Integration of clinical information across patient records: acomparison of mechanisms used to enforce semantic coherence

Semantic coherence of clinical information is the bottleneck for true interoperability among applications in health telematics. Healthcare records are in principle made up of statements about the patient's health and activities performed, organized within attested transactions or messages. Various mechanisms have been developed to optimally represent details of statements in a record system, creating de facto three subdivisions: (1) “containers” of clinical information, i.e., section headings, data elements in local records; segments and data fields in messages; (2) their “contents,” i.e., coding systems and terminologies; and (3) “transaction context,” i.e., circumstances related to document production and message exchange, typically represented in their headers. Details rely on a common semantic background and should, therefore, be seen in a continuum; nevertheless, design methodologies and tools for the three subdivisions evolved independently and assignment of details to subdivisions is not predetermined by principles, but depends on implementation issues. Recent developments within the European Committee for Standardization (CEN/TC251/WG II) and in the European Project GALEN-IN-USE provide a new insight on semantics in healthcare. In order to guide harmonization of semantic aspects in the different series of standards-in information models, messages, document markup, terminology systems-we present a comparison of the various mechanisms they use to enforce semantic coherence on clinical information     

Framework for parsing, visualizing and scoring tissue microarray images.

Increasingly automated techniques for arraying, immunostaining, and imaging tissue sections led us to design software for convenient management, display, and scoring. Demand for molecular marker data derived in situ from tissue has driven histology informatics automation to the point where one can envision the computer, rather than the microscope, as the primary viewing platform for histopathological scoring and diagnoses. Tissue microarrays (TMAs), with hundreds or even thousands of patients' tissue sections on each slide, were the first step in this wave of automation. Via TMAs, increasingly rapid identification of the molecular patterns of cancer that define distinct clinical outcome groups among patients has become possible. TMAs have moved the bottleneck of acquiring molecular pattern information away from sampling and processing the tissues to the tasks of scoring and results analyses. The need to read large numbers of new slides, primarily for research purposes, is driving continuing advances in commercially available automated microscopy instruments that already do or soon will automatically image hundreds of slides per day. We reviewed strategies for acquiring, collating, and storing histological images with the goal of streamlining subsequent data analyses. As a result of this work, we report an implementation of software for automated preprocessing, organization, storage, and display of high resolution composite TMA images.     

Key views for visualizing large spaces

Image is a dominant medium among video, 3D model, and other media for visualizing environment and creating virtual access on the Internet. The location of image capture is, however, subjective and has relied on the esthetic sense of photographers up until this point. In this paper, we will not only visualize areas with images, but also propose a general framework to determine where the most distinct viewpoints should be located. Starting from elevation data, we present spatial and content information in ground-based images such that (1) a given number of images can have maximum coverage on informative scenes; (2) a set of key views can be selected with certain continuity for representing the most distinct views. According to the scene visibility, continuity, and data redundancy, we evaluate viewpoints numerically with an object-emitting illumination model. Our key view exploration may eventually reduce the visual data to transmit, facilitate image acquisition, indexing and interaction, and enhance perception of spaces. Real sample images are captured based on planned positions to form a visual network to index the area.     

A data-hiding technique with authentication, integration, andconfidentiality for electronic patient records

A data-hiding technique called the "bipolar multiple-number base" was developed to provide capabilities of authentication, integration, and confidentiality for an electronic patient record (EPR) transmitted among hospitals through the Internet. The proposed technique is capable of hiding those EPR related data such as diagnostic reports, electrocardiogram, and digital signatures from doctors or a hospital into a mark image. The mark image could be the mark of a hospital used to identify the origin of an EPR. Those digital signatures from doctors and a hospital could be applied for the EPR authentication. Thus, different types of medical data can be integrated into the same mark image. The confidentiality is ultimately achieved by decrypting the EPR related data and digital signatures with an exact copy of the original mark image. The experimental results validate the integrity and the invisibility of the hidden EPR related data. This newly developed technique allows all of the hidden data to be separated and restored perfectly by authorized users     

Measuring and visualizing information transfer in networked collaboration

Networked operations are a reality as companies are exploiting the electronic medium to distribute, disseminate and communicate information in‐house and across the organizational boundaries. The article defines a set of metrics which enable to visualize the performance of the organization through its electronic communication and behaviour. Relying on document usage as the source of raw data the article presents a model to visualize the true communication network of the organization. A software application using this approach is presented and the experiences are documented. Main results strongly indicate that an analysis together with advanced visualization techniques provide management with a unique view on how the organization is performing and how its efficiency can be improved. Information networks are not only speeding up communication but also serve as a means to better understand how complicated and creative processes like product development and large‐scale software projects take place and how the traditional hazard‐driven management approach can become more proactive in nature. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于SIW技术的毫米波滤波器研究与设计

