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Sample records for farm closure study

  1. ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume 2: Engineering design files

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-02-01

    Volume 2 contains the following topical sections: Tank farm heel flushing/pH adjustment; Grouting experiments for immobilization of tank farm heel; Savannah River high level waste tank 20 closure; Tank farm closure information; Clean closure of tank farm; Remediation issues; Remote demolition techniques; Decision concerning EIS for debris treatment facility; CERCLA/RCRA issues; Area of contamination determination; Containment building of debris treatment facility; Double containment issues; Characterization costs; Packaging and disposal options for the waste resulting from the total removal of the tank farm; Take-off calculations for the total removal of soils and structures at the tank farm; Vessel off-gas systems; Jet-grouted polymer and subsurface walls; Exposure calculations for total removal of tank farm; Recommended instrumentation during retrieval operations; High level waste tank concrete encasement evaluation; Recommended heavy equipment and sizing equipment for total removal activities; Tank buoyancy constraints; Grout and concrete formulas for tank heel solidification; Tank heel pH requirements; Tank cooling water; Evaluation of conservatism of vehicle loading on vaults; Typical vault dimensions and approximately tank and vault void volumes; Radiological concerns for temporary vessel off-gas system; Flushing calculations for tank heels; Grout lift depth analysis; Decontamination solution for waste transfer piping; Grout lift determination for filling tank and vault voids; sprung structure vendor data; Grout flow properties through a 2--4 inch pipe; Tank farm load limitations; NRC low level waste grout; Project data sheet calculations; Dose rates for tank farm closure tasks; Exposure and shielding calculations for grout lines; TFF radionuclide release rates; Documentation of the clean closure of a system with listed waste discharge; and Documentation of the ORNL method of radionuclide concentrations in tanks

  2. ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume 2: Engineering design files

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-02-01

    Volume 2 contains the following topical sections: Tank farm heel flushing/pH adjustment; Grouting experiments for immobilization of tank farm heel; Savannah River high level waste tank 20 closure; Tank farm closure information; Clean closure of tank farm; Remediation issues; Remote demolition techniques; Decision concerning EIS for debris treatment facility; CERCLA/RCRA issues; Area of contamination determination; Containment building of debris treatment facility; Double containment issues; Characterization costs; Packaging and disposal options for the waste resulting from the total removal of the tank farm; Take-off calculations for the total removal of soils and structures at the tank farm; Vessel off-gas systems; Jet-grouted polymer and subsurface walls; Exposure calculations for total removal of tank farm; Recommended instrumentation during retrieval operations; High level waste tank concrete encasement evaluation; Recommended heavy equipment and sizing equipment for total removal activities; Tank buoyancy constraints; Grout and concrete formulas for tank heel solidification; Tank heel pH requirements; Tank cooling water; Evaluation of conservatism of vehicle loading on vaults; Typical vault dimensions and approximately tank and vault void volumes; Radiological concerns for temporary vessel off-gas system; Flushing calculations for tank heels; Grout lift depth analysis; Decontamination solution for waste transfer piping; Grout lift determination for filling tank and vault voids; sprung structure vendor data; Grout flow properties through a 2--4 inch pipe; Tank farm load limitations; NRC low level waste grout; Project data sheet calculations; Dose rates for tank farm closure tasks; Exposure and shielding calculations for grout lines; TFF radionuclide release rates; Documentation of the clean closure of a system with listed waste discharge; and Documentation of the ORNL method of radionuclide concentrations in tanks.

  3. Time-series prediction of shellfish farm closure: A comparison of alternatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashfaqur Rahman

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Shellfish farms are closed for harvest when microbial pollutants are present. Such pollutants are typically present in rainfall runoff from various land uses in catchments. Experts currently use a number of observable parameters (river flow, rainfall, salinity as proxies to determine when to close farms. We have proposed using the short term historical rainfall data as a time-series prediction problem where we aim to predict the closure of shellfish farms based only on rainfall. Time-series event prediction consists of two steps: (i feature extraction, and (ii prediction. A number of data mining challenges exist for these scenarios: (i which feature extraction method best captures the rainfall pattern over successive days that leads to opening or closure of the farms?, (ii The farm closure events occur infrequently and this leads to a class imbalance problem; the question is what is the best way to deal with this problem? In this paper we have analysed and compared different combinations of balancing methods (under-sampling and over-sampling, feature extraction methods (cluster profile, curve fitting, Fourier Transform, Piecewise Aggregate Approximation, and Wavelet Transform and learning algorithms (neural network, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbour, decision tree, and Bayesian Network to predict closure events accurately considering the above data mining challenges. We have identified the best combination of techniques to accurately predict shellfish farm closure from rainfall, given the above data mining challenges.

  4. AX Tank farm closure settlement estimates and soil testing; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BECKER, D.L.

    1999-01-01

    This study provides a conservative three-dimensional settlement study of the AX Tank Farm closure with fill materials and a surface barrier. The finite element settlement model constructed included the interaction of four tanks and the surface barrier with the site soil and bedrock. Also addressed are current soil testing techniques suitable for the site soil with recommendations applicable to the AX Tank Farm and the planned cone penetration testing

  5. ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spaulding, B.C.; Gavalya, R.A.; Dahlmeir, M.M.

    1998-02-01

    The disposition of INEEL radioactive wastes is now under a Settlement Agreement between the DOE and the State of Idaho. The Settlement Agreement requires that existing liquid sodium bearing waste (SBW), and other liquid waste inventories be treated by December 31, 2012. This agreement also requires that all HLW, including calcined waste, be disposed or made road ready to ship from the INEEL by 2035. Sodium bearing waste (SBW) is produced from decontamination operations and HLW from reprocessing of SNF. SBW and HLW are radioactive and hazardous mixed waste; the radioactive constituents are regulated by DOE and the hazardous constituents are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Calcined waste, a dry granular material, is produced in the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF). Two primary waste tank storage locations exist at the ICPP: Tank Farm Facility (TFF) and the Calcined Solids Storage Facility (CSSF). The TFF has the following underground storage tanks: four 18,400-gallon tanks (WM 100-102, WL 101); four 30,000-gallon tanks (WM 103-106); and eleven 300,000+ gallon tanks. This includes nine 300,000-gallon tanks (WM 182-190) and two 318,000 gallon tanks (WM 180-181). This study analyzes the closure and subsequent use of the eleven 300,000+ gallon tanks. The 18,400 and 30,000-gallon tanks were not included in the work scope and will be closed as a separate activity. This study was conducted to support the HLW Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) waste separations options and addresses closure of the 300,000-gallon liquid waste storage tanks and subsequent tank void uses. A figure provides a diagram estimating how the TFF could be used as part of the separations options. Other possible TFF uses are also discussed in this study

  6. ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spaulding, B.C.; Gavalya, R.A.; Dahlmeir, M.M. [and others

    1998-02-01

    The disposition of INEEL radioactive wastes is now under a Settlement Agreement between the DOE and the State of Idaho. The Settlement Agreement requires that existing liquid sodium bearing waste (SBW), and other liquid waste inventories be treated by December 31, 2012. This agreement also requires that all HLW, including calcined waste, be disposed or made road ready to ship from the INEEL by 2035. Sodium bearing waste (SBW) is produced from decontamination operations and HLW from reprocessing of SNF. SBW and HLW are radioactive and hazardous mixed waste; the radioactive constituents are regulated by DOE and the hazardous constituents are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Calcined waste, a dry granular material, is produced in the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF). Two primary waste tank storage locations exist at the ICPP: Tank Farm Facility (TFF) and the Calcined Solids Storage Facility (CSSF). The TFF has the following underground storage tanks: four 18,400-gallon tanks (WM 100-102, WL 101); four 30,000-gallon tanks (WM 103-106); and eleven 300,000+ gallon tanks. This includes nine 300,000-gallon tanks (WM 182-190) and two 318,000 gallon tanks (WM 180-181). This study analyzes the closure and subsequent use of the eleven 300,000+ gallon tanks. The 18,400 and 30,000-gallon tanks were not included in the work scope and will be closed as a separate activity. This study was conducted to support the HLW Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) waste separations options and addresses closure of the 300,000-gallon liquid waste storage tanks and subsequent tank void uses. A figure provides a diagram estimating how the TFF could be used as part of the separations options. Other possible TFF uses are also discussed in this study.

  7. CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS IN THE F-TANK FARM CLOSURE OPERATIONAL DOCUMENTATION REGARDING WASTE TANK INTERNAL CONFIGURATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hommel, S.; Fountain, D.

    2012-03-28

    The intent of this document is to provide clarification of critical assumptions regarding the internal configurations of liquid waste tanks at operational closure, with respect to F-Tank Farm (FTF) closure documentation. For the purposes of this document, FTF closure documentation includes: (1) Performance Assessment for the F-Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (hereafter referred to as the FTF PA) (SRS-REG-2007-00002), (2) Basis for Section 3116 Determination for Closure of F-Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (DOE/SRS-WD-2012-001), (3) Tier 1 Closure Plan for the F-Area Waste Tank Systems at the Savannah River Site (SRR-CWDA-2010-00147), (4) F-Tank Farm Tanks 18 and 19 DOE Manual 435.1-1 Tier 2 Closure Plan Savannah River Site (SRR-CWDA-2011-00015), (5) Industrial Wastewater Closure Module for the Liquid Waste Tanks 18 and 19 (SRRCWDA-2010-00003), and (6) Tank 18/Tank 19 Special Analysis for the Performance Assessment for the F-Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (hereafter referred to as the Tank 18/Tank 19 Special Analysis) (SRR-CWDA-2010-00124). Note that the first three FTF closure documents listed apply to the entire FTF, whereas the last three FTF closure documents listed are specific to Tanks 18 and 19. These two waste tanks are expected to be the first two tanks to be grouted and operationally closed under the current suite of FTF closure documents and many of the assumptions and approaches that apply to these two tanks are also applicable to the other FTF waste tanks and operational closure processes.

  8. Beyond NIMBYs and NOOMBYs: what can wind farm controversies teach us about public involvement in hospital closures?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Ellen; Aitken, Mhairi

    2015-12-01

    Many policymakers, researchers and commentators argue that hospital closures are necessary as health systems adapt to new technological and financial contexts, and as population health needs in developed countries shift. However closures are often unpopular with local communities. Previous research has characterised public opposition as an obstacle to change. Public opposition to the siting of wind farms, often described as NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard), is a useful comparator issue to the perceived NOOMBYism (Not Out Of My Back Yard) of hospital closure protestors. The analysis of public attitudes to wind farms has moved from a fairly crude characterisation of the 'attitude-behaviour gap' between publics who support the idea of wind energy, but oppose local wind farms, to empirical, often qualitative, studies of public perspectives. These have emphasised the complexity of public attitudes, and revealed some of the 'rational' concerns which lie beneath protests. Research has also explored processes of community engagement within the wind farm decision-making process, and the crucial role of trust between communities, authorities, and developers. Drawing on what has been learnt from studies of opposition to wind farms, we suggest a range of questions and approaches to explore public perspectives on hospital closure more thoroughly. Understanding the range of public responses to service change is an important first step in resolving the practical dilemma of effecting health system transformation in a democratic fashion.

  9. AX Tank Farm tank removal study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    SKELLY, W.A.

    1998-01-01

    This report considers the feasibility of exposing, demolishing, and removing underground storage tanks from the 241-AX Tank Farm at the Hanford Site. For the study, it was assumed that the tanks would each contain 360 ft 3 of residual waste (corresponding to the one percent residual Inventory target cited in the Tri-Party Agreement) at the time of demolition. The 241-AX Tank Farm is being employed as a ''strawman'' in engineering studies evaluating clean and landfill closure options for Hanford single-shell tank farms. The report is one of several reports being prepared for use by the Hanford Tanks Initiative Project to explore potential closure options and to develop retrieval performance evaluation criteria for tank farms

  10. Regulatory issues associated with closure of the Hanford AX Tank Farm ancillary equipment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Becker, D.L.

    1998-01-01

    Liquid mixed, high-level radioactive waste has been stored in underground single-shell tanks at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford Site. After retrieval of the waste from the single-shell tanks, the DOE will proceed with closure of the tank farm. The 241-AX Tank Farm includes four one-million gallon single-shell tanks in addition to sluice lines, transfer lines, ventilation headers, risers, pits, cribs, catch tanks, buildings, well and associated buried piping. This equipment is classified as ancillary equipment. This document addresses the requirements for regulatory close of the ancillary equipment in the Hanford Site 241-AX Tank Farm. The options identified for physical closure of the ancillary equipment include disposal in place, disposal in place after treatment, excavation and disposal on site in an empty single-shell tank, and excavation and disposal outside the AX Tank Farm. The document addresses the background of the Hanford Site and ancillary equipment in the AX Tank Farm, regulations for decontamination and decommissioning of radioactively contaminated equipment, requirements for the cleanup and disposal of radioactive wastes, cleanup and disposal requirements governing hazardous and mixed waste, and regulatory requirements and issues associated with each of the four physical closure options. This investigation was conducted by the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, during Fiscal Year 1998 for the Hanford Tanks Initiative Project

  11. AX Tank Farm ancillary equipment study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    SKELLY, W.A.

    1999-01-01

    This report examines the feasibility of remediating ancillary equipment associated with the 241-AX Tank Farm at the Hanford Site. Ancillary equipment includes surface structures and equipment, process waste piping, ventilation components, wells, and pits, boxes, sumps, and tanks used to make waste transfers to/from the AX tanks and adjoining tank farms. Two remedial alternatives are considered: (1) excavation and removal of all ancillary equipment items, and (2) in-situ stabilization by grout filling, the 241-AX Tank Farm is being employed as a strawman in engineering studies evaluating clean and landfill closure options for Hanford single-shell tanks. This is one of several reports being prepared for use by the Hanford Tanks Initiative Project to explore potential closure options and to develop retrieval performance evaluation criteria for tank farms

  12. AX Tank Farm tank removal study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SKELLY, W.A.

    1999-02-24

    This report examines the feasibility of remediating ancillary equipment associated with the 241-AX Tank Farm at the Hanford Site. Ancillary equipment includes surface structures and equipment, process waste piping, ventilation components, wells, and pits, boxes, sumps, and tanks used to make waste transfers to/from the AX tanks and adjoining tank farms. Two remedial alternatives are considered: (1) excavation and removal of all ancillary equipment items, and (2) in-situ stabilization by grout filling, the 241-AX Tank Farm is being employed as a strawman in engineering studies evaluating clean and landfill closure options for Hanford single-shell tanks. This is one of several reports being prepared for use by the Hanford Tanks Initiative Project to explore potential closure options and to develop retrieval performance evaluation criteria for tank farms.

  13. Hanford tanks initiative alternatives generation and analysis plan for AX tank farm closure basis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaus, P.S.

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of this document is: (1) to review the HTI Mission Analysis and related documents to determine their suitability for use in developing performance measures for AX Tank Farm closure, (2) to determine the completeness and representativeness of selected alternative closure scenarios, (3) to determine the completeness of current plans for development of tank end-state criteria, and (4) to analyze the activities that are necessary and sufficient to recommend the end-state criteria and performance measures for the AX Tank Farm and recommend activities not currently planned to support establishment of its end-state criteria

  14. STATUS OF MECHANICAL SLUDGE REMOVAL AND COOLING COILS CLOSURE AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE - F TANK FARM CLOSURE PORJECT -9225

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jolly, R.

    2009-01-01

    The Savannah River Site F-Tank Farm Closure project has successfully performed Mechanical Sludge Removal using the Waste on Wheels (WOW) system within two of its storage tanks. The Waste on Wheels (WOW) system is designed to be relatively mobile with the ability for many components to be redeployed to multiple tanks. It is primarily comprised of Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), Submersible Transfer Pumps (STPs), and a mobile control room with a control panel and variable speed drives. These tanks, designated as Tank 6 and Tank 5 respectively, are Type I waste tanks located in F-Tank Farm (FTF) with a capacity of 2839 cubic meters (750,000 gallons) each. In addition, Type I tanks have 34 vertically oriented cooling coils and two horizontal cooling coil circuits along the tank floor. DOE intends to remove from service and operationally close Tank 5 and Tank 6 and other HLW tanks that do not meet current containment standards. After obtaining regulatory approval, the tanks and cooling coils will be isolated and filled with grout for long term stabilization. Mechanical Sludge Removal of the remaining sludge waste within Tank 6 removed ∼ 75% of the original 25,000 gallons in August 2007. Utilizing lessons learned from Tank 6, Tank 5 Mechanical Sludge Removal completed removal of ∼ 90% of the original 125 cubic meters (33,000 gallons) of sludge material in May 2008. The successful removal of sludge material meets the requirement of approximately 19 to 28 cubic meters (5,000 to 7,500 gallons) remaining prior to the Chemical Cleaning process. The Chemical Cleaning Process will utilize 8 wt% oxalic acid to dissolve the remaining sludge heel. The flow sheet for Chemical Cleaning planned a 20:1 volume ratio of acid to sludge for the first strike with mixing provided by the submersible mixer pumps. The subsequent strikes will utilize a 13:1 volume ratio of acid to sludge with no mixing. The results of the Chemical Cleaning Process are detailed in the 'Status of Chemical

  15. STATUS OF MECHANICAL SLUDGE REMOVAL AND COOLING COILS CLOSURE AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE - F TANK FARM CLOSURE PROJECT - 9225

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jolly, R

    2009-01-06

    The Savannah River Site F-Tank Farm Closure project has successfully performed Mechanical Sludge Removal using the Waste on Wheels (WOW) system within two of its storage tanks. The Waste on Wheels (WOW) system is designed to be relatively mobile with the ability for many components to be redeployed to multiple tanks. It is primarily comprised of Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), Submersible Transfer Pumps (STPs), and a mobile control room with a control panel and variable speed drives. These tanks, designated as Tank 6 and Tank 5 respectively, are Type I waste tanks located in F-Tank Farm (FTF) with a capacity of 2839 cubic meters (750,000 gallons) each. In addition, Type I tanks have 34 vertically oriented cooling coils and two horizontal cooling coil circuits along the tank floor. DOE intends to remove from service and operationally close Tank 5 and Tank 6 and other HLW tanks that do not meet current containment standards. After obtaining regulatory approval, the tanks and cooling coils will be isolated and filled with grout for long term stabilization. Mechanical Sludge Removal of the remaining sludge waste within Tank 6 removed {approx} 75% of the original 25,000 gallons in August 2007. Utilizing lessons learned from Tank 6, Tank 5 Mechanical Sludge Removal completed removal of {approx} 90% of the original 125 cubic meters (33,000 gallons) of sludge material in May 2008. The successful removal of sludge material meets the requirement of approximately 19 to 28 cubic meters (5,000 to 7,500 gallons) remaining prior to the Chemical Cleaning process. The Chemical Cleaning Process will utilize 8 wt% oxalic acid to dissolve the remaining sludge heel. The flow sheet for Chemical Cleaning planned a 20:1 volume ratio of acid to sludge for the first strike with mixing provided by the submersible mixer pumps. The subsequent strikes will utilize a 13:1 volume ratio of acid to sludge with no mixing. The results of the Chemical Cleaning Process are detailed in the &apos

  16. Calcined solids storage facility closure study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dahlmeir, M.M.; Tuott, L.C.; Spaulding, B.C.

    1998-02-01

    The disposal of radioactive wastes now stored at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is currently mandated under a open-quotes Settlement Agreementclose quotes (or open-quotes Batt Agreementclose quotes) between the Department of Energy and the State of Idaho. Under this agreement, all high-level waste must be treated as necessary to meet the disposal criteria and disposed of or made road ready to ship from the INEEL by 2035. In order to comply with this agreement, all calcined waste produced in the New Waste Calcining Facility and stored in the Calcined Solids Facility must be treated and disposed of by 2035. Several treatment options for the calcined waste have been studied in support of the High-Level Waste Environmental Impact Statement. Two treatment methods studied, referred to as the TRU Waste Separations Options, involve the separation of the high-level waste (calcine) into TRU waste and low-level waste (Class A or Class C). Following treatment, the TRU waste would be sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for final storage. It has been proposed that the low-level waste be disposed of in the Tank Farm Facility and/or the Calcined Solids Storage Facility following Resource Conservation and Recovery Act closure. In order to use the seven Bin Sets making up the Calcined Solids Storage Facility as a low-level waste landfill, the facility must first be closed to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) standards. This study identifies and discusses two basic methods available to close the Calcined Solids Storage Facility under the RCRA - Risk-Based Clean Closure and Closure to Landfill Standards. In addition to the closure methods, the regulatory requirements and issues associated with turning the Calcined Solids Storage Facility into an NRC low-level waste landfill or filling the bin voids with clean grout are discussed

  17. Calcined solids storage facility closure study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dahlmeir, M.M.; Tuott, L.C.; Spaulding, B.C. [and others

    1998-02-01

    The disposal of radioactive wastes now stored at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is currently mandated under a {open_quotes}Settlement Agreement{close_quotes} (or {open_quotes}Batt Agreement{close_quotes}) between the Department of Energy and the State of Idaho. Under this agreement, all high-level waste must be treated as necessary to meet the disposal criteria and disposed of or made road ready to ship from the INEEL by 2035. In order to comply with this agreement, all calcined waste produced in the New Waste Calcining Facility and stored in the Calcined Solids Facility must be treated and disposed of by 2035. Several treatment options for the calcined waste have been studied in support of the High-Level Waste Environmental Impact Statement. Two treatment methods studied, referred to as the TRU Waste Separations Options, involve the separation of the high-level waste (calcine) into TRU waste and low-level waste (Class A or Class C). Following treatment, the TRU waste would be sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for final storage. It has been proposed that the low-level waste be disposed of in the Tank Farm Facility and/or the Calcined Solids Storage Facility following Resource Conservation and Recovery Act closure. In order to use the seven Bin Sets making up the Calcined Solids Storage Facility as a low-level waste landfill, the facility must first be closed to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) standards. This study identifies and discusses two basic methods available to close the Calcined Solids Storage Facility under the RCRA - Risk-Based Clean Closure and Closure to Landfill Standards. In addition to the closure methods, the regulatory requirements and issues associated with turning the Calcined Solids Storage Facility into an NRC low-level waste landfill or filling the bin voids with clean grout are discussed.

  18. Observing farming systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Noe, Egon; Alrøe, Hugo Fjelsted

    2012-01-01

    of analysis from individual farmers to communication and social relations. This is where Luhmann’s social systems theory can offer new insights. Firstly, it can help observe and understand the operational closure and system logic of a farming system and how this closure is produced and reproduced. Secondly...

  19. 2003 Initial Assessments of Closure for the C Tank Farm Field Investigation Report (FIR):Numerical Simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Z F.; Freedman, Vicky L.; White, Mark D.

    2003-01-01

    In support of CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc.'s (CHG) preparation of a Field Investigative Report (FIR) for the closure of the Hanford Site Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Management Area (WMA) tank farms, a set of numerical simulations of flow and solute transport was executed to predict the performance of surface barriers for reducing long-term risks from potential groundwater contamination at the C Farm WMA. This report documents the simulation of 14 cases (and two verification cases) involving two-dimensional cross sections through the C Farm WMA tanks C-103 - C-112. Utilizing a unit release scenario at Tank C-112, four different types of leaks were simulated. These simulations assessed the impact of leakage during retrieval, past leaks, and tank residual wastes and tank ancillary equipment following closure activities. . Two transported solutes were considered: uranium-238 (U-238) and technetium-99 (Tc-99). To evaluate the impact of sorption to the subsurface materials, six different retardation coefficients were simulated for U-238. Overall, simulations results for the C Farm WMA showed that only a small fraction of the U-238 with retardation factors greater than 0.6 migrated from the vadose zone in all of the cases. For the conservative solute, Tc-99, results showed that the simulations investigating leakages during retrieval demonstrated the highest WMA peak concentrations and the earliest arrival times due to the high infiltration rate before the use of surface barriers and the addition of water into the system. Simulations investigating past leaks showed similar peaks and arrival times as the retrieval leak cases. Several different release rates were used to investigate contaminant transport from residual tank wastes. All showed similar peak concentrations and arrival times, except for the lowest initial release rate, which was 1,000 times slower than the highest release rate. Past leaks were also investigated with different release rate models, including

  20. An Initial Evaluation of Characterization and Closure Options for Underground Pipelines within a Hanford Site Single-Shell Tank Farm - 13210

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badden, Janet W.; Connelly, Michael P. [Washington River Protection Services, P.O. Box 850, Richland, Washington, 99352 (United States); Seeley, Paul N. [Cenibark International, Inc., 104318 Nicole Drive, Kennewick, Washington, 99338-7596 (United States); Hendrickson, Michelle L. [Washington State Department of Ecology, 3100 Port of Benton Blvd, Richland, Washington, 99354 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    The Hanford Site includes 149 single-shell tanks, organized in 12 'tank farms,' with contents managed as high-level mixed waste. The Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order requires that one tank farm, the Waste Management Area C, be closed by June 30, 2019. A challenge to this project is the disposition and closure of Waste Management Area C underground pipelines. Waste Management Area C contains nearly seven miles of pipelines and 200 separate pipe segments. The pipelines were taken out of service decades ago and contain unknown volumes and concentrations of tank waste residuals from past operations. To understand the scope of activities that may be required for these pipelines, an evaluation was performed. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify what, if any, characterization methods and/or closure actions may be implemented at Waste Management Area C for closure of Waste Management Area C by 2019. Physical and analytical data do not exist for Waste Management Area C pipeline waste residuals. To develop estimates of residual volumes and inventories of contamination, an extensive search of available information on pipelines was conducted. The search included evaluating historical operation and occurrence records, physical attributes, schematics and drawings, and contaminant inventories associated with the process history of plutonium separations facilities and waste separations and stabilization operations. Scoping analyses of impacts to human health and the environment using three separate methodologies were then developed based on the waste residual estimates. All analyses resulted in preliminary assessments, indicating that pipeline waste residuals presented a comparably low long-term impact to groundwater with respect to soil, tank and other ancillary equipment residuals, but exceeded Washington State cleanup requirement values. In addition to performing the impact analyses, the assessment evaluated available sampling technologies

  1. An Initial Evaluation Of Characterization And Closure Options For Underground Pipelines Within A Hanford Site Single-Shell Tank Farm-13210

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Badden, Janet W.; Connelly, Michael P.; Seeley, Paul N.; Hendrickson, Michelle L.

    2013-01-01

    The Hanford Site includes 149 single-shell tanks, organized in 12 'tank farms,' with contents managed as high-level mixed waste. The Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order requires that one tank farm, the Waste Management Area C, be closed by June 30, 2019. A challenge to this project is the disposition and closure of Waste Management Area C underground pipelines. Waste Management Area C contains nearly seven miles of pipelines and 200 separate pipe segments. The pipelines were taken out of service decades ago and contain unknown volumes and concentrations of tank waste residuals from past operations. To understand the scope of activities that may be required for these pipelines, an evaluation was performed. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify what, if any, characterization methods and/or closure actions may be implemented at Waste Management Area C for closure of Waste Management Area C by 2019. Physical and analytical data do not exist for Waste Management Area C pipeline waste residuals. To develop estimates of residual volumes and inventories of contamination, an extensive search of available information on pipelines was conducted. The search included evaluating historical operation and occurrence records, physical attributes, schematics and drawings, and contaminant inventories associated with the process history of plutonium separations facilities and waste separations and stabilization operations. Scoping analyses of impacts to human health and the environment using three separate methodologies were then developed based on the waste residual estimates. All analyses resulted in preliminary assessments, indicating that pipeline waste residuals presented a comparably low long-term impact to groundwater with respect to soil, tank and other ancillary equipment residuals, but exceeded Washington State cleanup requirement values. In addition to performing the impact analyses, the assessment evaluated available sampling technologies and

  2. HANFORD SITE RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT (RPP) TANK FARM CLOSURE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    JARAYSI, M.N.; SMITH, Z.; QUINTERO, R.; BURANDT, M.B.; HEWITT, W.

    2006-01-01

    The U. S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection and the CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. are responsible for the operations, cleanup, and closure activities at the Hanford Tank Farms. There are 177 tanks overall in the tank farms, 149 single-shell tanks (see Figure 1), and 28 double-shell tanks (see Figure 2). The single-shell tanks were constructed 40 to 60 years ago and all have exceeded their design life. The single-shell tanks do not meet Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 [1] requirements. Accordingly, radioactive waste is being retrieved from the single-shell tanks and transferred to double-shell tanks for storage prior to treatment through vitrification and disposal. Following retrieval of as much waste as is technically possible from the single-shell tanks, the Office of River Protection plans to close the single-shell tanks in accordance with the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order [2] and the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 [3] requirements. The double-shell tanks will remain in operation through much of the cleanup mission until sufficient waste has been treated such that the Office of River Protection can commence closing the double-shell tanks. At the current time, however, the focus is on retrieving waste and closing the single-shell tanks. The single-shell tanks are being managed and will be closed in accordance with the pertinent requirements in: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and its Washington State-authorized Dangerous Waste Regulations [4], US DOE Order 435.1 Radioactive Waste Management [5], the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [6], and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 [7]. The Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, which is commonly referred to as the Tri-Party Agreement or TPA, was originally signed by Department of Energy, the State of Washington, and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1989. Meanwhile, the

  3. TANK FARM REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AN EXERCISE IN TECHNICAL & REGULATORY COLLABORATION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    JARAYSI, M.N.

    2007-01-08

    The Tank Farm Remediation Technology Development Project at the Hanford Site focuses on waste storage tanks, pipelines and associated ancillary equipment that are part of the C-200 single-shell tank (SST) farm system located in the C Tank Farm. The purpose of the project is to obtain information on the implementation of a variety of closure activities and to answer questions on technical, operational and regulatory issues associated with closure.

  4. Corrective Action Plan for CAU No. 95: Area 15 EPA Farm Laboratory Building, Decontamination and Demolition Closure Activities - Nevada Test Site. Rev. 0

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olson, A.L.; Nacht, S.J.

    1997-11-01

    This Corrective Action Plan (CAP) provides the selected corrective action alternative and proposes the closure implementation methodology for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm Laboratory Building 15-06 located in Area 15 of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nye County, Nevada. The facility is part of the Environmental Restoration Project managed by the U.S. Department of Energy/Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) under the Decontamination and Decommissioning (D ampersand D) Subproject which serves to manage and dispose of surplus facilities at the NTS in a manner that will protect personnel, the public, and the environment. It is identified as Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 95 in Appendix III of the Federal Facilities Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO). In July 1997, the DOE/NV verbally requested approval from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for the closure schedule to be accelerated. Currently, field activities are anticipated to be completed by September 30, 1997. In order to meet this new schedule NDEP has agreed to review this document as expeditiously as possible. Comments will be addressed in the Closure Report after field activities have been completed, unless significant issues require resolution during closure activities

  5. Corrective Action Plan for CAU No. 95: Area 15 EPA Farm Laboratory Building, Decontamination and Demolition Closure Activities - Nevada Test Site. Rev. 0

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olson, A.L.; Nacht, S.J.

    1997-11-01

    This Corrective Action Plan (CAP) provides the selected corrective action alternative and proposes the closure implementation methodology for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm Laboratory Building 15-06 located in Area 15 of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nye County, Nevada. The facility is part of the Environmental Restoration Project managed by the U.S. Department of Energy/Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) under the Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Subproject which serves to manage and dispose of surplus facilities at the NTS in a manner that will protect personnel, the public, and the environment. It is identified as Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 95 in Appendix III of the Federal Facilities Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO). In July 1997, the DOE/NV verbally requested approval from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for the closure schedule to be accelerated. Currently, field activities are anticipated to be completed by September 30, 1997. In order to meet this new schedule NDEP has agreed to review this document as expeditiously as possible. Comments will be addressed in the Closure Report after field activities have been completed, unless significant issues require resolution during closure activities.

  6. TANK FARM REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AN EXERCISE IN TECHNICAL and REGULATORY COLLABORATION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    JARAYSI, M.N.

    2007-01-01

    The Tank Farm Remediation Technology Development Project at the Hanford Site focuses on waste storage tanks, pipelines and associated ancillary equipment that are part of the C-200 single-shell tank (SST) farm system located in the C Tank Farm. The purpose of the project is to obtain information on the implementation of a variety of closure activities and to answer questions on technical, operational and regulatory issues associated with closure

  7. TANK FARM CLOSURE - A NEW TWIST ON REGULATORY STRATEGIES FOR CLOSURE OF WASTE TANK RESIDUALS FOLLOWING NUREG

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LEHMAN LL

    2008-01-01

    Waste from a number of single-shell tanks (SST) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site has been retrieved by CH2M HILL Hanford Group to fulfill the requirements of the 'Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (HFFACO) [1]. Laboratory analyses of the Hanford tank residual wastes have provided concentration data which will be used to determine waste classification and disposal options for tank residuals. The closure of tank farm facilities remains one of the most challenging activities faced by the DOE. This is due in part to the complicated regulatory structures that have developed. These regulatory structures are different at each of the DOE sites, making it difficult to apply lessons learned from one site to the next. During the past two years with the passage of the Section 3116 of the 'Ronald Reagan Defense Authorization Act of 2005' (NDAA) [2] some standardization has emerged for Savannah River Site and the Idaho National Laboratory tank residuals. Recently, with the issuance of 'NRC Staff Guidance for Activities Related to US. Department of Energy Waste Determinations' (NUREG-1854) [3] more explicit options may be considered for Hanford tank residuals than are presently available under DOE Orders. NUREG-1854, issued in August 2007, contains several key pieces of information that if utilized by the DOE in the tank closure process, could simplify waste classification and streamline the NRC review process by providing information to the NRC in their preferred format. Other provisions of this NUREG allow different methods to be applied in determining when waste retrieval is complete by incorporating actual project costs and health risks into the calculation of 'technically and economically practical'. Additionally, the NUREG requires a strong understanding of the uncertainties of the analyses, which given the desire of some NRC/DOE staff may increase the likelihood of using probabilistic approaches to uncertainty analysis. The purpose

  8. Performance Objective for Tank Farm Closure Risk Assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MANN, F.M.; KNEPP, A.J.; BADDEN, J.

    2003-01-01

    To be meaningful, results from a numeric risk assessment of the consequences of an action must be compared against the standards for such an action. That is, before one disposes of waste or closes a facility with waste, one must show that the disposal or closure action protects the public health and safety and the environment. These standards are called performance objectives. Regulations requiring performing performance assessments, (whether federal ones like the Department of Energy [DOE] Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management and its implementing guides or Washington State ones like the regulations implementing the Washington Administrative Code [WAC] 173-340 ''Model Toxics Control Act - Cleanup''), usually require that the determination of performance objectives be one of the first steps performed. These performance objectives not only set comparison level for the numeric results, but also define the media, pathways, exposure scenarios (receptors), spatial locations, and times that the performance assessment must consider. Thus, a performance objective consists of a compliance level, place(s) of compliance, and time(s) of compliance. Performance objectives are not the levels that a regulatory agency will enforce in a permit or authorization. Those levels, often called enforcement levels, will be set in the permit or authorization. Rather, performance objectives are those levels against which the results of the numeric simulation will be compared to judge the success of the proposed cleanup or disposal actions. Additional comparison levels may be requested for information purposes, but are not officially part of the decision on the adequacy of the proposed action. To emphasize that the performance objectives discussed in this document are not regulatory performance objectives, the three components of the performance objective will be renamed in this document as assessment standard, point(s) of assessment, and time(s) of assessment. However, whenever

  9. ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume III: Cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle cost estimates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-02-01

    This volume contains information on cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle costs for the six options described in Volume 1, Section 2: Option 1 -- Total removal clean closure; No subsequent use; Option 2 -- Risk-based clean closure; LLW fill; Option 3 -- Risk-based clean closure; CERCLA fill; Option 4 -- Close to RCRA landfill standards; LLW fill; Option 5 -- Close to RCRA landfill standards; CERCLA fill; and Option 6 -- Close to RCRA landfill standards; Clean fill. This volume is divided into two portions. The first portion contains the cost and planning schedule estimates while the second portion contains life-cycle costs and yearly cash flow information for each option

  10. Crack closure, a literature study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmgren, M.

    1993-08-01

    In this report crack closure is treated. The state of the art is reviewed. Different empirical formulas for determining the crack closure are compared with each other, and their benefits are discussed. Experimental techniques for determining the crack closure stress are discussed, and some results from fatigue tests are also reported. Experimental data from the literature are reported.

  11. Tank Closure Progress at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Tank Farm Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Butterworth, St.W.; Shaw, M.R.

    2009-01-01

    Significant progress continued at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with the completion of the closure process to empty, clean and close radioactive liquid waste storage tanks at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) Tank Farm Facility (TFF). The TFF includes eleven 1,135.6-kL (300,000-gal) underground stainless steel storage tanks and four smaller, 113.5-kL (30,000-gal) stainless steel tanks, along with tank vaults, interconnecting piping, and ancillary equipment. The TFF tanks had historically been used to store a variety of radioactive liquid waste, including wastes associated with past spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. Four of the large storage tanks remain in use for waste storage while the other seven 1,135.6-kL (300,000-gal) tanks and the four 113.5-kL (30,000-gal) tanks have been emptied of waste, cleaned and filled with grout. Recent issuance of an Amended Record of Decision (ROD) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, and a Waste Determination complying with Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2005, allowed commencement of grouting activities on the cleaned tanks. The first three 113.5-kL (30,000-gal) tanks were grouted in the Fall of 2006 and the fourth tank and the seven 1,135.6-kL (300,000-gal) tanks were filled with grout in 2007 to provide long-term stability. During 2008 over seven miles of underground process piping along with associated tank valve boxes and secondary containment systems was stabilized with grout. Lessons learned were compiled and implemented during the closure process and will be utilized on the remaining four 1,135.6-kL (300,000-gal) underground stainless steel storage tanks. Significant progress has been made to clean and close emptied tanks at the INTEC TFF. Between 2002 and 2005, seven of the eleven 1,135.6-kL (300,000-gal) tanks and all four 113.5-kL (30,000-gal) tanks were cleaned and prepared

  12. Sokoto Journal of Veterinary Sciences Epiphyseal plate closure of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADEYEYE

    Nigeria. 2. Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University. Sokoto, Nigeria ... from three different small ruminant farms with birth record within Sokoto metropolis,. Nigeria. They were ... animals, one of which is the use of epiphyseal plate closure (Choi et al., ...

  13. Farm management information systems: A case study on a German multifunctional farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husemann Christoph

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate and easy to use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS are of fundamental importance for a successful operational farm management. However, still today many farmers do not use FMISs for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. In particular for small to medium-sized farms and for multifunctional farms appropriate FMISs hardly exist. This paper aims on the deduction of a concrete FMIS from a general FMIS. The concrete FMIS has to focus on the needs of medium-sized and multifunctional farms. This means that the farmer has to be empowered to allocate the scarce resources of the farm. Therefore, we picked a German farm from the state North Rhine Westphalia as a case-study to apply a system analysis. The case study farm helps to identify and to analyze relevant material and information flows, production processes, and their interconnections and synergies.

  14. Overview of the closure approach for the Hanford Site single-shell tank farm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, E.H.

    1991-09-01

    The disposal of chemical and radioactive waste stored within the single-shell tanks (SST) represents one of the most significant waste management problems at the Hanford Site. A comprehensive program has been established to obtain analytical data regarding the chemical and radiological constituents within these tanks. This information will be used to support the development of a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and ultimately to aid in the selection of a final disposal option. This paper discusses some of the technical options and major regulatory issues associated with SST waste retrieval and in situ waste treatment and disposal. Certain closure options and treatment technologies will require further development before they can be implemented or accepted as being useful. In addition, continued negotiations with the regulatory authorities will be required to determine the preferred closure option and the regulatory pathway to accommodate such closure

  15. Single-shell tank closure work plan. Revision A

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-06-01

    In January 1994, the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Conset Order (Tri-Party Agreement) was amended to reflect a revised strategy for remediation of radioactive waste in underground storage tanks. These amendments include milestones for closure of the single-shell tank (SST) operable units, to be initiated by March 2012 and completed by September 2024. This SST-CWP has been prepared to address the principal topical areas identified in Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-45-06 (i.e., regulatory pathway, operable unit characterization, waste retrieval, technology development, and a strategy for achieving closure). Chapter 2.0 of this SST-CWP provides a brief description of the environmental setting, SST System, the origin and characteristics of SST waste, and ancillary equipment that will be remediated as part of SST operable unit closure. Appendix 2A provides a description of the hydrogeology of the Hanford Site, including information on the unsaturated sediments (vadose zone) beneath the 200 Areas Plateau. Chapter 3.0 provides a discussion of the laws and regulations applicable to closure of the SST farm operable units. Chapter 4.0 provides a summary description of the ongoing characterization activities that best align with the proposed regulatory pathway for closure. Chapter 5.0 describes aspects of the SST waste retrieval program, including retrieval strategy, technology, and sequence, potential tank leakage during retrieval, and considerations of deployment of subsurface barriers. Chapter 6.0 outlines a proposed strategy for closure. Chapter 7.0 provides a summary of the programs underway or planned to develop technologies to support closure. Ca. 325 refs.

  16. Single-shell tank closure work plan. Revision A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-06-01

    In January 1994, the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Conset Order (Tri-Party Agreement) was amended to reflect a revised strategy for remediation of radioactive waste in underground storage tanks. These amendments include milestones for closure of the single-shell tank (SST) operable units, to be initiated by March 2012 and completed by September 2024. This SST-CWP has been prepared to address the principal topical areas identified in Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-45-06 (i.e., regulatory pathway, operable unit characterization, waste retrieval, technology development, and a strategy for achieving closure). Chapter 2.0 of this SST-CWP provides a brief description of the environmental setting, SST System, the origin and characteristics of SST waste, and ancillary equipment that will be remediated as part of SST operable unit closure. Appendix 2A provides a description of the hydrogeology of the Hanford Site, including information on the unsaturated sediments (vadose zone) beneath the 200 Areas Plateau. Chapter 3.0 provides a discussion of the laws and regulations applicable to closure of the SST farm operable units. Chapter 4.0 provides a summary description of the ongoing characterization activities that best align with the proposed regulatory pathway for closure. Chapter 5.0 describes aspects of the SST waste retrieval program, including retrieval strategy, technology, and sequence, potential tank leakage during retrieval, and considerations of deployment of subsurface barriers. Chapter 6.0 outlines a proposed strategy for closure. Chapter 7.0 provides a summary of the programs underway or planned to develop technologies to support closure. Ca. 325 refs

  17. Dispersive stresses in wind farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segalini, Antonio; Braunbehrens, Robert; Hyvarinen, Ann

    2017-11-01

    One of the most famous models of wind farms is provided by the assumption that the farm can be approximated as a horizontally-homogeneous forest canopy with vertically-varying force intensity. By means of this approximation, the flow-motion equations become drastically simpler, as many of the three-dimensional effects are gone. However, the application of the horizontal average operator to the RANS equations leads to the appearance of new transport terms (called dispersive stresses) originating from the horizontal (small-scale) variation of the mean velocity field. Since these terms are related to the individual turbine signature, they are expected to vanish outside the roughness sublayer, providing a definition for the latter. In the present work, an assessment of the dispersive stresses is performed by means of a wake-model approach and through the linearised code ORFEUS developed at KTH. Both approaches are very fast and enable the characterization of a large number of wind-farm layouts. The dispersive stress tensor and its effect on the turbulence closure models are investigated, providing guidelines for those simulations where it is impossible to resolve the farm at a turbine scale due to grid requirements (as, for instance, mesoscale simulations).

  18. Decontamination Study for Mixed Waste Storage Tanks RCRA Closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leaphart, D.M.; Reed, S.R.; Rankin, W.N.

    1995-01-01

    The Savannah River Site (SRS) plans to close six underground tanks storing mixed waste under RCRA regulations. In support of this closure effort, a study was performed to determine the optimal method of decontaminating these tanks to meet the closure requirements. Items consaidered in the evaluation of the decontamination methods included effectiveness, compatibility with existing waste residues, possible cleaning solution disposal methods, and cost

  19. Radiographic study of distal radial physeal closure in thoroughbred horses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vulcano, L.C.; Mamprim, M.J.; Muniz, L.M.R.; Moreira, A.F.; Luna, S.P.L.

    1997-01-01

    Monthly radiography was performed to study distal radial physeal closure in ten male and ten female Throughbred horses. The height, thoracic circumference and metacarpus circumference were also measured, Distal radial physeal closure time was sooner in females than males, and took 701 +/- 37 and 748 +/- 55 days respectively

  20. Decontamination and inspection plan for Phase 3 closure of the 300 area waste acid treatment system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LUKE, S.N.

    1999-01-01

    This decontamination and inspection plan (DIP) describes decontamination and verification activities in support of Phase 3 closure of the 300 Area Waste Acid Treatment System (WATS). Phase 3 is the third phase of three WATS closure phases. Phase 3 attains clean closure conditions for WATS portions of the 334 and 311 Tank Farms (TF) and the 333 and 303-F Buildings. This DIP also describes designation and management of waste and debris generated during Phase 3 closure activities. Information regarding Phase 1 and Phase 2 for decontamination and verification activities closure can be found in WHC-SD-ENV-AP-001 and HNF-1784, respectively. This DIP is provided as a supplement to the closure plan (DOE/RL-90-11). This DIP provides the documentation for Ecology concurrence with Phase 3 closure methods and activities. This DIP is intended to provide greater detail than is contained in the closure plan to satisfy Ecology Dangerous Waste Regulations, Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610 requirement that closure documents describe the methods for removing, transporting, storing, and disposing of all dangerous waste at the unit. The decontamination and verification activities described in this DIP are based on the closure plan and on agreements reached between Ecology and the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) during Phase 3 closure activity workshops and/or project manager meetings (PMMs)

  1. Repowering of wind farms - A case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nivedh, B.S. [Quality Engineering and Software Technologies, Bangalore (India); Devi, R.P.K. [College of Engineering. Power Systems Engineering, Guindy (India); Sreevalsan, E. [Gamesa Wind Turbines India Private Limited, Chennai (India)

    2012-07-01

    The main objective of the study is to devise a method for assessing the repowering potential and to improve the energy output from the wind farms and also to understand the impact on the power quality due to repowering. With repowering, the first-generation wind turbines can be replaced with modern multi-megawatt wind turbines. To carry-out the study an old wind farm located at Kayathar, Tamilnadu is selected. The wind farm was commissioned in 1990's with a capacity of 7.35MW, which consists of 36 Wind Turbines each with the capacity of 200kW and 225kW. The present annual energy generation of the wind farm is 7350MWhr with the plant load factor of 11.41%. The intent of this study is to predict the annual energy output of the wind farm after the repowering using WAsP (Wind Atlas Analysis Application Program). Further this study analyses the power quality issues of the various Wind Turbines. In addition, the main feeder, in which the wind farm which is taken for the study also modeled and the impact on power quality due to repowering also studied. Simulations were carried out using MATLAB. The results are analyzed to understand the significance of repowering to overcome the energy crisis of the nation since the best locations for wind in India are occupied by old wind turbines. The following are the observations and conclusions from the above study. Plant load factor (PLF) increased to 24 %, Energy yield increased to more than 4 times and the capacity of the wind farm became double. And in the view of power quality, comparing to the existing Feeder, Repowered Feeder having less reactive power consumption, voltage variations and flickers except the harmonic distortion. (Author)

  2. Stabilization of In-Tank Residual Wastes and External-Tank Soil Contamination for the Hanford Tank Closure Program: Applications to the AX Tank Farm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, H.L.; Dwyer, B.P.; Ho, C.; Krumhansl, J.L.; McKeen, G.; Molecke, M.A.; Westrich, H.R.; Zhang, P.

    1998-11-01

    Technical support for the Hanford Tank Closure Program focused on evaluation of concepts for immobilization of residual contaminants in the Hanford AX tanks and underlying soils, and identification of cost-effective approaches to improve long-term performance of AX tank farm cIosure systems. Project objectives are to develop materials or engineered systems that would significantly reduce the radionuclide transport to the groundwater from AX tanks containing residual waste. We pursued several studies that, if implemented, would help achieve these goals. They include: (1) tank fill design to reduce water inilltration and potential interaction with residual waste; (2) development of in-tank getter materials that would specifically sorb or sequester radionuclides; (3) evaluation of grout emplacement under and around the tanks to prevent waste leakage during waste retrieval or to minimize water infiltration beneath the tanks; (4) development of getters that will chemically fix specific radionuclides in soils under tanks; and (5) geochemical and hydrologic modeling of waste-water-soil-grout interactions. These studies differ in scope from the reducing grout tank fill employed at the Savannah River Site in that our strategy improves upon tank fill design by providing redundancy in the barriers to radionuclide migration and by modification the hydrogeochemistry external to the tanks.

  3. Economic evaluation of closure cap barrier materials study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serrato, M.G.; Bhutani, J.S.; Mead, S.M.

    1993-09-01

    Volume II of the Economic Evaluation of the Closure Cap Barrier Materials, Revision I contains detailed cost estimates for closure cap barrier materials. The cost estimates incorporate the life cycle costs for a generic hazardous waste seepage basin closure cap under the RCRA Post Closure Period of thirty years. The economic evaluation assessed six barrier material categories. Each of these categories consists of several composite cover system configurations, which were used to develop individual cost estimates. The information contained in this report is not intended to be used as a cost estimating manual. This information provides the decision makers with the ability to screen barrier materials, cover system configurations, and identify cost-effective materials for further consideration.

  4. Economic evaluation of closure cap barrier materials study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serrato, M.G.; Bhutani, J.S.; Mead, S.M.

    1993-09-01

    Volume II of the Economic Evaluation of the Closure Cap Barrier Materials, Revision I contains detailed cost estimates for closure cap barrier materials. The cost estimates incorporate the life cycle costs for a generic hazardous waste seepage basin closure cap under the RCRA Post Closure Period of thirty years. The economic evaluation assessed six barrier material categories. Each of these categories consists of several composite cover system configurations, which were used to develop individual cost estimates. The information contained in this report is not intended to be used as a cost estimating manual. This information provides the decision makers with the ability to screen barrier materials, cover system configurations, and identify cost-effective materials for further consideration

  5. Professional Closure Beyond State Authorization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gitte Sommer Harrits

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available For decades, the Weberian approach to the study of professions has been strong, emphasizing state authorization and market monopolies as constituting what is considered a profession. Originally, however, the Weberian conception of closure, or the ways in which a profession is constituted and made separate, was broader. This article suggests a revision of the closure concept, integrating insights from Pierre Bourdieu, and conceptualizing professional closure as the intersection of social, symbolic and legal closure. Based on this revision, this article demonstrates how to apply such a concept in empirical studies. This is done by exploring social, symbolic and legal closure across sixteen professional degree programs. The analyses show a tendency for some overlap between different forms of closure, with a somewhat divergent pattern for legal closure. Results support the argument that we need to study these processes as an intersection of different sources of closure, including capital, lifestyles and discourse

  6. Limited utility of preoperative studies in preparation for colostomy closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pokorny, R M; Heniford, T; Allen, J W; Tuckson, W B; Galandiuk, S

    1999-04-01

    Numerous diagnostic and therapeutic practices are used in an attempt to reduce the morbidity of colostomy closures. Our principal aim was to evaluate the role of preoperative studies, specifically barium enemas and endoscopic examinations, performed before colostomy closures. Additionally, we wished to identify other practices involved in the perioperative management of patients undergoing colostomy closure that influenced morbidity. The records of 100 consecutive patients who underwent elective colostomy closure at University of Louisville Hospital between January 1989 and July 1995 were reviewed. Wound infection was the most common complication (12%). Various bowel preparations were equivalent in efficacy and did not influence the complication rate. Intermittent wound irrigation with antibiotics for 3 days postoperatively, via subcutaneous drains, was associated with a low incidence of incision infection. Preoperative barium enema or sigmoidoscopy were often performed but rarely useful. Performing these examinations merely increased hospital cost without a corresponding decline in morbidity.

  7. HIGH LEVEL WASTE MECHANCIAL SLUDGE REMOVAL AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE F TANK FARM CLOSURE PROJECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jolly, R; Bruce Martin, B

    2008-01-01

    The Savannah River Site F-Tank Farm Closure project has successfully performed Mechanical Sludge Removal (MSR) using the Waste on Wheels (WOW) system for the first time within one of its storage tanks. The WOW system is designed to be relatively mobile with the ability for many components to be redeployed to multiple waste tanks. It is primarily comprised of Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), Submersible Transfer Pumps (STPs), and a mobile control room with a control panel and variable speed drives. In addition, the project is currently preparing another waste tank for MSR utilizing lessons learned from this previous operational activity. These tanks, designated as Tank 6 and Tank 5 respectively, are Type I waste tanks located in F-Tank Farm (FTF) with a capacity of 2,840 cubic meters (750,000 gallons) each. The construction of these tanks was completed in 1953, and they were placed into waste storage service in 1959. The tank's primary shell is 23 meters (75 feet) in diameter, and 7.5 meters (24.5 feet) in height. Type I tanks have 34 vertically oriented cooling coils and two horizontal cooling coil circuits along the tank floor. Both Tank 5 and Tank 6 received and stored F-PUREX waste during their operating service time before sludge removal was performed. DOE intends to remove from service and operationally close (fill with grout) Tank 5 and Tank 6 and other HLW tanks that do not meet current containment standards. Mechanical Sludge Removal, the first step in the tank closure process, will be followed by chemical cleaning. After obtaining regulatory approval, the tanks will be isolated and filled with grout for long-term stabilization. Mechanical Sludge Removal operations within Tank 6 removed approximately 75% of the original 95,000 liters (25,000 gallons). This sludge material was transferred in batches to an interim storage tank to prepare for vitrification. This operation consisted of eleven (11) Submersible Mixer Pump(s) mixing campaigns and multiple intraarea

  8. HIGH LEVEL WASTE MECHANCIAL SLUDGE REMOVAL AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE F TANK FARM CLOSURE PROJECT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jolly, R; Bruce Martin, B

    2008-01-15

    The Savannah River Site F-Tank Farm Closure project has successfully performed Mechanical Sludge Removal (MSR) using the Waste on Wheels (WOW) system for the first time within one of its storage tanks. The WOW system is designed to be relatively mobile with the ability for many components to be redeployed to multiple waste tanks. It is primarily comprised of Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), Submersible Transfer Pumps (STPs), and a mobile control room with a control panel and variable speed drives. In addition, the project is currently preparing another waste tank for MSR utilizing lessons learned from this previous operational activity. These tanks, designated as Tank 6 and Tank 5 respectively, are Type I waste tanks located in F-Tank Farm (FTF) with a capacity of 2,840 cubic meters (750,000 gallons) each. The construction of these tanks was completed in 1953, and they were placed into waste storage service in 1959. The tank's primary shell is 23 meters (75 feet) in diameter, and 7.5 meters (24.5 feet) in height. Type I tanks have 34 vertically oriented cooling coils and two horizontal cooling coil circuits along the tank floor. Both Tank 5 and Tank 6 received and stored F-PUREX waste during their operating service time before sludge removal was performed. DOE intends to remove from service and operationally close (fill with grout) Tank 5 and Tank 6 and other HLW tanks that do not meet current containment standards. Mechanical Sludge Removal, the first step in the tank closure process, will be followed by chemical cleaning. After obtaining regulatory approval, the tanks will be isolated and filled with grout for long-term stabilization. Mechanical Sludge Removal operations within Tank 6 removed approximately 75% of the original 95,000 liters (25,000 gallons). This sludge material was transferred in batches to an interim storage tank to prepare for vitrification. This operation consisted of eleven (11) Submersible Mixer Pump(s) mixing campaigns and multiple

  9. Post-operative analgesic requirement in non-closure and closure of peritoneum during open appendectomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, A.W.; Maqsood, R.; Saleem, M.M.

    2017-01-01

    To compare the mean post-operative analgesic requirement in non-closure and closure of peritoneum during open appendectomy. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial. Place and Duration of Study: Department of General Surgery Combined Military Hospital Quetta, from 1st August 2014 to 30th April 2015. Material and Methods: A total of 60 patients were included in this study and were divided into two groups of 30 each. Patients in group A underwent open appendectomy with closure of peritoneum while patients in group B had non-closure of peritoneum during the same procedure. Post-operatively, pain severity was assessed on visual analogue scale (VAS) numeric pain distress scale. On presence of VAS numeric pain distress scale between 5 to 7, intramuscular (IM) diclofenac sodium was given and on score >7, intravascular (IV) tramadol was given. The final outcome was measured at day 0 and day 1. Results: Pain score and analgesic requirements were significantly less in non-closure group than closure group on day 0 and day 1, showing statistically significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: Mean post-operative analgesic requirement is significantly less in non-closure group as compared to closure group during open appendectomy. (author)

  10. The effects of school closures on influenza outbreaks and pandemics: systematic review of simulation studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Charlotte; Mangtani, Punam; Hawker, Jeremy; Olowokure, Babatunde; Vynnycky, Emilia

    2014-01-01

    School closure is a potential intervention during an influenza pandemic and has been investigated in many modelling studies. To systematically review the effects of school closure on influenza outbreaks as predicted by simulation studies. We searched Medline and Embase for relevant modelling studies published by the end of October 2012, and handsearched key journals. We summarised the predicted effects of school closure on the peak and cumulative attack rates and the duration of the epidemic. We investigated how these predictions depended on the basic reproduction number, the timing and duration of closure and the assumed effects of school closures on contact patterns. School closures were usually predicted to be most effective if they caused large reductions in contact, if transmissibility was low (e.g. a basic reproduction number 90% reductions or even increases under certain assumptions). This partly reflected differences in model assumptions, such as those regarding population contact patterns. Simulation studies suggest that school closure can be a useful control measure during an influenza pandemic, particularly for reducing peak demand on health services. However, it is difficult to accurately quantify the likely benefits. Further studies of the effects of reactive school closures on contact patterns are needed to improve the accuracy of model predictions.

  11. Regulatory Closure Options for the Residue in the Hanford Site Single-Shell Tanks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cochran, J.R. Shyr, L.J.

    1998-10-05

    Liquid, mixed, high-level radioactive waste (HLW) has been stored in 149 single-shell tanks (SSTS) located in tank farms on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford Site. The DOE is developing technologies to retrieve as much remaining HLW as technically possible prior to physically closing the tank farms. In support of the Hanford Tanks Initiative, Sandia National Laboratories has addressed the requirements for the regulatory closure of the radioactive component of any SST residue that may remain after physical closure. There is significant uncertainty about the end state of each of the 149 SSTS; that is, the nature and amount of wastes remaining in the SSTS after retrieval is uncertain. As a means of proceeding in the face of these uncertainties, this report links possible end-states with associated closure options. Requirements for disposal of HLW and low-level radioactive waste (LLW) are reviewed in detail. Incidental waste, which is radioactive waste produced incidental to the further processing of HLW, is then discussed. If the low activity waste (LAW) fraction from the further processing of HLW is determined to be incidental waste, then DOE can dispose of that incidental waste onsite without a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC). The NRC has proposed three Incidental Waste Criteria for determining if a LAW fraction is incidental waste. One of the three Criteria is that the LAW fraction should not exceed the NRC's Class C limits.

  12. Regulatory Closure Options for the Residue in the Hanford Site Single-Shell Tanks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cochran, J.R.; Shyr, L.J.

    1998-01-01

    Liquid, mixed, high-level radioactive waste (HLW) has been stored in 149 single-shell tanks (SSTS) located in tank farms on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford Site. The DOE is developing technologies to retrieve as much remaining HLW as technically possible prior to physically closing the tank farms. In support of the Hanford Tanks Initiative, Sandia National Laboratories has addressed the requirements for the regulatory closure of the radioactive component of any SST residue that may remain after physical closure. There is significant uncertainty about the end state of each of the 149 SSTS; that is, the nature and amount of wastes remaining in the SSTS after retrieval is uncertain. As a means of proceeding in the face of these uncertainties, this report links possible end-states with associated closure options. Requirements for disposal of HLW and low-level radioactive waste (LLW) are reviewed in detail. Incidental waste, which is radioactive waste produced incidental to the further processing of HLW, is then discussed. If the low activity waste (LAW) fraction from the further processing of HLW is determined to be incidental waste, then DOE can dispose of that incidental waste onsite without a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC). The NRC has proposed three Incidental Waste Criteria for determining if a LAW fraction is incidental waste. One of the three Criteria is that the LAW fraction should not exceed the NRC's Class C limits

  13. Study on a monitoring strategy to support decision making for geological repository closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suyama, Yasuhiro; Tanabe, Hiromi; Eto, Jiro; Yoshimura, Kimitaka

    2010-01-01

    Japan currently plans to dispose of high-level radioactive wastes (vitrified HLWs) produced from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel in deep geological formations, in order to isolate the radioactive wastes from the human environment for tens of thousands of years. Such a geological repository must be designed to ensure operational safety and post-closure safety. Then, following the closure of the geological repository, post-closure safety will be provided by an engineered barrier system (EBS) and a natural barrier system (NBS) without relying on monitoring or institutional control. However, from a technical standpoint, monitoring has been required during backfilling in current studies. Additionally, there has been strong social pressure to continue monitoring during all the phases including post-closure. On the basis of the current situations, a monitoring strategy for geological disposal must be studied to ensure the long term safety of geological disposal. Focusing on decision making for geological repository closure, the authors have created a basic logical structure for the decision making process with the principles for ensuring safety and have developed a monitoring strategy based on the logical structure. The monitoring strategy is founded on three key aspects: the role of monitoring, boundary conditions of monitoring at the time of decision making, and a methodology for monitoring planning. Then, the monitoring strategy becomes a starting point of monitoring planning during site characterization, construction, operation and staged closure, as well as post-closure with institutional control, and of social science studies. (author)

  14. Interferometric Imaging Directly with Closure Phases and Closure Amplitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chael, Andrew A.; Johnson, Michael D.; Bouman, Katherine L.; Blackburn, Lindy L.; Akiyama, Kazunori; Narayan, Ramesh

    2018-04-01

    Interferometric imaging now achieves angular resolutions as fine as ∼10 μas, probing scales that are inaccessible to single telescopes. Traditional synthesis imaging methods require calibrated visibilities; however, interferometric calibration is challenging, especially at high frequencies. Nevertheless, most studies present only a single image of their data after a process of “self-calibration,” an iterative procedure where the initial image and calibration assumptions can significantly influence the final image. We present a method for efficient interferometric imaging directly using only closure amplitudes and closure phases, which are immune to station-based calibration errors. Closure-only imaging provides results that are as noncommittal as possible and allows for reconstructing an image independently from separate amplitude and phase self-calibration. While closure-only imaging eliminates some image information (e.g., the total image flux density and the image centroid), this information can be recovered through a small number of additional constraints. We demonstrate that closure-only imaging can produce high-fidelity results, even for sparse arrays such as the Event Horizon Telescope, and that the resulting images are independent of the level of systematic amplitude error. We apply closure imaging to VLBA and ALMA data and show that it is capable of matching or exceeding the performance of traditional self-calibration and CLEAN for these data sets.

