WorldWideScience

Sample records for design index level

  1. Designing and Evaluating Patient Education Pamphlets based on Readability Indexes and Comparison with Literacy Levels of Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdieh Arian

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Hundreds of patient education materials i.e. pamphlets are annually published in healthcare systems following their design, correction, and revision. Aim: to design and evaluate patient education pamphlets based on readability indexes and their comparison with literacy level in society. Method: The average literacy level among 500 patients admitted to two training hospitals in Bojnurd (northeastern Iran was determined in 2014-2015. Afterwards, all patient education pamphlets in both hospitals (n=69 were collected and their readability level was determined. After that, all the pamphlets were re-designed according to the given standards and in line with literacy level in society. The SPSS software (Version 20 was also used to analyze the data. Results: The average level of literacy among 500 patients in both hospitals in the present study was 6.72±4.34 which was placed in grades six and seven in terms of the guide to readability indexes. In line with McLaughlin’s SMOG Readability Formula, the bulk of pamphlets (91.3% were at college level before corrections and revisions based on the given standards, but 23.2% were at a level lower than grade seven following corrections and revisions. Implications for Practice: Evaluation of patient education pamphlets plays an important role in promoting self-care among patients. Due to the novelty of the present study in Iran, the results of this study can contribute to patient education researchers in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of patient education materials i.e. pamphlets based on scientific indices as well as their revisions and re-developments.

  2. A multiple index integrating different levels of organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortes, Rui; Hughes, Samantha; Coimbra, Ana; Monteiro, Sandra; Pereira, Vítor; Lopes, Marisa; Pereira, Sandra; Pinto, Ana; Sampaio, Ana; Santos, Cátia; Carrola, João; de Jesus, Joaquim; Varandas, Simone

    2016-10-01

    Many methods in freshwater biomonitoring tend to be restricted to a few levels of biological organization, limiting the potential spectrum of measurable of cause-effect responses to different anthropogenic impacts. We combined distinct organisational levels, covering biological biomarkers (histopathological and biochemical reactions in liver and fish gills), community based bioindicators (fish guilds, invertebrate metrics/traits and chironomid pupal exuviae) and ecosystem functional indicators (decomposition rates) to assess ecological status at designated Water Framework Directive monitoring sites, covering a gradient of human impact across several rivers in northern Portugal. We used Random Forest to rank the variables that contributed more significantly to successfully predict the different classes of ecological status and also to provide specific cut levels to discriminate each WFD class based on reference condition. A total of 59 Biological Quality Elements and functional indicators were determined using this procedure and subsequently applied to develop the integrated Multiple Ecological Level Index (MELI Index), a potentially powerful bioassessment tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Energetic consumption levels and human development indexes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boa Nova, Antonio Carlos

    1999-01-01

    The article overviews the energetic consumption levels and human development indexes. The human development indexes are described based on the United Nations Development Programme. A comparison between the energetic consumption levels and human development indexes is also presented

  4. Relationship of visfatin level to pancreatic endocrine hormone level, HOMA-IR index, and HOMA β-cell index in overweight women who performed hydraulic resistance exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Chang Ho; Swearingin, Brenda; Jeon, Yong Kyun

    2015-09-01

    [Purpose] This study aimed to examine the correlation of visfatin level to pancreatic endocrine hormone level, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, and HOMA β-cell index in hydraulic resistance exercise. Furthermore, it investigated the relationship between visfatin level and other variables affected by exercise in overweight women. [Subjects and Methods] The exercise group trained for 12 weeks, 70 minutes/day, 5 days/week. Visfatin level, pancreatic endocrine hormone level, HOMA-IR index, and HOMA β-cell index were measured before and after the intervention. Based on the blood insulin and glucose concentrations, HOMA-IR index, the indicator of insulin resistance, and HOMA β-cell index, the indicator of insulin secretion level, were assessed. [Results] Interaction effects on visfatin level, insulin level, HOMA-IR index, and HOMA β-cell index were observed. Interaction effects on glucagon and glucose levels were not observed between the intervention groups. The correlations of visfatin level to insulin, glucagon, and glucose levels, and HOMA-IR and HOMA β-cell indexes were not significant for any of the subjects. [Conclusion] Therefore, the 12-week resistance exercise affected body composition, visfatin level, insulin level, HOMA-IR index, and HOMA β-cell index. Finally, visfatin was not related to insulin, glucagon, and glucose levels, and HOMA-IR and HOMA β-cell indexes.

  5. Energy index decomposition methodology at the plant level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumphai, Wisit

    Scope and method of study. The dissertation explores the use of a high level energy intensity index as a facility-level energy performance monitoring indicator with a goal of developing a methodology for an economically based energy performance monitoring system that incorporates production information. The performance measure closely monitors energy usage, production quantity, and product mix and determines the production efficiency as a part of an ongoing process that would enable facility managers to keep track of and, in the future, be able to predict when to perform a recommissioning process. The study focuses on the use of the index decomposition methodology and explored several high level (industry, sector, and country levels) energy utilization indexes, namely, Additive Log Mean Divisia, Multiplicative Log Mean Divisia, and Additive Refined Laspeyres. One level of index decomposition is performed. The indexes are decomposed into Intensity and Product mix effects. These indexes are tested on a flow shop brick manufacturing plant model in three different climates in the United States. The indexes obtained are analyzed by fitting an ARIMA model and testing for dependency between the two decomposed indexes. Findings and conclusions. The results concluded that the Additive Refined Laspeyres index decomposition methodology is suitable to use on a flow shop, non air conditioned production environment as an energy performance monitoring indicator. It is likely that this research can be further expanded in to predicting when to perform a recommissioning process.

  6. Body mass index and serum lipid levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro Javier Navarrete Mejía

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To identify the association between the body mass index (BMI and serum lipid levels in adult people. Material and Methods: Observational, transversal and retrospective study. Non experimental investigation design. The population was conformed for people treated in private health centers in Metropolitan Lima. The evaluations of the BMI and the laboratorial tests to know the seric concentration of lipids were taken between October 2014 and October 2015. It was determined the association between the BMI and the seric lipid levels using the Chi2 test. People with comorbidity that could modify the seric levels of lipids were excluded. Results: 39.7% of people studied were male and 60.3% were female. The average age was 34.2 years old. 40.7% (1227/3016 of population were obese and overweight. The results show a higher level of obesity or overweight in male people over female (54.6% and 33% respectively. 19.7% (594/3016 of the tested people presented high triglycerides seric levels. 27.9% (841/3016 presented high cholesterol levels and 38.8% (1146/3016 presented low cHDL levels. The cLDL levels and cVLDL levels were similar in both groups (male and female. Conclusions: The investigation determined the significant statistical association between the BMI and triglycerides (p < 0.05, cholesterol (p < 0.05 and cHDL (p < 0.05.

  7. Theoretical optimum of implant positional index design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semper, W; Kraft, S; Krüger, T; Nelson, K

    2009-08-01

    Rotational freedom of the implant-abutment connection influences its screw joint stability; for optimization, influential factors need to be evaluated based on a previously developed closed formula. The underlying hypothesis is that the manufacturing tolerances, geometric pattern, and dimensions of the index do not influence positional stability. We used the dimensions of 5 commonly used implant systems with a clearance of 20 microm to calculate the extent of rotational freedom; a 3D simulation (SolidWorks) validated the analytical findings. Polygonal positional indices showed the highest degrees of rotational freedom. The polygonal profile displayed higher positional stability than the polygons, but less positional accuracy than the cam-groove connection. Features of a maximal rotation-safe positional index were determined. The analytical calculation of rotational freedom of implant positional indices is possible. Rotational freedom is dependent on the geometric design of the index and may be decreased by incorporating specific aspects into the positional index design.

  8. Multi-Level Bitmap Indexes for Flash Memory Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Kesheng; Madduri, Kamesh; Canon, Shane

    2010-07-23

    Due to their low access latency, high read speed, and power-efficient operation, flash memory storage devices are rapidly emerging as an attractive alternative to traditional magnetic storage devices. However, tests show that the most efficient indexing methods are not able to take advantage of the flash memory storage devices. In this paper, we present a set of multi-level bitmap indexes that can effectively take advantage of flash storage devices. These indexing methods use coarsely binned indexes to answer queries approximately, and then use finely binned indexes to refine the answers. Our new methods read significantly lower volumes of data at the expense of an increased disk access count, thus taking full advantage of the improved read speed and low access latency of flash devices. To demonstrate the advantage of these new indexes, we measure their performance on a number of storage systems using a standard data warehousing benchmark called the Set Query Benchmark. We observe that multi-level strategies on flash drives are up to 3 times faster than traditional indexing strategies on magnetic disk drives.

  9. Relationship of visfatin level to pancreatic endocrine hormone level, HOMA-IR index, and HOMA β-cell index in overweight women who performed hydraulic resistance exercise

    OpenAIRE

    Ha, Chang Ho; Swearingin, Brenda; Jeon, Yong Kyun

    2015-01-01

    [Purpose] This study aimed to examine the correlation of visfatin level to pancreatic endocrine hormone level, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, and HOMA β-cell index in hydraulic resistance exercise. Furthermore, it investigated the relationship between visfatin level and other variables affected by exercise in overweight women. [Subjects and Methods] The exercise group trained for 12 weeks, 70 minutes/day, 5 days/week. Visfatin level, pancreatic endocrine h...

  10. Constructing a community-level amenity index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joanna Paulson Ganning; Courtney G. Flint

    2010-01-01

    The study of amenity-driven regional change has proliferated in recent years, especially in the American West. While methods of quantifying amenity levels have progressed, they usually rely on traditional and inflexible methods of creating indices. This research note describes a method of manual indexing that allows a flexible and replicable way of assessing amenity...

  11. A general solution to the material performance index for bending strength design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgess, S.C.; Pasini, D.; Smith, D.J.; Alemzadeh, K.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a general solution to the material performance index for the bending strength design of beams. In general, the performance index for strength design is ρ f q /ρ where σ f is the material strength, ρ is the material density and q is a function of the direction of scaling. Previous studies have only solved q for three particular cases: proportional scaling of width and height (q=2/3), constrained height (q=1) and constrained width (q=1/2). This paper presents a general solution to the exponent q for any arbitrary direction of scaling. The index is used to produce performance maps that rank relative material performance for particular design cases. The performance index and the performance maps are applied to a design case study

  12. The Effects of Smoking Cessation on Visceral Adiposity Index Levels

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2018-06-11

    Jun 11, 2018 ... mass index (BMI), and high‑density lipoprotein cholesterol levels .... used to determine the relationship between not normally .... monoxide; VAI=Visceral adiposity index; TG=Triglyceride; HDL‑cholesterol=High density ...

  13. Beyond the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): Developing a Natural Space Index for population-level health research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rugel, Emily J; Henderson, Sarah B; Carpiano, Richard M; Brauer, Michael

    2017-11-01

    Natural spaces can provide psychological benefits to individuals, but population-level epidemiologic studies have produced conflicting results. Refining current exposure-assessment methods is necessary to advance our understanding of population health and to guide the design of health-promoting urban forms. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive Natural Space Index that robustly models potential exposure based on the presence, form, accessibility, and quality of multiple forms of greenspace (e.g., parks and street trees) and bluespace (e.g., oceans and lakes). The index was developed for greater Vancouver, Canada. Greenness presence was derived from remote sensing (NDVI/EVI); forms were extracted from municipal and private databases; and accessibility was based on restrictions such as private ownership. Quality appraisals were conducted for 200 randomly sampled parks using the Public Open Space Desktop Appraisal Tool (POSDAT). Integrating these measures in GIS, exposure was assessed for 60,242 postal codes using 100- to 1,600-m buffers based on hypothesized pathways to mental health. A single index was then derived using principal component analysis (PCA). Comparing NDVI with alternate approaches for assessing natural space resulted in widely divergent results, with quintile rankings shifting for 22-88% of postal codes, depending on the measure. Overall park quality was fairly low (mean of 15 on a scale of 0-45), with no significant difference seen by neighborhood-level household income. The final PCA identified three main sets of variables, with the first two components explaining 68% of the total variance. The first component was dominated by the percentages of public and private greenspace and bluespace and public greenspace within 250m, while the second component was driven by lack of access to bluespace within 1 km. Many current approaches to modeling natural space may misclassify exposures and have limited specificity. The Natural Space Index

  14. The ATLAS EventIndex: architecture, design choices, deployment and first operation experience

    CERN Document Server

    Barberis, Dario; The ATLAS collaboration; Cranshaw, Jack; Favareto, Andrea; Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; Gallas, Elizabeth; Glasman, Claudia; Gonzalez de la Hoz, Santiago; Hrivnac, Julius; Malon, David; Prokoshin, Fedor; Salt, José; Sánchez, Javier; Toebbicke, Rainer; Yuan, Ruijun

    2015-01-01

    The EventIndex is the complete catalogue of all ATLAS events, keeping the references to all files that contain a given event in any processing stage. It replaces the TAG database, which had been in use during LHC Run 1. For each event it contains its identifiers, the trigger pattern and the GUIDs of the files containing it. Major use cases are event picking, feeding the Event Service used on some production sites, and technical checks of the completion and consistency of processing campaigns. The system design is highly modular so that its components (data collection system, storage system based on Hadoop, query web service and interfaces to other ATLAS systems) could be developed separately and in parallel during LS1. The EventIndex is in operation for the start of LHC Run 2. This paper describes the high-level system architecture, the technical design choices and the deployment process and issues. The performance of the data collection and storage systems, as well as the query services, are also reported.

  15. The ATLAS EventIndex: architecture, design choices, deployment and first operation experience

    CERN Document Server

    Barberis, Dario; The ATLAS collaboration; Cranshaw, Jack; Favareto, Andrea; Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; Gallas, Elizabeth; Glasman, Claudia; Gonzalez de la Hoz, Santiago; Hrivnac, Julius; Malon, David; Prokoshin, Fedor; Salt, José; Sánchez, Javier; Rainer Toebbicke; Yuan, Ruijun

    2015-01-01

    The EventIndex is the complete catalogue of all ATLAS events, keeping the references to all files that contain a given event in any processing stage. It replaces the TAG database, which had been in use during LHC Run 1. For each event it contains its identifiers, the trigger pattern and the GUIDs of the files containing it. Major use cases are event picking, feeding the Event Service used on some production sites, and technical checks of the completion and consistency of processing campaigns. The system design is highly modular so that its components (data collection system, storage system based on Hadoop, query web service and interfaces to other ATLAS systems) could be developed separately and in parallel during LS1. The EventIndex is in operation for the start of LHC Run 2. This talk describes the high level system architecture, the technical design choices and the deployment process and issues. The performance of the data collection and storage systems, as well as the query services, will be reported.

  16. The ATLAS EventIndex: architecture, design choices, deployment and first operation experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barberis, D.; Cárdenas Zárate, S. E.; Cranshaw, J.; Favareto, A.; Fernández Casaní, Á.; Gallas, E. J.; Glasman, C.; González de la Hoz, S.; Hřivnáč, J.; Malon, D.; Prokoshin, F.; Salt Cairols, J.; Sánchez, J.; Többicke, R.; Yuan, R.

    2015-12-01

    The EventIndex is the complete catalogue of all ATLAS events, keeping the references to all files that contain a given event in any processing stage. It replaces the TAG database, which had been in use during LHC Run 1. For each event it contains its identifiers, the trigger pattern and the GUIDs of the files containing it. Major use cases are event picking, feeding the Event Service used on some production sites, and technical checks of the completion and consistency of processing campaigns. The system design is highly modular so that its components (data collection system, storage system based on Hadoop, query web service and interfaces to other ATLAS systems) could be developed separately and in parallel during LSI. The EventIndex is in operation for the start of LHC Run 2. This paper describes the high-level system architecture, the technical design choices and the deployment process and issues. The performance of the data collection and storage systems, as well as the query services, are also reported.

  17. New model performance index for engineering design of control systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    1970-01-01

    Performance index includes a model representing linear control-system design specifications. Based on a geometric criterion for approximation of the model by the actual system, the index can be interpreted directly in terms of the desired system response model without actually having the model's time response.

  18. Design, building and use of a selective pyranometer for the definition and measurement of the lighting index

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guicherd, Roger.

    1976-03-01

    The design, building, testing, calibration and operation of a selective pyranometer intended for the definition and measurement of the lighting index are described; with this original apparatus the energetic lighting at ground level is measured selectively and continuously. The measurement head has three transducers equipped with hollow hemispherical filters measuring energy in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared range respectively. In conclusion, a definition of the lighting index obtained with this thermally compensated, selective pyranometer P.S. is proposed [fr

  19. Nested structures approach in designing an isotropic negative-index material for infrared

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andryieuski, Andrei; Malureanu, Radu; Lavrinenko, Andrei

    2009-01-01

    We propose a new generic approach for designing isotropic metamaterial with nested cubic structures. As an example, a three-dimensional isotropic unit cell design "Split Cube in Cage" (SCiC) is shown to exhibit an effective negative refractive index on infrared wavelengths. We report on the refra......We propose a new generic approach for designing isotropic metamaterial with nested cubic structures. As an example, a three-dimensional isotropic unit cell design "Split Cube in Cage" (SCiC) is shown to exhibit an effective negative refractive index on infrared wavelengths. We report...

  20. Software Architecture Design for Spatially-Indexed Media in Smart Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SCHIPOR, O.-A.

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available We introduce in this work a new software architecture design, based on well-established web communication protocols and scripting languages, for implementing spatially-indexed media in smart environments. We based our approach on specific design guidelines. Our concept of spatially-indexed media enables users to readily instantiate mappings between digital content and specific regions of the physical space. We present an implementation of the architecture using a motion capture system, a large visualization display, and several smart devices. We also present an experimental evaluation of our new software architecture by reporting response times function of changes in the complexity of physical-digital environment.

  1. Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: implementing inherent safety perspective. Part 2-Domino Hazard Index and case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

    2008-12-15

    The design of layout plans requires adequate assessment tools for the quantification of safety performance. The general focus of the present work is to introduce an inherent safety perspective at different points of the layout design process. In particular, index approaches for safety assessment and decision-making in the early stages of layout design are developed and discussed in this two-part contribution. Part 1 (accompanying paper) of the current work presents an integrated index approach for safety assessment of early plant layout. In the present paper (Part 2), an index for evaluation of the hazard related to the potential of domino effects is developed. The index considers the actual consequences of possible escalation scenarios and scores or ranks the subsequent accident propagation potential. The effects of inherent and passive protection measures are also assessed. The result is a rapid quantification of domino hazard potential that can provide substantial support for choices in the early stages of layout design. Additionally, a case study concerning selection among various layout options is presented and analyzed. The case study demonstrates the use and applicability of the indices developed in both parts of the current work and highlights the value of introducing inherent safety features early in layout design.

  2. Optimization of emergy sustainability index for biodiesel supply network design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ren, Jingzheng; Tan, Shiyu; Yang, Le; Goodsite, Michael Evan; Pang, Chengfang; Dong, Lichun

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A MINLP model for designing sustainable biodiesel supply network is developed. • Emergy sustainability index is used as the objective to be maximized. • Multiple alternatives in each stage of biodiesel supply network are considered. • Life cycle perspective is incorporated in the design of biodiesel supply network. - Abstract: Sustainability is an important and difficult consideration for the stakeholders/decision-makers when planning a biofuel supply network. In this paper, a Mixed-Integer Non-linear Programming (MINLP) model was developed with the aim to help the stakeholders/decision-maker to select the most sustainable design. In the proposed model, the emergy sustainability index of the whole biodiesel supply networks in a life cycle perspective is employed as the measure of the sustainability, and multiple feedstocks, multiple transport modes, multiple regions for biodiesel production and multiple distribution centers can be considered. After describing the process and mathematic framework of the model, an illustrative case was studied and demonstrated that the proposed methodology is feasible for finding the most sustainable design and planning of biodiesel supply chains

  3. Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: Implementing inherent safety perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

    2008-01-01

    The design of layout plans requires adequate assessment tools for the quantification of safety performance. The general focus of the present work is to introduce an inherent safety perspective at different points of the layout design process. In particular, index approaches for safety assessment and decision-making in the early stages of layout design are developed and discussed in this two-part contribution. Part 1 (accompanying paper) of the current work presents an integrated index approach for safety assessment of early plant layout. In the present paper (Part 2), an index for evaluation of the hazard related to the potential of domino effects is developed. The index considers the actual consequences of possible escalation scenarios and scores or ranks the subsequent accident propagation potential. The effects of inherent and passive protection measures are also assessed. The result is a rapid quantification of domino hazard potential that can provide substantial support for choices in the early stages of layout design. Additionally, a case study concerning selection among various layout options is presented and analyzed. The case study demonstrates the use and applicability of the indices developed in both parts of the current work and highlights the value of introducing inherent safety features early in layout design

  4. Design of the national health security preparedness index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzun Jacobson, Evin; Inglesby, Tom; Khan, Ali S; Rajotte, James C; Burhans, Robert L; Slemp, Catherine C; Links, Jonathan M

    2014-01-01

    The importance of health security in the United States has been highlighted by recent emergencies such as the H1N1 influenza pandemic, Superstorm Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. The nation's health security remains a high priority today, with federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local governments, as well as nongovernment organizations and the private sector, engaging in activities that prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, and recover from health threats. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), led an effort to create an annual measure of health security preparedness at the national level. The collaborative released the National Health Security Preparedness Index (NHSPI(™)) in December 2013 and provided composite results for the 50 states and for the nation as a whole. The Index results represent current levels of health security preparedness in a consistent format and provide actionable information to drive decision making for continuous improvement of the nation's health security. The overall 2013 National Index result was 7.2 on the reported base-10 scale, with areas of greater strength in the domains of health surveillance, incident and information management, and countermeasure management. The strength of the Index relies on the interdependencies of the many elements in health security preparedness, making the sum greater than its parts. Moving forward, additional health security-related disciplines and measures will be included alongside continued validation efforts.

  5. Reducing Production Basis Risk through Rainfall Intensity Frequency (RIF) Indexes: Global Sensitivity Analysis' Implication on Policy Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muneepeerakul, Chitsomanus; Huffaker, Ray; Munoz-Carpena, Rafael

    2016-04-01

    The weather index insurance promises financial resilience to farmers struck by harsh weather conditions with swift compensation at affordable premium thanks to its minimal adverse selection and moral hazard. Despite these advantages, the very nature of indexing causes the presence of "production basis risk" that the selected weather indexes and their thresholds do not correspond to actual damages. To reduce basis risk without additional data collection cost, we propose the use of rain intensity and frequency as indexes as it could offer better protection at the lower premium by avoiding basis risk-strike trade-off inherent in the total rainfall index. We present empirical evidences and modeling results that even under the similar cumulative rainfall and temperature environment, yield can significantly differ especially for drought sensitive crops. We further show that deriving the trigger level and payoff function from regression between historical yield and total rainfall data may pose significant basis risk owing to their non-unique relationship in the insured range of rainfall. Lastly, we discuss the design of index insurance in terms of contract specifications based on the results from global sensitivity analysis.

  6. Formulation of topical bioadhesive gel of aceclofenac using 3-level factorial design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Sanjay; Parhi, Rabinarayan; Garg, Anuj

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this work was to develop bioadhesive topical gel of Aceclofenac with the help of response-surface approach. Experiments were performed according to a 3-level factorial design to evaluate the effects of two independent variables [amount of Poloxamer 407 (PL-407 = X1) and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K100 M (HPMC = X2)] on the bioadhesive character of gel, rheological property of gel (consistency index), and in-vitro drug release. The best model was selected to fit the data. Mathematical equation was generated by Design Expert® software for the model which assists in determining the effect of independent variables. Response surface plots were also generated by the software for analyzing effect of the independent variables on the response. Quadratic model was found to be the best for all the responses. Both independent variable (X1 and X2) were found to have synergistic effect on bioadhesion (Y1) but the effect of HPMC was more pronounced than PL-407. Consistency index was enhanced by increasing the level of both independent variables. An antagonistic effect of both independent variables was found on cumulative percentage release of drug in 2 (Y3) and 8 h (Y4). Both independent variables approximately equally contributed the antagonistic effect on Y3 whereas antagonistic effect of HPMC was more pronounced than PL-407. The effect of formulation variables on the product characteristics can be easily predicted and precisely interpreted by using a 3-level factorial experimental design and generated quadratic mathematical equations.

  7. Design and Fabrication of Large Diameter Gradient-Index Lenses for Dual-Band Visible to Short-Wave Infrared Imaging Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visconti, Anthony Joseph

    The fabrication of gradient-index (GRIN) optical elements is quite challenging, which has traditionally restricted their use in many imaging systems; consequently, commercial-level GRIN components usually exist in one particular market or niche application space. One such fabrication technique, ion exchange, is a well-known process used in the chemical strengthening of glass, the fabrication of waveguide devices, and the production of small diameter GRIN optical relay systems. However, the manufacturing of large diameter ion-exchanged GRIN elements has historically been limited by long diffusion times. For example, the diffusion time for a 20 mm diameter radial GRIN lens in commercially available ion exchange glass for small diameter relays, is on the order of a year. The diffusion time can be dramatically reduced by addressing three key ion exchange process parameters; the composition of the glass, the diffusion temperature, and the composition of the salt bath. Experimental work throughout this thesis aims to (1) scale up the ion exchange diffusion process to 20 mm diameters for a fast-diffusing titania silicate glass family in both (2) sodium ion for lithium ion (Na+ for Li+) and lithium ion for sodium ion (Li+ for Na+) exchange directions, while (3) utilizing manufacturing friendly salt bath compositions. In addition, optical design studies have demonstrated that an important benefit of gradient-index elements in imaging systems is the added degree of freedom introduced with a gradient's optical power. However, these studies have not investigated the potential usefulness of GRIN materials in dual-band visible to short-wave infrared (vis-SWIR) imaging systems. The unique chromatic properties of the titania silicate ion exchange glass become a significant degree of freedom in the design process for these color-limited, broadband imaging applications. A single GRIN element can replace a cemented doublet or even a cemented triplet, without loss in overall system

  8. An architectural approach to level design

    CERN Document Server

    Totten, Christopher W

    2014-01-01

    Explore Level Design through the Lens of Architectural and Spatial Experience TheoryWritten by a game developer and professor trained in architecture, An Architectural Approach to Level Design is one of the first books to integrate architectural and spatial design theory with the field of level design. It explores the principles of level design through the context and history of architecture, providing information useful to both academics and game development professionals.Understand Spatial Design Principles for Game Levels in 2D, 3D, and Multiplayer ApplicationsThe book presents architectura

  9. Attribute Index and Uniform Design Based Multiobjective Association Rule Mining with Evolutionary Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Zhang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In association rule mining, evaluating an association rule needs to repeatedly scan database to compare the whole database with the antecedent, consequent of a rule and the whole rule. In order to decrease the number of comparisons and time consuming, we present an attribute index strategy. It only needs to scan database once to create the attribute index of each attribute. Then all metrics values to evaluate an association rule do not need to scan database any further, but acquire data only by means of the attribute indices. The paper visualizes association rule mining as a multiobjective problem rather than a single objective one. In order to make the acquired solutions scatter uniformly toward the Pareto frontier in the objective space, elitism policy and uniform design are introduced. The paper presents the algorithm of attribute index and uniform design based multiobjective association rule mining with evolutionary algorithm, abbreviated as IUARMMEA. It does not require the user-specified minimum support and minimum confidence anymore, but uses a simple attribute index. It uses a well-designed real encoding so as to extend its application scope. Experiments performed on several databases demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has excellent performance, and it can significantly reduce the number of comparisons and time consumption.

  10. Attribute index and uniform design based multiobjective association rule mining with evolutionary algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jie; Wang, Yuping; Feng, Junhong

    2013-01-01

    In association rule mining, evaluating an association rule needs to repeatedly scan database to compare the whole database with the antecedent, consequent of a rule and the whole rule. In order to decrease the number of comparisons and time consuming, we present an attribute index strategy. It only needs to scan database once to create the attribute index of each attribute. Then all metrics values to evaluate an association rule do not need to scan database any further, but acquire data only by means of the attribute indices. The paper visualizes association rule mining as a multiobjective problem rather than a single objective one. In order to make the acquired solutions scatter uniformly toward the Pareto frontier in the objective space, elitism policy and uniform design are introduced. The paper presents the algorithm of attribute index and uniform design based multiobjective association rule mining with evolutionary algorithm, abbreviated as IUARMMEA. It does not require the user-specified minimum support and minimum confidence anymore, but uses a simple attribute index. It uses a well-designed real encoding so as to extend its application scope. Experiments performed on several databases demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has excellent performance, and it can significantly reduce the number of comparisons and time consumption.

  11. Developing a network-level structural capacity index for structural evaluation of pavements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    The objective of this project was to develop a structural index for use in network-level pavement evaluation to facilitate : the inclusion of the pavements structural condition in pavement management applications. The primary goal of network-level...

  12. [The Italian deprivation index at census block level: definition, description and association with general mortality].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caranci, Nicola; Biggeri, Annibale; Grisotto, Laura; Pacelli, Barbara; Spadea, Teresa; Costa, Giuseppe

    2010-01-01

    the study is aimed at developing a nationwide deprivation index at municipality and census block level, based on the 2001 Census data, and meeting epidemiological needs. The study uses data drawn from the 2001 General Census of Population and Housing. From the 280 variables defined at census block level (352,605 census tracts with average number of inhabitants 169, standard deviation 225; and average area 0.6 km², sd 2.4 km²) five traits that operationally combine to represent the multidimensionality of the social and material deprivation concept have been selected; these are: low level of education, unemployment, non-home ownership, one parent family and overcrowding. The index is calculated by summing standardized indicators and it is also available as categorical by quintiles of population. The same procedure is applied to aggregate frequency data at municipality level. The correlation between mortality and deprivation has been evaluated using 2000-2004 general mortality. considering national data, a strong north-south gradient in deprivation was observed. The municipality deprivation index 2001 is highly correlated to the index likewise calculated on the basis of the previous 1991 Census (r=0.91). General mortality was positively correlated to the index (in particular in population up to 64 years and in larger size municipalities). the pattern described by the deprivation index was coherent with what is already known about geographic distribution of poverty and its impact on mortality. Such outcome bears out the index use for epidemiological purposes.

  13. Optimization of emergy sustainability index for biodiesel supply network design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ren, Jingzheng; Tan, Shiyu; Yang, Le

    2015-01-01

    sustainable design. In the proposed model, the emergy sustainability index of the whole biodiesel supply networks in a life cycle perspective is employed as the measure of the sustainability, and multiple feedstocks, multiple transport modes, multiple regions for biodiesel production and multiple distribution...... centers can be considered. After describing the process and mathematic framework of the model, an illustrative case was studied and demonstrated that the proposed methodology is feasible for finding the most sustainable design and planning of biodiesel supply chains....

  14. Limited oxygen index levels of impregnated Scots pine wood

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomak, Eylem Dizman; Cavdar, Ayfer Donmez

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Scots pine samples were treated with 4 wood preservatives with various concentrations. • Limited oxygen index level was evaluated both for leached and un-leached samples. • All treatments improved fire retardance of samples despite some chemicals leached out. • Samples treated with fireproof agent showed the best results. • LOI of samples treated with boron powder and silicon oil was not changed by leaching. - Abstract: In this study, effect of various concentrations of boron powder, mixture of boric acid and borax, fireproof agent based on liquid blend of limestone, and silicon oil on limited oxygen index levels (LOI) of S. pine wood was investigated. Wood samples were first vacuum treated with the preservatives, and then were subjected to leaching procedure. Samples treated with fireproof agent showed the best results for improving the fire retardancy of wood, furthermore, samples treated with 25%, 50% and 100% of the solution did not burn. Leaching did not considerably change the LOI of wood samples treated with boron powder and silicon oil; however, LOI levels of samples treated with the mixture of boric acid and borax and fireproof agent were affected by leaching procedure probably arising those preservatives did not chemically bond to main wood components. All treatments improved fire retardancy of samples despite some amount of preservatives leached out from wood

  15. Limited oxygen index levels of impregnated Scots pine wood

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tomak, Eylem Dizman, E-mail: eylemdizman@yahoo.com [Forest Industry Engineering Department, Faculty of Forestry, Bursa Technical University, 16200 Bursa (Turkey); Cavdar, Ayfer Donmez [Interior Architecture Department, Faculty of Architecture, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon (Turkey)

    2013-12-10

    Highlights: • Scots pine samples were treated with 4 wood preservatives with various concentrations. • Limited oxygen index level was evaluated both for leached and un-leached samples. • All treatments improved fire retardance of samples despite some chemicals leached out. • Samples treated with fireproof agent showed the best results. • LOI of samples treated with boron powder and silicon oil was not changed by leaching. - Abstract: In this study, effect of various concentrations of boron powder, mixture of boric acid and borax, fireproof agent based on liquid blend of limestone, and silicon oil on limited oxygen index levels (LOI) of S. pine wood was investigated. Wood samples were first vacuum treated with the preservatives, and then were subjected to leaching procedure. Samples treated with fireproof agent showed the best results for improving the fire retardancy of wood, furthermore, samples treated with 25%, 50% and 100% of the solution did not burn. Leaching did not considerably change the LOI of wood samples treated with boron powder and silicon oil; however, LOI levels of samples treated with the mixture of boric acid and borax and fireproof agent were affected by leaching procedure probably arising those preservatives did not chemically bond to main wood components. All treatments improved fire retardancy of samples despite some amount of preservatives leached out from wood.

  16. Automatic design of basin-specific drought indexes for highly regulated water systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaniolo, Marta; Giuliani, Matteo; Castelletti, Andrea Francesco; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

    2018-04-01

    Socio-economic costs of drought are progressively increasing worldwide due to undergoing alterations of hydro-meteorological regimes induced by climate change. Although drought management is largely studied in the literature, traditional drought indexes often fail at detecting critical events in highly regulated systems, where natural water availability is conditioned by the operation of water infrastructures such as dams, diversions, and pumping wells. Here, ad hoc index formulations are usually adopted based on empirical combinations of several, supposed-to-be significant, hydro-meteorological variables. These customized formulations, however, while effective in the design basin, can hardly be generalized and transferred to different contexts. In this study, we contribute FRIDA (FRamework for Index-based Drought Analysis), a novel framework for the automatic design of basin-customized drought indexes. In contrast to ad hoc empirical approaches, FRIDA is fully automated, generalizable, and portable across different basins. FRIDA builds an index representing a surrogate of the drought conditions of the basin, computed by combining all the relevant available information about the water circulating in the system identified by means of a feature extraction algorithm. We used the Wrapper for Quasi-Equally Informative Subset Selection (W-QEISS), which features a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to find Pareto-efficient subsets of variables by maximizing the wrapper accuracy, minimizing the number of selected variables, and optimizing relevance and redundancy of the subset. The preferred variable subset is selected among the efficient solutions and used to formulate the final index according to alternative model structures. We apply FRIDA to the case study of the Jucar river basin (Spain), a drought-prone and highly regulated Mediterranean water resource system, where an advanced drought management plan relying on the formulation of an ad hoc state index is used

  17. Patient dose, gray level and exposure index with a computed radiography system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, T. R.; Yoshimura, E. M.

    2014-02-01

    Computed radiography (CR) is gradually replacing conventional screen-film system in Brazil. To assess image quality, manufactures provide the calculation of an exposure index through the acquisition software of the CR system. The objective of this study is to verify if the CR image can be used as an evaluator of patient absorbed dose too, through a relationship between the entrance skin dose and the exposure index or the gray level values obtained in the image. The CR system used for this study (Agfa model 30-X with NX acquisition software) calculates an exposure index called Log of the Median (lgM), related to the absorbed dose to the IP. The lgM value depends on the average gray level (called Scan Average Level (SAL)) of the segmented pixel value histogram of the whole image. A Rando male phantom was used to simulate a human body (chest and head), and was irradiated with an X-ray equipment, using usual radiologic techniques for chest exams. Thermoluminescent dosimeters (LiF, TLD100) were used to evaluate entrance skin dose and exit dose. The results showed a logarithm relation between entrance dose and SAL in the image center, regardless of the beam filtration. The exposure index varies linearly with the entrance dose, but the angular coefficient is beam quality dependent. We conclude that, with an adequate calibration, the CR system can be used to evaluate the patient absorbed dose.

  18. Changes in Nitric Oxide Level and Thickness Index of Synovial Fluid ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Changes in Nitric Oxide Level and Thickness Index of Synovial Fluid in Osteoarthritis Patients ... Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research ... and moderate phase patients after intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate, while the effect ...

  19. Association between oxidative stress index and serum lipid levels in healthy young adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turkdogan, K.E.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: To investigate the relationship between lipid levels and oxidative stress index in healthy young adults. Methods: The study was camed out at the Department of Emergency Service, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey, between January 2011 and July 2012. A total of 100 healthy adult volunteers were enrolled in the study. Venous blood samples (10 ml) were collected from all individuals, and serum lipid parameters, total antioxidant capacity and total oxidative levels were studied. SPSS 15 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Overall, there were 84 (84%) males and 16 (16%) females. The mean age of the male population was 30+-3 years, while that of the females was 31+-3 years. Overall age ranged from 25 to 35 years. A statistically significant correlation was found between the oxidative stress index and serum cholesterol (p<0.001; r=0.596), triglyceride (p<0.001; r=0.476) and low-density lipoprotein levels (p<0.001; r=0.318). However, no significant correlation was found between oxidative stress index and serum high-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.564; r=0.058). Conclusion: The results showed that even at an early age, there is a direct linear correlation between oxidative stress and serum lipid levels. (author)

  20. The influence of gender and product design on farmers' preferences for weather-indexed crop insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akter, Sonia; Krupnik, Timothy J; Rossi, Frederick; Khanam, Fahmida

    2016-05-01

    Theoretically, weather-index insurance is an effective risk reduction option for small-scale farmers in low income countries. Renewed policy and donor emphasis on bridging gender gaps in development also emphasizes the potential social safety net benefits that weather-index insurance could bring to women farmers who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change risk and have low adaptive capacity. To date, no quantitative studies have experimentally explored weather-index insurance preferences through a gender lens, and little information exists regarding gender-specific preferences for (and constraints to) smallholder investment in agricultural weather-index insurance. This study responds to this gap, and advances the understanding of preference heterogeneity for weather-index insurance by analysing data collected from 433 male and female farmers living on a climate change vulnerable coastal island in Bangladesh, where an increasing number of farmers are adopting maize as a potentially remunerative, but high-risk cash crop. We implemented a choice experiment designed to investigate farmers' valuations for, and trade-offs among, the key attributes of a hypothetical maize crop weather-index insurance program that offered different options for bundling insurance with financial saving mechanisms. Our results reveal significant insurance aversion among female farmers, irrespective of the attributes of the insurance scheme. Heterogeneity in insurance choices could however not be explained by differences in men's and women's risk and time preferences, or agency in making agriculturally related decisions. Rather, gendered differences in farmers' level of trust in insurance institutions and financial literacy were the key factors driving the heterogeneous preferences observed between men and women. Efforts to fulfill gender equity mandates in climate-smart agricultural development programs that rely on weather-index insurance as a risk-abatement tool are therefore

  1. [Frail-VIG index: Design and evaluation of a new frailty index based on the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amblàs-Novellas, Jordi; Martori, Joan Carles; Molist Brunet, Núria; Oller, Ramon; Gómez-Batiste, Xavier; Espaulella Panicot, Joan

    Frailty is closely linked to health results. Frailty indexes (FI) and the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) are multidimensional tools. FI serve to quantitatively measure frailty levels. They have shown to have an excellent correlation with mortality. However, they are infrequently used in clinical practice. Given the need for new, more concise, and pragmatic FI, a new FI is proposed based on a CGA (Frail-VIG Index). A prospective, observational, longitudinal study was conducted, with cohort follow up at 12 months or death. Participants were patients admitted in the Geriatric Unit of the University Hospital of Vic (Barcelona, Spain) during 2014. Contrast of hypothesis log-rank for survival curves according to Frail-VIG index, and analysis of ROC curves were performed to assess prognostic capacity. A total of 590 patients were included (mean age=86.39). Mortality rate at 12 months was 46.4%. The comparative analysis showed statistically significant differences (P<.05) for almost all variables included in the Frail-VIG index. Survival curves also show significant differences (X 2 =445, P<.001) for the different Frail-VIG index scores. The area under the ROC curve at 12 months was 0.9 (0.88-0.92). An administration time of the Index is estimated at less than 10minutes. Results endorse the Frail-VIG index as a simple (as for contents), rapid (for administration time) tool, with discriminative (for situational diagnosis) and predictive capacity (high correlation with mortality). Copyright © 2016 SEGG. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  2. Design of LED projector based on gradient-index lens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Liyong; Zhu, Xiangbing; Cui, Haitian; Wang, Yuanhang

    2018-01-01

    In this study, a new type of projector light path is designed to eliminate the deficits of existing projection systems, such as complex structure and low collection efficiency. Using a three-color LED array as the lighting source, by means of the special optical properties of a gradient-index lens, the complex structure of the traditional projector is simplified. Traditional components, such as the color wheel, relay lens, and mirror, become unnecessary. In this way, traditional problems, such as low utilization of light energy and loss of light energy, are solved. With the help of Zemax software, the projection lens is optimized. The optimized projection lens, LED, gradient-index lens, and digital micromirror device are imported into Tracepro. The ray tracing results show that both the utilization of light energy and the uniformity are improved significantly.

  3. Design of a Michelson Interferometer for Quantitative Refraction Index Profile Measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nijholt, J.L.M.

    1998-01-01

    This book describes the theoretical design of a three camera Michelson interferometer set-up for quantitative refractive index measuerments. Although a two camera system is easier to align and less expensive, a three camera interferometer is preferred because the expected measuring accuracy is much

  4. INDEXING AND INDEX FUNDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HAKAN SARITAŞ

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Proponents of the efficient market hypothesis believe that active portfolio management is largely wasted effort and unlikely to justify the expenses incurred. Therefore, they advocate a passive investment strategy that makes no attempt to outsmart the market. One common strategy for passive management is indexing where a fund is designed to replicate the performance of a broad-based index of stocks and bonds. Traditionally, indexing was used by institutional investors, but today, the use of index funds proliferated among individual investors. Over the years, both international and domestic index funds have disproportionately outperformed the market more than the actively managed funds have.

  5. Bats: Body mass index, forearm mass index, blood glucose levels and SLC2A2 genes for diabetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Fanxing; Zhu, Lei; Huang, Wenjie; Irwin, David M.; Zhang, Shuyi

    2016-01-01

    Bats have an unusually large volume of endocrine tissue, with a large population of beta cells, and an elevated sensitivity to glucose and insulin. This makes them excellent animal models for studying diabetes mellitus. We evaluated bats as models for diabetes in terms of lifestyle and genetic factors. For lifestyle factors, we generated data sets of 149 body mass index (BMI) and 860 forearm mass index (FMI) measurements for different species of bats. Both showed negative inter-species correlations with blood glucose levels in sixteen bats examined. The negative inter-species correlations may reflect adaptation of a small insectivorous ancestor to a larger frugivore. We identified an 11 bp deletion in the proximal promoter of SLC2A2 that we predicted would disrupt binding sites for the transcription repressor ZNF354C. In frugivorous bats this could explain the relatively high expression of this gene, resulting in a better capacity to absorb glucose and decrease blood glucose levels. PMID:27439361

  6. System level ESD co-design

    CERN Document Server

    Gossner, Harald

    2015-01-01

    An effective and cost efficient protection of electronic system against ESD stress pulses specified by IEC 61000-4-2 is paramount for any system design. This pioneering book presents the collective knowledge of system designers and system testing experts and state-of-the-art techniques for achieving efficient system-level ESD protection, with minimum impact on the system performance. All categories of system failures ranging from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ types are considered to review simulation and tool applications that can be used. The principal focus of System Level ESD Co-Design is defining and establishing the importance of co-design efforts from both IC supplier and system builder perspectives. ESD designers often face challenges in meeting customers' system-level ESD requirements and, therefore, a clear understanding of the techniques presented here will facilitate effective simulation approaches leading to better solutions without compromising system performance. With contributions from Robert Asht...

  7. Level design concept, theory, and practice

    CERN Document Server

    Kremers, Rudolf

    2009-01-01

    Good or bad level design can make or break any game, so it is surprising how little reference material exists for level designers. Beginning level designers have a limited understanding of the tools and techniques they can use to achieve their goals, or even define them. This book is the first to use a conceptual and theoretical foundation to build such a set of practical tools and techniques. It is tied to no particular technology or genre, so it will be a useful reference for many years to come. Kremers covers many concepts universal to level design, such as interactivity, world building, im

  8. Knowledge-based machine indexing from natural language text: Knowledge base design, development, and maintenance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genuardi, Michael T.

    1993-01-01

    One strategy for machine-aided indexing (MAI) is to provide a concept-level analysis of the textual elements of documents or document abstracts. In such systems, natural-language phrases are analyzed in order to identify and classify concepts related to a particular subject domain. The overall performance of these MAI systems is largely dependent on the quality and comprehensiveness of their knowledge bases. These knowledge bases function to (1) define the relations between a controlled indexing vocabulary and natural language expressions; (2) provide a simple mechanism for disambiguation and the determination of relevancy; and (3) allow the extension of concept-hierarchical structure to all elements of the knowledge file. After a brief description of the NASA Machine-Aided Indexing system, concerns related to the development and maintenance of MAI knowledge bases are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to statistically-based text analysis tools designed to aid the knowledge base developer. One such tool, the Knowledge Base Building (KBB) program, presents the domain expert with a well-filtered list of synonyms and conceptually-related phrases for each thesaurus concept. Another tool, the Knowledge Base Maintenance (KBM) program, functions to identify areas of the knowledge base affected by changes in the conceptual domain (for example, the addition of a new thesaurus term). An alternate use of the KBM as an aid in thesaurus construction is also discussed.

  9. The best data design for applying the taxonomic distinctness index in lotic systems: A case study of the Southern Morava River basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stojković Piperac, Milica; Milošević, Djuradj; Petrović, Ana; Simić, Vladica

    2018-01-01

    The taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) index has been recognized as a robust measure to assess human impacts on marine biodiversity. However, its applicability in freshwater ecosystems has still not been confirmed. We aimed to propose the most suitable data design for calculating the Δ+ index for application in assessing anthropogenically caused degradation in lotic environments. We calculated the values of Δ+ based on different taxa groups and taxa resolutions, in order to examine its utility as a potential metric in bioassessment programs. We found that the exclusion of non-insect taxa and selected insect orders significantly increased the index sensitivity. Thus, we believe that an appropriate data design for Δ+ calculation based on macroinvertebrate assemblages is the main prerequisite for the effective estimation of degradation in lotic environments. In addition, we argue that a decrease in taxonomic resolution up to genus level is completely acceptable, as it results in only minor information loss. Bearing this in mind would significantly facilitate its application in rapid bioassessment programs. Despite the observed correlation, the utility of Δ+ as a potential bioassessment metric is rather limited, since its fails to detect fine differences in environmental stress, and instead only roughly distinguishes between two basic classes of degradation level, unimpacted and impacted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. The Effectiveness of the Smog Index in Determining the Reading Levels of Business and Distributive Education Texts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultheis, Robert A.; Anderson, Roberta

    1982-01-01

    McLaughlin's Smog Index was compared to the Dale-Chall formula for the determination of reading levels of 48 textbooks in business and distributive education. A Modified Smog Index proved a valid substitute for the Dale-Chall formula when used to evaluate the reading levels of business and distributive education narrative. (Author/CT)

  11. Design of embedded system to determine liquid refractive index based on ultrasonic sensor using an ATMega328

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radiyonoa, Y.; Surantoro, S.; Pujayanto, P.; Budiharti, R.; Respati, Y. S.; Saputro, D. E.

    2018-05-01

    The occurrence of the broken pencil shadow into a glass of water becomes an interesting matter to be learned. The students of senior high school still find difficulty in determining liquid refractive index. To overcome this problem, it needs to develop an experimental tool to determine liquid refractive index by utilizing the newest technology. It is expected to be useful for students. This study is aimed to (1) make the design of physics learning experimental tool determinant of a liquid refractive index assisted by microcontroller based on ultrasonic sensors ATMega328 (2) explain the working principle and experimental result of liquid refractive indexing instrument assisted with ATMega328 microcontroller based ultrasonic sensor. This research used the experimental method. The result of the research shows design of physics learning experimental tool determinant of a liquid refractive index assisted by microcontroller based on ultrasonic sensors ATMega328 that has relative counting mistake of 0.36% on the measurement of aquades liquid refractive index, relative mistake of 0.18% on the 5% NaCl measurement, 0.24% on 5% glucose, and relative mistake of 0.50% on the measurement of 5 % fructose liquid refractive index. It has been created a proper device to be used in determining liquid refractive index.

  12. Students as Math Level Designers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Erik Ottar; Hanghøj, Thorkild; Schoenau-Fog, Henrik

    The short paper presents preliminary findings from a pilot study on how students become motivated through design of learning games in math. The research is carried out in a Danish public school with two classes of 5th graders (N = 42 students). Over the course of two weeks, the students work...... with a design template for a runner game in the Unity 3D game design engine. The students are introduced to the concept of “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991) as a game design principle and are asked to design levels for a math runner game, which are both engaging as well as a meaningful way of learning math....... In this way, the students are positioned as “math level designers”, which means that they both have to redesign the difficulty of the runner game as well as the difficulty of the mathematical questions and possible answers....

  13. Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: Implementing inherent safety perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

    2008-01-01

    Layout planning plays a key role in the inherent safety performance of process plants since this design feature controls the possibility of accidental chain-events and the magnitude of possible consequences. A lack of suitable methods to promote the effective implementation of inherent safety in layout design calls for the development of new techniques and methods. In the present paper, a safety assessment approach suitable for layout design in the critical early phase is proposed. The concept of inherent safety is implemented within this safety assessment; the approach is based on an integrated assessment of inherent safety guideword applicability within the constraints typically present in layout design. Application of these guidewords is evaluated along with unit hazards and control devices to quantitatively map the safety performance of different layout options. Moreover, the economic aspects related to safety and inherent safety are evaluated by the method. Specific sub-indices are developed within the integrated safety assessment system to analyze and quantify the hazard related to domino effects. The proposed approach is quick in application, auditable and shares a common framework applicable in other phases of the design lifecycle (e.g. process design). The present work is divided in two parts: Part 1 (current paper) presents the application of inherent safety guidelines in layout design and the index method for safety assessment; Part 2 (accompanying paper) describes the domino hazard sub-index and demonstrates the proposed approach with a case study, thus evidencing the introduction of inherent safety features in layout design

  14. Joint projections of sea level and storm surge using a flood index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, C. M.; Lin, N.; Horton, R. M.; Kopp, R. E.; Oppenheimer, M.

    2016-02-01

    Capturing the joint influence of sea level rise (SLR) and tropical cyclones (TCs) on future coastal flood risk poses significant challenges. To address these difficulties, Little et al. (2015) use a proxy of tropical cyclone activity and a probabilistic flood index that aggregates flood height and duration over a wide area (the US East and Gulf coasts). This technique illuminates the individual impacts of TCs and SLR and their correlation across different coupled climate models. By 2080-2099, changes in the flood index relative to 1986-2005 are substantial and positively skewed: a 10th-90th percentile range of 35-350x higher for a high-end business-as-usual emissions scenario (see figure). This aggregated flood index: 1) is a means to consistently combine TC-driven storm surges and SLR; 2) provides a more robust description of historical surge-climate relationships than is available at any one location; and 3) allows the incorporation of a larger climate model ensemble - which is critical to uncertainty characterization. It does not provide a local view of the complete spectrum of flood severity (i.e. return curves). However, alternate techniques that provide localized return curves (e.g. Lin et al., 2012) are computationally intensive, limiting the set of large-scale climate models that can be incorporated, and require several linked statistical and dynamical models, each with structural uncertainties that are difficult to quantify. Here, we present the results of Little et al. (2015) along with: 1) alternate formulations of the flood index; 2) strategies to localize the flood index; and 3) a comparison of flood index projections to those provided by model-based return curves. We look to this interdisciplinary audience for feedback on the advantages and disadvantages of each tool for coastal planning and decision-making. Lin, N., K. Emanuel, M. Oppenheimer, and E. Vanmarcke, 2012: Physically based assessment of hurricane surge threat under climate change. Nature

  15. The effect of water deficit stress and nitrogen fertilizer levels on morphology traits, yield and leaf area index in maize

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moosavi, S.G.

    2012-01-01

    In order to study the effect of water deficit stress at different growth stages and N fertilizer levels on morphological traits, yield and yield components of maize cv. Single Cross 704, an experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The main plot included irrigation at four levels (irrigation stop at 10-leaf, tasselling and grain-filling stages and optimum irrigation) and the sub-plot was N fertilizer at three levels (75, 150 and 225 kg N/ha). The results of analysis of variance showed that water-deficit stress and N fertilizer level significantly affected leaf area index at silking stage, ear length, grain number per ear, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. Stem diameter, ear diameter and harvest index were only affected by irrigation treatments and the interaction between irrigation and N level did not significantly affect the studied traits. Means comparison indicated that ear diameter under optimum irrigation was higher than that under the treatments of irrigation stop at 8-leaf, tasselling and grain-filling stages by 29.9, 19.1 and 33.5%, respectively; and ear length was higher than them by 38.1, 28.9 and 25.2%, respectively. Moreover, the highest grain number per ear, 1000-grain weight and grain yield were obtained under optimum irrigation treatment, and irrigation stop at 10-leaf, tasselling and grain-filling stages decreased grain yield by 52.8, 66.4 and 44.9%, respectively; and it decreased grain number/ear by 45.9, 59.3 and 30.1%, respectively. In addition, optimum irrigation treatment with mean 1000-grain weight of 289.2 g was significantly superior over other irrigation stop treatments by 27.6-42.8% and produced the highest leaf area index at silking stage (4.1). Means comparison of traits at different N levels indicated that N level of 225 kg/ha produced the highest ear length (17.82 cm), grain number per ear (401.9), 1000-grain weight (258.8 g), leaf area index at silking stage (4

  16. Quantification of mold contamination in multi-level buildings using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    The goal of this study was to evaluate the possible use of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) to quantify mold contamination in multi-level, office buildings. Settled-dust samples were collected in multi-level, office buildings and the ERMI value for each sample de...

  17. Introducing GIS across Levels: Designing for Diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barros, Joana

    2017-01-01

    The paper proposes a strategy for designing introductory GIS modules at Birkbeck, University of London. Seven design aspects or elements (content, practical exercises, assessment, pace, mode, level of support, and level of difficulty) for tailoring modules at appropriate levels and for diversity are introduced and their application in Birkbeck's…

  18. Human Development Index and Efficiency level of Social Security Hospitals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Sepehrdost

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: Hospitals as one of the main institutions providing health care services play an important role in the health system and allocate a high percentage of health sector's budget to them. This study aimed to answer whether social security hospitals efficiency levels are the same for all provinces in Iran? And whether any relationship exists between the human development indexes (HDI of the provinces and technical efficiency levels of the hospitals?Materials & Methods: Data envelopment analysis model has been used to measure technical efficiency of 65 social security hospitals, including small hospitals (working with lower than one hundred active beds and large hospitals (working with over one hundred active beds during the years 2007 to 2009. Further, the relationship between human development index and technical efficiency of hospitals in the provinces has been analyzed.Results: Results show that the average technical efficiency of small and large hospitals working in low and medium HDI provinces (0.912 and 0.937 are more than the average technical efficiency of hospitals in higher HDI provinces (0.870 and 0.887.Conclusion: It is recommended that social security organization concentrated distribute its hospital services in provinces with lower HDI and higher density of population living under the coverage of organization’s insurance. This will eventually puts its positive effects on per capita income of people, as well as more equitable distribution of income. (Sci J Hamadan Univ Med Sci 2012;19(1:32-38

  19. Level Design as Model Transformation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dormans, Joris

    2011-01-01

    This paper frames the process of designing a level in a game as a series of model transformations. The transformations correspond to the application of particular design principles, such as the use of locks and keys to transform a linear mission into a branching space. It shows that by using rewrite

  20. Design space pruning through hybrid analysis in system-level design space exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Piscitelli, R.; Pimentel, A.D.

    2012-01-01

    System-level design space exploration (DSE), which is performed early in the design process, is of eminent importance to the design of complex multi-processor embedded system archi- tectures. During system-level DSE, system parameters like, e.g., the number and type of processors, the type and size

  1. Body composition using deuterated water, index of insulin resistance and cortisol levels in Costa Rican school in the metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valverde Vindas, Allan Ignacio

    2014-01-01

    Body composition in the Costa Rican child population is evaluated and analyzed to determine the relationship with the index of insulin resistance and serum cortisol levels. 113 children in the metropolitan area were studied using deuterium isotope techniques as reference method for overweight and obesity. Morning cortisol levels were determined by immunoassay techniques (ELISA). The insulin resistance index of 113 Costa Rican boys and girls is obtained by the homeostatic method and the relationship between body composition with index of insulin resistance or levels of cortisol [es

  2. Experimental comparison between speech transmission index, rapid speech transmission index, and speech intelligibility index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larm, Petra; Hongisto, Valtteri

    2006-02-01

    During the acoustical design of, e.g., auditoria or open-plan offices, it is important to know how speech can be perceived in various parts of the room. Different objective methods have been developed to measure and predict speech intelligibility, and these have been extensively used in various spaces. In this study, two such methods were compared, the speech transmission index (STI) and the speech intelligibility index (SII). Also the simplification of the STI, the room acoustics speech transmission index (RASTI), was considered. These quantities are all based on determining an apparent speech-to-noise ratio on selected frequency bands and summing them using a specific weighting. For comparison, some data were needed on the possible differences of these methods resulting from the calculation scheme and also measuring equipment. Their prediction accuracy was also of interest. Measurements were made in a laboratory having adjustable noise level and absorption, and in a real auditorium. It was found that the measurement equipment, especially the selection of the loudspeaker, can greatly affect the accuracy of the results. The prediction accuracy of the RASTI was found acceptable, if the input values for the prediction are accurately known, even though the studied space was not ideally diffuse.

  3. Design and Application of Drought Indexes in Highly Regulated Mediterranean Water Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castelletti, A.; Zaniolo, M.; Giuliani, M.

