Cervical spondylolysis: three cases and a review of the current literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Poong Gee; Yoon, Do Heum; Shin, Hyun Chul; Kim, Keung Nyun; Yi, Seong; Lee, Dong Yup; Yang, Moon Sul; Ha, Yoon

2010-02-01

Case report. To describe a rare case of cervical spondylolysis with an adjacent secondary dysplastic change, and to review the current literature regarding cervical spondylolysis. Three patients presented with minor trauma history and radiographical C6 level spondylolysis. Cervical spines were analyzed with plain radiography, multidetector computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. In all 3 patients, plain radiographs revealed a bilateral cleft of the C6 articular mass. The patients presented with long-term minimal discomfort of the posterior neck. In 2 patients, a trauma event increased the pain and produced neurologic deficits. In addition, an adjacent dysplastic change was present on imaging studying in 2 of the patients, 1 of whom also presented with a cord signal change above the spondylolytic level. Early diagnosis and appropriate management of cases of spondylolysis are important. In addition, surgical plans for cervical spondylolysis should be considered if the adjacent levels are unstable or fragile.

Electromagnetic analysis of ITER generic equatorial port plug designs during three plasma current disruption cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guirao, J.; Rodríguez, E.; Ordieres, J.; Cabanas, M.F.; García, C.H. Rojas

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Electromagnetic transient performance evaluation of the GEPP structure. ► Three different plasma current disruption cases: MD UP LIN36, VDE UP LIN36 and VDE DW LIN36 were analyzed. ► Three DSM-First Wall (FW) designs (horizontal and vertical drawers and monoblock) were compared. - Abstract: Electromagnetic phenomena due to plasma current disruptions are the cause for the main mechanical operation loads over the ITER equatorial level port plug structures. This paper presents a detailed finite element simulation and analysis of the transient electromagnetic effects of three different plasma current disruption cases over three designs of diagnostic shielding module (DSM) structure. The DSMs are contained into and supported by the generic equatorial port plug (GEPP) analyzed structure. The three plasma disruption cases studied were: major disruption upwards linear decay in 36 ms (MD UP LIN36), vertical displacements events, upwards and downwards linear decay in 36 ms (VDE UP LIN36 and VDE DW LIN36). A detailed analysis for GEPP structure and three DSM-first wall (FW) designs (horizontal and vertical drawers and monoblock) is also presented in order to extract the Eddy current distribution on these devices and thus the resultant electromagnetic forces and moments acting on them.

Examining Current Beliefs, Practices and Barriers about Technology Integration: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Pi-Sui

2016-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the current beliefs, practices and barriers concerning technology integration of Kindergarten through Grade Six teachers in the midwestern United States. The three data collection methods were online surveys with 152 teachers as well as interviews and observations with 8 teachers. The findings…

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Treating Depression in a Patient With Right Hemispheric Dominance: A Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiozawa, Pedro; da Silva, Mailu Enokibara; Cordeiro, Quirino

2015-09-01

We report the case of a 66-year-old male patient with major depressive disorder for the last 6 months. The patient had been diagnosed with dyslexia during childhood and was left-handed. The intervention protocol consisted in 10 consecutive daily transcranial direct current stimulation sessions. However, after 5 days of stimulation, the patient presented with intensification of depressive symptoms and panic attacks. It was hypothetized that the intensification of symptoms may have been due to stimulation protocol itself. Considering the patient was left-handed and presented comorbidity with dyslexia, there was a plausible hypothesis of right hemispheric dominance. This was corroborated by the Edinburgh Handedness Scale. In fact, dyslexic patients present right hemisphere dominance more frequently. The patient also presented a single photon emission computed tomography with a hypoperfusion area over the left posterior parietal lobe. After the patients agreement, a 10-day experimental repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation low-frequency protocol over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was started to inhibit the area, which was hypothetically hyperactivated following the rationale of right dominance. The patient presented amelioration of depressive and anxious symptoms. Given the hemispheric reversal we show in the present case study, however, it seems that therapies that are beneficial to right-handers could be detrimental to left-handers.

The Use of Case Studies in OR Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, Marion L.; Currie, Christine S. M.; Hoad, Kathryn A.; O'Brien, Frances A.

2016-01-01

This article investigates the current use of case studies in the teaching of Operational Research (OR) in the UK: how and where they are used; how they are developed; and whether there is an interest in training this area. It is aimed at lecturers teaching OR who are using or planning to use case studies in their teaching. It may also be of…

Study on current limiting characteristics of SFCL with two trigger current levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, S.H.

2010-01-01

In this paper, the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) with two trigger current levels was suggested and its effectiveness through the analysis on the current limiting characteristics was described. The proposed SFCL, which consists of the triggering and the limiting components, can limit the fault current by generating the limiting impedance through two steps according to the amplitude of the initial fault current. In case that the fault happens, the lower initial fault current causes the only superconducting element of the triggering component to be quenched. On the other hand, the higher initial fault current makes both the superconducting elements comprising the triggering and the limiting components of the SFCL to be quenched, which contributes to the higher impedance of the SFCL. Therefore, the effective fault current limiting operation of the SFCL can be performed by generating the SFCL's impedance in proportion to the amplitude of the initial fault current. To confirm the current limiting operation of the proposed SFCL, the short-circuit tests of the SFCL according to the fault angle were carried out and its effective fault current limiting operations could be discussed.

Repurposing legacy data innovative case studies

CERN Document Server

Berman, Jules J

2015-01-01

Repurposing Legacy Data: Innovative Case Studies takes a look at how data scientists have re-purposed legacy data, whether their own, or legacy data that has been donated to the public domain. Most of the data stored worldwide is legacy data-data created some time in the past, for a particular purpose, and left in obsolete formats. As with keepsakes in an attic, we retain this information thinking it may have value in the future, though we have no current use for it. The case studies in this book, from such diverse fields as cosmology, quantum physics, high-energy physics, microbiology,

Microcephaly Case Fatality Rate Associated with Zika Virus Infection in Brazil: Current Estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Antonio José Ledo Alves da; de Magalhães-Barbosa, Maria Clara; Lima-Setta, Fernanda; Medronho, Roberto de Andrade; Prata-Barbosa, Arnaldo

2017-05-01

Considering the currently confirmed cases of microcephaly and related deaths associated with Zika virus in Brazil, the estimated case fatality rate is 8.3% (95% confidence interval: 7.2-9.6). However, a third of the reported cases remain under investigation. If the confirmation rates of cases and deaths are the same in the future, the estimated case fatality rate will be as high as 10.5% (95% confidence interval: 9.5-11.7).

The Current State and Future Directions of Organic No-Till Farming with Cover Crops in Canada, with Case Study Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heather M. Beach

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Eliminating regular tillage practices in agriculture has numerous ecological benefits that correspond to the intentions of organic agriculture; yet, more tillage is conducted in organic agriculture than in conventional agriculture. Organic systems face more management challenges to avoid tillage. This paper identifies factors to consider when implementing no-till practices particularly in organic agronomic and vegetable crop agriculture and describes techniques to address these factors. In some cases, future research is recommended to effectively address the current limitations. The format includes a literature review of organic no-till (OrgNT research and two case studies of Ontario organic farmers that highlight no-till challenges and practices to overcome these challenges. Cover crops require significant consideration because they are the alternative to herbicides and fertilizers to manage weeds and provide nutrients in the OrgNT system. Equipment requirements have also proven to be unique in OrgNT systems. In the future, it is recommended that researchers involve organic farmers closely in studies on no-till implementation, so that the farmers’ concerns are effectively addressed, and research is guided by possibilities recognized by the practitioners.

Using the Case Study Method in Teaching College Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Burko, Lior M.

2016-01-01

The case study teaching method has a long history (starting at least with Socrates) and wide current use in business schools, medical schools, law schools, and a variety of other disciplines. However, relatively little use is made of it in the physical sciences, specifically in physics or astronomy. The case study method should be considered by…

CASE STUDY CRITIQUE; UPPER CLINCH CASE STUDY

Science.gov (United States)

Case study critique: Upper Clinch case study (from Research on Methods for Integrating Ecological Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment: A Trade-off Weighted Index Approach to Integrating Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment). This critique answers the questions: 1) does ...

Using Case Studies in Business Education to Promote Networked Thinking: Findings of an Intervention Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pilz, Matthias; Zenner, Lea

2018-01-01

Case studies are central to the way management is currently taught at universities. Among other benefits attributed to the case study method is that it promotes networked thinking by learners. Networked thinking takes account of interactions and repercussions, making it crucial to decision-making within the complex system of rules that shapes…

Spicy Stonehenge : Proposing a SOA Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Espinha, T.A.; Chen, C.; Zaidman, A.E.; Gross, H.G.

2012-01-01

Prepint of paper published in: ICSE Workshop on Principles of Engineering Service Oriented Systems (PESOS), 4 June 2012; doi:10.1109/PESOS.2012.6225940 Maintenance research in the context of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is currently lacking a suitable standard case study that can be used by

Persistent User Bias in Case-Crossover Studies in Pharmacoepidemiology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallas, Jesper; Pottegård, Anton; Wang, Shirley

2016-01-01

Studying the effect of chronic medication exposure by means of a case-crossover design may result in an upward-biased odds ratio. In this study, our aim was to assess the occurrence of this bias and to evaluate whether it is remedied by including a control group (the case-time-control design...... for the retinal detachment controls were similar, leading to near-null case-time-control estimates for all 3 medication classes. For wrist fracture and stroke, the odds ratios were higher for cases than for controls, and case-time-control odds ratios were consistently above unity, thus implying significant...... residual bias. In case-crossover studies of medications, contamination by persistent users confers a moderate bias upward, which is partly remedied by using a control group. The optimal strategy for dealing with this problem is currently unknown....

[A case study on duty of care in professional nursing].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hui-Man; Liao, Chi-Chun

2013-08-01

Nurses are expected to discharge their duty of care effectively and professionally to prevent medical negligence. Only three articles have previously focused on medical negligence. Duty of care and medical negligence in nursing are topics that have been neglected in Taiwan. (1) Classify the duty of care of professional nurses; (2) Investigate the facts and disputes in the current case; (3) Clarify the legal issues involved with regard to duty-of-care violations in the current case; (4) Explore the causal relationships in a legal context between nurses' duty-of-care violations and patient harm / injury. Literature analysis and a case study are used to analyze Supreme Court Verdict No.5550 (2010). Duty of care for nursing professionals may be classified into seven broad categories. Each category has its distinct correlatives. In nursing practice, every nursing behavior has a corresponding duty. In this case, the case study nurse did not discharge her obstetric professional duty and failed to inform the doctor in a timely manner. Negligence resulted in prenatal death and the case study nurse was found guilty. In order to prevent committing a crime, nurses should gain a better understanding of their duty of care and adequately discharge these duties in daily practice.

Case Study: Intra-abdominal hypertension | Veldsman | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 27, No 2 (2014) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register. Case Study: Intra-abdominal hypertension.

Using the Case Study Method in Teaching College Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Burko, Lior M.

2016-10-01

The case study teaching method has a long history (starting at least with Socrates) and wide current use in business schools, medical schools, law schools, and a variety of other disciplines. However, relatively little use is made of it in the physical sciences, specifically in physics or astronomy. The case study method should be considered by physics faculty as part of the effort to transition the teaching of college physics from the traditional frontal-lecture format to other formats that enhance active student participation. In this paper we endeavor to interest physics instructors in the case study method, and hope that it would also serve as a call for more instructors to produce cases that they use in their own classes and that can also be adopted by other instructors.

Crane RF accelerator for high current radiation damage studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitham, K.; Anamkath, H.; Evans, K.; Lyons, S.; Palmer, D.; Miller, R.; Treas, P.; Zante, T.

1992-01-01

An electron accelerator was designed and built for the Naval Weapons Support Center for transient radiation effects on electronics experiments and testing. The Crane L Band RF Electron Linac was designed to provide high currents over a wide range of pulse widths and energies. The energy extends to 60 MeV and pulse widths vary from a few ns to 10 μsec. Beam currents range from 20 amps in the short pulse case to 1.5 amps in the long pulse case. This paper describes the linac, its architecture, the e-gun and pulser, waveguides, klystrons and modulator, vacuum system, beam transport, and control systems. fig., tab

Theoretical study of a flat eddy current probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouchard, A.; Dumont-Fillon, J.; Labbe, G.

1976-01-01

A mathematical model for the computation of the impedance of an eddy current probe has been determined in the case of flat product testing. Various applications are discussed with particular emphasis on ferromagnetic materials [fr

The Case of Web-Based Course on Taxation: Current Status, Problems and Future Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Zhigang

This paper mainly introduces the case of the web-based course on taxation developed by Xiamen University. We analyze the current status, problems and future improvement of the web-based course. The web-based course has the basic contents and modules, but it has several problems including unclear object, lacking interaction, lacking examination module, lacking study management module, and the learning materials and the navigation are too simple. According to its problems, we put forward the measures to improve it.

Energy management study: A proposed case of government building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tahir, Mohamad Zamhari; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Baharum, Mohd Faizal

2015-01-01

Align with the current needs of the sustainable and green technology in Malaysian construction industry, this research is conducted to seek and identify opportunities to better manage energy use including the process of understand when, where, and how energy is used in a building. The purpose of this research is to provide a best practice guideline as a practical tool to assist construction industry in Malaysia to improve the energy efficiency of the office building during the post-production by reviewing the current practice of the building operation and maintenance in order to optimum the usage and reduce the amount of energy input into the building. Therefore, this paper will review the concept of maintenance management, current issue in energy management, and on how the research process will be conducted. There are several process involves and focuses on technical and management techniques such as energy metering, tracing, harvesting, and auditing based on the case study that will be accomplish soon. Accordingly, a case study is appropriate to be selected as a strategic research approach in which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence for the data collection process. A Government office building will be selected as an appropriate case study for this research. In the end of this research, it will recommend a strategic approach or model in a specific guideline for enabling energy-efficient operation and maintenance in the office building

Energy management study: A proposed case of government building

Science.gov (United States)

Tahir, Mohamad Zamhari; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Baharum, Mohd Faizal

2015-05-01

Align with the current needs of the sustainable and green technology in Malaysian construction industry, this research is conducted to seek and identify opportunities to better manage energy use including the process of understand when, where, and how energy is used in a building. The purpose of this research is to provide a best practice guideline as a practical tool to assist construction industry in Malaysia to improve the energy efficiency of the office building during the post-production by reviewing the current practice of the building operation and maintenance in order to optimum the usage and reduce the amount of energy input into the building. Therefore, this paper will review the concept of maintenance management, current issue in energy management, and on how the research process will be conducted. There are several process involves and focuses on technical and management techniques such as energy metering, tracing, harvesting, and auditing based on the case study that will be accomplish soon. Accordingly, a case study is appropriate to be selected as a strategic research approach in which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence for the data collection process. A Government office building will be selected as an appropriate case study for this research. In the end of this research, it will recommend a strategic approach or model in a specific guideline for enabling energy-efficient operation and maintenance in the office building.

Energy management study: A proposed case of government building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tahir, Mohamad Zamhari; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd [School of Technology Management and Logistics, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah (Malaysia); Baharum, Mohd Faizal [School of Building, Housing and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang (Malaysia)

2015-05-15

Align with the current needs of the sustainable and green technology in Malaysian construction industry, this research is conducted to seek and identify opportunities to better manage energy use including the process of understand when, where, and how energy is used in a building. The purpose of this research is to provide a best practice guideline as a practical tool to assist construction industry in Malaysia to improve the energy efficiency of the office building during the post-production by reviewing the current practice of the building operation and maintenance in order to optimum the usage and reduce the amount of energy input into the building. Therefore, this paper will review the concept of maintenance management, current issue in energy management, and on how the research process will be conducted. There are several process involves and focuses on technical and management techniques such as energy metering, tracing, harvesting, and auditing based on the case study that will be accomplish soon. Accordingly, a case study is appropriate to be selected as a strategic research approach in which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence for the data collection process. A Government office building will be selected as an appropriate case study for this research. In the end of this research, it will recommend a strategic approach or model in a specific guideline for enabling energy-efficient operation and maintenance in the office building.

eHealth in Denmark: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kierkegaard, Patrick

2013-12-01

Denmark is widely regarded as a leading country in terms of eHealth integration and healthcare delivery services. The push for eHealth adoption over that past 20 years in the Danish health sector has led to the deployment of multiple eHealth technologies. However, in reality the Danish healthcare suffers from eHealth system fragmentation which has led to eHealth's inability to reach full potential in delivering quality healthcare service. This paper will presents a case study of the current state of eHealth in the Danish healthcare system and discuss the current challenges the country is facing today.

Experimental study on the evolution of Peregrine breather with uniform-depth adverse currents

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, B.; Ma, Y.; Ma, X.; Dong, G.

2018-05-01

A series of laboratory experiments were performed to study the evolution of Peregrine breather (PB) in a wave flume in finite depth, and wave trains were initially generated in a region of quiescent water and then propagated into an adverse current region for which the current velocity strength gradually increased from zero to an approximately stable value. The PB is often considered as a prototype of oceanic freak waves that can focus wave energy into a single wave packet. In the experiment, the cases were selected with the relative water depths k0h (k0 is the wave number in quiescent water and h is the water depth) varying from 3.11 through 8.17, and the initial wave steepness k0a0 (a0 is the background wave amplitude) ranges between 0.065 and 0.120. The experimental results show the persistence of the breather evolution dynamics even in the presence of strong opposing currents. We have shown that the characteristic spectrum of the PB persists even on strong currents, thus making it a viable characteristic for prediction of freak waves. It was also found that the adverse currents tend to shift the focusing point upstream compared to the cases without currents. Furthermore, it was found that uniform-depth adverse currents can reduce the breather extension in time domain.

Qualitative case study methodology in nursing research: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, Susan; Jack, Susan

2009-06-01

This paper is a report of an integrative review conducted to critically analyse the contemporary use of qualitative case study methodology in nursing research. Increasing complexity in health care and increasing use of case study in nursing research support the need for current examination of this methodology. In 2007, a search for case study research (published 2005-2007) indexed in the CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Sociological Abstracts and SCOPUS databases was conducted. A sample of 42 case study research papers met the inclusion criteria. Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review method guided the analysis. Confusion exists about the name, nature and use of case study. This methodology, including terminology and concepts, is often invisible in qualitative study titles and abstracts. Case study is an exclusive methodology and an adjunct to exploring particular aspects of phenomena under investigation in larger or mixed-methods studies. A high quality of case study exists in nursing research. Judicious selection and diligent application of literature review methods promote the development of nursing science. Case study is becoming entrenched in the nursing research lexicon as a well-accepted methodology for studying phenomena in health and social care, and its growing use warrants continued appraisal to promote nursing knowledge development. Attention to all case study elements, process and publication is important in promoting authenticity, methodological quality and visibility.

Developing a Comprehensive Housing Strategy: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Marsters, Tim; Bliss, Kelly

2007-01-01

In the current highly competitive higher education market in North America, many colleges have identified the importance of upgrading their existing residential housing facilities as part of their strategy to attract and retain students. The case study discussed in this article describes the successful planning process used by Perkins+Will and…

Development of a safety case for the use of current limiting devices to manage short circuit currents on electrical distribution networks. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

The original objective of this study was to review the safety issues associated with the use of current limiting devices and to write a risk assessment in accordance with good practice. But, when legislative procedures became apparent, the scope was changed to include involvement with the HSE, the DTI and Ofgem. It turned out that it would have been very difficult to write a safety case that would satisfy all of the agencies, or a risk assessment that would cover all applications. The scope of the study was therefore changed to focus on how the existing barriers should be tackled and the implications of the existing legislation. The approach to the study is described; it included reviews of background information and literature, questionnaires to manufacturers, a review of the reliability and hazards of the devices, and a review of UK safety legislation. The Final Report describes all this and includes discussion on the consequences of failure of fault current limiting devices, control measures which could be used to minimise risk, and recommendations for a way forward.

THE STATE OF THE COMMONS: CASE STUDIES 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Cobcroft

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: ‘What artists need to see before they can feel confident about the licenses are examples of other[s] taking the licenses; incorporating them into their practices.’ – OpenBusiness.cc, p. 8 The Creative Commons Case Studies initiative, established in 2008, offers the ‘free culture’community a qualitative resource to chronicle trends in open content licensing (OCL. Seeking feedback as to individual and organisational motivations towards OCL adoption, and through its provision of usage data, jurisdiction and disciplinary distribution, the CC Case Studies wiki complements current quantitative research projects such as CC Monitor. Containing over 200 entries in July 2010, the CC Case Studies wiki covers several genres such as publishing, moving images, music, visual arts, interactive resources including games, performance, education, and ‘government 2.0’ open data initiatives. Entries represent 25 contributing jurisdictions, with studies being written in several languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Korean. By sharing stories of success and identifying areas of innovation and collaboration, the CC Case Studies wiki encourages creators to contribute to the Commons, whilst contributing to a broader understanding of the dynamics of ‘free culture.’

Case studies of building pathology in cultural heritage

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book highlights new developments in the field of building pathology and rehabilitation, taking an in-depth look into current approaches to the surveying of buildings and the study of defect diagnosis, prognosis and remediation. Including a number of real-world case studies and a detailed set of references for further reading, the book will appeal to a wide readership of scientists, practitioners, students and lecturers.

Gate-controlled current and inelastic electron tunneling spectrum of benzene: a self-consistent study.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Y Y; Chen, H; Mizuseki, H; Kawazoe, Y

2011-04-14

We use density functional theory based nonequilibrium Green's function to self-consistently study the current through the 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT). The elastic and inelastic tunneling properties through this Au-BDT-Au molecular junction are simulated, respectively. For the elastic tunneling case, it is found that the current through the tilted molecule can be modulated effectively by the external gate field, which is perpendicular to the phenyl ring. The gate voltage amplification comes from the modulation of the interaction between the electrodes and the molecules in the junctions. For the inelastic case, the electron tunneling scattered by the molecular vibrational modes is considered within the self-consistent Born approximation scheme, and the inelastic electron tunneling spectrum is calculated.

Case Study: Online Continuing Education for New Librarians

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrix, Beth R.; McKeal, Alyse E.

2017-01-01

Continuing education is vital for new librarians to gain skills and knowledge beyond library school. Professional development offered free in an online environment is often the best option for staying current on the issues and trends necessary for young librarians to grow and flourish. This paper presents a case study of an online professional…

Eddy current imaging. Simplifying the direct problem. Analysis of a 2D case with formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spineanu, A.; Zorgati, R.

1995-01-01

Eddy current non-destructive testing is used by EDF to detect faults affecting conductive objects such as steam generator tubes. A new technique, known as eddy current imaging, is being developed to facilitate diagnosis in this context. The first stage in this work, discussed in the present paper, consists in solving the direct problem. This entails determining the measurable quantities, on the basis of a thorough knowledge of the material considered. This was done by formulating the direct problem in terms of eddy currents in general 3D geometry context, applying distribution theory and Maxwell equations. Since no direct problem code was available we resorted to simplified situations. Taking care not to interfere with previous developments or those to be attempted in an inversion context, we studied the case of a flaw affecting a 2D structure, illuminated by a plane wave type probe. For this configuration, we studied the exact model and compared results with those of a linearized simplified model. This study emphasizes the ill-posed situation of the eddy current inverse problem related with the severe electromagnetic field attenuation. This means that regularization of the inverse problem, although absolutely necessary, will not be sufficient. Owing to the simplicity of the models available and implemented during the inversion process, processing real data would not yet be possible. We must first focus all our efforts on the direct 3 D problem, in conformity with the requirements of the inverse procedure ad describing a realistic eddy current NDT situation. At the same time, consideration should be given to the design of a specific probe customized for eddy current imaging. (authors). 9 refs., 5 figs., 3 appends

CASE STUDIES OF USE OF DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS IN MATERIAL RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salil Kumar Roy

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes principles of factorial and fractional factorial design of experiments. The various ways of analysing data obtained by these procedures are shown via four case studies. Yates method was followed in case 1 where the effect of anode type, carbon content of steel, temperature, and agitation on cathodic protection of steel in seawater, on current density, was studied. In case 2, a glass was formulated within 10 constituante melted, quantity water and tested for flow caracteristics, from the result the factor effect was calculated. In case 3, analysis of results is done in a very simple way. In this case, the effect of carbon content, surface condition, temperature, and agitation on the corrosion of steel in seawater was studied. In case 4, the effect of eleven constituents on acid resistance of a cast iron enamel has been studied through sixteen experimental compositions. This case gives a method to find out which of the sixteen experimental compositions is nearest to a target value.

Developing the DESCARTE Model: The Design of Case Study Research in Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Carolan, Clare M; Forbat, Liz; Smith, Annetta

2016-04-01

Case study is a long-established research tradition which predates the recent surge in mixed-methods research. Although a myriad of nuanced definitions of case study exist, seminal case study authors agree that the use of multiple data sources typify this research approach. The expansive case study literature demonstrates a lack of clarity and guidance in designing and reporting this approach to research. Informed by two reviews of the current health care literature, we posit that methodological description in case studies principally focuses on description of case study typology, which impedes the construction of methodologically clear and rigorous case studies. We draw from the case study and mixed-methods literature to develop the DESCARTE model as an innovative approach to the design, conduct, and reporting of case studies in health care. We examine how case study fits within the overall enterprise of qualitatively driven mixed-methods research, and the potential strengths of the model are considered. © The Author(s) 2015.

Magneto-Fluid Dynamics Fundamentals and Case Studies of Natural Phenomena

CERN Document Server

Lorrain, Paul; Houle, Stéphane

2006-01-01

This book concerns the generation of electric currents and of electric space charges inside conducting media that move in magnetic fields. The authors postulate nothing but the Maxwell equations. They discuss at length the disk dynamo, which serves as a model for the natural self-excited dynamos that generate magnetic fields such as that of sunspots. There are 36 Examples and 13 Case Studies. The Case Studies concern solar phenomena -- magnetic elements, sunspots, spicules, coronal loops -- and the Earth's magnetic field.

Maintaining turbidity and current flow in laboratory aquarium studies, a case study using Sabellaria spinulosa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davies, Andrew J.; S. Last, Kim; Attard, Karl

2009-01-01

RT) is a simple and reliable system for the resuspension of food or sediments using an enclosed airlift. The particle rain from the lift is mixed in the tank by two water inputs that provide directional current flow across the study organism(s). The vortex mixing creates a turbulent lateral water flow that allows......Many aquatic organisms rely on the suspension of particulate matter for food or for building materials, yet these conditions are difficult to replicate in laboratory mesocosms. Consequently, husbandry and experimental conditions may often be sub-optimal. The Vortex Resuspension Tank (Vo...... the distribution of particulate matter outwards from the sediment outflow. By calibrating a VoRT it is possible to control sedimentation rate by manipulating water and air flow rates. As an example application, three VoRTs were maintained under different sediment loadings to assess the sediment fraction...

Evaluation of School Uniform Policy in Turkey: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Cinoglu, Mustafa

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of current school uniform policies according to views of stakeholders. Descriptive case study method was used for this study to understand the concerns of the stakeholders about school uniforms. Data was collected through interviews with stakeholders and also reviewing the documents in TOKI…

Planning Intervention Using Dynamic Assessments: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hasson, Natalie; Dodd, Barbara

2014-01-01

Dynamic assessments (DA) of language have been shown to be a useful addition to the battery of tests used to diagnose language impairments in children, and to evaluate their skills. The current article explores the value of the information gained from a DA in planning intervention for a child with language impairment. A single case study was used…

Delivering Online Examinations: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John MESSING

2004-07-01

Full Text Available Delivering Online Examinations: A Case Study Jason HOWARTH John MESSING Irfan ALTAS Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga-AUSTRALIA ABSTRACT This paper represents a brief case study of delivering online examinations to a worldwide audience. These examinations are delivered in partnership with a commercial online testing company as part of the Industry Master’s degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU. The Industry Master’s degree is an academic program for students currently employed in the IT industry. Using Internet Based Testing (IBT, these students are examined in test centres throughout the world. This offers many benefits. For example, students have the freedom of sitting exams at any time during a designated interval. Computer-based testing also provides instructors with valuable feedback through test statistics and student comments. In this paper, we document CSU’s use of the IBT system, including how tests are built and delivered, and how both human and statistical feedback is used to evaluate and enhance the testing process.

Case Study Research Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Widdowson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Commenting on the lack of case studies published in modern psychotherapy publications, the author reviews the strengths of case study methodology and responds to common criticisms, before providing a summary of types of case studies including clinical, experimental and naturalistic. Suggestions are included for developing systematic case studies and brief descriptions are given of a range of research resources relating to outcome and process measures. Examples of a pragmatic case study design and a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design are given and the paper concludes with some ethical considerations and an exhortation to the TA community to engage more widely in case study research.

Project management case studies

CERN Document Server

Kerzner, Harold R

2013-01-01

A new edition of the most popular book of project management case studies, expanded to include more than 100 cases plus a ""super case"" on the Iridium Project Case studies are an important part of project management education and training. This Fourth Edition of Harold Kerzner''s Project Management Case Studies features a number of new cases covering value measurement in project management. Also included is the well-received ""super case,"" which covers all aspects of project management and may be used as a capstone for a course. This new edition:Contains 100-plus case studies drawn from re

High-current railgap studies

Science.gov (United States)

Druce, R.; Gordon, L.; Hofer, W.; Wilson, M.

1983-06-01

Characteristics of a 40-kV, 750-kA, multichannel rail gap are presented. The gap is a three electrode, field distortion triggered design, with a total switch inductance of less than 10 nH. At maximum ratings, the gap typically switches 10 C per shot, at 700 kA, with a jitter of less than 2 ns. Channel evolution and current division were studied on image converter streak photographs. Transient gas pressure measurements were made to investigate the arc generated shocks and to detect single channel failure. Channel current sharing and simultaneity are described and their effects on the switch inductance in the channel current sharing and erosion measurements are discussed.

School Administration Leadership Style and Academic Achievement: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Brvenik-Estrella, Marianna

2013-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to gather current teacher and administrator perceptions on leadership in a school environment. The study sought to identify patterns of leadership style as elements in building a school climate that focused on performance and intrinsic rewards. The study also sought to establish an understanding of how leadership…

What Case Managers Should Know About Their Roles and Functions: A National Study From the Commission for Case Manager Certification: Part 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahan, Hussein M; Watson, Annette C; Sminkey, Patrice V

2015-01-01

The purpose of this national role and function study was to identify the essential activities and necessary knowledge areas for effective case manager practice from the perspective of those currently functioning in various care settings and across diverse professional disciplines. The national study covered all case management practices and/or work settings across the full continuum of health care. This cross-sectional descriptive study used the practice analysis method and online survey research design. It employed a purposive sample of case managers, in which 52,370 individuals received an invitation to participate. Data collection completed over a 4-week period, resulting in 7,668 useable survey responses (nearly a 15% response rate). The study identified the common activities and knowledge areas necessary for competent and effective performance of case managers, as is highlighted in this article, which is the first of a 2-part series on the role and function study. The results informed the needed update of the test specifications for the Certified Case Manager (CCM) certification examination, as will be delineated in Part 2 of the article series, to ensure that it continues to be substantiated in current practice. Of special note are the emergence of specific activity and knowledge domains in the area of case management ethical, legal, and practice standards, and an increase in the number of employers requiring certified case managers to fill vacant positions and compensating them financially for such qualifications. This study helps keep the CCM credentialing examination evidence-based and maintain its validity for evaluating competency of case managers. Specifically, the study identified essential activities and knowledge domains that define competent case management practice. Findings can be used for developing programs and curricula for the training and development of case managers. The study instrument also can be used for further research of case

Maintenance Research in SOA Towards a Standard Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Espinha, T.; Chen, C.; Zaidman, A.E.; Gross, H.G.

2012-01-01

Preprint of paper published in: 16th European Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering (CSMR), 27-30 March 2012; doi:10.1109/CSMR.2012.49 Maintenance research in the context of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is currently lacking a suitable standard case study that can be used by

Study on pulsed current cathodic protection in a simulated system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Milin; Li, Helin [Xi' an Jiao Tong Universitiy (China)]|[Tubular Goods Research Center of China National Petroleum Corp. (China); Qiu, Yubing; Guo, Xingpeng [Hua Zhong University of Science and Techonology (China)

2004-07-01

The pulsed current cathodic protection (PCCP) is a new cathodic protection (CP) technology and shows more advantages over the conventional DC cathodic protection (DCCP) in oil well casing system. However, little information about PCCP is reported. In this research, a simulated CP system was set up in a pool of 3.5 m x 2.0 m x 3.0 m size, in which the effects of the square wave pulsed current (SWPC) parameters (amplitude: IA, frequency: f, duty cycle: P), auxiliary anode distance (d) and media conductivity ({mu}) on the cathodic potential (E) distribution were studied, and the protection effects of PCCP and DCCP were compared. The results show that with increase of the square wave parameters (IA, f, P), the E distribution becomes more negative and the effects of each current parameter are relate closely to the cathode polarizing state. Only with suitable square wave parameters can the whole cathode be effectively protected. With increase of d and {mu}, the E distribution becomes more uniform. Compared with DCCP system, PCCP system has much more uniform E distribution, costs less average current, and gains much better protection effects. Further, the mechanism of PCCP was analyzed. (authors)

Strategically Focused Training in Six Sigma Way: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Ashish

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to examine the utility of Six Sigma interventions as a performance measure and explore its applicability for making the training design and delivery operationally efficient and strategically effective. Design/methodology/approach: This is a single revelatory case study. Data were collected from multiple…

Case studies: Application of SEA in provincial level expressway infrastructure network planning in China - Current existing problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Kaiyi; Sheate, William R.

2011-01-01

Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment was enacted in 2003 and Huanfa 2004 No. 98 was released in 2004, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been officially being implemented in the expressway infrastructure planning field in China. Through scrutinizing two SEA application cases of China's provincial level expressway infrastructure (PLEI) network plans, it is found that current SEA practice in expressway infrastructure planning field has a number of problems including: SEA practitioners do not fully understand the objective of SEA; its potential contributions to strategic planning and decision-making is extremely limited; the employed application procedure and prediction and assessment techniques are too simple to bring objective, unbiased and scientific results; and no alternative options are considered. All these problems directly lead to poor quality SEA and consequently weaken SEA's effectiveness.

Experimental study of neoclassical currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarnstorff, M.C.; Prager, S.C.

1985-05-01

A detailed experimental study is presented of the bootstrap and Pfirsch-Schlueter currents that are predicted by neoclassical transport theory. In a toroidal octupole, on magnetic surfaces within the separatrix, the observed parallel plasma currents are in excellent quantitative agreement with neoclassical theory with regard to the spatial structure (along a magnetic surface), collisionality dependence and toroidal magnetic field dependence. On magnetic surfaces outside the separatrix, the ion portion of the parallel current is in agreement with neoclassical theory but the electron parallel current is observed to obtain a unidirectional component which deviates from and exceeds the theoretical prediction

High-current railgap studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Druce, R.; Gordon, L.; Hofer, W.; Wilson, M.

1983-06-03

Characteristics of a 40-kV, 750-kA, multichannel rail gap are presented. The gap is a three electrode, field-distortion-triggered design, with a total switch inductance of less than 10 nH. At maximum ratings, the gap typically switches 10 C per shot, at 700 kA, with a jitter of less than 2 ns. Image-converter streak photographs were used to study channel evolution and current division. Transient gas-pressure measurements were made to investigate the arc generated shocks and to detect single channel failure. Channel current sharing and simultaneity are described and their effects on the switch inductance and lifetime are discussed. Lifetime tests of the rail gap were performed. Degradation in the channel current-sharing and erosion measurements are discussed.

[Case and studies].

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, András

2015-11-15

Case studies and case reports form an important and ever growing part of scientific and scholarly literature. The paper deals with the share and citation rate of these publication types on different fields of research. In general, evidence seems to support the opinion that an excessive number of such publications may negatively influence the impact factor of the journal. In the literature of scientometrics, case studies (at least the presence of the term "case study" in the titles of the papers) have a moderate share, but their citation rate is practically equal to that of other publication types.

Pathology analysis for mesothelioma study in the United Kingdom: Current practice and historical development.

Science.gov (United States)

Case, B W

2016-01-01

Following up on the largest case-control study of malignant mesothelioma yet performed, investigators at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine assessed 1732 male and 670 female cases as of May 2013. Epidemiological findings of a subset of these were published previously, excluding patients who died or who refused to be interviewed. Pathology reports were collected for subjects, including those both eligible and ineligible for epidemiology study based on vital status. The current investigation examined 860 cases having pathology reports available. Sixty-one cases were diagnosed using cytology only, often with equivocal diagnoses, while 799 reported at least a biopsy of the tumor. Of these, 748 had pathology sufficiently detailed for evaluation. These reports were examined for basis of diagnosis, differences between study cases and ineligible cases, pathology characteristics, and immunohistochemical and other tests used. The most prominent subtype was epithelioid (64% of study cases but only 49% of ineligible cases). Biphasic subtype was present in 10% of study cases and 16% of those ineligible. Sarcomatoid subtype was present in 7% of study cases and 19% of ineligible cases, most of whom died. Twelve percent of study cases displayed no specified subtype, versus 7% of ineligible cases. Of recorded immunohistochemical stains specific for mesothelial cell origin, calretinin (95%) and CK 5/6 or CK5 alone (84%) were by far the most common. Calretinin and CK 5/6 or CK 5 alone were also most sensitive and positive in 92% of cases presenting with surgical pathology report. Ninety percent of cases had at least one immunohistochemical marker for possible lung carcinoma applied, with BER-Ep4 and TTF-1 the most frequent at 68% and CEA at 58%. TTF-1 and CEA were positive in 1% or less of cases. Patterns of use and positive and negative results for each of these as well as other immunohistochemical stains are presented and discussed, along with a brief historical

How informative are case studies of spider bites in the medical literature?

