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At least 1,045 records · Page 58Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

The cryopreservation of skin biopsies--a technique for reducing workload in a cell culture laboratory.

A method is described for the cryopreservation of skin biopsies at -70 degrees C for subsequent possible reculture. Biopsies stored up to 1 year could be successfully recultured without affecting the time to achieve confluence or the culture failure rate. This technique has been in operation in our department for over 3 years and has resulted in a demonstrable reduction in cell culture costs and a greater flexibility in the acceptance of skin biopsies for culture.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1994

Psychophysiological measures of workload during continuous manual performance.

Twelve subjects (six female) participated in an experiment designed to separate the effects of perceptual/central and physical demands on psychophysiological measures of peripheral nervous system activity. The difficulty of a single-axis continuous manual tracking task was varied in two ways: order of control was manipulated to vary perceptual/central processing demand, and disturbance amplitude was manipulated to vary physical demand. Physiological measures were sensitive to the imposition of a task and were more sensitive to physical than to perceptual/central demands. A principal components analysis identified five factors (three of them physiological) that accounted for 83.1% of the observed variance. Perceptual/central processing demands specifically affected the component identified with sympathetic cardiovascular control, whereas physical demands were reflected in the component identified with parasympathetic cardiovascular control. This finding suggests that dissociations observed among cardiovascular measures in manual performance tasks are attributable to differential activation of the autonomic control systems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Diaphragm fatigue during exercise at high altitude: the role of hypoxia and workload.

The effect of high altitude (HA) on exercise-induced diaphragm fatigue in normal subjects was examined. Eight normal subjects completed an incremental exercise test at sea level (SL) and at 3,325 m. Before (baseline), during, and after exercise (recovery), maximal transdiaphragm pressure (Pdi,sniff), breathing pattern, and diaphragmatic effort (PTPdi) were measured. Arterialized blood lactate was measured at baseline and during recovery. At maximal exercise (WRmax) Pdi,sniff fell to 72% and 61% of baseline at SL and HA respectively, recovering to baseline in 60 min at SL, and >60 min at HA. At the 5th min of recovery, circulating lactate was six-fold and seven-fold baseline at SL and HA, respectively. The time course of circulating lactate recovery was as for Pdi,sniff. At WRmax PTPdi was 80.74+/-9.87 kPa.s(-1) at SL and 64.13+/-8.21 kPa.s(-1) at HA. HA WRmax compared to isowork rate, SL data showed a lower Pdi,sniff (8.90+/-0.68 versus 11.24+/-0.59 kPa) and higher minute ventilation (117+/-11 versus 91+/-13 L.min(-1)), PTPdi being equal. To conclude, in normal subjects hypoxia-related effects, and not an increase in diaphragm work, hastens exercise-induced diaphragm fatigue and delays its recovery at high altitude compared to sea level.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Beds, budgets and burdens: learning disability expenditure v. workload across English health authorities. Comparative review.

BACKGROUND: Following the closure of asylums and widespread changes in the population distribution of people with learning disabilities, there has been little investigation of changing expenditure requirements of health authorities in England. AIMS: To compare expenditure on learning disability health services across England with the burden of services regionally, as estimated by numbers of people with learning disabilities. METHOD: A national database was set up using data from the National Audit Commission and the Department of Health. The spend/burden ratio was calculated and correlation tests for likely causes of inequality were applied. RESULTS: There is widespread discrepancy from the median spend/burden ratio of 10,260 UK pounds per person with learning disability. There is a positive correlation between ratios and levels of net exports of people funded by their local authority social services to reside "out of area". Comparative underspending occurs in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: There are inequalities in levels of spending on learning disability services. Comparison of regions suggests resources may not be allocated fairly. Health authorities should ensure that population increases are mirrored by appropriate adjustments in expenditure.

Budgets↗
PubMed2005

Reducing workload in systematic review preparation using automated citation classification.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether automated classification of document citations can be useful in reducing the time spent by experts reviewing journal articles for inclusion in updating systematic reviews of drug class efficacy for treatment of disease. DESIGN: A test collection was built using the annotated reference files from 15 systematic drug class reviews. A voting perceptron-based automated citation classification system was constructed to classify each article as containing high-quality, drug class-specific evidence or not. Cross-validation experiments were performed to evaluate performance. MEASUREMENTS: Precision, recall, and F-measure were evaluated at a range of sample weightings. Work saved over sampling at 95% recall was used as the measure of value to the review process. RESULTS: A reduction in the number of articles needing manual review was found for 11 of the 15 drug review topics studied. For three of the topics, the reduction was 50% or greater. CONCLUSION: Automated document citation classification could be a useful tool in maintaining systematic reviews of the efficacy of drug therapy. Further work is needed to refine the classification system and determine the best manner to integrate the system into the production of systematic reviews.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed2002

Factors affecting workload of cancer clinical trials: results of a multicenter study of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group.