  15. CIRSE Vascular Closure Device Registry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reekers, Jim A.; Müller-Hülsbeck, Stefan; Libicher, Martin; Atar, Eli; Trentmann, Jens; Goffette, Pierre; Borggrefe, Jan; Zeleňák, Kamil; Hooijboer, Pieter; Belli, Anna-Maria

    2011-01-01

    Vascular closure devices are routinely used after many vascular interventional radiology procedures. However, there have been no major multicenter studies to assess the safety and effectiveness of the routine use of closure devices in interventional radiology. The CIRSE registry of closure devices

  16. Appreciation to Organic Agriculture Function: Case Study of Rice Farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tinjung Mary Prihtanti

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural activities are not only producing the visible (tangible output in the form of food but also the non-visible output (non-marketable goods/non-tangible services. Non-visible output refers to a multifunctionality to supply food to ensure the food sufficiency of farmer household and job opportunities at rural area. The article aims to compare the capability of organic rice farming to conventional, to ensure the food sufficiency of farmer household, the economic value of rice farming to produce food, and the economic estimation of rice farming to its function as an job opportunities. The data for the research is collected in Gentungan Village, Mojogedang District, Karanganyar Regency during the crop year of 2015. In order to study the differences of two rice farming systems, the total of 60 farmers, 30 farmers are dealing with organic farming and other 30 farmers from conventional farming, are subjected for the interview in this research. The results found that the food security of organic farming is higher than conventional farming. The organic rice farming gives the economic value as the food producing and the labor-absorbing function in the study area is higher than the  conventional farming.

  17. Whole farm management to reduce nutrient losses from dairy farms: a simulation study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rotz, C.A.; Oenema, J.; Keulen, van H.

    2003-01-01

    Whole farm simulation provides a tool for evaluating the impact of nutrient conservation technologies and strategies on dairy farms. A farm simulation model was verified by simulating the production and nutrient flows of the De Marke experimental dairy farm in the Netherlands. Technology such as a

  18. Pilot study on orthodontic space closure after guided bone regeneration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reichert, Christoph; Wenghöfer, Matthias; Götz, Werner; Jäger, Andreas

    2011-03-01

    In the present study, the benefit of moving teeth into extraction sockets preserved by a bone substitute was evaluated. This was performed to determine whether this was advantageous for orthodontic space closure. Socket preservation employing the bony alveolus in patients presenting the orthodontic indication for premolar extraction therapy was performed. Analogue premolars were extracted in a split-mouth design. One extraction alveolus was filled with a silica matrix-embedded, nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite bone substitute, with the other acting as a control. The orthodontic space was then closed using NiTi closed coil springs (200 g). Photographs and X-rays were acquired for documentation. Space closure succeeded without complications, e.g., root resorptions or inflammations. Gingival invaginations occurred in two of the control sites. A difference in the velocity of extraction space closure in one patient was also observed. Orthodontic tooth movement using this bone replacement material is possible according to these study results. This technique, thus, warrants further investigation in future clinical trials focusing on preventive means to reduce the development of gingival invaginations.

  19. Whole Farm Management to Reduce Nutrient Losses From Dairy Farms: A Simulation Study

    OpenAIRE

    Rotz, C.A.; Oenema, J.; Keulen, van, H.

    2006-01-01

    Whole-farm simulation provides a tool for evaluating long-term impacts of nutrient conservation technologies and strategies on dairy farms. A farm simulation model was verified to predict the production and nutrient flows of the De Marke experimental dairy farm in the Netherlands. On this farm, technologies such as a low ammonia emission barn floor, enclosed manure storage, manure injection into the soil, and intraseeding of a grass cover crop on corn land were used to reduce nitrogen loss an...

  20. Primary closure after carotid endarterectomy is not inferior to other closure techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avgerinos, Efthymios D; Chaer, Rabih A; Naddaf, Abdallah; El-Shazly, Omar M; Marone, Luke; Makaroun, Michel S

    2016-09-01

    Primary closure after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been much maligned as an inferior technique with worse outcomes than in patch closure. Our purpose was to compare perioperative and long-term results of different CEA closure techniques in a large institutional experience. A consecutive cohort of CEAs between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2010, was retrospectively analyzed. Closure technique was used to divide patients into three groups: primary longitudinal arteriotomy closure (PRC), patch closure (PAC), and eversion closure (EVC). End points were perioperative events, long-term strokes, and restenosis ≥70%. Multivariate regression models were used to assess the effect of baseline predictors. There were 1737 CEA cases (bilateral, 143; mean age, 71.4 ± 9.3 years; 56.2% men; 35.3% symptomatic) performed during the study period with a mean clinical follow-up of 49.8 ± 36.4 months (range, 0-155 months). More men had primary closure, but other demographic and baseline symptoms were similar between groups. Half the patients had PAC, with the rest evenly distributed between PRC and EVC. The rate of nerve injury was 2.7%, the rate of reintervention for hematoma was 1.5%, and the length of hospital stay was 2.4 ± 3.0 days, with no significant differences among groups. The combined stroke and death rate was 2.5% overall and 3.9% and 1.7% in the symptomatic and asymptomatic cohort, respectively. Stroke and death rates were similar between groups: PRC, 11 (2.7%); PAC, 19 (2.2%); EVC, 13 (2.9%). Multivariate analysis showed baseline symptomatic disease (odds ratio, 2.4; P = .007) and heart failure (odds ratio, 3.1; P = .003) as predictors of perioperative stroke and death, but not the type of closure. Cox regression analysis demonstrated, among other risk factors, no statin use (hazard ratio, 2.1; P = .008) as a predictor of ipsilateral stroke and severe (glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) renal insufficiency (hazard ratio, 2.6; P

  1. Pre-feasibility study of 80mw onshore wind farm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almas, M.S.

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses a pre-feasibility study of 80MW onshore wind farm in the KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) province previously known as NWFP (North West Frontier) Province of Pakistan. The realistic data of wind speed is collected from Laboratory of Meteorology and Climatology (University of the Punjab) to study the feasibility of wind farm. Detailed analysis of wind turbines from four different manufacturers is carried out together with justifications of selecting a particular wind turbine. Issues related to site selection, wind farm civil foundation, recommendations for a particular choice of tower along with environmental effects are presented. Wind data analysis is carried out by using WINDROSE PRO software to determine the resultant direction of wind at the selected site for wind farm layout. The wind distribution at hub height of the wind turbine is calculated and is used to compute annual power production by the wind farm using power curves of the wind turbine. Electrical network integration issues of wind farm to the external grid are studied and the optimum point of connection is proposed. Finally, economic analysis of the whole wind farm project depending upon the LCC (Life Cycle Cost Analysis) is presented and the feasibility of the project from the investor's point of view is identified. The study concludes that the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity generated by this wind power plant will be 10.4 PKR/kWh and the payback period for the whole project is about 11.2 years. (author)

  2. Electrical system studies for the grid connection of wind farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arp, K.; Hanson, J.; Hopp, S.; Zimmermann, W.

    2007-01-01

    Wind power is gaining momentum in the world's energy balance. Several issues have to be addressed whenever power-generating devices are connected to the grid. The paper describes studies needed to evaluate the influence of wind farms on the connected transmission system and how faults in the system impact on induction generators in a wind farm. Some generalized results of studies for an offshore wind farm in the North Sea and a Bulgarian wind farm show how studies can influence the layout of the internal network and the electrical equipment. (authors)

  3. Observations on early and delayed colostomy closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tade, A O; Salami, B A; Ayoade, B A

    2011-06-01

    Traditional treatment of a variety of colorectal pathologies had included a diverting colostomy that was closed eight or more weeks later during a readmission. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the outcomes of early colostomy closure and delayed colostomy closure in patients with temporary colostomies following traumatic and non-traumatic colorectal pathologies. In this study early colostomy closure was the closure of a colostomy within three weeks of its construction, while delayed colostomy closure referred to closure after 3 weeks. Complete records of the 37 adult patients who had temporary colostomy constructed and closed between Jan. 1997 December 2003 for various colorectal pathologies were studied. Fourteen patients had early colostomy closure while 23 had delayed closure. In the early colostomy closure group there were 10 men and 4 women. The mean age of the patients was 28yr with a range of 18-65yr. Colostomies were closed 9-18 days after initial colostomy construction. There was no mortality. Morbidity rate 28.6% (4 out of 14). There were two faecal fistulas (14.3%). Twenty-three patients had delayed colostomy closure 8 weeks to 18 months after initial colostomy construction. These were patients unfit for early surgery after initial colostomy construction because of carcinoma, significant weight loss, or sepsis. There was no mortality. Morbidity rate was 26.1%. There were 3 faecal fistulas (13.2%). Outcomes following early colostomy closure and delayed closure were comparable. Patients fit for surgery should have early closure whilst patients who may have compromised health should have delayed closure.

  4. Full closure strategic analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-07-01

    The full closure strategic analysis was conducted to create a decision process whereby full roadway : closures for construction and maintenance activities can be evaluated and approved or denied by CDOT : Traffic personnel. The study reviewed current...

  5. Impact of Different Standard Type A7A Drum Closure-Ring Practices on Gasket Contraction and Bolt Closure Distance– 15621

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ketusky, Edward [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Blanton, Paul [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Bobbitt, John H. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

    2015-03-11

    The Department of Energy, the Savannah River National Laboratory, several manufacturers of specification drums, and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) are collaborating in the development of a guidance document for DOE contractors and vendors who wish to qualify containers to DOT 7A Type A requirements. Currently, the effort is focused on DOT 7A Type A 208-liter (55-gallons) drums with a standard 12-gauge bolted closure ring. The U.S. requirements, contained in Title 49, Part 178.350 “Specification 7A; general packaging, Type A specifies a competent authority review of the packaging is not required for the transport of (Class 7) radioactive material containing less than Type A quantities of radioactive material. For Type AF drums, a 4 ft. regulatory free drop must be performed, such that the drum “suffers maximum damage.” Although the actual orientation is not defined by the specification, recent studies suggest that maximum damage would result from a shallow angle top impact, where kinetic energy is transferred to the lid, ultimately causing heavy damage to the lid, or even worse, causing the lid to come off. Since each vendor develops closure recommendations/procedures for the drums they manufacture, key parameters applied to drums during closing vary based on vendor. As part of the initial phase of the collaboration, the impact of the closure variants on the ability of the drum to suffer maximum damage is investigated. Specifically, closure testing is performed varying: 1) the amount of torque applied to the closure ring bolt; and, 2) stress relief protocol, including: a) weight of hammer; and, b) orientation that the hammer hits the closure ring. After closure, the amount of drum lid gasket contraction and the distance that the closure bolt moves through the closure ring is measured.

  6. Pre-Feasibility Study of 80MW Onshore Wind Farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Shoaib Almas

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses a pre-feasibility study of 80MW onshore wind farm in the KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province previously known as NWFP (North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The realistic data of wind speed is collected from Laboratory of Meteorology & Climatology (University of the Punjab to study the feasibility of wind farm. Detailed analysis of wind turbines from four different manufacturers is carried out together with justifications of selecting a particular wind turbine. Issues related to site selection, wind farm civil foundation, recommendations for a particular choice of tower along with environmental effects are presented. Wind data analysis is carried out by using WINDROSE PRO software to determine the resultant direction of wind at the selected site for wind farm layout. The wind distribution at hub height of the wind turbine is calculated and is used to compute annual power production by the wind farm using power curves of the wind turbine. Electrical network integration issues of wind farm to the external grid are studied and the optimum point of connection is proposed. Finally, economic analysis of the whole wind farm project depending upon the LCC (Life Cycle Cost Analysis is presented and the feasibility of the project from the investor?s point of view is identified. The study concludes that the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity generated by this wind power plant will be 10.4 PKR/kWh and the payback period for the whole project is about 11.2 years

  7. AN EVALUATION OF HANFORD SITE TANK FARM SUBSURFACE CONTAMINATION FY2007

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MANN, F.M.

    2007-07-10

    The Tank Farm Vadose Zone (TFVZ) Project conducts activities to characterize and analyze the long-term environmental and human health impacts from tank waste releases to the vadose zone. The project also implements interim measures to mitigate impacts, and plans the remediation of waste releases from tank farms and associated facilities. The scope of this document is to report data needs that are important to estimating long-term human health and environmental risks. The scope does not include technologies needed to remediate contaminated soils and facilities, technologies needed to close tank farms, or management and regulatory decisions that will impact remediation and closure. This document is an update of ''A Summary and Evaluation of Hanford Site Tank Farm Subsurface Contamination''. That 1998 document summarized knowledge of subsurface contamination beneath the tank farms at the time. It included a preliminary conceptual model for migration of tank wastes through the vadose zone and an assessment of data and analysis gaps needed to update the conceptual model. This document provides a status of the data and analysis gaps previously defined and discussion of the gaps and needs that currently exist to support the stated mission of the TFVZ Project. The first data-gaps document provided the basis for TFVZ Project activities over the previous eight years. Fourteen of the nineteen knowledge gaps identified in the previous document have been investigated to the point that the project defines the current status as acceptable. In the process of filling these gaps, significant accomplishments were made in field work and characterization, laboratory investigations, modeling, and implementation of interim measures. The current data gaps are organized in groups that reflect Components of the tank farm vadose zone conceptual model: inventory, release, recharge, geohydrology, geochemistry, and modeling. The inventory and release components address

  8. AN EVALUATION OF HANFORD SITE TANK FARM SUBSURFACE CONTAMINATION FY 2007

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MANN, F.M.

    2007-01-01

    The Tank Farm Vadose Zone (TFVZ) Project conducts activities to characterize and analyze the long-term environmental and human health impacts from tank waste releases to the vadose zone. The project also implements interim measures to mitigate impacts, and plans the remediation of waste releases from tank farms and associated facilities. The scope of this document is to report data needs that are important to estimating long-term human health and environmental risks. The scope does not include technologies needed to remediate contaminated soils and facilities, technologies needed to close tank farms, or management and regulatory decisions that will impact remediation and closure. This document is an update of ''A Summary and Evaluation of Hanford Site Tank Farm Subsurface Contamination''. That 1998 document summarized knowledge of subsurface contamination beneath the tank farms at the time. It included a preliminary conceptual model for migration of tank wastes through the vadose zone and an assessment of data and analysis gaps needed to update the conceptual model. This document provides a status of the data and analysis gaps previously defined and discussion of the gaps and needs that currently exist to support the stated mission of the TFVZ Project. The first data-gaps document provided the basis for TFVZ Project activities over the previous eight years. Fourteen of the nineteen knowledge gaps identified in the previous document have been investigated to the point that the project defines the current status as acceptable. In the process of filling these gaps, significant accomplishments were made in field work and characterization, laboratory investigations, modeling, and implementation of interim measures. The current data gaps are organized in groups that reflect Components of the tank farm vadose zone conceptual model: inventory, release, recharge, geohydrology, geochemistry, and modeling. The inventory and release components address residual wastes that will

  9. Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 543: Liquid Disposal Units, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NSTec Environmental Restoration

    2008-01-01

    This Closure Report (CR) documents closure activities for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 543, Liquid Disposal Units, according to the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO, 1996) and the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for CAU 543 (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office [NNSA/NSO], 2007). CAU 543 is located at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nevada (Figure 1), and consists of the following seven Corrective Action Sites (CASs): CAS 06-07-01, Decon Pad; CAS 15-01-03, Aboveground Storage Tank; CAS 15-04-01, Septic Tank; CAS 15-05-01, Leachfield; CAS 15-08-01, Liquid Manure Tank; CAS 15-23-01, Underground Radioactive Material Area; CAS 15-23-03, Contaminated Sump, Piping; and CAS 06-07-01 is located at the Decontamination Facility in Area 6, adjacent to Yucca Lake. The remaining CASs are located at the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm in Area 15. The purpose of this CR is to provide a summary of the completed closure activities, to document waste disposal, and to present analytical data confirming that the remediation goals were met. The closure alternatives consisted of closure in place for two of the CASs, and no further action with implementation of best management practices (BMPs) for the remaining five CASs.

  10. Theoretical and experimental studies for optimization of PCRV top closures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ottosen, N.S.; Andersen, S.I.

    1975-01-01

    The results from the remaining part of the parameter study and the preparations for the verification of an optimized design are presented. Three models have been made in the same scale and with the same depth to span ratio α as the low LM-3 model from the first investigation, i.e. α=0.35. The model LM-5 was provided with reinforcement in the tensile zone, the upper part of the closure. This reinforcement did not influence the stresses and strains in the load carrying concrete, and the dome failed at the same pressure as in the unreinforced model LM-3. However, the closure did not disintegrate, but failed due to large overall deformations causing seal leakage. In the model LM-6, the inverted dome, which is formed at higher loads as demonstrated in LM-3, was reinforced perpendicular to the supposed middle surface. This reinforcement proved to be effective, giving the dome a higher ultimate load capacity. The LM-6 test stopped due to a circumferential crack in the flange. Finally, the unreinforced LM-7 closure was tested to failure. Apart from minor changes in the flange, LM-7 was identical to LM-3 except for the excavated upper part of the concrete, which in LM-3 formed the heavily cracked tensile zone. The ultimate load and the failure mode observed for this closure were the same as for the LM-3. The experimental results are compared to finite element calculations, in which plasticity and cracking of the concrete are taken into account, and the influence of different material models for the concrete is investigated. A unique failure criterion, which includes failure of the concrete for both tensile and compressive stresses in the same mathematical expression, is proposed. Based on the results obtained from the parameter study, a new closure design is proposed, which is optimized with respect to the requirements at service conditions and ultimate load

  11. Closure requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutchinson, I.P.G.; Ellison, R.D.

    1992-01-01

    Closure of a waste management unit can be either permanent or temporary. Permanent closure may be due to: economic factors which make it uneconomical to mine the remaining minerals; depletion of mineral resources; physical site constraints that preclude further mining and beneficiation; environmental, regulatory or other requirements that make it uneconomical to continue to develop the resources. Temporary closure can occur for a period of several months to several years, and may be caused by factors such as: periods of high rainfall or snowfall which prevent mining and waste disposal; economic circumstances which temporarily make it uneconomical to mine the target mineral; labor problems requiring a cessation of operations for a period of time; construction activities that are required to upgrade project components such as the process facilities and waste management units; and mine or process plant failures that require extensive repairs. Permanent closure of a mine waste management unit involves the provision of durable surface containment features to protect the waters of the State in the long-term. Temporary closure may involve activities that range from ongoing maintenance of the existing facilities to the installation of several permanent closure features in order to reduce ongoing maintenance. This paper deals with the permanent closure features

  12. Are large farms more efficient? Tenure security, farm size and farm efficiency: evidence from northeast China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yuepeng; Ma, Xianlei; Shi, Xiaoping

    2017-04-01

    How to increase production efficiency, guarantee grain security, and increase farmers' income using the limited farmland is a great challenge that China is facing. Although theory predicts that secure property rights and moderate scale management of farmland can increase land productivity, reduce farm-related costs, and raise farmer's income, empirical studies on the size and magnitude of these effects are scarce. A number of studies have examined the impacts of land tenure or farm size on productivity or efficiency, respectively. There are also a few studies linking farm size, land tenure and efficiency together. However, to our best knowledge, there are no studies considering tenure security and farm efficiency together for different farm scales in China. In addition, there is little study analyzing the profit frontier. In this study, we particularly focus on the impacts of land tenure security and farm size on farm profit efficiency, using farm level data collected from 23 villages, 811 households in Liaoning in 2015. 7 different farm scales have been identified to further represent small farms, median farms, moderate-scale farms, and large farms. Technical efficiency is analyzed with stochastic frontier production function. The profit efficiency is regressed on a set of explanatory variables which includes farm size dummies, land tenure security indexes, and household characteristics. We found that: 1) The technical efficiency scores for production efficiency (average score = 0.998) indicate that it is already very close to the production frontier, and thus there is little room to improve production efficiency. However, there is larger space to raise profit efficiency (average score = 0.768) by investing more on farm size expansion, seed, hired labor, pesticide, and irrigation. 2) Farms between 50-80 mu are most efficient from the viewpoint of profit efficiency. The so-called moderate-scale farms (100-150 mu) according to the governmental guideline show no

  13. Engineering study for closure of 209E facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brevick, C.H.; Heys, W.H.; Johnson, E.D.

    1997-07-07

    This document is an engineering study for evaluating alternatives to determine the most cost effective closure plan for the 209E Facility, Critical Mass Laboratory. This laboratory is located in the 200 East Area of the Hanford Site and contains a Critical Assembly Room and a Mix room were criticality experiments were once performed.

  14. Engineering study for closure of 209E facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brevick, C.H.; Heys, W.H.; Johnson, E.D.

    1997-01-01

    This document is an engineering study for evaluating alternatives to determine the most cost effective closure plan for the 209E Facility, Critical Mass Laboratory. This laboratory is located in the 200 East Area of the Hanford Site and contains a Critical Assembly Room and a Mix room were criticality experiments were once performed

  15. Early results of transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus: retrospective study of 61 patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beg, A.M.; Younas, M.; Chaudary, A.T.

    2013-01-01

    Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) accounts for 6 - 11% of all congenital heart defects. Complications of PDA include congestive heart failure, repeated chest infections, pulmonary hypertension, and an increased risk of infective endocarditis. Transcatheter closure of PDA has largely replaced surgical ligation in different age groups. Currently, surgical intervention is restricted to premature babies or small infants with large symptomatic PDA, cases with unfavorable duct anatomy, and whenever the cost of the closure devices is unaffordable. PDA was the first example of congenital heart dis-ease to be treated by transcatheter closure, which becomes an established form of treatment for the majority of patients with PDA and as a safe alternative to surgery. The per-cutaneous technique was first described by Porstmanur et al., since then various devices such as Rashkind PDA umbrella, button device, PDA coils and most recently the Amplatzer duct occluder (ADO) have been introduced. The ADO device was designed to provide the most desirable characteristics for a percutaneous closure device that can be used in most if not all patients with PDA. These include user - friendly delivery system, high complete closure rate, small delivery system (allowing its use in small infants), trans-venous delivery route, ability to adapt to various PDA sizes and types, and the ability to retrieve or reposition the device prior to release from a secure delivery system. Common complications of trans-catheter closure of PDA include residual shunt, left pulmonary artery (LPA) obstruction, protrusion of the device into the aorta, and embolization of the device. Incidence of complications increases with certain types and large size ducts, and with the use of multiple coils for occlusion. There are only a few reports correlating out-come and complications with the learning curve and experience. In this study, we are reporting our initial experience with PDA closure using Amplatzer duct occluder (ADO

  16. Missing upper incisors: a retrospective study of orthodontic space closure versus implant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamilian, Abdolreza; Perillo, Letizia; Rosa, Marco

    2015-02-25

    The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the esthetic, periodontal, and functional outcomes of orthodontic space closure versus implant substitution in patients with missing maxillary incisors 5 years after completion of treatment. The study group consisted of ten patients treated with orthodontic space closure (six males, four females, mean age 19 ± 2.1 years at the completion of treatment) and ten patients treated with implant insertion (five males, five females, mean age 20 ± 1.4 years at the time of implant insertion). Tooth mobility, plaque index, probing depth, infraocclusion, open gingival embrasure (black triangle), and temporomandibular joint function were recorded at the 5.6 years follow-up. Self-perceived dental esthetic appearance was also evaluated through a visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaire. T-test was used to evaluate the data. All patients were equally satisfied with the appearance of their teeth 5.6 ± 0.4 years after the completion of treatment. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to the VAS scores of the subjects (P Orthodontic space closure and implant of missing maxillary incisors produced similar, well-accepted esthetic results. None of the treatments impaired temporomandibular joint function. Nevertheless, infraocclusion was evident in implant patients. Space closure patients also showed better periodontal health in comparison with implant patients.

  17. Comparing over-the-scope clip versus endoloop and clips (KING closure) for access site closure: a randomized experimental study

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Martínek, J.; Ryska, O.; Tučková, I.; Filípková, T.; Doležel, R.; Juhás, Štefan; Motlík, Jan; Zavoral, M.; Ryska, M.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 27, č. 4 (2013), s. 1203-1210 ISSN 0930-2794 R&D Projects: GA MZd NS9994 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50450515 Keywords : NOTES * gastrotomy closure * rectotomy closure Subject RIV: FJ - Surgery incl. Transplants Impact factor: 3.313, year: 2013

  18. An overview of farming system typology methodologies and its use in the study of pasture-based farming system: a review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Madry, W.; Mena, Y.; Roszkowska, B.; Gozdowski, D.; Hryniewski, R.; Castel, J. M.

    2013-06-01

    The main objective of the paper is to do a critic study of the use of typology methodologies within pasture-based farming systems (PBFS), especially those situated in less favoured areas, showing in each case the more relevant variables or indicators determining the farming system classification. Another objective is to do an overview of the most used farming system typology methodologies in general. First some considerations about the concept of farming system and approaches to its study have been done. Next, the farming system typology methodologies have been showed in general to different farming systems, but addressed preferably to PBFS. The different tools integrated in these methodologies have been considered: sampling methods, sources of data, variables or indicators obtained from available data and techniques of analysis (statistical or not). Methods for farming system classification have been presented (expert methods, analytical methods or a combination of both types). Among the statistical methods, the multivariate analysis has been overall treated, including the principal component analysis and the cluster analysis. Finally, the use of farming system typology methodologies on different pasture-based farming systems has been presented. The most important aspects considered are following: the main objective of the typology, the main animal species, the employed methods of classification and the main variables involved in this classification. (Author) 56 refs.

  19. Patient Satisfaction After Femoral Arterial Access Site Closure Using the ExoSeal® Vascular Closure Device Compared to Manual Compression: A Prospective Intra-individual Comparative Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pieper, Claus Christian; Thomas, Daniel; Nadal, Jennifer; Willinek, Winfried A.; Schild, Hans Heinz; Meyer, Carsten

    2016-01-01

    PurposeTo intra-individually compare discomfort levels and patient satisfaction after arterial access closure using the ExoSeal ® vascular closure device (VCD) and manual compression (MC) in a prospective study design.MethodsPatients undergoing two planned interventions from 07/2013 to 09/2014 could participate in the study. Access closure was performed with an ExoSeal ® -VCD in one and MC in the other intervention. Patients were clinically and sonographically examined and were given questionnaires 1 day after intervention [groin- and back-pain during bedrest (100-point visual analog scale; 0: no pain); comfortability of bedrest (10-point Likert scale, 1: comfortable), satisfaction with closure (10-point Likert scale, 1: very satisfied)]. Results were analyzed in a cross-over design.Results48 patients (29 male, median age 62.5 (32–88) years) were included. An ExoSeal ® -VCD was used first in 25 cases. As four of these subsequently refused MC as second intervention, data from 44 patients could be analyzed. All closures were technically successful (successful device deployment) without major complications. Groin- and back-pain after VCD-use/MC was 0 (0–15) vs. 10 (0–80) and 0 (0–75) vs. 25 (0–90), respectively (p < 0.0001). Bedrest after VCD-use was more comfortable than after MC [1 (range 1–7) vs. 6 (2–10); p < 0.0001]. Satisfaction with the closure procedure and with the intervention in general was higher after VCD-use compared to MC [1 (1–3) vs. 5 (2–10) and 1 (1–2) vs. 2 (1–4), respectively; p < 0.0001].ConclusionIntra-individual comparison showed pain levels and discomfort to be significantly lower after ExoSeal ® use compared to MC. VCD closure was associated with higher satisfaction both with the closure itself and with the intervention in general

  20. Farm work-related asthma among US primary farm operators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazurek, Jacek M; White, Gretchen E; Rodman, Chad; Schleiff, Patricia L

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of current asthma and the proportion of current asthma that is related to work on the farm among primary farm operators. The 2011 Farm and Ranch Safety Survey data were used to produce estimates and prevalence odds ratios. An estimated 5.1% of farm operators had asthma. Of these, 15.4% had farm work-related asthma. Among operators with farm work-related asthma, 54.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 41.8%-68.2%) had an asthma attack in the prior 12 months and 33.3% (95% CI: 21.2%-45.4%) had an asthma attack that occurred while doing farm work. Of those who had an asthma attack that occurred while doing farm work, 65.0% associated their asthma attack with plant/tree materials. This study provides updated information on asthma and the proportion of current asthma that is related to work on the farm and identifies certain groups of farm operators that might benefit from workplace asthma prevention intervention.

  1. Eyelid closure at death

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A D Macleod

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To observe the incidence of full or partial eyelid closure at death. Materials and Methods: The presence of ptosis was recorded in 100 consecutive hospice patient deaths. Results: Majority (63% of the patients died with their eyes fully closed, however, 37% had bilateral ptosis at death, with incomplete eye closure. In this study, central nervous system tumor involvement and/or acute hepatic encephalopathy appeared to be pre-mortem risk factors of bilateral ptosis at death. Conclusion: Organicity and not psychogenicity is, therefore, the likely etiology of failure of full eyelid closure at death.

  2. Towards a deeper understanding of parenting on farms: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliot, Valerie; Cammer, Allison; Pickett, William; Marlenga, Barbara; Lawson, Joshua; Dosman, James; Hagel, Louise; Koehncke, Niels; Trask, Catherine

    2018-01-01

    Children living on farms experience exceptionally high risks for traumatic injury. There is a large body of epidemiological research documenting this phenomenon, yet few complementary studies that have explored the deep underlying reasons for such trends. Fundamental to this is understanding the decision-making processes of parents surrounding their choice to bring children, or not, into the farm worksite. To (1) document farm parent views of the risks and benefits of raising children on a family farm, and, (2) understand more deeply why children are brought into the farm worksite. Interviews were conducted as part of a larger cohort study, The Saskatchewan Farm Injury Cohort. Subsequent to an initial mail-out question focused on parental decision-making, 11 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with rural Saskatchewan farm parents. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, then thematically analyzed using interpretive description methodology. This parental decision-making process on farms fundamentally involves weighing the risks vs. benefits of bringing children into the worksite, as if on a balance scale. One side of this scale holds potential risks such as exposure to physical and chemical farm hazards, in the absence of full supervision. The other side holds potential benefits such as meeting family needs for childcare, labour, and family time; building work ethic and pride; and the positive impacts of involvement and responsibility. Decision-making 'tips the scales', in part dependent upon parental perceptions of the risk-benefit trade-off. This 'perceptual lens' is influenced by factors such as: the agricultural way of life, parents' prior knowledge and past experience, characteristics of children, and safety norms. This novel qualitative study provides deep insight into how Saskatchewan farm parents approach a fundamental decision-making process associated with their parenting. The proposed model provides insight into the

  3. Certified safe farm: identifying and removing hazards on the farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rautiainen, R H; Grafft, L J; Kline, A K; Madsen, M D; Lange, J L; Donham, K J

    2010-04-01

    This article describes the development of the Certified Safe Farm (CSF) on-farm safety review tools, characterizes the safety improvements among participating farms during the study period, and evaluates differences in background variables between low and high scoring farms. Average farm review scores on 185 study farms improved from 82 to 96 during the five-year study (0-100 scale, 85 required for CSF certification). A total of 1292 safety improvements were reported at an estimated cost of $650 per farm. A wide range of improvements were made, including adding 9 rollover protective structures (ROPS), 59 power take-off (PTO) master shields, and 207 slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblems; improving lighting on 72 machines: placing 171 warning decals on machinery; shielding 77 moving parts; locking up 17 chemical storage areas, adding 83 lockout/tagout improvements; and making general housekeeping upgrades in 62 farm buildings. The local, trained farm reviewers and the CSF review process overall were well received by participating farmers. In addition to our earlier findings where higher farm review scores were associated with lower self-reported health outcome costs, we found that those with higher farm work hours, younger age, pork production in confinement, beef production, poultry production, and reported exposure to agrichemicals had higher farm review scores than those who did not have these characteristics. Overall, the farm review process functioned as expected. encouraging physical improvements in the farm environment, and contributing to the multi-faceted CSF intervention program.

  4. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SINGLE VERSUS DOUBLE LAYER CLOSURE ON LOWER SEGMENT CAESAREAN SCAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirtirekha Mohapatra

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND There are few issues in modern obstetrics that have been as controversial as management of a woman with a prior caesarean delivery. Hence, it is required to have evidence based correct practice of this surgical procedure. Healing of the uterine incision and the strength of the scar should be the most important consideration. The aim of the study is to compare the effect of technique of uterine closure (Single Layer vs. Double Layer on subsequent pregnancies and to find out, which technique has a better maternal and neonatal outcome by strengthening the scar. MATERIALS AND METHODS 500 cases of previous caesarean section pregnancies were taken, 250 from single layer closure group and 250 from double layer closure group. The mode of delivery during present pregnancy was noted. Integrity of scar, thickness of scar, presence of adhesion were documented. The neonates were observed. Results were compared so as to draw an inference about the better method. RESULTS Mean age between the two groups were similar. Majority did not have history of premature rupture of membrane during previous pregnancy. Postoperative complications were more when double layer closure of uterine scar was done in index surgery. Interpregnancy gap of <3 years was more commonly present in double layer closure group (52.8% in double layer versus 34.8% in single layer. Single layer had more scar tenderness (21.2%, thinned out scars (34.6%, incomplete ruptures (7.1% and complete ruptures (2.8% than double layer closure group. Neonatal outcomes were not statistically different in both the groups. CONCLUSION Double layer uterine closure seems to have better impact on scar integrity as compared to single layer uterine closure.

  5. Analyzing farming systems diversity: a case study in south-western France

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choisis, J. P.; Thevenet, C.; Girbon, A.

    2012-11-01

    The huge changes in agricultural activities, which may be amplified by the forthcoming Common Agriculture Policy reform, call the future of crop-livestock systems into question and hence the impact of these changes on landscapes and biodiversity. We analyzed relationships between agriculture, landscape and biodiversity in south-western France. The study area covered about 4,000 ha and included four villages. We conducted a survey of 56 farms. Multivariate analysis (multiple factor analysis and cluster analysis) were used to analyze relationships between 25 variables and to build a typology. The type of farming (beef and/or dairy cattle, cash crops), size (area and workforce) and cultivation practices, among others, were revealed as differentiating factors of farms. Six farming types were identified (1) hillside mixed crop-livestock farms, (2) large corporate farms, (3) extensive cattle farms, (4) large intensive farms on the valley sides, (5) small multiple-job holdings, and (6) hobby farms. The diversity of farming systems revealed the variable impact of the main drivers of change affecting agricultural development, particularly the enlargement and modernization of farms along with the demography of agricultural holdings. (Author) 41 refs.

  6. Moroccan wind farm potential feasibility. Case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nouri, Abdellatif; Ait Babram, Mohamed; Elwarraki, Elmostafa; Enzili, Mustapha

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A new methodology for the technical feasibility of wind farm potentials is proposed. • The wind resources of two different sites in Morocco are compared. • Comparison between short and long term data using multivariate analysis is made. • Geographic information system implementation. • A 10 MW wind farm is designed and optimized. - Abstract: The subject of this paper is the elaboration of a methodology to study the technical feasibility of a wind farm potential. The implementation of this methodology allows a comparison between the wind resources of two different sites in Morocco. One site is located in the region of Essaouira, whereas the other one is located in the region of Safi. The comparison is based on real wind data collected from two masts at the heights of 30, 50, and 60 m. Each of the masts is installed at one of the mentioned potential sites over a fixed time period, lasting fifteen months for the first site, and eight months for the second one. The aim is the determination of the most applicable site presenting a good potential for a statistical study in order to predict long-term wind behaviors. Thus, the geographical situation study of the chosen site including topography, roughness and obstacles, is carried out. Furthermore, the wind resource using data, generated by the measuring masts, is evaluated. Finally, the areas which present great wind potential are located and the wind farm turbine locations are optimized by using the WAsP software.

  7. Comparison of Outcomes between Early Fascial Closure and Delayed Abdominal Closure in Patients with Open Abdomen: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Chen

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Up to the present, the optimal time to close an open abdomen remains controversial. This study was designed to evaluate whether early fascial abdominal closure had advantages over delayed approach for open abdomen populations. Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched until April 2013. Search terms included “open abdomen,” “abdominal compartment syndrome,” “laparostomy,” “celiotomy,” “abdominal closure,” “primary,” “delayed,” “permanent,” “fascial closure,” and “definitive closure.” Open abdomen was defined as “fail to close abdominal fascia after a laparotomy.” Mortality, complications, and length of stay were compared between early and delayed fascial closure. In total, 3125 patients were included for final analysis, and 1942 (62% patients successfully achieved early fascial closure. Vacuum assisted fascial closure had no impact on pooled fascial closure rate. Compared with delayed abdominal closure, early fascial closure significantly reduced mortality (12.3% versus 24.8%, RR, 0.53, P<0.0001 and complication incidence (RR, 0.68, P<0.0001. The mean interval from open abdomen to definitive closure ranged from 2.2 to 14.6 days in early fascial closure groups, but from 32.5 to 300 days in delayed closure groups. This study confirmed clinical advantages of early fascial closure over delayed approach in treatment of patients with open abdomen.

  8. Patient Satisfaction After Femoral Arterial Access Site Closure Using the ExoSeal{sup ®} Vascular Closure Device Compared to Manual Compression: A Prospective Intra-individual Comparative Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pieper, Claus Christian, E-mail: claus.christian.pieper@ukb.uni-bonn.de; Thomas, Daniel, E-mail: daniel.thomas@ukb.uni-bonn.de [University of Bonn, Department of Radiology (Germany); Nadal, Jennifer, E-mail: jennifer.nadal@ukb.uni-bonn.de [University of Bonn, Institute for Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology (Germany); Willinek, Winfried A., E-mail: w.willinek@bk-trier.de; Schild, Hans Heinz, E-mail: hans.schild@ukb.uni-bonn.de; Meyer, Carsten, E-mail: carsten.meyer@ukb.uni-bonn.de [University of Bonn, Department of Radiology (Germany)

    2016-01-15

    PurposeTo intra-individually compare discomfort levels and patient satisfaction after arterial access closure using the ExoSeal{sup ®} vascular closure device (VCD) and manual compression (MC) in a prospective study design.MethodsPatients undergoing two planned interventions from 07/2013 to 09/2014 could participate in the study. Access closure was performed with an ExoSeal{sup ®}-VCD in one and MC in the other intervention. Patients were clinically and sonographically examined and were given questionnaires 1 day after intervention [groin- and back-pain during bedrest (100-point visual analog scale; 0: no pain); comfortability of bedrest (10-point Likert scale, 1: comfortable), satisfaction with closure (10-point Likert scale, 1: very satisfied)]. Results were analyzed in a cross-over design.Results48 patients (29 male, median age 62.5 (32–88) years) were included. An ExoSeal{sup ®}-VCD was used first in 25 cases. As four of these subsequently refused MC as second intervention, data from 44 patients could be analyzed. All closures were technically successful (successful device deployment) without major complications. Groin- and back-pain after VCD-use/MC was 0 (0–15) vs. 10 (0–80) and 0 (0–75) vs. 25 (0–90), respectively (p < 0.0001). Bedrest after VCD-use was more comfortable than after MC [1 (range 1–7) vs. 6 (2–10); p < 0.0001]. Satisfaction with the closure procedure and with the intervention in general was higher after VCD-use compared to MC [1 (1–3) vs. 5 (2–10) and 1 (1–2) vs. 2 (1–4), respectively; p < 0.0001].ConclusionIntra-individual comparison showed pain levels and discomfort to be significantly lower after ExoSeal{sup ®} use compared to MC. VCD closure was associated with higher satisfaction both with the closure itself and with the intervention in general.

  9. Preliminary manual of the wind farms impacts study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2000-11-01

    This document aims to present and propose tools and methods allowing the improve the environmental quality of the future wind farms projects. After a presentation of general notions on the wind farms and the economy of the wind energy, it presents the regulation and the procedures concerning the environmental impact. It proposes then the main possible effects and the impacts study themes. (A.L.B.)

  10. Road Closures

    Data.gov (United States)

    Montgomery County of Maryland — This is an up to date map of current road closures in Montgomery County.This dataset is updated every few minutes from the Department of Transportation road closure...

  11. Echocardiographic predictors of coil vs device closure in patients undergoing percutaneous patent ductus arteriosus closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roushdy, Alaa; Abd El Razek, Yasmeen; Mamdouh Tawfik, Ahmed

    2018-01-01

    To determine anatomic and hemodynamic echocardiographic predictors for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) device vs coil closure. Seventy-six patients who were referred for elective transcatheter PDA closure were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent full echocardiogram including measurement of the PDA pulmonary end diameter, color flow width and extent, peak and end-diastolic Doppler gradients across the duct, diastolic flow reversal, left atrial dimensions and volume, left ventricular sphericity index, and volumes. The study group was subdivided into 2 subgroups based on the mode of PDA closure whether by coil (n = 42) or device (n = 34). Using univariate analysis there was a highly significant difference between the 2 groups as regard the pulmonary end diameter measured in both the suprasternal and parasternal short-axis views as well as the color flow width and color flow extent (P closure group had statistically significant higher end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes indexed, left atrial volume, and diastolic flow reversal. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed a pulmonary end diameter cutoff point from the suprasternal view > 2.5 mm and from parasternal short-axis view > 2.61 mm to have the highest balanced sensitivity and specificity to predict the likelihood for device closure (AUC 0.971 and 0.979 respectively). The pulmonary end diameter measured from the suprasternal view was the most independent predictor of device closure. The selection between PDA coil or device closure can be done on the basis of multiple anatomic and hemodynamic echocardiographic variables. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Shadowing effects of offshore wind farms - an idealised mesoscale model study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Volker, Patrick; Badger, Jake; Hahmann, Andrea N.

    The study of wind farm (WF) interaction is expected to gain importance, since the offshore wind farm density will increase especially in the North Sea in the near future. We present preliminary results of wind farm interaction simulated by mesoscale models. We use the Explicit Wake Parametrisatio...

  13. Feasibility study on the wind farm; Wind farm no kanosei chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    For assessment of the possibility of the wind farm (collective wind power facility) in Japan, site conditions, business plans and various issues in development were arranged using some projects in a planning stage. The case study of a system design was also conducted for a typical site. Four sites were selected based on geographical conditions, topographic features and weather conditions. Scales of every site are as large as 1000-3000kW and 400- 750kW in wind turbine capacity. Every developer expects a subsidy, and governmental economic support is indispensable for the wind farm. In the case of Hisai city, Mie prefecture with the most favorable wind condition in Japan, the annual mean wind velocity of the site is valued at nearly 8m/s, suggesting that it is promising for the wind farm. From the planned scale of 750kWtimes4, the annual generated power and availability factor are valued at 9,800,000kWh/y and 37%, respectively. From the construction cost of 1 billion yen including a subsidy of its half, the generation cost is valued at 14.5 yen/kWh in durability of 15 years, and 12.2 yen/kWh in 20 years, and the profitability is dependent on the purchase price of a power company. 27 figs., 36 tabs.

  14. Complete wind farm electromagnetic transient modelling for grid integration studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zubia, I.; Ostolaza, X.; Susperregui, A.; Tapia, G.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents a modelling methodology to analyse the impact of wind farms in surrounding networks. Based on the transient modelling of the asynchronous generator, the multi-machine model of a wind farm composed of N generators is developed. The model incorporates step-up power transformers, distribution lines and surrounding loads up to their connection to the power network. This model allows the simulation of symmetric and asymmetric short-circuits located in the distribution network and the analysis of transient stability of wind farms. It can be also used to study the islanding operation of wind farms

  15. ASD Closure in Structural Heart Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiktor, Dominik M; Carroll, John D

    2018-04-17

    While the safety and efficacy of percutaneous ASD closure has been established, new data have recently emerged regarding the negative impact of residual iatrogenic ASD (iASD) following left heart structural interventions. Additionally, new devices with potential advantages have recently been studied. We will review here the potential indications for closure of iASD along with new generation closure devices and potential late complications requiring long-term follow-up. With the expansion of left-heart structural interventions and large-bore transseptal access, there has been growing experience gained with management of residual iASD. Some recently published reports have implicated residual iASD after these procedures as a potential source of diminished clinical outcomes and mortality. Additionally, recent trials investigating new generation closure devices as well as expanding knowledge regarding late complications of percutaneous ASD closure have been published. While percutaneous ASD closure is no longer a novel approach to managing septal defects, there are several contemporary issues related to residual iASD following large-bore transseptal access and new generation devices which serve as an impetus for this review. Ongoing attention to potential late complications and decreasing their incidence with ongoing study is clearly needed.

  16. Increased risk of acute angle closure in retinitis pigmentosa: a population-based case-control study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Chieh Ko

    Full Text Available To investigate the association between retinitis pigmentosa (RP and acute angle closure during a 15-year follow-up period.Using the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, we identified 382 RP patients based on the diagnostic code of RP (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM 362.74 made during 1996-2010, excluding subjects under age of 20 years at diagnosis or subjects undergoing lens extraction before the index date. The control group included 3820 randomly selected non-RP subjects matched with the RP patients in age, gender and the index date of diagnosis. The incidence of acute angle closure during the study period was observed based on an ICD-9-CM code of 365.22. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test was used to determine the odds ratio (OR of having acute angle closure in RP patients.The mean age at the diagnosis of RP was 51.1 years (standard deviation [SD] 16.7. Acute angle closure occurred in 5 RP patients (1.3% and in 15 controls (0.4%. The mean age with the acute angle closure was 53.3 years (SD 8.0 in RP patients and 64.6 years (SD 8.4 in controls (P = 0.015. After adjusting for age, gender and comorbid disorders, RP patients had 3.64-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29-10.25, P<0.001 greater odds of having acute angle closure. After stratification for gender and age, the risk of acute angle closure in RP was higher in patients under age of 60 years (adjusted OR 11.84; 95% CI, 2.84-49.48 and male patients (adjusted OR 19.36; 95% CI, 3.43-109.40 (both P = 0.001.RP patients had increased risk of acute angle closure than controls. Contrary to the fact that angle closure disease is more prevalent in elderly females in general population, acute angle closure attack occurred earlier in life and the risk was higher in males among RP patients.

  17. RCRA closures at Rocky Flats Plant: A programmatic perspective and case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogg, Randy T.; Peterman, Bruce D.

    1992-01-01

    The Interagency Agreement (IAG) integrates a unique mechanism for remediating hazardous waste sites at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP), which include utilizing RCRA and CERCLA technical/regulatory processes. Pursuant to the IAG signed by the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Colorado Department of Health (CDH) on January 22, 1991, sixteen operable units (OUs) were defined for characterization and remediation at RFP. Of the sixteen OUs, six are classified as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) closure units. The six RCRA interim status closure units are: Solar Evaporation Ponds-OU 4, Present LandfUl-OU 7, Original Process Waste Lines-OU 9, Other Outside Closures-OU 10, West Spray Field-OU II, and Inside Building Closures-OU 15. The IAG will function as a technical/regulatory mechanism for managing/complying with all aspects of the RCRA interim status closure units at RFP. (author)

  18. A clinical study of space closure with nickel-titanium closed coil springs and an elastic module.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuels, R H; Rudge, S J; Mair, L H

    1998-07-01

    A previous study has shown that a 150-gram nickel-titanium closed coil spring (Sentalloy, GAC International Inc.) closed spaces more quickly and more consistently than an elastic module (Alastik, Unitec/3M). This study used the same friction sensitive sliding mechanics of pitting the six anterior teeth against the second bicuspid and first molars, to examine the rate of space closure of 100-gram and 200-gram nickel-titanium closed coil springs. The results for the three springs and elastic module were compared. The nickel-titanium closed coil springs produced a more consistent space closure than the elastic module. The 150- and 200-gram springs produced a faster rate of space closure than the elastic module or the 100-gram spring. No significant difference was noted between the rates of closure for the 150- and the 200-gram springs.

  19. Temporary Closure of the Open Abdomen: A Systematic Review on Delayed Primary Fascial Closure in Patients with an Open Abdomen

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boele van Hensbroek, Pieter; Wind, Jan; Dijkgraaf, Marcel G. W.; Busch, Olivier R. C.; Goslings, J. Carel

    2009-01-01

    Background This study was designed to systematically review the literature to assess which temporary abdominal closure (TAC) technique is associated with the highest delayed primary fascial closure (FC) rate. In some cases of abdominal trauma or infection, edema or packing precludes fascial closure

  20. Farm-Specific Risk Analysis in Dairy Farming: A Case Study from Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatice Kizilay

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The purposes of this study were to determine the socio-economic characteristics of dairy farmers in Antalya, in Turkey, calculate the gross income, variable costs and gross margin of dairy farms, determine the probability distributions of consequences for alternative decisions to enable dairy farmers as decision makers to make a good and well-informed choice, to determine cross effects of milk prices variations on the productive strategy of dairy farms. The data were gathered via face to face interviews in Korkuteli, Dosemealtı, Elmalı, Manavgat and Serik counties of Antalya province in Turkey. The survey study was conducted with 80 farmers, who were member of Dairy Cow Breaders Union, in the 2011 production period. In this study, on the basis of previous experience, dairy farmers assigned minimum, maximum and most likely values of milk price and yield over the next period of 5 years. Then, triangular and cumulative distributions were defined by using these values. Moreover, Monte Carlo Stochastic Simulation model was developed to obtain distribution of expected gross margin per cow. The model and triangular and cumulative distributions were built in Excel with @Risk add-in software. The relationship of mean risk aversion coefficient, calculated by using negative exponential function, with both average gross margin and gross margin standard deviation values determined for each farm was examined. The results show that the relation between average gross margin and mean risk aversion coefficient was negative and significant at 5% level. But, although the relation between gross margin standard deviation and mean risk aversion coefficient was found to be negative, it was not significant at 5% level.

  1. Closure The Definitive Guide

    CERN Document Server

    Bolin, Michael

    2010-01-01

    If you're ready to use Closure to build rich web applications with JavaScript, this hands-on guide has precisely what you need to learn this suite of tools in depth. Closure makes it easy for experienced JavaScript developers to write and maintain large and complex codebases -- as Google has demonstrated by using Closure with Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Maps. Author and Closure contributor Michael Bolin has included numerous code examples and best practices, as well as valuable information not available publicly until now. You'll learn all about Closure's Library, Compiler, Templates, tes

  2. Evaluation of a novel trocar-site closure and comparison with a standard Carter-Thomason closure device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Junco, Michael; Okhunov, Zhamshid; Juncal, Samuel; Yoon, Renai; Landman, Jaime

    2014-07-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare a novel trocars-site closure device, the WECK EFx™ Endo Fascial Closure System (EFx) with the Carter-Thomason CloseSure System® (CT) for the closure of laparoscopic trocar site defects created by a 12-mm dilating trocar. We created standardized laparoscopic trocars-site abdominal wall defects in cadaver models using a standard 12-mm laparoscopic dilating trocar. Trocar defects were closed in a randomized fashion using one of the two closure systems. We recorded time and number of attempts needed for complete defect closure. In addition, we recorded the ability to maintain pneumoperitoneum, endoscopic visualization, safety, security, and facility based on the surgeon's subjective evaluations. We compared outcomes for the EFx and CT closure systems. We created 72 standardized laparoscopic trocars-site abdominal wall defects. The mean time needed for complete defect closure was 98.53 seconds (±28.9) for the EFx compared with 133.61 seconds (±54.61) for the CT (Psafety were 2.92 for EFx vs 2.19 for CT (Pvs 1.83 for EFx and CT, respectively (Pvs 2.33 for CT (P=0.022). No significant difference was observed between the EFx and the CT systems for endoscopic visualization (2.28 vs 2.50, P=0.080). In this in vitro cadaver trial, the EFx was superior in terms of time needed to complete defect closure, safety, and facility. CT was superior in terms of maintenance of pneumoperitoneum. Both systems were equal in the number of attempts needed to complete the defect closure and endoscopic visualization.

  3. T-tube vs Primary Common Bile Duct Closure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M R Joshi

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Closure of the common bile duct over T-tube after exploration is a widely practiced traditional method. However, its use may give rise to many complications. We do primary closure of common bile duct after exploration. Aim of the study is to see the efficacy and safety of the primary closure. METHODS: Study was carried out to compare the results of both the techniques from 2006 to 2009 in the cases proven to have common bile duct stone with or without the features of obstructive jaundice. Post operative hospital stay and morbidities related to both the groups were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: There were total 71 cases included in the study. Thirty one in T-tube group and 40 in primary closure group. T-tube was removed in most of the cases after three weeks where as average time of drain removal in primary closure group is 5.79 +/-1.79 days. Incidence of retained stone was equal in each group. Major complication in T-tube group is biliary peritonitis in four patients at the time of T-tube removal whereas none of the patient from primary closure group suffered from such major complication. CONCLUSIONS: Primary closure after the common bile duct exploration is safe and it helps to avoid the morbidities related to T-tube. Keywords: Choledocholithiasis, Primary closure, retained stone, T-tube, Ureterorenoscope.

  4. Cloud condensation nuclei closure study on summer arctic aerosol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, M.; Chang, R. Y.-W.; Sierau, B.; Sjogren, S.; Swietlicki, E.; Abbatt, J. P. D.; Leck, C.; Lohmann, U.

    2011-11-01

    We present an aerosol - cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) closure study on summer high Arctic aerosol based on measurements that were carried out in 2008 during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS) on board the Swedish ice breaker Oden. The data presented here were collected during a three-week time period in the pack ice (>85° N) when the icebreaker Oden was moored to an ice floe and drifted passively during the most biological active period into autumn freeze up conditions. CCN number concentrations were obtained using two CCN counters measuring at different supersaturations. The directly measured CCN number concentration was then compared with a CCN number concentration calculated using both bulk aerosol mass composition data from an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and aerosol number size distributions obtained from a differential mobility particle sizer, assuming κ-Köhler theory, surface tension of water and an internally mixed aerosol. The last assumption was supported by measurements made with a hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) for particles >70 nm. For the two highest measured supersaturations, 0.73 and 0.41%, closure could not be achieved with the investigated settings concerning hygroscopicity and density. The calculated CCN number concentration was always higher than the measured one for those two supersaturations. This might be caused by a relative larger insoluble organic mass fraction of the smaller particles that activate at these supersaturations, which are thus less good CCN than the larger particles. On average, 36% of the mass measured with the AMS was organic mass. At 0.20, 0.15 and 0.10% supersaturation, closure could be achieved with different combinations of hygroscopic parameters and densities within the uncertainty range of the fit. The best agreement of the calculated CCN number concentration with the observed one was achieved when the organic fraction of the aerosol was treated as nearly water insoluble

  5. Study of relationship between clinical factors and velopharyngeal closure in cleft palate patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qi; Zheng, Qian; Shi, Bing; Yin, Heng; Meng, Tian; Zheng, Guang-ning

    2011-01-01

    BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to analyze the relationship between clinical factors and velopharyngeal closure (VPC) in cleft palate patients. METHODS: Chi-square test was used to compare the postoperative velopharyngeal closure rate. Logistic regression model was used to analyze independent variables associated with velopharyngeal closure. RESULTS: Difference of postoperative VPC rate in different cleft types, operative ages and surgical techniques was significant (P=0.000). Results of logistic regression analysis suggested that when operative age was beyond deciduous dentition stage, or cleft palate type was complete, or just had undergone a simple palatoplasty without levator veli palatini retropositioning, patients would suffer a higher velopharyngeal insufficiency rate after primary palatal repair. CONCLUSIONS: Cleft type, operative age and surgical technique were the contributing factors influencing VPC rate after primary palatal repair of cleft palate patients. PMID:22279464

  6. Endoscopic closure of duodenal perforations by using an over-the-scope clip: a randomized, controlled porcine study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Renteln, Daniel; Rudolph, Hans-Ulrich; Schmidt, Arthur; Vassiliou, Melina C; Caca, Karel

    2010-01-01

    Duodenal perforations during diagnostic upper endoscopy are rare; however, when therapeutic techniques are performed, the reported incidence is as great as 2.8%. Surgical repair is usually mandated, but it is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To compare closure of duodenal perforations by using an over-the-scope clip (OTSC) with a surgical closure. Randomized, controlled animal study. Animal facility laboratory. Domestic pigs (24 females). Large (10-mm) duodenal perforations were created by using an endoscopic needle-knife. The animals were randomly assigned to either open surgical repair (n=12) or endoscopic closure by using the OTSC system (n=12). Pressurized leak tests were performed during necropsy. One major bleed occurred because of a liver injury during creation of the duodenotomy. Mean time for endoscopic closure was 5 minutes (range, 3-8 min; SD +/- 2). No complications occurred during any of the closure procedures. At necropsy, all OTSC and surgical closures demonstrated complete sealing of duodenotomy sites. Pressurized leak tests demonstrated a mean burst pressure of 166 mm Hg (range, 80-260; SD +/- 65) for OTSC closures and 143 mm Hg (range, 30-300, SD +/- 83) for surgical sutures. Ex vivo intact duodenal specimens exhibited a mean burst pressure of 247 mm Hg (range, 200-300; SD +/- 35), which was significantly higher compared with in vivo OTSC and surgical closures (P < .01). There were no significant differences between burst pressures of OTSC and surgical closures (P = .461). Nonsurvival setting. Endoscopic closure of duodenal perforations by using the OTSC system is comparable with surgical closure in a nonsurvival porcine model. This technique is easy to perform and seems suitable for repairing duodenal perforations. 2010 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Comparative study of abdominal cavity temporary closure techniques for damage control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARCELO A. F. RIBEIRO JR

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The damage control surgery, with emphasis on laparostomy, usually results in shrinkage of the aponeurosis and loss of the ability to close the abdominal wall, leading to the formation of ventral incisional hernias. Currently, various techniques offer greater chances of closing the abdominal cavity with less tension. Thus, this study aims to evaluate three temporary closure techniques of the abdominal cavity: the Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy - VAC, the Bogotá Bag and the Vacuum-pack. We conducted a systematic review of the literature, selecting 28 articles published in the last 20 years. The techniques of the bag Bogotá and Vacuum-pack had the advantage of easy access to the material in most centers and low cost, contrary to VAC, which, besides presenting high cost, is not available in most hospitals. On the other hand, the VAC technique was more effective in reducing stress at the edges of lesions, removing stagnant fluids and waste, in addition to acting at the cellular level by increasing proliferation and cell division rates, and showed the highest rates of primary closure of the abdominal cavity.

  8. Training needs of farm women in dairy farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Durgga Rani V. And Subhadra M.R.

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available A study was conducted in Thrissur taluk of Thrissur district to assess the training needs of farm women engaged in dairy farming. It was found that out of the five major farm operations studied, the farm women needed training the most in housing. The minor operations preferred the most for knowledge need were proper design of cattle shed, selection of breeds, compounding balanced feed using locally available ingredients, vaccination and banking and insurance. As for skill need, construction of scientific low cost cattle shed, selection of breeds, compounding balanced feed using locally available ingredients, symptoms of common diseases and banking and insurance were preferred the most. [Vet World 2009; 2(6.000: 221-223

  9. A preliminary benefit-cost study of a Sandia wind farm.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ehlen, Mark Andrew; Griffin, Taylor; Loose, Verne W.

    2011-03-01

    In response to federal mandates and incentives for renewable energy, Sandia National Laboratories conducted a feasibility study of installing an on-site wind farm on Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base property. This report describes this preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits of installing and operating a 15-turbine, 30-MW-capacity wind farm that delivers an estimated 16 percent of 2010 onsite demand. The report first describes market and non-market economic costs and benefits associated with operating a wind farm, and then uses a standard life-cycle costing and benefit-cost framework to estimate the costs and benefits of a wind farm. Based on these 'best-estimates' of costs and benefits and on factor, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, the analysis results suggest that the benefits of a Sandia wind farm are greater than its costs. The analysis techniques used herein are applicable to the economic assessment of most if not all forms of renewable energy.

  10. Occupancy estimation and the closure assumption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rota, Christopher T.; Fletcher, Robert J.; Dorazio, Robert M.; Betts, Matthew G.

    2009-01-01

    1. Recent advances in occupancy estimation that adjust for imperfect detection have provided substantial improvements over traditional approaches and are receiving considerable use in applied ecology. To estimate and adjust for detectability, occupancy modelling requires multiple surveys at a site and requires the assumption of 'closure' between surveys, i.e. no changes in occupancy between surveys. Violations of this assumption could bias parameter estimates; however, little work has assessed model sensitivity to violations of this assumption or how commonly such violations occur in nature. 2. We apply a modelling procedure that can test for closure to two avian point-count data sets in Montana and New Hampshire, USA, that exemplify time-scales at which closure is often assumed. These data sets illustrate different sampling designs that allow testing for closure but are currently rarely employed in field investigations. Using a simulation study, we then evaluate the sensitivity of parameter estimates to changes in site occupancy and evaluate a power analysis developed for sampling designs that is aimed at limiting the likelihood of closure. 3. Application of our approach to point-count data indicates that habitats may frequently be open to changes in site occupancy at time-scales typical of many occupancy investigations, with 71% and 100% of species investigated in Montana and New Hampshire respectively, showing violation of closure across time periods of 3 weeks and 8 days respectively. 4. Simulations suggest that models assuming closure are sensitive to changes in occupancy. Power analyses further suggest that the modelling procedure we apply can effectively test for closure. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our demonstration that sites may be open to changes in site occupancy over time-scales typical of many occupancy investigations, combined with the sensitivity of models to violations of the closure assumption, highlights the importance of properly addressing

  11. Results of Washington's phase two study on closure requirements for the Hanford commercial low-level waste facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, D.C.; Hana, S.L.

    1989-01-01

    This paper reports on the closure design objectives and cover alternatives resulting from the state of Washington's phase two study on closure and long-term care for the Hanford commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Four approaches to dealing with subsidence and two cover design alternatives are discussed in this paper, along with information on each layer of each cover. Objectives for closure of the Hanford low-level waste facility are also discussed

  12. Microplastics in a wind farm area: A case study at the Rudong Offshore Wind Farm, Yellow Sea, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Teng; Zou, Xinqing; Li, Baojie; Yao, Yulong; Li, Jiasheng; Hui, Hejiu; Yu, Wenwen; Wang, Chenglong

    2018-03-01

    Despite the rapid construction of offshore wind farms, the available information regarding the risks of this type of development in terms of emerging pollutants, particularly microplastics, is scarce. In this study, we quantified the level of microplastic pollution at an offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea, China, in 2016. The abundance of microplastics was 0.330 ± 0.278 items/m 3 in the surface water and 2.58 ± 1.14 items/g (dry) in the sediment. To the best of our knowledge, the level of microplastic pollution in our study area was slightly higher than that in coastal areas around the world. The microplastics detected in the surface waters and sediments were mainly fibrous (75.3% and 68.7%, respectively) and consisted of some granules and films. The microplastics in the samples might originate from garments or ropes via wastewater discharge. The abundance of plastic in the water and sediment samples collected from the wind farm area was lower than that in the samples collected from outside the wind farm area. The anthropogenic hydrodynamic effect was the main factor affecting the local distribution of microplastics. The presence of a wind farm could increase the bed shear stress during ebb tide, disturbing the bed sediment, facilitating its initiation and transport, and ultimately increasing the ease of washing away the microplastics adhered to the sediment. This study will serve as a reference for further studies of the distribution and migration of microplastics in coastal zones subjected to similar marine utilization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Economics of irrigation farming in Nigeria: a case study of tomato ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study examines the production of tomato based farming households under small–scale irrigation in Sokoto State. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to collect data from 120 respondents from twenty villages in the four local government areas that make up the study area. Descriptive statistics, farm ...

