APPLICATION OF OFFICE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF OPTIMAL STRUCTURAL RESERVATION OF SYSTEMS

Problem statement. The problems of optimal structural redundancy of systems are usually formulated as a nonlinear problem of mathematical programming with integer variables, and to solve them, usually, various optimization methods are used, which requires the development of special algorithms and appropriate software. However, in the case of clarifying the original task of optimal redundancy, there is often a need to adjust the developed algorithms and software. All this greatly complicates obtaining the desired results. Another approach to solving problems of optimal redundancy of systems is the use of office information technology, the tool environment of which is adapted to solve mathematical problems, including optimization problems. This approach does not require the development of special algorithms and software. However, issues related to the effectiveness of the information technology used to solve this problem require further scientific and practical study. This article formulates a model of optimal design of redundant systems according to the criterion of minimum cost while ensuring the required level of reliability during a given time. This model is written in terms of a nonlinear problem of mathematical programming with integer variables and is numerically implemented in the operating environment of an Excel spreadsheet when the main object of the designed system consists of 6 elements. The optimal options for reserving this object according to the schemes of "hot" and "cold" redundancy are obtained. The purpose of the article is to show the effectiveness and efficiency of the MS Excel spreadsheet to solve problems of optimal structural redundancy of systems. Conclusions. This article discusses issues related to the problem of solving problems of optimal design of redundant systems in the tool environment of the MS Excel spreadsheet. Examples of solving the problems of separate "hot" and separate "cold" redundancy of a 6-element object prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the MS Excel spreadsheet to solve this problem. In addition, the developed optimization model can be successfully used in practical tasks to ensure the reliability of technical systems in the early stages of their design.

VaxiMap: optimal delivery of vaccinations for housebound patients

Background. Throughout the UK's Covid-19 vaccination campaign, responsibility for vaccinating housebound patients has rested with individual GP surgeries, posing them a difficult logistical challenge (the travelling salesman problem). In response to demand from GPs, and a lack of existing solutions tailored specifically to vaccination, VaxiMap was created. This tool provides optimal routes for vaccine delivery and has been free to all users since its inception in January 2021. Methods. VaxiMap generates optimal routes subject to the constraint that the number of patients per route should be fixed. This ensures that a known quantity of vaccine can be set aside for each route and minimises wastage. The user need only upload an Excel spreadsheet of patient postcodes to be visited. A divide-and-conquer approach of iterative k-means clustering followed by within-cluster route optimisation is used to generate the routes. Findings. We find substantial savings in the time taken to plan vaccinations, as well as savings in the time taken to visit housebound patients. We estimate total savings to date of 4,700 hours of practitioner time, equivalent to 2.5 work-years, or approximately GBP 91k at typical practitioner salaries. Interpretation. The adoption of VaxiMap yielded both time and cost savings for GP surgeries and accelerated the UK's Covid-19 vaccination campaign at a critical moment. Funding. Financial support was provided by Magdalen College, Oxford, Oxford University Innovation, and JHubMed, part of UK Strategic Command. These parties were not involved in the preparation of this manuscript.

Pesticides used on the cultivation of Brassica oleracae var capitata L. (cabbage) in the Niayes area (Senegal): Impact on the environment and the health of producers

The Niayes area, by its climate and its morpho-pedology, is a favorite area for market gardening in Senegal. For vegetables, it is accredited to more than 60% of harvests. Among the cultivated speculations is the cabbage (Brassica oleracae var capitata L.). With a view to alleviating the negative effect of pests, a variety of pesticides are used by producers. This study was undertaken with a view to contribute to a better knowledge of the pesticides used in the production of Cabbage (Brassica Oleracea) in the Niayes. Specifically, it aims to characterize the pesticides used in the area and to determine their impacts on the environment and the health of producers. To carry out this study, a survey was carried out among 163 cabbage producers in the Niayes area (Mboro and Diogo) from February 06 to March 03, 2018. The data entry and processing of the results were made thanks to the Epi info software and Excel spreadsheet. The results showed that 87.1% of producers use chemicals. At the end of this study, 24 active ingredients, mainly comprising four (4) major chemical families, were identified. The most widely used pesticides are insecticides, insecticides-acaricides-nematicides and herbicides with respectively 56%, 12% and 11% of citations. Profenofos is the most cited active ingredient with 21.1% followed by emamectin benzoate with 14%, pendiimathalin (12%) and carbofuran (11%). In addition, Organophosphates and Amino-Phosphates are the most representative chemical families with 48% and 15% citations, respectively. Among the producers; 85.9% have already suffered from poisoning from the use of pesticides. 43% of producers reported the death of insects and other animals as a result of the treatments.

