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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of contamination of venous blood with a lipid-containing solution on parameters measured by a modern blood gas analyzer. We collected venous blood from 17 healthcare workers (46 ± 11 years; 53 % women) into three blood gas syringes containing 0 , 5 and 10 % lipid-containing solution. Blood gas analysis was performed within 15 min from sample collection on GEM Premier 5000, while triglycerides and serum indices were assays on Roche COBAS C702. Triglycerides concentration increased from 1.0 ± 0.3 mmol/L in the uncontaminated blood gas syringe, to 39.4 ± 7.8 and 65.3 ± 14.4 mmol/L (both p<0.001) in syringes with 5 and 10 % final lipid contamination. The lipemic and hemolysis indices increased accordingly. Statistically significant variation was noted for all analytes except hematocrit and COHb in the syringe with 5 % lipids, while only COHb did not vary in the syringe with 10 % lipids. Significant increases were observed from 5 % lipid contamination for pO2, SO2 and lactate, while the values of pH, pCO2, sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, glucose, hematocrit (10 % contamination), hemoglobin and MetHB decreased. All these changes except lactate and CoHb exceeded their relative performance specifications. Artifactual hyperlipidemia caused by contamination with exogenous lipids can have a clinically significant impact on blood gas analysis. Manufacturers of blood gas analyzers must be persuaded to develop new instruments equipped with serum indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited information on the influence of collecting small amounts of blood on the quality of blood gas analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different degrees of underfilling of syringes on test results of venous blood gas analysis. Venous blood was collected by venipuncture from 19 healthcare workers in three 1.0 mL syringes for blood gas analysis, by manually aspirating different volumes of blood (i.e., 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mL). Routine blood gas analysis was then immediately performed with GEM Premier 5,000. The results of the two underfilled syringes were compared with those of the reference syringe filled with appropriate blood volume. The values of most assayed parameters did not differ significantly in the two underfilled syringes. Statistically significant variations were found for lactate, hematocrit and total hemoglobin, the values of which gradually increased as the fill volume diminished, as well as for sodium concentration, which decreased in both insufficiently filled blood gas syringes. The bias was clinically meaningful for lactate in syringe filled with 0.25 mL of blood, and for hematocrit, total hemoglobin and sodium in both syringes containing 0.5 and 0.25 mL of blood. Collection of smaller volumes of venous blood than the specified filling volume in blood gas syringes may have an effect on the quality of some test results, namely lactate, hematocrit, total hemoglobin and sodium. Specific indications must be given for standardizing the volume of blood to be collected within these syringes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Eth. Nic. V 8, Aristotle provides a classification of damages an agent may do, establishing degrees of culpability. In doing so, Aristotle recalls what he said about voluntary and involuntary actions in the preceding books about voluntary and involuntary actions. In this paper, I defend the thesis according to which the Eudemian account on voluntariness is consistent with the classification of damages Aristotle provides in Eth. Nic. V 8, arguing that one of Aristotle's concerns in dealing with voluntariness is the legal practices of his time, which we can regard as strongly linked to his discussion on moral responsibility. Thereby, I challenge David Charles' view that the account of voluntariness featured in the book on justice differs both from the Nicomachean account and the Eudemian one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical expertise is associated with excellent patient care and good clinical decision making. While this generally remains true, there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that in some cases medical expertise can be a liability, with errors more likely to occur in medical experts than in junior staff. Increased awareness of this ‘curse of knowledge’ may result in better patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical interventions are often guided by optical tracking systems and optical coherence tomography has shown promising results for markerless tracking of soft tissue. The high spatial resolution and subsurface information contain valuable information about the underlying tissue structure and tracking of certain target structures is in principle possible. However, the small field-of-view complicates the selection of suitable regions-of-interest for tracking. Therefore, we extend an experimental setup and perform volumetric surface scanning of target structures to enlarge the field-of-view. We show that the setup allows for data acquisition and that precise merging of the volumes is possible with mean absolute errors from 0.041mm to 0.097mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of laboratory medicine, the main focus was to provide high quality analytics. Over time the importance of the extra-analytical phases and their contribution to the overall quality became evident. However, as the initial preanalytical processes take place outside of the laboratory and mostly without its supervision, all professions participating in these process steps, from test selection to sample collection and transport, need to engage accordingly. Focusing solely on intra-laboratory processes will not be sufficient to achieve the best possible preanalytical quality. The Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has provided several recommendations, opinion papers and scientific evidence over the past years, aiming to standardize the preanalytical phase across Europe. One of its strategies to reach this goal are educational efforts. As such, the WG-PRE has organized five conferences in the past decade with the sole focus on preanalytical quality. This year's conference mainly aims to depict the views of different professions on preanalytical processes in order to acquire common ground as basis for further improvements. This article summarizes the content of this 6th preanalytical conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article discusses Revocation of a non-medical practitioner permit after treatment errors, which includes revoking of an alternative practitioner's permit with an immediate order enforcement after a serious medical malpractice, the proceedings for interim relief against the immediate execution of the revocation of his alternative practitioner permit and permission to practice medicine professionally without appointment.