  14. Tight closure and vanishing theorems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, K.E.

    2001-01-01

    Tight closure has become a thriving branch of commutative algebra since it was first introduced by Mel Hochster and Craig Huneke in 1986. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly clear that tight closure has deep connections with complex algebraic geometry as well, especially with those areas of algebraic geometry where vanishing theorems play a starring role. The purpose of these lectures is to introduce tight closure and to explain some of these connections with algebraic geometry. Tight closure is basically a technique for harnessing the power of the Frobenius map. The use of the Frobenius map to prove theorems about complex algebraic varieties is a familiar technique in algebraic geometry, so it should perhaps come as no surprise that tight closure is applicable to algebraic geometry. On the other hand, it seems that so far we are only seeing the tip of a large and very beautiful iceberg in terms of tight closure's interpretation and applications to algebraic geometry. Interestingly, although tight closure is a 'characteristic p' tool, many of the problems where tight closure has proved useful have also yielded to analytic (L2) techniques. Despite some striking parallels, there had been no specific result directly linking tight closure and L∼ techniques. Recently, however, the equivalence of an ideal central to the theory of tight closure was shown to be equivalent to a certain 'multiplier ideal' first defined using L2 methods. Presumably, deeper connections will continue to emerge. There are two main types of problems for which tight closure has been helpful: in identifying nice structure and in establishing uniform behavior. The original algebraic applications of tight closure include, for example, a quick proof of the Hochster-Roberts theorem on the Cohen-Macaulayness of rings of invariants, and also a refined version of the Brianqon-Skoda theorem on the uniform behaviour of integral closures of powers of ideals. More recent, geometric

  15. Factors affecting closure of a temporary stoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Claire; Varma, Sarah

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine time to reversal of a temporary ostomy, reasons for delayed closure, and patient satisfaction with the scheduling of their closure and related hospital care. Cross-sectional, descriptive study. The target population comprised patients who underwent creation of a temporary ostomy and reversal surgery within one National Health System Hospital Trust in the United Kingdom. The population served by this Trust are ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, predominantly living in urban areas around Greater London. Sixty-one persons who met inclusion criteria were identified. A two-step analytical process was undertaken. First, a literature review examining incidence and causes of delayed stoma closure was undertaken. Second, a postal survey of all patients who had had their stoma closed in 2009 was conducted. Respondents were allowed 2 weeks to complete and return the questionnaire. The survey instrument was developed locally and subjected to content validation using ostomy patients, surgical and nursing colleagues. It consisted of 9 questions querying time from original surgery to closure, reasons for delaying closure surgery beyond 12 weeks, and satisfaction with care. Twenty-seven patients returned their questionnaires, indicating they consented to participate; a response rate of 44%. Half of the respondents (n = 14 [52%]) underwent closure surgery within 6 months of stoma formation; the remaining 48% waited more than 6 months (median: 6.5 months, range: 1.5-26 months). Thirteen patients (48%) reported a delay in receiving their stoma closure; the main reason cited was the need for a course of adjuvant postoperative chemotherapy. Three quarters of respondents (22 [74%]) were satisfied with the overall care they received. Findings from this study suggest that stoma closure may be associated with fewest complications if performed before 12 weeks.

  16. 40 CFR 264.228 - Closure and post-closure care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... remaining wastes to a bearing capacity sufficient to support final cover; and (iii) Cover the surface....112 must include both a plan for complying with paragraph (a)(1) of this section and a contingent plan... practicably removed at closure; and (ii) The owner or operator must prepare a contingent post-closure plan...

  17. RCRA corrective action and closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-02-01

    This information brief explains how RCRA corrective action and closure processes affect one another. It examines the similarities and differences between corrective action and closure, regulators' interests in RCRA facilities undergoing closure, and how the need to perform corrective action affects the closure of DOE's permitted facilities and interim status facilities

  18. A study on closure performance in geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (H14)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugita, Yutaka; Kawakami, Susumu; Yui, Mikazu; Makino, Hitoshi; Sawada, Atsushi; Kurihara, Yuji; Mihara, Morihiro

    2003-04-01

    Regarding closure technology of underground facilities in geological disposal of the HLW in H12 report, the fundamental concept that closure technology has no impact against the engineered barrier system (EBS) was described. Performance Assessment (PA) has been performed without considering of the barrier function of closure elements. Following H12 report, the various in-situ data of the closure elements (ex. plug, backfill) have been obtained. Therefore, we considered that the PA of the EBS considering the expecting performance of the closure elements from the view points of both the engineering technology and the PA should be examined. First, the characteristics of rock mass and the function of the closure elements were summarized. Then, the closure scenario was developed preliminarily based on hydrological analysis between a hydraulic fracture and a disposal panel, the fault tree analysis, and so on. (author)

  19. Studies of closure phenomena in pinholes irradiated by Nd laser pulses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auerbach, J.M.; Holmes, N.C.; Hunt, J.T.; Linford, G.J.

    1978-08-21

    The plasma closure of spatial filter pinholes is a critical parameter in the performance of high energy glass laser systems. Using 50 to 100 J, 300 psec FWHM laser pulses on the Janus laser, an investigation has been made on closure effects in 300 ..mu..m to 500 ..mu..m diameter pinholes of various materials and thicknesses. Calorimetry measurements have yielded data on pinhole transmission and intensity loading on the periphery of the pinhole. Ultrafast streak photography measurements indicate effective closure velocities of 2 x 10/sup 7/ cm/sec to 5 x 10/sup 7/ cm/sec. Scattered light measurements have shown the transmission loss through a typical spatial filter configuration to be primarily refractive in nature.

  20. Studies of closure phenomena in pinholes irradiated by Nd laser pulses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auerbach, J.M.; Holmes, N.C.; Hunt, J.T.; Linford, G.J.

    1978-01-01

    The plasma closure of spatial filter pinholes is a critical parameter in the performance of high energy glass laser systems. Using 50 to 100 J, 300 psec FWHM laser pulses on the Janus laser, an investigation has been made on closure effects in 300 μm to 500 μm diameter pinholes of various materials and thicknesses. Calorimetry measurements have yielded data on pinhole transmission and intensity loading on the periphery of the pinhole. Ultrafast streak photography measurements indicate effective closure velocities of 2 x 10 7 cm/sec to 5 x 10 7 cm/sec. Scattered light measurements have shown the transmission loss through a typical spatial filter configuration to be primarily refractive in nature

  1. Baseline Risk Assessment Supporting Closure at Waste Management Area C at the Hanford Site Washington

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singleton, Kristin M.

    2015-01-01

    The Office of River Protection under the U.S. Department of Energy is pursuing closure of the Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Management Area (WMA) C under the requirements of the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (HFFACO). A baseline risk assessment (BRA) of current conditions is based on available characterization data and information collected at WMA C. The baseline risk assessment is being developed as a part of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation (RFI)/Corrective Measures Study (CMS) at WMA C that is mandatory under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and RCRA corrective action. The RFI/CMS is needed to identify and evaluate the hazardous chemical and radiological contamination in the vadose zone from past releases of waste from WMA C. WMA C will be under Federal ownership and control for the foreseeable future, and managed as an industrial area with restricted access and various institutional controls. The exposure scenarios evaluated under these conditions include Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Method C, industrial worker, maintenance and surveillance worker, construction worker, and trespasser scenarios. The BRA evaluates several unrestricted land use scenarios (residential all-pathway, MTCA Method B, and Tribal) to provide additional information for risk management. Analytical results from 13 shallow zone (0 to 15 ft. below ground surface) sampling locations were collected to evaluate human health impacts at WMA C. In addition, soil analytical data were screened against background concentrations and ecological soil screening levels to determine if soil concentrations have the potential to adversely affect ecological receptors. Analytical data from 12 groundwater monitoring wells were evaluated between 2004 and 2013. A screening of groundwater monitoring data against background concentrations and Federal maximum concentration levels was used to determine vadose zone

  2. Baseline Risk Assessment Supporting Closure at Waste Management Area C at the Hanford Site Washington

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singleton, Kristin M. [Washington River Protection Solutions LLC, Richland, WA (United States)

    2015-01-07

    The Office of River Protection under the U.S. Department of Energy is pursuing closure of the Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Management Area (WMA) C under the requirements of the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (HFFACO). A baseline risk assessment (BRA) of current conditions is based on available characterization data and information collected at WMA C. The baseline risk assessment is being developed as a part of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation (RFI)/Corrective Measures Study (CMS) at WMA C that is mandatory under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and RCRA corrective action. The RFI/CMS is needed to identify and evaluate the hazardous chemical and radiological contamination in the vadose zone from past releases of waste from WMA C. WMA C will be under Federal ownership and control for the foreseeable future, and managed as an industrial area with restricted access and various institutional controls. The exposure scenarios evaluated under these conditions include Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Method C, industrial worker, maintenance and surveillance worker, construction worker, and trespasser scenarios. The BRA evaluates several unrestricted land use scenarios (residential all-pathway, MTCA Method B, and Tribal) to provide additional information for risk management. Analytical results from 13 shallow zone (0 to 15 ft. below ground surface) sampling locations were collected to evaluate human health impacts at WMA C. In addition, soil analytical data were screened against background concentrations and ecological soil screening levels to determine if soil concentrations have the potential to adversely affect ecological receptors. Analytical data from 12 groundwater monitoring wells were evaluated between 2004 and 2013. A screening of groundwater monitoring data against background concentrations and Federal maximum concentration levels was used to determine vadose zone

  3. Early decision-analytic modeling - a case study on vascular closure devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandes, Alina; Sinner, Moritz F; Kääb, Stefan; Rogowski, Wolf H

    2015-10-27

    As economic considerations become more important in healthcare reimbursement, decisions about the further development of medical innovations need to take into account not only medical need and potential clinical effectiveness, but also cost-effectiveness. Already early in the innovation process economic evaluations can support decisions on development in specific indications or patient groups by anticipating future reimbursement and implementation decisions. One potential concept for early assessment is value-based pricing. The objective is to assess the feasibility of value-based pricing and product design for a hypothetical vascular closure device in the pre-clinical stage which aims at decreasing bleeding events. A deterministic decision-analytic model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of established vascular closure devices from the perspective of the Statutory Health Insurance system. To identify early benchmarks for pricing and product design, three strategies of determining the product's value are explored: 1) savings from complications avoided by the new device; 2) valuation of the avoided complications based on an assumed willingness-to-pay-threshold (the efficiency frontier approach); 3) value associated with modifying the care pathways within which the device would be applied. Use of established vascular closure devices is dominated by manual compression. The hypothetical vascular closure device reduces overall complication rates at higher costs than manual compression. Maximum cost savings of only about €4 per catheterization could be realized by applying the hypothetical device. Extrapolation of an efficiency frontier is only possible for one subgroup where vascular closure devices are not a dominated strategy. Modifying care in terms of same-day discharge of patients treated with vascular closure devices could result in cost savings of €400-600 per catheterization. It was partially feasible to calculate value-based prices for the

  4. ICPP calcined solids storage facility closure study. Volume II: Cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle cost estimates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-02-01

    This document contains Volume II of the Closure Study for the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant Calcined Solids Storage Facility. This volume contains draft information on cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle costs for the four options described in Volume I: (1) Risk-Based Clean Closure; NRC Class C fill, (2) Risk-Based Clean Closure; Clean fill, (3) Closure to landfill Standards; NRC Class C fill, and (4) Closure to Landfill Standards; Clean fill

  5. ICPP calcined solids storage facility closure study. Volume II: Cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle cost estimates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-02-01

    This document contains Volume II of the Closure Study for the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant Calcined Solids Storage Facility. This volume contains draft information on cost estimates, planning schedules, yearly cost flowcharts, and life-cycle costs for the four options described in Volume I: (1) Risk-Based Clean Closure; NRC Class C fill, (2) Risk-Based Clean Closure; Clean fill, (3) Closure to landfill Standards; NRC Class C fill, and (4) Closure to Landfill Standards; Clean fill.

  6. Comparison of cost-effectiveness and postoperative outcome of device closure and open surgery closure techniques for treatment of patent ductus arteriosus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Ahmadi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Various devices have been recently employed for percutaneous closure of the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA. Although the high effectiveness of device closure techniques has been clearly determined, a few studies have focused on the cost-effectiveness and also postoperative complications of these procedures in comparison with open surgery. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of PDA occlusion by Amplatzer and coil device in comparisong with open surgery. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a randomized sample of 201 patients aged 1 month to 16 years (105 patients with device closure and 96 patients with surgical closure was selected. The ratio of total pulmonary blood flow to total systemic blood flow, the Qp/Qs ratio, was measured using a pulmonary artery catheter. The cost analysis included direct medical care costs associated with device implantation and open surgery, as well as professional fees. All costs were calculated in Iranian Rials and then converted to US dollars. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference in mean Qp/Qs ratio before the procedure between the device closure group and the open surgery group (2.1 ± 0.7 versus 1.7 ± 0.6, P = 0.090. The mean measured costs were overall higher in the device closure group than in open closure group (948.87 ± 548.76 US$ versus 743.70 ± 696.91 US$, P < 0.001. This difference remained significant after adjustment for age and gender (Standardized Beta = 0.160, P = 0.031. PDA closure with the Amplatzer ductal occluder (1053.05 ± 525.73 US$ or with Nit-Occlud coils (PFM (912.73 ± 565.94 US$, P < 0.001 was more expensive than that via open surgery. However, the Cook detachable spring coils device closure (605.65 ± 194.62 US$, P = 0.650 had a non-significant cost difference with open surgery. No event was observed in the device closure group regarding in-hospital mortality or morbidity; however, in another group, 2 in-hospital deaths

  7. Alterations of papilla dimensions after orthodontic closure of the maxillary midline diastema: a retrospective longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Jin-Seok; Lee, Seung-Youp; Chang, Moontaek

    2016-06-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate alterations of papilla dimensions after orthodontic closure of the diastema between maxillary central incisors. Sixty patients who had a visible diastema between maxillary central incisors that had been closed by orthodontic approximation were selected for this study. Various papilla dimensions were assessed on clinical photographs and study models before the orthodontic treatment and at the follow-up examination after closure of the diastema. Influences of the variables assessed before orthodontic treatment on the alterations of papilla height (PH) and papilla base thickness (PBT) were evaluated by univariate regression analysis. To analyze potential influences of the 3-dimensional papilla dimensions before orthodontic treatment on the alterations of PH and PBT, a multiple regression model was formulated including the 3-dimensional papilla dimensions as predictor variables. On average, PH decreased by 0.80 mm and PBT increased after orthodontic closure of the diastema (Porthodontic treatment influenced the alteration of PH. With respect to the alteration of PBT, the diastema width (P=0.045) and PBT (P=0.000) were found to be influential factors. PBT before the orthodontic treatment significantly influenced the alteration of PBT in the multiple regression model. PH decreased but PBT increased after orthodontic closure of the diastema. The papilla dimensions before orthodontic treatment influenced the alterations of PH and PBT after closure of the diastema. The PBT increased more when the diastema width before the orthodontic treatment was larger.

  8. Comparison of fasciotomy wound closures using traditional dressing changes and the vacuum-assisted closure device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zannis, John; Angobaldo, Jeff; Marks, Malcolm; DeFranzo, Anthony; David, Lisa; Molnar, Joseph; Argenta, Louis

    2009-04-01

    Fasciotomy wounds can be a major contributor to length of stay for patients as well as a difficult reconstructive challenge. Once the compartment pressure has been relieved and stabilized, the wound should be closed as quickly and early as possible to avoid later complications. Skin grafting can lead to morbidity and scarring at both the donor and fasciotomy site. Primary closure results in a more functional and esthetic outcome with less morbidity for the patient, but can often be difficult to achieve secondary to edema, skin retraction, and skin edge necrosis. Our objective was to examine fasciotomy wound outcomes, including time to definitive closure, comparing traditional wet-to-dry dressings, and the vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) device. This retrospective chart review included a consecutive series of patients over a 10-year period. This series included 458 patients who underwent 804 fasciotomies. Of these fasciotomy wounds, 438 received exclusively VAC. dressings, 270 received only normal saline wet-to-dry dressings, and 96 were treated with a combination of both. Of the sample, 408 patients were treated with exclusively VAC therapy or wet-to-dry dressings and 50 patients were treated with a combination of both. In comparing all wounds, there was a statistically significant higher rate of primary closure using the VAC versus traditional wet-to-dry dressings (P lower extremities and P extremities). The time to primary closure of wounds was shorter in the VAC. group in comparison with the non-VAC group. This study has shown that the use of the VAC for fasciotomy wound closure results in a higher rate of primary closure versus traditional wet-to-dry dressings. In addition, the time to primary closure of wounds or time to skin grafting is shorter when the VAC was employed. The VAC used in the described settings decreases hospitalization time, allows for earlier rehabilitation, and ultimately leads to increased patient satisfaction.

  9. Design and analysis of PCRV core cavity closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, T.T.; Schwartz, A.A.; Koopman, D.C.A.

    1980-05-01

    Design requirements and considerations for a core cavity closure which led to the choice of a concrete closure with a toggle hold-down as the design for the Gas-Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (GCFR) plant are discussed. A procedure for preliminary stress analysis of the closure by means of a three-dimensional finite element method is described. A limited parametric study using this procedure indicates the adequacy of the present closure design and the significance of radial compression developed as a result of inclined support reaction

  10. OPTIMAZION STUDY OF FARM HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN KAPUAS SUBDISTRICT, MURUNG DISTRICT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jhon Wardie

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Study aims: (1 analyze resource allocation farm households include land, labor, and capital optimally; (2 assess resources become a limiting factor in obtaining maximum revenue; and (3 analyze effect of changes in land resource constraints, price inputs and outputs as well as rice farming technology to optimal resource allocation and maximum income for farm households. Purposive sampling to select “Palingkau Lama” and “Palingkau Baru” Village, in Kapuas District. Sampling done by simple random sampling method on 50 respondents. Research objectives assessed using linear programming analysis model with software WIN-QSB. Results: (1 farming pattern is optimal on households are (local rice + rambutan with a maximum income IDR 31,590,000 per year; (2 resources become a limiting factor in achieving maximum revenue is due to land and capital used up, while labor resource is not depleted so that not limiting factor; (3 simulation led to an increase land area increased revenue to IDR 36,857,540, and pattern of optimal farming transformed into pattern (local rice + banana + rambutan, while simulating an increase in price inputs and outputs as well as technology of rice farming by 20 percent resulting in increased revenue to IDR 36,041,270 and IDR 33,594,860 but optimal farming pattern remains unchanged.

  11. Multicentre study on capsular closure versus non-capsular closure during hip arthroscopy in Danish patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dippmann, Christian; Kraemer, Otto; Lund, Bent

    2018-01-01

    in patients without additional risk factors for instability such as hypermobility or dysplasia of the hip. We hypothesised that capsular closure will lead to a superior outcome in hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) compared with non-capsular closure. METHODS AND ANALYSIS...... years and FAIS according to the Warwick agreement. Exclusion criteria are: previous hip surgery in either hip, previous conditions of Legg-Calvé-Perthes or slipped capital femoral epiphysis, malignant disease, recent hip or pelvic fractures, arthritis, Ehlers-Danlos or Marfan disease, recent (within 6...

  12. Landscape properties as drivers for farm diversification: A Dutch case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pfeifer, C.; Jongeneel, R.A.; Sonneveld, M.P.W.; Stoorvogel, J.J.

    2009-01-01

    Farm diversification is stimulated by the societal demand to transform production countryside into consumption countryside. In most empirical studies on farmers¿ decision making for diversification, geographical information is either omitted or reduced to a variable that links the farm to an

  13. Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery gastrotomy closure with an over-the-endoscope clip: a randomized, controlled porcine study (with videos).

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Renteln, Daniel; Schmidt, Arthur; Vassiliou, Melina C; Gieselmann, Maria; Caca, Karel

    2009-10-01

    Secure endoscopic closure of transgastric natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) access is of paramount importance. The over-the-scope clip (OTSC) system has previously been shown to be effective for NOTES gastrotomy closure. To compare OTSC gastrotomy closure with surgical closure. Randomized, controlled animal study. Animal facility laboratory. Thirty-six female domestic pigs. Gastrotomies were created by using a needle-knife and an 18-mm balloon. The animals were subsequently randomized to either open surgical repair with interrupted sutures or endoscopic repair with 12-mm OTSCs. In addition, pressurized leak tests were performed in ex vivo specimens of 18-mm scalpel incisions closed with suture (n = 14) and of intact stomachs (n = 10). The mean time for endoscopic closure was 9.8 minutes (range 3-22, SD 5.5). No complications occurred during either type of gastrotomy closure. At necropsy, examination of all OTSC and surgical closures demonstrated complete sealing of gastrotomy sites without evidence of injury to adjacent organs. Pressurized leak tests showed a mean burst pressure of 83 mm Hg (range 30-140, SD 27) for OTSC closures and 67 mm Hg (range 30-130, SD 27.7) for surgical sutures. Ex vivo hand-sewn sutures of 18-mm gastrotomies (n = 14) exhibited a mean burst pressure of 65 mm Hg (range 20-140, SD 31) and intact ex vivo stomachs (n = 10) had a mean burst pressure of 126 mm Hg (range 90-170, SD 28). The burst pressure of ex vivo intact stomachs was significantly higher compared with OTSC closures (P < .01), in vivo surgical closures (P < .01), and ex vivo hand-sewn closures (P < .01). There was a trend toward higher burst pressures in the OTSC closures compared with surgical closures (P = .063) and ex vivo hand-sewn closures (P = .094). In vivo surgical closures demonstrated similar burst pressures compared with ex vivo hand-sewn closures (P = .848). Nonsurvival setting. Endoscopic closure by using the OTSC system is comparable to

  14. Percutaneous Transcatheter PDA Device Closure in Infancy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ullah, M.; Sultan, M.; Akhtar, K.; Sadiq, N.; Akbar, H.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the results and complications associated with transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in infants. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Paediatric Cardiology Department of Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology / National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC/NIHD), Rawalpindi, from December 2010 to June 2012. Methodology: Infants undergoing transcatheter device closure of PDA were included. All patients were evaluated by experienced Paediatric Cardiologists with 2-D echocardiography and Doppler before the procedure. Success of closure and complications were recorded. Results: The age of patients varied from 05 - 12 months and 31 (56.4%) were females. Out of the 55 infants, 3 (5.4%) were not offered device closure after aortogram (two large tubular type ducts and one tiny duct, considered unsuitable for device closure); while in 50 (96.1%) patients out of remaining 52, the duct was successfully closed with transcatheter PDA device or coil. In one infant, device deployment resulted in acquired coarctation, necessitating device retrieval by Snare followed by surgical duct interruption and another patient had non-fatal cardiac arrest during device deployment leading to abandonment of procedure and subsequent successful surgical interruption. Local vascular complications occurred in 12 (21.8%) of cases and all were satisfactorily treated. Conclusion: Transcatheter device closure of PDA in infants was an effective procedure in the majority of cases; however, here were considerable number of local access site vascular complications. (author)

  15. Ring closure in actin polymers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sinha, Supurna, E-mail: supurna@rri.res.in [Raman Research Institute, Bangalore 560080 (India); Chattopadhyay, Sebanti [Doon University, Dehradun 248001 (India)

    2017-03-18

    We present an analysis for the ring closure probability of semiflexible polymers within the pure bend Worm Like Chain (WLC) model. The ring closure probability predicted from our analysis can be tested against fluorescent actin cyclization experiments. We also discuss the effect of ring closure on bend angle fluctuations in actin polymers. - Highlights: • Ring closure of biopolymers. • Worm like chain model. • Predictions for experiments.

  16. Environmental Assessment for the Closure of the High-Level Waste Tanks in F- & H-Areas at the Savannah River Site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    N/A

    1996-07-31

    This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the closure of 51 high-level radioactive waste tanks and tank farm ancillary equipment (including transfer lines, evaporators, filters, pumps, etc) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) located near Aiken, South Carolina. The waste tanks are located in the F- and H-Areas of SRS and vary in capacity from 2,839,059 liters (750,000 gallons) to 4,921,035 liters (1,300,000 gallons). These in-ground tanks are surrounded by soil to provide shielding. The F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tanks are operated under the authority of Industrial Wastewater Permits No.17,424-IW; No.14520, and No.14338 issued by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). In accordance with the Permit requirements, DOE has prepared a Closure Plan (DOE, 1996) and submitted it to SCDHEC for approval. The Closure Plan identifies all applicable or relevant and appropriate regulations, statutes, and DOE Orders for closing systems operated under the Industrial Wastewater Permits. When approved by SCDHEC, the Closure Plan will present the regulatory process for closing all of the F- and H-Area High Level Waste Tanks. The Closure Plan establishes performance objectives or criteria to be met prior to closing any tank, group of tanks, or ancillary tank farm equipment. The proposed action is to remove the residual wastes from the tanks and to fill the tanks with a material to prevent future collapse and bind up residual waste, to lower human health risks, and to increase safety in and around the tanks. If required, an engineered cap consisting of clay, backfill (soil), and vegetation as the final layer to prevent erosion would be applied over the tanks. The selection of tank system closure method will be evaluated against the following Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) criteria described in 40

  17. Comparison of cost-effectiveness and postoperative outcome of device closure and open surgery closure techniques for treatment of patent ductus arteriosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi, Alireza; Sabri, Mohammadreza; Bigdelian, Hamid; Dehghan, Bahar; Gharipour, Mojgan

    2014-01-01

    Various devices have been recently employed for percutaneous closure of the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Although the high effectiveness of device closure techniques has been clearly determined, a few studies have focused on the cost-effectiveness and also postoperative complications of these procedures in comparison with open surgery. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of PDA occlusion by Amplatzer and coil device in comparisong with open surgery. In this cross-sectional study, a randomized sample of 201 patients aged 1 month to 16 years (105 patients with device closure and 96 patients with surgical closure) was selected. The ratio of total pulmonary blood flow to total systemic blood flow, the Qp/Qs ratio, was measured using a pulmonary artery catheter. The cost analysis included direct medical care costs associated with device implantation and open surgery, as well as professional fees. All costs were calculated in Iranian Rials and then converted to US dollars. There was no statistical difference in mean Qp/Qs ratio before the procedure between the device closure group and the open surgery group (2.1 ± 0.7 versus 1.7 ± 0.6, P = 0.090). The mean measured costs were overall higher in the device closure group than in open closure group (948.87 ± 548.76 US$ versus 743.70 ± 696.91 US$, P gender (Standardized Beta = 0.160, P = 0.031). PDA closure with the Amplatzer ductal occluder (1053.05 ± 525.73 US$) or with Nit-Occlud coils (PFM) (912.73 ± 565.94 US$, P < 0.001) was more expensive than that via open surgery. However, the Cook detachable spring coils device closure (605.65 ± 194.62 US$, P = 0.650) had a non-significant cost difference with open surgery. No event was observed in the device closure group regarding in-hospital mortality or morbidity; however, in another group, 2 in-hospital deaths occurred, two patients experienced pneumonia and seizure, and one suffered electrolyte abnormalities including

  18. Mass extraction container closure integrity physical testing method development for parenteral container closure systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Seung-Yil; Sagi, Hemi; Goldhammer, Craig; Li, Lei

    2012-01-01

    Container closure integrity (CCI) is a critical factor to ensure that product sterility is maintained over its entire shelf life. Assuring the CCI during container closure (C/C) system qualification, routine manufacturing and stability is important. FDA guidance also encourages industry to develop a CCI physical testing method in lieu of sterility testing in a stability program. A mass extraction system has been developed to check CCI for a variety of container closure systems such as vials, syringes, and cartridges. Various types of defects (e.g., glass micropipette, laser drill, wire) were created and used to demonstrate a detection limit. Leakage, detected as mass flow in this study, changes as a function of defect length and diameter. Therefore, the morphology of defects has been examined in detail with fluid theories. This study demonstrated that a mass extraction system was able to distinguish between intact samples and samples with 2 μm defects reliably when the defect was exposed to air, water, placebo, or drug product (3 mg/mL concentration) solution. Also, it has been verified that the method was robust, and capable of determining the acceptance limit using 3σ for syringes and 6σ for vials. Sterile products must maintain their sterility over their entire shelf life. Container closure systems such as those found in syringes and vials provide a seal between rubber and glass containers. This seal must be ensured to maintain product sterility. A mass extraction system has been developed to check container closure integrity for a variety of container closure systems such as vials, syringes, and cartridges. In order to demonstrate the method's capability, various types of defects (e.g., glass micropipette, laser drill, wire) were created in syringes and vials and were tested. This study demonstrated that a mass extraction system was able to distinguish between intact samples and samples with 2 μm defects reliably when the defect was exposed to air, water

  19. Farm production performance in Russian regions: farm panel data analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezlepkina, I.

    2003-01-01

    The Russian agricultural sector has experienced many problems since the beginning of the 1990s that resulted in a fall in farm output. Employing a production function approach and, unlike other studies, farm-level data on more than 20,000 Russian large-scale farms for the period 1995-2000, this

  20. Cyanoacrylate for Intraoral Wound Closure: A Possibility?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parimala Sagar

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Wound closure is a part of any surgical procedure and the objective of laceration repair or incision closure is to approximate the edges of a wound so that natural healing process may occur. Over the years new biomaterials have been discovered as an alternate to conventional suture materials. Cyanoacrylate bioadhesives are one among them. They carry the advantages of rapid application, patient comfort, resistance to infection, hemostatic properties, and no suture removal anxiety. Hence this study was undertaken to study the effect of long chain cyanoacrylate as an adhesive for intraoral wound closure and also to explore its hemostatic and antibacterial effects. Isoamyl-2-cyanoacrylate (AMCRYLATE was used as the adhesive in the study. In conclusion isoamyl cyanoacrylate can be used for intraoral wound closure, as an alternative to sutures for gluing the mucoperiosteum to bone, for example, after impaction removal, periapical surgeries, and cleft repair. Its hemostatic and antibacterial activity has to be further evaluated.

  1. The impact of farm size on sustainability of dutch dairy farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meulen, van der H.A.B.; Dolman, M.A.; Jager, J.H.; Venema, G.S.

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable milk production systems require economically viable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable practices. This study compared the economic, environmental and societal impact of large-scale farms with other dairy farms in the Dutch Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Moreover the

  2. To what extent does organic farming rely on nutrient inflows from conventional farming?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nowak, Benjamin; Nesme, Thomas; Pellerin, Sylvain; David, Christophe

    2013-01-01

    Organic farming is increasingly recognized as a prototype for sustainable agriculture. Its guidelines ban the use of artificial fertilizers. However, organic farms may import nutrients from conventional farming through material exchanges. In this study, we aimed at estimating the magnitude of these flows through the quantification of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium inflows from conventional farming to organic farming. Material inflows and outflows were collected for two cropping years on 63 farms. The farms were located in three French agricultural districts distributed over a gradient of farming activity defined by both the stocking rate and the ratio of the farm area under arable crops. Our results showed that on average, inflows from conventional farming were 23%, 73% and 53% for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. These inflows were strongly determined by the farm production systems. However, for farms similar in terms of production systems, the inflows also depended on the local context, such as the proximity of organic livestock farms: the reliance of organic farming on conventional farming was lower in mixed than in specialized districts. These results highlight the necessity to quantify the contribution of nutrient inflows from conventional farming when assessing organic farming and development scenarios. (letter)

  3. Tubular closure device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klahn, F.C.; Nolan, J.H.; Wills, C.

    1982-01-01

    This invention relates to a closure mechanism for closing openings such as the bore of a conduit and for releasably securing members within the bore. More particularly, this invention relates to a closure mechanism for tubular irradiation surveillance specimen assembly holders used in nuclear reactors

  4. Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI disease diagnosed on a British Columbia salmon farm through a longitudinal farm study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emiliano Di Cicco

    Full Text Available Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI is an emerging disease of marine-farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar, first recognized in 1999 in Norway, and later also reported in Scotland and Chile. We undertook a longitudinal study involving health evaluation over an entire marine production cycle on one salmon farm in British Columbia (Canada. In previous production cycles at this farm site and others in the vicinity, cardiac lesions not linked to a specific infectious agent or disease were identified. Histologic assessments of both live and moribund fish samples collected at the farm during the longitudinal study documented at the population level the development, peak, and recovery phases of HSMI. The fish underwent histopathological evaluation of all tissues, Twort's Gram staining, immunohistochemistry, and molecular quantification in heart tissue of 44 agents known or suspected to cause disease in salmon. Our analysis showed evidence of HSMI histopathological lesions over an 11-month timespan, with the prevalence of lesions peaking at 80-100% in sampled fish, despite mild clinical signs with no associated elevation in mortalities reported at the farm level. Diffuse mononuclear inflammation and myodegeneration, consistent with HSMI, was the predominant histologic observation in affected heart and skeletal muscle. Infective agent monitoring identified three agents at high prevalence in salmon heart tissue, including Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV, and parasites Paranucleospora theridion and Kudoa thyrsites. However, PRV alone was statistically correlated with the occurrence and severity of histopathological lesions in the heart. Immunohistochemical staining further localized PRV throughout HSMI development, with the virus found mainly within red blood cells in early cases, moving into the cardiomyocytes within or, more often, on the periphery of the inflammatory reaction during the peak disease, and reducing to low or undetectable levels later in

  5. Livestock systems and farming styles in Eastern Italian Alps: an on-farm survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurizio Ramanzin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to study the relationships between livestock systems, landscape maintenance and farming styles in the Belluno Province, a mountainous area of the Eastern Italian Alps. A total of 65 farms were sampled on the basis of livestock category farmed and herd size. Farms were visited to collect information on technical and productive aspects, on landscape features of land managed, which was identified by aerial photographs and digitised in a GIS environment, and on the farmers’ background, attitudes and approach to farming. Six different livestock systems were identified: intensive beef cattle (2 farms; extensive beef cattle (12 farms; large sheep/goat farms (9 farms; small sheep/goat farms (6 farms; intensive dairy cattle (14 farms and extensive dairy cattle (22 farms. The intensive systems had larger herds, modern structures and equipment, and were strongly production oriented, whereas the extensive systems had smaller herds and productivity, with often traditional or obsolete structures and equipment, but showed a tendency to diversify production by means of on-farm cheese making and/or mixed farming of different livestock categories. The ability to maintain meadows and pastures was greater for the extensive systems, especially in steep areas, while the annual nitrogen output, estimated as kg N/ha, was lower. Data on the farmers’ background and attitudes were analysed with a non-hierarchical cluster procedure that clustered the farmers into 4 farming styles widely different in motivations to farming, innovative capability, and ability to diversify income sources and ensure farm economic viability. The farming styles were distributed across all livestock systems, indicating the lack of a linkage between the assignment of a farm to a livestock system and the way the farm is managed. This study demonstrates that in mountain areas variability of livestock systems may be high, and that they differ not only in production practices

  6. FARM PERFORMANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This article emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. The alpha scores (or skill estimates for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. We find substantial difference of farm management styles and performance efficiency in management skill portfolios. We also find evidence of most skilled farm managers are more efficient on both revenue side and costs side. The approaches used in this study also allow comparison among farms of different sizes and types. The activities of top farms can be replicated by poorer performers and the study provide a unique way for comparing the farm management styles and ability of most skilled farm managers to that of less skilled ones. The innovative method is framed by comparing business strategies and performance styles in the following aspects: production and operations planning, land management and control, and production costs evaluation. Farm managers will want to consult it as well to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions.

  7. Uncertainty Quantification of Multi-Phase Closures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nadiga, Balasubramanya T. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Baglietto, Emilio [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

    2017-10-27

    In the ensemble-averaged dispersed phase formulation used for CFD of multiphase ows in nuclear reactor thermohydraulics, closures of interphase transfer of mass, momentum, and energy constitute, by far, the biggest source of error and uncertainty. Reliable estimators of this source of error and uncertainty are currently non-existent. Here, we report on how modern Validation and Uncertainty Quanti cation (VUQ) techniques can be leveraged to not only quantify such errors and uncertainties, but also to uncover (unintended) interactions between closures of di erent phenomena. As such this approach serves as a valuable aide in the research and development of multiphase closures. The joint modeling of lift, drag, wall lubrication, and turbulent dispersion|forces that lead to tranfer of momentum between the liquid and gas phases|is examined in the frame- work of validation of the adiabatic but turbulent experiments of Liu and Banko , 1993. An extensive calibration study is undertaken with a popular combination of closure relations and the popular k-ϵ turbulence model in a Bayesian framework. When a wide range of super cial liquid and gas velocities and void fractions is considered, it is found that this set of closures can be validated against the experimental data only by allowing large variations in the coe cients associated with the closures. We argue that such an extent of variation is a measure of uncertainty induced by the chosen set of closures. We also nd that while mean uid velocity and void fraction pro les are properly t, uctuating uid velocity may or may not be properly t. This aspect needs to be investigated further. The popular set of closures considered contains ad-hoc components and are undesirable from a predictive modeling point of view. Consequently, we next consider improvements that are being developed by the MIT group under CASL and which remove the ad-hoc elements. We use non-intrusive methodologies for sensitivity analysis and calibration (using

  8. Pilonidal sinus disease surgery in children: the first study to compare crystallized phenol application to primary excision and closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, Ufuk; Ergun, Ergun; Gollu, Gulnur; Sozduyar, Sumeyye; Kologlu, Meltem; Cakmak, Murat; Dindar, Huseyin; Yagmurlu, Aydin

    2018-03-01

    Pilonidal sinus (PS) is an infectious and inflammatory disease of sacrococcygeal region. Current methods include; surgical excision with/without suturing the defect, rhomboid excision and flap and chemical substance application. In this study, crystallized phenol application was compared to excision and primary closure. This retrospective study included pediatric patients with PS who were treated with excision and primer closure technique and phenol application. The patients' medical data were analyzed retrospectively. This study included 117 patients with PS. There were 52 girls (44%) and 65 boys (56%). Mean age of children was 15.6 (12-20) years. Excision and primary closure were applied to 77 patients (66%) and phenol was applied to 40 patients (34%). The children in phenol group were discharged on the operation day; mean hospitalization time in the excision and primary closure group was 2.7 (1-14) days. Mean follow up was 44.6 (8-82) months for primary excision and closure group and 8.1 (1-19) months for phenol group. Although many surgical and non-surgical treatment modalities have been described for PS, the optimal one remains unknown. Limited with the retrospective nature of the data, crystallized phenol application seems a feasible minimal invasive alternative to primary closure of PS with lower recurrence and complication rates in children. Level III. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Seven-year follow-up of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirzada, Naqibullah; Ladenvall, Per; Hansson, Per-Olof; Johansson, Magnus Carl; Furenäs, Eva; Eriksson, Peter; Dellborg, Mikael

    2013-12-01

    Observational studies favor percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) over medical treatment to reduce recurrent stroke while randomized trials fail to demonstrate significant superiority of percutaneous PFO closure. Few long-term studies are available post PFO closure. This study reports long-term clinical outcomes after percutaneous PFO closure. Between 1997 and 2006, 86 consecutive eligible patients with cerebrovascular events, presumably related to PFO, underwent percutaneous PFO closure. All 86 patients were invited to a long-term follow-up, which was carried out during 2011 and 2012. Percutaneous PFO closure was successfully performed in 85 of 86 patients. The follow-up rate was 100%. No cardiovascular or cerebrovascular deaths occurred. Two patients (both women) died from lung cancer during follow-up. Follow-up visits were conducted for 64 patients and the remaining 20 patients were followed up by phone. The mean follow-up time was 7.3 years (5 to 12.4 years). Mean age at PFO closure was 49 years. One patient had a minor stroke one month after PFO closure and a transient ischemic attack (TIA) two years afterwards. One other patient suffered from a TIA six years after closure. No long-term device-related complications were observed. Percutaneous PFO closure was associated with very low risk of recurrent stroke and is suitable in most patients. We observed no mortality and no long-term device-related complications related to PFO closure, indicating that percutaneous PFO closure is a safe and efficient treatment even in the long term.

  10. Environmental Assessment for the Closure of the High-Level Waste Tanks in F- and H-Areas at the Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the closure of 51 high-level radioactive waste tanks and tank farm ancillary equipment (including transfer lines, evaporators, filters, pumps, etc) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) located near Aiken, South Carolina. The waste tanks are located in the F- and H-Areas of SRS and vary in capacity from 2,839,059 liters (750,000 gallons) to 4,921,035 liters (1,300,000 gallons). These in-ground tanks are surrounded by soil to provide shielding. The F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tanks are operated under the authority of Industrial Wastewater Permits No.17,424-IW; No.14520, and No.14338 issued by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). In accordance with the Permit requirements, DOE has prepared a Closure Plan (DOE, 1996) and submitted it to SCDHEC for approval. The Closure Plan identifies all applicable or relevant and appropriate regulations, statutes, and DOE Orders for closing systems operated under the Industrial Wastewater Permits. When approved by SCDHEC, the Closure Plan will present the regulatory process for closing all of the F- and H-Area High Level Waste Tanks. The Closure Plan establishes performance objectives or criteria to be met prior to closing any tank, group of tanks, or ancillary tank farm equipment. The proposed action is to remove the residual wastes from the tanks and to fill the tanks with a material to prevent future collapse and bind up residual waste, to lower human health risks, and to increase safety in and around the tanks. If required, an engineered cap consisting of clay, backfill (soil), and vegetation as the final layer to prevent erosion would be applied over the tanks. The selection of tank system closure method will be evaluated against the following Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) criteria described in 40

  11. Farm tourism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blichfeldt, Bodil Stilling; Nielsen, Niels Christian; Just, Flemming

    2011-01-01

    This paper draws on a study of one specific type of small tourism enterprises (i.e. farm tourism enterprises) and argues that these enterprises differ from other enterprises in relation to a series of issues other than merely size. The analysis shows that enterprises such as these are characterized......, our study suggests that it is problematic to threat farm tourism enterprises as if they have much in common with both larger corporations and other types of SMTEs. Farm tourism enterprises seem to differ significantly from other enterprises as the hosts are not in the tourism business because...

  12. Deterministic and Stochastic Study of Wind Farm Harmonic Currents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sainz, Luis; Mesas, Juan Jose; Teodorescu, Remus

    2010-01-01

    Wind farm harmonic emissions are a well-known power quality problem, but little data based on actual wind farm measurements are available in literature. In this paper, harmonic emissions of an 18 MW wind farm are investigated using extensive measurements, and the deterministic and stochastic char...

  13. Technical efficiency analysis for oilseed sunflower farms: a case study in Erzurum, Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Külekçi, Murat

    2010-07-01

    The main purpose of this study was to examine the technical efficiency of farms producing sunflower in Erzurum, Turkey and to identify factors that might be causing inefficiency. Stochastic frontier analysis was used to measure technical efficiency. One hundred and seventeen randomly selected farms were interviewed for farm-level data in the 2004-2005 production period. Results revealed that the mean technical efficiency for the sunflower farms, estimated by the stochastic production frontier, is 64%. At full technical efficiency, on average, the farmers could reduce their inputs by around 56% without reducing their sunflower production, simply by improving technical efficiency. In the inefficiency model the parameter estimates showed that older farmers, higher level of farmer's education, more experienced farmers, larger farm size and higher information score resulted in lower technical inefficiency, while bigger family size and more credit usage resulted in higher technical inefficiency. This study proposes strategies such as providing better extension services and farmer-training programmes, including more educated people in sunflower farming and also expanding the sunflower-growing area through provision of adequate facilities in order to increase technical efficiency.

  14. Multifunctionality of Organic Farming: Case Study from Southern Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Śpiewak Ruta

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this article is to answer the question whether organic farming, which is developing in some parts of Poland, can be considered as a form of multifunctional farming and contribute so to non-commodity functions and the process of change in a particular territory of given areas. The analyses are based on data obtained from 2013 of several points in the south of Poland representing a cluster of organic market oriented farmers. The results show that namely market organic farming may serve as multifunctional one, but only under certain conditions and for a specific type of farming. Through specific functions, organic farming facilitates the changes, primarily on a local scale. The existence of a strong integrated organic farming sector might influences development and change, resulting in not only the improvement of economic welfare of organic farmers, but also of whole local communities, strengthening the bonds amongst them, mobilising the social resources.

  15. Comparative Study Between Coaptive Film Versus Suture For Wound Closure After Long Bone Fracture Fixation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    IM Anuar Ramdhan

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Coaptive film (i.e., Steri-StripsTM is an adhesive tape used to replace sutures in wound closure. The use of coaptive film for wound closure after long bone fracture fixation has not been well documented in the literature. METHODS: The aim of this prospective, randomized controlled trial comparing coaptive film with sutures for wound closure after long bone fracture fixation was skin closure time, incidence of wound complications and scar width at 12 week follow-up. Forty-five patients underwent femur fracture fixation (22 patients’ wound closed with sutures, 23 with coaptive film. RESULTS: The mean time for skin closure using coaptive film was 171.13 seconds compared to 437.27 seconds using suture. The mean wound lengths in the coaptive film group and suture group were 187.65 mm and 196.73 mm, respectively. One patient in each group had wound complications. CONCLUSION: Coaptive film is a time-saving procedure for skin closure following long bone fracture fixation. There is no difference in the incidence of wound complications and scar width between these two methods of skin closure.

  16. HANFORD TANK FARM RESOURCE CONSERVATION and RECOVERY ACT (RCRA) CORRECTIVE ACTION PROGRAM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    KRISTOFZSKI, J.G.

    2007-01-01

    As a consequence of producing special nuclear material for the nation's defense, large amounts of extremely hazardous radioactive waste was created at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in south central Washington State. A little over 50 million gallons of this waste is now stored in 177 large, underground tanks on Hanford's Central Plateau in tank farms regulated under the Atomic Energy Act and the Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA). Over 60 tanks and associated infrastructure have released or are presumed to have released waste in the vadose zone. In 1998, DOE's Office of River Protection established the Hanford Tank Farm RCRA Corrective Action Program (RCAP) to: (1) characterize the distribution and extent of the existing vadose zone contamination; (2) determine how the contamination will move in the future; (3) estimate the impacts of this contamination on groundwater and other media; (4) develop and implement mitigative measures; and (5) develop corrective measures to be implemented as part of the final closure of the tank farm facilities. Since its creation, RCAP has made major advances in each of these areas, which will be discussed in this paper

  17. Hospital closure: Phoenix, Hydra or Titanic?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunne, T; Davis, S

    1996-01-01

    Very little has been published about the effects of hospital closure in terms of the service, financial or management issues of the process. Attempts through a case-study format to redress the balance and as such represents the reflections of practitioners who have recently undergone the experience of hospital closure and the often neglected issues arising both during and after the process.

  18. Wind farm related mortality among avian migrants - a remote sensing study and model analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Desholm, M

    2006-11-15

    This thesis is the result of a PhD study on bird-wind farm collisions and consists of a synopsis, five published papers, one submitted manuscript and another ready for submission. The papers describe the findings from pre- and post-construction visual, radar and thermal imaging studies (1999-2006) of migrating birds at the Nysted offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, Denmark. This thesis poses and answers the following questions: a) what hazard factors do offshore wind farming pose to wild birds, b) how should one choose the key focal species to study, c) how can remote sensing techniques be applied to the study of bird wind farm interactions, and d) specifically, how do water birds react when approaching an offshore wind farm? The main aim of the study was the development of a predictive bird-wind farm collision model that incorporates the avoidance rate of birds at multiple scales. Out of 235,136 migrating sea ducks only 47 individuals were predicted to collide with the wind turbine rotor-blades, equivalent to an overall mean collision risk of c. 0.02%. This thesis shows the added value of modelling in supplementing sound empirical studies in accessing the effects of major human development pressures on migratory bird populations. (au)

  19. Values in Organic Farming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgård, Bente; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Land, Birgit

    The study focuses on the recent debate about what is, or what constitutes, organic farming and what is the right path for organic farming in the future. The study is based on a critical discourse analysis of the controversy about suspending the private standard for organic farming adopted by the ...

  20. CIRSE Vascular Closure Device Registry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reekers, Jim A.; Müller-Hülsbeck, Stefan; Libicher, Martin; Atar, Eli; Trentmann, Jens; Goffette, Pierre; Borggrefe, Jan; Zeleňák, Kamil; Hooijboer, Pieter; Belli, Anna-Maria

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: Vascular closure devices are routinely used after many vascular interventional radiology procedures. However, there have been no major multicenter studies to assess the safety and effectiveness of the routine use of closure devices in interventional radiology. Methods: The CIRSE registry of closure devices with an anchor and a plug started in January 2009 and ended in August 2009. A total of 1,107 patients were included in the registry. Results: Deployment success was 97.2%. Deployment failure specified to access type was 8.8% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 5.0–14.5] for antegrade access and 1.8% (95% CI 1.1–2.9) for retrograde access (P = 0.001). There was no difference in deployment failure related to local PVD at the access site. Calcification was a reason for deployment failure in only 5.9 cm, and two vessel occlusions. Conclusion: The conclusion of this registry of closure devices with an anchor and a plug is that the use of this device in interventional radiology procedures is safe, with a low incidence of serious access site complications. There seems to be no difference in complications between antegrade and retrograde access and other parameters.

  1. Influence of Closure & Non-Closure of the Visceral and Parietal Peritoneum on Post Cesarean Morbidity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tabasi Z.

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available AbstractBackground and Objectives: One of the most important issues in promoting mother and child health is reducing the morbidity rate after cesarean section. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of closure and non-closure of the visceral and parietal peritoneum on post cesarean morbidity in women attending Shabihkhani Maternity Hospital in Kashan, Iran.Methods: This study was conducted with a single blind randomized clinical trial method on 100 parturient women that underwent emergency or elective cesarean section. Patients with previous cesarean section and or abdominal surgery, diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and premature rupture of membrane and pre operative bleeding, were excluded from this study. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups: in one group both peritoneal layers were closed while in the other group, they were not closed. Post operative morbidity including fever, bleeding, post operative pain, analgesic consumption and time of operation were assessed. Data were analyzed with t-tests, and χ2 and a P<0.05 were considered significant.Results: In this study, there were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, gestational age, the reason for caesarean section and gravidity, nor were there any differences with respect to the incidence of fever or bleeding and was similar between the two groups, but there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding to feeling of severe pain (P=0.0003, analgesic consumption (P=0.0003 and time of operation (P=0.004. In the non-closure group, dose of analgesic drugs, pain severity and time of operation were less than those of the other group.Conclusion: The Findings showed that non-closure of peritoneal layers as a shorter and simpler procedure has no influence on increasing post cesarean morbidity. Therefore, due to maternal health promotion and early neonatal breastfeeding, non closure of peritoneal

  2. Anterior Segment Imaging Predicts Incident Gonioscopic Angle Closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baskaran, Mani; Iyer, Jayant V; Narayanaswamy, Arun K; He, Yingke; Sakata, Lisandro M; Wu, Renyi; Liu, Dianna; Nongpiur, Monisha E; Friedman, David S; Aung, Tin

    2015-12-01

    To investigate the incidence of gonioscopic angle closure after 4 years in subjects with gonioscopically open angles but varying degrees of angle closure detected on anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS OCT; Visante; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) at baseline. Prospective, observational study. Three hundred forty-two subjects, mostly Chinese, 50 years of age or older, were recruited, of whom 65 were controls with open angles on gonioscopy and AS OCT at baseline, and 277 were cases with baseline open angles on gonioscopy but closed angles (1-4 quadrants) on AS OCT scans. All subjects underwent gonioscopy and AS OCT at baseline (horizontal and vertical single scans) and after 4 years. The examiner performing gonioscopy was masked to the baseline and AS OCT data. Angle closure in a quadrant was defined as nonvisibility of the posterior trabecular meshwork by gonioscopy and visible iridotrabecular contact beyond the scleral spur in AS OCT scans. Gonioscopic angle closure in 2 or 3 quadrants after 4 years. There were no statistically significant differences in age, ethnicity, or gender between cases and controls. None of the control subjects demonstrated gonioscopic angle closure after 4 years. Forty-eight of the 277 subjects (17.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 12.8-23; P < 0.0001) with at least 1 quadrant of angle closure on AS OCT at baseline demonstrated gonioscopic angle closure in 2 or more quadrants, whereas 28 subjects (10.1%; 95% CI, 6.7-14.6; P < 0.004) demonstrated gonioscopic angle closure in 3 or more quadrants after 4 years. Individuals with more quadrants of angle closure on baseline AS OCT scans had a greater likelihood of gonioscopic angle closure developing after 4 years (P < 0.0001, chi-square test for trend for both definitions of angle closure). Anterior segment OCT imaging at baseline predicts incident gonioscopic angle closure after 4 years among subjects who have gonioscopically open angles and iridotrabecular contact on AS OCT at

  3. F-Tank Farm Performance Assessment Updates through the Special Analysis Process at Savannah River Site - 12169

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Layton, Mark H. [Savannah River Remediation, LLC (United States)

    2012-07-01

    The F-Area Tank Farm (FTF) is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by Savannah River Remediation, LLC (SRR), Liquid Waste Operations contractor at DOE's Savannah River Site (SRS). The FTF is in the north-central portion of the SRS and occupies approximately 22 acres within F-Area. The FTF is an active radioactive waste storage facility consisting of 22 carbon steel waste tanks and ancillary equipment such as transfer lines, evaporators and pump tanks. An FTF Performance Assessment (PA) was prepared to support the eventual closure of the FTF underground radioactive waste tanks and ancillary equipment. The PA provides the technical basis and results to be used in subsequent documents to demonstrate compliance with the pertinent requirements identified below for final closure of FTF. The FTank Farm is subject to a state industrial waste water permit and Federal Facility Agreement. Closure documentation will include an F-Tank Farm Closure Plan and tank-specific closure modules utilizing information from the performance assessment. For this reason, the State of South Carolina and the Environmental Protection Agency must be involved in the performance assessment review process. The residual material remaining after tank cleaning is also subject to reclassification prior to closure via a waste determination pursuant to Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2005. The projected waste tank inventories in the FTF PA provide reasonably bounding FTF inventory projections while taking into account uncertainties in the effectiveness of future tank cleaning technologies. As waste is removed from the FTF waste tanks, the residual contaminants will be sampled and the remaining residual inventory is characterized. In this manner, tank specific data for the tank inventories at closure will be available to supplement the waste tank inventory projections currently used in the FTF PA. For FTF, the new tank specific data

  4. Farm Management: rethinking directions?

    OpenAIRE

    Kemp, David R.; Girdwood, John; Parton, Kevin A.; Charry, Al A.

    2004-01-01

    Farms and farming are major contributors to the world economy, directly responsible for a large part of GDP. These achievements are not trivial and imply that farms are being managed in reasonably effective ways, else agricultural industries would not be sustained. However has the study of Farm Management within Australia made significant contributions to agriculture or lagged in the background. Is it contributing to better Farm Management or merely cataloguing what has happened? Is it leadin...

  5. Wind-farm simulation over moderately complex terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segalini, Antonio; Castellani, Francesco

    2017-05-01

    A comparison between three independent software to estimate the power production and the flow field in a wind farm is conducted, validating them against SCADA (Supervisory, Control And Data Acquisition) data. The three software were ORFEUS, WindSim and WAsP: ORFEUS and WAsP are linearised solvers, while WindSim is fully nonlinear. A wake model (namely a prescribed velocity deficit associated to the turbines) is used by WAsP, while ORFEUS and WindSim use the actuator-disc method to account for the turbines presence. The comparison indicates that ORFEUS and WAsP perform slightly better than WindSim in the assessment of the polar efficiency. The wakes simulated with ORFEUS appear more persistent than the ones of WindSim, which uses a two-equation closure model for the turbulence effects.

  6. Sternal exploration or closure

    Science.gov (United States)

    VAC - vacuum-assisted closure - sternal wound; Sternal dehiscence; Sternal infection ... in the wound to look for signs of infection Remove dead or infected ... use a VAC (vacuum-assisted closure) dressing. It is a negative ...

  7. Impact of Vial Capping on Residual Seal Force and Container Closure Integrity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathaes, Roman; Mahler, Hanns-Christian; Roggo, Yves; Ovadia, Robert; Lam, Philippe; Stauch, Oliver; Vogt, Martin; Roehl, Holger; Huwyler, Joerg; Mohl, Silke; Streubel, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    The vial capping process is a critical unit operation during drug product manufacturing, as it could possibly generate cosmetic defects or even affect container closure integrity. Yet there is significant variability in capping equipment and processes, and their relation to potential defects or container closure integrity has not been thoroughly studied. In this study we applied several methods-residual seal force tester, a self-developed system of a piezo force sensor measurement, and computed tomography-to characterize different container closure system combinations that had been sealed using different capping process parameter settings. Additionally, container closure integrity of these samples was measured using helium leakage (physical container closure integrity) and compared to characterization data. The different capping equipment settings lead to residual seal force values from 7 to 115 N. High residual seal force values were achieved with high capping pre-compression force and a short distance between the capping plate and plunge. The choice of container closure system influenced the obtained residual seal force values. The residual seal force tester and piezoelectric measurements showed similar trends. All vials passed physical container closure integrity testing, and no stopper rupture was seen with any of the settings applied, suggesting that container closure integrity was warranted for the studied container closure system with the chosen capping setting ranges. The vial capping process is a critical unit operation during drug product manufacturing, as it could possibly generate cosmetic defects or even affect container closure integrity. Yet there is significant variability in capping equipment and processes, and their relation to potential defects or container closure integrity has not been thoroughly studied. In this study we applied several methods-residual seal force tester, a self-developed system of a piezo force sensor measurement, and

  8. Experimental study of the impact of large-scale wind farms on land–atmosphere exchanges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Wei; Markfort, Corey D; Porté-Agel, Fernando

    2013-01-01

    Large-scale wind farms, covering a significant portion of the land and ocean surface, may affect the transport of momentum, heat, mass and moisture between the atmosphere and the land locally and globally. To understand the wind-farm–atmosphere interaction, we conducted wind-tunnel experiments to study the surface scalar (heat) flux using model wind farms, consisting of more than ten rows of wind turbines—having typical streamwise and spanwise spacings of five and four rotor diameters—in a neutral boundary layer with a heated surface. The spatial distribution of the surface heat flux was mapped with an array of surface heat flux sensors within the quasi-developed regime of the wind-farm flow. Although the overall surface heat flux change produced by the wind farms was found to be small, with a net reduction of 4% for a staggered wind farm and nearly zero change for an aligned wind farm, the highly heterogeneous spatial distribution of the surface heat flux, dependent on the wind-farm layout, was significant. The difference between the minimum and maximum surface heat fluxes could be up to 12% and 7% in aligned and staggered wind farms, respectively. This finding is important for planning intensive agriculture practice and optimizing farm land use strategy regarding wind energy project development. The well-controlled wind-tunnel experiments presented in this study also provide a first comprehensive dataset on turbulent flow and scalar transport in wind farms, which can be further used to develop and validate new parameterizations of surface scalar fluxes in numerical models. (letter)

  9. LLNL/YMP Waste Container Fabrication and Closure Project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-10-01

    The Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) Program is studying Yucca Mountain, Nevada as a suitable site for the first US high-level nuclear waste repository. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the responsibility for designing and developing the waste package for the permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste. This report is a summary of the technical activities for the LLNL/YMP Nuclear Waste Disposal Container Fabrication and Closure Development Project. Candidate welding closure processes were identified in the Phase 1 report. This report discusses Phase 2. Phase 2 of this effort involved laboratory studies to determine the optimum fabrication and closure processes. Because of budget limitations, LLNL narrowed the materials for evaluation in Phase 2 from the original six to four: Alloy 825, CDA 715, CDA 102 (or CDA 122) and CDA 952. Phase 2 studies focused on evaluation of candidate material in conjunction with fabrication and closure processes

  10. Not so ‘invisible’: A Qualitative Case Study Exploring Gender Relations and Farm Management Software

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dale Carolyn Mackrell

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This qualitative case study explored farm management practices by women cotton growers who used computer-based information systems, most particularly the agricultural farm management software, CottonLOGIC, within the Australian cotton industry. This study found that, although gender differences and inequalities persist in rural parts of the region, the agency of women cotton growers ensures not only a sustainable future for themselves and their families, but also for the broader cotton industry as a whole. The use of farm management software by women cotton farmers was informed by Connell’s theoretical framework of gender relations (2002. The findings suggested that, women’s active participation in family farm partnerships and their acquisition of technological skills through the use of farm management software like CottonLOGIC, meant that all cotton growers benefit through the feminizing of specific farm management practices in family farm enterprises. This, therefore, has significant implications for developing the cotton industry into a truly sustainable entity.

  11. Left ventricular remodeling and change of systolic function after closure of patent ductus arteriosus in adults: device and surgical closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Young-Hoon; Yun, Tae-Jin; Song, Jong-Min; Park, Jung-Jun; Seo, Dong-Man; Koh, Jae-Kon; Lee, Se-Whan; Kim, Mi-Jeong; Kang, Duk-Hyun; Song, Jae-Kwan

    2007-09-01

    Left ventricular (LV) remodeling and predictors of LV systolic function late after closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in adults remain to be clearly demonstrated. In 45 patients with PDA, including 28 patients who received successful occlusion using the Amplatzer device (AD group) (AGA, Golden Valley, MN) and 17 patients who received surgical closure (OP group), echocardiography studies were performed before closure and 1 day (AD group) or within 7 days (OP group) after closure, and then were repeated at > or = 6 months (17 +/- 13 months). In both groups, LV ejection fraction (EF) and end-diastolic volume index were significantly decreased immediately after closure, whereas end-systolic volume index did not change. During the long-term follow-up period, end-systolic as well as end-diastolic volume indices decreased significantly in both groups and LV EF recovered compared to the immediate postclosure state. However, LV EF remained low compared to the preclosure state. Five patients (11.1%) including 3 patients in the AD group and 2 patients in the OP group showed persistent late LV systolic dysfunction (EF or = 62% had a sensitivity of 72% and a specificity of 83% for predicting late normal LV EF after closure. Left ventricular EF remains low late after PDA closure compared with preclosure state in adults. Preclosure LV EF is the best index to predict late postclosure LV EF.

  12. Scalp Wound Closure with K wires: An alternative easier method to scalp wound closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramesh, S; Ajik, S

    2012-12-01

    Scalp defects and lacerations present a reconstructive challenge to plastic surgeons. Many methods have been described from the use of skin grafting to rotation flaps. Here we present a method of closure of a contaminated scalp wound with the use of Kirschner wires. In our case, closure of scalp laceration was made possible with the use of 1.4 Kirschner wires and cable tie/ zip tie fasteners. The duration to closure of wound was 10 days. In reconstructing the scalp defect, this method was found to adhere to principles of scalp reconstruction. There were no post operative complications found from the procedure. On initial application on the edge of the wound, tension applied caused the K wires to cut through the wound edge. On replacement of K wires 1cm away from wound edge the procedure was not plagued by any further complication. In conclusion we find scalp closure with Kirschner wires are a simple and effective method for scalp wound closure.

  13. Revisit to Grad's Closure and Development of Physically Motivated Closure for Phenomenological High-Order Moment Model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Myong, R. S.; Nagdewe, S. P.

    2011-01-01

    The Grad's closure for the high-order moment equation is revisited and, by extending his theory, a physically motivated closure is developed for the one-dimensional velocity shear gas flow. The closure is based on the physical argument of the relative importance of various terms appearing in the moment equation. Also, the closure is derived such that the resulting theory may be inclusive of the well established linear theory (Navier-Stokes-Fourier) as limiting case near local thermal equilibrium.