    2017-12-01

    Costs of drought are progressively increasing due to the undergoing alteration of hydro-meteorological regimes induced by climate change. Although drought management is largely studied in the literature, most of the traditional drought indexes fail in detecting critical events in highly regulated systems, which generally rely on ad-hoc formulations and cannot be generalized to different context. In this study, we contribute a novel framework for the design of a basin-customized drought index. This index represents a surrogate of the state of the basin and is computed by combining the available information about the water available in the system to reproduce a representative target variable for the drought condition of the basin (e.g., water deficit). To select the relevant variables and combinatione thereof, we use an advanced feature extraction algorithm called Wrapper for Quasi Equally Informative Subset Selection (W-QEISS). W-QEISS relies on a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to find Pareto-efficient subsets of variables by maximizing the wrapper accuracy, minimizing the number of selected variables, and optimizing relevance and redundancy of the subset. The accuracy objective is evaluated trough the calibration of an extreme learning machine of the water deficit for each candidate subset of variables, with the index selected from the resulting solutions identifying a suitable compromise between accuracy, cardinality, relevance, and redundancy. The approach is tested on Lake Como, Italy, a regulated lake mainly operated for irrigation supply. In the absence of an institutional drought monitoring system, we constructed the combined index using all the hydrological variables from the existing monitoring system as well as common drought indicators at multiple time aggregations. The soil moisture deficit in the root zone computed by a distributed-parameter water balance model of the agricultural districts is used as target variable. Numerical results show that

  4. Design and use of guided mode resonance filters for refractive index sensing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hermannsson, Pétur Gordon

    This Ph.D. thesis is concerned with the design and use of guided mode resonance filters (GMRF) for applications in refractive index sensing. GMRFs are optical nanostructures capable of efficiently and resonantly reflecting a narrow wavelength interval of incident broad band light. They combine...... to changes in refractive index that occur within the region overlapped by the quasi guided mode, and GMRFs are thus well suited for optical sensing and tunable filter applications. They produce a polarization dependent response and can be optically characterized in both reflection and transmission......, a lift-off process, and reactive ion etching. After an introduction to the history and principles of GMRFs, the thesis describes the state-of-the-art of relevant research in the field, covers the necessary theoretical background required to understand their operation, and discusses the fabrication...

  5. Relations between the Basel Index and the Level of Indebtedness of Brazilian Families

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabrina Espinele da Silva

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The Basel Accord imposes a regulatory minimum capital requirement for banks to maintain their liquidity and are less susceptible to shocks from the interconnection of the financial system. Banks need to manage the dynamics of funding and applications in order to avoid excess or shortage of monetary resources, they are exposed to risks such as credit risk and liquidity risk. Credit risk is the risk that the counterparty in the transaction does not honor its obligation. Liquidity risk is the risk of the financial institution become unable to honor its obligations. The debt ratio of Brazilian families grew during the period analyzed, and a high level of debt increases the chances of default and expose financial institutions to credit risk and liquidity risk. The objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between the Basel index released by the banks and the high level of household debt in Brazil. The study used data available at the time series management system (SMS of the Central Bank of Brazil, which cover the period from January 2005 to December 2013, the following variables: Basel index, debt, inflation IPCA, Selic rate , Delinquency in SPC through an ARCH model (Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity. The results demonstrate that the Basel index, and the household debt levels have negative correlation, which makes the two vary in opposite directions. We can compare the model results for the Brazilian financial system with what was observed in the US market, as, for example, the perspective of authors who point to the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008, as a result of high indebtedness of American families in the business of mortgages.

  6. A Risk Severity Index for industrial plants and sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Planas, E.; Arnaldos, J.; Silvetti, B.; Vallee, Agnes; Casal, J.

    2006-01-01

    A risk index (Risk Severity Index, S) has been devised to allow the assessment of the risk level originated by a given installation or site over the affected zone. A set of threshold levels for thermal radiation, toxic concentration and overpressure, together with the probabilities and frequencies associated to critical events and their effects have been the basis for calculating the values of S. A computer tool has been designed to perform a quick calculation of the diverse Risk Severity Indexes (for a critical event, for a dangerous phenomenon, for a type of effect and for the whole installation) and to plot a map of the risk severity levels around the site. The methodology has been applied to diverse test cases and it has proved to be useful for risk assessment, for comparative studies and for land use planning

  7. Modulation of genetic associations with serum urate levels by body-mass-index in humans

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.E. Huffman (Jennifer); E. Albrecht (Eva); A. Teumer (Alexander); M. Mangino (Massimo); K. Kapur (Karen); T. Johnson (Toby); Z. Kutalik (Zoltán); N. Pirastu (Nicola); G. Pistis (Giorgio); L.M. Lopez (Lorna); T. Haller (Toomas); P. Salo (Perttu); A. Goel (Anuj); M. Li (Man); T. Tanaka (Toshiko); A. Dehghan (Abbas); D. Ruggiero; G. Malerba (Giovanni); A.V. Smith (Albert Vernon); Nolte, I.M. (Ilja M.); L. Portas (Laura); Phipps-Green, A. (Amanda); Boteva, L. (Lora); P. Navarro (Pau); A. Johansson (Åsa); A.A. Hicks (Andrew); O. Polasek (Ozren); T. Esko (Tõnu); J. Peden (John); S.E. Harris (Sarah); D. Murgia (Daniela); Wild, S.H. (Sarah H.); A. Tenesa (Albert); A. Tin (Adrienne); E. Mihailov (Evelin); A. Grotevendt (Anne); G.K. Gislason; J. Coresh (Josef); P. d' Adamo (Pio); S. Ulivi (Shelia); P. Vollenweider (Peter); G. Waeber (Gérard); Campbell, S. (Susan); I. Kolcic (Ivana); Fisher, K. (Krista); M. Viigimaa (Margus); Metter, J.E. (Jeffrey E.); C. Masciullo (Corrado); Trabetti, E. (Elisabetta); Bombieri, C. (Cristina); R. Sorice; A. Döring (Angela); G. Reischl (Gunilla); K. Strauch (Konstantin); A. Hofman (Albert); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); M. Waldenberger (Melanie); H.E. Wichmann (Heinz Erich); G. Davies (Gail); A.J. Gow (Alan J.); Dalbeth, N. (Nicola); Stamp, L. (Lisa); Smit, J.H. (Johannes H.); M. Kirin (Mirna); R. Nagaraja (Ramaiah); M. Nauck (Matthias); C. Schurmann (Claudia); K. Budde (Klemens); S.M. Farrington (Susan); E. Theodoratou (Evropi); A. Jula (Antti); V. Salomaa (Veikko); C. Sala (Cinzia); C. Hengstenberg (Christian); M. Burnier (Michel); Mägi, R. (Reedik); N. Klopp (Norman); S. Kloiber (Stefan); S. Schipf (Sabine); S. Ripatti (Samuli); Cabras, S. (Stefano); N. Soranzo (Nicole); G. Homuth (Georg); T. Nutile; P. Munroe (Patricia); N. Hastie (Nick); H. Campbell (H.); I. Rudan (Igor); Cabrera, C. (Claudia); Haley, C. (Chris); O.H. Franco (Oscar); Merriman, T.R. (Tony R.); V. Gudnason (Vilmundur); M. Pirastu (Mario); B.W.J.H. Penninx (Brenda); H. Snieder (Harold); A. Metspalu (Andres); M. Ciullo; P.P. Pramstaller (Peter Paul); C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); L. Ferrucci (Luigi); G. Gambaro (Giovanni); Deary, I.J. (Ian J.); M.G. Dunlop (Malcolm); J.F. Wilson (James F); P. Gasparini (Paolo); U. Gyllensten (Ulf); T.D. Spector (Timothy); A.F. Wright (Alan); C. Hayward (Caroline); H. Watkins (Hugh); M. Perola (Markus); M. Bochud (Murielle); W.H.L. Kao (Wen); M. Caulfield (Mark); D. Toniolo (Daniela); H. Völzke (Henry); C. Gieger (Christian); A. Köttgen (Anna); V. Vitart (Veronique)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractWe tested for interactions between body mass index (BMI) and common genetic variants affecting serum urate levels, genome-wide, in up to 42569 participants. Both stratified genome-wide association (GWAS) analyses, in lean, overweight and obese individuals, and regression-type analyses in

  8. Modulation of Genetic Associations with Serum Urate Levels by Body-Mass-Index in Humans

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huffman, Jennifer E.; Albrecht, Eva; Teumer, Alexander; Mangino, Massimo; Kapur, Karen; Johnson, Toby; Kutalik, Zoltn; Pirastu, Nicola; Pistis, Giorgio; Lopez, Lorna M.; Haller, Toomas; Salo, Perttu; Goel, Anuj; Li, Man; Tanaka, Toshiko; Dehghan, Abbas; Ruggiero, Daniela; Malerba, Giovanni; Smith, Albert V.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Portas, Laura; Phipps-Green, Amanda; Boteva, Lora; Navarro, Pau; Johansson, Asa; Hicks, Andrew A.; Polasek, Ozren; Esko, Tonu; Peden, John F.; Harris, Sarah E.; Murgia, Federico; Wild, Sarah H.; Tenesa, Albert; Tin, Adrienne; Mihailov, Evelin; Grotevendt, Anne; Gislason, Gauti K.; Coresh, Josef; D'Adamo, Pio; Ulivi, Sheila; Vollenweider, Peter; Waeber, Gerard; Campbell, Susan; Kolcic, Ivana; Fisher, Krista; Viigimaa, Margus; Metter, Jeffrey E.; Masciullo, Corrado; Trabetti, Elisabetta; Bombieri, Cristina; Sorice, Rossella; Doering, Angela; Reischl, Eva; Strauch, Konstantin; Hofman, Albert; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Waldenberger, Melanie; Wichmann, H-Erich; Davies, Gail; Gow, Alan J.; Dalbeth, Nicola; Stamp, Lisa; Smit, Johannes H.; Kirin, Mirna; Nagaraja, Ramaiah; Nauck, Matthias; Schurmann, Claudia; Budde, Kathrin; Farrington, Susan M.; Theodoratou, Evropi; Jula, Antti; Salomaa, Veikko; Sala, Cinzia; Hengstenberg, Christian; Burnier, Michel; Maegi, Reedik; Klopp, Norman; Kloiber, Stefan; Schipf, Sabine; Ripatti, Samuli; Cabras, Stefano; Soranzo, Nicole; Homuth, Georg; Nutile, Teresa; Munroe, Patricia B.; Hastie, Nicholas; Campbell, Harry; Rudan, Igor; Cabrera, Claudia; Haley, Chris; Franco, Oscar H.; Merriman, Tony R.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Pirastu, Mario; Penninx, Brenda W.; Snieder, Harold; Metspalu, Andres; Ciullo, Marina; Pramstaller, Peter P.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Gambaro, Giovanni; Deary, Ian J.; Dunlop, Malcolm G.; Wilson, James F.; Gasparini, Paolo; Gyllensten, Ulf; Spector, Tim D.; Wright, Alan F.; Hayward, Caroline; Watkins, Hugh; Perola, Markus; Bochud, Murielle; Kao, W. H. Linda; Caulfield, Mark; Toniolo, Daniela; Voelzke, Henry; Gieger, Christian; Koettgen, Anna; Vitart, Veronique

    2015-01-01

    We tested for interactions between body mass index (BMI) and common genetic variants affecting serum urate levels, genome-wide, in up to 42569 participants. Both stratified genome-wide association (GWAS) analyses, in lean, overweight and obese individuals, and regression-type analyses in a non

  9. Auroral Electrojet Index Designed to Provide a Global Measure, Hourly Intervals, of Auroral Zone Magnetic Activity

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Auroral Electrojet (AE) index is designed to provide a global quantitative measure of auroral zone magnetic activity produced by enhanced ionospheric currents...

  10. Index of Non-Government Standards on Human Engineering Design Criteria and Program Requirements/Guidelines. Version 3

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Poston, Alan

    2002-01-01

    .... Since the designation of documents as standards by non-government standards bodies tends to be somewhat flexible, the scope of non-government standards for the Index was kept quite loose and includes...

  11. Upper-Level Mediterranean Oscillation index and seasonal variability of rainfall and temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redolat, Dario; Monjo, Robert; Lopez-Bustins, Joan A.; Martin-Vide, Javier

    2018-02-01

    The need for early seasonal forecasts stimulates continuous research in climate teleconnections. The large variability of the Mediterranean climate presents a greater difficulty in predicting climate anomalies. This article reviews teleconnection indices commonly used for the Mediterranean basin and explores possible extensions of one of them, the Mediterranean Oscillation index (MOi). In particular, the anomalies of the geopotential height field at 500 hPa are analyzed using segmentation of the Mediterranean basin in seven spatial windows: three at eastern and four at western. That is, different versions of an Upper-Level Mediterranean Oscillation index (ULMOi) were calculated, and monthly and annual variability of precipitation and temperature were analyzed for 53 observatories from 1951 to 2015. Best versions were selected according to the Pearson correlation, its related p value, and two measures of standardized error. The combination of the Balearic Sea and Libya/Egypt windows was the best for precipitation and temperature, respectively. The ULMOi showed the highest predictive ability in combination with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation index (AMOi) for the annual temperature throughout the Mediterranean basin. The best model built from the indices presented a final mean error between 15 and 25% in annual precipitation for most of the studied area.

  12. SU-E-T-316: The Design of a Risk Index Method for 3D Patient Specific QA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, W; Wu, H [Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Xing, L [Stanford University, Stanford, CA (United States); Suh, T [Catholic UniversityMedical College, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To suggest a new guidance for the evaluation of 3D patient specific QA, a structure-specific risk-index (RI) method was designed and implemented. Methods: A new algorithm was designed to assign the score of Pass, Fail or Pass with Risk to all 3D voxels in each structure by improving a conventional Gamma Index (GI) algorithm, which implied the degree of the risk of under-dose to the treatment target or over-dose to the organ at risks (OAR). Structure-specific distance to agreement (DTOA), dose difference and minimum checkable dose were applied to the GI algorithm, and additional parameters such as dose gradient factor and dose limit of structures were used to the RI method. Maximum passing rate (PR) and minimum PR were designed and calculated for each structure with the RI method. 3D doses were acquired from a spine SBRT plan by simulating the shift of beam iso-center, and tested to show the feasibility of the suggested method. Results: When the iso-center was shifted by 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm, the PR of conventional GI method between shifted and non-shifted 3D doses were 99.9%, 97.4%, and 89.7% for PTV, 99.8%, 84.8%, and 63.2% for spinal cord, and 100%, 99.5%, 91.7% for right lung. The minimum PRs from the RI method were 98.9%, 96.9%, and 89.5% for PTV, and 96.1%, 79.3%, 57.5% for spinal cord, and 92.5%, 92.0%, 84.4% for right lung, respectively. The maximum PRs from the RI method were equal or less than the PRs from the conventional GI evaluation. Conclusion: Designed 3D RI method showed more strict acceptance level than the conventional GI method, especially for OARs. The RI method is expected to give the degrees of risks in the delivered doses, as well as the degrees of agreements between calculated 3D doses and measured (or simulated) 3D doses.

  13. SU-E-T-316: The Design of a Risk Index Method for 3D Patient Specific QA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, W; Wu, H; Xing, L; Suh, T

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To suggest a new guidance for the evaluation of 3D patient specific QA, a structure-specific risk-index (RI) method was designed and implemented. Methods: A new algorithm was designed to assign the score of Pass, Fail or Pass with Risk to all 3D voxels in each structure by improving a conventional Gamma Index (GI) algorithm, which implied the degree of the risk of under-dose to the treatment target or over-dose to the organ at risks (OAR). Structure-specific distance to agreement (DTOA), dose difference and minimum checkable dose were applied to the GI algorithm, and additional parameters such as dose gradient factor and dose limit of structures were used to the RI method. Maximum passing rate (PR) and minimum PR were designed and calculated for each structure with the RI method. 3D doses were acquired from a spine SBRT plan by simulating the shift of beam iso-center, and tested to show the feasibility of the suggested method. Results: When the iso-center was shifted by 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm, the PR of conventional GI method between shifted and non-shifted 3D doses were 99.9%, 97.4%, and 89.7% for PTV, 99.8%, 84.8%, and 63.2% for spinal cord, and 100%, 99.5%, 91.7% for right lung. The minimum PRs from the RI method were 98.9%, 96.9%, and 89.5% for PTV, and 96.1%, 79.3%, 57.5% for spinal cord, and 92.5%, 92.0%, 84.4% for right lung, respectively. The maximum PRs from the RI method were equal or less than the PRs from the conventional GI evaluation. Conclusion: Designed 3D RI method showed more strict acceptance level than the conventional GI method, especially for OARs. The RI method is expected to give the degrees of risks in the delivered doses, as well as the degrees of agreements between calculated 3D doses and measured (or simulated) 3D doses

  14. Numerical assessment of flow dynamics for various DI diesel engine designs considering swirl number and uniformity index

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jafarmadar, S.; Taghavifar, Hadi; Taghavifar, Hamid; Navid, A.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Swirl ratio and uniformity index was assessed for six different engine designs. • Lower bowl-depth and higher bowl radius create higher squish and swirl. • The best design for power boost and emission control strategies were identified. • The flow dynamics are considered based on TKE and also the flow field vectors. - Abstract: Geometrical features of combustion chamber are important factors in subsequent engine’s combustion and emissions. Location and configuration of bowl in diesel engine has been the dynamic field of research especially for optimization procedure. This study considers six different engine patterns with outlined parameters. It follows that different designs are characterized with different swirl motions and tumble flows within the combustion chamber. It was determined that maximum and minimum peak swirl number pertains to “Design5” and “Design1” with 1.59 and 1.1 values, respectively. By using “Design5” case instead of “Design1” (baseline case), uniformity index increased by 25.83% whereby peak soot concentration was reduced over 46.7%. The bigger bowl radius (R1) makes higher swirl ratio and this eventually leads to lower soot emission. Lower bowl depth (T), however, gives way to stronger squish pressure and engine-out power.

  15. Predictors of summertime heat index levels in New York City apartments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, A; Kinney, P; Shaman, J

    2017-07-01

    During heat waves, fatal overexposure to heat most often occurs at home. It is not known how factors such as building size, floor level, and different types of air conditioning (AC) contribute to excess indoor heat. We monitored indoor temperature and humidity in 36 apartments in New York City during summers 2014 and 2015 and used these values to calculate the indoor heat index (HI). We investigated the role of AC type and building-level factors on indoor HI using multilevel regression models. Thirty-four of 36 homes had AC. Central and ductless AC types were associated with the coolest indoor conditions; homes with window and portable AC were significantly warmer. Apartments on the top floor of a building were significantly hotter during heat advisory periods than other apartments regardless of the presence of AC. High indoor HI levels persisted in some homes for approximately 1 day following the end of the two heat advisory periods. We provide concrete evidence of higher heat levels in top floor apartments and in homes with certain types of AC. High heat levels that persist indoors after outdoor heat has subsided may present an underappreciated public health risk. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Experimental investigation of the magnetochiral index in liquids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruchon, Thierry; Vallet, Marc; Chauvat, Dominique; Le Floch, Albert; Thepot, Jean-Yves

    2005-01-01

    We showed through experiments that the magnetochiral index is polarization invariant and reported its wavelength dependence. These properties were investigated with limonene and using a specially-designed Ar + -ring active interferometer. A Fresnel drag-type optical bias inside the discharge tube, combined with two calibrations and the circumvention of systematic errors, allowed us to reach a detection level in the range of 10 -12 when measuring the change in the magnetochiral index of intracavity liquid samples. Our results are in agreement with the different predictions made for magnetochiral refraction

  17. Cerebral state index during propofol anesthesia : A Comparison with the Bispectral Index and the A-Line ARX Index

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jensen, EW; Litvan, H; Revuelta, M; Rodriguez, BE; Caminal, P; Martinez, P; Vereecke, H; Struys, Michel MRF

    Background: The objective of this study was to prospectively test the Cerebral State Index designed for measuring the depth of anesthesia. The Cerebral State Index is calculated using a fuzzy logic combination of four subparameters of the electroencephalographic signal. The performance of the

  18. Glycemic Index Biscuits Formulation of Pedada Flour (Sonneratia caseolaris) with Tubers Starch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jariyah; Susiloningsih, E. K. B.; Nilasari, K.

    2018-01-01

    The glycemic index of food is the level of food according to its effect on blood glucose levels. Foods with low glycemic index have been shown to improve glucose and fat levels in people with diabetes mellitus and improve insulin resistance. Pedada Fruits (Sonneratia caseolaris) is the one of mangrove fruits has a high fiber content, so it can be used as a raw material in biscuits production. The aim of this research to evaluate the glycemic index on the formula biscuit from the pedada flour and starch from white sweet potato, arrowroot, taro, potato and cassava mixed. This research used completely randomized design in factorial patern with one factor and five levels on formulation biscuit of pedada flour with tubers starch (20% : 80%). The biscuits product were measured of the proximate, crude fiber, glycemic index and glycemic load on wistar rats. The best treatment was 20% of pedada flour with 80% of taro starch which produced biscuit with 76.24% of yield, 2.58% of protein, 15.55% of fat, 2.72% of crude fiber, 48.83 of glycemic index and 7.39 of glycemic load.

  19. Body mass index and its effect on serum cortisol level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odeniyi, I A; Fasanmade, O A; Ogbera, A O; Ohwovoriole, A E

    2015-01-01

    Cortisol measurement is indicated in suspected over or under production of cortisol by the adrenal cortex. The finding of low cortisol can create concern and initiate further investigations for the exclusion of adrenal insufficiency. Cushing's syndrome is frequently included in the differential diagnosis of obesity. Some literature describes reduced serum cortisol levels in obesity, however, this is not a well-recognized phenomenon. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and serum cortisol levels. Seventy healthy participants agreed to take part in the study. The anthropometric measurements (weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences) were done. Exclusion criteria include those with a history of adrenal/pituitary disease or medications altering cortisol level. The basal cortisol (BC) sample was taken at 8 a.m. immediately before administration of an intravenous bolus injection of 250 μg adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). BMI categories were defined as normal and high if BMI was 18.5-24.99 kg/m² and ≥ 25 kg/m², respectively. Forty (57.1%) participants had normal BMI while 30 (42.9%) participants had BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² (P0 = 0.053). The mean BC level was lower in participants with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² but not significant. There was a negative correlation between BMI and BC level ( r = -0.205, P = 0.88) while a positive correlation existed between stimulated cortisol level and BMI (r = 0.009, P = 0.944). Persons with BMI above 25 kg/m² had lower BC level though not statistically significant, the trend was noticed. Subjecting people whose BMI is above 25 kg/m² to further stimulation with ACTH because of low BC is not advised because their response to ACTH stimulation was similar to those who have normal BMI.

  20. Auroral Electrojet Index Designed to Provide a Global Measure, l-minute Intervals, of Auroral Zone Magnetic Activity

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Auroral Electrojet index (AE) is designed to provide a global quantitative measure of auroral zone magnetic activity produced by enhanced ionospheric currents...

  1. Axial shape index calculation for the 3-level excore detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Han Gon; Kim, Yong Hee; Kim, Byung Sop; Lee, Sang Hee; Cho, Sung Jae [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1998-12-31

    A new method based on the alternating conditional expectation (ACE) algorithm is developed to calculate axial shape index (ASI) for the 3-level excore detector. The ACE algorithm, a type of nonparametric regression algorithms, yields an optimal relationship between a dependent variable and multiple independent variables. In this study, the simple correlation between ASI and excore detector signals is developed using the Younggwang nuclear power plant unit 3 (YGN-3) data without any preprocessing on the relationships between independent variables and dependent variable. The numerical results show that simple correlations exist between the three excore signals and ASI of the core. The accuracy of the new method is much better than those of the current CPC and COLSS algorithms. 5 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs. (Author)

  2. Axial shape index calculation for the 3-level excore detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Han Gon; Kim, Yong Hee; Kim, Byung Sop; Lee, Sang Hee; Cho, Sung Jae [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1997-12-31

    A new method based on the alternating conditional expectation (ACE) algorithm is developed to calculate axial shape index (ASI) for the 3-level excore detector. The ACE algorithm, a type of nonparametric regression algorithms, yields an optimal relationship between a dependent variable and multiple independent variables. In this study, the simple correlation between ASI and excore detector signals is developed using the Younggwang nuclear power plant unit 3 (YGN-3) data without any preprocessing on the relationships between independent variables and dependent variable. The numerical results show that simple correlations exist between the three excore signals and ASI of the core. The accuracy of the new method is much better than those of the current CPC and COLSS algorithms. 5 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs. (Author)

  3. Research on energy efficiency design index for sea-going LNG carriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yan; Yu, Yanyun; Guan, Guan

    2014-12-01

    This paper describes the characteristics of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers briefly. The LNG carrier includes power plant selection, vapor treatment, liquid cargo tank type, etc. Two parameters—fuel substitution rate and recovery of boil of gas (BOG) volume to energy efficiency design index (EEDI) formula are added, and EEDI formula of LNG carriers is established based on ship EEDI formula. Then, based on steam turbine propulsion device of LNG carriers, mathematical models of LNG carriers' reference line value are established in this paper. By verification, the EEDI formula of LNG carriers described in this paper can provide a reference for LNG carrier EEDI calculation and green shipbuilding.

  4. Rejection index for pressure tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, A.B.; Meneley, D.

    1989-10-01

    The objective of the present study was to establish a set of criteria (or Rejection Index) which could be used to decide whether a zirconium-2 1/2 w/o niobium pressure tube in a CANDU reactor should be removed from service due to in-service degradation. A critique of key issues associated with establishing a realistic rejection index was prepared. Areas of uncertainty in available information were identified and recommendations for further analysis and laboratory testing made. A Rejection Index based on the following limits has been recommended: 1) Limits related to design intent and normal operation: any garter spring must remain within the tolerance band specified for its design location; the annulus gas system must normally be operated in a circulating mode with a procedure in place for purging to prevent accumulation of deuterium. It must remain sensitive to leaks into any part of the systems; and pressure tube dimensions and distortions must be limited to maintain the fuel channels within the original design intent; 2) Limits related to defect tolerance: adequate time margins between occurrence of a leaking crack and unstable failure must be demonstrated for all fuel channels; long lap-type flaws are unacceptable; crack-like defects of any size are unacceptable; and score marks, frat marks and other defects with contoured profiles must fall below certain depth, length and stress intensity limits; and 3) Limits related to property degradation: at operating temperature each pressure tube must be demonstrated to have a critical length in excess of a stipulated value; the maximum equivalent hydrogen level in any pressure tube should not exceed a limit which should be defined taking into account the known history of that tube; the maximum equivalent hydrogen level in any rolled joint should not exceed a limit which is presently recommended as 200 ppm equivalent hydrogen; and the maximum diametral creep strain should be limited to less than 5%

  5. Designing indonesian teacher engagement index (itei) applications based on android

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manalu, S. R.; Sasmoko; Permai, S. D.; Widhoyoko, S. A.; Indrianti, Y.

    2018-03-01

    Teachers who have a good level of engagement will be able to produce students who engage and excel. Level of national teachers’ engagement needs to be a reference to the level of educational success and equity of national education. The spread of geographically inaccessible Indonesian teachers is a barrier to these measurements. ITEI Android application developed by analysing the geographical problem, so that each teacher can participate wherever they are. The ITEI app is designed by implementing Android on the client side and load balancer on the server side. Android ITEI will feature a number of questions questionnaire to teachers. Meanwhile, the load balancer will distribute the answers to each server for processing. Load Balancer ensures fast data processing and minimize server failure. The results of the processing on the server will be sent back to Android in the form of profiling themselves ITEI teachers. While the data obtained and stored in the server can be used to measure the level of national teachers’ engagement. The result of this research is the design of ITEI application ready to be implemented in order to support the data collection process of teacher national engagement level.

  6. Effect of body mass index on serum leptin levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, R.F.; Hassan, M.; Nazar, H.S.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Leptin is product of ob gene, an adipose tissue derived hormone that plays a key role in the regulation of body fat mass by regulating appetite and metabolism while balancing energy intake and energy expenditure. The objective of the study was to evaluate possible association between serum leptin levels and Body Mass Index (BMI) of gender in adult age group. Methods: Two-hundred-seventy subjects aged 20-50 years were randomly selected from general population of Abbottabad. The subjects were grouped on the basis on BMI (89 normal, 92 overweight, and 89 obese). After complete evaluation, demographic data was recorded and BMI. Non-fasting venous blood samples were drawn to measure serum leptin and serum glucose levels. The data were analysed using SPSS-15 calculating mean, percentage, independent t-test and chi-square test. Correlation and regression curve analysis were obtained, and p and r values were calculated. Results: Serum leptin levels and differences between genders were significant in all body mass indices. For normal BMI group the mean values for leptin were 2.6+-1.5 gamma g/ml in men, and 17.3+9-10.2 gamma g/ml for women. For Group-2 mean leptin levels in men were 9.9+-6.8 gamma g/ml and in women were 34.8+-13.6 gamma g/ml. For Group-3 BMI comprising obese subjects mean values for men were 21.3+-14.2 gamma g/ml and for women were 48.21+-21.2 gamma g/ml (p<0.001). Conclusion: A progressive increase in serum leptin concentration was observed with an increase in BMI. Significant difference between leptin concentrations in either gender was found in normal, overweight and obese subjects. (author)

  7. Design Life Level: Quantifying risk in a changing climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rootzén, Holger; Katz, Richard W.

    2013-09-01

    In the past, the concepts of return levels and return periods have been standard and important tools for engineering design. However, these concepts are based on the assumption of a stationary climate and do not apply to a changing climate, whether local or global. In this paper, we propose a refined concept, Design Life Level, which quantifies risk in a nonstationary climate and can serve as the basis for communication. In current practice, typical hydrologic risk management focuses on a standard (e.g., in terms of a high quantile corresponding to the specified probability of failure for a single year). Nevertheless, the basic information needed for engineering design should consist of (i) the design life period (e.g., the next 50 years, say 2015-2064); and (ii) the probability (e.g., 5% chance) of a hazardous event (typically, in the form of the hydrologic variable exceeding a high level) occurring during the design life period. Capturing both of these design characteristics, the Design Life Level is defined as an upper quantile (e.g., 5%) of the distribution of the maximum value of the hydrologic variable (e.g., water level) over the design life period. We relate this concept and variants of it to existing literature and illustrate how they, and some useful complementary plots, may be computed and used. One practically important consideration concerns quantifying the statistical uncertainty in estimating a high quantile under nonstationarity.

  8. Characterizing speed-independence of high-level designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kishinevsky, Michael; Staunstrup, Jørgen

    1994-01-01

    This paper characterizes the speed-independence of high-level designs. The characterization is a condition on the design description ensuring that the behavior of the design is independent of the speeds of its components. The behavior of a circuit is modeled as a transition system, that allows data...... types, and internal as well as external non-determinism. This makes it possible to verify the speed-independence of a design without providing an explicit realization of the environment. The verification can be done mechanically. A number of experimental designs have been verified including a speed-independent...

  9. System-Level Design Methodologies for Networked Multiprocessor Systems-on-Chip

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Virk, Kashif Munir

    2008-01-01

    is the first such attempt in the published literature. The second part of the thesis deals with the issues related to the development of system-level design methodologies for networked multiprocessor systems-on-chip at various levels of design abstraction with special focus on the modeling and design...... at the system-level. The multiprocessor modeling framework is then extended to include models of networked multiprocessor systems-on-chip which is then employed to model wireless sensor networks both at the sensor node level as well as the wireless network level. In the third and the final part, the thesis...... to the transaction-level model. The thesis, as a whole makes contributions by describing a design methodology for networked multiprocessor embedded systems at three layers of abstraction from system-level through transaction-level to the cycle accurate level as well as demonstrating it practically by implementing...

  10. Transmutation of singularities and zeros in graded index optical instruments: a methodology for designing practical devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooper, I R; Philbin, T G

    2013-12-30

    We describe a design methodology for modifying the refractive index profile of graded-index optical instruments that incorporate singularities or zeros in their refractive index. The process maintains the device performance whilst resulting in graded profiles that are all-dielectric, do not require materials with unrealistic values, and that are impedance matched to the bounding medium. This is achieved by transmuting the singularities (or zeros) using the formalism of transformation optics, but with an additional boundary condition requiring the gradient of the co-ordinate transformation be continuous. This additional boundary condition ensures that the device is impedance matched to the bounding medium when the spatially varying permittivity and permeability profiles are scaled to realizable values. We demonstrate the method in some detail for an Eaton lens, before describing the profiles for an "invisible disc" and "multipole" lenses.

  11. The comparison of free androgen index and serum free testosterone levels in women with hirsutism or polycystic ovary syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Metin Yıldırımkaya

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In many laboratories free testosterone can not be measured, so that free androgen index is suggested instead. The aim of this study was to compare free androgen index and serum free testosterone levels measured by radioimmunoassay in women with hirsutism or polycystic ovary syndrome.Materials and methods: Totally 94 women referred to the polyclinics of Ankara Numune Hospital were retrospectively included. Three patient groups were composed; 55 of hirsutism, 20 of polycystic ovary syndrome and 19 of both hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome. Total testosterone and sex hormone binding globuline levels were measured by chemiluminescence method and free testosterone levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Free androgen index was calculated from total testosterone and sex hormone binding globuline.Results: There was a significant positive correlation between free testosterone and free androgen index in patients with hirsutism, in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, in patients with hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome, and in total patient group [r(hirsutism=0,597, r(PCOS=0,617, r(hirsutism and PCOS=0,779, r(total patient group=0,649, P<0,01].Receiver operating characteristics curves were drawn to assess the diagnostic power of parameters for all patient groups [For hirsutism (n=55 auROC (FT=0,431 auROC (FAI=0,485] [For PCOS (n=20 auROC (FT=0,431 auROC (FAI=0,359] [For hirsutism and PCOS (n=19 auROC (FT=0,676 auROC (FAI=0,669]. In our study, free testosterone and free androgen index were found useful to diagnose ‘hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome’ but not others.Conclusion: Free androgen index can be used instead of free testosterone in hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome for diagnosis. J Clin Exp Invest 2011;2(2:152-6

  12. Using the IRWQIGT Index to Determine Toxicity Levels in Groundwater Resources: A Case Study of Semnan Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allahbakhsh Javid

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the present descriptive-analytic study was to estimate the toxicity level of the groundwater resources in the Province of Semnan using the IRWQIGT index and its zoning via GIS. The experiments were conducted over the period from October 2013 to October 2014during which time monthly samples were taken from the 41 wells that supply drinking water to the cities and towns in the Province. All the samples were subjected to lab analyses at Semnan Water and Wastewater Laboratory where such chemical parameters as Arsenic, Phenol, Mercury, Detergents, Cadmium, Lead, Chromium, Cyanide, Iron, Magnesium, and TPH were determined according to the procedures of Standard Methods (2008. The measuerments were subsequently used to calculate the groundwater toxicity level index (IRWQIGT. Finally, a zoning map of the IRWQIGT index for Semnan Province was prepared using GIS. Results showed that the IRWQIGT index in Semnan Province ranged between 96.54 and 98.2, indicating an excellent water quality. The lowest (96.585 and highest (98.076 values of IRWQIGT were recorded in the cities of Sorkheh and Mahdishahr, respectively, and that the values for all the parameters were in the standard range. These results indicate that water of excellent quality is available in all the cities in the province so that no toxicity treatment is required.

  13. Historical Trust Levels Predict Current Welfare State Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergh, Andreas; Bjørnskov, Christian

    Using cross-sectional data for 76 countries, we apply instrumental variable techniques based on pronoun drop, temperature and monarchies to demonstrate that historical trust levels predict several indicators of current welfare state design, including universalism and high levels of regulatory...... freedom. We argue that high levels of trust and trustworthiness are necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for societies to develop successful universal welfare states that would otherwise be highly vulnerable to free riding and fraudulent behavior. Our results do not exclude positive feedback from...... welfare state universalism to individual trust, although we claim that the important causal link runs from historically trust levels to current welfare state design....

  14. Color design model of high color rendering index white-light LED module.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ying, Shang-Ping; Fu, Han-Kuei; Hsieh, Hsin-Hsin; Hsieh, Kun-Yang

    2017-05-10

    The traditional white-light light-emitting diode (LED) is packaged with a single chip and a single phosphor but has a poor color rendering index (CRI). The next-generation package comprises two chips and a single phosphor, has a high CRI, and retains high luminous efficacy. This study employs two chips and two phosphors to improve the diode's color tunability with various proportions of two phosphors and various densities of phosphor in the silicone used. A color design model is established for color fine-tuning of the white-light LED module. The maximum difference between the measured and color-design-model simulated CIE 1931 color coordinates is approximately 0.0063 around a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2500 K. This study provides a rapid method to obtain the color fine-tuning of a white-light LED module with a high CRI and luminous efficacy.

  15. Negative index effects from a homogeneous positive index prism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcus, Sherman W.; Epstein, Ariel

    2017-12-01

    Cellular structured negative index metamaterials in the form of a right triangular prism have often been tested by observing the refraction of a beam across the prism hypotenuse which is serrated in order to conform to the cell walls. We show that not only can this negative index effect be obtained from a homogeneous dielectric prism having a positive index of refraction, but in addition, for sampling at the walls of the cellular structure, the phase in the material has the illusory appearance of moving in a negative direction. Although many previous reports relied on refraction direction and phase velocity of prism structures to verify negative index design, our investigation indicates that to unambiguously demonstrate material negativity additional empirical evidence is required.

  16. The Role of Motor Competence and Body Mass Index in Children's Activity Levels in Physical Education Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spessato, Barbara Coiro; Gabbard, Carl; Valentini, Nadia C.

    2013-01-01

    Our goal was to investigate the role of body mass index (BMI) and motor competence (MC) in children's physical activity (PA) levels during physical education (PE) classes. We assessed PA levels of 5-to-10-year old children ("n" = 264) with pedometers in four PE classes. MC was assessed using the TGMD-2 and BMI values were classified…

  17. Energy Transfer Using Gradient Index Metamaterial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boopalan Ganapathy

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The gradient refractive index structure in this paper is used to increase the quantum of energy transfer. This is done by improving the directive gain of the pyramidal horn antenna at a frequency of 10 GHz. A three-dimensional array of closed square rings is placed in front of the horn antenna aperture to form a gradient refractive index structure. This structure increases the directive gain by 1.6 dB as compared to that of the conventional horn antenna. The structure nearly doubles the wireless power transfer quantum between the transmitter and the receiver when placed at both ends. The increase in the directivity is achieved by converting the spherical wave emanating from the horn to a plane wave once it passes through the structure. This transformation is realized by the gradient refractive index structure being placed perpendicular to the direction of propagation. The gradient refractive index is constructed by changing the dimensions of a closed square ring placed in the unit cell of the array. The change in the refractive index gives rise to an improvement of the half power beam width and side lobe level compared to that of the normal horn. The design and simulation were done using CST Studio software.

  18. High level radioactive waste management facility design criteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheikh, N.A.; Salaymeh, S.R.

    1993-01-01

    This paper discusses the engineering systems for the structural design of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). At the DWPF, high level radioactive liquids will be mixed with glass particles and heated in a melter. This molten glass will then be poured into stainless steel canisters where it will harden. This process will transform the high level waste into a more stable, manageable substance. This paper discuss the structural design requirements for this unique one of a kind facility. A special emphasis will be concentrated on the design criteria pertaining to earthquake, wind and tornado, and flooding

  19. Research on high level radioactive waste repository seismic design criteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jing Xu

    2012-01-01

    Review seismic hazard analysis principle and method in site suitable assessment process of Yucca Mountain Project, and seismic design criteria and seismic design basis in primary design process. Demonstrated spatial character of seismic hazard by calculated regional seismic hazard map. Contrasted different level seismic design basis to show their differences and relation. Discussed seismic design criteria for preclosure phrase of high level waste repository and preference goal under beyond design basis ground motion. (author)

  20. Provincial human development index, a guide for efficiency level analysis: the case of iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabermahani, Asma; Barouni, Mohsen; Seyedin, Hesam; Aryankhesal, Aidin

    2013-01-01

    Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite indicator that can show the impact of economic strategies on human life standards. The index is calculated by three main factors of income, education and health. This research studies the status of HDI across the Iranian provinces, its changes over time and the efficiency of provinces in using resources. The data for 2001 and 2009 was obtained from the Iranian Center of Statistics. Data envelopment analysis technique was used to analyze the data. To calculate the efficiency, Banker, Charnes and Cooper's model was used. The national mean for the HDI in 2001 was 0.717 while it grew to 0.747 in 2009. Except for one province, all others had an improved human development index. Low ranked provinces such as Sistan & Baluchistan and Kurdistan stayed at the bottom in 2009 as well. Some provinces such as Bushehr with developing oil industries, or those purposively benefited from national oil income showed good growth. In some provinces, such as Hormozgan, out-migration of manpower to its neighboring province, Bushehr, was associated with decrease of the provincial income level. The number of efficient provinces increased from 5 to 13 in 2009. Iran falls among countries with high human development index based on the 2009 data. However, the distribution of HDI status across provinces was highly varied and the difference between high- and low-developed provinces increased in 2009. The government needs to revise policies concerning distribution of resources among the provinces.

  1. Turning the Big Mac Index into the Medical MAC Index | Wilson ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective: The purpose of this study was to create a global medical earnings index, called the Medical MAC Index, to enable a comparison of what medical specialists earn in the countries included in the study. Design: The study gathered data on the earnings of specialist anaesthetists employed in state hospitals with five ...

  2. Omega-3 Index of Canadian adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langlois, Kellie; Ratnayake, Walisundera M N

    2015-11-01

    Cardioprotective properties have been associated with two fatty acids-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The Omega-3 Index indicates the percentage of EPA+DHA in red blood cell fatty acids. Omega-3 Index levels of the Canadian population have not been directly measured. Data for respondents aged 20 to 79 from cycle 3 (2012/2013) of the Canadian Health Measures Survey were used to calculate means and the prevalence of Omega-3 Index coronary heart disease (CHD) risk cut-offs-high (4% or less), moderate (more than 4% to less than 8%), and low (8% or more)-by sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, including fish consumption and use of omega-3 supplements. Associations between the Omega-3 Index and CHD-related factors including biomarkers, risk factors, and previous CHD events, were examined in multivariate regression models. The mean Omega-3 Index level of Canadians aged 20 to 79 was 4.5%. Levels were higher for women, older adults, Asians and other non-white Canadians, omega-3 supplement users, and fish consumers; levels were lower for smokers and people who were obese. Fewer than 3% of adults had levels associated with low CHD risk; 43% had levels associated with high risk. No CHD-related factor was associated with the Omega-3 Index when control variables were taken into account. Omega-3 Index levels among Canadian adults were strongly related to age, race, supplement use, fish consumption, smoking status and obesity. Fewer than 3% of adults had Omega-3 Index levels associated with low risk for CHD.

  3. Pruning techniques for multi-objective system-level design space exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Piscitelli, R.

    2014-01-01

    System-level design space exploration (DSE), which is performed early in the design process, is of eminent importance to the design of complex multi-processor embedded system architectures. During system-level DSE, system parameters like, e.g., the number and type of processors, the type and size of

  4. The case for indexed price caps for U.S. electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lowry, M.N.

    1991-01-01

    Indexed price caps are a promising alternative to traditional, cost-of-service utility rate regulation. In just a decade, they have sprung from the drawing boards of economists to use by major utilities in a number of industries. Several authors have discussed the merits of indexed price caps for U.S. electric utilities. Despite their efforts, many parties to electric utility policy making are unfamiliar with the subject. This is unsurprising given the policy controversies that already embroil the industry. It is also unfortunate, since indexed price caps may help solve some of the problems that prompt these controversies. Indexed price caps can improve electric utility rate regulation in two ways. Utilities would have strong incentives to improve performance without the micromanagement that increasingly characterizes state-level regulation. Utilities could also be granted more extensive marketing freedoms, since indexes can protect customers from cross-subsidization. Two areas of concern about indexed price cap plans have emerged in recent discussions that the author has held with officials of electric utilities, intervenor groups, and regulatory agencies. Officials are often unclear on plan details, and therefore may not appreciate the degree of flexibility that is possible in plan design. Confusion over the available options in price cap adjustment indexes and the logic behind them is especially widespread. Officials also desire a clearer expression of how indexed price caps can coexist with current regulatory initiatives. This article details the major attributes of index plans, provides a brief history of indexing, discusses index design options in depth, and concludes with a vision of how indexed price caps can be made operational in today's electric utility industry

  5. Modulation Methods for Three-level Neutral-Point-Clamped Inverter Achieving Stress Redistribution under Moderate Modulation Index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ma, Ke; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2016-01-01

    This letter investigates the loss and thermal behaviors of a three-level neutral-point-clamped (3L-NPC) inverter undergoing moderate modulation index, which is typically presented during minor voltage sags of the power grid or speed changes of the electric machines. A series of new space vector m...

  6. Evaluation of prolactin levels in patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris and its correlation with pemphigus disease area index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vahideh Lajevardi, MD

    2016-06-01

    Conclusion: In our study, 22% of patients had hyperprolactinemia, which was greater among females. The highest PRL level was detected in mucocutaneous group. Although serum PRL levels were higher in patients with a greater Pemphigus Disease Area Index, it did not reach statistical significance.

  7. Discussion of quantitative assessment index system of suitability of the site for geological disposal repository of high-level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Rui; Wang Ju

    2014-01-01

    Site selection and suitability assessment of site are one of important tasks of research and development of geological disposal engineering for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Quantitative assessment of suitability of the site is based on the scientific, reasonable and operational index system. The discussion of index screening of quantitative assessment of suitability of the site is conducted. Principle of index screening is presented and index systems are established for different stages of site selection, including planning stage of site selection, region or area investigation stage, site characterization and site confirmation stage. But the considerations are taken of the complexity of site selection of geological disposal engineering for HLW and itself development of quantitative assessment method, so improvement of the index systems presented above is needed in the further. (authors)

  8. Delta, theta, beta, and gamma brain oscillations index levels of auditory sentence processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mai, Guangting; Minett, James W; Wang, William S-Y

    2016-06-01

    A growing number of studies indicate that multiple ranges of brain oscillations, especially the delta (δ, processing. It is not clear, however, how these oscillations relate to functional processing at different linguistic hierarchical levels. Using scalp electroencephalography (EEG), the current study tested the hypothesis that phonological and the higher-level linguistic (semantic/syntactic) organizations during auditory sentence processing are indexed by distinct EEG signatures derived from the δ, θ, β, and γ oscillations. We analyzed specific EEG signatures while subjects listened to Mandarin speech stimuli in three different conditions in order to dissociate phonological and semantic/syntactic processing: (1) sentences comprising valid disyllabic words assembled in a valid syntactic structure (real-word condition); (2) utterances with morphologically valid syllables, but not constituting valid disyllabic words (pseudo-word condition); and (3) backward versions of the real-word and pseudo-word conditions. We tested four signatures: band power, EEG-acoustic entrainment (EAE), cross-frequency coupling (CFC), and inter-electrode renormalized partial directed coherence (rPDC). The results show significant effects of band power and EAE of δ and θ oscillations for phonological, rather than semantic/syntactic processing, indicating the importance of tracking δ- and θ-rate phonetic patterns during phonological analysis. We also found significant β-related effects, suggesting tracking of EEG to the acoustic stimulus (high-β EAE), memory processing (θ-low-β CFC), and auditory-motor interactions (20-Hz rPDC) during phonological analysis. For semantic/syntactic processing, we obtained a significant effect of γ power, suggesting lexical memory retrieval or processing grammatical word categories. Based on these findings, we confirm that scalp EEG signatures relevant to δ, θ, β, and γ oscillations can index phonological and semantic/syntactic organizations

  9. A Benchmark for Evaluating Moving Object Indexes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Su; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Lin, Dan

    2008-01-01

    that targets techniques for the indexing of the current and near-future positions of moving objects. This benchmark enables the comparison of existing and future indexing techniques. It covers important aspects of such indexes that have not previously been covered by any benchmark. Notable aspects covered......Progress in science and engineering relies on the ability to measure, reliably and in detail, pertinent properties of artifacts under design. Progress in the area of database-index design thus relies on empirical studies based on prototype implementations of indexes. This paper proposes a benchmark...... include update efficiency, query efficiency, concurrency control, and storage requirements. Next, the paper applies the benchmark to half a dozen notable moving-object indexes, thus demonstrating the viability of the benchmark and offering new insight into the performance properties of the indexes....

  10. Designing Alternative Transport Methods for the Distributed Data Collection of ATLAS EventIndex Project

    CERN Document Server

    Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    One of the key and challenging tasks of the ATLAS EventIndex project is to index and catalog all the produced events not only at CERN but also at hundreds of worldwide grid sites, and convey the data in real time to a central Hadoop instance at CERN. While this distributed data collection is currently operating correctly in production, there are some issues that might impose performance bottlenecks in the future, with an expected rise in the event production and reprocessing rates. In this work, we first describe the current approach based on a messaging system, which conveys the data from the sources to the central catalog, and we identify some weaknesses of this system. Then, we study a promising alternative transport method based on an object store, presenting a performance comparison with the current approach, and the architectural design changes needed to adapt the system to the next run of the ATLAS experiment at CERN.

  11. DAEDALUS: System-Level Design Methodology for Streaming Multiprocessor Embedded Systems on Chips

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stefanov, T.; Pimentel, A.; Nikolov, H.; Ha, S.; Teich, J.

    2017-01-01

    The complexity of modern embedded systems, which are increasingly based on heterogeneous multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) architectures, has led to the emergence of system-level design. To cope with this design complexity, system-level design aims at raising the abstraction level of the design

  12. Resistive index on doppler ultrasound after renal transplantation as renal function predictor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, S.; Baloch, S.

    2015-01-01

    To determine the correlation between doppler resistive index and serum creatinine levels in renal transplant recipients. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Radiology, Military Hospital Rawalpindi from Oct 2009 to Oct 2010. Patients and Method: A total of 82 outdoor and admitted patients of both genders, within age group of 18-60 years, were included in the study. These patients were referred from Nephrology department Military Hospital, Rwp and Armed Forces Institute of Urology after renal transplant. Written informed consent was taken along with history of any co-morbid disease like dabetes or hypertension and for post transplant duration. Gray scale ultrasound was performed first, followed by doppler ultrasound of transplanted kidney and resistive index was calculated. The presence of any post transplant complications were also recorded. The values of resistive index were then correlated with the serum creatinine levels. Results: Doppler ultrasound was performed on 82 patients included in the study and resistive index was calculated. A strong correlation between resistive index (RI) and serum creatinine level was found as calculated through Pearson's equation i-e 0.89. Thus making resistive index a strong predictor of transplanted kidney function and survival. Patients with RI>0.8 were older with mean age of 45.56, had raised serum creatinine level with mean value of 276.69 meu mol/l and had longer post transplant duration (mean 21.63 weeks). These patients also had other co-morbid diseases like diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The commonest post transplant complication was raised parenchymal echogenicity (30.5%), followed by perinephric collections (18.3%). Conclusion: RI on doppler ultrasound in renal transplant patients shows a strong correlation with serum creatinine levels. Renal transplant patients with elevated serum creatinine levels had raised resistive indices. (author)

  13. Phagocytic Index of Peritoneal Macrophages after Propolis Suplementation in Mice (Mus musculus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siti Eva Mustafiah

    2011-12-01

    Design and Method: This research is an experiment with post test study design randomized control group design. This study used mice that were divided into four groups randomly. The first group / Group-I were for negative control (standard feed and aquadest; The second group/Group-II were fed standard-feed, aquadest, and propolis at a dose of 1.25 mg/kgBM; the third group/group-III were fed standard-feed, water, and propolis at a dose of 2.5 mg/KgBM; The fourth group/Group-IV were fed standard feed, water, and propolis at a dose of 5 mg/KgBM. Treatment where conducted for 3 days. Result: The average macrophage phagocytic index, were at the highest level of it (7.82 1.63 while the lowest one were the first group 3.43 0.13. The Kruskall Wallis result stated that there is index difference among various groups with p 0.002 (p < 0.05. Conclusion: Propolis effected on mice peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis index (Sains Medika, 3(2:121-128.

  14. Serum creatinine level: a supplemental index to distinguish Duchenne muscular dystrophy from Becker muscular dystrophy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huili; Zhu, Yuling; Sun, Yiming; Liang, Yingyin; Li, Yaqin; Zhang, Yu; Deng, Langhui; Wen, Xingxuan; Zhang, Cheng

    2015-01-01

    To improve assessment of dystrophinopathy, the aim of this study was to identify whether serum creatinine (Crn) level reflects disease severity. Biochemical, Vignos score, and genetic data were collected on 212 boys with dystrophinopathy. Serum Crn level had a strong inverse correlation with Vignos score by simple correlation (r = -0.793) and partial correlation analysis after adjustment for age, height, and weight (r = -0.791; both P Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) patients than Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients at ages 4, 5, 7, and 9 yr (all P < 0.0125). After adjusting for age, height, and weight, BMD patients still had a significantly higher serum Crn level than DMD patients (β = 7.140,  t = 6.277,  P < 0.01). Serum Crn level reflected disease severity and may serve as a supplemental index to distinguish DMD from BMD in clinical practice.

  15. Low Power Design with High-Level Power Estimation and Power-Aware Synthesis

    CERN Document Server

    Ahuja, Sumit; Shukla, Sandeep Kumar

    2012-01-01

    Low-power ASIC/FPGA based designs are important due to the need for extended battery life, reduced form factor, and lower packaging and cooling costs for electronic devices. These products require fast turnaround time because of the increasing demand for handheld electronic devices such as cell-phones, PDAs and high performance machines for data centers. To achieve short time to market, design flows must facilitate a much shortened time-to-product requirement. High-level modeling, architectural exploration and direct synthesis of design from high level description enable this design process. This book presents novel research techniques, algorithms,methodologies and experimental results for high level power estimation and power aware high-level synthesis. Readers will learn to apply such techniques to enable design flows resulting in shorter time to market and successful low power ASIC/FPGA design. Integrates power estimation and reduction for high level synthesis, with low-power, high-level design; Shows spec...

  16. Level up! the guide to great video game design

    CERN Document Server

    Rogers, Scott

    2014-01-01

    Want to design your own video games? Let expert Scott Rogers show you how! If you want to design and build cutting-edge video games but aren't sure where to start, then the SECOND EDITION of the acclaimed Level Up! is for you! Written by leading video game expert Scott Rogers, who has designed the hits Pac Man World, Maximo and SpongeBob Squarepants, this updated edition provides clear and well-thought out examples that forgo theoretical gobbledygook with charmingly illustrated concepts and solutions based on years of professional experience. Level Up! 2nd Edition has been NEWLY EXPANDED to

  17. KERDO INFORMATIVE INDEX TO DETERMINE THE LEVEL OF VIOLATIONS OF AUTONOMIC REGULATION AT OSTEOCHONDROSIS OF THE CERVICAL S PINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. P. Martsenyuk

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper evaluated t he informative value of the index Kerdo in patients with і mpaired autonomic regulation at osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. The calculated value of the information in these reports: the content of adrenaline and noradrenaline in daily urine acetylcholinesterase activity in capillary blood, systolic, diastolic pressure and heart rate in patients with neurological syndromes of degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine. They were more than the value of information in the index Kerdo with relevant pathology. We could not find sufficient information of Kerdo index to determine the level and direction of disorders of autonomic regulation in patients with neurological syndromes of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.

  18. Using an index of habitat patch proximity for landscape design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eric J. Gustafson; George R. Parker

    1994-01-01

    A proximity index (PX) inspired by island biogeography theory is described which quantifies the spatial context of a habitat patch in relation to its neighbors. The index distinguishes sparse distributions of small habitat patches from clusters of large patches. An evaluation of the relationship between PX and variation in the spatial characteristics of clusters of...

  19. Exploiting Domain Knowledge in System-level MPSoC Design Space Exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thompson, M.; Pimentel, A.D.

    2013-01-01

    System-level design space exploration (DSE), which is performed early in the design process, is of eminent importance to the design of complex multi-processor embedded multimedia systems. During system-level DSE, system parameters like, e.g., the number and type of processors, and the mapping of

  20. Interleaving methods for hybrid system-level MPSoC design space exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Piscitelli, R.; Pimentel, A.D.; McAllister, J.; Bhattacharyya, S.

    2012-01-01

    System-level design space exploration (DSE), which is performed early in the design process, is of eminent importance to the design of complex multi-processor embedded system architectures. During system-level DSE, system parameters like, e.g., the number and type of processors, the type and size of

  1. Blood pressure levels and body mass index in Brazilian adults with Down syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felipe Pucci

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Increased life expectancy among people with Down syndrome (DS has introduced new environmental factors that may affect blood pressure (BP and/or lead to obesity in this population. The aim here was to investigate BP levels and body mass index (BMI in adults with DS, correlating these data with the patients' sex and age. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional observational study conducted in special schools in Curitiba (PR, Brazil. METHODS: 97 adult patients were included. BP was measured in accordance with the established guidelines. BMI was calculated by dividing the weight by the height squared (kg/m2. RESULTS: Sex had no influence on BMI; nor did systolic BP (SBP or diastolic BP (DBP. The age range was from 18 to 56 years. No correlation was observed between increasing age and greater BMI or BP. Eighty-six individuals (88.7% presented normal BP, eleven (11.3% prehypertension and none hypertension. Twenty patients (20.4% presented BP lower than 90 × 60 mmHg. BMI ranged from 18 to 48 kg/m2 (mean of 28.8 ± 3.92 kg/m2: 21.9% had normal weight; 40.7% were overweight; and 25.3% had obesity class I, 9.9% class II and 2.2% class III. Higher BMI was associated with significantly greater SBP and DBP (P = 0.0175 and P = 0.0015. CONCLUSION: Sex and age did not influence SBP, DBP or BMI in Brazilian adults with DS. Higher BMI was associated with greater BP (both systolic and diastolic.

  2. Evaluation of prolactin levels in patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris and its correlation with pemphigus disease area index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lajevardi, Vahideh; Hallaji, Zahra; Daneshpazhooh, Maryam; Ghandi, Narges; Shekari, Peyman; Khani, Sepideh

    2016-06-01

    Prolactin is a hormone; in addition to it known roles, it has immunomodulatory effects on lymphocytes maturation and immunoglobulins production. Hyperprolactinemia has been demonstrated in various autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes mellitus, and Graves' disease. In view of the prolactin immunomodulatory roles, studying prolactin levels in pemphigus as an autoimmune blistering disease may introduce new ways of understanding disease etiology and developing treatment strategies. Our purpose was to determine the prolactin levels in patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris and study its correlation with pemphigus disease area index. Our study was limited by the lack of a control group. In this cross-sectional study, prolactin and anti-desmoglein 1 and 3 autoantibodies levels were measured in 50 patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris in Razi Dermatology Hospital. Pemphigus severity and extent was estimated using the Pemphigus Disease Area Index. Of the 50 patients, 18 were male and 32 were female with a mean age of 41.56 ± 13.66 years. Mean prolactin (PRL) level was 15.60 ± 11.72 ng/ml (10.68 in males and 18.37 in females). Mean anti-desmoglein 1 and 3 autoantibodies were 135.8 ± 119.8 and 245.8 ± 157.4 U/ml, respectively. Eleven out of 50 patients had a higher than normal prolactin range. No relation was found between prolactin level and disease activity ( p = .982). Also, correlation studies show no relation between prolactin and anti-desmoglein 1 and 3 autoantibodies levels (respectively, p = .771 and .738). In comparing the extent of the disease between the two groups with normal and high prolactin, paired t-test showed no significance ( p = .204). In our study, 22% of patients had hyperprolactinemia, which was greater among females. The highest PRL level was detected in mucocutaneous group. Although serum PRL levels were higher in patients with a greater Pemphigus Disease Area Index

  3. Longitudinal State-Level Effects on Change in Body Mass Index among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Cheng-Chia; Seo, Dong-Chul; Lin, Hsien-Chang

    2018-01-01

    Objective: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the effects of state-level socioeconomic status (SES), the density of fast food restaurants and walking to work on body mass index (BMI) among US adults aged 50 years and older. The study sought further to account for the interaction effects of three different hierarchical levels of…

  4. Correlation between Body Mass Index and Insulin Levels in Premenopausal Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anastasia Sachinidou

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Obesity is one of the most important problems of modern societies, and is considered a modern plague which tends to evolve to a global pandemic. Premenopausal women, most of the times, manifest hormonal dysfunctions and dysfunctions in their metabolism. The consequences are weight gain, heart diseases, hypertension and diabetes mellitus type 2. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine if vitamin D levels and Glycosylated hemoglobin are affected by exercise and if there is a connection between Body Mass Index (BMI and insulin. Method: The research involved 48 healthy premenopausal women who answered questionnaires which included questions about their height, weight, waist circumference, lifestyle and history of menstruation. This questionnaire, after due electronic approval, was based on a model of the German Sports and Research Centre (Karlsruhe Institut Fuer Sport und Sportwissenschaft. Women, after having completed a consent form, were also subjected to laboratory testing to determine their insulin, vitamin D levels and Glycosylated hemoglobin levels. To specify the vitamin D and insulin levels a method of direct chemiluminescence was used, and Glycosylated hemoglobin identification was specified using an automated light metering method. Statistical analysis performed using ΙΒΜ SPSS 22. Results: At the premenopausal women (41+/-7ετών (BMI24+/-4 kg/m2 a significant impact during the time of the exercises in the glycosylated hemoglobin (p = 0.038 0.05 regarding the levels of Glycosylated hemoglobin and the combination of exercise with other physical activities. Finally, a significant correlation between BMI and insulin (p=0.001<0.05 was detected. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference found in vitamin D levels relative to physical activity. Conclusion: During the research it was found that BMI influences the secretion of insulin, and insulin resistance that is a metabolism disorder, is a result of

  5. Thread-Level Parallel Indexing of Update Intensive Moving-Object Workloads

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sidlauskas, Darius; Ross, Kenneth A.; Jensen, Christian S.

