bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
3D Tracking of Surgical Instruments Using a Single Camera for Laparoscopic Surgery Simulation
Authors: Shin Sangkyun  , Kim Youngjun  , Kwak Hyunsoo  , Lee Deukhee  , Park Sehyung
Published: February 2025

Most laparoscopic surgery simulation systems are expensive and complex. To overcome these problems, this study presents a novel three-dimensional tracking method for laparoscopic surgical instruments that uses only a single camera and fiducial markers. The proposed method does not require any mechanical parts to measure the three-dimensional positions/orientations of surgical instruments and the opening angle of graspers. We implemented simple and cost-effective hardware using the proposed method and successfully combined it with virtual simulation software for laparoscopic surgery.
Perceptual Metrics: Towards Better Methods for Assessing Realism in Laparoscopic Simulators
Authors: Singapogu Ravikiran B.  , Pagano Christopher C.  , Burg Timothy C.  , Burg Karen J.K.L.
Published: February 2025

This work proposes a novel class of metrics for assessing haptic realism in laparoscopic surgical simulators. Results from a proposed perceptual metric are presented and discussed.
Web-Based Interactive Volume Rendering
Authors: Suwelack Stefan  , Maier Sebastian  , Unterhinninghofen Roland  , Dillmann Rüdiger
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present a web-based remote visualization system. The system makes use of video stream based techniques to reduce the network bandwidth requirements and is capable of performing interactive volume rendering on computed tomography data in real-time. The technique allows embedding interactive volume rendering into a website. The concrete contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we outline a Microsoft Silverlight based implementation of the prototype and describe the applied video encoding techniques. Furthermore we present experimental results that allow evaluating the system in terms of latency and image quality. In particular, we show that the additional delay of stream based remote visualization is very small if compared to picture based techniques.
Quantifying Surgeons' Vigilance during Laparoscopic Operations Using Eyegaze Tracking
Authors: Tien Geoffrey  , Zheng Bin  , Atkins M. Stella
Published: February 2025

The vigilance of surgeons while operating is an important consideration for patient safety. Using a lightweight mobile eyegaze tracker, we can objectively observe and quantify a surgeon's vigilance measured as the frequency and duration of time spent gazing at an anaesthesia monitor displaying various patient vital signs. Expert surgeons and training surgical residents had their eyegaze recorded while performing a mock partial cholecystectomy on a computer simulator. Results show that experts glanced at the patient vital signs more than the residents, indicating a higher level of surgical vigilance.
Multifunction Robotic Platform for Natural Orifice Surgery
Authors: Zhang Xiaoli  , Chin Wei Jian  , Seow Chi Min  , Nakamura Akiko  , Head Michael  , Farritor Shane  , Oleynikov Dmitry  , Nelson Carl
Published: February 2025

A new robotic platform for natural orifice surgery is described. The robot is designed to carry multiple tool tips in a single end-effector arm. Design and experimental validation are presented. Although the design is still being improved, results suggest that the new robotic tool will enable dexterous abdominal surgery with improved force transmission capability.
The Use of Biometrics in the Personal Health Record (PHR)
Authors: Bonney Wilfred
Published: February 2025

The emergence of the Personal Health Record (PHR) has made individual health information more readily accessible to a wide range of users including patients, consumers, practitioners, and healthcare providers. However, increased accessibility of PHR threatens the confidentiality, privacy, and security of personalized health information. Therefore, a need for robust and reliable forms of authentication is of prime concern. The concept of biometric authentication is now highly visible to healthcare providers as a technology to prevent unauthorized access to individual health information. Implementing biometric authentication mechanisms to protect PHR facilitates access control and secure exchange of health information. In this paper, a literature review is used to explore the key benefits, technical barriers, challenges, and ethical implications for using biometric authentication in PHR.
Early Development of an Enterprise Health Data Warehouse
Authors: Househ Mowafa Said  , Al-Tuwaijri Majid
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study is to describe early development challenges of an enterprise data warehouse within a Saudi Arabian academic healthcare facility. An action case research method was selected for this paper. The study took place between December 2009 and February 2010. Data collection included interviews, meeting observations, and meeting minutes. Early development challenges centered on the development of clear contracts with vendors; development of a clear project plan; a need to fast-track bureaucracy; and educate clinicians and staff about the project; and lack of data standardization
Economics of Health Informatics in Developing Countries
Authors: Hébert Ronald J.
Published: February 2025

Health Informatics (HI) has become a world wide issue since 2005 when the WHO Health Metrics Network (HMN) was formed to encourage all of the developing countries (151) to get started in eHealth. Prior to this HMN initiative the only countries with HI in place were the developed countries (40) and a few developing countries (Jamaica, Malaysia, etc.) that were just getting started in HI with a very limited number of applications compared to the developed countries. This paper suggests that much of the experience in HI gained in the developed countries can be shared with the developing countries as ‘lessons learnt’ – as long as the issue of economics is kept front and foremost in the planning.
From Complexity Theory to a Generalized Governance Model: A Practical Architectural Pattern for Health Care and Wellness Economies
Authors: Motoc Bogdan
Published: February 2025

