An international university network for online teaching of pathology in Frenchspeaking countries

Introduction: Building online courses is a highly time consuming task for teachers of a single university. Universities working alone create high-quality courses but often cannot cover all pathological fields. Moreover this often leads to duplication of contents among universities, representing a big waste of teacher time and energy. We initiated in 2011 a French university network for building mutualized online teaching pathology cases, and this network has been extended in 2012 to Quebec and Switzerland. Method: Twenty French universities (see & for details), University Laval in Quebec and University of Lausanne in Switzerland are associated to this project. One e-learning Moodle platform (http://moodle.sorbonne-paris-cite.fr/) contains texts with URL pointing toward virtual slides that are decentralized in several universities. Each university has the responsibility of its own slide scanning, slide storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. The Moodle website is hosted by PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, and financial supports for hardware have been obtained from UNF3S (http://www.unf3s.org/) and from PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité. Financial support for international fellowships has been obtained from CFQCU (http://www.cfqcu.org/). Results: The Moodle interface has been explained to pathology teachers using web-based conferences with screen sharing. The teachers added then contents such as clinical cases, selfevaluations and other media organized in several sections by student levels and pathological fields. Contents can be used as online learning or online preparation of subsequent courses in classrooms. In autumn 2013, one resident from Quebec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland and created original contents in inflammatory skin pathology. These contents are currently being validated by senior teachers and will be opened to pathology residents in spring 2014. All contents of the website can be accessed for free. Most contents just require anonymous connection but some specific fields, especially those containing pictures obtained from patients who agreed for a teaching use only, require personal identification of the students. Also, students have to register to access Moodle tests. All contents are written in French but one case has been translated into English to illustrate this communication (http://moodle.sorbonne-pariscite.fr/mod/page/view.php?id=261) (use "login as a guest"). The Moodle test module allows many types of shared questions, making it easy to create personalized tests. Contents that are opened to students have been validated by an editorial committee composed of colleagues from the participating institutions. Conclusions: Future developments include other international fellowships, the next one being scheduled for one French resident from May to October 2014 in Quebec, with a study program centered on lung and breast pathology. It must be kept in mind that these e-learning programs highly depend on teachers' time, not only at these early steps but also later to update the contents. We believe that funding resident fellowships for developing online pathological teaching contents is a win-win situation, highly beneficial for the resident who will improve his knowledge and way of thinking, highly beneficial for the teachers who will less worry about access rights or image formats, and finally highly beneficial for the students who will get courses fully adapted to their practice.

Audit report of the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, (University of Iowa) for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, (University of Iowa) for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, (Iowa State University) as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, (Iowa State University) as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the State University of Iowa PeopleSoft Human Resources Information System (HRIS) for the period May 11, 2015 through July 31, 2015

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the State University of Iowa PeopleSoft Human Resources Information System (HRIS) for the period May 11, 2015 through July 31, 2015

Audit report of Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, (Iowa State University) and its discretely presented component unit as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Audit report of Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, (Iowa State University) and its discretely presented component unit as of and for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2014

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking International University Network.

INTRODUCTION: Developments in technology, web-based teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media such as radiologic images, whole slides, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs, is now accessible to most universities. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of resources needed. In this perspective, a French-national university network was initiated in 2011 to build joint online teaching modules consisting of clinical cases and tests. The network has since expanded internationally to Québec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. METHOD: One of the first steps of the project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology for interns and residents in pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Québec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform under the supervision of two dermatopathologists. The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, virtual slides, images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. RESULTS: The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 virtual images and more than 50 microscopic and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in the spring of 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international resident whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. CONCLUSION: The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated and its accuracy reviewed by experts in each individual domain. The learning modules also need to be promoted within the academic community to ensure maximal benefit for trainees. A collateral benefit of the project was the establishment of international partnerships between French-speaking universities and pathologists with the common goal of promoting pathology education through the use of multi-media technology including whole slide imaging.

Early detection of lung cancer: a statement from an expert panel of the Swiss university hospitals on lung cancer screening.

