Requirements engineering in health care: the example of chemotherapy planning in paediatric oncology

Health care is characterized by highly complex processes of patient care that require unusual amount of communication between different health care professionals of different institutions. Sub-optimal processes can significantly impact on the patient’s health, increase the consumption of services and resources and in severe cases can lead to the patient death. For these reasons, requirements engineering for the development of information technology in health care is a complex process as well: without constant and rigorous evaluation, the impact of new systems on the quality of care is unknown and it is possible that badly designed systems significantly harm patients. To overcome these limitations, we present and discuss an approach to requirements engineering that we applied for the development of applications for chemotherapy planning in paediatric oncology. Chemotherapy planning in paediatric oncology is complex and time-consuming and errors must be avoided by all means. In the multi-hospital/multi-trial-centre environment of paediatric oncology, it is especially difficult and time-consuming to analyse requirements. Our approach combines a grounded theory approach with evolutionary prototyping based on the constant development and refinement of a generic domain model, in this case a domain model for chemotherapy planning in paediatric oncology. The prototypes were introduced in medical centres and final results show that the developed generic domain model is adequate.     

Expression of three UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide GalNAc N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases in adenocarcinoma cell lines

The levels of mRNA expression of three UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide GalNAc N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases (GalNAc-transferases) were quantified for human adenocarcinoma cell lines from pancreas, colon, stomach, and breast. Two of the GalNAc-transferases, GalNAc-T1 and GalNAc-T2, were expressed constitutively and at low levels in most or all cell lines examined. A third GalNAc-transferase, GalNAc-T3, was differentially expressed. Well-differentiated adenocarcinoma cell lines expressed high levels and moderately differentiated cell lines expressed lower levels of GalNAc-T3. Cell lines classified as poorly differentiated failed to express GalNAc-T3 mRNA at levels that could be detected by Northern blot analysis. Differential expression of the GalNAc-T3 protein was confirmed in these cell lines by Western blotting. We propose that glycosylation in tumor cell lines may be regulated in part by differential expression of GalNAc-transferases, and we suggest that GalNAc-T3 gene expression may be a molecular indicator of differentiated adenocarcinoma.     

The Effects of Fatty Acids and Their Derivatives on the Intestinal Absorption of insulin in Rat

Insulin solution (25 U/ml/kg, pH 8.0) was administered with 50 mM of various C8-Cl8 fatty acid and derivative absorption enhancers to the duodenum, colon and rectum of fasted normal rats under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. Solutions were administered directly into ligated or sealed intestinal segments. Blood was sampled periodically from the jugular vein and blood glucose levels determined. The maximum decrease in blood glucose level and area under the depression curve were used to estimate bioavailability. Enhancing effects rectally were further investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats in both the fasted and non-fasted states. Blood glucose levels and serum insulin concentrations were determined.     

Empirical efficiency and volume relationships for HPGe detectors

We have extended the empirical work of Vano et al.[1] relating the slope of the detector efficiency curve to the active volume for Ge detectors. The analysis was carried out using Monte Carlo techniques and covered a wide range of incident energies (200 keV-20 MeV) and active volumes (19.6 cm³–396 cm³). It is shown that the expression of Vano et al.[1] is only valid over the energy range 200 keV-3 MeV for active volumes <50 cm³. The upper bound decreases to 2 MeV for volumes of a few hundred cm³. The usable energy range can, however, be extended to 6 MeV by introducing higher order terms into the polynomial. Above this energy, the shape of the efficiency curve is better described by a non-linear function since linear forms fail simultaneously to fit large active volumes and high energies. We therefore propose a composite function which reduces to the form given in Vano et al. in the low energy/active volume limit. By comparison with the Monte Carlo results, it is estimated that relative efficiencies can be calculated to within 6% over the energy range 200 keV-20 MeV and active volumes 20 cm³–400 cm³. Since the largest errors occur for the smallest volumes, we recommend that for energies <3 MeV a two-fold approach be followed, i.e. using the expression of Vano et al.[1] for active volumes less than 50 cm³ and the proposed non-linear form for larger volumes. For high energy work (E > 3 MeV), we advocate the non-linear form. In this way, average errors can be kept 3%. Finally, we point out that the real power of the expression of Vano et al. lies not in predicting efficiencies, but active volumes.     

CdTe-CdS solar cells — Production in a new baseline and investigation of material properties

In this paper, we describe our new baseline for CSS-CdTe-CdS solar cells on 10 × 10 cm² substrates. The deposition of the p-n junction and all the following steps were performed at the Institut für Festkörperphysik (IFK) in Jena. Using the new baseline, we are already able to produce solar cells with similar properties as commercial ones. In the batch type process, all manufacturing steps can be investigated separately. We employ Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements to characterise the structure of the bulk materials and interfaces. It is demonstrated that by RBS the front contact becomes accessible for thinned CdTe films. At the back contact, RBS spectra show a tellurium accumulation which is due to etching. This tellurium rich layer is confirmed by XRD with Rietveld refinement. The intermixing at the CdS-CdTe interface caused by the activation step is quantified by a bandgap determination based on EQE measurements. From the bandgap energy of the CdTe_1 − xS_x compound, we calculated the sulphur fraction x at the interface. XRD measurements imply that the activation step induces a (111) texture in CdTe. With regard to an improved manufacturing process, our cells are compared to industrial cells produced by Antec Solar Energy.