The zirconium-in-rutile thermometer enjoys widespread use, but confidence in its accuracy is limited because experiments were conducted at higher temperatures than many rutile-bearing rocks and calibration uncertainties have not been quantitatively assessed. Refined calibrations were developed using bootstrap regression to minimize residuals in the natural logarithm of the equilibrium constant, based on experiments only (n = 32) and on a combined compilation of experiments and natural data (n = 94, total). Rearranging the regression to solve for T, and expressing Zr concentration (C) in parts per million (µg/g), the calibrations in the α-quartz stability field are: Experimental data set: T (°C) = 68740 + 0.441 · P (bars) - 0.114 · C (ppm)/129.76 - R · ln[C(ppm)] Combined data set: T (°C) = 71360 + 0.378 · P (bars) - 0.130 · C (ppm)/130.66 - R · ln[C(ppm)] Thermodynamics of the quartz-coesite transition as applied to the calibration for α-quartz yields calibrations for the coesite stability field: Experimental data set T (°C) = 71290 + 0.310 · P (bars) - 0.114 · C (ppm)/128.76 - R · ln[C(ppm)] Combined data set: T (°C) = 73910 + 0.247 · P (bars) - 0.130 · C (ppm)/129.65 - R · ln[C(ppm)] Propagated temperature uncertainties are ±20-30 °C (2σ) for the experimental data set calibration, and ±10-15 °C (2σ) for the combined data set. Compared to previous experimental calibrations, the refined thermometer predicts temperatures up to 40 °C lower for T ≤ 550 °C, and systematically higher temperatures for T > 800 °C. With careful attention to distributions of Zr in rutile grains, precisions of ±5 °C and accuracies ~±15 °C may be possible, although a poor understanding of how to select compositions for thermometry will typically lead to larger uncertainties. The ZiR calibration promises continued high-precision and accurate thermometry, and possibly improved thermodynamic properties, but the sources of compositional variability in rutile warrant further scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinction between creative language use and linguistic errors is not always straightforward. Even less clear is what factors play a role in the attribution of a positive evaluation (= creative) or a negative one (= error). In this paper, it is argued that a Construction Grammar approach can model the difference based on two basic mechanisms: Frequency effects (either modelled as preemption or as negative entrenchment) and hearer expectations, which are continuously updated and based on a wide range of linguistic and contextual factors such as dialect and speech situation, influencing the perception of the abilities and intentions of the speaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the importance of guaranteeing a high level of preanalytical quality in routine diagnostic testing has already been largely acknowledged over the past decades, minor emphasis is currently being placed on the fact that accurate performance and standardization of many preanalytical activities are also necessary prerogatives of clinical trials. Reliable evidence exists that clear indications on how to manage the different preanalytical steps are currently lacking in many clinical trials protocols, nor have detailed authoritative documents been published or endorsed on this matter to the best of our knowledge. To fill this gap, the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Working Group for Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) will provide here a specific checklist for preventing preanalytical diagnostic errors in clinical trials (PREDICT), especially focused on covering the most important preanalytical aspects of blood sample management in clinical studies, and thus encompassing test selection, patient preparation, sample collection, management and storage, sample transportation, as well as specimen retrieval before testing. The WG-PRE members sincerely hope that these recommendations will provide a useful contribution for increasing the success rate in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) was originally established in 2013, with the main aims of (i) promoting the importance of quality in the preanalytical phase of the testing process, (ii) establishing best practices and providing guidance for critical activities in the preanalytical phase, (iii) developing and disseminating European surveys for exploring practices concerning preanalytical issues, (iv) organizing meetings, workshops, webinars or specific training courses on preanalytical issues. As education is a core activity of the WG-PRE, a series of European conferences have been organized every second year across Europe. This collective article summarizes the leading concepts expressed during the lectures of the fifth EFLM Preanalytical Conference "Preanalytical Challenges – Time for solutions", held in Zagreb, 22–23 March, 2019. The topics covered include sample stability, preanalytical challenges in hematology testing, feces analysis, bio-banking, liquid profiling, mass spectrometry, next generation sequencing, laboratory automation, the importance of knowing and measuring the exact sampling time, technology aids in managing inappropriate utilization of laboratory resources, management of hemolyzed samples and preanalytical quality indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a court case of the German court Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) wherein the plaintiff has accused third parties for the violation of personality rights. Topics discussed include infringement of competition law, factual claims on information content, assessment of legal errors and access of public information.