    2011-01-01

    as well as contain queries. The non-trivial challenge addressed is that of avoiding contention between long-running queries and frequent updates. Specifically, the paper proposes a grid-based indexing technique. A static grid indexes a near up-to-date snapshot of the data to support queries, while a live......Modern processors consist of multiple cores that each support parallel processing by multiple physical threads, and they offer ample main-memory storage. This paper studies the use of such processors for the processing of update-intensive moving-object workloads that contain very frequent updates...

  6. The effect of food with different glycaemic index on the blood glucose level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lenka Kouřimská

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Blood glucose levels are affected by many factors including the type of foods consumed, processing technology and cooking method. Hormone insulin lowers blood glucose to its constant level, while glucagon, growth hormone, adrenalin and glucocorticoids have the opposite effect. High steepness of the blood glucose level rise after meals may be unfavourable for the organism. Sugars are transferred into the blood at different speeds according to the type of food. Therefore the aim of this study was to confirm experimentally the effect of food on blood glucose levels in men and women of different ages. Two types of low, medium and high-glycaemic index (GI foods were given to 4 men and 4 women of different age (from 35 to 65 years. All volunteers were healthy, slightly overweight, and without any regular sporting activity. None of them had any idea about their daily carbohydrates consumption and what the term glycaemic index meant. The volunteers came to the GI determination fasted in the morning. Their rise in blood glucose level was monitored by glucometer before the meal and after 1 and 2 hours of the consumption of baked potatoes (GI 85, white bread bun (GI 70, boiled potatoes (GI 64, rye bread (GI 62, potato dumplings (GI 52 and white cooked spaghetti (GI 41. Fasting blood sugar levels of volunteers highly depended on their age (p <0.0001 and gender (p <0.0001. The blood glucose values increased with age and were higher in men than in women. Significant influence of food GI on blood glucose levels in both men and women in all the age categories was observed (p <0.0001. An interaction between age and gender was also statistically highly significant (p <0.0001. One hour after consuming food the blood glucose values were significantly different from the values of fasting (p = 0.0035. The differences of these values did not depend on the age (p = 0.0574 and sex (p = 0.8256 of volunteers, but there was a significant difference on the GI value of food

  7. A NEW METHOD FOR 3D SHAPE INDEXING AND RETRIEVAL IN LARGE DATABASE BY USING THE LEVEL CUT

    OpenAIRE

    M. Elkhal; A. Lakehal; K. Satori

    2014-01-01

    In this study, we propose a new method for indexing and retrieval of 3D models in large databases based on binary images extracted from the 3D object called “level cut” LC. These cuts are obtained by the intersection of the set of the plans with the 3D object. A set of equidistant parallel plans generates by the intersection with the 3D object a set of cuts that used to indexing the 3D model. We are based on these cuts to describe the 3D object by using the vectors descriptors bas...

  8. Is the Carli index flawed?: assessing the case for the new retail price index RPIJ.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levell, Peter

    2015-02-01

    The paper discusses the recent decision of the UK's Office for National Statistics to replace the controversial Carli index with the Jevons index in a new version of the retail price index-RPIJ. In doing so we make three contributions to the way that price indices should be selected for measures of consumer price inflation when quantity information is not available (i.e. at the 'elementary' level). Firstly, we introduce a new price bouncing test under the test approach for choosing index numbers. Secondly, we provide empirical evidence on the performance of the Carli and Jevons indices in different contexts under the statistical approach. Thirdly, applying something analogous to the principle of insufficient reason, we argue contrary to received wisdom in the literature, that the economic approach can be used to choose indices at the elementary level, and moreover that it favours the use of the Jevons index. Overall, we conclude that there is a case against the Carli index and that the Jevons index is to be preferred.

  9. The relationship between life expectancy and indexes of socioeconomy and nutrition at the prefectural level

    OpenAIRE

    Gao, Junke; Kakehashi, Masayuki

    2006-01-01

    It is well known that Japanese people have the longest life expectancy in the world at present. Variouspoints of view which focus on causal contexts are reported. The present study used a database at theprefectural level in Japan, which included Japanese life expectancy at birth, employment types of thehousehold, medical resources, medical expenses, and nutrition indexes in 2000. The purpose of the studywas to clarify the major related factors on Japanese life expectancy. The results suggest ...

  10. Index Selection in Relational Databases

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Choenni, R.S.; Blanken, Henk; Chang, S.C.

    Intending to develop a tool which aims to support the physical design of relational databases can not be done without considering the problem of index selection. Generally the problem is split into a primary and secondary index selection problem and the selection is done per table. Whereas much

  11. Gradient-Index Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-31

    nonimaging design capabilities to incorporate 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 12-04-2011 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views, opinions...Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Imaging Optics, Nonimaging Optics, Gradient Index Optics, Camera, Concentrator...imaging and nonimaging design capabilities to incorporate manufacturable GRIN lenses can provide imaging lens systems that are compact and

  12. Development of prolonged standing strain index to quantify risk levels of standing jobs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, Isa; Omar, Abdul Rahman

    2012-01-01

    Many occupations in industry such as metal stamping workers, electronics parts assembly operators, automotive industry welders, and lathe operators require working in a standing posture for a long time. Prolonged standing can contribute to discomfort and muscle fatigue particularly in the back and legs. This study developed the prolonged standing strain index (PSSI) to quantify the risk levels caused by standing jobs, and proposed recommendations to minimize the risk levels. Risk factors associated with standing jobs, such as working posture, muscles activity, standing duration, holding time, whole-body vibration, and indoor air quality, were the basis for developing the PSSI. All risk factors were assigned multipliers, and the PSSI was the product of those multipliers. Recommendations for improvement are based on the PSSI; however, extensive studies are required to validate their effectiveness. multipliers, and the PSSI was the product of those multipliers. Recommendations for improvement are based on the PSSI; however, extensive studies are required to validate their effectiveness.

  13. Modeling and design of a spiral-shaped Mach-Zehnder interferometric sensor for refractive index sensing of watery solutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekman, M.; Dijkstra, Marcel; Dijkstra, Mindert; Hoekstra, Hugo

    2006-01-01

    The modeling and design of a spiral-shaped Mach-Zehnder Interferometric sensor (sMZI sensor) for refractive index sensing of watery solutions is presented. The goal of the running project is to realise a multi-sensing array by placing multiple sMZIs in series to form a sensing branch, and to place

  14. The Composite Strain Index (COSI) and Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI): methodologies for quantifying biomechanical stressors for complex tasks and job rotation using the Revised Strain Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, Arun; Moore, J Steven; Kapellusch, Jay M

    2017-08-01

    The Composite Strain Index (COSI) quantifies biomechanical stressors for complex tasks consisting of exertions at different force levels and/or with different exertion times. The Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI) further integrates biomechanical stressors from different tasks to quantify exposure for the entire work shift. The paper provides methodologies to compute COSI and CUSI along with examples. Complex task simulation produced 169,214 distinct tasks. Use of average, time-weighted average (TWA) and peak force and COSI classified 66.9, 28.2, 100 and 38.9% of tasks as hazardous, respectively. For job rotation the simulation produced 10,920 distinct jobs. TWA COSI, peak task COSI and CUSI classified 36.5, 78.1 and 66.6% jobs as hazardous, respectively. The results suggest that the TWA approach systematically underestimates the biomechanical stressors and peak approach overestimates biomechanical stressors, both at the task and job level. It is believed that the COSI and CUSI partially address these underestimations and overestimations of biomechanical stressors. Practitioner Summary: COSI quantifies exposure when applied hand force and/or duration of that force changes during a task cycle. CUSI integrates physical exposures from job rotation. These should be valuable tools for designing and analysing tasks and job rotation to determine risk of musculoskeletal injuries.

  15. Serum Creatinine Level: A Supplemental Index to Distinguish Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy from Becker Muscular Dystrophy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huili Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. To improve assessment of dystrophinopathy, the aim of this study was to identify whether serum creatinine (Crn level reflects disease severity. Methods. Biochemical, Vignos score, and genetic data were collected on 212 boys with dystrophinopathy. Results. Serum Crn level had a strong inverse correlation with Vignos score by simple correlation (r=-0.793 and partial correlation analysis after adjustment for age, height, and weight (r=-0.791; both P<0.01. Serum Crn level was significantly higher in patients with in-frame than out-of-frame mutations (Z=-4.716, P<0.01 and in Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD patients than Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD patients at ages 4, 5, 7, and 9 yr (all P<0.0125. After adjusting for age, height, and weight, BMD patients still had a significantly higher serum Crn level than DMD patients (β=7.140, t=6.277, P<0.01. Conclusions. Serum Crn level reflected disease severity and may serve as a supplemental index to distinguish DMD from BMD in clinical practice.

  16. Fasting Ghrelin Levels Are Decreased in Obese Subjects and Are Significantly Related With Insulin Resistance and Body Mass Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimitrios Papandreou

    2017-10-01

    CONCLUSION: Obese subjects have low fasting ghrelin levels that they are significantly related to insulin resistance and body mass index. More prospective studies are needed to establish the role of ghrelin in the pathogenesis of human obesity.

  17. Assortive mating for personaltiy traits, educational level, religious affiliation, height, weight, adn body mass index in parents of Korean twin sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hur, Yoon-Mi

    2003-12-01

    The degree of assortative mating for psychological and physical traits in Asian societies in relatively unknown. The present study examined assortative mating for educational level, personality traits, religious affiliation, height, weight, and body mass index in a korean sample. Age-adjusted spouse correlations were high for educational level (r = .63) and religious affiliation (r = .67), modest for most personality traits (rs = -.01 to .26), and trivial for height (r = .04), weight (r = .05)m and body mass index (r = .11). These results were remarkably similar to those found from the western samples. Implications of the present findings in behavior genetic studies and human mating patterns were briefly discussed.

  18. Topological Design and Modulation Strategy for Buck-Boost Three-Level Inverters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Feng; Loh, Poh Chiang; Teodorescu, Remus

    2009-01-01

    To date, designed topologies for dc-ac inversion with both voltage buck and boost capabilities are mainly focused on two-level circuitries with extensions to three-level possibilities left nearly unexplored. Contributing to this area of research, this paper presents the design of a number of viable...... can perform distinct five-level line voltage and three-level phase voltage switching by simply controlling the active switches located in the designed voltage boost section of the circuits. As a cost saving option, one active switch can further be removed from the voltage boost section of the circuits...... buck-boost threelevel inverters that can also support bidirectional power conversion. The proposed front-end circuitry is developed from the C´ ukderived buck-boost two-level inverter, and by using the "alternative phase opposition disposition" modulation scheme, the buck-boost three-level inverters...

  19. Assessing the Conceptual Understanding about Heat and Thermodynamics at Undergraduate Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulkarni, Vasudeo Digambar; Tambade, Popat Savaleram

    2013-01-01

    In this study, a Thermodynamic Concept Test (TCT) was designed to assess student's conceptual understanding heat and thermodynamics at undergraduate level. The different statistical tests such as item difficulty index, item discrimination index, point biserial coefficient were used for assessing TCT. For each item of the test these indices were…

  20. Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: implementing inherent safety perspective. Part 1 - guideword applicability and method description.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

    2008-12-15

    Layout planning plays a key role in the inherent safety performance of process plants since this design feature controls the possibility of accidental chain-events and the magnitude of possible consequences. A lack of suitable methods to promote the effective implementation of inherent safety in layout design calls for the development of new techniques and methods. In the present paper, a safety assessment approach suitable for layout design in the critical early phase is proposed. The concept of inherent safety is implemented within this safety assessment; the approach is based on an integrated assessment of inherent safety guideword applicability within the constraints typically present in layout design. Application of these guidewords is evaluated along with unit hazards and control devices to quantitatively map the safety performance of different layout options. Moreover, the economic aspects related to safety and inherent safety are evaluated by the method. Specific sub-indices are developed within the integrated safety assessment system to analyze and quantify the hazard related to domino effects. The proposed approach is quick in application, auditable and shares a common framework applicable in other phases of the design lifecycle (e.g. process design). The present work is divided in two parts: Part 1 (current paper) presents the application of inherent safety guidelines in layout design and the index method for safety assessment; Part 2 (accompanying paper) describes the domino hazard sub-index and demonstrates the proposed approach with a case study, thus evidencing the introduction of inherent safety features in layout design.

  1. The correlation of vascularization index and flow index of thyroid cancer ultrasound with tumor malignancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing Liao

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To study the correlation of ultrasound vascularization index and flow index of thyroid cancer with tumor malignancy. Methods: A total of 140 patients with thyroid nodule who accepted surgical resection in our hospital between May 2013 and June 2016 were selected as the research subjects, the patients with malignant thyroid nodule were included in the malignant group of the research and patients with benign thyroid nodule were included in the benign group of research. Three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography was conducted before operation to determine vascularization index (VI, flow index (FI and vascularization flow index (VFI; tumor tissues were collected after operation to detect the expression of angiogenesis as well as cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion-related molecules. Results: VI, FI and VFI levels of tumor tissue of malignant group were significantly higher than those of benign group; VEGF, MK, Ang-2, IGF-II, Bcl-2, Livin, Wip1, S100A4, TCF, β-catenin and SATB1 protein expression in tumor tissue of malignant group were significantly higher than those of benign group and positively correlated with VI, FI and VFI levels while CCNG2 and p27 protein expression were significantly lower than those of benign group and negatively correlated with VI, FI and VFI levels. Conclusion: Ultrasound vascularization index and flow index of thyroid cancer increase significantly and are closely related to the angiogenesis as well as cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion.

  2. muBLASTP: database-indexed protein sequence search on multicore CPUs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jing; Misra, Sanchit; Wang, Hao; Feng, Wu-Chun

    2016-11-04

    The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is a fundamental program in the life sciences that searches databases for sequences that are most similar to a query sequence. Currently, the BLAST algorithm utilizes a query-indexed approach. Although many approaches suggest that sequence search with a database index can achieve much higher throughput (e.g., BLAT, SSAHA, and CAFE), they cannot deliver the same level of sensitivity as the query-indexed BLAST, i.e., NCBI BLAST, or they can only support nucleotide sequence search, e.g., MegaBLAST. Due to different challenges and characteristics between query indexing and database indexing, the existing techniques for query-indexed search cannot be used into database indexed search. muBLASTP, a novel database-indexed BLAST for protein sequence search, delivers identical hits returned to NCBI BLAST. On Intel Haswell multicore CPUs, for a single query, the single-threaded muBLASTP achieves up to a 4.41-fold speedup for alignment stages, and up to a 1.75-fold end-to-end speedup over single-threaded NCBI BLAST. For a batch of queries, the multithreaded muBLASTP achieves up to a 5.7-fold speedups for alignment stages, and up to a 4.56-fold end-to-end speedup over multithreaded NCBI BLAST. With a newly designed index structure for protein database and associated optimizations in BLASTP algorithm, we re-factored BLASTP algorithm for modern multicore processors that achieves much higher throughput with acceptable memory footprint for the database index.

  3. Browse Title Index

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 251 - 300 of 1260 ... Journal Home > Advanced Search > Browse Title Index ... Consumption of ammonia-nitrogen by aob in immobilized batch culture, Abstract PDF .... Vol 9, No 3S (2017): Special Issue, Design an automatic temperature ...

  4. Kerr-effect analysis in a three-level negative index material under magneto cross-coupling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boutabba, N.

    2018-02-01

    We discuss the feasibility of the Kerr effect in negative refractive index materials under magneto cross-coupling and reservoir interaction. The considered medium is a typical three-level atomic system where we derive both the refractive and the gain spectrum. The profiles are analyzed for a weak probe field, and for varying strengths of the strong control field. The considered scheme shows an enhancement of the Kerr nonlinearity which we attribute to the contribution of the electromagnetic components of the fields. For more realistic experimental conditions, we discuss the dependence of the Kerr effect on different thermal bath coupling constants.

  5. Index modulation for 5G wireless communications

    CERN Document Server

    Wen, Miaowen; Yang, Liuqing

    2017-01-01

    This book presents a thorough examination of index modulation, an emerging 5G modulation technique. It includes representative transmitter and receiver design, optimization, and performance analysis of index modulation in various domains. First, the basic spatial modulation system for the spatial domain is introduced. Then, the development of a generalized pre-coding aided quadrature spatial modulation system as well as a virtual spatial modulation system are presented. For the space-time domain, a range of differential spatial modulation systems are examined, along with the pre-coding design. Both basic and enhanced index modulated OFDM systems for the frequency domain are discussed, focusing on the verification of their strong capabilities in inter-carrier interference mitigation. Finally, key open problems are highlighted and future research directions are considered. Designed for researchers and professionals, this book is essential for anyone working in communications networking, 5G, and system design. A...

  6. A truck cask design for shipping defense high-level waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Madsen, M.M.; Zimmer, A.

    1985-01-01

    The Defense High-Level Waste (DHLW) cask is a Type B packaging currently under development by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This truck cask has been designed to initially transport borosilicate glass waste from the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Specific program activities include designing, testing, certifying, and fabricating a prototype legal-weight truck cask system. The design includes such state-of-the-art features as integral impact limiters and remote handling features. A replaceable shielding liner provides the flexibility for shipping a wide range of waste types and activity levels

  7. Multi-load Optimal Design of Burner-inner-liner Under Performance Index Constraint by Second-Order Polynomial Taylor Series Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tu Gaoqiao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Using maximum expansion pressure of n-decane, the aeroengine burner-inner-liner combustion pressure load is computed. Aerodynamic loads are obtained from internal gas pressure load and gas momentum. Multi-load second-order Taylor series equations are established using multi-variant polynomials and their sensitivities. Optimal designs are carried out using various performance index constraints. When 0.25 to 0.8 rectifications of different design variants are implemented, they converge under 5×10‒4 d-norm difference ratio.

  8. Creating Materials with Negative Refraction Index using Topology Optimization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Rasmus Ellebæk; Sigmund, Ole

    is used for regularizationand a projection step applied to obtain clean 0/1 designs. A continuation scheme is used to avoidstagnation in the optimization. Metamaterials with negative refraction index designed using this method are presented. The angular dependence of the refraction index......We apply topology optimization along with full modeling of the electromagnetic (acoustic) field to create metamaterials with negative refraction index. We believe that our approach can be used in the design of metamaterials with specific effective permittivity and permeability e.g. by adapting....... The direction of propagation for the prescribed wave is chosen to match the angle of incidence of the incoming plane wave and its position isused to select the refraction index for the slab. We introducing a continuous design field and apply The Method of Moving Asymptotes to perform the optimization. A filter...

  9. University building safety index measurement using risk and implementation matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, A.; Arumsari, F.; Maryani, A.

    2018-04-01

    Many high rise building constructed in several universities in Indonesia. The high-rise building management must provide the safety planning and proper safety equipment in each part of the building. Unfortunately, most of the university in Indonesia have not been applying safety policy yet and less awareness on treating safety facilities. Several fire accidents in university showed that some significant risk should be managed by the building management. This research developed a framework for measuring the high rise building safety index in university The framework is not only assessed the risk magnitude but also designed modular building safety checklist for measuring the safety implementation level. The safety checklist has been developed for 8 types of the university rooms, i.e.: office, classroom, 4 type of laboratories, canteen, and library. University building safety index determined using risk-implementation matrix by measuring the risk magnitude and assessing the safety implementation level. Building Safety Index measurement has been applied in 4 high rise buildings in ITS Campus. The building assessment showed that the rectorate building in secure condition and chemical department building in beware condition. While the library and administration center building was in less secure condition.

  10. Essential knowledge for transistor-level LSI circuit design

    CERN Document Server

    Nakura, Toru

    2016-01-01

    This book is a collection of the miscellaneous knowledge essential for transistor-level LSI circuit design, summarized as the issues that need to be considered in each design step. To design an LSI that actually functions and to be able to properly measure it, an extremely large amount of diverse, detailed knowledge is necessary. Even though one may read a textbook about an op-amp, for example, the op-amp circuit design may not actually be possible to complete in one’s CAD tools. The first half of this text explains important design issues such as the operating principles of CAD tools, including schematic entry, SPICE simulation, layout and verification, and RC extraction. Then, mistake-prone topics for many circuit design beginners, resulting from their lack of consideration of these subjects, are explained including IO buffers, noise, and problems due to the progress of miniaturization. Following these topics, basic but very specialized issues for LSI circuit measurement are explained including measuremen...

  11. Controlling graphene plasmons with a zero-index metasurface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Lihui; Lu, Yanxin; Yuan, Mengmeng; Shi, Fenghua; Xu, Haixia; Chen, Yihang

    2017-11-30

    Graphene plasmons, owing to their diverse applications including electro-optical modulation, optical sensing, spectral photometry and tunable lighting at the nanoscale, have recently attracted much attention. One key challenge in advancing this field is to precisely control the propagation of graphene plasmons. Here, we propose an on-chip integrated platform to engineer the wave front of the graphene plasmons through a metasurface with a refractive index of zero. We demonstrate that a well-designed graphene/photonic-crystal metasurface can possess conical plasmonic dispersion at the Brillouin zone center with a triply degenerate state at the Dirac frequency, giving rise to the zero-effective-index of graphene plasmons. Plane-wave-emission and focusing effects of the graphene plasmons are achieved by tailoring such a zero-index metasurface. In addition to the tunable Dirac point frequency enabled by the electrical tuning of the graphene Fermi level, our highly integrated system also provides stable performance even when defects exist. This actively controllable on-chip platform can potentially be useful for integrated photonic circuits and devices.

  12. Herth hope index: psychometric testing of the Chinese version.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Keung Sum; Li, Ho Cheung William; Chan, Sally Wai-Chi; Lopez, Violeta

    2012-09-01

    This article is a report on psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the herth hope index. The availability of a valid and reliable instrument that accurately measures the level of hope in patients with heart failure is crucial before any hope-enhancing interventions can be appropriately planned and evaluated. There is no such instrument for Chinese people. A test-retest, within-subjects design was used. A purposive sample of 120 Hong Kong Chinese patients with heart failure between the ages of 60 and 80 years admitted to two medical wards was recruited during an 8-month period in 2009. Participants were asked to respond to the Chinese version of the herth hope index, Hamilton depression rating scale and Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. The internal consistency, content validity and construct validity and test-retest reliability of the Chinese version of the herth hope index were assessed. The newly translated scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency, good content validity and appropriate convergent and discriminant validity. Confirmatory factor analysis added further evidence of the construct validity of the scale. Results suggest that the newly translated scale can be used as a self-report assessment tool in assessing the level of hope in Hong Kong Chinese patients with heart failure. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  13. Standing Wave Field Distribution in Graded-Index Antireflection Coatings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongxiang Deng

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Standing wave field distributions in three classic types of graded-index antireflection coatings are studied. These graded-index antireflection coatings are designed at wavelengths from 200 nm to 1200 nm, which is the working wavelength range of high energy laser system for inertial-fusion research. The standing wave field distributions in these coatings are obtained by the numerical calculation of electromagnetic wave equation. We find that standing wave field distributions in these three graded-index anti-reflection coatings are quite different. For the coating with linear index distribution, intensity of standing wave field decreases periodically from surface to substrate with narrow oscillation range and the period is proportional to the incident wavelength. For the coating with exponential index distribution, intensity of standing wave field decreases periodically from surface to substrate with large oscillation range and the period is also proportional to the incident wavelength. Finally, for the coating with polynomial index, intensity of standing wave field is quickly falling down from surface to substrate without an obvious oscillation. We find that the intensity of standing wave field in the interface between coating and substrate for linear index, exponential index and polynomial index are about 0.7, 0.9 and 0.7, respectively. Our results indicate that the distributions of standing wave field in linear index coating and polynomial index coating are better than that in exponential index coating for the application in high energy laser system. Moreover, we find that the transmittance of linear index coating and polynomial index coating are also better than exponential index coating at the designed wavelength range. Present simulation results are useful for the design and application of graded-index antireflection coating in high energy laser system.

  14. The influence of neonatal intensive care unit design on sound level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hsin-Li; Chen, Chao-Huei; Wu, Chih-Chao; Huang, Hsiu-Jung; Wang, Teh-Ming; Hsu, Chia-Chi

    2009-12-01

    Excessive noise in nurseries has been found to cause adverse effects in infants, especially preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The NICU design may influence the background sound level. We compared the sound level in two differently designed spaces in one NICU. We hypothesized that the sound level in an enclosed space would be quieter than in an open space. Sound levels were measured continuously 24 hours a day in two separate spaces at the same time, one enclosed and one open. Sound-level meters were placed near beds in each room. Sound levels were expressed as decibels, A-weighted (dBA) and presented as hourly L(eq), L(max), L(10), and L(90). The hourly L(eq) in the open space (50.8-57.2dB) was greater than that of the enclosed space (45.9-51.7dB), with a difference of 0.4-10.4dB, and a mean difference of 4.5dB (p<0.0001). The hourly L(10), L(90), and L(max) in the open space also exceeded that in the enclosed space (p<0.0001). The sound level measured in the enclosed space was quieter than in the open space. The design of bed space should be taken into consideration when building a new NICU. Besides the design of NICU architecture, continuous monitoring of sound level in the NICU is important to maintain a quiet environment.

  15. Effect of Oral Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Supplementation on DHA Levels and Omega-3 Index in Red Blood Cell Membranes of Breast Cancer Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molfino, Alessio; Amabile, Maria I; Mazzucco, Sara; Biolo, Gianni; Farcomeni, Alessio; Ramaccini, Cesarina; Antonaroli, Simonetta; Monti, Massimo; Muscaritoli, Maurizio

    2017-01-01

    Rationale: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in cell membrane may influence breast cancer (BC) patients' prognosis, affecting tumor cells sensitivity to chemo- and radio-therapy and likely modulating inflammation. The possibility of identifying BC patients presenting with low DHA levels and/or low ability of DHA incorporation into cell membrane might help to treat this condition. Methods: We enrolled BC patients and healthy controls, recording their seafood dietary intake. DHA in form of algal oil was administered for 10 consecutive days (2 g/day). Blood samples were collected at baseline (T0) and after 10 days of supplementation (T1) to assess DHA, omega-3 index, as the sum of DHA + eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), in red blood cells (RBC) membranes and plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 levels. Pre- and post-treatment fatty acid profiles were obtained by gas-chromatography. Parametric and non-parametric tests were performed, as appropriate, and P -value DHA and omega-3 index increased from T0 to T1 in the 3 groups of BC patients and in controls ( P DHA incorporation between each group of BC patients and between patients and controls, except for M group, which incorporated higher DHA levels with respect to controls (β = 0.42; P = 0.03). No association was documented between cytokines levels and DHA and omega-3 index at baseline and after DHA supplementation. Independent of the presence of BC, women considered as "good seafood consumers" showed at baseline DHA and omega-3 index higher with respect to "low seafood consumers" ( P = 0.04; P = 0.007, respectively). After supplementation, the increase in DHA levels was greater in "low seafood consumers" with respect to "good seafood consumers" ( P DHA supplementation was associated with increased DHA levels and omega-3 index in RBC membranes of BC cancer patients, independent of the type of BC presentation, and in controls. BRCA1/2 mutation, as well as low seafood consuming habits in both BC patients and healthy

  16. Southern routes for high-level radioactive waste: Agencies, contacts, and designations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-05-01

    The Southern Routes for High-Level Radioactive Waste: Agencies, Contacts and Designations is a compendium of sixteen southern states' routing programs for the transportation of high-level radioactive materials. The report identifies the state-designated routing agencies as defined under 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 171 and provides a reference to the source and scope of the agencies' rulemaking authority. Additionally, the state agency and contact designated by the state's governor to receive advance notification and shipment routing information under 10 CFR Parts 71 and 73 are also listed. This report also examines alternative route designations made by southern states and the lessons that were learned from the designation process

  17. Microstructured optical fiber refractive index sensor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Town, Graham E.; McCosker, Ravi; Yuan, Scott Wu

    2010-01-01

    We describe a dual-core microstructured optical fiber designed for refractive index sensing of fluids. We show that by using the exponential dependence of intercore coupling on analyte refractive index, both large range and high sensitivity can be achieved in the one device. We also show...

  18. The Influence of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Design on Sound Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsin-Li Chen

    2009-12-01

    Conclusion: The sound level measured in the enclosed space was quieter than in the open space. The design of bed space should be taken into consideration when building a new NICU. Besides the design of NICU architecture, continuous monitoring of sound level in the NICU is important to maintain a quiet environment.

  19. Indexing for summary queries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yi, Ke; Wang, Lu; Wei, Zhewei

    2014-01-01

    ), of a particular attribute of these records. Aggregation queries are especially useful in business intelligence and data analysis applications where users are interested not in the actual records, but some statistics of them. They can also be executed much more efficiently than reporting queries, by embedding...... returned by reporting queries. In this article, we design indexing techniques that allow for extracting a statistical summary of all the records in the query. The summaries we support include frequent items, quantiles, and various sketches, all of which are of central importance in massive data analysis....... Our indexes require linear space and extract a summary with the optimal or near-optimal query cost. We illustrate the efficiency and usefulness of our designs through extensive experiments and a system demonstration....

  20. Body Dissatisfaction and Self-Esteem in Female Students Aged 9-15: the Effects of Age, Family Income, Body Mass Index Levels and Dance Practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monteiro Lilian A.

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the effects of age, family income, body mass index and dance practice on levels of body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in female students. The sample consisted of 283 female subjects attending a public school with a mean age of 11.51±1.60 years and a mean body mass index of 18.72 kg/m2 (SD=3.32. The instruments used were the Body Dissatisfaction Scale for Adolescents and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, both of which showed good internal consistency (0.77 and 0.81, respectively. The tests were applied (two-factor ANOVA to compare the students practicing and those not practicing dance; the differences in the levels of body dissatisfaction (p=0.104 and self-esteem (p=0.09 were considered significant. The results demonstrated that age negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction (r=-0.19; p<0.01 and that higher body mass index levels were associated with greater body dissatisfaction (r=0.15, p=0.016 and lower levels of self-esteem (r=-0.17, p<0.01 only in non-practitioners. The practice of dance had a significant effect on levels of body dissatisfaction (F=4.79; p=0.030; η2=0.02, but there was no significant difference in self-esteem (F=1.88; p=0.172; η2=0.02. It can be concluded that female children and adolescents practicing dance have higher self-esteem, and are more satisfied with their body weight and their appearance. Moreover, results showed that self-esteem and body dissatisfaction were influenced by the body mass index levels only in the nonpractitioners group.

  1. Study on Viscoelastic Deformation Monitoring Index of an RCC Gravity Dam in an Alpine Region Using Orthogonal Test Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yaoying Huang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study is to present a method of determining viscoelastic deformation monitoring index of a Roller-compacted concrete (RCC gravity dam in an alpine region. By focusing on a modified deformation monitoring model considering frost heave and back analyzed mechanical parameters of the dam, the working state of viscoelasticity for the dam is illustrated followed by an investigation and designation of adverse load cases using orthogonal test method. Water pressure component is then calculated by finite element method, while temperature, time effect, and frost heave components are obtained through deformation statistical model considering frost heave. The viscoelastic deformation monitoring index is eventually determined by small probability and maximum entropy methods. The results show that (a with the abnormal probability 1% the dam deformation monitoring index for small probability and maximum entropy methods is 23.703 mm and 22.981 mm, respectively; thus the maximum measured displacement of the dam is less than deformation monitoring index, which indicates that the dam is currently in a state of safety operation and (b the obtained deformation monitoring index using orthogonal test method is more accurate due to the full consideration of more random factors; the method gained from this study will likely be of use to diagnose the working state for those RCC dams in alpine regions.

  2. Assessment of serum lipid metabolism index and cytokine levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated by coronary heart disease after telmisartan combined with lipid-lowering drug treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin Wang

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To study the effect of telmisartan combined with lipid-lowering drug therapy on serum lipid metabolism index and cytokine levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated by coronary heart disease. Methods: A total of 106 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated by coronary heart disease who were treated in our hospital between September 2013 and October 2016 were collected and then divided into the control group (n=55 who received conventional treatment + lipid-lowering drug treatment and the observation group (n=51 who received conventional treatment + lipid-lowering drug + telmisartan treatment after the therapies were reviewed. Before and after treatment, serum levels of lipid metabolism indexes, inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress indexes were compared between two groups of patients. Results: Before treatment, the differences in serum levels of lipid metabolism indexes, inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress indexes were not statistically significant between two groups of patients. After treatment, serum TG and LDL-C levels in observation group were lower than those in control group while HDL-C level was higher than that in control group; serum inflammatory mediators IL-6, IL-8, HMGB1 and TNF-α levels were lower than those in control group; serum oxidative stress indexes MDA and ROS levels were lower than those in control group while GSH-Px level was higher than that in control group. Conclusion: Telmisartan combined with lipid-lowering drug therapy can effectively optimize the lipid metabolism and reduce the systemic inflammatory response and oxidative stress response in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated by coronary heart disease.

  3. DESIGN ANALYSIS FOR THE DEFENSE HIGH-LEVEL WASTE DISPOSAL CONTAINER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radulesscu, G.; Tang, J.S.

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of ''Design Analysis for the Defense High-Level Waste Disposal Container'' analysis is to technically define the defense high-level waste (DHLW) disposal container/waste package using the Waste Package Department's (WPD) design methods, as documented in ''Waste Package Design Methodology Report'' (CRWMS M andO [Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management and Operating Contractor] 2000a). The DHLW disposal container is intended for disposal of commercial high-level waste (HLW) and DHLW (including immobilized plutonium waste forms), placed within disposable canisters. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-managed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in disposable canisters may also be placed in a DHLW disposal container along with HLW forms. The objective of this analysis is to demonstrate that the DHLW disposal container/waste package satisfies the project requirements, as embodied in Defense High Level Waste Disposal Container System Description Document (SDD) (CRWMS M andO 1999a), and additional criteria, as identified in Waste Package Design Sensitivity Report (CRWMS M andQ 2000b, Table 4). The analysis briefly describes the analytical methods appropriate for the design of the DHLW disposal contained waste package, and summarizes the results of the calculations that illustrate the analytical methods. However, the analysis is limited to the calculations selected for the DHLW disposal container in support of the Site Recommendation (SR) (CRWMS M andO 2000b, Section 7). The scope of this analysis is restricted to the design of the codisposal waste package of the Savannah River Site (SRS) DHLW glass canisters and the Training, Research, Isotopes General Atomics (TRIGA) SNF loaded in a short 18-in.-outer diameter (OD) DOE standardized SNF canister. This waste package is representative of the waste packages that consist of the DHLW disposal container, the DHLW/HLW glass canisters, and the DOE-managed SNF in disposable canisters. The intended use of this

  4. DESIGN ANALYSIS FOR THE DEFENSE HIGH-LEVEL WASTE DISPOSAL CONTAINER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    G. Radulesscu; J.S. Tang

    2000-06-07

    The purpose of ''Design Analysis for the Defense High-Level Waste Disposal Container'' analysis is to technically define the defense high-level waste (DHLW) disposal container/waste package using the Waste Package Department's (WPD) design methods, as documented in ''Waste Package Design Methodology Report'' (CRWMS M&O [Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management and Operating Contractor] 2000a). The DHLW disposal container is intended for disposal of commercial high-level waste (HLW) and DHLW (including immobilized plutonium waste forms), placed within disposable canisters. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-managed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in disposable canisters may also be placed in a DHLW disposal container along with HLW forms. The objective of this analysis is to demonstrate that the DHLW disposal container/waste package satisfies the project requirements, as embodied in Defense High Level Waste Disposal Container System Description Document (SDD) (CRWMS M&O 1999a), and additional criteria, as identified in Waste Package Design Sensitivity Report (CRWMS M&Q 2000b, Table 4). The analysis briefly describes the analytical methods appropriate for the design of the DHLW disposal contained waste package, and summarizes the results of the calculations that illustrate the analytical methods. However, the analysis is limited to the calculations selected for the DHLW disposal container in support of the Site Recommendation (SR) (CRWMS M&O 2000b, Section 7). The scope of this analysis is restricted to the design of the codisposal waste package of the Savannah River Site (SRS) DHLW glass canisters and the Training, Research, Isotopes General Atomics (TRIGA) SNF loaded in a short 18-in.-outer diameter (OD) DOE standardized SNF canister. This waste package is representative of the waste packages that consist of the DHLW disposal container, the DHLW/HLW glass canisters, and the DOE-managed SNF in disposable

  5. Body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in female students aged 9-15: the effects of age, family income, body mass index levels and dance practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monteiro, Lilian A; Novaes, Jefferson S; Santos, Mara L; Fernandes, Helder M

    2014-09-29

    This study aimed to analyze the effects of age, family income, body mass index and dance practice on levels of body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in female students. The sample consisted of 283 female subjects attending a public school with a mean age of 11.51±1.60 years and a mean body mass index of 18.72 kg/m2 (SD=3.32). The instruments used were the Body Dissatisfaction Scale for Adolescents and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, both of which showed good internal consistency (0.77 and 0.81, respectively). The tests were applied (two-factor ANOVA) to compare the students practicing and those not practicing dance; the differences in the levels of body dissatisfaction (p=0.104) and self-esteem (p=0.09) were considered significant. The results demonstrated that age negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction (r=-0.19; pbody mass index levels were associated with greater body dissatisfaction (r=0.15, p=0.016) and lower levels of self-esteem (r=-0.17, pbody dissatisfaction (F=4.79; p=0.030; η(2)=0.02), but there was no significant difference in self-esteem (F=1.88; p=0.172; η(2)=0.02). It can be concluded that female children and adolescents practicing dance have higher self-esteem, and are more satisfied with their body weight and their appearance. Moreover, results showed that self-esteem and body dissatisfaction were influenced by the body mass index levels only in the non-practitioners group.

  6. Misery Index corrected by informality: applicable to Venezuela

    OpenAIRE

    Ramoni Perazzi, Josefa; Orlandoni Merli, Giampaolo

    2013-01-01

    This paper suggests a variation of the IMO index (Okun's Misery Index), adapting it to markets with these characteristics, adding the ESI level (Employment in the Informal Sector) to the unemployment level -- This research compares the evolution of several standard misery indexes in several zones during the last decades, with emphasis on the case of Venezuela, for which the new proposed index is also estimated -- Results show improvement in the well-being of groups of countries under study, c...

  7. Design features of a full-scale high-level waste vitrification system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siemens, D.H.; Bonner, W.F.

    1976-08-01

    A system has been designed and is currently under construction for vitrification of commercial high-level waste. The process consists of a spray calciner coupled to an in-can melter. Due to the high radiation levels expected, this equipment is designed for totally remote operation and maintenance. The in-cell arrangement of this equipment has been developed cooperatively with a nuclear fuel reprocessor. The system will be demonstrated both full scale with nonradioactive simulated waste and pilot scale with actual high-level waste

  8. Does Social Capital Explain Community-Level Differences in Organ Donor Designation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ladin, Keren; Wang, Rui; Fleishman, Aaron; Boger, Matthew; Rodrigue, James R

    2015-09-01

    The growing shortage of life-saving organs has reached unprecedented levels, with more than 120,000 Americans waiting for them. Despite national attempts to increase organ donation and federal laws mandating the equitable allocation of organs, geographic disparities remain. A better understanding of the contextual determinants of organ donor designation, including social capital, may enhance efforts to increase organ donation by raising the probability of collective action and fostering norms of reciprocity and cooperation while increasing costs to defectors. Because community-level factors, including social capital, predict more than half the variation in donor designation, future interventions should tailor strategies to specific communities as the unit of intervention. The growing shortage of organs has reached unprecedented levels. Despite national attempts to increase donation and federal laws mandating the equitable allocation of organs, their availability and waiting times vary significantly nationwide. Organ donor designation is a collective action problem in public health, in which the regional organ supply and average waiting times are determined by the willingness of individuals to be listed as organ donors. Social capital increases the probability of collective action by fostering norms of reciprocity and cooperation while increasing costs to defectors. We examine whether social capital and other community-level factors explain geographic variation in organ donor designation rates in Massachusetts. We obtained a sample of 3,281,532 registered drivers in 2010 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Registry of Motor Vehicles (MassDOT RMV). We then geocoded the registry data, matched them to 4,466 census blocks, and linked them to the 2010 US Census, the American Community Survey (ACS), and other sources to obtain community-level sociodemographic, social capital (residential segregation, voter registration and participation, residential

  9. Efficacy of aerosol budesonide combined with montelukast in treatment of children with cough variant asthma and its influence on lung function indexes and serum inflammatory factor levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hai-Li Wu

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To explore the efficacy of aerosol budesonide combined with montelukast in the treatment of children with cough variant asthma (CVA and its influence on lung function indexes and serum inflammatory factor levels. Methods: A total of 102 CVA children in our hospital were randomly divided into A, B, C group (n=34. Three groups were given conventional symptomatic treatment(like phlegm dispersing, anti-infection. A group was given aerosol budesonide treatment, B group was given montelukast treatment and C group was given aerosol budesonide combined with montelukast treatment. Changes of clinical symptom scores, lung function indexes and inflammatory factor levels were compared between three groups before and after treatment. Results: After treatment, clinical symptom scores and inflammatory factor-IgE, IL-4 and TNF-毩 levels in C group were significantly lower than before treatment and that in A, B group after treatment (P<0.05; lung function index- FVC, FEV1, PEF levels were significantly higher than before treatment and that in A, B group after treatment (P<0.05. There showed obvious negative correlation between lung function index-FVC, FEV1, PEF and inflammatory factor-IgE, IL-4 and TNF-α. Conclusions: On the basis of conventional symptomatic treatment (like phlegm dispersing, anti-infection, aerosol budesonide combined with montelukast treatment could reduce the inflammatory factor levels, relieve the clinical symptoms, improve the lung function indexes.

  10. Index to the AEC/ERDA/DOE Air Cleaning Conferences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burchsted, C.A.

    1980-01-01

    A comprehensive index to the papers in the second through sixteenth AEC/ERDA/DOE Nuclear Air Cleaning Conference is discussed. The index will be published in early 1981 and will be designated as Volume 3 of the proceeding of the sixteenth conference. The index has three parts, a straight numeric tabulation, an author index, and a key word in context (KWIC) index

  11. A proposal for seismic evaluation index of mid-rise existing RC buildings in Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naqi, Ahmad; Saito, Taiki

    2017-10-01

    Mid-rise RC buildings gradually rise in Kabul and entire Afghanistan since 2001 due to rapid increase of population. To protect the safety of resident, Afghan Structure Code was issued in 2012. But the building constructed before 2012 failed to conform the code requirements. In Japan, new sets of rules and law for seismic design of buildings had been issued in 1981 and severe earthquake damage was disclosed for the buildings designed before 1981. Hence, the Standard for Seismic Evaluation of RC Building published in 1977 has been widely used in Japan to evaluate the seismic capacity of existing buildings designed before 1981. Currently similar problem existed in Afghanistan, therefore, this research examined the seismic capacity of six RC buildings which were built before 2012 in Kabul by applying the seismic screening procedure presented by Japanese standard. Among three screening procedures with different capability, the less detailed screening procedure, the first level of screening, is applied. The study founds an average seismic index (IS-average=0.21) of target buildings. Then, the results were compared with those of more accurate seismic evaluation procedures of Capacity Spectrum Method (CSM) and Time History Analysis (THA). The results for CSM and THA show poor seismic performance of target buildings not able to satisfy the safety design limit (1/100) of the maximum story drift. The target buildings are then improved by installing RC shear walls. The seismic indices of these retrofitted buildings were recalculated and the maximum story drifts were analyzed by CSM and THA. The seismic indices and CSM and THA results are compared and found that building with seismic index larger than (IS-average =0.4) are able to satisfy the safety design limit. Finally, to screen and minimize the earthquake damage over the existing buildings, the judgement seismic index (IS-Judgment=0.5) for the first level of screening is proposed.

  12. Focused Ultrasound-Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Opening: Association with Mechanical Index and Cavitation Index Analyzed by Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic-Resonance Imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Po-Chun; Chai, Wen-Yen; Tsai, Chih-Hung; Kang, Shih-Tsung; Yeh, Chih-Kuang; Liu, Hao-Li

    2016-09-15

    Focused ultrasound (FUS) with microbubbles can temporally open the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and the cavitation activities of microbubbles play a key role in the BBB-opening process. Previous attempts used contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) to correlate the mechanical index (MI) with the scale of BBB-opening, but MI only partially gauged acoustic activities, and CE-MRI did not fully explore correlations of pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic behaviors. Recently, the cavitation index (CI) has been derived to serve as an indicator of microbubble-ultrasound stable cavitation, and may also serve as a valid indicator to gauge the level of FUS-induced BBB opening. This study investigates the feasibility of gauging FUS-induced BBB opened level via the two indexes, MI and CI, through dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI analysis as well as passive cavitation detection (PCD) analysis. Pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic parameters derived from DCE-MRI were characterized to identify the scale of FUS-induced BBB opening. Our results demonstrated that DCE-MRI can successfully access pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic BBB-opened behavior, and was highly correlated both with MI and CI, implying the feasibility in using these two indices to gauge the scale of FUS-induced BBB opening. The proposed finding may facilitate the design toward using focused ultrasound as a safe and reliable noninvasive CNS drug delivery.

  13. Higher glucose level and systemic oxidative stress decrease the mean velocity index of the retinal artery during flickering light stimulation in type 1 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debelić, Vladimir; Drnovšek Olup, Brigita; Žižek, Bogomir; Skitek, Milan; Jerin, Aleš

    2016-10-31

    To determine whether higher glucose level and systemic oxidative stress decrease mean velocity (MV) index of the central retinal artery (CRA) during flickering light stimulation in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The study was performed in the period from 2008 to 2015 at the University Eye Clinic in Ljubljana. 41 patients with T1D and 37 participants without diabetes were included. MV in the CRA was measured using Doppler ultrasound diagnostics in basal conditions and during 8 Hz flickering light irritation. The plasma levels of glucose, fructosamine, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), triglycerides, cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were measured. Patients with T1D had significantly higher levels of blood glucose (Ptriglycerides (P=0.108), cholesterol (P=0.531), and LDL (P=0.645) between the groups. Patients with T1D also had a significantly lower MV index in the CRA (1.11±0.15 vs 1.24±0.23; P=0.010). In the T1D group, a significant negative correlation was found between the level of glucose (r=0.58; Pindex in the CRA. At the same time, in this group fructosamine and 8-OHdG levels had a separate effect on the MV index (adjusted R2=0.38, Pglucose levels, the medium-term glucose level, and systemic oxidative stress could importantly reduce retinal vasodilatation during flickering light irritation in patients with T1D.

  14. Generation of a landslide risk index map for Cuba using spatial multi-criteria evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Castellanos Abella, E.A.

    2007-01-01

    his paper explains the procedure for the generation of a landslide risk index map at national level in Cuba, using a semiquantitative model with ten indicator maps and a cell size of 90× 90 m. The model was designed and implemented using spatial multi-criteria evaluation techniques in a GIS system.

  15. Development and implementation of a business continuity management risk index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kadar, Michael

    This paper will present the building blocks for developing and implementing the BCM risk index; whether it is used as a comprehensive metric for risk or preparedness. This paper introduces the concept of a business continuity management (BCM) risk index--a comprehensive metric that measures and reports the status of the primary 'intended outcome' of the BCM programme to top management. In addition to measuring the primary programme output,;the BCM risk index can be used to demonstrate the overall value of the BCM programme to executive management. This is accomplished because the BCM risk index allows quantitative measurement of current risk levels and their comparison with established risk tolerances. The BCM Risk Index can provide executive management with reports on the risk level of individual business units, departments, subsidiaries or the enterprise in a way that drives both risk management and BCM initiatives. The name 'risk index' can be misleading, however. The BCM risk index concept can also be used to measure preparedness levels. In fact, implementation at DTE Energy has resulted in calling it the 'preparedness index', which is used to measure and report preparedness levels rather than risk levels.

  16. Validation and simplification of Fournier's gangrene severity index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Tsung-Yen; Ou, Chien-Hui; Tzai, Tzong-Shin; Tong, Yat-Ching; Chang, Chien-Chen; Cheng, Hong-Lin; Yang, Wen-Horng; Lin, Yung-Ming

    2014-07-01

    To validate the predictive value of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index in patients with Fournier gangrene and to facilitate patient mortality risk-stratification by simplifying the Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index. From January 1989 to December 2011, 85 male patients with clinically-documented Fournier's gangrene undergoing intensive treatment and with complete medical records were recruited. The demographic information and nine parameters of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index were compared between survivors and non-survivors. The parameters that showed a significant difference between the two groups were selected to generate a simplified scoring index. Of the 85 patients recruited, 16 patients died of the disease with mortality rate of 18.8%. The Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index score at initial diagnosis was significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors. Of the nine parameters of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index, the scores of serum creatinine level, hematocrit level and serum potassium level were significantly different between the two groups. However, the mean body temperatures, heart rate, respiration rate, white blood cell count, serum sodium and bicarbonate levels were non-significantly different. Of the 12 patients with chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease, 10 died of severe sepsis. A simplified scoring index including parameters of creatinine, hematocrit and potassium was generated, which provided sensitivity and specificity of 87% and 77% in predicting patient mortality, respectively. The predictive values of this simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index were shown to be non-inferior to Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index in our patients. The simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index is easy to use at initial diagnosis, and offers a way to compare outcomes in different clinical populations. © 2014 The Japanese Urological Association.

  17. Corporate Sustainability Indexes: FTSE 4 Good Index Report on Nestle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gülay Keskin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Corporate sustainability and economic business activities are focused on the social and environmental impacts. In this sense, the economic activity created by the businesses is to pursue social and environmental impacts, and producing information related to these effects is essential for the formation of structure for a sustainable business. Sustainability indices are structures edited on first generation sustainability indicators, which are structures constructed in order to share information with consumers and businesses. The most important benefits are improvements in transparency without the need for regulation of the sustainability index, better understanding of the social and environmental impact of companies and the guidance for arrangements to minimize the negative side effects of company activities. FTSE4Good is a responsible investment index designed to help investors identify companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. It is the only index of its kind since it includes specific criteria on the responsible marketing of breast milk substitutes.

  18. Solving bi-level optimization problems in engineering design using kriging models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Yi; Liu, Xiaojie; Du, Gang

    2018-05-01

    Stackelberg game-theoretic approaches are applied extensively in engineering design to handle distributed collaboration decisions. Bi-level genetic algorithms (BLGAs) and response surfaces have been used to solve the corresponding bi-level programming models. However, the computational costs for BLGAs often increase rapidly with the complexity of lower-level programs, and optimal solution functions sometimes cannot be approximated by response surfaces. This article proposes a new method, namely the optimal solution function approximation by kriging model (OSFAKM), in which kriging models are used to approximate the optimal solution functions. A detailed example demonstrates that OSFAKM can obtain better solutions than BLGAs and response surface-based methods, and at the same time reduce the workload of computation remarkably. Five benchmark problems and a case study of the optimal design of a thin-walled pressure vessel are also presented to illustrate the feasibility and potential of the proposed method for bi-level optimization in engineering design.

  19. Development of the index to evaluate the level of educational success performed in line with curriculum policy

    OpenAIRE

    浜崎, 央; 片庭, 美咲; 柴田, 幸一; 住吉, 廣行

    2014-01-01

    We aim to propose an index to evaluate the level of educational success performed in line with curriculum policy.We will point out that there exist two conditions for checking the improvement of the educational performance by teachers at universities. Enhancing various teaching skills by "student evaluation" and/or "classroom observation" can be regarded as a "necessary condition" but not "sufficient condition". Therefore, we propose the "sufficient condition" to obtain satisfactory education...

  20. Risk-informed design of IRIS using a level-1 probabilistic risk assessment from its conceptual design phase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mizuno, Yuko; Ninokata, Hisashi; Finnicum, David J.

    2005-01-01

    In this study, a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) for the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) has been generated to address two key areas as a part of the effort for the pre-application licensing of the IRIS design. First, the IRIS PRA is supporting the evaluation of IRIS design by providing design insights as well as a solid risk basis for the pre-licensing evaluation of the IRIS design. Second, the current PRA task is beginning the preparation of the more complete PRA analyses and documentation that will be required for Design Certification. The initial IRIS PRA is an at-power, Level-1 PRA for internal events that focuses on the evaluation of the IRIS design features to support the risk-informed design of IRIS by application of the PRA insights and the risk information to the design. To accomplish the evaluation, a reasonably complete Level-1 PRA model has been developed. The use of PRA in the early stages of the design has allowed a selection of design and performance features and an optimization of the design of several systems to reduce the potential for events that could lead to core damage via both enhanced prevention and mitigation of challenges. As a result, the total core damage frequency for internal events for the IRIS design has been calculated as 1.2x10 -8 per year

  1. Longitudinal Changes in Physical Activity Level, Body Mass Index, and Oxygen Uptake Among Norwegian Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pål Lagestad

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have investigated activity levels among adolescents, but no study has examined longitudinal changes in physical activity (PA level, body mass, and oxygen uptake among the same adolescents from the age of 14 to 19 years. The present study examined data from a research project that included a group of randomly selected students (N = 116 with objective measurements of PA (accelerometer data, self-reported PA level, and body mass and oxygen uptake during a 5-year period. The results show a significant decrease in the accelerometer-based PA level over time, from age 14 to 19. At 14 years of age, the minutes of moderate and/or vigorous PA was 66.7 min·day−1, but was less than half, at only 24.4 min·day−1, at 19 years of age. The self-reported activity data show a decrease in girls’ general activity level over time, while boys’ activity level during school breaks decreased strongly during the period: at age 14, 61% of the boys were classified as active, while at age 19, only 11% were physically active. Furthermore, body mass index increased during the period for both genders, while oxygen uptake decreased. Since both BMI and maximal oxygen uptake are important risk factors for future CVD, these findings point toward the importance of maintaining a high activity level during childhood and adolescence, in order to keep fit later in life.

  2. Gradient index metamaterials realized by drilling hole arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mei Zhonglei; Cui Tiejun; Bai Jing

    2010-01-01

    Gradient index metamaterials have wide applications in the microwave and optical fields. Based on the quasi-static theory, such materials at the microwave band have been realized by drilling hole arrays on ordinary dielectric materials. As applications of the gradient index metamaterials, novel devices including a 45 0 dielectric wave-bending structure, a 16 0 wave-steering lens and a microwave focusing lens are designed and fabricated. Field mapping measurements validate the proposed gradient index metamaterials and the device designs. The method can be directly and easily extended to the design of cloaks, various lenses, beam shifters and beam-steering devices. It can also be applied in the optical band as long as quasi-static conditions are satisfied. The method and the devices may find applications in integrated circuit systems.

  3. Effect of dietary glycemic index on food intake, adiposity, and fasting plasma ghrelin levels in animals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sculati, M; Rossi, F; Cena, H; Roggi, C

    2010-04-01

    An increase in lipid storage as a consequence of feeding animals with high-glycemic index (GI) diets has been observed by many authors. Ghrelin is one of the most important orexigenic hormones, and curiously, its fasting plasma levels are decreased in human obesity. As ghrelin secretion is affected by insulin concentration, we hypothesized that carbohydrates with different glycemic responses might influence fasting plasma ghrelin levels. Twenty rats were divided into two groups and fed ad libitum a low-GI or a high-GI diet for 21 days. In rats fed a high- vs low-GI diet we observed: increased food intake (18.9+/-0.6 vs 16.4+/-2.0 g/day; pfasting ghrelin levels (41.1+/-10.7 vs 59.5+/-9.8 pg/ml; p=0.05). Ghrelin appeared to be downregulated in rats fed a high-GI diet; this observation could be related to the higher food intake and fat mass observed in these rats and to the effects of insulin response on ghrelin levels.

  4. Conceptual Design Report for Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lisa Harvego; David Duncan; Joan Connolly; Margaret Hinman; Charles Marcinkiewicz; Gary Mecham

    2010-10-01

    This conceptual design report addresses development of replacement remote-handled low-level waste disposal capability for the Idaho National Laboratory. Current disposal capability at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex is planned until the facility is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). This conceptual design report includes key project assumptions; design options considered in development of the proposed onsite disposal facility (the highest ranked alternative for providing continued uninterrupted remote-handled low level waste disposal capability); process and facility descriptions; safety and environmental requirements that would apply to the proposed facility; and the proposed cost and schedule for funding, design, construction, and operation of the proposed onsite disposal facility.

  5. The Design and Implementation of the Leaf Area Index Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiuhong Li

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The quick and accurate acquisition of crop growth parameters on a large scale is important for agricultural management and food security. The combination of photographic and wireless sensor network (WSN techniques can be used to collect agricultural information, such as leaf area index (LAI, over long distances and in real time. Such acquisition not only provides farmers with photographs of crops and suggestions for farmland management, but also the collected quantitative parameters, such as LAI, can be used to support large scale research in ecology, hydrology, remote sensing, etc. The present research developed a Leaf Area Index Sensor (LAIS to continuously monitor the growth of crops in several sampling points, and applied 3G/WIFI communication technology to remotely collect (and remotely setup and upgrade crop photos in real-time. Then the crop photos are automatically processed and LAI is estimated based on the improved leaf area index of Lang and Xiang (LAILX algorithm in LAIS. The research also constructed a database of images and other information relating to crop management. The leaf length and width method (LAILLW can accurately measure LAI through direct field harvest. The LAIS has been tested in several exemplary applications, and validation with LAI from LAILLW. The LAI acquired by LAIS had been proved reliable.

