Point Lepreau refurbishment: plant condition assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, P.J.; Soulard, M.R.; David, F.; Clefton, G.; Weeks, R.

2001-01-01

New Brunswick Power (NB Power) has initiated a study into the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau Generating Station, with the objective to extend plant operation another 25 to 30 years. The end product of this study will be a business case that compares the costs of refurbishing Point Lepreau with costs of alternate means of generation. The Project Execution Plan and business case are being developed by an integrated team of AECL, NB Power and subcontractor staff under the project management of AECL. The refurbishment scope will include replacement of the pressure tubes, calandria tubes and part of the feeder piping. Planning of these replacements is part of the refurbishment study work. Planning is also underway for the environmental, safety and licensing issues that would need to be addressed to ensure future operation of the unit. In addition to these studies, a systematic review of the plant has been carried out to determine what other equipment refurbishment or replacement will be required due to ageing or obsolescence of plant equipment. This Plant Condition Assessment (PCA) follows a highly structured approach to ensure consistency. This paper presents an overview of the engineering process and the main findings from the work. (author)

The Engagement in Physical Activity for Middle-Aged and Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: Findings from a Community Health Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Chen Lee

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The current aging trends accompanying the increasing prevalence of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs and decreasing participation in physical activity (PA have swept the United States. In light of the magnitude of this phenomenon, this study seeks to identify the most common MCC combinations and their relationships with PA level. A cross-sectional study, Brazos Valley Health Assessment, was conducted between October 2009 and July 2010. All data analyses were performed by STATA 12.0. The overall sample which met the inclusion criteria is 2,603. Among people older than 45 years, chronic conditions of cardiovascular, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems were the most prevalent. Participants with three chronic conditions were less likely to meet the PA standard than those with only two chronic conditions. Younger age, women, rural residence, and unsafe environments were related to the lower PA level. After adjusting for seven covariates, all MCCs combinations adversely affect the level of PA (, . People with MCCs were among the least active subgroups despite the health benefits of doing exercise. Given the well-documented benefits of physical activity for delaying the onset or progression of MCCs, public health efforts to enhance regular PA in middle-aged and older adults are recommended.

Evolving inspection technologies for reliable condition assessment of components and plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldev Raj

1994-01-01

Condition assessment of components and plants are being done regularly in many an industry. The methodologies adopted are being continuously refined. However, each of these methodologies are being applied in isolation, without realizing the synergistic advantage we derive when a global approach is taken for condition assessment. Developments in a variety of fields, that have a definite bearing on the reliability of condition assessment, are not applied (or even thought that they could be applied) together. The possible impact of evolving technologies in enhancing the efficiency of condition assessment of components and plants are discussed. (author). 11 refs

Utility of Social Modeling for Proliferation Assessment - Preliminary Findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coles, Garill A.; Gastelum, Zoe N.; Brothers, Alan J.; Thompson, Sandra E.

2009-01-01

Often the methodologies for assessing proliferation risk are focused around the inherent vulnerability of nuclear energy systems and associated safeguards. For example an accepted approach involves ways to measure the intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to potential proliferation. This paper describes preliminary investigation into non-traditional use of social and cultural information to improve proliferation assessment and advance the approach to assessing nuclear material diversion. Proliferation resistance assessment, safeguard assessments and related studies typically create technical information about the vulnerability of a nuclear energy system to diversion of nuclear material. The purpose of this research project is to find ways to integrate social information with technical information by explicitly considering the role of culture, groups and/or individuals to factors that impact the possibility of proliferation. When final, this work is expected to describe and demonstrate the utility of social science modeling in proliferation and proliferation risk assessments.

Unexpected pathological findings in skills training and assessing skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boendermaker, PM; Pols, J; Scherpbier, AJJA

This article draws attention to unexpected pathological findings encountered by students and teachers when examining one another and/or simulated patients in skips training and assessment sessions. Although no literature on the subject was found it appears to be not uncommon far students and

Comparison of methods used in European countries to assess buildings' condition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vilhena, A.; Costa Branco De Oliveira Pedro, J.A.; De Brito, J.

2011-01-01

This paper presents a comparative analysis of methods used in European countries to assess buildings’ condition. The following methods were compared: a Portuguese method to assess buildings condition, an English housing health and safety rating system, a French method to assess buildings that may be

Clinical and ultrasonographic findings of some ocular conditions in sheep and goats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. El-Tookhy

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study was carried out to describe the ultrasonographic findings in relation to the clinical symptoms of some common ocular conditions in sheep and goats. Fifty animals (32 goats and 18 sheep with different ocular problems were examined. Ultrasonographic examination was performed using a B-mode ocular ultrasound unit, and the structure of the globe was evaluated at a depth of 4-6 cm. Early cases (n=35, 70% showed varying ocular conditions; hypopyon, (n=8, 16%, stromal abscesses, (n=4, 8%, and anterior uveitis (n=23, 46%. Hypopyon appeared clinically as a white or yellowish material in the anterior chamber, and ultrasonographically as a hyperechoic mass in the anterior chamber. Severe iridocyclitis was noticed in acute cases of infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC accompanied by blepharospasm, photophobia, excessive tearing and eyelid margin crust formation. Ultrasonographically, the pupil appeared constricted with increased hyperechoic thickening of the ciliary body. In chronic cases of IKC, corneal pigmentation (n=5, 10% and cataract (n=10, 20% were seen. Ultrasonographically the type and degree of cataract were diagnosed. The present study provides an inside view of the inner ocular structures during the course of certain eye diseases where ophthalmoscopic examination is not possible. Our findings, although preliminary, are relevant for the more complete diagnosis of certain external ocular conditions in sheep and goat herds.

Assessment of deep geological environment condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Dae Seok; Han, Kyung Won; Joen, Kwan Sik

2003-05-01

The main tasks of geoscientific study in the 2nd stage was characterized focusing mainly on a near-field condition of deep geologic environment, and aimed to generate the geologic input data for a Korean reference disposal system for high level radioactive wastes and to establish site characterization methodology, including neotectonic features, fracture systems and mechanical properties of plutonic rocks, and hydrogeochemical characteristics. The preliminary assessment of neotectonics in the Korean peninsula was performed on the basis of seismicity recorded, Quarternary faults investigated, uplift characteristics studied on limited areas, distribution of the major regional faults and their characteristics. The local fracture system was studied in detail from the data obtained from deep boreholes in granitic terrain. Through this deep drilling project, the geometrical and hydraulic properties of different fracture sets are statistically analysed on a block scale. The mechanical properties of intact rocks were evaluated from the core samples by laboratory testing and the in-situ stress conditions were estimated by a hydro fracturing test in the boreholes. The hydrogeochemical conditions in the deep boreholes were characterized based on hydrochemical composition and isotopic signatures and were attempted to assess the interrelation with a major fracture system. The residence time of deep groundwater was estimated by C-14 dating. For the travel time of groundwater between the boreholes, the methodology and equipment for tracer test were established

An improved fuzzy synthetic condition assessment of a wind turbine generator system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, H.; Hu, Y. G.; Yang, Chao

2013-01-01

This paper presents an improved fuzzy synthetic model that is based on a real-time condition assessment method of a grid-connected wind turbine generator system (WTGS) to improve the operational reliability and optimize the maintenance strategy. First, a condition assessment framework is proposed...... by analyzing the monitoring data of the WTGS. An improved fuzzy synthetic condition assessment method is then proposed that utilizes the concepts of deterioration degree, dynamic limited values and variable weight calculations of the assessment indices. Finally, by using on-line monitoring data of an actual...... 850 kW WTGS, real-time condition assessments are performed that utilize the proposed fuzzy synthetic method; the model’s effectiveness is also compared to a traditional fuzzy assessment method in which constant limited values and constant weights are adopted. The results show that the condition...

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 2: how to make an overall CERQual assessment of confidence and create a Summary of Qualitative Findings table.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewin, Simon; Bohren, Meghan; Rashidian, Arash; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Tunçalp, Özge; Wainwright, Megan; Flottorp, Signe; Tucker, Joseph D; Carlsen, Benedicte

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on making an overall assessment of confidence in a review finding and creating a CERQual Evidence Profile and a CERQual Summary of Qualitative Findings table. We developed this guidance by examining the methods used by other GRADE approaches, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We then piloted the guidance on several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the approach. Confidence in the evidence is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. Creating a summary of each review finding and deciding whether or not CERQual should be used are important steps prior to assessing confidence. Confidence should be assessed for each review finding individually, based on the judgements made for each of the four CERQual components. Four levels are used to describe the overall assessment of confidence: high, moderate, low or very low. The overall CERQual assessment for each review finding should be explained in a CERQual Evidence Profile and Summary of Qualitative Findings table. Structuring and summarising review findings, assessing confidence in those findings using CERQual and creating a CERQual Evidence

[HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT OF WORKING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYEES OF BROADCASTING CENTER].

Science.gov (United States)

Kovalenko, A V; Brusentsova, A V; Sokhoshko, I A; Rostikov, V P

2015-01-01

Hygienic assessment of working conditions of employees of the Omsk Regional Broadcasting Centre was performed on data of the analysis of materials of certification of workplaces. There were examined materials concerning 65 core profile workplaces, where 130 persons, including 35 women work. There was determined health risk for personnel in dependence on working conditions. The staff was noted to be exposed to the adverse impact of the following factors: chemical, physical (noise, general and local vibration, non-ionizing radiation, microclimate, lighting), severity and intensity ofwork. Class working conditions for 13,5% of workplaces on noise, 35.4% on non-ionizing radiation was assessed as a harmful of the first degree. Lightness indices at 78.5% of the workplaces did not meet the requirements of sanitary norms. At 7.7% of the workplaces levels of hardness of labor were assessed as harmful. The impact of such factors as biological, infrasound, ultrasound, ionizing radiation, aerosols with mainly fibrogenic action, was absent, their assessment was not carried out. Working conditions at 83.1% of workplaces were characterized as hazardous, including at 52.3% of the workplaces where there was established hazard class 3.1, at 30.7% of workplaces--Class 3.2. Among all the factors of occupational environment the largest contribution into the overall assessment of working conditions was made by the lightness factor (50.9%) and non-ionizing radiation (20.6%). The most harmful working conditions have been identified for workplaces of the operator of masthead antenna, engineer of radiocommunications, broadcasting and television, electromechanician of television (radiocommunication), (broadcasting), car driver.

(AJST) AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SOIL-CONDITIONING ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ABSTRACT:- This study assesses the soil conditioning capacity of tree gums based on the level of resistance to ... enable their destruction by microorganism and (2) minimize soil loss .... and moulded into a cylindrical core using a small plastic.

78 FR 43183 - Notice of Availability for Sharpe Permit Relinquishment Project Environmental Assessment Finding...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-19

... for Sharpe Permit Relinquishment Project Environmental Assessment Finding of No Significant Impact... Relinquishment Project Environmental Assessment (EA) Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). SUMMARY: On April... environment. Human environment was interpreted comprehensively to include the natural and physical environment...

Terrestrial laser scanning-based bridge structural condition assessment : InTrans project reports.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-01

Objective, accurate, and fast assessment of a bridges structural condition is critical to the timely assessment of safety risks. : Current practices for bridge condition assessment rely on visual observations and manual interpretation of reports a...

NNP-LANL Utilities - Condition Assessment and Project Approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stewart, Grant Lorenz [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-11-21

This report is a presentation on LANL Utilities & Transportation Asset Management; Utility Assets Overview; Condition Assessment; Utilities Project Nominations & Ranking; and Utilities Project Execution.

Building condition assessment: a performance evaluation tool towards sustainable asset management

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Abbott, GR

2007-05-01

Full Text Available of consistent condition assessments is generally underrated and seldom fully utilised. Condition assessments should be the basis for management and maintenance decisions in the built environment towards sustainable construction. Subsequent to the 1995 National...

75 FR 12581 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-16

... Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Exemption From 10 CFR 30, 40, and 70... Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Exemption from Commencement of Construction Requirements... has reached a Finding of No Significant Impact. II. Summary of the Environmental Assessment Background...

Assessment of senior pupils’ physical fitness considering physical condition indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.R. Bodnar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Consideration of physical condition indicators in assessment pupils’ physical fitness permits to differentiate training and health restoration processes at physical culture lessons. Purpose: to substantiate criteria for pupils’ physical fitness assessment, considering their physical condition indicators. Material: in the research 10-11 form pupils (n=406; 211boys and 195 girls participated. After physical fitness testing by requirement of acting programs we carried out diagnostic of pupils’ psycho-emotional state. Results: by results of physical; fitness we observed substantial deviation from universal law of normal distribution. It was found that physical condition indicators of most pupils are beyond normal. It was also determined that the most informative indicators are body length, chest circumference and body relative mass. We substantiated that it is necessary to consider physical condition indicators, when determining physical fitness level. We also substantiated and worked out differentiated normative for assessment pupils’ physical fitness. Conclusions: testing without consideration physical condition indicators does not facilitate pupils’ motivation for further physical self-perfection. Such testing results in high situational anxiety and unfavorable psycho-emotional state of pupils.

Peat drainage conditions assessment in Scotland

Science.gov (United States)

Poggio, Laura; Artz, Rebekka; Donaldson-Selby, Gillian; Aitkenhead, Matt; Donnelly, David; Gimona, Alessandro

2017-04-01

Large areas of Scotland are covered in peat, providing an important sink of carbon but also a notable source of emission where peatlands are not in good condition. However, despite data from designated sites that peat degradation is common, a detailed spatial assessment of the condition of most peatlands across the whole of Scotland is missing. An assessment of peatland drainage was carried out at >600 random sampling locations with an expert-based estimation of presence or absence of drainage ditches within a 500 metre block using 25 cm resolution aerial imagery. The resulting dataset was modelled using a scorpan-kriging approach, in particular using Generalised Additive Models for the description of the trend. Remote sensing images from different sensors (i.e. MODIS, Landsat and Sentinel 1 and 2) were used. In particular we used indices describing vegetation greenness (Enhanced Vegetation Index), water availability (Normalised Water Difference index), Land Surface Temperature and vegetation productivity. When considering MODIS indices we used time series and phenological summaries. The model provides also uncertainty of the estimations. The derived dataset can then be used in the decision making process for the selection of sites for restoration, emissions estimation and accounting.

42 CFR 486.348 - Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement (QAPI).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Coverage: Organ Procurement Organizations Organ Procurement Organization Process Performance Measures § 486.348 Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement (QAPI). The OPO must develop, implement... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Condition: Quality assessment and performance...

Reliability data update using condition monitoring and prognostics in probabilistic safety assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeonmin Kim

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA has had a significant role in quantitative decision-making by finding design and operational vulnerabilities and evaluating cost-benefit in improving such weak points. In particular, it has been widely used as the core methodology for risk-informed applications (RIAs. Even though the nature of PSA seeks realistic results, there are still “conservative” aspects. One of the sources for the conservatism is the assumptions of safety analysis and the estimation of failure frequency. Surveillance, diagnosis, and prognosis (SDP, utilizing massive databases and information technology, is worth highlighting in terms of its capability for alleviating the conservatism in conventional PSA. This article provides enabling techniques to solidify a method to provide time- and condition-dependent risks by integrating a conventional PSA model with condition monitoring and prognostics techniques. We will discuss how to integrate the results with frequency of initiating events (IEs and probability of basic events (BEs. Two illustrative examples will be introduced: (1 how the failure probability of a passive system can be evaluated under different plant conditions and (2 how the IE frequency for a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR can be updated in terms of operating time. We expect that the proposed model can take a role of annunciator to show the variation of core damage frequency (CDF depending on operational conditions.

Reliability data update using condition monitoring and prognostics in probabilistic safety assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyeon Min; Lee, Sang Hwan; Park, Jun Seok; Kim, Hyung Dae; Chang, Yoon Suk; Heo, Gyun Young [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2015-03-15

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) has had a significant role in quantitative decision making by finding design and operational vulnerabilities and evaluating cost-benefit in improving such weak points. In particular, it has been widely used as the core methodology for risk-informed applications (RIAs). Even though the nature of PSA seeks realistic results, there are still 'conservative' aspects. One of the sources for the conservatism is the assumptions of safety analysis and the estimation of failure frequency. Surveillance, diagnosis, and prognosis (SDP), utilizing massive databases and information technology, is worth highlighting in terms of its capability for alleviating the conservatism in conventional PSA. This article provides enabling techniques to solidify a method to provide time and condition-dependent risks by integrating a conventional PSA model with condition monitoring and prognostics techniques. We will discuss how to integrate the results with frequency of initiating events (IEs) and probability of basic events (BEs). Two illustrative examples will be introduced: (1) how the failure probability of a passive system can be evaluated under different plant conditions and (2) how the IE frequency for a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) can be updated in terms of operating time. We expect that the proposed model can take a role of annunciator to show the variation of core damage frequency (CDF) depending on operational conditions.

Structural condition assessment of in-service wood

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. Ross; Brian K. Brashaw; Xiping Wang

2006-01-01

Wood is used extensively for both interior and exterior applications in the construction of a variety of structures (residential, agricultural, commercial, government, religious). The deterioration of an in-service wood member may result from a variety of causes during the life of a structure. It is important, therefore, to periodically assess the condition of wood...

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 3: how to assess methodological limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Bohren, Meghan A; Glenton, Claire; Lewin, Simon; Noyes, Jane; Tunçalp, Özge; Booth, Andrew; Garside, Ruth; Colvin, Christopher J; Wainwright, Megan; Rashidian, Arash; Flottorp, Signe; Carlsen, Benedicte

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on CERQual's methodological limitations component. We developed the methodological limitations component by searching the literature for definitions, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We tested the CERQual methodological limitations component within several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the current definition and principles for application. When applying CERQual, we define methodological limitations as the extent to which there are concerns about the design or conduct of the primary studies that contributed evidence to an individual review finding. In this paper, we describe the methodological limitations component and its rationale and offer guidance on how to assess methodological limitations of a review finding as part of the CERQual approach. This guidance outlines the information required to assess methodological limitations component, the steps that need to be taken to assess methodological limitations of data contributing to a review finding and examples of methodological limitation assessments. This paper provides guidance for review authors and others on undertaking an assessment of methodological limitations in the context of the CERQual

Epidemiological studies on glyphosate - No new findings for the European risk assessment

OpenAIRE

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment

2016-01-01

The assessment of epidemiological studies on the health effects of glyphosate is currently being discussed in the media. In this context, BfR evaluated a so-called expert opinion on epidemiological studies prepared by non-government organisations and concludes that no new findings are being reported for the joint European assessment of the active substance glyphosate. The accusations brought forth in the so-called expert opinion of scientific deception by the assessment authorities are c...

78 FR 75370 - Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Flood...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-11

... Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Flood Control Improvements to the Rio Grande... Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). SUMMARY: Pursuant to... Significant Impact for Flood Control Improvements to the Rio Grande Canalization Project in Vado, New Mexico...

PROBABILITY SURVEYS , CONDITIONAL PROBABILITIES AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT

Science.gov (United States)

We show that probability-based environmental resource monitoring programs, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, and conditional probability analysis can serve as a basis for estimating ecological risk over ...

Application of Whole Genome Expression Analysis to Assess Bacterial Responses to Environmental Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Vukanti, R. V.; Mintz, E. M.; Leff, L. G.

2005-05-01

Bacterial responses to environmental signals are multifactorial and are coupled to changes in gene expression. An understanding of bacterial responses to environmental conditions is possible using microarray expression analysis. In this study, the utility of microarrays for examining changes in gene expression in Escherichia coli under different environmental conditions was assessed. RNA was isolated, hybridized to Affymetrix E. coli Genome 2.0 chips and analyzed using Affymetrix GCOS and Genespring software. Major limiting factors were obtaining enough quality RNA (107-108 cells to get 10μg RNA)and accounting for differences in growth rates under different conditions. Stabilization of RNA prior to isolation and taking extreme precautions while handling RNA were crucial. In addition, use of this method in ecological studies is limited by availability and cost of commercial arrays; choice of primers for cDNA synthesis, reproducibility, complexity of results generated and need to validate findings. This method may be more widely applicable with the development of better approaches for RNA recovery from environmental samples and increased number of available strain-specific arrays. Diligent experimental design and verification of results with real-time PCR or northern blots is needed. Overall, there is a great potential for use of this technology to discover mechanisms underlying organisms' responses to environmental conditions.

Environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact--FDA. Notice.

Science.gov (United States)

1998-05-18

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that it has reviewed environmental assessments (EA's) and issued findings of no significant impact (FONSI's) relating to the 167 new drug applications (NDA's) and supplemental applications listed in this document. FDA is publishing this notice because Federal regulations require public notice of the availability of environmental documents.

Life cycle management, design review, and condition assessment of feedwater heaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gammage, D.; Idvorian, N. [Babcock & Wilcox Canada Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario (Canada)

2012-07-01

OPEX from both the Nuclear and Fossil Power Generation Industries shows that Feedwater Heaters (FWHs) are subject to several degradation mechanisms and that this degradation commonly leads to replacement of these vessels in order to ensure reliable, efficient operation of the plants. Loss of feedwater heating will impact plant thermal performance. In response to inspection results showing on-going degradation as well as other factors, B&W Canada completed a project in conjunction with a US PWR utility to review the design, condition, and Life Cycle Management of their FWHs. This project involved a multi-disciplinary approach in order to consider all aspects of the FWHs in order to provide insight into the Life Cycle Management Plan (LCMP) so that the FWHs can be operated reliably into the future and so that adequate inspections can be conducted in order to produce a detailed condition assessment. The utility was interested in evaluating their FWH LCMP to determine if it was adequate in its requirements to enable reliable, leak-free operation of their FWH equipment. As inputs to this evaluation, it was required that B&W Canada evaluate both confirmed and plausible degradation mechanisms. They also required that the thermal hydraulic and functional design be evaluated for their particular FWHs. It was important to also incorporate industry OPEX in order to provide proper trending information for tube plugging. Out of this evaluation there were several findings and recommendations that could be used to update the utilities’ LCMP as it was apparent that the current version may not be truly reflective of the current condition of the equipment or of current industry OPEX of such FWHs. Several recommendations came from this evaluation, the most significant were: • Performing thermal/hydraulic, FIV (flow-induced vibration), and tube/shell interaction calculations to determine how the FWHs operate and how their performance can change over time as a function of tube

Life cycle management, design review, and condition assessment of feedwater heaters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gammage, D.; Idvorian, N.

2012-01-01

OPEX from both the Nuclear and Fossil Power Generation Industries shows that Feedwater Heaters (FWHs) are subject to several degradation mechanisms and that this degradation commonly leads to replacement of these vessels in order to ensure reliable, efficient operation of the plants. Loss of feedwater heating will impact plant thermal performance. In response to inspection results showing on-going degradation as well as other factors, B&W Canada completed a project in conjunction with a US PWR utility to review the design, condition, and Life Cycle Management of their FWHs. This project involved a multi-disciplinary approach in order to consider all aspects of the FWHs in order to provide insight into the Life Cycle Management Plan (LCMP) so that the FWHs can be operated reliably into the future and so that adequate inspections can be conducted in order to produce a detailed condition assessment. The utility was interested in evaluating their FWH LCMP to determine if it was adequate in its requirements to enable reliable, leak-free operation of their FWH equipment. As inputs to this evaluation, it was required that B&W Canada evaluate both confirmed and plausible degradation mechanisms. They also required that the thermal hydraulic and functional design be evaluated for their particular FWHs. It was important to also incorporate industry OPEX in order to provide proper trending information for tube plugging. Out of this evaluation there were several findings and recommendations that could be used to update the utilities’ LCMP as it was apparent that the current version may not be truly reflective of the current condition of the equipment or of current industry OPEX of such FWHs. Several recommendations came from this evaluation, the most significant were: • Performing thermal/hydraulic, FIV (flow-induced vibration), and tube/shell interaction calculations to determine how the FWHs operate and how their performance can change over time as a function of tube

Towards quantitative condition assessment of biodiversity outcomes: Insights from Australian marine protected areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Addison, Prue F E; Flander, Louisa B; Cook, Carly N

2017-08-01

Protected area management effectiveness (PAME) evaluation is increasingly undertaken to evaluate governance, assess conservation outcomes and inform evidence-based management of protected areas (PAs). Within PAME, quantitative approaches to assess biodiversity outcomes are now emerging, where biological monitoring data are directly assessed against quantitative (numerically defined) condition categories (termed quantitative condition assessments). However, more commonly qualitative condition assessments are employed in PAME, which use descriptive condition categories and are evaluated largely with expert judgement that can be subject to a range of biases, such as linguistic uncertainty and overconfidence. Despite the benefits of increased transparency and repeatability of evaluations, quantitative condition assessments are rarely used in PAME. To understand why, we interviewed practitioners from all Australian marine protected area (MPA) networks, which have access to long-term biological monitoring data and are developing or conducting PAME evaluations. Our research revealed that there is a desire within management agencies to implement quantitative condition assessment of biodiversity outcomes in Australian MPAs. However, practitioners report many challenges in transitioning from undertaking qualitative to quantitative condition assessments of biodiversity outcomes, which are hampering progress. Challenges include a lack of agency capacity (staff numbers and money), knowledge gaps, and diminishing public and political support for PAs. We point to opportunities to target strategies that will assist agencies overcome these challenges, including new decision support tools, approaches to better finance conservation efforts, and to promote more management relevant science. While a single solution is unlikely to achieve full evidence-based conservation, we suggest ways for agencies to target strategies and advance PAME evaluations toward best practice. Copyright �

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 4: how to assess coherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Wainwright, Megan; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Glenton, Claire; Bohren, Meghan A; Carlsen, Benedicte; Tunçalp, Özge; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Rashidian, Arash; Flottorp, Signe; Lewin, Simon

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation-Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE working group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) relevance, (3) coherence and (4) adequacy of data. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on CERQual's coherence component. We developed the coherence component by searching the literature for definitions, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We tested the CERQual coherence component within several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the current definition and principles for application. When applying CERQual, we define coherence as how clear and cogent the fit is between the data from the primary studies and a review finding that synthesises that data. In this paper, we describe the coherence component and its rationale and offer guidance on how to assess coherence in the context of a review finding as part of the CERQual approach. This guidance outlines the information required to assess coherence, the steps that need to be taken to assess coherence and examples of coherence assessments. This paper provides guidance for review authors and others on undertaking an assessment of coherence in the context of the CERQual approach. We suggest that threats to coherence may arise when the data supporting a review finding are contradictory, ambiguous or incomplete or where competing theories exist that could be used to synthesise the data. We expect the

Positive predictive value of abnormal mammographic findings and role of assessment procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menna, S.; Marra, V.; Di Virgilio, M.R.; Macchia, G.; Frigerio, A.

1999-01-01

To investigate the positive predictive value for cancer of abnormal mammographic findings and the role of assessment, the authors reviewed a series of 962 patients recalled and examined in the first breast screening center of Turin (Italy), out of 18996 women aged 50-59 from 1991 to 1995, within a population-based mammography program. The results of this study confirm the accuracy of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer and the different role of assessment procedures in the various abnormal mammographic findings. The improvement in positive predictive value for screening demonstrates the importance of the learning curve within the screening team. Most of this improvement could be referred to refined diagnostic criteria for calcifications [it

Bridge condition assessment based on long-term strain monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, LiMin; Sun, Shouwang

2011-04-01

In consideration of the important role that bridges play as transportation infrastructures, their safety, durability and serviceability have always been deeply concerned. Structural Health Monitoring Systems (SHMS) have been installed to many long-span bridges to provide bridge engineers with the information needed in making rational decisions for maintenance. However, SHMS also confronted bridge engineers with the challenge of efficient use of monitoring data. Thus, methodologies which are robust to random disturbance and sensitive to damage become a subject on which many researches in structural condition assessment concentrate. In this study, an innovative probabilistic approach for condition assessment of bridge structures was proposed on the basis of long-term strain monitoring on steel girder of a cable-stayed bridge. First, the methodology of damage detection in the vicinity of monitoring point using strain-based indices was investigated. Then, the composition of strain response of bridge under operational loads was analyzed. Thirdly, the influence of temperature and wind on strains was eliminated and thus strain fluctuation under vehicle loads is obtained. Finally, damage evolution assessment was carried out based on the statistical characteristics of rain-flow cycles derived from the strain fluctuation under vehicle loads. The research conducted indicates that the methodology proposed is qualified for structural condition assessment so far as the following respects are concerned: (a) capability of revealing structural deterioration; (b) immunity to the influence of environmental variation; (c) adaptability to the random characteristic exhibited by long-term monitoring data. Further examination of the applicability of the proposed methodology in aging bridge may provide a more convincing validation.

Real-time Continuous Assessment Method for Mental and Physiological Condition using Heart Rate Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Yutaka; Yokoyama, Kiyoko; Ishii, Naohiro

It is necessary to monitor the daily health condition for preventing stress syndrome. In this study, it was proposed the method assessing the mental and physiological condition, such as the work stress or the relaxation, using heart rate variability at real time and continuously. The instantanuous heart rate (HR), and the ratio of the number of extreme points (NEP) and the number of heart beats were calculated for assessing mental and physiological condition. In this method, 20 beats heart rate were used to calculate these indexes. These were calculated in one beat interval. Three conditions, which are sitting rest, performing mental arithmetic and watching relaxation movie, were assessed using our proposed algorithm. The assessment accuracies were 71.9% and 55.8%, when performing mental arithmetic and watching relaxation movie respectively. In this method, the mental and physiological condition was assessed using only 20 regressive heart beats, so this method is considered as the real time assessment method.

Finding the Optimum Scenario in Risk-benefit Assessment: An Example on Vitamin D

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berjia, Firew Lemma; Hoekstra, J.; Verhagen, H.

2014-01-01

an optimum scenario that provides maximum net health gain in health risk-benefit assessment of dietary exposure as expressed by serum vitamin D level. With regard to the vitamin D assessment, a considerable health gain is observed due to the reduction of risk of other cause mortality, fall and hip fractures......Background: In risk-benefit assessment of food and nutrients, several studies so far have focused on comparison of two scenarios to weigh the health effect against each other. One obvious next step is finding the optimum scenario that provides maximum net health gains. Aim: This paper aims to show...... that provides maximum net health gains. As a common health metric, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) has been used to project the net health effect by using the QALIBRA (Quality of Life for Benefit Risk Assessment) software. Results: The method used in the vitamin D example shows that it is feasible to find...

77 FR 49409 - Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-16

...] Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant... assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New... be prepared. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Chipman, Rabies Program Coordinator...

Assessment of productivity loss in air-conditioned buildings using PMV index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kosonen, R. [Halton OY, Kausala (Finland); Tan, F. [CapitaLand Commercial Limited, Singapore (Singapore)

2004-07-01

This theoretical study reports on the assessment of productivity loss in air-conditioned office buildings using the PMV approach and makes use of Wyon's reviews [D.P. Wyon, P.O. Fanger, B.W. Olesen, C.J.K. Pedersen, The mental performance of subjects clothed for comfort at two different air temperatures, Ergonomics 18 (1975) 358-374; D.P. Wyon, Individual microclimate control: required range, probable benefits and current feasibility, in: Proceedings of Indoor Air '96, Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, 1996; D.P. Wyon, Indoor environmental effects on productivity. IAQ 96 Paths to better building environments/Keynote address. Y. Kevin. Atlanta, ASHRAE, pp. 5-15] as the basis to compare and to relate how the productivity loss could be minimised through improved thermal comfort design criteria. The finding shows that task-related performance is significantly correlated with the human perception of thermal environment that in turn is dependent on temperatures. Different combinations of thermal criteria (air velocity, clo, metabolic, etc.) can lead to similar PMV value and the PMV equation is useful to predict productivity loss that is due to the rate of change in thermal conditions. The study also highlights the issues that remain to be resolved in future research. (author)

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 5: how to assess adequacy of data.

Science.gov (United States)

Glenton, Claire; Carlsen, Benedicte; Lewin, Simon; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Colvin, Christopher J; Tunçalp, Özge; Bohren, Meghan A; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Garside, Ruth; Rashidian, Arash; Flottorp, Signe; Wainwright, Megan

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) working group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations; (2) coherence; (3) adequacy of data; and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on CERQual's adequacy of data component. We developed the adequacy of data component by searching the literature for definitions, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We tested the CERQual adequacy of data component within several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the current definition and principles for application. When applying CERQual, we define adequacy of data as an overall determination of the degree of richness and the quantity of data supporting a review finding. In this paper, we describe the adequacy component and its rationale and offer guidance on how to assess data adequacy in the context of a review finding as part of the CERQual approach. This guidance outlines the information required to assess data adequacy, the steps that need to be taken to assess data adequacy, and examples of adequacy assessments. This paper provides guidance for review authors and others on undertaking an assessment of adequacy in the context of the CERQual approach. We approach assessments of data adequacy in terms of the richness and quantity of the data supporting each review finding, but do not offer fixed rules regarding what constitutes sufficiently rich data or

Assessing transportation and road conditions in niger state, nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Assessing transportation and road conditions in niger state, nigeria using geoinformatics, with focus on impact of climate ... Also the impacts of climate change on transportation were highlighted. ... EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT

Teachers' Working Conditions. Findings from "The Condition of Education, 1996," No. 7.

Science.gov (United States)

Choy, Susan P.

Working conditions play an important role in a school's ability to attract, develop, and retain effective teachers. Data presented here describe a number of aspects of teachers' working conditions, including workload, compensation, school and district support for teachers' professional development, school decision making, school safety, student…

ASSESSMENT OF CABLE AGING USING CONDITION MONITORING TECHNIQUES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

GROVE, E.; LOFARO, R.; SOO, P.; VILLARAN, M.; HSU, F.

2000-01-01

Electric cables in nuclear power plants suffer degradation during service as a result of the thermal and radiation environments in which they are installed. Instrumentation and control cables are one type of cable that provide an important role in reactor safety. Should the polymeric cable insulation material become embrittled and cracked during service, or during a loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA) and when steam and high radiation conditions are anticipated, failure could occur and prevent the cables from fulfilling their intended safety function(s). A research program is being conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory to evaluate condition monitoring (CM) techniques for estimating the amount of cable degradation experienced during in-plant service. The objectives of this program are to assess the ability of the cables to perform under a simulated LOCA without losing their ability to function effectively, and to identify CM techniques which may be used to determine the effective lifetime of cables. The cable insulation materials tested include ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). Accelerated aging (thermal and radiation) to the equivalent of 40 years of service was performed, followed by exposure to simulated LOCA conditions. The effectiveness of chemical, electrical, and mechanical condition monitoring techniques are being evaluated. Results indicate that several of these methods can detect changes in material parameters with increasing age. However, each has its limitations, and a combination of methods may provide an effective means for trending cable degradation in order to assess the remaining life of cables

How general practitioners perceive and assess self-care in patients with multiple chronic conditions: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Mads Aage Toft; Hølge-Hazelton, Bibi; Waldorff, Frans Boch; Guassora, Ann Dorrit

2017-12-22

It is not known how general practitioners (GPs) perceive the concept of self-care and how they assess self-care ability in patients with multiple chronic conditions. As a part of the strategy to improve the care of people living with chronic conditions, disease management programs in Denmark require GPs and other health care workers to assess and support patients' self-care ability. The aim of the present study was to explore GPs' perceptions and assessment of self-care ability in patients with multiple chronic conditions who have difficulty following a given treatment. A qualitative study conducted through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 12 GPs in rural areas of Denmark with economically disadvantaged populations. The interviews involved 36 complex patient cases selected by the GPs themselves. Our analysis followed the principles of systematic text condensation. Most GPs in our study had a health-related perception of self-care, but some had a broader perception encompassing the situational context of the patient's life. The GPs' assessments of patients' self-care ability were based on information from the ongoing and often long-term relationships with the patients. GPs identified four major factors that influenced patients' self-care ability, which accumulated and fluctuated over time: multimorbidity, cognitive resources, material resources, and the patients' social contexts. The GPs in this study had dual perceptions of self-care, related to both the chronic health conditions and to the broader situational contexts of their patients' lives. GPs' assessments of self-care ability depended largely on their experiences from the doctor-patient relationship, and they emphasized that the factors affecting self-care ability were highly dynamic over the patient's lifetime. However, these findings might be resisted by the Danish disease management programs, which tend to have a static and more narrow, health-related view of patient self

New strategies in the assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirri, Laura; Fabbri, Stefania; Fava, Giovanni A; Sonino, Nicoletta

2007-12-01

In this article, we examine research that may lead to a better assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions. We performed a review of the psychosomatic literature using both Medline and manual searches. We selected papers that were judged to be relevant to new strategies of assessment, with particular reference to the use of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research. We assessed 8 areas concerned with the assessment of psychological factors in the setting of medical disease: hypochondriasis, disease phobia, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, illness denial, demoralization, irritable mood, and Type A behavior. A new subclassification of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM-V]; not yet published) category of psychological factors affecting physical conditions appears to be feasible and may provide the clinician with better tools for identifying psychological distress.

Finding Multiple Peaks Signal in Fast Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM1F)

CERN Document Server

Bin Ab Maalek, Abu Ubaidah Amir; CERN. Geneva. EP Department

2017-01-01

Fast Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM1F) is diamond and silicon sensors based luminometer of CMS detector. The methods of finding multiple peaks signal in BCM1F is shown. Multiple peaks signal found at signal with width between 60 ns - 300 ns. Double peaks are counted as single hit in the constant threshold analysis and leads to underestimation in the luminosity. Therefore it should be estimated for different filling schemes and sensor types. The percentage of long width pulse in different sensor for different fill are calculated. About 30 \\% long width pulse found in sCVD sensor, 12 \\% in pCVD and no more than 1 \\% for silicon sensor.

Probabilistic assessment of the Juragua NPP response under Station Blackout conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valhuerdi Debesa, C.; Vilaragut Llanes, J.J.

1996-01-01

Assessment of the NPP response under SBO (station Blackout) conditions is a current safety issue of special interest, In the case of Juragua NPP, the safety assessment related to this topic is very important, taking into account the peculiarities of the Cuban Electro energetic System: small and long island, without possibilities of conexion beyond its borders and under the incidence of tropical phenomena In this papers a preliminary evaluation is presented of the potential incidence of Station Blackout conditions for Juragua NPP. the importance of this sort of events for the safety of the plant is evaluated, the factors which condition it are identified and measures for its prevention or recovering the normal situation if such an event takes place are proposed

Assessment of technical condition of concrete pavement by the example of district road

Science.gov (United States)

Linek, M.; Nita, P.; Żebrowski, W.; Wolka, P.

2018-05-01

The article presents the comprehensive assessment of concrete pavement condition. Analyses included the district road located in the swietokrzyskie province, used for 11 years. Comparative analyses were conducted twice. The first analysis was carried out after 9 years of pavement operation, in 2015. In order to assess the extent of pavement degradation, the tests were repeated in 2017. Within the scope of field research, the traffic intensity within the analysed road section was determined. Visual assessment of pavement condition was conducted, according to the guidelines included in SOSN-B. Visual assessment can be extended by ground-penetrating radar measurements which allow to provide comprehensive assessment of the occurred structure changes within its entire thickness and length. The assessment included also performance parameters, i.e. pavement regularity, surface roughness and texture. Extension of test results by the assessment of changes in internal structure of concrete composite and structure observations by means of Scanning Electron Microscope allow for the assessment of parameters of internal structure of hardened concrete. Supplementing the observations of internal structure by means of computed tomography scan provides comprehensive information of possible discontinuities and composite structure. According to the analysis of the obtained results, conclusions concerning the analysed pavement condition were reached. It was determined that the pavement is distinguished by high performance parameters, its condition is good and it does not require any repairs. Maintenance treatment was suggested in order to extend the period of proper operation of the analysed pavement.

Assessment of the condition of a consumer market: interactive research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasiya Yevgenyevna Sudakova

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Results of an assessment of a condition of the consumer market are presented in the article on the basis of official statistics data. At the heart of an assessment, the method of the indicative analysis lies. The technique includes five modules: quality of consumer goods, works, services; food security, nonfood safety; safety of services; security of participants of the consumer market. Also results of interactive Internet research of the condition of the ultimate consumer are presented in the article, by means of the carried out research. Interactive research is presented by 3 blocks: the general block (allows to make the respondent’s portrait; the special block (allows to estimate the changes in price, quality and the range of consumer goods and services; the additional block (allows respondents to leave comments. On the basis of the conducted research, it is possible to draw a conclusion that the assessment of the state received on the basis of methodical tools, shows positive dynamics, nevertheless, the condition of the consumer market remains unsatisfactory that also is confirmed by results of interactive research. The recommendations, allowing to lower the rise in prices and increase the quality of consumer goods and services are presented in the article

Malawi : Country Procurement Assessment Report, Volume 1. Main Findings and Recommendations

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2004-01-01

The Malawi Country Procurement Assessment Report is a joint undertaking between the Malawi Government and the World Bank to analyze the country procurement system and recommend appropriate actions to improve the efficiency, economy and transparency of the system. This report is divided into (a) an Executive Summary, (b) Main Report on Findings and Recommendations, and (c) Annexes. Since th...

RECREATION MONITORING OF RESOURCE CONDITIONS IN THE KRONOTSKY STATE NATURAL BIOSPHERE PRESERVE (KAMCHATKA: AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Zavadskaya

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes assessment and monitoring program which has been designed and initiated for monitoring recreational impacts in some wildernesses areas of Kamchatka. The framework of the recreational assessment was tested through its application in a case study conducted during the summer 2008 in the Kronotsky State Natural Biosphere Preserve (the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. The overall objective of the case study was to assess the existing campsite and trail recreation impacts and to establish a network of key sites for the subsequent long-term impact monitoring. The detailed assessment of different components of natural complexes of the Kronotsky State Natural Preserve and the obtained maps of their ecological conditions showed that some sites had been highly disturbed. The results of these works have given rise to a concern that the intensive use of these areas would make an unacceptable impact on the nature. Findings of our initial work corroborate the importance of founding wilderness management programs on knowledge about the trail and campsite impacts and emphasize the necessity of adopting the recreational assessment and monitoring framework to the practice of decision-making.

Use of Braun-Blanquet for the assessment of veld condition and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This method shows promise for application in the grassland biome for the assessment of veld condition and the estimation of grazing capacity. Keywords: botany; braun-blanquet; ea land type; ecological index method; grassland; grazing capacity; orange free state; south africa; technique; vegetation surveys; veld condition; ...

How general practitioners perceive and assess self-care in patients with multiple chronic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Mads Aage Toft; Hølge-Hazelton, Bibi; Waldorff, Frans Boch

2017-01-01

Background: It is not known how general practitioners (GPs) perceive the concept of self-care and how they assess self-care ability in patients with multiple chronic conditions. As a part of the strategy to improve the care of people living with chronic conditions, disease management programs...... in Denmark require GPs and other health care workers to assess and support patients' self-care ability. The aim of the present study was to explore GPs' perceptions and assessment of self-care ability in patients with multiple chronic conditions who have difficulty following a given treatment. Methods...

Crop Condition Assessment with Adjusted NDVI Using the Uncropped Arable Land Ratio

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miao Zhang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Crop condition assessment in the early growing stage is essential for crop monitoring and crop yield prediction. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI-based method is employed to evaluate crop condition by inter-annual comparisons of both spatial variability (using NDVI images and seasonal dynamics (based on crop condition profiles. Since this type of method will generate false information if there are changes in crop rotation, cropping area or crop phenology, information on cropped/uncropped arable land is integrated to improve the accuracy of crop condition monitoring. The study proposes a new method to retrieve adjusted NDVI for cropped arable land during the growing season of winter crops by integrating 16-day composite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS reflectance data at 250-m resolution with a cropped and uncropped arable land map derived from the multi-temporal China Environmental Satellite (Huan Jing Satellite charge-coupled device (HJ-1 CCD images at 30-m resolution. Using the land map’s data on cropped and uncropped arable land, a pixel-based uncropped arable land ratio (UALR at 250-m resolution was generated. Next, the UALR-adjusted NDVI was produced by assuming that the MODIS reflectance value for each pixel is a linear mixed signal composed of the proportional reflectance of cropped and uncropped arable land. When UALR-adjusted NDVI data are used for crop condition assessment, results are expected to be more accurate, because: (i pixels with only uncropped arable land are not included in the assessment; and (ii the adjusted NDVI corrects for interannual variation in cropping area. On the provincial level, crop growing profiles based on the two kinds of NDVI data illustrate the difference between the regular and the adjusted NDVI, with the difference depending on the total area of uncropped arable land in the region. The results suggested that the proposed method can be used to improve the assessment of

Assessment of Alaska reindeer populations and range conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. D. Swanson

1992-10-01

Full Text Available Populations of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus have fluctated greatly since their introduction to Alaska in 1891. In the 1930s, reported numbers exceeded 600 000. Presently, 38 000 reindeer graze 6.2 million ha of rangeland and woodland in Western Alaska (from 66°54'N to 52°07'N latitude. Condition of winter range producing fruticose lichens (Cladina rangiferina, Cladina arbuscula, Cladina stellaris, Cetraria cucullata, Cetraria islandica is of major concern. Monitoring programs have been established for vegetation, fire, reindeer and wildlife. Reindeer have overgrazed lichen resources on some Bering Sea Islands. Wildfires have had the greatest impact on lichen range depletion on the mainland. Overgrazing has been a problem in localized areas. Moose (Alces alces and muskox (Ovibos moschatus rarely contribute to major lichen depletion. 60-80% of the mainland and 5-30% of most island winter lichen ranges are presently estimated to be in good to excellent ecological condition. Procedures for assessing condition of the lichen ranges are being further refined.

Working Conditions, Lifestyles and Health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cottini, Elena; Ghinetti, Paolo

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether employee health is affected by the environment in which the individual works - in terms of both physical and psychosocial working conditions - and by his or her lifestyle. Health measures are computed from Danish data, and refer to both self assessed...... general health and two more objective health measures: mental health specific to work-related problems, and physical health. We find that both bad working conditions and bad lifestyles reduce health, especially in its self-assessed component. The impact of lifetsyle indicators have a more modest health...... impact on both physical and mental health....

Imaging findings and referral outcomes of rapid assessment stroke clinics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widjaja, E.; Manuel, D.; Hodgson, T.J.; Connolly, D.J.A.; Coley, S.C.; Romanowski, C.A.J.; Gaines, P.; Cleveland, T.; Thomas, S.; Griffiths, P.D.; Doyle, C.; Venables, G.S.

2005-01-01

AIM: A rapid assessment stroke clinic (RASC) was established to provide a rapid diagnostic service to individuals with suspected transient cerebral or ocular ischaemia or recovered non-hospitalized strokes. In this report we review imaging findings and clinical outcomes of patients proceeding to the carotid surgery programme. METHODS: Between October 2000 and December 2002, 1339 people attended the RASC. The findings of head CT and carotid Doppler ultrasound of the 1320 patients who underwent brain and carotid imaging were reviewed, and the number subsequently proceeding to carotid angiography and intervention was reported. RESULTS: CT head scans were normal in 57% of cases; 38% demonstrated ischaemia or infarction; and 3% yielded incidental or other significant findings not related to ischaemia. On screening with carotid Doppler ultrasound, 7.5% showed greater than 50% stenosis on the symptomatic side. A total of 83 patients (6.2%) proceeded to cerebral angiography and 65 (4.8%) underwent carotid endarterectomy or endovascular repair. CONCLUSION: Rapid-access neurovascular clinics are efficient in selecting patients for carotid intervention, but this is at a cost and the number of potential strokes prevented is small. Alternative management pathways based on immediate medical treatment need to be evaluated

METAL STRUCTURES SURVIVABILITY ASSESSMENT WHEN SIMULATING SERVICE CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. M. Gibalenko

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The research is aimed at improving the quality and reliability of measures of primary and secondary protection of metal structures at manufacturing companies, to prolong the service life of cyclically loaded structures of production facilities taking into account the corrosion level of danger. Methodology. Authors proposed to use the principles of process approach for statement and realization of management problems of operational service life in corrosion environments. The principles of ensuring reliability on the level of corrosion danger include justification of stages sequence for survivability assessment of a structural metalwork based on the strategy of DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control: definitions, measurements, analysis, improvement and monitoring of measures of primary and secondary corrosion protection. Findings. Providing control measures from corrosion according to the criterion of corrosion danger allows providing requirements of reliability of structural metalwork based on calculated provisions of the limiting conditions method and solving the problems of management in technological safety during the expected service life of structural objects. Originality. The developed strategy of maintenance of the industrial facilities on an actual state includes the process approach to resource management by creation of system for the account and the functional controlling, risk analysis and regulation of technological safety in production facilities of the enterprises. Realization of the principles of process approach to management of technological safety at the object level is directed to perfecting of tools and methods of anticorrosive protection, extension of a resource taking into account indexes of survivability (, and justification of program measures to ensure the reliability of enterprises(PER. Practical value. On the basis of process approach to quality and reliability management, generalizations of the

Crown condition assessment at the CONECOFOR Permanent Monitoring Plots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renzo NIBBI

2002-09-01

Full Text Available A detailed crown condition assessment is currently being carried out at the CONECOFOR (CONtrollo ECOsistemi FORestali, Control of Forest Ecosystems plots. The assessment began in 1996, and during the first two years (1996 and 1997 an assessment form based on previous regional experience was used; in 1998 the new official EU form was adopted. The resulting loss of comparability means that only a few indices can be used in the temporal series 1996-1999. Much effort was devoted to Quality Assurance (QA procedures. The QA program is structured as follows: (i specific field manuals have been adopted and are continuously updated; (ii a national training and intercalibration course (NT&IC is undertaken yearly before beginning the assessment campaign;( iii field checks are carried out yearly on a large number of plots. The results of the QA program have shown that for several indices the quality objectives were not reached, but the quality of the data is improving with time. To express the change in crown conditions in each area, a complex index (CCI = Crown Condition Index was adopted. This index is the result of the sum of the relativized values of all the common indices used during the four years. The following parameters were used: transparency, ramification type, leaf colour alteration extension, leaf damage extension, alteration of leaf distension extension. The range within which the CCI fluctuates was evaluated taking into account all the observations carried out at a given plot throughout the years. The number of cases over a given threshold (outliers was calculated for each year. The threshold for outliers was calculated as the median value plus 2 times the range of the interquartile value. All individual cases exceeding this value are considered outliers. The results are presented for all the areas in which the data set is complete for the four years. The yearly fluctuations are discussed and related to possible causes.

The Expanded FindCore Method for Identification of a Core Atom Set for Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, David A.; Grullon, Jennifer; Huang, Yuanpeng J.; Tejero, Roberto; Montelione, Gaetano T.

2014-01-01

Maximizing the scientific impact of NMR-based structure determination requires robust and statistically sound methods for assessing the precision of NMR-derived structures. In particular, a method to define a core atom set for calculating superimpositions and validating structure predictions is critical to the use of NMR-derived structures as targets in the CASP competition. FindCore (D.A. Snyder and G.T. Montelione PROTEINS 2005;59:673–686) is a superimposition independent method for identifying a core atom set, and partitioning that set into domains. However, as FindCore optimizes superimposition by sensitively excluding not-well-defined atoms, the FindCore core may not comprise all atoms suitable for use in certain applications of NMR structures, including the CASP assessment process. Adapting the FindCore approach to assess predicted models against experimental NMR structures in CASP10 required modification of the FindCore method. This paper describes conventions and a standard protocol to calculate an “Expanded FindCore” atom set suitable for validation and application in biological and biophysical contexts. A key application of the Expanded FindCore method is to identify a core set of atoms in the experimental NMR structure for which it makes sense to validate predicted protein structure models. We demonstrate the application of this Expanded FindCore method in characterizing well-defined regions of 18 NMR-derived CASP10 target structures. The Expanded FindCore protocol defines “expanded core atom sets” that match an expert’s intuition of which parts of the structure are sufficiently well-defined to use in assessing CASP model predictions. We also illustrate the impact of this analysis on the CASP GDT assessment scores. PMID:24327305

Modeling current climate conditions for forest pest risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Frank H. Koch; John W. Coulston

2010-01-01

Current information on broad-scale climatic conditions is essential for assessing potential distribution of forest pests. At present, sophisticated spatial interpolation approaches such as the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) are used to create high-resolution climatic data sets. Unfortunately, these data sets are based on 30-year...

Assessment and manifestation of central sensitisation across different chronic pain conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Arendt-Nielsen, L; Morlion, B; Perrot, S; Dahan, A; Dickenson, A; Kress, H G; Wells, C; Bouhassira, D; Mohr Drewes, A

2018-02-01

Different neuroplastic processes can occur along the nociceptive pathways and may be important in the transition from acute to chronic pain and for diagnosis and development of optimal management strategies. The neuroplastic processes may result in gain (sensitisation) or loss (desensitisation) of function in relation to the incoming nociceptive signals. Such processes play important roles in chronic pain, and although the clinical manifestations differ across condition processes, they share some common mechanistic features. The fundamental understanding and quantitative assessment of particularly some of the central sensitisation mechanisms can be translated from preclinical studies into the clinic. The clinical perspectives are implementation of such novel information into diagnostics, mechanistic phenotyping, prevention, personalised treatment, and drug development. The aims of this paper are to introduce and discuss (1) some common fundamental central pain mechanisms, (2) how they may translate into the clinical signs and symptoms across different chronic pain conditions, (3) how to evaluate gain and loss of function using quantitative pain assessment tools, and (4) the implications for optimising prevention and management of pain. The chronic pain conditions selected for the paper are neuropathic pain in general, musculoskeletal pain (chronic low back pain and osteoarthritic pain in particular), and visceral pain (irritable bowel syndrome in particular). The translational mechanisms addressed are local and widespread sensitisation, central summation, and descending pain modulation. Central sensitisation is an important manifestation involved in many different chronic pain conditions. Central sensitisation can be different to assess and evaluate as the manifestations vary from pain condition to pain condition. Understanding central sensitisation may promote better profiling and diagnosis of pain patients and development of new regimes for mechanism based

Assessment of Equipment Capability to Perform Reliably under Severe Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-07-01

The experience from the last 40 years has shown that severe accidents can subject electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C) equipment to environmental conditions exceeding the equipment’s original design basis assumptions. Severe accident conditions can then cause rapid degradation or damage to various degrees up to complete failure of such equipment. This publication provides the technical basis to consider when assessing the capability of electrical and I&C equipment to perform reliably during a severe accident. It provides examples of calculation tools to determine the environmental parameters as well as examples and methods that Member States can apply to assess equipment reliability.

