analysed and synthesised using a four point comparative rating system of stronger, weaker, inconsistent or limited evidence. One hundred sixty seven studies were eligible for inclusion. Analysis indicated evidence of perceived improved quality of care, evidence of increased patient satisfaction, and evidence of improved access to care. Evidence was rated as either inconsistent or limited regarding all other outcomes reported, including system-wide impacts on primary care, secondary care, and health care costs. There were limited differences between outcomes reported by UK and international studies, and overall the literature had a limited consideration of effects on service users. Models of integrated care may enhance patient satisfaction, increase perceived quality of care, and enable access to services, although the evidence for other outcomes including service costs remains unclear. Indications of improved access may have important implications for services struggling to cope with increasing demand. Prospero registration number: 42016037725 .

A Phenomenological Study of the Impact of Pre-Service and Inservice Training Regarding the Integration of Twenty-First Century Technologies into Selected Teachers' Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Christopher

2013-01-01

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand how in-service teachers with three to five years of experience perceive their pre-service and in-service training regarding the integration of twenty-first century technology into their instruction. Twenty participants from a rural public school system in southeast North…

Connecting Body and Mind: A Resource Guide to Integrated Health Care in Texas and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Molly; Coleman-Beattie, Brenda; Jahnke, Lauren; Sanchez, Katherine

2008-01-01

There is a call across the country and in Texas to improve health care systems through integrated care. Integrated health care is the systematic coordination of physical and behavioral health services. The idea is that physical and behavioral health problems often occur at the same time and that integrating services will provide the best results…

The Vendors' Corner: Biblio-Techniques' Library and Information System (BLIS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Library Software Review, 1984

1984-01-01

Describes online catalog and integrated library computer system designed to enhance Washington Library Network's software. Highlights include system components; implementation options; system features (integrated library functions, database design, system management facilities); support services (installation and training, software maintenance and…

STAR Online Meta-Data Collection Framework: Integration with the Pre-existing Controls Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipkin, D.; Lauret, J.

2017-10-01

One of the STAR experiment’s modular Messaging Interface and Reliable Architecture framework (MIRA) integration goals is to provide seamless and automatic connections with the existing control systems. After an initial proof of concept and operation of the MIRA system as a parallel data collection system for online use and real-time monitoring, the STAR Software and Computing group is now working on the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) with MIRA’s interfaces. This integration goals are to allow functional interoperability and, later on, to replace the existing/legacy Detector Control System components at the service level. In this report, we describe the evolutionary integration process and, as an example, will discuss the EPICS Alarm Handler conversion. We review the complete upgrade procedure starting with the integration of EPICS-originated alarm signals propagation into MIRA, followed by the replacement of the existing operator interface based on Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM) with modern portable web-based Alarm Handler interface. To achieve this aim, we have built an EPICS-to-MQTT [8] bridging service, and recreated the functionality of the original Alarm Handler using low-latency web messaging technologies. The integration of EPICS alarm handling into our messaging framework allowed STAR to improve the DCS alarm awareness of existing STAR DAQ and RTS services, which use MIRA as a primary source of experiment control information.

Mental health interventions in schools 1

PubMed Central

Fazel, Mina; Hoagwood, Kimberly; Stephan, Sharon; Ford, Tamsin

2015-01-01

Mental health services embedded within school systems can create a continuum of integrative care that improves both mental health and educational attainment for children. To strengthen this continuum, and for optimum child development, a reconfiguration of education and mental health systems to aid implementation of evidence-based practice might be needed. Integrative strategies that combine classroom-level and student-level interventions have much potential. A robust research agenda is needed that focuses on system-level implementation and maintenance of interventions over time. Both ethical and scientific justifications exist for integration of mental health and education: integration democratises access to services and, if coupled with use of evidence-based practices, can promote the healthy development of children. PMID:26114092

Applications integration in a hybrid cloud computing environment: modelling and platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qing; Wang, Ze-yuan; Li, Wei-hua; Li, Jun; Wang, Cheng; Du, Rui-yang

2013-08-01

With the development of application services providers and cloud computing, more and more small- and medium-sized business enterprises use software services and even infrastructure services provided by professional information service companies to replace all or part of their information systems (ISs). These information service companies provide applications, such as data storage, computing processes, document sharing and even management information system services as public resources to support the business process management of their customers. However, no cloud computing service vendor can satisfy the full functional IS requirements of an enterprise. As a result, enterprises often have to simultaneously use systems distributed in different clouds and their intra enterprise ISs. Thus, this article presents a framework to integrate applications deployed in public clouds and intra ISs. A run-time platform is developed and a cross-computing environment process modelling technique is also developed to improve the feasibility of ISs under hybrid cloud computing environments.

Strategic interaction among hospitals and nursing facilities: the efficiency effects of payment systems and vertical integration.

PubMed

Banks, D; Parker, E; Wendel, J

2001-03-01

Rising post-acute care expenditures for Medicare transfer patients and increasing vertical integration between hospitals and nursing facilities raise questions about the links between payment system structure, the incentive for vertical integration and the impact on efficiency. In the United States, policy-makers are responding to these concerns by initiating prospective payments to nursing facilities, and are exploring the bundling of payments to hospitals. This paper develops a static profit-maximization model of the strategic interaction between the transferring hospital and a receiving nursing facility. This model suggests that the post-1984 system of prospective payment for hospital care, coupled with nursing facility payments that reimburse for services performed, induces inefficient under-provision of hospital services and encourages vertical integration. It further indicates that the extension of prospective payment to nursing facilities will not eliminate the incentive to vertically integrate, and will not result in efficient production unless such integration takes place. Bundling prospective payments for hospitals and nursing facilities will neither remove the incentive for vertical integration nor induce production efficiency without such vertical integration. However, bundled payment will induce efficient production, with or without vertical integration, if nursing facilities are reimbursed for services performed. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Home care: from adequate funding to integration of services.

PubMed

Hébert, Réjean

2009-01-01

With the aging of the population, the healthcare system needs to shift from the actual hospital-centred system developed in the past century for dealing with acute diseases and a young population toward a home-centred system, more appropriate for serving older people with chronic diseases. Funding of home care should not only be significantly increased but also be managed differently. We propose the introduction of an autonomy support benefit (ASB) to cover costs related to disabilities, irrespective of living environment, and to set up a public universal autonomy insurance program that will cover the ASB. This insurance should be at least partly capitalized to provide for the aging of the population and to ensure intergenerational equity. Also, since the home is a much more complicated service-delivery environment than the hospital, these services must be coordinated and integrated. The Program of Research to Integrate the Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA) is a coordination-type model of integration that was implemented and evaluated in three areas (one urban and two rural) in and around Sherbrooke, Quebec. A four-year longitudinal quasi-experimental study with over 1,500 participants demonstrated its efficiency in improving system effectiveness at no extra cost.

Securing Ground Data System Applications for Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pajevski, Michael J.; Tso, Kam S.; Johnson, Bryan

2014-01-01

The increasing prevalence and sophistication of cyber attacks has prompted the Multimission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) Program Office at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to initiate the Common Access Manager (CAM) effort to protect software applications used in Ground Data Systems (GDSs) at JPL and other NASA Centers. The CAM software provides centralized services and software components used by GDS subsystems to meet access control requirements and ensure data integrity, confidentiality, and availability. In this paper we describe the CAM software; examples of its integration with spacecraft commanding software applications and an information management service; and measurements of its performance and reliability.

A net-centric system of services model for the Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS) and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardanuy, Philip; Bensman, Ed; Bergen, Bill; Chen, Bob; Griffith, Frank; Sutton, Cary; Hood, Carroll; Ritchie, Adrian; Tarro, Andre

2006-08-01

This paper considers an evolved technique for significantly enhanced enterprise-level data processing, reprocessing, archival, dissemination, and utilization. There is today a robust working paradigm established with the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS)-NOAA/NWS's information integration and fusion capability. This process model extends vertically, and seamlessly, from environmental sensing through the direct delivery of societal benefit. NWS, via AWIPS, is the primary source of weather forecast and warning information in the nation. AWIPS is the tested and proven "the nerve center of operations" at all 122 NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) and 13 River Forecast Centers (RFCs). However, additional line organizations whose role in satisfying NOAA's five mission goals (ecosystems, climate, weather & water, commerce & transportation, and mission support) in multiple program areas might be facilitated through utilization of AWIPS-like functionalities, including the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS); Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research (OAR); and the National Ocean Service (NOS). In addition to NOAA's mission goals, there are nine diverse, recommended, and important societal benefit areas in the US Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS). This paper shows how the satisfaction of this suite of goals and benefit areas can be optimized by leveraging several key ingredients: (1) the evolution of AWIPS towards a net-centric system of services concept of operations; (2) infusion of technologies and concepts from pathfinder systems; (3) the development of new observing systems targeted at deliberate, and not just serendipitous, societal benefit; and (4) the diverse, nested local, regional, national, and international scales of the different benefits and goal areas, and their interoperability and interplay across the system of systems.

The Complexity of Health Service Integration: A Review of Reviews.

PubMed

Heyeres, Marion; McCalman, Janya; Tsey, Komla; Kinchin, Irina

2016-01-01

The aim of health service integration is to provide a sustainable and integrated health system that better meets the needs of the end user. Yet, definitions of health service integration, methods for integrating health services, and expected outcomes are varied. This review was commissioned by Queensland Health, the government department responsible for health service delivery in Queensland, Australia, to inform efforts to integrate their mental health services. This review reports on the characteristics, reported outcomes, and design quality of studies included in systematic reviews of health service integration research. The review was developed by systematically searching nine electronic databases to find peer-reviewed Australian and international systematic reviews with a focus on health service integration. Reviews were included if they were in the English language and published between 2000 and 2015. A standardized assessment tool was used to analyze the study design quality of included reviews. Data relating to the integration types, methods, and reported outcomes of integration were synthesized. Seventeen publications met the inclusion criteria. Eleven (65%) reviews were published during the past 5 years, which may indicate a trend for increased awareness of the need for service integration. The majority of reviews were published by researchers in the UK (8/47%), USA (3/18%), and Australia (3/18%). Included reviews focused on a variety of integration types, including integrated care pathways, governance models, integration of interventions, collaborative/integrated care models, and integration of different types of health care. Most (53%) of the reviews reported on the cost-effectiveness of service integration, e.g., positive results, no effect, or inconclusive. Only one of the reviews reported on the importance of consumer involvement. The overall design of 70% of the reviews was high, 18% medium, and 12% low. There is no "one size fits all" approach to health service integration. Instead, this literature review highlighted the complexity of service integration, which in most primary studies involved a range of strategies. Rigorous assessments of cost-effectiveness and reporting on consumer involvement are required in future research.

Copernicus Architecture, Phase I: Requirements Definition

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

control primarily over maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) units; however, surface ships and other units...Intermediate System Integrated Services Digital Network Integrated Tactical-Stategic Data Network Integrated Undersea Surveillance System Joint Army Navy... TTE Technical Training Equipment TTY Teletype UFO UHF Follow On UHF Ultra High Frequency USA/USAF U. S. Army/U.S. Air Force USCINC U. S

Ship to Shore Data Communication and Prioritization

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

First Out FTP File Transfer Protocol GCCS-M Global Command and Control System Maritime HAIPE High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor HTTP Hypertext...Transfer Protocol (world wide web protocol ) IBS Integrated Bar Code System IDEF0 Integration Definition IER Information Exchange Requirements...INTEL Intelligence IP Internet Protocol IPT Integrated Product Team ISEA In-Service Engineering Agent ISNS Integrated Shipboard Network System IT

Integrating telecare for chronic disease management in the community: What needs to be done?

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Telecare could greatly facilitate chronic disease management in the community, but despite government promotion and positive demonstrations its implementation has been limited. This study aimed to identify factors inhibiting the implementation and integration of telecare systems for chronic disease management in the community. Methods Large scale comparative study employing qualitative data collection techniques: semi-structured interviews with key informants, task-groups, and workshops; framework analysis of qualitative data informed by Normalization Process Theory. Drawn from telecare services in community and domestic settings in England and Scotland, 221 participants were included, consisting of health professionals and managers; patients and carers; social care professionals and managers; and service suppliers and manufacturers. Results Key barriers to telecare integration were uncertainties about coherent and sustainable service and business models; lack of coordination across social and primary care boundaries, lack of financial or other incentives to include telecare within primary care services; a lack of a sense of continuity with previous service provision and self-care work undertaken by patients; and general uncertainty about the adequacy of telecare systems. These problems led to poor integration of policy and practice. Conclusion Telecare services may offer a cost effective and safe form of care for some people living with chronic illness. Slow and uneven implementation and integration do not stem from problems of adoption. They result from incomplete understanding of the role of telecare systems and subsequent adaption and embeddedness to context, and uncertainties about the best way to develop, coordinate, and sustain services that assist with chronic disease management. Interventions are therefore needed that (i) reduce uncertainty about the ownership of implementation processes and that lock together health and social care agencies; and (ii) ensure user centred rather than biomedical/service-centred models of care. PMID:21619596

Integrating telecare for chronic disease management in the community: what needs to be done?

PubMed

May, Carl R; Finch, Tracy L; Cornford, James; Exley, Catherine; Gately, Claire; Kirk, Sue; Jenkings, K Neil; Osbourne, Janice; Robinson, A Louise; Rogers, Anne; Wilson, Robert; Mair, Frances S

2011-05-27

Telecare could greatly facilitate chronic disease management in the community, but despite government promotion and positive demonstrations its implementation has been limited. This study aimed to identify factors inhibiting the implementation and integration of telecare systems for chronic disease management in the community. Large scale comparative study employing qualitative data collection techniques: semi-structured interviews with key informants, task-groups, and workshops; framework analysis of qualitative data informed by Normalization Process Theory. Drawn from telecare services in community and domestic settings in England and Scotland, 221 participants were included, consisting of health professionals and managers; patients and carers; social care professionals and managers; and service suppliers and manufacturers. Key barriers to telecare integration were uncertainties about coherent and sustainable service and business models; lack of coordination across social and primary care boundaries, lack of financial or other incentives to include telecare within primary care services; a lack of a sense of continuity with previous service provision and self-care work undertaken by patients; and general uncertainty about the adequacy of telecare systems. These problems led to poor integration of policy and practice. Telecare services may offer a cost effective and safe form of care for some people living with chronic illness. Slow and uneven implementation and integration do not stem from problems of adoption. They result from incomplete understanding of the role of telecare systems and subsequent adaption and embeddedness to context, and uncertainties about the best way to develop, coordinate, and sustain services that assist with chronic disease management. Interventions are therefore needed that (i) reduce uncertainty about the ownership of implementation processes and that lock together health and social care agencies; and (ii) ensure user centred rather than biomedical/service-centred models of care.

Preparing for Federal Grant Consolidation: A Reexamination and Search for Affiliate Guidance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, E. Clarke

1981-01-01

The paper reviews research and experience in human service integration and examines the impact of federal grant consolidation upon services for the disabled. Reasons for the existence of categorical aid are noted. An idealized integrated services system is proposed, and factors such as excessive red tape and lack of coordination which reflect a…

Beyond "One-Stop" Shopping: An Integrated Service Delivery System for Job Seekers and Employers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Richard T.

The Workforce Development Center (WDC), in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, is a cooperative effort of nine public and private agencies, including the Wisconsin Job Service, the Private Industry Council, and Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC), to provide integrated employment services to area citizens and employers. Located on the WCTC campus,…

Lynx web services for annotations and systems analysis of multi-gene disorders.

PubMed

Sulakhe, Dinanath; Taylor, Andrew; Balasubramanian, Sandhya; Feng, Bo; Xie, Bingqing; Börnigen, Daniela; Dave, Utpal J; Foster, Ian T; Gilliam, T Conrad; Maltsev, Natalia

2014-07-01

Lynx is a web-based integrated systems biology platform that supports annotation and analysis of experimental data and generation of weighted hypotheses on molecular mechanisms contributing to human phenotypes and disorders of interest. Lynx has integrated multiple classes of biomedical data (genomic, proteomic, pathways, phenotypic, toxicogenomic, contextual and others) from various public databases as well as manually curated data from our group and collaborators (LynxKB). Lynx provides tools for gene list enrichment analysis using multiple functional annotations and network-based gene prioritization. Lynx provides access to the integrated database and the analytical tools via REST based Web Services (http://lynx.ci.uchicago.edu/webservices.html). This comprises data retrieval services for specific functional annotations, services to search across the complete LynxKB (powered by Lucene), and services to access the analytical tools built within the Lynx platform. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Towards reframing health service delivery in Uganda: the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases.

PubMed

Schwartz, Jeremy I; Dunkle, Ashley; Akiteng, Ann R; Birabwa-Male, Doreen; Kagimu, Richard; Mondo, Charles K; Mutungi, Gerald; Rabin, Tracy L; Skonieczny, Michael; Sykes, Jamila; Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet

2015-01-01

The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is accelerating. Given that the capacity of health systems in LMICs is already strained by the weight of communicable diseases, these countries find themselves facing a double burden of disease. NCDs contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality, thereby playing a major role in the cycle of poverty, and impeding development. Integrated approaches to health service delivery and healthcare worker (HCW) training will be necessary in order to successfully combat the great challenge posed by NCDs. In 2013, we formed the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of NCDs (UINCD), a multidisciplinary research collaboration that aims to present a systems approach to integrated management of chronic disease prevention, care, and the training of HCWs. Through broad-based stakeholder engagement, catalytic partnerships, and a collective vision, UINCD is working to reframe integrated health service delivery in Uganda.

Integrated modelling of ecosystem services and energy systems research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwala, Matthew; Lovett, Andrew; Bateman, Ian; Day, Brett; Agnolucci, Paolo; Ziv, Guy

2016-04-01

The UK Government is formally committed to reducing carbon emissions and protecting and improving natural capital and the environment. However, actually delivering on these objectives requires an integrated approach to addressing two parallel challenges: de-carbonising future energy system pathways; and safeguarding natural capital to ensure the continued flow of ecosystem services. Although both emphasise benefiting from natural resources, efforts to connect natural capital and energy systems research have been limited, meaning opportunities to improve management of natural resources and meet society's energy needs could be missed. The ecosystem services paradigm provides a consistent conceptual framework that applies in multiple disciplines across the natural and economic sciences, and facilitates collaboration between them. At the forefront of the field, integrated ecosystem service - economy models have guided public- and private-sector decision making at all levels. Models vary in sophistication from simple spreadsheet tools to complex software packages integrating biophysical, GIS and economic models and draw upon many fields, including ecology, hydrology, geography, systems theory, economics and the social sciences. They also differ in their ability to value changes in natural capital and ecosystem services at various spatial and temporal scales. Despite these differences, current models share a common feature: their treatment of energy systems is superficial at best. In contrast, energy systems research has no widely adopted, unifying conceptual framework that organises thinking about key system components and interactions. Instead, the literature is organised around modelling approaches, including life cycle analyses, econometric investigations, linear programming and computable general equilibrium models. However, some consistencies do emerge. First, often contain a linear set of steps, from exploration to resource supply, fuel processing, conversion/generation, transmission, distribution, and finally, end energy use. Although each step clearly impacts upon natural capital, links to the natural environment are rarely identified or quantified within energy research. In short, the respective conceptual frameworks guiding ecosystem service and energy research are not well integrated. Major knowledge and research gaps appear at the system boundaries: while energy models may mention flows of residuals, exploring where exactly these flows enter the environment, and how they impact ecosystems and natural capital is often considered to be 'outside the system boundary'. While integrated modelling represents the frontier of ecosystem service research, current efforts largely ignore the future energy pathways set out by energy systems models and government carbon targets. This disconnect means that policy-oriented research on how best to (i) maintain natural capital and (ii) meet specific climate targets may be poorly aligned, or worse, offer conflicting advice. We present a re-imagined version of the ecosystem services conceptual framework, in which emphasis is placed on interactions between energy systems and the natural environment. Using the UK as a case study, we employ a recent integrated environmental-economic ecosystem service model, TIM, developed by Bateman et al (2014) and energy pathways developed by the UK Energy Research Centre and the UK Government Committee on Climate Change to illustrate how the new conceptual framework might apply in real world applications.

Implementing Information and Communication Technology to Support Community Aged Care Service Integration: Lessons from an Australian Aged Care Provider.

PubMed

Douglas, Heather E; Georgiou, Andrew; Tariq, Amina; Prgomet, Mirela; Warland, Andrew; Armour, Pauline; Westbrook, Johanna I

2017-04-10

There is limited evidence of the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to support integrated aged care services. We undertook a case study to describe carelink+, a centralised client service management ICT system implemented by a large aged and community care service provider, Uniting. We sought to explicate the care-related information exchange processes associated with carelink+ and identify lessons for organisations attempting to use ICT to support service integration. Our case study included seventeen interviews and eleven observation sessions with a purposive sample of staff within the organisation. Inductive analysis was used to develop a model of ICT-supported information exchange. Management staff described the integrated care model designed to underpin carelink+. Frontline staff described complex information exchange processes supporting coordination of client services. Mismatches between the data quality and the functions carelink+ was designed to support necessitated the evolution of new work processes associated with the system. There is value in explicitly modelling the work processes that emerge as a consequence of ICT. Continuous evaluation of the match between ICT and work processes will help aged care organisations to achieve higher levels of ICT maturity that support their efforts to provide integrated care to clients.

Implementing Information and Communication Technology to Support Community Aged Care Service Integration: Lessons from an Australian Aged Care Provider

PubMed Central

Georgiou, Andrew; Tariq, Amina; Prgomet, Mirela; Warland, Andrew; Armour, Pauline; Westbrook, Johanna I

2017-01-01

Introduction: There is limited evidence of the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to support integrated aged care services. Objectives: We undertook a case study to describe carelink+, a centralised client service management ICT system implemented by a large aged and community care service provider, Uniting. We sought to explicate the care-related information exchange processes associated with carelink+ and identify lessons for organisations attempting to use ICT to support service integration. Methods: Our case study included seventeen interviews and eleven observation sessions with a purposive sample of staff within the organisation. Inductive analysis was used to develop a model of ICT-supported information exchange. Results: Management staff described the integrated care model designed to underpin carelink+. Frontline staff described complex information exchange processes supporting coordination of client services. Mismatches between the data quality and the functions carelink+ was designed to support necessitated the evolution of new work processes associated with the system. Conclusions: There is value in explicitly modelling the work processes that emerge as a consequence of ICT. Continuous evaluation of the match between ICT and work processes will help aged care organisations to achieve higher levels of ICT maturity that support their efforts to provide integrated care to clients. PMID:29042851

A new architecture for enterprise information systems.

PubMed

Covvey, H D; Stumpf, J J

1999-01-01

Irresistible economic and technical forces are forcing healthcare institutions to develop regionalized services such as consolidated or virtual laboratories. Technical realities, such as the lack of an enabling enterprise-level information technology (IT) integration infrastructure, the existence of legacy systems, and non-existent or embryonic enterprise-level IT services organizations, are delaying or frustrating the achievement of the desired configuration of shared services. On attempting to address this matter, we discover that the state-of-the-art in integration technology is not wholly adequate, and itself becomes a barrier to the full realization of shared healthcare services. In this paper we report new work from the field of Co-operative Information Systems that proposes a new architecture of systems that are intrinsically cooperation-enabled, and we extend this architecture to both the regional and national scales.

Soil Functional Zone Management: A Vehicle for Enhancing Production and Soil Ecosystem Services in Row-Crop Agroecosystems.

PubMed

Williams, Alwyn; Kane, Daniel A; Ewing, Patrick M; Atwood, Lesley W; Jilling, Andrea; Li, Meng; Lou, Yi; Davis, Adam S; Grandy, A Stuart; Huerd, Sheri C; Hunter, Mitchell C; Koide, Roger T; Mortensen, David A; Smith, Richard G; Snapp, Sieglinde S; Spokas, Kurt A; Yannarell, Anthony C; Jordan, Nicholas R

2016-01-01

There is increasing global demand for food, bioenergy feedstocks and a wide variety of bio-based products. In response, agriculture has advanced production, but is increasingly depleting soil regulating and supporting ecosystem services. New production systems have emerged, such as no-tillage, that can enhance soil services but may limit yields. Moving forward, agricultural systems must reduce trade-offs between production and soil services. Soil functional zone management (SFZM) is a novel strategy for developing sustainable production systems that attempts to integrate the benefits of conventional, intensive agriculture, and no-tillage. SFZM creates distinct functional zones within crop row and inter-row spaces. By incorporating decimeter-scale spatial and temporal heterogeneity, SFZM attempts to foster greater soil biodiversity and integrate complementary soil processes at the sub-field level. Such integration maximizes soil services by creating zones of 'active turnover', optimized for crop growth and yield (provisioning services); and adjacent zones of 'soil building', that promote soil structure development, carbon storage, and moisture regulation (regulating and supporting services). These zones allow SFZM to secure existing agricultural productivity while avoiding or minimizing trade-offs with soil ecosystem services. Moreover, the specific properties of SFZM may enable sustainable increases in provisioning services via temporal intensification (expanding the portion of the year during which harvestable crops are grown). We present a conceptual model of 'virtuous cycles', illustrating how increases in crop yields within SFZM systems could create self-reinforcing feedback processes with desirable effects, including mitigation of trade-offs between yield maximization and soil ecosystem services. Through the creation of functionally distinct but interacting zones, SFZM may provide a vehicle for optimizing the delivery of multiple goods and services in agricultural systems, allowing sustainable temporal intensification while protecting and enhancing soil functioning.

Soil Functional Zone Management: A Vehicle for Enhancing Production and Soil Ecosystem Services in Row-Crop Agroecosystems

PubMed Central

Williams, Alwyn; Kane, Daniel A.; Ewing, Patrick M.; Atwood, Lesley W.; Jilling, Andrea; Li, Meng; Lou, Yi; Davis, Adam S.; Grandy, A. Stuart; Huerd, Sheri C.; Hunter, Mitchell C.; Koide, Roger T.; Mortensen, David A.; Smith, Richard G.; Snapp, Sieglinde S.; Spokas, Kurt A.; Yannarell, Anthony C.; Jordan, Nicholas R.

2016-01-01

There is increasing global demand for food, bioenergy feedstocks and a wide variety of bio-based products. In response, agriculture has advanced production, but is increasingly depleting soil regulating and supporting ecosystem services. New production systems have emerged, such as no-tillage, that can enhance soil services but may limit yields. Moving forward, agricultural systems must reduce trade-offs between production and soil services. Soil functional zone management (SFZM) is a novel strategy for developing sustainable production systems that attempts to integrate the benefits of conventional, intensive agriculture, and no-tillage. SFZM creates distinct functional zones within crop row and inter-row spaces. By incorporating decimeter-scale spatial and temporal heterogeneity, SFZM attempts to foster greater soil biodiversity and integrate complementary soil processes at the sub-field level. Such integration maximizes soil services by creating zones of ‘active turnover’, optimized for crop growth and yield (provisioning services); and adjacent zones of ‘soil building’, that promote soil structure development, carbon storage, and moisture regulation (regulating and supporting services). These zones allow SFZM to secure existing agricultural productivity while avoiding or minimizing trade-offs with soil ecosystem services. Moreover, the specific properties of SFZM may enable sustainable increases in provisioning services via temporal intensification (expanding the portion of the year during which harvestable crops are grown). We present a conceptual model of ‘virtuous cycles’, illustrating how increases in crop yields within SFZM systems could create self-reinforcing feedback processes with desirable effects, including mitigation of trade-offs between yield maximization and soil ecosystem services. Through the creation of functionally distinct but interacting zones, SFZM may provide a vehicle for optimizing the delivery of multiple goods and services in agricultural systems, allowing sustainable temporal intensification while protecting and enhancing soil functioning. PMID:26904043

Review on Malaysian Rail Transit Operation and Management System: Issues and Solution in Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masirin, Mohd Idrus Mohd; Salin, Aminah Mohd; Zainorabidin, Adnan; Martin, David; Samsuddin, Norshakina

2017-08-01

In any context, operation and management of transportation systems are key issues which may affect both life quality and economic development. In large urban agglomerations, an efficient public transportation system may help abate the negative externalities of private car use such as congestion, air and noise pollution, accident and fuel consumption, without excessively penalizing user travel times or zone accessibility. Thus, this study is conducted to appraise the Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system, which are considered important as there are many issues and solution in integration of the services that need to be tackled more conscientiously. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the most important issues on integration of services and rail transit system in Malaysian and how to solve or reduce these problems and conflicts. In this paper, it consists of the historical development of rail transit construction in Malaysia. This paper also attempts to identify the important issues related to rail transit services and integration in Malaysian rural rail operation and management system. Comparison is also conducted with other countries such as UK, France, and Japan. Finally, a critical analysis is presented in this paper by looking at the possible application for future Malaysian rail transit operation system and management, especially focusing on enhancing the quality of Malaysian rural rail transit. In conclusion, this paper is expected to successfully review and appraise the existing Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system pertaining to issues & solution in integration. It is also hoped that reformation or transformation of present service delivery quality of the rail transit operation and management will enable Malaysia to succeed in transforming Malaysian transportation system to greater heights.

Newborn screening healthcare information system based on service-oriented architecture.

PubMed

Hsieh, Sung-Huai; Hsieh, Sheau-Ling; Chien, Yin-Hsiu; Weng, Yung-Ching; Hsu, Kai-Ping; Chen, Chi-Huang; Tu, Chien-Ming; Wang, Zhenyu; Lai, Feipei

2010-08-01

In this paper, we established a newborn screening system under the HL7/Web Services frameworks. We rebuilt the NTUH Newborn Screening Laboratory's original standalone architecture, having various heterogeneous systems operating individually, and restructured it into a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), distributed platform for further integrity and enhancements of sample collections, testing, diagnoses, evaluations, treatments or follow-up services, screening database management, as well as collaboration, communication among hospitals; decision supports and improving screening accuracy over the Taiwan neonatal systems are also addressed. In addition, the new system not only integrates the newborn screening procedures among phlebotomy clinics, referral hospitals, as well as the newborn screening center in Taiwan, but also introduces new models of screening procedures for the associated, medical practitioners. Furthermore, it reduces the burden of manual operations, especially the reporting services, those were heavily dependent upon previously. The new system can accelerate the whole procedures effectively and efficiently. It improves the accuracy and the reliability of the screening by ensuring the quality control during the processing as well.

Integration of HIV Care with Primary Health Care Services: Effect on Patient Satisfaction and Stigma in Rural Kenya

PubMed Central

Odeny, Thomas A.; Penner, Jeremy; Lewis-Kulzer, Jayne; Leslie, Hannah H.; Shade, Starley B.; Adero, Walter; Kioko, Jackson; Cohen, Craig R.; Bukusi, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

HIV departments within Kenyan health facilities are usually better staffed and equipped than departments offering non-HIV services. Integration of HIV services into primary care may address this issue of skewed resource allocation. Between 2008 and 2010, we piloted a system of integrating HIV services into primary care in rural Kenya. Before integration, we conducted a survey among returning adults ≥18-year old attending the HIV clinic. We then integrated HIV and primary care services. Three and twelve months after integration, we administered the same questionnaires to a sample of returning adults attending the integrated clinic. Changes in patient responses were assessed using truncated linear regression and logistic regression. At 12 months after integration, respondents were more likely to be satisfied with reception services (adjusted odds ratio, aOR 2.71, 95% CI 1.32–5.56), HIV education (aOR 3.28, 95% CI 1.92–6.83), and wait time (aOR 1.97 95% CI 1.03–3.76). Men's comfort with receiving care at an integrated clinic did not change (aOR = 0.46 95% CI 0.06–3.86). Women were more likely to express discomfort after integration (aOR 3.37 95% CI 1.33–8.52). Integration of HIV services into primary care services was associated with significant increases in patient satisfaction in certain domains, with no negative effect on satisfaction. PMID:23738055

Design and implementation of a telecare information platform.

PubMed

Li, Shing-Han; Wang, Ching-Yao; Lu, Wen-Hui; Lin, Yuan-Yuan; Yen, David C

2012-06-01

For the aging population and for people with dominant chronic diseases, countries all over the world are promoting an "Aging in Place" program with its primary focus on the implementation of telecare. In 2009, Taiwan held a "Health Care Value-Added Platinum Program" with the goal of promoting the development of "Telecare" services by integrating medical treatment, healthcare, information communication, medical equipment and materials and by linking related cross-discipline professions to enable people to familiarize themselves with preventive healthcare services offered in their household and community environments. In addition, this program can be utilized to effectively provide diversified healthcare service benefitting society as a whole. This study aims to promote a diversified telecare service network in Taiwan's household and community environments, establish telecare information platforms, build an internal network of various healthcare service modes, standardize externally interfacing telecare information networks, effectively utilize related healthcare service resources, and complete reasonable service resource links forming an up-to-date health information exchange network. To this end, the telecare information platform based on service oriented architecture (SOA) is designed to promote an open telecare information interface and sharing environment to assist in such tasks as developing healthcare information exchange services, integrating service resources among various different healthcare service modes, accessing externally complex community affairs information, supporting remote physiological information transmissions, and providing diversified remote innovative services. Information system architecture and system monitoring indices of various types of healthcare service modes are used for system integrations for future development and/or expansions.

Multidisciplinary management--an opportunity for service integration.

PubMed

Cameron, M

1997-01-01

The management team of the future will enter an environment requiring facilitation, participation, clinical, and empowerment skills. Those individuals who possess a clinical orientation as well as business expertise will be sought to manage multidisciplinary units. The rapid changes in the health-care environment have forced organizations to restructure their operations. To achieve quality care, customer satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency, service integration across the organization will be required. As we approach the 21st century, this standard will evolve until "all levels are managing patient care." Some of the restructuring trends occurring in the health-care industry have been collaboration service integration, management consolidation, and job elimination. The emphasis for the multidisciplinary manager of the future will include integrating the professional and clinical services, managing information, building community partnerships, promoting physician collaboration, and managing the change process. A model organization in the next century will move toward a people-oriented system with inclusion and empowerment initiatives. Service integration will affect all organizations, but the disciplines within the Clinical Support System will be the most affected. Future opportunities of leadership will exist for pathologists, nurses, or medical technologists as the professional silos of managers and clinicians continue to crumble.

ISLE: Intelligent Selection of Loop Electronics. A CLIPS/C++/INGRES integrated application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fischer, Lynn; Cary, Judson; Currie, Andrew

1990-01-01

The Intelligent Selection of Loop Electronics (ISLE) system is an integrated knowledge-based system that is used to configure, evaluate, and rank possible network carrier equipment known as Digital Loop Carrier (DLC), which will be used to meet the demands of forecasted telephone services. Determining the best carrier systems and carrier architectures, while minimizing the cost, meeting corporate policies and addressing area service demands, has become a formidable task. Network planners and engineers use the ISLE system to assist them in this task of selecting and configuring the appropriate loop electronics equipment for future telephone services. The ISLE application is an integrated system consisting of a knowledge base, implemented in CLIPS (a planner application), C++, and an object database created from existing INGRES database information. The embedibility, performance, and portability of CLIPS provided us with a tool with which to capture, clarify, and refine corporate knowledge and distribute this knowledge within a larger functional system to network planners and engineers throughout U S WEST.

20 CFR 631.37 - Coordination activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Services under this part shall be integrated or coordinated with services and payments made available under...) and the unemployment compensation system consistent with the limitation on administrative expenses... compensation system and worker readjustment programs (section 314(f)). (c) Services under this part shall be...

20 CFR 631.37 - Coordination activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...) Services under this part shall be integrated or coordinated with services and payments made available under...) and the unemployment compensation system consistent with the limitation on administrative expenses... compensation system and worker readjustment programs (section 314(f)). (c) Services under this part shall be...

20 CFR 631.37 - Coordination activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Services under this part shall be integrated or coordinated with services and payments made available under...) and the unemployment compensation system consistent with the limitation on administrative expenses... compensation system and worker readjustment programs (section 314(f)). (c) Services under this part shall be...

76 FR 3115 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-19

... Integrated Results and Statistical Tracking.'' System Location: Delete entry and replace with ``Headquarters... replace with ``Records are accessed by person(s) responsible for servicing the record system in... need-to-know. The system additionally incorporates integrated system security features to protect data...

How to Integrate HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Namibia, the Epako Clinic Case Study

PubMed Central

Forster, Norbert; Campuzano, Pedro; Kambapani, Rejoice; Brahmbhatt, Heena; Hidinua, Grace; Turay, Mohamed; Ikandi, Simon Kimathi; Kabongo, Leonard; Zariro, Farai

2017-01-01

Introduction: During the past two decades, HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health services in Namibia have been provided in silos, with high fragmentation. As a consequence of this, quality and efficiency of services in Primary Health Care has been compromised. Methods: We conducted an operational research (observational pre-post study) in a public health facility in Namibia. A health facility assessment was conducted before and after the integration of health services. A person-centred integrated model was implemented to integrate all health services provided at the health facility in addition to HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health services. Comprehensive services are provided by each health worker to the same patients over time (longitudinality), on a daily basis (accessibility) and with a good external referral system (coordination). Prevalence rates of time flows and productivity were done. Results: Integrated services improved accessibility, stigma and quality of antenatal care services by improving the provider-patient communication, reducing the time that patients stay in the clinic in 16% and reducing the waiting times in 14%. In addition, nurse productivity improved 85% and the expected time in the health facility was reduced 24% without compromising the uptake of TB, HIV, outpatient, antenatal care or first visit family planning services. Given the success on many indicators resulting from integration of services, the goal of this paper was to describe “how” health services have been integrated, the “process” followed and presenting some “results” from the integrated clinic. Conclusions: Our study shows that HIV and SRH services can be effectively integrated by following the person-centred integrated model. Based on the Namibian experience on “how” to integrate health services and the “process” to achieve it, other African countries can replicate the model to move away from the silo approach and contribute to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. PMID:28970759

IMS: a new technology to develop a telemedicine system.

PubMed

Uceda, J D; Elena, M; Blasco, S; Tarrida, C L; Quero, J M

2008-01-01

The emergent IMS (Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem) technology appears to improve the current communication technologies. Its characteristics, such as Quality of Service (QoS), make it an advantageous system for innovative applications. Providing integrated services to users is one of the main reasons for the existence of IMS. Operators provide the technology as an open source, to be able to use services developed by researchers. Combining and integrating them, users will receive completely new services. Our proposal of use for IMS is the development of a telemedicine platform, designed to support not only remote biological signal monitoring, but value-added services for diagnosis and medical care, both of these working in real time.

Naval Open Architecture Machinery Control Systems for Next Generation Integrated Power Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

PORTABLE) OS / RTOS ADAPTATION MIDDLEWARE (FOR OS PORTABILITY) MACHINERY CONTROLLER FRAMEWORK MACHINERY CONTROL SYSTEM SERVICES POWER CONTROL SYSTEM...SERVICES SHIP SYSTEM SERVICES TTY 0 TTY N … OPERATING SYSTEM ( OS / RTOS ) COMPUTER HARDWARE UDP IP TCP RAW DEV 0 DEV N … POWER MANAGEMENT CONTROLLER...operating systems (DOS, Windows, Linux, OS /2, QNX, SCO Unix ...) COMPUTERS: ISA compatible motherboards, workstations and portables (Compaq, Dell

Applying TOGAF for e-government implementation based on service oriented architecture methodology towards good government governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodijah, A.; Sundari, S.; Nugraha, A. C.