  6. DESIGN OF WIRE-WRAPPED ROD BUNDLE MATCHED INDEX-OF-REFRACTION EXPERIMENTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hugh McIlroy; Hongbin Zhang; Kurt Hamman

    2008-05-01

    Experiments will be conducted in the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Matched Index-of-Refraction (MIR) Flow Facility [1] to characterize the three-dimensional velocity and turbulence fields in a wire-wrapped rod bundle typically employed in liquid-metal cooled fast reactors and to provide benchmark data for computer code validation. Sodium cooled fast reactors are under consideration for use in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program. The experiment model will be constructed of quartz components and the working fluid will be mineral oil. Accurate temperature control (to within 0.05 oC) matches the index-of-refraction of mineral oil with that of quartz and renders the model transparent to the wavelength of laser light employed for optical measurements. The model will be a scaled 7-pin rod bundle enclosed in a hexagonal canister. Flow field measurements will be obtained with a LaVision 3-D particle image velocimeter (PIV) and complimented by near-wall velocity measurements obtained from a 2-D laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV). These measurements will be used as benchmark data for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) validation. The rod bundle model dimensions will be scaled up from the typical dimensions of a fast reactor fuel assembly to provide the maximum Reynolds number achievable in the MIR flow loop. A range of flows from laminar to fully-turbulent will be available with a maximum Reynolds number, based on bundle hydraulic diameter, of approximately 22,000. The fuel pins will be simulated by 85 mm diameter quartz tubes (closed on the inlet ends) and the wire-wrap will be simulated by 25 mm diameter quartz rods. The canister walls will be constructed from quartz plates. The model will be approximately 2.13 m in length. Bundle pressure losses will also be measured and the data recorded for code comparisons. The experiment design and preliminary CFD calculations, which will be used to provide qualitative hydrodynamic

  7. Automatic Flight Control System Design of Level Change Mode for a Large Aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huajun Gong

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The level change mode is an essential part of large civil aircraft automatic flight control systems. In cruise, with the decrease of the plane's weight caused by fuel consumption and the influence of bad weather, such as thunderstorms, the level change mode is required to solve this problem. This work establishes a nonlinear model of large aircraft, takes level changed from 9500m to 10100m as an example to design control laws for the level change mode in cruise. The classical engineering method is used to design longitudinal and lateral control laws synthetically. The flight qualities are considered in the design process. Simulation results indicate the control laws can meet design requirements and have a good anti-gust performance.

  8. Institutional racism and pregnancy health: using Home Mortgage Disclosure act data to develop an index for Mortgage discrimination at the community level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendez, Dara D; Hogan, Vijaya K; Culhane, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    We used Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to demonstrate a method for constructing a residential redlining index to measure institutional racism at the community level. We examined the application of the index to understand the social context of health inequities by applying the residential redlining index among a cohort of pregnant women in Philadelphia. We used HMDA data from 1999-2004 to create residential redlining indices for each census tract in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. We linked the redlining indices to data from a pregnancy cohort study and the 2000 Census. We spatially mapped the levels of redlining for each census tract for this pregnancy cohort and tested the association between residential redlining and other community-level measures of segregation and individual health. From 1999-2004, loan applicants in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, of black race/ethnicity were almost two times as likely to be denied a mortgage loan compared with applicants who were white (e.g., 1999 odds ratio [OR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.63, 2.28; and 2004 OR=2.26, 95% CI 1.98, 2.58). The majority (77.5%) of the pregnancy cohort resided in redlined neighborhoods, and there were significant differences in residence in redlined areas by race/ethnicity (pracism may contribute to our understanding of health disparities. Residential redlining and mortgage discrimination against communities may be a major factor influencing neighborhood structure, composition, development, and wealth attainment. This residential redlining index as a measure for institutional racism can be applied in health research to understand the unique social and neighborhood contexts that contribute to health inequities.

  9. Brain waves-based index for workload estimation and mental effort engagement recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zammouri, A.; Chraa-Mesbahi, S.; Ait Moussa, A.; Zerouali, S.; Sahnoun, M.; Tairi, H.; Mahraz, A. M.

    2017-10-01

    The advent of the communication systems and considering the complexity that some impose in their use, it is necessary to incorporate and equip these systems with a certain intelligence which takes into account the cognitive and mental capacities of the human operator. In this work, we address the issue of estimating the mental effort of an operator according to the cognitive tasks difficulty levels. Based on the Electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, the proposed approach analyzes the user’s brain activity from different brain regions while performing cognitive tasks with several levels of difficulty. At a first time, we propose a variances comparison-based classifier (VCC) that makes use of the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the EEG signal. The aim of using such a classifier is to highlight the brain regions that enter into interaction according to the cognitive task difficulty. In a second time, we present and describe a new EEG-based index for the estimation of mental efforts. The designed index is based on information recorded from two EEG channels. Results from the VCC demonstrate that powers of the Theta [4-7 Hz] (θ) and Alpha [8-12 Hz] (α) oscillations decrease while increasing the cognitive task difficulty. These decreases are mainly located in parietal and temporal brain regions. Based on the Kappa coefficients, decisions of the introduced index are compared to those obtained from an existing index. This performance assessment method revealed strong agreements. Hence the efficiency of the introduced index.

  10. Alternative concepts for Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal: Conceptual design report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-06-01

    This conceptual design report is provided by the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Low-Level Waste Management Program to assist states and compact regions in developing new low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facilities in accordance with the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendment Act of 1985. The report provides conceptual designs and evaluations of six widely considered concepts for LLW disposal. These are shallow land disposal (SLD), intermediate depth disposal (IDD), below-ground vaults (BGV), above-ground vaults (AGV), modular concrete canister disposal (MCCD), earth-mounded concrete bunker (EMCB). 40 refs., 45 figs., 77 tabs

  11. The Cognitive Mobilization Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Alaminos

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This article shows how the cognitive mobilization index, designed for use in observing potential political participation, can be used as an indicator of the political climate that a particular society is going through. Following a discussion of the theoretical elaborations (and their working definitions of the concept of cognitive mobilization, a longitudinal study of various European countries is used to consider the question of how political crises influence cognitive mobilization indexes and what effects they have on the political socialization process among the youngest cohorts.

  12. System Level Design of Reconfigurable Server Farms Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography Processor Engines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sangook Moon

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available As today’s hardware architecture becomes more and more complicated, it is getting harder to modify or improve the microarchitecture of a design in register transfer level (RTL. Consequently, traditional methods we have used to develop a design are not capable of coping with complex designs. In this paper, we suggest a way of designing complex digital logic circuits with a soft and advanced type of SystemVerilog at an electronic system level. We apply the concept of design-and-reuse with a high level of abstraction to implement elliptic curve crypto-processor server farms. With the concept of the superior level of abstraction to the RTL used with the traditional HDL design, we successfully achieved the soft implementation of the crypto-processor server farms as well as robust test bench code with trivial effort in the same simulation environment. Otherwise, it could have required error-prone Verilog simulations for the hardware IPs and other time-consuming jobs such as C/SystemC verification for the software, sacrificing more time and effort. In the design of the elliptic curve cryptography processor engine, we propose a 3X faster GF(2m serial multiplication architecture.

  13. A Multi-step and Multi-level approach for Computer Aided Molecular Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    . The problem formulation step incorporates a knowledge base for the identification and setup of the design criteria. Candidate compounds are identified using a multi-level generate and test CAMD solution algorithm capable of designing molecules having a high level of molecular detail. A post solution step...... using an Integrated Computer Aided System (ICAS) for result analysis and verification is included in the methodology. Keywords: CAMD, separation processes, knowledge base, molecular design, solvent selection, substitution, group contribution, property prediction, ICAS Introduction The use of Computer...... Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) for the identification of compounds having specific physic...

  14. Browse Title Index

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 101 - 150 of 414 ... Journal Home > Advanced Search > Browse Title Index. Log in or ... of an algebraic function for the permutation of truth table columns, Abstract ... appraisal and productivity levels in selected Nigerian universities, Abstract.

  15. EXPLOSION POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT OF HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORK AT THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN STAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MOHSIN PASHA

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The failure of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers (STHE is being extensively observed in the chemical process industries. This failure can cause enormous production loss and have a potential of dangerous consequences such as an explosion, fire and toxic release scenarios. There is an urgent need for assessing the explosion potential of shell and tube heat exchanger at the preliminary design stage. In current work, inherent safety index based approach is used to resolve the highlighted issue. Inherent Safety Index for Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger (ISISTHE is a newly developed index for assessing the inherent safety level of a STHE at the preliminary design stage. This index is composed of preliminary design variables and integrated with the process design simulator (Aspen HYSYS. Process information can easily be transferred from process design simulator to MS Excel spreadsheet owing to this integration. This index could potentially facilitate the design engineer to analyse the worst heat exchanger in the heat exchanger network. Typical heat exchanger network of the steam reforming process is presented as a case study and the worst heat exchanger of this network has been identified. It is inferred from this analysis that shell and tube heat exchangers possess high operating pressure, corrected mean temperature difference (CMTD and flammability and reactive potential needs to be critically analysed at the preliminary design stage.

  16. Malmquist Productivity Index on Efficiency Layers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Rezai balf ∗

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA, a popular linear programming technique is useful to rate comparatively operational effiency of decision Making Unit (DMU based on the their deterministic inputoutput data. The Malmquist productivity index in DEA, calculable with the distance function, for measurement the productivity change among two variant time period or two variant group in the same time. This index is based on two factor of efficiency change index and a technological change index. In this paper, we operate on the collective Malmquist productivity index, which performs clustering operation DMUs with classification into different levels of efficient frontier, and then we discuss on the relation between Malmquist index on the efficiency layers and their attractiveness and progress

  17. Reprogrammable Controller Design From High-Level Specification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Benmohammed

    2003-10-01

    Full Text Available Existing techniques in high-level synthesis mostly assume a simple controller architecture model in the form of a single FSM. However, in reality more complex controller architectures are often used. On the other hand, in the case of programmable processors, the controller architecture is largely defined by the available control-flow instructions in the instruction set. With the wider acceptance of behavioral synthesis, the application of these methods for the design of programmable controllers is of fundamental importance in embedded system technology. This paper describes an important extension of an existing architectural synthesis system targeting the generation of ASIP reprogrammable architectures. The designer can then generate both style of architecture, hardwired and programmable, using the same synthesis system and can quickly evaluate the trade-offs of hardware decisions.

  18. Mangrove vulnerability index using GIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunus, Mohd Zulkifli Mohd; Ahmad, Fatimah Shafinaz; Ibrahim, Nuremira

    2018-02-01

    Climate change, particularly its associated sea level rise, is major threat to mangrove coastal areas, and it is essential to develop ways to reduce vulnerability through strategic management planning. Environmental vulnerability can be understood as a function of exposure to impacts and the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of ecological systems towards environmental tensors. Mangrove vulnerability ranking using up to 14 parameters found in study area, which is in Pulau Kukup and Sg Pulai, where 1 is low vulnerability and 5 is very high vulnerability. Mangrove Vulnerability Index (MVI) is divided into 3 main categories Physical Mangrove Index (PMI), Biological Mangrove Index (BMI) and Hazard Mangrove Index (HMI).

  19. Impact of ITER liquid metal design options on safety level and licensing - Sweden

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harfors, C.; Devell, L.; Johansson, Kjell; Lundell, B.; Rolandsson, S.

    1993-01-01

    The safety level and licensability of five design options for ITER coolant, breeding material and structural material are assessed, with emphasis on some specified accident scenarios. The safety level is assessed in terms of barrier requirements and the feasibility to construct and qualify such a barrier. The licensability in Sweden of each design option is assessed based on the indicated safety level and on a judgement of the technical feasibility to construct and qualify the ITER tokamak itself, based on the selected design option. 20 refs

  20. Requirements for High Level Models Supporting Design Space Exploration in Model-based Systems Engineering

    OpenAIRE

    Haveman, Steven P.; Bonnema, G. Maarten

    2013-01-01

    Most formal models are used in detailed design and focus on a single domain. Few effective approaches exist that can effectively tie these lower level models to a high level system model during design space exploration. This complicates the validation of high level system requirements during detailed design. In this paper, we define requirements for a high level model that is firstly driven by key systems engineering challenges present in industry and secondly connects to several formal and d...

  1. Designing Cognitive Intervention to Improve the Awareness Index of the Residents in the Landslide Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susanto, N.; Putranto, T. T.; Ulfa, E. A.

    2017-02-01

    Considering Semarang as a city with a high potential of landslides occurrences in its almost area, human as the part of the system should be played as a centre of the disaster management system to reduce the natural disaster risk. The study area is located in Manyaran district (the west of Semarang) which is categorised as a vulnerable of landslide area. This study aims at establishing a cognitive intervention based on a cause analysis (Fault Tree Analysis/FTA) to find the cause of low value and improve the awareness index of residents as the implementation of human-based disaster management model. The FTA result was then combined with the demographical data to generate the design of the cognitive intervention. The FTA result conducted that the preparedness of emergency planning had the lowest value (18.2%) which was caused by the lack individual preparation including lack of residents knowledge, and the absence of observation facilities as well as the lack of evacuation planning. Analysis of demographical data resulted in a situation of lack socialisation and knowledge of the residents regarding the landslide occurrence. The model of cognitive intervention then utilised some tools such as video, module and discussion to improve the awareness index.

  2. Effect of Trichoderma harzianum on Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Grain Yield under Different Levels of Cadmium Nitrate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Taghavi Ghasemkheyli

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available A pot experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of Trichoderma spp. on yield and yield components of wheat (cv. N81 under different levels of cadmium nitrate. Experiment was arranged in factorial based on completely randomized design with three replicates. Trichoderma harzianum at two levels (with and without inoculation and four levels of cadmium nitrate (0, 50, 100, 150 mg l-1 were the treatment. Results of ANOVA and mean comparisons showed that inoculation of Trichoderma increased biological yield (46% and straw yield (30% as compared to control. Cadmium pollution has led to significant decrease in harvest index, grain number per spike and partitioning coefficient up to 5, 20, 24 and 38 percent compared to control, respectively. Furthermore, cadmium and fungus interaction were significant in terms of spike number, grain weight per spike, grain yield and tolerance index. Maximum grain yield and tolerance index were recorded in Trichoderma inoculation under cadmium-free plots which nearly increased 65 and 53 percent, respectively. In conclusion, using Trichoderma under cadmium pollution could improve wheat growth, yield and tolerance index

  3. Economic policy uncertainty index and economic activity: what causes what?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivana Lolić

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is a follow-up on the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU index, developed in 2011 by Baker, Bloom, and Davis. The principal idea of the EPU index is to quantify the level of uncertainty in an economic system, based on three separate pillars: news media, number of federal tax code provisions expiring in the following years, and disagreement amongst professional forecasters on future tendencies of relevant macroeconomic variables. Although the original EPU index was designed and published for the US economy, it had instantly caught the attention of numerous academics and was rapidly introduced in 15 countries worldwide. Extensive academic debate has been triggered on the importance of economic uncertainty relating to the intensity and persistence of the recent crisis. Despite the intensive (mostly politically-motivated debate, formal scientific confirmation of causality running from the EPU index to economic activity has not followed. Moreover, empirical literature has completely failed to conduct formal econometric testing of the Granger causality between the two mentioned phenomena. This paper provides an estimation of the Toda-Yamamoto causality test between the EPU index and economic activity in the USA and several European countries. The results do not provide a general conclusion: causality seems to run in both directions only for the USA, while only in one direction for France and Germany. Having taken into account the Great Recession of 2008, the main result does not change, therefore casting doubt on the index methodology and overall media bias.

  4. Effect of Oral Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA Supplementation on DHA Levels and Omega-3 Index in Red Blood Cell Membranes of Breast Cancer Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessio Molfino

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Rationale: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA in cell membrane may influence breast cancer (BC patients' prognosis, affecting tumor cells sensitivity to chemo- and radio-therapy and likely modulating inflammation. The possibility of identifying BC patients presenting with low DHA levels and/or low ability of DHA incorporation into cell membrane might help to treat this condition.Methods: We enrolled BC patients and healthy controls, recording their seafood dietary intake. DHA in form of algal oil was administered for 10 consecutive days (2 g/day. Blood samples were collected at baseline (T0 and after 10 days of supplementation (T1 to assess DHA, omega-3 index, as the sum of DHA + eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, in red blood cells (RBC membranes and plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 levels. Pre- and post-treatment fatty acid profiles were obtained by gas-chromatography. Parametric and non-parametric tests were performed, as appropriate, and P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Forty-three women were studied, divided into 4 groups: 11 patients with BRCA1/2 gene mutation (M group, 12 patients with familiar positive history for BC (F group, 10 patients with sporadic BC (S group, and 10 healthy controls (C group. DHA and omega-3 index increased from T0 to T1 in the 3 groups of BC patients and in controls (P < 0.001. No difference was found in DHA incorporation between each group of BC patients and between patients and controls, except for M group, which incorporated higher DHA levels with respect to controls (β = 0.42; P = 0.03. No association was documented between cytokines levels and DHA and omega-3 index at baseline and after DHA supplementation. Independent of the presence of BC, women considered as “good seafood consumers” showed at baseline DHA and omega-3 index higher with respect to “low seafood consumers” (P = 0.04; P = 0.007, respectively. After supplementation, the increase in DHA levels was

  5. Evaluating relationship in cytokines level, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and Body Mass Index in women with Fibromyalgia syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghizal, Fatima; Das, Siddharth Kumar; Verma, Narsingh; Mahdi, Abbas Ali

    2016-01-01

    Cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) levels are reported to be perturbed in Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients. Moreover, Body Mass Index (BMI) may also be related to disturbed cytokines level. Therefore, the present study was planned to evaluate the levels of cytokines and to correlate them with BMI and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Revised (FIQR) in female FMS patients (n= 60) and control group (n= 60). 4 ml of blood samples were taken from both the group of patients and controls to measure the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α . Symptoms of FMS were assessed by FIQR. BMI was calculated by a standard formula of weight in kilograms divided by height in meter square. There were significant differences in BMI levels in FMS patients than in control group. However, no significant association was found between BMI and TNF-α levels, and BMI and IL-6 levels in patient and control groups. However, a significant association was found between FIQR and BMI in patients group. On the basis of the results we conclude that the levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha are not associated with BMI in FMS patients. Furthermore, patients with higher BMI may fall at the risk of FMS. Therefore, weight management may be an important aspect for treatment of FMS patients.

  6. Customer Satisfaction Index Model on Three Level Of Socioeconomic Status In Bogor Case Study: Customer Satisfaction on Branded Cooking Oil Product

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Budi Setiawan

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Customer satisfaction index models have been developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Those models were commonly not focused on the socioeconomic status (SES of the customer, sothis condition could be a research gap. The aims of this research is to analyze the customer satisfaction index model of branded cooking oil product in Bogor, Indonesia based on SES established from the household monthly routine consumption. Questionnaires were used as primary data collection instrument in this study, while data analysis was carried out with variance based structural equation modeling (SEM which is also known as Partial Least Square (PLS model, and Kruskall Wallis nonparametric test. Perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectation as were significantly influencing the customer satisfaction construct in the structural model. This study also concluded that there is different level of overall customer satisfaction on the three levels of customer’s SES

  7. Stock market index prediction using neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komo, Darmadi; Chang, Chein-I.; Ko, Hanseok

    1994-03-01

    A neural network approach to stock market index prediction is presented. Actual data of the Wall Street Journal's Dow Jones Industrial Index has been used for a benchmark in our experiments where Radial Basis Function based neural networks have been designed to model these indices over the period from January 1988 to Dec 1992. A notable success has been achieved with the proposed model producing over 90% prediction accuracies observed based on monthly Dow Jones Industrial Index predictions. The model has also captured both moderate and heavy index fluctuations. The experiments conducted in this study demonstrated that the Radial Basis Function neural network represents an excellent candidate to predict stock market index.

  8. Indexing Serialized Fiction: May the Force Be with You.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barr, Melissa M.

    The adult novel offers indexers an unusual opportunity to create a serialized fiction index. This research paper involved designing and creating a Character Index, Thesaurus, Glossary, and Abstract (with descriptors) for 21 novels based on the "Star Wars" movies. The novels are an unusual example of serialized fiction featuring main…

  9. Decomposing the misery index: A dynamic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan K. Cohen

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The misery index (the unweighted sum of unemployment and inflation rates was probably the first attempt to develop a single statistic to measure the level of a population’s economic malaise. In this letter, we develop a dynamic approach to decompose the misery index using two basic relations of modern macroeconomics: the expectations-augmented Phillips curve and Okun’s law. Our reformulation of the misery index is closer in spirit to Okun’s idea. However, we are able to offer an improved version of the index, mainly based on output and unemployment. Specifically, this new Okun’s index measures the level of economic discomfort as a function of three key factors: (1 the misery index in the previous period; (2 the output gap in growth rate terms; and (3 cyclical unemployment. This dynamic approach differs substantially from the standard one utilised to develop the misery index, and allow us to obtain an index with five main interesting features: (1 it focuses on output, unemployment and inflation; (2 it considers only objective variables; (3 it allows a distinction between short-run and long-run phenomena; (4 it places more importance on output and unemployment rather than inflation; and (5 it weights recessions more than expansions.

  10. Nutritional composition, glycemic index, glycemic load, and organoleptical quality of glucomannan-enriched soy milk ice cream

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sa'adah, S.; Candra, O. M.; Nugrahani, G.; Pramono, A.; Afifah, D. N.

    2018-01-01

    Over the past decades, the number of childhood obesity cases has increased significantly, which led to an increase in the number of adults suffering from degenerative diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM). Glucomannan-Enriched Soy Milk Ice Cream (GSMIC) may prevent obesity in children. The aim of the study was to test the level of carbohydrates, protein, fat, dietary fiber, glycemic index, glycemic load, and organoleptic quality of GSMIC. This experiment used a completely randomized design to test three formulations of glucomannan flour and soy milk (0.5%, 1.5%, and 2.5%). The products were tested for nutritional composition, and evaluated on glycemic index, glycemic load, and organoleptic quality. GSMIC 2.5% had higher levels of dietary fiber and high carbohydrate, protein, and fat content compared to ice cream (3.99%, 30.7%, 1.50%, 1.33%, respectively). The glycemic index of ice cream and 2.5% GSMIC were 75.83 (75%) and 51.48 (51%), respectively, while the glycemic load of ice cream and 2.5% GSMIC were 9.04 and 11.61, respectively. Based on the organoleptic analysis, formulation preferred by the panellists was 2.5% glucomannan flour. Glucomannan flour affected the level of carbohydrates, protein, fat, dietary fiber, glycemic index, glycemic load, and organoleptic quality in soy milk ice cream.

  11. An Approach to Assist Designers With Their Queries and Designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahmed, Saeema

    2006-01-01

    Recent research investigating how engineers search for information has concluded that engineering designers acquire assistance when formulating queries. An approach to assist designers with their queries is presented. This approach forms part of a knowledge management system, where indexed...... documents are entered into the system (or are automatically indexed by tools within a system). The method builds up a network based upon indices assigned to documents. The network (or chunk) is presented back to the user once a search for knowledge has been completed. The network is build up as indexed...... documents are entered in to a knowledge-based system and is generated dynamically. The network can be used to assist a designer in searching for information; reformulating a query and; to prompt design tasks. This paper presents an approach to prompt designers with their design queries, along with some...

  12. The Nurses' Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Runtang Meng

    Full Text Available A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses' happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses' enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services.In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool.Based on their index score, the nurses' overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses' comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index.Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses' happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses' motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice.

  13. The Nurses’ Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bing; Hu, Ying; Yu, Chuanhua

    2015-01-01

    Backgrounds/Objectives A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses’ happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses’ enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services. Methods In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool. Results Based on their index score, the nurses’ overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses’ comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships) jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index. Conclusions Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses’ happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses’ motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice. PMID:26680594

  14. Serum Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Levels and Body Mass Index Percentiles in Children with Primary Hypothyroidism on Levothyroxine Replacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaoba, Asma; Basu, Sanjib; Mantis, Stelios; Minutti, Carla

    2017-12-15

    To determine the association, if any, between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and body mass index (BMI) percentiles in children with primary hypothyroidism who are chemically euthyroid and on treatment with levothyroxine. This retrospective cross-sectional study consisted of a review of medical records from RUSH Medical Center and Stroger Hospital, Chicago, USA of children with primary hypothyroidism who were seen in the clinic from 2008 to 2014 and who were chemically euthyroid and on treatment with levothyroxine for at least 6 months. The patients were divided into two groups based on their TSH levels (0.34-hypothyroidism who are chemically euthyroid on treatment with levothyroxine, there is a positive association between higher TSH levels and higher BMI percentiles. However, it is difficult to establish if the higher TSH levels are a direct cause or a consequence of the obesity. Further studies are needed to establish causation beyond significant association.

  15. Preliminary Safety Design Report for Remote Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Timothy Solack; Carol Mason

    2012-03-01

    A new onsite, remote-handled low-level waste disposal facility has been identified as the highest ranked alternative for providing continued, uninterrupted remote-handled low-level waste disposal for remote-handled low-level waste from the Idaho National Laboratory and for nuclear fuel processing activities at the Naval Reactors Facility. Historically, this type of waste has been disposed of at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. Disposal of remote-handled low-level waste in concrete disposal vaults at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex will continue until the facility is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation of the Subsurface Disposal Area (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). This preliminary safety design report supports the design of a proposed onsite remote-handled low-level waste disposal facility by providing an initial nuclear facility hazard categorization, by discussing site characteristics that impact accident analysis, by providing the facility and process information necessary to support the hazard analysis, by identifying and evaluating potential hazards for processes associated with onsite handling and disposal of remote-handled low-level waste, and by discussing the need for safety features that will become part of the facility design.

  16. Rock index properties for geoengineering in underground development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Rourke, J.E.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the use of index testing to obtain rock properties that are useful in the design and construction planning of an underground development for civil engineering or mining projects. The index properties discussed include: point load; Schmidt hammer hardness; abrasion hardness; and total hardness. The first two index properties correlate to uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and Young's modulus. Discussions are given on empirical, normalized relationships of UCS to rock mass properties and the integrated use with semi-empirical, geotechnical design methods. The hardness property indices correlate to construction performance parameters and some relevant experience is cited. Examples of data are presented from an index testing program carried out primarily on siltstone, sandstone and limestone rock core samples retrieved from depths up to 1005 m (3300 ft) in a borehole drilled in the Paradox Basin in eastern Utah. The borehole coring was done for a nuclear waste repository site investigation

  17. A socioeconomic deprivation index for small areas in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meijer, Mathias; Engholm, Gerda; Grittner, Ulrike

    2013-01-01

    Aims: To describe the development of a deprivation index for Danish parishes and to investigate its association with all-cause mortality compared with the Townsend index and individual-level factors. Methods: Nine socioeconomic factors were aggregated to the parish level from individual-level reg...... to the geographic areas where they are most needed....

  18. Optimum Safety Levels and Design Rules for the Icelandic Type Berm Breakwater

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sigurdarson, Sigurdur; van der Meer, Jentsje W.; Burcharth, Hans F.

    2007-01-01

    Guidance on selection of breakwater types and related design safety levels for breakwaters are almost non-existent, which is the reason that PIANC has initiated working group 47 on this subject. This paper presents ongoing work particulary on the Icelandic type berm breakwater within the PIANC...... working group. It will concentrate on design guidance and on the optimum safety levels for this type of structure....

  19. Requirements for high level models supporting design space exploration in model-based systems engineering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haveman, Steven; Bonnema, Gerrit Maarten

    2013-01-01

    Most formal models are used in detailed design and focus on a single domain. Few effective approaches exist that can effectively tie these lower level models to a high level system model during design space exploration. This complicates the validation of high level system requirements during

  20. NASA: A generic infrastructure for system-level MP-SoC design space exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jia, Z.J.; Pimentel, A.D.; Thompson, M.; Bautista, T.; Núñez, A.

    2010-01-01

    System-level simulation and design space exploration (DSE) are key ingredients for the design of multiprocessor system-on-chip (MP-SoC) based embedded systems. The efforts in this area, however, typically use ad-hoc software infrastructures to facilitate and support the system-level DSE experiments.

  1. Drug Impact Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

    The Drug Impact Index provides a set of indicators designed to determine the extent of the local drug problem in a community. Each indicator includes a technical note on the data sources, a graph showing comparative statistics on that indicator for the Portland area and for the State of Oregon, and brief remarks on the implications of the data.…

  2. Design and construction of the low-level liquid waste treatment system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, M.N.; Mateer, W.E.; Metzler, G.H.; Reeves, S.R.; Rickettson, D.J.

    1989-03-01

    This report describes the design and construction of the Low-Level Liquid Waste Treatment System (LWTS). The LWTS is part of a system that will prepare High-Level Radioactive Waste for solidification in glass. This preparation includes removal of water and salts from the stored waste. The topics addressed are: the design objective to reuse the Process Building to contain LWTS, the special considerations that arise when building a new system inside a decontaminated facility, interface to existing plant systems, phased construction, and construction testing. 8 refs., 24 figs

  3. The Effect of Two Acute Eccentric and Concentric Exercises on Serum Irisin Level and Insulin Resistance Index in Inactive Obese Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faranak Balaghi Inaloo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: Recently a myokine named irisin has been discovered that effects on obesity, metabolism and glucose homeostasis through browning white adipose tissue and thermogenesis. However, the effects of type and intensity of exercises on it have remained unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of two acute eccentric and concentric exercises on serum irisin level and insulin resistance in obese sedentary women. Materials and Methods: The study was quasi-experimental. 15 female students with a body mass index above 30 kg/m2 and mean age 24.86±2.87 years participated in the study. After measuring the maximal uptake oxygen of participants, they did two acute eccentric and concentric exercises using treadmill in a cross-over design within 10 days. After at least 8 hours- fasting, blood samples were collected before and immediately after each activity, to measure the levels of irisin, glucose and insulin. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA. In addition, Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationship between variables. Results: the irisin levels increased significantly after both types of exercises (p<0.05, that this increase in concentric activity was more than eccentric activity. Insulin resistance increased immediately after both exercises as well, that this increase in concentric exercise was statistically significant (p<0.05. Conclusion: However, both eccentric and concentric exercises had no effect on improving insulin resistance in obese women, but they can be considered as a good stimulus for the secretion of Irisin.

  4. Serum 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin levels and their association with age, body mass index, smoking, military record-based variables, and estimated exposure to Agent Orange in Korean Vietnam veterans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Sang-Wook; Ohrr, Heechoul; Won, Jong-Uk; Song, Jae-Seok; Hong, Jae-Seok

    2013-09-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the levels of serum 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and evaluate their association with age, body mass index, smoking, military record-based variables, and estimated exposure to Agent Orange in Korean Vietnam veterans. Serum levels of TCDD were analyzed in 102 Vietnam veterans. Information on age, body mass index, and smoking status were obtained from a self-reported questionnaire. The perceived exposure was assessed by a 6-item questionnaire. Two proximity-based exposures were constructed by division/brigade level and battalion/company level unit information using the Stellman exposure opportunity index model. The mean and median of serum TCDD levels was 1.2 parts per trillion (ppt) and 0.9 ppt, respectively. Only 2 Vietnam veterans had elevated levels of TCDD (>10 ppt). The levels of TCDD did not tend to increase with the likelihood of exposure to Agent Orange, as estimated from either proximity-based exposure or perceived self-reported exposure. The serum TCDD levels were not significantly different according to military unit, year of first deployment, duration of deployment, military rank, age, body mass index, and smoking status. The average serum TCDD levels in the Korean Vietnam veterans were lower than those reported for other occupationally or environmentally exposed groups and US Vietnam veterans, and their use as an objective marker of Agent Orange exposure may have some limitations. The unit of deployment, duration of deployment, year of first deployment, military rank, perceived self-reported exposure, and proximity-based exposure to Agent Orange were not associated with TCDD levels in Korean Vietnam veterans. Age, body mass index and smoking also were not associated with TCDD levels.

  5. Design of megawatt power level heat pipe reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mcclure, Patrick Ray [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Poston, David Irvin [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dasari, Venkateswara Rao [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Reid, Robert Stowers [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-11-12

    An important niche for nuclear energy is the need for power at remote locations removed from a reliable electrical grid. Nuclear energy has potential applications at strategic defense locations, theaters of battle, remote communities, and emergency locations. With proper safeguards, a 1 to 10-MWe (megawatt electric) mobile reactor system could provide robust, self-contained, and long-term power in any environment. Heat pipe-cooled fast-spectrum nuclear reactors have been identified as a candidate for these applications. Heat pipe reactors, using alkali metal heat pipes, are perfectly suited for mobile applications because their nature is inherently simpler, smaller, and more reliable than “traditional” reactors. The goal of this project was to develop a scalable conceptual design for a compact reactor and to identify scaling issues for compact heat pipe cooled reactors in general. Toward this goal two detailed concepts were developed, the first concept with more conventional materials and a power of about 2 MWe and a the second concept with less conventional materials and a power level of about 5 MWe. A series of more qualitative advanced designs were developed (with less detail) that show power levels can be pushed to approximately 30 MWe.

  6. Designing Indonesian Liner Shipping Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armand Omar Moeis

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available As the largest archipelago nation in the world, Indonesia’s logistics system has not shown excellence according to the parameters of logistics performance index and based on logistics costs percentages from overall GDP. This is due to the imbalances of trading on the western and eastern regions in Indonesia, which impacts the transportation systems costs to and from the eastern regions. Therefore, it is imperative to improve the competitiveness of Indonesian maritime logistics through maritime logistics network design. This research will focus on three levels of decision making in logistics network design, which include type of ships in the strategic level, shipping routes in the tactical level, and container allocation in the operational level with implementing butterfly routes in Indonesia’s logistics networking problems. Furthermore, this research will analyze the impact of Pendulum Nusantara and Sea Toll routes against the company profits and percentages of containers shipped. This research will also foresee how demand uncertainties and multi-period planning should affect decision making in designing the Indonesian Liner Shipping Network.

  7. Conceptual Design Report for the Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David Duncan

    2011-05-01

    This conceptual design report addresses development of replacement remote-handled low-level waste disposal capability for the Idaho National Laboratory. Current disposal capability at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex is planned until the facility is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). This conceptual design report includes key project assumptions; design options considered in development of the proposed onsite disposal facility (the highest ranked alternative for providing continued uninterrupted remote-handled low level waste disposal capability); process and facility descriptions; safety and environmental requirements that would apply to the proposed facility; and the proposed cost and schedule for funding, design, construction, and operation of the proposed onsite disposal facility.

  8. Conceptual Design Report for the Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lisa Harvego; David Duncan; Joan Connolly; Margaret Hinman; Charles Marcinkiewicz; Gary Mecham

    2011-03-01

    This conceptual design report addresses development of replacement remote-handled low-level waste disposal capability for the Idaho National Laboratory. Current disposal capability at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex is planned until the facility is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). This conceptual design report includes key project assumptions; design options considered in development of the proposed onsite disposal facility (the highest ranked alternative for providing continued uninterrupted remote-handled low level waste disposal capability); process and facility descriptions; safety and environmental requirements that would apply to the proposed facility; and the proposed cost and schedule for funding, design, construction, and operation of the proposed onsite disposal facility.

  9. Exploring EKC, trends of growth patterns and air pollutants concentration level in Malaysia: A Nemerow Index Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bekhet, Hussain A; Yasmin, Tahira

    2013-01-01

    The present study examines an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis by analyzing annual data of air pollutants concentartion and per capita GDP as economic indicator over the (1996–2010) period in Malaysia. Nemerow Index Approach (I) used to generate a measures of air pollution. The results show that ambient air quality indicators supports the EKC hypothesis which stated that pollution levels increase as a country develops, but begin to decrease as rising incomes pass beyond a turning poin. Also, the I result is justifying that most pollutants are showing value less than 1.

  10. Exploring EKC, trends of growth patterns and air pollutants concentration level in Malaysia: A Nemerow Index Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekhet, Hussain A.; >Tahira Yasmin,

    2013-06-01

    The present study examines an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis by analyzing annual data of air pollutants concentartion and per capita GDP as economic indicator over the (1996-2010) period in Malaysia. Nemerow Index Approach (I) used to generate a measures of air pollution. The results show that ambient air quality indicators supports the EKC hypothesis which stated that pollution levels increase as a country develops, but begin to decrease as rising incomes pass beyond a turning poin. Also, the I result is justifying that most pollutants are showing value less than 1.

  11. The influence of subway station design on noise levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Ravi R; Suen, Jonathan J; Cellum, Ilana P; Spitzer, Jaclyn B; Lalwani, Anil K

    2017-05-01

    To investigate the impact of subway station design on platform noise levels. Observational. Continuous A-weighted decibel (dBA) sound levels were recorded in 20 New York City subway stations, where trains entered on either a straight track or curved track in 10 stations each. Equivalent continuous noise levels (L eq ) at various locations on the boarding platform (inbound end, midplatform, and outbound end) during train entry and exit were compared between the straight and curved stations in broadband as well as narrow one-third octave bands. Overall, curved stations trended louder than straight stations, although the difference in broadband L eq did not reach statistical significance (curve, 83.4 dBA; straight, 82.6 dBA; P = .054). Noise levels were significantly louder at the inbound end of the platform during train entry (inbound, 89.7 dBA; mid, 85.5 dBA; outbound, 78.7 dBA; P < .001) and at the outbound end during train exit (inbound, 79.7 dBA; mid, 85.3 dBA; outbound, 89.1 dBA; P < .001). Narrow band analysis showed that curved stations were significantly louder than straight stations at 100 Hz and high frequencies from 8 to 20 kHz. Peak impact levels ranged from 104 to 121 dBA. Curved stations have a different noise profile compared to straight stations and are significantly louder than straight stations at high frequencies. Designing stations with straight tracks within the platform can help reduce commuter noise exposure. NA Laryngoscope, 127:1169-1174, 2017. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  12. A Probabilistic Approach for the System-Level Design of Multi-ASIP Platforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Micconi, Laura

    introduce a system-level Design Space Exploration (DSE) for the very early phases of the design that automatizes part of the multi-ASIP design flow. Our DSE is responsible for assigning the tasks to the different ASIPs exploring different platform alternatives. We perform a schedulability analysis for each...

  13. A rational evaluation of structural design loads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tasaka, S.

    1993-01-01

    -consistent n-year 2nd PGA at each site such that the conditional reliability index is equal to a given value of the target reliability index, and (b) Determine a possible design level of the n-year 2nd PGA at each site by using statistical properties of the annual 1st and 2nd PGA's together with those of the n-year 2nd PGA. Note that the conditional reliability index is implied here by the reliability index defined by the above-mentioned conditional statistical moments. An illustration of the present procedure for obtaining the design PGA for a given target reliability index is shown, and the result is compared with that obtained by the conventional way. Determination of the design PGA may enable estimation of the probability of failure by fragility analysis of NPP structures and structural components designed by LRFD method

  14. Climate risk index for Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mysiak, Jaroslav; Torresan, Silvia; Bosello, Francesco; Mistry, Malcolm; Amadio, Mattia; Marzi, Sepehr; Furlan, Elisa; Sperotto, Anna

    2018-06-01

    We describe a climate risk index that has been developed to inform national climate adaptation planning in Italy and that is further elaborated in this paper. The index supports national authorities in designing adaptation policies and plans, guides the initial problem formulation phase, and identifies administrative areas with higher propensity to being adversely affected by climate change. The index combines (i) climate change-amplified hazards; (ii) high-resolution indicators of exposure of chosen economic, social, natural and built- or manufactured capital (MC) assets and (iii) vulnerability, which comprises both present sensitivity to climate-induced hazards and adaptive capacity. We use standardized anomalies of selected extreme climate indices derived from high-resolution regional climate model simulations of the EURO-CORDEX initiative as proxies of climate change-altered weather and climate-related hazards. The exposure and sensitivity assessment is based on indicators of manufactured, natural, social and economic capital assets exposed to and adversely affected by climate-related hazards. The MC refers to material goods or fixed assets which support the production process (e.g. industrial machines and buildings); Natural Capital comprises natural resources and processes (renewable and non-renewable) producing goods and services for well-being; Social Capital (SC) addressed factors at the individual (people's health, knowledge, skills) and collective (institutional) level (e.g. families, communities, organizations and schools); and Economic Capital (EC) includes owned and traded goods and services. The results of the climate risk analysis are used to rank the subnational administrative and statistical units according to the climate risk challenges, and possibly for financial resource allocation for climate adaptation. This article is part of the theme issue `Advances in risk assessment for climate change adaptation policy'.

  15. Efficiency and Productivity of County-level Public Hospitals Based on the Data Envelopment Analysis Model and Malmquist Index in Anhui, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Nian-Nian; Wang, Cun-Hui; Ni, Hong; Wang, Heng

    2017-12-05

    China began to implement the national medical and health system and public hospital reforms in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Anhui Province is one of the four pilot provinces, and the medical reform measures received wide attention nationwide. The effectiveness of the above reform needs to get attention. This study aimed to master the efficiency and productivity of county-level public hospitals based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and Malmquist index in Anhui, China, and then provide improvement measures for the future hospital development. We chose 12 country-level hospitals based on geographical distribution and the economic development level in Anhui Province. Relevant data that were collected in the field and then sorted were provided by the administrative departments of the hospitals. DEA models were used to calculate the dynamic efficiency and Malmquist index factors for the 12 institutions. During 2010-2015, the overall average relative service efficiency of 12 county-level public hospitals was 0.926, and the number of hospitals achieved an effective DEA for each year from 2010 to 2015 was 4, 6, 7, 7, 6, and 8, respectively, as measured using DEA. During this same period, the average overall production efficiency was 0.983, and the total productivity factor had declined. The overall production efficiency of five hospitals was >1, and the rest are productivity has not been effectively improved. County-level public hospitals need to combine their own reality to find their own deficiencies.

  16. A Platform-Based Methodology for System-Level Mixed-Signal Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The complexity of today's embedded electronic systems as well as their demanding performance and reliability requirements are such that their design can no longer be tackled with ad hoc techniques while still meeting tight time to-market constraints. In this paper, we present a system level design approach for electronic circuits, utilizing the platform-based design (PBD paradigm as the natural framework for mixed-domain design formalization. In PBD, a meet-in-the-middle approach allows systematic exploration of the design space through a series of top-down mapping of system constraints onto component feasibility models in a platform library, which is based on bottom-up characterizations. In this framework, new designs can be assembled from the precharacterized library components, giving the highest priority to design reuse, correct assembly, and efficient design flow from specifications to implementation. We apply concepts from design centering to enforce robustness to modeling errors as well as process, voltage, and temperature variations, which are currently plaguing embedded system design in deep-submicron technologies. The effectiveness of our methodology is finally shown on the design of a pipeline A/D converter and two receiver front-ends for UMTS and UWB communications.

  17. Design and methodology for calculating the environmental pressure index as a tool for environmental land planning: the case of Cundinamarca

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Camacho O, Juana; Burgos S, Javier Dario

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this work is to provide a practical tool to carry out environmental planning and management processes regarding the use of space, in a complex way including not only biophysical but socioeconomic criteria. In the context of river basin management the Environmental Social Pressure Index was created. This paper presents an Environmental Planning and Management definition, based on the Ecological Supporting Structure, as well as one of sustainability, worked out of several authors. This work offers the methodological sequence to design and calculate a customized Environmental Social Pressure Index according to the specific features of any given territory, using the conceptual framework developed earlier and the multivariate analysis and power laws tools. Finally we present an exercise to illustrate this process, developed for Cundinamarca for 1995

  18. System-level modelling of dynamic reconfigurable designs using functional programming abstractions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Uchevler, B.N.; Svarstad, Kjetil; Kuper, Jan; Baaij, C.P.R.

    With the increasing size and complexity of designs in electronics, new approaches are required for the description and verification of digital circuits, specifically at the system level. Functional HDLs can appear as an advantageous choice for formal verification and high-level descriptions. In this

  19. Study on the application of hepatofibrosis index in hyperthyroidism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Chengyi; Fu Hongye; Shi Genming; Wu Jianyuan

    2004-01-01

    To explore the changes of hepatofibrosis index in hyperthyroidism, the index of thyroid function and hepatofibrosis were assayed by RIA in 173 patients with hyperthyroidism and 55 normal persons. The results showed that the levels of PC III, IV·C and HA were significantly higher than that of normal control. Furthermore, these serum levels of hepatofibrosis were concordance with that of TT 3 , TT 4 , FT 3 and FT 4 in hyperthyroidism. The serum levels of PC III, IV·C were positive correlated with that of goiter. The positive rate of PC III and IV·C in hyperthyroidism is conformed with that of the index of thyroid function. The study suggested that PC III and IV·C may be a new supplementary index of the diagnosis and observation of curative effect in hyperthyroidism. (authors)

  20. Development and assessment of users' satisfaction with the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000 responder index-50 website.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Touma, Zahi; Gladman, Dafna D; MacKinnon, Anne; Carette, Simon; Abu-Shakra, Mahmoud; Askanase, Anca; Nived, Ola; Hanly, John G; Landolt-Marticorena, Carolina; Tam, Lai-Shan; Toloza, Sergio; Nikpour, Mandana; Riddell, Claire; Steiman, Amanda; Eder, Lihi; Haddad, Amir; Barber, Claire; Urowitz, Murray B

    2013-01-01

    To describe the development of the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 Responder Index-50 (S2K RI-50) Website (www.s2k-ri-50.com) and to assess satisfaction with its training and examination modules among rheumatologists and rheumatology fellows. The development of the Website occurred in 3 phases. The first was a deployment phase that consisted of preparing the site map along with its content. The content included the S2K RI-50 training manual, the tests and corresponding question bank, and the online adaptive training module, along with the extensive site testing. The second phase included the participation of rheumatologists and trainees who completed the Website modules. The third was a quality assurance phase in which an online survey was developed to determine the satisfaction level of its users. Further modifications were implemented per participants' recommendations. The site has been online since it was registered in September 2010. Fourteen rheumatologists and rheumatology trainees from different centers reviewed and completed the material contained in the Website. The survey revealed acceptance among rheumatologists for the Website's content, design, and presentation. The Website was rated as user-friendly and useful in familiarizing investigators with the S2K RI-50. After completion of the training and examination modules, participants reported a suitable level of preparation to implement the S2K RI-50 in clinical trials and research settings in a timely manner. The Website includes training and examination modules that familiarize rheumatologists with the S2K RI-50 and assesses their competence to use the index. This prepares them for the use of the S2K RI-50 in clinical trials and research settings.

  1. Design of a store for encapsulated intermediate level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lloyd, A.I.; Robinson, G.; Price, M.S.T.

    1989-01-01

    The design of a new store for cemented intermediate level radioactive waste produced in unshielded 500 litre drums from the Winfrith Radwaste Treatment Plant is described. The store design has had to take account of local site constraints and disposal uncertainties. As a result, an innovative above ground storage tube design using interlocking, commercially available, concrete pipe rings has been selected. Other special features are that the store is easily capable of being extended whilst in service and is simple and cheap to decommission. A quality assessment facility for the drummed waste is an integral part of the store complex. (author)

  2. NASA System-Level Design, Analysis and Simulation Tools Research on NextGen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardina, Jorge

    2011-01-01

    A review of the research accomplished in 2009 in the System-Level Design, Analysis and Simulation Tools (SLDAST) of the NASA's Airspace Systems Program is presented. This research thrust focuses on the integrated system-level assessment of component level innovations, concepts and technologies of the Next Generation Air Traffic System (NextGen) under research in the ASP program to enable the development of revolutionary improvements and modernization of the National Airspace System. The review includes the accomplishments on baseline research and the advancements on design studies and system-level assessment, including the cluster analysis as an annualization standard of the air traffic in the U.S. National Airspace, and the ACES-Air MIDAS integration for human-in-the-loop analyzes within the NAS air traffic simulation.

  3. Browse Title Index

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 151 - 200 of 1463 ... Vol 14, No 4 (2014), Association between mean platelet volume levels and inflammation in SLE patients presented with arthritis, Abstract PDF ... Vol 10, No 3 (2010), Atherogenic index of plasma as useful predictor of cardiovascular risk among postmenopausal women in Enugu, Nigeria, Abstract ...

  4. High-level radioactive waste glass and storage canister design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slate, S.C.; Ross, W.A.

    1979-01-01

    Management of high-level radioactive wastes is a primary concern in nuclear operations today. The main objective in managing these wastes is to convert them into a solid, durable form which is then isolated from man. A description is given of the design and evaluation of this waste form. The waste form has two main components: the solidified waste and the storage canister. The solid waste form discussed in this study is glass. Waste glasses have been designed to be inert to water attack, physically rugged, low in volatility, and stable over time. Two glass-making processes are under development at PNL. The storage canister is being designed to provide high-integrity containment for solidified wastes from processing to terminal storage. An outline is given of the steps in canister design: material selection, stress and thermal analyses, quality verification, and postfill processing. Examples are given of results obtained from actual nonradioactive demonstration tests. 14 refs

  5. Low-level burial grounds dangerous waste permit application design documents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-08-01

    This document serves a supplement to the already existing ''Low-Level Burial Ground Dangerous Waste Permit Application Design Documents.'' This paper contains information regarding drawings, construction specifications, and liner/leachate compatibility test plans

  6. Web-Based Museum Trails on PDAs for University-Level Design Students: Design and Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, R.; Walker, K.; Speight, C.

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes the development and evaluation of web-based museum trails for university-level design students to access on handheld devices in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. The trails offered students a range of ways of exploring the museum environment and collections, some encouraging students to interpret objects and…

  7. Significance of high level test data in piping design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McLean, J.L.; Bitner, J.L.

    1991-01-01

    During the 1980's the piping technical community in the U.S. initiated a series of research activities aimed at reducing the conservatism inherent in nuclear piping design. One of these activities was directed at the application of the ASME Code rules to the design of piping subjected to dynamic loads. This paper surveys the test data obtained from three groups in the U.S. and none in the U.K., and correlates the findings as they relate to the failure modes of piping subjected to seismic loads. The failure modes experienced as the result of testing at dynamic loads significantly in excess of anticipated loads specified for any of the ASME Code service levels are discussed. A recommendation is presented for modifying the Code piping rules to reduce the conservatism inherent in seismic design

  8. Market Designs for High Levels of Variable Generation: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milligan, M.; Holttinen, H.; Kiviluoma, J.; Orths, A.; Lynch, M.; Soder, L.

    2014-10-01

    Variable renewable generation is increasing in penetration in modern power systems, leading to higher variability in the supply and price of electricity as well as lower average spot prices. This raises new challenges, particularly in ensuring sufficient capacity and flexibility from conventional technologies. Because the fixed costs and lifetimes of electricity generation investments are significant, designing markets and regulations that ensure the efficient integration of renewable generation is a significant challenge. This papers reviews the state of play of market designs for high levels of variable generation in the United States and Europe and considers new developments in both regions.

  9. The 5/95 gap in the indexation of psychiatric journals of low- and middle-income countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mari, J J; Patel, V; Kieling, C; Razzouk, D; Tyrer, P; Herrman, H

    2010-01-01

    Mari JJ, Patel V, Kieling C, Razzouk D, Tyrer P, Herrman H. The 5/95 gap in the indexation of psychiatric journals of low- and middle-income countries. Objective: To investigate the relationship between science production and the indexation level of low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC) journals in international databases. Method: Indicators of productivity in research were based on the number of articles produced over the 1994–2004 period. A survey in both Medline and ISI/Thomson was conducted to identify journals according to their country of origin. A WPA Task Force designed a collaborative process to assess distribution and quality of non-indexed LAMIC journals. Results: Twenty LAMIC were found to present more than 100 publications and a total of 222 indexed psychiatric journals were found, but only nine were from LAMIC. The Task Force received 26 questionnaires from editors of non-indexed journals, and concluded that five journals would meet criteria for indexation. Conclusion: Barriers to indexation of journals contribute to the difficulties in achieving fair representation in the main literature databases for the scientific production in these countries. PMID:19764927

  10. Gender Inequality Index Appropriateness for Measuring Inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amin, Elham; Sabermahani, Asma

    2017-01-01

    Gender inequality means unequal distribution of wealth, power, and benefits among women and men. The gender inequality index (GII) measures the lost human development in three important dimensions: reproductive health, political empowerment, and economic status. The first purpose of this study was to calculate the index for provinces of Iran, and the second purpose was to survey the appropriateness of that, for comparing different regions, through regression estimations. In this study, GII has been calculated for Iran between the years 2006-2011 and provinces have been ranked based on it. Then, a panel composed of 30 sections was estimated for five years to determine the most important factor affecting level of index. Some changes have been made to analyze values of the index and the ranking of provinces. Based on panel model, share of parliamentary seats was the most effective factor for determination of the index. After applying adjustments, some differences were seen in the ranking of provinces and general level of index. Weighing of dimensions of the index and considering an overall variable, such as life expectancy in the field of health, will give a more accurate comparison of the GII among different regions though concurrent attention to non-discriminatory cultural dimensions of political participation of women; therefore, making more analyses possible for a more correct comparison of the extensive geographical regions, such as countries.

  11. Structure stability index allocation theory and measurement of laser prototype facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Junwei; China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang; Zhou Hai; Feng Bin; Lin Donghui; Jing Feng; Zhou Yi; Wang Shilong

    2008-01-01

    Structure stability is an important design index of ICF driver. Based on laser prototype facility(TIL) design characteristic of multi-pass amplifier and frame structure, the optical matrix is used to analyze the single optical element influence on the beam drift and get the mathematic model. Considering all the optical elements influence on the beam drift, the mathematic model of the optical element stability index allocation is built, the parameter relation of the mathematic model is defined according to the structure characteristic of TIL, the stability index of each optical element is got as the support structure design index. Charge-coupled device(CCD) detect technology is used to measure the general beam stability of TIL. The root mean square beam drift in x and y direction are 2.78 μm, the difference between peak and valley values are 14.4 μm and 15.60 μm, respectively. The result indicates that the stability drift of the prototype facility can satisfy the design requirement, the way of the stability allocation is reasonable. (authors)

  12. NASA Indexing Benchmarks: Evaluating Text Search Engines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esler, Sandra L.; Nelson, Michael L.

    1997-01-01

    The current proliferation of on-line information resources underscores the requirement for the ability to index collections of information and search and retrieve them in a convenient manner. This study develops criteria for analytically comparing the index and search engines and presents results for a number of freely available search engines. A product of this research is a toolkit capable of automatically indexing, searching, and extracting performance statistics from each of the focused search engines. This toolkit is highly configurable and has the ability to run these benchmark tests against other engines as well. Results demonstrate that the tested search engines can be grouped into two levels. Level one engines are efficient on small to medium sized data collections, but show weaknesses when used for collections 100MB or larger. Level two search engines are recommended for data collections up to and beyond 100MB.

  13. Estimation of design floods in ungauged catchments using a regional index flood method. A case study of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobert, Joel; Mugo, Margaret; Gadain, Hussein

    Reliable estimation of flood magnitudes corresponding to required return periods, vital for structural design purposes, is impacted by lack of hydrological data in the study area of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya. Use of regional information, derived from data at gauged sites and regionalized for use at any location within a homogenous region, would improve the reliability of the design flood estimation. Therefore, the regional index flood method has been applied. Based on data from 14 gauged sites, a delineation of the basin into two homogenous regions was achieved using elevation variation (90-m DEM), spatial annual rainfall pattern and Principal Component Analysis of seasonal rainfall patterns (from 94 rainfall stations). At site annual maximum series were modelled using the Log normal (LN) (3P), Log Logistic Distribution (LLG), Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Log Pearson Type 3 (LP3) distributions. The parameters of the distributions were estimated using the method of probability weighted moments. Goodness of fit tests were applied and the GEV was identified as the most appropriate model for each site. Based on the GEV model, flood quantiles were estimated and regional frequency curves derived from the averaged at site growth curves. Using the least squares regression method, relationships were developed between the index flood, which is defined as the Mean Annual Flood (MAF) and catchment characteristics. The relationships indicated area, mean annual rainfall and altitude were the three significant variables that greatly influence the index flood. Thereafter, estimates of flood magnitudes in ungauged catchments within a homogenous region were estimated from the derived equations for index flood and quantiles from the regional curves. These estimates will improve flood risk estimation and to support water management and engineering decisions and actions.

  14. Study on index system of GPS interference effect evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Kun; Zeng, Fangling; Zhao, Yuan; Zeng, Ruiqi

    2018-05-01

    Satellite navigation interference effect evaluation is the key technology to break through the research of Navigation countermeasure. To evaluate accurately the interference degree and Anti-jamming ability of GPS receiver, this text based on the existing research results of Navigation interference effect evaluation, build the index system of GPS receiver effectiveness evaluation from four levels of signal acquisition, tracking, demodulation and positioning/timing and establish the model for each index. These indexes can accurately and quantitatively describe the interference effect at all levels.

  15. Chlorophyll fluorescence, photochemical reflective index and normalized difference vegetative index during plant senescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordon, Gabriela; Lagorio, M Gabriela; Paruelo, José M

    2016-07-20

    The relationship between the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and chlorophyll fluorescence along senescence was investigated in this work. Reflectance and radiance measurements were performed at canopy level in grass species presenting different photosynthetic metabolism: Avena sativa (C3) and Setaria italica (C4), at different stages of the natural senescence process. Sun induced-chlorophyll fluorescence at 760nm (SIF 760 ) and the apparent fluorescence yield (SIF 760 /a, with a=irradiance at time of measurement) were extracted from the radiance spectra of canopies using the Fraunhofer Line Discrimination-method. The photosynthetic parameters derived from Kautsky kinetics and pigment content were also calculated at leaf level. Whilst stand level NDVI patterns were related to changes in the structure of canopies and not in pigment content, stand level PRI patterns suggested changes both in terms of canopy and of pigment content in leaves. Both SIF 760 /a and Φ PSII decreased progressively along senescence in both species. A strong increment in NPQ was evident in A. sativa while in S. italica NPQ values were lower. Our most important finding was that two chlorophyll fluorescence signals, Φ PSII and SIF 760 /a, correlated with the canopy PRI values in the two grasses assessed, even when tissues at different ontogenic stages were present. Even though significant changes occurred in the Total Chlr/Car ratio along senescence in both studied species, significant correlations between PRI and chlorophyll fluorescence signals might indicate the usefulness of this reflectance index as a proxy of photosynthetic RUE, at least under the conditions of this study. The relationships between stand level PRI and the fluorescence estimators (Φ PSII and SIF 760 /a) were positive in both cases. Therefore, an increase in PRI values as in the fluorescence parameters would indicate higher RUE. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All

  16. Presenting a Multi-level Superstructure Optimization Approach for Mechatronic System Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Henrik C.; Andersen, Torben Ole; Bech, Michael Møller

    2010-01-01

    Synergism and integration in the design process is what sets apart a Mechatronic System from a traditional, multidisciplinary system. However the typical design approach has been to divide the design problem into sub problems for each technology area (mechanics, electronics and control) and descr......Synergism and integration in the design process is what sets apart a Mechatronic System from a traditional, multidisciplinary system. However the typical design approach has been to divide the design problem into sub problems for each technology area (mechanics, electronics and control......) and describe the interface between the technologies, whereas the lack of well-established, systematic engineering methods to form the basic set-off in analysis and design of complete mechatronic systems has been obvious. The focus of the current paper is therefore to present an integrated design approach...... for mechatronic system design, utilizing a multi-level superstructure optimization based approach. Finally two design examples are presented and the possibilities and limitations of the approach are outlined....