Using tools from the domain of Complexity Theory, the present paper offers a simple and intriguing modeling methodology for organizations and organizational ecosystems within the wellness and health care economy. The model is used to deliver a high usability cross-domain analysis tool, the driver for integrated social, business and technology architecture. The outcome of the proposed methodology consists of practical steps towards implementing evidence based governance within the given context of operation. Improved and multi-domain governance leads to higher efficiency and better integration of organization domains (culture, business and technology).
Leveling: An Approach to Advanced Human Simulation which Maximizes Learning and Available Resources
Authors: Lanctot-Shah Shannon  , Fearing Judith  , Morrow Sandra
Published: February 2025

Advanced Human Simulation using computerized mannequin patients has been established as an effective and innovative means of delivering nursing education. Consistent student feedback underscores the value of this teaching approach and the learning gained from it. Students enthusiastically request additional simulated learning opportunities. Instructors acknowledge the additional time and human resources required to provide quality simulated experiences, especially in a small rural college, but consider it worth the effort. As a means of addressing both of these issues, the concept of leveling a simulation scenario involving a client experiencing a cardiac event which can be edited, modified and embellished has been created to provide an on-going learning opportunity across the four years of a baccalaureate degree in Nursing.
Slovenian Practice Story: 10 Years of e-Counselling Service for Teenagers
Authors: Lekić Ksenija  , Konec Juričič Nuša  , Tratnjek Petra  , Jereb Borut
Published: February 2025

This is Me is the largest youth counseling web portal in Slovenia, providing teens with a friendly, simple, fast, free, anonymous and efficient public access to expert information and problem-solving assistance. Network of web counselors includes 38 experts (medical specialists, psychologists, social pedagogues, social workers, and teachers), who are volunteers from 12 different institutions. In the course of ten years, experts have answered almost 21,000 questions about dilemmas and problems faced by teens. The program was created by the Institute of Public Health Celje. This is Me supports adolescents in their problem-solving efforts. The program focuses on development of positive mental health, with emphasis on self-image, social and life skills. The program responds to the adolescents needs and makes efficient use of web technology. Youth web portal is a response to the current teen lifestyle. Most users are between ages of 13 and 18.
Scorecards: A New Method to Prevent Adverse Drug Events? Preliminary Results from a Clinical Field Study
Authors: Marcilly Romaric  , Hackl Werner O.  , Luyckx Michel  , Ammenwerth Elske
Published: February 2025

In the field of the detection and prevention of preventable ADEs, several methods have been explored to decrease the rate of ADEs due to monitoring errors. This paper describes an innovative method that aims at improving patient safety by increasing ADEs' awareness of healthcare professionals. To this end, ADE-scorecards that provide healthcare professionals with retrospective data about ADEs' causes and rates have been developed. In order to evaluate the impact of this method on the ADE rate, in-field clinical tests have been set up. Data were collected by both qualitative (semi-structured interviews) and quantitative methods (log analysis and ADE rate calculation). Preliminary results reveal that ADE-scorecards are well-accepted by most of the healthcare professionals who intend to use them as discussion supports and/or learning tools. Thus, ADE-scorecards seem to be a relevant method to improve patient safety by increasing ADE-awareness of healthcare professionals.
Implementation of a Taxonomy Aiming to Support the Design of a Contextualised Clinical Decision Support System
Authors: Bernonville Stéphanie  , Marcilly Romaric  , Messai Radja  , Leroy Nicolas  , Przewozny Emma  , Souf Nathalie  , Beuscart-Zéphir Marie-Catherine
Published: February 2025

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are recently implemented in hospital settings to improve the reliability of drug ordering. However, such systems have limited effects due to their tendency to overalert. To healthcare professionals consider alerts, it is necessary to adapt the CDSS to their activity. Thus, it is necessary to consider contextualisation aspects in the system design. In this article, we propose a taxonomy integrating contextualisation elements issued from an activity analysis to guide the design of a contextualised CDSS. This taxonomy has been developed within the framework of the European project PSIP (Patient Safety through Intelligent Procedures in medication) aiming to make easier the identification and the prevention of Adverse Drug Events.
Temperature effect on the optical spectra of Iron(III) metal complexes exhibiting spin crossover and potential nonlinear optical properties
Authors: François Lamère Jean  , Peyrou Viviane  , Sasaki Isabelle  , Lacroix Pascal G.  , Vendier Laure  , Boillot Marie Laure
Published: February 2025