2018-05-01

As a Local Government Agencies who perform public services, General Government Office already has utilized Reporting Information System of Local Government Implementation (E-LPPD). However, E-LPPD has upgrade limitation for the integration processes that cannot accommodate General Government Offices’ needs in order to achieve Good Government Governance (GGG), while success stories of the ultimate goal of e-government implementation requires good governance practices. Currently, citizen demand public services as private sector do, which needs service innovation by utilizing the legacy system as a service based e-government implementation, while Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to redefine a business processes as a set of IT enabled services and Enterprise Architecture from the Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) as a comprehensive approach in redefining business processes as service innovation towards GGG. This paper takes a case study on Performance Evaluation of Local Government Implementation (EKPPD) system on General Government Office. The results show that TOGAF will guide the development of integrated business processes of EKPPD system that fits good governance practices to attain GGG with SOA methodology as technical approach.

Behavioral Health Integration in Large Multi-group Pediatric Practice.

PubMed

Schlesinger, Abigail Boden

2017-03-01

There is increasing interest in methods to improve access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents. Children's Community Pediatric Behavioral Health Service (CCPBHS) is an integrated behavioral health service whose method of (a) creating a leadership team with empowered administrative and clinical stakeholders who can act on a commitment to change and (b) having a clear mission statement with integrated administrative and clinical care processes can serve as a model for implementing integration efforts within the medical home. Community Pediatrics Behavioral Health Service (CPBHS) is a sustainable initiative that improved the utilization of physical health and behavioral health systems for youth and improved the utilization of evidence-based interventions for youth served in primary care.

ATLAS from Data Research Associates: A Fully Integrated Automation System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellinger, Michael J.

1987-01-01

This detailed description of a fully integrated, turnkey library system includes a complete profile of the system (functions, operational characteristics, hardware, operating system, minimum memory and pricing); history of the technologies involved; and descriptions of customer services and availability. (CLB)

A collaborative molecular modeling environment using a virtual tunneling service.

PubMed

Lee, Jun; Kim, Jee-In; Kang, Lin-Woo

2012-01-01

Collaborative researches of three-dimensional molecular modeling can be limited by different time zones and locations. A networked virtual environment can be utilized to overcome the problem caused by the temporal and spatial differences. However, traditional approaches did not sufficiently consider integration of different computing environments, which were characterized by types of applications, roles of users, and so on. We propose a collaborative molecular modeling environment to integrate different molecule modeling systems using a virtual tunneling service. We integrated Co-Coot, which is a collaborative crystallographic object-oriented toolkit, with VRMMS, which is a virtual reality molecular modeling system, through a collaborative tunneling system. The proposed system showed reliable quantitative and qualitative results through pilot experiments.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): ICIS

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of facilities that link to the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). When complete, ICIS will provide a database that will contain integrated enforcement and compliance information across most of EPA's programs. The vision for ICIS is to replace EPA's independent databases that contain enforcement data with a single repository for that information. Currently, ICIS contains all Federal Administrative and Judicial enforcement actions and a subset of the Permit Compliance System (PCS), which supports the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). ICIS exchanges non-sensitive enforcement/compliance activities, non-sensitive formal enforcement actions and NPDES information with FRS. This web feature service contains the enforcement/compliance activities and formal enforcement action related facilities; the NPDES facilities are contained in the PCS_NPDES web feature service. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on f

Research on Disaster Early Warning and Disaster Relief Integrated Service System Based on Block Data Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, J.; Zhang, H.; Wang, C.; Tang, D.

2018-04-01

With the continuous development of social economy, the interaction between mankind and nature has become increasingly evident. Disastrous global catastrophes have occurred from time to time, causing huge losses to people's lives and property. All governments recognize the importance of the establishment of disaster early warning and release mechanisms, and it is also an urgent issue to improve the comprehensive service level of emergency response and disaster relief. However, disaster early warning and emergency relief information is usually generated by different departments, and the diverse data sources, difficult integration, and limited release speed have always been difficult issues to be solved. Block data is the aggregation of various distributed (point data) and segmentation (data) big data on a specific platform and make them happen continuous polymerization effect, block data theory is a good solution to cross-sectoral, cross-platform Disaster information data sharing and integration problems. This paper attempts to discuss the integrated service mechanism of disaster information aggregation and disaster relief based on block data theory and introduces a location-based integrated service system for disaster early warning and disaster relief.

Human Services in Montgomery County, Ohio: Service Integration Writ Large.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ragan, Mark

The most striking characteristic of the human service system in Montgomery County, Ohio, is the size and scope of its job center. The center occupies 5.5 acres of office space, has ample parking, is well served by the public transportation system, and is the locus of many human service and employment programs and service providers. The county's…

Integrating cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and diabetes with HIV services: a systematic review.

PubMed

Haldane, Victoria; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Chuah, Fiona Leh Hoon; Sigfrid, Louise; Murphy, Georgina; Ong, Suan Ee; Cervero-Liceras, Francisco; Watt, Nicola; Balabanova, Dina; Hogarth, Sue; Maimaris, Will; Buse, Kent; McKee, Martin; Piot, Peter; Perel, Pablo

2018-01-01

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), hypertension and diabetes together with HIV infection are among the major public health concerns worldwide. Health services for HIV and NCDs require health systems that provide for people's chronic care needs, which present an opportunity to coordinate efforts and create synergies between programs to benefit people living with HIV and/or AIDS and NCDs. This review included studies that reported service integration for HIV and/or AIDS with coronary heart diseases, chronic CVD, cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), hypertension or diabetes. We searched multiple databases from inception until October 2015. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers and assessed for risk of bias. 11,057 records were identified with 7,616 after duplicate removal. After screening titles and abstracts, 14 papers addressing 17 distinct interventions met the inclusion criteria. We categorized integration models by diseases (HIV with diabetes, HIV with hypertension and diabetes, HIV with CVD and finally HIV with hypertension and CVD and diabetes). Models also looked at integration from micro (patient focused integration) to macro (system level integrations). Most reported integration of hypertension and diabetes with HIV and AIDS services and described multidisciplinary collaboration, shared protocols, and incorporating screening activities into community campaigns. Integration took place exclusively at the meso-level, with no micro- or macro-level integrations described. Most were descriptive studies, with one cohort study reporting evaluative outcomes. Several innovative initiatives were identified and studies showed that CVD and HIV service integration is feasible. Integration should build on existing protocols and use the community as a locus for advocacy and health services, while promoting multidisciplinary teams, including greater involvement of pharmacists. There is a need for robust and well-designed studies at all levels - particularly macro-level studies, research looking at long-term outcomes of integration, and research in a more diverse range of countries.

A New Approach to Integrate Internet-of-Things and Software-as-a-Service Model for Logistic Systems: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment. PMID:24686728

A new approach to integrate Internet-of-things and software-as-a-service model for logistic systems: a case study.

PubMed

Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

2014-03-28

Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment.

Urban Nexus Science for Future Cities: Focus on the Energy-Water-Food-X Nexus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sperling, Joshua B.; Berke, Philip R.

Rapid urban expansion of the world's cities is placing unprecedented demands on the energy, water, food, and other (X) systems (e.g., mobility) that each offer multiple life-supporting services. Coordination that considers inter-sectoral connections among these urban systems and services remains nascent in practice, yet are critical to the future well-being, resource/operational efficiency, and resilience of urban areas. This paper therefore proposes an applied 'urban nexus science' framework to identify integrated and synergistic pathways toward achieving urban sustainability. The design, planning, and operation of urban W-E-F systems can benefit from integrated analyses to accelerate infrastructure, land use, and hazard mitigation planningmore » and decision-making. New knowledge quantifying the key effects of W-E-F systems designed in isolation versus an increasingly integrated systems, especially when exposed to hazards, health risks, or extreme events, are a critical need. Interactive system modeling and participatory technologies are needed to support stakeholder engagement and two-way (and multi-directional) information flow, for exploring outcomes of alternative solutions for integrating W-E-F sectors. To support such important efforts, research is needed to fill critical gaps in data, identify tradeoffs, and develop synergistic solutions that measure sustainability co-benefits based on different levels of urban integration among W-E-F systems and services.« less

Urban Nexus Science for Future Cities: Focus on the Energy-Water-Food-X Nexus

DOE PAGES

Sperling, Joshua B.; Berke, Philip R.

2017-08-25

Rapid urban expansion of the world's cities is placing unprecedented demands on the energy, water, food, and other (X) systems (e.g., mobility) that each offer multiple life-supporting services. Coordination that considers inter-sectoral connections among these urban systems and services remains nascent in practice, yet are critical to the future well-being, resource/operational efficiency, and resilience of urban areas. This paper therefore proposes an applied 'urban nexus science' framework to identify integrated and synergistic pathways toward achieving urban sustainability. The design, planning, and operation of urban W-E-F systems can benefit from integrated analyses to accelerate infrastructure, land use, and hazard mitigation planningmore » and decision-making. New knowledge quantifying the key effects of W-E-F systems designed in isolation versus an increasingly integrated systems, especially when exposed to hazards, health risks, or extreme events, are a critical need. Interactive system modeling and participatory technologies are needed to support stakeholder engagement and two-way (and multi-directional) information flow, for exploring outcomes of alternative solutions for integrating W-E-F sectors. To support such important efforts, research is needed to fill critical gaps in data, identify tradeoffs, and develop synergistic solutions that measure sustainability co-benefits based on different levels of urban integration among W-E-F systems and services.« less

Advanced traveler information system (ATIS) implementation and integration. Task 11, evaluation report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-05-16

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) are an integral component of the concept of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ATIS are envisioned to enhance personal mobility, safety and the productivity of transportation. The primary services o...

University Educational Service Delivery Strategy in a Changing World: Implications for Ethical Values and Leadership Integrity in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akintayo, D. I.

2008-01-01

This paper examined university educational service delivery strategy in a changing world as it affects ethical values and leadership integrity in Nigeria. This was for the purpose of determining appropriate strategies for improving the quality of service delivery system in Nigerian universities. The paper submits that the quality and quantity of…

From PCK to TPACK: Developing a Transformative Model for Pre-Service Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Syh-Jong; Chen, Kuan-Chung

2010-12-01

New science teachers should be equipped with the ability to integrate and design the curriculum and technology for innovative teaching. How to integrate technology into pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge is the important issue. This study examined the impact on a transformative model of integrating technology and peer coaching for developing technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service science teachers. A transformative model and an online system were designed to restructure science teacher education courses. Participants of this study included an instructor and 12 pre-service teachers. The main sources of data included written assignments, online data, reflective journals, videotapes and interviews. This study expanded four views, namely, the comprehensive, imitative, transformative and integrative views to explore the impact of TPACK. The model could help pre-service teachers develop technological pedagogical methods and strategies of integrating subject-matter knowledge into science lessons, and further enhanced their TPACK.

Contextual cloud-based service oriented architecture for clinical workflow.

PubMed

Moreno-Conde, Jesús; Moreno-Conde, Alberto; Núñez-Benjumea, Francisco J; Parra-Calderón, Carlos

2015-01-01

Given that acceptance of systems within the healthcare domain multiple papers highlighted the importance of integrating tools with the clinical workflow. This paper analyse how clinical context management could be deployed in order to promote the adoption of cloud advanced services and within the clinical workflow. This deployment will be able to be integrated with the eHealth European Interoperability Framework promoted specifications. Throughout this paper, it is proposed a cloud-based service-oriented architecture. This architecture will implement a context management system aligned with the HL7 standard known as CCOW.

Advanced Communication System Engineering Proceedings Workshop held in Sedona, Arizona on 26-29 May 1987.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

tried not to So you’ll see microphones around on the make the talks tightly integrated . You’re front tables -- I hope the speakers will pass going to...one of the most important thoroughly integrating the corn-system things that the com-systemn engineer does is engineer’s job into the rest of the design...future, we may provide " integrated on how much interruption and questions we services," where multiple types of services have ...-- data, voice, video

Strategies for integrating mental health into schools via a multitiered system of support.

PubMed

Stephan, Sharon Hoover; Sugai, George; Lever, Nancy; Connors, Elizabeth

2015-04-01

To fully realize the potential of mental health supports in academic settings, it is essential to consider how to effectively integrate the mental health and education systems and their respective resources, staffing, and structures. Historically, school mental health services have not effectively spanned a full continuum of care from mental health promotion to treatment, and several implementation and service challenges have evolved. After an overview of these challenges, best practices and strategies for school and community partners are reviewed to systematically integrate mental health interventions within a school's multitiered system of student support. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrating Child Health Information Systems

PubMed Central

Hinman, Alan R.; Eichwald, John; Linzer, Deborah; Saarlas, Kristin N.

2005-01-01

The Health Resources and Services Administration and All Kids Count (a national technical assistance center fostering development of integrated child health information systems) have been working together to foster development of integrated child health information systems. Activities have included: identification of key elements for successful integration of systems; development of principles and core functions for the systems; a survey of state and local integration efforts; and a conference to develop a common vision for child health information systems to meet medical care and public health needs. We provide 1 state (Utah) as an example that is well on the way to development of integrated child health information systems. PMID:16195524

Improving oceanographic data delivery through pipeline processing in a Commercial Cloud Services environment: the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besnard, Laurent; Blain, Peter; Mancini, Sebastien; Proctor, Roger

2017-04-01

The Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is a national project funded by the Australian government established to deliver ocean observations to the marine and climate science community. Now in its 10th year its mission is to undertake systematic and sustained observations and to turn them into data, products and analyses that can be freely used and reused for broad societal benefits. As IMOS has matured as an observing system expectation on the system's availability and reliability has also increased and IMOS is now seen as delivering 'operational' information. In responding to this expectation, IMOS has relocated its services to the commercial cloud service Amazon Web Services. This has enabled IMOS to improve the system architecture, utilizing more advanced features like object storage (S3 - Simple Storage Service) and autoscaling features, and introducing new checking procedures in a pipeline approach. This has improved data availability and resilience while protecting against human errors in data handling and providing a more efficient ingestion process.

New IEEE 11073 Standards for interoperable, networked Point-of-Care Medical Devices.

PubMed

Kasparick, Martin; Schlichting, Stefan; Golatowski, Frank; Timmermann, Dirk

2015-08-01

Surgical procedures become more and more complex and the number of medical devices in an operating room (OR) increases continuously. Today's vendor-dependent solutions for integrated ORs are not able to handle this complexity. They can only form isolated solutions. Furthermore, high costs are a result of vendor-dependent approaches. Thus we present a service-oriented device communication for distributed medical systems that enables the integration and interconnection between medical devices among each other and to (medical) information systems, including plug-and-play functionality. This system will improve patient's safety by making technical complexity of a comprehensive integration manageable. It will be available as open standards that are part of the IEEE 11073 family of standards. The solution consists of a service-oriented communication technology, the so called Medical Devices Profile for Web Services (MDPWS), a Domain Information & Service Model, and a binding between the first two mechanisms. A proof of this concept has been done with demonstrators of real world OR devices.

Translating Life Course Theory to Clinical Practice to Address Health Disparities

PubMed Central

Solomon, Barry S.

2013-01-01

Life Course Theory (LCT) is a framework that explains health and disease across populations and over time and in a powerful way, conceptualizes health and health disparities to guide improvements. It suggests a need to change priorities and paradigms in our healthcare delivery system. In “Rethinking Maternal and Child Health: The Life Course Model as an Organizing Framework,” Fine and Kotelchuck identify three areas of rethinking that have relevance to clinical care: (1) recognition of context and the “whole-person, whole-family, whole-community systems approach;” (2) longitudinal approach with “greater emphasis on early (“upstream”) determinants of health”; and (3) need for integration and “developing integrated, multi-sector service systems that become lifelong “pipelines” for healthy development”. This paper discusses promising clinical practice innovations in these three areas: addressing social influences on health in clinical practice, longitudinal and vertical integration of clinical services and horizontal integration with community services and resources. In addition, barriers and facilitators to implementation are reviewed. PMID:23677685

Service Management Database for DSN Equipment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zendejas, Silvino; Bui, Tung; Bui, Bach; Malhotra, Shantanu; Chen, Fannie; Wolgast, Paul; Allen, Christopher; Luong, Ivy; Chang, George; Sadaqathulla, Syed

2009-01-01

This data- and event-driven persistent storage system leverages the use of commercial software provided by Oracle for portability, ease of maintenance, scalability, and ease of integration with embedded, client-server, and multi-tiered applications. In this role, the Service Management Database (SMDB) is a key component of the overall end-to-end process involved in the scheduling, preparation, and configuration of the Deep Space Network (DSN) equipment needed to perform the various telecommunication services the DSN provides to its customers worldwide. SMDB makes efficient use of triggers, stored procedures, queuing functions, e-mail capabilities, data management, and Java integration features provided by the Oracle relational database management system. SMDB uses a third normal form schema design that allows for simple data maintenance procedures and thin layers of integration with client applications. The software provides an integrated event logging system with ability to publish events to a JMS messaging system for synchronous and asynchronous delivery to subscribed applications. It provides a structured classification of events and application-level messages stored in database tables that are accessible by monitoring applications for real-time monitoring or for troubleshooting and analysis over historical archives.

Asan medical information system for healthcare quality improvement.

PubMed

Ryu, Hyeon Jeong; Kim, Woo Sung; Lee, Jae Ho; Min, Sung Woo; Kim, Sun Ja; Lee, Yong Su; Lee, Young Ha; Nam, Sang Woo; Eo, Gi Seung; Seo, Sook Gyoung; Nam, Mi Hyun

2010-09-01

This purpose of this paper is to introduce the status of the Asan Medical Center (AMC) medical information system with respect to healthcare quality improvement. Asan Medical Information System (AMIS) is projected to become a completely electronic and digital information hospital. AMIS has played a role in improving the health care quality based on the following measures: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, privacy, and security. AMIS CONSISTED OF SEVERAL DISTINCTIVE SYSTEMS: order communication system, electronic medical record, picture archiving communication system, clinical research information system, data warehouse, enterprise resource planning, IT service management system, and disaster recovery system. The most distinctive features of AMIS were the high alert-medication recognition & management system, the integrated and severity stratified alert system, the integrated patient monitoring system, the perioperative diabetic care monitoring and support system, and the clinical indicator management system. AMIS provides IT services for AMC, 7 affiliated hospitals and over 5,000 partners clinics, and was developed to improve healthcare services. The current challenge of AMIS is standard and interoperability. A global health IT strategy is needed to get through the current challenges and to provide new services as needed.

A new architecture for enterprise information systems.

PubMed Central

Covvey, H. D.; Stumpf, J. J.

1999-01-01

Irresistible economic and technical forces are forcing healthcare institutions to develop regionalized services such as consolidated or virtual laboratories. Technical realities, such as the lack of an enabling enterprise-level information technology (IT) integration infrastructure, the existence of legacy systems, and non-existent or embryonic enterprise-level IT services organizations, are delaying or frustrating the achievement of the desired configuration of shared services. On attempting to address this matter, we discover that the state-of-the-art in integration technology is not wholly adequate, and itself becomes a barrier to the full realization of shared healthcare services. In this paper we report new work from the field of Co-operative Information Systems that proposes a new architecture of systems that are intrinsically cooperation-enabled, and we extend this architecture to both the regional and national scales. PMID:10566455

A SCORM Thin Client Architecture for E-Learning Systems Based on Web Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casella, Giovanni; Costagliola, Gennaro; Ferrucci, Filomena; Polese, Giuseppe; Scanniello, Giuseppe

2007-01-01

In this paper we propose an architecture of e-learning systems characterized by the use of Web services and a suitable middleware component. These technical infrastructures allow us to extend the system with new services as well as to integrate and reuse heterogeneous software e-learning components. Moreover, they let us better support the…

A Hash Based Remote User Authentication and Authenticated Key Agreement Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System.

PubMed

Li, Chun-Ta; Weng, Chi-Yao; Lee, Cheng-Chi; Wang, Chun-Cheng

2015-11-01

To protect patient privacy and ensure authorized access to remote medical services, many remote user authentication schemes for the integrated electronic patient record (EPR) information system have been proposed in the literature. In a recent paper, Das proposed a hash based remote user authentication scheme using passwords and smart cards for the integrated EPR information system, and claimed that the proposed scheme could resist various passive and active attacks. However, in this paper, we found that Das's authentication scheme is still vulnerable to modification and user duplication attacks. Thereafter we propose a secure and efficient authentication scheme for the integrated EPR information system based on lightweight hash function and bitwise exclusive-or (XOR) operations. The security proof and performance analysis show our new scheme is well-suited to adoption in remote medical healthcare services.

48 CFR 208.7003-1 - Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM). 208.7003-1 Section 208.7003-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Coordinated Acquisition 208.7003-1 Assignments under integrated materiel management...

48 CFR 208.7003-1 - Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM). 208.7003-1 Section 208.7003-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Coordinated Acquisition 208.7003-1 Assignments under integrated materiel management...

48 CFR 208.7003-1 - Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM). 208.7003-1 Section 208.7003-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Coordinated Acquisition 208.7003-1 Assignments under integrated materiel management...

48 CFR 208.7003-1 - Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM). 208.7003-1 Section 208.7003-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Coordinated Acquisition 208.7003-1 Assignments under integrated materiel management...

48 CFR 208.7003-1 - Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Assignments under integrated materiel management (IMM). 208.7003-1 Section 208.7003-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Coordinated Acquisition 208.7003-1 Assignments under integrated materiel management...

Strengthening Resiliency in Coastal Watersheds: An Ecosystem Services and Ecological Integrity Decision Support System

EPA Science Inventory

This product provides an integrated assessment framework linked to a decision support system (DSS) that incorporates the ecological integrity (EI) principles and goals described in detail in the US EPA’s Office of Water’s Healthy Watersheds Program (HWP), with Ecosyst...

Factors influencing the successful integration of ambulance volunteers and first responders into ambulance services.

PubMed

O'Meara, Peter; Tourle, Vianne; Rae, John

2012-09-01

This study identifies the factors associated with the successful integration of ambulance volunteers and first responders into major ambulance services in Australia and New Zealand and then proposes a model of volunteer management for ambulance services. All ten members of the Australasian Council of Ambulance Authorities completed a questionnaire describing their volunteer and first-responder staff, their numbers and deployment, and the management and integration of volunteers within their respective organisations. Eight senior managers responsible for ambulance volunteers and first responders from six States of Australia and one region of New Zealand subsequently participated in semistructured interviews. Analysis of interview transcripts and publicly available data revealed facilitative factors associated with strong, vibrant ambulance volunteer systems. These facilitative factors are commitment to volunteer models of service delivery; a degree of management decentralisation and volunteer input into decision-making; commitment of resources towards the volunteer model; and the organisational integration of volunteers into the ambulance service. The proposed facilitative model of volunteer management developed aims to encourage the adoption of positive and innovative strategies to improve the integration of ambulance volunteers and first responders in ambulance services. The model consists of four components: leadership; integrative processes; resource commitment; and relative autonomy. The first three of these relate directly to the organisation, while the fourth concerns the volunteers themselves. If these approaches were replicated more widely, a viable and effective volunteer emergency health response system could be established in those areas where it is uneconomic or impractical to provide a salaried ambulance service staffed with professionally qualified paramedics. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The 10 MWe solar thermal central receiver pilot plant solar facilities design integration, RADL item 1-10

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-07-01

Accomplishments are reported in the areas of: program management, system integration, the beam characterization system, receiver unit, thermal storage subsystems, master control system, plant support subsystem and engineering services. A solar facilities design integration program action items update is included. Work plan changes and cost underruns are discussed briefly. (LEW)

The effect of for-profit laboratories on the accountability, integration, and cost of Canadian health care services.

PubMed

Sutherland, Ross

2012-01-01

Canadian public health care systems pay for-profit corporations to provide essential medical laboratory services. This practice is a useful window on the effects of using for-profit corporations to provide publicly funded services. Because private corporations are substantially protected by law from the public disclosure of "confidential business information," increased for-profit delivery has led to decreased transparency, thus impeding informed debate on how laboratory services are delivered. Using for-profit laboratories increases the cost of diagnostic testing and hinders the integration of health care services more generally. Two useful steps toward ending the for-profit provision of laboratory services would be to stop fee-for-service funding and to integrate all laboratory work within public administrative structures.

Sharing Service Resource Information for Application Integration in a Virtual Enterprise - Modeling the Communication Protocol for Exchanging Service Resource Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Hiroshi; Kawaguchi, Akira

Grid computing and web service technologies enable us to use networked resources in a coordinated manner. An integrated service is made of individual services running on coordinated resources. In order to achieve such coordinated services autonomously, the initiator of a coordinated service needs to know detailed service resource information. This information ranges from static attributes like the IP address of the application server to highly dynamic ones like the CPU load. The most famous wide-area service discovery mechanism based on names is DNS. Its hierarchical tree organization and caching methods take advantage of the static information managed. However, in order to integrate business applications in a virtual enterprise, we need a discovery mechanism to search for the optimal resources based on the given a set of criteria (search keys). In this paper, we propose a communication protocol for exchanging service resource information among wide-area systems. We introduce the concept of the service domain that consists of service providers managed under the same management policy. This concept of the service domain is similar to that for autonomous systems (ASs). In each service domain, the service information provider manages the service resource information of service providers that exist in this service domain. The service resource information provider exchanges this information with other service resource information providers that belong to the different service domains. We also verified the protocol's behavior and effectiveness using a simulation model developed for proposed protocol.

Design mobile satellite system architecture as an integral part of the cellular access digital network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, E. S. K.; Marinho, J. A.; Russell, J. E., Sr.

1988-01-01

The Cellular Access Digital Network (CADN) is the access vehicle through which cellular technology is brought into the mainstream of the evolving integrated telecommunications network. Beyond the integrated end-to-end digital access and per call network services provisioning of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), the CADN engenders the added capability of mobility freedom via wireless access. One key element of the CADN network architecture is the standard user to network interface that is independent of RF transmission technology. Since the Mobile Satellite System (MSS) is envisioned to not only complement but also enhance the capabilities of the terrestrial cellular telecommunications network, compatibility and interoperability between terrestrial cellular and mobile satellite systems are vitally important to provide an integrated moving telecommunications network of the future. From a network standpoint, there exist very strong commonalities between the terrestrial cellular system and the mobile satellite system. Therefore, the MSS architecture should be designed as an integral part of the CADN. This paper describes the concept of the CADN, the functional architecture of the MSS, and the user-network interface signaling protocols.

Dual diagnosis capability in mental health and addiction treatment services: An assessment of programs across multiple state systems

PubMed Central

McGovern, Mark P.; Lambert-Harris, Chantal; Gotham, Heather J.; Claus, Ronald E.; Xie, Haiyi

2012-01-01

Despite increased awareness of the benefits of integrated services for persons with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders, estimates of the availability of integrated services vary widely. The present study utilized standardized measures of program capacity to address co-occurring disorders, the Dual Diagnosis Capability in Addiction Treatment (DDCAT) and Dual Diagnosis Capability in Mental Health Treatment (DDCMHT) indexes, and sampled 256 programs across the United States. Approximately 18% of addiction treatment and 9% of mental health programs met criteria for dual diagnosis capable services. This is the first report on public access to integrated services using objective measures. PMID:23183873

42 CFR § 414.1460 - Monitoring and program integrity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2017-10-01

... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICARE PROGRAM (CONTINUED) PAYMENT FOR PART B MEDICAL AND OTHER HEALTH SERVICES Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and Alternative Payment Model Incentive § 414.1460 Monitoring and program integrity. (a) Vetting eligible clinicians prior to payment of the APM Incentive Payment. Prior to...

Research of B2B e-Business Application and Development Technology Based on SOA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xian, Li Liang

Today, the B2B e-business systems in most enterprises usually have multiple heterogeneous and independent systems which are based on different platforms and operate in different functional departments. To deal with the increased services in future, an enterprise needs to expand its system continuously. This, however, will cause great inconvenience to the future system maintenance. To implement e-business successfully, a unified internal e-business integration environment must be established to integrate the internal system and thus realize a unified internal mechanism within the enterprise e-business system. The SOA (service-oriented architecture), however, can well meet the above requirements. The integration of SOA-based applications can reduce the dependency of different types of IT systems, reduce the cost of system maintenance and the complexity of the IT system operation, increase the flexibility of the system deployment, and at the same time exclude the barrier of service innovation. Research and application of SOA-based enterprise application systems has become a very important research project at present. Based on SOA, this document designs an enterprise e-business application model and realizes a flexible and expandable e-business platform.

SBMLmod: a Python-based web application and web service for efficient data integration and model simulation.

PubMed

Schäuble, Sascha; Stavrum, Anne-Kristin; Bockwoldt, Mathias; Puntervoll, Pål; Heiland, Ines

2017-06-24

Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is the standard model representation and description language in systems biology. Enriching and analysing systems biology models by integrating the multitude of available data, increases the predictive power of these models. This may be a daunting task, which commonly requires bioinformatic competence and scripting. We present SBMLmod, a Python-based web application and service, that automates integration of high throughput data into SBML models. Subsequent steady state analysis is readily accessible via the web service COPASIWS. We illustrate the utility of SBMLmod by integrating gene expression data from different healthy tissues as well as from a cancer dataset into a previously published model of mammalian tryptophan metabolism. SBMLmod is a user-friendly platform for model modification and simulation. The web application is available at http://sbmlmod.uit.no , whereas the WSDL definition file for the web service is accessible via http://sbmlmod.uit.no/SBMLmod.wsdl . Furthermore, the entire package can be downloaded from https://github.com/MolecularBioinformatics/sbml-mod-ws . We envision that SBMLmod will make automated model modification and simulation available to a broader research community.

Globus Identity, Access, and Data Management: Platform Services for Collaborative Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ananthakrishnan, R.; Foster, I.; Wagner, R.

2016-12-01

Globus is software-as-a-service for research data management, developed at, and operated by, the University of Chicago. Globus, accessible at www.globus.org, provides high speed, secure file transfer; file sharing directly from existing storage systems; and data publication to institutional repositories. 40,000 registered users have used Globus to transfer tens of billions of files totaling hundreds of petabytes between more than 10,000 storage systems within campuses and national laboratories in the US and internationally. Web, command line, and REST interfaces support both interactive use and integration into applications and infrastructures. An important component of the Globus system is its foundational identity and access management (IAM) platform service, Globus Auth. Both Globus research data management and other applications use Globus Auth for brokering authentication and authorization interactions between end-users, identity providers, resource servers (services), and a range of clients, including web, mobile, and desktop applications, and other services. Compliant with important standards such as OAuth, OpenID, and SAML, Globus Auth provides mechanisms required for an extensible, integrated ecosystem of services and clients for the research and education community. It underpins projects such as the US National Science Foundation's XSEDE system, NCAR's Research Data Archive, and the DOE Systems Biology Knowledge Base. Current work is extending Globus services to be compliant with FEDRAMP standards for security assessment, authorization, and monitoring for cloud services. We will present Globus IAM solutions and give examples of Globus use in various projects for federated access to resources. We will also describe how Globus Auth and Globus research data management capabilities enable rapid development and low-cost operations of secure data sharing platforms that leverage Globus services and integrate them with local policy and security.

The Westport Connecticut Integrated Transit System : service and methods demonstration program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-07-01

Report evaluates the implementation, operations and impacts of the Westport Transit District's demonstration grant to examine the feasibility of combining shared ride taxi service and other paratransit services with conventional bus services. Report ...

Demand Response and Energy Storage Integration Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ma, Ookie; Cheung, Kerry; Olsen, Daniel J.

2016-03-01

Demand response and energy storage resources present potentially important sources of bulk power system services that can aid in integrating variable renewable generation. While renewable integration studies have evaluated many of the challenges associated with deploying large amounts of variable wind and solar generation technologies, integration analyses have not yet fully incorporated demand response and energy storage resources. This report represents an initial effort in analyzing the potential integration value of demand response and energy storage, focusing on the western United States. It evaluates two major aspects of increased deployment of demand response and energy storage: (1) Their operational valuemore » in providing bulk power system services and (2) Market and regulatory issues, including potential barriers to deployment.« less

Demand Response and Energy Storage Integration Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ma, Ookie; Cheung, Kerry

Demand response and energy storage resources present potentially important sources of bulk power system services that can aid in integrating variable renewable generation. While renewable integration studies have evaluated many of the challenges associated with deploying large amounts of variable wind and solar generation technologies, integration analyses have not yet fully incorporated demand response and energy storage resources. This report represents an initial effort in analyzing the potential integration value of demand response and energy storage, focusing on the western United States. It evaluates two major aspects of increased deployment of demand response and energy storage: (1) Their operational valuemore » in providing bulk power system services and (2) Market and regulatory issues, including potential barriers to deployment.« less

Design and realization of intelligent tourism service system based on voice interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Lei-di; Long, Yi; Qian, Cheng-yang; Zhang, Ling; Lv, Guo-nian

2008-10-01

Voice technology is one of the important contents to improve the intelligence and humanization of tourism service system. Combining voice technology, the paper concentrates on application needs and the composition of system to present an overall intelligent tourism service system's framework consisting of presentation layer, Web services layer, and tourism application service layer. On the basis, the paper further elaborated the implementation of the system and its key technologies, including intelligent voice interactive technology, seamless integration technology of multiple data sources, location-perception-based guides' services technology, and tourism safety control technology. Finally, according to the situation of Nanjing tourism, a prototype of Tourism Services System is realized.

Design Research of TIANDITU (Map Worl)-Based Geographic Information System for Travelling Service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Zhang, H.; Wang, C.

2014-04-01

TIANDITU (Map World) is the public version of the National Platform for Common Geospatial Information Service, and the travelling channel is TIANDITU-based geographic information platform for travelling service. With the development of tourism, traditional ways for providing travelling information cannot meet the needs of travelers. As such, the travelling channel of TIANDITU focuses on providing travel information abundantly and precisely, which integrated the geographic information data of TIANDITU Version 2.0 and the authoritative information resources from China National Tourism Administration. Furthermore, spatial positioning, category and information query of various travelling information were offered for the public in the travelling channel. This research mainly involves three important parts: the system design, key technologies of the system design and application examples. Firstly, this paper introduced the design of TIANDITU-based geographic information system for travelling service, and the general and database design were described in detail. The designs for general, database and travelling service above should consider lots of factors which illustrated in the paper in order to guarantee the efficient service. The process of system construction, the content of geographic information for travelling and system functions of geographic information for travelling are also proposed via diagram in this part. Then several key technologies were discussed, including the travelling information integration for main node and among nodes, general architecture design and management system for travelling channel, web portals and system interface. From the perspective of main technologies, this part describes how TIANDITU travelling channel can realize various functions and reach the requirements from different users. Finally, three application examples about travelling information query were listed shortly. The functions and search results are shown clearly in this part. In all, TIANDITU-based geographic information system for travelling service aimed to integrate the travelling information resources from national, provincial and municipal levels, and finally realized to provide "one stop" travelling service for users in the end.

HIPAA-compliant automatic monitoring system for RIS-integrated PACS operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Jin; Zhang, Jianguo; Chen, Xiaomeng; Sun, Jianyong; Yang, Yuanyuan; Liang, Chenwen; Feng, Jie; Sheng, Liwei; Huang, H. K.

2006-03-01

As a governmental regulation, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was issued to protect the privacy of health information that identifies individuals who are living or deceased. HIPAA requires security services supporting implementation features: Access control; Audit controls; Authorization control; Data authentication; and Entity authentication. These controls, which proposed in HIPAA Security Standards, are Audit trails here. Audit trails can be used for surveillance purposes, to detect when interesting events might be happening that warrant further investigation. Or they can be used forensically, after the detection of a security breach, to determine what went wrong and who or what was at fault. In order to provide security control services and to achieve the high and continuous availability, we design the HIPAA-Compliant Automatic Monitoring System for RIS-Integrated PACS operation. The system consists of two parts: monitoring agents running in each PACS component computer and a Monitor Server running in a remote computer. Monitoring agents are deployed on all computer nodes in RIS-Integrated PACS system to collect the Audit trail messages defined by the Supplement 95 of the DICOM standard: Audit Trail Messages. Then the Monitor Server gathers all audit messages and processes them to provide security information in three levels: system resources, PACS/RIS applications, and users/patients data accessing. Now the RIS-Integrated PACS managers can monitor and control the entire RIS-Integrated PACS operation through web service provided by the Monitor Server. This paper presents the design of a HIPAA-compliant automatic monitoring system for RIS-Integrated PACS Operation, and gives the preliminary results performed by this monitoring system on a clinical RIS-integrated PACS.

Increasing the Delivery of Preventive Health Services in Public Education.

PubMed

Cruden, Gracelyn; Kelleher, Kelly; Kellam, Sheppard; Brown, C Hendricks

2016-10-01

The delivery of prevention services to children and adolescents through traditional healthcare settings is challenging for a variety of reasons. Parent- and community-focused services are typically not reimbursable in traditional medical settings, and personal healthcare services are often designed for acute and chronic medical treatment rather than prevention. To provide preventive services in a setting that reaches the widest population, those interested in public health and prevention often turn to school settings. This paper proposes that an equitable, efficient manner in which to promote health across the life course is to integrate efforts from public health, primary care, and public education through the delivery of preventive healthcare services, in particular, in the education system. Such an integration of systems will require a concerted effort on the part of various stakeholders, as well as a shared vision to promote child health via community and institutional stakeholder partnerships. This paper includes (1) examination of some key system features necessary for delivery of preventive services that improve child outcomes; (2) a review of the features of some common models of school health services for their relevance to prevention services; and (3) policy and implementation strategy recommendations to further the delivery of preventive services in schools. These recommendations include the development of common metrics for health outcomes reporting, facilitated data sharing of these metrics, shared organization incentives for integration, and improved reimbursement and funding opportunities. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systems Architecture for a Nationwide Healthcare System.

PubMed

Abin, Jorge; Nemeth, Horacio; Friedmann, Ignacio

2015-01-01

From a national level to give Internet technology support, the Nationwide Integrated Healthcare System in Uruguay requires a model of Information Systems Architecture. This system has multiple healthcare providers (public and private), and a strong component of supplementary services. Thus, the data processing system should have an architecture that considers this fact, while integrating the central services provided by the Ministry of Public Health. The national electronic health record, as well as other related data processing systems, should be based on this architecture. The architecture model described here conceptualizes a federated framework of electronic health record systems, according to the IHE affinity model, HL7 standards, local standards on interoperability and security, as well as technical advice provided by AGESIC. It is the outcome of the research done by AGESIC and Systems Integration Laboratory (LINS) on the development and use of the e-Government Platform since 2008, as well as the research done by the team Salud.uy since 2013.

Integrating Grid Services into the Cray XT4 Environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NERSC; Cholia, Shreyas; Lin, Hwa-Chun Wendy

2009-05-01

The 38640 core Cray XT4"Franklin" system at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is a massively parallel resource available to Department of Energy researchers that also provides on-demand grid computing to the Open Science Grid. The integration of grid services on Franklin presented various challenges, including fundamental differences between the interactive and compute nodes, a stripped down compute-node operating system without dynamic library support, a shared-root environment and idiosyncratic application launching. Inour work, we describe how we resolved these challenges on a running, general-purpose production system to provide on-demand compute, storage, accounting and monitoring services through generic gridmore » interfaces that mask the underlying system-specific details for the end user.« less

A Integrated Service Platform for Remote Sensing Image 3D Interpretation and Draughting based on HTML5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LIU, Yiping; XU, Qing; ZhANG, Heng; LV, Liang; LU, Wanjie; WANG, Dandi

2016-11-01

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problems of the traditional single system for interpretation and draughting such as inconsistent standards, single function, dependence on plug-ins, closed system and low integration level. On the basis of the comprehensive analysis of the target elements composition, map representation and similar system features, a 3D interpretation and draughting integrated service platform for multi-source, multi-scale and multi-resolution geospatial objects is established based on HTML5 and WebGL, which not only integrates object recognition, access, retrieval, three-dimensional display and test evaluation but also achieves collection, transfer, storage, refreshing and maintenance of data about Geospatial Objects and shows value in certain prospects and potential for growth.

