One-year Pilot Project Research Articles

One-Year Pilot Study Results of Newborn Screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy in the Republic of Croatia.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disease caused by the homozygous deletion of SMN1 exon 7 in 95% of cases. The prognosis for SMA patients has improved with the development of disease-modifying therapies, all of which are available in Croatia. The best treatment outcomes occur when therapy is applied before symptoms appear, making newborn screening (NBS) for SMA a crucial factor. Since SMA NBS is the first genetic test performed in our laboratory, for successful implementation of the program, we had to overcome logistical and organizational issues. Herein, we present the results of the SMA NBS during the one-year pilot project in Croatia and verify the suitability of the Targeted qPCR™ SMA assay for SMA NBS. The pilot project started on 1 March 2023 in the Department for Laboratory Diagnostics of the University Hospital Center Zagreb. A total of 32,655 newborns were tested. Five SMA patients were detected, and their diagnoses were confirmed by the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay. There have been no false positive or false negative results, to our knowledge so far. The incidence of SMA determined during the pilot study is consistent with the SMA incidence data from other European countries.

참여자 통합형 노인일자리 및 사회활동 지원사업 사례연구

This study aims to present ideas for new elderly job programs and the possibility of developing elderly job programs through case analysis of participant-integrated elderly job and social activity support projects. To this end, we looked at the Dreaming Roasters and Baker Project of the Busan Yeonje Senior Club, which was selected as a support project for the Community Chest of Korea in 2022.
 This project is based on the Social Welfare Community Chest's sustainable development goals of strengthening the education and self-reliance capabilities of the target, creating quality jobs, and creating a gap between appropriate technology and information technology as a social activity support project for the independent life of elderly parents and children with disabilities.
 It seems that the following efforts are needed to develop participant integrated elderly jobs and social activity support through a one-year pilot project. First, it is necessary to revise the guidelines for the use of profits. Second, there is a need for a systematic support system. Third, the flexibility of project participants must be recognized. Fourth, business item development education and marketing mix education are necessary. Finally, for the continuous development of this project, some projects carried out by senior clubs need to seek conversion to social enterprises.

1724P Improving access to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment through navigation: Evaluation of a one-year pilot project in Botswana

1724P Improving access to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment through navigation: Evaluation of a one-year pilot project in Botswana

Urban last-mile logistics rethought: Insights from a one-year pilot project

E-commerce parcel delivery is an important part of the overall service experience of online retailers; however, the service quality of today’s parcel delivery cannot meet the expectations of consumers. This forces urban logistics practitioners to consider how the supposedly diverging requirements of both convenient and environmentally friendly delivery can be met in an economically viable way. One possible solution is ‘Kiezbote’, a last-mile concept that collects parcels from various senders and parcel logistics service providers (PLSP) centrally in a micro-hub strategically located within or just outside the neighbourhood to be supplied. Then, parcels are delivered consolidated per recipient within a desired time window by cargo bike. The concept was tested for one year in Berlin-Charlottenburg. It was shown that the tested delivery concept outperforms large PLSPs in terms of customer satisfaction and reduces emissions such as CO2 on the last mile. Economic viability could be achieved, but this requires a sufficiently high volume of parcels, as the willingness to pay is limited. Based on the results, online retailers should place greater emphasis on reliable and accurate delivery. PLSPs have to work more closely with local delivery partners to offer a wider range of customised delivery services. Technology providers should keep pushing new hardware and software solutions into the market; however, industry standards and interfaces are crucial when it comes to realising a diversified last-mile landscape. Delivery start-ups should combine both new modes of transport and digital business models and municipalities and politics should provide infrastructure, regulations as well as fast approval processes. This paper deals with the question of how the wish for both a convenient and environmentally friendly delivery service can be met in an economically viable way.

