1,649 Results Found

Background/Objectives: Point-of-care testing (POCT) is increasingly adopted in primary healthcare to facilitate rapid screening and monitoring of chronic conditions. Ensuring that its analytical quality is comparable to central laboratory testing is...

External quality assessment (EQA) is a commonly used tool to track the performance of laboratory tests. In Korea, EQA participation is not mandatory, and even basic data about EQA participation are not available. We used data of a 10-year period extr...

Korea introduced a new diagnosis-related group (NDRG), which is a mixed-bundle reimbursement system. We evaluated the effects of NDRGs on laboratory test quality by analyzing data over three years (2016–2018) from the Korean Association of Exte...

Background: In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a regional microbiology external quality assessment (EQA) programme for national public health laboratories in the African region, initially targeting priority epidemic-prone bacterial...

In a chemical analysis laboratory, sample detection via most analytical devices obtains raw data and processes it to validate data reports, including raw data filtering, editing, effectiveness evaluation, error correction, etc. This process is usuall...

The quality and relevance of nanosafety studies constitute major challenges to ensure their key role as a supporting tool in sustainable innovation, and subsequent competitive economic advantage. However, the number of apparently contradictory and in...

In the molecular era, proper archival conditions within pathology laboratories are crucial, especially for formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens retrieved years after the original diagnosis. Indeed, improper preservation can impact...

Approximately 40% of the total U.S. office floor space of 1.5 billion sq.m (16 billion sq.ft.) is leased space occupied by tenants. Tenant fit-out presents a key opportunity to incorporate energy efficiency within the real estate business cycle. We d...

In the broader context of quality management, testing and calibration laboratories are increasingly adopting ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as a key benchmark for achieving operational excellence. This management system standard outlines the essential r...

Background/Objectives: The implementation of information quality value stream maps (IQ-VSMs) in food animal production systems can increase our understanding of the opportunities and challenges when using laboratory testing for antimicrobial resistan...

Proper quality assessment of ready-mixed concrete, which is currently the principal material for construction, land engineering and architecture, has an impact on the optimisation and verification of correct functioning of individual stages of the pr...

Water quality monitoring plays a vital role in the water environment management, while efficient monitoring provides direction and verification of the effectiveness of water management. Traditional water quality monitoring for a variety of water para...

This paper presents research conducted in the direction of analyzing the efficiency of filters used for drinking water intended for domestic consumption, with effects on the water quality gained from the public distribution network. A basic method th...

Blood Culture and Drug Susceptibility Testing (CDST) remains vital for the diagnosis and management of bloodstream infections (BSIs). While the Ghana National Standard Treatment Guidelines require CDST to be performed in each case of suspected or cli...

One in four myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) patients are estimated to be severely affected by the disease, and these house-bound or bedbound patients are currently understudied. Here, we report a comprehensive examination...

Background/Objectives: Laboratory tests conducted in community settings are occasionally repeated within hours of presentation to pediatric emergency departments (PEDs). Reducing unnecessary repetitions can ease child discomfort and alleviate the hea...

The establishment of a compliant radiopharmacy facility within a university setting is crucial for supporting fundamental and preclinical studies, as well as for the production of high-quality radiopharmaceuticals for clinical testing in human protoc...

Maintaining hematocrit (Hct) levels below 45% can reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). A device that patients can use to self-monitor Hct levels could enable timely interventions if Hct levels increase above 45%, an...

The high demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests but limited supply to South African laboratories early in the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a heterogenous diagnostic footprint of open and closed molecular testing platforms being implemented. Ongoing monitoring...

Background: Laboratory and radiographic tests are often repeated during inter-hospital transfers from secondary to tertiary emergency departments (ED), despite available data from the sending structure. The aim of this study was to identify the propo...

Operational research (OR) published in 2023 revealed low utilisation and suboptimal quality of blood culture services at a tertiary hospital in Ghana. To address these, several interventions were implemented, including sensitisation of physicians, tr...

(1) Background: Various guidelines address patient preparation and its importance for venous blood sampling, such as the GP41 guideline issued by the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the blood collection guidelines published by the...

External quality assessment (EQA) schemes are a tool for clinical laboratories to evaluate and manage the quality of laboratory practice with the support of an independent party (i.e., an EQA provider). Depending on the context, there are different t...

Recent acquisitions about the role of the microbiota in the functioning of the human body make it possible to envisage an increasing use of beneficial microbes, and more particularly of probiotics as well as their metabolites, as nutritional suppleme...

