Efficient Throughput Research Articles

Does centennial morphodynamic evolution lead to higher channel efficiency in San Pablo Bay, California?

Abstract Measured bathymetries on 30 year interval over the past 150 years show that San Pablo Bay experienced periods of considerable deposition followed by periods of net erosion. However, the main channel in San Pablo Bay has continuously narrowed. The underlying mechanisms and consequences of this tidal channel evolution are not well understood. The central question of this study is whether tidal channels evolve towards a geometry that leads to more efficient hydraulic conveyance and sediment throughput. We applied a hydrodynamic process-based, numerical model (Delft3D), which was run on 5 San Pablo Bay bathymetries measured between 1856 and 1983. Model results shows increasing energy dissipation levels for lower water flows leading to an approximately 15% lower efficiency in 1983 compared to 1856. During the same period the relative seaward sediment throughput through the San Pablo Bay main channel increased by 10%. A probable explanation is that San Pablo Bay is still affected by the excessive historic sediment supply. Sea level rise and Delta surface water area variations over 150 years have limited effect on the model results. With expected lower sediment concentrations in the watershed and less impact of wind waves due to erosion of the shallow flats, it is possible that energy dissipations levels will decrease again in future decades. Our study suggests that the morphodynamic adaptation time scale to excessive variations in sediment supply to estuaries may be on the order of centuries.

Range query processing on single and multi GPU environments

Metric-space similarity search has proven suitable in a number of application domains such as multimedia retrieval and computational biology to name a few. These applications usually work on very large databases that are often indexed to speed-up on-line searches. To achieve efficient throughput, it is essential to exploit the intrinsic parallelism in the respective search query processing algorithms. Many strategies have been proposed in the literature to parallelize these algorithms either on shared or distributed memory multiprocessor systems. Lately, GPUs have been used to implement brute-force parallel search strategies instead of using index data structures. Indexing poses difficulties when it comes to achieve efficient exploitation of GPU resources. In this paper we propose single and multi GPU metric space techniques that efficiently exploit GPU tailored index data structures for parallel similarity search in large databases. The experimental results show that our proposal outperforms previous index-based sequential and OpenMP search strategies.

Operating Room Holds: How One PACU Worked Collaboratively to Reduce This Problem

When hospital census is at maximum capacity, it becomes challenging to keep efficient throughput through the Operating Room (OR) and Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). If the demand received from the operating room exceeds PACU capacity, operating room holds occur and subsequently cause delays in the daily operating schedule.

Logistics of Building a Laser Practice for the Treatment of Hypertrophic Burn Scars

Although lasers can improve burn scars, such treatment has not been adopted universally, due to operational challenges starting a practice and the perception that such a program is not financially viable. We report the logistics of building a laser practice for the treatment of hypertrophic burn scars. We analyzed the clinical, operational, and financial components of our laser practice, focusing on treatment of hypertrophic burn scars, using pulsed dye laser, fractional CO2 laser, and intense pulsed light. Cases were performed in an operating room, with anesthesia, after preauthorization. We examined professional charges and collections, case time, variable and indirect expenses, and breakeven volumes. Our practice grew as follows: 2008, 1 case; 2009, 44 cases; 2010, 169 cases; and 2011, 415 cases. Overall collection rate was 32.1%. Expenses incurred by the provider, per 8-hour session, included laser rental/lease ($2375), personnel salaries ($1900), and physician overhead ($808), for a total cost of $5083. Mean charge was $1642 per case; mean collection was $527 per case. Median case time (procedure plus turnover) was 40 minutes. In this model, breakeven volume is 9.7 cases per day; breakeven time is 49.7 minutes. Provider profit margin for 10 cases per day, or 83% capacity utilization, is $187 per day (income - expenses = $5270 - $5083). Despite high costs associated with starting and operating a laser practice for the treatment of hypertrophic burn scars, a sustainable enterprise can be achieved when the provider has accrued enough volume to batch cases over an entire day. Critical to achieving breakeven is preauthorization, controlling overhead, and efficient throughput.

