Pierre Vieyres, Gérard Poisson, Fabien Courrèges, Olivier Mérigeaux and Philippe Arbeille
Ultrasound examinations represent one of the major diagnostic modalities of future healthcare. They are currently used to support medical space research but require a high skilled…
Abstract
Ultrasound examinations represent one of the major diagnostic modalities of future healthcare. They are currently used to support medical space research but require a high skilled operator for both probe positioning on the patient's skin and image interpretation. TERESA is a tele‐echography project that proposes a solution to bring astronauts and remotely located patients on ground quality ultrasound examinations despite the lack of a specialist at the location of the wanted medical act.
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Natalie Smith‐Guerin, Laurence Nouaille, Pierre Vieyres and Gerard Poisson
The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for medical robot kinematics design developed using a knowledge‐management approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for medical robot kinematics design developed using a knowledge‐management approach.
Design/methodology/approach
A classification of medical robots is proposed based on their kinematic characteristics and 76 robot specifications were collected in a catalogue. Then, having drawn a generic specifications sheet, rules were proposed to choose a structure from these specifications.
Findings
Findings are situated at several levels: the catalogue, the classification of robots with respect to their kinematic characteristics, a generic and specific specifications sheet, and an organigram to choose the most relevant structure from the specifications.
Research limitations/implications
This structural synthesis represents a preliminary step in the design of medical robots which will be completed by an additional dimensional synthesis.
Originality/value
This work offers a new methodology for medical robots design distinct from what is usually done for medical or industrial robots design using intuition, expertise and non‐formal knowledge.
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The development of a given discipline in science and technology often depends on the availability of theories capable of describing the processes which control the field and of…
Abstract
The development of a given discipline in science and technology often depends on the availability of theories capable of describing the processes which control the field and of modelling the interactions between these processes. The absence of an accepted theory of information retrieval has been blamed for the relative disorder and the lack of technical advances in the area. The main mathematical approaches to information retrieval are examined in this study, including both algebraic and probabilistic models, and the difficulties which impede the formalization of information retrieval processes are described. A number of developments are covered where new theoretical understandings have directly led to the improvement of retrieval techniques and operations.
PLASTIC buckling of plates and shells has been worked out by Bijlaard, Ilyushin, Stowell, Handelman and Prager, Gerard and others. Some investigators have assumed deformation type…
Abstract
PLASTIC buckling of plates and shells has been worked out by Bijlaard, Ilyushin, Stowell, Handelman and Prager, Gerard and others. Some investigators have assumed deformation type stress‐strain laws while others have used incremental type (flow type) stress‐strain laws. The present work is an extension of the work started by Gerard along the lines initiated by Stowell.
Chris Blatch, Kevin O'Sullivan, Jordan J Delaney, Gerard van Doorn and Tamara Sweller
The purpose of this paper is to determine recidivism outcomes for 953 offending men with domestic violence histories, serving community-based sentences and enroled in the domestic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine recidivism outcomes for 953 offending men with domestic violence histories, serving community-based sentences and enroled in the domestic abuse program (DAP), provided by Corrective Services New South Wales in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
An intention to treat definition of DAP participation and a quasi-experimental and pseudo-prospective research design compared recidivism outcomes of the treatment group to a propensity score matched control group. Cox and Poisson regression techniques determined survival time to first reconviction and rates of reconvictions adjusted for time at risk.
Findings
DAP enrolment was associated with significant improvements in odds of time to first general reconviction (15 per cent) and first violent reconviction (by 27 per cent) compared to controls. Reconviction rates were significantly lower (by 15 per cent) for DAP enrolees. Programme completion was necessary for significant therapeutic effect; 62 per cent completed the programme.
Practical implications
This evaluation suggests the 20 session DAP is an effective intervention which could be adopted by other jurisdictions to modify criminal behaviours of domestically abusive men; potentially lessening the physical, emotional and financial impacts on victims and providing savings to government and criminal justice systems. The methodology, with refinements, could be adopted by other service providers to evaluate similar community-based therapeutic interventions in forensic settings.
Originality/value
First peer reviewed evaluation of the DAP. The programme contributes to evidence-based best practice interventions for domestically violent men.
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I. Firastrau, L.D. Buda‐Prejbeanu, J.C. Toussaint and J‐P. Nozières
The purpose of this paper is to develop an original approach to simulate the reading process for multitrack shielded magneto‐resistive reading (MR) heads.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an original approach to simulate the reading process for multitrack shielded magneto‐resistive reading (MR) heads.