Science.gov (United States)

Stuber, Marielle; Nentwig, Wolfgang

2016-05-01

We analyzed the reliability and information content of 134 medical case studies on spider bites, published in 91 journal articles. Overall, we found that only 22% of these studies fulfilled the criteria for a verified spider bite. This means that the majority of such case studies cannot be attributed to a given spider species and usually not even to a spider. Their scientific value is negligible, moreover, such publications are even dangerous because they suggest incorrect conclusions. Secondly, we found that such case studies usually do not follow an obvious structure and many details on the development of symptoms, therapy and healing process are widely lacking. So even for verified spider bites, the comparability of case studies is limited. We discuss the obvious failure of a reviewing process for case studies and give recommendations how to increase the currently low information content of medical case studies on spider bites. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of non inductive current generation in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rax, J.M.

1987-01-01

The problem of non-thermal bremsstrahlung during lower hybrid current drive is considered. The proposed method shows the role of the Compton effects at low frequencies and allows us to establish the link between the emitted power and the absorbed power at high frequency. The non-thermal emission is considered as a kinematical mode conversion between the absorbed radio-frequency mode and the emitted X ray photons. The fast electrons diagnostics and the ways to reach the wave structure are shown. Kinetic and electromagnetic problems concerning current generation are described. The plasma properties and diagnostics in the case of a non inductive current generation are discussed [fr

Building theories from case study research: the progressive case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenhuis, H.J.; de Bruijn, E.J.

2006-01-01

Meredith (1998) argues for more case and field research studies in the field of operations management. Based on a literature review, we discuss several existing approaches to case studies and their characteristics. These approaches include; the Grounded Theory approach which proposes no prior

Current-Voltage Characteristics of the Metal / Organic Semiconductor / Metal Structures: Top and Bottom Contact Configuration Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šarūnas MEŠKINIS

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In present study five synthesized organic semiconductor compounds have been used for fabrication of the planar metal / organic semiconductor / metal structures. Both top electrode and bottom electrode configurations were used. Current-voltage (I-V characteristics of the samples were investigated. Effect of the hysteresis of the I-V characteristics was observed for all the investigated samples. However, strength of the hysteresis was dependent on the organic semiconductor used. Study of I-V characteristics of the top contact Al/AT-RB-1/Al structures revealed, that in (0 – 500 V voltages range average current of the samples measured in air is only slightly higher than current measured in nitrogen ambient. Deposition of the ultra-thin diamond like carbon interlayer resulted in both decrease of the hysteresis of I-V characteristics of top contact Al/AT-RB-1/Al samples. However, decreased current and decreased slope of the I-V characteristics of the samples with diamond like carbon interlayer was observed as well. I-V characteristic hysteresis effect was less pronounced in the case of the bottom contact metal/organic semiconductor/metal samples. I-V characteristics of the bottom contact samples were dependent on electrode metal used.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.19.1.3816

A multisatellite case study of the expansion of a substorm current wedge in the near-Earth magnetotail

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez, R.E.; Lui, A.T.Y.

1990-01-01

This study presents observations made by four spacecraft (AMPTE CCE, AMPTE IRM, GOES 5, and GOES 6) and two ground stations (San Juan and Tucson) during a substorm that occurred at ∼0830 UT on April 19, 1985. The spacecraft were arrayed in a configuration that allows for the examination of the spatial evolution of the substorm current wedge, CCE was located between the GOES spacecraft in longitude, but at a radial distance of 8.0 R E . IRM was located west of the other three spacecraft in the same sector as Tucson, but at a radial distance of 11.6 R E . The relative times at which the signature of the substorm current wedge was first observed at the GOES spacecraft and the ground stations are consistent with a simple longitudinally expanding current wedge. However, the times at which IRM and CCE observed the current wedge are not consistent with a current wedge that expanded only longitudinally, IRM first observed the signature of the current wedge at about the same time the signature was observed by GOES 6 and Tucson, and CCE observed the current wedge only after both GOES satellites and the ground stations had done so. Moreover, both GOES spacecraft observed signatures consistent with entry into the central plasma sheet before CCE and IRM did, even though we estimate that CCE was slightly closer to the neutral sheet than the geosynchronous spacecraft. The sequence of events suggests that during this substorm the disruption of the cross-tail current sheet, the formation of the substorm current wedge, and the expansion of the plasma sheet began in the near-Earth region, and subsequently spread tailward as well as longitudinally

Current in heavy-current planar diode with discrete emission surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belomyttsev, S.Ya.; Korovin, S.D.; Pegel', I.V

1999-01-01

Dependence of current in a high-current planar diode on the size of emission centres was studied. Essential effect of emission surface microstructure on the current value in the planar diode was demonstrated. It was determined that if the distance between the emitter essentially exceeded their size then current dependence on the ratio of size to the value of the diode gap was an exponential function with 3/2 index. Current dependence on voltage obeyed the exponential law with 3/2 index up to higher voltage values in the planar diode with discrete emission surface in contrast to the case of a planar diode with homogeneous emission surface [ru

Nuclear Knowledge Management Case Studies Catalogue “NKM CSC”

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atieh, T.

2016-01-01

Full text: Over the past several years, many nuclear organizations in IAEA’s Member States have accumulated considerable experiences and achievements in the development and application of nuclear knowledge management (NKM) methodology and tools to improve their organizational performance. The IAEA NKM Section has initiated a project entitled “NKM Case Studies Catalogue (NKM CSC)” to capture and document, as well as preserve NKM experience and facilitate its sharing among NKM practitioners and experts. This is done through collection and preservation of information of relevant experiential knowledge in “case study” format. The catalogue will therefore support community of practice mechanisms. An input template is currently under development and will be used to help contributors in Member States who are providing concise set of information about their respective case studies. This information will be made searchable and easily retrievable through a platform that supports collaboration among NKM practitioners and experts. It is planned to launch the Nuclear Knowledge Management Case Studies Catalogue “NKM CSC” at the occasion of the “Third International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management—Challenges and Approaches, 7-–11 November 2016, Vienna, Austria”, and to include the accepted case studies submitted to this Conference. (author

Dark current and radiation shielding studies for the ILC main linac

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mokhov, Nikolai V. [Fermilab; Rakhno, I. L. [Fermilab; Solyak, N. A. [Fermilab; Sukhanov, A. [Fermilab; Tropin, I. S. [Fermilab

2016-12-05

Electrons of dark current (DC), generated in high-gradient superconducting RF cavities (SRF) due to field emission, can be accelerated up to very high energies—19 GeV in the case of the International Linear Collider (ILC) main linac—before they are removed by focusing and steering magnets. Electromagnetic and hadron showers generated by such electrons can represent a significant radiation threat to the linac equipment and personnel. In our study, an operational scenario is analysed which is believed can be considered as the worst case scenario for the main linac regarding the DC contribution to the radiation environment in the main linac tunnel. A detailed modelling is performed for the DC electrons which are emitted from the surface of the SRF cavities and can be repeatedly accelerated in the high-gradient fields in many SRF cavities. Results of MARS15 Monte Carlo calculations, performed for the current main linac tunnel design, reveal that the prompt dose design level of 25 μSv/hr in the service tunnel can be provided by a 2.3-m thick concrete wall between the main and service ls.

The Bulgarian Odonata database – current status, organisation and a case study new entries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yordan Kutsarov

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Bulgarian Odonata database is analysed for the period of the last 10 years. All new entries are summarised in individual species graphs representing the trends in data compilations. Special attention is paid on the role of communities in this process with a single study case which is evident of how a small contribution could elucidate important new information on some underexplored areas. It is concluded that for the past 10 years mountain areas and large Bulgarian rivers have been understudied. These should be the priority target areas in the investigations undertaken in near future.

Towards Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Implementation: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Meaney, Miriam

2006-01-01

"Despite its central role in real-world geography, the Geographic Information System (GIS) has had little uptake to date in School Geography." (Wiegand, 2001) This statement can be accurately applied to the author's current school setting and was the focus of her and her colleagues' case study, commenced in 2004 and continued into 2005.…

Modeling of HVDC System to Improve Estimation of Transient DC Current and Voltages for AC Line-to-Ground Fault—An Actual Case Study in Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dohoon Kwon

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A new modeling method for high voltage direct current (HVDC systems and associated controllers is presented for the power system simulator for engineering (PSS/E simulation environment. The aim is to improve the estimation of the transient DC voltage and current in the event of an AC line-to-ground fault. The proposed method consists primary of three interconnected modules for (a equation conversion; (b control-mode selection; and (c DC-line modeling. Simulation case studies were carried out using PSS/E and a power systems computer aided design/electromagnetic transients including DC (PSCAD/EMTDC model of the Jeju– Haenam HVDC system in Korea. The simulation results are compared with actual operational data and the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation results for an HVDC system during single-phase and three-phase line-to-ground faults, respectively. These comparisons show that the proposed PSS/E modeling method results in the improved estimation of the dynamic variation in the DC voltage and current in the event of an AC network fault, with significant gains in computational efficiency, making it suitable for real-time analysis of HVDC systems.

Hypnotherapy for persistent genital arousal disorder: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Elkins, Gary R; Ramsey, Derek; Yu, Yimin

2014-01-01

Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is characterized by intrusive sexual arousal that is unresolvable via sexual activity and persists for an extended period of time. PGAD's etiology is unknown, and it has no established treatments. This case study reports on a 71-year-old female patient diagnosed with PGAD who received 9 sessions of hypnotherapy. The following measures were administered at baseline and follow-up: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and visual analogue measurements of quality of life, intensity of symptoms, and marital interference. At follow-up, there were significant improvements in all measures. Given the currently limited alternatives for treatment, this case study suggests that hypnotherapy may be beneficial for some patients with PGAD.

Transvertebral direct current stimulation paired with locomotor training in chronic spinal cord injury: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Elizabeth Salmon; Carrico, Cheryl; Raithatha, Ravi; Salyers, Emily; Ward, Andrea; Sawaki, Lumy

2016-01-01

This double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover case study combined transvertebral direct current stimulation (tvDCS) and locomotor training on a robot-assisted gait orthosis (LT-RGO). Determine whether cathodal tvDCS paired with LT-RGO leads to greater changes in function and neuroplasticity than sham tvDCS paired with LT-RGO. University of Kentucky (UK) HealthCare Stroke and Spinal Cord Neurorehabilitation Research at HealthSouth Cardinal Hill Hospital. A single subject with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) participated in 24 sessions of sham tvDCS paired with LT-RGO before crossover to 24 sessions of cathodal tvDCS paired with LT-RGO. Functional outcomes were measured with 10 Meter Walk Test (10MWT), 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT), Spinal Cord Independence Measure-III (SCIM-III) mobility component, lower extremity manual muscle test (MMT), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Corticospinal changes were assessed using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Improvement in 10MWT speed, SCIM-III mobility component, and BBS occurred with both conditions. 6MWT worsened after sham tvDCS and improved after cathodal tvDCS. MMT scores for both lower extremities improved following sham tvDCS but decreased following cathodal tvDCS. Corticospinal excitability increased following cathodal tvDCS but not sham tvDCS. These results suggest that combining cathodal tvDCS and LT-RGO may improve functional outcomes, increase corticospinal excitability, and possibly decrease spasticity. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these conclusions. This publication was supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1TR000117, and the HealthSouth Cardinal Hill Stroke and Spinal Cord Endowment (1215375670).

Studies of Polar Current Systems Using the IMS Scandinavian Magnetometer Array

Science.gov (United States)

Untiedt, J.; Baumjohann, W.

1993-09-01

As a contribution to the International Magnetospheric Study (IMS, 1976 1979) a two-dimensional array of 42 temporary magnetometer stations was run in Scandinavia, supplementary to the permanent observatories and concentrated in the northern part of the region. This effort aimed at the time-dependent (periods above about 100 s) determination of the two-dimensional structure of substorm-related magnetic fields at the Earth's surface with highest reasonable spatial resolution (about 100 km, corresponding to the height of the ionosphere) near the footpoints of field-aligned electric currents that couple the disturbed magnetosphere to the ionosphere at auroral latitudes. It has been of particular advantage for cooperative studies that not only simultaneous data were available from all-sky cameras, riometers, balloons, rockets, and satellites, but also from the STARE radar facility yielding colocated two-dimensional ionospheric electric field distributions. In many cases it therefore was possible to infer the three-dimensional regional structure of substorm-related ionospheric current systems. The first part of this review outlines the basic relationships and methods that have been used or have been developed for such studies. The second short part presents typical equivalent current patterns observed by the magnetometer array in the course of substorms. Finally we review main results of studies that have been based on the magnetometer array observations and on additional data, omitting studies on geomagnetic pulsations. These studies contributed to a clarification of the nature of auroral electrojets including the Harang discontinuity and of ionospheric current systems related to auroral features such as the break-up at midnight, the westward traveling surge, eastward drifting omega bands, and spirals.

[The status of the psychiatric nurse as a guarantor in Taiwan: a case study].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hui-Man; Sun, Fan-Ko

2013-12-01

Psychiatric nurses have a special obligation and legal duty as guarantor against criminal negligence. The guarantor role and medical negligence in psychiatric nursing are topics that have been neglected in Taiwan. (1) Identify the status of psychiatric nurses as guarantors; (2) Understand the causal relationship in a legal context between this status and Non-Genuine Omission in the current case; (3) Understand the facts and the dispute in the current case. (4) Explore the reasons why the psychiatric nurse was convicted for criminal negligence in the current case. A literature review and case study were used to analyze the high court criminal judgment and sentence reconsideration of the first instance No. 122 (2005). (1) Psychiatric nurses hold two guarantor roles in Taiwan. One role is as legally protected interest guarantor and the other is as supervisors' dangerous source guarantor. (2) The three sources of guarantor status relevant to the current case are: nurses' voluntary commitments; medical contract; duty of care of supervisors. (3) In this case, the psychiatric nurse did not discharge her obligations as guarantor and failed to prevent the patient from committing suicide. Negligence resulted in patient death and the psychiatric nurse was found guilty. In order to prevent criminal acts, psychiatric nurses should gain a better understanding of their status as guarantor and the obligations entailed in this status. This article is intended to assist psychiatric nurses understand their responsibilities under current laws.

[Current issues in legal cases of compensation for healthcare malpractice].

Science.gov (United States)

Heiner, Tamás; Barzó, Tímea

2014-09-21

dogmatic and practical problems related to this topic. Another important area of current analysis is the institution of injury fees, which replaced the reimbursement of non-pecuniary damages. The mere fact of infringement allows setting injury fees. Taking into consideration the current resources in staff and equipment available in healthcare, this regulation may promote claims for injury fees impartial. Consequently, courts will have to apply other criteria when judgment in 'trivial cases', which might not require legal assessment, is delivered.

Yellow Nail Syndrome: Report of Two Cases and a Brief Review of the Current Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eunice Silva Oliveira

2015-12-01

We present two cases of undiagnosed YNS until the current admissions, despite several years of investigation. The authors wish to draw attention to this syndrome, of which diagnosis is clinical and of exclusion.

Assessment of human decision reliability - a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pyy, P

1998-01-01

In his discussion of this case study, the author indicates that human beings are not merely machines who use rules. Thus, more focus needs to be put on studying decision making situations and their contexts. Decision theory (both normative and descriptive) and contextual psychological approaches may offer tools to cope with operator decision making. Further an ideal decision space needs to be defined for operators. The case study specifically addressed a loss of feedwater scenario and the various operator decisions that were involved in that scenario. It was concluded from this particular study that there are significant differences in the crew decision behaviours that are not explained by process variables. Through use of evidence from simulator tests with expert judgement, an approach to estimate probabilities has been developed. The modelling approach presented in this discussion is an extension of current HRA paradigms, but a natural one since all human beings make decisions

Histological Stains: A Literature Review and Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alturkistani, Hani A; Tashkandi, Faris M; Mohammedsaleh, Zuhair M

2015-06-25

The history of histology indicates that there have been significant changes in the techniques used for histological staining through chemical, molecular biology assays and immunological techniques, collectively referred to as histochemistry. Early histologists used the readily available chemicals to prepare tissues for microscopic studies; these laboratory chemicals were potassium dichromate, alcohol and the mercuric chloride to harden cellular tissues. Staining techniques used were carmine, silver nitrate, Giemsa, Trichrome Stains, Gram Stain and Hematoxylin among others. The purpose of this research was to assess past and current literature reviews, as well as case studies, with the aim of informing ways in which histological stains have been improved in the modern age. Results from the literature review has indicated that there has been an improvement in histopathology and histotechnology in stains used. There has been a rising need for efficient, accurate and less complex staining procedures. Many stain procedures are still in use today, and many others have been replaced with new immunostaining, molecular, non-culture and other advanced staining techniques. Some staining methods have been abandoned because the chemicals required have been medically proven to be toxic. The case studies indicated that in modern histology a combination of different stain techniques are used to enhance the effectiveness of the staining process. Currently, improved histological stains, have been modified and combined with other stains to improve their effectiveness.

To What Extent Does Current Scientific Research and Textbook Content Align? A Methodology and Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bierema, Andrea M.-K.; Schwartz, Renee S.; Gill, Sharon A.

2017-01-01

Recent calls for reform in education recommend science curricula to be based on central ideas instead of a larger number of topics and for alignment between current scientific research and curricula. Because alignment is rarely studied, especially for central ideas, we developed a methodology to discover the extent of alignment between primary…

Current features of primary tuberculosis on medical imaging based on a series of fourteen cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouzidane, L.; Adamsbaum, C.; Cohen, P.A.; Kalifa, G.; Gendrel, D.

1995-01-01

Active pulmonary tuberculosis, a source of contamination, is currently undergoing a recrudescence in developed countries, particularly in clinical contexts of immuno-depression. The authors report a retrospective series of 14 cases of primary tuberculosis in a paediatric population (7 girls and 7 boys) with a mean age of 3.5 years (range: 4 months - 16 years) observed over a 3-year period. After reviewing the current radiological features of patent primary tuberculosis, the authors emphasize the contribution of chest CT scan in latent forms with a normal chest x-ray and a difficult bacteriological diagnosis. Imaging remains an essential tool in early diagnosis, therapeutic management and active surveillance of this form. The authors propose a decisional flow-chart in the case of suspected primary tuberculosis in children. (authors). 20 refs., 8 figs

A Study on Satellite Diagnostic Expert Systems Using Case-Based Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Tack Park

1997-06-01

Full Text Available Many research works are on going to monitor and diagnose diverse malfunctions of satellite systems as the complexity and number of satellites increase. Currently, many works on monitoring and diagnosis are carried out by human experts but there are needs to automate much of the routine works of them. Hence, it is necessary to study on using expert systems which can assist human experts routine work by doing automatically, thereby allow human experts devote their expertise more critical and important areas of monitoring and diagnosis. In this paper, we are employing artificial intelligence techniques to model human experts' knowledge and inference the constructed knowledge. Especially, case-based approaches are used to construct a knowledge base to model human expert capabilities which use previous typical exemplars. We have designed and implemented a prototype case-based system for diagnosing satellite malfunctions using cases. Our system remembers typical failure cases and diagnoses a current malfunction by indexing the case base. Diverse methods are used to build a more user friendly interface which allows human experts can build a knowledge base in as easy way.

The state of case study approach in mergers and acquisitions literature: A bibliometric analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.S. Reddy

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to survey the state of case study research in mergers and acquisitions (M&A literature. Thus, it is an original attempt at presenting the current state and review of the case method in M&A research, provided no earlier study claims this. The stylized review reveals that 93 journal articles adopted the case method of which 66 (27 articles examined developed (emerging markets, and single (multiple case based studies were 44 (46 and remaining three adopted survey and interview method during survey period 1991–2015. Albeit, very few studies accomplished the purpose of case study research in business management, that is, testing extant theory and building new theory. Lastly, we recall various methodological guidelines to establish the sound research environment in the qualitative case method.

Semantic e-Science in Space Physics - A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Narock, T.; Yoon, V.; Merka, J.; Szabo, A.

2009-05-01

Several search and retrieval systems for space physics data are currently under development in NASA's heliophysics data environment. We present a case study of two such systems, and describe our efforts in implementing an ontology to aid in data discovery. In doing so we highlight the various aspects of knowledge representation and show how they led to our ontology design, creation, and implementation. We discuss advantages that scientific reasoning allows, as well as difficulties encountered in current tools and standards. Finally, we present a space physics research project conducted with and without e-Science and contrast the two approaches.

Assessment of BSBA Students' Conversancy in Current Business Issues: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Eileen A.; Maskulka, Therese A.; Kaminski, Kathleen A.

2014-01-01

In 2008, the faculty of the College of Business at Kutztown University developed a set of five learning goals for its BSBA program. In fall, 2011, the college's Assurance of Learning Committee began to pursue the assessment of the last of these goals: "BSBA graduates will be conversant in current business issues, including ethics, social…

Modelling of coastal current and thermal plume dispersion - A case study off Nagapattinam, east coast of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Babu, M.T.; Vethamony, P.; Suryanarayana, A.; Gouveia, A.D.

representing the monsoons and the transition periods are selected to study the seasonal variability of simulated currents and thermal plumes. The plume showed northward spreading during March and July and southward during December. During October the spreading...

Interrelations between business and technology : a case study

OpenAIRE

2014-01-01

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) The current research investigated the inter-relationship between Steve Jobs and Apple Company. The study looked at Steve if he launched Apple with business orientation. The researcher used Yin’s (1994) single case, holistic design research method and looked at the data gathered from thirty-seven authors. Steve Jobs’ business orientation was measured using Snaddon (2008) business measures. Symbols were used to indicate whether the evidence found from differen...

Construction of natural radiation exposure study network - overview and current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokonami, Shinji

2010-01-01

A new project entitled 'Construction of natural radiation exposure study network' was adopted in the Program of Promotion of International Joint Research under the Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology operated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. Eight institutions were involved in this project and the project will continue until March, 2012. The aims of the project are to assess the dose for natural radiation exposures using state-of- the-art measurement techniques in four Asian countries (China, India, Korea and Thailand) and their outcomes will be distributed worldwide. Throughout the project, conventional measurement techniques will be improved and be optimized. More scientific data and results will be obtained as well. In particular, the following advanced technologies for inhalation exposures will be introduced: (1) Discriminative measurements of radon ( 222 Rn) and thoron ( 220 Rn) gases, (2) Evaluation of thoron decay products concentration, (3) Simple but effective particle size distribution measurements. In China, we are conducting a case-control study of radon and lung cancer in Gansu, China. This Gansu area was investigated in the past for the case-control study. New data are being accumulated. In India, we focused on Orissa in order to carry out radiation measurements in this project. In parallel, Kerala is currently involved as the comparative study area. In Korea, we are now measuring radon and thoron in radon/thoron prone areas. These results will give us new information for further understanding of exposure due to radon and thoron. In Thailand, we are carrying out comprehensively radiation measurements in NORM industries. Not only these surveys but also quality assurance of radon measurements are being addressed in Japan. We have managed an international intercomparison exercise of passive radon detectors at NIRS. This study presents an overview of the project and current status

Final report on case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ljungberg, Daniel; McKelvey, Maureen; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

2012-01-01

Case study as a research design means investigating a single or multiple instance(s) or setting(s) (i.e. a case) and its entire context to explain a phenomenon and its processes. This is achieved through detailed understanding, usually comprised of multiple sources of information. In this way, case...... studies attempt to provide as a complete an understanding of a (complex) phenomenon as possible. Within the AEGIS project, survey and case study research are complementary. They are complementary in the sense that the former can provide more generalizable evidence on a phenomenon in terms of cross......-sectional data, while the latter can provide more in-depth (qualitative) understanding on specific issues. In systematically examining the case studies, however, this report goes beyond a typical single case study. Here we provide a synthesis of 86 case studies. Multiple case studies, following similar focus...

Current pathogenic Escherichia coli foodborne outbreak cases and therapy development.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shih-Chun; Lin, Chih-Hung; Aljuffali, Ibrahim A; Fang, Jia-You

2017-08-01

Food contamination by pathogenic microorganisms has been a serious public health problem and a cause of huge economic losses worldwide. Foodborne pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination, such as that with E. coli O157 and O104, is very common, even in developed countries. Bacterial contamination may occur during any of the steps in the farm-to-table continuum from environmental, animal, or human sources and cause foodborne illness. To understand the causes of the foodborne outbreaks by E. coli and food-contamination prevention measures, we collected and investigated the past 10 years' worldwide reports of foodborne E. coli contamination cases. In the first half of this review article, we introduce the infection and symptoms of five major foodborne diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes: enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli/enterohemorrhagic E. coli (STEC/EHEC), Shigella/enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). In the second half of this review article, we introduce the foodborne outbreak cases caused by E. coli in natural foods and food products. Finally, we discuss current developments that can be applied to control and prevent bacterial food contamination.

A Giant Vulvar Mass: A Case Study of Cellular Angiofibroma

Science.gov (United States)

Aydın, Ümit; Terzi, Hasan; Turkay, Ünal; Eruyar, Ahmet Tuğrul; Kale, Ahmet

2016-01-01

Cellular angiofibroma is a mesenchymal tumor that affects both genders. Nucci et al. first described it in 1997. Cellular angiofibroma is generally a small and asymptomatic mass that primarily arises in the vulvar-vaginal region, although rare cases have been reported in the pelvic and extrapelvic regions. It affects women most often during the fifth decade of life. The treatment requires simple local excision due to low local recurrence and no chance of metastasization. The current study presents a case of angiofibroma in the vulvar region that measured approximately 20 cm. PMID:27293929

A Giant Vulvar Mass: A Case Study of Cellular Angiofibroma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ümit Aydın

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cellular angiofibroma is a mesenchymal tumor that affects both genders. Nucci et al. first described it in 1997. Cellular angiofibroma is generally a small and asymptomatic mass that primarily arises in the vulvar-vaginal region, although rare cases have been reported in the pelvic and extrapelvic regions. It affects women most often during the fifth decade of life. The treatment requires simple local excision due to low local recurrence and no chance of metastasization. The current study presents a case of angiofibroma in the vulvar region that measured approximately 20 cm.

[Case-non case studies: Principles, methods, bias and interpretation].

Science.gov (United States)

Faillie, Jean-Luc

2017-10-31

Case-non case studies belongs to the methods assessing drug safety by analyzing the disproportionality of notifications of adverse drug reactions in pharmacovigilance databases. Used for the first time in the 1980s, the last few decades have seen a significant increase in the use of this design. The principle of the case-non case study is to compare drug exposure in cases of a studied adverse reaction with that of cases of other reported adverse reactions and called "non cases". Results are presented in the form of a reporting odds ratio (ROR), the interpretation of which makes it possible to identify drug safety signals. This article describes the principle of the case-non case study, the method of calculating the ROR and its confidence interval, the different modalities of analysis and how to interpret its results with regard to the advantages and limitations of this design. Copyright © 2017 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Use of Facebook: A Case Study of Singapore Students' Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hew, Khe Foon; Cheung, Wing Sum

2012-01-01

Facebook has become one of the most popular social network sites among many students. However, current research on Facebook use has focused mainly on Anglo-American students. Relatively little is known about Facebook use in Singapore. Data were collected from 83 students (ages ranged from 15 to 23). This study uses a naturalistic case study…

Impact of China on sub-Saharan Africa : Country Case Studies ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Impact of China on sub-Saharan Africa : Country Case Studies. China is emerging as a major power in the global economy. The broad-based nature of its industrial development has generated a sustained and high demand for oil and raw materials, a significant reason for the current strength of oil and other commodity ...

A population-based case-control study on statin exposure and risk of acute diverticular disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Sköldberg, Filip; Svensson, Tobias; Olén, Ola; Hjern, Fredrik; Schmidt, Peter T; Ljung, Rickard

2016-01-01

A reduced risk of perforated diverticular disease among individuals with current statin exposure has been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether statins reduce the risk of acute diverticular disease. A nation-wide population-based case-control study was performed, including 13,127 cases hospitalised during 2006-2010 with a first-time diagnosis of colonic diverticular disease, and 128,442 control subjects (matched for sex, age, county of residence and calendar year). Emergency surgery, assumed to be a proxy for complicated diverticulitis, was performed on 906 of the cases during the index admission, with 8818 matched controls. Statin exposure was classified as "current" or "former" if a statin prescription was last dispensed ≤ 125 days or >125 days before index date, respectively. The association between statin exposure and acute diverticular disease was investigated by conditional logistic regression, including models adjusting for country of birth, educational level, marital status, comorbidities, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug/steroid exposure and healthcare utilisation. A total of 1959 cases (14.9%) and 16,456 controls (12.8%) were current statin users (crude OR 1.23 [95% CI 1.17-1.30]; fully adjusted OR 1.00 [0.94-1.06]). One hundred and thirty-two of the cases subjected to surgery (14.6%), and 1441 of the corresponding controls (16.3%) were current statin users (crude OR 0.89 [95% CI 0.73-1.08]; fully adjusted OR 0.70 [0.55-0.89]). The results do not indicate that statins affect the development of symptomatic diverticular disease in general. However, current statin use was associated with a reduced risk of emergency surgery for diverticular disease.

Small Data, Online Learning and Assessment Practices in Higher Education: A Case Study of Failure?

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Cate; Wilson, Anna; Drew, Valerie; Thompson, Terrie Lynn

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present an in-depth case study of a single student who failed an online module which formed part of a master's programme in Professional Education and Leadership. We use this case study to examine assessment practices in higher education in the online environment. In taking this approach, we go against the current predilection…

Case-control studies in neurosurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesvick, Cody L; Thompson, Clinton J; Boop, Frederick A; Klimo, Paul

2014-08-01

Observational studies, such as cohort and case-control studies, are valuable instruments in evidence-based medicine. Case-control studies, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular in the neurosurgical literature due to their low cost and relative ease of execution; however, no one has yet systematically assessed these types of studies for quality in methodology and reporting. The authors performed a literature search using PubMed/MEDLINE to identify all studies that explicitly identified themselves as "case-control" and were published in the JNS Publishing Group journals (Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, and Neurosurgical Focus) or Neurosurgery. Each paper was evaluated for 22 descriptive variables and then categorized as having either met or missed the basic definition of a case-control study. All studies that evaluated risk factors for a well-defined outcome were considered true case-control studies. The authors sought to identify key features or phrases that were or were not predictive of a true case-control study. Those papers that satisfied the definition were further evaluated using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. The search detected 67 papers that met the inclusion criteria, of which 32 (48%) represented true case-control studies. The frequency of true case-control studies has not changed with time. Use of odds ratios (ORs) and logistic regression (LR) analysis were strong positive predictors of true case-control studies (for odds ratios, OR 15.33 and 95% CI 4.52-51.97; for logistic regression analysis, OR 8.77 and 95% CI 2.69-28.56). Conversely, negative predictors included focus on a procedure/intervention (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.13-0.998) and use of the word "outcome" in the Results section (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.082-0.65). After exclusion of nested case-control studies, the negative correlation between focus on a procedure

De Quervain’s thyroiditis: current concepts and a report of four cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Boni

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: De Quervain’s subacute thyroiditis is a self-limiting granulomatous inflammatory disorder, which is thought to be virally induced in genetically predisposed individuals. It is characterized by thyroid pain and thyrotoxicosis, as well as by systemic symptoms like fever, hepatic cytolysis, and an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. It is often mistaken for an upper respiratory tract infection. Materials and methods: The authors review recent advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of De Quervain’s subacute thyroiditis; risk factors for complications, with emphasis on relapses and end-stage hypothyroidism; differential diagnosis and the exclusion of other subtypes of thyroiditis; and current treatment options. Four cases of De Quervain’s thyroiditis are then analyzed and compared with cases in the literature. Discussion: In three of the patients, onset occurred in June and was probably related to a small, seasonal epidemic cluster. These cases were quite different from the fourth one, which occurred in October, suggesting that two distinct viruses might be involved. One of the patients presented a very rare complication, vocal-cord paralysis, which responded well to glucocorticoid therapy. Another presented with an even rarer post-partum form of painful thyroiditis.

A Case-Study Assignment to Teach Theoretical Perspectives in Abnormal Psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, David V.

1991-01-01

Describes an assignment that requires students to organize, prepare, and revise a case study in abnormal behavior. Explains that students employ a single theoretical perspective in preparing a report on a figure from history, literature, the arts, or current events. Discusses the value of the assignment for students. (SG)

Comparing Case Study and Ethnography as Qualitative Research Approaches

OpenAIRE

Suryani, Anne

2008-01-01

Abstract: This article reviews several differences between case study and ethnography in terms of definitions, characteristics, strengths and limitations. It provides current information by comparing these approaches from various social researchers’ perspectives. Although each method has strong points, they both have differences in conducting observation and interview as data collection techniques; choosing the length of time of data gathering and reporting details of a particular reality....

THE MATHEMATIC MODEL OF POTENTIAL RELAXATION IN COULOSTATIC CONDITIONS FOR LIMITING DIFFUSION CURRENT CASE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. H. Kapitonov

2010-05-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model of coulostatic relaxation of the potential for solid metallic electrode was presented. The solution in the case of limiting diffusion current was obtained. On the basis of this model the technique of concentration measurements for heavy metal ions in diluted solutions was suggested. The model adequacy was proved by experimental data.

Studying health information from a distance: refining an e-learning case study in the crucible of student evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, Andrew; Levy, Philippa; Bath, Peter A; Lacey, Terence; Sanderson, Mark; Diercks-O'Brien, Gabi

2005-12-01

To present a formative evaluation of the impact of a multimedia case study as a component of a masters course in health informatics delivered by distance learning. First and second year health informatics students undertaking four core modules of a masters programme at the University of Sheffield. Individual qualitative user surveys and interviews. Formative evaluation has played a significant role in refining the case study through its text-based, intermediate and CD-ROM based stages. Feedback from students has resulted in clarification of case study tasks, clearer definition of teaching roles and a revised approach to assessment. At the same time it has highlighted the importance of ongoing revision and maintenance in keeping the scenarios realistic and current. The multimedia case study has met many of its original aims in providing greater cohesion for core modules and encouraging greater levels of interaction and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Lessons learned from case studies of worker exposures to radioactive aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoover, M.D.; Guilmette, R.A.; Scott, B.R.

1995-01-01

Considerable efforts in the aerosol science and health protection communities are devoted to developing a defensible technical basis for measuring, modeling, and mitigating toxic aerosols. These efforts involve understanding aerosol source terms, projecting potential aerosol releases, describing their behavior in the workplace and environment, developing instruments and techniques to measure the aerosols, designing ways to contain or control the aerosols, modeling and measuring uptake by workers and other people, estimating health effects, and planning appropriate responses. To help in this effort, we have compiled a data base of case studies involving releases of aerosols and worker exposures in a wide range of industries. Sources of information have included personal communications, limited distribution reports, open literature publications, and reports of abnormal occurrences in U.S. Department of Energy facilities and among licensees of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The data base currently includes more than 100 cases. The case studies have been organized according to the radionuclides involved and the circumstances and consequences of the release. This information has been used to address a number of important questions, such as the adequacy of current aerosol sampling and monitoring procedures, areas needing improvement, and strategies for planning for or responding to accidents. One area of particular interest is related to strategies for prospective or retrospective characterization of aerosol source terms. In some cases, worker exposures have involved aerosols that are similar in particle size distribution, composition, and solubility to aerosols routinely produced in the normal process activities. In such cases, prospective characterization of aerosol source terms has provided relevant and useful information

Accurate Prediction of Motor Failures by Application of Multi CBM Tools: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Rana; Singh, Veerendra Pratap; Dwivedi, Jai Prakash

2018-02-01

Motor failures are very difficult to predict accurately with a single condition-monitoring tool as both electrical and the mechanical systems are closely related. Electrical problem, like phase unbalance, stator winding insulation failures can, at times, lead to vibration problem and at the same time mechanical failures like bearing failure, leads to rotor eccentricity. In this case study of a 550 kW blower motor it has been shown that a rotor bar crack was detected by current signature analysis and vibration monitoring confirmed the same. In later months in a similar motor vibration monitoring predicted bearing failure and current signature analysis confirmed the same. In both the cases, after dismantling the motor, the predictions were found to be accurate. In this paper we will be discussing the accurate predictions of motor failures through use of multi condition monitoring tools with two case studies.

Technology Overview Using Case Studies of Alternative Landfill Technologies and Associated Regulatory Topics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2003-01-01

... alternative landfill cover projects. The purpose of the case studies is to present examples of the flexibility used in the regulatory framework for approving alternative landfill cover designs, current research information about the use...

From Science to e-Science to Semantic e-Science: A Heliosphysics Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Narock, Thomas; Fox, Peter

2011-01-01

The past few years have witnessed unparalleled efforts to make scientific data web accessible. The Semantic Web has proven invaluable in this effort; however, much of the literature is devoted to system design, ontology creation, and trials and tribulations of current technologies. In order to fully develop the nascent field of Semantic e-Science we must also evaluate systems in real-world settings. We describe a case study within the field of Heliophysics and provide a comparison of the evolutionary stages of data discovery, from manual to semantically enable. We describe the socio-technical implications of moving toward automated and intelligent data discovery. In doing so, we highlight how this process enhances what is currently being done manually in various scientific disciplines. Our case study illustrates that Semantic e-Science is more than just semantic search. The integration of search with web services, relational databases, and other cyberinfrastructure is a central tenet of our case study and one that we believe has applicability as a generalized research area within Semantic e-Science. This case study illustrates a specific example of the benefits, and limitations, of semantically replicating data discovery. We show examples of significant reductions in time and effort enable by Semantic e-Science; yet, we argue that a "complete" solution requires integrating semantic search with other research areas such as data provenance and web services.

