WorldWideScience

Sample records for high quality monitoring

  1. EXPERT-ANALITICAL MONITORING OF LEARNING PROCESS QUALITY IN HIGH SCHOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. M. Korotun

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The technological model is proposed for monitoring process of learning process quality in high school compliant with current European and home standards. The mathematical methods are elaborated for diverse activities as to learning process objects quality determination unified support. They self-consistently combine: automatic expert evaluation with Bayesian net and Value tree models; Delphi technique enhancement; best practices for education quality assessment. Quality estimates’ consistency index is introduced for their choice and acceptability analysis. Its permanent increasing over monitoring stages is guaranteed. The tools for these stages’ automatic support are described.

  2. Water quality monitoring for high-priority water bodies in the Sonoran Desert network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terry W. Sprouse; Robert M. Emanuel; Sara A. Strorrer

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes a network monitoring program for “high priority” water bodies in the Sonoran Desert Network of the National Park Service. Protocols were developed for monitoring selected waters for ten of the eleven parks in the Network. Park and network staff assisted in identifying potential locations of testing sites, local priorities, and how water quality...

  3. Subjective video quality comparison of HDTV monitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, G.; Lim, C.; Lee, S.; Lee, C.

    2009-01-01

    HDTV broadcasting services have become widely available. Furthermore, in the upcoming IPTV services, HDTV services are important and quality monitoring becomes an issue, particularly in IPTV services. Consequently, there have been great efforts to develop video quality measurement methods for HDTV. On the other hand, most HDTV programs will be watched on digital TV monitors which include LCD and PDP TV monitors. In general, the LCD and PDP TV monitors have different color characteristics and response times. Furthermore, most commercial TV monitors include post-processing to improve video quality. In this paper, we compare subjective video quality of some commercial HD TV monitors to investigate the impact of monitor type on perceptual video quality. We used the ACR method as a subjective testing method. Experimental results show that the correlation coefficients among the HDTV monitors are reasonable high. However, for some video sequences and impairments, some differences in subjective scores were observed.

  4. The ALICE data quality monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haller, B von; Telesca, A; Chapeland, S; Carena, F; Carena, W; Barroso, V Chibante; Costa, F; Denes, E; Divià, R; Fuchs, U; Simonetti, G; Soós, C; Vyvre, P Vande

    2011-01-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the heavy-ion detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The online Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) is a key element of the Data Acquisition's software chain. It provide shifters with precise and complete information to quickly identify and overcome problems, and as a consequence to ensure acquisition of high quality data. DQM typically involves the online gathering, the analysis by user-defined algorithms and the visualization of monitored data. This paper describes the final design of ALICE'S DQM framework called AMORE (Automatic MOnitoRing Environment), as well as its latest and coming features like the integration with the offline analysis and reconstruction framework, a better use of multi-core processors by a parallelization effort, and its interface with the eLogBook. The concurrent collection and analysis of data in an online environment requires the framework to be highly efficient, robust and scalable. We will describe what has been implemented to achieve these goals and the procedures we follow to ensure appropriate robustness and performance. We finally review the wide range of usages people make of this framework, from the basic monitoring of a single sub-detector to the most complex ones within the High Level Trigger farm or using the Prompt Reconstruction and we describe the various ways of accessing the monitoring results. We conclude with our experience, before and after the LHC startup, when monitoring the data quality in a challenging environment.

  5. The ALICE data quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Haller, B.; Telesca, A.; Chapeland, S.; Carena, F.; Carena, W.; Chibante Barroso, V.; Costa, F.; Denes, E.; Divià, R.; Fuchs, U.; Simonetti, G.; Soós, C.; Vande Vyvre, P.; ALICE Collaboration

    2011-12-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the heavy-ion detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The online Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) is a key element of the Data Acquisition's software chain. It provide shifters with precise and complete information to quickly identify and overcome problems, and as a consequence to ensure acquisition of high quality data. DQM typically involves the online gathering, the analysis by user-defined algorithms and the visualization of monitored data. This paper describes the final design of ALICE'S DQM framework called AMORE (Automatic MOnitoRing Environment), as well as its latest and coming features like the integration with the offline analysis and reconstruction framework, a better use of multi-core processors by a parallelization effort, and its interface with the eLogBook. The concurrent collection and analysis of data in an online environment requires the framework to be highly efficient, robust and scalable. We will describe what has been implemented to achieve these goals and the procedures we follow to ensure appropriate robustness and performance. We finally review the wide range of usages people make of this framework, from the basic monitoring of a single sub-detector to the most complex ones within the High Level Trigger farm or using the Prompt Reconstruction and we describe the various ways of accessing the monitoring results. We conclude with our experience, before and after the LHC startup, when monitoring the data quality in a challenging environment.

  6. Monitoring urban air quality using a high-density network of low-cost sensor nodes in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castell, Nuria; Schneider, Philipp; Vogt, Matthias; Dauge, Franck R.; Lahoz, William; Bartonova, Alena

    2017-04-01

    Urban air quality represents a major public health burden and is a long-standing concern to citizens. Air pollution is associated with a range of diseases, symptoms and conditions that impair health and quality of life. In Oslo, traffic, especially exhaust from heavy-duty and private diesel vehicles and dust resuspension from studded tyres, together with wood burning in winter, are the main sources of pollution. Norway, as part of the European Economic Area, is obliged to comply with the European air quality regulations and ensure clean air. Despite this, Oslo has exceeded both the NO2 and PM10 thresholds for health protection defined in the Directive 2008/50/EC. The air quality in the Oslo area is continuously monitored in 12 compliance monitoring stations. These stations provide reliable and accurate data but their density is too low to provide a detailed spatial distribution of air quality. The emergence of low-cost nodes enables observations at high spatial resolution, providing the opportunity to enhance existing monitoring systems. However, the data generated by these nodes is significantly less accurate and precise than the data provided by reference equipment. We have conducted an evaluation of low-cost nodes to monitor NO2 and PM10, comparing the data collected with low-cost nodes against CEN (European Standardization Organization) reference analysers. During January and March 2016, a network of 24 nodes was deployed in Oslo. During January, high NO2 levels were observed for several days in a row coinciding with the formation of a thermal inversion. During March, we observed an episode with high PM10 levels due to road dust resuspension. Our results show that there is a major technical challenge associated with current commercial low-cost sensors, regarding the sensor robustness and measurement repeatability. Despite this, low-cost sensor nodes are able to reproduce the NO2 and PM10 variability. The data from the sensors was employed to generate detailed

  7. Improving and monitoring air quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DuPont, André

    2018-05-01

    Since the authorization of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the air quality in the USA has significantly improved because of strong public support. The lessons learned over the last 25 years are being shared with the policy analysts, technical professionals, and scientist who endeavor to improve air quality in their communities. This paper will review how the USA has achieved the "high" standard of air quality that was envisioned in the early 1990s. This document will describe SO 2 gas emission reduction technology and highlight operation of emission monitoring technology. This paper describes the basic process operation of an air pollution control scrubber. A technical review of measures required to operate and maintain a large-scale pollution control system will be described. Also, the author explains how quality assurance procedures in performance of continuous emission monitoring plays a significant role in reducing air pollution.

  8. History plotting tool for Data Quality Monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giordano, D.; Le Bihan, A.-C.; Pierro, A.; De Mattia, M.

    2010-01-01

    The size and complexity of the CMS detector makes the Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) system very challenging. Given the high granularity of the CMS sub-detectors, several approaches and tools have been developed to monitor the detector performance closely. We describe here the History DQM, a tool allowing the detector performance monitoring over time.

  9. Real time high frequency monitoring of water quality in river streams using a UV-visible spectrometer: interest, limits and consequences for monitoring strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faucheux, Mikaël; Fovet, Ophélie; Gruau, Gérard; Jaffrézic, Anne; Petitjean, Patrice; Gascuel-Odoux, Chantal; Ruiz, Laurent

    2013-04-01

    Stream water chemistry is highly variable in space and time, therefore high frequency water quality measurement methods are likely to lead to conceptual advances in the hydrological sciences. Sub-daily data on water quality improve the characterization of pollutant sources and pathways during flood events as well as during long-term periods [1]. However, real time, high frequency monitoring devices needs to be properly calibrated and validated in real streams. This study analyses data from in situ monitoring of a stream water quality. During two hydrological years (2010-11, 2011-12), a submersible UV-visible spectrometer (Scan Spectrolyser) was used for surface water quality measurement at the outlet of a headwater catchment located at Kervidy-Naizin, Western France (AgrHys long-term hydrological observatory, http://www.inra.fr/ore_agrhys/). The spectrometer is reagentless and equipped with an auto-cleaning system. It allows real time, in situ and high frequency (20 min) measurements and uses a multiwavelengt spectral (200-750 nm) for simultaneous measurement of nitrate, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total suspended solids (TSS). A global calibration based on a PLS (Partial Least Squares) regression is provided by the manufacturer as default configuration of the UV-visible spectrometer. We carried out a local calibration of the spectrometer based on nitrates and DOC concentrations analysed in the laboratory from daily manual sampling and sub-daily automatic sampling of flood events. TSS results are compared with 15 min turbidity records from a continuous turdidimeter (Ponsel). The results show a good correlation between laboratory data and spectrometer data both during basis flows periods and flood events. However, the local calibration gives better results than the global one. Nutrient fluxes estimates based on high and different low frequency time series (daily to monthly) are compared to discuss the implication for environmental monitoring strategies. Such

  10. On-line Monitoring of VoIP Quality Using IPFIX

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petr Matousek

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of VoIP services is to provide a reliable and high-quality voice transmission over packet networks. In order to prove the quality of VoIP transmission, several approaches were designed. In our approach, we are concerned about on-line monitoring of RTP and RTCP traffic. Based on these data, we are able to compute main VoIP quality metrics including jitter, delay, packet loss, and finally R-factor and MOS values. This technique of VoIP quality measuring can be directly incorporated into IPFIX monitoring framework where an IPFIX probe analyses RTP/RTCP packets, computes VoIP quality metrics, and adds these metrics into extended IPFIX flow records. Then, these extended data are stored in a central IPFIX monitoring system called collector where can be used for monitoring purposes. This paper presents a functional implementation of IPFIX plugin for VoIP quality measurement and compares the results with results obtained by other tools.

  11. Real-time water quality monitoring and providing water quality ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have initiated the “Village Blue” research project to provide real-time water quality monitoring data to the Baltimore community and increase public awareness about local water quality in Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. The Village Blue demonstration project complements work that a number of state and local organizations are doing to make Baltimore Harbor “swimmable and fishable” 2 by 2020. Village Blue is designed to build upon EPA’s “Village Green” project which provides real-time air quality information to communities in six locations across the country. The presentation, “Real-time water quality monitoring and providing water quality information to the Baltimore Community”, summarizes the Village Blue real-time water quality monitoring project being developed for the Baltimore Harbor.

  12. Water quality assessment of a small peri-urban river using low and high frequency monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanovsky, A; Criquet, J; Dumoulin, D; Alary, C; Prygiel, J; Duponchel, L; Billon, G

    2016-05-18

    The biogeochemical behaviors of small rivers that pass through suburban areas are difficult to understand because of the multi-origin inputs that can modify their behavior. In this context, a monitoring strategy has been designed for the Marque River, located in Lille Metropolitan area of northern France, that includes both low-frequency monitoring over a one-year period (monthly sampling) and high frequency monitoring (measurements every 10 minutes) in spring and summer. Several environmental and chemical parameters are evaluated including rainfall events, river flow, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, nutritive salts and dissolved organic matter. Our results from the Marque River show that (i) it is impacted by both urban and agricultural inputs, and as a consequence, the concentrations of phosphate and inorganic nitrogen have degraded the water quality; (ii) the classic photosynthesis/respiration processes are disrupted by the inputs of organic matter and nutritive salts; (iii) during dry periods, the urban sewage inputs (treated or not) are more important during the day, as indicated by higher river flows and maximal concentrations of ammonium; (iv) phosphate concentrations depend on oxygen contents in the river; (v) high nutrient concentrations result in eutrophication of the Marque River with lower pH and oxygen concentrations in summer. During rainfalls, additional inputs of ammonium, biodegradable organic matter as well as sediment resuspension result in anoxic events; and finally (vi) concentrations of nitrate are approximately constant over the year, except in winter when higher inputs can be recorded. Having better identified the processes responsible for the observed water quality, a more informed remediation effort can be put forward to move this suburban river to a good status of water quality.

  13. Environmental Monitoring, Water Quality - MO 2009 Stream Team Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Sites (SHP)

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — This data set shows the monitoring locations of trained Volunteer Water Quality Monitors. A monitoring site is considered to be a 300 foot section of stream channel....

  14. Air Quality Monitoring: Risk-Based Choices

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, John T.

    2009-01-01

    Air monitoring is secondary to rigid control of risks to air quality. Air quality monitoring requires us to target the credible residual risks. Constraints on monitoring devices are severe. Must transition from archival to real-time, on-board monitoring. Must provide data to crew in a way that they can interpret findings. Dust management and monitoring may be a major concern for exploration class missions.

  15. In-situ quality monitoring during laser brazing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ungers, Michael; Fecker, Daniel; Frank, Sascha; Donst, Dmitri; Märgner, Volker; Abels, Peter; Kaierle, Stefan

    Laser brazing of zinc coated steel is a widely established manufacturing process in the automotive sector, where high quality requirements must be fulfilled. The strength, impermeablitiy and surface appearance of the joint are particularly important for judging its quality. The development of an on-line quality control system is highly desired by the industry. This paper presents recent works on the development of such a system, which consists of two cameras operating in different spectral ranges. For the evaluation of the system, seam imperfections are created artificially during experiments. Finally image processing algorithms for monitoring process parameters based the captured images are presented.

  16. Real-time video quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tao; Narvekar, Niranjan; Wang, Beibei; Ding, Ran; Zou, Dekun; Cash, Glenn; Bhagavathy, Sitaram; Bloom, Jeffrey

    2011-12-01

    The ITU-T Recommendation G.1070 is a standardized opinion model for video telephony applications that uses video bitrate, frame rate, and packet-loss rate to measure the video quality. However, this model was original designed as an offline quality planning tool. It cannot be directly used for quality monitoring since the above three input parameters are not readily available within a network or at the decoder. And there is a great room for the performance improvement of this quality metric. In this article, we present a real-time video quality monitoring solution based on this Recommendation. We first propose a scheme to efficiently estimate the three parameters from video bitstreams, so that it can be used as a real-time video quality monitoring tool. Furthermore, an enhanced algorithm based on the G.1070 model that provides more accurate quality prediction is proposed. Finally, to use this metric in real-world applications, we present an example emerging application of real-time quality measurement to the management of transmitted videos, especially those delivered to mobile devices.

  17. Monitoring and evaluating soil quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bloem, J.; Schouten, A.J.; Sørensen, S.J.; Rutgers, M.; Werf, van der A.K.; Breure, A.M.

    2006-01-01

    This book provides a selection of microbiological methods that are already applied in regional or national soil quality monitoring programs. It is split into two parts: part one gives an overview of approaches to monitoring, evaluating and managing soil quality. Part two provides a selection of

  18. Applications of optical sensors for high-frequency water-quality monitoring and research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellerin, Brian

    2015-01-01

    The recent commercial availability of in-situ optical sensors, together with new techniques for data collection and analysis, provides the opportunity to monitor a wide range of water-quality constituents over time scales during which environmental conditions actually change. Traditional approaches for data collection (daily to monthly discrete samples) are often limited by high sample collection, processing, and analytical costs, difficult site access, and logistical challenges, particularly for long-term sampling at a large number of sites. Optical sensors that continuously measure constituents in the environment by absorbance or fluorescence properties (Figure 1) have had a long history of use in oceanography for measuring highly resolved concentrations and fluxes of organic matter, nutrients, and algal material. However, much of the work using commercially-available optical sensors in rivers and streams has taken place in only the last few years. Figure 1. [NOT SHOWN] Optical sensor technology is now sufficiently developed to warrant broader application for research and monitoring in coastal and freshwater systems, and the United States Geological Survey (a U.S. science agency) is now using these sensors in a variety of research and monitoring programs to better understand water quality in-situ and in real-time. Examples are numerous and range from the applications of nitrate sensors for calculating loads to estuaries susceptible to hypoxia (Pellerin et al., 2014) to the use of fluorometers to estimate methymercury fluxes (Bergamaschi et al., 2011) and disinfection byproduct formation (Carpenter et al., 2013). Transmitting these data in real-time provides information that can be used for early trend detection, help identify monitoring gaps critical for water management, and provide science-based decision support across a range of issues related to water quality, freshwater ecosystems, and human health. Despite the value of these sensors, collecting data that

  19. High quality data: An evaluation of AIM data quality and data quality procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    The goal of every monitoring program is to collect high-quality data which can then be used to provide information to decision makers. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program is one such data set which provides rangeland status, condition, and trend in...

  20. Quality control and quality assurance in individual monitoring of ionising radiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutt, J.C.; Lindborg, L.

    1994-01-01

    This paper describes the programmes and approaches that are to be considered in developing and introducing quality assurance and quality control procedures in individual monitoring services. Quality assurance and quality control in individual monitoring services are essential to maintain quality and are of increasing importance in order to meet the requirements of national regulations and international standards and guidelines. It is recommended here that all organisations offering individual monitoring services should run their services based on the principles of Quality System as given in the European Standard EN45001 and maintain a property resources QA/QC programme as an integral part of their operations. All aspects of QA/QC in individual monitoring services starting from the initial selection, installation, calibration, and operation to the final products including dose reporting, dose record keeping, dealing with customers' complaints and product liability issues have been discussed. (Author)

  1. 40 CFR 130.4 - Water quality monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... QUALITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT § 130.4 Water quality monitoring. (a) In accordance with section 106(e)(1...; developing and reviewing water quality standards, total maximum daily loads, wasteload allocations and load... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Water quality monitoring. 130.4...

  2. SAMIRA - SAtellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Philipp; Stebel, Kerstin; Ajtai, Nicolae; Diamandi, Andrei; Horalek, Jan; Nicolae, Doina; Stachlewska, Iwona; Zehner, Claus

    2016-04-01

    Here, we present a new ESA-funded project entitled Satellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality (SAMIRA), which aims at improving regional and local air quality monitoring through synergetic use of data from present and upcoming satellites, traditionally used in situ air quality monitoring networks and output from chemical transport models. Through collaborative efforts in four countries, namely Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Norway, all with existing air quality problems, SAMIRA intends to support the involved institutions and associated users in their national monitoring and reporting mandates as well as to generate novel research in this area. Despite considerable improvements in the past decades, Europe is still far from achieving levels of air quality that do not pose unacceptable hazards to humans and the environment. Main concerns in Europe are exceedances of particulate matter (PM), ground-level ozone, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). While overall sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions have decreased in recent years, regional concentrations can still be high in some areas. The objectives of SAMIRA are to improve algorithms for the retrieval of hourly aerosol optical depth (AOD) maps from SEVIRI, and to develop robust methods for deriving column- and near-surface PM maps for the study area by combining satellite AOD with information from regional models. The benefit to existing monitoring networks (in situ, models, satellite) by combining these datasets using data fusion methods will be tested for satellite-based NO2, SO2, and PM/AOD. Furthermore, SAMIRA will test and apply techniques for downscaling air quality-related EO products to a spatial resolution that is more in line with what is generally required for studying urban and regional scale air quality. This will be demonstrated for a set of study sites that include the capitals of the four countries and the highly polluted areas along the border of Poland and the

  3. Non-intrusive Quality Analysis of Monitoring Data

    CERN Document Server

    Brightwell, M; Suwalska, Anna

    2010-01-01

    Any large-scale operational system running over a variety of devices requires a monitoring mechanism to assess the health of the overall system. The Technical Infrastructure Monitoring System (TIM) at CERN is one such system, and monitors a wide variety of devices and their properties, such as electricity supplies, device temperatures, liquid flows etc. Without adequate quality assurance, the data collected from such devices leads to false-positives and false-negatives, reducing the effectiveness of the monitoring system. The quality must, however, be measured in a non-intrusive way, so that the critical path of the data flow is not affected by the quality computation. The quality computation should also scale to large volumes of incoming data. To address these challenges, we develop a new statistical module, which monitors the data collected by TIM and reports its quality to the operators. The statistical module uses Oracle RDBMS as the underlying store, and builds hierarchical summaries on the basic events ...

  4. Lot quality assurance sampling to monitor supplemental immunization activity quality: an essential tool for improving performance in polio endemic countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Alexandra E; Okayasu, Hiromasa; Nzioki, Michael M; Wadood, Mufti Z; Chabot-Couture, Guillaume; Quddus, Arshad; Walker, George; Sutter, Roland W

    2014-11-01

    Monitoring the quality of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) is a key tool for polio eradication. Regular monitoring data, however, are often unreliable, showing high coverage levels in virtually all areas, including those with ongoing virus circulation. To address this challenge, lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) was introduced in 2009 as an additional tool to monitor SIA quality. Now used in 8 countries, LQAS provides a number of programmatic benefits: identifying areas of weak coverage quality with statistical reliability, differentiating areas of varying coverage with greater precision, and allowing for trend analysis of campaign quality. LQAS also accommodates changes to survey format, interpretation thresholds, evaluations of sample size, and data collection through mobile phones to improve timeliness of reporting and allow for visualization of campaign quality. LQAS becomes increasingly important to address remaining gaps in SIA quality and help focus resources on high-risk areas to prevent the continued transmission of wild poliovirus. © Crown copyright 2014.

  5. Wireless Sensor Network for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Li

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Indoor air quality monitoring system consists of wireless sensor device, nRF24L01 wireless transceiver modules, C8051MCU, STM32103 remote monitoring platform, alarm device and data server. Distributed in the interior space of wireless sensors measure parameters of the local air quality, wireless transceiver module of the MCU to transmit data to the remote monitoring platform for analysis which displayed and stored field environment data or charts. The data collecting from wireless sensors to be send by wireless Access Point to the remote data server based on B/S architecture, intelligent terminals such as mobile phone, laptop, tablet PC on the Internet monitor indoor air quality in real-time. When site environment air quality index data exceeds the threshold in the monitoring device, the remote monitoring platform sends out the alarm SMS signal to inform user by GSM module. Indoor air quality monitoring system uses modular design method, has the portability and scalability has the low manufacture cost, real-time monitoring data and man-machine interaction.

  6. Monitoring the LHCb data quality system

    CERN Multimedia

    Baranov, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Monitoring the quality of the data, DQM, is crucial in a high-energy physics experiment to ensure the correct functioning of the apparatus during the data taking. DQM at LHCb is carried out in two phase. The first one is performed on-site, in real time, using unprocessed data directly from the LHCb detector, while the second, also performed on-site, requires the reconstruction of the data selected by the LHCb trigger system and occurs with some delay. For the Run II data taking the LHCb collaboration has re-engineered the DQM protocols and the DQM graphical interface, moving the latter to a web-based monitoring system, called Monet, thus allowing researchers to perform the second phase off-site. In order to support the operator's task, Monet is also equipped with an automated, fully configurable, alarm system, thus allowing its use not only for DQM purposes, but also to track and assess the quality of LHCb software and simulation.

  7. Autonomous nutrient detection for water quality monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    Maher, Damien; Cleary, John; Cogan, Deirdre; Diamond, Dermot

    2012-01-01

    The ever increasing demand for real time environmental monitoring is currently being driven by strong legislative and societal drivers. Low cost autonomous environmental monitoring systems are required to meet this demand as current monitoring solutions are insufficient. This poster presents an autonomous nutrient analyser platform for water quality monitoring. Results from a field trial of the nutrient analyser are reported along with current work to expand the range of water quality targ...

  8. Automated monitoring of recovered water quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misselhorn, J. E.; Hartung, W. H.; Witz, S. W.

    1974-01-01

    Laboratory prototype water quality monitoring system provides automatic system for online monitoring of chemical, physical, and bacteriological properties of recovered water and for signaling malfunction in water recovery system. Monitor incorporates whenever possible commercially available sensors suitably modified.

  9. Quality assurance and quality control for Hydro-Quebec's ambient air monitoring networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lambert, M.; Varfalvy, L.

    1993-01-01

    Hydro Quebec has three ambient air monitoring networks to determine the contribution of some of its thermal plants to ambient air quality. They are located in Becancour (gas turbines), Iles-de-la-Madeleine (diesel), and Tracy (conventional oil-fired). To ensure good quality results and consistency between networks, a quality assurance/quality control program was set up. A description is presented of the ambient air quality monitoring network and the quality assurance/quality control program. A guide has been created for use by the network operators, discussing objectives of the individual network, a complete description of each network, field operation for each model of instrument in use, treatment of data for each data logger in use, global considerations regarding quality assurance and control, and reports. A brief overview is presented of the guide's purpose and contents, focusing on the field operation section and the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide monitors. 6 figs., 1 tab

  10. Portable water quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nizar, N. B.; Ong, N. R.; Aziz, M. H. A.; Alcain, J. B.; Haimi, W. M. W. N.; Sauli, Z.

    2017-09-01

    Portable water quality monitoring system was a developed system that tested varied samples of water by using different sensors and provided the specific readings to the user via short message service (SMS) based on the conditions of the water itself. In this water quality monitoring system, the processing part was based on a microcontroller instead of Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) machines to receive the results. By using four main sensors, this system obtained the readings based on the detection of the sensors, respectively. Therefore, users can receive the readings through SMS because there was a connection between Arduino Uno and GSM Module. This system was designed to be portable so that it would be convenient for users to carry it anywhere and everywhere they wanted to since the processor used is smaller in size compared to the LCR machines. It was also developed to ease the user to monitor and control the water quality. However, the ranges of the sensors' detection still a limitation in this study.

  11. No Reference Video-Quality-Assessment Model for Monitoring Video Quality of IPTV Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamagishi, Kazuhisa; Okamoto, Jun; Hayashi, Takanori; Takahashi, Akira

    Service providers should monitor the quality of experience of a communication service in real time to confirm its status. To do this, we previously proposed a packet-layer model that can be used for monitoring the average video quality of typical Internet protocol television content using parameters derived from transmitted packet headers. However, it is difficult to monitor the video quality per user using the average video quality because video quality depends on the video content. To accurately monitor the video quality per user, a model that can be used for estimating the video quality per video content rather than the average video quality should be developed. Therefore, to take into account the impact of video content on video quality, we propose a model that calculates the difference in video quality between the video quality of the estimation-target video and the average video quality estimated using a packet-layer model. We first conducted extensive subjective quality assessments for different codecs and video sequences. We then model their characteristics based on parameters related to compression and packet loss. Finally, we verify the performance of the proposed model by applying it to unknown data sets different from the training data sets used for developing the model.

  12. A Two-Year Water Quality Monitoring Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glazer, Richard B.; And Others

    The Environmental Protection Agency developed this curriculum to train technicians to monitor water quality. Graduates of the program should be able to monitor municipal, industrial, and commercial discharges; test drinking water for purity; and determine quality of aquatic environments. The program includes algebra, communication skills, biology,…

  13. Design and implementation air quality monitoring robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yuanhua; Li, Jie; Qi, Chunxue

    2017-01-01

    Robot applied in environmental protection can break through the limitations in working environment, scope and mode of the existing environmental monitoring and pollution abatement equipments, which undertake the innovation and improvement in the basin, atmosphere, emergency and pollution treatment facilities. Actually, the relevant technology is backward with limited research and investment. Though the device companies have achieved some results in the study on the water quality monitoring, pipeline monitoring and sewage disposal, this technological progress on the whole is still much slow, and the mature product has not been formed. As a result, the market urges a demand of a new type of device which is more suitable for environmental protection on the basis of robot successfully applied in other fields. This paper designs and realizes a tracked mobile robot of air quality monitoring, which can be used to monitor air quality for the pollution accident in industrial parks and regular management.

  14. Progress and lessons learned from water-quality monitoring networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Donna N.; Ludtke, Amy S.

    2017-01-01

    Stream-quality monitoring networks in the United States were initiated and expanded after passage of successive federal water-pollution control laws from 1948 to 1972. The first networks addressed information gaps on the extent and severity of stream pollution and served as early warning systems for spills. From 1965 to 1972, monitoring networks expanded to evaluate compliance with stream standards, track emerging issues, and assess water-quality status and trends. After 1972, concerns arose regarding the ability of monitoring networks to determine if water quality was getting better or worse and why. As a result, monitoring networks adopted a hydrologic systems approach targeted to key water-quality issues, accounted for human and natural factors affecting water quality, innovated new statistical methods, and introduced geographic information systems and models that predict water quality at unmeasured locations. Despite improvements, national-scale monitoring networks have declined over time. Only about 1%, or 217, of more than 36,000 US Geological Survey monitoring sites sampled from 1975 to 2014 have been operated throughout the four decades since passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act. Efforts to sustain monitoring networks are important because these networks have collected information crucial to the description of water-quality trends over time and are providing information against which to evaluate future trends.

  15. Employee quality, monitoring environment and internal control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunli Liu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the effect of internal control employees (ICEs on internal control quality. Using special survey data from Chinese listed firms, we find that ICE quality has a significant positive influence on internal control quality. We examine the effect of monitoring on this result and find that the effect is more pronounced for firms with strict monitoring environments, especially when the firms implement the Chinese internal control regulation system (CSOX, have higher institutional ownership or attach greater importance to internal control. Our findings suggest that ICEs play an important role in the design and implementation of internal control systems. Our study should be of interest to both top managers who wish to improve corporate internal control quality and regulators who wish to understand the mechanisms of internal control monitoring.

  16. Employee quality, monitoring environment and internal control

    OpenAIRE

    Chunli Liu; Bin Lin; Wei Shu

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the effect of internal control employees (ICEs) on internal control quality. Using special survey data from Chinese listed firms, we find that ICE quality has a significant positive influence on internal control quality. We examine the effect of monitoring on this result and find that the effect is more pronounced for firms with strict monitoring environments, especially when the firms implement the Chinese internal control regulation system (CSOX), have higher institutional ow...

  17. Advanced monitoring of wastewater quality: data collection and data quality assurance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alferes, Janelcy; Lamaire-Chad, C.; Chhetri, Ravi Kumar

    and in evaluating the impact of discharges on the receiving water bodies. As measurements are carried out under arduous conditions, practical implementation of such monitoring systems entails several challenges, and automation of data collection and data quality assessment has been recognised as a critical issue....... In this paper, a data quality assessment strategy is presented to achieve efficient water quality monitoring in real-world scenarios. Next to practical aspects concerning installation and maintenance of sensors, the paper also presents a software tool aimed at assessing the quality of the data being collected....... In this paper, results showed the successful implementation of the proposed strategy for collection of water quality data at the inlet of a wastewater treatment plant....

  18. Using business intelligence to monitor clinical quality metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resetar, Ervina; Noirot, Laura A; Reichley, Richard M; Storey, Patricia; Skiles, Ann M; Traynor, Patrick; Dunagan, W Claiborne; Bailey, Thomas C

    2007-10-11

    BJC HealthCare (BJC) uses a number of industry standard indicators to monitor the quality of services provided by each of its hospitals. By establishing an enterprise data warehouse as a central repository of clinical quality information, BJC is able to monitor clinical quality performance in a timely manner and improve clinical outcomes.

  19. Negative Binomial charts for monitoring high-quality processes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Albers, Willem/Wim

    Good control charts for high quality processes are often based on the number of successes between failures. Geometric charts are simplest in this respect, but slow in recognizing moderately increased failure rates p. Improvement can be achieved by waiting until r > 1 failures have occurred, i.e. by

  20. Air Quality Monitoring Programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kemp, K.; Palmgren, F.

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source...... apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2002 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO2 and PM10 were at several stations found in concentrations above the new EU limit values, which the Member...

  1. Quality and Safety of Home ICP Monitoring Compared with In-Hospital Monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andresen, Morten; Juhler, Marianne; Munch, Tina Nørgaard

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is usually conducted in-hospital using stationary devices. Modern mobile ICP monitoring systems present new monitoring possibilities more closely following the patients' daily life. We reviewed patient safety, quality of technical data...

  2. The ALICE data quality monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haller, B von; Roukoutakis, F; Chapeland, S; Carena, F; Carena, W; Barroso, V Chibante; Costa, F; Divia, R; Fuchs, U; Makhlyueva, I; Schossmaier, K; Soos, C; Vyvre, P Vande; Altini, V

    2010-01-01

    ALICE is one of the four experiments installed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), especially designed for the study of heavy-ion collisions. The online Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) is an important part of the data acquisition (DAQ) software. It involves the online gathering, the analysis by user-defined algorithms and the visualization of monitored data. This paper presents the final design, as well as the latest and coming features, of the ALICE's specific DQM software called AMORE (Automatic MonitoRing Environment). It describes the challenges we faced during its implementation, including the performances issues, and how we tested and handled them, in particular by using a scalable and robust publish-subscribe architecture.We also review the on-going and increasing adoption of this tool amongst the ALICE collaboration and the measures taken to develop, in synergy with their respective teams, efficient monitoring modules for the sub-detectors. The related packaging and release procedure needed by such a distributed framework is also described. We finally overview the wide range of usages people make of this framework, and we review our own experience, before and during the LHC start-up, when monitoring the data quality on both the sub-detectors and the DAQ side in a real-world and challenging environment.

  3. Air Quality Monitoring System and Benchmarking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Xiufeng; Nielsen, Per Sieverts

    2017-01-01

    Air quality monitoring has become an integral part of smart city solutions. This paper presents an air quality monitoring system based on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and establishes a cloud-based platform to address the challenges related to IoT data management and processing capabilit...... capabilities, including data collection, storage, analysis, and visualization. In addition, this paper also benchmarks four state-of-the-art database systems to investigate the appropriate technologies for managing large-scale IoT datasets....

  4. Interpretation of PAMZ air quality data and assessment of the PAMZ air quality monitoring program January 2000 to December 2001

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    Since December 1999, passive monitors have been in use to support the Air Quality Monitoring Program begun that year. It currently includes 33 passive stations throughout the zone, which measure nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone. There are also four continuous monitoring stations, two stations operated by Parkland Airshed Management Zone (PAMZ) (Caroline and portable), one operated by Alberta Environment at Red Deer, as well as one station operated by West Central Airshed Society at Hightower Ridge. In 2000 and 2001, the portable station was operated at seven locations within the zone. There were four objectives to this study: (1) provide a summary of the PAMZ air quality monitoring data for the period January 2000 to December 2001, (2) provide an interpretation of that data with regard to emission sources and PAMZ's high priority issues, (3) provide an assessment of the PAMZ Air Quality Monitoring Program performance with respect to the primary objective of the program, and (4) make recommendations on improving or expanding the Air Quality Program. It was found that the ambient concentrations of the different compounds and parameters were below the guidelines established by the Alberta Ambient Air Quality Guidelines (AAAQG) and Canada-wide Standards, with some exceptions which were listed. Ozone concentrations proved to be higher in the Foothills, rather than in an east-west pattern, and lower in the vicinity of transportation corridors (Highway 2). Nitrogen dioxide concentrations were also high in the transportation corridor. The eastern half of the zone was exposed to higher concentrations of sulphur dioxide due to the more dense population and the presence of industries and major highways. Most of the terms of reference of the Technical Working Group appear to be met by the PAMZ Air Quality Monitoring Program. Some recommendations were included in the report, such as the addition of a fifth continuous Air Quality Monitoring station that is portable

  5. A Design of Wireless Sensor Networks for a Power Quality Monitoring System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanggil Kang

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Power grids deal with the business of generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. Recently, interest in power quality in electrical distribution systems has increased rapidly. In Korea, the communication network to deliver voltage, current, and temperature measurements gathered from pole transformers to remote monitoring centers employs cellular mobile technology. Due to high cost of the cellular mobile technology, power quality monitoring measurements are limited and data gathering intervals are large. This causes difficulties in providing the power quality monitoring service. To alleviate the problems, in this paper we present a communication infrastructure to provide low cost, reliable data delivery. The communication infrastructure consists of wired connections between substations and monitoring centers, and wireless connections between pole transformers and substations. For the wireless connection, we employ a wireless sensor network and design its corresponding data forwarding protocol to improve the quality of data delivery. For the design, we adopt a tree-based data forwarding protocol in order to customize the distribution pattern of the power quality information. We verify the performance of the proposed data forwarding protocol quantitatively using the NS-2 network simulator.

  6. A design of wireless sensor networks for a power quality monitoring system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Yujin; Kim, Hak-Man; Kang, Sanggil

    2010-01-01

    Power grids deal with the business of generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. Recently, interest in power quality in electrical distribution systems has increased rapidly. In Korea, the communication network to deliver voltage, current, and temperature measurements gathered from pole transformers to remote monitoring centers employs cellular mobile technology. Due to high cost of the cellular mobile technology, power quality monitoring measurements are limited and data gathering intervals are large. This causes difficulties in providing the power quality monitoring service. To alleviate the problems, in this paper we present a communication infrastructure to provide low cost, reliable data delivery. The communication infrastructure consists of wired connections between substations and monitoring centers, and wireless connections between pole transformers and substations. For the wireless connection, we employ a wireless sensor network and design its corresponding data forwarding protocol to improve the quality of data delivery. For the design, we adopt a tree-based data forwarding protocol in order to customize the distribution pattern of the power quality information. We verify the performance of the proposed data forwarding protocol quantitatively using the NS-2 network simulator.

  7. Data quality assurance in monitoring of wastewater quality: Univariate on-line and off-line methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alferes, J.; Poirier, P.; Lamaire-Chad, C.

    To make water quality monitoring networks useful for practice, the automation of data collection and data validation still represents an important challenge. Efficient monitoring depends on careful quality control and quality assessment. With a practical orientation a data quality assurance proce...

  8. Near-facility environmental monitoring quality assurance project plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKinney, S.M.

    1997-01-01

    This Quality Assurance Project Plan addresses the quality assurance requirements for the activities associated with the preoperational and near facility environmental monitoring performed by Waste Management Federal Services, Inc., Northwest Operations and supersedes WHC-EP-0538-2. This plan applies to all sampling and monitoring activities performed by waste management Federal Services, Inc., Northwest Operations in implementing facility environmental monitoring at the Hanford Site

  9. Monitoring Water Quality in the Future, Volume 3: Biomonitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwart D de; ECO

    1995-01-01

    In general terms the problems with the existing water quality monitoring approach concern effective and efficient monitoring strategies. In 1993 the project "Monitoring water quality in the future" started in order to address these problems which will only increase in the future. In the framework of

  10. Study of weld quality real-time monitoring system for auto-body assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jun; Li, Yong-Bing; Chen, Guan-Long

    2005-12-01

    Resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely used for the auto-body assembly in automotive industry. But RSW suffers from a major problem of inconsistent quality from weld to weld. The major problem is the complexity of the basic process that may involve material coatings, electrode force, electrode wear, fit up, etc. Therefore weld quality assurance is still a big challenge and goal. Electrode displacement has proved to be a particularly useful signal which correlates well with weld quality. This paper introduces a novel auto-body spot weld quality monitoring system which uses electrode displacement as the quality parameter. This system chooses the latest laser displacement sensor with high resolution to measure the real-time electrode displacement. It solves the interference problem of sensor mounting by designing special fixture, and can be successfully applied on the portable welding machine. It is capable of evaluating weld quality and making diagnosis of process variations such as surface asperities, shunting, worn electrode and weld expansion with real-time electrode displacement. As proved by application in the workshop, the monitoring system has good stability and reliability, and is qualified for monitoring weld quality in process.

  11. Satisfaction monitoring for quality control in campground management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilbur F. LaPage; Malcolm I. Bevins

    1981-01-01

    A 4-year study of camper satisfaction indicates that satisfaction monitoring is a useful tool for campground managers to assess their performance and achieve a high level of quality control in their service to the public. An indication of camper satisfaction with campground management is gained from a report card on which a small sample of visitors rates 14 elements of...

  12. Air Quality System (AQS) Monitoring Network, EPA OAR OAQPS

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains points which depict air quality monitors within EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) monitoring network. This dataset is updated weekly to...

  13. Monitoring Environmental Quality by Sniffing Social Media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhibo Wang

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, the environmental pollution and degradation in China has become a serious problem with the rapid development of Chinese heavy industry and increased energy generation. With sustainable development being the key to solving these problems, it is necessary to develop proper techniques for monitoring environmental quality. Compared to traditional environment monitoring methods utilizing expensive and complex instruments, we recognized that social media analysis is an efficient and feasible alternative to achieve this goal with the phenomenon that a growing number of people post their comments and feelings about their living environment on social media, such as blogs and personal websites. In this paper, we self-defined a term called the Environmental Quality Index (EQI to measure and represent people’s overall attitude and sentiment towards an area’s environmental quality at a specific time; it includes not only metrics for water and food quality but also people’s feelings about air pollution. In the experiment, a high sentiment analysis and classification precision of 85.67% was obtained utilizing the support vector machine algorithm, and we calculated and analyzed the EQI for 27 provinces in China using the text data related to the environment from the Chinese Sina micro-blog and Baidu Tieba collected from January 2015 to June 2016. By comparing our results to with the data from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, we showed that the environment evaluation model we constructed and the method we proposed are feasible and effective.

  14. Quality control of thermoluminesce personal dose monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang Aiguo; He Wenchang; Zhao Fengtao

    2006-01-01

    In order to evaluate the influence factor to thermoluminesce personal dose monitoring result, the every question that can appear based on the fact was analyzed. The results show that the detector, annealing, measuring process can influence the monitoring result. It gives some measures to enhance monitoring quality. (authors)

  15. A reliable sewage quality abnormal event monitoring system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianling; Winnel, Melissa; Lin, Hao; Panther, Jared; Liu, Chang; O'Halloran, Roger; Wang, Kewen; An, Taicheng; Wong, Po Keung; Zhang, Shanqing; Zhao, Huijun

    2017-09-15

    With closing water loop through purified recycled water, wastewater becomes a part of source water, requiring reliable wastewater quality monitoring system (WQMS) to manage wastewater source and mitigate potential health risks. However, the development of reliable WQMS is fatally constrained by severe contamination and biofouling of sensors due to the hostile analytical environment of wastewaters, especially raw sewages, that challenges the limit of existing sensing technologies. In this work, we report a technological solution to enable the development of WQMS for real-time abnormal event detection with high reliability and practicality. A vectored high flow hydrodynamic self-cleaning approach and a dual-sensor self-diagnostic concept are adopted for WQMS to effectively encounter vital sensor failing issues caused by contamination and biofouling and ensure the integrity of sensing data. The performance of the WQMS has been evaluated over a 3-year trial period at different sewage catchment sites across three Australian states. It has demonstrated that the developed WQMS is capable of continuously operating in raw sewage for a prolonged period up to 24 months without maintenance and failure, signifying the high reliability and practicality. The demonstrated WQMS capability to reliably acquire real-time wastewater quality information leaps forward the development of effective wastewater source management system. The reported self-cleaning and self-diagnostic concepts should be applicable to other online water quality monitoring systems, opening a new way to encounter the common reliability and stability issues caused by sensor contamination and biofouling. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Simulating high frequency water quality monitoring data using a catchment runoff attenuation flux tool (CRAFT).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Russell; Quinn, Paul F; Perks, Matthew; Barber, Nicholas J; Jonczyk, Jennine; Owen, Gareth J

    2016-12-01

    High resolution water quality data has recently become widely available from numerous catchment based monitoring schemes. However, the models that can reproduce time series of concentrations or fluxes have not kept pace with the advances in monitoring data. Model performance at predicting phosphorus (P) and sediment concentrations has frequently been poor with models not fit for purpose except for predicting annual losses. Here, the data from the Eden Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) project have been used to calibrate the Catchment Runoff Attenuation Flux Tool (CRAFT), a new, parsimonious model developed with the aim of modelling both the generation and attenuation of nutrients and sediments in small to medium sized catchments. The CRAFT has the ability to run on an hourly timestep and can calculate the mass of sediments and nutrients transported by three flow pathways representing rapid surface runoff, fast subsurface drainage and slow groundwater flow (baseflow). The attenuation feature of the model is introduced here; this enables surface runoff and contaminants transported via this pathway to be delayed in reaching the catchment outlet. It was used to investigate some hypotheses of nutrient and sediment transport in the Newby Beck Catchment (NBC) Model performance was assessed using a suite of metrics including visual best fit and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency. It was found that this approach for water quality models may be the best assessment method as opposed to using a single metric. Furthermore, it was found that, when the aim of the simulations was to reproduce the time series of total P (TP) or total reactive P (TRP) to get the best visual fit, that attenuation was required. The model will be used in the future to explore the impacts on water quality of different mitigation options in the catchment; these will include attenuation of surface runoff. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Near-Facility Environmental Monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MCKINNEY, S.M.

    2000-01-01

    This Quality Assurance Project Plan addresses the quality assurance requirements for the activities associated with the preoperational and near-facility environmental monitoring directed by Waste Management Technical Services and supersedes HNF-EP-0538-4. This plan applies to all sampling and monitoring activities performed by Waste Management Technical Services in implementing near-facility environmental monitoring at the Hanford Site. This Quality Assurance Project Plan is required by U.S. Department of Energy Order 5400.1 (DOE 1990) as a part of the Environmental Monitoring Plan (DOE-RL 1997) and is used to define: Environmental measurement and sampling locations used to monitor environmental contaminants near active and inactive facilities and waste storage and disposal sites; Procedures and equipment needed to perform the measurement and sampling; Frequency and analyses required for each measurement and sampling location; Minimum detection level and accuracy; Quality assurance components; and Investigation levels. Near-facility environmental monitoring for the Hanford Site is conducted in accordance with the requirements of U.S. Department of Energy Orders 5400.1 (DOE 1990), 5400.5 (DOE 1993), 5484.1 (DOE 1990), and 435.1 (DOE 1999), and DOE/EH-O173T (DOE 1991). It is Waste Management Technical Services' objective to manage and conduct near-facility environmental monitoring activities at the Hanford Site in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner that is in compliance with the letter and spirit of these regulations and other environmental regulations, statutes, and standards

  18. Monitoring air quality in Southeast Alaska’s National Parks and Forests: Linking atmospheric pollutants with ecological effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    D. Schirokauer; L. Geiser; A. Bytnerowicz; M. Fenn; K. Dillman

    2014-01-01

    Air quality and air quality related values are important resources to the National Park Service (NPS) units and Wilderness areas in northern Southeast Alaska. Air quality monitoring was prioritized as a high-priority Vital Sign at the Southeast Alaska Network’s (SEAN) Inventory and Monitoring Program’s terrestrial scoping workshop (Derr and Fastie 2006). Air quality...

  19. Air Quality Monitoring Programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kemp, K.; Palmgren, F.

    The Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme (LMP IV) has been revised in accordance with the Framework Directive and the first three daughter directives of SO2, NOx/NO2, PM10, lead, benzene, CO and ozone. PM10 samplers are under installation and the installation will be completed during 2002...

  20. Automated Method for Monitoring Water Quality Using Landsat Imagery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Clay Barrett

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Regular monitoring of water quality is increasingly necessary to keep pace with rapid environmental change and protect human health and well-being. Remote sensing has been suggested as a potential solution for monitoring certain water quality parameters without the need for in situ sampling, but universal methods and tools are lacking. While many studies have developed predictive relationships between remotely sensed surface reflectance and water parameters, these relationships are often unique to a particular geographic region and have little applicability in other areas. In order to remotely monitor water quality, these relationships must be developed on a region by region basis. This paper presents an automated method for processing remotely sensed images from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+ and extracting corrected reflectance measurements around known sample locations to allow rapid development of predictive water quality relationships to improve remote monitoring. Using open Python scripting, this study (1 provides an openly accessible and simple method for processing publicly available remote sensing data; and (2 allows determination of relationships between sampled water quality parameters and reflectance values to ultimately allow predictive monitoring. The method is demonstrated through a case study of the Ozark/Ouchita-Appalachian ecoregion in eastern Oklahoma using data collected for the Beneficial Use Monitoring Program (BUMP.

  1. A Water Quality Monitoring Programme for Schools and Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spellerberg, Ian; Ward, Jonet; Smith, Fiona

    2004-01-01

    A water quality monitoring programme for schools is described. The purpose of the programme is to introduce school children to the concept of reporting on the "state of the environment" by raising the awareness of water quality issues and providing skills to monitor water quality. The programme is assessed and its relevance in the…

  2. Northern Great Plains Network water quality monitoring design for tributaries to the Missouri National Recreational River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Barbara L.; Wilson, Stephen K.; Yager, Lisa; Wilson, Marcia H.

    2013-01-01

    The National Park Service (NPS) organized more than 270 parks with important natural resources into 32 ecoregional networks to conduct Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) activities for assessment of natural resources within park units. The Missouri National Recreational River (NRR) is among the 13 parks in the NPS Northern Great Plain Network (NGPN). Park managers and NGPN staff identified surface water resources as a high priority vital sign to monitor in park units. The objectives for the Missouri NRR water quality sampling design are to (1) assess the current status and long-term trends of select water quality parameters; and (2) document trends in streamflow at high-priority stream systems. Due to the large size of the Missouri River main stem, the NGPN water quality design for the Missouri NRR focuses on wadeable tributaries within the park unit. To correlate with the NGPN water quality protocols, monitoring of the Missouri NRR consists of measurement of field core parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and temperature; and streamflow. The purpose of this document is to discuss factors examined for selection of water quality monitoring on segments of the Missouri River tributaries within the Missouri NRR.Awareness of the complex history of the Missouri NRR aids in the current understanding and direction for designing a monitoring plan. Historical and current monitoring data from agencies and entities were examined to assess potential NGPN monitoring sites. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 303(d) list was examined for the impaired segments on tributaries to the Missouri River main stem. Because major tributaries integrate water quality effects from complex combinations of land use and environmental settings within contributing areas, a 20-mile buffer of the Missouri NRR was used to establish environmental settings that may impact the water quality of tributaries that feed the Missouri River main stem. For selection of

  3. Age differences in false memory: The importance of retrieval monitoring processes and their modulation by memory quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fandakova, Yana; Sander, Myriam C; Grandy, Thomas H; Cabeza, Roberto; Werkle-Bergner, Markus; Shing, Yee Lee

    2018-02-01

    Older adults are more likely than younger adults to falsely recall past episodes that occurred differently or not at all. We examined whether older adults' propensity for false associative memory is related to declines in postretrieval monitoring processes and their modulation with varying memory representations. Younger (N = 20) and older adults (N = 32) studied and relearned unrelated scene-word pairs, followed by a final cued recall that was used to distribute the pairs for an associative recognition test 24 hours later. This procedure allowed individualized formation of rearranged pairs that were made up of elements of pairs that were correctly recalled in the final cued recall ("high-quality" pairs), and of pairs that were not correctly recalled ("low-quality" pairs). Both age groups falsely recognized more low-quality than high-quality rearranged pairs, with a less pronounced reduction in false alarms to high-quality pairs in older adults. In younger adults, cingulo-opercular activity was enhanced for false alarms and for low-quality correct rejections, consistent with its role in postretrieval monitoring. Older adults did not show such modulated recruitment, suggesting deficits in their selective engagement of monitoring processes given variability in the fidelity of memory representations. There were no age differences in hippocampal activity, which was higher for high-quality than low-quality correct rejections in both age groups. These results demonstrate that the engagement of cingulo-opercular monitoring mechanisms varies with memory representation quality and contributes to age-related deficits in false associative memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Analytical approaches to quality assurance and quality control in rangeland monitoring data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Producing quality data to support land management decisions is the goal of every rangeland monitoring program. However, the results of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) efforts to improve data quality are rarely reported. The purpose of QA and QC is to prevent and describe non-sampling...

  5. Post-examination interpretation of objective test data: monitoring and improving the quality of high-stakes examinations--a commentary on two AMEE Guides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavakol, Mohsen; Dennick, Reg

    2012-01-01

    As great emphasis is rightly placed upon the importance of assessment to judge the quality of our future healthcare professionals, it is appropriate not only to choose the most appropriate assessment method, but to continually monitor the quality of the tests themselves, in a hope that we may continually improve the process. This article stresses the importance of quality control mechanisms in the exam cycle and briefly outlines some of the key psychometric concepts including reliability measures, factor analysis, generalisability theory and item response theory. The importance of such analyses for the standard setting procedures is emphasised. This article also accompanies two new AMEE Guides in Medical Education (Tavakol M, Dennick R. Post-examination Analysis of Objective Tests: AMEE Guide No. 54 and Tavakol M, Dennick R. 2012. Post examination analysis of objective test data: Monitoring and improving the quality of high stakes examinations: AMEE Guide No. 66) which provide the reader with practical examples of analysis and interpretation, in order to help develop valid and reliable tests.

  6. The Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kemp, K.; Palmgren, F.; Manscher, O. H.

    The Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme (LMP) was started in 1982 as the first nation-wide urban air pollution monitoring programme in Denmark. The programme has been adjusted to the pollution pattern by two revisions. The present phase (LMP III) was started in 1992. This report presents...... Copenhagen the same program is con-ducted as at the street stations with the inclusion of O3. Only NO, NO2 and O3 are reported from the other rural site. Air quality limit values have been implemented in Den-mark for NO2, SO2, TSP in order to protect human health. All limit values are based on EU limit...