  14. A comparison of two endoscopic closures: over-the-scope clip (OTSC) versus KING closure (endoloop plus clips) in a randomized long-term experimental study

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Doležel, R.; Ryska, O.; Kollár, M.; Juhásová, Jana; Kalvach, J.; Ryska, M.; Martínek, J.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 30, č. 11 (2016), s. 4910-4916 ISSN 0930-2794 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NT13634; GA MŠk ED2.1.00/03.0124 Institutional support: RVO:67985904 Keywords : NOTES * endoscopic closure * KING closure * over-the-scope clip Subject RIV: FJ - Surgery incl. Transplants Impact factor: 3.747, year: 2016

  15. The effectiveness of eye-closure in repeated interviews

    OpenAIRE

    Vredeveldt, A.; Baddeley, A.D.; Hitch, G.J.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose Closing the eyes during recall can help witnesses remember more about a witnessed event. This study examined the effectiveness of eye-closure in a repeated recall paradigm with immediate free recall followed 1 week later by both free and cued recall. We examined whether eye-closure was more or less effective during the second free-recall attempt compared with the first, whether eye-closure during the first recall attempt had an impact on subsequent free- and cued-recall performance, a...

  16. Mental health rehabilitation in a care farm context: A descriptive review of Norwegian intervention studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Ingeborg; Patil, Grete; Berget, Bente; Ihlebæk, Camilla; Gonzalez, Marianne Thorsen

    2015-01-01

    C are farming is a service developed at farms for promoting mental and physical health and is increasingly used in mental health rehabilitation in Norway. This article aims to present a descriptive review of Norwegian intervention research on care farms that provide rehabilitation for people with mental health disorders. This literature review applied a non-systematic search strategy: all articles in the field known to the authors were selected for inclusion. The selected studies were intervention studies that were conducted on farms in Norway, that used adult participants with mental health problems/disorders, and that reported outcome measures related to mental health. The studies and articles presented quantitative and/or qualitative data. The findings from the published articles report improvements to mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, perceived stress, positive affect, rumination, and self-efficacy. Qualitative data describe a variety of positive experiences, such as improved coping ability, increased social support, and appreciation of the care farm activity. Participating in interventions on care farms positively influences mental health. Care farming may therefore be used as a supplementary approach in mental health rehabilitation, as it offers meaningful and engaging occupations and social inclusion.

  17. FARM LABOR OPINIONS OF FARMERS PARTICIPATING IN FARM LABOR STUDY GROUPS IN NINE COUNTIES IN NEW YORK STATE. SPECIAL REPORT, NUMBER 14.

    Science.gov (United States)

    ALEXANDER, FRANK D.

    IN AN ATTEMPT TO LEARN WHETHER THE HUMAN RELATIONS EMPHASIS IN A SERIES OF STUDY GROUPS INFLUENCED THE OPINIONS OF FARM OPERATOR PARTICIPANTS CONCERNING FARM LABOR, 61 OPERATORS WERE PRETESTED AND POSTTESTED WITH A 37 ITEM TEST ON WORK INCENTIVES AND MOTIVATION, PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES, SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFITS, AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND…

  18. Organic farming benefits local plant diversity in vineyard farms located in intensive agricultural landscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nascimbene, Juri; Marini, Lorenzo; Paoletti, Maurizio G

    2012-05-01

    The majority of research on organic farming has considered arable and grassland farming systems in Central and Northern Europe, whilst only a few studies have been carried out in Mediterranean agro-systems, such as vineyards, despite their economic importance. The main aim of the study was to test whether organic farming enhances local plant species richness in both crop and non-crop areas of vineyard farms located in intensive conventional landscapes. Nine conventional and nine organic farms were selected in an intensively cultivated region (i.e. no gradient in landscape composition) in northern Italy. In each farm, vascular plants were sampled in one vineyard and in two non-crop linear habitats, grass strips and hedgerows, adjacent to vineyards and therefore potentially influenced by farming. We used linear mixed models to test the effect of farming, and species longevity (annual vs. perennial) separately for the three habitat types. In our intensive agricultural landscapes organic farming promoted local plant species richness in vineyard fields, and grassland strips while we found no effect for linear hedgerows. Differences in species richness were not associated to differences in species composition, indicating that similar plant communities were hosted in vineyard farms independently of the management type. This negative effect of conventional farming was probably due to the use of herbicides, while mechanical operations and mowing regime did not differ between organic and conventional farms. In grassland strips, and only marginally in vineyards, we found that the positive effect of organic farming was more pronounced for perennial than annual species.

  19. CIRSE Vascular Closure Device Registry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller-Hülsbeck, Stefan; Libicher, Martin; Atar, Eli; Trentmann, Jens; Goffette, Pierre; Borggrefe, Jan; Zeleňák, Kamil; Hooijboer, Pieter; Belli, Anna-Maria

    2010-01-01

    Purpose Vascular closure devices are routinely used after many vascular interventional radiology procedures. However, there have been no major multicenter studies to assess the safety and effectiveness of the routine use of closure devices in interventional radiology. Methods The CIRSE registry of closure devices with an anchor and a plug started in January 2009 and ended in August 2009. A total of 1,107 patients were included in the registry. Results Deployment success was 97.2%. Deployment failure specified to access type was 8.8% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 5.0–14.5] for antegrade access and 1.8% (95% CI 1.1–2.9) for retrograde access (P = 0.001). There was no difference in deployment failure related to local PVD at the access site. Calcification was a reason for deployment failure in only 5.9 cm, and two vessel occlusions. Conclusion The conclusion of this registry of closure devices with an anchor and a plug is that the use of this device in interventional radiology procedures is safe, with a low incidence of serious access site complications. There seems to be no difference in complications between antegrade and retrograde access and other parameters. PMID:20981425

  20. Single-site neural tube closure in human embryos revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bakker, Bernadette S; Driessen, Stan; Boukens, Bastiaan J D; van den Hoff, Maurice J B; Oostra, Roelof-Jan

    2017-10-01

    Since the multi-site closure theory was first proposed in 1991 as explanation for the preferential localizations of neural tube defects, the closure of the neural tube has been debated. Although the multi-site closure theory is much cited in clinical literature, single-site closure is most apparent in literature concerning embryology. Inspired by Victor Hamburgers (1900-2001) statement that "our real teacher has been and still is the embryo, who is, incidentally, the only teacher who is always right", we decided to critically review both theories of neural tube closure. To verify the theories of closure, we studied serial histological sections of 10 mouse embryos between 8.5 and 9.5 days of gestation and 18 human embryos of the Carnegie collection between Carnegie stage 9 (19-21 days) and 13 (28-32 days). Neural tube closure was histologically defined by the neuroepithelial remodeling of the two adjoining neural fold tips in the midline. We did not observe multiple fusion sites in neither mouse nor human embryos. A meta-analysis of case reports on neural tube defects showed that defects can occur at any level of the neural axis. Our data indicate that the human neural tube fuses at a single site and, therefore, we propose to reinstate the single-site closure theory for neural tube closure. We showed that neural tube defects are not restricted to a specific location, thereby refuting the reasoning underlying the multi-site closure theory. Clin. Anat. 30:988-999, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Exploring the Role of Farm Animals in Providing Care at Care Farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassink, Jan; De Bruin, Simone R.; Berget, Bente; Elings, Marjolein

    2017-01-01

    Simple Summary This paper provides insight into the role of farm animals in farm-based programs and their importance to different types of participants. Farm animals provide real work, close relationships, challenging tasks and opportunities for reflection. They also contribute to a welcoming atmosphere for various types of participants. Abstract We explore the role of farm animals in providing care to different types of participants at care farms (e.g., youngsters with behavioural problems, people with severe mental problems and people with dementia). Care farms provide alternative and promising settings where people can interact with animals compared to a therapeutic healthcare setting. We performed a literature review, conducted focus group meetings and carried out secondary data-analysis of qualitative studies involving care farmers and different types of participants. We found that farm animals are important to many participants and have a large number of potential benefits. They can (i) provide meaningful day occupation; (ii) generate valued relationships; (iii) help people master tasks; (iv) provide opportunities for reciprocity; (v) can distract people from them problems; (vi) provide relaxation; (vii) facilitate customized care; (viii) facilitate relationships with other people; (ix) stimulate healthy behavior; (x) contribute to a welcoming environment; (xi) make it possible to experience basic elements of life; and (xii) provide opportunities for reflection and feedback. This shows the multi-facetted importance of interacting with animals on care farms. In this study the types of activities with animals and their value to different types of participants varied. Farm animals are an important element of the care farm environment that can address the care needs of different types of participants. PMID:28574435

  2. Nevada Test Site closure program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shenk, D.P.

    1994-08-01

    This report is a summary of the history, design and development, procurement, fabrication, installation and operation of the closures used as containment devices on underground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. It also addresses the closure program mothball and start-up procedures. The Closure Program Document Index and equipment inventories, included as appendices, serve as location directories for future document reference and equipment use

  3. A Study of Wind Farm Stabilization Using DFIG or STATCOM Considering Grid Requirements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. E Okedu

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, the grid codes require taking into account the reactive power of the wind farm in order to contribute to the networkstability, thus operating the wind farm as active compensator devices. This paper presents a comparative study of stabilizinga wind farm using (Doubly Fed Induction Generators DFIGs or using a (Static Synchronous Compensator STATCOM duringwind speed change and grid fault. Simulation results show that the wind farm could be effectively stabilized with bothsystems, but at a reduced cost with the DFIGs system because it can provide reactive power through its frequency converterswithout an external reactive power compensation unit like the STATCOM system significant.

  4. Farm Household Survival Strategies and Diversification on Marginal Farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meert, H.; Van Huylenbroeck, G.; Vernimmen, T.; Bourgeois, M.; van Hecke, E.

    2005-01-01

    On marginal farms, and in agriculture in general, sustainability is largely guaranteed by a broad range of survival strategies, closely interlinked and embedded in the household structure of typical family farms. This paper reports results of a socio-economic study carried out among Belgian farmers, focusing specifically on the opportunities…

  5. The visual impact of Taff Ely wind farm - a case study using GIS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kidner, D.B.

    1997-01-01

    This paper describes a project being undertaken to validate the performance of a Geographical Information System (GIS) being developed to predict, quantify and qualify the visual impact of proposed wind farm developments. In order to determine the optimal choice of terrain data model, elevation and topographic data sets, and visibility algorithms, a validation study for the Taff Ely Wind Farm has been commissioned. The issues involved in calculating and presenting visual impact are discussed, whilst a methodology for verifying the results is also described. Existing methods for presenting for visual impact of wind farms are limited and susceptible to error, whilst the interpretation of the results can often do more harm than good. The use of GIS to visualise the probable impacts is illustrated to add meaning to the results of a wind farm visibility study. (author)

  6. Influence of Closure & Non-Closure of the Visceral and Parietal Peritoneum on Post Cesarean Morbidity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z Tabasi

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available

    Background and Objectives: One of the most important issues in promoting mother and child health is reducing the morbidity rate after cesarean section. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of closure and non-closure of the visceral and parietal peritoneum on post cesarean morbidity in women attending Shabihkhani Maternity Hospital in Kashan, Iran.

    Methods: This study was conducted with a single blind randomized clinical trial method on 100 parturient women that underwent emergency or elective cesarean section. Patients with previous cesarean section and or abdominal surgery, diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and premature rupture of membrane and pre operative bleeding, were excluded from this study. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups: in one group both peritoneal layers were closed while in the other group, they were not closed. Post operative morbidity including fever, bleeding, post operative pain, analgesic consumption and time of operation were assessed. Data were analyzed with t-tests, and χ2 and a P<0.05 were considered significant.

    Results: In this study, there were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, gestational age, the reason for caesarean section and gravidity, nor were there any differences with respect to the incidence of fever or bleeding and was similar between the two groups, but there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding to feeling of severe pain (P=0.0003, analgesic consumption (P=0.0003 and time of operation (P=0.004. In the non-closure group, dose of analgesic drugs, pain severity and time of operation were less than those of the other group.

    Conclusion: The
  7. Wave farm impact on the beach profile: A case study

    OpenAIRE

    Abanades, J; Greaves, D; Iglesias, G

    2014-01-01

    If wave energy is to become a fully-fledged renewable, its environmental impacts must be fully understood. The objective of the present work is to examine the impact of a wave farm on the beach profile through a case study. The methodology is based on two coupled numerical models: a nearshore wave propagation model and a morphodynamic model, which are run in two scenarios, both with and without the wave farm. Wave data from a nearby coastal buoy are used to prescribe the boundary conditions. ...

  8. Metrics and methods for characterizing dairy farm intensification using farm survey data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez-Mejia, Alejandra; Styles, David; Wilson, Paul; Gibbons, James

    2018-01-01

    Evaluation of agricultural intensification requires comprehensive analysis of trends in farm performance across physical and socio-economic aspects, which may diverge across farm types. Typical reporting of economic indicators at sectorial or the "average farm" level does not represent farm diversity and provides limited insight into the sustainability of specific intensification pathways. Using farm business data from a total of 7281 farm survey observations of English and Welsh dairy farms over a 14-year period we calculate a time series of 16 key performance indicators (KPIs) pertinent to farm structure, environmental and socio-economic aspects of sustainability. We then apply principle component analysis and model-based clustering analysis to identify statistically the number of distinct dairy farm typologies for each year of study, and link these clusters through time using multidimensional scaling. Between 2001 and 2014, dairy farms have largely consolidated and specialized into two distinct clusters: more extensive farms relying predominantly on grass, with lower milk yields but higher labour intensity, and more intensive farms producing more milk per cow with more concentrate and more maize, but lower labour intensity. There is some indication that these clusters are converging as the extensive cluster is intensifying slightly faster than the intensive cluster, in terms of milk yield per cow and use of concentrate feed. In 2014, annual milk yields were 6,835 and 7,500 l/cow for extensive and intensive farm types, respectively, whilst annual concentrate feed use was 1.3 and 1.5 tonnes per cow. For several KPIs such as milk yield the mean trend across all farms differed substantially from the extensive and intensive typologies mean. The indicators and analysis methodology developed allows identification of distinct farm types and industry trends using readily available survey data. The identified groups allow the accurate evaluation of the consequences of the

  9. Metrics and methods for characterizing dairy farm intensification using farm survey data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandra Gonzalez-Mejia

    Full Text Available Evaluation of agricultural intensification requires comprehensive analysis of trends in farm performance across physical and socio-economic aspects, which may diverge across farm types. Typical reporting of economic indicators at sectorial or the "average farm" level does not represent farm diversity and provides limited insight into the sustainability of specific intensification pathways. Using farm business data from a total of 7281 farm survey observations of English and Welsh dairy farms over a 14-year period we calculate a time series of 16 key performance indicators (KPIs pertinent to farm structure, environmental and socio-economic aspects of sustainability. We then apply principle component analysis and model-based clustering analysis to identify statistically the number of distinct dairy farm typologies for each year of study, and link these clusters through time using multidimensional scaling. Between 2001 and 2014, dairy farms have largely consolidated and specialized into two distinct clusters: more extensive farms relying predominantly on grass, with lower milk yields but higher labour intensity, and more intensive farms producing more milk per cow with more concentrate and more maize, but lower labour intensity. There is some indication that these clusters are converging as the extensive cluster is intensifying slightly faster than the intensive cluster, in terms of milk yield per cow and use of concentrate feed. In 2014, annual milk yields were 6,835 and 7,500 l/cow for extensive and intensive farm types, respectively, whilst annual concentrate feed use was 1.3 and 1.5 tonnes per cow. For several KPIs such as milk yield the mean trend across all farms differed substantially from the extensive and intensive typologies mean. The indicators and analysis methodology developed allows identification of distinct farm types and industry trends using readily available survey data. The identified groups allow the accurate evaluation of the

  10. Study of the closure of the nuclear shells N = 16, 20, 28 and 40

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorlin, O.

    2005-12-01

    There are 2 types of nuclear shell closures: one is associated to a number of the harmonic oscillator, typically N = 20 and 40, and the other is a consequence of the spin-orbital interaction that produces magic numbers such as N = 28, 50, 82 and N = 126. The first part of this work deals with the knowledge accumulated around the closure of the N = 28 shell. 3 means of investigation have been used: -) the study of beta decay nuclei (K 47 , Ar 46 , S 44 , Si 42 and Cl 45 ), -) the on-line spectroscopy of nuclei around N = 28, and -) the study of Ar 45 and Ar 47 through transfer reactions. The second part is dedicated to results concerning the nuclear structure of nuclei around N = 14-20 and around N = 40. (A.C.)

  11. Economic analysis and policy implications of farm and off-farm employment : a case study in the Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Woldehanna, T.

    2000-01-01

    The central item of this research is the impact of off-farm employment and income on farm households and agricultural production. The interaction between farm and non-farm activities, the adjustment of labor demand and supply, the performance of the labor market, and wage determination are

  12. Closure and Sealing Design Calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    T. Lahnalampi; J. Case

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of the ''Closure and Sealing Design Calculation'' is to illustrate closure and sealing methods for sealing shafts, ramps, and identify boreholes that require sealing in order to limit the potential of water infiltration. In addition, this calculation will provide a description of the magma that can reduce the consequences of an igneous event intersecting the repository. This calculation will also include a listing of the project requirements related to closure and sealing. The scope of this calculation is to: summarize applicable project requirements and codes relating to backfilling nonemplacement openings, removal of uncommitted materials from the subsurface, installation of drip shields, and erecting monuments; compile an inventory of boreholes that are found in the area of the subsurface repository; describe the magma bulkhead feature and location; and include figures for the proposed shaft and ramp seals. The objective of this calculation is to: categorize the boreholes for sealing by depth and proximity to the subsurface repository; develop drawing figures which show the location and geometry for the magma bulkhead; include the shaft seal figures and a proposed construction sequence; and include the ramp seal figure and a proposed construction sequence. The intent of this closure and sealing calculation is to support the License Application by providing a description of the closure and sealing methods for the Safety Analysis Report. The closure and sealing calculation will also provide input for Post Closure Activities by describing the location of the magma bulkhead. This calculation is limited to describing the final configuration of the sealing and backfill systems for the underground area. The methods and procedures used to place the backfill and remove uncommitted materials (such as concrete) from the repository and detailed design of the magma bulkhead will be the subject of separate analyses or calculations. Post-closure monitoring will not

  13. Scope and closures

    CERN Document Server

    Simpson, Kyle

    2014-01-01

    No matter how much experience you have with JavaScript, odds are you don’t fully understand the language. This concise yet in-depth guide takes you inside scope and closures, two core concepts you need to know to become a more efficient and effective JavaScript programmer. You’ll learn how and why they work, and how an understanding of closures can be a powerful part of your development skillset.

  14. Cystic Duct Closure by Sealing With Bipolar Electrocoagulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damgaard, B.; Jorgensen, L. N.; Larsen, S. S.; Kristiansen, V. B.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Cystic duct leakage after cholecystectomy is not uncommon and is a potentially serious complication. The aim of this study was to assess a bipolar sealing system (LigaSure®) for closure of the cystic duct. Methods: The records from consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed in 2 hospitals with closure of the cystic duct with LigaSure after informed consent were recorded and complications and morbidity registered. The records were compared with those of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy with closure of the cystic duct with clips during the same period. Results: During the study period, 218 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed; 102 of these were performed with the LigaSure. One patient was excluded due to violation of the protocol. We experienced no cases of cystic duct leakage, but in one patient, bile leakage from the gallbladder bed was observed probably due to a small aberrant duct. Conclusion: The LigaSure system was safe and effective for closure and division of the cystic duct in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. PMID:20412641

  15. Evaluation of Container Closure System Integrity for Frozen Storage Drug Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieto, Alejandra; Roehl, Holger; Brown, Helen; Nikoloff, Jonas; Adler, Michael; Mahler, Hanns-Christian

    2016-01-01

    Sometimes, drug product for parenteral administration is stored in a frozen state (e.g., -20 °C or -80 °C), particularly during early stages of development of some biotech molecules in order to provide sufficient stability. Shipment of frozen product could potentially be performed in the frozen state, yet possibly at different temperatures, for example, using dry ice (-80 °C). Container closure systems of drug products usually consist of a glass vial, rubber stopper, and an aluminum crimped cap. In the frozen state, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of commonly used rubber stoppers is between -55 and -65 °C. Below their Tg, rubber stoppers are known to lose their elastic properties and become brittle, and thus potentially fail to maintain container closure integrity in the frozen state. Leaks during frozen temperature storage and transportation are likely to be transient, yet, can possibly risk container closure integrity and lead to microbial contamination. After thawing, the rubber stopper is supposed to re-seal the container closure system. Given the transient nature of the possible impact on container closure integrity in the frozen state, typical container closure integrity testing methods (used at room temperature conditions) are unable to evaluate and thus confirm container closure integrity in the frozen state. Here we present the development of a novel method (thermal physical container closure integrity) for direct assessment of container closure integrity by a physical method (physical container closure integrity) at frozen conditions, using a modified He leakage test. In this study, different container closure systems were evaluated with regard to physical container closure integrity in the frozen state to assess the suitability of vial/stopper combinations and were compared to a gas headspace method. In summary, the thermal physical container closure integrity He leakage method was more sensitive in detecting physical container closure

  16. Studying the Efficiency of Industrial Dairy Farms of Saqqez and Divandarreh Cities: Using Super-Efficiency Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.J. Mohammadi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: In the developed world, particularly in developing countries, livestock is the most important agricultural sub-sector.Livestock of primary and secondary industries has an especial place in the national economybecause of their greatvalue of products, creating job opportunities, providing health products for consumers, increasing export income of the economy throughaccessing global markets of livestock products and finally their undeniable role in acquiring food security.The demand for milk in Iran increased due to an increase in population and the amount of milk production was also increased. The great share of increased produced milk goes to the industrial dairy farms. One of the major methods to increase the amount of milk production continually is to make its production efficient and improve economic conditions. The current study attempts to determine the efficiency and ranking of industrial dairy farms in Saqqez and Divandarreh cities using super-efficiency model. Materials and Methods: The statistical populations of the study are all active industrial dairy farms of Saqqez and Divandarreh cities which are about 19 farms. The required data for calculating the efficiency were gathered by surveying and completing questionnaires for the year 2013. In this study first, for each farm Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA method and GAMS software package were used to estimate super efficiency. Super efficiency is a form of modified DEA model in which each farm can get an efficiency greater than one. Then in order to make sure about being unbiased the obtained super-efficiency scores, the modified model of Banker and Gifford, was re-estimated and the conventional efficiency scores of farms were compared by normalizing and removing some of the scores of outlier farm based on pre-selected screens. The model has suggested conditions for which some of the estimates for dairy farms might have been contaminated with error.As a t result, it has been

  17. Orthodontic space closure in combination with membrane supported healing of extraction sockets (MHE) a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiefengraber, Julia; Diedrich, Peter; Fritz, Ulrike; Lantos, Peter

    2002-09-01

    In periodontology and implantology the guided bone regeneration (GBR) technique represents a well established and successful method for augmentation of alveolar bone. The aim of the present study was to evaluate what advantages, if any, are offered for orthodontic space closure by membrane supported healing of extraction sockets (MHE) (criteria: rate of movement, incidence of gingival clefts, atrophy of the alveolar bone). Within the scope of orthodontic therapy with a complete fixed appliance, three girls aged 11-14 years with indication for extraction of the first premolars were unilaterally augmented with an e-PTFE membrane (Gore-Tex((R)), W. L. Gore & Associates, Flagstaff, AZ, USA) immediately after premolar extraction. The study was performed in the split-mouth technique. An atraumatic extraction without digital compression was performed on the control side. The membranes were fixed with a Frios((R)) fixation set (Friadent, GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) and removed after 6 to 8 weeks. 1 week after membrane removal, space closure was started simultaneously with passive rectangular segmented archwires using Sentalloy((R)) closed coil springs (GAC International, Inc., Gräfelfing, Germany) at a constant force of 200 cN. The transversal and vertical dimensions of the alveolar bone the rate of space closure were determined clinically and radiographically. Complications were not observed in any patient. The MHE-treated alveolar region showed pronounced stability of the transversal dimension. Space closure was performed in all cases without gingival clefts being induced. The control side showed distinct atrophy as well as gingival clefts. No differences were recorded in the rate of space closure. The MHE technique seems to be a suitable means of creating favorable periodontal conditions for tooth movement, especially in cases of alveolar bone loss after extraction or trauma.

  18. The effectiveness of eye-closure in repeated interviews

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vredeveldt, A.; Baddeley, A.D.; Hitch, G.J.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose Closing the eyes during recall can help witnesses remember more about a witnessed event. This study examined the effectiveness of eye-closure in a repeated recall paradigm with immediate free recall followed 1 week later by both free and cued recall. We examined whether eye-closure was more

  19. Prospective Randomized Study of the Effect of Music on the Efficiency of Surgical Closures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lies, Shelby R; Zhang, Andrew Y

    2015-09-01

    Music is commonly played in operating theaters. Some surgeons believe music reduces stress and operative time, while others think music is a distraction and should be avoided. There is limited published evidence evaluating the effects of music on surgical performance. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of music on simple wound closure. Plastic surgery residents were asked to perform layered closures on pigs' feet with and without their preferred music playing. Simple randomization was used to assign residents to the music playing first or music playing second group. The time to complete the repair was measured and repairs were graded by blinded faculty. Results were analyzed to determine significant differences in time to complete the task and quality of repair. Participants were retested in a second session with music played in the opposite order to evaluate consistency. Listening to preferred music decreased repair time by 8% for all plastic surgery residents (p = 0.009). Subgroup analysis demonstrated even more significant improvement in speed for senior residents (PGY 4-6), resulting in a 10% decrease in repair time (p = 0.006). The quality of repair was also better in the music group, at 3.3 versus 3.1 (p = 0.047). Retesting revealed results remained significant whether music was played first or second. Playing preferred music made plastic surgery residents faster in completing wound closure with a 10% improvement in senior residents. Music also improved quality of repair as judged by blinded faculty. Our study showed that music improves efficiency of wound closure, which may translate to healthcare cost savings. © 2015 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Analyzing the Determinants of Non-farm Income Diversification of Farm Households in Peshawar District of Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kanwal Nazish

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The agricultural sector in Pakistan is not well-established to provide full employment opportunities and sufficient income for needed living standard to the rural population. Stagnant agricultural productivity and low returns in farming have led rural residents to look for alternative livelihoods, especially non-farm employment. With this background, the present study is an endeavor to empirically determine the factors of non-farm income diversification of rural farm households in Peshawar district of Pakistan. The study was undertaken in four villages and data was amassed from 196 small farming households by using the multi-stage sampling technique. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistical measures, the mean of income shares approach and the ordinary least squares regression analysis. The results indicate that in all the selected villages, the pattern of non-farm employment was more or less the same; however, the income from non-farm employment activities had an important contribution towards incrementing the absolute income of farm households. Non-farm income diversification is hence crucial for sustaining livelihoods and an integral dimension for invigorating rural economies. Therefore, the study recommends the promotion of non-farm employment as a good strategy for supplementing the income of small farmers without shifting attention from agriculture.

  1. Alley Farming in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teerapol Silakul

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Poverty alleviation and environmental preservation are very important issues to many governments. Alley farming is beneficial to the environment because it conserves soil and sustains yields over time. Specifically, alley farming reduces soil erosion, which is a major problem in Thailand. Alley farming was conducted on a farmer’s field at Khaokwan Thong, a village in Uthaithani Province, Northern Thailand. We did a two-by-two factorial with and without alley farming, and with and without fertilizer. From this study, we observed that the two species used, Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia auriculiformis, grow well in Thailand, and that alley farming is suitable for Thailand. Few Thai farmers have heard about alley farming. However, it is nevertheless useful to know that there is potential for alley farming in Thailand using the two species. These plants, based upon the diameter and height measurements provided, grew well.

  2. Guinea pig ductus arteriosus. II - Irreversible closure after birth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fay, F. S.; Cooke, P. H.

    1972-01-01

    To investigate the mechanism underlying irreversibility of ductal closure after birth, studies were undertaken to determine the exact time course for the onset of irreversible closure of the guinea pig ductus arteriosus. Parallel studies of the reactivity of ductal smooth muscle to oxygen and studies of the postpartum cellular changes within the vessel were also carried out.

  3. Farm residence and lymphohematopoietic cancers in the Iowa Women’s Health Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Rena R.; Yu, Chu-Ling; Nuckols, John R.; Cerhan, James R.; Airola, Matthew; Ross, Julie A.; Robien, Kim; Ward, Mary H.

    2014-01-01

    Background Cancer incidence in male farmers has been studied extensively; however, less is known about risk among women residing on farms or in agricultural areas, who may be exposed to pesticides by their proximity to crop fields. We extended a previous follow-up of the Iowa Women’s Health Study cohort to examine farm residence and the incidence of lymphohematopoietic cancers. Further, we investigated crop acreage within 750 m of residences, which has been associated with higher herbicide levels in Iowa homes. Methods We analyzed data for a cohort of 37,099 Iowa women aged 55–69 years who reported their residence location (farm, rural (not a farm), town size based on population) at enrollment in 1986. We identified incident lymphohematopoietic cancers (1986–2009) by linkage with the Iowa Cancer Registry. Using a geographic information system, we geocoded addresses and calculated acreage of pasture and row crops within 750 m of homes using the 1992 National Land Cover Database. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in multivariate analyses of cancer risk in relation to both residence location and crop acreage. Results As found in an earlier analysis of residence location, risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was higher among women living on farms (HR= 2.23, 95%CI: 1.25–3.99) or rural areas (but not on a farm) (HR= 1.95, 95%CI: 0.89–4.29) compared with women living in towns of > 10,000 population. We observed no association between farm or rural residence and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL; overall or for major subtypes) or multiple myeloma. In analyses of crop acreage, we observed no association between pasture or row crop acreage within 750 m of homes and risk of leukemia overall or for the AML subtype. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) risk was nonsignificantly elevated among women with pasture acreage within 750 m of their home (HRs for increasing tertiles= 1.8, 1.8 and 1

  4. Closure properties of Watson-Crick grammars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zulkufli, Nurul Liyana binti Mohamad; Turaev, Sherzod; Tamrin, Mohd Izzuddin Mohd; Azeddine, Messikh

    2015-12-01

    In this paper, we define Watson-Crick context-free grammars, as an extension of Watson-Crick regular grammars and Watson-Crick linear grammars with context-free grammar rules. We show the relation of Watson-Crick (regular and linear) grammars to the sticker systems, and study some of the important closure properties of the Watson-Crick grammars. We establish that the Watson-Crick regular grammars are closed under almost all of the main closure operations, while the differences between other Watson-Crick grammars with their corresponding Chomsky grammars depend on the computational power of the Watson-Crick grammars which still need to be studied.

  5. Subcostal closure technique for prevention of postthoracotomy pain syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Kipyo; Bae, Mikyung; Han, Sora

    2016-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of our subcostal closure technique in prevention of postthoracotomy pain syndrome. From July 2012 to March 2015, 29 patients in whom a lobectomy was indicated underwent a thoracotomy. The thoracotomy wounds were closed using a subcostal closure technique (subcostal closure group) and outcomes were compared with 31 patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (thoracoscopy group). The duration of oral opioid consumption was evaluated from medical records, and postoperative pain was evaluated by telephone interview conducted by a trained nurse practitioner who was unaware of the patient's group. Pain scores were higher in the thoracoscopy group compared to the subcostal closure group, reaching statistical significance (Numeric Rating Scale 0.55 ± 0.948 in the subcostal closure group vs. 1.84 ± 1.614 in the thoracoscopy group; p Pain Scale 0.24 ± 0.435 in the subcostal closure group vs. 0.81 ± 0.703 in the thoracoscopy group; p pain syndrome. © The Author(s) 2016.

  6. 100-D Ponds closure plan. Revision 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petersen, S.W.

    1997-09-01

    The 100-D Ponds is a Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) unit on the Hanford Facility that received both dangerous and nonregulated waste. This Closure Plan (Rev. 1) for the 100-D Ponds TSD unit consists of a RCRA Part A Dangerous Waste Permit Application (Rev. 3), a RCRA Closure Plan, and supporting information contained in the appendices to the plan. The closure plan consists of eight chapters containing facility description, process information, waste characteristics, and groundwater monitoring data. There are also chapters containing the closure strategy and performance standards. The strategy for the closure of the 100-D Ponds TSD unit is clean closure. Appendices A and B of the closure plan demonstrate that soil and groundwater beneath 100-D Ponds are below cleanup limits. All dangerous wastes or dangerous waste constituents or residues associated with the operation of the ponds have been removed, therefore, human health and the environment are protected. Discharges to the 100-D Ponds, which are located in the 100-DR-1 operable unit, were discontinued in June 1994. Contaminated sediment was removed from the ponds in August 1996. Subsequent sampling and analysis demonstrated that there is no contamination remaining in the ponds, therefore, this closure plan is a demonstration of clean closure

  7. PFO closuRE and CryptogenIc StrokE (PRECISE) registry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wöhrle, Jochen; Bertrand, Bernard; Søndergaard, Lars

    2012-01-01

    The Premere™ PFO closure device has a special design for closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) including a flexible distance and angulation between the right and left disc providing minimal septal distortion. The primary objective of the study was to determine the degree of risk for stroke or tra...... or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in patients after Premere™ PFO closure device implantation....

  8. Closure for spent-fuel transport and storage containers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahner, S.; Knackstedt, H.G.; Srostlik, P.

    1980-01-01

    The container has a transport closure and a shielding closure. This shielding closure consists of two pieces (double closure system), which can be fartened to one another like a bayonet fixing. A central motion of rotation is enough to open the closure. It can be done remote-controlled as well as manually. (DG) [de

  9. Agrichem.ical safety practices on farm.s in the western Cape

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract In order to study agrichemical safety practices in a rural farming area in the western ... their work, the environment and intentional misuse.I.}-; Little information is ... the farmer, farm manager or supervisor directly involved in production ...

  10. Analysis of Goat Farming on Integrated Farming System in Banyumas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NN Hidayat

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research were : 1 to find out the income generated from goat farming and its contribution to farmer income in several farming combination, 2 to find out the economic efficiency in goat farming with paddy and fish production, 3 to determine factors affecting level of production and income in different farming system, partially and aggregately, and 4 to determine the best combination of farming which generated maximum income. Household farmer survey method was performed to conduct this research. Farming model chosen in this research was partial and average aggregate. Cobb-Douglas function were chosen to predict functional relationship. Result stated from this research were : 1 goat farming has a significant contribution in integrated farming system, 2 integrated farming (goat and paddy, goat and fish, and goat, fish and paddy in Banyumas district was economically efficient. 3 partially, factor affecting production level in goat farming was number of goat owned (P<0.01, factor affecting paddy production were urea application and number of land owned (P<0.01, TSP application (P<0.05 and man power (P<0.10. Furthermore, factor affecting fish farming were feed, breed and number of land owned (P<0.01; 4 aggregately, factor affecting integrated farming I were urea application and number of land owned (P<0.01, feed and number of land owned (P<0.01, number of goat owned (P<0.10 integrated farming II, where as in integrated farming III were number of paddy land area and breed (P<0.01 also number of goat owned (P<0.10; 5 integrated farming III (goat, paddy and fish farming gave the highest profit, which gave Rp 6.219.283,81 with relatively high efficiency. Therefore, goat farming could be an alternative solution to be developed in integrated farming and could be combined with other farming activities such as paddy and fish farming. (Animal Production 9(2: 105-110 (2007 Key Words : Goat, income, economic efficiency, survey, contribution

  11. A refined safety analysis approach for closure of the Hanford Site flammable gas unreviewed safety question

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bratzel, D.R.

    1997-01-01

    Following a 1990 investigation into flammable gas generation, retention, and release mechanisms within the Hanford Site high-level waste tanks, personnel concluded that the existing Authorization Basis documentation did not adequately evaluate flammable gas hazards. This declaration was based primarily on the fact that personnel did not adequately consider hydrogen and nitrous oxide evolution within the material in certain waste tanks and subsequent hypothetical ignition in the development of safety documentation for the waste tanks. The US Department of Energy-Headquarters subsequently declared an Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ). Although work scope has been focused on closure of the USQ since 1990, the DOE has yet to close the USQ because of considerable uncertainty regarding essential technical parameters and associated risk. The DOE recently approved a Basis for Interim Operation to revise the Authorization Basis for managing the tank farms, however, the USQ remains open. The two fundamental requirements for closure of the flammable gas USQ are as follows: development of a defensible technical basis for existing controls; development of a process to assess the adequacy of controls as the waste tank mission progresses

  12. Where is Farm Management Going?

    OpenAIRE

    Kemp, David R.; Girdwood, John; Parton, Kevin A.; Charry, Al A.

    2003-01-01

    Farms and farming are major contributors to the world economy, directly responsible for a large part of GDP. These achievements are not trivial and imply that farms are being managed in reasonably effective ways, else agricultural industries would not be sustained. However the study of Farm Management within Australia has been limited over recent decades. Is it contributing to better farm management or merely cataloguing what has happened? Is it leading or following? During that time there ha...

  13. Organic farming at the farm level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Brian H.; Madsen, Niels; Ørum, Jens Erik

    as part of a larger project entitled “Economic analyses of the future development of organic farming – effects at the field, farm, sector and macroeconomic level”. The project links effects at the field-level with analyses at the farm level. These effects are then used in sector and macroeconomic analyses......, which are described in other reports from Food and Resource Economic Institute (Jacobsen, 2005 and Andersen et al., 2005). This gives coherent results from the field to the macroeconomic level regarding changes in technology and legislation.......The purpose of this report is to present possible impacts of new technology and changes in legislation on the profitability of different types of organic farms. The aim is also to look at both the current and future trends in the organic area in Denmark. The farm level analyses are carried out...

  14. Three case studies involving Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona infection in mixed farming units : case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Gummow

    1999-07-01

    Full Text Available Three case studies involving Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona outbreaks within mixed farming systems in South Africa are described. On 2 farms, pigs constituted the main enterprise with cattle and sheep of secondary importance. On each of these 2 farms, abortion due to L. pomona in sows was confirmed by culture, and antibody titres to pomona were detected in cattle, sheep, horses and dogs. On the 3rd farm, a piggery was ofsecondary importance to cattle farming. Abortion and death in cows occurred on this farmand serology showed titres to various serovars, including pomona. L. pomona was also isolated from bovine urine, an aborted bovine foetus and kidneys from slaughtered pigs. This particular case study was regarded as clinically atypical in that adult Jersey cattle died of acute leptospirosis in a semiarid region of South Africa. In all 3 case studies, the poor management of pig effluent and of the drinking water and its sources played a pivotal role in the transmission of the disease. Inadequate vaccination of animals against Leptospira and poor record-keeping within the secondary farming enterprises were also contributing factors to the spread of leptospirosis.

  15. Oral Paracetamol for Patent Ductus Arteriosus Rescue Closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pharande, Pramod; Watson, Hadley; Tan, Kenneth; Sehgal, Arvind

    2018-01-01

    The objective of this study was to ascertain the efficacy of oral paracetamol in closing a symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) when used as 'rescue' option. After obtaining ethics approval, a retrospective appraisal of the data from April 2014 to July 2015 was performed. Infants who were administered oral paracetamol either after unsuccessful therapy with ibuprofen or where it was considered contraindicated were included. A previously published echocardiographic scoring schema to stratify for ductal disease severity was used. Using univariate analysis, characteristics of infants with successful closure were compared with partial (a priori reduction in composite score by ≥ 50% of pretreatment) or no closure. Twenty infants with gestation age and birthweight of 25.7 ± 1.5 weeks and 724.1 ± 143 g, respectively, were studied. Complete closure was noted in 10 (50%) infants with additional four infants showing a significant reduction in haemodynamic shunting. Gestational age at birth and at therapy, chronological age at therapy, birthweight and total fluid intake were comparable between the two groups. The pre-therapy composite score had a significant association with successful closure (the higher the echocardiographic score, the lesser the closure). Concomitant furosemide therapy and late-onset sepsis had a high likelihood ratio of unsuccessful closure (11.01 [2-tailed, p = 0.005] and 5.3 [2-tailed, p = 0.07]), respectively. Oral paracetamol may be a possible therapeutic option in premature infants where therapy with first-line agents is unsuccessful or contraindicated. Concomitant sepsis and furosemide administration may affect successful therapy.

  16. Tools for Closure Project and Contract Management: Development of the Rocky Flats Integrated Closure Project Baseline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gelles, C. M.; Sheppard, F. R.

    2002-01-01

    This paper details the development of the Rocky Flats Integrated Closure Project Baseline - an innovative project management effort undertaken to ensure proactive management of the Rocky Flats Closure Contract in support of the Department's goal for achieving the safe closure of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) in December 2006. The accelerated closure of RFETS is one of the most prominent projects within the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management program. As the first major former weapons plant to be remediated and closed, it is a first-of-kind effort requiring the resolution of multiple complex technical and institutional challenges. Most significantly, the closure of RFETS is dependent upon the shipment of all special nuclear material and wastes to other DOE sites. The Department is actively working to strengthen project management across programs, and there is increasing external interest in this progress. The development of the Rocky Flats Integrated Closure Project Baseline represents a groundbreaking and cooperative effort to formalize the management of such a complex project across multiple sites and organizations. It is original in both scope and process, however it provides a useful precedent for the other ongoing project management efforts within the Environmental Management program

  17. Clad vent set cup open end (closure weld zone) wall-thickness study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ulrich, G.B.; Sherrill, M.W.

    1994-09-01

    The wall thickness at the open end of Clad Vent Set (CVS) cups is a very important parameter for maintaining control of the fueled CVS closure weld process. Ideally, the wall thickness in the closure weld zone should be constant. The DOP-26 iridium alloy is very difficult to machine; therefore, key dimensional features are established during the two-draw warm-forming operation. Unfortunately, anisotropy in the forming blanks produces four ears at the open end of each cup. Formation of these ears produces axial and circumferential variations in wall thickness. The cup certification requirement is that the wall thickness in the closure weld zone, defined as the 2.5-mm band at the open end of a cup, measure from 0.63 to 0.73 mm. The wall thickness certification data for the open end of the CVS cups have been statistically evaluated. These data show that the cups recently produced for the Cassini mission have well-controlled open-end wall thicknesses.

  18. Laser peripheral iridoplasty for angle-closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Wai Siene; Ang, Ghee Soon; Azuara-Blanco, Augusto

    2012-02-15

    Angle-closure glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Treatment is aimed at opening the anterior chamber angle and lowering the IOP with medical and/or surgical treatment (e.g. trabeculectomy, lens extraction). Laser iridotomy works by eliminating pupillary block and widens the anterior chamber angle in the majority of patients. When laser iridotomy fails to open the anterior chamber angle, laser iridoplasty may be recommended as one of the options in current standard treatment for angle-closure. Laser peripheral iridoplasty works by shrinking and pulling the peripheral iris tissue away from the trabecular meshwork. Laser peripheral iridoplasty can be used for crisis of acute angle-closure and also in non-acute situations.   To assess the effectiveness of laser peripheral iridoplasty in the treatment of narrow angles (i.e. primary angle-closure suspect), primary angle-closure (PAC) or primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) in non-acute situations when compared with any other intervention. In this review, angle-closure will refer to patients with narrow angles (PACs), PAC and PACG. We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 12), MEDLINE (January 1950 to January 2012), EMBASE (January 1980 to January 2012), Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS) (January 1982 to January 2012), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). There were no date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. The electronic databases were last searched on 5 January 2012. We included only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in this review. Patients with narrow angles, PAC or PACG were eligible. We excluded studies that included only patients with acute presentations

  19. Patent foramen ovale closure using a bioabsorbable closure device: safety and efficacy at 6-month follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van den Branden, Ben J; Post, Martijn C; Plokker, Herbert W; ten Berg, Jurriën M; Suttorp, Maarten J

    2010-09-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the mid-term safety and efficacy of percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure using a bioabsorbable device (BioSTAR, NMT Medical, Boston, Massachusetts). Closure of PFO in patients with cryptogenic stroke has proven to be safe and effective using different types of permanent devices. All consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous PFO closure with the bioabsorbable closure device between November 2007 and January 2009 were included. Residual shunt was assessed using contrast transthoracic echocardiography. Sixty-two patients (55% women, mean age 47.7 ± 11.8 years) underwent PFO closure. The in-hospital complications were a surgical device retrieval in 2 patients (3.2%), device reposition in 1 (1.6%), and a minimal groin hematoma in 6 patients (9.7%). The short-term complications at 1-month follow-up (n = 60) were a transient ischemic attack in the presence of a residual shunt in 1 patient and new supraventricular tachycardia in 7 patients (11.3%). At 6-month follow-up (n = 60), 1 patient without residual shunt developed a transient ischemic attack and 1 developed atrial fibrillation. A mild or moderate residual shunt was noted in 51.7%, 33.9%, and 23.7% after 1-day, 1-month, and 6-month follow-up, respectively. A large shunt was present in 8.3%, 3.4%, and 0% after 1-day, 1-month, and 6-month follow-up. Closure of PFO using the bioabsorbable device is associated with a low complication rate and a low recurrence rate of embolic events. However, a relatively high percentage of mild or moderate residual shunting is still present at 6-month follow-up. Copyright © 2010 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Composite three-layer closure of oral antral communication with 10 months follow-up-a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinstock, Robert J; Nikoyan, Levon; Dym, Harry

    2014-02-01

    We propose a 3-layer composite closure technique for an oral antral communication (OAC) while avoiding secondary donor site morbidity. A patient had developed a 1-cm OAC after extraction of right maxillary first molar. The patient subsequently developed acute maxillary sinusitis. The patient was taken to the operating room, and a Caldwell-Luc procedure was performed. The bony window from the Caldwell-Luc was "press fit" over the bony OAC defect. Soft tissue closure was then achieved with a buccal fat pad flap and a buccal mucosal advancement flap. The patient was examined on postoperative day 5 and 1, 2, 3, 6, and 10 months postoperatively. The acute sinusitis had resolved. The soft tissue closure was successful. The bone graft remained intact, prevented sinus pneumatization, and restored continuity to the floor of the maxillary sinus. The presented technique for 3-layer closure of OACs allows for the stability of a double-layer closure of OAC with the added benefit of bone grafting from single operative site, achieving stable oral antral closure, bone grafting, and the avoidance of secondary donor site morbidity. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. 50 CFR 648.161 - Closures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Bluefish Fishery § 648.161 Closures. (a) EEZ closure. NMFS shall close the EEZ to fishing for bluefish by... dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing bluefish in that state. ...

  2. Risk factors for work-related injury among farm workers: a 1-year study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molineri, A; Signorini, M L; Tarabla, H D

    2015-01-01

    A 1-year prospective study was carried out to look for risk factors of farm-related injuries in Egusquiza, Santa Fe (Argentina). Information on demographic characteristics and occupational accidents was collected on (N=110, n=78) farm workers by means of personal interviews using a structured questionnaire. Monthly telephone contact was then maintained with the workers for 1 year to document all farm-related injuries. Data analysis included incidence rate, χ2 and logistic regression. Sixty-nine farm-related injuries were reported during the study period, six injuries being the maximum number affecting one worker. A total of 46.3% of the workers suffered at least one injury during the year. The incidence rate was 7.5 injuries/100 individual-month at risk. Medical assistance was needed in 26.8% of the cases and 5.8% of the injuries caused at least 1 day off work. Hospitalization for at least 1 day was required for 2.9% of the injured workers. Previous work-related injury in the family (p=0.005) (odds ratio (OR)=4.6, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.6-13.3) and worker's activity (p=0.021) (OR=3.7, 95%CI=1.2-11.6) were associated with the dependent variable work injury. Agricultural and livestock farming are of great importance for the national economy. Workers' training on farm safety may play a key role to prevent work-related injuries and diseases.

  3. HIGH LEVEL WASTE TANK CLOSURE PROJECT AT THE IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quigley, K.D.; Wessman, D.

    2003-01-01

    The Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID) is in the process of closing two underground high-level waste (HLW) storage tanks at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to meet Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations and Department of Energy orders. Closure of these two tanks is scheduled for 2004 as the first phase in closure of the eleven 1.14 million liter (300,000 gallon) tanks currently in service at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC). The INTEC Tank Farm Facility (TFF) Closure sequence consists of multiple steps to be accomplished through the existing tank riser access points. Currently, the tank risers contain steam and process waste lines associated with the steam jets, corrosion coupons, and liquid level indicators. As necessary, this equipment will be removed from the risers to allow adequate space for closure equipment and activities. The basic tank closure sequence is as follows: Empty the tank to the residual heel using the existing jets; Video and sample the heel; Replace steam jets with new jet at a lower position in the tank, and remove additional material; Flush tank, piping and secondary containment with demineralized water; Video and sample the heel; Evaluate decontamination effectiveness; Displace the residual heel with multiple placements of grout; and Grout piping, vaults and remaining tank volume. Design, development, and deployment of a remotely operated tank cleaning system were completed in June 2002. The system incorporates many commercially available components, which have been adapted for application in cleaning high-level waste tanks. The system is cost-effective since it also utilizes existing waste transfer technology (steam jets), to remove tank heel solids from the tank bottoms during the cleaning operations. Remotely operated directional spray nozzles, automatic rotating wash balls, video monitoring equipment, decontamination spray-rings, and

  4. Wind farms and planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arkesteijn, L.; Havinga, R.; Benner, J.H.B.

    1992-01-01

    The siting of wind farms is becoming an increasingly important issue in the Netherlands. This paper gives an overview of the current situation concerning the planning of wind farms. We will pay attention to: Wind energy in official Dutch planning policy. To select the optimal sites, the government has made an administrative agreement with the 7 windy provinces. Nevertheless, wind energy is still fighting for a rightful position in physical planning policy. Some examples will illustrate this. Studies on siting and siting problems in the Netherlands. In order to gain more insight into aspects of wind farming several studies have been executed. In this paper special attention will be paid to the results of a study on the potential impact of large windturbine clusters on an existing agricutural area. Experiences with siting of wind farms in the Netherlands. Based on experiences with the planning and realization of farms, this paper gives the main problems. In the final part of the paper we present some general conclusions. Generally speaking, the knowledge is available for selecting optimal sites in the Netherlands. The basic problems for wind farming nowadays seem to be the visual impact and actually obtaining the ground. Nevertheless, there do seem to be enough sites for realizing the goals in the Netherlands. (au)

  5. Empirical investigation of wind farm blockage effects in Horn Rev 1 offshore wind farm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mitraszewski, Karol; Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose; Nygaard, Nicolai

    We present an empirical study of wind farm blockage effects based on Horns Rev 1 SCADA data. The mean inflow non-uniformities in wind speed are analyzed by calculating the mean power outputs of turbines located along the outer edges of the farm for different wind directions, wind speeds and stabi......We present an empirical study of wind farm blockage effects based on Horns Rev 1 SCADA data. The mean inflow non-uniformities in wind speed are analyzed by calculating the mean power outputs of turbines located along the outer edges of the farm for different wind directions, wind speeds...

  6. Potential socio-economic consequences of mine closure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marietjie Ackermann

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Mine closures generally reveal negligence on the part of mining houses, not only in terms of the environment, but also the surrounding mining communities. Aim: This article reflects on the findings of research into the socio-economic consequences of mine closure. The research specifically explored how mineworkers’ dependency on their employment at a mine affects their ability to sustain their livelihood. Setting: The research was conducted at the Orkney Mine and the Grootvlei Mine (Springs. Methods: The research was conducted within a naturalistic domain, guided by a relativist orientation, a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. Data were collected by means of document analysis, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and unstructured observation. Results: From the research findings, it is evident that mine closures, in general, have a devastating effect on the surrounding mining communities as well as on the employees. Mine closures in the case studies gradually depleted the mining communities’ livelihood assets and resulted in the collapse of their coping strategies and livelihood outcomes. It generally affected the communities’ nutrition, health, education, food security, water, shelter, levels of community participation and personal safety. Conclusion: If not managed efficiently and effectively, mine closures may pose significant challenges to the mining industry, government, the environment, national and local economic prosperity and communities in the peripheral areas of mines. This truly amplifies that mine closure, whether temporary or permanent, is an issue that needs to be addressed with responsibility towards all stakeholders, including the mining community and the labour force.

  7. ASSESSMENT OF LENS THICKNESS IN ANGLE CLOSURE DISEASE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nishat Sultana Khayoom

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Anterior chamber depth and lens thickness have been considered as important biometric determinants in primary angle-closure glaucoma. Patients with primary narrow angle may be classified as a primary angle closure suspect (PACS, or as having primary angle closure (PAC or primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG. 23.9% of patients with primary angle closure disease are in India, which highlights the importance of understanding the disease, its natural history, and its underlying pathophysiology, so that we may try to establish effective methods of treatment and preventative measures to delay, or even arrest, disease progression, thereby reducing visual morbidity. AIM To determine the lens thickness using A-scan biometry and its significance in various stages of angle closure disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients attending outpatient department at Minto Ophthalmic Hospital between October 2013 to May 2015 were screened for angle closure disease and subsequently evaluated at glaucoma department. In our study, lens thickness showed a direct correlation with shallowing of the anterior chamber by determining the LT/ ACD ratio. A decrease in anterior chamber depth is proportional to the narrowing of the angle which contributes to the progression of the angle closure disease from just apposition to occlusion enhancing the risk for optic nerve damage and visual field loss. Hence, if the lens thickness values are assessed earlier in the disease process, appropriate intervention can be planned. CONCLUSION Determination of lens changes along with anterior chamber depth and axial length morphometrically can aid in early detection of angle closure. The role of lens extraction for PACG is a subject of increased interest. Lens extraction promotes the benefits of anatomical opening of the angle, IOP reduction and improved vision. This potential intervention may be one among the armamentarium of approaches for PACG. Among the current treatment modalities

  8. The Rising Rate of Rural Hospital Closures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufman, Brystana G; Thomas, Sharita R; Randolph, Randy K; Perry, Julie R; Thompson, Kristie W; Holmes, George M; Pink, George H

    2016-01-01

    Since 2010, the rate of rural hospital closures has increased significantly. This study is a preliminary look at recent closures and a formative step in research to understand the causes and the impact on rural communities. The 2009 financial performance and market characteristics of rural hospitals that closed from 2010 through 2014 were compared to rural hospitals that remained open during the same period, stratified by critical access hospitals (CAHs) and other rural hospitals (ORHs). Differences were tested using Pearson's chi-square (categorical variables) and Wilcoxon rank test of medians. The relationships between negative operating margin and (1) market factors and (2) utilization/staffing factors were explored using logistic regression. In 2009, CAHs that subsequently closed from 2010 through 2014 had, in general, lower levels of profitability, liquidity, equity, patient volume, and staffing. In addition, ORHs that closed had smaller market shares and operated in markets with smaller populations compared to ORHs that remained open. Odds of unprofitability were associated with both market and utilization factors. Although half of the closed hospitals ceased providing health services altogether, the remainder have since converted to an alternative health care delivery model. Financial and market characteristics appear to be associated with closure of rural hospitals from 2010 through 2014, suggesting that it is possible to identify hospitals at risk of closure. As closure rates show no sign of abating, it is important to study the drivers of distress in rural hospitals, as well as the potential for alternative health care delivery models. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

  9. Climate Change and Apple Farming in Indian Himalayas: A Study of Local Perceptions and Responses

    OpenAIRE

    Basannagari, Basavaraj; Kala, Chandra Prakash

    2013-01-01

    Apple farming is an important activity and profession of farmer communities in the Himalayan states of India. At present, the traditional apple farming is under stress due to changes in climate. The present study was undertaken in an Indian Himalayan state, Himachal Pradesh, with the major aim of studying perceptions of farmers on the effects of climate change on apple farming along the altitudinal gradient. Through questionnaire survey, the perceptions of farmers were recorded at low hills (...

  10. A "typodont" study of rate of orthodontic space closure: self-ligating systems vs. conventional systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saporito, I; Butti, A C; Salvato, A; Biagi, R

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of space closure of two bracket systems, self-ligating and conventional ones, considering two systems with the same design and prescription. The experimental model of this study aims to identify in general if one type of system is more suitable for planning the extractive therapy, without considering the clinical aspect necessary for an adequate orthodontic approach. A resin maxilla without the first premolars was used to test the self-ligating and conventional brackets system. Space closure was achieved on 0.016x0.022" in stainless steel wires with nickel-titanium coil springs 150 grams in strength and 10 mm in length. Two experiment settings have been prepared. The first setting was made bonding conventional bracket on the right side and self-ligating on the left; the last one was made bonding self-ligating bracket on the right side and conventional on the left. All measurements (runs) have been repeated seven times for both settings. During the closing phase of extraction spaces both systems are equable since there are no significant statistical differences (P=0.70). Our typodont model showed no significant difference in the efficiency of space closure between the self-ligating bracket and conventional bracket tied with stainless steel ligatures.

  11. Comparative study of the nutritional composition and toxic elements of farmed and wild Chanodichthys mongolicus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Haifeng; Cheng, Xiaofei; Geng, Longwu; Tang, Shizhan; Tong, Guangxiang; Xu, Wei

    2017-07-01

    Information of the difference in quality between farmed and wild fish is central to better ensuring fish products produced in aquaculture meet regulatory and consumer requirements. Proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, and toxic elements contents of farmed and wild Chanodichthys mongolicus were established and compared. Significantly higher crude protein content while lower moisture content in farmed fish compared to wild fish were observed ( Pacids (TAA), total essential amino acids (TEAA), total non-essential amino acids (TNEAA) and total delicious amino acids (TDAA) in farmed fish were all significantly higher than those in the wild equivalent ( Pacid profiles in both farmed and wild C. mongolicus were dominated by monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), with farmed fish contained much more MUFA content compared to wild counterpart ( Pacid (PUFA) including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) than farmed fish ( Pacid (C18:2n6) were the predominant PUFA in wild and farmed C. mongolicus, respectively. Moreover, farmed fish displayed an overall lower toxic element levels (As, Cd, Pb and Hg) in comparison with wild fish, and both were far lower than the established limit standard. In conclusion, our results suggest that the nutritional quality of farmed C. mongolicus was inferior to their wild counterpart with respect to fatty acids nutrition, and therefore further studies should focus on the improving C. mongolicus diet in order to enhance the overall nutritional composition.

  12. Predictors of successful closure of patent ductus arteriosus with indomethacin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahamed, M F; Verma, P; Lee, S; Vega, M; Wang, D; Kim, M; Fuloria, M

    2015-09-01

    To determine whether platelet counts can predict the likelihood of successful closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with indomethacin. This was a retrospective cohort study of infants closure with indomethacin and those who failed were compared. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of successful ductal closure. In infants with hemodynamically significant PDA, older GA (odds ratio=1.54; 95% confidence interval: 1.12 to 2.13), male gender (odds ratio=3.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.08 to 8.49) and higher platelet count (odds ratio=1.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.04 to 2.17) prior to indomethacin treatment were associated with successful ductal closure with indomethacin. Older GA, male gender and higher platelet count at time of treatment of hemodynamically significant PDA are predictors of successful ductal closure with indomethacin.

  13. Societal acceptance of wind farms: Analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, N.; Ashworth, P.; Devine-Wright, P.

    2013-01-01

    Australia's renewable energy target (RET) seeks to provide 20 per cent of Australia's electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2020. As wind power is relatively advanced, it was anticipated that wind power will contribute a major component of the early target. However, high levels of societal resistance to wind farms, combined with new regulatory policies, indicate the RET may not be dominated by wind power. This research involved an examination of seven case studies around wind farm deployment. Qualitative interviews were the primary data for the case studies and analysed using methods informed by grounded theory. Despite the diversity of stakeholder views, the qualitative analysis identified strong community support for wind farms but four common themes emerged that influence this societal acceptance of wind farms in Australia: trust, distributional justice, procedural justice and place attachment. Without addressing these factors through integration into policy development and engagement approaches, wind energy is unlikely to provide the early and majority of new renewable energy. Similar international experiences are incorporated in the discussion of the Australian wind industry's societal acceptance. - Highlights: ► Seven case studies of wind farms in Australia are described. ► Acceptance affects whether wind significantly contributes to the Aust. RE target. ► Four themes were identified regarding societal acceptance of Australian wind farms. ► Four themes are trust, distributional and procedural justice, and place attachment. ► International similarities to the Australian experience are provided

  14. Transcatheter closure, mini-invasive closure and open-heart surgical repair for treatment of perimembranous ventricular septal defects in children: a protocol for a network meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Tao; Yi, Kang; Ding, Zhao-Hong; Hou, Xiao-Dong; Liu, Xing-Guang; Wang, Xin-Kuan; Ge, Long; Tian, Jin-Hui

    2017-06-21

    Both transcatheter device closure and surgical repair are effective treatments with excellent midterm outcomes for perimembranous ventricular septal defects (pmVSDs) in children. The mini-invasive periventricular device occlusion technique has become prevalent in research and application, but evidence is limited for the assessment of transcatheter closure, mini-invasive closure and open-heart surgical repair. This study comprehensively compares the efficacy, safety and costs of transcatheter closure, mini-invasive closure and open-heart surgical repair for treatment of pmVSDs in children using Bayesian network meta-analysis. A systematic search will be performed using Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, PubMed, EMBASE.com and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to include random controlled trials, prospective or retrospective cohort studies comparing the efficacy, safety and costs of transcatheter closure, mini-invasive closure and open-heart surgical repair. The risk of bias for the included prospective or retrospective cohort studies will be evaluated according to the risk of bias in non-randomised studies of interventions (ROBINS-I). For random controlled trials, we will use risk of bias tool from Cochrane Handbook version 5.1.0. A Bayesian network meta-analysis will be conducted using R-3.3.2 software. Ethical approval and patient consent are not required since this study is a network meta-analysis based on published trials. The results of this network meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CRD42016053352. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  15. Association of iris crypts with acute primary angle closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Victor; Chua, Jacqueline; Shi, Yuan; Thakku, Sri Gowtham; Lee, Ryan; Nongpiur, Monisha E; Baskaran, Mani; Kumar, Rajesh S; Perera, Shamira; Aung, Tin; Cheng, Ching-Yu

    2017-10-01

    To determine the relationship between iris surface features and acute primary angle closure (APAC) in eyes with angle closure. Case-control study involving Asian patients diagnosed with previous APAC, primary angle closure suspect (PACS), primary angle closure (PAC) and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) at an eye centre in Singapore between August 2012 and January 2015. Participants underwent ophthalmic examination and digital slit-lamp iris photography. Iris surface features were graded based on crypts, furrows and colour. Fellow eyes of APAC were compared with PACS and PAC/PACG eyes with regard to their iris surface features. Occurrence of APAC. A total of 309 patients (71 APAC, 139 PACS, 47 PAC and 52 PACG) were included (mean age: 67.7±7.2 years and 36.6% male). Compared with PACS, higher crypt grade was significantly associated with lower odds of APAC (OR=0.58 for one grade higher in crypt grade; p=0.027, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity and pupil diameter). The results remained similar when compared with PAC/PACG group (OR=0.58 for one grade higher in crypt grade; p=0.043). We did not observe any significant associations between iris furrows or colour with presence of APAC. Our study comprising Asian eyes with angle closure suggests that the presence of a higher crypt grading may be protective for APAC. As such, assessing iris surface architecture for crypts could be a new measure for risk stratification of developing APAC in eyes with angle closure. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  16. Hanford Patrol Academy Demolition Sites Closure Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-11-01

    From 1975 to 1991 the Hanford Patrol Academy Demolition Sites (HPADS) were used for demolition events. These demolition events were a form of thermal treatment for spent or abandoned chemical waste. Because the HPADS will no longer be used for this thermal activity, the sites will be closed. Closure will be conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) Dangerous Waste Regulations, Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610 and 40 CFR 270.1. Closure also will satisfy closure requirements of WAC 173-303-680 and for the thermal treatment closure requirements of 40 CFR 265.381. This closure plan presents a description of the HPADS, the history of the waste treated, and the approach that will be followed to close the HPADS. Because dangerous waste does not include the source, special nuclear, and by-product material components of mixed waste, radionuclides are not within the scope of WAC 173-303 or of this closure plan. The information on radionuclides is provided only for general knowledge where appropriate. Only dangerous constituents derived from HPADS operations will be addressed in this closure plan in accordance with WAC 173-303-610(2)(b)(i). The HPADS are actually two distinct soil closure areas within the Hanford Patrol Academy training area

  17. An Elongated Leading Edge Facilitates Rotation Flap Closure: In Vivo Demonstration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichon, Vanessa; Barbosa, Naiara; Gomez, Doug; Goldman, Glenn

    2016-01-01

    Variation in the design of a rotation flap may affect wound closure tension. Lengthening the leading edge of a rotation flap has been a method of reducing the tension of closure in the primary motion. An in vitro study negating this tenant has been published. The authors set out to design an in vivo experiment to determine if lengthening the leading edge of a rotation flap has the effect of reducing closure tension in the primary motion of the repair. An animal study approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee was undertaken in a pig model. A tension-measuring apparatus was designed using Teflon-coated wires and digital tensiometers. Rotation flaps of a standard design and with elongated leading edges were incised on the flanks of pigs under general anesthesia. Flap closure tensions were measured at points along the leading edge of the flap and in the secondary motion. Elongating the leading edge of a flap led to a statistically significant reduction in closure tension in the primary motion of the flap and at the flap tip. The secondary motion closure tensions were essentially unaffected. The authors confirm that elongating the leading edge of a standard rotation flap will reduce closure tension in the primary flap motion.