为满足无线通信系统中对紧凑型滤波器的需求,提出一种小型化带通滤波器. 该滤波器通过半模基片集成波导与四分之一波长谐振单元的电磁耦合,在高频阻带产生传输零点;通过强磁区域上层金属面开槽线微扰降低了基模谐振频率,在低频阻带产生传输零点. 所设计的滤波器在8.8~12 GHz频段实现了带通效应,相对带宽为30.7%,带内插损小于0.5 dB,回波损耗大于15 dB,同等带宽条件下相较无开槽线结构尺寸减少了10%;利用额外谐振单元在高频阻带增加了传输零点,使大于20 dB的高频阻带带宽达到了4 GHz,实测结果与仿真结果实现了良好的匹配. 该滤波器具有加工简单、小体积、低损耗、易集成等特点,为滤波器件小型化提供了新颖的设计思路.     

A visualizing application of line integral convolution techniques

The line integral convolution (LIC) technique, a texture synthesis technique, has served as a useful method for visualizing vector data. However, a number of shortcomings have been identified in the LIC technique, not the least of which are that the technique is computationally expensive and adopts a more or less brute force approach. This paper presents a modification of the original LIC method which addresses these shortcomings. Our method, although used for visualizing atmospheric vortical flows, is also applicable to other atmospheric phenomena. In our method we employ a particular colouring scheme to unambiguously identify the nature of the vortical flows irrespective of the hemisphere in which they occur.     

An integrated system based on wireless sensor networks for patient monitoring,localization and tracking

This works describes the system LAURA which provides patient localization, tracking and monitoring services within nursing institutes through a wireless sensor network. The system is composed of three functional blocks: a localization and tracking engine which performs localization out of samples of the received signal strength and tracking through a particle filter; a personal monitoring module based on bi-axial accelerometers which classifies the movements of the patients eventually detecting hazardous situations, and a wireless communication infrastructure to deliver the information remotely. The paper comments on the design and dimensioning of the building blocks. Two approaches are proposed to the implementation of the localization and tracking engine: a centralized implementation where localization is executed centrally out of information collected locally, and a distributed solution where the localization is performed at the mobile nodes and the outcome is delivered to the central controller. Strengths and weaknesses of the two solutions are highlighted from a system’s perspective in terms of localization accuracy, energy efficiency and traffic loads. LAURA modules are finally tested in a real environment using commercial hardware. The main outcomes are an average localization error lower than 2 m in 80% of the cases and a movements classification accuracy as high as 90%.     

Graphics for visualizing RCS as a function of frequency and angle

Over the past few years, the David Florida Laboratory (DFL) has conducted extensive measurements of the radar cross section (RCS) of simple, "canonical" targets, and of scale models of real-life targets. Software has been written for computer-controlled acquisition of the RCS, over a wide frequency band, as a function of the angle of incidence on the target. This article presents specialized graphics formats which have been developed to effectively visualize the RCS. Different color palettes for depicting RCS values are compared. The RCS can be graphed as a "color map" in a rectangular format, with the angle on the x axis and the frequency on the y axis. But the RCS as a function of the incidence angle is better perceived when plotted in a polar format, with the angle around the circumference and the frequency along the radius. Moreover, when the radius is proportional to the frequency, RCS color maps display striking geometric patterns, related to the basic scattering mechanisms of the target. This feature provides a useful analytic and pedagogical tool.<>     

TMABoost: an integrated system for comprehensive management of tissue microarray data.

In the last decade, high-throughput technologies such as DNA and tissue microarrays (TMAs) have become a means of large-scale investigation of gene expression, providing a plethora of new biomedical data in a relatively short time. Data collection and organization are critical aspects in this process to ensure the quality and reliability of future data interpretation. In this work, we propose a comprehensive approach to handle TMA data with the aim of supporting and promoting biomarker development. We describe a web-based system for the complete management of tissue microarray data in the field of pathology. The system has been in use since June, 2003. Our approach includes automatic localization and identification of tissue microarray samples, and quantitative image analysis that allows high-throughput screening of TMAs by ensuring nonsubjective measures and novel prognosis associations. In this paper, we present the architecture and the components of this system.     

