Quality Assurance Perspective Research Articles

Plan complexity metrics for head and neck VMAT competition plans

Previous plan competitions have largely focused on dose metric assessments. However, whether the submitted plans were realistic and reasonable from a quality assurance (QA) perspective remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between aperture-based plan complexity metrics (PCM) in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) competition plans and clinical treatment plans verified through patient-specific QA (PSQA). In addition, the association of PCMs with plan quality was examined. A head and neck (HN) plan competition was held for Japanese institutions from June 2019 to July 2019, in which 210 competition plans were submitted. Dose distribution quality was quantified based on dose-volume histogram (DVH) metrics by calculating the dose distribution plan score (DDPS). Differences in PCMs between the two VMAT treatment plan groups (HN plan competitions held in Japan and clinically accepted HN VMAT plans through PSQA) were investigated. The mean (± standard deviation) DDPS for the 98 HN competition plans was 158.5 ± 20.6 (maximum DDPS: 200). DDPS showed a weak correlation with PCMs with a maximum r of 0.45 for monitor unit (MU); its correlation with some PCMs was "very weak." Significant differences were found in some PCMs between plans with the highest 20% DDPSs and the remaining plans. The clinical VMAT and competition plans revealed similar distributions for some PCMs. Deviations in PCMs for the two groups were comparable, indicating considerable variability among planners regarding planning skills. The plan complexity for HN VMAT competition plans increased for high-quality plans, as shown by the dose distribution. Direct comparison of PCMs between competition plans and clinically accepted plans showed that the submitted HN VMAT competition plans were realistic and reasonable from the QA perspective. This evaluation may provide a set of criteria for evaluating plan quality in plan competitions.

Challenges and Emerging Perspectives of Quality Assurance and Teacher Education in Nigerian Universities: A Literature Review

Abstract Education plays a critical role in the effective pursuit and attainment of overall growth and technological advancement of any country. Thus, if Nigeria as a nation is to achieve competitive growth and technological advancement, the quality and type of her educational system must not only be right but also carefully sustained. If an improved quality of education in the country must be attained and sustained, the quality of her teacher education must be equally enhanced. The quest, therefore, for a sustained high-quality teacher education in Nigeria will not yield positive results; there is no corresponding functional and effective quality assurance (QA) and control mechanism in place. It is against this backdrop that this article reviewed QA mechanisms and approaches in place for the delivery of high-quality teacher education in Nigerian universities, the challenges, and emerging perspectives. It noted, however, that their functionality and productivity in terms of yielding the desirable impact were diminished by a myriad of challenges. The article then proposed an overhaul of the existing QA mechanisms while advocating that educational management and Nigerian authorities on teacher education must insist on acceptable standards and monitor performance to guarantee QA.

Global diffusion of quality assurance research in higher education: a study on collaboration and concepts

ABSTRACT Research on quality assurance in higher education has been expanding globally; however, there is still scope for exploring the depth of diffusion to evaluate its impact. To this end, collaboration structures between countries and common concepts in scientific texts were examined in this study. The bibliographic mapping method was employed to analyse data that was derived from the Web of Science. ‘Higher education’ and ‘Quality Assurance’ were the keywords searched and bibliographical data of 3080 scientific texts were extracted. Analyses on co-authorship and co-occurrence were made through the VOSviewer software tool. According to the results, research on quality assurance in higher education spread in half of the countries in the world as of 2021. Research intensity and collaboration relationships reveal that quality assurance research is spreading geographically in North America and Europe. In terms of concepts, although there has been an expansion over the years from a limited understanding of quality management to a more comprehensive perspective of quality assurance in education, it was seen that the central and static view of quality assurance is still solid.