Two complexes of formula [FeIII(salten)(DEAS)](BPh4) and [FeIII(salten)(MPS)](BPh4) are reported in which H2salten is the 4-azaheptamethylene-1,7-bis(salicylideneiminate) quinquadentate Schiff base ligand, DEAS is 4'-diethylamino- stilbazole, and MPS is 4'-[2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidinyl]-stilbazole. Both complexes exhibit a partial S = 5/2 → 1/2 spin crossover behaviour on cooling down to low temperature. Additionally, DEAS exhibits potential nonlinear optical (NLO) properties in relation to an intense π – π* charge transfer transition between the amine and the pyridine moieties. The temperature dependence of the optical spectra of [FeIII(salten)(DEAS)]+is compared to that of 4'-diethylamino-1-methylstilbazolium (DEAMS+), a cation related to [FeIII(salten)(DEAS)]+, in which the NLO active DEAS ligand is linked to a methyl instead of an iron complex, and therefore exhibits no magnetic behaviour. The occurrence of a red shift upon cooling down is discussed in relation with the spin equilibrium, on the basis of the ZINDO calculated spectra. A similar shift is observed between [FeIII(salten)(mepepy)]+complex (mepepy = 1-(pyridin-4-yl)-2-(N-methylpyrrol-2-yl)-ethane) and Me-mepepy+, N-methylated form of mepepy. The potential effect of these behaviours on the NLO properties is discussed, in a perspective of molecular materials with interacting electronic capabilities.
An Overview of Fault Detection Techniques in Automated Monitoring Systems
Authors: Zhong Shengtong
Published: February 2025

This paper gives an overview of different methods for automated fault detection. Emphasis will be put on the properties of model based techniques (which we will further divide into analytical model based and knowledge based), multivariate statistical process control and machine learning techniques. The machine learning techniques are not traditionally viewed as a standard method for fault detection, so they are especially highlighted in this paper. Each method is presented in detail, and we will also discuss alternative extensions for various applications. The paper is ended by proposing to use machine learning techniques as a robust and well-functioning method in general.
Effectiveness of Cybertherapy in Mental Health: A Critical Appraisal
Authors: Emmelkamp Paul M.G.
Published: February 2025

Although Virtual Reality (VR) treatment and Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) have been found to be effective in a large series of studies, dissemination of these therapies in the community at large is still in its infancy. A number of reasons for the lack of dissemination are discussed, including clinicians' resistance, lack of representation of samples studied, and lack of cost-effectiveness studies. Challenges for further studies are pointed out.
Geosynthetic Clay Liners: A Useful New Tool for Environmental Protection in the Engineer's Toolbox
Authors: Davies Peter
Published: February 2025

In the history of construction materials used by humankind, Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCLs) are relatively new, having been in use internationally since the late 1980s (Heerten 2002)[1]. However in the author's (and many others') experience the way they work, and their advantages and limitations are not well understood by designers who have not studied them in depth, or who do not work with them often (Heerten & Koerner 2009)[1]. Their international success over the last 30 years however, has recently led to a modern South African manufacturing plant, and this paper adopts a practical approach and examines the construction, applications and performance of these useful water and gas tight lining materials. The paper highlights the equivalence of GCLs to compacted clay linings (CCLs) and the substantial cost savings that their use can show over ‘conventional’ materials such as CCLs in structures including landfill liners and containment structures of many kinds. Their constraints are also noted. In addition, an independent generic specification (GIGSA 1200W)[2]for GCLs is presented as a model non-commercial example of how to specify and construct linings incorporating these products.
The Use of the Crumb Test as a Preliminary Indicator of Dispersive Soils
Authors: Maharaj Amrita
Published: February 2025

Dispersive soils are prevalent in many areas around the world and the presence of these soils has always posed a serious problem on potential construction sites. The use of dispersive soils in hydraulic and other engineering structures such as roadway embankments can also lead to serious failures if the problem is not properly identified and addressed appropriately. Although the causes and consequences of dispersion are well understood, one of the main problems is the inability to positively identify such soils and thereby to reduce the potential for failure of many engineering structures. Many identification methods have been proposed but none has been completely successful. The primary test methods that are currently used for the identification of dispersive soils are the Pinhole Test; the SCS Double Hydrometer test; the crumb test and various chemical analyses of the soils with the crumb test being the most basic and unsophisticated test to perform. No single test and even the use of a combination of methods are reliable and it is possible that the reason lies in the actual testing procedures. A study involving the collection of various samples and execution of a single standard dispersive laboratory test, namely the crumb test, has identified some shortcomings. This paper discusses some of the various problems identified in the crumb test method and suggests some solutions to overcome them.
Building an Advanced Wireless End-to-End Emergency Medical System
Authors: Saddik Basema  , El-Masri Samir
Published: February 2025

Effective communication in healthcare is important and especially critical in emergency situations. In this paper we propose a new comprehensive emergency system which will facilitate the communication process in emergency cases from ambulance dispatch to the patient's arrival and handover in the hospital. The proposed system has been designed to facilitate and computerise all the processes involved in an accident from finding the nearest ambulance through to accessing a patient's online health record which can assist in pre-hospital treatments. The proposed system will also locate the nearest hospital specialising in the patient's condition and will communicate patient identification to the emergency department. The components of the proposed system and the technologies used in building this system are outlined in this paper as well as the challenges expected and proposed solutions to these challenges.
Impact of Admission and Discharge Peak Times on Hospital Overcrowding
Authors: Khanna Sankalp  , Boyle Justin  , Good Norm  , Lind James
Published: February 2025

