Use of gauze sponges that have been embedded with passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags presents a high probability of reducing or eliminating instances of gossypiboma, or retained surgical sponge. The use of human counts during surgical operations, especially during instances where unexpected or emergency events occur, can result in errors where surgical instruments, most often gauze sponges, are retained within the patient's body, leading to complications at a later date. Implementation of an automatic inventory record system, for instance, RFID, may greatly reduce these incidences by removing the human factor and would improve patient safety by eliminating the current sponge count protocol. Experiments performed by placing RFID-labeled sponges within an animal and removing them have demonstrated that tags are at least partially readable inside the body cavity and fully readable once removed, suggesting the possibility of an automated sponge count system pending further development of this technology.

PreTious computations of cross sections for tli© D-B aM B-f reactions were depenient tipon tliQ Icnowletge of tb© energy loss of denterons aM tritons in ©2© ice targets. The Tallies for il-in ax tiie proton eaergj range of O-40 keT were very ttaeertain and it t/as Tirtiially impossibl© to estimate a probaM© error for tlie cross sections. Beeent,experimeiital work at tlie Uaivorsitj of Sebraska^^ on the energy loss of protoas in Il^&ad Ogliave boeii suffieiently coasistaat to eorreet tlie results of tlie measuremejifcs of Bretselier, Wmmh, and S3del. '*^^^ The followine discussion does not describe tto Metiofls used by tMs laboratory la lualciag tlie ^ measureaeats nor attempt to ©valuate the resultant cross sections. It waa felt tliat a new ©stiaate of tlie cross sections would be of sufficient Interest to warrant til© Patlier unusual ppoceciure of using tlie results of the & lasasaremeiits prior to a complete aescription of aetliods. {.1; Uiiiiublislied.

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In this paper, we introduce a framework for implementing Six Sigma. We utilise the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) to operationalise Six Sigma implementation. By defining Six Sigma as projects aimed at achieving specific goals, we address the importance of executive commitment and the role of Black Belts in effective implementation of Six Sigma projects. In addition we link implementation of Six Sigma with quality management and the PDCA cycle. Several propositions have been developed and key areas of research have been identified.

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The rapid growth of the Internet as an environment for information exchange and the lack of en-forceable standards regarding the information it contains has lead to numerous information qual ity problems. A major issue is the inability of Search Engine technology to wade through the vast expanse of questionable content and return "quality" results to a user's query. This paper attempts to address some of the issues involved in determining what quality is, as it pertains to information retrieval on the Internet. The IQIP model is presented as an approach to managing the choice and implementation of quality related algorithms of an Internet crawling Search Engine.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are usually synthesized by catalytic growth driven by reaction of a precursor gas over metallic nanoparticles supported on a substrate. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations (MD) with the purpose of determining how the catalyst−substrate strength of adhesion influences the structure of the carbon networks synthesized on the catalyst surface. It is found that the strength of the catalyst/substrate interaction energies defines the shape of the catalyst particle. When these energies are attractive, the nanocatalyst height decreases due to enhanced wetting and in turn favors the lifting up of carbon nanotube caps during the synthesis process. In addition, the presence of an appropriate substrate may avoid catalyst poisoning. This effect may result from repulsion forces from the substrate toward catalyzed carbon atoms, which cause carbon atoms to diffuse to upper layers, thus keeping the catalyst−substrate interface exposed to continuous catalytic activity. However, too strong metal−substrate interactions may take the cluster to the limit of complete wetting, thus promoting the formation of graphene or amorphous carbon over carbon nanotube-like structures. A growth diagram is constructed in the space of metal−substrate vs metal−carbon strengths of adhesion. The growth diagram defines regions of nanotube growth and encapsulation; in the first we are able to identify also zones of higher or lower quality of the nanotubes grown. This theoretical characterization is very useful to guide a controlled synthesis.

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