  18. 32 CFR 989.25 - Base closure and realignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Base closure and realignment. 989.25 Section 989... PROTECTION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS PROCESS (EIAP) § 989.25 Base closure and realignment. Base closure or realignment may entail special requirements for environmental analysis. The permanent base closure...

  19. Self-assembly and flux closure studies of magnetic nanoparticle rings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wei, Alexander; Kasama, Takeshi; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E.

    2011-01-01

    Thermoremanent magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) can self-assemble into rings through dipolar interactions, when dispersed under appropriate conditions. Analysis of individual MNP rings and clusters by off-axis electron holography reveals bistable flux closure (FC) states at ambient temperatures...

  20. Comparative study of the efficacy and safety of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and indomethacin in closure of patent ductus arteriosus in preterm neonates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Mashad, Abd El-Rahman; El-Mahdy, Heba; El Amrousy, Doaa; Elgendy, Marwa

    2017-02-01

    In this prospective study, we compared the efficacy and side effects of indomethacin, ibuprofen, and paracetamol in patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure in preterm neonates. Three hundred preterm neonates with hemodynamically significant PDA (hs-PDA) admitted at our neonatal intensive care unit were enrolled in the study. They were randomized into three groups. Group I (paracetamol group) received 15 mg/kg/6 h IV paracetamol infusion for 3 days. Group II (ibuprofen group) received 10 mg/kg IV ibuprofen infusion followed by 5 mg/kg/day for 2 days. Group III (indomethacin group) received 0.2 mg/kg/12 h indomethacin IV infusion for three doses. Laboratory investigations such as renal function test, liver function test, complete blood count, and blood gases were conducted in addition to echocardiographic examinations. All investigations were done before and 3 days after treatment. There was no significant difference between all groups regarding efficacy of PDA closure (P = 0.868). There was a significant increase in serum creatinine levels and serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in the ibuprofen and indomethacin groups (P  0.05). Ventilatory settings improved significantly in patients with successful closure of PDA than those with failed PDA closure (P closure of PDA in preterm neonates and has less side effects mainly on renal function, platelet count, and GIT bleeding. What is Known: • Hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus has many complications for preterm and low birth weight neonates and better to be closed. Many drugs were used for medical closure of PDA e.g. indomethacin, ibuprofen and recently paracetamol. Many studies compare safety and efficacy of paracetamol with either indomethacin or ibuprofen. What is New: • It is the first large study that compares the efficacy and side effects of the three drugs in one study.

  1. Vacuum-assisted closure versus conventional dressings in the management of diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective case–control study

    OpenAIRE

    Lone, Ali M.; Zaroo, Mohd I.; Laway, Bashir A.; Pala, Nazir A.; Bashir, Sheikh A.; Rasool, Altaf

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To compare the effectiveness of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) versus conventional dressings in the healing of diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs) in terms of healing rate (time to prepare the wound for closure either spontaneously or by surgery), safety, and patient satisfaction.Methods: Randomized case–control study enrolling 56 patients, divided into two groups. Group A (patients treated with VAC) and Group B (patients treated with conventional dressings), with an equal number of pa...

  2. Patent ductus arteriosus closure using an Amplatzer™ ventricular septal defect closure device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernando, Rajeev; Koranne, Ketan; Loyalka, Pranav; Kar, Biswajit; Gregoric, Igor

    2013-01-01

    The ductus arteriosus originates from the persistence of the distal portion of the left sixth aortic arch. It connects the descending aorta (immediately distal to the left subclavian artery) to the roof of the main pulmonary artery, near the origin of the left pulmonary artery. Persistence of the duct beyond 48 h after birth is abnormal and results in patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). PDA is rare in adults because it is usually discovered and treated in childhood. Mechanical closure remains the definitive therapy because the patency of ductus arteriosus may lead to multiple complications, depending on the size and flow through the ductus. PDA closure is indicated in patients with symptoms and evidence of left heart enlargement, and in patients with elevated pulmonary pressures when reversal is possible. Transcatheter closure is the preferred technique in adults because it avoids sternotomy, reduces the length of hospital stay and is associated with fewer complications compared with surgery. First demonstrated in 1967, both the technique and the occluder devices used have since evolved. However, designing an ideal PDA occluder has been a challenge due to the variability in size, shape and orientation of PDAs. The present article describes a case involving a 35-year-old woman who presented to the Center for Advanced Heart Failure (Houston, USA) with congestive heart failure due to a large PDA, which was successfully occluded using an Amplatzer (St Jude Medical, USA) muscular ventricular septal defect closure device. The wider waist and dual-retention discs of these ventricular septal defect closure devices may be important factors to consider in the future development of devices for the occlusion of large PDAs. PMID:24294051

  3. Aggregated Modelling for Wind Farms for Power System Transient Stability Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Hongzhi; Chen, Zhe

    2012-01-01

    Wind energy is consistently attracting great research effort and actively developed in many countries. As a result, the penetration level of wind power in the power grid is increasing as well as the size of wind farms. A large-scale wind farm may consist of hundreds of wind turbines and its total...... on a wind farm with permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) wind turbines. Simulation results of the aggregated models and the detailed model are compared and analyzed respectively to prove the effectiveness of the aggregating techniques.......Wind energy is consistently attracting great research effort and actively developed in many countries. As a result, the penetration level of wind power in the power grid is increasing as well as the size of wind farms. A large-scale wind farm may consist of hundreds of wind turbines and its total...... installed capacity could be at a level of 1000MW or even more. Consequently, the large-scale wind farm could seriously impact the operation and control of the grid. To represent a large-scale wind farm, aggregated modelling takes advantage of fast computation and simplified implementation compared...

  4. Comparison of different moment-closure approximations for stochastic chemical kinetics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schnoerr, David [School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (United Kingdom); School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (United Kingdom); Sanguinetti, Guido [School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (United Kingdom); Grima, Ramon [School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (United Kingdom)

    2015-11-14

    In recent years, moment-closure approximations (MAs) of the chemical master equation have become a popular method for the study of stochastic effects in chemical reaction systems. Several different MA methods have been proposed and applied in the literature, but it remains unclear how they perform with respect to each other. In this paper, we study the normal, Poisson, log-normal, and central-moment-neglect MAs by applying them to understand the stochastic properties of chemical systems whose deterministic rate equations show the properties of bistability, ultrasensitivity, and oscillatory behaviour. Our results suggest that the normal MA is favourable over the other studied MAs. In particular, we found that (i) the size of the region of parameter space where a closure gives physically meaningful results, e.g., positive mean and variance, is considerably larger for the normal closure than for the other three closures, (ii) the accuracy of the predictions of the four closures (relative to simulations using the stochastic simulation algorithm) is comparable in those regions of parameter space where all closures give physically meaningful results, and (iii) the Poisson and log-normal MAs are not uniquely defined for systems involving conservation laws in molecule numbers. We also describe the new software package MOCA which enables the automated numerical analysis of various MA methods in a graphical user interface and which was used to perform the comparative analysis presented in this paper. MOCA allows the user to develop novel closure methods and can treat polynomial, non-polynomial, as well as time-dependent propensity functions, thus being applicable to virtually any chemical reaction system.

  5. Improvement of tricuspid regurgitation after transcatheter ASD closure in older patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, L; Shen, J; Shan, X; Wang, F; Kan, T; Tang, X; Zhao, X; Qin, Y

    2017-07-19

    Adult patients with undiagnosed atrial septal defect (ASD) may have right heart cavity enlargement and functional tricuspid valve insufficiency. Moderate or more severe tricuspid regurgitation has been associated with a worse prognosis, and more serious complications are typically seen in older patients. This study aimed to evaluate the improvement in functional tricuspid regurgitation and heart geometry after transcatheter ASD closure in older patients. The data of 111 patients over 60 years of age with moderate or severe tricuspid regurgitation before ASD closure were analyzed. At the 1‑month and 6‑month follow-up after closure, both tricuspid regurgitation jet area and right atrial volume decreased significantly. Right ventricular volume decreased 1 month after closure, showing a further decrease at the end of the 6‑month follow-up. However, 24 patients (21.6%) still had persistent severe tricuspid regurgitation after the procedure. Multivariate analysis revealed that patient age at ASD closure and pulmonary artery systolic pressure determined by echocardiography before closure were predictors of persistent tricuspid regurgitation after closure. Transcatheter ASD closure in older patients could significantly decrease tricuspid regurgitation and improve right heart geometry.

  6. The timing of ostomy closure in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Struijs, Marie-Chantal; Sloots, Cornelius E J; Hop, Wim C J; Tibboel, Dick; Wijnen, Rene M H

    2012-07-01

    The optimal timing of ostomy closure is a matter of debate. We performed a systematic review of outcomes of early ostomy closure (EC, within 8 weeks) and late ostomy closure (LC, after 8 weeks) in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. PubMed, EMbase, Web-of-Science, and Cinahl were searched for studies that detailed time to ostomy closure, and time to full enteral nutrition (FEN) or complications after ostomy closure. Patients with Hirschsprung's disease or anorectal malformations were excluded. Analysis was performed using SPSS 17 and RevMan 5. Of 778 retrieved articles, 5 met the inclusion criteria. The median score for study quality was 9 [range 8-14 on a scale of 0 to 32 points (Downs and Black, J Epidemiol Community Health 52:377-384, 1998)]. One study described mean time to FEN: 19.1 days after EC (n = 13) versus 7.2 days after LC (n = 24; P = 0.027). Four studies reported complication rates after ostomy closure, complications occurred in 27% of the EC group versus 23% of the LC group. The combined odds ratio (LC vs. EC) was 1.1 [95% CI 0.5, 2.5]. Evidence that supports early or late closure is scarce and the published articles are of poor quality. There is no significant difference between EC versus LC in the complication rate. This systematic review supports neither early nor late ostomy closure.

  7. Evaluation of the Momentum Closure Schemes in MPAS-Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Shimei; Liu, Yudi; Liu, Wei

    2018-04-01

    In order to compare and evaluate the performances of the Laplacian viscosity closure, the biharmonic viscosity closure, and the Leith closure momentum schemes in the MPAS-Ocean model, a variety of physical quantities, such as the relative reference potential energy (RPE) change, the RPE time change rate (RPETCR), the grid Reynolds number, the root mean square (RMS) of kinetic energy, and the spectra of kinetic energy and enstrophy, are calculated on the basis of results of a 3D baroclinic periodic channel. Results indicate that: 1) The RPETCR demonstrates a saturation phenomenon in baroclinic eddy tests. The critical grid Reynolds number corresponding to RPETCR saturation differs between the three closures: the largest value is in the biharmonic viscosity closure, followed by that in the Laplacian viscosity closure, and that in the Leith closure is the smallest. 2) All three closures can effectively suppress spurious dianeutral mixing by reducing the grid Reynolds number under sub-saturation conditions of the RPETCR, but they can also damage certain physical processes. Generally, the damage to the rotation process is greater than that to the advection process. 3) The dissipation in the biharmonic viscosity closure is strongly dependent on scales. Most dissipation concentrates on small scales, and the energy of small-scale eddies is often transferred to large-scale kinetic energy. The viscous dissipation in the Laplacian viscosity closure is the strongest on various scales, followed by that in the Leith closure. Note that part of the small-scale kinetic energy is also transferred to large-scale kinetic energy in the Leith closure. 4) The characteristic length scale L and the dimensionless parameter D in the Leith closure are inherently coupled. The RPETCR is inversely proportional to the product of D and L. When the product of D and L is constant, both the simulated RPETCR and the inhibition of spurious dianeutral mixing are the same in all tests using the Leith

  8. Estimating the costs of school closure for mitigating an influenza pandemic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adams Elisabeth J

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background School closure is a key component of many countries' plans to mitigate the effect of an influenza pandemic. Although a number of studies have suggested that such a policy might reduce the incidence, there are no published studies of the cost of such policies. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap Methods School closure is expected to lead to significant work absenteeism of working parents who are likely to be the main care givers to their dependent children at home. The cost of absenteeism due to school closure is calculated as the paid productivity loss of parental absenteeism during the period of school closure. The cost is estimated from societal perspective using a nationally representative survey. Results The results show that overall about 16% of the workforce is likely to be the main caregiver for dependent children and therefore likely to take absenteeism. This rises to 30% in the health and social care sector, as a large proportion of the workforce are women. The estimated costs of school closure are significant, at £0.2 bn – £1.2 bn per week. School closure is likely to significantly exacerbate the pressures on the health system through staff absenteeism. Conclusion The estimates of school closure associated absenteeism and the projected cost would be useful for pandemic planning for business continuity, and for cost effectiveness evaluation of different pandemic influenza mitigation strategies.

  9. Climate change and apple farming in Indian Himalayas: a study of local perceptions and responses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Basavaraj Basannagari

    Full Text Available Apple farming is an important activity and profession of farmer communities in the Himalayan states of India. At present, the traditional apple farming is under stress due to changes in climate. The present study was undertaken in an Indian Himalayan state, Himachal Pradesh, with the major aim of studying perceptions of farmers on the effects of climate change on apple farming along the altitudinal gradient. Through questionnaire survey, the perceptions of farmers were recorded at low hills (3000 m. At all elevation range the majority of farmers reported that there was increase in atmospheric temperature, and hence at low hills 72% farmers believed that this increase in temperature was responsible for decline in fruit size and so that the quality. Thirty five percent farmers at high hills and 30% at mid hills perceived frost as a major cause for damaging apple farming whereas at low hills 24% farmers perceived hailstorm as the major deterrent for apple farming. The majority of farmers, along the altitude (92% at high hills, 79% at mid hills and 83% at low hills, reported decrease in snowfall. The majority of farmers at low altitude and mid altitude reported decline in apple farming whereas 71% farmers at high hill areas refused decline in apple farming. About 73-83% farmers admitted delay in apple's harvesting period. At mid hills apple scab and at low hills pest attack on apple crops are considered as the indicators of climate change. The change in land use practices was attributed to climate change and in many areas the land under apple farming was replaced for production of coarse grains, seasonal vegetables and other horticulture species. Scientific investigation claiming changes in Indian Himalayan climate corroborates perceptions of farmers, as examined during the present study.

  10. Climate change and apple farming in Indian Himalayas: a study of local perceptions and responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basannagari, Basavaraj; Kala, Chandra Prakash

    2013-01-01

    Apple farming is an important activity and profession of farmer communities in the Himalayan states of India. At present, the traditional apple farming is under stress due to changes in climate. The present study was undertaken in an Indian Himalayan state, Himachal Pradesh, with the major aim of studying perceptions of farmers on the effects of climate change on apple farming along the altitudinal gradient. Through questionnaire survey, the perceptions of farmers were recorded at low hills (3000 m). At all elevation range the majority of farmers reported that there was increase in atmospheric temperature, and hence at low hills 72% farmers believed that this increase in temperature was responsible for decline in fruit size and so that the quality. Thirty five percent farmers at high hills and 30% at mid hills perceived frost as a major cause for damaging apple farming whereas at low hills 24% farmers perceived hailstorm as the major deterrent for apple farming. The majority of farmers, along the altitude (92% at high hills, 79% at mid hills and 83% at low hills), reported decrease in snowfall. The majority of farmers at low altitude and mid altitude reported decline in apple farming whereas 71% farmers at high hill areas refused decline in apple farming. About 73-83% farmers admitted delay in apple's harvesting period. At mid hills apple scab and at low hills pest attack on apple crops are considered as the indicators of climate change. The change in land use practices was attributed to climate change and in many areas the land under apple farming was replaced for production of coarse grains, seasonal vegetables and other horticulture species. Scientific investigation claiming changes in Indian Himalayan climate corroborates perceptions of farmers, as examined during the present study.

  11. Farm and rural adolescents′ perspective on hearing conservation: Reports from a focus group study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie-Anne S Rosemberg

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study explored the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of rural and farm adolescents regarding hearing conservation strategies. This qualitative study took place at two high schools in rural Michigan. Twenty-five adolescents living and working on farms or living in rural areas participated in one of two focus groups. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded and analyzed by two researchers and checked by an additional researcher to ensure reliability. Noise exposure was ubiquitous among participants, both in farm-related (e.g., equipment, livestock and non-farm-related (e.g., music, firearms activities. Perceived barriers to use of hearing protection devices outweighed perceived benefits, resulting in uncommon use of protection. When hearing protection was used, it was usually earmuffs or earplugs. Participants indicated a lack of training in noise hazards and protective strategies. Despite their acknowledged risk of hearing loss, participants did not associate their use of hearing protection today with their hearing ability later in life. Categories emerging that relate to hearing protector use included: Barriers, benefits, self-efficacy, situational influences, impersonal influences, cues to action, susceptibility, and severity. Farm and rural adolescents are at risk for noise exposure and hearing loss. The findings stress the significance of work environment and adult modeling in facilitating hearing conservation behaviors. As indicated by the youths′ recommendations, school-based interventions may be an effective approach to address this health concern. Intervention studies are needed to test various approaches that can effectively promote use of hearing conservation strategies among rural and farm adolescents.

  12. Transcatheter Device Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sultan, M.; Ullah, M.; Sadiq, N.; Akhtar, K.; Akbar, H.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To determine the efficacy, safety and immediate complications encountered during percutaneous device closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Study Design: Case series. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Paediatric Cardiology, AFIC/NIHD, Rawalpindi, from January 2005 to December 2010. Methodology: Consecutive 500 patients who underwent attempted transcatheter PDA device closure were included in the study. Device type position, success of closure and complications were described as frequency percentage. Results: In 491 cases (98.2%), PDA was successfully occluded including 4 cases (0.8%) where devices were dislodged but retrieved and redeployed in Cath laboratory. PDA occluder devices used in 448 cases (91%) while coils (single or multiple) were used in 42 cases (8.5%) and in one case (0.2%) ASD occluder device was used to occlude the PDA. There were 09 (1.8%) unsuccessful cases, 06 (1.2%) were abandoned as ducts were considered unsuitable for device closure, 02 (0.4%) devices dislodged and needed surgical retrieval and one case (0.2%) was abandoned due to faulty equipment. The narrowest PDA diameter ranged from 0.5 - 14 mm with mean of 4.5 +- 2.4 mm. There was a single (0.2%) mortality. Conclusion: Transcatheter occlusion of PDA by coil or occluder device is an effective therapeutic option with high success rate. Complication rate is low in the hands of skilled operators yet paediatric cardiac surgical back-up cover is mandatory. (author)

  13. Phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation in primary angle-closure suspect, primary angle-closure and primary angle-closure glaucoma with cataract

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kun Zeng

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate the features and clinical outcomes of cataract extraction by phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation in primary angle-closure suspect(PACS, primary angle-closure(PACand primary angle-closure glaucoma(PACGwith cataract.METHODS:Phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation was performed on 86 cases(86 eyesdiagnosed as PACS, PAC and PACG co-existing cataract from January to December 2012. All cases were followed up for 3 months to 1 year. Pre-operative and post-operative visual acuity, intraocular pressure(IOP, gonioscopy, ultrasound biomicroscopy(UBM, visual field and usage of anti-glaucomaous eye drops were recorded.RESULTS:Zonular dialysis existed in 19 eyes(22%. The post-operative visual acuity improved in 84 eyes(98%. The post-operative visual acuity was CONCLUSION: PACS, PAC and PACG co-existing zonular dialysis is common. Phacoemulsification with IOL implantation can reduce IOP, deepen anterior chamber and open angle.

  14. The value of vacuum-assisted closure in septic patients treated with laparostomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliakos, Ioannis; Papavramidis, Theodossis S; Michalopoulos, Nick; Deligiannidis, Nickolaos; Kesisoglou, Isaak; Sapalidis, Konstantinos; Papavramidis, Spiros

    2012-09-01

    The ideal method of temporary abdominal closure (TAC) should allow rapid closure, easy maintenance, and wound repair with minimal tissue damage. The aim of this retrospective study is to compare open abdomen outcomes between patients managed with vacuum-assisted closure (VAC), and patients managed with other methods of TAC, when septic abdomen is present. Two groups of patients with septic open abdomen: 27 treated with VAC versus 31 treated with other techniques of TAC. We studied open abdomen duration, number of dressing changes, re-exploration rate, successful abdominal closure rate, overall mortality, and development of enteroatmospheric fistulas. The VAC device demonstrated its superiority concerning open abdomen duration (P advantages concerning clinical feasibility. The high rates of direct fascia closure with an acceptable rate of ventral hernias are further benefits of this technique.

  15. 40 CFR 264.178 - Closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Use and Management of Containers § 264.178 Closure. At closure, all hazardous waste and hazardous waste residues must be removed...

  16. Closure report for N Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    This report has been prepared to satisfy Section 3156(b) of Public Law 101-189 (Reports in Connection with Permanent Closures of Department of Energy Defense Nuclear Facilities), which requires submittal of a Closure Report to Congress by the Secretary of Energy upon the permanent cessation of production operations at a US Department of Energy (DOE) defense nuclear facility (Watkins 1991). This closure report provides: (1) A complete survey of the environmental problems at the facility; (2) Budget quality data indicating the cost of environmental restoration and other remediation and cleanup efforts at the facility; (3) A proposed cleanup schedule

  17. Closure report for N Reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-01-01

    This report has been prepared to satisfy Section 3156(b) of Public Law 101-189 (Reports in Connection with Permanent Closures of Department of Energy Defense Nuclear Facilities), which requires submittal of a Closure Report to Congress by the Secretary of Energy upon the permanent cessation of production operations at a US Department of Energy (DOE) defense nuclear facility (Watkins 1991). This closure report provides: (1) A complete survey of the environmental problems at the facility; (2) Budget quality data indicating the cost of environmental restoration and other remediation and cleanup efforts at the facility; (3) A proposed cleanup schedule.

  18. Early Closure of a Temporary Ileostomy in Patients With Rectal Cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Danielsen, Anne K; Park, Jennifer; Jansen, Jens E

    2017-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study morbidity and mortality associated with early closure (8-13 days) of a temporary stoma compared with standard procedure (closure after > 12 weeks) after rectal resection for cancer. BACKGROUND: A temporary ileostomy may reduce the risk of pelvic sepsis after .......0001. CONCLUSIONS: It is safe to close a temporary ileostomy 8 to 13 days after rectal resection and anastomosis for rectal cancer in selected patients without clinical or radiological signs of anastomotic leakage.......OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study morbidity and mortality associated with early closure (8-13 days) of a temporary stoma compared with standard procedure (closure after > 12 weeks) after rectal resection for cancer. BACKGROUND: A temporary ileostomy may reduce the risk of pelvic sepsis after...... creation) of a temporary ileostomy was compared with late closure (>12 weeks) in a multicenter randomized controlled trial, EASY (www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01287637) including patients undergoing rectal resection for cancer. Patients with a temporary ileostomy without signs of postoperative complications...

  19. Farm Typology in the Berambadi Watershed (India: Farming Systems Are Determined by Farm Size and Access to Groundwater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marion Robert

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Farmers’ production decisions and agricultural practices directly and indirectly influence the quantity and quality of natural resources, some being depleted common resources such as groundwater. Representing farming systems while accounting for their flexibility is needed to evaluate targeted, regional water management policies. Farmers’ decisions regarding investing in irrigation and adopting cropping systems are inherently dynamic and must adapt to changes in climate and agronomic, economic and social, and institutional, conditions. To represent this diversity, we developed a typology of Indian farmers from a survey of 684 farms in Berambadi, an agricultural watershed in southern India (state of Karnataka. The survey provided information on farm structure, the cropping system and farm practices, water management for irrigation, and economic performances of the farm. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering were used to analyze relationships between observed factors and establish the farm typology. We identified three main types of farms: (1 large diversified and productivist farms; (2 small and marginal rainfed farms, and (3 small irrigated marketing farms. This typology represents the heterogeneity of farms in the Berambadi watershed.

  20. Endoscopic full-thickness resection and defect closure in the colon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Renteln, Daniel; Schmidt, Arthur; Vassiliou, Melina C; Rudolph, Hans-Ulrich; Caca, Karel

    2010-06-01

    Endoscopic full-thickness resection (eFTR) is a minimally invasive method for en bloc resection of GI lesions. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of a grasp-and-snare technique for eFTR combined with an over-the-scope clip (OTSC) for defect closure. Nonsurvival animal study. Animal laboratory. Fourteen female domestic pigs. The eFTR was performed in porcine colons using a novel tissue anchor in combination with a standard monofilament snare and 14 mm OTSC. In the first group (n = 20), closure of the colonic defects with OTSC was attempted after the resection. In the second group (n = 8), an endoloop was used to secure the resection base before eFTR was performed. In the first group (n = 20), eFTR specimens ranged from 2.4 to 5.5 cm in diameter. Successful closure was achieved in 9 out of 20 cases. Mean burst pressure for OTSC closure was 29.2 mm Hg (range, 2-90; SD, 29.92). Injury to adjacent organs occurred in 3 cases. Lumen obstruction due to the OTSC closure occurred in 3 cases. In the second group (n = 8), the diameter of specimens ranged from 1.2 to 2.2 cm. Complete closure was achieved in all cases, with a mean burst pressure of 76.6 mm Hg (range, 35-120; SD, 31). Lumen obstruction due to the endoloop closure occurred in one case. No other complications or injuries were observed in the second group. Nonsurvival setting. Colonic eFTR using the grasp-and-snare technique is feasible in an animal model. Ligation of the resection base with an endoloop before eFTR seems to reduce complication rates and improve closure success and leak test results despite yielding smaller specimens. Copyright 2010 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Tank Farm Interim Surface Barrier Materials And Runoff Alternatives Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holm, M.J.

    2009-01-01

    This report identifies candidate materials and concepts for interim surface barriers in the single-shell tank farms. An analysis of these materials for application to the TY tank farm is also provided.

  2. Femoral Artery Stenosis Following Percutaneous Closure Using a Starclose Closure Device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bent, Clare Louise; Kyriakides, Constantinos; Matson, Matthew

    2008-01-01

    Starclose (Abbott Vascular Devices, Redwood City, CA) is a new arterial closure device that seals a femoral puncture site with an extravascular star-shaped nitinol clip. The clip projects small tines into the arterial wall which fold inward, causing the arterial wall to pucker, producing a purse-string-like seal closing the puncture site. The case history is that of a 76-year-old female patient who underwent day-case percutaneous diagnostic coronary angiography. A Starclose femoral artery closure device was used to achieve hemostasis with subsequent femoral artery stenosis.

  3. [Velopharyngeal closure pattern and speech performance among submucous cleft palate patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heng, Yin; Chunli, Guo; Bing, Shi; Yang, Li; Jingtao, Li

    2017-06-01

    To characterize the velopharyngeal closure patterns and speech performance among submucous cleft palate patients. Patients with submucous cleft palate visiting the Department of Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University between 2008 and 2016 were reviewed. Outcomes of subjective speech evaluation including velopharyngeal function, consonant articulation, and objective nasopharyngeal endoscopy including the mobility of soft palate, pharyngeal walls were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 353 cases were retrieved in this study, among which 138 (39.09%) demonstrated velopharyngeal competence, 176 (49.86%) velopharyngeal incompetence, and 39 (11.05%) marginal velopharyngeal incompetence. A total of 268 cases were subjected to nasopharyngeal endoscopy examination, where 167 (62.31%) demonstrated circular closure pattern, 89 (33.21%) coronal pattern, and 12 (4.48%) sagittal pattern. Passavant's ridge existed in 45.51% (76/167) patients with circular closure and 13.48% (12/89) patients with coronal closure. Among the 353 patients included in this study, 137 (38.81%) presented normal articulation, 124 (35.13%) consonant elimination, 51 (14.45%) compensatory articulation, 36 (10.20%) consonant weakening, 25 (7.08%) consonant replacement, and 36 (10.20%) multiple articulation errors. Circular closure was the most prevalent velopharyngeal closure pattern among patients with submucous cleft palate, and high-pressure consonant deletion was the most common articulation abnormality. Articulation error occurred more frequently among patients with a low velopharyngeal closure rate.

  4. 9 CFR 318.301 - Containers and closures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Containers and closures. 318.301... Canning and Canned Products § 318.301 Containers and closures. (a) Examination and cleaning of empty containers. (1) Empty containers, closures, and flexible pouch roll stock shall be evaluated by the...

  5. 75 FR 29322 - Base Closure and Realignment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-25

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Base Closure and Realignment AGENCY: Office of...)(ii) of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. It provides a partial list of military installations closing or realigning pursuant to the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Report. It also...

  6. A retrospective study of functional outcomes after successful replantation versus amputation closure for single fingertip amputations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattori, Yasunori; Doi, Kazuteru; Ikeda, Keisuke; Estrella, Emmanuel P

    2006-01-01

    To compare the functional outcome of successful microsurgical replantation versus amputation closure for single fingertip amputations. Forty-six fingertip amputations in 46 patients (23 were replanted successfully, 23 had amputation closure) were included in this study. Thumb amputations were excluded. Grip strength and active range of motion of the proximal interphalangeal joint were evaluated. The patients were questioned about their symptoms of pain, paresthesia, and cold intolerance. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire was given and the disability/symptom score was evaluated. Patients' satisfaction with the surgical result was assessed. Time spent in the hospital and time off from work were reviewed. Active range of motion of the proximal interphalangeal joint was greater in the successful replantation group. Although the existence of paresthesia and cold intolerance were not statistically different between the 2 groups, pain in the affected fingers was more frequent in the amputation closure group. The average Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score of the successful replantation group was statistically better. All patients in the successful replantation group were highly or fairly satisfied with the surgical results, whereas 14 patients in the amputation closure group were highly or fairly satisfied. The time spent in the hospital and the time off from work for the successful replantation group were longer. Successful replantation of single fingertip amputations can result in minimal pain, better functional outcome, better appearance, and higher patient satisfaction. We recommend attempting fingertip replantation not only to obtain the best appearance but also to gain better functional outcome. If the patient requests the simple surgery and earlier return to work amputation closure is an accepted method despite the disadvantage of digital shortening and the risk for a painful stump. Therapeutic, Level III.

  7. An Empirical Study on the Moderate Scale of Food-production-based Family Farm in Guangxi

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yaogui WU

    2016-01-01

    The moderate scale family farm is the future agricultural business entity in China,and the scale of family farm is a key factor affecting its development.With Guigang City in Guangxi as a point for the study,from the perspective of maximizing income of rural households,this paper uses production function model to calculate the moderate scale of food-production-based family farm at 5.7 ha,and makes policy recommendations.

  8. An Assessment of Direct on-Farm Energy Use for High Value Grain Crops Grown under Different Farming Practices in Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tek Maraseni

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have quantified the energy consumption associated with crop production in various countries. However, these studies have not compared the energy consumption from a broad range of farming practices currently in practice, such as zero tillage, conventional tillage and irrigated farming systems. This study examines direct on-farm energy use for high value grain crops grown under different farming practices in Australia. Grain farming processes are identified and “typical” farming operation data are collected from several sources, including published and unpublished literature, as well as expert interviews. The direct on-farm energy uses are assessed for 27 scenarios, including three high value grain crops―wheat, barley and sorghum―for three regions (Northern, Southern and Western Australia under three farming conditions with both dryland (both for conventional and zero-tillage and irrigated conditions. It is found that energy requirement for farming operations is directly related to the intensity and frequency of farming operations, which in turn is related to tillage practices, soil types, irrigation systems, local climate, and crop types. Among the three studied regions, Western Australia requires less direct on-farm energy for each crop, mainly due to the easily workable sandy soils and adoption of zero tillage systems. In irrigated crops, irrigation energy remains a major contributor to the total on-farm energy demand, accounting for up to 85% of total energy use.

  9. Cleft Palate Fistula Closure Utilizing Acellular Dermal Matrix

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omri Emodi, DMD

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Summary:. Fistulas represent failure of cleft palate repair. Secondary and tertiary fistula repair is challenging, with high recurrence rates. In the present retrospective study, we review the efficacy of using acellular dermal matrix as an interposition layer for cleft palate fistula closure in 20 consecutive patients between 2013 and 2016. Complete fistula closure was obtained in 16 patients; 1 patient had asymptomatic recurrent fistula; 2 patients had partial closure with reduction of fistula size and minimal nasal regurgitation; 1 patient developed a recurrent fistula without changes in symptoms (success rate of 85%. We conclude that utilizing acellular dermal matrix for cleft palate fistula repair is safe and simple with a high success rate.

  10. Cleft Palate Fistula Closure Utilizing Acellular Dermal Matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emodi, Omri; Ginini, Jiriys George; van Aalst, John A; Shilo, Dekel; Naddaf, Raja; Aizenbud, Dror; Rachmiel, Adi

    2018-03-01

    Fistulas represent failure of cleft palate repair. Secondary and tertiary fistula repair is challenging, with high recurrence rates. In the present retrospective study, we review the efficacy of using acellular dermal matrix as an interposition layer for cleft palate fistula closure in 20 consecutive patients between 2013 and 2016. Complete fistula closure was obtained in 16 patients; 1 patient had asymptomatic recurrent fistula; 2 patients had partial closure with reduction of fistula size and minimal nasal regurgitation; 1 patient developed a recurrent fistula without changes in symptoms (success rate of 85%). We conclude that utilizing acellular dermal matrix for cleft palate fistula repair is safe and simple with a high success rate.

  11. Rocky Flats Solar Evaporation Ponds RCRA hybrid-closure case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogg, R.T.; Everett, L.G.; Cullen, S.J.

    1994-01-01

    The Solar Evaporation Ponds (SEP)/Operable Unit 4 (OU 4), located at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) sixteen miles northwest of Denver, Colorado, is currently undergoing remediation/Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) closure in accordance with the Rocky Flats Interagency Agreement (IAG) signed by the US Department of Energy (DOE), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Colorado Department of Health (CDH) on January 22, 1991. Based on the ''Phase 1'' (source and soils) RCRA Facility Investigation/Remedial Investigation (RFM data and interpretations), the DOE and EG and G Rocky Flats, Inc. (EG and G) have selected a permanent surface engineered/isolation barrier as the technological option for remediation of the SEP. The DOE and EG and G will utilize all natural materials to create an ''impermeable'' barrier/structure to isolate the waste being left in place from impacting human health and the environment for a minimum of 1,000 years. Their rationale for utilizing natural materials is two fold; (1) optimize long term performance of the barrier and; (2) design a structure which will be near maintenance free (passive remediation) for 1,000 years. The DOE and EG and G have taken a proactive approach in providing post closure performance assessment for this RCRA closure action. An integrated monitoring system has been designed which will include monitoring the engineered barrier, vadose zone and ground water systems. Rocky Flats will integrate instrumentation into the permanent engineered barrier which will provide early warning of potential liquid migration through the barrier and into the waste zone

  12. Simulated Leaching (Migration) Study for a Model Container-Closure System Applicable to Parenteral and Ophthalmic Drug Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenke, Dennis; Egert, Thomas; Hendricker, Alan; Castner, James; Feinberg, Tom; Houston, Christopher; Hunt, Desmond G; Lynch, Michael; Nicholas, Kumudini; Norwood, Daniel L; Paskiet, Diane; Ruberto, Michael; Smith, Edward J; Holcomb, Frank; Markovic, Ingrid

    2017-01-01

    A simulating leaching (migration) study was performed on a model container-closure system relevant to parenteral and ophthalmic drug products. This container-closure system consisted of a linear low-density polyethylene bottle (primary container), a polypropylene cap and an elastomeric cap liner (closure), an adhesive label (labeling), and a foil overpouch (secondary container). The bottles were filled with simulating solvents (aqueous salt/acid mixture at pH 2.5, aqueous buffer at pH 9.5, and 1/1 v/v isopropanol/water), a label was affixed to the filled and capped bottles, the filled bottles were placed into the foil overpouch, and the filled and pouched units were stored either upright or inverted for up to 6 months at 40 °C. After storage, the leaching solutions were tested for leached substances using multiple complementary analytical techniques to address volatile, semi-volatile, and non-volatile organic and inorganic extractables as potential leachables.The leaching data generated supported several conclusions, including that (1) the extractables (leachables) profile revealed by a simulating leaching study can qualitatively be correlated with compositional information for materials of construction, (2) the chemical nature of both the extracting medium and the individual extractables (leachables) can markedly affect the resulting profile, and (3) while direct contact between a drug product and a system's material of construction may exacerbate the leaching of substances from that material by the drug product, direct contact is not a prerequisite for migration and leaching to occur. LAY ABSTRACT: The migration of container-related extractables from a model pharmaceutical container-closure system and into simulated drug product solutions was studied, focusing on circumstances relevant to parenteral and ophthalmic drug products. The model system was constructed specifically to address the migration of extractables from labels applied to the outside of the

  13. Results of the combined U.S. Multicenter Pivotal Study and the Continuing Access Study of the Nit-Occlud PDA device for percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, John W; Greene, Jessica; Palomares, Salvadore; Javois, Alexander; Owada, Carl Y; Cheatham, John P; Hoyer, Mark H; Jones, Thomas K; Levi, Daniel S

    2014-12-01

    This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of the Nit-Occlud PDA device (PFM Medical, Cologne, Germany) to benchmarks designed as objective performance criteria (OPC). The Nit-Occlud PDA is a nitinol coil-type patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occluder with a reverse cone configuration, which is implanted using a controlled delivery system. Patients with closure (clinical and echocardiographic), and safety criteria incidence of adverse events (serious and of total). The Pivotal Study enrolled patients between November 1, 2002 and October 31, 2005, and the Continuing Access Study enrolled additional patients between September 1, 2006 and October 31, 2007. A total of 357 patients were enrolled, and 347 had successful device implantations. After 12 months, 96.8% had complete echocardiographic closure (OPC = 85%) and 98.1% had clinical closure (OPC = 95%). There were no deaths or serious adverse events (OPC = 1%). The total adverse event rate was 4.7% (OPC = 6%). Composite success was 95.1% in the study patients (OPC = 80%). Closure of small- and medium-sized PDA with the Nit-Occlud PDA is effective and safe when compared with OPC. Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Improving environmental management on small-scale farms: perspectives of extension educators and horse farm operators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rebecca, Perry-Hill; Linda, Prokopy

    2015-01-01

    Although the number of small-scale farms is increasing in North America and Europe, few studies have been conducted to better understand environmental management in this sector. We investigate this issue by examining environmental management on horse farms from both the perspective of the "expert" extension educator and horse farm operator. We conducted a Delphi survey and follow-up interviews with extension educators in Indiana and Kentucky. We also conducted interviews and farm assessments with 15 horse farm operators in the two states. Our results suggest a disconnection between the perceptions of extension educators and horse farm operators. Extension educators believed that operators of small horse farms are unfamiliar with conservation practices and their environmental benefits and they found it difficult to target outreach to this audience. In the interviews with horse farm operators, we found that the majority were somewhat familiar with conservation practices like rotational grazing, soil testing, heavy use area protection, and manure composting. It was not common, however, for practices to be implemented to generally recognized standards. The horse farm respondents perceived these practices as interrelated parts of a system of farm management that has developed over time to best deal with the physical features of the property, needs of the horses, and available resources. Because conservation practices must be incorporated into a complex farm management system, traditional models of extension (i.e., diffusion of innovations) may be inappropriate for promoting better environmental management on horse farms.

  15. Closure Welding of Plutonium Bearing Storage Containers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cannell, G.R.

    2002-01-01

    A key element in the Department of Energy (DOE) strategy for the stabilization, packaging and storage of plutonium-bearing materials involves closure welding of DOE-STD-3013 Outer Containers (3013 container). The 3013 container provides the primary barrier and pressure boundary preventing release of plutonium-bearing materials to the environment. The final closure (closure weld) of the 3013 container must be leaktight, structurally sound and meet DOE STD 3013 specified criteria. This paper focuses on the development, qualification and demonstration of the welding process for the closure welding of Hanford PFP 3013 outer containers

  16. Vacuum-assisted closure therapy for infected perineal wounds after abdominoperineal resection. A retrospective cohort study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Walma, M S; Burbach, J P M; Verheijen, P M; Pronk, A; van Grevenstein, W M U

    INTRODUCTION: Perineal wound complications are a main problem after abdominoperineal resection (APR). There is little evidence concerning perineal wound management. This study describes and evaluates the role of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy in wound management strategies of perineal wound

  17. Fuel channel closure and adapter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cashen, W.S.

    1985-01-01

    This invention provides a mechanical closure/actuating ram combination particularly suited for use in sealing the ends of the pressure tubes when a CANDU-type reactor is refueled. It provides a cluster that may be inserted into a fuel channel end fitting to provide at least partial closing off of a pressure tube while permitting the disengagement of the fueling machine and its withdrawal from the closure for other purposes. The invention also provides a ram/closure combination wherein the application of loading force to a deformable sealing disk is regulated by a massive load bar component forming part of the fueling machine and being therefore accessible for maintenance or replacement

  18. Contemporary Approach to the Diagnosis and Management of Primary Angle-Closure Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razeghinejad, M Reza; Myers, Jonathan S

    2018-05-16

    Primary angle closure disease spectrum varies from a narrow angle to advanced glaucoma. A variety of imaging technologies may assist the clinician in determining the pathophysiology and diagnosis of primary angle closure, but gonioscopy remains a mainstay of clinical evaluation. Laser iridotomy effectively eliminates the pupillary block component of angle closure; however, studies show that in many patients the iridocorneal angle remains narrow from underlying anatomic issues, and increasing lens size often leads to further narrowing over time. Recent studies have further characterized the role of the lens in angle closure disease, and cataract or clear lens extraction is increasingly used earlier in its management. As a first surgical step in angle closure glaucoma, lens extraction alone often effectively controls the pressure with less risk of complications than concurrent or stand alone glaucoma surgery, but may not be sufficient in more advanced or severe disease. We provide a comprehensive review on the primary angle-closure disease nomenclature, imaging, and current laser and surgical management. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  19. Wound infection following stoma takedown: primary skin closure versus subcuticular purse-string suture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marquez, Thao T; Christoforidis, Dimitrios; Abraham, Anasooya; Madoff, Robert D; Rothenberger, David A

    2010-12-01

    Stoma closure has been associated with a high rate of surgical site infection (SSI) and the ideal stoma-site skin closure technique is still debated. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of SSI following primary skin closure (PC) versus a skin-approximating, subcuticular purse-string closure (APS). All consecutive patients undergoing stoma closure between 2002 and 2007 by two surgeons at a single tertiary-care institution were retrospectively assessed. Patients who had a new stoma created at the same site or those without wound closure were excluded. The end point was SSI, determined according to current CDC guidelines, at the stoma closure site and/or the midline laparotomy incision. There were 61 patients in the PC group (surgeon A: 58 of 61) and 17 in the APS group (surgeon B: 16 of 17). The two groups were similar in baseline and intraoperative characteristics, except that patients in the PC group were more often diagnosed with benign disease (p = 0.0156) and more often had a stapled anastomosis (p = 0.002). The overall SSI rate was 14 of 78 (18%). All SSIs occurred in the PC group (14 of 61 vs. 0 of 17, p = 0.03). Our study suggests that a skin-approximating closure with a subcuticular purse-string of the stoma site leads to less SSI than a primary closure. Randomized studies are needed to confirm our findings and assess additional end points such as healing time, cost, and patient satisfaction.

  20. Restaurant closures

    CERN Document Server

    Novae Restauration

    2012-01-01

    Christmas Restaurant closures Please note that the Restaurant 1 and Restaurant 3 will be closed from Friday, 21 December at 5 p.m. to Sunday, 6 January, inclusive. They will reopen on Monday, 7 January 2013.   Restaurant 2 closure for renovation To meet greater demand and to modernize its infrastructure, Restaurant 2 will be closed from Monday, 17 December. On Monday, 14 January 2013, Sophie Vuetaz’s team will welcome you to a renovated self-service area on the 1st floor. The selections on the ground floor will also be expanded to include pasta and pizza, as well as snacks to eat in or take away. To ensure a continuity of service, we suggest you take your break at Restaurant 1 or Restaurant 3 (Prévessin).

  1. Design Alternative Evaluation No. 3: Post-Closure Ventilation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Logan, R.C.

    1999-01-01

    The objective of this study is to provide input to the Enhanced Design Alternatives (EDA) for License Application Design Selection (LADS). Its purpose is to develop and evaluate conceptual designs for post-closure ventilation alternatives that enhance repository performance. Post-closure ventilation is expected to enhance repository performance by limiting the amount of water contacting the waste packages. Limiting the amount of water contacting the waste packages will reduce corrosion

  2. Randomized clinical trial of intestinal ostomy takedown comparing pursestring wound closure vs conventional closure to eliminate the risk of wound infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camacho-Mauries, Daniel; Rodriguez-Díaz, José Luis; Salgado-Nesme, Noel; González, Quintín H; Vergara-Fernández, Omar

    2013-02-01

    The use of temporary stomas has been demonstrated to reduce septic complications, especially in high-risk anastomosis; therefore, it is necessary to reduce the number of complications secondary to ostomy takedowns, namely wound infection, anastomotic leaks, and intestinal obstruction. To compare the rates of superficial wound infection and patient satisfaction after pursestring closure of ostomy wound vs conventional linear closure. Patients undergoing colostomy or ileostomy closure between January 2010 and February 2011 were randomly assigned to linear closure (n = 30) or pursestring closure (n = 31) of their ostomy wound. Wound infection within 30 days of surgery was defined as the presence of purulent discharge, pain, erythema, warmth, or positive culture for bacteria. Patient satisfaction, healing time, difficulty managing the wound, and limitation of activities were analyzed with the Likert questionnaire. The infection rate for the control group was 36.6% (n = 11) vs 0% in the pursestring closure group (p ostomy wound closure (shorter healing time and improved patient satisfaction).

  3. Evaluation of cesarean scar after single- and double-layer hysterotomy closure: a prospective cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tekiner, Nur Betül; Çetin, Berna Aslan; Türkgeldi, Lale Susan; Yılmaz, Gökçe; Polat, İbrahim; Gedikbaşı, Ali

    2018-05-01

    We aimed to determine if there is a difference in the size of the cesarean scar defect using saline infusion sonography (SIS) performed on the postoperative third month in patients who underwent single- or double-layered unlocked closure of their uterine incision during their first cesarean delivery. This study was conducted as a prospective cross-sectional study between February 2015 and January 2016 in patients admitted to the labour ward of the Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Training and Research Hospital who subsequently underwent their first delivery by cesarean section. Patients with a previous history of cesarean delivery, preterm pregnancies less than 34 gestational weeks, patients lost to follow-up or those who had an IUD inserted after delivery were excluded from the study. Out of the 327 patients who underwent primary cesarean delivery, 280 were included into the study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the single- (n:126) or double-layered (n:156) closure of their uterine incision. The maternal age, height, weight, obstetric and gynecologic histories, medical histories, indications for their cesarean delivery, technique of uterine closure, birth weight of the baby, duration of the cesarean delivery, need for extra suturing and transfusion were recorded. A Saline infusion sonography (SIS) was performed 3 months postoperatively to determine the presence, depth and length of the cesarean scar. The residual myometrial thickness overlying the scar defect and the fundal myometrial thickness were recorded. No difference was detected between the groups with respect to patient characteristics, whether the operation was elective or emergent, the type of anesthesia used, need for extra suturing, incidence of bladder injuries or uterine atony, need for blood transfusions, duration of labour or cervical dilatation and effacement between the two groups. No statistically significant difference was detected between the two groups with respect to the length

  4. Household responses to school closure resulting from outbreak of influenza B, North Carolina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, April J; Moore, Zack S; Edelson, Paul J; Kinnane, Lynda; Davies, Megan; Shay, David K; Balish, Amanda; McCarron, Meg; Blanton, Lenee; Finelli, Lyn; Averhoff, Francisco; Bresee, Joseph; Engel, Jeffrey; Fiore, Anthony

    2008-07-01

    School closure is a proposed strategy for reducing influenza transmission during a pandemic. Few studies have assessed how families respond to closures, or whether other interactions during closure could reduce this strategy's effect. Questionnaires were administered to 220 households (438 adults and 355 children) with school-age children in a North Carolina county during an influenza B virus outbreak that resulted in school closure. Closure was considered appropriate by 201 (91%) households. No adults missed work to solely provide childcare, and only 22 (10%) households required special childcare arrangements; 2 households incurred additional costs. Eighty-nine percent of children visited at least 1 public location during the closure despite county recommendations to avoid large gatherings. Although behavior and attitudes might differ during a pandemic, these results suggest short-term closure did not cause substantial hardship for parents. Pandemic planning guidance should address the potential for transmission in public areas during school closure.

  5. A Wind Farm Electrical Systems Evaluation with EeFarm-II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Pierik

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available EeFarm-II is used to evaluate 13 different electrical systems for a 200 MW wind farm with a 100 km connection to shore. The evaluation is based on component manufacturer data of 2009. AC systems are compared to systems with DC connections inside the wind farm and DC connection to shore. Two options have the best performance for this wind farm size and distance: the AC system and the system with a DC connection to shore. EeFarm-II is a user friendly computer program for wind farm electrical and economic evaluation. It has been built as a Simulink Library in the graphical interface of Matlab-Simulink. EeFarm-II contains models of wind turbines, generators, transformers, AC cables, inductors, nodes, splitters, PWM converters, thyristor converters, DC cables, choppers and statcoms.

  6. Patent ductus arteriosus closure using an Amplatzer(™) ventricular septal defect closure device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernando, Rajeev; Koranne, Ketan; Loyalka, Pranav; Kar, Biswajit; Gregoric, Igor

    2013-01-01

    The ductus arteriosus originates from the persistence of the distal portion of the left sixth aortic arch. It connects the descending aorta (immediately distal to the left subclavian artery) to the roof of the main pulmonary artery, near the origin of the left pulmonary artery. Persistence of the duct beyond 48 h after birth is abnormal and results in patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). PDA is rare in adults because it is usually discovered and treated in childhood. Mechanical closure remains the definitive therapy because the patency of ductus arteriosus may lead to multiple complications, depending on the size and flow through the ductus. PDA closure is indicated in patients with symptoms and evidence of left heart enlargement, and in patients with elevated pulmonary pressures when reversal is possible. Transcatheter closure is the preferred technique in adults because it avoids sternotomy, reduces the length of hospital stay and is associated with fewer complications compared with surgery. First demonstrated in 1967, both the technique and the occluder devices used have since evolved. However, designing an ideal PDA occluder has been a challenge due to the variability in size, shape and orientation of PDAs. The present article describes a case involving a 35-year-old woman who presented to the Center for Advanced Heart Failure (Houston, USA) with congestive heart failure due to a large PDA, which was successfully occluded using an Amplatzer (St Jude Medical, USA) muscular ventricular septal defect closure device. The wider waist and dual-retention discs of these ventricular septal defect closure devices may be important factors to consider in the future development of devices for the occlusion of large PDAs.

  7. Comparison of axial lengths in occludable angle and angle-closure glaucoma-The Bhaktapur Glaucoma Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thapa, S.S.; Paudyal, I.; Khanal, S.; Paudel, N.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose. To compare the anterior chamber depth (ACD) and axial length of eyes in a population-based sample among normal, occludable angle, and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) groups. Methods. Totally, 3979 subjects from a population-based glaucoma prevalence study underwent complete ocular

  8. Analysis of Goat Farming on Integrated Farming System in Banyumas

    OpenAIRE

    Hidayat, NN

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this research were : 1) to find out the income generated from goat farming and its contribution to farmer income in several farming combination, 2) to find out the economic efficiency in goat farming with paddy and fish production, 3) to determine factors affecting level of production and income in different farming system, partially and aggregately, and 4) to determine the best combination of farming which generated maximum income. Household farmer survey method was performe...

  9. Special closures for steel drum shipping containers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonzon, L.L.; Otts, J.V.

    1976-01-01

    The objective of this program was to develop special lid closures for typical, steel drum, radioactive material shipping containers. Previous experience and testing had shown that the existing container was adequate to withstand the required environmental tests for certification, but that the lid and closure were just marginally effective. Specifically, the lid closure failed to consistently maintain a tight seal between the container and the lid after drop tests, thus causing the package contents to be vulnerable in the subsequent fire test. Recognizing the deficiency, the United States Energy Research and Development Administration requested the development of new closure(s) which would: (1) be as strong and resistant to a drop as the bottom of the container; (2) have minimal economic impact on the overall container cost; (3) maximize the use of existing container designs; (4) consider crush loads; and (5) result in less dependence on personnel and loading procedures. Several techniques were evaluated and found to be more effective than the standard closure mechanism. Of these, three new closure techniques were designed, fabricated, and proven to be structurally adequate to provide containment when a 454-kg drum was drop tested from 9.14-m onto an unyielding surface. The three designs were: (1) a 152-mm long lid extension or skirt welded to the standard drum lid, (2) a separate inner lid, with 152-mm long skirt and (3) C-clamps used at the container-lid interface. Based upon structural integrity, economic impact, and minimal design change, the lid extension is the recommended special closure

  10. Flexible Exchange of Farming Device Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iftikhar, Nadeem; Pedersen, Torben Bach

    2011-01-01

    A new trend in the farming business is to replace conventional farming devices with computerized farming devices. Accordingly, numerous computer-based farming devices for logging, processing and exchanging data have recently been installed on moving farm machinery such as tractors. The exchange o......-directional data exchange as well as efficient requirements change management through a graphical user interface. The paper also demonstrates the use of the proposed solution based on a farming case study and open source technologies....... and systems to exchange data based on a predefined set of rules. In consequence, many hand-coded data exchange solutions have been developed in the farming business. Although efforts regarding incorporating data exchange standards have been made, their actual usage so far has been limited, due to the fact...

  11. Farm and cow-level prevalence of bovine digital dermatitis on dairy farms in Taranaki, New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, D A; Heuer, C; Laven, R; Vink, W D; Chesterton, R N

    2017-09-01

    The aims of this cross-sectional study were to investigate the herd and cow-level prevalence of bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) in dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand, and to identify whether there was any spatial clustering of herds with the disease. A survey of 224 dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand was undertaken from September 2014 to February 2015. Following training in robust criteria to confirm BDD visually, a technician inspected the rear feet of every milking cow on the farms during milking. The identity of cows with lesions and the feet involved were recorded. The proportion of cows affected among the inspected population (cow-level prevalence), the proportion of a herd affected (farm-level prevalence), and proportion of farms with ≥1 cow with lesions, were calculated. A bivariate K function analysis was then used to assess whether farms with ≥1 cow with lesions were clustered, after accounting for the distribution of the farms involved in the study. Bovine digital dermatitis lesions were observed on 143/224 (63.8 (95% CI=57.5-70.1)%) farms. Within-farm prevalence was 0% on 81 (36.2%) farms, between >0 and cow-level prevalence was 707/60,455 (1.2 (95% CI=0.9-3.0)%), and on affected farms was 707/41,116 (1.7 (95% CI=1.4-2.1)%). In affected cows, 268/707 (37.9%) had a lesion on left foot only, 262/707 (37.1%) on the right foot only and 177/707 (25.0%) on both feet. The K function analysis showed no evidence of clustering of farms with BDD. Bovine digital dermatitis was widespread among the survey farms, but there was no evidence that there was any clustering of herds with BDD. The cow-level prevalence on affected farms was much lower than reported elsewhere. Although the prevalence at the cow level was low, if these data are representative of other regions of New Zealand, BDD could easily become a major problem on dairy farms in New Zealand, as has been observed in other countries.

  12. Modelling the economics of farm-based anaerobic digestion in a UK whole-farm context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, Philip; Salter, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Anaerobic digestion (AD) technologies convert organic wastes and crops into methane-rich biogas for heating, electricity generation and vehicle fuel. Farm-based AD has proliferated in some EU countries, driven by favourable policies promoting sustainable energy generation and GHG mitigation. Despite increased state support there are still few AD plants on UK farms leading to a lack of normative data on viability of AD in the whole-farm context. Farmers and lenders are therefore reluctant to fund AD projects and policy makers are hampered in their attempts to design policies that adequately support the industry. Existing AD studies and modelling tools do not adequately capture the farm context within which AD interacts. This paper demonstrates a whole-farm, optimisation modelling approach to assess the viability of AD in a more holistic way, accounting for such issues as: AD scale, synergies and conflicts with other farm enterprises, choice of feedstocks, digestate use and impact on farm Net Margin. This modelling approach demonstrates, for example, that: AD is complementary to dairy enterprises, but competes with arable enterprises for farm resources. Reduced nutrient purchases significantly improve Net Margin on arable farms, but AD scale is constrained by the capacity of farmland to absorb nutrients in AD digestate. -- Highlights: •Lack of empirical data on UK farm AD is barrier to investment and policy formulation. •A modelling approach used to assess economic viability of AD in whole-farm context. •AD increases dairy and arable farm net margin including by savings in nutrient costs. •AD margins better for a few crops than other uses, especially wheat and beet crops. •AD co-exists with dairy, but to obtain best margin displaces conventional cropping

  13. Controlled Traffic Farming

    OpenAIRE

    Controlled Traffic Farming Europe

    2011-01-01

    Metadata only record Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) is a farming method used to reduce soil compaction, decrease inputs, and improve soil structure when coupled with reduced-till or no-till practices. This practices utilizes permanent traffic/wheel zones to limit soil compaction to a specific area. This website provides practical information on CTF, case studies, workshops, and links to additional resources.

  14. A longitudinal study of Escherichia coli O157 in cattle of a Dutch dairy farm and in the farm environment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schouten, J.M.; Graat, E.A.M.; Frankena, K.; Giessen, van de A.W.; Zwaluw, van der W.K.; Jong, de M.C.M.

    2005-01-01

    From July 1999 till November 2000, a longitudinal study was conducted on a dairy farm in The Netherlands to study within herd prevalence and types of verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) of serogroup O157 over time, and determine environmental reservoirs and possible transmission routes.

  15. Some Recent Developments in Turbulence Closure Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durbin, Paul A.

    2018-01-01

    Turbulence closure models are central to a good deal of applied computational fluid dynamical analysis. Closure modeling endures as a productive area of research. This review covers recent developments in elliptic relaxation and elliptic blending models, unified rotation and curvature corrections, transition prediction, hybrid simulation, and data-driven methods. The focus is on closure models in which transport equations are solved for scalar variables, such as the turbulent kinetic energy, a timescale, or a measure of anisotropy. Algebraic constitutive representations are reviewed for their role in relating scalar closures to the Reynolds stress tensor. Seamless and nonzonal methods, which invoke a single closure model, are reviewed, especially detached eddy simulation (DES) and adaptive DES. Other topics surveyed include data-driven modeling and intermittency and laminar fluctuation models for transition prediction. The review concludes with an outlook.

  16. Persistent Spatial Clusters of Prescribed Antimicrobials among Danish Pig Farms – A Register-Based Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fertner, Mette; Sanchez, Javier; Boklund, Anette; Stryhn, Henrik; Dupont, Nana; Toft, Nils

    2015-01-01

    The emergence of pathogens resistant to antimicrobials has prompted political initiatives targeting a reduction in the use of veterinary antimicrobials in Denmark, especially for pigs. This study elucidates the tendency of pig farms with a significantly higher antimicrobial use to remain in clusters in certain geographical regions of Denmark. Animal Daily Doses/100 pigs/day were calculated for all three age groups of pigs (weaners, finishers and sows) for each quarter during 2012–13 in 6,143 commercial indoor pig producing farms. The data were split into four time periods of six months. Repeated spatial cluster analyses were performed to identify persistent clusters, i.e. areas included in a significant cluster throughout all four time periods. Antimicrobials prescribed for weaners did not result in any persistent clusters. In contrast, antimicrobial use in finishers clustered persistently in two areas (157 farms), while those issued for sows clustered in one area (51 farms). A multivariate analysis including data on antimicrobial use for weaners, finishers and sows as three separate outcomes resulted in three persistent clusters (551 farms). Compared to farms outside the clusters during this period, weaners, finishers and sows on farms within these clusters had 19%, 104% and 4% higher use of antimicrobials, respectively. Production type, farm type and farm size seemed to have some bearing on the clustering effect. Adding these factors as categorical covariates one at a time in the multivariate analysis reduced the persistent clusters by 24.3%, 30.5% and 34.1%, respectively. PMID:26317206

  17. Analysis of Mining-induced Valley Closure Movements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, C.; Mitra, R.; Oh, J.; Hebblewhite, B.

    2016-05-01

    Valley closure movements have been observed for decades in Australia and overseas when underground mining occurred beneath or in close proximity to valleys and other forms of irregular topographies. Valley closure is defined as the inward movements of the valley sides towards the valley centreline. Due to the complexity of the local geology and the interplay between several geological, topographical and mining factors, the underlying mechanisms that actually cause this behaviour are not completely understood. A comprehensive programme of numerical modelling investigations has been carried out to further evaluate and quantify the influence of a number of these mining and geological factors and their inter-relationships. The factors investigated in this paper include longwall positional factors, horizontal stress, panel width, depth of cover and geological structures around the valley. It is found that mining in a series passing beneath the valley dramatically increases valley closure, and mining parallel to valley induces much more closure than other mining orientations. The redistribution of horizontal stress and influence of mining activity have also been recognised as important factors promoting valley closure, and the effect of geological structure around the valley is found to be relatively small. This paper provides further insight into both the valley closure mechanisms and how these mechanisms should be considered in valley closure prediction models.

