Measuring the Quality of Hospital-based Domestic Violence Programs

OBJECTIVE: To obtain consensus among a panel of experts on performance measures useful for evaluating the quality of hospital-based domestic violence (DV) programs. METHODS: The Delphi process of consensus development was used with a panel of 18 experts including DV researchers, program planners, and advocates. Three rounds were conducted over a period of six months, with each round involving the completion of a written questionnaire. Panelists were instructed to concentrate on structure and process measures of DV program performance. Health outcome measures were not considered. During each round, panelists rated (scale of 1-5) their level of agreement with each measure, in terms of the measure's usefulness for evaluating hospital-based DV programs. Data were entered into SPSS on a personal computer and frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and variance were computed for each measure. Consensus development was defined as a reduction in the item-specific variance from one round to the next. RESULTS: A total of 37 performance measures were agreed upon. These measures fell within nine different domains of DV program activities, including: Policies and Procedures, Hospital Physical Environment, Hospital Cultural Environment, Training of Providers, Screening and Safety Assessment, Documentation, Intervention Services, Evaluation Activities, and Collaboration. CONCLUSIONS: A number of measures have been identified as useful for evaluating hospital-based DV programs. Use of these measures should assist researchers, program planners, and administrators in assessing the quality of hospital-based DV programs.     

Intelligent dialogue based on statistical models of clinical decision-making

The independence Bayesian model has been used widely in computer programs designed to support clinical decision-making. A reasoning strategy has been developed to enable these programs to conduct clinically pertinent dialogue and explain their reasoning. It has been implemented in a program for the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain based on the Bayesian model of de Dombal et al. Several features of the dialogue design have been adopted from artificial intelligence research, including shared initiative and critiquing. The program adopts a flexible goal-driven strategy, attempting to confirm the clinician's diagnosis or rule out the likeliest alternative. Symptoms and signs are selected in order of their expected weights of evidence in favour of the hypothesized disease.     

Photopatch testing: a consensus methodology for Europe

A group of interested European Contact Dermatologists/Photobiologists met to produce a consensus statement on methodology, test materials and interpretation of photopatch testing. While it is recognized that a range of local variables operate throughout Europe, the underlying purpose of the work is to act as an essential preamble to a Pan European Photopatch Test Study focusing particularly on sunscreen chemicals.     

An epidemiologic approach to computerized medical diagnosis—AEDMI program

A program called “An Epidemiological Approach to Computerized Medical Diagnosis” (AEDMI) is presented. Using an interactive questionnaire, physician-patient interviews are conducted and a summary of the relevant clinical data is provided. Standard items, obained on a multi-centre basis, form a large-scale data base. Simultaneously, the reasoning of clinical experts in each real case is analyzed to obtain a knowledge-rules data base. The methodology of the program combines Bayesian systems, expert systems, and other new lines of researcg such as neural networks or case-based reasoning. The general concepts of clinical decision making aid systems are reviewed. This publication is aimed at obtaining international cooperation.     

Real-time identification and archiving of micro-embolic Doppler signals using a knowledge-based DSP system

Identification of micro-emboli in the cerebral circulation using transcranial Doppler ultrasound provides valuable clinical information, but, currently, embolic signal detection and analysis are significantly limited because they mainly rely on costly off-line analysis by human experts. In this study, a reliable, high-resolution, real-time automated system for the detection and archiving of embolic signals was designed and implemented using expert system theory and modern DSP technology. Preliminary tests were conducted to evaluate the functions and the performance of the system using data from ten carotid endarterectomy patients and two normal volunteers. Using the widely accepted 7 dB threshold for human reliability and a human expert, majority-decision gold standard, the real-time system reached sensitivity and specificity of 93.6% and 99.3%, respectively, which were close to the results obtained by three human experts under ideal laboratory conditions (90.1% and 99.8%, 98.4% and 99.9%, 98.9 and 99.9%). The new system has the potential to be used either as a bedside monitoring and signal acquisition device, or as a laboratory investigation tool.     

不同时期在押罪犯司法精神病学鉴定案例的对比分析

目的 探讨近年来在押犯罪司法精神病学鉴定的特点和发展趋势。方法 对1994年后经该院鉴定的87例与1993年前鉴定的33例在押罪犯案例进行对比分析。结果 1994年后组在押罪犯鉴定的案例明显增加（P＜0．01）。服刑能力的鉴定,1994年后组较多（P＜0．01）,服教能力的鉴定,1993年前组较多（P＜0．05）。1994年后组经济类案件有上升趋势（P＜0．05）,诊断为精神分裂症的有明显下降（P＜0．01）,诊断为拘禁性精神障碍的有明显上升（P＜0．05）。结论 在押罪犯司法精神病学鉴定已成为司法精神病学鉴定的重要组成部分,对其法定能力的评定需进一步入研究。     

《中西医结合防治小儿腹泻病专家共识》解读

小儿腹泻病是儿童消化系统最常见的疾病,2022年中国中西医结合学会儿科专业委员会制定了《中西医结合防治小儿腹泻病专家共识》。现结合临床实践及最新的研究结果,对《中西医结合防治小儿腹泻病专家共识》中小儿腹泻病的发病机制、诊断和治疗中的重点内容进行解读,以期加深医务工作者对《中西医结合防治小儿腹泻病专家共识》的认识,促进中西医结合规范化治疗小儿腹泻病。     

肝细胞癌合并胆管癌栓多学科诊治中国专家共识（2020版）

肝细胞癌(hepatocellular carcinoma,HCC;以下简称肝癌)发病率位居全世界常见恶性肿瘤第六位,每年新发病例约74万,近一半在中国。在我国,肝癌相关死亡率仅次于肺癌和胃癌,高居第三位[1-2]。临床上,肝癌多侵犯血管形成血管癌栓,亦可侵犯胆管形成胆管癌栓(bile ducttumor thrombus,BDTT)。文献[3-5]报道,BDTT发生率为0.5%~2.5%。BDTT可沿肝内胆管向肝门部胆管延伸,甚至阻塞胆总管导致黄疸、胆道出血等。其自然病程约为1~3个月[6-7]。