  7. Air quality monitoring using mobile microscopy and machine learning

    KAUST Repository

    Wu, Yi-Chen; Shiledar, Ashutosh; Li, Yi-Cheng; Wong, Jeffrey; Feng, Steve; Chen, Xuan; Chen, Christine; Jin, Kevin; Janamian, Saba; Yang, Zhe; Ballard, Zachary Scott; Gö rö cs, Zoltá n; Feizi, Alborz; Ozcan, Aydogan

    2017-01-01

    Rapid, accurate and high-throughput sizing and quantification of particulate matter (PM) in air is crucial for monitoring and improving air quality. In fact, particles in air with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm have been classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. Here we present a field-portable cost-effective platform for high-throughput quantification of particulate matter using computational lens-free microscopy and machine-learning. This platform, termed c-Air, is also integrated with a smartphone application for device control and display of results. This mobile device rapidly screens 6.5 L of air in 30 s and generates microscopic images of the aerosols in air. It provides statistics of the particle size and density distribution with a sizing accuracy of ~93%. We tested this mobile platform by measuring the air quality at different indoor and outdoor environments and measurement times, and compared our results to those of an Environmental Protection Agency–approved device based on beta-attenuation monitoring, which showed strong correlation to c-Air measurements. Furthermore, we used c-Air to map the air quality around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) over 24 h to confirm that the impact of LAX on increased PM concentration was present even at >7 km away from the airport, especially along the direction of landing flights. With its machine-learning-based computational microscopy interface, c-Air can be adaptively tailored to detect specific particles in air, for example, various types of pollen and mold and provide a cost-effective mobile solution for highly accurate and distributed sensing of air quality.

  8. Air quality monitoring using mobile microscopy and machine learning

    KAUST Repository

    Wu, Yi-Chen

    2017-09-08

    Rapid, accurate and high-throughput sizing and quantification of particulate matter (PM) in air is crucial for monitoring and improving air quality. In fact, particles in air with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm have been classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. Here we present a field-portable cost-effective platform for high-throughput quantification of particulate matter using computational lens-free microscopy and machine-learning. This platform, termed c-Air, is also integrated with a smartphone application for device control and display of results. This mobile device rapidly screens 6.5 L of air in 30 s and generates microscopic images of the aerosols in air. It provides statistics of the particle size and density distribution with a sizing accuracy of ~93%. We tested this mobile platform by measuring the air quality at different indoor and outdoor environments and measurement times, and compared our results to those of an Environmental Protection Agency–approved device based on beta-attenuation monitoring, which showed strong correlation to c-Air measurements. Furthermore, we used c-Air to map the air quality around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) over 24 h to confirm that the impact of LAX on increased PM concentration was present even at >7 km away from the airport, especially along the direction of landing flights. With its machine-learning-based computational microscopy interface, c-Air can be adaptively tailored to detect specific particles in air, for example, various types of pollen and mold and provide a cost-effective mobile solution for highly accurate and distributed sensing of air quality.

  9. Laser beam welding quality monitoring system based in high-speed (10 kHz) uncooled MWIR imaging sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linares, Rodrigo; Vergara, German; Gutiérrez, Raúl; Fernández, Carlos; Villamayor, Víctor; Gómez, Luis; González-Camino, Maria; Baldasano, Arturo; Castro, G.; Arias, R.; Lapido, Y.; Rodríguez, J.; Romero, Pablo

    2015-05-01

    The combination of flexibility, productivity, precision and zero-defect manufacturing in future laser-based equipment are a major challenge that faces this enabling technology. New sensors for online monitoring and real-time control of laserbased processes are necessary for improving products quality and increasing manufacture yields. New approaches to fully automate processes towards zero-defect manufacturing demand smarter heads where lasers, optics, actuators, sensors and electronics will be integrated in a unique compact and affordable device. Many defects arising in laser-based manufacturing processes come from instabilities in the dynamics of the laser process. Temperature and heat dynamics are key parameters to be monitored. Low cost infrared imagers with high-speed of response will constitute the next generation of sensors to be implemented in future monitoring and control systems for laser-based processes, capable to provide simultaneous information about heat dynamics and spatial distribution. This work describes the result of using an innovative low-cost high-speed infrared imager based on the first quantum infrared imager monolithically integrated with Si-CMOS ROIC of the market. The sensor is able to provide low resolution images at frame rates up to 10 KHz in uncooled operation at the same cost as traditional infrared spot detectors. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the new sensor technology, a low-cost camera was assembled on a standard production laser welding head, allowing to register melting pool images at frame rates of 10 kHz. In addition, a specific software was developed for defect detection and classification. Multiple laser welding processes were recorded with the aim to study the performance of the system and its application to the real-time monitoring of laser welding processes. During the experiments, different types of defects were produced and monitored. The classifier was fed with the experimental images obtained. Self

  10. Indoor air quality (IAQ) assessment in a multistorey shopping mall by high-spatial-resolution monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amodio, M; Dambruoso, P R; de Gennaro, Gianluigi; de Gennaro, L; Loiotile, A Demarinis; Marzocca, A; Stasi, F; Trizio, L; Tutino, M

    2014-12-01

    In order to assess indoor air quality (IAQ), two 1-week monitoring campaigns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) were performed in different areas of a multistorey shopping mall. High-spatial-resolution monitoring was conducted at 32 indoor sites located in two storehouses and in different departments of a supermarket. At the same time, VOC concentrations were monitored in the mall and parking lot area as well as outdoors. VOC were sampled at 48-h periods using diffusive samplers suitable for thermal desorption. The samples were then analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The data analysis and chromatic maps indicated that the two storehouses had the highest VOC concentrations consisting principally of terpenes. These higher TVOC concentrations could be a result of the low efficiency of the air exchange and intake systems, as well as the large quantity of articles stored in these small spaces. Instead, inside the supermarket, the food department was the most critical area for VOC concentrations. To identify potential emission sources in this department, a continuous VOC analyzer was used. The findings indicated that the highest total VOC concentrations were present during cleaning activities and that these activities were carried out frequently in the food department. The study highlights the importance of conducting both high-spatial-resolution monitoring and high-temporal-resolution monitoring. The former was able to identify critical issues in environments with a complex emission scenario while the latter was useful in interpreting the dynamics of each emission source.

  11. Coral skeletal geochemistry as a monitor of inshore water quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saha, Narottam; Webb, Gregory E.; Zhao, Jian-Xin

    2016-01-01

    Coral reefs maintain extraordinary biodiversity and provide protection from tsunamis and storm surge, but inshore coral reef health is degrading in many regions due to deteriorating water quality. Deconvolving natural and anthropogenic changes to water quality is hampered by the lack of long term, dated water quality data but such records are required for forward modelling of reef health to aid their management. Reef corals provide an excellent archive of high resolution geochemical (trace element) proxies that can span hundreds of years and potentially provide records used through the Holocene. Hence, geochemical proxies in corals hold great promise for understanding changes in ancient water quality that can inform broader oceanographic and climatic changes in a given region. This article reviews and highlights the use of coral-based trace metal archives, including metal transported from rivers to the ocean, incorporation of trace metals into coral skeletons and the current ‘state of the art’ in utilizing coral trace metal proxies as tools for monitoring various types of local and regional source-specific pollution (river discharge, land use changes, dredging and dumping, mining, oil spills, antifouling paints, atmospheric sources, sewage). The three most commonly used coral trace element proxies (i.e., Ba/Ca, Mn/Ca, and Y/Ca) are closely associated with river runoff in the Great Barrier Reef, but considerable uncertainty remains regarding their complex biogeochemical cycling and controlling mechanisms. However, coral-based water quality reconstructions have suffered from a lack of understanding of so-called vital effects and early marine diagenesis. The main challenge is to identify and eliminate the influence of extraneous local factors in order to allow accurate water quality reconstructions and to develop alternate proxies to monitor water pollution. Rare earth elements have great potential as they are self-referencing and reflect basic terrestrial input

  12. Coral skeletal geochemistry as a monitor of inshore water quality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saha, Narottam, E-mail: n.saha@uq.edu.au; Webb, Gregory E.; Zhao, Jian-Xin

    2016-10-01

    Coral reefs maintain extraordinary biodiversity and provide protection from tsunamis and storm surge, but inshore coral reef health is degrading in many regions due to deteriorating water quality. Deconvolving natural and anthropogenic changes to water quality is hampered by the lack of long term, dated water quality data but such records are required for forward modelling of reef health to aid their management. Reef corals provide an excellent archive of high resolution geochemical (trace element) proxies that can span hundreds of years and potentially provide records used through the Holocene. Hence, geochemical proxies in corals hold great promise for understanding changes in ancient water quality that can inform broader oceanographic and climatic changes in a given region. This article reviews and highlights the use of coral-based trace metal archives, including metal transported from rivers to the ocean, incorporation of trace metals into coral skeletons and the current ‘state of the art’ in utilizing coral trace metal proxies as tools for monitoring various types of local and regional source-specific pollution (river discharge, land use changes, dredging and dumping, mining, oil spills, antifouling paints, atmospheric sources, sewage). The three most commonly used coral trace element proxies (i.e., Ba/Ca, Mn/Ca, and Y/Ca) are closely associated with river runoff in the Great Barrier Reef, but considerable uncertainty remains regarding their complex biogeochemical cycling and controlling mechanisms. However, coral-based water quality reconstructions have suffered from a lack of understanding of so-called vital effects and early marine diagenesis. The main challenge is to identify and eliminate the influence of extraneous local factors in order to allow accurate water quality reconstructions and to develop alternate proxies to monitor water pollution. Rare earth elements have great potential as they are self-referencing and reflect basic terrestrial input

  13. An Architecture for Continuous Data Quality Monitoring in Medical Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endler, Gregor; Schwab, Peter K; Wahl, Andreas M; Tenschert, Johannes; Lenz, Richard

    2015-01-01

    In the medical domain, data quality is very important. Since requirements and data change frequently, continuous and sustainable monitoring and improvement of data quality is necessary. Working together with managers of medical centers, we developed an architecture for a data quality monitoring system. The architecture enables domain experts to adapt the system during runtime to match their specifications using a built-in rule system. It also allows arbitrarily complex analyses to be integrated into the monitoring cycle. We evaluate our architecture by matching its components to the well-known data quality methodology TDQM.

  14. Implementation science for ambulatory care safety: a novel method to develop context-sensitive interventions to reduce quality gaps in monitoring high-risk patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Kathryn M; Su, George; Lisker, Sarah; Patterson, Emily S; Sarkar, Urmimala

    2017-06-24

    Missed evidence-based monitoring in high-risk conditions (e.g., cancer) leads to delayed diagnosis. Current technological solutions fail to close this safety gap. In response, we aim to demonstrate a novel method to identify common vulnerabilities across clinics and generate attributes for context-flexible population-level monitoring solutions for widespread implementation to improve quality. Based on interviews with staff in otolaryngology, pulmonary, urology, breast, and gastroenterology clinics at a large urban publicly funded health system, we applied journey mapping to co-develop a visual representation of how patients are monitored for high-risk conditions. Using a National Academies framework and context-sensitivity theory, we identified common systems vulnerabilities and developed preliminary concepts for improving the robustness for monitoring patients with high-risk conditions ("design seeds" for potential solutions). Finally, we conducted a face validity and prioritization assessment of the design seeds with the original interviewees. We identified five high-risk situations for potentially consequential diagnostic delays arising from suboptimal patient monitoring. All situations related to detection of cancer (head and neck, lung, prostate, breast, and colorectal). With clinic participants we created 5 journey maps, each representing specialty clinic workflow directed at evidence-based monitoring. System vulnerabilities common to the different clinics included challenges with: data systems, communications handoffs, population-level tracking, and patient activities. Clinic staff ranked 13 design seeds (e.g., keep patient list up to date, use triggered notifications) addressing these vulnerabilities. Each design seed has unique evaluation criteria for the usefulness of potential solutions developed from the seed. We identified and ranked 13 design seeds that characterize situations that clinicians described 'wake them up at night', and thus could reduce

  15. Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitarma, Rui; Marques, Gonçalo; Ferreira, Bárbara Roque

    2017-02-01

    Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Because people spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, several studies have pointed out the impact of indoor air quality on the etiopathogenesis of a wide number of non-specific symptoms which characterizes the "Sick Building Syndrome", involving the skin, the upper and lower respiratory tract, the eyes and the nervous system, as well as many building related diseases. Thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants' health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment. Systems like this would have benefit as public health interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms and diseases related to "sick buildings".

  16. 40 CFR 141.87 - Monitoring requirements for water quality parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... § 141.87 Monitoring requirements for water quality parameters. All large water systems, and all small- and medium-size systems that exceed the lead or copper action level shall monitor water quality... methods. (i) Tap samples shall be representative of water quality throughout the distribution system...

  17. The aquatic real-time monitoring network; in-situ optical sensors for monitoring the nation's water quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellerin, Brian A.; Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Murdoch, Peter S.; Downing, Bryan D.; Saraceno, John Franco; Aiken, George R.; Striegl, Robert G.

    2011-01-01

    Floods, hurricanes, and longer-term changes in climate and land use can have profound effects on water quality due to shifts in hydrologic flow paths, water residence time, precipitation patterns, connectivity between rivers and uplands, and many other factors. In order to understand and respond to changes in hydrology and water quality, resource managers and policy makers have a need for accurate and early indicators, as well as the ability to assess possible mechanisms and likely outcomes. In-situ optical sensors-those making continuous measurements of constituents by absorbance or fluorescence properties in the environment at timescales of minutes to years-have a long history in oceanography for developing highly resolved concentrations and fluxes, but are not commonly used in freshwater systems. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the Aquatic Real-Time Monitoring Network, with high-resolution optical data collection for organic carbon, nutrients, and sediment in large coastal rivers, along with continuous measurements of discharge, water temperature, and dissolved inorganic carbon. The collecting of continuous water-quality data in the Nation?s waterways has revealed temporal trends and spatial patterns in constituents that traditional sampling approaches fail to capture, and will serve a critical role in monitoring, assessment and decision-making in a rapidly changing landscape.

  18. Optimum Layout for Water Quality Monitoring Stations through Ant Colony Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amin Afshar

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Due to the high cost of monitoring systems, budget limitations, and high priority given to water quality control in municipal networks, especially for unexpected events, optimum location of monitoring stations has received considerable attention during the last decade. An optimization model needs to be developed for the desirable location of monitoring stations. This research attempts to develop such a model using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO algorithm and tires to verify it through a bench-mark classical example used in previous researches. Selection of ACO as optimizer was fully justified due to discrete decision space and extensive number of binary variables in modeling system. Diversity of the policies derived from ACO may facilitate the process of decision making considering the social, physical, and economical conditions.

  19. Model-based monitoring of stormwater runoff quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birch, Heidi; Vezzaro, Luca; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

    2013-01-01

    Monitoring of micropollutants (MP) in stormwater is essential to evaluate the impacts of stormwater on the receiving aquatic environment. The aim of this study was to investigate how different strategies for monitoring of stormwater quality (combining a model with field sampling) affect the infor...

  20. Quality Assurance Project Plan for Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nickels, J.M.

    1991-06-01

    This Quality Assurance Project Plan addresses the quality assurance requirements for the Facility Monitoring Plans of the overall site-wide environmental monitoring plan. This plan specifically applies to the sampling and analysis activities and continuous monitoring performed for all Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan activities conducted by Westinghouse Hanford Company. It is generic in approach and will be implemented in conjunction with the specific requirements of individual Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans. This document is intended to be a basic road map to the Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan documents (i.e., the guidance document for preparing Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans, Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan determinations, management plan, and Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans). The implementing procedures, plans, and instructions are appropriate for the control of effluent monitoring plans requiring compliance with US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, state, and local requirements. This Quality Assurance Project Plan contains a matrix of organizational responsibilities, procedural resources from facility or site manuals used in the Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans, and a list of the analytes of interest and analytical methods for each facility preparing a Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan. 44 refs., 1 figs., 2 tabs

  1. Columbia River water quality monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1983-01-01

    Waste water from Hanford activities is discharged at eight points along the Hanford reach of the Columbia River. These discharges consist of backwash water from water intake screens, cooling water, river bank springs, water storage tank overflow, and fish laboratory waste water. Each discharge point is identified in an existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the EPA. Effluents from each of these outfalls are routinely monitored and reported by the operating contractors as required by their NPDES permits. Measurements of several Columbia River water quality parameters were conducted routinely during 1982 both upstream and downstream of the Hanford Site to monitor any effects on the river that may be attributable to Hanford discharges and to determine compliance with the Class A designation requirements. The measurements indicated that Hanford operations had a minimal, if any, impact on the quality of the Columbia River water

  2. Water Quality Monitoring in Developing Countries; Can Microbial Fuel Cells be the Answer?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jon Chouler

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The provision of safe water and adequate sanitation in developing countries is a must. A range of chemical and biological methods are currently used to ensure the safety of water for consumption. These methods however suffer from high costs, complexity of use and inability to function onsite and in real time. The microbial fuel cell (MFC technology has great potential for the rapid and simple testing of the quality of water sources. MFCs have the advantages of high simplicity and possibility for onsite and real time monitoring. Depending on the choice of manufacturing materials, this technology can also be highly cost effective. This review covers the state-of-the-art research on MFC sensors for water quality monitoring, and explores enabling factors for their use in developing countries.

  3. The CMS Tracker Data Quality Monitoring Expert GUI

    CERN Document Server

    Palmonari, Francesco

    2009-01-01

    The CMS Tracker data quality monitoring (DQM) is a demanding task due the detector's high granularity. It consists of about 15148 strip and 1440 pixel detector modules. About 350,000 histograms are defined and filled accessing information from different stages of data reconstruction to check the data quality. It is impossible to manage such a large number of histograms by shift personnel and experts. A tracker specific Graphical User Interface (GUI) is developed to simplify the navigation and to spot detector problems efficiently. The GUI is web-based and implemented with Ajax technology. We will describe the framework and the specific features of the expert GUI developed for the CMS Tracker DQM system.

  4. The Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kemp, K.; Palmgren, F.

    The Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme (LMP) was started in 1982 as the first nation-wide urban air pollution monitoring programme in Denmark. The programme has been adjusted to the pollution pattern by two revisions. The present phase (LMP III) was started in 1992. From 2000 a new phase...... continuously in order to improve the knowledge about the NO, NO2 and O3 problem complex. At the rural site outside Copenhagen the same program is conducted as at the street stations with the inclusion of O3. Only NO, NO2 and O3 are reported from the other rural site. Air quality limit values have been...... and plants. The new EU Directives introduce revised standards for NO2, SO2, particles (PM10) and Pb. They are implemented through the first "daughter" Directive to the Air Quality Framework Directive. It was adopted by the EU council in April 1999. The new limit values shall be in force from January 2001 (18...

  5. The Pajarito Monitor: a high-sensitivity monitoring system for highly enriched uranium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fehlau, P.E.; Coop, K.; Garcia, C.; Martinez, J.

    1984-01-01

    The Pajarito Monitor for Special Nuclear Material is a high-sensitivity gamma-ray monitoring system for detecting small quantities of highly enriched uranium transported by pedestrians or motor vehicles. The monitor consists of two components: a walk-through personnel monitor and a vehicle monitor. The personnel monitor has a plastic-scintillator detector portal, a microwave occupancy monitor, and a microprocessor control unit that measures the radiation intensity during background and monitoring periods to detect transient diversion signals. The vehicle monitor examines stationary motor vehicles while the vehicle's occupants pass through the personnel portal to exchange their badges. The vehicle monitor has four groups of large plastic scintillators that scan the vehicle from above and below. Its microprocessor control unit measures separate radiation intensities in each detector group. Vehicle occupancy is sensed by a highway traffic detection system. Each monitor's controller is responsible for detecting diversion as well as serving as a calibration and trouble-shooting aid. Diversion signals are detected by a sequential probability ratio hypothesis test that minimizes the monitoring time in the vehicle monitor and adapts itself well to variations in individual passage speed in the personnel monitor. Designed to be highly sensitive to diverted enriched uranium, the monitoring system also exhibits exceptional sensitivity for plutonium

  6. [Monitoring evaluation system for high-specialty hospitals].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fajardo Dolci, Germán; Aguirre Gas, Héctor G; Robledo Galván, Héctor

    2011-01-01

    Hospital evaluation is a fundamental process to identify medical units' objective compliance, to analyze efficiency of resource use and allocation, institutional values and mission alignment, patient safety and quality standards, contributions to research and medical education, and the degree of coordination among medical units and the health system as a whole. We propose an evaluation system for highly specialized regional hospitals through the monitoring of performance indicators. The following are established as base thematic elements in the construction of indicators: safe facilities and equipment, financial situation, human resources management, policy management, organizational climate, clinical activity, quality and patient safety, continuity of care, patients' and providers' rights and obligations, teaching, research, social responsibility, coordination mechanisms. Monitoring refers to the planned and systematic evaluation of valid and reliable indicators, aimed at identifying problems and opportunity areas. Moreover, evaluation is a powerful tool to strengthen decision-making and accountability in medical units.

  7. Improved quality monitoring of multi-center acupuncture clinical trials in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Hui

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In 2007, the Chinese Science Division of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM convened a special conference to discuss quality control for TCM clinical research. Control and assurance standards were established to guarantee the quality of clinical research. This paper provides practical guidelines for implementing strict and reproducible quality control for acupuncture randomized controlled trials (RCTs. Methods A standard quality control program (QCP was established to monitor the quality of acupuncture trials. Case report forms were designed; qualified investigators, study personnel and data management personnel were trained. Monitors, who were directly appointed by the project leader, completed the quality control programs. They guaranteed data accuracy and prevented or detected protocol violations. Clinical centers and clinicians were audited, the randomization system of the centers was inspected, and the treatment processes were audited as well. In addition, the case report forms were reviewed for completeness and internal consistency, the eligibility and validity of the patients in the study was verified, and data was monitored for compliance and accuracy. Results and discussion The monitors complete their reports and submit it to quality assurance and the sponsors. Recommendations and suggestions are made for improving performance. By holding regular meetings to discuss improvements in monitoring standards, the monitors can improve quality and efficiency. Conclusions Supplementing and improving the existed guidelines for quality monitoring will ensure that large multi-centre acupuncture clinical trials will be considered as valid and scientifically stringent as pharmaceutical clinical trials. It will also develop academic excellence and further promote the international recognition of acupuncture.

  8. The OA System of College - - Design of the Teaching Quality Monitoring Subsystem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hongjuan; Ying, Hong; Jiang, Youyi; Yan, Pei

    According to the drawbacks of traditional teaching quality monitoring subsystems and based on the achievements of practical research in the teaching quality monitoring administration in College, this paper provides a design of overall structure of teaching quality monitoring subsystem, that is more suitable for colleges' management. This new system is endowed with the same features as .NET application programes: easy to extend, easy to maintain, flexible, convenient, and it let enterprises, students' parents and excellent graduates participate in teaching quality monitoring administration, have significant effect to ensure the quality of talent training in colleges.

  9. Quality assurance in individual monitoring: A summary of the EURADOS survey 2012

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilvin, P.; Alves, J.G.; Cherestes, C.; Dijk, J.W.E. van; Lehtinen, M.; Rossi, F.; Vekic, B.

    2014-01-01

    EURADOS Working Group 2 (WG2) on Harmonization of Individual Monitoring is a network of individual monitoring services (IMSs) that aims to promote quality, technical excellence and good practice in European Member States. To help to improve quality, in 2012 EURADOS WG2 carried out a survey of IMSs in Europe. The survey was sent to about 170 IMS and included questions on: the use of formal quality assurance (QA) standards, QA in dosimetry, matters of practice, and common sources of error. The present paper summarises the main findings of the survey, and compares them with those of an earlier study (2003). The survey found that profile of QA is high amongst the responding IMSs, and that most are following good practice. A majority of services comply with formal quality standards and good attention is paid to traceability, method validation and proficiency testing. There are some areas where lessons can be learned, for example in the assessment of measurement uncertainty; and it remains very instructive to see what the main causes of error are for IMSs in general. - Highlights: • EURADOS has surveyed QA practice amongst European dosimetry services. • The survey was comprehensive, covering most of the monitored workers in Europe. • The profile of QA among IMS is reassuringly high. • Many services follow formal QA standards, e.g. ISO 17025. • But there are still some lessons that can be learned

  10. Quality assurance of environmental gamma radiation monitoring in Slovenia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stuhec, M.; Zorko, B.; Mitic, D.; Miljanic, S.; Ranogajec-Komor, M.

    2006-01-01

    Environmental gamma radiation monitoring established in Slovenia consists of a network of multifunctional gamma monitors (MFMs) based on pairs of Geiger-Mueller counters and a network of measuring sites with high-sensitive thermoluminescence dosemeters. The measuring points are evenly spread across Slovenia, located at the meteorological stations and more densely on additional locations around the Krsko NPP. The MFM network has a 2-fold function with one sensor used for the purpose of early warning system in near surroundings of the NPP and the other, more sensitive, for natural radiation monitoring. The paper summarises activities to establish quality assurance of the environmental gamma radiation measurements in Slovenia, with a critical view of the results in comparison with the international standards and recommendations. While the results of linearity and energy dependence tests were satisfying, on-field intercomparison showed that the inherent signal of one of the monitors (MFM) has to be taken into account in the range of environmental background radiation. (authors)

  11. Quality Assurance Project Plan for Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frazier, T.P.

    1994-01-01

    This Quality Assurance Project Plan addresses the quality assurance requirements for the activities associated with the Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans, which are part of the overall Hanford Site Environmental Protection Plan. This plan specifically applies to the sampling and analysis activities and continuous monitoring performed for all Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan activities conducted by Westinghouse Hanford Company. It is generic in approach and will be implemented in conjunction with the specific requirements of the individual Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans

  12. LHCb RICH Online-Monitor and Data-Quality

    CERN Multimedia

    Kerzel, U

    2009-01-01

    The LHCb experiment at the LHC (CERN) has been optimised for high precision measurements of the beauty quark sector. Its main objective is to precisely determine and over-constrain the parameters of the CKM mixing matrix, and to search for further sources of CP violation and new physics beyond the Standard Model in rare B-decays. Efficient particle identification at high purities over a wide momentum range from around 1 to ~100GeV/c is vital to many LHCb analyses. Central to the LHCb particle identification strategy are two Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH) detectors which use Silica Aerogel and C4F10 and CF4 gas radiators. A rigorous quality control scheme is being developed to insure that the data recorded by the RICH detector meets the stringent requirements of the physics analyses. The talk summarises the LHCb RICH online monitoring and data-quality strategy. Multiple dedicated algorithms are deployed to detect any potential issue already during data-taking ranging from integrity checks, mis-alignments to cha...

  13. Winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting system based on remote sensing and environmental factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haiyang, Yu; Yanmei, Liu; Guijun, Yang; Xiaodong, Yang; Chenwei, Nie; Dong, Ren

    2014-01-01

    To achieve dynamic winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting in larger scale regions, the objective of this study was to design and develop a winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting system by using a remote sensing index and environmental factors. The winter wheat quality trend was forecasted before the harvest and quality was monitored after the harvest, respectively. The traditional quality-vegetation index from remote sensing monitoring and forecasting models were improved. Combining with latitude information, the vegetation index was used to estimate agronomy parameters which were related with winter wheat quality in the early stages for forecasting the quality trend. A combination of rainfall in May, temperature in May, illumination at later May, the soil available nitrogen content and other environmental factors established the quality monitoring model. Compared with a simple quality-vegetation index, the remote sensing monitoring and forecasting model used in this system get greatly improved accuracy. Winter wheat quality was monitored and forecasted based on the above models, and this system was completed based on WebGIS technology. Finally, in 2010 the operation process of winter wheat quality monitoring system was presented in Beijing, the monitoring and forecasting results was outputted as thematic maps

  14. Quality control of the interpretation monitors of digital radiological images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favero, Mariana S.; Goulart, Adriano Oliveira S.

    2016-01-01

    The performance monitors has great importance in image quality of digital radiographic systems. In environments without films, it became necessary to implement acceptance testing and quality control monitors used for interpretation of medical images. The monitors dedicated to radiodiagnostic should provide information that represent slight differences in x-ray attenuation or minor differences in some anatomical region of interest. This should also result in small differences in luminance of an image represented. Factors affecting the quality of medical imaging are contrast, noise, resolution, artifacts and distortions. Therefore, a monitor must have specific characteristics, making it possible for the observer to carry out an assessment that leads to better diagnosis. Based on the need to evaluate diagnostic monitors in various radiological applications, this paper presents a summary for implementation and standardization of tests that are recommended by the publication AAPM Report 03. (author)

  15. Remote sensing as a surface water quality monitoring support in the semiarid region of Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Fernando Bezerra Lopes

    2013-01-01

    The contamination of surface water bodies due to antropic action has made water ever more scarce. Knowledge of the water quality is essential to determine instruments for it's management . Monitoring water quality in huge areas requires a high number of saimples for water quality control. This fact, allied to the high costs of water analysis, limits the evaluation that can be made of continental waters. Even though in later years geoprocessing and remote sensin...

  16. Low level neutron monitoring using high pressure 3He detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pszona, S.

    1995-01-01

    Three detectors, two spherical proportional counters and an ionisation chamber, all filled with 3 He to pressures of 160 kPa, 325 kPa and 1 MPa respectively have been experimentally studied with respect to their use for low level neutron monitoring. The ambient dose equivalent responses and the energy resolutions of these detectors have been determined. It is shown that spectral analysis of the signals from these detectors not only gives high sensitivity with regard to ambient dose equivalent but also improves the quality of the measurements. A special instrumentation for low level neutron monitoring is described in which a quality control method has been implemented. (Author)

  17. DANIDA; Air Quality Monitoring Programme. Mission 2 Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sivertsen, B.

    1996-06-01

    The report deals with the EIMP (Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme for the Arab Republic of Egypt). The programme is funded by Danida which is a cooperation project between Norway and Denmark. The programme covers the monitoring of air pollution, coastal water monitoring, and the monitoring of pollution sources and emissions. This report pays the attention to the Norwegian part of the programme executed by NILU (Norwegian Institute for Air Research) which covers the development air quality monitoring network. 14 refs., 51 figs., 18 tabs.

  18. Environment quality monitoring using ARM processor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinaya, C. H.; Krishna Thanikanti, Vamsi; Ramasamy, Sudha

    2017-11-01

    This paper of air quality monitoring system describes a model of sensors network to continuously monitoring the environment with low cost developed model. At present time all over the world turned into a great revolution in industrial domain and on the other hand environment get polluting in a dangerous value. There are so many technologies present to reduce the polluting contents but still there is no completely reduction of that pollution. Even there are different methods to monitor the pollution content; these are much costly that not everyone can adapt those methods or devices. Now we are proposing a sensors connected network to monitor the environment continuously and displaying the pollutant gases percentage in air surroundings and can transmit the results to our mobiles by message. The advantage of this system is easy to design, establish at area to monitor, maintenance and most cost effective as well.

  19. The Water Quality of the River Enborne, UK: Observations from High-Frequency Monitoring in a Rural, Lowland River System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah J. Halliday

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the results of a 2-year study of water quality in the River Enborne, a rural river in lowland England. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus species and other chemical determinands were monitored both at high-frequency (hourly, using automated in situ instrumentation, and by manual weekly sampling and laboratory analysis. The catchment land use is largely agricultural, with a population density of 123 persons km−2. The river water is largely derived from calcareous groundwater, and there are high nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. Agricultural fertiliser is the dominant source of annual loads of both nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the data show that sewage effluent discharges have a disproportionate effect on the river nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics. At least 38% of the catchment population use septic tank systems, but the effects are hard to quantify as only 6% are officially registered, and the characteristics of the others are unknown. Only 4% of the phosphorus input and 9% of the nitrogen input is exported from the catchment by the river, highlighting the importance of catchment process understanding in predicting nutrient concentrations. High-frequency monitoring will be a key to developing this vital process understanding.

  20. Monitoring Quality of Biotherapeutic Products Using Multivariate Data Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rathore, Anurag S; Pathak, Mili; Jain, Renu; Jadaun, Gaurav Pratap Singh

    2016-07-01

    Monitoring the quality of pharmaceutical products is a global challenge, heightened by the implications of letting subquality drugs come to the market on public safety. Regulatory agencies do their due diligence at the time of approval as per their prescribed regulations. However, product quality needs to be monitored post-approval as well to ensure patient safety throughout the product life cycle. This is particularly complicated for biotechnology-based therapeutics where seemingly minor changes in process and/or raw material attributes have been shown to have a significant effect on clinical safety and efficacy of the product. This article provides a perspective on the topic of monitoring the quality of biotech therapeutics. In the backdrop of challenges faced by the regulatory agencies, the potential use of multivariate data analysis as a tool for effective monitoring has been proposed. Case studies using data from several insulin biosimilars have been used to illustrate the key concepts.

  1. Information-Quality based LV-Grid-Monitoring Framework and its Application to Power-Quality Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Findrik, Mislav; Kristensen, Thomas le Fevre; Hinterhofer, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    The integration of unpredictable renewable energy sources into the low voltage (LV) power grid results in new challenges when it comes to ensuring power quality in the electrical grid. Addressing this problem requires control of not only the secondary substation but also control of flexible assets...... inside the LV grid. In this paper we investigate how the flexibility information of such assets can be accessed by the controller using heterogeneous off-the-shelf communication networks. To achieve this we develop an adaptive monitoring framework, through which the controller can subscribe to the assets......' flexibility information through an API. We define an information quality metric making the monitoring framework able to adapt information access strategies to ensure the information is made available to the controller with the highest possible information quality. To evaluate the monitoring framework...

  2. Atmosphere and water quality monitoring on Space Station Freedom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, William

    1990-01-01

    In Space Station Freedom air and water will be supplied in closed loop systems. The monitoring of air and water qualities will ensure the crew health for the long mission duration. The Atmosphere Composition Monitor consists of the following major instruments: (1) a single focusing mass spectrometer to monitor major air constituents and control the oxygen/nitrogen addition for the Space Station; (2) a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer to detect trace contaminants; (3) a non-dispersive infrared spectrometer to determine carbon monoxide concentration; and (4) a laser particle counter for measuring particulates in the air. An overview of the design and development concepts for the air and water quality monitors is presented.

  3. GIS Mapping and Monitoring of Cellular Communication Quality in Terms of Crowdsourcing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zanozin Viktor Valeryevich

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available At the present day the monitoring of mobile services quality is carried out in the framework of the internal audit of the enterprise communications. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor does not yet have high-quality assurance techniques of services and conducts partial spot checks on the basis of existing normative legal acts (NLA. One of cellular communication quality monitoring method is Netmonitoring. Netmonitoring, as one of the possible types of quality control services provided by mobile operators, is described in this article. Netmonitoring is provided in the Astrakhan city on the Kirova street, Savushkina street, Kubanskya street, Magistralnaya street and other large streets of the city. There are more than 150 cellular level measurements. Netmonitoring is based on crowdsourcing and mobile mapping. Mobile mapping is the process of collecting geospatial data using mapping sensors mounted on a mobile platform. The search of base stations was carried out by means of such programs as Netmonitoring, Network Signal Info and Antennas. The resulting data, namely the network code, “cell ID” and local area code, were used for geo-information programs creation. The experience in designing KML and Visual Basic languages programs Netmonitoring and AstraNetMonitoring is described in this paper.

  4. Explore the advantage of High-frequency Water Quality Data in Urban Surface Water: A Case Study in Bristol, UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Y.; Han, D.

    2017-12-01

    Water system is an essential component in a smart city for its sustainability and resilience. The freshness and beauty of the water body would please people as well as benefit the local aquatic ecosystems. Water quality monitoring approach has evolved from the manual lab-based monitoring approach to the manual in-situ monitoring approach, and finally to the latest wireless-sensor-network (WSN) based solutions in recent decades. The development of the in-situ water quality sensors enable humans to collect high-frequency and real-time water quality data. This poster aims to explore the advantages of the high-frequency water quality data over the low-frequency data collected manually. The data is collected by a remote real-time high-frequency water quality monitor system based on the cutting edge smart city infrastructure in Bristol - `Bristol Is Open'. The water quality of Bristol Floating Harbour is monitored which is the focal area of Bristol with new buildings and features redeveloped in the past decades. This poster will first briefly introduce the water quality monitoring system, followed by the analysis of the advantages of the sub-hourly water quality data. Thus, the suggestion on the monitoring frequency will be given.

  5. Choices in recreational water quality monitoring: new opportunities and health risk trade-offs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevers, Meredith B.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N.; Whitman, Richard L.

    2013-01-01

    With the recent release of new recreational water quality monitoring criteria, there are more options for regulatory agencies seeking to protect beachgoers from waterborne pathogens. Included are methods that can reduce analytical time, providing timelier estimates of water quality, but the application of these methods has not been examined at most beaches for expectation of health risk and management decisions. In this analysis, we explore health and monitoring outcomes expected at Lake Michigan beaches using protocols for indicator bacteria including culturable Escherichia coli (E. coli; EC), culturable enterococci (ENT), and enterococci as analyzed by qPCR (QENT). Correlations between method results were generally high, except at beaches with historically high concentrations of EC. The “beach action value” was exceeded most often when using EC or ENT as the target indicator; QENT exceeded the limit far less frequently. Measured water quality between years was varied. Although methods with equivalent health expectation have been established, the lack of relationship among method outcomes and annual changes in mean indicator bacteria concentrations complicates the decision-making process. The monitoring approach selected by beach managers may be a combination of available tools that maximizes timely health protection, cost efficiency, and collaboration among beach jurisdictions.

  6. Quality management status of national radiation environmental monitoring network and strategy for development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Renjie; Zhang Rongsuo; Ni Shiying; Shen Gang

    2009-01-01

    During the period of 10th five-year plan, MEP has constructed a national radiation environmental monitoring network. In the running of the network, quality management on monitoring data is of vital importance. So all the members of the radiation environmental monitoring network are required to ensure the quality of monitoring method, equipment, reagent,quality of personnel, data processing and information management and so on. Thus the monitoring result would be typical and accuracy in science. The article introduced in detail the quality management status of the National Radiation Environmental Monitoring Network and put forward the strategy for development from the institutionalized and large-scale point of view of radioactive environmental monitoring work. (authors)

  7. Monitor quality and its importance in a picture archiving and communications system display workstation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dawood, R.M.; Todd-Prokropek, A.; Craig, J.O.M.C.; Highman, J.H.; Glass, H.D.

    1988-01-01

    Trials have compared image quality using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for different digitization resolution, particularly on hard copy. Resolution required for such systems is critical. Monitor quality significantly affects results of such studies. Several ''high-quality'' monitors were tested for gray level uniformity, flicker, resolution, stationarity (including distortion), jitter, and stability with time. An ROC study has demonstrated that such errors, on one commercially available system, were large enough to degrade image display at both 1k x 1k and 2k x 2k matrix sizes. Flicker was very disturbing with difficult images. Greater attention to these factors is required in designing (and evaluating) picture archiving and communication system work stations

  8. Liquid microjet - a new tool for environmental water quality monitoring?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holstein, W.; Buntine, M.

    2001-01-01

    Our ability to provide real-time, cost-effective and efficient technologies for water quality monitoring remains a critical global environmental research issue. Each year, ground and surface waterways around the world, the global marine environment and the especially-fragile interzonal estuarine ecosystems are being placed under severe stress due to ever-increasing levels of pollutants entering the earth's aquasphere. An almost revolutionary breakthrough in water quality monitoring would be achieved with the development of a real-time, broad-spectrum chemical analysis technology. In this article, a real-time mass spectrometric based water quality monitoring centre around in vacuo liquid microjet injection methodologies is presented

  9. On development of system for environmental monitoring of atmospheric air quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    М. В. Волкодаева

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The article suggests the directions for development of the system of environmental monitoring of atmospheric air quality in the Russian Federation, namely: an increase in the number of stationary control posts for atmospheric pollution in each specific city; expansion of the list of cities where constant measurements of pollutant concentrations are conducted; expansion of the list of controlled impurities through the introduction of automated air quality monitoring systems, the development of computational methods for monitoring air quality, including not only information on pollution levels in terms of compliance with hygienic standards, but also assessment of pollution levels from the perspective of environmental risk to the health of the population. There is a great sensitivity of plants to the low quality of atmospheric air in comparison with the sensitivity of animals and humans. The air quality standards for vegetation are given. It is proposed to evaluate the quality of atmospheric air not only from the point of view of the impact on human health, but taking into account the impact on vegetation, to include in the program route observations carried out by mobile atmospheric air monitoring laboratories, territories with public green areas, which will increase the information content of atmospheric air monitoring and the state of green spaces. In connection with the increasing noise level in large cities and the lack of a permanent noise monitoring system, it is proposed to equip existing and new monitoring stations with noise level meters to provide reliable information for the development of relevant environmental measures.

  10. Implementation of quality standards in an individual monitoring service

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hyvoenen, H.; Vartiainen, E

    2001-07-01

    In this paper the implementation of a quality system to the procedures of an individual monitoring service (IMS) is described from the practical perspective. The IMS of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) is used as an example. The IMS of STUK monitors about 8500 persons mainly working in hospitals, industry and research centres. The current thermoluminescence dosemeter (TLD) system was introduced in 1992 and the whole service changed to TLDs in 1995. The quality system compatible with the quality standards was introduced in 1999. An application for accreditation to full EN45001 and ISO/IEC Guide 25 was made in December 1999, accreditation was achieved in August 2000 by the Finnish Accreditation Service (FINAS). The considerations needed for the quality system to fulfil the requirements of the quality standards are reported. (author)

  11. Implementation of quality standards in an individual monitoring service

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hyvoenen, H.; Vartiainen, E.

    2001-01-01

    In this paper the implementation of a quality system to the procedures of an individual monitoring service (IMS) is described from the practical perspective. The IMS of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) is used as an example. The IMS of STUK monitors about 8500 persons mainly working in hospitals, industry and research centres. The current thermoluminescence dosemeter (TLD) system was introduced in 1992 and the whole service changed to TLDs in 1995. The quality system compatible with the quality standards was introduced in 1999. An application for accreditation to full EN45001 and ISO/IEC Guide 25 was made in December 1999, accreditation was achieved in August 2000 by the Finnish Accreditation Service (FINAS). The considerations needed for the quality system to fulfil the requirements of the quality standards are reported. (author)

  12. Process monitoring using a Quality and Technical Surveillance Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rafferty, C.A.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of process monitoring using a Quality and Technical Surveillance Program was to help ensure manufactured clad vents sets fully met technical and quality requirements established by the manufacturer and the customer, and that line and program management were immediately alerted if any aspect of the manufacturing activities drifted out of acceptable limits. The Quality and Technical Surveillance Program provided a planned, scheduled approach to monitor key processes and documentation illuminated potential problem areas early enough to permit timely corrective actions to reverse negative trends that, if left uncorrected, could have resulted in deficient hardware. Significant schedule and cost impacts were eliminated

  13. Ultrasonic Real-Time Quality Monitoring Of Aluminum Spot Weld Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez Regalado, Waldo Josue

    The real-time ultrasonic spot weld monitoring system, introduced by our research group, has been designed for the unsupervised quality characterization of the spot welding process. It comprises the ultrasonic transducer (probe) built into one of the welding electrodes and an electronics hardware unit which gathers information from the transducer, performs real-time weld quality characterization and communicates with the robot programmable logic controller (PLC). The system has been fully developed for the inspection of spot welds manufactured in steel alloys, and has been mainly applied in the automotive industry. In recent years, a variety of materials have been introduced to the automotive industry. These include high strength steels, magnesium alloys, and aluminum alloys. Aluminum alloys have been of particular interest due to their high strength-to-weight ratio. Resistance spot welding requirements for aluminum vary greatly from those of steel. Additionally, the oxide film formed on the aluminum surface increases the heat generation between the copper electrodes and the aluminum plates leading to accelerated electrode deterioration. Preliminary studies showed that the real-time quality inspection system was not able to monitor spot welds manufactured with aluminum. The extensive experimental research, finite element modelling of the aluminum welding process and finite difference modeling of the acoustic wave propagation through the aluminum spot welds presented in this dissertation, revealed that the thermodynamics and hence the acoustic wave propagation through an aluminum and a steel spot weld differ significantly. For this reason, the hardware requirements and the algorithms developed to determine the welds quality from the ultrasonic data used on steel, no longer apply on aluminum spot welds. After updating the system and designing the required algorithms, parameters such as liquid nugget penetration and nugget diameter were available in the ultrasonic data

  14. Air quality: evolution of monitoring methods at its height

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Legros, E.J.

    1996-01-01

    In the context of the forthcoming enforcement of the new air law in France, the INERIS (the French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks) made a statement at the end of June 1996 about the problems of air quality monitoring and the evolution of measurement tools. This short paper recalls first the historical evolution of the French urban air quality monitoring and its legal aspects, and the recent studies about the cost of air pollution and the impact of diesel particulates, benzene and aromatic hydrocarbons on human health. Then it describes the INERIS works concerning the identification and characterization of pollutants (NOx, CO, CO 2 , SO 2 , lead, ozone, particulates, organic volatile compounds) and the modeling of their dispersion. The monitoring of air quality in France is performed by 31 associations, from which Airparif is devoted to Paris city. (J.S.)

  15. High frequency bulk resonators for bio/chemical diagnostics and monitoring applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cagliani, Alberto

    In the environmental monitoring eld there is a vast variety of possible applications for microfabricated MEMS sensors. As an example, a network of miniaturized sensors could detect toxic gases, harmful airbornes, explosives in air or, in liquid, monitor the quality of drinking water. The integrat......In the environmental monitoring eld there is a vast variety of possible applications for microfabricated MEMS sensors. As an example, a network of miniaturized sensors could detect toxic gases, harmful airbornes, explosives in air or, in liquid, monitor the quality of drinking water...... be operated in gaseous environments thanks to the high Qfactors and show very high mass sensitivities and very small mass resolutions. The resonators have been microfabricated at the DTU-Danchip facility exploiting the microfabrication knowledge already present in the DyNEMS group. The devices have been...... and as temperature sensors in humid environment. Moreover, they have been used as tool to investigate the interaction between water molecules and DNA. Finally, nanograss have been etched into the body of the microresonators in order to improve the mass sensitivy of the devices. On the whole, the experimental results...

  16. [Study on the optimization of monitoring indicators of drinking water quality during health supervision].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Bixiong; E, Xueli; Zhang, Lan

    2015-01-01

    To optimize non-regular drinking water quality indices (except Giardia and Cryptosporidium) of urban drinking water. Several methods including drinking water quality exceed the standard, the risk of exceeding standard, the frequency of detecting concentrations below the detection limit, water quality comprehensive index evaluation method, and attribute reduction algorithm of rough set theory were applied, redundancy factor of water quality indicators were eliminated, control factors that play a leading role in drinking water safety were found. Optimization results showed in 62 unconventional water quality monitoring indicators of urban drinking water, 42 water quality indicators could be optimized reduction by comprehensively evaluation combined with attribute reduction of rough set. Optimization of the water quality monitoring indicators and reduction of monitoring indicators and monitoring frequency could ensure the safety of drinking water quality while lowering monitoring costs and reducing monitoring pressure of the sanitation supervision departments.

  17. Quality monitored distributed voting system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skogmo, David

    1997-01-01

    A quality monitoring system can detect certain system faults and fraud attempts in a distributed voting system. The system uses decoy voters to cast predetermined check ballots. Absent check ballots can indicate system faults. Altered check ballots can indicate attempts at counterfeiting votes. The system can also cast check ballots at predetermined times to provide another check on the distributed voting system.

  18. An Expert System Applied in Construction Water Quality Monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    Leila Ooshaksaraie; Noor E.A. Basri

    2011-01-01

    Problem statement: An untoward environmental impact of urban growth in Malaysia has been deterioration in a number of watercourses due to severe siltation and other pollutants from the construction site. Water quality monitoring is a plan for decision makers to take into account the adverse impacts of construction activities on the receiving water bodies. It is also a process for collecting the construction water quality monitoring, baseline data and standard level. Approa...

  19. R2 Water Quality Portal Monitoring Stations

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Water Quality Data Portal (WQP) provides an easy way to access data stored in various large water quality databases. The WQP provides various input parameters on the form including location, site, sampling, and date parameters to filter and customize the returned results. The The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a cooperative service sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC) that integrates publicly available water quality data from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) the EPA STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) Data Warehouse, and the USDA ARS Sustaining The Earth??s Watersheds - Agricultural Research Database System (STEWARDS).

  20. From existing in situ, high-resolution measurement technologies to lab-on-a-chip - the future of water quality monitoring?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wade, A. J.; Palmer-Felgate, E. J.; Halliday, S. J.; Skeffington, R. A.; Loewenthal, M.; Jarvie, H. P.; Bowes, M. J.; Greenway, G. M.; Haswell, S. J.; Bell, I. M.; Joly, E.; Fallatah, A.; Neal, C.; Williams, R. J.; Gozzard, E.; Newman, J. R.

    2012-05-01

    This paper introduces new insights into the hydrochemical functioning of lowland river-systems using field-based spectrophotometric and electrode technologies. The streamwater concentrations of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions were measured at hourly intervals on a continuous basis at two contrasting sites on tributaries of the River Thames, one draining a rural catchment, the River Enborne, and one draining a more urban system, The Cut. The measurements complement those from an existing network of multi-parameter water quality sondes maintained across the Thames catchment and weekly monitoring based on grab samples. The results of the sub-daily monitoring show that streamwater phosphorus concentrations display highly complex, seemingly chaotic, dynamics under storm conditions dependent on the antecedent catchment wetness, and that diurnal phosphorus and nitrogen cycles occur under low flow conditions. The diurnal patterns highlight the dominance of sewage inputs in controlling the streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at low flows, even at a distance of 7 km from the nearest sewage works in the rural, River Enborne, and that the time of sample collection is important when judging water quality against ecological thresholds or standards. An exhaustion of the supply of phosphorus from diffuse and septic tank sources during storm events was evident and load estimation was not improved by sub-daily monitoring beyond that achieved by daily sampling because of the eventual reduction in the phosphorus mass entering the stream during events. The dominance of respiration over photosynthesis in The Cut indicated a prevalence of heterotrophic algae, and the seasonal patterns in respiration and photosynthesis corresponded with those of temperature and light in this nutrient over-enriched stream. These results highlight the utility of sub-daily water quality measurements but the deployment of modified wet-chemistry technologies into the field was limited

  1. Monitoring drinking water quality in South Africa: Designing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In South Africa, the management and monitoring of drinking water quality is governed by policies and regulations based on international standards. Water Service Authorities, which are either municipalities or district municipalities, are required to submit information regarding water quality and the management thereof ...

  2. Monitoring changes in Greater Yellowstone Lake water quality following the 1988 wildfires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lathrop, Richard G., Jr.; Vande Castle, John D.; Brass, James A.

    1994-01-01

    The fires that burned the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) during the summer of 1988 were the largest ever recorded for the region. Wildfire can have profound indirect effects on associated aquatic ecosystems by increased nutrient loading, sediment, erosion, and runoff. Satellite remote sensing and water quality sampling were used to compare pre- versus post-fire conditions in the GYA's large oliotrophic (high transparency, low productivity) lakes. Inputs of suspended sediment to Jackson Lake appear to have increased. Yellowstone Lake has not shown any discernable shift in water quality. The insights gained separately from the Landsat Thematic and NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) remote sensing systems, along with conventional in-situ sampling, can be combined into a useful water quality monitoring tool.

  3. A Digital Power Quality Monitoring Equipment Designed for Digital Substation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wei; Wang, Xin; Geng, Jiewen

    2018-01-01

    Taking into account both current status and development trend of digital substation, this paper proposed a design of a new multi-channelled digital power quality monitoring equipment with high compatibility. The overall functional structure, hardware architecture, software architecture, interface architecture and some key techniques such as IEC 61850 modelling of transient event and harmonic measurement method under the condition of non-synchronous sampling are described in this paper.

  4. Development of a VxWorks-based distributed power quality monitoring system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, M.J.; Kim, S.J.; Son, Y.I.; Kang, S.H. [Myongji Univ., Yongin (Korea, Republic of). Next-generation Power Technology Center

    2007-07-01

    Electric utilities are becoming increasingly concerned about power quality because end user equipment is more sensitive to disturbances within the power supply system and also within the consumer facilities. In order to improve the quality of electricity, the sources and causes of disturbances must be known. However, voltage sag and swell, wave-faults and momentary interruptions are difficult to detect and avoid unless power quality monitoring devices are installed permanently. The impact that alternative energy sources have on power quality was also discussed. When distributed generation is connected to the power grid, it can generate and supply more reliable power to the grid. For a reliable interconnection of distributed power to the grid, monitoring systems should display the status of distributed power and record power events. Lack of source stability in distributed generation such as solar-cells or wind-power creates events that should be measured and stored immediately. This paper presented a newly developed real-time power quality monitoring system for distributed power systems. The system is based on a real-time operating system (OS) and can therefore handle many events that happen simultaneously. The proposed system contains a digital signal processor (MPC7410, Motorola) and an A/D board (VMIVME3122, GE). VxWorks was used to implement the monitoring algorithm. This paper outlined the structure and the functions of the developed Distributed Power Quality Monitoring System. Some experiments were conducted to test the performance of the proposed system. According to test results, the system is compatible with standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for power quality monitoring. 15 refs., 1 tab., 18 figs.