  18. Biomechanics Strategies for Space Closure in Deep Overbite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harryanto Wijaya

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Space closure is an interesting aspect of orthodontic treatment related to principles of biomechanics. It should be tailored individually based on patient’s diagnosis and treatment plan. Understanding the space closure biomechanics basis leads to achieve the desired treatment objective. Overbite deepening and losing posterior anchorage are the two most common unwanted side effects in space closure. Conventionally, correction of overbite must be done before space closure resulted in longer treatment. Application of proper space closure biomechanics strategies is necessary to achieve the desired treatment outcome. This cases report aimed to show the space closure biomechanics strategies that effectively control the overbite as well as posterior anchorage in deep overbite patients without increasing treatment time. Two patients who presented with class II division 1 malocclusion were treated with fixed orthodontic appliance. The primary strategies included extraction space closure on segmented arch that employed two-step space closure, namely single canine retraction simultaneously with incisors intrusion followed by enmasse retraction of four incisors by using differential moment concept. These strategies successfully closed the space, corrected deep overbite and controlled posterior anchorage simultaneously so that the treatment time was shortened. Biomechanics strategies that utilized were effective to achieve the desired treatment outcome.

  19. Magnetisable container closure and means for its removal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrett, W.I.

    1984-01-01

    A container has a closed lower end and an open upper end, is made of a non-magnetic material such as aluminium, and has a peripheral groove spaced from the open end. A disc-like closure is of magnetic material such as ferritic steel, has a pair of spring jaws joined to the disc by a joining member such that when the disc of the closure is in position closing the open end of the container, the jaws engage in groove and hold the closure in position. To remove the closure, it is engaged by magnetic means mounted for example on a wall and having a step such that when the container is moved laterally away the closure is retained by the magnetic means aided by the step and thereby the closure becomes removed from the container. (author)

  20. Different Shades of Green: A Case Study of Support for Wind Farms in the Rural Midwest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulvaney, Kate K.; Woodson, Patrick; Prokopy, Linda Stalker

    2013-05-01

    Benton County, in north-central Indiana, USA has successfully sited more than 500 turbines. To understand Benton County's acceptance of wind farms, a holistic case study was conducted that included a document review, a survey of local residents and interviews with key stakeholders. Survey questionnaires were sent to 750 residents asking questions about attitudes toward the wind farms, perceived benefits and impacts from the wind farms, environmental attitudes, and demographic information. Key stakeholders were also interviewed for a deeper understanding of the historical timeline and community acceptance of the wind farm development. While there is limited opposition to the turbines, on the whole the community presents a front of acceptance. Financial, rather than environmental, benefits are the main reason for the acceptance. Although significant in other case studies, transparency and participation do not play a large role in Benton County's acceptance. Most residents are not concerned with either visual impacts or noise from the wind turbines. More concrete benefits to the community, such as reduced energy bills for county residents, could help to extend acceptance even further within the community. Although there are concerns about the acceptance of wind farms and the impacts of those farms on local residents in both peer-reviewed literature and popular media, we found little evidence of those concerns in Benton County. Instead, we found Benton County to be a community largely accepting of wind farms.

  1. Straight line closure of congenital macrostomia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schwarz Richard

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The results of patients operated on by Nepal Cleft Lip and Palate Association (NECLAPA surgeons for congenital macrostomia were prospectively studied between January 2000 and December 2002. There were four males and three females with a median age of 10 years. Three had an associated branchial arch syndrome. In all patients an overlapping repair of orbicularis oris was done. Six patients had a straight line closure with excellent cosmetic results and one a Z-plasty with a more obvious scar. All had a normal appearing commissure. Overlapping orbicularis repair with straight line skin closure for this rare congenital anomaly is recommended.

  2. Urethrovaginal fistula closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clifton, Marisa M; Goldman, Howard B

    2017-01-01

    In the developed world, urethrovaginal fistulas are most the likely the result of iatrogenic injury. These fistulas are quite rare. Proper surgical repair requires careful dissection and tension-free closure. The objective of this video is to demonstrate the identification and surgical correction of an urethrovaginal fistula. The case presented is of a 59-year-old woman with a history of pelvic organ prolapse and symptomatic stress urinary incontinence who underwent vaginal hysterectomy, anterior colporrhaphy, posterior colporrhaphy, and synthetic sling placement. Postoperatively, she developed a mesh extrusion and underwent sling excision. After removal of her synthetic sling, she began to experience continuous urinary incontinence. Physical examination and cystourethroscopy demonstrated an urethrovaginal fistula at the midurethra. Options were discussed and the patient wished to undergo transvaginal fistula repair. The urethrovaginal fistula was intubated with a Foley catheter. The fistula tract was isolated and removed. The urethra was then closed with multiple tension-free layers. This video demonstrates several techniques for identifying and subsequently repairing an urethrovaginal fistula. Additionally, it demonstrates the importance of tension-free closure. Urethrovaginal fistulas are rare. They should be repaired with careful dissection and tension-free closure.

  3. Knowledge of Precision Farming Beneficiaries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.V. Greena

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Precision Farming is one of the many advanced farming practices that make production more efficient by better resource management and reducing wastage. TN-IAMWARM is a world bank funded project aims to improve the farm productivity and income through better water management. The present study was carried out in Kambainallur sub basin of Dharmapuri district with 120 TN-IAMWARM beneficiaries as respondents. The result indicated that more than three fourth (76.67 % of the respondents had high level of knowledge on precision farming technologies which was made possible by the implementation of TN-IAMWARM project. The study further revealed that educational status, occupational status and exposure to agricultural messages had a positive and significant contribution to the knowledge level of the respondents at 0.01 level of probability whereas experience in precision farming and social participation had a positive and significant contribution at 0.05 level of probability.

  4. Hormonal regulation of floret closure of rice (Oryza sativa.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Youming Huang

    Full Text Available Plant hormones play important roles in regulating every aspect of growth, development, and metabolism of plants. We are interested in understanding hormonal regulation of floret opening and closure in plants. This is a particularly important problem for hybrid rice because regulation of flowering time is vitally important in hybrid rice seed production. However, little was known about the effects of plant hormones on rice flowering. We have shown that jasmonate and methyl jasmonate play significant roles in promoting rice floret opening. In this study, we investigated the effects of auxins including indole-3-acidic acid (IAA, indole-3-butyric acid (IBA, 1-naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA, 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D and 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (DIC and abscisic acid (ABA on floret closure of four fertile and three sterile varieties of rice. The results from field studies in three growing seasons in 2013-2015 showed that the percentages of closed florets were significantly lower in plants treated with IAA, IBA, 2,4-D, DIC and NAA and that the durations of floret opening were significantly longer in plants treated with the same auxins. The auxins exhibited time- and concentration-dependant effects on floret closure. ABA displayed opposite effects of auxins because it increased the percentages of floret closure and decreased the length of floret opening of rice varieties. The degree of auxin-inhibiting and ABA-promoting effects on floret closure was varied somewhat but not significantly different among the rice varieties. Endogenous IAA levels were the highest in florets collected shortly before opening followed by a sharp decline in florets with maximal angles of opening and a significant jump of IAA levels shortly after floret closure in both fertile and sterile rice plants. ABA levels showed an opposite trend in the same samples. Our results showed that auxins delayed but ABA promoted the closure of rice floret regardless of

  5. Hormonal regulation of floret closure of rice (Oryza sativa)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Youming; Zeng, Xiaochun

    2018-01-01

    Plant hormones play important roles in regulating every aspect of growth, development, and metabolism of plants. We are interested in understanding hormonal regulation of floret opening and closure in plants. This is a particularly important problem for hybrid rice because regulation of flowering time is vitally important in hybrid rice seed production. However, little was known about the effects of plant hormones on rice flowering. We have shown that jasmonate and methyl jasmonate play significant roles in promoting rice floret opening. In this study, we investigated the effects of auxins including indole-3-acidic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 1-naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) and 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (DIC) and abscisic acid (ABA) on floret closure of four fertile and three sterile varieties of rice. The results from field studies in three growing seasons in 2013–2015 showed that the percentages of closed florets were significantly lower in plants treated with IAA, IBA, 2,4-D, DIC and NAA and that the durations of floret opening were significantly longer in plants treated with the same auxins. The auxins exhibited time- and concentration-dependant effects on floret closure. ABA displayed opposite effects of auxins because it increased the percentages of floret closure and decreased the length of floret opening of rice varieties. The degree of auxin-inhibiting and ABA-promoting effects on floret closure was varied somewhat but not significantly different among the rice varieties. Endogenous IAA levels were the highest in florets collected shortly before opening followed by a sharp decline in florets with maximal angles of opening and a significant jump of IAA levels shortly after floret closure in both fertile and sterile rice plants. ABA levels showed an opposite trend in the same samples. Our results showed that auxins delayed but ABA promoted the closure of rice floret regardless of the varieties

  6. Farm workers’ perception of animal welfare – A Danish Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Anneberg, Inger

    2017-01-01

    The welfare of farm animals depends on development in production systems, economic drivers and regulation but also human factors – such as farmers’ perceptions of animal welfare, management strategies, communication, knowledge and training. In this study I have examined the perception of animal...

  7. Closure of shallow underground injection wells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veil, J.A.; Grunewald, B.

    1993-01-01

    Shallow injection wells have long been used for disposing liquid wastes. Some of these wells have received hazardous or radioactive wastes. According to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, Class IV wells are those injection wells through which hazardous or radioactive wastes are injected into or above an underground source of drinking water (USDW). These wells must be closed. Generally Class V wells are injection wells through which fluids that do not contain hazardous or radioactive wastes are injected into or above a USDW. Class V wells that are responsible for violations of drinking water regulations or that pose a threat to human health must also be closed. Although EPA regulations require closure of certain types of shallow injection wells, they do not provide specific details on the closure process. This paper describes the regulatory background, DOE requirements, and the steps in a shallow injection well closure process: Identification of wells needing closure; monitoring and disposal of accumulated substances; filling and sealing of wells; and remediation. In addition, the paper describes a major national EPA shallow injection well enforcement initiative, including closure plan guidance for wells used to dispose of wastes from service station operations

  8. Reliability assessment of underground shaft closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fossum, A.F.; Munson, D.E.

    1994-01-01

    The intent of the WIPP, being constructed in the bedded geologic salt deposits of Southeastern New Mexico, is to provide the technological basis for the safe disposal of radioactive Transuranic (TRU) wastes generated by the defense programs of the United States. In determining this technological basis, advanced reliability and structural analysis techniques are used to determine the probability of time-to-closure of a hypothetical underground shaft located in an argillaceous salt formation and filled with compacted crushed salt. Before being filled with crushed salt for sealing, the shaft provides access to an underground facility. Reliable closure of the shaft depends upon the sealing of the shaft through creep closure and recompaction of crushed backfill. Appropriate methods are demonstrated to calculate cumulative distribution functions of the closure based on laboratory determined random variable uncertainty in salt creep properties

  9. Complex bladder-exstrophy-epispadias management: Causes of failure of initial bladder closure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kouame Dibi Bertin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The success of the initial closure of the complex bladder-exstrophy remains a challenge in pediatric surgery. This study describes a personal experience of the causes of failure of the initial closure and operative morbidity during the surgical treatment of bladder-exstrophy complex. From April 2000 to March 2014, four patients aged 16 days to 7 years and 5 months underwent complex exstrophy-epispadias repair with pelvic osteotomies. There were three males and one female. Three of them had posterior pelvic osteotomy, one had anterior innominate osteotomy. Bladder Closure: Bladder closure was performed in three layers. Our first patient had initial bladder closure with polyglactin 4/0 (Vicryl ® 4/0, concerning the last three patients, initial bladder closure was performed with polydioxanone 4/0 (PDS ® 4/0. The bladder was repaired leaving the urethral stent and ureteral stents for full urinary drainage for three patients. In one case, only urethral stent was left, ureteral drainage was not possible, because stents sizes were more important than the ureteral diameter. Out of a total of four patients, initial bladder closure was completely achieved for three patients. At the immediate postoperative follow-up, two patients presented a complete disunion of the abdominal wall and bladder despite an appropriate postoperative care. The absorbable braided silk (polyglactin used for the bladder closure was considered as the main factor in the failure of the bladder closure. The second cause of failure of the initial bladder closure was the incomplete urine drainage, ureteral catheterisation was not possible because the catheters sizes were too large compared with the diameters of the ureters. The failure of the initial bladder-exstrophy closure may be reduced by a closure with an absorbable monofilament silk and efficient urine drainage via ureteral catheterisation.

  10. CleverFarm - A superSCADA system for wind farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juhl, A.; Hansen, K.G.; Giebhardt, J.

    2004-01-01

    The CleverFarm project started out to build an integrated monitoring system for wind farms, where all information would be available and could be used across the wind farm for maintenance and component health assessments. This would enable wind farmoperators to prioritise their efforts, since the...

  11. Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: does farm size affect their abundance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedström, Ingemar; Denzel, Andrew; Owens, Gareth

    2006-09-01

    The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs nonorganic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test). However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms.

  12. Manure management practices on biogas and non-biogas pig farms in developing countries - using livestock farms in Vietnam as an example

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cu, T. T. T.; Cuong, P. H.; Hang, L. T.

    2012-01-01

    This survey was carried out to study animal manure management on livestock farms with biogas technology (biogas farms) and without (non-biogas farms) in the areas surrounding the Vietnamese cities Hanoi and Hue. The objective of the study was to assess the contribution of biogas production...... to a better environment as well as to recognize the problems with livestock manure management on small-scale farms. On all the farms included in the study more than one manure management technology was used, i.e. composting, separation of manure, biogas production and discharge of liquid manure to recipients...... such as public sewers or ponds. On biogas farms, most of the manure collected was used for bio-digestion. The farmers used the fermented manure (digestate) as a source of nutrients for crops, but on more than 50% of the interviewed biogas farms digestate was discharged to the environment. On non-biogas farms...

  13. Application of transfer function based harmonic study method to an offshore wind farm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Yu; Bollen, Math [STRI AB, Gothenburg (Sweden); Martins, Marcia [Alstom Wind, Barcelona (Spain)

    2012-07-01

    This paper presents the results from a harmonic study for a planned offshore wind farm with 252 MW installed capacity. Both the collection grid and the public grid are modelled in detail using Powerfactory. Both primary emission from wind turbines and secondary emission due to the distortion in the public grid are studied. Besides, due to the presence of HVDC platform and another two wind farms, details of which are not known at the moment, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the potential influence on the harmonic emission. (orig.)

  14. Havsnaes wind farm - The project financing of a Swedish wind farm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-07-01

    In March 2008 the ground breaking project financing of the 95 MW Havsnaes wind farm was completed. Havsnaes represents one of the cornerstones in portfolio of Venus Vind, controlled by HgCapital, where sustainable Scandinavian strength is build through industrial scale wind farms with local presence. At the time, Havsnaes represented the largest energy project financing in the market, it is also the first true project financing of a major Swedish wind farm. The aim of this study is to highlight the process of project financing and additional lessons learnt from the Havsnaes transaction. Investment in renewable energy projects often includes international investors. We welcome the growing Swedish wind market, banks and other financial institutions, politicians and other relevant decision makers to take part of our findings. Sponsorship provided by the Swedish Energy Agency has enabled the completion of this study.

  15. Numerical approximation of the Boltzmann equation : moment closure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abdel Malik, M.R.A.; Brummelen, van E.H.

    2012-01-01

    This work applies the moment method onto a generic form of kinetic equations to simplify kinetic models of particle systems. This leads to the moment closure problem which is addressed using entropy-based moment closure techniques utilizing entropy minimization. The resulting moment closure system

  16. WASTE PACKAGE OPERATIONS FY99 CLOSURE METHODS REPORT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M. C. Knapp

    1999-09-23

    The waste package (WP) closure weld development task is part of a larger engineering development program to develop waste package designs. The purpose of the larger waste package engineering development program is to develop nuclear waste package fabrication and closure methods that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will find acceptable and will license for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), non-fuel components, and vitrified high-level waste within a Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). Within the WP closure development program are several major development tasks, which, in turn, are divided into subtasks. The major tasks include: WP fabrication development, WP closure weld development, nondestructive examination (NDE) development, and remote in-service inspection development. The purpose of this report is to present the objectives, technical information, and work scope relating to the WP closure weld development.and NDE tasks and subtasks and to report results of the closure weld and NDE development programs for fiscal year 1999 (FY-99). The objective of the FY-99 WP closure weld development task was to develop requirements for closure weld surface and volumetric NDE performance demonstrations, investigate alternative NDE inspection techniques, and develop specifications for welding, NDE, and handling system integration. In addition, objectives included fabricating several flat plate mock-ups that could be used for NDE development, stress relief peening, corrosion testing, and residual stress testing.

  17. WASTE PACKAGE OPERATIONS FY-99 CLOSURE METHODS REPORT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    M. C. Knapp

    1999-01-01

    The waste package (WP) closure weld development task is part of a larger engineering development program to develop waste package designs. The purpose of the larger waste package engineering development program is to develop nuclear waste package fabrication and closure methods that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will find acceptable and will license for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), non-fuel components, and vitrified high-level waste within a Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). Within the WP closure development program are several major development tasks, which, in turn, are divided into subtasks. The major tasks include: WP fabrication development, WP closure weld development, nondestructive examination (NDE) development, and remote in-service inspection development. The purpose of this report is to present the objectives, technical information, and work scope relating to the WP closure weld development.and NDE tasks and subtasks and to report results of the closure weld and NDE development programs for fiscal year 1999 (FY-99). The objective of the FY-99 WP closure weld development task was to develop requirements for closure weld surface and volumetric NDE performance demonstrations, investigate alternative NDE inspection techniques, and develop specifications for welding, NDE, and handling system integration. In addition, objectives included fabricating several flat plate mock-ups that could be used for NDE development, stress relief peening, corrosion testing, and residual stress testing

  18. Determinants associated with veterinary antimicrobial prescribing in farm animals in the Netherlands: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Speksnijder, D C; Jaarsma, A D C; van der Gugten, A C; Verheij, T J M; Wagenaar, J A

    2015-04-01

    Antimicrobial use in farm animals might contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance in humans and animals, and there is an urgent need to reduce antimicrobial use in farm animals. Veterinarians are typically responsible for prescribing and overseeing antimicrobial use in animals. A thorough understanding of veterinarians' current prescribing practices and their reasons to prescribe antimicrobials might offer leads for interventions to reduce antimicrobial use in farm animals. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of factors that influence prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians. Semi-structured interviews with eleven farm animal veterinarians were conducted, which were taped, transcribed and iteratively analysed. This preliminary analysis was further discussed and refined in an expert meeting. A final conceptual model was derived from the analysis and sent to all the respondents for validation. Many conflicting interests are identifiable when it comes to antimicrobial prescribing by farm animal veterinarians. Belief in the professional obligation to alleviate animal suffering, financial dependency on clients, risk avoidance, shortcomings in advisory skills, financial barriers for structural veterinary herd health advisory services, lack of farmers' compliance to veterinary recommendations, public health interests, personal beliefs regarding the veterinary contribution to antimicrobial resistance and major economic powers are all influential determinants in antimicrobial prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians. Interventions to change prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians could address attitudes and advisory skills of veterinarians, as well as provide tools to deal with (perceived) pressure from farmers and advisors to prescribe antimicrobials. Additional (policy) measures could probably support farm animal veterinarians in acting as a more independent animal health consultant. © 2014 Blackwell

  19. Wind farm design optimization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carreau, Michel; Morgenroth, Michael; Belashov, Oleg; Mdimagh, Asma; Hertz, Alain; Marcotte, Odile

    2010-09-15

    Innovative numerical computer tools have been developed to streamline the estimation, the design process and to optimize the Wind Farm Design with respect to the overall return on investment. The optimization engine can find the collector system layout automatically which provide a powerful tool to quickly study various alternative taking into account more precisely various constraints or factors that previously would have been too costly to analyze in details with precision. Our Wind Farm Tools have evolved through numerous projects and created value for our clients yielding Wind Farm projects with projected higher returns.

  20. Comparisons of management practices and farm design on Australian commercial layer and meat chicken farms: Cage, barn and free range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Angela Bullanday; Singh, Mini; Toribio, Jenny-Ann; Hernandez-Jover, Marta; Barnes, Belinda; Glass, Kathryn; Moloney, Barbara; Lee, Amanda; Groves, Peter

    2017-01-01

    There are few published studies describing the unique management practices, farm design and housing characteristics of commercial meat chicken and layer farms in Australia. In particular, there has been a large expansion of free range poultry production in Australia in recent years, but limited information about this enterprise exists. This study aimed to describe features of Australian commercial chicken farms, with particular interest in free range farms, by conducting on-farm interviews of 25 free range layer farms, nine cage layer farms, nine barn layer farms, six free range meat chicken farms and 15 barn meat chicken farms in the Sydney basin bioregion and South East Queensland. Comparisons between the different enterprises (cage, barn and free range) were explored, including stocking densities, depopulation procedures, environmental control methods and sources of information for farmers. Additional information collected for free range farms include range size, range characteristics and range access. The median number of chickens per shed was greatest in free range meat chicken farms (31,058), followed by barn meat chicken (20,817), free range layer (10,713), barn layer (9,300) and cage layer farms (9,000). Sheds had cooling pads and tunnel ventilation in just over half of both barn and free range meat chicken farms (53%, n = 8) and was least common in free range layer farms (16%, n = 4). Range access in free range meat chicken farms was from sunrise to dark in the majority (93%, n = 14) of free range meat chicken farms. Over half of free range layer farms (56%, n = 14) granted range access at a set time each morning; most commonly between 9:00 to 10.00am (86%, n = 12), and chickens were placed back inside sheds when it was dusk.

  1. Understanding the Risk Factors of Trauma Center Closures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Yu-Chu; Hsia, Renee Y.; Kuzma, Kristen

    2011-01-01

    Objectives We analyze whether hazard rates of shutting down trauma centers are higher due to financial pressures or in areas with vulnerable populations (such as minorities or the poor). Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study of all hospitals with trauma center services in urban areas in the continental US between 1990 and 2005, identified from the American Hospital Association Annual Surveys. These data were linked with Medicare cost reports, and supplemented with other sources, including the Area Resource File. We analyze the hazard rates of trauma center closures among several dimensions of risk factors using discrete-time proportional hazard models. Results The number of trauma center closures increased from 1990 to 2005, with a total of 339 during this period. The hazard rate of closing trauma centers in hospitals with a negative profit margin is 1.38 times higher than those hospitals without the negative profit margin (P lower hazard of shutting down trauma centers (ratio: 0.58, P penetration face a higher hazard of trauma center closure (ratio: 2.06, P < 0.01). Finally, hospitals in areas with higher shares of minorities face a higher risk of trauma center closure (ratio: 1.69, P < 0.01). Medicaid load and uninsured populations, however, are not risk factors for higher rates of closure after we control for other financial and community characteristics. Conclusions Our findings give an indication on how the current proposals to cut public spending could exacerbate the trauma closure particularly among areas with high shares of minorities. In addition, given the negative effect of health maintenance organizations on trauma center survival, the growth of Medicaid managed care population should be monitored. Finally, high shares of Medicaid or uninsurance by themselves are not independent risk factors for higher closure as long as financial pressures are mitigated. Targeted policy interventions and further research on the causes, are needed to

  2. Techniques for Abdominal Wall Closure after Damage Control Laparotomy: From Temporary Abdominal Closure to Early/Delayed Fascial Closure—A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qian Huang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Open abdomen (OA has been an effective treatment for abdominal catastrophes in traumatic and general surgery. However, management of patients with OA remains a formidable task for surgeons. The central goal of OA is closure of fascial defect as early as is clinically feasible without precipitating abdominal compartment syndrome. Historically, techniques such as packing, mesh, and vacuum-assisted closure have been developed to assist temporary abdominal closure, and techniques such as components separation, mesh-mediated traction, bridging fascial defect with permanent synthetic mesh, or biologic mesh have also been attempted to achieve early primary fascial closure, either alone or in combined use. The objective of this review is to present the challenges of these techniques for OA with a goal of early primary fascial closure, when the patient’s physiological condition allows.

  3. Sources of Strategic Information in Farm Management in Poland. Study Results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacek Jaworski

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Purposes: The main goal of the paper is to determine the signifcance of selected sources of strategic information, used by Polish farmers in decision making. In addition, an attempt was made to determine the factors impacting the evaluation of those sources among the traits of the farmer and his farm. Methodology: Data was gathered using the questionnaire method and analysed with standard tools of descriptive statistics. Findings: The farmers deemed personalised sources of strategic information the most important, especially agricultural advisers, input suppliers and buyers of agricultural products. From among institutional (non-personalised sources, local government and the chamber of agriculture were signifcant. Business information agencies and survey companies are the least important sources for farmers. The characteristics of the surroundings of the farm – specifcally, its geographic location and the size of settlement where it is located proved to have the widest impact on the evaluation of the sources included in the study. From among the organisational factors, only farm size has a signifcant impact. Research limitations/implications: The study was confned to a representative group of farmers in Poland. A closed list of sources of strategic information was used. Originality/value: The study results contribute to the knowledge on the functioning of Polish agriculture and may also be used in comparative studies, characterising this sector’s diversity within Europe. They can in turn contribute to properly focusing on supporting the policy of balanced agriculture development in the EU.

  4. Health effects of agrochemicals among farm workers in commercial farms of Kwekwe district, Zimbabwe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magauzi, Regis; Mabaera, Bigboy; Rusakaniko, Simbarashe; Chimusoro, Anderson; Ndlovu, Nqobile; Tshimanga, Mufuta; Shambira, Gerald; Chadambuka, Addmore; Gombe, Notion

    2011-01-01

    Farm workers are at a very high risk of occupational diseases due to exposure to pesticides resulting from inadequate education, training and safety systems. The farm worker spends a lot of time exposed to these harmful agrochemicals. Numerous acute cases with symptoms typical of agrochemical exposure were reported from the commercial farms. We assessed the health effects of agrochemicals in farm workers in commercial farms of Kwekwe District (Zimbabwe), in 2006. An analytical cross sectional study was conducted amongst a sample of 246 farm workers who handled agrochemicals when discharging their duties in the commercial farms. Plasma cholinesterase activity in blood specimens obtained from farm workers was measured using spectrophotometry to establish levels of poisoning by organophosphate and/or carbamates. Information on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of farm workers on agrochemicals use was collected using a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine factors that were associated with abnormal cholinesterase activity. The prevalence of organophosphate poisoning, indicated by cholinesterase activity of 75% or less, was 24.1%. The median period of exposure to agrochemicals was 3 years (Q(1):=1 year, Q(3):=7 years). Ninety eight (41.5%) farm workers knew the triangle colour code for the most dangerous agrochemicals. Not being provided with personal protective equipment (OR 2.00; 95% CI: 1.07 - 3.68) and lack of knowledge of the triangle colour code for most dangerous agrochemicals (OR 2.02; 95% CI: 1.02 - 4.03) were significantly associated with abnormal cholinesterase activity. There was organophosphate poisoning in the commercial farms. Factors that were significantly associated with the poisoning were lack of protective clothing and lack of knowledge of the triangle colour code for most dangerous agrochemicals. We recommended intensive health education and training of farm workers on

  5. Bird impact study on the 10 MW wind farm of La Pena (Tarifa)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cererols, N.; Martinez, A.; Ferrer, M.

    1996-01-01

    This paper shows the conclusions of a 16 month study of the possible impacts on the local and migrating population of birds of a wind farm located in the passageway of migrating birds between Africa and Europe. On the whole, the wind farm did not prove to represent an important impact on the birds present in its surroundings and, on the contrary, created a new habitat for some species not present in adjacent areas. (author)

  6. Involving fathers in teaching youth about farm tractor seatbelt safety--a randomized control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jinnah, Hamida Amirali; Stoneman, Zolinda; Rains, Glen

    2014-03-01

    Farm youth continue to experience high rates of injury and deaths as a result of agricultural activities. Farm machinery, especially tractors, is the most common cause of casualties to youth. A Roll-Over Protection Structure (ROPS) along with a fastened seatbelt can prevent almost all injuries and fatalities from tractor overturns. Despite this knowledge, the use of seatbelts by farmers on ROPS tractors remains low. This study treats farm safety as a family issue and builds on the central role of parents as teachers and role models of farm safety for youth. This research study used a longitudinal, repeated-measures, randomized-control design in which youth 10-19 years of age were randomly assigned to either of two intervention groups (parent-led group and staff-led group) or the control group. Fathers in the parent-led group were less likely to operate ROPS tractors without a seatbelt compared with other groups. They were more likely to have communicated with youth about the importance of wearing seatbelts on ROPS tractors. Consequently, youth in the parent-led group were less likely to operate a ROPS tractor without a seatbelt than the control group at post-test. This randomized control trial supports the effectiveness of a home-based, father-led farm safety intervention as a promising strategy for reducing youth as well as father-unsafe behaviors (related to tractor seatbelts) on the farm. This intervention appealed to fathers' strong motivation to practice tractor safety for the sake of their youth. Involving fathers helped change both father as well as youth unsafe tractor-seatbelt behaviors. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Game farming as a supplementary farming activity in the Karoo ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Game farming as a supplementary farming activity in the Karoo. ... Veld management in a game farming situation poses problems due to the ineffectiveness of rotational grazing systems. Simplification of natural ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  8. Wind farm related mortality among avian migrants - a remote sensing study and model analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Desholm, M.

    ,136 migrating sea ducks only 47 individuals were predicted to collide with the wind turbine rotor-blades, equivalent to an overall mean collision risk of c. 0.02%. This thesis shows the added value of modelling in supplementing sound empirical studies in accessing the effects of major human development......This thesis is the result of a PhD study on bird-wind farm collisions and consists of a synopsis, five published papers, one submitted manuscript and another ready for submission. The papers describe the fi ndings from pre- and post-construction visual, radar and thermal imaging studies (1999......-2006) of migrating birds at the Nysted offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, Denmark. This thesis poses and answers the following questions: a) what hazard factors do offshore wind farming pose to wild birds, b) how should one choose the key focal species to study, c) how can remote sensing techniques be applied...

  9. Incidence of unintentional injuries in farming based on one year of weekly registration in Danish farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, K; Carstensen, Ole; Lauritsen, J M

    2000-01-01

    In Denmark, farming ranks as the industry with the highest incidence rate of fatal injuries. For nonfatal injuries, insufficient registration practices prevent valid comparisons between occupations. This study examines the occurrence of farm accidents and injuries, as well as work-specific factors......, via weekly registration in a representative sample of 393 farms in one county during 1 year....

  10. Cost comparison of transcatheter and operative closures of ostium secundum atrial septal defects

    Science.gov (United States)

    O’Byrne, Michael L.; Gillespie, Matthew J.; Shinohara, Russell T.; Dori, Yoav; Rome, Jonathan J.; Glatz, Andrew C.

    2015-01-01

    Background Clinical outcomes for transcatheter and operative closures of atrial septal defects (ASDs) are similar. Economic cost for each method has not been well described. Methods A single-center retrospective cohort study of children and adults cost of operative and transcatheter closures of ASD. A propensity score weight-adjusted multivariate regression model was used in an intention-to-treat analysis. Costs for reintervention and crossover admissions were included in primary analysis. Results A total of 244 subjects were included in the study (64% transcatheter and 36% operative), of which 2% (n = 5) were ≥18 years. Crossover rate from transcatheter to operative group was 3%. Risk of reintervention (P = .66) and 30-day mortality (P = .37) were not significantly different. In a multivariate model, adjusted cost of operative closure was 2012 US $60,992 versus 2012 US $55,841 for transcatheter closure (P cost favoring transcatheter closure were length of stay, medications, and follow-up radiologic and laboratory testing, overcoming higher costs of procedure and echocardiography. Professional costs did not differ. The rate of 30-day readmission was greater in the operative cohort, further increasing the cost advantage of transcatheter closure. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that costs of follow-up visits influenced relative cost but that device closure remained favorable over a broad range of crossover and reintervention rates. Conclusion For single secundum ASD, cost comparison analysis favors transcatheter closure over the short term. The cost of follow-up regimens influences the cost advantage of transcatheter closure. PMID:25965721

  11. CleverFarm - A SuperSCADA system for wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giebel, G [ed.; Juhl, A; Gram Hansen, K; Biebhardt, J [and others

    2004-08-01

    The CleverFarm project started out to build an integrated monitoring system for wind farms, where all information would be available and could be used across the wind farm for maintenance and component health assessments. This would enable wind farm operators to prioritise their efforts, since they have a good view of the farm status from home. A large emphasis was placed on the integration of condition monitoring approaches in the central system, enabling estimates of the remaining lifetime of components, especially in the nacelle. During the 3,5 years of the project, software and hardware was developed and installed in two wind farms in Denmark and Germany. The connected hardware included two different condition monitoring systems based on vibration sensors from Gram&Juhl and ISET, plus a camera system developed by Overspeed. Additionally, short-term predictions of the wind farm output were delivered by DMI and Risoes Prediktor system throughout the period of the project. All these diverse information sources are integrated through a web interface based on Java Server Pages. The software was developed in Java, and is delivered as so-called CleverBeans. The main part of the software is open-sourced. The report contains the experiences and results of a one-year experimental period. This report is a slightly edited version of the final publishable report to the EU Commission as part of the requirements of the CleverFarm project.

  12. Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale in cryptogenic embolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meier, Bernhard; Kalesan, Bindu; Mattle, Heinrich P; Khattab, Ahmed A; Hildick-Smith, David; Dudek, Dariusz; Andersen, Grethe; Ibrahim, Reda; Schuler, Gerhard; Walton, Antony S; Wahl, Andreas; Windecker, Stephan; Jüni, Peter

    2013-03-21

    The options for secondary prevention of cryptogenic embolism in patients with patent foramen ovale are administration of antithrombotic medications or percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale. We investigated whether closure is superior to medical therapy. We performed a multicenter, superiority trial in 29 centers in Europe, Canada, Brazil, and Australia in which the assessors of end points were unaware of the study-group assignments. Patients with a patent foramen ovale and ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or a peripheral thromboembolic event were randomly assigned to undergo closure of the patent foramen ovale with the Amplatzer PFO Occluder or to receive medical therapy. The primary end point was a composite of death, nonfatal stroke, TIA, or peripheral embolism. Analysis was performed on data for the intention-to-treat population. The mean duration of follow-up was 4.1 years in the closure group and 4.0 years in the medical-therapy group. The primary end point occurred in 7 of the 204 patients (3.4%) in the closure group and in 11 of the 210 patients (5.2%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio for closure vs. medical therapy, 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24 to 1.62; P=0.34). Nonfatal stroke occurred in 1 patient (0.5%) in the closure group and 5 patients (2.4%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.02 to 1.72; P=0.14), and TIA occurred in 5 patients (2.5%) and 7 patients (3.3%), respectively (hazard ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.23 to 2.24; P=0.56). Closure of a patent foramen ovale for secondary prevention of cryptogenic embolism did not result in a significant reduction in the risk of recurrent embolic events or death as compared with medical therapy. (Funded by St. Jude Medical; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00166257.).

  13. Infering and Calibrating Triadic Closure in a Dynamic Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantzaris, Alexander V.; Higham, Desmond J.

    In the social sciences, the hypothesis of triadic closure contends that new links in a social contact network arise preferentially between those who currently share neighbours. Here, in a proof-of-principle study, we show how to calibrate a recently proposed evolving network model to time-dependent connectivity data. The probabilistic edge birth rate in the model contains a triadic closure term, so we are also able to assess statistically the evidence for this effect. The approach is shown to work on data generated synthetically from the model. We then apply this methodology to some real, large-scale data that records the build up of connections in a business-related social networking site, and find evidence for triadic closure.

  14. 40 CFR 267.143 - Financial assurance for closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...), utilizing the certificate of insurance for closure specified at 40 CFR 264.151(e). (f) Corporate financial... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Financial assurance for closure. 267... PERMIT Financial Requirements § 267.143 Financial assurance for closure. The owner or operator must...

  15. Tubular closure mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalen, D.D.; Mitchem, J.W.

    1982-01-01

    This invention relates to a closure mechanism for tubular irradiation surveillance specimen assembly holder used in nuclear reactors. The closure mechanism is composed of a latching member which includes a generally circular chamber with a plurality of elongated latches depending therefrom. The latching member circumscribes part of an actuator member which is disposed within the latching member so as to be axially movable. The axial movement of the actuator actuates positioning of the latches between positions in which the latches are locked and secured within the actuator member. Means, capable of being remotely manipulated, are provided to move the actuator in order to position the latches and load the articles within the tube

  16. Assessment of Severe Extremity Wound Bioburden at the Time of Definitive Wound Closure or Coverage: Correlation With Subsequent Postclosure Deep Wound Infection (Bioburden Study).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosse, Michael J; Murray, Clinton K; Carlini, Anthony R; Firoozabadi, Reza; Manson, Theodore; Scharfstein, Daniel O; Wenke, Joseph C; Zadnik, Mary; Castillo, Renan C

    2017-04-01

    Infection remains the most common and significant complication after high-energy fractures. The Bioburden Study is a multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study of wound bacterial bioburden and antibiotic care in severe open lower extremity fractures. The aims of this study are to (1) characterize the contemporary extremity wound "bioburden" at the time of definitive wound closure; (2) determine the concordance between polymerase chain reaction results and hospital microbiology; (3) determine, among those who develop deep infections, the concordance between the pathogens at wound closure and at deep infection; and (4) compare the probability of deep infection between those who did and did not receive an appropriate course of antibiotics based on bioburden at the time of wound closure. To address these aims, sites collected tissue samples from severe lower extremity injuries at the time of wound closure and at first surgery for treatment of a deep infection, nonunion, flap failure, amputation, or other complications (because these surgeries may be due to undetected infection). Otherwise, if no further surgical treatment occurred, participants were followed for 12 months. The study was conducted at 38 US trauma centers and has enrolled 655 participants aged 18-64 years. This is the first large multi-institutional study evaluating the wound bioburden of severe open tibia fractures and correlating this bioburden with the risk of wound complications after definitive soft tissue closure.

  17. Comparative study of abdominal cavity temporary closure techniques for damage control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribeiro, Marcelo A F; Barros, Emily Alves; Carvalho, Sabrina Marques DE; Nascimento, Vinicius Pereira; Cruvinel, José; Fonseca, Alexandre Zanchenko

    2016-01-01

    The damage control surgery, with emphasis on laparostomy, usually results in shrinkage of the aponeurosis and loss of the ability to close the abdominal wall, leading to the formation of ventral incisional hernias. Currently, various techniques offer greater chances of closing the abdominal cavity with less tension. Thus, this study aims to evaluate three temporary closure techniques of the abdominal cavity: the Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy - VAC, the Bogotá Bag and the Vacuum-pack. We conducted a systematic review of the literature, selecting 28 articles published in the last 20 years. The techniques of the bag Bogotá and Vacuum-pack had the advantage of easy access to the material in most centers and low cost, contrary to VAC, which, besides presenting high cost, is not available in most hospitals. On the other hand, the VAC technique was more effective in reducing stress at the edges of lesions, removing stagnant fluids and waste, in addition to acting at the cellular level by increasing proliferation and cell division rates, and showed the highest rates of primary closure of the abdominal cavity. RESUMO A cirurgia de controle de danos, com ênfase em peritoneostomia, geralmente resulta em retração da aponeurose e perda da capacidade de fechar a parede abdominal, levando à formação de hérnias ventrais incisionais. Atualmente, várias técnicas oferecem maiores chances de fechamento da cavidade abdominal, com menor tensão. Deste modo, este estudo tem por objetivo avaliar três técnicas de fechamento temporário da cavidade abdominal: fechamento a vácuo (Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy - VAC), Bolsa de Bogotá e Vacuum-pack. Realizou-se uma revisão sistemática da literatura com seleção de 28 artigos publicados nos últimos 20 anos. As técnicas de Bolsa de Bogotá e Vacuum-pack tiveram como vantagem o acesso fácil ao material, na maioria dos centros, e baixo custo, ao contrário do que se observa na terapia a vácuo, VAC, que além de apresentar

  18. A prospective randomized clinical study of the influence of primary closure or dressing on post-operative morbidity after mandibular third molar surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter E Egbor

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of the following study is to determine the effect of primary closure or dressing on post-operative morbidity after impacted lower third molar surgery. Materials and Methods: This was a randomized clinical study of 72 patients who had surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. The subjects were divided into two groups of A and B. Group A had total closure (primary closure and Group B had whitehead varnish dressing of the socket. Pain, swelling and trismus were evaluated pre-operatively using visual analogue scale, flexible tape measuring method and inter-incisal distance measurement with Vernier Callipers respectively as well as post-operatively on 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 5 th and 7 th day. Results: The study participants consisted of 27 males and 45 females in a ratio 1:1.7. With a mean age of 24.7 ± 4.9 years (range 19-33 years for Group A and 25.5 ± 4.3 years (range 20-39 years for Group B. Post-operative pain was not significantly affected by the closure techniques (P > 0.05. Dressing was found to significantly reduce the degree of swelling and trismus peaking on the 2 nd day (P = 0.0207 and P = 0.010 respectively. Conclusion: The use of dressing was more effective than primary closure to reduce the degree of swelling and trismus though its effect on post-operative pain reduction was not significant.

  19. Periodic Closures as Adaptive Coral Reef Management in the Indo-Pacific

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josh Cinner

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the social, economic, and ecological context within which communities in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia use adaptive coral reef management. We tested whether periodic closures had positive effects on reef resources, and found that both the biomass and the average size of fishes commonly caught in Indo-Pacific subsistence fisheries were greater inside areas subject to periodic closures compared to sites with year-round open access. Surprisingly, both long-lived and short-lived species benefited from periodic closures. Our study sites were remote communities that shared many socioeconomic characteristics; these may be crucial to the effectiveness of adaptive management of reef resources through periodic closures. Some of these factors include exclusive tenure over marine resources, a body of traditional ecological knowledge that allows for the rapid assessment of resource conditions, social customs that facilitate compliance with closures, relatively small human populations, negligible migration, and a relatively low dependence on fisheries. This dynamic adaptive management system, in which communities manage their resources among multiple social and ecological baselines, contrasts with western fisheries management practices, centered on maintaining exploited populations at stable levels in which net production is maximized.

  20. Study of the Ubiquitous Hog Farm System Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Environmental Monitoring and Facilities Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeonghwan Hwang

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Many hog farmers are now suffering from high pig mortality rates due to various wasting diseases and increased breeding costs, etc. It is therefore necessary for hog farms to implement systematic and scientific pig production technology to increase productivity and produce high quality pork in order to solve these problems. In this study, we describe such a technology by suggesting a ubiquitous hog farm system which applies WSN (Wireless Sensor Network technology to the pig industry. We suggest that a WSN and CCTV (Closed-circuit television should be installed on hog farms to collect environmental and image information which shall then help producers not only in monitoring the hog farm via the Web from outside the farm, but also facilitate the control of hog farm facilities in remote locations. In addition, facilities can be automatically controlled based on breeding environment parameters which are already set up and a SMS notice service to notify of deviations shall provide users with convenience. Hog farmers may increase production and improve pork quality through this ubiquitous hog farm system and prepare a database with information collected from environmental factors and the hog farm control devices, which is expected to provide information needed to design and implement suitable control strategies for hog farm operation.

  1. Organic Farming, Gender, and the Labor Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Alan; Mogyorody, Veronika

    2007-01-01

    This paper seeks to explain variations in gender participation in farm production and decision-making through an analysis of organic farm types, sizes, and orientations. Based on both survey and case study data, the analysis shows that female farmers on vegetable farms and mixed livestock/cash crop farms are more likely to be involved in farm…

  2. Pan-nitinol occluder and special delivery device for closure of patent ductus arteriosus: a canine-model feasibility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Hai-bin; Bai, Yuan; Zong, Gang-jun; Han, Lin; Li, Wei-ping; Lu, Yang; Qin, Yong-wen; Zhao, Xian-xian

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate a new type of occluder for patent ductus arteriosus. Patent ductus arteriosus was established in a canine model by anastomosing a length of autologous jugular vein to the descending aorta and the left pulmonary artery in an end-to-side fashion. Transcatheter closure of each patent ductus arteriosus was performed on 10 dogs, which were then monitored for as long as 6 months with aortography, echocardiography, and histologic evaluation. Transcatheter closure with use of the novel pan-nitinol device was successful in all canine models. Postoperative echocardiography showed that the location and shape of the occluders were normal, without any residual shunting. Further histologic evaluation confirmed that the occluder surface was completely endothelialized 3 months after implantation. Transcatheter patent ductus arteriosus closure with the pan-nitinol occluder can be performed safely and successfully in a canine model and shows good biological compatibility and low mortality rates.

  3. 40 CFR 265.280 - Closure and post-closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... contaminants caused by wind erosion; and (4) Compliance with § 265.276 concerning the growth of food-chain... and post-closure care objectives of paragraph (a) of this section: (1) Type and amount of hazardous..., including amount, frequency, and pH of precipitation; (5) Geological and soil profiles and surface and...

  4. Co-located wind-wave farm synergies (Operation and Maintenance): A case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Astariz, S.; Perez-Collazo, C.; Abanades, J.; Iglesias, G.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The shielding effect of WECs located around the wind farm is analysed. • The height wave reductions achieved by 15 different layouts are compared. • The increase in the accessibility to the wind turbines is quantified. • Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm is considered as baseline scenario. • High-resolution numerical modelling (SWAN) and real sea conditions are used. - Abstract: Operation and maintenance can jeopardise the financial viability of an offshore wind energy project due to the cost of downtime, repairs and, above all, the inevitable uncertainties. The variability of wave climate can impede or hinder emergency repairs when a failure occurs, and the resulting delays imply additional costs which ultimately reduce the competitiveness of offshore wind energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Co-located wind turbines and Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are proposed in this paper as a novel solution: the reduction of the significant wave height brought about by the WECs along the periphery of the wind farm results in a milder wave climate within the farm. This reduction, also called shadow effect, enlarges weather windows for Operation and Maintenance (O and M). The objective of this paper is to investigate the increase in the accessibility time to the turbines and to optimise the layout for the co-located wind-wave farm in order to maximise this time. The investigation is carried out through a case study: Alpha Ventus, an operating offshore wind farm. To maximise the reduction of wave height in the turbine area no fewer than 15 layouts are tested using high-resolution numerical modelling, and a sensitivity analysis is conducted. The results show that, thanks to the wave energy extraction by the WECs, weather windows (access time) can increase very significantly – over 80%. This substantial effect, together with other benefits from the combination of wave and offshore wind power in a co-located farm (common electrical infrastructures

  5. A standardized perioperative surgical site infection care process among children with stoma closure: a before-after study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porras-Hernandez, Juan; Bracho-Blanchet, Eduardo; Tovilla-Mercado, Jose; Vilar-Compte, Diana; Nieto-Zermeño, Jaime; Davila-Perez, Roberto; Teyssier-Morales, Gustavo; Lule-Dominguez, Martha

    2008-10-01

    We report on the effectiveness of a standardized perioperative care process for lowering surgical site infection (SSI) rates among children with stoma closure at a tertiary-care public pediatric teaching hospital in Mexico City. All consecutive children with stoma closure operated on between November 2003 and October 2005 were prospectively followed for 30 days postoperatively. We conducted a before-after study to evaluate standardized perioperative bowel- and abdominal-wall care process results on SSI rates. Seventy-one patients were operated on, and all completed follow-up. SSI rates declined from 42.8% (12/28) before to 13.9% (6/43) after the standardization procedure (relative risk (RR) = 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3-7.2; p = 0.006). SSI independently associated risk factors comprised peristomal skin inflammation >3 mm (odds ratio (OR) = 9.6; 95% CI = 1.8-49.6; p = 0.007) and intraoperative complications (OR = 13.3; 95% CI = 1.4-127.2; p = 0.02). Being operated on during the after-study period was shown to be a protective factor against SSI (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.4-0.97; p = 0.04). Standardization was able to reduce SSI rates threefold in children with stoma closure in a short period of time.

  6. Airport Movement Area Closure Planner, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This SBIR research develops an automation tool improving temporary and permanent runway closure management. The Movement Area Closure Planner (MACP) provides airport...

  7. Analysis of future agricultural change : a farm economics approach applied to Dutch arable farming

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wossink, A.

    1993-01-01

    This study of agricultural change deals simultaneously with: (a) farm planning, ie. the constant adaptation to changing circumstances at the level of the individual farm firm and (b) conditional forecasting, ie. the analysis of alternative agricultural and environmental policy views and

  8. Mapping Suitable Sites for Setting up Wind Farms: A Case Study of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mapping Suitable Sites for Setting up Wind Farms: A Case Study of Nyanga District. ... Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management ... sources and continuous power shortages make wind energy a very attractive alternative to ...

  9. Study on offshore wind farm integration mode and reactive power compensation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bian, Xiaoyan; Hong, Lijun; Fu, Yang [Shanghai Univ. of Electrical Power (China). Power and Automation Engineering Dept.

    2013-07-01

    Two typical offshore wind farm grid-connected modes are introduced and dynamic characteristics under their modes are compared from the simulation by PSS/E. The result shows that offshore wind farm with VSC-HVDC has better dynamic characteristics on fault isolation, reactive power compensation, and fault ride through ability. In addition, STATCOM has been applied to the offshore wind farm, the simulation results indicates that it can improve the bus voltage stability in fault and maintain the voltage level under a small perturbation.

  10. Empirical Analysis of Farm Credit Risk under the Structure Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Yan

    2009-01-01

    The study measures farm credit risk by using farm records collected by Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) during the period 1995-2004. The study addresses the following questions: (1) whether farm's financial position is fully described by the structure model, (2) what are the determinants of farm capital structure under the structure model, (3)…

  11. Closure behavior of spherical void in slab during hot rolling process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Rong; Zhang, Jiongming; Wang, Bo

    2018-04-01

    The mechanical properties of steels are heavily deteriorated by voids. The influence of voids on the product quality should be eliminated through rolling processes. The study on the void closure during hot rolling processes is necessary. In present work, the closure behavior of voids at the center of a slab at 800 °C during hot rolling processes has been simulated with a 3D finite element model. The shape of the void and the plastic strain distribution of the slab are obtained by this model. The void decreases along the slab thickness direction and spreads along the rolling direction but hardly changes along the strip width direction. The relationship between closure behavior of voids and the plastic strain at the center of the slab is analyzed. The effects of rolling reduction, slab thickness and roller diameter on the closure behavior of voids are discussed. The larger reduction, thinner slab and larger roller diameter all improve the closure of voids during hot rolling processes. Experimental results of the closure behavior of a void in the slab during hot rolling process mostly agree with the simulation results..

  12. Comparison of two spectral domain optical coherence tomography devices for angle-closure assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quek, Desmond T; Narayanaswamy, Arun K; Tun, Tin A; Htoon, Hla M; Baskaran, Mani; Perera, Shamira A; Aung, Tin

    2012-08-03

    To compare two spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) devices for the identification of angle structures and the presence of angle closure. This was a prospective comparative study. Consecutive patients underwent gonioscopy and anterior segment imaging using two SD-OCT devices (iVue and Cirrus). Images were evaluated for the ability to detect angle structures such as Schwalbe's line (SL), trabecular meshwork (TM), Schlemm's canal (SC), and scleral spur (SS), and the presence of angle closure. Angle closure was defined as iris contact with the angle wall anterior to the SS on SD-OCT, and nonvisibility of the posterior TM on gonioscopy. Angle closure in an eye was defined as ≥two quadrants of closed angles. AC1 statistic was used to assess the agreement between devices. Of the 69 subjects studied (46.4% male, 84.1% Chinese, mean age 64.0 ± 10.5 years), 40 subjects (40 eyes, 58.0%) had angle closure on gonioscopy. The most identifiable structure on Cirrus SD-OCT was the SS (82.2%) and SL on iVue SD-OCT (74.5%). Angle closure was indeterminable in 14.5% and 50.7% of Cirrus and iVue scans (P gonioscopy was only fair (AC1 = 0.35 and 0.50 for Cirrus and iVue, respectively). It was more difficult to determine angle closure status with iVue compared with Cirrus SD-OCT. There was fair agreement between both devices with gonioscopy for identifying angle closure.

  13. Farm Population Trends and Farm Characteristics. Rural Development Research Report No. 3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Vera J.

    While total farm population is declining, the number of people living on the farms which produce the bulk of the nation's food and fiber is increasing. The 1970-75 total farm population decline was 13 percent, but the number of people living on farms with annual sales greater than $40,000 increased 76 percent. Such farms account for about 80…

  14. Stochastic particle acceleration and statistical closures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dimits, A.M.; Krommes, J.A.

    1985-10-01

    In a recent paper, Maasjost and Elsasser (ME) concluded, from the results of numerical experiments and heuristic arguments, that the Bourret and the direct-interaction approximation (DIA) are ''of no use in connection with the stochastic acceleration problem'' because (1) their predictions were equivalent to that of the simpler Fokker-Planck (FP) theory, and (2) either all or none of the closures were in good agreement with the data. Here some analytically tractable cases are studied and used to test the accuracy of these closures. The cause of the discrepancy (2) is found to be the highly non-Gaussian nature of the force used by ME, a point not stressed by them. For the case where the force is a position-independent Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (i.e., Gaussian) process, an effective Kubo number K can be defined. For K << 1 an FP description is adequate, and conclusion (1) of ME follows; however, for K greater than or equal to 1 the DIA behaves much better qualitatively than the other two closures. For the non-Gaussian stochastic force used by ME, all common approximations fail, in agreement with (2)

  15. IMPACT OF FARM SIZE AND TYPE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

    OpenAIRE

    Morgan, Jeffery D.; Langemeier, Michael R.

    2003-01-01

    This study examined sustained competitive advantage for a sample of Kansas farms. Whole-farm data for 224 farms with continuous data from 1982-2001 were used. Overall efficiency was computed for each farm and year. Sixty farms exhibited a sustained competitive advantage. Seventy-six farms exhibited a sustained competitive disadvantage. Farms with a competitive advantage were relatively larger, received more of their gross farm income from dairy and swine production, had significantly lower ex...

  16. Effectiveness of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale for hypoxemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenster, Brett E; Nguyen, Bryant H; Buckner, J Kern; Freeman, Andrew M; Carroll, John D

    2013-10-15

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure to improve systemic hypoxemia. Although PFO-mediated right-to-left shunt (RTLS) is associated with hypoxemia, the ability of percutaneous closure to ameliorate hypoxemia is unknown. Between 2004 and 2009, 97 patients who underwent PFO closure for systemic hypoxemia and dyspnea that was disproportionate to underlying lung disease were included for evaluation. All patients exhibited PFO-mediated RTLS as determined by agitated saline echocardiography. Procedural success was defined as implantation of a device without major complications and mild or no residual shunt at 6 months. Clinical success was defined as a composite of an improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, reduction of dyspnea symptoms, or decreased oxygen requirement. Procedural success was achieved in 96 of 97 (99%), and clinical success was achieved in 68 of 97 (70%). The presence of any moderate or severe interatrial shunt by agitated saline study (odds ratio [OR] = 4.7; p gender (OR = 0.30; p <0.017) decreased the likelihood of success. In conclusion, based on the largest single-center experience of patients referred for PFO closure for systemic hypoxemia, PFO closure was a mechanically effective procedure with an associated improvement in echocardiographic evidence of RTLS, NYHA functional class, and oxygen requirement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Moment Closure for the Stochastic Logistic Model

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Singh, Abhyudai; Hespanha, Joao P

    2006-01-01

    ..., which we refer to as the moment closure function. In this paper, a systematic procedure for constructing moment closure functions of arbitrary order is presented for the stochastic logistic model...

  18. The necessary distance between large wind farms offshore - study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, S.; Barthelmie, R.J.; Pryor, S.C.

    2005-01-01

    the new Storpark Analytical Model has been developed and evaluated. As it is often the need for offshore wind farms, the model handles a regular array-geometry with straight rows of wind turbines and equidistantspacing between units in each row and equidistant spacing between rows. Firstly, the case...... with the flow direction being parallel to rows in a rectangular geometry is considered by defining three flow regimes. Secondly, when the flow is not in line withthe main rows, solutions are found for the patterns of wind turbine units emerging corresponding to each wind direction. The model complex......A review of state of the art wake and boundary layer wind farms was conducted. The predictions made for wind recovery distances (that might be used to estimate optimal placing of neighbouring wind farms) range between 2 and 14 km. In order to model thelink between wakes and the boundary layer...

  19. Analysis of costs and returns in rice farming by farm size in Ebonyi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was designed to analyze the costs and returns of rice farming by farm size in Ebonyi state of Nigeria. Data were collected through the cost-route approach with pre-tested structured questionnaire from 40 randomly selected small scale and 40 purposively selected large-scale rice farmers, Data were analyzed by ...

  20. Income Analysis in South American Domestic Camelid Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Ansaloni

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the production costs and income of eight groups of farms: five private farms and three belonging to the Andean rural community. These farms are located in Peru and Bolivia and breed alpacas and llama for both meat and fibre. The research is based on case studies. Each case study includes several farms, grouped according to similar characteristics: available resources; breeding techniques and geographical location. A farm economic data analysis was undertaken by determining economic budget income. Statistics and data from 2003 were analysed to determine farm resources and farm production costs, per animal head and net farm income per labour unit and livestock head. This paper is relevant as regards economic data for production systems which are more often analysed for sociological and cultural aspects and less often for economic data and identification of real productive economic data which are not generally market driven.

  1. 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility closure activities evaluation report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adler, J.G.

    1996-01-01

    This report evaluates the closure activities at the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility. The closure activities discussed include: the closure activities for the structures, equipment, soil, and gravel scrubber; decontamination methods; materials made available for recycling or reuse; and waste management. The evaluation compares these activities to the regulatory requirements and closure plan requirements. The report concludes that the areas identified in the closure plan can be clean closed

  2. Storage shaft definitive closure plug and method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dardaine, M.

    1992-01-01

    A definitive closure plug system for radioactive waste storage at any deepness, is presented. The inherent weight of the closure materials is used to set in the plug: these materials display an inclined sliding surface in such a way that when the closure material rests on a stable surface of the shaft storage materials, the relative sliding of the different materials tends to spread them towards the shaft internal wall so as to completely occlude the shaft

  3. Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: Does farm size affect their abundance?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ingemar Hedström

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs non-organic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test. However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3: 965-969. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.

  4. Fontan fenestration closure and event-free survival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imielski, Bartlomiej R; Woods, Ronald K; Mussatto, Kathleen A; Cao, Yumei; Simpson, Pippa M; Tweddell, James S

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association of open and closed Fontan fenestration status with event-free survival. All patients who underwent a fenestrated Fontan procedure at our institution from January 1994 through June 2007 were reviewed. Patient information was obtained from the medical records. The patients were assigned to 1 of 2 study groups, open or closed, according to their most recent fenestration status. Clinically relevant morbid events were tabulated, and Kaplan-Meier event analysis was used to create event-free probability curves with log-rank comparisons. A total of 161 patients were classified as open and 51 as closed. The median interval to an event was 1.1 years (interquartile range, 0.1-3.3 years) after the Fontan procedure. The median interval to closure was 1.2 years (interquartile range, 0.7-3.3 years). The median interval to an event was 1.5 years (interquartile range, 0.1-4.6 years) in the closed group and 1.1 years (interquartile range, 0.1-3.3 years) in the open group. Event-free probability analysis revealed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P = .15). The median follow-up arterial oxygen saturation was greater in the closed group (96.0%; interquartile range, 94.0%-97.0%) than in the open group (91.0%; interquartile range, 86.0%-95.0%; P < .0001). Fenestration closure was associated with greater arterial oxygen saturation but not greater event-free survival. The interval to an event was slightly less than the interval to fenestration closure, suggesting potential merit in the evaluation of earlier fenestration closure. Adoption of specific fenestration management guidelines might help improve the overall outcomes and enhance the quality of future studies. Copyright © 2013 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Modeling wake effects in large wind farms in complex terrain: the problem, the methods and the issues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Politis, E.S.; Prospathopoulos, J.; Cabezon, D.

    2012-01-01

    turbulence closures, are used. The wind turbines are modeled as momentum absorbers by means of their thrust coefficient through the actuator disk approach. Alternative methods for estimating the reference wind speed in the calculation of the thrust are tested. The work presented in this paper is part......Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods are used in this paper to predict the power production from entire wind farms in complex terrain and to shed some light into the wake flow patterns. Two full three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solvers for incompressible fluid flow, employing k - ε and k - ω...

  6. Control strategies for wind farm power optimization: LES study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciri, Umberto; Rotea, Mario; Leonardi, Stefano

    2017-11-01

    Turbines in wind farms operate in off-design conditions as wake interactions occur for particular wind directions. Advanced wind farm control strategies aim at coordinating and adjusting turbine operations to mitigate power losses in such conditions. Coordination is achieved by controlling on upstream turbines either the wake intensity, through the blade pitch angle or the generator torque, or the wake direction, through yaw misalignment. Downstream turbines can be adapted to work in waked conditions and limit power losses, using the blade pitch angle or the generator torque. As wind conditions in wind farm operations may change significantly, it is difficult to determine and parameterize the variations of the coordinated optimal settings. An alternative is model-free control and optimization of wind farms, which does not require any parameterization and can track the optimal settings as conditions vary. In this work, we employ a model-free optimization algorithm, extremum-seeking control, to find the optimal set-points of generator torque, blade pitch and yaw angle for a three-turbine configuration. Large-Eddy Simulations are used to provide a virtual environment to evaluate the performance of the control strategies under realistic, unsteady incoming wind. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grants No. 1243482 (the WINDINSPIRE project) and IIP 1362033 (I/UCRC WindSTAR). TACC is acknowledged for providing computational time.

  7. Procedures adopted by orthodontists for space closure and anchorage control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monini, André da Costa; Gandini Júnior, Luiz Gonzaga; dos Santos-Pinto, Ary; Maia, Luiz Guilherme Martins; Rodrigues, Willian Caetano

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to identify the procedures adopted by Brazilian orthodontists in the following situations: extraction space closure, anchorage control in case of necessary anchorage for group A and frequency of skeletal anchorage use, especially in the upper jaw. A questionnaire was sent to the e-mail address of all dentists registered in the Brazilian Federal Council of Dentistry. The results showed that most Brazilian orthodontists usually perform extraction space closure by means of sliding mechanics. The use of palatal bar, inclusion of second molars in the archwire and space closure performed in two phases are the most used techniques for anchorage control in the upper jaw. The skeletal anchorage is referenced by 36.5% of specialists as a routine practice for the upper arch anchorage. There is a wide variety of procedures adopted by Brazilian orthodontists for orthodontic space closure and anchorage control.