  17. The Assessment of Positivity and Negativity in Social Networks: The Reliability and Validity of the Social Relationships Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campo, Rebecca A.; Uchino, Bert N.; Holt-Lunstad, Julianne; Vaughn, Allison; Reblin, Maija; Smith, Timothy W.

    2009-01-01

    The Social Relationships Index (SRI) was designed to examine positivity and negativity in social relationships. Unique features of this scale include its brevity and the ability to examine relationship positivity and negativity at the level of the specific individual and social network. The SRI's psychometric properties were examined in three…

  18. Waste package designs for disposal of high-level waste in salt formations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basham, S.J. Jr.; Carr, J.A.

    1984-01-01

    In the United States of America the selected method for disposal of radioactive waste is mined repositories located in suitable geohydrological settings. Currently four types of host rocks are under consideration: tuff, basalt, crystalline rock and salt. Development of waste package designs for incorporation in mined salt repositories is discussed. The three pertinent high-level waste forms are: spent fuel, as disassembled and close-packed fuel pins in a mild steel canister; commercial high-level waste (CHLW), as borosilicate glass in stainless-steel canisters; defence high-level waste (DHLW), as borosilicate glass in stainless-steel canisters. The canisters are production and handling items only. They have no planned long-term isolation function. Each waste form requires a different approach in package design. However, the general geometry and the materials of the three designs are identical. The selected waste package design is an overpack of low carbon steel with a welded closure. This container surrounds the waste forms. Studies to better define brine quantity and composition, radiation effects on the salt and brines, long-term corrosion behaviour of the low carbon steel, and the leaching behaviour of the spent fuel and borosilicate glass waste forms are continuing. (author)

  19. Higher weight, lower education: a longitudinal association between adolescents' body mass index and their subsequent educational achievement level?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Junilla K; Kleinjan, Marloes; Engels, Rutger C M E; Fisher, Jennifer O; Hermans, Roel C J

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the association between adolescents' body mass index (BMI) z-scores and their subsequent level of schooling, extending previous longitudinal research by using objectively measured weight and height data. A longitudinal study with 3 study waves (1-year intervals) involving 1248 Dutch adolescents (49% girls; mean age = 13.7 years) at schools providing different educational levels was used to determine adolescents who moved and did not move to a lower educational level in the first year, or in the second year, and to examine whether this movement could be predicted by BMI z-scores (zBMI), after controlling for a large range of potential confounding factors. A total of 1164 Dutch adolescents continued in the same level of education, whereas 84 adolescents moved to a lower educational level (43 moved in the first and 41 in the second year). A higher zBMI significantly increased the risk of a general transition to a lower educational level, and of a transition in the first year, but not in the second year, after controlling for potential demographic, behavioral, and psychological confounds. Findings suggest that a higher zBMI during adolescence immediately lowers educational achievement level during general secondary education. © 2014, American School Health Association.

  20. CDC WONDER: Daily Air Temperatures and Heat Index

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Daily Air Temperature and Heat Index data available on CDC WONDER are county-level daily average air temperatures and heat index measures spanning the years...

  1. Comparing identically designed grayscale (50 phase level) and binary (5 phase levels) splitters: actual versus modeled performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lizotte, Todd E.; Ohar, Orest P.; Tuttle, Tracie

    2006-04-01

    Performance of diffractive optics is determined by high-quality design and a suitable fabrication process that can actually realize the design. Engineers who are tasked with developing or implementing a diffractive optic solution into a product need to take into consideration the risks of using grayscale versus binary fabrication processes. In many cases, grayscale design doesn't always provide the best solution or cost benefit during product development. This fabrication dilemma arises when the engineer has to select a source for design and/or fabrication. Engineers come face to face with reality in view of the fact that diffractive optic suppliers tend to provide their services on a "best effort basis". This can be very disheartening to an engineer who is trying to implement diffractive optics. This paper will compare and contrast the design and performance of a 1 to 24 beam, two dimensional; beam splitter fabricated using a fifty (50) phase level grayscale and a five (5) phase level binary fabrication methods. Optical modeling data will be presented showing both designs and the performance expected prior to fabrication. An overview of the optical testing methods used will be discussed including the specific test equipment and metrology techniques used to verify actual optical performance and fabricated dimensional stability of each optical element. Presentation of the two versions of the splitter will include data on fabrication dimensional errors, split beam-to-beam uniformity, split beam-to-beam spatial size uniformity and splitter efficiency as compared to the original intended design performance and models. This is a continuation of work from 2005, Laser Beam Shaping VI.

  2. Misery Index Corrected by Informality: Applicable to Venezuela

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josefa Ramoni Perazzi

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper suggests a variation of the IMO index (Okun's Misery Index, adapting it to markets with these characteristics, adding the ESI level (Employment in the Informal Sector to the unemployment level. This research compares the evolution of several standard misery indexes in several zones during the last decades, with emphasis on the case of Venezuela, for which the new proposed index is also estimated. Results show improvement in the well-being of groups of countries under study, compared to the deterioration of the indicator in Venezuela. In general terms, the IMO is controlled by unemployment, except in Venezuela. However, preponderance of inflation over unemployment in this country seems to occur by the underestimate that the unemployment rate has on the Venezuelan labor market situation.

  3. Application of preference selection index method for decision making over the design stage of production system life cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajesh Attri

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The life cycle of production system shows the progress of production system from the inception to the termination of the system. During each stage, mainly in the design stage, certain strategic decisions have to be taken. These decisions are more complex as the decision makers have to assess a wide range of alternatives based on a set of conflicting criteria. As the decision making process is found to be unstructured, characterized by domain dependent knowledge, there is a need to apply an efficient multi-criteria decision making (MCDM tool to help the decision makers in making correct decisions. This paper explores the application of a novel MCDM method i.e. Preference selection index (PSI method to solve various decision-making problems that are generally encountered in the design stage of production system life cycle. To prove the potentiality, applicability and accuracy of PSI method in solving decision making problem during the design stage of production system life cycle, five examples are cited from the literature and are compared with the results obtained by the past researchers.

  4. Abnormal levels of adipokines in adolescent offspring of women with type 1 diabetes - Results from the EPICOM study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lohse, Zuzana; Bytoft, Birgitte; Knorr, Sine

    2017-01-01

    AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To investigate long-term consequences of diabetes during pregnancy, we determined adiponectin and leptin levels in adolescents born by women with type 1 diabetic (T1D) or non-diabetic mothers, and determined associations between adiponectin and leptin levels in adolescence...... and the magnitude of intrauterine hyperglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We measured serum adiponectin and leptin and calculated leptin to adiponectin ratio (LAR) in 271 offspring of T1D women (index offspring) (13-20years), and 297 matched control offspring. Anthropometry included total body fat (TBF) by dual......-energy X-ray absorptiometry and an oral glucose tolerance test. RESULTS: Adiponectin levels were lower in index females (-8.0% (95% CI; -13.9, -1.6)), but not in index males (0.4% (95% CI; -7.3, 8.6)). Leptin levels were approximately 30% higher in index than control offspring, irrespective of gender...

  5. Evaluation of a nutrient-rich food index score in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sluik, D.; Streppel, M.T.; Lee, van L.; Geelen, A.; Feskens, E.J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Nutrient-rich food (NRF) index scores are dietary quality indices based on nutrient density. We studied the design aspects involved in the development and validation of NRF index scores, using the Dutch consumption data and guidelines as an example. We evaluated fifteen NRF index scores against the

  6. Can bispectral index or auditory evoked potential index predict implicit memory during propofol-induced sedation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yun; Yue, Yun; Sun, Yong-hai; Wu, An-shi

    2006-06-05

    Some patients still suffer from implicit memory of intraoperative events under adequate depth of anaesthesia. The elimination of implicit memory should be a necessary aim of clinical general anaesthesia. However, implicit memory cannot be tested during anaesthesia yet. We propose bispectral index (BIS) and auditory evoked potential index (AEPI), as predictors of implicit memory during anaesthesia. Thirty-six patients were equally divided into 3 groups according to the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Score: A, level 3; B, level 2; and C, level 1. Every patient was given the first auditory stimulus before sedation. Then every patient received the second auditory stimulus after the target level of sedation had been reached. BIS and AEPI were monitored before and after the second auditory stimulus presentation. Four hours later, the inclusion test and exclusion test were performed on the ward using process dissociation procedure and the scores of implicit memory estimated. In groups A and B but not C, implicit memory estimates were statistically greater than zero (P memory scores in group A did not differ significantly from those in group B (P > 0.05). Implicit memory scores correlated with BIS and AEPI (P AEPI. The 95% cutoff points of BIS and AEPI for predicting implicit memory are 47 and 28, respectively. Implicit memory does not disappear until the depth of sedation increases to level 1 of OAA/S score. Implicit memory scores correlate well with BIS and AEPI during sedation. BIS is a better index for predicting implicit memory than AEPI during propofol induced sedation.

  7. The Effect of Trichoderma harzianum and Cadmium on Tolerance Index and Yield of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Taghavi Ghasemkheyli

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the effect of Trichoderma harzianum, as a bioabsorbant to ameliorate the harmful effects of cadmium (Cd on growth and yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. variety ‘Sahra’, a factorial pot experiment based on completely randomized design with three replicates was conducted. Trichoderma harzianum withtwo levels (with and without inoculation and cadmium nitrate with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg.L-1 were the treatments. Results of ANOVA revealed that there was a significant interaction between Trichoderma and cadmium nitrate in terms of biological yield, straw yield, harvest index, spike number per plant and seed number per spike. Mean comparisons showed that Trichoderma inoculation at all Cd levels significantly improved both biological and straw yields. Trichoderma at 50 and 100 mg.L-1 of Cd also increased the spike number per plant (up to 120 and 66%, respectively significantly. Increasing Cd levels decreased seed yield (19%, 1000 seed weight (18%, partitioning coefficient (57% and tolerance index (23% significantly. Inoculation of Trichoderma into growth medium had a significant effect on seed yield and tolerance index (up to 17 and 22%, respectively. In conclusion, Trichoderma harzianum inoculation at lower concentrations of Cd (50 and 100 mg.L-1 could be effective to improve growth parameters of barley plant.

  8. Spatial dispersion of index components required for building invisibility cloak medium from photonic crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamilan, Saeid; Semouchkin, George; Gandji, Navid P.; Semouchkina, Elena

    2018-04-01

    The opportunities to use dielectric photonic crystals (PhCs) as the media of cylindrical invisibility cloaks, designed using transformation optics (TO) concepts, are investigated. It is shown that TO-based prescriptions for radial index dispersion, responsible for turning waves around hidden objects, can be dropped if the PhC media support self-collimation of waves in bent crystals. Otherwise, to provide prescribed anisotropy of index dispersion, it is possible to employ PhCs with rectangular lattices. It is found, however, that at acceptable cloak thicknesses, modifications of crystal parameters do not allow for achieving the prescribed level of index anisotropy. This problem is solved by finding the reduced spatial dispersion law for the radial index component, which is characterized by decreased against TO-prescriptions values near the target and increased values in outer layers of the cloak. The cloak utilizing reduced prescriptions for indices is shown to perform almost as efficiently as a TO-based cloak, in terms of both wave front restoration behind the target and reducing the total scattering cross-width of the target.

  9. Flood Risk Index Assessment in Johor River Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad Shakir Mohd Saudi; Hafizan Juahir; Azman Azid; Fazureen Azaman; Ahmad Shakir Mohd Saudi

    2015-01-01

    This study is focusing on constructing the flood risk index in the Johor river basin. The application of statistical methods such as factor analysis (FA), statistical process control (SPC) and artificial neural network (ANN) had revealed the most efficient flood risk index. The result in FA was water level has correlation coefficient of 0.738 and the most practicable variable to be used for the warning alert system. The upper control limits (UCL) for the water level in the river basin Johor is 4.423 m and the risk index for the water level has been set by this method consisting of 0-100.The accuracy of prediction has been evaluated by using ANN and the accuracy of the test result was R"2 = 0.96408 with RMSE= 2.5736. The future prediction for UCL in Johor river basin has been predicted and the value was 3.75 m. This model can shows the current and future prediction for flood risk index in the Johor river basin and can help local authorities for flood control and prevention of the state of Johor. (author)

  10. Analyzing the performance index for a hybrid electric vehicle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ngo, D. V.; Hofman, T.; Steinbuch, M.; Serrarens, A. F A

    2011-01-01

    The definition of a performance index for the optimization design and optimal control problem of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle is not often considered and analyzed explicitly. In literature, there is no study about proposing a method of building or evaluating whether a performance index is appropriate.

  11. High trait aggression in men is associated with low 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4 receptor binding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mc Mahon, Brenda; MacDonald Fisher, Patrick; Jensen, Peter Steen; Svarer, Claus; Moos Knudsen, Gitte

    2016-01-01

    Impulsive aggression has commonly been associated with a dysfunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system: many, but not all, studies point to an inverse relationship between 5-HT and aggression. As cerebral 5-HT4 receptor (5-HT4R) binding has recently been recognized as a proxy for stable brain levels of 5-HT, we here test the hypothesis in healthy men and women that brain 5-HT levels, as indexed by cerebral 5-HT4R, are inversely correlated with trait aggression and impulsivity. Sixty-one individuals (47 men) underwent positron emission tomography scanning with the radioligand [11C]SB207145 for quantification of brain 5-HT4R binding. The Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used for assessment of trait aggression and trait impulsivity. Among male subjects, there was a positive correlation between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ total score (P = 0.037) as well as BPAQ physical aggression (P = 0.025). No main effect of global 5-HT4R on trait aggression or impulsivity was found in the mixed gender sample, but there was evidence for sex interaction effects in the relationship between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ physical aggression. In conclusion we found that low cerebral 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4R binding were associated with high trait aggression in males, but not in females. PMID:26772668

  12. An Analytical Study on an Orthodontic Index: Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torkan, Sepide; Pakshir, Hamid Reza; Fattahi, Hamid Reza; Oshagh, Morteza; Momeni Danaei, Shahla; Salehi, Parisa; Hedayati, Zohreh

    2015-01-01

    Statement of the Problem The validity of the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON) which is an orthodontic index developed and introduced in 2000 should be studied in different ethnic groups. Purpose The aim of this study was to perform an analysis on the ICON and to verify whether this index is valid for assessing both the need and complexity of orthodontic treatment in Iran. Materials and Method Five orthodontists were asked to score pre-treatment diagnostic records of 100 patients with a uniform distribution of different types of malocclusions determined by Dental Health Component of the Index of Treatment Need. A calibrated examiner also assessed the need for orthodontic treatment and complexity of the cases based on the ICON index as well as the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). 10 days later, 25% of the cases were re-scored by the panel of experts and the calibrated orthodontist. Results The weighted kappa revealed the inter-examiner reliability of the experts to be 0.63 and 0.51 for the need and complexity components, respectively. ROC curve was used to assess the validity of the index. A new cut-off point was adjusted at 35 in lieu of 43 as the suggested cut-off point. This cut-off point showed the highest level of sensitivity and specificity in our society for orthodontic treatment need (0.77 and 0.78, respectively), but it failed to define definite ranges for the complexity of treatment. Conclusion ICON is a valid index in assessing the need for treatment in Iran when the cut-off point is adjusted to 35. As for complexity of treatment, the index is not validated for our society. It seems that ICON is a well-suited substitute for the IOTN index. PMID:26331142

  13. Index-antiguided planar waveguide lasers with large mode area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yuanye

    The on-going research and application interests with high power large-mode-area (LMA) waveguide lasers, especially in fiber geometry, at the beginning of this century drive the development of many novel waveguide designs. Index antiguiding, proposed by Siegman in 2003, is among one of them. The goal for index antiguiding is to introduce transversal modal loss with the relative simple waveguide design while maintain single transverse mode operation for good beam quality. The idea which is selectively support of fundamental mode is facilitated by involving certain level of signal regeneration inside the waveguide core. Since the modal loss is closed associated with waveguide design parameters such as core size and refractive index, the amount of gain inside the core provides active control of transverse modes inside index-antiguiding waveguide. For example, fundamental transverse mode inside such waveguide can be excited and propagate lossless when sufficient optical gain is provided. This often requires doped waveguide core and optical pumping at corresponding absorption band. However, the involvement of optical pumping also has its consequences. Phenomena such as thermal-optic effect and gain spatial hole-burning which are commonly found in bulk lasers request attention when scaling up output power with LMA index-antiguided waveguide amplifiers and resonators. In response, three key challenges of index-antiguided planar waveguide lasers, namely, guiding mechanism, power efficiency and transverse mode discrimination, are analyzed theoretically and experimentally in this dissertation. Experiments are based on two index-antiguided planar waveguide chips, whose core thickness are 220 microm and 400 microm respectively. The material of waveguide core is 1% Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminium garnet, or Nd:YAG while the cladding is made from Terbium Gallium garnet, or TGG. Due to the face pumping and limited pump power, it is found, with 220 microm-thick-core chip, that

  14. Optimal cut-off levels to define obesity: body mass index and waist circumference, and their relationship to cardiovascular disease, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and diabetes in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaher, Zaki Morad Mohd; Zambari, Robayaah; Pheng, Chan Siew; Muruga, Vadivale; Ng, Bernard; Appannah, Geeta; Onn, Lim Teck

    2009-01-01

    Many studies in Asia have demonstrated that Asian populations may require lower cut-off levels for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference to define obesity and abdominal obesity respectively, compared to western populations. Optimal cut-off levels for body mass index and waist circumference were determined to assess the relationship between the two anthropometric- and cardiovascular indices. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was used to determine the optimal cut-off levels. The study sample included 1833 subjects (mean age of 44+/-14 years) from 93 primary care clinics in Malaysia. Eight hundred and seventy two of the subjects were men and 960 were women. The optimal body mass index cut-off values predicting dyslipidaemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or at least one cardiovascular risk factor varied from 23.5 to 25.5 kg/m2 in men and 24.9 to 27.4 kg/m2 in women. As for waist circumference, the optimal cut-off values varied from 83 to 92 cm in men and from 83 to 88 cm in women. The optimal cut-off values from our study showed that body mass index of 23.5 kg/m2 in men and 24.9 kg/m2 in women and waist circumference of 83 cm in men and women may be more suitable for defining the criteria for overweight or obesity among adults in Malaysia. Waist circumference may be a better indicator for the prediction of obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors in men and women compared to BMI. Further investigation using a bigger sample size in Asia needs to be done to confirm our findings.

  15. Estimation of Missing Observations in Two-Level Split-Plot Designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Almimi, Ashraf A.; Kulahci, Murat; Montgomery, Douglas C.

    2008-01-01

    Inserting estimates for the missing observations from split-plot designs restores their balanced or orthogonal structure and alleviates the difficulties in the statistical analysis. In this article, we extend a method due to Draper and Stoneman to estimate the missing observations from unreplicated...... two-level factorial and fractional factorial split-plot (FSP and FFSP) designs. The missing observations, which can either be from the same whole plot, from different whole plots, or comprise entire whole plots, are estimated by equating to zero a number of specific contrast columns equal...... to the number of the missing observations. These estimates are inserted into the design table and the estimates for the remaining effects (or alias chains of effects as the case with FFSP designs) are plotted on two half-normal plots: one for the whole-plot effects and the other for the subplot effects...

  16. A Study of the Efficiency of Spatial Indexing Methods Applied to Large Astronomical Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donaldson, Tom; Berriman, G. Bruce; Good, John; Shiao, Bernie

    2018-01-01

    Spatial indexing of astronomical databases generally uses quadrature methods, which partition the sky into cells used to create an index (usually a B-tree) written as database column. We report the results of a study to compare the performance of two common indexing methods, HTM and HEALPix, on Solaris and Windows database servers installed with a PostgreSQL database, and a Windows Server installed with MS SQL Server. The indexing was applied to the 2MASS All-Sky Catalog and to the Hubble Source catalog. On each server, the study compared indexing performance by submitting 1 million queries at each index level with random sky positions and random cone search radius, which was computed on a logarithmic scale between 1 arcsec and 1 degree, and measuring the time to complete the query and write the output. These simulated queries, intended to model realistic use patterns, were run in a uniform way on many combinations of indexing method and indexing level. The query times in all simulations are strongly I/O-bound and are linear with number of records returned for large numbers of sources. There are, however, considerable differences between simulations, which reveal that hardware I/O throughput is a more important factor in managing the performance of a DBMS than the choice of indexing scheme. The choice of index itself is relatively unimportant: for comparable index levels, the performance is consistent within the scatter of the timings. At small index levels (large cells; e.g. level 4; cell size 3.7 deg), there is large scatter in the timings because of wide variations in the number of sources found in the cells. At larger index levels, performance improves and scatter decreases, but the improvement at level 8 (14 min) and higher is masked to some extent in the timing scatter caused by the range of query sizes. At very high levels (20; 0.0004 arsec), the granularity of the cells becomes so high that a large number of extraneous empty cells begin to degrade

  17. Innovative designs for low-level nuclear waste disposal trenches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nowatzki, E.A.; Armstrong, G.; McCray, J.

    1985-01-01

    Shallow land burial of low-level nuclear wastes presents many problems that are within the scope of civil engineering analysis and design. These include groundwater seepage, surface water runoff and collection, and the subsidence of trench backfills. Unfortunately, at the time the first disposal sites were being developed, major emphasis was placed on the health-physics aspects of the problem with the result that many of the civil engineering aspects were overlooked and severe problems relating to site integrity exist today. This paper presents the results of a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) sponsored research project conducted at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, to assess trench cap design from the viewpoint of stability, water infiltration, and economy. Full-scale trenches were constructed that incorporated four different designs. These designs range from a relatively simple cap consisting of engineered backfill with a sloping, compacted soil crown to a more complex cap-crown system that incorporates compacted backfill and a steel reinforced soil-cement cap with an overlaying ''wick'' drain. The results of structural and hydrological monitoring over a period of approximately 15 months are presented. Recommendations are made regarding standard design criteria for future sites based on the results of this research

  18. Review of Optimization Strategies for System-Level Design in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Silvas, E.; Hofman, T.; Murgovski, N.; Etman, L.F.P.; Steinbuch, M.

    2017-01-01

    The optimal design of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) can be formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem that spreads over multiple levels (technology, topology, size, and control). In the last decade, studies have shown that by integrating these optimization levels, fuel benefits are

  19. Validation of the walking index for spinal cord injury in a US and European clinical population

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ditunno, J.F.; Scivoletto, G.; Patrick, M.

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the prospective construct validity of the walking index for spinal cord injury (WISCI) in US/European clinical population. DESIGN: Prospective Cohort in Denmark, Germany, Italy and the USA. PARTICIPANTS/METHOD: Participants with acute complete/incomplete (ASIA Impairment...... Scale (AIS) A, B, C and D) traumatic spinal cord injuries were enrolled from four centers. Lower extremity motor scores (LEMS), WISCI level and Locomotor Functional Independence Measure (LFIM) levels were assessed with change in ambulatory status. WISCI progression was assessed for monotonic direction...

  20. Shift work at young age is associated with elevated long-term cortisol levels and body mass index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manenschijn, Laura; van Kruysbergen, Rulanda G P M; de Jong, Frank H; Koper, Jan W; van Rossum, Elisabeth F C

    2011-11-01

    The incidence of obesity and other features of the metabolic syndrome is increased in shift workers. This may be due to a misalignment between the internal circadian rhythm and the behavioral rhythm. The stress hormone cortisol could play a role in this phenomenon because it is secreted in a circadian rhythm, and long-term elevated cortisol leads to components of the metabolic syndrome. We compared cortisol levels in scalp hair of shift and day workers to study changes in long-term cortisol due to shift work. Hair samples were collected from 33 shift workers and 89 day workers. Cortisol was extracted from the hair samples with methanol, and cortisol levels were measured using ELISA. Height and weight were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Shift workers had higher hair cortisol levels than day workers: 47.32 pg/mg hair [95% confidence interval (CI) = 38.37-58.21] vs. 29.72 pg/mg hair (95% CI = 26.18-33.73) (P cortisol levels were present only in younger shift workers: 48.53 pg/mg hair (95% CI = 36.56-64.29) vs. 26.42 pg/mg hair (95% CI = 22.91-30.55) (P cortisol and BMI were positively correlated (β = 0.262; P = 0.005). Shift work at a young adult age is associated with elevated long-term cortisol levels and increased BMI. Elevated cortisol levels and BMI may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk found in shift workers.

  1. Medium-Index Mixed-Oxide Layers for Use in AR-Coatings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganner, Peter

    1986-10-01

    Ttedesign philosophy of MC-AR-Coatings can be divided into two categories: a) Restriction to two film materials, namely one high-index and one low-index material and b) Use of medium-index layers in addition to high- and low-index layers. Both philosophies have advan-tages and drawbacks. In case a) the total number of layers necessary to obtain a required reflectance curve has to be higher. Thus in case of production errors it can be a problem to find out which layer was responsible for a deviation of the measured reflectance from the nominal one. In case b) using more than two materials reduces the total number of layers and consequently, pinpointing the cause of even small production errors is made simpler. Unfortunately there are not many materials commercially available which can be used to make hard, durable and robust films in the medium-index range namely between n=1.65 and n=2.00. In this paper the results of homogeneous mixtures of Alumina (Al203) and Tantala (Ta205) used for EB-gun evaporated medium-index films in AR-coatings is presented. It is shown that by proper adjustment of the weight percentages of the oxide mixture one can get homogeneous films in this index range. A number of design examples show the favourable application of such layers in AR-coatings. Among the most important ones is the well known QHQ-design for BBAR-coatings as well as AR-designs of the multiple half wave type with extended bandwidth. Further applications of the mixed-oxide layers are AR-coatings for cemented optical elements and beam splitters.

  2. Adolescents’ Level of Perceived Stress and its Relationship with Body Mass Index in a Bangladeshi Population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarker Shamima Ahmed

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Several behavioral factors, specially stress, eating behavior, and physical activity have been linked with adolescent obesity. In our country, mental health of adolescents is often neglected. So, we designed this study to describe the current perception of stress in Bangladeshi adolescent students. Objective: Aim of this study was to assess association between stress and body mass index of adolescents while controlling for physical activity and examining stress associated eating behavior. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 278 adolescent students during the period from January to December 2013. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire which included physical activity questions, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ, Adolescent stress questionnaire (ASQ and standard anthropometric measurements and were analyzed statistically using SPSS version 21.0. Results: In this study majority of the respondents were males. Among the female respondents, about 12.23% were overweight and obese compared to their male peers (4.1%. The normal and high BMI adolescents in the study showed significantly different proportions regarding gender (p<0.001, father’s education (p=0.036 and smoking status (p=0.22. Findings in this study reveals negative correlation between physical activity score and body mass index (ρ=−0.15, p<0.05. Body mass index was found significantly correlated with all three DEBQ eating subscales the restraint score, emotional eating score (ρ=0.58 p<0.001, and external eating score (ρ=0.55, p<0.001. Based on sample data, the mean stress scores were due to home life (3.40±0.54, school performance (3.31±0.63, school attendance (2.42±0.87, romantic relationship (3.02±0.92, peer pressure (2.85±0.72, due to teacher interaction (2.89±0.56, future uncertainty (3.83±0.90, school/leisure conflict (3.55±0.68, financial pressure (2.99±0.79 and emerging adult responsibility (3

  3. EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seror, Raphaèle; Bowman, Simon J; Brito-Zeron, Pilar

    2015-01-01

    The EULAR Sjögren's syndrome (SS) disease activity index (ESSDAI) is a systemic disease activity index that was designed to measure disease activity in patients with primary SS. With the growing use of the ESSDAI, some domains appear to be more challenging to rate than others. The ESSDAI is now...

  4. Design of safeguards information treatment system at the facility level

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Dae Yong; Lee, Byung Doo; Kwack, Eun Ho; Choi, Young Myong

    2001-05-01

    We are developing Safeguards Information Treatment System at the facility level(SITS) to manage synthetically safeguards information and to implement efficiently the obligations under the Korea-IAEA Safeguards Agreement, bilateral agreements with other countries and domestic law. In this report, we described the contents of the detailed design of SITS such as database, I/O layout and program. In the present, we are implementing the SITS based on the contents of the design of SITS, and then we plan to provide the system for the facilities after we finish implementing and testing the system.

  5. Design of safeguards information treatment system at the facility level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Dae Yong; Lee, Byung Doo; Kwack, Eun Ho; Choi, Young Myong

    2001-05-01

    We are developing Safeguards Information Treatment System at the facility level(SITS) to manage synthetically safeguards information and to implement efficiently the obligations under the Korea-IAEA Safeguards Agreement, bilateral agreements with other countries and domestic law. In this report, we described the contents of the detailed design of SITS such as database, I/O layout and program. In the present, we are implementing the SITS based on the contents of the design of SITS, and then we plan to provide the system for the facilities after we finish implementing and testing the system

  6. Optical fiber design with orbital angular momentum light purity higher than 99.9.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhishen; Gan, Jiulin; Heng, Xiaobo; Wu, Yuqing; Li, Qingyu; Qian, Qi; Chen, Dongdan; Yang, Zhongmin

    2015-11-16

    The purity of the synthesized orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) light in the fiber is inversely proportional to channel crosstalk level in the OAM optical fiber communication system. Here the relationship between the fiber structure and the purity is firstly demonstrated in theory. The graded-index optical fiber is proposed and designed for the OAM light propagation with the purity higher than 99.9%. 16 fiber modes (10 OAM modes) have been supported by a specific designed graded-index optical fiber with dispersion less than 35 ps/(km∙nm). Such fiber design has suppressed the intrinsic crosstalk to be lower than -30 dB, and can be potentially used for the long distance OAM optical communication system.

  7. Review of optimization strategies for system-level design in hybrid electric vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Silvas, E.; Hofman, T.; Murgovski, N.; Etman, P.; Steinbuch, M.

    2017-01-01

    The optimal design of a hybrid electric vehicle can be formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem that spreads over multiple levels (technology, topology, size and control). In the last decade, studies have shown that, by integrating these optimization levels fuel benefits are obtained,

  8. Seismic design ampersand analysis considerations for high level nuclear waste repositories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hossain, Q.A.

    1993-01-01

    A high level nuclear waste repository, like the one at Nevada's Yucca Mountain that is being investigated for site suitability, will have some unique seismic design and analysis considerations. These are discussed, and a design philosophy that can rationally account for the unique performance objectives of such facilities is presented. A case is made for the use of DOE's performance goal-based seismic design and evaluation methodology that is based on a hybrid open-quotes deterministicclose quotes and open-quotes probabilisticclose quotes concept. How and to what extent this methodology should be modified to adopt it for a potential site like Yucca Mountain is also outlined. Finally, the issue of designing for seismic fault rupture is discussed briefly, and the desirability of using the proposed seismic design philosophy in fault rupture evaluation is described

  9. Seismic design and analysis considerations for high level nuclear waste repositories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hossain, Q.A.

    1993-01-01

    A high level nuclear waste repository, like the one at Nevada's Yucca Mountain that is being investigated for site suitability, will have some unique seismic design and analysis considerations. These are discussed, and a design philosophy that can rationally account for the unique performance objectives of such facilities is presented. A case is made for the use of DOE's performance goal-based seismic design and evaluation methodology that is based on a hybrid ''deterministic'' and ''probabilistic'' concept. How and to what extent this methodology should be modified to adopt it for a potential site like Yucca Mountain is also outlined. Finally, the issue of designing for seismic fault rupture is discussed briefly, and the desirability of using the proposed seismic design philosophy in fault rupture evaluation is described

  10. Designing time-of-use program based on stochastic security constrained unit commitment considering reliability index

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikzad, Mehdi; Mozafari, Babak; Bashirvand, Mahdi; Solaymani, Soodabeh; Ranjbar, Ali Mohamad

    2012-01-01

    Recently in electricity markets, a massive focus has been made on setting up opportunities for participating demand side. Such opportunities, also known as demand response (DR) options, are triggered by either a grid reliability problem or high electricity prices. Two important challenges that market operators are facing are appropriate designing and reasonable pricing of DR options. In this paper, time-of-use program (TOU) as a prevalent time-varying program is modeled linearly based on own and cross elasticity definition. In order to decide on TOU rates, a stochastic model is proposed in which the optimum TOU rates are determined based on grid reliability index set by the operator. Expected Load Not Supplied (ELNS) is used to evaluate reliability of the power system in each hour. The proposed stochastic model is formulated as a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer linear programming (SMILP) problem and solved using CPLEX solver. The validity of the method is tested over the IEEE 24-bus test system. In this regard, the impact of the proposed pricing method on system load profile; operational costs and required capacity of up- and down-spinning reserve as well as improvement of load factor is demonstrated. Also the sensitivity of the results to elasticity coefficients is investigated. -- Highlights: ► Time-of-use demand response program is linearly modeled. ► A stochastic model is proposed to determine the optimum TOU rates based on ELNS index set by the operator. ► The model is formulated as a short-term two-stage stochastic mixed-integer linear programming problem.

  11. FRELIB, Failure Reliability Index Calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parkinson, D.B.; Oestergaard, C.

    1984-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: Calculation of the reliability index given the failure boundary. A linearization point (design point) is found on the failure boundary for a stationary reliability index (min) and a stationary failure probability density function along the failure boundary, provided that the basic variables are normally distributed. 2 - Method of solution: Iteration along the failure boundary which must be specified - together with its partial derivatives with respect to the basic variables - by the user in a subroutine FSUR. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: No distribution information included (first-order-second-moment-method). 20 basic variables (could be extended)

  12. Fast and efficient indexing approach for object recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hefnawy, Alaa; Mashali, Samia A.; Rashwan, Mohsen; Fikri, Magdi

    1999-08-01

    This paper introduces a fast and efficient indexing approach for both 2D and 3D model-based object recognition in the presence of rotation, translation, and scale variations of objects. The indexing entries are computed after preprocessing the data by Haar wavelet decomposition. The scheme is based on a unified image feature detection approach based on Zernike moments. A set of low level features, e.g. high precision edges, gray level corners, are estimated by a set of orthogonal Zernike moments, calculated locally around every image point. A high dimensional, highly descriptive indexing entries are then calculated based on the correlation of these local features and employed for fast access to the model database to generate hypotheses. A list of the most candidate models is then presented by evaluating the hypotheses. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed indexing approach.

  13. Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) Embedded Readout Designs for Liquid Helium Level Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parasakthi, C; Gireesan, K; Usha Rani, R; Sheela, O K; Janawadkar, M P

    2014-08-01

    This article reports the development of programmable system-on-chip (PSoC)-based embedded readout designs for liquid helium level sensors using resistive liquid vapor discriminators. The system has been built for the measurement of liquid helium level in a concave-bottomed, helmet-shaped, fiber-reinforced plastic cryostat for magnetoencephalography. This design incorporates three carbon resistors as cost-effective sensors, which are mounted at desired heights inside the cryostat and were used to infer the liquid helium level by measuring their temperature-dependent resistance. Localized electrical heating of the carbon resistors was used to discriminate whether the resistor is immersed in liquid helium or its vapor by exploiting the difference in the heat transfer rates in the two environments. This report describes a single PSoC chip for the design and development of a constant current source to drive the three carbon resistors, a multiplexer to route the sensor outputs to the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a buffer to avoid loading of the sensors, an ADC for digitizing the data, and a display using liquid crystal display cum light-emitting diode modules. The level sensor readout designed with a single PSoC chip enables cost-effective and reliable measurement system design. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

  14. High-voltage Pulse-triggered SR Latch Level-Shifter Design Considerations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Dennis Øland; Llimos Muntal, Pere; Jørgensen, Ivan Harald Holger

    2014-01-01

    translating a signal from 0- 3 : 3 V to 87 : 5 - 100 V. The operation of this level-shifter is verified with measurements on a fabricated chip. The shortcomings of the implemented level-shifter in terms of power dissipation, transition delay, area, and startup behavior are then considered and an improved......This paper compares pulse-triggered level shifters with a traditional level-triggered topology for high-voltage ap- plications with supply voltages in the 50 V to 100 V range. It is found that the pulse-triggered SR (Set/Reset) latch level- shifter has a superior power consumption of 1800 W = MHz...... circuit is suggested which has been designed in three variants being able to translate the low-voltage 0- 3 : 3 V signal to 45 - 50 V, 85 - 90 V, and 95 - 100 V respectively. The improved 95 - 100 V level shifter achieves a considerably lower power consumption of 438 W = MHz along with a significantly...

  15. The household-based socio-economic deprivation index in Setiu Wetlands, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakaria, Syerrina; May, Chin Sin; Rahman, Nuzlinda Abdul

    2017-08-01

    Deprivation index usually used in public health study. At the same time, deprivation index can also use to measure the level of deprivation in an area or a village. These indices are also referred as the index of inequalities or disadvantage. Even though, there are many indices that have been built before. But it is believed to be less appropriate to use the existing indices to be applied in other countries or areas which had different socio-economic conditions and different geographical characteristics. The objective of this study is to construct the index based on the socio-economic factors in Setiu Wetlands (Jajaran Merang, Jajaran Setiu and Jajaran Kuala Besut) in Terengganu Malaysia which is defined as weighted household-based socioeconomic deprivation index. This study has employed the variables based on income level, education level and employment rate obtained from questionnaire which are acquired from 64 villages included 1024 respondents. The factor analysis is used to extract the latent variables or observed variables into smaller amount of components or factors. By using factor analysis, one factor is extracted from 3 latent variables. This factor known as socioeconomic deprivation index. Based on the result, the areas with a lower index values until high index values were identified.

  16. KPG Index versus OPG Measurements: A Comparison between 3D and 2D Methods in Predicting Treatment Duration and Difficulty Level for Patients with Impacted Maxillary Canines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domenico Dalessandri

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim. The aim of this study was to test the agreement between orthopantomography (OPG based 2D measurements and the KPG index, a new index based on 3D Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT images, in predicting orthodontic treatment duration and difficulty level of impacted maxillary canines. Materials and Methods. OPG and CBCT images of 105 impacted canines were independently scored by three orthodontists at t0 and after 1 month (t1, using the KPG index and the following 2D methods: distance from cusp tip and occlusal plane, cusp tip position in relation to the lateral incisor, and canine inclination. Pearson’s coefficients were used to evaluate the degree of agreement and the χ2 with Yates correction test was used to assess the independence between them. Results. Inter- and intrarater reliability were higher with KPG compared to 2D methods. Pearson’s coefficients showed a statistically significant association between all the indexes, while the χ2 with Yates correction test resulted in a statistically significant rejection of independency only for one 2D index. Conclusions. 2D indexes for predicting impacted maxillary canines treatment duration and difficulty sometimes are discordant; a 3D index like the KPG index could be useful in solving these conflicts.

  17. Design of negative refractive index metamaterial with water droplets using 3D-printing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Zhaoyang; Yang, Helin; Huang, Xiaojun; Yu, Zetai

    2017-11-01

    We numerically and experimentally demonstrate a negative refractive index (NRI) behavior in combined water droplets and photosensitive resin materials operating in the microwave regime. The NRI is achieved over a very wide frequency range in 10.27-15 GHz with bandwidth of 4.63 GHz. The simulated results approximately agree with the experimental results. The negative index band can be controlled by water droplet radius. The proposed metamaterial production process is simple and may have potential applications in broadband tunable devices.

  18. Decommissioning of surface facilities associated with repositories for the deep geological disposal of high-level nuclear wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heckman, R.A.

    1978-11-01

    A methodology is presented in this paper to evaluate the decommissioning of the surface facilities associated with repositories for the deep geological disposal of high-level nuclear wastes. A cost/risk index (figure of merit), expressed as $/manrem, is proposed as an evaluation criteria. On the basis of this cost/risk index, we gain insight into the advisability of adapting certain decontamination design options into the original facility. Three modes are considered: protective storage, entombment, and dismantlement. Cost estimates are made for the direct labor involved in each of the alternative modes for a baseline design case. Similarly, occupational radiation exposures are estimated, with a larger degree of uncertainty, for each of the modes. Combination of these estimates produces the cost/risk index. To illustrate the methodology, an example using a preliminary baseline repository design is discussed

  19. Health Impact Index. Development and Validation of a Method for Classifying Comorbid Disease Measured against Self-Reported Health.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geir Fagerjord Lorem

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to develop a method of classifying comorbid conditions that accounts for both the severity and joint effects of the diseases. The Tromsø Study is a cohort study with a longitudinal design utilizing a survey approach with physical examinations in the Tromsø municipality from 1974 to 2008, where in total 40051 subjects participated. We used Tromsø 4 as reference population and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI panel as validation population. Ordinal regression was used to assess the effect of comorbid disease on Self-Reported Health (SRH. The model is controlled for interaction between diseases, mental health, age, and gender. The health impact index estimated levels of SRH. The comparison of predicted and observed SRH showed no significant differences. Spearman's correlation showed that increasing levels of comorbidity were related to lower levels of SRH (RS = -0.36, p <.001. The Charlson Comorbidity Index(CCI was also associated with SRH (r = -.25, p <.001. When focusing on only individuals with a comorbid disease, the relation between SRH and the Health Impact Index (HII was strengthened (r = -.42, p <.001, while the association between SRH and CCI was attenuated (r = -.14, p <.001. CCI was designed to control for comorbid conditions when survival/mortality is the outcome of interest but is inaccurate when the outcome is SRH. We conclude that HII should be used when SRH is not available, and well-being or quality of survival/life is the outcome of interest.

  20. Habitat Suitability Index Models: Red-winged blackbird

    Science.gov (United States)

    Short, Henry L.

    1985-01-01

    A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus L.). The model consolidates habitat use information into a framework appropriate for field application, and is scaled to produce an index between 0.0 (unsuitable habitat) to 1.0 (optimum habitat). HSI models are designed to be used with Habitat Evaluation Procedures previously developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

  1. Lixisenatide as add-on treatment among patients with different β-cell function levels as assessed by HOMA-β index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonadonna, Riccardo C; Blonde, Lawrence; Antsiferov, Mikhail; Berria, Rachele; Gourdy, Pierre; Hatunic, Mensud; Mohan, Viswanathan; Horowitz, Michael

    2017-09-01

    The effect of lixisenatide-a prandial once-daily glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist-on glycaemic control in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), stratified by baseline β-cell function, was assessed. The 24-week GetGoal-M, -P and -S trials evaluated the efficacy and safety of lixisenatide in combination with oral antidiabetic agents. This post hoc analysis used data from patients receiving lixisenatide in these trials, divided into matched cohorts by propensity scoring, and stratified according to baseline homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β) index levels, high HOMA-β: > median HOMA-β (28.49%); low HOMA-β: ≤ median. The matched "low" and "high" HOMA-β index cohorts (N = 546 patients) had comparable baseline parameters. Mean change from baseline in glycated haemoglobin (HbA 1c ) was -0.85% and -0.94% for low and high HOMA-β cohorts, respectively (P = .2607). Reductions from baseline in fasting plasma glucose (FPG; -0.77 vs -1.04 mmol/L; P = .1496) and postprandial plasma glucose (PPG; -5.82 vs -5.61 mmol/L; P = .7511) were similar in the low versus high HOMA-β index cohorts. Reduction in body weight was significantly greater in the low versus high HOMA-β index cohort (-2.06 vs -1.13 kg, respectively; P = .0006). In patients with T2DM, lixisenatide was associated with reduction in HbA 1c and improvements in both FPG and PPG, regardless of β-cell function, indicating that lixisenatide is effective in reducing hyperglycaemia, even in patients with more advanced stages of T2DM and poor residual β-cell function. © 2017 The Authors. Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Selfie Aging Index: An Index for the Self-assessment of Healthy and Active Aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonçalves, Judite; Gomes, Maria Isabel; Fonseca, Miguel; Teodoro, Tomás; Barros, Pedro Pita; Botelho, Maria-Amália

    2017-01-01

    Governments across Europe want to promote healthy and active aging, as a matter of both public health and economic sustainability. Designing policies focused on the most vulnerable groups requires information at the individual level. However, a measure of healthy and active aging at the individual level does not yet exist. This paper develops the Selfie Aging Index (SAI), an individual-level index of healthy and active aging. The SAI is developed thinking about a tool that would allow each person to take a selfie of her aging status. Therefore, it is based entirely on self-assessed indicators. This paper also illustrates how the SAI may look like in practice. The SAI is based on the Biopsychosocial Assessment Model (MAB), a tool for the multidimensional assessment of older adults along three domains: biological, psychological, and social. Indicators are selected and their weights determined based on an ordered probit model that relates the MAB indicators to self-assessed health, which proxies healthy and active aging. The ordered probit model predicts the SAI based on the estimated parameters. Finally, predictions are rescaled to the 0-1 interval. Data for the SAI development come from the Study of the Aging Profiles of the Portuguese Population and the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe. The selected indicators are BMI, having difficulties moving around indoors and performing the activities of daily living, feeling depressed, feeling nervous, lacking energy, time awareness score, marital status, having someone to confide in, education, type of job, exercise, and smoking status. The model also determines their weights. Results shed light on various factors that contribute significantly to healthy and active aging. Two examples are mental health and exercise, which deserve more attention from individuals themselves, health-care professionals, and public health policy. The SAI has the potential to put the individual at the center of the healthy and

  3. Association between Healthy Eating Index-2010 and Fetuin-A Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: a Case-Control Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roshanzamir, Farzad; Miraghajani, Maryam; Mansourian, Marjan; Ghiasvand, Reza; Safavi, Seyyed Morteza

    2017-10-01

    The Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) assesses compliance with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Studies suggest that adherence to the HEI-2010 is related to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Fetuin-A, a novel biomarker for T2D, may play a linking role in the inverse association between HEI-2010 and T2D. Thus, a case-control analysis involving 107 patients with T2D and107 healthy subjects was conducted to determine the association between HEI-2010 and serum fetuin-A levels. The results of simple regression analysis showed that fetuin-A levels were positively associated with full name of body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.001), waist circumference (WC) (p < 0.001), fasting blood glucose (FBG) (p < 0.001), triglycerides (TG) (p = 0.003), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (p < 0.001), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (p =0.001) and negatively associated with physical activity (PA) (p < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p = 0.022), and HEI-2010 (p < 0.001) in all subjects. After controlling for confounders, the inverse association between fetuin-A and HEI-2010 remained significant in the subjects with T2D (β = -0.386; p < 0.001), 107 healthy controls (β = -0.237; p = 0.028), and all subjects (β = -0.298; p < 0.001). In conclusion, the present results suggested that higher quality diet assessed by HEI-2010 associates with lower serum fetuin-A levels in people with and without T2D. More studies are needed to confirm these findings.

  4. High trait aggression in men is associated with low 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4 receptor binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Cunha-Bang, Sofi; Mc Mahon, Brenda; Fisher, Patrick MacDonald; Jensen, Peter Steen; Svarer, Claus; Knudsen, Gitte Moos

    2016-04-01

    Impulsive aggression has commonly been associated with a dysfunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system: many, but not all, studies point to an inverse relationship between 5-HT and aggression. As cerebral 5-HT4 receptor (5-HT4R) binding has recently been recognized as a proxy for stable brain levels of 5-HT, we here test the hypothesis in healthy men and women that brain 5-HT levels, as indexed by cerebral 5-HT4R, are inversely correlated with trait aggression and impulsivity. Sixty-one individuals (47 men) underwent positron emission tomography scanning with the radioligand [(11)C]SB207145 for quantification of brain 5-HT4R binding. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used for assessment of trait aggression and trait impulsivity. Among male subjects, there was a positive correlation between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ total score (P = 0.037) as well as BPAQ physical aggression (P = 0.025). No main effect of global 5-HT4R on trait aggression or impulsivity was found in the mixed gender sample, but there was evidence for sex interaction effects in the relationship between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ physical aggression. In conclusion we found that low cerebral 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4R binding were associated with high trait aggression in males, but not in females. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Study of Vee Plate Manufacturing Method for Indexing Table

    OpenAIRE

    Yeon Taek OH

    2015-01-01

    The indexing tables have recently become an increasing necessity for improving the precision and accuracy of angle measurement. The indexing table employs a vee and 3 balls kinematic location system. A 6 point contact kinematic design concept of ball and vee groove was used, because the ball and vee groove system can attain good repeatability and has good rigidity. The vee plays an important role as the indexing angle and locking mechanism. Also eccentricity is an important factor as alignmen...

  6. Preliminary design of the Carrisa Plains solar central receiver power plant. Volume II. Plant specifications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Price, R. E.

    1983-12-31

    The specifications and design criteria for all plant systems and subsystems used in developing the preliminary design of Carrisa Plains 30-MWe Solar Plant are contained in this volume. The specifications have been organized according to plant systems and levels. The levels are arranged in tiers. Starting at the top tier and proceeding down, the specification levels are the plant, system, subsystem, components, and fabrication. A tab number, listed in the index, has been assigned each document to facilitate document location.

  7. Effect of low glycemic index food and postprandial exercise on blood glucose level, oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasuya, Noriaki; Ohta, Shoichiro; Takanami, Yoshikazu; Kawai, Yukari; Inoue, Yutaka; Murata, Isamu; Kanamoto, Ikuo

    2015-04-01

    Low glycemic index (GI) food and postprandial exercise are non-drug therapies for improving postprandial hyperglycemia. The present randomized, crossover study investigated the effect of low GI food combined with postprandial exercise on postprandial blood glucose level, oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity. A total of 13 healthy subjects were each used in four experiments: i) rice only (control), ii) salad prior to rice (LGI), iii) exercise following rice (EX) and iv) salad prior to rice and exercise following rice (MIX). The blood glucose level, oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity were then measured. At 60 min after the meal, the blood glucose level was observed to be increased in the MIX group compared with that in the LGI group. Furthermore, at 180 min, the antioxidant capacity was found to be reduced in the MIX group compared with those of the LGI and EX groups. These findings suggest that low GI food combined with postprandial exercise does not improve postprandial hyperglycemia. It may be necessary to establish optimal timing and intensity when combining low GI food with postprandial exercise to improve postprandial hyperglycemia.

  8. Clinical impact of body mass index on prostate biopsy in patients with intermediate PSA levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekita, Nobuyuki; Chin, Kensei; Fujimura, Masaaki; Mikami, Kazuo; Suzuki, Hiroyoshi; Kamijima, Shuichi

    2008-01-01

    From April 2005 to September 2007, 480 patients underwent transrectal prostate biopsy at our institution. The clinical data including age, serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, prostate volume and body mass index (BMI) were obtained, and the cancer detection rates and pathological findings were evaluated in 305 cases with a PSA concentration of 4.0 to 10.0 ng/ml. Prostate volume was calculated from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. The 305 patients were categorized according to their BMI into three groups (normal, less than 22 kg/m 2 ; overweight, 22-25 kg/m 2 ; and obese, more than 25 kg/m 2 ). Cancer detection rates and histopathologic findings were compared between the groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was also performed. Prostate cancer was detected in 127 patients. No significant differences in BMI were observed between biopsy-positive and biopsy-negative cases (p=0.965), and the detection rates of prostate cancer observed in the three groups were not significantly different. There was a significant association between BMI and the findings of high Gleason score (more than 4+3) (p=0.048). BMI was not a contributory factor of prostate cancer detection for cases with intermediate PSA levels; however, patients with high BMI may have high-grade malignancy features. (author)

  9. Comprehensive evaluation of global energy interconnection development index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lin; Zhang, Yi

    2018-04-01

    Under the background of building global energy interconnection and realizing green and low-carbon development, this article constructed the global energy interconnection development index system which based on the current situation of global energy interconnection development. Through using the entropy method for the weight analysis of global energy interconnection development index, and then using gray correlation method to analyze the selected countries, this article got the global energy interconnection development index ranking and level classification.

  10. Impact of image noise on gamma index calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, M; Mo, X; Parnell, D; Olivera, G; Galmarini, D; Lu, W

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The Gamma Index defines an asymmetric metric between the evaluated image and the reference image. It provides a quantitative comparison that can be used to indicate sample-wised pass/fail on the agreement of the two images. The Gamma passing/failing rate has become an important clinical evaluation tool. However, the presence of noise in the evaluated and/or reference images may change the Gamma Index, hence the passing/failing rate, and further, clinical decisions. In this work, we systematically studied the impact of the image noise on the Gamma Index calculation. Methods: We used both analytic formulation and numerical calculations in our study. The numerical calculations included simulations and clinical images. Three different noise scenarios were studied in simulations: noise in reference images only, in evaluated images only, and in both. Both white and spatially correlated noises of various magnitudes were simulated. For clinical images of various noise levels, the Gamma Index of measurement against calculation, calculation against measurement, and measurement against measurement, were evaluated. Results: Numerical calculations for both the simulation and clinical data agreed with the analytic formulations, and the clinical data agreed with the simulations. For the Gamma Index of measurement against calculation, its distribution has an increased mean and an increased standard deviation as the noise increases. On the contrary, for the Gamma index of calculation against measurement, its distribution has a decreased mean and stabilized standard deviation as the noise increases. White noise has greater impact on the Gamma Index than spatially correlated noise. Conclusions: The noise has significant impact on the Gamma Index calculation and the impact is asymmetric. The Gamma Index should be reported along with the noise levels in both reference and evaluated images. Reporting of the Gamma Index with switched roles of the images as reference and

  11. Impact of Image Noise on Gamma Index Calculation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, M.; Mo, X.; Parnell, D.; Olivera, G.; Galmarini, D.; Lu, W.

    2014-03-01

    Purpose: The Gamma Index defines an asymmetric metric between the evaluated image and the reference image. It provides a quantitative comparison that can be used to indicate sample-wised pass/fail on the agreement of the two images. The Gamma passing/failing rate has become an important clinical evaluation tool. However, the presence of noise in the evaluated and/or reference images may change the Gamma Index, hence the passing/failing rate, and further, clinical decisions. In this work, we systematically studied the impact of the image noise on the Gamma Index calculation. Methods: We used both analytic formulation and numerical calculations in our study. The numerical calculations included simulations and clinical images. Three different noise scenarios were studied in simulations: noise in reference images only, in evaluated images only, and in both. Both white and spatially correlated noises of various magnitudes were simulated. For clinical images of various noise levels, the Gamma Index of measurement against calculation, calculation against measurement, and measurement against measurement, were evaluated. Results: Numerical calculations for both the simulation and clinical data agreed with the analytic formulations, and the clinical data agreed with the simulations. For the Gamma Index of measurement against calculation, its distribution has an increased mean and an increased standard deviation as the noise increases. On the contrary, for the Gamma index of calculation against measurement, its distribution has a decreased mean and stabilized standard deviation as the noise increases. White noise has greater impact on the Gamma Index than spatially correlated noise. Conclusions: The noise has significant impact on the Gamma Index calculation and the impact is asymmetric. The Gamma Index should be reported along with the noise levels in both reference and evaluated images. Reporting of the Gamma Index with switched roles of the images as reference and

  12. Layout level design for testability strategy applied to a CMOS cell library

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blom, F.C.; Oliver, J.; Rullan, M.; Ferrer, C.

    1993-01-01

    The layout level design for testability (LLDFT) rules used here allow to avoid some hard to detect faults or even undetectable faults on a cell library by modifying the cell layout without changing their behavior and achieving a good level of reliability. These rules avoid some open faults or reduce

  13. Next Generation Civil Transport Aircraft Design Considerations for Improving Vehicle and System-Level Efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acosta, Diana M.; Guynn, Mark D.; Wahls, Richard A.; DelRosario, Ruben,

    2013-01-01

    The future of aviation will benefit from research in aircraft design and air transportation management aimed at improving efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. This paper presents civil transport aircraft design trends and opportunities for improving vehicle and system-level efficiency. Aircraft design concepts and the emerging technologies critical to reducing thrust specific fuel consumption, reducing weight, and increasing lift to drag ratio currently being developed by NASA are discussed. Advancements in the air transportation system aimed towards system-level efficiency are discussed as well. Finally, the paper describes the relationship between the air transportation system, aircraft, and efficiency. This relationship is characterized by operational constraints imposed by the air transportation system that influence aircraft design, and operational capabilities inherent to an aircraft design that impact the air transportation system.

  14. Index-aware model order reduction : LTI DAEs in electric networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Banagaaya, N.; Schilders, W.H.A.; Ali, G.; Tischendorf, C.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose Model order reduction (MOR) has been widely used in the electric networks but little has been done to reduce higher index differential algebraic equations (DAEs). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Most methods first do an index reduction before reducing a

  15. The Summary Index of Malaria Surveillance (SIMS: a stable index of malaria within India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharma Vinod P

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Malaria in India has been difficult to measure. Mortality and morbidity are not comprehensively reported, impeding efforts to track changes in disease burden. However, a set of blood measures has been collected regularly by the National Malaria Control Program in most districts since 1958. Methods Here, we use principal components analysis to combine these measures into a single index, the Summary Index of Malaria Surveillance (SIMS, and then test its temporal and geographic stability using subsets of the data. Results The SIMS correlates positively with all its individual components and with external measures of mortality and morbidity. It is highly consistent and stable over time (1995-2005 and regions of India. It includes measures of both vivax and falciparum malaria, with vivax dominant at lower transmission levels and falciparum dominant at higher transmission levels, perhaps due to ecological specialization of the species. Conclusions This measure should provide a useful tool for researchers looking to summarize geographic or temporal trends in malaria in India, and can be readily applied by administrators with no mathematical or scientific background. We include a spreadsheet that allows simple calculation of the index for researchers and local administrators. Similar principles are likely applicable worldwide, though further validation is needed before using the SIMS outside India.

  16. Bonds with index-linked stochastic coupons in quantum finance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal Ehsan

    2018-06-01

    An index-linked coupon bond is defined that pays coupons whose values are stochastic, depending on a market defined index. This is an asset class distinct from the existing coupon bonds. The index-linked coupon bond is an example of a sukuk, which is an instrument that implements one of the cornerstones of Islamic finance (Askari et al., 2012): that an investor must share in the risk of the issuer in order to earn profits from the investment. The index-linked coupon bond is defined using the mathematical framework of quantum finance (Baaquie, 2004, 2010). The coupons are stochastic, with the quantum of coupon payments depending on a publicly traded index that is chosen to reflect the primary drivers of the revenues of the issuer of the bond. The index ensures there is information symmetry - regarding the quantum of coupon being paid - between issuer and investor. The dependence of the coupon on the index is designed so that the variation of the index mirrors the changing fortunes of the issuer, with the coupon's quantum increasing for increasing values of the index and conversely, decreasing with a fall of the index.

  17. Application of fuzzy synthetic assessment to assess human factors design level on reactor control panel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng Xuecheng

    1999-01-01

    Reactor control panel design level on human factors must be considered by designer. The author evaluated the human factor design level of arrangement and combinations including the switch buttons, meter dials and indication lamps on Minjiang Reactor and High-Flux Engineer Test Reactor (HFETR) critical device by application of fuzzy synthetic assessment method in mathematics. From the assessment results, the advantages and shortcomings are fount, and some modification suggestions have also been proposed

  18. The Environmental Action Internal Control Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith-Sebasto, N. J.; Fortner, Rosanne W.