Design/methodology/approach
The shields and the media are of micron size while the sensor has sizes comparable with the characteristic length scales of the magnetic materials which are of the order of nanometer. Because of this large difference of scales between the different parts of the head, the macroscopic shields and the media are described by a boundary element method (BEM) approach, while the sensor is treated by micromagnetism in order to reconstruct the response of shielded multitrack MR head. To select the most favorable approach, several releases were implemented and compared. A technique based on a full‐coupling procedure was found to be the most general but too expensive in time. Appling the perfect‐imaging method directly into the micromagnetic simulator, the authors succeed in accelerating the computation without loosing accuracy.
Findings
Solving by BEM the Poisson equation for the scalar magnetic potential only the surfaces interfaces are discretised, saving thus computation time and memory resources. In addition, for multi‐tracks data pattern, the magnetic scalar potential may be estimated with a good approximation by considering a periodic system along the crosstrack direction. By applying the Fourier series expansion for the magnetic charges distribution along the crosstrack direction, the initial BEM 3D problem can be treated as a bi‐dimensional one.
Originality/value
This macroscopic‐microscopic coupling technique allows a full description of the behaviour of the magnetic sensor in its environment, being a useful tool for the design and the optimisation of the multitrack MR reading heads.
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Emili Vela, Aina Plaza, Gerard Carot-Sans, Joan Carles Contel, Mercè Salvat-Plana, Marta Fabà, Andrea Giralt, Aida Ribera, Sebastià Santaeugènia and Jordi Piera-Jiménez
To assess the effectiveness of an integrated care program for post-acute care of stroke patients, the return home program (RHP program), deployed in Barcelona (North-East Spain…
Abstract
Purpose
To assess the effectiveness of an integrated care program for post-acute care of stroke patients, the return home program (RHP program), deployed in Barcelona (North-East Spain) between 2016 and 2017 in a context of health and social care information systems integration.
Design/methodology/approach
The RHP program was built around an electronic record that integrated health and social care information (with an agreement for coordinated access by all stakeholders) and an operational re-design of the care pathways, which started upon hospital admission instead of discharge. The health outcomes and resource use of the RHP program participants were compared with a population-based matched control group built from central healthcare records of routine care data.
Findings
The study included 92 stroke patients attended within the RHP program and the patients' matched controls. Patients in the intervention group received domiciliary care service, home rehabilitation, and telecare significantly earlier than the matched controls. Within the first two years after the stroke episode, recipients of the RHP program were less frequently institutionalized in a long-term care facility (5 vs 15%). The use of primary care services, non-emergency transport, and telecare services were more frequent in the RHP group.
Originality/value
The authors' analysis shows that an integrated care program can effectively promote and accelerate delivery of key domiciliary care services, reducing institutionalization of stroke patients in the mid-term. The integration of health and social care information allows not only a better coordination among professionals (thus avoiding redundant assessments) but also to monitor health and resource use outcomes of care delivery.
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This article discusses issues common to the pricing of both insurance and finance. These include increasing collaboration between insurance companies and banks, deregulation of…
Abstract
This article discusses issues common to the pricing of both insurance and finance. These include increasing collaboration between insurance companies and banks, deregulation of various insurance and finance markets, integrated risk management, and the emergence of financial engineering as a new profession. Rather than attempting to give an exhaustive exposition of the issues at hand, the author highlights developments that, from a methodological point of view, offer new insight into the comparison of pricing mechanisms between insurance and finance.
Jacobus D. Brandsen, Axelle Viré, Sergio R. Turteltaub and Gerard J.W. Van Bussel
When simulating fluid-structure interaction (FSI), it is often essential that the no-slip condition is accurately enforced at the wetted boundary of the structure. This paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
When simulating fluid-structure interaction (FSI), it is often essential that the no-slip condition is accurately enforced at the wetted boundary of the structure. This paper aims to evaluate the relative strengths and limitations of the penalty and Lagrange multiplier methods, within the context of modelling FSI, through a comparative analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
In the immersed boundary method, the no-slip condition is typically imposed by augmenting the governing equations of the fluid with an artificial body force. The relative accuracy and computational time of the penalty and Lagrange multiplier formulations of this body force are evaluated by using each to solve three test problems, namely, flow through a channel, the harmonic motion of a cylinder through a stationary fluid and the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a cylinder.
Findings
The Lagrange multiplier formulation provided an accurate solution, especially when enforcing the no-slip condition, and was robust as it did not require “tuning” of problem specific parameters. However, these benefits came at a higher computational cost relative to the penalty formulation. The penalty formulation achieved similar levels of accuracy to the Lagrange multiplier formulation, but only if the appropriate penalty factor was selected, which was difficult to determine a priori.
Originality/value
Both the Lagrange multiplier and penalty formulations of the immersed boundary method are prominent in the literature. A systematic quantitative comparison of these two methods is presented within the same computational environment. A novel application of the Lagrange multiplier method to the modelling of VIV is also provided.