A Collaborative Molecular Modeling Environment Using a Virtual Tunneling Service

PubMed Central

Lee, Jun; Kim, Jee-In; Kang, Lin-Woo

2012-01-01

Collaborative researches of three-dimensional molecular modeling can be limited by different time zones and locations. A networked virtual environment can be utilized to overcome the problem caused by the temporal and spatial differences. However, traditional approaches did not sufficiently consider integration of different computing environments, which were characterized by types of applications, roles of users, and so on. We propose a collaborative molecular modeling environment to integrate different molecule modeling systems using a virtual tunneling service. We integrated Co-Coot, which is a collaborative crystallographic object-oriented toolkit, with VRMMS, which is a virtual reality molecular modeling system, through a collaborative tunneling system. The proposed system showed reliable quantitative and qualitative results through pilot experiments. PMID:22927721

78 FR 52511 - Procurement List; Additions and Deletions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-23

..., W7NX USPFO Activity PA ARNG, Annville, PA. Service Type/Location: Integrated Prime Vendor Supply Chain... of PM FSS, does not have a current contract for the provision of Integrated Prime Vendor Supply Chain... kitting or other supply chain management services required were obtained through the DLA depot system. The...

Integrated orbital servicing study follow-on. Volume 2: Technical analysis and system design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

In-orbit service functional and physical requirements to support both low and high Earth orbit servicing/maintenance operations were defined, an optimum servicing system configuration was developed and mockups and early prototype hardware were fabricated to demonstrate and validate the concepts selected. Significant issues addressed include criteria for concept selection; representative mission equipment and approaches to their design for serviceability; significant serviceable spacecraft design aspects; servicer mechanism operation in one-g; approaches for the demonstration/simulation; and service mechanism structure design approach.

39 CFR 501.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Definitions. 501.1 Section 501.1 Postal Service... EVIDENCING SYSTEMS § 501.1 Definitions. (a) Postage Evidencing Systems regulated by part 501 produce evidence... Evidencing Systems that use a personal computer as an integral part of the system. PC Postage products may...

39 CFR 501.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Definitions. 501.1 Section 501.1 Postal Service... EVIDENCING SYSTEMS § 501.1 Definitions. (a) Postage Evidencing Systems regulated by part 501 produce evidence... Evidencing Systems that use a personal computer as an integral part of the system. PC Postage products may...

39 CFR 501.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Definitions. 501.1 Section 501.1 Postal Service... EVIDENCING SYSTEMS § 501.1 Definitions. (a) Postage Evidencing Systems regulated by part 501 produce evidence... Evidencing Systems that use a personal computer as an integral part of the system. PC Postage products may...

General practice, primary care, and health service psychology: concepts, competencies, and the Combined-Integrated model.

PubMed

Schulte, Timothy J; Isley, Elayne; Link, Nancy; Shealy, Craig N; Winfrey, LaPearl Logan

2004-10-01

The profession of psychology is being impacted profoundly by broader changes within the national system of health care, as mental and behavioral health services are being recognized as essential components of a comprehensive, preventive, and cost-efficient primary care system. To fully define and embrace this role, the discipline of professional psychology must develop a shared disciplinary identity of health service psychology and a generalized competency-based model for doctoral education and training. This very framework has been adopted by Combined-Integrated (C-I) doctoral programs in professional psychology, which train across the practice areas (clinical, counseling, and school psychology) to provide a general and integrative foundation for their students. Because C-I programs produce general practitioners who are competent to function within a variety of health service settings, this innovative training approach has great potential to educate and train psychologists for a changing health care marketplace. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Towards reframing health service delivery in Uganda: the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases

PubMed Central

Schwartz, Jeremy I.; Dunkle, Ashley; Akiteng, Ann R.; Birabwa-Male, Doreen; Kagimu, Richard; Mondo, Charles K.; Mutungi, Gerald; Rabin, Tracy L.; Skonieczny, Michael; Sykes, Jamila; Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet

2015-01-01

Background The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is accelerating. Given that the capacity of health systems in LMICs is already strained by the weight of communicable diseases, these countries find themselves facing a double burden of disease. NCDs contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality, thereby playing a major role in the cycle of poverty, and impeding development. Methods Integrated approaches to health service delivery and healthcare worker (HCW) training will be necessary in order to successfully combat the great challenge posed by NCDs. Results In 2013, we formed the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of NCDs (UINCD), a multidisciplinary research collaboration that aims to present a systems approach to integrated management of chronic disease prevention, care, and the training of HCWs. Discussion Through broad-based stakeholder engagement, catalytic partnerships, and a collective vision, UINCD is working to reframe integrated health service delivery in Uganda. PMID:25563451

Integrating existing software toolkits into VO system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Chenzhou; Zhao, Yong-Heng; Wang, Xiaoqian; Sang, Jian; Luo, Ze

2004-09-01

Virtual Observatory (VO) is a collection of interoperating data archives and software tools. Taking advantages of the latest information technologies, it aims to provide a data-intensively online research environment for astronomers all around the world. A large number of high-qualified astronomical software packages and libraries are powerful and easy of use, and have been widely used by astronomers for many years. Integrating those toolkits into the VO system is a necessary and important task for the VO developers. VO architecture greatly depends on Grid and Web services, consequently the general VO integration route is "Java Ready - Grid Ready - VO Ready". In the paper, we discuss the importance of VO integration for existing toolkits and discuss the possible solutions. We introduce two efforts in the field from China-VO project, "gImageMagick" and "Galactic abundance gradients statistical research under grid environment". We also discuss what additional work should be done to convert Grid service to VO service.

14/12-GHz-band satellite communication services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashi, Kunihiro; Nagaki, Kiyoaki; Mori, Yasuo

1990-01-01

Three new systems for integrated TV-relay services have been developed: Satellite Video Comunication Service (SVCS) and Satellite Digital Communication Service (SDCS), with Japan's 14/12-GHz-band commercial communication satellites. These systems have been in commercial use since May 1989. Usually SVCS and SDCS have been provided using Ka-band (30/20 GHz-band) of CS-2 and Cs-3. This paper provides an overview of the design, the performance, and the systems of the new 14/12-GHz-band satellite communication services.

An integrated chronic disease management model: a diagonal approach to health system strengthening in South Africa.

PubMed

Mahomed, Ozayr Haroon; Asmall, Shaidah; Freeman, Melvyn

2014-11-01

The integrated chronic disease management model provides a systematic framework for creating a fundamental change in the orientation of the health system. This model adopts a diagonal approach to health system strengthening by establishing a service-linked base to training, supervision, and the opportunity to try out, assess, and implement integrated interventions.

Engineering management consideration for an integrated aeronautical mobile satellite service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belcher, John M.

In order to meet local air traffic control terminal requirements as well as national and transborder requirements, countries have developed communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) systems having little systems integration and a solely ground-based solution to air traffic control problems. It is believed that the application of satellite technology is the only currently viable solution that will enable international civil aviation to overcome the shortcomings of the presently available CNS systems. If properly implemented, available satellite system technology integrated with avionics and ground based capabilities, can be used to meet new global aviation demands. A clear transition plan has to be implemented so as to ensure continuity of service, recognize user-borne costs, and satisfy institutional and national objectives in the progress toward a universal air traffic management (ATM) system. ATM systems design should rely on a modular approach for flexibility and upgrading. An aeronautical mobile satellite service is intended to provide a worldwide satellite data link and direct air/ground voice communication. Institutional and financial roadblocks for implemetation of a global based approach will likely be far greater than technical constraints.

The Core Services of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, T. L.; Euteneuer, F. H.; Lauterjung, J.

2013-12-01

The ESFRI project European Plate Observing System (EPOS) was launched in November 2010 and has now completed its year 3 of the four-year preparatory phase. EPOS will create a single sustainable, permanent observation infrastructure, integrating existing geophysical monitoring networks, local observatories and experimental laboratories in Europe and adjacent regions. EPOS' technical Work Package 6 has developed a three layer architectural model for the construction of the EPOS Core Services (CS) during the subsequent implementation phase. The Poster will present and detail on these three layers, consisting of the EPOS Integrated Core Services (ICS), the Thematic Core Services (TCS) and the existing National Research Infrastructures & Data Centers. The basic layer of the architecture is established by the National Research Infrastructures (RIs) & Data Centers, which generate data and information and are responsible for the operation of the instrumentation. National RIs will provide their data to the Thematic Cores Services. The Thematic Core Services constitute the community layer of EPOS architecture and they will: 1) consist of existing (e.g. ORFEUS, EMSC), developing (e.g. EUREF/GNSS) or still to be developed Service Providers for specific thematic communities, as represented within EPOS through the technical EPOS Working Groups (e.g., seismology, volcanology, geodesy, geology, analytic labs for rock physics, geomagnetism, geo-resources ... and many others), 2) provide data services to specific communities, 3) link the National Research Infrastructures to the EPOS Integrated Services, 4) include Service Providers (e.g. OneGeology+, Intermagnet) that may be merely linked or partially integrated and 5) consist of Integrated Laboratories and RIs spanning multiple EPOS disciplines and taking advantage of other existing Thematic Services. The EPOS Integrated Services constitute the ICT layer of the EPOS portal and they will: 1) provide access to multidisciplinary data from different EPOS Thematic Core Services and from the National RIs & Data Centers, 2) provide access to data products, synthetic data from simulations, data processing and data visualization tools, 3) serve science, industry, education, government, legal and other stakeholders in an integrated fashion through the EPOS User Interface, and 4) provide a variety of ICT technological services including (but not being limited) to discovery functions, data mining, access to modeling tools and high performance computing, and training & tutorials.

A Call for Integrated and Coordinated Palliative Care

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Integrated palliative care is viewed as having the potential to improve service coordination, efficiency, and quality outcomes for patients and family carers. However, the majority of Canadians do not have access to regional, comprehensive, integrated palliative care. Work needs to be directed toward planning palliative care services that is integrated into the healthcare and social care system. To further this goal, it is important to have a conceptual understanding of the meaning of integrated care and its expression in organizational models for the provision of palliative care. PMID:29283874

Web-based integrated public healthcare information system of Korea: development and performance.

PubMed

Ryu, Seewon; Park, Minsu; Lee, Jaegook; Kim, Sung-Soo; Han, Bum Soo; Mo, Kyoung Chun; Lee, Hyung Seok

2013-12-01

The Web-based integrated public healthcare information system (PHIS) of Korea was planned and developed from 2005 to 2010, and it is being used in 3,501 regional health organizations. This paper introduces and discusses development and performance of the system. We reviewed and examined documents about the development process and performance of the newly integrated PHIS. The resources we analyzed the national plan for public healthcare, information strategy for PHIS, usage and performance reports of the system. The integrated PHIS included 19 functional business areas, 47 detailed health programs, and 48 inter-organizational tasks. The new PHIS improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the business process and inter-organizational business, and enhanced user satisfaction. Economic benefits were obtained from five categories: labor, health education and monitoring, clinical information management, administration and civil service, and system maintenance. The system was certified by a patent from the Korean Intellectual Property Office and accredited as an ISO 9001. It was also reviewed and received preliminary comments about its originality, advancement, and business applicability from the Patent Cooperation Treaty. It has been found to enhance the quality of policy decision-making about regional healthcare at the self-governing local government level. PHIS, a Web-based integrated system, has contributed to the improvement of regional healthcare services of Korea. However, when it comes to an appropriate evolution, the needs and changing environments of community-level healthcare service and IT infrastructure should be analyzed properly in advance.

Web-Based Integrated Public Healthcare Information System of Korea: Development and Performance

PubMed Central

Park, Minsu; Lee, Jaegook; Kim, Sung-Soo; Han, Bum Soo; Mo, Kyoung Chun; Lee, Hyung Seok

2013-01-01

Objectives The Web-based integrated public healthcare information system (PHIS) of Korea was planned and developed from 2005 to 2010, and it is being used in 3,501 regional health organizations. This paper introduces and discusses development and performance of the system. Methods We reviewed and examined documents about the development process and performance of the newly integrated PHIS. The resources we analyzed the national plan for public healthcare, information strategy for PHIS, usage and performance reports of the system. Results The integrated PHIS included 19 functional business areas, 47 detailed health programs, and 48 inter-organizational tasks. The new PHIS improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the business process and inter-organizational business, and enhanced user satisfaction. Economic benefits were obtained from five categories: labor, health education and monitoring, clinical information management, administration and civil service, and system maintenance. The system was certified by a patent from the Korean Intellectual Property Office and accredited as an ISO 9001. It was also reviewed and received preliminary comments about its originality, advancement, and business applicability from the Patent Cooperation Treaty. It has been found to enhance the quality of policy decision-making about regional healthcare at the self-governing local government level. Conclusions PHIS, a Web-based integrated system, has contributed to the improvement of regional healthcare services of Korea. However, when it comes to an appropriate evolution, the needs and changing environments of community-level healthcare service and IT infrastructure should be analyzed properly in advance. PMID:24523997

Integrated orbital servicing study for low-cost payload programs. Volume 2: Technical and cost analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cody, E. R.; Deats, C. L.; Derocher, W. L., Jr.; Kyrias, G. M.; Snodgrass, M. R.; Sosnay, R. D.; Spencer, R. A.; Wudell, A. E.

1975-01-01

Orbital maintenance concepts were examined in an effort to determine a cost effective orbital maintenance system compatible with the space transportation system. An on-orbit servicer maintenance system is recommended as the most cost effective system. A pivoting arm on-orbit servicer was selected and a preliminary design was prepared. It is indicated that orbital maintenance does not have any significant impact on the space transportation system.

The 10 MWe solar thermal central receiver pilot plant solar facilities design integration, RADL item 1-10

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-08-01

Work on the plant support subsystems and engineering services is reported. The master control system, thermal storage subsystem, receiver unit, and the beam characterization system were reviewed. Progress in program management and system integration is highlighted.

Mental health services conceptualised as complex adaptive systems: what can be learned?

PubMed

Ellis, Louise A; Churruca, Kate; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

Despite many attempts at promoting systems integration, seamless care, and partnerships among service providers and users, mental health services internationally continue to be fragmented and piecemeal. We exploit recent ideas from complexity science to conceptualise mental health services as complex adaptive systems (CASs). The core features of CASs are described and Australia's headspace initiative is used as an example of the kinds of problems currently being faced. We argue that adopting a CAS lens can transform services, creating more connected care for service users with mental health conditions.

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) for preventive management of COPD patients.

PubMed

Velickovski, Filip; Ceccaroni, Luigi; Roca, Josep; Burgos, Felip; Galdiz, Juan B; Marina, Nuria; Lluch-Ariet, Magí

2014-11-28

The use of information and communication technologies to manage chronic diseases allows the application of integrated care pathways, and the optimization and standardization of care processes. Decision support tools can assist in the adherence to best-practice medicine in critical decision points during the execution of a care pathway. The objectives are to design, develop, and assess a clinical decision support system (CDSS) offering a suite of services for the early detection and assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which can be easily integrated into a healthcare providers' work-flow. The software architecture model for the CDSS, interoperable clinical-knowledge representation, and inference engine were designed and implemented to form a base CDSS framework. The CDSS functionalities were iteratively developed through requirement-adjustment/development/validation cycles using enterprise-grade software-engineering methodologies and technologies. Within each cycle, clinical-knowledge acquisition was performed by a health-informatics engineer and a clinical-expert team. A suite of decision-support web services for (i) COPD early detection and diagnosis, (ii) spirometry quality-control support, (iii) patient stratification, was deployed in a secured environment on-line. The CDSS diagnostic performance was assessed using a validation set of 323 cases with 90% specificity, and 96% sensitivity. Web services were integrated in existing health information system platforms. Specialized decision support can be offered as a complementary service to existing policies of integrated care for chronic-disease management. The CDSS was able to issue recommendations that have a high degree of accuracy to support COPD case-finding. Integration into healthcare providers' work-flow can be achieved seamlessly through the use of a modular design and service-oriented architecture that connect to existing health information systems.

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) for preventive management of COPD patients

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The use of information and communication technologies to manage chronic diseases allows the application of integrated care pathways, and the optimization and standardization of care processes. Decision support tools can assist in the adherence to best-practice medicine in critical decision points during the execution of a care pathway. Objectives The objectives are to design, develop, and assess a clinical decision support system (CDSS) offering a suite of services for the early detection and assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which can be easily integrated into a healthcare providers' work-flow. Methods The software architecture model for the CDSS, interoperable clinical-knowledge representation, and inference engine were designed and implemented to form a base CDSS framework. The CDSS functionalities were iteratively developed through requirement-adjustment/development/validation cycles using enterprise-grade software-engineering methodologies and technologies. Within each cycle, clinical-knowledge acquisition was performed by a health-informatics engineer and a clinical-expert team. Results A suite of decision-support web services for (i) COPD early detection and diagnosis, (ii) spirometry quality-control support, (iii) patient stratification, was deployed in a secured environment on-line. The CDSS diagnostic performance was assessed using a validation set of 323 cases with 90% specificity, and 96% sensitivity. Web services were integrated in existing health information system platforms. Conclusions Specialized decision support can be offered as a complementary service to existing policies of integrated care for chronic-disease management. The CDSS was able to issue recommendations that have a high degree of accuracy to support COPD case-finding. Integration into healthcare providers' work-flow can be achieved seamlessly through the use of a modular design and service-oriented architecture that connect to existing health information systems. PMID:25471545

Rail Integrity Experience on the Washington Metro System

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-12

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) provides passenger rail service to the nations capital. Although the rail system carries only passenger trains, the rail integrity issues that WMATA must manage are similar to those that f...

Integrated Information Systems Across the Weather-Climate Continuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulwarty, R. S.; Higgins, W.; Nierenberg, C.; Trtanj, J.

2015-12-01

The increasing demand for well-organized (integrated) end-to-end research-based information has been highlighted in several National Academy studies, in IPCC Reports (such as the SREX and Fifth Assessment) and by public and private constituents. Such information constitutes a significant component of the "environmental intelligence" needed to address myriad societal needs for early warning and resilience across the weather-climate continuum. The next generation of climate research in service to the nation requires an even more visible, authoritative and robust commitment to scientific integration in support of adaptive information systems that address emergent risks and inform longer-term resilience strategies. A proven mechanism for resourcing such requirements is to demonstrate vision, purpose, support, connection to constituencies, and prototypes of desired capabilities. In this presentation we will discuss efforts at NOAA, and elsewhere, that: Improve information on how changes in extremes in key phenomena such as drought, floods, and heat stress impact management decisions for resource planning and disaster risk reduction Develop regional integrated information systems to address these emergent challenges, that integrate observations, monitoring and prediction, impacts assessments and scenarios, preparedness and adaptation, and coordination and capacity-building. Such systems, as illustrated through efforts such as NIDIS, have strengthened the integration across the foundational research enterprise (through for instance, RISAs, Modeling Analysis Predictions and Projections) by increasing agility for responding to emergent risks. The recently- initiated Climate Services Information System, in support of the WMO Global Framework for Climate Services draws on the above models and will be introduced during the presentation.

A hybrid lightwave transmission system based on light injection/optoelectronic feedback techniques and fiber-VLLC integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Wen-Shing; Lu, Hai-Han; Li, Chung-Yi; Chen, Bo-Rui; Lin, Hung-Hsien; Lin, Dai-Hua

2016-04-01

A hybrid lightwave transmission system based on light injection/optoelectronic feedback techniques and fiber-visible laser light communication (VLLC) integration is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. To be the first one of its kind in employing light injection and optoelectronic feedback techniques in a fiber-VLLC integration lightwave transmission system, the light is successfully directly modulated with Community Access Television (CATV), 16-QAM, and 16-QAM-OFDM signals. Over a 40 km SMF and a 10 m free-space VLLC transport, good performances of carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR)/composite second-order (CSO)/composite triple-beat (CTB)/bit error rate (BER) are achieved for CATV/16-QAM/16-QAM-OFDM signals transmission. Such a hybrid lightwave transmission system would be very useful since it can provide broadband integrated services including CATV, Internet, and telecommunication services over both distribute fiber and in-building networks.

Integrating HIV and substance use services: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Haldane, Victoria; Cervero-Liceras, Francisco; Chuah, Fiona LH; Ong, Suan Ee; Murphy, Georgina; Sigfrid, Louise; Watt, Nicola; Balabanova, Dina; Hogarth, Sue; Maimaris, Will; Buse, Kent; Piot, Peter; McKee, Martin; Perel, Pablo; Legido-Quigley, Helena

2017-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Substance use is an important risk factor for HIV, with both concentrated in certain vulnerable and marginalized populations. Although their management differs, there may be opportunities to integrate services for substance use and HIV. In this paper we systematically review evidence from studies that sought to integrate care for people living with HIV and substance use problems. Methods: Studies were included if they evaluated service integration for substance use and HIV. We searched multiple databases from inception until October 2015. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers and assessed for risk of bias. Results and discussion: 11,057 records were identified, with 7616 after removal of duplicates. After screening titles and abstracts, 51 met the inclusion criteria. Integration models were categorized by location (HIV, substance use and other facilities), level of integration from mirco (integrated care delivered to individuals) to macro (system level integrations) and degree of integration from least (screening and counselling only) to most (care for HIV, substance use and/or other illnesses at the same facility). Most reported descriptive or cohort studies; in four randomized control trials integrated activities improved patient outcomes. There is potential for integrating services at all facility types, including mobile health services. While services offering screening only can achieve synergies, there are benefits from delivering integrated treatment for HIV and substance use, including ease of referral to other mental health and social services. Conclusions: Our review used a wide range of databases and conference archives to increase representation of papers from low- and middle-income countries. Limitations include the overrepresentation of studies from the United States, and the descriptive nature of the majority of papers. The evidence reviewed shows that greater integration offers important benefits in both patient and service outcomes but further research and outcome reporting is needed to better understand innovative and holistic care models at the complex intersection of substance use and HIV services. PMID:28692211

Semantic Service Matchmaking in the ATM Domain Considering Infrastructure Capability Constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moser, Thomas; Mordinyi, Richard; Sunindyo, Wikan Danar; Biffl, Stefan

In a service-oriented environment business processes flexibly build on software services provided by systems in a network. A key design challenge is the semantic matchmaking of business processes and software services in two steps: 1. Find for one business process the software services that meet or exceed the BP requirements; 2. Find for all business processes the software services that can be implemented within the capability constraints of the underlying network, which poses a major problem since even for small scenarios the solution space is typically very large. In this chapter we analyze requirements from mission-critical business processes in the Air Traffic Management (ATM) domain and introduce an approach for semi-automatic semantic matchmaking for software services, the “System-Wide Information Sharing” (SWIS) business process integration framework. A tool-supported semantic matchmaking process like SWIS can provide system designers and integrators with a set of promising software service candidates and therefore strongly reduces the human matching effort by focusing on a much smaller space of matchmaking candidates. We evaluate the feasibility of the SWIS approach in an industry use case from the ATM domain.

Migration strategies for service-enabling ground control stations for unmanned systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroculick, Joseph B.

2011-06-01

Future unmanned systems will be integrated into the Global Information Grid (GIG) and support net-centric data sharing, where information in a domain is exposed to a wide variety of GIG stakeholders that can make use of the information provided. Adopting a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach to package reusable UAV control station functionality into common control services provides a number of benefits including enabling dynamic plug and play of components depending on changing mission requirements, supporting information sharing to the enterprise, and integrating information from authoritative sources such as mission planners with the UAV control stations data model. It also allows the wider enterprise community to use the services provided by unmanned systems and improve data quality to support more effective decision-making. We explore current challenges in migrating UAV control systems that manage multiple types of vehicles to a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Service-oriented analysis involves reviewing legacy systems and determining which components can be made into a service. Existing UAV control stations provide audio/visual, navigation, and vehicle health and status information that are useful to C4I systems. However, many were designed to be closed systems with proprietary software and hardware implementations, message formats, and specific mission requirements. An architecture analysis can be performed that reviews legacy systems and determines which components can be made into a service. A phased SOA adoption approach can then be developed that improves system interoperability.

The Heliophysics Integrated Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csillaghy, A.; Bentley, R. D.

2009-12-01

HELIO is a new Europe-wide, FP7-funded distributed network of services that will address the needs of a broad community of researchers in heliophysics. This new research field explores the “Sun-Solar System Connection” and requires the joint exploitation of solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric and ionospheric observations. HELIO will provide the most comprehensive integrated information system in this domain; it will coordinate access to the distributed resources needed by the community, and will provide access to services to mine and analyse the data. HELIO will be designed as a Service-oriented Architecture. The initial infrastructure will include services based on metadata and data servers deployed by the European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO). We will extend these to address observations from all the disciplines of heliophysics; differences in the way the domains describe and handle the data will be resolved using semantic mapping techniques. Processing and storage services will allow the user to explore the data and create the products that meet stringent standards of interoperability. These capabilities will be orchestrated with the data and metadata services using the Taverna workflow tool. HELIO will address the challenges along the FP7 I3 activities model: (1) Networking: we will cooperate closely with the community to define new standards for heliophysics and the required capabilities of the HELIO system. (2) Services: we will integrate the services developed by the project and other groups to produce an infrastructure that can easily be extended to satisfy the growing and changing needs of the community. (3) Joint Research: we will develop search tools that span disciplinary boundaries and explore new types of user-friendly interfaces HELIO will be a key component of a worldwide effort to integrate heliophysics data and will coordinate closely with international organizations to exploit synergies with complementary domains.

Analysis of integrated healthcare networks' performance: a contingency-strategic management perspective.

PubMed

Lin, B Y; Wan, T T

1999-12-01

Few empirical analyses have been done in the organizational researches of integrated healthcare networks (IHNs) or integrated healthcare delivery systems. Using a contingency derived contact-process-performance model, this study attempts to explore the relationships among an IHN's strategic direction, structural design, and performance. A cross-sectional analysis of 100 IHNs suggests that certain contextual factors such as market competition and network age and tax status have statistically significant effects on the implementation of an IHN's service differentiation strategy, which addresses coordination and control in the market. An IHN's service differentiation strategy is positively related to its integrated structural design, which is characterized as integration of administration, patient care, and information system across different settings. However, no evidence supports that the development of integrated structural design may benefit an IHN's performance in terms of clinical efficiency and financial viability.

Developing a tool for mapping adult mental health care provision in Europe: the REMAST research protocol and its contribution to better integrated care

PubMed Central

Amaddeo, Francesco; Gutiérrez-Colosía, Mencia R.; Salazzari, Damiano; Gonzalez-Caballero, Juan Luis; Montagni, Ilaria; Tedeschi, Federico; Cetrano, Gaia; Chevreul, Karine; Kalseth, Jorid; Hagmair, Gisela; Straßmayr, Christa; Park, A-La; Sfetcu, Raluca; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Garcia-Alonso, Carlos

2015-01-01

Introduction Mental health care is a critical area to better understand integrated care and to pilot the different components of the integrated care model. However, there is an urgent need for better tools to compare and understand the context of integrated mental health care in Europe. Method The REMAST tool (REFINEMENT MApping Services Tool) combines a series of standardised health service research instruments and geographical information systems (GIS) to develop local atlases of mental health care from the perspective of horizontal and vertical integrated care. It contains five main sections: (a) Population Data; (b) the Verona Socio-economic Status (SES) Index; (c) the Mental Health System Checklist; (d) the Mental Health Services Inventory using the DESDE-LTC instrument; and (e) Geographical Data. Expected results The REMAST tool facilitates context analysis in mental health by providing the comparative rates of mental health service provision according to the availability of main types of care; care placement capacity; workforce capacity; and geographical accessibility to services in the local areas in eight study areas in Austria, England, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Romania and Spain. Discussion The outcomes of this project will facilitate cooperative work and knowledge transfer on mental health care to the different agencies involved in mental health planning and provision. This project would improve the information to users and society on the available resources for mental health care and system thinking at the local level by the different stakeholders. The techniques used in this project and the knowledge generated could eventually be transferred to the mapping of other fields of integrated care. PMID:27118959

Ecologically Oriented School-Based Mental Health Services: Implications for Service System Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motes, Patricia Stone; Melton, Gary; Simmons, Wendy E. Waithe; Pumariega, Andres

1999-01-01

Describes an integrated school-based mental health services model established in pilot schools in under-served areas of South Carolina. States the approach bridges preventive efforts across settings, and links interventions with youths and their families to changes in environments and systems. Reports that findings are supportive of a broad…

77 FR 1640 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Public Access to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-11

... Performance and Integrity Information System; Correction AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services... requires that the information in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS.... With regard to information entered by the Government into FAPIIS on and after January 17, 2012-- (1...

An Information Technology Framework for Strengthening Telehealthcare Service Delivery

PubMed Central

Chen, Chi-Wen; Weng, Yung-Ching; Shang, Rung-Ji; Yu, Hui-Chu; Chung, Yufang; Lai, Feipei

2012-01-01

Abstract Objective: Telehealthcare has been used to provide healthcare service, and information technology infrastructure appears to be essential while providing telehealthcare service. Insufficiencies have been identified, such as lack of integration, need of accommodation of diverse biometric sensors, and accessing diverse networks as different houses have varying facilities, which challenge the promotion of telehealthcare. This study designs an information technology framework to strengthen telehealthcare delivery. Materials and Methods: The proposed framework consists of a system architecture design and a network transmission design. The aim of the framework is to integrate data from existing information systems, to adopt medical informatics standards, to integrate diverse biometric sensors, and to provide different data transmission networks to support a patient's house network despite the facilities. The proposed framework has been evaluated with a case study of two telehealthcare programs, with and without the adoption of the framework. Results: The proposed framework facilitates the functionality of the program and enables steady patient enrollments. The overall patient participations are increased, and the patient outcomes appear positive. The attitudes toward the service and self-improvement also are positive. Conclusions: The findings of this study add up to the construction of a telehealthcare system. Implementing the proposed framework further assists the functionality of the service and enhances the availability of the service and patient acceptances. PMID:23061641

An information technology framework for strengthening telehealthcare service delivery.

PubMed

Chen, Li-Chin; Chen, Chi-Wen; Weng, Yung-Ching; Shang, Rung-Ji; Yu, Hui-Chu; Chung, Yufang; Lai, Feipei

2012-10-01

Telehealthcare has been used to provide healthcare service, and information technology infrastructure appears to be essential while providing telehealthcare service. Insufficiencies have been identified, such as lack of integration, need of accommodation of diverse biometric sensors, and accessing diverse networks as different houses have varying facilities, which challenge the promotion of telehealthcare. This study designs an information technology framework to strengthen telehealthcare delivery. The proposed framework consists of a system architecture design and a network transmission design. The aim of the framework is to integrate data from existing information systems, to adopt medical informatics standards, to integrate diverse biometric sensors, and to provide different data transmission networks to support a patient's house network despite the facilities. The proposed framework has been evaluated with a case study of two telehealthcare programs, with and without the adoption of the framework. The proposed framework facilitates the functionality of the program and enables steady patient enrollments. The overall patient participations are increased, and the patient outcomes appear positive. The attitudes toward the service and self-improvement also are positive. The findings of this study add up to the construction of a telehealthcare system. Implementing the proposed framework further assists the functionality of the service and enhances the availability of the service and patient acceptances.

A proactive system for maritime environment monitoring.

PubMed

Moroni, Davide; Pieri, Gabriele; Tampucci, Marco; Salvetti, Ovidio

2016-01-30

The ability to remotely detect and monitor oil spills is becoming increasingly important due to the high demand of oil-based products. Indeed, shipping routes are becoming very crowded and the likelihood of oil slick occurrence is increasing. In this frame, a fully integrated remote sensing system can be a valuable monitoring tool. We propose an integrated and interoperable system able to monitor ship traffic and marine operators, using sensing capabilities from a variety of electronic sensors, along with geo-positioning tools, and through a communication infrastructure. Our system is capable of transferring heterogeneous data, freely and seamlessly, between different elements of the information system (and their users) in a consistent and usable form. The system also integrates a collection of decision support services providing proactive functionalities. Such services demonstrate the potentiality of the system in facilitating dynamic links among different data, models and actors, as indicated by the performed field tests. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges encountered in providing integrated HIV, antenatal and postnatal care services: a case study of Katakwi and Mubende districts in Uganda.

PubMed

Ahumuza, Sharon Eva; Rujumba, Joseph; Nkoyooyo, Abdallah; Byaruhanga, Raymond; Wanyenze, Rhoda K

2016-04-18

Integration of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), HIV/AIDS and maternal health (MH) services is a critical strategy to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic, high maternal mortality and the unmet need for contraception. In 2011 the AIDS Information Centre (AIC) in partnership with the Ministry of Health implemented SRH, HIV/AIDS and MH integration services in the districts of Katakwi and Mubende in Uganda. This paper documents challenges encountered in providing these integrated services in the two districts. This was a cross-sectional qualitative study conducted in Mubende and Katakwi districts in Uganda. Data were collected using 10 focus group discussions with 89 women attending ANC and postnatal care and 21 key informant interviews with district managers and health workers who were involved in the integrated service delivery. Content thematic approach was used for data analysis. The study findings indicate that various challenges were encountered in integrating HIV, ANC and PNC services. Major challenges included inadequate staff, gaps in knowledge of service providers especially with regard to provision of long-term family planning, limited space, shortage of critical supplies such as HIV test kits, drugs and gloves. These findings indicate that the delivery of integrated HIV, SRH and MH services is hampered greatly by health system challenges and depict the need for additional staffing in health facilities, capacity building of health workers and health managers as well as ensuring sufficient supplies to health facilities for smooth implementation of integrated SRH, HIV and MH services.

The Service Environment for Enhanced Knowledge and Research (SEEKR) Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, T. A.; Walker, R. J.; Weigel, R. S.; Narock, T. W.; McGuire, R. E.; Candey, R. M.

2011-12-01

The Service Environment for Enhanced Knowledge and Research (SEEKR) Framework is a configurable service oriented framework to enable the discovery, access and analysis of data shared in a community. The SEEKR framework integrates many existing independent services through the use of web technologies and standard metadata. Services are hosted on systems by using an application server and are callable by using REpresentational State Transfer (REST) protocols. Messages and metadata are transferred with eXtensible Markup Language (XML) encoding which conform to a published XML schema. Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) metadata is central to utilizing the services. Resources (data, documents, software, etc.) are described with SPASE and the associated Resource Identifier is used to access and exchange resources. The configurable options for the service can be set by using a web interface. Services are packaged as web application resource (WAR) files for direct deployment on application services such as Tomcat or Jetty. We discuss the composition of the SEEKR framework, how new services can be integrated and the steps necessary to deploying the framework. The SEEKR Framework emerged from NASA's Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory (VMO) and other systems and we present an overview of these systems from a SEEKR Framework perspective.

The informatics capability maturity of integrated primary care centres in Australia.

PubMed

Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Kearns, Rachael; Taggart, Jane; Frank, Oliver; Lane, Riki; Tam, Michael; Dennis, Sarah; Walker, Christine; Russell, Grant; Harris, Mark

2017-09-01

Integrated primary care requires systems and service integration along with financial incentives to promote downward substitution to a single entry point to care. Integrated Primary Care Centres (IPCCs) aim to improve integration by co-location of health services. The Informatics Capability Maturity (ICM) describes how well health organisations collect, manage and share information; manage eHealth technology, implementation, change, data quality and governance; and use "intelligence" to improve care. Describe associations of ICM with systems and service integration in IPCCs. Mixed methods evaluation of IPCCs in metropolitan and rural Australia: an enhanced general practice, four GP Super Clinics, a "HealthOne" (private-public partnership) and a Community Health Centre. Data collection methods included self-assessed ICM, document review, interviews, observations in practice and assessment of electronic health record data. Data was analysed and compared across IPCCs. The IPCCs demonstrated a range of funding models, ownership, leadership, organisation and ICM. Digital tools were used with varying effectiveness to collect, use and share data. Connectivity was problematic, requiring "work-arounds" to communicate and share information. The lack of technical, data and software interoperability standards, clinical coding and secure messaging were barriers to data collection, integration and sharing. Strong leadership and governance was important for successful implementation of robust and secure eHealth systems. Patient engagement with eHealth tools was suboptimal. ICM is positively associated with integration of data, systems and care. Improved ICM requires a health workforce with eHealth competencies; technical, semantic and software standards; adequate privacy and security; and good governance and leadership. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The MIST /MIUS Integration and Subsystems Test/ laboratory - A testbed for the MIUS /Modular Integrated Utility System/ program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beckham, W. S., Jr.; Keune, F. A.

1974-01-01

The MIUS (Modular Integrated Utility System) concept is to be an energy-conserving, economically feasible, integrated community utility system to provide five necessary services: electricity generation, space heating and air conditioning, solid waste processing, liquid waste processing, and residential water purification. The MIST (MIUS Integration and Subsystem Test) integrated system testbed constructed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston includes subsystems for power generation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), wastewater management, solid waste management, and control and monitoring. The key design issues under study include thermal integration and distribution techniques, thermal storage, integration of subsystems controls and displays, incinerator performance, effluent characteristics, and odor control.

The Massachusetts HIV, hepatitis, addiction services integration (HHASI) experience: responding to the comprehensive needs of individuals with co-occurring risks and conditions.

PubMed

Hoffman, Heidi L; Castro-Donlan, Carolyn A; Johnson, Victoria M; Church, Daniel R

2004-01-01

Categorical funding mechanisms traditionally used to fund public health programs are a challenge to providers serving individuals with complex needs that often span multiple service areas. Integration--a formalized, collaborative process among service systems--responds to the challenge by decreasing fragmentation of care and improving coordination. In 2000, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) received a one-year planning grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to evaluate opportunities for integrating HIV/AIDS programs and substance abuse treatment programs. The project was later expanded to include viral hepatitis programming. Outcomes include the development of a strategic plan, joint procurement initiatives, and an ongoing commitment to sustain inter-bureau integration efforts, even in the face of substantial budget reductions. Integrated approaches can promote greater efficiency, improving communication and coordination among clients, providers, and government funding agencies.

Development of Integrated Public Administration Custom Services in Hungary.

PubMed

Laki, Tamas

2015-01-01

The paper is a case-study introducing a national project in Hungary establishing a countrywide public administration customer service system where accessibility was a key issue. Starting from the concept the paper describes the methods and organisational background how accessible design was integrated in the planning method and gives a feedback of site experiences.

California Integrated Service Delivery Evaluation Report. Phase I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Richard W.; Rossy, Gerard; Roberts, William; Chapman, Kenneth; Sanchez, Urte; Hanley, Chris

2010-01-01

This study is a formative evaluation of the OneStop Career Center Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) Model within the California Workforce System. The study was sponsored by the California Workforce Investment Board. The study completed four in-depth case studies of California OneStops to describe how they implemented the ISD model which brings…

Models of evaluating efficiency and risks on integration of cloud-base IT-services of the machine-building enterprise: a system approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razumnikov, S.; Kurmanbay, A.

2016-04-01

The present paper suggests a system approach to evaluation of the effectiveness and risks resulted from the integration of cloud-based services in a machine-building enterprise. This approach makes it possible to estimate a set of enterprise IT applications and choose the applications to be migrated to the cloud with regard to specific business requirements, a technological strategy and willingness to risk.

A mobile robot system for ground servicing operations on the space shuttle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dowling, K.; Bennett, R.; Blackwell, M.; Graham, T.; Gatrall, S.; O'Toole, R.; Schempf, H.