The ability of hospital staff to get a patient to the right bed at the right time is dependent on bed occupancy, and is a key issue in all acute hospitals. This paper seeks to identify the impact of admission and discharge timing on hospital occupancy with reference to the peak in daily admissions and discharges. Patient admissions data from 23 Queensland public hospitals was classified into categories based on the relative timing of daily admission and discharge curves. We found statistically significant differences in mean and peak occupancy and patient length of stay between categories (one-way univariate ANOVA p<0.0001). The results support early patient discharge initiatives to reduce hospital occupancy rates.
Influence of Geocell reinforcement on damping properties of trench with pipe
Authors: Tavakoli Mehrjardi Gh.  , Moghaddas Tafreshi S.N.  , Dawson A.R.
Published: February 2025

Repeated loading like traffic loading can produce a semi shock on the trench involved with pipe and tent to damage the lifelines buried in the soil and also permanent soil surface settlements may happen. This process may induce heavy loss of functionality in pipeline networks, with the consequence of interfering with the economic and social recovery in the areas involved in breakage and eventually illnesses and epidemics may emerge. So in order to protect the buried pipe, using Geocell reinforced trench is investigated. This research aims to assess the damping ratio alteration by using Geocell reinforcement with different opening area and height placed on the buried pipe as a material to prevent transferring the applied repeated loading onto the pipe. It seems that the reinforced layer can attenuate the transferred energy on the pipe and the pipe deflection and soil surface settlement can be reduced.
Modelling of a deep excavation in a silty clay
Authors: Mašín D.  , Boháč J.  , Tůma P.
Published: February 2025

This contribution describes numerical modelling of a deep excavation in Koper, Slovenia. The 13 m deep excavation, supported by a propped diaphragm wall, is located in Trieste bay in homogeneous deposit of marine sediments of silty clay. The excavation is located within a developed urban environment, reliable control of displacements induced by the excavation is thus required. The paper demonstrates merits of the use of advanced hypoplastic material model for soil when compared with standard Mohr-Coulomb simluations.
Excavation over and around an operational railway tunnel for the construction of a new station of the Athens Metro
Authors: Mavrommati C.  , Nakou F.  , Boussoulas N.  , Miliotis I.  , Dimitriou G.  , Chrysikopoulou A.
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the planning, design, construction and monitoring procedures for the construction of a new station named “Aghia Paraskevi” along the operational Athens Metro Line 3. The construction of the station involved demolishing 120m of the existing TBM tunnel and thus the closure of a section of the running line. This type of construction was mplemented for the first time in Greece. To minimise disruption to commuters, it was vital that the maximum possible amount of temporary works and excavation would be carried out while the line was still in operation. At the same time it was imperative that the design would allow for almost no deformation or uplift of the existing TBM tunnel while the line was in operation because this could lead to intolerable movement and/or deformation of the tracks and put the operation of the metro system at great risk. The final design, combined with continuous and extensive monitoring during construction allowed for the works to be carried out safely. Tunnel and track deformation were minimised within the acceptable limits and line closure was kept to the minimum possible period. The station opened in December 2010.
Influence of fibre inclusion on crack propagation
Authors: Chegenizadeh A.  , Nikraz H.
Published: February 2025

Desiccation cracking has been a major concern for the proper functioning of clay soils. Reinforcement of sand with discrete fibres has been well investigated in the literature. In contrast, clayey soil reinforced with discrete fibres has been less studied. Fibre-reinforcement has been considered in projects involving slope stabilization, embankment construction, subgrade stabilization, and stabilization of thin veneers such as landfill covers. Some recent researches have indicated that benefits may be gained by inclusion of discrete fibres in clay.
Enhanced Geothermal Energy Systems – Energy Supply and Storage for Sustainable Development
Authors: Katzenbach R.  , Clauss F.  , Waberseck T.  , Wagner I.
Published: February 2025