High-resolution CT findings in Streptococcus milleri pulmonary infection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, F.; Ono, A.; Ando, Y.; Nakayama, T.; Ishii, H.; Hiramatsu, K.; Sato, H.; Kira, A.; Otabe, M.; Mori, H.

2013-01-01

Aim: To assess pulmonary high-resolution computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with acute Streptococcus milleri pulmonary infection. Materials and methods: Sixty consecutive patients with acute S. milleri pneumonia who had undergone high-resolution CT chest examinations between January 2004 and March 2010 were retrospectively identified. Twenty-seven patients with concurrent infections were excluded. The final study group comprised 33 patients (25 men, 8 women; aged 20–88 years, mean 63.1 years) with S. milleri infection. The patients' clinical findings were assessed. Parenchymal abnormalities, enlarged lymph nodes, and pleural effusion were evaluated on high-resolution CT. Results: Underlying conditions included malignancy (n = 15), a smoking habit (n = 11), and diabetes mellitus (n = 8). CT images of all patients showed abnormal findings, including ground-glass opacity (n = 24), bronchial wall thickening (n = 23), consolidation (n = 17), and cavities (n = 7). Pleural effusion was found in 18 patients, and complex pleural effusions were found in seven patients. Conclusion: Pulmonary infection caused by S. milleri was observed mostly in male patients with underlying conditions such as malignancy or a smoking habit. The CT findings in patients with S. milleri consisted mainly of ground-glass opacity, bronchial wall thickening, pleural effusions, and cavities

76 FR 56820 - Detroit Edison Company, Fermi 2; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-14

.... Ken Yale, of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment regarding the environmental...; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is..., the NRC performed an environmental assessment. Based on the results of the environmental assessment...

[Assessment of psychological conditions for the use of firearms in law enforcement].

Science.gov (United States)

Vilardell Molas, Jordi; Martí Agustí, Gabriel; Solé i Sanosa, M Angels

2014-03-01

To handle firearms safely, an individual needs to be in sound psychological conditions. This point is especially relevant in law enforcement, given that this group is likely to experience situations where there is a reasonably severe risk to life, physical integrity and that of third parties. These conditions cause high levels of stress and become a significant source of psychological strain. The assessment of these psychological conditions in law enforcement must stay ahead of this strain and should act preventively, establishing surveillance that is the product of a consensus between the needs of professionals and organizations. This evaluation should be conducted by technical specialists who understand and know the occupational reality of these professionals. A good assessment methodology starts with the need to discover the basic areas that need exploring, the ideal procedure for assessing these issues and the criteria that determine the aptitude (or lack thereof) for handling firearms. Once these goals have been established, we can be assured that the assessment will follow a set of principles that will give it homogeneity, effectiveness and efficiency. This type of assessment will help accomplish the mission that these security professionals are entrusted to by law, which is to protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms and ensure citizen safety. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

[Nursing students assessment in simulated conditions : in search of meaning and ethics].

Science.gov (United States)

Homerin, Marie-Pierre; Roumanet, Marie-Cécile

2014-10-01

A thought about the assessment in simulated conditions is at the origin of this research-action conducted at the Institute of Nursing Education of Chambery, France. Indeed, the differences in the assessment procedures between units that require this kind of validation and the disappointing rate of success at the examinations in simulated situations have led the trainers to raise the following question : « How can these assessments be meaningful and consistent with the goal of training (help to become autonomous and reflexive practitioners) » ?This issue was addressed with concepts such as socioconstructivism, simulation in health, assessment and ethical principles. The change of practices has been the application of the principles of ?educative? assessment according to G. Nunziatti which strongly involves the students in the assessment?s process.In order to estimate the impact of these changes of practices, an unidentified online survey was offered to all students who benefited from this kind of assessment. The results between two classes of students having had different evaluation procedures have also been compared.The objectives were, after the implementation of this new kind of evaluation, to assess the students? satisfaction, to compare the failure rate at the tests in simulated conditions and to verify the compliance with the ethical principles.This study has shown the students? satisfaction about these new forms of assessment in simulated conditions, an increased success rate in the tests and the applicability of the ethical principles with this way of proceeding. However, the principles of justice and non-maleficence are difficult to implement. Nevertheless, this critical thinking on the procedures of assessment in simulated conditions has helped to change the practices and the assessment design by the teachers.

National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

The National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011: A Collaborative Survey presents the results of an unprecedented assessment of the nation’s wetlands. This report is part of the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, a series of statistically based surveys designed to provide the publi...

42 CFR 494.110 - Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... facility must maintain and demonstrate evidence of its quality improvement and performance improvement... RENAL DISEASE FACILITIES Patient Care § 494.110 Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement. The dialysis facility must develop, implement, maintain, and evaluate an effective, data-driven...

Research on Condition Assessment Method of Transmission Tower Under the Action of Strong Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ren-mou; An, Li-qiang; Zhang, Rong-lun; Wu, Jiong; Liang, Ya-feng

2018-03-01

Transmission towers are often subjected to the external damage of severe weather like strong wind and so on, which may cause the collapse due to the yield and fracture of the tower material. Aiming this issue, an assessment method was proposed in this paper to assess the operation condition of transmission towers under strong wind. With a reasonable assess index system established firstly, then the internal force of the tower material was solved and its stability was determined through the mechanical analysis of the transmission tower finite element model. Meanwhile, the condition risk level of the tower was finally determined by considering the difference among the influences of other factors like corrosion and loose of members, slope on the transmission tower through the analytic hierarchy process. The assessment method was applied to assess the wind-induced collapse of towers in 110kV Bao Yi II line in Wenchang City, Hainan Province, of which the result proves the method can assess the condition of transmission tower under strong wind and of guiding significance for improving the windproof capability of transmission towers.

Understanding Vocalization Might Help to Assess Stressful Conditions in Piglets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Pereira Neves

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Assessing pigs’ welfare is one of the most challenging subjects in intensive pig farming. Animal vocalization analysis is a noninvasive procedure and may be used as a tool for assessing animal welfare status. The objective of this research was to identify stress conditions in piglets reared in farrowing pens through their vocalization. Vocal signals were collected from 40 animals under the following situations: normal (baseline, feeling cold, in pain, and feeling hunger. A unidirectional microphone positioned about 15 cm from the animals’ mouth was used for recording the acoustic signals. The microphone was connected to a digital recorder, where the signals were digitized at the 44,100 Hz frequency. The collected sounds were edited and analyzed. The J48 decision tree algorithm available at the Weka® data mining software was used for stress classification. It was possible to categorize diverse conditions from the piglets’ vocalization during the farrowing phase (pain, cold and hunger, with an accuracy rate of 81.12%. Results indicated that vocalization might be an effective welfare indicator, and it could be applied for assessing distress from pain, cold and hunger in farrowing piglets.

Present and future assessment of growing degree days over selected Greek areas with different climate conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Paparrizos, Spyridon; Matzarakis, Andreas

2017-10-01

The determination of heat requirements in the first developing phases of plants has been expressed as Growing Degree Days (GDD). The current study focuses on three selected study areas in Greece that are characterised by different climatic conditions due to their location and aims to assess the future variation and spatial distribution of Growing Degree Days (GDD) and how these can affect the main cultivations in the study areas. Future temperature data were obtained and analysed by the ENSEMBLES project. The analysis was performed for the future periods 2021-2050 and 2071-2100 with the A1B and B1 scenarios. Spatial distribution was performed using a combination of dynamical and statistical downscaling technique through ArcGIS 10.2.1. The results indicated that for all the future periods and scenarios, the GDD are expected to increase. Furthermore, the increase in the Sperchios River basin will be the highest, followed by the Ardas and the Geropotamos River basins. Moreover, the cultivation period will be shifted from April-October to April-September which will have social, economical and environmental benefits. Additionally, the spatial distribution indicated that in the upcoming years the existing cultivations can find favourable conditions and can be expanded in mountainous areas as well. On the other hand, due to the rough topography that exists in the study areas, the wide expansion of the existing cultivations into higher altitudes is unaffordable. Nevertheless, new more profitable cultivations can be introduced which can find propitious conditions in terms of GDD.

76 FR 10047 - Changes to the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS): Financial Condition Scoring Notice

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-23

... accepted accounting principles (GAAP)-based financial information. This notice updates and clarifies the... Housing Assessment System (PHAS): Financial Condition Scoring Notice AGENCY: Office of the Assistant... under the financial condition indicator of the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). This notice...

Bridge Condition Assessment based on Vibration Responses of Passenger Vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Ayaho; Yabe, Akito

2011-01-01

In this paper, we propose a new method of assessing the condition of existing short- and medium-span reinforced/prestressed concrete bridges based on vibration monitoring data obtained from a public bus. This paper not only describes details of a prototype monitoring system that uses information technology and sensors capable of providing more accurate knowledge of bridge performance than conventional ways but also shows a few specific examples of bridge condition assessment based on vehicle vibrations measured by using an in-service public bus equipped with vibration measurement instrumentation. This paper also describes a sensitivity analysis of deteriorating bridges based on simulation of the acceleration response of buses conducted by the 'substructure method' employing a finite element model to verify the above bridge performance results. The main conclusions obtained in this study can be summarized as follows: (1) Because the vibration responses of passenger vehicles, such as buses, have a good linear relationship with the vibration responses of the target bridges, the proposed system can be used as a practical monitoring system for bridge condition assessment. (2) The results of sensitivity analysis performed by the substructure method show that bus vibration responses are useful for evaluating target bridge performance. (3) The proposed method was applied to a network of real bridges in a local area to evaluate its effectiveness. The results indicate that the proposed method can be used to prioritize the repair/strengthening works of existing bridges based on various vibration information in order to help bridge administrators establish rational maintenance strategies.

Failure to Find Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Varnon, Christopher A; Dinges, Christopher W; Black, Timothy E; Wells, Harrington; Abramson, Charles I

2018-04-24

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning is a highly specialized form of conditioning found across taxa that leads to avoidance of an initially neutral stimulus, such as taste or odor, that is associated with, but is not the cause of, a detrimental health condition. This study examines if honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) develop ethanol (EtOH)-induced CTA. Restrained bees were first administered a sucrose solution that was cinnamon scented, lavender scented, or unscented, and contained either 0, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20% EtOH. Then, 30 minutes later, we used a proboscis extension response (PER) conditioning procedure where the bees were taught to associate either cinnamon odor, lavender odor, or an air-puff with repeated sucrose feedings. For some bees, the odor of the previously consumed EtOH solution was the same as the odor associated with sucrose in the conditioning procedure. If bees are able to learn EtOH-induced CTA, they should show an immediate low level of response to odors previously associated with EtOH. We found that bees did not develop CTA despite the substantial inhibitory and aversive effects EtOH has on behavior. Instead, bees receiving a conditioning odor that was previously associated with EtOH showed an immediate high level of response. While this demonstrates bees are capable of one-trial learning common to CTA experiments, this high level of response is the opposite of what would occur if the bees developed a CTA. Responding on subsequent trials also showed a general inhibitory effect of EtOH. Finally, we found that consumption of cinnamon extract reduced the effects of EtOH. The honey bees' lack of learned avoidance to EtOH mirrors that seen in human alcoholism. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of honey bees as an insect model for EtOH consumption. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 6: how to assess relevance of the data.

Science.gov (United States)

Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Lewin, Simon; Carlsen, Benedicte; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Bohren, Meghan A; Rashidian, Arash; Wainwright, Megan; Tunςalp, Özge; Chandler, Jacqueline; Flottorp, Signe; Pantoja, Tomas; Tucker, Joseph D; Munthe-Kaas, Heather

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on CERQual's relevance component. We developed the relevance component by searching the literature for definitions, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We tested the CERQual relevance component within several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the current definition and principles for application. When applying CERQual, we define relevance as the extent to which the body of data from the primary studies supporting a review finding is applicable to the context (perspective or population, phenomenon of interest, setting) specified in the review question. In this paper, we describe the relevance component and its rationale and offer guidance on how to assess relevance in the context of a review finding. This guidance outlines the information required to assess relevance, the steps that need to be taken to assess relevance and examples of relevance assessments. This paper provides guidance for review authors and others on undertaking an assessment of relevance in the context of the CERQual approach. Assessing the relevance component requires consideration of potentially important contextual factors at an early stage in the review process. We expect the CERQual

Using water quality to assess ecological condition in the St. Marys River and Huron-Erie Corridor

Science.gov (United States)

The St. Marys River and Huron-Erie-Corridor were assessed by EPA for the first time in 2014-2016 as part of the National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA). NCCA uses a probabilistic survey design to allow unbiased assessment of ecological condition across the entire Great Lakes...

Developing an ICT-Literacy Task-Based Assessment Instrument: The Findings on the Final Testing Phase

Science.gov (United States)

Mat-jizat, Jessnor Elmy

2013-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a study which seeks to identify the information and communications technology (ICT) literacy levels of trainee teachers, by investigating their ICT proficiency using a task-bask assessment instrument. The Delphi technique was used as a primary validation method for the new assessment tool and the ICT literacy…

Repeatability of road pavement condition assessment based on three-dimensional analysis of linear accelerations of vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Staniek, Marcin

2018-05-01

The article provides a discussion concerning a tool used for road pavement condition assessment based on signals of linear accelerations recorded with high sampling frequency for typical vehicles traversing the road network under real-life road traffic conditions. Specific relationships have been established for the sake of road pavement condition assessment, including identification of road sections of poor technical condition. The data thus acquired have been verified with regard to repeatability of estimated road pavement assessment indices. The data make it possible to describe the road network status against an area in which users of the system being developed move. What proves to be crucial in the assessment process is the scope of the data set based on multiple transfers within the road network.

Cache Management of Big Data in Equipment Condition Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Yan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Big data platform for equipment condition assessment is built for comprehensive analysis. The platform has various application demands. According to its response time, its application can be divided into offline, interactive and real-time types. For real-time application, its data processing efficiency is important. In general, data cache is one of the most efficient ways to improve query time. However, big data caching is different from the traditional data caching. In the paper we propose a distributed cache management framework of big data for equipment condition assessment. It consists of three parts: cache structure, cache replacement algorithm and cache placement algorithm. Cache structure is the basis of the latter two algorithms. Based on the framework and algorithms, we make full use of the characteristics of just accessing some valuable data during a period of time, and put relevant data on the neighborhood nodes, which largely reduce network transmission cost. We also validate the performance of our proposed approaches through extensive experiments. It demonstrates that the proposed cache replacement algorithm and cache management framework has higher hit rate or lower query time than LRU algorithm and round-robin algorithm.

Lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis: assessment of clinical, CT, and pathological findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, S., E-mail: shigekimiyo@luck.ocn.ne.j [Department of Technical Radiology, Nagoya University School of Health Sciences, Nagoya (Japan); Nagasaka, T. [Department of Pathology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Suzuki, K.; Satake, H.; Ota, T.; Naganawa, S. [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan)

2009-11-15

Aim: To assess the clinical, computed tomography (CT), and pathological findings in patients with lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis. Materials and methods: Fifteen consecutive patients (four women and 11 men, mean age 71 years) with lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis and without the characteristic features of underlying disorders causing benign biliary strictures were retrospectively recruited. Two radiologists evaluated multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images acquired with 0.5 or 1-mm collimation. One pathologist performed all histological examinations, including IgG4 immunostaining. Results: The intrahepatic biliary ducts showed dilatation in all 15 patients, but only seven presented with jaundice. Although laboratory data were not available in all patients, serum gammaglobulin and IgG levels were elevated in five of six patients and six of eight patients, respectively. Anti-nuclear antibody was detected in three of six patients. The involved biliary ducts showed the following CT findings: involvement of the hilar biliary duct (14/15), a mean wall thickness of 4.9 mm, a smooth margin (10/15), a narrow but visible lumen (6/15), hyper-attenuation during the late arterial phase (9/15), homogeneous hyper-attenuation during the delayed phase (11/11), and no vascular invasion (14/15). Abnormal findings in the pancreas and urinary tract were detected in eight of 15 patients. In 13 patients with adequate specimens, moderate to severe lymphoplasmacytic infiltration associated with dense fibrosis was observed. Infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells was moderate or severe in nine patients and minimal or absent in four patients. Conclusion: Lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis exhibits relatively characteristic clinical and CT findings, although they are not sufficiently specific for differentiation from other biliary diseases.

Lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis: assessment of clinical, CT, and pathological findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, S.; Nagasaka, T.; Suzuki, K.; Satake, H.; Ota, T.; Naganawa, S.

2009-01-01

Aim: To assess the clinical, computed tomography (CT), and pathological findings in patients with lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis. Materials and methods: Fifteen consecutive patients (four women and 11 men, mean age 71 years) with lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis and without the characteristic features of underlying disorders causing benign biliary strictures were retrospectively recruited. Two radiologists evaluated multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images acquired with 0.5 or 1-mm collimation. One pathologist performed all histological examinations, including IgG4 immunostaining. Results: The intrahepatic biliary ducts showed dilatation in all 15 patients, but only seven presented with jaundice. Although laboratory data were not available in all patients, serum gammaglobulin and IgG levels were elevated in five of six patients and six of eight patients, respectively. Anti-nuclear antibody was detected in three of six patients. The involved biliary ducts showed the following CT findings: involvement of the hilar biliary duct (14/15), a mean wall thickness of 4.9 mm, a smooth margin (10/15), a narrow but visible lumen (6/15), hyper-attenuation during the late arterial phase (9/15), homogeneous hyper-attenuation during the delayed phase (11/11), and no vascular invasion (14/15). Abnormal findings in the pancreas and urinary tract were detected in eight of 15 patients. In 13 patients with adequate specimens, moderate to severe lymphoplasmacytic infiltration associated with dense fibrosis was observed. Infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells was moderate or severe in nine patients and minimal or absent in four patients. Conclusion: Lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing cholangitis exhibits relatively characteristic clinical and CT findings, although they are not sufficiently specific for differentiation from other biliary diseases.

76 FR 41528 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-14

... license renewal. Staff considered the following environmental resource areas in its evaluation: Land use... Protection and Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection... Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Renewal for Uranium One USA Inc...

DESIGN OF WATER-COOLED PACKAGED AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS BASED ON RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT

OpenAIRE

関口, 圭輔; 中尾, 正喜; 藁谷, 至誠; 植草, 常雄; 羽山, 広文

2007-01-01

Water-cooled packaged air-conditioning systems are reevaluated in terms of alleviating the heat island phenomenon in cities and effectively utilizing building rooftops. Up to now, such reliability assessment has been insufficient, and this has limited the use of this kind of air-conditioning system in the information and communications sectors that demand a high reliability. This work has led to the development of a model for evaluating the reliability of water-cooled package air-conditioning...

[Assessment of adaptation to on-board conditions on "The Ship for World Youth"].

Science.gov (United States)

Kuramoto, H; Kurabayashi, L; Yamato, H; Inamura, H

1992-01-01

The adaptation process of youth from 13 countries on board "The 3rd Ship for World Youth" cruise which was held from January 18 to March 20 in 1991 was analyzed. The age of almost all of the participants was in the 20's (average age was 24.9 yrs), and there were 103 participants (47 males, 56 females) from Japan, 171 participants (86 males, 85 females) from North, Middle and South America, and Oceanian countries for total of 274 participants (133 males, 141 females). The living environment on board differed significantly from daily living conditions of the participants, particularly due to the need to communicate in a foreign language, and to live in harmony with different cultures in a confinement situation, such that they were inevitably susceptible to various stressors. Among the participants there were some who needed psychiatric care and treatment. In order to assess quantitatively psychosomatic reactions to those stressors, a 28-item scaled GHQ (= General Health Questionnaire) assessment was performed four times on board with the following findings: 1. Highest scores were seen shortly after embarkment and decreased as the participants got accustomed to the living conditions on board. 2. The scores of the Japanese participants were higher than those of foreign participants, possibly indicating awkward adaptational skill on the part of Japanese participants especially during the first stage. 3. Japanese females scored slightly higher than Japanese males throughout the course of the program. 4. No clear difference in scores between Japanese participants aged under 25 y and over 26 y was observed. 5. A large proportion (77.3%) of Japanese participants had Y-G personality test results classifying them in the 'stable positive' group (D group). These participants had significantly lower scaled GHQ scores than those in the non-D group, indicating a high adaptational ability of D group participants.

Inertial Measures of Motion for Clinical Biomechanics: Comparative Assessment of Accuracy under Controlled Conditions - Effect of Velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Lebel, Karina; Boissy, Patrick; Hamel, Mathieu; Duval, Christian

2013-01-01

Background Inertial measurement of motion with Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) is emerging as an alternative to 3D motion capture systems in biomechanics. The objectives of this study are: 1) to describe the absolute and relative accuracy of multiple units of commercially available AHRS under various types of motion; and 2) to evaluate the effect of motion velocity on the accuracy of these measurements. Methods The criterion validity of accuracy was established under controlled conditions using an instrumented Gimbal table. AHRS modules were carefully attached to the center plate of the Gimbal table and put through experimental static and dynamic conditions. Static and absolute accuracy was assessed by comparing the AHRS orientation measurement to those obtained using an optical gold standard. Relative accuracy was assessed by measuring the variation in relative orientation between modules during trials. Findings Evaluated AHRS systems demonstrated good absolute static accuracy (mean error < 0.5o) and clinically acceptable absolute accuracy under condition of slow motions (mean error between 0.5o and 3.1o). In slow motions, relative accuracy varied from 2o to 7o depending on the type of AHRS and the type of rotation. Absolute and relative accuracy were significantly affected (p<0.05) by velocity during sustained motions. The extent of that effect varied across AHRS. Interpretation Absolute and relative accuracy of AHRS are affected by environmental magnetic perturbations and conditions of motions. Relative accuracy of AHRS is mostly affected by the ability of all modules to locate the same global reference coordinate system at all time. Conclusions Existing AHRS systems can be considered for use in clinical biomechanics under constrained conditions of use. While their individual capacity to track absolute motion is relatively consistent, the use of multiple AHRS modules to compute relative motion between rigid bodies needs to be optimized according to

Find the Hidden Object. Understanding Play in Psychological Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Fasulo, Alessandra; Shukla, Janhavi; Bennett, Stephanie

2017-01-01

Standardized psychological assessments are extensively used by practitioners to determine rate and level of development in different domains of ability in both typical and atypical children. The younger the children, the more likely the trials will resemble play activities. However, mode of administration, timing and use of objects involved are constrained. The purpose of this study is to explore what kind of play is play in psychological assessments, what are the expectations about children's performance and what are the abilities supporting the test activities. Conversation Analysis (CA) was applied to the videorecording of an interaction between a child and a practitioner during the administration of the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development, III edition. The analysis focuses on a 2'07″ long sequence relative to the administration of the test item "Find the hidden object" to a 23 months old child with Down syndrome. The analysis of the sequence shows that the assessor promotes the child's engagement by couching the actions required to administer the item in utterances with marked child-directed features. The analysis also shows that the objects constituting the test item did not suggest to the child a unique course of action, leading to the assessor's modeling of the successful sequence. We argue that when a play frame is activated by an interactional partner, the relational aspect of the activity is foregrounded and the co-player becomes a source of cues for ways in which playing can develop. We discuss the assessment interaction as orienting the child toward a right-or-wrong interpretation, leaving the realm of play, which is inherently exploratory and inventive, to enter that of instructional activities. Finally, we argue that the sequential analysis of the interaction and of the mutual sense-making procedures that partners put in place during the administration of an assessment could be used in the design and evaluation of tests for a finer

A rating tool to assess the condition of South African infrastructure

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wall, K

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In 2006 the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), released the first ever “report card” assessment rating of the condition of engineering infrastructure...

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Risk Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

... HRS Find a Specialist Share Twitter Facebook SCA Risk Assessment Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) occurs abruptly and without ... people of all ages and health conditions. Start Risk Assessment The Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Risk Assessment Tool ...

Assessment of Health Effects of Exogenous Urea: Summary and Key Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerson, Aisha S; Lee, Janice S; Keshava, Channa; Hotchkiss, Andrew; Persad, Amanda S

2018-05-01

Urea has been utilized as a reductant in diesel fuels to lower emission of nitrogen oxides, igniting interest in probable human health hazards associated with exposure to exogenous urea. Here, we summarize and update key findings on potential health effects of exogenous urea, including carcinogenicity. No definitive target organs for oral exposure were identified; however, results in animal studies suggest that the liver and kidney could be potential target organs of urea toxicity. The available human-subject literature suggests that the impact on lung function is minimal. Based on the literature on exogenous urea, we concluded that there was inadequate information to assess the carcinogenic potential of urea, or perform a quantitative assessment to derive reference values. Given the limited information on exogenous urea, additional research to address gaps for exogenous urea should include long-term cancer bioassays, two-generation reproductive toxicity studies, and mode-of-action investigations.

Using alternative biological information in stock assessment: condition-corrected natural mortality of Eastern Baltic cod

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Casini, Michele; Eero, Margit; Carlshamre, Sofia

2016-01-01

) assumed in the analytical stock assessment model. The results in terms of Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB), Fishing mortality (F) and Recruitment (R) in the final year from the stock assessment using M values adjusted for low condition were up to 40% different compared with the assessment assuming a constant......The inclusion of biological and ecological aspects in the assessment of fish population status is one of the bases for an ecosystem-based fisheries management. During the past two decades the Eastern Baltic cod has experienced a drastic reduction in growth and body condition that may have affected...

Planning for sustainable tourism in southern Pulau Banggi: an assessment of biophysical conditions and their implications for future tourism development.

Science.gov (United States)

Teh, Lydia; Cabanban, Annadel S

2007-12-01

A priori assessments of a site's biophysical and socio-economic capacity for accommodating tourism are less common than tourism impact studies. A priori evaluations can provide a contextual understanding of ecological, economic and socio-cultural forces, which shape the prospects for sustainable tourism development at the host destination, and can avert adverse impacts of tourism. We conduct an a priori assessment of the biophysical environment of Pulau Banggi, in the Malaysian state of Sabah for sustainable tourism development. We characterise baseline conditions of the island's marine biodiversity, seasonality, and infrastructure. We then evaluate how existing biophysical conditions will influence options for sustainable tourism development. In particular, we suggest conditions, if there are any, which constitute a limit to future tourism development in terms of compatibility for recreation and resilience to visitor impacts. We find that the biggest constraint is the lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure. Blast fishing, although occurring less than once per hour, can potentially destroy the major attraction for tourists. We conclude that while Pulau Banggi possesses natural qualities that are attractive for ecotourism, financial and institutional support must be made available to provide facilities and services that will enable local participation in environmental protection and enhance prospects for future sustainable tourism.

Mixed models for data from thorough QT studies: part 2. One-step assessment of conditional QT prolongation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schall, Robert

2011-01-01

We investigate mixed analysis of covariance models for the 'one-step' assessment of conditional QT prolongation. Initially, we consider three different covariance structures for the data, where between-treatment covariance of repeated measures is modelled respectively through random effects, random coefficients, and through a combination of random effects and random coefficients. In all three of those models, an unstructured covariance pattern is used to model within-treatment covariance. In a fourth model, proposed earlier in the literature, between-treatment covariance is modelled through random coefficients but the residuals are assumed to be independent identically distributed (i.i.d.). Finally, we consider a mixed model with saturated covariance structure. We investigate the precision and robustness of those models by fitting them to a large group of real data sets from thorough QT studies. Our findings suggest: (i) Point estimates of treatment contrasts from all five models are similar. (ii) The random coefficients model with i.i.d. residuals is not robust; the model potentially leads to both under- and overestimation of standard errors of treatment contrasts and therefore cannot be recommended for the analysis of conditional QT prolongation. (iii) The combined random effects/random coefficients model does not always converge; in the cases where it converges, its precision is generally inferior to the other models considered. (iv) Both the random effects and the random coefficients model are robust. (v) The random effects, the random coefficients, and the saturated model have similar precision and all three models are suitable for the one-step assessment of conditional QT prolongation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Oral Health Status of Older Adults in Sweden Receiving Elder Care: Findings From Nursing Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Isabelle; Jansson, Henrik; Lindmark, Ulrika

2016-01-01

Frail elderly people often have poor oral hygiene, contributing to oral health problems that can detract significantly from quality of life. The aim of this study was to describe oral health status of frail elderly individuals using the Revised Oral Assessment Guide-Jönköping (ROAG-J), a mouth assessment instrument that can be used in daily nursing care. Data were obtained from the Swedish Senior Alert quality registry in one Swedish municipality. ROAG-J assessments on admission to elder care and one subsequent occasion were used. ROAG-J measurements documented oral health in nine areas: voice, lips, oral mucosa, tongue, gums, teeth, saliva, swallowing, and presence of any prostheses or implants. Assessments were made by nursing staff during the course of daily nursing care. Individuals 65 years of age or older and receiving elder care services (N = 667) were involved; 1,904 assessments made between November 2011 and March 2014 were used for the analysis. On the basis of both assessments, less than one third of participants had oral health problems. No significant difference in any of the oral health variables was found between first and subsequent assessments. At first assessment, men and women differed in tongue health (p oral health. Assessments made by nursing staff using the ROAG-J demonstrate that this tool can be used in daily nursing care, where different, important oral conditions may be encountered. However, knowledge about oral health conditions and the ROAG-J instrument is important to ensure high validity. The ROAG-J enables nursing staff to detect problems in the mouth and to guide decisions related to oral health interventions.

Methodology for quantitative assessment of technical condition in industrial systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinbach, C [Marintek AS (Norway); Soerli, A [Statoil (Norway)

1999-12-31

As part of the Eureka project Ageing Management a methodology has been developed to assess the technical condition of industrial systems. The first part of the presentation argues for the use of technical condition parameters in the context of maintenance strategies. Thereafter the term `technical condition` is defined more thoroughly as it is used within the project. It is claimed that the technical condition of a system - such as a feed water system of a nuclear power plant, or a water injection system on an oil platform - may be determined by aggregating the condition of its smaller components using a hierarchic approach. The hierarchy has to be defined in co-operation with experienced personnel and reflects the impact of degradation of elements on a lower level to nodes higher in the hierarchy. The impact is divided into five categories with respect to safety, environment, availability, costs and man-hours. To determine the technical condition of the bottom elements of the hierarchy, available data is used from both an on-line condition monitoring system and maintenance history. The second part of the presentation introduces the prototype software tool TeCoMan which utilises the theory and applies it to installations of the participating companies. First results and gained experiences with the method and tool are discussed. (orig.)

Methodology for quantitative assessment of technical condition in industrial systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinbach, C. [Marintek AS (Norway); Soerli, A. [Statoil (Norway)

1998-12-31

As part of the Eureka project Ageing Management a methodology has been developed to assess the technical condition of industrial systems. The first part of the presentation argues for the use of technical condition parameters in the context of maintenance strategies. Thereafter the term `technical condition` is defined more thoroughly as it is used within the project. It is claimed that the technical condition of a system - such as a feed water system of a nuclear power plant, or a water injection system on an oil platform - may be determined by aggregating the condition of its smaller components using a hierarchic approach. The hierarchy has to be defined in co-operation with experienced personnel and reflects the impact of degradation of elements on a lower level to nodes higher in the hierarchy. The impact is divided into five categories with respect to safety, environment, availability, costs and man-hours. To determine the technical condition of the bottom elements of the hierarchy, available data is used from both an on-line condition monitoring system and maintenance history. The second part of the presentation introduces the prototype software tool TeCoMan which utilises the theory and applies it to installations of the participating companies. First results and gained experiences with the method and tool are discussed. (orig.)

Functional near infrared spectroscopy as a potential biological assessment of addiction recovery: preliminary findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dempsey, Jared P; Harris, Kitty S; Shumway, Sterling T; Kimball, Thomas G; Herrera, J Caleb; Dsauza, Cynthia M; Bradshaw, Spencer D

2015-03-01

Addiction science has primarily utilized self-report, continued substance use, and relapse factors to explore the process of recovery. However, the entry into successful abstinence substantially reduces our assessment abilities. Advances in neuroscience may be the key to objective understanding, treating, and monitoring long-term success in addiction recovery. To explore functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIR) as a viable technique in the assessment of addiction-cue reactivity. Specifically, prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation to alcohol cues was explored among formally alcohol-dependent individuals, across varying levels of successful abstinence. The aim of the investigation was to identify patterns of PFC activation change consistent with duration of abstinence. A total of 15 formally alcohol-dependent individuals, with abstinence durations ranging from 1 month to 10 years, viewed alcohol images during fNIR PFC assessment. Participants also subjectively rated the same images for affect and arousal level. Subjective ratings of alcohol cues did not significantly correlate with duration of abstinence. As expected, days of abstinence did not significantly correlate with neutral cue fNIR reactivity. However, for alcohol cues, fNIR results showed increased days of abstinence was associated with decreased activation within the dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex regions. The present results suggest that fNIR may be a viable tool in the assessment of addiction-cue reactivity. RESULTS also support previous findings on the importance of dorsolateral and dorsomedial PFC in alcohol-cue activation. The findings build upon these past results suggesting that fNIR-assessed activation may represent a robust biological marker of successful addiction recovery.

Small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia in children: HRCT findings and correlation with radiographic findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheon, Jung Eun; Kim, Woo Sun; Kim, In One; Koh, Young Yull; Lee, Hoan Jong; Yeon, Kyung Mo [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2003-04-01

To assess the high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings of small airway abnormalities after mycoplasma pneumonia and correlate them with the findings of chest radiography performed during the acute and follow-up phases of the condition. We retrospectively evaluated HRCT and chest radiographic findings of 18 patients with clinical diagnosis of small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia (M:F=8:10, mean age: 8.3 years, mean time interval after the initial infection; 26 menths). We evaluated the lung parenchymal and bronchial abnormalities on HRCT (n=18). In addition, presence of air-trapping was assessed on expiratory scans (n=13). The findings of HRCT were correlated with those of chest radiography performed during the acute phase of initial infection (n=15) and at the time of CT examination (n=18), respectively. HRCT revealed lung parenchymal abnormalities in 13 patients (72%). A mosaic pattern of lung attenuation was noted in ten patients (10/18, 56%) and air-trapping on expiratory scans was observed in nine (9/13), 69%). In nine of 14 (64%) with negative findings at follow-up chest radiography, one or both of the above parenchymal abnormalities was observed at HRCT. In four patients (27%), parenchymal abnormalities were seen at HRCT in areas considered normal at acute-phase chest radiography. Bronchiectasis or ateclectasis was observed in eight (44%) and four (22%) patients, respectively, at HRCT. The CT features of Swyer-James syndrome such as a unilateral hyperlucent lung with reduced lung volume and attenuated vessels were noted in two patients(11%). HRCT can clearly demonstrate lung parenchymal and bronchial abnormalities of small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia in children.

Small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia in children: HRCT findings and correlation with radiographic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheon, Jung Eun; Kim, Woo Sun; Kim, In One; Koh, Young Yull; Lee, Hoan Jong; Yeon, Kyung Mo

2003-01-01

To assess the high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings of small airway abnormalities after mycoplasma pneumonia and correlate them with the findings of chest radiography performed during the acute and follow-up phases of the condition. We retrospectively evaluated HRCT and chest radiographic findings of 18 patients with clinical diagnosis of small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia (M:F=8:10, mean age: 8.3 years, mean time interval after the initial infection; 26 menths). We evaluated the lung parenchymal and bronchial abnormalities on HRCT (n=18). In addition, presence of air-trapping was assessed on expiratory scans (n=13). The findings of HRCT were correlated with those of chest radiography performed during the acute phase of initial infection (n=15) and at the time of CT examination (n=18), respectively. HRCT revealed lung parenchymal abnormalities in 13 patients (72%). A mosaic pattern of lung attenuation was noted in ten patients (10/18, 56%) and air-trapping on expiratory scans was observed in nine (9/13), 69%). In nine of 14 (64%) with negative findings at follow-up chest radiography, one or both of the above parenchymal abnormalities was observed at HRCT. In four patients (27%), parenchymal abnormalities were seen at HRCT in areas considered normal at acute-phase chest radiography. Bronchiectasis or ateclectasis was observed in eight (44%) and four (22%) patients, respectively, at HRCT. The CT features of Swyer-James syndrome such as a unilateral hyperlucent lung with reduced lung volume and attenuated vessels were noted in two patients(11%). HRCT can clearly demonstrate lung parenchymal and bronchial abnormalities of small airway disease after mycoplasma pneumonia in children

The Next Generation of Risk Assessment Multi-Year Study—Highlights of Findings, Applications to Risk Assessment, and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Cote, Ila; Andersen, Melvin E.; Ankley, Gerald T.; Barone, Stanley; Birnbaum, Linda S.; Boekelheide, Kim; Bois, Frederic Y.; Burgoon, Lyle D.; Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Crawford-Brown, Douglas; Crofton, Kevin M.; DeVito, Michael; Devlin, Robert B.; Edwards, Stephen W.; Guyton, Kathryn Z.; Hattis, Dale; Judson, Richard S.; Knight, Derek; Krewski, Daniel; Lambert, Jason; Maull, Elizabeth Anne; Mendrick, Donna; Paoli, Gregory M.; Patel, Chirag Jagdish; Perkins, Edward J.; Poje, Gerald; Portier, Christopher J.; Rusyn, Ivan; Schulte, Paul A.; Simeonov, Anton; Smith, Martyn T.; Thayer, Kristina A.; Thomas, Russell S.; Thomas, Reuben; Tice, Raymond R.; Vandenberg, John J.; Villeneuve, Daniel L.; Wesselkamper, Scott; Whelan, Maurice; Whittaker, Christine; White, Ronald; Xia, Menghang; Yauk, Carole; Zeise, Lauren; Zhao, Jay; DeWoskin, Robert S.

2016-01-01

Background: The Next Generation (NexGen) of Risk Assessment effort is a multi-year collaboration among several organizations evaluating new, potentially more efficient molecular, computational, and systems biology approaches to risk assessment. This article summarizes our findings, suggests applications to risk assessment, and identifies strategic research directions. Objective: Our specific objectives were to test whether advanced biological data and methods could better inform our understanding of public health risks posed by environmental exposures. Methods: New data and methods were applied and evaluated for use in hazard identification and dose–response assessment. Biomarkers of exposure and effect, and risk characterization were also examined. Consideration was given to various decision contexts with increasing regulatory and public health impacts. Data types included transcriptomics, genomics, and proteomics. Methods included molecular epidemiology and clinical studies, bioinformatic knowledge mining, pathway and network analyses, short-duration in vivo and in vitro bioassays, and quantitative structure activity relationship modeling. Discussion: NexGen has advanced our ability to apply new science by more rapidly identifying chemicals and exposures of potential concern, helping characterize mechanisms of action that influence conclusions about causality, exposure–response relationships, susceptibility and cumulative risk, and by elucidating new biomarkers of exposure and effects. Additionally, NexGen has fostered extensive discussion among risk scientists and managers and improved confidence in interpreting and applying new data streams. Conclusions: While considerable uncertainties remain, thoughtful application of new knowledge to risk assessment appears reasonable for augmenting major scope assessments, forming the basis for or augmenting limited scope assessments, and for prioritization and screening of very data limited chemicals. Citation: Cote I

Acoustic Signal Processing for Pipe Condition Assessment (WaterRF Report 4360)

Science.gov (United States)

Unique to prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP), individual wire breaks create an excitation in the pipe wall that may vary in response to the remaining compression of the pipe core. This project was designed to improve acoustic signal processing for pipe condition assessment...

Electricity savings ``soon come'' to Jamaica -- Assessing the potential for air conditioning and refrigeration end-use DSM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conlon, T.; Hamzawi, E.; Campbell, V.

1998-07-01

With the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility of the World Bank, and the Rockefeller Foundation, the national electric utility in Jamaica (Jamaica Public Service Company) has begun an assessment of the technical, economic, and financial opportunities for achieving demand-side management (DSM) energy savings in the air conditioning and refrigeration end uses. The feasibility and cost effectiveness of specific measures is being assessed for both the residential and commercials segments. While structures as a traditional load-research-based market assessment, the project uses ethnographic data collection and analysis techniques and involves collaboration with local contractors. The skills of local experts are being taped to identify and interview the key market players, and to develop an understanding of the barriers to and opportunities for energy efficiency present in the evolving equipment markets. The paper outlines methods and presents preliminary case study results for the air conditioning market. The authors identify major groups of market players and dominant types of equipment, and provide an overview of market dynamics. The volume of sales passing through both formal and informal distribution channels is estimated and market barriers are identified. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations will be made for future program and policy initiatives designed to mitigate selected barriers in each of the supply chains.

Remote monitoring as a tool in condition assessment of a highway bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Tantele, Elia A.; Votsis, Renos A.; Onoufriou, Toula; Milis, Marios; Kareklas, George

2016-08-01

The deterioration of civil infrastructure and their subsequent maintenance is a significant problem for the responsible managing authorities. The ideal scenario is to detect deterioration and/or structural problems at early stages so that the maintenance cost is kept low and the safety of the infrastructure remains undisputed. The current inspection regimes implemented mostly via visual inspection are planned at specific intervals but are not always executed on time due to shortcomings in expert personnel and finance. However the introduction of technological advances in the assessment of infrastructures provides the tools to alleviate this problem. This study describes the assessment of a highway RC bridge's structural condition using remote structural health monitoring. A monitoring plan is implemented focusing on strain measurements; as strain is a parameter influenced by the environmental conditions supplementary data are provided from temperature and wind sensors. The data are acquired using wired sensors (deployed at specific locations) which are connected to a wireless sensor unit installed at the bridge. This WSN application enables the transmission of the raw data from the field to the office for processing and evaluation. The processed data are then used to assess the condition of the bridge. This case study, which is part of an undergoing RPF research project, illustrates that remote monitoring can alleviate the problem of missing structural inspections. Additionally, shows its potential to be the main part of a fully automated smart procedure of obtaining structural data, processed them and trigger an alarm when certain undesirable conditions are met.

VISUAL AND ULTRASONIC ASSESSMENT OF CONDITION STATUS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CONCEPTION IN DAIRY COWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Čengić

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Assessment of energy reserves in the organism made through evaluation of body condition, basically represents the nutritional status of animal, valued by deposited adipose tissue, when body frame and weight have secondary importance. At the farm of high producing Holstein-Friesian cows with tie stall housing and average milk yield of 7000 liters, we followed the relation between the evaluation of body score condition and the conception rate. Total of 29 Holstein-Frisean cows were included in the study, aged between the first and fifth lactation. Cows were assessed on the basis of three major body areas examination (loin, pin bones and tail head. The evaluation was performed visually and ultrasonically by measuring backfat. Assessment of body condition and backfat measuring were performed at the same day as arteficial insemination. The cows were later divided into two experimental groups, pregnant and non-pregnant. The success rate of conception was 34.5%. The results of ultrasound backfat measurements were compatible with the visual assessment of body condition. As such, it represents a simple and objective method. Body condition score for both groups averaged 2.75. The average thickness of backfat was 16 mm in the group of pregnant cows, and 16.8 mm in the group of non-pregnant cows. Energy status of cows in this research seems to have had no significant effect on the conception rate. Key words: cow, body condition, backfat, ultrasonography, conception

Ruthenium release at high temperature from irradiated PWR fuels in various oxidising conditions. Main findings from the VERCORS program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ducros, G.; Pontillon, Y.; Malgouyres, P.P.; Taylor, P.; Dutheillet, Y.

2005-01-01

Fission product release and transport in case of PWR severe accident is a major topic in reactor safety assessment due to the potential radiological consequences for surrounding populations and the environment. In this context, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Safety (IRSN) and Electricite de France (EDF) have supported the VERCORS analytical test program which was performed by the ''Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique'' (CEA). It is usually considered as complementary to the PHEBUS FP in-pile integral experimental program. 25 annealing tests were performed between 1983 and 2002 on irradiated PWR fuels under various conditions of temperature and atmospheres (oxidising or reducing conditions).The influence of the nature of the fuel (UO 2 versus MOX, burn-up) and the fuel morphology (initially intact or fragmented fuels) have also been investigated. These led to an extended data base allowing on the one hand to study mechanisms which promote fission products release, and on the other hand to enhance models implemented in severe accident codes. Among all the fission products investigated, ruthenium is of specific concern because of its high radiological effects due essentially to the combination of both its short and long half-life isotopes (i.e. 103 Ru and 106 Ru respectively), but also by its ability to generate volatile gaseous oxides (RuO 3 , RuO 4 ) in very oxidising conditions, in particular in the case of air ingress accidents. Important uncertainties still remain on the release and transport of this element in such situations, and investigations on this open issue are notably carried out in the SARNET European framework. The present communication gives a general overview of the VERCORS program and presents more deeply the main findings concerning the ruthenium release. Its global behaviour is analysed on the basis of several comparative tests: same UO 2 sample (35 and 50 GWd/t) under hydrogen or steam conditions, similar MOX sample (40 GWd/t) under

Finding Silver Linings: A Preliminary Examination of Benefit Finding in Youth With Chronic Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Soltani, Sabine; Neville, Alex; Hurtubise, Karen; Hildenbrand, Aimee; Noel, Melanie

2018-04-01

Chronic pain is a pervasive condition in adolescence and is associated with significant psychological distress, functional disability, social isolation, and decreased quality of life for a subset of affected youth. There is a paucity of research examining potential resilience factors and adaptive processes in pediatric chronic pain. Benefit finding refers to the process of perceiving positive consequences in the face of adversity. Previous research on benefit finding in pediatric samples (e.g., oncology; acute injury) has yielded inconsistent results. This is the first study to examine this construct in youth with chronic pain. The objective of the current investigation was to extend previous research on benefit finding to adolescents with chronic pain and to assess relationships between benefit finding, internalizing mental health symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), pain outcomes (pain intensity and interference), and quality of life. Psychometrically sound self-report measures of benefit finding, anxiety, depressive, and PTSD symptoms, pain intensity, pain interference, and quality of life were completed by 145 youth (67.4% female, Mage = 13.3 years, SD = 2.6), referred to a tertiary-level chronic pain program. Benefit finding was significantly correlated with internalizing mental health symptoms, pain outcomes, and quality of life. Further, benefit finding significantly predicted children's self-reported pain intensity, pain interference, and quality of life when controlling for age and sex. Findings suggest that benefit finding is associated with internalizing mental health symptoms, pain outcomes, and quality of life in youth with chronic pain. Future research examining this construct is warranted.

Condition-based Human Reliability Assessment for digitalized control room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, H. G.; Jang, S. C.; Eom, H. S.; Ha, J. J.

2005-04-01

In safety-critical systems, the generation failure of an actuation signal is caused by the concurrent failures of the automated systems and an operator action. These two sources of safety signals are complicatedly correlated. The failures of sensors or automated systems will cause a lack of necessary information for a human operator and result in error-forcing contexts such as the loss of corresponding alarms and indications. In the conventional analysis, the Human Error Probabilities (HEP) are estimated based on the assumption of 'normal condition of indications and alarms'. In order to construct a more realistic signal-generation failure model, we have to consider more complicated conditions in a more realistic manner. In this study, we performed two kinds of investigation for addressing this issue. We performed the analytic calculations for estimating the effect of sensors failures on the system unavailability and plant risk. For the single-parameter safety signals, the analysis result reveals that the quantification of the HEP should be performed by focusing on the 'no alarm from the automatic system and corresponding indications unavailable' situation. This study also proposes a Condition-Based Human Reliability Assessment (CBHRA) method in order to address these complicated conditions in a practical way. We apply the CBHRA method to the manual actuation of the safety features such as a reactor trip and auxiliary feedwater actuation in Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants. In the case of conventional single HEP method, it is very hard to consider the multiple HE conditions. The merit of CBHRA is clearly shown in the application to the AFAS generation where no dominating HE condition exits. In this case, even if the HE conditions are carefully investigated, the single HEP method cannot accommodate the multiple conditions in a fault tree. On the other hand, the application result of the reactor trip in SLOCA shows that if there is a dominating condition, the use

The Role of Decision Support in Adapting to Climate Change: Findings from Three Place-based Regional Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

This report summarizes the methodologies and findings of three regional assessments and considers the role of decision support in assisting adaptation to climate change. Background. In conjunction with the US Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP’s) National Assessment of ...

Oral Assessment and Nursing Interventions among Nigerian Nurses ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Assessment of oral condition, oral care, and informing the attending doctor of unusual oral findings for possible consultation or referral to a dentist are the advocated roles of hospital nurses. The objective of the study was thus to assess the roles of Nigerian nurses in the assessment of oral conditions of ...

Demonstration and Evaluation of State-of-the-Art Wastewater Collection Systems Condition Assessment Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Reliable information on pipe condition is needed to accurately estimate the remaining service life of wastewater collection system assets. Although inspections with conventional closed-circuit television (CCTV) have been the mainstay of pipeline condition assessment for decades,...

Phenylcarboxylic Acids in The Assessment of The Severity of Patient Condition and The Efficiency of Intensive Treatment in Critical Care Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Moroz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The development of accurate and applicable methods to assess the severity of patient condition is an urgent need in critical care medicine.The goal of the study was to determine whether the quantitave evaluation of phenylcarboxylic acids (PhCAs concentrations in blood might be employed to assess the severity of patient condition and treatment efficiency intensive care unit.Materials and methods. Clinical and laboratory findings in patients (n=58 with acute surgical diseases of abdominal organs were registered on the day of admission to intensive care unit and during follow-up control including lactate level and blood serum PhCA concentrations of phenyllactic (PhLA, p#hydroxyphenyllactic (p-HPhLA and phydroxyphenylacetic (p#HPhAA acids. Patients' condition was assessed using APACHE II and SOFA international scales. PhCA concentrations were determined by gas chromatography. The reference group included healthy blood donors (n=25.Results. PhLA, p-HPhAA, p-HPhLA levels and total concentration of the three PhCAs were shown to be in direct correlation with APACHE II score (rs: 0.624; 0.757; 0.763 and 0.804, respectively; P<0.001. When testing PhCAs as a molecular prognostic criteria, areas under ROC#curves (AUC were within the range of 0.800—0.900 (P<0.001. Therewith the molecular prognostic criteria were comparable with APACHE II multi#parameter scale by accuracy: AUCAPACHE II was 0.897 (P<0.001. Lactate level dynamics as a prognostic criterion was inferior in accuracy to the dynamics of PhCA total concentration: AUCС lactate, % 0.667 (P=0.071 vs AUCС 3PhCAs, % 0.862 (P<0.001. In patients with documented bacterial inflammatory complications PhCA level was 2.5 times higher (P<0,001, n=35 and p#HPhLA level was 1.5 times higher than in patients without infectious complications (P=0.048, n=23.Conclusion. The findings provide evidence for the inclusion of PhCAs (PhLA, p-HPhAA, p-HPhLA, 3PhCAs in clinical practice as biomarkers of the severity of

Internet Use by Parents of Children With Rare Conditions: Findings From a Study on Parents’ Web Information Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholl, Honor; Tracey, Catherine; Begley, Thelma; King, Carole

2017-01-01

Background Parents of children with rare conditions increasingly use the Internet to source information on their child’s condition. This study reports on part of a larger study whose overall aim was to identify the Internet use by parents when seeking information on their child’s rare condition, with the specific purpose of using the findings to aid in the development of a website specifically designed to meet the parents’ needs. It presents findings on why these parents use the Internet, the information and support content they source, and the impact these resources have on their capacity to care for and manage their child’s condition. Objective To (1) ascertain parents’ general Internet usage patterns, (2) identify the nature of the information parents most frequently searched for, and (3) determine the effect the Internet-sourced information had on parents of children with rare conditions. Methods Data collection was conducted in 2 parts: Part 1 was a focus group interview (n=8) to inform the development of the questionnaire, and Part 2 was a questionnaire (Web- and paper-based). All respondents (N=128) completed the questionnaire using the Internet. Results Parents frequently and habitually used the Internet and social media to gather information on their child’s condition. These Web-based resources provide parents with a parent-to-parent support platform that allows them to share their experiences and information with other parents, which, the respondents considered, improved their knowledge and understanding of their child’s condition. The respondents also reported that these resources positively impacted on their decision making, care, and management of their child’s condition. However, they reported receiving mixed responses when wishing to engage and share with health care professionals their Internet and social media interactions and information outcomes. Conclusions This study adds to the emerging body of research on the Internet use by

Finding the Optimum Scenario in Risk-benefit Assessment: An Example on Vitamin D

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berjia, Firew Lemma; Hoekstra, J.; Verhagen, H.

2014-01-01

when changing from the reference to the optimum scenario. Conclusion: The method allowed us to find the optimum serum level in the vitamin D example. Additional case studies are needed to further validate the applicability of the approach to other nutrients or foods, especially with regards...... a method for finding the optimum scenario that provides maximum net health gains. Methods: A multiple scenario simulation. The method is presented using vitamin D intake in Denmark as an example. In addition to the reference scenario, several alternative scenarios are simulated to detect the scenario...... that provides maximum net health gains. As a common health metric, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) has been used to project the net health effect by using the QALIBRA (Quality of Life for Benefit Risk Assessment) software. Results: The method used in the vitamin D example shows that it is feasible to find...

