A virtual multi-disciplinary meeting is a cost-effective method of triaging referrals to a regional musculoskeletal oncology service

2021 ◽  
pp. 003693302110085
Author(s):  
Omer MHF Alanie ◽  
Ashish Mahendra ◽  
Mairi Mackinnon ◽  
Mark McCleery ◽  
Christopher Nicholas ◽  
...  

Background and aims In 2010, a virtual sarcoma referral model was implemented, which aims to provide a centralised multidisciplinary team (MDT) to provide rapid advice, avoiding unnecessary appointments and providing a streamlined service. The aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of this screening tool in reducing the service burden and expediting patient journey. Methods and results All referrals made to a single tertiary referral sarcoma unit from January 2010 to December 2018 were extracted from a prospective database. Only 26.0% events discussed required review directly. 30.3% were discharged back to referrer. 16.5% required further investigations. 22.5% required a biopsy prior to review. There was a reduction in the rate of patients reviewed at the sarcoma clinic, and a higher discharge rate from the MDT in 2018 versus 2010 (p < 0.001). This gives a potential cost saving of 670,700 GBP over the 9 year period. Conclusion An MDT meeting which triages referrals is cost-effective at reducing unnecessary referrals. This can limit unnecessary exposure of patients who may have an underlying diagnosis of cancer to a high-risk environment, and reduces burden on services as it copes with increasing demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genome ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Selvi ◽  
N V Nair ◽  
N Balasundaram ◽  
T Mohapatra

The use of maize microsatellite markers as a potential cost-effective method for molecular analysis of sugarcane was evaluated. Of the 34 primer pairs obtained from maize genomic libraries, 14 showed repeatable amplifications in Saccharum species clones, commercial hybrids, and the related genera Erianthus, accounting for 41.17% cross transferability. Complex banding patterns were encountered in sugarcane with the number of amplified fragments ranging from 7 to 14 with an average of 10 per primer, indicating the high polyploidy and heterozygosity existing in sugarcane. Phenetic analysis of the SSR polymorphisms produced by nine primers could clearly differentiate the different species of Saccharum and Erianthus and revealed the relationships that existed between them. Genetic similarity co-efficient indicated low diversity existing among the S. officinarum clones (82%) and a relatively higher level of diversity in the S. spontaneum clones (69.7%). Higher level of divergence of Erianthus from Saccharum was also clearly estabilished. Five primers produced genus- and species-specific fragments for Erianthus, S. spontaneum, S. officinarum, and S. barberi. The polymorphic primers, when tested on a panel of 30 commercial sugarcane cultivars, revealed a broad range (32.4–83.3%) of pair-wise similarity values, indicating their ability to detect high levels of polymorphism. A combination of two primers could differentiate all the varieties, further emphasizing their potential in fingerprinting and varietal identification.Key words: maize microsatellites, Saccharum, Erianthus, diversity analysis, fingerprinting.


1975 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Badgley

This paper describes recent advances in the development of a practical, cost-effective method for balancing, in a single step, a final shaft-bearing assembly simultaneously in a number of planes and at a number of speeds. This method is capable of overcoming assembly-introduced unbalance, and will permit rotor operation through critical speeds in which component elastic axis bending occurs. Detailed results of test efforts are presented in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. The procedure by which the method may be applied to gas turbine engine shafts, and the potential cost advantages expected to accrue therefrom, are described and discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 651 ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohang Xu ◽  
Chunhao Gu ◽  
Xinbin Feng ◽  
Guangle Qiu ◽  
Lihai Shang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Hiren J. Dhanani