The rapid growth of urban population in cities and metropoles, the increasing demands in living comfort and thereby a rising amount of fully tempered buildings cause a tremendously increasing energy demand for building tempering. Therefore economically efficient and technically reliable energy sources are needed. The geothermal use of subsoil can be a solution, since it reduces the use of fossil fuels tremendously, which are limited in their availability, and thereby also sustains the reduction of CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases. Geothermal Energy is absolutely renewable and sustainable. Various technical solutions for the thermal use of subsoil as a reliable and sustainable energy source for building heating such as ground source heat pumps, borehole heat exchangers, energy piles and others are available. These geothermal facilities require a well-engineered dimensioning and design accounting for the complex influencing quantities and basic conditions in order archive efficient and economic systems. Generally, the use of geothermal energy gives rise to legal questions as the thermal influence of a geothermal system on the surrounding subsoil could affect neighboring premises. Comprehensive simulations can give investors the desired reliability and legal certainty. The authors conducted various studies on the heat transport and transient heat distribution in subsoil and on the thermal interaction of geothermal heat exchangers. Numerical investigations on the thermal subsoil behaviour and the authors' experiences with complex coupled simulations of various large urban geothermic projects are presented.
Impact of seismic hazards on waste landfills
Authors: Zania V.  , Tsompanakis Y.  , Psarropoulos P.N.
Published: February 2025

The current study examines the impact of earthquake hazards, arising as a result of either transient or permanent ground deformation. Finite element models were developed to analyse the effect of both types of earthquake hazards on solid waste landfills, which took also into account the development of slip displacement along the geosynthetic interfaces of the composite base liner. The permanent deformation pattern caused by base fault dislocation was evaluated, and three levels of damage were identified: (a) rupture of clay layer, (b) yield of the geomembrane and (c) surface exposure of the fault rupture through the waste mass. On the other hand, the inertia response of the landfill may compromise the stability of the waste mass; hence, seismic slip deformations along geomembrane interfaces, the tension of the geomembrane and the amplification of the ground motion were estimated. Results indicate that the main factors that designate the failure types are: the ratio of the shear strength of the interface to the maximum applied acceleration and the ratio of the periods of the landfill and the excitation.
Evaluation of initial stiffness of natural overconsolidated cohesive soils
Authors: Lipiński M.J.  , Tymiński W.
Published: February 2025

The paper concerns evaluation of initial stiffness in natural overconsolidated cohesive soils of various plasticity ranging from 10 to 80 %. Initial stiffness is here represented by shear modulus Gmaxdetermined on the basis of shear wave velocity measured at the end of consolidation stage during triaxial test. On the basis of representative number of tests it was shown that change in initial stiffness caused by mean effective stress increase is a soil kind dependent and can be described as a function of plasticity index. Some consideration concerning value of shear modulus for unconfined are also included. Thus, knowing both the above components it is possible to evaluate initial stiffness of overconsolidated cohesive soils solely on the basis of index properties.
L'HyperPac 25 MPa comble le vide entre le pressiomètre Ménard et le dilatomètre flexible
Authors: Arsonnet G.  , Baud J.-P.  , Gambin M.  , Heintz R.
Published: February 2025

L'essai d'expansion in situ d'une cavité cylindrique peut s'appliquer à tous les types de matériaux, des plus mous aux plus résistants, pour déterminer leurs propriétés mécaniques. Les auteurs présentent un appareil permettant d'étendre le domaine du pressiomètre Ménard jusqu'à des pressions d'essai de 25 MPa, ainsi que ses premières utilisations dans des roches peu fracturées.
Les “Terres Noires” du Dauphiné, un cas de roche très sensible aux variations climatiques
Authors: Monnet J.  , Fabre D.  , Zielinski M.
Published: February 2025

Les Terres Noires couvrent plusieurs centaines de km2 dans les Alpes du Sud. Il s'agit d'une formation géologique jurassique, connue localement sous le nom de “Terres Noires”. La tranche altérée de cette formation est sujette à de nombreux phénomènes d‘instabilité: érosion lente et régulière des secteurs non végétalisés, glissements de versants, coulées boueuses. . Pour mieux comprendre l'extension spatiale et les mécanismes de l’évolutivité de ce matériau, en liaison avec les travaux du GIS Draix, il a été décidé de réaliser à la fois des reconnaissances géologiques, géomécaniques in situ et des essais de laboratoire. Pour mesurer l'extention verticale de la couche altérée des Terres Noires, il a été entrepris par l'Université de Grenoble une série de mesures in situ au pénétromètre dynamique léger Panda. Ces essais ont été complétée par des expériences au laboratoire de classification d'après les propriétés physiques. Des mesures de dégradalités sous cycle dessication-saturation selon la norme NFP 94-067 ont été réalisées et il a été mis au point un nouvel essai de dégradabilité sous l'influence du cycle gel-dégel. L'ensemble de ces résultats indique que la Terre Noire est une roche qui se présente sous un aspect dégradée selon un extension verticale décimétrique de classe SC (USCS) et A1-A2 (GTR). Les essais de dégradabilité indique une roche peu dégradable sous le cycle de l'eau, mais plus dégradable sous l'action du gel. La prévention de son évolutivité passe par une protection efficace contre les phénomènes de saturation-désaturation réalisée par des couches protectrices de terre végétale suffisamment épaisse et plantée pour permettre la prévention des mécanismes de dégradation identifiés.
Specifics of behavior of subsoils consisting of hard proterozoic deposits
Authors: Ulitsky V.M.  , Vasenin V.A.  , Shashkin A.G.  , Shashkin C.G.
Published: February 2025