  8. Comparative evaluation of sagittal anchorage loss in lingual and labial appliances during space closure: A pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shivanand Venkatesh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The purpose of this investigation was to assess and compare the anchorage loss between labial and lingual appliance systems during space closure. Materials and Methods: Twenty subjects were part of the study among which 10 subjects (mean age 21 ± 3.6 years were treated using lingual appliance system (0.018" slot-STb™ and 10 subjects (mean age 19 ± 6.1 years were treated using labial preadjusted edgewise appliance system (0.018" slot-MBT™ . First premolar extractions were performed to enable retraction of anterior teeth. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were taken at two intervals, before starting space closure and after space closure that were connoted as T0 and T1 and were analyzed using the method described by Pancherz to measure anchorage loss. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC was used to evaluate intraexaminer reliability of the measurements. Student′s t-test was performed to verify any statistical significant correlation between the labial and lingual appliance systems. Statistical differences were determined at the 95% confidence level (P < 0.05. Results: The results showed that all ICC for lingual and labial group were ≥0.90 showing good repeatability of the measurements. Mean anchorage loss of 1.238 ± 0.17 mm in lingual appliance system and an anchorage loss of 2.06 ± 0.39 mm occurred with the labial appliance system. On the comparison between the two appliance systems, lingual appliance demonstrated a significantly lesser anchorage loss than did the labial appliance. Interpretation and Conclusion: This prospective study concludes with the fact that lingual appliance provided better anchorage control than labial appliance during space closure. Use of lingual appliance could be considered in critical anchorage cases when compared with labial appliance.

  9. Leverages for on-farm innovation from farm typologies? An illustration for family-based dairy farms in north-west Michoacán, Mexico

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cortez Arriola, J.; Rossing, W.A.H.; Amendola Massiotti, R.D.; Scholberg, J.M.S.; Groot, J.C.J.; Tittonell, P.A.

    2015-01-01

    Knowledge on farm diversity provides insight into differences among farms, enables scaling from individual farm to farm population level and vice versa, and has been used in the definition of recommendation domains for introduction of novel technologies. Farm diversity can be broadly described in

  10. Corporate social responsibility for regional sustainability after mine closure: a case study of mining company in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syarif, Andi Erwin; Hatori, Tsuyoshi

    2017-06-01

    Creating a soft-landing path for mine closure is key to the sustainability of the mining region. In this research, we presents a case of mine closure in Soroako, a small mining town in the north-east of South Sulawesi province, in the center of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. Especially we investigates corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of a mining company, PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (PTVI), towards a soft-landing of mine closure in this region. The data of the CSR programs are gathered from in-depth interviews, the annual reports and managerial reports. Furthermore we presents an integrated view of CSR to close mining in a sustainable manner. We then evaluate CSR strategies of the company and its performance from this viewpoint. Based on these steps, the way to improve the CSR mine closure scenario for enhancing the regional sustainability is discussed and recommended.

  11. Technical efficiency of goat farming in Turkey: a case study of Isparta province

    OpenAIRE

    Gül, Mevlüt; Demircan, Vecdi; Yilmaz, Hasan; Yilmaz, Hilal

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT This study estimates the technical efficiency of goat rearing in the province of Isparta in Turkey using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The data used were collected from 92 goat farmers using the stratified sampling method by means of a questionnaire. The technical efficiency of the goat farming varied widely between 0.13 and 1.00. The mean efficiency of 92 goat farms was calculated to be 0.44 and 0.66 for constant and variable returns to scale assumptions, respectively. The greate...

  12. Profitability and Efficiency of Red Onion Farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Imron Rosyadi

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to determine and analyze the profitability and performance of onion farming marketing margins; analyze and know the parts of prices received by farmers and analyze the efficiency of onion farming in the district of Brebes. Samples taken in this study is 30 onion farmers in the district of Brebes, who settled in six villages, each village was taken 5 farmers as the research sample. These results indicate that the location of onion farming research does not provide benefits significantly to the household economy of farmers. Higher selling prices at the retail level and supermarkets do not have a significant impact on the level of profits of farming in the study area. Farming is done by farmers in the study area is inefficient. Onion marketing chain in the study area is relatively long, which consists of 4 lines of marketing.

  13. Recruitment and retention of farm owners and workers for a six-month prospective injury study in New Zealand: a feasibility study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Langley John D

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Agricultural workers experience high rates of occupational injury. There is a lack of analytic studies which provide detailed occupational exposure information to inform intervention development. Methods A feasibility study simulating a six month prospective cohort study was designed and undertaken. The levels of farm and worker participation and retention were analysed to determine the feasibility of the methods for wider deployment. Results Recruitment levels were comparable with other studies, with 24% of farms and 36% of non-owner workers participating. Once recruited, retention was high at 85% and 86% respectively. Conclusions The main challenges identified were in the recruitment process. Once recruited, farms and workers tended to complete the study, indicating that prospective studies in this the agricultural workforce may be feasible. Issues encountered and potential solutions for future studies are discussed.

  14. Assessment of Farming Systems for Sustainability of Farming Activities in the Mazandaran Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Moumenihelali

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: One of the fundamental issues in the agricultural sector in Iran is the absence of optimal water and soil resources utilization and lack of new agricultural science and technology adoption through major prevailing transformations in agricultural land exploitation system. The studies conducted in the history of agricultural development in Iran cast light on the fact that the farming system’s role in the agricultural development in Iran is of great importance. And water and soil resources utilization has been one of the fundamental issues of agriculture which has enjoyed major consideration after the implementation of land restructuring. The agriculture farming systems are referred to as the focus of all activities related to sustainable agricultural development in Iran and it is believed that the shift and transition from traditional agriculture to modern and profitable agriculture through appropriate, improved and newly developed agricultural establishments are the major activities which can increase productivity and improve the overall performance of the agricultural sector and thus contribute to sustainable development more than any other factor. Hence, such significance will be more evident when the small and scattered farmlands in many cases have imposed some limitations in the application of agricultural techniques and machinery, equipping and developing the infrastructure and efficient use of resources with appropriate performance forcing agricultural policymakersto be always looking for ways to deal with it. Therefore, identifying the relative advantage of any farming system specified for each area and region in the country seems important. Accordingly, the Mazandaran province is regarded as one of the production hubs in producing crops such as rice, wheat and canola in the country playing a major role in supplying food. With a detailed analysis of research literature, the economic, ecological, social, technical and policy

  15. The potential migration effect of rural hospital closures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Jens Fyhn Lykke

    2008-01-01

    to out-migration, although the hypothetical way of questioning leaves uncertainty about the actual scale of out-migration. Child families appear to be the most likely out-migrants. Elderly people may be hardest hit by a hospital closure, being most reliant on health care and least inclined to move away.......Rural hospital closures are high on the current health care agenda in Denmark. One raised concern is that rural hospital closures may further decrease population numbers in rural areas, as closures may induce some residents to move away from affected areas, i.e. closer to health care services...

  16. EXPLANATION OF VARIATION IN DEMAND FOR FARM CREDIT IN MISSOURI

    OpenAIRE

    Ashlock, Tara; Rimal, Arbindra

    2004-01-01

    The study analyzed the demand for farm credit in Missouri. Results suggested that financial leverage, government payments, occupation of farm operators, average farm acreages, value of land and buildings and types of farm operation had significant influence on farm credit usage. The study highlighted the potential for credit rationing.

  17. 304 Concretion facility closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-04-01

    The Hanford Site, located northwest of Richland, Washington, houses reactors, chemical-separation systems, and related facilities used for the production of special nuclear materials. The 300 Area of the Hanford Site contains reactor fuel manufacturing facilities and several research and development laboratories. Recyclable scrap uranium Zircaloy-2 and copper silicon alloy, uranium-titanium alloy, beryllium/Zircaloy-2 alloy, and Zircaloy-2 chips and fines were secured in concrete billets in the 304 Concretion Facility, located in the 300 Area. The beryllium/Zircaloy-2 alloy and Zircaloy-2 chips and fines are designated as low-level radioactive mixed waste (LLRMW) with the characteristic of ignitability. The concretion process reduced the ignitability of the fines and chips for safe storage and shipment. This process has been discontinued and the 304 Concretion Facility is now undergoing closure as defined in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). This closure plan presents a description of the facility, the history of materials and wastes managed, and the procedures that will be followed to close the 304 Concretion Facility (304 Facility). Clean closure of the 304 Facility is the proposed method for closure of the facility. Justification for this proposal is presented. 15 refs., 22 figs., 4 tabs

  18. 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-11-01

    The Hanford Facility is owned by the US Government and operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office. Dangerous waste and mixed waste (containing both radioactive and dangerous components) are managed and produced on the Hanford Facility. Westinghouse Hanford Company is a major contractor to the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office and serves as cooperator of the 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site, the unit addressed in this closure plan. The 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site Closure Plan consists of a Part A Permit Application (Revision 3) and a closure plan. An explanation of the Part A Permit Application revision is provided at the beginning of the Part A section. The closure plan consists of nine chapters and three appendices. This 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site Closure Plan submittal contains information current as of October 15, 1992

  19. The levels of disclosure relating to mine closure obligations by platinum mining companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joline Sturdy

    2017-06-01

    Aim: The aim of this study is to establish the extent to which platinum mines listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE comply with a recommended disclosure framework. Setting: South Africa is the largest producer of platinum in the world. The study covers all platinum mines listed on the JSE. Methods: Using a framework, a census of the annual financial statements, integrated annual reports and sustainability reports or websites was conducted to determine the level of compliance of disclosure relating to mine closure obligations to the recommended disclosure framework. Results: The results show disclosure relating to mine closure obligations of platinum mines listed on the JSE is inconsistent and not sufficient for stakeholders to understand the scope, key assumptions, parameters or reliability of the assessment and calculation of mine closure obligations. Conclusion: The assumptions used to determine mine closure obligations are specialised and multi-disciplinary. The accuracy and reliability of mine closure obligations will improve dramatically through greater transparency and access to information. It is recommended that the JSE listings for mining companies should require a competent person’s report to provide disclosure on assumptions, key values and processes applied to determine the mine closure obligations. Furthermore, it is recommended that the Department of Mineral Resources implements a mechanism of independent assessment of mine closure obligations by experts on an ongoing basis.

  20. The necessary distance between large wind farms offshore - study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frandsen, S.; Barthelmie, R.; Pryor, S.; Rathmann, O.; Larsen, S.; Hoejstrup, J.; Nielsen, P.; Lybech Thoegersen, M.

    2004-08-01

    A review of state of the art wake and boundary layer wind farms was conducted. The predictions made for wind recovery distances (that might be used to estimate optimal placing of neighbouring wind farms) range between 2 and 14 km. In order to model the link between wakes and the boundary layer the new Storpark Analytical Model has been developed and evaluated. As it is often the need for offshore wind farms, the model handles a regular array-geometry with straight rows of wind turbines and equidistant spacing between units in each row and equidistant spacing between rows. Firstly, the case with the flow direction being parallel to rows in a rectangular geometry is considered by defining three flow regimes. Secondly, when the flow is not in line with the main rows, solutions are found for the patterns of wind turbine units emerging corresponding to each wind direction. The model complex will be adjusted and calibrated with measurements in the near future. (au)

  1. LLNL/YMP Waste Container Fabrication and Closure Project; GFY technical activity summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1990-10-01

    The Department of Energy`s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) Program is studying Yucca Mountain, Nevada as a suitable site for the first US high-level nuclear waste repository. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the responsibility for designing and developing the waste package for the permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste. This report is a summary of the technical activities for the LLNL/YMP Nuclear Waste Disposal Container Fabrication and Closure Development Project. Candidate welding closure processes were identified in the Phase 1 report. This report discusses Phase 2. Phase 2 of this effort involved laboratory studies to determine the optimum fabrication and closure processes. Because of budget limitations, LLNL narrowed the materials for evaluation in Phase 2 from the original six to four: Alloy 825, CDA 715, CDA 102 (or CDA 122) and CDA 952. Phase 2 studies focused on evaluation of candidate material in conjunction with fabrication and closure processes.

  2. Assessment of consistent two-equation closure for forest flows

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sogachev, Andrey; Cavar, Dalibor; Bechmann, Andreas

    of grid turbulence and wall-bounded flow, the closure suggested is also valid for homogeneous shear flows commonly observed inside tall vegetative canopies. The present work assess the plant drag closure by comparing results of two different CFD models against observations derived over the forested area...... and can be applied for any twoequation closure. Results derived by different CFD models with k-epsilon and k-omega closure are similar and in good comparison with observations. Overall, numerical results show that the closure performs well, opening new possibilities for application to tasks related...... to the atmospheric boundary layer—where it is important to adequately account for the influences of vegetation....

  3. CHEMICAL SLUDGE HEEL REMOVAL AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE F TANK FARM CLOSURE PROJECT 8183

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thaxton, D; Timothy Baughman, T

    2008-01-01

    Chemical Sludge Removal (CSR) is the final waste removal activity planned for some of the oldest nuclear waste tanks located at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC. In 2008, CSR will be used to empty two of these waste tanks in preparation for final closure. The two waste tanks chosen to undergo this process have previously leaked small amounts of nuclear waste from the primary tank into an underground secondary containment pan. CSR involves adding aqueous oxalic acid to the waste tank in order to dissolve the remaining sludge heel. The resultant acidic waste solution is then pumped to another waste tank where it will be neutralized and then stored awaiting further processing. The waste tanks to be cleaned have a storage capacity of 2.84E+06 liters (750,000 gallons) and a target sludge heel volume of 1.89E+04 liters (5,000 gallons) or less for the initiation of CSR. The purpose of this paper is to describe the CSR process and to discuss the most significant technical issues associated with the development of CSR

  4. Closure of patent ductus arteriosus in children, small infants, and premature babies with Amplatzer duct occluder II additional sizes: multicenter study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sungur, Metin; Karakurt, Cemsit; Ozbarlas, Nazan; Baspinar, Osman

    2013-08-01

    To evaluate safety and efficacy of closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with Amplatzer duct occluder II Additional Sizes (ADO II AS) and to report early and midterm results of the device in children and very young symptomatic infants. Retrospective analysis of angiographic data of 60 children from four pediatric cardiology centers. The median patient age and weight were 6.5 (0.5-168) months and 6.8 (1.19-57) kg, respectively. In the study, 26 children had a body weight of ≤ 6 kg. Of these 26 children, 9 had a body weight of ≤ 3 kg. The median narrowest diameter of PDA was 2 (1.2-4) mm. Ductal anatomy was Type A in 29, Type B in 2, Type C in 11, Type D in 1, and Type E in 16 patients, and a residual PDA after surgery in 1 patient. Closure with ADO II AS was achieved in 58 (96.6%) of 60 attempted cases. In two infants, the device was not released because of significant residual shunt. ADO II was used in one, and the other was sent to surgery. Complete closure was observed in all ADO II AS deployed children by the next day on echocardiography. Median follow-up was 12 (1-18) months. Neither death nor any major complications occurred. Our study shows that closure of medium and small sized PDA by using ADO II AS device is effective and safe in children. The use of the device will expand the field of application of PDA closure in small infants. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. A successful environmental remediation program closure and post-closure activities (CAPCA) Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bowers, M.H.

    1991-01-01

    The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) closure of eleven waste management units at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant is nearing completion. The Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant is managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-84OR21400. The Closure and Post Closure Program (CAPCA) has been accomplished on an accelerated schedule through the efforts of a dedicated team from several organizations. This paper relates experience gained from the program that can be of benefit on other DOE environmental remediation projects. Technical design and construction aspects, as well as project management considerations, are discussed

  6. Considerations for closure of low-level radioactive waste engineered disposal facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    Proper stabilization and closure of low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities require detailed planning during the early stages of facility development. This report provides considerations for host States, compact regions, and unaffiliated States on stabilization and closure of engineered low-level radioactive waste and mixed waste disposal facilities. A time line for planning closure activities, which identifies closure considerations to be addressed during various stages of a facility's development, is presented. Current Federal regulatory requirements and guidance for closure and post-closure are outlined. Significant differences between host State and Federal closure requirements are identified. Design features used as stabilization measures that support closure, such as waste forms and containers, backfill materials, engineered barrier systems, and site drainage systems, are described. These design features are identified and evaluated in terms of how they promote long-term site stability by minimizing water infiltration, controlling subsidence and surface erosion, and deterring intrusion. Design and construction features critical to successful closure are presented for covers and site drainage. General considerations for stabilization and closure operations are introduced. The role of performance and environmental monitoring during closure is described

  7. Tank closure reducing grout

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caldwell, T.B.

    1997-01-01

    A reducing grout has been developed for closing high level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. The grout has a low redox potential, which minimizes the mobility of Sr 90 , the radionuclide with the highest dose potential after closure. The grout also has a high pH which reduces the solubility of the plutonium isotopes. The grout has a high compressive strength and low permeability, which enhances its ability to limit the migration of contaminants after closure. The grout was designed and tested by Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc. Placement methods were developed by the Savannah River Site personnel

  8. Revisiting the Landau fluid closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunana, P.; Zank, G. P.; Webb, G. M.; Adhikari, L.

    2017-12-01

    Advanced fluid models that are much closer to the full kinetic description than the usual magnetohydrodynamic description are a very useful tool for studying astrophysical plasmas and for interpreting solar wind observational data. The development of advanced fluid models that contain certain kinetic effects is complicated and has attracted much attention over the past years. Here we focus on fluid models that incorporate the simplest possible forms of Landau damping, derived from linear kinetic theory expanded about a leading-order (gyrotropic) bi-Maxwellian distribution function f_0, under the approximation that the perturbed distribution function f_1 is gyrotropic as well. Specifically, we focus on various Pade approximants to the usual plasma response function (and to the plasma dispersion function) and examine possibilities that lead to a closure of the linear kinetic hierarchy of fluid moments. We present re-examination of the simplest Landau fluid closures.

  9. A kinematic view of loop closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutsias, Evangelos A; Seok, Chaok; Jacobson, Matthew P; Dill, Ken A

    2004-03-01

    We consider the problem of loop closure, i.e., of finding the ensemble of possible backbone structures of a chain segment of a protein molecule that is geometrically consistent with preceding and following parts of the chain whose structures are given. We reduce this problem of determining the loop conformations of six torsions to finding the real roots of a 16th degree polynomial in one variable, based on the robotics literature on the kinematics of the equivalent rotator linkage in the most general case of oblique rotators. We provide a simple intuitive view and derivation of the polynomial for the case in which each of the three pair of torsional axes has a common point. Our method generalizes previous work on analytical loop closure in that the torsion angles need not be consecutive, and any rigid intervening segments are allowed between the free torsions. Our approach also allows for a small degree of flexibility in the bond angles and the peptide torsion angles; this substantially enlarges the space of solvable configurations as is demonstrated by an application of the method to the modeling of cyclic pentapeptides. We give further applications to two important problems. First, we show that this analytical loop closure algorithm can be efficiently combined with an existing loop-construction algorithm to sample loops longer than three residues. Second, we show that Monte Carlo minimization is made severalfold more efficient by employing the local moves generated by the loop closure algorithm, when applied to the global minimization of an eight-residue loop. Our loop closure algorithm is freely available at http://dillgroup. ucsf.edu/loop_closure/. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 25: 510-528, 2004

  10. 50 CFR 14.23 - Live farm-raised fish and farm-raised fish eggs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Live farm-raised fish and farm-raised fish eggs. 14.23 Section 14.23 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Exportation at Designated Ports § 14.23 Live farm-raised fish and farm-raised fish eggs. Live farm-raised fish...

  11. Procedures adopted by orthodontists for space closure and anchorage control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André da Costa Monini

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the procedures adopted by Brazilian orthodontists in the following situations: extraction space closure, anchorage control in case of necessary anchorage for group A and frequency of skeletal anchorage use, especially in the upper jaw. METHOD: A questionnaire was sent to the e-mail address of all dentists registered in the Brazilian Federal Council of Dentistry. RESULTS: The results showed that most Brazilian orthodontists usually perform extraction space closure by means of sliding mechanics. The use of palatal bar, inclusion of second molars in the archwire and space closure performed in two phases are the most used techniques for anchorage control in the upper jaw. The skeletal anchorage is referenced by 36.5% of specialists as a routine practice for the upper jaw anchorage. CONCLUSIONS: There is a wide variety of procedures adopted by Brazilian orthodontists for orthodontic space closure and anchorage control.

  12. Socket sclerosis--an obstacle for orthodontic space closure?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgaertel, Sebastian

    2009-07-01

    Socket sclerosis is a rare reaction to tooth extraction resulting in high-density bone in the center of the alveolar process, where, under normal circumstances, cancellous bone is to be expected. In an adult orthodontic patient, routine extractions of the mandibular first permanent bicuspids were performed, resulting in socket sclerosis and unsuccessful orthodontic space closure. Orthodontic mini-implants were inserted to augment anchorage and aid in space closure. In the presence of socket sclerosis, conventional orthodontic mechanics failed to close the extraction spaces. However, with absolute anchorage in place, space closure occurred at a nearly normal rate. After treatment, no signs of socket sclerosis were discernible on the periapical radiographs. Socket sclerosis can be an obstacle for orthodontic space closure if traditional mechanics are employed. However, mini-implant-reinforced anchorage can lead to successful space closure, resulting in complete resolution of the sclerotic sites.

  13. An Analysis of Profitability Factors for Selected Farming Types in the Minnesota Vocational Agriculture Farm Management Education Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleene, Marvin

    1980-01-01

    A study was conducted to determine the impact profitability factors have on farm labor earnings for farms enrolled in the Minnesota Vocational Agriculture Farm Management Education Program. The most important predictors of labor earnings were size of business, gross return per cropped acre, and index return per $100 of feed fed. (LRA)

  14. Primary closure of equine laryngotomy incisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindegaard, C.; Karlsson, L.; Ekstrøm, Claus Thorn

    2016-01-01

    incision between January 1995 and June 2012 were reviewed. Horses with a laryngotomy incision closed in three layers for primary healing were included. Descriptive data on healing characteristics and complications of laryngotomy wounds were collected from the medical records and via follow......The objective was to report healing characteristics and complications after primary closure of equine laryngotomies and analyse factors potentially associated with complications. This retrospective case series of the medical records of horses (n = 180) undergoing laryngoplasty and laryngotomy...... after primary closure of equine laryngotomy incisions are infrequent and considered of minimal severity and can be performed safely when paying careful attention to the closure of the cricothyroid membrane....

  15. Quantifying antimicrobial resistance at veal calf farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosman, A.B.; Wagenaar, J.A.; Stegeman, A.; Vernooij, H.; Mevius, D.J.

    2012-01-01

    This study was performed to determine a sampling strategy to quantify the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance on veal calf farms, based on the variation in antimicrobial resistance within and between calves on five farms. Faecal samples from 50 healthy calves (10 calves/farm) were collected. From

  16. Detailed design report for an operational phase panel-closure system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    Under contract to Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Westinghouse), Waste Isolation Division (WID), IT Corporation has prepared a detailed design of a panel-closure system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Preparation of this detailed design of an operational-phase closure system is required to support a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B permit application and a non-migration variance petition. This report describes the detailed design for a panel-closure system specific to the WIPP site. The recommended panel-closure system will adequately isolate the waste-emplacement panels for at least 35 years. This report provides detailed design and material engineering specifications for the construction, emplacement, and interface-grouting associated with a panel-closure system at the WIPP repository, which would ensure that an effective panel-closure system is in place for at least 35 years. The panel-closure system provides assurance that the limit for the migration of volatile organic compounds (VOC) will be met at the point of compliance, the WIPP site boundary. This assurance is obtained through the inherent flexibility of the panel-closure system

  17. Agricultural marketing systems and sustainability : study of small scale Andean hillside farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Castaño, J.

    2001-01-01

    A better understanding of the way in which marketing systems can contribute to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (ASAP) on small-farms constitutes the aim of this study. In particular, the study examines the contribution of vertical

  18. Farm Population of the United States: 1975. Current Population Reports: Farm Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Vera J.; And Others

    Presented via narrative and tabular data, this report includes: Population of the U.S., Total and Farm: 1960-1975; Metropolitan-Nonmetropolitan Residence of the Farm and Nonfarm Population, by Race: 1975; Fertility Characteristics of Farm and Nonfarm Women, by Race: 1975; Persons 14 Years Old and Over Employed in Agriculture, by Farm-Nonfarm…

  19. 3718-F Alkali Metal Treatment and Storage Facility Closure Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-12-01

    Since 1987, Westinghouse Hanford Company has been a major contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office and has served as co-operator of the 3718-F Alkali Metal Treatment and Storage Facility, the waste management unit addressed in this closure plan. The closure plan consists of a Part A Dangerous waste Permit Application and a RCRA Closure Plan. An explanation of the Part A Revision (Revision 1) submitted with this document is provided at the beginning of the Part A section. The closure plan consists of 9 chapters and 5 appendices. The chapters cover: introduction; facility description; process information; waste characteristics; groundwater; closure strategy and performance standards; closure activities; postclosure; and references

  20. 3718-F Alkali Metal Treatment and Storage Facility Closure Plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1991-12-01

    Since 1987, Westinghouse Hanford Company has been a major contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office and has served as co-operator of the 3718-F Alkali Metal Treatment and Storage Facility, the waste management unit addressed in this closure plan. The closure plan consists of a Part A Dangerous waste Permit Application and a RCRA Closure Plan. An explanation of the Part A Revision (Revision 1) submitted with this document is provided at the beginning of the Part A section. The closure plan consists of 9 chapters and 5 appendices. The chapters cover: introduction; facility description; process information; waste characteristics; groundwater; closure strategy and performance standards; closure activities; postclosure; and references.

  1. A randomized clinical trial to compare three methods of orthodontic space closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, V; Read, M J F; O'Brien, K D; Worthington, H V; Mandall, N A

    2002-03-01

    To compare the rates of orthodontic space closure for: Active ligatures, polyurethane powerchain (Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, RMO Europe, Parc d'Innovation, Rue Geiler de Kaysersberg, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, Strasbourg, France) and nickel titanium springs. Patients entering the space closure phase of fixed orthodontic treatment attending six orthodontic providers. Twelve patients received active ligatures (48 quadrants), 10 patients received powerchain (40 quadrants) and 11 patients, nickel-titanium springs (44 quadrants). Patients were randomly allocated for treatment with active ligatures, powerchain or nickel titanium springs. Upper and lower study models were collected at the start of space closure (T(o)) and 4 months later (T(1)). We recorded whether the patient wore Class II or Class III elastics. Space present in all four quadrants was measured, by a calibrated examiner, using Vernier callipers at T(o) and T(1.) The rate of space closure, in millimetres per month (4 weeks) and a 4-monthly rate, was then calculated. Examiner reliability was assessed at least 2 weeks later. Mean rates of space closure were 0.35 mm/month for active ligatures, 0.58 mm/month for powerchain, and 0.81 mm/month for NiTi springs. No statistically significant differences were found between any methods with the exception of NiTi springs showing more rapid space closure than active ligatures (P space closure. NiTi springs gave the most rapid rate of space closure and may be considered the treatment of choice. However, powerchain provides a cheaper treatment option that is as effective. The use of inter-arch elastics does not appear to influence rate of space closure.

  2. Modeling and Simulating Passenger Behavior for a Station Closure in a Rail Transit Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Haodong; Han, Baoming; Li, Dewei; Wu, Jianjun; Sun, Huijun

    2016-01-01

    A station closure is an abnormal operational situation in which the entrances or exits of a rail transit station have to be closed for some time due to an unexpected incident. A novel approach is developed to estimate the impacts of the alternative station closure scenarios on both passenger behavioral choices at the individual level and passenger demand at the disaggregate level in a rail transit network. Therefore, the contributions of this study are two-fold: (1) A basic passenger behavior optimization model is mathematically constructed based on 0–1 integer programming to describe passengers’ responses to alternative origin station closure scenarios and destination station closure scenarios; this model also considers the availability of multi-mode transportation and the uncertain duration of the station closure; (2) An integrated solution algorithm based on the passenger simulation is developed to solve the proposed model and to estimate the effects of a station closure on passenger demand in a rail transit network. Furthermore, 13 groups of numerical experiments based on the Beijing rail transit network are performed as case studies with 2,074,267 records of smart card data. The comparisons of the model outputs and the manual survey show that the accuracy of our proposed behavior optimization model is approximately 80%. The results also show that our model can be used to capture the passenger behavior and to quantitatively estimate the effects of alternative closure scenarios on passenger flow demand for the rail transit network. Moreover, the closure duration and its overestimation greatly influence the individual behavioral choices of the affected passengers and the passenger demand. Furthermore, if the rail transit operator can more accurately estimate the closure duration (namely, as g approaches 1), the impact of the closure can be somewhat mitigated. PMID:27935963

  3. Modeling and Simulating Passenger Behavior for a Station Closure in a Rail Transit Network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haodong Yin

    Full Text Available A station closure is an abnormal operational situation in which the entrances or exits of a rail transit station have to be closed for some time due to an unexpected incident. A novel approach is developed to estimate the impacts of the alternative station closure scenarios on both passenger behavioral choices at the individual level and passenger demand at the disaggregate level in a rail transit network. Therefore, the contributions of this study are two-fold: (1 A basic passenger behavior optimization model is mathematically constructed based on 0-1 integer programming to describe passengers' responses to alternative origin station closure scenarios and destination station closure scenarios; this model also considers the availability of multi-mode transportation and the uncertain duration of the station closure; (2 An integrated solution algorithm based on the passenger simulation is developed to solve the proposed model and to estimate the effects of a station closure on passenger demand in a rail transit network. Furthermore, 13 groups of numerical experiments based on the Beijing rail transit network are performed as case studies with 2,074,267 records of smart card data. The comparisons of the model outputs and the manual survey show that the accuracy of our proposed behavior optimization model is approximately 80%. The results also show that our model can be used to capture the passenger behavior and to quantitatively estimate the effects of alternative closure scenarios on passenger flow demand for the rail transit network. Moreover, the closure duration and its overestimation greatly influence the individual behavioral choices of the affected passengers and the passenger demand. Furthermore, if the rail transit operator can more accurately estimate the closure duration (namely, as g approaches 1, the impact of the closure can be somewhat mitigated.

  4. Modeling and Simulating Passenger Behavior for a Station Closure in a Rail Transit Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Haodong; Han, Baoming; Li, Dewei; Wu, Jianjun; Sun, Huijun

    2016-01-01

    A station closure is an abnormal operational situation in which the entrances or exits of a rail transit station have to be closed for some time due to an unexpected incident. A novel approach is developed to estimate the impacts of the alternative station closure scenarios on both passenger behavioral choices at the individual level and passenger demand at the disaggregate level in a rail transit network. Therefore, the contributions of this study are two-fold: (1) A basic passenger behavior optimization model is mathematically constructed based on 0-1 integer programming to describe passengers' responses to alternative origin station closure scenarios and destination station closure scenarios; this model also considers the availability of multi-mode transportation and the uncertain duration of the station closure; (2) An integrated solution algorithm based on the passenger simulation is developed to solve the proposed model and to estimate the effects of a station closure on passenger demand in a rail transit network. Furthermore, 13 groups of numerical experiments based on the Beijing rail transit network are performed as case studies with 2,074,267 records of smart card data. The comparisons of the model outputs and the manual survey show that the accuracy of our proposed behavior optimization model is approximately 80%. The results also show that our model can be used to capture the passenger behavior and to quantitatively estimate the effects of alternative closure scenarios on passenger flow demand for the rail transit network. Moreover, the closure duration and its overestimation greatly influence the individual behavioral choices of the affected passengers and the passenger demand. Furthermore, if the rail transit operator can more accurately estimate the closure duration (namely, as g approaches 1), the impact of the closure can be somewhat mitigated.

  5. Spatiotemporal distribution of nitrogen dioxide within and around a large-scale wind farm – a numerical case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Mo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available As a renewable and clean energy source, wind power has become the most rapidly growing energy resource worldwide in the past decades. Wind power has been thought not to exert any negative impacts on the environment. However, since a wind farm can alter the local meteorological conditions and increase the surface roughness lengths, it may affect air pollutants passing through and over the wind farm after released from their sources and delivered to the wind farm. In the present study, we simulated the nitrogen dioxide (NO2 air concentration within and around the world's largest wind farm (Jiuquan wind farm in Gansu Province, China using a coupled meteorology and atmospheric chemistry model WRF-Chem. The results revealed an edge effect, which featured higher NO2 levels at the immediate upwind and border region of the wind farm and lower NO2 concentration within the wind farm and the immediate downwind transition area of the wind farm. A surface roughness length scheme and a wind turbine drag force scheme were employed to parameterize the wind farm in this model investigation. Modeling results show that both parameterization schemes yield higher concentration in the immediate upstream of the wind farm and lower concentration within the wind farm compared to the case without the wind farm. We infer this edge effect and the spatial distribution of air pollutants to be the result of the internal boundary layer induced by the changes in wind speed and turbulence intensity driven by the rotation of the wind turbine rotor blades and the enhancement of surface roughness length over the wind farm. The step change in the roughness length from the smooth to rough surfaces (overshooting in the upstream of the wind farm decelerates the atmospheric transport of air pollutants, leading to their accumulation. The rough to the smooth surface (undershooting in the downstream of the wind farm accelerates the atmospheric transport of air pollutants, resulting in

  6. A Wind Farm Electrical Systems Evaluation with EeFarm-II

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pierik, J.; Axelsson, U.; Eriksson, E.; Salomonsson, D.; Bauer, P.; Czech, B.

    2010-01-01

    EeFarm-II is used to evaluate 13 different electrical systems for a 200 MW wind farm with a 100 km connection to shore. The evaluation is based on component manufacturer data of 2009. AC systems are compared to systems with DC connections inside the wind farm and DC connection to shore. Two options

  7. Transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus: past, present and future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baruteau, Alban-Elouen; Hascoët, Sébastien; Baruteau, Julien; Boudjemline, Younes; Lambert, Virginie; Angel, Claude-Yves; Belli, Emre; Petit, Jérôme; Pass, Robert

    2014-02-01

    This review aims to describe the past history, present techniques and future directions in transcatheter treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Transcatheter PDA closure is the standard of care in most cases and PDA closure is indicated in any patient with signs of left ventricular volume overload due to a ductus. In cases of left-to-right PDA with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, closure may be performed under specific conditions. The management of clinically silent or very tiny PDAs remains highly controversial. Techniques have evolved and the transcatheter approach to PDA closure is now feasible and safe with current devices. Coils and the Amplatzer Duct Occluder are used most frequently for PDA closure worldwide, with a high occlusion rate and few complications. Transcatheter PDA closure in preterm or low-bodyweight infants remains a highly challenging procedure and further device and catheter design development is indicated before transcatheter closure is the treatment of choice in this delicate patient population. The evolution of transcatheter PDA closure from just 40 years ago with 18F sheaths to device delivery via a 3F sheath is remarkable and it is anticipated that further improvements will result in better safety and efficacy of transcatheter PDA closure techniques. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  8. Aggregations of bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (L.) at Mediterranean coastal fish farms: seasonal presence, daily patterns and influence of farming activity

    OpenAIRE

    Arechavala-Lopez, Pablo; Izquierdo-Gomez, David; Uglem, Ingebrigt; Sanchez-Jerez, Pablo

    2014-01-01

    Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766), is commonly observed close to Mediterranean open-sea fish farms. It usually preys on wild fish that are attracted to farms, but also on farmed fish by biting holes in sea cages net walls. In the current telemetry study, we found that the tagged bluefish stayed close to fish farms during spring and early summer. However, most of the tagged fish disappeared from the farms during autumn, when the sea water temperature dropped. When aggregating at f...

  9. Redefining orthodontic space closure: sequential repetitive loading of the periodontal ligament--a clinical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalha, Anmol S; Kachiwala, Viral Ashok; Govardhan, Singatagere Nagaraj; McLaughlin, Richard P; Khurshaid, Syed Zameer

    2010-01-01

    To assess the rate of tooth movement, anchorage loss, root resorption, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) as a marker for bone remodeling during orthodontic space closure using two different mechanisms. Space closure was completed in 20 patients with extraction of all 4 premolars. Lateral cephalograms and radio-visiographs taken before (T1) and after (T2) space closure were assessed for anchorage loss and root resorption. Alkaline phosphatase levels were measured in 10 patients, which were divided into two groups of five each. Spaces were closed with a screw device in the first group and with active tie-backs in the second. Gingival crevicular fluid samples, collected at intervals, were assayed for alkaline phosphatase spectrophotometrically in each patient. The mean rate of tooth movement was 1.32 ± 0.22 mm/month. The mean amount of anchorage loss in the maxilla and mandible was 1.23 ± 0.60 mm and 1.08 ± 0.65 mm, respectively. Sixty (25%) roots showed no root resorption, while 180 (75%) roots displayed mild to moderate blunting of their apices. Gingival crevicular fluid-alkaline phosphatase level increased significantly from day 7 to day 28 in both groups, but significantly more in the screw retraction group (Pspace closure occurs more rapidly with sequential repetitive loading of the periodontal ligament than with conventional active tie-backs. This observation is in concurrence with a significant increase in the gingival crevicular fluid-alkaline phosphatase level. © 2010 BY QUINTESSENCE PUBLISHING CO, INC.

  10. Adapting Certified Safe Farm to North Carolina Agriculture: An Implementation Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storm, Julia F; LePrevost, Catherine E; Tutor-Marcom, Robin; Cope, W Gregory

    2016-01-01

    Certified Safe Farm (CSF) is a multimodal safety and health program developed and assessed through multiple controlled intervention studies in Iowa. Although developed with the intent to be broadly applicable to agriculture, CSF has not been widely implemented outside the midwestern United States. This article describes the CSF implementation process in North Carolina (NC), as piloted on a large-scale in three agriculturally diverse and productive counties of NC, and reports its effectiveness using the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Implementation involved (1) capacity building through safety and health training, (2) adaptation of components of Iowa's CSF model to NC agriculture, (3) marketing and recruitment, and (4) formative evaluation, including an online survey and focus group discussion. From 2009 to 2012, 113 farms participated in at least one component of the CSF intervention, representing a NC farm participation rate of 3.1% in the study area. A major adaptation of NC implementation was the utilization of NC Cooperative Extension as the local driver of implementation in contrast to local AgriSafe clinics in Iowa. The most innovative adaptation to CSF components was the development of a defined economic incentive in the form of a cost-share program. The RE-AIM framework was found to be useful and relevant to the field of agricultural health and safety translational research. This study provides effectiveness measures and implementation alternatives useful for those considering implementing CSF. It informs current efforts to move CSF from research to practice through the National Sustainable Model CSF Program initiative.

  11. Response of Mediterranean circulation to Miocene shoaling and closure of the Indian Gateway : A model study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De La Vara, Alba; Meijer, Paul

    2016-01-01

    In this regional ocean model study, we explore the effect of the Early to Middle Miocene shoaling and closure of the Indian Gateway on Mediterranean circulation and its exchange with the adjacent oceans. For this we use the regional ocean circulation model "sbPOM" and a collection of bathymetries

  12. Attitude and acceptance of offshore wind farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ladenburg, Jacob; Möller, B.

    2011-01-01

    farms attributes on attitude towards offshore wind farms. The results point towards that the travel time and the attributes of the nearest offshore wind farm influence the attitude significantly. Travel time has mixed effects on the attitude, whilst offshore wind farms with many turbines generate more...... a novel contribution to this field. First of all, we give a thorough review of the studies that have analysed the relation between experience with wind turbines and attitude. In addition, we supplement the review by analysing the effect of travel distance to the nearest offshore wind farm and the wind...

  13. AIR AND RADON PATHWAY MODELING FOR THE F-AREA TANK FARM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dixon, K; Mark Phifer, M

    2007-01-01

    The F-Area Tank Farm (FTF) is located within F-Area in the General Separations Area (GSA) of the Savannah River Site (SRS) as seen in Figure 1. The GSA contains the F and H Area Separations Facilities, the S-Area Defense Waste Processing Facility, the Z-Area Saltstone Facility, and the E-Area Low-Level Waste Disposal Facilities. The FTF is a nearly rectangular shaped area and comprises approximately 20 acres, which is bounded by SRS coordinates N 76,604.5 to N 77,560.0 and E 52,435.0 to E 53,369.0. SRS is in the process of preparing a Performance Assessment (PA) to support FTF closure. As part of the PA process, an analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential magnitude of gaseous release of radionuclides from the FTF over the 100-year institutional control period and 10,000-year post-closure compliance period. Specifically, an air and radon pathways analysis has been conducted to estimate the flux of volatile radionuclides and radon at the ground surface due to residual waste remaining in the tanks following closure. This analysis was used as the basis to estimate the dose to the maximally exposed individual (MEI) for the air pathway per Curie (Ci) of each radionuclide remaining in the combined FTF waste tanks. For the air pathway analysis, several gaseous radionuclides were considered. These included carbon-14 (C-14), chlorine-36 (Cl-36), iodine-129 (I-129), selenium-79 (Se-79), antimony-125 (Sb-125), tin-126 (Sn-126), tritium (H-3), and technetium-99 (Tc-99). The dose to the MEI was estimated at the SRS Boundary during the 100 year institutional control period. For the 10,000 year post closure compliance period, the dose to the MEI was estimated at the 100 m compliance point. For the radon pathway analysis, five parent radionuclides and their progeny were analyzed. These parent radionuclides included uranium-238 (U-238), plutonium-238 (Pu-238), uranium-234 (U-234), thorium-230 (Th-230), and radium-226 (Ra-226). The peak flux of radon-222 due to each parent

  14. THE FARMING AND MARKETING OF ORGANIC LETTUCE: STUDY AT BOBOSAN VILLAGE, KEDUNGBANTENG SUB-DISTRICT, BANYUMAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Kartika Eka Wijayanti

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Banyumas has great potential as a producer of organic lettuce in term of condition of natural, human resources and availability of market. The centre producer of organic lettuce is located in district of Kedungbanteng, and managed by farmers group "abdi tani". The aim of this study is to analyze: 1. The cost and income farming of organic lettuce; 2. Financial feasibility of organic lettuce farm; 3. The channel and structure of organic lettuce market. Processing and data analysis performed qualitatively and quantitatively. The data used is to the production and marketing of organic lettuce in period of June-July 2016. Quantitative analysis performed using analysis of cost, farm income, and R/C. Qualitative analysis was conducted to determine the channel and structure of organic lettuce market. The results showed that organic lettuce farm income generating positive value and the value of R/C is greater than one (R/C >1, the farming is profitable and feasible. Organic lettuce marketing channels through the use of one channel, such farmers, traders, retailers (supermarket. Farmers faced monopsony market structure, while traders and retailers deal with oligopoly one

  15. Wind tunnel study of the power output spectrum in a micro wind farm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bossuyt, Juliaan; Meyers, Johan; Howland, Michael F.; Meneveau, Charles

    2016-01-01

    Instrumented small-scale porous disk models are used to study the spectrum of a surrogate for the power output in a micro wind farm with 100 models of wind turbines. The power spectra of individual porous disk models in the first row of the wind farm show the expected -5/3 power law at higher frequencies. Downstream models measure an increased variance due to wake effects. Conversely, the power spectrum of the sum of the power over the entire wind farm shows a peak at the turbine-to-turbine travel frequency between the model turbines, and a near -5/3 power law region at a much wider range of lower frequencies, confirming previous LES results. Comparison with the spectrum that would result when assuming that the signals are uncorrelated, highlights the strong effects of correlations and anti-correlations in the fluctuations at various frequencies. (paper)

  16. Spontaneous Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Infants ≤1500 g.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semberova, Jana; Sirc, Jan; Miletin, Jan; Kucera, Jachym; Berka, Ivan; Sebkova, Sylva; O'Sullivan, Sinead; Franklin, Orla; Stranak, Zbynek

    2017-08-01

    Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) remains a challenging issue in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, and its management varies widely. Our aim in this study was to document the natural course of ductus arteriosus in a cohort of VLBW infants who underwent conservative PDA management with no medical or surgical intervention. A retrospective cohort study conducted in 2 European level-3 neonatal units. A total of 368 VLBW infants were born within the study period. Two hundred and ninety-seven infants were free of congenital malformations or heart defects and survived to hospital discharge. Out of those, 280 infants received truly conservative PDA management. In 237 (85%) of nontreated infants, the PDA closed before hospital discharge. The Kaplan-Meier model was used to document the incidence proportion of PDA closure over time for different gestational age groups. The median time to ductal closure was 71, 13, 8, and 6 days in closure before hospital discharge and neonatal morbidities. The likelihood of PDA spontaneous closure in VLBW infants is extremely high. We provide in our findings a platform for future placebo-controlled trials focused on the smallest and youngest infants. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  17. Need for closure and heuristic information processing: the moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kossowska, Małgorzata; Bar-Tal, Yoram

    2013-11-01

    In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information-processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre-decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation-cognition interactions influence the information-processing style. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

  18. Emergent properties during dorsal closure in Drosophila morphogenesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peralta, X G; Toyama, Y; Edwards, G S; Kiehart, D P

    2008-01-01

    Dorsal closure is an essential stage of Drosophila development that is a model system for research in morphogenesis and biological physics. Dorsal closure involves an orchestrated interplay between gene expression and cell activities that produce shape changes, exert forces and mediate tissue dynamics. We investigate the dynamics of dorsal closure based on confocal microscopic measurements of cell shortening in living embryos. During the mid-stages of dorsal closure we find that there are fluctuations in the width of the leading edge cells but the time-averaged analysis of measurements indicate that there is essentially no net shortening of cells in the bulk of the leading edge, that contraction predominantly occurs at the canthi as part of the process for zipping together the two leading edges of epidermis and that the rate constant for zipping correlates with the rate of movement of the leading edges. We characterize emergent properties that regulate dorsal closure, i.e., a velocity governor and the coordination and synchronization of tissue dynamics

  19. Multidisciplinary Assessment in Optimising Results of Percutaneous Patent Foramen Ovale Closure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Allan; Ekmejian, Avedis; Collins, Nicholas; Bhagwandeen, Rohan

    2017-03-01

    Percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is a therapeutic option to prevent recurrent cerebral ischaemia in patients with cryptogenic stroke and transient cerebral ischaemia (TIA). The apparent lack of benefit seen in previous randomised trials has, in part, reflected inclusion of patients with alternate mechanisms of stroke. The role of formal neurology involvement in accurately delineating the likely aetiology of stroke or TIA is crucial in appropriate identification of patients for device closure. Furthermore, as the benefits of device closure may accrue over time, long-term follow-up is essential to define the role of device closure in management of presumed cryptogenic stroke. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with percutaneous PFO device closure since 2005. All subjects who underwent PFO closure at John Hunter and Lake Macquarie Private Hospitals were included in the study. All patients referred for device closure following cryptogenic stroke or TIA had first undergone formal neurology review with appropriate imaging and exclusion of paroxysmal atrial arrhythmia. Patients with a history of transient ischaemic attack (TIA) are frequently referred to a specialised clinic, aimed to identify patients with conditions not referable to cerebral ischaemia, with investigations initiated by the specialist clinic to elucidate an underlying aetiology. Outcome data was derived from the Hunter New England Area Local Health District Cardiac and Stroke Outcomes Unit, in addition to review of the medical record. The Cardiac and Stroke Outcomes Unit prospectively identified all patients presenting with stroke, TIA and atrial fibrillation. One hundred and twelve consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure between 2005 and 2015 were identified. The average age was 42.7 years and 57 (50.9%) patients were male. Cryptogenic stroke (68.8%) and transient cerebral ischaemia (23.2%) were the most common indications for PFO closure, with the

  20. Cricket farming as a livelihood strategy in Thailand

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halloran, Afton Marina Szasz; Roos, Nanna; Hanboonsong, Yupa

    2017-01-01

    While many important aspects of wild and farmed insects have been discussed by scholars, such as nutritional value, conservation and farming techniques, no study has addressed how insect farming contributes to rural livelihoods. Furthermore, the roles that interactions between insect farmers......, their peers and institutions play in insect farming as a livelihood strategy are even less well understood. This paper presents a preliminary assessment of cricket farming as a livelihood strategy in Thailand. Fortynine cricket farmers participated in in-depth interviews designed to gain insight into how...... capital. As such, further empirical data and case study analyses are needed in order to advance our understanding of this particular livelihood strategy....

  1. Energy consumption across European Union farms: Efficiency in terms of farming output and utilized agricultural area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues

    2016-01-01

    Energy consumption is a global concern, namely due to the limited availability of energy sources and the consequences in terms of gas emissions, with its implications upon greenhouse gas emissions. In the agricultural sector this question bears an additional concern, considering that it is an economic activity which is sensitive to the dimension of the costs associated with production factors. In this way, the objective of the study presented here is to analyze, the efficiency of energy consumption, for the twelve former European Union countries, at farm level, in terms of farming output and utilized agricultural area, over the period 1989–2009 and for the years 2004–2012, with data available in the Farm Accountancy Data Network. On the other hand, the implications of energy consumption in farms' economic performance were analyzed, through econometric techniques (time series, panel data and generalized method of moments) and models based on the Kaldor developments. As a main conclusion, to stress the decrease in efficiency related with energy consumption by farms in the twelve former European Union countries. - Highlights: • It was analyzed the efficiency of energy consumption. • It was considered data for the twelve former European Union states at farm level. • They were evaluated the implications of energy consumption in farms performance. • The conclusions stress the decrease in efficiency of the farms energy consumption.

  2. Effects of care farms: Scientific research on the benefits of care farms for clients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elings, M.

    2012-01-01

    Over the last years, the number of care farms has grown rapidly in Europe and beyond. Research was implemented to study how for example young people with behavioural problems or older people with dementia benefit from their stay on a care farm. And what are the effects of working or living on a care

  3. Automated analysis of angle closure from anterior chamber angle images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baskaran, Mani; Cheng, Jun; Perera, Shamira A; Tun, Tin A; Liu, Jiang; Aung, Tin

    2014-10-21

    To evaluate a novel software capable of automatically grading angle closure on EyeCam angle images in comparison with manual grading of images, with gonioscopy as the reference standard. In this hospital-based, prospective study, subjects underwent gonioscopy by a single observer, and EyeCam imaging by a different operator. The anterior chamber angle in a quadrant was classified as closed if the posterior trabecular meshwork could not be seen. An eye was classified as having angle closure if there were two or more quadrants of closure. Automated grading of the angle images was performed using customized software. Agreement between the methods was ascertained by κ statistic and comparison of area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). One hundred forty subjects (140 eyes) were included, most of whom were Chinese (102/140, 72.9%) and women (72/140, 51.5%). Angle closure was detected in 61 eyes (43.6%) with gonioscopy in comparison with 59 eyes (42.1%, P = 0.73) using manual grading, and 67 eyes (47.9%, P = 0.24) with automated grading of EyeCam images. The agreement for angle closure diagnosis between gonioscopy and both manual (κ = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI), 0.81-0.96) and automated grading of EyeCam images was good (κ = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.63-0.85). The AUC for detecting eyes with gonioscopic angle closure was comparable for manual and automated grading (AUC 0.974 vs. 0.954, P = 0.31) of EyeCam images. Customized software for automated grading of EyeCam angle images was found to have good agreement with gonioscopy. Human observation of the EyeCam images may still be needed to avoid gross misclassification, especially in eyes with extensive angle closure. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

  4. Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Farms via VSC-HVDC – Dynamic Stability Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Hongzhi

    farms could seriously impact the operation and stability of their interconnected power system. To assist in maintaining the power system stability when large disturbances occur in the grid, modern offshore wind farms consisting of variable-speed wind turbines are required to provide ancillary services...... such as voltage and frequency control. The greater distance to shore makes commonly used high voltage AC (HVAC) connection unsuitable economically and technically for large offshore wind farms. Alternatively, voltage source converter (VSC)-based high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission becomes more attractive...... and practical to integrate large-scale offshore wind farms into the onshore power grid, owing to its high capacity, advanced controllability and stabilization potential for AC networks etc. In this dissertation, some of the key technical issues with grid integration of large-scale offshore wind farms via VSC...

  5. Base line studies North Sea wind farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krijgsveld, K.L.; Lieshout, S.M.J.; Schekkerman, H.; Lensink, Rick; Poot, M.J.M.; Dirksen, S.

    2003-01-01

    The Dutch government has granted ‘Noordzeewind’ (Nuon Renewable Energy Projects and Shell Wind Energy) the possibility to build a wind farm consisting of 36 wind turbines off the coast of the Netherlands, near Egmond. This project serves to evaluate the economical, technical, ecological and social

  6. Cranial Suture Closure in Domestic Dog Breeds and Its Relationships to Skull Morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geiger, Madeleine; Haussman, Sinah

    2016-04-01

    Bulldog-type brachycephalic domestic dog breeds are characterized by a relatively short and broad skull with a dorsally rotated rostrum (airorhynchy). Not much is known about the association between a bulldog-type skull conformation and peculiar patterns of suture and synchondrosis closure in domestic dogs. In this study, we aim to explore breed-specific patterns of cranial suture and synchondrosis closure in relation to the prebasial angle (proxy for airorhynchy and thus bulldog-type skull conformation) in domestic dogs. For this purpose, we coded closure of 18 sutures and synchondroses in 26 wolves, that is, the wild ancestor of all domestic dogs, and 134 domestic dogs comprising 11 breeds. Comparisons of the relative amount of closing and closed sutures and synchondroses (closure scores) in adult individuals showed that bulldog-type breeds have significantly higher closure scores than non-bulldog-type breeds and that domestic dogs have significantly higher closure scores than the wolf. We further found that the prebasial angle is significantly positively correlated with the amount of closure of the basispheno-presphenoid synchondrosis and sutures of the nose (premaxillo-nasal and maxillo-nasal) and the palate (premaxillo-maxillary and interpalatine). Our results show that there is a correlation between patterns of suture and synchondrosis closure and skull shape in domestic dogs, although the causal relationships remain elusive. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Using artificial neural networks to determine the location of wind farms. Miedzna district case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pokonieczny Krzysztof

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The article concerns issues pertaining to of selecting suitable areas for wind farms. The basic assumption of the study was to take into account both criteria related to the profitability of this type of power plant, as well as public interest, which means the harmonious and not burdensome functioning of these installations for local communities. The problem of wind farm localization may be solved by the application of artificial neural networks (ANN, which are a computational intelligence element. In the conducted analysis, the possibility of wind farm localization was considered for the primary grid field with dimensions of 100 by 100 m. To prepare the training set, topographic vector data from the VMap L2 and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital terrain model were used. For each 100-meter × 100-meter grid, the input data was prepared, consisting of the factors which are important from the point of view of wind farm localization (forests, rivers, built-up areas etc.. Studies show that a properly trained neural network (using a representative number of samples and for the appropriate architecture, allows to process automation area classification in terms of placement on the wind turbines.

  8. Key financial ratios can foretell hospital closures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynn, M L; Wertheim, P

    1993-11-01

    An analysis of various financial ratios sampled from open and closed hospitals shows that certain leverage, liquidity, capital efficiency, and resource availability ratios can predict hospital closure up to two years in advance of the closure with an accuracy of nearly 75 percent.

  9. Environmental impacts of coastal fish farming; Carbon and Nitrogen budgets for trout farming in Kaldbacksfjord, Faroe Islands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordi, Gunnvor A; Glud, Ronnie N.; Gaard, Eilif

    2011-01-01

    Flow of organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen through a sea cage trout farm was calculated on the basis of detailed studies of the farming operation, water circulation, OC and nutrient transport and recycling processes in sediment. A third of the OC and nitrogen provided by fish food was incorporated......% of nitrogen derived from fish food settled on the seabed, where it was either mineralized or accumulated in the sediment. Based on transect measurements of diagenetic activity, the farm footprint was found to cover an area similar to 10 times the farm area. OC mineralization in the sediment increased linearly...

  10. Selecting optimum locations for co-located wave and wind energy farms. Part II: A case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Astariz, S.; Iglesias, G.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The benefits of wave and wind combined systems relative to independent farms are analysed. • This purpose is carried out through a case study off the Danish coast. • The power production, power smoothing and shadow effect are analysed. • Hindcast and measured wave and wind data from 2005 to 2015 are used. • Third-generation models of winds and waves (WAsP and SWAN) are used. - Abstract: Combined energy systems present an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of renewables and overcome other challenges of these novel renewables by realising the synergies between them. Among the different possibilities for combined systems, this work focuses on wave and wind co-located farms with the aim of assessing their benefits relative to standalone wind farms. To this end we estimate the energy production, investigate the power smoothing and shadow effect, and quantify the reduction in downtime achieved by the co-located farm through a case study off the Danish coast – a promising area for co-located farms based on the available resource and other considerations including technical constraints. The analysis is carried out based on hindcast data and observations extending from 2005 to 2015, and by means of state-of-the-art numerical models of the wind and wave fields – WAsP and SWAN, respectively. It is found that the energy yield per unit area with the combined wave-wind farm increases by 3.4% relative to a standalone wind farm, the downtime periods decrease by 58% and the power output variability reduces by 12.5%. Moreover, the capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX, respectively) would also be significantly reduced thanks to the synergies realised through the combination of wind and wave power.

  11. Dairy cattle management, health and welfare in smallholder farms: An organic farming perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Odhong, Charles; Wahome, Raphael; Vaarst, Mette

    2015-01-01

    livestock production practices as specified by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements and the East Africa Organic Product Standard. A longitudinal study of 24 farms was conducted to document and assess management practices and their potential effect on animal health and welfare......Organic production principles aim at achieving good animal health and welfare of livestock. The objective of the present study was to investigate animal management, health and welfare in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya, Africa, and to be able to give recommendations which can guide organic...... type, aspects of the housing system, farm characteristics, and management routines. The average herd size was 3.15 in Kiambu and 3.91 in Kajiado, with all the cows’ zero-grazed. Seventy five percent of the cubicles were small (less than 2.50m2). Many of the farmers sprayed their animals weekly (47...

  12. Hand-suture versus stapling for closure of loop ileostomy: HASTA-Trial: a study rationale and design for a randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krüger Matthias

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Colorectal cancer is the second most common tumor in developed countries, with a lifetime prevalence of 5%. About one third of these tumors are located in the rectum. Surgery in terms of low anterior resection with mesorectal excision is the central element in the treatment of rectal cancer being the only option for definite cure. Creating a protective diverting stoma prevents complications like anastomotic failure and meanwhile is the standard procedure. Bowel obstruction is one of the main and the clinically and economically most relevant complication following closure of loop ileostomy. The best surgical technique for closure of loop ileostomy has not been defined yet. Methods/Design A study protocol was developed on the basis of the only randomized controlled mono-center trial to solve clinical equipoise concerning the optimal surgical technique for closure of loop ileostomy after low anterior resection due to rectal cancer. The HASTA trial is a multi-center pragmatic randomized controlled surgical trial with two parallel groups to compare hand-suture versus stapling for closure of loop ileostomy. It will include 334 randomized patients undergoing closure of loop ileostomy after low anterior resection with protective ileostomy due to rectal cancer in approximately 20 centers consisting of German hospitals of all level of health care. The primary endpoint is the rate of bowel obstruction within 30 days after ileostomy closure. In addition, a set of surgical and general variables including quality of life will be analyzed with a follow-up of 12 months. An investigators meeting with a practical session will help to minimize performance bias and enforce protocol adherence. Centers are monitored centrally as well as on-site before and during recruitment phase to assure inclusion, treatment and follow up according to the protocol. Discussion Aim of the HASTA trial is to evaluate the efficacy of hand-suture versus stapling for

  13. The profitability of automatic milking on Dutch dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bijl, R; Kooistra, S R; Hogeveen, H

    2007-01-01

    Several studies have reported on the profitability of automatic milking based on different simulation models, but a data-based study using actual farm data has been lacking. The objective of this study was to analyze the profitability of dairy farms having an automatic milking system (AMS) compared with farms using a conventional milking system (CMS) based on real accounting data. In total, 62 farms (31 using an AMS and 31 using a CMS) were analyzed for the year 2003 in a case control study. Differences between the years 2002 and 2003 also were analyzed by comparing a subgroup of 16 farms with an AMS and 16 farms with a CMS. Matching was based on the time of investment in a milking system (same year), the total milk production per year, and intensity of land use (kg/ha). Results from 2003 showed that the farms with an AMS used, on average, 29% less labor than farms with a CMS. In contrast, farms using a CMS grew faster (37,132 kg of milk quota and 5 dairy cows) than farms with an AMS (-3,756 kg milk quota and 0.5 dairy cows) between 2002 and 2003. Dairy farmers with a CMS had larger (euro7,899) revenues than those with an AMS. However, no difference in the margin on dairy production was detected, partly because of numerically greater (euro6,822) variable costs on CMS farms. Dairy farms were compared financially based on the amount of money that was available for rent, depreciation, interest, labor, and profit (RDILP). The CMS farms had more money (euro15,566) available for RDILP than the AMS farms. This difference was caused by larger fixed costs (excluding labor) for the AMS farms, larger contractor costs (euro6,422), and larger costs for gas, water, and electricity (euro1,549). Differences in costs for contractors and for gas, water, and electricity were statistically significant. When expressed per full-time employee, AMS farms had greater revenues, margins, and gross margins per full-time employee than did CMS farms. This resulted in a substantially greater

  14. Simulating school closure policies for cost effective pandemic decision making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Araz Ozgur M

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Around the globe, school closures were used sporadically to mitigate the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. However, such closures can detrimentally impact economic and social life. Methods Here, we couple a decision analytic approach with a mathematical model of influenza transmission to estimate the impact of school closures in terms of epidemiological and cost effectiveness. Our method assumes that the transmissibility and the severity of the disease are uncertain, and evaluates several closure and reopening strategies that cover a range of thresholds in school-aged prevalence (SAP and closure durations. Results Assuming a willingness to pay per quality adjusted life-year (QALY threshold equal to the US per capita GDP ($46,000, we found that the cost effectiveness of these strategies is highly dependent on the severity and on a willingness to pay per QALY. For severe pandemics, the preferred strategy couples the earliest closure trigger (0.5% SAP with the longest duration closure (24 weeks considered. For milder pandemics, the preferred strategies also involve the earliest closure trigger, but are shorter duration (12 weeks for low transmission rates and variable length for high transmission rates. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of obtaining early estimates of pandemic severity and provide guidance to public health decision-makers for effectively tailoring school closures strategies in response to a newly emergent influenza pandemic.

  15. Fish benefits from offshore wind farm development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leonhard, Simon B.; Stenberg, Claus; Støttrup, Josianne

    2013-01-01

    The studies up until 2006 showed few effects on the fish fauna that could be attributed to the establishment and operation of the wind farms. Fish abundance and diversity were not higher inside the wind farms than in the areas outside the wind farms. One obvious reason for this could be that the ...

  16. Analysis of future agricultural change : a farm economics approach applied to Dutch arable farming

    OpenAIRE

    Wossink, A.

    1993-01-01

    This study of agricultural change deals simultaneously with: (a) farm planning, ie. the constant adaptation to changing circumstances at the level of the individual farm firm and (b) conditional forecasting, ie. the analysis of alternative agricultural and environmental policy views and their impact.

    Chapter I gives a general introduction and sets out the objectives and scope of the study. The specific research objectives were: (1) to develop a model syst...

