Long-span construction: Ultra light-weight cloud arch architectural technology for sustainable construction

 

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Cloud Arch on display at Marina Bay Sands.

A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed Cloud Arch^TM, an innovative, ultra-light architecture that will revolutionise the way large open public spaces, such as market, airport, stadium, concert hall, factory, are built.

This patent-pending technology is jointly developed by a research team led by Japanese architect Assistant Professor Shinya Okuda, who is from the NUS School of Design and Environment, and Professor Tan Kiang Hwee from the NUS Faculty of Engineering, in collaboration with structural engineering consultancy firm Web Structures.

Cloud Arch^TM is a new generation of architectural technology that harnesses ultra-light materials to meet the construction needs of sustainable future. The first prototype debuted as one of the two winners of Archifest 2014 Pavilion Competition that was held in Singapore from May to June 2014. Cloud Arch^TM was on display from 26 September to 11 October 2014.

Assistant Professor Shinya Okuda, who is from the NUS Department of Architecture, said, "Shed is one of the most primitive forms of architecture. We are interested in creating column-free space in a way that saves materials and time, by using ultra lightweight materials. We decided to use Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam, a widely used packaging material. More than 95% of this material is air, and its composite can be fire-resistant. After two years of prototyping and structural testing, we successfully developed a technique to control the composite material and applied it for the construction of long-span structures. This novel technology has been granted a provisional US patent."

"We have also developed several prototypes -- starting from a mere 4-metre span, to the current design comprising two sets of 14-metre span in the form of the Pavilion. As the design looks like a floating cloud, we called it Cloud Arch^TM," added Asst Prof Okuda.

Cloud Arch^TM: Lightweight, scalable, reduces costs and setup time

Elaborating on the merits of Cloud Arch^TM, Asst Prof Okuda said, "Structurally optimised forms are often doubly curved. By applying digital fabrication technology on the EPS foam, we could shape complex forms in a fast and cost-efficient manner. As the material is extremely lightweight, we could achieve significant savings in terms transportation cost as well as the time taken to set up and dismantle the structures. With Cloud Arch^TM, we hope to reduce the construction cost by one-third and construction time by half, compared to conventional construction materials, such as concrete."

Professor Tan Kiang Hwee, who is from the NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, added, "EPS foam has almost similar compression strength to weight ratio as concrete and is currently used as landfill for landscape works. We are also testing its composite properties when reinforced with bonded fabric as a possible material for permanent construction."

Dr. Hossein Rezai, Director of Web Structures, which has been conducting structural simulations of the Cloud Arch commented, "A very encouraging fact is that, we have barely needed to increase the EPS composite thickness for the longer spans, but only to reinforce its composite strength. This implies that Cloud Arch's advantageous ultra-lightweight, will be further realised when the target spans get longer."

The research team's next step will be to develop a 24-metre span factory roofing prototype. This project is supported by the NUS-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation (I³) Centre, which was set up jointly by NUS and JTC Corporation in 2011 to promote the development of innovative and sustainable industrial infrastructure solutions in Singapore. Other possible applications of the technology include developing longer spans for airplane hangars.

Mr David Tan, Assistant CEO of JTC Corporation's Development Group, said, "JTC is glad to support the project through the NUS-JTC I³ Centre. We hope that the Centre will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and explore new possibilities in sustainable industrial infrastructure solutions, land intensification, planning and design, and systems integration and optimisation, to support the transformation and growth of Singapore's industrial landscape."

Mr Theodore Chan, 54th President of Singapore Institute of Architect and Chairman of the Jury Panel for the Archifest 2014 Pavilion competition noted in the competition's announcement letter dated 4 July 2014, "A breakthrough in technology, the patent-filed structural-foam of Cloud Arch^TM intrinsically lends itself to a statement of true architectural form. The innovative use of fire-resistant structural foam coupled with technological research and rigorous testing, is a commendable effort on the part of the architect-designers behind Cloud Arch^TM. The efficiently spanned arched roof immediately achieves a 'wow' factor together with relative ease and speed of construction. In today's context of the industry's drive towards enhanced productivity and buildability, Cloud Arch^TM represents great promise in material technology advancement."