The article highlights the presence of lectio falsa et emendata, the coalescence of an erroneous reading and its emendation, in the Apuleian section of the manuscript Laurentianus 68.2. It notes that this error typology has been successfully analyzed with regards to the Apologia and the Metamorphoses and has been ascribed in all probability to the systematic misunderstanding of the corrections made by a late antique owner of Apuleius' works, Sallustius.

In the battle for better science, the research community must obliterate, at times, works from the publication record, a process known as retraction. Additionally, publications and papers accumulate an altmetric attention score, which is a complementary metric to citation-based metrics. We used the citations, Journal Impact Factor, time between publication and retraction and the reasons behind retraction in order to find determinants of the retracted papers´ altmetric attention score. To find these determinants we compared two samples, one of retractions with top altmetric attention scores and one of retractions with altmetric attention scores chosen at random. We used a binary choice model to estimate the probability of being retracted due to misconduct or error. The model shows positive effects of altmetric scores and the time between publication and retraction on the probability to be retracted due to misconduct in the top sample. We conclude that there is an association between retraction due to misconduct and higher altmetric attention scores within the top sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several lines of evidence now confirm that the vast majority of errors in laboratory medicine occur in the extra-analytical phases of the total testing processing, especially in the preanalytical phase. Most importantly, the collection of unsuitable specimens for testing (either due to inappropriate volume or quality) is by far the most frequent source of all laboratory errors, thus calling for urgent strategies for improving blood sample quality and managing data potentially generated measuring unsuitable specimens. A comprehensive overview of scientific literature leads us to conclude that hemolyzed samples are the most frequent cause of specimen non-conformity in clinical laboratories (40–70%), followed by insufficient or inappropriate sample volume (10–20%), biological samples collected in the wrong container (5–15%) and undue clotting (5–10%). Less frequent causes of impaired sample quality include contamination by infusion fluids (i.e. most often saline or glucose solutions), cross-contamination of blood tubes additives, inappropriate sample storage conditions or repeated freezing-thawing cycles. Therefore, this article is aimed to summarize the current evidence about the most frequent types of unsuitable blood samples, along with tentative recommendations on how to prevent or manage these preanalytical non-conformities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the backward heat problem (BHP) which is a classical ill-posed problem. Although there are many papers relating to the BHP in many domains, considering this problem in polar coordinates is still scarce. Therefore, we wish to deal with this problem associated with a space and time-dependent heat source in polar coordinates. By modifying the quasi-boundary value method, we propose the stable solution for the problem. Furthermore, under some initial assumptions, we get the Hölder type of error estimates between the exact solution and the approximated solution. Eventually, a numerical experiment is provided to prove the effectiveness and feasibility of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the logarithmic-power model has been used to predict hot deformation behavior of alloy 800H at high temperatures. This is for the first time that the logarithmic-power model is examined to model the flow stress curves with negligible flow softening at high strain rates. To this end, flow stress curves of alloy 800H obtained at deformation temperatures from 850°C to 1050°C and at strain rates of 5 and 10 S−1 were employed. The Johnson–Cook model and Shafiei constitutive equation were also used to prove the accuracy of the logarithmic-power model in prediction of flow stress curves of alloy 800H. Evaluation of mean error of flow stress at different deformation conditions showed that the logarithmic-power model can give a more precise estimation of flow stress curves than Johnson–Cook model. Furthermore, it was found out that the accuracy of the Logarithmic-power model and Shafiei constitutive equation was roughly the same in terms of maximum errors obtained in prediction of flow stress curves. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the logarithmic-power model can be employed as a comprehensive model for a wide range of deformation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the high-temperature deformation behaviour of a TC17 titanium alloy was investigated by isothermal hot compression tests in a wide range of temperatures (973–1223 K) and strain rates (0.001–10 s−1). Then, the constitutive equations of different phase regimes (α + β and single β phases) were developed on the basis of experimental stress-strain data. The influence of the strain has been incorporated in the constitutive equation by considering its effect on different material constants for the TC17 titanium alloy. Furthermore, the predictability of the developed constitutive equation was verified by the correlation coefficient and average absolute relative error. The results indicated that the obtained constitutive equations could predict the high-temperature flow stress of a TC17 titanium alloy with good correlation and generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although it is known that glucose concentration exhibits a time-dependent decay in uncentrifuged serum and lithium-heparin blood tubes, no evidence exists on how this variation may depend on blood cell counts (CBC) and volumes. Methods: Venous blood was drawn from 30 non fasting healthy volunteers into three serum and three lithium-heparin tubes. One serum and lithium-heparin tubes were centrifuged within 15 min after collection and glucose was measured with a hexokinase assay. The second and third serum and lithium-heparin tubes were maintained at room temperature for 1 and 2 h after the first tubes were centrifuged. These other tubes were then centrifuged and glucose was measured. CBC was performed in the first lithium-heparin tube, before centrifugation. Results: The mean decrease of glucose was higher in lithium-heparin plasma than in serum (0.33 vs. 0.24 mmol/L/h; p<0.001). Glucose concentration decreased by 7% and 5% per hour in lithium-heparin plasma and serum, respectively. In univariate analysis, the absolute decrease of glucose concentration was associated with sex (higher in men than in women), red blood cell (RBC) count, hematocrit, white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophils and monocytes in both lithium-heparin plasma and serum. In multivariate analysis, the decrease of glucose concentration remained independently associated with RBC, WBC, neutrophils and monocytes in both sample matrices. No significant association was found with platelet number and erythrocyte or platelet volume. Conclusions: Glucose concentration decrease in uncentrifuged lithium-heparin and serum tubes depends on the baseline number of RBC, WBC, neutrophils and monocytes within the tubes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There is limited information on the influence of collecting small amounts of blood on the quality of blood gas analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different degrees of underfilling of syringes on test results of venous blood gas analysis., Methods: Venous blood was collected by venipuncture from 19 healthcare workers in three 1.0 mL syringes for blood gas analysis, by manually aspirating different volumes of blood (i.e., 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mL). Routine blood gas analysis was then immediately performed with GEM Premier 5,000. The results of the two underfilled syringes were compared with those of the reference syringe filled with appropriate blood volume., Results: The values of most assayed parameters did not differ significantly in the two underfilled syringes. Statistically significant variations were found for lactate, hematocrit and total hemoglobin, the values of which gradually increased as the fill volume diminished, as well as for sodium concentration, which decreased in both insufficiently filled blood gas syringes. The bias was clinically meaningful for lactate in syringe filled with 0.25 mL of blood, and for hematocrit, total hemoglobin and sodium in both syringes containing 0.5 and 0.25 mL of blood., Conclusions: Collection of smaller volumes of venous blood than the specified filling volume in blood gas syringes may have an effect on the quality of some test results, namely lactate, hematocrit, total hemoglobin and sodium. Specific indications must be given for standardizing the volume of blood to be collected within these syringes., (© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

The Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) was officially established by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) in 2013, with the aim of improving harmonization in the preanalytical phase across European member societies. Since its early birth, the WG-PRE has already completed a number of projects, including harmonizing the definition of fasting status, patient and blood tubes identification, color coding of blood collection tubes, sequence of tubes during blood drawing and participation in the development of suitable preanalytical quality indicators. The WG-PRE has also provided guidance on local validation of blood collection tubes, has performed two European surveys on blood sampling procedures and has organized four European meetings to promote the importance of quality in the preanalytical phase. The future activities entail development and validation of an external quality assessment scheme focused on preanalytical variables, development and dissemination of a survey about the local management of unsuitable samples in clinical laboratories, as well as release of EFLM phlebotomy guidelines. This article summarizes all recent achievements of the WG-PRE and illustrates future projects to promote harmonization in the preanalytical phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vyvyan Evans' The Language Myth argues that Chomsky's program of Universal Grammar (UG) is "completely wrong," and it has attracted much recent discussion, some of it laudatory. We set out what we take to be its many serious errors, including: (i) a misunderstanding of the empirical character of the evidence that Chomsky and other generativists have adduced for UG, in English as well as in many other languages, coupled