Case Study: Mini-Case Studies: Small Infusions of Active Learning for Large-Lecture Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Carloye, Lisa

2017-01-01

In this article, the author introduces the usage of case studies to be an excellent method for engaging students through stories. The author notes she developed a series of mini-case studies that can be implemented, with a little advance preparation, within a 10- to 15-minute window during lecture. What makes them "mini" case studies?…

BioFleet case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

These six case studies examined the use of different biodiesel blends as fuel supply sources for businesses in British Columbia (BC). In the first case study, 6 municipalities participated in a pilot program designed to compare the performance of biodiesel and diesel fuels. Each municipality operated 2 base vehicles running on conventional diesel along with 2 similar vehicles which used biodiesel. Real time emissions tests and analyses of the vehicles using biodiesel were also conducted by 2 of the participating municipalities. All municipalities participating in the study agreed to purchase significant volumes of biodiesel. The second case study described a pilot study conducted by the City of Vancouver's equipment services branch in 2004. As a result of the study, the city now has over 530 types of equipment that use biodiesel. The third case study described a program designed by TSI Terminals in Vancouver to assess the emission reduction impact of using biodiesel at its port facility. Six different pieces of equipment were used to confirm that biodiesel could be used throughout the terminal. Test results confirmed that biodiesel blends could be used to reduce emissions. Overall emissions were reduced by 30 per cent. The fourth case study described a waste renderer that used a fleet of 36 trucks to deliver raw products to its plants. The company made the decision to use only biodiesel for its entire fleet of trucks. Since July 2005, the company has logged over 1.7 million km using biodiesel blends. The fifth case study described a salmon hatchery that switched from diesel to biodiesel in order to reduce emissions. The biodiesel blends are used to fuel the hatchery's 2 diesel generators. The hatchery has reduced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by an estimated 1800 tonnes annually. The sixth case study described how the Township of Langley has started using biodiesel for its entire fleet of of approximately 250 pieces of equipment. The township has not

Comparing Case Study and Ethnography as Qualitative Research Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Suryani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This article reviews several differences between case study and ethnography in terms of definitions, characteristics, strengths and limitations. It provides current information by comparing these approaches from various social researchers’ perspectives. Although each method has strong points, they both have differences in conducting observation and interview as data collection techniques; choosing the length of time of data gathering and reporting details of a particular reality.

A Case Study Examination of Best Practices of Professional Learning Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Akopoff, Tanya M.

2010-01-01

A current trend in education is that small teacher groups, called professional learning communities (PLC), are being advocated as a tool to help teachers reach struggling students. Educators planning to use PLC as an intervention strategy can benefit from research-based information about PLC best practices. This multiple case study addressed the…

The capital structure of banks and practice of bank restructuring : eight case studies on current bank restructurings in Europe ; final report

OpenAIRE

Dübel, Hans-Joachim

2013-01-01

This study presents an empirical analysis of capital and liability management in eight cases of bank restructurings and resolutions from eight different European countries. It can be read as a companion piece to an earlier study by the author covering the specific bank restructuring programs of Greece, Spain and Cyprus during 2012/13. The study portrays for each case the timelines between the initial credit event and the (last) restructuring. It proceeds to discuss the capital and liabilit...

Describing Case Study Method and Identifying the Factors that Contribute to the Successful Conduct of Case Studies

OpenAIRE

Ahmad H. Juma'h; Mustafa Cavus

2001-01-01

This article has attempted to describe case study, the limitations and critiques on case study methodology and how the proponents have responded to these. Our special focus have been on the debate on theory building from case study research, and a framework for conducting case study research as well as the factors for a successful case study research. The overall conclusion is that the case study has been inappropriately used to generate theories.

Here Today Gone Tomorrow: Conceptualizing Instructional Leadership through Case Studies of Unsustained Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Shulman, Vivian; Sullivan, Susan

2015-01-01

This study examines two case studies of failed leadership in school-based professional development. We describe the two initiatives and look to current leadership theories to help account for the events that occurred. The sociologist Bourdieu's concept of "habitus" offers an approach to understanding the relationship between individual…

How To Set Up Your Own Small Business. Service Company Case Study. Manufacturing Firm Case Study. Retail Store Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallek, Max

This collection of case studies is intended for use in a course in setting up a small business. The first, a case study of the process of setting up a service company, covers analyzing the pros and cons of starting one's own business, assessing the competition and local market, and selecting a site for and financing the business. The principal…

Mechanism of case processing in the brain: an fMRI study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoru Yokoyama

Full Text Available In sentence comprehension research, the case system, which is one of the subsystems of the language processing system, has been assumed to play a crucial role in signifying relationships in sentences between noun phrases (NPs and other elements, such as verbs, prepositions, nouns, and tense. However, so far, less attention has been paid to the question of how cases are processed in our brain. To this end, the current study used fMRI and scanned the brain activity of 15 native English speakers during an English-case processing task. The results showed that, while the processing of all cases activates the left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior part of the middle temporal gyrus, genitive case processing activates these two regions more than nominative and accusative case processing. Since the effect of the difference in behavioral performance among these three cases is excluded from brain activation data, the observed different brain activations would be due to the different processing patterns among the cases, indicating that cases are processed differently in our brains. The different brain activations between genitive case processing and nominative/accusative case processing may be due to the difference in structural complexity between them.

Theory Testing Using Case Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Ann-Kristina Løkke; Dissing Sørensen, Pernille

2014-01-01

The appropriateness of case studies as a tool for theory testing is still a controversial issue, and discussions about the weaknesses of such research designs have previously taken precedence over those about its strengths. The purpose of the paper is to examine and revive the approach of theory...... testing using case studies, including the associated research goal, analysis, and generalisability. We argue that research designs for theory testing using case studies differ from theorybuilding case study research designs because different research projects serve different purposes and follow different...... research paths....

Theory testing using case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dissing Sørensen, Pernille; Løkke Nielsen, Ann-Kristina

2006-01-01

on the strengths of theory-testing case studies. We specify research paths associated with theory testing in case studies and present a coherent argument for the logic of theoretical development and refinement using case studies. We emphasize different uses of rival explanations and their implications for research...... design. Finally, we discuss the epistemological logic, i.e., the value to larger research programmes, of such studies and, following Lakatos, conclude that the value of theory-testing case studies lies beyond naïve falsification and in their contribution to developing research programmes in a progressive......Case studies may have different research goals. One such goal is the testing of small-scale and middle-range theories. Theory testing refers to the critical examination, observation, and evaluation of the 'why' and 'how' of a specified phenomenon in a particular setting. In this paper, we focus...

Case studies of geothermal leasing and development on federal lands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trummel, Marc

1978-09-29

In response to a widely expressed need to examine the impact of the federal regulatory system on the rate of geothermal power development, the Department of Energy-Division of Geothermal Energy (DGE) has established a Streamlining Task Force in cooperation with appropriate federal agencies. The intent is to find a way of speeding development by modification of existing laws or regulations or by better understanding and mechanization of the existing ones. The initial focus was on the leasing and development of federal lands. How do the existing processes work? Would changes produce positive results in a variety of cases? These are questions which must be considered in a national streamlining process. This report presents case studies of federal leasing actions on seven diverse locations in the western region. Characteristics of existing high geothermal potential areas are quite diverse; geography, environment, industry interest and the attitudes and activities of the responsible federal land management agencies and the interested public vary widely. Included are descriptions of post and current activities in leasing exploration and development and discussions of the probable future direction of activities based on current plans. Implications of these plans are presented. The case studies were based on field interviews with the appropriate State and District BLM officer and with the regional forester's office and the particular forest office. Documentation was utilized to the extent possible and has been included in whole or in part in appendices as appropriate.

Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent

2006-01-01

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one...

Case study of lean manufacturing application in a die casting manufacturing company

Science.gov (United States)

Ching, Ng Tan; Hoe, Clarence Chan Kok; Hong, Tang Sai; Ghobakhloo, Morteza; Pin, Chen Kah

2015-05-01

The case study of lean manufacturing aims to study the application of lean manufacturing in a die casting manufacturing company located in Pulau Penang, Malaysia. This case study describes mainly about the important concepts and applications of lean manufacturing which could gradually help the company in increasing the profit by studying and analyzing their current manufacturing process and company culture. Many approaches of lean manufacturing are studied in this project which includes: 5S housekeeping, Kaizen, and Takt Time. Besides, the lean tools mentioned, quality tool such as the House of Quality is being used as an analysis tool to continuously improve the product quality. In short, the existing lean culture in the company is studied and analyzed, with recommendations written at the end of this paper.

Placental vascular complications in HIV-infected pregnant women: a case-control study

OpenAIRE

CANLORBE, Geoffroy

2012-01-01

Background: Data from international literature suggest a link between HIV infection and placental vascular complications during pregnancy. Current studies on the subject are conflicting.Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of placental vascular complications during pregnancy among HIV+ and HIV- patients.Study Design: It is a single-center case-control study comparing the rates of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, eclampsia and vascular intrauterine growth retard...

Traveling magnetospheric convection twin vortices: Another case study, global characteristics, and a model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glassmeier, K.H.; Heppner, C.

1992-01-01

A case study of a transient geomagnetic field variation event associated with a traveling magnetospheric convection twin vortex is presented. The characteristics of this event are different from those of other presented cases, as the sense of rotation of the associated ionospheric current system is reversed, that is, it exhibits upward (downward) field-aligned currents in the tailward (dayside) part of the vortex structure. In particular, a clear tailward motion at high latitudes can be deduced from local as well as global magnetic field observations. At low dayside latitudes, magnetic field variations similar to sudden impulse (SI) variations are recorded. Almost simultaneous onset and no westward propagation are observed, too. As possible source mechanisms of such transient events, localized magnetic field reconnection as well as pressure pulses at the dayside magnetopause are discussed. If the switch-on of magnetic reconnection can be regarded as equivalent to an equivalent current flowing against the existing magnetopause current and if this countercurrent is spatially localized, an Alfven wave is generated with downward (upward) field-aligned current flow in the tailward (dayside) par of the wave, as observed for some of the reported transients. However, the SI-like behavior of the event studied in this paper, its reversed sense of rotation, and the vortex associated field-aligned current density excludes such localized magnetic reconnection as a possible source mechanism and argues in favor of the existence of pressure pulses at the magnetopause

Smoking and high-risk mammographic parenchymal patterns: a case-control study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sala, Evis; Warren, Ruth; McCann, Jenny; Duffy, Stephen; Luben, Robert; Day, Nicholas

2000-01-01

leaner than controls. A larger percentage of cases were nulliparous, premenopausal, current hormone replacement therapy users, had a personal history of benign breast diseases, and had had a hysterectomy. A larger proportion of controls had more than three births and were current smokers. Table 2 shows the unadjusted and adjusted OR estimates for Wolfe's high-risk mammographic parenchymal patterns and smoking in the total study population and in postmenopausal women separately. Current smoking was strongly and inversely associated with high-risk patterns, after adjustment for concomitant risk factors. Relative to never smokers, current smokers were significantly less likely to have a high-risk pattern (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.14-0.94). Similar results were obtained when the analysis was confined to postmenopausal women. Past smoking was not related to mammographic parenchymal patterns. The overall effect in postmenopausal women lost its significance when adjusted for other risk factors for P2/DY patterns that were found to be significant in the present study, although the results were still strongly suggestive. There was no interaction between cigarette smoking and body mass index. In the present study we found a strong inverse relationship between current smoking and high-risk mammographic parenchymal patterns of breast tissue as classified by Wolfe [12]. These findings are not completely unprecedented; Greendale et al [18] found a reduced risk of breast density in association with smoking, although the magnitude of the reduction was unclear. The present findings suggest that this reduction is large. Recent studies [9,10] have suggested that breast cancer risk may be reduced among current smokers. In a multicentre Italian case-control study, Braga et al [10] found that, relative to nonsmokers, current smokers had a reduced risk of breast cancer (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.7-1.0). These findings were recently supported by Gammon et al [9], who reported that breast cancer risk in

Fuzzy-Set Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mikkelsen, Kim Sass

2017-01-01

Contemporary case studies rely on verbal arguments and set theory to build or evaluate theoretical claims. While existing procedures excel in the use of qualitative information (information about kind), they ignore quantitative information (information about degree) at central points of the analysis. Effectively, contemporary case studies rely on…

Ericksonian hypnotherapy for selective mutism: A single-case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavarra, Mauro; Brizio, Adelina; Gava, Nicoletta

2017-01-16

Children affected by selective mutism don't speak in contexts that are unfamiliar to them or in which speaking is expected or required (e.g. school, kindergarten…). Such disorder interferes with the child's normal activities, may have invalidating consequences in the long run if left untreated, is associated to anxious conditions and is considered hard to treat. Contemporary research is still in need of methodologically rigorous outcome studies and the results described in the small number of published randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies indicate cognitive-behavioral interventions lasting 20-24 sessions as the best therapeutic option. This case study, involving a 7-year-old girl, aims at providing preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of Ericksonian hypnosis in the treatment of this condition. A brief review of current evidence is provided. The case was treated by a licensed hypnotherapist, specialized in family therapy, in 5 sessions during the course of 3 months. After 3 months the symptoms of the client were resolved and the diagnosis was no longer applicable. Other improvements regarded her mood, social skills and school performance.  Conclusions: Ericksonian Hypnotherapy lead to the remission of the disorder and to the improvement of the general well being of the client in 5 sessions, a much briefer time span compared to what is reported in current literature. This paper represents the first step in the elaboration of replicable and reliable intervention principles.

Case Study: Guidelines for Producing Videos to Accompany Flipped Cases

Science.gov (United States)

Prud'homme-Généreux, Annie; Schiller, Nancy A.; Wild, John H.; Herreid, Clyde Freeman

2017-01-01

Three years ago, the "National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science" (NCCSTS) was inspired to merge the case study and flipped classroom approaches. The resulting project aimed to create the materials required to teach a flipped course in introductory biology by assigning videos as homework and case studies in the classroom. Three…

Intangible Benefits Quantified: Insights from Micro-level Return on Investment Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, M. A.

2013-12-01

This presentation addresses the question: must socio-economic benefits of geospatial projects be considered intangible and thus unquantifiable? The question will be answered from the perspective of an engineer and geospatial practitioner, with examples provided from case studies using micro level financial analysis. Topics will include: 1. Quantification as a tool for setting and achieving goals, illustrated with individual and societal uses of measurement. 2. Geospatial data as a driver for economic and social development. 3. Building use cases from documented work processes, demographic information and external research results. 4. Moving beyond GDP to quantify the well being of individuals and society. 5. Extrapolation of case study results to quantify a technology's current and potential return on investment to society. 6. Is it realistic for society to work toward commonly held measurements of well being? Or should individual cases maintain uniquely developed measurements to more accurately characterize their results?

Management practices and influences on IT architecture decisions: a case study in a telecom company

OpenAIRE

Hsing, Chen Wen; Souza, Cesar Alexandre de

2012-01-01

The study aims to analyze the IT architecture management practices associated with their degree of maturity and the influence of institutional and strategic factors on the decisions involved through a case study in a large telecom organization. The case study allowed us to identify practices that led the company to its current stage of maturity and identify practices that can lead the company to the next stage. The strategic influence was mentioned by most respondents and the institutional in...

A study on DC hybrid three-phase fault current limiting interrupter for a power distribution system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shao, Hongtian; Satoh, Tomoyuki; Yamaguchi, Mitsugi; Fukui, Satoshi; Ogawa, Jun; Satoh, Takao; Ishikawa, Hiroyuki

2005-01-01

For the purpose of protecting electric power system, many researches and developments of fault current limiters are being performed. The authors studied a dc hybrid three-phase fault current limiting interrupter (FCLI) composed of a superconducting reactor and an S/N transition element, connected in series each other. The dc hybrid type fault current limiting interrupter can limit a fault current by means of the inductance of high temperature superconducting (HTS) coil together with the normal transition of HTS bulk material (HTSB). In the case of an accident, the normal transition of the bulk material can be accelerated by the magnetic field of the HTS coil. In this paper, the dc hybrid type fault current limiting interrupter for 5.5 km long 6.6 kV-600 A power distribution system is analyzed, and performances of fault current limitation and interruption are confirmed. Moreover, a reclosing operation is discussed for this power distribution system

Five misunderstandings about case study research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent

2004-01-01

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods aremore suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one...... and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more...

Study, design and manufacture eddy current probes for industry applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Phuc; Nguyen Van Thuy; Vuong Binh Duong; Do Minh Duc; Trinh Dinh Truong; Tran Trong Duc; Do Tung Khanh; Dang Quang Trung

2016-01-01

This study is based on the studying, designing and manufacturing of eddy current probes for industry applications. The main tasks of this study include: i) Describes the overview and classification of eddy current probes (which can be classified into three categories based on the mode of operation: absolute eddy current probe, differential eddy current probe and reflect eddy current probe); ii) Describes the three methods of probe designing and manufacturing (including experimental, analytical and numerical designs); iii) Describes the designing and manufacturing of eddy current probes for industry applications, which based on experimental and analytical methods. Based on this study, we have successfully manufactured some current probes (including absolute eddy current probe, differential eddy current probe and reflect eddy current probe) for surface and tube inspections. (author)

Case Study: A Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Making a Case for Video Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Pai, Aditi

2014-01-01

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. If a mere picture is worth a thousand words, how much more are "moving pictures" or videos worth? The author poses this not merely as a rhetorical question, but because she wishes to make a case for using videos in the traditional case study method. She recommends four main approaches of…

Five misunderstandings about Case-study Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods aremore suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one...... and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without  exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more...

A case study of consensus modelling for tracking oil spills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, Brian; Brushett, Ben; Lemckert, Charles

2010-01-01

Metocean forecast datasets are essential for the timely response to marine incidents and pollutant spill mitigation at sea. To effectively model the likely drift pattern and the area of impact for a marine spill, both wind and ocean current forecast datasets are required. There are two ocean current forecast models and two wind forecast models currently used operationally in the Australia and Asia Pacific region. The availability of several different forecast models provides a unique opportunity to compare the outcome of a particular modelling exercise with the outcome of another using a different model and determining whether there is consensus in the results. Two recent modelling exercises, the oil spill resulting from the damaged Pacific Adventurer (in Queensland) and the oil spill from the Montara well blowout (in Western Australia) are presented as case studies to examine consensus modelling.

Current issues in onychomycosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Trépanier, E F; Amsden, G W

1998-02-01

To review the epidemiology, mycology, clinical features and diagnosis, current pharmacotherapy, and pharmacoeconomics of onychomycosis. We conducted a MEDLINE search from 1966 to May 1997. References from these articles, manufacturers of the discussed antimycotics, and relevant abstracts from recent dermatology conferences were used to collect pertinent data. Data were obtained from published controlled studies and case reports. In the pharmacotherapy section, the most weight was placed on fully reported, randomized, controlled comparative trials, but abstracts and case series were included when well-controlled studies were unavailable. Onychomycosis is a common nail disorder that has a substantial impact on patients' quality of life. It is most commonly caused by dermatophytes, but yeasts and molds can also be involved. Diagnosis is made through clinical presentation, potassium hydroxide preparations, and culture of tissue/nail samples. Griseofulvin was the drug of choice for many years, but its low cure rates and the development of newer, more effective drugs made it fall out of favor. Current therapeutic alternatives include fluconazole, itraconazole, and terbinafine. Data on the use of fluconazole are limited to case series and reports. Continuous dosing of itraconazole and terbinafine are well-proven therapies. New data are becoming available on the use of pulse itraconazole dosing, which has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for fingernail infections. These drugs are well tolerated, but attention to drug interactions is necessary with the azoles. Currently, continuous terbinafine appears to be the most cost-effective drug for dermatophyte onychomycosis.

Transformation of UML models to CSP : a case study for graph transformation tools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varró, D.; Asztalos, M.; Bisztray, D.; Boronat, A.; Dang, D.; Geiß, R.; Greenyer, J.; Van Gorp, P.M.E.; Kniemeyer, O.; Narayanan, A.; Rencis, E.; Weinell, E.; Schürr, A.; Nagl, M.; Zündorf, A.

2008-01-01

Graph transformation provides an intuitive mechanism for capturing model transformations. In the current paper, we investigate and compare various graph transformation tools using a compact practical model transformation case study carried out as part of the AGTIVE 2007 Tool Contest [22]. The aim of

Theoretical pluralism in psychoanalytic case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Willemsen, Jochem; Cornelis, Shana; Geerardyn, Filip M; Desmet, Mattias; Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Cauwe, Joachim M B D

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the scientific activity of different psychoanalytic schools of thought in terms of the content and production of case studies published on ISI Web of Knowledge. Between March 2013 and November 2013, we contacted all case study authors included in the online archive of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic case studies (www.singlecasearchive.com) to inquire about their psychoanalytic orientation during their work with the patient. The response rate for this study was 45%. It appears that the two oldest psychoanalytic schools, Object-relations psychoanalysis and Ego psychology or "Classical psychoanalysis" dominate the literature of published case studies. However, most authors stated that they feel attached to two or more psychoanalytic schools of thought. This confirms that the theoretical pluralism in psychoanalysis stretches to the field of single case studies. The single case studies of each psychoanalytic school are described separately in terms of methodology, patient, therapist, or treatment features. We conclude that published case studies features are fairly similar across different psychoanalytic schools. The results of this study are not representative of all psychoanalytic schools, as some do not publish their work in ISI ranked journals.

Theoretical pluralism in psychoanalytic case studies

Science.gov (United States)

Willemsen, Jochem; Cornelis, Shana; Geerardyn, Filip M.; Desmet, Mattias; Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Cauwe, Joachim M. B. D.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the scientific activity of different psychoanalytic schools of thought in terms of the content and production of case studies published on ISI Web of Knowledge. Between March 2013 and November 2013, we contacted all case study authors included in the online archive of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic case studies (www.singlecasearchive.com) to inquire about their psychoanalytic orientation during their work with the patient. The response rate for this study was 45%. It appears that the two oldest psychoanalytic schools, Object-relations psychoanalysis and Ego psychology or “Classical psychoanalysis” dominate the literature of published case studies. However, most authors stated that they feel attached to two or more psychoanalytic schools of thought. This confirms that the theoretical pluralism in psychoanalysis stretches to the field of single case studies. The single case studies of each psychoanalytic school are described separately in terms of methodology, patient, therapist, or treatment features. We conclude that published case studies features are fairly similar across different psychoanalytic schools. The results of this study are not representative of all psychoanalytic schools, as some do not publish their work in ISI ranked journals. PMID:26483725

Virtual Prototyping, a Case Study in Dataflow Oriented Codesign

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holten-Lund, Hans Erik; Lütken, Martin; Madsen, Jan

1998-01-01

The main topic of this paper is a discussion of the design process we haveused during development of an application specific computer system.We will focus on a case study involving a 3D computer graphics systemwe are currently developing, and how such a system can be optimized for speed.The paper.......An interesting consequence of this is that at the systemintegration scale the optimizations we perform to acheive good hardwareperformance, are in fact also contributing to improving the executionspeed of the software prototype....

Case study teaching method improves student performance and perceptions of learning gains.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonney, Kevin M

2015-05-01

Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin M. Bonney

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

Bioremediation case studies: Abstracts. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devine, K.

1992-03-01

The report contains abstracts of 132 case studies of bioremediation technology applied to hazardous waste clean-up. It was prepared to compile bioremediation studies in a variety of locations and treating diverse contaminants, most of which were previously undocumented. All data are based on vendor-supplied information and there was no opportunity to independently confirm its accuracy. These 132 case studies, from 10 different biotechnology companies, provide users with reference information about on-going and/or completed field applications and studies. About two-thirds of the cases were at full-scale clean-up level with the remainder at pilot or laboratory scale. In 74 percent of the cases, soil was at least one of the media treated. Soil alone accounts for 46 percent of the cases. Petroleum-related wastes account for the largest contaminant with 82 cases. Thirty-one states are represented in the case studies

Factors associated with tuberculosis cases in Semarang District, Indonesia: case-control study performed in the area where case detection rate was extremely low.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahayu, Sri Ratna; Katsuyama, Hironobu; Demura, Masashi; Katsuyama, Midori; Ota, Yoko; Tanii, Hideji; Higashi, Tomomi; Semadi, Ngakan Putu Djaja; Saijoh, Kiyofumi

2015-07-01

Indonesia is ranked as the 4th highest contributor to tuberculosis (TB) in the world. Semarang District in Central Java displays extremely low case detection rate (CDR), possibly contributing to the local prevalence of TB. A case-control study was performed to explore the factors that cause such low CDR. We recruited 129 TB cases and 83 controls that visited the same centers and were not diagnosed with TB. The cases had 7.5 ± 2.3 symptoms/person on average, indicating the delay in diagnosis because the controls only displayed 1.0 ± 1.7. The multiple logistic regression analysis comparing the cases/controls extracted following factors as a risk to have TB: farmer, close contact with TB patients, ignorance of whether Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) was accepted or no, smoking, low income, a lot of people living in the same room, irregular hand wash before meals, not wash hands after blow, soil floor, and no sunlight and no ventilation in the house. Neither the cases nor the controls knew the symptoms and how to avoid TB infection, which probably caused the delay in diagnosis. It is difficult to change the current living conditions. Thus, the amendment of the community-based education program of TB seems to be required.

451 Case studies Cardiac

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Marinda

Case Studies. 29 ... A case of a 26-year-old ASA I physical status male undergoing septoplasty had an abrupt ... myocardial infarction, severe hypertensive crisis, cerebral .... or no formal management is required in an ASA I patient.8 One.

Effect of a superconducting coil as a fault current limiter on current density distribution in BSCCO tape after an over-current pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tallouli, M; Yamaguchi, S.; Shyshkin, O.

2017-01-01

The development of power transmission lines based on long-length high temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes is complicated and technically challenging task. A serious problem for transmission line operation could become HTS power cable damage due to over-current pulse conditions. To avoid the cable damage in any urgent case the superconducting coil technology, i.e. superconductor fault current limiter (SFCL) is required. Comprehensive understanding of the current density characteristics of HTS tapes in both cases, either after pure over-current pulse or after over-current pulse limited by SFCL, is needed to restart or to continue the operation of the power transmission line. Moreover, current density distribution along and across the HTS tape provides us with the sufficient information about the quality of the tape performance in different current feeding regimes. In present paper we examine BSCCO HTS tape under two current feeding regimes. The first one is 100A feeding preceded by 900A over-current pulse. In this case none of tape protection was used. The second scenario is similar to the fist one but SFCL is used to limit an over-current value. For both scenarios after the pulse is gone and the current feeding is set up at 100A we scan magnetic field above the tape by means of Hall probe sensor. Then the feeding is turned of and the magnetic field scanning is repeated. Using the inverse problem numerical solver we calculate the corresponding direct and permanent current density distributions during the feeding and after switch off. It is demonstrated that in the absence of SFCL the current distribution is highly peaked at the tape center. At the same time the current distribution in the experiment with SFCL is similar to that observed under normal current feeding condition. The current peaking in the first case is explained by the effect of an opposite electric field induced at the tape edges during the overcurrent pulse decay, and by degradation of

Study of fast wave current drive in a KT-2 tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, B.G.; Hamamatsu, Kiyotaka

1996-02-01

Global analysis of fast wave current drive in a KT-2 tokamak plasma is performed by using the code, TASKW1, developed by JAERI and Okayama University (Dr. Fukuyama), which solves the kinetic wave equation in a one dimensional slab geometry. A phase-shifted antenna array is used to inject toroidal momentum to electrons. To find guidelines of optimum antenna design for efficient current drive, accessibility conditions are derived. The dependence of the current drive efficiency on launching conditions such as the total number of antennas, phase and spacing is investigated for two cases of wave frequency; f=30 MHz ( cH ) and f=225 MHz (=5f cH ). (author)

Coaching Tutors: An Instrumental Case Study on Testing an Integrated Framework for Tutoring Sessions

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Alicia L.; Grant, Chris; Donthamsetty, Reshema

2017-01-01

The objective for the current qualitative case study was to examine participants' perceptions on the tutor coaching and session review frameworks. The location of the study was at the tutor coaches' place of business. At the beginning of the study, tutor coaches were trained on how to implement the tutoring coaching framework with their tutors,…

Etiology and management of primary amenorrhoea: A study of 102 cases at tertiary centre.

Science.gov (United States)

Kriplani, Alka; Goyal, Manu; Kachhawa, Garima; Mahey, Reeta; Kulshrestha, Vidushi

2017-12-01

To determine the prevalence of etiologic causes of primary amenorrhea in Indian population. A retrospective study was performed using 102 complete medical records of women with primary amenorrhea who attended the Gynaecologic Endocrinology Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, AIIMS, New Delhi from September 2012 to September 2015. Cases were analysed according to clinical profile, development of secondary sexual characteristics, physical examination, pelvic and rectal examination, X-ray of chest and lumbo-sacral spine, hormone profile, pelvic USG, MRI, and cytogenetic study including karyotype. The three most common causes of primary amenorrhea were Mullerian anomalies (47%), gonadal dysgenesis (20.5%), and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (14.7%) in the present study. There were 3 cases of Turner syndrome (45,XO), 5 cases of Swyer's syndrome (46,XY) and 2 cases of Androgen insensitivity syndrome (46,XY). One case had pituitary macroadenoma and eight cases (7.8%) were of genital tuberculosis. The present study has currently been the largest case series of primary amenorrhea from North India. Mullerian anomaly is the most prevalent etiological factor leading to amenorrhoea followed by gonadal dysgenesis in our study. Racial, genetic and environmental factors could play role in the cause of primary amenorrhea. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The ENIQ pilot study: current status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemaitre, P; Eriksen, B; Crutzen, S [European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Petten (Netherlands); Hansch, M [Preussische Elektrizitaets-AG (Preussenelektra), Hannover (Germany); Whittle, J [AEA Technology, Warrington (United Kingdom)

1998-11-01

A pilot study is currently being carried out by ENIQ (European Network for Inspection Qualification) in order to explore the issues involved in inspection qualification applied along the general principles of the European methodology. The components selected for the pilot study are austenitic pipe to pipe and pipe to elbows welds typical of those in BWR recirculation loops. A range of defect parameters has been defined. A suitable inspection procedure designed to find the designated defects will be applied to geometrically representative test pieces. The procedure/equipment will be qualified through open trials and technical justification. The personnel qualification will be done in a blind way. Once all features of the inspection system will have been qualified an in-service inspection will be simulated in order to test the feasibility of the qualification approach followed. In this paper the current status of this pilot study is discussed. (orig.)

Accelerating experience : utility sector case studies in training and knowledge management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trudel-Ferrari, C.C. [Kinectrics Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)

2010-07-01

This paper discussed the development of effective training and knowledge management systems for recently hired personnel in electric utilities. Case studies of best practices from electric utilities in Ontario, consultants, and universities were used to develop an overview of current training practices. Methods of identifying, attracting, and recruiting personnel were presented and knowledge management and mentoring programs were discussed. The use of training programs in developing knowledge databases was also evaluated. Knowledge management formats included qualification training; simulation training; knowledge transfer; and curriculum development. Human resources, revenue, and management issues currently challenging electric utilities were discussed along with various new training practices. 2 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs.

Meditation Awareness Training for the Treatment of Sex Addiction: A Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Gordon, William; Shonin, Edo; Griffiths, Mark D

2016-06-01

Background Sex addiction is a disorder that can have serious adverse functional consequences. Treatment effectiveness research for sex addiction is currently underdeveloped, and interventions are generally based on the guidelines for treating other behavioral (as well as chemical) addictions. Consequently, there is a need to clinically evaluate tailored treatments that target the specific symptoms of sex addiction. It has been proposed that second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) may be an appropriate treatment for sex addiction because in addition to helping individuals increase perceptual distance from craving for desired objects and experiences, some SG-MBIs specifically contain meditations intended to undermine attachment to sex and/or the human body. The current study conducts the first clinical investigation into the utility of mindfulness for treating sex addiction. Case presentation An in-depth clinical case study was conducted involving an adult male suffering from sex addiction that underwent treatment utilizing an SG-MBI known as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT). Following completion of MAT, the participant demonstrated clinically significant improvements in addictive sexual behavior, as well as reductions in depression and psychological distress. The MAT intervention also led to improvements in sleep quality, job satisfaction, and non-attachment to self and experiences. Salutary outcomes were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Discussion and conclusion The current study extends the literature exploring the applications of mindfulness for treating behavioral addiction, and findings indicate that further clinical investigation into the role of mindfulness for treating sex addiction is warranted.

CASE STUDY

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-06-02

Jun 2, 2011 ... immunosuppression associated with HIV/AIDS puts them at a higher risk of developing oesophageal cancer. 47. CASE STUDY. A 49-year-old man was diagnosed as HIV infected, with a CD4 count of 60 cells/µl. He was started on an antiretroviral treatment regimen comprising zidovudine, lamivudine and ...

Casing study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roche, P.

2000-12-01

An unorthodox method of casing drilling used by Tesco Corporation at a gas well in Wyoming to drill deeper using casings as drillpipe is discussed. The process involves either rotating the casing as drill string or using a downhole mud motor to rotate the bit. In this instance, the surface hole and the production hole were casing-drilled to a record 8,312 feet by rotating the casing. The 8 1/2-inch surface hole was drilled with 7-inch casing to 1,200 feet using a Tesco underreamer and a polycrystalline pilot bit; drilling and cementing was completed in 12 1/2 hours. The 6 1/4-inch production hole was drilled with 4 1/2-inch casing and the bottomhole assembly was retrieved after 191 hours rotating. This case was the first in which the entire well was casing-drilled from surface to TD. Penetration rate compared favorably with conventional methods: 12 1/2 hours for casing-drilling to 18.9 hours for conventional drilling, despite the fact that the casing-drilling technology is still in its infancy. It is suggested that casing-drilling has the potential to eliminate the need for the drillpipe entirely. If these expectations were to be realised, casing-drilling could be one of the most radical drilling changes in the history of the oil and gas industry. 1 photo.

Rare variant association analysis in case-parents studies by allowing for missing parental genotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yumei; Xiang, Yang; Xu, Chao; Shen, Hui; Deng, Hongwen

2018-01-15

The development of next-generation sequencing technologies has facilitated the identification of rare variants. Family-based design is commonly used to effectively control for population admixture and substructure, which is more prominent for rare variants. Case-parents studies, as typical strategies in family-based design, are widely used in rare variant-disease association analysis. Current methods in case-parents studies are based on complete case-parents data; however, parental genotypes may be missing in case-parents trios, and removing these data may lead to a loss in statistical power. The present study focuses on testing for rare variant-disease association in case-parents study by allowing for missing parental genotypes. In this report, we extended the collapsing method for rare variant association analysis in case-parents studies to allow for missing parental genotypes, and investigated the performance of two methods by using the difference of genotypes between affected offspring and their corresponding "complements" in case-parent trios and TDT framework. Using simulations, we showed that, compared with the methods just only using complete case-parents data, the proposed strategy allowing for missing parental genotypes, or even adding unrelated affected individuals, can greatly improve the statistical power and meanwhile is not affected by population stratification. We conclude that adding case-parents data with missing parental genotypes to complete case-parents data set can greatly improve the power of our strategy for rare variant-disease association.

Realizing CO2 emission reduction through industrial symbiosis: A cement production case study for Kawasaki

OpenAIRE

Hashimoto, Shizuka; Fujita, Tsuyoshi; Geng, Yong; Nagasawa, Emiri

2010-01-01

This article is one effort to examine the present and potential performances of CO2 emission reduction though industrial symbiosis by employing a case study approach and life cycle CO2 analysis for alternative industrial symbiosis scenarios. As one of the first and the best-known eco-town projects, Kawasaki Eco-town was chosen as a case study area. First, the current industrial symbiosis practices in this area are introduced. To evaluate the potential of reducing the total CO2 emission throug...

MRI case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huggett, S.; Barber, J.

1989-01-01

Three case studies are presented to show the value of magnetic resonance imaging used in conjunction with other imaging techniques. In each case MRI proved a vital diagnostic tool and superior to CT in showing firstly the haematoma in a patient with aphasia and right-sided weakness, secondly the size of the disc herniation in a patient with severe leg and ankle pains and thirdly the existence of a metastatic lesion in a patient with a previous history of breast cancer. 11 figs

Combined RF current drive and bootstrap current in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, S. D.; Bers, A.; Ram, A. K.

