Applied data science in patient-centric healthcare: Adaptive analytic systems for empowering physicians and patients

We define the emerging research field of applied data science as the knowledge discovery process in which analytic systems are designed and evaluated to improve the daily practices of domain experts. We investigate adaptive analytic systems as a novel research perspective of the three intertwining aspects within the knowledge discovery process in healthcare: domain and data understanding for physician- and patient-centric healthcare, data preprocessing and modelling using natural language processing and (big) data analytic techniques, and model evaluation and knowledge deployment through information infrastructures. We align these knowledge discovery aspects with the design science research steps of problem investigation, treatment design, and treatment validation, respectively. We note that the adaptive component in healthcare system prototypes may translate to data-driven personalisation aspects including personalised medicine. We explore how applied data science for patient-centric healthcare can thus empower physicians and patients to more effectively and efficiently improve healthcare. We propose meta-algorithmic modelling as a solution-oriented design science research framework in alignment with the knowledge discovery process to address the three key dilemmas in the emerging “post-algorithmic era” of data science: depth versus breadth, selection versus configuration, and accuracy versus transparency.     

Investigation of the Equivalence of National Dew-Point Temperature Realizations in the ?50?°C to +?20?°C Range

In the field of humidity quantities, the first CIPM key comparison, CCT-K6 is at its end. The corresponding European regional key comparison, EUROMET.T-K6, was completed in early 2008, about 4?years after the starting initial measurements in the project. In total, 24 NMIs from different countries took part in the comparison. This number includes 22 EURAMET countries, and Russia and South Africa. The comparison covered the dew-point temperature range from ?50?°C to +20?°C. It was carried out in three parallel loops, each with two chilled mirror hygrometers as transfer standards in each loop. The comparison scheme was designed to ensure high quality results with evenly spread workload for the participants. It is shown that the standard uncertainty due to the long-term instability was smaller than 0.008?°C in all loops. The standard uncertainties due to links between the loops were found to be smaller than 0.025?°C at ?50?°C and 0.010?°C elsewhere. Conclusions on the equivalence of the dew-point temperature standards are drawn on the basis of calculated bilateral degrees of equivalence and deviations from the EURAMET comparison reference values (ERV). Taking into account 16 different primary dew-point realizations and 8 secondary realizations, the results demonstrate the equivalence of a large number of laboratories at an uncertainty level that is better than achieved in other multilateral comparisons so far in the humidity field.     

Adaptive mobile web services facilitate communication and learning Internet technologies

The broad acceptance of mobile technology has undoubtedly created new opportunities in communication. The proposed environment attempts to enhance the information flow among the members of a department and, furthermore, to provide a test-bed mobile Web application for students undertaking Internet technologies courses. The key ideas are to support the educational process to provide auxiliary access to educational information sources, such as announcements, course schedules, grades, and user directory details. As a second system integration step, additional mobile Web services were introduced, such as application forms of the department's administration office, project assignment, and discussion groups. Technological evaluation and students' feedback indicate that the proposed solution is both efficient in communication perspective and effective for student involvement in the mobile Web initiative. Future steps include multimedia messages (MMS) integration and third-generation (3G)-based information delivery.     

A Multiagent Platform for Ubiquitous Service Provision

The Virtual Home Environment is very important in contemporary mobile telecommunications infrastructure as it caters for the ubiquitous provision of services irrespective of network, location and user device. The universality of systems like Universal Mobile Telecommunications System and wi-fi increases the need for the rapid introduction of efficient VHE schemes. In this paper, we study the adoption of Mobile Agents for handling the VHE functionality. Mobile agents are nicely harmonized with the broader idea of VHE as they allow the autonomous execution of tasks by components that roam from node to node and network to network. We present the detailed modeling of a VHE provisioning architecture and investigate its suitability for different use cases and technical options (e.g., end user devices). The adoption of mobile agents for the ubiquitous provision of telecommunication services is quite promising in terms of efficiency. Through a series of experiments we quantify the performance benefits stemming from the adoption of mobile agents in contrast to conventional service provisioning schemes.     

The role of a “make” or internal human resource management system in Spanish manufacturing companies: Empirical evidence

The combined study of the literature about human resource management and the resource‐based view of the firm and organizational learning provides an analysis framework useful for understanding how strategic human resource management systems contribute to the creation and development of a sustained competitive advantage for the firm. This article has two major aims. First, it provides a conceptual framework linking simultaneously three theoretical blocks: (a) human resource management, (b) organizational learning and knowledge management, and (c) sustained competitive advantage. Second, the article builds a causal model and tests it with a sample of Spanish firms from the manufacturing industry using structural equation modeling (SEM). After the performance of a cluster analysis, a group of 72 learning firms is identified and used to test the model. Finally, major conclusions and implications for management are drawn and further avenues for research are suggested. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A simple analytical model for the dependence of the propagation delay of the polycrystalline silicon CMOS inverter on temperature

We present a simple analytical model that accounts for the effects of temperature on the propagation delay of the CMOS inverter, implemented with polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) thin film transistors. We have also fabricated polysilicon CMOS inverters with a variety of crystallization methods. We measure their switching speed as a function of temperature, and compare the results with the analytical model’s predictions. The experimental data are shown to be in excellent agreement with the developed model, which constitutes an effective tool for modeling the impact of temperature on polysilicon digital circuits.     

Impact of edible coatings and packaging on quality of white asparagus (Asparagus officinalis, L.) during cold storage

The effects of edible coatings and plastic packaging on quality aspects of refrigerated white asparagus spears were studied using two different experimental protocols. The first included four coating formulations based on carboxymethyl-cellulose and sucrose fatty acid esters, whey protein isolate alone and in combination with stearic acid, and pullulan and sucrose fatty acid esters, and an uncoated sample serving as a control. The second set consisted of four treatments; uncoated asparagus spears (control), coated with a carboxymethyl-cellulose formulation, packaged in plastic packaging and combination of coated and packaged asparagus spears. All products were stored at 4 °C and the quality parameters such as weight loss, texture, visual appearance, lignin and anthocyanins concentration, and colour were evaluated during their storage. Edible coatings exhibited a beneficial impact on the quality of asparagus by retarding moisture loss, reducing hardening in their basal part and slowing down the purple colour development. The plastic packaging had a remarkable influence in reducing weight loss and retarding hardening but its impact to the rest of the quality parameters was similar to that of the edible coatings. The combination of packaging and edible coating did not seem to offer any additional advantage on asparagus spears apart from the fact that the product had a brighter appearance at the middle part of the stem compared to the packaged spears alone.     

Assessment of a modification to the Brinell method for determining solid wood hardness

Purpose of this study was to assess a modification to the hardness determination method in order to mitigate the effect of visual measurements on the consistency of Brinell method and accuracy of the results. The amendment has been previously proposed by other researchers and refers to the automated determination of indentation diameter and relies on the ability of modern testing machines to accurately measure indentation depth, through which the calculation of indentation diameter is possible. From the results of this study it was shown that the hardness values acquired by the proposed modification presented statistically significant difference compared to those acquired using the visual method described in EN1534 (Wood and parquet flooring—determination of resistance to indentation (Brinell)—test method, 2000). Moreover, compared to the standard methodology, the application of the proposed amendment led to hardness values which are better correlated to density as well as Janka hardness for the six different solid wood species tested. Furthermore, the proposed modification resulted to hardness values which seem to be less affected by the presence of varnish coatings.