全内反射荧光技术在病毒成像中的应用和比较

目的:建立以激光为光源的全内反射荧光技术在活体病毒观察示踪的新方法。方法:分别使用普通荧光,激光共聚焦和全内反射荧光显微镜拍摄非洲绿猴肾上皮细胞上的人偏肺病毒,并对图像进行比较。结果:TIRF成像分辨率和时间分辨率上均优于传统荧光以及激光共聚焦,但只能观察到邻近培养介质的病毒,使用条件受到一定的限制。结论:全内反射荧光显微技术可以用于病毒成像,为研究病毒、细菌等病原微生物感染机制提供了直观有效的技术手段。     

IsoEthernet: an integrated services LAN

IsoEthernet is an integrated services LAN directed at multimedia applications. It enables the carrying of 6.144 Mb/s of isochronous data (96 B-channels at 64 kb/s each) in addition to 19 Mb/s of 10Base-T traffic using the existing 10Base-T wiring infrastructure. A 10Base-T mode of operation accommodates existing 10Base-T equipment. Interoperability with 10Base-T networks is provided for packet traffic. IsoEthernet is being standardized by the IEEE 802.9 standards committee     

Ferroelectric integrated optics: recent developments

Advances in rare-earth-doped waveguide lasers in LiNbO₃, waveguided second harmonic generation through quasi-phase-matching in LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃, and pulsed laser epitaxial growth of LiNbO₃ on Sapphire are reported. Efficient lasers operating in CW, Q-switch, and mode-lock modes were fabricated in Nd:LiNbO₃. In order to assess the potential of bulk-doped Er:LiNbO₃ samples, spectroscopic measurements have been carried out, the main limiting mechanism identified, the corresponding up-conversion coefficient evaluated, and a comprehensive gain model developed. First lasing action in this material, when pumped at 1.48 μm, is described. Quasi-phase-matched generation of blue light with conversion efficiencies up to 150%/Wcm² is also demonstrated, and finally we present the fabrication of low-loss LiNbO₃ single-crystal waveguiding layers     

A technological model to define access to electronic clinical records.

This communication describes a functioning model that permits access to an electronic health record across a small number of providers resident in an Australian regional setting. Design criteria designated that provider access rights were to be assignable, revokable, transportable, and informable.     

A method for visualizing cytoskeletal structures by the scanning electron microscope

The cytoskeleton of intestinal epithelial cells was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tissues were treated with Triton X-100, stained to enhance conductivity, and freeze-fractured in liquid nitrogen. With these procedures, not only the localization of core filaments (actin-containing microfilaments) and intermediate filaments but also the relations between fibrous structures and cell organellae were clearly revealed. This conventional method is of great value in interpreting the three-dimensional organization of intracellular fine structures.     

燃烧场波系显示及燃烧区域诊断研究

燃烧场的流场诊断研究,有利于燃烧室的结构设计和燃烧状态的组织。研究主要采用激光纹影/阴影和差分干涉方法显示燃烧场的波系结构,并用羟基平面激光诱导荧光（OH-PLIF）方法诊断燃烧边界和核心燃烧区域,得到了清晰的燃烧场波系显示结果和燃烧情况的PLIF显示结果。将差分干涉/激光阴影和PLIF方法结合,可以考察波系结构与燃料燃烧的关系。研究采用了一种新型消相干技术的激光纹影,可以像常规纹影一样用刀口切割光源像,不会产生明显的激光散斑和衍射现象;同时在工程上将波系结构显示和PLIF进行同步诊断,也是比较有意义的工作。该工作对于超声速燃烧流场的研究具有参考意义。     

Average waiting time assignment. II. The integrated servicesnetwork case

For pt.I see ibid., vol.38, p.2049-51 (Nov. 1990). Priority scheduling as a means of selectively controlling the average delay of the users in a virtual circuit integrated services network is investigated. Specifically, quantifying the end-to-end delay preferences of the users on an individual basis through associated delay cost functions, the selection of the scheduling strategies on the links of the network is formulated as a convex optimization problem whose objective consists of minimizing the overall delay cost. A set of optimality conditions is given for this problem, and two distributed algorithms for solving it are constructed. The first algorithm always converges to an optimal solution, while the second algorithm is approximate. However, the second algorithm requires less coordination than the first, and by appropriately selecting the parameters the solution can be brought as close to optimality as desired. With simple modifications, the algorithms also solve the problem of selecting the scheduling strategies on the links so as to minimize the lexicographic ordering of the cost vector