Assessment of bioclimatic conditions within the area of Szczecin agglomeration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jadwiga Nidzgorska-Lencewicz

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to characterise the bioclimatic conditions in the city of Szczecin, particularly the recognition of the frequency of occurrence of the conditions unfavourable to humans. The analysis is based on the hourly values of particular meteorological elements and pollutant concentrations in the period 2005?2010 taken at the three measuring stations located in various settlement structures in Szczecin metropolitan area. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI was used to assess heat stress of human organism and the assessment of thermal sensation was based on the Effective Temperature index (ET. It was established that on a yearly basis the most favourable biothermal conditions are observed in the centre of the city and in its southern districts ? categories no thermal stress (UTCI and thermal comfort (ET are most frequently recorded there. However, in the northern parts of the city the most common class of thermal stress (UTCI is moderate cold stress and thermal sensation category (ET cool and cold. Among the situations which thermal stress, the conditions connected with discomfort related to cold rather than heat are more frequent. Throughout the year, the strong cold stress (UTCI < 13 ° C and sensations (ET related to cold stress occurred in 12.5% and 25% of time respectively, whereas thermal discomfort related to strong heat stress with UTCI values over 32 ° C and ET thermal sensations hot and very hot were observed incomparably less frequently ? 0.3% and 3.7% respectively. However, heat-related discomfort is more frequently observed in the city centre, and cold-related discomfort is most frequently experienced by residents of the outskirts of the city, particularly its northern parts. The statistically strongest relationships were observed between biothermal sensation and ozone (O3 and particulate matter PM2.5 immissions. During the analysed period, the most unfavourable bioclimatic conditions occurred predominantly in

Condition Assessment of a 2,500-Year-Old Mummy Coffin

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. Ross; Turker Dundar

2012-01-01

This work was conducted to assess the condition of a 2,500-year-old mummy coffin. The coffin, part of a collection of funerary objects at the Nelson–Atkins Museum of Art in St. Louis, Missouri, is made of wood obtained from a sycamore fig tree, Ficus sycomorus. Visual and acoustic-based nondestructive testing techniques were used to inspect the...

A Geomorphologically Driven Conditional Assessment for the Study of Urban Stone Decay

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Brian; McKinley, Jennifer; Warke, Patricia; Ruffell, Alastair

2017-04-01

into consideration these limitations by undertaking two conditional assessments, using differing techniques, of wall sections at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast. These assessments will be undertaken using a classification system focusing upon percentage of surface alteration. Initially, an assessment was carried out focussing on classifying each block individually. This was then followed by observations in a regular grid of 10x10cm squares across the wall sections. Results suggest that decay features develop beyond the extents of a single stone when situated within a larger built structure, with mortar and blocks providing both interconnectivity and barriers that influence the spread of decay. The results suggest the presence of three wall scale processes; urban microclimatic influencing capillary rise of ground water, architectural features creating a barrier and the passage of moisture through deteriorating mortar. Probe permeametry, GPR and 3D modelling of the wall sections were used to provide support for these findings. For the conservationist, application of a gridded observation approach is time consuming and of little use when deciding upon the remediation of individual blocks. However, in geomorphologically focused studies it facilitates a greater understanding of processes that extend beyond a single block, particularly when considering sites where the development of decay appears to be spatially complex.

Current Conditions Risk Assessment for the 300-FF-5 Groundwater Operable Unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miley, Terri B.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Napier, Bruce A.; Peterson, Robert E.; Becker, James M.

2007-11-01

This report updates a baseline risk assessment for the 300 Area prepared in 1994. The update includes consideration of changes in contaminants of interest and in the environment that have occurred during the period of interim remedial action, i.e., 1996 to the present, as well as the sub-regions, for which no initial risk assessments have been conducted. In 1996, a record of decision (ROD) stipulated interim remedial action for groundwater affected by releases from 300 Area sources, as follows: (a) continued monitoring of groundwater that is contaminated above health-based levels to ensure that concentrations continue to decrease, and (b) institutional controls to ensure that groundwater use is restricted to prevent unacceptable exposure to groundwater contamination. In 2000, the groundwater beneath the two outlying sub-regions was added to the operable unit. In 2001, the first 5-year review of the ROD found that the interim remedy and remedial action objectives were still appropriate, although the review called for additional characterization activities. This report includes a current conditions baseline ecological and human health risk assessment using maximum concentrations in the environmental media of the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit and downstream conditions at the City of Richland, Washington. The scope for this assessment includes only current measured environmental concentrations and current use scenarios. Future environmental concentrations and future land uses are not considered in this assessment.

CT findings in autoimmune pancreatitis: assessment using multiphase contrast-enhanced multisection CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzuki, K., E-mail: Kojiro@med.nagoya-u.ac.j [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Itoh, S. [Department of Radiology, Nagoya Hirokoji Clinic, Nagoya (Japan); Nagasaka, T. [Departments of Medical Technology, Nagoya University School of Health Science, Nagoya (Japan); Ogawa, H.; Ota, T.; Naganawa, S. [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan)

2010-09-15

Aim: To assess the spectrum of findings using multiphase contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). Materials and methods: Fifty patients (four female and 46 male, mean age 65 years) were retrospectively identified from consecutive patients with abnormal CT findings of the pancreas and negative work-up for known causes. These patients had at least one finding supporting the diagnosis of AIP: serological abnormality, histopathological abnormality, or response to steroid. Two radiologists evaluated multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images in consensus. Results: The pancreas showed diffuse enlargement (n = 16; 32%), focal enlargement (n = 18; 36%), or no enlargement (n = 16; 32%). Forty-nine (98%) patients showed abnormal contrast enhancement in the affected pancreatic parenchyma, including hypoattenuation during the pancreatic phase (n = 45; 90%) and hyperattenuation during the delayed phase (n = 39; 87%). The following findings were also seen in the pancreas: a capsule-like rim (n = 24; 48%); no visualization of the main pancreatic duct lumen (n = 48; 96%); ductal enhancement (n = 26; 52%); upstream dilatation of the main pancreatic duct (n = 27; 54%); upstream atrophy of the pancreatic parenchyma (n = 27; 54%); calcification (n = 7; 14%); and cysts (n = 5; 10%). Forty-two (84%) patients showed one or more of the following extrapancreatic findings: biliary duct or gallbladder abnormality (n = 40; 80%); peripancreatic (n = 8; 16%) or para-aortic (n = 10; 20%) soft-tissue proliferation; and renal involvement (n = 15; 30%). Conclusion: Patients with AIP presented with a variety of CT findings in the pancreas and the extrapancreatic organs. The present study highlights pancreatic ductal enhancement in a subset of patients with AIP.

The evolution of conditional moral assessment in indirect reciprocity

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Okada, Isamu; Nakai, Yutaka

2017-01-01

Indirect reciprocity is a major mechanism in the maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals. Indirect reciprocity leads to conditional cooperation according to social norms that discriminate the good (those who deserve to be rewarded with help) and the bad (those who should be punished by refusal of help). Despite intensive research, however, there is no definitive consensus on what social norms best promote cooperation through indirect reciprocity, and it remains unclear even how those who refuse to help the bad should be assessed. Here, we propose a new simple norm called “Staying” that prescribes abstaining from assessment. Under the Staying norm, the image of the person who makes the decision to give help stays the same as in the last assessment if the person on the receiving end has a bad image. In this case, the choice about whether or not to give help to the potential receiver does not affect the image of the potential giver. We analyze the Staying norm in terms of evolutionary game theory and demonstrate that Staying is most effective in establishing cooperation compared to the prevailing social norms, which rely on constant monitoring and unconditional assessment. The application of Staying suggests that the strict application of moral judgment is limited. PMID:28150808

The evolution of conditional moral assessment in indirect reciprocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Okada, Isamu; Nakai, Yutaka

2017-02-02

Indirect reciprocity is a major mechanism in the maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals. Indirect reciprocity leads to conditional cooperation according to social norms that discriminate the good (those who deserve to be rewarded with help) and the bad (those who should be punished by refusal of help). Despite intensive research, however, there is no definitive consensus on what social norms best promote cooperation through indirect reciprocity, and it remains unclear even how those who refuse to help the bad should be assessed. Here, we propose a new simple norm called "Staying" that prescribes abstaining from assessment. Under the Staying norm, the image of the person who makes the decision to give help stays the same as in the last assessment if the person on the receiving end has a bad image. In this case, the choice about whether or not to give help to the potential receiver does not affect the image of the potential giver. We analyze the Staying norm in terms of evolutionary game theory and demonstrate that Staying is most effective in establishing cooperation compared to the prevailing social norms, which rely on constant monitoring and unconditional assessment. The application of Staying suggests that the strict application of moral judgment is limited.

The evolution of conditional moral assessment in indirect reciprocity

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Okada, Isamu; Nakai, Yutaka

2017-02-01

Indirect reciprocity is a major mechanism in the maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals. Indirect reciprocity leads to conditional cooperation according to social norms that discriminate the good (those who deserve to be rewarded with help) and the bad (those who should be punished by refusal of help). Despite intensive research, however, there is no definitive consensus on what social norms best promote cooperation through indirect reciprocity, and it remains unclear even how those who refuse to help the bad should be assessed. Here, we propose a new simple norm called “Staying” that prescribes abstaining from assessment. Under the Staying norm, the image of the person who makes the decision to give help stays the same as in the last assessment if the person on the receiving end has a bad image. In this case, the choice about whether or not to give help to the potential receiver does not affect the image of the potential giver. We analyze the Staying norm in terms of evolutionary game theory and demonstrate that Staying is most effective in establishing cooperation compared to the prevailing social norms, which rely on constant monitoring and unconditional assessment. The application of Staying suggests that the strict application of moral judgment is limited.

Smart City Research : Contextual Conditions, Governance Models, and Public Value Assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, Albert J.; Gil-Garcia, J. Ramon; Bolívar, Manuel Pedro Rodríguez

2016-01-01

There are three issues that are crucial to advancing our academic understanding of smart cities: (1) contextual conditions, (2) governance models, and (3) the assessment of public value. A brief review of recent literature and the analysis of the included papers provide support for the assumption

75 FR 62133 - Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment (FINAL EA) and a Finding of No...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-07

... Availability of Final Environmental Assessment (FINAL EA) and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for... of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Land Purchase, Access Road Construction and Access Tunnel... Impact (FONSI) based on the Final Environmental Assessment (FINAL EA) for Land Purchase, Access Road...

CCTV Data Management for Effective Condition Assessment of Wastewater Collection Systems - slides

Science.gov (United States)

The project objectives are: Research current state of condition assessment technology for wastewater collection systems; Evaluate performance and cost of innovative and advanced infrastructure monitoring technologies; Identify and evaluate innovative CCTV technologies; and Prepar...

Environmental condition assessment of US military installations using GIS based spatial multi-criteria decision analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Steve; Wang, Guangxing; Howard, Heidi; Anderson, Alan

2012-08-01

Environment functions in various aspects including soil and water conservation, biodiversity and habitats, and landscape aesthetics. Comprehensive assessment of environmental condition is thus a great challenge. The issues include how to assess individual environmental components such as landscape aesthetics and integrate them into an indicator that can comprehensively quantify environmental condition. In this study, a geographic information systems based spatial multi-criteria decision analysis was used to integrate environmental variables and create the indicator. This approach was applied to Fort Riley Military installation in which land condition and its dynamics due to military training activities were assessed. The indicator was derived by integrating soil erosion, water quality, landscape fragmentation, landscape aesthetics, and noise based on the weights from the experts by assessing and ranking the environmental variables in terms of their importance. The results showed that landscape level indicator well quantified the overall environmental condition and its dynamics, while the indicator at level of patch that is defined as a homogeneous area that is different from its surroundings detailed the spatiotemporal variability of environmental condition. The environmental condition was mostly determined by soil erosion, then landscape fragmentation, water quality, landscape aesthetics, and noise. Overall, environmental condition at both landscape and patch levels greatly varied depending on the degree of ground and canopy disturbance and their spatial patterns due to military training activities and being related to slope. It was also determined the environment itself could be recovered quickly once military training was halt or reduced. Thus, this study provided an effective tool for the army land managers to monitor environmental dynamics and plan military training activities. Its limitation lies at that the obtained values of the indicator vary and are

Internet Use by Parents of Children With Rare Conditions: Findings From a Study on Parents' Web Information Needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholl, Honor; Tracey, Catherine; Begley, Thelma; King, Carole; Lynch, Aileen M

2017-02-28

Parents of children with rare conditions increasingly use the Internet to source information on their child's condition. This study reports on part of a larger study whose overall aim was to identify the Internet use by parents when seeking information on their child's rare condition, with the specific purpose of using the findings to aid in the development of a website specifically designed to meet the parents' needs. It presents findings on why these parents use the Internet, the information and support content they source, and the impact these resources have on their capacity to care for and manage their child's condition. To (1) ascertain parents' general Internet usage patterns, (2) identify the nature of the information parents most frequently searched for, and (3) determine the effect the Internet-sourced information had on parents of children with rare conditions. Data collection was conducted in 2 parts: Part 1 was a focus group interview (n=8) to inform the development of the questionnaire, and Part 2 was a questionnaire (Web- and paper-based). All respondents (N=128) completed the questionnaire using the Internet. Parents frequently and habitually used the Internet and social media to gather information on their child's condition. These Web-based resources provide parents with a parent-to-parent support platform that allows them to share their experiences and information with other parents, which, the respondents considered, improved their knowledge and understanding of their child's condition. The respondents also reported that these resources positively impacted on their decision making, care, and management of their child's condition. However, they reported receiving mixed responses when wishing to engage and share with health care professionals their Internet and social media interactions and information outcomes. This study adds to the emerging body of research on the Internet use by parents of children with rare conditions to source information on

Assessing the relationships between nurse working conditions and patient outcomes: systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Sung-Heui

2011-09-01

The purpose of the study was to systematically evaluate nurse working conditions and to review the literature dealing with their association with patient outcomes. Improving nurse working conditions is essential to address nursing shortages. Although general reviews of the literature support the positive link between working conditions and patient outcomes, definitive evidence has been lacking. A search of six electronic bibliographic databases was conducted for the primary research published in English, from January 2000 to October 2009. The concepts of working conditions were categorized into 10 groups of working conditions. A total of 69 relationships between working conditions and patient outcomes were examined. Increased attention has been drawn to nurse working conditions resulting from nursing shortages. The findings of this review suggested that the evidence supporting positive relationships between working conditions and patient outcomes is inconclusive. Further studies of a longitudinal and interventional nature in various settings are needed to advance knowledge of the complex contextual and multivariate influences among nurse working conditions and patient outcomes. Efforts to improve working conditions should be made in various health-care work settings to ensure patient safety and improve patient quality of outcomes. 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Residential roof condition assessment system using deep learning

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fan; Kerekes, John P.; Xu, Zhuoyi; Wang, Yandong

2018-01-01

The emergence of high resolution (HR) and ultra high resolution (UHR) airborne remote sensing imagery is enabling humans to move beyond traditional land cover analysis applications to the detailed characterization of surface objects. A residential roof condition assessment method using techniques from deep learning is presented. The proposed method operates on individual roofs and divides the task into two stages: (1) roof segmentation, followed by (2) condition classification of the segmented roof regions. As the first step in this process, a self-tuning method is proposed to segment the images into small homogeneous areas. The segmentation is initialized with simple linear iterative clustering followed by deep learned feature extraction and region merging, with the optimal result selected by an unsupervised index, Q. After the segmentation, a pretrained residual network is fine-tuned on the augmented roof segments using a proposed k-pixel extension technique for classification. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was demonstrated on both HR and UHR imagery collected by EagleView over different study sites. The proposed algorithm has yielded promising results and has outperformed traditional machine learning methods using hand-crafted features.

In search of future earths: assessing the possibility of finding Earth analogues in the later stages of their habitable lifetimes.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Malley-James, Jack T; Greaves, Jane S; Raven, John A; Cockell, Charles S

2015-05-01

Earth will become uninhabitable within 2-3 Gyr as a result of the increasing luminosity of the Sun changing the boundaries of the habitable zone (HZ). Predictions about the future of habitable conditions on Earth include declining species diversity and habitat extent, ocean loss, and changes to geochemical cycles. Testing these predictions is difficult, but the discovery of a planet that is an analogue to future Earth could provide the means to test them. This planet would need to have an Earth-like biosphere history and to be approaching the inner edge of the HZ at present. Here, we assess the possibility of finding such a planet and discuss the benefits of analyzing older Earths. Finding an old-Earth analogue in nearby star systems would be ideal, because this would allow for atmospheric characterization. Hence, as an illustrative example, G stars within 10 pc of the Sun are assessed as potential old-Earth-analog hosts. Six of these represent good potential hosts. For each system, a hypothetical Earth analogue is placed at locations within the continuously habitable zone (CHZ) that would allow enough time for Earth-like biosphere development. Surface temperature evolution over the host star's main sequence lifetime (assessed by using a simple climate model) is used to determine whether the planet would be in the right stage of its late-habitable lifetime to exhibit detectable biosignatures. The best candidate, in terms of the chances of planet formation in the CHZ and of biosignature detection, is 61 Virginis. However, planet formation studies suggest that only a small fraction (0.36%) of G stars in the solar neighborhood could host an old-Earth analogue. If the development of Earth-like biospheres is rare, requiring a sequence of low-probability events to occur, biosphere evolution models suggest they are rarer still, with only thousands being present in the Galaxy as a whole.

Preoperative assessment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma using multidetector-row CT. Correlation with histopathological findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watadani, Takeyuki; Akahane, Masaaki; Ohtomo, Kuni; Yoshikawa, Takeharu

2008-01-01

Our aim was to investigate the diagnostic reliability of multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) for preoperative assessment of local tumoral spread in hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Thirteen of 30 consecutive patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent surgery, excluding 17 patients who underwent biliary drainage or preoperative portal embolization, were retrospectively evaluated. Using MDCT systems of 4 detector rows or 16 detector rows, plain and dynamic contrast-enhanced images of three phases were obtained. Extent of tumor spread and lymph node metastasis were assessed with MDCT and compared with histopathological findings. The Bismuth-Corlette classification of hilar cholangiocarcinoma with MDCT were type I, 1 patient; type IIIa, 3 patients; type IIIb, 4 patients; and type IV, 5 patients; those with histopathological findings were type I, 1 patient; type IIIa, 2 patients; type IIIb, 4 patients; and type IV, 6 patients. One patient diagnosed as type IIIa with MDCT was pathologically diagnosed as type IV. Accuracy of MDCT in tumoral spread was 92.3%, although that of lymph node metastasis was 54%. MDCT is likely to play an important role in evaluation of focal lesion spread especially in intrapancreatic tumor invasion, although a greater number of cohort cases are necessary to clearly define its role. (author)

The Self-assessment Practices of Hong Kong Secondary Students: Findings with a New Instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Zi

Self-assessment is a core skill that enables students to engage in self-regulated learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Self-assessment Practice Scale and to depict the characteristics of self-assessment practices of Hong Kong secondary students using this newly developed instrument. A total of 6,125 students from 10 Hong Kong secondary schools completed the survey. Both Rasch and factor analyses revealed a two-dimension scale structure (i.e., Self-directed Feedback Seeking and Self-reflection). The two subscales demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and suggestions for further improvement were proposed. The findings regarding self-assessment practices of secondary students indicated that, in general, students were quite used to engaging in self-reflection based on available feedback, but they were less disposed to taking the initiative to seek feedback on their own performance. Key demographic variables, e.g., gender and year level, played important roles in students' self-assessment practices. Girls had significantly higher self-assessment measures on both scales than did boys. Junior students had higher measures on both scales than did their senior counterparts. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.

A functional approach to the body condition assessment of lactating donkeys as a tool for welfare evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Raspa, Federica; Giribaldi, Marzia; Barbero, Raffaella; Bergagna, Stefania; Antoniazzi, Sara; Mc Lean, Amy K.; Minero, Michela; Cavallarin, Laura

2017-01-01

first principal component (PC1). PC1 revealed a meaningful positive correlation between the BCS and the neck measurements (NT, NH and FNS), with high positive loadings, while a negative correlation was found for dental abnormalities. The owners’ evaluation of BCS was different from the expert evaluator’ assessment, since they tended to give higher score that was slightly but significantly correlated to AC. Discussion A new scoring system, called Fatty Neck Score (FNS), has been proposed for the judgement of the adiposity status of donkey neck. The results suggest that caregivers might use the proposed animal based indicators (BCS, FNS and dental scores) together as a tool for the evaluation of the body condition of lactating donkeys. Our findings highlight that caregivers need to be trained in order to be able to properly record these indicators. Ultimately use of these indicators may help to improve the welfare of lactating donkeys. PMID:28367363

A functional approach to the body condition assessment of lactating donkeys as a tool for welfare evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuela Valle

2017-03-01

the first principal component (PC1. PC1 revealed a meaningful positive correlation between the BCS and the neck measurements (NT, NH and FNS, with high positive loadings, while a negative correlation was found for dental abnormalities. The owners’ evaluation of BCS was different from the expert evaluator’ assessment, since they tended to give higher score that was slightly but significantly correlated to AC. Discussion A new scoring system, called Fatty Neck Score (FNS, has been proposed for the judgement of the adiposity status of donkey neck. The results suggest that caregivers might use the proposed animal based indicators (BCS, FNS and dental scores together as a tool for the evaluation of the body condition of lactating donkeys. Our findings highlight that caregivers need to be trained in order to be able to properly record these indicators. Ultimately use of these indicators may help to improve the welfare of lactating donkeys.

Application of biomarkers to assess the condition of European Marine Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hagger, Josephine A., E-mail: j.hagger@exeter.ac.u [School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4PS (United Kingdom); Galloway, Tamara S. [School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4PS (United Kingdom); Langston, William J. [Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, Devon (United Kingdom); Jones, Malcolm B. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, Devon (United Kingdom)

2009-07-15

A series of European Marine Sites has been designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in England. The aim of this study was to develop a practical methodology to assess the condition of SACs by applying a suite of biomarkers. Biomarkers were applied to the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and the shore crab Carcinus maenas from the Fal and Helford SAC (Cornwall). Individual biomarkers provided useful diagnostic information on the activity of certain classes of contaminants and an integrated Biomarker Response Index (BRI) was used to achieve a more holistic understanding of the condition of the SAC. The BRI indicated that the general health of both organisms was impacted in the upper part of the SAC (Fal Estuary) which correlated well with known chemical hotspots and sources of contamination. The BRI allows a pragmatic way to prioritise SAC sites that may require further investigative studies. - A suite of biomarkers was successfully used to create a Biomarker Response Index to assess the health of aquatic organisms from European Marine Sites.

Application of biomarkers to assess the condition of European Marine Sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagger, Josephine A.; Galloway, Tamara S.; Langston, William J.; Jones, Malcolm B.

2009-01-01

A series of European Marine Sites has been designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in England. The aim of this study was to develop a practical methodology to assess the condition of SACs by applying a suite of biomarkers. Biomarkers were applied to the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and the shore crab Carcinus maenas from the Fal and Helford SAC (Cornwall). Individual biomarkers provided useful diagnostic information on the activity of certain classes of contaminants and an integrated Biomarker Response Index (BRI) was used to achieve a more holistic understanding of the condition of the SAC. The BRI indicated that the general health of both organisms was impacted in the upper part of the SAC (Fal Estuary) which correlated well with known chemical hotspots and sources of contamination. The BRI allows a pragmatic way to prioritise SAC sites that may require further investigative studies. - A suite of biomarkers was successfully used to create a Biomarker Response Index to assess the health of aquatic organisms from European Marine Sites.

75 FR 62892 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor Environmental Assessment and Finding of No...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-13

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-020; NRC-2010-0313] Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Correction In notice document 2010-24809 beginning on page 61220 in the issue of Monday, October 4, 2010, make the...

Neurological Assessment and Nerve Conduction Study Findings in 22 Patients with Alkaptonuria from Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Alrawashdeh, Omar; Alsbou, Mohammad; Alzoubi, Hamed; Al-Shagahin, Hani

2016-11-02

Alkaptonuria is a rare metabolic disease characterised by accumulative deposition of homogentisic acid in the connective tissue of the body. This results in early degeneration of tendons, cartilages, heart valves, and other tissues. The main objective of the study is to examine the possibility of the nervous system involvement in patients with alkaptonuria The sample consists of two groups; 22 patients with AKU and 20 controls. A neurological assessment has been carried out including detailed medical history, neurological examination, and a nerve conduction study of the nerves of the dominant hand. The prevalence of any abnormality was compared between the two groups using chi square test. The mean values of the nerve conduction study were compared between the two groups using student t-test. There was a higher prevalence of low back pain, hearing problems and tinnitus, numbness and neuropathic pain in alkaptonuria patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups in other conditions such as seizures, headache, and syncope. The values of the nerve conduction study did not show significant difference between the two groups. Neurologically related symptoms in alkaptonuria mostly represent complications of the connective tissue degeneration rather than direct involvement of the nervous system. This has been supported further by the normal findings of the neurophysiology study in patients with alkaptonuria.

Neurological assessment and nerve conduction study findings in 22 patients with alkaptonuria from Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Alrawashdeh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Alkaptonuria is a rare metabolic disease characterised by accumulative deposition of homogentisic acid in the connective tissue of the body. This results in early degeneration of tendons, cartilages, heart valves, and other tissues. The main objective of the study is to examine the possibility of the nervous system involvement in patients with alkaptonuria The sample consists of two groups; 22 patients with AKU and 20 controls. A neurological assessment has been carried out including detailed medical history, neurological examination, and a nerve conduction study of the nerves of the dominant hand. The prevalence of any abnormality was compared between the two groups using chi square test. The mean values of the nerve conduction study were compared between the two groups using student t-test. There was a higher prevalence of low back pain, hearing problems and tinnitus, numbness and neuropathic pain in alkaptonuria patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups in other conditions such as seizures, headache, and syncope. The values of the nerve conduction study did not show significant difference between the two groups. Neurologically related symptoms in alkaptonuria mostly represent complications of the connective tissue degeneration rather than direct involvement of the nervous system. This has been supported further by the normal findings of the neurophysiology study in patients with alkaptonuria.

Digital image color analysis compared to direct dental CIE colorimeter assessment under different ambient conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Knösel, Michael; Attin, Rengin; Jung, Klaus; Brunner, Edgar; Kubein-Meesenburg, Dietmar; Attin, Thomas

2009-04-01

To evaluate the concordance and repeatability of two in vivo methods for dental color assessment and to clarify the influence of different ambient light conditions and subject's head position on the assessed color variables. Color assessments were performed by two examiners on 16 arbitrarily selected subjects under two different, standardized conditions of illumination and at two different standardized head angulations. CIE (L*a*b*) data for upper and lower central incisors were recorded in two different ways: (1) by an intra-oral contact dental colorimeter and (2) by processing digital images for performing color calculation using Adobe Photoshop software. The influence of the different ambient conditions on both methods, as well as the concordance of measurements was analyzed statistically using several mixed linear models. Ambient light as a single factor had no significant influence on maxillary L*, a* and b* values, but it did have an effect on mandible assessments. Head angulation variation resulted in significant L* value differences using the photo method. The operator had a significant influence on values a* and b* for the photo method and on a* values for the colorimeter method. In fully lit ambient condition, the operator had a significant influence on the segregated L*, a*, and b* values. With dimmed lights, head angulation became significant, but not the operator. Evaluation of segregated L* values was error prone in both methods. Comparing both methods, deltaE values did not exceed 2.85 units, indicating that color differences between methods and recorded under varying ambient conditions were well below the sensitivity of the naked eye.

Assessment of Smolt Condition for Travel Time Analysis, 1993-1994 Annual Report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schrock, Robin M; Beeman, John W; VanderKooi, Scott P [US Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, WA

1999-02-01

The assessment of smolt condition for travel time analysis (ASCTTA) project provided information on the level of smoltification in Columbia River hatchery and wild salmonid stocks to the Fish Passage Center (FPC), for the primary purpose of in-river management of flows.

International Global Crop Condition Assessments in the framework of GEOGLAM

Science.gov (United States)

Becker-Reshef, I.; Justice, C. O.; Vermote, E.; Whitcraft, A. K.; Claverie, M.

2013-12-01

The Group on Earth Observations (partnership of governments and international organizations) developed the Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative in response to the growing calls for improved agricultural information. The goal of GEOGLAM is to strengthen the international community's capacity to produce and disseminate relevant, timely and accurate forecasts of agricultural production at national, regional and global scales through the use of Earth observations. This initiative is designed to build on existing agricultural monitoring initiatives at national, regional and global levels and to enhance and strengthen them through international networking, operationally focused research, and data/method sharing. GEOGLAM was adopted by the G20 as part of the action plan on food price volatility and agriculture and is being implemented through building on the extensive GEO Agricultural Community of Practice (CoP) that was initiated in 2007 and includes key national and international agencies, organizations, and universities involved in agricultural monitoring. One of the early GEOGLAM activities is to provide harmonized global crop outlooks that offer timely qualitative consensus information on crop status and prospects. This activity is being developed in response to a request from the G-20 Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and is implemented within the global monitoring systems component of GEOGLAM. The goal is to develop a transparent, international, multi-source, consensus assessment of crop growing conditions, status, and agro-climatic conditions, likely to impact global production. These assessments are focused on the four primary crop types (corn, wheat, soy and rice) within the main agricultural producing regions of the world. The GEOGLAM approach is to bring together international experts from global, regional and national monitoring systems that can share and discuss information from a variety of independent complementary sources in

78 FR 26401 - Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Haddam Neck Plant, Environmental Assessment and Finding...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-06

... Atomic Power Company, Haddam Neck Plant, Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact... Neck Plant (HNP) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). CYAPCO stated that the exemption...-rm/adams.html . From this site, you can access the NRC's ADAMS, which provides text and image files...

Methodology for reliability based condition assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Y.; Ellingwood, B.

1993-08-01

Structures in nuclear power plants may be exposed to aggressive environmental effects that cause their strength to decrease over an extended period of service. A major concern in evaluating the continued service for such structures is to ensure that in their current condition they are able to withstand future extreme load events during the intended service life with a level of reliability sufficient for public safety. This report describes a methodology to facilitate quantitative assessments of current and future structural reliability and performance of structures in nuclear power plants. This methodology takes into account the nature of past and future loads, and randomness in strength and in degradation resulting from environmental factors. An adaptive Monte Carlo simulation procedure is used to evaluate time-dependent system reliability. The time-dependent reliability is sensitive to the time-varying load characteristics and to the choice of initial strength and strength degradation models but not to correlation in component strengths within a system. Inspection/maintenance strategies are identified that minimize the expected future costs of keeping the failure probability of a structure at or below an established target failure probability during its anticipated service period

Bruxism is unlikely to cause damage to the periodontium: findings from a systematic literature assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Manfredini, Daniele; Ahlberg, Jari; Mura, Rossano; Lobbezoo, Frank

2015-04-01

This paper systematically reviews the MEDLINE and SCOPUS literature to answer the following question: Is there any evidence that bruxism may cause periodontal damage per se? Clinical studies on humans, assessing the potential relationship between bruxism and periodontal lesions (i.e., decreased attachment level, bone loss, tooth mobility/migration, altered periodontal perception) were eligible. Methodologic shortcomings were identified by the adoption of the Critical Appraisal Skills Program quality assessment, mainly concerning the internal validity of findings according to an unspecific bruxism diagnosis. The six included articles covered a high variability of topics, without multiple papers on the same argument. Findings showed that the only effect of bruxism on periodontal structures was an increase in periodontal sensation, whereas a relationship with periodontal lesions was absent. Based on the analysis of Hill criteria, the validity of causation conclusions was limited, mainly owing to the absence of a longitudinal evaluation of the temporal relationship and dose-response effects between bruxism and periodontal lesions. Despite the scarce quantity and quality of the literature that prevents sound conclusions on the causal link between bruxism and the periodontal problems assessed in this review, it seems reasonable to suggest that bruxism cannot cause periodontal damage per se. It is also important to emphasize, however, that because of methodologic problems, particularly regarding sleep bruxism assessment, more high-quality studies (e.g., randomized controlled trials) are needed to further clarify this issue.

Assessment of flora condition and transformation extent at the Degelen mountain massif

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuleubaev, B.A.; Sejsebaev, A.T.; Sultanova, B.M.; Dzhanin, B.T.

2000-01-01

The article describes current condition of vegetation at the Degelen mountain massif and assessment of vegetation disturbance in areas of underground nuclear testing. It also presents results of studying flora transformation, species and cinotic composition, structural and spatial distribution within the Degelen technical site. (author)

Monitoring and Assessment of Military Installation Land Condition under Training Disturbance Using Remote Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Rijal, Santosh

Various military training activities are conducted in more than 11.3 million hectares of land (> 5,500 training sites) in the United States (U.S.). These training activities directly and indirectly degrade the land. Land degradation can impede continuous military training. In order to sustain long term training missions and Army combat readiness, the environmental conditions of the military installations need to be carefully monitored and assessed. Furthermore, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the U.S. Army Regulation 200-2 require the DoD to minimize the environmental impacts of training and document the environmental consequences of their actions. To achieve these objectives, the Department of Army initiated an Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) program to manage training lands through assessing their environmental requirements and establishing policies and procedures to achieve optimum, sustainable use of training lands. One of the programs under ITAM, Range and Training Land Assessment (RTLA) was established to collect field-based data for monitoring installation's environmental condition. Due to high cost and inefficiencies involved in the collection of field data, the RTLA program was stopped in several military installations. Therefore, there has been a strong need to develop an efficient and low cost remote sensing based methodology for assessing and monitoring land conditions of military installations. It is also important to make a long-term assessment of installation land condition for understanding cumulative impacts of continuous military training activities. Additionally, it is unclear that compared to non-military land condition, to what extent military training activities have led to the degradation of land condition for military installations. The first paper of this dissertation developed a soil erosion relevant and image derived cover factor (ICF) based on linear spectral mixture (LSM) analysis to assess and

Condition Assessment of Metal Oxide Surge Arrester Based on Multi-Layer SVM Classifier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Khodsuz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces the indicators for surge arrester condition assessment based on the leakage current analysis. Maximum amplitude of fundamental harmonic of the resistive leakage current, maximum amplitude of third harmonic of the resistive leakage current and maximum amplitude of fundamental harmonic of the capacitive leakage current were used as indicators for surge arrester condition monitoring. Also, the effects of operating voltage fluctuation, third harmonic of voltage, overvoltage and surge arrester aging on these indicators were studied. Then, obtained data are applied to the multi-layer support vector machine for recognizing of surge arrester conditions. Obtained results show that introduced indicators have the high ability for evaluation of surge arrester conditions.

Expert Assessment of Conditions for Accredited Quality Management System Functioning in Testing Laboratories

Science.gov (United States)

Mytych, Joanna; Ligarski, Mariusz J.

2018-03-01

The quality management systems compliant with the ISO 9001:2009 have been thoroughly researched and described in detail in the world literature. The accredited management systems used in the testing laboratories and compliant with the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 have been mainly described in terms of the system design and implementation. They have also been investigated from the analytical point of view. Unfortunately, a low number of studies concerned the management system functioning in the accredited testing laboratories. The aim of following study was to assess the management system functioning in the accredited testing laboratories in Poland. On 8 October 2015, 1,213 accredited testing laboratories were present in Poland. They investigated various scientific areas and substances/objects. There are more and more such laboratories that have various problems and different long-term experience when it comes to the implementation, maintenance and improvement of the management systems. The article describes the results of the conducted expert assessment (survey) carried out to examine the conditions for the functioning of a management system in an accredited laboratory. It also focuses on the characteristics of the accredited research laboratories in Poland. The authors discuss the selection of the external and internal conditions that may affect the accredited management system. They show how the experts assessing the selected conditions were chosen. The survey results are also presented.

Assessing the international parity conditions and transmission mechanism for Malaysia-China

OpenAIRE

Chan, Tze-Haw

2012-01-01

We construct a structural system that jointly examines Purchasing Power and Interest Parity conditions for Malaysia-China during 1996Q1-2010Q4. Structural VARX, VECMX, over-identifying restrictions, bootstrapping and persistent profiles are utilized in the analyses. We find support for interaction between the goods and capital markets of Malaysia-China, when Asia crisis and subprime crisis are taken into accounts. The faster pace of adjustment towards price instead of interest equilibrium imp...

Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment for Flight Test to the Edge of Space

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-01

Runway 22 or on Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards AFB. 17 On the basis of the findings of the Environmental Assessment, no significant impact to human...FLIGHT TEST CENTER Environmental Assessment for Flight Test to the Edge of Space Page 5-3 Bowles, A.E., S. Eckert, L . Starke, E. Berg, L . Wolski, and...Numbers. Anne Choate, Laura 20 Pederson , Jeremy Scharfenberg, Henry Farland. Washington, D.C. September. 21 Jeppesen Sanderson, Incorporated 22

Assessment of redox conditions based on fracture mineralogy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tullborg, E.L.

1999-01-01

The frequency and distribution of fracture minerals like calcite, Fe-oxides/hydroxides, and sulphides can be used in performance assessment since their presence reflects the redox processes that are active or have been active in the fractures. The advantage in using fracture minerals is that they undoubtedly represent conditions prior to disturbances caused by drilling or tunnel excavations. In addition, they give a continuous record from the surface to great depth. On the other hand the disadvantage is that the fracture mineral distribution is a result of both past and present processes such that the mineral distribution alone can not discriminate between old and recent processes. Nevertheless it is suggested that the fracture mineral distribution provides important information about the redox capacity in the fracture system. (author)

Conceptual modeling for identification of worst case conditions in environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials using nZVI and C60 as case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grieger, Khara Deanne; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Sørensen, Peter B.

2011-01-01

, especially given the vast variety and complexity of nanomaterials and their applications. As an approach to help optimize environmental risk assessments of nanomaterials, we apply the Worst-Case Definition (WCD) model to identify best estimates for worst-case conditions of environmental risks of two case......Conducting environmental risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials has been an extremely challenging endeavor thus far. Moreover, recent findings from the nano-risk scientific community indicate that it is unlikely that many of these challenges will be easily resolved in the near future...... studies which use engineered nanoparticles, namely nZVI in soil and groundwater remediation and C60 in an engine oil lubricant. Results generated from this analysis may ultimately help prioritize research areas for environmental risk assessments of nZVI and C60 in these applications as well as demonstrate...

Model Development for Risk Assessment of Driving on Freeway under Rainy Weather Conditions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaonan Cai

Full Text Available Rainy weather conditions could result in significantly negative impacts on driving on freeways. However, due to lack of enough historical data and monitoring facilities, many regions are not able to establish reliable risk assessment models to identify such impacts. Given the situation, this paper provides an alternative solution where the procedure of risk assessment is developed based on drivers' subjective questionnaire and its performance is validated by using actual crash data. First, an ordered logit model was developed, based on questionnaire data collected from Freeway G15 in China, to estimate the relationship between drivers' perceived risk and factors, including vehicle type, rain intensity, traffic volume, and location. Then, weighted driving risk for different conditions was obtained by the model, and further divided into four levels of early warning (specified by colors using a rank order cluster analysis. After that, a risk matrix was established to determine which warning color should be disseminated to drivers, given a specific condition. Finally, to validate the proposed procedure, actual crash data from Freeway G15 were compared with the safety prediction based on the risk matrix. The results show that the risk matrix obtained in the study is able to predict driving risk consistent with actual safety implications, under rainy weather conditions.

Analysis of the possibilities of using EEG in assessing pilots’ psychophysical condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta GALANT

2017-06-01

Full Text Available An excessive load on an operator’s cognitive system can cause deterioration in perceptual abilities, decreased reaction time and increased probability of making an incorrect decision, which in turn can lead to a dangerous situation. Researching the cognitive load of an operator can therefore contribute to safer transportation. While there are many methods used in the study of cognitive load, they can be classified as either subjective assessments or objective assessments. This paper presents an analysis of the possibilities of using electroencephalography in assessing the psychophysical condition of the pilot. The investigation was conducted in the Simulation Research Laboratory in the Institute of Combustion Engines and Transport at Poznan University of Technology.

Urban air quality assessment using monitoring data of fractionized aerosol samples, chemometrics and meteorological conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yotova, Galina I; Tsitouridou, Roxani; Tsakovski, Stefan L; Simeonov, Vasil D

2016-01-01

The present article deals with assessment of urban air by using monitoring data for 10 different aerosol fractions (0.015-16 μm) collected at a typical urban site in City of Thessaloniki, Greece. The data set was subject to multivariate statistical analysis (cluster analysis and principal components analysis) and, additionally, to HYSPLIT back trajectory modeling in order to assess in a better way the impact of the weather conditions on the pollution sources identified. A specific element of the study is the effort to clarify the role of outliers in the data set. The reason for the appearance of outliers is strongly related to the atmospheric condition on the particular sampling days leading to enhanced concentration of pollutants (secondary emissions, sea sprays, road and soil dust, combustion processes) especially for ultra fine and coarse particles. It is also shown that three major sources affect the urban air quality of the location studied-sea sprays, mineral dust and anthropogenic influences (agricultural activity, combustion processes, and industrial sources). The level of impact is related to certain extent to the aerosol fraction size. The assessment of the meteorological conditions leads to defining of four downwind patterns affecting the air quality (Pelagic, Western and Central Europe, Eastern and Northeastern Europe and Africa and Southern Europe). Thus, the present study offers a complete urban air assessment taking into account the weather conditions, pollution sources and aerosol fractioning.

Review of Physicochemical-Based Diagnostic Techniques for Assessing Insulation Condition in Aged Transformers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janvier Sylvestre N’cho

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A power transformer outage has a dramatic financial consequence not only for electric power systems utilities but also for interconnected customers. The service reliability of this important asset largely depends upon the condition of the oil-paper insulation. Therefore, by keeping the qualities of oil-paper insulation system in pristine condition, the maintenance planners can reduce the decline rate of internal faults. Accurate diagnostic methods for analyzing the condition of transformers are therefore essential. Currently, there are various electrical and physicochemical diagnostic techniques available for insulation condition monitoring of power transformers. This paper is aimed at the description, analysis and interpretation of modern physicochemical diagnostics techniques for assessing insulation condition in aged transformers. Since fields and laboratory experiences have shown that transformer oil contains about 70% of diagnostic information, the physicochemical analyses of oil samples can therefore be extremely useful in monitoring the condition of power transformers.

A novel Interactive Health Communication Application (IHCA) for parents of children with long-term conditions: Development, implementation and feasibility assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Swallow, Veronica; Carolan, Ian; Smith, Trish; Webb, Nicholas J A; Knafl, Kathleen; Santacroce, Sheila; Campbell, Malcolm; Harper-Jones, Melanie; Hanif, Noreen; Hall, Andrew

2016-01-01

Few evidence-based, on-line resources exist to support home-based care of childhood long-term conditions. In a feasibility study, children with stages 3, 4, or 5 chronic kidney disease, parents and professionals collaboratively developed a novel Online Parent Information and Support (OPIS) application. Parents were randomized to an intervention arm with access to OPIS or a control arm without access. OPIS usage was assessed using Google Analytics. Parents in the intervention arm completed the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) and User Interface Satisfaction (USE) questionnaires and participated in qualitative interviews. Twenty parents accessed OPIS with a mean of 23.3 (SD 20.8, range 2-64) visits per user. Responses from the SAM and USE questionnaires were positive, most respondents rating OPIS highly and finding it easy to use. Qualitative suggestions include refinement of OPIS components, enabling personalization of OPIS functionalities and proactive endorsements of OPIS by professionals. Implementation of OPIS into standard practice is feasible in the centre where it was developed. Suggested developments will augment reported strengths to inform ongoing testing in the wider UK network of units. Our design and methods are transferrable to developing and evaluating web-applications to support home-based clinical care-giving for other long-term conditions.

75 FR 63519 - Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-15

... reduced for certain environmental resource areas (i.e., for transportation, public and occupational health... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2009-0435] Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental... of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact; Notice...

Assessing the Probability that a Finding Is Genuine for Large-Scale Genetic Association Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Chia-Ling; Vsevolozhskaya, Olga A; Zaykin, Dmitri V

2015-01-01

Genetic association studies routinely involve massive numbers of statistical tests accompanied by P-values. Whole genome sequencing technologies increased the potential number of tested variants to tens of millions. The more tests are performed, the smaller P-value is required to be deemed significant. However, a small P-value is not equivalent to small chances of a spurious finding and significance thresholds may fail to serve as efficient filters against false results. While the Bayesian approach can provide a direct assessment of the probability that a finding is spurious, its adoption in association studies has been slow, due in part to the ubiquity of P-values and the automated way they are, as a rule, produced by software packages. Attempts to design simple ways to convert an association P-value into the probability that a finding is spurious have been met with difficulties. The False Positive Report Probability (FPRP) method has gained increasing popularity. However, FPRP is not designed to estimate the probability for a particular finding, because it is defined for an entire region of hypothetical findings with P-values at least as small as the one observed for that finding. Here we propose a method that lets researchers extract probability that a finding is spurious directly from a P-value. Considering the counterpart of that probability, we term this method POFIG: the Probability that a Finding is Genuine. Our approach shares FPRP's simplicity, but gives a valid probability that a finding is spurious given a P-value. In addition to straightforward interpretation, POFIG has desirable statistical properties. The POFIG average across a set of tentative associations provides an estimated proportion of false discoveries in that set. POFIGs are easily combined across studies and are immune to multiple testing and selection bias. We illustrate an application of POFIG method via analysis of GWAS associations with Crohn's disease.

Imaging findings of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jong Chul [School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2000-01-01

To define the imaging patterns of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP). The demographic, clinical, and imaging findings of 21 cases of pathologically proven XGP in 20 patients (bilateral in one) were evaluated. The findings of ultrasonography and CT were retrospectively evaluated with regard to distribution and extent of the disease, kidney size, the presence of calculi, hydronephrosis, and renal function. The findings were assessed by two radiologists, who established a consensus. Imaging and pathologic findings were compared. Sixteen of the 20 patients were female, and 19 were adults. Their age ranged from 3 to 16 (mean, 45) years. In all patients except one, the disease was unilateral (right: left =3D 13 :16). In one patient, XGP was bilateral, and there were thus 21 cases. Seventeen (81%) of these were diffuse, and four (19%) were focal; extrarenal extension occurred in 13 cases (62%), among which ipsilateral pleural effusion was noted in two. The kidney was enlarged diffusely in 12 cases (57%), and focally in three (14%); urinary calculi were present in 16 cases (76%), with staghorn calculi in four of these; and hydronephrosis occurred in 17 (81%). Impairment of ipsilateral renal function was noted in 13 cases (62%). Clinical findings of inflammation such as fever, pyuria, bacteriuria, or leucocytosis were noted in all patients. In addition to nephromegaly, renal function impairment, and urinary obstruction due to calculi, which are typical features of XGP, the condition may also show variable imaging findings. If the images obtained in the case of a middle-aged woman with clinical findings of urinary infection are atypical, we believe that XGP should be included in the differential diagnosis. (author)

Association of poor childhood fear conditioning and adult crime.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yu; Raine, Adrian; Venables, Peter H; Dawson, Michael E; Mednick, Sarnoff A

2010-01-01

Amygdala dysfunction is theorized to give rise to poor fear conditioning, which in turn predisposes to crime, but it is not known whether poor conditioning precedes criminal offending. This study prospectively assessed whether poor fear conditioning early in life predisposes to adult crime in a large cohort. Electrodermal fear conditioning was assessed in a cohort of 1,795 children at age 3, and registration for criminal offending was ascertained at age 23. In a case-control design, 137 cohort members with a criminal record were matched on gender, ethnicity, and social adversity with 274 noncriminal comparison members. Statistical analyses compared childhood fear conditioning for the two groups. Criminal offenders showed significantly reduced electrodermal fear conditioning at age 3 compared to matched comparison subjects. Poor fear conditioning at age 3 predisposes to crime at age 23. Poor fear conditioning early in life implicates amygdala and ventral prefrontal cortex dysfunction and a lack of fear of socializing punishments in children who grow up to become criminals. These findings are consistent with a neurodevelopmental contribution to crime causation.

Changing US Attributes After CS-US Pairings Changes CS-Attribute-Assessments: Evidence for CS-US Associations in Attribute Conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Förderer, Sabine; Unkelbach, Christian

2016-03-01

Attribute Conditioning (AC) refers to people's changed assessments of stimuli's (CSs) attributes due to repeated pairing with stimuli (USs) possessing these attributes; for example, when an athletic person (US) is paired with a neutral person (CS), the neutral person is judged to be more athletic after the pairing. We hypothesize that this AC effect is due to CSs' associations with USs rather than direct associations with attributes. Three experiments test this hypothesis by changing US attributes after CS-US pairings. Experiments 1 and 2 conditioned athleticism by pairing neutral men (CSs) with athletic and non-athletic USs. Post-conditioning, USs' athleticism was reversed, which systematically influenced participants' assessment of CS athleticism. Experiment 3 conditioned athleticism and changed USs' musicality after CS-US pairings. This post-conditioning change affected musicality assessments of CSs but did not influence athleticism-assessments. The results indicate that AC effects are based on an associative CS-US-attribute structure. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Implementation of condition-dependent probabilistic risk assessment using surveillance data on passive components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewandowski, Radoslaw; Denning, Richard; Aldemir, Tunc; Zhang, Jinsuo

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Condition-dependent probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). • Time-dependent characterization of plant-specific risk. • Containment bypass involving in secondary system piping and SCC in SG tubes. - Abstract: A great deal of surveillance data are collected for a nuclear power plant that reflect the changing condition of the plant as it ages. Although surveillance data are used to determine failure probabilities of active components for the plant’s probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and to indicate the need for maintenance activities, they are not used in a structured manner to characterize the evolving risk of the plant. The present study explores the feasibility of using a condition-dependent PRA framework that takes a first principles approach to modeling the progression of degradation mechanisms to characterize evolving risk, periodically adapting the model to account for surveillance results. A case study is described involving a potential containment bypass accident sequence due to the progression of flow-accelerated corrosion in secondary system piping and stress corrosion cracking of steam generator tubes. In this sequence, a steam line break accompanied by failure to close of a main steam isolation valve results in depressurization of the steam generator and induces the rupture of one or more faulted steam generator tubes. The case study indicates that a condition-dependent PRA framework might be capable of providing early identification of degradation mechanisms important to plant risk.

Energetic Assessment of the Nonexercise Activities under Free-Living Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shijie Sun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Nonexercise activities (NAs are common types of physical activity in daily life and critical component in energy expenditure. However, energetic assessment of NA, particularly in free-living subjects, is a technical challenge. In this study, mechanical modeling and portable device were used to evaluate five common types of NA in daily life: sit to stand, lie to sit, bowing while standing, squat, and right leg over left. A human indirect calorimeter was used to measure the activity energy expenditure of NA. Mechanical work and mechanical efficiency of NA were calculated for mechanical modeling. Thirty-two male subjects were recruited for the study (20 subjects for the development of models and 12 subjects for evaluation of models. The average (mean ± SD mechanical work of 5 NAs was 2.31 ± 0.50, 2.88 ± 0.57, 1.75 ± 0.55, 3.96 ± 1.25, and 1.25 ± 0.51 J/kg·m, respectively. The mean mechanical efficiencies of those activities were 22.0 ± 3.3%, 26.5 ± 5.1%, 19.8 ± 3.7%, 24.0 ± 5.5%, and 26.3 ± 5.5%. The activity energy expenditure estimated by the models was not significantly different from the measurements by the calorimeter (p>0.05 with accuracies of 102.2 ± 20.7%, 103.7 ± 25.8%, 105.6 ± 14.6%, 101.1 ± 28.0%, and 95.8 ± 20.7%, respectively, for those activities. These findings suggest that the mechanical models combined with a portable device can provide an alternative method for the energetic analysis of nonexercise activities under free-living condition.

Energetic Assessment of the Nonexercise Activities under Free-Living Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Shijie; Tang, Qiang; Quan, Haiying; Lu, Qi; Sun, Ming; Zhang, Kuan

2016-01-01

Nonexercise activities (NAs) are common types of physical activity in daily life and critical component in energy expenditure. However, energetic assessment of NA, particularly in free-living subjects, is a technical challenge. In this study, mechanical modeling and portable device were used to evaluate five common types of NA in daily life: sit to stand, lie to sit, bowing while standing, squat, and right leg over left. A human indirect calorimeter was used to measure the activity energy expenditure of NA. Mechanical work and mechanical efficiency of NA were calculated for mechanical modeling. Thirty-two male subjects were recruited for the study (20 subjects for the development of models and 12 subjects for evaluation of models). The average (mean ± SD) mechanical work of 5 NAs was 2.31 ± 0.50, 2.88 ± 0.57, 1.75 ± 0.55, 3.96 ± 1.25, and 1.25 ± 0.51 J/kg·m, respectively. The mean mechanical efficiencies of those activities were 22.0 ± 3.3%, 26.5 ± 5.1%, 19.8 ± 3.7%, 24.0 ± 5.5%, and 26.3 ± 5.5%. The activity energy expenditure estimated by the models was not significantly different from the measurements by the calorimeter (p > 0.05) with accuracies of 102.2 ± 20.7%, 103.7 ± 25.8%, 105.6 ± 14.6%, 101.1 ± 28.0%, and 95.8 ± 20.7%, respectively, for those activities. These findings suggest that the mechanical models combined with a portable device can provide an alternative method for the energetic analysis of nonexercise activities under free-living condition.

76 FR 56731 - Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-14

...] Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant... the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in... INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dennis Slate, Rabies Program Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chennell Drive...

78 FR 17383 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-21

... (truck, rail, and marine). DLA Energy's implementation of a systemic change to the use of commercial..., Terrestrial, and Cultural Resources--Transport and storage of fuel products is highly regulated. DLA Energy's... of Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding DLA Energy's...