On his vision for future applications of Cloud Arch^TM, Asst Prof Okuda said, "20th century visionary R. Buckminster Fuller once envisioned his invention Geodesic dome to cover 3km radius over the Manhattan in the 1960's for the energy efficient built environment. We hope that the Cloud Arch^TM could make such a great impact on the sustainable built environment in the 21st Century."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by National University of Singapore. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

DARPA unveils Ground X-Vehicle Technologies display concept

 

DARPA’s concept provides the driver with a closed cockpit, that's equipped with visualization technologies (Image: DARPA)

DARPA’s Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T) program, announced earlier this year, aims to move away from the traditional battle tank paradigm – creating a new class of faster, more agile vehicles that are better at negotiating terrain and detecting targets. Today, the agency has provided the first details on what this new breed of ground-based armoured vehicles might look like.

While a lot of military research continues to focus on adding greater resilience to existing vehicles, DARPA’s new initiative is tackling the problem in a different way. The goal of the GXV-T program is to create a new type of all-terrain vehicle that’s smaller, faster and provides the crew with a similar level of awareness as that afforded to fighter pilots.

The agency is focusing on the latter point first, working to improve the situational awareness of the vehicle’s driver by means of heads-up visualization technology. A concept video has been released that highlights a number of potential technologies and approaches that may make their way into the final vehicles.

The heavily armored nature of battle tanks means that situational awareness is inherently lower than with other vehicles, such as fighter jets, where wide-angle cockpits are the norm. DARPA’s concept aims to tackle this by providing the driver with a closed cockpit that incorporates visualization technologies to provide wide-angle, high-definition visibility of external conditions.

The projected display shown in the video is able to highlight optimal routes over difficult terrain, show both infrared and terrain classification views, as well as visually track both allies and adversaries. The concept vehicle also includes autopilot abilities, allowing the driver to focus on strategic activities and decisions.

Having only been announced in August, GXV-T is still in the early stages of development, though DARPA is hoping to see the first vehicles roll out within two years of the April 2015 contract award date.

 

Source: DARPA

 

Just smile

Josh Groban and Martina McBride sing this song magnificently. Download them and you’ll agree with me. .

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'Sepsis sniffer' generates faster sepsis care, suggests reduced mortality

 

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Craig A. Umscheid, MD, MSCE, director of Penn’s Center for Evidence-based Practice

An automated early warning and response system for sepsis developed by Penn Medicine experts has resulted in a marked increase in sepsis identification and care, transfer to the ICU, and an indication of fewer deaths due to sepsis. A study assessing the tool is published online in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection; it can severely impair the body's organs, causing them to fail. There are as many as three million cases of severe sepsis and 750,000 resulting deaths in the United States annually. Early detection and treatment, typically with antibiotics and intravenous fluids, is critical for survival.

The Penn prediction tool, dubbed the "sepsis sniffer," uses laboratory and vital-sign data (such as body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure) in the electronic health record of hospital inpatients to identify those at risk for sepsis. When certain data thresholds are detected, the system automatically sends an electronic communication to physicians, nurses, and other members of a rapid response team who quickly perform a bedside evaluation and take action to stabilize or transfer the patient to the intensive care unit if warranted.

The study developed the prediction tool using 4,575 patients admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) in October 2011. The study then validated the tool during a pre-implementation period from June to September 2012, when data on admitted patients was evaluated and alerts triggered in a database, but no notifications were sent to providers on the ground. Outcomes in that control period were then compared to a post-implementation period from June to September 2013. The total number of patients included in the pre and post periods was 31,093.

In both the pre- and post-implementation periods, four percent of patient visits triggered the alert. Analysis revealed 90 percent of those patients received bedside evaluations by the care team within 30 minutes of the alert being issued. In addition, the researchers found that the tool resulted in:

•A two to three-fold increase in orders for tests that could help identify the presence of sepsis •A 1.5 to two-fold increase in the administration of antibiotics and intravenous fluids •An increase of more than 50 percent in the proportion of patients quickly transferred to the ICU •A 50 percent increase in documentation of sepsis in the patients' electronic health record

The study found a lower death rate from sepsis and an increase in the number of patients successfully discharged home, although these findings did not reach statistical significance.