1992-11-01

A mobile system for space shuttle servicing, the Tessellator, has been configured, designed and is currently being built and integrated. Robot tasks include chemical injection and inspection of the shuttle's thermal protection system. This paper outlines tasks, rationale, and facility requirements for the development of this system. A detailed look at the mobile system and manipulator follow with a look at mechanics, electronics, and software. Salient features of the mobile robot include omnidirectionality, high reach, high stiffness and accuracy with safety and self-reliance integral to all aspects of the design. The robot system is shown to meet task, facility, and NASA requirements in its design resulting in unprecedented specifications for a mobile-manipulation system.

A mobile robot system for ground servicing operations on the space shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dowling, K.; Bennett, R.; Blackwell, M.; Graham, T.; Gatrall, S.; O'Toole, R.; Schempf, H.

1992-01-01

A mobile system for space shuttle servicing, the Tessellator, has been configured, designed and is currently being built and integrated. Robot tasks include chemical injection and inspection of the shuttle's thermal protection system. This paper outlines tasks, rationale, and facility requirements for the development of this system. A detailed look at the mobile system and manipulator follow with a look at mechanics, electronics, and software. Salient features of the mobile robot include omnidirectionality, high reach, high stiffness and accuracy with safety and self-reliance integral to all aspects of the design. The robot system is shown to meet task, facility, and NASA requirements in its design resulting in unprecedented specifications for a mobile-manipulation system.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): RCRA

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of hazardous waste facilities that link to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Information System (RCRAInfo). EPA's comprehensive information system in support of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984, RCRAInfo tracks many types of information about generators, transporters, treaters, storers, and disposers of hazardous waste. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on facilities. This data set contains the subset of FRS integrated facilities that link to RCRAInfo hazardous waste facilities once the RCRAInfo data has been integrated into the FRS database. Additional information on FRS is available at the EPA website https://www.epa.gov/enviro/facility-registry-service-frs

Multipath for Agricultural and Rural Information Services in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Ningning; Zang, Zhiyuan; Gao, Lingwang; Shi, Qiang; Li, Jie; Xing, Chunlin; Shen, Zuorui

Internet cannot provide perfect information services for farmers in rural regions in China, because farmers in rural regions can hardly access the internet by now. But the wide coverage of mobile signal, telephone line, and television network, etc. gave us a chance to solve the problem. The integrated pest management platform of Northern fruit trees were developed based on the integrated technology, which can integrate the internet, mobile and fixed-line telephone network, and television network, to provide integrated pest management(IPM) information services for farmers in rural regions in E-mail, telephone-voice, short message, voice mail, videoconference or other format, to users' telephone, cell phone, personal computer, personal digital assistant(PDA), television, etc. alternatively. The architecture and the functions of the system were introduced in the paper. The system can manage the field monitoring data of agricultural pests, deal with enquiries to provide the necessary information to farmers accessing the interactive voice response(IVR) in the system with the experts on-line or off-line, and issue the early warnings about the fruit tree pests when it is necessary according to analysis on the monitoring data about the pests of fruit trees in variety of ways including SMS, fax, voice and intersystem e-mail.The system provides a platform and a new pattern for agricultural technology extension with a high coverage rate of agricultural technology in rural regions, and it can solve the problem of agriculture information service 'last kilometer' in China. The effectiveness of the system was certified.

Using off-the-shelf medical devices for biomedical signal monitoring in a telemedicine system for emergency medical services.

PubMed

Thelen, Sebastian; Czaplik, Michael; Meisen, Philipp; Schilberg, Daniel; Jeschke, Sabina

2015-01-01

In order to study new methods of telemedicine usage in the context of emergency medical services, researchers need to prototype integrated telemedicine systems. To conduct a one-year trial phase-intended to study a new application of telemedicine in German emergency medical services-we used off-the-shelf medical devices and software to realize real-time patient monitoring within an integrated telemedicine system prototype. We demonstrate its feasibility by presenting the integrated real-time patient monitoring solution, by studying signal delay and transmission robustness regarding changing communication channel characteristics, and by evaluating issues reported by the physicians during the trial phase. Where standards like HL7 and the IEEE 11073 family are intended to enable interoperability of product grade medical devices, we show that research prototypes benefit from the use of web technologies and simple device interfaces, as they simplify product development for a manufacturer and ease integration efforts for research teams. Embracing this approach for the development of new medical devices eases the constraint to use off-the-shelf products for research trials investigating innovative use of telemedicine.

Integrating Engineering Data Systems for NASA Spaceflight Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carvalho, Robert E.; Tollinger, Irene; Bell, David G.; Berrios, Daniel C.

2012-01-01

NASA has a large range of custom-built and commercial data systems to support spaceflight programs. Some of the systems are re-used by many programs and projects over time. Management and systems engineering processes require integration of data across many of these systems, a difficult problem given the widely diverse nature of system interfaces and data models. This paper describes an ongoing project to use a central data model with a web services architecture to support the integration and access of linked data across engineering functions for multiple NASA programs. The work involves the implementation of a web service-based middleware system called Data Aggregator to bring together data from a variety of systems to support space exploration. Data Aggregator includes a central data model registry for storing and managing links between the data in disparate systems. Initially developed for NASA's Constellation Program needs, Data Aggregator is currently being repurposed to support the International Space Station Program and new NASA projects with processes that involve significant aggregating and linking of data. This change in user needs led to development of a more streamlined data model registry for Data Aggregator in order to simplify adding new project application data as well as standardization of the Data Aggregator query syntax to facilitate cross-application querying by client applications. This paper documents the approach from a set of stand-alone engineering systems from which data are manually retrieved and integrated, to a web of engineering data systems from which the latest data are automatically retrieved and more quickly and accurately integrated. This paper includes the lessons learned through these efforts, including the design and development of a service-oriented architecture and the evolution of the data model registry approaches as the effort continues to evolve and adapt to support multiple NASA programs and priorities.

Experiences integrating autonomous components and legacy systems into tsunami early warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reißland, S.; Herrnkind, S.; Guenther, M.; Babeyko, A.; Comoglu, M.; Hammitzsch, M.

2012-04-01

Fostered by and embedded in the general development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) the evolution of Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS) shows a significant development from seismic-centred to multi-sensor system architectures using additional sensors, e.g. sea level stations for the detection of tsunami waves and GPS stations for the detection of ground displacements. Furthermore, the design and implementation of a robust and scalable service infrastructure supporting the integration and utilisation of existing resources serving near real-time data not only includes sensors but also other components and systems offering services such as the delivery of feasible simulations used for forecasting in an imminent tsunami threat. In the context of the development of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) and the project Distant Early Warning System (DEWS) a service platform for both sensor integration and warning dissemination has been newly developed and demonstrated. In particular, standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) have been successfully incorporated. In the project Collaborative, Complex, and Critical Decision-Support in Evolving Crises (TRIDEC) new developments are used to extend the existing platform to realise a component-based technology framework for building distributed TEWS. This talk will describe experiences made in GITEWS, DEWS and TRIDEC while integrating legacy stand-alone systems and newly developed special-purpose software components into TEWS using different software adapters and communication strategies to make the systems work together in a corporate infrastructure. The talk will also cover task management and data conversion between the different systems. Practical approaches and software solutions for the integration of sensors, e.g. providing seismic and sea level data, and utilisation of special-purpose components, such as simulation systems, in TEWS will be presented.

The Georgetown University Library Information System (LIS): a minicomputer-based integrated library system.

PubMed Central

Broering, N C

1983-01-01

Georgetown University's Library Information System (LIS), an integrated library system designed and implemented at the Dahlgren Memorial Library, is broadly described from an administrative point of view. LIS' functional components consist of eight "user-friendly" modules: catalog, circulation, serials, bibliographic management (including Mini-MEDLINE), acquisitions, accounting, networking, and computer-assisted instruction. This article touches on emerging library services, user education, and computer information services, which are also changing the role of staff librarians. The computer's networking capability brings the library directly to users through personal or institutional computers at remote sites. The proposed Integrated Medical Center Information System at Georgetown University will include interface with LIS through a network mechanism. LIS is being replicated at other libraries, and a microcomputer version is being tested for use in a hospital setting. PMID:6688749

How integrated are neurology and palliative care services? Results of a multicentre mapping exercise.

PubMed

van Vliet, Liesbeth M; Gao, Wei; DiFrancesco, Daniel; Crosby, Vincent; Wilcock, Andrew; Byrne, Anthony; Al-Chalabi, Ammar; Chaudhuri, K Ray; Evans, Catherine; Silber, Eli; Young, Carolyn; Malik, Farida; Quibell, Rachel; Higginson, Irene J

2016-05-10

Patients affected by progressive long-term neurological conditions might benefit from specialist palliative care involvement. However, little is known on how neurology and specialist palliative care services interact. This study aimed to map the current level of connections and integration between these services. The mapping exercise was conducted in eight centres with neurology and palliative care services in the United Kingdom. The data were provided by the respective neurology and specialist palliative care teams. Questions focused on: i) catchment and population served; ii) service provision and staffing; iii) integration and relationships. Centres varied in size of catchment areas (39-5,840 square miles) and population served (142,000-3,500,000). Neurology and specialist palliative care were often not co-terminus. Service provisions for neurology and specialist palliative care were also varied. For example, neurology services varied in the number and type of provided clinics and palliative care services in the settings they work in. Integration was most developed in Motor Neuron Disease (MND), e.g., joint meetings were often held, followed by Parkinsonism (made up of Parkinson's Disease (PD), Multiple-System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), with integration being more developed for MSA and PSP) and least in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), e.g., most sites had no formal links. The number of neurology patients per annum receiving specialist palliative care reflected these differences in integration (range: 9-88 MND, 3-25 Parkinsonism, and 0-5 MS). This mapping exercise showed heterogeneity in service provision and integration between neurology and specialist palliative care services, which varied not only between sites but also between diseases. This highlights the need and opportunities for improved models of integration, which should be rigorously tested for effectiveness.

Pediatric Palliative Care in Iran: Applying Regionalization of Health Care Systems

PubMed

Khanali Mojen, Leila; Rassouli, Maryam; Eshghi, Peyman; Zendedel, Kazem; Akbari Sari, Ali; Heravi Karimooi, Majideh; Tahmasebi, Mamak; Shirin Abadi Farahani, Azam

2018-05-26

Background: Establishing palliative care services is a priority in the health system of Iran. Considering the necessity of integrating these services into the health system, this study aimed to explore the stakeholders’ perceptions about the provision of a conceptual framework for palliative care services for children with cancer according to the health system in of Iran. Methods: The present qualitative study was conducted through in-depth semi-structured interviews held with 29 participants including palliative care specialists, policy-makers, health care providers, the parents of children with cancer selected through purposive sampling, between August 2016 and February 2017. Interviews continued until saturation of data. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using MAXQDA10 software. Results: The codes extracted from interviews produced the main theme “ classes of palliative care services” with the two main categories “comprehensive care” including, strengthening family shelter, maintaining the child in a familiar environment, achieving stability and “establishing social justice” including, easy access to services, financial relief and quality care. Conclusion: Presenting a framework based on level of palliative care services, the findings of this study paves the way for integrating these services into Iranian health system. Creative Commons Attribution License

39 CFR 501.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... limited to postage meters and PC Postage systems. (b) A postage meter is a Postal Service-approved Postage... this part refers to a postage meter. (c) PC Postage products are Postal Service-approved Postage Evidencing Systems that use a personal computer as an integral part of the system. PC Postage products may...

Logistics hardware and services control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koromilas, A.; Miller, K.; Lamb, T.

1973-01-01

Software system permits onsite direct control of logistics operations, which include spare parts, initial installation, tool control, and repairable parts status and control, through all facets of operations. System integrates logistics actions and controls receipts, issues, loans, repairs, fabrications, and modifications and assets in predicting and allocating logistics parts and services effectively.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) web service to support Area Navigation (RNAV) flight planning

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-01-28

The Volpe Center designed, implemented, and deployed a Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) prediction system in the mid 1990s to support both Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) use of TSO C...

Orion European Service Module (ESM) Development, Integration and Qualification Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berthe, Philippe; Over, Ann P.; Picardo, Michelle; Byers, Anthony W.

2017-01-01

ESA and the European Industry are supplying the European Service Module for Orion. An overview of the system and subsystem configuration of the Orion European Service Module (ESM) as designed and built for the EM-1 mission is provided as well as an outline of its development, assembly, integration and verification process performed by ESA and NASA in coordination with their respective Industrial prime contractors, Airbus Defence and Space and Lockheed Martin.

Architecture and Concept of Operations for a Warfighter’s Internet. Volume 2: Appendices

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-28

National Technical Information Service , where it will be available to the general public, including foreign nationals. This technical report has been...SUPPORT INTEGRATED SERVICES IN A MOBILE CELLULAR SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE (FOR ARCHITECTURE OPT. 2) B-1 1. Introduction B-l 2. Warfighter’s...Internet Architecture and Concept of Operation B-2 3. Subnet Provider Interface (SNPI) B-5 4. Integrated Services Cell Multiplexing (ISCM) B-9 5. Mobile

Air ambulance services--integrated emergency care.

PubMed

Ferdinand, M

1994-10-01

In the name of cost-conscious care, air ambulance program directors and service contractors are seeing the dawn of integrated networks as a boon to their business. As integrated networks form, facilities will become increasingly specialized in the types of services they provide. Patients will need to be moved around the system, resulting in more frequent patient transport and more points of transfer. Many programs are considering aircraft replacement and additions, rather than leasing. Financial benefits could come on depreciation and the high resale value of aircraft. Unless reimbursement levels increase, more program mergers and affiliations may take place to spread and reduce cost. Air ambulance services will increasingly become part of a facility's strategic plan.

GLOBECOM '85 - Global Telecommunications Conference, New Orleans, LA, December 2-5, 1985, Conference Record. Volumes 1, 2, & 3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Various papers on global telecommunications are presented. The general topics addressed include: multiservice integration with optical fibers, multicompany owned telecommunication networks, softworks quality and reliability, advanced on-board processing, impact of new services and systems on operations and maintenance, analytical studies of protocols for data communication networks, topics in packet radio networking, CCITT No. 7 to support new services, document processing and communication, antenna technology and system aspects in satellite communications. Also considered are: communication systems modelling methodology, experimental integrated local area voice/data nets, spread spectrum communications, motion video at the DS-0 rate, optical and data communications, intelligent work stations, switch performance analysis, novel radio communication systems, wireless local networks, ISDN services, LAN communication protocols, user-system interface, radio propagation and performance, mobile satellite system, software for computer networks, VLSI for ISDN terminals, quality management, man-machine interfaces in switching, and local area network performance.

AGIS: Integration of new technologies used in ATLAS Distributed Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anisenkov, Alexey; Di Girolamo, Alessandro; Alandes Pradillo, Maria

2017-10-01

The variety of the ATLAS Distributed Computing infrastructure requires a central information system to define the topology of computing resources and to store different parameters and configuration data which are needed by various ATLAS software components. The ATLAS Grid Information System (AGIS) is the system designed to integrate configuration and status information about resources, services and topology of the computing infrastructure used by ATLAS Distributed Computing applications and services. Being an intermediate middleware system between clients and external information sources (like central BDII, GOCDB, MyOSG), AGIS defines the relations between experiment specific used resources and physical distributed computing capabilities. Being in production during LHC Runl AGIS became the central information system for Distributed Computing in ATLAS and it is continuously evolving to fulfil new user requests, enable enhanced operations and follow the extension of the ATLAS Computing model. The ATLAS Computing model and data structures used by Distributed Computing applications and services are continuously evolving and trend to fit newer requirements from ADC community. In this note, we describe the evolution and the recent developments of AGIS functionalities, related to integration of new technologies recently become widely used in ATLAS Computing, like flexible computing utilization of opportunistic Cloud and HPC resources, ObjectStore services integration for Distributed Data Management (Rucio) and ATLAS workload management (PanDA) systems, unified storage protocols declaration required for PandDA Pilot site movers and others. The improvements of information model and general updates are also shown, in particular we explain how other collaborations outside ATLAS could benefit the system as a computing resources information catalogue. AGIS is evolving towards a common information system, not coupled to a specific experiment.

Experiences of health care providers with integrated HIV and reproductive health services in Kenya: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Mutemwa, Richard; Mayhew, Susannah; Colombini, Manuela; Busza, Joanna; Kivunaga, Jackline; Ndwiga, Charity

2013-01-11

There is broad consensus on the value of integration of HIV services and reproductive health services in regions of the world with generalised HIV/AIDS epidemics and high reproductive morbidity. Integration is thought to increase access to and uptake of health services; and improves their efficiency and cost-effectiveness through better use of available resources. However, there is still very limited empirical literature on health service providers and how they experience and operationalize integration. This qualitative study was conducted among frontline health workers to explore provider experiences with integration in order to ascertain their significance to the performance of integrated health facilities. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 frontline clinical officers, registered nurses, and enrolled nurses in Kitui district (Eastern province) and Thika and Nyeri districts (Central province) in Kenya. The study was conducted in health facilities providing integrated HIV and reproductive health services (post-natal care and family planning). All interviews were conducted in English, transcribed and analysed using Nvivo 8 qualitative data analysis software. Providers reported delivering services in provider-level and unit-level integration, as well as a combination of both. Provider experiences of actual integration were mixed. At personal level, providers valued skills enhancement, more variety and challenge in their work, better job satisfaction through increased client-satisfaction. However, they also felt that their salaries were poor, they faced increased occupational stress from: increased workload, treating very sick/poor clients, and less quality time with clients. At operational level, providers reported increased service uptake, increased willingness among clients to take an HIV test, and reduced loss of clients. But the majority also reported infrastructural and logistic deficiencies (insufficient physical room space, equipment, drugs and other medical supplies), as well as increased workload, waiting times, contact session times and low staffing levels. The success of integration primarily depends on the performance of service providers which, in turn, depends on a whole range of facilitative organisational factors. The central Ministry of Health should create a coherent policy environment, spearhead strategic planning and ensure availability of resources for implementation at lower levels of the health system. Health facility staffing norms, technical support, cost-sharing policies, clinical reporting procedures, salary and incentive schemes, clinical supply chains, and resourcing of health facility physical space upgrades, all need attention. Yet, despite these system challenges, this study has shown that integration can have a positive motivating effect on staff and can lead to better sharing of workload - these are important opportunities that deserve to be built on.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): PCS_NPDES

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of facilities that link to the Permit Compliance System (PCS) or the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) module of the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). PCS tracks NPDES surface water permits issued under the Clean Water Act. This system is being incrementally replaced by the NPDES module of ICIS. Under NPDES, all facilities that discharge pollutants from any point source into waters of the United States are required to obtain a permit. The permit will likely contain limits on what can be discharged, impose monitoring and reporting requirements, and include other provisions to ensure that the discharge does not adversely affect water quality. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on facilities. This data set contains the subset of FRS integrated facilities that link to NPDES facilities once the PCS or ICIS-NPDES data has been integrated into the FRS database. Additional information on FRS is available

42 CFR 493.1232 - Standard: Specimen identification and integrity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS Quality System for Nonwaived Testing General Laboratory Systems § 493.1232 Standard: Specimen identification and integrity. The laboratory must establish and follow written policies and procedures that ensure positive identification and...

Guest editorial. Integrated healthcare information systems.

PubMed

Li, Ling; Ge, Ri-Li; Zhou, Shang-Ming; Valerdi, Ricardo

2012-07-01

The use of integrated information systems for healthcare has been started more than a decade ago. In recent years, rapid advances in information integration methods have spurred tremendous growth in the use of integrated information systems in healthcare delivery. Various techniques have been used for probing such integrated systems. These techniques include service-oriented architecture (SOA), EAI, workflow management, grid computing, and others. Many applications require a combination of these techniques, which gives rise to the emergence of enterprise systems in healthcare. Development of the techniques originated from different disciplines has the potential to significantly improve the performance of enterprise systems in healthcare. This editorial paper briefly introduces the enterprise systems in the perspective of healthcare informatics.

Integrative model of caregiving: how macro and micro factors affect caregivers of adults with severe and persistent mental illness.

PubMed

Mak, Winnie W S

2005-01-01

The study tested an integrative model of caregiving by examining the effects of sociocultural characteristics, interpersonal relations, mental health service structure, consumers' symptoms, objective burden, and evaluation of service systems on the subjective experiences of caregivers. The sample consisted of 428 caregivers of adults with severe and persistent mental illness. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that ethnicity was the most significant sociocultural factor on caregivers' worry, personal growth, and benefits. Caregivers enrolled in managed care plans worried more about their consumers' welfare and felt less gratified by their experiences than their counterparts from fee-for-service plans. Implications to and partnerships among caregivers and mental health service systems were discussed.

An efficient protocol for providing integrated voice/data services to mobiles over power-limited satellite channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, Sanjay K.

1991-02-01

Various mobile satellite communication systems are being developed for providing integrated voice/data services over a shared satellite transponder which is power-limited in nature. A common strategy is to use slotted ALOHA request channels to request channel assignments for voice/data calls from a network management station. To maximize efficiency in a system with a power-limited satellite transponder, it is proposed that the bursty nature of voice sources be exploited by the NMS to 'over-assign' channels. This may cause problems of inefficiency and potential instability, as well as a degradation in the quality of service. Augmenting this with the introduction of simple state-dependent control procedures provides systems which exhibit more desirable operational features.

Information integration for a sky survey by data warehousing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, A.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, Y.

The virtualization service of data system for a sky survey LAMOST is very important for astronomers The service needs to integrate information from data collections catalogs and references and support simple federation of a set of distributed files and associated metadata Data warehousing has been in existence for several years and demonstrated superiority over traditional relational database management systems by providing novel indexing schemes that supported efficient on-line analytical processing OLAP of large databases Now relational database systems such as Oracle etc support the warehouse capability which including extensions to the SQL language to support OLAP operations and a number of metadata management tools have been created The information integration of LAMOST by applying data warehousing is to effectively provide data and knowledge on-line

Information Structure, Information Technology, and the Human Services Organizational Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semke, Jeanette I.; Nurius, Paula S.

1991-01-01

Examines current trends in data collection and information use in human services organizations. Describes issues for managers who are planning information systems, including practitioner resistance to automation. Proposes that conceptual integration of agendas for human services automation, practice evaluation, and service effectiveness enables…

Testing the US Integrated Ocean Observing System Data Discovery and Distribution Infrastructure with Real-World Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snowden, D. P.; Signell, R.; Knee, K.; Kupiec, J.; Bird, A.; Fratantonio, B.; Koeppen, W.; Wilcox, K.

2014-12-01

The distributed, service-oriented architecture of the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (US IOOS) has been implemented mostly independently by US IOOS partners, using different software approaches and different levels of compliance to standards. Some uniformity has been imparted by documenting the intended output data formats and content and service interface behavior. But to date, a rigorous testing of the distributed system of systems has not been done. To assess the functionality of this system, US IOOS is conducting a system integration test (http://github.com/ioos/system-test) that evaluates whether the services (i.e. SOS, OPeNDAP, WMS, CS/W) deployed to the 17 Federal partners and 11 Regional Associations can solve real-world problems. Scenarios were selected that both address IOOS societal goals and test different functionality of the data architecture. For example, one scenario performs an assessment of water level forecast skill by prompting the user for a bounding box and a temporal extent, searching metadata catalogs via a Catalog Services for the Web (CS/W) interface to discover available sea level observations and model results, extracting data from the identified service endpoints (either OPeNDAP or SOS), interpolating both modeled and observed data onto a common time base, and then comparing the skill of the various models. Other scenarios explore issues such as hypoxia and wading bird habitats. For each scenario, the entire workflow (user input, search, access, analysis and visualization) is captured in an IPython Notebook on GitHub. This allows the scenarios to be self-documenting as well as reproducible by anyone, using free software. The Python packages required to run the scenarios are all available on GitHub and Conda packages are available on binstar.org so that users can easily run the scenarios using the free Anaconda Python distribution. With the advent of hosted services such as Wakari, it is possible for anyone to reproduce these workflows for free, without installing any software locally, using just their web browser. Thus in addition to performing as a system integration test, this project serves to provide examples that anyone in the geoscience community can adapt to solve other real-world problems.

Integrating hydrologic modeling web services with online data sharing to prepare, store, and execute models in hydrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, T.; Tarboton, D. G.; Dash, P. K.; Gichamo, T.; Horsburgh, J. S.

2017-12-01

Web based apps, web services and online data and model sharing technology are becoming increasingly available to support research. This promises benefits in terms of collaboration, platform independence, transparency and reproducibility of modeling workflows and results. However, challenges still exist in real application of these capabilities and the programming skills researchers need to use them. In this research we combined hydrologic modeling web services with an online data and model sharing system to develop functionality to support reproducible hydrologic modeling work. We used HydroDS, a system that provides web services for input data preparation and execution of a snowmelt model, and HydroShare, a hydrologic information system that supports the sharing of hydrologic data, model and analysis tools. To make the web services easy to use, we developed a HydroShare app (based on the Tethys platform) to serve as a browser based user interface for HydroDS. In this integration, HydroDS receives web requests from the HydroShare app to process the data and execute the model. HydroShare supports storage and sharing of the results generated by HydroDS web services. The snowmelt modeling example served as a use case to test and evaluate this approach. We show that, after the integration, users can prepare model inputs or execute the model through the web user interface of the HydroShare app without writing program code. The model input/output files and metadata describing the model instance are stored and shared in HydroShare. These files include a Python script that is automatically generated by the HydroShare app to document and reproduce the model input preparation workflow. Once stored in HydroShare, inputs and results can be shared with other users, or published so that other users can directly discover, repeat or modify the modeling work. This approach provides a collaborative environment that integrates hydrologic web services with a data and model sharing system to enable model development and execution. The entire system comprised of the HydroShare app, HydroShare and HydroDS web services is open source and contributes to capability for web based modeling research.

Integrated care management: aligning medical call centers and nurse triage services.

PubMed

Kastens, J M

1998-01-01

Successful integrated delivery systems must aggressively design new approaches to managing patient care. Implementing a comprehensive care management model to coordinate patient care across the continuum is essential to improving patient care and reducing costs. The practice of telephone nursing and the need for experienced registered nurses to staff medical call centers, nurse triage centers, and outbound telemanagement is expanding as the penetration of full-risk capitated managed care contracts are signed. As health systems design their new care delivery approaches and care management models, medical call centers will be an integral approach to managing demand for services, chronic illnesses, and prevention strategies.

Scope of Work for Integration Management and Installation Services of the National Ignition Facility Beampath Infrastructure System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coyle, P. D.

2000-03-01

The goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) project is to provide an above ground experimental capability for maintaining nuclear competence and weapons effects simulation and to provide a facility capable of achieving fusion ignition using solid-state lasers as the energy driver. The facility will incorporate 192 laser beams, which will be focused onto a small target located at the center of a spherical target chamber-the energy from the laser beams will be deposited in a few billionths of a second. The target will then implode, forcing atomic nuclei to sufficiently high temperatures and densities necessary to achieve a miniature fusion reaction. The NIF is under construction, at Livermore, California, located approximately 50 miles southeast of San Francisco, California. The University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), operating under Prime Contract W-7405-ENG. 48 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), shall subcontract for Integration Management and Installation (IMI) Services for the Beampath Infrastructure System (BIS). The BIS includes Beampath Hardware and Beampath Utilities. Conventional Facilities work for the NIF Laser and Target Area Building (LTAB) and Optics Assembly Building (OAB) is over 86 percent constructed. This Scope of Work is for Integration Management and Installation (IMI) Services corresponding to Management Services, Design Integration Services, Construction Services, and Commissioning Services for the NIB BIS. The BIS includes Beampath Hardware and Beampath Utilities. Beampath Hardware and Beampath Utilities include beampath vessels, enclosures, and beam tubes; auxiliary and utility systems; and support structures. A substantial amount of GFE will be provided by the University for installation as part of the infrastructure packages.

[Integration of new psychosocial facilities into the health care system: considerations on a social ecological evaluation concept exemplified by ambulatory crisis care].

PubMed

Leferink, K; Bergold, J B

1996-11-01

With respect to the methodological problems concerning the outcome evaluation of crisis intervention centers the outlines of a social-ecological research approach are developed. It is suggested that this approach is more suitable to take into account the role of the network of mental health services. The data come from a research project which was designed to explain the historical and social aspects of the process of integration of a crisis intervention service. The results indicate that on the one hand the practice of the service strongly depends on what other services do and on the other hand influences them. The social integration of an institution into the network of other services is discussed as an alternative criterion of evaluation.

Collaborative Social and Medical Service System

PubMed Central

Petermann, Cynthia A.; Bobroff, Risa B.; Moore, Dwight M.; Gilson, Hillary S.; Li, Yizhen; Dargahi, Ross; Classen, David W.; Fowler, Jerry; Moreau, Dennis R.; Beck, J. Robert; Buffone, Gregory J.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the Collaborative Social and Medical Services System, a robust information infrastructure for integrated social and medical care. The Collaborative Social and Medical Services System design and architecture address the primary goals of creating a readily extensible social and ambulatory care system. Our initial step toward reaching this goal is the delivery of an application supporting the operations of the Baylor Teen Health Clinics. This paper discusses our protoype experiences, system architecture, components, and the standards we are addressing. PMID:7950001

The Research Path to the Virtual Class. ZIFF Papiere 105.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajasingham, Lalita

This paper describes a project conducted in 1991-92, based on research conducted in 1986-87 that demonstrated the need for a telecommunications system with the capacity of integrated services digital networks (ISDN) that would allow for sound, vision, and integrated computer services. Called the Tri-Centre Project, it set out to explore, from the…

Strategic Mobility 21 Transition Plan: From Research Federation to Business Enterprise

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-31

Transportation Management System (GTMS), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Service -as-a- Software ( SaaS ), Joint Capability Technolgoy Demonstration...the Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) format, whereby users access the application with the appropriate Internet authorizations. Security is provided by...integrating best-of-breed dual-use systems deployed in the software as a service ( SaaS ) environment. It includes single sign-on capabilities and was

Architectural approaches for HL7-based health information systems implementation.

PubMed

López, D M; Blobel, B

2010-01-01

Information systems integration is hard, especially when semantic and business process interoperability requirements need to be met. To succeed, a unified methodology, approaching different aspects of systems architecture such as business, information, computational, engineering and technology viewpoints, has to be considered. The paper contributes with an analysis and demonstration on how the HL7 standard set can support health information systems integration. Based on the Health Information Systems Development Framework (HIS-DF), common architectural models for HIS integration are analyzed. The framework is a standard-based, consistent, comprehensive, customizable, scalable methodology that supports the design of semantically interoperable health information systems and components. Three main architectural models for system integration are analyzed: the point to point interface, the messages server and the mediator models. Point to point interface and messages server models are completely supported by traditional HL7 version 2 and version 3 messaging. The HL7 v3 standard specification, combined with service-oriented, model-driven approaches provided by HIS-DF, makes the mediator model possible. The different integration scenarios are illustrated by describing a proof-of-concept implementation of an integrated public health surveillance system based on Enterprise Java Beans technology. Selecting the appropriate integration architecture is a fundamental issue of any software development project. HIS-DF provides a unique methodological approach guiding the development of healthcare integration projects. The mediator model - offered by the HIS-DF and supported in HL7 v3 artifacts - is the more promising one promoting the development of open, reusable, flexible, semantically interoperable, platform-independent, service-oriented and standard-based health information systems.

Adapting the Quebecois method for assessing implementation to the French National Alzheimer Plan 2008–2012: lessons for gerontological services integration

PubMed Central

Somme, Dominique; Trouvé, Hélène; Perisset, Catherine; Corvol, Aline; Ankri, Joël; Saint-Jean, Olivier; de Stampa, Matthieu

2014-01-01

Introduction Many countries face ageing-related demographic and epidemiological challenges, notably neurodegenerative disorders, due to the multiple care services they require, thereby pleading for a more integrated system of care. The integrated Quebecois method issued from the Programme of Research to Integrate Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy inspired a French pilot experiment and the National Alzheimer Plan 2008–2012. Programme of Research to Integrate Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy method implementation was rated with an evaluation grid adapted to assess its successive degrees of completion. Discussion The approaching end of the president's term led to the method's institutionalization (2011–2012), before the implementation study ended. When the government changed, the study was interrupted. The results extracted from that ‘lost’ study (presented herein) have, nonetheless, ‘found’ some key lessons. Key lessons/conclusion It was possible to implement a Quebecois integrated-care method in France. We describe the lessons and pitfalls encountered in adapting this evaluation tool. This process is necessarily multidisciplinary and requires a test phase. A simple tool for quantitative assessment of integration was obtained. The first assessment of the tool was unsatisfactory but requires further studies. In the meantime, we recommend using mixed methodologies to assess the services integration level. PMID:24959112

Leveraging Information Technology. Track IV: Support Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CAUSE, Boulder, CO.

Seven papers from the 1987 CAUSE conference's Track IV, Support Services, are presented. They include: "Application Development Center" (John F. Leydon); "College Information Management System: The Design and Implementation of a Completely Integrated Office Automation and Student Information System" (Karen L. Miselis);…

Integrated care: learning between high-income, and low- and middle-income country health systems

PubMed Central

Mounier-Jack, Sandra; Mayhew, Susannah H; Mays, Nicholas

2017-01-01

Abstract Over the past decade, discussion of integrated care has become more widespread and prominent in both high- and low-income health care systems (LMICs). The trend reflects the mismatch between an increasing burden of chronic disease and local health care systems which are still largely focused on hospital-based treatment of individual clinical episodes and also the long-standing proliferation of vertical donor-funded disease-specific programmes in LMICs which have disrupted horizontal, or integrated, care. Integration is a challenging concept to define, in part because of its multiple dimensions and varied scope: from integrated clinical care for individual patients to broader systems integration—or linkage—involving a wide range of interconnected services (e.g. social services and health care). In this commentary, we compare integrated care in high- and lower-income countries. Although contexts may differ significantly between these settings, there are many common features of how integration has been understood and common challenges in its implementation. We discuss the different approaches to, scope of, and impacts of, integration including barriers and facilitators to the processes of implementation. With the burden of disease becoming more alike across settings, we consider what gains there could be from comparative learning between these settings which have constituted two separate strands of research until now. PMID:29194541

'Trying to do a jigsaw without the picture on the box': understanding the challenges of care integration in the context of single assessment for older people in England.

PubMed

Wilson, Rob; Baines, Susan; Cornford, James; Martin, Mike

2007-06-25

Demographic ageing is one of the major challenges for governments in developed countries because older people are the main users of health and social care services. More joined-up, partnership approaches supported by information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become key to managing these demands. This article discusses recent developments towards integrated care in the context of one of the arenas in which integration is being attempted, the Single Assessment Process (SAP) to support the care for older people in England. It draws upon accounts of local SAP implementations in order to assess and reflect upon some of the successes and limitations of service integration enabled by ICTs. At the Department of Health in England, policy and strategy are directed at the integration of services through a 'whole systems' approach, with services that are interdependent upon one another and organised around the person that uses them. The Single Assessment Processes (SAP) is an instance of inter-organisational and cross-sectoral sharing of information intended to improve communication and coordination amongst professions and agencies and so support more integrated care. The aim of SAP is to ensure that older people receive appropriate, effective and timely responses to their health and social care needs and that professionals do not duplicate each others efforts. This article examines examples from two programmes of work within the context of SAP in England: one with the direction coming from local government social services, the other where the momentum is coming from the National Health Service (NHS). Both examples show that the policy and practice of ICT-supported integration continues to represent a significant challenge. Although the notion of integrated care underpinned by ICT-enabled information sharing is persuasive, it has limitations in practice. The notion of an 'open systems' approach is proposed as an alternative way of improving communication and coordination across the domains of health and social care.

Computer-aided resource planning and scheduling for radiological services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Hong-Mei C.; Yun, David Y.; Ge, Yiqun; Khan, Javed I.

1996-05-01

There exists tremendous opportunity in hospital-wide resource optimization based on system integration. This paper defines the resource planning and scheduling requirements integral to PACS, RIS and HIS integration. An multi-site case study is conducted to define the requirements. A well-tested planning and scheduling methodology, called Constrained Resource Planning model, has been applied to the chosen problem of radiological service optimization. This investigation focuses on resource optimization issues for minimizing the turnaround time to increase clinical efficiency and customer satisfaction, particularly in cases where the scheduling of multiple exams are required for a patient. How best to combine the information system efficiency and human intelligence in improving radiological services is described. Finally, an architecture for interfacing a computer-aided resource planning and scheduling tool with the existing PACS, HIS and RIS implementation is presented.

A Prototyping Effort for the Integrated Spacecraft Analysis System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Raymond; Tung, Yu-Wen; Maldague, Pierre

2011-01-01

Computer modeling and simulation has recently become an essential technique for predicting and validating spacecraft performance. However, most computer models only examine spacecraft subsystems, and the independent nature of the models creates integration problems, which lowers the possibilities of simulating a spacecraft as an integrated unit despite a desire for this type of analysis. A new project called Integrated Spacecraft Analysis was proposed to serve as a framework for an integrated simulation environment. The project is still in its infancy, but a software prototype would help future developers assess design issues. The prototype explores a service oriented design paradigm that theoretically allows programs written in different languages to communicate with one another. It includes creating a uniform interface to the SPICE libraries such that different in-house tools like APGEN or SEQGEN can exchange information with it without much change. Service orientation may result in a slower system as compared to a single application, and more research needs to be done on the different available technologies, but a service oriented approach could increase long term maintainability and extensibility.

Exotic plant species receive adequate pollinator service despite variable integration into plant-pollinator networks.

PubMed

Thompson, Amibeth H; Knight, Tiffany M

2018-05-01

Both exotic and native plant species rely on insect pollinators for reproductive success, and yet few studies have evaluated whether and how exotic plant species receive services from native pollinators for successful reproduction in their introduced range. Plant species are expected to successfully reproduce in their exotic range if they have low reliance on animal pollinators or if they successfully integrate themselves into resident plant-pollinator networks. Here, we quantify the breeding system, network integration, and pollen limitation for ten focal exotic plant species in North America. Most exotic plant species relied on animal pollinators for reproduction, and these species varied in their network integration. However, plant reproduction was limited by pollen receipt for only one plant species. Our results demonstrate that even poorly integrated exotic plant species can still have high pollination service and high reproductive success. The comprehensive framework considered here provides a method to consider the contribution of plant breeding systems and the pollinator community to pollen limitation, and can be applied to future studies to provide a more synthetic understanding of the factors that determine reproductive success of exotic plant species.

Closing service system gaps for homeless clients with a dual diagnosis: integrated teams and interagency cooperation.