Electrical-Based Diagnostic Techniques for Assessing Insulation Condition in Aged Transformers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Issouf Fofana

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The condition of the internal cellulosic paper and oil insulation are of concern for the performance of power transformers. Over the years, a number of methods have been developed to diagnose and monitor the degradation/aging of the transformer internal insulation system. Some of this degradation/aging can be assessed from electrical responses. Currently there are a variety of electrical-based diagnostic techniques available for insulation condition monitoring of power transformers. In most cases, the electrical signals being monitored are due to mechanical or electric changes caused by physical changes in resistivity, inductance or capacitance, moisture, contamination or aging by-products in the insulation. This paper presents a description of commonly used and modern electrical-based diagnostic techniques along with their interpretation schemes.

Condition assessment of the Los Alamos National Laboratory radioactive liquid waste collection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edgemon, G.L.; Moss, W.D.; Worland, V.P.

2004-01-01

The radioactive liquid waste collection system (RLWCS) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANE) is a site-wide double-encased piping system installed in 1982 that allows radioactive liquid waste (RLW) producing facilities to gravity drain their waste to the radioactive liquid waste treatment facility (RLWTF) through a system of underground high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes and vaults. The RLWCS stretches approximately four miles and typically receives approximately 10,000 gallons of RLW per day for treatment at the RLWTF. Uncertainty of the current condition of the RLWCS was recently identified as a potential risk to the future continued availability of the RLW treatment function. A condition assessment was performed in April 2004 to evaluate the risks and estimate the remaining useful life of the existing RLWCS. Several representative and 'worst-case' RLWCS primary piping sections and their associated inspection vaults were selected for direct visual assessment, remote borescopic examination, and in-situ durometer testing. This field investigation combined with an RLWCS materials compatibility review showed that the primary piping of the RLWCS is in relatively good condition, with only a few noteworthy areas of degradation.

Recent findings on the oxidation of UO2 fuel under nominally dry storage conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, P.; McEachern, R.J.; Sunder, S.; Wasywich, K.M.; Miller, N.H.; Wood, D.D.

1995-01-01

This paper is an overview of fuel-storage demonstration experiments, supporting research on UO 2 oxidation, and associated model development, in progress at AECL's Whiteshell Laboratories. The work is being performed to determine the time/temperature limits for safe storage of irradiated CANDU fuel in dry air. The most significant recent experimental finding has been the detection of small quantities of U 3 O 8 , formed over periods of one to several years in a variety of experiments at 150-170 deg C. Another important trading is the slight suppression of U 3 O 8 formation in SIMFUEL and other doped U0 2 formulations. The development of a nucleation-and-growth model for U 3 O 8 formation is discussed, along with available activation energy data. These provide a basis for predicting U 3 O 8 formation rates under dry-storage conditions, and hence optimizing fuel storage strategies. (author)

Best in show but not best shape: a photographic assessment of show dog body condition.

Science.gov (United States)

Such, Z R; German, A J

2015-08-01

Previous studies suggest that owners often wrongly perceive overweight dogs to be in normal condition. The body shape of dogs attending shows might influence owners' perceptions, with online images of overweight show winners having a negative effect. This was an observational in silico study of canine body condition. 14 obese-prone breeds and 14 matched non-obese-probe breeds were first selected, and one operator then used an online search engine to identify 40 images, per breed, of dogs that had appeared at a major national UK show (Crufts). After images were anonymised and coded, a second observer subjectively assessed body condition, in a single sitting, using a previously validated method. Of 1120 photographs initially identified, 960 were suitable for assessing body condition, with all unsuitable images being from longhaired breeds. None of the dogs (0 per cent) were underweight, 708 (74 per cent) were in ideal condition and 252 (26 per cent) were overweight. Pugs, basset hounds and Labrador retrievers were most likely to be overweight, while standard poodles, Rhodesian ridgebacks, Hungarian vizslas and Dobermanns were least likely to be overweight. Given the proportion of show dogs from some breeds that are overweight, breed standards should be redefined to be consistent with a dog in optimal body condition. British Veterinary Association.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy as a Novel Non-Invasive Tool to Assess Spiny Lobster Nutritional Condition

Science.gov (United States)

Rodemann, Thomas; Carter, Chris G.

2016-01-01

Rapid non-invasive monitoring of spiny lobster nutritional condition has considerable application in the established fishery, live market and prospective aquaculture. The aim of this research was to test the feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a novel non-invasive tool to assess the nutritional condition of three lobster species. Lobster (n = 92) abdominal muscle dry matter (AMDM) and carbon content (AMC) correlated significantly with indices of nutritional condition including hepatopancreas dry matter (HPDM; rho = 0.83, 0.78), total lipid content (HPTL; rho = 0.85, 0.87) and haemolymph total protein (TP; rho = 0.89, 0.87 respectively). Abdominal muscle nitrogen content (AMN) was a poor correlate of nutritional condition. Models based on FT-NIR scanning of whole lobster tails successfully predicted AMDM, AMN and AMC (RMSECV = 1.41%, 0.35% and 0.91%; R2 = 0.75, 0.65, 0.77, respectively), and to a lower accuracy HPDM, HPTL and TP (RMSECV = 6.22%, 8.37%, 18.4 g l-1; R2 = 0.51, 0.70, 0.83, respectively). NIRS was applied successfully to assess the condition of spiny lobsters non-invasively. This pilot study paves the way for the development of crustacean condition models using portable non-invasive devices in the laboratory or in the field. PMID:27442242

Wire system aging assessment and condition monitoring (WASCO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fantoni, P.F.; Nordlund, A.

2006-04-01

Nuclear facilities rely on electrical wire systems to perform a variety of functions for successful operation. Many of these functions directly support the safe operation of the facility; therefore, the continued reliability of wire systems, even as they age, is critical. Condition Monitoring (CM) of installed wire systems is an important part of any aging program, both during the first 40 years of the qualified life and even more in anticipation of the license renewal for a nuclear power plant. This report describes a method for wire system condition monitoring, developed at the Halden Reactor Project, which is based on Frequency Domain Reflectometry. This method resulted in the development of a system called LIRA (LIne Resonance Analysis), which can be used on-line to detect any local or global changes in the cable electrical parameters as a consequence of insulation faults or degradation. LIRA is composed of a signal generator, a signal analyser and a simulator that can be used to simulate several failure/degradation scenarios and assess the accuracy and sensitivity of the LIRA system. Chapter 5 of this report describes an complementary approach based on positron measurement techniques, used widely in defect physics due to the high sensitivity to micro defects, in particular open volume defects. This report describes in details these methodologies, the results of field experiments and the proposed future work. (au)

Wire system aging assessment and condition monitoring (WASCO)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fantoni, P.F. [Institutt for energiteknikk (Norway); Nordlund, A. [Chalmers Univ. of Technology (Sweden)

2006-04-15

Nuclear facilities rely on electrical wire systems to perform a variety of functions for successful operation. Many of these functions directly support the safe operation of the facility; therefore, the continued reliability of wire systems, even as they age, is critical. Condition Monitoring (CM) of installed wire systems is an important part of any aging program, both during the first 40 years of the qualified life and even more in anticipation of the license renewal for a nuclear power plant. This report describes a method for wire system condition monitoring, developed at the Halden Reactor Project, which is based on Frequency Domain Reflectometry. This method resulted in the development of a system called LIRA (LIne Resonance Analysis), which can be used on-line to detect any local or global changes in the cable electrical parameters as a consequence of insulation faults or degradation. LIRA is composed of a signal generator, a signal analyser and a simulator that can be used to simulate several failure/degradation scenarios and assess the accuracy and sensitivity of the LIRA system. Chapter 5 of this report describes an complementary approach based on positron measurement techniques, used widely in defect physics due to the high sensitivity to micro defects, in particular open volume defects. This report describes in details these methodologies, the results of field experiments and the proposed future work. (au)

Worth it? Findings from a study of how academics assess students’ Web 2.0 activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen Gray

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Educational commentators have offered many pedagogical rationales for using Web 2.0 to support learning in higher education, and academics are being encouraged to find ways for their students to use social web technologies. Questions arise as to the value of these activities compared to more conventional assignments, and whether implementing such changes to student assessment is worth the effort. We conducted a survey of academics’ assessment of students’ Web 2.0 activities in Australian universities and found that this form of assessment is being conducted by a small number of academics, in a range of fields of study, but mainly in Humanities and Social Sciences, with varying kinds of intended and actual learning outcomes. Blogging and wiki-writing predominate, low and medium-stakes assessment are most common, and different methods of marking and feedback are in use. Qualitative feedback from the survey and follow-up interviews gave further insights into benefits and challenges of Web 2.0 assessment in relation to pedagogy, policy and practice. It appears that academics’ conservative approaches to conducting assessment and their novice approaches to utilising social web technologies are factors which seriously limit realising the potential of Web 2.0 for medium or high-stakes assessment.

76 FR 19794 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-08

... . From this site, you can access the NRC's Agency Wide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS... Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the University of Alaska... the release of an incinerator previously used at the Arctic Health Research Building for unrestricted...

Assessment of the State of the Art of Flight Control Technologies as Applicable to Adverse Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Reveley, Mary s.; Briggs, Jeffrey L.; Leone, Karen M.; Kurtoglu, Tolga; Withrow, Colleen A.

2010-01-01

Literature from academia, industry, and other Government agencies was surveyed to assess the state of the art in current Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) aircraft technologies. Over 100 papers from 25 conferences from the time period 2004 to 2009 were reviewed. An assessment of the general state of the art in adaptive flight control is summarized first, followed by an assessment of the state of the art as applicable to 13 identified adverse conditions. Specific areas addressed in the general assessment include flight control when compensating for damage or reduced performance, retrofit software upgrades to flight controllers, flight control through engine response, and finally test and validation of new adaptive controllers. The state-of-the-art assessment applicable to the adverse conditions include technologies not specifically related to flight control, but may serve as inputs to a future flight control algorithm. This study illustrates existing gaps and opportunities for additional research by the NASA IRAC Project

Koehler/Zimmer: The X-ray findings of the skeleton marking off the onset of pathological changes against normal conditions. 13. rev. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, H.; Freyschmidt, J.; Holthusen, W.

1989-01-01

It is extremely difficult to define the border line, or border area, between normal and pathological conditions. This applies in particular to diagnostic radiology of the skeleton. Although the X-ray picture of a certain skeletal area in principle yields more objective information than the anamnestic data given by the patient, or the clinical findings, this more objective information in borderline cases will develop its full usefulness only if X-ray or clinical findings are interpreted synoptically, sometimes with recourse to other radiological techniques (such as scintiscanning, CT, or NMR imaging). This also is the suitable approach to evaluating and interpreting measured anatomic data as for instance shape or size. Transitions from normal conditions to pathological processes cannot be seen in the image, they will have to be defined in every case by negative exclusion, and this is why the book in hand is neither an atlas of normal X-ray anatomy, nor a collection of differential diagnostic X-ray findings of the skeleton. Having regard to practical requirements and respecting the excellent picture material of the preceding issue, the authors in some cases decided to assign borderline findings rather to the pathological types. (orig./MG) With 2816 figs., 16 tabs [de

Assessment of students’ health condition by indicators of adaptation potential, biological age and bio-energetic reserves of organism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.V. Martyniuk

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to assess students’ health condition by indicators of adaptation potential, biological age and express-assessment. Material: in the research 47 first and second year girl students participated, who belonged to main health group. Results: we distributed the girl students into three groups: 14.89% of them were included in group with “safe” health condition; 34.04% - in group of “third state”; 51.06% were related to group with “ dangerous” health condition. We established that dangerous level was characterized by energy potential of below middle and low level. It is accompanied by accelerated processes of organism’s age destructions and tension of regulation mechanisms. Conclusions: the received results permit to further develop and generalize the data of students’ health’s assessment by indicators of adaptation potentials, biological age and physical health’s condition.

Assessing Lebanon's wildfire potential in association with current and future climatic conditions

Science.gov (United States)

George H. Mitri; Mireille G. Jazi; David McWethy

2015-01-01

The increasing occurrence and extent of large-scale wildfires in the Mediterranean have been linked to extended periods of warm and dry weather. We set out to assess Lebanon's wildfire potential in association with current and future climatic conditions. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) was the primary climate variable used in our evaluation of climate/fire...

Bearing Condition Recognition and Degradation Assessment under Varying Running Conditions Using NPE and SOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaohui Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Manifold learning methods have been widely used in machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. However, the results reported in these studies focus on the machine faults under stable loading and rotational speeds, which cannot interpret the practical machine running. Rotating machine is always running under variable speeds and loading, which makes the vibration signal more complicated. To address such concern, the NPE (neighborhood preserving embedding is applied for bearing fault classification. Compared with other algorithms (PCA, LPP, LDA, and ISOP, the NPE performs well in feature extraction. Since the traditional time domain signal denoising is time consuming and memory consuming, we denoise the signal features directly in feature space. Furthermore, NPE and SOM (self-organizing map are combined to assess the bearing degradation performance. Simulation and experiment results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

75 FR 11575 - James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-11

... Power Plant Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory...), for the operation of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (JAFNPP) located in Oswego County... the Final Environmental Statement for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, Docket No. 50-333...

Usefulness of a simple self-administered joint condition assessment sheet to predict the need for orthopaedic intervention in the management of haemophilic arthropathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Masaoka, T; Amano, K; Takedani, H; Suzuki, T; Otaki, M; Seita, I; Tateiwa, T; Shishido, T; Yamamoto, K; Fukutake, K

2017-03-01

Detecting signs of joint deterioration is important for early effective orthopaedic intervention in managing haemophilic arthropathy. We developed a simple, patient self-administered sheet to evaluate the joint condition, and assessed the predictive ability of this assessment sheet for the need for an orthopaedic intervention. This was a single-centre, cross-sectional study. The association between the score of each of the four items of the assessment sheet (bleeding, swelling, pain and physical impairment) and the results of radiological findings and physical examinations based on Haemophilia Joint Health Score 2.1 was assessed. An optimal scoring system was explored by the area under the curve (AUC). The cut-off value for the need for surgery or physiotherapy was determined using the receiver operating characteristic curve procedure. Forty-two patients were included. The 'physical impairment' item showed the highest correlation coefficient with the results of radiographic and physical examinations (range: 0.57-0.76). The AUC of finally adjusted scoring indicates good ability to discriminate between patients with and without a need for orthopaedic intervention. The positive predictive value was the highest at a cut-off value of 4 points for knees (63.0%) and ankles (70.0%), at 5 points for elbows (66.7%) and the highest predictive accuracy at the cut-off value of 4 points for all the joints. The linear trend of the need for an orthopaedic intervention was observed with an increasing score. The joint condition assessment sheet can help clinicians assess the need for orthopaedic intervention for haemophilic arthropathy in Japanese patients with haemophilia. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessment of posterior vaginal wall prolapse: comparison of physical findings to cystodefecoperitoneography.

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Daniel; López, Annika; Kierkegaard, Jonas; Zetterström, Jan; Falconer, Christian; Pollack, Johan; Mellgren, Anders

2005-01-01

The aim of the present study was to compare clinical and radiological findings when assessing posterior vaginal wall prolapse. Defecography can be used to complement the clinical evaluation in patients with posterior vaginal wall prolapse. Further development of the defecography technique, using contrast medium in the urinary bladder and intraperitoneally, have resulted in cystodefecoperitoneography (CDP). Thirty-eight women underwent clinical examination using the pelvic organ prolapse quantification system (POP-Q) followed by CDP. All patients answered a standardized bowel function questionnaire. Statistical analysis measuring correlation between POP-Q and CDP using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) and Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient (rs) demonstrated a poor to moderate correlation, r=0.49 and rs=0.55. Although there was a strong association between large rectoceles (>3 cm) at CDP and symptoms of rectal emptying difficulties (p<0.001), severity and prevalence of bowel dysfunction showed poor coherence with clinical prolapse staging and findings at radiological imaging. Vaginal topography and POP-Q staging predict neither radiological size nor visceral involvement in posterior vaginal wall prolapse. Radiological evaluation may therefore be a useful complement in selected patients.

Clinical and pulmonary thin-section CT findings in acute Klebsiella Pneumoniae pneumonia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, Fumito; Ando, Yumiko; Honda, Koichi; Nakayama, Tomoko; Kiyonaga, Maki; Ono, Asami; Tanoue, Shuichi; Maeda, Toru; Mori, Hiromu

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and pulmonary thin-section CT findings in patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia. We retrospectively evaluated thin-section CT examinations performed between January 1991 and December 2007 from 962 patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia. Seven hundred and sixty-four cases with concurrent infectious diseases were excluded. Thus, our study group comprised 198 patients (118 male, 80 female; age range 18-97 years, mean age 61.5). Underlying diseases and clinical findings were assessed. Parenchymal abnormalities were evaluated along with the presence of enlarged lymph nodes and pleural effusion. CT findings in patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia consisted mainly of ground-glass attenuation (100%), consolidation (91.4%), and intralobular reticular opacity (85.9%), which were found in the periphery (96%) of both sides of the lungs (72.2%) and were often associated with pleural effusion (53%). The underlying conditions in patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia were alcoholism or smoking habit. (orig.)

Clinical and pulmonary thin-section CT findings in acute Klebsiella Pneumoniae pneumonia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okada, Fumito [Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Oita (Japan); Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Oita (Japan); Ando, Yumiko; Honda, Koichi; Nakayama, Tomoko; Kiyonaga, Maki; Ono, Asami; Tanoue, Shuichi; Maeda, Toru; Mori, Hiromu [Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Oita (Japan)

2009-04-15

The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and pulmonary thin-section CT findings in patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia. We retrospectively evaluated thin-section CT examinations performed between January 1991 and December 2007 from 962 patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia. Seven hundred and sixty-four cases with concurrent infectious diseases were excluded. Thus, our study group comprised 198 patients (118 male, 80 female; age range 18-97 years, mean age 61.5). Underlying diseases and clinical findings were assessed. Parenchymal abnormalities were evaluated along with the presence of enlarged lymph nodes and pleural effusion. CT findings in patients with acute Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia consisted mainly of ground-glass attenuation (100%), consolidation (91.4%), and intralobular reticular opacity (85.9%), which were found in the periphery (96%) of both sides of the lungs (72.2%) and were often associated with pleural effusion (53%). The underlying conditions in patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia were alcoholism or smoking habit. (orig.)

Keeping Students "on Their Toes and on Their Game": Serendipitous Findings in Students' Assessments and Reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Pelletier, Kathie L.

2017-01-01

This study extends the empirical findings of the use of continuous, lecture-embedded assessments to increase engagement and enhance learning. Outcome data (exam performance and attendance rates) from college students in three upper-division business course sections who took quizzes and wrote two-minute papers (test group) were compared to outcome…

Assessment of CHF characteristics at subcooled conditions for the CANDU CANFLEX bundle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onder, E.N.; Leung, L.K.H.

2011-01-01

An analysis has been performed to assess the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) characteristics for the CANFLEX bundle at subcooled conditions. CHF characteristics for CANDU bundles have been established from experiments using full-scale bundle simulators. These experiments covered flow conditions of interest to normal operation and postulated loss-of-flow and small break loss-of-coolant accidents. Experimental CHF values obtained from these experiments were applied to develop correlations for analyses of regional overpower protection and safety trips. These correlations are applicable to the saturated region in the reference uncrept channel and the slightly subcooled region in postulated high-creep channels. Expanding the CHF data to subcooled conditions facilitates the evaluation of the margin to dryout at upstream bundle locations, even though dryout occurrences are not anticipated there. In view of the lack of experimental data, the ASSERT-PV subchannel code has been applied to establish CHF values at low qualities and high subcoolings (thermodynamic qualities corresponding to -25%). These CHF values have been applied to extend the CHF correlation to the highly subcooled conditions. (author)

Condition Assessment and End-of-Life Prediction System for Electric Machines and Their Loads

Science.gov (United States)

Parlos, Alexander G.; Toliyat, Hamid A.

2005-01-01

An end-of-life prediction system developed for electric machines and their loads could be used in integrated vehicle health monitoring at NASA and in other government agencies. This system will provide on-line, real-time condition assessment and end-of-life prediction of electric machines (e.g., motors, generators) and/or their loads of mechanically coupled machinery (e.g., pumps, fans, compressors, turbines, conveyor belts, magnetic levitation trains, and others). In long-duration space flight, the ability to predict the lifetime of machinery could spell the difference between mission success or failure. Therefore, the system described here may be of inestimable value to the U.S. space program. The system will provide continuous monitoring for on-line condition assessment and end-of-life prediction as opposed to the current off-line diagnoses.

Relevance feature selection of modal frequency-ambient condition pattern recognition in structural health assessment for reinforced concrete buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

He-Qing Mu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Modal frequency is an important indicator for structural health assessment. Previous studies have shown that this indicator is substantially affected by the fluctuation of ambient conditions, such as temperature and humidity. Therefore, recognizing the pattern between modal frequency and ambient conditions is necessary for reliable long-term structural health assessment. In this article, a novel machine-learning algorithm is proposed to automatically select relevance features in modal frequency-ambient condition pattern recognition based on structural dynamic response and ambient condition measurement. In contrast to the traditional feature selection approaches by examining a large number of combinations of extracted features, the proposed algorithm conducts continuous relevance feature selection by introducing a sophisticated hyperparameterization on the weight parameter vector controlling the relevancy of different features in the prediction model. The proposed algorithm is then utilized for structural health assessment for a reinforced concrete building based on 1-year daily measurements. It turns out that the optimal model class including the relevance features for each vibrational mode is capable to capture the pattern between the corresponding modal frequency and the ambient conditions.

ls with Chronic Conditions Want More Guidance from Health Professionals in Finding Quality Online Health SourcesIndividua

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cari Merkley

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Objective – To explore how and when individuals with chronic health conditions seek out health information online, and the challenges they encounter when doing so. Design – Qualitative study employing thematic analysis. Setting – Urban Western Australia. Subjects – 17 men and women between 19 and 85 years of age with at least 1 chronic health condition. Methods – Participants were recruited in late 2013 at nine local pharmacies, through local radio, media channels, and a university's social media channels. Participants were adult English speakers who had looked for information on their chronic health condition(s using the Internet. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with each participant, audio recorded, and transcribed. The transcripts were coded in QSR Nvivo using two different processes – an initial data-driven inductive approach to coding, followed by a theory driven analysis of the data. Main Results – Three major themes emerged: trust, patient activation, and relevance. Many of the participants expressed trust both in health professionals and in the efficacy of search engines like Google. However, there was uncertainty about the quality of some of the health information sources found. Searching for information online was seen by some participants as a way to feel more empowered about their condition(s and treatment, but they reported frustration in finding information that was relevant to their specific condition(s given the volume of information available. Low health literacy emerged in participant interviews as an intrinsic barrier to effective online searches for health information, along with low patient motivation and lack of time. The many extrinsic barriers identified included difficulty determining the quality of information found, the accessibility of the information (e.g., journal paywalls, and poor relationships with health care providers. Conclusion – Individuals look for online health

Recommended parameters for effect assessment of radioactive airborne effluents under normal condition of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong; Fang Dong; Sun Chengzhi; Xiao Naihong

2003-01-01

A set of models and default parameters are recommended for effect assessment of radioactive airborne effluents under normal condition of nuclear facilities in order to standardize the environmental effect assessment of nuclear facilities, and to simplify the observation and investigation in early phase. The paper introduces the input data and default parameters used in the model

Examples of landscape indicators for assessing environmental conditions and problems in urban and suburban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Duque, J. F.; Godfrey, A.; Diez, A.; Cleaves, E.; Pedraza, J.; Sanz, M.A.; Carrasco, R.M.; Bodoque, J.; Brebbia, C.A.; Martin-Duque, J.F.; Wadhwa, L.C.

2002-01-01

Geo-indicators can help to assess environmental conditions in city urban and suburban areas. Those indicators should be meaningful for understanding environmental changes. From examples of Spanish and American cities, geo-indicators for assessing environmental conditions and changes in urban and suburban areas are proposed. The paper explore two types of geo-indicators. The first type presents general information that can be used to indicate the presence of a broad array of geologic conditions, either favouring or limiting various kinds of uses of the land. The second type of geo-indicator is the one most commonly used, and as a group most easily understood; these are site and problem specific and they are generally used after a problem is identified. Among them, watershed processes, seismicity and physiographic diversity are explained in more detail. A second dimension that is considered when discussing geo-indicators is the issue of scale. Broad scale investigations, covering extensive areas are only efficient at cataloguing general conditions common to much of the area or some outstanding feature within the area. This type of information is best used for policy type decisions. Detailed scale investigations can provide information about local conditions, but are not efficient at cataloguing vast areas. Information gathered at the detailed level is necessary for project design and construction.

A Modelling Framework to Assess the Effect of Pressures on River Abiotic Habitat Conditions and Biota.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jochem Kail

Full Text Available River biota are affected by global reach-scale pressures, but most approaches for predicting biota of rivers focus on river reach or segment scale processes and habitats. Moreover, these approaches do not consider long-term morphological changes that affect habitat conditions. In this study, a modelling framework was further developed and tested to assess the effect of pressures at different spatial scales on reach-scale habitat conditions and biota. Ecohydrological and 1D hydrodynamic models were used to predict discharge and water quality at the catchment scale and the resulting water level at the downstream end of a study reach. Long-term reach morphology was modelled using empirical regime equations, meander migration and 2D morphodynamic models. The respective flow and substrate conditions in the study reach were predicted using a 2D hydrodynamic model, and the suitability of these habitats was assessed with novel habitat models. In addition, dispersal models for fish and macroinvertebrates were developed to assess the re-colonization potential and to finally compare habitat suitability and the availability/ability of species to colonize these habitats. Applicability was tested and model performance was assessed by comparing observed and predicted conditions in the lowland Treene River in northern Germany. Technically, it was possible to link the different models, but future applications would benefit from the development of open source software for all modelling steps to enable fully automated model runs. Future research needs concern the physical modelling of long-term morphodynamics, feedback of biota (e.g., macrophytes on abiotic habitat conditions, species interactions, and empirical data on the hydraulic habitat suitability and dispersal abilities of macroinvertebrates. The modelling framework is flexible and allows for including additional models and investigating different research and management questions, e.g., in climate impact

Fixed or adapted conditioning intensity for repeated conditioned pain modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoegh, M; Petersen, K K; Graven-Nielsen, T

2017-12-29

Aims Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is used to assess descending pain modulation through a test stimulation (TS) and a conditioning stimulation (CS). Due to potential carry-over effects, sequential CPM paradigms might alter the intensity of the CS, which potentially can alter the CPM-effect. This study aimed to investigate the difference between a fixed and adaptive CS intensity on CPM-effect. Methods On the dominant leg of 20 healthy subjects the cuff pressure detection threshold (PDT) was recorded as TS and the pain tolerance threshold (PTT) was assessed on the non-dominant leg for estimating the CS. The difference in PDT before and during CS defined the CPM-effect. The CPM-effect was assessed four times using a CS with intensities of 70% of baseline PTT (fixed) or 70% of PTT measured throughout the session (adaptive). Pain intensity of the conditioning stimulus was assessed on a numeric rating scale (NRS). Data were analyzed with repeated-measures ANOVA. Results No difference was found comparing the four PDTs assessed before CSs for the fixed and the adaptive paradigms. The CS pressure intensity for the adaptive paradigm was increasing during the four repeated assessments (P CPM-effect was higher using the fixed condition compared with the adaptive condition (P CPM paradigms using a fixed conditioning stimulus produced an increased CPM-effect compared with adaptive and increasing conditioning intensities.

Time-dependent reliability analysis and condition assessment of structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellingwood, B.R.

1997-01-01

Structures generally play a passive role in assurance of safety in nuclear plant operation, but are important if the plant is to withstand the effect of extreme environmental or abnormal events. Relative to mechanical and electrical components, structural systems and components would be difficult and costly to replace. While the performance of steel or reinforced concrete structures in service generally has been very good, their strengths may deteriorate during an extended service life as a result of changes brought on by an aggressive environment, excessive loading, or accidental loading. Quantitative tools for condition assessment of aging structures can be developed using time-dependent structural reliability analysis methods. Such methods provide a framework for addressing the uncertainties attendant to aging in the decision process

A Rapid Assessment of Instructional Strategies to Teach Auditory-Visual Conditional Discriminations to Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Kodak, Tiffany; Clements, Andrea; LeBlanc, Brittany

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate a rapid assessment procedure to identify effective instructional strategies to teach auditory-visual conditional discriminations to children diagnosed with autism. We replicated and extended previous rapid skills assessments (Lerman, Vorndran, Addison, & Kuhn, 2004) by evaluating the effects…

Assessing the health condition profile in the freshwater fish Astyanax aeneus in Champoton River, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo-Jiménez, Patricia; Sedeño-Díaz, Jacinto Elías; López-López, Eugenia

2014-01-01

The use of biomarkers for monitoring aquatic environmental quality has gained considerable interest worldwide. The effects of the environmental conditions of Río Champotón, México, in the hotspot of Mesoamerica, were assessed in Astyanax aeneus, a native fish of the tropics of southwestern México. Pollution from agrochemical residues is a major problem in Río Champotón. Three study sites along the freshwater portion of the river were monitored in April, July, and November 2007 and February 2008. This study includes a water quality index, a set of biomarkers (hepatic glycogen levels and lipid peroxidation in liver, gills, and muscle) to assess the integrated biomarker response, and population bioindicators (gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices and Fulton's condition factor). Although the water quality index suggested low level of contamination in the Río Champotón, biomarkers indicated that A. aeneus is exposed to stressors that impair biological responses. The integrated biomarker response showed stress periods with higher biomarker response and recovery periods with decreasing biomarker values. The somatic indices did not indicate severe effects at the population level. This study illustrates the usefulness of lipid peroxidation evaluation in the assessment of aquatic health conditions and corroborates the suitability of A. aeneus as a sentinel species.

Increasing Impact of Economic Conditions upon Higher Education Enrollments.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusk, James J.; And Others

1982-01-01

To assess the impact of economic conditions on enrollment in higher education, researchers used time series analysis on national data for 1966-78 and on 1972-78 data from all eight regions of the country and the University of Arizona. The findings indicate enrollment has gone up during economic downturns. (Author/RW)

Validation of the Danish version of the Patient Assessment of Care for Chronic Conditions questionnaire (PACIC)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sokolowski, Ineta; Maindal, Helle Terkildsen; Vedsted, Peter

Objective: To evaluate the level of chronic care patients must be involved. The Danish version of the 20-item Patient Assessment of Care for Chronic Conditions PACIC questionnaire consisting of 5 scales and an overall summary score measuring patient reported assessment of structured chronic care ...... the same questionnaire is constructed and applied to different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds and health care systems. It is decisive, that translated questionnaires are validated in country they are used.......Objective: To evaluate the level of chronic care patients must be involved. The Danish version of the 20-item Patient Assessment of Care for Chronic Conditions PACIC questionnaire consisting of 5 scales and an overall summary score measuring patient reported assessment of structured chronic care...... interitem correlation), item-rest correlations. Model fit from confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: We present the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and the first results evaluating chronic care in Danish people with diabetes. Conclusions: The complexity of validation is greater when...

Assessment of diagnostic and prognostic condition indices for efficient and robust maintenance decision-making of systems subject to stress corrosion cracking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huynh, K.T.; Grall, A.; Bérenguer, C.

2017-01-01

Seeking condition indices characterizing the health state of a system is a key problem in condition-based maintenance. For this purpose, diagnostic and prognostic models have been unceasingly developed and improved over the past few decades; nevertheless none of them explains thoroughly the impacts of such indices on the effectiveness of maintenance operations. As a complement to these efforts, this paper analyzes the effectiveness of some well-known diagnostic and prognostic indices for maintenance decision-making. The study is based on a system subject to competing risks due to multiple crack paths. A periodic inspection scheme is used to monitor the system health state. Each inspection returns the perfect diagnostic information: the number of cracks, corresponding crack sizes, and the system failure/working state. Based on this information, two kinds of prognostic condition indices are predicted: the average value and probability law of the system residual useful life. The associated condition-based maintenance strategies and cost models are then developed and compared with the ones whose maintenance decisions are based on diagnostic condition indices. The comparison results allow us to conclude on the performance and on the robustness of these strategies, hence giving some suggestions on the choice of reliable condition indices for maintenance decision-making. - Highlights: • Developing a new and generic degradation and failure model. • Synthesizing diagnostic and prognostic condition indices on the basis of the developed degradation and failure model. • Building diagnosis and prognosis-based maintenance strategies, and developing the associated cost models. • Assessing the performance and robustness of the considered strategies to find out reliable indices.

Diablo Canyon internal events PRA [Probabilistic Risk Assessment] review: Methodology and findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzpatrick, R.G.; Bozoki, G.; Sabek, M.

1990-01-01

The review of the Diablo Canyon Probabilistic Risk Assessment (DCRPA) incorporated some new and innovative approaches. These were necessitated by the unprecedented size, scope and level of detail of the DCRPA, which was submitted to the NRC for licensing purposes. This paper outlines the elements of the internal events portion of the review citing selected findings to illustrate the various approaches employed. The paper also provides a description of the extensive and comprehensive importance analysis applied by BNL to the DCRPA model. Importance calculations included: top event/function level; individual split fractions; pair importances between frontline-support and support-support systems; system importance by initiator; and others. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the effectiveness of the applied methodology. 3 refs., 5 tabs

Animal-based measures for welfare assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agostino Sevi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Animal welfare assessment can’t be irrespective of measures taken on animals. Indeed, housing parametersrelatedtostructures, designandmicro-environment, evenifreliable parameters related to structures, design and micro-environment, even if reliable and easier to take, can only identify conditions which could be detrimental to animal welfare, but can’t predict poor welfare in animals per se. Welfare assessment through animal-based measures is almost complex, given that animals’ responses to stressful conditions largely depend on the nature, length and intensity of challenges and on physiological status, age, genetic susceptibility and previous experience of animals. Welfare assessment requires a multi-disciplinary approach and the monitoring of productive, ethological, endocrine, immunological and pathological param- eters to be exhaustive and reliable. So many measures are needed, because stresses can act only on some of the mentioned parameters or on all of them but at different times and degree. Under this point of view, the main aim of research is to find feasible and most responsive indicators of poor animal welfare. In last decades, studies focused on the following parameters for animal wel- fare assessment indexes of biological efficiency, responses to behavioral tests, cortisol secretion, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte proliferation, production of antigen specific IgG and cytokine release, somatic cell count and acute phase proteins. Recently, a lot of studies have been addressed to reduce handling and constraint of animals for taking measures to be used in welfare assessment, since such procedures can induce stress in animals and undermined the reliability of measures taken for welfare assessment. Range of animal-based measures for welfare assessment is much wider under experimental condition than at on-farm level. In welfare monitoring on-farm the main aim is to find feasible measures of proved validity and reliability

76 FR 8708 - Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for a Biological...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-15

...] Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for a Biological Control Agent... have been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to a proposed biological... review and analysis of environmental impacts associated with the proposed biological control program...

[From Science to Law: Findings of Reha XI Project on Ascertaining the Need for Rehabilitation in Medical Service Assessments].

Science.gov (United States)

Kalwitzki, T; Huter, K; Runte, R; Breuninger, K; Janatzek, S; Gronemeyer, S; Gansweid, B; Rothgang, H

2017-03-01

Introduction: In the broad-based consortium project "Reha XI - Identifying rehabilitative requirements in medical service assessments: evaluation and implementation", a comprehensive analysis of the corresponding procedures was carried out by the medical services of the German Health Insurance Funds (MDK). On the basis of this analysis, a Good Practice Standard (GPS) for assessments was drawn up and scientifically evaluated. This article discusses the findings and applicability of the GPS as the basis for a nationwide standardized procedure in Germany as required by the Second Act to Strengthen Long-Term Care (PSG II) under Vol. XI Para. 18 (6) of the German Social Welfare Code. Method: The consortium project comprised four project phases: 1. Qualitative and quantitative situation analysis of the procedures for ascertaining rehabilitative needs in care assessments carried out by the MDK; 2. Development of a Good Practice Standard (GPS) in a structured, consensus-based procedure; 3. Scientific evaluation of the validity, reliability and practicability of the assessment procedure according to the GPS in the MDK's operational practice; 4. Survey of long-term care insurance funds with respect to the appropriateness of the rehabilitation recommendations drawn up by care assessors in line with the GPS for providing a qualified recommendation for the applicant. The evaluation carried out in the third project phase was subject to methodological limitations that may have given rise to distortions in the findings. Findings: On the basis of the situation analysis, 7 major thematic areas were identified in which improvements were implemented by applying the GPS. For the evaluation of the GPS, a total of 3 247 applicants were assessed in line with the GPS; in 6.3% of the applicants, an indication for medical rehabilitation was determined. The GPS procedure showed a high degree of reliability and practicability, but the values for the validity of the assessment procedure were

Neurological condition assessed with the Hempel examination and cognition and behaviour at 4 years

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schendelaar, Pamela; Seggers, Jorien; Heineman, Maas Jan; Hadders-Algra, Mijna

Aim: To investigate associations between neurological condition, assessed with the Hempel examination, in terms of minor neurological dysfunction (MND) and neurological optimality, and cognition and behaviour at 4 years. Study design: Cross-sectional analyses within a prospective, assessor-blinded

Advantages and limitations of peer assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karmen Goršak, Karmen Pižorn

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines current theoretical work and research findings regarding the effectiveness of peer assessment. The main purpose of the article is to define peer asses sment and its subcategory peer feedback and to present the advantages and limitations of peer assessment derived from different research findings. In addition, conditions and strategies to successfully guarantee the benefits of peer assessment are presented. The main research studies, mentioned in this article, have been carried out in different disciplines in higher education programmes and their findings reveal positive students’ and teachers’ attitude to peer assessment as well as high correlation between peers’ and te achers’ grades. The main results of the studies show a positive effect of peer assessment on student’s active role in the process of learning and assessment, the development of social and professional skills, student’s autonomy, critical thinking, peer and selfassessment skills. Recommendations for implementing peer assessment within foreign language tea ching, as well as implications for future research work are provided.

Assessment of microclimate conditions under artificial shades in a ginseng field.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyu Jong; Lee, Byun-Woo; Kang, Je Yong; Lee, Dong Yun; Jang, Soo Won; Kim, Kwang Soo

2016-01-01

Knowledge on microclimate conditions under artificial shades in a ginseng field would facilitate climate-aware management of ginseng production. Weather data were measured under the shade and outside the shade at two fields located in Gochang-gun and Jeongeup-si, Korea, in 2011 and 2012 seasons to assess temperature and humidity conditions under the shade. An empirical approach was developed and validated for the estimation of leaf wetness duration (LWD) using weather measurements outside the shade as inputs to the model. Air temperature and relative humidity were similar between under the shade and outside the shade. For example, temperature conditions favorable for ginseng growth, e.g., between 8°C and 27°C, occurred slightly less frequently in hours during night times under the shade (91%) than outside (92%). Humidity conditions favorable for development of a foliar disease, e.g., relative humidity > 70%, occurred slightly more frequently under the shade (84%) than outside (82%). Effectiveness of correction schemes to an empirical LWD model differed by rainfall conditions for the estimation of LWD under the shade using weather measurements outside the shade as inputs to the model. During dew eligible days, a correction scheme to an empirical LWD model was slightly effective (10%) in reducing estimation errors under the shade. However, another correction approach during rainfall eligible days reduced errors of LWD estimation by 17%. Weather measurements outside the shade and LWD estimates derived from these measurements would be useful as inputs for decision support systems to predict ginseng growth and disease development.

Analysis of site-specific dispersion conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paesler-Sauer, J.

1989-03-01

This report presents an analysis of atmospheric dispersion conditions in the environs of nuclear power stations in the Federal Republic of Germany. The analysis is based on meteorological data measured on the power station sites (KFUe = nuclear reactor remote control records) and by neighbouring stations operated by the German Weather Service. The data are series of hourly mean values of wind and temperature gradient or stability class over the period of one or more years. The aim of the data analysis is to find types of dispersion conditions characterized by the flow field and stratification, and to assess the feasibility of calculating these quantities in the case of an emergency. Influences of terrain structures in the environs of the site are considered. The annual frequencies of types of dispersion situations are assessed, the capability to recognize the dispersion situation from meteorological data measured on the site and the applicability of dispersion models are discussed. (orig.) [de

Performance of Edmonton Frail Scale on frailty assessment: its association with multi-dimensional geriatric conditions assessed with specific screening tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Perna, Simone; Francis, Matthew D'Arcy; Bologna, Chiara; Moncaglieri, Francesca; Riva, Antonella; Morazzoni, Paolo; Allegrini, Pietro; Isu, Antonio; Vigo, Beatrice; Guerriero, Fabio; Rondanelli, Mariangela

2017-01-04

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) on frailty assessment in association with multi-dimensional conditions assessed with specific screening tools and to explore the prevalence of frailty by gender. We enrolled 366 hospitalised patients (women\\men: 251\\115), mean age 81.5 years. The EFS was given to the patients to evaluate their frailty. Then we collected data concerning cognitive status through Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), health status (evaluated with the number of diseases), functional independence (Barthel Index and Activities Daily Living; BI, ADL, IADL), use of drugs (counting of drugs taken every day), Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Skeletal Muscle Index of sarcopenia (SMI), osteoporosis and functionality (Handgrip strength). According with the EFS, the 19.7% of subjects were classified as non frail, 66.4% as apparently vulnerable and 13.9% with severe frailty. The EFS scores were associated with cognition (MMSE: β = 0.980; p nutrition (MNA: β = -0.413; p performance (Handgrip: β = -0.114, p performance tool for stratifying the state of fragility in a group of institutionalized elderly. As matter of facts the EFS has been shown to be associated with several geriatric conditions such independence, drugs assumption, mood, mental, functional and nutritional status.

Vocal Affect Recognition and Psychopathy: Converging Findings Across Traditional and Cluster Analytic Approaches to Assessing the Construct

Science.gov (United States)

Bagley, Amy D.; Abramowitz, Carolyn S.; Kosson, David S.

2010-01-01

Deficits in emotion processing have been widely reported to be central to psychopathy. However, few prior studies have examined vocal affect recognition in psychopaths, and these studies suffer from significant methodological limitations. Moreover, prior studies have yielded conflicting findings regarding the specificity of psychopaths’ affect recognition deficits. This study examined vocal affect recognition in 107 male inmates under conditions requiring isolated prosodic vs. semantic analysis of affective cues and compared subgroups of offenders identified via cluster analysis on vocal affect recognition. Psychopaths demonstrated deficits in vocal affect recognition under conditions requiring use of semantic cues and conditions requiring use of prosodic cues. Moreover, both primary and secondary psychopaths exhibited relatively similar emotional deficits in the semantic analysis condition compared to nonpsychopathic control participants. This study demonstrates that psychopaths’ vocal affect recognition deficits are not due to methodological limitations of previous studies and provides preliminary evidence that primary and secondary psychopaths exhibit generally similar deficits in vocal affect recognition. PMID:19413412

Evaluation of severe accident environmental conditions taking accident management strategy into account for equipment survivability assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byung Chul; Jeong, Ji Hwan; Na, Man Gyun; Kim, Soong Pyung

2003-01-01

This paper presents a methodology utilizing accident management strategy in order to determine accident environmental conditions in equipment survivability assessments. In case that there is well-established accident management strategy for specific nuclear power plant, an application of this tool can provide a technical rationale on equipment survivability assessment so that plant-specific and time-dependent accident environmental conditions could be practically and realistically defined in accordance with the equipment and instrumentation required for accident management strategy or action appropriately taken. For this work, three different tools are introduced; Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) outcomes, major accident management strategy actions, and Accident Environmental Stages (AESs). In order to quantitatively investigate an applicability of accident management strategy to equipment survivability, the accident simulation for a most likely scenario in Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants (KSNPs) is performed with MAAP4 code. The Accident Management Guidance (AMG) actions such as the Reactor Control System (RCS) depressurization, water injection into the RCS, the containment pressure and temperature control, and hydrogen concentration control in containment are applied. The effects of these AMG actions on the accident environmental conditions are investigated by comparing with those from previous normal accident simulation, especially focused on equipment survivability assessment. As a result, the AMG-involved case shows the higher accident consequences along the accident environmental stages

HOUSING CONDITIONS IN KANO, NIGERIA: A QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUACY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulqadir BELLO

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Many studies have attempted to assess the qualitative adequacy of housing in Nigeria. However, most of these studies focus either on slums or on public housing projects. There are very few empirical studies that examine and compare the qualitative adequacy of housing belonging to different population groups and from different neighborhoods in a city. The purpose of this study is to assess the housing quality in the (entire city of Kano, Nigeria and to examine the disparities in housing adequacy across the city based on four factors: neighborhood density level, location of the neighborhood relative to the old city wall, monthly household income and ownership type and status. We found that, although bad by western standards, the condition of dwellings in Kano is better than in other Nigerian cities (based on information from previous studies, even when we consider only the high-density neighborhoods. Another major conclusion of this paper is that the four indicators mentioned earlier can be used as predictors for the quality of housing in a particular neighborhood.

Assessment of hypervapotron heat sink performance using CFD under DEMO relevant first wall conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Domalapally, Phani, E-mail: p_kumar.domalapally@cvrez.cz

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Performance of Hypervapotron heat sink was tested for First wall limiter application. • Two different materials were tested Eurofer 97 and CuCrZr at PWR conditions. • Simulations were performed to see the effect of the different inlet conditions and materials on the maximum temperature. • It was found that CuCrZr heat sink performance is far better than Eurofer heat sink at the same operating conditions. - Abstract: Among the proposed First Wall (FW) cooling concepts for European Demonstration Fusion Power Plant (DEMO), water cooled FW is one of the options. The heat flux load distribution on the FW of the DEMO reactor is not yet precisely defined. But if the heat loads on the FW are extrapolated from ITER conditions, the numbers are quite high and have to be handled none the less. The design of the FW itself is challenging as the thermal conductivity ratio of heat sink materials in ITER (CuCrZr) and in DEMO (Eurofer 97) is ∼10–12 and the operating conditions are of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) in DEMO instead of 70 °C and 4 MPa as in ITER. This paper analyzes the performance of Hypervapotron (HV) heat sink for FW limiter application under DEMO conditions. Where different materials, temperatures, heat fluxes and velocities are considered to predict the performance of the HV, to establish its limits in handling the heat loads before reaching the upper limits from temperature point of view. In order to assess the performance, numerical simulations are performed using commercial CFD code, which was previously validated in predicting the thermal hydraulic performance of HV geometry. Based on the results the potential usage of HV heat sink for DEMO will be assessed.

Assessing the Implicit Achievement Motive: Effects of Input- Condition, Administration And Picture -Position

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole Gruber

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Implicit measurements are sensitive for influences of experimenter and situation. An assessment using computers could therefore avert those negative effects, if there is an adequate translation to computer (Blankenship, 2010. We split the implicit achievement motive into the two components hope of success (HS and fear of failure (FF and investigated the effects of input condition (handwritten vs. keyboard, administration (online vs. computer vs. human experimenter and picture-position for each of these two components. Therefore 140 undergraduates were randomly assigned to 18 experimental groupsof a counterbalance within-between-design and assessed with the Thematic-Apperception-Test (TAT; Heckhausen, 1963. The outcome is that handwriting increases the HS-score, whereby FF- score did not differ in typed and handwritten answers. People instructed by human experimenter show higher FF and lower HS compared tocomputer based tested people in the labor and online There is no statistical significant interaction effectof administration and input condition. There is either no position effect for any of these motive-components. The TAT seems to be more robust than commonly thought.

Condition assessment survey of onsite sewage disposal systems (OSDSs) in Hawaii.

Science.gov (United States)

Babcock, Roger W; Lamichhane, Krishna M; Cummings, Michael J; Cheong, Gloria H

2014-01-01

Onsite sewage disposal systems (OSDSs) are the third leading cause of groundwater contamination in the USA. The existing condition of OSDSs in the State of Hawaii was investigated to determine whether a mandatory management program should be implemented. Based on observed conditions, OSDSs were differentiated into four categories: 'pass', 'sludge scum', 'potential failure' and 'fail'. Of all OSDSs inspected, approximately 68% appear to be in good working condition while the remaining 32% are failing or are in danger of failing. Homeowner interviews found that 80% of OSDSs were not being serviced in any way. About 70% of effluent samples had values of total-N and total-P greater than typical values and 40% had total suspended solids (TSS) and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) greater than typical values. The performance of aerobic treatment units (ATUs) was no better than septic tanks and cesspools indicating that the State's approach of requiring but not enforcing maintenance contracts for ATUs is not working. In addition, effluent samples from OSDSs located in drinking water wells estimated 2-year capture zones had higher average concentrations of TSS, BOD5, and total-P than units outside of these zones, indicating the potential for contamination. These findings suggest the need to introduce a proactive, life-cycle OSDS management program in the State of Hawaii.

Development and Verification of a Mobile Shelter Assessment System "Rapid Assessment System of Evacuation Center Condition Featuring Gonryo and Miyagi (RASECC-GM)" for Major Disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Tadashi; Nakayama, Masaharu; Abe, Michiaki; Takayama, Shin; Kamei, Takashi; Abe, Yoshiko; Yamadera, Jun; Amito, Koichiro; Morino, Kazuma

2016-10-01

Introduction There were 5,385 deceased and 710 missing in the Ishinomaki medical zone following the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011. The Ishinomaki Zone Joint Relief Team (IZJRT) was formed to unify the relief teams of all organizations joining in support of the Ishinomaki area. The IZJRT expanded relief activity as they continued to manually collect and analyze assessments of essential information for maintaining health in all 328 shelters using a paper-type survey. However, the IZJRT spent an enormous amount of time and effort entering and analyzing these data because the work was vastly complex. Therefore, an assessment system must be developed that can tabulate shelter assessment data correctly and efficiently. The objective of this report was to describe the development and verification of a system to rapidly assess evacuation centers in preparation for the next major disaster. Report Based on experiences with the complex work during the disaster, software called the "Rapid Assessment System of Evacuation Center Condition featuring Gonryo and Miyagi" (RASECC-GM) was developed to enter, tabulate, and manage the shelter assessment data. Further, a verification test was conducted during a large-scale Self-Defense Force (SDF) training exercise to confirm its feasibility, usability, and accuracy. The RASECC-GM comprises three screens: (1) the "Data Entry screen," allowing for quick entry on tablet devices of 19 assessment items, including shelter administrator, living and sanitary conditions, and a tally of the injured and sick; (2) the "Relief Team/Shelter Management screen," for registering information on relief teams and shelters; and (3) the "Data Tabulation screen," which allows tabulation of the data entered for each shelter, as well as viewing and sorting from a disaster headquarters' computer. During the verification test, data of mock shelters entered online were tabulated quickly and accurately on a mock disaster

Validation of a community-based survey assessing non-obstetric surgical conditions in Burera District, Rwanda.

Science.gov (United States)

Linden, Allison F; Maine, Rebecca; Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany L; Kamanzi, Emmanual; Mody, Gita; Ntakiyiruta, Georges; Kansayisa, Grace; Ntaganda, Edmond; Niyonkuru, Francine; Mubiligi, Joel; Mpunga, Tharcisse; Meara, John G; Riviello, Robert

2015-04-27

Community-based surveillance methods to monitor epidemiological progress in surgery have not yet been employed for surgical capacity building. The aim of this study was to create and assess the validity of a questionnaire that collected data for untreated surgically correctable diseases throughout Burera District, northern Rwanda, to accurately plan for surgical services. A structured interview to assess for the presence or absence of ten index surgically treatable conditions (breast mass, cleft lip/palate, club foot, hernia or hydrocele [adult and paediatric]), hydrocephalus, hypospadias, injuries or wounds, neck mass, undescended testes, and vaginal fistula) was created. The interview was built based on previously validated questionnaires, forward and back translated into the local language and underwent focus group augmentation and pilot testing. In March and May, 2012, data collectors conducted the structured interviews with a household representative in 30 villages throughout Burera District, selected using a two-stage cluster sampling design. Rwandan physicians revisited the surveyed households to perform physical examinations on all household members, used as the gold standard to validate the structured interview. Ethical approval was obtained from Boston Children's Hospital (Boston, MA, USA) and the Rwandan National Ethics Committee (Kigali, Rwanda). Informed consent was obtained from all households. 2990 individuals were surveyed, a 97% response rate. 2094 (70%) individuals were available for physical examination. The calculated overall sensitivity of the structured interview tool was 44·5% (95% CI 38·9-50·2) and the specificity was 97·7% (96·9-98·3%; appendix). The positive predictive value was 70% (95% CI 60·5-73·5), whereas the negative predictive value was 91·3% (90·0-92·5). The conditions with the highest sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were hydrocephalus (100% and 100%), clubfoot (100% and 99·8%), injuries or wounds (54·7% and

Missed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Assessment of early imaging findings on prediagnostic magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Kyung Mi; Kim, Seong Hyun, E-mail: sh6453.kim@samsung.com; Kim, Young Kon; Song, Kyoung Doo; Lee, Soon Jin; Choi, Dongil

2015-08-15

Highlights: • MR imaging was superior to CT for the detection of early PDAC. • A focal lesion with no MPD interruption is common MR finding of early PDAC. • A mean volume doubling time of early PDAC was about five months. - Abstract: Objective: To investigate the early imaging findings and growth rate of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and to assess whether MR imaging detects early PDAC better than CT. Materials and methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement for informed consent. Twenty-two patients were included, and two radiologists, by consensus, assessed the presence of focal lesions, interruption of the main pancreatic duct (MPD), MPD dilatation, and pancreatitis, volume doubling time (VDT) of PDAC on prediagnostic MR imaging. Two other observers independently reviewed three image sets (CT images, unenhanced MR images, and unenhanced and contrast-enhanced MR images) for the detection of early PDAC. Paired Wilcoxon signed rank test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used for statistical analyses. Results: In 20 (90.9%) patients, prediagnostic MR exams showed abnormality, and all of them showed focal lesions on the first abnormal prediagnostic MR exams. Thirteen lesions (65%) showed no MPD interruption and one lesion (5%) was accompanied by pancreatitis. The mean VDT of PDAC was 151.7 days (range, 18.3–417.8 days). Diagnostic performance of unenhanced MR images (Az, 0.971–0.989) and combined unenhanced and contrast-enhanced MR images (Az, 0.956–0.963) was significantly better than that of CT images (Az, 0.565–0.583; p < 0.01) for both observers, Conclusion: The most common early imaging finding of PDAC on prediagnostic MR exams was a focal lesion with no MPD interruption with a mean volume doubling time of five months. MR imaging was superior to CT for the detection of early PDAC.