OP457 A Collaborative Horizon Scanning Alert For Disinvestment And Early Awareness

IntroductionIn 2019, the Norwegian Institute for Public Health and Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) received support from HTAi to produce a quarterly current awareness alert for the HTAi Disinvestment and Early Awareness Interest Group in collaboration with the HTAi Information Retrieval Interest Group. The alert focuses on methods and topical issues, and broader forecasts of potentially disruptive technologies that may be of interest to those involved in horizon scanning and disinvestment initiatives in health technology assessment (HTA).MethodsInformation specialists at both agencies developed search strategies for disinvestment and for horizon scanning in PubMed and Google. The template for the alert was based on an e-newsletter developed by the Information Retrieval Interest Group. Information specialists and researchers reviewed the monthly (PubMed) and weekly (Google) search results and selected potentially relevant publications. Additional sources were also identified through regular HTA and horizon scanning work.ResultsAlerts are posted quarterly on the HTAi Interest Group website; members receive an email notice when new alerts are available. While the revised PubMed searches are identifying relevant information, Google alerts have been disappointing, and this search may need to be revised further or dropped. When the one-year pilot project ends, in Fall 2020, interest group members will be surveyed to see if the alerts were useful, and whether they have suggestions for improving them.ConclusionsCollaborating on this alert service reduces duplication of effort between agencies, and makes new research in horizon scanning and disinvestment more accessible to colleagues in other agencies working in these areas.

The Korean undiagnosed diseases program: lessons from a one-year pilot project

BackgroundThe Korean Undiagnosed Diseases Program (KUDP) was launched in January 2017 as a one-year pilot project to address the increasing global interest in patients with undiagnosed rare diseases. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the project results and emphasize the unmet research needs among patients with undiagnosed rare diseases in Korea.ResultsPatient enrollment, assessment, and diagnostic processes were determined by the KUDP clinical expert consortium. Patients followed a diagnostic workflow after being categorized into one of four groups: I) insufficient clinical information or lack of standard diagnostic processes; II) undiagnosed due to low disease awareness; III) clinically diagnosed but unconfirmed genetically due to genetic heterogeneities; or IV) unknown disease due to complex, atypical clinical presentations. After excluding two patients from group I, 97 patients were enrolled, including 10 in group II, 67 in group III, and 20 in group IV. Most of them (92 of 97, 94.8%) were pediatric patients (< 18 years old) and 59 (60.8%) were male. The primary symptoms for 80 patients (82.5%) were neurologic. During the one-year pilot study, 72 patients completed a diagnostic assessment including clinical and molecular genetic analyses; some patients also underwent pathological or biochemical analysis. Twenty-eight of these patients (28/72, 38.9%) achieved molecular genetic diagnosis. Thirteen patients were diagnosed based on traditional tests, including biochemical assay, single or targeted genetic analysis, and chromosomal microarray. We performed whole exome sequencing on 52 patients, among whom 15 (28.8%, 15/52) reached a final diagnosis. One new disorder was identified via international collaboration.ConclusionsUsing an efficient clinical diagnostic workflow, this KUDP pilot study resulted in a fair diagnostic success rate, improving the potential for additional diagnoses and new scientific discovery of complex and rare diseases. KUDP also satisfied unmet needs for rare diseases with multisystem involvement, highlighting the value of emerging genomic technologies for further research into rare and still-undiagnosed conditions.

Anti-Authority and Militia Movements in Canada

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Academic explorations of anti-authority movements are virtually non- existent in Canada. We have no reliable primary data or empirical insights into Freemen-on-the-Land (FOTL) or other similar contingents. What we do know comes largely from Associate Chief Justice Rooke’s decision in Meads v. Meads (2012). He refers to the loose collection of individuals and small cells as “vexatious litigants.” In the absence of any academic assessment of these movements, we embarked on a one-year pilot project, bringing an exploratory and multi-method approach to this first such study. It is grounded in interviews with law enforcement, lawyers, judges, notaries, and movement adherents (n = 32), along with analysis of open source data which included media reports, court documents, and movement websites.&#x0D; In terms of distribution of the movement, the largest concentrations appeared to be in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Quantitatively, participants noted the challenge in measuring how expansive adherence to the movement might be. Most, however, roundly rejected the oft-cited estimate of 30,000, suggesting instead numbers closer to 5,000 to 10,000. Another shift in thinking that emerged over the course of our study was that the “movement” we were examining was slightly more diffuse than simply the FOTL bloc. It is, instead, a broadly-based anti-state or anti-authority movement consisting of many diverse, and frequently contradictory arms. In fact, some adherents explicitly distanced themselves from the FOTL label, while others embraced ideologies and practices that bore only passing resemblance to FOTL specifically.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

