AGENT-BASED APPROACH TO HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT

The provision ofmedical care typically involves a number ofindividuals. located in a number ofdifferent institutions. whose decisions and actions need to be coordinated if the care is to be effective and efficient. Tofacilitate this decision making and to ensure the coordination process runs smoothly, the use ofsoftware support is becoming increasingly widespread. To this end. this paper describes an agent-based system that was developed to help manage the care process in real-world settings. The agents themselves are implemented using a layered architecture called AADCare, which combines a number ofAl and agent techniques: a symbolic decision procedure for decision making with incomplete and conflicting information. a concept of accountability for task allocation, the notions ofcommitments and conventions for managing coherent cooperation, and a set ofcommunication primitives for interagent interaction. The utility ofthis approach is demonstrated through the development ofan application prototypefor the clinical process ofcancer treatment.     

Quality control in the U.K. chemical manufacturing industry—a study. Part I

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of the practice and management of quality control in the chemical manufacturing industry. A questionnaire survey formed the first part of the investigation, which reveals that this sector of industry makes surprisingly low use of statistical quality control techniques. Information on the organization and operation of QC suggests that the industry has well documented analysis procedures and collects large volumes of data. It is pointed out, however, that statistically valid interpretation and use of this material, particularly in process control, is not prevalent.     

Quantum theory of preparation and measurement

The conventional postulate for the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is asymmetric in preparation and measurement, making retrodiction reliant on inference by use of Bayes' theorem. Here, a more fundamental symmetric postulate is presented, from which both predictive and retrodictive probabilities emerge immediately, even where measurement devices more general than those usually considered are involved. It is shown that the new postulate is perfectly consistent with the conventional postulate.     

Dielectric strength and interface-state behaviour of oxygen plasma-grown SiO2 films annealed at high temperature†

The behaviour of the interface-state density in plasma oxidized silicon dioxide on silicon MOS structures has been investigated as a function of annealing temperature and time for anneals in an ambient of dry nitrogen. It was found that the interface-state density decreases with increasing annealing time and temperature, saturating at a temperature of approximately 950^°C and a time of approximately one hour.

In situ r.f. sputter-cleaning prior to oxidation produces dielectric films of uniformly high and reproducible dielectric strength of up to 10⁷ volts/em, in contrast to most chemical cleaning processes which typically yield lower dielectric strengths and greater variability.     

LDV MEASUREMENTS IN GAS-SOLID FLOWS—A REVIEW

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the history of LDV measurements employed in research involving gas-solid flows. Much of the discussion deals with measurement techniques employed to obtain separate and simultaneous solid and gas phase velocities. Also, LDV based measurement techniques that are used to obtain particle size and concentration information in conjunction with the velocity measurements are presented.