Abstract 322: Optimizing Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Utilization

Background: Optimizing efficient utilization of the catheterization lab is an important concern. Inefficient use of this limited resource increases costs and can compromise patient care. At times of high hospital and specialty care unit census, cath lab throughput is also limited by the availability of recovery beds which may further compromise efficient throughput. At SBUH the cardiac cath lab is staffed from 0630-2300 daily Monday-Friday with an on-call team to provide 7 x 24 hour coverage for STEMI’s. Lab usage was evaluated to determine if this was an efficient and effective use of this limited resource. Methods: All cardiac catheterizations during the period of 10/1/12-12/31/12 were reviewed. The distribution of daily cases, mean and median hours to catheterization by day of the week and median length of stay (ALOS) were determined. Elective outpatient, inpatient, and emergent cases were included. Results: There were a total of 997 cases during this quarter. Average weekday case volume ranged from 13-17 cases/day with the greatest average number of cases performed on Mondays (24% of the weeks cases). Median hours to the cath lab averaged 4.2 hours with the greatest delay on Mondays (5.4 hrs) and Fridays (5.7 hrs). The median number of hours to the cath lab was 31.3 hours with the greatest delay on Fridays (38.5 hrs) and gradually decreasing times from Monday through Thursday with the lowest time delay being on Thursdays (18.9 hrs). The median length of stay averaged 1.11 days, with Mondays patients averaging the longest stays at 1.26 days. There were 45 emergent STEMI cases (5% of the total) during the reviewed period. Conclusions: The marked disparity in mean and median hours reflects a skewed distribution, with many inpatients delayed in going to the CCL. Both median and mean hours were prolonged on Mondays and Fridays along with median length of stay. Further drill down suggested hand-offs, inter-hospital transfer delays, high bed occupancy, and high patient volume contributed to delays on these days. Operator availability, procedure variance, and case mix also contributed to distortions in scheduling and the effective use of lab time. Mid week, Wednesday, was the most efficient day. Block scheduling has since been implemented to better accomodate operators and procedure types within the current staffing constraints. Also as a result of this analysis fewer outpatients are being scheduled on Mondays, changes have been made in ACS protocols, hand-offs, rounding and transfers, and opening the cath lab on a weekend day for inpatients is planned.

Throughput capacity of large quantities of chopped straw in partly slatted farrowing pens for loose housed sows

The aim of the present paper was to study the throughput capacity (i.e. the ability of straw to drain through slatted flooring) of 15 kg of chopped straw used around the time of farrowing. A cohort study including 96 sows was conducted in two commercial herds, comparing chopped wheat straw of three length categories (mass median length 39, 70 and 130 mm). Straw with short and medium chop lengths was completely absent in 83% (plastic slats) and 85% (cast-iron slats), respectively, of the pens on Day 4 after farrowing, compared to 7% and 6% of pens provided with the longest straw category. We conclude that it is technically feasible to have an efficient throughput of straw and to maintain good pen hygiene in partly slatted farrowing pens provided with 15 kg of chopped straw at farrowing. However, straw chop lengths need to be adjusted to the type of slatted flooring used.

High throughput quantitation of artesunate and its degradation products by flow injection gradient ratio standard addition mass spectrometry (FI-GRSA-MS)

There is a pressing need to equip post-marketing drug quality surveillance systems with higher throughput and robust analytical tools that can reinforce pharmaceutical quality control to ensure safety of patients and integrity of treatment practices. This manuscript reports the development of a flow injection analysis mass spectrometry-based gradient ratio standard addition (FI-GRSA-MS) method for quantification of artesunate, a common antimalarial active pharmaceutical ingredient in a simple, efficient, accurate, and high throughput manner. Dodecylamine (DDA) was evaluated as an electrospray modifier for improving the sensitivity of the GRSA quantitation method. The linear dynamic range and precision for artesunate quantification were found to be 7 ng to 86 pg artesunate and 2.1%, respectively. When compared to high performance liquid chromatography, results were found to be equivalent at the 95% confidence level. To identify chemical markers of improper drug storage and artesunate degradation, tablets were artificially exposed to heat for time periods ranging between 1 and 12 hours and the degradation products detected were identified via accurate mass and isotopic cluster abundance measurements. Moreover, degradation behavior of artesunate tablets from two different manufacturers under identical degradation conditions was investigated, indicating that tablet formulation plays a significant role in the shelf life of these valuable medicines.