    1994-01-01

    Reports research designed to develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess the relationship between locus of control of reinforcement and environmentally responsible behavior in (n=853) undergraduate students. Results suggest that the Environmental Action Internal Control Index can accurately predict environmentally responsible behavior.…

  19. School Food Service Index, 1972-73

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dukiet, Kenneth

    1973-01-01

    First annual food service index. Should be helpful in guiding administrators in the management of their individual food service operation. Especially designed to be of assistance in planning and evaluating food service facilities and in pinpointing areas of opportunity for food marketing managers. (Author/EA)

  20. A novel biomedical image indexing and retrieval system via deep preference learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Shuchao; Orgun, Mehmet A; Yu, Zhezhou

    2018-05-01

    The traditional biomedical image retrieval methods as well as content-based image retrieval (CBIR) methods originally designed for non-biomedical images either only consider using pixel and low-level features to describe an image or use deep features to describe images but still leave a lot of room for improving both accuracy and efficiency. In this work, we propose a new approach, which exploits deep learning technology to extract the high-level and compact features from biomedical images. The deep feature extraction process leverages multiple hidden layers to capture substantial feature structures of high-resolution images and represent them at different levels of abstraction, leading to an improved performance for indexing and retrieval of biomedical images. We exploit the current popular and multi-layered deep neural networks, namely, stacked denoising autoencoders (SDAE) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) to represent the discriminative features of biomedical images by transferring the feature representations and parameters of pre-trained deep neural networks from another domain. Moreover, in order to index all the images for finding the similarly referenced images, we also introduce preference learning technology to train and learn a kind of a preference model for the query image, which can output the similarity ranking list of images from a biomedical image database. To the best of our knowledge, this paper introduces preference learning technology for the first time into biomedical image retrieval. We evaluate the performance of two powerful algorithms based on our proposed system and compare them with those of popular biomedical image indexing approaches and existing regular image retrieval methods with detailed experiments over several well-known public biomedical image databases. Based on different criteria for the evaluation of retrieval performance, experimental results demonstrate that our proposed algorithms outperform the state

  1. Low-loss negative index metamaterials for X, Ku, and K microwave bands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A. Lee

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Low-loss, negative-index of refraction metamaterials were designed and tested for X, Ku, and K microwave frequency bands. An S-shaped, split-ring resonator was used as a unit cell to design homogeneous slabs of negative-index metamaterials. Then, the slabs of metamaterials were cut unto prisms to measure experimentally the negative index of refraction of a plane electromagnetic wave. Theoretical simulations using High-Frequency Structural Simulator, a finite element equation solver, were in good agreement with experimental measurements. The negative index of refraction was retrieved from the angle- and frequency-dependence of the transmitted intensity of the microwave beam through the metamaterial prism and compared well to simulations; in addition, near-field electromagnetic intensity mapping was conducted with an infrared camera, and there was also a good match with the simulations for expected frequency ranges for the negative index of refraction.

  2. Considerations of fluid-structure interaction effects in the design of high-level waste storage tanks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stuart, R.J.; Shipley, L.E.; Ghose, A.; Hiremath, M.S.

    1994-01-01

    For the seismic evaluation and design of the large number of underground high-level waste storage tanks (HLWST) at DOE sites, an important consideration is the adequate estimation of the fluid-structure interaction effects on the design forces. The DOE Tanks Seismic Experts Panel (TSEP) has developed seismic design and evaluation guidelines which include simplified methods for estimating hydrodynamic effects on tanks. For the practical analysis and design of HLWSTs, however, more sophisticated methods are often needed. The research presented in this paper demonstrates the effectiveness and reliability of finite element method based techniques, developed and utilized by ARES, to evaluate the fluid-structure interaction effects on underground HLWSTs. Analysis results for simple cylindrical tank configurations are first compared with previously published data, to benchmark the techniques. Next, for an actual HLWST configuration, correlations are established between these techniques and the TSEP guidelines, for the design parameters affected by fluid-structure interaction. Finally, practical design situations which may require a level of analysis sophistication that goes beyond the simplified TSEP guidelines are presented. This level of sophistication is frequently required when attempting to validate or upgrade the design qualifications of existing tanks

  3. The Ultraviolet Index: a useful tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinney, J P; Long, C S

    2000-09-01

    The Ultraviolet Index was developed in the United States in 1994 following successful use of ultraviolet (UV) alerts in other countries. This daily National Weather Service prediction is a calculation which integrates five data elements to yield the amount of UV radiation impacting the surface (1m2) at solar noon in 58 of the largest US population centers. This simple numeric prediction is then categorized by the Environmental Protection Agency into five "exposure levels" with protective actions recommended for each level. This information is disseminated through the media. Daily reminders seem to affect awareness and behavior in Canada, but US surveys indicate the need for better understanding through educational graphics. Comparing the UV Index to a precipitation prediction has merit in that it links a familiar daily prediction with implied appropriate protective measures. Graphics link the ideas that "when it rains it pours and when it shines it radiates." Beginning in schools, camps, and dermatology meetings, using the rain/shine analogy, a wider exposure to the Ultraviolet Index is proposed.

  4. Conceptual design of the first level trigger for the SDC experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drinkard, J.; Griffin, G.; Lankford, A.J.; Schmid, B.; Stoker, D.; Tarazi, J.; Lipniacka, A.; Brisson, J.C.; Hubbard, R.; Le Du, P.; Thooris, B.; Yashioka, H.; Hamatsu, R.; Nickerson, R.B.; Chapman, J.; Dunn, A.; Mann, J.; Miao, C.; Vejcik, S.; Dasu, S.; Gorski, T.; Lackey, J.; Smith, W.H.; Temple, W.; Coupal, D.

    1994-07-01

    We report on a conceptual design of the First Level Trigger for the SDC Experiment at the SSC. Level 1 algorithms employ barrel and intermediate trackers, and electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters. Results of simulations of background rates and efficiencies are presented together with a discussion of the simulation method. Tracking and calorimetric triggers are discussed in detail. Some hardware implementation ideas for the trigger algorithms are mentioned. (authors). 8 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

  5. SNS Low-Level RF Control System Design and Performance

    CERN Document Server

    Ma, Hengjie; Crofford, Mark; Doolittle, Lawrence; Kasemir, Kay-Uwe; Piller, Maurice; Ratti, Alessandro

    2005-01-01

    A full digital Low-Level RF controller has been developed for SNS LINAC. Its design is a good example of a modern digital implementation of the classic control theory. The digital hardware for all the control and DSP functionalities, including the final vector modulation, is implemented on a single high-density FPGA. Two models for the digital hardware have been written in VHDL and Verilog respectively, based on a very low latency control algorithm, and both have been being used for supporting the testing and commissioning the LINAC to the date. During the commissioning, the flexibility and ability for precise controls that only digital design on a larger FPGA can offer has proved to be a necessity for meeting the great challenge of a high-power pulsed SCL.

  6. Propagation & Level: Factors Influencing in the ICT Composite Index at the School Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoki, Hiroyuki; Kim, JaMee; Lee, WonGyu

    2013-01-01

    Many nations are greatly affected by their education policies, and the educational level of different schools is relevant to a nation's ICT policy. In the area of ICT, Korea has achieved quite high levels of competency. This study analyzed the level of ICT competency of 4490 elementary and 2419 middle schools in Korea within the context of the…

  7. The administration of long-term high-fat diet in ovariectomized wistar rat (Study on Daily Food Intake, Lee Index, Abdominal Fat Mass and Leptin Serum Levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dita Fitriani

    2016-12-01

    Conclusion: Serum leptin levels positively correlated with Lee index and abdominal fat mass, but negatively correlated with daily food intake. Administration of long-term high-fat diet in this study cannot induce leptin resistance.

  8. Evaluating an Organizational-Level Occupational Health Intervention in a Combined Regression Discontinuity and Randomized Control Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sørensen, By Ole H

    2016-10-01

    Organizational-level occupational health interventions have great potential to improve employees' health and well-being. However, they often compare unfavourably to individual-level interventions. This calls for improving methods for designing, implementing and evaluating organizational interventions. This paper presents and discusses the regression discontinuity design because, like the randomized control trial, it is a strong summative experimental design, but it typically fits organizational-level interventions better. The paper explores advantages and disadvantages of a regression discontinuity design with an embedded randomized control trial. It provides an example from an intervention study focusing on reducing sickness absence in 196 preschools. The paper demonstrates that such a design fits the organizational context, because it allows management to focus on organizations or workgroups with the most salient problems. In addition, organizations may accept an embedded randomized design because the organizations or groups with most salient needs receive obligatory treatment as part of the regression discontinuity design. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Design and construction of an optical sensor for liquid level control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Razani, M.; Golnabi, H.; Dabbaghian, M. H.; Dariani, R. S.; Vaziri, N.; Hojabri, A.

    2010-01-01

    Design and construction of an optical sensor for liquid level control is reported here. Operation of this sensor is based on the intensity modulation. The modulated light intensity is detected by total internal reflection in a prism. The variation of output intensity is measured by an optical detector and is monitored by a digital voltmeter. This optical fiber sensor is used for water level measurement in this experiment. For a white light source, the output voltage in the case of low water level is equal to 480 mV and when the water level reaches to prism reduced to 8 mV. Height measurement accuracy in this system is about ±1mm.

  10. Systemic lupus erythematosus activity and beta two microglobulin levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thelma Larocca Skare

    Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE is an autoimmune disease with a cyclical clinical course. Evaluation of the clinical activity of this disease is important for choosing the correct treatment. The objective of this study was to analyze the value of beta-2 microglobulin (β2M serum levels in determining SLE clinical activity.DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional analytical study conducted at the rheumatology outpatient clinic of a private university hospital.METHODS: 129 SLE patients were studied regarding disease activity using SLEDAI (SLE Disease Activity Index and cumulative damage using SLICC ACR (SLE International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index for SLE. At the same time, the β2M serum level, ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-dsDNA (anti-double-stranded DNA and C3 and C4 complement fractions were determined.RESULTS: β2M levels correlated positively with SLEDAI (P = 0.02 and ESR (P = 0.0009 and negatively with C3 (P = 0.007. Patients who were positive for anti-dsDNA had higher β2M serum levels (P = 0.009.CONCLUSION: β2M levels are elevated in SLE patients with active disease.

  11. Design, installation and in-situ performance study of ultrasonic continuous level meter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Surya Prakash, G.; Somayaji, K.M.

    1995-01-01

    The report discusses the design and the development of a continuous liquid level meter based on ultrasonic pulse-echo technique. A review of various methods for level measurement along with the details of pulse-echo technique are presented. Also discussed is the development of discrete level detectors based on ultrasonic techniques. Lastly, the procedures adopted for in-situ installation of these level meters in FBTR and RML are given along with the field performance study. Some of the typical merits and limitations of the method and the surface preparation procedure are also highlighted. (author) (author)

  12. An Indexing Scheme for Case-Based Manufacturing Vision Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Chengbo; Johansen, John; Luxhøj, James T.

    2004-01-01

    with the competence improvement of an enterprises manufacturing system. There are two types of cases within the CBRM – an event case (EC) and a general supportive case (GSC). We designed one set of indexing vocabulary for the two types of cases, but a different indexing representation structure for each of them......This paper focuses on one critical element, indexing – retaining and representing knowledge in an applied case-based reasoning (CBR) model for supporting strategic manufacturing vision development (CBRM). Manufacturing vision (MV) is a kind of knowledge management concept and process concerned...

  13. Alpha low-level stored waste systems design study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feizollahi, F.; Teheranian, B. (Morrison Knudson Corp., San Francisco, CA (United States). Environmental Services Div.); Quapp, W.J. (EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States))

    1992-08-01

    The Stored Waste System Design Study (SWSDS), commissioned by the Waste Technology Development Department at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), examines relative life-cycle costs associated with three system concepts for processing the alpha low-level waste (alpha-LLW) stored at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex's Transuranic Storage Area at the INEL. The three system concepts are incineration/melting; thermal treatment/solidification; and sort, treat, and repackage. The SWSDS identifies system functional and operational requirements and assesses implementability; effectiveness; cost; and demonstration, testing, and evaluation (DT E) requirements for each of the three concepts.

  14. Alpha low-level stored waste systems design study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feizollahi, F.; Teheranian, B. [Morrison Knudson Corp., San Francisco, CA (United States). Environmental Services Div.; Quapp, W.J. [EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    1992-08-01

    The Stored Waste System Design Study (SWSDS), commissioned by the Waste Technology Development Department at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), examines relative life-cycle costs associated with three system concepts for processing the alpha low-level waste (alpha-LLW) stored at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex`s Transuranic Storage Area at the INEL. The three system concepts are incineration/melting; thermal treatment/solidification; and sort, treat, and repackage. The SWSDS identifies system functional and operational requirements and assesses implementability; effectiveness; cost; and demonstration, testing, and evaluation (DT&E) requirements for each of the three concepts.

  15. Alpha low-level stored waste systems design study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feizollahi, F.; Teheranian, B.

    1992-08-01

    The Stored Waste System Design Study (SWSDS), commissioned by the Waste Technology Development Department at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), examines relative life-cycle costs associated with three system concepts for processing the alpha low-level waste (alpha-LLW) stored at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex's Transuranic Storage Area at the INEL. The three system concepts are incineration/melting; thermal treatment/solidification; and sort, treat, and repackage. The SWSDS identifies system functional and operational requirements and assesses implementability; effectiveness; cost; and demonstration, testing, and evaluation (DT ampersand E) requirements for each of the three concepts

  16. Genetic determinants of serum vitamin B12 and their relation to body mass index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Allin, Kristine H.; Friedrich, Nele; Pietzner, Maik

    2017-01-01

    for associations between (1) serum vitamin B12 levels and body mass index (BMI), (2) genetic variants and serum vitamin B12 levels, and (3) genetic variants and BMI. The effect of a genetically determined decrease in serum vitamin B12 on BMI was estimated by instrumental variable regression. Decreased serum......Lower serum vitamin B12 levels have been related to adverse metabolic health profiles, including adiposity. We used a Mendelian randomization design to test whether this relation might be causal. We included two Danish population-based studies (ntotal = 9311). Linear regression was used to test...... vitamin B12 associated with increased BMI (P vitamin B12 associated variants associated strongly with serum vitamin B12 (P vitamin B12...

  17. Deep geologic storage of high level radioactive wastes: conceptual generic designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    This report summarizes the studies on deep geologic storage of radioactive wastes and specially for the high-level radioactive wastes. The study is focussed to the geotechnical assessment and generic-conceptual designs. Methodology analysis, geotechnical feasibility, costs and operation are studied

  18. Conceptual design report for regional low-level waste interim storage site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bird, M.V.; Thompson, J.D.

    1981-08-01

    An interim storage site design concept was developed for receiving 100,000 ft 3 low-level waste per year, in the form of solidified wastes in 55-gallon drums with a dose rate of < 200 mrem per hour at contact

  19. Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Levels within Normal Range Have Different Associations with Augmentation Index and Other Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Nondrinkers and Drinkers: A Chinese Community-Based Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shihui Fu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. To investigate whether serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT levels within normal range were associated with augmentation index (AIx and cardiometabolic risk factors in nondrinkers and drinkers in Chinese community-dwelling population. Methods. There were 4165 participants with serum ALT levels within normal range. Results. Alcohol drinking was observed in 1173 participants (28.2%. In multivariate analysis, serum ALT levels of nondrinkers were independently associated with age, sex, body mass index (BMI, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c, and AIx, while serum ALT levels of drinkers were independently associated with age, sex, BMI, triglyceride, and LDL-c (p<0.05 for all. Conclusions. Associations of serum ALT levels within normal range with age, sex, body height and weight, and blood lipid were simultaneously present in participants with and without alcohol drinking, while associations of serum ALT levels within normal range with AIx, blood pressure, and glucose were seen in nondrinkers rather than in drinkers. These findings not only provide the evidence that serum ALT levels, even within the normal range, have different associations with arteriosclerosis and cardiometabolic risk factors in nondrinkers and drinkers but also are helpful in understanding the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms linking the hepatic function to arteriosclerosis and cardiometabolic risk factors.

  20. Development Of The Social Interest Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greever, K. B.; And Others

    1973-01-01

    A Social Interest Index was developed to measure the level of social interest an individual has attained. Social interest was viewed as the willingness to contribute and cooperate within the areas of four life tasks (works, friendship, love, and self-significance). Findings relate the level of social interest to the variables of sex, socioeconomic…

  1. National intelligence estimates and the Failed State Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voracek, Martin

    2013-10-01

    Across 177 countries around the world, the Failed State Index, a measure of state vulnerability, was reliably negatively associated with the estimates of national intelligence. Psychometric analysis of the Failed State Index, compounded of 12 social, economic, and political indicators, suggested factorial unidimensionality of this index. The observed correspondence of higher national intelligence figures to lower state vulnerability might arise through these two macro-level variables possibly being proxies of even more pervasive historical and societal background variables that affect both.

  2. Indexation Rules for Metallurgy in PASCAL. Original Title: Regles d'Indexation de la Metallurgie'--Technical Note Issued by Informascience--January 1980. Translated by Marie Wallin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Library.

    The indexing rules presented are designed for use with a new French-German database on metallurgy being developed under an agreement by CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris) and BAM (Bundesanstalt fur Materialprufung, Berlin). The new database, which will feature multilingual titles and index terms (French-German-English-) and…

  3. Limb Symmetry Indexes Can Overestimate Knee Function After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wellsandt, Elizabeth; Failla, Mathew J; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn

    2017-05-01

    Study Design Prospective cohort. Background The high risk of second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries after return to sport highlights the importance of return-to-sport decision making. Objective return-to-sport criteria frequently use limb symmetry indexes (LSIs) to quantify quadriceps strength and hop scores. Whether using the uninvolved limb in LSIs is optimal is unknown. Objectives To evaluate the uninvolved limb as a reference standard for LSIs utilized in return-to-sport testing and its relationship with second ACL injury rates. Methods Seventy athletes completed quadriceps strength and 4 single-leg hop tests before anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and 6 months after ACLR. Limb symmetry indexes for each test compared involved-limb measures at 6 months to uninvolved-limb measures at 6 months. Estimated preinjury capacity (EPIC) levels for each test compared involved-limb measures at 6 months to uninvolved-limb measures before ACLR. Second ACL injuries were tracked for a minimum follow-up of 2 years after ACLR. Results Forty (57.1%) patients achieved 90% LSIs for quadriceps strength and all hop tests. Only 20 (28.6%) patients met 90% EPIC levels (comparing the involved limb at 6 months after ACLR to the uninvolved limb before ACLR) for quadriceps strength and all hop tests. Twenty-four (34.3%) patients who achieved 90% LSIs for all measures 6 months after ACLR did not achieve 90% EPIC levels for all measures. Estimated preinjury capacity levels were more sensitive than LSIs in predicting second ACL injuries (LSIs, 0.273; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.010, 0.566 and EPIC, 0.818; 95% CI: 0.523, 0.949). Conclusion Limb symmetry indexes frequently overestimate knee function after ACLR and may be related to second ACL injury risk. These findings raise concern about whether the variable ACL return-to-sport criteria utilized in current clinical practice are stringent enough to achieve safe and successful return to sport. Level of Evidence

  4. Clinical significance of the serum biomarker index detection in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purevdorj, Narangerel; Mu, Yun; Gu, Yajun; Zheng, Fang; Wang, Ran; Yu, Jinwei; Sun, Xuguo

    2018-02-01

    To explore a panel of serum biomarkers for laboratory diagnosis of pediatric Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP). The blood white blood cells (WBC) and serum levels of serum amyloid A (SAA), interleukin 6 (IL-6), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin E (IgE), C-reactive protein (CRP), complement component 3 (C3), complement component 4 (C4), and ASO (anti-streptolysin O) were detected in 127 patients with Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), 110 cases of septicemia patients, and 121 healthy volunteers. The diagnostic ability of biomarkers selected from HSP and septicemia patients was analyzed by ROC curve. By designing the calculation model, the biomarker index was calculated for laboratory diagnosis of HSP and differential diagnosis between HSP and septicemia. The levels of serum WBC, CRP, IL-6 and SAA in the septicemia patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). Compared with the healthy individuals, serum levels of WBC, CRP, IL-6, SAA, IgA and IgM were significantly increased in patients with HSP (p<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of SAA, IgA, IgM, WBC, IL-6, and CRP in the patients with HSP was 0.964, 0.855, 0.849, 0.787, 0.765, and 0.622, respectively. The values of SAA, IgA, IgM, WBC, IL-6, and CRP in septicemia patients were 0.700, 0.428, 0.689, 0.682, 0.891, and 0.853, respectively. Biomarker index=SAA+IgA/4000+IgM/4000×0.4CRPmean valueCRPi . The biomarker index in HSP patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy controls. However, the biomarker index in septicemia patients was significantly lower than the control. The biomarker index of HSP patients is higher than that of the control group. While in the infectious disease represented by septicemia, it is decreased. The detection of biomarker index could exclude the interference of infection as the auxiliary examination to HSP patients. Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by

  5. Adding Value to Scholarly Journals through a Citation Indexing System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zainab, A. N.; Abrizah, A.; Raj, R. G.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to relate the problems identified about scholarly journal publishing in Malaysia to establish motivation for the system development; to describe the design of MyCite, a Malaysian citation indexing system and to highlight the added value to journals and articles indexed through the generation of bibliometrics…

  6. Correlation of fracture index with BMD T score in postmenopausal females

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaudhary, U.J.; Osman, S.S.; Moazam, S.; Shah, S.I.A.

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To find the correlation between fracture index and BMD T-score so that fracture index can be used as a predictive tool for fracture risk estimation in post menopausal females. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 396 women age 50 years and above. BMD T-score measurements using ultrasound and fracture index calculation based on the risk factor assessment were performed. Results: The study results showed that when fracture index increases BMD T-score decreased to osteoporotic range and correlation coefficient is -0.162. Conclusion: When fracture index increases, BMD T-score decreases therefore we can use fracture index as an assessment tool for predicting fracture risk in postmenopausal females. (author)

  7. Informatization Level Assessment Framework and Educational Policy Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Ana Sekulovska; Pece Mitrevski

    2018-01-01

    Seeing the informatization as a measure of the educational policy, we propose an informatization level assessment framework and introduce a composite indicator – Education Informatization Index, calculated as a weighted sum by applying the Rank-Order Centroid method for weight designation. Although it is made up of only two main categories (Educational Policy Implementation subindex and Educational Policy Creation subindex) and a total of six individual indicators, it captures well all the so...

  8. Cointegration analysis of vulnerability index and standardised precipitation index in Mafeteng district, Lesotho

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernard M. Hlalele

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Given the high poverty levels in Africa, with most countries’ economy and populations’ livelihood dependent on rain-fed agriculture, land degradation among other environmental hazards has proven to be a major threat to economic growth and food insecurity, respectively. Drought, which is on the increase at the global level and said to create over 78% of other hazards, has aggravated land degradation. Dry conditions lessen soil particles cohesion force, thereby increasing susceptibility of such soils to be lost by wind and water. The current study aimed at estimating land degradation from drought hazard index, standardised precipitation index (SPI over the drought declared district of Mafeteng Lesotho. Data were provided by Lesotho Meteorological Services for a period of 30 years (1984–2014. All missing values that existed in the collected precipitation data were filled with average values of the months with data. The computation of SPI was performed by using DrinC software in SPI-3 and SPI-Annual time step. The results revealed a constant condition of land degradation vulnerability over a 30-year period, implying a continuous loss of soil fertility, agricultural gross domestic product (GDP, water and bio-energy, malnutrition and increased poverty levels.

  9. Aboveground roofed design for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Maine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alexander, J.A. [Univ. of Maine, Orono, ME (United States)

    1993-03-01

    The conceptual designs proposed in this report resulted from a study for the Maine Low-level Radioactive Waste Authority to develop conceptual designs for a safe and reliable disposal facility for Maine`s low-level radioactive waste (LLW). Freezing temperatures, heavy rainfall, high groundwater tables, and very complex and shallow glaciated soils found in Maine place severe constraints on the design. The fundamental idea behind the study was to consider Maine`s climatic and geological conditions at the beginning of conceptual design rather than starting with a design for another location and adapting it for Maine`s conditions. The conceptual designs recommended are entirely above ground and consist of an inner vault designed to provide shielding and protection against inadvertent intrusion and an outer building to protect the inner vault from water. The air dry conditions within the outer building should lead to almost indefinite service life for the concrete inner vault and the waste containers. This concept differs sharply from the usual aboveground vault in its reliance on at least two independent, but more or less conventional, roofing systems for primary and secondary protection against leakage of radioisotopes from the facility. Features include disposal of waste in air dry environment, waste loading and visual inspection by remote-controlled overhead cranes, and reliance on engineered soils for tertiary protection against release of radioactive materials.

  10. Body mass index and cholesterol level predict surgical outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan - a cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ya-Ling; Li, Wan-Chun; Tsai, Tung-Hu; Chiang, Hsin-Yu; Ting, Chin-Tsung

    2016-04-19

    Curative surgical resection (CSR) remains the most effective therapeutic intervention for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, frequent post-surgical recurrence leads to high cancer related mortality. This study aimed to clarify the role of body mass index (BMI) and serum cholesterol level in predicting post-surgical outcomes in HCC patients after CSR. A total of 484 HCC patients including 213 BMIhigh and 271 BMIlow patients were included. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were examined in patients with differential BMI and serum cholesterol level. The analysis showed that significant different 1-, 3- and 5-year cumulative OS rates (P-value=0.015) and RFS rate (P-value=0.010) between BMIlow and BMIhigh patients. Further analysis in groups with differential serum cholesterol levels among BMIlow and BMIhigh patients indicated that the BMIlow/Chollow patients exhibited the significant lower cumulative OS and RFS rates in comparison with the remaining subjects (P-value=0.007 and 0.039 for OS and RFS rates, respectively). In conclusion, the coexistence of low BMI and low serum cholesterol level could serve as prognostic factors to predict post-operative outcomes in HCC patients undergoing surgical hepatectomy.

  11. Lixisenatide as add‐on treatment among patients with different β‐cell function levels as assessed by HOMA‐β index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blonde, Lawrence; Antsiferov, Mikhail; Berria, Rachele; Gourdy, Pierre; Hatunic, Mensud; Mohan, Viswanathan; Horowitz, Michael

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background The effect of lixisenatide—a prandial once‐daily glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonist—on glycaemic control in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), stratified by baseline β‐cell function, was assessed. Methods The 24‐week GetGoal‐M, ‐P and ‐S trials evaluated the efficacy and safety of lixisenatide in combination with oral antidiabetic agents. This post hoc analysis used data from patients receiving lixisenatide in these trials, divided into matched cohorts by propensity scoring, and stratified according to baseline homeostasis model assessment of β‐cell function (HOMA‐β) index levels, high HOMA‐β: > median HOMA‐β (28.49%); low HOMA‐β: ≤ median. Results The matched “low” and “high” HOMA‐β index cohorts (N = 546 patients) had comparable baseline parameters. Mean change from baseline in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was −0.85% and −0.94% for low and high HOMA‐β cohorts, respectively (P = .2607). Reductions from baseline in fasting plasma glucose (FPG; −0.77 vs −1.04 mmol/L; P = .1496) and postprandial plasma glucose (PPG; −5.82 vs −5.61 mmol/L; P = .7511) were similar in the low versus high HOMA‐β index cohorts. Reduction in body weight was significantly greater in the low versus high HOMA‐β index cohort (–2.06 vs –1.13 kg, respectively; P = .0006). Conclusions In patients with T2DM, lixisenatide was associated with reduction in HbA1c and improvements in both FPG and PPG, regardless of β‐cell function, indicating that lixisenatide is effective in reducing hyperglycaemia, even in patients with more advanced stages of T2DM and poor residual β‐cell function. PMID:28303626

  12. Glycemic Index values of some Jaffna fruits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selladurai Pirasath

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: The incidence of diabetes mellitus has recently increased in developing countries. Scientific data on glycemic index values of common meals is essential to modify the diets for diabetes mellitus patients. This study aimed to evaluate the glycemic index (GI values of fruits such as ‘Kathali’ (Yellow plantain, ‘Kappal’ (Golden plantain, and ‘Itharai’ (Green plantain varieties of plantains, jack fruit and papaya. The results will be helpful to physicians and the general public to decide the benefits ofthe consumption of fruits, particularly by diabetic and coronary heart disease patients.Methods: Healthy volunteers (20 Nos. of 21.05(±0.92 years, 53.90 (±9.36 kg body weights, 153.92 (±9.15 m heights, and 20.55 (±2.22 kgm-2body mass indexes were selected with their written consent. After overnight fasting, 75g glucose and each test fruit containing 75g digestible carbohydrate were administered at different instances and blood glucose levels were measured half hourly for two hours. The glycemic response and GI values were calculated and analyzed by Randomized Complete Block Design using SAS analytical package.Results: The mean GI values of the ‘Kathali’, ‘Kappal’, ‘Itharai’ varieties of plantains, jack fruit and papaya were 54.45 (±9.26, 50.43 (±5.79, 48.47 (±10.13, 65.36 (±8.00 and 34.80 (±12.78 % respectively. The GI value of papaya differed significantly (P<0.05 from other fruits. The GI value of ‘Itharai’ variety of plantain differed significantly (P<0.05 from other fruits except the ‘Kappal’ varietyof plantain.Conclusion: The three varieties of plantains and papaya were low GI fruits, and jack fruit was found to be an intermediate GI fruit. The presence of dietary fiber, esp. soluble fiber, reduces the glycemicresponse and glycemic index of foods.

  13. Radiologic evaluation of orbital index among Ghanaians using CT scan

    OpenAIRE

    Botwe, Benard Ohene; Sule, Derick Seyram; Ismael, Abdul Mumin

    2017-01-01

    Background Orbital index (OI) expresses the proportion of the orbital height to the orbital width and varies with race, regions within the same race and periods in evolution. This index is useful in forensic medicine, anthropology and surgery. However, the average OI among Ghanaian adults was unknown. Aim The aim of this study was to determine the orbital index of adult Ghanaians and classify them under one of the three predetermined groups. Method The study design was a retrospective cross-s...

  14. Design data and safety features of commercial nuclear power plants including cumulative index for Volumes I--VI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heddleson, F.A.

    1977-01-01

    Design data, safety features, and site characteristics are summarized for 12 nuclear power units in 6 power stations in the United States. Six pages of data are presented for each station, consisting of thermal-hydraulic and nuclear factors, containment features, emergency-core-cooling systems, site features, circulating water system data, and miscellaneous factors. In addition, an aerial perspective is presented for each plant. This volume covers plants with docket numbers 50-553 through 50-569 (Phipps Bend, Black Fox, Yellow Creek, and NEP) and two earlier plants not previously reported--Hope Creek (50-354, 50-355) and WPPSS 1 and 4 (50-460, 50-513). Indexes for this volume and the five earlier volumes are presented in three forms--by docket number, by plant name, and by participating utility

  15. Relationship between the stuttering severity index and speech rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Regina Furquim de Andrade

    Full Text Available CONTEXT: The speech rate is one of the parameters considered when investigating speech fluency and is an important variable in the assessment of individuals with communication complaints. OBJECTIVE: To correlate the stuttering severity index with one of the indices used for assessing fluency/speech rate. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Fluency and Fluency Disorders Investigation Laboratory, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy adults with stuttering diagnosis. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: A speech sample from each participant containing at least 200 fluent syllables was videotaped and analyzed according to a stuttering severity index test and speech rate parameters. RESULTS: The results obtained in this study indicate that the stuttering severity and the speech rate present significant variation, i.e., the more severe the stuttering is, the lower the speech rate in words and syllables per minute. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results suggest that speech rate is an important indicator of fluency levels and should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment of stuttering. This study represents a first attempt to identify the possible subtypes of developmental stuttering. DEFINITION: Objective tests that quantify diseases are important in their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

  16. Compact Hilbert Curve Index Algorithm Based on Gray Code

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CAO Xuefeng

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Hilbert curve has best clustering in various kinds of space filling curves, and has been used as an important tools in discrete global grid spatial index design field. But there are lots of redundancies in the standard Hilbert curve index when the data set has large differences between dimensions. In this paper, the construction features of Hilbert curve is analyzed based on Gray code, and then the compact Hilbert curve index algorithm is put forward, in which the redundancy problem has been avoided while Hilbert curve clustering preserved. Finally, experiment results shows that the compact Hilbert curve index outperforms the standard Hilbert index, their 1 computational complexity is nearly equivalent, but the real data set test shows the coding time and storage space decrease 40%, the speedup ratio of sorting speed is nearly 4.3.

  17. Comparison of index systems for rating water quality in intermittent rivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perrin, Jean-Louis; Salles, Christian; Bancon-Montigny, Chrystelle; Raïs, Naoual; Chahinian, Nanée; Dowse, Lauryan; Rodier, Claire; Tournoud, Marie-George

    2018-01-08

    Water quality indexes (WQI) are a practical way to evaluate and compare the level of chemical contamination of different water bodies and to spatially and temporally compare levels of pollution. The purpose of this study was to check if these indexes are appropriate for intermittent rivers under arid and semi-arid climates. A literature review enabled the comparison of 25 water quality indexes to discern their capability to evaluate spatial (inter and intra catchment) and temporal (high and low water flow conditions) variations in water quality in three Mediterranean intermittent rivers: the River Vène (France) and the Oued Fez and the River Sebou (Morocco). Hierarchical cluster analysis identified groups of WQI with similar behavior and brought to light the 6 most distinguishing indexes. Whatever the hydrological conditions at the two sites, both the ME-MCATUHE and NCS indexes, which were developed for Morocco and Greece, and the CCMEWQI and BCWQI indexes, which were developed for non-arid or semi-arid zones, gave appropriate water quality evaluations.

  18. Low-level waste cement solidification design, installation, and start-up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jezek, G.R.

    1988-08-01

    This report describes the design, installation, and start-up activities of the Cement Solidification System (CSS) at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP), West Valley, New York. The CSS, designed to operate within an existing process cell, automatically and remotely solidifies low-level nuclear waste by mixing it with Portland Type I cement. The qualified waste form mixture is placed into square, 270-litre (71-gallon) metal drums. The drums have an integral polyethylene liner to protect the carbon-steel material from potential corrosion. The CSS produces drums at a continuous operation rate of four drums per hour. All system processing data is monitored by a computerized Data Acquisition System (DAS). 6 figs

  19. Climate Prediction Center Southern Oscillation Index

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This is one of the CPC?s Monthly Atmospheric and Sea Surface Temperature (SST)Indices. It contains Southern Oscillation Index which is standardized sea level...

  20. Body mass index in relation to serum prostate-specific antigen levels and prostate cancer risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonn, Stephanie E; Sjölander, Arvid; Tillander, Annika; Wiklund, Fredrik; Grönberg, Henrik; Bälter, Katarina

    2016-07-01

    High Body mass index (BMI) has been directly associated with risk of aggressive or fatal prostate cancer. One possible explanation may be an effect of BMI on serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). To study the association between BMI and serum PSA as well as prostate cancer risk, a large cohort of men without prostate cancer at baseline was followed prospectively for prostate cancer diagnoses until 2015. Serum PSA and BMI were assessed among 15,827 men at baseline in 2010-2012. During follow-up, 735 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer with 282 (38.4%) classified as high-grade cancers. Multivariable linear regression models and natural cubic linear regression splines were fitted for analyses of BMI and log-PSA. For risk analysis, Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and natural cubic Cox regression splines producing standardized cancer-free probabilities were fitted. Results showed that baseline Serum PSA decreased by 1.6% (95% CI: -2.1 to -1.1) with every one unit increase in BMI. Statistically significant decreases of 3.7, 11.7 and 32.3% were seen for increasing BMI-categories of 25 prostate cancer risk although results were indicative of a positive association to incidence rates of high-grade disease and an inverse association to incidence of low-grade disease. However, findings regarding risk are limited by the short follow-up time. In conclusion, BMI was inversely associated to PSA-levels. BMI should be taken into consideration when referring men to a prostate biopsy based on serum PSA-levels. © 2016 UICC.

  1. Progress report on the design of a Low-Level Waste Pilot Facility at ORNL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hensley, L.C.; Turner, V.L.; Pruitt, A.S.

    1980-01-01

    All low-level radioactive solid wastes, excluding TRU wastes, are disposed of by shallow land burial at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Contaminated liquids and sludges are hydrofractures. The TRU wastes are stored in a retrievable fashion in concrete storage facilities. Currently, the capacity for low-level radioactive waste burial at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is adequate for another six years of service at the current solids disposal rate which ranges between 80,000 and 100,000 cu ft per year. Decontamination and decommissioning of a number of ORNL facilities will be a significant activity in the next few years. Quantities of radioactive materials to be stored or disposed of as a result of these activities will be large; therefore, the technology to dispose of large quantities of low-level radioactive wastes must be demonstrated. The UCC-ND Engineering Division, in concert with divisions of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been requested to prepare a conceptual design for a facility to both dispose of the currently produced low-level radioactive waste and also to provide a test bed for demonstration of other processes which may be used in future low-level radioactive wastes disposal facilities. This facility is designated as the Low-Level Waste Pilot Facility (LLWPF). This paper describes the status of the conceptual design of a facility for disposal of the subject radioactive waste

  2. Atmospheric stability index using radio occultation refractivity profiles

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A new stability index based on atmospheric refractivity at ∼500 hPa level and surface measurements of temperature ... able at different heights rather than pressure levels. However ..... the radio occultation technique being a limb sound-.

  3. Prospects and limitations of full-text index structures in genome analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vyverman, Michaël; De Baets, Bernard; Fack, Veerle; Dawyndt, Peter

    2012-01-01

    The combination of incessant advances in sequencing technology producing large amounts of data and innovative bioinformatics approaches, designed to cope with this data flood, has led to new interesting results in the life sciences. Given the magnitude of sequence data to be processed, many bioinformatics tools rely on efficient solutions to a variety of complex string problems. These solutions include fast heuristic algorithms and advanced data structures, generally referred to as index structures. Although the importance of index structures is generally known to the bioinformatics community, the design and potency of these data structures, as well as their properties and limitations, are less understood. Moreover, the last decade has seen a boom in the number of variant index structures featuring complex and diverse memory-time trade-offs. This article brings a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of the most popular index structures and their recently developed variants. Their features, interrelationships, the trade-offs they impose, but also their practical limitations, are explained and compared. PMID:22584621

  4. Refractive index engineering of high performance coupler for compact photonic integrated circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lu; Zhou, Zhiping

    2017-04-01

    High performance couplers are highly desired in many applications, but the design is limited by nearly unchangeable material refractive index. To tackle this issue, refractive index engineering method is investigated, which can be realized by subwavelength grating. Subwavelength gratings are periodical structures with pitches small enough to locally synthesize the refractive index of photonic waveguides, which allows direct control of optical profile as well as easier fabrication process. This review provides an introduction to the basics of subwavelength structures and pay special attention to the design strategies of some representative examples of subwavelength grating devices, including: edge couplers, fiber-chip grating couplers, directional couplers and multimode interference couplers. Benefited from the subwavelength grating which can engineer the refractive index as well as birefringence and dispersion, these devices show better performance when compared to their conventional counterparts.

  5. The Effect of Consumer Expectation Index, Economic Condition Index and Crude Oil Price on Indonesian Government Bond Yield

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benny Budiawan Tjandrasa

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Governments sell bonds to finance their budget. The investors willing to buy government bonds because of the yield they will get, but on the other hand if government bond yields is  too high it would burden the state in paying the interest due. Various studies have been done to find the variables that affect government bond yield significantly, such as exchange rate, inflation rate, interest rate, and oil price. This study found two more variables namely consumer expectations index and the economic conditions index to complement the variables that have been discovered. Those two variables are used as a proxy of economic stability of a country, the increase of those variables represent the increase of economic stability and will reduce the level of risk and lowering the yield that investors demand. This research use descriptive method and explanatory study with secondary data using multivariate regression equation model. The results shown consumer expectation index and economic condition index have significant effect on Indonesian Government Bond yield. To keep consumer expectation index and economic condition index increase government should give a positive signal and a sense of security to investor.

  6. Single-mode optical waveguides on native high-refractive-index substrates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard R. Grote

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available High-refractive-index semiconductor optical waveguides form the basis for modern photonic integrated circuits (PICs. However, conventional methods for achieving optical confinement require a thick lower-refractive-index support layer that impedes large-scale co-integration with electronics and limits the materials on which PICs can be fabricated. To address this challenge, we present a general architecture for single-mode waveguides that confine light in a high-refractive-index material on a native substrate. The waveguide consists of a high-aspect-ratio fin of the guiding material surrounded by lower-refractive-index dielectrics and is compatible with standard top-down fabrication techniques. This letter describes a physically intuitive, semi-analytical, effective index model for designing fin waveguides, which is confirmed with fully vectorial numerical simulations. Design examples are presented for diamond and silicon at visible and telecommunications wavelengths, respectively, along with calculations of propagation loss due to bending, scattering, and substrate leakage. Potential methods of fabrication are also discussed. The proposed waveguide geometry allows PICs to be fabricated alongside silicon CMOS electronics on the same wafer, removes the need for heteroepitaxy in III-V PICs, and will enable wafer-scale photonic integration on emerging material platforms such as diamond and SiC.

  7. Do physical activity level and body mass index predict recovery from persistent neck pain in men and women of working age? A population-based cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen-Barr, E; Bohman, T; Hallqvist, J; Holm, L W; Skillgate, E

    2013-09-01

    The study sought to examine the gender-specific effects of physical activity level and body mass index on recovery from persistent neck pain (PNP) among citizens of working age in Stockholm, Sweden. A population-based cohort of 1,730 subjects (18-65) with PNP answered surveys in 2002 and 2007. Prognostic factors were self-reported body mass index (BMI) and physical activity level (PAL) at baseline. Analyses were performed with odds ratios (OR) with corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Women reporting higher physical activity level had higher odds of recovering from PNP than women with sedentary leisure time (OR of 1.5, 95 % CI 1.0-2.4), but no associations were found in men. No associations were found between BMI and recovery from PNP in any analyses. Physical activity seems to be associated with recovery from PNP in women and should therefore be encouraged. Future studies should continue investigating physical activity and lifestyle factors in relation to recovery from persistent neck pain, since these modifiable factors may be considered in interventions.

  8. Development and Validation of an Aquatic Fine Sediment Biotic Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Relyea, Christina D.; Minshall, G. Wayne; Danehy, Robert J.

    2012-01-01

    The Fine Sediment Biotic Index (FSBI) is a regional, stressor-specific biomonitoring index to assess fine sediment (Plecoptera (5), Trichoptera (3), and Ephemeroptera (2) contained all but one of the species or species groups classified as extremely sensitive. Index validation with an independent data set of 255 streams found FSBI scores to accurately predict both high and low levels of measured fine sediment.

  9. Solution Algorithm for a New Bi-Level Discrete Network Design Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qun Chen

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available A new discrete network design problem (DNDP was pro-posed in this paper, where the variables can be a series of integers rather than just 0-1. The new DNDP can determine both capacity improvement grades of reconstruction roads and locations and capacity grades of newly added roads, and thus complies with the practical projects where road capacity can only be some discrete levels corresponding to the number of lanes of roads. This paper designed a solution algorithm combining branch-and-bound with Hooke-Jeeves algorithm, where feasible integer solutions are recorded in searching the process of Hooke-Jeeves algorithm, lend -ing itself to determine the upper bound of the upper-level problem. The thresholds for branch cutting and ending were set for earlier convergence. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

  10. Impact of thermal constraints on the optimal design of high-level waste repositories in geologic media

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malbrain, C; Lester, R K [Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

    1982-12-01

    An approximate, semi-analytical heat conduction model for predicting the time-dependent temperature distribution in the region of a high-level waste repository has been developed. The model provides the basis for a systematic, inexpensive examination of the impact of several independent thermal design constraints on key repository design parameters and for determining the optimal set of design parameters which satisfy these constraints. Illustrative calculations have been carried out for conceptual repository designs for spent pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel and reprocessed PWR high-level waste in salt and granite media.

  11. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance index, leptin and thyroid hormone levels in the general population of Merida (Venezuela).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzcátegui, Euderruh; Valery, Lenin; Uzcátegui, Lilia; Gómez Pérez, Roald; Marquina, David; Baptista, Trino

    2015-06-01

    The metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular events, but scarce information exists about its frequency in Venezuela. In this cross-sectional study, we quantified the prevalence of the MetSyn in a probabilistic, stratified sample of 274 subjects aged > or =18 years from the Libertador district in Merida, Venezuela. Secondary outcomes were the measurement of thyroid hormones (free T4 and TSH), leptin levels, and insulin resistance index (HOMA2-IR). The frequency of MetSyn (percentage +/- 95% confidence interval) according to several diagnostic criteria was as follows: National Cholesterol Education Panel (NCEP, original): 27.4% (22.1-32.7); modified NCEP: 31.8% (26.3-37.3); International Diabetes Federation: 40.9% (35.1-46.7); Latin American Diabetes Association: 27% (21.7-32.3), and Venezuelan criteria: 31.8% (26.3-37.3). The MetSyn was more frequent in males than in females with most diagnostic criteria. The estimated prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 2.9% either according to the patients' self reports or to fasting glucose level found to be above 126 mg/dL. Abnormal HOMA2-IR index, free T4 and TSH (above the 95th percentile) were detected in 4.5%, 4.4% and 5.1% of the sample, respectively. Free T4 and TSH levels below the 5th percentile were detected in 4.4% and 4.7% of subjects respectively. These values are presented for comparisons with forthcoming studies in specific clinical populations. While studies are being conducted about the different definitions of the MetSyn in Venezuela, we recommend analyzing and publishing local research data with all the available criteria so as to allow comparisons with the results already reported in the literature.

  12. Vector-borne disease risk indexes in spatially structured populations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Velázquez-Castro

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available There are economic and physical limitations when applying prevention and control strategies for urban vector borne diseases. Consequently, there are increasing concerns and interest in designing efficient strategies and regulations that health agencies can follow in order to reduce the imminent impact of viruses like Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. That includes fumigation, abatization, reducing the hatcheries, picking up trash, information campaigns. A basic question that arise when designing control strategies is about which and where these ones should focus. In other words, one would like to know whether preventing the contagion or decrease vector population, and in which area of the city, is more efficient. In this work, we propose risk indexes based on the idea of secondary cases from patch to patch. Thus, they take into account human mobility and indicate which patch has more chance to be a corridor for the spread of the disease and which is more vulnerable, i.e. more likely to have cases?. They can also indicate the neighborhood where hatchery control will reduce more the number of potential cases. In order to illustrate the usefulness of these indexes, we run a set of numerical simulations in a mathematical model that takes into account the urban mobility and the differences in population density among the areas of a city. If we label by i a particular neighborhood, the transmission risk index (TRi measures the potential secondary cases caused by a host in that neighborhood. The vector transmission risk index (VTRi measures the potential secondary cases caused by a vector. Finally, the vulnerability risk index (VRi measures the potential secondary cases in the neighborhood. Transmission indexes can be used to give geographical priority to some neighborhoods when applying prevention and control measures. On the other hand, the vulnerability index can be useful to implement monitoring campaigns or public health investment.

  13. Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) levels in a general adult population: curves percentile by gender and age. The EPIRCE study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gayoso-Diz, Pilar; Otero-Gonzalez, Alfonso; Rodriguez-Alvarez, María Xosé; Gude, Francisco; Cadarso-Suarez, Carmen; García, Fernando; De Francisco, Angel

    2011-10-01

    To describe the distribution of HOMA-IR levels in a general nondiabetic population and its relationships with metabolic and lifestyles characteristics. Cross-sectional study. Data from 2246 nondiabetic adults in a random Spanish population sample, stratified by age and gender, were analyzed. Assessments included a structured interview, physical examination, and blood sampling. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to assess the effect of lifestyle habits and clinical and demographic measurements on HOMA-IR. Multivariate GAMs and quantile regression analyses of HOMA-IR were carried out separately in men and women. This study shows refined estimations of HOMA-IR levels by age, body mass index, and waist circumference in men and women. HOMA-IR levels were higher in men (2.06) than women (1.95) (P=0.047). In women, but not men, HOMA-IR and age showed a significant nonlinear association (P=0.006), with increased levels above fifty years of age. We estimated HOMA-IR curves percentile in men and women. Age- and gender-adjusted HOMA-IR levels are reported in a representative Spanish adult non-diabetic population. There are gender-specific differences, with increased levels in women over fifty years of age that may be related with changes in body fat distribution after menopause. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. EIA data index: an abstract journal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-12-01

    The individual tables, graphs, and formatted data presented in the statistical publications of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are abstracted and indexed. Included are a complete subject index and a report number listing for all EIA publications as well as complete ordering information for these publications. The abstracts of the tables and graphs are arranged by broad subject categories (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas, energy analysis and modeling) with further division occurring by subcategories (e.g., reserves, drilling and production, processing). Included here are those publications and their statistical contents which were released by the EIA from its formation in October 1977 through approximately the first half of 1980. Updates will be on a semiannual basis. The EIA Data Index is a companion volume to the EIA Publications Directory: A User's Guide (DOE/EIA-0149), which provides abstracts and indexes to all EIA publications at the document level. Both of these publications are generated from the Federal Energy Data Index (FEDEX) data base which has been developed by the EIA in cooperation with the Technical Information Center of the US Department of Energy

  15. Development of the Canadian Marginalization Index: a new tool for the study of inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matheson, Flora I; Dunn, James R; Smith, Katherine L W; Moineddin, Rahim; Glazier, Richard H

    2012-04-30

    Area-based measures of socio-economic status are increasingly used in population health research. Based on previous research and theory, the Canadian Marginalization Index (CAN-Marg) was created to reflect four dimensions of marginalization: residential instability, material deprivation, dependency and ethnic concentration. The objective of this paper was threefold: to describe CAN-Marg; to illustrate its stability across geographic area and time; and to describe its association with health and behavioural problems. CAN-Marg was created at the dissemination area (DA) and census tract level for census years 2001 and 2006, using factor analysis. Descriptions of 18 health and behavioural problems were selected using individual-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 3.1 and 2007/08. CAN-Marg quintiles created at the DA level (2006) were assigned to individual CCHS records. Multilevel logistic regression modeling was conducted to examine associations between marginalization and CCHS health and behavioural problems. The index demonstrated marked stability across time and geographic area. Each of the four dimensions showed strong and significant associations with the selected health and behavioural problems, and these associations differed depending on which of the dimensions of marginalization was examined. CAN-Marg is a census-based, empirically derived and theoretically informed tool designed to reflect a broader conceptualization of Canadian marginalization.

  16. The influence of regional deprivation index on personal happiness using multilevel analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kil Hun; Chun, Jin-Ho; Sohn, Hae Sook

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the present study was to identify the factors that influence the happiness index of community residents, by considering personal and regional aspects, and to use as evidence of efforts for improvement of the happiness index. The study was conducted based on information from 16,270 participants who met the data requirement among those who participated in the 2011 South Gyeongsang Community Health Survey. Of the factors that can influence the happiness index, socioeconomic characteristics, health behavior, morbidity, and healthcare use, social contact, and participation in social activities were classified as personal factors; for regional factors, data from the 2010 census were used to extrapolate the regional deprivation indices at the submunicipal-level (eup, myeon, and dong) in South Gyeongsang Province. The happiness index for each characteristic was compared to that for others via t-test and ANOVA, and multilevel analysis was performed, using four models: a basic model for identification of only random effects, model 1 for identification of personal factors, model 2 for identification of regional factors, and model 3 for simultaneous consideration of both personal and regional factors. The mean happiness index was 63.2 points (64.6 points in males and 62.0 points in females), while the mean deprivation index was -1.58 points. In the multilevel analysis, the regional-level variance ratio of the basic model was 10.8%, confirming interregional differences. At the personal level, higher happiness indices were seen in groups consisting of males with high educational level, high income, high degree of physical activity, sufficient sleep, active social contact, and participation in social activities; whereas lower happiness indices were seen in people who frequently skipped breakfast, had unmet healthcare needs, and had accompanying diseases, as well as those with higher deprivation index. The study confirmed that the happiness index of community

  17. The influence of regional deprivation index on personal happiness using multilevel analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kil Hun Kim

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study was to identify the factors that influence the happiness index of community residents, by considering personal and regional aspects, and to use as evidence of efforts for improvement of the happiness index. METHODS: The study was conducted based on information from 16,270 participants who met the data requirement among those who participated in the 2011 South Gyeongsang Community Health Survey. Of the factors that can influence the happiness index, socioeconomic characteristics, health behavior, morbidity, and healthcare use, social contact, and participation in social activities were classified as personal factors; for regional factors, data from the 2010 census were used to extrapolate the regional deprivation indices at the submunicipal-level (eup, myeon, and dong in South Gyeongsang Province. The happiness index for each characteristic was compared to that for others via t-test and ANOVA, and multilevel analysis was performed, using four models: a basic model for identification of only random effects, model 1 for identification of personal factors, model 2 for identification of regional factors, and model 3 for simultaneous consideration of both personal and regional factors. RESULTS: The mean happiness index was 63.2 points (64.6 points in males and 62.0 points in females, while the mean deprivation index was -1.58 points. In the multilevel analysis, the regional-level variance ratio of the basic model was 10.8%, confirming interregional differences. At the personal level, higher happiness indices were seen in groups consisting of males with high educational level, high income, high degree of physical activity, sufficient sleep, active social contact, and participation in social activities; whereas lower happiness indices were seen in people who frequently skipped breakfast, had unmet healthcare needs, and had accompanying diseases, as well as those with higher deprivation index. CONCLUSIONS

  18. Improving the repeatability of Motor Unit Number Index (MUNIX) by introducing additional epochs at low contraction levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Yun; Zhang, Yingchun

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate the repeatability of (Motor Unit Number Index) MUNIX under repeatability conditions, specify the origin of variations and provide strategies for quality control. MUNIX calculations were performed on the bicep brachii muscles of eight healthy subjects. Negative effect of suboptimal electrode positions on MUNIX accuracy was eliminated by employing the high-density surface electromyography technique. MUNIX procedures that utilized a variety of surface interferential pattern (SIP) epoch recruitment strategies (including the original MUNIX procedure, two proposed improvement strategies and their combinations) were described. For each MUNIX procedure, ten thousands of different SIP pools were constructed by randomly recruiting necessary SIP epochs from a large SIP epoch pool (3 datasets, 9 independent electromyography recordings at different contraction levels per dataset and 10 SIP epochs per recording) and implemented for MUNIX calculation. The repeatability of each MUNIX procedure was assessed by summarizing the resulting MUNIX distribution and compared to investigate the effect of SIP epoch selection strategy on repeatability performance. SIP epochs selected at lower contraction levels have a stronger influence on the repeatability of MUNIX than those selected at higher contraction levels. MUNIX under repeatability conditions follows a normal distribution and the standard deviation can be significantly reduced by introducing more epochs near the MUNIX definition line. The MUNIX technique shows an inherent variation attributable to SIP epochs at low contraction levels. It is recommended that more epochs should be sampled at these low contraction levels to improve the repeatability. The present study thoroughly documented the inherent variation of MUNIX and the causes, and offered practical solutions to improve the repeatability of MUNIX. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. An Abstraction Hierarchy based mobile PC display design in NPP maintenance considering the level of expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yim, Ho Bin; Kim, In; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Six levels of Abstraction Hierarchy based information for maintenance were proposed. → Errors and workload with AH based information display were reduced for LL subjects. → Design concerns discovered can be applied to practical use of mobile maintenance aids. - Abstract: Recently, the importance of effective maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been emphasized and research into effective maintenance by adopting mobile maintenance aids (MMAs) have been attempted. For improved and effective use of an MMA display design method based on the hierarchy is proposed and its design considerations are discussed in this study. Six levels of hierarchy are proposed in this paper to classify the maintenance information. By classifying and organizing maintenance information using the hierarchy, maintenance information can be used effectively by users with either high or low levels of expertise. When information classification has been finished, the information for MMA design is selected and designed. With the considerations of MMA design analysis and guidelines, a hierarchy-based MMA is designed for the maintenance tasks. An experiment is conducted using the hierarchy-based MMA in order to estimate the effectiveness of the proposed method for the maintenance tasks and to identify design considerations to enhance the proposed MMAs. The result indicated that a hierarchy-based manual was more effective than a conventional manual in terms of task completion time and number of errors. The workload for the hierarchy-based manual was estimated less than the conventional manual for subjects with low level of expertise. As the level of expertise increases, subjects tended to follow more abstract information while the number of navigations decreased. It is believed that when mobile devices become pervasive in NPP maintenance fields, the hierarchy model applied MMAs can be used as an effective maintenance supporting tool.

  20. Use of standard reliability levels in design and safety assessment of in-pile loops

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogani, G.; Verre, A.; Balestreri, S.; Colombo, A.G.; Luisi, T.

    1975-01-01

    This paper describes a logic-probabilistic analysis technique for a critical design review and safety assessment of in-pile loops. The examples in this paper refer to the analysis performed for the experimental loops already constructed or under construction in the ESSOR reactor of the Joint Research Centre of Ispra, as irradiation facilities for fuel element research and development tests. The proposed technique is based on the classification into categories of components and protective device malfunctions. Such subdivision into categories was agreed upon by the Italian Safety Authority and Euratom JRC, and adopted for the safety assessment of the ESSOR reactor in-pile loops. For each category, the method makes a link with a corresponding malfunction probability range (probability level). This probability level is defined taking into account design, construction, inspection and maintenance criteria as well as periodic controls; therefore the quality level and consequently the reliability level are thus also defined. The analysis is developed in the following stages: (1) definition of the analysis object (top event) and drawing of the relative fault-tree; (2) loop design analysis and preliminary optimization based on logic criteria; (3) classification into categories of the fault-tree primary events; (4) final loop design analysis and optimization based on defined component quality requirements. Stages 2 and 4 are quite different since stage 2 mainly consists of a redundance optimization, while stage 4 acts on the component quality level in such a way that each minimum cut-set leading to the top has an acceptable probability level. During analysis development, use is made of computer codes which, among other things enable the verification of fault-tree logic makeup, the listing of the minimum cut-sets with and without event categorization, and the evaluation of each cut-set order. (author)

  1. Competition between two wetland macrophytes under different levels of sediment saturation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feng Li

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Plant-plant interactions have been widely studied under various environmental conditions. However, in wetland ecosystems how plant interactions change in response to variation in sediment saturation remains largely unclear, even though different levels of sediment saturation play important roles in determining plant growth performance in wetland ecosystems. To this end, a competition experiment with two typical wetland species, Carex brevicuspis (neighbor plant and Polygonum hydropiper (target plant, was conducted in a target-neighbor design. Two water levels (0 cm and -40 cm water levels representing waterlogged and drained sediments, respectively and three neighbor plant densities (0 plants m-2, 400 plants m-2, and 1600 plants m-2 were tested in a factorial design. Biomass accumulation of P. hydropiper decreased along with enhanced C. brevicuspis density in the waterlogged treatment. However, in the drained treatment, biomass accumulation did not change under two C. brevicuspis densities. Above-ground relative neighbor effect index (ARNE and relative neighbor effect index (RNE of C. brevicuspis on P. hydropiper increased along with enhanced C. brevicuspis density only under waterlogged conditions. The below-ground relative neighbor effect index (BRNE was not affected at the different water level and density treatments. The below-ground mass fraction of P. hydropiper was much higher in the waterlogged treatment than it was in the drained one, especially with no C. brevicuspis treatment. However, the leaf mass fraction displayed the opposite pattern. The longest root length of P. hydropiper was much shorter under waterlogged treatment than under the drained treatment. These results suggest that the competition intensity of C. brevicuspis to P. hydropiper increased along with increasing C. brevicuspis density only under waterlogged conditions. Moreover, this study also confirms that P. hydropiper can acclimate to water stress mainly through

  2. Reference design and operations for deep borehole disposal of high-level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrick, Courtney Grant; Brady, Patrick Vane; Pye, Steven; Arnold, Bill Walter; Finger, John Travis; Bauer, Stephen J.