  17. Off-Farm Work among Rural Households: A Case Study in the Brazilian Amazon

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanWey, Leah; Vithayathil, Trina

    2013-01-01

    This article analyzes off-farm work among subsistence-level farmers in the Santarem region of the Brazilian Amazon. We build on the literature on rural livelihoods in the Global South by exploring how the opportunity to work off the farm is embedded in social relationships. We additionally differentiate our analysis by type of off-farm work, and…

  18. Top closure for control rod drive for nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raas, J.H.; Schwartz, J.I.

    1978-01-01

    A removable top closure and venting assembly for the tubular housing of a control rod drive includes a mounting ring threadably inserted in the upper end of the housing, a fluid-sealing closure member beneath the mounting ring and which is mounted in and coupled to the mounting ring by means of a ball and socket joint, a gas vent defined by interconnecting passages extending through the closure and through the ball and socket joint, and a vent valve accessible from the top of the closure assembly. 3 claims, 2 figures

  19. Transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect with Occlutech Duct Occluder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atik-Ugan, Sezen; Saltik, Irfan Levent

    2018-04-01

    Patent ductus arteriosus occluders are used for transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defects, as well as for closure of patent ductus arteriosus. The Occlutech Duct Occluder is a newly introduced device for transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus. Here, we present a case in which the Occlutech Duct Occluder was successfully used on a patient for the closure of a perimembraneous ventricular septal defect.

  20. Improving environmental performance through mine closure planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKee, W.; McKenna, G.

    1998-01-01

    Syncrude has been investigating landscape redevelopment concepts since 1995 after a two-year tailings technology selection study resulted in a major shift in their long-term tailings disposal strategy. The change from fluid disposal to solid disposal of tailings leads to a different landscape, incorporating a new water material type, new landforms and a new schedule of reclamation activity. A multidisciplinary approach was needed to assess, design and develop the final landscape. Planning approach in progress at Syncrude Canada was described, and the basic concepts and tools of closure planning discovered to date were outlined. The economic impacts of closure planning on mining and tailings operations in general, were discussed. 14 refs

  1. Is Farm Management Skill Persistent?

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Xin; Paulson, Nicholas

    2014-01-01

    Farm management skills can affect farm managers' performance. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 6,760 farms from 1996 through 2011. Two out-of-sample measures of skill are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. Persistence tests show management skills are consistent and predictable. Results also suggest that the most ...

  2. Permanent Closure of the TAN-664 Underground Storage Tank

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bradley K. Griffith

    2011-12-01

    This closure package documents the site assessment and permanent closure of the TAN-664 gasoline underground storage tank in accordance with the regulatory requirements established in 40 CFR 280.71, 'Technical Standards and Corrective Action Requirements for Owners and Operators of Underground Storage Tanks: Out-of-Service UST Systems and Closure.'

  3. Farmers’ Cohort for Agricultural Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (FARM) Study: Study Design, Methods, and Baseline Characteristics of Enrolled Subjects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jo, Hannae; Baek, Sora; Park, Hee-won; Lee, Sang-Ah; Moon, Jiyoung; Yang, Jae E.; Kim, Ki Sung; Kim, Jee Yong; Kang, Eun Kyoung

    2016-01-01

    Background The ongoing Farmers’ Cohort for Agricultural Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (FARM) study was developed to evaluate health status and related factors in farmers. Methods Farmers in Kangwon Province, South Korea, were recruited. Baseline characteristics were determined using questionnaires about sociodemographic and health characteristics and agricultural work-related factors. In addition, laboratory examinations (lumbar spinal radiography and serologic testing) were conducted. Results The FARM study covers eight rural areas and recruited 1013 subjects (534 women; mean [standard deviation {SD}] age, 57.2 [7.5] years). Musculoskeletal pain in multiple areas was reported by 925 subjects (91.3%), and low back pain (63.8%) was the most frequent site of pain. Farmer’s Stress Inventory (mean [SD], 77.7 [10.2]; range, 28–112] and subjective stress index (mean [SD], 5.3 [2.4]; range, 0–10) were above median scale values, reflecting a stressful condition, while the EuroQol-5D-3L index and the EuroQol-Visual Analog Scale scores were high (mean [SD], 0.9 [0.1]; range −0.171–1 and mean [SD], 67.7 [18.7]; range 0–100, respectively), reflecting good life quality. In total, 53% of participants had worked in farming for more than 30 years, and workers involved in dry-field farming comprised the largest subgroup (41.5%). Most participants (94.3%) had no more than a high school education, and families with annual income below 20 million won constituted the largest subgroup (36.3%). Conclusions The FARM study may provide data on the current health status and related sociodemographic and agricultural work-related risk factors in Korean farmers, with the goal of providing a scientific basis for developing coping interventions and preventive strategies. PMID:26235456

  4. The Resistome of Farmed Fish Feces Contributes to the Enrichment of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments below Baltic Sea Fish Farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muziasari, Windi I; Pitkänen, Leena K; Sørum, Henning; Stedtfeld, Robert D; Tiedje, James M; Virta, Marko

    2016-01-01

    Our previous studies showed that particular antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were enriched locally in sediments below fish farms in the Northern Baltic Sea, Finland, even when the selection pressure from antibiotics was negligible. We assumed that a constant influx of farmed fish feces could be the plausible source of the ARGs enriched in the farm sediments. In the present study, we analyzed the composition of the antibiotic resistome from the intestinal contents of 20 fish from the Baltic Sea farms. We used a high-throughput method, WaferGen qPCR array with 364 primer sets to detect and quantify ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGE), and the 16S rRNA gene. Despite a considerably wide selection of qPCR primer sets, only 28 genes were detected in the intestinal contents. The detected genes were ARGs encoding resistance to sulfonamide ( sul1 ), trimethoprim ( dfrA1 ), tetracycline [ tet(32), tetM, tetO, tetW ], aminoglycoside ( aadA1, aadA2 ), chloramphenicol ( catA1 ), and efflux-pumps resistance genes ( emrB, matA, mefA, msrA ). The detected genes also included class 1 integron-associated genes ( intI1, qacE Δ 1 ) and transposases ( tnpA ). Importantly, most of the detected genes were the same genes enriched in the farm sediments. This preliminary study suggests that feces from farmed fish contribute to the ARG enrichment in farm sediments despite the lack of contemporaneous antibiotic treatments at the farms. We observed that the intestinal contents of individual farmed fish had their own resistome compositions. Our result also showed that the total relative abundances of transposases and tet genes were significantly correlated ( p = 0.001, R 2 = 0.71). In addition, we analyzed the mucosal skin and gill filament resistomes of the farmed fish but only one multidrug-efflux resistance gene ( emrB ) was detected. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the resistome of farmed fish using a culture-independent method. Determining the possible sources of

  5. Social and macro economic impact of closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medeliene, D.

    1999-01-01

    The social consequences of closure of Ignalina NPP will largely depend on the actions the Government takes. If it puts in place the conditions which enable the International Financial Institutions to assist Lithuania, both in providing loans and grants for decommissioning and (in the case of the EU) providing Structural Adjustment Funds for the regional economic development of the Visaginas area, then solutions to the problems of closure can be found. But if the Government delays putting into place the necessary conditions, then Lithuania will be left to solve the problems of - inter alia necessary - closure of Ignalina NPP on its own. (author)

  6. Angle closure glaucoma in congenital ectropion uvea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grace M. Wang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Congenital ectropion uvea is a rare anomaly, which is associated with open, but dysplastic iridocorneal angles that cause childhood glaucoma. Herein, we present 3 cases of angle-closure glaucoma in children with congenital ectropion uvea. Observations: Three children were initially diagnosed with unilateral glaucoma secondary to congenital ectropion uvea at 7, 8 and 13 years of age. The three cases showed 360° of ectropion uvea and iris stromal atrophy in the affected eye. In one case, we have photographic documentation of progression to complete angle closure, which necessitated placement of a glaucoma drainage device 3 years after combined trabeculotomy and trabeculectomy. The 2 other cases, which presented as complete angle closure, also underwent glaucoma drainage device implantation. All three cases had early glaucoma drainage device encapsulation (within 4 months and required additional surgery (cycloablation or trabeculectomy. Conclusions and importance: Congenital ectropion uvea can be associated with angle-closure glaucoma, and placement of glaucoma drainage devices in all 3 of our cases showed early failure due to plate encapsulation. Glaucoma in congenital ectropion uvea requires attention to angle configuration and often requires multiple surgeries to obtain intraocular pressure control. Keywords: Congenital ectropion uvea, Juvenile glaucoma, Angle-closure glaucoma, Glaucoma drainage device

  7. A Comparative Study on Physicochemical Characteristics of Raw Goat Milk Collected from Different Farms in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaafar, Syarifah Hazirah Syd; Hashim, Roshada; Hassan, Zaiton; Arifin, Norlelawati

    2018-03-01

    This study was conducted to determine the physical and chemical composition of goat milk produced by eight local farms located in the central region of Malaysia. Farms 1 to 4 (F1-SC, F2-SP, F3-SP, F4-SBC) reared Saanen-type goats while farms 5 to 8 (F5-JK, F6-JPEC, F7-JTC, F8-JC), Jamnapari-type goats. The common feedstuffs used in all farms comprised of fresh or silage from Napier grass, feed pellets, and brans while two farms, F5-JK and F6-JPEC supplemented the feeds with soybean-based product. The total solid content, dry matter, and proximate composition of goat milk and feedstuffs from the different farms were determined and the results analysed using principal component analysis. Total solid content of goat milk from the Jamnapari crossbreed had the highest solid content ranging from 11.81% to 17.54% compared to milk from farms with Saanen and Saanen crossbreed (10.95% to 14.63%). Jamnapari-type goats from F5-JK, F6-JPEC, and F8-JC had significantly higher ( p milk fat and protein contents (7.36%, 7.14%, and 6.59% fat; 5.08%, 6.19%, and 4.23% protein, respectively) than milk from other farms but, milk produced by Saanen-type goats from F4-SBC contained similar protein content (4.34%) to that from F8-JC. Total ash and carbohydrate contents in milk ranged between 0.67% to 0.86% and 3.26% to 4.71%, respectively, regardless of goat breed. Feeding soybean-based products appear to have a positive influence on milk fat and protein content in Jamnaparitype goats.

  8. VALUE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS APPRAISAL FOR FARM MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF PISTACHIO FARM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Mostafaeipour

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available

    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Value engineering (VE has been effectively applied in many different areas. The results have been very encouraging, and many companies accept VE not only as a tool to reduce costs, but also to improve the quality of their produce and streamline their systems. This paper attempts to highlight the application of VE in agriculture, as in pistachio tree farms in Iran. It is found that by implementing VE, unnecessary cultivation costs are lowered. Many of the other factors that lead to the inefficient use of resources could be resolved. In this study, the province of Yazd Iran was studied. Unfortunately there are cases of mismanagement and problems in agriculture management; and the problems must be resolved to make the system of pistachio growing more efficient. The prime objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of value engineering and highlight its application in pistachio farms. The results suggest that it is essential to use Indian Neem pesticide, because it is economically feasible and environmentally friendly to pistachio trees.

    AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Waarde-Ingenieurswese (WI word reeds doeltreffend toegepas op verskeie gebiede. Die resultate is sodanig bemoedigend dat maatskappye WI aanvaar as ‘n hulpmiddel vir kosteverlaging sowel as vir die verbetering van kwaliteit van opbrengs en stroombelyning van prosesse. Die artikel poog om die toepassing van WI op die landbou van Iran na vore te bring. Dit toon dat onnodige verbouingskoste verlaag word met die implementering van WI. Talle ander faktore wat ook bydra tot ondoeltreffende gebruik van hulpbronne word ook deur WI aangespreek. Die Yazd-provinsie van Iran word in die artikel bestudeer. Ten einde die verbouingsproses van pistasieneute meer doeltreffend te maak moet wanbestuur en probleme van landboubestuur aangespreek word. Die hoofdoelwit van die artikel is om die konsep van WI bekend te stel en die toepassing daarvan op pistasieboerderye uit te lig

  9. Analysis of energy and greenhouse gas balance as indexes for environmental assessment of wheat and maize farming: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Móslem SAMI

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the net balance of greenhouse gas (GHG emission and energy of wheat and maize production systems in two farms in Khuzestan province of Iran was assessed. The results showed that totally wheat farming is more efficient than maize farming in terms of energy and CO2-eq indexes. The total energy requirement for maize and wheat farming was 92560.24 MJ ha-1 and 39624.15 MJ ha-1, which caused the emission of 20191.47 and 7541.04 kg CO2-equivalent per hectare in maize and wheat farms respectively. Electricity, fertilizers and fuel were the most important pollutants of environment in terms of energy and gas emission in both farms. Theses inputs consumed 55.52, 22.62 and 6.44 % of total energy of maize and 47.32, 21.19 and 9.01 % of total energy of wheat farm and were responsible for the 88.60, 8.79 and 2.03 % of CO2-equivalent in maize and 86.54, 9.54 and 3.24 % of CO2-equivalent in wheat farms respectively. The results of this study also showed that the enhancement of 60.74 and 27.02 % in energy ratio and 46.06 and 27.87 % in CO2-eq index in maize and wheat farming can be expected using simple improving scenarios.

  10. ARIZONA FARM LABOR REPORT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    SALTER, RICHARD H.

    THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM PLACEMENT PROGRAM IS DESCRIBED. INCLUDED ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONS, THE LOCAL LEVELS, THE STATE FARM LABOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THE PLANNING AND OPERATING METHODS USED BY FARM PLACEMENT PERSONNEL IN MEETING FARM LABOR NEEDS. MAJOR CROP ACTIVITIES ARE RELATED TO COTTON AND VEGETABLES. THE LABOR FORCE IS…

  11. Communicating Performance Assessments Results - 13609

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Layton, Mark [Savannah River Remediation LLC, Building 705-1C, Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    The F-Area Tank Farms (FTF) and H-Area Tank Farm (HTF) are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and operated by Savannah River Remediation LLC (SRR), Liquid Waste Operations contractor at DOE's Savannah River Site (SRS). The FTF and HTF are active radioactive waste storage and treatment facilities consisting of 51 carbon steel waste tanks and ancillary equipment such as transfer lines, evaporators and pump tanks. Performance Assessments (PAs) for each Tank Farm have been prepared to support the eventual closure of the underground radioactive waste tanks and ancillary equipment. PAs provide the technical bases and results to be used in subsequent documents to demonstrate compliance with the pertinent requirements for final closure of the Tank Farms. The Tank Farms are subject to a number of regulatory requirements. The State regulates Tank Farm operations through an industrial waste water permit and through a Federal Facility Agreement approved by the State, DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Closure documentation will include State-approved Tank Farm Closure Plans and tank-specific closure modules utilizing information from the PAs. For this reason, the State of South Carolina and the EPA must be involved in the performance assessment review process. The residual material remaining after tank cleaning is also subject to reclassification prior to closure via a waste determination pursuant to Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2005. PAs are performance-based, risk-informed analyses of the fate and transport of FTF and HTF residual wastes following final closure of the Tank Farms. Since the PAs serve as the primary risk assessment tools in evaluating readiness for closure, it is vital that PA conclusions be communicated effectively. In the course of developing the FTF and HTF PAs, several lessons learned have emerged regarding communicating PA results. When communicating PA results it is

  12. Communicating Performance Assessments Results - 13609

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Layton, Mark

    2013-01-01

    The F-Area Tank Farms (FTF) and H-Area Tank Farm (HTF) are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and operated by Savannah River Remediation LLC (SRR), Liquid Waste Operations contractor at DOE's Savannah River Site (SRS). The FTF and HTF are active radioactive waste storage and treatment facilities consisting of 51 carbon steel waste tanks and ancillary equipment such as transfer lines, evaporators and pump tanks. Performance Assessments (PAs) for each Tank Farm have been prepared to support the eventual closure of the underground radioactive waste tanks and ancillary equipment. PAs provide the technical bases and results to be used in subsequent documents to demonstrate compliance with the pertinent requirements for final closure of the Tank Farms. The Tank Farms are subject to a number of regulatory requirements. The State regulates Tank Farm operations through an industrial waste water permit and through a Federal Facility Agreement approved by the State, DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Closure documentation will include State-approved Tank Farm Closure Plans and tank-specific closure modules utilizing information from the PAs. For this reason, the State of South Carolina and the EPA must be involved in the performance assessment review process. The residual material remaining after tank cleaning is also subject to reclassification prior to closure via a waste determination pursuant to Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2005. PAs are performance-based, risk-informed analyses of the fate and transport of FTF and HTF residual wastes following final closure of the Tank Farms. Since the PAs serve as the primary risk assessment tools in evaluating readiness for closure, it is vital that PA conclusions be communicated effectively. In the course of developing the FTF and HTF PAs, several lessons learned have emerged regarding communicating PA results. When communicating PA results it is

  13. Results of a prospective randomised study comparing a non-invasive surgical zipper versus intracutaneous sutures for wound closure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roolker, W.; Kraaneveld, E.; Been, H. D.; Marti, R. K.

    2002-01-01

    A prospective randomised study was undertaken to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of a non-invasive surgical zipper (Medizip) vs intracutaneous sutures skin closure in orthopaedic surgery. The study group consisted of 120 consecutive patients, 45 men and 75 women with a mean age of 47

  14. Land use-based landscape planning and restoration in mine closure areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianjun; Fu, Meichen; Hassani, Ferri P; Zeng, Hui; Geng, Yuhuan; Bai, Zhongke

    2011-05-01

    Landscape planning and restoration in mine closure areas is not only an inevitable choice to sustain mining areas but also an important path to maximize landscape resources and to improve ecological function in mine closure areas. The analysis of the present mine development shows that many mines are unavoidably facing closures in China. This paper analyzes the periodic impact of mining activities on landscapes and then proposes planning concepts and principles. According to the landscape characteristics in mine closure areas, this paper classifies available landscape resources in mine closure areas into the landscape for restoration, for limited restoration and for protection, and then summarizes directions for their uses. This paper establishes the framework of spatial control planning and design of landscape elements from "macro control, medium allocation and micro optimization" for the purpose of managing and using this kind of special landscape resources. Finally, this paper applies the theories and methods to a case study in Wu'an from two aspects: the construction of a sustainable land-use pattern on a large scale and the optimized allocation of typical mine landscape resources on a small scale.

  15. Land Use-Based Landscape Planning and Restoration in Mine Closure Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianjun; Fu, Meichen; Hassani, Ferri P.; Zeng, Hui; Geng, Yuhuan; Bai, Zhongke

    2011-05-01

    Landscape planning and restoration in mine closure areas is not only an inevitable choice to sustain mining areas but also an important path to maximize landscape resources and to improve ecological function in mine closure areas. The analysis of the present mine development shows that many mines are unavoidably facing closures in China. This paper analyzes the periodic impact of mining activities on landscapes and then proposes planning concepts and principles. According to the landscape characteristics in mine closure areas, this paper classifies available landscape resources in mine closure areas into the landscape for restoration, for limited restoration and for protection, and then summarizes directions for their uses. This paper establishes the framework of spatial control planning and design of landscape elements from "macro control, medium allocation and micro optimization" for the purpose of managing and using this kind of special landscape resources. Finally, this paper applies the theories and methods to a case study in Wu'an from two aspects: the construction of a sustainable land-use pattern on a large scale and the optimized allocation of typical mine landscape resources on a small scale.

  16. Strategic Planning for Hot Cell Closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LANGSTAFF, D.C.

    2001-01-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractor were remediating a large hot cell complex to mitigate the radiological hazard. A Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) closure unit was determined to be located within the complex. The regulator established a challenge to develop an acceptable closure plan on a short schedule (four months). The scope of the plan was to remove all excess equipment and mixed waste from the closure unit, establish the requirements of the legally binding Closure Plan and develop an acceptable schedule. The complex has several highly radioactive tanks, tank vaults, piping, and large hot cells containing complex chemical processing equipment. Driven by a strong need to develop an effective strategy to meet cleanup commitments, three principles were followed to develop an acceptable plan: (1) Use a team approach, (2) Establish a buffer zone to support closure, and (3) Use good practice when planning the work sequence. The team was composed of DOE, contractor, and Washington State Department of Ecology (Regulator) staff. The team approach utilized member expertise and fostered member involvement and communication. The buffer zone established an area between the unregulated parts of the building and the areas that were allegedly not in compliance with environmental standards. Introduction of the buffer zone provided simplicity, clarity, and flexibility into the process. Using good practice means using the DOE Integrated Safety Management Core Functions for planning and implementing work safely. Paying adequate attention to detail when the situation required contributed to the process credibility and a successful plan

  17. The unnatural history of the ventricular septal defect: outcome up to 40 years after surgical closure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Menting, Myrthe E.; Cuypers, Judith A. A. E.; Opić, Petra; Utens, Elisabeth M. W. J.; Witsenburg, Maarten; van den Bosch, Annemien E.; van Domburg, Ron T.; Meijboom, Folkert J.; Boersma, Eric; Bogers, Ad J. J. C.; Roos-Hesselink, Jolien W.

    2015-01-01

    Few prospective data are available regarding long-term outcomes after surgical closure of a ventricular septal defect (VSD). The objective of this study was to investigate clinical outcomes>30 years after surgical VSD closure. Patients who underwent surgical VSD closure during childhood between 1968

  18. Environmental Implications of Eco-Labeling for Rice Farming Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solhee Kim

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Concerns about climate change have forced countries to strengthen regulations, standards, and certifications related to greenhouse gas emissions. Various policies targeting farm products, such as carbon labeling and the Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Product Certification (EFAPC for agricultural products, have been implemented in South Korea to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implications of the various certification systems for rice farming, including organic farming, non-pesticide farming, and low-pesticide farming. For this study, we constructed a life cycle inventory (LCI of rice farming systems including conventional, low-pesticide, non-pesticide, and organic farming systems in South Korea. Finally, we compared international farming systems in South Korea, the U.S., and the EU. The rice farming systems with eco-labeling certifications have reduced the environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of rice farming by country were highest in the U.S. (100.0, followed by the EU (53.7, and Korea’s conventional (48.6, low-pesticide (35.8, non-pesticide (28.9, and organic (16.7 farming practices. These results may be useful in proliferating and improving the methodology to evaluate eco-labeling and carbon labeling systems.

  19. Optimising an integrated crop-livestock farm using risk programming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SE Visagie

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Numerous studies have analysed farm planning decisions focusing on producer risk preferences. Few studies have focussed on the farm planning decisions in an integrated croplivestock farm context. Income variability and means of managing risk continues to receive much attention in farm planning research. Different risk programming models have attempted to focus on minimising the income variability of farm activities. This study attempts to identify the optimal mix of crops and the number of animals the farm needs to keep in the presence of crop production risk for a range of risk levels. A mixed integer linear programming model was developed to model the decision environment faced by an integrated crop-livestock farmer. The deviation of income from the expected value was used as a measure of risk. A case study is presented with representative data from a farm in the Swartland area. An investigation of the results of the model under different constraints shows that, in general, strategies that depend on crop rotation principles are preferred to strategies that follow mono-crop production practices.

  20. [Lung perfusion studies after percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus using the Amplatzer Duct Occluder in children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parra-Bravo, José Rafael; Apolonio-Martínez, Adriana; Estrada-Loza, María de Jesús; Beirana-Palencia, Luisa Gracia; Ramírez-Portillo, César Iván

    2015-01-01

    The closure of patent ductus arteriosus with multiple devices has been associated with a reduction in lung perfusion. We evaluated the pulmonary perfusion after percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus with the Amplatzer Duct Occluder device using perfusion lung scan. Thirty patients underwent successful percutaneous patent ductus arteriosus occlusions using the Amplatzer Duct Occluder device were included in this study. Lung perfusion scans were preformed 6 months after the procedure. Peak flow velocities and protrusion of the device were analyzed by Doppler echocardiography. A left lung perfusionductus arteriosus and the minimum and maximum diameter/length of the ductus arteriosus ratio were statistically significant in patients with abnormalities of lung perfusion. It was observed protrusion the device in 6 patients with a higher maximum flow rate in the left pulmonary artery. The left lung perfusion may be compromised after percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus with the Amplatzer Duct Occluder. The increased flow velocity in the origin of the left pulmonary artery can be a poor indicator of reduction in pulmonary perfusion and can occur in the absence of protrusion of the device. Copyright © 2014 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

  1. Hexone Storage and Treatment Facility closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-11-01

    The HSTF is a storage and treatment unit subject to the requirements for the storage and treatment of dangerous waste. Closure is being conducted under interim status and will be completed pursuant to the requirements of Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) Dangerous Waste Regulations, Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610 and WAC 173-303-640. Because dangerous waste does not include the source, special nuclear, and by-product material components of mixed waste, radionuclides are not within the scope of WAC 173-303 or of this closure plan. The information on radionuclides is provided only for general knowledge where appropriate. The known hazardous/dangerous waste remaining at the site before commencing other closure activities consists of the still vessels, a tarry sludge in the storage tanks, and residual contamination in equipment, piping, filters, etc. The treatment and removal of waste at the HSTF are closure activities as defined in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and WAC 173-303

  2. Role of women in Indian shrimp farming

    OpenAIRE

    Gopalakrishnan, A.

    1996-01-01

    Women in India are involved in various facets of shrimp (Penaeus monodon; Penaeus indicus) farming, including pond construction, seed collection, collection of feed materials and preparation of feeds, pond maintenance and post-harvest handling. This study indicates that 40% of laborers involved in shrimp farm construction are women. The various roles of women in shrimp farming are also described.

  3. Project Management Approach to Transition of the Miamisburg Closure Project From Environmental Cleanup to Post-Closure Operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpenter, C.P.; Marks, M.L.; Smiley, S.L.; Gallaher, D.M.; Williams, K.D.

    2006-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) used a project management approach to transition the Miamisburg Closure Project from cleanup by the Office of Environmental Management (EM) to post-closure operations by the Office of Legacy Management (LM). Two primary DOE orders were used to guide the site transition: DOE Order 430.1B, Real Property Asset Management, for assessment and disposition of real property assets and DOE Order 413.3, Program and Project Management for Acquisition of Capital Assets, for project closeout of environmental cleanup activities and project transition of post-closure activities. To effectively manage these multiple policy requirements, DOE chose to manage the Miamisburg Closure Project as a project under a cross-member transitional team using representatives from four principal organizations: DOE-LM, the LM contractor S.M. Stoller Corporation, DOE-EM, and the EM contractor CH2M Hill Mound Inc. The mission of LM is to manage the Department's post-transition responsibilities and long-term care of legacy liabilities and to ensure the future protection of human health and the environment for cleanup sites after the EM has completed its cleanup activities. (authors)

  4. Design, production and initial state of the closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-12-01

    The report is included in a set of Production reports, presenting how the KBS-3 repository is designed, produced and inspected. The production reports are included in the safety report for the KBS-3 repository and repository facility. The report provides input on the initial state of the closure and plugs in underground openings other than deposition tunnels for the assessment of the long-term safety, SR-Site. The initial state refers to the properties of the engineered barriers once they have been finally placed in the KBS-3 repository and will not be further handled within the repository facility. In addition, the report provides some input to the operational safety report, SR-Operation, on how the closure and plugs shall be handled and installed. The report presents the design premises and reference designs of the closure and plugs and verifies their conformity to the design premises. It also briefly deals with the production of the closure and plugs. Finally, the initial state of the closure and plugs and their conformity to the reference designs and design premises are presented

  5. Design, production and initial state of the closure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2010-12-15

    The report is included in a set of Production reports, presenting how the KBS-3 repository is designed, produced and inspected. The production reports are included in the safety report for the KBS-3 repository and repository facility. The report provides input on the initial state of the closure and plugs in underground openings other than deposition tunnels for the assessment of the long-term safety, SR-Site. The initial state refers to the properties of the engineered barriers once they have been finally placed in the KBS-3 repository and will not be further handled within the repository facility. In addition, the report provides some input to the operational safety report, SR-Operation, on how the closure and plugs shall be handled and installed. The report presents the design premises and reference designs of the closure and plugs and verifies their conformity to the design premises. It also briefly deals with the production of the closure and plugs. Finally, the initial state of the closure and plugs and their conformity to the reference designs and design premises are presented

  6. Profile of angle closure in a tertiary care center in north India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ichhpujani Parul

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: To study the demographic and clinical profile of the types of primary angle closure patients presenting at a tertiary care center in North India. Materials and Methods: Clinic records of patients diagnosed as primary angle closure were reviewed. International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology (ISGEO classification scheme was used to categorize patients. Demographic and clinical data including prior management was collected and analyzed. Main Outcome measures were age, sex, symptomatology, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA, intraocular pressure (IOP, gonioscopy, optic disc assessment and visual field defects. Logistic regression model and receiver operating curve (ROC were calculated for predictors of type of glaucoma. Results: Eight hundred and fourteen patients (1603 eyes; males: 380, females: 434 were diagnosed to have various subtypes of angle closure. Mean (±SD age at presentation was significantly higher for males (57.57 ± 11.62 years as compared to females (53.64 ± 10.67 years ( P < 0001. Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG was most frequently diagnosed subtype (49.38% followed by Primary angle closure (PAC (39.68% and Primary angle closure suspect (PACS (10.93% respectively. The three subtypes differed significantly among their mean IOP (on ANOVA, F = 14.04; P < 0001 using Greenhouse-Geisser correction. Univariate analysis was done to find significant predictors for the outcome of PACG. Logistic regression model and ROC containing the significant predictors yielded a very high AUC of 0.93 with strong discriminatory ability for PACG. Conclusion: In our hospital-based study, the significant predictors for the outcome of PACG included male gender, diminution of vision, the presence of pain and worsening grades of BCVA. Nearly half of PACG presented with advanced disease. In spite of one-third of the patients being diagnosed as angle closure prior to referral, only 8.34% had iridotomy (laser or surgical

  7. Lower early postnatal oxygen saturation target and risk of ductus arteriosus closure failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inomata, Kei; Taniguchi, Shinji; Yonemoto, Hiroki; Inoue, Takeshi; Kawase, Akihiko; Kondo, Yuichi

    2016-11-01

    Early postnatal hyperoxia is a major risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in extremely premature infants. To reduce the occurrence of ROP, we adopted a lower early postnatal oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) target range (85-92%) from April 2011. Lower SpO 2 target range, however, may lead to hypoxemia and an increase in the risk of ductus arteriosus (DA) closure failure. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether a lower SpO 2 target range, during the early postnatal stage, increases the risk of DA closure failure. Infants born at closure failure in period 2 (21%) was significantly higher than that in period 1 (1%). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the lower oxygen saturation target range was an independent risk factor for DA closure failure. Lower early postnatal oxygen saturation target range increases the risk of DA closure failure. © 2016 Japan Pediatric Society.

  8. Impact of preparing for OSHA local emphasis program inspections of New York dairy farms: Case studies and financial cost analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadomski, Anne M; Vargha, Marybeth; Tallman, Nancy; Scribani, Melissa B; Kelsey, Timothy W

    2016-03-01

    OSHA inspection of dairy farms began in July 1, 2014 in New York State. As of September 2014, a total of eight farms were randomly selected for inspection. This case study addresses how dairy farm managers prepared for these inspections, and identifies farm level costs preparing for inspection and/or being inspected. Four farms that were OSHA inspected and 12 farms that were not inspected were included in this mixed method evaluation using a multimodal (telephone, email, or mail) survey. Descriptive analysis was carried out using frequencies, proportions, means, and medians. Overall, the impact of OSHA inspections was positive, leading to improved safety management and physical changes on the farm and worker trainings, although the farmers' perspectives about OSHA inspection were mixed. The cost of compliance was low relative to estimated overall production costs. Clarifications and engineering solutions for specific dairy farm hazard exposures are needed to facilitate compliance with OSHA regulations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Amaranth farming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjarklev, Araceli; Kjær, Tyge; Kjærgård, Bente

    2008-01-01

    natural resources that small-scale farmers have to combat the abovementioned problems. The study identified several local and regional barriers for increasing the level of farming, production, processing and consumption. A striking and paradoxical limitation is the monopolization practices developed...

  10. Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale: Devices and Technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Matthew J

    2017-10-01

    Transcatheter closure of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) reduces the risk of recurrent cryptogenic stroke compared with medical therapy. PFO closure is a prophylactic procedure, and will not provide the patient with symptomatic improvement, except in cases of hypoxemia due to right-to-left shunt or possibly migraine headaches. Therefore, appropriate patient selection is critical, and procedural safety is paramount. Herein, we review key characteristics of the devices currently available for transcatheter PFO closure within the United States, and highlight key technical aspects of the PFO closure procedure that will maximize procedural success. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Digital signal processing of data from borehole creep closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chakrabarti, S.; Patrick, W.C.; Duplancic, N.

    1987-01-01

    Digital signal processing, a technique commonly used in the fields of electrical engineering and communication technology, has been successfully used to analyze creep closure data obtained from a 0.91 m diameter by 5.13 deep borehole in bedded salt. By filtering the ''noise'' component of the closure data from a test borehole, important data trends were made more evident and average creep closure rates were able to be calculated. This process provided accurate estimates of closure rates that are used in the design of lined boreholes in which heat-generating transuranic nuclear wastes are emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

  12. 40 CFR 264.119 - Post-closure notices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Closure... closure of each hazardous waste disposal unit, the owner or operator must submit to the local zoning... disposal unit of the facility. For hazardous wastes disposed of before January 12, 1981, the owner or...

  13. ABSOLUTE AND COMPARATIVE SUSTAINABILITY OF FARMING ENTERPRISES IN BULGARIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Bachev

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Evaluating absolute and comparative sustainability of farming enterprises is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups and public at large. Nevertheless, in Bulgaria and most East European countries there are no comprehensive assessments on sustainability level of Bulgarian farms of different juridical type. This article applies a holistic framework and assesses absolute and comparative sustainability major farming structures in Bulgaria - unregistered farms of Natural Persons, Sole Traders, Cooperatives, and Companies. First, method of the study is outlined, and overall characteristics of surveyed farming enterprises presented. After that an assessment is made of integral, governance, economic, social, environmental sustainability of farming structures of different juridical type. Next, structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, conclusion from the study and directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments suggested.

  14. Ethical, moral and social dimensions in farm production practices: a segmentation study to assess Irish consumers’ perceptions of meat quality

    OpenAIRE

    Regan Á.; Henchion M; McIntyre B

    2018-01-01

    Growing consumer concerns with modern farming and food production systems indicate a significant market opportunity for meat production practices that consider ethical, moral and social value traits. In the current study, we aimed to identify and characterise distinct segments of Irish consumers based on their perceptions of the quality of meat from different farm-level production practices (organic farming, high animal welfare standards, free range farming, and “natural”, treatment-free feed...

  15. Vacuum-assisted closure versus conventional dressings in the management of diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective case-control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lone, Ali M; Zaroo, Mohd I; Laway, Bashir A; Pala, Nazir A; Bashir, Sheikh A; Rasool, Altaf

    2014-01-01

    To compare the effectiveness of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) versus conventional dressings in the healing of diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs) in terms of healing rate (time to prepare the wound for closure either spontaneously or by surgery), safety, and patient satisfaction. Randomized case-control study enrolling 56 patients, divided into two groups. Group A (patients treated with VAC) and Group B (patients treated with conventional dressings), with an equal number of patients in each group. DFUs were treated until wound closure, either spontaneously, surgically, or until completion of the 8-week period. Granulation tissue appeared in 26 (92.85%) patients by the end of Week 2 in Group A, while it appeared in 15 (53.57%) patients by that time in Group B. 100% granulation was achieved in 21 (77.78%) patients by the end of Week 5 in Group A as compared to only 10 (40%) patients by that time in Group B. Patients in Group A had fewer number of positive blood cultures, secondary amputations and were satisfied with treatment as compared to Group B. VAC appears to be more effective, safe, and patient satisfactory compared to conventional dressings for the treatment of DFUs.

  16. Prevention of farm injuries in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Kurt; Carstensen, Ole; Lauritsen, Jens

    2003-01-01

    This study examined the effects of a 4-year randomized intervention program that combined a safety audit with safety behavior training in the prevention of farm injuries.......This study examined the effects of a 4-year randomized intervention program that combined a safety audit with safety behavior training in the prevention of farm injuries....

  17. A closure test for time-specific capture-recapture data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanley, T.R.; Burnham, K.P.

    1999-01-01

    The assumption of demographic closure in the analysis of capture-recapture data under closed-population models is of fundamental importance. Yet, little progress has been made in the development of omnibus tests of the closure assumption. We present a closure test for time-specific data that, in principle, tests the null hypothesis of closed-population model M(t) against the open-population Jolly-Seber model as a specific alternative. This test is chi-square, and can be decomposed into informative components that can be interpreted to determine the nature of closure violations. The test is most sensitive to permanent emigration and least sensitive to temporary emigration, and is of intermediate sensitivity to permanent or temporary immigration. This test is a versatile tool for testing the assumption of demographic closure in the analysis of capture-recapture data.

  18. Reliability in maintenance and design of elastomer sealed closures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lake, W.H.

    1978-01-01

    The methods of reliability are considered for maintenance and design of elastomer sealed containment closures. Component reliability is used to establish a replacement schedule for system maintenance. Reliability data on elastomer seals is used to evaluate the common practice of annual replacement, and to calculate component reliability values for several typical shipment time periods. System reliability methods are used to examine the relative merits of typical closure designs. These include single component and redundant seal closure, with and without closure verification testing. The paper presents a general method of quantifying the merits of closure designs through the use of reliability analysis, which is a probabilistic technique. The reference list offers a general source of information in the field of reliability, and should offer the opportunity to extend the procedures discussed in this paper to other design safety applications

  19. uFarm: a smart farm management system based on RFID

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hyoungsuk; Lee, Moonsup; Jung, Jonghyuk; Lee, Hyunwook; Kim, Taehyoun

    2007-12-01

    Recently, the livestock industry in Korea has been threatened by many challenges such as low productivity due to labor intensiveness, global competition compelled by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and emerging animal disease issues such as BSE or foot-and-mouth. In this paper, we propose a smart farm management system, called uFarm, which would come up with such challenges by automating farm management. First, we automate labor-intensive jobs using equipments based on sensors and actuators. The automation subsystem can be controlled by remote user through wireless network. Second, we provide real-time traceability of information on farm animals using the radio-frequency identification (RFID) method and embedded data server with network connectivity.

  20. A stochastic frontier approach to study the relationship between gastrointestinal nematode infections and technical efficiency of dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Voort, Mariska; Van Meensel, Jef; Lauwers, Ludwig; Vercruysse, Jozef; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido; Charlier, Johannes

    2014-01-01

    The impact of gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections in dairy farming has traditionally been assessed using partial productivity indicators. But such approaches ignore the impact of infection on the performance of the whole farm. In this study, efficiency analysis was used to study the association of the GI nematode Ostertagia ostertagi on the technical efficiency of dairy farms. Five years of accountancy data were linked to GI nematode infection data gained from a longitudinal parasitic monitoring campaign. The level of exposure to GI nematodes was based on bulk-tank milk ELISA tests, which measure the antibodies to O. ostertagi and was expressed as an optical density ratio (ODR). Two unbalanced data panels were created for the period 2006 to 2010. The first data panel contained 198 observations from the Belgian Farm Accountancy Data Network (Brussels, Belgium) and the second contained 622 observations from the Boerenbond Flemish farmers' union (Leuven, Belgium) accountancy system (Tiber Farm Accounting System). We used the stochastic frontier analysis approach and defined inefficiency effect models specified with the Cobb-Douglas and transcendental logarithmic (Translog) functional form. To assess the efficiency scores, milk production was considered as the main output variable. Six input variables were used: concentrates, roughage, pasture, number of dairy cows, animal health costs, and labor. The ODR of each individual farm served as an explanatory variable of inefficiency. An increase in the level of exposure to GI nematodes was associated with a decrease in technical efficiency. Exposure to GI nematodes constrains the productivity of pasture, health, and labor but does not cause inefficiency in the use of concentrates, roughage, and dairy cows. Lowering the level of infection in the interquartile range (0.271 ODR) was associated with an average milk production increase of 27, 19, and 9L/cow per year for Farm Accountancy Data Network farms and 63, 49, and

  1. Economic Evaluation of Individual School Closure Strategies: The Hong Kong 2009 H1N1 Pandemic.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoie Shui-Yee Wong

    Full Text Available School closures as a means of containing the spread of disease have received considerable attention from the public health community. Although they have been implemented during previous pandemics, the epidemiological and economic effects of the closure of individual schools remain unclear.This study used data from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong to develop a simulation model of an influenza pandemic with a localised population structure to provide scientific justifications for and economic evaluations of individual-level school closure strategies.The estimated cost of the study's baseline scenario was USD330 million. We found that the individual school closure strategies that involved all types of schools and those that used a lower threshold to trigger school closures had the best performance. The best scenario resulted in an 80% decrease in the number of cases (i.e., prevention of about 830,000 cases, and the cost per case prevented by this intervention was USD1,145; thus, the total cost was USD1.28 billion.This study predicts the effects of individual school closure strategies on the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. Further research could determine optimal strategies that combine various system-wide and district-wide school closures with individual school triggers across types of schools. The effects of different closure triggers at different phases of a pandemic should also be examined.

  2. Biofilm responses to marine fish farm wastes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanz-Lazaro, Carlos, E-mail: carsanz@um.es [Departamento de Ecologia e Hidrologia, Facultad de Biologia, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia (Spain); Navarrete-Mier, Francisco; Marin, Arnaldo [Departamento de Ecologia e Hidrologia, Facultad de Biologia, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia (Spain)

    2011-03-15

    The changes in the biofilm community due to organic matter enrichment, eutrophication and metal contamination derived from fish farming were studied. The biofilm biomass, polysaccharide content, trophic niche and element accumulation were quantified along an environmental gradient of fish farm wastes in two seasons. Biofilm structure and trophic diversity was influenced by seasonality as well as by the fish farm waste load. Fish farming enhanced the accumulation of organic carbon, nutrients, selenium and metals by the biofilm community. The accumulation pattern of these elements was similar regardless of the structure and trophic niche of the community. This suggests that the biofilm communities can be considered a reliable tool for assessing dissolved aquaculture wastes. Due to the ubiquity of biofilms and its wide range of consumers, its role as a sink of dissolved wastes may have important implications for the transfer of aquaculture wastes to higher trophic levels in coastal systems. - Research highlights: > Biofilms can act as a trophic pathway of fish farm dissolved wastes. > Biofilms are reliable tools for monitoring fish farm dissolved wastes. > The influence of the fish farm dissolved wastes can be detected 120-350 m from farm. - Under the influence of fish farming biofilm accumulates organic carbon, nutrients, selenium and metals, regardless of the structure and trophic niche of the community.

  3. Transcatheter Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Children with the Occlutech Duct Occluder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilici, Meki; Demir, Fikri; Akın, Alper; Türe, Mehmet; Balık, Hasan; Kuyumcu, Mahir

    2017-12-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with the Occlutech duct occluder (ODO) in children. We reviewed the clinical records of 71 patients who underwent percutaneous closure of PDA with an ODO between September 2014 and August 2016. The Occlutech duct occluder was applied to 71 patients during the study period (September 2014-August 2016), and the results were analyzed in this study. Forty-two of the patients were female and 29 male. The median age was 20.5 months (range, 6-194 months) and median weight was 16 kg (range, 6-68 kg). The PDA was classified as type A in 54 patients (76.1%), type E in 14 (19.7%), type C in 2 (2.8%) and type B in 1 (1.4%) based on the Krichenko classification. A standard ODO device was used for the transcatheter closure procedure in 66 patients and the long-shank ODO device in 5. In the echocardiographic measurement of PDA, the median smallest diameter was 2.7 mm (range, 1.5-7.0 mm), and in the angiographic measurement, the median smallest diameter was 2.5 mm (range, 1.5-6.5 mm). All 71 patients underwent successful PDA closure with the ODO. Angiography following the procedure showed complete closure in 47 patients (66.2%), mild residual shunt in 13 patients (18.3%) and a trivial shunt in 11 patients (15.5%). Color flow Doppler echocardiogpaphy at 24 h post-implantation showed that complete closure was achieved in 65 patients (91.5%), and 6 patients (8.5%) had mild residual shunt. All patients (100%) had complete closure at 30 days of follow-up. The results of this study showed that the Occlutech PDA occluder device is safe and effective in the closure of PDA. As the pulmonary artery side of the device is wider than the aortic side, protrusion toward the aortic side and embolization are prevented, but there is residual shunt in the early period, although this residual shunt disappeared after a few months.

  4. Health impact of wind farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurpas, Donata; Mroczek, Bozena; Karakiewicz, Beata; Kassolik, Krzysztof; Andrzejewski, Waldemar

    2013-01-01

    Wind power is employed worldwide as an alternative source of energy. At the same time, however, the health effects of wind turbines have become a matter of discussion. The purpose of this study is a critical review of available reports providing arguments both for and against the construction of wind farms. The authors also attempt to propose recommendations in accordance with the Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) guidelines. In the case of exposure to wind farms, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is impossible. To obtain the highest-level recommendations, analysis of case-control studies or cohort studies with control groups should be performed. Preferably, it should include geostatistical analysis conducted with the use of variograms and the kriging technique. Combinations of key words were entered into the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge (SM) and the Internet search engine Google. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF STATE OF THE ART: The nuisance caused by wind turbines is stereotypically linked with the noise that they produce. Nevertheless, the visual aspect of wind farms, opinions about them, and sensitivity to sound seem to be of the greater importance. To date, the direct correlations between the vicinity of modern wind farms, the noise that wind turbines make, and possible consequences to health have not been described in peer reviewed articles. Health effects are more probably associated with some environmental factors leading to annoyance or frustration. All types of studies share the same conclusion: wind turbines can provoke annoyance. As with any project involving changes in the local environment, a certain level of irritation among the population can be expected. There are elected officials and government representatives who should decide what level of social annoyance is acceptable, and whether wind power advantages outweigh its potential drawbacks. The influence of wind turbines on human emotional and physical health is a relatively new field of research. Further

  5. RELAP-7 Closure Correlations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zou, Ling [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Berry, R. A. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Martineau, R. C. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Andrs, D. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Zhang, H. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Hansel, J. E. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Sharpe, J. P. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Johns, Russell C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-04-01

    The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The code is based on the INL’s modern scientific software development framework, MOOSE (Multi-Physics Object Oriented Simulation Environment). The overall design goal of RELAP-7 is to take advantage of the previous thirty years of advancements in computer architecture, software design, numerical integration methods, and physical models. The end result will be a reactor systems analysis capability that retains and improves upon RELAP5’s and TRACE’s capabilities and extends their analysis capabilities for all reactor system simulation scenarios. The RELAP-7 code utilizes the well-posed 7-equation two-phase flow model for compressible two-phase flow. Closure models used in the TRACE code has been reviewed and selected to reflect the progress made during the past decades and provide a basis for the colure correlations implemented in the RELAP-7 code. This document provides a summary on the closure correlations that are currently implemented in the RELAP-7 code. The closure correlations include sub-grid models that describe interactions between the fluids and the flow channel, and interactions between the two phases.

  6. Integrated watershed- and farm-scale modeling framework for targeting critical source areas while maintaining farm economic viability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghebremichael, Lula T; Veith, Tamie L; Hamlett, James M

    2013-01-15

    Quantitative risk assessments of pollution and data related to the effectiveness of mitigating best management practices (BMPs) are important aspects of nonpoint source pollution control efforts, particularly those driven by specific water quality objectives and by measurable improvement goals, such as the total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements. Targeting critical source areas (CSAs) that generate disproportionately high pollutant loads within a watershed is a crucial step in successfully controlling nonpoint source pollution. The importance of watershed simulation models in assisting with the quantitative assessments of CSAs of pollution (relative to their magnitudes and extents) and of the effectiveness of associated BMPs has been well recognized. However, due to the distinct disconnect between the hydrological scale in which these models conduct their evaluation and the farm scale at which feasible BMPs are actually selected and implemented, and due to the difficulty and uncertainty involved in transferring watershed model data to farm fields, there are limited practical applications of these tools in the current nonpoint source pollution control efforts by conservation specialists for delineating CSAs and planning targeting measures. There are also limited approaches developed that can assess impacts of CSA-targeted BMPs on farm productivity and profitability together with the assessment of water quality improvements expected from applying these measures. This study developed a modeling framework that integrates farm economics and environmental aspects (such as identification and mitigation of CSAs) through joint use of watershed- and farm-scale models in a closed feedback loop. The integration of models in a closed feedback loop provides a way for environmental changes to be evaluated with regard to the impact on the practical aspects of farm management and economics, adjusted or reformulated as necessary, and revaluated with respect to effectiveness of

  7. Closure of the squared Zakharov--Shabat eigenstates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaup, D.J.

    1976-01-01

    By solution of the inverse scattering problem for a third-order (degenerate) eigenvalue problem, the closure of the squared eigenfunctions of the Zakharov--Shabat equations is found. The question of the completeness of squared eigenstates occurs in many aspects of ''inverse scattering transforms'' (solving nonlinear evolution equations exactly by inverse scattering techniques), as well as in various aspects of the inverse scattering problem. The method used here is quite suggestive as to how one might find the closure of the squared eigenfunctions of other eigenvalue equations, and the strong analogy between these results and the problem of finding the closure of the eigenvectors of a nonself-adjoint matrix is pointed out

  8. Sustainability of Governing Structures in Bulgarian Farming Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hrabrin Bachev

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The issue of assessment of absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in agrarian and farming industries is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups, and the public worldwide. Despite this issue, practically there are no assessments on the sustainability level of the major types of Bulgarian farming enterprises in the conditions of European Union Common Agricultural Policy implementation. This study applies a holistic framework and assesses the absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in Bulgarian farming industry—unregistered holdings, sole traders, cooperatives, and companies of various types. In this paper, the method of the study is outlined, the inclusion of a novel “governance aspect” of sustainability is justified, and the overall characteristics of the surveyed farming enterprises are presented. Then, the integral, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the farming structures of different juridical types is assessed. Next, the structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, the conclusion from this study and the directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments are presented.

  9. Mental health recovery on care farms and day centres: a qualitative comparative study of users' perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iancu, Sorana C; Zweekhorst, Marjolein B M; Veltman, Dick J; van Balkom, Anton J L M; Bunders, Joske F G

    2014-01-01

    Mental health services increasingly incorporate the vision of recovery. This qualitative study analysed and compared experiences of recovery on prevocational services, in order to assess if users make progress towards recovery, relative to a staged recovery model. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with participants on care farms (n = 14), work (n = 7) and creative projects (n = 5). The transition from past to current lives was described as a progressive, non-linear process, with different stages guided by different goals. Participants on creative projects lacked clear goals, presented less interest in peers and high need for emotional support. Participants on work projects aimed for occupational rehabilitation, but struggled with the patient culture of the peer community. Participants on care farms aimed for daytime occupations and closer contact with society. They experienced care farms as open, real-life work settings where they could exercise responsibility and connect with people. Participants progressed towards recovery, as care farms, work- and creative projects empowered them to leave behind inactive, isolated or disorganized living. In day centres, users focused on self-reflection and personal development (creative projects) or on occupational performance (work projects), whereas on care farms, users fulfilled worker roles in a real-life, open community environment. Organized as open communities in real-life settings, care farms facilitate the reflection on personal and social responsibility, and therefore have the potential to help users internalize worker identities and improve their motivation to progress towards recovery. Supervisors on care farms are regarded by users as close contacts within the social networks they develop on the service, a position that allows supervisors to actively engage and promote users' progress towards recovery. Elements of the farm environment (such as the "normal life", presence of family

  10. A Comparative Study on Physicochemical Characteristics of Raw Goat Milk Collected from Different Farms in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaafar, Syarifah Hazirah Syd; Hashim, Roshada; Hassan, Zaiton; Arifin, Norlelawati

    2018-01-01

    This study was conducted to determine the physical and chemical composition of goat milk produced by eight local farms located in the central region of Malaysia. Farms 1 to 4 (F1-SC, F2-SP, F3-SP, F4-SBC) reared Saanen-type goats while farms 5 to 8 (F5-JK, F6-JPEC, F7-JTC, F8-JC), Jamnapari-type goats. The common feedstuffs used in all farms comprised of fresh or silage from Napier grass, feed pellets, and brans while two farms, F5-JK and F6-JPEC supplemented the feeds with soybean-based product. The total solid content, dry matter, and proximate composition of goat milk and feedstuffs from the different farms were determined and the results analysed using principal component analysis. Total solid content of goat milk from the Jamnapari crossbreed had the highest solid content ranging from 11.81% to 17.54% compared to milk from farms with Saanen and Saanen crossbreed (10.95% to 14.63%). Jamnapari-type goats from F5-JK, F6-JPEC, and F8-JC had significantly higher (p < 0.05) milk fat and protein contents (7.36%, 7.14%, and 6.59% fat; 5.08%, 6.19%, and 4.23% protein, respectively) than milk from other farms but, milk produced by Saanen-type goats from F4-SBC contained similar protein content (4.34%) to that from F8-JC. Total ash and carbohydrate contents in milk ranged between 0.67% to 0.86% and 3.26% to 4.71%, respectively, regardless of goat breed. Feeding soybean-based products appear to have a positive influence on milk fat and protein content in Jamnaparitype goats. PMID:29644024

  11. Sampling pig farms at the abattoir in a cross-sectional study - Evaluation of a sampling method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birkegård, Anna Camilla; Halasa, Tariq; Toft, Nils

    2017-09-15

    A cross-sectional study design is relatively inexpensive, fast and easy to conduct when compared to other study designs. Careful planning is essential to obtaining a representative sample of the population, and the recommended approach is to use simple random sampling from an exhaustive list of units in the target population. This approach is rarely feasible in practice, and other sampling procedures must often be adopted. For example, when slaughter pigs are the target population, sampling the pigs on the slaughter line may be an alternative to on-site sampling at a list of farms. However, it is difficult to sample a large number of farms from an exact predefined list, due to the logistics and workflow of an abattoir. Therefore, it is necessary to have a systematic sampling procedure and to evaluate the obtained sample with respect to the study objective. We propose a method for 1) planning, 2) conducting, and 3) evaluating the representativeness and reproducibility of a cross-sectional study when simple random sampling is not possible. We used an example of a cross-sectional study with the aim of quantifying the association of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial consumption in Danish slaughter pigs. It was not possible to visit farms within the designated timeframe. Therefore, it was decided to use convenience sampling at the abattoir. Our approach was carried out in three steps: 1) planning: using data from meat inspection to plan at which abattoirs and how many farms to sample; 2) conducting: sampling was carried out at five abattoirs; 3) evaluation: representativeness was evaluated by comparing sampled and non-sampled farms, and the reproducibility of the study was assessed through simulated sampling based on meat inspection data from the period where the actual data collection was carried out. In the cross-sectional study samples were taken from 681 Danish pig farms, during five weeks from February to March 2015. The evaluation showed that the sampling

  12. The 300 area waste acid treatment system closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luke, S.N.

    1996-01-01

    The 300 Area Waste Acid Treatment System (WATS) is located within operable units 300-FF-2 (source) and 300-FF-5 (groundwater), as designated in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) . Operable units 300-FF-2 and 300-FF-5 are scheduled to be remediated using the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) process. Thus, any remediation of the 300 Area WATS with respect to contaminants not produced by those facilities and soils and groundwater will be deferred to the CERCLA RI/FS process. Final closure activities will be completed in 3 phases and certified in accordance with the 300 Area WATS closure plan by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is anticipated that the 300 Area WATS closure would take 2 years to complete

  13. CORNEAL ENDOTHELIAL CELL DENSITY IN ACUTE ANGLE CLOSURE GLAUCOMA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nishat Sultana K

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Angle closure is characterised by apposition of the peripheral iris against the trabecular meshwork resulting in obstruction of aqueous outflow. Acute angle-closure glaucoma is characterised by pain, redness and blurred vision. The pain is typically a severe deep ache that follows the trigeminal distribution and maybe associated with nausea, vomiting, bradycardia and profuse sweating. The blurred vision, which is typically marked maybe caused by stretching of the corneal lamellae initially and later oedema of the cornea as well as a direct effect of the IOP on the optic nerve head. The modifications in corneal endothelial cell density after a crisis of angle-closure glaucoma is being evaluated. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The objective of the study is to assess the corneal endothelial cell count (density by specular microscopy in patients presenting with acute angle-closure glaucoma. METHODS Corneal endothelial cell counts of 20 eyes of patients with PACG with an earlier documented symptomatic acute attack unilaterally were compared with 20 fellow eyes. Evaluation of patient included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, disc findings and specular microscopy. RESULTS The mean endothelial cell density was 2104 cells/mm2 in the eye with acute attack and 2615 cells/mm2 in the fellow eye. The average endothelial cell count when the duration of attack lasted more than 72 hours was 1861 cells/mm2 . CONCLUSION Corneal endothelial cell density was found to be significantly reduced in eyes following an acute attack of primary angle closure glaucoma.

  14. Farm workers' health and pesticide residue analysis of three farms in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Cross sectional survey on the health status of the farm workers, engaged with pesticide use, at three agricultural farms; one in Debre zeit and two in Meki, Ethiopia, was conducted. A low prevalence of respiratory symptoms, chronic cough = 2.4%, in the farm workers as well as, chronic cough = 2.7%, in the control group was ...

  15. The Office of Site Closure: Progress in the Face of Challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fiore, J. J.; Murphie, W. E.; Meador, S. W.

    2002-01-01

    The Office of Site Closure (OSC) was formed in November 1999 when the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Environmental Management (EM) reorganized to focus specifically on site cleanup and closure. OSC's objective is to achieve safe and cost-effective cleanups and closures that are protective of our workers, the public, and the environment, now and in the future. Since its inception, OSC has focused on implementing a culture of safe closure, with emphasis in three primary areas: complete our responsibility for the Closure Sites Rocky Flats, Mound, Fernald, Ashtabula, and Weldon Spring; complete our responsibility for cleanup at sites where the DOE mission has been completed (examples include Battelle King Avenue and Battelle West Jefferson in Columbus, and General Atomics) or where other Departmental organizations have an ongoing mission (examples include the Brookhaven, Livermore, or Los Alamos National Laboratories, and the Nevada Test Site); and create a framework a nd develop specific business closure tools that will help sites close, such as guidance for and decisions on post-contract benefit liabilities, records retention, and Federal employee incentives for site closure. This paper discusses OSC's 2001 progress in achieving site cleanups, moving towards site closure, and developing specific business closure tools to support site closure. It describes the tools used to achieve progress towards cleanup and closure, such as the application of new technologies, changes in contracting approaches, and the development of agreements between sites and with host states. The paper also identifies upcoming challenges and explores options for how Headquarters and the sites can work together to address these challenges. Finally, it articulates OSC's new focus on oversight of Field Offices to ensure they have the systems in place to oversee contractor activities resulting in site cleanups and closures

  16. Success factors in farm tourism : Qualitative study of farm tourism enterprises in Finland

    OpenAIRE

    Vähäuski, Juuli

    2016-01-01

    Agriculture in Finland and globally struggles and farmers have difficulties reaching profitability. Among other industries, tourism is found as an efficient alternative for diversification thanks to several factors. However, to forward the positive influences, tourism enterprise must succeed. This bachelor thesis is a qualitative research aiming to identify success factors in Finnish farm tourism. The research was conducted in spring semester 2016. It is commissioned by Lomalaidun Ry, a ...

  17. The clinical effects of closure of the hernia gap after laparoscopic ventral hernia repair:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Mette W; Westen, Mikkel; Assadzadeh, Sami

    2014-01-01

    randomised controlled trials. The primary purpose of this paper is to compare early post-operative activity-related pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic ventral hernia repair with closure of the gap with patients undergoing standard laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (non-closure of the gap). Secondary...... outcomes are patient-rated cosmesis and hernia-specific quality of life. METHODS: A randomised, controlled, double-blinded study is planned. Based on power calculation, we will include 40 patients in each arm. Patients undergoing elective laparoscopic umbilical, epigastric or umbilical trocar-site hernia...... repair at Hvidovre Hospital and Herlev Hospital, Denmark, are invited to participate. CONCLUSION: The gap closure technique may induce more post-operative pain than the non-closure repair, but it may also be superior with regard to other important surgical outcomes. No studies have previously...

  18. INCLUFAR – INCLUSIVE FARMING – A NEW EDUCATIONAL APPROACH IN SOCIAL FARMING

    OpenAIRE

    van Elsen, Thomas; Herz, Gerhard; Ehlers, Hartwig; Schäfer, Winfried; Merckens, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    "Social farming" and “Green Care” are being developed throughout Europe: farms which put the "multifunctionality" demanded by the policy makers into practice, contributing to the creation of jobs in rural areas through the creation of social services. The team of authors has applied successfully to run the project “Inclusive farming – transfer of concepts, experiences, skills and training tools for Social Farming and eco-social inclusion” within the “Leonardo da Vinci - Transfer of Innovation...

  19. Stomal Closure: Strategies to Prevent Incisional Hernia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harries, Rhiannon L.; Torkington, Jared

    2018-01-01

    Incisional hernias following ostomy reversal occur frequently. Incisional hernias at the site of a previous stoma closure can cause significant morbidity, impaired quality of life, lead to life-threatening hernia incarceration or strangulation and result in a significant financial burden on health care systems Despite this, the evidence base on the subject is limited. Many recognised risk factors for the development of incisional hernia following ostomy reversal are related to patient factors such as age, malignancy, diabetes, COPD, hypertension and obesity, and are not easily correctable. There is a limited amount of evidence to suggest that prophylactic mesh reinforcement may be of benefit to reduce the post stoma closure incisional hernia rate but a further large scale randomised controlled trial is due to report in the near future. There appears to be weak evidence to suggest that surgeons should favour circular, or “purse-string” closure of the skin following stoma closure in order to reduce the risk of SSI, which in turn may reduce incisional hernia formation. There remains the need for further evidence in relation to suture technique, skin closure techniques, mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotic prescription focusing on incisional hernia development as an outcome measure. Within this review, we discuss in detail the evidence base for the risk factors for the development of, and the strategies to prevent ostomy reversal site incisional hernias. PMID:29670882

  20. Stomal Closure: Strategies to Prevent Incisional Hernia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rhiannon L. Harries

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Incisional hernias following ostomy reversal occur frequently. Incisional hernias at the site of a previous stoma closure can cause significant morbidity, impaired quality of life, lead to life-threatening hernia incarceration or strangulation and result in a significant financial burden on health care systems Despite this, the evidence base on the subject is limited. Many recognised risk factors for the development of incisional hernia following ostomy reversal are related to patient factors such as age, malignancy, diabetes, COPD, hypertension and obesity, and are not easily correctable. There is a limited amount of evidence to suggest that prophylactic mesh reinforcement may be of benefit to reduce the post stoma closure incisional hernia rate but a further large scale randomised controlled trial is due to report in the near future. There appears to be weak evidence to suggest that surgeons should favour circular, or “purse-string” closure of the skin following stoma closure in order to reduce the risk of SSI, which in turn may reduce incisional hernia formation. There remains the need for further evidence in relation to suture technique, skin closure techniques, mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotic prescription focusing on incisional hernia development as an outcome measure. Within this review, we discuss in detail the evidence base for the risk factors for the development of, and the strategies to prevent ostomy reversal site incisional hernias.