PubMed

Rosenheck, Robert A; Resnick, Sandra G; Morrissey, Joseph P

2003-06-01

There is great concern about fragmentation of mental health service delivery, especially for dually diagnosed homeless people, and apprehension that such fragmentation adversely affects service access and outcomes. This study first seeks to articulate two alternative approaches to the integration of psychiatric and substance abuse services, one involving an integrated team model and the other a collaborative relationship between agencies. It then applies this conceptualization to a sample of dually diagnosed homeless people who participated in the ACCESS demonstration. Longitudinal outcome data were obtained through interviews at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months with homeless clients with a dual diagnosis (N = 1074) who received ACT-like case management services through the ACCESS demonstration. A survey of ACCESS case managers was conducted to obtain information on: (i) the proportion of clients who received substance abuse services directly from ACCESS case management teams, and the proportion who received services from other agencies; and (ii) the perceived quality of the relationship (i.e. communication, cooperation and trust) between providers--both within the same teams and between agencies. Hierarchical linear modeling was then used to examine the relationship of these two factors to service use and outcome with mixed-model regression analysis. Significant (p<.05) and positive relationships were observed in 4 of the 20 analyses of the association of service use and measures of communication, cooperation, and trust (either intrateam or inter-agency) while none were significant and negative. At 12 months, receipt of a higher proportion of services from agencies other than the ACCESS team was associated with fewer days homeless, and greater reduction of psychiatric symptoms, contradicting the hypothesis that integrated team care is more effective than interagency collaborations. This study broadens the conceptual framework for addressing service system fragmentation by considering both single team integration and interagency coordination, and by considering both program structure and the quality of relationships between providers. Data from a multi-site outcome study demonstrated suggestive associations between perceptions of communication, cooperation and measures of clinical service use. However, the proportion of clients treated entirely within a single team was associated with poorer housing and psychiatric outcomes. These empirical results must be regarded as illustrative rather than conclusive because of the use of a non-experimental study design, imperfections in the available measures, and the incomplete sampling of case managers. This study suggests that fragmentation of services for dually diagnosed clients may be reduced by improving the interactions within and between agencies providing these services. While primary emphasis has been placed on developing integrated teams, interagency approaches should not be prematurely excluded. Research on approaches to reducing system fragmentation have focused on either global efforts to integrate numerous agencies in a community or highly focused efforts to develop specialized teams. Future research should also focus on the possibility of fostering constructive relationships between selected pairs or subsets of agencies. Research in this area will also benefit from the further development measures of team integration and of both intra-team and inter-agency communication, collaboration, and trust.

Reducing under-five mortality through Hôpital Albert Schweitzer's integrated system in Haiti.

PubMed

Perry, Henry; Cayemittes, Michel; Philippe, Francois; Dowell, Duane; Dortonne, Jean Richard; Menager, Henri; Bottex, Erve; Berggren, Warren; Berggren, Gretchen

2006-05-01

The degree to which local health systems contribute to reductions in under-five mortality in severely impoverished settings has not been well documented. The current study compares the under-five mortality in the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) Primary Health Care Service Area with that for Haiti in general. HAS provides an integrated system of community-based primary health care services, hospital care and community development. A sample of 10% of the women of reproductive age in the HAS service area was interviewed, and 2390 live births and 149 child deaths were documented for the period 1995-99. Under-five mortality rates were computed and compared with rates for Haiti. In addition, available data regarding inputs, processes and outputs for the HAS service area and for Haiti were assembled and compared. Under-five mortality was 58% less in the HAS service area, and mortality for children 12-59 months of age was 76% less. These results were achieved with an input of fewer physicians and hospital beds per capita than is available for Haiti nationwide, but with twice as many graduate nurses and auxiliary nurses per capita than are available nationwide, and with three cadres of health workers that do not exist nationwide: Physician Extenders, Health Agents and Community Health Volunteers. The population coverage of targeted child survival services was generally 1.5-2 times higher in the HAS service area than in rural Haiti. These findings support the conclusion that a well-developed system of primary health care, with outreach services to the household level, integrated with hospital referral care and community development programmes, can make a strong contribution to reducing infant and child mortality in severely impoverished settings.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dale, Virginia H; Kline, Keith L; Kaffka, Stephen R

Landscape sustainability of agricultural systems considers effects of farm activities on social, economic, and ecosystem services at local and regional scales. Sustainable agriculture entails: defining sustainability, developing easily measured indicators of sustainability, moving toward integrated agricultural systems, and offering incentives or imposing regulations to affect farmer behavior. A landscape perspective is useful because landscape ecology provides theory and methods for dealing with spatial heterogeneity, scaling, integration, and complexity. To implement agricultural sustainability, we propose adopting a systems perspective, recognizing spatial heterogeneity, addressing the influences of context, and integrating landscape-design principles. Topics that need further attention at local and regional scalesmore » include (1) protocols for quantifying material and energy flows; (2) effects of management practices; (3) incentives for enhancing social, economic, and ecosystem services; (4) integrated landscape planning and management; (5) monitoring and assessment; (6) effects of societal demand; and (7) consistent and holistic policies for promoting agricultural sustainability.« less

Integrating CAD modules in a PACS environment using a wide computing infrastructure.

PubMed

Suárez-Cuenca, Jorge J; Tilve, Amara; López, Ricardo; Ferro, Gonzalo; Quiles, Javier; Souto, Miguel

2017-04-01

The aim of this paper is to describe a project designed to achieve a total integration of different CAD algorithms into the PACS environment by using a wide computing infrastructure. The aim is to build a system for the entire region of Galicia, Spain, to make CAD accessible to multiple hospitals by employing different PACSs and clinical workstations. The new CAD model seeks to connect different devices (CAD systems, acquisition modalities, workstations and PACS) by means of networking based on a platform that will offer different CAD services. This paper describes some aspects related to the health services of the region where the project was developed, CAD algorithms that were either employed or selected for inclusion in the project, and several technical aspects and results. We have built a standard-based platform with which users can request a CAD service and receive the results in their local PACS. The process runs through a web interface that allows sending data to the different CAD services. A DICOM SR object is received with the results of the algorithms stored inside the original study in the proper folder with the original images. As a result, a homogeneous service to the different hospitals of the region will be offered. End users will benefit from a homogeneous workflow and a standardised integration model to request and obtain results from CAD systems in any modality, not dependant on commercial integration models. This new solution will foster the deployment of these technologies in the entire region of Galicia.

Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Health Service Responses to Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Comparative Health Systems and Service Analysis.

PubMed

Colombini, Manuela; Dockerty, Colleen; Mayhew, Susannah H

2017-06-01

This systematic review synthesizes 11 studies of health-sector responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) in low- and middle-income countries. The services that were most comprehensive and integrated in their responsiveness to IPV were primarily in primary health and antenatal care settings. Findings suggest that the following facilitators are important: availability of clear guidelines, policies, or protocols; management support; intersectoral coordination with clear, accessible on-site and off-site referral options; adequate and trained staff with accepting and empathetic attitudes toward survivors of IPV; initial and ongoing training for health workers; and a supportive and supervised environment in which to enact new IPV protocols. A key characteristic of the most integrated responses was the connection or "linkages" between different individual factors. Irrespective of their service entry point, what emerged as crucial was a connected systems-level response, with all elements implemented in a coordinated manner. © 2017 The Population Council, Inc.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): CAMDBS

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of facilities that link to the Clean Air Markets Division Business System (CAMDBS). Administered by the EPA Clean Air Markets Division, within the Office of Air and Radiation, CAMDBS supports the implementation of market-based air pollution control programs, including the Acid Rain Program and regional programs designed to reduce the transport of ozone. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on facilities. This data set contains the subset of FRS integrated facilities that link to CAMDBS facilities once the CAMDBS data has been integrated into the FRS database. Additional information on FRS is available at the EPA website https://www.epa.gov/enviro/facility-registry-service-frs.

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Integrated Paratransit Systems : Volume 1. Executive Summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-09-01

Integrated Paratransit (IP) is a concept which involves the integration of conventional fixed-route transit with flexibly routed paratransit services to provide the most effective area-wide transit coverage. The report estimates the benefits and cost...

Integration of priority population, health and nutrition interventions into health systems: systematic review.

PubMed

Atun, Rifat; de Jongh, Thyra E; Secci, Federica V; Ohiri, Kelechi; Adeyi, Olusoji; Car, Josip

2011-10-10

Objective of the study was to assess the effects of strategies to integrate targeted priority population, health and nutrition interventions into health systems on patient health outcomes and health system effectiveness and thus to compare integrated and non-integrated health programmes. Systematic review using Cochrane methodology of analysing randomised trials, controlled before-and-after and interrupted time series studies. We defined specific strategies to search PubMed, CENTRAL and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group register, considered studies published from January 1998 until September 2008, and tracked references and citations. Two reviewers independently agreed on eligibility, with an additional arbiter as needed, and extracted information on outcomes: primary (improved health, financial protection, and user satisfaction) and secondary (improved population coverage, access to health services, efficiency, and quality) using standardised, pre-piloted forms. Two reviewers in the final stage of selection jointly assessed quality of all selected studies using the GRADE criteria. Of 8,274 citations identified 12 studies met inclusion criteria. Four studies compared the benefits of Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses in Tanzania and Bangladesh, showing improved care management and higher utilisation of health facilities at no additional cost. Eight studies focused on integrated delivery of mental health and substance abuse services in the United Kingdom and United States of America. Integrated service delivery resulted in better clinical outcomes and greater reduction of substance abuse in specific sub-groups of patients, with no significant difference found overall. Quality of care, patient satisfaction, and treatment engagement were higher in integrated delivery models. Targeted priority population health interventions we identified led to improved health outcomes, quality of care, patient satisfaction and access to care. Limited evidence with inconsistent findings across varied interventions in different settings means no general conclusions can be drawn on the benefits or disadvantages of integrated service delivery.

Integration of leprosy in general health system vis-à-vis leprosy endemicity, health situation and socioeconomic development: observations from Chhattisgarh & Kerala.

PubMed

Pandey, Aparna; Rathod, Harish

2010-06-01

This study looked at the integration of leprosy services in the GHS in context of health and socioeconomic situations using predefined indicators. It also looked at clients' perception of MDT services. The Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Kerala, which are at two extremes in leprosy endemicity, health situation and socioeconomic development, have been compared using predefined integration indicators related to the training of health workers, availability of MDT services, maintenance of MDT stock and involvement of Sub-centres in leprosy care. Data was collected by surveys of health facilities, sub-centres and communities in the two states, during 2006-2007. Information was collected by interviewing health personnel and clients, checking of records and on the spot observations using specifically designed formats. Results showed that integration is more inclusive in Chhattisgarh and has reached up to Sub-centre level. Both the community and health systems are sensitive and responsive to leprosy as it is perceived to be a major public health threat. But in Kerala, despite integration, it continues as a vertical programme with dependence on specialists and districts hospitals for diagnosis and treatment. MDT stock management is even poorer. Clients' perception towards MDT services are similar in both states.

77 FR 47411 - Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-08

... strengthening the integrity of the nation's legal immigration system by ensuring that immigration benefits are... the United States. In addition, USCIS enhances the integrity of the nation's legal immigration system... legal immigration system by: (1) Identifying threats to national security and public safety posed by...

Bidirectional fiber-wireless and fiber-IVLLC integrated system based on polarization-orthogonal modulation scheme.

PubMed

Lu, Hai-Han; Li, Chung-Yi; Chen, Hwan-Wei; Ho, Chun-Ming; Cheng, Ming-Te; Huang, Sheng-Jhe; Yang, Zih-Yi; Lin, Xin-Yao

2016-07-25

A bidirectional fiber-wireless and fiber-invisible laser light communication (IVLLC) integrated system that employs polarization-orthogonal modulation scheme for hybrid cable television (CATV)/microwave (MW)/millimeter-wave (MMW)/baseband (BB) signal transmission is proposed and demonstrated. To our knowledge, it is the first one that adopts a polarization-orthogonal modulation scheme in a bidirectional fiber-wireless and fiber-IVLLC integrated system with hybrid CATV/MW/MMW/BB signal. For downlink transmission, carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), composite second-order (CSO), composite triple-beat (CTB), and bit error rate (BER) perform well over 40-km single-mode fiber (SMF) and 10-m RF/50-m optical wireless transport scenarios. For uplink transmission, good BER performance is obtained over 40-km SMF and 50-m optical wireless transport scenario. Such a bidirectional fiber-wireless and fiber-IVLLC integrated system for hybrid CATV/MW/MMW/BB signal transmission will be an attractive alternative for providing broadband integrated services, including CATV, Internet, and telecommunication services. It is shown to be a prominent one to present the advancements for the convergence of fiber backbone and RF/optical wireless feeder.

Linkages among Education, Health, and Social Services Systems in States That Are Creating New Governance Structures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mutchler, Sue E.; Pollard, Joyce S.

As they work to develop integrated, community-driven service systems that meet the constellation of needs of children and families, several states are beginning to develop new governance structures at the local level. This paper describes the ways in which states are creating or supporting linkages among education, health, and human services. A…

Chemical Transformation System: Cloud Based Cheminformatic Services to Support Integrated Environmental Modeling

EPA Science Inventory

Integrated Environmental Modeling (IEM) systems that account for the fate/transport of organics frequently require physicochemical properties as well as transformation products. A myriad of chemical property databases exist but these can be difficult to access and often do not co...

A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Through this paper, we present the initial steps for the creation of an integrated platform for the provision of a series of eHealth tools and services to both citizens and travelers in isolated areas of thesoutheast Mediterranean, and on board ships travelling across it. The platform was created through an INTERREG IIIB ARCHIMED project called INTERMED. Methods The support of primary healthcare, home care and the continuous education of physicians are the three major issues that the proposed platform is trying to facilitate. The proposed system is based on state-of-the-art telemedicine systems and is able to provide the following healthcare services: i) Telecollaboration and teleconsultation services between remotely located healthcare providers, ii) telemedicine services in emergencies, iii) home telecare services for "at risk" citizens such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, and iv) eLearning services for the continuous training through seminars of both healthcare personnel (physicians, nurses etc) and persons supporting "at risk" citizens. These systems support data transmission over simple phone lines, internet connections, integrated services digital network/digital subscriber lines, satellite links, mobile networks (GPRS/3G), and wireless local area networks. The data corresponds, among others, to voice, vital biosignals, still medical images, video, and data used by eLearning applications. The proposed platform comprises several systems, each supporting different services. These were integrated using a common data storage and exchange scheme in order to achieve system interoperability in terms of software, language and national characteristics. Results The platform has been installed and evaluated in different rural and urban sites in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. The evaluation was mainly related to technical issues and user satisfaction. The selected sites are, among others, rural health centers, ambulances, homes of "at-risk" citizens, and a ferry. Conclusions The results proved the functionality and utilization of the platform in various rural places in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. However, further actions are needed to enable the local healthcare systems and the different population groups to be familiarized with, and use in their everyday lives, mature technological solutions for the provision of healthcare services. PMID:21649924

A hybrid mobile-based patient location tracking system for personal healthcare applications.

PubMed

Chew, S H; Chong, P A; Gunawan, E; Goh, K W; Kim, Y; Soh, C B

2006-01-01

In the next generation of Infocommunications, mobile Internet-enabled devices and third generation mobile communication networks have become reality, location based services (LBS) are expected to be a major area of growth. Providing information, content and services through positioning technologies forms the platform for new services for users and developers, as well as creating new revenue channels for service providers. These crucial advances in location based services have opened up new opportunities in real time patient tracking for personal healthcare applications. In this paper, a hybrid mobile-based location technique using the global positioning system (GPS) and cellular mobile network infrastructure is employed to provide the location tracking capability. This function will be integrated into the patient location tracking system (PLTS) to assist caregivers or family members in locating patients such as elderly or dependents when required, especially in emergencies. The capability of this PLTS is demonstrated through a series of location detection tests conducted over different operating conditions. Although the model is at its initial stage of development, it has shown relatively good accuracy for position tracking and potential of using integrated wireless technology to enhance the existing personal healthcare communication system through location based services.

A Modular, Data Driven System: Architecture for GSFC Ground Systems: GSFC's Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cary, Everett; Smith, Danford

2004-01-01

The GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) was established in 2001 to coordinate ground and flight data systems development and services at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). GMSEC system architecture represents a new way to build the next generation systems to be used for a variety of missions for years to come. The old approach was to find or build the best products available and integrate them into a reusable system to meet everyone's needs. The new approach assumes that needs, products, and technology will change.

Integrated care in the emergency department: a complex adaptive systems perspective.

PubMed

Nugus, Peter; Carroll, Katherine; Hewett, David G; Short, Alison; Forero, Roberto; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2010-12-01

Emergency clinicians undertake boundary-work as they facilitate patient trajectories through the Emergency Department (ED). Emergency clinicians must manage the constantly-changing dynamics at the boundaries of the ED and other hospital departments and organizations whose services emergency clinicians seek to integrate. Integrating the care that differing clinical groups provide, the services EDs offer, and patients' needs across this journey is challenging. The journey is usually accounted for in a linear way - as a "continuity of care" problem. In this paper, we instead conceptualize integrated care in the ED using a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective. A CAS perspective accounts for the degree to which other departments and units outside of the ED are integrated, and appropriately described, using CAS concepts and language. One year of ethnographic research was conducted, combining observation and semi-structured interviews, in the EDs of two tertiary referral hospitals in Sydney, Australia. We found the CAS approach to be salient to analyzing integrated care in the ED because the processes of categorization, diagnosis and discharge are primarily about the linkages between services, and the communication and negotiation required to enact those linkages, however imperfectly they occur in practice. Emergency clinicians rapidly process large numbers of high-need patients, in a relatively efficient system of care inadequately explained by linear models. A CAS perspective exposes integrated care as management of the patient trajectory within porous, shifting and negotiable boundaries. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated, Kerberized Login on MacOS X

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hotz, Henry B.

2006-01-01

Context for this information. MacOS X login process and available hooks. Authorization Services configuration. Authorization Services plug-in s. Kerberos plug-in s. Other bugs and recommendations. Authorization Services Called by loginwindow, screen saver and fast user switching. It calls Directory Services, Login Hook, and Login Items (System Preferences).

Integration of Fixed and Flexible Route Public Transportation Systems, Phase II

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

Conventional bus service (with fixed routes and schedules) has lower average cost than flexible bus service (with : demand-responsive routes) at high demand densities. At low demand densities flexible bus service has lower : average costs and provide...

Implementation of a cloud-based electronic medical record exchange system in compliance with the integrating healthcare enterprise's cross-enterprise document sharing integration profile.

PubMed

Wu, Chien Hua; Chiu, Ruey Kei; Yeh, Hong Mo; Wang, Da Wei

2017-11-01

In 2011, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan established the National Electronic Medical Record Exchange Center (EEC) to permit the sharing of medical resources among hospitals. This system can presently exchange electronic medical records (EMRs) among hospitals, in the form of medical imaging reports, laboratory test reports, discharge summaries, outpatient records, and outpatient medication records. Hospitals can send or retrieve EMRs over the virtual private network by connecting to the EEC through a gateway. International standards should be adopted in the EEC to allow users with those standards to take advantage of this exchange service. In this study, a cloud-based EMR-exchange prototyping system was implemented on the basis of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise's Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing integration profile and the existing EMR exchange system. RESTful services were used to implement the proposed prototyping system on the Microsoft Azure cloud-computing platform. Four scenarios were created in Microsoft Azure to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed system successfully completed EMR exchange under the four scenarios created in Microsoft Azure. Additional experiments were conducted to compare the efficiency of the EMR-exchanging mechanisms of the proposed system with those of the existing EEC system. The experimental results suggest that the proposed RESTful service approach is superior to the Simple Object Access Protocol method currently implemented in the EEC system, according to the irrespective response times under the four experimental scenarios. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"It was the whole picture" a mixed methods study of successful components in an integrated wellness service in North East England.

PubMed

Cheetham, M; Van der Graaf, P; Khazaeli, B; Gibson, E; Wiseman, A; Rushmer, R

2018-03-22

A growing number of Local Authorities (LAs) have introduced integrated wellness services as part of efforts to deliver cost effective, preventive services that address the social determinants of health. This study examined which elements of an integrated wellness service in the north east of England were effective in improving health and wellbeing (HWB). The study used a mixed-methods approach. In-depth semi-structured interviews (IVs) were conducted with integrated wellness service users (n = 25) and focus groups (FGs) with group based service users (n = 14) and non-service users (n = 23) to gather the views of stakeholders. Findings are presented here alongside analysis of routine monitoring data. The different data were compared to examine what each data source revealed about the effectiveness of the service. Findings suggest that integrated wellness services work by addressing the social determinants of health and respond to multiple complex health and social concerns rather than single issues. The paper identifies examples of 'active ingredients' at the heart of the programme, such as sustained relationships, peer support and confidence building, as well as the activities through which changes take place, such as sports and leisure opportunities which in turn encourage social interaction. Wider wellbeing outcomes, including reduced social isolation and increased self-efficacy are also reported. Practical and motivational support helped build community capacity by encouraging community groups to access funding, helped navigate bureaucratic systems, and promoted understanding of marginalised communities. Fully integrated wellness services could support progression opportunities through volunteering and mentoring. An integrated wellness service that offers a holistic approach was valued by service users and allowed them to address complex issues simultaneously. Few of the reported health gains were captured in routine data. Quantitative and qualitative data each offered a partial view of how effectively services were working.

Innovation in health service delivery: integrating community health assistants into the health system at district level in Zambia.

PubMed

Zulu, Joseph Mumba; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Kinsman, John; Michelo, Charles

2015-01-28

To address the huge human resources for health gap in Zambia, the Ministry of Health launched the National Community Health Assistant Strategy in 2010. The strategy aims to integrate community-based health workers into the health system by creating a new group of workers, called community health assistants (CHAs). However, literature suggests that the integration process of national community-based health worker programmes into health systems has not been optimal. Conceptually informed by the diffusion of innovations theory, this paper qualitatively aimed to explore the factors that shaped the acceptability and adoption of CHAs into the health system at district level in Zambia during the pilot phase. Data gathered through review of documents, 6 focus group discussions with community leaders, and 12 key informant interviews with CHA trainers, supervisors and members of the District Health Management Team were analysed using thematic analysis. The perceived relative advantage of CHAs over existing community-based health workers in terms of their quality of training and scope of responsibilities, and the perceived compatibility of CHAs with existing groups of health workers and community healthcare expectations positively facilitated the integration process. However, limited integration of CHAs in the district health governance system hindered effective programme trialability, simplicity and observability at district level. Specific challenges at this level included a limited information flow and sense of programme ownership, and insufficient documentation of outcomes. The district also had difficulties in responding to emergent challenges such as delayed or non-payment of CHA incentives, as well as inadequate supervision and involvement of CHAs in the health posts where they are supposed to be working. Furthermore, failure of the health system to secure regular drug supplies affected health service delivery and acceptability of CHA services at community level. The study has demonstrated that implementation of policy guidelines for integrating community-based health workers in the health system may not automatically guarantee successful integration at the local or district level, at least at the start of the process. The study reiterates the need for fully integrating such innovations into the district health governance system if they are to be effective.

The looming expansion and transformation of public substance abuse treatment under the Affordable Care Act.

PubMed

Buck, Jeffrey A

2011-08-01

Public substance abuse treatment services have largely operated as an independent part of the overall health care system, with unique methods of administration, funding, and service delivery. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 and other recent health care reforms, coupled with declines in state general revenue spending, will change this. Overall funding for these substance abuse services should increase, and they should be better integrated into the mainstream of general health care. Reform provisions are also likely to expand the variety of substance abuse treatment providers and shift services away from residential and stand-alone programs toward outpatient programs and more integrated programs or care systems. As a result, patients should have better access to care that is more medically based and person-centered.

System and Method for Providing a Climate Data Analytic Services Application Programming Interface Distribution Package

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tamkin, Glenn S. (Inventor); Duffy, Daniel Q. (Inventor); Schnase, John L. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

A system, method and computer-readable storage devices for providing a climate data analytic services application programming interface distribution package. The example system can provide various components. The system provides a climate data analytic services application programming interface library that enables software applications running on a client device to invoke the capabilities of a climate data analytic service. The system provides a command-line interface that provides a means of interacting with a climate data analytic service by issuing commands directly to the system's server interface. The system provides sample programs that call on the capabilities of the application programming interface library and can be used as templates for the construction of new client applications. The system can also provide test utilities, build utilities, service integration utilities, and documentation.

Decision support for the integrated restoration and protection strategy of the Forest Service, Northern Region

Treesearch

Keith Reynolds; Barry Bollenbacher; Chip Fisher; Melissa Hart; Mary Manning; Eric Henderson; Bruce Sims

2016-01-01

This report documents a decision-support process developed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Region to assess management opportunities as part of an ecosystem-based approach to management that emphasizes ecological resilience. The decision-support system described in this work implements what is known as the Integrated Restoration and...

What a Difference a Recession Makes: The Rise and Fall of Integrated Services for At-Risk Youth in Massachusetts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Useem, Elizabeth L.

This paper describes the implementation of an innovative integrated approach to the delivery of services for disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts, and examines the fiscal, political, and organizational factors that led to its subsequent demise. Massachusetts was one of the first states to envision and implement a statewide system of coordinated…

Modular Architecture for Integrated Model-Based Decision Support.

PubMed

Gaebel, Jan; Schreiber, Erik; Oeser, Alexander; Oeltze-Jafra, Steffen

2018-01-01

Model-based decision support systems promise to be a valuable addition to oncological treatments and the implementation of personalized therapies. For the integration and sharing of decision models, the involved systems must be able to communicate with each other. In this paper, we propose a modularized architecture of dedicated systems for the integration of probabilistic decision models into existing hospital environments. These systems interconnect via web services and provide model sharing and processing capabilities for clinical information systems. Along the lines of IHE integration profiles from other disciplines and the meaningful reuse of routinely recorded patient data, our approach aims for the seamless integration of decision models into hospital infrastructure and the physicians' daily work.

An Approach for the Assessment of System Upset Resilience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Pomales, Wilfredo

2013-01-01

This report describes an approach for the assessment of upset resilience that is applicable to systems in general, including safety-critical, real-time systems. For this work, resilience is defined as the ability to preserve and restore service availability and integrity under stated conditions of configuration, functional inputs and environmental conditions. To enable a quantitative approach, we define novel system service degradation metrics and propose a new mathematical definition of resilience. These behavioral-level metrics are based on the fundamental service classification criteria of correctness, detectability, symmetry and persistence. This approach consists of a Monte-Carlo-based stimulus injection experiment, on a physical implementation or an error-propagation model of a system, to generate a system response set that can be characterized in terms of dimensional error metrics and integrated to form an overall measure of resilience. We expect this approach to be helpful in gaining insight into the error containment and repair capabilities of systems for a wide range of conditions.

Integrating distributed multimedia systems and interactive television networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shvartsman, Alex A.

1996-01-01

Recent advances in networks, storage and video delivery systems are about to make commercial deployment of interactive multimedia services over digital television networks a reality. The emerging components individually have the potential to satisfy the technical requirements in the near future. However, no single vendor is offering a complete end-to-end commercially-deployable and scalable interactive multimedia applications systems over digital/analog television systems. Integrating a large set of maturing sub-assemblies and interactive multimedia applications is a major task in deploying such systems. Here we deal with integration issues, requirements and trade-offs in building delivery platforms and applications for interactive television services. Such integration efforts must overcome lack of standards, and deal with unpredictable development cycles and quality problems of leading- edge technology. There are also the conflicting goals of optimizing systems for video delivery while enabling highly interactive distributed applications. It is becoming possible to deliver continuous video streams from specific sources, but it is difficult and expensive to provide the ability to rapidly switch among multiple sources of video and data. Finally, there is the ever- present challenge of integrating and deploying expensive systems whose scalability and extensibility is limited, while ensuring some resiliency in the face of inevitable changes. This proceedings version of the paper is an extended abstract.

48 CFR 352.234-2 - Notice of earned value management system-post-award Integrated Baseline Review.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notice of earned value management system-post-award Integrated Baseline Review. 352.234-2 Section 352.234-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND FORMS SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 352.234...

48 CFR 352.234-1 - Notice of earned value management system-pre-award Integrated Baseline Review.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notice of earned value management system-pre-award Integrated Baseline Review. 352.234-1 Section 352.234-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND FORMS SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 352.234-...

HIV, tuberculosis, and noncommunicable diseases: what is known about the costs, effects, and cost-effectiveness of integrated care?

PubMed

Hyle, Emily P; Naidoo, Kogieleum; Su, Amanda E; El-Sadr, Wafaa M; Freedberg, Kenneth A

2014-09-01

Unprecedented investments in health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have resulted in more than 8 million individuals on antiretroviral therapy. Such individuals experience dramatically increased survival but are increasingly at risk of developing common noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Integrating clinical care for HIV, other infectious diseases, and NCDs could make health services more effective and provide greater value. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a method to evaluate the clinical benefits and costs associated with different health care interventions and offers guidance for prioritization of investments and scale-up, especially as resources are increasingly constrained. We first examine tuberculosis and HIV as 1 example of integrated care already successfully implemented in several LMICs; we then review the published literature regarding cervical cancer and depression as 2 examples of NCDs for which integrating care with HIV services could offer excellent value. Direct evidence of the benefits of integrated services generally remains scarce; however, data suggest that improved effectiveness and reduced costs may be attained by integrating additional services with existing HIV clinical care. Further investigation into clinical outcomes and costs of care for NCDs among people living with HIV in LMICs will help to prioritize specific health care services by contributing to an understanding of the affordability and implementation of an integrated approach.

Critical insights for a sustainability framework to address integrated community water services: Technical metrics and approaches

EPA Science Inventory

Planning for sustainable community water systems requires a comprehensive understanding and assessment of the integrated source-drinking-wastewater systems over their life-cycles. Although traditional life cycle assessment and similar tools (e.g. footprints and emergy) have been ...

Chemical Transformation System: Cloud Based Cheminformatic Services to Support Integrated Environmental Modeling (proceedings)

EPA Science Inventory

Integrated Environmental Modeling (IEM) systems that account for the fate/transport of organics frequently require physicochemical properties as well as transformation products. A myriad of chemical property databases exist but these can be difficult to access and often do not co...

[Prisma France: implementation program of an innovation in health and services system for disabled people. Adaptation of a case-management based integration model].

PubMed

Somme, D; Trouvé, H; Couturier, Y; Carrier, S; Gagnon, D; Lavallart, B; Hébert, R; Cretin, C; Saint-Jean, O

2008-02-01

The French health and services system to maintain at home is characterized by its fragmentation, whereas the need of the people for intervention is generally total. This fragmentation have consequences: delay in services delivery, inadequate transmission of information, redundant evaluation, service conditioned by the entrance point solicited rather than by the need of the person and inappropriate use of expensive resources by ignorance or difficulty of access to the less expensive resources. The purpose of integration is to improve continuity of interventions for people in loss of autonomy. It consists in setting up a whole of organisational, managerial and clinical common tools. Organisational model "Projet et Recherches sur l'Intégration des Services pour le Maintien de l'Autonomie" (Prisma) tested in Quebec showed a strong impact on the prevention of the loss of autonomy in term of public health on a population level. This model rests on six principal elements: partnership, single entry point, case-management, a multidimensional standardized tool for evaluation, an individualized services plan and a system for information transmission. Thus, it was decided to try to implement in France this organisational model. The project is entitled Prisma France and is presented here. The analysis of the context of implementation of the innovation which represents integration in the field of health and services for frail older reveals obstacles (in particular because of diversity of professional concerned and a presentiment of complexity of the implementation of the model) and favourable conditions (in particular the great tension towards change in this field). The current conditions in France appear mainly favourable to the implementation of integration. The establishment of Prisma model in France requires a partnership work of definition of a common language as well on the diagnoses as on the solutions. The strategic and operational dialogue is thus a key element of the construction of integration. This stage currently occurs in parallel in three areas contrasted in France. The results of associated qualitative research should make it possible to define the factors fostering or hindering the realization of integration according to each site (analyzes contrasted) and in all the sites (related to the particular context of care and French services as a whole).

Integration of HIV care into maternal health services: a crucial change required in improving quality of obstetric care in countries with high HIV prevalence.

PubMed

Madzimbamuto, Farai D; Ray, Sunanda; Mogobe, Keitshokile D

2013-06-10

The failure to reduce preventable maternal deaths represents a violation of women's right to life, health, non-discrimination and equality. Maternal deaths result from weaknesses in health systems: inadequate financing of services, poor information systems, inefficient logistics management and most important, the lack of investment in the most valuable resource, the human resource of health workers. Inadequate senior leadership, poor communication and low staff morale are cited repeatedly in explaining low quality of healthcare. Vertical programmes undermine other service areas by creating competition for scarce skilled staff, separate reporting systems and duplication of training and tasks. Confidential enquiries and other quality-improvement activities have identified underlying causes of maternal deaths, but depend on the health system to respond with remedies. Instead of separate vertical programmes for management of HIV, tuberculosis, and reproductive health, integration of care and joint management of pregnancy and HIV would be more effective. Addressing health system failures that lead to each woman's death would have a wider impact on improving the quality of care provided in the health service as a whole. More could be achieved if existing resources were used more effectively. The challenge for African countries is how to get into practice interventions known from research to be effective in improving quality of care. Advocacy and commitment to saving women's lives are crucial elements for campaigns to influence governments and policy -makers to act on the findings of these enquiries. Health professional training curricula should be updated to include perspectives on patients' rights, communication skills, and integrated approaches, while using adult learning methods and problem-solving techniques. In countries with high rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), indirect causes of maternal deaths from HIV-associated infections now exceed direct causes of hemorrhage, hypertension and sepsis. Advocacy for all pregnant HIV-positive women to be on anti-retroviral therapy must extend to improvements in the quality of service offered, better organised obstetric services and integration of clinical HIV care into maternity services. Improved communication and specialist support to peripheral facilities can be facilitated through advances in technology such as mobile phones.

Semantic Web meets Integrative Biology: a survey.

PubMed

Chen, Huajun; Yu, Tong; Chen, Jake Y

2013-01-01

Integrative Biology (IB) uses experimental or computational quantitative technologies to characterize biological systems at the molecular, cellular, tissue and population levels. IB typically involves the integration of the data, knowledge and capabilities across disciplinary boundaries in order to solve complex problems. We identify a series of bioinformatics problems posed by interdisciplinary integration: (i) data integration that interconnects structured data across related biomedical domains; (ii) ontology integration that brings jargons, terminologies and taxonomies from various disciplines into a unified network of ontologies; (iii) knowledge integration that integrates disparate knowledge elements from multiple sources; (iv) service integration that build applications out of services provided by different vendors. We argue that IB can benefit significantly from the integration solutions enabled by Semantic Web (SW) technologies. The SW enables scientists to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites, resulting into a web of data that is meaningful and understandable to any computers. In this review, we provide insight into how SW technologies can be used to build open, standardized and interoperable solutions for interdisciplinary integration on a global basis. We present a rich set of case studies in system biology, integrative neuroscience, bio-pharmaceutics and translational medicine, to highlight the technical features and benefits of SW applications in IB.

Developing integrated health and social care services for older persons in Europe

PubMed Central

Leichsenring, Kai

2004-01-01

Abstract Purpose This paper is to distribute first results of the EU Fifth Framework Project ‘Providing integrated health and social care for older persons—issues, problems and solutions’ (PROCARE—http://www.euro.centre.org/procare/). The project's first phase was to identify different approaches to integration as well as structural, organisational, economic and social-cultural factors and actors that constitute integrated and sustainable care systems. It also served to retrieve a number of experiences, model ways of working and demonstration projects in the participating countries which are currently being analysed in order to learn from success—or failure—and to develop policy recommendations for the local, national and European level. Theory The paper draws on existing definitions of integrated care in various countries and by various scholars. Given the context of an international comparative study it tries to avoid providing a single, ready-made definition but underlines the role of social care as part and parcel of this type of integrated care in the participating countries. Methods The paper is based on national reports from researchers representing ten organisations (university institutes, consultancy firms, research institutes, the public and the NGO sector) from 9 European countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK. Literature reviews made intensive use of grey literature and evaluation studies in the context of at least five model ways of working in each country. Results As a result of the cross-national overview an attempt to classify different approaches and definitions is made and indicators of relative importance of the different instruments used in integrating health and social care services are provided. Conclusions The cross-national overview shows that issues concerning co-ordination and integration of services are high on the agenda in most countries. Depending on the state of service development, various approaches and instruments can be observed. Different national frameworks, in particular with respect to financing and organisation, systemic development, professionalisation and professional cultures, basic societal values (family ethics), and political approaches have to be taken into account during the second phase of PROCARE during which transversal and transnational analysis will be undertaken based on an in-depth analysis of two model ways of working in each country. Discussion Far from a European vision concerning integrated care, national health and social care systems remain—at best—loosely coupled systems that are facing increasing difficulties, given the current challenges, in particular in long-term care for older persons: increasing marketisation, lack of managerial knowledge (co-operation, co-ordination), shortage of care workers and a general trend towards down-sizing of social care services continue to hamper the first tentative pathways towards integrated care systems. PMID:16773149

MonALISA, an agent-based monitoring and control system for the LHC experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcas, J.; Kcira, D.; Mughal, A.; Newman, H.; Spiropulu, M.; Vlimant, J. R.

2017-10-01

MonALISA, which stands for Monitoring Agents using a Large Integrated Services Architecture, has been developed over the last fifteen years by California Insitute of Technology (Caltech) and its partners with the support of the software and computing program of the CMS and ALICE experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The framework is based on Dynamic Distributed Service Architecture and is able to provide complete system monitoring, performance metrics of applications, Jobs or services, system control and global optimization services for complex systems. A short overview and status of MonALISA is given in this paper.

Integrating Personalized and Community Services for Mobile Travel Planning and Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chien-Chih

Personalized and community services have been noted as keys to enhance and facilitate e-tourism as well as mobile applications. This paper aims at proposing an integrated service framework for combining personalized and community functions to support mobile travel planning and management. Major mobile tourism related planning and decision support functions specified include personalized profile management, information search and notification, evaluation and recommendation, do-it-yourself planning and design, community and collaboration management, auction and negotiation, transaction and payment, as well as trip tracking and quality control. A system implementation process with an example prototype is also presented for illustrating the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system framework, process model, and development methodology.

[Ecosystem services evaluation based on geographic information system and remote sensing technology: a review].

PubMed

Li, Wen-Jie; Zhang, Shi-Huang; Wang, Hui-Min

2011-12-01

Ecosystem services evaluation is a hot topic in current ecosystem management, and has a close link with human beings welfare. This paper summarized the research progress on the evaluation of ecosystem services based on geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology, which could be reduced to the following three characters, i. e., ecological economics theory is widely applied as a key method in quantifying ecosystem services, GIS and RS technology play a key role in multi-source data acquisition, spatiotemporal analysis, and integrated platform, and ecosystem mechanism model becomes a powerful tool for understanding the relationships between natural phenomena and human activities. Aiming at the present research status and its inadequacies, this paper put forward an "Assembly Line" framework, which was a distributed one with scalable characteristics, and discussed the future development trend of the integration research on ecosystem services evaluation based on GIS and RS technologies.

A secure EHR system based on hybrid clouds.

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Yi; Lu, Jun-Chao; Jan, Jinn-Ke

2012-10-01

Consequently, application services rendering remote medical services and electronic health record (EHR) have become a hot topic and stimulating increased interest in studying this subject in recent years. Information and communication technologies have been applied to the medical services and healthcare area for a number of years to resolve problems in medical management. Sharing EHR information can provide professional medical programs with consultancy, evaluation, and tracing services can certainly improve accessibility to the public receiving medical services or medical information at remote sites. With the widespread use of EHR, building a secure EHR sharing environment has attracted a lot of attention in both healthcare industry and academic community. Cloud computing paradigm is one of the popular healthIT infrastructures for facilitating EHR sharing and EHR integration. In this paper, we propose an EHR sharing and integration system in healthcare clouds and analyze the arising security and privacy issues in access and management of EHRs.

Integrating reproductive health: myth and ideology.

PubMed Central

Lush, L.; Cleland, J.; Walt, G.; Mayhew, S.