with a mistaken claim that the theory is unfalsifiable; (ii) a confusion of superficial typological universals, or features present at the surface of all of the world's languages, with UG features that are apparent only under analysis; and (iii) a failure to appreciate the significance of Fine Thoughts (the things one cannot say in natural languages, even though it would be clear what they would mean) as critical evidence of UG, and of the difficulties presented by them for the kinds of "language-as-use" and related empiricist theories that he favors. Indeed, Evans also (iv) fails to address the issues of competence and constraints that are raised by Fine Thoughts and that are a central concern of UG; and (v) conflates UG with a computational theory of mind, a Fodorean conception of modules and a Pinkerean interest in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat equation backward in time subject to the constraint , with , , , being given, is regularized by the well-posed mollified problem where An a posteriori parameter choice rule for this regularization method is suggested, which yields the error estimate Furthermore, we establish stability estimates of Hölder type for all derivatives of the solutions with respect to x and t. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the German education system, a relatively strong connection between immigration background and educational success has repeatedly been observed. It is often assumed that this is due at least partly to differences in linguistic competence in German between mono- and bilingual children. However, results from international studies on language acquisition do not suggest a correlation between bilingualism and linguistic deficits, or delays in the development of linguistic competence. It seems necessary, therefore, to take a closer look at the linguistic development of mono- and bilingual children in specific cultural and educational settings. In this paper, I am going to present two studies conducted on the basis of 264 written narratives by third-graders in a small German town. The results of the first study show no significant difference in syntactic complexity between the texts of mono- and bilingual children. The second study shows small but significant differences in the number of grammatical errors, but not in the domain of syntax. Thus, differences in educational success are not due to an incomplete or delayed acquisition of syntactic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now undeniable that laboratory testing is vital for the diagnosis, prognostication and therapeutic monitoring of human disease. Despite the many advances made for achieving a high degree of quality and safety in the analytical part of diagnostic testing, many hurdles in the total testing process remain, especially in the preanalytical phase ranging from test ordering to obtaining and managing the biological specimens. The Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has planned many activities aimed at mitigating the vulnerability of the preanalytical phase, including the organization of three European meetings in the past 7 years. Hence, this collective article follows the previous three opinion papers that were published by the EFLM WGPRE on the same topic, and brings together the summaries of the presentations that will be given at the 4th EFLM-BD meeting "Improving quality in the preanalytical phase through innovation" in Amsterdam, 24-25 March, 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typical morpho-phonological measures of children's speech realizations used in the literature depend linearly on their components. Examples are the proportion of consonants correct, the mean length of utterance and the phonological mean length of utterance. Because of their linear dependence on their components, these measures change in proportion to their component changes between speech realizations. However, there are instances in which variable speech realizations need to be differentiated better. Therefore, a measure which is more sensitive to its components than linear measures is needed. Here, entropy is proposed as such a measure. The sensitivity of entropy is compared analytically to that of linear measures, deriving ranges in component values inside which entropy is guaranteed to be more sensitive than the linear measures. The analysis is complemented by computing the entropy in two children's English speech for different categories of word complexity and comparing its sensitivity to that of linear measures. One of the children is a bilingual typically developing child at age 3;0 and the other child is a monolingual child with speech sound disorders at age 5;11. The analysis and applications demonstrate the usefulness of the measure for evaluating speech realizations and its relative advantages over linear measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sample collection in the out-patient phlebotomy room was done by laboratory personnel while that in wards or in the in-patient department (IPD) was performed by nursing or clinical staff. At the time of receipt of the sample at the laboratory counter, the staff routinely inspect the requisition and samples for any errors that are likely to exert an effect on the analysis. The pre-analytical errors in our study could be categorized into sample identification issues (10; 0.1% of the received samples), lost/damaged samples (2; 0.02%) and the errors in sample collection (31; 0.31% of total samples). [Extracted from the article]