Variable wordlength soft-decision Viterbi decoder for power-efficient wireless LAN

This paper describes the design of a new, variable wordlength, soft-decision Viterbi decoder that can significantly reduce power dissipation in wireless local area network (LAN) hardware. By taking into account the dynamic range of the time-varying channel coefficients, the quantization level is adjusted to suit the observed instantaneous link quality, i.e., the decoder wordlength is adjusted to maintain efficient throughput requirements and low power dissipation. A dynamic voltage scaling is applied with a variable wordlength to significantly reduce power consumption in the soft-decision Viterbi decoder. Unlike the conventional 8-bit fixed-wordlength decoder, our radix-4 Viterbi decoder can reduce power consumption by up to 35% under AWGN and multipath fading channel conditions.

Efficient throughput method for hygroscopicity classification of active and inactive pharmaceutical ingredients by water vapor sorption analysis

The conventional method of hygroscopicity determination proposed by Callahan and co-workers utilizes more sample and time, may not be precise in all the cases, and is a relatively broader classification system. The method of indicating degree of hygroscopicity as per European Pharmacopoeia considers equilibration of sample for 24 hours under single humidity condition and may not necessarily ensure equilibration in all the cases. Additionally, both these methods do not provide information on solid state changes occurring within the sample during the course of experiment. This research work envisages an efficient throughput method for hygroscopicity determination, and validates it with active and inactive pharmaceutical ingredients using sorption analysis. Further, this method has been performed under optimal equilibration conditions, in a throughput manner (consuming less sample and time), with additional information on solid state changes occurring within the experimental conditions. This throughput method would be a valuable tool for hygroscopicity assessment of new chemical entities, during drug development in particular, and across all pharmaceutical materials in general.

Pricing Based QoS Provisioning Spectrum Management Strategy in Spectrum Underlay Multi-channel Access Cognitive Radio Networks

Focusing on the spectrum management issue in spectrum underlay multi-channel access scenario in cognitive radio network, we implement the spectrum management as a power and channel allocation problem with respect of interference-free to Primary Users (PU) and QoS provisioning to Cognitive Radios (CR). We model the problem as a non-cooperative game and introduce a price function to every CR in order to forward the allocation results achieving Pareto optimum. Also, we prove the existence of Nash Equilibrium of the game and propose an on-demand asynchronous distributed pricing iterative algorithm to implement it. Compared with other price based strategy in existing literatures, our proposed strategy and algorithm can improve the Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) efficient throughput and improve the QoS provisioning rate for CRs by at least 20% and at most 60% in specific simulation scenario of this paper.