Due to increasing height of buildings and development of the underground space hard proterozoic deposits now are used quite often as subsoils of structures in Saint Petersburg. For high-rise buildings embedding pile ends into hard soils often is the only possible option of foundation design, since the depth of rocks in central Saint Petersburg is more than 200 m. One of the main tasks of pile foundation design subjected to big loads is estimation of settlements of such foundation. Meanwhile, deformation properties of hard soils are not studied well yet.
Retaining structures in expansive clays
Authors: Papagiannakis A.T.  , Bin-Shafique S.  , Lytton R.L.
Published: February 2025

Under increasing moisture conditions, retaining structures in expansive clays experience swelling stresses. The magnitude of theses stresses varies with the amount of moisture increase and the extent of soil confinement imposed by the retaining structures. This paper describes a systematic study of this problem for three types of retaining structures, namely drilled-shaft, tie back and soil nailed walls. Its approach involves laboratory testing to characterize the swelling properties of the high plasticity clays encountered in South Texas and finite element simulation of the structural interaction between the soil and the retaining structures due to the moisture changes observed at an instrumented wall site. The magnitude of swelling pressures was found to decrease with depth following the diminishing increase in moisture with depth. The amount of soil confinement effected by the wall significantly increased clay swelling pressures.
Réponse dynamique d'un sol après travaux de compactage haute énergie
Authors: Brûlé S.  , Javelaud E.H.  , Liausu Ph.  , Bitri A.
Published: February 2025

Les travaux d'amélioration des sols dans la masse par compactage dynamique améliorent les caractéristiques mécaniques obtenues par essais in situ. Dans l'exemple étudié, la vitesse Vs des ondes de cisaillement augmente mais pas dans les mêmes proportions. Cette variation des paramètres dynamiques pour des sites de plusieurs hectares peut toutefois conduire à vérifier, après travaux, l'adéquation du spectre de réponse élastique obtenu à partir de la classe de sol telle que décrite dans la Norme NF EN 1998. Cet article présente les contextes géotechniques particuliers pour lesquels une attention doit être apportée en cas d'une amélioration significative des terrains. Il est rappelé l'importance de la traduction représentative du site à partir d'études spécifiques pour une prise en compte pertinente des effets de site en cas de séisme.
Factors Known to Influence Acceptance of Clinical Decision Support Systems
Authors: Kilsdonk E.  , Peute L.W.P.  , Knijnenburg S.L.  , Jaspers M.W.M.
Published: February 2025

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) have been shown to improve clinical performance and patient outcomes, but the failure rate of such systems is still over 50 percent. To contribute to a wider understanding of issues surrounding CDDS acceptance, we performed a systematic review of studies that evaluated CDSS implementations in clinical care to determine the factors that are associated with acceptance of CDSS by physicians. The factors that were found were categorized according to the HOT-fit framework. The mapping of factors concerning CDSS acceptance on the HOT-fit framework revealed gaps in each domain of the framework and showed that research has mainly focused on human and technology factors and a lack of research on organizational factors. A potential area of research could thus be studying the organizational factors that may influence CDSS acceptance.
Push and Pull Models to Manage Patient Consent and Licensing of Multimedia Resources in Digital Repositories for Case-Based Reasoning
Authors: Kononowicz Andrzej A.  , Zary Nabil  , Davies David  , Heid Jörn  , Woodham Luke  , Hege Inga
Published: February 2025

Patient consents for distribution of multimedia constitute a significant element of medical case-based repositories in medicine. A technical challenge is posed by the right of patients to withdraw permission to disseminate their images or videos. A technical mechanism for spreading information about changes in multimedia usage licenses is sought. The authors gained their experience by developing and managing a large (>340 cases) repository of virtual patients within the European project eViP. The solution for dissemination of license status should reuse and extend existing metadata standards in medical education. Two methods: PUSH and PULL are described differing in the moment of update and the division of responsibilities between parties in the learning object exchange process. The authors recommend usage of the PUSH scenario because it is better adapted to legal requirements in many countries. It needs to be stressed that the solution is based on mutual trust of the exchange partners and therefore is most appropriate for use in educational alliances and consortia. It is hoped that the proposed models for exchanging consents and licensing information will become a crucial part of the technical frameworks for building case-based repositories.
A Reference Architecture for Integrated EHR in Colombia
Authors: de la Cruz Edgar  , Lopez Diego M.  , Uribe Gustavo  , Gonzalez Carolina  , Blobel Bernd
Published: February 2025

