...SALMI BT. BAHAROM ESSAY ON SOFTWARE FAILURE (FAILURE OF RADIATION-THERAPY MACHINE) SOFTWARE FAILURE IN RADIATION THERAPY MACHINE Computer programmers spend a lot of time debugging software, yet end users like us still encounter bugs or problem while using those software. Computers bugs can result in many errors including unexpected program crashes or even can result in many troubles such as lost cost, reputation of the software product or even life. There are many software failures out there that we can find and learn from their mistakes. This is what happens at National Cancer Institute, Panama City on November 2000 which at least has eight unluckily patients die, while another 20 receive overdose concerned will get risk of health problems or serious complications from radiation. Twelve years ago, Victor Garcia considers himself lucky to be alive which a combination of cancer and miscalculation almost killed him. The software which created by Multidata System International, a U.S firm get trouble due to limitations of the computer program that guided use of a radiation-therapy machine. It is also miscalculates the proper dosage of radiation for patients undergoing radiation therapy. In order to use this software, it is allows a radiation therapist to draw on a computer screen then the placement of metal shields called “blocks” designed to protect healthy tissue from the radiation. But then again, the Multidata’s software...
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...Not knowing her destiny the only thing she could do was pray because she still had two children to raise. Before she started her radiation treatments her doctor explained she would no longer be able to bare children, she would be weak from the treatments, she would have treatments five days a week, twice a day lasting for 12-13 weeks, and the dosage of radiation her body would be enduring would be a total of 240 degrees. Melody agreed and started her treatments March of 1996. The radiation placed wear and tear on her body which caused her to drop to a size zero and was weighing in at 97 pounds. Her body was taking in so much of radiation causing her to become so weak that carrying or picking up a gallon of milk was a hard task. Throughout her treatment process she carried a foul rotten odor (similar something that smelled like metallic) from her body due to the excessive amounts of radiation she was receiving. Lastly, she was unable to sleep or eat. Going to bed and waking up hungry was a bad feeling and was causing her body to deteriorate. Melody did this for weeks until one day while taking a nap GOD came to her in a dream and fed her orange juice. While feeding her the orange juice he said to her, “Always drink orange juice.” Waking from that nap she felt replenished and full. By the time 1997 had rolled around, Melody had completed her radiation treatments. Her cancer had shrunk from the size of a lemon to the size of a sesame seed and has...
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...lack evidence of curing cancer more effectively. The issue that arises about the topic is that there are cheaper alternatives of radiation, that cancer patients can receive for fraction of the price of proton beam therapy which can cost $50,000 a treatment. During these hard economic times it is unreasonable to follow through with the outrageous sum of money it requires and yet it does not have any significant scientific evidence it can cure cancer. Therefore the money going towards the proton beam technology is better used elsewhere. Instead of spending the outrageous sum of money on the two new proton beam treatment facilities at the Mayo Clinic which are located in Minnesota and Arizona because it will cost more than $180 million dollars each. The claim that the authors wanted to make to the public is that the proton beam technology should not be invested in because of its high risk and low reward . The benefit cost analysis of having proton beam technology compare to not having it, is pretty obvious. The proton beam technology is inferior to other forms of radiation treatment for cancer patients even though it cost twice as much. Therefore the money invested in the technology would be better served elsewhere. There only has been one random trial with a small insignificant sample size using the proton beam radiation. With such a small number of patients...