1999-01-01

By calculating radio frequency current drive (RFCD) and the bootstrap current in a consistent kinetic manner, we find synergistic effects in the total noninductive current density in tokamaks [1]. We include quasilinear diffusion in the Drift Kinetic Equation (DKE) in order to generalize neoclassical theory to highly non-Maxwellian electron distributions due to RFCD. The parallel plasma current is evaluated numerically with the help of the FASTEP Fokker-Planck code [2]. Current drive efficiency is found to be significantly affected by neoclassical effects, even in cases where only circulating electrons interact with the waves. Predictions of the current drive efficiency are made for lower hybrid and electron cyclotron wave current drive scenarios in the presence of bootstrap current

Qualitative Case Study Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

Introduction to Sociological Methods. 2nd ed. New York, McGraw-Hill 14. Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (2011) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative...The Art of Science. In: Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, Sage 19. GAO (1990) Case Study...Rinehart & Winston 39. Stake, R. E. (1994) Case Studies. In: Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, Sage

Risk of new acute myocardial infarction hospitalization associated with use of oral and parenteral non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs (NSAIDs: a case-crossover study of Taiwan's National Health Insurance claims database and review of current evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shau Wen-Yi

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies have documented the increased cardiovascular risk associated with the use of some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs. Despite this, many old NSAIDs are still prescribed worldwide. Most of the studies to date have been focused on specific oral drugs or limited by the number of cases examined. We studied the risk of new acute myocardial infarction (AMI hospitalization with current use of a variety of oral and parenteral NSAIDs in a nationwide population, and compared our results with existing evidence. Methods We conducted a case-crossover study using the Taiwan's National Health Insurance claim database, identifying patients with new AMI hospitalized in 2006. The 1-30 days and 91-120 days prior to the admission were defined as case and matched control period for each patient, respectively. Uses of NSAIDs during the respective periods were compared using conditional logistic regression and adjusted for use of co-medications. Results 8354 new AMI hospitalization patients fulfilled the study criteria. 14 oral and 3 parenteral NSAIDs were selected based on drug utilization profile among 13.7 million NSAID users. The adjusted odds ratio, aOR (95% confidence interval, for risk of AMI and use of oral and parenteral non-selective NSAIDs were 1.42 (1.29, 1.56 and 3.35 (2.50, 4.47, respectively, and significantly greater for parenteral than oral drugs (p for interaction Conclusions The collective evidence revealed the tendency of increased AMI risk with current use of some NSAIDs. A higher AMI risk associated with use of parenteral NSAIDs was observed in the present study. Ketorolac had the highest associated risk in both oral and parenteral NSAIDs studied. Though further investigation to confirm the association is warranted, prescribing physicians and the general public should be cautious about the potential risk of AMI when using NSAIDs.

Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Focal Hand Dystonia in Musicians: A Two-Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Marceglia

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Focal hand dystonia (FHD in musicians is a movement disorder causing abnormal movements and irregularities in playing. Since weak electrical currents applied to the brain induce persistent excitability changes in humans, cathodal tDCS was proposed as a possible non-invasive approach for modulating cortical excitability in patients with FHD. However, the optimal targets and modalities have still to be determined. In this pilot study, we delivered cathodal (2 mA, anodal (2 mA and sham tDCS over the motor areas bilaterally for 20 min daily for five consecutive days in two musicians with FHD. After cathodal tDCS, both patients reported a sensation of general wellness and improved symptoms of FHD. In conclusion, our pilot results suggest that cathodal tDCS delivered bilaterally over motor-premotor (M-PM cortex for 5 consecutive days may be effective in improving symptoms in FHD.

An investigation of pimary music education in Victorian schools: a single case study

OpenAIRE

Cosaitis, Wei

2017-01-01

This phenomenological research has employed a qualitative case study approach and investigates what practices are required in successful music curriculum development and quality music teaching within and without the music classroom in state-supported (government) primary schools in Victoria, Australia. To contextualize the study, issues involving the history of music education in Victorian government primary schools, current national and state music curricula, particular music teaching approa...

Risk factors for chronic periodontitis in Sri Lankan adults: a population based case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellapuli, Nimali; Ekanayake, Lilani

2017-09-07

To determine risk factors for chronic periodontitis in 30-60 year olds in Sri Lanka. Cases and controls for this population based unmatched case-control study were identified from a broader cross-sectional study which was conducted to determine the prevalence of chronic periodontitis in 30-60 year old adults in Colombo district Sri Lanka. The study included 694 cases and 706 controls. Data were collected by means of a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire to obtain information about socio-demographic and behavioural factors, a physical examination to record anthropometric measurements and an oral examination. Being a male, a Muslim, belonging to the 45-60 year old age group, having less than 12 years of education, using the finger to clean teeth, current smoking, current betel quid chewing, self-reported diabetes and hypertension emerged as risk factors for chronic periodontitis. Several socio-demographic and behavioural factors as well as co-morbid conditions emerged as independent risk factors for chronic periodontits in this population. The findings could be used for planning programmes to reduce the burden of chronic periodontits in Colombo district Sri Lanka.

A Case Study of International Students' Social Adjustment, Friendship Development, and Physical Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuang; Zizzi, Sam

2018-01-01

Previous literature has focused on international student's social transition and monocultural and bicultural ties. Little research has explored international students' multicultural friendship development and the role that physical activity plays in their social interaction. The current case study explored a group of international students'…

Case Study: The Chemistry of Cocaine

Science.gov (United States)

Dewprashad, Brahmadeo

2011-01-01

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's case study focuses on the chemistry of cocaine to teach a number of core concepts in organic chemistry. It also requires that students read and analyze an original research paper on…

Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.

The role of radionuclide studies in emergency cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Hayashida, Kohei; Uehara, Toshiisa

1982-01-01

Radionuclide studies have been performed popularly because of its noninvasive and simple method recently. In this study, we applied this technique for the evaluation of emergency cases in cardiovascular diseases. There were 93 cases (1.5%) out of 6163 cases, done during 1981. The subjects were 34 cases of cardiac studies (9 cases of sup(99m)Tc-PYP myocardial imaging, 12 cases of thallium myocardial imaging, 13 cases of cardioangiography), 23 cases of peripheral diseases (12 cases of peripheral angiography, 11 cases of venography), 16 cases of pulmonary imaging, 10 cases of renal studies (6 cases of renal angiography, 9 cases of renal imaging) and 5 cases of brain angiography. These studies were proven to be useful clinically for the evaluation of emergency cases and follow-up studies. In the near future, ''emergency radionuclide studies'' would be benefit for the high-risk patients noninvasively. (author)

Semiquantitative analysis of gaps in microbiological performance of fish processing sector implementing current food safety management systems: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Onjong, Hillary Adawo; Wangoh, John; Njage, Patrick Murigu Kamau

2014-08-01

Fish processing plants still face microbial food safety-related product rejections and the associated economic losses, although they implement legislation, with well-established quality assurance guidelines and standards. We assessed the microbial performance of core control and assurance activities of fish exporting processors to offer suggestions for improvement using a case study. A microbiological assessment scheme was used to systematically analyze microbial counts in six selected critical sampling locations (CSLs). Nine small-, medium- and large-sized companies implementing current food safety management systems (FSMS) were studied. Samples were collected three times on each occasion (n = 324). Microbial indicators representing food safety, plant and personnel hygiene, and overall microbiological performance were analyzed. Microbiological distribution and safety profile levels for the CSLs were calculated. Performance of core control and assurance activities of the FSMS was also diagnosed using an FSMS diagnostic instrument. Final fish products from 67% of the companies were within the legally accepted microbiological limits. Salmonella was absent in all CSLs. Hands or gloves of workers from the majority of companies were highly contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus at levels above the recommended limits. Large-sized companies performed better in Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, and S. aureus than medium- and small-sized ones in a majority of the CSLs, including receipt of raw fish material, heading and gutting, and the condition of the fish processing tables and facilities before cleaning and sanitation. Fish products of 33% (3 of 9) of the companies and handling surfaces of 22% (2 of 9) of the companies showed high variability in Enterobacteriaceae counts. High variability in total viable counts and Enterobacteriaceae was noted on fish products and handling surfaces. Specific recommendations were made in core control and assurance activities

eCompetence Case Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Helle Bækkelund

2006-01-01

In this paper we present some details of the processes undertaken in the European eCompetence Initiative. We present two illustrative and representative case studies. The research aims to identify and understand patterns of individual and organisational eCompetence approaches.......In this paper we present some details of the processes undertaken in the European eCompetence Initiative. We present two illustrative and representative case studies. The research aims to identify and understand patterns of individual and organisational eCompetence approaches....

Case Study Methodology and Homelessness Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jill Pable

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the potential suitability of case study methodology for inquiry with the homeless population. It references a research study that uses case study research method to build theory. This study's topic is the lived experience of destitute individuals who reside in homeless shelters, and explores the homeless shelter built environment's potential influence on resident satisfaction and recovery. Case study methodology may be appropriate because it explores real-life contextual issues that characterize homelessness and can also accommodate the wide range of homeless person demographics that make this group difficult to study in a generalized fashion. Further, case study method accommodates the need within research in this area to understand individualized treatments as a potential solution for homelessness.

Assembling a Case Study Tool Kit: 10 Tools for Teaching with Cases

Science.gov (United States)

Prud'homme-Généreux, Annie

2017-01-01

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. The author shares the strategies and tools that teachers can use to manage a case study classroom effectively.

Analyzing inconsistent cases in management fsQCA studies: A methodological manifesto

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balachandran Nair, L.; Gibbert, Michael

2016-01-01

Cases inconsistent with theoretical expectations are by default indicators for a lack of theory-data fit, and as such are prime candidates for theory building. However, the conventional tendency is to ignore inconsistent cases in Management research. The current article focuses on the

On misunderstandings in connection with case-studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent

2005-01-01

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...

New cities between sustainability and real estate investment: A case study of New Cairo city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reham M. Hafez

2017-04-01

This research reviews the basis of development of the new cities. The influence of the real estate investment in some Arab countries, then it handles the case study – “New Cairo city”. Discussing all the investing factors made the city in its current status. Then comes the recommendations in a trial to get an alternative structure to achieve sustainability in light of the current determinants and growth stages.

Qualitative Case Study Research as Empirical Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Ellinger, Andrea D.; McWhorter, Rochell

2016-01-01

This article introduces the concept of qualitative case study research as empirical inquiry. It defines and distinguishes what a case study is, the purposes, intentions, and types of case studies. It then describes how to determine if a qualitative case study is the preferred approach for conducting research. It overviews the essential steps in…

Studies of current-perpendicular-to-plane magnetoresistance (CPP-MR) and current-induced magnetization switching (CIMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Kurt, Huseyin

2005-08-01

We present two CPP-MR studies of spin-valves based upon ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic (F/N/F) trilayers. We measure the spin-diffusion lengths of N = Pd, Pt, and Au at 4.2K, and both the specific resistances (sample area A times resistance R) and spin-memory-loss of N/Cu interfaces. Pd, Pt and Au are of special device interest because they give perpendicular anisotropy when sandwiching very thin Co layers. Comparing our spin-memory-loss data at Pd/Cu and Pt/Cu interfaces with older data for Nb/Cu and W/Cu gives insight into the importance of spin-orbit coupling in producing such loss. We reproduce and extend prior studies by Eid of 'magnetic activity' at the interface of Co and N-metals (or combinations of N-metals), when the other side of the N-metal contacts a superconductor (S). Our data suggest that magnetic activity may require strong spin-flipping at the N/S interface. We present five studies of a new phenomenon, CIMS, in F1/N/F2 trilayers, with F1 a thick 'polarizing' layer and F2 a thin 'switching' layer. In all prior studies of CIMS, positive current caused the magnetization of F2 to switch from parallel (P) to anti-parallel (AP) to that of F1- 'normal' switching. By judicious addition of impurities to F-metals, we are able to controllably produce both 'normal' and 'inverse' switching- where positive current switches the magnetization of F2 from AP to P to that of F1. In the samples studied, whether the switching is normal or inverse is set by the 'net polarization' produced by F1 and is independent of the properties of F2. As scattering in the bulk of F1 and F2 is essential to producing our results, these results cannot be described by ballistic models, which allow scattering only at interfaces. Most CIMS experiments use Cu as the N-layer due to its low resistivity and long spin-diffusion length. We show that Ag and Au have low enough resistivities and long enough spin-diffusion lengths to be useful alternatives to Cu for some devices. While

Relationship of herpes simplex encephalitis and transcranial direct current stimulation--a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuanbin; Xiao, Juan; Song, Haiqing; Wang, Ralph; Hussain, Mohammed; Song, Weiqun

2015-04-01

We report a rare case of relapsing herpes simplex encephalitis in a-37-year-old patient which was previously confirmed by positive polymerase chain reaction, herpes simplex virus (HSV) type1 IgG antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid and characterized on MRI. During the first admission, he was treated with continuous acyclovir treatment for one month with clinical improvement except for residual aphasia, for which he received a course of outpatient transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). A constant current of 1.2 mA was applied for 20 min twice daily. After the 4th day the patient was found to be irritable and uncooperative by staff and family members. A subsequent MRI showed significant deterioration of the lesion on comparison to the first MRI which led to discontinuation of tDCS.The relatively rapid exacerbation of HSV in only a few days is unusual. Our aim is to discuss if tDCS is related to HSV relapse and in doing so highlight possible mechanisms. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Methodology for the case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, M.J.W.; Woltjer, G.B.

2017-01-01

This document is about the methodology and selection of the case studies. It is meant as a guideline for the case studies, and together with the other reports in this work package can be a source of inform ation for policy officers, interest groups and researchers evaluating or performing impact

Emotion, Engagement, and Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Herreid, Clyde Freeman; Terry, David R.; Lemons, Paula; Armstrong, Norris; Brickman, Peggy; Ribbens, Eric

2014-01-01

Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…

MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND INFLUENCES ON IT ARCHITECTURE DECISIONS: A CASE STUDY IN A TELECOM COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Wen Hsing

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The study aims to analyze the IT architecture management practices associated with their degree of maturity and the influence of institutional and strategic factors on the decisions involved through a case study in a large telecom organization. The case study allowed us to identify practices that led the company to its current stage of maturity and identify practices that can lead the company to the next stage. The strategic influence was mentioned by most respondents and the institutional influence was present in decisions related to innovation and those dealing with a higher level of uncertainties.

Study of the 'non-Abelian' current algebra of a non-linear σ-model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Subir

2006-01-01

A particular form of non-linear σ-model, having a global gauge invariance, is studied. The detailed discussion on current algebra structures reveals the non-Abelian nature of the invariance, with field dependent structure functions. Reduction of the field theory to a point particle framework yields a non-linear harmonic oscillator, which is a special case of similar models studied before in [J.F. Carinena et al., Nonlinearity 17 (2004) 1941, math-ph/0406002; J.F. Carinena et al., in: Proceedings of 10th International Conference in Modern Group Analysis, Larnaca, Cyprus, 2004, p. 39, math-ph/0505028; J.F. Carinena et al., Rep. Math. Phys. 54 (2004) 285, hep-th/0501106]. The connection with non-commutative geometry is also established

Suicidal Ideation and Behaviours Among Adolescents Receiving Bariatric Surgery: A Case-Control Study.

Science.gov (United States)

McPhee, Jeanne; Khlyavich Freidl, Eve; Eicher, Julia; Zitsman, Jeffrey L; Devlin, Michael J; Hildebrandt, Tom; Sysko, Robyn

2015-11-01

This study examined the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviour (SI/B) among adolescents receiving bariatric surgery. Charts of 206 adolescents receiving bariatric surgery were reviewed. Cases with SI/B (current/lifetime reported at baseline or event occurring in the programme n = 31, 15%) were case matched on gender, age and surgery type to 31 adolescents reporting current or past psychiatric treatment and 31 adolescents denying lifetime SI/B or psychiatric treatment. Before surgery, adolescents with SI/B reported significantly lower total levels of health-related quality of life (p = 0.01) and greater depressive symptoms (p = 0.004) in comparison with candidates who never received psychiatric treatment. No significant differences were found between groups for the change in depressive symptoms or body mass index following surgery. As in studies of adults, a notable subset of adolescents receiving bariatric surgery indicated pre-operative or post-operative SI/B. It is critical that clinicians evaluate and monitor adolescent patients undergoing bariatric surgery for risk of SI/B. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors among Adolescents Receiving Bariatric Surgery: A Case-Control Study

Science.gov (United States)

McPhee, Jeanne; Freidl, Eve Khlyavich; Eicher, Julia; Zitsman, Jeffrey L.; Devlin, Michael J.; Hildebrandt, Tom; Sysko, Robyn

2015-01-01

Objective This study examined the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation and behavior (SI/B) among adolescents receiving bariatric surgery. Method Charts of 206 adolescents receiving bariatric surgery were reviewed. Cases with SI/B (current/lifetime reported at baseline or event occurring in the program n= 31, 15%) were case-matched on gender, age, and surgery type to 31 adolescents reporting current or past psychiatric treatment, and 31 adolescents denying lifetime SI/B or psychiatric treatment. Results Before surgery, adolescents with SI/B reported significantly lower total levels of health-related quality of life (p=0.01) and greater depressive symptoms (p=0.004) in comparison to candidates who never received psychiatric treatment. No significant differences were found between groups for the change in depressive symptoms or body mass index following surgery. Conclusions As in studies of adults, a notable subset of adolescents receiving bariatric surgery indicated pre- or post-operative SI/B. It is critical that clinicians evaluate and monitor adolescent patients undergoing bariatric surgery for risk of SI/B. PMID:26377705

Using Correspondence Analysis in Multiple Case Studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kienstra, Natascha; van der Heijden, Peter G.M.

2015-01-01

In qualitative research of multiple case studies, Miles and Huberman proposed to summarize the separate cases in a so-called meta-matrix that consists of cases by variables. Yin discusses cross-case synthesis to study this matrix. We propose correspondence analysis (CA) as a useful tool to study

Using correspondence analysis in multiple case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kienstra, N.H.H.; van der Heijden, P.G.M.

2015-01-01

In qualitative research of multiple case studies, Miles and Huberman proposed to summarize the separate cases in a so-called meta-matrix that consists of cases by variables. Yin discusses cross-case synthesis to study this matrix. We propose correspondence analysis (CA) as a useful tool to study

Noa, a 10-Year-old Composer: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michel Hogenes

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The present case study aims to contribute to the knowledge of music composition as a meaningful activity in music education. An extensive amount of literature on music composition is available; however, music composition as a regular classroom activity is rarely seen in elementary schools. The effects of closely guided music composition, in which extra attention is paid to the revision of music compositions, on engagement in music education and music achievement in a single subject situation were studied using a three-step-model for music composition based on the cultural-historical activity theory. The authors conclude from this case study that executing music composition activities is possible and potentially accessible for elementary school children. The used music composition model offers classroom teachers and music specialists’ possibilities to teach music composition in elementary schools and make music composition accessible for elementary school children. The current study shows that an intense collaboration between a student, as novice, and her teacher, as more knowledgeable adult, leads to more complex compositions than was seen in classroom situations. The intense collaboration offers the teacher the opportunity to adapt to ideas, needs and interests of the student. Therefore, to offer all children in a classroom situation the assistance they need, working in small groups is suggested.

Divorce and Death: A Case Study for Health Psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sbarra, David A; Hasselmo, Karen; Nojopranoto, Widyasita

2012-12-01

Marital separation and divorce are associated with increased risk for early death, and the magnitude of this association rivals that of many well-established public health factors. In the case of divorce, however, the mechanisms explaining precisely why and how some people are at risk for early death remain unclear. This paper reviews what is known about the association between divorce and risk for all-cause mortality, then discusses four emerging themes in this area of research: the biological intermediaries linking divorce to pathophysiology and disease onset, moving beyond the statistical mean, focusing research on the diathesis-stress model, and studying how opportunity foreclosures may place people on a trajectory toward poor distal health outcomes. These ideas are grounded in a set of public lay commentaries about the association between divorce and death; in this way, the paper seeks to integrate current research ideas with how the general public thinks about divorce and its correlates. Although this paper focuses on divorce, many of the emerging themes are applicable to the study of psychosocial stress and health more generally. Therefore, the study of divorce and death provides a good case study for health psychology and considers new questions that can be pursued in a variety of research areas.

Subungual squamous cell carcinoma: A case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neill, Cory J., E-mail: coryjneill@gmail.com

2017-07-01

The purpose of this case study is to describe a dosimetric delivery of radiation to a superficial disease process involving the skin and bone of the distal finger. A 76-year-old male patient presented with a subungual squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the left distal index finger with bony involvement. The patient refused conventional surgical treatment but agreed to external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). There is a gap in the current literature describing how to successfully immobilize fingers and which EBRT modality is dosimetrically advantageous in treating them. The construction of a simple immobilization method with the patient in a reproducible position is described. The use of photons and electrons were compared ultimately showing photons to be dosimetrically advantageous. Long-term efficacy of the treatment was not evaluated because of patient noncompliance.

[Liability of pediatric nurses for professional negligence in Taiwan: a case study].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hui-Man; Sun, Fan-Ko

2014-04-01

Liability attribution and professional negligence in pediatric nursing are topics that have been neglected in Taiwan. (1) Identify the definitions of related criminal activities in accordance with domestic criminal law; (2) Elucidate the facts and the dispute in a current case involving a pediatric nurse; (3) Elucidate the principle of 'no punishment without law'; (4) Explore the reasons why the pediatric nurse in the current case received a verdict of 'not guilty'. A literature review and case study approach were used to analyze a sentence reconsideration of the first instance No. 1 (2011) issued by the Taiwan high court, Kaohsiung branch court. The conditions for the scrutiny of criminal activity under Taiwan criminal law are statement of facts, illegality (justifiable cause), and liability (excuse). In this case, the pediatric nurse was accused of failing to prevent an infant from suffocation and of not discharging her obligations as a nurse. The pediatric nurse rebutted the charge of criminal negligence. The intervening behaviors of the pediatric nurse were found to be legal and not culpable. In this case, the High Court and Supreme Court made a final criminal judgment based on the presumption of innocence, and the pediatric nurse was pronounced innocent of the charge. This article intends to assist pediatric nurses understand their liabilities under Taiwan's criminal law. Pediatric nurses should gain a better understanding of the nature of liability for professional negligence in order to clarify how actions that may be illegal do not necessarily make nurses culpable.

Teaching Business French through Case Studies: Presentation of a Marketing Case.

Science.gov (United States)

Federico, Salvatore; Moore, Catherine

The use of case studies as a means for teaching business French is discussed. The approach is advocated because of the realism of case studies, which are based on actual occurrences. Characteristics of a good case are noted: it tells a story, focuses on interest-arousing issues, is set in the past 10 years, permits empathy with the main…

Case Study: Puttin' on the Ritz: How to Put Science into Cases

Science.gov (United States)

Herreid, Clyde Freeman

2017-01-01

There are multiple ways to put science into a case. This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's issue discusses different ways of presenting science in case studies.

Possible influence of the voltage dependence of the Josephson tunneling current I(V,psi) on the corresponding current-voltage characteristic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahlbohm, H.D.; Luebbig, H.; Luther, H.

1975-01-01

Analog computer calculations of the current-voltage characteristic involving the voltage dependence of the amplitudes of the tunneling current equation explicitly, for the case of a current driven tunneling junction at different temperatures are reported on. These studies are based upon the adiabatic representation of the current-phase relation. The influence of retarding effects is not included. Therefore the computational results can lead to practical consequences at best in the range near the transition temperature. (Auth.)

Estimating boundary currents from satellite altimetry: A case study for the east coast of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Durand, F.; Shankar, D.; Birol, F.; Shenoi, S.S.C.

A methodology to derive surface geostrophic current from a newly released altimetric sea-level data set is presented. TOPEX/Poseidon data were first completely reprocessed from Geophysical Data Records using new algorithms accommodating marginal...

Beyond Clinical Case Studies in Psychoanalysis: A Review of Psychoanalytic Empirical Single Case Studies Published in ISI-Ranked Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Krivzov, Juri; Notaerts, Liza

2017-01-01

Single case studies are at the origin of both theory development and research in the field of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. While clinical case studies are the hallmark of psychoanalytic theory and practice, their scientific value has been strongly criticized. To address problems with the subjective bias of retrospective therapist reports and uncontrollability of clinical case studies, systematic approaches to investigate psychotherapy process and outcome at the level of the single case have been developed. Such empirical case studies are also able to bridge the famous gap between academic research and clinical practice as they provide clinically relevant insights into how psychotherapy works. This study presents a review of psychoanalytic empirical case studies published in ISI-ranked journals and maps the characteristics of the study, therapist, patient en therapies that are investigated. Empirical case studies increased in quantity and quality (amount of information and systematization) over time. While future studies could pay more attention to providing contextual information on therapist characteristics and informed consent considerations, the available literature provides a basis to conduct meta-studies of single cases and as such contribute to knowledge aggregation. PMID:29046660

Case Study: South Texas Veterans Health Care System’s Communication Center

Science.gov (United States)

2008-07-14

appropriate access to health care; technical quality is providing world-class care to our veterans; customer satisfaction is ensuring the STVHCS patients and...were not called. These results not only improved access to health care, but also positively affected customer service. 111 Case Study: South Texas...increased waiting times for the patient . With current regulatory requirements calling for improved access to health care services, many hospital and

Body Weight and Breast Cancer: Nested Case-Control Study in Southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Kops, Natália Luiza; Bessel, Marina; Caleffi, Maira; Ribeiro, Rodrigo Antonini; Wendland, Eliana Marcia

2018-04-28

Current studies have shown that fast weight gain may be more important than body mass index on the incidence of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between body weight and breast cancer. This was a case-control study nested in a cohort of a breast cancer mammography screening program in Southern Brazil. A trained investigator administered a standardized interview to collect sociodemographic and clinical data, and body weight history (weight at menarche, at marriage, at first and last pregnancy, and at menopause). Current anthropometric measurements were also made. Fifty-seven women with cancer (66.7% postmenopausal) and 159 controls were included. Current age (60.3 ± 10.4 vs. 55.8 ± 8.4 years, P weight at different stages of life. Women with social vulnerability recruited at a mammography screening program in Southern Brazil showed a large weight gain during life, but no significant differences were found in body weight between women with or without breast cancer. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CURRENT ISSUES ON JOB STRESS IN JAPAN AND WORKSITE MENTAL HEALTH APPLICATION AMONG JAPANESE COMPANY A Case Study Analysis

OpenAIRE

S Purnawati

2013-01-01

Background: Issues about job stress is more popular in the world currently. Not just for Japan, Korea and Taiwan, but also an important issue in EU countries, especially the UK and Finland Increase of awareness about job stress effects on work performance, productivity and mental health is as onereason of the phenomenon.Objective: The present study aimed to explore the issue of job stress in Japan for the reference of good practices to Indonesia.Methods: This study, based on observationalstud...

HYDROGEOLOGIC CASE STUDIES

Science.gov (United States)

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

Study of runaway current generation following disruptions in KSTAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z Y; Kim, W C; Yu, Y W; England, A C; Yoo, J W; Hahn, S H; Yoon, S W; Lee, K D; Oh, Y K; Kwak, J G; Kwon, M

2013-01-01

The high fraction of runaway current conversion following disruptions has an important effect on the first wall for next-generation tokamaks. Because of the potentially severe consequences of a large full current runaway beam on the first wall in an unmitigated disruption, runaway suppression is given a high priority. The behavior of runaway currents both in spontaneous disruptions and in D 2 massive gas injection (MGI) shutdown experiments is investigated in the KSTAR tokamak. The experiments in KSTAR show that the toroidal magnetic field threshold, B T >2 T, for runaway generation is not absolute. A high fraction of runaway current conversion following spontaneous disruptions is observed at a much lower toroidal magnetic field of B T = 1.3 T. A dedicated fast valve for high-pressure gas injection with 39.7 bar is developed for the study of disruptions. A study of runaway current parameters shows that the conversion efficiency of pre-disruptive plasma currents into runaway current can reach over 80% both in spontaneous disruptions and in D 2 MGI shutdown experiments in KSTAR. (paper)

Postmodern Exhibition Discourse: Anthropological Study of an Art Display Case.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Wieczorek

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article studies tendencies in contemporary museum exhibitions and art display trends. While analysing current status quo of art in the museum context, it discusses the limitations of curatorial impact on the audience perception of the displayed objects. The paper presents a case study of a permanent museum exhibition with an added performance element. As argued in the article, such approach allows a stratified narrative and provokes a dialogue between the audience, performers, and curators, fully reflecting postmodern polyphonic tendency. The aim of the article is to comment on postmodern trends in museology, the status of the displayed art (object, and contemporary exhibition identity.

Teacher Perceptions of the Impact of Self-Efficacy on Classroom Management Style: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

McCain, Patty Jo

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop an understanding of how current and former middle school teachers in a suburban school district in northeast Georgia perceive low self-efficacy impacts their classroom management style. The theory guiding this study was Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory as it supported the idea that…

Objectivist case study research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridder, Hanne Mette Ochsner; Fachner, Jörg

2016-01-01

be achieved through the use of objectivist case study research. The strength of the case study design is that it allows for uncovering or suggesting causal relationships in real-life settings through an intensive and rich collection of data. According to Hilliard (1993), the opposite applies for extensive......In order to comprehend the impact of music therapy or music therapy processes, a researcher might look for an approach where the topic under investigation can be understood within a broader context. This calls for a rich inclusion of data and consequently a limited number of participants and may...... designs, in which a small amount of data is gathered on a large number of subjects. With the richness of data, the intensive design is ―the primary pragmatic reason for engaging in single-case or small N research‖ (p. 374) and for working from an idiographic rather than a nomothetic perspective....

Merging field mapping and numerical simulation to interpret the lithofacies variations from unsteady pyroclastic density currents on uneven terrain: The case of La Fossa di Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Doronzo, Domenico M.; Dellino, Pierfrancesco; Sulpizio, Roberto; Lucchi, Federico

2017-01-01

In order to obtain results from computer simulations of explosive volcanic eruptions, one either needs a statistical approach to test a wide range of initial and boundary conditions, or needs using a well-constrained field case study via stratigraphy. Here we followed the second approach, using data obtained from field mapping of the Grotta dei Palizzi 2 pyroclastic deposits (Vulcano Island, Italy) as input for numerical modeling. This case study deals with impulsive phreatomagmatic explosions of La Fossa Cone that generated ash-rich pyroclastic density currents, interacting with the topographic high of the La Fossa Caldera rim. One of the simplifications in dealing with well-sorted ash (one particle size in the model) is to highlight the topographic effects on the same pyroclastic material in an unsteady current. We demonstrate that by merging field data with 3D numerical simulation results it is possible to see key details of the dynamical current-terrain interaction, and to interpret the lithofacies variations of the associated deposits as a function of topography-induced sedimentation (settling) rate. Results suggest that a value of the sedimentation rate lower than 5 kg/m2 s at the bed load can still be sheared by the overlying current, producing tractional structures (laminae) in the deposits. Instead, a sedimentation rate higher than that threshold can preclude the formation of tractional structures, producing thicker massive deposits. We think that the approach used in this study could be applied to other case studies (both for active and ancient volcanoes) to confirm or refine such threshold value of the sedimentation rate, which is to be considered as an upper value as for the limitations of the numerical model.

Methodology Series Module 2: Case-control Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Maninder Singh

2016-01-01

Case-Control study design is a type of observational study. In this design, participants are selected for the study based on their outcome status. Thus, some participants have the outcome of interest (referred to as cases), whereas others do not have the outcome of interest (referred to as controls). The investigator then assesses the exposure in both these groups. The investigator should define the cases as specifically as possible. Sometimes, definition of a disease may be based on multiple criteria; thus, all these points should be explicitly stated in case definition. An important aspect of selecting a control is that they should be from the same 'study base' as that of the cases. We can select controls from a variety of groups. Some of them are: General population; relatives or friends; and hospital patients. Matching is often used in case-control control studies to ensure that the cases and controls are similar in certain characteristics, and it is a useful technique to increase the efficiency of the study. Case-Control studies can usually be conducted relatively faster and are inexpensive - particularly when compared with cohort studies (prospective). It is useful to study rare outcomes and outcomes with long latent periods. This design is not very useful to study rare exposures. Furthermore, they may also be prone to certain biases - selection bias and recall bias.

Catalog of NASA-Related Case Studies

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The OCKO has developed over 50 case studies to enhance learning at workshops, training, retreats and conferences. Case studies make mission knowledge attractive and...

"Am I Becoming a Serial Killer?" A Case Study of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mental Illness Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelinas, Bethany L; Hadjistavropoulos, Heather

2016-05-01

Although mental illness anxiety is described in the literature, there is very little information on which to draw when treating individuals who present with fears and worries about mental health. In fact, we identified no previous case descriptions focused on this form of anxiety and treated from a cognitive behavioral perspective. The current case study aims to advance the understanding of the clinical picture of mental illness anxiety, and facilitate the understanding of how cognitive behavioral techniques for health anxiety can be effectively adapted and implemented for such a case. A case study approach was adopted in which a baseline condition and repeated assessments were conducted during an 8-week treatment and 2-month follow-up period. In the current case study, we discuss the assessment, conceptualization, and cognitive behavioral treatment of a 24-year old woman who presented with mental illness anxiety. Several common health anxiety assessment tools and cognitive behavioural techniques were adapted for her particular clinical presentation. Consistent with research evidence for health anxiety, significant improvements in health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity were seen after eight sessions of therapy and maintained at 2-month follow-up. The results provide preliminary evidence that cognitive behavioral techniques for health anxiety can be effectively and efficiently adapted for mental illness anxiety. However, the lack of available research pertaining to mental illness anxiety contributes to challenges in conceptualization, assessment and treatment.

Applying Value Stream Mapping Technique for Production Improvement in a Manufacturing Company: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyaraj, K. L.; Muralidharan, C.; Mahalingam, R.; Deshmukh, S. G.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explain how value stream mapping (VSM) is helpful in lean implementation and to develop the road map to tackle improvement areas to bridge the gap between the existing state and the proposed state of a manufacturing firm. Through this case study, the existing stage of manufacturing is mapped with the help of VSM process symbols and the biggest improvement areas like excessive TAKT time, production, and lead time are identified. Some modifications in current state map are suggested and with these modifications future state map is prepared. Further TAKT time is calculated to set the pace of production processes. This paper compares the current state and future state of a manufacturing firm and witnessed 20 % reduction in TAKT time, 22.5 % reduction in processing time, 4.8 % reduction in lead time, 20 % improvement in production, 9 % improvement in machine utilization, 7 % improvement in man power utilization, objective improvement in workers skill level, and no change in the product and semi finished product inventory level. The findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study. This case study shows that VSM is a powerful tool for lean implementation and allows the industry to understand and continuously improve towards lean manufacturing.

Measurement-based harmonic current modeling of mobile storage for power quality study in the distribution system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenge Christoph

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Electric vehicles (EVs can be utilized as mobile storages in a power system. The use of battery chargers can cause current harmonics in the supplied AC system. In order to analyze the impact of different EVs with regardto their number and their emission of current harmonics, a generic harmonic current model of EV types was built and implemented in the power system simulation tool PSS®NETOMAC. Based on the measurement data for different types of EVs three standardized harmonic EV models were developed and parametrized. Further, the identified harmonic models are used by the computation of load flow in a modeled, German power distribution system. As a benchmark, a case scenario was studied regarding a high market penetration of EVs in the year 2030 for Germany. The impact of the EV charging on the power distribution system was analyzed and evaluated with valid power quality standards.

Lateral Epicondylitis and Tobacco Use: A Case-Control Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Michienzi, Avery E; Anderson, Christopher P; Vang, Sandy; Ward, Christina M

2015-01-01

Although lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a very common tendinopathy, we understand little about the etiology of the disease. Tobacco use has been associated with other tendinopathies, and the purpose of this study is to determine if there is an association between the incidence of lateral epicondylitis and tobacco use. We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis. Patients from a single orthopaedic surgeon's practice with LE were matched to control patients with other common upper extremity conditions based on age, gender, and occupation. A total of 65 case patients and 217 control patients were included in the study. The incidence of smoking in patients with lateral epicondylitis was compared to the incidence of smoking in the control group. Of the LE patients, 30/65 (46.2%) were non-smokers, 23/65 (35.4%) were former smokers, and 12/65 (18.5%) were current smokers. Of the control patients, 121/217 (55.8%) were non-smokers, 45/217 (20.7%) were former smokers, and 51/217 (23.5%) were current smokers. The odds of LE patients being former or current smokers compared to control patients were 1.45 times higher, but this was not statistically significant. Among people who did not smoke at the time of presentation, the odds of being a former smoker were 2.28 times higher in LE patients than in controls, which was statistically significant. The odds of being a former smoker were significantly higher in patients with lateral epicondylitis compared to patients with other upper extremity conditions. Although it did not reach statistical significance, the odds of being former or current smokers were also higher in the LE group. These results suggest a relationship between smoking history and incidence of lateral epicondylitis, though more research is needed to determine the exact nature of the relationship. Prognostic, Level III.

Case Study: Let's Get Personal--Putting Personality into Your Cases

Science.gov (United States)

Herreid, Clyde Freeman

2017-01-01

In this case study, the subject for discussion is the need to use teaching notes in order to add personality to case studies. Personality, it is said, is more important than policy, than demographics, than finances, or amorous peccadillos. Personality is essential. It is the interaction of people that capture our interest, yet, the question is…

Case Study of 'moral injury' : Format Dutch Case Studies Project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korver, Sjaak; Walton, Martin N.; van Loenen, Guus

2017-01-01

The case study ‘Moral Injury’ traces care provided by a chaplain in a mental health institution to a former military marksman named Hans. Hans was in care at a specialized unit for military veterans with traumas. He sought contact with a chaplain “to set things right with God” and wanted the

Case management.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodward, Judy; Rice, Eve

2015-03-01

Health care in the United States is changing rapidly under pressure from both political and professional stakeholders, and one area on the front line of required change is the discipline of case management. Historically, case management has worked to defragment the health care delivery system for clients and increase access to health care. Case management will have an expanded role resulting from Affordable Care Act initiatives to improve health care. This article includes definitions of case management, current issues related to case management, case management standards of practice, and a case study of the management of pediatric chronic disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Challenges in Social Media Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tørning, Kristian; Jaffari, Zeshan Ali; Vatrapu, Ravi

2015-01-01

and sales, customer support, product innovation etc. To investigate current social media managerial practices, we conducted a multiple case study, employing structured in-depth interviews with social media managers at some of the leading multi-national companies headquartered in Denmark (LEGO®, Mærsk...

