Use of System Dynamics Modeling in Medical Education and Research Projects.

The paper reviews experiences and accomplishments in application of system dynamics modeling in education, training and research projects at the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, a branch of the Zagreb University School of Medicine, Croatia. A number of simulation models developed over the past 40 years are briefly described with regard to real problems concerned, objectives and modeling methods and techniques used. Many of them have been developed as the individual students' projects as a part of their graduation, MSc or PhD theses and subsequently published in journals or conference proceedings.

Medical informatics in croatia - a historical survey.

A historical survey of medical informatics (MI) in Croatia is presented from the beginnings in the late sixties of the 20th century to the present time. Described are MI projects, applications in clinical medicine and public health, start and development of MI research and education, beginnings of international cooperation, establishment of the Croatian Society for MI and its membership to EFMI and IMIA. The current status of computerization of the Croatian healthcare system is sketched as well as the present graduate and postgraduate study MI curricula.

After three decades of Medical Informatics Europe congresses.

European medical informatics professionals traditionally gather at congresses of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) named "Medical Informatics Europe - MIE". After more than three decades of successive organization of these congresses, some important points of their history of are presented. As the MIE Congress in Sarajevo, organized by the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHSMI), is the third EFMI event in the western part of South-East Europe, a short review of the development of medical informatics in this part of Europe, together with important events in its history, will shortly be presented.

[Medical informatics--today and tomorrow].

The status of medical informatics, a comparatively new biomedical discipline beginning to develop in the second half of the 20th century, is described at the transition into the 21st century. The appearance of new information and communication technologies, among which Internet nas special importance, was a major impulse to the development of medical informatics in its different fields. Health information systems are integrating, while at the same time, by distribution of their parts, they become available to the individual healthcare user.

[Internet in medicine--development and perspectives].

Internet is one of information technologies marking the transition from the second to the third millennium. The present role and expansion of Internet in medicine and healthcare is reviewed together with the perspective of further development. The beginning and initial expansion of the use of Internet in medicine are described.

Analysis of data on leukocyte surface markers for recognition of leukemia/lymphoma phenotype pattern.

Objective: This study was designed to test the algorithm for the recognition of leukemia/lymphoma pattern, based on cell immunophenotype assessed using specific monoclonal antibodies and measured using flow cytometry.

Design And Method: Analysis was performed by comparing phenotyping data with reference data, followed by scoring of such comparisons. Output of the recognition was designed as a report list of possible diagnoses (defined as objects in the informatic system).

Medical decision making based on inductive learning method.

Medical decision making based on inductive learning has been studied in order to collect experience necessary for practical use of such methods in clinical and epidemiological work. The decision trees have been constructed by using the modified Quinlan's approach based on choosing relevant attributes according to their informativity. An inductive learning software tool, ASSISTANT Professional, has been used for experimenting.

An algorithm for leukaemia immunophenotype pattern recognition.

Since leukaemia-specific leucocyte antigen has not been identified to date, the immunological diagnosis of leukaemia is achieved through the application of a wide set of monoclonal antibodies specific for surface markers on leukaemic cells. Thus, the interpretation of leukaemia immunophenotype seems to be a mathematically determined comparison of 'what we found' and 'what we know' about it. The objective of this study was to establish an algorithm for transformation of empirical rules into mathematical values to achieve proper decisions.

A microcomputer method for continuous system simulation in health care.

A method for continuous system simulation in biomedicine and health care intended for use with personal computers is described. The method is applicable to multistate deterministic models and based on the use of standard spreadsheet programs used with such computers. It includes features such as model implementation, changes of simulation parameters, execution of simulation experiments as well as tabular and graphic presentation of simulation results.

[Computer-assisted teaching in medical education--development of methods and supplemental materials].

A review of the elementary types of materials for the computer assisted learning (CAI--Computer Assisted Instruction) is given in this paper. It shows our initial experiences in creating the computer educational materials of the patient management simulation type, destinated for the primary care physicians. A computer simulation program "First Aid in Traffic Accident" is described as an example.

A study of rheumatoid factors in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (chronic polyarthritis) by the photometric latex test.

The photometric latex test (PLT) for the detection of rheumatoid factors (RF), developed and clinically evaluated in adult rheumatoid arthritis, was applied in a study of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). A total of 40 individuals with JRA, 27 with other collagen diseases and 24 in a control group were examined. The incidence of seropositives by PLT was 50% in JRA, 33% in collagen diseases and 17% in controls.

The photometric latex test for rheumatoid factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. I. correlation with other serologic tests.

The photometric latex test (PLT) for the detection of rheumatoid factors (RF) has been correlated with the sensitized sheep cell test (SSC) and the latex slide test (LST). A total of 377 sera from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 120 sera from control subjects were examined. When the PLT was carried out on the native sera at a lower buffer ionic strength (0.

The photometric latex test for rheumatoid factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. II. Clinical evaluation.

The photometric latex test (PLT) for the detection of rheumatoid factors has been clinically evaluated. PLT titers have been closely studied in relation to clinical and laboratory parameters by means of parametric and nonparametric statistical methods. An analysis of the sensitized sheep cell test (SSC) titers has also been undertaken.