"Our study is the first we're aware of that was implemented throughout a multihospital health system," said lead author Craig A. Umscheid, MD, MSCE, director of Penn's Center for Evidence-based Practice. "Previous studies that have examined the impact of sepsis prediction tools at other institutions have only taken place on a limited number of inpatient wards. The varied patient populations, clinical staffing, practice models, and practice cultures across our health system increases the generalizability of our findings to other health care settings."

Umscheid also noted that the tool could help triage patients for suitability of ICU transfer. "By better identifying those with sepsis requiring advanced care, the tool can help screen out patients not needing the inevitably limited number of ICU beds."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Craig A. Umscheid, Joel Betesh, Christine VanZandbergen, Asaf Hanish, Gordon Tait, Mark E. Mikkelsen, Benjamin French, Barry D. Fuchs. Development, implementation, and impact of an automated early warning and response system for sepsis. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1002/jhm.2259

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The World as I see it–An Essay by Einstein

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."

"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

Brazil

 

From its perch atop Corcovado Mountain, "Christ the Redeemer" oversees Rio de Janeiro.

Photograph by Christian Heeb

World Heritage Guide

• Central Amazon

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  Located on Brazil’s Costa Verde between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Parati offers culturally rich experiences to travelers whether you stay in town, outside of town, or out in the wilds.

• The Art of Brazilian Lace

  The laborious craft of bobbin lace came to Brazil with Portuguese colonists.

• Playing Rio

  Rio is a city of glamour and glitz—but also of poverty and violence in the favelas that climb its hills. With the Olympics coming in 2016, the slums are getting a face-lift.

• Megatransect the Amazon

  Get inspired with our Ultimate Adventure Bucket List, a collection of 40 trips that range from totally extreme to actually doable.

• The Wild Wet

  Cowboys, caimans, and mud come together in the Pantanal, where modern pressures threaten one of the world's largest wetlands.

• Brazil's Secret Societies Pictures

  Escaped slaves in Brazil created thousands of hidden societies, or quilombos, in the heart of the country. Today these communities are winning rights to their land—and helping protect it.

Brazil Map

Enlarge Map »

 

www.nationalgeographic.com

Sustainable city concepts going into action

 

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The European Commission has nominated the Triangulum project, led by Fraunhofer IAO and with the support of the Steinbeis-Europa Zentrum (SEZ), to be the lead project for the Smart Cities and Communities initiative. This project will transform designated urban districts into smart quarters in three forerunner cities and then transfer the concepts to three further cities. 23 European partners from urban municipalities, research, and industry are involved.

For its concept to develop smart urban districts, a consortium will develop a strategic partnership under the auspices of the Smart Cities and Communities initiative and will be led by Fraunhofer IAO. The project name Triangulum stands for the three points demonstrate, disseminate and reciprocate. The project will implement pioneering concepts in the three cities of Manchester (UK), Eindhoven (Netherlands), and Stavanger (Norway) with support from the European Union. Subsequently, the concepts will be transferred to Leipzig (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), and Sabadell (Spain). The project emerged from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's Morgenstadt (city of tomorrow) initiative.

"Our goal is to find viable solutions to make cities sustainable, smart, and livable in the future. To achieve this, we're implementing pioneering concepts for sustainable energy supply, mobility, and information technology, initially in three selected cities," explains Alanus von Radecki, project manager at Fraunhofer IAO, who has the lead role in the project.

Triangulum will transform the student quarter in Manchester known as the Corridor, which contains around 72,000 students, into a smart city district. This will entail renovating historical buildings and building up an autonomous energy grid to supply the entire district with heat and electricity. The grid will combine geothermal and district heating with two independently operating electricity grids and a fuel cell that can store excess energy. In addition, all conventional cars are to be banished from the district: according to the scientists' vision, only electric vehicles, bicycles, and the city's "Metrolink" electric tram will be allowed in the Corridor.