UDT 환경에서 혼잡상황 예측 및 패킷손실을 고려한 성능향상 기법

최근 네트워크 기술의 비약적인 발전으로 사용자가 이용할 수 있는 대역폭이 증가하고 있다. 이에 따라 대용량 고속 네트워크에서 보다 신속하고 안정적인 전송기법이 요구되고 있다. UDT(UDP based Data Transfer protocol)는 UDP 기반의 전송 프로토콜이며, 일정 SYN time마다 rate control을 진행함으로써 긴 RTT 환경에서 TCP 보다 두드러진 성능을 보인다. 하지만, NAK 발생시 고정적인 sendInterval의 증가와, 이전 시간의 RTT에 기반한 flow control로 인해 최적의 성능을 기대하기 힘들다. 본 논문에서는 실험에 의한 결과값을 바탕으로 NAK 수신시 RTT 구간에 따라 sendInterval을 조절하는 rate 제어기법을 제시한다. 또한 TCP vegas에 기반하여 네트워크 혼잡을 예측하는 향상된 flow 제어기법을 제시한다. 실제 Testbed를 구성하여 실험한 결과, 각각의 제안기법에 대해 약 20Mbps정도 향상된 throughput이 측정되었다. 또한, 두 기법을 혼합 적용한 결과에서는 최고 26Mbps의 성능 향상을 확인하였다. Recently, the bandwidth available to an end user has been dramatically increasing with the advancing of network technologies. This high-speed network naturally requires faster and/or stable data transmission techniques. The UDT(UDP based Data Transfer protocol) is a UDP based transport protocol, and shows more efficient throughput than TCP in the long RTT environment, with benefit of rate control for a SYN time. With a NAK event, however, it is difficult to expect an optimum performance due to the increase of fixed sendInterval and the flow control based on the previous RTT. This paper proposes a rate control method on following a NAK, by adjusting the sendInterval according to some degree of RTT period which calculated from a set of experimental results. In addition, it suggests an improved flow control method based on the TCP vegas, in order to predict the network congestion afterward. An experimental results show that the revised flow control method improves UDT's throughput about 20Mbps. With combining the rate control and flow control proposed, the UDT throughput can be improved up to 26Mbps in average.

Physician's assistants: a workforce solution for Australia?

Significant medical workforce shortages, particularly in rural and remote locations, have prompted a range of responses in Australia at both state and Commonwealth levels. One such response was a pilot project to test the suitability of the Physician Assistant (PA) role in the Australian context. Five US-trained and accredited PAs were employed by Queensland Health and deployed in urban, rural and remote settings across Queensland. A concurrent mixed-method evaluation was conducted by Urbis, an independent research firm. The evaluation found that the PAs provided quality, safe clinical care under the supervision of local medical officers. The majority of nurses and doctors who worked with the PAs believed that the PAs made a positive contribution to the health care team by increasing capacity to meet patient needs; reducing on-call requirements for doctors; liaising with other clinical team members; streamlining procedures for efficient patient throughput; and providing continuity during periods of doctor changeover. The Pilot demonstrated that a delegated PA role can provide safe, quality health care by augmenting an established healthcare team. The PA role has the potential to benefit the community by increasing the capacity of the health care system, and to improve recruitment and retention by providing an additional professional pathway. The small size of the Pilot limits the ability to generalise regarding the future efficacy of the PA role in Australia. Further research is required to test training and deployment of PAs in a wider range of Australian clinical settings, including general practice and rural health clinics.

Monitoring stem cell proliferation and differentiation in primary midgut cell cultures from Heliothis virescens larvae using flow cytometry

In the midgut of Heliothis virescens larvae, proliferation and differentiation of stem cell populations allow for midgut growth and regeneration. Basic epithelial regenerative function can be assessed in vitro by purifying these two cell type populations, yet efficient high throughput methods to monitor midgut stem cell proliferation and differentiation are not available. We describe a flow cytometry method to differentiate stem from mature midgut cells and use it to monitor proliferation, differentiation and death in primary midgut stem cell cultures from H. virescens larvae. Our method is based on differential light scattering and vital stain fluorescence properties to distinguish between stem and mature midgut cells. Using this method, we monitored proliferation and differentiation of H. virescens midgut cells cultured in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) or AlbuMAX II. Supplementation with FBS resulted in increased stem cell differentiation after 5 days of culture, while AlbuMAX II-supplemented medium promoted stem cell proliferation. These data demonstrate utility of our flow cytometry method for studying stem cell-based epithelial regeneration, and indicate that AlbuMAX II-supplemented medium may be used to maintain pluripotency in primary midgut stem cell cultures.