1999-01-01

Since 1994, integrating human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) services with primary health care, as part of reproductive health, has been advocated to address two major public health problems: to control the spread of HIV; and to improve women's reproductive health. However, integration is unlikely to succeed because primary health care and the political context within which this approach is taking place are unsuited to the task. In this paper, a historical comparison is made between the health systems of Ghana, Kenya and Zambia and that of South Africa, to examine progress on integration of HIV/STD services since 1994. Our findings indicate that primary health care in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia has been used mainly by women and children and that integration has meant adding new activities to these services. For the vertical programmes which support these services, integration implies enhanced collaboration rather than merged responsibility. This compromise between comprehensive rhetoric and selective reality has resulted in little change to existing structures and processes; problems with integration have been exacerbated by the activities of external donors. By comparison, in South Africa integration has been achieved through political commitment to primary health care rather than expanding vertical programmes (top-down management systems). The rhetoric of integration has been widely used in reproductive health despite lack of evidence for its feasibility, as a result of the convergence of four agendas: improving family planning quality; the need to improve women's health; the rapid spread of HIV; and conceptual shifts in primary health care. International reproductive health actors, however, have taken little account of political, financial and managerial constraints to implementation in low-income countries. PMID:10534902

Extent of Integration of Priority Interventions into General Health Systems: A Case Study of Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme in the Western Region of Ghana.

PubMed

Mensah, Ernest O; Aikins, Moses K; Gyapong, Margaret; Anto, Francis; Bockarie, Moses J; Gyapong, John O

2016-05-01

The global health system has a large arsenal of interventions, medical products and technologies to address current global health challenges. However, identifying the most effective and efficient strategies to deliver these resources to where they are most needed has been a challenge. Targeted and integrated interventions have been the main delivery strategies. However, the health system discourse increasingly favours integrated strategies in the context of functionally merging targeted interventions with multifunctional health care delivery systems with a focus on strengthening country health systems to deliver needed interventions. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) have been identified to promote and perpetuate poverty hence there has been global effort to combat these diseases. The Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme (NTDP) in Ghana has a national programme team and office, however, it depends on the multifunctional health delivery system at the regional and district level to implement interventions. The NTDP seeks further health system integration to accelerate achievement of coverage targets. The study estimated the extent of integration of the NTDP at the national, regional and district levels to provide evidence to guide further integration. The research design was a descriptive case study that interviewed key persons involved in the programme at the three levels of the health system as well as extensive document review. Integration was assessed on two planes-across health system functions-stewardship and governance, financing, planning, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation and demand generation; and across three administrative levels of the health system-national, regional and district. A composite measure of integration designated Cumulative Integration Index (CII) with a range of 0.00-1.00 was used to estimate extent of integration at the three levels of the health system. Service delivery was most integrated while financing and planning were least integrated. Extent of integration was partial at all levels of the health system with a CII of 0.48-0.68; however it was higher at the district compared to the national and regional levels. To ensure further integration of the NTDP, planning and finance management activities must be decentralized to involve regional and district levels of the health system. The study provides an empirical measure of extent of integration and indicators to guide further integration.

Integration and continuity of Care in health care network models for frail older adults

PubMed Central

Veras, Renato Peixoto; Caldas, Célia Pereira; da Motta, Luciana Branco; de Lima, Kenio Costa; Siqueira, Ricardo Carreño; Rodrigues, Renata Teixeira da Silva Vendas; Santos, Luciana Maria Alves Martins; Guerra, Ana Carolina Lima Cavaletti

2014-01-01

A detailed review was conducted of the literature on models evaluating the effectiveness of integrated and coordinated care networks for the older population. The search made use of the following bibliographic databases: Pubmed, The Cochrane Library, LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus and SciELO. Twelve articles on five different models were included for discussion. Analysis of the literature showed that the services provided were based on primary care, including services within the home. Service users relied on the integration of primary and hospital care, day centers and in-home and social services. Care plans and case management were key elements in care continuity. This approach was shown to be effective in the studies, reducing the need for hospital care, which resulted in savings for the system. There was reduced prevalence of functional loss and improved satisfaction and quality of life on the part of service users and their families. The analysis reinforced the need for change in the approach to health care for older adults and the integration and coordination of services is an efficient way of initiating this change. PMID:24897058

IT-based diagnostic instrumentation systems for personalized healthcare services.

PubMed

Chun, Honggu; Kang, Jaemin; Kim, Ki-Jung; Park, Kwang Suk; Kim, Hee Chan

2005-01-01

This paper describes recent research and development activities on the diagnostic instruments for personalized healthcare services in Seoul National University. Utilizing the state-of-the-art information technologies (IT), various diagnostic medical instruments have been integrated into a personal wearable device and a home telehealthcare system. We developed a wrist-worn integrated health monitoring device (WIHMD) which performs the measurements of non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP), pulse oximetry (SpO2), electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration rate, heart rate, and body surface temperature and the detection of falls to determine the onset of emergency situation. The WIHMD also analyzes the acquired bio-signals and transmits the resultant data to a healthcare service center through a commercial cellular phone. Two different kinds of IT-based blood glucometer have been developed using a cellular phone and PDA(personal digital assistant) as a main unit. A blood glucometer was also integrated within a wrist pressure measurement module which is interfaced with a cellular phone via Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) standard in order to provide users with easiness in measuring and handling two important health parameters. Non-intrusive bio-signal measurement systems were developed for the ease of home use. One can measure his ECG on a bed while he is sleeping; measure his ECG, body temperature, bodyfat ratio and weight on a toilet seat; measure his ECG on a chair; and estimate the degree of activity by motion analysis using a camera. Another integrated diagnostic system for home telehealthcare services has been developed to include a 12 channels ECG, a pressure meter for NIBP, a blood glucometer, a bodyfat meter and a spirometer. It is an expert system to analyze the measured health data and based on the diagnostic result, the system provides an appropriate medical consultation. The measured data can be either stored on the system or transmitted to the central server through the internet. We have installed the developed systems on a model house for the performance evaluation and confirmed the possibility of the system as an effective tool for the personalized healthcare services.

Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services Afghanistan Disposal Process Needed Improvement

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-08

audit, and management was proactive in correcting the deficiencies we identified. DLA DS eliminated backlogs, identified and corrected system ...problems, provided additional system training, corrected coding errors, added personnel to key positions, addressed scale issues, submitted debit...Service Automated Information System to the Reutilization Business Integration2 (RBI) solution. The implementation of RBI in Afghanistan occurred in

Auto-Generated Semantic Processing Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Rodney; Hupf, Greg

2009-01-01

Auto-Generated Semantic Processing (AGSP) Services is a suite of software tools for automated generation of other computer programs, denoted cross-platform semantic adapters, that support interoperability of computer-based communication systems that utilize a variety of both new and legacy communication software running in a variety of operating- system/computer-hardware combinations. AGSP has numerous potential uses in military, space-exploration, and other government applications as well as in commercial telecommunications. The cross-platform semantic adapters take advantage of common features of computer- based communication systems to enforce semantics, messaging protocols, and standards of processing of streams of binary data to ensure integrity of data and consistency of meaning among interoperating systems. The auto-generation aspect of AGSP Services reduces development time and effort by emphasizing specification and minimizing implementation: In effect, the design, building, and debugging of software for effecting conversions among complex communication protocols, custom device mappings, and unique data-manipulation algorithms is replaced with metadata specifications that map to an abstract platform-independent communications model. AGSP Services is modular and has been shown to be easily integrable into new and legacy NASA flight and ground communication systems.

76 FR 20534 - Program Integrity Issues

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-13

... Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys... educational programs or those that provide marketing, advertising, recruiting, or admissions services. We have... the institution to provide services, such as food service, other than educational programs, marketing...

Integrating Social Networks and Remote Patient Monitoring Systems to Disseminate Notifications.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Hugo A; Germano, Eliseu; Carvalho, Sergio T; Albuquerque, Eduardo S

2017-01-01

Healthcare workforce shortage can be compensated by using information and communication technologies. Remote patient monitoring systems allow us to identify and communicate complications and anomalies. Integrating social networking services into remote patient monitoring systems enables users to manage their relationships. User defined relationships may be used to disseminate healthcare related notifications. Hence this integration leads to quicker interventions and may reduce hospital readmission rate. As a proof of concept, a module was integrated to a remote patient monitoring platform. A mobile application to manage relationships and receive notifications was also developed.

Patient care delivery and integration: stimulating advancement of ambulatory care pharmacy practice in an era of healthcare reform.

PubMed

Epplen, Kelly T

2014-08-15

This article discusses how to plan and implement an ambulatory care pharmacist service, how to integrate a hospital- or health-system-based service with the mission and operations of the institution, and how to help the institution meet its challenges related to quality improvement, continuity of care, and financial sustainability. The steps in implementing an ambulatory care pharmacist service include (1) conducting a needs assessment, (2) aligning plans for the service with the mission and goals of the parent institution, (3) collaborating with patients and physicians, (4) standardizing the patient care process, (5) proposing the service, (6) attaining the necessary resources, (7) identifying stakeholders, (8) identifying applicable quality standards, (9) defining competency standards, (10) planning for service payment, and (11) monitoring outcomes. Ambulatory care pharmacists have current opportunities to become engaged with patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, preventive and wellness programs, and continuity of care initiatives. Common barriers to the advancement of ambulatory care pharmacist services include lack of complete access to patient information, inadequate information technology, and lack of payment. Ambulatory care pharmacy practitioners must assertively promote appropriate medication use, provide patient-centered care, pursue integration with the patient care team, and seek appropriate recognition and compensation for the services they provide. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

Food Service System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The 3M Food Service System 2 employs a "cook/chill" concept for serving food in hospitals. The system allows staff to prepare food well in advance, maintain heat, visual appeal and nutritional value as well as reducing operating costs. The integral heating method, which keeps hot foods hot and cold foods cold, was developed by 3M for the Apollo Program. In the 1970s, the company commercialized the original system and in 1991, introduced Food Service System 2. Dishes are designed to resemble those used at home, and patient satisfaction has been high.

Hybridization of Architectural Styles for Integrated Enterprise Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagusyte, Lina; Lupeikiene, Audrone

Current enterprise systems engineering theory does not provide adequate support for the development of information systems on demand. To say more precisely, it is forming. This chapter proposes the main architectural decisions that underlie the design of integrated enterprise information systems. This chapter argues for the extending service-oriented architecture - for merging it with component-based paradigm at the design stage and using connectors of different architectural styles. The suitability of general-purpose language SysML for the modeling of integrated enterprise information systems architectures is described and arguments pros are presented.

The EPOS e-Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeffery, Keith; Bailo, Daniele

2014-05-01

The European Plate Observing System (EPOS) is integrating geoscientific information concerning earth movements in Europe. We are approaching the end of the PP (Preparatory Project) phase and in October 2014 expect to continue with the full project within ESFRI (European Strategic Framework for Research Infrastructures). The key aspects of EPOS concern providing services to allow homogeneous access by end-users over heterogeneous data, software, facilities, equipment and services. The e-infrastructure of EPOS is the heart of the project since it integrates the work on organisational, legal, economic and scientific aspects. Following the creation of an inventory of relevant organisations, persons, facilities, equipment, services, datasets and software (RIDE) the scale of integration required became apparent. The EPOS e-infrastructure architecture has been developed systematically based on recorded primary (user) requirements and secondary (interoperation with other systems) requirements through Strawman, Woodman and Ironman phases with the specification - and developed confirmatory prototypes - becoming more precise and progressively moving from paper to implemented system. The EPOS architecture is based on global core services (Integrated Core Services - ICS) which access thematic nodes (domain-specific European-wide collections, called thematic Core Services - TCS), national nodes and specific institutional nodes. The key aspect is the metadata catalog. In one dimension this is described in 3 levels: (1) discovery metadata using well-known and commonly used standards such as DC (Dublin Core) to enable users (via an intelligent user interface) to search for objects within the EPOS environment relevant to their needs; (2) contextual metadata providing the context of the object described in the catalog to enable a user or the system to determine the relevance of the discovered object(s) to their requirement - the context includes projects, funding, organisations involved, persons involved, related publications, facilities, equipment and others, and utilises CERIF (Common European Research Information Format) standard (see www.eurocris.org); (3) detailed metadata which is specific to a domain or to a particular object and includes the schema describing the object to processing software. The other dimension of the metadata concerns the objects described. These are classified into users, services (including software), data and resources (computing, data storage, instruments and scientific equipment). An alternative architecture has been considered: using brokering. This technique has been used especially in North America geoscience projects to interoperate datasets. The technique involves writing software to interconvert between any two node datasets. Given n nodes this implies writing n*(n-1) convertors. EPOS Working Group 7 (e-infrastructures and virtual community) which deals with the design and implementation of a prototype of the EPOS services, chose to use an approach which endows the system with an extreme flexibility and sustainability. It is called the Metadata Catalogue approach. With the use of the catalogue the EPOS system can: 1. interoperate with software, services, users, organisations, facilities, equipment etc. as well as datasets; 2. avoid to write n*(n-1) software convertors and generate as much as possible, through the information contained in the catalogue only n convertors. This is a huge saving - especially in maintenance as the datasets (or other node resources) evolve. We are working on (semi-) automation of convertor generation by metadata mapping - this is leading-edge computer science research; 3. make large use of contextual metadata which enable a user or a machine to: (i) improve discovery of resources at nodes; (ii) improve precision and recall in search; (iii) drive the systems for identification, authentication, authorisation, security and privacy recording the relevant attributes of the node resources and of the user; (iv) manage provenance and long-term digital preservation; The linkage between the Integrated Services, which provide the integration of data and services, with the diverse Thematic Services Nodes is provided by means of a compatibility layer, which includes the aforementioned metadata catalogue. This layer provides 'connectors' to make local data, software and services available through the EPOS Integrated Services layer. In conclusion, we believe the EPOS e-infrastructure architecture is fit for purpose including long-term sustainability and pan-European access to data and services.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ma, Zhiwen; Eichman, Josh; Kurtz, Jennifer

This National Renewable Energy Laboratory industry-inspired Laboratory Directed Research and Development project evaluates the feasibility and economics of using fuel cell backup power systems in cell towers to provide grid services (e.g., balancing, ancillary services, demand response). The work is intended to evaluate the integration of thousands of under-utilized, clean, efficient, and reliable fuel cell systems that are already installed in cell towers for potential grid and ancillary services.

From generic pathways to ICT-supported horizontally integrated care: the SmartCare approach and convergence with future Internet assembly.

PubMed

Urošević, Vladimir; Mitić, Marko

2014-01-01

Successful service integration in policy and practice requires both technology innovation and service process innovation being pursued and implemented at the same time. The SmartCare project (partially EC-funded under CIP ICT PSP Program) aims to achieve this through development, piloting and evaluation of ICT-based services, horizontally integrating health and social care in ten pilot regions, including Kraljevo region in Serbia. The project has identified and adopted two generic highest-level common thematic pathways in joint consolidation phase - integrated support for long-term care and integrated support after hospital discharge. A common set of standard functional specifications for an open ICT platform enabling the delivery of integrated care is being defined, around the challenges of data sharing, coordination and communication in these two formalized pathways. Implementation and system integration on technology and architecture level are to be based on open standards, multivendor interoperability, and leveraging on the current evolving open specification technology foundations developed in relevant projects across the European Research Area.

Pluralist social constraints on the development of a health care system: the case of Israel.

PubMed

Palley, H A; Yishai, Y; Ever-Hadani, P

1983-01-01

The effectiveness of Israel's health care system is hindered by pluralism, in terms both of its many separate health service institutions and of the particularism of those institutions. Although the health care system provides modern health care to a widely insured population, it does so inefficiently and at unnecessary expense. The lack of vertical and horizontal integration of the health care system has led to problems of fragmentation, duplication, and lack of coordination of services. Because of its limited resources, Israel must work to surmount this pluralism and achieve integrated planning if it is to succeed in providing the efficient and cost-effective care its population needs.

Enterprise Systems in a Service Science Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nilsson, Anders G.

By enterprise systems we here refer to large integrated standard application packages that fully cover the provision of information required in a company. They are made up of extensive administrative solutions for management accounting, human resource management, production, logistics and sales control. Most of the enterprise systems on the market have traditionally been designed with a focus on manufacturing companies, but during the past years the supply of various enterprise systems for service-oriented business organizations has gradually increased. This fact raises the issue to study enterprise systems from a service management perspective. Service science is an emerging discipline that studies value creation through services from technical, behavioural and social perspectives. Within service science it is therefore possible to use and apply a wide spectrum of engineering tools for development of business services in organizations. In this sense, enterprise systems represent an efficient tool for service innovations. The research interest in this chapter is focussed on how we can study enterprise systems in a service science context.

TARDEC’s Victory Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL) is a Key Tool for Advancing Standardized Ground Vehicle Electronic Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

The first phase consisted of Shared Services , Threat Detection and Reporting, and the Remote Weapon Station (RWS) build up and validation. The...Awareness build up and validation. The first phase consisted of the development of the shared services or core services that are required by many...C4ISR/EW systems. The shared services include: time synchronization, position, direction of travel, and orientation. Time synchronization is

49 CFR 570.56 - Vacuum brake assist unit and vacuum brake system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

.... The following requirements apply to vehicles with vacuum brake assist units and vacuum brake systems. (a) Vacuum brake assist unit integrity. The vacuum brake assist unit shall demonstrate integrity as... maintained on the pedal. (1) Inspection procedure. Stop the engine and apply service brake several times to...

14 CFR 255.4 - Display of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... with the requirements of this section. (1) Each system must offer an integrated display that uses the.... (2) Each integrated display offered by a system must either use elapsed time as a significant factor in selecting service options from the database or give single-plane flights a preference over...

Integrated marketing.

PubMed

2006-01-01

St. John Health consists of nine hospitals throughout southern Michigan. Recently, in an attempt to brand the system as the state's premiere place for medical services, the system launched 'Real Medicine', a campaign that brands all nine hospitals together. Using print, radio, and television spots, the effort also integrates direct mail collateral and brochures to reach consumers.

Integrated Adult Education Data System. Policy Option Paper on Strategic Recommendation 8. First Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porter, Dennis

This document addresses the recommendation contained in the 1989 California Strategic Plan for Adult Education for an integrated adult education data system. The recommendation proposes collecting and organizing community adult education information into groups of data on: program services, program delivery, learner characteristics, and learning…

48 CFR 334.202 - Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... rationale for a pre-award IBR, including an assessment of the impact on the source selection schedule and... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs). 334.202 Section 334.202 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...

48 CFR 334.202 - Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... rationale for a pre-award IBR, including an assessment of the impact on the source selection schedule and... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs). 334.202 Section 334.202 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...

48 CFR 334.202 - Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... rationale for a pre-award IBR, including an assessment of the impact on the source selection schedule and... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs). 334.202 Section 334.202 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...

48 CFR 334.202 - Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... rationale for a pre-award IBR, including an assessment of the impact on the source selection schedule and... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs). 334.202 Section 334.202 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...

48 CFR 334.202 - Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... rationale for a pre-award IBR, including an assessment of the impact on the source selection schedule and... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs). 334.202 Section 334.202 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...

75 FR 56112 - Integrated Food Safety System Online Collaboration Development-Cooperative Agreement With the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-15

... unintentional contamination of food at each of these points. FDA has worked with other Federal, State, local... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0480] Integrated Food Safety System Online Collaboration Development-- Cooperative Agreement With the National...

Energy Systems Integration News | Energy Systems Integration Facility |

Science.gov Websites

NREL January 2018 Blockchain concept demonstrated Blockchain to Enable Energy Market in BlockCypher Partnership NREL is partnering with BlockCypher, a blockchain Web services provider, to demonstrate how blockchain technology can support distributed energy markets. For some, the language and

Joint Efforts Towards European HF Radar Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubio, A.; Mader, J.; Griffa, A.; Mantovani, C.; Corgnati, L.; Novellino, A.; Schulz-Stellenfleth, J.; Quentin, C.; Wyatt, L.; Ruiz, M. I.; Lorente, P.; Hartnett, M.; Gorringe, P.

2016-12-01

During the past two years, significant steps have been made in Europe for achieving the needed accessibility to High Frequency Radar (HFR) data for a pan-European use. Since 2015, EuroGOOS Ocean Observing Task Teams (TT), such as HFR TT, are operational networks of observing platforms. The main goal is on the harmonization of systems requirements, systems design, data quality, improvement and proof of the readiness and standardization of HFR data access and tools. Particular attention is being paid by HFR TT to converge from different projects and programs toward those common objectives. First, JERICO-NEXT (Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory - Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories, H2020 2015 Programme) will contribute on describing the status of the European network, on seeking harmonization through exchange of best practices and standardization, on developing and giving access to quality control procedures and new products, and finally on demonstrating the use of such technology in the general scientific strategy focused by the Coastal Observatory. Then, EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data Network) Physics started to assemble HF radar metadata and data products within Europe in a uniform way. This long term program is providing a combined array of services and functionalities to users for obtaining free of charge data, meta-data and data products on the physical conditions of European sea basins and oceans. Additionally, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) delivers from 2015 a core information service to any user related to 4 areas of benefits: Maritime Safety, Coastal and Marine Environment, Marine Resources, and Weather, Seasonal Forecasting and Climate activities. INCREASE (Innovation and Networking for the integration of Coastal Radars into EuropeAn marine SErvices - CMEMS Service Evolution 2016) will set the necessary developments towards the integration of existing European HFR operational systems into CMEMS. Finally, these current progresses will contribute to integrate HFR platforms as important operational components of EOOS, the European Ocean Observing System, designed to align and integrate Europe's ocean observing capacity for a truly integrated end-to-end ocean observing in Europe.

Extent of Integration of Priority Interventions into General Health Systems: A Case Study of Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme in the Western Region of Ghana

PubMed Central

Mensah, Ernest O.; Aikins, Moses K.; Gyapong, Margaret; Anto, Francis; Bockarie, Moses J.; Gyapong, John O.

2016-01-01

Background The global health system has a large arsenal of interventions, medical products and technologies to address current global health challenges. However, identifying the most effective and efficient strategies to deliver these resources to where they are most needed has been a challenge. Targeted and integrated interventions have been the main delivery strategies. However, the health system discourse increasingly favours integrated strategies in the context of functionally merging targeted interventions with multifunctional health care delivery systems with a focus on strengthening country health systems to deliver needed interventions. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) have been identified to promote and perpetuate poverty hence there has been global effort to combat these diseases. The Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme (NTDP) in Ghana has a national programme team and office, however, it depends on the multifunctional health delivery system at the regional and district level to implement interventions. The NTDP seeks further health system integration to accelerate achievement of coverage targets. The study estimated the extent of integration of the NTDP at the national, regional and district levels to provide evidence to guide further integration. Methodology/Principal Findings The research design was a descriptive case study that interviewed key persons involved in the programme at the three levels of the health system as well as extensive document review. Integration was assessed on two planes—across health system functions–stewardship and governance, financing, planning, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation and demand generation; and across three administrative levels of the health system–national, regional and district. A composite measure of integration designated Cumulative Integration Index (CII) with a range of 0.00–1.00 was used to estimate extent of integration at the three levels of the health system. Service delivery was most integrated while financing and planning were least integrated. Extent of integration was partial at all levels of the health system with a CII of 0.48–0.68; however it was higher at the district compared to the national and regional levels. Conclusions/Significance To ensure further integration of the NTDP, planning and finance management activities must be decentralized to involve regional and district levels of the health system. The study provides an empirical measure of extent of integration and indicators to guide further integration. PMID:27203854

Beyond bureaucracy: emerging trends in social care informatics.

PubMed

Wastell, David; White, Sue

2014-09-01

Existing information technology systems in much of UK social care have been designed to serve the interests of the bureaucracy rather than supporting professional practice or improving services to the public. The ill-starred Integrated Children's System in statutory children's services is typical. The Integrated Children's System is a system for form-filling, micro-managing professional practice through an enforced regime of standard processes and time scales. In this article, we argue against this dominant design. We provide several examples where technology has enabled alternative modes of support for professional work, based on socio-technical principles. One such system is Patchwork, which describes itself as a 'Facebook for Social Work'; its aim is to support multi-professional teams working with vulnerable families. © The Author(s) 2013.

Combining data from multiple sources using the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarboton, D. G.; Ames, D. P.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Goodall, J. L.

2012-12-01

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) has developed a Hydrologic Information System (HIS) to provide better access to data by enabling the publication, cataloging, discovery, retrieval, and analysis of hydrologic data using web services. The CUAHSI HIS is an Internet based system comprised of hydrologic databases and servers connected through web services as well as software for data publication, discovery and access. The HIS metadata catalog lists close to 100 web services registered to provide data through this system, ranging from large federal agency data sets to experimental watersheds managed by University investigators. The system's flexibility in storing and enabling public access to similarly formatted data and metadata has created a community data resource from governmental and academic data that might otherwise remain private or analyzed only in isolation. Comprehensive understanding of hydrology requires integration of this information from multiple sources. HydroDesktop is the client application developed as part of HIS to support data discovery and access through this system. HydroDesktop is founded on an open source GIS client and has a plug-in architecture that has enabled the integration of modeling and analysis capability with the functionality for data discovery and access. Model integration is possible through a plug-in built on the OpenMI standard and data visualization and analysis is supported by an R plug-in. This presentation will demonstrate HydroDesktop, showing how it provides an analysis environment within which data from multiple sources can be discovered, accessed and integrated.

Developing a Web-based system by integrating VGI and SDI for real estate management and marketing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salajegheh, J.; Hakimpour, F.; Esmaeily, A.

2014-10-01

Property importance of various aspects, especially the impact on various sectors of the economy and the country's macroeconomic is clear. Because of the real, multi-dimensional and heterogeneous nature of housing as a commodity, the lack of an integrated system includes comprehensive information of property, the lack of awareness of some actors in this field about comprehensive information about property and the lack of clear and comprehensive rules and regulations for the trading and pricing, several problems arise for the people involved in this field. In this research implementation of a crowd-sourced Web-based real estate support system is desired. Creating a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) in this system for collecting, updating and integrating all official data about property is also desired in this study. In this system a Web2.0 broker and technologies such as Web services and service composition has been used. This work aims to provide comprehensive and diverse information about property from different sources. For this purpose five-level real estate support system architecture is used. PostgreSql DBMS is used to implement the desired system. Geoserver software is also used as map server and reference implementation of OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) standards. And Apache server is used to run web pages and user interfaces. Integration introduced methods and technologies provide a proper environment for various users to use the system and share their information. This goal is only achieved by cooperation between all involved organizations in real estate with implementation their required infrastructures in interoperability Web services format.

The role of non-governmental organizations in the social and the health system.

PubMed

Piotrowicz, Maria; Cianciara, Dorota

2013-01-01

The article presents the definitions, objectives, fields and tasks of non-governmental organizations in social life, health system and health policy. In addition, the article addresses the issue of effectiveness and quality of NGOs' activity. The term "NGOs" (Non-governmental Organizations) includes different categories of entities that operate not to obtain financial gain, and also do not belong to the government sector. Non-governmental Organizations' fields of activity were described in the International Classification of Non-Profit Organizations (ICNPO). NGOs are an integral part of a democratic society. Sociological sciences emphasize their importance in enhancing social integration, implementation of the principle of subsidiarity, building civil society, social dialogue and participatory democracy. The main tasks of NGOs in the health system are providing services and health advocacy. Provision of services includes medical, social and psychological services as well as, integration activities, care and nursing, material and financial support, educational and information services and training. Health advocacy is a combination of individual and social actions designed to gain political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems support for a particular health goal or program. An important task carried out by NGOs is participation in the formation of health policy. The increasing role of NGOs in providing social services and the participation in political processes, result in the need to confirm the validity and credibility of their operation. One of the ways could be to introduce the mechanisms to assess quality and efficiency, such as registration as a part of a legal system, self-regulatory activities (card rules, codes of ethics), certification, participation in networks, monitoring and audit.

Sustainable Watersheds: A Conceptual Approach to Integrating Ecosystem Services and Public Health

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems is a worldwide priority; the integrity of these systems depends, in turn, on the integrity of the watersheds (catchments) in which they are embedded. In this article, we present the concepts, background, and scientific foundations for ...

More than what the eye can see: the emotional journey and experience of powerlessness of integrated care service users and their carers

PubMed Central

Boudioni, Markella; Hallett, Nina; Lora, Cristina; Couchman, Wendy

2015-01-01

Purpose This article presents the emotional journey and experience of powerlessness of integrated care service users and carers. Materials and methods The experiences of seven integrated care service users and carers affected by complex conditions in a London borough were captured as video stories. The integrated care service coordinated a system of health and social care: primary care, community matrons, social workers, and the voluntary sector. The service was designed to respond to identified cases of high-risk individuals with long-term, multiple, and age-related conditions needing preventive interventions. The video stories were analyzed by researchers in collaboration with service users using a visual thematic qualitative approach. This report is part of an independent analysis of the integrated care service evaluation that used the experience-based codesign model. Results The findings are presented in the respective contexts of people with complex conditions and their carers. The overwhelming feelings and emotions of both were loss of control and power throughout their emotional journey, with family carers adopting a protective attitude toward the patients. Their experience of powerlessness was variable throughout their emotional journey. They were affected more strongly when in need of extra help and support and while they were undergoing the process of receiving extra services. When they were receiving help and support outside and within hospitals, some participants were empowered, gaining skills and knowledge by being provided with the mechanisms to cope with their condition at present and in the future. Conclusion Feelings of powerlessness were very common among integrated care service users and their carers. Powerless/empowerment has been poorly investigated to date. Visual methods and collaborative visual analysis with service users have proved to be powerful methods too, but have been rarely reported. PMID:25848232

The LIFEspan model of transitional rehabilitative care for youth with disabilities: healthcare professionals' perspectives on service delivery.

PubMed

Hamdani, Yani; Proulx, Meghann; Kingsnorth, Shauna; Lindsay, Sally; Maxwell, Joanne; Colantonio, Angela; Macarthur, Colin; Bayley, Mark

2014-01-01

LIFEspan is a service delivery model of continuous coordinated care developed and implemented by a cross-organization partnership between a pediatric and an adult rehabilitation hospital. Previous work explored enablers and barriers to establishing the partnership service. This paper examines healthcare professionals' (HCPs') experiences of 'real world' service delivery aimed at supporting transitional rehabilitative care for youth with disabilities. This qualitative study - part of an ongoing mixed method longitudinal study - elicited HCPs' perspectives on their experiences of LIFEspan service delivery through in-depth interviews. Data were categorized into themes of service delivery activities, then interpreted from the lens of a service integration/coordination framework. Five main service delivery themes were identified: 1) addressing youth's transition readiness and capacities; 2) shifting responsibility for healthcare management from parents to youth; 3) determining services based on organizational resources; 4) linking between pediatric and adult rehabilitation services; and, 5) linking with multi-sector services. LIFEspan contributed to service delivery activities that coordinated care for youth and families and integrated inter-hospital services. However, gaps in service integration with primary care, education, social, and community services limited coordinated care to the rehabilitation sector. Recommendations are made to enhance service delivery using a systems/sector-based approach.

Integrating cervical cancer with HIV healthcare services: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Sigfrid, Louise; Murphy, Georgina; Haldane, Victoria; Chuah, Fiona Leh Hoon; Ong, Suan Ee; Cervero-Liceras, Francisco; Watt, Nicola; Alvaro, Alconada; Otero-Garcia, Laura; Balabanova, Dina; Hogarth, Sue; Maimaris, Will; Buse, Kent; Mckee, Martin; Piot, Peter; Perel, Pablo

2017-01-01

Background Cervical cancer is a major public health problem. Even though readily preventable, it is the fourth leading cause of death in women globally. Women living with HIV are at increased risk of invasive cervical cancer, highlighting the need for access to screening and treatment for this population. Integration of services has been proposed as an effective way of improving access to cervical cancer screening especially in areas of high HIV prevalence as well as lower resourced settings. This paper presents the results of a systematic review of programs integrating cervical cancer and HIV services globally, including feasibility, acceptability, clinical outcomes and facilitators for service delivery. Methods This is part of a larger systematic review on integration of services for HIV and non-communicable diseases. To be considered for inclusion studies had to report on programs to integrate cervical cancer and HIV services at the level of service delivery. We searched multiple databases including Global Health, Medline and Embase from inception until December 2015. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers for inclusion and data were extracted and assessed for risk of bias. Main results 11,057 records were identified initially. 7,616 articles were screened by title and abstract for inclusion. A total of 21 papers reporting interventions integrating cervical cancer care and HIV services met the criteria for inclusion. All but one study described integration of cervical cancer screening services into existing HIV services. Most programs also offered treatment of minor lesions, a ‘screen-and-treat’ approach, with some also offering treatment of larger lesions within the same visit. Three distinct models of integration were identified. One model described integration within the same clinic through training of existing staff. Another model described integration through co-location of services, with the third model describing programs of integration through complex coordination across the care pathway. The studies suggested that integration of cervical cancer services with HIV services using all models was feasible and acceptable to patients. However, several barriers were reported, including high loss to follow up for further treatment, limited human-resources, and logistical and chain management support. Using visual screening methods can facilitate screening and treatment of minor to larger lesions in a single ‘screen-and-treat’ visit. Complex integration in a single-visit was shown to reduce loss to follow up. The use of existing health infrastructure and funding together with comprehensive staff training and supervision, community engagement and digital technology were some of the many other facilitators for integration reported across models. Conclusions This review shows that integration of cervical cancer screening and treatment with HIV services using different models of service delivery is feasible as well as acceptable to women living with HIV. However, the descriptive nature of most papers and lack of data on the effect on long-term outcomes for HIV or cervical cancer limits the inference on the effectiveness of the integrated programs. There is a need for strengthening of health systems across the care continuum and for high quality studies evaluating the effect of integration on HIV as well as on cervical cancer outcomes. PMID:28732037

A Geospatial Information Grid Framework for Geological Survey.

PubMed

Wu, Liang; Xue, Lei; Li, Chaoling; Lv, Xia; Chen, Zhanlong; Guo, Mingqiang; Xie, Zhong

2015-01-01

The use of digital information in geological fields is becoming very important. Thus, informatization in geological surveys should not stagnate as a result of the level of data accumulation. The integration and sharing of distributed, multi-source, heterogeneous geological information is an open problem in geological domains. Applications and services use geological spatial data with many features, including being cross-region and cross-domain and requiring real-time updating. As a result of these features, desktop and web-based geographic information systems (GISs) experience difficulties in meeting the demand for geological spatial information. To facilitate the real-time sharing of data and services in distributed environments, a GIS platform that is open, integrative, reconfigurable, reusable and elastic would represent an indispensable tool. The purpose of this paper is to develop a geological cloud-computing platform for integrating and sharing geological information based on a cloud architecture. Thus, the geological cloud-computing platform defines geological ontology semantics; designs a standard geological information framework and a standard resource integration model; builds a peer-to-peer node management mechanism; achieves the description, organization, discovery, computing and integration of the distributed resources; and provides the distributed spatial meta service, the spatial information catalog service, the multi-mode geological data service and the spatial data interoperation service. The geological survey information cloud-computing platform has been implemented, and based on the platform, some geological data services and geological processing services were developed. Furthermore, an iron mine resource forecast and an evaluation service is introduced in this paper.

A Geospatial Information Grid Framework for Geological Survey

PubMed Central

Wu, Liang; Xue, Lei; Li, Chaoling; Lv, Xia; Chen, Zhanlong; Guo, Mingqiang; Xie, Zhong

2015-01-01

The use of digital information in geological fields is becoming very important. Thus, informatization in geological surveys should not stagnate as a result of the level of data accumulation. The integration and sharing of distributed, multi-source, heterogeneous geological information is an open problem in geological domains. Applications and services use geological spatial data with many features, including being cross-region and cross-domain and requiring real-time updating. As a result of these features, desktop and web-based geographic information systems (GISs) experience difficulties in meeting the demand for geological spatial information. To facilitate the real-time sharing of data and services in distributed environments, a GIS platform that is open, integrative, reconfigurable, reusable and elastic would represent an indispensable tool. The purpose of this paper is to develop a geological cloud-computing platform for integrating and sharing geological information based on a cloud architecture. Thus, the geological cloud-computing platform defines geological ontology semantics; designs a standard geological information framework and a standard resource integration model; builds a peer-to-peer node management mechanism; achieves the description, organization, discovery, computing and integration of the distributed resources; and provides the distributed spatial meta service, the spatial information catalog service, the multi-mode geological data service and the spatial data interoperation service. The geological survey information cloud-computing platform has been implemented, and based on the platform, some geological data services and geological processing services were developed. Furthermore, an iron mine resource forecast and an evaluation service is introduced in this paper. PMID:26710255

Integrated services to support detection, prevention and planning of the agricultural-forest-rural land against fires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scipioni, A.; Tagliaferri, F.

2009-04-01

Objective of the document is to define lines of development and distribution of the services to support detection, prevention and planning of the agricultural-forest-rural land against fire. The services will be a valid support on hand of the Regional and National Administrations involved in the agricultural-forest-rural activities (Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, National Forest Police, ecc..), through the employment of the SIAN "National Agricultural Informative System", that is the integrated national information system for the entire agriculture, forestry and fisheries Administration. The services proposals would be distributed through the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) of the SIAN: the GIS database is a single nation-wide digital graphic database consisting of: - Ortophotos: Aerial images of approz. 45 km2 each with ground resolution of 50 cm; - Cadastral maps: Land maps; - Thematic layers: Land use and crops identification The GIS services can take full advantage of the benefits of SIAN architectural model designed for best integration and interoperability with other Central and Local P.A. bodies whose main items are: - Integration of information from different sources; - Maintainance of the internal coeherence of any integrated information; - Flexibility with respect to technical or organizational changes The "innovative "services described below could be useful to support the development of institutional tasks of public Agencies and Administrations (es. Regions or Civil Protection agencies) according to than previewed from the D.Lgs. 173/98. Services of support to the management of the phenomenon of wildland fires The activities outlined in below figure, don't have a linear and defined temporal sequence, but a dynamic and time integration. It guarantees not only the integrated use of the various information, but also the value of every product, for level of accuracy, coherence and timeliness of the information. Description of four main services proposed. • rapid alert: individuation and fast location of fires, also eventually in their starting phase (fire start), carried out through use of satellite data to high and most very high cycle (every 15 minute) to concur and organize a more effective fighti to spread fire; • perimeter of the area burned by the fire, with generation of polygons (compatible scale with the cadastre maps and data) through photo interpretation of spectral images, colours and infrared, at highest resolution (50 cm), and through fine aerial missions purposely planned during summery season, in substitution or in integrate way of the relief in field for: big fires, zones difficult to reach, isolated uneven area (reference scale from 200 to 400 kmq) • validation activity: services for quality control and validation of the activities of covered detail and relief perimeter of the area burned by the fire carried out through the employment end integration of the acquired data from land/aerial/satellite reliefs in application of law 353/2000. Data supplied to the municipalities, the regions and the prefecture for institutional adoptions. • damage statistics: Services of support to the generation of statistics through analysis of the damage and the vegetation resumption in relation to the type of forest with the use of different platform: satellite, aerial and land observation, for a temporal analysis.

Ancillary-service costs for 12 US electric utilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kirby, B.; Hirst, E.

