Samuli Niiranen

Quantum Biology on the Edge of Quantum Chaos

We give a new explanation for why some biological systems can stay quantum coherent for a long time at room temperature, one of the fundamental puzzles of quantum biology. We show that systems with the right level of complexity between chaos and regularity can increase their coherence time by orders of magnitude. Systems near Critical Quantum Chaos or Metal-Insulator Transition (MIT) can have long coherence times and coherent transport at the same time. The new theory tested in a realistic light harvesting system model can reproduce the scaling of critical fluctuations reported in recent experiments. Scaling of return probability in the FMO light harvesting complex shows the signs of universal return probability decay observed at critical MIT. The results may open up new possibilities to design low loss energy and information transport systems in this Poised Realm hovering reversibly between quantum coherence and classicality.

Toward Reflective Management of Emergency Department Chief Complaint Information

An approach coined as ldquoreflective information managementrdquo is presented as a technique for the management of emergency department chief complaint information. The architecture of a system integrating principles from this approach is described and its performance is evaluated in providing categorical information from free-text chief complaints for use, e.g., in automated syndromic surveillance.

Proposed Model of a Digital Video-Based Home Telecare System

The purpose of our study was to develop a generic reference model for home telecare in a digital television environment and to suggest how it might be deployed at a test village. We describe here an architecture based on digital video broadcast standards, its components, services, and required additional technical solutions to provide a unified home telecare solution. We also suggest different user groups within the village context and possible service scenarios for them. We conclude that, in general, digital television provides a potentially flexible and promising platform for home telecare services.

Health-related services on the internet.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate a sample of health-related services available on the internet. In addition, types of new services and service qualities that may be required in the future were estimated. A registered nurse using a questionnaire containing items about usability, quality, and other characteristics related to the subject carried out an evaluation of 100 health-related internet sites, and the results were processed to determine average qualities and graphical presentations for the studied parameters. The services studied differed greatly from each other both in terms of content and quality. A general observation was that sites of larger organizations were, typically, both in terms of presentation and content, more sophisticated than sites of smaller producers. A typical characteristic was the superficiality of the information presented. In conclusion, the internet is an emerging medium for health-related information, and standards for the production and presentation of health content for the internet are still in development. However, even at this early stage, the internet represents a valuable source of information for those in need of health-related information for both health care professionals and consumers.

Domain-specific analytical language modeling--the chief complaint as a case study.

PURPOSE A large share of the information in electronic medical records (EMRs) consists of free-text compositions. From a computational point-of-view, the continuing prevalence of free-text entry is a major hindrance when the goal is to increase automation in EMRs. However, the efforts in developing standards for the structured representation of medical information have not proven to be a panacea. The information space of clinical medicine is very diverse and constantly evolving, making it challenging to develop standards for the domain. This paper reports a study aiming to increase automation in the EMR through the computational understanding of specific class of medical text in English, namely emergency department chief complaints. METHODS We apply domain-specific analytical modeling for the computational understanding of chief complaints. We evaluate the performance of this approach in the automatic classification of chief complaints, e.g., for use in automatic syndromic surveillance. RESULTS The evaluation in a multi-hospital setting showed that the presented algorithm was accurate in terms of classification correctness. Also, use of approximate matching in the algorithm to cope with typographic variance did not affect classification correctness while increasing classification completeness.

Open Information Management: Applications of Interconnectivity and Collaboration

Contemporary digital tools have revolutionized the storing, transfer, and processing of information management. Open Information Management: Applications of Interconnectivity and Collaboration provides a practical-level reference discussing the impact of emerging trends in information technology towards solutions capable of managing information within open, principally unbounded, operational environments. This book can be utilized in advanced courses in knowledge management, information technology, and business education, and also serve as an excellent addition to library reference sections and research collections.

A cost study of new media supported near oral anticoagulant treatment follow-up

OBJECTIVE In this study we sought to develop a comparative cost evaluation between conventional and new media, e.g. web, mobile communication technology and digital television, and near patient testing supported anticoagulant (ac) treatment follow-up in a primary health care setting. METHOD The comparison was done for two patient groups, self-care and home-care patients, on oral ac treatment in the primary health care centre of the rural and sparsely populated municipality of Ikaalinen. In practise case analysis was used to develop cost functions from collected economic data, which were analysed to determine the break-even point in total cost between conventional and new media supported follow-up for the two patient groups. RESULTS In the home-care setting the break-even point is 14 patients; in the self-care setting new media supported follow-up is always more cost-effective. CONCLUSION The results illustrate that the use of new media and near patient testing in ac treatment follow-up brings about an economic benefit even with a small number of patients in the Ikaalinen setting. However, the sensitivity of break-even to perturbations in the individual costs of the used economic models remains high. Still, when the economic benefits are considered together with the clinical and practical benefits shown to result from self-testing, self-management and use of new media technologies the new service models can be said to provide noticeable benefits both in terms of quality of care and economics in our specific setting.

Feasibility of personal prothrombin time measurement in anticoagulant treatment follow-up:

Sir, The number of patients on anticoagulant treatment with warfarin in Finland has increased by 50% in the past six years, according to drug sale statistics. Approximately 1% of the Finnish population is now on anticoagulant treatment. This trend results from an ageing population and from an increased knowledge of the benefits of anticoagulant treatment in various conditions1. It has been established that oral anticoagulant control can be reliably monitored by a general practioner2. However, a significant increase in the need for anticoagulant treatment calls for new methods of management. Portable prothrombin time meters can provide a telecare approach to treatment follow-up. We have conducted a preliminary study of the use of a personal prothrombin time meter in place of conventional laboratory testing. We investigated whether the prothrombin time results of a portable meter correspond to laboratory results. We also investigated how anticoagulant levels would behave during the long intervals between laboratory tests, to establish whether current laboratory follow-up testing can adequately track changes in anticoagulant levels.We wanted to compare the problems and benefits of the current centralized testing routine with those of a personal testing routine.

Analysis of computer-supported oral anticoagulant treatment follow-up workflow

The objective is to explore the impact of computer-supported reorganization of oral anticoagulation treatment follow-up in a multi-year, multi-clinic pilot study. The focus is on how changes in workflow, namely in anticoagulation workload distribution between nurses and physicians, interact with the quality of care immediately after initial deployment and then later on during the pilot study. The results show that decreases in the physicians time allocation did not result in a lessened quality of care during periods after reorganization.

Natural Language and Biological Information Processing

Our ability to use natural language to communicate and co-operate with others is one of the defining characteristics of human intelligence. Much work has been put into developing theories which would explain the structure of language and how it relates to the information processing capabilities of the human mind. In this chapter we philosophically discuss natural language faculty as a being a mechanism conveying embodied information and natural language as such information.