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...TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS (TNA) THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGISTS® The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists Strategic Priorities 2010 - 2014 Name of document and version: Training Needs Analysis (TNA), Version 1 Prepared by: Kelly Menzel - Educational Development Manager Sharon Messina - Director, Education and Research Submitted to: Endorsed by College Council, 21 July 2011 ABN 37 000 029 863 Copyright for this publication rests with The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists ® The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists Level 9, 51 Druitt Street Sydney NSW 2000, Australia Email: ranzcr@ranzcr.edu.au Website: www.ranzcr.edu.au Telephone: + 61 2 9268 9777 Facsimile: + 61 2 9268 9799 2 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….3 2. WHAT IS A TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS? ………………………...……4 3. BENEFITS OF UNDERTAKING A TNA……………………………………..6 4. INITIAL QUESTIONS ………………………………………………………..6 5. METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………8 6. TRAINING NEEDS IDENTIFIED……………………………………………11 7. RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………………………18 8. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………...22 9. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………..24 10. BIBLOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….26 11. APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………………………..27 12. APPENDIX 2…………………………………………………………………..28 13. APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………………………..36 Education and Research Portfolio Training Needs Analysis 22 July 2011 Page 2 1) INTRODUCTION This training...
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...After extensive research, our team is very close to finding a cure to cancer, but we require funding. Our cure targets the uncontrolled replication of cancer cells because eliminating this eliminates tumors and the spread of cancer throughout the body. This has been done before through a class of drugs called mitotic inhibitors. Mitotic inhibitors stop or limit the replication of a cell and shut it down. (NIH) One drug called Vincasar is administered for cancer and damages the genetic material of the cell. That brings back the cell’s ability to use contact inhibition, a mechanism that makes cells stop dividing when they come into contact with like cells. (Chemocare, 2000-2016) However, mitotic inhibitors rarely recognize the difference between a healthy cell and a normal cell, which can damage the healthy cells around the site of injection. We are working on a way to control this but we are not sure if we will be able to reach that milestone. The drug that is being developed inhibits the activation of cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) in the cell. CDKs are enzymes control when a cell divides. (Medcell) During cancer, cells go through rapid replication so knocking out the CDKs will stop the cell from dividing. What the drug will essentially do is it will block the substrate from activating the enzyme, so the cancer cell never divides. (Virtual Chembook, 2003) The tumor can be safely removed after that without risk of spreading. The drug will be administered via injection in the tumor...
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...I have had very little experience in my life when it comes to dealing with cancer but that does not mean that I have not known someone who had to battle the disease. My uncle was diagnosed with male breast cancer five years ago and my high school track coach was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago. The tissue that is mostly affected by breast cancer is the glandular tissues which is a form of epithelial tissues. The tissue that I believed is mostly affected by lung cancer is the loose connective tissue which is a form of connective tissue. Loose connective tissue surrounds many internal organs and the lung is an internal organ. My uncle and track coach both were treated with chemotherapy for their cancer. The steps that I think society...
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...century; and the search for a cure is rather nebulous. However, the use of alternative eastern medicine paired with western is slowly being recognized as cancer treatment’s missing link. Although some western scientists believe in structured, patented treatment, many cancer patients have become skeptical toward such. Western cancer treatment is based on objective studies and practices, including surgery and radiation therapy. Such treatments are costly; in fact, the mortality rates among patients that are uninsured are greater. Most diagnoses are made in the uninsured patient’s later stage of cancer. Therefore, radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy treatment can cost close to eight hundred thousand dollars without insurance. The estimated yearly cost of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery in the U.S. is 226.8 billion dollars. Often surgery is attempted immediately following the cancer diagnosis. If tumor tissue has been completely removed, the chances for survival are great. However, there is a chance the tumor may metastasize. Chemotherapy and radiation...
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...Running Head: THERAC-25 CASE STUDY Therac-25 Case Study Therac-25 Case Study Therac-25 is a radiation therapy machine that was used for treating patients with cancer. The machine and its predecessors, Therac-6 and Therac-20, was a product from the collaboration of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and a French company called CGR (Leveson, n.d., p. 2). It is this machine that will cause other developers and manufacturers to rethink how to develop machines that will impact people’s lives. The Therac-25 was involved in six massive overdoses that cost three people’s lives, while the machine gave the operator error messages or a message that states that no dose was given (Baase, 2008, p. 425). After the first accident, some users became skeptical of the safety of the device. Yet, the manufacturer turned a blind eye on the matter. They responded to the incident that they have fixed the problem. In the following months, five more accidents occurred. In each incident, the manufacturer, the computer programmer, and the clinic/hospital using the Therac-25 have some responsibilities and flaws that need to be addressed. The Problems Manufacturer What would be the first thing that a manufacturer needs to do when they have an incident with one of their products? It should be the recall of that product, in this case the Therac-25. The Therac-25 can help a person ailing with cancer with its beam but the beam itself would be too harmful to the patient. Any medical equipment...