Quality assurance in a clinical laboratory is essential to ensure reliable, accurate and precise laboratory test results all the time. A hemostasis laboratory is an important part of a clinical laboratory setting in a hospital or a healthcare center,...

Laboratory testing is a complex process with a significant error rate. Studies of laboratory errors have found that the major causes are preanalytical factors, interferences, and process errors. Efforts by regulatory agencies to improve quality via m...

Since its introduction in the 1960s, external quality assessment has developed to become an essential component of the quality management system of the diagnostic laboratory. External quality assessment provides a long term, retrospective view of lab...

The tiered laboratory framework for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load monitoring accommodates a range of HIV viral load testing platforms, with quality assessment critical to ensure quality patient testing. HIV plasma viral load testing i...

All patients should have access to accurate and timely test results. The introduction of point of care testing (PoCT) for infectious diseases has facilitated access to those unable to access traditional laboratory-based medical testing, including tho...

With 762 laboratories, the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN) is the largest laboratory network coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Like the Global Polio Laboratory Network, the GMRLN has multiple tiers, including g...

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) in HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) testing has the potential to improve both clinical and public health settings, however it challenges the normal operations of quality management systems to be more flexible due to its co...

Newborn screening is the largest genetic testing effort in the United States and is considered one of the ten great public health achievements during the first 10 years of the 21st century. For over 35 years, the Newborn Screening Quality Assurance P...

The paper presents the results of subjective and objective quality assessments of H.264-, H.265-, and VP9-encoded video. Most of the literature is devoted to subjective quality assessment in well-defined laboratory circumstances. However, the end use...

The article presents an outline of the concept of a prototype system allowing for the optimization of inventory management in a diagnostic laboratory on the basis of patients results. The effectiveness of laboratory diagnostics depends largely on the...

More than 100 laboratories in the World Health Organization Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN) perform nucleic acid-based methods for case confirmation of measles or rubella infections and/or strain surveillance (genotyping). The q...

Quality assurance programs are critical to ensuring the consistency and reliability of point-of-care surveillance test results. In 2022, we launched Laos’ inaugural quality control (QC) and external quality assessment (EQA) program for national...

Introduction: Zimbabwe has for a long time satisfied measles elimination criteria according to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) measles surveillance standards. In this elimination phase laboratory based surveillance...

Background: A pilot inter-laboratory proficiency scheme for 5 Ontario clinical laboratories testing tumour samples for the Ontario-wide Cancer Targeted Nucleic Acid Evaluation (OCTANE) study was undertaken to assess proficiency in the identification...

The unavailability of safe drinking water leads to poor conditions related to mental and physical health. To quantify the quality of water, laboratories testing the water are present in major cities which assess the basic quality parameters of drinki...

For diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection and for monitoring its spread, the implementation of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes is mandatory to assess and ensure a standard quality according to national and international guidelines. Here, we prese...

Background and Objectives: Point of care test (POCT) is generally performed by non-laboratory staff who often lack an understanding on the quality control and quality assurance programs. The purpose of this study was to understand the current status...

Newborn screening (NBS) laboratories cannot accurately compare mass spectrometry-derived results and cutoff values due to differences in testing methodologies. The objective of this study was to assess harmonization of laboratory proficiency test (PT...

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of granite waste powder on the behavior of compacted clay soil in both field and laboratory environments. Samples were collected from clay soil exposed at Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakist...

This article presents the issues of control and quality assurance of high-strength railway rail joints. Selected test results and requirements for rail joints made by welding with stationary welders on the basis of the requirements included in the PN...

Healthcare services and institutions are focused on providing the most appropriate medical service in terms of patient safety and satisfaction outcomes. According to Lean methodologies, effectiveness and efficiency can be improved by assuring value-a...

Quality Control for Molecular Diagnostics (QCMD), an international provider for External Quality Assessment (EQA) programmes, has introduced a programme for molecular diagnostics of Zika virus (ZIKV) in 2016, which has been continuously offered to in...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Virology Quality Assurance (VQA) established a robust proficiency testing program for Sanger sequencing (SS)-based HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) testing in 2001. While many of the less...

Pathology results are central to modern medical practice, informing diagnosis and patient management. To ensure high standards from pathology laboratories, regulators require compliance with international and local standards. In Australia, the monito...

Background: The clinical research laboratory plays a pivotal role in the execution of clinical studies. The accurate and consistent registration of patients is dependent on the competent use of laboratory equipment and manual techniques by technician...

The power transformer is one of the most important parts of a power system. The transformer oil in a transformer not only increases its insulation strength, but also helps its cooling. Cellulose particles are one of the main factors affecting the bre...