    2011-01-01

    A reference design and operational procedures for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in deep boreholes have been developed and documented. The design and operations are feasible with currently available technology and meet existing safety and anticipated regulatory requirements. Objectives of the reference design include providing a baseline for more detailed technical analyses of system performance and serving as a basis for comparing design alternatives. Numerous factors suggest that deep borehole disposal of high-level radioactive waste is inherently safe. Several lines of evidence indicate that groundwater at depths of several kilometers in continental crystalline basement rocks has long residence times and low velocity. High salinity fluids have limited potential for vertical flow because of density stratification and prevent colloidal transport of radionuclides. Geochemically reducing conditions in the deep subsurface limit the solubility and enhance the retardation of key radionuclides. A non-technical advantage that the deep borehole concept may offer over a repository concept is that of facilitating incremental construction and loading at multiple perhaps regional locations. The disposal borehole would be drilled to a depth of 5,000 m using a telescoping design and would be logged and tested prior to waste emplacement. Waste canisters would be constructed of carbon steel, sealed by welds, and connected into canister strings with high-strength connections. Waste canister strings of about 200 m length would be emplaced in the lower 2,000 m of the fully cased borehole and be separated by bridge and cement plugs. Sealing of the upper part of the borehole would be done with a series of compacted bentonite seals, cement plugs, cement seals, cement plus crushed rock backfill, and bridge plugs. Elements of the reference design meet technical requirements defined in the study. Testing and operational safety assurance requirements are also defined. Overall

  3. Reference design and operations for deep borehole disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herrick, Courtney Grant; Brady, Patrick Vane; Pye, Steven; Arnold, Bill Walter; Finger, John Travis; Bauer, Stephen J.

    2011-10-01

    A reference design and operational procedures for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in deep boreholes have been developed and documented. The design and operations are feasible with currently available technology and meet existing safety and anticipated regulatory requirements. Objectives of the reference design include providing a baseline for more detailed technical analyses of system performance and serving as a basis for comparing design alternatives. Numerous factors suggest that deep borehole disposal of high-level radioactive waste is inherently safe. Several lines of evidence indicate that groundwater at depths of several kilometers in continental crystalline basement rocks has long residence times and low velocity. High salinity fluids have limited potential for vertical flow because of density stratification and prevent colloidal transport of radionuclides. Geochemically reducing conditions in the deep subsurface limit the solubility and enhance the retardation of key radionuclides. A non-technical advantage that the deep borehole concept may offer over a repository concept is that of facilitating incremental construction and loading at multiple perhaps regional locations. The disposal borehole would be drilled to a depth of 5,000 m using a telescoping design and would be logged and tested prior to waste emplacement. Waste canisters would be constructed of carbon steel, sealed by welds, and connected into canister strings with high-strength connections. Waste canister strings of about 200 m length would be emplaced in the lower 2,000 m of the fully cased borehole and be separated by bridge and cement plugs. Sealing of the upper part of the borehole would be done with a series of compacted bentonite seals, cement plugs, cement seals, cement plus crushed rock backfill, and bridge plugs. Elements of the reference design meet technical requirements defined in the study. Testing and operational safety assurance requirements are also defined. Overall

  4. Evaluation of Helkimo anamnestic and dysfunction index in identical twins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kučević Esad H.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: In 1974 Marti Helkimo designed special questionnaires which were used for entering adequate contemporary data collected by medical history, analyzing the functions of the orofacial system and analyzing occlusion. Data were evaluated numerically with 0, 1 or 5, depending on the severity of the relevant findings and severity of clinical signs or symptoms of dysfunction. Objective: The aim of the research was to establish and evaluate specially designed Helkimos anamnestic and dysfunction index in monozygotic twins. Materials and Methods: A longitudinal prospective study was carried out on a randomized sample of 30 pairs of twins, 20 to 40 years old, and of both sexes. Dedicated design of the questionnaire made it possible to calculate the Helkimos anamnestic index (Ai, based on subjective feeling and positive or negative answers of subjects about the state of their masticatory apparatus. The clinical dysfunction index (Di represents objective functional analysis of structural and functional disorders of the orofacial complex, because it monitors multiple parameters. Kinematics of the lower jaw, conditions and limited function of the temporomandibular joints, the presence or absence of painful sensations during mandible movements during palpation of the joints and masticatory muscles, and the overall quantification of the incidence of craniomandibular dysfunction were all monitored and evaluated. The study was conducted in accordance with the local and international laws and ethical standards. Results: Medical records of 47 (78.3% twins did not present the signs and symptoms of craniomandibular dysfunction, i.e., Ai = 0. Twelve respondents were aware of the existence of mild signs of craniomandibular disorders (CMD. Acute and expressed craniomandibular disorder was identified in one of the twins Ai II 1 (1.7%. By evaluating and analyzing the results obtained using Helkimo analysis, positive dysfunction index (Di> 0, or certain signs

  5. Environmental evaluation of agri-environment schemes using participatory approaches: Experiences of testing the Agri-Environmental Footprint Index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mauchline, Alice L.; Mortimer, Simon R.; Park, Julian P.

    2012-01-01

    The Agri-Environment Footprint Index (AFI) has been developed as a generic methodology to assess changes in the overall environmental impacts from agriculture at the farm level and to assist in the evaluation of European agri-environmental schemes (AES). The methodology is based on multi-criteria......The Agri-Environment Footprint Index (AFI) has been developed as a generic methodology to assess changes in the overall environmental impacts from agriculture at the farm level and to assist in the evaluation of European agri-environmental schemes (AES). The methodology is based on multi......-criteria analysis (MCA) and involves stakeholder participation to provide a locally customised evaluation based on weighted environmental indicators. The methodology was subjected to a feasibility assessment in a series of case studies across the EU. The AFI approach was able to measure significant differences....... The applicability of the AFI in routine monitoring of AES impacts and in providing feedback to improve policy design is discussed....

  6. MEDRank: using graph-based concept ranking to index biomedical texts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herskovic, Jorge R; Cohen, Trevor; Subramanian, Devika; Iyengar, M Sriram; Smith, Jack W; Bernstam, Elmer V

    2011-06-01

    As the volume of biomedical text increases exponentially, automatic indexing becomes increasingly important. However, existing approaches do not distinguish central (or core) concepts from concepts that were mentioned in passing. We focus on the problem of indexing MEDLINE records, a process that is currently performed by highly trained humans at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). NLM indexers are assisted by a system called the Medical Text Indexer (MTI) that suggests candidate indexing terms. To improve the ability of MTI to select the core terms in MEDLINE abstracts. These core concepts are deemed to be most important and are designated as "major headings" by MEDLINE indexers. We introduce and evaluate a graph-based indexing methodology called MEDRank that generates concept graphs from biomedical text and then ranks the concepts within these graphs to identify the most important ones. We insert a MEDRank step into the MTI and compare MTI's output with and without MEDRank to the MEDLINE indexers' selected terms for a sample of 11,803 PubMed Central articles. We also tested whether human raters prefer terms generated by the MEDLINE indexers, MTI without MEDRank, and MTI with MEDRank for a sample of 36 PubMed Central articles. MEDRank improved recall of major headings designated by 30% over MTI without MEDRank (0.489 vs. 0.376). Overall recall was only slightly (6.5%) higher (0.490 vs. 0.460) as was F(2) (3%, 0.408 vs. 0.396). However, overall precision was 3.9% lower (0.268 vs. 0.279). Human raters preferred terms generated by MTI with MEDRank over terms generated by MTI without MEDRank (by an average of 1.00 more term per article), and preferred terms generated by MTI with MEDRank and the MEDLINE indexers at the same rate. The addition of MEDRank to MTI significantly improved the retrieval of core concepts in MEDLINE abstracts and more closely matched human expectations compared to MTI without MEDRank. In addition, MEDRank slightly improved overall recall

  7. Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination Levels of Balok River Sediments in Pahang, Malaysia Based on Geo accumulation Index and Supported with Enrichment Factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Zahari Abdullah; Nur Rashidah Abd Manap; Ahmad Saat; Zaini Hamzah; Mohd Tahir Abas

    2015-01-01

    This study was conducted in order to assess the level of metal pollution in river sediment samples, which indirectly representing the general quality of the Balok River. The samples of river sediment have been collected at nine sampling stations from the particular river. The total content of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) after an acid extraction. The mean concentrations (mg/kg) were found at 0.49, 16.16, 42.93, 24.31, 2734.69, 155.61, 16.04, 29.31, 50.71 and 159.40 for the respective metals. The assessment of the river quality was done based on the information showed by the enrichment factor (EF) and geo accumulation index (I geo ). Analysis of the I geo indexes clearly indicate that most of the sediment samples analyzed in this study contained the selected heavy metals in the levels of unpolluted to moderately pollute. Based on the low EF values recorded in this study, it can be concluded that the Balok River sediments is not significantly contaminated with the studied heavy metals. (author)

  8. Interferometric measurement of refractive index modification in a single mode microfiber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Farid; Ahsani, Vahid; Jun, Martin B. G.

    2017-02-01

    Efficient and cost effective measurement of the refractive index profile in an optical fiber is a significant technical job to design and manufacture in-fiber photonic devices and communication systems. For instance, to design fiber gratings, it is required to estimate the refractive index modulation to be inscribed by the fabrication apparatus such as ultraviolet or infrared lasers. Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based quantification of refractive index change written in single mode microfiber by femtosecond laser radiation is presented in this study. The MZI is constructed by splicing a microfiber (core diameter: 3.75 μm, cladding diameter: 40 μm) between standard single mode fibers. To measure the RI inscribed by infrared femtosecond laser, 200 μm length of the core within the MZI was scanned with laser radiation. As the higher index was written within 200 μm length of the core, the transmission spectrum of the interferometer displayed a corresponding red shift. The observed spectral shift was used to calculate the amount of refractive index change inscribed by the femtosecond irradiation. For the MZI length of 3.25 mm, and spectral shift of 0.8 nm, the calculated refractive index was found to be 0.00022. The reported results display excellent agreement between theory and experimental findings. Demonstrated method provides simple yet very effective on-site measurement of index change in optical fibers. Since the MZI can be constructed in diverse fiber types, this technique offers flexibility to quantify index change in various optical fibers.

  9. Design Level Ship Shock Simulation of USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG-81)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Fensterer, William

    2004-01-01

    .... The Navy selected the Arleigh Burke class destroyer, USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG-81), as the most recent platform and subjected it to an underwater explosion two-thirds the magnitude of the design level shot...

  10. 1988 Bulletin compilation and index

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-02-01

    This document is published to provide current information about the national program for managing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This document is a compilation of issues from the 1988 calendar year. A table of contents and one index have been provided to assist in finding information

  11. 1988 Bulletin compilation and index

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1989-02-01

    This document is published to provide current information about the national program for managing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This document is a compilation of issues from the 1988 calendar year. A table of contents and one index have been provided to assist in finding information.

  12. Food-coping strategy index applied to a community of farm-worker households in South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruger, Rozanne; Schönfeldt, Hettie Carina; Owen, Johanna Hendriena

    2008-03-01

    In South Africa, households living in informal urban settlements, in rural areas, and on commercial farms experience various levels of dietary variety, food intake, and household hunger. Low incomes, poor food production and availability, and low spending power characterize these households. Households employ various food-coping strategies to alleviate food stress or poor food availability. To apply an existing food-coping strategy (FCS) index to assess household hunger and its usefulness in identifying the level of food stress and the patterns of food coping in farm-worker households. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were gathered from women (18 to 57 years of age) responsible for food provision in a small farm-worker community in Fouriesburg, South Africa. A structured food-coping questionnaire and a standardized FCS index were used to gather data. The two most common FCS used were relying on cheaper food (chicken feet, diluted soya-mince soup) or less preferred food (meat bones) and employing food-seeking strategies (gathering wild foods), followed by consumption of seed stock (maize) and reduced portion sizes (protein foods and side dishes), resulting in starch-based diets of poor variety. Seasonal strategies varied according to the level of food stress experienced. Patterns of food coping were identified. Negative FCS (limiting food choices, only consuming starchy staples) may cause poor health status. The FCS index was effectively used to assess farm-worker household food-coping behavior (early, clear signals of the level of food distress). These results could be used to allocate appropriate food aid (type of food) and to design nutrition education programs focused on positive FCS (food gathering or bartering) in a particular community to prevent suboptimal nutritional status.

  13. A PRESSURE ULCER AND FALL RATE QUALITY COMPOSITE INDEX FOR ACUTE CARE UNITS: A MEASURE DEVELOPMENT STUDY

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayawardhana, Ananda; Burman, Mary E.; Dunton, Nancy E.; Staggs, Vincent S.; Bergquist-Beringer, Sandra; Gajewski, Byron J.

    2016-01-01

    Background Composite indices are single measures that combine the strengths of two or more individual measures and provide broader, easy-to-use measures for evaluation of provider performance and comparisons across units and hospitals to support quality improvement. Objective The study objective was to develop a unit-level inpatient composite nursing care quality performance index – the Pressure Ulcer and Fall Rate Quality Composite Index. Design Two-phase measure development study. Settings 5,144 patient care units in 857 United States hospitals participating in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indictors® during the year 2013. Methods The Pressure Ulcer and Fall Rate Quality Composite Index was developed in two phases. In Phase 1 the formula was generated using a utility function and generalized penalty analysis. Experts with experience in healthcare quality measurement provided the point of indicator equivalence. In Phase 2 initial validity evidence was gathered based on hypothesized relationships between the Pressure Ulcer and Fall Rate Quality Composite Index and other variables using two-level (unit, hospital) hierarchical linear mixed modeling. Results The Pressure Ulcer and Fall Rate Quality Composite Index = 100 − PUR − FR, where PUR is pressure ulcer rate and FR is total fall rate. Higher scores indicate better quality. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated agreement between pairs of experts and provided evidence for inter-rater reliability of the formula. The validation process demonstrated that higher registered nurse skill mix, higher percent of registered nurses with a baccalaureate in nursing or higher degree, higher percent of registered nurses with national specialty certification, and lower percent of hours supplied by agency staff were significantly associated with higher Pressure Ulcer and Fall Rate Quality Composite Index scores. Higher percentages of unit patients at risk for a hospital-acquired pressure ulcer and higher unit rates of

  14. Measuring cervical cancer risk: development and validation of the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reiter, Paul L; Katz, Mira L; Ferketich, Amy K; Ruffin, Mack T; Paskett, Electra D

    2009-12-01

    To develop and validate a risky sexual behavior index specific to cervical cancer research. Sexual behavior data on 428 women from the Community Awareness Resources and Education (CARE) study were utilized. A weighting scheme for eight risky sexual behaviors was generated and validated in creating the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index. Cutpoints were then identified to classify women as having a low, medium, or high level of risky sexual behavior. Index scores ranged from 0 to 35, with women considered to have a low level of risky sexual behavior if their score was less than six (31.3% of sample), a medium level if their score was 6–10 (30.6%), or a high level if their score was 11 or greater (38.1%). A strong association was observed between the created categories and having a previous abnormal Pap smear test (p Sexual Behavior Index provides a tool for measuring risky sexual behavior level for cervical cancer research. Future studies are needed to validate this index in varied populations and test its use in the clinical setting.

  15. TRECVid Semantic Indexing of Video: A 6-year Retrospective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Awad, G.; Snoek, C.G.M.; Smeaton, A.F.; Quénot, G.

    2016-01-01

    Semantic indexing, or assigning semantic tags to video samples, is a key component for content-based access to video documents and collections. The Semantic Indexing task has been run at TRECVid from 2010 to 2015 with the support of NIST and the Quaero project. As with the previous High-Level

  16. Quantification of Hepatorenal Index for Computer-Aided Fatty Liver Classification with Self-Organizing Map and Fuzzy Stretching from Ultrasonography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwang Baek Kim

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate measures of liver fat content are essential for investigating hepatic steatosis. For a noninvasive inexpensive ultrasonographic analysis, it is necessary to validate the quantitative assessment of liver fat content so that fully automated reliable computer-aided software can assist medical practitioners without any operator subjectivity. In this study, we attempt to quantify the hepatorenal index difference between the liver and the kidney with respect to the multiple severity status of hepatic steatosis. In order to do this, a series of carefully designed image processing techniques, including fuzzy stretching and edge tracking, are applied to extract regions of interest. Then, an unsupervised neural learning algorithm, the self-organizing map, is designed to establish characteristic clusters from the image, and the distribution of the hepatorenal index values with respect to the different levels of the fatty liver status is experimentally verified to estimate the differences in the distribution of the hepatorenal index. Such findings will be useful in building reliable computer-aided diagnostic software if combined with a good set of other characteristic feature sets and powerful machine learning classifiers in the future.

  17. Designing shafts for handling high-level radioactive wastes in mined geologic repositories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hambley, D.F.; Morris, J.R.

    1988-01-01

    Waste package conceptual designs developed in the United States by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management are the basis for specifying the dimensions and weights of the waste package and transfer cask combinations to be hoisted in the waste handling shafts in mined geologic repositories for high-level radioactive waste. The hoist, conveyance, counterweight, and hoist ropes are then sized. Also taken into consideration are overwind and underwind arrestors and safety features required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Other design features such as braking systems, chairing system design, and hoisting speed are considered in specifying waste hoisting system parameters for example repository sites

  18. Intrinsic clotting factors in dependency of age, sex, body mass index, and oral contraceptives: definition and risk of elevated clotting factor levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luxembourg, Beate; Schmitt, Joern; Humpich, Marek; Glowatzki, Matthias; Seifried, Erhard; Lindhoff-Last, Edelgard

    2009-10-01

    Elevated clotting factors have been demonstrated to be a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of age, sex, body mass index, and oral contraceptives on the clotting factor activities of factors VIII, IX, XI, and XII and their impact on the cutoff definition and risk of VTE associated with elevated clotting factors. Factor VIII, IX, XI, and XII activities were measured in 499 blood donors and 286 patients with VTE. Age and body mass index predicted significantly and independently the clotting factor activities of factors VIII, IX, and XI, whereas use of oral contraceptives predicted factor IX, XI, and XII levels. Percentiles of clotting factor activities, which are often used for the cutoff definition of elevated clotting factors, varied due to the effect of age, body mass index, and oral contraceptives. The adjusted odds ratios for VTE were 10.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.1-20.7], 6.1 (95% CI 3.1-12.0), and 3.3 (95% CI 1.9-5.8) for elevated factors VIII, IX, and XI, respectively. Furthermore, our study demonstrates for the first time that elevated factor XII is associated with an increased risk of VTE (adjusted odds ratio 2.9, 95% CI 1.6-5.3).

  19. Analysis of lipid profile and atherogenic index in hyperlipidemic rat (Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout, 1769) that given the methanolic extract of Parijoto (Medinilla speciosa)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sa'adah, Noor Nailis; Purwani, Kristanti Indah; Nurhayati, Awik Puji Dyah; Ashuri, Nova Maulidina

    2017-06-01

    Diet of high lipids cause hyperlipidemia, which marked by an increase of total cholesterols, triglycerides, LDL-C, and decreasing of HDL-C. Hyperlipidemia lead the occurrence of atherosclerosis, one of factors that trigger cardiovascular disease, as hypertention; coronary heart and stroke. Parijoto (M. speciosa) is endemic plants in Asia with a distribution center in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. Parijoto contain phytochemical components such as flavonoids, saponins and kardenolin. Flavonoid potensial as an antioxidants and can improve the hyperlipidemia condition. This study was aimed to determine lipid profiles and atherogenic index of hyperlipidemic Wistar rats (R. norvegicus Berkenhout, 1769) which given the methanolic extract of Parijoto (M. speciosa). The research was done with pre and post test randomized control group design. Rats were given a mixture of duck yolk and reused cooking oil (1:1) orally as much as 1% of body weight (BW) for 30 days. After hyperlipidemia achieved, rats were divided into 5 group: normal rats, hyperlipidemic rats, hyperlipidemic rats were given the methanolic extract of Parijoto (M. speciosa) 500 mg/kg, 1000 mg/kg, and 1500 mg/kg BW. Blood samples were collected when rats in hyperlipidemia conditions and after treatment with the methanolic extract of Parijoto (M. speciosa) for 30 days. The data of total cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol level, and atherogenic index were analyzed using ANOVA followed by Tukey test at 5% significance level. The result showed that giving of methanolic extract of Parijoto (M. speciosa) in hyperlipidemic rats reduced the total cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol levels, and increased of HDL-cholesterol levels significantly (p<0.01), so atherogenic index reduced significantly too (p<0.01). Total cholesterol and LDL-Cholesterol levels were positively correlated with the atherogenic index, whereas HDL-cholesterol levels were negatively correlated with the atherogenic index.

  20. Geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Conceptual repository design in hard rock

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beale, H.; Griffin, J.R.; Davies, J.W.; Burton, W.R.

    1980-01-01

    The paper gives an interim report on UK studies on possible designs for a repository for vitrified high-level radioactive waste in crystalline rock. The properties of the waste are described and general technical considerations of consequences of disposal in the rock. As an illustration, two basic designs are described associated with pre-cooling in an intermediate store. Firstly, a 'wet repository' is outlined wherein canisters are sealed up closely in boreholes in the rock in regions of low groundwater movement. Secondly, a 'dry repository' above sea level is described where emplacement in tunnels is followed by a loose backfill containing activity absorbers. A connection to deep permeable strata maintains water levels below emplacement positions. Variants on the two basic schemes (tunnel emplacement in a wet repository and in situ cooling) are also assessed. It is concluded that all designs discussed produce a size of repository feasible for construction in the UK. Further, (1) a working figure of 100 0 C per maximum rock temperature is not exceeded, (2) no insuperable engineering problems have so far been found, though rock mechanics studies are at an early stage; (3) it is not possible to discount the escape of a few long-lived 'man-made' isotopes. A minute increment to natural activity in the biosphere may occur from traces of uranium and its decay chains; (4) at this stage, all the designs are still possible candidates for the construction of a UK repository. (author)

  1. BMI and body fat mass is inversely associated with vitamin D levels in older individuals

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Araghi, S.O.; Dijk, van S.C.; Ham, A.C.; Brouwer, E.M.; Enneman, A.W.; Sohl, E.; Swart, K.M.A.; Zwaluw, van der N.L.; Wijngaarden, van J.P.; Dhonukshe-Rutten, R.A.M.; Groot, de C.P.G.M.

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To assess the association between obesity (measured by Body Mass Index (BMI) and fat percentage) and serum 25(OH)D levels in older persons. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of data from ‘the B-PROOF study’ (B-vitamins for the Prevention Of Osteoporotic Fractures). Participants: 2842

  2. NSLS-II High Level Application Infrastructure And Client API Design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, G.; Yang, L.; Shroff, K.

    2011-01-01

    The beam commissioning software framework of NSLS-II project adopts a client/server based architecture to replace the more traditional monolithic high level application approach. It is an open structure platform, and we try to provide a narrow API set for client application. With this narrow API, existing applications developed in different language under different architecture could be ported to our platform with small modification. This paper describes system infrastructure design, client API and system integration, and latest progress. As a new 3rd generation synchrotron light source with ultra low emittance, there are new requirements and challenges to control and manipulate the beam. A use case study and a theoretical analysis have been performed to clarify requirements and challenges to the high level applications (HLA) software environment. To satisfy those requirements and challenges, adequate system architecture of the software framework is critical for beam commissioning, study and operation. The existing traditional approaches are self-consistent, and monolithic. Some of them have adopted a concept of middle layer to separate low level hardware processing from numerical algorithm computing, physics modelling, data manipulating, plotting, and error handling. However, none of the existing approaches can satisfy the requirement. A new design has been proposed by introducing service oriented architecture technology. The HLA is combination of tools for accelerator physicists and operators, which is same as traditional approach. In NSLS-II, they include monitoring applications and control routines. Scripting environment is very important for the later part of HLA and both parts are designed based on a common set of APIs. Physicists and operators are users of these APIs, while control system engineers and a few accelerator physicists are the developers of these APIs. With our Client/Server mode based approach, we leave how to retrieve information to the

  3. The European Financial Market Stress Index

    OpenAIRE

    Shaen Corbet

    2014-01-01

    This research constructs and develops a financial stress index based on European financial markets. The integration of numerous sovereign states has created difficulty identifying stress in any one single financial component, but incorporating twenty-three headline European stress indicators across equities, bonds and currencies, in terms of both spreads and levels offer substantial explanatory benefits. The incorporation of a logistical framework specifically analysing the levels, volatility...

  4. Modulation of genetic associations with serum urate levels by body-mass-index in humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer E Huffman

    Full Text Available We tested for interactions between body mass index (BMI and common genetic variants affecting serum urate levels, genome-wide, in up to 42569 participants. Both stratified genome-wide association (GWAS analyses, in lean, overweight and obese individuals, and regression-type analyses in a non BMI-stratified overall sample were performed. The former did not uncover any novel locus with a major main effect, but supported modulation of effects for some known and potentially new urate loci. The latter highlighted a SNP at RBFOX3 reaching genome-wide significant level (effect size 0.014, 95% CI 0.008-0.02, Pinter= 2.6 x 10-8. Two top loci in interaction term analyses, RBFOX3 and ERO1LB-EDARADD, also displayed suggestive differences in main effect size between the lean and obese strata. All top ranking loci for urate effect differences between BMI categories were novel and most had small magnitude but opposite direction effects between strata. They include the locus RBMS1-TANK (men, Pdifflean-overweight= 4.7 x 10-8, a region that has been associated with several obesity related traits, and TSPYL5 (men, Pdifflean-overweight= 9.1 x 10-8, regulating adipocytes-produced estradiol. The top-ranking known urate loci was ABCG2, the strongest known gout risk locus, with an effect halved in obese compared to lean men (Pdifflean-obese= 2 x 10-4. Finally, pathway analysis suggested a role for N-glycan biosynthesis as a prominent urate-associated pathway in the lean stratum. These results illustrate a potentially powerful way to monitor changes occurring in obesogenic environment.

  5. HYPOTHESIS TESTING WITH THE SIMILARITY INDEX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulltilocus DNA fingerprinting methods have been used extensively to address genetic issues in wildlife populations. Hypotheses concerning population subdivision and differing levels of diversity can be addressed through the use of the similarity index (S), a band-sharing coeffic...

  6. [Relation of the blood pressure, lipids and body mass index by smoking status among adolescents].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byeon, Young Soon; Lee, Hea Shoon

    2007-10-01

    This study was to investigate the relationship between blood pressure, lipids and body mass index by smoking status among adolescents. This study was designed as a descriptive correlational study. General and smoking characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. The smoking group consisted of 42 (33%) students and the non smoking group 85 (67%) students. Blood pressure, lipids, height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated to kg/m2. The collected data was analyzed by the n(%), chi2-test, t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient (SPSS 12.0). 1. The smoking level was different between grade, smoking status among the family, the contentment of their relationship with their parents, school life and teachers. 2. The smoking group's systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and body mass index were higher than those of the non smoking group. 3. The smoking amount had a significant positive correlation between total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol. The result of this study offered basic data to develop intervention programs to prevent hypertension and hyperlipidemia in smoking adolescents.

  7. Perturbation results for the Estrada index in weighted networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shang Yilun, E-mail: shylmath@hotmail.com [Institute for Cyber Security, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249 (United States)

    2011-02-18

    The logarithm of the Estrada index has been proposed recently as a spectral measure to character efficiently the robustness of complex networks. In this paper, we explore the Estrada index in weighted networks and develop various perturbation results based on spectral graph theory. It is shown that the robustness of a network may be enhanced even when some edge weights are reduced. This is of particular theoretical and practical significance to network design and optimization.

  8. Perturbation results for the Estrada index in weighted networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang Yilun

    2011-01-01

    The logarithm of the Estrada index has been proposed recently as a spectral measure to character efficiently the robustness of complex networks. In this paper, we explore the Estrada index in weighted networks and develop various perturbation results based on spectral graph theory. It is shown that the robustness of a network may be enhanced even when some edge weights are reduced. This is of particular theoretical and practical significance to network design and optimization.

  9. System-Level Design of an Integrated Receiver Front End for a Wireless Ultrasound Probe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    di Ianni, Tommaso; Hemmsen, Martin Christian; Llimos Muntal, Pere

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, a system-level design is presented for an integrated receive circuit for a wireless ultrasound probe, which includes analog front ends and beamformation modules. This paper focuses on the investigation of the effects of architectural design choices on the image quality. The point...

  10. Omega-3 Index and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tittus, Janine; Huber, Marie Theres; Storck, Klaus; Köhler, Anton; Köhler, Jan M; von Arnim, Thomas; von Schacky, Clemens

    2017-10-15

    Erythrocyte levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (Omega-3 Index) were previously found to be associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at very low levels (Omega-3 Index. These comorbidities can be improved by increasing intake of EPA and DHA, and thus the Omega-3 Index, preferably to its target range of 8% to 11%. Symptoms of OSA might improve by increasing the Omega-3 Index, but more research is needed. In our sleep laboratory, 357 participants with OSA were recruited, and data from 315 participants were evaluated. Three categories of OSA (none/ mild, moderate, severe) were defined based on apnea-hypopnea index. Anthropometrics and lifestyle characteristics (smoking, alcohol, fish intake, omega-3 supplementation) were recorded. Erythrocyte fatty acid compositions were assessed with the HS-Omega-3 Index methodology. The mean Omega-3 Index in all 3 categories of OSA was 5.7%, and no association with OSA was found. There were more male participants with severe OSA (79.7%, P = .042) than females, and participants with severe OSA had a significantly higher body mass index (32.11 ± 6.39 kg/m 2 , P = .009) than participants with mild or moderate OSA. Lifestyle characteristics were not significantly different. In contrast to our hypothesis, an Omega-3 Index of 5.7% was not associated with OSA severity. Previously, an Omega-3 Index Omega-3 Index > 5.7% in an intervention trial with EPA and DHA in OSA, comorbidities of OSA suggest a target range of 8% to 11%. © 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

  11. Metabolic effects of low glycaemic index diets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rusu Emilia

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The persistence of an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes suggests that new nutritional strategies are needed if the epidemic is to be overcome. A promising nutritional approach suggested by this thematic review is metabolic effect of low glycaemic-index diet. The currently available scientific literature shows that low glycaemic-index diets acutely induce a number of favorable effects, such as a rapid weight loss, decrease of fasting glucose and insulin levels, reduction of circulating triglyceride levels and improvement of blood pressure. The long-term effect of the combination of these changes is at present not known. Based on associations between these metabolic parameters and risk of cardiovascular disease, further controlled studies on low-GI diet and metabolic disease are needed.

  12. Software Design Level Security Vulnerabilities

    OpenAIRE

    S. Rehman; K. Mustafa

    2011-01-01

    Several thousand software design vulnerabilities have been reported through established databases. But they need to be structured and classified to be optimally usable in the pursuit of minimal and effective mitigation mechanism. In order we developed a criterion set for a communicative description of the same to serve the purpose as a taxonomic description of security vulnerabilities, arising in the design phase of Software development lifecycle. This description is a part of an effort to id...

  13. Generic communications index: User's manual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dean, R.S.; Steinbrecher, D.H.; Hennick, A.

    1987-12-01

    This report is a manual for providing information required to use a special computer program developed by the NRC for indexing generic communications. The program is written in a user-friendly menu driven form using dBASE III programming language. It facilitates use of the required dBASE III search and sort capabilities to access records in a database called Generic Communications Index. This index is made up of one record each for all bulletins, circulars, and information notices, including revisions and supplements, from 1971, when such documentation started, through 1986 (or to the latest update). The program is designed for use by anyone modestly acquainted with the general use of IBM-compatible personal computers. The manual contains both a brief overview and a detailed description of the program, as well as detailed instructions for getting started using the program on a personal computer with either a two-floppy disk or a hard disk system. Included at the end are a brief description of how to handle problems which might occur, and notes on the makeup of the program and database files for help in adding records of communications for future years

  14. Single-phase Near-well Permeability Upscaling and Productivity Index Calculation Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Shamsollah Noorbakhsh

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Reservoir models with many grid blocks suffer from long run time; it is hence important to deliberate a method to remedy this drawback. Usual upscaling methods are proved to fail to reproduce fine grid model behaviors in coarse grid models in well proximity. This is attributed to rapid pressure changes in the near-well region. Standard permeability upscaling methods are limited to systems with linear pressure changes; therefore, special near-well upscaling approaches based on the well index concept are proposed for these regions with non-linear pressure profile. No general rule is available to calculate the proper well index in different heterogeneity patterns and coarsening levels. In this paper, the available near-well upscaling methods are investigated for homogeneous and heterogeneous permeability models at different coarsening levels. It is observed that the existing well index methods have limited success in reproducing the well flow and pressure behavior of the reference fine grid models as the heterogeneity or coarsening level increases. Coarse-scale well indexes are determined such that fine and coarse scale results for pressure are in agreement. Both vertical and horizontal wells are investigated and, for the case of vertical homogeneous wells, a linear relationship between the default (Peaceman well index and the true (matched well index is obtained, which considerably reduces the error of the Peaceman well index. For the case of heterogeneous vertical wells, a multiplier remedies the error. Similar results are obtained for horizontal wells (both heterogeneous and homogeneous models.

  15. Process Design Concepts for Stabilization of High Level Waste Calcine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    T. R. Thomas; A. K. Herbst

    2005-06-01

    The current baseline assumption is that packaging ¡§as is¡¨ and direct disposal of high level waste (HLW) calcine in a Monitored Geologic Repository will be allowed. The fall back position is to develop a stabilized waste form for the HLW calcine, that will meet repository waste acceptance criteria currently in place, in case regulatory initiatives are unsuccessful. A decision between direct disposal or a stabilization alternative is anticipated by June 2006. The purposes of this Engineering Design File (EDF) are to provide a pre-conceptual design on three low temperature processes under development for stabilization of high level waste calcine (i.e., the grout, hydroceramic grout, and iron phosphate ceramic processes) and to support a down selection among the three candidates. The key assumptions for the pre-conceptual design assessment are that a) a waste treatment plant would operate over eight years for 200 days a year, b) a design processing rate of 3.67 m3/day or 4670 kg/day of HLW calcine would be needed, and c) the performance of waste form would remove the HLW calcine from the hazardous waste category, and d) the waste form loadings would range from about 21-25 wt% calcine. The conclusions of this EDF study are that: (a) To date, the grout formulation appears to be the best candidate stabilizer among the three being tested for HLW calcine and appears to be the easiest to mix, pour, and cure. (b) Only minor differences would exist between the process steps of the grout and hydroceramic grout stabilization processes. If temperature control of the mixer at about 80„aC is required, it would add a major level of complexity to the iron phosphate stabilization process. (c) It is too early in the development program to determine which stabilizer will produce the minimum amount of stabilized waste form for the entire HLW inventory, but the volume is assumed to be within the range of 12,250 to 14,470 m3. (d) The stacked vessel height of the hot process vessels

  16. Development of a brief parent-report risk index for children following parental divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tein, Jenn-Yun; Sandler, Irwin N; Braver, Sanford L; Wolchik, Sharlene A

    2013-12-01

    This article reports on the development of a brief 15-item parent-report risk index (Child Risk Index for Divorced or Separated Families; CRI-DS) to predict problem outcomes of children who have experienced parental divorce. A series of analyses using 3 data sets were conducted that identified and cross-validated a parsimonious set of items representing parent report of child behavior problems and family level risk and protective factors, each of which contributed to the predictive accuracy of the index. The index predicted child behavior outcomes and substance abuse problems up to 6 years later. The index has acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity as a screening measure to predict problem outcomes up to 1 year later. The use of the index to identify the need for preventive services is discussed, along with limitations of the study.

  17. Canister design concepts for disposal of spent fuel and high level waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Patel, R.; Punshon, C.; Nicholas, J.; Bastid, P.; Zhou, R.; Schneider, C.; Bagshaw, N.; Howse, D.; Hutchinson, E. [TWI Ltd, Cambridge, (United Kingdom); Asano, R. [Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Osaka (Japan); King, S. [Integrity Corrosion Consulting Ltd, Calgary, Alberta (Canada)

    2012-10-15

    As part of its long-term plans for development of a repository for spent fuel (SF) and high level waste (HLW), Nagra is exploring various options for the selection of materials and design concepts for disposal canisters. The selection of suitable canister options is driven by a series of requirements, one of the most important of which is providing a minimum 1000 year lifetime without breach of containment. One candidate material is carbon steel, because of its relatively low corrosion rate under repository conditions and because of the advanced state of overall technical maturity related to construction and fabrication. Other materials and design options are being pursued in parallel studies. The objective of the present study was to develop conceptual designs for carbon steel SF and HLW canisters along with supporting justification. The design process and outcomes result in design concepts that deal with all key aspects of canister fabrication, welding and inspection, short-term performance (handling and emplacement) and long-term performance (corrosion and structural behaviour after disposal). A further objective of the study is to use the design process to identify the future work that is required to develop detailed designs. The development of canister designs began with the elaboration of a number of design requirements that are derived from the need to satisfy the long-term safety requirements and the operational safety requirements (robustness needed for safe handling during emplacement and potential retrieval). It has been assumed based on radiation shielding calculations that the radiation dose rate at the canister surfaces will be at a level that prohibits manual handling, and therefore a hot cell and remote handling will be needed for filling the canisters and for final welding operations. The most important canister requirements were structured hierarchically and set in the context of an overall design methodology. Conceptual designs for SF canisters

  18. Canister design concepts for disposal of spent fuel and high level waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patel, R.; Punshon, C.; Nicholas, J.; Bastid, P.; Zhou, R.; Schneider, C.; Bagshaw, N.; Howse, D.; Hutchinson, E.; Asano, R.; King, S.

    2012-10-01

    As part of its long-term plans for development of a repository for spent fuel (SF) and high level waste (HLW), Nagra is exploring various options for the selection of materials and design concepts for disposal canisters. The selection of suitable canister options is driven by a series of requirements, one of the most important of which is providing a minimum 1000 year lifetime without breach of containment. One candidate material is carbon steel, because of its relatively low corrosion rate under repository conditions and because of the advanced state of overall technical maturity related to construction and fabrication. Other materials and design options are being pursued in parallel studies. The objective of the present study was to develop conceptual designs for carbon steel SF and HLW canisters along with supporting justification. The design process and outcomes result in design concepts that deal with all key aspects of canister fabrication, welding and inspection, short-term performance (handling and emplacement) and long-term performance (corrosion and structural behaviour after disposal). A further objective of the study is to use the design process to identify the future work that is required to develop detailed designs. The development of canister designs began with the elaboration of a number of design requirements that are derived from the need to satisfy the long-term safety requirements and the operational safety requirements (robustness needed for safe handling during emplacement and potential retrieval). It has been assumed based on radiation shielding calculations that the radiation dose rate at the canister surfaces will be at a level that prohibits manual handling, and therefore a hot cell and remote handling will be needed for filling the canisters and for final welding operations. The most important canister requirements were structured hierarchically and set in the context of an overall design methodology. Conceptual designs for SF canisters

  19. Bayesian Nonparametric Mixture Estimation for Time-Indexed Functional Data in R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Terrance D. Savitsky

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available We present growfunctions for R that offers Bayesian nonparametric estimation models for analysis of dependent, noisy time series data indexed by a collection of domains. This data structure arises from combining periodically published government survey statistics, such as are reported in the Current Population Study (CPS. The CPS publishes monthly, by-state estimates of employment levels, where each state expresses a noisy time series. Published state-level estimates from the CPS are composed from household survey responses in a model-free manner and express high levels of volatility due to insufficient sample sizes. Existing software solutions borrow information over a modeled time-based dependence to extract a de-noised time series for each domain. These solutions, however, ignore the dependence among the domains that may be additionally leveraged to improve estimation efficiency. The growfunctions package offers two fully nonparametric mixture models that simultaneously estimate both a time and domain-indexed dependence structure for a collection of time series: (1 A Gaussian process (GP construction, which is parameterized through the covariance matrix, estimates a latent function for each domain. The covariance parameters of the latent functions are indexed by domain under a Dirichlet process prior that permits estimation of the dependence among functions across the domains: (2 An intrinsic Gaussian Markov random field prior construction provides an alternative to the GP that expresses different computation and estimation properties. In addition to performing denoised estimation of latent functions from published domain estimates, growfunctions allows estimation of collections of functions for observation units (e.g., households, rather than aggregated domains, by accounting for an informative sampling design under which the probabilities for inclusion of observation units are related to the response variable. growfunctions includes plot

  20. A System-level Infrastructure for Multi-dimensional MP-SoC Design Space Co-exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jia, Z.J.; Bautista, T.; Nunez, A.; Pimentel, A.D.; Thompson, M.

    2013-01-01

    In this article, we present a flexible and extensible system-level MP-SoC design space exploration (DSE) infrastructure, called NASA. This highly modular framework uses well-defined interfaces to easily integrate different system-level simulation tools as well as different combinations of search

  1. Premium indexing in lifelong health insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vercruysse, W.; Dhaene, J.; Denuit, M.; Pitacco, E.; Antonio, K.

    2013-01-01

    For lifelong health insurance covers, medical inflation not incorporated in the level premiums determined at policy issue requires an appropriate increase of these premiums and/or the corresponding reserves during the term of the contract. In this paper, we investigate appropriate premium indexing

  2. Methods for semi-automated indexing for high precision information retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berrios, Daniel C.; Cucina, Russell J.; Fagan, Lawrence M.

    2002-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a new system, ISAID (Internet-based Semi-automated Indexing of Documents), and to generate textbook indexes that are more detailed and more useful to readers. DESIGN: Pilot evaluation: simple, nonrandomized trial comparing ISAID with manual indexing methods. Methods evaluation: randomized, cross-over trial comparing three versions of ISAID and usability survey. PARTICIPANTS: Pilot evaluation: two physicians. Methods evaluation: twelve physicians, each of whom used three different versions of the system for a total of 36 indexing sessions. MEASUREMENTS: Total index term tuples generated per document per minute (TPM), with and without adjustment for concordance with other subjects; inter-indexer consistency; ratings of the usability of the ISAID indexing system. RESULTS: Compared with manual methods, ISAID decreased indexing times greatly. Using three versions of ISAID, inter-indexer consistency ranged from 15% to 65% with a mean of 41%, 31%, and 40% for each of three documents. Subjects using the full version of ISAID were faster (average TPM: 5.6) and had higher rates of concordant index generation. There were substantial learning effects, despite our use of a training/run-in phase. Subjects using the full version of ISAID were much faster by the third indexing session (average TPM: 9.1). There was a statistically significant increase in three-subject concordant indexing rate using the full version of ISAID during the second indexing session (p < 0.05). SUMMARY: Users of the ISAID indexing system create complex, precise, and accurate indexing for full-text documents much faster than users of manual methods. Furthermore, the natural language processing methods that ISAID uses to suggest indexes contributes substantially to increased indexing speed and accuracy.

  3. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoms, Martin

    2016-04-01

    The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index Martin Thoms, Melissa Parsons, Phil Morley Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, Geography and Planning, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia. Natural hazard management policy directions in Australia - and indeed internationally - are increasingly being aligned to ideas of resilience. Resilience to natural hazards is the ability of individuals and communities to cope with disturbance and adversity and to maintain adaptive behaviour. Operationalizing the measurement and assessment of disaster resilience is often undertaken using a composite index, but this exercise is yet to be undertaken in Australia. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index is a top-down, national scale assessment of the resilience of communities to natural hazards. Resilience is assessed based on two sets of capacities: coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity relates to the factors influencing the ability of a community to prepare for, absorb and recover from a natural hazard event. Adaptive capacity relates to the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Indicators are derived under themes of social character, economic capital, infrastructure and planning, emergency services, community capital, information and engagement and governance/leadership/policy, using existing data sets (e.g. census data) or evaluation of policy and procedure (e.g. disaster management planning). A composite index of disaster resilience is then computed for each spatial division, giving national scale coverage. The results of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index will be reported in a State of Disaster Resilience report, due in 2018. The index is co-designed with emergency service agencies, and will support policy development, planning, community engagement and emergency management.

  4. The Index for Sustainable Economic Welfare for Flanders, Belgium, 1990-2009; De Index voor Duurzame Economische Welvaart (ISEW) voor Vlaanderen, 1990-2009

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bleys, B. [Geassocieerde Faculteit Handelswetenschappen en Bestuurskunde, Hogeschool Gent, Associatie Universiteit Gent, Gent (Belgium)

    2012-05-15

    In this report the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is compiled for Flanders for the period 1990-2009. The index is a measure of economic welfare in that it measures the contribution of a country's or region's economy to the overall level of well-being of its citizens. In this regard, the ISEW can be regarded as an indicator for the economic dimension of well-being [Dutch] In deze studie wordt de Index voor Duurzame Economische Welvaart (ISEW - Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare) berekend voor Vlaanderen voor de periode 1990-2009. Deze index is een maatstaf voor economische welvaart en meet de bijdrage van het economische systeem van een land of regio tot het algemene welzijn van haar bevolking. De ISEW kan dus gezien worden als een indicator voor de economische dimensie van welzijn.

  5. Level-1 PSA to support the design of the KALIMER-600 Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Sang Hoon; Kim, Tae-Woon; Jeong, Hae-Yong; Han, Seok Joong; Ahn, Kwang-Il; Yang, Joon-Eon

    2012-01-01

    A sodium-cooled fast reactor, KALIMER-600, is under development. Its fuel is the metal fuel of U-TRU-Zr and it uses sodium as a coolant. KALIMER-600 has passive safety features such as passive shutdown functions, passive pump coast-down features, and passive decay heat removal systems. It has inherent reactivity feedback effects. The probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) will be one of the initiating subjects for designing KALIMER-600 from the aspects of risk informed design. A preliminary level-1 internal full power PSA has been performed to evaluate the safety level and its applicability for the KALIMER-600 conceptual design. Various design alternatives are evaluated from the viewpoint of PSA in order to support the design of the KALIMER-600. Sensitivity studies are also performed to evaluate the assumptions made for the PSA. The applicability and weakness of the KALIMER-600 PSA are discussed. The technical issues to be solved in performing the PSA will be discussed. (authors)

  6. Miniature interferometer for refractive index measurement in microfluidic chip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Minghui; Geiser, Martial; Truffer, Frederic; Song, Chengli

    2012-12-01

    The design and development of the miniaturized interferometer for measurement of the refractive index or concentration of sub-microliter volume aqueous solution in microfludic chip is presented. It is manifested by a successful measurement of the refractive index of sugar-water solution, by utilizing a laser diode for light source and the small robust instrumentation for practical implementation. Theoretically, the measurement principle and the feasibility of the system are analyzed. Experimental device is constructed with a diode laser, lens, two optical plate and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). Through measuring the positional changes of the interference fringes, the refractive index change are retrieved. A refractive index change of 10-4 is inferred from the measured image data. The entire system is approximately the size of half and a deck of cards and can operate on battery power for long time.

  7. A scoping review of the uses of the care index in children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gupta, E; Innes, N; Schuller, A A; Vermaire, J H; Marshman, Z

    OBJECTIVE: To conduct a scoping review of literature to describe how the care index (CI) and restorative index (RI) are used in child populations and to determine whether they are fit for purpose. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: Scoping review conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework. METHOD:

  8. A Novel Index Using Soluble CD36 Is Associated with the Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Comparison Study with Triglyceride-Glucose Index

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Ho Jin; Moon, Jun Sung; Park, Il Rae; Kim, Joong Hee; Yoon, Ji Sung; Won, Kyu Chang; Lee, Hyoung Woo

    2017-01-01

    Background Plasma soluble cluster determinant 36 (sCD36) level is closely related with insulin resistance and atherosclerosis, but little is known whether it could be a surrogate for estimating risk of developing diabetes or not. To address this, we evaluated association between sCD36 index, the product of sCD36 and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and then compared with triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index which has been suggested simple index ...

  9. Comparison of 4 established DASH diet indexes: examining associations of index scores and colorectal cancer123

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cross, Amanda J; Subar, Amy F; Krebs-Smith, Susan M; Park, Yikyung; Powell-Wiley, Tiffany; Hollenbeck, Albert; Reedy, Jill

    2013-01-01

    Background: Multiple diet indexes have been developed to capture the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern and examine relations with health outcomes but have not been compared within the same study population to our knowledge. Objective: We compared 4 established DASH indexes and examined associations with colorectal cancer. Design: Scores were generated from a food-frequency questionnaire in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study (n = 491,841). Separate indexes defined by Dixon (7 food groups, saturated fat, and alcohol), Mellen (9 nutrients), Fung (7 food groups and sodium), and Günther (8 food groups) were used. HRs and 95% CIs for colorectal cancer were generated by using Cox proportional hazard models. Results: From 1995 through 2006, 6752 incident colorectal cancer cases were ascertained. In men, higher scores were associated with reduced colorectal cancer incidence by comparing highest to lowest quintiles for all indexes as follows: Dixon (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.87), Mellen (HR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.86), Fung (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.83), and Günther (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.90). Higher scores in women were inversely associated with colorectal cancer incidence by using methods defined by Mellen (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.91), Fung (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.96), and Günther (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.73.0.97) but not Dixon (HR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.80, 1.28). Conclusion: The consistency in findings, particularly in men, suggests that all indexes capture an underlying construct inherent in the DASH dietary pattern, although the specific index used can affect results. PMID:23864539

  10. Rock index properties for geoengineering in the Paradox Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Rourke, J.E.; Rey, P.H.; Alviti, E.; Capps, C.C.

    1986-02-01

    Previous researchers have investigated the use of a number of rapid index tests that can be used on core samples, or in situ, to determine rock properties needed for geoengineering design, or to predict construction performance in these rock types. Selected research is reviewed, and the correlations of index tests with laboratory tests of rock properties found by the earlier investigators are discussed. The selection and testing of rock core samples from the Gibson Dome No. 1 borehole in Paradox Basin are described. The samples consist primarily of non-salt rock above salt cycle 6, but include some samples of anhydrite and salt cycle 6. The index tests included the point load test, Schmidt hammer rebound test, and abrasion hardness test. Statistical methods were used to analyze the correlations of index test data with laboratory test data of rock properties for the same core. Complete statistical results and computer-generated graphics are presented; these results are discussed in relation to the work of earlier investigations for index testing of similar rock types. Generally, fair to good correlations were obtained for predicting unconfined compressive strength and Young's modulus for sandstone and siltstone, while poorer correlations were found for limestone. This may be due to the large variability of limestone properties compared to the small number of samples. Overall, the use of index tests to assess rock properties at Paradox Basin appears to be practial for some conceptual and preliminary design needs, and the technique should prove useful at any salt repository site. However, it is likely that specific correlations should be demonstrated separately for each site, and the data base for establishing the correlations should probably include at least several hundred data points for each type

  11. Determination of muscle fatigue index for strength training in patients with Duchenne dystrophy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano Rodrigues Oliveira

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Muscle weakness is the most prominent impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD and often involves the loss of functional ability as well as other limitations related to daily living. Thus, there is a need to maintain muscle strength in large muscle groups, such as the femoral quadriceps, which is responsible for diverse functional abilities. However, the load and duration of training for such rehabilitation has proven to be a great unknown, mainly due to the undesired appearance of muscle fatigue, which is a severe factor for the injury of muscle fibers. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to determine a fatigue index by means of surface electromyography (EMG for the parameterization of muscle strengthening physiotherapy training. METHODS: A cross-sectional study (case series was carried out involving four patients with DMD. Three pairs of surface electrodes were placed on the motor point of the Rectus femoris, Vastus lateralis and Vastus medialis of the dominant limb, maintaining the knee at 60º of flexion. The participants were instructed to perform the extension movement of this joint at four strength levels (100%, 80%, 60% and 40% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction. RESULTS: The slope of the linear regression line was used for the determination of the fatigue index, performed by Pearson's test on the median frequency of each strength level. CONCLUSION: Electromyographic measurements of the strength index for muscle training proved to be a simple accessible assessment method, as well as an extremely valuable tool, allowing the design of a muscle strength training program with an individualized load threshold.

  12. Towards cheminformatics-based estimation of drug therapeutic index: Predicting the protective index of anticonvulsants using a new quantitative structure-index relationship approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shangying; Zhang, Peng; Liu, Xin; Qin, Chu; Tao, Lin; Zhang, Cheng; Yang, Sheng Yong; Chen, Yu Zong; Chui, Wai Keung

    2016-06-01

    The overall efficacy and safety profile of a new drug is partially evaluated by the therapeutic index in clinical studies and by the protective index (PI) in preclinical studies. In-silico predictive methods may facilitate the assessment of these indicators. Although QSAR and QSTR models can be used for predicting PI, their predictive capability has not been evaluated. To test this capability, we developed QSAR and QSTR models for predicting the activity and toxicity of anticonvulsants at accuracy levels above the literature-reported threshold (LT) of good QSAR models as tested by both the internal 5-fold cross validation and external validation method. These models showed significantly compromised PI predictive capability due to the cumulative errors of the QSAR and QSTR models. Therefore, in this investigation a new quantitative structure-index relationship (QSIR) model was devised and it showed improved PI predictive capability that superseded the LT of good QSAR models. The QSAR, QSTR and QSIR models were developed using support vector regression (SVR) method with the parameters optimized by using the greedy search method. The molecular descriptors relevant to the prediction of anticonvulsant activities, toxicities and PIs were analyzed by a recursive feature elimination method. The selected molecular descriptors are primarily associated with the drug-like, pharmacological and toxicological features and those used in the published anticonvulsant QSAR and QSTR models. This study suggested that QSIR is useful for estimating the therapeutic index of drug candidates. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  13. A human fecal contamination index for ranking impaired ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Human fecal pollution of surface water remains a public health concern worldwide. As a result, there is a growing interest in the application of human-associated fecal source identification quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) technologies for recreational water quality risk management. The transition from a research subject to a management tool requires the integration of standardized water sampling, laboratory, and data analysis procedures. In this study, a standardized HF183/BacR287 qPCR method was combined with a water sampling strategy and Bayesian data algorithm to establish a human fecal contamination index that can be used to rank impaired recreational water sites polluted with human waste. Stability and bias of index predictions were investigated under various parameters including siteswith different pollution levels, sampling period time range (1-15 weeks), and number of qPCR replicates per sample (2-14 replicates). Sensitivity analyses were conducted with simulated data sets (100 iterations) seeded with HF183/BacR287 qPCR laboratory measurements from water samples collected from three Southern California sites (588 qPCR measurements). Findings suggest that site ranking is feasible and that all parameters tested influence stability and bias in human fecal contamination indexscoring. Trends identified by sensitivity analyses will provide managers with the information needed to design and conduct field studies to rank impaired recreational water sites based

  14. Simulation and controller design for an agricultural sprayer boom leveling system

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Jian

    2011-01-01

    According to the agricultural precision requirements, the distance from sprayer nozzles to the corps should be kept between 50 cm to 70 cm. The sprayer boom also needs to be kept parallel to the field during the operation process. Thus we can guarantee the quality of the chemical droplets distribution on the crops. In this paper we introduced a sprayer boom leveling system for agricultural sprayer vehicles with electro-hydraulic auto-leveling system. The suitable hydraulic actuating cylinder and valve were selected according to the specific systemic specifications. Furthermore, a compensation controller for the electro-hydraulic system was designed based on the mathematical model. With simulations we can optimize the performance of this controller to make sure a fast leveling response to the inclined sprayer boom. © 2011 IEEE.

  15. Starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index of fried sweet potato cultivars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amaka Odenigbo

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. is a very rich source of starch. There is increased interest in starch digestibility and the prevention and management of metabolic diseases.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of starch fractions and predicted glycemic index of different cultivars of sweet potato. Material and Method: French fries produced from five cultivars of sweet potato (‘Ginseng Red’, ‘Beauregard’, ‘White Travis’, ‘Georgia Jet clone #2010’ and ‘Georgia Jet’ were used. The level of total starch (TS, resistant starch (RS, digestible starch (DS, and starch digestion index starch digestion index in the samples were evaluated. In vitro starch hydrolysis at 30, 90, and 120 min were determined enzymatically for calculation of rapidly digestible starch (RDS, predicted glycemic index (pGI and slowly digestible starch (SDS respectively. Results: The RS content in all samples had an inversely significant correlation with pGI (-0.52; P<0.05 while RDS had positive and significant influence on both pGI (r=0.55; P<0.05 and SDI (r= 0.94; P<0.01. ‘White Travis’ and ‘Ginseng Red’ had higher levels of beneficial starch fractions (RS and SDS with low pGI and starch digestion Index (SDI, despite their higher TS content. Generally, all the cultivars had products with low to moderate GI values. Conclusion: The glycemic index of these food products highlights the health promoting characteristics of sweet potato cultivars.

  16. [Relevance and validity of a new French composite index to measure poverty on a geographical level].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Challier, B; Viel, J F

    2001-02-01

    A number of disease conditions are influenced by deprivation. Geographical measurement of deprivation can provide an independent contribution to individual measures by accounting for the social context. Such a geographical approach, based on deprivation indices, is classical in Great Britain but scarcely used in France. The objective of this work was to build and validate an index readily usable in French municipalities and cantons. Socioeconomic data (unemployment, occupations, housing specifications, income, etc.) were derived from the 1990 census of municipalities and cantons in the Doubs departement. A new index was built by principal components analysis on the municipality data. The validity of the new index was checked and tested for correlations with British deprivation indices. Principal components analysis on municipality data identified four components (explaining 76% of the variance). Only the first component (CP1 explaining 42% of the variance) was retained. Content validity (wide choice of potential deprivation items, correlation between items and CP1: 0.52 to 0.96) and construct validity (CP1 socially relevant; Cronbach's alpha=0.91; correlation between CP1 and three out of four British indices ranging from 0.73 to 0.88) were sufficient. Analysis on canton data supported that on municipality data. The validation of the new index being satisfactory, the user will have to make a choice. The new index, CP1, is closer to the local background and was derived from data from a French departement. It is therefore better adapted to more descriptive approaches such as health care planning. To examine the relationship between deprivation and health with a more etiological approach, the British indices (anteriority, international comparisons) would be more appropriate, but CP1, once validated in various health problem situations, should be most useful for French studies.

  17. The ATLAS Level-1 Topological Trigger Design and Operation in Run-2

    CERN Document Server

    Igonkina, Olga; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The ATLAS Level-1 Trigger system performs initial event selection using data from calorimeters and the muon spectrometer to reduce the LHC collision event rate down to about 100 kHz. Trigger decisions from the different sub-systems are combined in the Central Trigger Processor for the final Level-1 decision. A new FPGAs-based AdvancedTCA sub-system was introduced to calculate in real time complex kinematic observables: the Topological Processor System. It was installed during the shutdown and commissioning started in 2015 and continued during 2016. The design and operation of the Level-1 Topological Trigger in Run-2 will be illustrated.

