Quality control is an outstanding area of production management. The effectiveness of applied quality control methods strongly depends on the performance of the measurement system. Many researchers ...aimed to analyze the effect of measurement errors on conformity or process control and proposed solutions to treat measurement uncertainty. Although both risk-based conformity control and process control solutions have been designed, verification and validation of these methods have not been provided through laboratory experiments. This paper proposes a case study from the automotive industry regarding the application of risk-based conformity control and risk-based control charts. Acceptance intervals and control limits are optimized to minimize the loss associated with incorrect decisions. The optimization is conducted assuming two scenarios: first, the process and measurement errors are simulated, and second, all data points are measured in the laboratory. This study verifies the applicability of risk-based approaches to real industrial problems and compares the results obtained by simulations and experiments, providing information about the achievable cost reduction opportunities granted by simulations.
H.E.S.S.––the high energy stereoscopic system––is a new system of large imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, with about 100 m
2 mirror area for each of four telescopes, and photomultiplier ...cameras with a large field of view (5°) and small pixels (0.16°). The dish and reflector are designed to provide good imaging properties over the full field of view, combined with mechanical stability. The paper describes the design criteria and specifications of the system, and the individual components––dish, mirrors, and Winston cones––as well as their characteristics. The optical performance of the telescope as a whole is the subject of a companion paper.
Introduction:
In response to a perceived high incidence of acute kidney injury following cardiopulmonary bypass at our institution, a quality improvement initiative consisting of a systematic change ...to a delivered oxygen (DO2) goal-directed perfusion practice was implemented. We sought to maintain DO2 > 270 mL/min/m2 to reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury.
Methods:
’The study population included all patients receiving isolated, non-emergent, on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2015 through December 2018, excluding patients requiring preoperative hemodialysis. DO2 goal-directed perfusion was instituted in February 2017. Acute kidney injury was defined using Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria.
Results:
The pre–goal-directed perfusion cohort included 257 patients, and the post–goal-directed perfusion cohort included 226 patients. The DO2 was significantly higher in the post–goal-directed perfusion group (p < 0.001). Postoperative change in serum creatinine and incidence of acute kidney injury were significantly lower in the post–goal-directed perfusion group (p < 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). Estimation with probit and ordered probit models support these findings.
Conclusion:
This initiative confirms previous assertions that DO2 is a critical intraoperative parameter and should direct perfusion intervention accordingly.
Mirror facets of the high energy stereoscopic system imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes are aligned using stars imaged onto the closed lid of the photomultiplier camera, viewed by a CCD camera. ...The alignment procedure works reliably and includes the automatic analysis of CCD images and control of the facet alignment actuators. On-axis, 80% of the reflected light is contained in a circle of less than 1 mrad diameter. The spot widens with increasing angle to the telescope axis. In accordance with simulations, the spot size has roughly doubled at an angle of 1.4° from the axis. The expected variation of spot size with elevation due to deformations of the support structure is visible, but is completely non-critical over the usual working range. Overall, the optical quality of the telescope exceeds the specifications.
In patients with alveolar-to-pleural air leak due to recent surgery or trauma, clinicians tend to manage chest tubes with suction therapy. Nonsuction therapy is associated with shorter chest tube ...duration but also a higher risk of pneumothorax. We sought to develop an intrapleural electrical impedance sensor for continuous, real-time monitoring of pneumothorax development in a porcine model of air leak as a means of promoting nonsuction therapy. Using thoracoscopy, 2 chest tubes and the pleural impedance sensor were introduced into the pleural space of 3 pigs. Continuous air leak was introduced through 1 chest tube by carbon dioxide insufflation. The second chest tube was placed to suction then transitioned to no suction at increasingly higher air leaks until pneumothorax developed. Simultaneously, real-time impedance measurements were obtained from the pleural sensor. Fluoroscopy spot images were captured to verify the presence or absence of pneumothorax. Statistical Analysis Software was used throughout. With the chest tube on suction, a fully expanded lung was identified by a distinct pleural electrical impedance respiratory waveform. With transition of the chest tube to water seal, loss of contact of the sensor with the lung resulted in an immediate measurement of infinite electrical impedance. Pneumothorax resolution by restoring suction therapy was detected in real time by a return of the normal respiratory impedance waveform. Pleural electrical impedance monitoring detected pneumothorax development and resolution in real time. This simple technology has the potential to improve the safety and quality of chest tube management.
In a subgroup of hospitalized patients with an elevated
d
-dimer level, there was no significant benefit for oral betrixaban over subcutaneous enoxaparin on venous thromboembolic events. However, in ...an exploratory analysis involving all the patients, a benefit was seen with betrixaban.
Patients who are hospitalized for acute medical illnesses such as pneumonia, stroke, and heart failure are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism.
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Prolonged immobilization and risk factors such as an elevated d-dimer level, an age of 75 years or older, cancer, or a history of venous thromboembolism increase this risk.
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Randomized, controlled trials of parenteral anticoagulants versus placebo in such hospitalized medical patients have shown a reduction of more than 50% in the rate of venous thromboembolism, including fatal pulmonary embolism, without an increase in major bleeding.
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Guidelines recommend the use of low-dose parenteral anticoagulants among patients at . . .
Within each supermultiplet in the standard literature, supersymmetry relates its bosonic and fermionic component fields in a fixed way, particularly to the selected supermultiplet. Herein, we ...describe supermultiplets wherein a continuously variable “tuning parameter” modifies the supersymmetry transformations, effectively parametrizing a novel “Q-continuum” of distinct finite-dimensional off-shell supermultiplets, which may be probed already with bilinear Lagrangians that couple to each other and to external magnetic fields, two or more of these continuously many supermultiplets, each “tuned” differently. The dependence on the tuning parameters cannot be removed by any field redefinition, rendering this “Q-moduli space” observable.
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