  5. Cross-vendor quality monitoring in a multi-vendor Internet of Things

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Holtman, K.J.G.

    2015-01-01

    This note discusses several problems and solutions in quality monitoring of Internet of Things, when multiple products (devices, apps,) from different vendors interact with each other. It presents a cross-vendor quality monitoring system, which helps each individual vendor discover problems and

  6. Biowaste home composting: experimental process monitoring and quality control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatàno, Fabio; Pagliaro, Giacomo; Di Giovanni, Paolo; Floriani, Enrico; Mangani, Filippo

    2015-04-01

    Because home composting is a prevention option in managing biowaste at local levels, the objective of the present study was to contribute to the knowledge of the process evolution and compost quality that can be expected and obtained, respectively, in this decentralized option. In this study, organized as the research portion of a provincial project on home composting in the territory of Pesaro-Urbino (Central Italy), four experimental composters were first initiated and temporally monitored. Second, two small sub-sets of selected provincial composters (directly operated by households involved in the project) underwent quality control on their compost products at two different temporal steps. The monitored experimental composters showed overall decreasing profiles versus composting time for moisture, organic carbon, and C/N, as well as overall increasing profiles for electrical conductivity and total nitrogen, which represented qualitative indications of progress in the process. Comparative evaluations of the monitored experimental composters also suggested some interactions in home composting, i.e., high C/N ratios limiting organic matter decomposition rates and final humification levels; high moisture contents restricting the internal temperature regime; nearly horizontal phosphorus and potassium evolutions contributing to limit the rates of increase in electrical conductivity; and prolonged biowaste additions contributing to limit the rate of decrease in moisture. The measures of parametric data variability in the two sub-sets of controlled provincial composters showed decreased variability in moisture, organic carbon, and C/N from the seventh to fifteenth month of home composting, as well as increased variability in electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, and humification rate, which could be considered compatible with the respective nature of decreasing and increasing parameters during composting. The modeled parametric kinetics in the monitored experimental

  7. The CMS Data Quality Monitoring software experience and future improvements

    CERN Document Server

    Batinkov, Atanas Ivanov

    2013-01-01

    The Data Quality Monitoring Software proved to be a central tool in the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment. Its flexibility allowed its integration in several environments: online, for real-time detector monitoring; offline, for the final, fine-grained data certification. The usage of the Data Quality Monitoring software in the different environments and its integration in the Compact Muon Solenoid reconstruction software framework and in all production workflows are presented. The main technical challenges and the adopted solutions to them will be also discussed with emphasis on functionality, long-term robustness and performance.

  8. Water quality monitoring in sub-Saharan African lakes: a review of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper reviews the literature on various remote sensing platforms and techniques used for assessing and monitoring water quality in sub-Saharan Africa, and highlights their strengths and weaknesses. The use of remote sensing technology could enhance water quality monitoring, since remotely sensed data offer ...

  9. A combined geostatistical-optimization model for the optimal design of a groundwater quality monitoring network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolosionis, Konstantinos; Papadopoulou, Maria P.

    2017-04-01

    Monitoring networks provide essential information for water resources management especially in areas with significant groundwater exploitation due to extensive agricultural activities. In this work, a simulation-optimization framework is developed based on heuristic optimization methodologies and geostatistical modeling approaches to obtain an optimal design for a groundwater quality monitoring network. Groundwater quantity and quality data obtained from 43 existing observation locations at 3 different hydrological periods in Mires basin in Crete, Greece will be used in the proposed framework in terms of Regression Kriging to develop the spatial distribution of nitrates concentration in the aquifer of interest. Based on the existing groundwater quality mapping, the proposed optimization tool will determine a cost-effective observation wells network that contributes significant information to water managers and authorities. The elimination of observation wells that add little or no beneficial information to groundwater level and quality mapping of the area can be obtain using estimations uncertainty and statistical error metrics without effecting the assessment of the groundwater quality. Given the high maintenance cost of groundwater monitoring networks, the proposed tool could used by water regulators in the decision-making process to obtain a efficient network design that is essential.

  10. Status of and changes in water quality monitored for the Idaho statewide surface-water-quality network, 1989—2002

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardy, Mark A.; Parliman, Deborah J.; O'Dell, Ivalou

    2005-01-01

    The Idaho statewide surface-water-quality monitoring network consists of 56 sites that have been monitored from 1989 through 2002 to provide data to document status and changes in the quality of Idaho streams. Sampling at 33 sites has covered a wide range of flows and seasons that describe water-quality variations representing both natural conditions and human influences. Targeting additional high- or low-flow sampling would better describe conditions at 20 sites during hydrologic extremes. At the three spring site types, sampling covered the range of flow conditions from 1989 through 2002 well. However, high flows at these sites since 1989 were lower than historical high flows as a result of declining ground-water levels in the Snake River Plain. Summertime stream temperatures at 45 sites commonly exceeded 19 and 22 degrees Celsius, the Idaho maximum daily mean and daily maximum criteria, respectively, for the protection of coldwater aquatic life. Criteria exceedances in stream basins with minimal development suggest that such high temperatures may occur naturally in many Idaho streams. Suspended-sediment concentrations were generally higher in southern Idaho than in central and northern Idaho, and network data suggest that the turbidity criteria are most likely to be exceeded at sites in southern Idaho and other sections of the Columbia Plateaus geomorphic province. This is probably because this province has more fine-grained soils that are subject to erosion and disturbance by land uses than the Northern Rocky Mountains province of northern and central

  11. Quality monitoring of salt produced in Indonesia through seawater evaporation on HDPE geomembrane lined ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jumaeri; Sulistyaningsih, T.; Alighiri, D.

    2018-03-01

    Salt is one of the primary ingredients that humans always need for various purposes, both for consumption and industry. The need for high-quality salt continues to increase, as long as industry growth. It must improve product quality through the development of salt production process technology. In this research, the quality monitoring of salt produced in Indonesia by evaporation of seawater on ponds lined using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane has been studied. The manufacturing of salt carried out through the gradual precipitation principle on prepared ponds. HDPE geomembrane is used to coat evaporation ponds with viscosity 12-22°Be and crystallization ponds with a viscosity of 23°Be. The monitoring of the product is carried out in the particular periods during the salt production period. The result of control shows that the quality of salt produced in HDPE geomembrane coated salt ponds has an average NaCl content of 95.75%, so it has fulfilled with Indonesia National Standard (SNI), that is NaCl> 94.70%. The production of salt with HDPE geomembrane can improve the quality of salt product from NaCl 85.4% (conventional system) to 95.75%.

  12. The Satellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality (SAMIRA): Project summary and first results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Philipp; Stebel, Kerstin; Ajtai, Nicolae; Diamandi, Andrei; Horalek, Jan; Nemuc, Anca; Stachlewska, Iwona; Zehner, Claus

    2017-04-01

    -resolution satellite products of air quality with the help of high-resolution model information. This will add value to existing earth observation products of air quality by bringing them to spatial scales that are more in line with what is generally required for studying urban and regional scale air quality. In a fifth activity, we implement robust and independent validation schemes for evaluating the quality of the generated products. Finally, in a sixth activity the consortium is working towards a pre-operational system for improved PM forecasts using observational (in situ and satellite) data assimilation. SAMIRA aims to maximize project benefits by liaison with national and regional environmental protection agencies and health institutions, as well as related ESA and European initiatives such as the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).

  13. Analytical monitoring of systems for the production of high-purity, desalinated water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunert, I.

    1988-01-01

    The purity requirements to be met by high-purity water currently push the most sensitive analytical methods to their utmost limits of sensitivity. The required degree of purity of the water at present can only be achieved by application of membrane processes, and pre-purification of the feedwater to a quality corresponding to that of the raw water source. The contribution in hand discusses the analytical monitoring of the raw water treatment plant, the water treatment prior to the treatment by reverse osmosis, monitoring and control of the modules for reverse osmosis, and the monitoring of high-purity water production for the microelectronics industry. (orig./RB) [de

  14. Effluent monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan for radioactive airborne emissions data. Revision 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frazier, T.P.

    1995-12-01

    This Quality Assurance Project Plan addresses the quality assurance requirements for compiling Hanford Site radioactive airborne emissions data. These data will be reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Energy, and the Washington State Department of Health. Effluent Monitoring performs compliance assessments on radioactive airborne sampling and monitoring systems. This Quality Assurance Project Plan is prepared in compliance with interim guidelines and specifications. Topics include: project description; project organization and management; quality assurance objectives; sampling procedures; sample custody; calibration procedures; analytical procedures; monitoring and reporting criteria; data reduction, verification, and reporting; internal quality control; performance and system audits; corrective actions; and quality assurance reports

  15. DANIDA; Air Quality Monitoring Programme. Mission 3 Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sivertsen, B.; Marsteen, L.

    1996-12-31

    In the development of the Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme for the Arab Republic of Egypt (EIMP), NILU is responsible for the establishment of an air pollution monitoring system. This report summarizes the third mission to Egypt and includes meetings and site visit reports. Air quality sites in Alexandria are described and comments are given to earlier selected sites in Cairo

  16. Environmental, political, and economic determinants of water quality monitoring in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Lucas; Bernauer, Thomas; Kalbhenn, Anna

    2010-11-01

    Effective monitoring is essential for effective pollution control in national and international water systems. To what extent are countries' monitoring choices driven by environmental criteria, as they should be? And to what extent are they also influenced by other factors, such as political and economic conditions? To address these questions, we describe and explain the evolution of one of the most important international environmental monitoring networks in Europe, the one for water quality, in the time period 1965-2004. We develop a geographic information system that contains information on the location of several thousand active monitoring stations in Europe. Using multivariate statistics, we then examine whether and to what extent the spatial and temporal clustering of monitoring intensity is driven by environmental, political, and economic factors. The results show that monitoring intensity is higher in river basins exposed to greater environmental pressure. However, political and economic factors also play a strong role in monitoring decisions: democracy, income, and peer pressure are conducive to monitoring intensity, and monitoring intensity generally increases over time. Moreover, even though monitoring is more intense in international upstream-downstream settings, we observe only a weak bias toward more monitoring downstream of international borders. In contrast, negative effects of European Union (EU) membership and runup to the EU's Water Framework Directive are potential reasons for concern. Our results strongly suggest that international coordination and standardization of water quality monitoring should be intensified. It will be interesting to apply our analytical approach also to other national and international monitoring networks, for instance, the U.S. National Water-Quality Assessment Program or the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program for air pollution.

  17. Data Quality Monitoring of the CMS Tracker

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutta, Suchandra

    2011-01-01

    The Data Quality Monitoring system for the Tracker has been developed within the CMS Software framework. It has been designed to be used during online data taking as well as during offline reconstruction. The main goal of the online system is to monitor detector performance and identify problems very efficiently during data collection so that proper actions can be taken to fix it. On the other hand any issue with data reconstruction or calibration can be detected during offline processing using the same tool. The monitoring is performed using histograms which are filled with information from raw and reconstructed data computed at the level of individual detectors. Furthermore, statistical tests are performed on these histograms to check the quality and flags are generated automatically. Results are visualized with web based graphical user interfaces. Final data certification is done combining these automatic flags and manual inspection. The Tracker DQM system has been successfully used during cosmic data taking and it has been optimised to fulfill the condition of collision data taking. In this paper we describe the functionality of the CMS Tracker DQM system and the experience acquired during proton-proton collision.

  18. Medication and monitoring in palliative sedation therapy: a systematic review and quality assessment of published guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schildmann, Eva Katharina; Schildmann, Jan; Kiesewetter, Isabel

    2015-04-01

    Palliative sedation therapy (PST) is increasingly used in patients at the end of life. However, consensus about medications and monitoring is lacking. To assess published PST guidelines with regard to quality and recommendations on drugs and monitoring. We searched CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, and references of included articles until July 2014. Search terms included "palliative sedation" or "sedation" and "guideline" or "policy" or "framework." Guideline selection was based on English or German publications that included a PST guideline. Two investigators independently assessed the quality of the guidelines according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II instrument (AGREE II) and extracted information on drug selection and monitoring. Nine guidelines were eligible. Eight guidelines received high quality scores for the domain "scope and purpose" (median 69%, range 28-83%), whereas in the other domains the guidelines' quality differed considerably. The majority of guidelines suggest midazolam as drug of first choice. Recommendations on dosage and alternatives vary. The guidelines' recommendations regarding monitoring of PST show wide variation in the number and details of outcome parameters and methods of assessment. The published guidelines on PST vary considerably regarding their quality and content on drugs and monitoring. Given the need for clear guidance regarding PST in patients at the end of life, this comparative analysis may serve as a starting point for further improvement. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Monitoring water quality by remote sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, R. L. (Principal Investigator)

    1977-01-01

    The author has identified the following significant results. A limited study was conducted to determine the applicability of remote sensing for evaluating water quality conditions in the San Francisco Bay and delta. Considerable supporting data were available for the study area from other than overflight sources, but short-term temporal and spatial variability precluded their use. The study results were not sufficient to shed much light on the subject, but it did appear that, with the present state of the art in image analysis and the large amount of ground truth needed, remote sensing has only limited application in monitoring water quality.

  20. Process monitoring using a quality and technical surveillance program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rafferty, C.A.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of process monitoring using a quality and technical surveillance program was to help ensure that manufactured clad went sets fully met technical and quality requirements established by the manufacturer and the customer and that line and program management were immediately alerted if any aspect of the manufacturing activities drifted out of acceptable limits. The quality and technical surveillance program provided a planned, scheduled approach to monitor key processes and documentation and certification systems to prevent noncompliances or any manufacturing discrepancies. These surveillances illuminated potential problem areas early enough to permit timely corrective actions to reverse negative trends that, if left uncorrected, could have resulted in deficient hardware. Significant schedule and cost impacts were eliminated. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

  1. Monitoring the Quality of Services in Electronic Banking

    OpenAIRE

    Jovovic Radislav; Lekic Elvis; Jovovic Miroslav

    2016-01-01

    Successful development of electronic banking is in direct correlation with the quality of services in electronic banking. Therefore, it is necessary that the banks are familiar with the attributes of electronic services on which clients assess the bank’s quality and client’s satisfaction with them, in order to be able to monitor, correct and improve the performance of electronic banking. We start from the hypothesis that there are already developed theoretical models for measuring the quality...

  2. Ambient air quality monitoring at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Kampar campus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jie, Lim Jun; Xinxin, Guo; Ke, Wang

    2017-04-01

    Air Pollutant includes any substance in solid, liquid or gaseous form present in the atmosphere in concentrations which may tend to be injurious to all living creatures, property and environment. In this study, automatic continuous monitoring station was used to monitor concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ambient air of Kampar Campus, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. High-volume air sampler was also used to monitor the concentration of PM2.5 and the collected PM2.5 was further analysed for the heavy metal concentration such as Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Arsenic (As), Aluminium (Al), and Lead (Pb) in PM2.5 using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The overall ambient air quality in the campus area is consider unhealthy as the non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) average concentration obtained were far exceeding the recommended limit concentration set by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Meteorological data was found that it does not show much relationship with the air quality data in this study. The concentration of Zn and Al were found the dominant heavy metal in the ambient air. The enrichment factor analysis also shows that the heavy metals contained in PM2.5 mainly origin from the natural source except for the Zn which it is highly contaminated by human activities.

  3. Quality of care in reproductive health programmes: monitoring and evaluation of quality improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwast, B E

    1998-12-01

    As 200 million women become pregnant every year, at least 30 million will develop life-threatening complications requiring emergency treatment at any level of society where they live. But it is a basic human right that pregnancy be made safe for all women as complications are mostly unpredictable. This requires reproductive health programmes which are responsive to women's and their families' needs and expectations on the one hand and enhancement of community participation, high quality obstetric services, and both provider collaboration and satisfaction on the other. Monitoring and evaluation of these facets need to be an integral part of any safe motherhood programme, not only to assess progress, but also to use this information for subsequent planning and implementation cycles of national programmes. Lessons learned from ten years' implementation of Safe Motherhood programmes indicate that process and outcome indicators are more feasible for short-term evaluation purposes than impact indicators, such as maternal mortality reduction. The former are described in this paper with relevant country examples. This is the third, and last, article in a series on quality of care in reproductive health programmes. The first (Kwast 1998a) contains an overview of concepts, assessments, barriers and improvements of quality of care. The second (Kwast 1998b) addresses education issues for quality improvement.

  4. Monitoring of whey quality with NIR spectroscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kucheryavskiy, Sergey; Lomborg, Carina

    2015-01-01

    The possibility of using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for monitoring of liquid whey quality parameters during protein production process has been tested. The parameters included total solids, lactose, protein and fat content. The samples for the experiment were taken from real industrial...

  5. Space Station Environmental Health System water quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincze, Johanna E.; Sauer, Richard L.

    1990-01-01

    One of the unique aspects of the Space Station is that it will be a totally encapsulated environment and the air and water supplies will be reclaimed for reuse. The Environmental Health System, a subsystem of CHeCS (Crew Health Care System), must monitor the air and water on board the Space Station Freedom to verify that the quality is adequate for crew safety. Specifically, the Water Quality Subsystem will analyze the potable and hygiene water supplies regularly for organic, inorganic, particulate, and microbial contamination. The equipment selected to perform these analyses will be commercially available instruments which will be converted for use on board the Space Station Freedom. Therefore, the commercial hardware will be analyzed to identify the gravity dependent functions and modified to eliminate them. The selection, analysis, and conversion of the off-the-shelf equipment for monitoring the Space Station reclaimed water creates a challenging project for the Water Quality engineers and scientists.

  6. Air quality monitoring Edson and Hinton area September 1999 to June 2000 : Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    The Edson and Hinton areas of Alberta were the subject of a mobile, ambient air quality monitoring survey. The monitoring involved four surveys of a week each, over four seasons, for one year. This area had been selected for monitoring to meet three major objectives: the determination of concentrations of air pollutants representative of the monitored locations in the survey area, to establish a comparison of air pollutant levels to data from other locations in the province of Alberta, and to provide a comparison of air pollutant levels to Alberta's air quality guidelines. These surveys formed an integral part of the air quality monitoring program of Alberta Environment. Using the Mobile Air Monitoring Laboratory (MAML), personnel from Alberta Environment appear on location unannounced. Carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, particulates, hydrocarbons, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, total reduced sulphur and ammonia are the substances measured and monitored. Eighteen sites in the Edson and Hinton area were selected, as well as downwind of industrial facilities in the Edson area, and air quality was monitored using the mobile lab for twenty days. To allow comparison to the air quality guidelines, monitoring was conducted for a minimum of one hour at each location. As a result, approximately 152 hours of air quality monitoring information was obtained, providing data in the vicinity of both populated and industrial areas. The periods comprised September 13-16, 1999 (Fall), February 7-9, 2000 (Winter), April 18-19, 25-27, 2000 (Spring), and June 4-5, 13-16, 2000 (Summer). The results were provided in this report. Most results were below the Alberta Ambient Air Quality Guidelines. refs., 16 tabs., 18 figs

  7. Water Quality Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    With the backing of NASA, researchers at Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Wisconsin have begun using satellite data to measure lake water quality and clarity of the lakes in the Upper Midwest. This false color IKONOS image displays the water clarity of the lakes in Eagan, Minnesota. Scientists measure the lake quality in satellite data by observing the ratio of blue to red light in the satellite data. When the amount of blue light reflecting off of the lake is high and the red light is low, a lake generally had high water quality. Lakes loaded with algae and sediments, on the other hand, reflect less blue light and more red light. In this image, scientists used false coloring to depict the level of clarity of the water. Clear lakes are blue, moderately clear lakes are green and yellow, and murky lakes are orange and red. Using images such as these along with data from the Landsat satellites and NASA's Terra satellite, the scientists plan to create a comprehensive water quality map for the entire Great Lakes region in the next few years. For more information, read: Testing the Waters (Image courtesy Upper Great Lakes Regional Earth Science Applications Center, based on data copyright Space Imaging)

  8. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual Summary for 2006

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kemp, K.; Ellemann, T.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.

    2007-06-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring (LMP) network. The aim has been to monitor the levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the concentration trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2006 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. Besides this model calculations were carried out to supplement the measurements. NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply 2005 and in 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a minor decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2} and O{sub 3}. (au)

  9. Changes in water quality along the course of a river - Classic monitoring versus patrol monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Absalon, Damian; Kryszczuk, Paweł; Rutkiewicz, Paweł

    2017-11-01

    Monitoring of water quality is a tool necessary to assess the condition of waterbodies in order to properly formulate water management plans. The paper presents the results of patrol monitoring of a 40-kilometre stretch of the Oder between Racibórz and Koźle. It has been established that patrol monitoring is a good tool for verifying the distribution of points of classic stationary monitoring, particularly in areas subject to varied human impact, where tributaries of the main river are very diversified as regards hydrochemistry. For this reason the results of operational monitoring carried out once every few years may not be reliable and the presented condition of the monitored waterbodies may be far from reality.

  10. The CMS Data Quality Monitoring software experience and future improvements

    CERN Document Server

    De Guio, Federico

    2013-01-01

    The Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) Software proved to be a central tool in the CMS experiment. Its flexibility allowed its integration in several environments Online, for real-time detector monitoring; Offline, for the final, fine-grained Data Certification; Release Validation, to constantly validate the functionality and the performance of the reconstruction software; in Monte Carlo productions. The central tool to deliver Data Quality information is a web site for browsing data quality histograms (DQM GUI). In this contribution the usage of the DQM Software in the different environments and its integration in the CMS Reconstruction Software Framework and in all production workflows are presented.

  11. DANIDA; Air Quality Monitoring Programme. Mission 4 Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sivertsen, B.

    1997-12-31

    In the development of the Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme for the Arab Republic of Egypt (EIMP), NILU is responsible for the establishment of an air pollution monitoring system. This report summarizes the fourth mission to Egypt, including planning of the second phase meetings and site visits. Additional air quality sites in Cairo have been described. A project group meeting and a visit to Egypt Meteorological Service have been reported

  12. New Brunswick air quality monitoring results for the year 2000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughes, R.

    2002-01-01

    Monitoring data for air quality in New Brunswick in 2000 is presented in this document. Designed for the general public, it summarizes the air quality results for 2000 and focuses on air quality assessment as it relates to existing air quality standards and objectives. The report also contains the long term trend data for representative sites. The New Brunswick Air Quality Regulation of the Clean Air Act specifies the air quality standards applicable for carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide and total suspended particulate. The monitoring was conducted at 58 sites in 8 regional monitoring networks throughout the province. Thirteen additional sites were selected for the measurement of acid rain. Despite the fact that no standards were in effect in 2000 in New Brunswick for several substances, including inhalable particulate matter, ground-level ozone, volatile organic compounds, selected semi-volatile organic compounds, trace elements in particulate matter and mercury in air and precipitation, their levels were measured at some locations. The results indicate that emissions trends, variations in industrial output, changing process or emission control technologies, and weather conditions throughout the year explain most of the variations in results between regions. As a rule, compliance with standards is good. Acid rain continued to impact, especially in the southwestern districts of the province. Since 1996, the levels of mercury in precipitation has slightly declined. 39 refs., 43 figs

  13. Monitoring the Quality of Services in Electronic Banking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovovic Radislav

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Successful development of electronic banking is in direct correlation with the quality of services in electronic banking. Therefore, it is necessary that the banks are familiar with the attributes of electronic services on which clients assess the bank’s quality and client’s satisfaction with them, in order to be able to monitor, correct and improve the performance of electronic banking. We start from the hypothesis that there are already developed theoretical models for measuring the quality of e-banking services but they must be adjusted to the specific environment that is analysed in order to obtain reliable and quality information. The qualitative and quantitative research methods are applied in this paper in order to a get adjusted theoretical model (instrument for measuring the quality of electronic banking services. As a result of the conducted analysis, the initial theoretical model has been modified, so that the final version of the model (instrument for measuring quality of online banking allows obtaining reliable data, and information in the particular environment. And the results are: significant information about the quality of e-banking, modified theoretical model, information about the dimensions of quality of e-banking, customer satisfaction, and pathways and guidelines for the improvement of e-banking. The measuring of quality of electronic banking services in not one time activity but repeated one, as permanent monitoring strategy. This research is widely applicable even though it was conducted in the context of Montenegrin e-banking, since most of the banks in Montenegro are owned by well-known European banks, and it is expected that the obtained knowledge and information can be generalized.

  14. Quality assessment of patients’ self-monitoring of blood glucose in community pharmacies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kjome RL

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate diabetes patients’ self-monitoring of blood glucose using a community pharmacy-based quality assurance procedure, to investigate whether the procedure improved the quality of the patient performance of self monitoring of blood glucose, and to examine the opinions of the patients taking part in the study. Methods: The results of patient blood glucose measurements were compared to the results obtained with HemoCue Glucose 201+ by pharmacy employees in 16 Norwegian community pharmacies. Patient performance was monitored using an eight item checklist. Patients whose blood glucose measurements differed from pharmacy measurements by more than 20% were instructed in the correct use of their glucometer. The patients then re-measured their blood glucose. If the results were still outside the set limits, the control procedure was repeated with a new lot of glucometer strips, and then with a new glucometer. The patients returned for a follow-up visit after three months. Results: During the first visit, 5% of the 338 patients had measurements that deviated from pharmacy blood glucose values by more than 20% and user errors were observed for 50% of the patients. At the second visit, there was no significant change in the analytical quality of patient measurements, but the percentage of patients who made user errors had decreased to 29% (p < 0.001. Eighty-five percent of the patients reported that they used their blood glucose results to adjust medication, exercise or meals. Fifty-one percent of the patients reported a greater trust in their measurements after the second visit. Eighty percent of patients wished to have their measurements assessed yearly. Of these patients, 83% preferred to have the assessment done at the community pharmacy. Conclusion: A community pharmacy-based quality assessment procedure of patients’ self monitoring of blood glucose significantly reduced the number of user errors. The analytical quality of the

  15. Pilot Water Quality Monitoring Station in Dublin Bay North Bank Monitoring Station (NBMS): MATSIS Project Part I

    OpenAIRE

    O Donnell, G.; Joyce, E.; O Boyle, S.; McGovern, E.

    2008-01-01

    The lack of short-term temporal resolution associated with traditional spot sampling for monitoring water quality of dynamic coastal and estuarine waters has meant that many organisations are interesting in autonomous monitoring technologies to provide near real-time semi-continuous data. Such approaches enable capturing short term episodic events (which may be missed or alternatively skew datasets when using spot samples) and provide early warning of water quality problems. New policy driver...

  16. Recent Advances in Point-of-Access Water Quality Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korostynska, O.; Arshak, K.; Velusamy, V.; Arshak, A.; Vaseashta, Ashok

    Clean water is one of our most valuable natural resources. In addition to providing safe drinking water it assures functional ecosystems that support fisheries and recreation. Human population growth and its associated increased demands on water pose risks to maintaining acceptable water quality. It is vital to assess source waters and the aquatic systems that receive inputs from industrial waste and sewage treatment plants, storm water systems, and runoff from urban and agricultural lands. Rapid and confident assessments of aquatic resources form the basis for sound environmental management. Current methods engaged in tracing the presence of various bacteria in water employ bulky laboratory equipment and are time consuming. Thus, real-time water quality monitoring is essential for National and International Health and Safety. Environmental water monitoring includes measurements of physical characteristics (e.g. pH, temperature, conductivity), chemical parameters (e.g. oxygen, alkalinity, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds), and abundance of certain biological taxa. Monitoring could also include assays of biological activity such as alkaline phosphatase, tests for toxins such as microcystins and direct measurements of pollutants such as heavy metals or hydrocarbons. Real time detection can significantly reduce the level of damage and also the cost to remedy the problem. This paper presents overview of state-of-the-art methods and devices used for point-of-access water quality monitoring and suggest further developments in this area.

  17. Optimized Scheduling of Smart Meter Data Access for Real-time Voltage Quality Monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kemal, Mohammed Seifu; Olsen, Rasmus Løvenstein; Schwefel, Hans-Peter

    2018-01-01

    Abstract—Active low-voltage distribution grids that support high integration of distributed generation such as photovoltaics and wind turbines require real-time voltage monitoring. At the same time, countries in Europe such as Denmark have close to 100% rollout of smart metering infrastructure....... The metering infrastructure has limitations to provide real-time measurements with small-time granularity. This paper presents an algorithm for optimized scheduling of smart meter data access to provide real-time voltage quality monitoring. The algorithm is analyzed using a real distribution grid in Denmark...

  18. Optimizing an estuarine water quality monitoring program through an entropy-based hierarchical spatiotemporal Bayesian framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alameddine, Ibrahim; Karmakar, Subhankar; Qian, Song S.; Paerl, Hans W.; Reckhow, Kenneth H.

    2013-10-01

    The total maximum daily load program aims to monitor more than 40,000 standard violations in around 20,000 impaired water bodies across the United States. Given resource limitations, future monitoring efforts have to be hedged against the uncertainties in the monitored system, while taking into account existing knowledge. In that respect, we have developed a hierarchical spatiotemporal Bayesian model that can be used to optimize an existing monitoring network by retaining stations that provide the maximum amount of information, while identifying locations that would benefit from the addition of new stations. The model assumes the water quality parameters are adequately described by a joint matrix normal distribution. The adopted approach allows for a reduction in redundancies, while emphasizing information richness rather than data richness. The developed approach incorporates the concept of entropy to account for the associated uncertainties. Three different entropy-based criteria are adopted: total system entropy, chlorophyll-a standard violation entropy, and dissolved oxygen standard violation entropy. A multiple attribute decision making framework is adopted to integrate the competing design criteria and to generate a single optimal design. The approach is implemented on the water quality monitoring system of the Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina, USA. The model results indicate that the high priority monitoring areas identified by the total system entropy and the dissolved oxygen violation entropy criteria are largely coincident. The monitoring design based on the chlorophyll-a standard violation entropy proved to be less informative, given the low probabilities of violating the water quality standard in the estuary.

  19. A high resolution, single bunch, beam profile monitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norem, J.

    1992-01-01

    Efficient linear colliders require very small beam spots to produce high luminosities with reasonable input power, which limits the number of electrons which can be accelerated to high energies. The small beams, in turn, require high precision and stability in all accelerator components. Producing, monitoring and maintaining beams of the required quality has been, and will continue to be, difficult. A beam monitoring system which could be used to measure beam profile, size and stability at the final focus of a beamline or collider has been developed and is described here. The system uses nonimaging bremsstrahlung optics. The immediate use for this system would be examining the final focus spot at the SLAC/FFTB. The primary alternatives to this technique are those proposed by P. Chen / J. Buon, which analyses the energy and angular distributions of ion recoils to determine the aspect ratio of the electron bunch, and a method proposed by Shintake, which measures intensity variation of compton backscattered photons as the beam is moved across a pattern of standing waves produced by a laser

  20. Monitoring of performance management using Quality Assurance Indicators and ISO requirement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dargahi H

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Quality assurance is a prevention-oriented system that can be used to improve the quality of care, increase productivity and monitor the performance management in clinical laboratories. ISO 9001: 2000 requirements are a collection of management and technical systems designed to implement quality assurance and monitor performance management in organizations. Methods: A checklist was prepared to monitor the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical stages of laboratory performance management in 16 areas and all laboratory activities in 14 of the clinical laboratories of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS hospitals. Collected data were stored and statistically analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The best performance, in which 77.73% of quality assurance indicators were observed, was found in Sina Hospital. However, only 57.56% of these indicators were fulfilled at Farabi Hospital, with the lowest-level performance among the clinical laboratories of TUMS hospitals. The highest level of compliance with quality assurance indicators was in the hematology departments and for facility demands in management areas. Overall, quality assurance indicators were appropriately followed in only 7% of the clinical laboratories. Conclusion: The average quality assurance observation rate in the clinical laboratories studied was 67.22%, which is insufficient and must be remedied with stricter enforcement of the ISO 9001: 2000 regulations.

  1. Data Quality Monitoring Display for ATLAS experiment

    CERN Document Server

    Ilchenko, Y; The ATLAS collaboration; Corso-Radu, A; Hadavand, H; Kolos, S; Slagle, K; Taffard, A

    2009-01-01

    The start of collisions at the LHC brings with it much excitement and many unknowns. It’s essential at this point in the experiment to be prepared with user-friendly tools to quickly and efficiently determine the quality of the data. Easy visualization of data for the shift crew and experts is one of the key factors in the data quality assessment process. The Data Quality Monitoring Display (DQMD) is a visualization tool for the automatic data quality assessment of the ATLAS experiment. It is the interface through which the shift crew and experts can validate the quality of the data being recorded or processed, be warned of problems related to data quality, and identify the origin of such problems. This tool allows great flexibility for visualization of results from automatic histogram checking through custom algorithms, the configuration used to run the algorithms, and histograms used for the check, with an overlay of reference histograms when applicable. The display also supports visualization of the resu...

  2. Validating data quality during wet weather monitoring of wastewater treatment plant influents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alferes, Janelcy; Lynggaard-Jensen, Anders; Munk-Nielsen, Thomas

    Efficient monitoring of water systems and proper use of the collected data in further applications such as modelling, forecasting influent water quality and real-time control depends on careful data quality control. Given the size of the data sets produced nowadays in online water quality...... monitoring schemes, automated data validation is the only feasible option. In this paper, software tools for automatic data quality assessment with a practical orientation are presented. The developments from three organizations ranging from simple to more complex methods for automated data validation...

  3. A Beam Quality Monitor for LHC Beams in the SPS

    CERN Document Server

    Papotti, G

    2008-01-01

    The SPS Beam Quality Monitor (BQM) system monitors the longitudinal parameters of the beam before extraction to the LHC to prevent losses and degradation of the LHC luminosity by the injection of low quality beams. It is implemented in two priority levels. At the highest level the SPS-LHC synchronization and global beam structure are verified. If the specifications are not met, the beam should be dumped in the SPS before extraction. On the second level, individual bunch position, length and stability are checked for beam quality assessment. Tolerances are adapted to the mode of operation and extraction to the LHC can also be inhibited. Beam parameters are accessed by acquiring bunch profiles with a longitudinal pick up and fast digital oscilloscope. The beam is monitored for instabilities during the acceleration cycle and thoroughly checked a few ms before extraction for a final decision on extraction interlock. Dedicated hardware and software components implementing fast algorithms are required. In this pape...

  4. Water Quality Monitoring: An Environmental Studies Unit for Biology 20/30. Teacher's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alberta Environment, Edmonton. Environmental Education Resources Branch.

    The objective of this environmental studies unit is to establish a water quality monitoring project for high school students in Alberta while simultaneously providing a unit which meets the objectives of the Biology 20 program (and which may also be used in Biology 10 and 30). Through this project, students assist in the collection,…

  5. Water Quality Monitoring: An Environmental Studies Unit for Biology 20/30. Student Manual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alberta Environment, Edmonton. Environmental Education Resources Branch.

    The objective of this environmental studies unit is to establish a water quality monitoring project for high school students in Alberta while simultaneously providing a unit which meets the objectives of the Biology 20 program (and which may also be used in Biology 10 and 30). Through this project, students assist in the collection,…

  6. A Survey on Data Quality for Dependable Monitoring in Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jesus, Gonçalo; Casimiro, António; Oliveira, Anabela

    2017-09-02

    Wireless sensor networks are being increasingly used in several application areas, particularly to collect data and monitor physical processes. Non-functional requirements, like reliability, security or availability, are often important and must be accounted for in the application development. For that purpose, there is a large body of knowledge on dependability techniques for distributed systems, which provide a good basis to understand how to satisfy these non-functional requirements of WSN-based monitoring applications. Given the data-centric nature of monitoring applications, it is of particular importance to ensure that data are reliable or, more generically, that they have the necessary quality. In this survey, we look into the problem of ensuring the desired quality of data for dependable monitoring using WSNs. We take a dependability-oriented perspective, reviewing the possible impairments to dependability and the prominent existing solutions to solve or mitigate these impairments. Despite the variety of components that may form a WSN-based monitoring system, we give particular attention to understanding which faults can affect sensors, how they can affect the quality of the information and how this quality can be improved and quantified.

  7. Automated speech quality monitoring tool based on perceptual evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    Vozňák, Miroslav; Rozhon, Jan

    2010-01-01

    The paper deals with a speech quality monitoring tool which we have developed in accordance with PESQ (Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality) and is automatically running and calculating the MOS (Mean Opinion Score). Results are stored into database and used in a research project investigating how meteorological conditions influence the speech quality in a GSM network. The meteorological station, which is located in our university campus provides information about a temperature,...

  8. Monitoring surface water quality using social media in the context of citizen science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Hang; Hong, Yang; Long, Di; Jing, Hua

    2017-02-01

    Surface water quality monitoring (SWQM) provides essential information for water environmental protection. However, SWQM is costly and limited in terms of equipment and sites. The global popularity of social media and intelligent mobile devices with GPS and photography functions allows citizens to monitor surface water quality. This study aims to propose a method for SWQM using social media platforms. Specifically, a WeChat-based application platform is built to collect water quality reports from volunteers, which have been proven valuable for water quality monitoring. The methods for data screening and volunteer recruitment are discussed based on the collected reports. The proposed methods provide a framework for collecting water quality data from citizens and offer a primary foundation for big data analysis in future research.

  9. Data quality monitoring of the CMS tracker

    CERN Document Server

    Potamianos, Karolos

    2009-01-01

    The Physics and Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) framework aims at providing a homogeneous monitoring environment across various applications related to data taking at the CMS experiment. It has been designed to be used during online data taking as well as during offline reconstruction. The goal of the online system is to monitor detector performance and identify problems very efficiently during data collection so that proper actions can be taken. On the other hand the reconstruction or calibration problems can be detected during offline processing using the same tool. The monitoring is performed with histograms, which are filled with information from raw and reconstructed data. All histograms can then be displayed both in the central CMS DQM graphical user interface (GUI), as well as in Tracker specific expert GUIs and socalled Tracker Maps. Applications are in place to further process the information from these basic histograms by summarizing them in overview plots, by evaluating them with automated statistica...

  10. Application of Hotelling’s T2 charts in monitoring quality parameters in a drinking water supply system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costa, Mafalda T.; Carolino, Elisabete; Oliveira, Teresa A.

    2015-01-01

    In water supply systems with distribution networkthe most critical aspects of control and Monitoring of water quality, which generates crises system, are the effects of cross-contamination originated by the network typology. The classics of control of quality systems through the application of Shewhart charts are generally difficult to manage in real time due to the high number of charts that must be completed and evaluated. As an alternative to the traditional control systems with Shewhart charts, this study aimed to apply a simplified methodology of a monitoring plan quality parameters in a drinking water distribution, by applying Hotelling’s T 2 charts and supplemented with Shewhart charts with Bonferroni limits system, whenever instabilities with processes were detected

  11. Spectral Band Characterization for Hyperspectral Monitoring of Water Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vermillion, Stephanie C.; Raqueno, Rolando; Simmons, Rulon

    2001-01-01

    A method for selecting the set of spectral characteristics that provides the smallest increase in prediction error is of interest to those using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) to monitor water quality. The spectral characteristics of interest to these applications are spectral bandwidth and location. Three water quality constituents of interest that are detectable via remote sensing are chlorophyll (CHL), total suspended solids (TSS), and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). Hyperspectral data provides a rich source of information regarding the content and composition of these materials, but often provides more data than an analyst can manage. This study addresses the spectral characteristics need for water quality monitoring for two reasons. First, determination of the greatest contribution of these spectral characteristics would greatly improve computational ease and efficiency. Second, understanding the spectral capabilities of different spectral resolutions and specific regions is an essential part of future system development and characterization. As new systems are developed and tested, water quality managers will be asked to determine sensor specifications that provide the most accurate and efficient water quality measurements. We address these issues using data from the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and a set of models to predict constituent concentrations.

  12. South Asia transboundary water quality monitoring workshop summary report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Betsill, Jeffrey David; Littlefield, Adriane C.; Luetters, Frederick O.; Rajen, Gaurav

    2003-04-01

    The Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) promotes collaborations among scientists and researchers in several regions as a means of achieving common regional security objectives. To promote cooperation in South Asia on environmental research, an international working group made up of participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and the United States convened in Kathmandu, Nepal, from February 17-23,2002. The workshop was held to further develop the South Asia Transboundary Water Quality Monitoring (SATWQM) project. The project is sponsored in part by the CMC located at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico through funding provided by the US. Department of State, Regional Environmental Affairs Office, American Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal, and the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Office of Nonproliferation and National Security. This report summarizes the SATWQM project, the workshop objectives, process and results. The long-term interests of the participants are to develop systems for sharing regional environmental information as a means of building confidence and improving relations among South Asian countries. The more immediate interests of the group are focused on activities that foster regional sharing of water quality data in the Ganges and Indus River basins. Issues of concern to the SATWQM network participants include studying the impacts from untreated sewage and industrial effluents, agricultural run-off, salinity increases in fresh waters, the siltation and shifting of river channels, and the environmental degradation of critical habitats such as wetlands, protected forests, and endangered aquatic species conservation areas. The workshop focused on five objectives: (1) a deepened understanding of the partner organizations involved; (2) garnering the support of additional regional and national government and non-government organizations in South Asia involved in river water quality monitoring; (3) identification

  13. Adventures in Citizen Science: Lessons learned engaging volunteer water quality monitors for over 30 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schloss, J. A.

    2012-12-01

    The New Hampshire Lakes Lay Monitoring Program was originally designed by faculty at the University of New Hampshire in 1979 to provide the capacity to better monitor for long-term lake water quality changes and trends. As participants became educated, empowered and engaged the program soon evolved to also become a participatory research enterprise. This resulted in not only providing useful information for informed local stewardship and protection at the local level but also for state and region-wide decision-making, state and federal assessments/reporting and advancing our understanding of lake and watershed science. Our successes and failures have been more dependent on understanding the particular human dimensions that influence our volunteers and less to do with the typical project management, quality assurance, and communication concerns we typically deal with in professional based research efforts. Our participants are extremely diverse in terms of their life experiences, interests and motivations so the key to long-term commitment and high quality participation is understanding the difference between a citizen monitor and your archetypical research technician or student. This presentation will highlight some important lessons learned on how to involve various types of volunteers from school groups to retirees, as well as particular approaches and concerns regarding program management, retention, quality control and communications.

  14. Fish product quality evaluation based on temperature monitoring in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    As one kind of perishable food, fish product is at risk of suffering various damages during cold chain and temperature is the most important factor to affect the product quality. This research work on frozen tilapia fillet was aimed at evaluating the fish product quality and predict shelf-life through monitoring temperature change ...

  15. Applications of continuous water quality monitoring techniques for more efficient water quality research and water resources management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rozemeijer, J.C.; Velde, Y. van der; Broers, H.P.; Geer, F. van

    2013-01-01

    Understanding and taking account of dynamics in water quality is essential for adequate water quality policy and management. In conventional regional surface water and upper groundwater quality monitoring, measurement frequencies are too low to capture the short-term dynamic behavior of solute

  16. A Novel Pseudo-PMOS Integrated ISFET Device for Water Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pawan Whig

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a performance analysis of novel CMOS Integrated pseudo-PMOS ISFET (PP-ISFET having zero static power dissipation. The main focus is on simulation of power and performance analysis along with the comparison with existing devices, which is used for water quality monitoring. The conventional devices, generally used, consume high power and are not stable for long term monitoring. The conventional device has the drawbacks of low value of slew rate, high power consumption, and nonlinear characteristics, but in this novel design, due to zero static power, less load capacitance on input signals, faster switching, fewer transistors, and higher circuit density, the device exhibits a better slew rate and piecewise linear characteristics and is seen consuming low power of the order of 30 mW. The proposed circuit reduces total power consumption per cycle, increases the speed of operation, is fairly linear, and is simple to implement.

  17. Quality Assurance Program Plan for radionuclide airborne emissions monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vance, L.M.

    1993-07-01

    This Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) describes the quality assurance requirements and responsibilities for radioactive airborne emissions measurements activities from regulated stacks are controlled at the Hanford Site. Detailed monitoring requirements apply to stacks exceeding 1% of the standard of 10 mrem annual effective dose equivalent to the maximally exposed individual from operations of the Hanford Site

  18. Quality Assurance Program Plan for radionuclide airborne emissions monitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vance, L.M.

    1993-07-01

    This Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) describes the quality assurance requirements and responsibilities for radioactive airborne emissions measurements activities from regulated stacks are controlled at the Hanford Site. Detailed monitoring requirements apply to stacks exceeding 1% of the standard of 10 mrem annual effective dose equivalent to the maximally exposed individual from operations of the Hanford Site.

  19. Industrial effluent quality, pollution monitoring and environmental management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Maqbool; Bajahlan, Ahmad S; Hammad, Waleed S

    2008-12-01

    Royal Commission Environmental Control Department (RC-ECD) at Yanbu industrial city in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has established a well-defined monitoring program to control the pollution from industrial effluents. The quality of effluent from each facility is monitored round the clock. Different strategic measures have been taken by the RC-ECD to implement the zero discharge policy of RC. Industries are required to pre-treat the effluent to conform pretreatment standards before discharging to central biological treatment plant. Industries are not allowed to discharge any treated or untreated effluent in open channels. After treatment, reclaimed water must have to comply with direct discharge standards before discharge to the sea. Data of industrial wastewater collected from five major industries and central industrial wastewater treatment plant (IWTP) is summarized in this report. During 5-year period, 3,705 samples were collected and analyzed for 43,436 parameters. There were 1,377 violations from pretreatment standards from all the industries. Overall violation percentage was 3.17%. Maximum violations were recorded from one of the petrochemical plants. The results show no significant pollution due to heavy metals. Almost all heavy metals were within RC pretreatment standards. High COD and TOC indicates that major pollution was due to hydrocarbons. Typical compounds identified by GC-MS were branched alkanes, branched alkenes, aliphatic ketones, substituted thiophenes, substituted phenols, aromatics and aromatic alcohols. Quality of treated water was also in compliance with RC direct discharge standards. In order to achieve the zero discharge goal, further studies and measures are in progress.

  20. Development and evaluation of a helicopter-borne water-quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, J. W.; Jordan, R. A.; Flynn, J.; Thomas, R. W.

    1978-01-01

    A small, helicopter-borne water-quality monitoring package is being developed by the NASA/EPA using a combination of basic in situ water quality sensors and physical sample collector technology. The package is a lightweight system which can be carried and operated by one person as a passenger in a small helicopter typically available by rental at commercial airports. Real-time measurements are made by suspending the water quality monitoring package with a cable from the hovering helicopter. Designed primarily for use in rapidly assessing hazardous material spills in inland and coastal zone water bodies, the system can survey as many as 20 data stations up to 1.5 kilometers apart in 1 hour. The system provides several channels of sensor data and allows for the addition of future sensors. The system will also collect samples from selected sites with sample collection on command. An EPA Spill Response Team member can easily transport, deploy, and operate the water quality monitoring package to determine the distribution, movement, and concentration of the spilled material in the water body.

  1. Monitoring system for the quality assessment in additive manufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carl, Volker, E-mail: carl@t-zfp.de [Carl Messtechnik, Thyssenstrasse 183a, 46535 Dinslaken (Germany)

    2015-03-31

    Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to a process by which a set of digital data -representing a certain complex 3dim design - is used to grow the respective 3dim real structure equal to the corresponding design. For the powder-based EOS manufacturing process a variety of plastic and metal materials can be used. Thereby, AM is in many aspects a very powerful tool as it can help to overcome particular limitations in conventional manufacturing. AM enables more freedom of design, complex, hollow and/or lightweight structures as well as product individualisation and functional integration. As such it is a promising approach with respect to the future design and manufacturing of complex 3dim structures. On the other hand, it certainly calls for new methods and standards in view of quality assessment. In particular, when utilizing AM for the design of complex parts used in aviation and aerospace technologies, appropriate monitoring systems are mandatory. In this respect, recently, sustainable progress has been accomplished by joining the common efforts and concerns of a manufacturer Additive Manufacturing systems and respective materials (EOS), along with those of an operator of such systems (MTU Aero Engines) and experienced application engineers (Carl Metrology), using decent know how in the field of optical and infrared methods regarding non-destructive-examination (NDE). The newly developed technology is best described by a high-resolution layer by layer inspection technique, which allows for a 3D tomography-analysis of the complex part at any time during the manufacturing process. Thereby, inspection costs are kept rather low by using smart image-processing methods as well as CMOS sensors instead of infrared detectors. Moreover, results from conventional physical metallurgy may easily be correlated with the predictive results of the monitoring system which not only allows for improvements of the AM monitoring system, but finally leads to an optimisation of the quality

  2. Monitoring the sensory quality of canned white asparagus through cluster analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arana, Inés; Ibañez, Francisco C; Torre, Paloma

    2016-05-01

    White asparagus is one of the 30 vegetables most consumed in the world. This paper unifies the stages of their sensory quality control. The aims of this work were to describe the sensory properties of canned white asparagus and their quality control and to evaluate the applicability of agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) for classifying and monitoring the sensory quality of manufacturers. Sixteen sensory descriptors and their evaluation technique were defined. The sensory profile of canned white asparagus was high flavor characteristic, little acidity and bitterness, medium firmness and very light fibrosity, among other characteristics. The dendrogram established groups of manufacturers that had similar scores in the same set of descriptors, and each cluster grouped the manufacturers that had a similar quality profile. The sensory profile of canned white asparagus was clearly defined through the intensity evaluation of 16 descriptors, and the sensory quality report provided to the manufacturers is in detail and of easy interpretation. AHC grouped the manufacturers according to the highest quality scores in certain descriptors and is a useful tool because it is very visual. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. Accuracy and Quality of Routine Immunisation Data Monitoring ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    TNHJOURNALPH

    Accuracy and Quality of Routine Immunisation Data Monitoring. System in two South-Eastern Districts of Nigeria. AkinolaAyoola Fatiregun, CeciliaAwogu. Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of. Medicine, University ofibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. ABSTRACT. BACKGROUND.

  4. A high-resolution mini-microscope system for wireless real-time monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zongjie; Boddeda, Akash; Parker, Benjamin; Samanipour, Roya; Ghosh, Sanjoy; Menard, Frederic; Kim, Keekyoung

    2017-09-04

    Compact, cost-effective and high-performance microscope that enables the real-time imaging of cells and lab-on-a-chip devices is highly demanded for cell biology and biomedical engineering. This paper aims to present the design and application of an inexpensive wireless mini-microscope with resolution up to 2592 × 1944 pixels and speed up to 90 fps. The mini-microscope system was built on a commercial embedded system (Raspberry Pi). We modified a camera module and adopted an inverse dual lens system to obtain the clear field of view and appropriate magnification for tens of micrometer objects. The system was capable of capturing time-lapse images and transferring image data wirelessly. The entire system can be operated wirelessly and cordlessly in a conventional cell culturing incubator. The developed mini-microscope was used to monitor the attachment and proliferation of NIH-3T3 and HEK 293 cells inside an incubator for 50 hours. In addition, the mini-microscope was used to monitor a droplet generation process in a microfluidic device. The high-quality images captured by the mini-microscope enabled us an automated analysis of experimental parameters. The successful applications prove the great potential of the developed mini-microscope for monitoring various biological samples and microfluidic devices. This paper presents the design of a high resolution mini-microscope system that enables the wireless real-time imaging of cells inside the incubator. This system has been verified to be a useful tool to obtain high-quality images and videos for the automated quantitative analysis of biological samples and lab-on-a-chip devices in the long term.

  5. International systems for harmonization and quality control by in vivo monitoring and quality control by in vivo monitoring of internal contamination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malatova, I [National Radiation Protection Inst., Prague (Czech Republic)

    1996-12-31

    After the Chernobyl accident, whole body counting for the monitoring of internal contamination of the population was widely used. In many cases, great discrepancy occurred between in vivo measured values and predicted ones from model calculations. This situation was very similar to the situation in environmental monitoring, however, by sample measurement, quality assurance and quality control of the measurement procedure is much easier than by whole body counting. In addition to it, unlike in environmental monitoring, use of semiconductor detectors by whole counting was rather limited in this time so there were few laboratories which were able to distinguish up to 20 radionuclides by which people from the vicinity of Chernobyl were internally contaminated. Therefore, effort was undertaken by many international organization to summarize current status of whole body counting and to estimate uncertainty and sensitivity of different devices. In this paper efforts to harmonize an interpretation of measured results is given. Whole body counting laboratory of the National Radiation Protection Institute (NRPI) in Prague participates in the above mentioned intercomparisons with good results and scientists from NRPI have participated in the preparation of 3 international recommendations concerning measurement of internal contamination (author).