1996-03-01

Ancillary services are those functions performed by electrical generating, transmission, system-control, and distribution-system equipment and people to support the basic services of generating capacity, energy supply, and power delivery. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defined ancillary services as ``those services necessary to support the transmission of electric power from seller to purchaser given the obligations of control areas and transmitting utilities within those control areas to maintain reliable operations of the interconnected transmission system.`` FERC divided these services into three categories: ``actions taken to effect the transaction (such as scheduling and dispatching services) , services that are necessary to maintainmore » the integrity of the transmission system [and] services needed to correct for the effects associated with undertaking a transaction.`` In March 1995, FERC published a proposed rule to ensure open and comparable access to transmission networks throughout the country. The rule defined six ancillary services and developed pro forma tariffs for these services: scheduling and dispatch, load following, system protection, energy imbalance, loss compensation, and reactive power/voltage control.« less

Development of a GIS-based integrated framework for coastal seiches monitoring and forecasting: A North Jiangsu shoal case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Rufu; Lin, Liangzhao

2017-06-01

Coastal seiches have become an increasingly important issue in coastal science and present many challenges, particularly when attempting to provide warning services. This paper presents the methodologies, techniques and integrated services adopted for the design and implementation of a Seiches Monitoring and Forecasting Integration Framework (SMAF-IF). The SMAF-IF is an integrated system with different types of sensors and numerical models and incorporates the Geographic Information System (GIS) and web techniques, which focuses on coastal seiche events detection and early warning in the North Jiangsu shoal, China. The in situ sensors perform automatic and continuous monitoring of the marine environment status and the numerical models provide the meteorological and physical oceanographic parameter estimates. A model outputs processing software was developed in C# language using ArcGIS Engine functions, which provides the capabilities of automatically generating visualization maps and warning information. Leveraging the ArcGIS Flex API and ASP.NET web services, a web based GIS framework was designed to facilitate quasi real-time data access, interactive visualization and analysis, and provision of early warning services for end users. The integrated framework proposed in this study enables decision-makers and the publics to quickly response to emergency coastal seiche events and allows an easy adaptation to other regional and scientific domains related to real-time monitoring and forecasting.

Integrated primary health care: Finnish solutions and experiences

PubMed Central

Kokko, Simo

2009-01-01

Background Finland has since 1972 had a primary health care system based on health centres run and funded by the local public authorities called ‘municipalities’. On the world map of primary health care systems, the Finnish solution claims to be the most health centre oriented and also the widest, both in terms of the numbers of staff and also of different professions employed. Offering integrated care through multi-professional health centres has been overshadowed by exceptional difficulties in guaranteeing a reasonable access to the population at times when they need primary medical or dental services. Solutions to the problems of access have been found, but they do not seem durable. Description of policy practice During the past 10 years, the health centres have become a ground of active development structural change, for which no end is in sight. Broader issues of municipal and public administration structures are being solved through rearranging primary health services. In these rearrangements, integration with specialist services and with social services together with mergers of health centres and municipalities are occurring at an accelerated pace. This leads into fundamental questions of the benefits of integration, especially if extensive integration leads into the threat of the loss of identity for primary health care. Discussion This article ends with some lessons to be learned from the situation in Finland for other countries. PMID:19590612

The mentally ill in jails and prisons: towards an integrated model of prevention.

PubMed

Lamberti, J S; Weisman, R L; Schwarzkopf, S B; Price, N; Ashton, R M; Trompeter, J

2001-01-01

Jails and prisons have become a final destination for persons with severe mental illness in America. Addiction, homelessness, and fragmentation of services have contributed to the problem, and have underscored the need for new models of service delivery. Project Link is a university-led consortium of five community agencies in Monroe County, New York that spans healthcare, social service and criminal justice systems. The program features a mobile treatment team with a forensic psychiatrist, a dual diagnosis treatment residence, and culturally competent staff. This paper discusses the importance of service integration in preventing jail and hospital recidivism, and describes steps that Project Link has taken towards integrating healthcare, criminal justice, and social services. Results from a preliminary evaluation suggest that Project Link may be effective in reducing recidivism and in improving community adjustment among severely mentally ill patients with histories of arrest and incarceration.

Integrating an infectious disease programme into the primary health care service: a retrospective analysis of Chagas disease community-based surveillance in Honduras.

PubMed

Hashimoto, Ken; Zúniga, Concepción; Nakamura, Jiro; Hanada, Kyo

2015-03-24

Integration of disease-specific programmes into the primary health care (PHC) service has been attempted mostly in clinically oriented disease control such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis but rarely in vector control. Chagas disease is controlled principally by interventions against the triatomine vector. In Honduras, after successful reduction of household infestation by vertical approach, the Ministry of Health implemented community-based vector surveillance at the PHC services (health centres) to prevent the resurgence of infection. This paper retrospectively analyses the effects and process of integrating a Chagas disease vector surveillance system into health centres. We evaluated the effects of integration at six pilot sites in western Honduras during 2008-2011 on; surveillance performance; knowledge, attitude and practice in schoolchildren; reports of triatomine bug infestation and institutional response; and seroprevalence among children under 15 years of age. The process of integration of the surveillance system was analysed using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model for health programme planning. The model was employed to systematically determine influential and interactive factors which facilitated the integration process at different levels of the Ministry of Health and the community. Overall surveillance performance improved from 46 to 84 on a 100 point-scale. Schoolchildren's attitude (risk awareness) score significantly increased from 77 to 83 points. Seroprevalence declined from 3.4% to 0.4%. Health centres responded to the community bug reports by insecticide spraying. As key factors, the health centres had potential management capacity and influence over the inhabitants' behaviours and living environment directly and through community health volunteers. The National Chagas Programme played an essential role in facilitating changes with adequate distribution of responsibilities, participatory modelling, training and, evaluation and advocacy. We found that Chagas disease vector surveillance can be integrated into the PHC service. Health centres demonstrated capacity to manage vector surveillance and improve performance, children's awareness, vector report-response and seroprevalence, once tasks were simplified to be performed by trained non-specialists and distributed among the stakeholders. Health systems integration requires health workers to perform beyond their usual responsibilities and acquire management skills. Integration of vector control is feasible and can contribute to strengthening the preventive capacity of the PHC service.

Integrity Analysis of Real-Time Ppp Technique with Igs-Rts Service for Maritime Navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Diasty, M.

2017-10-01

Open sea and inland waterways are the most widely used mode for transporting goods worldwide. It is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that defines the requirements for position fixing equipment for a worldwide radio-navigation system, in terms of accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability and coverage for the various phases of navigation. Satellite positioning systems can contribute to meet these requirements, as well as optimize marine transportation. Marine navigation usually consists of three major phases identified as Ocean/Coastal/Port approach/Inland waterway, in port navigation and automatic docking with alert limit ranges from 25 m to 0.25 m. GPS positioning is widely used for many applications and is currently recognized by IMO for a future maritime navigation. With the advancement in autonomous GPS positioning techniques such as Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and with the advent of new real-time GNSS correction services such as IGS-Real-Time-Service (RTS), it is necessary to investigate the integrity of the PPP-based positioning technique along with IGS-RTS service in terms of availability and reliability for safe navigation in maritime application. This paper monitors the integrity of an autonomous real-time PPP-based GPS positioning system using the IGS real-time service (RTS) for maritime applications that require minimum availability of integrity of 99.8 % to fulfil the IMO integrity standards. To examine the integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based technique for maritime applications, kinematic data from a dual frequency GPS receiver is collected onboard a vessel and investigated with the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS positioning technique. It is shown that the availability of integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS solution is 100 % for all navigation phases and therefore fulfil the IMO integrity standards (99.8 % availability) immediately (after 1 second), after 2 minutes and after 42 minutes of convergence time for Ocean/Coastal/Port approach/Inland waterway, in port navigation and automatic docking, respectively. Moreover, the misleading information is about 2 % for all navigation phases that is considered less safe is not in immediate danger because the horizontal position error is less than the navigation alert limits.

PIMS sequencing extension: a laboratory information management system for DNA sequencing facilities.

PubMed

Troshin, Peter V; Postis, Vincent Lg; Ashworth, Denise; Baldwin, Stephen A; McPherson, Michael J; Barton, Geoffrey J

2011-03-07

Facilities that provide a service for DNA sequencing typically support large numbers of users and experiment types. The cost of services is often reduced by the use of liquid handling robots but the efficiency of such facilities is hampered because the software for such robots does not usually integrate well with the systems that run the sequencing machines. Accordingly, there is a need for software systems capable of integrating different robotic systems and managing sample information for DNA sequencing services. In this paper, we describe an extension to the Protein Information Management System (PIMS) that is designed for DNA sequencing facilities. The new version of PIMS has a user-friendly web interface and integrates all aspects of the sequencing process, including sample submission, handling and tracking, together with capture and management of the data. The PIMS sequencing extension has been in production since July 2009 at the University of Leeds DNA Sequencing Facility. It has completely replaced manual data handling and simplified the tasks of data management and user communication. Samples from 45 groups have been processed with an average throughput of 10000 samples per month. The current version of the PIMS sequencing extension works with Applied Biosystems 3130XL 96-well plate sequencer and MWG 4204 or Aviso Theonyx liquid handling robots, but is readily adaptable for use with other combinations of robots. PIMS has been extended to provide a user-friendly and integrated data management solution for DNA sequencing facilities that is accessed through a normal web browser and allows simultaneous access by multiple users as well as facility managers. The system integrates sequencing and liquid handling robots, manages the data flow, and provides remote access to the sequencing results. The software is freely available, for academic users, from http://www.pims-lims.org/.

On the Use of Extended TAM to Assess Students' Acceptance and Intent to Use Third-Generation Learning Management Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ros, Salvador; Hernández, Roberto; Caminero, Agustín; Robles, Antonio; Barbero, Isabel; Maciá, Araceli; Holgado, Francisco Pablo

2015-01-01

Service-oriented e-learning platforms can be considered as a third generation of learning management systems (LMSs). As opposed to the previous generations, consisting of ad hoc solutions and traditional LMS, this new technology contemplates e-learning systems as services that can be integrated into different learning scenarios. This paper shows…

Training System Device Certification and Qualification Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

Engineering IPT Integrated Product Team ISD Instructional Systems Development ISEO In-Service Engineering Office KSAs Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes...Plan TES Tactical Engagement Simulation TPM Training Pipeline Managers T&R Training and Readiness TRR Test Readiness Review TS Training System...NAWCTSD) is the Navy’s source for a full range of innovative products and services that provide complete training solutions. This includes

EIDA Next Generation: ongoing and future developments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strollo, Angelo; Quinteros, Javier; Sleeman, Reinoud; Trani, Luca; Clinton, John; Stammler, Klaus; Danecek, Peter; Pedersen, Helle; Ionescu, Constantin

2015-04-01

The European Integrated Data Archive (EIDA; http://www.orfeus-eu.org/eida/eida.html) is the distributed Data Centre system within ORFEUS, providing transparent access and services to high quality, seismic data across (currently) 9 large data archives in Europe. EIDA is growing, in terms of the number of participating data centres, the size of the archives, the variability of the data in the archives, the number of users, and the volume of downloads. The on-going success of EIDA is thus providing challenges that are the driving force behind the design of the next generation (NG) of EIDA, which is expected to be implemented within EPOS IP. EIDA ORFEUS must cope with further expansion of the system and more complex user requirements by developing new techniques and extended services. The EIDA NG is being designed to work on standard FDSN web services and two additional new web services: Routing Service and QC (quality controlled) service. This presentation highlights the challenges EIDA needs to address during the EPOS IP and focuses on these 2 new services. The Routing Service can be considered as the core of EIDA NG. It was designed to assist users and clients to locate data within a federated, decentralized data centre (e.g. EIDA). A detailed, FDSN-compliant specification of the service has been developed. Our implementation of this service will run at every EIDA node, but is also capable of running on a user's computer, allowing anyone to define virtual or integrate existing data centres. This (meta)service needs to be queried in order to locate the data. Some smart clients (in a beta status) have been also provided to offer the user an integrated view of the whole EIDA, hiding the complexity of its internal structure. The service is open and able to be queried by anyone without the need of credentials or authentication. The QC Service is developed to cope with user requirements to query for relevant data only. The web service provides detailed information on the contents of the waveform data in an archive and in particular the following features and quality parameters are provided: gaps, statistical values, availability, overlaps, quality flags and more. It is a tool to be used for quickly exploring the contents of the waveform files before downloading them, or by clients to fulfill user specific requirements. The API reflects almost identically the FDSN dataselect service with some additional features. The characteristics are computed on fixed daily intervals (day boundaries) and in case of gaps the service can additionally provide the above features for each continuous data segment in the day interval. The newly developed services and the mediator service being designed and implemented in the near future, will facilitate interoperability and sustainability of the EIDA system and ensure a smooth integration with other Thematic (TCS) and Integrated (ICS) Core Services within EPOS.

Servicer system demonstration plan and capability development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

An orbital maneuvering vehicle (OMV) front end kit is defined which is capable of performing in-situ fluid resupply and modular maintenance of free flying spacecraft based on the integrated orbital servicing system (IOSS) concept. The compatibility of the IOSS to perform gas and fluid umbilical connect and disconnect functions utilizing connect systems currently available or in development is addressed. A series of tasks involving on-orbit servicing and the engineering test unit (ETU) of the on-orbit service were studied. The objective is the advancement of orbital servicing by expanding the Spacecraft Servicing Demonstration Plan (SSDP) to include detail demonstration planning using the Multimission Modular Spacecraft (MMS) and upgrading the ETU control.

Towards an integrated EU data system within AtlantOS project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouliquen, Sylvie; Harscoat, Valerie; Waldmann, Christoph; Koop-Jakobsen, ketill

2017-04-01

The H2020 AtlantOS project started in June 2015 and aims to optimise and enhance the Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing Systems (IAOOS). One goal is to ensure that data from different and diverse in-situ observing networks are readily accessible and useable to the wider community, international ocean science community and other stakeholders in this field. To achieve that, the strategy is to move towards an integrated data system within AtlantOS that harmonises work flows, data processing and distribution across the in-situ observing network systems, and integrates in-situ observations in existing European and international data infrastructures (Copernicus marine service, SeaDataNet NODCs, EMODnet, OBIS, GEOSS) so called Integrators. The targeted integrated system will deal with data management challenges for efficient and reliable data service to users: • Quality control commons for heterogeneous and nearly real time data • Standardisation of mandatory metadata for efficient data exchange • Interoperability of network and integrator data management systems Presently the situation is that the data acquired by the different in situ observing networks contributing to the AtlantOS project are processed and distributed using different methodologies and means. Depending on the network data management organization, the data are either processed following recommendations elaborated y the network teams and accessible through a unique portal (FTP or Web), or are processed by individual scientific researchers and made available through National Data Centres or directly at institution level. Some datasets are available through Integrators, such as Copernicus or EMODnet, but connected through ad-hoc links. To facilitate the access to the Atlantic observations and avoid "mixing pears with apples", it has been necessary to agree on (1) the EOVs list and definition across the Networks, (2) a minimum set of common vocabularies for metadata and data description to be used by all the Networks, and (3) a minimum level of Near Real Time Quality Control Procedures for selected EOVs. Then a data exchange backbone has been defined and is being setting up to facilitate discovery, viewing and downloading by the users. Some tools will be recommended to help Network plugging their data on this backbone and facilitate integration in the Integrators. Finally, existing services to the users for data discovery, viewing and downloading will be enhanced to ease access to existing observations. An initial working phase relying on existing international standards and protocols, involving data providers, both Networks and Integrators, and dealing with data harmonisation and integration objectives, has led to agreements and recommendations .The setup phase has started, both on Networks and Integrators sides, to adapt the existing systems in order to move toward this integrated EU data system within AtlantOS as well as collaboration with international partners arpound the ATlantic Ocean.

Integrative medicine for managing the symptoms of lupus nephritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Choi, Tae-Young; Jun, Ji Hee; Lee, Myeong Soo

2018-03-01

Integrative medicine is claimed to improve symptoms of lupus nephritis. No systematic reviews have been performed for the application of integrative medicine for lupus nephritis on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Thus, this review will aim to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of integrative medicine for the management of lupus nephritis in patients with SLE. The following electronic databases will be searched for studies published from their dates of inception February 2018: Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), as well as 6 Korean medical databases (Korea Med, the Oriental Medicine Advanced Search Integrated System [OASIS], DBpia, the Korean Medical Database [KM base], the Research Information Service System [RISS], and the Korean Studies Information Services System [KISS]), and 1 Chinese medical database (the China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI]). Study selection, data extraction, and assessment will be performed independently by 2 researchers. The risk of bias (ROB) will be assessed using the Cochrane ROB tool. This systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated both electronically and in print. The review will be updated to inform and guide healthcare practice and policy. PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018085205.

Job submission and management through web services: the experience with the CREAM service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiftimiei, C.; Andreetto, P.; Bertocco, S.; Fina, S. D.; Ronco, S. D.; Dorigo, A.; Gianelle, A.; Marzolla, M.; Mazzucato, M.; Sgaravatto, M.; Verlato, M.; Zangrando, L.; Corvo, M.; Miccio, V.; Sciaba, A.; Cesini, D.; Dongiovanni, D.; Grandi, C.

2008-07-01

Modern Grid middleware is built around components providing basic functionality, such as data storage, authentication, security, job management, resource monitoring and reservation. In this paper we describe the Computing Resource Execution and Management (CREAM) service. CREAM provides a Web service-based job execution and management capability for Grid systems; in particular, it is being used within the gLite middleware. CREAM exposes a Web service interface allowing conforming clients to submit and manage computational jobs to a Local Resource Management System. We developed a special component, called ICE (Interface to CREAM Environment) to integrate CREAM in gLite. ICE transfers job submissions and cancellations from the Workload Management System, allowing users to manage CREAM jobs from the gLite User Interface. This paper describes some recent studies aimed at assessing the performance and reliability of CREAM and ICE; those tests have been performed as part of the acceptance tests for integration of CREAM and ICE in gLite. We also discuss recent work towards enhancing CREAM with a BES and JSDL compliant interface.

Continuous Quality Improvement and Comprehensive Primary Health Care: A Systems Framework to Improve Service Quality and Health Outcomes.

PubMed

McCalman, Janya; Bailie, Ross; Bainbridge, Roxanne; McPhail-Bell, Karen; Percival, Nikki; Askew, Deborah; Fagan, Ruth; Tsey, Komla

2018-01-01

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes for improving clinical care and health outcomes have been implemented by primary health-care services, with resultant health-care impacts. But only 10-20% of gain in health outcomes is contributed by health-care services; a much larger share is determined by social and cultural factors. This perspective paper argues that health care and health outcomes can be enhanced through applying CQI as a systems approach to comprehensive primary health care. Referring to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian context as an example, the authors provide a systems framework that includes strategies and conditions to facilitate evidence-based and local decision making by primary health-care services. The framework describes the integration of CQI vertically to improve linkages with governments and community members and horizontally with other sectors to influence the social and cultural determinants of health. Further, government and primary health-care service investment is required to support and extend integration and evaluation of CQI efforts vertically and horizontally.

A starting point for delivery reform. Catholic healthcare providers can receive guidance from "A Time to Be Old, a Time to Flourish".

PubMed

1992-03-01

The ideal healthcare delivery system is client focused and ensures that the individual and the family receive the appropriate mix of services to meet their needs. Healthcare delivery should be presented as a coordinated continuum of care. Key integrating elements are essential to provide healthcare services on a day-by-day basis as a continuum of care. Integrating elements that form the bridge between clients and services include planning, care management, a management information system, financing, and an appropriate administrative structure. Many Catholic healthcare providers are expanding by acquiring a variety of services. However, many of these acquisitions are in response to today's competitive environment, whereas a true continuum of care must focus on the client's range of functional needs. Catholic providers must keep in mind that not all services they provide will be profitable. Although Catholic healthcare providers will be pressured to focus on fiscal strength and market position, they must put the client's holistic needs first. By doing so, they can help create a client-centered healthcare system in their communities.

Continuous Quality Improvement and Comprehensive Primary Health Care: A Systems Framework to Improve Service Quality and Health Outcomes

PubMed Central

McCalman, Janya; Bailie, Ross; Bainbridge, Roxanne; McPhail-Bell, Karen; Percival, Nikki; Askew, Deborah; Fagan, Ruth; Tsey, Komla

2018-01-01

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes for improving clinical care and health outcomes have been implemented by primary health-care services, with resultant health-care impacts. But only 10–20% of gain in health outcomes is contributed by health-care services; a much larger share is determined by social and cultural factors. This perspective paper argues that health care and health outcomes can be enhanced through applying CQI as a systems approach to comprehensive primary health care. Referring to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian context as an example, the authors provide a systems framework that includes strategies and conditions to facilitate evidence-based and local decision making by primary health-care services. The framework describes the integration of CQI vertically to improve linkages with governments and community members and horizontally with other sectors to influence the social and cultural determinants of health. Further, government and primary health-care service investment is required to support and extend integration and evaluation of CQI efforts vertically and horizontally. PMID:29623271

Optimal service using Matlab - simulink controlled Queuing system at call centers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaji, N.; Siva, E. P.; Chandrasekaran, A. D.; Tamilazhagan, V.

2018-04-01

This paper presents graphical integrated model based academic research on telephone call centres. This paper introduces an important feature of impatient customers and abandonments in the queue system. However the modern call centre is a complex socio-technical system. Queuing theory has now become a suitable application in the telecom industry to provide better online services. Through this Matlab-simulink multi queuing structured models provide better solutions in complex situations at call centres. Service performance measures analyzed at optimal level through Simulink queuing model.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): TRI

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of facilities that link to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) System. TRI is a publicly available EPA database reported annually by certain covered industry groups, as well as federal facilities. It contains information about more than 650 toxic chemicals that are being used, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment, and includes information about waste management and pollution prevention activities. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on facilities. This data set contains the subset of FRS integrated facilities that link to TRI facilities once the TRI data has been integrated into the FRS database. Additional information on FRS is available at the EPA website https://www.epa.gov/enviro/facility-registry-service-frs.

Integration of High-Performance Computing into Cloud Computing Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vouk, Mladen A.; Sills, Eric; Dreher, Patrick

High-Performance Computing (HPC) projects span a spectrum of computer hardware implementations ranging from peta-flop supercomputers, high-end tera-flop facilities running a variety of operating systems and applications, to mid-range and smaller computational clusters used for HPC application development, pilot runs and prototype staging clusters. What they all have in common is that they operate as a stand-alone system rather than a scalable and shared user re-configurable resource. The advent of cloud computing has changed the traditional HPC implementation. In this article, we will discuss a very successful production-level architecture and policy framework for supporting HPC services within a more general cloud computing infrastructure. This integrated environment, called Virtual Computing Lab (VCL), has been operating at NC State since fall 2004. Nearly 8,500,000 HPC CPU-Hrs were delivered by this environment to NC State faculty and students during 2009. In addition, we present and discuss operational data that show that integration of HPC and non-HPC (or general VCL) services in a cloud can substantially reduce the cost of delivering cloud services (down to cents per CPU hour).

China's Chemical Information Online Service: ChI2Net.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naiyan, Yu; And Others

1997-01-01

Describes the Chemical Integrated Information Service Network (ChI2Net), a comprehensive online information service system which includes chemical, technical, economic, market, news, and management information based on computer and modern communication technology that was built by the China National Chemical Information Centre. (Author/LRW)

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). August 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. The former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). Entries in ICIS are classified according to the following nine categories: (0) General…

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). May 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. Thus, the former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). This is the first such publication. Entries in ICIS are classified according to…

Infrastructural considerations for supporting POC devices. Healthcare executives must focus on creating integration-friendly environments for the most effective use of mobile devices.

PubMed

Hashem, Ahmad; Ruggeri, Roberto

2003-01-01

Creating an integration-friendly infrastructure is the best way to prepare for current as well as next-generation POC devices. Fortunately, hassle-free system integration is needed throughout healthcare today for reasons beyond the domain of POC devices, so integration progress already made in other areas helps pave the way for POC devices. Healthcare IT professionals, as much or more than any other IT group, have had to deal with the challenges of integrating disparate systems. When considering deployment of POC devices, you will want to make sure they adhere to open industry standards. In this way, these important devices won't add to the problem of disparate systems, but will contribute to the solution. We see XML and Web services as being especially important to the future of healthcare delivery and administration. XML and Web services, along with powerful orchestrators, can provide an ever-richer collection of clinical data to be delivered to, and received from, the POC devices that will become an ever more important addition to the physician armamentarium.

DISTANT EARLY WARNING SYSTEM for Tsunamis - A wide-area and multi-hazard approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammitzsch, Martin; Lendholt, Matthias; Wächter, Joachim

2010-05-01

The DEWS (Distant Early Warning System) [1] project, funded under the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union, has the objective to create a new generation of interoperable early warning systems based on an open sensor platform. This platform integrates OGC [2] SWE [3] compliant sensor systems for the rapid detection of hazardous events, like earthquakes, sea level anomalies, ocean floor occurrences, and ground displacements in the case of tsunami early warning. Based on the upstream information flow DEWS focuses on the improvement of downstream capacities of warning centres especially by improving information logistics for effective and targeted warning message aggregation for a multilingual environment. Multiple telecommunication channels will be used for the dissemination of warning messages. Wherever possible, existing standards have been integrated. The Command and Control User Interface (CCUI), a rich client application based on Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform) [4] and the open source GIS uDig [5], integrates various OGC services. Using WMS (Web Map Service) [6] and WFS (Web Feature Service) [7] spatial data are utilized to depict the situation picture and to integrate a simulation system via WPS (Web Processing Service) [8] to identify affected areas. Warning messages are compiled and transmitted in the OASIS [9] CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) [10] standard together with addressing information defined via EDXL-DE (Emergency Data Exchange Language - Distribution Element) [11]. Internal interfaces are realized with SOAP [12] web services. Based on results of GITEWS [13] - in particular the GITEWS Tsunami Service Bus [14] - the DEWS approach provides an implementation for tsunami early warning systems but other geological paradigms are going to follow, e.g. volcanic eruptions or landslides. Therefore in future also multi-hazard functionality is conceivable. The specific software architecture of DEWS makes it possible to dock varying sensors to the system and to extend the CCUI with hazard specific functionality. The presentation covers the DEWS project, the system architecture and the CCUI in conjunction with details of information logistics. The DEWS Wide Area Centre connecting national centres to allow the international communication and warning exchange is presented also. REFERENCES: [1] DEWS, www.dews-online.org [2] OGC, www.opengeospatial.org [3] SWE, www.opengeospatial.org/projects/groups/sensorweb [4] Eclipse RCP, www.eclipse.org/home/categories/rcp.php [5] uDig, udig.refractions.net [6] WMS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wms [7] WFS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wfs [8] WPS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wps [9] OASIS, www.oasis-open.org [10] CAP, www.oasis-open.org/specs/#capv1.1 [11] EDXL-DE, www.oasis-open.org/specs/#edxlde-v1.0 [12] SOAP, www.w3.org/TR/soap [13] GITEWS (German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System) is a project of the German Federal Government to aid the recon¬struction of the tsunami-prone Indian Ocean region, www.gitews.org [14] The Tsunami Service Bus is the GITEWS sensor system integration platform offering standardised services for the detection and monitoring of tsunamis

Integrated orbital servicing study follow-on. Volume 3: Engineering test unit and controls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A one-g servicing demonstration system which can be used to investigate and develop, in a real time hands-on situation, a wide variety of the mechanism and control system aspects of orbital servicing in the form of module exchange is described including the engineering test unit and the servicer servo drive console. A series of recommendations for future work is given concerning the control problem and more efficient module exchanges, mechanical elements, and electronics.

[To aim at better home medical care].

PubMed

Nagura, Michiaki

2013-01-01

As Japan has been confronting rapid aging of the population, the government is promoting home medical care, with reforming medical service policy, offering subsidies, and revising payment system of medical service. Hereafter, home medical care will play an important role in order to build the integrated community care system by cooperating with long-term care services. More physicians, not only of specialized clinics, but also of general ones, are expected to visit home to provide medical service to their own immobile patients.

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): Facility Interests Dataset - Intranet

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service consists of location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for all sites that are available in the FRS individual feature layers. The layers comprise the FRS major program databases, including:Assessment Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) : brownfields sites ; Air Facility System (AFS) : stationary sources of air pollution ; Air Quality System (AQS) : ambient air pollution data from monitoring stations; Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) : schools data on Indian land; Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) facilities; Clean Air Markets Division Business System (CAMDBS) : market-based air pollution control programs; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) : hazardous waste sites; Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) : integrated enforcement and compliance information; National Compliance Database (NCDB) : Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) module of ICIS : NPDES surface water permits; Radiation Information Database (RADINFO) : radiation and radioactivity facilities; RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse (RBLC) : best available air pollution technology requirements; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Information System (RCRAInfo) : tracks generators, transporters, treaters, storers, and disposers of haz

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): Facility Interests Dataset

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service consists of location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for all sites that are available in the FRS individual feature layers. The layers comprise the FRS major program databases, including:Assessment Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) : brownfields sites ; Air Facility System (AFS) : stationary sources of air pollution ; Air Quality System (AQS) : ambient air pollution data from monitoring stations; Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) : schools data on Indian land; Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) facilities; Clean Air Markets Division Business System (CAMDBS) : market-based air pollution control programs; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) : hazardous waste sites; Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) : integrated enforcement and compliance information; National Compliance Database (NCDB) : Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) module of ICIS : NPDES surface water permits; Radiation Information Database (RADINFO) : radiation and radioactivity facilities; RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse (RBLC) : best available air pollution technology requirements; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Information System (RCRAInfo) : tracks generators, transporters, treaters, storers, and disposers of haz

Six sigma tools in integrating internal operations of a retail pharmacy: a case study.

PubMed

Kumar, Sameer; Kwong, Anthony M

2011-01-01

This study was initiated to integrate information and enterprise-wide healthcare delivery system issues specifically within an inpatient retail pharmacy operation in a U.S. community hospital. Six Sigma tools were used to examine the effects to an inpatient retail pharmacy service process. Some of the tools used include service blueprints, cause-effect diagram, gap analysis derived from customer and employee surveys, mistake proofing was applied in various business situations and results were analyzed to identify and propose process improvements and integration. The research indicates that the Six Sigma tools in this discussion are very applicable and quite effective in helping to streamline and integrate the pharmacy process flow. Additionally, gap analysis derived from two different surveys was used to estimate the primary areas of focus to increase customer and employee satisfaction. The results of this analysis were useful in initiating discussions of how to effectively narrow these service gaps. This retail pharmaceutical service study serves as a framework for the process that should occur for successful process improvement tool evaluation and implementation. Pharmaceutical Service operations in the U.S. that use this integration framework must tailor it to their individual situations to maximize their chances for success.

Provider Experiences with Prison Care and Aftercare for Women with Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Treatment, Resource, and Systems Integration Challenges.

PubMed

Johnson, Jennifer E; Schonbrun, Yael Chatav; Peabody, Marlanea E; Shefner, Ruth T; Fernandes, Karen M; Rosen, Rochelle K; Zlotnick, Caron

2015-10-01

Incarcerated women with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (COD) face complex psychosocial challenges at community reentry. This study used qualitative methods to evaluate the perspectives of 14 prison and aftercare providers about service delivery challenges and treatment needs of reentering women with COD. Providers viewed the needs of women prisoners with COD as distinct from those of women with substance use alone and from men with COD. Providers described optimal aftercare for women with COD as including contact with the same provider before and after release, access to services within 24-72 hours after release, assistance with managing multiple social service agencies, assistance with relationship issues, and long-term follow-up. Providers also described larger service system and societal issues, including systems integration and ways in which a lack of prison and community aftercare resources impacted quality of care and reentry outcomes. Practice and policy implications are provided.

Provider Experiences with Prison Care and Aftercare for Women with Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Treatment, Resource, and Systems Integration Challenges

PubMed Central

Johnson, Jennifer E.; Schonbrun, Yael Chatav; Peabody, Marlanea E.; Shefner, Ruth T.; Fernandes, Karen M.; Rosen, Rochelle K.; Zlotnick, Caron

2014-01-01

Incarcerated women with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (COD) face complex psychosocial challenges at community reentry. This study used qualitative methods to evaluate the perspectives of 14 prison and aftercare providers about service delivery challenges and treatment needs of reentering women with COD. Providers viewed the needs of women prisoners with COD as distinct from those of women with substance use alone and from men with COD. Providers described optimal aftercare for women with COD as including contact with the same provider before and after release, access to services within 24–72 hours after release, assistance with managing multiple social service agencies, assistance with relationship issues, and long-term follow-up. Providers also described larger service system and societal issues, including systems integration and ways in which a lack of prison and community aftercare resources impacted quality of care and reentry outcomes. Practice and policy implications are provided. PMID:24595815

An Extended Petri-Net Based Approach for Supply Chain Process Enactment in Resource-Centric Web Service Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaodong; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Cai, Hongming; Xu, Boyi

Enacting a supply-chain process involves variant partners and different IT systems. REST receives increasing attention for distributed systems with loosely coupled resources. Nevertheless, resource model incompatibilities and conflicts prevent effective process modeling and deployment in resource-centric Web service environment. In this paper, a Petri-net based framework for supply-chain process integration is proposed. A resource meta-model is constructed to represent the basic information of resources. Then based on resource meta-model, XML schemas and documents are derived, which represent resources and their states in Petri-net. Thereafter, XML-net, a high level Petri-net, is employed for modeling control and data flow of process. From process model in XML-net, RESTful services and choreography descriptions are deduced. Therefore, unified resource representation and RESTful services description are proposed for cross-system integration in a more effective way. A case study is given to illustrate the approach and the desirable features of the approach are discussed.

Progress on water data integration and distribution: a summary of select U.S. Geological Survey data systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blodgett, David L.; Lucido, Jessica M.; Kreft, James M.

2016-01-01

Critical water-resources issues ranging from flood response to water scarcity make access to integrated water information, services, tools, and models essential. Since 1995 when the first water data web pages went online, the U.S. Geological Survey has been at the forefront of water data distribution and integration. Today, real-time and historical streamflow observations are available via web pages and a variety of web service interfaces. The Survey has built partnerships with Federal and State agencies to integrate hydrologic data providing continuous observations of surface and groundwater, temporally discrete water quality data, groundwater well logs, aquatic biology data, water availability and use information, and tools to help characterize the landscape for modeling. In this paper, we summarize the status and design patterns implemented for selected data systems. We describe how these systems contribute to a U.S. Federal Open Water Data Initiative and present some gaps and lessons learned that apply to global hydroinformatics data infrastructure.

Clinical Document Architecture integration system to support patient referral and reply letters.

PubMed

Lee, Sung-Hyun; Song, Joon Hyun; Kim, Il Kon; Kim, Jeong-Whun

2016-06-01

Many Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) referrals and reply documents have been accumulated for patients since the deployment of the Health Information Exchange System (HIES) in Korea. Clinical data were scattered in many CDA documents and this took too much time for physicians to read. Physicians in Korea spend only limited time per patient as insurances in Korea follow a fee-for-service model. Therefore, physicians were not allowed sufficient time for making medical decisions, and follow-up care service was hindered. To address this, we developed CDA Integration Template (CIT) and CDA Integration System (CIS) for the HIES. The clinical items included in CIT were defined reflecting the Korean Standard for CDA Referral and Reply Letters and requests by physicians. CIS integrates CDA documents of a specified patient into a single CDA document following the format of CIT. Finally, physicians were surveyed after CIT/CIS adoption, and they indicated overall satisfaction. © The Author(s) 2014.

Organizing Publicly Funded Substance Use Disorder Treatment in the United States: Moving Toward a Service System Approach.

PubMed

Padwa, Howard; Urada, Darren; Gauthier, Patrick; Rieckmann, Traci; Hurley, Brian; Crèvecouer-MacPhail, Desirée; Rawson, Richard A

2016-10-01

Historically, publicly funded substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services in the United States have been disorganized and inefficient. By reconfiguring and linking services to create systems of care-services, structures, and processes that are purposively interconnected to treat SUD systematically-health systems can transform discrete service components into cohesive service systems that comprehensively and efficiently treat SUDs. In this article we: (1) articulate the potential benefits of organizing publicly funded SUD services into systems of care; (2) review basic principles underlying theories of SUD system organization; (3) describe the mix and configuration of services needed to create comprehensive, integrated systems of publicly funded SUD care; (4) elucidate how patients can flow through systems of SUD services in a clinically sound and cost-efficient manner, and; (5) propose eight steps that can be taken to create systems of care by identifying and leveraging the strengths, assets, and capacities of SUD service providers already operating within their health care systems. In July 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced opportunities for states to redesign their Medicaid-funded SUD service systems. This paper provides considerations for SUD system design and development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HL7 and DICOM based integration of radiology departments with healthcare enterprise information systems.

PubMed

Blazona, Bojan; Koncar, Miroslav

2007-12-01

Integration based on open standards, in order to achieve communication and information interoperability, is one of the key aspects of modern health care information systems. However, this requirement represents one of the major challenges for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, as systems today use diverse technologies, proprietary protocols and communication standards which are often not interoperable. One of the main producers of clinical information in healthcare settings represent Radiology Information Systems (RIS) that communicate using widely adopted DICOM (Digital Imaging and COmmunications in Medicine) standard, but in very few cases can efficiently integrate information of interest with other systems. In this context we identified HL7 standard as the world's leading medical ICT standard that is envisioned to provide the umbrella for medical data semantic interoperability, which amongst other things represents the cornerstone for the Croatia's National Integrated Healthcare Information System (IHCIS). The aim was to explore the ability to integrate and exchange RIS originated data with Hospital Information Systems based on HL7's CDA (Clinical Document Architecture) standard. We explored the ability of HL7 CDA specifications and methodology to address the need of RIS integration HL7 based healthcare information systems. We introduced the use of WADO service interconnection to IHCIS and finally CDA rendering in widely used Internet explorers. The outcome of our pilot work proves our original assumption of HL7 standard being able to adopt radiology data into the integrated healthcare systems. Uniform DICOM to CDA translation scripts and business processes within IHCIS is desired and cost effective regarding to use of supporting IHCIS services aligned to SOA.

Towards Web Service-Based Educational Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampson, Demetrios G.

2005-01-01

The need for designing the next generation of web service-based educational systems with the ability of integrating components from different tools and platforms is now recognised as the major challenge in advanced learning technologies. In this paper, we discuss this issue and we present the conceptual design of such environment, referred to as…

Evaluation Action Plan for the Texas Workforce Development System. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Christopher T.; McPherson, Robert E.

Texas is shifting to an integrated, systems-oriented approach to providing work force services for its residents and employers in which all services are guided by a single mission and vision. Implementation strategies are clearly focused on achieving common results. Accountability means being able to ensure taxpayers, residents, employers, and…

Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems Restructuring: Significant and Preventable Cost Impacts to Army Aviation Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-18

IDS, the treatment and handling of Boeing World Headquarters (BWHQ) costs, common or shared systems costs, Shared Services Group costs, fringe...these expenses.15 One such example is the addition of the Shared Services Group (SSG) expense to the Mesa and Philadelphia accounting ledgers. Under

Critical interactions between the Global Fund-supported HIV programs and the health system in Ghana.

PubMed

Atun, Rifat; Pothapregada, Sai Kumar; Kwansah, Janet; Degbotse, D; Lazarus, Jeffrey V

2011-08-01

The support of global health initiatives in recipient countries has been vigorously debated. Critics are concerned that disease-specific programs may be creating vertical and parallel service delivery structures that to some extent undermine health systems. This case study of Ghana aimed to explore how the Global Fund-supported HIV program interacts with the health system there and to map the extent and nature of integration of the national disease program across 6 key health systems functions. Qualitative interviews of national stakeholders were conducted to understand the perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship between Global Fund-supported activities and the health system and to identify positive synergies and unintended consequences of integration. Ghana has a well-functioning sector-wide approach to financing its health system, with a strong emphasis on integrated care delivery. Ghana has benefited from US $175 million of approved Global Fund support to address the HIV epidemic, accounting for almost 85% of the National AIDS Control Program budget. Investments in infrastructure, human resources, and commodities have enabled HIV interventions to increase exponentially. Global Fund-supported activities have been well integrated into key health system functions to strengthen them, especially financing, planning, service delivery, and demand generation. Yet, with governance and monitoring and evaluation functions, parallel structures to national systems have emerged, leading to inefficiencies. This case study demonstrates that interactions and integration are highly varied across different health system functions, and strong government leadership has facilitated the integration of Global Fund-supported activities within national programs.