The boresight misalignment of a mobile laser scanning system is a major source of error for point cloud data and cannot be measured directly. This paper presents a new boresight calibration method for a mobile laser scanner system that uses an external fixture with a simple checkerboard pattern. The boresight angles are determined by minimizing the differences between the measured relative distances of the intersection points of the squares in a checkerboard fixture with the corresponding actual distances in the fixture. Experimental results from scanning the checkerboard pattern on the fixture show that the calibrated values of the boresight angles match the manufacturer's values within 0.22 cm. Using this simple checkerboard fixture in the field prevents surveyors from having to rely on roadway features or setting control targets and provides for an alternative approach for the boresight calibration of a mobile laser scanner system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The C¹ spline spaces with degree d ≥ 5 over given triangulations are implemented in the framework of multi-variate spline theory. Based on this approach, two-level methods are proposed by using various order spline spaces for the steady state Navier-Stokes equations in the stream function formulation. The proposed method can be reduced to solving a linear equation in the high-order spline space and the nonlinear equations in the low-order spline space. The convergence analysis is given based on the Newton iteration. Besides, the matrix forms of the two-level scheme are also presented. We finally tabulate the numerical results to validate and show the efficiency of the proposed two-level spline methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By employing the infinite multilevel representation of the residual, we derive computable bounds to estimate the distance of finite element approximations to the solution of the Poisson equation. If the finite element approximation is a Galerkin solution, the derived error estimator coincides with the standard element and edge based estimator. If Galerkin orthogonality is not satisfied, then the discrete residual additionally appears in terms of the BPX preconditioner. As a by-product of the present analysis, conditions are derived such that the hierarchical error estimation is reliable and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection or procurement of blood collection devices in healthcare facilities is often an underestimated issue. This is probably due to different factors including the lack of knowledge of policymakers, hospital administrators and even laboratory managers about the importance of preanalytical quality and phlebotomy process, as well as to the absence of reliable guidelines or recommendations on how to precisely assess the quality of blood collection devices around the globe. With the awareness that a gap remains between manufacturers' and local validation of blood collection devices, the Working Group for Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has drafted a consensus document aimed to provide a set of essential requisites, technical criteria (e.g. presence of physical defects, malfunctioning, safety problems) and clinical issues for supporting laboratory professionals in organization blood collection tubes tenders and validating new devices before local routine implementation. The laboratory professionals should also make sure that the tenders accurately and strictly define the responsibilities for validation experiments and the potential consequences in the case the validation outcome shows that tubes due not fulfill the expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the diagnostic errors before and after implementation of an automatic blood tube labeling system. It mentions the information on ProTube, an automatic blood tube labeling devices lowering the risk of preanalytical errors. It also mentions the need of patient safety along with the spurious hemolysis.

The paper deals with iterative methods for solving linear operator equations and with self-adjoint operators in Hilbert space X in the critical case when and . The results obtained are based on a theorem by M. A. Krasnosel'skii on the convergence of the successive approximations, their modifications and refinements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Innovative software for recording preanalytical errors in accord with the IFCC quality indicators" by Giuseppe Lippi and colleagues in the previous issue.

The article presents a study which discusses evaluation of the differences between serial measurements on the same sample in scientific research and routine laboratory practice. It mentions several demerits of re-analysis of a sample such as delay in reporting the findings and increased cost of testing. It also reveals use of the reference change value (RCV) to evaluate the difference between serial measurements.

The article discusses a method of preventing pre-analytical laboratory errors. Topics discussed include improvements in laboratory testing due to automation and laboratory technology, percentage of laboratory errors occurring in pre-analytical processes like order entry and patient identification and factors that contribute to the occurrence of errors. Also discussed are key factors of the recommended information technology (IT)-based pre-analytical method aimed at preventing errors.