Understanding the Trending of Laboratory Investigations as Part of Quality Management Systems-A Quality Assurance Perspective

Understanding the Trending of Laboratory Investigations as Part of Quality Management Systems-A Quality Assurance Perspective

Feedback Mechanisms from the Perspective of Curriculum Reform, Quality Assurance and Credibility of Qualifications

Feedback Mechanisms from the Perspective of Curriculum Reform, Quality Assurance and Credibility of Qualifications

Optimal quantification of residence time distribution profiles from a quality assurance perspective

Residence time distribution (RTD) has been widely applied across various fields of chemical engineering, including pharmaceutical manufacturing, for applications such as material traceability, quality assurance, system health monitoring, and fault detection. Determination of a representative RTD, in principle, requires an accurate process analytical technology (PAT) procedure capturing the entire range of tracer concentrations from zero to maximum. Such a wide concentration range creates at least two problems: i) decreased accuracy of the model across the entire range of concentrations, relating to limit of quantification, and ii) ambiguity associated with the detection of the tracer for low concentration levels, relating to limit of detection (LOD). These problems affect not only the RTD profile itself, but also RTD-based applications, which can potentially lead to erroneous conclusions. This article seeks to minimize the impact of these problems by understanding the relative importance of different features of RTD on the detection of out-of-specification (OOS) products. In this work, the RTD obtained experimentally was truncated at different levels, to investigate the impact of the truncation of RTD on funnel plots for OOS detection. The main finding is that the tail of the RTD can be truncated with no loss of accuracy in the determination of exclusion intervals. This enables the manufacturing scientist to focus entirely on the peak region, maximizing the accuracy of chemometric models.

Eco-friendly ‘ochratoxin A’ control in stored licorice roots – quality assurance perspective

According to toxicity data, ochratoxin A (OTA) is the second most important mycotoxin and is produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium. As a natural antifungal agent, clove essential oil (CEO) is a substance generally recognised as safe (GRAS) and shows strong activity against fungal pathogens. Here, we aimed to investigate the control efficacy of CEO in nano-emulsions (CEN) against OTA production in licorice roots and rhizomes during storage. The experiments were performed under simulated conditions of all four seasons (i.e. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). Relative humidity (RH) and temperature were simulated in desiccators along with various salt solutions in incubators. Fresh licorice roots were immersed in CEN at various concentrations (150, 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 µl/l). Before utilising the nano-emulsions, we measured their polydispersity index and mean droplet size by the dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. Also, the chemical composition of the CEO was determined using GC and GC-MS analyses. Sampling was carried out to monitor OTA once every five days. The samples were dried immediately and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed that various concentrations of CEN inhibited the growth of fungi and OTA production. The most effective CEN concentrations were 1200 and 2400 µl/l, which reduced OTA production to 19 and 20 ppb under Winter and Autumn conditions, respectively. These results suggest an effective eco-friendly method for the storage of licorice to reduce postharvest fungal decay.

E-Learning: From an Option to an Obligation

Post COVID-19 outbreak, higher education practices changed considerably around the world. In Bahrain, institutions of higher learning as well as the country’s education quality authority have been challenged in different ways because of the pandemic and have been compelled to resort to e-learning and virtual approaches to quality reviews, respectively. This paper presents an analysis of e-learning in higher education in Bahrain and related quality assurance processes pre-and-post COVID-19. This is in addition to arriving at conclusions about what the next relevant steps forward are. The research method followed in this paper is qualitative, taking the form of a small-scale inquiry cast from a quality assurance perspective, that is social context-dependent and focusing on a specific case (e-learning in Bahrain pre-and-post COVID). It, thus, provides an interpretivist perspective in terms of knowledge. The data analysis points to a need for the establishment of a comprehensive set of guidelines for higher education institutions in Bahrain, to develop their own ‘Quality Assurance in E-Learning’ models. These models are simultaneously ones that can facilitate more accurate and in-depth quality evaluations by the Kingdom’s quality authority.

The importance of mathematics and statistics support in English universities: an analysis of institutionally-written regulatory documents

ABSTRACT Increasing focus worldwide on accountability and quality assurance in universities has forced senior management to develop policies to address academic support at institutional-level. One such area is the mathematical and statistical skills that students in many disciplines need to succeed. In common with many countries, large numbers of students at English universities arrive inadequately prepared for their courses’ quantitative demands. University-wide mathematics and statistics support provision has been developed to mitigate this problem. We explore such provision from the perspective of institutional accountability and quality assurance, researching the extent to which such support is referenced in institutionally-written regulatory documents. The documents reveal that mathematics and statistics support is stated as contributing to retention, achievement, employability and widening participation. The paper closes with implications and recommendations drawn from the analysis of these documents and therefore is of relevance to those responsible for development and implementation of institutional teaching and learning strategies.