The implementation of national EHR infrastructures has to start by a detailed definition of the overall structure and behavior of the EHR system (system architecture). Architectures have to be open, scalable, flexible, user accepted and user friendly, trustworthy, based on standards including terminologies and ontologies. The GCM provides an architectural framework created with the purpose of analyzing any kind of system, including EHR system´s architectures. The objective of this paper is to propose a reference architecture for the implementation of an integrated EHR in Colombia, based on the current state of system´s architectural models, and EHR standards. The proposed EHR architecture defines a set of services (elements) and their interfaces, to support the exchange of clinical documents, offering an open, scalable, flexible and semantically interoperable infrastructure. The architecture was tested in a pilot tele-consultation project in Colombia, where dental EHR are exchanged.
Factuality Levels of Diagnoses in Swedish Clinical Text
Authors: Velupillai Sumithra  , Dalianis Hercules  , Kvist Maria
Published: February 2025

Different levels of knowledge certainty, or factuality levels, are expressed in clinical health record documentation. This information is currently not fully exploited, as the subtleties expressed in natural language cannot easily be machine analyzed. Extracting relevant information from knowledge-intensive resources such as electronic health records can be used for improving health care in general by e.g. building automated information access systems. We present an annotation model of six factuality levels linked to diagnoses in Swedish clinical assessments from an emergency ward. Our main findings are that overall agreement is fairly high (0.7/0.58 F-measure, 0.73/0.6 Cohen's κ, Intra/Inter). These distinctions are important for knowledge models, since only approx. 50% of the diagnoses are affirmed with certainty. Moreover, our results indicate that there are patterns inherent in the diagnosis expressions themselves conveying factuality levels, showing that certainty is not only dependent on context cues.
Ontology-based Knowledge Management for Personalized Adverse Drug Events Detection
Authors: Cao Feng  , Sun Xingzhi  , Wang Xiaoyuan  , Li Bo  , Li Jing  , Pan Yue
Published: February 2025

Since Adverse Drug Event (ADE) has become a leading cause of death around the world, there arises high demand for helping clinicians or patients to identify possible hazards from drug effects. Motivated by this, we present a personalized ADE detection system, with the focus on applying ontology-based knowledge management techniques to enhance ADE detection services. The development of electronic health records makes it possible to automate the personalized ADE detection, i.e., to take patient clinical conditions into account during ADE detection. Specifically, we define the ADE ontology to uniformly manage the ADE knowledge from multiple sources. We take advantage of the rich semantics from the terminology SNOMED-CT and apply it to ADE detection via the semantic query and reasoning.
The Revision of the Korean Classifications of Health Interventions Based on the Proposed ICHI Semantic Model and Lessons Learned
Authors: Jung Boyoung  , Jung Chaeyoung  , Rodrigues Jean Marie  , Bousquet Cédric  , Kumar Anand  , Lewalle Pierre  , Trombert Paviot Béatrice  , Yang Hoonshik  , Kim Sukil
Published: February 2025

The Korean Medical Association and the Health Information Review Agency have decided to re-engineer the different Korean coding systems of health interventions based on a proposed ontology framework defined in 2010 for the prospective International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI). The authors present the interim report of the project focused on this model: 5,338 procedures of the Korean version of ICD9-CM 5,150 procedures covered by Korean health insurance and 6,619 uncovered procedure labels were processed with the participation of 8 coders and 310 medical doctors. As of 28thJanuary 61.8% of data was processed. The ontology framework model itself was not enough to represent all the labels when the preliminary data from obstetrics and gynecology was explored. However, when modified with 7 notations, it was possible to assign each label of ICD 9 CM Volume 3 and 30 % to 57 % of specific Korean interventions to the semantic model.
Representing Knowledge, Data and Concepts for EHRS Using Dcm
Authors: Goossen William
Published: February 2025

With the move towards next generations of Electronic Health Record Systems (EHRS), the focus changes from administrative and data retrieval and data entry system capabilities towards clinical functions. The representation of the clinical knowledge and evidence base into EHRS becomes an important asset for health care, with its own challenges. Clinician's do want EHRS support but do not want to standardize care, they do want unified terminology and structured data entry but also free text. In addition, information modelers challenge each other for the best solution, and care pathways and other workflows seem to differ for each situation. Such diverging approaches add complexity to the already difficult situation around Information Technology in health care, the EHRS in particular. This paper argues that a change is necessary to adopt Detailed Clinical Modeling as a method to organize clinical knowledge, represent concepts and define data in such a manner that it allows for semantics to be exchanged without being trapped in a specific technology. DCM help to fulfill the requirements for the enter data once, reuse multiple times paradigm for EHRS.
Social connectedness through ICT and the influence on wellbeing: the case of the CareRabbit
Authors: Blom Sanne R.  , Boere-Boonekamp Magda M.  , Stegwee Robert A.
Published: February 2025