  6. Quality assurance and quality control programme in use at the individual monitoring service of ITN-DPRSN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alves, J.G.; Novais, I.; Rangel, S.; Flores, E. [Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear, Dept. de Proteccao Radiologica e Seguranca Nuclear Estrada Nacional, Sacavem (Portugal)

    2006-07-01

    The Individual Monitoring Service (I.M.S.) of the Departamento de Proteccao Radiologica e Seguranca Nuclear (D.P.R.S.N.) at the Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear (I.T.N.) in Portugal operates a thermoluminescence dosimetry system to monitor approximately 3,000 workers for external radiation exposure on a monthly basis. The workers come from nearly 230 facilities in the medical, research and conventional industry fields of activity and almost 85% of the people monitored in 2005 are from medical facilities. The TLD system in use is based on two Harshaw 6600 automatic readers and on the Harshaw 8814 T.L. card and holder containing two detector elements of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) for the evaluation of Hp(10) and Hp(0.07). All the workers are monitored on a monthly basis using whole body dosemeters. The I.M.S. has implemented a Quality Assurance and Quality Control (Q.A./Q.C.) programme that covers all the aspects of monitoring, from the monitoring request of a customer to the final issue of a dose report. The main aspects of the Q.A./Q.C. programme implemented at the I.M.S. will be presented in this paper using fluxograms and schemes. Several issues will be addressed, e.g., administrative procedures, technical procedures, dealing with complaints, training of staff, etc. The relationship of the I.M.S. with external entities like the customer, the regulatory authority, the central dose registry, the calibration facility, suppliers, maintenance providers, etc. will be mentioned on the administrative procedures described as well as on the technical procedures where applicable. The main technical procedures will be presented in this paper and references will be made to a TLD Quality Control database internally developed and designed for the storage of important Q.C. parameters like the element correction coefficients, reader calibration factors, electronic quality control data generated on a daily basis, and the study of their evolution with time. (author)

  7. Quality assurance and quality control programme in use at the individual monitoring service of ITN-DPRSN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alves, J.G.; Novais, I.; Rangel, S.; Flores, E.

    2006-01-01

    The Individual Monitoring Service (I.M.S.) of the Departamento de Proteccao Radiologica e Seguranca Nuclear (D.P.R.S.N.) at the Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear (I.T.N.) in Portugal operates a thermoluminescence dosimetry system to monitor approximately 3,000 workers for external radiation exposure on a monthly basis. The workers come from nearly 230 facilities in the medical, research and conventional industry fields of activity and almost 85% of the people monitored in 2005 are from medical facilities. The TLD system in use is based on two Harshaw 6600 automatic readers and on the Harshaw 8814 T.L. card and holder containing two detector elements of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) for the evaluation of Hp(10) and Hp(0.07). All the workers are monitored on a monthly basis using whole body dosemeters. The I.M.S. has implemented a Quality Assurance and Quality Control (Q.A./Q.C.) programme that covers all the aspects of monitoring, from the monitoring request of a customer to the final issue of a dose report. The main aspects of the Q.A./Q.C. programme implemented at the I.M.S. will be presented in this paper using fluxograms and schemes. Several issues will be addressed, e.g., administrative procedures, technical procedures, dealing with complaints, training of staff, etc. The relationship of the I.M.S. with external entities like the customer, the regulatory authority, the central dose registry, the calibration facility, suppliers, maintenance providers, etc. will be mentioned on the administrative procedures described as well as on the technical procedures where applicable. The main technical procedures will be presented in this paper and references will be made to a TLD Quality Control database internally developed and designed for the storage of important Q.C. parameters like the element correction coefficients, reader calibration factors, electronic quality control data generated on a daily basis, and the study of their evolution with time. (author)

  8. Multileaf collimator performance monitoring and improvement using semiautomated quality control testing and statistical process control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Létourneau, Daniel; McNiven, Andrea; Keller, Harald; Wang, An; Amin, Md Nurul; Pearce, Jim; Norrlinger, Bernhard; Jaffray, David A.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: High-quality radiation therapy using highly conformal dose distributions and image-guided techniques requires optimum machine delivery performance. In this work, a monitoring system for multileaf collimator (MLC) performance, integrating semiautomated MLC quality control (QC) tests and statistical process control tools, was developed. The MLC performance monitoring system was used for almost a year on two commercially available MLC models. Control charts were used to establish MLC performance and assess test frequency required to achieve a given level of performance. MLC-related interlocks and servicing events were recorded during the monitoring period and were investigated as indicators of MLC performance variations. Methods: The QC test developed as part of the MLC performance monitoring system uses 2D megavoltage images (acquired using an electronic portal imaging device) of 23 fields to determine the location of the leaves with respect to the radiation isocenter. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was assessed by detecting the MLC leaf positions on 127 megavoltage images of a static field. After initial calibration, the MLC performance monitoring QC test was performed 3–4 times/week over a period of 10–11 months to monitor positional accuracy of individual leaves for two different MLC models. Analysis of test results was performed using individuals control charts per leaf with control limits computed based on the measurements as well as two sets of specifications of ±0.5 and ±1 mm. Out-of-specification and out-of-control leaves were automatically flagged by the monitoring system and reviewed monthly by physicists. MLC-related interlocks reported by the linear accelerator and servicing events were recorded to help identify potential causes of nonrandom MLC leaf positioning variations. Results: The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was within ±0.22 mm for most MLC leaves

  9. Multileaf collimator performance monitoring and improvement using semiautomated quality control testing and statistical process control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Létourneau, Daniel; Wang, An; Amin, Md Nurul; Pearce, Jim; McNiven, Andrea; Keller, Harald; Norrlinger, Bernhard; Jaffray, David A

    2014-12-01

    High-quality radiation therapy using highly conformal dose distributions and image-guided techniques requires optimum machine delivery performance. In this work, a monitoring system for multileaf collimator (MLC) performance, integrating semiautomated MLC quality control (QC) tests and statistical process control tools, was developed. The MLC performance monitoring system was used for almost a year on two commercially available MLC models. Control charts were used to establish MLC performance and assess test frequency required to achieve a given level of performance. MLC-related interlocks and servicing events were recorded during the monitoring period and were investigated as indicators of MLC performance variations. The QC test developed as part of the MLC performance monitoring system uses 2D megavoltage images (acquired using an electronic portal imaging device) of 23 fields to determine the location of the leaves with respect to the radiation isocenter. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was assessed by detecting the MLC leaf positions on 127 megavoltage images of a static field. After initial calibration, the MLC performance monitoring QC test was performed 3-4 times/week over a period of 10-11 months to monitor positional accuracy of individual leaves for two different MLC models. Analysis of test results was performed using individuals control charts per leaf with control limits computed based on the measurements as well as two sets of specifications of ± 0.5 and ± 1 mm. Out-of-specification and out-of-control leaves were automatically flagged by the monitoring system and reviewed monthly by physicists. MLC-related interlocks reported by the linear accelerator and servicing events were recorded to help identify potential causes of nonrandom MLC leaf positioning variations. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was within ± 0.22 mm for most MLC leaves and the majority of the

  10. Enhanced data validation strategy of air quality monitoring network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harkat, Mohamed-Faouzi; Mansouri, Majdi; Nounou, Mohamed; Nounou, Hazem

    2018-01-01

    Quick validation and detection of faults in measured air quality data is a crucial step towards achieving the objectives of air quality networks. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are threefold: (i) to develop a modeling technique that can be used to predict the normal behavior of air quality variables and help provide accurate reference for monitoring purposes; (ii) to develop fault detection method that can effectively and quickly detect any anomalies in measured air quality data. For this purpose, a new fault detection method that is based on the combination of generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) will be developed. GLRT is a well-known statistical fault detection method that relies on maximizing the detection probability for a given false alarm rate. In this paper, we propose to develop GLRT-based EWMA fault detection method that will be able to detect the changes in the values of certain air quality variables; (iii) to develop fault isolation and identification method that allows defining the fault source(s) in order to properly apply appropriate corrective actions. In this paper, reconstruction approach that is based on Midpoint-Radii Principal Component Analysis (MRPCA) model will be developed to handle the types of data and models associated with air quality monitoring networks. All air quality modeling, fault detection, fault isolation and reconstruction methods developed in this paper will be validated using real air quality data (such as particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen and carbon oxides measurement). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Developing a univariate approach to phase-I monitoring of fuzzy quality profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazem Noghondarian

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In many real-world applications, the quality of a process or a particular product can be characterized by a functional relationship called profile. A profile builds the relationships between a response quality characteristic and one or more explanatory variables. Monitoring the quality of a profile is implemented to understand and to verify the stability of this functional relationship over time. In some real applications, a fuzzy linear regression model can represent the profile adequately where the response quality characteristic is fuzzy. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach for monitoring process/product profiles in fuzzy environment. A model in fuzzy linear regression is developed to construct the quality profiles by using linear programming and then fuzzy individuals and moving-range (I-MR control charts are developed to monitor both intercept and slope of fuzzy profiles to achieve an in-control process. A case study in customer satisfaction is presented to show the application of our approach and to express the sensitivity analysis of parameters for building a fuzzy profile.

  12. Regional monitoring of temporal changes in groundwater quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broers, H.P.; Grift, B. van der

    2004-01-01

    Changes in agricultural practices are expected to affect groundwater quality by changing the loads of nutrients and salts in recharging groundwater, but regional monitoring networks installed to register the changes often fail to detect them and interpretation of trend analysis results is difficult.

  13. Application of Hotelling’s T{sup 2} charts in monitoring quality parameters in a drinking water supply system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Costa, Mafalda T., E-mail: mafaldatcosta@gmail.com [UAberta, Portugal and Ministry of Economy, Portuguese Government (Canada); Carolino, Elisabete, E-mail: lizcarolino@gmail.com [ESTeSL-IPL, Research Group Environment and Health of ESTeSL-IPL (Portugal); Oliveira, Teresa A., E-mail: teresa.oliveira@uab.pt [DCeT - Universidade Aberta, and Center of Statistics and Applications of University of Lisbon (Portugal)

    2015-03-10

    In water supply systems with distribution networkthe most critical aspects of control and Monitoring of water quality, which generates crises system, are the effects of cross-contamination originated by the network typology. The classics of control of quality systems through the application of Shewhart charts are generally difficult to manage in real time due to the high number of charts that must be completed and evaluated. As an alternative to the traditional control systems with Shewhart charts, this study aimed to apply a simplified methodology of a monitoring plan quality parameters in a drinking water distribution, by applying Hotelling’s T{sup 2} charts and supplemented with Shewhart charts with Bonferroni limits system, whenever instabilities with processes were detected.

  14. Quality assurance in individual monitoring of ionizing radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Julius, H.W.

    1988-01-01

    In todays world, where competition gets tougher, there is a growing consciousness of Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) being key elements to success. This does not only apply o manufacturing of industrial products, it is equally true for public services. Because of the increasing awareness in our modern societies of the quality of life and hence of optimal health care and general safety, it is also the general public that calls for 'products' of the highest possible quality. Good examples of the latter are the continuously improving safety standards for automobiles, for medical diagnostic imaging and for the working environment. Therefore, QA unquestionably plays a vital role in individual monitoring of ionizing radiation, especially since the media talked so many into some sort of radiation phobia. In the following an attempt is made to roughly outline some aspects that may come into play if QA is applied to routine personnel dosimetry. The author wants to emphasize that the subject, which has hardly been dealt with in the professional literature on radiation dosimetry, is a rather 'soft' one. There may be a large number of different approaches to QA, depending on special local situations and individual - sometimes national - views. It should therefore be considered as a general guide, provided in the form of (check)lists containing items of interest in routine monitoring

  15. Smart sensors for real-time water quality monitoring

    CERN Document Server

    Mason, Alex

    2013-01-01

    Sensors are being utilised to increasing degrees in all forms of industry.  Researchers and industrial practitioners in all fields seek to obtain a better understanding of appropriate processes so as to improve quality of service and efficiency.  The quality of water is no exception, and the water industry is faced with a wide array of water quality issues being present world-wide.  Thus, the need for sensors to tackle this diverse subject is paramount.  The aim of this book is to combine, for the first time, international expertise in the area of water quality monitoring using smart sensors and systems in order that a better understanding of the challenges faced and solutions posed may be available to all in a single text.

  16. Generating high gray-level resolution monochrome displays with conventional computer graphics cards and color monitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiangrui; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Xu, Pengjing; Jin, Jianzhong; Zhou, Yifeng

    2003-11-30

    Display systems based on conventional computer graphics cards are capable of generating images with about 8-bit luminance resolution. However, most vision experiments require more than 12 bits of luminance resolution. Pelli and Zhang [Spatial Vis. 10 (1997) 443] described a video attenuator for generating high luminance resolution displays on a monochrome monitor, or for driving just the green gun of a color monitor. Here we show how to achieve a white display by adding video amplifiers to duplicate the monochrome signal to drive all three guns of any color monitor. Because of the lack of the availability of high quality monochrome monitors, our method provides an inexpensive way to achieve high-resolution monochromatic displays using conventional, easy-to-get equipment. We describe the design principles, test results, and a few additional functionalities.

  17. Processing and Quality Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter Data

    CERN Document Server

    Burghgrave, Blake; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    We present an overview of Data Processing and Data Quality (DQ) Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter. Calibration runs are monitored from a data quality perspective and used as a cross-check for physics runs. Data quality in physics runs is monitored extensively and continuously. Any problems are reported and immediately investigated. The DQ efficiency achieved was 99.6% in 2012 and 100% in 2015, after the detector maintenance in 2013-2014. Changes to detector status or calibrations are entered into the conditions database during a brief calibration loop between when a run ends and bulk processing begins. Bulk processed data is reviewed and certified for the ATLAS Good Run List if no problem is detected. Experts maintain the tools used by DQ shifters and the calibration teams during normal operation, and prepare new conditions for data reprocessing and MC production campaigns. Conditions data are stored in 3 databases: Online DB, Offline DB for data and a special DB for Monte Carlo. Database upd...

  18. Processing and Quality Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter Data

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00354209; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    An overview is presented of Data Processing and Data Quality (DQ) Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter. Calibration runs are monitored from a data quality perspective and used as a cross-check for physics runs. Data quality in physics runs is monitored extensively and continuously. Any problems are reported and immediately investigated. The DQ efficiency achieved was 99.6% in 2012 and 100% in 2015, after the detector maintenance in 2013-2014. Changes to detector status or calibrations are entered into the conditions database (DB) during a brief calibration loop between the end of a run and the beginning of bulk processing of data collected in it. Bulk processed data are reviewed and certified for the ATLAS Good Run List if no problem is detected. Experts maintain the tools used by DQ shifters and the calibration teams during normal operation, and prepare new conditions for data reprocessing and Monte Carlo (MC) production campaigns. Conditions data are stored in 3 databases: Online DB, Offline D...

  19. Design, Certification, and Deployment of the Colorimetric Water Quality Monitoring Kit (CWQMK)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gazda, Daniel B.; Nolan, Daniel J.; Rutz, Jeff A.; Schultz, John R.; Siperko, Lorraine M.; Porter, Marc D.; Lipert, Robert J.; Flint, Stephanie M.; McCoy, J. Torin

    2010-01-01

    In August 2009, an experimental water quality monitoring kit based on Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (CSPE) technology was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard STS-128/17A. The kit, called the Colorimetric Water Quality Monitoring Kit (CWQMK), was flown and deployed as a Station Development Test Objective (SDTO) experiment on the ISS. The goal of the SDTO experiment is to evaluate the acceptability of CSPE technology for routine water quality monitoring on the ISS. This paper provides an overview of the SDTO experiment, as well as a detailed description of the CWQMK hardware and a summary of the testing and analysis conducted to certify the CWQMK for use on the ISS. The initial results obtained from the SDTO experiment are also reported and discussed in detail

  20. Experiences and recommendations in deploying a real-time, water quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Flynn, B.; Regan, F.; Lawlor, A.; Wallace, J.; Torres, J.; O'Mathuna, C.

    2010-12-01

    Monitoring of water quality at a river basin level to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) using conventional sampling and laboratory-based techniques poses a significant financial burden. Wireless sensing systems offer the potential to reduce these costs considerably, as well as provide more useful, continuous monitoring capabilities by giving an accurate idea of the changing environmental and water quality in real time. It is unlikely that the traditional spot/grab sampling will provide a reasonable estimate of the true maximum and/or mean concentration for a particular physicochemical variable in a water body with marked temporal variability. When persistent fluctuations occur, it is likely only to be detected through continuous measurements, which have the capability of detecting sporadic peaks of concentration. Thus, in situ sensors capable of continuous sampling of parameters required under the WFD would therefore provide more up-to-date information, cut monitoring costs and provide better coverage representing long-term trends in fluctuations of pollutant concentrations. DEPLOY is a technology demonstration project, which began planning and station selection and design in August 2008 aiming to show how state-of-the-art technology could be implemented for cost-effective, continuous and real-time monitoring of a river catchment. The DEPLOY project is seen as an important building block in the realization of a wide area autonomous network of sensors capable of monitoring the spatial and temporal distribution of important water quality and environmental target parameters. The demonstration sites chosen are based in the River Lee, which flows through Ireland's second largest city, Cork, and were designed to include monitoring stations in five zones considered typical of significant river systems--these monitor water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, depth, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. Over one million data points

  1. Experiences and recommendations in deploying a real-time, water quality monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Flynn, B; O'Mathuna, C; Regan, F; Lawlor, A; Wallace, J; Torres, J

    2010-01-01

    Monitoring of water quality at a river basin level to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) using conventional sampling and laboratory-based techniques poses a significant financial burden. Wireless sensing systems offer the potential to reduce these costs considerably, as well as provide more useful, continuous monitoring capabilities by giving an accurate idea of the changing environmental and water quality in real time. It is unlikely that the traditional spot/grab sampling will provide a reasonable estimate of the true maximum and/or mean concentration for a particular physicochemical variable in a water body with marked temporal variability. When persistent fluctuations occur, it is likely only to be detected through continuous measurements, which have the capability of detecting sporadic peaks of concentration. Thus, in situ sensors capable of continuous sampling of parameters required under the WFD would therefore provide more up-to-date information, cut monitoring costs and provide better coverage representing long-term trends in fluctuations of pollutant concentrations. DEPLOY is a technology demonstration project, which began planning and station selection and design in August 2008 aiming to show how state-of-the-art technology could be implemented for cost-effective, continuous and real-time monitoring of a river catchment. The DEPLOY project is seen as an important building block in the realization of a wide area autonomous network of sensors capable of monitoring the spatial and temporal distribution of important water quality and environmental target parameters. The demonstration sites chosen are based in the River Lee, which flows through Ireland's second largest city, Cork, and were designed to include monitoring stations in five zones considered typical of significant river systems-–these monitor water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, depth, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. Over one million data

  2. Online data quality monitoring system at BES Ⅲ

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Xiaodong; Hu Jifeng; Zhao Haisheng; Ji Xiaobin; Wang Yifang; Liu Beijiang; Zheng Yangheng

    2012-01-01

    The online Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) tool plays an important role in the data recording process of HEP experiments. The BES Ⅲ DQM collects data from the online data flow, reconstructs them with offline reconstruction software and automatically analyzes the reconstructed data with user-defined algorithms. The DQM software is a scalable distributed system. The monitored results are gathered and displayed in various formats, which provides the shifter with current run information that can be used to identify problems quickly. This paper gives an overview of the DQM system at BES Ⅲ. (authors)

  3. Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (CSPE): Using Color to Monitor Spacecraft Water Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gazda, Daniel B.; Nolan, Daniel J.; Rutz, Jeffrey A.; Schultz, John R.; Siperko, Lorraine M.; Porter, Marc D.; Lipert, Robert J.; Flint, Stephanie M.; McCoy, J. Torin

    2010-01-01

    presence of high levels of iodine in water can cause taste and odor issues that result in decreased water consumption by the crew. There are also concerns about potential impacts on thyroid function following exposure to high levels of iodine. With silver, there is a risk of developing argyria, an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of the skin, associated with long term consumption of water containing high concentrations of silver. The need to ensure that safe, effective levels of biocide are maintained in the potable water systems on the ISS provides a perfect platform for evaluating the suitability of CSPE technology for in-flight water quality monitoring. This paper provides an overview of CSPE technology and details on the silver and iodine methods used in the CWQMK. It also reports results obtained during in-flight analyses performed with the CWQMK and briefly discusses other potential applications for CSPE technology in both the spacecraft and terrestrial environments.

  4. Air Qualitymonitoring and modelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius DEACONU

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Air pollution is a major concern for all nations, regardless of their development. The rapid growth of the industrial sector and urban development have lead to significant quantities of substances and toxic materials, mostly discharged into the atmosphere and having adverse effects both on human health and environment in general. Human society has to recognize that environment has only a limited capacity to process all of its waste without major changes. Each of us is a pollutant but also a victim of pollution. If monitoring of air pollutants is particularly important for assessing the air quality at any moment, by modelling the monitoring data spectacular results are obtained both through the factor analysis and identification of potential pollution mitigation measures. Latest equipment and techniques come and support these problems giving medium and long term solutions.

  5. New Brunswick air quality monitoring results for the year 2007 : executive summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    Air quality has been monitored in New Brunswick since the 1960s. This report summarized air quality results for general public information, with emphasis on air quality assessment in relation to existing air quality standards and objectives. Long-term trend data were also presented for representative sites. Air contaminants currently covered by provincial objectives were measured at 59 sites across the province during 2007. Acid rain was measured at 13 additional sites. Some locations were monitored for volatile organic compounds and mercury in air. Quality assurance procedures used in the provincial air quality system were also described. The report revealed that there were no exceedances of New Brunswick air quality objectives for nitrogen dioxide or carbon monoxide at any of the provincial monitoring sites in 2007. In many instances, exceedances for ozone, total reduced sulphur, fine particulate matter and total volatile organic compound concentrations were lower in 2007 than in 2006. Air quality trends indicate that since the late 1970s and 1980s, air quality has improved for all pollutants currently being measured, with the possible exception of ground level ozone. Annual average levels of sulphur dioxide have decreased significantly over the past 15-20 years. The long term levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide have also decreased. Acid deposition has declined since the early 1990s, but its effects continue to be of concern in the province. In 2007, sulphate in precipitation was moderately lower than in 2006.

  6. AFRRI TRIGA Reactor water quality monitoring program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, Mark; George, Robert; Spence, Harry; Nguyen, John

    1992-01-01

    AFRRI has started a water quality monitoring program to provide base line data for early detection of tank leaks. This program revealed problems with growth of algae and bacteria in the pool as a result of contamination with nitrogenous matter. Steps have been taken to reduce the nitrogen levels and to kill and remove algae and bacteria from the reactor pool. (author)

  7. Fenceline water quality monitoring of effluents from BARC establishment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prathibha, P.; Kothai, P.; Saradhi, I.V.; Pandit, G.G.; Puranik, V.D.

    2007-01-01

    Wastewater generated from various sources (industrial, residential, rain water runoff etc.,) is either discharged into water bodies or reused/recycled for various purposes. Continuous monitoring of the wastewater is necessary to check whether these effluents are meeting the stringent limits proposed for discharge into water bodies or recycled/reused. Monitoring of these effluents also helps in designing the wastewater treatment system required to meet the standards. In this paper, water quality monitoring carried out during each quarter of the year 2005 for the effluents discharged from different utilities of BARC into Trombay bay is presented. The results indicate that the Bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) are in the range of 7.9 to 38.9 mg/l and 29.4 to 78.9 mg/l respectively. The nitrates and sulphates are in the range of 0.5 to 7.2 mg/l and 7.8 to 52.3 mg/l respectively. The water quality data of the parameters analyzed are well within the limits stipulated by Central Pollution Control Board. (author)

  8. Comparison of Calibration Techniques for Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malings, C.; Ramachandran, S.; Tanzer, R.; Kumar, S. P. N.; Hauryliuk, A.; Zimmerman, N.; Presto, A. A.

    2017-12-01

    Assessing the intra-city spatial distribution and temporal variability of air quality can be facilitated by a dense network of monitoring stations. However, the cost of implementing such a network can be prohibitive if high-quality but high-cost monitoring systems are used. To this end, the Real-time Affordable Multi-Pollutant (RAMP) sensor package has been developed at the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies of Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with SenSevere LLC. This self-contained unit can measure up to five gases out of CO, SO2, NO, NO2, O3, VOCs, and CO2, along with temperature and relative humidity. Responses of individual gas sensors can vary greatly even when exposed to the same ambient conditions. Those of VOC sensors in particular were observed to vary by a factor-of-8, which suggests that each sensor requires its own calibration model. To this end, we apply and compare two different calibration methods to data collected by RAMP sensors collocated with a reference monitor station. The first method, random forest (RF) modeling, is a rule-based method which maps sensor responses to pollutant concentrations by implementing a trained sequence of decision rules. RF modeling has previously been used for other RAMP gas sensors by the group, and has produced precise calibrated measurements. However, RF models can only predict pollutant concentrations within the range observed in the training data collected during the collocation period. The second method, Gaussian process (GP) modeling, is a probabilistic Bayesian technique whereby broad prior estimates of pollutant concentrations are updated using sensor responses to generate more refined posterior predictions, as well as allowing predictions beyond the range of the training data. The accuracy and precision of these techniques are assessed and compared on VOC data collected during the summer of 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA. By combining pollutant data gathered by each RAMP sensor and applying

  9. Satellite remote sensing for modeling and monitoring of water quality in the Great Lakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coffield, S. R.; Crosson, W. L.; Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Barik, M. G.

    2017-12-01

    Consistent and accurate monitoring of the Great Lakes is critical for protecting the freshwater ecosystems, quantifying the impacts of climate change, understanding harmful algal blooms, and safeguarding public health for the millions who rely on the Lakes for drinking water. While ground-based monitoring is often hampered by limited sampling resolution, satellite data provide surface reflectance measurements at much more complete spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we implemented NASA data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua satellite to build robust water quality models. We developed and validated models for chlorophyll-a, nitrogen, phosphorus, and turbidity based on combinations of the six MODIS Ocean Color bands (412, 443, 488, 531, 547, and 667nm) for 2003-2016. Second, we applied these models to quantify trends in water quality through time and in relation to changing land cover, runoff, and climate for six selected coastal areas in Lakes Michigan and Erie. We found strongest models for chlorophyll-a in Lake Huron (R2 = 0.75), nitrogen in Lake Ontario (R2=0.66), phosphorus in Lake Erie (R2=0.60), and turbidity in Lake Erie (R2=0.86). These offer improvements over previous efforts to model chlorophyll-a while adding nitrogen, phosphorus, and turbidity. Mapped water quality parameters showed high spatial variability, with nitrogen concentrated largely in Superior and coastal Michigan and high turbidity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll near urban and agricultural areas of Erie. Temporal analysis also showed concurrence of high runoff or precipitation and nitrogen in Lake Michigan offshore of wetlands, suggesting that water quality in these areas is sensitive to changes in climate.

  10. Volunteer Macroinvertebrate Monitoring: Tensions Among Group Goals, Data Quality, and Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nerbonne, Julia Frost; Nelson, Kristen C.

    2008-09-01

    Volunteer monitoring of natural resources is promoted for its ability to increase public awareness, to provide valuable knowledge, and to encourage policy change that promotes ecosystem health. We used the case of volunteer macroinvertebrate monitoring (VMM) in streams to investigate whether the quality of data collected is correlated with data use and organizers’ perception of whether they have achieved these outcomes. We examined the relation between site and group characteristics, data quality, data use, and perceived outcomes (education, social capital, and policy change). We found that group size and the degree to which citizen groups perform tasks on their own (rather than aided by professionals) positively correlated with the quality of data collected. Group size and number of years monitoring positively influenced whether a group used their data. While one might expect that groups committed to collecting good-quality data would be more likely to use it, there was no relation between data quality and data use, and no relation between data quality and perceived outcomes. More data use was, however, correlated with a group’s feeling of connection to a network of engaged citizens and professionals. While VMM may hold promise for bringing citizens and scientists together to work on joint conservation agendas, our data illustrate that data quality does not correlate with a volunteer group’s desire to use their data to promote regulatory change. Therefore, we encourage scientists and citizens alike to recognize this potential disconnect and strive to be explicit about the role of data in conservation efforts.

  11. MONITORING OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY QUALITY ON THE TRACTION SUBSTATION INPUT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.G. Gryb

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available For the implementation of measures to maintain the quality of the energy industrial enterprises have to spend a significant material and monetary assets. In this regard, significant is the feasibility study of the allocation of such funds and, primarily, the determination of the economic damage arising from low quality of electricity. The reliability of the electricity metering system, relay protection and automation of modern digital substations depends on the quality of electrical energy. At the present time to improve the reliability of the substation operation it is necessary to monitor indicators of quality of electric energy, allowing you to take organizational and technical solutions for their improvement. Monitoring the power quality at the input traction substation has shown that indicators such as the coefficient of the n-th harmonic component of the voltage does not meet the standards GOST 13109-97. The source of higher harmonics is a voltage Converter used on the locomotive. To eliminate higher harmonics in the supply network for traction substations will need to install power filters. Today, the USB-analyzer of power quality «Digital measurement system of power quality» type of CSICE of accuracy class 0.2. Work energy requires reliable and quality electricity supply to consumers. The new model of balancing energy market are bilateral contracts. The main task of this market, it ensure the stable and reliable operation of the unified energy system of Ukraine, that is, transmission and supply of electricity of appropriate quality.

  12. Assessment and rationalization of water quality monitoring network: a multivariate statistical approach to the Kabbini River (India).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mavukkandy, Musthafa Odayooth; Karmakar, Subhankar; Harikumar, P S

    2014-09-01

    The establishment of an efficient surface water quality monitoring (WQM) network is a critical component in the assessment, restoration and protection of river water quality. A periodic evaluation of monitoring network is mandatory to ensure effective data collection and possible redesigning of existing network in a river catchment. In this study, the efficacy and appropriateness of existing water quality monitoring network in the Kabbini River basin of Kerala, India is presented. Significant multivariate statistical techniques like principal component analysis (PCA) and principal factor analysis (PFA) have been employed to evaluate the efficiency of the surface water quality monitoring network with monitoring stations as the evaluated variables for the interpretation of complex data matrix of the river basin. The main objective is to identify significant monitoring stations that must essentially be included in assessing annual and seasonal variations of river water quality. Moreover, the significance of seasonal redesign of the monitoring network was also investigated to capture valuable information on water quality from the network. Results identified few monitoring stations as insignificant in explaining the annual variance of the dataset. Moreover, the seasonal redesign of the monitoring network through a multivariate statistical framework was found to capture valuable information from the system, thus making the network more efficient. Cluster analysis (CA) classified the sampling sites into different groups based on similarity in water quality characteristics. The PCA/PFA identified significant latent factors standing for different pollution sources such as organic pollution, industrial pollution, diffuse pollution and faecal contamination. Thus, the present study illustrates that various multivariate statistical techniques can be effectively employed in sustainable management of water resources. The effectiveness of existing river water quality monitoring

  13. A Low-Cost Sensing System for Cooperative Air Quality Monitoring in Urban Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Brienza

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Air quality in urban areas is a very important topic as it closely affects the health of citizens. Recent studies highlight that the exposure to polluted air can increase the incidence of diseases and deteriorate the quality of life. Hence, it is necessary to develop tools for real-time air quality monitoring, so as to allow appropriate and timely decisions. In this paper, we present uSense, a low-cost cooperative monitoring tool that allows knowing, in real-time, the concentrations of polluting gases in various areas of the city. Specifically, users monitor the areas of their interest by deploying low-cost and low-power sensor nodes. In addition, they can share the collected data following a social networking approach. uSense has been tested through an in-field experimentation performed in different areas of a city. The obtained results are in line with those provided by the local environmental control authority and show that uSense can be profitably used for air quality monitoring.

  14. Setting standards and monitoring quality in the NHS 1999-2013: a classic case of goal conflict.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Littlejohns, Peter; Knight, Alec; Littlejohns, Anna; Poole, Tara-Lynn; Kieslich, Katharina

    2017-04-01

    2013 saw the National Health Service (NHS) in England severely criticized for providing poor quality despite successive governments in the previous 15 years, establishing a range of new institutions to improve NHS quality. This study seeks to understand the contributions of political and organizational influences in enabling the NHS to deliver high-quality care through exploring the experiences of two of the major new organizations established to set standards and monitor NHS quality. We used a mixed method approach: first a cross-sectional, in-depth qualitative interview study and then the application of principal agent modeling (Waterman and Meier broader framework). Ten themes were identified as influencing the functioning of the NHS regulatory institutions: socio-political environment; governance and accountability; external relationships; clarity of purpose; organizational reputation; leadership and management; organizational stability; resources; organizational methods; and organizational performance. The organizations could be easily mapped onto the framework, and their transience between the different states could be monitored. We concluded that differing policy objectives for NHS quality monitoring resulted in central involvement and organizational change. This had a disruptive effect on the ability of the NHS to monitor quality. Constant professional leadership, both clinical and managerial, and basing decisions on best evidence, both technical and organizational, helped one institution to deliver on its remit, even within a changing political/policy environment. Application of the Waterman-Meier framework enabled an understanding and description of the dynamic relationship between central government and organizations in the NHS and may predict when tensions will arise in the future. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health

  15. Robowell: An automated process for monitoring ground water quality using established sampling protocols

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granato, G.E.; Smith, K.P.

    1999-01-01

    Robowell is an automated process for monitoring selected ground water quality properties and constituents by pumping a well or multilevel sampler. Robowell was developed and tested to provide a cost-effective monitoring system that meets protocols expected for manual sampling. The process uses commercially available electronics, instrumentation, and hardware, so it can be configured to monitor ground water quality using the equipment, purge protocol, and monitoring well design most appropriate for the monitoring site and the contaminants of interest. A Robowell prototype was installed on a sewage treatment plant infiltration bed that overlies a well-studied unconfined sand and gravel aquifer at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during a time when two distinct plumes of constituents were released. The prototype was operated from May 10 to November 13, 1996, and quality-assurance/quality-control measurements demonstrated that the data obtained by the automated method was equivalent to data obtained by manual sampling methods using the same sampling protocols. Water level, specific conductance, pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and dissolved ammonium were monitored by the prototype as the wells were purged according to U.S Geological Survey (USGS) ground water sampling protocols. Remote access to the data record, via phone modem communications, indicated the arrival of each plume over a few days and the subsequent geochemical reactions over the following weeks. Real-time availability of the monitoring record provided the information needed to initiate manual sampling efforts in response to changes in measured ground water quality, which proved the method and characterized the screened portion of the plume in detail through time. The methods and the case study described are presented to document the process for future use.

  16. Water Quality & Pollutant Source Monitoring: Field and Laboratory Procedures. Training Manual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Office of Water Program Operations (EPA), Cincinnati, OH. National Training and Operational Technology Center.

    This training manual presents material on techniques and instrumentation used to develop data in field monitoring programs and related laboratory operations concerned with water quality and pollution monitoring. Topics include: collection and handling of samples; bacteriological, biological, and chemical field and laboratory methods; field…

  17. A new method for wafer quality monitoring using semiconductor process big data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sohn, Younghoon; Lee, Hyun; Yang, Yusin; Jun, Chungsam

    2017-03-01

    In this paper we proposed a new semiconductor quality monitoring methodology - Process Sensor Log Analysis (PSLA) - using process sensor data for the detection of wafer defectivity and quality monitoring. We developed exclusive key parameter selection algorithm and user friendly system which is able to handle large amount of big data very effectively. Several production wafers were selected and analyzed based on the risk analysis of process driven defects, for example alignment quality of process layers. Thickness of spin-coated material can be measured using PSLA without conventional metrology process. In addition, chip yield impact was verified by matching key parameter changes with electrical die sort (EDS) fail maps at the end of the production step. From this work, we were able to determine that process robustness and product yields could be improved by monitoring the key factors in the process big data.

  18. Diatom-based water quality monitoring in southern Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The purpose of this review is to summarise the challenges and future prospects associated with biological water quality monitoring using diatoms with special focus on southern Africa. Much work still needs to be carried out on diatom tolerances, ecological preferences and ecophysiology. It is recommended that past ...

  19. Understanding Local Ecology: Syllabus for Monitoring Water Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iowa Univ., Iowa City.

    This syllabus gives detailed information on monitoring water quality for teachers and students. It tells how to select a sample site; how to measure physical characteristics such as temperature, turbidity, and stream velocity; how to measure chemical parameters such as alkalinity, dissolved oxygen levels, phosphate levels, and ammonia nitrogen…

  20. Physical soil quality indicators for monitoring British soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corstanje, Ron; Mercer, Theresa G.; Rickson, Jane R.; Deeks, Lynda K.; Newell-Price, Paul; Holman, Ian; Kechavarsi, Cedric; Waine, Toby W.

    2017-09-01

    Soil condition or quality determines its ability to deliver a range of functions that support ecosystem services, human health and wellbeing. The increasing policy imperative to implement successful soil monitoring programmes has resulted in the demand for reliable soil quality indicators (SQIs) for physical, biological and chemical soil properties. The selection of these indicators needs to ensure that they are sensitive and responsive to pressure and change, e.g. they change across space and time in relation to natural perturbations and land management practices. Using a logical sieve approach based on key policy-related soil functions, this research assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of British soils in terms of their capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The resultant prioritised list of physical SQIs was tested for robustness, spatial and temporal variability, and expected rate of change using statistical analysis and modelling. Seven SQIs were prioritised: soil packing density, soil water retention characteristics, aggregate stability, rate of soil erosion, depth of soil, soil structure (assessed by visual soil evaluation) and soil sealing. These all have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy and are appropriate for implementation in soil monitoring programmes.

  1. Physical soil quality indicators for monitoring British soils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Corstanje

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Soil condition or quality determines its ability to deliver a range of functions that support ecosystem services, human health and wellbeing. The increasing policy imperative to implement successful soil monitoring programmes has resulted in the demand for reliable soil quality indicators (SQIs for physical, biological and chemical soil properties. The selection of these indicators needs to ensure that they are sensitive and responsive to pressure and change, e.g. they change across space and time in relation to natural perturbations and land management practices. Using a logical sieve approach based on key policy-related soil functions, this research assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of British soils in terms of their capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The resultant prioritised list of physical SQIs was tested for robustness, spatial and temporal variability, and expected rate of change using statistical analysis and modelling. Seven SQIs were prioritised: soil packing density, soil water retention characteristics, aggregate stability, rate of soil erosion, depth of soil, soil structure (assessed by visual soil evaluation and soil sealing. These all have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy and are appropriate for implementation in soil monitoring programmes.

  2. False alarm reduction in BSN-based cardiac monitoring using signal quality and activity type information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanantong, Tanatorn; Nantajeewarawat, Ekawit; Thiemjarus, Surapa

    2015-02-09

    False alarms in cardiac monitoring affect the quality of medical care, impacting on both patients and healthcare providers. In continuous cardiac monitoring using wireless Body Sensor Networks (BSNs), the quality of ECG signals can be deteriorated owing to several factors, e.g., noises, low battery power, and network transmission problems, often resulting in high false alarm rates. In addition, body movements occurring from activities of daily living (ADLs) can also create false alarms. This paper presents a two-phase framework for false arrhythmia alarm reduction in continuous cardiac monitoring, using signals from an ECG sensor and a 3D accelerometer. In the first phase, classification models constructed using machine learning algorithms are used for labeling input signals. ECG signals are labeled with heartbeat types and signal quality levels, while 3D acceleration signals are labeled with ADL types. In the second phase, a rule-based expert system is used for combining classification results in order to determine whether arrhythmia alarms should be accepted or suppressed. The proposed framework was validated on datasets acquired using BSNs and the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. For the BSN dataset, acceleration and ECG signals were collected from 10 young and 10 elderly subjects while they were performing ADLs. The framework reduced the false alarm rate from 9.58% to 1.43% in our experimental study, showing that it can potentially assist physicians in diagnosing a vast amount of data acquired from wireless sensors and enhance the performance of continuous cardiac monitoring.

  3. Automatised data quality monitoring of the LHCb Vertex Locator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bel, L.; Crocombe, A. Ch.; Gersabeck, M.; Pearce, A.; Majewski, M.; Szumlak, T.

    2017-10-01

    The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip semiconductor detector operating at just 8mm distance to the LHC beams. Its 172,000 strips are read at a frequency of 1.1 MHz and processed by off-detector FPGAs followed by a PC cluster that reduces the event rate to about 10 kHz. During the second run of the LHC, which lasts from 2015 until 2018, the detector performance will undergo continued change due to radiation damage effects. This necessitates a detailed monitoring of the data quality to avoid adverse effects on the physics analysis performance. The VELO monitoring infrastructure has been re-designed compared to the first run of the LHC when it was based on manual checks. The new system is based around an automatic analysis framework, which monitors the performance of new data as well as long-term trends and using dedicated algorithms flags issues whenever they arise. The new analysis framework then analyses the plots that are produced by these algorithms. One of its tasks is to perform custom comparisons between the newly processed data and that from reference runs. The most-likely scenario in which this analysis would identify an issue is the parameters of the readout electronics no longer being optimal and requiring retuning. The data of the monitoring plots can be reduced further, e.g. by evaluating averages, and these quantities are input to long-term trending. This is used to detect slow variation of quantities, which are not detectable by the comparison of two nearby runs. Such gradual change is what is expected due to radiation damage effects. It is essential to detect these changes early such that measures can be taken, e.g. adjustments of the operating voltage, to prevent any impact on the quality of high-level quantities and thus on physics analyses. The plots as well as the analysis results and trends are made available through graphical user interfaces (GUIs). These GUIs are dynamically configured by a single configuration that determines the

  4. Quality assurance monitoring during nuclear fuel production in JSC 'TVEL'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filimonov, G.; Tchirkov, V.

    2000-01-01

    The paper describes Quality Assurance (QA) monitoring during fabrication of nuclear fuel in Russian Federation. Joint Stock Company 'TVEL', natural state monopoly of the type of holding that fabricates and supplies nuclear fuel for the NPPs of Russia, CIS and Europe, incorporates the major enterprises of the nuclear fuel cycle including JSC 'Mashinostroitelny zavod', Electrostal (fabrication of fuel pellets, rods and assemblies for different types of reactors), JSC 'Novosibirsky zavod khimconcentratov', Novosibirsk (fabrication of fuel rods and assemblies for WWER-440 and WWER-1000), JSC 'Tchepetsky mechanitchesky zavod', Tchepetsk (fabrication of Zr tubing). Monitoring of QA is an important element of Quality Management System (QMS) developed and implemented at the above-mentioned enterprises of the JSC 'TVEL' and it is performed on three levels including external and internal audits and author's supervision. Paper also describes short- and long-term policies of the JSC 'TVEL' in nuclear fuel quality field. (author)

  5. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual Summary for 2007

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kemp, K.; Ellemann, T.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.; Solvang Jensen, S.

    2008-07-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2007 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. Model calculations were also carried out to supplement the measurements. At several stations NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} were found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. The concentrations for most pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, however, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2} and O{sub 3}. (au)

  6. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2008

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kemp, K.; Ellemann, T.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.; Solvang Jensen, S.

    2010-06-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2007 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. Model calculations were also carried out to supplement the measurements. At several stations NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} were found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. The concentrations for most pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, however, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2} and O{sub 3}. (author)

  7. Data mining methods for quality assurance in an environmental monitoring network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Athanasiadis, Ioannis N.; Rizzoli, Andrea Emilio; Beard, Daniel W.

    2010-01-01

    The paper presents a system architecture that employs data mining techniques for ensuring quality assurance in an environmental monitoring network. We investigate how data mining techniques can be incorporated in the quality assurance decision making process. As prior expert decisions are

  8. Bacteriological monitoring and sustainable management of beach water quality in Malaysia: problems and prospects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dada, Ayokunle Christopher; Asmat, Ahmad; Gires, Usup; Heng, Lee Yook; Deborah, Bandele Oluwaseun

    2012-04-28

    Despite the growing demand of tourism in Malaysia, there are no resolute efforts to develop beaches as tourist destinations. With no incentives to monitor public beaches or to use them in a sustainable manner, they might eventually degenerate in quality as a result of influx of pollutants. This calls for concerted action plans with a view to promoting their sustainable use. The success of such plans is inevitably anchored on the availability of robust quality monitoring schemes. Although significant efforts have been channelled to collation and public disclosure of bacteriological quality data of rivers, beach water monitoring appears left out. This partly explains the dearth of published information related to beach water quality data. As part of an on-going nation-wide surveillance study on the bacteriological quality of recreational beaches, this paper draws on a situation analysis with a view to proffering recommendations that could be adapted for ensuring better beach water quality in Malaysia.

  9. Bacteriological Monitoring and Sustainable Management of Beach Water Quality in Malaysia: Problems and Prospects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dada, Ayokunle Christopher; Asmat, Ahmad; Gires, Usup; Heng, Lee Yook; Deborah, Bandele Oluwaseun

    2012-01-01

    Despite the growing demand of tourism in Malaysia, there are no resolute efforts to develop beaches as tourist destinations. With no incentives to monitor public beaches or to use them in a sustainable manner, they might eventually degenerate in quality as a result of influx of pollutants. This calls for concerted action plans with a view to promoting their sustainable use. The success of such plans is inevitably anchored on the availability of robust quality monitoring schemes. Although significant efforts have been channelled to collation and public disclosure of bacteriological quality data of rivers, beach water monitoring appears left out. This partly explains the dearth of published information related to beach water quality data. As part of an on-going nation-wide surveillance study on the bacteriological quality of recreational beaches, this paper draws on a situation analysis with a view to proffering recommendations that could be adapted for ensuring better beach water quality in Malaysia. PMID:22980239

  10. Quality control of the interpretation monitors of digital radiological images; Controle de qualidade dos monitores de interpretacao de imagens radiologicas digitais: uma revisao

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Favero, Mariana S.; Goulart, Adriano Oliveira S., E-mail: mariana@phymed.com.br [PhyMED - Consultores em Fisica Medica e Radioprotecao Ltda, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)

    2016-07-01

    The performance monitors has great importance in image quality of digital radiographic systems. In environments without films, it became necessary to implement acceptance testing and quality control monitors used for interpretation of medical images. The monitors dedicated to radiodiagnostic should provide information that represent slight differences in x-ray attenuation or minor differences in some anatomical region of interest. This should also result in small differences in luminance of an image represented. Factors affecting the quality of medical imaging are contrast, noise, resolution, artifacts and distortions. Therefore, a monitor must have specific characteristics, making it possible for the observer to carry out an assessment that leads to better diagnosis. Based on the need to evaluate diagnostic monitors in various radiological applications, this paper presents a summary for implementation and standardization of tests that are recommended by the publication AAPM Report 03. (author)

  11. St. John, USVI Water Quality Monitoring Data 2003 - Present

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These water quality data are one of many studies being done to assess and monitor coral reef ecosystems. The intent of this work is three fold: (1) to spatially...

  12. Monitoring water quality from LANDSAT. [satellite observation of Virginia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, J. L.

    1975-01-01

    Water quality monitoring possibilities from LANDSAT were demonstrated both for direct readings of reflectances from the water and indirect monitoring of changes in use of land surrounding Swift Creek Reservoir in a joint project with the Virginia State Water Control Board and NASA. Film products were shown to have insufficient resolution and all work was done by digitally processing computer compatible tapes. Land cover maps of the 18,000 hectare Swift Creek Reservoir watershed, prepared for two dates in 1974, are shown. A significant decrease in the pine cover was observed in a 740 hectare construction site within the watershed. A measure of the accuracy of classification was obtained by comparing the LANDSAT results with visual classification at five sites on a U-2 photograph. Such changes in land cover can alert personnel to watch for potential changes in water quality.

  13. EPA Office of Water (OW): STORET Water Quality Monitoring Stations Source Dataset

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Storage and Retrieval for Water Quality Data (STORET and the Water Quality Exchange, WQX) defines the methods and the data systems by which EPA compiles monitoring...

  14. Loch Vale Watershed Long-Term Ecological Research and Monitoring Program: Quality Assurance Report, 2003-09

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richer, Eric E.; Baron, Jill S.

    2011-01-01

    The Loch Vale watershed project is a long-term research and monitoring program located in Rocky Mountain National Park that addresses watershed-scale ecosystem processes, particularly as they respond to atmospheric deposition and climate variability. Measurements of precipitation depth, precipitation chemistry, discharge, and surface-water quality are made within the watershed and elsewhere in Rocky Mountain National Park. As data collected for the program are used by resource managers, scientists, policy makers, and students, it is important that all data collected in Loch Vale watershed meet high standards of quality. In this report, data quality was evaluated for precipitation, discharge, and surface-water chemistry measurements collected during 2003-09. Equipment upgrades were made at the Loch Vale National Atmospheric Deposition Program monitoring site to improve precipitation measurements and evaluate variability in precipitation depth and chemistry. Additional solar panels and batteries have been installed to improve the power supply, and data completeness, at the NADP site. As a result of equipment malfunction, discharge data for the Loch Outlet were estimated from October 18, 2005, to August 17, 2006. Quality-assurance results indicate that more than 98 percent of all surface-water chemistry measurements were accurate and precise. Records that did not meet quality criteria were removed from the database. Measurements of precipitation depth, precipitation chemistry, discharge, and surface-water quality were all sufficiently complete and consistent to support project data needs.

  15. Water quality monitoring strategies - A review and future perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behmel, S; Damour, M; Ludwig, R; Rodriguez, M J

    2016-11-15

    The reliable assessment of water quality through water quality monitoring programs (WQMPs) is crucial in order for decision-makers to understand, interpret and use this information in support of their management activities aiming at protecting the resource. The challenge of water quality monitoring has been widely addressed in the literature since the 1940s. However, there is still no generally accepted, holistic and practical strategy to support all phases of WQMPs. The purpose of this paper is to report on the use cases a watershed manager has to address to plan or optimize a WQMP from the challenge of identifying monitoring objectives; selecting sampling sites and water quality parameters; identifying sampling frequencies; considering logistics and resources to the implementation of actions based on information acquired through the WQMP. An inventory and critique of the information, approaches and tools placed at the disposal of watershed managers was proposed to evaluate how the existing information could be integrated in a holistic, user-friendly and evolvable solution. Given the differences in regulatory requirements, water quality standards, geographical and geological differences, land-use variations, and other site specificities, a one-in-all solution is not possible. However, we advance that an intelligent decision support system (IDSS) based on expert knowledge that integrates existing approaches and past research can guide a watershed manager through the process according to his/her site-specific requirements. It is also necessary to tap into local knowledge and to identify the knowledge needs of all the stakeholders through participative approaches based on geographical information systems and adaptive survey-based questionnaires. We believe that future research should focus on developing such participative approaches and further investigate the benefits of IDSS's that can be updated quickly and make it possible for a watershed manager to obtain a

  16. Student satisfaction as an element of education quality monitoring in innovative higher education institution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razinkina, Elena; Pankova, Ludmila; Trostinskaya, Irina; Pozdeeva, Elena; Evseeva, Lidiya; Tanova, Anna

    2018-03-01

    Topicality of the research is confirmed by increasing student involvement into the educational process, when not only the academic staff and administration participate in the improvement of higher education institution's activity, but also education customers - students. This adds a new dimension to the issue of monitoring education quality and student satisfaction with higher education. This issue echoes the ideas of M. Weber about the relationship between such components as cognitive motivation, personal development and student satisfaction with higher education. Besides, it is essential to focus on the approach of R. Barnet to defining the quality of education with the emphasis on a priority of development of an educational institution as the system that meets customers' needs. Monitoring student satisfaction with education quality has become an integral part of the educational process not only in a number of European universities, which have used this monitoring for decades, but also in Russian universities, which are interested in education quality improvement. Leading universities in Russia, including Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, are implementing policies targeted at increasing student satisfaction with higher education quality. Education quality monitoring as a key element in the system of providing feedback to students contributes greatly to this process.

  17. Challenges for implementing water quality monitoring and analysis on a small Costa Rican catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golcher, Christian; Cernesson, Flavie; Tournoud, Marie-George; Bonin, Muriel; Suarez, Andrea

    2016-04-01

    The Costa Rican water regulatory framework (WRF) (2007), expresses the national concern about the degradation of surface water quality observed in the country since several years. Given the urgency of preserving and restoring the surface water bodies, and facing the need of defining a monitoring tool to classify surface water pollution, the Costa-Rican WRF relies on two water quality indexes: the so-called "Dutch Index" (D.I) and the Biological Monitoring Working Party adapted to Costa Rica (BMWP'CR), allowing an "easy" physicochemical and biological appraisal of the water quality and the ecological integrity of water bodies. Herein, we intend to evaluate whether the compound of water quality indexes imposed by Costa Rican legislation, is suitable to assess rivers local and global anthropogenic pressure and environmental conditions. We monitor water quality for 7 points of Liberia River (northern pacific region - Costa Rica) from March 2013 to July 2015. Anthropogenic pressures are characterized by catchment land use and riparian conditions. Environmental conditions are built from rainfall daily series. Our results show (i) the difficulties to monitor new sites following the recent implementation of the WRF; (ii) the statistical characteristics of each index; and (iii) a modelling tentative of relationships between water quality indexes and explanatory factors (land-use, riparian characteristics and climate conditions).