Challenges in Recruiting Aging Women Holocaust Survivors to a Case Control Study of Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Vin-Raviv, Neomi; Dekel, Rachel; Barchana, Micha; Linn, Shai; Keinan-Boker, Lital

2015-01-01

Older adults are underrepresented in medical research for many reasons, including recruitment difficulties. Recruitment of older adults for research studies is often a time-consuming process and can be more challenging when the study involves older adults with unique exposures to traumatic events and from minority groups. The current article provides a brief overview of (a) challenges encountered while recruiting aging women Holocaust survivors for a case control study and (b) strategies used for meeting those challenges. The case group comprised women Holocaust survivors who were recently diagnosed with breast cancer and the control group comprised healthy women from a Holocaust-survivor community in Israel. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Harvard University: Green Loan Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Robert

2011-01-01

The Green Loan Fund at Harvard University has been an active source of capital for energy efficiency and waste reduction projects for almost a decade. This case study examines the revolving fund's history from its inception as a pilot project in the 1990s to its regeneration in the early 2000s to its current operations today. The green revolving…

Critical current studies of a HTS rectangular coil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhong, Z. [Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom); Chudy, M., E-mail: Michal.chudy@stuba.sk [Graduate School of Technology Management, University of Pretoria (South Africa); Institute of Power and Applied Electrical Engineering, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia); Ruiz, H.S. [Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Zhang, X.; Coombs, T. [Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • Unique square pancake coil was manufactured. • Measurements in relatively high magnetic field were performed. • Different sections of the coil were characterized. • Parts of the coil which are limiting critical current were identified. - Abstract: Nowadays, superconducting high field magnets are used in numerous applications due to their superior properties. High temperature superconductors (HTS) are usually used for production of circular pancake or racetrack coils. However different geometries of HTS coils might be required for some specific applications. In this study, the HTS coil wound on a rectangular frame was fully characterized in homogeneous DC background field. The study contains measurements of critical current angular dependencies. The critical current of the entire coil and two selected strands under different magnitudes and orientations of external magnetic fields are measured. The critical regions of the coil in different angular regimes are determined. This study brings better understanding of the in- field performance of HTS coils wound on frames with right-angles.

Numerical study of gravity currents in a channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, D.

1985-01-01

A three-dimensional, primitive-equation model was used to study gravity currents produced by instantaneous releases of a buoyant fluid in a rectangular channel. Without rotation, the gravity current passes through two distinct phases: an initial adjustment phase in which the front speed is constant, and an eventual self-similar phase in which the front speed decreases with time. With rotation, the gravity current is confined to the right-hand wall, forming a coastal jet. The initial front-speed is constant; however, the front speed decreases rapidly due to strong mixing at the horizontal edge of the gravity current. Also, with rotation, part of the buoyant fluid is trapped near the source region, forming an anticyclonic vortex

Schematic representation of case study research designs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, John P; Yates, Patsy M

2007-11-01

The paper is a report of a study to demonstrate how the use of schematics can provide procedural clarity and promote rigour in the conduct of case study research. Case study research is a methodologically flexible approach to research design that focuses on a particular case - whether an individual, a collective or a phenomenon of interest. It is known as the 'study of the particular' for its thorough investigation of particular, real-life situations and is gaining increased attention in nursing and social research. However, the methodological flexibility it offers can leave the novice researcher uncertain of suitable procedural steps required to ensure methodological rigour. This article provides a real example of a case study research design that utilizes schematic representation drawn from a doctoral study of the integration of health promotion principles and practices into a palliative care organization. The issues discussed are: (1) the definition and application of case study research design; (2) the application of schematics in research; (3) the procedural steps and their contribution to the maintenance of rigour; and (4) the benefits and risks of schematics in case study research. The inclusion of visual representations of design with accompanying explanatory text is recommended in reporting case study research methods.

The impact of capacitor bank inrush current on field emission current in vacuum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koochack-Zadeh, M.; Hinrichsen, V.; Smeets, R.P.P.; Lawall, A.

2010-01-01

Field emission current measurements during the recovery voltage are investigated to understand the origin of restrikes in vacuum interrupters in case of the interruption of capacitive loads. Measurement and analysis of very small field emission currents (0.01 - 1 mA) from the current zero crossing

Backup of renewable energy for an electrical island: case study of Israeli electricity system--current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhouri, A; Kuperman, A

2014-01-01

The paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of Israeli Government's targets of 10% renewable energy penetration by 2020 and determining the desired methodology (models) for assessing the effects on the electricity market, addressing the fact that Israel is an electricity island. The main objective is to determine the influence of achieving the Government's goals for renewable energy penetration on the need for backup in the Israeli electricity system. This work presents the current situation of the Israeli electricity market and the study to be taken in order to assess the undesirable effects resulting from the intermittency of electricity generated by wind and solar power stations as well as presents some solutions to mitigating these phenomena. Future work will focus on a quantitative analysis of model runs and determine the amounts of backup required relative to the amount of installed capacity from renewable resources.

Reproducibility in Natural Language Processing: A Case Study of Two R Libraries for Mining PubMed/MEDLINE

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, K. Bretonnel; Xia, Jingbo; Roeder, Christophe; Hunter, Lawrence E.

2018-01-01

There is currently a crisis in science related to highly publicized failures to reproduce large numbers of published studies. The current work proposes, by way of case studies, a methodology for moving the study of reproducibility in computational work to a full stage beyond that of earlier work. Specifically, it presents a case study in attempting to reproduce the reports of two R libraries for doing text mining of the PubMed/MEDLINE repository of scientific publications. The main findings are that a rational paradigm for reproduction of natural language processing papers can be established; the advertised functionality was difficult, but not impossible, to reproduce; and reproducibility studies can produce additional insights into the functioning of the published system. Additionally, the work on reproducibility lead to the production of novel user-centered documentation that has been accessed 260 times since its publication—an average of once a day per library. PMID:29568821

Peace Corps Water/Sanitation Case Studies and Analyses. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Case Study CS-4.

Science.gov (United States)

Talbert, Diana E., Comp.

This document provides an overview of Peace Corps water and sanitation activities, five case studies (Thailand, Yemen, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo), programming guidelines, and training information. Each case study includes: (1) background information on the country's geography, population, and economics; (2) information on the country's…

Safety and tolerability of transcranial direct current stimulation to stroke patients - A phase I current escalation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhatbar, Pratik Y; Chen, Rong; Deardorff, Rachael; Dellenbach, Blair; Kautz, Steven A; George, Mark S; Feng, Wuwei

A prior meta-analysis revealed that higher doses of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have a better post-stroke upper-extremity motor recovery. While this finding suggests that currents greater than the typically used 2 mA may be more efficacious, the safety and tolerability of higher currents have not been assessed in stroke patients. We aim to assess the safety and tolerability of single session of up to 4 mA in stroke patients. We adapted a traditional 3 + 3 study design with a current escalation schedule of 1»2»2.5»3»3.5»4 mA for this tDCS safety study. We administered one 30-min session of bihemispheric montage tDCS and simultaneous customary occupational therapy to patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. We assessed safety with pre-defined stopping rules and investigated tolerability through a questionnaire. Additionally, we monitored body resistance and skin temperature in real-time at the electrode contact site. Eighteen patients completed the study. The current was escalated to 4 mA without meeting the pre-defined stopping rules or causing any major safety concern. 50% of patients experienced transient skin redness without injury. No rise in temperature (range 26°C-35 °C) was noted and skin barrier function remained intact (i.e. body resistance >1 kΩ). Our phase I safety study supports that single session of bihemispheric tDCS with current up to 4 mA is safe and tolerable in stroke patients. A phase II study to further test the safety and preliminary efficacy with multi-session tDCS at 4 mA (as compared with lower current and sham stimulation) is a logical next step. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02763826. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Metastatic breast cancer: do current treatments improve quality of life? A prospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda Amado

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In metastatic breast cancer cases, the currently available therapeutic approaches provide minimal improvement in survival. As such, quality of life (QOL becomes one of the main objectives of treatment. It is not known whether current treatments derived from trials improve QOL. The aim was to evaluate changes in QOL among metastatic breast cancer patients receiving treatment derived from trials. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective observational QOL survey in a tertiary cancer center. METHODS: To evaluate the influence of current treatments on patients' QOL, the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36 and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI were applied on three occasions: before starting treatment and at the 6th and 12th weeks, to consecutive metastatic breast cancer patients over a one-year period. RESULTS: We found an improvement in QOL in the sample evaluated (n = 40, expressed by changes in the overall SF-36 score (p = 0.002 and the BDI (p = 0.004. Taken individually, the SF-36 components Pain, Social Functioning and Mental Health also improved significantly. Patients with worse initial performance status and secondary symptoms displayed greater improvement than those with better initial performance status and asymptomatic disease (p < 0.001. Patients who received more than one type of therapy showed larger gains than those given only one type (p = 0.038. CONCLUSIONS: In our environment, current metastatic breast cancer treatments can improve QOL, especially among symptomatic patients and those with low performance status.

Application of fault current limiters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neumann, A.

2007-11-30

This report presents the results of a study commissioned by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Industry (BERR; formerly the Department of Trade and Industry) into the application of fault current limiters in the UK. The study reviewed the current state of fault current limiter (FCL) technology and regulatory position in relation to all types of current limiters. It identified significant research and development work with respect to medium voltage FCLs and a move to high voltage. Appropriate FCL technologies being developed include: solid state breakers; superconducting FCLs (including superconducting transformers); magnetic FCLs; and active network controllers. Commercialisation of these products depends on successful field tests and experience, plus material development in the case of high temperature superconducting FCL technologies. The report describes FCL techniques, the current state of FCL technologies, practical applications and future outlook for FCL technologies, distribution fault level analysis and an outline methodology for assessing the materiality of the fault level problem. A roadmap is presented that provides an 'action agenda' to advance the fault level issues associated with low carbon networks.

Five case studies of multifamily weatherization programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinney, L; Wilson, T.; Lewis, G. [Synertech Systems Corp. (United States); MacDonald, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1997-12-31

The multifamily case studies that are the subject of this report were conducted to provide a better understanding of the approach taken by program operators in weatherizing large buildings. Because of significant variations in building construction and energy systems across the country, five states were selected based on their high level of multifamily weatherization. This report summarizes findings from case studies conducted by multifamily weatherization operations in five cities. The case studies were conducted between January and November 1994. Each of the case studies involved extensive interviews with the staff of weatherization subgrantees conducting multifamily weatherization, the inspection of 4 to 12 buildings weatherized between 1991 and 1993, and the analysis of savings and costs. The case studies focused on innovative techniques which appear to work well.

Organizational and Social Factors in the Adoption of Intranet 2.0: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bohyun

2010-01-01

This article presents a case study of the intranet implementation and adoption process of a SharePoint intranet at a small academic library and investigates why the many Web 2.0 tools of the library intranet are currently underused. Staff interviews showed that common goals for an intranet, such as information dissemination, knowledge sharing,…

A Case Study of Chinese Mongolian Students in ELT under the Background of MOOCs

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lili

2015-01-01

In response to the current reform of college English teaching, a case study of Chinese Mongolian students in English language teaching under the influence of MOOCs is carried out in an attempt to examine the efficacy of the integration of information technology into English language teaching. After a brief introduction of the teaching mode of…

Summary of case studies for cooperation mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Longa, Francesco Dalla; Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik; Hansen, Lise-Lotte Pade

2012-01-01

This document is a summary report highlighting the main aspect analyzed in the RES4LESS case studies. The document starts with an introductory chapter where the background that led to the selection of the case studies is outlined. In the following three chapters the case studies are presented, hi...

Implementing Product Platforms: A Case Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ole Fiil; Mortensen, Niels Henrik

2006-01-01

The paper describes a case study dealing with the process of creating and implementing a product platform. The paper espessially deals with the fact that to obtain the benefits of platforms a permanent change in behaviour in product development must be ensured. This change in behaviour requires...... acceptance and approval from the organisation in general and the commitment from management to enforce agreed-upon decisions. The case study itself was performed in the Danish company LEGO Group. The case study had two objectives: To create a technical architecture and align this architecture...

How To Design A Triple Bottom Line Organization: A Start-Up Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernhard Schroeder

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In today’s business environment, where success for a start-up company is measured by early revenue and profit, it can be quite challenging to design a triple bottom line organization (people/planet/profit from the very beginning. We present a case study of a U.S.-based start-up firm and discuss its early challenges, developmental processes, and current success as a triple bottom line firm. The company’s founder and CEO, with no initial product, distribution, or revenue strategy, sought to develop a company that could provide the marketplace with a valuable product while also staying true to a corporate vision of positively affecting less fortunate people. Our analysis of the case suggests that the founder’s vision, passion, transparent communication, and leveraging of partners’ resources were key elements in building the firm. We draw implications of our case study for the designers of future triple bottom line organizations.

Effects due to induced azimuthal eddy currents in a self-exciting Faraday disk homopolar dynamo with a nonlinear series motor. I.. Two special cases

Science.gov (United States)

Hide, Raymond; Moroz, Irene M.

1999-10-01

The elucidation of the behaviour of physically realistic self-exciting Faraday-disk dynamos bears inter alia on attempts by theoretical geophysicists to interpret observations of geomagnetic polarity reversals. Hide [The nonlinear differential equations governing a hierarchy of self-exciting coupled Faraday-disk homopolar dynamos, Phys. Earth Planet. Interiors 103 (1997) 281-291; Nonlinear quenching of current fluctuations in a self-exciting homopolar dynamo, Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics 4 (1998) 201-205] has introduced a novel 4-mode set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations to describe such a dynamo in which a nonlinear electric motor is connected in series with the coil. The applied couple, α, driving the disk is steady and the Lorentz couple driving the motor is a quadratic function, x(1-ɛ)+ɛσx 2, of the dynamo-generated current x, with 0≤ɛ≤1. When there are no additional biasing effects due to background magnetic fields etc., the behaviour of the dynamo is determined by eight independent non-negative control parameters. These include ρ, proportional to the resistance of the disk to azimuthal eddy currents, and β, an inverse measure of the moment of inertia of the armature of the motor. When β=0 (the case when the motor is absent and ɛ and σ are redundant) and ρ -1≠0 , the 4-mode dynamo equations reduce to the 3-mode Lorenz equations, which can behave chaotically [E. Knobloch, Chaos in the segmented disc dynamo, Phys. Lett. A 82 (1981) 439-440]. When β≠0 but ρ -1=0 , the 4-mode set of equations reduces to a 3-mode dynamo [R. Hide (1997), see above], which can also behave chaotically when ɛ=0 [R. Hide, A.C. Skeldon, D.J. Acheson, A study of two novel self-exciting single-disk homopolar dynamos: theory, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 452 (1996) 1369-1395] but not when ɛ=1 [R. Hide (1998), see above]. In the latter case, however, all persistent fluctuations are completely quenched [R. Hide (1998), see above]. In this paper we investigate

Location of existing Case Studies on Open Education

OpenAIRE

Burke, Siobhan

2014-01-01

Members of the Open Education Special Interest Group have collected a selection of short case studies on Open Education. View all of the case studies at http://repository.alt.ac.uk/view/divisions/CaseStudies/ Location of existing Case Studies on Open Education: The following lists aims to capture and amalgamate the various different case study sources which have been created and developed within the UK around experiences of Open Educational Resources.

Sirenomelia: case reports and current concepts of pathogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillay, Minnie; Yesodharan, Dhanya; Narayanan, Dhanya Lakshmi; Jojo, Annie; Luiz, Newton; Nampoothiri, Sheela

2012-01-01

We present 2 cases of sirenomelia and highlight the recent theories about its pathogenesis. Both cases had a large aberrant abdominal umbilical artery (AAUA) arising from the aorta, suggesting vascular steal as the pathophysiology. However, the bilateral upper limb defects noted in 1 case, the reported 10% association of holoprosencephaly and anencephaly, and the reports of sirenomelia with normal umbilical arteries point to the alternative caudal dysgenesis (CD) theory. This proposes that an insult at the early blastogenic stage interferes with the formation of the notochord, resulting in abnormal development of caudal structures, an AAUA, and occasional neural tube defects. We have also analyzed the implications of the similarities between sirenomelia/CD and the VATER association; the increased risk of CD but not sirenomelia in infants of diabetic mothers; the fact that sirenomelia, holoprosencephaly, and the VATER association are all more common in monozygotic twins; the experimental production of sirenomelia in mice; and the possible genetic implications of the co-occurrence of sirenomelia and CD.

national Case study

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This national case study reports on the development of a national network, ... system under the new policy), tends to be limited by content on problems and ... 20 credit programme; and within two Post Graduate Certificate of Education contexts, ...... descriptive with an issues focus (empirical) towards awareness production to.

Writing case studies in information systems research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Blonk, H.C.

Case study research can be reported in different ways. This paper explores the various ways in which researchers may choose to write down their case studies and then introduces a subsequent typology of writing case studies. The typology is based on a 2 x 2 matrix, resulting in four forms of writing

Automated Studies of Continuing Current in Lightning Flashes

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Claros, Jose

Continuing current (CC) is a continuous luminosity in the lightning channel that lasts longer than 10 ms following a lightning return stroke to ground. Lightning flashes following CC are associated with direct damage to power lines and are thought to be responsible for causing lightning-induced forest fires. The development of an algorithm that automates continuing current detection by combining NLDN (National Lightning Detection Network) and LEFA (Langmuir Electric Field Array) datasets for CG flashes will be discussed. The algorithm was applied to thousands of cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes within 40 km of Langmuir Lab, New Mexico measured during the 2013 monsoon season. It counts the number of flashes in a single minute of data and the number of return strokes of an individual lightning flash; records the time and location of each return stroke; performs peak analysis on E-field data, and uses the slope of interstroke interval (ISI) E-field data fits to recognize whether continuing current (CC) exists within the interval. Following CC detection, duration and magnitude are measured. The longest observed C in 5588 flashes was 631 ms. The performance of the algorithm (vs. human judgement) was checked on 100 flashes. At best, the reported algorithm is "correct" 80% of the time, where correct means that multiple stations agree with each other and with a human on both the presence and duration of CC. Of the 100 flashes that were validated against human judgement, 62% were hybrid. Automated analysis detects the first but misses the second return stroke in many cases where the second return stroke is followed by long CC. This problem is also present in human interpretation of field change records.

Electrolytic corrosion of water pipeline system in the remote distance from stray currents—Case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Zakowski​

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Case study of corrosion failure of urban water supply system caused by the harmful effects of stray currents was presented. The failure occurred at a site distant from the sources of these currents namely the tramway and railway traction systems. Diagnosis revealed the stray currents flow to pipeline over a remote distance of 800/1000 m from the point of failure. At the point of failure stray currents flowed from the pipeline to the ground through external insulation defects, causing the process of electrolytic corrosion of the metal. Long distance between the affected section of the pipeline and the sources of stray currents excludes the typical protection against stray currents in the form of electrical polarized drainage. Corrosion protection at this point can be achieved by using the earthing electrodes made of magnesium, which will also provide cathodic current protection as galvanic anode.

Backup of Renewable Energy for an Electrical Island: Case Study of Israeli Electricity System—Current Status

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhouri, A.; Kuperman, A.

2014-01-01

The paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of Israeli Government's targets of 10% renewable energy penetration by 2020 and determining the desired methodology (models) for assessing the effects on the electricity market, addressing the fact that Israel is an electricity island. The main objective is to determine the influence of achieving the Government's goals for renewable energy penetration on the need for backup in the Israeli electricity system. This work presents the current situation of the Israeli electricity market and the study to be taken in order to assess the undesirable effects resulting from the intermittency of electricity generated by wind and solar power stations as well as presents some solutions to mitigating these phenomena. Future work will focus on a quantitative analysis of model runs and determine the amounts of backup required relative to the amount of installed capacity from renewable resources. PMID:24624044

Native flora rescue program: GASENE project case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serricchio, Claudio; Caldas, Flaviana V [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Akahori, Lisa [Telsan, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Jacomelli, Junior, Jose Almir [AGF Engenharia, Araucaria, PR (Brazil)

2009-07-01

Concerning the surrounding flora, the implementation of pipelines may cause fragmentation and isolation of the remaining natural vegetation, possibly changing the forest structure; thus raising the border effect; modifying the ratio of species and life forms, decreasing the vegetal diversity and/or causing a lack of connectivity among the remaining indigenous forest resources. In the case of pipelines, the most important environmental measure intended to mitigate the damage caused to the flora is the adoption of Indigenous Flora Rescue Programs. This paper is aimed at analyzing the programs currently applied during the implementation of the GASENE project, by conducting a case study. The main targets of such program are obtaining seeds and fruits with a view to subsidize the potential production of sapling to be further employed in the recovery of areas impacted by the pipeline works; and then relocate the most significant samples of species rescued from the suppressed areas in order to comprise forest areas adjacent to the pipeline's right-of-way. The programs had little differences in their methodology while being implemented, however, we consider that up to the present moment the results obtained in the preservation of species of native flora have been satisfactory. (author)

Obsolete Laws: Economic and Moral Aspects, Case Study-Composting Standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Vochozka, Marek; Maroušková, Anna; Šuleř, Petr

2017-12-01

From the early days of philosophy, ethics and justice, there is wide consensus that the constancy of the laws establishes the legal system. On the other hand, the rate at which we accumulate knowledge is gaining speed like never before. Due to the recently increased attention of academics to climate change and other environmental issues, a lot of new knowledge has been obtained about carbon management, its role in nature and mechanisms regarding the formation and degradation of organic matter. A multidisciplinary techno-economic assessment of current composting standards and laws that took into account the current state of knowledge about carbon management was carried out as a case study. Economic and environmental damage caused by outdated laws was revealed. In addition, it was found that the introduction of the best composts into the market is permitted, causing additional negative environmental as well as economic impacts.

Mutational spectrum of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Spain: Study of 284 cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieitez, I; Gallano, P; González-Quereda, L; Borrego, S; Marcos, I; Millán, J M; Jairo, T; Prior, C; Molano, J; Trujillo-Tiebas, M J; Gallego-Merlo, J; García-Barcina, M; Fenollar, M; Navarro, C

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe X-linked recessive neuromuscular disease that affects one in 3500 live-born males. The total absence of dystrophin observed in DMD patients is generally caused by mutations that disrupt the reading frame of the DMD gene, and about 80% of cases harbour deletions or duplications of one or more exons. We reviewed 284 cases of males with a genetic diagnosis of DMD between 2007 and 2014. These patients were selected from 8 Spanish reference hospitals representing most areas of Spain. Multiplex PCR, MLPA, and sequencing were performed to identify mutations. Most of these DMD patients present large deletions (46.1%) or large duplications (19.7%) in the dystrophin gene. The remaining 34.2% correspond to point mutations, and half of these correspond to nonsense mutations. In this study we identified 23 new mutations in DMD: 7 large deletions and 16 point mutations. The algorithm for genetic diagnosis applied by the participating centres is the most appropriate for genotyping patients with DMD. The genetic specificity of different therapies currently being developed emphasises the importance of identifying the mutation appearing in each patient; 38.7% of the cases in this series are eligible to participate in current clinical trials. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Gender, Cross-border Migrant Workers and Citizenship : Case Study ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... of the Burmese-Thai border; final technical report. Documents. Border industrialization and labour mobility : a case of Burmese migrant workers in border area factories. Rapports. Round Table Discussion on Past and Current Research on Migrant Workers in Thailand, Miracle Grand Convention Hotel, 17 January 2007 ...

The Danish National Case Study Report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Søsser; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

Three case studies from Danish science shops within the environmental field are analysed with respect to societal background, interaction between the involved actors and the societal impact of the co-operation. The report is one of the seven national case study reports from the EU...

Using Case Studies in Calculus-based Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Debora M.

2006-12-01

Do your students believe that the physics only works in your classroom or laboratory? Or do they see that physics underlies their everyday experience? Case studies in physics help students connect physics principles to their everyday experience. For decades, case studies have been used to teach law, medicine and biology, but they are rarely used in physics. I am working on a calculus-based physics textbook for scientists and engineers. Case studies are woven into each chapter. Stop by and get a case study to test out in your classroom. I would love to get your feedback.

Modalities of Generalization Through Single Case Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zittoun, Tania

2017-06-01

The value of case studies for theory building is still doubted in psychology. The paper argues for the importance of case studies and the possibility of generalizing from these for a specific sociocultural understanding of human development. The paper first clarifies the notion of abduction within case studies, drawing on pragmatists James and Peirce and expanding it with the work of Lewin, and argues that it is the core mechanism that allows generalization from case studies. The second section presents the possibility of generalizing from individual single case studies, for which not only the subjective perspective, but also the dynamics by which the social and cultural environment guide and enable the person's development, have to be accounted for. The third section elaborates the question of institutional case studies, where the challenge is to account both for institutional dynamics, and for persons' trajectories within; this is exemplified with an ongoing study on the process of obtaining citizenship in Switzerland. The paper briefly concludes by highlighting two possible implications of the paper, one concerning the process of theoretical reasoning, the other, the fact that sociocultural psychology could itself be seen as an institution in-the-making.

Implementation of case studies in undergraduate didactic nursing courses: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutra, Danette K

2013-07-04

The implementation of unfolding scenario-based case studies in the didactic classroom is associated with learner-centered education. The utilization of learner-centered pedagogies, such as case studies, removes the focus from the instructor and instead places it on the student. Learner-centered pedagogies are believed to improve students' levels of cognition. The purpose of this study was to examine how nurse educators are implementing the pedagogies of case studies in their undergraduate didactic courses. The goal was to examine, document, report, and, ultimately, implement the strategies. Purposeful sampling was utilized in this qualitative, multisite-designed study. For each of the four participants, three separate site visits were completed. Observations and post-observational interviews took place at each site visit. Transcribed data from interviews, observations, and course documents were imported into the computer program Nvivo8. Repetitive comparative analysis was utilized to complete the data coding process. The guiding research question of this study sought to investigate the implementation strategies of case studies in didactic nursing courses. The implementation of case studies by the participants reflected two primary patterns: Formal Implementation (FI) and Informal Implementation (II) of case studies. The FI of case studies was further divided into two subcategories: Formal Implementation of case studies used Inside the Classroom setting (FIIC) and Formal Implementation of cases studies used Outside of the Classroom (FIOC). Results of this investigation have led to an increased understanding of implementation strategies of unfolding scenario-based case studies in undergraduate nursing didactic courses. Data collected were rich in the description of specific methodologies for utilization of case studies and may serve as a resource for faculty in development of creative strategies to enhance the didactic classroom experience.

Fokker-Planck modeling of current penetration during electron cyclotron current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merkulov, A.; Westerhof, E.; Schueller, F. C.

2007-01-01

The current penetration during electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) on the resistive time scale is studied with a Fokker-Planck simulation, which includes a model for the magnetic diffusion that determines the parallel electric field evolution. The existence of the synergy between the inductive electric field and EC driven current complicates the process of the current penetration and invalidates the standard method of calculation in which Ohm's law is simply approximated by j-j cd =σE. Here it is proposed to obtain at every time step a self-consistent approximation to the plasma resistivity from the Fokker-Planck code, which is then used in a concurrent calculation of the magnetic diffusion equation in order to obtain the inductive electric field at the next time step. A series of Fokker-Planck calculations including a self-consistent evolution of the inductive electric field has been performed. Both the ECCD power and the electron density have been varied, thus varying the well known nonlinearity parameter for ECCD P rf [MW/m -3 ]/n e 2 [10 19 m -3 ] [R. W. Harvey et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 62, 426 (1989)]. This parameter turns out also to be a good predictor of the synergetic effects. The results are then compared with the standard method of calculations of the current penetration using a transport code. At low values of the Harvey parameter, the standard method is in quantitative agreement with Fokker-Planck calculations. However, at high values of the Harvey parameter, synergy between ECCD and E parallel is found. In the case of cocurrent drive, this synergy leads to the generation of large amounts of nonthermal electrons and a concomitant increase of the electrical conductivity and current penetration time. In the case of countercurrent drive, the ECCD efficiency is suppressed by the synergy with E parallel while only a small amount of nonthermal electrons is produced

EEG-NIRS based assessment of neurovascular coupling during anodal transcranial direct current stimulation--a stroke case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Anirban; Jacob, Athira; Chowdhury, Shubhajit Roy; Das, Abhijit; Nitsche, Michael A

2015-04-01

A method for electroencephalography (EEG) - near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) based assessment of neurovascular coupling (NVC) during anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Anodal tDCS modulates cortical neural activity leading to a hemodynamic response, which was used to identify impaired NVC functionality. In this study, the hemodynamic response was estimated with NIRS. NIRS recorded changes in oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations during anodal tDCS-induced activation of the cortical region located under the electrode and in-between the light sources and detectors. Anodal tDCS-induced alterations in the underlying neuronal current generators were also captured with EEG. Then, a method for the assessment of NVC underlying the site of anodal tDCS was proposed that leverages the Hilbert-Huang Transform. The case series including four chronic (>6 months) ischemic stroke survivors (3 males, 1 female from age 31 to 76) showed non-stationary effects of anodal tDCS on EEG that correlated with the HbO2 response. Here, the initial dip in HbO2 at the beginning of anodal tDCS corresponded with an increase in the log-transformed mean-power of EEG within 0.5Hz-11.25Hz frequency band. The cross-correlation coefficient changed signs but was comparable across subjects during and after anodal tDCS. The log-transformed mean-power of EEG lagged HbO2 response during tDCS but then led post-tDCS. This case series demonstrated changes in the degree of neurovascular coupling to a 0.526 A/m(2) square-pulse (0-30 s) of anodal tDCS. The initial dip in HbO2 needs to be carefully investigated in a larger cohort, for example in patients with small vessel disease.

Using Case Studies to Enrich Field Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Florio-Ruane, Susan; Clark, Christopher M.

1990-01-01

This paper discusses the use of field experience in teacher education and how it can be augmented by phenomenological case studies. It summarizes a particular case study involving three teacher education classes, noting that reflective analysis of cases can prepare students to observe in the field. (SM)

Using Case Studies to Teach About Global Issues, Bali: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, James M.

1974-01-01

The South Pacific island of Bali is used as a case study of overpopulation and food shortage. A brief description of the resources, the typical lifestyle of the Balinese farmer, and possible teaching techniques are given. (DE)

Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies: Preparation, design, and enrollment of cases and controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Verani, Jennifer R; Baqui, Abdullah H; Broome, Claire V; Cherian, Thomas; Cohen, Cheryl; Farrar, Jennifer L; Feikin, Daniel R; Groome, Michelle J; Hajjeh, Rana A; Johnson, Hope L; Madhi, Shabir A; Mulholland, Kim; O'Brien, Katherine L; Parashar, Umesh D; Patel, Manish M; Rodrigues, Laura C; Santosham, Mathuram; Scott, J Anthony; Smith, Peter G; Sommerfelt, Halvor; Tate, Jacqueline E; Victor, J Chris; Whitney, Cynthia G; Zaidi, Anita K; Zell, Elizabeth R

2017-06-05

Case-control studies are commonly used to evaluate effectiveness of licensed vaccines after deployment in public health programs. Such studies can provide policy-relevant data on vaccine performance under 'real world' conditions, contributing to the evidence base to support and sustain introduction of new vaccines. However, case-control studies do not measure the impact of vaccine introduction on disease at a population level, and are subject to bias and confounding, which may lead to inaccurate results that can misinform policy decisions. In 2012, a group of experts met to review recent experience with case-control studies evaluating the effectiveness of several vaccines; here we summarize the recommendations of that group regarding best practices for planning, design and enrollment of cases and controls. Rigorous planning and preparation should focus on understanding the study context including healthcare-seeking and vaccination practices. Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies are best carried out soon after vaccine introduction because high coverage creates strong potential for confounding. Endpoints specific to the vaccine target are preferable to non-specific clinical syndromes since the proportion of non-specific outcomes preventable through vaccination may vary over time and place, leading to potentially confusing results. Controls should be representative of the source population from which cases arise, and are generally recruited from the community or health facilities where cases are enrolled. Matching of controls to cases for potential confounding factors is commonly used, although should be reserved for a limited number of key variables believed to be linked to both vaccination and disease. Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies can provide information useful to guide policy decisions and vaccine development, however rigorous preparation and design is essential. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Current definition and a generalized federbush model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, L.P.S.; Hagen, C.R.

1978-01-01

The Federbush model is studied, with particular attention being given to the definition of currents. Inasmuch as there is no a priori restriction of local gauge invariance, the currents in the interacting case can be defined more generally than in Q.E.D. It is found that two arbitrary parameters are thereby introduced into the theory. Lowest order perturbation calculations for the current correlation functions and the Fermion propagators indicate that the theory admits a whole class of solutions dependent upon these parameters with the closed solution of Federbush emerging as a special case. The theory is shown to be locally covariant, and a conserved energy--momentum tensor is displayed. One finds in addition that the generators of gauge transformations for the fields are conserved. Finally it is shown that the general theory yields the Federbush solution if suitable Thirring model type counterterms are added

Septic Systems Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

A collection of septic systems case studies to help community planners, elected officials, health department staff, state officials, and interested citizens explore alternatives for managing their decentralized wastewater treatment systems.

Contextualising case studies in entrepreneurship: A tandem approach to conducting a longitudinal cross-country case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chetty, S. K.; Partanen, J.; Rasmussen, Erik Stavnsager

2014-01-01

Using predictive and effectuation logics as a framework, this research note explains how case study research was conducted to demonstrate rigour and relevance. The study involves a longitudinal cross-country case study on small and medium-sized firm growth and networks undertaken by research teams...... in three countries (Finland, Denmark and New Zealand) involving 33 firms. This research note outlines the implications of this research and provides valuable guidance and reflections upon opportunities for future research regarding the conduct of contextual studies in entrepreneurship without compromising...

Computer-Aided Prototyping Systems (CAPS) within the software acquisition process: a case study

OpenAIRE

Ellis, Mary Kay

1993-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited This thesis provides a case study which examines the benefits derived from the practice of computer-aided prototyping within the software acquisition process. An experimental prototyping systems currently in research is the Computer Aided Prototyping System (CAPS) managed under the Computer Science department of the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. This thesis determines the qualitative value which may be realized by ...

Measuring Efficacy of Information Security Policies : A Case Study of UAE based company

OpenAIRE

Qureshi, Muhammad Sohail

2012-01-01

Nowadays information security policies are operative in many organizations. Currently few organizations take the pain of verifying the efficacy of these policies. Different standards and procedures exist about methods of measuring efficacy of information security policies. Choosing and implementing them depends mainly on the key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs) of any particular organization. This thesis is a case study of an organization in United Arab Emirates (U...

Transforming a school: A case study of a Catholic school principal in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Siok Fei Oei

2015-01-01

Transforming a struggling private Catholic Vocation al School into a well-improved school requires a lot of hard work. Improving a school allowed for no sho rt-cut to assure students’ high achievement. An outstanding school was the res ult of much hard work. The current case study shall focus on the journey of Mater Amabilis School for Training Home Economics Teachers (MA SGKP). More specifically, the paper sh all ...

Analytical study on discrete model of virtual cathode in a high-current diode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Privezentsev, A.P.

1988-01-01

Interest in investigation of virtual cathode dynamics related to the development of high-current accelerator equipment is caused by the possibility of its application for ion collective acceleration in direct high-current electron beams and generation of power electromagnetic radiation. The Hamiltonian form of a plane sheet model for a high-current flux in a plane diode is investigated. Variables used permit to carry out the investigation of dynamics of the virtual cathode flux by the method of coordinate point transformations in a phase space. The necessity of numerical integration of sheet motion equations is dropped out in this case. Analytical solution of the suggested iterative circuit for total flux passage is presented as an example. The solution obtained is equivalent to the known results of the plane diode theory, obtained in the hydrodynamic approximation

Designing human-robot collaborations in industry 4.0: explorative case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kadir, Bzhwen A; Broberg, Ole; Souza da Conceição, Carolina

2018-01-01

We are experiencing an increase in human-robot interactions and the use of collaborative robots (cobots) in industrial work systems. To make full use of cobots, it is essential to understand emerging challenges and opportunities. In this paper, we analyse three successful industrial case studies...... of cobots’ implementation. We highlight the top three challenges and opportunities, from the empirical evidence, relate them to current available literature on the topic, and use them to identify key design factor to consider when designing industrial work system with human-robot collaborations....

A case of chronic Wernicke’s Encephalopathy: a neuropsychological study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik eOudman

2014-05-01

Full Text Available A 54-year old woman was referred to our Korsakoff Center because of extensive cognitive problems following acute Wernicke's Encephalopathy (WE. She had a relatively short history of alcohol abuse and was found lying on the floor in her home by her son. After five days without treatment she was diagnosed with WE in a general hospital. During the course of the disease minimal change to the acute situation occurred, with chronic confusion, attention deficits and incoherent behavior symptoms most notable unlike classical Korsakoff's Syndrome (KS. Neuropsychological assessment after four and sixteen months after admission to the hospital revealed global cognitive decline, with striking impairments in attentional, executive and memory functions. The present case study suggests that the state of confusion and the neuropsychological symptoms in WE can become chronic in case of very late treatment. We therefore recommend that confused alcoholics should receive appropriate parenteral thiamine according to the current clinical standards.

A Case of Chronic Wernicke’s Encephalopathy: A Neuropsychological Study

Science.gov (United States)

Oudman, Erik; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Postma, Albert; Wijnia, Jan W.; Nijboer, Tanja C. W.