DPF retrofit program in Israel – effects of diesel particle filters on performance of in-use buses

A long service life of heavy-duty diesel vehicles results in a large number of older-technology trucks and buses of various types running on roads nowadays. Cleaning up exhaust gases of these older vehicles gives an opportunity to improve air quality at affordable costs. Retrofitting older buses with diesel particulate filters (DPF) is a cost-effective measure to quickly and efficiently reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions and contribute to mitigation of air pollution in urban conglomerates. In this paper, the milestones on a way to wide-scale retrofitting of heavy-duty vehicles with DPF are discussed on the example of Israel DPF retrofit program. Crucial importance of a balanced governmental approach combining regulation and economic incentives, together with collaboration of government, academia and vehicle operators, is underlined. Main results of the one-year pilot project focused on urban and intercity buses are discussed. Impact of DPF retrofitting on particulate emissions and engine performance and maintenance aspects of in-use diesel buses is analyzed. Very high particle filtration efficiency (in average, about 97%) together with relatively low fuel economy penalty (0.6–1.8%, depending on the bus type) are proved. Vital importance of careful monitoring and correct maintenance of DPF-equipped vehicles is underlined.

ASSESSING THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A SPECIALIST PAEDIATRIC PHARMACIST AND PHYSIOTHERAPIST IN THE COMMUNITY TO IMPROVE CHILDHOOD ASTHMA OUTCOMES

IntroductionThe local Clinical Commissioning Group has funded an innovative one-year pilot project to assess the value of providing specialist paediatric pharmacist and physiotherapist support direct to families and health care...

ASSESSING THE BENEFITS THAT COMMUNITY PHARMACIES CAN HAVE ON CHILDHOOD ASTHMA OUTCOMES

IntroductionThe local Clinical Commissioning Group has funded an innovative one-year pilot project to assess the value of providing specialist paediatric pharmacist and physiotherapist support direct to families and health care...

Building Bridges for School Improvement A Model for Sustainable University-School Partnerships

Public education in the 21C presents high needs schools with significant challenges and often unequal access to digital technologies. To address these concerns and build bridges across this digital divide, our research team conducted a one-year pilot project to develop a sustainable university-school partnership between our faculty of education and two local high needs elementary schools. The project is examined through several lenses, including the importance of university-school partnerships, advantages and challenges of the project, sustainability, leadership in high needs schools, school improvement factors, the role of community involvement and the effect of comprehensive school health on student achievement. In this article, we describe the initial formation of a partnership between the university and two schools identified as high needs by Educational Quality and Accountability Office scores, as well as low SES and demographics indicating low levels of educational aspiration and achievement. University professors, administrators, classroom teachers, students and preservice teacher candidates, worked collaboratively to lay the groundwork for a research-based and sustainable partnership by bringing the resources, strengths, skills and expertise of the schools and the faculty of education directly to bear on the “digital divide” experienced in these schools and to provide collaborative support to improve student achievement.

A study on awareness and utilization of \"Chiranjeevi Yojana&amp;#147; among members of BPL families in the field practice area of rural health training centre (RHTC), Sayla of Surendranagar district

Background: Government of Gujarat launched “Chiranjeevi Scheme” as a one-year pilot project in December 2005 in five backward districts (Banaskantha, Dahod, Kutch, Panchmahals, and Sabarkantha). The scheme has now been extended to the entire state. Aims & Objective: To assess (1) Awareness and utilization of ‘Chiranjeevi Yojana’; (2) Reasons for not utilizing the benefits of ‘Chiranjeevi Yojana’; (3) Problems faced in the utilization as perceived by the beneficiaries. Material and Methods: A total of 116 BPL families selected by Simple random sampling (SRS) method were included in the present study. All females of 15-49 years of age group and one male person who is the Head of Family were taken from each of the family. Results: Out of total 268 subjects, only 88 ( 32.84%) subjects were aware about ‘Chiranjeevi Yojana’. Out of them 56 were females and 32 were head of the family males. A total of 46 out of 152 (30.26%) females utilized the benefits of ‘Chiranjeevi Yojana’. There is a significant association between education and knowledge regarding ‘Yojana’. The reasons for non-utilization was unawareness about the procedural aspects of registration and availing the benefits, the types of services covered under the yojana and the misconception that they have to pay additional charges also. Conclusion: Most of the participants who were actually the beneficiaries of the scheme were unaware of ‘Chiranjeevi Scheme’. IEC activities with emphasis on Government programs focusing on maternal and child health should be strengthened. Key-Words: ‘Chiranjeevi Yojana’; Awareness; Utilization; BPL Families