  18. A data quality monitoring software framework for the BES Ⅲ experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu Jifeng; Zheng Yangheng; Sun Xiaodong; Ji Xiaobin

    2012-01-01

    Data quality monitoring (DQM) plays an important role in data taking at the BES Ⅲ experiments. DQM is used to monitor detector status and data quality. A DQM framework (DQMF) has been developed to make it possible to reuse the BES Ⅲ offline reconstruction system in the online environment. In this framework, the DQMF can also simulate a virtual data taking environment, transfer events to the event display, publish histograms to a histogram presenter in a fixed interval, and dump histograms into a ROOT file. The DQMF has been stably running throughout BES Ⅲ data taking. (authors)

  19. Performance assessment of air quality monitoring networks using principal component analysis and cluster analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Wei-Zhen; He, Hong-Di; Dong, Li-yun

    2011-01-01

    This study aims to evaluate the performance of two statistical methods, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, for the management of air quality monitoring network of Hong Kong and the reduction of associated expenses. The specific objectives include: (i) to identify city areas with similar air pollution behavior; and (ii) to locate emission sources. The statistical methods were applied to the mass concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), respirable suspended particulates (RSP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), collected in monitoring network of Hong Kong from January 2001 to December 2007. The results demonstrate that, for each pollutant, the monitoring stations are grouped into different classes based on their air pollution behaviors. The monitoring stations located in nearby area are characterized by the same specific air pollution characteristics and suggested with an effective management of air quality monitoring system. The redundant equipments should be transferred to other monitoring stations for allowing further enlargement of the monitored area. Additionally, the existence of different air pollution behaviors in the monitoring network is explained by the variability of wind directions across the region. The results imply that the air quality problem in Hong Kong is not only a local problem mainly from street-level pollutions, but also a region problem from the Pearl River Delta region. (author)

  20. Intelligent packaging for monitoring food quality: a case study on fresh fish

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heising, J.K.

    2014-01-01

    Background

    Foods are prone to quality degradation in the whole supply chain, but the possibilities for monitoring the quality of foods inside the package are limited. When sensors of quality indicators are included into the package of a food, the package can become an

  1. MS-based monitoring of proteolytic decay of synthetic reporter peptides for quality control of plasma and serum specimens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Findeisen, Peter; Thumfart, Jörg Oliver; Costina, Victor; Hofheinz, Ralf; Neumaier, Michael

    2013-09-01

    To determine the preanalytical quality of serum and plasma by monitoring the time-dependent ex vivo decay of a synthetic reporter peptide (RP) with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Serum and plasma specimens were spiked with the RP and proteolytic fragments were monitored with LC/MS at different preanalytical time points ranging from 2 to 24 hours after blood withdrawal. The concentration of fragments changed in a time-dependent manner, and respective peptide profiles were used to classify specimens according to their preanalytical time span. Classification accuracy was high, with values always above 0.89 for areas under receiver operating characteristic curves. This "proteomics degradation clock" can be used to estimate the preanalytical quality of serum and plasma and might have impact on quality control procedures of biobanking repositories.

  2. Statistical Framework for Recreational Water Quality Criteria and Monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halekoh, Ulrich

    2008-01-01

    recreational governmental authorities controlling water quality. The book opens with a historical account of water quality criteria in the USA between 1922 and 2003. Five chapters are related to sampling strategies and decision rules. Chapter 2 discusses the dependence of decision-making rules on short...... modeling exploiting additional information like meteorological data can support the decision process as shown in Chapter 10. The question of which information to extract from water sample analyses is closely related to the task of risk assessment for human health. Beach-water quality is often measured......Administrators of recreational waters face the basic tasks of surveillance of water quality and decisions on beach closure in case of unacceptable quality. Monitoring and subsequent decisions are based on sampled water probes and fundamental questions are which type of data to extract from...

  3. Near-Port Air Quality Assessment Utilizing a Mobile Monitoring Approach

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Near-Port Air Quality Assessment Utilizing a Mobile Monitoring Approach. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Steffens, J., S. Kimbrough, R....

  4. Analysis of a comprehensive quality assurance program with computer-enhanced monitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arenson, R.L.; Mintz, M.C.; Goldstein, E.; Stevens, J.F.; Jovais, C.

    1987-01-01

    The authors' quality assurance (QA) program provides communication pathways among its constituent committees, which include patient care, professional review, medical staff, missed case, quality control, safety, and management committees. The QA monitors are based on data from these committees but also include data from the information management system, such as patient delays, contrast reactions, incidents, complications, time-flow analyses, film library retrieval, cancellations, missing reports, and missing clinical data. Committee data include complaints, missed diagnoses, patient identification problems, and equipment failure. The QA monitors have now been incorporated into summary reports as part of their computer networks. A systematic method for follow-up ensures corrective action and documentation. Examples of improved quality of care resulting from this approach includes reductions in delays for report signature and in repeat films

  5. Image processing developments and applications for water quality monitoring and trophic state determination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blackwell, R.J.

    1982-03-01

    Remote sensing data analysis of water quality monitoring is evaluated. Data anaysis and image processing techniques are applied to LANDSAT remote sensing data to produce an effective operational tool for lake water quality surveying and monitoring. Digital image processing and analysis techniques were designed, developed, tested, and applied to LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data and conventional surface acquired data. Utilization of these techniques facilitates the surveying and monitoring of large numbers of lakes in an operational manner. Supervised multispectral classification, when used in conjunction with surface acquired water quality indicators, is used to characterize water body trophic status. Unsupervised multispectral classification, when interpreted by lake scientists familiar with a specific water body, yields classifications of equal validity with supervised methods and in a more cost effective manner. Image data base technology is used to great advantage in characterizing other contributing effects to water quality. These effects include drainage basin configuration, terrain slope, soil, precipitation and land cover characteristics

  6. The high-precision x-ray tomograph for quality control of the ATLAS MDT muon spectrometer

    CERN Document Server

    Drakoulakos, D G; Maugain, J M; Rohrbach, F; Sedykh, Yu

    1997-01-01

    For the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the next millennium, a large general-purpose high-energy physics experiment, the ATLAS project, is being designed by a world-wide collaboration. One of its detectors, the ATLAS muon tracking detector, the MDT project, is on the scale of a very large industrial project: the design, the construction and assembly of twelve hundred large muon drift chambers are aimed at producing an exceptional quality in terms of accuracy, material reliability, assembly, and monitoring. This detector, based on the concept of very high mechanical precision required by the physics goals, will use tomography as a quality control platform. An X-ray tomograph prototype, monitored by a set of interferometers, has been developed at CERN to provide high-quality control of the MDT chambers which will be built in the collaborating institutes of the ATLAS project. First results have been obtained on MDT prototypes showing the validity of the X-ray tomograph approach for mechanical control of the detec...

  7. A New Era of Air Quality Monitoring from Space in East Asia: Korea's Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and an Integrated Korea-US Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, J.; Hong, Y.; Song, C. K.; Kim, S. K.; Chang, L. S.; Lim, J.; Ahn, J.; Park, J. H.; Kim, J. Y.; Han, Y. J.; Kim, J.; Park, R.; Lee, G.; Lefer, B. L.; Al-Saadi, J. A.; Crawford, J. H.

    2015-12-01

    Due to remarkable economic growth over the last two decades, East Asia has become a region experiencing some of the poorest air quality in the world. In addition to local sources of pollution, the Korea peninsula is downwind of the largest emission sources in East Asia, complicating the understanding of air quality over Korea. Thus, knowing the factors controlling changes in air pollution across urban-rural and marine-continental interfaces, in addition to the contributions from local emissions and transboundary transport, is important for building effective management strategies and improving air quality in East Asia. GEMS (Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer) is a satellite instrument planned for launch in 2019 by the Republic of Korea. The instrument will observe East Asia and the western Pacific region, providing real-time monitoring of air quality (e.g. O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, AOD, etc.) and enabling better scientific understanding of the transboundary transport of air pollutants. The KORUS-AQ (the Korea and U.S. Air Quality) field campaign will take place in May - June 2016 and will employ an integrated observing strategy including multiplatform observations (i.e. ground stations, aircraft, ships, and satellites) and chemical transport models. This mission aims to not only strengthen our knowledge of atmospheric chemistry but also provide important data sets for validating GEMS retrieval algorithms. In preparation for KORUS-AQ, a pre-campaign has been successfully conducted in Korea during early summer 2015 with observations from multiple ground sites and a small aircraft. A brief summary of pre-field campaign results will be presented. Moving forward, the GEMS mission and KORUS-AQ study will lead to a new era of air quality monitoring in East Asia. GEMS will also make critical contributions to the global air quality perspective working in concert with geostationary missions launched by the U.S. (TEMPO: Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of

  8. Hydrochemical processes in lowland rivers: insights from in situ, high-resolution monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. J. Wade

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces new insights into the hydrochemical functioning of lowland river systems using field-based spectrophotometric and electrode technologies. The streamwater concentrations of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions were measured at hourly intervals on a continuous basis at two contrasting sites on tributaries of the River Thames – one draining a rural catchment, the River Enborne, and one draining a more urban system, The Cut. The measurements complement those from an existing network of multi-parameter water quality sondes maintained across the Thames catchment and weekly monitoring based on grab samples. The results of the sub-daily monitoring show that streamwater phosphorus concentrations display highly complex dynamics under storm conditions dependent on the antecedent catchment wetness, and that diurnal phosphorus and nitrogen cycles occur under low flow conditions. The diurnal patterns highlight the dominance of sewage inputs in controlling the streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at low flows, even at a distance of 7 km from the nearest sewage treatment works in the rural River Enborne. The time of sample collection is important when judging water quality against ecological thresholds or standards. An exhaustion of the supply of phosphorus from diffuse and multiple septic tank sources during storm events was evident and load estimation was not improved by sub-daily monitoring beyond that achieved by daily sampling because of the eventual reduction in the phosphorus mass entering the stream during events. The results highlight the utility of sub-daily water quality measurements and the discussion considers the practicalities and challenges of in situ, sub-daily monitoring.

  9. Air quality monitoring in the Canadian oil sands. Tests of new technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Platt, Ulrich; Seitz, Katja; Buxmann, Joelle [Heidelberg Univ. (Germany). Inst. of Environmental Physics; Thimm, Harald F. [Thimm Petroleum Technologies Inc., Calgary (Canada)

    2012-12-15

    Modern bitumen recovery processes, such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), minimize the environmental footprint of oil recovery in terms of land disturbance and water demands. However, as a corollary, air monitoring becomes more difficult. In particular air quality monitoring for sulphur and nitrogen oxides, as currently practiced, suffers from significant limitations in remote regions, such as the Canadian Oil Sands Areas. Current techniques require the placement of monitoring trailers in accessible locations, but the electrical power or even access for optimal location for trailers is not always given. In addition, the trailers are capable of monitoring air quality only at the location of their deployment. There would be an advantage in deploying monitoring techniques that require minimal power (e.g. car battery, solar cell) and are capable of measuring air quality at a distance from the place of deployment. In the autumn of 2008, a trial of DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) was undertaken in Northern Alberta and Northern Saskatchewan, at four SAGD plants in various stages of development. Results of this study, and a discussion of the technology, will be given. Advantages and limitations of DOAS for deployment in Athabasca will be discussed. In general it was found that SO{sub 2} results showed remarkably low degrees of contamination, while NO{sub 2} concentrations were more noticeable. (orig.)

  10. Interoperability as a quality label for portable & wearable health monitoring systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chronaki, Catherine E; Chiarugi, Franco

    2005-01-01

    Advances in ICT promising universal access to high quality care, reduction of medical errors, and containment of health care costs, have renewed interest in electronic health records (EHR) standards and resulted in comprehensive EHR adoption programs in many European states. Health cards, and in particular the European health insurance card, present an opportunity for instant cross-border access to emergency health data including allergies, medication, even a reference ECG. At the same time, research and development in miniaturized medical devices and wearable medical sensors promise continuous health monitoring in a comfortable, flexible, and fashionable way. These trends call for the seamless integration of medical devices and intelligent wearables into an active EHR exploiting the vast information available to increase medical knowledge and establish personal wellness profiles. In a mobile connected world with empowered health consumers and fading barriers between health and healthcare, interoperability has a strong impact on consumer trust. As a result, current interoperability initiatives are extending the traditional standardization process to embrace implementation, validation, and conformance testing. In this paper, starting from the OpenECG initiative, which promotes the consistent implementation of interoperability standards in electrocardiography and supports a worldwide community with data sets, open source tools, specifications, and online conformance testing, we discuss EHR interoperability as a quality label for personalized health monitoring systems. Such a quality label would support big players and small enterprises in creating interoperable eHealth products, while opening the way for pervasive healthcare and the take-up of the eHealth market.

  11. Quality in cytopathology: an analysis of the internal quality monitoring indicators of the Instituto Nacional de Câncer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Lucio C. Araujo Jr

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Quality control programs are required to ensure the effectiveness of Pap smear, which still remain a key strategy for control of cervical cancer worldwide. Objective: This study was based on the retrospective and quantitative analysis of the post-analytical phase indicators from the internal quality monitoring (IQM program for cytopathology laboratories, such as: positivity rate, atypical squamous cell (ASC/satisfactory exams ratio, ASC/abnormal test results ratio, ASC/squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL ratio, percentage of tests compatible with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL, and total of false negative. Materials and methods: The information was extracted from the computerized system of the Section for Integrated Technology in Cytopathology (Seção Integrada de Tecnologia em Citopatologia [SITEC], a reference institution for cancer cytopathology, from July 2013 to June 2014. From a total of 156,888 Pap smears, 157,454 were considered satisfactory for indicator analysis and 566 were excluded because they were considered unsatisfactory and/or rejected for analysis. The data was organized in tables using Microsoft Excel 2010 software, and categorized as indicators. Results: The averages for the indicators were: 7.2% for positivity rate, 56.9 for ASC/abnormal test ratio, 4.1 for ASC/satisfactory tests ratio, 1.4 for ASC/SIL ratio, 0.6% percentage for tests compatible with HSIL, and 2.1% for false-negative rate. Conclusion: The results show that an Internal Quality Monitoring Program is essencial to ensure quality for cytopathology laboratories, and a randomized review of at least 10% of the negative exams, as recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health/Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA, since is an effective method, especially for large laboratories.

  12. False Alarm Reduction in BSN-Based Cardiac Monitoring Using Signal Quality and Activity Type Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanatorn Tanantong

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available False alarms in cardiac monitoring affect the quality of medical care, impacting on both patients and healthcare providers. In continuous cardiac monitoring using wireless Body Sensor Networks (BSNs, the quality of ECG signals can be deteriorated owing to several factors, e.g., noises, low battery power, and network transmission problems, often resulting in high false alarm rates. In addition, body movements occurring from activities of daily living (ADLs can also create false alarms. This paper presents a two-phase framework for false arrhythmia alarm reduction in continuous cardiac monitoring, using signals from an ECG sensor and a 3D accelerometer. In the first phase, classification models constructed using machine learning algorithms are used for labeling input signals. ECG signals are labeled with heartbeat types and signal quality levels, while 3D acceleration signals are labeled with ADL types. In the second phase, a rule-based expert system is used for combining classification results in order to determine whether arrhythmia alarms should be accepted or suppressed. The proposed framework was validated on datasets acquired using BSNs and the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. For the BSN dataset, acceleration and ECG signals were collected from 10 young and 10 elderly subjects while they were performing ADLs. The framework reduced the false alarm rate from 9.58% to 1.43% in our experimental study, showing that it can potentially assist physicians in diagnosing a vast amount of data acquired from wireless sensors and enhance the performance of continuous cardiac monitoring.

  13. Bioassay battery interlaboratory investigation of emerging contaminants in spiked water extracts - Towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Paolo, Carolina; Ottermanns, Richard; Keiter, Steffen; Ait-Aissa, Selim; Bluhm, Kerstin; Brack, Werner; Breitholtz, Magnus; Buchinger, Sebastian; Carere, Mario; Chalon, Carole; Cousin, Xavier; Dulio, Valeria; Escher, Beate I; Hamers, Timo; Hilscherová, Klára; Jarque, Sergio; Jonas, Adam; Maillot-Marechal, Emmanuelle; Marneffe, Yves; Nguyen, Mai Thao; Pandard, Pascal; Schifferli, Andrea; Schulze, Tobias; Seidensticker, Sven; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Tang, Janet; van der Oost, Ron; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Zounková, Radka; Zwart, Nick; Hollert, Henner

    2016-11-01

    Bioassays are particularly useful tools to link the chemical and ecological assessments in water quality monitoring. Different methods cover a broad range of toxicity mechanisms in diverse organisms, and account for risks posed by non-target compounds and mixtures. Many tests are already applied in chemical and waste assessments, and stakeholders from the science-police interface have recommended their integration in regulatory water quality monitoring. Still, there is a need to address bioassay suitability to evaluate water samples containing emerging pollutants, which are a current priority in water quality monitoring. The presented interlaboratory study (ILS) verified whether a battery of miniaturized bioassays, conducted in 11 different laboratories following their own protocols, would produce comparable results when applied to evaluate blinded samples consisting of a pristine water extract spiked with four emerging pollutants as single chemicals or mixtures, i.e. triclosan, acridine, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA). Assays evaluated effects on aquatic organisms from three different trophic levels (algae, daphnids, zebrafish embryos) and mechanism-specific effects using in vitro estrogenicity (ER-Luc, YES) and mutagenicity (Ames fluctuation) assays. The test battery presented complementary sensitivity and specificity to evaluate the different blinded water extract spikes. Aquatic organisms differed in terms of sensitivity to triclosan (algae > daphnids > fish) and acridine (fish > daphnids > algae) spikes, confirming the complementary role of the three taxa for water quality assessment. Estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays identified with high precision the respective mechanism-specific effects of spikes even when non-specific toxicity occurred in mixture. For estrogenicity, although differences were observed between assays and models, EE2 spike relative induction EC 50 values were comparable to the literature, and E2/EE2

  14. Quality Monitoring of Porous Zein Scaffolds: A Novel Biomaterial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yue Zhang

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Our previous studies have shown that zein has good biocompatibility and good mechanical properties. The first product from a porous scaffold of zein, a resorbable bone substitute, has passed the biological evaluation of medical devices (ISO 10993 by the China Food and Drug Administration. However, Class III medical devices need quality monitoring before being placed on the market, and such monitoring includes quality control of raw materials, choice of sterilization method, and evaluation of biocompatibility. In this paper, we investigated four sources of zein through amino acid analysis (AAA and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE in order to monitor the composition and purity, and control the quality of raw materials. We studied the effect of three kinds of sterilization method on a porous zein scaffold by SDS-PAGE. We also compared the changes in SDS-PAGE patterns when irradiated with different doses of gamma radiation. We found that polymerization or breakage did not occur on peptide chains of zein during gamma-ray (γ-ray sterilization in the range of 20–30 kGy, which suggested that γ-ray sterilization is suitable for porous zein scaffolds. Regarding cell compatibility, we found a difference between using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay and a cell-counting kit-8 (CCK-8 assay to assess cell proliferation on zein film, and concluded that the CCK-8 assay is more suitable, due to its low background optical density.

  15. Processing and Quality Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burghgrave, Blake; ATLAS Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    An overview is presented of Data Processing and Data Quality (DQ) Monitoring for the ATLAS Tile Hadronic Calorimeter. Calibration runs are monitored from a data quality perspective and used as a cross-check for physics runs. Data quality in physics runs is monitored extensively and continuously. Any problems are reported and immediately investigated. The DQ efficiency achieved was 99.6% in 2012 and 100% in 2015, after the detector maintenance in 2013-2014. Changes to detector status or calibrations are entered into the conditions database (DB) during a brief calibration loop between the end of a run and the beginning of bulk processing of data collected in it. Bulk processed data are reviewed and certified for the ATLAS Good Run List if no problem is detected. Experts maintain the tools used by DQ shifters and the calibration teams during normal operation, and prepare new conditions for data reprocessing and Monte Carlo (MC) production campaigns. Conditions data are stored in 3 databases: Online DB, Offline DB for data and a special DB for Monte Carlo. Database updates can be performed through a custom-made web interface.

  16. Comparison and Cost Analysis of Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Requirements versus Practice in Seven Developing Countries

    OpenAIRE

    Crocker, Jonny; Bartram, Jamie

    2014-01-01

    Drinking water quality monitoring programs aim to support provision of safe drinking water by informing water quality management. Little evidence or guidance exists on best monitoring practices for low resource settings. Lack of financial, human, and technological resources reduce a country’s ability to monitor water supply. Monitoring activities were characterized in Cambodia, Colombia, India (three states), Jordan, Peru, South Africa, and Uganda according to water sector responsibilities, ...

  17. The SPS Beam quality monitor, from design to operation

    CERN Document Server

    Papotti, G; Follin, F; Shaposhnikova, E

    2011-01-01

    The SPS Beam Quality Monitor is a system that monitors longitudinal beam parameters on a cycle-by-cycle basis and prevents extraction to the LHC in case the specifications are not met. This avoids losses, unnecessary stress of machine protection components and luminosity degradation, additionally helping efficiency during the filling process. The system has been operational since the 2009 LHC run, checking the beam pattern, its correct position with respect to the LHC references, individual bunch lengths and stability. In this paper the algorithms used, the hardware implementation and the operational aspects are presented.

  18. Longitudinal Beam measurements at the LHC: The LHC Beam Quality Monitor

    CERN Document Server

    Papotti, G; Follin, F; Wehrle, U

    2011-01-01

    The LHC Beam Quality Monitor is a system that measures individual bunch lengths and positions, similarly to the twin system SPS Beam Quality Monitor, from which it was derived. The pattern verification that the system provides is vital during the injection process to verify the correctness of the injected pattern, while the bunch length measurement is fed back to control the longitudinal emittance blow up performed during the energy ramp and provides a general indication of the health of the RF system. The algorithms used, the hardware implementation and the system integration in the LHC control infrastructure are presented in this paper, along with possible improvements.

  19. 4D Near Real-Time Environmental Monitoring Using Highly Temporal LiDAR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Höfle, Bernhard; Canli, Ekrem; Schmitz, Evelyn; Crommelinck, Sophie; Hoffmeister, Dirk; Glade, Thomas

    2016-04-01

    The last decade has witnessed extensive applications of 3D environmental monitoring with the LiDAR technology, also referred to as laser scanning. Although several automatic methods were developed to extract environmental parameters from LiDAR point clouds, only little research has focused on highly multitemporal near real-time LiDAR (4D-LiDAR) for environmental monitoring. Large potential of applying 4D-LiDAR is given for landscape objects with high and varying rates of change (e.g. plant growth) and also for phenomena with sudden unpredictable changes (e.g. geomorphological processes). In this presentation we will report on the most recent findings of the research projects 4DEMON (http://uni-heidelberg.de/4demon) and NoeSLIDE (https://geomorph.univie.ac.at/forschung/projekte/aktuell/noeslide/). The method development in both projects is based on two real-world use cases: i) Surface parameter derivation of agricultural crops (e.g. crop height) and ii) change detection of landslides. Both projects exploit the "full history" contained in the LiDAR point cloud time series. One crucial initial step of 4D-LiDAR analysis is the co-registration over time, 3D-georeferencing and time-dependent quality assessment of the LiDAR point cloud time series. Due to the high amount of datasets (e.g. one full LiDAR scan per day), the procedure needs to be performed fully automatically. Furthermore, the online near real-time 4D monitoring system requires to set triggers that can detect removal or moving of tie reflectors (used for co-registration) or the scanner itself. This guarantees long-term data acquisition with high quality. We will present results from a georeferencing experiment for 4D-LiDAR monitoring, which performs benchmarking of co-registration, 3D-georeferencing and also fully automatic detection of events (e.g. removal/moving of reflectors or scanner). Secondly, we will show our empirical findings of an ongoing permanent LiDAR observation of a landslide (Gresten

  20. Monitoring and Assessment of Youshui River Water Quality in Youyang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xue-qin; Wen, Juan; Chen, Ping-hua; Liu, Na-na

    2018-02-01

    By monitoring the water quality of Youshui River from January 2016 to December 2016, according to the indicator grading and the assessment standard of water quality, the formulas for 3 types water quality indexes are established. These 3 types water quality indexes, the single indicator index Ai, single moment index Ak and the comprehensive water quality index A, were used to quantitatively evaluate the quality of single indicator, the water quality and the change of water quality with time. The results show that, both total phosphorus and fecal coliform indicators exceeded the standard, while the other 16 indicators measured up to the standard. The water quality index of Youshui River is 0.93 and the grade of water quality comprehensive assessment is level 2, which indicated that the water quality of Youshui River is good, and there is room for further improvement. To this end, several protection measures for Youshui River environmental management and pollution treatment are proposed.

  1. Quality assurance for external personnel monitoring in nuclear industrial facilities, CNNC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yansheng; Dai Jun; Li Taosheng

    1993-01-01

    More than 6000 personnel are currently being monitored for occupational exposure in CNNC, China. Personnel monitoring is one of the important items of radiation protection. The data of individual dose are not only indispensable for radiation safety assessment but also the basis for radiation protection measures to be taken. Possibly, it could provide basic information for epidemiological studies, optimization procedure of radiation protection (risk/benefit analyses) and medical or legal purposes. Obviously, personnel monitoring and its quality assurance are very significant

  2. Comparison and cost analysis of drinking water quality monitoring requirements versus practice in seven developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crocker, Jonny; Bartram, Jamie

    2014-07-18

    Drinking water quality monitoring programs aim to support provision of safe drinking water by informing water quality management. Little evidence or guidance exists on best monitoring practices for low resource settings. Lack of financial, human, and technological resources reduce a country's ability to monitor water supply. Monitoring activities were characterized in Cambodia, Colombia, India (three states), Jordan, Peru, South Africa, and Uganda according to water sector responsibilities, monitoring approaches, and marginal cost. The seven study countries were selected to represent a range of low resource settings. The focus was on monitoring of microbiological parameters, such as E. coli, coliforms, and H2S-producing microorganisms. Data collection involved qualitative and quantitative methods. Across seven study countries, few distinct approaches to monitoring were observed, and in all but one country all monitoring relied on fixed laboratories for sample analysis. Compliance with monitoring requirements was highest for operational monitoring of large water supplies in urban areas. Sample transport and labor for sample collection and analysis together constitute approximately 75% of marginal costs, which exclude capital costs. There is potential for substantive optimization of monitoring programs by considering field-based testing and by fundamentally reconsidering monitoring approaches for non-piped supplies. This is the first study to look quantitatively at water quality monitoring practices in multiple developing countries.

  3. Temporal variability in groundwater and surface water quality in humid agricultural catchments; Driving processes and consequences for regional water quality monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rozemeijer, Joachim; Van Der Velde, Ype

    2014-01-01

    Considering the large temporal variability in surface water quality is essential for adequate water quality policy and management. Neglecting these dynamics may easily lead to decreased effectiveness of measures to improve water quality and to inefficient water quality monitoring. The objective of

  4. Temporal variability in groundwater and surface water quality in humid agricultural catchments; driving processes and consequences for regional water quality monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rozemeijer, J.; Velde, van der Y.

    2014-01-01

    Considering the large temporal variability in surface water quality is essential for adequate water quality policy and management. Neglecting these dynamics may easily lead to decreased effectiveness of measures to improve water quality and to inefficient water quality monitoring. The objective of

  5. Carmel River Lagoon Enhancement Project: Water Quality and Aquatic Wildlife Monitoring, 2006-7

    OpenAIRE

    Perry, William; Watson, Fred; Casagrande, Joel; Hanley, Charles

    2007-01-01

    This is a report to the California Department of Parks and Recreation. It describes water quality and aquatic invertebrate monitoring after the construction of the Carmel River Lagoon Enhancement Project. Included are data that have been collected for two years and preliminary assessment of the enhanced ecosystem. This report marks the completion of 3-years of monitoring water quality and aquatic habitat. The report adopts the same format and certain background text from previous ...

  6. The monitoring and data quality assessment of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simard, Olivier

    2015-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment is designed to study the proton-proton (pp) collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Liquid argon (LAr) sampling calorimeters are used for all electromagnetic calorimetry in the pseudo-rapidity region |η| < 3.2, as well as for hadronic calorimetry in the range 1.5 < |η| < 4.9. The electromagnetic calorimeters use lead as passive material and are characterized by an accordion geometry that allows a fast and uniform response without azimuthal gaps. Copper and tungsten were chosen as passive material for the hadronic calorimetry; while a classic parallel-plate geometry was adopted at large polar angles, an innovative design based on cylindrical electrodes with thin liquid argon gaps is employed at low angles, where the particle flux is higher. All detectors are housed in three cryostats maintained at about 88.5 K. The 182,468 cells are read out via front-end boards housed in on-detector crates that also contain monitoring, calibration, trigger and timing boards. In the first three years of LHC operation, approximately 27 fb −1 of pp collision data were collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7-8 TeV. Throughout this period, the calorimeter consistently operated with performances very close to specifications, with high data-taking efficiency. This is in large part due to a sophisticated data monitoring procedure designed to quickly identify issues that would degrade the detector performance, to ensure that only the best quality data are used for physics analysis. After a description of the detector design, main characteristics and operation principles, this paper details the data quality assessment procedures developed during the 2011 and 2012 LHC data-taking periods, when more than 98% of the luminosity recorded by ATLAS had high quality LAr calorimeter data suitable for physics analysis

  7. CMS data quality monitoring web service

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuura, L; Eulisse, G [Northeastern University, Boston, MA (United States); Meyer, A, E-mail: lat@cern.c, E-mail: giulio.eulisse@cern.c, E-mail: andreas.meyer@cern.c [DESY, Hamburg (Germany)

    2010-04-01

    A central component of the data quality monitoring system of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is a web site for browsing data quality histograms. The production servers in data taking provide access to several hundred thousand histograms per run, both live in online as well as for up to several terabytes of archived histograms for the online data taking, Tier-0 prompt reconstruction, prompt calibration and analysis activities, for re-reconstruction at Tier-1s and for release validation. At the present usage level the servers currently handle in total around a million authenticated HTTP requests per day. We describe the main features and components of the system, our implementation for web-based interactive rendering, and the server design. We give an overview of the deployment and maintenance procedures. We discuss the main technical challenges and our solutions to them, with emphasis on functionality, long-term robustness and performance.

  8. CMS data quality monitoring web service

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuura, L; Eulisse, G; Meyer, A

    2010-01-01

    A central component of the data quality monitoring system of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is a web site for browsing data quality histograms. The production servers in data taking provide access to several hundred thousand histograms per run, both live in online as well as for up to several terabytes of archived histograms for the online data taking, Tier-0 prompt reconstruction, prompt calibration and analysis activities, for re-reconstruction at Tier-1s and for release validation. At the present usage level the servers currently handle in total around a million authenticated HTTP requests per day. We describe the main features and components of the system, our implementation for web-based interactive rendering, and the server design. We give an overview of the deployment and maintenance procedures. We discuss the main technical challenges and our solutions to them, with emphasis on functionality, long-term robustness and performance.

  9. sampling plans for monitoring quality control process at a plastic

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Obe

    AT A PLASTIC MANUFACTURING FIRM IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY. By. E.A. Onyeagoro ... manufacture similar products, so that each company ... monitoring of production to maintain process ... concept of designing quality into product, with.

  10. Quasi Real Time Data Analysis for Air Quality Monitoring with an Electronic Nose

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Hanying; Shevade, Abhijit V.; Pelletier, Christine C.; Homer, Margie L.; Ryan, M. Amy

    2006-01-01

    Cabin Air Quality Monitoring: A) Functions; 1) Incident monitor for targeted contaminants exceeding targeted concentrations. Identify and quantify. 2) Monitor for presence of compounds associated with fires or overheating electronics. 3) Monitor clean-up process. B) Characteristics; 1) Low mass, low power device. 2) Requires little crew time for maintenance and calibration. 3) Detects, identifies and quantifies selected chemical species at or below 24 hour SMAC.

  11. Air Quality Monitoring and Information System for Egypt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sivertsen, B.

    1996-06-01

    The publication relates to the main objectives and design of a modern monitoring and information system developed in Norway. The system is to be installed in Egypt. Themes being discussed cover technical features of the system, meteorological data, environmental indicators, data transfer and quality assurance, the data bases, data presentation - graphics and GIS, and environmental information to the public. 11 figs., 1 tab.

  12. A WEB-BASED SOLUTION TO VISUALIZE OPERATIONAL MONITORING LINUX CLUSTER FOR THE PROTODUNE DATA QUALITY MONITORING CLUSTER

    CERN Document Server

    Mosesane, Badisa

    2017-01-01

    The Neutrino computing cluster made of 300 Dell PowerEdge 1950 U1 nodes serves an integral role to the CERN Neutrino Platform (CENF). It represents an effort to foster fundamental research in the field of Neutrino physics as it provides data processing facility. We cannot begin to over emphasize the need for data quality monitoring coupled with automating system configurations and remote monitoring of the cluster. To achieve these, a software stack has been chosen to implement automatic propagation of configurations across all the nodes in the cluster. The bulk of these discusses and delves more into the automated configuration management system on this cluster to enable the fast online data processing and Data Quality (DQM) process for the Neutrino Platform cluster (npcmp.cern.ch).

  13. Characterization of appendage weld quality by on line monitoring of electrical parameters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Setty, D.S.; Somani, A.K.; Ram, A.M.; Rao, A.R.; Jayaraj, R.N.; Kalidas, R. [Nuclear Fuel Complex, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Hyderabad (India)

    2005-07-01

    Resistance projection welding of zirconium alloy appendages is one of the most critical processes in the PHWR fuel fabrication. Appendages like Spacers and Bearing pads having multi projections are joined to the fuel sheath using capacitor discharge power source. Variations in the projection sizes, weld parameters and cleanliness of the work pieces have significant effect on the weld quality, in addition to material properties like hardness, tensile strength and surface finish. Defects like metal expulsion and weak welds are occasionally observed in appendage welding process, which need to be identified and segregated. Though numerous off-line inspection methods are available for the weld quality evaluation, on-line monitoring of weld quality is essential for identifying defective welds. For this purpose, various monitoring techniques like acoustic emission, analyzing derived electrical parameters and weld upset/deformation measurements are employed. The derived electrical parameters like A{sup 2}-Sec and Ohm-Sec can also be monitored. The present paper highlights development of suitable acceptance criteria for the monitoring technique by employing derived electrical parameters covering a wide range of weld variables like watt-sec and squeeze force. Excellent correlation could be achieved in identifying the weak welds and weld expulsion defects in mass production. (author)

  14. Landsat change detection can aid in water quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macdonald, H. C.; Steele, K. F.; Waite, W. P.; Shinn, M. R.

    1977-01-01

    Comparison between Landsat-1 and -2 imagery of Arkansas provided evidence of significant land use changes during the 1972-75 time period. Analysis of Arkansas historical water quality information has shown conclusively that whereas point source pollution generally can be detected by use of water quality data collected by state and federal agencies, sampling methodologies for nonpoint source contamination attributable to surface runoff are totally inadequate. The expensive undertaking of monitoring all nonpoint sources for numerous watersheds can be lessened by implementing Landsat change detection analyses.

  15. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ellermann, T.; Klenoe Noejgaard, J.; Nordstroem, C.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.; Jansen, S.; Massling, A.; Solvang Jensen, S.

    2013-10-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring network. The aim is to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to understand the governing processes that determine the level of air pollution in Denmark. In 2012 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. In addition model calculations were carried out to supplement the measurements. At one street station (H.C. Andersens Boulevard) in Copenhagen NO{sub 2} was found in concentrations above EU limit values while NO{sub 2} levels in Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg were below the limit value. Model calculations indicate exceedances of NO{sub 2} limit values at several streets in Copenhagen. Annual averages of PM{sub 10} and PM{sub 2.5} were below limit values at all stations. The concentrations for most pollutants have been decreasing during the last decades. (Author)

  16. The future of monitoring in clinical research - a holistic approach: linking risk-based monitoring with quality management principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansmann, Eva B; Hecht, Arthur; Henn, Doris K; Leptien, Sabine; Stelzer, Hans Günther

    2013-01-01

    Since several years risk-based monitoring is the new "magic bullet" for improvement in clinical research. Lots of authors in clinical research ranging from industry and academia to authorities are keen on demonstrating better monitoring-efficiency by reducing monitoring visits, monitoring time on site, monitoring costs and so on, always arguing with the use of risk-based monitoring principles. Mostly forgotten is the fact, that the use of risk-based monitoring is only adequate if all mandatory prerequisites at site and for the monitor and the sponsor are fulfilled.Based on the relevant chapter in ICH GCP (International Conference on Harmonisation of technical requirements for registration of pharmaceuticals for human use - Good Clinical Practice) this publication takes a holistic approach by identifying and describing the requirements for future monitoring and the use of risk-based monitoring. As the authors are operational managers as well as QA (Quality Assurance) experts, both aspects are represented to come up with efficient and qualitative ways of future monitoring according to ICH GCP.

  17. Community drinking water quality monitoring data: utility for public health research and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Rachael M; Graber, Judith M; Anderson, Robert; Rockne, Karl; Turyk, Mary; Stayner, Leslie T

    2014-01-01

    Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) tracks the occurrence and magnitude of environmental hazards and associated adverse health effects over time. The EPHT program has formally expanded its scope to include finished drinking water quality. Our objective was to describe the features, strengths, and limitations of using finished drinking water quality data from community water systems (CWSs) for EPHT applications, focusing on atrazine and nitrogen compounds in 8 Midwestern states. Water quality data were acquired after meeting with state partners and reviewed and merged for analysis. Data and the coding of variables, particularly with respect to censored results (nondetects), were not standardized between states. Monitoring frequency varied between CWSs and between atrazine and nitrates, but this was in line with regulatory requirements. Cumulative distributions of all contaminants were not the same in all states (Peto-Prentice test P water as the CWS source water type. Nitrate results showed substantial state-to-state variability in censoring (20.5%-100%) and in associations between concentrations and the CWS source water type. Statistical analyses of these data are challenging due to high rates of censoring and uncertainty about the appropriateness of parametric assumptions for time-series data. Although monitoring frequency was consistent with regulations, the magnitude of time gaps coupled with uncertainty about CWS service areas may limit linkage with health outcome data.

  18. A Framework for Evaluating the Software Product Quality of Pregnancy Monitoring Mobile Personal Health Records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idri, Ali; Bachiri, Mariam; Fernández-Alemán, José Luis

    2016-03-01

    Stakeholders' needs and expectations are identified by means of software quality requirements, which have an impact on software product quality. In this paper, we present a set of requirements for mobile personal health records (mPHRs) for pregnancy monitoring, which have been extracted from literature and existing mobile apps on the market. We also use the ISO/IEC 25030 standard to suggest the requirements that should be considered during the quality evaluation of these mPHRs. We then go on to design a checklist in which we contrast the mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring requirements with software product quality characteristics and sub-characteristics in order to calculate the impact of these requirements on software product quality, using the ISO/IEC 25010 software product quality standard. The results obtained show that the requirements related to the user's actions and the app's features have the most impact on the external sub-characteristics of the software product quality model. The only sub-characteristic affected by all the requirements is Appropriateness of Functional suitability. The characteristic Operability is affected by 95% of the requirements while the lowest degrees of impact were identified for Compatibility (15%) and Transferability (6%). Lastly, the degrees of the impact of the mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring requirements are discussed in order to provide appropriate recommendations for the developers and stakeholders of mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring.

  19. Data Quality Objectives Supporting Radiological Air Emissions Monitoring for the PNNL Site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barnett, J. Matthew; Meier, Kirsten M.; Snyder, Sandra F.; Fritz, Brad G.; Poston, Ted M.; Rhoads, Kathleen

    2010-05-25

    This document of Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) was prepared based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidance on Systematic Planning Using the Data Quality Objectives Process, EPA, QA/G4, 2/2006 (EPA 2006) as well as several other published DQOs. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is in the process of developing a radiological air monitoring program for the PNNL Site that is distinct from that of the nearby Hanford Site. Radiological emissions at the PNNL Site result from Physical Sciences Facility (PSF) major emissions units. A team was established to determine how the PNNL Site would meet federal regulations and address guidelines developed to monitor and estimate offsite air emissions of radioactive materials. The result is a program that monitors the impact to the public from the PNNL Site.

  20. Applicability of rapid and on-site measured enzyme activity for surface water quality monitoring in an agricultural catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stadler, Philipp; Farnleitner, Andreas H.; Sommer, Regina; Kumpan, Monika; Zessner, Matthias

    2014-05-01

    For the near real time and on-site detection of microbiological fecal pollution of water, the measurement of beta-D- Glucuronidase (GLUC) enzymatic activity has been suggested as a surrogate parameter and has been already successfully operated for water quality monitoring of ground water resources (Ryzinska-Paier et al. 2014). Due to possible short measure intervals of three hours, this method has high potential as a water quality monitoring tool. While cultivation based standard determination takes more than one working day (Cabral 2010) the potential advantage of detecting the GLUC activity is the high temporal measuring resolution. Yet, there is still a big gap of knowledge on the fecal indication capacity of GLUC (specificity, sensitivity, persistence, etc.) in relation to potential pollution sources and catchment conditions (Cabral 2010, Ryzinska-Paier et al. 2014). Furthermore surface waters are a big challenge for automated detection devices in a technical point of view due to the high sediment load during event conditions. This presentation shows results gained form two years of monitoring in an experimental catchment (HOAL) dominated by agricultural land use. Two enzymatic measurement devices are operated parallel at the catchment outlet to test the reproducibility and precision of the method. Data from continuous GLUC monitoring under both base flow and event conditions is compared with reference samples analyzed by standardized laboratory methods for fecal pollution detection (e.g. ISO 16649-1, Colilert18). It is shown that rapid enzymatic on-site GLUC determination can successfully be operated from a technical point of view for surface water quality monitoring under the observed catchment conditions. The comparison of enzyme activity with microbiological standard analytics reveals distinct differences in the dynamic of the signals during event conditions. Cabral J. P. S. (2010) "Water Microbiology. Bacterial Pathogens and Water" International Journal of

  1. ATP measurements for monitoring microbial drinking water quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vang, Óluva Karin

    Current standard methods for surveillance of microbial drinking water quality are culture based, which are laborious and time-consuming, where results not are available before one to three days after sampling. This means that the water may have been consumed before results on deteriorated water....... The overall aim of this PhD study was to investigate various methodological features of the ATP assay for a potential implementation on a sensor platform as a real-time parameter for continuous on-line monitoring of microbial drinking water quality. Commercial reagents are commonly used to determine ATP......, microbial quality in distributed water, detection of aftergrowth, biofilm formation etc. This PhD project demonstrated that ATP levels are relatively low and fairly stable in drinking water without chlorine residual despite different sampling locations, different drinking water systems and time of year...

  2. EPA Office of Water (OW): STORET Water Quality Monitoring Stations NHDPlus Indexed Dataset

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Storage and Retrieval for Water Quality Data (STORET and the Water Quality Exchange, WQX) defines the methods and the data systems by which EPA compiles monitoring...

  3. Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragsdale, R.; Vowinkel, E.; Porter, D.; Hamilton, P.; Morrison, R.; Kohut, J.; Connell, B.; Kelsey, H.; Trowbridge, P.

    2011-01-01

    The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

  4. Internal quality control program for individual monitoring service

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mauricio, Claudia L.P.; Moura Junior, Jose; Patrao, Karla C.S. [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: claudia@ird.gov.br; moura@ird.gov.br; karla@ird.gov.br

    2007-07-01

    With a focus on continuous improvement, since 2002, a special internal procedure for following and checking the performance of our individual monitoring services has been implemented. A fictitious installation, named 'Fantasma' has been created, initially, with 4 film badges and 7 thermoluminescent dosimetric ring users. Since 2005, this quality control program includes also the albedo neutron individual monitoring service. Monthly, the 'Fantasma' test monitors are irradiated by traceable Cs-137 and Am-Be sources. The calibration quantities are: the photon dose equivalent (H{sub x}) for the photographic individual monitor, the maximum dose equivalent (MADE) for the albedo neutron individual monitor and the personal dose equivalent at 0.07 mm depth (H{sub p}(0.07)) for ring monitor. Up to now, all results show compliance with the specific trumpet curves acceptance limits. Once, a small sub-evaluation tendency has been noted and this information was used to improve the film system. For the photographic film system, the evaluated value to reference dose ratios range from 0.71 to 1.12, with a mean value of 0.91 {+-} 0.12. For the ring system, the ratio ranges from 0.69 to 1.40, with a mean value of 1.02 {+-} 0.07. For the neutron system, which presents intrinsic larger uncertainties, the ratio ranged from 0.67 to 1.88, with mean value of 1.16 {+-} 0.27. (author)

  5. Comparison and Cost Analysis of Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Requirements versus Practice in Seven Developing Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonny Crocker

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Drinking water quality monitoring programs aim to support provision of safe drinking water by informing water quality management. Little evidence or guidance exists on best monitoring practices for low resource settings. Lack of financial, human, and technological resources reduce a country’s ability to monitor water supply. Monitoring activities were characterized in Cambodia, Colombia, India (three states, Jordan, Peru, South Africa, and Uganda according to water sector responsibilities, monitoring approaches, and marginal cost. The seven study countries were selected to represent a range of low resource settings. The focus was on monitoring of microbiological parameters, such as E. coli, coliforms, and H2S-producing microorganisms. Data collection involved qualitative and quantitative methods. Across seven study countries, few distinct approaches to monitoring were observed, and in all but one country all monitoring relied on fixed laboratories for sample analysis. Compliance with monitoring requirements was highest for operational monitoring of large water supplies in urban areas. Sample transport and labor for sample collection and analysis together constitute approximately 75% of marginal costs, which exclude capital costs. There is potential for substantive optimization of monitoring programs by considering field-based testing and by fundamentally reconsidering monitoring approaches for non-piped supplies. This is the first study to look quantitatively at water quality monitoring practices in multiple developing countries.

  6. System-Aware Smart Network Management for Nano-Enriched Water Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Mokhtar

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a comprehensive water quality monitoring system that employs a smart network management, nano-enriched sensing framework, and intelligent and efficient data analysis and forwarding protocols for smart and system-aware decision making. The presented system comprises two main subsystems, a data sensing and forwarding subsystem (DSFS, and Operation Management Subsystem (OMS. The OMS operates based on real-time learned patterns and rules of system operations projected from the DSFS to manage the entire network of sensors. The main tasks of OMS are to enable real-time data visualization, managed system control, and secure system operation. The DSFS employs a Hybrid Intelligence (HI scheme which is proposed through integrating an association rule learning algorithm with fuzzy logic and weighted decision trees. The DSFS operation is based on profiling and registering raw data readings, generated from a set of optical nanosensors, as profiles of attribute-value pairs. As a case study, we evaluate our implemented test bed via simulation scenarios in a water quality monitoring framework. The monitoring processes are simulated based on measuring the percentage of dissolved oxygen and potential hydrogen (PH in fresh water. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed HI-based methodology at learning different water quality classes.

  7. Real-time water quality monitoring at a Great Lakes National Park

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara; Nevers, Meredith; Shively, Dawn; Spoljaric, Ashley; Otto, Christopher

    2018-01-01

    Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used by the USEPA to establish new recreational water quality criteria in 2012 using the indicator bacteria enterococci. The application of this method has been limited, but resource managers are interested in more timely monitoring results. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of qPCR as a rapid, alternative method to the time-consuming membrane filtration (MF) method for monitoring water at select beaches and rivers of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, MI. Water samples were collected from four locations (Esch Road Beach, Otter Creek, Platte Point Bay, and Platte River outlet) in 2014 and analyzed for culture-based (MF) and non-culture-based (i.e., qPCR) endpoints using Escherichia coli and enterococci bacteria. The MF and qPCR enterococci results were significantly, positively correlated overall (r = 0.686, p Water quality standard exceedances based on enterococci levels by qPCR were lower than by MF method: 3 and 16, respectively. Based on our findings, we conclude that qPCR may be a viable alternative to the culture-based method for monitoring water quality on public lands. Rapid, same-day results are achievable by the qPCR method, which greatly improves protection of the public from water-related illnesses.

  8. Implementation of quality control systematics for personnel monitoring services

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franco, J.O.A.

    1984-01-01

    The implementation of statistical quality control techniques used in industrial practise is proposed to dosimetric services. 'Control charts' and 'sampling inspection' are adapted respectively for control of measuring process and of dose results produced in routine. A chapter on Radiation Protection and Personnel Monitoring was included. (M.A.C.) [pt

  9. [Analytical quality in biological monitoring of workers exposed to chemicals: experience of the Prevention and Safety at the Workplace Service in Modena].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alpaca, R I Paredes; Migliore, A; Di Rico, R; Canali, Claudia; Rota, Cristina; Trenti, T; Cariani, Elisabetta

    2010-01-01

    The quality of laboratory data is one of the main factors in guaranteeing efficacy of biological monitoring. To analyze the quality of laboratory data used for biological monitoring of exposed workers. A survey involving 18 companies employing 945 workers in the area of Modena, Italy, was carried out in 2008. Most of the 9 private laboratories receiving biological samples did not perform directly part or all of the laboratory assessments requested, but this was not indicated in the final report. Major problems were observed in the application of internal quality control, and only one laboratory participated in external quality assessment for blood lead measurements. Our results raise major concerns on the traceability and reliability of laboratory assessments performed for biomonitoring of exposed workers. Systematic evaluation of the quality of analytical data would be highly recommendable.

  10. La Parguera, Puerto Rico Water Quality Monitoring Data 2003 - Present

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These water quality data are one of many studies being done to assess and monitor coral reef ecosystems. The intent of this work is three fold: (1) to spatially...

  11. Assessing and monitoring soil quality at agricultural waste disposal areas-Soil Indicators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doula, Maria; Kavvadias, Victor; Sarris, Apostolos; Lolos, Polykarpos; Liakopoulou, Nektaria; Hliaoutakis, Aggelos; Kydonakis, Aris

    2014-05-01

    The necessity of elaborating indicators is one of the priorities identified by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The establishment of an indicator monitoring system for environmental purposes is dependent on the geographical scale. Some indicators such as rain seasonality or drainage density are useful over large areas, but others such as soil depth, vegetation cover type, and land ownership are only applicable locally. In order to practically enhance the sustainability of land management, research on using indicators for assessing land degradation risk must initially focus at local level because management decisions by individual land users are taken at this level. Soils that accept wastes disposal, apart from progressive degradation, may cause serious problems to the surrounding environment (humans, animals, plants, water systems, etc.), and thus, soil quality should be necessarily monitored. Therefore, quality indicators, representative of the specific waste type, should be established and monitored periodically. Since waste composition is dependent on their origin, specific indicators for each waste type should be established. Considering agricultural wastes, such a specification, however, could be difficult, since almost all agricultural wastes are characterized by increased concentrations of the same elements, namely, phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, sulfur, etc.; contain large amounts of organic matter; and have very high values of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and electrical conductivity. Two LIFE projects, namely AgroStrat and PROSODOL are focused on the identification of soil indicators for the assessment of soil quality at areas where pistachio wastes and olive mill wastes are disposed, respectively. Many soil samples were collected periodically for 2 years during PROSODOL and one year during AgroStrat (this project is in progress) from waste disposal areas and analyzed for 23 parameters

  12. Qualification, commissioning and in situ monitoring of high heat flux plasma facing components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Escourbiac, F. [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance (France)], E-mail: frederic.escourbiac@cea.fr; Durocher, A.; Grosman, A.; Cismondi, F.; Courtois, X.; Farjon, J.L.; Schlosser, J. [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance (France); Merola, M.; Tivey, R. [ITER Team, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance (France)

    2007-10-15

    Up-to-date development of actively cooled high heat flux (HHF) plasma facing components (PFC) prototypes only allows reduced margins with regards to the ITER thermal requirements. Additionally, perfect quality cannot be ensured along series manufacturing: the presence of flaws which impair the heat transfer capability of the component, in particular at the interface armour/heat sink appears to be statistically unavoidable. In order to ensure a successful series production, a qualification methodology of actively cooled high heat flux plasma facing components is proposed. Secondly, advanced non-destructive techniques developed for HHF PFC commissioning are detailed with definition of acceptance criteria. Finally, innovative diagnostics for in situ monitoring during plasma operations or tokamak shutdowns are investigated in order to prevent immediate damage (safety monitoring); or evaluate component degradation (health monitoring). This work takes into account the relevance to Tore Supra, and is applied to W7X and ITER Divertor HHF PFC.

  13. Qualification, commissioning and in situ monitoring of high heat flux plasma facing components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Escourbiac, F.; Durocher, A.; Grosman, A.; Cismondi, F.; Courtois, X.; Farjon, J.L.; Schlosser, J.; Merola, M.; Tivey, R.

