Change in health care use after coordinated care planning: a quasi-experimental study.

Background: We sought to determine whether patients with a coordinated care plan developed using the Health Links model of care in the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network differed in their use of health care (no. of emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, length of inpatient stay) when compared with a matched control group of patients with no care plans.

Methods: We performed a propensity score-matched study of 12 months pre- and 12 months post-health care use.

Online dissolved methane and total dissolved sulfide measurement in sewers.

Recent studies using short-term manual sampling of sewage followed by off-line laboratory gas chromatography (GC) measurement have shown that a substantial amount of dissolved methane is produced in sewer systems. However, only limited data has been acquired to date due to the low frequency and short span of this method, which cannot capture the dynamic variations of in-sewer dissolved methane concentrations. In this study, a newly developed online measuring device was used to monitor dissolved methane concentrations at the end of a rising main sewer network, over two periods of three weeks each, in summer and early winter, respectively.

A new optional recycled water pre-treatment system prior to use in the household laundry.

With a constantly growing population, water scarcity becomes the limiting factor for further social and economic growth. To achieve a partial reduction in current freshwater demands and lessen the environmental loadings, an increasing trend in the water market tends to adopt recycled water for household laundries as a new recycled water application. The installation of a small pre-treatment unit for water purification can not only further improve the recycled water quality, but also be viable to enhance the public confidence and acceptance level on recycled water consumption.

A comprehensive framework for the assessment of new end uses in recycled water schemes.

Nowadays, recycled water has provided sufficient flexibility to satisfy short-term freshwater needs and increase the reliability of long-term water supplies in many water scarce areas, which becomes an essential component of integrated water resources management. However, the current applications of recycled water are still quite limited that are mainly associated with non-potable purposes such as irrigation, industrial uses, toilet flushing and car washing. There is a large potential to exploit and develop new end uses of recycled water in both urban and rural areas.

Introduction and feasibility assessment of laundry use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems in Australia.

Laundry is a potential new end use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems. Generally, the community is willing to accept this new end use if it can meet the concerns on health issues, durability of washing machine, cloth quality and aesthetic appearance. This study addresses all these major concerns thereby assisting in the introduction and promotion of this new end use in the existing and proposed dual reticulation systems.

Vision and perception of community on the use of recycled water for household laundry: a case study in Australia.

This study investigates the community perception of household laundry as a new end use of recycled water in three different locations of Australia through a face to face questionnaire survey (n=478). The study areas were selected based on three categories of (1) non-user, (2) perspective user and (3) current user of recycled water. The survey results indicate that significantly higher number (70%) of the respondents supported the use of recycled water for washing machines (χ(2)=527.

Dosing free nitrous acid for sulfide control in sewers: results of field trials in Australia.

Intermittent dosing of free nitrous acid (FNA), with or without the simultaneous dosing of hydrogen peroxide, is a new strategy developed recently for the control of sulfide production in sewers. Six-month field trials have been carried out in a rising main sewer in Australia (150 mm in diameter and 1080 m in length) to evaluate the performance of the strategy that was previously demonstrated in laboratory studies. In each trial, FNA was dosed at a pumping station for a period of 8 or 24 h, some with simultaneous hydrogen peroxide dosing.

Analysis of social attitude to the new end use of recycled water for household laundry in Australia by the regression models.

Recycled water for household laundry can be regarded as a promising strategy to alleviate the current demand on scarce water supplies. Public acceptability becomes fairly important to ensure the successful establishment and development of this new end use. To address the issue, this study conducted social surveys in two locations of Australia, Port Macquarie and Melbourne, where respondents were asked 17 questions.

Stop orders to reduce inappropriate urinary catheterization in hospitalized patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Hospitalized patients frequently have urinary catheters inserted for inappropriate reasons. This can lead to urinary tract infections and other complications.

Objective: To assess whether stop orders for indwelling urinary catheters reduces the duration of inappropriate urinary catheterization and the incidence of urinary tract infections.

Canadian Cardiovascular Society Consensus Conference guidelines on heart failure--2008 update: best practices for the transition of care of heart failure patients, and the recognition, investigation and treatment of cardiomyopathies.

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome that normally requires health care to be provided by both specialists and nonspecialists. This is advantageous because patients benefit from complementary skill sets and experience, but can present challenges in the development of a common, shared treatment plan. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society published a comprehensive set of recommendations on the diagnosis and management of heart failure in January 2006, and on the prevention, management during intercurrent illness or acute decompensation, and use of biomarkers in January 2007.

Canadian Cardiovascular Society Consensus Conference recommendations on heart failure update 2007: Prevention, management during intercurrent illness or acute decompensation, and use of biomarkers.

Heart failure is common, yet it is difficult to treat. It presents in many different guises and circumstances in which therapy needs to be individualized. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society published a comprehensive set of recommendations in January 2006 on the diagnosis and management of heart failure, and the present update builds on those core recommendations.