The CareRabbit has been introduced as a technological innovation in the care for children, enabling family and friends to stay in touch while the child is hospitalized. This study addresses influence of this innovation on the wellbeing of the children, and uses the validated KINDL questionnaire, eliciting information from children and parents at the end of hospitalization. A baseline and an experimental measurement are compared. The children in the CareRabbit group scored slightly higher on the KINDL questionnaire than children in the control group. For young children (age 4-7) the difference was large. Initial findings indicate that CareRabbit has a positive influence on wellbeing, although sample size and measured differences limit the support for this conclusion. The measured difference suggests that CareRabbit may be more valuable for younger children.
Modified Rand Method to Derive Quality Indicators: a Case Study in Cardiac Rehabilitation
Authors: Van Engen-Verheul Mariëtte  , Kemps Hareld  , Kraaijenhagen Roderik  , De Keizer Nicolette  , Peek Niels
Published: February 2025

Quality indicators (QIs) are increasingly used to summarize quality of care and to give professionals' performance feedback. We have previously developed a continuous multifaceted guideline implementation strategy that integrates computerized decision support with feedback on QIs and benchmarking. This paper focuses on development of QIs, and presents results of a case study in the field of cardiac rehabilitation. We present a modified Rand method that combines results from a literature search and guideline review with knowledge of an expert and patient panel in an extensive rating and consensus procedure. All sources contributed to the final set of 18 QIs for cardiac rehabilitation.
Evaluation of Computer Usage in Healthcare Among Private Practitioners of NCT Delhi
Authors: Ganeshkumar P.  , Arun Kumar Sharma  , Rajoura O.P.
Published: February 2025

Objectives: 1. To evaluate the usage and the knowledge of computers and Information and Communication Technology in health care delivery by private practitioners. 2. To understand the determinants of computer usage by them. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the private practitioners practising in three districts of NCT of Delhi between November 2007 and December 2008 by stratified random sampling method, where knowledge and usage of computers in health care and determinants of usage of computer was evaluated in them by a pre-coded semi open ended questionnaire. Results: About 77% of the practitioners reported to have a computer and had the accessibility to internet. Computer availability and internet accessibility was highest among super speciality practitioners. Practitioners who attended a computer course were 13.8 times [OR: 13.8 (7.3 - 25.8)] more likely to have installed an EHR in the clinic. Technical related issues were the major perceived barrier in installing a computer in the clinic. Conclusion: Practice speciality, previous attendance of a computer course, age of started using a computer influenced the knowledge about computers. Speciality of the practice, presence of a computer professional and gender were the determinants of usage of computer.
Numerical analysis of calibrated “driven stone column – weak soil” system
Authors: Kwiecień S.
Published: February 2025

The paper presents the results of plate load tests on a driven stone column. The results were used to calibrate a proposed numerical model. The calibration is based on semi-reverse analysis. The calibrated model was used for analysis of model sensitivity to the assumed shape of the column as well as the analysis of the adequacies of existing settlement analytical methods.
A Study of Aircraft Subsystem Impacts within a Value Driven Design Framework
Authors: Mullan Claudia  , Price Mark  , Soban Danielle  , Murphy Adrian  , Butterfield Joseph
Published: February 2025

Current design methodologies used within the aviation industry include the well known Systems Engineering (SE) requirements based approach. This paper discusses the problems which have been experienced whilst using this method and details the development of a Value Driven Design (VDD) model which uses surplus value as its objective function. Preliminary investigations using this model were undertaken to determine the effects of various parameters, such as design range and flight distance, on the surplus value. The main results from this analysis were that there is the potential to increase the profit of a product using surplus value as a guide and that interactions are accounted for in the top level surplus value function; however, to date, at the subsystem level, these impacts and interactions appear to be overlooked.
Modeling of the settlement of Milad Tower foundation with nonlinear elastic equations
Authors: Sangtarashha K.  , Fakher A.  , Pahlevan B.
Published: February 2025

A and C alluvium sediments of Tehran are classified as cemented gravel. The variation of stiffness of these kinds of soils versus confining pressure (depth) and strain has been studied in previous researches less often. To determine the change of stiffness of Tehran soil versus depth and strain, pressuremeter and shear wave velocity tests have been applied in this study. Then, disability of Fahey-Carter model to present nonlinear behavior of coarse-grained and cemented soil of Tehran was confirmed by comparison of existing stiffness data with that model. On the other hand, Ramberg-Ozgood model has a high capability of modeling nonlinear behavior of Tehran soil. A new model including Fahey-Carter and Ramberg-Ozgood model has been proposed. After that, a finite element code, which applies the proposed new model, has been written and used to model Milad Tower foundation. The settlement of Milad Tower foundation has been calculated with the closed-form solution for elastic body and finite element analysis and has been compared with settlement measured by micro-geodesy method. Elastic linear analysis, elastic linear analysis with Janbu model and elastic nonlinear analysis have been considered in this numerical modeling. During different methods of numerical analysis, capability and accuracy of Fahey-Carter model and new model to predict the settlement of Milad Tower foundation have been compared. Furthermore, parameters effecting on settlement including stiffness, Poisson's ratio, at rest lateral pressure coefficient and strength parameters of soil have been studied in this research. Finally, elastic limit of studied soil has been determined by a reverse analysis and a proper stiffness degredation curve has been proposed.