Engaging fathers from disadvantaged areas in children’s early educational transitions: A UK perspective

Findings presented here relate to the evaluation of an innovative one-year pilot project in an area of multiple deprivation in the north of England, the goal of which was to engage fathers and male carers in their children’s transition from an early years setting to formal schooling to enhance children’s enjoyment, achievement and learning at this critical early stage of development. The project was successful in engaging men, recording 76 male attendances at activities during the project period, 19 of which were recorded at school-based activities, following transition. Strategies found to be effective in engaging men at a strategic level were partnership working with an expert agency on male inclusion and the use of a highly gender differentiated approach. At an operational level, successful approaches included the use of a highly individualized, strengths-based, empowerment orientated approach, within a partnership context, implemented by an extremely skilled Fathers Transition Worker, complemented by intensive follow-up contact via mobile phone, the use of male orientated activities and the engagement of mothers, as well as fathers.

‘Pile-up!’ Master's Study in South Africa

The article reflects on a one-year pilot project in what, in South Africa, is a national concern: unsatisfactory throughput in Master's study, or what a Council on Higher Education (CHE) report refers to as ‘pile-up’ in the system. The project considered the question of what is expected of the Master's student and, in working with a sample of 30 students from arts/humanities disciplines, what might be done to address unsatisfactory throughput. A descriptive analysis of the project is followed by Lessons Learned and Recommendations. Examples are drawn from literary studies; the principles and procedures, nonetheless, have general applicability to disciplines in which research pursues an interpretative/textual methodology.

Implementation Evaluation of an Integrated Healthcare Delivery Initiative for Diabetic Patients

The aim of this in-depth, longitudinal, qualitative case study was to understand and explain the dynamics of implementing a pilot project to deliver integrated healthcare for type 2 diabetic patients. Data gathering included in-depth, face-to-face interviews with family physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers, managers and policy makers (n = 25) at various points during the research period, and focus groups (n = 3) with patients. These data were complemented by onsite observations of numerous committee meetings, and analysis of project documentation. Benson's (1975) political economy perspective provided a valuable conceptual framework for tracking the complex dynamics of implementing service integration. Manipulative strategies (continuing medical education, new information technology) did not engage physicians. Of the cooperative strategies attempted (disease management, patient education, community mobilization), only patient education appears to have succeeded: patients acknowledged that project educational activities enabled them to improve self-management of their disease. However, the project's emphasis on patient education effectively increased nurses' bargaining power within the healthcare team, to the detriment of the focus on integrated care. Integrating care is a laborious process that takes time to reach fruition. This one-year pilot project was insufficient for mobilizing health professionals away from fragmented practices toward integrated ones. New resources mostly allowed them to maintain or increase their power positions within the network of care providers. Nevertheless, this initiative raised physicians' awareness and appreciation of the care that other health professionals provided to their patients.

Online Book Selling at the Smathers Library Bookstore

In fall 2003, the Smathers Library Bookstore instituted a one-year pilot project selling surplus gift books online. This paper describes how the bookstore staff researched, prepared, and embarked on online book selling. It illustrates how the bookstore staff selected the online book selling agent, Alibris, as the Web site utilized for their online selling, and provides details in the methodology of listing books for sale in the used book market. The paper presents the responses to questions asked of staff at two other libraries selling books online, and concludes with a summary of the online sales project.

A magical dream: a pilot project in animal-assisted therapy in pediatric oncology.