Online Teaching Quality Monitoring from the Perspective of Quality Assurance

In the special period of "non-stop teaching and non-stop school", colleges and universities generally adopt the form of online teaching. The great value of online teaching form in dealing with emergencies and the obvious advantages of the application of "Internet plus" technology have been or are becoming a normal form of teaching, forming a good complement with offline teaching (or traditional teaching), forming a new ecological environment of classroom teaching. However, online teaching also puts forward new great challenges to teachers and students, which makes both teaching and learning face all kinds of confusion, especially the effect and quality of this teaching form are widely questioned by the society. This paper analyzes the differences between online teaching and traditional teaching, lists the main challenges faced by online teaching, focuses on the teaching quality, summarizes the key elements affecting the teaching effect, and constructs the online course teaching quality monitoring index system on this basis, in order to provide a useful reference for ensuring the online teaching quality.

Mapping Cmmi-Dev V2.0 with Scrum: A Project Management and Quality Assurance Perspective

Mapping Cmmi-Dev V2.0 with Scrum: A Project Management and Quality Assurance Perspective

Recent Development and Future Perspectives of Quality Control and Assurance for the Deep Mixing Method

The deep mixing method (DMM), an in situ soil stabilization technique, was developed in Japan and Nordic countries in the 1970s and has gained increased popularity in many countries. The quality of stabilized soil depends upon many factors, including its type and condition, the type and amount of binder, and the production process. Quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) practices focus on stabilized soil, and comprises laboratory mix tests, field trial tests, monitoring and controlling construction parameters, and verification. QC/QA is one of the major concerns for clients and engineers who have less experience with the relevant technologies. In this manuscript, the importance of QC/QA-related activities along the workflow of deep mixing projects is emphasized based on the Japanese experience/results with mechanical mixing technology by vertical shaft mixing tools with horizontal rotating circular mixing blade. The current and recent developments of QC/QA are also presented.

A Study on Job Requirements for Library and Information Science Professionals in an International Job Advertisement: From the Perspective of Quality Assurance of an Academic Degree

A Study on Job Requirements for Library and Information Science Professionals in an International Job Advertisement: From the Perspective of Quality Assurance of an Academic Degree

Genome skimming and NMR chemical fingerprinting provide quality assurance biotechnology to validate Sarsaparilla identity and purity

Sarsaparilla is a popular natural health product (NHP) that has been reported to be one of the most adulterated botanicals in the marketplace. Several plausible explanations are documented including economically motivated product substitution, unintentional errors due to ambiguous trade name associated with several different taxa, and wild harvesting of incorrect non-commercial plants. Unfortunately, this includes the case of an adulterant species Decalepis hamiltonii, a Red listed medicinal plant species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and declared as a species with high conservation concern by the National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA). This study provides validated genomic (genome skimming & DNA probes) and metabolomic (NMR chemical fingerprints) biotechnology solutions to prevent adulteration on both raw materials and finished products. This is also the first use of Oxford Nanopore on herbal products enabling the use of genome skimming as a tool for quality assurance within the supply chain of botanical ingredients. The validation of both genomics and metabolomics approach provided quality assurance perspective for both product identity and purity. This research enables manufactures and retailers to verify their supply chain is authentic and that consumers can enjoy safe, healthy products.

Quality assurance in education: perception of undergraduate health professions students in a Malaysian university.

PurposeDirect student involvement in quality processes in education has been suggested to encourage shared responsibilities among faculty and students. The objectives of this study were to explore undergraduate health professions students’ understanding of quality assurance (QA) in education, and identify the challenges and enablers for student involvement in an Asian context.MethodsTwenty semi-structured interviews were conducted among medical, dentistry, and pharmacy students in a Malaysian University. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed to understand the students’ perspectives of QA in education.ResultsThe participants recognized the importance of QA towards ensuring the quality of their training, which will consequently impact their work readiness, employability, and quality of healthcare services. Academic governance, curriculum structure, content and delivery, faculty and student quality, teaching facilities, and learning resources were indicated as the QA areas. The challenges for students’ involvement included students’ attitude, maturity, and cultural barrier. To enhance their buy-in, clear objectives and impact, efficient QA mechanism, and recognition of students’ contribution had been suggested.ConclusionThe findings of this study support student-faculty partnership in QA processes and decision making.