Comments on ''Use of conditional simulation in nuclear waste site performance assessment'' by Carol Gotway

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Downing, D.J.

1993-01-01

This paper discusses Carol Gotway's paper, ''The Use of Conditional Simulation in Nuclear Waste Site Performance Assessment.'' The paper centers on the use of conditional simulation and the use of geostatistical methods to simulate an entire field of values for subsequent use in a complex computer model. The issues of sampling designs for geostatistics, semivariogram estimation and anisotropy, turning bands method for random field generation, and estimation of the comulative distribution function are brought out

VISUAL AND ULTRASONIC ASSESSMENT OF CONDITION STATUS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CONCEPTION IN DAIRY COWS

OpenAIRE

Benjamin Čengić; Nazif Varatanović; Tarik Mutevelić; Amel Ćutuk; Nasir Sinanović; Ana Šljuka; Meho Halilović

2013-01-01

Assessment of energy reserves in the organism made through evaluation of body condition, basically represents the nutritional status of animal, valued by deposited adipose tissue, when body frame and weight have secondary importance. At the farm of high producing Holstein-Friesian cows with tie stall housing and average milk yield of 7000 liters, we followed the relation between the evaluation of body score condition and the conception rate. Total of 29 Holstein...

A new condition for assessing the clinical efficiency of a diagnostic test.

Science.gov (United States)

Bokhari, Ehsan; Hubert, Lawrence

2015-09-01

When prediction using a diagnostic test outperforms simple prediction using base rates, the test is said to be "clinically efficient," a term first introduced into the literature by Meehl and Rosen (1955) in Psychological Bulletin. This article provides three equivalent conditions for determining the clinical efficiency of a diagnostic test: (a) Meehl-Rosen (Meehl & Rosen, 1955); (b) Dawes (Dawes, 1962); and (c) the Bokhari-Hubert condition, introduced here for the first time. Clinical efficiency is then generalized to situations where misclassification costs are considered unequal (for example, false negatives are more costly than false positives). As an illustration, the clinical efficiency of an actuarial device for predicting violent and dangerous behavior is examined that was developed as part of the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Initial experience with computed tomographic colonography applied for noncolorectal cancerous conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Tamaki; Kawada, Shuichi; Hirata, Satoru; Ikeda, Shu; Sato, Yuuki; Imai, Yutaka

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to asses retrospectively the performance of computed tomography colonography (CTC) for noncolorectal cancerous conditions. A total of 44 patients with non-colorectal cancerous conditions underwent CTC. We researched the indications for CTC or present illness and evaluated the CTC imaging findings. We assessed whether diagnosis by CTC reduced conventional colonoscopic examinations. A total of 47 examinations were performed in 44 patients. The indications for CTC or a present illness were as follows: 15 patients with impossible or incomplete colonoscopy, 7 with diverticular disease, 6 with malignancy (noncolorectal cancer), 6 with Crohn's disease, 4 suspected to have a submucosal tumor on colonoscopy, 2 with ischemic colitis, and 4 with various other diseases. Colonic findings were diagnosed on CTC in 36 examinations, and extracolonic findings were identified in 35 of 44 patients. In all, 17 patients had undergone colonoscopy previously, 9 (52.9%) of whom did not require further colonoscopy by CTC. Five patients underwent colonoscopy after CTC. The indications for CTC were varied for patients with noncolorectal cancerous conditions. CTC examinations could be performed safely. Unlike colonoscopy or CT without preparation, CTC revealed colonic and extracolonic findings and may reduce the indication of colonoscopy in patients with noncolorectal cancerous conditions. (author)

Findings of bedside swallowing assessment and brain computerized tomography in patients with chronic cerebral infarction, and their outcome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwamoto, Toshihiko; Koshibu, Junko; Kikawada, Masayuki; Yoneda, Youichi; Uno, Masanobu; Takasaki, Masaru [Tokyo Medical Coll. (Japan); Imamura, Toshiharu

2001-09-01

To estimate the usefulness of the bedside swallowing assessment proposed by Smithard et al and neuroimaging findings characteristic for dysphagia, we studied the outcome of 102 patients with chronic cerebral infarction after assessment of swallowing by this test with brain computerized tomography (CT). All patients had a variety of motor disturbance and were admitted on a long-term medicare basis. They were divided into two groups according to the findings: the positive group (n=33), who showed any of the listed types of difficulty in swallowing water, and the negative group (n=69). Followed up to 2.2 years, their outcomes were studied. CT findings were studied on type of infarction, number and laterality of infarction, grade of periventricular lucency (PVL), presence of ventricular dilatation (VD), and severity of cortical atrophy (CA). The mean age was 76.4 years at registration and 61 were men. The frequency of severe dementia and disturbed ADL were significantly higher in the positive group. Eighteen patients died during the observation period and 15 of those were in the positive group, indicating higher, annual death rate (29.9% vs 2.2% in the negative group). All of the 15 patients in the positive group died of pneumonia. CT findings showed high incidence of multiple infarction, bilateral hemispheric lesion, severe PVL, VD, and severe CA in the positive group. These findings indicated that this evaluation method was useful in screening swallow function for patients with cerebral infarction in the chronic phase. Furthermore, CT findings suggested that severe white matter lesion, VD, and severe CA as well as multiple infarction seen in bilateral hemisphere was related to dysphagia, probably due to multiple factors involving pyramidal- and extrapyramidal-tracts with higher brain function. (author)

Findings of bedside swallowing assessment and brain computerized tomography in patients with chronic cerebral infarction, and their outcome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwamoto, Toshihiko; Koshibu, Junko; Kikawada, Masayuki; Yoneda, Youichi; Uno, Masanobu; Takasaki, Masaru; Imamura, Toshiharu

2001-01-01

To estimate the usefulness of the bedside swallowing assessment proposed by Smithard et al and neuroimaging findings characteristic for dysphagia, we studied the outcome of 102 patients with chronic cerebral infarction after assessment of swallowing by this test with brain computerized tomography (CT). All patients had a variety of motor disturbance and were admitted on a long-term medicare basis. They were divided into two groups according to the findings: the positive group (n=33), who showed any of the listed types of difficulty in swallowing water, and the negative group (n=69). Followed up to 2.2 years, their outcomes were studied. CT findings were studied on type of infarction, number and laterality of infarction, grade of periventricular lucency (PVL), presence of ventricular dilatation (VD), and severity of cortical atrophy (CA). The mean age was 76.4 years at registration and 61 were men. The frequency of severe dementia and disturbed ADL were significantly higher in the positive group. Eighteen patients died during the observation period and 15 of those were in the positive group, indicating higher, annual death rate (29.9% vs 2.2% in the negative group). All of the 15 patients in the positive group died of pneumonia. CT findings showed high incidence of multiple infarction, bilateral hemispheric lesion, severe PVL, VD, and severe CA in the positive group. These findings indicated that this evaluation method was useful in screening swallow function for patients with cerebral infarction in the chronic phase. Furthermore, CT findings suggested that severe white matter lesion, VD, and severe CA as well as multiple infarction seen in bilateral hemisphere was related to dysphagia, probably due to multiple factors involving pyramidal- and extrapyramidal-tracts with higher brain function. (author)

National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) Sampling Areas Map, Hawaiian Islands Shoreline, 2015, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) is a national coastal monitoring program with rigorous quality assurance protocols and standardized sampling...

Inertial Measures of Motion for Clinical Biomechanics: Comparative Assessment of Accuracy under Controlled Conditions – Changes in Accuracy over Time

Science.gov (United States)

Lebel, Karina; Boissy, Patrick; Hamel, Mathieu; Duval, Christian

2015-01-01

Background Interest in 3D inertial motion tracking devices (AHRS) has been growing rapidly among the biomechanical community. Although the convenience of such tracking devices seems to open a whole new world of possibilities for evaluation in clinical biomechanics, its limitations haven’t been extensively documented. The objectives of this study are: 1) to assess the change in absolute and relative accuracy of multiple units of 3 commercially available AHRS over time; and 2) to identify different sources of errors affecting AHRS accuracy and to document how they may affect the measurements over time. Methods This study used an instrumented Gimbal table on which AHRS modules were carefully attached and put through a series of velocity-controlled sustained motions including 2 minutes motion trials (2MT) and 12 minutes multiple dynamic phases motion trials (12MDP). Absolute accuracy was assessed by comparison of the AHRS orientation measurements to those of an optical gold standard. Relative accuracy was evaluated using the variation in relative orientation between modules during the trials. Findings Both absolute and relative accuracy decreased over time during 2MT. 12MDP trials showed a significant decrease in accuracy over multiple phases, but accuracy could be enhanced significantly by resetting the reference point and/or compensating for initial Inertial frame estimation reference for each phase. Interpretation The variation in AHRS accuracy observed between the different systems and with time can be attributed in part to the dynamic estimation error, but also and foremost, to the ability of AHRS units to locate the same Inertial frame. Conclusions Mean accuracies obtained under the Gimbal table sustained conditions of motion suggest that AHRS are promising tools for clinical mobility assessment under constrained conditions of use. However, improvement in magnetic compensation and alignment between AHRS modules are desirable in order for AHRS to reach their

Condition Assessment of Ferrous Water Transmission and Distribution Systems State of Technology Review Report

Science.gov (United States)

This White Paper was developed to serve as the basis for discussion at a Technology Forum on Condition Assessment of Water Transmission and Distribution Systems that was held on September 9 and 10, 2008, at Edison, NJ. It was distributed to the Forum participants for review in a...

How general practitioners perceive and assess self-care in patients with multiple chronic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Mads Aage Toft; Hølge-Hazelton, Bibi; Waldorff, Frans Boch

2017-01-01

in Denmark require GPs and other health care workers to assess and support patients' self-care ability. The aim of the present study was to explore GPs' perceptions and assessment of self-care ability in patients with multiple chronic conditions who have difficulty following a given treatment. METHODS...... text condensation. RESULTS: Most GPs in our study had a health-related perception of self-care, but some had a broader perception encompassing the situational context of the patient's life. The GPs' assessments of patients' self-care ability were based on information from the ongoing and often long...... and do not consider whether a relationship with the patient is established. If GPs' perceptions and assessments of self-care ability are not included in chronic disease management models, there is a risk that they vill be insufficiently implemented in general practice....

Ventilatory function assessment in safety pharmacology: Optimization of rodent studies using normocapnic or hypercapnic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goineau, Sonia; Rompion, Sonia; Guillaume, Philippe; Picard, Sandra

2010-01-01

Although the whole body plethysmography for unrestrained animals is the most widely used method to assess the respiratory risk of new drugs in safety pharmacology, non-appropriate experimental conditions may mask deleterious side effects of some substances. If stimulant or bronchodilatory effects can be easily evidenced in rodents under standard experimental conditions, i.e. normal air breathing and diurnal phase, drug-induced respiratory depression remains more difficult to detect. This study was aimed at comparing the responsiveness of Wistar rats, Duncan Hartley guinea-pigs or BALB/c mice to the respiratory properties of theophylline (50 or 100 mg/kg p.o.) or morphine (30 mg/kg i.p.) under varying conditions (100% air versus 5% CO 2 -enriched air, light versus dark day phase), in order to select the most appropriate experimental conditions to each species for safety airway investigations. Our results showed that under normocapnia the ventilatory depressant effects of morphine can be easily evidenced in mice, slightly observed in guinea-pigs and not detected in rats in any day phase. Slight hypercapnic conditions enhanced the responsiveness of rats to morphine but not that of guinea-pigs and importantly they did not blunt the airway responsiveness of rats to the stimulation and bronchodilation evoked by theophylline, the most widely used reference agent in safety pharmacology studies. In conclusion, hypercapnic conditions associated with the non-invasive whole body plethysmography should be considered for optimizing the assessment of both the ventilatory depressant potential of morphine-like substances or the respiratory stimulant effects of new drugs in the rat, the most extensively used species in rodent safety and toxicological investigations.

Exogenous lipoid pneumonia: high-resolution CT findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.S.; Song, K.S.; Lim, T.H.; Im, J.G.; Seo, J.B.

1999-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings of exogenous lipoid pneumonia. High-resolution computed tomography was obtained in 25 patients with proven exogenous lipoid pneumonia resulting from aspiration of squalene (derived from shark liver oil). Diagnosis was based on biopsy (n = 9), bronchoalveolar lavage (n = 8), or sputum cytology and clinical findings (n = 8). The clinical history of taking squalene was confirmed in all patients. The CT findings were classified into three patterns: diffuse ground-glass opacity, consolidation, and interstitial abnormalities. Distribution of the abnormalities, duration of taking squalene, predisposing factors for aspiration, and route of administration were analyzed. Ten patients showed diffuse ground-glass opacity pattern. Seven of 10 patients had predisposing conditions such as unconsciousness, pharyngeal dysmotility, or motor disturbances, and 6 patients had a recent history of taking large amount of squalene through nasal route. Seven patients who had consolidation pattern had a history of taking squalene for several months and did not have any predisposing factor. All of the 5 patients who had a pattern of interstitial abnormalities had a history of taking squalene longer than 1 year and showed segmental distribution of interstitial thickening with interposing ground-glass opacities. Three patients simultaneously had two different patterns at different lobes of the lung. The HRCT findings of lipoid pneumonia are ground-glass opacities, consolidation, and interstitial abnormalities. These HRCT findings with appropriate inquiries could be useful for diagnosis of exogeneous lipoid pneumonia. (orig.)

MRI of vaginal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez, C.; Balogun, M.; Ganesan, R.; Olliff, J.F.

2005-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an important part of the assessment of suspected vaginal pathology. This pictorial review demonstrates the MRI features and some of the histopathological findings of a variety of vaginal conditions. These may be congenital (total vaginal agenesis, partial vaginal agenesis, longitudinal vaginal septum, transverse vaginal septum), benign (Bartholin's cyst, diffuse vaginal inflammation, invasive endometriosis, ureterovaginal fistula, post-surgical appearances with the formation of a neovagina and adhesions) or malignant, usually due to extension or recurrence from another pelvic malignancy. In this paper, examples of the above are described and illustrated together with examples of the much rarer primary vaginal malignancies

MRI of vaginal conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez, C. [Department of Radiology, Birmingham Women' s Hospital, Birmingham (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: carolina.lopez@bwhct.nhs.uk; Balogun, M. [Department of Radiology, Birmingham Women' s Hospital, Birmingham (United Kingdom); Ganesan, R. [Department of Histopathology, Birmingham Women' s Hospital, Birmingham (United Kingdom); Olliff, J.F. [University Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham (United Kingdom)

2005-06-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an important part of the assessment of suspected vaginal pathology. This pictorial review demonstrates the MRI features and some of the histopathological findings of a variety of vaginal conditions. These may be congenital (total vaginal agenesis, partial vaginal agenesis, longitudinal vaginal septum, transverse vaginal septum), benign (Bartholin's cyst, diffuse vaginal inflammation, invasive endometriosis, ureterovaginal fistula, post-surgical appearances with the formation of a neovagina and adhesions) or malignant, usually due to extension or recurrence from another pelvic malignancy. In this paper, examples of the above are described and illustrated together with examples of the much rarer primary vaginal malignancies.

Assessment of Periodontal and Hygiene Conditions of Removable Partial Dentures in Individuals With Clefts.

Science.gov (United States)

de Almeida, Ana Lúcia Pompéia Fraga; Catalani, Danilo Tomazzini; Garcia de Oliveira, Pedro César; Soares, Simone; Tunes, Fábio Sanches Magalhães; Neppelenbroek, Karin Hermana

2016-11-01

  To assess hygiene conditions in removable partial dentures (RPDs) and to compare the periodontal status between abutment and nonabutment teeth in clefts patients.   Cross-sectional.   Tertiary referral hospital.   Forty-five patients of both genders, aged 20 to 75 years, who were upper RPD wearers for at least 2 years, with cleft lip, alveolus, and/or palate who attended follow-up appointments between 2010 and 2012.   The clinical periodontal parameters assessed on abutment teeth (experimental group) and nonabutment teeth (control group) were probing depth, clinical attachment level (CAL), plaque index, and gingival index (GI). The RPDs were evaluated under the following parameters: hygiene conditions and type of clasp on abutment. Both groups were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Dunn's statistical test. Statistical significance was set at P < .05.   One hundred sixty-six abutment teeth and 168 nonabutment teeth were evaluated in 45 patients. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups for the CAL parameter (P = .03). With regard to the prostheses' hygiene conditions through the Tarbet index parameter, of the 186 quadrants evaluated, 143 scored 2 and 3. Ackers' clasps were the most frequent clasps (n = 111). A statistically significant difference was found for the GI parameter (P = .03).   It was possible to conclude, in this cross-sectional study, that in general terms, the use of RPDs did not interfere in the periodontal conditions of abutment teeth; however, most prostheses presented poor hygiene and high quantity of dental plaque.

Assessment of Wind Turbine for Site-Specific Conditions using Probabilistic Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heras, Enrique Gómez de las; Gutiérrez, Roberto; Azagra, Elena

2013-01-01

turbines, helping to the decision making during the site assessment phase of wind farm designs. First, the design equation for the failure mode of interest is defined, where the loads associated to the site-specific wind conditions are compared with the design limits of the structural component. A limit...... be very dependent on the site. The uncertainties on the wind properties depend on issues like the available wind data, the quality of the measurement sensors, the type of terrain or the accuracy of the engineering models for horizontal and vertical spatial extrapolation. An example is included showing two...

Hydraulic and Condition Assessment of Existing Sewerage Network: A Case Study of an Educational Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Sourabh, Nishant; Timbadiya, P. V.

2018-04-01

The hydraulic simulation of the existing sewerage network provides various information about critical points to assess the deteriorating condition and help in rehabilitation of existing network and future expansion. In the present study, hydraulic and condition assessment of existing network of educational Institute (i.e. Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology-Surat, Gujarat, India), having an area of 100 ha and ground levels in range of 5.0-9.0 m above mean sea level, has been carried out using sewage flow simulation for existing and future scenarios analysis using SewerGEMS v8i. The paper describes the features of 4.79 km long sewerage network of institute followed by network model simulation for aforesaid scenarios and recommendations on improvement of the existing network for future use. The total sewer loads for present and future scenarios are 1.67 million litres per day (MLD) and 3.62 MLD, considering the peak factor of 3 on the basis of population. The hydraulic simulation of the existing scenario indicated depth by diameter (d/D) ratio in the range of 0.02-0.48 and velocity range of 0.08-0.53 m/s for existing network for present scenario. For the future scenario, the existing network is needed to be modified and it was found that total of 11 conduits (length: 464.8 m) should be replaced to the next higher diameter available, i.e., 350 mm for utilization of existing network for future scenario. The present study provides the methodology for condition assessment of existing network and its utilization as per guidelines provided by Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization, 2013. The methodology presented in this paper can be used by municipal/public health engineer for the assessment of existing sewerage network for its serviceability and improvement in future.

Foot Conditions among Homeless Persons: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

To, Matthew J.; Brothers, Thomas D.; Van Zoost, Colin

2016-01-01

Introduction Foot problems are common among homeless persons, but are often overlooked. The objectives of this systematic review are to summarize what is known about foot conditions and associated interventions among homeless persons. Methods A literature search was conducted on MEDLINE (1966–2016), EMBASE (1947–2016), and CINAHL (1982–2016) and complemented by manual searches of reference lists. Articles that described foot conditions in homeless persons or associated interventions were included. Data were independently extracted on: general study characteristics; participants; foot assessment methods; foot conditions and associated interventions; study findings; quality score assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. Results Of 333 articles screened, 17 articles met criteria and were included in the study. Prevalence of any foot problem ranged from 9% to 65% across study populations. Common foot-related concerns were corns and calluses, nail pathologies, and infections. Foot pathologies related to chronic diseases such as diabetes were identified. Compared to housed individuals across studies, homeless individuals were more likely to have foot problems including tinea pedis, foot pain, functional limitations with walking, and improperly-fitting shoes. Discussion Foot conditions were highly prevalent among homeless individuals with up to two thirds reporting a foot health concern, approximately one quarter of individuals visiting a health professional, and one fifth of individuals requiring further follow-up due to the severity of their condition. Homeless individuals often had inadequate foot hygiene practices and improperly-fitting shoes. These findings have service provision and public health implications, highlighting the need for evidence-based interventions to improve foot health in this population. An effective interventional approach could include optimization of foot hygiene and footwear, provision of comprehensive medical treatment, and

Foot Conditions among Homeless Persons: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

To, Matthew J; Brothers, Thomas D; Van Zoost, Colin

2016-01-01

Foot problems are common among homeless persons, but are often overlooked. The objectives of this systematic review are to summarize what is known about foot conditions and associated interventions among homeless persons. A literature search was conducted on MEDLINE (1966-2016), EMBASE (1947-2016), and CINAHL (1982-2016) and complemented by manual searches of reference lists. Articles that described foot conditions in homeless persons or associated interventions were included. Data were independently extracted on: general study characteristics; participants; foot assessment methods; foot conditions and associated interventions; study findings; quality score assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. Of 333 articles screened, 17 articles met criteria and were included in the study. Prevalence of any foot problem ranged from 9% to 65% across study populations. Common foot-related concerns were corns and calluses, nail pathologies, and infections. Foot pathologies related to chronic diseases such as diabetes were identified. Compared to housed individuals across studies, homeless individuals were more likely to have foot problems including tinea pedis, foot pain, functional limitations with walking, and improperly-fitting shoes. Foot conditions were highly prevalent among homeless individuals with up to two thirds reporting a foot health concern, approximately one quarter of individuals visiting a health professional, and one fifth of individuals requiring further follow-up due to the severity of their condition. Homeless individuals often had inadequate foot hygiene practices and improperly-fitting shoes. These findings have service provision and public health implications, highlighting the need for evidence-based interventions to improve foot health in this population. An effective interventional approach could include optimization of foot hygiene and footwear, provision of comprehensive medical treatment, and addressing social factors that lead to increased risk

Learning as way-finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dau, Susanne

motions of humans and non-human agencies. The findings reveal that learning; formal and informal can be conceptualized by the metaphor of way-finding; embodied, emotionally and/or cognitive both individually and socially. Way-finding, is argued, to be a contemporary concept for learning processes......, knowledge development and identity-shaping, where learning emerges through motions, feeling and thinking within an information rich world in constant change.......Based on empirical case-study findings and the theoretical framework of learning by Illeris coupled with Nonaka & Takeuchis´s perspectives on knowledge creation, it is stressed that learning are conditioned by contextual orientations-processes in spaces near the body (peripersonal spaces) through...

National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) Sampling Areas Polygons, Hawaiian Islands Shoreline, 2015, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This is a polygon feature dataset with areas along the shoreline of the Hawaiian islands. The National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) is a national coastal...

Computed tomographic findings of intracranial gliosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisberg, L.

1981-01-01

The clinical and computed tomographic (CT) findings in eight patients with pathological evidence of cerebral gliosis are analyzed. CT findings do not permit differentiation of gliosis from other neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions. (orig.)

Assessing potential changes of chestnut productivity in Europe under future climate conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Calheiros, T.; Pereira, M. G.; Pinto, J. G.; Caramelo, L.; Gomes-Laranjo, J.; Dacamara, C. C.

2012-04-01

The European chestnut is cultivated for its nuts and wood. Several studies point to the dependency of chestnut productivity on specific soil and climate characteristics. For instance, this species dislikes chalky and poorly drained soils, appreciates sedimentary, siliceous and acidic to neutral soils. Chestnut trees also seems to appreciate annual mean values of sunlight spanning between 2400 and 2600 h, rainfall ranging between 600 and 1500 mm, mean annual temperature between 9 and 13°C, 27°C being the mean of the maximum temperature (Heiniger and Conedera, 1992; Gomes-Laranjo et al.,2008). The amount of heat between May and October must range between 1800°D and 2400°D (Dinis et al., 2011) . In Poland, the growing season is defined as the period of time when the mean 24-h temperature is greater than 5°C (Wilczynski and Podalski, 2007). In Portugal, maximum photosynthetic activity occurs at 24-28°C for adult trees, but exhibits more than 50% of termoinhibition when the air temperature is above 32°C, which is frequent during summer (Gomes- Laranjo et al., 2006, 2008). Recently Pereira et al (2011) identified a set of meteorological variables/parameters with high impact on chestnut productivity. The main purpose of this work is to assess the potential impacts of future climate change on chestnut productivity in Portugal as well as on European chestnut orchards. First, observed data from the European Climate assessment (ECA) and simulations with the Regional Circulation Model (RCM) COSMO-CLM for recent climate conditions are used to assess the ability of the RCM to model the actual meteorological conditions. Then, ensemble projections from the ECHAM5/COSMO-CLM model chain for two climate scenarios (A1B and B1) are used to estimate the values of relevant meteorological variables and parameters und future climate conditions. Simulated values are then compared with those obtained for present climate. Results point to changes in the spatial and temporal

Aridity under conditions of increased CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Peter; Roderick, Micheal L.; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2016-04-01

A string of recent of studies led to the wide-held assumption that aridity will increase under conditions of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and associated global warming. Such results generally build upon analyses of changes in the 'aridity index' (the ratio of potential evaporation to precipitation) and can be described as a direct thermodynamic effect on atmospheric water demand due to increasing temperatures. However, there is widespread evidence that contradicts the 'warmer is more arid' interpretation, leading to the 'global aridity paradox' (Roderick et al. 2015, WRR). Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of modeled changes in a broad set of dryness metrics (primarily based on a range of measures of water availability) over a large range of realistic atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We use an ensemble of simulations from of state-of-the-art climate models to analyse both equilibrium climate experiments and transient historical simulations and future projections. Our results show that dryness is, under conditions of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and related global warming, generally decreasing at global scales. At regional scales we do, however, identify areas that undergo changes towards drier conditions, located primarily in subtropical climate regions and the Amazon Basin. Nonetheless, the majority of regions, especially in tropical and mid- to northern high latitudes areas, display wetting conditions in a warming world. Our results contradict previous findings and highlight the need to comprehensively assess all aspects of changes in hydroclimatological conditions at the land surface. Roderick, M. L., P. Greve, and G. D. Farquhar (2015), On the assessment of aridity with changes in atmospheric CO2, Water Resour. Res., 51, 5450-5463

The Role of Condition-Specific Preference-Based Measures in Health Technology Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowen, Donna; Brazier, John; Ara, Roberta; Azzabi Zouraq, Ismail

2017-12-01

A condition-specific preference-based measure (CSPBM) is a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that is specific to a certain condition or disease and that can be used to obtain the quality adjustment weight of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) for use in economic models. This article provides an overview of the role and the development of CSPBMs, and presents a description of existing CSPBMs in the literature. The article also provides an overview of the psychometric properties of CSPBMs in comparison with generic preference-based measures (generic PBMs), and considers the advantages and disadvantages of CSPBMs in comparison with generic PBMs. CSPBMs typically include dimensions that are important for that condition but may not be important across all patient groups. There are a large number of CSPBMs across a wide range of conditions, and these vary from covering a wide range of dimensions to more symptomatic or uni-dimensional measures. Psychometric evidence is limited but suggests that CSPBMs offer an advantage in more accurate measurement of milder health states. The mean change and standard deviation can differ for CSPBMs and generic PBMs, and this may impact on incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. CSPBMs have a useful role in HTA where a generic PBM is not appropriate, sensitive or responsive. However, due to issues of comparability across different patient groups and interventions, their usage in health technology assessment is often limited to conditions where it is inappropriate to use a generic PBM or sensitivity analyses.

Visible spectroscopy as a tool for the assessment of storage conditions of fresh pork packaged in modified atmosphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spanos, Dimitrios; Christensen, Mette; Ann Tørngren, Mari

2016-01-01

The storage conditions of fresh meat are known to impact its colour and microbial shelf life. In the present study, visible spectroscopy was evaluated as a method to assess meat storage conditions and its optimisation. Fresh pork steaks (longissimus thoracis et lumborum and semimembranosus) were...

Comparison of different test methods to assess thermal stresses of metal oxide surge arresters under pollution conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bargigia, A.; de Nigris, M.; Pigini, A.; Sironi, A.

1992-01-01

The report deals with the research conducted by ENEL, the Italian Electricity Board, to assess the performance of zinc oxide surge arresters under pollution condition, with special reference to the consequent thermal stress on internal active parts which can affect the energy handling capabality of the arrester and may lead, in particular conditions, even to thermal runaway

Imaging findings of sacral tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Ho; Hong, Sung Hwan; Choi, Ja Young; Koh, Sung Hye; Chung, Hye Won; Choi, Jung Ah; Kang, Heung Sik

2003-01-01

The various pathologic conditions detected at CT and MRI and subsumed by the term 'sacral tumor' include primary bone tumors, sacral canal tumors and metastases. Among these, metastases are much more common than primary bone tumors, of which chordoma is the most common. Although the imaging findings of sacral tumors are nonspecific, a patient's age and sex, and specific findings such as calcification or fluid-fluid levels, can help radiologists in their differential diagnosis. We describe the imaging findings of primary sacral tumors, emphasizing the MRI findings

10 CFR 51.32 - Finding of no significant impact.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... assessment is included, the finding need not repeat any of the discussion in the assessment but may... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Finding of no significant impact. 51.32 Section 51.32... Section 102(2) Finding of No Significant Impact § 51.32 Finding of no significant impact. (a) A finding of...

Joining the dots: Conditional pass and programmatic assessment enhances recognition of problems with professionalism and factors hampering student progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McKenzie Jan M

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Programmatic assessment that looks across a whole year may contribute to better decisions compared with those made from isolated assessments alone. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate a programmatic system to handle student assessment results that is aligned not only with learning and remediation, but also with defensibility. The key components are standards based assessments, use of "Conditional Pass", and regular progress meetings. Methods The new assessment system is described. The evaluation is based on years 4-6 of a 6-year medical course. The types of concerns staff had about students were clustered into themes alongside any interventions and outcomes for the students concerned. The likelihoods of passing the year according to type of problem were compared before and after phasing in of the new assessment system. Results The new system was phased in over four years. In the fourth year of implementation 701 students had 3539 assessment results, of which 4.1% were Conditional Pass. More in-depth analysis for 1516 results available from 447 students revealed the odds ratio (95% confidence intervals for failure was highest for students with problems identified in more than one part of the course (18.8 (7.7-46.2 p Conclusions The new system detects more students in difficulty and has resulted in less "failure to fail". The requirement to state conditions required to pass has contributed to a paper trail that should improve defensibility. Most importantly it has helped detect and act on some of the more difficult areas to assess such as professionalism.

Assessment of Smolt Condition for Travel Time Analysis Project, 1987-1997 Project Review.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schrock, Robin M.; Hans, Karen M.; Beeman, John W. [US Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, WA

1997-12-01

The assessment of Smolt Condition for Travel Time Analysis Project (Bonneville Power Administration Project 87-401) monitored attributes of salmonid smolt physiology in the Columbia and Snake River basins from 1987 to 1997, under the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Program, in cooperation with the Smolt Monitoring Program of the Fish Passage Center. The primary goal of the project was to investigate the physiological development of juvenile salmonids related to migration rates. The assumption was made that the level of smolt development, interacting with environmental factos such as flow, would be reflected in travel times. The Fish Passage Center applied the physiological measurements of smolt condition to Water Budget management, to regulate flows so as to decrease travel time and increase survival.

The role of the family in supporting the self-management of chronic conditions: A qualitative systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehead, Lisa; Jacob, Elisabeth; Towell, Amanda; Abu-Qamar, Ma'en; Cole-Heath, Amanda

2018-01-01

To explore the contribution of family members in promoting and supporting the self-management of chronic conditions amongst adult family members. The prevalence of chronic disease continues to grow globally. The role of the family in chronic condition management and support for self-management has received little attention. A systematic review of qualitative literature using the Joanna Briggs Institute approach for qualitative systematic reviews. Ovid (MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO) were searched for the period of database inception-2016. The QARI (Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument) critical appraisal instrument was used to assess the quality of each study. Using the Joanna Briggs Institute-QARI data extraction tool, findings related to the family role in the self-management of chronic conditions were extracted and each finding rated according to Joanna Briggs Institute-QARI levels of credibility. Findings were categorised and synthesised to produce a final set of aggregated findings. Families were key in constructing an environment that was conducive to family engagement and support. Adaptation within the family included maintaining cohesion between family members, normalisation and contextualisation of the chronic condition. Whilst evidence on the value of the family in promoting positive health outcomes is clear, research on how families can specifically support the self-management of chronic conditions is emerging. Family adaptability has been found to be the most powerful predictor of carer depression. Families may need support to change their home and family organisation to adapt to the challenges they face overtime. Change in roles and subsequent adaptation can be stressful, even for those family members at a distance. Nurses working in hospital and community settings can play an important role in assessing how families are adapting to living with chronic illness and to explore strategies to cope with challenges in the home setting. © 2017 John

The conditioned place preference test for assessing welfare consequences and potential refinements in a mouse bladder cancer model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John V Roughan

Full Text Available Most pre-clinical analgesic efficacy assays still involve nociceptive testing in rodents. This is despite concerns as to the relevance of these tests for evaluating the pain-preventative properties of drugs. More appropriate methods would target pain rather than nociception, but these are currently not available, so it remains unknown whether animal pain equates to the negatively affective and subjective/emotional state it causes in humans. Mouse cancer models are common despite the likelihood of substantial pain. We used Conditioned Place Preference (CPP testing, assessments of thermal hyperalgesia and behaviour to determine the likelihood that MBT-2 bladder cancer impacts negatively on mouse welfare, such as by causing pain. There was no CPP to saline, but morphine preference in tumour bearing mice exceeded that seen in tumour-free controls. This occurred up to 10 days before the study end-point alongside reduced body weight, development of hyperalgesia and behaviour changes. These effects indicated mice experienced a negative welfare state caused by malaise (if not pain before euthanasia. Due to the complexity of the assessments needed to demonstrate this, it is unlikely that this approach could be used for routine welfare assessment on a study-by-study basis. However, our results show mice in sufficiently similar studies are likely to benefit from more intensive severity assessment and re-evaluation of end-points with a view to implementing appropriate refinements. In this particular case, a refinement would have been to have euthanased mice at least 7 days earlier or possibly by provision of end-stage pain relief. CPP testing was found to be a helpful method to investigate the responses of mice to analgesics, possibly on a subjective level. These findings and those of other recent studies show it could be a valuable method of screening candidate analgesics for efficacy against cancer pain and possibly other pain or disease models.

Assessment of the relationship between physical working conditions and different levels of work ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Attarchi, Mirsaeed; Ghaffari, Mostafa; Abdi, Alireza; Mirzamohammadi, Elham; Seyedmehdi, Seyed Mohammad; Rahimpour, Farzaneh; Fazlalizadeh, Maryam; Mohammadi, Saber

2014-04-20

Early leaving of workplace by work forces is one of the fundamental problems worldwide. Maintenance and enhancement of employees work ability are important for raising productivity. This study investigated the relationship between work ability index and physical working conditions and was carried out in 2013 on 641 workers at a manufacturing plant in Tehran. Work ability was assessed by the questionnaire of work ability index and the participants were classified into four work ability groups of poor, moderate, good, and excellent. Physical working conditions were evaluated by the MUSIC-Norrtalje questionnaire and the participants were classified into two groups with proper and poor physical working conditions. The mean score of work ability questionnaire was 42.40; and 2.5% (16 persons), 9.2% (59 persons), 38.2% (245 persons), and 50.1% (321 persons) of the participants were in poor, moderate, good, and excellent work ability groups, respectively. The mean score of physical working conditions questionnaire was 20.06. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjusting the confounding variables, a significant correlation existed between work ability and physical working conditions (p working conditions such as awkward postures, repetitive movements, load lifting, exposure to whole body vibration and so on with work ability. Therefore it seems that enhancement of the quality of physical working conditions may increase work ability.

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: Pond B Dam Repair Project at the Savannah River Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

1999-09-27

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1285) for the proposed repair of the Pond B dam at the Savannah River Site (SRS), located near Aiken, South Carolina. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Floodplain Statement of Findings.

Assessment of bridge abutment scour and sediment transport under various flow conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Gilja, Gordon; Valyrakis, Manousos; Michalis, Panagiotis; Bekić, Damir; Kuspilić, Neven; McKeogh, Eamon

2017-04-01

Safety of bridges over watercourses can be compromised by flow characteristics and bridge hydraulics. Scour process around bridge foundations can develop rapidly during low-recurrence interval floods when structural elements are exposed to increased flows. Variations in riverbed geometry, as a result of sediment removal and deposition processes, can increase flood-induced hazard at bridge sites with catastrophic failures and destructive consequences for civil infrastructure. The quantification of flood induced hazard on bridge safety generally involves coupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport models (i.e. 2D numerical or physical models) for a range of hydrological events covering both high and low flows. Modelled boundary conditions are usually estimated for their probability of occurrence using frequency analysis of long-term recordings at gauging stations. At smaller rivers gauging station records are scarce, especially in upper courses of rivers where weirs, drops and rapids are common elements of river bathymetry. As a result, boundary conditions that accurately represent flow patterns on modelled river reach cannot be often reliably acquired. Sediment transport process is also more complicated to describe due to its complexity and dependence to local flow field making scour hazard assessment a particularly challenging issue. This study investigates the influence of flow characteristics to the development of scour and sedimentation processes around bridge abutments of a single span masonry arch bridge in south Ireland. The impact of downstream weirs on bridge hydraulics through variation of downstream model domain type is also considered in this study. The numerical model is established based on detailed bathymetry data surveyed along a rectangular grid of 50cm spacing. Acquired data also consist of riverbed morphology and water level variations which are monitored continuously on bridge site. The obtained data are then used to compare and calibrate

Development of a multimetric index for integrated assessment of salt marsh ecosystem condition

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, Jessica L.; Neckles, Hilary A.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Rocks, Erika N.; Schoolmaster, Donald; Grace, James B.; Skidds, Dennis; Stevens, Sara

2018-01-01

Tools for assessing and communicating salt marsh condition are essential to guide decisions aimed at maintaining or restoring ecosystem integrity and services. Multimetric indices (MMIs) are increasingly used to provide integrated assessments of ecosystem condition. We employed a theory-based approach that considers the multivariate relationship of metrics with human disturbance to construct a salt marsh MMI for five National Parks in the northeastern USA. We quantified the degree of human disturbance for each marsh using the first principal component score from a principal components analysis of physical, chemical, and land use stressors. We then applied a metric selection algorithm to different combinations of about 45 vegetation and nekton metrics (e.g., species abundance, species richness, and ecological and functional classifications) derived from multi-year monitoring data. While MMIs derived from nekton or vegetation metrics alone were strongly correlated with human disturbance (r values from −0.80 to −0.93), an MMI derived from both vegetation and nekton metrics yielded an exceptionally strong correlation with disturbance (r = −0.96). Individual MMIs included from one to five metrics. The metric-assembly algorithm yielded parsimonious MMIs that exhibit the greatest possible correlations with disturbance in a way that is objective, efficient, and reproducible.

Assessing the social sustainability contribution of an infrastructure project under conditions of uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sierra, Leonardo A.; Yepes, Víctor; Pellicer, Eugenio

2017-01-01

Assessing the viability of a public infrastructure includes economic, technical and environmental aspects; however, on many occasions, the social aspects are not always adequately considered. This article proposes a procedure to estimate the social sustainability of infrastructure projects under conditions of uncertainty, based on a multicriteria deterministic method. The variability of the method inputs is contributed by the decision-makers. Uncertain inputs are treated through uniform and beta PERT distributions. The Monte Carlo method is used to propagate uncertainty in the method. A case study of a road infrastructure improvement in El Salvador is used to illustrate this treatment. The main results determine the variability of the short and long-term social improvement indices by infrastructure and the probability of the position in the prioritization of the alternatives. The proposed mechanism improves the reliability of the decision making early in infrastructure projects, taking their social contribution into account. The results can complement environmental and economic sustainability assessments. - Highlights: •Estimate the social sustainability of infrastructure projects under conditions of uncertainty •The method uses multicriteria and Monte Carlo techniques and beta PERT distributions •Determines variability of the short and long term social improvement •Determines probability in the prioritization of alternatives •Improves reliability of decision making considering the social contribution

[Formation of working conditions and the problems of hygienic assessment of industrial environmental factors in railway tunnels].

Science.gov (United States)

Kurenkova, G V; Lemeshevskaya, E P

Tunnels are an integral part of the ways and artificial constructions of the railway. Objective assessment of working conditions is important, because current regulations fail to allow to give a definite hygienic assessment of some factors of the production environment of the tunnels. Objective: to reveal the peculiarities of the formation of working conditions in railway tunnels with the subsequent hygienic assessment for the development of preventive measures. Measurement of the factors of working process and working environment is carried out with the use of the certified equipment for the approved the hygienic and sanitary-chemical methods in workplaces in tunnels of the East-Siberian railway. Specific conditions were shown to be formed due to constructive solutions, climate and geographical location, the length of railway tunnels, the composition of the rocks through which the tunnel, the nature of the maintenance tunnels, ventilation system, repetition rate and type of passing rolling stock. All employees from occupational groups from examined tunnels were established to be exposed to high concentrations of aerosols with predominantly fibrogenic action, noise levels, adverse climate (low positive and negative temperatures, high relative humidity and mobility of air), the lack of natural lighting, low levels of artificial light, hard exertion of labor (dynamic physical load, working position, the slopes of the body, movement in space). Additionally, high levels of the vibration, nonionizing and ionizing radiation were typical for jobs of the Baikal and the North-Muya tunnel. There is proposed the algorithm of hygienic assessment of the microclimate, light environment at the working places depending on the time of the works in the underground conditions and constructional features of tunnels, methods of accounting personnel dose rates from natural sources.

Behavior and Attitudes under Crisis Conditions: Selected Issues and Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-02-01

Behavior, and the Intervening Variables." The American Sociologist, 4, 29-34 (1969). Farace , Richard V., Kenneth L. Villard. and L. Edna Rogers, "Family...crisis couldn’t happen here. Farace , Villard and Rogers (1972:12-13) illustrate the point: Another situation which helps support the idea that "those...Effect! the Accident at Three Mile Island; ’Findings to Date,"’ U.S. Nuc Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC. (1980). Farace , Richard V., Edna L

Level and period of realimentation to assess improvement in body condition and carcass quality in cull ewes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatt, Randhir Singh; Soren, Nira Manik; Sahoo, Artabandhu; Karim, Shaikh Abdul

2013-01-01

Improvement in body condition was assessed in 40 cull ewes (>6 years), equally distributed in two groups and realimented with ad libitum roughage (gram straw) and two levels of concentrate feeding, i.e., 2.5 % (T(1)) of live weight (LW) and ad libitum (T(2)). Five representative animals from an initial 45 were slaughtered at the initiation of the study (0 day) and five animals from each treatment at 44, 67, and 90 days of experiment for carcass attributes. Improvement in body condition score (BCS), nutrient utilization, feed efficiency, and carcass traits were assessed at 44, 67, and 90 days. Metabolism trial of 6-day collection of feed, feces, and urine samples was conducted on five representative ewes from each group after 60 days of feeding. The level of concentrate feeding on LW gain and BCS was significant, and the duration of realimentation showed a linear improvement (P body condition of cull ewes for quality mutton production.

Assessment of monitored energy use and thermal comfort conditions in mosques in hot-humid climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Homoud, Mohammad S.; Abdou, Adel A.; Budaiwi, Ismail M. [Architectural Engineering Department, KFUPM, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia)

2009-06-15

In harsh climatic regions, buildings require air-conditioning in order to provide an acceptable level of thermal comfort. In many situations buildings are over cooled or the HVAC system is kept running for a much longer time than needed. In some other situations thermal comfort is not achieved due to improper operation practices coupled with poor maintenance and even lack it, and consequently inefficient air-conditioning systems. Mosques represent one type of building that is characterized by their unique intermittent operating schedule determined by prayer times, which vary continuously according to the local solar time. This paper presents the results of a study designed to monitor energy use and thermal comfort conditions of a number of mosques in a hot-humid climate so that both energy efficiency and the quality of thermal comfort conditions especially during occupancy periods in such intermittently operated buildings can be assessed accurately. (author)

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: Kalina Geothermal Demonstration Project Steamboat Springs, Nevada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

1999-02-22

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to provide the DOE and other public agency decision makers with the environmental documentation required to take informed discretionary action on the proposed Kalina Geothermal Demonstration project. The EA assesses the potential environmental impacts and cumulative impacts, possible ways to minimize effects associated with partial funding of the proposed project, and discusses alternatives to DOE actions. The DOE will use this EA as a basis for their decision to provide financial assistance to Exergy, Inc. (Exergy), the project applicant. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human or physical environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

The National Library of Kosovo "PJETER Bogdani" Rapid Condition Assessment and Documentation

Science.gov (United States)

Eppich, R.; Ramku, B.; Binakaj, N.

2017-08-01

The National Library of Kosovo "Pjetër Bogdani" is a symbol of Prishtina, Kosovo and the quest for knowledge. It is simultaneously an icon of modernity and symbol of the past. Unfortunately, it suffered through the Kosovo war and neglect in times of economic difficulty. It was also unfortunately featured in the British newspaper The Telegraph in their travel section: "One of the world's 30 ugliest buildings?" In late 2015 the Kosovo Architectural Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to spirit of creating and preserving unique architecture, became concerned with the reputation and condition of the Library and contacted the Kosovo Ministry of Culture, visited the site and initiated a project to raise awareness and document this modern masterpiece. The Getty Foundation and their Keeping it Modern grant program awarded funding for initial condition assessment, documentation, capacity building and investigations. This paper discusses the project to document and improve the image and awareness of this important structure and set priorities for its future.

The effect of a discrete signal on context conditioning: Assessment by preference and freezing tests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maes, J.H.R.; LoLordo, V.M.

1996-01-01

Four experiments with rats assessed conditioning to contextual cues after the delivery of footshocks that were either signaled by a discrete stimulus or unsignaled. Two different tests were used. The first was a context preference test in which subjects were allowed to move freely in a brightly lit,

Is the conditioned pain modulation paradigm reliable? A test-retest assessment using the nociceptive withdrawal reflex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José A Biurrun Manresa

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of the conditioned pain modulation (CPM paradigm assessed by an objective electrophysiological method, the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR, and psychophysical measures, using hypothetical sample sizes for future studies as analytical goals. Thirty-four healthy volunteers participated in two identical experimental sessions, separated by 1 to 3 weeks. In each session, the cold pressor test (CPT was used to induce CPM, and the NWR thresholds, electrical pain detection thresholds and pain intensity ratings after suprathreshold electrical stimulation were assessed before and during CPT. CPM was consistently detected by all methods, and the electrophysiological measures did not introduce additional variation to the assessment. In particular, 99% of the trials resulted in higher NWR thresholds during CPT, with an average increase of 3.4 mA (p<0.001. Similarly, 96% of the trials resulted in higher electrical pain detection thresholds during CPT, with an average increase of 2.2 mA (p<0.001. Pain intensity ratings after suprathreshold electrical stimulation were reduced during CPT in 84% of the trials, displaying an average decrease of 1.5 points in a numeric rating scale (p<0.001. Under these experimental conditions, CPM reliability was acceptable for all assessment methods in terms of sample sizes for potential experiments. The presented results are encouraging with regards to the use of the CPM as an assessment tool in experimental and clinical pain. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov NCT01636440.

Wind conditions and resource assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Troen, Ib

2012-01-01

The development of wind power as a competitive energy source requires resource assessment of increasing accuracy and detail (including not only the long-term ‘raw’ wind resource, but also turbulence, shear, and extremes), and in areas of increasing complexity. This in turn requires the use of the...

The Mediterranean diet and age-related cognitive functioning: A systematic review of study findings and neuropsychological assessment methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Alissa; Bryan, Janet; Murphy, Karen

2017-10-01

The primary aims of this review were to identify studies investigating the association between the MedDiet pattern and age-related cognitive function, to determine the current status of knowledge, and to ascertain whether a lack of standardization with the operationalization of age-related cognitive function and differences in the chosen neuropsychological assessment methodology impacted on the results and findings. The systematic review protocol for this paper was carried out following the statement and general principles of PRISMA and the UK Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD). A systematic search of electronic databases yielded two cross-sectional studies, two cross-sectional/prospective studies, and 11 prospective studies for inclusion. Among this group of studies, conflicting results and conclusions regarding the efficacy of the MedDiet as a therapeutic approach for age-related cognitive function were found. Of importance, clear differences among studies in relation to neuropsychological assessment methodology were identified. Such disparity appeared to be one plausible factor contributing to the lack of consensus among study findings. One of the important challenges for future research will be to aim toward some kind of standardized neuropsychological assessment criteria. This type of endeavor will enable the ability to validate with greater confidence, whether or not adherence to a MedDiet does promote benefit for age-related cognitive function.

Residue behavior and risk assessment of imidacloprid applied on greenhouse-cultivated strawberries under different application conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cang, Tao; Sun, Caixia; Zhao, Hua; Tang, Tao; Zhang, Changpeng; Yu, Ruixian; Wang, Xinquan; Wang, Qiang; Dai, Fen; Zhao, Xueping

2018-02-01

A risk assessment for imidacloprid applied on strawberries under different conditions was performed after residue determination using the quick, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method. The application conditions were varied according to the applied dosage, addition of a plant oil or organosilicon surfactant, water volume, and sprayer type. The degradation dynamics of imidacloprid on strawberries followed first-order kinetics. At applied doses of 30-60 g a.i. ha -1 , the half-lives of imidacloprid were 2.89-3.46, 1.98-3.65, and 2.57-2.77 days after application without a surfactant or with a plant oil or organosilicon surfactant, respectively. For water volumes of 112.5, 225, 450, 675, and 900 L ha -1 , the half-lives of imidacloprid applied in the presence of the plant oil surfactant were 3.30, 7.70, 5.33, 7.70, and 6.30 days, respectively. The half-lives after application with a knapsack mist duster, electric sprayer, and manual sprayer were 2.16, 5.77, and 7.70 days, respectively. The health risk assessment revealed risk quotients less than 1 in all cases, indicating that the application of imidacloprid poses a low health risk to humans after a pre-harvest interval of 10 days under our application conditions. The risk assessment results can provide reference data for setting a reasonable maximum residue limit for imidacloprid on strawberries in China.

Imaging findings in acute calcific prevertebral tendinitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grassi, Caio Giometti; Diniz, Fabio de Vilhena; Garcia, Marcio Ricardo Taveira; Gomes, Regina Lucia Elia; Daniel, Mauro Miguel; Funari, Marcelo Buarque de Gusmao

2011-01-01

Acute calcific prevertebral tendinitis is a benign and rare condition that presents calcification of the superior oblique fibers of longus colli muscle with local inflammatory reaction. Such condition is one of the less common presentations of calcium hydroxyapatite deposition disease. Clinical signs are usually acute neck pain and odynophagia, and it may be misdiagnosed as retropharyngeal abscess, spondylodiscitis or traumatic injury. The imaging findings in calcific prevertebral tendinitis are pathognomonic. The knowledge of such findings is extremely important to avoid unnecessary interventions in a patient presenting a condition with a good response to conservative treatment. (author)

Imaging findings in acute calcific prevertebral tendinitis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grassi, Caio Giometti; Diniz, Fabio de Vilhena; Garcia, Marcio Ricardo Taveira; Gomes, Regina Lucia Elia; Daniel, Mauro Miguel; Funari, Marcelo Buarque de Gusmao [Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (HIAE), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Imaging Dept.

2011-09-15

Acute calcific prevertebral tendinitis is a benign and rare condition that presents calcification of the superior oblique fibers of longus colli muscle with local inflammatory reaction. Such condition is one of the less common presentations of calcium hydroxyapatite deposition disease. Clinical signs are usually acute neck pain and odynophagia, and it may be misdiagnosed as retropharyngeal abscess, spondylodiscitis or traumatic injury. The imaging findings in calcific prevertebral tendinitis are pathognomonic. The knowledge of such findings is extremely important to avoid unnecessary interventions in a patient presenting a condition with a good response to conservative treatment. (author)

Ecological Assessment of Substance-abuse Experiences (EASE): findings from a new instrument development pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Matto, Holly C; Miller, Keith; Spera, Christopher

2005-08-01

A newly developed instrument that assesses a client's orientation to addiction or recovery communities using social context referents was pilot tested with a sample of 103 adults seeking treatment for substance abuse at outpatient and residential treatment facilities on the East Coast. Preliminary findings show promising subscale reliabilities, and suggest that drug- and recovery-related social identities are related to drug-use severity and drug-use concern; and drug-related attitudinal congruence between the treatment-seeker and family and treatment-seeker and other significant persons are related to intention to make behavioral changes in reducing substance abuse.