The discussion about setting up a program for lung cancer screening was launched with the publication of the results of the National Lung Screening Trial, which suggested reduced mortality in high-risk subjects undergoing CT screening. However, important questions about the benefit-harm balance and the details of a screening program and its cost-effectiveness remain unanswered. A panel of specialists in chest radiology, respiratory medicine, epidemiology, and thoracic surgery representing all Swiss university hospitals prepared this joint statement following several meetings. The panel argues that premature and uncontrolled introduction of a lung cancer screening program may cause substantial harm that may remain undetected without rigorous quality control. This position paper focuses on the requirements of running such a program with the objective of harmonizing efforts across the involved specialties and institutions and defining quality standards. The underlying statement includes information on current evidence for a reduction in mortality with lung cancer screening and the potential epidemiologic implications of such a program in Switzerland. Furthermore, requirements for lung cancer screening centers are defined, and recommendations for both the CT technique and the algorithm for lung nodule assessment are provided. In addition, related issues such as patient management, registry, and funding are addressed. Based on the current state of the knowledge, the panel concludes that lung cancer screening in Switzerland should be undertaken exclusively within a national observational study in order to provide answers to several critical questions before considering broad population-based screening for lung cancer.

A Multi-Project Scheduling Procedure for Transportation Projects, Final Report, HR-339, 1993

This report proposes, that for certain types of highway construction projects undertaken by the Iowa Department of Transportation, a scheduling technique commonly referred to as linear scheduling may be more effective than the Critical Path Method scheduling technique that is currently being used. The types of projects that appear to be good candidates for the technique are those projects that have a strong linear orientation. Like a bar chart, this technique shows when an activity is scheduled to occur and like a CPM schedule it shows the sequence in which activities are expected to occur. During the 1992 construction season, the authors worked with an inlay project on Interstate 29 to demonstrate the linear scheduling technique to the Construction Office. The as-planned schedule was developed from the CPM schedule that the contractor had developed for the project. Therefore, this schedule represents what a linear representation of a CPM schedule would look like, and not necessarily what a true linear schedule would look like if it had been the only scheduling technique applied to the project. There is a need to expand the current repertoire of scheduling techniques to address those projects for which the bar chart and CPM may not be appropriate either because of the lack of control information or due to overly complex process for the actual project characteristics. The scheduling approaches used today on transportation projects have many shortcomings for properly modeling the real world constraints and conditions which are encountered. Linear project's predilection for activities with variable production rates, a concept very difficult to handle with the CPM, is easily handled and visualized with the linear technique. It is recommended that work proceed with the refinement of the method of linear scheduling described above and the development of a microcomputer based system for use by the Iowa Department of Transportation and contractors for its implementation. The system will be designed to provide the information needed to adjust schedules in a rational understandable method for monitoring progress on the projects and alerting Iowa Department of Transportation personnel when the contractor is deviating from the plan.

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the University of Northern Iowa’s eBusiness Payroll and Human Resources System for the period April 1, 2015 through May 27, 2015

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the University of Northern Iowa’s eBusiness Payroll and Human Resources System for the period April 1, 2015 through May 27, 2015

Drug utilisation in a neonatal intensive care unit of a swiss university hospital

Introduction Medication errors in hospitalsmay occur at any step of the medication process including prescription, transcription, preparation and administration, and may originate with any of the actors involved. Neonatal intensive care units (NICU) take care of extremely frail patients in whom errors could have dramatic consequences. Our objective was to assess the frequency and nature of medication errors in the NICU of a university hospital in order to propose measures for improvement.Materials & Methods The design was that of an observational prospective study over 4 consecutivemonths. All patients receiving C 3drugs were included. For each patient, observations during the different stages were compiled in a computer formulary and compared with the litterature. Setting: The 11-bed NICU of our university hospital.Main outcome measures:(a) Frequency and nature of medication errors in prescription,transcription, preparation and administration.(b) Drugs affected by errors.Results 83 patients were included. 505 prescriptions and transcriptions, 447 preparations and 464 administrations were analyzed. 220 medications errors were observed: 102 (46.4%) at prescription, 25 (11.4%) at transcription, 19 (8.6%) at preparation and 73 (33.2%) at administration. Uncomplete/ambiguous orders (24; 23.5%) were the most common errors observed at prescription, followed by wrong name (21; 20.6%), wrong dose (17; 16.7%) and omission (15; 14.7%). Wrong time (33; 45.2%) and wrong administration technique (31; 42.5%) were the most important medication errors during administration. According to the ATC classification, systemic antibacterials (53; 24.1%) were the most implicated, followed by perfusion solutions (40; 18.2%), respiratory system products (30; 13.6%), and mineral supplements and antithrombotic agents (20; 9.1%).Discussions, Conclusion Proposed recommendations: ? Better teaching of neonatal prescription to medical interns;? Improved prescription form to avoid omissions and ambiguities;? Development of a neonatal drug formulary, including prescription,preparation and administration modalities to reduce errors at different stages;? Presence of a clinical pharmacist in the NICU.Disclosure of Interest None Declared