For children with cancer, being hospitalized represents a great source of stress. Hospitalized children are not only deprived of their familiar and comforting world, but they must also face various and often painful treatments. They must quickly adapt to new people and to an environment that is very different from that of their homes. They have greater safety needs. Thus, it is important to offer these children concrete ways to better adapt to the stresses of hospitalization. Animal-assisted therapy, considered within this project as a novel approach to care, constitutes an interesting solution. It involves using the privileged relation between children and animals to foster the process of adaptation to illness and the hospital environment. The experience described in this article is a one-year pilot project completed on a pediatric oncology unit. A priori, an already very heavy workload, the vulnerability of the patients, and many constraints added to the concerns related to the presence of animals on a tertiary care unit. A postiori, the rigorous design and implementation process of the pilot project, the strong involvement and engagement of volunteers and professionals, the quality of the participating "therapeutic" dogs, the originality of the entire process, and the satisfaction of the patients and nursing staff contributed to its success and to establishing the basis for a permanent implementation of this special care program for children hospitalized with cancer.

Overview of the ISCE ECG “genome project”

The International Society for Computerized Electrocardiography (ISCE) “genome” project was begun at the end of 2000 to explore mechanisms for development of a cross-platform electrocardiogram (ECG) database. Ultimate feasibility of this project is based on established interactive cooperation of clinical investigators, engineers, and industry within the ISCE framework. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandate for centralized access to digitized ECG waveforms used in clinical trials provides a complementary stimulus to technologies that facilitate ECG database development. The constituency of ISCE is interested in acquisition and analysis of data from both standard 12-lead (resting) ECG and ambulatory (monitoring) ECG. Support for project goals from industry, at the Trustee as well as at the engineering level, has led to initial focus on the resting ECG. A one-year pilot project has been proposed to establish and implement software methodology for transmission, storage, and integrated reanalysis of digitized ECG waveforms provided by several major manufacturers. Beyond data acquisition, storage, and analysis, a number of critical issues are associated with database development. These include definition of clinically relevant “gold” standards, acquisition and validation of non-ECG data, protection of patient privacy, control and ownership of data, and accessibility and use of the database. However, implementation of the pilot project is a necessary first step, since all issues become moot without technical cooperation for shared formatting and analysis.

Internet information sources for the identification of emerging health technologies. A starting point.

The basis of an early warning system for new and emerging health technologies is information, and in particular, information that has been selectively extracted from the huge quantity of data in the fields of medicine, science, and biobusiness. The information will be useful only if presented in a format suitable to the needs of health care decision makers and produced at the time most likely to influence the introduction or diffusion of new technologies. In 1997 the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) began a one-year pilot project to identify and provide information on developments in medical technologies that may have a significant impact on health care in Canada. We began by examining the information available to us through the Internet, based on the assumption that electronic sources can offer more timely access to a greater range of information, often with little or no cost involved. It was important to identify the sites that offered the most relevant information in the least amount of time.

Economic impact and clinical benefits of pharmacist involvement on surgical wards.

A one-year pilot project was performed to assess the economic and clinical benefit of pharmacist involvement on the surgical wards of a 600-bed tertiary care, teaching hospital. A total of 405 recommendations were collected with a physician acceptance rate of 90%. From these recommendations, 1416 patient follow-ups were performed to document outcome. The total documented cost avoidance of the pharmacists' activities was $33,265.58. The total annual drug expenditure for the department of surgery declined by $59,662 representing a 9% decrease over the previous year with the greatest decline involving antimicrobials which decreased by $52,587 compared with the previous year. Most of the cost-avoidance in this area was attributable to antimicrobial selection and dosing adjustment in renal impairment. Pharmacist-directed pharmacokinetic monitoring of aminoglycosides resulted in a clinical success rate of 93.8% for treatment regimens and a 6.2% incidence of nephrotoxicity. Housestaff education aimed at improving prescribing practices were identified and provided for select agents including midazolam, ketorolac, vancomycin and aminoglycosides. As well, select recommendations were documented which illustrated the benefit to patient care of pharmacist involvement. Pharmacist involvement on the surgery services produced both financial and clinical benefits.