  18. Development of maintenance composite priority index for buildings in Palestine: A pilot case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Issa, Amjad; Awad, Riyad

    2017-11-01

    The current building maintenance practices in Palestine are not based on scientific systematic methods. Most of the municipalities use one criterion to define the maintenance priorities, which is the "worst-first" criterion. Therefore, the current practices in defining buildings maintenance plans are not dealing with the known phases that are generally followed, including those in establishing building inventories, building condition survey, detailed visual inspection, identification of the proper maintenance and rehabilitation measures, and setting priorities. Accordingly, the recent preparation of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manual for Palestinian municipalities is an important step to guide them towards preparing and implementing their O&M priority-based plans, considering scare resources. During the course of preparation of the Manual, the proposed procedures were applied at ten pilot municipalities. This study aims to explore the outcome of the implementation of the 2014/2015 O&M buildings maintenance priorities at these municipalities through the development of maintenance composite priority index (PI). The new proposed priority index is a scientific tool that will identify the priority of maintenance buildings through using a systematic procedure instead of first worst one. To achieve this, analyses of the outcome of a questionnaire designed to collect relevant information from these municipalities was conducted. The maintenance priority index for buildings is calculated considering different indicators among them building status (condition), classification and importance of the building, number of beneficiaries (users), safety aspects (severity level in the building), and people complaints. The main component of the PI is the building condition index (BCI) which forms about 40% of the total weight. The physical inspection, which is the main input for calculating the BCI, is conducted on two levels; the primary level, and the secondary level. The

  19. The organic contamination level based on the total soil mass is not a proper index of the soil contamination intensity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, H.-W.; Daniel, Sheng G.; Lin, T.-F.; Su, Y.; Chiou, C.T.

    2009-01-01

    Concentrations of organic contaminants in common productive soils based on the total soil mass give a misleading account of actual contamination effects. This is attributed to the fact that productive soils are essentially water-saturated, with the result that the soil uptake of organic compounds occurs principally by partition into the soil organic matter (SOM). This report illustrates that the soil contamination intensity of a compound is governed by the concentration in the SOM (Com) rather than by the concentration in whole soil (Cs). Supporting data consist of the measured levels and toxicities of many pesticides in soils of widely differing SOM contents and the related levels in in-situ crops that defy explanation by the Cs values. This SOM-based index is timely needed for evaluating the contamination effects of food crops grown in different soils and for establishing a dependable priority ranking for intended remediation of numerous contamination sites.

  20. Chronic inflammation and elevated homocysteine levels are associated with increased body mass index in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzelmeric, Kadir; Alkan, Nevriye; Pirimoglu, Meltem; Unal, Orhan; Turan, Cem

    2007-09-01

    Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are insulin-resistant and have increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and coronary heart disease (CHD). But it is controversial whether the increased risk of CHD and T2DM is associated with endocrine abnormalities occurring as a consequence of PCOS or whether it is related to obesity or metabolic changes frequently seen in women with PCOS. Since both homocysteine (Hcy) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are supposed to predict T2DM and CHD, we investigated their possible relationship with insulin resistance, obesity, hyperandrogenemia and metabolic alterations in 44 PCOS women and 26 healthy controls matched by age and body mass index (BMI). Hcy and CRP levels were significantly elevated in PCOS women compared with controls (13.30 +/- 4.81 vs. 9.02 +/- 3.36 micromol/l, p PCOS such as testosterone and LH/FSH ratio (p > 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed BMI as the major factor examined that influenced both Hcy and CRP levels. In PCOS women, plasma levels of Hcy and CRP were significantly elevated compared with age- and BMI-matched controls. Although most of the PCOS-related endocrine and metabolic changes are related to elevated plasma Hcy and CRP levels in PCOS women, BMI seems to be the major factor determining CHD and T2DM in women with PCOS.

  1. Ropossum: An Authoring Tool for Designing, Optimizing and Solving Cut the Rope Levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shaker, Mohammad; Shaker, Noor; Togelius, Julian

    2013-01-01

    We present a demonstration of Ropossum, an authoring tool for the generation and testing of levels of the physics-based game, Cut the Rope. Ropossum integrates many features: (1) automatic design of complete solvable content, (2) incorporation of designer’s input through the creation of complete...... or partial designs, (3) automatic check for playability and (4) optimization of a given design based on playability. The system includes a physics engine to simulate the game and an evolutionary framework to evolve content as well as an AI reasoning agent to check for playability. The system is optimised...

  2. 1-GWh diurnal load-leveling superconducting magnetic energy storage system reference design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassenzahl, W.V.; Rogers, J.D.

    1979-01-01

    A point reference design has been completed for a 1-GWh Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage system. The system is for electric utility dirunal load leveling; however, such a device will function to meet much faster power demands including dynamic stabilization. The study has explored several concepts of design not previously considered in the same detail as treated here. Because the study is for a point design, optimization in all respects is not complete. The study examines aspects of the coil design; superconductor supported off of the dewar shell; the dewar shell, its configuration and stresses; the underground excavation and related construction for holding the superconducting coil and its dewar; the helium refrigeration system; the electrical converter system; the vacuum system; the guard coil; and the costs. The report is a condensation of the more comprehensive study which is in the process of being printed

  3. Author Index S¯adhan¯a Vol. 37, 2012

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Author Index. Abu-Bakar A R ... Seismic performance evaluation of existing. RC buildings designed as per past codes of practice. 281 ... Simulation–optimization model for ground- ... swarm optimization. 351 ... non-local elasticity theory. 461.

  4. Design of a Multi-layer Lane-Level Map for Vehicle Route Planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Chaoran

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available With the development of intelligent transportation system, there occurs further demand for high precision localization and route planning, and simultaneously the traditional road-level map fails to meet with this requirement, by which this paper is motivated. In this paper, t he three-layer lane-level map architecture for vehicle path guidance is established, and the mathematical models of road-level layer, intermediate layer and lane-level layer are designed considering efficiency and precision. The geometric model of the lane-level layer of the map is characterized by Cubic Hermite Spline for continuity. A method of generating the lane geometry with fixed and variable control points is proposed, which can effectively ensure the accuracy with limited num ber of control points. In experimental part, a multi-layer map of an intersection is built to validate the map model, and an example of a local map was generated with the lane-level geometry.

  5. The Potential Biochemical Diagnosis Criteria and Therapeutic Effect Indexes: Sex Hormone Binding Globulin Levels and Free Androgen Index in Blood of Patients With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-02

    The Investigators Collected 534 PCOS Patients as the Case Group,and 580 Infertile Women With Normal Ovulatory Cycle of the Control Group;; At the Same Time, the Investigators Continuedly Collect Cases to October 2012, and Totally Collected 579 Patients With PCOS Altogether;; 534 Patients in the Cases Group and 580 Women in the Control Group Received no Measures, While 579 Patients Received Drugs;; The Investigators Monitored Basic Indexes in Blood of All the Subjects in This Suvey,and Also Monitored Indexes of 579 Patients After Treatment.

  6. The Responsiveness and Interpretability of the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thoomes-de Graaf, Marloes; Scholten-Peeters, Wendy; Duijn, Edwin; Karel, Yasmaine; de Vet, Henrica C W; Koes, Bart; Verhagen, Arianne

    2017-01-01

    Study Design Clinical measurement study; prospective cohort design. Background Shoulder pain is a common disorder and treatment is most often focused on a reduction of pain and functional disabilities. Several reviews have encouraged the use of the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) to

  7. What Level Design Elements Determine Flow? : How Light and Objects Guide the Player in Overwatch and Doom

    OpenAIRE

    Eliasson, David

    2017-01-01

    This thesis presents a comparative study between Overwatch (2016) and Doom (2016) to determine how these fast-paced games facilitate flow in their gameplay. The second chapter looks at formal definitions of flow and level design to establish a vocabulary for following chapters. Through formal analysis the level designs of both games are then examined to establish what elements in them guide players and keep the flow in gameplay. The thesis also examines how the initial gameplay design princip...

  8. Hydrodynamic analysis and design of high-level radioactive waste disposal model penetrators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Visintini, L.; Mazazzi, R.; Murray, C.N.

    1991-01-01

    The Commission of the European Communities is studying in the framework of the NEA/OECD Internationally Co-ordinational Seabed Programme the feasibility of using deep ocean sedimentary geological formations as a final disposal medium for vitrified high level waste and fuel elements. At present, two options are being considered for the embedment of such wastes in the sediment column, drilling and free fall penetrators. In the second case, the high level waste would be contained in specially designed drums which would be placed into torpedo-shaped projectiles. These penetrators would then be launched from a semi-submersible platform or ship and allowed to fall freely through the water column (≅ 5 km depth) and to bury themselves within the sediment column. The present article reports some work which has been carried out by the Joint Research Centre, Ispra Establishment on designing large model penetrators for tests at two sites in the North Atlantic

  9. Brewster-angle 50%-50% beam splitter for p-polarized infrared light using a high-index quarter-wave layer deposited on a low-index prism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azzam, R M A

    2017-08-10

    A quarter-wave layer (QWL) of high refractive index, which is deposited on a transparent prism of low refractive index, can be designed to split an incident p-polarized light beam at the Brewster angle (BA) of the air-substrate interface into p-polarized reflected and transmitted beams of equal intensity (50% each) that travel in orthogonal directions. For reflection of p-polarized light at the BA, the supported QWL functions as a free-standing (unsupported) pellicle. An exemplary design is presented that uses Si x Ge 1-x QWL deposited on an IRTRAN1 prism for applications (such as Michelson and Mach-Zehnder interferometry) with a variable compositional fraction x in the 2-6 μm mid-IR spectral range.

  10. EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) : a user guide

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Seror, Raphaèle; Bowman, Simon J; Brito-Zeron, Pilar; Theander, Elke; Bootsma, Hendrika; Tzioufas, Athanasios; Gottenberg, Jacques-Eric; Ramos-Casals, Manel; Dörner, Thomas; Ravaud, Philippe; Vitali, Claudio; Mariette, Xavier; Asmussen, Karsten; Jacobsen, Soren; Bartoloni, Elena; Gerli, Roberto; Bijlsma, Johannes Wj; Kruize, Aike A; Bombardieri, Stefano; Bookman, Arthur; Kallenberg, Cees; Meiners, Petra; Brun, Johan G; Jonsson, Roland; Caporali, Roberto; Carsons, Steven; De Vita, Salvatore; Del Papa, Nicoletta; Devauchelle, Valerie; Saraux, Alain; Fauchais, Anne-Laure; Sibilia, Jean; Hachulla, Eric; Illei, Gabor; Isenberg, David; Jones, Adrian; Manoussakis, Menelaos; Mandl, Thomas; Jacobsson, Lennart; Demoulins, Frederic; Montecucco, Carlomaurizio; Ng, Wan-Fai; Nishiyama, Sumusu; Omdal, Roald; Parke, Ann; Praprotnik, Sonja; Tomsic, Matjia; Price, Elizabeth; Scofield, Hal; L Sivils, Kathy; Smolen, Josef; Laqué, Roser Solans; Steinfeld, Serge; Sutcliffe, Nurhan; Sumida, Takayuki; Valesini, Guido; Valim, Valeria; Vivino, Frederick B; Vollenweider, Cristina

    2015-01-01

    The EULAR Sjögren's syndrome (SS) disease activity index (ESSDAI) is a systemic disease activity index that was designed to measure disease activity in patients with primary SS. With the growing use of the ESSDAI, some domains appear to be more challenging to rate than others. The ESSDAI is now in

  11. Design concepts of definitive disposal for high level radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Badillo A, V.E.; Alonso V, G.

    2007-01-01

    It is excessively known the importance about finding a solution for the handling and disposition of radioactive waste of all level. However, the polemic is centered in the administration of high level radioactive waste and the worn out fuel, forgetting that the more important volumes of waste its are generated in the categories of low level wastes or of very low level. Depending on the waste that will be confined and of the costs, several technological modalities of definitive disposition exist, in function of the depth of the confinement. The concept of deep geologic storage, technological option proposed more than 40 years ago, it is a concept of isolation of waste of long half life placed in a deep underground installation dug in geologic formations that are characterized by their high stability and their low flow of underground water. In the last decades, they have registered countless progresses in technical and scientific aspects of the geologic storage, making it a reliable technical solution supported with many years of scientific work carried out by numerous institutions in the entire world. In this work the design concepts that apply some countries for the high level waste disposal that its liberate heat are revised and the different geologic formations that have been considered for the storage of this type of wastes. (Author)

  12. System Level Design of a Continuous-Time Delta-Sigma Modulator for Portable Ultrasound Scanners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Llimos Muntal, Pere; Færch, Kjartan; Jørgensen, Ivan Harald Holger

    2015-01-01

    In this paper the system level design of a continuous-time ∆Σ modulator for portable ultrasound scanners is presented. The overall required signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is derived to be 42 dB and the sampling frequency used is 320 MHz for an oversampling ratio of 16. In order to match these requir......, based on high-level VerilogA simulations, the performance of the ∆Σ modulator versus various block performance parameters is presented as trade-off curves. Based on these results, the block specifications are derived.......In this paper the system level design of a continuous-time ∆Σ modulator for portable ultrasound scanners is presented. The overall required signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is derived to be 42 dB and the sampling frequency used is 320 MHz for an oversampling ratio of 16. In order to match...

  13. Walkability Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index, and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010. The methodology describing the process of creating the Walkability Index can be found in the documents located at ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/OP/WalkabilityIndex.zip. You can also learn more about the Smart Location Database at https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/OP/Smart_Location_DB_v02b.zip.

  14. Evaluation of resistant starch, glycemic index and fortificants content of premix rice coated with various concentrations and types of edible coating materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yulianto, W. A.; Susiati, A. M.; Adhini, H. A. N.

    2018-01-01

    The incidence of diabetes in Indonesia has been increasing year by year. Diets with a low glycemic index and high resistant starch foods can assist diabetics in controlling their blood glucose levels. Diabetics are known to have micro-nutrient deficiencies of chromium, magnesium and vitamin D that can be overcome by consuming parboiled rice fortified by use of a coating method. The fortification of parboiled rice (premix rice) can be achieved by coating with HPMC (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose), MC (methyl cellulose), CMC (carboxyl methyl cellulose), gum arabic and rice starch. This research aimed to evaluate the levels of resistant starch, glycemic index and fortificants of premix rice coated with different concentrations and types of edible coating materials. This research used completely randomized design, with treatments to the concentrations and the types of edible coating (HPMC, CMC, MC, gum arabic and rice starch). The concentrations of edible coating were 0.15%, 0.2% and 0.25% for cellulose derivative coatings; 25%, 30%, 35% for gum arabic and 2%, 3.5% and 5% for rice starch. This research shows that fortified premix rice coated with various concentrations and types of edible coating materials is high in resistant starch and has a low glycemic index. The coating treatment affects the levels of magnesium and vitamin D, but does not affect the levels of chromium in parboiled rice. The premix rice with a low glycemic index and high nutrient content (chromium, magnesium and vitamin D) was premix rice coated by CMC 0.25% and HPMC 0.25% with glycemic indeces of 39.34 and 38.50, respectively.

  15. JC virus antibody index in natalizumab-treated patients: correlations with John Cunningham virus DNA and C-reactive protein level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lanzillo R

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Roberta Lanzillo,1 Raffaele Liuzzi,2 Luca Vallefuoco,3 Marcello Moccia,1 Luca Amato,1 Giovanni Vacca,1 Veria Vacchiano,1 Giuseppe Portella,3 Vincenzo Brescia Morra1 1Neurological Sciences Department, Federico II University, 2Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, 3Clinical Pathology Department, Federico II University, Naples, ItalyAbstract: Natalizumab-treated patients have a higher risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Exposure to John Cunningham virus (JCV is a prerequisite for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. To assess JCV exposure in multiple sclerosis patients, we performed a serological examination, obtained the antibody index, performed real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR to detect JCV DNA in plasma and urine, and investigated the role of ultrasensitive C-reactive protein (usCRP as a possible biological marker of JCV reactivation. We retrospectively analyzed consecutive natalizumab-treated multiple sclerosis patients who underwent a JCV antibody test through a two-step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (STRATIFY test to the measure of serum usCRP levels, and to perform blood and urine JCV PCR. The studied cohort included 97 relapsing–remitting patients (60 women. Fifty-two patients (53.6% tested positive for anti-JCV antibodies. PCR showed JCV DNA in the urine of 30 out of 83 (36.1% patients and 28 out of 44 seropositive patients (63.6%, with a 6.7% false-negative rate for the STRATIFY test. Normalized optical density values were higher in urinary JCV DNA-positive patients (P<0.0001. Interestingly, the level of usCRP was higher in urinary JCV DNA-positive patients and correlated to the number of DNA copies in urine (P=0.028. As expected, patients' age correlated with JCV seropositivity and with JC viruria (P=0.02 and P=0.001, respectively. JC viruria was significantly correlated with a high JCV antibody index and high serum usCRP levels. We suggest that PCR and

  16. Bayesian approach to estimate AUC, partition coefficient and drug targeting index for studies with serial sacrifice design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Tianli; Baron, Kyle; Zhong, Wei; Brundage, Richard; Elmquist, William

    2014-03-01

    The current study presents a Bayesian approach to non-compartmental analysis (NCA), which provides the accurate and precise estimate of AUC 0 (∞) and any AUC 0 (∞) -based NCA parameter or derivation. In order to assess the performance of the proposed method, 1,000 simulated datasets were generated in different scenarios. A Bayesian method was used to estimate the tissue and plasma AUC 0 (∞) s and the tissue-to-plasma AUC 0 (∞) ratio. The posterior medians and the coverage of 95% credible intervals for the true parameter values were examined. The method was applied to laboratory data from a mice brain distribution study with serial sacrifice design for illustration. Bayesian NCA approach is accurate and precise in point estimation of the AUC 0 (∞) and the partition coefficient under a serial sacrifice design. It also provides a consistently good variance estimate, even considering the variability of the data and the physiological structure of the pharmacokinetic model. The application in the case study obtained a physiologically reasonable posterior distribution of AUC, with a posterior median close to the value estimated by classic Bailer-type methods. This Bayesian NCA approach for sparse data analysis provides statistical inference on the variability of AUC 0 (∞) -based parameters such as partition coefficient and drug targeting index, so that the comparison of these parameters following destructive sampling becomes statistically feasible.

  17. Balancing energy and daylighting performances for envelope design: A new index and proposition of a case study in Hong Kong

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Jing Chao; Xue, Peng; Mak, Cheuk Ming; Liu, Jia Ping

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •Daylighting and energy performances were studied simultaneously. •Energy demands of lighting and air-conditioning systems were both included. •Luminous comfort was quantified by Ave. DA 300 with the range from 29.6% to 57.8%. •Energy Daylight Rate was proposed as a simple multi-objective optimization approach. •Optimal scenarios for all directions were tested and chosen by EDR method. -- Abstract: Being healthy and energy saving have become two important principles of building development. Daylight is an influential factor with the characteristics of both photometry and radiometry. Irradiance brings solar heat gains that transfer to building cooling load, while illuminance provides a luminous environment and affects artificial lighting system at the same time. To balance the energy and daylighting performances, it is reasonable to minimize the environmental load under moderate comfort conditions. This study first quantified luminous comfort with a dynamic daylighting metric, average daylight autonomy (Ave. DA 300 ), from a questionnaire survey and simulation work. The benchmark of this metric should range from 29.6% to 57.8% for high-rise residential buildings. With this guideline, the Hong Kong public housing units is found that part of units lack of daylight due to the high building floor and density, while some units have potential to save energy by compromising daylighting performance. Therefore, a new index, energy daylight rate (EDR), is proposed to help decide the best scenario of envelope design for both daylighting and shading purposes. The results show that opening a secondary window is an efficient way to bring more light in and lengthening overhang is an efficient way to block excessive sunlight. This method and the new index are proved to have the ability to help defining proper building envelope design at the early stage.

  18. Comparison Between Water Quality Index (WQI) and Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI) for Water Quality Assessment: Case Study of Melana River, Johor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nor Zaiha Arman; Mohd Ismid Mohd Said; Shamila Azman; Muhammad Hazim Mat Hussin

    2013-01-01

    A study of water quality in Melana River, Johor was carried out in three consecutive months (March - May 2012). This study aims to determine the comparative results through biological monitoring as well as conventional method (physical and chemical analysis). Assessment is carried out through collection and identification of the biological indicator which comprises of macro benthos based on Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI). Comparison was done based on two methods namely invertebrate analysis and also laboratory analysis. For invertebrate analysis, Melana River consist of three types of Family groups namely Nymphs, Larvae and Molluscs. The result for Water Quality Index (WQI) and also Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI) analysis showed that the level of Melana River is polluted and classified in Class III. This study shows that even though different methods were used, the similar results were obtained for both rivers and can be applied to any river to identify their level of cleanliness. (author)

  19. On the history of the connectivity index: from the connectivity index to the exact solution of the protein alignment problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randić, M

    2015-01-01

    We briefly review the history of the connectivity index from 1975 to date. We hope to throw some light on why this unique, by its design, graph theoretical molecular descriptor continues to be of interest in QSAR, having wide use in applications in structure-property and structure-activity studies. We will elaborate on its generalizations and the insights it offered on applications in Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA). Going beyond the connectivity index we will outline several related developments in the development of molecular descriptors used in MRA, including molecular ID numbers (1986), the variable connectivity index (1991), orthogonal regression (1991), irrelevance of co-linearity of descriptors (1997), anti-connectivity (2006), and high discriminatory descriptors characterizing molecular similarity (2015). We will comment on beauty in QSAR and recent progress in searching for similarity of DNA, proteins and the proteome. This review reports on several results which are little known to the structure-property-activity community, the significance of which may surprise those unfamiliar with the application of discrete mathematics to chemistry. It tells the reader many unknown stories about the connectivity index, which may help the reader to better understand the meaning of this index. Readers are not required to be familiar with graph theory.

  20. Development of a Dietary Index to Assess Overall Diet Quality for Chinese School-Aged Children: The Chinese Children Dietary Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Guo; Duan, Ruonan; Kranz, Sibylle; Libuda, Lars; Zhang, Lishi

    2016-04-01

    A composite measure of diet quality is preferable to an index of nutrients, food groups, or health-promoting behaviors in dietary assessment. However, to date, such a tool for Chinese children is lacking. Based on the current Chinese Dietary Guidelines and Dietary Reference Intakes, a dietary index for Chinese school-aged children, the Chinese Children Dietary Index was developed to assess overall diet quality among children in South China. Dietary data were recorded using 24-hour recalls among 1,719 children aged 7 to 15 years between March and June 2013. Inactivity data and sociodemographic information were also collected. The Chinese Children Dietary Index included 16 components, which incorporated nutrients, foods/food groups, and health-promoting behaviors. The range of possible Chinese Children Dietary Index scores was 0 to 160, with a higher score indicating better diet quality. Pearson/Spearman correlation was used to assess relative validity using correlations between total Chinese Children Dietary Index score and age, body mass index (BMI; calculated as kg/m(2)), inactivity, whole-grain intake, frequency of fried-foods intake, nutrient adequacy ratios for energy intake and 12 nutrients not included in the Chinese Children Dietary Index, and the mean adequacy ratio. Finally, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to indicate the factors correlated with Chinese Children Dietary Index. Mean Chinese Children Dietary Index score of this sample was 88.1 points (range=34.2 to 137.8), the Chinese Children Dietary Index score of girls was higher than that of boys and decreased with higher age. Children with higher Chinese Children Dietary Index had lower body mass index and spent less time being inactive. Positive associations were observed between Chinese Children Dietary Index and the majority of nutrient adequacy ratios and the mean adequacy ratio. Age, paternal educational level, and family size were correlated with Chinese Children Dietary

  1. Geohydrologic aspects for siting and design of low-level radioactive-waste disposal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedinger, M.S.

    1989-01-01

    The objective for siting and design of low-level radioactive-waste repository sites is to isolate the waste from the biosphere until the waste no longer poses an unacceptable hazard as a result of radioactive decay. Low-level radioactive waste commonly is isolated at shallow depths with various engineered features to stabilize the waste and to reduce its dissolution and transport by ground water. The unsaturated zone generally is preferred for isolating the waste. Low-level radioactive waste may need to be isolated for 300 to 500 years. Maintenance and monitoring of the repository site are required by Federal regulations for only the first 100 years. Therefore, geohydrology of the repository site needs to provide natural isolation of the waste for the hazardous period following maintenance of the site. Engineering design of the repository needs to be compatible with the natural geohydrologic conditions at the site. Studies at existing commercial and Federal waste-disposal sites provide information on the problems encountered and the basis for establishing siting guidelines for improved isolation of radioactive waste, engineering design of repository structures, and surveillance needs to assess the effectiveness of the repositories and to provide early warning of problems that may require remedial action.Climate directly affects the hydrology of a site and probably is the most important single factor that affects the suitability of a site for shallow-land burial of low-level radioactive waste. Humid and subhumid regions are not well suited for shallow isolation of low-level radioactive waste in the unsaturated zone; arid regions with zero to small infiltration from precipitation, great depths to the water table, and long flow paths to natural discharge areas are naturally well suited to isolation of the waste. The unsaturated zone is preferred for isolation of low-level radioactive waste. The guiding rationale is to minimize contact of water with the waste and to

  2. Maternal serum levels of adiponectin in preeclampsia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khosrowbeygi, A.; Ahmadvand, H.

    2009-01-01

    The results of the serum levels of adiponectin in pre eclamptic patients are conflicting. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess serum levels of adiponectin in women with pre eclampsia compared with healthy pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed. The case group consisted of women with pre eclampsia (n=30). The control group consisted of 30 matched normal pregnant women. Serum levels of adiponectin were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: Serum levels of adiponectin were significantly higher in the pre eclamptic group than those in the normal control group. In the pre eclamptic patients serum levels of adiponectin showed a significant negative correlation with body mass index while no correlation was found in the normal pregnant women. In women with pre eclampsia, levels of adiponectin were decreased significantly in the overweight women compared with normal weight women, while in the control group no significant difference was observed. Conclusion: In conclusion, elevation of adiponectin levels might be a physiological feedback response to minimize endothelial dysfunction in pre eclamptic patients. (author)

  3. Two-Level Designs to Estimate All Main Effects and Two-Factor Interactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eendebak, P.T.; Schoen, E.D.

    2017-01-01

    We study the design of two-level experiments with N runs and n factors large enough to estimate the interaction model, which contains all the main effects and all the two-factor interactions. Yet, an effect hierarchy assumption suggests that main effect estimation should be given more prominence

  4. Modification of Low Refractive Index Polycarbonate for High Refractive Index Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gunjan Suri

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Polycarbonates and polythiourethanes are the most popular materials in use today, for optical applications. Polycarbonates are of two types which fall in the category of low refractive index and medium refractive index. The present paper describes the conversion of low refractive index polycarbonates into high refractive index material by the use of a high refractive index monomer, polythiol, as an additive. Novel polycarbonates, where the properties of refractive index and Abbe number can be tailor made, have been obtained. Thermal studies and refractive index determination indicate the formation of a new polymer with improved properties and suitable for optical applications.

  5. Design and evaluation of three-level composite filters obtained by optimizing a compromise average performance measure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrix, Charles D.; Vijaya Kumar, B. V. K.

    1994-06-01

    Correlation filters with three transmittance levels (+1, 0, and -1) are of interest in optical pattern recognition because they can be implemented on available spatial light modulators and because the zero level allows us to include a region of support (ROS). The ROS can provide additional control over the filter's noise tolerance and peak sharpness. A new algorithm based on optimizing a compromise average performance measure (CAPM) is proposed for designing three-level composite filters. The performance of this algorithm is compared to other three-level composite filter designs using a common image database and using figures of merit such as the Fisher ratio, error rate, and light efficiency. It is shown that the CAPM algorithm yields better results.

  6. A high-level product representation for automatic design reasoning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kroll, E.; Qamar, Z.; Mohammad, R. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Mechanical Engineering Dept.

    1994-12-31

    A high-level product representation has been developed and implemented, using features for part description and mating conditions between features for the relationships among parts. The underlying ideas are that features are necessary for effective design representation; that spatial and functional relationships among parts of an assembly are best expressed through mating conditions; that assembly features of a part may, at times, be different from its manufacturing features; and that a good representation should be natural, intelligent, comprehensive, and integrated with a visual display. Some new mating conditions have been defined and classified. Several problems concerning the use of features with mating conditions are discussed.

  7. Engineering design study for storage and disposal of intermediate level waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Griffin, J R; Hackney, S; Richardson, J A; Heafield, W

    1982-11-01

    A conceptual design study is presented which covers both the storage and disposal of intermediate level waste; repositories in several rock formations are considered at a 300m depth. A total system is proposed including an engineered trench for ..beta gamma.. waste, emplacement systems and off site transportation. Safety during the emplacement phase and the radiological effects of human intrusion and geological catastrophies are considered.

  8. Plaque Index in Multi-Bracket Fixed Appliances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahim, Z.H.; Shaikh, S.; Razak, F.A.

    2014-01-01

    To compare the plaque index in patients receiving multi-bracket fixed orthodontic treatment for various factors like age, gender, socio-economic status, brushing practices, meal habits, types of brackets, types of ligations, use of mouthwash and duration of treatment. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Orthodontics Clinic, The Aga Khan University Hospital, from September to November 2011. Methodology: Socio-demographic and clinical modalities were defined and recorded for 131 patients having multi-bracket fixed appliances. The plaque index of subjects were recorded according to the Silness and Loe plaque index method. Independent sample t-test was used to see difference in plaque index in factors having two variables. One way ANOVA and Post-Hoc Tukey tests were used to see difference in plaque index in factors having three variables. Kappa statistics was used to assess inter examiner reliability. P-value 0.05 was taken to be significant. Results: The sample comprised of 37% males (n = 48) and 63% females (n = 83). The plaque index had statistically significant association with practice of brushing i.e., timing of brushing (p=0.001), method of brushing (p=0.08), type of ligatures (p=0.05) and frequency of visits (p=0.01). Conclusion: The plaque accumulation is significantly decreased in subjects who brush the teeth twice or more than twice a day and those who brush their teeth after breakfast. The use of interdental brush and stainless steel ligatures had significantly low plaque. Subjects presenting with more frequent appointments of short-period had significantly less plaque. (author)

  9. Design considerations of a randomized controlled trial of sedation level during hip fracture repair surgery: a strategy to reduce the incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianjing; Wieland, L Susan; Oh, Esther; Neufeld, Karin J; Wang, Nae-Yuh; Dickersin, Kay; Sieber, Frederick E

    2017-06-01

    Background Delirium is an acute change in mental status characterized by sudden onset, fluctuating course, inattention, disorganized thinking, and abnormal level of consciousness. The objective of the randomized controlled trial "A STrategy to Reduce the Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients" (STRIDE) is to assess the effectiveness of light versus heavy sedation on delirium and other outcomes in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture repair surgery. Our goal is to describe the design considerations and lessons learned in planning and implementing the STRIDE trial. Methods Discussed are challenges encountered including (1) how to ensure that we quickly identify, assess the eligibility of, and randomize traumatic hip fracture patients; (2) how to implement interventions that involve continuous monitoring and adjustment during the surgery; and (3) how to measure and ascertain the primary outcome, delirium. Results To address the first challenge, we monitored the operating room schedule more actively than anticipated. We constructed and organized eligibility assessment data collection forms by purpose and by source of information needed to complete them. We decided that randomization needs to take place in the operating room. To address the second challenge, we designed and implemented a treatment protocol and covered the bispectral index monitor to prevent the Anesthesiologist/Anesthetist from being influenced by the bispectral index reading while administering the intervention. Finally, clinical assessment of delirium consisted of standardized interviews of the patient using validated instruments, interviews of those caring for the patient, and review of the medical record. A consensus panel made the final determination of a delirium diagnosis. We note that STRIDE is a single-center trial. The decisions we took may have different implications for multi-center trials. Conclusions Lessons learned are likely to provide useful information to others

  10. PEDIATRIC VISCERAL ADIPOSITY INDEX ADAPTATION CORRELATES WITH HOMA-IR, MATSUDA, AND TRANSAMINASES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández, María José Garcés; Klünder, Miguel; Nieto, Nayely Garibay; Alvarenga, Juan Carlos López; Gil, Jenny Vilchis; Huerta, Samuel Flores; Siccha, Rosa Quispe; Hernandez, Joselin

    2018-03-01

    Visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a mathematical model associated with cardiometabolic risk in adults, but studies on children failed to support this association. Our group has proposed a pediatric VAI model using pediatric ranges, but it has not yet been evaluated and needs further adjustments. The objective of this study was to further adjust the proposed pediatric VAI by age, creating a new pediatric metabolic index (PMI), and assess the correlation of the PMI with insulin resistance indexes and hepatic enzymes. A cross-sectional design with data from 396 children (age 5 to 17 years) was analyzed with a generalized linear model to find the coefficients for triglycerides, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and waist circumference-body mass index quotient. The model was constructed according to sex and age and designated PMI. A cross-validation analysis was performed and a receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine cut-off points. Significant moderate correlation was found between PMI and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) ( r = 0.452; P = .003), Matsuda ( r = -0.366; P = .019), alanine aminotransferase ( r = 0.315, P = .045), and γ-glutamyltransferase ( r = 0.397; P = .010). A PMI score >1.7 was considered as risk. PMI correlates with HOMA-IR, Matsuda, and hepatic enzymes. It could be helpful for identifying children at risk for cardiometabolic diseases. ALT = alanine transaminase BMI = body mass index GGT = γ-glutamyltransferase HDL-C = high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol HOMA-IR = homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance hs-CRP = high sensitivity C-reactive protein ISI = insulin sensitivity index NAFLD = nonalcoholic fatty liver disease PMI = pediatric metabolic index QUICKI = quantitative insulin sensitivity check index ROC = receiver operating characteristic TG = triglyceride TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor-alpha VAI = visceral adiposity index VAT = visceral adipose tissue WC = waist circumference.

  11. Genetic gains in physic nut using selection indexes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo Lopes Bhering

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this work was to estimate genetic gains in physic nut (Jatropha curcas using selection indexes and to establish the best selection strategy for the species. Direct and indirect selection was carried out using different selection indexes, totalizing 14 strategies. One hundred and seventy five families from the active germplasm bank of Embrapa Agroenergy, Brasília, Brazil, were analyzed in a randomized complete block design with two replicates. The evaluated traits were: grain yield; seeds per fruit; endosperm/seed ratio; seed weight, length, width, and thickness; branches per plant at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 m; plant height; stem diameter; canopy projection on rows and between lines; canopy volume; juvenility (days to the first flowering; and height of the first inflorescence. Evaluations were done during the second year of cultivation. The use of selection indexes is relevant to maximize the genetic gains in physic nut, favoring a better distribution of desirable traits. The multiplicative and restrictive indexes are considered the most promising for selection.

  12. Cost-derived indices for building design and construction ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Also as multiples of gfi, substructure cost index, sci and roofing cost index, rci could predict componental costs of substructure and roofing for phased development purposes. Keywords: Cost Indices, Building Design, Building Construction Journal of Modeling, Design and Management of Engineering Systems, Vol.

  13. High trait aggression in men is associated with low 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4 receptor binding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    da Cunha-Bang, Sofi; Mc Mahon, Brenda; Fisher, Patrick MacDonald

    2016-01-01

    of 5-HT, we here test the hypothesis in healthy men and women that brain 5-HT levels, as indexed by cerebral 5-HT4R, are inversely correlated with trait aggression and impulsivity. Sixty-one individuals (47 men) underwent positron emission tomography scanning with the radioligand [(11)C]SB207145......Impulsive aggression has commonly been associated with a dysfunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system: many, but not all, studies point to an inverse relationship between 5-HT and aggression. As cerebral 5-HT4 receptor (5-HT4R) binding has recently been recognized as a proxy for stable brain levels...... for quantification of brain 5-HT4R binding. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used for assessment of trait aggression and trait impulsivity. Among male subjects, there was a positive correlation between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ total score (P = 0.037) as well...

  14. A Bi-Level Programming Model for the Railway Express Cargo Service Network Design Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boliang Lin

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Service network design is fundamentally crucial for railway express cargo transportation. The main challenge is to strike a balance between two conflicting objectives: low network setup costs and high expected operational incomes. Different configurations of these objectives will have different impacts on the quality of freight transportation services. In this paper, a bi-level programming model for the railway express cargo service network design problem is proposed. The upper-level model forms the optimal decisions in terms of the service characteristics, and the low-level model selects the service arcs for each commodity. The rail express cargo is strictly subject to the service commitment, the capacity restriction, flow balance constraints, and logical relationship constraints among the decisions variables. Moreover, linearization techniques are used to convert the lower-level model to a linear one so that it can be directly solved by a standard optimization solver. Finally, a real-world case study based on the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway Line is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed solution approach.

  15. Variance Function Partially Linear Single-Index Models1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lian, Heng; Liang, Hua; Carroll, Raymond J

    2015-01-01

    We consider heteroscedastic regression models where the mean function is a partially linear single index model and the variance function depends upon a generalized partially linear single index model. We do not insist that the variance function depend only upon the mean function, as happens in the classical generalized partially linear single index model. We develop efficient and practical estimation methods for the variance function and for the mean function. Asymptotic theory for the parametric and nonparametric parts of the model is developed. Simulations illustrate the results. An empirical example involving ozone levels is used to further illustrate the results, and is shown to be a case where the variance function does not depend upon the mean function.

  16. Optimization and Reliability Problems in Structural Design of Wind Turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2007-01-01

    are discussed. Limit state equations are presented for fatigue limit states and for ultimate limit states with extreme wind load, and illustrated by bending failure. Illustrative examples are presented, and as a part of the results optimal reliability levels are obtained which corresponds to an annual...... reliability index equal to 3. An example with fatigue failure indicates that the reliability level is almost the same for single wind turbines and for wind turbines in wind farms if the wake effects are modeled equivalently in the design equation and the limit state equation....

  17. Design of fuzzy learning control systems for steam generator water level control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Gee Yong

    1996-02-01

    descent learning algorithm can provide the stable learning and fast learning speed. For more fast learning speed, the modified momentum is applied to the learning scheme. Fuzzy logic controller with learning algorithm described above is applied to water level control of nuclear steam generator through two learning patterns; one is the off-line learning and the other the on-line learning. Fuzzy logic controller trained off-line is useful in the situation that the controller designer is over-burdened with the tuning works for the fuzzy controller structure and the recorded data from plant operation is rich. In the off-line learning, the desired data is required from the control actions of the plant operator or other controllers such as PI controller. The gradient descent learning algorithm extracts the useful rules among total 343 rules which are generated from the relational product of three controller inputs (7x7x7) and tunes membership functions for controller input domain. In practice, it is almost impossible to tune 343 rules constructed in three input dimensions by trial-and-error method of a human designer. The fuzzy logic controller trained off-line shows the good general mapping capability of controller's input-output relationships and also shows excellent robustness to sudden, large load disturbances. Fuzzy logic controller with on-line learning algorithm, which is called Self-Organizing Fuzzy Logic Controller, constructs the controller structure with no control rules at initial in such a way that it creates control rules and tunes controller input membership functions based on the performance criterion as control action goes on and modifies its control structure when uncertain disturbance is suspected during plant operation. Selected tuning parameters of fuzzy logic controller are updated on-line in the learning algorithm. This control algorithm is divided into two types based on the two performance criteria, i.e., performance index table and performance cost

  18. Threat-level-dependent manipulation of signaled body size: dog growls' indexical cues depend on the different levels of potential danger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bálint, Anna; Faragó, Tamás; Miklósi, Ádám; Pongrácz, Péter

    2016-11-01

    Body size is an important feature that affects fighting ability; however, size-related parameters of agonistic vocalizations are difficult to manipulate because of anatomical constraints within the vocal production system. Rare examples of acoustic size modulation are due to specific features that enable the sender to steadily communicate exaggerated body size. However, one could argue that it would be more adaptive if senders could adjust their signaling behavior to the fighting potential of their actual opponent. So far there has been no experimental evidence for this possibility. We tested this hypothesis by exposing family dogs (Canis familiaris) to humans with potentially different fighting ability. In a within-subject experiment, 64 dogs of various breeds consecutively faced two threateningly approaching humans, either two men or two women of different stature, or a man and a woman of similar or different stature. We found that the dogs' vocal responses were affected by the gender of the threatening stranger and the dog owner's gender. Dogs with a female owner, or those dogs which came from a household where both genders were present, reacted with growls of lower values of the Pitch-Formant component (including deeper fundamental frequency and lower formant dispersion) to threatening men. Our results are the first to show that non-human animals react with dynamic alteration of acoustic parameters related to their individual indexical features (body size), depending on the level of threat in an agonistic encounter.

  19. A Guide to Visual Multi-Level Interface Design From Synthesis of Empirical Study Evidence

    CERN Document Server

    Lam, Heidi

    2010-01-01

    Displaying multiple levels of data visually has been proposed to address the challenge of limited screen space. Although many previous empirical studies have addressed different aspects of this question, the information visualization research community does not currently have a clearly articulated consensus on how, when, or even if displaying data at multiple levels is effective. To shed more light on this complex topic, we conducted a systematic review of 22 existing multi-level interface studies to extract high-level design guidelines. To facilitate discussion, we cast our analysis findings

  20. "Peak-tracking chip" (PTC) for bulk refractive index sensing and bioarray sensing

    KAUST Repository

    Bougot-Robin, Kristelle; Austin, H. Robert; Benisty, Henri; Hsing, I-Ming; Kodzius, Rimantas; Li, Shunbo; Wen, Weijia; Zhang, Yinghua

    2013-01-01

    Resonant techniques are of wide interest to detect variation of effective refractive index at a chip surface. Both Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and dielectric resonant waveguide (RWGs) can be exploited. Through their design, RWGs allow more flexibility (size of the biomolecule to detect, detection angle…). Using specially designed RWG “Peak-tracking chip”, we propose to use spatial information from a simple monochromatic picture as a new label-free bioarray technique. We discuss robustness, sensitivity, multiplex detection, fluidic integration of the technique and illustrate it through bulk refractive index sensing as well as specific recognition of DNA fragment from gyrase A.

  1. "Peak-tracking chip" (PTC) for bulk refractive index sensing and bioarray sensing

    KAUST Repository

    Bougot-Robin, Kristelle

    2013-10-20

    Resonant techniques are of wide interest to detect variation of effective refractive index at a chip surface. Both Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and dielectric resonant waveguide (RWGs) can be exploited. Through their design, RWGs allow more flexibility (size of the biomolecule to detect, detection angle…). Using specially designed RWG “Peak-tracking chip”, we propose to use spatial information from a simple monochromatic picture as a new label-free bioarray technique. We discuss robustness, sensitivity, multiplex detection, fluidic integration of the technique and illustrate it through bulk refractive index sensing as well as specific recognition of DNA fragment from gyrase A.

  2. SDI: Is it a reliable fouling index?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Al-Hadidi, A.M.M.; Kemperman, Antonius J.B.; Schippers, J.C.; Wessling, Matthias; van der Meer, Walterus Gijsbertus Joseph

    2012-01-01

    The ASTM considers the silt density index (SDI) test as a standard test for fouling potential of RO and NF feed waters. Up to date, the SDI is used at many full- and pilot-scale installations. The design and choice of the applied RO pretreatment is to a large extent based on the SDI test on the raw

  3. A study on mobile PC display design in NPP maintenance considering the level of expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, In

    2010-02-01

    Recently, the importance of effective maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been emphasized and research into effective maintenance by adopting mobile maintenance aids (MMAs) have been attempted. MMAs are currently used during operation and maintenance in NPPs, but no method that considers the limitations of mobile devices has been proposed. For improved and effective use, an MMA display design method based on abstraction hierarchy (AH) is proposed and its design considerations are discussed in this study. Six levels of abstraction hierarchy are proposed in this paper to classify the maintenance information. By classifying and organizing maintenance information using AH, maintenance information can be used effectively by users either high or low levels of expertise. When information classification has been finished, the information requirements and relationships for MMA design is extracted from the analysis of the AH result. Representative human-machine interface (HMI) guidelines issued by the US NRC, which are generally used in NPPs, are applied. With the considerations of MMA design analysis and practical guidelines, AH-based MMA is designed for maintenance tasks. An experiment is conducted using the AH-based MMA in order to estimate the effectiveness of the proposed method for maintenance tasks and to identify design considerations to enhance the proposed MMAs. The result indicated that an AH-based manual was more effective than a conventional manual in terms of task completion time and number of errors. The workload for the AH-based manual was estimated to be less than the conventional manual for low levels of expertise. However, a conventional manual was more comprehensive than the proposed manual and the steps contained in the maintenance manual were easier to remember. As the level of expertise increases, subjects tended to follow more abstract information while the number of navigations decreased. It is believed that when mobile devices become

  4. Effect of body mass index on diabetogenesis factors at a fixed fasting plasma glucose level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jiunn-Diann; Hsu, Chun-Hsien; Wu, Chung-Ze; Hsieh, An-Tsz; Hsieh, Chang-Hsun; Liang, Yao-Jen; Chen, Yen-Lin; Pei, Dee; Chang, Jin-Biou

    2018-01-01

    The present study evaluated the relative influence of body mass index (BMI) on insulin resistance (IR), first-phase insulin secretion (FPIS), second-phase insulin secretion (SPIS), and glucose effectiveness (GE) at a fixed fasting plasma glucose level in an older ethnic Chinese population. In total, 265 individuals aged 60 years with a fasting plasma glucose level of 5.56 mmol/L were enrolled. Participants had BMIs of 20.0-34.2 kg/m2. IR, FPIS, SPIS, and GE were estimated using our previously developed equations. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to assess the correlations between the four diabetogenesis factors and BMI. A general linear model was used to determine the differences in the percentage of change among the four factor slopes against BMI. Significant correlations were observed between BMI and FPIS, SPIS, IR, and GE in both women and men, which were higher than those reported previously. In men, BMI had the most profound effect on SPIS, followed by IR, FPIS, and GE, whereas in women, the order was slightly different: IR, followed by FPIS, SPIS, and GE. Significant differences were observed among all these slopes, except for the slopes between FPIS and SPIS in women (p = 0.856) and IR and FPIS in men (p = 0.258). The contribution of obesity to all diabetes factors, except GE, was higher than that reported previously. BMI had the most profound effect on insulin secretion in men and on IR in women in this 60-year-old cohort, suggesting that lifestyle modifications for obesity reduction in women remain the most important method for improving glucose metabolism and preventing future type 2 diabetes mellitus.

  5. Air pollution forecast in cities by an air pollution index highly correlated with meteorological variables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cogliani, E.

    2001-01-01

    There are many different air pollution indexes which represent the global urban air pollution situation. The daily index studied here is also highly correlated with meteorological variables and this index is capable of identifying those variables that significantly affect the air pollution. The index is connected with attention levels of NO 2 , CO and O 3 concentrations. The attention levels are fixed by a law proposed by the Italian Ministries of Health and Environment. The relation of that index with some meteorological variables is analysed by the linear multiple partial correlation statistical method. Florence, Milan and Vicence were selected to show the correlation among the air pollution index and the daily thermic excursion, the previous day's air pollution index and the wind speed. During the January-March period the correlation coefficient reaches 0.85 at Milan. The deterministic methods of forecasting air pollution concentrations show very high evaluation errors and are applied on limited areas around the observation stations, as opposed to the whole urban areas. The global air pollution, instead of the concentrations at specific observation stations, allows the evaluation of the level of the sanitary risk regarding the whole urban population. (Author)

  6. The e-index, complementing the h-index for excess citations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chun-Ting Zhang

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The h-index has already been used by major citation databases to evaluate the academic performance of individual scientists. Although effective and simple, the h-index suffers from some drawbacks that limit its use in accurately and fairly comparing the scientific output of different researchers. These drawbacks include information loss and low resolution: the former refers to the fact that in addition to h(2 citations for papers in the h-core, excess citations are completely ignored, whereas the latter means that it is common for a group of researchers to have an identical h-index. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To solve these problems, I here propose the e-index, where e(2 represents the ignored excess citations, in addition to the h(2 citations for h-core papers. Citation information can be completely depicted by using the h-index together with the e-index, which are independent of each other. Some other h-type indices, such as a and R, are h-dependent, have information redundancy with h, and therefore, when used together with h, mask the real differences in excess citations of different researchers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although simple, the e-index is a necessary h-index complement, especially for evaluating highly cited scientists or for precisely comparing the scientific output of a group of scientists having an identical h-index.

  7. Hybrid PV/diesel solar power system design using multi-level factor analysis optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drake, Joshua P.

    Solar power systems represent a large area of interest across a spectrum of organizations at a global level. It was determined that a clear understanding of current state of the art software and design methods, as well as optimization methods, could be used to improve the design methodology. Solar power design literature was researched for an in depth understanding of solar power system design methods and algorithms. Multiple software packages for the design and optimization of solar power systems were analyzed for a critical understanding of their design workflow. In addition, several methods of optimization were studied, including brute force, Pareto analysis, Monte Carlo, linear and nonlinear programming, and multi-way factor analysis. Factor analysis was selected as the most efficient optimization method for engineering design as it applied to solar power system design. The solar power design algorithms, software work flow analysis, and factor analysis optimization were combined to develop a solar power system design optimization software package called FireDrake. This software was used for the design of multiple solar power systems in conjunction with an energy audit case study performed in seven Tibetan refugee camps located in Mainpat, India. A report of solar system designs for the camps, as well as a proposed schedule for future installations was generated. It was determined that there were several improvements that could be made to the state of the art in modern solar power system design, though the complexity of current applications is significant.

  8. Development of a New Fall Risk Assessment Index for Older Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minoru Yamada, RPT, PhD

    2012-09-01

    Conclusion: We have demonstrated that the new index is a reliable indicator for falls in elderly people who have higher levels of functional capacity. Our data suggest that a score of more than 1 point by the new index can predict falls in robust elderly people.

  9. Erosion index formulation with respect to reservoir life in the upper Citarum watershed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bakhtiar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to formulate erosion index in the upper Citarum watershed with respect to the Saguling reservoir life. Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was incorporated to simulate hydrological processes in the catchment. From the calibration and validation results, the model is considerably of good performance. The simulated sediment inflow at Nanjung outlet was then extrapolated to determine the sediment inflow into the reservoir. The study revealed that the average value of sediment inflow into the reservoir is 29.24 tonnes/ha/year just below the tolerable erosion limit of 30 tonnes/ha/year assumed by Hammer (1981. It was also found that the relationship between sediment yield and sediment inflow is non linear. Erosion index is formulated as the ratio between the mean annual sediment yield generated in the watershed and the mean annual sediment yield that leads dead storage to be full in the designated life of the reservoir. Erosion index equals to 1.0 indicates that the dead storage will be full in the designated life of the reservoir. A classification of erosion index can be subsequently be made based on erosion index and reservoir life relationship.

  10. Improving method for calculating integral index of personnel security of company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chjan Khao Yui

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper improves the method of calculating the integral index of personnel security of a company. The author has identified four components of personnel security (social and motivational safety, occupational safety, not confliction security, life safety which are characterized by certain indicators. Integral index of personnel security is designed for the enterprises of machine-building sector in Kharkov region, taking into account theweight coefficients j-th component of bj, and weighting factors that determine the degree of contribution of the ith parameter in the integral index aіj as defined by experts.

  11. On the design of high-rise buildings with a specified level of reliability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolganov, Andrey; Kagan, Pavel

    2018-03-01

    High-rise buildings have a specificity, which significantly distinguishes them from traditional buildings of high-rise and multi-storey buildings. Steel structures in high-rise buildings are advisable to be used in earthquake-proof regions, since steel, due to its plasticity, provides damping of the kinetic energy of seismic impacts. These aspects should be taken into account when choosing a structural scheme of a high-rise building and designing load-bearing structures. Currently, modern regulatory documents do not quantify the reliability of structures. Although the problem of assigning an optimal level of reliability has existed for a long time. The article shows the possibility of designing metal structures of high-rise buildings with specified reliability. Currently, modern regulatory documents do not quantify the reliability of high-rise buildings. Although the problem of assigning an optimal level of reliability has existed for a long time. It is proposed to establish the value of reliability 0.99865 (3σ) for constructions of buildings and structures of a normal level of responsibility in calculations for the first group of limiting states. For increased (construction of high-rise buildings) and reduced levels of responsibility for the provision of load-bearing capacity, it is proposed to assign respectively 0.99997 (4σ) and 0.97725 (2σ). The coefficients of the use of the cross section of a metal beam for different levels of security are given.

  12. Low-Level Burial Grounds Dangerous Waste Permit Application design documents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    This document presents the Functional Design Criteria for trenches to be constructed to receive solid radioactive mixed waste (RMW) from on and offsite generators. The new RMW disposal facilities are considered modifications to or lateral expansion of the existing low-level waste burial grounds. The new facilities upgrade the existing disposal practice for RMW to the minimum technology requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The proposed locations for the two facilities are: 218-E-10 for drag-off-waste packages and, 218-W-4C for non drag-off waste packages

  13. Childhood body mass index and multiple sclerosis risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Munger, Kassandra L; Bentzen, Joan; Laursen, Bjarne

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Obesity in late adolescence has been associated with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS); however, it is not known if body size in childhood is associated with MS risk. METHODS: Using a prospective design we examined whether body mass index (BMI) at ages 7-13 years...

  14. Building Design Variables Usage as a Tool of Value Engineering During Designing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sahid Nur

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The deployment of construction economics has become more desirable today, mainly due to need to establish how building costs are spent, and be able to come up with the most optimum alternatives. This research article therefore, explored 1 the various costs inputs called design variables used by design consultants, plus their underlying factors, 2 how the practice of value engineering (VE impacts on projects in Indonesia. A qualitative methodology, was used inform of a questionnaire, designed based on a 5 pointer liker scale approach, and distributed among 30 respondents consisting of consultants and clients in areas of Surakarta. The collected data was processed using statistical method of relative importance index, followed by descriptive analysis inform of bar and pie charts. The results obtained were that building plane shape (index 83.2, was mostly used, which itself depended on external features of building membrane and shape of building site (80.0 each, then other variables were building complexity (82.1; and building façade (77.9, meanwhile the least used was sharing walls (index 62.1, Lastly, VE was found to benefit the industry by producing designs which meet time, cost and quality targets, on the other hand material wastages and loss of confidence was reported once VE was neglected.

  15. Pilates versus resistance exercise on the serum levels of hs-CRP, in the abdominal circumference and body mass index (BMI) in elderly individuals

    OpenAIRE

    Pestana, Maria Dida Silva; Netto, Eduardo Martins; Pestana, Manuella Castro Silva; Pestana, Vitor Silva; Schinoni, Maria Isabel

    2016-01-01

    Recent studies have shown that the elderly exhibit a subclinical state of inflammation associated with increased adipose tissue and several comorbidities. To compare the effects of mat Pilates based exercises and resistance exercise on the serum levels of reactive C protein of high sensitivity (hs-CRP), in the abdominal circumference (AC) and the body mass index (BMI) in the elderly. It is a randomised clinical trial with a sample of 78 elderly individuals (median age 69 years). The active in...

  16. Design of a New Sensor for Determination of the Effects of Tractor Field Usage in Southern Spain: Soil Sinkage and Alterations in the Cone Index and Dry Bulk Density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego L. Valera

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Variations in sinkage and cone index are of crucial importance when planning fieldwork, and for determining the trafficability of farm machinery. Many studies have highlighted the link between higher values of these parameters and dramatic decreases in crop yield. Variations in the dry bulk density and cone index of clayey soil in Southern Spain were measured following each of five successive passes over the same land with the three types of tractor most widely used in the area (tracked, two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. In addition, sinkage (rut depth of the running gear was measured using a laser microrelief profile meter. This device, which integrates three sensors, was specifically designed for these experiments, as was an electrical penetrometer to determine the cone index, and both instruments proved reliable and accurate in the field. The main goal of this study was to design, manufacture and test these new devices. The first pass caused most soil alteration when compared to successive passes for all types of tractor tested and soil conditions prevailing during the tests. (Heavier four-wheel drive tractors were found to cause greater soil damage (sinkage, cone index and dry bulk density than two-wheel drive and track tractors. There was no statistically significant difference between the two latter types. The greatest alterations were recorded in the top 10 cm of the soil. The results show that soil compaction should be avoided as much as possible. This can be achieved by ensuring that tractors always travel along the same tracks, especially in the wet season. At present these aspects are not considered by farmers in this area.

  17. Safer Roads: Comparisons Between Road Assessment Program and Composite Road Safety Index Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohd Razelan Intan Suhana

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In most countries, crash statistics have becoming very crucial in evaluating road’s safety level. In Malaysia, these data are very important in deciding crash-prone areas known as black spot where specific road improvements plan will be proposed. However due to the unavailability of reliable crash data in many developing countries, appropriate road maintenance measures are facing great troubles. In light of that, several proactive methods in defining road’s safety level such as Road Assessment Program (RAP have emerged. This research aim to compare two proactive methods that have been tested in Malaysian roads ; road assessment program and road environment risk index which was developed based on composite index theory in defining road’s safety level. Composite road environment risk index was combining several crucial environment indicators, assigning weight and aggregating the individual index together to form a single value representing the road’s safety level. Based on the results, it can be concluded that both road assessment program and composite road environment risk index are contradicted in six different ways such as type of speed used, type of analysis used and their final outcomes. However, with an aim to promote safer roads, these two methods can be used concurrently as the outcomes in both methods seems to fulfil each other’s gap very well.

  18. Analysis of acid-base misconceptions using modified certainty of response index (CRI and diagnostic interview for different student levels cognitive

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satya Sadhu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The authors in this paper draw attention to the importance of an instrument that can analyze student’s misconception.This study described the kind of the misconception in acid-base theory, and the percentage students’ misconception occur in every subconcept of acid-base theory. The design of this study is a descriptive method, involved 148 of 11th grade science students from Senior High School, which divided into two classes are high cognitive and low cognitive. Further analysis of using Modified Certainty of Response Index (CRI as a diagnostic instrument is used to explore misconception which in that test included evaluating only content knowledge with considering the reason behind the students' choice of response and their certainty of response in every question. The result of data analysis has shown that misconception occurred in high cognitive class, gained 43,86% and misconception occurred in low cognitive class, gained 24,63%. Based on the diagnostic interview has shown that misconception occurred in students due to students does not understand the concept well and they related the one concept to the other concepts with partial understanding, the result students make the failed conclusions. The type of misconception occurred is a conceptual misunderstanding.  According to the data analysis showed that Modified Certainty of Response Index (CRI is effective used to analyze students’ misconceptions and the diagnostic interview is effective used to know the reasons that caused students which having misconceptions.

  19. On a "Level-Sensitive" Headcount Ratio: Revisiting Shorrocks' Poverty Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramanian, Sreenivasan

    2008-01-01

    It is often argued that indicators of achievement or deprivation should be measured such that they display a property of "level-sensitivity", whereby a given change in the indicator acquires a greater significance the higher (lower) the level of achievement (deprivation) at which the change occurs. In this note, it is shown that a level-sensitive…

  20. A multilevel, level-set method for optimizing eigenvalues in shape design problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haber, E.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, we consider optimal design problems that involve shape optimization. The goal is to determine the shape of a certain structure such that it is either as rigid or as soft as possible. To achieve this goal we combine two new ideas for an efficient solution of the problem. First, we replace the eigenvalue problem with an approximation by using inverse iteration. Second, we use a level set method but rather than propagating the front we use constrained optimization methods combined with multilevel continuation techniques. Combining these two ideas we obtain a robust and rapid method for the solution of the optimal design problem