Tandem PCR: a novel and efficient unit amplification model for the preparation of small DNA fragments

The present DNA marker preparation with PCR amplification, one primer pair for one target DNA fragment, was very tedious and labor intensive. To develop a simple and efficient system for the preparation of small DNA fragments, a novel PCR amplification pattern was designed and tested, of which targeted small DNA fragments were amplified in groups as a unit with a specific synthetic vector as template DNA. The amplified units can be different dependent on the identities of the employed primers and give out variable combinations of small DNA fragments through complete or partial restrictive digestion with EcoRI. The novel pattern made the PCR amplification of small DNA fragments not only more efficient but also more economic than ever before. The tandem PCR pattern, as the most efficient and high throughput method for small DNA fragment preparation, has wide application for the production of various DNA markers and a good complementation to the larger DNA fragment preparation by complex synthetic vector fermentation.

An Information-theoretic Framework for Visualization

In this paper, we examine whether or not information theory can be one of the theoretic frameworks for visualization. We formulate concepts and measurements for qualifying visual information. We illustrate these concepts with examples that manifest the intrinsic and implicit use of information theory in many existing visualization techniques. We outline the broad correlation between visualization and the major applications of information theory, while pointing out the difference in emphasis and some technical gaps. Our study provides compelling evidence that information theory can explain a significant number of phenomena or events in visualization, while no example has been found which is fundamentally in conflict with information theory. We also notice that the emphasis of some traditional applications of information theory, such as data compression or data communication, may not always suit visualization, as the former typically focuses on the efficient throughput of a communication channel, whilst the latter focuses on the effectiveness in aiding the perceptual and cognitive process for data understanding and knowledge discovery. These findings suggest that further theoretic developments are necessary for adopting and adapting information theory for visualization.

Maximizing Downlink Bandwidth Allocation Method Based on SVC in Mobile WiMAX Networks for Generic Broadband Services

This paper proposes an adaptive downlink bandwidth allocation method (DBAM) for six traffic types—UGS, RT-VR, ERT-VR, NRT-VR, BE, and multicast—to maximize the throughput of broadband WiMAX networks for generic broadband services. Based on traffic throughput and the amount of traffic in different scalable video coding (SVC) layers, two adaptive resource adjustment schemes with SVC technology in the DBAM are proposed and compared. Moreover, a hierarchical priority queuing for different traffic profiles with weighted round robin (HPWRR) scheduling algorithm is proposed to achieve higher resource utilization and to meet the required quality of service (QoS) for each traffic type. Simulation results show that the proposed DBAM with HPWRR can achieve efficient throughput and bandwidth utilization and improve the delay time for RT-VR and multicast traffic.

Use of a chewing device to perform a mass balance on chewing gum components

AbstractA mechanical device was fabricated to simulate mastication of chewing gum; this device allowed us to perform a mass balance on the volatiles and non‐volatiles added to chewing gum during simulated mastication. Model volatiles (ethyl butyrate, isoamyl acetate and limonene) released from the gum into the gas phase were quantified using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR‐MS). The chewing device was equipped to simulate salivation (saliva in) and swallowing (saliva out) using water as simulated saliva. The model compounds released into simulated saliva were extracted and quantified using gas chromatography. Sugar alcohols (sorbitol and xylitol) and glycerin were quantified using HPLC‐MS. High‐potency sweeteners (acesulfame‐K, sucralose, rebaudioside A and sodium saccharin) were quantified using UPLC‐MS. The model volatiles initially added to the chewing gum were distributed in two or three fractions: the masticated gum (43–84%); the simulated saliva (ethyl butyrate and isoamyl acetate were recovered from the water at 9–11% and 14–17%, respectively) and the gas phase (ethyl butyrate and isoamyl acetate were recovered from the gas phase at 7–10% and 29–40%, respectively). Limonene could not be detected in the simulated saliva, and >80% remained in the gum after mastication. Almost all (>90%) of the water‐soluble polyols and high‐potency sweeteners were extracted from the gum into the simulated saliva by mastication. Given the presented validation of the device, we feel the device could be used to evaluate and potentially screen and evaluate ingredients in chewing gum formulations. By using a device to circumvent the variability of human subjects, a more consistent and efficient throughput of samples could be achieved.