Students usually learn very quickly to deal with pragmatic and cultural translation problems, but very frequently lapse into repeating linguistic translation errors. A considerable amount of these errors are related to the use of collocations. This paper focuses on how to solve translation problems related to collocations by using corpus search techniques. Firstly, it gives an insight into the achievements obtained by using corpus linguistics methods in the teaching of a foreign language and in the training of translators. Secondly, different definitions of collocations will be presented and the strengths and limitations of different methods for the extraction of collocations from corpora will be commented. To round off this article, different parallel and comparable corpora will be presented and some corpus-based and corpus-driven exercises with comparable and parallel corpora will be designed to solve translation problems related to collocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total quality in laboratory medicine should be defined as the guarantee that each activity throughout the total testing process is correctly performed, providing valuable medical decision-making and effective patient care. In the past decades, a 10-fold reduction in the analytical error rate has been achieved thanks to improvements in both reliability and standardization of analytical techniques, reagents, and instrumentation. Notable advances in information technology, quality control and quality assurance methods have also assured a valuable contribution for reducing diagnostic errors. Nevertheless, several lines of evidence still suggest that most errors in laboratory diagnostics fall outside the analytical phase, and the pre- and postanalytical steps have been found to be much more vulnerable. This collective paper, which is the logical continuum of the former already published in this journal 2 years ago, provides additional contribution to risk management in the preanalytical phase and is a synopsis of the lectures of the 2nd European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM)-Becton Dickinson (BD) European Conference on Preanalytical Phase meeting entitled 'Preanalytical quality improvement: in quality we trust' (Zagreb, Croatia, 1-2 March 2013). The leading topics that will be discussed include quality indicators for preanalytical phase, phlebotomy practices for collection of blood gas analysis and pediatric samples, lipemia and blood collection tube interferences, preanalytical requirements of urinalysis, molecular biology hemostasis and platelet testing, as well as indications on best practices for safe blood collection. Auditing of the preanalytical phase by ISO assessors and external quality assessment for preanalytical phase are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the problem of multiple contrast tests for repeated measures. Three procedures are described and compared by simulations concerning the familywise error type I. The procedure based on sandwich estimators seems to be most robust, except for all-pair comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a class of convex variational problems and deduce computable and unconditional upper bounds of quantities, which are certain measures of errors associated with an approximation. Also, we discuss closely related mathematical questions, which are important for the a posteriori error estimation theory of nonlinear problems. Namely, we present generalized forms of the Prager- Synge estimate and of the Mikhlin's variational identity, a generalized form of the Helmholtz decomposition theorem, and derive a general estimate of the distance to the set equilibrated fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality descriptions are parts of the key tasks of geodetic data processing. Systematic errors should be detected and avoided in order to insure the high quality standards required by structural monitoring. In this study, the iterative closest point (ICP) method was invested to detect systematic errors in two overlapping data sets. There are three steps to process the systematic errors: firstly, one of the data sets was transformed to a reference system by the introduction of the Gauss-Helmert (GH) model. Secondly, quadratic form estimation and segmentation methods are proposed to guarantee the overlapping data sets. Thirdly, the ICP method was employed for a finer registration and detecting the systematic errors. A case study was casted in which a dam surface in Germany was scanned by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technology. The results indicated that with the conjugation of ICP algorithm the accuracy of the data sets was improved approximately by 1.6 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we derive computable a posteriori error bounds for approximations computed by the Uzawa algorithm for the generalized Stokes problem. We show that for each Uzawa iteration both the velocity error and the pressure error are bounded from above by a constant multiplied by the L2-norm of the divergence of the velocity. The derivation of the estimates essentially uses a posteriori estimates of the functional type for the Stokes problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's insights on the remark at the book "Philosophical Investigations," number 246, which states that "It can't be said of me at all (except perhaps as a joke) that I know I am in pain." The author refutes two kinds of support for the claim, such as the one that argues that one cannot learn of his own pains and the second that argues that one cannot be persuaded by evidence that he is in pain. The author argues that an individual learns of the world and of his body simultaneously, and that it includes learnings of sensations. It mentions P. M. S. Hacker's claim that a mix of emotion and sensation might be found in the author's case in which he made a mistake on his pain. Moreover, the separation of sensation from emotion is said to be a Cartesian Mistake.

The article offers information on two reading errors that was observed in the Lycian part of the Lycian-Greek-Aramaic inscription found in the Letoon sanctuary near Xanthos (N 320). These errors includes study of the trilingual stele N 320, the palaeographic characteristics of the lycian text and rules of metaphony.

A procedure is suggested to decide whether or not to treat a consumer who violates the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference as 'close enough' to utility maximization. It is based on the reduction of the power the test has against random behaviour. It can also be used to compare different efficiency indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We point out the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels of proofs and of mistakes in mathematics and the increasing difficulties in checking the correctness of a proof. We analyze the role of mistakes in mathematical creativity and we point out the frequency of mistakes (malign or benign) in works opening new ways in science. Significant examples are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about a conference on mistakes in academia and social life, held in the winter of 2011-2012 in Paderborn, Germany. Topics discussed at the conference included the definition of mistakes, methods for university students to reduce the number of mistakes they make, and learning methodologies. The bulk of the presentations were given by pedagogy specialist Bettina Blanck.