2014-01-01

A 54-year-old woman was referred to our Korsakoff Center because of extensive cognitive problems following acute Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE). She had a relatively short history of alcohol abuse and was found lying on the floor in her home by her son. After 5 days without treatment, she was diagnosed with WE in a general hospital. During the course of the disease, minimal change to the acute situation occurred, with chronic confusion, attention deficits, and incoherent behavior symptoms most notable unlike classical Korsakoff’s syndrome. Neuropsychological assessment after 4 and 16 months after admission to the hospital revealed global cognitive decline, with striking impairments in attentional, executive, and memory functions. The present case study suggests that the state of confusion and the neuropsychological symptoms in WE can become chronic in case of very late treatment. We therefore recommend that confused alcoholics should receive appropriate parenteral thiamine according to the current clinical standards. PMID:24904442

An Evaluation of Current Stormwater Best Management Practice Relationships Between Design and Efficiency: A Series of Local and National Case Studies

OpenAIRE

Goodwin, Amanda Ann

2013-01-01

Water quality continues to be threatened by human development activities such as stormwater runoff from urbanization. This study addresses the question of how stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) system design choices affect pollutant removal efficiency, through the examination of 12 case study sites (across five states) that use three common BMP system design types (detention, retention, and wetland channel). Water quality information was obtained from the International Stormwater Datab...

Case Study Research: Foundations and Methodological Orientations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Harrison

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Over the last forty years, case study research has undergone substantial methodological development. This evolution has resulted in a pragmatic, flexible research approach, capable of providing comprehensive in-depth understanding of a diverse range of issues across a number of disciplines. Change and progress have stemmed from parallel influences of historical transformations in approaches to research and individual researcher's preferences, perspectives, and interpretations of this design. Researchers who have contributed to the development of case study research come from diverse disciplines with different philosophical perspectives, resulting in a variety of definitions and approaches. For the researcher new to using case study, such variety can create a confusing platform for its application. In this article, we explore the evolution of case study research, discuss methodological variations, and summarize key elements with the aim of providing guidance on the available options for researchers wanting to use case study in their work. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701195

Corporate Sustainability: A Case Study in the Company Artecola

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiane Froehlich

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to verify the sustainability practices that address the triple bottom line at Artecola. The company headquarters is located in Rio Grande do Sul and it has units in several states in Brazil, Latin America and China. The company operates in three sectors: chemical, leather-footwear and engineering plastics. This research is classified as bibliographic, descriptive and qualitative case study. Data were collected based on 10 semi-structured interviews and internal documents, which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The main results show that sustainability practices include the triple bottom line at Artecola. However, the concept of sustainability is not understood in a systemic way by organization. Thus, the three pillars of the triple bottom line (economic, environmental and social are not necessarily included in an interdependent way in the current corporate sustainability actions.

An ingested mobile phone in the stomach may not be amenable to safe endoscopic removal using current therapeutic devices: A case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Obinwa, Obinna; Cooper, David; O'Riordan, James M

2016-01-01

This case report is intended to inform clinicians, endoscopists, policy makers and industry of our experience in the management of a rare case of mobile phone ingestion. A 29-year-old prisoner presented to the Emergency Department with vomiting, ten hours after he claimed to have swallowed a mobile phone. Clinical examination was unremarkable. Both initial and repeat abdominal radiographs eight hours later confirmed that the foreign body remained in situ in the stomach and had not progressed along the gastrointestinal tract. Based on these findings, upper endoscopy was performed under general anaesthesia. The object could not be aligned correctly to accommodate endoscopic removal using current retrieval devices. Following unsuccessful endoscopy, an upper midline laparotomy was performed and the phone was delivered through an anterior gastrotomy, away from the pylorus. The patient made an uneventful recovery and underwent psychological counselling prior to discharge. In this case report, the use of endoscopy in the management when a conservative approach fails is questioned. Can the current endoscopic retrieval devices be improved to limit the need for surgical interventions in future cases? An ingested mobile phone in the stomach may not be amenable for removal using the current endoscopic retrieval devices. Improvements in overtubes or additional modifications of existing retrieval devices to ensure adequate alignment for removal without injuring the oesophagus are needed. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Study of Grants, new Mexico, uranium miners: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samet, J.M.; Morgan, M.V.; Buechley, R.W.; Key, C.R.; Valdivia, A.A.

1981-01-01

The Uranium Epidemiology Study at the University of New Mexico was initiated in 1977 with the objective of assessing health effects of uranium mining in the Grants, New Mexico, area. The planned approach was a cohort study of mortality that would capitalize on the availability of health records at the Grants Clinic. The first year's work confirmed the study's feasibility (Buechley, 1979). Subsequent efforts have focused on the health and exposure data base and comprehensive follow-up. A retrospective cohort study of early miners is in progress; a prospective cohort study of miners who began working under the current federal standard is planned. This report will summarize the current status of the Uranium Epidemiology Study

Outdoor air pollution, exhaled 8-isoprostane and current asthma in adults: the EGEA study.

Science.gov (United States)

Havet, Anaïs; Zerimech, Farid; Sanchez, Margaux; Siroux, Valérie; Le Moual, Nicole; Brunekreef, Bert; Stempfelet, Morgane; Künzli, Nino; Jacquemin, Bénédicte; Matran, Régis; Nadif, Rachel

2018-04-01

Associations between outdoor air pollution and asthma in adults are still scarce, and the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. Our aim was to study the associations between 1) long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and current asthma, 2) exhaled 8-isoprostane (8-iso; a biomarker related to oxidative stress) and current asthma, and 3) outdoor air pollution and exhaled 8-iso.Cross-sectional analyses were conducted in 608 adults (39% with current asthma) from the first follow-up of the French case-control and family study on asthma (EGEA; the Epidemiological study of the Genetic and Environmental factors of Asthma). Data on nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter with a diameter ≤10 and ≤2.5 µm (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ), road traffic, and ozone (O 3 ) were from ESCAPE (European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects) and IFEN (French Institute for the Environment) assessments. Models took account of city and familial dependence.The risk of current asthma increased with traffic intensity (adjusted (a)OR 1.09 (95% CI 1.00-1.18) per 5000 vehicles per day), with O 3 exposure (aOR 2.04 (95% CI 1.27-3.29) per 10 µg·m -3 ) and with exhaled 8-iso concentration (aOR 1.50 (95% CI 1.06-2.12) per 1 pg·mL -1 ). Among participants without asthma, exhaled 8-iso concentration increased with PM 2.5 exposure (adjusted (a)β 0.23 (95% CI 0.005-0.46) per 5 µg·m -3 ), and decreased with O 3 and O 3-summer exposures (aβ -0.20 (95% CI -0.39- -0.01) and aβ -0.52 (95% CI -0.77- -0.26) per 10 µg·m -3 , respectively).Our results add new insights into a potential role of oxidative stress in the associations between outdoor air pollution and asthma in adults. Copyright ©ERS 2018.

Implementation of Network Leader Sponsored Supply Chain Management Systems: A Case Study of Supplier IT Business Value

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Mark S.

2010-01-01

This qualitative multiple-case study was conducted to explore and understand how the implementation of required relationship-specific supply chain management system (SCMS) dictated by the network leader within a supplier network affects a supplier organization. The study, on a very broad sense, attempted to research the current validity of how the…

Environmental Literacy Components and Their Promotion by Institutions of Higher Education: An Israeli Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Arnon, Sara; Orion, Nir; Carmi, Nurit

2015-01-01

The recognition of the key role and moral responsibility of higher education institutions (HEIs) in cultivating the environmental literacy (EL) of their students is growing globally. The current research examined the contribution of HEIs to their students' EL by focusing on an Israeli college as a case-study. A survey was conducted among a…

Large-eddy simulation study of oil/gas plumes in stratified fluid with cross current

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Di; Xiao, Shuolin; Chen, Bicheng; Chamecki, Marcelo; Meneveau, Charles

2017-11-01

Dynamics of the oil/gas plume from a subsea blowout are strongly affected by the seawater stratification and cross current. The buoyant plume entrains ambient seawater and lifts it up to higher elevations. During the rising process, the continuously increasing density difference between the entrained and ambient seawater caused by the stable stratification eventually results in a detrainment of the entrained seawater and small oil droplets at a height of maximum rise (peel height), forming a downward plume outside the rising inner plume. The presence of a cross current breaks the plume's axisymmetry and causes the outer plume to fall along the downstream side of the inner plume. The detrained seawater and oil eventually fall to a neutral buoyancy level (trap height), and disperse horizontally to form an intrusion layer. In this study, the complex plume dynamics is investigated using large-eddy simulation (LES). Various laboratory and field scale cases are simulated to explore the effect of cross current and stratification on the plume dynamics. Based on the LES data, various turbulence statistics of the plume are systematically quantified, leading to some useful insights for modeling the mean plume dynamics using integral plume models. This research is made possible by a RFP-V Grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

Weak neutral currents discovery: a giant step for particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pullia, A.; Vialle, J.P.

2010-01-01

Subatomic particles interact with different kinds of forces (strong, electromagnetic, weak and gravitational). In case of the weak force, the interaction is due to the exchange of intermediate charged (W +,- ) and neutral (Z 0 ) bosons. These cases are referred as 'charged currents' and 'neutral currents', respectively. The evidence for such weak neutral currents appeared in the Gargamelle international collaboration whose aim was to study in-depth neutrino interactions (and thus weak interactions) through the use of a giant heavy liquid bubble chamber at CERN. In a collaboration meeting in March 1972, the Milan team showed the first hints of neutral currents in neutrino interactions with at least one pion outgoing. In 1974, 2 new leptonic neutral current candidate events were found in Gargamelle films and the Fermilab team confirmed the result a few months later. (A.C.)

STUDY ON THE MARKETING STRATEGY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION (CASE COMPANY SAMK INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS)

OpenAIRE

Khanal, Ichha; khanal, Ichha

2017-01-01

The purpose of conducting this thesis was to study on the marketing strategy of an educational institution. The aim of this thesis was to study on current marketing strategy and suggest the case company with new and effective ideas for marketing. The theoretical part of this thesis hold three main elements with basic knowledge of marketing. Along with marketing mix, this thesis also covered segmentation as well as marketing strategy. For the time being, SWOT approach was utilized to...

Reversal permanent charge and reversal potential: case studies via classical Poisson–Nernst–Planck models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenberg, Bob; Liu, Weishi; Xu, Hongguo

2015-01-01

In this work, we are interested in effects of a simple profile of permanent charges on ionic flows. We determine when a permanent charge produces current reversal. We adopt the classical Poisson–Nernst–Planck (PNP) models of ionic flows for this study. The starting point of our analysis is the recently developed geometric singular perturbation approach for PNP models. Under the setting in the paper for case studies, we are able to identify a single governing equation for the existence and the value of the permanent charge for a current reversal. A number of interesting features are established. The related topic on reversal potential can be viewed as a dual problem and is briefly examined in this work too. (paper)

Effort and accuracy during language resource generation: a pronunciation prediction case study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Davel, M

2006-11-01

Full Text Available pronunciation dictionary as case study. We show that the amount of effort required to validate a 20,000-word pronunciation dictionary can be reduced sub- stantially by employing appropriate computational tools, when compared to both a fully manual validation... and correcting errors found, and finally, manually verifying a further portion of the resource in order to estimate its current accuracy. We apply this general approach to the task of developing pronunciation dictionaries. We demonstrate how the validation...

From survey data to virtual environment. Two case studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Incerti

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present the latest experiences carried out by our research group in the field of multimedia communication. Starting from the construction of virtual models, interactive and non-interactive, we pursued the aim to introduce edutainment paths in some museum contexts, both increasing the value of cultural assets and creating an attractive pole for the visitors. The current trends are gradually transforming museums from static places of conservation into active and engaging spaces to deliver accessible culture to the masses, using digital technologies for creating new paradigms of interaction and enhance the experience of the visitor. Here we present two case studies, whose purpose is to bring together the different competences by various experts to test the potential of digital products as non-formal teaching tools to allow a satisfying learning experience. The case explored are those of the Civic Museum of Schifanoia (Ferrara and the octagonal cloister of the Carracci in San Michele in Bosco (Bologna. The multimedia products discussed here relate to these two research themes, and up to now 3 out of 5 planned products have been made (in final mode, or in prototype form. The experimentation led to concrete results that introduced a reflection on what investigative methodologies and protocols are more suitable to be adopted in these cases, in compliance to the aim identified by the project.

Fault current limiter using bulk oxides superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belmont, O.; Ferracci, P.; Porcar, L.; Barbut, J.M.; Tixador, P.; Noudem, J.G.; Bourgault, D.; Tournier, R.

1998-01-01

We study the limitation possibilities of bulk Bi high T c materials. For this we test these materials with AC or DC currents above their critical currents. We study particularly the evolution of the voltage with time or with current. The material, the value of the current and the time duration play important parts. For sintered Bi samples the voltage depends only on the current even for values much larger than the critical current. With textured samples the V(I) curves shows an hysteretic behaviour due to a warming up. The textured materials are more interesting than sintered ones in terms of required volume for the current limitation. In both cases the superconductors are in a dissipative state but not in the normal state. This state is nevertheless reached if the dissipated energy inside the sample is sufficient. We have tried to apply a magnetic field on the samples in order to trigger a more effective limitation. The voltage increases but with a limited effect for currents much higher (3-4 times) than the critical zero field current. We think that the dissipative state is due mainly to the grain boundaries which become resistive above the critical current. (orig.)

Chondral Rib Fractures in Professional American Football: Two Cases and Current Practice Patterns Among NFL Team Physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

McAdams, Timothy R; Deimel, Jay F; Ferguson, Jeff; Beamer, Brandon S; Beaulieu, Christopher F

2016-02-01

Although a recognized and discussed injury, chondral rib fractures in professional American football have not been previously reported in the literature. There currently exists no consensus on how to identify and treat these injuries or the expected return to play for the athlete. To present 2 cases of chondral rib injuries in the National Football League (NFL) and discuss the current practice patterns for management of these injuries among the NFL team physicians. Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Two cases of NFL players with chondral rib injuries are presented. A survey regarding work-up and treatment of these injuries was completed by team physicians at the 2014 NFL Combine. Our experience in identifying and treating these injuries is presented in conjunction with a survey of NFL team physicians' experiences. Two cases of rib chondral injuries were diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) and treated with rest and protective splinting. Return to play was 2 to 4 weeks. NFL Combine survey results show that NFL team physicians see a mean of 4 costal cartilage injuries per 5-year period, or approximately 1 case per year per team. Seventy percent of team physicians use CT scanning and 43% use magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of these injuries. An anesthetic block is used acutely in 57% and only electively in subsequent games by 39%. A high index of suspicion is necessary to diagnose chondral rib injuries in American football. CT scan is most commonly used to confirm diagnosis. Return to play can take up to 2 to 4 weeks with a protective device, although anesthetic blocks can be used to potentially expedite return. Chondral rib injuries are common among NFL football players, while there is no literature to support proper diagnosis and treatment of these injuries or expected duration of recovery. These injuries are likely common in other contact sports and levels of competition as well. Our series combined with NFL team physician survey results can aid team

Case studies on age-management in organisations: report on organisational case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Punte, E.; Conen, W.S.; Schippers, J.; Henkens, C.J.I.M.

2011-01-01

The acquisition of case studies was thwarted by the economic crisis and the feeling of being ‘over-researched’ by potential organisations. Although organisations in some sectors (e.g. chemical manufacturing) reported the worst part of the economic crisis was behind, many organisations indicated

Case Study: What Makes a Good Case, Revisited: The Survey Monkey Tells All

Science.gov (United States)

Herried, Clyde Freeman; Prud'homme-Genereux, Annie; Schiller, Nancy A.; Herreid, Ky F.; Wright, Carolyn

2016-01-01

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month's issue the authors provide a more definitive answer to the "What Makes a Good Case?" question based on a just-completed Survey Monkey survey given to NCCSTS teachers.

Generalized Weyl modules for twisted current algebras

Science.gov (United States)

Makedonskyi, I. A.; Feigin, E. B.

2017-08-01

We introduce the notion of generalized Weyl modules for twisted current algebras. We study their representation-theoretic and combinatorial properties and also their connection with nonsymmetric Macdonald polynomials. As an application, we compute the dimension of the classical Weyl modules in the remaining unknown case.

Beacon communities' public health initiatives: a case study analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Massoudi, Barbara L; Marcial, Laura H; Haque, Saira; Bailey, Robert; Chester, Kelley; Cunningham, Shellery; Riley, Amanda; Soper, Paula

2014-01-01

The Beacon Communities for Public Health (BCPH) project was launched in 2011 to gain a better understanding of the range of activities currently being conducted in population- and public health by the Beacon Communities. The project highlighted the successes and challenges of these efforts with the aim of sharing this information broadly among the public health community. The Beacon Community Program, designed to showcase technology-enabled, community-based initiatives to improve outcomes, focused on: building and strengthening health information technology (IT) infrastructure and exchange capabilities; translating investments in health IT to measureable improvements in cost, quality, and population health; and, developing innovative approaches to performance measurement, technology, and care delivery. Four multimethod case studies were conducted based on a modified sociotechnical framework to learn more about public health initiative implementation and use in the Beacon Communities. Our methodological approach included using document review and semistructured key informant interviews. NACCHO Model Practice Program criteria were used to select the public health initiatives included in the case studies. Despite differences among the case studies, common barriers and facilitators were found to be present in all areas of the sociotechnical framework application including structure, people, technology, tasks, overarching considerations, and sustainability. Overall, there were many more facilitators (range = 7-14) present for each Beacon compared to barriers (range = 4-6). Four influential promising practices were identified through the work: forging strong and sustainable partnerships; ensuring a good task-technology fit and a flexible and iterative design; fostering technology acceptance; and, providing education and demonstrating value. A common weakness was the lack of a framework or model for the Beacon Communities evaluation work. Sharing a framework or approach

Beacon Communities’ Public Health Initiatives: A Case Study Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Massoudi, Barbara L.; Marcial, Laura H.; Haque, Saira; Bailey, Robert; Chester, Kelley; Cunningham, Shellery; Riley, Amanda; Soper, Paula

2014-01-01

Introduction: The Beacon Communities for Public Health (BCPH) project was launched in 2011 to gain a better understanding of the range of activities currently being conducted in population- and public health by the Beacon Communities. The project highlighted the successes and challenges of these efforts with the aim of sharing this information broadly among the public health community. Background: The Beacon Community Program, designed to showcase technology-enabled, community-based initiatives to improve outcomes, focused on: building and strengthening health information technology (IT) infrastructure and exchange capabilities; translating investments in health IT to measureable improvements in cost, quality, and population health; and, developing innovative approaches to performance measurement, technology, and care delivery. Methods: Four multimethod case studies were conducted based on a modified sociotechnical framework to learn more about public health initiative implementation and use in the Beacon Communities. Our methodological approach included using document review and semistructured key informant interviews. NACCHO Model Practice Program criteria were used to select the public health initiatives included in the case studies. Findings: Despite differences among the case studies, common barriers and facilitators were found to be present in all areas of the sociotechnical framework application including structure, people, technology, tasks, overarching considerations, and sustainability. Overall, there were many more facilitators (range = 7–14) present for each Beacon compared to barriers (range = 4–6). Discussion: Four influential promising practices were identified through the work: forging strong and sustainable partnerships; ensuring a good task-technology fit and a flexible and iterative design; fostering technology acceptance; and, providing education and demonstrating value. Conclusions: A common weakness was the lack of a framework or model for

Case Study on Logistics Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahryar Sorooshian

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The paper presents research carried out at a medium‐size manufacturing organization in east Asia. The study tries to highlight the importance of supply chain management; specifically, our aim for this study is to understand logistics and performance measurement in the logistics and supply chain, and we include a theoretical discussion of online data collected and a case study of the logistic performance of a real organization. The study also examines the performance of the selected company, identifies the problems and provides recommendations for improvements. This study can be a guide for business advisers and those interested in analysing company performance, especially from a logistics viewpoint. We also suggest the methodology of this case study for those who want to have a better understanding of a business environment before starting their own business, or for benchmarking practice during strategic planning.

Potential Accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement: A Case-Study on India

OpenAIRE

Sangeeta Khorana; Sujitha Subramanian

2012-01-01

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is a voluntary plurilateral agreement applicable to WTO members that choose to be Parties to the Agreement. Most developing countries, including India, are not members of the GPA. This case study presents an insight into India's current procurement framework, evaluates the prospects for, and comments on the principal constraints and challenges to India's GPA accession. The findings suggest that, though the Indian procur...

Native flora rescue program: GASENE project case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serricchio, Claudio; Caldas, Flaviana V. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Akahori, Lisa [Telsan, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Jacomelli Junior, Jose Almir [AGF Engenharia, Araucaria, PR (Brazil)

2009-07-01

Concerning the surrounding flora, the implementation of pipelines may cause fragmentation and isolation of the remaining natural vegetation, possibly changing the forest structure; thus raising the border effect; modifying the ratio of species and life forms, decreasing the vegetal diversity and/or causing a lack of connectivity among the remaining indigenous forest resources. In the case of pipelines, the most important environmental measure intended to mitigate the damage caused to the flora is the adoption of Indigenous Flora Rescue Programs. This paper is aimed at analyzing the programs currently applied during the implementation of the GASENE project, by conducting a case study. The main targets of such program are obtaining seeds and fruits with a view to subsidize the potential production of sapling to be further employed in the recovery of areas impacted by the pipeline works; and then relocate the most significant samples of species rescued from the suppressed areas in order to comprise forest areas adjacent to the pipeline's right-of-way. The programs had little differences in their methodology while being implemented, however, we consider that up to the present moment the results obtained in the preservation of species of native flora have been satisfactory. (author)

Online modelling of water distribution systems: a UK case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Machell

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic simulation models of water distribution networks are routinely used for operational investigations and network design purposes. However, their full potential is often never realised because, in the majority of cases, they have been calibrated with data collected manually from the field during a single historic time period and, as such, reflect the network operational conditions that were prevalent at that time, and they are then applied as part of a reactive, desktop investigation. In order to use a hydraulic model to assist proactive distribution network management its element asset information must be up to date and it should be able to access current network information to drive simulations. Historically this advance has been restricted by the high cost of collecting and transferring the necessary field measurements. However, recent innovation and cost reductions associated with data transfer is resulting in collection of data from increasing numbers of sensors in water supply systems, and automatic transfer of the data to point of use. This means engineers potentially have access to a constant stream of current network data that enables a new era of "on-line" modelling that can be used to continually assess standards of service compliance for pressure and reduce the impact of network events, such as mains bursts, on customers. A case study is presented here that shows how an online modelling system can give timely warning of changes from normal network operation, providing capacity to minimise customer impact.

Resistivity effects in non-inductive RF current drive via helicity injection by Alfven waves: the case of conventional and small aspect ratio Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruma, C.; Cuperman, S.; Komoshvili, K.

1996-01-01

Supplementary non-inductive current drive and heating are necessary to bring Tokamak plasmas into the ignition regime. The resonant excitation of shear Alfven waves (SAW) - in the continuum range (CR) or/and in the discrete global Alfven eigenmode spectrum (GAE's) - represents one potential, suitable method for this purpose. Within the framework of ideal MHD, the current drive (CD) via helicity injection in Tokamak plasmas has been considered by Cuperman et al (1996) and Komoshvili et al. (1996). This work is concerned with the investigation of the non-ideal resistive MHD effects on both the excitation of SAW's (CR's and GAE's) and the generation of non-inductive current drive via helicity injection in Tokamak plasmas. The research covers Tokamak aspect ratios ranging between large value cases (R/a = 10) and the very tight value case (R/ a = 1.2). (authors)

The politics of accountability for school curriculum: An Australian case study

Science.gov (United States)

Smithson, Alan

1987-03-01

This normative-descriptive case study of accountability for state school curriculum in South Australia has the following objectives. First, to seek to draw a distinction between accountability and responsibility: terms which have been confused by two South Australian Directors-General of Education (position akin to C.E.O. in the U.K. and Superintendent in the U.S.A.) with important consequences. Second, to present a model of accountability for state school curriculum, by which accountability for such curriculum may be judged democratic or non-democratic, and against which accountability for curriculum in South Australian state schools will be gauged. Third, to show that whilst the South Australian school system exhibits a large measure of bureaucratic or technocratic accountability for curriculum, there is no effective democratic accountability for curriculum, and to indicate a remedy for this situation. Finally, to point out the wider significance of the South Australian case study, and suggest that democracies currently re-structuring their educational systems would do well to keep the need for democratic accountability foremost in mind.

Sociocultural Factors Affecting Unplanned Deliveries at Home: A Community-Based Case Control Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Catak, Binali; Oner, Can

2015-01-01

Unplanned home deliveries can vary with social and cultural factors. The aim of this study was to define the risk factors of unplanned home births. This case control study was conducted in Istanbul, Turkey. The study group was composed of 229 women who had unplanned home delivery. Six factors (presence of health insurance, duration of living in Istanbul, educational status of the woman, the number of individuals living in the household, the age of the woman at the time of current delivery, and the status of having received care prior to delivery) were determined as independent risk factors for unplanned deliveries at home.

Time structure measurement of the ATLAS RPC gap current

CERN Document Server

Aielli, G; The ATLAS collaboration

2010-01-01

The current absorbed by an RPC represents the sum of the charge delivered in the gas by the ionizing events interesting the gap, integrated by the electrodes time constant. This is typically of the order of tens of ms thus dominating the gas discharge time scale and characterizing the granular structure observed in the current signal. In most cases this structure is considered as noise to be further integrated to observe the average gap current, used often as a detector monitoring parameter or to precisely measure the uncorrelated background rate effects. A remarkable case is given if a large number of particles is passing trough the detector within an integration time constant producing a current peak clearly detectable above the average noise. The ATLAS RPC system is equipped with a dedicated current monitoring based on an ADC capable of reading out the average value as well as the transient peaks of the currents above a given threshold. A study on such data was used to spot the gap HV noise, to monitor the...

Counterfeit analysis strategy illustrated by a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dégardin, Klara; Roggo, Yves

2016-01-01

Medicine counterfeiting is a current problem that the whole pharmaceutical field has to deal with. In 2014, counterfeits entered the legitimate supply chain in Europe. Quick and efficient action had to be taken. The aim of this paper is to explain which analytical strategy was chosen to deal with six of the cases concerned and which criteria have to be considered to provide quick and thorough information about the counterfeits. The evaluation of the packaging was performed in a first step, based on a comparison with genuine samples and evaluation of manipulation signs. Chemical methods were then used, consisting of near infrared and infrared spectroscopy, capillary zone electrophoresis and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, in order to authenticate the samples and provide the chemical composition of the confirmed counterfeits. Among the 20 samples analyzed, 17 were confirmed as counterfeits. The counterfeits were the results of the manipulation of genuine samples, and one contained totally counterfeited parts. Several manipulation signs were asserted, like the addition of glue on the boxes and the vials. Genuine stolen goods had been diluted with water, while for an isolated case, a different active ingredient had been introduced in a vial. The analytical data generated were further investigated from a forensic intelligence perspective. Links could be revealed between the analyzed counterfeits, together with some interesting information about the modus operandi of the counterfeiters. The study was performed on a limited number of cases, and therefore encourages chemical and packaging profiling of counterfeits at a bigger scale. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economics of pyrolysis-based energy production and biochar utilization: A case study in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kung, Chih-Chun; McCarl, Bruce A.; Cao, Xiaoyong

2013-01-01

Pyrolysis is an alternative form of renewable energy production and a potential source of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. This study examines how poplar-based biochar can be applied in Taiwan for electricity generation and for soil improvement and to what extent it brings economic and environmental benefits. It is a preliminary study and focuses on the balances of different economic and environmental items. This paper reports on a case study examination of the economic and greenhouse gas implications of pyrolysis plus biochar utilization. The case study involves using poplar grown on set-aside land in Taiwan with the biochar applied to rice fields. We examine both fast and slow forms of pyrolysis and find how the profitability varies under different price structures. The results show that fast pyrolysis is more profitable than slow pyrolysis under current electricity price, GHG price and crop yield as the slow pyrolysis generates relatively less electricity but lower value product—biochar. We also find that fast pyrolysis and slow pyrolysis offset about 1.4 t and 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material, respectively. - Highlights: • Profitability varies due to sales revenue from electricity generation. • Neither fast pyrolysis nor slow pyrolysis is profitable under current electricity price. • Both systems offset about 1.4 t to 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material

Psychological therapy for psychogenic amnesia: Successful treatment in a single case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassel, Anneli; Humphreys, Kate

2016-01-01

Psychogenic amnesia is widely understood to be a memory impairment of psychological origin that occurs as a response to severe stress. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychological therapy approaches in the treatment of this disorder. The current article describes a single case, "Ben", who was treated with formulation-driven psychological therapy using techniques drawn from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for psychogenic amnesia. Before treatment, Ben exhibited isolated retrograde and anterograde memory impairments. He received 12 therapy sessions that targeted experiential avoidance followed by two review sessions, six weeks and five months later. Ben's retrograde and anterograde memory impairments improved following therapy to return to within the "average" to "superior" ranges, which were maintained at follow-up. Further experimental single case study designs and larger group studies are required to advance the understanding of the effectiveness and efficacy of psychological therapy for psychogenic amnesia.

Writing history: case study of the university of Victoria School of Nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Scaia, Margaret R; Young, Lynne

2013-04-23

A historical examination of a nursing curriculum is a bridge between past and present from which insights to guide curriculum development can be gleaned. In this paper, we use the case study method to examine how the University of Victoria School of Nursing (UVic SON), which was heavily influenced by the ideology of second wave feminism, contributed to a change in the direction of nursing education from task-orientation to a content and process orientation. This case study, informed by a feminist lens, enabled us to critically examine the introduction of a "revolutionary" caring curriculum at the UVic SON. Our research demonstrates the fault lines and current debates within which a feminist informed curriculum continues to struggle for legitimacy and cohesion. More work is needed to illuminate the historical basis of these debates and to understand more fully the complex landscape that has constructed the social and historical position of women and nursing in Canadian society today.

CASE STUDY

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HIV infection has several oral manifestations, including oral candidiasis and oral hairy leucoplakia. Occasionally unusual presentations requiring rigorous investigations are seen, and in these cases the diagnosis sometimes remains a dilemma owing to limited investigation facilities.1-3 We present the case of a patient who.

Mass Action and Conservation of Current

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eisenberg Robert S.

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The law of mass action does not force a series of chemical reactions to have the same current flow everywhere. Interruption of far-away current does not stop current everywhere in a series of chemical reactions (analyzed according to the law of mass action, and so does not obey Maxwell’s equations. An additional constraint and equation is needed to enforce global continuity of current. The additional constraint is introduced in this paper in the special case that the chemical reaction describes spatial movement through narrow channels. In that case, a fully consistent treatment is possible using different models of charge movement. The general case must be dealt with by variational methods that enforce consistency of all the physical laws involved. Violations of current continuity arise away from equilibrium, when current flows, and the law of mass action is applied to a non-equilibrium situation, different from the systems considered when the law was originally derived. Device design in the chemical world is difficult because simple laws are not obeyed in that way. Rate constants of the law of mass action are found experimentally to change from one set of conditions to another. The law of mass action is not robust in most cases and cannot serve the same role that circuit models do in our electrical technology. Robust models and device designs in the chemical world will not be possible until continuity of current is embedded in a generalization of the law of mass action using a consistent variational model of energy and dissipation.

Estimation of current constriction losses via 3D tomography reconstructions in electrochemical devices: a case study of a solid oxide cell electrode/electrolyte interface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jimmi; Jørgensen, Peter Stanley

2017-01-01

In the present study, the methodology for accurate estimations of the current constriction resistance in solid state electrochemical devices via 3D tomography reconstructions is developed. The methodology is used to determine the current constriction resistances at the Ni:YSZ anode/YSZ electrolyte...... of the electrolyte thickness. The obtained results on current constriction resistances from numerical calculations on a 3D reconstruction of a Ni:YSZ anode/YSZ electrolyte assembly is compared with existing models with analytical expressions. The comparison shows, that the assumptions of existing models are by far...

A Psychobiographical Case Study

African Journals Online (AJOL)

man, and cancer fighter. This psychobiographical case study entailed a psychosocial-historical ... does not draw more attention as a research method, as this approach has .... of the applied Levinsonian theory to the life of Jobs against the ...

Current ramp-up experiments in full current drive plasmas on TRIAM-1M

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanada, K.; Nakamura, K.; Hasegawa, M.

2003-01-01

Four types of plasma current ramp-up experiments were executed on TRIAM-1M in full lower hybrid current drive plasmas (LHCD: 8.2GHz, up to 0.4 MW, 8 x 2 grill antenna); 1) the current start up by the combination between electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH: 170GHz, up to 0.2 MW, O-mode launching) and LHCD at the density of ∼2x10 19 m -3 at B t =6.7T, 2) the tail heating by the additional LHCD, 3) the bulk heating by ECH, 4) the spontaneous ramp up by the transition to enhanced current drive (ECD) mode. The time evolutions of plasma current during four types of ramp-up phase were investigated and an exponential type and a tangent-hyperbolic one were observed. The time evolutions of plasma current during the tail and the bulk heating show the exponential type except the tail heating with high n parallel and it has a tangent-hyperbolic one during the ECD mode and the current start-up. A simple model with two different time constants, which are a time defined by L/R, τ L/R , and a time caused by change of the effective refractive index along the magnetic field, τ, is proposed to explain two types of the time evolution of the plasma current. The estimated τ L/R is consistent with the calculated one from the plasma parameter. It is found that τ are less than τ L/R in the cases of the tail and the bulk heating, and comparable in the cases of the ECD mode, and more than τ L/R in the cases of the plasma start-up. This indicates that the value of the effective refractive index along the magnetic field, parallel >, develops during the ECD mode and the current start-up. The value of τ depends on the RF power. The estimated is close to the expected up-shifted n parallel due to the toroidal effect and the magnetic shear. (author)

Zika virus: Current concerns in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumit Bhardwaj

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With confirmation of Zika virus (ZIKV presence in India, screening of a large number of febrile illness samples yielded only four positive cases. In this review, we address the current concern with context to India. The possible reasons for low level of Zika prevalence in India have been discussed, by extracting some probable explanations from previous experience of chikungunya virus-vector model/studies. In the current context, it is hypothesized that Indian mosquito strains have lower susceptibility gradient/threshold for ZIKV. The very low positivity in the humans also indicates low levels of mosquito-human-mosquito transmission cycle. There is also a need to look for the existence of any such animal cycle/sylvatic involvement in India. The recently detected four cases in India show local transmission of ZIKV suggesting that ZIKV might have been present in India since long time. The earlier vector-virus relationship studies with chikungunya suggested that in due course of time, ZIKV might become a major public health concern in the future.

Factors Affecting the Success of Conserving Biodiversity in National Parks: A Review of Case Studies from Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moses Muhumuza

2013-01-01

Full Text Available National Parks are a cornerstone for biodiversity conservation in Africa. Two approaches are commonly used to sustain biodiversity in National Parks. Past and current studies show that both approaches are generally ineffective in conserving biodiversity in National Parks in Africa. However, there are a handful of cases where these approaches have been successful at conserving biodiversity in National Parks. The question this paper attempts to answer is why in some cases these approaches have been successful and in other cases they have failed. A metadata analysis of 123 documents on case studies about conservation of biodiversity in National Parks in Africa was conducted. A series of search engines were used to find papers for review. Results showed that all factors responsible for both the success and failure of conserving biodiversity in National Parks in various contexts were socioeconomic and cultural in nature. The highest percentage in both successful case studies (66% and unsuccessful cases studies (55% was associated with the creation and management of the park. These results suggest that future conservation approaches in National Parks in Africa should place more emphasis on the human dimension of biodiversity conservation than purely scientific studies of species and habitats in National Parks.

Associated factors with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, Ayyoub; Amiri, Shahrokh; Sadegfard, Majid; Abdi, Salman; Amini, Saeedeh

2012-09-01

The current study attempted to investigate factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children without co-morbidities. In this case-control study, 164 ADHD children who attended the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran were compared with 166 normal children selected in a random-cluster method from primary and secondary schools. Clinical interviews based on DSM-IV-TR using K-SADS were used to diagnose ADHD cases and to select the control group. Participants were matched for age. We used chi-square and binary logistic regression for data analysis. Among the associated factors with ADHD were gender and maternal employment. Boys (OR 0.54; 95% confidence interval: 0.34 - 0.86) and those children with working mothers (OR 0.16: 95% confidence interval: 0.06 - 0.86) suffered more from ADHD. The birth season, family size, birth order, and parental kinship were not among risk factors for ADHD. The results of the study show that maternal employment and male gender are among the associated risk factors for ADHD.

Consumer Rights in Digital Economy. Case Study of Romanian e-commerce Usage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorena BĂTĂGAN

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Current economy or digital economy is driven by modern information and new technologies, which offer to organizations or to the public access to almost any type of information, regardless of its form of existence, storage type or geographical location. These tools encourage the development of new activities, services and products. All developed countries have issued and implemented government policies supporting: the evolution and the adoption of new technology, the national information infrastructure consolidation, the training and the attraction of new technology experts, the adult education, and the cooperation with the private sector to encourage investment in this new economic branch, and promoting government projects to demonstrate the benefits for the current society services. This work aims to highlight the pattern of trade activities using the convenience of the Internet – e-commerce, with emphasis on legal regulations in regard to currently available services. Also the present study summarizes existing legislation, for electronic commerce, at national and international level. A case study was performed to highlight the current state of Romanian e-commerce activity, regarding the applicability of existing legislation, the frequency of electronic commerce usage, the usefulness of the service and the selection of the most frequently purchased products online. The research emphasizes on the existing legislation, its applicability and the degree in which the users are informed about it.

Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide ...

Science.gov (United States)

This draft document presents two case studies of nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) used (1) to remove arsenic from drinking water and (2) as an active ingredient in topical sunscreen. The draft case studies are organized around a comprehensive environmental assessment approach that combines a product life cycle framework with the risk assessment paradigm. The document does not draw conclusions about potential risks. Rather, the case studies are intended to help identify what needs to be known in order to conduct a comprehensive environmental assessment of the potential risks related to nano-TiO2. This draft document is part of a process that will inform the development of EPA’s research strategy to support nanomaterial risk assessments. The complex properties of various nanomaterials make evaluating them in the abstract or with generalizations difficult if not impossible. Thus, this document focuses on two specific uses of nano-TiO2, as a drinking water treatment and as topical sunscreen. These case studies do not represent completed or even preliminary assessments; rather, they present the structure for identifying and prioritizing research needed to support future assessments.