    2007-01-01

    Up-to-date development of actively cooled high heat flux (HHF) plasma facing components (PFC) prototypes only allows reduced margins with regards to the ITER thermal requirements. Additionally, perfect quality cannot be ensured along series manufacturing: the presence of flaws which impair the heat transfer capability of the component, in particular at the interface armour/heat sink appears to be statistically unavoidable. In order to ensure a successful series production, a qualification methodology of actively cooled high heat flux plasma facing components is proposed. Secondly, advanced non-destructive techniques developed for HHF PFC commissioning are detailed with definition of acceptance criteria. Finally, innovative diagnostics for in situ monitoring during plasma operations or tokamak shutdowns are investigated in order to prevent immediate damage (safety monitoring); or evaluate component degradation (health monitoring). This work takes into account the relevance to Tore Supra, and is applied to W7X and ITER Divertor HHF PFC

  14. Robust GPS autonomous signal quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ndili, Awele Nnaemeka

    The Global Positioning System (GPS), introduced by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, provides unprecedented world-wide navigation capabilities through a constellation of 24 satellites in global orbit, each emitting a low-power radio-frequency signal for ranging. GPS receivers track these transmitted signals, computing position to within 30 meters from range measurements made to four satellites. GPS has a wide range of applications, including aircraft, marine and land vehicle navigation. Each application places demands on GPS for various levels of accuracy, integrity, system availability and continuity of service. Radio frequency interference (RFI), which results from natural sources such as TV/FM harmonics, radar or Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS), presents a challenge in the use of GPS, by posing a threat to the accuracy, integrity and availability of the GPS navigation solution. In order to use GPS for integrity-sensitive applications, it is therefore necessary to monitor the quality of the received signal, with the objective of promptly detecting the presence of RFI, and thus provide a timely warning of degradation of system accuracy. This presents a challenge, since the myriad kinds of RFI affect the GPS receiver in different ways. What is required then, is a robust method of detecting GPS accuracy degradation, which is effective regardless of the origin of the threat. This dissertation presents a new method of robust signal quality monitoring for GPS. Algorithms for receiver autonomous interference detection and integrity monitoring are demonstrated. Candidate test statistics are derived from fundamental receiver measurements of in-phase and quadrature correlation outputs, and the gain of the Active Gain Controller (AGC). Performance of selected test statistics are evaluated in the presence of RFI: broadband interference, pulsed and non-pulsed interference, coherent CW at different frequencies; and non-RFI: GPS signal fading due to physical blockage and

  15. Construction and application of an intelligent air quality monitoring system for healthcare environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Chao-Tung; Liao, Chi-Jui; Liu, Jung-Chun; Den, Walter; Chou, Ying-Chyi; Tsai, Jaw-Ji

    2014-02-01

    Indoor air quality monitoring in healthcare environment has become a critical part of hospital management and policy. Manual air sampling and analysis are cost-inhibitive and do not provide real-time air quality data and response measures. In this month-long study over 14 sampling locations in a public hospital in Taiwan, we observed a positive correlation between CO(2) concentration and population, total bacteria, and particulate matter concentrations, thus monitoring CO(2) concentration as a general indicator for air quality could be a viable option. Consequently, an intelligent environmental monitoring system consisting of a CO(2)/temperature/humidity sensor, a digital plug, and a ZigBee Router and Coordinator was developed and tested. The system also included a backend server that received and analyzed data, as well as activating ventilation and air purifiers when CO(2) concentration exceeded a pre-set value. Alert messages can also be delivered to offsite users through mobile devices.

  16. Quality Assurance for a TLD Based Individual Monitoring Service (invited paper)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Julius, H.W.; Van Dijk, J.W.E. [Arnhem (Netherlands)

    1999-07-01

    Approved Individual Monitoring Services should, in addition to complying with specific national performance requirements, also have implemented a quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) programme as an integral part of the operation. Essential elements of a QA/QC programme are discussed. Some practical hints and examples of QA practices are given, focussing on the application of thermoluminescence dosimetry. (author)

  17. Quality Assurance in Individual Monitoring: 10 Years of Performance Monitoring of the TLD Based TNO Individual Monitoring Service (invited paper)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dijk, J.W.E. van

    1998-07-01

    The QA subscription forms the nucleus of the Quality Assurance (QA) programme of the TLD-based Individual Monitoring Service of TNO-CSD. This QA subscription is the subscription of a dummy customer to the service. As this customer is treated exactly like a normal customer, all aspects of the service are monitored by the QA subscription. An overview is given of 10 years of monitoring the performance of the service. Various improvements over the past decade have resulted in a standard deviation in a low dose measurement of 0.01 mSv and a relative standard deviation at higher doses of 5%. These figures represent the performance under routine circumstances and thus include variations due to variations in the natural background from place to place and, for example, due to transport. (author)

  18. Quality Assurance in Individual Monitoring: 10 Years of Performance Monitoring of the TLD Based TNO Individual Monitoring Service (invited paper)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, J.W.E. van

    1998-01-01

    The QA subscription forms the nucleus of the Quality Assurance (QA) programme of the TLD-based Individual Monitoring Service of TNO-CSD. This QA subscription is the subscription of a dummy customer to the service. As this customer is treated exactly like a normal customer, all aspects of the service are monitored by the QA subscription. An overview is given of 10 years of monitoring the performance of the service. Various improvements over the past decade have resulted in a standard deviation in a low dose measurement of 0.01 mSv and a relative standard deviation at higher doses of 5%. These figures represent the performance under routine circumstances and thus include variations due to variations in the natural background from place to place and, for example, due to transport. (author)

  19. High quality mask storage in an advanced Logic-Fab

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jähnert, Carmen; Fritsche, Silvio

    2012-02-01

    High efficient mask logistics as well as safe and high quality mask storage are essential requirements within an advanced lithography area of a modern logic waferfab. Fast operational availability of the required masks at the exposure tool with excellent mask condition requires a safe mask handling, safeguarding of high mask quality over the whole mask usage time without any quality degradation and an intelligent mask logistics. One big challenge is the prevention of haze on high advanced phase shift masks used in a high volume production line for some thousands of 248nm or 193nm exposures. In 2008 Infineon Dresden qualified a customer specific developed semi-bare mask storage system from DMSDynamic Micro Systems in combination with a high advanced mask handling and an interconnected complex logistic system. This high-capacity mask storage system DMS M1900.22 for more than 3000 masks with fully automated mask and box handling as well as full-blown XCDA purge has been developed and adapted to the Infineon Lithotoollandscape using Nikon and SMIF reticle cases. Advanced features for ESD safety and mask security, mask tracking via RFID and interactions with the exposure tools were developed and implemented. The stocker is remote controlled by the iCADA-RSM system, ordering of the requested mask directly from the affected exposure tool allows fast access. This paper discusses the advantages and challenges for this approach as well as the practical experience gained during the implementation of the new system which improves the fab performance with respect to mask quality, security and throughput. Especially the realization of an extremely low and stable humidity level in addition with a well controlled air flow at each mask surface, preventing masks from haze degradation and particle contamination, turns out to be a notable technical achievement. The longterm stability of haze critical masks has been improved significantly. Relevant environmental parameters like

  20. Air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2004

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.; Berkowicz, R. Brandt. j.

    2005-07-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2004 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO{sup 2} and PM10 were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sup 2}. The measurement has been supplemented with dispersion models for a number of streets in Copenhagen and Aalborg. (au)

  1. Event-Driven Messaging for Offline Data Quality Monitoring at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Onyisi, Peter; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    During LHC Run 1, the information flow through the offline data quality monitoring in ATLAS relied heavily on chains of processes polling each other's outputs for handshaking purposes. This resulted in a fragile architecture with many possible points of failure and an inability to monitor the overall state of the distributed system. We report on the status of a project undertaken during the LHC shutdown to replace the ad hoc synchronization methods with a uniform message queue system. This enables the use of standard protocols to connect processes on multiple hosts; reliable transmission of messages between possibly unreliable programs; easy monitoring of the information flow; and the removal of inefficient polling-based communication.

  2. SWEET CubeSat - Water detection and water quality monitoring for the 21st century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonini, Kelly; Langer, Martin; Farid, Ahmed; Walter, Ulrich

    2017-11-01

    Water scarcity and contamination of clean water have been identified as major challenges of the 21st century, in particular for developing countries. According to the International Water Management Institute, about 30% of the world's population does not have reliable access to clean water. Consequently, contaminated water contributes to the death of about 3 million people every year, mostly children. Access to potable water has been proven to boost education, equality and health, reduce hunger, as well as help the economy of the developing world. Currently used in-situ water monitoring techniques are sparse, and often difficult to execute. Space-based instruments will help to overcome these challenges by providing means for water level and water quality monitoring of medium-to-large sweet (fresh) water reservoirs. Data from hyperspectral imaging instruments on past and present governmental missions, such as Envisat and Aqua, has been used for this purpose. However, the high cost of large multi-purpose space vessels, and the lack of dedicated missions limits the continuous monitoring of inland and coastal water quality. The proposed CubeSat mission SWEET (Sweet Water Earth Education Technologies) will try to fill this gap. The SWEET concept is a joint effort between the Technical University of Munich, the German Space Operations Center and the African Steering Committee of the IAF. By using a novel Fabry-Perot interferometer-based hyperspectral imager, the mission will deliver critical data directly to national water resource centers in Africa with an unmatched cost per pixel ratio and high temporal resolution. Additionally, SWEET will incorporate education of students in CubeSat design and water management. Although the aim of the mission is to deliver local water quality and water level data to African countries, further coverage could be achieved with subsequent satellites. Finally, a constellation of SWEET-like CubeSats would extend the coverage to the whole

  3. Automated micro fluidic system for PCR applications in the monitoring of drinking water quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soria Soria, E.; Yanez Amoros, A.; Murtula Corbi, R.; Catalan Cuenca, V.; Martin-Cisneros, C. S.; Ymbern, O.; Alonso-Chamorro, J.

    2009-01-01

    Microbiological laboratories present a growing interest in automated, simple and user-friendly methodologies able to perform simultaneous analysis of a high amount of samples. Analytical tools based on micro-fluidic could play an important role in this field. In this work, the development of an automated micro fluidic system for PCR applications and aimed to monitoring of drinking water quality is presented. The device will be able to determine, simultaneously, fecal pollution indicators and water-transmitted pathogens. Further-more, complemented with DNA pre-concentration and extraction modules, the device would present a highly integrated solution for microbiological diagnostic laboratories. (Author) 13 refs.

  4. [Research on stormwater runoff quality of mountain city by source area monitoring].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Li-Qing; Shan, Bao-Qing; Zhao, Jian-Wei; Guo, Shu-Gang; Gao, Yong

    2012-10-01

    Stormwater runoff samples were collected from 10 source areas in Mountain City, Chongqing, during five rain events in an attempt to investigate the characteristics of runoff quality and influencing factors. The outcomes are expected to offer practical guidance of sources control of urban runoff pollution. The results indicated that the stormwater runoff of Mountain City presented a strong first flush for almost all events and constituents. The runoff quality indices were also influenced by the rainfall intensity. The concentration of TSS, COD, TN and TP decreased as the rainfall intensity increased. The concentrations of COD and TP in stormwater runoff were highly correlated with TSS concentrations. Suspended solid matter were not only the main pollutant of stormwater runoff but also served as the vehicle for transport of organic matter and phosphorus. Organic matter and phosphorus in stormwatrer runoff were mainly bound to particles, whereas nitrogen was predominantly dissolved, with ammonia and nitrate. A significant difference of stormwater runoff quality was observed among the ten monitored source areas. The highest magnitude of urban stormwater runoff pollution was expected in the commercial area and the first trunk road, followed by the minor road, residential area, parking lot and roof. Urban surface function, traffic volume, population density, and street sweeping practice are the main factors determining spatial differentiation of urban surface runoff quality. Commercial area, the first trunk road and residential area with high population density are the critical sources areas of urban stormwater runoff pollution.

  5. Quality assurance of radiation protection monitoring instruments in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tripathi, S.M.; Daniel, Liji; Rao, Suresh; Sharma, D.N.

    2008-01-01

    Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is the National Metrology Institute (NMI) for developing, maintaining and disseminating standards for ionizing radiation in India. Radiation Safety Systems Division (RSSD) of BARC has the requisite infrastructure in the form of experts, trained manpower, laboratories, equipment and facilities for providing calibration services to users and ascertaining traceability to international standards. It periodically participates in various international inter-comparisons. RSSD maintains reference radiation fields that are required for calibrating Radiation Protection Monitoring Instruments that form the backbone of the radiation monitoring programme for harnessing the benefits of nuclear energy and ionizing radiations. These instruments are type-tested and periodically calibrated at standard reference radiation fields to ensure their healthy working condition and fitness for their intended use. This paper describes the details of the standardization procedures adopted for reference radiation fields and infrastructure established and maintained at RSSD, BARC in accordance with the recommendations of ISO-4037. The paper describes the various tests that are carried out for radiation protection monitoring instrument to study the variation of the calibration factor with influencing quantities like linearity of response, energy response, angular dependence and overload characteristics. The results of these tests for typical instruments are also discussed. The present work also describes various types of indigenously developed radiation protection monitoring instruments and their performance characteristics. Adaptability of these instruments for the implementation of operational quantities are discussed briefly. It also dwells on the IAEA Quality Audit for radiation protection level calibrations, which RSSD has been participating since 2001. Our results of the quality audit are well within the acceptance limit (±7%) set by IAEA for the

  6. Microalgal process-monitoring based on high-selectivity spectroscopy tools: status and future perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Podevin, Michael; Fotidis, Ioannis A; Angelidaki, Irini

    2018-08-01

    Microalgae are well known for their ability to accumulate lipids intracellularly, which can be used for biofuels and mitigate CO 2 emissions. However, due to economic challenges, microalgae bioprocesses have maneuvered towards the simultaneous production of food, feed, fuel, and various high-value chemicals in a biorefinery concept. On-line and in-line monitoring of macromolecules such as lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and high-value pigments will be more critical to maintain product quality and consistency for downstream processing in a biorefinery to maintain and valorize these markets. The main contribution of this review is to present current and prospective advances of on-line and in-line process analytical technology (PAT), with high-selectivity - the capability of monitoring several analytes simultaneously - in the interest of improving product quality, productivity, and process automation of a microalgal biorefinery. The high-selectivity PAT under consideration are mid-infrared (MIR), near-infrared (NIR), and Raman vibrational spectroscopies. The current review contains a critical assessment of these technologies in the context of recent advances in software and hardware in order to move microalgae production towards process automation through multivariate process control (MVPC) and software sensors trained on "big data". The paper will also include a comprehensive overview of off-line implementations of vibrational spectroscopy in microalgal research as it pertains to spectral interpretation and process automation to aid and motivate development.

  7. Locations of Sampling Stations for Water Quality Monitoring in Water Distribution Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rathi, Shweta; Gupta, Rajesh

    2014-04-01

    Water quality is required to be monitored in the water distribution networks (WDNs) at salient locations to assure the safe quality of water supplied to the consumers. Such monitoring stations (MSs) provide warning against any accidental contaminations. Various objectives like demand coverage, time for detection, volume of water contaminated before detection, extent of contamination, expected population affected prior to detection, detection likelihood and others, have been independently or jointly considered in determining optimal number and location of MSs in WDNs. "Demand coverage" defined as the percentage of network demand monitored by a particular monitoring station is a simple measure to locate MSs. Several methods based on formulation of coverage matrix using pre-specified coverage criteria and optimization have been suggested. Coverage criteria is defined as some minimum percentage of total flow received at the monitoring stations that passed through any upstream node included then as covered node of the monitoring station. Number of monitoring stations increases with the increase in the value of coverage criteria. Thus, the design of monitoring station becomes subjective. A simple methodology is proposed herein which priority wise iteratively selects MSs to achieve targeted demand coverage. The proposed methodology provided the same number and location of MSs for illustrative network as an optimization method did. Further, the proposed method is simple and avoids subjectivity that could arise from the consideration of coverage criteria. The application of methodology is also shown on a WDN of Dharampeth zone (Nagpur city WDN in Maharashtra, India) having 285 nodes and 367 pipes.

  8. The water-quality monitoring program for the Baltimore reservoir system, 1981-2007—Description, review and evaluation, and framework integration for enhanced monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koterba, Michael T.; Waldron, Marcus C.; Kraus, Tamara E.C.

    2011-01-01

    The City of Baltimore, Maryland, and parts of five surrounding counties obtain their water from Loch Raven and Liberty Reservoirs. A third reservoir, Prettyboy, is used to resupply Loch Raven Reservoir. Management of the watershed conditions for each reservoir is a shared responsibility by agreement among City, County, and State jurisdictions. The most recent (2005) Baltimore Reservoir Watershed Management Agreement (RWMA) called for continued and improved water-quality monitoring in the reservoirs and selected watershed tributaries. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a retrospective review of the effectiveness of monitoring data obtained and analyzed by the RWMA jurisdictions from 1981 through 2007 to help identify possible improvements in the monitoring program to address RWMA water-quality concerns. Long-term water-quality concerns include eutrophication and sedimentation in the reservoirs, and elevated concentrations of (a) nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) being transported from the major tributaries to the reservoirs, (b) iron and manganese released from reservoir bed sediments during periods of deep-water anoxia, (c) mercury in higher trophic order game fish in the reservoirs, and (d) bacteria in selected reservoir watershed tributaries. Emerging concerns include elevated concentrations of sodium, chloride, and disinfection by-products (DBPs) in the drinking water from both supply reservoirs. Climate change and variability also could be emerging concerns, affecting seasonal patterns, annual trends, and drought occurrence, which historically have led to declines in reservoir water quality. Monitoring data increasingly have been used to support the development of water-quality models. The most recent (2006) modeling helped establish an annual sediment Total Maximum Daily Load to Loch Raven Reservoir, and instantaneous and 30-day moving average water-quality endpoints for chlorophyll-a (chl-a) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in Loch Raven and Prettyboy

  9. A new approach for agroecosystems monitoring using high-revisit multitemporal satellite data series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diez, M.; Moclán, C.; Romo, A.; Pirondini, F.

    2014-10-01

    With increasing population pressure throughout the world and the need for increased agricultural production there is a definite need for improved management of the world's agricultural resources. Comprehensive, reliable and timely information on agricultural resources is necessary for the implementation of effective management decisions. In that sense, the demand for high-quality and high-frequency geo-information for monitoring of agriculture and its associated ecosystems has been growing in the recent decades. Satellite image data enable direct observation of large areas at frequent intervals and therefore allow unprecedented mapping and monitoring of crops evolution. Furthermore, real time analysis can assist in making timely management decisions that affect the outcome of the crops. The DEIMOS-1 satellite, owned and operated by ELECNOR DEIMOS IMAGING (Spain), provides 22m, 3-band imagery with a very wide (620-km) swath, and has been specifically designed to produce high-frequency revisit on very large areas. This capability has been proved through the contracts awarded to Airbus Defence and Space every year since 2011, where DEIMOS-1 has provided the USDA with the bulk of the imagery used to monitor the crop season in the Lower 48, in cooperation with its twin satellite DMCii's UK-DMC2. Furthermore, high density agricultural areas have been targeted with increased frequency and analyzed in near real time to monitor tightly the evolution. In this paper we present the results obtained from a campaign carried out in 2013 with DEIMOS-1 and UK-DMC2 satellites. These campaigns provided a high-frequency revisit of target areas, with one image every two days on average: almost a ten-fold frequency improvement with respect to Landsat-8. The results clearly show the effectiveness of a high-frequency monitoring approach with high resolution images with respect to classic strategies where results are more exposed to weather conditions.

  10. Amperometric Gas Sensors as a Low Cost Emerging Technology Platform for Air Quality Monitoring Applications: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baron, Ronan; Saffell, John

    2017-11-22

    This review examines the use of amperometric electrochemical gas sensors for monitoring inorganic gases that affect urban air quality. First, we consider amperometric gas sensor technology including its development toward specifically designed air quality sensors. We then review recent academic and research organizations' studies where this technology has been trialed for air quality monitoring applications: early studies showed the potential of electrochemical gas sensors when colocated with reference Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) stations. Spatially dense networks with fast temporal resolution provide information not available from sparse AQMs with longer recording intervals. We review how this technology is being offered as commercial urban air quality networks and consider the remaining challenges. Sensors must be sensitive, selective, and stable; air quality monitors/nodes must be electronically and mechanically well designed. Data correction is required and models with differing levels of sophistication are being designed. Data analysis and validation is possibly the biggest remaining hurdle needed to deliver reliable concentration readings. Finally, this review also considers the roles of companies, urban infrastructure requirements, and public research in the development of this technology.

  11. Regulatory requirements and quality assurance of radiation monitoring instruments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narasimharao, K.L.; Sharma, Ranjit

    2005-01-01

    The successful utilisation of radiation sources in the fields of medicine and industry requires the accurate measurement of activity, exposure rate and dose. Many varieties of instruments are in use for measurement of these parameters and new ones are being developed. The criteria for the design of the radiation monitoring instrument include the type and intensity of the radiation, purpose of measurement and ruggedness of the instrument. Quality and reliability of radiation monitoring instruments ensure that individuals are adequately protected. Accuracy, response time and ruggedness are required to be as per the approved/ prescribed guidelines. Regulatory authorities outline the design and performance criteria for radiation monitoring instruments and prescribe the recommendations of international agencies such as IAEA, ICRU and ISO for radiological measurement assurance programme. National Standards Laboratories all over the world prescribe procedures for calibration of various radiation monitoring instruments. The instruments should be calibrated as per these guidelines and should be traceable to national standards. The calibration traceable to national/ international standards and documentation as well as limits stipulated by the competent authority ensures the expected performance of the instrument. (author)

  12. Automatised Data Quality Monitoring of the LHCb Vertex Locator

    CERN Multimedia

    Szumlak, Tomasz

    2016-01-01

    The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip semiconductor detector operating at just 8mm distance to the LHC beams. Its 172,000 strips are read at a frequency of 1 MHz and processed by off-detector FPGAs followed by a PC cluster that reduces the event rate to about 10 kHz. During the second run of the LHC, which lasts from 2015 until 2018, the detector performance will undergo continued change due to radiation damage effects. This necessitates a detailed monitoring of the data quality to avoid adverse effects on the physics analysis performance. The VELO monitoring infrastructure has been re-designed compared to the first run of the LHC when it was based on manual checks. The new system is based around an automatic analysis framework, which monitors the performance of new data as well as long-term trends and flags issues whenever they arise. An unbiased subset of the detector data are processed about once per hour by monitoring algorithms. The new analysis framework then analyses the plots that are prod...

  13. Model based monitoring of stormwater runoff quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birch, Heidi; Vezzaro, Luca; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

    2012-01-01

    the information obtained about MPs discharged from the monitored system. A dynamic stormwater quality model was calibrated using MP data collected by volume-proportional and passive sampling in a storm drainage system in the outskirts of Copenhagen (Denmark) and a 10-year rain series was used to find annual...... average and maximum event mean concentrations. Use of this model reduced the uncertainty of predicted annual average concentrations compared to a simple stochastic method based solely on data. The predicted annual average obtained by using passive sampler measurements (one month installation...

  14. Water quality monitoring of Jialing-River in Chongqing using advanced ion chromatographic system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Kazuhiko; Shi, Chao-Hong; Nakagoshi, Nobukazu

    2012-04-01

    The water quality monitoring operation to evaluate the water quality of polluted river is an extremely important task for the river-watershed management/control based on the environmental policy. In this study, the novel, simple and convenient water quality monitoring of Jialing-River in Chongqing, China was carried out using an advanced ion chromatography (IC) consisting of ion-exclusion/cation-exchange chromatography (IEC/CEC) with conductivity detection for determining simultaneously the common anions such as SO4(2-), Cl(-), and NO3(-) and the cations such as Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+, the ion-exclusion chromatography (IEC) with visible detection for determining simultaneously the nutrient components such as phosphate and silicate ions, and the IEC with the enhanced conductivity detection using a post column of K+-form cation-exchange resin for determining HCO3(-)-alkalinity as an inorganic-carbon source for biomass synthesis in biological reaction process under the aerobic conditions. According to the ionic balance theory between the total equivalent concentrations of anions and cations, the water quality evaluation of the Jialing-River waters taking at different sampling sites in Chongqing metropolitan area was carried out using the advanced IC system. As a result, the effectiveness of this novel water quality monitoring methodology using the IC system was demonstrated on the several practical applications to a typical biological sewage treatment plant on Jialing-River of Chongqing.

  15. Video Monitoring a Simulation-Based Quality Improvement Program in Bihar, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyer, Jessica; Spindler, Hilary; Christmas, Amelia; Shah, Malay Bharat; Morgan, Melissa; Cohen, Susanna R; Sterne, Jason; Mahapatra, Tanmay; Walker, Dilys

    2018-04-01

    Simulation-based training has become an accepted clinical training andragogy in high-resource settings with its use increasing in low-resource settings. Video recordings of simulated scenarios are commonly used by facilitators. Beyond using the videos during debrief sessions, researchers can also analyze the simulation videos to quantify technical and nontechnical skills during simulated scenarios over time. Little is known about the feasibility and use of large-scale systems to video record and analyze simulation and debriefing data for monitoring and evaluation in low-resource settings. This manuscript describes the process of designing and implementing a large-scale video monitoring system. Mentees and Mentors were consented and all simulations and debriefs conducted at 320 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) were video recorded. The system design, number of video recordings, and inter-rater reliability of the coded videos were assessed. The final dataset included a total of 11,278 videos. Overall, a total of 2,124 simulation videos were coded and 183 (12%) were blindly double-coded. For the double-coded sample, the average inter-rater reliability (IRR) scores were 80% for nontechnical skills, and 94% for clinical technical skills. Among 4,450 long debrief videos received, 216 were selected for coding and all were double-coded. Data quality of simulation videos was found to be very good in terms of recorded instances of "unable to see" and "unable to hear" in Phases 1 and 2. This study demonstrates that video monitoring systems can be effectively implemented at scale in resource limited settings. Further, video monitoring systems can play several vital roles within program implementation, including monitoring and evaluation, provision of actionable feedback to program implementers, and assurance of program fidelity.

  16. Evaluation of a Multichannel Non-Contact ECG System and Signal Quality Algorithms for Sleep Apnea Detection and Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan D. Castro

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Sleep-related conditions require high-cost and low-comfort diagnosis at the hospital during one night or longer. To overcome this situation, this work aims to evaluate an unobtrusive monitoring technique for sleep apnea. This paper presents, for the first time, the evaluation of contactless capacitively-coupled electrocardiography (ccECG signals for the extraction of sleep apnea features, together with a comparison of different signal quality indicators. A multichannel ccECG system is used to collect signals from 15 subjects in a sleep environment from different positions. Reference quality labels were assigned for every 30-s segment. Quality indicators were calculated, and their signal classification performance was evaluated. Features for the detection of sleep apnea were extracted from capacitive and reference signals. Sleep apnea features related to heart rate and heart rate variability achieved high similarity to the reference values, with p-values of 0.94 and 0.98, which is in line with the more than 95% beat-matching obtained. Features related to signal morphology presented lower similarity with the reference, although signal similarity metrics of correlation and coherence were relatively high. Quality-based automatic classification of the signals had a maximum accuracy of 91%. Best-performing quality indicators were based on template correlation and beat-detection. Results suggest that using unobtrusive cardiac signals for the automatic detection of sleep apnea can achieve similar performance as contact signals, and indicates clinical value of ccECG. Moreover, signal segments can automatically be classified by the proposed quality metrics as a pre-processing step. Including contactless respiration signals is likely to improve the performance and provide a complete unobtrusive cardiorespiratory monitoring solution; this is a promising alternative that will allow the screening of more patients with higher comfort, for a longer time, and at

  17. Regulatory quality control in the metal and semi metal environmental monitoring program at IPEN/CNEN-SP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faustino, Mainara G.; Silva, Doulgas Batista; Monteiro, Lucilena R.; Dantas, Elizabeth S.K.; Pires, Maria Aparecida F.; Cotrim, Marycel E.B.

    2013-01-01

    The CONAMA's Resolution 430 recently published in May 13 th of 2011, that completes and modifies the Resolution 357/2005, defined new quality standards to perform liquid effluent monitoring essays in order to allow the release in the public sewer system. This Resolution has established that the essay laboratories must be certified by Brazilian National Metrology, Normalization and Industrial Quality Institute - INMETRO and also count with an implemented quality control system. Thereby this publication affected directly IPEN's Environmental Monitoring Program of Stables Chemical Compound (PMA-Q), performed since 2007. In this program, 20 parameters related to the metallic and non-metallic chemical elements content are monitored by using sensitive analytical techniques such as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry - GF-AAS or inductively coupled plasma spectrometry - ICP-OES. Therefore this paper presents improvements to determine the laboratory individual performance performed by GF-AAS and ICP-OES. To achieve the legislation compliance for these parameters, the following actions were implemented: the construction of control charts (internal quality control) and the participation of the laboratory in interlaboratory proficiency tests (external quality control). These actions are presented and discussed with the results of elements such as Arsenic and Lead that are analyzed through GF-AAS as well as Chromium, Cooper, Zinc, Iron and Nickel, that are analyzed through ICP-OES. These actions of quality control allowed the continuous monitoring of laboratory performance, the identification and resolution of analytic problems and interlaboratory differences, provide additional confidence to monitoring program. (author)

  18. Monitoring health related quality of life in adolescents with diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Wit, M; Delemarre-van de Waal, Henriette A; Pouwer, F

    2007-01-01

    Particularly in chronic conditions, monitoring health related quality of life (HRQoL) of adolescents in clinical practice is increasingly advocated. We set out to identify and review the clinical utility of available generic and diabetes specific HRQoL questionnaires suitable for use in adolescents...

  19. Commissioning of the ALICE-LHC online data quality monitoring framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roukoutakis, Filimon; Haller, Barthelemy von

    2009-01-01

    ALICE is one of the experiments installed at CERN Large Hadron Collider, dedicated to the study of heavy-ion collisions. The final ALICE data acquisition system has been installed and is being used for the testing and commissioning of detectors. Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) is an important aspect of the online procedures for a HEP experiment. In this presentation we overview the commissioning and the integration of ALICE's AMORE (Automatic MOnitoRing Environment), a custom-written distributed application aimed at providing DQM services in a large, experiment-wide scale.

  20. Lot quality assurance sampling for monitoring coverage and quality of a targeted condom social marketing programme in traditional and non-traditional outlets in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piot, Bram; Mukherjee, Amajit; Navin, Deepa; Krishnan, Nattu; Bhardwaj, Ashish; Sharma, Vivek; Marjara, Pritpal

    2010-02-01

    This study reports on the results of a large-scale targeted condom social marketing campaign in and around areas where female sex workers are present. The paper also describes the method that was used for the routine monitoring of condom availability in these sites. The lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) method was used for the assessment of the geographical coverage and quality of coverage of condoms in target areas in four states and along selected national highways in India, as part of Avahan, the India AIDS initiative. A significant general increase in condom availability was observed in the intervention area between 2005 and 2008. High coverage rates were gradually achieved through an extensive network of pharmacies and particularly of non-traditional outlets, whereas traditional outlets were instrumental in providing large volumes of condoms. LQAS is seen as a valuable tool for the routine monitoring of the geographical coverage and of the quality of delivery systems of condoms and of health products and services in general. With a relatively small sample size, easy data collection procedures and simple analytical methods, it was possible to inform decision-makers regularly on progress towards coverage targets.

  1. Earth Observation Data Quality Monitoring and Control: A Case Study of STAR Central Data Repository

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, W.; Jochum, M.

    2017-12-01

    Earth observation data quality is very important for researchers and decision makers involved in weather forecasting, severe weather warning, disaster and emergency response, environmental monitoring, etc. Monitoring and control earth observation data quality, especially accuracy, completeness, and timeliness, is very useful in data management and governance to optimize data flow, discover potential transmission issues, and better connect data providers and users. Taking a centralized near real-time satellite data repository, STAR (Center for Satellite Applications and Research of NOAA) Central Data Repository (SCDR), as an example, this paper describes how to develop new mechanism to verify data integrity, check data completeness, and monitor data latency in an operational data management system. Such quality monitoring and control of large volume satellite data help data providers and managers improve data transmission of near real-time satellite data, enhance its acquisition and management, and overcome performance and management issues to better serve research and development activities.

  2. A Wireless Sensor Network-Based Approach with Decision Support for Monitoring Lake Water Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xiaoci; Yi, Jianjun; Chen, Shaoli; Zhu, Xiaomin

    2015-11-19

    Online monitoring and water quality analysis of lakes are urgently needed. A feasible and effective approach is to use a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Lake water environments, like other real world environments, present many changing and unpredictable situations. To ensure flexibility in such an environment, the WSN node has to be prepared to deal with varying situations. This paper presents a WSN self-configuration approach for lake water quality monitoring. The approach is based on the integration of a semantic framework, where a reasoner can make decisions on the configuration of WSN services. We present a WSN ontology and the relevant water quality monitoring context information, which considers its suitability in a pervasive computing environment. We also propose a rule-based reasoning engine that is used to conduct decision support through reasoning techniques and context-awareness. To evaluate the approach, we conduct usability experiments and performance benchmarks.

  3. Key factors for a high-quality peritoneal dialysis program--the role of the PD team and continuous quality improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Wei; Ni, Zhaohui; Qian, Jiaqi

    2014-06-01

    The proportion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) has increased very fast in China over the last decade. Renji Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, is a recognized high-quality PD unit with a high PD utilization rate, excellent patient and technique survival (1-year and 5-year patient survival rate of 93% and 71%, and 1-year and 5-year technique survival of 96% and 82%, respectively), low peritonitis rate and a well-documented good quality of life of the treated patients. We believe that a dedicated and experienced PD team, a structured patient training program, continuous patient support, establishing and utilizing standardized protocols, starting PD with low dialysis dose, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), and continuous quality improvement (CQI) are the key factors underlying this successful PD program. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.

  4. Performance Evaluation of the Operational Air Quality Monitor for Water Testing Aboard the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, William T.; Limero, Thomas F.; Gazda, Daniel B.; Minton, John M.; Macatangay, Ariel V.; Dwivedi, Prabha; Fernandez, Facundo M.

    2014-01-01

    Real-time environmental monitoring on ISS is necessary to provide data in a timely fashion and to help ensure astronaut health. Current real-time water TOC monitoring provides high-quality trending information, but compound-specific data is needed. The combination of ETV with the AQM showed that compounds of interest could be liberated from water and analyzed in the same manner as air sampling. Calibration of the AQM using water samples allowed for the quantitative analysis of ISS archival samples. Some calibration issues remain, but the excellent accuracy of DMSD indicates that ETV holds promise for as a sample introduction method for water analysis in spaceflight.

  5. Providing high-quality measurement data in analytical system of air pollution monitoring and their key importance for smart cities residents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Czechowski Piotr O.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article presents selected, main elements of an air pollution automatic monitoring system with analytical subsystems concept in smart cities based on examples from Poland, implemented system in Pomerania, the concept of new system in Warsaw city and pilot research in Nowy Sącz city. All systems are the result of teamwork, ranging from design, development of new methodology and software to implementation in real-time air pollutants smart cities monitoring systems. Focused on the most neuralgic elements: data quality subsystems, new ideas of smart mobility measurement stations and their ability to use in future research and models. Special attention was paid to stochastic models and statistic methodology proposed and used in data diagnostics as analytical system engineering.

  6. A space satellite perspective to monitor water quality using ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Good water quality is important for human health, economic development, and the health of our environment. Across the country, we face the challenge of degraded water quality in many of our rivers, lakes, coastal regions and oceans. The EPA National Rivers and Stream Assessment report found that more than half - 55 percent - of our rivers and streams are in poor condition for aquatic life. Likewise, the EPA Lakes Assessment found that 22 percent of our lakes are in poor condition for aquatic life. The reasons for unhealthy water quality are vast. Likewise, poor water quality has numerous impacts to ecosystems. One indicator, which trends during warm weather months, is the duration and frequency of harmful algal blooms. A healthy environment includes good water quality to support a rich and varied ecosystem, economic growth, and protects the health of the people in the community who rely on that water. Having the ability to monitor and provide timely response to harmful algal blooms would be one step in protecting the benefits people receive from good water quality (U.S. EPA 2010 and 2013). Published in the North American Lake Management Society-LakeLine Magazine.

  7. [Designing and implementation of a web-based quality monitoring system for plasma glucose measurement in multicenter population study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yong; Wang, Limin; Pang, Richard; Mo, Nanxun; Hu, Yan; Deng, Qian; Hu, Zhaohui

    2015-05-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe the designing and implementation of a web-based plasma glucose measurement quality monitoring system to assess the analytical quality of plasma glucose measurements in multicenter population study and provide evidence for the future studies. In the chronic non-communicable disease and related factor surveillance in China, a web based quality monitoring system for plasma glucose measurement was established to conduct evaluation on plasma glucose monitoring quality and effectiveness in 302 surveillance centers, including quality control data entry, transmission and feedback. The majority of the surveillance centers met the quality requirements and passed the evaluation of reproducibility and precision of plasma glucose measurement, only a few centers required intensive training and re-assessment. In order to ensure the completeness and reliability of plasma glucose measurement in the surveillance centers, the establishment of web-based plasma glucose measurement quality control system can facilitate the identification of the qualified surveillance centers and evaluation of plasma glucose measurement quality in different regions. Communication and training are important in ensuring plasma glucose measurement quality. It is necessary to further improve this web-based plasma glucose measurement quality monitoring system in the future to reduce the method specific plasma glucose measurement bias.

  8. Quality assurance of the manual OSLD Badge based personnel monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Munish; Gaonkar, U.P.; Koul, D.K.; Datta, D.; Singh, S.K.; Rakesh, R.B.; Kulkarni, M.S.; Ratna, P.

    2018-01-01

    Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) based technique is widely used for monitoring of radiation workers exposed to x, gamma and beta radiations. Features such as multiple readout, short processing time, better beta response, absence of infra red signal (no heating), flexibility in the dosimeter design using binders or substrates having low melting point are associated advantages. Presently α-Al 2 O 3 :C and BeO based dosimeters are popularly used for personnel monitoring applications worldwide. The present paper describe results of the external quality control check (QAC) tests performed for the present OSLD badge based personnel monitoring system. The results were analyzed as per ANSI criteria and Trumpet curve methods

  9. The Data Quality Monitoring Software for the CMS experiment at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2071602

    2016-01-01

    The Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) Software is a central tool in the CMS experiment. Its flexibility allows for integration in several key environments Online, for real-time detector monitoring; Offline, for the final, fine-grained Data Certification; Release-Validation, to constantly validate the functionalities and the performance of the reconstruction software; in Monte Carlo productions.Since the end of data taking at a center of mass energy of 8 TeV, the environment in which the DQM lives has undergone fundamental changes. In turn, the DQM system has made significant upgrades in many areas to respond to not only the changes in infrastructure, but also the growing specialized needs of the collaboration with an emphasis on more sophisticated methods for evaluating dataquality, as well as advancing the DQM system to provide quality assessments of various Monte Carlo simulations versus data distributions, monitoring changes in physical effects due to modifications of algorithms or framework, and enabling reg...

  10. Internal quality control indicators of cervical cytopathology exams performed in laboratories monitored by the External Quality Control Laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ázara, Cinara Zago Silveira; Manrique, Edna Joana Cláudio; Tavares, Suelene Brito do Nascimento; de Souza, Nadja Lindany Alves; Amaral, Rita Goreti

    2014-09-01

    To evaluate the impact of continued education provided by an external quality control laboratory on the indicators of internal quality control of cytopathology exams. The internal quality assurance indicators for cytopathology exams from 12 laboratories monitored by the External Quality Control Laboratory were evaluated. Overall, 185,194 exams were included, 98,133 of which referred to the period preceding implementation of a continued education program, while 87,061 referred to the period following this intervention. Data were obtained from the Cervical Cancer Database of the Brazilian National Health Service. Following implementation of the continued education program, the positivity index (PI) remained within recommended limits in four laboratories. In another four laboratories, the PI progressed from below the limits to within the recommended standards. In one laboratory, the PI remained low, in two laboratories, it remained very low, and in one, it increased from very low to low. The percentage of exams compatible with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) remained within the recommended limits in five laboratories, while in three laboratories it progressed from below the recommended levels to >0.4% of the total number of satisfactory exams, and in four laboratories it remained below the standard limit. Both the percentage of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) in relation to abnormal exams, and the ratio between ASC-US and intraepithelial lesions remained within recommended levels in all the laboratories investigated. An improvement was found in the indicators represented by the positivity index and the percentage of exams compatible with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, showing that the role played by the external quality control laboratory in providing continued education contributed towards improving laboratory staff skills in detecting cervical cancer precursor lesions.

  11. A new air quality monitoring and early warning system: Air quality assessment and air pollutant concentration prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhongshan; Wang, Jian

    2017-10-01

    Air pollution in many countries is worsening with industrialization and urbanization, resulting in climate change and affecting people's health, thus, making the work of policymakers more difficult. It is therefore both urgent and necessary to establish amore scientific air quality monitoring and early warning system to evaluate the degree of air pollution objectively, and predict pollutant concentrations accurately. However, the integration of air quality assessment and air pollutant concentration prediction to establish an air quality system is not common. In this paper, we propose a new air quality monitoring and early warning system, including an assessment module and forecasting module. In the air quality assessment module, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is used to determine the main pollutants and evaluate the degree of air pollution more scientifically. In the air pollutant concentration prediction module, a novel hybridization model combining complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition, a modified cuckoo search and differential evolution algorithm, and an Elman neural network, is proposed to improve the forecasting accuracy of six main air pollutant concentrations. To verify the effectiveness of this system, pollutant data for two cities in China are used. The result of the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation shows that the major air pollutants in Xi'an and Jinan are PM 10 and PM 2.5 respectively, and that the air quality of Xi'an is better than that of Jinan. The forecasting results indicate that the proposed hybrid model is remarkably superior to all benchmark models on account of its higher prediction accuracy and stability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Managing the ‘Monitoring Imperative’ in the Context of SDG Target 6.3 on Water Quality and Wastewater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet G. Hering

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6 for water and sanitation builds on monitoring frameworks that were developed for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, specifically the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP. Yet, since SDG 6 goes beyond the MDG focus on drinking water and sanitation, it also significantly expands monitoring and reporting responsibilities. The target to improve water quality (Target 6.3 calls for water quality monitoring and data reporting that are likely to pose a significant challenge to countries that lack an established monitoring program. At the same time, redundant burdens may be imposed on countries that already have established programs and report out water quality data to inter- or supranational agencies. In this context, there is a risk that the intention that water quality data should serve as a basis for evidence-based decision making will become subsidiary to the resource-intensive activities of data collection and management. Alternatively, policies could be designed based on historical experience with measures of proven effectiveness, prioritizing policies that could have multiple benefits. Policies could be implemented in parallel with the development of monitoring programs and conventional monitoring data could be complemented by information gained from sources such as remote sensing and unstructured data.

  13. Monitoring quality and coverage of harm reduction services for people who use drugs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wiessing, Lucas; Ferri, Marica; Běláčková, Vendula

    2017-01-01

    indicators and to present a framework for extending them with additional indicators of coverage and quality of harm reduction services, for monitoring and evaluation at international, national or subnational levels. The ultimate aim is to improve these services in order to reduce health and social problems......BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite advances in our knowledge of effective services for people who use drugs over the last decades globally, coverage remains poor in most countries, while quality is often unknown. This paper aims to discuss the historical development of successful epidemiological...... before their scaling up and routine implementation, to evaluate their effectiveness in comparing service coverage and quality across countries. CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of an improved set of validated and internationally agreed upon best practice indicators for monitoring harm reduction service...

  14. Data quality monitoring of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benucci, L.

    2010-01-01

    The Physics and Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) framework aims at providing a homogeneous monitoring environment across various applications related to data taking at the CMS experiment. In this contribution, the DQM system for the Silicon Strip Tracker will be introduced. The set of elements to assess the status of detector will be mentioned, along with the way to identify problems and trace them to specific tracker elements. Monitoring tools, user interfaces and automated software will be briefly described. The system was used during extensive cosmic data taking of CMS in Autumn 2008, where it demonstrated to have a flexible and robust implementation and has been essential to improve the understanding of the detector. CMS Collaboration believes that this tool is now mature to face the forthcoming data-taking era.

  15. The structure of water quality monitoring in the disaster area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Nobuo

    2012-01-01

    Described are monitoring systems of water environment at usual times and after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster, and measures taken by the Ministry of the Environment (ME) for radioactive substances in the water environment. At usual times, the monitoring of hazardous substance in water environment is conducted by local governments. At/after the Disaster, ME conducted the monitoring investigation concerning the environmental quality standards and toxicants like dioxins in the river, sea and groundwater from late May to late July, 2011 because undesirable effects on health and life of the residents had been feared due to possible leak of hazardous substances in public water area and underground water of victim prefectures, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki. As the results, no high contamination due to the Disaster was found, and a part of regions exhibited the slight chemical contamination, where continuous and additional monitoring was to be kept locally with guidance of drinking the concerned well water. ME measured radioactive iodine and cesium at 29 places of Fukushima rivers to find <65 and <30,000 Bq/kg, respectively, of 4 spots of river bed material alone (late May); then Cs 32 Bq/L in water at 1 spot and <26,000 Bq/kg in bed at all places after rain (early July). In groundwater, no radioactive nuclides above were detected in any of 111 places of Fukushima Prefecture (late June to early August). Cs was not found in sea water of 9 places of concerned prefectures, but was in the sea bottom soil, <1,380 Bq/kg (middle June). As well, local governments measured those two radioactive nuclides in water and ambient dose rate of 551 sea bathing beaches (late May to early Oct.) and found only one beach (Iwaki City, Fukushima) inappropriate for swimming play. Hereafter, ME is still to investigate the bed material of public water area and to continue to monitor the marine environment in cooperation with related authorities. (T.T.)

  16. Multiple Time-Scale Monitoring to Address Dynamic Seasonality and Storm Pulses of Stream Water Quality in Mountainous Watersheds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyun-Ju Lee

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Rainfall variability and extreme events can amplify the seasonality and storm pulses of stream water chemistry in mountainous watersheds under monsoon climates. To establish a monitoring program optimized for identifying potential risks to stream water quality arising from rainfall variability and extremes, we examined water chemistry data collected on different timescales. At a small forested watershed, bi-weekly sampling lasted over two years, in comparison to three other biweekly sampling sites. In addition, high-frequency continuous measurements of pH, electrical conductivity, and turbidity were conducted in tandem with automatic water sampling at 2 h intervals during eight rainfall events. Biweekly monitoring showed that during the summer monsoon period, electrical conductivity (EC, dissolved oxygen (DO, and dissolved ion concentrations generally decreased, but total suspended solids (TSS slightly increased. A noticeable variation from the usual seasonal pattern was that DO levels substantially decreased during an extended drought. Bi-hourly storm event samplings exhibited large changes in the concentrations of TSS and particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC; DOC during intense rainfall events. However, extreme fluctuations in sediment export during discharge peaks could be detected only by turbidity measurements at 5 min intervals. Concomitant measurements during rainfall events established empirical relationships between turbidity and TSS or POC. These results suggest that routine monitoring based on weekly to monthly sampling is valid only in addressing general seasonal patterns or long-lasting phenomena such as drought effects. We propose an “adaptive” monitoring scheme that combines routine monitoring for general seasonal patterns and high-frequency instrumental measurements of water quality components exhibiting rapid responses pulsing during intense rainfall events.

  17. Monitoring report of groundwater quality around the Yotsugi mill-tailings dam, Ningyo-toge, Okayama, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsumura, Toshihiro; Takeuchi, Akira; Sato, Kazuhiko; Tsurudome, Koji; Tokizawa, Takayuki

    1999-08-01

    Monitoring of groundwater quality from boreholes around the Yotsugi mill-tailings dam, in the Ningyo-toge Environmental Engineering Center, JNC, have been carried out to estimate extent and quality of contaminated water plume from the mill-tailings pile. In this report, data collected from 1979 to 1998 fiscal year were listed and their spatial and time variation of physicochemical parameters, uranium and radium were also summarized. Additionally, groundwater sampler has been improved and analytical method has been modified. Some results from groundwater quality were; 1. Uranium and radium concentrations were low, although unexpected change was appeared in some borehole. 2. Water table and temperature from boreholes on the left bank of the dam showed drastically change. 3. Electric conductivity and concentrations or various dissolved ions tend to high from the embankment upward, whereas they tend to low from the embankment downward. (author)

  18. ChronQC: a quality control monitoring system for clinical next generation sequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tawari, Nilesh R; Seow, Justine Jia Wen; Perumal, Dharuman; Ow, Jack L; Ang, Shimin; Devasia, Arun George; Ng, Pauline C

    2018-05-15

    ChronQC is a quality control (QC) tracking system for clinical implementation of next-generation sequencing (NGS). ChronQC generates time series plots for various QC metrics to allow comparison of current runs to historical runs. ChronQC has multiple features for tracking QC data including Westgard rules for clinical validity, laboratory-defined thresholds and historical observations within a specified time period. Users can record their notes and corrective actions directly onto the plots for long-term recordkeeping. ChronQC facilitates regular monitoring of clinical NGS to enable adherence to high quality clinical standards. ChronQC is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/nilesh-tawari/ChronQC), Docker (https://hub.docker.com/r/nileshtawari/chronqc/) and the Python Package Index. ChronQC is implemented in Python and runs on all common operating systems (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X). tawari.nilesh@gmail.com or pauline.c.ng@gmail.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  19. Aircraft and satellite monitoring of water quality in Lake Superior near Duluth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherz, J. P.; Sydor, M.; Vandomelen, J. F.

    1974-01-01

    Satellite images and low altitude aerial photographs often show vivid discolorations in water bodies. Extensive laboratory analysis shows that water reflectance, which causes brightness on aerial images, positively correlates to the water quality parameter of turbidity, which on a particular day correlates to suspended solids. Work with low altitude photography on three overcast days and with ERTS images on five clear days provides positive correlation of image brightness to the high turbidity and solids which are present in Lake Superior near Duluth over 50% of the time. Proper use of aerial images would have shown that an $8,000,000 drinking water intake constructed in the midst of this unpotable, turbid water should have been located 6 miles north in clear, usable water. Noise effects such as skylight reflection, atmospheric effects, and depth penetration also must be understood for operational use of remote sensing for water quality monitoring and are considered in the paper.

  20. Health equity monitoring for healthcare quality assurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cookson, R; Asaria, M; Ali, S; Shaw, R; Doran, T; Goldblatt, P

    2018-02-01

    Population-wide health equity monitoring remains isolated from mainstream healthcare quality assurance. As a result, healthcare organizations remain ill-informed about the health equity impacts of their decisions - despite becoming increasingly well-informed about quality of care for the average patient. We present a new and improved analytical approach to integrating health equity into mainstream healthcare quality assurance, illustrate how this approach has been applied in the English National Health Service, and discuss how it could be applied in other countries. We illustrate the approach using a key quality indicator that is widely used to assess how well healthcare is co-ordinated between primary, community and acute settings: emergency inpatient hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive chronic conditions ("potentially avoidable emergency admissions", for short). Whole-population data for 2015 on potentially avoidable emergency admissions in England were linked with neighborhood deprivation indices. Inequality within the populations served by 209 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs: care purchasing organizations with mean population 272,000) was compared against two benchmarks - national inequality and inequality within ten similar populations - using neighborhood-level models to simulate the gap in indirectly standardized admissions between most and least deprived neighborhoods. The modelled inequality gap for England was 927 potentially avoidable emergency admissions per 100,000 people, implying 263,894 excess hospitalizations associated with inequality. Against this national benchmark, 17% of CCGs had significantly worse-than-benchmark equity, and 23% significantly better. The corresponding figures were 11% and 12% respectively against the similar populations benchmark. Deprivation-related inequality in potentially avoidable emergency admissions varies substantially between English CCGs serving similar populations, beyond expected statistical

  1. Comparison of image quality between mammography dedicated monitor and UHD 4K monitor, using standard mammographic phantom: A preliminary study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Ji Young; Cha, Soon Joo; Hong, Sung Hwan; Kim, Su Young; Kim, Yong Hoon; Kim, You Sung; Kim, Jeong A [Dept. of Radiology, Inje Unveristy Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-03-15

    Using standard mammographic phantom images, we compared the image quality obtained between a mammography dedicated 5 megapixel monitor (5M) and a UHD 4K (4K) monitor with digital imaging and communications in medicine display, to investigate the possibility of clinical application of 4K monitors. Three different exposures (autoexposure, overexposure and underexposure) images of mammographic phantom were obtained, and six radiologists independently evaluated the images in 5M and 4K without image modulation, by scoring of fibers, groups of specks and masses within the phantom image. The mean score of each object on both monitors was independently analyzed, using t-test and interobserver reliability by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of SPSS. The overall mean scores of fiber, group of specks, and mass in 5M were 4.25, 3.92, and 3.28 respectively, and scores obtained in 4K monitor were 3.81, 3.58, and 3.14, respectively. No statistical difference was seen in scores of fiber and mass between the two monitors at all exposure conditions, but the score of group of specks in 4K was statistically lower in the overall (p = 0.0492) and in underexposure conditions (p = 0.012). The ICC for interobserver reliability was excellent (0.874). Our study suggests that since the mammographic phantom images are appropriate with no significant difference in image quality observed between the two monitors, the 4K monitor could be used for clinical studies. Since this is a small preliminary study using phantom images, the result may differ in actual mammographic images, and subsequent investigation with clinical mammographic images is required.

  2. Monitoring quantity and quality of pangasius pond effluent : report of a monitoring program and recommendations for certification

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heijden, van der P.G.M.; Poelman, M.; Vo Minh Son,; Duong Nhut Long,; Bosma, R.H.

