Intensive Care depends on sophisticated life support technology. Effective management of device-supported patients is complex, involving the interpretation of many variables, comparative evaluation of numerous therapy options, and control of various patient-management parameters. Raw data, when taken literally, can lead to the wrong interpretation of the patient. We propose a system which processes raw data in real-time for intelligent alarming and analyses historical data for summarisation and patient state assessment. This will utilise a temporal expert system which incorporates associational reasoning. Using continuous physiological data from monitors, patient history and times of therapy administration, our research consists of applying three consecutive processes: <I>filtering </I>which is used to remove noise in the physiological data; <I>interval identification </I>which generates temporal intervals from the filtered data points which have abstractions relating to their direction of change (i.e. increasing, decreasing and steady); and <I>interpretation</I> which performs summarisation and patient state-assessments from a historical point of view and intelligent alarming from a real-time point of view. Using the temporal intervals, interpretation involves differentiating between events which are clinically insignificant and events which are clinically significant. We need to identify and remove clinically insignificant events (e.g. line flushes, blood samples etc.). Similarly, we need to identify clinically significant events i.e. clinical conditions (e.g. hypovolaemia, pulmonary haemorrhage etc.) and the outcome of therapies - this will utilise the patient history and times of therapy administration. Inherent in this process is the <I>trend template </I>which is used to represent events. Trend templates support temporal reasoning, knowledge to differentiate between events and taxonomical knowledge. Algorithms which are analogous to the way clinicians identify events use these trend templates.

Abstract After the ban against private-owned gas service stations was lifted in 1987, some domestic trading firms took advantage of the special feature of gasoline products as well as Taiwan¡¦s unique oil price structure to import low-quality oil products for blending into gasoline-equivalent products, which would then be sold to independent service station owners mushrooming in accordance with the oil market deregulation. According to the statistics of import/export at Taiwan customs and the comparison between supply and demand of relative industries, it is agreed that an annual total of approximate 400,000 kiloliters of various imported oil products would be blended into gasoline or diesels for sale. Moreover, as Taiwan government has been continuously providing a 14% oil price subsidy against a sluggish fishing industry caused by depleting fishing resources, the fishing fuels in glut, at an estimate of 410, 000 kiloliters a year, would be illegally sold as diesel in domestic gas service stations for higher profits. These practices have not only directly affected tax revenues of local governments, but also infringed upon the legal rights of petroleum refineries, putting the orderliness of petroleum production and sale in jeopardy. In addition, as such illicit practices are usually carried out near makeshift storage tanks with ineligible filling facilities, they have posed great threats to public safety and environment. As it is difficult to detect and thereby root out the underground transactions of such inferior gasoline and diesels, the police that was authorized insufficiently on legal aspects would carry out inspections at key roads and intersections only passively, which has posed but limited intimidation over illegal transactions of unqualified gasoline products. Realizing the facts, this survey takes the historical data on relative factors and market survey figures as basis for calculation and analysis, which is used then to assume the normal demand of gasoline and diesel markets and to establish a conclusive alarming model for flow direction. Besides, it obtains affecting variables such as market segmentation, channel characteristics, customer behaviors, price gap and business environments through interviews and questionnaires, to determine limits on the alarming model and the alarming value. Comparing with the actual consumption of gasoline and diesels, we can then judge if there remains any abnormality concerning the sales volume of gasoline and diesels. If any abnormal sign shown, we can check the alarming model item by item for timely management and control, so as to supervise and check the underground transactions of inferior gasoline and diesels. We also hope that the survey report on ¡§the Alarming Model over the Flow of Inferior Gasoline and Diesels and Its Application¡¨ could provide practical references for the detection and elimination of inferior gasoline and diesels so that the illicit and unsafe practice could be inhibited once and for all.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att få fördjupad insikt i och att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor påverkas av, och förbereder sig inför, ett abstrakt hot såsom en förutspådd epidemi. Studien är empirisk med en enkätundersökning av kvalitativ karaktär. Inspiration till tolkning av data är hämtad från fenomenografin och resultatet belyses genom anknytning till KASAM. Studiens deltagare var 39 sjuksköterskor verksamma på en Akutklinik och en Infektionsklinik. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskorna påverkas av hot om epidemier bland annat genom en rädsla att själva smittas. De flesta uttryckte ett behov av ökade förberedelser. Två kategorier framkom Emotionell strategi och Praktisk strategi. / The aim for the present study was to reach a deeper understanding and to describe how nurses are affected and prepare themselves before facing an abstract threat as a predicted epidemic. The study is empirical with a questionnaire of qualitative nature. Inspiration for analyzing data is taken from phenomenology, and the result are illustrated through KASAM. The participants were 39 nurses, employed at an Acute ward and an Infection ward. The results showed that nurses were affected, for example with fear, by threats concerning an epidemic. The majority expressed the need for more preparations. Two categories appeared; Emotional strategy and Practical Strategy.