Nutritional composition of commercially-produced 100% orange juice reveals large variability in vascular health bioactive, hesperidin

AbstractIt is well-accepted that fruits contain a wide array of nutrients and bioactive substances which may contribute towards the prevention of chronic disease. Citrus fruits, as well as their juices, are recognised for their rich polyphenol content, specifically the flavanones; hesperidin, naringin and narirutin. Citrus fruits and juices are also rich in vitamin C and provide a source of folate, potassium and provitamin A.Randomised controlled trials have reported significant improvements to vascular function and blood pressure following consumption of 100% orange juice (OJ) with the effects potentially mediated through hesperidin and/or potassium (which has an EU claim for supporting normal blood pressure). Further clinical research may be facilitated by up-to-date information on the composition of OJ.By auditing more than 350 fruit processing companies worldwide, the non-profit organisation SGF International collects authentic OJ samples for regular compliance testing. Samples of unpasteurized OJ from the production line are removed by trained staff immediately post-extraction and frozen at -18°C within a few minutes. The samples are posted in this state to accredited laboratories where key nutrients and bioactives are tested. SGF's Database of Authentic Samples (2018) provides the following data (mg/litre) as sample size, mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum for hesperidin (231, 520, 175, 109, 1160), L-ascorbic acid (615, 450, 98, 120, 721), potassium (1242, 1758, 204, 1197, 2340), total carotenoids (575, 7, 3, 2, 21) and pectins (1043, 334, 132, 19, 932).On average, there was more hesperidin in OJ than vitamin C, giving an estimated composition of 78 mg hesperidin and 67.5 mg vitamin C per 150 mL serving. Samples from Chinese producers had the greatest variability in hesperidin (109–1160 mg/L) while samples from Argentina, South Africa and Spain had the smallest variability. When OJ from not-from-concentrate (n = 62) and concentrate (n = 169) were compared, mean levels of hesperidin were significantly higher in the not-from-concentrate juice (576 mg/L [sd 228 mg/L] vs. 500 mg/L [sd 146 mg/L]; P = 0.016; Welch's t-test).Vascular benefits in humans have been detected at OJ intakes of 500 ml/day or hesperidin intakes of 290 mg/day (Morand et al. 2011). From a quality assurance perspective, the AIJN sets an acceptable range for hesperidin as 250–700mg/L. Raising the upper cut-off could increase the hesperidin content of commercially-available OJ with potential benefits for vascular health.Morand C et al. (2011) Am J Clin Nutr 93: 73–80.

Measuring the impact of soft and hard total quality management factors on customer behavior based on the role of innovation and continuous improvement

PurposeTotal quality management (TQM) is a part of the total quality assurance perspective. This system, which is considered as a type of managerial philosophy, employs all organizational levels to constantly ameliorate the quality of goods and service. The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect of hard and soft TQM factors on the behavior of customers based on the role of innovation and continuous improvement.Design/methodology/approachThe research model was extracted from TQM variables in hard and soft parts, customer behavior, innovation and continuous improvement by reviewing the literature and research background. Based on this, a questionnaire was prepared and then, distributed among the statistical population including 374 project managers, quality assurance managers as well as quality control managers by using simple random sampling. All sub-criteria of questionnaire were determined using Delphi technique, to test the research model. Having gathered the questionnaire, the hypotheses were analyzed by using structural equation modeling and AMOS software.FindingsAccording to the statistical analyses, TQM has a significant effect on customer behavior through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation. Also, regarding the obtained results, the highest effect was related to the effect of hard TQM factors on customer behavior through innovation as 0.62. Furtheremore, TQM soft factors such as human resource management have significant effect on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation. Moreover, TQM hard factors are effective on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThe questionnaire was designed and distributed in order to evaluate the hypotheses in this study. One of the primary rationales behind utilizing this method instead of other methods such as interview was high geographical distribution of organizations. Using other moderator variables such as knowledge management, customer knowledge management and customer emotions can be conducted in the future in this area.Practical implicationsChanging the organizational relationships from task orientation to the process orientation, and controlling the organizational performance by measuring process innovations and improvements, while paying attention to the customer satisfaction system are suggested in this paper. These implications should be implemented in construction projects by department of project management office. Furtheremore, providing different communication for receiving the opinions of the customer and imposing them in the product and service, paying attention to the response system and customer complaint, implementation of this process in the organization, and having a process approach for presenting and developing services are the main subjects in this regard.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies on this subject, a structural equation model is used for assessing unobservable latent constructs and their related interrelationship in measuring the impact of TQM factors. Focusing on customer behavior which is a broader domain than customer satisfation through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation is another value of this research.