In Eindhoven, two districts will be transformed into sustainable living environments during the course of the project. The former Philips industrial complex in the "Strijp-S" neighborhood will become a creative smart district. An innovative concept to clean up contaminated land will double as a means of producing energy. A district-wide ICT solution will allow residents to access different kinds of infrastructure, such as booking electric vehicles from a district car sharing scheme or using smart parking concepts. In this way, the IT-based tool will help residents to develop sustainable patterns of energy and mobility behavior. In addition, electric buses will make city traffic more eco-friendly. A different set of challenges is posed by the Eckart-Vaartbroek district, where energy-efficiency renovations will be carried out on the social housing stock that predominates in this area. In order to precisely calculate the energy savings, the project will use an IT-based instrument capable of modeling costs and yield in a 3D visualization of the district.

For the inhabitants of the Norwegian city of Stavanger, electric vehicles are already a familiar sight. In spite of this, the city with the highest density of electric vehicles in Europe wants to be more than that, and would like to be a motor for development and growth.. A high-performance fiber optic network will ensure that data can be exchanged very rapidly. Various energy and mobility projects based on existing high-speed ICT infrastructure will help Stavanger to cleverly integrate energy and mobility solutions. Through sustainable, integrated solutions, Stavanger will lead the way to smarter cities in which companies, people, research institutes and communities can be connected in order to improve urban environments and encourage regional growth. The project also includes new public services, such as video solutions, that leverage the fiber optic infrastructure.

Consequently a secondary linchpin of the project is civic engagement and promoting citizen participation through workshops. "At the heart of our project is an ICT architecture that will be used in all three flagship cities. It is the foundation that enables the individual technologies in the city to be connected and coordinated with each other," says Alanus von Radecki. This standardized architecture also ensures that it will be possible to subsequently transfer the concepts to other cities -- as will be demonstrated when the project moves to its second phase in Leipzig, Prague, and Sabadell.

Triangulum was selected out of a total of 19 submissions by the European Commission to be part of the Smart Cities and Communities initiative and was also selected for a strategic partnership within the Horizon 2020 framework. The Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum accompanied the Fraunhofer IAO in the application process and will assist with administrative, financial and legal project coordination as well as the dissemination of project results.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation IAO. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Demand high for engineers in midwest

 

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Andrew Neary, a paint engineer with Vermeer in Pella, Iowa, discusses job opportunities with Cody Herman, a senior mechanical engineering major from Freeman, South Dakota. Vermeer was one of 105 companies at the Engineering Career Fair sponsored by the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State University Oct. 7.

Engineering students preparing to take their sheepskin and depart into the world of change orders and service requests are finding no shortage of companies wanting to take their resumes.

The Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State University organized its annual fall career fair Oct. 7, 2014, and a record 105 companies manned booths that overflowed the Volstorff Ballroom in the Student Union and took over the east hallway.

"This has got to be one of the best times I've seen for a graduating senior or one near graduation to be looking for an internship. This is outstanding," according Lew Brown, dean of the college since 2001.

Grace Regan, a civil engineering major from Stillwater, Minnesota, came to the Engineering Career Fair with a full-time job offer in hand as well as plans to head to graduate school in January. "But I'm seeing what's out here. With 105 companies, it never hurts to look around," she said.

Cody Herman, a mechanical engineering major from Freeman, was figuratively "out knocking on doors, looking to stay local."

The senior's preference is for an ag-related firm, "but I'm open for anything as long as there is a challenge involved. I like solving problems." He doesn't expect finding a job to be a long-term challenge. "There are plenty of jobs out there. Everybody is hiring or is going to hire in the near future."

List of job openings grows

One of the firms Herman met with was Vermeer, an ag and industrial equipment manufacturer based in Pella, Iowa, with a satellite facility in Herman's hometown of Freeman.

Vermeer's job listings have grown from three to seven pages in the past year, according to Andrew Neary, a paint engineer and a 2006 State graduate who headed the Joint Engineering Council when he was a senior. The council organizes the career fair, which is repeated in February.

"I've never seen this place so full. In my senior year, we had 63 booths and that was a record year," Neary said.

The 105 companies represent a 23 percent increase from the record 86 companies in 2013. Previous career fairs had been attracting between 60 and 70 companies.