Terrestrial condition assessment for national forests of the USDA Forest Service in the continental US

Science.gov (United States)

David Cleland; Keith Reynolds; Robert Vaughan; Barbara Schrader; Harbin Li; Larry Laing

2017-01-01

The terrestrial condition assessment (TCA) evaluates effects of uncharacteristic stressors and disturbance agents on land-type associations (LTAs) to identify restoration opportunities on national forest system (NFS) lands in the United States. A team of agency scientists and managers, representing a broad array of natural resource disciplines, developed a logic...

Brief assessments and screening for geriatric conditions in older primary care patients: a pragmatic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Seematter-Bagnoud, Laurence; Büla, Christophe

2018-01-01

This paper discusses the rationale behind performing a brief geriatric assessment as a first step in the management of older patients in primary care practice. While geriatric conditions are considered by older patients and health professionals as particularly relevant for health and well-being, they remain too often overlooked due to many patient- and physician-related factors. These include time constraints and lack of specific training to undertake comprehensive geriatric assessment. This article discusses the epidemiologic rationale for screening functional, cognitive, affective, hearing and visual impairments, and nutritional status as well as fall risk and social status. It proposes using brief screening tests in primary care practice to identify patients who may need further comprehensive geriatric assessment or specific interventions.

Toxicity assessment of TiO2 nanoparticles in zebrafish embryos under different exposure conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemente, Z.; Castro, V.L.S.S.; Moura, M.A.M.; Jonsson, C.M.; Fraceto, L.F.

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Nano-TiO 2 accelerated hatching of the larvae. •Exposure to anatase/rutile mixture under UV light altered the equilibrium and survival of the larvae. •Nano-TiO 2 caused alterations in the activities of CAT and GST. -- Abstract: The popularity of TiO 2 nanoparticles (nano-TiO 2 ) lies in their wide range of nanotechnological applications, together with low toxicity. Meanwhile, recent studies have shown that the photocatalytic properties of this material can result in alterations in their behavior in the environment, causing effects that have not yet been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of two formulations of nano-TiO 2 under different illumination conditions, using an experimental model coherent with the principle of the three Rs of alternative animal experimentation (reduction, refinement, and replacement). Embryos of the fish Danio rerio were exposed for 96 h to different concentrations of nano-TiO 2 in the form of anatase (TA) or an anatase/rutile mixture (TM), under either visible light or a combination of visible and ultraviolet light (UV). The acute toxicity and sublethal parameters evaluated included survival rates, malformation, hatching, equilibrium, and overall length of the larvae, together with biochemical biomarkers (specific activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and acid phosphatase (AP)). Both TA and TM caused accelerated hatching of the larvae. Under UV irradiation, there was greater mortality of the larvae of the groups exposed to TM, compared to those exposed to TA. Exposure to TM under UV irradiation altered the equilibrium of the larvae. Alterations in the activities of CAT and GST were indicative of oxidative stress, although no clear dose-response relationship was observed. The effects of nano-TiO 2 appeared to depend on both the type of formulation and the illumination condition. The findings contribute to elucidation of the factors involved in the toxicity

Addressing the effect of social life cycle assessments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Andreas; Dreyer, Louise Camilla; Wangel, Arne

2012-01-01

the validity of these hypotheses. Results: Three in some cases potentially overlapping SLCA approaches are presented, assumed to create a beneficial effect in the life cycle in different ways. However, empirical and theoretical findings show that the beneficial effects proposed to arise from the use of each......Purpose: In the recently published ‘Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products’, it is stated that the ultimate objective of developing the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to promote improvements of social conditions for the stakeholders in the life cycle. This article addresses...... how the SLCA should be developed so that its use promotes these improvements. Methods: Hypotheses of how the use of SLCA can promote improvement of social conditions in the life cycle are formulated, after which theories and empirical findings from relevant fields of research are used to address...

Reliability-based condition assessment of steel containment and liners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellingwood, B.; Bhattacharya, B.; Zheng, R.

1996-11-01

Steel containments and liners in nuclear power plants may be exposed to aggressive environments that may cause their strength and stiffness to decrease during the plant service life. Among the factors recognized as having the potential to cause structural deterioration are uniform, pitting or crevice corrosion; fatigue, including crack initiation and propagation to fracture; elevated temperature; and irradiation. The evaluation of steel containments and liners for continued service must provide assurance that they are able to withstand future extreme loads during the service period with a level of reliability that is sufficient for public safety. Rational methodologies to provide such assurances can be developed using modern structural reliability analysis principles that take uncertainties in loading, strength, and degradation resulting from environmental factors into account. The research described in this report is in support of the Steel Containments and Liners Program being conducted for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The research demonstrates the feasibility of using reliability analysis as a tool for performing condition assessments and service life predictions of steel containments and liners. Mathematical models that describe time-dependent changes in steel due to aggressive environmental factors are identified, and statistical data supporting the use of these models in time-dependent reliability analysis are summarized. The analysis of steel containment fragility is described, and simple illustrations of the impact on reliability of structural degradation are provided. The role of nondestructive evaluation in time-dependent reliability analysis, both in terms of defect detection and sizing, is examined. A Markov model provides a tool for accounting for time-dependent changes in damage condition of a structural component or system. 151 refs

Key risk indicators for accident assessment conditioned on pre-crash vehicle trajectory.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, X; Wong, Y D; Li, M Z F; Chai, C

2018-08-01

Accident events are generally unexpected and occur rarely. Pre-accident risk assessment by surrogate indicators is an effective way to identify risk levels and thus boost accident prediction. Herein, the concept of Key Risk Indicator (KRI) is proposed, which assesses risk exposures using hybrid indicators. Seven metrics are shortlisted as the basic indicators in KRI, with evaluation in terms of risk behaviour, risk avoidance, and risk margin. A typical real-world chain-collision accident and its antecedent (pre-crash) road traffic movements are retrieved from surveillance video footage, and a grid remapping method is proposed for data extraction and coordinates transformation. To investigate the feasibility of each indicator in risk assessment, a temporal-spatial case-control is designed. By comparison, Time Integrated Time-to-collision (TIT) performs better in identifying pre-accident risk conditions; while Crash Potential Index (CPI) is helpful in further picking out the severest ones (the near-accident). Based on TIT and CPI, the expressions of KRIs are developed, which enable us to evaluate risk severity with three levels, as well as the likelihood. KRI-based risk assessment also reveals predictive insights about a potential accident, including at-risk vehicles, locations and time. Furthermore, straightforward thresholds are defined flexibly in KRIs, since the impact of different threshold values is found not to be very critical. For better validation, another independent real-world accident sample is examined, and the two results are in close agreement. Hierarchical indicators such as KRIs offer new insights about pre-accident risk exposures, which is helpful for accident assessment and prediction. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of body work condition by RULA method in a motor vehicle industry in order to design an effective exoskeleton system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Bahrami

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background and aims : physical activities in occupations like handling, static and dynamic postures, sudden movements, and repetitive postures are amongst most important risk factors of Work related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs. There are many ergonomic methods for assessing WMSDs which can be used in different cases, but these assessments and analyses can not be beneficial by themselves and should be promoted with usable, practical suggestions to improve the work condition. Such quality is brought to this research paper by first assessing ergonomic risks level, resulted by postural stresses, with special emphasis on improper postures, forces and repeating and then using these information to design assisting device called exoskeleton for improving work condition and industrial tasks.   Methods: For assessing and analyzing upper body work condition, postures in 17 different tasks were analyzed by RULA (Rapid upper limb assessment method and a set of 60 worksheets were created out of them. Also biomechanical movement observation during normal tasks was done. Then HONDA company`s exoskeleton for lower body was analyzed and some design elements were extracted from it, to design an upper body exoskeleton based on the same design language.   Results: This Research shows that none of tasks were completely acceptable, and neck, trunk and legs were more affected by improper postures. There was no meaningful difference between right and left hand conditions in overall task and posture assessment. Research also shows dominant effect of force and repeat risk factors in tasks being harmful for upper body. Analyzing HONDA company`s exoskeleton shows the likelihood of success in upper body exoskeleton for improving work conditions and minimizing WMSDs.   Conclusion: Although redistribution or regular rotation of personnel, changing and optimizing work cycles and proper training might reduce WMSDs and improve work condition, but using an assisting device

Assessment of autonomic nervous system by using empirical mode decomposition-based reflection wave analysis during non-stationary conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C C; Hsiao, T C; Kao, S C; Hsu, H Y

2014-01-01

Arterial blood pressure (ABP) is an important indicator of cardiovascular circulation and presents various intrinsic regulations. It has been found that the intrinsic characteristics of blood vessels can be assessed quantitatively by ABP analysis (called reflection wave analysis (RWA)), but conventional RWA is insufficient for assessment during non-stationary conditions, such as the Valsalva maneuver. Recently, a novel adaptive method called empirical mode decomposition (EMD) was proposed for non-stationary data analysis. This study proposed a RWA algorithm based on EMD (EMD-RWA). A total of 51 subjects participated in this study, including 39 healthy subjects and 12 patients with autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. The results showed that EMD-RWA provided a reliable estimation of reflection time in baseline and head-up tilt (HUT). Moreover, the estimated reflection time is able to assess the ANS function non-invasively, both in normal, healthy subjects and in the patients with ANS dysfunction. EMD-RWA provides a new approach for reflection time estimation in non-stationary conditions, and also helps with non-invasive ANS assessment. (paper)

Severe Pulmonary Toxicity After Myeloablative Conditioning Using Total Body Irradiation: An Assessment of Risk Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelsey, Chris R.; Horwitz, Mitchell E.; Chino, Junzo P.; Craciunescu, Oana; Steffey, Beverly; Folz, Rodney J.; Chao, Nelson J.; Rizzieri, David A.; Marks, Lawrence B.

2011-01-01

Purpose: To assess factors associated with severe pulmonary toxicity after myeloablative conditioning using total body irradiation (TBI) followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Methods and Materials: A total of 101 adult patients who underwent TBI-based myeloablative conditioning for hematologic malignancies at Duke University between 1998 and 2008 were reviewed. TBI was combined with high-dose cyclophosphamide, melphalan, fludarabine, or etoposide, depending on the underlying disease. Acute pulmonary toxicity, occurring within 90 days of transplantation, was scored using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. Actuarial overall survival and the cumulative incidence of acute pulmonary toxicity were calculated via the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using a log-rank test. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess factors independently associated with acute severe pulmonary toxicity. Results: The 90-day actuarial risk of developing severe (Grade 3-5) pulmonary toxicity was 33%. Actuarial survival at 90 days was 49% in patients with severe pulmonary toxicity vs. 94% in patients without (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, the number of prior chemotherapy regimens was the only factor independently associated with development of severe pulmonary toxicity (odds ratio, 2.7 per regimen). Conclusions: Severe acute pulmonary toxicity is prevalent after TBI-based myeloablative conditioning regimens, occurring in approximately 33% of patients. The number of prior chemotherapy regimens appears to be an important risk factor.

Quantitative Assessment of Synovial Vascularity Using Contrast-Enhanced Power Doppler Ultrasonography: Correlation with Histologic Findings and MR Imaging Findings in Arthritic Rabbit Knee Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Hoon; Shin, Myung Jin; Kim, Seong Moon; Kim, Namkug; Suh, Sang Hyun; Suh, Jin Suck

2008-01-01

To validate contrast-enhanced power Doppler ultrasonography (PD US) for the evaluation of synovial vascularity in an arthritic rabbit knee model in correlation with MR and histological findings. Power Doppler ultrasonography was performed for carrageenin-induced arthritic left knee and control right knee of 13 rabbits, first without and then with sonic contrast agent enhancement (Levovist, Schering, Berlin Germany), followed by gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging. Synovial vascularity was quantitatively assessed by calculating the color pixel area in power Doppler sonography using a computer-aided image analysis program and by grading the enhancement on MR images: grade 1, enhancement of knee joint is less than one-third of the area; grade 2, one-third to two-thirds enhancement; and grade 3, more than two-thirds enhancement. Microvessel density (MVD) was measured on slides stained immunohistochemically for CD31 antigen for histological assessment. The mean area of color pixels in PD US changed from 4.37 to 16.42 mm 2 in the arthritic knee after enhancement (p 2 in the control knee (p 0.05). Sonic contrast-enhanced PD US improves the visualization of synovial vascularity and allows quantitative measurement in experimentally induced rabbit arthritic knees

Occupational therapy practice in predriving assessment post stroke in the Irish context: findings from a nominal group technique meeting.

Science.gov (United States)

Stapleton, Tadhg; Connelly, Deirdre

2010-01-01

Practice in the area of predriving assessment for people with stroke varies, and research findings are not always easily transferred into the clinical setting, particularly when such assessment is not conducted within a dedicated driver assessment programme. This article explores the clinical predriving assessment practices and recommendations of a group of Irish occupational therapists for people with stroke. A consensus meeting of occupational therapists was facilitated using a nominal group technique (NGT) to identify specific components of cognition, perception, and executive function that may influence fitness to return to driving and should be assessed prior to referral for on-road evaluation. Standardised assessments for use in predriving assessment were recommended. Thirteen occupational therapists speed of processing; perceptual components of spatial awareness, depth perception, and visual inattention; and executive components of planning, problem solving, judgment, and self-awareness. Consensus emerged for the use of the following standardised tests: Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS), Test of Everyday Attention (TEA), Brain Injury Visual Assessment Battery for Adults (biVABA), Rivermead Perceptual Assessment Battery (RPAB), and Motor Free Visual Perceptual Test (MVPT). Tests were recommended that gave an indication of the patient's underlying component skills in the area of cognition, perception, and executive functions considered important for driving. Further research is needed in this area to develop clinical practice guidelines for occupational therapists for the assessment of fitness to return to driving after stroke.

CT findings in abdominal actinomycosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, In Jae; Ha, Hyun Kwon; Lee, Moon Gyu; Kim, Pyo Nyun; Auh, Yong Ho

1999-01-01

Abdominal actinomycosis is a chronic, progressive, suppurative disease with a favorable response to intravenous treatment with penicillin. In many instances, however, its clinical and radiological findings may overlap with those of other inflammatory and neoplastic conditions, and the familiarity with the various radiological features can thus avoid diagnostic delays. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the CT findings of abdominal actinomycosis

[HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT OFWORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR REPAIRERS OF RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK IN PLANT CONDITIONS].

Science.gov (United States)

Sudeikina, N A; Kurenkova, G V

2015-01-01

The comprehensive hygienic assessment of working environment for main occupational groups Railway Car Repair Plant in factory conditions shows that workers are exposed to the impact of factors of chemical nature in concentrations exceeding maximum allowable (lead, manganese, alkali caustic, sulphuric and nitric acids, chromium trioxide, silicon-containing dust, white corundum, diiron trioxide, silicate-organic dust, wood and carbon dusts), the high level of noise, the local vibration, insufficient levels of artificial lighting. The manual work is used, that determines the high severity of the labor process in the most of workers. There was identified the inconsistency of quality and quantitative estimation of the work conditions on chemical factor at implementation of various types of control: certification of workplaces on work conditions, productions and state control. There was given an a priori evaluation of the occupational risk in the three main workshops, there were detected 13 occupations with mild (moderate) risk, 9 occupations with average (significant) risk, 6 professions with high (intolerable) risk category and 1 occupation--with very high (intolerable) risk category. Low indices of occupational diseases according to official statistics were establishedfail to be consistent with a high probability of their occurrence in the production.

The content of compound conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Justin A; Andrew, Benjamin J; Livesey, Evan J

2012-04-01

In three experiments using Pavlovian conditioning of magazine approach, rats were trained with a compound stimulus, AB, and were concurrently trained with stimulus B on its own. The reinforcement rate of B, rB, was either 1/2, 2/3, or 2/5 of rAB. After extended training, the conditioning strength of A was assessed using probe trials in which A was presented alone. Responding during A was compared with that during AB, B, and a third stimulus, C, for which rC = rAB - rB. In each experiment, the rats' response rate during A was almost identical to that during C (and during B, when rB = 1/2rAB). This suggests that, during AB conditioning, the rats had learned about rA as being equal to [rAB - rB], and implies that the content of their learning was a linear function of r. The findings provide strong support for rate-based models of conditioning (e.g., Gallistel & Gibbon, 2000). They are also consistent with the associative account of learning defined in the Rescorla and Wagner (1972) model, but only if the learning rate during reinforcement equals that during nonreinforcement. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Computed tomography findings of early abdominal postoperative complications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zissin, R.; Osadchy, A.; Gayer, G.

2007-01-01

Various surgical approaches are used for different abdominal pathological conditions. Postoperative complications occur not infrequently and vary according to the type of the surgery and the clinical context. Nowadays, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) provides superb anatomic detail and diagnostic accuracy for various intraabdominal pathological processes, even if clinically unsuspected, and it thus has become an essential diagnostic tool for evaluating postoperative insults. Other advantages of abdominal MDCT include its accessibility and its speed, which allow scanning of uncooperative, marginally stable patients. Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous (PC) drainage of postoperative collections is another advantage of CT. Therefore, although CT requires transportation of a critically ill, postoperative patient, it is recommended in any suspicious clinical setting because several conditions require prompt management and a correct diagnosis is crucial. In assessing a patient for suspected postoperative complications, several points should be taken into consideration, including the relevant clinical and laboratory data, the surgical findings, the type of the surgery, the time elapsed since surgery, and the operative technique (either open laparotomy of laparoscopic procedure). (author)

Satellite assessment of early-season forecasts for vegetation conditions of grazing allotments in Nevada, United States

Science.gov (United States)

Fifteen years of enhanced vegetation index data from the MODIS sensor are examined in conjunction with precipitation and the Palmer drought severity index to assess how well growing season conditions for vegetation within grazing allotments of Nevada can be predicted at different times of the year. ...

Comparison of pre-operative dGEMRIC imaging with intra-operative findings in femoroacetabular impingement: preliminary findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bittersohl, Bernd; Apprich, Sebastian; Siebenrock, Klaus A.; Mamisch, Tallal Charles; Hosalkar, Harish S.; Werlen, Stefan A.

2011-01-01

To study standard MRI and dGEMRIC in patients with symptomatic FAI undergoing surgical intervention and compare them with intra-operative findings to see if they were corroborative. Sixteen patients with symptomatic FAI that warranted surgical intervention were prospectively studied. All patients underwent plain radiographic series for FAI assessment followed by standard MRI and dGEMRIC. Subsequently, patients were surgically treated with safe dislocation and the joint was evaluated for any macroscopic signs of damaged cartilage. Data were statistically analyzed. A total of 224 zones in 16 patients were evaluated. One hundred and sixteen zones were intra-operatively rated as normal with mean T1 values of 510.1 ms ± 141.2 ms. Eighty zones had evidence of damage with mean T1 values of 453.1 ms ± 113.6 ms. The difference in these T1 values was significant (p = 0.003). Correlation between standard MRI and intra-operative findings was moderate (r = 0.535, p < 0.001). Intra-operative findings revealed more damage than standard MRI. On standard MRI, 68.6% zones were graded normal while 31.4% had evidence of damage. On intra-operative visualization, 56.4% zones were graded normal and 43.6% had evidence of damage. Correlation between dGEMRIC and intra-operative findings turned out to be weak (r = 0.114, p < 0.126). On T1 assessment 31.4% of zones were graded as normal and 68.6% as damaged. dGEMRIC was significantly different between normal and affected cartilage based on intra-operative assessment. The correlation for morphological findings was limited, underestimating defects. By combining morphological with biochemical assessment dGEMRIC may play some role in the future to prognosticate outcomes and facilitate surgical planning and intervention. (orig.)

Finding social phobia patients from the Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jian-Ting; Lin, Chao-Cheng; Wang, Sheng-Chang; Liao, Shih-Cheng; Chen, Jen-Yeu; Liu, Chia-Yih; Lee, Ming-Been

2011-11-30

Patients with social phobia commonly resist face-to-face assessments, and a number of alternative assessment methods based on the Internet are being developed. The aim of this study was to identify patients with social phobia on the Internet and characterize their condition, using the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). In Stage I, this study recruited 1307 participants from the Internet, most of whom were well-educated young females, who had remained unmarried and unemployed. The Internet-based SPIN demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.937) and good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.942). In Stage II, we examined the discriminant validity of the SPIN via structured telephone interviews. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve used to discriminate social phobia was 0.871 with an optimal cut-off point of 24 on the total score for the SPIN. According to the SPIN scores, 919 of Stage I participants (70.3%) reached the threshold of social phobia, 531 of which (57.8%) had never sought professional help. These results suggest that the Internet is a potential avenue through which to find untreated patients with social phobia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Retrospectively assessed psychosocial working conditions as predictors of prospectively assessed sickness absence and disability pension among older workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundstrup, Emil; Hansen, Åse Marie; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Poulsen, Otto Melchior; Clausen, Thomas; Rugulies, Reiner; Møller, Anne; Andersen, Lars L

2018-01-17

The aim was to explore the association between retrospectively assessed psychosocial working conditions during working life and prospectively assessed risk of sickness absence and disability pension among older workers. The prospective risk of register-based long-term sickness absence (LTSA) and disability pension was estimated from exposure to 12 different psychosocial work characteristics during working life among 5076 older workers from the CAMB cohort (Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank). Analyses were censored for competing events and adjusted for age, gender, physical work environment, lifestyle, education, and prior LTSA. LTSA was predicted by high levels of cognitive demands (HR 1.31 (95% CI 1.10-1.56)), high levels of emotional demands (HR 1.26 (95% CI 1.07-1.48)), low levels of influence at work (HR 1.30 (95% CI 1.03-1.64)), and high levels of role conflicts (HR 1.34 (95% CI 1.09-1.65)). Disability pension was predicted by low levels of influence at work (HR 2.73 (95% CI 1.49-5.00)) and low levels of recognition from management (HR 2.04 (95% CI 1.14-3.67)). This exploratory study found that retrospectively assessed high cognitive demands, high and medium emotional demands, low influence at work, low recognition from management, medium role clarity, and high role conflicts predicted LTSA and/or disability pension.

Conditional Aid Effectiveness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Doucouliagos, Hristos; Paldam, Martin

of the differences in results between studies. Taking all available studies in consideration, we find no support for conditionality with respect to policy, while conditionality regarding aid itself is dubious. However, the results differ depending on the authors’ institutional affiliation....

Cervical spine anomalies in Menkes disease: a radiologic finding potentially confused with child abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Suvimol C; Dwyer, Andrew J; Kaler, Stephen G

2012-11-01

Menkes disease is an X-linked recessive disorder of copper transport caused by mutations in ATP7A, a copper-transporting ATPase. Certain radiologic findings reported in this condition overlap with those caused by child abuse. However, cervical spine defects simulating cervical spine fracture, a known result of nonaccidental pediatric trauma, have not been reported previously in this illness. To assess the frequency of cervical spine anomalies in Menkes disease after discovery of an apparent C2 posterior arch defect in a child participating in a clinical trial. We examined cervical spine radiographs obtained in 35 children with Menkes disease enrolled in a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Four of the 35 children with Menkes disease had apparent C2 posterior arch defects consistent with spondylolysis or incomplete/delayed ossification. Defects in C2 were found in 11% of infants and young children with Menkes disease. Discovery of cervical spine defects expands the spectrum of radiologic findings associated with this condition. As with other skeletal abnormalities, this feature simulates nonaccidental trauma. In the context of Menkes disease, suspicions of child abuse should be considered cautiously and tempered by these findings to avoid unwarranted accusations.

Assessment of capabilities of lidar systems in day-and night-time under different atmospheric and internal-noise conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Agishev, Ravil; Comerón, Adolfo

2018-04-01

As an application of the dimensionless parameterization concept proposed earlier for the characterization of lidar systems, the universal assessment of lidar capabilities in day and night conditions is considered. The dimensionless parameters encapsulate the atmospheric conditions, the lidar optical and optoelectronic characteristics, including the photodetector internal noise, and the sky background radiation. Approaches to ensure immunity of the lidar system to external background radiation are discussed.

Assessment of illumination conditions in a single-pixel imaging configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Garoi, Florin; Udrea, Cristian; Damian, Cristian; Logofǎtu, Petre C.; Colţuc, Daniela

2016-12-01

Single-pixel imaging based on multiplexing is a promising technique, especially in applications where 2D detectors or raster scanning imaging are not readily applicable. With this method, Hadamard masks are projected on a spatial light modulator to encode an incident scene and a signal is recorded at the photodiode detector for each of these masks. Ultimately, the image is reconstructed on the computer by applying the inverse transform matrix. Thus, various algorithms were optimized and several spatial light modulators already characterized for such a task. This work analyses the imaging quality of such a single-pixel arrangement, when various illumination conditions are used. More precisely, the main comparison is made between coherent and incoherent ("white light") illumination and between two multiplexing methods, namely Hadamard and Scanning. The quality of the images is assessed by calculating their SNR, using two relations. The results show better images are obtained with "white light" illumination for the first method and coherent one for the second.

Intercomparison of chemical mechanisms for air quality policy formulation and assessment under North American conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Derwent, Richard

2017-07-01

The intercomparison of seven chemical mechanisms for their suitability for air quality policy formulation and assessment is described. Box modeling techniques were employed using 44 sets of background environmental conditions covering North America to constrain the chemical development of the longer lived species. The selected mechanisms were modified to enable an unbiased assessment of the adequacy of the parameterizations of photochemical ozone production from volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation in the presence of NO x . Photochemical ozone production rates responded differently to 30% NO x and VOC reductions with the different mechanisms, despite the striking similarities between the base-case ozone production rates. The 30% reductions in NO x and VOCs also produced changes in OH. The responses in OH to 30% reductions in NO x and VOCs appeared to be more sensitive to mechanism choice, compared with the responses in the photochemical ozone production rates. Although 30% NO x reductions generally led to decreases in OH, 30% reductions in VOCs led to increases in OH, irrespective of mechanism choice and background environmental conditions. The different mechanisms therefore gave different OH responses to NO x and VOC reductions and so would give different responses in terms of changes in the fate and behavior of air toxics, acidification and eutrophication, and fine particle formation compared with others, in response to ozone control strategies. Policymakers need to understand that there are likely to be inherent differences in the responses to ozone control strategies between different mechanisms, depending on background environmental conditions and the extents of NO x and VOC reductions under consideration. The purpose of this paper is to compare predicted ozone responses to NO x and VOC reductions with seven chemical mechanisms under North American conditions. The good agreement found between the tested mechanisms should provide some support for their

Modularising ontology and designing inference patterns to personalise health condition assessment: the case of obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sojic, Aleksandra; Terkaj, Walter; Contini, Giorgia; Sacco, Marco

2016-05-04

The public health initiatives for obesity prevention are increasingly exploiting the advantages of smart technologies that can register various kinds of data related to physical, physiological, and behavioural conditions. Since individual features and habits vary among people, the design of appropriate intervention strategies for motivating changes in behavioural patterns towards a healthy lifestyle requires the interpretation and integration of collected information, while considering individual profiles in a personalised manner. The ontology-based modelling is recognised as a promising approach in facing the interoperability and integration of heterogeneous information related to characterisation of personal profiles. The presented ontology captures individual profiles across several obesity-related knowledge-domains structured into dedicated modules in order to support inference about health condition, physical features, behavioural habits associated with a person, and relevant changes over time. The modularisation strategy is designed to facilitate ontology development, maintenance, and reuse. The domain-specific modules formalised in the Web Ontology Language (OWL) integrate the domain-specific sets of rules formalised in the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL). The inference rules follow a modelling pattern designed to support personalised assessment of health condition as age- and gender-specific. The test cases exemplify a personalised assessment of the obesity-related health conditions for the population of teenagers. The paper addresses several issues concerning the modelling of normative concepts related to obesity and depicts how the public health concern impacts classification of teenagers according to their phenotypes. The modelling choices regarding the ontology-structure are explained in the context of the modelling goal to integrate multiple knowledge-domains and support reasoning about the individual changes over time. The presented modularisation

Moving from laboratory to real life conditions: Influence on the assessment of variability and stability of gait.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamburini, Paola; Storm, Fabio; Buckley, Chris; Bisi, Maria Cristina; Stagni, Rita; Mazzà, Claudia

2018-01-01

The availability of wearable sensors allows shifting gait analysis from the traditional laboratory settings, to daily life conditions. However, limited knowledge is available about whether alterations associated to different testing environment (e.g. indoor or outdoor) and walking protocols (e.g. free or controlled), result from actual differences in the motor behaviour of the tested subjects or from the sensitivity to these changes of the indexes adopted for the assessment. In this context, it was hypothesized that testing environment and walking protocols would not modify motor control stability in the gait of young healthy adults, who have a mature and structured gait pattern, but rather the variability of their motor pattern. To test this hypothesis, data from trunk and shank inertial sensors were collected from 19 young healthy participants during four walking tasks in different environments (indoor and outdoor) and in both controlled (i.e. following a predefined straight path) and free conditions. Results confirmed what hypothesized: variability indexes (Standard deviation, Coefficient of variation and Poincaré plots) were significantly influenced by both environment and walking conditions. Stability indexes (Harmonic ratio, Short term Lyapunov exponents, Recurrence quantification analysis and Sample entropy), on the contrary, did not highlight any change in the motor control. In conclusion, this study highlighted an influence of environment and testing condition on the assessment of specific characteristics of gait (i.e. variability and stability). In particular, for young healthy adults, both environment and testing conditions affect gait variability indexes, whereas neither affect gait stability indexes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

[Hygienic assessment of a recirculatory combined air-conditioning extract-and-input system in office building].

Science.gov (United States)

Malysheva, A G; Abramov, E G

2006-01-01

The high concentrations of lead were reveled in the air and dust of some premises and on the filters of a combined air-conditioning extract-and-input system in the high-rise office buildings located in the ecologically lead favorable environment. The dust content of lead in some premises on the first floors dust was as high as 200 mg/kg, which was more than 6 times higher than that in the soil at the highway near the office buildings. The use of new technologies and devices for cleaning and optimizing the air in the premises requires analytical studies to assess the quality of the environment, by taking into account the optimal conditions of their operation.

Spectral Doppler findings in a rare case of acute compartment syndrome following leg burn

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omer A. Mahmoud

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Acute compartment syndrome (ACS is an orthopedic emergency condition, which is rarely attributed to burns. It occurs when pressure in an enclosed space rises to a point where it reduces blood flow and impairs tissue perfusion. Its consequences often lead to ischemia and possible necrosis within that space. Until now, the use of Doppler assessment to explore different types of compartment syndrome has yielded contradictory findings. Here, we present a significant increase of blood flow velocity in the arteries proximal to the burned area. Thus, the combination of Duplex ultrasound results with clinical findings will help vascular surgeons to make immediate decision to perform fasciotomy. Keywords: Compartment syndrome, Spectral Doppler

Ozark-Ouachita Highlands Assessment: Aquatic Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Forest Service U.S. Department of Agriculture

1999-01-01

This publication provides citizens, private and public organizations, scientists, and others with information about the aquatic conditions in or near national forests in the Ozark-Ouachita Highlands: the Mark Twain in Missouri, the Ouachita in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests in Arkansas. This report includes water quality analyses,...

Environmental impacts of barley cultivation under current and future climatic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dijkman, Teunis Johannes; Birkved, Morten; Saxe, Henrik

2017-01-01

for the increased impacts. This finding was confirmed by the sensitivity analysis. Because this study focused solely on the impacts of climate change, technological improvements and political measures to reduce impacts in the 2050 scenario are not taken into account. Options to mitigate the environmental impacts......The purpose of this work is to compare the environmental impacts of spring barley cultivation in Denmark under current (year 2010) and future (year 2050) climatic conditions. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment was carried out for the production of 1 kg of spring barley in Denmark, at farm gate....... Both under 2010 and 2050 climatic conditions, four subscenarios were modelled, based on a combination of two soil types and two climates. Included in the assessment were seed production, soil preparation, fertilization, pesticide application, and harvest. When processes in the life cycle resulted in co...

Toxicity assessment of TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles in zebrafish embryos under different exposure conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clemente, Z., E-mail: zairaclemente@yahoo.com.br [Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia e Biossegurança, Embrapa CNPMA, Jaguariúna, SP (Brazil); Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Funcional e Molecular, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP (Brazil); Castro, V.L.S.S. [Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia e Biossegurança, Embrapa CNPMA, Jaguariúna, SP (Brazil); Moura, M.A.M. [Laboratório da Ciência das Plantas Daninhas, Instituto Biológico, APTA/SAA, Campinas, SP (Brazil); Jonsson, C.M. [Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia e Biossegurança, Embrapa CNPMA, Jaguariúna, SP (Brazil); Fraceto, L.F. [Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Funcional e Molecular, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP (Brazil); Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, UNESP, Sorocaba, SP (Brazil)

2014-02-15

Highlights: •Nano-TiO{sub 2} accelerated hatching of the larvae. •Exposure to anatase/rutile mixture under UV light altered the equilibrium and survival of the larvae. •Nano-TiO{sub 2} caused alterations in the activities of CAT and GST. -- Abstract: The popularity of TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles (nano-TiO{sub 2}) lies in their wide range of nanotechnological applications, together with low toxicity. Meanwhile, recent studies have shown that the photocatalytic properties of this material can result in alterations in their behavior in the environment, causing effects that have not yet been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of two formulations of nano-TiO{sub 2} under different illumination conditions, using an experimental model coherent with the principle of the three Rs of alternative animal experimentation (reduction, refinement, and replacement). Embryos of the fish Danio rerio were exposed for 96 h to different concentrations of nano-TiO{sub 2} in the form of anatase (TA) or an anatase/rutile mixture (TM), under either visible light or a combination of visible and ultraviolet light (UV). The acute toxicity and sublethal parameters evaluated included survival rates, malformation, hatching, equilibrium, and overall length of the larvae, together with biochemical biomarkers (specific activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and acid phosphatase (AP)). Both TA and TM caused accelerated hatching of the larvae. Under UV irradiation, there was greater mortality of the larvae of the groups exposed to TM, compared to those exposed to TA. Exposure to TM under UV irradiation altered the equilibrium of the larvae. Alterations in the activities of CAT and GST were indicative of oxidative stress, although no clear dose-response relationship was observed. The effects of nano-TiO{sub 2} appeared to depend on both the type of formulation and the illumination condition. The findings contribute to elucidation of the

Returns to Scale and Damages to Scale with Strong Complementary Slackness Conditions in DEA Assessment: Japanese Corporate Effort on Environment Protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki; Goto, Mika

2012-01-01

This study proposes a use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for environmental assessment. All organizations in private and public sectors produce not only desirable (good) but also undesirable (bad) outputs as a result of their economic activities. The proposed use of DEA determines the level of unified (operational and environmental) efficiency of all the organizations. A contribution of this study is that it explores how to measure not only RTS (Returns to Scale) on desirable outputs but also a new concept regarding “DTS: Damages to Scale” (corresponding to RTS for undesirable outputs). This study discusses how to measure RTS under natural disposability and DTS under managerial disposability by DEA. The measurement of RTS and DTS is formulated by incorporating “Strong Complementary Slackness Conditions (SCSCs)”. As a result, this study can handle an occurrence of multiple reference sets and multiple projections in the RTS/DTS measurement. The incorporation of SCSCs makes it possible both to restrict DEA multipliers in a specific range without any prior information and to identify all possible efficient organizations as a reference set. Using the unique capabilities of SCSCs, this study discusses the use of DEA environmental assessment by exploring how to classify the type of RTS/DTS with SCSCs. Such analytical capabilities are essential, but not previously explored in DEA environmental assessment for energy industries. As an illustrative example, this study applies the proposed approach for the performance evaluation of Japanese manufacturing industries. This study finds that these firms need to introduce technology innovation to reduce an amount of greenhouse gases and wastes. The empirical result confirms the importance of measuring RTS/DTS in DEA environmental assessment.

Early ophthalmic findings in joubert syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amira A Abdelazeem

2017-01-01

Conclusion Association of these findings with an expanded clinical definition of Joubert is warranted. The clinical subtypes of JS may be associated with specific types of mutations in the causative genes. This report, which evaluates the findings in a relatively young cohort, provides a unique opportunity to consider the earliest manifestations of JS that may lead to early recognition and appropriate genetic testing to confirm the diagnosis. Clinical findings beyond those identified in this report and by prior publications should be evaluated as potentially independent of the primary genetic condition rather than assuming that each new finding is part of the same syndrome.

Environmental compliance assessment findings for Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigmon, C.F.; Levine, M.B.

1990-01-01

This report presents the results of an environmental assessment conducted at Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP) in St. Charles County, Missouri, in accordance with the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Environmental Compliance Assessment Checklists. The purpose of this assessment was to evaluate the compliance of the site with applicable federal and Missouri environment regulations. Assessments activities included the following: review of site records, reports ,and files; inspection of the WSSRAP storage building, other selected buildings, and the adjacent grounds; and interviews with project personnel. This assessment was conducted on August 28-30, 1989. The assessment covered five management areas as set forth in the Checklist: Hazardous Waste Management, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Management; Air Emissions; Wastewater Discharges and Petroleum Management. No samples were collected. 1 ref., 2 figs., 1 tab

Development of a Tomography Technique for Assessment of the Material Condition of Concrete Using Optimized Elastic Wave Parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hwa Kian Chai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Concrete is the most ubiquitous construction material. Apart from the fresh and early age properties of concrete material, its condition during the structure life span affects the overall structural performance. Therefore, development of techniques such as non-destructive testing which enable the investigation of the material condition, are in great demand. Tomography technique has become an increasingly popular non-destructive evaluation technique for civil engineers to assess the condition of concrete structures. In the present study, this technique is investigated by developing reconstruction procedures utilizing different parameters of elastic waves, namely the travel time, wave amplitude, wave frequency, and Q-value. In the development of algorithms, a ray tracing feature was adopted to take into account the actual non-linear propagation of elastic waves in concrete containing defects. Numerical simulation accompanied by experimental verifications of wave motion were conducted to obtain wave propagation profiles in concrete containing honeycomb as a defect and in assessing the tendon duct filling of pre-stressed concrete (PC elements. The detection of defects by the developed tomography reconstruction procedures was evaluated and discussed.

Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe, the PHEWE project: background, objectives, design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderson Hugh

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The project "Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe" (PHEWE had the aim of assessing the association between weather conditions and acute health effects, during both warm and cold seasons in 16 European cities with widely differing climatic conditions and to provide information for public health policies. Methods The PHEWE project was a three-year pan-European collaboration between epidemiologists, meteorologists and experts in public health. Meteorological, air pollution and mortality data from 16 cities and hospital admission data from 12 cities were available from 1990 to 2000. The short-term effect on mortality/morbidity was evaluated through city-specific and pooled time series analysis. The interaction between weather and air pollutants was evaluated and health impact assessments were performed to quantify the effect on the different populations. A heat/health watch warning system to predict oppressive weather conditions and alert the population was developed in a subgroup of cities and information on existing prevention policies and of adaptive strategies was gathered. Results Main results were presented in a symposium at the conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology in Paris on September 6th 2006 and will be published as scientific articles. The present article introduces the project and includes a description of the database and the framework of the applied methodology. Conclusion The PHEWE project offers the opportunity to investigate the relationship between temperature and mortality in 16 European cities, representing a wide range of climatic, socio-demographic and cultural characteristics; the use of a standardized methodology allows for direct comparison between cities.

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: Implementation of the Wetland Mitigation Bank Program at the Savannah River Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

1999-04-28

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1205) for the proposed implementation of a wetland mitigation bank program at the Savannah River Site (SRS), located near Aiken, South Carolina. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Floodplain Statement of Findings.

Major methodological constraints to the assessment of environmental status based on the condition of benthic communities

Science.gov (United States)

Medeiros, João Paulo; Pinto, Vanessa; Sá, Erica; Silva, Gilda; Azeda, Carla; Pereira, Tadeu; Quintella, Bernardo; Raposo de Almeida, Pedro; Lino Costa, José; José Costa, Maria; Chainho, Paula

2014-05-01

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was published in 2008 and requires Member States to take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in aquatic ecosystems by the year of 2020. The MSFD indicates 11 qualitative descriptors for environmental status assessment, including seafloor integrity, using the condition of the benthic community as an assessment indicator. Member States will have to define monitoring programs for each of the MSFD descriptors based on those indicators in order to understand which areas are in a Good Environmental Status and what measures need to be implemented to improve the status of areas that fail to achieve that major objective. Coastal and offshore marine waters are not frequently monitored in Portugal and assessment tools have only been developed very recently with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The lack of historical data and knowledge on the constraints of benthic indicators in coastal areas requires the development of specific studies addressing this issue. The major objective of the current study was to develop and test and experimental design to assess impacts of offshore projects. The experimental design consisted on the seasonal and interannual assessment of benthic invertebrate communities in the area of future implementation of the structures (impact) and two potential control areas 2 km from the impact area. Seasonal benthic samples were collected at nine random locations within the impact and control areas in two consecutive years. Metrics included in the Portuguese benthic assessment tool (P-BAT) were calculated since this multimetric tool was proposed for the assessment of the ecological status in Portuguese coastal areas under the WFD. Results indicated a high taxonomic richness in this coastal area and no significant differences were found between impact and control areas, indicating the feasibility of establishing adequate control areas in marine

Correlations of CT and EEG findings in brain affections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, B.; Nevsimalova, S.; Kvicala, V.

1984-01-01

The results were compared of electroencephalography (EEG) and computerized tomography (CT) examinations of 250 patients with different brain affections. In intracranial expansive processes the pre-operative CT findings were positive in 100% cases, the EEG findings in 89.7% of cases. In severe traumatic affections the EEG and CT findings were positive in all cases, in mild injuries and post-traumatic conditions the EEG findings were more frequently positive than the CT. In focal and diffuse vascular affections the EEG and CT findings were consistent, in transitory ischemic conditions the EEG findings were more frequently positive. In inflammatory cerebral affections and in paroxymal diseases the EEG findings were positive more frequently than the CT. The same applies for demyelinating and degenerative affections. Findings of other authors were confirmed to the effect that CT very reliably reveals morphological changes in cerebral tissue while EEG records the functional state of the central nervous system and its changes. The two methods are complementary. (author)

Preliminary Geophysical Survey for Assessing the Geotechnical Conditions and Geohazards at Huaca de La Luna, Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Zavala, G. J.; Lopez, S.; Ebinger, C. J.; Pando, M. A.; Lambert, C.; Morales, R.; Uceda, S.; Perucchio, R.; Castaneda, B.; Aguilar, R.

2014-12-01

This paper presents results of near surface geophysical tests to help assess the geotechnical conditions of the archaeological complex of Huaca de la Luna located near the coastal city of Trujillo, Peru. This area of Peru has experienced damaging earthquakes and tsunamis in historic time. The huaca complex is a massive adobe temple progressively built by the Moche civilization from 100 AD to 650 AD. The geophysical tests carried out included Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), magnetic gradiometer, and Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) to help assess geotechnical conditions such as buried cavities and hallways, thickness and elastic properties of sand sediments, and the depth to the underlying granitic bedrock. The tests were performed to help with the investigation of structural damage observed along a massive adobe wall (north façade) which has shown signs of distress including fissures, settlements, and other damage. The geophysical results together with detailed Lidar surveying are being used as part of this investigation and highlight the usefulness of these non-destructive techniques for archaeological and historical sites.

Baseline MDCT findings after prosthetic heart valve implantation provide important complementary information to echocardiography for follow-up purposes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sucha, Dominika; Mali, Willem P.T.M.; Habets, Jesse [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Chamuleau, Steven A.J. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cardiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Symersky, Petr [VU Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Meijs, Matthijs F.L. [Thoraxcentrum Twente, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Department of Cardiology, Enschede (Netherlands); Brink, Renee B.A. van den [Academic Medical Center, Department of Cardiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Mol, Bas A.J.M. de [Academic Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Herwerden, Lex A. van [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Utrecht (Netherlands); Budde, Ricardo P.J. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands)

2016-04-15

Recent studies have proposed additional multidetector-row CT (MDCT) for prosthetic heart valve (PHV) dysfunction. References to discriminate physiological from pathological conditions early after implantation are lacking. We present baseline MDCT findings of PHVs 6 weeks post implantation. Patients were prospectively enrolled and TTE was performed according to clinical guidelines. 256-MDCT images were systematically assessed for leaflet excursions, image quality, valve-related artefacts, and pathological and additional findings. Forty-six patients were included comprising 33 mechanical and 16 biological PHVs. Overall, MDCT image quality was good and relevant regions remained reliably assessable despite mild-moderate PHV-artefacts. MDCT detected three unexpected valve-related pathology cases: (1) prominent subprosthetic tissue, (2) pseudoaneurysm and (3) extensive pseudoaneurysms and valve dehiscence. The latter patient required valve surgery to be redone. TTE only showed trace periprosthetic regurgitation, and no abnormalities in the other cases. Additional findings were: tilted aortic PHV position (n = 3), pericardial haematoma (n = 3) and pericardial effusion (n = 3). Periaortic induration was present in 33/40 (83 %) aortic valve patients. MDCT allowed evaluation of relevant PHV regions in all valves, revealed baseline postsurgical findings and, despite normal TTE findings, detected three cases of unexpected, clinically relevant pathology. (orig.)

Joining the dots: conditional pass and programmatic assessment enhances recognition of problems with professionalism and factors hampering student progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Tim J; Tweed, Mike J; Egan, Tony G; Ali, Anthony N; McKenzie, Jan M; Moore, MaryLeigh; Rudland, Joy R

2011-06-07

Programmatic assessment that looks across a whole year may contribute to better decisions compared with those made from isolated assessments alone. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate a programmatic system to handle student assessment results that is aligned not only with learning and remediation, but also with defensibility. The key components are standards based assessments, use of "Conditional Pass", and regular progress meetings. The new assessment system is described. The evaluation is based on years 4-6 of a 6-year medical course. The types of concerns staff had about students were clustered into themes alongside any interventions and outcomes for the students concerned. The likelihoods of passing the year according to type of problem were compared before and after phasing in of the new assessment system. The new system was phased in over four years. In the fourth year of implementation 701 students had 3539 assessment results, of which 4.1% were Conditional Pass. More in-depth analysis for 1516 results available from 447 students revealed the odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for failure was highest for students with problems identified in more than one part of the course (18.8 (7.7-46.2) p year under the new system on the basis of performance during the year (20 or 4.5% compared with four or 1.1% under the previous system (p pass has contributed to a paper trail that should improve defensibility. Most importantly it has helped detect and act on some of the more difficult areas to assess such as professionalism.

Assessing local vulnerability to climate change in Ecuador

OpenAIRE

Fernandez, Mario Andres; Bucaram, Santiago J.; Renteria, Willington

2015-01-01

Vulnerability assessments have become necessary to increase the understanding of climate-sensitive systems and inform resource allocation in developing countries. Challenges arise when poor economic and social development combines with heterogeneous climatic conditions. Thus, finding and harmonizing good-quality data at local scale may be a significant hurdle for vulnerability research. In this paper we assess vulnerability to climate change at a local level in Ecuador. We take Ecuador as a c...

[Assessment of the air quality improment of cleaning and disinfection on central air-conditioning ventilation system].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongliang; Zhang, Lei; Feng, Lihong; Wang, Fei; Xue, Zhiming

2009-09-01

To assess the effect of air quality of cleaning and disinfection on central air-conditioning ventilation systems. 102 air-conditioning ventilation systems in 46 public facilities were sampled and investigated based on Hygienic assessment criterion of cleaning and disinfection of public central air-conditioning systems. Median dust volume decreased from 41.8 g/m2 to 0.4 g/m2, and the percentage of pipes meeting the national standard for dust decreased from 17.3% (13/60) to 100% (62/62). In the dust, median aerobic bacterial count decreased from 14 cfu/cm2 to 1 cfu/cm2. Median aerobic fungus count decreased from 10 cfu/cm2 to 0 cfu/cm2. The percentage of pipes with bacterial and fungus counts meeting the national standard increased from 92.4% (171/185) and 82.2% (152/185) to 99.4% (165/166) and 100% (166/166), respectively. In the ventilation air, median aerobic bacterial count decreased from 756 cfu/m3 to 229 cfu/m3. Median aerobic fungus count decreased from 382 cfu/m3 to 120 cfu/m3. The percentage of pipes meeting the national standard for ventilation air increased from 33.3% (81/243) and 62.1% (151/243) to 79.8% (292/366) and 87.7% (242/276), respectively. But PM10 rose from 0.060 mg/m3 to 0.068 mg/m3, and the percentage of pipes meeting the national standard for PM10 increased from 74.2% (13/60) to 90.2% (46/51). The cleaning and disinfection of central air-conditioning ventilation systems could have a beneficial effect of air quality.

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project : Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

1999-04-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact.

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project. Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact

A Conditioned Behavioral Paradigm for Assessing Onset and Lasting Tinnitus in Rats

Science.gov (United States)

Pace, Edward; Luo, Hao; Bobian, Michael; Panekkad, Ajay; Zhang, Xueguo; Zhang, Huiming; Zhang, Jinsheng

2016-01-01

Numerous behavioral paradigms have been developed to assess tinnitus-like behavior in animals. Nevertheless, they are often limited by prolonged training requirements, as well as an inability to simultaneously assess onset and lasting tinnitus behavior, tinnitus pitch or duration, or tinnitus presence without grouping data from multiple animals or testing sessions. To enhance behavioral testing of tinnitus, we developed a conditioned licking suppression paradigm to determine the pitch(s) of both onset and lasting tinnitus-like behavior within individual animals. Rats learned to lick water during broadband or narrowband noises, and to suppress licking to avoid footshocks during silence. After noise exposure, rats significantly increased licking during silent trials, suggesting onset tinnitus-like behavior. Lasting tinnitus-behavior, however, was exhibited in about half of noise-exposed rats through 7 weeks post-exposure tested. Licking activity during narrowband sound trials remained unchanged following noise exposure, while ABR hearing thresholds fully recovered and were comparable between tinnitus(+) and tinnitus(-) rats. To assess another tinnitus inducer, rats were injected with sodium salicylate. They demonstrated high pitch tinnitus-like behavior, but later recovered by 5 days post-injection. Further control studies showed that 1): sham noise-exposed rats tested with footshock did not exhibit tinnitus-like behavior, and 2): noise-exposed or sham rats tested without footshocks showed no fundamental changes in behavior compared to those tested with shocks. Together, these results demonstrate that this paradigm can efficiently test the development of noise- and salicylate-induced tinnitus behavior. The ability to assess tinnitus individually, over time, and without averaging data enables us to realistically address tinnitus in a clinically relevant way. Thus, we believe that this optimized behavioral paradigm will facilitate investigations into the mechanisms of

Measurement properties of tools used to assess depression in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, S A; Bradley, L; Bowen, E; Wigham, S; Rodgers, J

2018-01-23

Depression is the most commonly experienced mental health condition in adults with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, it is unclear what tools are currently being used to assess depression in ASC, or whether tools need to be adapted for this group. This systematic review therefore aimed to identify tools used to assess depression in adults with and without ASC, and then evaluate these tools for their appropriateness and measurement properties. Medline, PsychINFO and Web of Knowledge were searched for studies of depression in: (a) adults with ASC, without co-morbid intellectual disability; and (b) adults from the general population without co-morbid conditions. Articles examining the measurement properties of these tools were then searched for using a methodological filter in PubMed, and the quality of the evidence was evaluated using the COSMIN checklist. Twelve articles were identified which utilized three tools to assess depression in adults with ASC, but only one article which assessed the measurement properties of one of these tools was identified and thus evaluated. Sixty-four articles were identified which utilized five tools to assess depression in general population adults, and fourteen articles had assessed the measurement properties of these tools. Overall, two tools were found to be robust in their measurement properties in the general population-the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Crucially only one study was identified from the COSMIN search, which showed weak evidence in support of the measurement properties of the BDI-II in an ASC sample. Implications for effective measurement of depression in ASC are discussed. Autism Res 2018. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Depression is the most common mental health problem experienced by adults with autism. However, the current study found very limited evidence

Health-related productivity losses increase when the health condition is co-morbid with psychological distress: findings from a large cross-sectional sample of working Australians.

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Libby; Scuffham, Paul A; Hilton, Michael F; Ware, Robert S; Vecchio, Nerina; Whiteford, Harvey A

2011-05-31

The health condition of workers is known to impact on productivity outcomes. The relationship between health and productivity is of increasing interest amid the need to increase productivity to meet global financial challenges. Prevalence of psychological distress is also of growing concern in Australia with a two-fold increase in the prevalence of psychological distress in Australia from 1997-2005. We used the cross-sectional data set from the Australian Work Outcomes Research Cost-benefit (WORC) study to explore the impacts of health conditions with and without co-morbid psychological distress, compared to those with neither condition, in a sample of approximately 78,000 working Australians. The World Health Organisation Health and Performance Questionnaire was used which provided data on demographic characteristics, health condition and working conditions. Data were analysed using negative binomial logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression models for absenteeism and presenteeism respectively. For both absenteeism and presenteeism productivity measures there was a greater risk of productivity loss associated when health conditions were co-morbid with psychological distress. For some conditions this risk was much greater for those with co-morbid psychological distress compared to those without. Co-morbid psychological distress demonstrates an increased risk of productivity loss for a range of health conditions. These findings highlight the need for further research to determine whether co-morbid psychological distress potentially exacerbates lost productivity.

Fear conditioning following a unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy: reduced autonomic responding and stimulus contingency knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Coppens, Evelien; van Paesschen, Wim; Vandenbulcke, Mathieu; Vansteenwegen, Debora

2010-03-01

Animal research demonstrated that during fear conditioning the amygdala plays a central role in forming an association between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US). Lesion studies conducted in patients who underwent a unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection, however; yielded contradictory findings. To date, it remains unclear whether amygdala damage only affects fear-conditioned startle responding or impairs both the latter and fear-conditioned skin conductance responding (SCR). Moreover inconsistency exists regarding the preservation of contingency knowledge in amygdala-damaged patients. In the current study, a differential fear conditioning task was presented to a unilaterally amygdala-damaged patient group and a healthy control group, recording fear-potentiated startle responses along with SCRs. Retrospectively, the valence of the CSs and contingency awareness was assessed. Unlike the control group, unilaterally amygdala-damaged patients showed neither in their SCRs nor in their valence ratings an effect of fear conditioning. The startle data, however, yielded in none of the two test groups fear-conditioned responding. Finally, considerably fewer patients (37.5%) than controls (95%) acquired correct memory of the presented contingency. Based on these findings we concluded that the fear conditioning impairment in amygdala-damaged patients was not restricted to SCRs, but also affected valence ratings and memory of the presented contingency. A broader theory of the amygdala as relevance detector is proposed in order to account for the diverse neurological findings obtained so far.