Big Data Quality Assurance Through Data Traceability: A Case Study of the National Standard Reference Data Program of Korea

In the era of big data, the scientific and social demand for quality data is aggressive and urgent. This paper sheds light on the expanded role of metrology of verifying validated procedures of data production and developing adequate uncertainty evaluation methods to ensure the trustworthiness of data and information. In this regard, I explore the mechanism of the national standard reference data (SRD) program of Korea, which connects various scientific and social sectors to metrology by applying useful metrological concepts and methods to produce reliable data and convert such data into national standards. In particular, the changing interpretation of metrological key concepts, such as “measurement,” “traceability,” and “uncertainty,” will be explored and reconsidered from the perspective of data quality assurance. As a result, I suggest the concept of “data traceability” with “the matrix of data quality evaluation” according to the elements of a data production system and related evaluation criteria. To conclude, I suggest social and policy implications for the new role of metrology and standards for producing and disseminating reliable knowledge sources from big data.

P104] Digital radiography reject analysis in Dutch hospitals

Purpose In the era of conventional radiology films that were rejected for various reasons, were collected and later analyzed for educational purposes. Rejections should be avoided to save time, money, but also to minimize patient exposure to radiation. Nowadays, in digital radiological imaging rejected images can be deleted easily or they can be stored and used for analyses with sophisticated software. It is unclear which approach is currently prevailing in Dutch clinical practise. We have therefore investigated the current state of reject analyses in digital imaging. Methods A literature study was conducted as input for a questionnaire. Questions included the frequency of reject analyses, the procedures and the software tools used, the amount of rejected images and the registration of these. The questionnaire was used for guidance during interviews with quality managers at radiology departments in 13 Dutch hospitals. Taken together these 13 interviews constitute a significant sample from the approximately 80 hospital conglomerates in the country. Results Participating hospitals report that on average 0.7 % of all images are rejected. In most cases this concerns bucky imaging for which poor positioning is often the reason for rejection. In 70% of the hospitals the rejected images are not stored. In 85% of the hospitals a sample of the rejected images is analyzed, but only four hospitals (30%) perform an analysis of all rejected images. Most hospitals (77%) are aware of sophisticated software for reject analysis, but for financial reasons only 8% use it. Conclusions The rejection rate for radiological imaging is low in the Netherlands, but nevertheless in most hospitals rejected images are not stored. This precludes a full reject analysis of all rejected images. A large majority of the hospitals do perform some form of reject analysis on a sample of rejected images, but usually without available (but costly) software tools. From a quality assurance perspective it is recommended to enlarge this sample to include all rejected images, and pay special attention to modalities that incur high patient radiation exposures.

Estimation of Measurement Uncertainty in Quantitation of Benzoylecgonine (BZE) and 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic acid (THCA).

Calculating measurement uncertainty is a helpful exercise for identifying components or steps in a forensic analytical procedure that contribute to measurement variance. In this study, we used a bottom up approach to identify components in our procedures that contribute to measurement variance in our Department of Defense (DoD) Drug Demand Reduction Program (DDRP) Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GCMS) analytical procedures for benzoylecgonine (BZE) and the THC metabolite, 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic acid (THCA) at 125% the DDRP concentration threshold (cutoff). Each assay was run 10 times over 30 days, each assay containing five calibrators and five samples (125%). Measurement uncertainty was estimated to be ±7.6 and ±0.6 ng/mL, for the BZE and THCA methods, respectively (α = 0.05). In both assays, method precision and the preparation of calibrator and samples were major contributors to measurement uncertainty. While this exercise will help with evaluating assay performance from a Quality Assurance perspective, these estimates should not be applied in interpreting DDRP test results. DDRP cut offs are already inherently conservative being above the Limit of Quantitation and were developed taking into consideration variability in assay performance across instruments and laboratories within the DDRP drug testing system.