Nurses' use of an advisory decision support system in ambulance services: A qualitative study.

Aim: To illuminate from the perspective of nurses in ambulance services the experiences of using a web-based advisory decision support system to assess care needs and refer patients.

Design: Inductive and descriptive approaches.

Method: Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted in the spring of 2020.

The state of the art in beyond 5G distributed massive multiple-input multiple-output communication system solutions.

Beyond fifth generation (5G) communication systems aim towards data rates in the tera bits per second range, with improved and flexible coverage options, introducing many new technological challenges in the fields of network architecture, signal pro- cessing, and radio frequency front-ends. One option is to move towards cell-free, or distributed massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) network architectures and highly integrated front-end solutions. This paper presents an outlook on be- yond 5G distributed massive MIMO communication systems, the signal processing, characterisation and simulation challenges, and an overview of the state of the art in millimetre wave antennas and electronics.

Convolutional neural networks for segmentation of FIB-SEM nanotomography data from porous polymer films for controlled drug release.

Phase-separated polymer films are commonly used as coatings around pharmaceutical oral dosage forms (tablets or pellets) to facilitate controlled drug release. A typical choice is to use ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends. When an EC/HPC film is in contact with water, the leaching out of the water-soluble HPC phase produces an EC film with a porous network through which the drug is transported.

New Characterization Measures of Pore Shape and Connectivity Applied to Coatings used for Controlled Drug Release.

Pore geometry characterization-methods are important tools for understanding how pore structure influences properties such as transport through a porous material. Bottlenecks can have a large influence on transport and related properties. However, existing methods only catch certain types of bottleneck effects caused by variations in pore size.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of porous polymer films from FIB-SEM nanotomography data using random forests.

Combined focused ion beam and scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) tomography is a well-established technique for high resolution imaging and reconstruction of the microstructure of a wide range of materials. Segmentation of FIB-SEM data is complicated due to a number of factors; the most prominent is that for porous materials, the scanning electron microscope image slices contain information not only from the planar cross-section of the material but also from underlying, exposed subsurface pores. In this work, we develop a segmentation method for FIB-SEM data from ethyl cellulose porous films made from ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends.

3D high spatial resolution visualisation and quantification of interconnectivity in polymer films.

A porous network acts as transport paths for drugs through films for controlled drug release. The interconnectivity of the network strongly influences the transport properties. It is therefore important to quantify the interconnectivity and correlate it to transport properties for control and design of new films.

Optimization of FIB-SEM Tomography and Reconstruction for Soft, Porous, and Poorly Conducting Materials.

Tomography using a focused ion beam (FIB) combined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is well-established for a wide range of conducting materials. However, performing FIB–SEM tomography on ion- and electron-beam-sensitive materials as well as poorly conducting soft materials remains challenging. Some common challenges include cross-sectioning artifacts, shadowing effects, and charging.

Fabrication and Characterization of Plasmonic Nanopores with Cavities in the Solid Support.

Plasmonic nanostructures are widely used for various sensing applications by monitoring changes in refractive index through optical spectroscopy or as substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. However, in most practical situations conventional surface plasmon resonance is preferred for biomolecular interaction analysis because of its high resolution in surface coverage and the simple single-material planar interface. Still, plasmonic nanostructures may find unique sensing applications, for instance when the nanoscale geometry itself is of interest.

Variations in postdelivery infection and thrombosis by hospital teaching status.

Objective: Using a population-based cohort, we examined hospital-level variation overall and by teaching status in 2 maternal outcomes, postpartum infections, and thrombosis.

Study Design: Linked birth certificate and hospital admission records for mother and infant were collected on all deliveries in Pennsylvania and California from 2004 through 2005. A risk adjustment model was created using maternal and fetal comorbidities identified by International Classification of Diseases-9 codes.

Predictors of cesarean delivery for periviable neonates.

Objective: To test for racial or ethnic disparities or both in periviable cesarean delivery and describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with periviable cesarean delivery.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of state-level maternal and neonatal hospital discharge data linked to vital statistics data for deliveries occurring between 23 0/7 and 24 6/7 [corrected] weeks of gestation in California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2005 (N=8,290).

Results: Approximately 79% of the population was aged 18-35 years, and almost half were nulliparous.

Adherence to discharge guidelines for late-preterm newborns.

Objective: To evaluate trends in adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for early discharge of late-preterm newborns and to test the association between hospital characteristics and early discharge.

Patients And Methods: This study was a population-based cohort study using statewide birth-certificate and hospital-discharge data for newborns in California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania from 1993 to 2005. A total of 282 601 late-preterm newborns at 611 hospitals were included.

Racial and ethnic differences in use of intubation for periviable neonates.

Objective: Racial/ethnic minorities report preferences for resuscitative care at the end of life. The main objective of this study was to determine if there are racial/ethnic differences in use of intubation for periviable neonates. We hypothesized that infants born to black and Hispanic women are more likely to be resuscitated compared with infants born to white women.

Evaluating risk-adjusted cesarean delivery rate as a measure of obstetric quality.

Objective: To validate the risk-adjusted cesarean delivery rate as a measure of obstetric quality through its association with maternal and neonatal outcomes for all pregnancies (model 1) and in primiparous patients with singleton pregnancies (model 2).

Methods: We constructed a population-based cohort of 845,651 patients from 401 hospitals representing all deliveries in California and Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2005. We used linked birth certificate and hospital admission records for mother and neonate to estimate the correlation between risk-adjusted cesarean delivery and a composite of adverse maternal outcomes, adverse neonatal outcomes, and four obstetric patient safety indicators from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Malpractice issues in neurological surgery.

Background: Malpractice litigation continues to be a serious problem in neurosurgery despite many suggestions to contain liability, including proposed federal legislation.

Methods: A current study of 275 malpractice claims has been compared with a prior study of 300 cases of liability and potential liability reported in 1985. Twenty years later, the results are surprisingly similar.

History of the Lahey Clinic department of neurosurgery.

THIS HISTORY OF one of the early departments of neurosurgery provides some perspective on the changing practice of this specialty during its formative years. Under the guidance of James L. Poppen and Gilbert Horrax, the Department of Neurosurgery at the Lahey Clinic assumed a prominent role in extending Harvey Cushing's methods, enlightened by Poppen's techniques, many of which were ahead of their time, and provided inspiration to the next generations of neurosurgeons.