Accuracy of asthma treatment in schoolchildren in NSW, Australia

Insufficient use of anti-inflammatory drugs, such as inhaled corticosteroids and cromoglycate, may contribute to the disease burden associated with asthma. Conversely, aggressive treatment of mild disease may result in avoidable costs and/or adverse drug effects. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between asthma severity and inhaled corticosteroid/cromoglycate use in a large (n=4,909) random sample of children, aged 8-11 yrs, in NSW, Australia. Asthma and its treatment were assessed by questionnaire responses. Asthma, defined as diagnosis plus current wheeze, was present in 901 children (18% of the sample), of whom 225 (5%) had moderate asthma, defined as asthma plus additional symptoms (sleep disturbance), utilization (hospital, casualty), or disability (reduced activity, school absence). Use of inhaled corticosteroid/cromoglycate was reported by 636 children (13% of the sample). Determinants of use included: asthma diagnosis, current wheeze, and troublesome dry nocturnal cough. There was also a strong relationship between anti-inflammatory treatment and a multicomponent asthma severity score constructed for each child. Inhaled corticosteroids and/or cromoglycate were used by 56% of the children with asthma (24% daily) and by 76% of children with moderate asthma (42% daily). Undertreatment, defined as less than daily inhaled corticosteroids/cromoglycate in moderate asthma, was identified in 130 children (14% of those with asthma or 3% of the sample). Conversely, apparently aggressive treatment, defined as inhaled corticosteroid/cromoglycate use in children with persistent minimal symptoms (asthma severity score of less than 3) was identified in 101 children (2% of the sample). Although there were significant differences between regions in the choice of anti-inflammatory drugs and in the prevalence both of undertreatment and apparently aggressive treatment, there was no clear relationship to regional utilization of emergency and hospital services for asthma. Nevertheless, the frequency of undertreatment suggests an opportunity to reduce asthma morbidity by more consistent application of current therapeutic guidelines.     

Software quality management in turbulent times – are there alternatives to process oriented software quality management?

Software Quality Journal - There is a widely accepted paradigm of successful software development, called process oriented software quality management (PSQM). The proponents of PSQM claim that it...     

Miniature packaged external-cavity semiconductor laser with 50 GHzcontinuous electrical tuning range

Miniature, packaged, grating-external-cavity lasers have been developed for use in PSK and DPSK coherent transmission systems at 1.5 μm. The outside dimensions of the package are 30×30×50 mm and the optical cavity length is nominally 30 mm, resulting in a spectral linewidth <100 kHz. The lasing wavelength is mechanically adjustable over the range 1510-1560 nm and electrically tunable over the range of 0.8 nm. With appropriate control of the grating piezos, a continuous (hop-free) tuning range of 50 GHz (0.4 nm) can be obtained     

Field demonstration of coherent transmission system with diode-pumped erbium doped fibre amplifiers

Reports a field demonstration of 622 Mbit/s DPSK and FSK coherent transmission over 200 km of installed single mode fibre. Diode-pumped erbium doped fibre amplifiers were used as both power amplifiers and repeaters. System loss budgets of more than 68 dB were achieved with an intermediate amplifier repeater gain of 16.5 dB. Both systems incorporated fully automated endless polarisation control.<>     

Field demonstration of 565 Mbit/s DPSK coherent transmission systemover 176 km of installed fibre

Reports the results of a 565 Mbit/s coherent system field trial over 176 km of installed SM fibre. Fully automated endless polarisation control was employed using a novel method and error free operation was achieved with BER readings of better than 10^-13     

Successful Application of Genetic Algorithms to Network Design and Planning

The optimal design of telecommunications network infrastructure demands consideration of many complex factors such as type, number and position of components and cable paths. The difficulty of producing a consistent and cost-effective solution increases with network size and complexity. A genetic optimisation system, GenOSys, developed at BT, can generate different network configurations and evaluate them rapidly to arrive at an optimal or near-optimal solution. GenOSys has been employed with great success in new site planning offices of networkBT for more than a year. This paper reviews the operation of GenOSys and summarises the key steps in the practical application of the algorithms. In addition, the business benefits provided by the GenOSys planning tool in the working environment are analysed.