Building a portable data and information interoperability infrastructure-framework for a standard Taiwan Electronic Medical Record Template

Traditional electronic health record (EHR) data are produced from various hospital information systems. They could not have existed independently without an information system until the incarnation of XML technology. The interoperability of a healthcare system can be divided into two dimensions: functional interoperability and semantic interoperability. Currently, no single EHR standard exists that provides complete EHR interoperability. In order to establish a national EHR standard, we developed a set of local EHR templates. The Taiwan Electronic Medical Record Template (TMT) is a standard that aims to achieve semantic interoperability in EHR exchanges nationally. The TMT architecture is basically composed of forms, components, sections, and elements. Data stored in the elements which can be referenced by the code set, data type, and narrative block. The TMT was established with the following requirements in mind: (1) transformable to international standards; (2) having a minimal impact on the existing healthcare system; (3) easy to implement and deploy, and (4) compliant with Taiwan's current laws and regulations. The TMT provides a basis for building a portable, interoperable information infrastructure for EHR exchange in Taiwan.     

Robust measurement of ocular torsion using iterative Lucas-Kanade

We present a new method to measure ocular torsion using Lucas-Kanade method. After pixels of iris annulus around a pupil have been converted into Cartesian coordinates, 30 features on the iris was selected then the features were tracked using the iterative Lucas-Kanade algorithm to calculate torsional shift. The results show that a precision of the method is higher than those measured by a conventional cross-correlation and by a template matching method. The suggested method showed 0.03 degrees mean error with 0.15 degrees maximum error. Particularly, the method was robust to change of pupil size and misalignment of pupil location. Processing time was also fast enough to be implemented in a real-time system.     

Edge detection in a hexagonal-image processing framework

With processing power of computers and capabilities of graphics devices increasing rapidly, the time is ripe to reconsider using hexagonal sampling for computer vision in earnest. This paper reports on an investigation of edge detection in the context of hexagonally sampled images. It presents a complete framework for processing hexagonally sampled images which addresses four key aspects: conversion of square to hexagonally sampled images, storage, processing, and display of these images. Results from using edge detection on this framework show that (a) the computational requirement for processing a hexagonally sampled image is less than that for square sampled images, and (b) a better qualitative performance which is due to the compact and circular nature of the hexagonal lattice. This last point needs to be exploited in the development of edge detectors for hexagonally sampled images.     

H-BSP: A Hierarchical BSP Computation Model

This paper presents a new parallel computing model, called H-BSP, which adds a hierarchical concept to the BSP(Bulk Synchronous Parallel) computing model. An H-BSP program consists of a number of BSP groups which are dynamically created at run time and executed in a hierarchical fashion. H-BSP allows algorithm designers to develop more efficient algorithms by utilizing processor locality in the program. Based on the distributed memory model, H-BSP provides a group-based programming paradigm and supports Divide & Conquer algorithms efficiently. This paper describes the structure of the H-BSP model, complexity analysis and some examples of H-BSP algorithm. Also presented is the performance characteristics of H-BSP algorithms based on the simulation analysis. Simulation results show that H-BSP takes advantages of processor locality and performs well in low bandwidth networks or in a constant-valence architecture such as 2-dimensional mesh. It is also proved that H-BSP can predict algorithm performance better than BSP, due to its locality-preserving nature.     

A flexible encapsulated MEMS pressure sensor system for biomechanical applications

 The use of pressure sensors made of conductive polymers is common in biomechanical applications. Unfortunately, hysteresis, nonlinearity, non-repeatability and creep have a significant effect on the pressure readings when such conductive polymers are used. The objective of this paper is to explore the potential of a new flexible encapsulated micro electromechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensor system as an alternative for human interface pressure measurement. A prototype has been designed, fabricated, and characterized. Testing has shown that the proposed packaging approach shows very little degradation in the performance characteristics of the original MEMS pressure sensor. The much-needed characteristics of repeatability, linearity, low hysteresis, temperature independency are preserved. Thus the flexible encapsulated MEMS pressure sensor system is very promising and shows superiority over the commercially available conductive polymer film sensors for pressure measurement in biomechanical applications. Received: 1 December 1999/Accepted: 17 August 2000     