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...Alexander King Dr. Akl English 1020-017 24 Nov. 2014 Prostate and Prejudice Introduction A man that has been treated for prostate cancer can never, on his own, have an erection hard enough to sexually satisfy either himself or his sexual partner. Prostate cancer is as common in men as breast cancer is in women, yet prostate cancer receives little compare to the massive amounts of money and publicity that breast cancer receives every year. The lasting effect from a disease that attacks what is essentially and biologically male is both physically and psychologically devastating to the victim to say the least. With a low survival rate, prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent and lethal disease faced specifically by men. Though breast cancer has caught the attention of the public, the fight against prostate cancer remains underfunded and woefully hidden behind the shadows of other diseases like ALS and cervical cancer; however, prostate cancer remains a rapidly mutating threat to men everywhere that is just as serious as breast cancer due to its the extreme symptoms, embarrassing methods of diagnosis, painful and humiliating treatment options, and the poor quality of life after treatment. Symptoms of Advancing Prostate Cancer Initially, the symptoms of prostate cancer appear small, such as frequent urination, but painful signs of the disease’s spread will become undeniable as the disease progresses. Senior Lecturer, Harris G., at Anglia Polytechnic University lectures...
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...The Last Memory My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer when I was 10 years old. As the years went along, radiation stopped working and the caner began to spread all over his body. He passed away in October while I was here, and this trip was one of the last memories I had of him. Ever since the first summer I can possibly remember, my dad would take my sister and I out to our cabin up the bay. The boat ride on our skiff always seemed so long. I can still remember seeing a particular tree with what looked like a round ball on top of it, seeing this tree meant we were close to the cabin. I was to my right on an island that was small and had no name. It was about 50 ft tall, transpiring a light green contrast which distinguished it from the surrounding forestry. The lengthy arms and round object on top of the tree continually wave in my memory, as if welcoming me back. The air was fresh and scented with life. The smell was very pleasant which still brings back memories when I catch its trace. The skies looked majestic with soft clouds straggling about. Everything is so quiet; or is it? Sometimes dad would stop right when we were able to see the tree, and as soon as the skiff’s engine paused, sounds begun marvelously surfacing. The sounds seemed as if they could be heard only after I had taken a moment to slow my thoughts to the pace of the natural world around me. The sounds were of summer bugs, an occasional cry of a hawk, a whistling breeze, and the sound of the small waves...
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...Nurses-R-Us Newsletter November 9, 2015 Nurses-R-Us Newsletter November 9, 2015 Dear Employees The holidays are quickly approaching make sure you give the gift that will keep on giving Nurses-r-Us will be having a blood drive November 19, 2015 in the dining hall goal is 150 pints we need a gift of life donate. TAKE PART IN THE INCREDIBLE GIFT BASKET RAFFLE Join us Monday November 24, 2015, for a chance to win a beautiful gift basket. Tickets May be purchased in the Nurses –r-us lobby from 8a.m.-4p.m. Proceeds will go towards Angel Tree. Dear Employees The holidays are quickly approaching make sure you give the gift that will keep on giving Nurses-r-Us will be having a blood drive November 19, 2015 in the dining hall goal is 150 pints we need a gift of life donate. TAKE PART IN THE INCREDIBLE GIFT BASKET RAFFLE Join us Monday November 24, 2015, for a chance to win a beautiful gift basket. Tickets May be purchased in the Nurses –r-us lobby from 8a.m.-4p.m. Proceeds will go towards Angel Tree. BECOMEA MENTOR: Introducing Nurses-r-us Big Program Nurses-r-us are extending an opportunity for employees to participate in a school based mentoring program. The school based program is one-to-one mentoring, with children age’s six to 12 that takes place on school grounds during school hours. Employees will find one hour each week, with permission and coordination from their supervisor, to go to together. If would like to mentor and missed the interest meeting at the facility...