Real-time web-based assessment of total population risk of future emergency department utilization: statewide prospective active case finding study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Zhongkai; Jin, Bo; Shin, Andrew Y; Zhu, Chunqing; Zhao, Yifan; Hao, Shiying; Zheng, Le; Fu, Changlin; Wen, Qiaojun; Ji, Jun; Li, Zhen; Wang, Yong; Zheng, Xiaolin; Dai, Dorothy; Culver, Devore S; Alfreds, Shaun T; Rogow, Todd; Stearns, Frank; Sylvester, Karl G; Widen, Eric; Ling, Xuefeng B

2015-01-13

An easily accessible real-time Web-based utility to assess patient risks of future emergency department (ED) visits can help the health care provider guide the allocation of resources to better manage higher-risk patient populations and thereby reduce unnecessary use of EDs. Our main objective was to develop a Health Information Exchange-based, next 6-month ED risk surveillance system in the state of Maine. Data on electronic medical record (EMR) encounters integrated by HealthInfoNet (HIN), Maine's Health Information Exchange, were used to develop the Web-based surveillance system for a population ED future 6-month risk prediction. To model, a retrospective cohort of 829,641 patients with comprehensive clinical histories from January 1 to December 31, 2012 was used for training and then tested with a prospective cohort of 875,979 patients from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013. The multivariate statistical analysis identified 101 variables predictive of future defined 6-month risk of ED visit: 4 age groups, history of 8 different encounter types, history of 17 primary and 8 secondary diagnoses, 8 specific chronic diseases, 28 laboratory test results, history of 3 radiographic tests, and history of 25 outpatient prescription medications. The c-statistics for the retrospective and prospective cohorts were 0.739 and 0.732 respectively. Integration of our method into the HIN secure statewide data system in real time prospectively validated its performance. Cluster analysis in both the retrospective and prospective analyses revealed discrete subpopulations of high-risk patients, grouped around multiple "anchoring" demographics and chronic conditions. With the Web-based population risk-monitoring enterprise dashboards, the effectiveness of the active case finding algorithm has been validated by clinicians and caregivers in Maine. The active case finding model and associated real-time Web-based app were designed to track the evolving nature of total population risk, in a

Living under harsh conditions - finding your way as a public sector manager

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jørgen Gulddahl; Larsen, Mette Vinther

2014-01-01

Harsh conditions for executing management can be a sensible interpretation of the daily managerial work for many public sector managers. This is an argument we, based on teaching and research, rely on from talking with a considerable number of managers in Danish municipalities, regions, state, un...

"Broken windows": Relationship between neighborhood conditions and behavioral health among low-income African American adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Voisin, Dexter R; Kim, Dong Ha

2018-03-01

This study explored the association between neighborhood conditions and behavioral health among African American youth. Cross-sectional data were collected from 683 African American youth from low-income communities. Measures for demographics, neighborhood conditions (i.e. broken windows index), mental health, delinquency, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors were assessed. Major findings indicated that participants who reported poorer neighborhood conditions compared to those who lived in better living conditions were more likely to report higher rates of mental health problems, delinquency, substance use, and unsafe sexual behaviors. Environmental factors need to be considered when addressing the behavioral health of low-income African American youth.

The Intellectual Property Management Through Assessment of Intellectual Potential of Scientific Organization in Conditions of Knowledge Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomakh Viktoriia V.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at researching and improving the process of the intellectual property management through assessment of innovation potential of scientific organizations in the conditions of knowledge economy. Theoretical and methodical questions of management of innovation processes and methodical support to assessment of innovative potential were analyzed. A methodical support of assessment of innovation potential of scientific organizations has been proposed, which takes into consideration the following stages: description of goals and choice of indicators, development of work plan, definition of the necessary list of indicators of components of innovation potential, data collection, calculation and analysis of the obtained data for assessment, identification of «strong» and «weak» sides of enterprise, calculation of particular indicators and comparison with planned values, calculation of the integral index, adjustment of strategy for development of enterprise.

HEPATIC STEATOSIS ASSESSMENT: a comparative study between surgeon evaluation and forward histopathologic findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aline M. A. MARTINS

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Context Liver transplantation is one of the last viable resources for patients with end-stage liver disease. Many strategies are been used to improve the number of available organs and overcome waiting list delay. However, hepatic steatosis is one of the mainly concerns when organs are consider to transplantation due to it is importance as a risk factor for primary dysfunction. Surgeons play an important role to decide each organ will be accept or decline and its righteous allocation. Objective Retrospectively evaluate the surgeon assessment of steatosis degree and its confrontation with further histopathologic findings. Methods We analyzed 117 patients underwent deceased liver transplantation for end-stage liver disease in University Hospital Walter Cantideo, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. A matrix table was organized to estimate the categorical data observed. We clustered the subjects into mild (0%–30% and moderate (30%-60% steatosis degree under the clinical criteria of organ suitability for transplantation. We categorized the organs as suitable organ for transplant and as non-suitable organ for transplant. Evaluations between the two first assessments, before perfusion (pre-perfusion vs biopsy findings and after perfusion vs biopsy findings observations were analyzed and also a comparison between pre-perfusion and after perfusion data was performed. Results On the first assessment, we obtained a 93% of agreement (n = 109 between the two evaluations. On the second assessment, we had an 8% (n = 9 of mistaken allocation. Comparing the observation before (pre-perfusion and after (after perfusion, we obtained a strong agreement between the surgeons. Conclusions Although our experienced surgeon team, we have wrongly evaluated feasible organs for transplantation. Nonetheless, our faulty percentage is low comparing to worldwide percentage. Contexto O transplante ortotópico de fígado é considerado um dos últimos recursos terapêuticos viáveis para os

40 CFR 1508.13 - Finding of no significant impact.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... note any other environmental documents related to it (§ 1501.7(a)(5)). If the assessment is included, the finding need not repeat any of the discussion in the assessment but may incorporate it by... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Finding of no significant impact. 1508...

Comparative economic assessment of the energy performance of air-conditioning within the Mexican residential sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Oropeza-Perez

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This work shows a sensitivity analysis of the economic impact of different energy performances of air-conditioning within the Mexican housing sector. For this purpose, a cooling-load calculator program in function of the indoor temperature is developed. The program also calculates the electricity consumption along with the expenditure with the different residential rates of the Mexican Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE, initials in Spanish set according to the season of the year and zone of the country. After the results onto the national-scale scenario are validated with the literature, a sensitivity analysis is carried out by changing three parameters that are considered as influential on the consumption and which can be considered as energy saving strategies. With these strategies, it is found that the indoor temperature decrease due to the use of a passive cooling system is the most important characteristic to take into account followed by the coefficient of performance (COP of the air-conditioning and the increase of the comfort temperature set-point, respectively. Thereby, an economic analysis is carried out, finding an annual saving up to 770 USD within a single air-conditioned dwelling having a payback period of 3 years for using a combination of passive cooling techniques and increasing the comfort temperature set-point; or a 2 years payback period if the air-conditioning is changed by a high-efficient equipment.

An influence diagram for urban flood risk assessment through pluvial flood hazards under non-stationary conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Åström, Helena Lisa Alexandra; Friis Hansen, P.; Garrè, Luca

2014-01-01

Urban flooding introduces significant risk to society. Non-stationarity leads to increased uncertainty and this is challenging to include in actual decision-making. The primary objective of this study was to develop a risk assessment and decision support framework for pluvial urban flood risk under...... non-stationary conditions using an influence diagram (ID) which is a Bayesian network (BN) extended with decision and utility nodes. Non-stationarity is considered to be the influence of climate change where extreme precipitation patterns change over time. The overall risk is quantified in monetary...... terms expressed as expected annual damage. The network is dynamic in as much as it assesses risk at different points in time. The framework provides means for decision-makers to assess how different decisions on flood adaptation affect the risk now and in the future. The result from the ID was extended...

Radiologic findings of anthracofibrosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Mi Jin; Ko, Eun Joo; Yoon, Sook Ja; Tien, Kuang Lung; Yoon, Yong Kyu; Lee, Kyung Soo; Kim, Jin Hwan

1998-01-01

To evaluate the CT findings of bronchial anthracofibrosis. Fourteen patients with bronchoscopically confirmed anthracofibrosis were involved in this study. CT findings (n=3D12) were retrospectively analysed; the pattern, distri-bution and extent of bronchial and parenchymal abnormalities and additional findings such as mediastinal lymphadenopathy and pleural effusion were assessed. Age, sex, and occupational and disease history were history were also reviewed. Patients were aged between 63 and 95 (mean, 71.3) years, and ten were female. Only one patient had an occupational history, but four had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis. Frequent radiologic findings were bronchial wall thickening(n=3D6), atelectasis(n=3D8), mediastinal lymphad-enopathy(n=3D7) and mass(n=3D4). Other accompanying findings were bronchial wall calcification(n=3D3), consolidation(n=3D2) and pleural effusion(n=3D2). Right upper (n=3D7) and right middle lobe(n=3D7) were the most commonly involved sites, and multifocal involvement (n=3D7) was frequent. Bronchial wall thickening, atelectasis and mediastinal lymphadenopathy were characteristic CT findings of anthracofibrosis. When such findings are noted in older or aged female patients, anthracofibrosis should be included in the differential diagnosis

Online adaptive learning of Left-Right Continuous HMM for bearings condition assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cartella, F; Liu, T; Meganck, S; Lemeire, J; Sahli, H

2012-01-01

Standard Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) approaches used for condition assessment of bearings assume that all the possible system states are fixed and known a priori and that training data from all of the associated states are available. Moreover, the training procedure is performed offline, and only once at the beginning, with the available training set. These assumptions significantly impede component diagnosis applications when all of the possible states of the system are not known in advance or environmental factors or operative conditions change during the tool's usage. The method introduced in this paper overcomes the above limitations and proposes an approach to detect unknown degradation modalities using a Left-Right Continuous HMM with a variable state space. The proposed HMM is combined with Change Point Detection algorithms to (i) estimate, from historical observations, the initial number of the model's states, as well as to perform an initial guess of the parameters, and (ii) to adaptively recognize new states and, consequently, adjust the model parameters during monitoring. The approach has been tested using real monitoring data taken from the NASA benchmark repository. A comparative study with state of the art techniques shows improvements in terms of reduction of the training procedure iterations, and early detection of unknown states.

Plant habitability assessment for Point Lepreau Generating Station during a severe accident resulting from station blackout conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullin, D.

2015-01-01

In response to the CNSC Fukushima Action Plan, the CANDU Owners Group (COG) developed a methodology for assessing nuclear power plant habitability under Joint Project 4426 and to determine if any improvement actions are necessary to provide a high degree of assurance that a severe accident can be managed from a human and organizational performance perspective. NB Power has applied the methodology considering a station black-out scenario (representative case), and assessed the effects of non-radiological hazards and radiological hazards in the context of operator dose relative to emergency dose limits. The paper will discuss the overall methodology, findings and recommendations. (author)

Plant habitability assessment for Point Lepreau Generating Station during a severe accident resulting from station blackout conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mullin, D., E-mail: dmullin@nbpower.com [New Brunswick Power Corporation, Point Lepreau Generating Station, Lepreau, NB (Canada)

2015-07-01

In response to the CNSC Fukushima Action Plan, the CANDU Owners Group (COG) developed a methodology for assessing nuclear power plant habitability under Joint Project 4426 and to determine if any improvement actions are necessary to provide a high degree of assurance that a severe accident can be managed from a human and organizational performance perspective. NB Power has applied the methodology considering a station black-out scenario (representative case), and assessed the effects of non-radiological hazards and radiological hazards in the context of operator dose relative to emergency dose limits. The paper will discuss the overall methodology, findings and recommendations. (author)

Food for thought: Conditions for discourse reflection in the light of environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Runhaar, Hens; Runhaar, Piety R.; Oegema, Tammo

2010-01-01

People tend to take notice of what is happening around them selectively. Discourses-frames through which actors give meaning to aspects of the world-act as built-in filters that distinguish relevant from irrelevant data. Use of knowledge generated by environmental assessments (EAs) in decision-making may be understood from this perspective. Environmental knowledge that is inconsistent with dominant discourses runs the risk of being ignored. Discourses on the value of EA as a tool for decision-making may have a similar effect. Stimulating decision-makers and stakeholders to critically reflect on and reconsider their discourses in the light of EAs-also known as frame reflection or policy learning-may enhance the probability that these assessments and the knowledge that they generate impact upon decision-making. Up to now little has been written about how discourse reflection in the context of EA can be promoted. Valuable inputs are fragmented over different bodies of literature. In this paper we draw from these bodies to identify favourable conditions for discourse reflection.

[HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT OF WORKING CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OF EMPLOYEES OF THE "SIBERIAN LIFT CO., LTD."].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodkin, V P; Usatov, A N

2015-01-01

There was carried out a hygienic assessment of the working conditions and health of employees of the "Siberian Lift Co., Ltd.". When studying occupational factors on workplaces intensity, the temperature radiation, natural and artificial lighting, and also the content of chemicals they were revealed to fail to answer to the hygienic specifications. It is established that in 82% of employees the class of working conditions was detected as admissible (2) and in 18%--harmful (3.1 and 3.2). Results of the performed periodic medical examination of employees of the "Siberian Lift Co., Ltd.". It is testified that 6.14% out of them are persistently unfit of the work with harmful and (or) dangerous substances and occupational factors also. 4.68% of employees demand an additional examination. 11,70% of workers need for out-patient examination and treatment. Sanatorium treatment is required for 1 (0.29%) the person. 4,68% of employees of the "Siberian Lift Co., Ltd." need dispensary supervision. There are suggested measures for the improvement of working conditions and health of the employees.

Symmetric imaging findings in neuroradiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zlatareva, D.

2015-01-01

Full text: Learning objectives: to make a list of diseases and syndromes which manifest as bilateral symmetric findings on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging; to discuss the clinical and radiological differential diagnosis for these diseases; to explain which of these conditions necessitates urgent therapy and when additional studies and laboratory can precise diagnosis. There is symmetry in human body and quite often we compare the affected side to the normal one but in neuroradiology we might have bilateral findings which affected pair structures or corresponding anatomic areas. It is very rare when clinical data prompt diagnosis. Usually clinicians suspect such an involvement but Ct and MRI can reveal symmetric changes and are one of the leading diagnostic tool. The most common location of bilateral findings is basal ganglia and thalamus. There are a number of diseases affecting these structures symmetrically: metabolic and systemic diseases, intoxication, neurodegeneration and vascular conditions, toxoplasmosis, tumors and some infections. Malformations of cortical development and especially bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria requires not only exact report on the most affected parts but in some cases genetic tests or combination with other clinical symptoms. In the case of herpes simplex encephalitis bilateral temporal involvement is common and this finding very often prompt therapy even before laboratory results. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PReS) and some forms of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy can lead to symmetric changes. In these acute conditions MR plays a crucial role not only in diagnosis but also in monitoring of the therapeutic effect. Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 or type 2 can demonstrate bilateral optic glioma combined with spinal neurofibroma and bilateral acoustic schwanoma respectively. Mirror-image aneurysm affecting both internal carotid or middle cerebral arteries is an example of symmetry in

Assessment of Abdominal Pain in School-Age Children

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, Polly Gerber

2003-01-01

Pediatric abdominal pain can be a difficult condition to accurately assess for the nurse to determine whether the child's need is for teaching, treating, or transferring. This article describes the process as well as practical tips to be used by the nurse in the school setting. Distinguishing characteristics and findings, including key physical…

Rock Strength Anisotropy in High Stress Conditions: A Case Study for Application to Shaft Stability Assessments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Watson Julian Matthew

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Although rock strength anisotropy is a well-known phenomenon in rock mechanics, its impact on geotechnical design is often ignored or underestimated. This paper explores the concept of anisotropy in a high stress environment using an improved unified constitutive model (IUCM, which can account for more complex failure mechanisms. The IUCM is used to better understand the typical responses of anisotropic rocks to underground mining. This study applies the IUCM to a proposed rock shaft located in high stress/anisotropic conditions. Results suggest that the effect of rock strength anisotropy must be taken into consideration when assessing the rock mass response to mining in high stress and anisotropic rock conditions.

An application of a hydraulic model simulator in flood risk assessment under changing climatic conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Doroszkiewicz, J. M.; Romanowicz, R. J.

2016-12-01

The standard procedure of climate change impact assessment on future hydrological extremes consists of a chain of consecutive actions, starting from the choice of GCM driven by an assumed CO2 scenario, through downscaling of climatic forcing to a catchment scale, estimation of hydrological extreme indices using hydrological modelling tools and subsequent derivation of flood risk maps with the help of a hydraulic model. Among many possible sources of uncertainty, the main are the uncertainties related to future climate scenarios, climate models, downscaling techniques and hydrological and hydraulic models. Unfortunately, we cannot directly assess the impact of these different sources of uncertainties on flood risk in future due to lack of observations of future climate realizations. The aim of this study is an assessment of a relative impact of different sources of uncertainty on the uncertainty of flood risk maps. Due to the complexity of the processes involved, an assessment of total uncertainty of maps of inundation probability might be very computer time consuming. As a way forward we present an application of a hydraulic model simulator based on a nonlinear transfer function model for the chosen locations along the river reach. The transfer function model parameters are estimated based on the simulations of the hydraulic model at each of the model cross-sections. The study shows that the application of a simulator substantially reduces the computer requirements related to the derivation of flood risk maps under future climatic conditions. Biala Tarnowska catchment, situated in southern Poland is used as a case study. Future discharges at the input to a hydraulic model are obtained using the HBV model and climate projections obtained from the EUROCORDEX project. The study describes a cascade of uncertainty related to different stages of the process of derivation of flood risk maps under changing climate conditions. In this context it takes into account the

Health-related productivity losses increase when the health condition is co-morbid with psychological distress: findings from a large cross-sectional sample of working Australians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vecchio Nerina

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The health condition of workers is known to impact on productivity outcomes. The relationship between health and productivity is of increasing interest amid the need to increase productivity to meet global financial challenges. Prevalence of psychological distress is also of growing concern in Australia with a two-fold increase in the prevalence of psychological distress in Australia from 1997-2005. Methods We used the cross-sectional data set from the Australian Work Outcomes Research Cost-benefit (WORC study to explore the impacts of health conditions with and without co-morbid psychological distress, compared to those with neither condition, in a sample of approximately 78,000 working Australians. The World Health Organisation Health and Performance Questionnaire was used which provided data on demographic characteristics, health condition and working conditions. Data were analysed using negative binomial logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression models for absenteeism and presenteeism respectively. Results For both absenteeism and presenteeism productivity measures there was a greater risk of productivity loss associated when health conditions were co-morbid with psychological distress. For some conditions this risk was much greater for those with co-morbid psychological distress compared to those without. Conclusions Co-morbid psychological distress demonstrates an increased risk of productivity loss for a range of health conditions. These findings highlight the need for further research to determine whether co-morbid psychological distress potentially exacerbates lost productivity.

MRI brain findings in ephedrone encephalopathy associated with manganese abuse: Single-center perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poniatowska, Renata; Lusawa, Małgorzata; Skierczyńska, Agnieszka; Makowicz, Grzegorz; Habrat, Bogusław; Sienkiewicz-Jarosz, Halina

2014-01-01

Manganese (Mn) is a well-known toxic agent causing symptoms of parkinsonism in employees of certain branches of industry. Home production of a psychostimulant ephedrone (methcathinone), involving the use of potassium permanganate, became a new cause of intoxications in Poland. This article presents clinical symptoms, initial brain MRI findings and characteristics of changes observed in follow-up examinations in 4 patients with manganese intoxication associated with intravenous administration of ephedrone. All patients in our case series presented symptoms of parkinsonism. T1-WI MRI revealed high intensity signal in globi pallidi in all patients; hyperintense lesions in midbrain were observed in three patients, while lesions located in cerebellar hemispheres and pituitary gland in just one patient. The reduction of signal intensity in the affected brain structures was observed in follow-up studies, with no significant improvement in clinical symptoms. Brain MRI is helpful in the assessment of distribution as well as dynamics of changes in ephedrone encephalopathy. Regression of signal intensity changes visible in brain MRI is not associated with clinical condition improvement. Although brain MRI findings are not characteristic for ephedrone encephalopathy, they may contribute to diagnosing this condition

Failure assessment of pressure vessels under yielding conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R.P.; Darlaston, B.J.L.; Townley, C.H.A.

1977-01-01

The paper summarizes the work carried out to establish the behavior of structures containing defects and outlines a failure assessment route which can be used to assess the integrity of a structure containing a defect. The basis for this failure assessment route is the two-criteria approach of Dowling and Townley, which can be applied to structures containing defects irrespective of whether they are in the linear elastic fracture mechanics regime, the fully plastic regime, or in an intermediate regime. The extension of this concept to include crack growth by stable tearing is dealt with in the paper

Offshore Resource Assessment and Design Conditions: A Data Requirements and Gaps Analysis for Offshore Renewable Energy Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, Dennis [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Frame, Caitlin [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Gill, Carrie [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Hanson, Howard [Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton, FL (United States); Moriarty, Patrick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Powell, Mark [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Shaw, William J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Wilczak, Jim [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Wynne, Jason [Energetics, Columbia, MD (United States)

2012-03-01

The offshore renewable energy industry requires accurate meteorological and oceanographic (“metocean”) data for evaluating the energy potential, economic viability, and engineering requirements of offshore renewable energy projects. It is generally recognized that currently available metocean data, instrumentation, and models are not adequate to meet all of the stakeholder needs on a national scale. Conducting wind and wave resource assessments and establishing load design conditions requires both interagency collaboration as well as valuable input from experts in industry and academia. Under the Department of Energy and Department of Interior Memorandum of Understanding, the Resource Assessment and Design Condition initiative supports collaborative national efforts by adding to core atmospheric and marine science knowledge relevant to offshore energy development. Such efforts include a more thorough understanding and data collection of key metocean phenomena such as wind velocity and shear; low-level jets; ocean, tidal, and current velocities; wave characteristics; geotechnical data relating to surface and subsurface characteristics; seasonal and diurnal variations; and the interaction among these conditions. Figure 1 presents a graphical representation of some metocean phenomena that can impact offshore energy systems. This document outlines the metocean observations currently available; those that are not available; and those that require additional temporal-spatial coverage, resolution, or processing for offshore energy in an effort to gather agreed-upon, needed observations.

Superior labrum anterior to posterior lesion type II with accompanied findings: assessment of shoulder MR arthrographic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sun Young; Chun, Kyung Ah; Kwon, Oh Soo; Kim, Ki Tae

2006-01-01

To describe the pattern of various shoulder abnormalities with an associated superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion type II using magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography, and to assess the clinical significance of the associated abnormalities. A retrospective review of the MR arthrographic findings of 92 cases of a shoulder with an arthroscopically confirmed SLAP lesion type II was performed. The MR arthrography images were reviewed and analyzed. MR arthrographic analysis noted the presence of a rotator cuff abnormality, acromioclavicular arthritis, adhesive capsulitis, glenohumeral arthritis, a labral abnormality besides the SLAP lesion, and a paralabral cyst. The patients with SLAP lesions were divided into two age groups: those over 40 years of age and those forty years old or younger. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of age on the various shoulder abnormalities with associated SLAP lesion. Of the 92 SLAP lesions type II, there were 7 cases (8%) of isolated SLAP lesions without any associated any shoulder abnormality. Eighty-five (92%) SLAP lesions were associated with various shoulder abnormalities including rotator cuff tendinosis (30/92, 33%), partial-thickness tear (36/92, 39%), full-thickness tear (2/92, 2%), acromioclavicular arthritis (46/92, 50%), adhesive capsulitis (7/92, 8%), glenohumeral arthritis (15/92, 16%), labral abnormality (26/92, 28%) and paralabral cyst (7/92, 8%). The SLAP lesions (60/92, 65%) in patients over forty years of age were accompanied by a significantly high number of rotator cuff abnormalities (ρ < 0.001), glenohumeral osteoarthritis (ρ = 0.001), and acromioclavicular osteoarthritis (ρ < 0.001). In contrast, the SLAP lesions (32/92, 35%) in patients forty years old or younger had a significantly high number of anterior or posterior labral lesions (ρ < 0.001). Isolated SLAP lesions type II without other associated shoulder abnormalities are uncommon, and the age of the patient influences

Superior labrum anterior to posterior lesion type II with accompanied findings: assessment of shoulder MR arthrographic findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Sun Young; Chun, Kyung Ah; Kwon, Oh Soo; Kim, Ki Tae [The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu St. Mary' s Hospital, Uijeongbu (Korea, Republic of)

2006-12-15

To describe the pattern of various shoulder abnormalities with an associated superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion type II using magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography, and to assess the clinical significance of the associated abnormalities. A retrospective review of the MR arthrographic findings of 92 cases of a shoulder with an arthroscopically confirmed SLAP lesion type II was performed. The MR arthrography images were reviewed and analyzed. MR arthrographic analysis noted the presence of a rotator cuff abnormality, acromioclavicular arthritis, adhesive capsulitis, glenohumeral arthritis, a labral abnormality besides the SLAP lesion, and a paralabral cyst. The patients with SLAP lesions were divided into two age groups: those over 40 years of age and those forty years old or younger. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of age on the various shoulder abnormalities with associated SLAP lesion. Of the 92 SLAP lesions type II, there were 7 cases (8%) of isolated SLAP lesions without any associated any shoulder abnormality. Eighty-five (92%) SLAP lesions were associated with various shoulder abnormalities including rotator cuff tendinosis (30/92, 33%), partial-thickness tear (36/92, 39%), full-thickness tear (2/92, 2%), acromioclavicular arthritis (46/92, 50%), adhesive capsulitis (7/92, 8%), glenohumeral arthritis (15/92, 16%), labral abnormality (26/92, 28%) and paralabral cyst (7/92, 8%). The SLAP lesions (60/92, 65%) in patients over forty years of age were accompanied by a significantly high number of rotator cuff abnormalities ({rho} < 0.001), glenohumeral osteoarthritis ({rho} = 0.001), and acromioclavicular osteoarthritis ({rho} < 0.001). In contrast, the SLAP lesions (32/92, 35%) in patients forty years old or younger had a significantly high number of anterior or posterior labral lesions ({rho} < 0.001). Isolated SLAP lesions type II without other associated shoulder abnormalities are uncommon, and the age of the patient

Evaluative Conditioning with Facial Stimuli in Dementia Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Blessing, Andreas; Zöllig, Jacqueline; Weierstall, Roland; Dammann, Gerhard; Martin, Mike

2013-01-01

We present results of a study investigating evaluative learning in dementia patients with a classic evaluative conditioning paradigm. Picture pairs of three unfamiliar faces with liked, disliked, or neutral faces, that were rated prior to the presentation, were presented 10 times each to a group of dementia patients (N = 15) and healthy controls (N = 14) in random order. Valence ratings of all faces were assessed before and after presentation. In contrast to controls, dementia patients changed their valence ratings of unfamiliar faces according to their pairing with either a liked or disliked face, although they were not able to explicitly assign the picture pairs after the presentation. Our finding suggests preserved evaluative conditioning in dementia patients. However, the result has to be considered preliminary, as it is unclear which factors prevented the predicted rating changes in the expected direction in the control group.

Safe use of mine winding ropes, volume 4: studies towards a code of practice for rope condition assessment.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Borrello, M

1996-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this investigation was the verification of the code of Practice for Rope Condition Assessment. Ropes were meant to be discarded according to the discard criteria as outlined in the code and then tested by the CSIR. The results...

Assessment of Dust Emission and Working Conditions in the Bamboo and Wooden Furniture Industries in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jegatheswaran Ratnasingam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available A study was carried out to assess the dust emission and working conditions in the bamboo and rubberwood furniture manufacturing industries in Malaysia. The emission of wood dust arising from these industries was measured in each main work station in the mills. Meanwhile, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 5900 workers in 45 companies to obtain information on the occupational accidents that occurred in the mills. The data were collected, compiled, and analyzed using the SPSS package. The highest dust emission from the sanding operation resulted in respiratory ailments among workers. The occurrence of injuries particularly to the hand, wrist, fingers and forearm was due to the prevailing working conditions, safety climate and workers characteristics. The dust exposure levels and working conditions were much more severe in the bamboo furniture manufacturing industry. As a result, a review of existing of dust exposure levels in the woodworking industry is warranted.

Permanent deformation and deflection relationship from pavement condition assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabricio Leiva-Villacorta

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The development of permanent deformation in flexible pavements has been a research topic for several decades. Currently there are models included in the structural design of pavements that can predict this type of failure. However, the variables required for the prediction of this distress are complex or difficult to obtain in the field, making its application in pavement evaluation also difficult. Measurement of the deflection of pavement structures by means of non-destructive testing is a technique used to assess the condition of the pavement. This research study seeks to correlate data from deflections of the pavement surface with probable permanent deformation in time. In addition, prediction of the remaining life of the pavement structure using a specified criterion is also analyzed. In order to accomplish these objectives, data acquired from 4 different full scale accelerated pavement test tracks was used to develop a permanent deformation model as a function of deflection, load repetitions and pavement layer thickness. The developed model considered a time series model that incorporates an Auto-regressive parameter of order 1. The proposed model presents an advantage over currently available models because it reduces the required parameters to predict the permanent deformation and/or remaining life in the structure and because these variables can be easily found and updated in a pavement management system. Keywords: HVS, Permanent deformation, Deflections, APT, Time series, Instrumentation

A novel attention training paradigm based on operant conditioning of eye gaze: Preliminary findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Rebecca B; Greven, Inez M; Siegle, Greg J; Koster, Ernst H W; De Raedt, Rudi

2016-02-01

Inability to engage with positive stimuli is a widespread problem associated with negative mood states across many conditions, from low self-esteem to anhedonic depression. Though attention retraining procedures have shown promise as interventions in some clinical populations, novel procedures may be necessary to reliably attenuate chronic negative mood in refractory clinical populations (e.g., clinical depression) through, for example, more active, adaptive learning processes. In addition, a focus on individual difference variables predicting intervention outcome may improve the ability to provide such targeted interventions efficiently. To provide preliminary proof-of-principle, we tested a novel paradigm using operant conditioning to train eye gaze patterns toward happy faces. Thirty-two healthy undergraduates were randomized to receive operant conditioning of eye gaze toward happy faces (train-happy) or neutral faces (train-neutral). At the group level, the train-happy condition attenuated sad mood increases following a stressful task, in comparison to train-neutral. In individual differences analysis, greater physiological reactivity (pupil dilation) in response to happy faces (during an emotional face-search task at baseline) predicted decreased mood reactivity after stress. These Preliminary results suggest that operant conditioning of eye gaze toward happy faces buffers against stress-induced effects on mood, particularly in individuals who show sufficient baseline neural engagement with happy faces. Eye gaze patterns to emotional face arrays may have a causal relationship with mood reactivity. Personalized medicine research in depression may benefit from novel cognitive training paradigms that shape eye gaze patterns through feedback. Baseline neural function (pupil dilation) may be a key mechanism, aiding in iterative refinement of this approach. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Condition Assessment of Paper Insulation in Oil-Immersed Power Transformers Based on the Iterative Inversion of Resistivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangjun Ruan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The resistivity of oil impregnated paper will decrease during its aging process. This paper takes paper resistivity as an assessment index to evaluate the insulation condition of oil impregnated paper in power transformer. The feasibility of this method are discussed in two aspects: reliability and sensitivity. Iterative inversion of paper resistivity was combined with finite element simulation. Both the bisection method and Newton’s method were used as iterative methods. After the analysis and comparison, Newton’s method was selected as the first option of paper resistivity iteration for its faster convergence. In order to consider the spatial distribution characteristic of paper aging and enhance the calculation accuracy, the resistivity calculation is expanded to a multivariate iteration based on Newton’s method, in order to consider the spatial distribution characteristic of paper aging and improve the calculation accuracy. This paper presents an exploratory research on condition assessment of oil impregnated paper insulation, and provides some reference to the security and economy operation of power transformers.

Normal and pathological findings for the facial nerve on magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Noury, K.; Lotfy, A.

2011-01-01

Aim: To demonstrate the enhanced radiological anatomy and common pathological conditions of the facial nerve by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and methods: A retrospective review of the MRI findings of the facial nerve of 146 patients who visited a tertiary academic referral center was conducted. Results: The radiological anatomy of the facial nerve was well illustrated using MRI, as were most of the common pathological conditions of the facial nerve. Conclusions: Enhancement of the facial nerve in MRI should be correlated with the clinical data. Normal individuals can show enhancement of the tympanic or vertical segments of the facial nerve. Enhancement of the labyrinthine portion of the nerve is almost diagnostic of Bell's palsy. No specific enhancement patterns were observed for tumours or for infections of the middle or external ear. A larger population study is required for the accurate assessment of facial nerve enhancement in multiple sclerosis patients.

Safety/security interface assessments at commercial nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byers, K.R.; Brown, P.J.; Norderhaug, L.R.

1985-01-01

The findings of the Haynes Task Force Committee (NUREG-0992) are used as the basis for defining safety/security assessment team activities at commercial nuclear power plants in NRC Region V. A safety/security interface assessment outline and the approach used for making the assessments are presented along with the composition of team members. As a result of observing simulated plant emergency conditions during scheduled emergency preparedness exercises, examining security and operational response procedures, and interviewing plant personnel, the team has identified instances where safety/security conflicts can occur

Safety/security interface assessments at commercial nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byers, K.R.; Brown, P.J.; Norderhaug, L.R.

1985-07-01

The findings of the Haynes Task Force Committee (NUREG-0992) are used as the basis for defining safety/security assessment team activities at commercial nuclear power plants in NRC Region V. A safety/security interface assessment outline and the approach used for making the assessments are presented along with the composition of team members. As a result of observing simulated plant emergency conditions during scheduled emergency preparedness exercises, examining security and operational response procedures, and interviewing plant personnel, the team has identified instances where safety/security conflicts can occur. 2 refs

Climate change: Recent findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hesselmans, G.H.F.M.

1993-08-01

In the late eighties several reports have been published on climate change and sea level rise. In the meantime insights may have changed due to the availability of better and more observations and/or more advanced climate models. The aim of this report is to present the most recent findings with respect to climate change, in particular of sea level rise, storm surges and river peak flows. These climate factors are important for the safety of low-lying areas with respect to coastal erosion and flooding. In the first chapters a short review is presented of a few of the eighties reports. Furthermore, the predictions by state of the art climate models at that time are given. The reports from the eighties should be considered as 'old' information, whereas the IPCC supplement and work, for example, by Wigley should be considered as new information. To assess the latest findings two experts in this field were interviewed: dr J. Oerlemans and dr C.J.E. Schuurmans, a climate expert from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). Their views are presented together with results published in recent papers on the subject. On the basis of this assessment, the report presents current knowledge regarding predictions of climate change (including sea-level rise) over the next century, together with an assessment of the uncertainties associated with these predictions. 14 figs., 11 tabs., 24 refs

Pneumatosis intestinalis: CT findings and clinical features

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hye Lin; Lee, Hae Kyung; Park, Seong Jin; Yi, Boem Ha; Ko, Bong Min; Hong, Hyun Sook; Paik, Sang Hyun [Soonchunhyang University Hospital Bucheon, Bucheon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-02-15

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the CT findings and clinical features of patients with pneumatosis intestinalis. From January 2001 to October 2007, 15 patients with pneumatosis intestinalis were diagnosed by the use of CT. We analyzed the clinical features and CT findings to assess the involvement site, the presence of portal and mesenteric vein gas, and the existence of accompanied ischemic change. Of the 15 patients, five patients had end stage renal disease (33.3%), two patients underwent a gastrectomy, one patient underwent a laminectomy, one patient had tuberculous enteritis, one patient had lung cancer and one patient had pneumonia. Four patients presented with no specific disease. There was portal or mesenteric venous gas in six cases, and strangulation or an ischemic change of the bowel in five cases. Otherwise, pneumatosis intestinalis was associated with hydropneumoperitoneum in two cases, pneumoperitoneum in one case and a single case of perforated appendicitis. Nine patients underwent surgery for ischemic change of the bowel, pneumoperitoneum, appendicitis, and a clinical sign of panperitonitis. Among the remaining six patients, three patients recovered and were discharged, and three patients expired during progression of the disease. End stage renal disease is the most common condition associated with pneumatosis intestinalis. The presence of portomesenteric venous gas, ischemic change of the bowel, and linear pneumatosis intestinalis are indicative of a poor prognosis.

Crouzon syndrome associated with acanthosis nigricans: prenatal 2D and 3D ultrasound findings and postnatal 3D CT findings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, P.; Hagen, CP; Hove, H.

2012-01-01

Crouzon syndrome with acanthosis nigricans (CAN) is a very rare condition with an approximate prevalence of 1 per 1 million newborns. We add the first report on prenatal 2D and 3D ultrasound findings in CAN. In addition we present the postnatal 3D CT findings. The diagnosis was confirmed...

Imaging findings of juvenile xanthogranuloma of the penis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradford, Ray K. [Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA (United States); Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA (United States); Choudhary, Arabinda K. [Hershey Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Hershey, PA (United States)

2009-02-15

Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rare benign self-limiting lesion presenting in early childhood. It is the commonest variant of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis and usually presents as a cutaneous mass. It might have a systemic component and also might be associated with other conditions, notably neurofibromatosis and juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia. Penile masses are unusual in childhood and we describe a case of JXG involving the penis. Although four cases of JXG of the penis have been reported in the literature, this is the first with imaging of the penile lesion. We discuss the clinical and radiological findings, differential diagnosis and management of these cases. High awareness of these lesions in the differential diagnosis of penile masses presenting in early childhood is important to avoid potentially unnecessary ablative genital surgery. Careful assessment should also be made for any systemic involvement and for associated pathologies. (orig.)

Imaging findings of juvenile xanthogranuloma of the penis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradford, Ray K.; Choudhary, Arabinda K.

2009-01-01

Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rare benign self-limiting lesion presenting in early childhood. It is the commonest variant of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis and usually presents as a cutaneous mass. It might have a systemic component and also might be associated with other conditions, notably neurofibromatosis and juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia. Penile masses are unusual in childhood and we describe a case of JXG involving the penis. Although four cases of JXG of the penis have been reported in the literature, this is the first with imaging of the penile lesion. We discuss the clinical and radiological findings, differential diagnosis and management of these cases. High awareness of these lesions in the differential diagnosis of penile masses presenting in early childhood is important to avoid potentially unnecessary ablative genital surgery. Careful assessment should also be made for any systemic involvement and for associated pathologies. (orig.)

Trends in a Life Threatening Condition: Morbid Obesity in Dutch, Turkish and Moroccan Children in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dommelen, P. van; Schönbeck, Y.; Buuren, S. van; Hirasing, R.

2014-01-01

Background: Morbid obesity can be a life threatening condition. The aim of our study is to assess the trend in morbid obesity in The Netherlands among children of Dutch origin since 1980, and among children of Turkish and Moroccan origin since 1997. Methods and Findings: Cross-sectional height and

Trends in a life threatening condition : Morbid obesity in Dutch, Turkish and Moroccan children in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Dommelen, Paula; Schönbeck, Yvonne; Van Buuren, Stef; HiraSing, Remy A.

2014-01-01

Background: Morbid obesity can be a life threatening condition. The aim of our study is to assess the trend in morbid obesity in The Netherlands among children of Dutch origin since 1980, and among children of Turkish and Moroccan origin since 1997. Methods and Findings: Cross-sectional height and

MRI findings in the patients with the presumptive clinical diagnosis of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cakirer, Sinan [Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section, Istanbul Sisli Etfal Hospital, 81120 Istanbul (Turkey)

2003-01-01

The aim of this study was to present our experience in MRI diagnosis of 23 patients with the clinical findings suggesting Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS). Cranial MRI studies of the patients with a clinical history of at least one episode of unilateral or bilateral orbital and periorbital pain, and associated paresis of one or more of third to sixth cranial nerves, were performed on a 1.5-T MRI scanner. Whereas 5 patients had the diagnosis of THS, paracavernous meningiomas in 4 patients, pituitary macroadenomas with cavernous sinus infiltration in 3 patients, Meckel's cave neurinoma in 1 patient, and suprasellar epidermoid in 1 patient were surgically proven MRI findings. Other pathological MRI findings were leptomeningeal metastases in 3 patients, granulomatous pachymeningitis sequelae in 2 patients, and aneurysm with compression on cavernous sinus in 1 patient. Three patients had normal MRI findings. The incidence of radiologically proven diagnosis of THS among the patients with the clinical findings suggesting THS seemed to be low in our study. In conclusion, MRI is the most valuable imaging technique to distinguish THS from other THS-like entities, and permits a precise assessment, management, and therapeutic planning of the underlying pathological conditions. (orig.)

Development of a methodology for conducting an integrated HRA/PRA --. Task 1, An assessment of human reliability influences during LP&S conditions PWRs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luckas, W.J.; Barriere, M.T.; Brown, W.S. [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States); Wreathall, J. [Wreathall (John) and Co., Dublin, OH (United States); Cooper, S.E. [Science Applications International Corp., McLean, VA (United States)

1993-06-01

During Low Power and Shutdown (LP&S) conditions in a nuclear power plant (i.e., when the reactor is subcritical or at less than 10--15% power), human interactions with the plant`s systems will be more frequent and more direct. Control is typically not mediated by automation, and there are fewer protective systems available. Therefore, an assessment of LP&S related risk should include a greater emphasis on human reliability than such an assessment made for power operation conditions. In order to properly account for the increase in human interaction and thus be able to perform a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) applicable to operations during LP&S, it is important that a comprehensive human reliability assessment (HRA) methodology be developed and integrated into the LP&S PRA. The tasks comprising the comprehensive HRA methodology development are as follows: (1) identification of the human reliability related influences and associated human actions during LP&S, (2) identification of potentially important LP&S related human actions and appropriate HRA framework and quantification methods, and (3) incorporation and coordination of methodology development with other integrated PRA/HRA efforts. This paper describes the first task, i.e., the assessment of human reliability influences and any associated human actions during LP&S conditions for a pressurized water reactor (PWR).

Athletic pubalgia and "sports hernia": optimal MR imaging technique and findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Omar, Imran M; Zoga, Adam C; Kavanagh, Eoin C; Koulouris, George; Bergin, Diane; Gopez, Angela G; Morrison, William B; Meyers, William C

2008-01-01

Groin injuries are common in athletes who participate in sports that require twisting at the waist, sudden and sharp changes in direction, and side-to-side ambulation. Such injuries frequently lead to debilitating pain and lost playing time, and they may be difficult to diagnose. Diagnostic confusion often arises from the complex anatomy and biomechanics of the pubic symphysis region, the large number of potential sources of groin pain, and the similarity of symptoms in athletes with different types or sites of injury. Many athletes with a diagnosis of "sports hernia" or "athletic pubalgia" have a spectrum of related pathologic conditions resulting from musculotendinous injuries and subsequent instability of the pubic symphysis without any finding of inguinal hernia at physical examination. The actual causal mechanisms of athletic pubalgia are poorly understood, and imaging studies have been deemed inadequate or unhelpful for clarification. However, a large-field-of-view magnetic resonance (MR) imaging survey of the pelvis, combined with high-resolution MR imaging of the pubic symphysis, is an excellent means of assessing various causes of athletic pubalgia, providing information about the location of injury, and delineating the severity of disease. Familiarity with the pubic anatomy and with MR imaging findings in athletic pubalgia and in other confounding causes of groin pain allows accurate imaging-based diagnoses and helps in planning treatment that targets specific pathologic conditions. (c) RSNA, 2008.

An assessment of the relationships between overweight, obesity, related chronic health conditions and worker absenteeism.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Jeffrey T; Potter, Lloyd B

2014-01-01

Worker absenteeism is an important area of study within the field of occupational health. Prior studies have linked the presence of obesity to higher rates of absenteeism, but have not examined whether or not the relationship is moderated by the presence of other chronic health conditions or whether or not the relationships have been stable over time. Data from the 2000 and 2010 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative sample of the US population, were analyzed to determine the extent to which the presence of 5 obesity-related chronic health conditions moderates the relationship between overweight/obesity and worker absenteeism, and whether or not these relationships are stable over time. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationships between overweight/obesity, the obesity-related chronic health conditions and worker absenteeism, while controlling for demographic, socio-economic, occupational, health related and behavioral variables. The findings suggest that obesity (p absenteeism, and that the effect is doubled for those with both class III obesity (BMI ≥ 40) and diabetes. The moderating effect between class III obesity and diabetes was observed only in 2010, indicating that this may be a relatively new phenomenon. © 2014 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity . Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The development of biomarkers for degenerative musculoskeletal conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayabalan, Prakash; Sowa, Gwendolyn A

2014-02-01

With an aging population, degenerative musculoskeletal conditions will become more prevalent with significantly increasing costs to society over the next several decades. The majority of these conditions are diagnosed radiographically, at which point the disease process is often more advanced and challenging to treat. The commonly available radiographic studies also do not adequately provide information as to the exact pain generator and findings often do not correlate either to patient symptoms or function. Personalized medicine involves formulating treatments based on a patient's own biology. The development of biological markers (biomarkers) pertaining to disease is a rapidly growing area within this field of medicine. For degenerative musculoskeletal conditions, biomarkers have the potential to provide an early non-invasive method of assessing the location and severity of tissue damage and presence of inflammation. By outlining mechanisms of disease they could allow the formulation of further treatment targets and through sub-categorizing patients into different groups based on their biomarker profile, one could provide more efficacious treatments for patients. The present article is a review of the development of biomarkers for these purposes specifically as they pertain to degenerative musculoskeletal conditions.

42 CFR 494.80 - Condition: Patient assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...) Evaluation of the patient's abilities, interests, preferences, and goals, including the desired level of... referral to vocational and physical rehabilitation services. (b) Standard: Frequency of assessment for...

Asymmetric conditional volatility in international stock markets

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Nuno B.; Menezes, Rui; Mendes, Diana A.

2007-08-01

Recent studies show that a negative shock in stock prices will generate more volatility than a positive shock of similar magnitude. The aim of this paper is to appraise the hypothesis under which the conditional mean and the conditional variance of stock returns are asymmetric functions of past information. We compare the results for the Portuguese Stock Market Index PSI 20 with six other Stock Market Indices, namely the SP 500, FTSE 100, DAX 30, CAC 40, ASE 20, and IBEX 35. In order to assess asymmetric volatility we use autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity specifications known as TARCH and EGARCH. We also test for asymmetry after controlling for the effect of macroeconomic factors on stock market returns using TAR and M-TAR specifications within a VAR framework. Our results show that the conditional variance is an asymmetric function of past innovations raising proportionately more during market declines, a phenomenon known as the leverage effect. However, when we control for the effect of changes in macroeconomic variables, we find no significant evidence of asymmetric behaviour of the stock market returns. There are some signs that the Portuguese Stock Market tends to show somewhat less market efficiency than other markets since the effect of the shocks appear to take a longer time to dissipate.

Abdominal tuberculosis: a radiological review with emphasis on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rocha, Eduardo Lima da; Pedrassa, Bruno Cheregati; Bormann, Renata Lilian; Kierszenbaum, Marcelo Longo; Torres, Lucas Rios; D' Ippolito, Giuseppe, E-mail: giuseppe_dr@uol.com.br [Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (EPM/UNIFESP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Escola Paulista de Medicina

2015-05-15

Tuberculosis is a disease whose incidence has increased principally as a consequence of HIV infection and use of immunosuppressive drugs. The abdomen is the most common site of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. It may be confused with several different conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, cancer and other infectious diseases. Delay in the diagnosis may result in significantly increased morbidity, and therefore an early recognition of the condition is essential for proper treatment. In the present essay, cases with confirmed diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis were assessed by means of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, demonstrating the involvement of different organs and systems, and presentations which frequently lead radiologists to a diagnostic dilemma. A brief literature review was focused on imaging findings and their respective prevalence. (author)

Computed tomography findings of acute gastric volvulus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Millet, Ingrid; Orliac, Celine; Alili, Chakib; Taourel, Patrice [Hopital Lapeyronie, Department of Radiology, Montpellier (France); Guillon, Francoise [University Hospital of Montpellier, Department of Surgery, Montpellier (France)

2014-12-15

To assess the diagnostic performance of CT signs of gastric volvulus in both confirmed cases and control subjects. We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 10 patients with surgically confirmed acute gastric volvulus and 20 control subjects with gastric distension. Two radiologists independently evaluated CT images for risk factors of gastric volvulus, direct findings of gastric volvulus by assessing gastric dilatation, the presence of an antropyloric transition point, the respective position of the different stomach segments and of the greater and lesser curvatures, stenosis of the gastric segments through the oesophageal hiatus and for findings of gastric ischemia. The sensitivity and specificity of each finding were calculated. The most sensitive direct signs of gastric volvulus were an antropyloric transition point without any abnormality at the transition zone and the antrum at the same level or higher than the fundus. The presence of both these two findings as diagnostic criteria of gastric volvulus had 100 % sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of gastric volvulus. There was no association between CT signs of ischemia and final bowel ischemia at pathology. CT is both highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing acute gastric volvulus. (orig.)

Computed tomography findings of acute gastric volvulus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millet, Ingrid; Orliac, Celine; Alili, Chakib; Taourel, Patrice; Guillon, Francoise

2014-01-01

To assess the diagnostic performance of CT signs of gastric volvulus in both confirmed cases and control subjects. We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 10 patients with surgically confirmed acute gastric volvulus and 20 control subjects with gastric distension. Two radiologists independently evaluated CT images for risk factors of gastric volvulus, direct findings of gastric volvulus by assessing gastric dilatation, the presence of an antropyloric transition point, the respective position of the different stomach segments and of the greater and lesser curvatures, stenosis of the gastric segments through the oesophageal hiatus and for findings of gastric ischemia. The sensitivity and specificity of each finding were calculated. The most sensitive direct signs of gastric volvulus were an antropyloric transition point without any abnormality at the transition zone and the antrum at the same level or higher than the fundus. The presence of both these two findings as diagnostic criteria of gastric volvulus had 100 % sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of gastric volvulus. There was no association between CT signs of ischemia and final bowel ischemia at pathology. CT is both highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing acute gastric volvulus. (orig.)

Grouping subjects based on conditioning criteria reveals differences in acquisition rates and in strength of conditioning-specific reflex modification.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith-Bell, Carrie A; Schreurs, Bernard G

2017-11-01

Averaging behavioral data such as the nictitating membrane response (NMR) across subjects can conceal important individual and group differences. Analyses were conducted of NMR data from rabbits that were grouped based on the point during NMR conditioning when subjects produced 8 conditioned responses (CR) in a set of 10 trials. This resulted in five groups (Early Day 1, Late Day 1, Early Day 2, Late Day 2, Early Day 3) in which group differences in CR acquisition rates were found. Percent (%) CRs were not found to increase monotonically and between-session differences in % CR were found. Conditioning-specific reflex modification (CRM) of the NMR is a type of enhanced reflexive responding of the NMR that is detected when the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented in the absence of the conditioned stimulus (CS) following paired classical conditioning. CRM occurred in some subjects in all five groups. Subjects from both the group that was fastest and the group that was slowest to reach the learning criterion had unconditioned response (UR) topographies following NMR conditioning that strongly resembled the CR-UR response sequence elicited during NMR conditioning. This finding was most pronounced when the US duration used to assess CRM was equivalent to that used during NMR conditioning, further evidence to support the hypothesis that CRM is a CR that has generalized from the CS to the US. While grouping data based on conditioning criteria did not facilitate identifying individuals more predisposed to exhibiting CRM, strong CRM only occurred in the groups that reached the conditioning criterion the fastest. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tucannon River Spring Chinook Captive Broodstock Program Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

2000-05-24

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund the Tucannon River Spring Chinook Captive Broodstock Program, a small-scale production initiative designed to increase numbers of a weak but potentially recoverable population of spring chinook salmon in the Tucannon River in the State of Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-l326) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

Assessment of forms finding of Chernobyl radionuclides in bottom sediments of cooling pond of the ChNPP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. P. Protsak

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Assessment of forms finding of radionuclides 90Sr, 137Cs, 238Pu, 239,240Pu, 241Am and dispersal composition of fuel particles in bottom sediments of cooling pond of the ChNPP is carried out. According to the results of re-search in the year of 2012 more than 98 % of radionuclides in bottom sediments were in non-exchange (ex-changeable state, while in the composition of the fuel particles can be contained about 70% 90Sr and more than 80 % 241Am and of the plutonium isotopes. Obtained results indicate the selective leaching of radionuclides from the matrix of fuel particles.

Gold nanoparticle cellular uptake, toxicity and radiosensitisation in hypoxic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Suneil; Coulter, Jonathan A.; Butterworth, Karl T.; Hounsell, Alan R.; McMahon, Stephen J.; Hyland, Wendy B.; Muir, Mark F.; Dickson, Glenn R.; Prise, Kevin M.; Currell, Fred J.; Hirst, David G.; O’Sullivan, Joe M.