Case-control studies in diabetes. Do they really use a case-control design?

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Analía; Mendoza, Lilian Cristina; Rabasa, Fernanda; Bolíbar, Ignasi; Puig, Teresa; Corcoy, Rosa

2017-07-01

Studies defined as case-control do not always use this design. We aimed to estimate the frequency of mislabelled case-control studies in published articles in the area of diabetes and to identify the predictors of incorrect labelling. We searched Medline and Web of Science for articles with "diabetes" and "case control" in title and filtered for language (English/Romance) and period (January 2010-December 2014). Inclusion criteria were: (1) statement to use a case-control design in title, (2) to be a final full-length publication and (3) to have original data in the area of diabetes. Three independent reviewers went through titles, looked for full texts and reviewed them. Discrepancies were settled with a fourth reviewer. Expert epidemiologist advice was requested in case of doubt. case-control mislabelling; addressed predictors: publication year, journal impact factor and journal subject. proportion of mislabelled CC articles and assessment of predictors by multivariate logistic regression analysis. We retrieved 362 articles, 251 of them fulfilling inclusion criteria. The proportion of mislabelled CC studies was 43.8% (confidence interval 95% 37.7-50.0%). Most mislabelled studies had a cross-sectional design (82.7%). Predictors of mislabelling were publication year, journal impact factor and journal area. A relevant subset of studies defined as case-control in the area of diabetes correspond to mislabelled cross-sectional studies. Incorrect labelling misleads readers regarding the interpretation of results and the cause-effect hypothesis. Researchers, reviewers and editors should be aware of and commit to settle this issue.

ESD and Lifelong Learning: A Case Study of the Shangri-La Institute's Current Engagement with the Bazhu Community in Diqing, China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yunhua; Constable, Alicia

2010-01-01

This article argues that ESD should be integrated into lifelong learning and provides an example of how this might be done. It draws on a case study of a joint project between the Shangri-la Institute and the Bazhu community in Diqing, southwest China, to analyse a community-based approach to Education for Sustainable Development and assess its…

Educational Potential of Case-Study Technology

OpenAIRE

Fedorinova, Zoya; Vorobeva, Victoria; Malyanova, Marina

2015-01-01

This article presents the results of phenomenological and typological analysis of case-study technology educational potential. The definition “educational potential of case-study technology” is given, the main characteristics of which are changed in communication and collaborative activity quality, appearance of educational initiatives, change of participants’ position in learning process, formation of “collective subject” in collaborative activity, increase of learning (subject) results. Dep...

Case Studies - Cervical Cancer

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

Dr. Alan Waxman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico and chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committee for the underserved, talks about several case studies for cervical cancer screening and management.

Nuclear forensics case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedchenko, Vitaly

2016-01-01

The objective of this presentation is to share three case studies from the Institute of Transuranium Elements (ITU) which describe the application of nuclear forensics to events where nuclear and other radioactive material was found to be out of regulatory control

Considering departures from current timber harvesting policies: case studies of four communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Con H Schallau; Paul E. Polzin

1983-01-01

U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations permit departures from current National Forest timber harvesting policies when "implementation of base harvest schedules.., would cause a substantial adverse impact upon a community .... " This paper describes the kinds of information needed for forest managers to adequately assess the relevance of the departure...

Modifiable lifestyle factors associated with osteoporosis in Korean men: a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Kye-Yeung; Hwang, Hwan-Sik; Park, Hoon-Ki

2017-12-01

The prevention, education, and treatment of osteoporosis are all recognized as important components in men as well as women. This study revealed that the lifestyle factors associated with male osteoporosis included being underweight and being a current smoker. Being overweight or obese and having a regular exercise habit were negatively associated with male osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a significant health problem in Korea and worldwide. Although osteoporosis is less prevalent in males than in females, the fracture-related mortality rate is higher in males than in females. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of modifiable lifestyle factors in males with osteoporosis. A case-control study was performed in men who visited a single university hospital for a medical check-up between August 2003 and July 2016. Patients were classified in the case group according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Osteoporosis Criteria. The control group was created by matching patients according to age and check-up date. Lifestyle factors were evaluated by a self-assessment questionnaire. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to examine the association between lifestyle factors and male osteoporosis with age stratification at 50 years. A total of 1304 subjects were included in this analysis, 326 of whom were in the case group and 978 of whom were in the control group. Within their age group, subjects with osteoporosis were more often underweight (odds ratio [OR] = 2.35, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-4.98) or more often current smokers (2.22, 1.50-3.28) than control subjects. The subjects who were overweight (0.45, 0.32-0.64), obese (0.19, 0.13-0.27), had an irregular exercise habit (0.64, 0.43-0.94), or had a regular exercise habit (0.40, 0.28-0.57) were more likely to have normal bone status. Alcohol drinking habit had no significant association with male osteoporosis. Several modifiable lifestyle factors were associated with male

Vorarephilia: a case study in masochism and erotic consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Lykins, Amy D; Cantor, James M

2014-01-01

Vorarephilia ("vore") is an infrequently presenting paraphilia, characterized by the erotic desire to consume or be consumed by another person or creature. Few data exist on vore though several cases have been reported which appear to be consistent with basic vorarephilic interests. Because this sexual interest cannot be enacted in real life due to physical and/or legal restraints, vorarephilic fantasies are often composed in text or illustrations and shared with other members of this subculture via the Internet. Similarities with aspects of bondage/dominance sadomasochism interests, more specifically dominance and submission, are noted. The current case report describes a man with masochistic sexual interests which intersected with submissive vorarephilic fantasy.

Current system of the solar wind: results of numerical calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pisanko, Yu.V.

1985-01-01

Results of numerical calculations of surface current in the interplanetary current layer and steady volume current in the solar wind for heliocentric distances (1-10)Rsub(s) (Rsub(s) is the Sun radius) are given. The strength of current dependence on spatial coordinates is considered. Stationary nondissipative magnetohydrodynamic corona expansion (SNMCE) in the reference system rotating with the Sun is studied. Calculations show that three-dimensional current system of nonaxial-symmetric and nonsymmetric relatively to helioequator plane of SNMCE is more complicated than the zonal ring current around the Sun, which is the only component of the current system in spatial symmetric case

Endoscopic and histological pitfalls in the diagnosis of celiac disease: a multicentre study assessing the current practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Rostami-Nejad

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Background and aims: the diagnosis of celiac disease requires small bowel biopsies to identify the characteristic mucosal changes. The current biopsy practice among endoscopists for celiac disease is in most part unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the different diagnostic policies in various centers in their current practice. Method: information from a total of 931 confirmed celiac disease patients was retrospectively obtained retrospectively from nine centers in European and Middle Eastern countries. The number of small-bowel biopsies obtained from the duodenal bulb and the second part of the duodenum was compared among different centers. Results: the most frequent stage of mucosal changes amongst Iranian subjects was Marsh IIIa whereas in the rest of the study population was Marsh IIIc. Marsh I and Marsh II were more prevalent in adults (P < 0.05 and Marsh IIIc was significantly higher in pediatric ages between 1 and 15 (P < 0.05. The most common number of biopsy specimens obtained from Romanian subjects was 1 (52% of cases, followed by 2 for Iranian (56%, 3 for Lithuanian (66.7% and British patients (65% and 4 for Italian patients (48.3%. For majority of cases, anemia was the most prevalent symptom (18.7% followed by malabsorption (10.5%, diarrhea (9.3% and dyspepsia (8.2%, respectively. Conclusions: despite the evidence-based recommendations, this study revealed a poor compliance with major guidelines on diagnosis of celiac disease. We emphasize that taking adequate number of duodenal biopsies should be implemented for an accurate diagnosis and also for the exclusion of celiac disease.

Endoscopic and histological pitfalls in the diagnosis of celiac disease: A multicentre study assessing the current practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Rostami-Nejad, Mohammad; Villanacci, Vincenzo; Hogg-Kollars, Sabine; Volta, Umberto; Manenti, Stefania; Reza-Zali, Mohammad; Caio, Giacomo; Giovenali, Paolo; Barakauskiene, Ausrine; Kazenaite, Edita; Becheanu, Gabriel; Diculescu, Mircea; Pellegrino, Salvatore; Magazzù, Giuseppe; Casella, Giovanni; Di-Bella, Camillo; Decarli, Nicola; Biancalani, Mauro; Bassotti, Gabrio; Rostami, Kamran

2013-07-01

the diagnosis of celiac disease requires small bowel biopsies to identify the characteristic mucosal changes. The current biopsy practice among endoscopists for celiac disease is in most part unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the different diagnostic policies in various centers in their current practice. information from a total of 931 confirmed celiac disease patients was retrospectively obtained retrospectively from nine centers in European and Middle Eastern countries. The number of small-bowel biopsies obtained from the duodenal bulb and the second part of the duodenum was compared among different centers. the most frequent stage of mucosal changes amongst Iranian subjects was Marsh IIIa whereas in the rest of the study population was Marsh IIIc. Marsh I and Marsh II were more prevalent in adults (P < 0.05) and Marsh IIIc was significantly higher in pediatric ages between 1 and 15 (P < 0.05). The most common number of biopsy specimens obtained from Romanian subjects was 1 (52% of cases), followed by 2 for Iranian (56%), 3 for Lithuanian (66.7%) and British patients (65%) and 4 for Italian patients (48.3%). For majority of cases, anemia was the most prevalent symptom (18.7%) followed by malabsorption (10.5%), diarrhea (9.3%) and dyspepsia (8.2%), respectively. despite the evidence-based recommendations, this study revealed a poor compliance with major guidelines on diagnosis of celiac disease. We emphasize that taking adequate number of duodenal biopsies should be implemented for an accurate diagnosis and also for the exclusion of celiac disease.

U.S. Department Of Energy's nuclear engineering education research: highlights of recent and current research-III. 4. Early Detection of Plant Equipment Failures: A Case Study in Just-In-Time Maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parlos, Alexander G.; Kim, Kyusung; Bharadwaj, Raj M.

2001-01-01

the motor current spectrum. Processing the motor current measurements as shown in the bottom part of the figure reveals different results. The indicator clearly distinguishes the existence of a good and bad bearing. The lowest indicator magnitude corresponds to the experiments with good bearings, whereas the varying indicator magnitude corresponds to bearings with varying defect levels. Similar results are obtained for other types of mechanical failures, and the proposed indicator is found to be insensitive to load variations. The presented case studies constitute some of the 56 scenarios used to test the developed fault detection system on a 3-hp motor system. The various scenarios include healthy operation, deteriorating bearings, broken rotor bars, stator turn-to-turn winding shorts, and power supply unbalance. Table I shows the detection effectiveness of the developed system for several different levels of fault decision thresholds. The detection effectiveness, defined as the ratio of the number of correctly detected cases to the total number of tested cases, depends on how the user selects the fault threshold. It is very important to select a fault threshold that will result in a low rate of false alarms and missed faults; however, these are two competing effects. (authors)

Reliability of Current Biokinetic and Dosimetric Models for Radionuclides: A Pilot Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leggett, Richard Wayne [ORNL; Eckerman, Keith F [ORNL; Meck, Robert A. [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

2008-10-01

studied radionuclides. (4) The biokinetics of a radionuclide in the human body typically represents the greatest source of uncertainty or variability in dose per unit intake. (5) Characterization of uncertainty in dose per unit exposure is generally a more straightforward problem for external exposure than for intake of a radionuclide. (6) For many radionuclides the most important outcome of a large-scale critical evaluation of databases and biokinetic models for radionuclides is expected to be the improvement of current models. Many of the current models do not fully or accurately reflect available radiobiological or physiological information, either because the models are outdated or because they were based on selective or uncritical use of data or inadequate model structures. In such cases the models should be replaced with physiologically realistic models that incorporate a wider spectrum of information.

Using Case Studies to Teach Courtesy Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Patrick

1990-01-01

Explains some courtesy techniques that technical professionals can use to deal with interpersonal problems that arise in writing situations. Presents three case studies with sample responses to show how case studies can teach these courtesy strategies to technical writing students. (MM)

Patterned genital injury in cases of rape - A case-control study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Astrup, Birgitte Schmidt; Ravn, Pernille; Thomsen, Jørgen Lange

2013-01-01

A pattern of genital injury that separates trauma seen in sexual assault cases from trauma seen following consensual sexual intercourse has been a matter of debate. This study aimed at clarifying the question by eliminating as many confounders as possible in a prospective, case-control setup. A t...

Human-centered modeling in human reliability analysis: some trends based on case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosneron-Dupin, F.; Reer, B.; Heslinga, G.; Straeter, O.; Gerdes, V.; Saliou, G.; Ullwer, W.

1997-01-01

As an informal working group of researchers from France, Germany and The Netherlands created in 1993, the EARTH association is investigating significant subjects in the field of human reliability analysis (HRA). Our initial review of cases from nuclear operating experience showed that decision-based unrequired actions (DUA) contribute to risk significantly on the one hand. On the other hand, our evaluation of current HRA methods showed that these methods do not cover such actions adequately. Especially, practice-oriented guidelines for their predictive identification are lacking. We assumed that a basic cause for such difficulties was that these methods actually use a limited representation of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) paradigm. We proposed a human-centered model, which better highlights the active role of the operators and the importance of their culture, attitudes and goals. This orientation was encouraged by our review of current HRA research activities. We therefore decided to envisage progress by identifying cognitive tendencies in the context of operating and simulator experience. For this purpose, advanced approaches for retrospective event analysis were discussed. Some orientations for improvements were proposed. By analyzing cases, various cognitive tendencies were identified, together with useful information about their context. Some of them match psychological findings already published in the literature, some of them are not covered adequately by the literature that we reviewed. Finally, this exploratory study shows that contextual and case-illustrated findings about cognitive tendencies provide useful help for the predictive identification of DUA in HRA. More research should be carried out to complement our findings and elaborate more detailed and systematic guidelines for using them in HRA studies

Study on classical and excess eddy currents losses of Terfenol-D

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Talebian, Soheil; Hojjat, Yousef [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghodsi, Mojtaba [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat (Oman); Karafi, Mohammad Reza [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-08-15

In the present paper, classical and excess eddy currents losses of Terfenol-D are studied and effects of magnetic field frequency, peak of magnetic flux density and diameter of Terfenol-D on the eddy currents losses are investigated. To provide reliable data for the purpose of the paper, an experimental laboratory is fabricated and used to obtain major and minor hysteresis loops of Terfenol-D at different frequencies. In theoretical study, initially an analytical model based on uniform distribution of magnetic flux is developed which yields to calculation of classical eddy currents losses. Then, another eddy currents model based on non-uniform distribution of magnetic flux and nonlinear diffusion of electromagnetic fields is presented. The difference between output values of the two models is identified as excess eddy currents losses. Obtained results show that the values of excess losses are generally larger than classical losses and applying just classical model leads to wrong calculation of actual value of eddy currents losses. For the results obtained from two above models, empirical models with respect to the magnetic field frequency and the peak value of magnetic flux density are achieved which can predict the eddy currents losses precisely. To validate the empirical relations, experiments are repeated at a new frequency and values of power losses calculated from analytical equations are compared with the predicted values of the empirical models. The results point towards possibility to use the obtained empirical relations in order to calculate the classical and excess eddy currents losses of Terfenol-D at the frequencies below 200 Hz and different values of magnetic flux density. - Highlights: • Classical eddy currents loss of Terfenol-D is studied using Maxwell's laws. • Excess eddy currents loss of Terfenol-D is studied using Mayergoyz nonlinear model. • Effects of Terfenol-D geometry on the eddy currents losses are investigated. • Power

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Science.gov (United States)

Warnock, James N.; Mohammadi-Aragh, M. Jean

2016-03-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, 'Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?' The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.

Mathematical modelling with case studies using Maple and Matlab

CERN Document Server

Barnes, B

2014-01-01

Introduction to Mathematical ModelingMathematical models An overview of the book Some modeling approaches Modeling for decision makingCompartmental Models Introduction Exponential decay and radioactivity Case study: detecting art forgeries Case study: Pacific rats colonize New Zealand Lake pollution models Case study: Lake Burley Griffin Drug assimilation into the blood Case study: dull, dizzy, or dead? Cascades of compartments First-order linear DEs Equilibrium points and stability Case study: money, money, money makes the world go aroundModels of Single PopulationsExponential growth Density-

Making a case for case studies in psychotherapy training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mackrill, Thomas Edward; Iwakabe, Shigeru

2013-01-01

articulated explicitly or researched systematically in spite of its cardinal importance. An analysis of the role of case studies in psychotherapy training is presented. Reading, watching, or hearing about cases can offer novice psychotherapists access to a closed world; access to psychological theory...... in action; access to whole courses of therapy; access to different approaches; access to significant moments; access to the therapeutic relationship; access to a wide range of client types; access to working in different contexts; and the opportunity of identifying with therapists and clients. Writing...

Contraceptive Use and the Risk of Ectopic Pregnancy: A Multi-Center Case-Control Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Li

Full Text Available To evaluate the association between the risk of ectopic pregnancy (EP and the use of common contraceptives during the previous and current conception/menstrual cycle.A multi-center case-control study was conducted in Shanghai. Women diagnosed with EP were recruited as the case group (n = 2,411. Women with intrauterine pregnancy (IUP (n = 2,416 and non-pregnant women (n = 2,419 were matched as controls at a ratio of 1∶1. Information regarding the previous and current use of contraceptives was collected. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs and the corresponding 95% confidential intervals (CIs.Previous use of intrauterine devices (IUDs was associated with a slight risk of ectopic pregnancy (AOR1 = 1.87 [95% CI: 1.48-2.37]; AOR2 = 1.84 [1.49-2.27], and the risk increased with the duration of previous use (P1 for trend <10-4, P2 for trend <10-4. The current use of most contraceptives reduced the risk of both unwanted IUP (condom: AOR = 0.04 [0.03-0.05]; withdrawal method: AOR = 0.10 [0.07-0.13]; calendar rhythm method: AOR = 0.54 [0.40-0.73]; oral contraceptive pills [OCPs]: AOR = 0.03 [0.02-0.08]; levonorgestrel emergency contraception [LNG-EC]: AOR = 0.22 [0.16-0.30]; IUDs: AOR = 0.01 [0.005-0.012]; tubal sterilization: AOR = 0.01 [0.001-0.022] and unwanted EP (condom: AOR1 = 0.05 [0.04-0.06]; withdrawal method: AOR1 = 0.13 [0.09-0.19]; calendar rhythm method: AOR1 = 0.66 [0.48-0.91]; OCPs: AOR1 = 0.14 [0.07-0.26]; IUDs: AOR1 = 0.17 [0.13-0.22]; tubal sterilization: AOR1 = 0.04 [0.02-0.08]. However, when contraception failed and pregnancy occurred, current use of OCPs (AOR2 = 4.06 [1.64-10.07], LNG-EC (AOR2 = 4.87 [3.88-6.10], IUDs (AOR2 = 21.08 [13.44-33.07], and tubal sterilization (AOR2 = 7.68 [1.69-34.80] increased the risk of EP compared with the non-use of contraceptives.Current use of most

Towards More Case Study Research in Entrepreneurship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Duxbury

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurship as an emerging discipline has made good strides, but according to some, has fallen short of bringing its theory and literature up to the standards of others in the management sciences. Rich with the descriptive detail needed for insightful theory building in entrepreneurship, scholars have called for more case study research, particularly those incorporating non-retrospective and longitudinal observations. At the same time however, it has become rare to find such research published in A-level journals dedicated to entrepreneurship. A survey presented here of major entrepreneurship journals over the past six years revealed a publication rate of only 3% using the case study method. This presents a major impediment for developing fresh research in this field based upon the study of real cases. The author explores how the case study method has been applied to entrepreneurship research and provides recommendations for improved publication rates.

Rehabilitation in severe memory deficit: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, Nariana Mattos Figueiredo

2017-01-01

The term amnesia refers to a pathological state of mind in which memory and learning are affected to a greater extent than other cognitive functions in a patient without altered level of consciousness. The aim of the current study was to describe a case of severe amnesia in a patient during neurological rehabilitation and to report the importance of preserved cognitive functions to compensate for the mnemonic deficit. VJA presented a clinical condition suggestive of encephalopathy due to caloric-protein malnutrition following several abdominal surgical procedures for complicated choledocholithiasis. A descriptive analysis of the results was carried out to outline the goals attained and the factors limiting implementation of memory aids. After the intervention program, consisting of individual and group activities, VJA showed improvement in level of recall with repetition of tasks, but still required constant external monitoring. Longitudinal follow-up is necessary to obtain more consistent results.

The Journey to Meet Emerging Community Benefit Requirements in a Rural Hospital: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sabin, Allison V; Levin, Pamela F

2015-10-22

The Affordable Care Act requires nonprofit hospitals to collaborate with public health agencies and community stakeholders to identify and address community health needs. As a rural organization, Wabash County (Indiana) Hospital pursued new approaches to achieve these revised requirements of the community benefit mandate. Using a case study approach, the authors provide a historical review of governmental relationships with nonprofit community hospitals, offer a case study application for implementing legislative mandates and community benefit requirements, share the insights they garnered on their journey to meet the mandates, and conclude that drawing upon the existing resources in the community and using current community assets in novel ways can help conserve time, and also financial, material, and human resources in meeting legislative mandates.

National borders effectively halt the spread of rabies: the current rabies epidemic in China is dislocated from cases in neighboring countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Zhenyang; Tao, Xiaoyan; Yin, Cuiping; Han, Na; Yu, Jinning; Li, Hao; Liu, Haizhou; Fang, Wei; Adams, James; Wang, Jun; Liang, Guodong; Tang, Qing; Rayner, Simon

2013-01-01

China has seen a massive resurgence of rabies cases in the last 15 years with more than 25,000 human fatalities. Initial cases were reported in the southwest but are now reported in almost every province. There have been several phylogenetic investigations into the origin and spread of the virus within China but few reports investigating the impact of the epidemic on neighboring countries. We therefore collected nucleoprotein sequences from China and South East Asia and investigated their phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationship. Our results indicate that within South East Asia, isolates mainly cluster according to their geographic origin. We found evidence of sporadic exchange of strains between neighboring countries, but it appears that the major strain responsible for the current Chinese epidemic has not been exported. This suggests that national geographical boundaries and border controls are effective at halting the spread of rabies from China into adjacent regions. We further investigated the geographic structure of Chinese sequences and found that the current epidemic is dominated by variant strains that were likely present at low levels in previous domestic epidemics. We also identified epidemiological linkages between high incidence provinces consistent with observations based on surveillance data from human rabies cases.

Understanding lean & safety projects: analysis of case studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Crema

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Facing the current socio-economic contingency while guaranteeing a high level of care quality is particularly challenging in the field of healthcare. Through an integrated adoption of emerging managerial solutions, projects that allow organizations to achieve both efficiency and patient safety improvements could be implemented, thereby transposing policy directives towards a safer and more sustainable healthcare system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the features of Lean & Safety (L&S projects. Three Health Lean Management (HLM projects that had unexpected patient safety results were selected from the same region. Differences and similarities among the cases have been highlighted and interesting points of evidence have been noted. Despite the fact that the projects were pursuing similar objectives and benefiting from comparable support, the obtained changes had direct impact on patient safety enhancement in the cases that involved the front-office processes, and an indirect impact on patient safely for the L&S project that focused on back-office activities. The implementation processes and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT adoption of the cases are also different.

Case report: BRCA in the Ashkenazi population: are current testing guidelines too exclusive?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saunders Katherine H

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract The BRCA1/2 genes account for a significant portion of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers and they are especially prevalent in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Women who have a mutation can prevent breast and ovarian cancer with surgical intervention. We describe an Ashkenazi Jewish patient who illustrates that current testing criteria are too restrictive, particularly for this population of patients. The patient's sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33; however, she was not a mutation carrier. Based on practice guidelines, the patient was not recommended genetic testing. She subsequently underwent direct-to-consumer (DTC testing and discovered that she was a mutation carrier. This case demonstrates the need for clinicians to be aware of the higher prevalence of BRCA mutations in the Ashkenazi population. It also exemplifies the need to involve medical professionals, including genetic counselors, in the dissemination of DNA test results.

Identification of Ambiguity in the Case Study Research Typology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grünbaum, Niels Nolsøe

2015-01-01

. Relevant to varied levels and scales of case study use, the aim of this collection is to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of where we are now with case study research, so that they may better judge their own applications of the case study. From definitions to interdisciplinary methods......The purpose of this four volume collection is to provide an accessible selection of the best writing on case study in the English language internationally. Such a collection is timely and highly relevant to students, researchers and academics in higher education, especially when the case......, this set will address the practical case study by offering a structured selection of some of the best modern and classic writing on the case study in article form, together with a synoptic editorial introduction and overview of the field of research....

Present status and problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, Kiyoshi

1983-01-01

Scintigraphy is just right for diagnosing emergency cases due to its noninvasive and simple method, but emergency radionuclide studies have not become practical as a result of difficulty problems. Recently, nuclear medical devices have become easier to use in operations. It is become of this, that I have submitted this report regarding the problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases. There were 101 cases (1.4 %) out of 7,310 cases for the year period Sept. 1981 - Aug. 1982. The studies consisted of 12 brain imaging cases, 9 plumonary imaging cases, 22 cardiac study cases (cardio-angiography cases 8, 99m-Tc-PYP myocardium imaging cases 12, 201-Tl myocardium imaging cases 2), 12 renal study cases, 11 G.I. blood loss cases, 35 peripheral angiography cases. In the near future, we will have to be ready to perform emergency radionuclide studies if the need arises. (author)

Case studies in rural recycling. Public service report series

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cosper, S.D.; Hallenbeck, W.H.; Brenniman, G.R.

1994-02-01

Due to state planning requirements and federal landfill regulations, solid waste management in rural areas (particularly recycling) has received much attention in recent years. The growth of recycling during the 1980s occurred mainly in urban and suburban areas. Therefore, rural recycling is still a relatively new enterprise. This report presents several rural recycling case studies from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Ontario, Canada to provide examples of successes and problems. This report also discusses the current issues of cooperative marketing of recyclables and municipal solid waste flow control. With respect to recycling, a rural region does not have ready access to markets for collected materials and has difficulty in generating easily marketable quantities of recyclables. (Copyright (c) 1994 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.)

Use of organic nitrates and the risk of hip fracture: a population-based case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pouwels, Sander; Lalmohamed, Arief; van Staa, Tjeerd; Cooper, Cyrus; Souverein, Patrick; Leufkens, Hubertus G; Rejnmark, Lars; de Boer, Anthonius; Vestergaard, Peter; de Vries, Frank

2010-04-01

Use of organic nitrates has been associated with increased bone mineral density. Moreover, a large Danish case-control study reported a decreased fracture risk. However, the association with duration of nitrate use, dose frequency, and impact of discontinuation has not been extensively studied. Our objective was to evaluate the association between organic nitrates and hip fracture risk. A case-control study was conducted using the Dutch PHARMO Record Linkage System (1991-2002, n = 6,763 hip fracture cases and 26,341 controls). Cases had their first admission for hip fracture, whereas controls had not sustained any fracture after enrollment. Current users of organic nitrates were patients who had received a prescription within 90 d before the index date. The analyses were adjusted for disease and drug history. Current use of nitrates was not associated with a decreased risk of hip fracture [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.93; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83-1.04]. Those who used as-needed medication only had a lower risk of hip fracture (adjusted OR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.63-1.08) compared with users of maintenance medication only (adjusted OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.97-1.40). No association was found between duration of nitrate use and fracture risk. Our overall analyses showed that risk of a hip fracture was significantly lower among users of as-needed organic nitrates, when compared with users of maintenance medication. Our analyses of hip fracture risks with duration of use did not further support a beneficial effect of organic nitrates on hip fracture, although residual confounding may have masked beneficial effects.

SCA12 case study

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Genetics; Volume 88; Issue 1. Utilizing linkage disequilibrium information from Indian Genome Variation Database for mapping mutations: SCA12 case study. Samira Bahl Ikhlak Ahmed The Indian Genome Variation Consortium Mitali Mukerji. Research Article Volume 88 Issue 1 April 2009 pp 55- ...

Simulation as Logistic Support to Handling in the Warehouse: Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janka Šaderová

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Manipulation processes represent an important part of the material management in a company. These processes run inside a company and represent an integrated chain of material flow. The current situation regarding the material manipulation is evaluated using the manipulation indicators which may serve as the basis for manipulation system rationalisation designs. The present case study is focused on the determination of an appropriate number of forklift trucks in a given operation and consists of three sections. The introductory section deals with the evaluation of forklift activities while applying the selected analysis and the selected indicators. Analysis results subsequently served as a basis for the calculation. The calculated number of trucks must be properly verified; the verification should be focused on whether the given number of forklifts is actually sufficient for the performance of the current activities. The activities were verified while applying the simulation. A simulation model was created using the Technomatix Plan Simulation software.

Exploring Erasmus student mobility in Ukraine: A case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yevhen Baranchenko

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In the context of increasing interest in the internationalisation of education, the Erasmus programme of student mobility led by the European Commission is perceived as a highly desirable by many stakeholders.  Despite the high demand emanating from Ukrainian students for Erasmus programme participation, the inward student mobility of EU nationals to Ukraine remains exceptionally low at the undergraduate level. The main aim of the current study is to explore the inward Erasmus student mobility mechanism in Ukraine through application of the single case study approach.  The data were collected through participant observation, two rounds of interviews and the analysis of the participant diary.  The research outcomes shed light on how the inward Erasmus student mobility programme in Ukraine can be arranged more effectively. We identified four broad areas by means of thematic analysis, which includes transparency of the process; communication; living conditions; learning process and facilities.

Deep Attack Weapons Mix Study (DAWMS) Case Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bexfield, James

2001-01-01

.... This report describes the process used to conduct the Deep Attack Weapons Mix Study (DAWMS) in 1995-1997. This case study focuses on the weapons being procured by the Services and whether a joint viewpoint would result in a more effective mix...

The impacts of product design changes on supply chain risk: a case study

OpenAIRE

Lin, Yong; Zhou, Li

2011-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to address the impact of product design changes on supply chain risk, and to identify the supply chain risk dimensions in the Chinese special-purpose vehicle (SPV) industry in the context of product design change.\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach: Case study methodology is adopted to describe the current situation of supply chain risk management in the Chinese SPV industry. Data are mainly collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews, and a c...

Reverse logistics: A review of case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brito, de M.P.; Dekker, Rommert; Flapper, S.D.P.; Fleischmann, B.; Klose, A.

2004-01-01

This paper gives an overview of scientific literature that describes and discusses cases of reverse logistics activities in practice. Over sixty case studies are considered. Based on these studies we are able to indicate critical factors for the practice of reverse logistics. In addition we compare

Alternating currents and shear waves in viscous electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Semenyakin, M.; Falkovich, G.

2018-02-01

Strong interaction among charge carriers can make them move like viscous fluid. Here we explore alternating current (ac) effects in viscous electronics. In the Ohmic case, incompressible current distribution in a sample adjusts fast to a time-dependent voltage on the electrodes, while in the viscous case, momentum diffusion makes for retardation and for the possibility of propagating slow shear waves. We focus on specific geometries that showcase interesting aspects of such waves: current parallel to a one-dimensional defect and current applied across a long strip. We find that the phase velocity of the wave propagating along the strip respectively increases/decreases with the frequency for no-slip/no-stress boundary conditions. This is so because when the frequency or strip width goes to zero (alternatively, viscosity go to infinity), the wavelength of the current pattern tends to infinity in the no-stress case and to a finite value in a general case. We also show that for dc current across a strip with a no-stress boundary, there are only one pair of vortices, while there is an infinite vortex chain for all other types of boundary conditions.

Reverse case study: to think like a nurse.

Science.gov (United States)

Beyer, Deborah A

2011-01-01

Reverse case study is a collaborative, innovative, active learning strategy that nurse educators can use in the classroom. Groups of students develop a case study and a care plan from a list of medications and a short two- to three-sentence scenario. The students apply the nursing process to thoroughly develop a complete case study written as a concept map. The strategy builds on previous learned information and applies the information to new content, thus promoting critical thinking and problem solving. Reverse case study has been used in both associate and baccalaureate nursing degree theory courses to generate discussion and assist students in thinking like a nurse. 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Prioritized List of Research Needs to support MRWFD Case Study Flowsheet Advancement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Law, Jack Douglas [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Soelberg, Nicholas Ray [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-06-17

In FY-13, a case study evaluation was performed of full recycle technologies for both the processing of light-water reactor (LWR) used nuclear fuels as well as fast reactor (FR) fuel in the full recycle option. This effort focused on the identification of the case study processes and the initial preparation of material balance flowsheets for the identified technologies. In identifying the case study flowsheets, it was decided that two cases would be developed: one which identifies the flowsheet as currently developed and another near-term target flowsheet which identifies the flowsheet as envisioned within two years, pending the results of ongoing research. The case study focus is on homogeneous aqueous recycle of the U/TRU resulting from the processing of LWR fuel as feed for metal fuel fabrication. The metal fuel is utilized in a sodium-cooled fast reactor, and the used fast reactor fuel is processed using electrochemical separations. The recovered U/TRU from electrochemical separations is recycled to fuel fabrication and the fast reactor. Waste streams from the aqueous and electrochemical processing are treated and prepared for disposition. Off-gas from the separations and waste processing are also treated. As part of the FY-13 effort, preliminary process unknowns and research needs to advance the near-term target flowsheets were identified. In FY-14, these research needs were updated, expanded and prioritized. This report again updates the prioritized list of research needs based upon results to date in FY-15. The research needs are listed for each of the main portions of the flowsheet: 1) Aqueous headend, 2) Headend tritium pretreatment off-gas, 3) Aqueous U/Pu/Np recovery, 4) Aqueous TRU product solidification, 5) Aqueous actinide/lanthanide separation, 6) Aqueous off-gas treatment, 7) Aqueous HLW management, 8) Treatment of aqueous process wastes, 9) E-chem actinide separations, 10) E-chem off-gas, 11) E-chem HLW management. The identified research needs

Prioritized List of Research Needs to support MRWFD Case Study Flowsheet Advancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Law, Jack Douglas; Soelberg, Nicholas Ray

2015-01-01

In FY-13, a case study evaluation was performed of full recycle technologies for both the processing of light-water reactor (LWR) used nuclear fuels as well as fast reactor (FR) fuel in the full recycle option. This effort focused on the identification of the case study processes and the initial preparation of material balance flowsheets for the identified technologies. In identifying the case study flowsheets, it was decided that two cases would be developed: one which identifies the flowsheet as currently developed and another near-term target flowsheet which identifies the flowsheet as envisioned within two years, pending the results of ongoing research. The case study focus is on homogeneous aqueous recycle of the U/TRU resulting from the processing of LWR fuel as feed for metal fuel fabrication. The metal fuel is utilized in a sodium-cooled fast reactor, and the used fast reactor fuel is processed using electrochemical separations. The recovered U/TRU from electrochemical separations is recycled to fuel fabrication and the fast reactor. Waste streams from the aqueous and electrochemical processing are treated and prepared for disposition. Off-gas from the separations and waste processing are also treated. As part of the FY-13 effort, preliminary process unknowns and research needs to advance the near-term target flowsheets were identified. In FY-14, these research needs were updated, expanded and prioritized. This report again updates the prioritized list of research needs based upon results to date in FY-15. The research needs are listed for each of the main portions of the flowsheet: 1) Aqueous headend, 2) Headend tritium pretreatment off-gas, 3) Aqueous U/Pu/Np recovery, 4) Aqueous TRU product solidification, 5) Aqueous actinide/lanthanide separation, 6) Aqueous off-gas treatment, 7) Aqueous HLW management, 8) Treatment of aqueous process wastes, 9) E-chem actinide separations, 10) E-chem off-gas, 11) E-chem HLW management. The identified research needs

Deep Energy Retrofits - Eleven California Case Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Less, Brennan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Fisher, Jeremy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Walker, Iain [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2012-10-01

This research documents and demonstrates viable approaches using existing materials, tools and technologies in owner-conducted deep energy retrofits (DERs). These retrofits are meant to reduce energy use by 70% or more, and include extensive upgrades to the building enclosure, heating, cooling and hot water equipment, and often incorporate appliance and lighting upgrades as well as the addition of renewable energy. In this report, 11 Northern California (IECC climate zone 3) DER case studies are described and analyzed in detail, including building diagnostic tests and end-use energy monitoring results. All projects recognized the need to improve the home and its systems approximately to current building code-levels, and then pursued deeper energy reductions through either enhanced technology/ building enclosure measures, or through occupant conservation efforts, both of which achieved impressive energy performance and reductions. The beyond-code incremental DER costs averaged $25,910 for the six homes where cost data were available. DERs were affordable when these incremental costs were financed as part of a remodel, averaging a $30 per month increase in the net-cost of home ownership.

Magnetic field shielding effect for CFETR TF coil-case

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Weiwei; Liu, Xufeng, E-mail: Lxf@ipp.ac.cn; Du, Shuangsong; Zheng, Jinxing

2017-05-15

Highlights: • The eddy current of CFETR vacuum vessel can be calculated by using a series of ideal current loops. • The shielding effect with different eddy current is studied by decomposing the exciting magnetic field as two orthogonal components. • The shielding effect can be determined from the rate of eddy current magnetic field to the external magnetic field. - Abstract: The operation of superconducting magnet for fusion device is under the complex magnetic field condition, which affect the stabilization of superconductor. The coil-case of TF coil can shield the magnetic field to some extent. The shielding effect is related to the eddy current of coil-case. The shielding effect with different eddy current is studied by decomposing the exciting magnetic field as two orthogonal components, respectively. The results indicate that the shielding effect of CFETR TF coil-case has obvious different with the different directional magnetic field, and it’s larger for tangential magnetic compared with that for normal field.