This year's expo was the fifth time for Neary to represent Vermeer and the five-hour career fair definitely wasn't a chance to catch up on emails. "I've had times in the past where it's been stagnant. Today has been busy" for Neary as well as his Vermeer partner Tyler Schiferl, a '09 State grad.

Expo draws wide student interest

More than 400 students registered for the fair, including freshmen just gaining a feel for potential employers.

The breadth of companies present at the career fair also provides students exposure to the wide variety of work available to those in the engineering, technology and math fields. "Many students enroll in the college not knowing which field to enter, but knowing they will have plenty of options if their first choice doesn't fit them," Brown said.

The fair drew students from all nine of the college's majors and for the first year, architectural students were invited.

Regan said, "The College of Engineering is absolutely awesome about emailing students about the career fair; letting them know when it is, what to bring and how to be prepared."

One of the recruiters working the Volstorff hallways was Delvin DeBoer, who retired in 2012 after 33 years on the civil engineering department faculty.

"The words I said to students as a professor are the same as I say to them as an employer. You are seeking a work environment that is mutually attractive to you and the employer, so learn the characteristics of companies and approach them in a professional manner.

"Those minutes spent with company representative at the career fair make a significant first impression," said DeBoer, who is now in Fargo, North Dakota, with Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services.

'It's really competitive'

Scott Omland was at the career fair for a second year with Ottertail Power Co. of Big Stone City. The 2012 graduate went several times as a student and he has found a big difference being on the other side of the table. "It's a little less nerve wracking," the mechanical engineering graduate said with laugh.

Of course, for this year's crop of senior the tension is less.

Dean Brown said, "I remember the years when students would look around hoping for one offer. Now they've got several offers. You ask any of these employers, they'll tell you it's really competitive."

Omland agreed, "It's a time when companies are really looking to the engineering field. Everybody is looking for good engineers."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by South Dakota State University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Insisting only on randomised controlled trials for Ebola treatments unethical, impractical, say leading health experts

 

October 10, 2014

The Lancet

Leading health experts urge the deployment of alternative trial designs to fast-track the evaluation of new Ebola treatments. Senior health professionals and medical ethicists, from Africa, Europe, and USA, argue that although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide robust evidence in most circumstances, the lack of effective treatment options for Ebola, high mortality with the current standard of care, and the paucity of effective health care systems in the affected regions means that alternative trial designs need to be considered.

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Leading health experts today urge the deployment of alternative trial designs to fast-track the evaluation of new Ebola treatments. In a letter to The Lancet, 17 senior health professionals and medical ethicists, from Africa, Europe, and USA, argue that although randomised controlled trials (RCTs) provide robust evidence in most circumstances, the lack of effective treatment options for Ebola, high mortality with the current standard of care, and the paucity of effective health care systems in the affected regions means that alternative trial designs need to be considered.

They write that, "No-one insisted that western medical workers offered zMapp and other investigational products were randomised to receive the drug or conventional care plus a placebo. None of us would consent to be randomised in such circumstances. In cancers with a poor prognosis for which there are no good treatments, evidence from studies without a control group can be accepted as sufficient for deployment, and even for licensing by regulators, with fuller analysis following later. There is no need for rules to be bent or corners to be cut: the necessary procedures already exist, and are used."

"We accept that RCTs can generate strong evidence in ordinary circumstances; not, however, in the midst of the worst Ebola epidemic in history," they conclude. "The urgent need is to establish whether new investigational drugs offer survival benefits, and thus which, if any, should be recommended by WHO to save lives. We have innovative but proven trial designs for doing exactly that. We should be using them, rather than doggedly insisting on gold standards that were developed for different settings and purposes."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Clement Adebamowo, Oumou Bah-Sow, Fred Binka, Roberto Bruzzone, Arthur Caplan, Jean-François Delfraissy, David Heymann, Peter Horby, Pontiano Kaleebu, Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, Piero Olliaro, Peter Piot, Abdul Tejan-Cole, Oyewale Tomori, Aissatou Toure, Els Torreele, John Whitehead. Randomised controlled trials for Ebola: practical and ethical issues. The Lancet, October 2014 DOI: 10.1016/ S0140-6736(14)61734-7

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