2014-01-01

Background and purpose: Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are novel agents that have been shown to cause radiosensitisation in vitro and in vivo. Tumour hypoxia is associated with radiation resistance and reduced survival in cancer patients. The interaction of GNPs with cells in hypoxia is explored. Materials and methods: GNP uptake, localization, toxicity and radiosensitisation were assessed in vitro under oxic and hypoxic conditions. Results: GNP cellular uptake was significantly lower under hypoxic than oxic conditions. A significant reduction in cell proliferation in hypoxic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells exposed to GNPs was observed. In these cells significant radiosensitisation occurred in normoxia and moderate hypoxia. However, in near anoxia no significant sensitisation occurred. Conclusions: GNP uptake occurred in hypoxic conditions, causing radiosensitisation in moderate, but not extreme hypoxia in a breast cancer cell line. These findings may be important for the development of GNPs for cancer therapy

Comparison of Health Information Technology Use Between American Adults With and Without Chronic Health Conditions: Findings From The National Health Interview Survey 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Lauche, Romy; Sibbritt, David; Olaniran, Bolanle; Cook, Ronald; Adams, Jon

2017-10-05

Health information technology (HIT) is utilized by people with different chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. However, there has been no comparison of HIT use between persons without a chronic condition, with one chronic condition, and multiple (≥2) chronic conditions (MCCs). The aim of the study was to assess the difference in HIT use between persons without a chronic condition, with one chronic condition, and with MCCs, to describe the characteristics of HIT use among those with chronic conditions and to identify the predictors of HIT use of the persons with one chronic condition and MCCs. A secondary data analysis was conducted in spring 2017 using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2012 Family Core and Sample Adult Core datasets that yielded 34,525 respondents aged 18 years and older. Measures included overall HIT use (ie, any use of the following five HIT on the Internet: seeking health information, ordering prescription, making appointment, emailing health provider, and using health chat groups), as well as sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Sociodemographic and health characteristics were compared between HIT users and nonusers among those who reported having at least one chronic condition using chi-square tests. Independent predictors of HIT use were identified using multiple logistic regression analyses for those with one chronic condition, with MCCs, and without a chronic condition. Analyses were weighted and performed at significance level of .005. In 2012, adults with one health chronic condition (raw count 4147/8551, weighted percentage 48.54%) was significantly higher than among those with MCCs (3816/9637, 39.55%) and those with none of chronic condition (7254/16,337, 44.40%, PHIT use. Chi-square tests revealed that among adults with chronic conditions, those who used HIT were significantly different from their counterpart peers who did not use HIT in terms of sociodemographic and health characteristics

Finding upper bounds for software failure probabilities - experiments and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristiansen, Monica; Winther, Rune

2005-09-01

This report looks into some aspects of using Bayesian hypothesis testing to find upper bounds for software failure probabilities. In the first part, the report evaluates the Bayesian hypothesis testing approach for finding upper bounds for failure probabilities of single software components. The report shows how different choices of prior probability distributions for a software component's failure probability influence the number of tests required to obtain adequate confidence in a software component. In the evaluation, both the effect of the shape of the prior distribution as well as one's prior confidence in the software component were investigated. In addition, different choices of prior probability distributions are discussed based on their relevance in a software context. In the second part, ideas on how the Bayesian hypothesis testing approach can be extended to assess systems consisting of multiple software components are given. One of the main challenges when assessing systems consisting of multiple software components is to include dependency aspects in the software reliability models. However, different types of failure dependencies between software components must be modelled differently. Identifying different types of failure dependencies are therefore an important condition for choosing a prior probability distribution, which correctly reflects one's prior belief in the probability for software components failing dependently. In this report, software components include both general in-house software components, as well as pre-developed software components (e.g. COTS, SOUP, etc). (Author)

Systematic screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions: Still debatable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lagarde Emmanuel

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Assessing people's ability to drive has become a public health concern in most industrialized countries. Although age itself is not a predictive factor of an increased risk for dangerous driving, the prevalence of medical conditions that may impair driving increases with age. Because the implementation of a screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions is a public health issue, its usefulness should be judged using standardised criteria already proposed for screening for chronic disease. The aim of this paper is to propose standardised criteria suitable to assess the scientific validity of screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions, and identify potential issues to be clarified before screening can be implemented and effective. Discussion Using criteria developed for screening for chronic diseases and published studies on driving with medical conditions, we specify six criteria to judge the opportunity of screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions. This adaptation was needed because of the complexity of the natural history of medical conditions and their potential consequences on driving and road safety. We then illustrate that published studies pleading for or against screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions fail to provide the needed documentation. Individual criteria were mentioned in 3 to 72% of 36 papers pleading for or against screening. Quantitative estimates of relevant indicators were provided in at most 42% of papers, and some data, such as the definition of an appropriate unsafe driving period were never provided. Summary The standardised framework described in this paper provides a template for assessing the effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness of proposed measures for screening for unsafe driving due to medical conditions. Even if most criteria were mentioned in the published literature pleading for or against such a screening, the failure to find quantitative and

Consistent boundary conditions for open strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindstroem, Ulf; Rocek, Martin; Nieuwenhuizen, Peter van

2003-01-01

We study boundary conditions for the bosonic, spinning (NSR) and Green-Schwarz open string, as well as for (1+1)-dimensional supergravity. We consider boundary conditions that arise from (1) extremizing the action, (2) BRST, rigid or local supersymmetry, or κ(Siegel)-symmetry of the action, (3) closure of the set of boundary conditions under the symmetry transformations, and (4) the boundary limits of bulk Euler-Lagrange equations that are 'conjugate' to other boundary conditions. We find corrections to Neumann boundary conditions in the presence of a bulk tachyon field. We discuss a boundary superspace formalism. We also find that path integral quantization of the open string requires an infinite tower of boundary conditions that can be interpreted as a smoothness condition on the doubled interval; we interpret this to mean that for a path-integral formulation of open strings with only Neuman boundary conditions, the description in terms of orientifolds is not just natural, but is actually fundamental

Accounting of media conditions in the Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Metals on Aquatic Ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birkved, Morten; Payet, Jerome

2003-01-01

Impact from metals play a major role in all Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) studies. Nevertheless, LCIA methods are typically not adapted for such compounds ignoring problems of speciation and bioavailability. Current uncertainty on metal toxicity estimates are on average twice as high...... of the influence of media condition on the toxicity : Partial Least Square projection to latent Structure Regression (PLSR) was carried out to estimate the relative variable importance and linear regression was used to, identify the relation between media parameters the response of Daphnia magna....

Assessment of the Conditions for Linking Microfinance to Household Biodigester Construction in Cambodia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandararot, K.; Dannet, L.

2006-10-15

This report presents a comprehensive assessment of the conditions for helping households finance the construction of a biodigester. A micro-credit programme for biodigester users was jointly designed by the National Biodigester Programme (NBP), Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). By using in-depth interviews, a household survey and a desk study, it was determined that the demand for biodigester market was significant, with 96.5% of the studied households possessing the capacity to operate a biodigester. The research for demand for micro-credit showed that households were indeed in need of a financial aid (84%) but the majority was unwilling to borrow credit due to fear of inability to repay it. The ones willing to borrow demanded a credit size of 400,000-1,200,000 riels. The MFIs contacted (ACLEDA, Amret, CEB, Prasac, HURREDO) were interested in lending a micro-credit to biodigester users but were also concerned for the credit as it was for consumption and not production. It appeared that credit conditions desired by potential biodigester users were overall in line with MFIs offered conditions, but an interest rate gap was also in place. Some of the extensive suggestions on how to alleviate the problem offered in the report place FMO in the centre of operations as a possible guarantor of default loans, among other duties. The challenges likely to arise because of a roll-out strategy (linking potential biodigester users with micro-credit), as well plausible solutions are presented as well.

Co-occurrence of medical conditions: Exposing patterns through probabilistic topic modeling of snomed codes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Moumita; Jurkovitz, Claudine; Shatkay, Hagit

2018-04-12

Patients associated with multiple co-occurring health conditions often face aggravated complications and less favorable outcomes. Co-occurring conditions are especially prevalent among individuals suffering from kidney disease, an increasingly widespread condition affecting 13% of the general population in the US. This study aims to identify and characterize patterns of co-occurring medical conditions in patients employing a probabilistic framework. Specifically, we apply topic modeling in a non-traditional way to find associations across SNOMED-CT codes assigned and recorded in the EHRs of >13,000 patients diagnosed with kidney disease. Unlike most prior work on topic modeling, we apply the method to codes rather than to natural language. Moreover, we quantitatively evaluate the topics, assessing their tightness and distinctiveness, and also assess the medical validity of our results. Our experiments show that each topic is succinctly characterized by a few highly probable and unique disease codes, indicating that the topics are tight. Furthermore, inter-topic distance between each pair of topics is typically high, illustrating distinctiveness. Last, most coded conditions grouped together within a topic, are indeed reported to co-occur in the medical literature. Notably, our results uncover a few indirect associations among conditions that have hitherto not been reported as correlated in the medical literature. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Renal lymphangiectasia: incidental finding at multislice computed tomography and literature review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasconcelos, Rodrigo Abdalla de; Pereira, Emanuelle Santiago [Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal (HBDF), Brasilia, DF (Brazil); Bauab Junior, Tufik [Instituto de Radiodiagnostico Rio Preto - Ultra-X and Hospital de Base de Faculdade de Medicina de Sao Jose do Rio Preto (Famerp), Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP (Brazil); Valente, Rodolfo Silva [Hospital Universitario de Brasilia (HUB), Brasilia, DF (Brazil)

2012-05-15

Renal lymphangiectasia is a rare condition characterized by parapyelic and perirenal fluid collections, which may progress from asymptomatic condition to chronic renal failure. The present report describes a case of incidental computed tomography finding of bilateral lymphangiectasia in an asymptomatic patient, as well as the main imaging findings with a comprehensive literature review. (author)

Correlation of endorectal coil magnetic resonance, transrectal ultrasound and radical prostatectomy findings in assessing extent of prostate cancer in referred urology patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavoipierre, A.; Little, A.F.; Greive, K.A.; Royce, P.L.; Snow, R.M.; Frydenberg, M.

2002-01-01

Full text: The aim of this study was to compare findings at prostate MR to ultrasound findings and pathology specimens in patients who subsequently underwent radical prostatectomy. Of the 61 patients who underwent composite MR prostate imaging, 39 patients with elevated PSA levels and / or abnormal DRE findings were found to have cancer on transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and biopsy (random sextant and targeted biopsies). MRI was performed using composite phased array and endorectal coils, using axial T1 and axial, coronal and sagittal T2 weighted images through the prostate, together with axial T1 weighted imaging through the pelvis. Fifteen patients out the 39 patients with documented cancer then underwent radical prostatectomy. The resected specimen pathology was then compared with the MR and TRUS findings. Comparison of findings at MRI with those at prostatectomy indicated approximately 82.4% correlation comparing right side and left side disease (TRUS = 80%). There was a 13.3% false positive for seminal vesicle involvement on MR (TRUS = 0%) and a 10% false negative rate on MR (TRUS 10%) compared with pathology specimens.There was a 26.7% false positive rate of extracapsular extension on MR (TRUS = 0%) and a 6.6% false negative rate on MR (TRUS = 20%) compared with the pathology specimens. Of the 39 patients who had undergone TRUS and biopsy, the disease appeared more extensive on MRI than suspected at ultrasound in 14/39 (35.9%). High resolution MR imaging of the prostate is an acceptable method for assessing the presence of prostate cancer. However, our early experience, in this small series, suggests that there is a high mis-staging of disease on MR as is the case with TRUS, although MR is better than TRUS. The results underscore the need for additional assessment with MR spectroscopy. Copyright (2002) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

Finding foundations: A model for information literacy assessment of first-year students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoe Fisher

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In Brief This article presents a case study in establishing an information literacy instruction and assessment program for first-year university students at the University of Colorado Denver. Rather than presenting assessment data, we document the process in which our department engaged with the student learning assessment cycle, with the intention of allowing other information literacy professionals to see how we established an instruction program for first-year English Composition. We include a description of in-class exercises, rubrics, and the procedures we followed in order to assess the foundational information literacy skills of first-year students on our campus. This assessment was not conducted to demonstrate what students learned from librarians (thereby illustrating the value of library instruction. Rather, we assessed student learning to ascertain the information literacy skills students bring with them into a first-year English Composition course.

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings: introduction to the series.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewin, Simon; Booth, Andrew; Glenton, Claire; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Rashidian, Arash; Wainwright, Megan; Bohren, Meghan A; Tunçalp, Özge; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Carlsen, Benedicte; Langlois, Etienne V; Noyes, Jane

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual ('Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research') approach provides guidance for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from systematic reviews of qualitative research (or qualitative evidence syntheses). The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. Confidence in the evidence from qualitative evidence syntheses is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. CERQual provides a systematic and transparent framework for assessing confidence in individual review findings, based on consideration of four components: (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data, and (4) relevance. A fifth component, dissemination (or publication) bias, may also be important and is being explored. As with the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach for effectiveness evidence, CERQual suggests summarising evidence in succinct, transparent, and informative Summary of Qualitative Findings tables. These tables are designed to communicate the review findings and the CERQual assessment of confidence in each finding. This article is the first of a seven-part series providing guidance on how to apply the CERQual approach. In this paper, we describe the rationale and conceptual basis for CERQual, the aims of the approach, how the approach was developed, and its main components. We also outline the purpose and structure of this series and discuss the growing role for qualitative evidence in decision-making. Papers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in this series discuss each CERQual component, including the rationale for including the component in the approach, how the component is conceptualised, and how it should be assessed. Paper 2 discusses how to make an overall assessment of confidence in a review

Landscape planning as a contribution to the assessment and finding of sites for energy facilities from an ecological and creative point of view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchwald, K.

1977-01-01

The environmental agreeability examination through landscape planning in connection with the finding of sites for power stations and their integration into area planning is explained. The procedure of landscape planning for the assessment of power station sites is also presented. (RW) [de

Assessing the planet's condition.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, L R

1990-01-01

The destruction of the environment has accelerated since the Earth Day of 1970, the world's population has increased by another 1.6 billion, and over 500 million acres of forest have been lost. Carbon dioxide levels, greenhouse gases, and chlorofluorocarbons have increased in the atmosphere with evidence that global warming has started. The ozone hole has appeared, acid rain has destroyed forests, air pollution in major northern hemisphere cities has worsened, and species are disappearing, while toxic chemicals have been dumped indiscriminately. World grain production has fallen while population has increased. In Europe 14 countries have stabilized their population, and Japan, France, and Finland are on the way to zero growth. Reduction of high fertility in 1/2 could halt the deterioration of living conditions. Japan and China achieved this within a decade. Energy efficiency has to be attained; US cars still consume too much gas. Solar energy with photovoltaic cells to provide power, fuel alcohol from plants, and solar thermal power plants have potential. Semiarid regions, such as northern Africa, could become major producers of solar energy. Various measures are mandatory to cut down on waste: to recycle paper bags, to use standardized glasses for beverages, and to utilize scrap metal in electric arc steel furnaces. Reforestation is also on the agenda, as major deforestation has occurred in the Brazilian Amazon region, in India, and in Europe because of acid rain. Australia's national plan envisions planting 1 billion trees, and the US project is of similar magnitude during the 1990s. Only the US has succeeded in erosion control and topsoil stabilization when it converted erodible cropland into grassland or woodland during 1986-90.

Incidental finding of both cholecystoduodenal fistula and caecum carcinoma with MDCT imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groudeva, V.; Adam, G.; Malla Houech, I-V.; Davidkov, L.; Stoinova, V.

2015-01-01

Full text: Bouveret’s syndrome is a rare condition of gastric outlet obstruction, due to the impaction of gallstones in the duodenum. Most commonly it affects women and usually a history of cholelithiasis is present. We present the case of 86 years old female, with complaints of fullness, belching, acids, loss of appetite and weight for a few weeks. The examination revealed soft abdomen, painful palpation and a palpable movable mass in the right lower quadrant. The patient was referred to the imaging department for assessment of the finding. MDCT of the abdomen was carried out on 320 - row Aquillion ONE Toshiba machine, using contrast medium. The aim is to clarifying the accurate managing of the diagnosis of cholecystoduodenal fistula using MDCT. MDCT identified the presence of two independent from one another diseases, characterized by similar complaints. An enhancing mass with irregular borders in the caecal area was visualized. In addition presence of pneumobilia and a communication extending from the gallbladder to the duodenum and calculi in the latter were identified.The findings were consistent with cholecystoduodenal fistula. the patient underwent surgery, right hemicolectomy was performed together with duodenotomy and calculus extraction. Different conditions may present with overlapping symptoms and imaging diagnostic comes in help with the investigation. Since the condition of cholecystoduodenal fistula is associated with high risk of complications and death, it appeals to quick diagnosis and treatment. the use of MDCT in clinical practice as a non-invasive method allows precise identification of the signs of this disease

Normal and pathological findings for the facial nerve on magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Noury, K., E-mail: Kalnoury@kau.edu.sa [Department of Otolaryngology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); Lotfy, A. [Radiology Department, King Abdulaziz University Hospital and International Medical Centre, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

2011-08-15

Aim: To demonstrate the enhanced radiological anatomy and common pathological conditions of the facial nerve by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and methods: A retrospective review of the MRI findings of the facial nerve of 146 patients who visited a tertiary academic referral center was conducted. Results: The radiological anatomy of the facial nerve was well illustrated using MRI, as were most of the common pathological conditions of the facial nerve. Conclusions: Enhancement of the facial nerve in MRI should be correlated with the clinical data. Normal individuals can show enhancement of the tympanic or vertical segments of the facial nerve. Enhancement of the labyrinthine portion of the nerve is almost diagnostic of Bell's palsy. No specific enhancement patterns were observed for tumours or for infections of the middle or external ear. A larger population study is required for the accurate assessment of facial nerve enhancement in multiple sclerosis patients.

Pain assessment strategies in patients with musculoskeletal conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Carotti

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Valid and reliable assessment of pain is fundamental for both clinical trials and effective pain management. The nature of pain makes objective measurement impossible. Chronic musculoskeletal pain assessment and its impact on physical, emotional and social functions require multidimensional qualitative tools and healthrelated quality of life instruments. The recommendations concerning outcome measurements for pain trials are useful for making routine assessments that should include an evaluation of pain, fatigue, disturbed sleep, physical functioning, emotional functioning, patient global ratings of satisfaction, and quality of life. Despite the growing availability of instruments and theoretical publications related to measuring the various aspects of chronic pain, there is still little agreement and no unified approach has been devised. There is, therefore, still a considerable need for the development of a core set of measurement tools and response criteria, as well as for the development and refinement of the related instruments, standardized assessor training, the cross-cultural adaptation of health status questionnaires, electronic data capture, and the introduction of valid, reliable and responsive standardized quantitative measurement procedures into routine clinical care. This article reviews a selection of the instruments used to assess chronic musculoskeletal pain, including validated newly developed and well-established screening instruments, and discusses their advantages and limitations.

Computed tomography findings of acute gastric volvulus.

Science.gov (United States)

Millet, Ingrid; Orliac, Celine; Alili, Chakib; Guillon, Françoise; Taourel, Patrice

2014-12-01

To assess the diagnostic performance of CT signs of gastric volvulus in both confirmed cases and control subjects. We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 10 patients with surgically confirmed acute gastric volvulus and 20 control subjects with gastric distension. Two radiologists independently evaluated CT images for risk factors of gastric volvulus, direct findings of gastric volvulus by assessing gastric dilatation, the presence of an antropyloric transition point, the respective position of the different stomach segments and of the greater and lesser curvatures, stenosis of the gastric segments through the oesophageal hiatus and for findings of gastric ischemia. The sensitivity and specificity of each finding were calculated. The most sensitive direct signs of gastric volvulus were an antropyloric transition point without any abnormality at the transition zone and the antrum at the same level or higher than the fundus. The presence of both these two findings as diagnostic criteria of gastric volvulus had 100% sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of gastric volvulus. There was no association between CT signs of ischemia and final bowel ischemia at pathology. CT is both highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing acute gastric volvulus. CT is highly reliable for diagnosing acute gastric volvulus with two findings. The two signs are gastropyloric transition zone and abnormal location of the antrum. This allows fast surgical management of this emergency.

Assessing and managing body condition score for the prevention of metabolic disease in dairy cows.

Science.gov (United States)

Roche, John R; Kay, Jane K; Friggens, Nic C; Loor, Juan J; Berry, Donagh P

2013-07-01

Body condition score (BCS) is an assessment of a cow's body fat (and muscle) reserves, with low values reflecting emaciation and high values equating to obesity. The intercalving profile of BCS is a mirror image of the milk lactation profile. The BCS at which a cow calves, her nadir BCS, and the amount of BCS lost after calving are associated with milk production, reproduction, and health. Genetics, peripartum nutrition, and management are factors that likely interact with BCS to determine the risk of health disorders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel paradigm to evaluate conditioned pain modulation in fibromyalgia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schoen CJ

2016-09-01

.274. There was a significant difference in CPM magnitude for FM patients compared to healthy controls with noxious pressure conditioning stimulation (P=0.023; however, no significant difference in CPM was found between groups using cold water as a conditioning stimulus (P=0.269.Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that thumbnail pressure can be used as both a test and conditioning stimulus in the assessment of CPM. This study further confirms previous findings of attenuated CPM in FM patients compared with healthy controls. Keywords: pressure pain, cold pressor test, diffuse noxious inhibitory controls, quantitative sensory testing

Towards a Standardized e-Assessment System: Motivations, Challenges and First Findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Helic

2009-10-01

Full Text Available “Global Learning” with shared learning contents, resources, activities and goals is one of the contributions of Globalization. With the capability to use new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT it is a bit easier to have a technology based learning systems that enable learners to share the learning resources and possibilities. As a result many Learning Management Systems (LMS were developed with divers of platforms and approaches. Consequently, sharing learning resources and components has become a major challenge. E-assessment as a primary activity of any LMS is facing the same challenges and problems. In order to stand on this challenge people in the field of technology enhanced learning have recommended that LMS should conform to specific standards. This paper discuses this challenge, the consequences and limitations of standards in the modern learning settings. Moreover, it shows a service oriented framework for assessment which aims to make the e-assessment systems flexible and also to initiate the term of “Global Learning Assessment” with the possibility of sharing the e-assessment system components.

The uncertainty cascade in flood risk assessment under changing climatic conditions - the Biala Tarnowska case study

Science.gov (United States)

Doroszkiewicz, Joanna; Romanowicz, Renata

2016-04-01

Uncertainty in the results of the hydraulic model is not only associated with the limitations of that model and the shortcomings of data. An important factor that has a major impact on the uncertainty of the flood risk assessment in a changing climate conditions is associated with the uncertainty of future climate scenarios (IPCC WG I, 2013). Future climate projections provided by global climate models are used to generate future runoff required as an input to hydraulic models applied in the derivation of flood risk maps. Biala Tarnowska catchment, situated in southern Poland is used as a case study. Future discharges at the input to a hydraulic model are obtained using the HBV model and climate projections obtained from the EUROCORDEX project. The study describes a cascade of uncertainty related to different stages of the process of derivation of flood risk maps under changing climate conditions. In this context it takes into account the uncertainty of future climate projections, an uncertainty of flow routing model, the propagation of that uncertainty through the hydraulic model, and finally, the uncertainty related to the derivation of flood risk maps. One of the aims of this study is an assessment of a relative impact of different sources of uncertainty on the uncertainty of flood risk maps. Due to the complexity of the process, an assessment of total uncertainty of maps of inundation probability might be very computer time consuming. As a way forward we present an application of a hydraulic model simulator based on a nonlinear transfer function model for the chosen locations along the river reach. The transfer function model parameters are estimated based on the simulations of the hydraulic model at each of the model cross-section. The study shows that the application of the simulator substantially reduces the computer requirements related to the derivation of flood risk maps under future climatic conditions. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the

Conditional uncertainty principle

Science.gov (United States)

Gour, Gilad; Grudka, Andrzej; Horodecki, Michał; Kłobus, Waldemar; Łodyga, Justyna; Narasimhachar, Varun

2018-04-01

We develop a general operational framework that formalizes the concept of conditional uncertainty in a measure-independent fashion. Our formalism is built upon a mathematical relation which we call conditional majorization. We define conditional majorization and, for the case of classical memory, we provide its thorough characterization in terms of monotones, i.e., functions that preserve the partial order under conditional majorization. We demonstrate the application of this framework by deriving two types of memory-assisted uncertainty relations, (1) a monotone-based conditional uncertainty relation and (2) a universal measure-independent conditional uncertainty relation, both of which set a lower bound on the minimal uncertainty that Bob has about Alice's pair of incompatible measurements, conditioned on arbitrary measurement that Bob makes on his own system. We next compare the obtained relations with their existing entropic counterparts and find that they are at least independent.

Integrated assessment of river health based on the conditions of water quality,aquatic life and physical habitat

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

MENG Wei; ZHANG Nan; ZHANG Yuan; ZHENG Binghui

2009-01-01

The health conditions of Liao River were assessed using 25 sampling sites in April 2005, with water quality index, biotic index and physical habitat quality index.Based on the method of cluster analysis (CA) for water quality indices, it reveals that heavily polluted sites of Liao River are located at estuary and mainstream.The aquatic species surveyed were attached algae and benthic invertebrates.The result shows that the diversity and biomass of attached algae and benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) are degrading as the chemical and physical quality of water bodies deteriorating.Physiochemical parameters, BOD5, CODCr, TN, TP, NH3-N, DO, petroleum hydrocarbon and conductivity, were statistically analyzed with principal component analysis and correlation analysis.The statistical results were incorporated into the integrated assessing water quality index, combining fecal coliform count, attached algae diversity, B-IBI and physical habitat quality score, a comprehensive integrated assessing system of river ecological health was established.Based on the systimetic assesment, the assessed sites are categorized into 9 "healthy" and "sub-healthy" sites and 8 "sub-sick" and "sick" sites.

CT and MRI normal findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, T.B.; Reif, E.

1998-01-01

This book gives answers to questions frequently heard especially from trainees and doctors not specialising in the field of radiology: Is that a normal finding? How do I decide? What are the objective criteria? The information presented is three-fold. The normal findings of the usual CT and MRI examinations are shown with high-quality pictures serving as a reference, with inscribed important additional information on measures, angles and other criteria describing the normal conditions. These criteria are further explained and evaluated in accompanying texts which also teach the systematic approach for individual picture analysis, and include a check list of major aspects, as a didactic guide for learning. The book is primarily intended for students, radiographers, radiology trainees and doctors from other medical fields, but radiology specialists will also find useful details of help in special cases. (orig./CB) [de

Assessment of site conditions for disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes: A case study in southern China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Shuping; Ma, Haiyi; Zheng, Chunmiao; Zhu, Xiaobin; Wang, Hua'an; Li, Xueshan; Hu, Xueling; Qin, Jianbo

2012-01-01

Near surface disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes (LILW) requires evaluating the field conditions of the candidate site. However, assessment of the site conditions may be challenging due to the limited prior knowledge of some remote sites, and various multi-disciplinary data requirements at any given site. These situations arise in China as in the rest of the industrialized world, particularly since a regional strategy for LILW disposal has been implemented to protect humans and the environment. This paper presents a demonstration of the site assessment process through a case study focusing mainly on the geologic, hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics of the candidate site. A joint on-site and laboratory investigation, supplemented by numerical modeling, was implemented in this assessment. Results indicate that no fault is present in the site area, although there are some minor joints and fractures, primarily showing a north–south trend. Most of the joints are filled with quartz deposits and would thus function hydraulically as impervious barriers. Investigation of local hydrologic boundaries has shown that the candidate site represents an essentially isolated hydrogeologic unit, and that little or no groundwater flow occurs across its boundaries on the north or east, or across the hilly areas to the south. Groundwater in the site area is recharged by precipitation and discharges primarily by evapo-transpiration and surface flow through a narrow outlet to the west. Groundwater flows slowly from the hilly area to the foot of the hills and discharges mainly into the inner brooks and marshes. Some groundwater circulates in deeper granite in a slower manner. The vadose zone in the site was investigated specially for their significant capability for restraining the transport of radionuclides. Results indicate that the vadose zone is up to 38 m in thickness and is made up of alluvial clay soils and very highly weathered granite. The vadose

A comparative study between subjective assessment and quantitative evaluation of CT findings with cerebral palsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugie, Yoko; Sugie, Hideo; Kitai, Akiko; Maruyama, Hiroshi; Fukuyama, Yukio

1982-01-01

Computed tomography (CT) was performed on 200 children with children palsy with Hitachi CT-H250. The CT scans of 136 cases revealed cerebral atrophy with ventricular and/or subarachnoid space enlargement. The lateral ventricles, the third ventricle and the two parts of subarachnoid space on the CT picture were subjectively evaluated and divided into five grades ranging from no enlargement to marked enlargement. In addition, the size of the ventricles and the subarachnoid spaces were quantitatively determined; the transverse diameter of brain (b), the largest width of the anterior horns of the lateral ventricles (c), the bicaudate nuclear distance (d), the greatest width of the third ventricle, the longitudinal cerebral fissure and sylvian fissures as described by Miyao et al. (1978). Comparison of these quantitative techniques confirmed the initial subjective evaluation. However, in some cases, amendment of the subjective evaluation was needed. As mentioned before (Miyao et al.), the cerebral longitudinal fissure was relatively wide in normal infants. Accordingly, it was often difficult to find out abnormal widening only by subjective evaluation. The purpose of this paper was to establish the criteria of quantitative measuring and assessing of the lateral and third ventricles, the cerebral longitudinal fissurem, and the sylvian fissures enlargement. Interpretation of some problem cases associated with measuring was also discussed. The quantitative CT evaluation may be a good reference in assessing cerebral atrophy in cerebral palsy and other neurological diseases. (author)

Magnetic resonance imaging findings in adnexial torsion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trindade, Ronald Meira Castro; Quadros, Marianne Siquara de [Hospital Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa], e-mail: rtrindade@einstein.br; Baroni, Ronaldo Hueb; Rosemberg, Michelle; Racy, Marcelo de Castro Jorge; Tachibana, Adriano [Hospital Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Funari, Marcelo Buarque de Gusmao [Hospital Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Imaging Service

2010-01-15

Adnexial torsion is an unusual event, but a major cause of abdominal pain in women. It is often associated with ovarian tumor or cyst, but can occur in normal ovaries, especially in children. The twisting of adnexial structures may involve the ovary or tube, but frequently affects both. In most cases, it is unilateral, with slight predilection for the right size. In imaging findings, increased ovarian volume and adnexial masses are observed, with reduced or absent vascularisation. In cases of undiagnosed or untreated complete twist, hemorrhagic necrosis may occur leading to complications; in that, peritonitis is the most frequent. Early diagnosis helps preventing irreversible damage with conservative treatment, thereby saving the ovary. Limitations in performing physical examination, possible inconclusive results in ultrasound and exposure to radiation in computed tomography makes magnetic resonance imaging a valuable tool in emergency assessment of gynecological diseases. The objective of this study was to report two confirmed cases of adnexial twist, emphasizing the contribution of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of this condition. (author)

Preference conditioning in healthy individuals: correlates with hazardous drinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Balodis, Iris M; Lockwood, Kathleen P; Magrys, Sylvia A; Olmstead, Mary C

2010-06-01

Conditioned reward is a classic measure of drug-induced brain changes in animal models of addiction. The process can be examined in humans using the Conditioned Pattern Preference (CPP) task, in which participants associate nonverbal cues with reward but demonstrate low awareness of this conditioning. Previously, we reported that alcohol intoxication does not affect CPP acquisition in humans, but our data indicated that prior drug use may impact conditioning scores. To test this possibility, the current study examined the relationship between self-reported alcohol use and preference conditioning in the CPP task. Working memory was assessed during conditioning by asking participants to count the cues that appeared at each location on a computer screen. Participants (69 female and 23 male undergraduate students) completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) as measures of hazardous drinking. Self-reported hazardous drinking was significantly correlated with preference conditioning in that individuals who scored higher on these scales exhibited an increased preference for the reward-paired cues. In contrast, hazardous drinking did not affect working memory errors on the CPP task. These findings support evidence that repeated drug use sensitizes neural pathways mediating conditioned reward and point to a neurocognitive disposition linking substance misuse and responses to reward-paired stimuli. The relationship between hazardous drinking and conditioned reward is independent of changes in cognitive function, such as working memory.

OMARC: An online multimedia application for training health care providers in the assessment of respiratory conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Meruvia-Pastor, Oscar; Patra, Pranjal; Andres, Karen; Twomey, Creina; Peña-Castillo, Lourdes

2016-05-01

OMARC, a multimedia application designed to support the training of health care providers for the identification of common lung sounds heard in a patient's thorax as part of a health assessment, is described and its positive contribution to user learning is assessed. The main goal of OMARC is to effectively help health-care students become familiar with lung sounds as part of the assessment of respiratory conditions. In addition, the application must be easy to use and accessible to students and practitioners over the internet. OMARC was developed using an online platform to facilitate access to users in remote locations. OMARC's unique contribution as an educational software tool is that it presents a narrative about normal and abnormal lung sounds using interactive multimedia and sample case studies designed by professional health-care providers and educators. Its interface consists of two distinct components: a sounds glossary and a rich multimedia interface which presents clinical case studies and provides access to lung sounds placed on a model of a human torso. OMARC's contents can be extended through the addition of sounds and case studies designed by health-care educators and professionals. To validate OMARC and determine its efficacy in improving learning and capture user perceptions about it, we performed a pilot study with ten nursing students. Participants' performance was measured through an evaluation of their ability to identify several normal and adventitious/abnormal sounds prior and after exposure to OMARC. Results indicate that participants are able to better identify different lung sounds, going from an average of 63% (S.D. 18.3%) in the pre-test evaluation to an average of 90% (S.D. of 11.5%) after practising with OMARC. Furthermore, participants indicated in a user satisfaction questionnaire that they found the application helpful, easy to use and that they would recommend it to other persons in their field. OMARC is an online multimedia

Assessment and Diagnosis of Musculoskeletal Shoulder Disorders over the Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leah Steele

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Shoulder disorders are common, debilitating, and represent a considerable burden on society. As primary contact practitioners, physiotherapists play a large role in the management and rehabilitation of people with these conditions. For those living outside of urban areas, however, access to physiotherapy can be limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of using a telerehabilitation system to collect physical examination findings and correctly identify disorders of the shoulder. Twenty-two participants with 28 shoulder disorders were recruited and underwent a face-to-face physical examination and a remote telerehabilitation examination. Examination findings and diagnoses from the two modes of assessment were used to determine validity and reliability of the new method. Diagnostic agreement and agreement on individual findings between the two methods were found to be consistent with the reliability of conventional assessment methods. This study provides important preliminary findings on the validity and reliability of musculoskeletal examinations conducted via telerehabilitation.

TO THE QUESTION OF MODELS OF ANALYSIS ASSESSING FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Galushkin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, author discusses model of analysis assessing the financial condition of the educational organization of higher education. Author analyzes the sequence (algorithm analysis of fi nancial and economic activity of the educational organization of higher education in the process of separating the analysis of questions of the analysis of the state educational institutions of higher education and non-state educational institutions of higher education. Author also deals with the determination of the average annual values of indicators of educational institution of higher education. In conclusion, the author makes a scientifi cally-based own conclusions and gives a number of suggestions.Goal / task. Aim of the article is to identify further ways of optimizing the financial condition of the educational organization of higher education.Methodology. Author started his research with the setting and the formulation of research objectives. The author defined the subject of the study, prepared by the empirical basis of the study.Results. According to the results of the study produced five research-based fi ndings presented in the article.Conclusions / signifi cance. 1. Analysis of the financial condition of the educational institutions of higher education can be defi ned as a complex and complex economic studies to identify patterns of the system factors in the financial well-being, the subject of analysis of educational, teaching, research and related activities.2. Integral assessment of the conditions of the financial analysis of the educational institution of higher education leads to the conclusion that it should include a number of stages.3. Analysis of the financial condition of the educational institution of higher education should be characterized as a specific type of analytical work. However, it is obvious that it can not be a simple kind of financial analysis of its object, and is a special form of research. The most significant

Identification of risk conditions for the development of adrenal disorders: how optimized PubMed search strategies makes the difference.

Science.gov (United States)

Guaraldi, Federica; Parasiliti-Caprino, Mirko; Goggi, Riccardo; Beccuti, Guglielmo; Grottoli, Silvia; Arvat, Emanuela; Ghizzoni, Lucia; Ghigo, Ezio; Giordano, Roberta; Gori, Davide

2014-12-01

The exponential growth of scientific literature available through electronic databases (namely PubMed) has increased the chance of finding interesting articles. At the same time, search has become more complicated, time consuming, and at risk of missing important information. Therefore, optimized strategies have to be adopted to maximize searching impact. The aim of this study was to formulate efficient strings to search PubMed for etiologic associations between adrenal disorders (ADs) and other conditions. A comprehensive list of terms identifying endogenous conditions primarily affecting adrenals was compiled. An ad hoc analysis was performed to find the best way to express each term in order to find the highest number of potentially pertinent articles in PubMed. A predefined number of retrieved abstracts were read to assess their association with ADs' etiology. A more sensitive (providing the largest literature coverage) and a more specific (including only those terms retrieving >40 % of potentially pertinent articles) string were formulated. Various researches were performed to assess strings' ability to identify articles of interest in comparison with non-optimized literature searches. We formulated optimized, ready applicable tools for the identification of the literature assessing etiologic associations in the field of ADs using PubMed, and demonstrated the advantages deriving from their application. Detailed description of the methodological process is also provided, so that this work can easily be translated to other fields of practice.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report. Pre-publication. Final Draft Approved by MA Board on March 23, 2005. A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, W.V.; Mooney, H.A.; Cropper, A.; Capistrano, D.; Carpenter, S.R.; Chopra, K.; Dasgupta, P.; Dietz, T.; Duraiappah, A.K.; Hassan, R.; Kasperson, R.; Leemans, R.; May, R.M.; McMichael, T.; Pingali, P.; Samper, C.; Scholes, R.; Watson, R.T.; Zakri, A.H.; Shidong, Z.; Ash, N.J.; Bennett, E.; Kumar, P.; Lee, M.J.; Raudsepp-Hearne, C.; Simons, H.; Thonell, J.; Zurek, M.B.

2005-01-01

This report presents a synthesis and integration of the findings of the four MA (Millennium Assessment) Working Groups along with more detailed findings for selected ecosystem services concerning condition and trends and scenarios and response options. Five additional synthesis reports were prepared for ease of use by specific audiences: CBD (biodiversity), UNCCD (desertification), Ramsar Convention (wetlands), business, and the health sector. Each MA sub-global assessment will also produce additional reports to meet the needs of its own audience. The full technical assessment reports of the four MA Working Groups will be published in mid-2005 by Island Press. All printed materials of the assessment, along with core data and a glossary of terminology used in the technical reports, will be available on the Internet at www.MAweb.org. Appendix D lists the acronyms and abbreviations used in this report and includes additional information on sources for some of the Figures in this report

Aspects regarding the hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of certain dental medicine cabinets in Iasi County.

Science.gov (United States)

Cernei, E R; Maxim, Dana Cristiana; Indrei, L L

2013-01-01

This baseline study aims to find out the evaluation of hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of dental medicine cabinets through the verification of certain hygienic aspects. The study conducted consists in monitoring the hygienic/sanitary conditions at the level of 68 dental medicine cabinets (40 private cabinets and 28 school/university dental cabinets in Iasi county), using sheets for the assessment of the hygienic/sanitary conditions adapted from the control sheets of existing dental medicine cabinets at the level of DSP (Public Health Department) Iasi. The sheets for the assessment of the hygienic/sanitary conditions were evaluated by a specialized team and the results were i llustrated in the specific charts. At the level of all the dental cabinets the study revealed nonconformities regarding the means to carry out cleaning, disinfection operations, including the management of perilous waste, the control of medical personnel. An optimization of the hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of dental medicine cabinets is still necessary, through participation to the activity of personnel training, who is directly involved in dental medical assistance.

Assessing environmental conditions of Antarctic footpaths to support management decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tejedo, Pablo; Benayas, Javier; Cajiao, Daniela; Albertos, Belén; Lara, Francisco; Pertierra, Luis R; Andrés-Abellán, Manuela; Wic, Consuelo; Luciáñez, Maria José; Enríquez, Natalia; Justel, Ana; Reck, Günther K

2016-07-15

Thousands of tourists visit certain Antarctic sites each year, generating a wide variety of environmental impacts. Scientific knowledge of human activities and their impacts can help in the effective design of management measures and impact mitigation. We present a case study from Barrientos Island in which a management measure was originally put in place with the goal of minimizing environmental impacts but resulted in new undesired impacts. Two alternative footpaths used by tourist groups were compared. Both affected extensive moss carpets that cover the middle part of the island and that are very vulnerable to trampling. The first path has been used by tourists and scientists since over a decade and is a marked route that is clearly visible. The second one was created more recently. Several physical and biological indicators were measured in order to assess the environmental conditions for both paths. Some physical variables related to human impact were lower for the first path (e.g. soil penetration resistance and secondary treads), while other biochemical and microbiological variables were higher for the second path (e.g. β-glucosidase and phosphatase activities, soil respiration). Moss communities located along the new path were also more diverse and sensitive to trampling. Soil biota (Collembola) was also more abundant and richer. These data indicate that the decision to adopt the second path did not lead to the reduction of environmental impacts as this path runs over a more vulnerable area with more outstanding biological features (e.g. microbiota activity, flora and soil fauna diversity). In addition, the adoption of a new route effectively doubles the human footprint on the island. We propose using only the original path that is less vulnerable to the impacts of trampling. Finally from this process, we identify several key issues that may be taken into account when carrying out impact assessment and environmental management decision-making in the

Assessment of Ocean Wave Model used to Analyze the Constellation Program (CxP) Orion Project Crew Module Water Landing Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Bryan K.; Bouchard, Richard; Teng, Chung-Chu; Dyson, Rodger; Jenson, Robert; OReilly, William; Rogers, Erick; Wang, David; Volovoi, Vitali

2009-01-01

Mr. Christopher Johnson, NASA's Systems Manager for the Orion Project Crew Module (CM) Landing and Recovery at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Mr. James Corliss, Project Engineer for the Orion CM Landing System Advanced Development Project at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) requested an independent assessment of the wave model that was developed to analyze the CM water landing conditions. A NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) initial evaluation was approved November 20, 2008. Mr. Bryan Smith, NESC Chief Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), was selected to lead this assessment. The Assessment Plan was presented and approved by the NESC Review Board (NRB) on December 18, 2008. The Assessment Report was presented to the NRB on March 12, 2009. This document is the final Assessment Report.

Functional Imaging of Autonomic Regulation: Methods and Key Findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul M Macey

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Central nervous system processing of autonomic function involves a network of regions throughout the brain which can be visualized and measured with neuroimaging techniques, notably functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. The development of fMRI procedures has both confirmed and extended earlier findings from animal models, and human stroke and lesion studies. Assessments with fMRI can elucidate interactions between different central sites in regulating normal autonomic patterning, and demonstrate how disturbed systems can interact to produce aberrant regulation during autonomic challenges. Understanding autonomic dysfunction in various illnesses reveals mechanisms that potentially lead to interventions in the impairments. The objectives here are to: 1 describe the fMRI neuroimaging methodology for assessment of autonomic neural control, 2 outline the widespread, lateralized distribution of function in autonomic sites in the normal brain which includes structures from the neocortex through the medulla and cerebellum, 3 illustrate the importance of the time course of neural changes when coordinating responses, and how those patterns are impacted in conditions of sleep-disordered breathing, and 4 highlight opportunities for future research studies with emerging methodologies. Methodological considerations specific to autonomic testing include timing of challenges relative to the underlying fMRI signal, spatial resolution sufficient to identify autonomic brainstem nuclei, blood pressure and blood oxygenation influences on the fMRI signal, and the sustained timing, often measured in minutes of challenge periods and recovery. Key findings include the lateralized nature of autonomic organization, which is reminiscent of asymmetric motor, sensory and language pathways. Testing brain function during autonomic challenges demonstrate closely-integrated timing of responses in connected brain areas during autonomic challenges, and the involvement with

Application and Assessment of Extension of Time Claim: Findings of Case Studies Conducted in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.S. Mohd Danuri,

2006-12-01

Full Text Available It is a common phenomenon for construction projects to have applications for extension of time. Many problems are encountered in practice in the application and preparation of extension of time claims. A study was conducted to identify the main problems encountered in the application and assessment of extension of time claim in selected construction projects in Malaysia. Three (3 case studies have been used 10 investigate the extension of time issues. Findings from the study revealed that local contractors usually fail to comply with the contract procedural requirements to submit timely notification of delay and have difficulty in demonstrating their entitlement for extension of time. The main problem faced by contract administrators is that contractors tend to "inflate" their extension of time entitlement with the intention to maximise their claims. Adherence to the agreed procedure in preparing and evaluating of delay claims and the implementation of a set of agreed standardised delay analysis may help to minimize the frequency and impact of such problems.

Is the Number of Different MRI Findings More Strongly Associated with Low Back Pain Than Single MRI Findings?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hancock, Mark J; Kjaer, Per; Kent, Peter

2017-01-01

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis using 2 different data sets OBJECTIVE.: To investigate if the number of different MRI findings present is more strongly associated with low back pain (LBP) than single MRI findings. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Most previous studies have....... The outcome for the cross-sectional study was presence of LBP during the last year. The outcome for the longitudinal study was days to recurrence of activity limiting LBP. In both data sets we created an aggregate score of the number of different MRI findings present in each individual and assessed...... investigated the associations between single MRI findings and back pain rather than investigating combinations of MRI findings. If different individuals have different pathoanatomic sources contributing to their pain, then combinations of MRI findings may be more strongly associated with LBP. METHODS...

A comparison of magnetic resonance arthrography and arthroscopic findings in the assessment of anterior shoulder dislocations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jordan, R.W.; Naeem, R.; Srinivas, K.; Shyamalan, G. [Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham (United Kingdom)

2015-05-01

The aim of this study is to establish the sensitivity and specificity of MRA in the investigation of patients with traumatic anterior shoulder dislocations. A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing both magnetic resonance arthrography and arthroscopic assessment after a traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation between January 2011 and 2014 was performed. Demographic data were collected from electronic records. Images were interpreted by 8 musculoskeletal radiologists and patients were treated by 8 consultant orthopaedic surgeons. Arthroscopic findings were obtained from surgical notes and these findings were used as a reference for MRA. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were calculated for the different injuries. Sixty-nine patients underwent both an MRA and shoulder arthroscopy during the study period; however, clinical notes were unavailable in 9 patients. Fifty-three patients (88 %) were male, the mean age was 28 years (range 18 to 50) and 16 subjects (27 %) had suffered a primary dislocation. The overall sensitivity and specificity of MRA to all associated injuries was 0.9 (CI 0.83-0.95) and 0.94 (CI 0.9-0.96) retrospectively. The lowest sensitivity was seen in osseous Bankart 0.8 (CI 0.44-0.96) and superior labral tear (SLAP) lesions 0.5 (CI 0.14-0.86). The overall positive predictive value was 0.88 (CI 0.76-0.91) with the lowest values found in rotator cuff 0.4 (CI 0.07-0.83) and glenohumeral ligament (GHL) lesions 0.29 (CI 0.05-0.7). Magnetic resonance angiography has a high sensitivity when used to identify associated injuries in shoulder dislocation, although in 8 patients (13 %) arthroscopy identified an additional injury. The overall agreement between MRA and arthroscopic findings was good, but the identification of GHL and rotator cuff injuries was poor. (orig.)

A comparison of magnetic resonance arthrography and arthroscopic findings in the assessment of anterior shoulder dislocations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, R.W.; Naeem, R.; Srinivas, K.; Shyamalan, G.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to establish the sensitivity and specificity of MRA in the investigation of patients with traumatic anterior shoulder dislocations. A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing both magnetic resonance arthrography and arthroscopic assessment after a traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation between January 2011 and 2014 was performed. Demographic data were collected from electronic records. Images were interpreted by 8 musculoskeletal radiologists and patients were treated by 8 consultant orthopaedic surgeons. Arthroscopic findings were obtained from surgical notes and these findings were used as a reference for MRA. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were calculated for the different injuries. Sixty-nine patients underwent both an MRA and shoulder arthroscopy during the study period; however, clinical notes were unavailable in 9 patients. Fifty-three patients (88 %) were male, the mean age was 28 years (range 18 to 50) and 16 subjects (27 %) had suffered a primary dislocation. The overall sensitivity and specificity of MRA to all associated injuries was 0.9 (CI 0.83-0.95) and 0.94 (CI 0.9-0.96) retrospectively. The lowest sensitivity was seen in osseous Bankart 0.8 (CI 0.44-0.96) and superior labral tear (SLAP) lesions 0.5 (CI 0.14-0.86). The overall positive predictive value was 0.88 (CI 0.76-0.91) with the lowest values found in rotator cuff 0.4 (CI 0.07-0.83) and glenohumeral ligament (GHL) lesions 0.29 (CI 0.05-0.7). Magnetic resonance angiography has a high sensitivity when used to identify associated injuries in shoulder dislocation, although in 8 patients (13 %) arthroscopy identified an additional injury. The overall agreement between MRA and arthroscopic findings was good, but the identification of GHL and rotator cuff injuries was poor. (orig.)

Restricted Social Engagement among Adults Living with Chronic Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kayla P. Meek

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Social engagement is key to health and quality of life. Little is known about social engagement patterns of middle-aged and older adults who live with one or more chronic illnesses. This study investigated social engagement restrictions among middle-aged and older adults with chronic conditions and factors associated with these restrictions. Methods: Cross-sectional representative data from the National Council on Aging Chronic Care Survey were examined for relationships between social engagement restrictions and chronic conditions, health status, support, quality of life implications, self-care barriers, caregiving, and demographics. Associations were tested using bivariate analyses and binary logistic regression. Results: Participants were 793 middle-aged (age 44–64 and older adults (age 65+ with one or more chronic conditions. Factors associated with social engagement restrictions included having higher education, receiving care, having more physician visits and hospitalizations, being disabled, being unemployed, and having higher Emotional and Physical Problems Scale scores. Conclusions: Findings reveal the prevalence of social engagement restrictions among middle-aged and older adults with chronic conditions. Results highlight the importance of promoting research, assessments, and interventions to increase social engagement among this aging population.

Mecamylamine, dihydro-β-erythroidine, and dextromethorphan block conditioned responding evoked by the conditional stimulus effects of nicotine

Science.gov (United States)

Struthers, Amanda M.; Wilkinson, Jamie L.; Dwoskin, Linda P.; Crooks, Peter A.; Bevins, Rick A.

2009-01-01

Current smokers express the desire to quit. However, the majority find it difficult to remain abstinent. As such, research efforts continually seek to develop more effective treatment. One such area of research involves the interoceptive stimulus effects of nicotine as either a discriminative stimulus in an operant drug discrimination task, or more recently as a conditional stimulus (CS) in a discriminated goal-tracking task. The present work investigated the potential role nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the CS effects of nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) using antagonists with differential selectivity for β2*, α7*, α6β2*, and α3β4* receptors. Methyllycaconitine (MLA) had no effect on nicotine-evoked conditioned responding. Mecamylamine and dihydro-β-erythroidine (DHβE) dose dependently blocked responding evoked by the nicotine CS. In a time-course assessment of mecamylamine and DHβE, each blocked conditioned responding when given 5 min before testing and still blocked conditioned responding when administered 200 min before testing. Two novel bis-picolinium analogs (N, N’-(3, 3′-(dodecan-1,12-diyl)-bis-picolinium dibromide [bPiDDB], and N, N’-(decan-1,10-diyl)-bis-picolinium diiodide [bPiDI]) did not block nicotine-evoked conditioned responding. Finally, pretreatment with low dose combinations of mecamylamine, dextromethorphan, and/or bupropion were used to target α3β4* receptors. No combination blocked conditioned responding evoked by the training dose of nicotine. However, a combination of mecamylamine and dextromethorphan partially blocked nicotine-evoked conditioned responding to a lower dose of nicotine (0.1 mg/kg). These results indicate that β2* and potentially α3β4* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors play a role in the CS effects of nicotine and are potential targets for the development of nicotine cessation aids. PMID:19778551

MRI in assessing children with learning disability, focal findings, and reduced automaticity.

Science.gov (United States)

Urion, David K; Huff, Hanalise V; Carullo, Maria Paulina

2015-08-18

In children with clinically diagnosed learning disabilities with focal findings on neurologic or neuropsychological evaluations, there is a hypothesized association between disorders in automaticity and focal structural abnormalities observed in brain MRIs. We undertook a retrospective analysis of cases referred to a tertiary-hospital-based learning disabilities program. Individuals were coded as having a focal deficit if either neurologic or neuropsychological evaluation demonstrated focal dysfunction. Those with abnormal MRI findings were categorized based on findings. Children with abnormalities from each of these categories were compared in terms of deficits in automaticity, as measured by the tasks of Rapid Automatized Naming, Rapid Alternating Stimulus Naming, or the timed motor performance battery from the Physical and Neurological Examination for Soft Signs. Data were compared in children with and without disorders of automaticity regarding type of brain structure abnormality. Of the 1,587 children evaluated, 127 had a focal deficit. Eighty-seven had a brain MRI (52 on 1.5-tesla machines and 35 on 3.0-tesla machines). Forty of these images were found to be abnormal. These children were compared with a clinic sample of 150 patients with learning disabilities and no focal findings on examination, who also had undergone MRI. Only 5 of the latter group had abnormalities on MRI. Reduced verbal automaticity was associated with cerebellar abnormalities, whereas reduced automaticity on motor or motor and verbal tasks was associated with white matter abnormalities. Reduced automaticity of retrieval and slow timed motor performance appear to be highly associated with MRI findings. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.