Performance, Process, and Costs: Managing Service Quality with the Balanced Scorecard.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poll, Roswitha

2001-01-01

Describes a cooperative project among three German libraries that used the Balanced Scorecard as a concept for an integrated quality management system. Considers performance indicators across four perspectives that will help academic libraries establish an integrated controlling system and to collect and evaluate performance as well as cost data…

HYDRA: A Middleware-Oriented Integrated Architecture for e-Procurement in Supply Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alor-Hernandez, Giner; Aguilar-Lasserre, Alberto; Juarez-Martinez, Ulises; Posada-Gomez, Ruben; Cortes-Robles, Guillermo; Garcia-Martinez, Mario Alberto; Gomez-Berbis, Juan Miguel; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro

The Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) development paradigm has emerged to improve the critical issues of creating, modifying and extending solutions for business processes integration, incorporating process automation and automated exchange of information between organizations. Web services technology follows the SOA's principles for developing and deploying applications. Besides, Web services are considered as the platform for SOA, for both intra- and inter-enterprise communication. However, an SOA does not incorporate information about occurring events into business processes, which are the main features of supply chain management. These events and information delivery are addressed in an Event-Driven Architecture (EDA). Taking this into account, we propose a middleware-oriented integrated architecture that offers a brokering service for the procurement of products in a Supply Chain Management (SCM) scenario. As salient contributions, our system provides a hybrid architecture combining features of both SOA and EDA and a set of mechanisms for business processes pattern management, monitoring based on UML sequence diagrams, Web services-based management, event publish/subscription and reliable messaging service.

Web services as applications' integration tool: QikProp case study.

PubMed

Laoui, Abdel; Polyakov, Valery R

2011-07-15

Web services are a new technology that enables to integrate applications running on different platforms by using primarily XML to enable communication among different computers over the Internet. Large number of applications was designed as stand alone systems before the concept of Web services was introduced and it is a challenge to integrate them into larger computational networks. A generally applicable method of wrapping stand alone applications into Web services was developed and is described. To test the technology, it was applied to the QikProp for DOS (Windows). Although performance of the application did not change when it was delivered as a Web service, this form of deployment had offered several advantages like simplified and centralized maintenance, smaller number of licenses, and practically no training for the end user. Because by using the described approach almost any legacy application can be wrapped as a Web service, this form of delivery may be recommended as a global alternative to traditional deployment solutions. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An Architecture for Standardized Terminology Services by Wrapping and Integration of Existing Applications

PubMed Central

Cornet, Ronald; Prins, Antoon K.

2003-01-01

Research on terminology services has resulted in development of applications and definition of standards, but has not yet led to widespread use of (standardized) terminology services in practice. Current terminology services offer functionality both for concept representation and lexical knowledge representation, hampering the possibility of combining the strengths of dedicated (concept and lexical) services. We therefore propose an extensible architecture in which concept-related and lexicon-related components are integrated and made available through a uniform interface. This interface can be extended in order to conform to existing standards, making it possible to use dedicated (third-party) components in a standardized way. As a proof of concept and a reference implementation, a SOAP-based Java implementation of the terminology service is being developed, providing wrappers for Protégé and UMLS Knowledge Source Server. Other systems, such as the Description Logic-based reasoner RACER can be easily integrated by implementation of an appropriate wrapper. PMID:14728158

Telecommunications Services Required by Distributed and Interconnected Office Centers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-20

systems and communications management systems which are on the market . It is expected that these systems and the capabilities they offer will be available...saw the possibilities of marketing the service, but was delayed in its implementation because the high capacity communication network to support the...Jersey 07666. [181 Washburn, C, Unfolding Electronic Mail Market Leads to Integrated Info Systems, Communications News, November 1979, page 56. /191

Integrated mental health services in England: a policy paradox

PubMed Central

England, Elizabeth; Lester, Helen

2005-01-01

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of health care policy on the development of integrated mental health services in England. Data sources Drawing largely from a narrative review of the literature on adult mental health services published between January 1997 and February 2003 undertaken by the authors, we discuss three case studies of integrated care within primary care, secondary care and across the primary/secondary interface for people with serious mental illness. Conclusion We suggest that while the central thrust of a raft of recent Government policies in England has been towards integration of different parts of the health care system, policy waterfalls and implementation failures, the adoption of ideas before they have been thoroughly tried and tested, a lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities and poor communication have led to an integration rhetoric/reality gap in practice. This has particular implications for people with serious mental health problems. Discussion We conclude with suggestions for strategies that may facilitate more integrated working. PMID:16773165

NASA Integrated Space Communications Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, Wallace; Wright, Nate; Prior, Mike; Bhasin, Kul

2012-01-01

The NASA Integrated Network for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) has been in the definition phase since 2010. It is intended to integrate NASA s three existing network elements, i.e., the Space Network, Near Earth Network, and Deep Space Network, into a single network. In addition to the technical merits, the primary purpose of the Integrated Network is to achieve a level of operating cost efficiency significantly higher than it is today. Salient features of the Integrated Network include (a) a central system element that performs service management functions and user mission interfaces for service requests; (b) a set of common service execution equipment deployed at the all stations that provides return, forward, and radiometric data processing and delivery capabilities; (c) the network monitor and control operations for the entire integrated network are conducted remotely and centrally at a prime-shift site and rotating among three sites globally (a follow-the-sun approach); (d) the common network monitor and control software deployed at all three network elements that supports the follow-the-sun operations.

48 CFR 252.209-7006 - Limitations on Contractors Acting as Lead System Integrators.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... system(s), subsystem(s), system of systems, or services described in this solicitation. (d) If the... through a process over which the offeror exercised no control. (f) This provision implements the...

The climate4impact platform: Providing, tailoring and facilitating climate model data access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagé, Christian; Pagani, Andrea; Plieger, Maarten; Som de Cerff, Wim; Mihajlovski, Andrej; de Vreede, Ernst; Spinuso, Alessandro; Hutjes, Ronald; de Jong, Fokke; Bärring, Lars; Vega, Manuel; Cofiño, Antonio; d'Anca, Alessandro; Fiore, Sandro; Kolax, Michael

2017-04-01

One of the main objectives of climate4impact is to provide standardized web services and tools that are reusable in other portals. These services include web processing services, web coverage services and web mapping services (WPS, WCS and WMS). Tailored portals can be targeted to specific communities and/or countries/regions while making use of those services. Easier access to climate data is very important for the climate change impact communities. To fulfill this objective, the climate4impact (http://climate4impact.eu/) web portal and services has been developed, targeting climate change impact modellers, impact and adaptation consultants, as well as other experts using climate change data. It provides to users harmonized access to climate model data through tailored services. It features static and dynamic documentation, Use Cases and best practice examples, an advanced search interface, an integrated authentication and authorization system with the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), a visualization interface with ADAGUC web mapping tools. In the latest version, statistical downscaling services, provided by the Santander Meteorology Group Downscaling Portal, were integrated. An innovative interface to integrate statistical downscaling services will be released in the upcoming version. The latter will be a big step in bridging the gap between climate scientists and the climate change impact communities. The climate4impact portal builds on the infrastructure of an international distributed database that has been set to disseminate the results from the global climate model results of the Coupled Model Intercomparison project Phase 5 (CMIP5). This database, the ESGF, is an international collaboration that develops, deploys and maintains software infrastructure for the management, dissemination, and analysis of climate model data. The European FP7 project IS-ENES, Infrastructure for the European Network for Earth System modelling, supports the European contribution to ESGF and contributes to the ESGF open source effort, notably through the development of search, monitoring, quality control, and metadata services. In its second phase, IS-ENES2 supports the implementation of regional climate model results from the international Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiments (CORDEX). These services were extended within the European FP7 Climate Information Portal for Copernicus (CLIPC) project, and some could be later integrated into the European Copernicus platform.

Population aging and its impacts: strategies of the health-care system in Taipei.

PubMed

Lin, Ming-Hsien; Chou, Ming-Yueh; Liang, Chih-Kuang; Peng, Li-Ning; Chen, Liang-Kung

2010-11-01

Taiwan is one of the fastest aging countries in the world. As such, the government has developed various strategies to promote an age-friendly health-care system. Health services are supported by National Health Insurance (NHI), which insures over 97% of citizens and over 99% of health-care institutes. The current health-care system has difficulties in caring for older patients with multiple comorbidities, complex care needs, functional impairments, and post-acute care needs. Taipei, an international metropolis with a well-preserved tradition of filial piety in Chinese societies, has developed various strategies to overcome the aforementioned barriers to an age-friendly health-care system. These include an emphasis on general medical care and a holistic approach in all specialties, development of a geriatrics specialty training program, development of post-acute services, and strengthening of linkages between health and social care services. Despite achievements thus far, challenges still include creating a more extensive integration between medical specialties, promotion of an interdisciplinary care model across specialties and health-care settings, and integration of health and social care services. The experiences of Taipei in developing an age-friendly health-care service system may be a culturally appropriate model for other Chinese and Asian communities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developing an active emergency medical service system based on WiMAX technology.

PubMed

Li, Shing-Han; Cheng, Kai-An; Lu, Wen-Hui; Lin, Te-Chang

2012-10-01

The population structure has changed with the aging of population. In the present, elders account for 10.63% of the domestic population and the percentage is still gradually climbing. In other words, the demand for emergency services among elders in home environment is expected to grow in the future. In order to improve the efficiency and quality of emergency care, information technology should be effectively utilized to integrate medical systems and facilities, strengthen human-centered operation designs, and maximize the overall performance. The improvement in the quality and survival rate of emergency care is an important basis for better life and health of all people. Through integrated application of medical information systems and information communication technology, this study proposes a WiMAX-based emergency care system addressing the public demands for convenience, speed, safety, and human-centered operation of emergency care. This system consists of a healthcare service center, emergency medical service hospitals, and emergency ambulances. Using the wireless transmission capability of WiMAX, patients' physiological data can be transmitted from medical measurement facilities to the emergency room and emergency room doctors can provide immediate online instructions on emergency treatment via video and audio transmission. WiMAX technology enables the establishment of active emergency medical services.

Vertical integration models to prepare health systems for capitation.

PubMed

Cave, D G

1995-01-01

Health systems will profit most under capitation if their vertical integration strategy provides operational stability, a strong primary care physician base, efficient delivery of medical services, and geographic access to physicians. Staff- and equity-based systems best meet these characteristics for success because they have one governance structure and a defined mission statement. Moreover, physician bonds are strong because these systems maximize physicians' income potential and control the revenue stream.

LEOPACK The integrated services communications system based on LEO satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Negoda, A.; Bunin, S.; Bushuev, E.; Dranovsky, V.

LEOPACK is yet another LEO satellite project which provides global integrated services for 'business' communications. It utilizes packet rather then circuit switching in both terrestrial and satellite chains as well as cellular approach for frequencies use. Original multiple access protocols and decentralized network control make it possible to organize regionally or logically independent and world-wide networks. Relatively small number of satellites (28) provides virtually global network coverage.

Computerized Management Information System in a Community Health Nursing Agency

PubMed Central

Simmons, DeLanne A.

1981-01-01

The Visiting Nurse Association of Omaha is a nonprofit, voluntary agency providing home health care, preventive care, clinical services, and school health services in an urban-rural setting. It has developed a computerized system which provides for: (1) centralized dictation by service delivery staff; (2) the printing of a uniform clinical, family problem-oriented record; (3) an integrated data base, statistical system, and financial system; and (4) the communication capability to remote stations. (The hardware utilized is an IBM System 34.) Cost effectiveness has been demonstrated by a reduction in cost of visit from $47.02 to $43.79.

Electronic Referrals and Digital Imaging Systems in Ophthalmology: A Global Perspective.

PubMed

Jeganathan, V Swetha E; Hall, H Nikki; Sanders, Roshini

2017-01-01

Ophthalmology departments face intensifying pressure to expedite sight-saving treatments and reduce the global burden of disease. The use of electronic communication systems, digital imaging, and redesigned service care models is imperative for addressing such demands. The recently developed Scottish Eyecare Integration Project involves an electronic referral system from community optometry to the hospital ophthalmology department using National Health Service (NHS) email with digital ophthalmic images attached, via a virtual private network connection. The benefits over the previous system include reduced waiting times, improved triage, e-diagnosis in 20% without the need for hospital attendance, and rapid electronic feedback to referrers. We draw on the experience of the Scottish Eyecare Integration Project and discuss the global applications of this and other advances in teleophthalmology. We focus particularly on the implications for management and screening of chronic disease, such as glaucoma and diabetic eye disease, and ophthalmic disease, such as retinopathy of prematurity where diagnosis is almost entirely and critically dependent on fundus appearance. Currently in Scotland, approximately 75% of all referrals are electronic from community to hospital. The Scottish Eyecare Integration Project is globally the first of its kind and unique in a national health service. Such speedy, safe, and efficient models of communication are geographically sensitive to service provision, especially in remote and rural regions. Along with advances in teleophthalmology, such systems promote the earlier detection of sight-threatening disease and safe follow-up of non-sight-threatening disease in the community. Copyright© 2017 Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

Design of an Integrated Web Services Brokering System

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

new Web service is corralled by the IWB, its service description is broken into lexemes and matched to terms in the ontology. The ontology is manually...such data for the atmosphere and ocean. NOAA, in particular, provides a wide range of data including weather information, ocean data on reefs , tides

An Integrative Approach to Ecosystem Goods and Services – Putting the Pieces Together for the Tampa Bay Region

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem goods and services production, delivery, and use by humans involve multiple systems working together at various different spatial and temporal scales. Assessments of ecosystem goods and services and their benefits to current and or future human populations in any given ...

Web 2.0 Strategy in Libraries and Information Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrne, Alex

2008-01-01

Web 2.0 challenges libraries to change from their predominantly centralised service models with integrated library management systems at the hub. Implementation of Web 2.0 technologies and the accompanying attitudinal shifts will demand reconceptualisation of the nature of library and information service around a dynamic, ever changing, networked,…

Integrated Bibliographic Information System: Integrating Resources by Integrating Information Technologies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotter, Gladys A.; Hartt, Richard W.

The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), an organization charged with providing information services to the Department of Defense (DoD) scientific and technical community, actively seeks ways to promote resource sharing as a means for speeding access to information while reducing the costs of information processing throughout the technical…

Integrating an Information Literacy Quiz into the Learning Management System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowe, M. Sara; Booth, Char; Tagge, Natalie; Stone, Sean

2014-01-01

The Claremont Colleges Library Instruction Services Department developed a quiz that could be integrated into the consortial learning management software to accompany a local online, open-source information literacy tutorial. The quiz is integrated into individual course pages, allowing students to receive a grade for completion and improving…

Effect of organizational and environmental factors on service differentiation strategy of integrated healthcare networks.

PubMed

Lin, Y J; Wan, T T

2001-02-01

During the past decade, the missions/goals of medical providers of healthcare services in the United States have shifted--from emphasizing individual, independent illness treatments to focusing on the continuum of care, population-based wellness, and providing the appropriate care in the most efficient way. Integrated healthcare networks (IHNs)--or integrated healthcare delivery systems--have been focusing heavily on their level of various partnership integration (i.e. service differentiation strategy) in order to offer a full continuum of care. The aim of this study, using the individual IHN as the unit of analysis, was to identify organizational and environmental factors that influence IHN administrators to focus on their service differentiation of market lines, including the establishment of third-party payers' contracts, the affiliation of managed-care organizations, and the alliances of various nonhospital medical providers, to provide a continuum of care. The study findings show that tax status of an IHN, its age, and market competition affect its service differentiation strategy in the provision of a full continuum of care.

iSERVO: Implementing the International Solid Earth Research Virtual Observatory by Integrating Computational Grid and Geographical Information Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aktas, Mehmet; Aydin, Galip; Donnellan, Andrea; Fox, Geoffrey; Granat, Robert; Grant, Lisa; Lyzenga, Greg; McLeod, Dennis; Pallickara, Shrideep; Parker, Jay; Pierce, Marlon; Rundle, John; Sayar, Ahmet; Tullis, Terry

2006-12-01

We describe the goals and initial implementation of the International Solid Earth Virtual Observatory (iSERVO). This system is built using a Web Services approach to Grid computing infrastructure and is accessed via a component-based Web portal user interface. We describe our implementations of services used by this system, including Geographical Information System (GIS)-based data grid services for accessing remote data repositories and job management services for controlling multiple execution steps. iSERVO is an example of a larger trend to build globally scalable scientific computing infrastructures using the Service Oriented Architecture approach. Adoption of this approach raises a number of research challenges in millisecond-latency message systems suitable for internet-enabled scientific applications. We review our research in these areas.

Strengths of the Northwell Health Laboratory Service Line

PubMed Central

Balfour, Erika; Stallone, Robert; Castagnaro, Joseph; Poczter, Hannah; Schron, Deborah; Martone, James; Breining, Dwayne; Simpkins, Henry; Neglia, Tom; Kalish, Paul

2016-01-01

From 2009 to 2015, the laboratories of the 19-hospital North Shore-LIJ Health System experienced 5 threatened interruptions in service and supported 2 regional health-care providers with threatened interruptions in their laboratory service. We report our strategies to maintain laboratory performance during these events, drawing upon the strengths of our integrated laboratory service line. Established in 2009, the laboratory service line has unified medical and administrative leadership and system-wide divisional structure, quality management, and standardization of operations and procedures. Among many benefits, this governance structure enabled the laboratories to respond to a series of unexpected events. Specifically, at our various service sites, the laboratories dealt with pandemic (2009), 2 floods (2010, 2012), 2 fires (2010, 2015), and laboratory floor subsidence (2013). We were also asked to provide support for a regional physician network facing abrupt loss of testing services from closure of another regional clinical laboratory (2010) and to intervene for a non-health system hospital threatened with closure owing to noncompliance of laboratory operations (2012). In all but a single instance, patient care was served without interruption in service. In the last instance, fire interrupted laboratory services for 30 minutes. We conclude that in a large integrated health system, threats to continuous laboratory operations are not infrequent when measured on an annual basis. While most threats are from external physical circumstances, some emanate from unexpected administrative events. A strong laboratory governance mechanism that includes unified medical and administrative leadership across the entirety of the laboratory service line enables successful responses to these threats. PMID:28725768

Using ESB and BPEL for Evolving Healthcare Systems Towards Pervasive, Grid-Enabled SOA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koufi, V.; Malamateniou, F.; Papakonstantinou, D.; Vassilacopoulos, G.

Healthcare organizations often face the challenge of integrating diverse and geographically disparate information technology systems to respond to changing requirements and to exploit the capabilities of modern technologies. Hence, systems evolution, through modification and extension of the existing information technology infrastructure, becomes a necessity. Moreover, the availability of these systems at the point of care when needed is a vital issue for the quality of healthcare provided to patients. This chapter takes a process perspective of healthcare delivery within and across organizational boundaries and presents a disciplined approach for evolving healthcare systems towards a pervasive, grid-enabled service-oriented architecture using the enterprise system bus middleware technology for resolving integration issues, the business process execution language for supporting collaboration requirements and grid middleware technology for both addressing common SOA scalability requirements and complementing existing system functionality. In such an environment, appropriate security mechanisms must ensure authorized access to integrated healthcare services and data. To this end, a security framework addressing security aspects such as authorization and access control is also presented.

From hospital information system components to the medical record and clinical guidelines & protocols.

PubMed

Veloso, M; Estevão, N; Ferreira, P; Rodrigues, R; Costa, C T; Barahona, P

1997-01-01

This paper introduces an ongoing project towards the development of a new generation HIS, aiming at the integration of clinical and administrative information within a common framework. Its design incorporates explicit knowledge about domain objects and professional activities to be processed by the system together with related knowledge management services and act management services. The paper presents the conceptual model of the proposed HIS architecture, that supports a rich and fully integrated patient data model, enabling the implementation of a dynamic electronic patient record tightly coupled with computerised guideline knowledge bases.

Efficiency Analysis of Integrated Public Hospital Networks in Outpatient Internal Medicine.

PubMed

Ortíz-Barrios, Miguel Angel; Escorcia-Caballero, Juan P; Sánchez-Sánchez, Fabián; De Felice, Fabio; Petrillo, Antonella

2017-09-07

Healthcare systems are evolving towards a complex network of interconnected services due to the increasing costs and the increasing expectations for high service levels. It is evidenced in the literature the importance of implementing management techniques and sophisticated methods to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems, especially in emerging economies. This paper proposes an integrated collaboration model between two public hospitals to reach the reduction of weighted average lead time in outpatient internal medicine department. A strategic framework based on value stream mapping and collaborative practices has been developed in real case study settled in Colombia.

[Establishing the idea of holistic integrative medicine, optimizing the quality of health care service in prevention and treatment].

PubMed

Sun, Xing-guo

2015-07-01

Under background of reductionism in the modern science, physiology and medicine are stepwise refined into system, organ, disease, cell and gene etc. Although clinical medicine, only service in whole human object, obviously brought tremendous progress, it also appeared obvious defects and limits at the same time. Professionalized and specialized medicine not only needs to be integrated from basics to clinical fields, but also from prevention, health management, clinical treatment and functional rehabilitation medicine. People are indivisible organic whole. Professionalization, translation and integration must be combined. In order to provide the best quality and optimized medical service for the Chinese people and to lead in the world, we have to strengthen professional and technical knowledge, and have to establish the holistic integrative medical philosophy for physiology and medicine too.

Artificial intelligence guides system's best practices, cutting costs and improving services.

PubMed

1999-06-01

One for the history books. Clinical care improvement initiatives guided by a sophisticated artificial intelligence program have helped a major Virginia integrated health system make dramatic improvements in the cost and quality of its health care services. Find out how the technological innovation has earned Sentara Health System a place in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Predictors of longitudinal substance use and mental health outcomes for patients in two integrated service delivery systems.

PubMed

Grella, Christine E; Stein, Judith A; Weisner, Constance; Chi, Felicia; Moos, Rudolf

2010-07-01

Individuals who have both substance use disorders and mental health problems have poorer treatment outcomes. This study examines the relationship of service utilization and 12-step participation to outcomes at 1 and 5 years for patients treated in one of two integrated service delivery systems: the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system and a health maintenance organization (HMO). Sub-samples from each system were selected using multiple criteria indicating severity of mental health problems at admission to substance use disorder treatment (VA=401; HMO=331). Separate and multiple group structural equation model analyses used baseline characteristics, service use, and 12-step participation as predictors of substance use and mental health outcomes at 1 and 5 years following admission. Substance use and related problems showed stability across time, however, these relationships were stronger among VA patients. More continuing care substance use outpatient visits were associated with reductions in mental health symptoms in both groups, whereas receipt of outpatient mental health services was associated with more severe psychological symptoms. Participation in 12-step groups had a stronger effect on reducing cocaine use among VA patients, whereas it had a stronger effect on reducing alcohol use among HMO patients. More outpatient psychological services had a stronger effect on reducing alcohol use among HMO patients. Common findings across these two systems demonstrate the persistence of substance use and related psychological problems, but also show that continuing care services and participation in 12-step groups are associated with better outcomes in both systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Distributed Architecture for Tsunami Early Warning and Collaborative Decision-support in Crises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moßgraber, J.; Middleton, S.; Hammitzsch, M.; Poslad, S.

2012-04-01

The presentation will describe work on the system architecture that is being developed in the EU FP7 project TRIDEC on "Collaborative, Complex and Critical Decision-Support in Evolving Crises". The challenges for a Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) are manifold and the success of a system depends crucially on the system's architecture. A modern warning system following a system-of-systems approach has to integrate various components and sub-systems such as different information sources, services and simulation systems. Furthermore, it has to take into account the distributed and collaborative nature of warning systems. In order to create an architecture that supports the whole spectrum of a modern, distributed and collaborative warning system one must deal with multiple challenges. Obviously, one cannot expect to tackle these challenges adequately with a monolithic system or with a single technology. Therefore, a system architecture providing the blueprints to implement the system-of-systems approach has to combine multiple technologies and architectural styles. At the bottom layer it has to reliably integrate a large set of conventional sensors, such as seismic sensors and sensor networks, buoys and tide gauges, and also innovative and unconventional sensors, such as streams of messages from social media services. At the top layer it has to support collaboration on high-level decision processes and facilitates information sharing between organizations. In between, the system has to process all data and integrate information on a semantic level in a timely manner. This complex communication follows an event-driven mechanism allowing events to be published, detected and consumed by various applications within the architecture. Therefore, at the upper layer the event-driven architecture (EDA) aspects are combined with principles of service-oriented architectures (SOA) using standards for communication and data exchange. The most prominent challenges on this layer include providing a framework for information integration on a syntactic and semantic level, leveraging distributed processing resources for a scalable data processing platform, and automating data processing and decision support workflows.

Integration: the firm and the health care sector.

PubMed

Laugesen, Miriam J; France, George

2014-07-01

Integration in health care is a key goal of health reform in United States and England. Yet past efforts in the 1990s to better integrate the delivery system were of limited success. Building on work by Bevan and Janus on delivery integration, this article explores integration through the lens of economic theories of integration. Firms generally integrate to increase efficiency through economies of scale, to improve their market power, and resolve the transaction costs involved with multiple external suppliers. Using the United States and England as laboratories, we apply concepts of economic integration to understand why integration does or does not occur in health care, and whether expectations of integrating different kinds of providers (hospital, primary care) and health and social services are realistic. Current enthusiasm for a more integrated health care system expands the scope of integration to include social services in England, but retains the focus on health care in the United States. We find mixed applicability of economic theories of integration. Economies of scale have not played a significant role in stimulating integration in both countries. Managerial incentives for monopoly or oligopoly may be more compelling in the United States, since hospitals seek higher prices and more leverage over payers. In both countries the concept of transaction costs could explain the success of new payment and budgeting methods, since health care integration ultimately requires resolving transaction costs across different delivery organizations.

A healthcare management system for Turkey based on a service-oriented architecture.

PubMed

Herand, Deniz; Gürder, Filiz; Taşkin, Harun; Yuksel, Emre Nuri

2013-09-01

The current Turkish healthcare management system has a structure that is extremely inordinate, cumbersome and inflexible. Furthermore, this structure has no common point of view and thus has no interoperability and responds slowly to innovations. The purpose of this study is to show that using which methods can the Turkish healthcare management system provide a structure that could be more modern, more flexible and more quick to respond to innovations and changes taking advantage of the benefits given by a service-oriented architecture (SOA). In this paper, the Turkish healthcare management system is chosen to be examined since Turkey is considered as one of the Third World countries and the information architecture of the existing healthcare management system of Turkey has not yet been configured with SOA, which is a contemporary innovative approach and should provide the base architecture of the new solution. The innovation of this study is the symbiosis of two main integration approaches, SOA and Health Level 7 (HL7), for integrating divergent healthcare information systems. A model is developed which is based on SOA and enables obtaining a healthcare management system having the SSF standards (HSSP Service Specification Framework) developed by the framework of the HSSP (Healthcare Services Specification Project) under the leadership of HL7 and the Object Management Group.

The Computing and Data Grid Approach: Infrastructure for Distributed Science Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnston, William E.

2002-01-01

With the advent of Grids - infrastructure for using and managing widely distributed computing and data resources in the science environment - there is now an opportunity to provide a standard, large-scale, computing, data, instrument, and collaboration environment for science that spans many different projects and provides the required infrastructure and services in a relatively uniform and supportable way. Grid technology has evolved over the past several years to provide the services and infrastructure needed for building 'virtual' systems and organizations. We argue that Grid technology provides an excellent basis for the creation of the integrated environments that can combine the resources needed to support the large- scale science projects located at multiple laboratories and universities. We present some science case studies that indicate that a paradigm shift in the process of science will come about as a result of Grids providing transparent and secure access to advanced and integrated information and technologies infrastructure: powerful computing systems, large-scale data archives, scientific instruments, and collaboration tools. These changes will be in the form of services that can be integrated with the user's work environment, and that enable uniform and highly capable access to these computers, data, and instruments, regardless of the location or exact nature of these resources. These services will integrate transient-use resources like computing systems, scientific instruments, and data caches (e.g., as they are needed to perform a simulation or analyze data from a single experiment); persistent-use resources. such as databases, data catalogues, and archives, and; collaborators, whose involvement will continue for the lifetime of a project or longer. While we largely address large-scale science in this paper, Grids, particularly when combined with Web Services, will address a broad spectrum of science scenarios. both large and small scale.

Exploring New Ways to Deliver Value to Healthcare Organizations: Algorithmic Testing, Data Integration, and Diagnostic E-consult Service.

PubMed

Risin, Semyon A; Chang, Brian N; Welsh, Kerry J; Kidd, Laura R; Moreno, Vanessa; Chen, Lei; Tholpady, Ashok; Wahed, Amer; Nguyen, Nghia; Kott, Marylee; Hunter, Robert L

2015-01-01

As the USA Health Care System undergoes transformation and transitions to value-based models it is critical for laboratory medicine/clinical pathology physicians to explore opportunities and find new ways to deliver value, become an integral part of the healthcare team. This is also essential for ensuring financial health and stability of the profession when the payment paradigm changes from fee-for-service to fee-for-performance. About 5 years ago we started searching for ways to achieve this goal. Among other approaches, the search included addressing the laboratory work-ups for specialists' referrals in the HarrisHealth System, a major safety net health care organization serving mostly indigent and underserved population of Harris County, TX. We present here our experience in improving the efficiency of laboratory testing for the referral process and in building a prototype of a diagnostic e-consult service using rheumatologic diseases as a starting point. The service incorporates algorithmic testing, integration of clinical, laboratory and imaging data, issuing structured comprehensive consultation reports, incorporating all the relevant information, and maintaining personal contacts and an e-line of communications with the primary providers and referral center personnel. Ongoing survey of providers affords testimony of service value in terms of facilitating their work and increasing productivity. Analysis of the cost effectiveness and of other value indicators is currently underway. We also discuss our pioneering experience in building pathology residents and fellows training in integrated diagnostic consulting service. © 2015 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.

Eradicating Barriers to Mental Health Care Through Integrated Service Models: Contemporary Perspectives for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses.

PubMed

Ellis, Horace; Alexander, Vinette

2016-06-01

There has been renewed, global interest in developing new and transformative models of facilitating access to high-quality, cost-effective, and individually-centered health care for severe mentally-ill (SMI) persons of diverse racial/ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, in our present-day health-service delivery systems, scholars have identified layers of barriers to widespread dispersal of well-needed mental health care both nationally and internationally. It is crucial that contemporary models directed at eradicating barriers to mental health services are interdisciplinary in context, design, scope, sequence, and best-practice standards. Contextually, nurses are well-positioned to influence the incorporation and integration of new concepts into operationally interdisciplinary, evidence-based care models with measurable outcomes. The aim of this concept paper is to use the available evidence to contextually explicate how the blended roles of psychiatric mental health (PMH) nursing can be influential in eradicating barriers to care and services for SMI persons through the integrated principles of collaboration, integration and service expansion across health, socioeconomic, and community systems. A large body of literature proposes that any best-practice standards aimed at eliminating barriers to the health care needs of SMI persons require systematic, well-coordinated interdisciplinary partnerships through evidence-based, high-quality, person-centered, and outcome-driven processes. Transforming the conceptual models of collaboration, integration and service expansion could be revolutionary in how care and services are coordinated and dispersed to populations across disadvantaged communities. Building on their longstanding commitment to individual and community care approaches, and their pivotal roles in research, education, leadership, practice, and legislative processes; PMH nurses are well-positioned to be both influential and instrumental in the development of innovative, revolutionary, and transformative paradigmatic models aimed at eradicating treatment barriers, promoting well-being, and reducing preventable mortalities and morbidities among SMI persons. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modeling and Detecting Feature Interactions among Integrated Services of Home Network Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Igaki, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Masahide

This paper presents a framework for formalizing and detecting feature interactions (FIs) in the emerging smart home domain. We first establish a model of home network system (HNS), where every networked appliance (or the HNS environment) is characterized as an object consisting of properties and methods. Then, every HNS service is defined as a sequence of method invocations of the appliances. Within the model, we next formalize two kinds of FIs: (a) appliance interactions and (b) environment interactions. An appliance interaction occurs when two method invocations conflict on the same appliance, whereas an environment interaction arises when two method invocations conflict indirectly via the environment. Finally, we propose offline and online methods that detect FIs before service deployment and during execution, respectively. Through a case study with seven practical services, it is shown that the proposed framework is generic enough to capture feature interactions in HNS integrated services. We also discuss several FI resolution schemes within the proposed framework.

Contract management using cause-effect clues in service worksheets.

PubMed

Chen, J H

1996-01-01

Sophisticated equipment often needs intensive technical resources to maintain its system availability. Service contracts can be an easy channel to outside technical resources. Usually, a service contract purchaser only sees its cost instead of its maintenance quality. A system's needs, however, depend on the trade-off between the cost paid and the quality received. If a clinical engineer can actively interpret and integrate the cause-effect consequences on the compiled service worksheets, those clues can serve as a criterion to justify the quality and the cost-effectiveness of a service contract. Through the analysis of the service labor consumed, the justification of the parts replaced, and the assessment of the "fit" to system availability, this paper provides a cost-effective tool for equipment management.

The designing and implementation of PE teaching information resource database based on broadband network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian

2017-01-01

In order to change traditional PE teaching mode and realize the interconnection, interworking and sharing of PE teaching resources, a distance PE teaching platform based on broadband network is designed and PE teaching information resource database is set up. The designing of PE teaching information resource database takes Windows NT 4/2000Server as operating system platform, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 as RDBMS, and takes NAS technology for data storage and flow technology for video service. The analysis of system designing and implementation shows that the dynamic PE teaching information resource sharing platform based on Web Service can realize loose coupling collaboration, realize dynamic integration and active integration and has good integration, openness and encapsulation. The distance PE teaching platform based on Web Service and the design scheme of PE teaching information resource database can effectively solve and realize the interconnection, interworking and sharing of PE teaching resources and adapt to the informatization development demands of PE teaching.

Component-Based Modelling for Scalable Smart City Systems Interoperability: A Case Study on Integrating Energy Demand Response Systems.

PubMed

Palomar, Esther; Chen, Xiaohong; Liu, Zhiming; Maharjan, Sabita; Bowen, Jonathan

2016-10-28

Smart city systems embrace major challenges associated with climate change, energy efficiency, mobility and future services by embedding the virtual space into a complex cyber-physical system. Those systems are constantly evolving and scaling up, involving a wide range of integration among users, devices, utilities, public services and also policies. Modelling such complex dynamic systems' architectures has always been essential for the development and application of techniques/tools to support design and deployment of integration of new components, as well as for the analysis, verification, simulation and testing to ensure trustworthiness. This article reports on the definition and implementation of a scalable component-based architecture that supports a cooperative energy demand response (DR) system coordinating energy usage between neighbouring households. The proposed architecture, called refinement of Cyber-Physical Component Systems (rCPCS), which extends the refinement calculus for component and object system (rCOS) modelling method, is implemented using Eclipse Extensible Coordination Tools (ECT), i.e., Reo coordination language. With rCPCS implementation in Reo, we specify the communication, synchronisation and co-operation amongst the heterogeneous components of the system assuring, by design scalability and the interoperability, correctness of component cooperation.

Elements of integrated care approaches for older people: a review of reviews.

PubMed

Briggs, Andrew M; Valentijn, Pim P; Thiyagarajan, Jotheeswaran A; Araujo de Carvalho, Islene

2018-04-07

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently proposed an Integrated Care for Older People approach to guide health systems and services in better supporting functional ability of older people. A knowledge gap remains in the key elements of integrated care approaches used in health and social care delivery systems for older populations. The objective of this review was to identify and describe the key elements of integrated care models for elderly people reported in the literature. Review of reviews using a systematic search method. A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE and the Cochrane database in June 2017. Reviews of interventions aimed at care integration at the clinical (micro), organisational/service (meso) or health system (macro) levels for people aged ≥60 years were included. Non-Cochrane reviews published before 2015 were excluded. Reviews were assessed for quality using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 1 tool. Fifteen reviews (11 systematic reviews, of which six were Cochrane reviews) were included, representing 219 primary studies. Three reviews (20%) included only randomised controlled trials (RCT), while 10 reviews (65%) included both RCTs and non-RCTs. The region where the largest number of primary studies originated was North America (n=89, 47.6%), followed by Europe (n=60, 32.1%) and Oceania (n=31, 16.6%). Eleven (73%) reviews focused on clinical 'micro' and organisational 'meso' care integration strategies. The most commonly reported elements of integrated care models were multidisciplinary teams, comprehensive assessment and case management. Nurses, physiotherapists, general practitioners and social workers were the most commonly reported service providers. Methodological quality was variable (AMSTAR scores: 1-11). Seven (47%) reviews were scored as high quality (AMSTAR score ≥8). Evidence of elements of integrated care for older people focuses particularly on micro clinical care integration processes, while there is a relative lack of information regarding the meso organisational and macro system-level care integration strategies. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Upstairs downstairs: vertical integration of a pediatric service.

PubMed

Racine, A D; Stein, R E; Belamarich, P F; Levine, E; Okun, A; Porder, K; Rosenfeld, J L; Schechter, M

1998-07-01

The combined effects of recent changes in health care financing and training priorities have compelled academic medical centers to develop innovative structures to maintain service commitments yet conform to health care marketplace demands. In 1992, a municipal hospital in the Bronx, New York, affiliated with a major academic medical center reorganized its pediatric service into a vertically integrated system of four interdependent practice teams that provided comprehensive care in the ambulatory as well as inpatient settings. One of the goals of the new system was to conserve inpatient resources. To describe the development of a new vertically integrated pediatric service at an inner-city municipal hospital and to test whether its adoption was associated with the use of fewer inpatient resources. A descriptive analysis of the rationale, goals, implementation strategies, and structure of the vertically integrated pediatric service combined with a before-and-after comparison of in-hospital resource consumption. A before-and-after comparison was conducted for two periods: the period before vertical integration, from January 1989 to December 1991, and the period after the adoption of vertical integration, from July 1992 to December 1994. Four measures of inpatient resource use were compared after adjustment for case mix index: mean certified length of stay per case, mean number of radiologic tests per case, mean number of ancillary tests per case, and mean number of laboratory tests per case. Difference-in-differences-in-differences estimators were used to control for institution-wide trends throughout the time period and regional trends in inpatient pediatric practice occurring across institutions. Results. In 1992, the Department of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine reorganized the pediatric service at Jacobi Medical Center, one of its principal municipal hospital affiliates, into a vertically integrated pediatric service that combines ambulatory and inpatient activities into four interdependent practice teams composed of attending pediatricians, allied health professionals, house officers, and social workers. The new vertically integrated service was designed to improve continuity of care for patients, provide a model of practice for professional trainees, conserve scarce resources, and create a clinical research infrastructure. The vertically integrated pediatric service augmented the role of attending pediatricians, extended the use of allied health professionals from the ambulatory to the inpatient sites, established interdisciplinary practice teams that unified the care of pediatric patients and their families, and used less inpatient resources. Controlling for trends within the study institution and trends in the practice of pediatrics across institutions throughout the time period, the vertical integration was associated with a decline in 0.6 days per case, the use of 0.62 fewer radiologic tests per case, 0.21 fewer ancillary tests per case, and 2.68 fewer laboratory tests per case. We conclude that vertical integration of a pediatric service at an inner-city municipal hospital is achievable; conveys advantages of improved continuity of care, enhanced opportunities for primary care training, and increased participation of senior clinicians; and has the potential to conserve significant amounts of inpatient resources.