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...Green Light Laser Prostate Treatment Green light laser therapy is a procedure that uses a special high-energy laser for vaporizing extra prostate tissue. It is less invasive than traditional methods of prostate surgery, which involve cutting out the prostate tissue. Because the tissue is vaporized rather than cut out there is generally less blood loss. LET YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER KNOW ABOUT: Any allergies you have. Any medicines you are taking, including vitamins, herbs, eye drops, creams, and over-the-counter medication. Previous problems you or members of your family have had with the use of anesthetics. Any blood disorders you have. Previous surgeries you have had. Medical conditions you have. RISKS AND COMPLICATIONS Generally, green...
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... The American Cancer Society (ACS) (2015) provides detailed information about prostate and testicular cancer specifics. Some facts about the prostate will provide a better understanding of the effects of prostate cancer. As stated by the ACS (2015): The prostate is a gland found only in males. It sits below the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum. The size of the prostate changes with age. It grows rapidly during puberty, fueled by the rise in male hormones (called androgens) in the body, such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The prostate usually stays about the same size or grows slowly in adults, as long as male hormones are present. In younger men, it is about the size of a walnut, but it can be much larger in older men. The prostate’s job is to make some of the fluid that protects and nourishes sperm cells in semen, making the semen more liquid. Just behind the prostate are glands called seminal vesicles that make most of the fluid for semen. The urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, goes through the center of the prostate. Prostate cancer The prostate consists of several types of cells, but almost all prostate cancers develop from the gland cells (the cells that produce fluid added to the semen). A cancer that starts in gland cells is called adenocarcinoma. Other types of cancer can also originating from the prostate gland include: • Sarcomas • Small cell carcinomas • Neuroendocrine tumors (other...
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...powerful and fast growing, that an aggressive approach is the only way to remove it. Unfortunately, this approach can also lead to destruction of the normal cells, tissues, and organs. Radiation therapy is a treatment that delivers high doses of radiation to a tumor or an area of cancer cells in order to shrink the tumor or eliminate it completely. When cells are exposed to high-energy radiation, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is targeted and damaged. Once that DNA is damaged beyond repair, the cells either stop dividing, or die off completely. To prevent healthy cells from being targeted, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) has been implemented into the treatment plan for some patients. IGRT utilizes positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, and computed tomography (CT) to obtain images of the area where the tumor or cancer is located (National Cancer Institute). These images are obtained before every treatment session so that the exact location of the cancer can be identified and targeted. These...
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...Gender Analysis on “P-noy’s SONA” In President Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address he mentioned the Expanded Z Benefit package where it provides free treatment in public hospitals for coronary bypass, cervical cancer and correcting holes and wrong positions of arteries in the heart. The original Z Benefit Package includes breast cancer, prostate cancer, at acute leukemia. President Noynoy Aquino also stated that it has now a total of 81% of Filipino citizens who have PhilHealth. I think that in this aspect both genders regarding male or female are provided Health Benefits that will attend to their needs. Although it is known that there are not enough nurses and doctors in our country it is good that the government gives aid to people that not centers only to a particular illness, they offer aids for both female and male illness. Although I think the offered aids are more beneficiary to women since breast and cervical cancer are only for women. The increase in the percentage of Filipino citizen having PhilHealth is also good for women especially those who will be in labor since it can lessen their hospital fees. In the SONA President Noynoy Aquino also mentioned that 85% of the TESDA electronics and semiconductor program graduates now have jobs. I think in this aspect women are not given the same opportunity since most of those who takes electronics and semiconductor programs are men. There should also be equal opportunity that should be given to women. The concept...
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