    2011-01-01

    The quantity and quality of pangasius pond effluent was monitored by means of monthly sampling during a study conducted on four striped catfish farms located in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The study was undertaken to test the practical implications of the standards and guidelines with regard to

  3. Real-time monitoring of emissions with traffic data, simulation and air quality measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klunder, G.A.; Wilmink, I.R.

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates the possibility to decide when to apply a (dynamic) traffic management measure to improve the air quality or reduce CO2 emissions, based on a limited set of (measured) data. It is expected that a combination of monitoring and modeling is needed for reliable air quality

  4. Monitoring groundwater quality in South-Africa: Development of a national strategy

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Parsons, R

    1995-04-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about the temporal distribution of groundwater quality on a national scale in South Africa. The effective management of the country's groundwater resources is thus difficult and a need exists for a national network for monitoring...

  5. Spectroscopic vector analysis for fast pattern quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sohn, Younghoon; Ryu, Sungyoon; Lee, Chihoon; Yang, Yusin

    2018-03-01

    In semiconductor industry, fast and effective measurement of pattern variation has been key challenge for assuring massproduct quality. Pattern measurement techniques such as conventional CD-SEMs or Optical CDs have been extensively used, but these techniques are increasingly limited in terms of measurement throughput and time spent in modeling. In this paper we propose time effective pattern monitoring method through the direct spectrum-based approach. In this technique, a wavelength band sensitive to a specific pattern change is selected from spectroscopic ellipsometry signal scattered by pattern to be measured, and the amplitude and phase variation in the wavelength band are analyzed as a measurement index of the pattern change. This pattern change measurement technique is applied to several process steps and verified its applicability. Due to its fast and simple analysis, the methods can be adapted to the massive process variation monitoring maximizing measurement throughput.

  6. Role of monitoring network in the control management of air quality. An industrial case history

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zerbo, G. [Catania Univ. (Italy). Inst. of Merceology; Fabiano, B.; Ferraiolo, A.; Solisio, C.; Ruaro, R.

    1995-12-31

    Air quality control by a system of monitoring station is indispensable for the environmental protection. Moreover, a monitoring network have not to be only a mere data collection a good air quality control is possible only if the network management allows to prevent unacceptable pollutants level. In other terms, elaboration and interpretation data are fundamental in order to make monitoring system really able for regulations of corrective measures as, for example, the reduction of local emissions. The case of monitoring network run from the Industrial Society CIPA of Siracusa (Italy) is discussed. The management of the data obtained from a continuous survey allows to keep pollutants level below the current limits set down by the Italian law. Furthermore, elaboration of the data allows useful evaluations about atmospheric dispersion phenomena. (author)

  7. Role of monitoring network in the control management of air quality. An industrial case history

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zerbo, G [Catania Univ. (Italy). Inst. of Merceology; Fabiano, B; Ferraiolo, A; Solisio, C; Ruaro, R

    1996-12-31

    Air quality control by a system of monitoring station is indispensable for the environmental protection. Moreover, a monitoring network have not to be only a mere data collection a good air quality control is possible only if the network management allows to prevent unacceptable pollutants level. In other terms, elaboration and interpretation data are fundamental in order to make monitoring system really able for regulations of corrective measures as, for example, the reduction of local emissions. The case of monitoring network run from the Industrial Society CIPA of Siracusa (Italy) is discussed. The management of the data obtained from a continuous survey allows to keep pollutants level below the current limits set down by the Italian law. Furthermore, elaboration of the data allows useful evaluations about atmospheric dispersion phenomena. (author)

  8. Enabling Bus Transit Service Quality Co-Monitoring Through Smartphone-Based Platform

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Corinna; Zegras, P. Christopher; Zhao, Fang

    2017-01-01

    ’ word, meaning “agencies using public feedback to supplement official monitoring and regulation.”] bus service quality. The pilot project adapted a smartphone-based travel survey system, Future Mobility Sensing, to collect real-time customer feedback and objective operational measurements on specific...... monitoring through a more real-time, customer-centric perspective. The pilot project operated publicly for 3 months on the Silver Line bus rapid transit in Boston, Massachusetts. Seventy-six participants completed the entrance survey; half of them actively participated and completed more than 500...

  9. ATLAS Offline Data Quality Monitoring

    CERN Document Server

    Adelman, J; Boelaert, N; D'Onofrio, M; Frost, J A; Guyot, C; Hauschild, M; Hoecker, A; Leney, K J C; Lytken, E; Martinez-Perez, M; Masik, J; Nairz, A M; Onyisi, P U E; Roe, S; Schatzel, S; Schaetzel, S; Wilson, M G

    2010-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reads out 100 Million electronic channels at a rate of 200 Hz. Before the data are shipped to storage and analysis centres across the world, they have to be checked to be free from irregularities which render them scientifically useless. Data quality offline monitoring provides prompt feedback from full first-pass event reconstruction at the Tier-0 computing centre and can unveil problems in the detector hardware and in the data processing chain. Detector information and reconstructed proton-proton collision event characteristics are distilled into a few key histograms and numbers which are automatically compared with a reference. The results of the comparisons are saved as status flags in a database and are published together with the histograms on a web server. They are inspected by a 24/7 shift crew who can notify on-call experts in case of problems and in extreme cases signal data taking abort.

  10. Enabling Bus Transit Service Quality Co-Monitoring Through Smartphone-Based Platform

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Corinna; Zegras, P. Christopher; Zhao, Fang

    2017-01-01

    ’ word, meaning “agencies using public feedback to supplement official monitoring and regulation.”] bus service quality. The pilot project adapted a smartphone-based travel survey system, Future Mobility Sensing, to collect real-time customer feedback and objective operational measurements on specific...

  11. Radioactivity monitor for high-performance liquid chromatography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reeve, D.R.; Crozier, A.

    1977-01-01

    The coupling of a homogeneous radioactivity monitor to a liquid chromatograph involves compromises between the sensitivity of the monitor and the resolution and speed of analysis of the chromatograph. The theoretical relationships between these parameters are considered and expressions derived which make it possible to calculate suitable monitor operating conditions for most types of high-performance liquid chromatography

  12. Fault Isolation and quality assessment for shipboard monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lajic, Zoran; Nielsen, Ulrik Dam; Blanke, Mogens

    2010-01-01

    system and to improve multi-sensor data fusion for the particular system. Fault isolation is an important part of the fault tolerant design for in-service monitoring and decision support systems for ships. In the paper, a virtual example of fault isolation will be presented. Several possible faults...... will be simulated and isolated using residuals and the generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) algorithm. It will be demonstrated that the approach can be used to increase accuracy of sea state estimations employing sensor fusion quality test....

  13. CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES OF MONITORING OF THE QUALITY OF TRAINING OF WORKERS OF RAILWAY PROFILE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetyana Bondarenko

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available With the purpose of creating the system of monitoring of the quality of professional training of future workers of railway profile, the author puts forward a technology of using cloud services of the search system of Google. The article proves that the system provides a complex support of monitoring, from creating appropriate forms and storing of the results in cloud storage to the\\processing of results of the monitoring and management of the system of testing on the basis of using the service of Google-Calendar. In the article there has been considered the usage of the concept of BYOD for testing of students’ achievement. The article demonstrates the advantages of  the proposed approach to monitoring the quality of training of future workers of railway profile highlighting  the usage of the cloud services of the search system of Google as a means of  expanding the boundaries of research in space and time and making the procedure more flexible and systematic.

  14. Raman Spectroscopy for In-Line Water Quality Monitoring — Instrumentation and Potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhiyun; Deen, M. Jamal; Kumar, Shiva; Selvaganapathy, P. Ravi

    2014-01-01

    Worldwide, the access to safe drinking water is a huge problem. In fact, the number of persons without safe drinking water is increasing, even though it is an essential ingredient for human health and development. The enormity of the problem also makes it a critical environmental and public health issue. Therefore, there is a critical need for easy-to-use, compact and sensitive techniques for water quality monitoring. Raman spectroscopy has been a very powerful technique to characterize chemical composition and has been applied to many areas, including chemistry, food, material science or pharmaceuticals. The development of advanced Raman techniques and improvements in instrumentation, has significantly improved the performance of modern Raman spectrometers so that it can now be used for detection of low concentrations of chemicals such as in-line monitoring of chemical and pharmaceutical contaminants in water. This paper briefly introduces the fundamentals of Raman spectroscopy, reviews the development of Raman instrumentations and discusses advanced and potential Raman techniques for in-line water quality monitoring. PMID:25230309

  15. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ellemann, T.; Klenoe Noejgaard, J.; Nordstroem, C.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.; Solvang Jensen, S.

    2012-10-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring network. The aim is to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to understand the governing processes that determine the level of air pollution in Denmark. In 2011 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. In addition model calculations were carried out to supplement the measurements. At one street station (H.C. Andersens Boulevard) in Copenhagen NO{sub 2} was found in concentrations above EU limit values while NO{sub 2} levels in Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg were below the limit value. Model calculations indicate exceedances of NO{sub 2} limit values at several streets in Copenhagen. Annual averages of PM{sub 10} and PM{sub 2.5} were below limit values at all stations. However, concentrations levels in Copenhagen exceeded the daily limit value for PM{sub 10}. Winter salting of roads was one of the main reasons for this exceedance. The concentrations for most pollutants have been strongly decreasing during the last decades, however, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2} and O{sub 3}. (Author)

  16. Trance, Transparency and Transformation: The Impact of External Quality Monitoring on Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stensaker, Bjorn

    2003-01-01

    Discusses the impact of external quality monitoring (EQM) on higher education and identifies areas in which changes have taken place as a result of such external initiatives. Suggests that the lack of effects related directly to quality improvement should not be conceived as an EQM design error, but rather as a misconception of how organizational…

  17. James Bay air quality study : report on the results of field monitoring in 2007

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-02-08

    An air quality study in James Bay was conducted, in order to establish general levels of pollutants in outdoor air in the James Bay area of Victoria, British Columbia. The primary sources of air pollution in the area include light duty and heavy duty vehicle traffic, helicopters, floatplanes, and marine vessels such as cruise ships, passenger ferries, commercial fishing and whale watching boats, and recreation motorboats. Air quality monitoring represented the first phase of the project. The second phase involved a detailed pollutant dispersion model including all emission sources. This report described the use of sampling equipment and the measurement of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate matter and contributing sources, and volatile organic compounds, specifically benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene/xylene and naphthalene. Supporting data, including traffic counts, wind speed and direction, precipitation, and cruise ship schedules were collected to assist in the interpretation of the field monitoring results. For each of these pollutants, the report provided responses to several questions, such as defining each pollutant; describing the sources of each pollutant in the James Bay neighbourhood; presenting the results of the field monitoring; discussing the limitations of the monitoring equipment and sampling design; interpreting the results; comparing monitored levels to those measured at other times or locations; and comparing monitored levels to air quality standards or guidelines. Conclusions about each pollutant were presented. It was concluded that phase 2 pollutant dispersion modelling should include estimates of 1-hour, 24-hour, and seasonal average pollutant levels at varying elevations above ground level, with a focus on residential apartment buildings in the study area. 5 tabs., 52 figs., 7 appendices.

  18. Environmental protection management by monitoring the surface water quality in Semenic area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dana SÂMBOTIN

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Environment seems to have been the war against all. In fact recently most people polluted the environment and those few are cared for his cleaning. Today, the relationship evolvedas societies have changed in favour of ensuring environmental protection. With modern technology, performance, monitoring the environment becomes part of human activity ever more necessary, more possible and more efficient. The quality of the environment, its components: air, water, soil, plants, vegetable and animal products, is a condition "sine qua non" for the life of the modern man. The consequences of environmental pollution areso dangerous that modern man cannot afford considering them. Through this paper I will study the environmental quality by monitoring the surfaces waters from the Semenic- Gărâna area.

  19. A high-precision X-ray tomograph for quality control of the ATLAS Muon Monitored Drift Tube Chambers

    CERN Document Server

    Schuh, S; Banhidi, Z; Fabjan, Christian Wolfgang; Lampl, W; Marchesotti, M; Rangod, Stephane; Sbrissa, E; Smirnov, Y; Voss, Rüdiger; Woudstra, M; Zhuravlov, V

    2004-01-01

    A dedicated X-ray tomograph has been developed at CERN to control the required wire placement accuracy of better than 20mum of the 1200 Monitored Drift Tube Chambers which make up most of the precision chamber part of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer. The tomograph allows the chamber wire positions to be measured with a 2mum statistical and 2mum systematic uncertainty over the full chamber cross-section of 2.2 multiplied by 0.6m**2. Consistent chamber production quality over the 4-year construction phase is ensured with a similar to 15% sampling rate. Measurements of about 70 of the 650 MDT chambers so far produced have been essential in assessing the validity and consistency of the various construction procedures.

  20. Air quality monitoring in the Bow Corridor : final report December 1999 to August 2001. On-line ed.

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    Alberta Environment monitored the air quality of the Bow Corridor and the Cochrane area from December 1999 to August 2001 in an effort to address recent concerns about particulate emissions from industrial, natural and domestic sources as well as concerns about air pollution from traffic along Highway 1 and in communities in the corridor. The Mobile Air Monitoring Laboratory (MAML) monitored air quality at 22 sites in the Cochrane, Exshaw, Canmore and Banff areas. The work included monitoring for sulphur dioxide, particulates, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia using continuous analyzers. In addition, a stationary particulate sampler was used to monitor very small, respirable particulates (PM2.5) as well as larger, inhalable particulates (PM10). Weather parameters such as wind, temperature and relative humidity were also monitored. A passive (no power required) air quality monitoring network was also set up to collect monthly samples of sulphur dioxide at 7 sites and nitrogen dioxide and ozone at 11 different sites. The pollutant levels were compared with air quality levels to Alberta's Ambient Air Quality Guidelines which are some of the most stringent in North America. Maximum one-hour concentrations were : 53 per cent of the one-hour guideline for sulphur dioxide; 15 per cent of the one-hour guideline for nitrogen dioxide; 68 per cent of the one-hour guideline for ozone; 8 per cent of the one-hour guideline for carbon monoxide; 20 per cent of the one-hour guideline for hydrogen sulphide; and 2 per cent of the one-hour guideline for ammonia. These air quality levels were compared to other locations in Alberta. The sources of airborne particulates were wind-blown dust from natural sources, limestone mining operations, manufacturing plants (cement, lime and magnesia), vehicle exhaust from local traffic and Highway 1, and smoke from recreational burning and forest fires. The sources of oxides of nitrogen are

  1. PROFILE: Integrating Stressor and Response Monitoring into a Resource-Based Water-Quality Assessment Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    ROUX; KEMPSTER; KLEYNHANS; VAN; DU

    1999-01-01

    / South African water law as well as the country's water resource management policies are currently under review. The Water Law Principles, which were established as part of this review process, indicate a commitment to sustainable development of water resources and the protection of an ecological "reserve." Such policy goals highlight the limitations of traditional and current water-quality management strategies, which rely on stressor monitoring and associated regulation of pollution. The concept of an assimilative capacity is central to the implementation of the current water-quality management approach. Weaknesses inherent in basing water management on the concept of assimilative capacity are discussed. Response monitoring is proposed as a way of addressing some of the weaknesses. Following a global trend, the new policy goals emphasize the need to protect rather than to use the ability of ecosystems to recover from disturbances. This necessitates the adoption of response measurements to quantify ecological condition and monitor ecological change. Response monitoring focuses on properties that are essential to the sustainability of the ecosystem. These monitoring tools can be used to establish natural ranges of ecological change within ecosystems, as well as to quantify conceptually acceptable and unacceptable ranges of change. Through a framework of biological criteria and biological impairment standards, the results of response monitoring can become an integral part of future water resource management strategies in South Africa. KEY WORDS: Stressor monitoring; Response monitoring; Assimilative capacity; Ecosystem stability; Resilience; Biocriteria

  2. European intercomparison workshops on air quality monitoring. Vol. 4. Measuring NO, NO{sub 2}, O{sub 3} and SO{sub 2}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muecke, H.G.; Kollar, M. [Umweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany). WHO-Zentrum zur Ueberwachung der Luftguete und Bekaempfung der Luftverschmutzung; Kratz, M.; Medem, A.; Rudolf, W.; Stummer, V.; Sukale, G. [Umweltbundesamt, Langen (Germany). UBA Pilotstation

    2000-07-01

    This report presents the results of two European Intercomparison Workshops on Air Quality Monitoring (NO, NO{sub 2}, O{sub 3}, and SO{sub 2}). The Workshops were a contribution to continuing quality assurance and quality control activities on air quality monitoring for Member States of the WHO European Region. Fourteen institutes mainly from Central and Eastern Europe used the opportunity to compare their measurement methods (15 manual methods and 24 monitors) and standards. (orig.)

  3. Online Monitoring of Water-Quality Anomaly in Water Distribution Systems Based on Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis by UV-Vis Absorption Spectroscopy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dibo Hou

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study proposes a probabilistic principal component analysis- (PPCA- based method for online monitoring of water-quality contaminant events by UV-Vis (ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The purpose of this method is to achieve fast and sound protection against accidental and intentional contaminate injection into the water distribution system. The method is achieved first by properly imposing a sliding window onto simultaneously updated online monitoring data collected by the automated spectrometer. The PPCA algorithm is then executed to simplify the large amount of spectrum data while maintaining the necessary spectral information to the largest extent. Finally, a monitoring chart extensively employed in fault diagnosis field methods is used here to search for potential anomaly events and to determine whether the current water-quality is normal or abnormal. A small-scale water-pipe distribution network is tested to detect water contamination events. The tests demonstrate that the PPCA-based online monitoring model can achieve satisfactory results under the ROC curve, which denotes a low false alarm rate and high probability of detecting water contamination events.

  4. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.

    2006-06-01

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2005 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO 2 and PM 10 were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO 2 . (au)

  5. The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2005

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.

    2006-06-15

    The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2005 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2}. (au)

  6. Fine Resolution Air Quality Monitoring from a Small Satellite: CHRIS/PROBA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Man Sing Wong

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Current remote sensing techniques fail to address the task of air quality monitoring over complex regions where multiple pollution sources produce high spatial variability. This is due to a lack of suitable satellite-sensor combinations and appropriate aerosol optical thickness (AOT retrieval algorithms. The new generation of small satellites, with their lower costs and greater flexibility has the potential to address this problem, with customised platform-sensor combinations dedicated to monitoring single complex regions or mega-cities. This paper demonstrates the ability of the European Space Agency’s small satellite sensor CHRIS/PROBA to provide reliable AOT estimates at a spatially detailed level over Hong Kong, using a modified version of the dense dark vegetation (DDV algorithm devised for MODIS. Since CHRIS has no middle-IR band such as the MODIS 2,100 nm band which is transparent to fine aerosols, the longest waveband of CHRIS, the 1,019 nm band was used to approximate surface reflectance, by the subtraction of an offset derived from synchronous field reflectance spectra. Aerosol reflectance in the blue and red bands was then obtained from the strong empirical relationship observed between the CHRIS 1,019 nm, and the blue and red bands respectively. AOT retrievals for three different dates were shown to be reliable, when compared with AERONET and Microtops II sunphotometers, and a Lidar, as well as air quality data at ground stations. The AOT images exhibited considerable spatial variability over the 11 x 11km image area and were able to indicate both local and long distance sources.

  7. The development of sensors and techniques for in situ water quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, C. C.

    1976-01-01

    Enzyme electrodes and chloride ion electrodes were investigated for in situ monitoring of water quality. Preliminary results show that miniature chloride ion electrodes and a phenol sensor are most promising in determining trace contaminants in water.

  8. Biological monitoring and selected trends in environmental quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suffern, J.S.; West, D.C.; Kemp, H.T.; Burgess, R.L.

    1976-10-01

    Under a contract with the President's Council on Environmental Quality, the National Inventory of Selected Biological Monitoring Programs at ORNL was used to identify documented environmental trends. Fish population trends were described for the Great Lakes and the Colorado River system. Trends in amphibian populations in the northeast were examined and correlated with acid precipitation. Increases in breeding success among large birds of prey were correlated with reductions in ambient levels of DDT and its residues. Geographic variation in PCB contamination was examined along with differences between aquatic and terrestrial contamination levels. Changes in air quality were documented, and their effects on plant viability were outlined. Trends in the biological effects of environmental deposition of lead were documented. Long-term changes in forest structure in the southeast were presented, and a general reduction in wildlife habitat, associated with land use practices, was documented for several areas in the US

  9. Topological clustering as a tool for planning water quality monitoring in water distribution networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirstein, Jonas Kjeld; Albrechtsen, Hans-Jørgen; Rygaard, Martin

    2015-01-01

    ) identify steady clusters for a part of the network where an actual contamination has occurred; (2) analyze this event by the use of mesh diagrams; and (3) analyze the use of mesh diagrams as a decision support tool for planning water quality monitoring. Initially, the network model was divided...... into strongly and weakly connected clusters for selected time periods and mesh diagrams were used for analysing cluster connections in the Nørrebro district. Here, areas of particular interest for water quality monitoring were identified by including user-information about consumption rates and consumers...... particular sensitive towards water quality deterioration. The analysis revealed sampling locations within steady clusters, which increased samples' comparability over time. Furthermore, the method provided a simplified overview of water movement in complex distribution networks, and could assist...

  10. Absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter: implications for the monitoring of water quality in a large subtropical reservoir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiaohan; Zhang, Yunlin; Shi, Kun; Zhu, Guangwei; Xu, Hai; Zhu, Mengyuan

    2014-12-01

    The development of techniques for real-time monitoring of water quality is of great importance for effectively managing inland water resources. In this study, we first analyzed the absorption and fluorescence properties in a large subtropical reservoir and then used a chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence monitoring sensor to predict several water quality parameters including the total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and CDOM fluorescence parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) components in the reservoir. The CDOM absorption coefficient at 254 nm (a(254)), the humic-like component (C1), and the tryptophan-like component (C3) decreased significantly along a gradient from the northwest to the lake center, northeast, southwest, and southeast region in the reservoir. However, no significant spatial difference was found for the tyrosine-like component (C2), which contributed only four marked peaks. A highly significant linear correlation was found between the a(254) and CDOM concentration measured using the CDOM fluorescence sensor (r(2) = 0.865, n = 76, p CDOM concentrations could act as a proxy for the CDOM absorption coefficient measured in the laboratory. Significant correlations were also found between the CDOM concentration and TN, TP, COD, DOC, and the maximum fluorescence intensity of C1, suggesting that the real-time monitoring of CDOM concentrations could be used to predict these water quality parameters and trace the humic-like fluorescence substance in clear aquatic ecosystems with DOC CDOM fluorescence sensor is a useful tool for on-line water quality monitoring if the empirical relationship between the CDOM concentration measured using the CDOM fluorescence sensor and the water quality parameters is calibrated and validated.

  11. Results from the Big Spring basin water quality monitoring and demonstration projects, Iowa, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowden, R.D.; Liu, H.; Libra, R.D.

    2001-01-01

    Agricultural practices, hydrology, and water quality of the 267-km2 Big Spring groundwater drainage basin in Clayton County, Iowa, have been monitored since 1981. Land use is agricultural; nitrate-nitrogen (-N) and herbicides are the resulting contaminants in groundwater and surface water. Ordovician Galena Group carbonate rocks comprise the main aquifer in the basin. Recharge to this karstic aquifer is by infiltration, augmented by sinkhole-captured runoff. Groundwater is discharged at Big Spring, where quantity and quality of the discharge are monitored. Monitoring has shown a threefold increase in groundwater nitrate-N concentrations from the 1960s to the early 1980s. The nitrate-N discharged from the basin typically is equivalent to over one-third of the nitrogen fertilizer applied, with larger losses during wetter years. Atrazine is present in groundwater all year; however, contaminant concentrations in the groundwater respond directly to recharge events, and unique chemical signatures of infiltration versus runoff recharge are detectable in the discharge from Big Spring. Education and demonstration efforts have reduced nitrogen fertilizer application rates by one-third since 1981. Relating declines in nitrate and pesticide concentrations to inputs of nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides at Big Spring is problematic. Annual recharge has varied five-fold during monitoring, overshadowing any water-quality improvements resulting from incrementally decreased inputs. ?? Springer-Verlag 2001.

  12. Electric Sensors for Express-Method Checking of Liquid Quality Level Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petro STOLYARCHUK

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The research covered in the suggested article is meant for ecological monitoring in the broad sense. The express-method of water solution quality level estimation and the technique of fast response to the quality level of industrial, agricultural and domestic wastewaters along with food products are proposed. The novelty of the proposed technique roots in the implementation of suggested methods and means of electric parameter measurement aimed at the quality index controlling of nonelectric qualimetry objects. Relevant research includes the exploration of water-solutions as well as different-level purification of industrial and domestic spillage waters, colloid solutions (cream, milk with the known contaminants, mixtures of superficially active substances and chlorine-containing substances.

  13. Proposed Strategy for San Joaquin River Basin Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    A Proposed Strategy for San Joaquin River Basin Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment was published in 2010, and a Strawman Proposal was developed in 2012 by the Coalition for Urban/Rural Environmental Stewardship, California Water Resources Board, EPA.

  14. Tailoring groundwater quality monitoring to vulnerability: a GIS procedure for network design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preziosi, E; Petrangeli, A B; Giuliano, G

    2013-05-01

    Monitoring networks aiming to assess the state of groundwater quality and detect or predict changes could increase in efficiency when fitted to vulnerability and pollution risk assessment. The main purpose of this paper is to describe a methodology aiming at integrating aquifers vulnerability and actual levels of groundwater pollution in the monitoring network design. In this study carried out in a pilot area in central Italy, several factors such as hydrogeological setting, groundwater vulnerability, and natural and anthropogenic contamination levels were analyzed and used in designing a network tailored to the monitoring objectives, namely, surveying the evolution of groundwater quality relating to natural conditions as well as to polluting processes active in the area. Due to the absence of an aquifer vulnerability map for the whole area, a proxi evaluation of it was performed through a geographic information system (GIS) methodology, leading to the so called "susceptibility to groundwater quality degradation". The latter was used as a basis for the network density assessment, while water points were ranked by several factors including discharge, actual contamination levels, maintenance conditions, and accessibility for periodical sampling in order to select the most appropriate to the network. Two different GIS procedures were implemented which combine vulnerability conditions and water points suitability, producing two slightly different networks of 50 monitoring points selected out of the 121 candidate wells and springs. The results are compared with a "manual" selection of the points. The applied GIS procedures resulted capable to select the requested number of water points from the initial set, evaluating the most confident ones and an appropriate density. Moreover, it is worth underlining that the second procedure (point distance analysis [PDA]) is technically faster and simpler to be performed than the first one (GRID + PDA).

  15. A Survey on Quality of Service Monitoring and Analysis of Network of Agricultural Science and Technology Resources

    OpenAIRE

    Jian , Ma

    2014-01-01

    International audience; First, current situation on Network of agricultural science and technology resources is described. Then we pay much attention to the quality of service monitoring and analysis system of network resources. And finally, we come to the conclusion that the construction of Quality of service monitoring, analysis of network of agricultural science and technology resources is in great need.

  16. Zerodur polishing process for high surface quality and high efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tesar, A.; Fuchs, B.

    1992-08-01

    Zerodur is a glass-ceramic composite importance in applications where temperature instabilities influence optical and mechanical performance, such as in earthbound and spaceborne telescope mirror substrates. Polished Zerodur surfaces of high quality have been required for laser gyro mirrors. Polished surface quality of substrates affects performance of high reflection coatings. Thus, the interest in improving Zerodur polished surface quality has become more general. Beyond eliminating subsurface damage, high quality surfaces are produced by reducing the amount of hydrated material redeposited on the surface during polishing. With the proper control of polishing parameters, such surfaces exhibit roughnesses of < l Angstrom rms. Zerodur polishing was studied to recommend a high surface quality polishing process which could be easily adapted to standard planetary continuous polishing machines and spindles. This summary contains information on a polishing process developed at LLNL which reproducibly provides high quality polished Zerodur surfaces at very high polishing efficiencies

  17. Toward youth self-report of health and quality of life in population monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topolski, Tari D; Edwards, Todd C; Patrick, Donald L

    2004-01-01

    This paper addresses population monitoring of youth health and quality of life, including the concepts used, methodological and practical criteria for indicators, and existing surveys and measures. Current population surveys of youth generally focus on poor health, such as disability or health-risk behaviors. Although these are important end points, indicators of illness or risk do not reflect the health or life perspective of the majority of youth who do not experience health problems. The measures used to monitor youth health should be appropriate and sensitive to future needs and capture the perspectives of youths. Two potential concepts for this "scorecard" are self-perceived health and quality of life, which have been shown to be useful in adults. For youth, the quality of life framework seems particularly relevant as it incorporates both positive and negative aspects of health and well-being and also captures salient aspects of health other than physical health, such as sense of self, social relationships, environment and culture, and life satisfaction.

  18. [Quality management is associated with high quality services in health care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, Tenna Hassert; Riis, Allan; Mainz, Jan; Jensen, Anne-Louise Degn

    2013-12-09

    In these years, quality management has been the focus in order to meet high quality services for the patients in Danish health care. This article provides information on quality management and quality improvement and it evaluates its effectiveness in achieving better organizational structures, processes and results in Danish health-care organizations. Our findings generally support that quality management is associated with high quality services in health care.

  19. Hydrologic and water quality monitoring on Turkey Creek watershed, Francis Marion National Forest, SC

    Science.gov (United States)

    D.M. Amatya; T.J. Callahan; A. Radecki-Pawlik; P. Drewes; C. Trettin; W.F. Hansen

    2008-01-01

    The re-initiation of a 7,260 ha forested watershed study on Turkey Creek, a 3rd order stream, within the Francis Marion National forest in South Carolina, completes the development of a multi-scale hydrology and ecosystem monitoring framework in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Hydrology and water quality monitoring began on the Santee Experimental...

  20. The Quality Assurance_Quality Control of the Monitored Drift Tubes at the HEP Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens

    CERN Document Server

    Alexopoulos, T; Dris, M; Filippas, A V; Fokitis, E; Gazis, E N; Katsoufis, E C; Maltezos, A; Maltezos, S; Papadopoulos, E; Papadopoulou, T D; Savva, Panagiota S; Stavropoulos, G D; Tsipolitis, G; Tzamariudaki, E

    2001-01-01

    The description of the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA_QC) procedures for the Monitored Drift Tubes (MDT's) followed at the HEP Laboratory of NTUA are presented and results of the tested tubes are given. The MDT's are the elements from which muon chambers for the ATLAS/LHC Muon Spectrometer are built..

  1. Quality-by-design III: application of near-infrared spectroscopy to monitor roller compaction in-process and product quality attributes of immediate release tablets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kona, Ravikanth; Fahmy, Raafat M; Claycamp, Gregg; Polli, James E; Martinez, Marilyn; Hoag, Stephen W

    2015-02-01

    The objective of this study is to use near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) coupled with multivariate chemometric models to monitor granule and tablet quality attributes in the formulation development and manufacturing of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP) immediate release tablets. Critical roller compaction process parameters, compression force (CFt), and formulation variables identified from our earlier studies were evaluated in more detail. Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square (PLS) models were developed during the development stage and used as a control tool to predict the quality of granules and tablets. Validated models were used to monitor and control batches manufactured at different sites to assess their robustness to change. The results showed that roll pressure (RP) and CFt played a critical role in the quality of the granules and the finished product within the range tested. Replacing binder source did not statistically influence the quality attributes of the granules and tablets. However, lubricant type has significantly impacted the granule size. Blend uniformity, crushing force, disintegration time during the manufacturing was predicted using validated PLS regression models with acceptable standard error of prediction (SEP) values, whereas the models resulted in higher SEP for batches obtained from different manufacturing site. From this study, we were able to identify critical factors which could impact the quality attributes of the CIP IR tablets. In summary, we demonstrated the ability of near-infrared spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics as a powerful tool to monitor critical quality attributes (CQA) identified during formulation development.

  2. A Portable Low-Cost High Density Sensor Network for Air Quality at London Heathrow Airport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popoola, Olalekan; Mead, Iq; Bright, Vivien; Baron, Ronan; Saffell, John; Stewart, Gregor; Kaye, Paul; Jones, Roderic

    2013-04-01

    Outdoor air quality and its impact on human health and the environment have been well studied and it has been projected that poor air quality will surpass poor sanitation as the major course of environmental premature mortality by 2050 (IGAC / IGBP, release statement, 2012). Transport-related pollution has been regulated at various levels by enactment of legislations at local, national, regional and global stages. As part of the mitigation measures, routine measurements of atmospheric pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have to be established in areas where air quality problems are identified. In addition, emission inventories are also generated for different atmospheric environments including urban areas and airport environments required for air quality models. Whilst recognising that most of the existing sparse monitoring networks provide high temporal measurements, spatial data of these highly variable pollutants are not captured, making it difficult to adequately characterise the highly heterogeneous air quality. Spatial information is often obtained from model data which can only be constrained using measurements from the sparse monitoring networks. The work presented here shows the application of low-cost sensor networks aimed at addressing this missing spatial information. We have shown in previous studies the application of low-cost electrochemical sensor network instruments in monitoring road transport pollutants including CO, NO and NO2 in an urban environment (Mead et. al. 2012, accepted Atmospheric Environment). Modified versions of these instruments which include additional species such as O3, SO2, VOCs and CO2 are currently deployed at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) as part of the Sensor Network for Air Quality (SNAQ) project. Meteorology data such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction are also measured as well as size-speciated particulates (0.38 to 17.4 µm). A network of 50

  3. Method, system and apparatus for monitoring and adjusting the quality of indoor air

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartenstein, Steven D.; Tremblay, Paul L.; Fryer, Michael O.; Hohorst, Frederick A.

    2004-03-23

    A system, method and apparatus is provided for monitoring and adjusting the quality of indoor air. A sensor array senses an air sample from the indoor air and analyzes the air sample to obtain signatures representative of contaminants in the air sample. When the level or type of contaminant poses a threat or hazard to the occupants, the present invention takes corrective actions which may include introducing additional fresh air. The corrective actions taken are intended to promote overall health of personnel, prevent personnel from being overexposed to hazardous contaminants and minimize the cost of operating the HVAC system. The identification of the contaminants is performed by comparing the signatures provided by the sensor array with a database of known signatures. Upon identification, the system takes corrective actions based on the level of contaminant present. The present invention is capable of learning the identity of previously unknown contaminants, which increases its ability to identify contaminants in the future. Indoor air quality is assured by monitoring the contaminants not only in the indoor air, but also in the outdoor air and the air which is to be recirculated. The present invention is easily adaptable to new and existing HVAC systems. In sum, the present invention is able to monitor and adjust the quality of indoor air in real time by sensing the level and type of contaminants present in indoor air, outdoor and recirculated air, providing an intelligent decision about the quality of the air, and minimizing the cost of operating an HVAC system.

  4. To What Extent is Drinking Water Tested in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Comparative Analysis of Regulated Water Quality Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peletz, Rachel; Kumpel, Emily; Bonham, Mateyo; Rahman, Zarah; Khush, Ranjiv

    2016-03-02

    Water quality information is important for guiding water safety management and preventing water-related diseases. To assess the current status of regulated water quality monitoring in sub-Saharan Africa, we evaluated testing programs for fecal contamination in 72 institutions (water suppliers and public health agencies) across 10 countries. Data were collected through written surveys, in-person interviews, and analysis of microbial water quality testing levels. Though most institutions did not achieve the testing levels specified by applicable standards or World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines, 85% of institutions had conducted some microbial water testing in the previous year. Institutions were more likely to meet testing targets if they were suppliers (as compared to surveillance agencies), served larger populations, operated in urban settings, and had higher water quality budgets (all p water providers and rural public health offices will require greater attention and additional resources to achieve regulatory compliance for water quality monitoring in sub-Saharan Africa. The cost-effectiveness of water quality monitoring should be improved by the application of risk-based water management approaches. Efforts to strengthen monitoring capacity should pay greater attention to program sustainability and institutional commitment to water safety.

  5. Upgrades for Offline Data Quality Monitoring at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Joergensen, M D; The ATLAS collaboration; Frost, J

    2013-01-01

    The ATLAS offline data quality monitoring infrastructure functioned successfully during the 2010-2012 run of the LHC. During the 2013-14 long shutdown, a large number of upgrades will be made in response to user needs and to take advantage of new technologies - for example, deploying richer web applications, improving dynamic visualization of data, streamlining configuration, and moving applications to a common messaging bus. Additionally consolidation and integration activities will occur. We will discuss lessons learned so far and the progress of the upgrade project, as well as associated improvements to the data reconstruction and processing chain.

  6. An introduction to high-frequency nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Tamara E.C.; Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Downing, Bryan D.

    2017-07-11

    Executive SummaryThis report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). This first report provides an introduction to the reasons for and fundamental concepts behind collecting HF measurements, and describes the benefits associated with a real-time, continuous, HF, multi-parameter water quality monitoring station network that is co-located with flow stations. It then provides examples of how HF nutrient measurements have improved our understating of nutrient sources and cycling in aquatic systems worldwide, followed by specific examples from the Delta. These examples describe the ways in which HF instrumentation may be used for both fixed-station and spatial assessments. The overall intent of this document is to describe how HF measurements currently (2017) are being used in the Delta to examine the relationship between nutrient concentrations, nutrient cycling, and aquatic habitat conditions.The second report in the series (Downing and others, 2017) summarizes information about HF nutrient and associated biogeochemical monitoring in the northern Delta. The report synthesizes data available from the nutrient and water quality monitoring network currently operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in this ecologically important region of the Delta. In the report, we present and discuss the available data at various timescales—first, at the monthly, seasonal, and inter-annual timescales; and, second, for comparison, at the tidal and event (for example, storms, reservoir releases, phytoplankton blooms) timescales. As expected, we determined that there is substantial variability in nitrate concentrations at short timescales within hours, but also significant variability at longer timescales such as months or years. This multi-scale, high variability affects calculation of fluxes and loads, indicating that HF

  7. Continuous Hydrologic and Water Quality Monitoring of Vernal Ponds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mina, Odette; Gall, Heather E; Chandler, Joseph W; Harper, Jeremy; Taylor, Malcolm

    2017-11-13

    Vernal ponds, also referred to as vernal pools, provide critical ecosystem services and habitat for a variety of threatened and endangered species. However, they are vulnerable parts of the landscapes that are often poorly understood and understudied. Land use and management practices, as well as climate change are thought to be a contribution to the global amphibian decline. However, more research is needed to understand the extent of these impacts. Here, we present methodology for characterizing a vernal pond's morphology and detail a monitoring station that can be used to collect water quantity and quality data over the duration of a vernal pond's hydroperiod. We provide methodology for how to conduct field surveys to characterize the morphology and develop stage-storage curves for a vernal pond. Additionally, we provide methodology for monitoring the water level, temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity of water in a vernal pond, as well as monitoring rainfall data. This information can be used to better quantify the ecosystem services that vernal ponds provide and the impacts of anthropogenic activities on their ability to provide these services.

  8. Water Quality Monitoring Manual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Fred J.; Houdart, Joseph F.

    This manual is designed for students involved in environmental education programs dealing with water pollution problems. By establishing a network of Environmental Monitoring Stations within the educational system, four steps toward the prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution are proposed. (1) Train students to recognize, monitor,…

  9. Trends in Surface-Water Quality at Selected Ambient-Monitoring Network Stations in Kentucky, 1979-2004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crain, Angela S.; Martin, Gary R.

    2009-01-01

    Increasingly complex water-management decisions require water-quality monitoring programs that provide data for multiple purposes, including trend analyses, to detect improvement or deterioration in water quality with time. Understanding surface-water-quality trends assists resource managers in identifying emerging water-quality concerns, planning remediation efforts, and evaluating the effectiveness of the remediation. This report presents the results of a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet-Kentucky Division of Water, to analyze and summarize long-term water-quality trends of selected properties and water-quality constituents in selected streams in Kentucky's ambient stream water-quality monitoring network. Trends in surface-water quality for 15 properties and water-quality constituents were analyzed at 37 stations with drainage basins ranging in size from 62 to 6,431 square miles. Analyses of selected physical properties (temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, hardness, and suspended solids), for major ions (chloride and sulfate), for selected metals (iron and manganese), for nutrients (total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrite plus nitrate), and for fecal coliform were compiled from the Commonwealth's ambient water-quality monitoring network. Trend analyses were completed using the S-Plus statistical software program S-Estimate Trend (S-ESTREND), which detects trends in water-quality data. The trend-detection techniques supplied by this software include the Seasonal Kendall nonparametric methods for use with uncensored data or data censored with only one reporting limit and the Tobit-regression parametric method for use with data censored with multiple reporting limits. One of these tests was selected for each property and water-quality constituent and applied to all station records so that results of the trend procedure could be compared among

  10. BAQMAP. Air Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Program for Botswana. Mission 1 Report 4-22 November 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bekkestad, T.; Dreiem, R.; Hermansen, O.; Knudsen, S.

    1996-12-31

    This report is concerned with the start of a joint project between the authorities in Botswana and Norway on the development of an air pollution monitoring and surveillance program for Botswana. NILU will provide assistance in the fields of (1) Siting and establishment of an air pollution monitoring network, (2) Laboratory techniques, methods and routines, (3) Quality control and quality assurance procedures, (4) Emission data bases, (5) Statistical data analysis and reporting, (6) Atmospheric dispersion model estimates for air quality planning and assessment analysis. This is the report of the Norwegian team after their first visit to Botswana. 1 ref., 13 figs., 35 tabs.

  11. BAQMAP. Air Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Program for Botswana. Mission 1 Report 4-22 November 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bekkestad, T; Dreiem, R; Hermansen, O; Knudsen, S

    1997-12-31

    This report is concerned with the start of a joint project between the authorities in Botswana and Norway on the development of an air pollution monitoring and surveillance program for Botswana. NILU will provide assistance in the fields of (1) Siting and establishment of an air pollution monitoring network, (2) Laboratory techniques, methods and routines, (3) Quality control and quality assurance procedures, (4) Emission data bases, (5) Statistical data analysis and reporting, (6) Atmospheric dispersion model estimates for air quality planning and assessment analysis. This is the report of the Norwegian team after their first visit to Botswana. 1 ref., 13 figs., 35 tabs.

  12. Engaging Remote Sensing and Citizen Science into Water Quality Monitoring: A Case Study in Nhue-Day River Basin, Vietnam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thi Van Le, Khoa; Minkman, Ellen; Nguyen Thi Phuong, Thuy; Rutten, Martine; Bastiaanssen, Wim

    2016-04-01

    Remote sensing and citizen science can be utilized to fulfill the gap of conventional monitoring methods. However, how to engage these techniques, principally taking advantage of local capacities and of globally accessible data for satisfying the continuous data requirements and uncertainties are exciting challenges. Previous studies in Vietnam showed that official documents regulated towards responding the vital need of upgrading national water monitoring infrastructures do not put the huge potentials of free satellite images and crowd-based data collection into account, this factor also limits publications related to these techniques. In this research, a new water monitoring approach will be developed friendly with areas suffering poor quality monitoring works. Particularly, algorithms respecting to the relationship between temperature, total suspended sediment (TSS), chlorophyll and information collected by sensors onboard Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 MSI satellites are built in the study area in Northern Vietnam; additionally, undergraduate student volunteers were sent to the sites with all the measurement activities are designed to coincide with the time when the study area captured by the satellites to compare the results. While conventional techniques are proving their irreplaceable role in the water monitoring network, the utilization of remote sensing techniques and citizen science in this study will demonstrate highly supportive values, saving monitoring costs and time; advantaging local human resources to science; providing an inclusive assessment of water quality changes along with land-use change in the study area, these approaches are excellent alternatives to meet the demand of real-time, continuous data nationwide.

  13. Water quality monitoring device for nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubo, Mitsushi.

    1995-01-01

    The device of the present invention measures quality of feedwater after heated in a regenerative heat exchanger device of a coolant cleanup system in a BWR type reactor, to detect ions generated from organic materials decomposed at high temperature and specify the position where impurities are formed. Namely, in a power plant having a reactor coolant cleanup pipeline connected to a feedwater pipeline, a water quality measuring portion is disposed to the feedwater system at the downstream of the junction to the feedwater system pipeline. A water quality sample is taken to measure the water quality in a state where the feedwater heated by a feedwater heater and flowing to the reactor, and the cleanup coolants heated by the regenerative heat exchanger are mixed. Thus, the impurities formed at the down stream of the feedwater system pipeline, as well as the water quality including impurities decomposed in a high temperature state can be measured. (I.S.)

  14. Development of a laboratory prototype water quality monitoring system suitable for use in zero gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misselhorn, J. E.; Witz, S.; Hartung, W. H.

    1973-01-01

    The development of a laboratory prototype water quality monitoring system for use in the evaluation of candidate water recovery systems and for study of techniques for measuring potability parameters is reported. Sensing techniques for monitoring of the most desirable parameters are reviewed in terms of their sensitivities and complexities, and their recommendations for sensing techniques are presented. Rationale for selection of those parameters to be monitored (pH, specific conductivity, Cr(+6), I2, total carbon, and bacteria) in a next generation water monitor is presented along with an estimate of flight system specifications. A master water monitor development schedule is included.

  15. Optimization in mammography - monthly monitoring of image quality at the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joana, Georgia S.; Andrade, Mauricio C. de; Silva, Sabrina D. da; Silva, Rafael R. da; Cesar, Adriana C.Z.; Oliveira, Mauricio de; Peixoto, Joao E.

    2011-01-01

    The State Program of Quality Control in Mammography (PECQMamo) of the state of Minas Gerais was established in 2004 and consists of tests for evaluation of image quality and performance of equipment used in the diagnosis of breast cancer, and evaluation the infrastructure of mammography centers. The monthly monitoring of image quality in mammography is part of this program that has been executed since May 2009 with a character essentially educational. In the assessment of individual services that participate in the monthly monitoring, there was an increased percentage of average annual compliance from 2009 to 2010 in all 85 services with the exception of one service. Therefore, evolution of the performance of the services evaluated, since the program began, shows a positive impact on the numbers, confirming the relevance of this type of operation of Sanitary Surveillance in the area of quality in mammography. (author)

  16. PA.NET International Quality Certification Protocol for blood pressure monitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omboni, Stefano; Costantini, Carlo; Pini, Claudio; Bulegato, Roberto; Manfellotto, Dario; Rizzoni, Damiano; Palatini, Paolo; O'brien, Eoin; Parati, Gianfranco

    2008-10-01

    Although standard validation protocols provide assurance of the accuracy of blood pressure monitors (BPMs), there is no guidance for the consumer as to the overall quality of a device. The PA.NET International Quality Certification Protocol, developed by the Association for Research and Development of Biomedical Technologies and for Continuing Medical Education (ARSMED), a nonprofit organization, with the support of the Italian Society of Hypertension-Italian Hypertension League, and the dabl Educational Trust denotes additional criteria of quality for BPMs that fulfilled basic validation criteria, published in full in peer-reviewed medical journals. The certification is characterized by three phases: (i) to determine that the device fulfilled standard validation criteria; (ii) to determine the technical and functional characteristics of the device (e.g. operativity, display dimension, accessory functions, memory availability, etc.) and (iii) to determine the commercial characteristics (e.g. price-quality ratio, after-sale service, guarantee, etc.). At the end of the certification process, ARSMED attributes a quality index to the device, based on a scale ranging from 1 to 100, and a quality seal with four different grades (bronze, silver, gold and diamond) according to the achieved score. The seal is identified by a unique alphanumeric code. The quality seal may be used on the packaging of the appliance or in advertising. A quality certification is released to the manufacturer and published on www.pressionearteriosa.net and www.dableducational.org. The PA.NET International Quality Certification Protocol represents the first attempt to provide health care personnel and consumers with an independent and objective assessment of BPMs based on their quality.

  17. Monitoring And Modeling Environmental Water Quality To Support Environmental Water Purchase Decision-making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Null, S. E.; Elmore, L.; Mouzon, N. R.; Wood, J. R.

    2016-12-01

    More than 25 million cubic meters (20,000 acre feet) of water has been purchased from willing agricultural sellers for environmental flows in Nevada's Walker River to improve riverine habitat and connectivity with downstream Walker Lake. Reduced instream flows limit native fish populations, like Lahontan cutthroat trout, through warm daily stream temperatures and low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Environmental water purchases maintain instream flows, although effects on water quality are more varied. We use multi-year water quality monitoring and physically-based hydrodynamic and water quality modeling to estimate streamflow, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen concentrations with alternative environmental water purchases. We simulate water temperature and dissolved oxygen changes from increased streamflow to prioritize the time periods and locations that environmental water purchases most enhance trout habitat as a function of water quality. Monitoring results indicate stream temperature and dissolved oxygen limitations generally exist in the 115 kilometers upstream of Walker Lake (about 37% of the study area) from approximately May through September, and this reach acts as a water quality barrier for fish passage. Model results indicate that low streamflows generally coincide with critically warm stream temperatures, water quality refugia exist on a tributary of the Walker River, and environmental water purchases may improve stream temperature and dissolved oxygen conditions for some reaches and seasons, especially in dry years and prolonged droughts. This research supports environmental water purchase decision-making and allows water purchase decisions to be prioritized with other river restoration alternatives.

  18. A Modular IoT Platform for Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benammar, Mohieddine; Abdaoui, Abderrazak; Ahmad, Sabbir H M; Touati, Farid; Kadri, Abdullah

    2018-02-14

    The impact of air quality on health and on life comfort is well established. In many societies, vulnerable elderly and young populations spend most of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor air quality monitoring (IAQM) is of great importance to human health. Engineers and researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on the design of real-time IAQM systems using wireless sensor networks. This paper presents an end-to-end IAQM system enabling measurement of CO₂, CO, SO₂, NO₂, O₃, Cl₂, ambient temperature, and relative humidity. In IAQM systems, remote users usually use a local gateway to connect wireless sensor nodes in a given monitoring site to the external world for ubiquitous access of data. In this work, the role of the gateway in processing collected air quality data and its reliable dissemination to end-users through a web-server is emphasized. A mechanism for the backup and the restoration of the collected data in the case of Internet outage is presented. The system is adapted to an open-source Internet-of-Things (IoT) web-server platform, called Emoncms, for live monitoring and long-term storage of the collected IAQM data. A modular IAQM architecture is adopted, which results in a smart scalable system that allows seamless integration of various sensing technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and smart mobile standards. The paper gives full hardware and software details of the proposed solution. Sample IAQM results collected in various locations are also presented to demonstrate the abilities of the system.

  19. A Modular IoT Platform for Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohieddine Benammar

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The impact of air quality on health and on life comfort is well established. In many societies, vulnerable elderly and young populations spend most of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor air quality monitoring (IAQM is of great importance to human health. Engineers and researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on the design of real-time IAQM systems using wireless sensor networks. This paper presents an end-to-end IAQM system enabling measurement of CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, O3, Cl2, ambient temperature, and relative humidity. In IAQM systems, remote users usually use a local gateway to connect wireless sensor nodes in a given monitoring site to the external world for ubiquitous access of data. In this work, the role of the gateway in processing collected air quality data and its reliable dissemination to end-users through a web-server is emphasized. A mechanism for the backup and the restoration of the collected data in the case of Internet outage is presented. The system is adapted to an open-source Internet-of-Things (IoT web-server platform, called Emoncms, for live monitoring and long-term storage of the collected IAQM data. A modular IAQM architecture is adopted, which results in a smart scalable system that allows seamless integration of various sensing technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSNs and smart mobile standards. The paper gives full hardware and software details of the proposed solution. Sample IAQM results collected in various locations are also presented to demonstrate the abilities of the system.

  20. An Energy Efficient Adaptive Sampling Algorithm in a Sensor Network for Automated Water Quality Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shu, Tongxin; Xia, Min; Chen, Jiahong; Silva, Clarence de

    2017-11-05

    Power management is crucial in the monitoring of a remote environment, especially when long-term monitoring is needed. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind may be harvested to sustain a monitoring system. However, without proper power management, equipment within the monitoring system may become nonfunctional and, as a consequence, the data or events captured during the monitoring process will become inaccurate as well. This paper develops and applies a novel adaptive sampling algorithm for power management in the automated monitoring of the quality of water in an extensive and remote aquatic environment. Based on the data collected on line using sensor nodes, a data-driven adaptive sampling algorithm (DDASA) is developed for improving the power efficiency while ensuring the accuracy of sampled data. The developed algorithm is evaluated using two distinct key parameters, which are dissolved oxygen (DO) and turbidity. It is found that by dynamically changing the sampling frequency, the battery lifetime can be effectively prolonged while maintaining a required level of sampling accuracy. According to the simulation results, compared to a fixed sampling rate, approximately 30.66% of the battery energy can be saved for three months of continuous water quality monitoring. Using the same dataset to compare with a traditional adaptive sampling algorithm (ASA), while achieving around the same Normalized Mean Error (NME), DDASA is superior in saving 5.31% more battery energy.

