Project Access Research Articles

Performance Analysis of LTE Random Access Protocol With an Energy Harvesting M2M Scenario

In this article, we analyze the performance of the long-term evolution random access procedure with the Third Generation Partnership Project's access class barring (ACB) mechanism in an energy harvesting (EH) machine-to-machine (M2M) scenario. To circumvent the state-space explosion in the conventional Markov-chain-based analysis due to time-dependent traffic pattern and data and energy buffer status, we develop an analytical model that combines mean-value analysis with the Markov-based analysis. Based on the analytical model, the random access success probability, the access delay of the network, and the average time duration between two successive successful transmissions are derived. Our analysis suggests that in the EH scenario, despite the lower number of the contending nodes in comparison with the non-EH scenario, the ACB parameters must be chosen in a more conservative way to avoid excessive collisions. The ACB parameters include access barring rate and mean barring duration. We also study an energy threshold-based activation policy and investigate the joint effects of this policy and the ACB mechanism on the random access success probability. The extensive simulations were conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the analytical model.

Project Access: Strategies to improve care for children and youth with epilepsy: Illustrations of recommendations in the IOM report on the epilepsies

Project Access (PA), funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), provided grants to state and local agencies to improve awareness, provide education, design, test, pilot and evaluate system changes, and improve quality of services and access to early diagnosis and comprehensive, coordinated health care and related services for children and youth with epilepsy residing in rural and medically underserved areas. In 2011, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) published a series of 13 recommendations addressing unmet psychosocial, medical, and public health needs of individuals with epilepsy, including children and youth. This paper examines the synergy between these two projects showing how the strategies utilized in the PA demonstration projects can address the IOM recommendations and how these recommendations can inform future initiatives for improving care for children and youth with epilepsy.

Low-Income Uninsured Patient Health and Access to Health Care through a Community Health Program in NC

Project Access provides free primary and specialty care for low-income uninsured residents of Buncombe County, NC through a physician volunteer network. In 2010, we replicated a 1998 study investigating health issues among Project Access (PA) patients. Over 300 patients enrolled in PA in 2009 were surveyed by telephone. Currently, as compared to 1998, fewer patients were employed (31% vs. 44.2%, p < 0.05), more patients were unable to return to work (15.6% vs. 8%, p < 0.05), and patients were enrolled in PA for longer (24.5 months vs. 14 months). The SF-12 Physical Health score was worse in 2010 (p < 0.05). With the implementation of Health Reform, certain groups of people will still require PA services, but a significant portion will be covered by Medicaid; with our PA patients reporting poorer health status, Medicaid resources may be strained even more than anticipated.

A cross‐Pacific partnership

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the Prange Children's Book Reformatting Project as an example of bi‐national cooperation to provide the broadest possible access to a collection of historical significance to both nations, when most of the materials are still under copyright.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the joint project between the University of Maryland Libraries' (UM Libraries) and the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) to preserve and provide access to the children's books in the Gordon W. Prange Collection. It highlights the unique aspects of the project, including its international component, and describes the project's access tools and service products.FindingsThe access tools developed as part of this reformatting project – an online digital collection for the UM Libraries and color microfilm for NDL – each have their limitations. Used in combination, however, these tools can support in‐depth research.Originality/valueThe comprehensiveness of the project (all 8,000 titles are being scanned), the use of digital‐to‐color microfilm technology, and the use of the color microfilm as an access point make this project unique.