Pemanfaatan Microsoft Excel untuk Aplikasi Data Pelanggan pada Pada Usaha Jasa Pembersihan Dan Perawatan Sepatu, Tas, Dan Topi

Scar Wash is a micro-business engaged in the care and cleaning of bags, hats and shoes located in the Karang Menjangan area of ​​Surabaya. In the process, partners face problems in the process of storing customer data is still done in the manual form. So it isn't easy in knowing information about customers and what transactions have been made by satisfied customers to improve service. Since of these reasons, we offer to create desktop applications by utilizing a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application that is quite familiar to business owners. The system consists of three main menus, namely the customer data, the service data and the transaction menu. The customer data menu is for storing customer data. The service data menu is for managing service data provided by partners and the rates of each service provided. The transaction menu is used to record every transaction of a customer that includes services and the total cost that the customer must pay. This application has the advantage of being easy to install. After all, it does not require software other than Microsoft Excel, small and fast because it runs directly on the Excel application itself and is easy to use because it has a combo-box facility for selecting customer data and service data. Keywords: Customer application, Microsoft Excel, Services, Micro-business Abstrak Scar Wash adalah sebuah usaha mikro yang bergerak di bidang perawatan dan pembersihan tas, topi dan sepatu yang berlokasi di daerah Karang Menjangan kota Surabaya. Pada prosesnya, mitra menghadapi permasalahan pada proses penyimpanan data pelanggan masih dilakukan dalam bentuk manual yaitu ditulis pada buku. Sehingga menyulitkan di dalam mengetahui informasi tentang pelanggan serta transaksi apa saja yang pernah dilakukan oleh pelanggan tertentu guna meningkatkan pelayanan. Atas dasar hal ini, maka ditawarkan untuk membuat aplikasi desktop dengan memanfaatkan aplikasi spreadsheet Microsoft Excel yang cukup familiar bagi pemilik usaha. Sistem yang dibangun terdiri dari tiga menu utama yaitu menu data pelanggan untuk menyimpan data pelanggan, menu data layanan untuk mengelola data layanan yang disediakan oleh mitra serta tarif dari setiap jasa yang diberikan serta menu transaksi yang digunakan untuk mencatat setiap transaksi seorang pelanggan yang meliputi jasa atau layanan dan total biaya yang harus dibayarkan oleh pelanggan tersebut. Aplikasi ini mempunyai kelebihan mudah untuk dipasang karena tidak memerlukan perangkat lunak selain Microsoft Excel, kecil dan cepat karena langsung berjalan pada aplikasi Excel sendiri serta mudah digunakan karena dilengkapi fasilitas combo-box untuk memilih data pelanggan dan data layanan. Kata kunci: Aplikasi Pelanggan, Microsoft Excel, Jasa, Usaha Kecil

Modeling vaccination strategies in an Excel spreadsheet: Increasing the rate of vaccination is more effective than increasing the vaccination coverage for containing COVID-19

We have investigated the importance of the rate of vaccination to contain COVID-19 in urban areas. We used an extremely simple epidemiological model that is amenable to implementation in an Excel spreadsheet and includes the demographics of social distancing, efficacy of massive testing and quarantine, and coverage and rate of vaccination as the main parameters to model the progression of COVID-19 pandemics in densely populated urban areas. Our model predicts that effective containment of pandemic progression in densely populated cities would be more effectively achieved by vaccination campaigns that consider the fast distribution and application of vaccines (i.e., 50% coverage in 6 months) while social distancing measures are still in place. Our results suggest that the rate of vaccination is more important than the overall vaccination coverage for containing COVID-19. In addition, our modeling indicates that widespread testing and quarantining of infected subjects would greatly benefit the success of vaccination campaigns. We envision this simple model as a friendly, readily accessible, and cost-effective tool for assisting health officials and local governments in the rational design/planning of vaccination strategies.