An integrated planning approach for a nanodeposition manufacturing process

This paper deals with the planning problem in a nanodeposition manufacturing process, in which a toolbit that consists of a multilayer grid of micro/nanofluidic channels is used to deposit nanoscale liquid materials to desired positions on workparts to form solid patterns. The objective is to obtain a planning procedure that achieves efficient throughput for the studied nanodeposition manufacturing systems. We break down the studied problem into several sub-problems as design pattern decomposition, nanopore assignment, liquid material routing in the multilayer grid fluidic network, and toolbit path planning. Efficient algorithms are proposed to solve these sub-problems individually, and then finally integrated into a framework that systematically plans the nanodeposition manufacturing process. A software tool that plans, simulates, and controls the nanodeposition manufacturing process by implementing the proposed algorithms is reported in this paper.

Abstract 2182: Differential transfection on a cell chip for high throughput analysis of paracrine gene effects in angiogenesis and tumor invasion

Abstract Introduction: Tumor invasion and angiogenesis are key processes in tumor progression. Previously, transcriptome analyses identified numerous genes which are associated with tumor progression. The role of these genes in tumor invasion and angiogenesis is mostly unknown. Here we describe for the first time a cell chip-based high throughput analysis of paracrine gene functions in tumor invasion and angiogenesis. Method: Expression plasmids of tumor progression-associated genes, gelatin and transfection reagent were spotted onto slides using a microarray robot. Subsequently mixtures of tumor cells and target cells (e.g. endothelial cells for angiogenesis, fibroblasts for tumor invasion) were seeded onto the slides. The conditions were adjusted that exclusively the tumor cells but not the target cells got transfected. Restriction of paracrine activities on the different transfection spots was achieved by an overlay with appropriate polymer matrices to decrease spot to spot diffusion. Immunocytochemical detection of the proliferation marker Ki67 and matrix metalloproteinases in the target cells indicated paracrine activities of transfected genes on angiogenesis (increased endothelial cell proliferation) and invasion (increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases in fibroblasts). Results: Using epithelial tumor cells and fibroblasts the differential transfection on the cell chip could be successfully established. Model experiments with ectopic expression of IFN-gamma in the tumor cells and the detection of IFN-gamma-induced genes in fibroblasts showed that paracrine gene effects could be sensitively detected. An overlay with polymeric matrices restricted locally the diffusion of IFN-gamma on the respective transfection spots. With this method 150 transfections could be carried out on a single chip in order to investigate paracrine gene functions. Conclusion: Differential transfection on a cell chip provides a novel and efficient high throughput technology to determine paracrine gene functions in angiogenesis and tumor invasion. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2182.

응급실 재원시간과 관련된 환자의 특성

The length of stay in emergency departments has been used as a quality indicator to reflect the overall efficiency of emergency care. Identifying characteristics associated with length of stay is critical to monitor overcrowding and improve efficient throughput function of emergency departments. This study examined the level of waiting time for initial assessment by physician and length of stay in emergency departments. Furthermore, we investigated the characteristics of patients' attendance associated with length of stay. An observational study was performed for a sample of 1,526 patients visiting ten nation-wide emergency departments. A structured form was designed to collect information about patients' demographics, route of admission, time and mode of arrival, triage level, cause of attendance, initial assessment time by physician, departure time, and disposition. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with length of stay. The average length of stay was 209.4 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI]=197.1-221.7), with a mean waiting time for initial assessment of 5.9 minutes (95% CI=5.1-6.7). After controlling for emergency department characteristics, increasing age, longer waiting times, attendance due to diseases, higher acuity, multiple diagnoses(<TEX>$\geq$</TEX>2) and requiring admission or transfer to other health care facilities were positively associated with length of stay in emergency departments. The findings suggest that both patients' characteristics and the flow between emergency departments and parent hospitals should be taken into account in predicting length of stay in emergency departments.