Background: Malaria is one of the major health problems of developing and tropical countries like India, causing huge financial burden also. Smear examination for diagnosis is a routine and cost-effective method for diagnosis. CBC is one the most commonly ordered test in clinical practice. The Mindray BC-6800 plus haematology analyser provide dedicated flag of “Infected RBC?” for suspected malaria while analysing CBC. Present study attempts to evaluate whether CBC done on BC-6800 plus can serve as an aid for malaria screening and diagnosis.Methods: Prospective study of 30077 cases was carried out where thick and thin smear examination done by experienced microscopists and CBC was analysed on BC- 6800 plus analyser.Results: Total 323 cases were found to be positive for malaria by smear examination, out of which 285 were of P. vivax and 38 were of P. falciparum malaria. Sensitivity of 88.24%, specificity of 99.21%, PPV of 54.70%, NPV of 99.87% for Infected RBC flag for all cases of malaria. For P. vivax malaria cases analyser provided highest sensitivity of 99.65% with NPV of nearly 100%, however P. Falciparum malaria cases analyser produced sensitivity of 2.63% only. In P. vivax cases present study found very good correlation between InR count and parasite load under microscope. Present study also evaluated interference of parasitized red cells in differential count causing falsely elevated neutrophils and/or eosinophils.Conclusions: By lowering threshold for “Infected RBC?” flag to 0, BC-6800 plus can serve as an excellent screening tool especially for P. vivax malaria.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (09) ◽  
pp. 1328-1333
Author(s):  
Dureshewar Rehman ◽  
Naila Perven ◽  
Aisha Abdul Haq

Objectives: To establish a relation between changes in height of body ofmandible on Orthopantomogram (OPG) X-ray with Dual Energy X- ray Absorptiometry (DXA)scan of femoral neck and spine to see whether or not the OPG X-ray can be employed asearly detector and as a screening tool for osteoporosis. Study Design: Cross sectional study.Setting: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi Pakistan. Period: December 2011 to March2013. Methods: A sample of 174 females aged 25 to 85 years were divided into premenopausal(Group I) and postmenopausal (Group II) groups. Each group was subdivided into normal (preA, post A), osteopenic, (pre B, post B) and osteoporotic, (pre C, post C) groups by DXA Scan.Mandibular morphological changes seen on OPG X-ray in subgroups of Group I were comparedwith each other and with subgroups of Group II. The parameters that were considered on OPGX-ray were height of body of mandible at inner angle of jaw (HA) and at mental foramen (HF).One Way Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and T-test were applied to evaluate intragroup andintergroup significance respectively. Results: The reduction in height at angle (HA) and heightat foramen (HF) showed that there was decrease in the height of body which was a measure ofboth osteoporosis and age. Conclusion: A simple and cost effective method of screening wasestablished.


The choice of cost-effective method of anticorrosive protection of steel structures is an urgent and time consuming task, considering the significant number of protection ways, differing from each other in the complex of technological, physical, chemical and economic characteristics. To reduce the complexity of solving this problem, the author proposes a computational tool that can be considered as a subsystem of computer-aided design and used at the stage of variant and detailed design of steel structures. As a criterion of the effectiveness of the anti-corrosion protection method, the cost of the protective coating during the service life is accepted. The analysis of existing methods of steel protection against corrosion is performed, the possibility of their use for the protection of the most common steel structures is established, as well as the estimated period of effective operation of the coating. The developed computational tool makes it possible to choose the best method of protection of steel structures against corrosion, taking into account the operating conditions of the protected structure and the possibility of using a protective coating.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dor ◽  
N. Ben-Yosef

About one hundred and fifty wastewater reservoirs store effluents for irrigation in Israel. Effluent qualities differ according to the inflowing wastewater quality, the degree of pretreatment and the operational parameters. Certain aspects of water quality like concentration of organic matter, suspended solids and chlorophyll are significantly correlated with the water column transparency and colour. Accordingly optical images of the reservoirs obtained from the SPOT satellite demonstrate pronounced differences correlated with the water quality. The analysis of satellite multispectral images is based on a theoretical model. The model calculates, using the radiation transfer equation, the volume reflectance of the water body. Satellite images of 99 reservoirs were analyzed in the chromacity space in order to classify them according to water quality. Principal Component Analysis backed by the theoretical model increases the method sensitivity. Further elaboration of this approach will lead to the establishment of a time and cost effective method for the routine monitoring of these hypertrophic wastewater reservoirs.


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