Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Jingwei Duan, Mark E. Bernard, Yi Rong, James R. Castle, Xue Feng, Jeremiah D. Johnson, Quan Chen
Summary: This study aimed to develop and validate a contour quality assurance (QA) system that can effectively detect and visualize subregional contour errors, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gurusamy Kutralam-Muniasamy, V. C. Shruti, Fermin Perez-Guevara, Priyadarsi D. Roy, I. Elizalde-Martinez
Summary: Understanding and communicating instances of microplastic contamination is crucial for plastic-free transitions. Laboratory waters, salts, chemical solutions, and ethanol samples were found to contain varying levels of microplastics, mainly consisting of fibers, fragments, and films. The study highlights the importance of quality control during microplastic analysis and the need for prevention strategies to tackle microplastic contamination in commonly used reagents.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Industrial
Foivos Psarommatis, Gokan May
Summary: This paper analyzes the literature on the implementation of digital twins for zero-defect manufacturing and proposes a standardized design methodology to guide researchers and practitioners. The study presents a comprehensive analysis of the research area and provides insights into the current state and limitations of research and practice. The proposed design methodology covers essential elements for developing digital twins for zero-defect manufacturing in any domain.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Computer Science, Information Systems
Marcelo Morandini, Thiago Adriano Coleti, Edson Oliveira Jr, Pedro Luiz Pizzigatti Correa
Summary: SCRUM serves as a vital strategy in software development, with numerous best practices available to guide development teams. However, the implementation of these practices should be tailored to specific environments and organizations. This study conducted surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of SCRUM practices within different organizations, aiming to assist all roles involved in implementing SCRUM framework.
COMPUTER SCIENCE REVIEW
(2021)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Jingwei Duan, Mark E. Bernard, James R. Castle, Xue Feng, Chi Wang, Mark C. Kenamond, Quan Chen
Summary: This research develops an improved contouring quality assurance system to detect and flag manual contouring errors. It compares manually segmented contours with DLAS contours using 27 geometric agreement metrics and utilizes machine learning to optimize the training of a classification model. The proposed ML-MF approach demonstrates superior performance compared to traditional methods.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jean Spinks, Richard Violette, Douglas I. R. Boyle, Dennis Petrie, Laura Fanning, Kerry K. Hall, Fiona Kelly, Amanda J. Wheeler, Robert S. Ware, Joshua Byrnes, Esa Chen, Andrew Donald, Nicolette Ellis, Megan DelDot, Lisa Nissen
Summary: The ACTMed program aims to use information technology and financial incentives to encourage collaboration between pharmacists and general practitioners, thereby reducing the risk of medication-related problems and improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services.
MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Michael Wagner, Christin Henzen
Summary: In this paper, the concepts and workflow for assuring the quality of spatial data in Earth System Sciences (ESS) are presented. They focus on openness, FAIRness of data, data maturity, and data quality. A revised maturity matrix and a spatial data quality matrix are proposed, and the maturity and quality levels are assigned to the phases of the data life cycle. Furthermore, a quality assurance (QA) workflow is built, including various activities and roles, and an interactive questionnaire in the tool RDMO is implemented to support researchers in applying this workflow.
ISPRS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-INFORMATION
(2022)
Review
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Hua Luo, Yi Zhao, Hua Hua, Yan Zhang, Xiaobo Zhang, Qingmao Fang, Qingmiao Li, Yiguan Zhang, Peng Tan, Andong Yang, Shunyuan Jiang, Lanping Guo, Cheng Peng, Yitao Wang, Luqi Huang, Junning Zhao
Summary: The Dao-di Herbs grown in Sichuan Province are abundant in both quantity and quality, ranking highly in China. The high-quality development of these medicinal materials plays a significant role in promoting local Chinese medicine quality, developing the Chinese medicine industry and technology, meeting public needs, assisting poverty alleviation, and strengthening ecological protection.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
V. C. Shruti, Gurusamy Kutralam-Muniasamy
Summary: The prevalence of microplastics has raised concerns about cross-contamination, making quality control critical for assessing microplastics. This paper discusses the use of field and laboratory blanks to determine cross-contamination and highlights the inconsistent methods and biases associated with blank analysis. The findings emphasize the need to reduce bias in blank settings during the protocol design stage.
TRENDS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Jonas Willmann, Philip Poortmans, Angelo Fillipo Monti, Warren Grant, Enrico Clementel, Coreen Corning, Nick Reynaert, Coen W. Hurkmans, Nicolaus Andratschke
Summary: By analyzing the Facility Questionnaire (FQ) database of the EORTC Radiation Oncology Group, changes in patient workload and staff levels in radiation oncology departments were identified, indicating the impact of complex techniques and automation on the development trends in these departments.
RADIOTHERAPY AND ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Lando S. Bosma, Cornel Zachiu, Baudouin Denis de Senneville, Bas W. Raaymakers, Mario Ries
Summary: The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of existing intensity-based quality assurance criteria, structural similarity and normalized mutual information, to quickly and reliably identify registration errors in radiotherapy. These criteria were tested using synthetic and simulated biomechanical deformations of 3D MR images as well as manually annotated 4D CT data. The results showed that the intensity-based criteria provide the required confidence in using mono-modal registrations in clinical workflows and enable automated quality assurance for deformable image registration in adaptive radiotherapy treatments.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Quan Chen, Yi Rong, Jay W. W. Burmeister, Edward H. H. Chao, Nathan A. A. Corradini, David S. S. Followill, X. Allen Li, An Liu, X. Sharon Qi, Hairong Shi, Jennifer B. B. Smilowitz
Summary: Since the publication of AAPM Task Group (TG) 148 on quality assurance (QA) for helical tomotherapy, there have been many new developments on the tomotherapy platform. To provide guidance on quality control (QC) and QA for these technologies, TG 306 was commissioned to review the changes and make recommendations. The objectives of TG 306 were to update recommendations, address commissioning and QA checks, and provide risk-based recommendations on new technology and treatment workflow.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alexandra Toma, Ofelia Crisan
Summary: The study found explicit provisions for environmental ethics in codes of conduct for pharmacists of some countries, while for others, public health ethics had to be interpreted to deduce ethical environmental obligations. Therefore, it is recommended that professional associations of pharmacists adopt an ethical framework as a model, including environmental values, principles, and ethics guidelines, to guide pharmacists in their ethical attitudes towards the environment in their activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Yu-Ping Hsu
Summary: This paper analyzes the development of quality culture in Taiwan's higher education, which has recently undergone major reforms in quality assurance policies. The implementation of internal quality assurance initiatives is essential for forming a quality culture that fundamentally and comprehensively impacts Taiwanese higher education. Through interviews with policymakers, QA experts, and academics, this paper explores government policy strategies and changes in QA approaches, identifies common features and distinct characteristics of QC in Taiwanese higher education, and examines its relation to QA mechanisms. These perspectives offer a different understanding of QC in QA policies. Furthermore, QC development not only enhances quality in higher education but also drives QA and higher education changes.
STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
(2023)
Article
Medical Laboratory Technology
Parviz Ahmad-Nejad, Tester Ashavaid, Aldo Vacaflores Salinas, Jim Huggett, Kathryn Harris, Mark W. Linder, Katarina Baluchova, Werner Steimer, Deborah A. Payne
Summary: The development and performance of molecular genetic assays have led to increasingly complex quality assurance requirements, posing new challenges for quality management officers and technical personnel. Although quality control guidelines are not widely available, the ISO 15189 guideline can serve as a reference for integrating new test procedures.
CLINICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2021)