VTE prophylaxis admission assessment full cycle audit and QI project

AimsThe aim of the project was to assess completion rates for the VTE prophylaxis assessment for patients admitted to Dova Unit, Dane Garth. Another aim of the project was to identify areas for improvement and changes which could increase compliance rates.MethodIn the first cycle of the audit 20 randomly selected patients admitted to Dova Unit, Dane Garth between June and December 2020 were identified and included in the project. Data were then collected from the online patient record system Rio and analysed using an excel spreadsheet.In the second cycle of the audit 10 randomly selected patients admitted to Dova Unit, Dane Garth between January and February 2021 were identified and included in the project. Data were then collected from the online patient record system Rio, analysed using an excel spreadsheet and compared with the results obtained in the first cycle of the project.ResultIn the first cycle of the audit the overall compliance was found to be 35%. VTE Risk assessment was completed for 50% of patients included in the study. ‘Active VTE on admission’ section of the VTE prophylaxis admission assessment was completed for 30% of patients included in the study. ‘Active VTE at 72 hours’ section was completed for 20% of the patients in the study and the ‘risk assessment for VTE' form was completed for 40% of patients included in the study.In the second cycle of the audit the overall compliance was found to be 50%. VTE Risk assessment was completed for 60% of patients included in the study. ‘Active VTE on admission’ section of the VTE prophylaxis admission assessment was completed for 40% of patients included in the study. ‘Active VTE at 72 hours’ was completed for 40% of the patients included in the study and ‘risk assessment for VTE' form was completed for 60% of patients included in the study.ConclusionThere was an overall improvement in the completion rates for the VTE prophylaxis admission assessment as a result of conducting the project. Working with the junior doctors and other healthcare professionals responsible for completing the VTE prophylaxis admission assessment, we aim to improve our completion rates of vital information even further.

Improving physical health form completion on a general inpatient adult ward

AimsThe government's Five Year Forward View Plan for Mental Health has set a target for 280,000 people with severe mental health problems to be offered screening and appropriate intervention based on physical health risk stratification, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. As such, physical health review for patients on a general inpatient adult psychiatry ward includes routine blood tests for cholesterol levels and HbA1c. They are recorded together in a Physical Health (PH) Form in the patient's electronic record and used to stratify cardiovascular risk factors and risk of diabetes. If a patient declines these blood tests it should be recorded on the PH form.This study aims to improve the completion of Physical Health forms to ≥95% by within a 4-month period on a general adult inpatient psychiatric ward.MethodPH form completion was measured using Tableau Software for a 4-week period as a baseline then fortnightly during the study. PH form completion required HbA1c and cholesterol levels to be inputted, or to be marked as declined where the patient had declined these tests. Potential interventions were discussed by clinicians and implemented using PDSA cycles with iterative changes tested and analysed. PH form completion was re-audited monthly for a 6-month period.ResultBaseline data showed 61.54% of patients had physical health forms completed (n = 26; 61.54% with HbA1c, 76.92% with cholesterol completed). Iterative changes and improvements included; (i) paper list to track PH form completion, (ii) table on Microsoft Word, (iii) Excel spreadsheet, and (iv) a conditionally formatted Excel spreadsheet. The conditionally formatted Excel spreadsheet was colour-coded to show completed elements as green and incomplete elements as red.Paper lists increased PH completion to 84.85% (n = 33). Word table increased PH completion to 96.43% (n = 28). Excel spreadsheet had PH completion of 96.67% (n = 30). Colour coded excel spreadsheet increased PH completion to 100% (n = 28). This was used as standard practice with sustained 100% completion in November (n = 34) and December (n = 39). The improvement was sustained to January 2021, although there was a decrease to 97.7% (n = 30).ConclusionIt was hypothesised an intervention to track completion of PH forms would improve completion rate. The use of a colour-coded conditionally formatted Excel spreadsheet improved PH form completion to 100% within an 8-week period and a sustained increase of >95% 6 months after the study began. This study recommends the use of such an electronic record keeping system to assist with PH form completion.

Impact of COVID-19 on Elective Surgical Lists in Otorhinolaryngology: An Overview

Objective: To study how the COVID-19 is affecting the treatment and management of other ailments. Try to find a strategy to resume elective OR lists.Introduction: We overviewed the effect of COVID-19 on the elective surgical lists of otorhinolaryngology in the ENT Department of Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi.Materials and Methods: The data from Jan 2020 to July 2020 was collected. It is a descriptive study analyzing the data, 3 months before and 3 months after the imposition of lockdown in the whole of Pakistan due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The data was collected from the operation dating register of OPD and elective operative lists of ENT OT. Data were analyzed by Microsoft excel spreadsheet version 7. Results: There was an overall 92% decrease in the elective surgical procedures done in the ENT dept. of Holy family Hospital during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The procedures done in the COVID lockdown period were mostly emergency procedures and lifesaving procedures.Conclusion: COVID-19 has badly impacted the elective surgical procedures and in turn the health of the patients presenting to ENT OPD with various diseases which were treated surgically before COVID lockdown.Recommendations: To prevent this from happening again during the 2nd wave of COVID-19, we could opt for multiple precautionary measures to avoid the spread of infection and continue the provision of our surgical services to the patients.