A multi-agent intelligent system for efficient ERP maintenance

The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an enterprise-wide integrated software package designed to uphold the highest quality standards of business process. However, for the time being, when the business condition has been changed, the system may not guarantee that the process embedded in ERP is still best. Moreover, since the ERP system is very complex, maintaining the system by trial and error is very costly. Hence, this paper aims to construct a support system that adjusts ERP system to environmental changes. To do so, we adopt multi-agent intelligent technology that enables autonomous cooperation with one another to monitor ERP databases and to find any exceptional changes and then analyze how the changes will affect ERP performance. Moreover, Petri net is applied to manage the complexity and dynamics of agents’ behavior. To show the feasibility of the idea, a prototype agent system, ERP/PN, is proposed and an experiment is conducted.     

Optimization of 3.5-in. HDD spindle motors for OP-vibration performance: theoretical prediction and experimental verification

The purpose of this paper is to optimize OP-vibration performance of 3.5-in. hard disk drive (HDD) spindle motors through theoretical prediction and experimental verification. OP-vibration performance of HDD is closely related to the first rocking vibration of spindle motors because excited frequencies of 3.5-in. HDD from the environment are mostly below 500 Hz and the first rocking vibration is the only resonance in the corresponding frequencies. Therefore, minimizing first rocking vibration leads to improve OP-vibration performance of the spindle motors. In order to minimize the first rocking vibration key parameters of FDB spindle motors were selected from a previous work done by Heo and Shen (Microsyst Technol 11:1204–1213, 2005). Then, the selected parameters have been optimized to minimize the first rocking vibration through a theoretical model developed at University of Washington. Then, experiments with ten prototype FDB spindle motors have been conducted to verify the theoretical results. Each prototype motor has different spindle parameter configurations including bearing coefficients, bearing locations, and center of gravity location, etc. Also, this paper demonstrated that radial measurements of spindle rocking vibration have better correlation with OP-vibration performance than axial measurements through PES measurements. Finally, the optimized design has been manufactured by a motor maker and has also successfully verified the theoretical prediction experimentally.     

A quantum chemical study of the mechanism of action of Vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR) II. Transition states

A reaction path including transition states is generated for the Silverman mechanism [R.B. Silverman, Chemical model studies for the mechanism of Vitamin K epoxide reductase, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 103 (1981) 5939-5941] of action for Vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR) using quantum mechanical methods (B3LYP/6-311G**). VKOR, an essential enzyme in mammalian systems, acts to convert Vitamin K epoxide, formed by Vitamin K carboxylase, to its (initial) quinone form for cellular reuse. This study elaborates on a prior work that focused on the thermodynamics of VKOR [D.W. Deerfield II, C.H. Davis, T. Wymore, D.W. Stafford, L.G. Pedersen, Int. J. Quant. Chem. 106 (2006) 2944-2952]. The geometries of proposed model intermediates and transition states in the mechanism are energy optimized. We find that once a key disulfide bond is broken, the reaction proceeds largely downhill. An important step in the conversion of the epoxide back to the quinone form involves initial protonation of the epoxide oxygen. We find that the source of this proton is likely a free mercapto group rather than a water molecule. The results are consistent with the current view that the widely used drug Warfarin likely acts by blocking binding of Vitamin K at the VKOR active site and thereby effectively blocking the initiating step. These results will be useful for designing more complete QM/MM studies of the enzymatic pathway once three-dimensional structural data is determined and available for VKOR.     

On aggregate available bandwidth in many-to-one data transfer—modeling and applications

This work investigates the modeling of aggregate available bandwidth in multi-sender network applications. Unlike the well-established client–server model, where there is only one server sending the requested data, the available bandwidth of multiple senders when combined together does exhibit consistent properties and thus can be modeled and estimated. Through extensive experiments conducted in the Internet this work proposed to model the aggregate available bandwidth using a normal distribution and then illustrates its application through a hybrid download-streaming algorithm and a playback-adaptive streaming algorithm for video delivery under different bandwidth availability scenarios. This new multi-source bandwidth model opens a new way to provide probabilistic performance guarantee in best-effort networks such as the Internet, and is particularly suitable for the emerging peer-to-peer applications, where having multiple sources is the norm rather than the exception.