Risk of intracerebral hemorrhage associated with phenprocoumon exposure: a nested case-control study in a large population-based German database.

Science.gov (United States)

Behr, Sigrid; Andersohn, Frank; Garbe, Edeltraut

2010-07-01

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most serious complication of oral anticoagulation. This study investigated the risk of ICH for phenprocoumon which is the most widely used oral anticoagulant in Germany. We conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 13.4 million insurants of 4 German statutory health insurances (SHIs) who were continuously enrolled for 6 months prior to cohort entry. Cases were patients hospitalized for ICH. Ten controls were matched to each case by SHI, birth year, and sex using incidence density sampling. Rate ratios (RR) of ICH for current phenprocoumon use as compared to non-use were estimated from odds ratios calculated by conditional logistic regression analyses considering multiple risk factors. Analysis of the full cohort revealed a strong increase in incidence of ICH with increasing age. In the nested case-control study including 8138 cases of ICH and 81,373 matched controls, we observed an increased risk of ICH for current phenprocoumon exposure that varied with age. The phenprocoumon-associated risk of ICH was lower in older age groups with RRs from 4.20 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.44-7.21) for phenprocoumon users less than 55 years of age to 2.43 (95%CI, 1.81-3.27) for those older than 85 years. Our study confirmed known risk factors of ICH. Phenprocoumon exposure was associated with an increased risk of ICH. The interaction of risk for phenprocoumon with age was unexpected and needs further study. (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Association of individual non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and chronic kidney disease: a population-based case control study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ylenia Ingrasciotta

Full Text Available Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs are known to be associated with renal damage. No clear evidence exists regarding differential risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD, specifically, across various NSAIDs.The aim of this population-based case-control study was to evaluate the association between use of individual NSAIDs and risk of CKD in a general population of Southern Italy.A nested case-control study was carried out using the general practice Arianna database, identifying incident CKD patients as cases and matched controls from 2006 to 2011. The date of first CKD diagnosis was defined as the index date (ID. Conditional logistic regressions were performed to estimate the risk of CKD associated with NSAIDs by class and individual drugs as compared to non-use during different time windows (within one year, six or three months prior to ID, with the latter being defined as current users. Among current users, the effect of cumulative exposure to these drugs was evaluated.Overall, 1,989 CKD cases and 7,906 matched controls were identified. A statistically significant increase in the risk of CKD was found for current users of oxicams (adjusted OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.15-2.44 and concerning individual compounds, for ketorolac (adj. OR: 2.54; 95% CI: 1.45-4.44, meloxicam (adj. OR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.01-3.87 and piroxicam (adj. OR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.19-3.21.The risk of CKD varies across individual NSAIDs. Increased risk has been found for ketorolac, which may precipitate subclinical CKD through acute renal damage, and long-term exposure to oxicams, especially meloxicam and piroxicam.

Case Study - Alpha

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Leybourne

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This case study was developed from an actual scenario by Dr. Steve Leybourne of Boston University.  The case documents the historical evolution of an organization, and has been used successfully in courses dealing with organizational and cultural change, and the utilization of ‘soft skills’ in project-based management. This is a short case, ideal for classroom use and discussion.  The issues are easily accessible to students, and there is a single wide ranging question that allows for the inclusion of many issues surrounding strategic decision-making, and behavioural and cultural change. Alpha was one of the earlier companies in the USA to invest in large, edge-of-town superstores, with plentiful free vehicle parking, selling food and related household products. Alpha was created in the 1950s as a subsidiary of a major publicly quoted retail group.  It started business by opening a string of very large discount stores in converted industrial and warehouse premises in the south of the United States. In the early days shoppers were offered a limited range of very competitively priced products. When Alpha went public in 1981 it was the fourth largest food retailer in the US, selling an ever-widening range of food and non-food products.  Its success continued to be based on high volume, low margins and good value for money, under the slogan of ‘Alpha Price.’

Serum Taurine and Stroke Risk in Women: A Prospective, Nested Case-Control Study

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Fen; Koenig, Karen L.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Jonas, Saran; Afanasyeva, Yelena; Wójcik, Oktawia P.; Costa, Max; Chen, Yu

2016-01-01

Background Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid), a conditionally essential sulfur-containing amino acid, is mainly obtained from diet in humans. Experimental studies have shown that taurine’s main biological actions include bile salt conjugation, blood pressure regulation, anti-oxidation, and anti-inflammation. Methods We conducted a prospective case-control study nested in the New York University Women’s Health Study, a cohort study involving 14,274 women enrolled since 1985. Taurine was measured in pre-diagnostic serum samples of 241 stroke cases and 479 matched controls. Results There was no statistically significant association between serum taurine and stroke risk in the overall study population. The adjusted ORs for stroke were 1.0 (reference), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.59–1.28), and 1.03 (95% CI, 0.69–1.54) in increasing tertiles of taurine (64.3–126.6, 126.7–152.9, and 153.0–308.5 nmol/mL, respectively). A significant inverse association between serum taurine and stroke risk was observed among never smokers, with an adjusted OR of 0.66 (95% CI, 0.37–1.18) and 0.50 (95% CI, 0.26–0.94) for the second and third tertile, respectively (p for trend = 0.01), but not among past or current smokers (p for interaction taurine and stroke risk, although a protective effect was observed in never smokers, which requires further investigation. Taurine, Stroke, Epidemiology, Prospective, Case-control study, NYUWHS. PMID:26866594

Analysis of risk factors for schizophrenia with two different case definitions: a nationwide register-based external validation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sørensen, Holger J; Larsen, Janne T; Mors, Ole; Nordentoft, Merete; Mortensen, Preben B; Petersen, Liselotte

2015-03-01

Different case definitions of schizophrenia have been used in register based research. However, no previous study has externally validated two different case definitions of schizophrenia against a wide range of risk factors for schizophrenia. We investigated hazard ratios (HRs) for a wide range of risk factors for ICD-10 DCR schizophrenia using a nationwide Danish sample of 2,772,144 residents born in 1955-1997. We compared one contact only (OCO) (the case definition of schizophrenia used in Danish register based studies) with two or more contacts (TMC) (a case definition of at least 2 inpatient contacts with schizophrenia). During the follow-up, the OCO definition included 15,074 and the TMC 7562 cases; i.e. half as many. The TMC case definition appeared to select for a worse illness course. A wide range of risk factors were uniformly associated with both case definitions and only slightly higher risk estimates were found for the TMC definition. Choosing at least 2 inpatient contacts with schizophrenia (TMC) instead of the currently used case definition would result in almost similar risk estimates for many well-established risk factors. However, this would also introduce selection and include considerably fewer cases and reduce power of e.g. genetic studies based on register-diagnosed cases only. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Using Case Studies in Business Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Pariseau, Susan E.; Kezim, Boualem

2007-01-01

The authors evaluated the effect on learning of using case studies in business statistics courses. The authors divided students into 3 groups: a control group, a group that completed 1 case study, and a group that completed 3 case studies. Results evidenced that, on average, students whom the authors required to complete a case analysis received…

CAREM X INPRO case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florido, P.C.; Brasnarof, D.; Delmastro, D.; Azpitarte, O.E.

2004-01-01

In order to assess and compare the performance of innovative nuclear energy systems INPRO has defined a set of basic principles, user requirements and criteria to be met in different areas (economics, sustainability and environment, safety, waste management and proliferation). This paper illustrates the use of INPRO methodology to a particular reactor system. Argentina is performing CAREM X Nuclear System Case Study based on CAREM nuclear reactor and Once Through Fuel Cycle, using SIGMA for enriched uranium production, and a deep geological repository for final disposal of high level waste after surface intermediate storage in horizontal natural convection silos, to verify INPRO (International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles) methodology. 6 aspects have been considered: 1) enrichment based on Sigma enrichment plant (gas diffusion technology), 2) conversion to UO 2 , 3) fuel manufacturing, 4) CAREM-300 based reactor technology, 5) intermediate spent fuel storage, and 6) deep geological repository of spent fuels. Projections show that developing countries could play a crucial role in the deployment of nuclear energy, in the next fifty years. This case study will be highly useful for checking INPRO methodology for this scenario. In this paper, the preliminary findings of the Case Study are presented, including proposals to improve the INPRO methodology

Hypnosis in the treatment of Morgellons disease: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gartner, Ashley M; Dolan, Sara L; Stanford, Matthew S; Elkins, Gary R

2011-04-01

Morgellons Disease is a condition involving painful skin lesions, fibrous growths protruding from the skin, and subcutaneous stinging and burning sensations, along with symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue, and memory and attention deficits. The etiological and physiological bases of these symptoms are unclear, making the diagnosis controversial and challenging to treat. There are currently no established treatments for Morgellons Disease. The following case example depicts treatment of a woman with Morgellons Disease using hypnotherapy. Data from this case example suggest that hypnotherapy is a promising intervention for the physical and psychological symptoms associated with Morgellons Disease.

A Case Study of "Empathetic Teaching Artistry"

Science.gov (United States)

Risner, Doug

2014-01-01

This case study is one of twenty cases derived from Anderson and Risner's international study of teaching artists in dance, and theatre, which investigated participants' (n=172) artistic and academic preparation in dance, and theatre, initial entry into the teaching artist field, rewards, challenges, and obstacles in participants' work, artists'…

Study on Case Teaching of Financial Management

Science.gov (United States)

Che, Zhenghong; Che, Zhengmei

2011-01-01

Case teaching is an efficient teaching method of management. It plays an important role to enhance the students' ability to practice the theory. However, case teaching of financial management has not achieved the expected results. The paper aims to study the importance, characteristics and corresponding methods of case teaching method of financial…

Comparative Analysis of Houses Built from Insulating Concrete Formwork – case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mačková Daniela

2015-11-01

Full Text Available More and more, people are looking to build and live in different ways. They want houses with a high standard of living and reasonable production and maintenance costs. However, they also want to build a way that does not adversely affect their quality of life. Currently, the using of modern methods of construction (MMC expands consistently year on year. MMC include prefabricated products made in the factory and also new methods of building that are site-based and they are regarded as a means of achieving higher quality, reducing time spent onsite, increasing safety and overcoming skills shortages in the industry. Aim of this paper is to analyze and compare, trough case study, technical, cost and technological parameters of house built by modern method of construction (from insulating concrete formwork and by traditional method (from brick system. The subject of case study is house modeled in two variants of insulating concrete formwork and a variant bricks and ceiling system. In conclusion, there is selected optimal method and system for house construction through multicriteria optimization.

Case studies in atomic collision physics

CERN Document Server

McDaniel, E W

1974-01-01

Case Studies in Atomic Physics III focuses on case studies on atomic and molecular physics, including atomic collisions, transport properties of electrons, ions, molecules, and photons, interaction potentials, spectroscopy, and surface phenomena. The selection first discusses detailed balancing in the time-dependent impact parameter method, as well as time-reversal in the impact parameter method and coupled state approximation. The text also examines the mechanisms of electron production in ion. Topics include measurement of doubly differential cross sections and electron spectra, direct Coul

An ethical discussion of the use of transcranial direct current stimulation for cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals: a fictional case study

OpenAIRE

Lapenta, Olivia M.; Valasek, Claudia A.; Brunoni, André R.; Boggio, Paulo S.

2014-01-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique. Because of its low cost, ease of use, safety, and portability, tDCS has been increasingly investigated for therapeutic purposes in neuropsychiatric disorders and in experimental neuropsychological studies with healthy volunteers. These experiments on healthy cognition have shown significant effects on working memory, decision-making, and language. Such promising results have fomented reflections on st...

Where Lies the Fault in Diagnosing Dhat Syndrome among Females? Understanding through a Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kar, Sujita Kumar; Singh, Amit

2017-01-01

Dhat syndrome is a culture-bound syndrome of South-East Asia, common in young men. However, similar entity has also been described in female patients who attribute their symptoms to nonpathological or physiological vaginal discharge. The current diagnostic system for psychiatric illnesses does not encompass Dhat syndrome in females, and so these group of patients receive alternative diagnoses such as somatoform disorder or depression. As a result of which the focus of unique Dhat syndrome-centered management gets weakened, affecting the clinical outcome. This case study focuses on the diagnostic dilemmas related to Dhat syndrome in females and pitfalls in the current diagnostic system.

Music in context : Four case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Randwijck, R.J.C. van

2008-01-01

In his thesis entitled “Music in Context. Four Case Studies”, R.J.C. van Randwijck investigates the context in which music has been created. It is a search in Four Case Studies, approaching four pieces of music from the context in which they were written in order to understand their meaning. The

Ion current reduction in pinched electron beam diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quintenz, J.P.; Poukey, J.W.

1977-01-01

A new version of a particle-in-cell diode code has been written which permits the accurate treatment of higher-current diodes with greater physical dimensions. Using this code, we have studied ways to reduce the ion current in large-aspect-ratio pinched electron beam diodes. In particular, we find that allowing the ions to reflex in such diodes lowers the ion to electron current ratio considerably. In a 3-MV R/d=24 case this ratio was lowered by a factor of 6--8 compared with the corresponding nonreflexing-ion diode, while still producing a superpinched electron beam

Theory Testing Using Case Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Pernille Dissing; Løkke, Ann-Kristina

2006-01-01

design. Finally, we discuss the epistemological logic, i.e., the value to larger research programmes, of such studies and, following Lakatos, conclude that the value of theory-testing case studies lies beyond naïve falsification and in their contribution to developing research programmes in a progressive...

Rigour in qualitative case-study research.

Science.gov (United States)

Houghton, Catherine; Casey, Dympna; Shaw, David; Murphy, Kathy

2013-03-01

To provide examples of a qualitative multiple case study to illustrate the specific strategies that can be used to ensure the credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability of a study. There is increasing recognition of the valuable contribution qualitative research can make to nursing knowledge. However, it is important that the research is conducted in a rigorous manner and that this is demonstrated in the final research report. A multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Multiple sources of evidence were collected: semi-structured interviews (n=58), non-participant observations at five sites and documentary sources. Strategies to ensure the rigour of this research were prolonged engagement and persistent observation, triangulation, peer debriefing, member checking, audit trail, reflexivity, and thick descriptions. Practical examples of how these strategies can be implemented are provided to guide researchers interested in conducting rigorous case study research. While the flexible nature of qualitative research should be embraced, strategies to ensure rigour must be in place.

Guidelines for Conducting Positivist Case Study Research in Information Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graeme Shanks

2002-11-01

Full Text Available The case study research approach is widely used in a number of different ways within the information systems community. This paper focuses on positivist, deductive case study research in information systems. It provides clear definitions of important concepts in positivist case study research and illustrates these with an example research study. A critical analysis of the conduct and outcomes of two recently published positivist case studies is reported. One is a multiple case study that validated concepts in a framework for viewpoint development in requirements definition. The other is a single case study that examined the role of social enablers in enterprise resource planning systems implementation. A number of guidelines for successfully undertaking positivist case study research are identified including developing a clear understanding of key concepts and assumptions within the positivist paradigm; providing clear and unambiguous definitions of the units and interactions when using any theory; carefully defining the boundary of the theory used in the case study; using hypotheses rather than propositions in the empirical testing of theory; using fuzzy or probabilistic propositions in recognising that reality can never be perfectly known; selecting case studies carefully, particularly single case studies; and recognising that generalisation from positivist, single case studies is inherently different from generalisation from single experiments. When properly undertaken, positivist, deductive case study research is a valuable research approach for information systems researchers, particularly when used within pluralist research programs that use a number of different research approaches from different paradigms.

Not quite the end for Jatropha? : a case study of the financial viability of biodiesel production from Jatropha in Tanzania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bryant, S.T.; Romijn, H.A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the case study is to assess the financial viability of biodiesel production from Jatropha under real-life conditions, in contrast to the more generalised studies currently available. This assessment is modelled from the data of a Jatropha oil producer with a social entrepreneurial

Rehabilitation in severe memory deficit: A case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nariana Mattos Figueiredo Sousa

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The term amnesia refers to a pathological state of mind in which memory and learning are affected to a greater extent than other cognitive functions in a patient without altered level of consciousness. The aim of the current study was to describe a case of severe amnesia in a patient during neurological rehabilitation and to report the importance of preserved cognitive functions to compensate for the mnemonic deficit. VJA presented a clinical condition suggestive of encephalopathy due to caloric-protein malnutrition following several abdominal surgical procedures for complicated choledocholithiasis. A descriptive analysis of the results was carried out to outline the goals attained and the factors limiting implementation of memory aids. After the intervention program, consisting of individual and group activities, VJA showed improvement in level of recall with repetition of tasks, but still required constant external monitoring. Longitudinal follow-up is necessary to obtain more consistent results.

A case study of a Cuban government institution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez, A.L.; Vazquez, A.; Cruz Cabrera, L.

2004-01-01

The aim of this contribution is to present a case study on the partial implementation of a knowledge management system in an institution. In this case the knowledge management has been directed toward the best performance of the organization. The tool used in case study can be implemented at any institution, including institutions of nuclear or radiological profiles. (author)

The Analysis of a Murder, a Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Dinan, Frank J.; Szczepankiewicz, Steven H.; Carnaham, Melinda; Colvin, Michael T.

2007-01-01

The analysis of a Murder case study can be used in general chemistry or nonscience major chemistry courses to teach data handling and analysis in a non-laboratory context. This case study will help students to respond more enthusiastically and with more interest to a set of material placed before them related to a real case rather than…

Using Interpretive Qualitative Case Studies for Exploratory Research in Doctoral Studies: A Case of Information Systems Research in Small and Medium Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shana R. Ponelis

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The use of the case study method has gained mainstream acceptance in both entrepreneurship and information systems research to develop conceptual and theoretical models that are novel, yet grounded in the literature. In spite of many texts on the case study method and the growing acceptance and use of thereof, there are relatively few examples that discuss how to apply the case study method. The purpose of this paper is to provide such an example by drawing upon the author’s research for her doctoral dissertation in the discipline of information systems and entrepreneurship research. First, the use of qualitative case studies as research method is motivated, then the importance of the research paradigm is discussed and the interpretivist research paradigm justified followed by a detailed discussion of the research design. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned and recommendations based on the author’s experience with using the case study method. The practical yet theoretically founded approach of this paper may be useful to doctoral students who are considering or using the case study method. Equally, supervisors and others involved in research training may find this paper useful as an illustrative example of the case study method for their students.

Developing High PV Penetration Cases for Frequency Response Study of U.S. Western Interconnection: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tan, Jin; Zhang, Yingchen; Veda, Santosh; Elgindy, Tarek; Liu, Yilu

2017-04-11

Recent large penetrations of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and the inertial characteristics of inverter-based generation technologies have caught the attention of those in the electric power industry in the United States. This paper presents a systematic approach to developing test cases of high penetrations of PV for the Western Interconnection. First, to examine the accuracy of the base case model, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) model is validated by using measurement data from synchronized phasor measurement units. Based on the 2022 Light Spring case, we developed four high PV penetration cases for the WECC system that are of interest to the industry: 5% PV+15 % wind, 25% PV+15% wind, 45% PV+15% wind, 65% PV+15% wind). Additionally, a method to project PV is proposed that is based on collected, realistic PV distribution information, including the current and future PV power plant locations and penetrations in the WECC system. Both the utility-scale PV plant and residential rooftop PV are included in this study.

Smart Grids for Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES): a case study for the Amsterdam Zuidas district

Science.gov (United States)

Jaxa-Rozen, Marc; Bloemendal, Martin; Rostampour, Vahab

2017-04-01

In the context of increasingly strict requirements for building energy efficiency, Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems have emerged as an effective means to reduce energy demand for space heating and cooling in larger buildings. In the Netherlands, over 2000 systems are currently active, which has already raised issues with spatial planning in some areas; current planning schemes may lack the flexibility to properly address variations in ATES operation, which are driven by uncertainties across a broad range of time scales - from daily changes in building energy demand, to decadal trends for climate or groundwater conditions. This work is therefore part of a broader research effort on ATES Smart Grids (ATES-SG), which has focused on more adaptive methods for ATES management and control. In particular, improved control schemes which allow for coordination between neighboring ATES systems may offer more robust performance under uncertainty (Rostampour & Keviczky, 2016). The case studies for the ATES-SG project have so far focused on idealized cases, and on a historical simulation of ATES development in the city center of Utrecht. This poster will present an additional case study for the city center of Amsterdam, which poses several geohydrological challenges for ATES: for instance, variable density flow due to salinity gradients in the local aquifer, and varying depths for ATES systems due to the thickness of the aquifer. To study the effect of these conditions, this case uses an existing 15-layer geohydrological model of the Amsterdam region, cropped to an area of 4500m x 2500m around the Amsterdam Zuidas district. This rapidly developing business district is one of the densest areas of ATES use in Amsterdam, with 32 well doublets and 53 monowells currently registered. The geohydrological model is integrated with GIS data to accurately represent ATES spatial planning; simulated well flows are provided by a model predictive control component. This model is

Investigation of Public Charging Infrastructure : Case study Gränby sportfält

OpenAIRE

Dahl, Emma; Hedström, Andreas; Lindgren, Anna

2017-01-01

The municipal company Sportfastigheter AB is currently renovating and developing Gränby sportfält, a sports field in Uppsala. Adjacent to the sports field, a parking lot for 700 vehicles is located, where Sportfastigheter AB is preparing to install charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) at some of the places. This bachelor thesis aims to investigate how a public charging solution should be modeled, with the parking lot at Gränby sportfält as a case study. The investigation involves estim...

Multiscale Study of Currents Affected by Topography

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-30

1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Multiscale Study of Currents Affected by Topography ...the effects of topography on the ocean general and regional circulation with a focus on the wide range of scales of interactions. The small-scale...details of the topography and the waves, eddies, drag, and turbulence it generates (at spatial scales ranging from meters to mesoscale) interact in the

Managing severe behavioral symptoms of a patient with anti-NMDAR encephalitis: case report and findings in current literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanina Lima Monteiro

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: Psychiatric symptoms emerge in the early stages of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR encephalitis, and patients often seek treatment in psychiatric departments before visiting any other general medical services. Numerous articles about anti-NMDAR encephalitis have been published in the scientific community worldwide, but few emphasize the role of psychiatry in symptom management.Case description: We describe the case of a patient with anti- -NMDAR encephalitis seen in our service and discuss the management of behavioral symptoms based on current scientific literature. High doses of atypical antipsychotics and benzodiazepines were used to control agitation, and trazodone was administered to treat insomnia.Comments: Consultation-liaison psychiatry may help the healthcare team adjust the management of neuropsychiatric complications that might affect inpatients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

Leprosy Elimination: Progress and Challenges in Nigeria; Kaduna State TB and Leprosy Control Programme as a Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mustapha, Gidado; Olusegu, Obasanya Joshua; Mustapha, Sani; Clement, Adesigbin; Dahiru, Tahir; Gagere, J; Olusola, Adejumo Adeleji

2012-01-01

The study aims at describing the achievements and challenges of Leprosy control in Kaduna State using appropriate indicators. The study was a five year (2004-2008) retrospective review of the Leprosy records and annual reports of all the twenty three LGAs in Kaduna State. Various Leprosy indicators were calculated and presented in different graphic presentations. Focus group discussions were organised with the aim of identifying current challenges of Leprosy control in the State. There was a decline in the new Leprosy cases detected annually from 226 cases in 2004 to 140 cases in 2008. The prevalence rate ranged between 0.3-0.4 per 10,000 population within the five year period. The proportion of children among new cases dropped from 12% in 2004 to 5% in 2007 and increased to 9% in 2008. Grade 2 disability among new cases was very high (between 21%-27%) within the same period. Leprosy elimination target has been achieved in Kaduna State, but new cases with high proportion of children and WHO grade 2 disability were still been reported.

Current advance care planning practice in the Australian community: an online survey of home care package case managers and service managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellars, Marcus; Detering, Karen M; Silvester, William

2015-04-23

Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of planning for future healthcare that is facilitated by a trained healthcare professional, whereby a person's values, beliefs and treatment preferences are made known to guide clinical decision-making at a future time when they cannot communicate their decisions. Despite the potential benefits of ACP for community aged care clients the availability of ACP is unknown, but likely to be low. In Australia many of these clients receive services through Home Care Package (HCP) programs. This study aimed to explore current attitudes, knowledge and practice of advance care planning among HCP service managers and case managers. An invitation to take part in a cross-sectional online survey was distributed by email to all HCP services across Australia in November 2012. Descriptive analyses were used to examine overall patterns of responses to each survey item in the full sample. 120 (response rate 25%) service managers and 178 (response rate 18%) case managers completed the survey. Only 34% of services had written ACP policies and procedures in place and 48% of case managers had previously completed any ACP training. In addition, although most case managers (70%) had initiated an ACP discussion in the past 12 months and viewed ACP as part of their role, the majority of the conversations (80%) did not result in documentation of the client's wishes and most (85%) of the case managers who responded did not believe ACP was done well within their service. This survey shows low organisational ACP systems and support for case managers and a lack of a normative approach to ACP across Australian HCP services. As HCPs become more prevalent it is essential that a model of ACP is developed and evaluated in this setting, so that clients have the opportunity to discuss and document their future healthcare wishes if they choose to.

[Turner syndrome: Study of 42 cases].

Science.gov (United States)

Bahíllo-Curieses, M Pilar; Prieto-Matos, Pablo; Quiroga González, Rocío; Regueras Santos, Laura; Blanco Barrio, Amaya; Rupérez Peña, Sara

2016-10-21

Turner syndrome (TS) is characterized by short stature, gonadal dysgenesis, and total or partial loss of X chromosome. A historical cohorts study of patients with TS≤18 years old followed up in public hospitals in Castilla y Leon was undertaken. Forty-two female patients were included (prenatal diagnosis 11.9%, neonatal diagnosis 14.3%) with current median age 11.9±4.2 years. Short stature was the reason for consultation in 87.1%. Total monosomy of X chromosome was present in 40.5%. The most frequently associated comorbidity was opthalmological (50%), with heart defects in 23.8%. Ninety-three percent were treated with growth hormone (GH), mean age at the beginning of treatment was 7.43±3.4 years and mean height standard deviation was -2.84±1.08. Final height was reached in 10 patients only (mean final height 151.47±6.09cm). Chronological age of puberty induction was 13.2±0.94 years (bone age 12.47±1.17 years). Short stature was an important clinical sign for the diagnosis of TS, accompanied in some cases by other findings, with good response to GH treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Facilitating Case Studies in Massage Therapy Clinical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Baskwill, Amanda

2013-01-01

The integration of evidence into reflective health care practice has been on the rise in recent years and is a phenomenon that has affected all health care professions, including massage therapy. Clinical case studies are a research design that follows one patient or subject, making the studies ideal for use in clinical practice. They are valuable for communicating information from clinical practice to the broader community. Case studies have face validity that may be more valuable to individual practitioners than homogeneous randomized controlled trials, as the practitioner may recognize a complex patient in the case report. At Humber College, Student Massage Therapists (SMTs) create, conduct, and communicate results of a clinical case study prior to graduation. This article describes the process and experience. PMID:23730397

Radionuclide migration study in the case of a geological disposal site. Bibliographic research report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rio, Sophie

1997-01-01

The present bibliographic research deals with the study of radionuclide migration in the case of a geological disposal of spent fuel from PWR nuclear reactors. Bibliography was made with the DIALOG server on the following databases: INSPEC, NTIS, Ei Compendex Plus, SPIN, SciSearch, Pascal et Current Contents Search, and with the INIS and DocTheses CD-Roms. A synthesis based on a few documents is made in the second part of the report. (author) [fr

A Comparative Comment on the Case Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Christian Christrup; Ley, Thomas; Jensen, Niels Rosendal

2012-01-01

Denne konklusion sammenfatter hovedtrækkene af de gennemførte case studies i WorkAble-projektet. Vigtige pointer er, at unge på tværs af de forskellige case studies har vanskeligt ved at blive hørt og taget alvorligt. I stedet spises de af med "realistisk vejledning" eller dårlige uddannelses- og...

An image-guided transcranial direct current stimulation system: a pilot phantom study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Young-Jin; Kim, Jung-Hoon; Kim, Daejeong; Im, Chang-Hwan

2013-01-01

In this study, an image-guided transcranial direct current stimulation (IG-tDCS) system that can deliver an increased stimulation current to a target brain area without the need to adjust the location of an active electrode was implemented. This IG-tDCS system was based on the array-type tDCS concept, which was validated through computer simulations in a previous study. Unlike a previous study, the present IG-tDCS system adopts a single reference electrode and an active electrode array consisting of 16 (4 × 4) sub-electrodes. The proposed IG-tDCS system is capable of shaping current flow inside the human head by controlling the input currents of the arrayed electrodes. Once a target brain area has been selected, the optimal injection current of each arrayed sub-electrode is evaluated automatically using a genetic algorithm in order to deliver the maximum available current to the target area. The operation of our pilot system was confirmed through a simple phantom experiment. (paper)

Contraceptive Use and the Risk of Ectopic Pregnancy: A Multi-Center Case-Control Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Cheng; Zhao, Wei-Hong; Meng, Chun-Xia; Ping, Hua; Qin, Guo-Juan; Cao, Shu-Jun; Xi, Xiaowei; Zhu, Qian; Li, Xiao-Cui; Zhang, Jian

2014-01-01

To evaluate the association between the risk of ectopic pregnancy (EP) and the use of common contraceptives during the previous and current conception/menstrual cycle. A multi-center case-control study was conducted in Shanghai. Women diagnosed with EP were recruited as the case group (n = 2,411). Women with intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) (n = 2,416) and non-pregnant women (n = 2,419) were matched as controls at a ratio of 1∶1. Information regarding the previous and current use of contraceptives was collected. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidential intervals (CIs). Previous use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) was associated with a slight risk of ectopic pregnancy (AOR1 = 1.87 [95% CI: 1.48-2.37]; AOR2 = 1.84 [1.49-2.27]), and the risk increased with the duration of previous use (P1 for trend contraceptives reduced the risk of both unwanted IUP (condom: AOR = 0.04 [0.03-0.05]; withdrawal method: AOR = 0.10 [0.07-0.13]; calendar rhythm method: AOR = 0.54 [0.40-0.73]; oral contraceptive pills [OCPs]: AOR = 0.03 [0.02-0.08]; levonorgestrel emergency contraception [LNG-EC]: AOR = 0.22 [0.16-0.30]; IUDs: AOR = 0.01 [0.005-0.012]; tubal sterilization: AOR = 0.01 [0.001-0.022]) and unwanted EP (condom: AOR1 = 0.05 [0.04-0.06]; withdrawal method: AOR1 = 0.13 [0.09-0.19]; calendar rhythm method: AOR1 = 0.66 [0.48-0.91]; OCPs: AOR1 = 0.14 [0.07-0.26]; IUDs: AOR1 = 0.17 [0.13-0.22]; tubal sterilization: AOR1 = 0.04 [0.02-0.08]). However, when contraception failed and pregnancy occurred, current use of OCPs (AOR2 = 4.06 [1.64-10.07]), LNG-EC (AOR2 = 4.87 [3.88-6.10]), IUDs (AOR2 = 21.08 [13.44-33.07]), and tubal sterilization (AOR2 = 7.68 [1.69-34.80]) increased the risk of EP compared with the non-use of contraceptives. Current use of most contraceptives reduce the risk of both IUP and EP. However, if the

Investigation of an online, problem-based introduction to nuclear sciences: A case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, M.; Easter, M.; Jiazhen, W.; Jonassen, D.

2006-01-01

An online, grant-funded course on nuclear engineering in society was developed at a large Midwestern university with the goal of providing non-majors a meaningful introduction to the many applications of nuclear science in a modern society and to stimulate learner interest in academic studies and/or professional involvement in nuclear science. Using a within-site case study approach, the current study focused on the efficacy of the online learning environment's support of learners' acquisition of knowledge and the impact of the environment on learners' interest in and beliefs about nuclear sciences in society. Findings suggest the environment successfully promoted learning and had a positive impact on learners' interests and beliefs. (authors)

Investigation of an online, problem-based introduction to nuclear sciences: A case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, M.; Easter, M.; Jiazhen, W.; Jonassen, D. [Univ. of Missouri - Columbia, 111 London Hall, Columbia, MO 65211 (United States)

2006-07-01

An online, grant-funded course on nuclear engineering in society was developed at a large Midwestern university with the goal of providing non-majors a meaningful introduction to the many applications of nuclear science in a modern society and to stimulate learner interest in academic studies and/or professional involvement in nuclear science. Using a within-site case study approach, the current study focused on the efficacy of the online learning environment's support of learners' acquisition of knowledge and the impact of the environment on learners' interest in and beliefs about nuclear sciences in society. Findings suggest the environment successfully promoted learning and had a positive impact on learners' interests and beliefs. (authors)

Risk Factors of Congenital Heart Diseases: A Case-Control Study inNorthwest Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Naghavi-Behzad, Mohammad; Alizadeh, Mahasti; Azami, Saber; Foroughifar, Shirin; Ghasempour-Dabbaghi, Khazar; Karzad, Nazila; Ahadi, Hamid-Reza; Naghavi-Behzad, Ali

2013-01-01

Congenital heart diseases are of immense importance and also a high prevalence. Contributing factors to developing these defects have not been abundantly studied. Therefore, the current study was conducted aiming at determining the effective factors on Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) in newborn infants of Northwest Iran. A case-control study was carried out in North-West of Iran from 2002 to 2012 and a total of 473 infants entered the study. Required data were obtained through check lists completed by the information of hospital records and interview with mothers of 267 newborn infants with CHD together with medical records of mothers as the case group, and 206 medical records of healthy infants at the same period all together with those of their mothers as the control group. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, T-test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and Multi-variable Logistic Regression Model (OR with 95% CI), using SPSS.19. In the present study, P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Based on the results of univariable analyses, the number of previous cesarean sections, past medical history of diseases, gestational age (GA), fetal weight at birth, diastolic blood pressure, fetal heart rate, pulse rate, fetal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, and fetal head circumference at birth have significant relationship with incidence of congenital abnormalities (Prelationship with CHD incidence. Based on the results of present study, in order to control and reduce the cases of CHD, it is crucial to make proper decisions and implement policies for reducing cesarean cases, lowering consanguineous marriages, providing proper pre-marriage counseling, prompt treatment of mothers' illnesses, improving pregnancy health care and mothers' health status for the purpose of better well-being of newborn infants.

Risk Factors of Congenital Heart Diseases: A Case-Control Study in Northwest Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naghavi-Behzad Mohammad

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Congenital heart diseases are of immense importance and also a high prevalence. Contributing factors to developing these defects have not been abundantly studied. Therefore, the current study was conducted aiming at determining the effective factors on Congenital Heart Disease (CHD in newborn infants of Northwest Iran. Methods: A case-control study was carried out in North-West of Iran from 2002 to 2012 and a total of 473 infants entered the study. Required data were obtained through check lists completed by the information of hospital records and interview with mothers of 267 newborn infants with CHD together with medical records of mothers as the case group, and 206 medical records of healthy infants at the same period all together with those of their mothers as the control group. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, T-test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, and Multi-variable Logistic Regression Model (OR with 95% CI, using SPSS.19. In the present study, P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Based on the results of univariable analyses, the number of previous cesarean sections, past medical history of diseases, gestational age (GA, fetal weight at birth, diastolic blood pressure, fetal heart rate, pulse rate, fetal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, and fetal head circumference at birth have significant relationship with incidence of congenital abnormalities (P<0.05. Family history, past cesarean sections history, past medical history and GA had significant relationship with CHD incidence. Conclusion: Based on the results of present study, in order to control and reduce the cases of CHD, it is crucial to make proper decisions and implement policies for reducing cesarean cases, lowering consanguineous marriages, providing proper pre-marriage counseling, prompt treatment of mothers’ illnesses, improving pregnancy health care and mothers�

Logistics case study based research: Towards higher quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedrosa, Alex; Näslund, Dag; Jasmand, Claudia

2012-01-01

analysis of 134 case study based articles published in six leading logistics and supply chain management (SCM) journals between 1998 and 2010 is used to assess and evaluate the quality of the case study based research approach as documented in these publications. Findings – This research provides...... to address to ensure high quality of the case study based research approach in published articles. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the analysis of published articles in six logistics and SCM journals. Further research should investigate different journals in logistics and other...

The influence of convective current generator on the global current

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. N. Morozov

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The mathematical generalization of classical model of the global circuit with taking into account the convective current generator, working in the planetary boundary layer was considered. Convective current generator may be interpreted as generator, in which the electromotive force is generated by processes, of the turbulent transport of electrical charge. It is shown that the average potential of ionosphere is defined not only by the thunderstorm current generators, working at the present moment, but by the convective current generator also. The influence of the convective processes in the boundary layer on the electrical parameters of the atmosphere is not only local, but has global character as well. The numerical estimations, made for the case of the convective-unstable boundary layer demonstrate that the increase of the average potential of ionosphere may be of the order of 10% to 40%.

Understanding how social enterprises can benefit from supportive legal frameworks : a case study report on social enterpreneurial models in Greece

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Argyrou, A.a; Blomme, R.J.; Lambooy, T.E.; Kievit, H.

2016-01-01

This study aims to test how legal factors affect the corporate structure of a social enterprise. The current article focuses on the legal factor of governance as the decision-making power of stakeholders within the social enterprise. The authors conducted a case study and examined a major social