Google launched Chromebooks on 15 June 2011. What are Chromebooks? These are laptops with the Chrome OS, an operating system based on the web browser. In fact the browser is all you have - "Nothing but the web"! Chrome promises effortless computing, easier, faster and better without the need for expensive IT support.
According to reviewers, Chromebook users can do most of the things they do with their PCs and laptops in the Chrome browser without storing any data on their machines, but you can't run Microsoft office or play games on an iPad. Everytime you boot up a Chromebook, it will give the latest version of its software and security patches, filter out the spam and check viruses, so it eases the burden of spam, software updates, security and hardware failure. In the event of computer breakdown or lost, your data will be safe becuase they are stored in Google's cloud.
The cloud is simply a place for storing data instead of keeping it, you merely have access to them through servers operated by the cloud providers. Google claims that Chromebooks come with an encrypted file system by default, so they are very safe. Many computing security experts have expressed reservations about the security of the cloud, however supporters say that while there are drawbacks, most cloud services are adequate and safe.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Avoiding hospital admissions: what does the research evidence say?
Emergency admissions represent around 65% of hospital bed days in England. It is a major concern for the NHS, despite considerable efforts to reduce emergency admissions, only a few PCTs succeeded between 2007 and 2009.
The King's Fund has published a paper which considers the research evidence for a range of interventions to avoid emergecy or unplanned hospital admissions addressing the following key questions:
- What interventions work to reducing avoidable admissions?
- Who is at risk and how do we identify them?
- Which admissions are potentially avoidable?
- Which interventions work in primary, secondary and emergency care as well as discharge from hospital?
Some of the findings on interventions in A&E :
- A recent systematic review of the evidence for the effectiveness of GPs working in EDs found that this intervention may result in fewer referrals for admissionn but the evidence is weak.
- A study of a GP service aimed at patients who are referred for urgent medical admission by a GP in the ommunity showed a small reduction in admissions to the medical assessment unit.
- Making a senior emergency medicine clinician available to review patients in the ED has been shown to reduce inpatient admissions by 12 % and specifically reduced admissions to the acute medical assessments unit by 21%.
The paper finds that there is insufficient evidence to support many of the interventions currently being implemented and concludes that policy-makers, providers and commissioners can introduce a number of changes that have proved to be effective in reducing admissions and includes recommendations for all of these groups, emphasising the importance of using evidence-based interventions.
Source: "Avoiding hospital admissions: what does the research evidence say?" King's Fund , Dec 2010
The King's Fund has published a paper which considers the research evidence for a range of interventions to avoid emergecy or unplanned hospital admissions addressing the following key questions:
- What interventions work to reducing avoidable admissions?
- Who is at risk and how do we identify them?
- Which admissions are potentially avoidable?
- Which interventions work in primary, secondary and emergency care as well as discharge from hospital?
Some of the findings on interventions in A&E :
- A recent systematic review of the evidence for the effectiveness of GPs working in EDs found that this intervention may result in fewer referrals for admissionn but the evidence is weak.
- A study of a GP service aimed at patients who are referred for urgent medical admission by a GP in the ommunity showed a small reduction in admissions to the medical assessment unit.
- Making a senior emergency medicine clinician available to review patients in the ED has been shown to reduce inpatient admissions by 12 % and specifically reduced admissions to the acute medical assessments unit by 21%.
The paper finds that there is insufficient evidence to support many of the interventions currently being implemented and concludes that policy-makers, providers and commissioners can introduce a number of changes that have proved to be effective in reducing admissions and includes recommendations for all of these groups, emphasising the importance of using evidence-based interventions.
Source: "Avoiding hospital admissions: what does the research evidence say?" King's Fund , Dec 2010
Monday, June 06, 2011
Free access to research articles on E. coli bacteria
During the past few weeks, a significant increase in the number of patients as a result of eating salad infected with E.Coli has been reported in Europe, especially in Germany.
The Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Springer Science+Business Media, said, "As a global scientific, technical and medical publisher, Springer plays a major role in the distribution of scientific information and access to knowledge and research. Therefore we are making all studies, published up to now on the E. coli bacteria, freely available online on SpringerLink. By doing this, we hope to play a small part in helping researchers and medical professionals solve, or at the very least alleviate, this crisis."
Springer Science+Business Media is offering all journal articles and book chapters which deal with the E. coli bacteria free of charge at SpringerLink. The articles can be found by using the search terms "Enterohaemorrhagic and Escherichia and coli".
A total of over 400 scientific articles are available to print out or download from now until 1 September 2011. The articles which are available free of charge concern the better-known and less aggressive strain E. coli 0157:H7.
Springer Science+Business Media is a leading global scientific publisher, in the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide.
The Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Springer Science+Business Media, said, "As a global scientific, technical and medical publisher, Springer plays a major role in the distribution of scientific information and access to knowledge and research. Therefore we are making all studies, published up to now on the E. coli bacteria, freely available online on SpringerLink. By doing this, we hope to play a small part in helping researchers and medical professionals solve, or at the very least alleviate, this crisis."
Springer Science+Business Media is offering all journal articles and book chapters which deal with the E. coli bacteria free of charge at SpringerLink. The articles can be found by using the search terms "Enterohaemorrhagic and Escherichia and coli".
A total of over 400 scientific articles are available to print out or download from now until 1 September 2011. The articles which are available free of charge concern the better-known and less aggressive strain E. coli 0157:H7.
Springer Science+Business Media is a leading global scientific publisher, in the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
UCLP library project
In March 2009, 5 academic health science centres (AHSC) were officically formed and recognised by the Government, these are partnerships between a university and NHS Trust with the aim to improve the quality of health services by bringing research, educaton and patient care closer together. AHSCs include :
Cambridge University Health Partners
Imperial College AHSC
King's Health Partners
Manchester AHSC
UCL Partners
JISC Collections, the UK academic community e-content procurement service, major STM publishers and database suppliers have agreed on a 1-year pilot programme that will allow the univeristies at the AHSCs to extend access to their subscribed content to their partner NHS organisations. Publishers include Elsevier, Nature, Springer, Thomson Reuters and Wolters Kluwer Health have granted extended access at no additional cost for 2011.
Works are underway to link the resources to Athens, once activated, they will be available through MyAthens. The project will end on 31 December 2011.
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