PURPOSE: Increasingly, cancer treatment centers need to be able to estimate specific costs and resources associated with clinical trials. Because the time requirements of trial coordination and data collection are not well known, the Clinical Research Associates (CRA) Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group carried out a multicenter study to measure trials' task times and evaluate the effects of certain factors. METHODS: A data collection instrument was designed and validated before its implementation in the study. Eighty-three CRAs from 24 cancer treatment institutions across Canada collected timing observations of 41 tasks (156 subtasks). Information from all stages of trials activity (protocol management, eligibility and entry, treatment, and follow-up and final stage) was obtained, from initial negotiations to follow-up after study closure. RESULTS: After controlling for stage, phase and sponsor were found to be significant independent factors. Analysis within the stages showed similar patterns. New drug inclusion as a factor was confounded with phase. Industry-sponsored studies had significantly higher overall mean times than did local and cooperative group studies. Early-phase studies required more time than did phase III trials. External sponsorship of any kind increased CRA time more than that necessary for locally coordinated studies, except during the protocol management stage. The burden of a phase I study increased to greater than average once underway and accruing patients. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated that sponsor and study phase are important factors to be taken into consideration when estimating clinical trial costs and resource use.

Cancer Care Facilities↗
PubMed2003

Workload projections for surgical oncology: will we need more surgeons?

BACKGROUND: Over the next two decades, the US population will experience dramatic growth in the number and relative proportion of older individuals. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of these changes on the demand for oncological procedures. METHODS: The 2000 Nationwide Inpatient Sample and the 1996 National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery were used to compute age-specific incidence rates for oncological procedures of the breast, colon, rectum, stomach, pancreas, and esophagus. Procedure rates were combined with census projections for 2010 and 2020 to estimate the future utilization of each procedure. RESULTS: By 2020, the number of patients undergoing oncological procedures is projected to increase by 24% to 51%. The bulk of growth in procedures is derived from outpatient procedures, but significant growth will also be seen in inpatient procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The aging of the population will generate an enormous growth in demand for oncological procedures. If a shortage of surgeons performing these procedures does occur, the result will inevitably be decreased access to care. To prevent this from happening, the ability of surgeons to cope with an increased burden of work needs to be critically evaluated and improved.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Real-time assessment of mental workload using psychophysiological measures and artificial neural networks.

The functional state of the human operator is critical to optimal system performance. Degraded states of operator functioning can lead to errors and overall suboptimal system performance. Accurate assessment of operator functional state is crucial to the successful implementation of an adaptive aiding system. One method of determining operators' functional state is by monitoring their physiology. In the present study, artificial neural networks using physiological signals were used to continuously monitor, in real time, the functional state of 7 participants while they performed the Multi-Attribute Task Battery with two levels of task difficulty. Six channels of brain electrical activity and eye, heart and respiration measures were evaluated on line. The accuracy of the classifier was determined to test its utility as an on-line measure of operator state. The mean classification accuracies were 85%, 82%, and 86% for the baseline, low task difficulty, and high task difficulty conditions, respectively. The high levels of accuracy suggest that these procedures can be used to provide accurate estimates of operator functional state that can be used to provide adaptive aiding. The relative contribution of each of the 43 psychophysiological features was also determined. Actual or potential applications of this research include test and evaluation and adaptive aiding implementation.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Changes in referral practice, workload, and operative mortality after establishment of an endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm program.

PURPOSE: To determine the change in referral practice following establishment of an endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) program. METHODS: A prospective audit of all elective admissions for AAA was established in January 1994 at the initiation of an endovascular AAA program. A comparison was made between this cohort and the elective AAA repairs performed between 1981 and 1993. RESULTS: Since January 1994, 213 AAA patients (177 men; median age 73 years, range 54 to 88) have been referred for potential endovascular aneurysm repair. To date, 142 patients have undergone elective surgery (41 endovascular and 101 conventional). Between 1981 and 1993, 304 patients (255 men; median age 69 years, range 45 to 86) had elective aneurysm repair. Comparison of the two time periods has revealed significant increases in the number of tertiary referrals (41.8% versus 9.5%, p < 0.01), annual operations (50 versus 23, p < 0.05), and overall mortality (12% versus 6.7%, p < 0.05), the latter attended by a significant increase in cardiorespiratory comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: The higher elective AAA mortality rate since the establishment of an endovascular program reflects a change in referral practice and may be directly attributable to an increase in the number of high-risk patients. An endovascular AAA program has clinical and financial implications for the hospital concerned.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

[Workers' perception of exposure to workload and risks of accidents in a southern Brazilian city].

OBJECTIVE: The study of the association between workers' perceptions of occupational hazards and the risk of occupational accidents. DESIGN: Case control study. POPULATION: The cases were 264 workers who presented a "typical" occupational accident, registered at the National Institute of Social Security in the city of Pelotas, between January and July, 1996. Fatal accidents (two) were excluded, as were those leading to an absence of less than seven days from work. The cases were interviewed in their homes with a standard questionnaire. For each case, three controls were chosen: a fellow-work, a neighbor and a population control. Controls were matched to the cases by age (+/- 5 years) and sex; workers who had suffered an occupational accident in the preceding month were excluded from the control group. All cases and controls were formally employed and lived in the urban area. The data were analyzed using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The risk of occupational accidents was found to double among workers who reported having faced emergency situations at work, working in high places, facing constant danger or noisy environments. Working in uncomfortable positions or intense physical activities were associated with a 50% increase in risk. The remaining occupational hazards under study were not significantly associated with the risk of accidents. All of the above results were adjusted for confounding factors.

Accidents, Occupational↗