  1. An Energy Efficient Adaptive Sampling Algorithm in a Sensor Network for Automated Water Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tongxin Shu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Power management is crucial in the monitoring of a remote environment, especially when long-term monitoring is needed. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind may be harvested to sustain a monitoring system. However, without proper power management, equipment within the monitoring system may become nonfunctional and, as a consequence, the data or events captured during the monitoring process will become inaccurate as well. This paper develops and applies a novel adaptive sampling algorithm for power management in the automated monitoring of the quality of water in an extensive and remote aquatic environment. Based on the data collected on line using sensor nodes, a data-driven adaptive sampling algorithm (DDASA is developed for improving the power efficiency while ensuring the accuracy of sampled data. The developed algorithm is evaluated using two distinct key parameters, which are dissolved oxygen (DO and turbidity. It is found that by dynamically changing the sampling frequency, the battery lifetime can be effectively prolonged while maintaining a required level of sampling accuracy. According to the simulation results, compared to a fixed sampling rate, approximately 30.66% of the battery energy can be saved for three months of continuous water quality monitoring. Using the same dataset to compare with a traditional adaptive sampling algorithm (ASA, while achieving around the same Normalized Mean Error (NME, DDASA is superior in saving 5.31% more battery energy.

  2. Optimal design of monitoring networks for multiple groundwater quality parameters using a Kalman filter: application to the Irapuato-Valle aquifer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Júnez-Ferreira, H E; Herrera, G S; González-Hita, L; Cardona, A; Mora-Rodríguez, J

    2016-01-01

    A new method for the optimal design of groundwater quality monitoring networks is introduced in this paper. Various indicator parameters were considered simultaneously and tested for the Irapuato-Valle aquifer in Mexico. The steps followed in the design were (1) establishment of the monitoring network objectives, (2) definition of a groundwater quality conceptual model for the study area, (3) selection of the parameters to be sampled, and (4) selection of a monitoring network by choosing the well positions that minimize the estimate error variance of the selected indicator parameters. Equal weight for each parameter was given to most of the aquifer positions and a higher weight to priority zones. The objective for the monitoring network in the specific application was to obtain a general reconnaissance of the water quality, including water types, water origin, and first indications of contamination. Water quality indicator parameters were chosen in accordance with this objective, and for the selection of the optimal monitoring sites, it was sought to obtain a low-uncertainty estimate of these parameters for the entire aquifer and with more certainty in priority zones. The optimal monitoring network was selected using a combination of geostatistical methods, a Kalman filter and a heuristic optimization method. Results show that when monitoring the 69 locations with higher priority order (the optimal monitoring network), the joint average standard error in the study area for all the groundwater quality parameters was approximately 90 % of the obtained with the 140 available sampling locations (the set of pilot wells). This demonstrates that an optimal design can help to reduce monitoring costs, by avoiding redundancy in data acquisition.

  3. Preventing overtraining in athletes in high-intensity sports and stress/recovery monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellmann, M

    2010-10-01

    In sports, the importance of optimizing the recovery-stress state is critical. Effective recovery from intense training loads often faced by elite athletes can often determine sporting success or failure. In recent decades, athletes, coaches, and sport scientists have been keen to find creative, new methods for improving the quality and quantity of training for athletes. These efforts have consistently faced barriers, including overtraining, fatigue, injury, illness, and burnout. Physiological and psychological limits dictate a need for research that addresses the avoidance of overtraining, maximizes recovery, and successfully negotiates the fine line between high and excessive training loads. Monitoring instruments like the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes can assist with this research by providing a tool to assess their perceived state of recovery. This article will highlight the importance of recovery for elite athletes and provide an overview of monitoring instruments. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  4. [Impact of a quality assurance program on the use of neuromuscular monitoring and reversal of muscle relaxants].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motamed, C; Bourgain, J-L

    2009-04-01

    As part of a quality assurance in the anaesthesia department, this study was designed to enhance the rate of neuromuscular blockade monitoring for patients receiving muscle relaxant during anaesthesia. After approval of our local ethical committee, we assessed 200 computerized anaesthesia records in which neuromuscular relaxants were used. The following data were collected: demographic characteristics, durations of anaesthesia and surgery, use of neuromuscular monitoring, reversal agents and the quality of neuromuscular monitoring. The results were discussed with all anaesthesia providers of the department and an internal guideline was elaborated with the endpoint that all patients having muscle relaxants should have quantitative neuromuscular monitoring. Six months later, another assessment of 200 consecutive records collected the same data to check the efficiency of the elaborated guideline. The monitoring rate was of 67% at the first assessment and increased to 94% (passessment and was stable at the second assessment (50%). The rate of patients not monitored and not reversed decreased from 5 to 2% (pquality assurance program systematic quantitative monitoring of neuromuscular blockade can be significantly increased.

  5. Data Quality Objectives Summary Report Supporting Radiological Air Surveillance Monitoring for the INL Site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haney, Thomas Jay [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-05-01

    This report documents the Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) developed for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site ambient air surveillance program. The development of the DQOs was based on the seven-step process recommended “for systematic planning to generate performance and acceptance criteria for collecting environmental data” (EPA 2006). The process helped to determine the type, quantity, and quality of data needed to meet current regulatory requirements and to follow U.S. Department of Energy guidance for environmental surveillance air monitoring design. It also considered the current air monitoring program that has existed at INL Site since the 1950s. The development of the DQOs involved the application of the atmospheric dispersion model CALPUFF to identify likely contamination dispersion patterns at and around the INL Site using site-specific meteorological data. Model simulations were used to quantitatively assess the probable frequency of detection of airborne radionuclides released by INL Site facilities using existing and proposed air monitors.

  6. Quality assurance for online adapted treatment plans: Benchmarking and delivery monitoring simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Taoran; Wu, Qiuwen; Yang, Yun; Rodrigues, Anna; Yin, Fang-Fang; Jackie Wu, Q.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: An important challenge facing online adaptive radiation therapy is the development of feasible and efficient quality assurance (QA). This project aimed to validate the deliverability of online adapted plans and develop a proof-of-concept online delivery monitoring system for online adaptive radiation therapy QA. Methods: The first part of this project benchmarked automatically online adapted prostate treatment plans using traditional portal dosimetry IMRT QA. The portal dosimetry QA results of online adapted plans were compared to original (unadapted) plans as well as randomly selected prostate IMRT plans from our clinic. In the second part, an online delivery monitoring system was designed and validated via a simulated treatment with intentional multileaf collimator (MLC) errors. This system was based on inputs from the dynamic machine information (DMI), which continuously reports actual MLC positions and machine monitor units (MUs) at intervals of 50 ms or less during delivery. Based on the DMI, the system performed two levels of monitoring/verification during the delivery: (1) dynamic monitoring of cumulative fluence errors resulting from leaf position deviations and visualization using fluence error maps (FEMs); and (2) verification of MLC positions against the treatment plan for potential errors in MLC motion and data transfer at each control point. Validation of the online delivery monitoring system was performed by introducing intentional systematic MLC errors (ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm) to the DMI files for both leaf banks. These DMI files were analyzed by the proposed system to evaluate the system’s performance in quantifying errors and revealing the source of errors, as well as to understand patterns in the FEMs. In addition, FEMs from 210 actual prostate IMRT beams were analyzed using the proposed system to further validate its ability to catch and identify errors, as well as establish error magnitude baselines for prostate IMRT delivery

  7. Quality assurance for online adapted treatment plans: Benchmarking and delivery monitoring simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Taoran, E-mail: taoran.li.duke@gmail.com; Wu, Qiuwen; Yang, Yun; Rodrigues, Anna; Yin, Fang-Fang; Jackie Wu, Q. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center Durham, North Carolina 27710 (United States)

    2015-01-15

    Purpose: An important challenge facing online adaptive radiation therapy is the development of feasible and efficient quality assurance (QA). This project aimed to validate the deliverability of online adapted plans and develop a proof-of-concept online delivery monitoring system for online adaptive radiation therapy QA. Methods: The first part of this project benchmarked automatically online adapted prostate treatment plans using traditional portal dosimetry IMRT QA. The portal dosimetry QA results of online adapted plans were compared to original (unadapted) plans as well as randomly selected prostate IMRT plans from our clinic. In the second part, an online delivery monitoring system was designed and validated via a simulated treatment with intentional multileaf collimator (MLC) errors. This system was based on inputs from the dynamic machine information (DMI), which continuously reports actual MLC positions and machine monitor units (MUs) at intervals of 50 ms or less during delivery. Based on the DMI, the system performed two levels of monitoring/verification during the delivery: (1) dynamic monitoring of cumulative fluence errors resulting from leaf position deviations and visualization using fluence error maps (FEMs); and (2) verification of MLC positions against the treatment plan for potential errors in MLC motion and data transfer at each control point. Validation of the online delivery monitoring system was performed by introducing intentional systematic MLC errors (ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm) to the DMI files for both leaf banks. These DMI files were analyzed by the proposed system to evaluate the system’s performance in quantifying errors and revealing the source of errors, as well as to understand patterns in the FEMs. In addition, FEMs from 210 actual prostate IMRT beams were analyzed using the proposed system to further validate its ability to catch and identify errors, as well as establish error magnitude baselines for prostate IMRT delivery

  8. Quality assurance for online adapted treatment plans: benchmarking and delivery monitoring simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Taoran; Wu, Qiuwen; Yang, Yun; Rodrigues, Anna; Yin, Fang-Fang; Jackie Wu, Q

    2015-01-01

    An important challenge facing online adaptive radiation therapy is the development of feasible and efficient quality assurance (QA). This project aimed to validate the deliverability of online adapted plans and develop a proof-of-concept online delivery monitoring system for online adaptive radiation therapy QA. The first part of this project benchmarked automatically online adapted prostate treatment plans using traditional portal dosimetry IMRT QA. The portal dosimetry QA results of online adapted plans were compared to original (unadapted) plans as well as randomly selected prostate IMRT plans from our clinic. In the second part, an online delivery monitoring system was designed and validated via a simulated treatment with intentional multileaf collimator (MLC) errors. This system was based on inputs from the dynamic machine information (DMI), which continuously reports actual MLC positions and machine monitor units (MUs) at intervals of 50 ms or less during delivery. Based on the DMI, the system performed two levels of monitoring/verification during the delivery: (1) dynamic monitoring of cumulative fluence errors resulting from leaf position deviations and visualization using fluence error maps (FEMs); and (2) verification of MLC positions against the treatment plan for potential errors in MLC motion and data transfer at each control point. Validation of the online delivery monitoring system was performed by introducing intentional systematic MLC errors (ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm) to the DMI files for both leaf banks. These DMI files were analyzed by the proposed system to evaluate the system's performance in quantifying errors and revealing the source of errors, as well as to understand patterns in the FEMs. In addition, FEMs from 210 actual prostate IMRT beams were analyzed using the proposed system to further validate its ability to catch and identify errors, as well as establish error magnitude baselines for prostate IMRT delivery. Online adapted plans were

  9. To What Extent is Drinking Water Tested in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Comparative Analysis of Regulated Water Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel Peletz

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Water quality information is important for guiding water safety management and preventing water-related diseases. To assess the current status of regulated water quality monitoring in sub-Saharan Africa, we evaluated testing programs for fecal contamination in 72 institutions (water suppliers and public health agencies across 10 countries. Data were collected through written surveys, in-person interviews, and analysis of microbial water quality testing levels. Though most institutions did not achieve the testing levels specified by applicable standards or World Health Organization (WHO Guidelines, 85% of institutions had conducted some microbial water testing in the previous year. Institutions were more likely to meet testing targets if they were suppliers (as compared to surveillance agencies, served larger populations, operated in urban settings, and had higher water quality budgets (all p < 0.05. Our results indicate that smaller water providers and rural public health offices will require greater attention and additional resources to achieve regulatory compliance for water quality monitoring in sub-Saharan Africa. The cost-effectiveness of water quality monitoring should be improved by the application of risk-based water management approaches. Efforts to strengthen monitoring capacity should pay greater attention to program sustainability and institutional commitment to water safety.

  10. Portable and low-cost sensors in monitoring air qualities in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ouyang, Bin; Popoola, Lekan; Jones, Roderic; Li, Chunlin; Chen, Jianmin

    2016-04-01

    The fast dynamics and the associated high spatial variability of the atmosphere calls for monitoring techniques that are robust, portable, low-power and ideally cheap (which thus allows for easy deployment and little maintenance needs over long measurement period), yet still offering sufficient sensitivity for measuring typical air pollutants at their ambient levels. We have over years developed a measuring suite (SNAQ box, Sensor Network for Air Quality), which weighs ~2.5 kg and has dimension of 30 cm (L)*20 cm (W)* 15 cm (H), and is capable of measuring wind speed and direction, relative humidity, gas species CO, NO, NO2, O3, SO2 (all based on electrochemical sensors), CO2 (based on NDIR, non-dispersive infrared) and total VOCs (based on PID, photoionization detector), and size-speciated particles (based on optical counting method with cut-off in size at 0.34 microns). Two of these boxes have been deployed in China during the 2015 Yangtze River campaign led by Fudan University, China during 22nd/Nov and 05th/Dec. One of the two boxes was mounted on a monitoring ship that sailed along the river aiming at capturing primarily emissions from ships, and the other was carried by a van that drove on roads but followed the track of the ship during the same period. Preliminary analysis of the data revealed that measurements were successful on both platforms for most of the targeted species with essentially no need of personnel interference during the entire campaign. Emission ratio of CO against NOx, or that of CO/NOx against CO2, for different dominating emission sources (vehicles vs. ships), can be readily quantified. Ongoing analysis includes correlating the measured pollution levels with different source profiles as well as meteorology conditions and understanding the background aerosol size profiles. We conclude that this technique provides a viable solution not only for routine point measurements of air quality in China, but also as construction unit for building

  11. Biomagnetic monitoring as a validation tool for local air quality models: a case study for an urban street canyon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofman, Jelle; Samson, Roeland

    2014-09-01

    Biomagnetic monitoring of tree leaf deposited particles has proven to be a good indicator of the ambient particulate concentration. The objective of this study is to apply this method to validate a local-scale air quality model (ENVI-met), using 96 tree crown sampling locations in a typical urban street canyon. To the best of our knowledge, the application of biomagnetic monitoring for the validation of pollutant dispersion modeling is hereby presented for the first time. Quantitative ENVI-met validation showed significant correlations between modeled and measured results throughout the entire in-leaf period. ENVI-met performed much better at the first half of the street canyon close to the ring road (r=0.58-0.79, RMSE=44-49%), compared to second part (r=0.58-0.64, RMSE=74-102%). The spatial model behavior was evaluated by testing effects of height, azimuthal position, tree position and distance from the main pollution source on the obtained model results and magnetic measurements. Our results demonstrate that biomagnetic monitoring seems to be a valuable method to evaluate the performance of air quality models. Due to the high spatial and temporal resolution of this technique, biomagnetic monitoring can be applied anywhere in the city (where urban green is present) to evaluate model performance at different spatial scales. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Performance Evaluation of the United Nations Environment Programme Air Quality Monitoring Unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    A request for technical collaboration between the UNEP and the US EPA resulted in the establishment of a MCRADA. The purpose of this agreement was to evaluate an air quality monitoring system (referred to as the UNEP pod) developed by the UNEP for use in environmental situations ...

  13. Data Quality Objectives Supporting Radiological Air Emissions Monitoring for the PNNL Site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barnett, J. Matthew; Meier, Kirsten M.; Snyder, Sandra F.; Fritz, Brad G.; Poston, Theodore M.; Antonio, Ernest J.

    2012-11-12

    considerations. This DQO report also updates the discussion of the Environmental Monitoring Plan for the PNNL Site air samples and how existing Hanford Site monitoring program results could be used. This document of Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) was prepared based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidance on Systematic Planning Using the Data Quality Objectives Process, EPA, QA/G4, 2/2006 (EPA 2006) as well as several other published DQOs.

  14. Recent developments in water quality monitoring for Space Station reclaimed wastewaters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, John W.; Verostko, Charles E.; Linton, Arthur T.; Burchett, Ray

    1987-01-01

    This paper discusses the recent developments in water quality monitoring for Space Station reclaimed wastewaters. A preprototype unit that contains an ultraviolet absorbance organic carbon monitor integrated with pH and conductivity sensors is presented. The preprototype has provisions for automated operation and is a reagentless flow-through system without any gas/liquid interfaces. The organic carbon monitor detects by utraviolet absorbance the organic impurities in reclaimed wastewater which may be correlated to the organic carbon content of the water. A comparison of the preprototype organic carbon detection values with actual total organic carbon measurements is presented. The electrolyte double junction concept for the pH sensor and fixed electrodes for both the pH and conductivity sensors are discussed. In addition, the development of a reagentless organic carbon analyzer that incorporates ultraviolet oxidation and infrared detection is presented. Detection sensitivities, hardware development, and operation are included.

  15. A Modular IoT Platform for Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    Mohieddine Benammar; Abderrazak Abdaoui; Sabbir H.M. Ahmad; Farid Touati; Abdullah Kadri

    2018-01-01

    The impact of air quality on health and on life comfort is well established. In many societies, vulnerable elderly and young populations spend most of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor air quality monitoring (IAQM) is of great importance to human health. Engineers and researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on the design of real-time IAQM systems using wireless sensor networks. This paper presents an end-to-end IAQM system enabling measurement of CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, O3, Cl2, am...

  16. High-frequency remote monitoring of large lakes with MODIS 500 m imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCullough, Ian M.; Loftin, Cynthia S.; Sader, Steven A.

    2012-01-01

    Satellite-based remote monitoring programs of regional lake water quality largely have relied on Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) owing to its long image archive, moderate spatial resolution (30 m), and wide sensitivity in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, despite some notable limitations such as temporal resolution (i.e., 16 days), data pre-processing requirements to improve data quality, and aging satellites. Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on Aqua/Terra platforms compensate for these shortcomings, although at the expense of spatial resolution. We developed and evaluated a remote monitoring protocol for water clarity of large lakes using MODIS 500 m data and compared MODIS utility to Landsat-based methods. MODIS images captured during May–September 2001, 2004 and 2010 were analyzed with linear regression to identify the relationship between lake water clarity and satellite-measured surface reflectance. Correlations were strong (R² = 0.72–0.94) throughout the study period; however, they were the most consistent in August, reflecting seasonally unstable lake conditions and inter-annual differences in algal productivity during the other months. The utility of MODIS data in remote water quality estimation lies in intra-annual monitoring of lake water clarity in inaccessible, large lakes, whereas Landsat is more appropriate for inter-annual, regional trend analyses of lakes ≥ 8 ha. Model accuracy is improved when ancillary variables are included to reflect seasonal lake dynamics and weather patterns that influence lake clarity. The identification of landscape-scale drivers of regional water quality is a useful way to supplement satellite-based remote monitoring programs relying on spectral data alone.

  17. Monitoring Quality Across Home Visiting Models: A Field Test of Michigan's Home Visiting Quality Assurance System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heany, Julia; Torres, Jennifer; Zagar, Cynthia; Kostelec, Tiffany

    2018-06-05

    Introduction In order to achieve the positive outcomes with parents and children demonstrated by many home visiting models, home visiting services must be well implemented. The Michigan Home Visiting Initiative developed a tool and procedure for monitoring implementation quality across models referred to as Michigan's Home Visiting Quality Assurance System (MHVQAS). This study field tested the MHVQAS. This article focuses on one of the study's evaluation questions: Can the MHVQAS be applied across models? Methods Eight local implementing agencies (LIAs) from four home visiting models (Healthy Families America, Early Head Start-Home Based, Parents as Teachers, Maternal Infant Health Program) and five reviewers participated in the study by completing site visits, tracking their time and costs, and completing surveys about the process. LIAs also submitted their most recent review by their model developer. The researchers conducted participant observation of the review process. Results Ratings on the MHVQAS were not significantly different between models. There were some differences in interrater reliability and perceived reliability between models. There were no significant differences between models in perceived validity, satisfaction with the review process, or cost to participate. Observational data suggested that cross-model applicability could be improved by assisting sites in relating the requirements of the tool to the specifics of their model. Discussion The MHVQAS shows promise as a tool and process to monitor implementation quality of home visiting services across models. The results of the study will be used to make improvements before the MHVQAS is used in practice.

  18. Experiences of Mass Pig Carcass Disposal Related to Groundwater Quality Monitoring in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeng-Yei Hseu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The pig industry is the most crucial animal industry in Taiwan; 10.7 million pigs were reared for consumption in 1996. A foot and mouth disease (FMD epidemic broke out on 19 March 1997, and 3,850,536 pigs were culled before July in the same year. The major disposal method of pig carcasses from the FMD outbreak was burial, followed by burning and incineration. To investigate groundwater quality, environmental monitoring of burial sites was performed from October 1997 to June 1999; groundwater monitoring of 90–777 wells in 20 prefectures was performed wo to six times in 1998. Taiwanese governmental agencies analyzed 3723 groundwater samples using a budget of US $1.5 million. The total bacterial count, fecal coliform, Salmonella spp., nitrite-N, nitrate-N, ammonium-N, sulfate, non-purgeable organic carbon, total oil, and total dissolved solid were recognized as indicators of groundwater contamination resulting from pig carcass burial. Groundwater at the burial sites was considered to be contaminated on the basis of the aforementioned indicators, particularly groundwater at burial sites without an impermeable cloth and those located at a relatively short distance from the monitoring well. The burial sites selected during outbreaks in Taiwan should have a low surrounding population, be away from water preservation areas, and undergo regular monitoring of groundwater quality.

  19. Microalgal process-monitoring based on high-selectivity spectroscopy tools: status and future perspectives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Podevin, Michael Paul Ambrose; Fotidis, Ioannis; Angelidaki, Irini

    2018-01-01

    microalgae production towards process automation through multivariate process control (MVPC) and software sensors trained on “big data”. The paper will also include a comprehensive overview of off-line implementations of vibrational spectroscopy in microalgal research as it pertains to spectral...... contribution of this review is to present current and prospective advances of on-line and in-line process analytical technology (PAT), with high-selectivity – the capability of monitoring several analytes simultaneously – in the interest of improving product quality, productivity, and process automation...... interpretation and process automation to aid and motivate development....

  20. High Resolution Air Quality Forecasts in the Western Mediterranean area within the MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III European projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cansado, A.; Martinez, I.; Morales, T.

    2015-07-01

    The European Earth observation programme Copernicus, formerly known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is establishing a core global and regional environmental atmospheric service as a component of the Europes Copernicus/GMES initiative through successive R and D projects led by ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting) and funded by the 6th and 7th European Framework Programme for Research and Horizon 2020 Programme: GEMS, MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III. AEMET (Spanish State Meteorological Agency) has participated in the projects MACC and MACC-II and continues participating in MACC-III (http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu). AEMET has contributed to those projects by generating highresolution (0.05 degrees) daily air-quality forecasts for the Western Mediterranean up to 48 hours aiming to analyse the dependence of the quality of forecasts on resolution. We monitor the evolution of different chemical species such as NO{sub 2}, O{sub 3}, CO y SO{sub 2} at surface and different vertical levels using the global model MOCAGE and the MACC Regional Ensemble forecasts as chemical boundary conditions. We will show different case-studies, where the considered chemical species present high values and will show a validation of the air-quality by comparing to some of the available air-quality observations (EMEP/GAW, regional -autonomous communities- and local -city councils- air-quality monitoring networks) over the forecast domain. The aim of our participation in these projects is helping to improve the understanding of the processes involved in the air-quality forecast in the Mediterranean where special factors such as highly populated areas together with an intense solar radiation make air-quality forecasting particularly challenging. (Author)

  1. High Resolution Air Quality Forecasts in the Western Mediterranean area within the MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III European projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cansado, A.; Martinez, I.; Morales, T.

    2015-07-01

    The European Earth observation programme Copernicus, formerly known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is establishing a core global and regional environmental atmospheric service as a component of the Europe’s Copernicus/GMES initiative through successive R&D projects led by ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting) and funded by the 6th and 7th European Framework Programme for Research and Horizon 2020 Programme: GEMS, MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III. AEMET (Spanish State Meteorological Agency) has participated in the projects MACC and MACC-II and continues participating in MACC-III (http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu). AEMET has contributed to those projects by generating highresolution (0.05 degrees) daily air-quality forecasts for the Western Mediterranean up to 48 hours aiming to analyse the dependence of the quality of forecasts on resolution. We monitor the evolution of different chemical species such as NO2, O3, CO y SO2 at surface and different vertical levels using the global model MOCAGE and the MACC Regional Ensemble forecasts as chemical boundary conditions. We will show different case-studies, where the considered chemical species present high values and will show a validation of the air-quality by comparing to some of the available air-quality observations (EMEP/GAW, regional -autonomous communities- and local -city councils- air-quality monitoring networks) over the forecast domain. The aim of our participation in these projects is helping to improve the understanding of the processes involved in the air-quality forecast in the Mediterranean where special factors such as highly populated areas together with an intense solar radiation make air-quality forecasting particularly challenging. (Author)

  2. High voltage disconnect switch position monitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crampton, S W

    1983-08-01

    Unreliable position indication on high-voltage (HV) disconnect switches can result in equipment damage worth many times the cost of a disconnect switch. The benefits and limitations of a number of possible methods of reliably monitoring HV disconnect switches are assessed. Several methods of powering active devices at HV are noted. It is concluded that the most reliable way of monitoring switch position at reasonable cost would use a passive hermetically-sealed blade-position sensor located at HV, with a fibre-optic link between HV and ground. Separate sensors would be used for open and closed position indication. For maximum reliability the fibre-optic link would continue into the relay building. A passive magnetically actuated fibre-optic sensor has been built which demonstrates the feasibility of the concept. The sensor monitors blade position relative to the jaws in three dimensions with high resolution. A design for an improved passive magneto-optic sensor has significantly lower optical losses, allowing a single fibre-optic loop and 3 sensors to monitor closure of all phases of a disconnect switch. A similar loop would monitor switch opening. The improved sensor has a solid copper housing to provide greater immunity to fault currents, and to protect it from the environment and from physical damage. Two methods of providing a protected path for fibre-optics passing from HV to ground are proposed, one using a hollow porcelain switch-support insulator and the other using an additional small-diameter polymer insulator with optical fibres imbedded in its fibreglass core. A number of improvements are recommended which can be made to existing switches to increase their reliability. 16 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.

  3. Water quality monitoring of the Pirapó River watershed, Paraná, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. C. Bortoletto

    Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the water quality of the Pirapó River watershed in Paraná, Brazil, and identify the critical pollution sites throughout the drainage basin. The water quality was monitored during the period from January 2011 to December 2012. Nine points distributed throughout the main channel of the Pirapó River were sampled for a total of 17 samplings. The water quality was evaluated based on the determination of 14 physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. Analysis of the variables monitored in the Pirapó River watershed using factor analysis/principal components analysis (FA/PCA indicated the formation of three distinct groups of parameters: water temperature (Twater, dissolved oxygen (DO and a group composed of total suspended solids (TSS, turbidity and nitrite (NO2–. The parameters Twater and DO exhibited a relationship with the seasonality, and the TSS, turbidity, and NO2– levels were correlated with surface runoff caused by rainfall events. Principal component analysis (PCA of the sampling points enabled the selection of the 10 most important variables from among the 14 evaluated parameters. The results showed that the nitrate (NO3–, NO2–, TSS, turbidity and total phosphorous (TP levels were related to the soil type, and the parameters DO, electrical conductivity (EC, ammoniacal nitrogen (N-NH3 and thermotolerant coliforms (TC were related to organic matter pollution, with the P5 sampling site being the most critical site. The ordination diagram of the sampling points as a function of the PCA indicated a reduction from 9 to 5 sampling points, indicating the potential for decreasing the costs associated with monitoring.

  4. Application of two quality indices as monitoring and management tools of rivers. Case study: the Imera Meridionale River, Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonanno, Giuseppe; Lo Giudice, Rosa

    2010-04-01

    On the basis of the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60), the water resources of the member states of the European Community should reach good quality standards by 2015. Although such regulations illustrate the basic points for a comprehensive and effective policy of water monitoring and management, no practical tools are provided to face and solve the issues concerning freshwater ecosystems such as rivers. The Italian government has developed a set of regulations as adoption of the European Directive but failed to indicate feasible procedures for river monitoring and management. On a local scale, Sicilian authorities have implemented monitoring networks of watersheds, aiming at describing the general conditions of rivers. However, such monitoring programs have provided a relatively fragmentary picture of the ecological conditions of the rivers. In this study, the integrated use of environmental quality indices is proposed as a methodology able to provide a practical approach to river monitoring and management. As a case study, the Imera Meridionale River, Sicily's largest river, was chosen. The water quality index developed by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation and the floristic quality index based on the Wilhelm method were applied. The former enabled us to describe the water quality according to a spatial-temporal gradient, whereas the latter focused on the ecological quality of riparian vegetation. This study proposes a holistic view of river ecosystems by considering biotic and abiotic factors in agreement with the current European regulations. How the combined use of such indices can guide sustainable management efforts is also discussed.

  5. Application of Two Quality Indices as Monitoring and Management Tools of Rivers. Case Study: The Imera Meridionale River, Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonanno, Giuseppe; Giudice, Rosa Lo

    2010-04-01

    On the basis of the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60), the water resources of the member states of the European Community should reach good quality standards by 2015. Although such regulations illustrate the basic points for a comprehensive and effective policy of water monitoring and management, no practical tools are provided to face and solve the issues concerning freshwater ecosystems such as rivers. The Italian government has developed a set of regulations as adoption of the European Directive but failed to indicate feasible procedures for river monitoring and management. On a local scale, Sicilian authorities have implemented monitoring networks of watersheds, aiming at describing the general conditions of rivers. However, such monitoring programs have provided a relatively fragmentary picture of the ecological conditions of the rivers. In this study, the integrated use of environmental quality indices is proposed as a methodology able to provide a practical approach to river monitoring and management. As a case study, the Imera Meridionale River, Sicily’s largest river, was chosen. The water quality index developed by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation and the floristic quality index based on the Wilhelm method were applied. The former enabled us to describe the water quality according to a spatial-temporal gradient, whereas the latter focused on the ecological quality of riparian vegetation. This study proposes a holistic view of river ecosystems by considering biotic and abiotic factors in agreement with the current European regulations. How the combined use of such indices can guide sustainable management efforts is also discussed.

  6. Setting standards and monitoring quality in the NHS 1999–2013: a classic case of goal conflict

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Alec; Littlejohns, Anna; Poole, Tara‐Lynn; Kieslich, Katharina

    2016-01-01

    Abstract 2013 saw the National Health Service (NHS) in England severely criticized for providing poor quality despite successive governments in the previous 15 years, establishing a range of new institutions to improve NHS quality. This study seeks to understand the contributions of political and organizational influences in enabling the NHS to deliver high‐quality care through exploring the experiences of two of the major new organizations established to set standards and monitor NHS quality. We used a mixed method approach: first a cross‐sectional, in‐depth qualitative interview study and then the application of principal agent modeling (Waterman and Meier broader framework). Ten themes were identified as influencing the functioning of the NHS regulatory institutions: socio‐political environment; governance and accountability; external relationships; clarity of purpose; organizational reputation; leadership and management; organizational stability; resources; organizational methods; and organizational performance. The organizations could be easily mapped onto the framework, and their transience between the different states could be monitored. We concluded that differing policy objectives for NHS quality monitoring resulted in central involvement and organizational change. This had a disruptive effect on the ability of the NHS to monitor quality. Constant professional leadership, both clinical and managerial, and basing decisions on best evidence, both technical and organizational, helped one institution to deliver on its remit, even within a changing political/policy environment. Application of the Waterman–Meier framework enabled an understanding and description of the dynamic relationship between central government and organizations in the NHS and may predict when tensions will arise in the future. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:27435020

  7. Individual monitoring in high-energy stray radiation fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoefert, M.; Stevenson, G.R.

    1995-01-01

    Due to the lack of passive or active devices that could be considered as personal dosemeters in high-energy stray fields one can at present only perform individual monitoring around high energy accelerators. Of all detectors currently available it is shown that the NTA film is the most suitable method for individually monitoring the neutron exposure of more than 3000 persons regularly, reliably, and cost effectively like at CERN. (author)

  8. URBAN SPRAWL MODELING, AIR QUALITY MONITORING AND RISK COMMUNICATION: THE NORTHEAST OHIO PROJECT

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Northeast Ohio Urban Sprawl, Air Quality Monitoring, and Communications Project (hereafter called the Northeast Ohio Project) provides local environmental and health information useful to residents, local officials, community planners, and others in a 15 county region in the ...

  9. Application of lot quality assurance sampling for leprosy elimination monitoring--examination of some critical factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupte, M D; Murthy, B N; Mahmood, K; Meeralakshmi, S; Nagaraju, B; Prabhakaran, R

    2004-04-01

    The concept of elimination of an infectious disease is different from eradication and in a way from control as well. In disease elimination programmes the desired reduced level of prevalence is set up as the target to be achieved in a practical time frame. Elimination can be considered in the context of national or regional levels. Prevalence levels depend on occurrence of new cases and thus could remain fluctuating. There are no ready pragmatic methods to monitor the progress of leprosy elimination programmes. We therefore tried to explore newer methods to answer these demands. With the lowering of prevalence of leprosy to the desired level of 1 case per 10000 population at the global level, the programme administrators' concern will be shifted to smaller areas e.g. national and sub-national levels. For monitoring this situation, we earlier observed that lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS), a quality control tool in industry was useful in the initially high endemic areas. However, critical factors such as geographical distribution of cases and adoption of cluster sampling design instead of simple random sampling design deserve attention before LQAS could generally be recommended. The present exercise was aimed at validating applicability of LQAS, and adopting these modifications for monitoring leprosy elimination in Tamil Nadu state, which was highly endemic for leprosy. A representative sample of 64000 people drawn from eight districts of Tamil Nadu state, India, with maximum allowable number of 25 cases was considered, using LQAS methodology to test whether leprosy prevalence was at or below 7 per 10000 population. Expected number of cases for each district was obtained assuming Poisson distribution. Goodness of fit for the observed and expected cases (closeness of the expected number of cases to those observed) was tested through chi(2). Enhancing factor (design effect) for sample size was obtained by computing the intraclass correlation. The survey actually

  10. Extensive feedwater quality control and monitoring concept for preventing chemistry-related failures of boiler tubes in a subcritical thermal power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vidojkovic, Sonja; Onjia, Antonije; Matovic, Branko; Grahovac, Nebojsa; Maksimovic, Vesna; Nastasovic, Aleksandra

    2013-01-01

    Prevention and minimizing corrosion processes on steam generating equipment is highly important in the thermal power industry. The maintenance of feedwater quality at a level corresponding to the standards of technological designing, followed by timely respond to the fluctuation of measured parameters, has a decisive role in corrosion prevention. In this study, the comprehensive chemical control of feedwater quality in 210 MW Thermal Power Plant (TPP) was carried out in order to evaluate its potentiality to assure reliable function of the boiler and discover possible irregularity that might be responsible for frequent boiler tube failures. Sensitive on-line and off-line analytical instruments were used for measuring key and diagnostic parameters considered to be crucial for boiler safety and performances. Obtained results provided evidences for exceeded levels of oxygen, silica, sodium, chloride, sulfate, copper, and conductivity what distinctly demonstrated necessity of feedwater control improvement. Consequently, more effective feedwater quality monitoring concept was recommended. In this paper, the explanation of presumable root causes of corrosive contaminants was given including basic directions for their maintenance in proscribed limits. -- Highlights: • Feedwater quality monitoring practice in a thermal power plant has been evaluated. • The more efficient feedwater quality control have been applied. • Analysis of feedwater quality parameters has been performed. • Exceeded levels of corrosive contaminants were found. • Recommendations for their maintenance at proscribed values were given

  11. A novel, optical, on-line bacteria sensor for monitoring drinking water quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Højris, Bo; Christensen, Sarah Christine Boesgaard; Albrechtsen, Hans-Jørgen

    2016-01-01

    Today, microbial drinking water quality is monitored through either time-consuming laboratory methods or indirect on-line measurements. Results are thus either delayed or insufficient to support proactive action. A novel, optical, on-line bacteria sensor with a 10-minute time resolution has been...... and quantifying bacteria and particles in pure and mixed suspensions, and the quantification correlates with total bacterial counts. Several field applications have demonstrated that the technology can monitor changes in the concentration of bacteria, and is thus well suited for rapid detection of critical...... conditions such as pollution events in drinking water....

  12. Monitoring of high refractive index edible oils using coated long period fiber grating sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coelho, Luís.; Viegas, Diana; Santos, José Luís.; de Almeida, Jose Manuel M. M.

    2015-05-01

    Monitoring the quality of high refractive index edible oils is of great importance for the human health. Uncooked edible oils in general are healthy foodstuff, olive oil in particular, however, they are frequently used for baking and cooking. High quality edible oils are made from seeds, nuts or fruits by mechanical processes. Nevertheless, once the mechanical extraction is complete, up to 15% of the oil remains in oil pomace and in the mill wastewater, which can be extracted using organic solvents, often hexane. Optical fiber sensors based on long period fiber gratings (LPFG) have very low wavelength sensitivity when the surround refractive index is higher than the refractive index of the cladding. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) coated LPFG could lead to the realization of high sensitivity chemical sensor for the food industry. In this work LPFG coated with a TiO2 thin film were successfully used for to detect small levels of hexane diluted in edible oils and for real time monitoring the thermal deterioration of edible oils. For a TiO2 coating of 30 nm a wavelength sensitivity of 1361.7 nm/RIU (or 0.97 nm / % V/V) in the 1.4610-1.4670 refractive index range was achieved, corresponding to 0 to 12 % V/V of hexane in olive oil. A sensitivity higher than 638 nm/RIU at 225 ºC was calculated, in the 1.4670-1.4735 refractive index range with a detection limit of thermal deterioration of about 1 minute.

  13. A multi-objective assessment of an air quality monitoring network using environmental, economic, and social indicators and GIS-based models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pope, Ronald; Wu, Jianguo

    2014-06-01

    In the United States, air pollution is primarily measured by Air Quality Monitoring Networks (AQMN). These AQMNs have multiple objectives, including characterizing pollution patterns, protecting the public health, and determining compliance with air quality standards. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a directive that air pollution agencies assess the performance of their AQMNs. Although various methods to design and assess AQMNs exist, here we demonstrate a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach that combines environmental, economic, and social indicators through the assessment of the ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10) networks in Maricopa County, Arizona. The assessment was conducted in three phases: (1) to evaluate the performance of the existing networks, (2) to identify areas that would benefit from the addition of new monitoring stations, and (3) to recommend changes to the AQMN. A comprehensive set of indicators was created for evaluating differing aspects of the AQMNs' objectives, and weights were applied to emphasize important indicators. Indicators were also classified according to their sustainable development goal. Our results showed that O3 was well represented in the county with some redundancy in terms of the urban monitors. The addition of weights to the indicators only had a minimal effect on the results. For O3, urban monitors had greater social scores, while rural monitors had greater environmental scores. The results did not suggest a need for adding more O3 monitoring sites. For PM10, clustered urban monitors were redundant, and weights also had a minimal effect on the results. The clustered urban monitors had overall low scores; sites near point sources had high environmental scores. Several areas were identified as needing additional PM10 monitors. This study demonstrates the usefulness of a multi-indicator approach to assess AQMNs. Network managers and planners may use this method to assess the

  14. The ALICE Data Quality Monitoring: qualitative and quantitative review of three years of operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haller, Barthélémy von; Telesca, Adriana; Bellini, Francesca; Foka, Yiota

    2014-01-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter produced in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Due to the complexity of ALICE in terms of number of detectors and performance requirements, Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) plays an essential role in providing online feedback on the data being recorded. It intends to provide shifters with precise and complete information to quickly identify problems, and as a consequence to ensure acquisition of high quality data. This paper presents a review of the ALICE DQM system during the first three years of LHC operations from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. We start by presenting the DQM software and tools before moving on to the various analyses carried out. An overview of the produced monitoring quantities is given, presenting the diversity of usage and flexibility of the DQM. Well-prepared shifters and experts, in addition to a precise organisation, were required to ensure smooth and successful operations. The description of the measures taken to ensure both aspects and an account of the DQM shifters' job are followed by a summary of the evolution of the system. We then give a quantitative review of the final setup of the system used during the whole year 2012. We conclude the paper with use cases where the DQM proved to be very valuable, scalable and efficient and with the plans for the coming years.

  15. InSAR deformation monitoring of high risk landslides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singhroy, V.; Li, J.

    2013-05-01

    During the past year there were at least twenty five media reports of landslides and seismic activities some fatal, occurring in various areas in Canada. These high risk geohazards sites requires high resolution monitoring both spatially and temporally for mitigation purposes, since they are near populated areas and energy, transportation and communication corridors. High resolution air photos, lidar and satellite images are quite common in areas where the landslides can be fatal. Radar interferometry (InSAR) techniques using images from several radar satellites are increasingly being used in slope stability assessment. This presentation provides examples of using high-resolution (1-3m) frequent revisits InSAR techniques from RADARSAT 2 and TerraSAR X to monitor several types of high-risk landslides affecting transportation and energy corridors and populated areas. We have analyses over 200 high resolution InSAR images over a three year period on geologically different landslides. The high-resolution InSAR images are effective in characterizing differential motion within these low velocity landslides. The low velocity landslides become high risk during the active wet spring periods. The wet soils are poor coherent targets and corner reflectors provide an effective means of InSAR monitoring the slope activities.

  16. Use of the Operational Air Quality Monitor (AQM) for In-Flight Water Testing Project

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Currently, the Air Quality Monitor (AQM) on-board ISS provides specific information for a number of target compounds in the air. However, there is a significant...

  17. Non-intrusive Packet-Layer Model for Monitoring Video Quality of IPTV Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamagishi, Kazuhisa; Hayashi, Takanori

    Developing a non-intrusive packet-layer model is required to passively monitor the quality of experience (QoE) during service. We propose a packet-layer model that can be used to estimate the video quality of IPTV using quality parameters derived from transmitted packet headers. The computational load of the model is lighter than that of the model that takes video signals and/or video-related bitstream information such as motion vectors as input. This model is applicable even if the transmitted bitstream information is encrypted because it uses transmitted packet headers rather than bitstream information. For developing the model, we conducted three extensive subjective quality assessments for different encoders and decoders (codecs), and video content. Then, we modeled the subjective video quality assessment characteristics based on objective features affected by coding and packet loss. Finally, we verified the model's validity by applying our model to unknown data sets different from training data sets used above.

  18. Data Quality Monitoring : Automatic MOnitoRing Environment (AMORE ) Web Administration Tool in ALICE Experiment

    CERN Document Server

    Nagi, Imre

    2013-01-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the heavy-ion detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The quality of the acquired data evolves over time depending on the status of the detectors, its components and the operating environment. To get an excellent performance of detector, all detector configurations have to be set perfectly so that the data-taking can be done in an optimal way. This report describes a new implementation of the administration tools of the ALICE’s DQM framework called AMORE (Automatic MonitoRing Environment) with web technologies.

  19. How Much Will It Cost To Monitor Microbial Drinking Water Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delaire, Caroline; Peletz, Rachel; Kumpel, Emily; Kisiangani, Joyce; Bain, Robert; Khush, Ranjiv

    2017-06-06

    Microbial water quality monitoring is crucial for managing water resources and protecting public health. However, institutional testing activities in sub-Saharan Africa are currently limited. Because the economics of water quality testing are poorly understood, the extent to which cost may be a barrier to monitoring in different settings is unclear. This study used cost data from 18 African monitoring institutions (piped water suppliers and health surveillance agencies in six countries) and estimates of water supply type coverage from 15 countries to assess the annual financial requirements for microbial water testing at both national and regional levels, using World Health Organization recommendations for sampling frequency. We found that a microbial water quality test costs 21.0 ± 11.3 USD, on average, including consumables, equipment, labor, and logistics, which is higher than previously calculated. Our annual cost estimates for microbial monitoring of piped supplies and improved point sources ranged between 8 000 USD for Equatorial Guinea and 1.9 million USD for Ethiopia, depending primarily on the population served but also on the distribution of piped water system sizes. A comparison with current national water and sanitation budgets showed that the cost of implementing prescribed testing levels represents a relatively modest proportion of existing budgets (water sources in sub-Saharan Africa would cost 16.0 million USD per year, which is minimal in comparison to the projected annual capital costs of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 of safe water for all (14.8 billion USD).

  20. A Prototype Educational Delivery System Using Water Quality Monitoring as a Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glazer, Richard B.

    This report describes the model educational delivery system used by Ulster County Community College in its water quality monitoring program. The educational delivery system described in the report encompasses the use of behavioral objectives as its foundation and builds upon this foundation to form a complete system whose outcomes can be measured,…

  1. Hydrology and water-quality monitoring considerations, Jackpile uranium mine, northwestern New Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zehner, H.H.

    1985-01-01

    The Jackpile Uranium Mine, which is on the Pueblo of Laguna in northwestern New Mexico was operated from 1953 to 1980. The small storage coefficients determined from three aquifer tests indicate that the Jackpile sandstone is a confined hydrologic system throughout much of the mine area. Sediment from the Rio Paguate has nearly filled the Paguate Reservoir near Laguna since its construction in 1940. The mean concentrations of uranium, Ra-226, and other trace elements generally were less than permissible limits established in national drinking water regulations or New Mexico State groundwater regulations. No individual surface water samples collected upstream from the mine contained concentrations of Ra-226 in excess of the permissible limits. Ra-226 concentrations in many individual samples collected from the Rio Paguate from near the mouth of the Rio Moquino to the sampling sites along the down-stream reach of the Rio Paguate, however, exceeded the recommended permissible concentration of Ra-226 for public drinking water supplies. After reclamation, most of the shallow groundwater probably will discharge to the natural stream channels draining the mine area. Groundwater quality may be monitored as: (1) Limited monitoring, in which only the change in water quality is determined as the groundwater flows from the mine; or (2) thorough monitoring, in which specific sources of possible contaminants are described

  2. Remote Sensing for Inland Water Quality Monitoring: A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-01

    remote sensing has experienced an increasing role in water quality studies, largely due to technological advances, including instrument/sensor and algorithm/image processing improvements. The primary strength of remote sensing over traditional techniques includes the ability to provide a synoptic view of water quality for more effective monitoring of spatial and temporal variation. In addition, remote sensing offers capabilities for viewing water quality in multiple waterbodies over a large region at one time, a more

  3. Iowater Water Quality Monitoring Sites

    Data.gov (United States)

    Iowa State University GIS Support and Research Facility — This coverage contains points representing monitoring locations on streams, lakes and ponds that have been registered by IOWATER monitors. IOWATER, Iowa's volunteer...

  4. Design, development, and field demonstration of a remotely deployable water quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, J. W.; Lovelady, R. W.; Ferguson, R. L.

    1981-01-01

    A prototype water quality monitoring system is described which offers almost continuous in situ monitoring. The two-man portable system features: (1) a microprocessor controlled central processing unit which allows preprogrammed sampling schedules and reprogramming in situ; (2) a subsurface unit for multiple depth capability and security from vandalism; (3) an acoustic data link for communications between the subsurface unit and the surface control unit; (4) eight water quality parameter sensors; (5) a nonvolatile magnetic bubble memory which prevents data loss in the event of power interruption; (6) a rechargeable power supply sufficient for 2 weeks of unattended operation; (7) a water sampler which can collect samples for laboratory analysis; (8) data output in direct engineering units on printed tape or through a computer compatible link; (9) internal electronic calibration eliminating external sensor adjustment; and (10) acoustic location and recovery systems. Data obtained in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron are tabulated.

  5. Near real time water quality monitoring of Chivero and Manyame lakes of Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Muchini

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Zimbabwe's water resources are under pressure from both point and non-point sources of pollution hence the need for regular and synoptic assessment. In-situ and laboratory based methods of water quality monitoring are point based and do not provide a synoptic coverage of the lakes. This paper presents novel methods for retrieving water quality parameters in Chivero and Manyame lakes, Zimbabwe, from remotely sensed imagery. Remotely sensed derived water quality parameters are further validated using in-situ data. It also presents an application for automated retrieval of those parameters developed in VB6, as well as a web portal for disseminating the water quality information to relevant stakeholders. The web portal is developed, using Geoserver, open layers and HTML. Results show the spatial variation of water quality and an automated remote sensing and GIS system with a web front end to disseminate water quality information.

  6. Radiation monitoring in high energy research facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyajima, Mitsuhiro

    1975-01-01

    In High Energy Physics Research Laboratory, construction of high energy proton accelerator is in progress. The accelerator is a cascaded machine comprising Cockcroft type (50 keV), linac (20 MeV), booster synchrotron (500 MeV), and synchrotron (8-12 GeV). Its proton beam intensity is 1x10 13 photons/pulse, and acceleration is carried out at the rate of every 2 minutes. The essential problems of radiation control in high energy accelerators are those of various radiations generated secondarily by proton beam and a number of induced radiations simultaneously originated with such secondary particles. In the Laboratory, controlled areas are divided into color-coded four regions, red, orange, yellow and green, based on each dose-rate. BF 3 counters covered with thick paraffin are used as neutron detectors, and side-window GM tubes, NaI (Tl) scintillators and ionization chambers as γ-detectors. In red region, however, ionization chambers are applied to induced radiation detection, and neutrons are not monitored. NIM standards are adopted for the circuits of all above monitors considering easy maintenance, economy and interchangeability. Notwithstanding the above described systems, these monitors are not sufficient to complete the measurement of whole radiations over wide energy region radiated from the accelerators. Hence separate radiation field measurement is required periodically. An example of the monitoring systems in National Accelerator Laboratory (U.S.) is referred at the last section. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

  7. Monitoring water quality in a hypereutrophic reservoir using Landsat ETM+ and OLI sensors: how transferable are the water quality algorithms?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deutsch, Eliza S; Alameddine, Ibrahim; El-Fadel, Mutasem

    2018-02-15

    The launch of the Landsat 8 in February 2013 extended the life of the Landsat program to over 40 years, increasing the value of using Landsat to monitor long-term changes in the water quality of small lakes and reservoirs, particularly in poorly monitored freshwater systems. Landsat-based water quality hindcasting often incorporate several Landsat sensors in an effort to increase the temporal range of observations; yet the transferability of water quality algorithms across sensors remains poorly examined. In this study, several empirical algorithms were developed to quantify chlorophyll-a, total suspended matter (TSM), and Secchi disk depth (SDD) from surface reflectance measured by Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI sensors. Sensor-specific multiple linear regression models were developed by correlating in situ water quality measurements collected from a semi-arid eutrophic reservoir with band ratios from Landsat ETM+ and OLI sensors, along with ancillary data (water temperature and seasonality) representing ecological patterns in algae growth. Overall, ETM+-based models outperformed (adjusted R 2 chlorophyll-a = 0.70, TSM = 0.81, SDD = 0.81) their OLI counterparts (adjusted R 2 chlorophyll-a = 0.50, TSM = 0.58, SDD = 0.63). Inter-sensor differences were most apparent for algorithms utilizing the Blue spectral band. The inclusion of water temperature and seasonality improved the power of TSM and SDD models.

  8. Quality of MR thermometry during palliative MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) treatment of bone metastases

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lam, Mie K; Huisman, Merel; Nijenhuis, Robbert J; van den Bosch, Maurice; Viergever, Max A; Moonen, Chrit Tw; Bartels, LW

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound has emerged as a clinical option for palliative treatment of painful bone metastases, with MR thermometry (MRT) used for treatment monitoring. In this study, the general image quality of the MRT was assessed in terms of

  9. Monitoring surface-water quality in Arizona: the fixed-station network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadayon, Saeid

    2000-01-01

    Arizona is an arid State in which economic development is influenced largely by the quantity and quality of water and the location of adequate water supplies. In 1995, surface water supplied about 58 percent of total withdrawals in Arizona. Of the total amount of surface water used in 1995, about 89 percent was for agriculture, 10 percent for public supply, and 1 percent for industrial supply (including mining and thermoelectric; Solley and others, 1998). As a result of rapid population growth in Arizona, historic agricultural lands in the Phoenix (Maricopa County) and Tucson (Pima County) areas are now being developed for residential and commercial use; thus, the amount of water used for public supply is increasing. The Clean Water Act was established by U.S. Congress (1972) in response to public concern about water-pollution control. The act defines a process by which the United States Congress and the citizens are informed of the Nation’s progress in restoring and maintaining the quality of our waters. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is the State-designated agency for this process and, as a result, has developed a monitoring program to assess water quality in Arizona. The ADEQ is required to submit a water-quality assessment report to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) every 2 years. The USEPA summarizes the reports from each State and submits a report to the Congress characterizing water quality in the United States. These reports serve to inform Congress and the public of the Nation’s progress toward the restoration and maintenance of water quality in the United States (Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, 1998).

  10. High sensitivity on-line monitor for radioactive effluent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sasaki, Toshimi [Tohoku Electric Power Co. Ltd., Sendai (Japan); Ishizuka, Akira; Abe, Eisuke; Inoue, Yasuhiko; Fujii, Masaaki; Kitaguchi, Hiroshi; Doi, Akira

    1983-04-01

    A new approach for a highly sensitive effluent monitor is presented. The free flow type monitor, which consists of a straightener, nozzle, monitoring section and ..gamma..-ray detector, is demonstrated to be effective in providing long term stability. The 160 start-and-stop cycles of effluent discharge were repeated in a 120-h testing period. Results showed a background increase was not observed for the free flow type monitor. The background count rate was calibrated to the lowest detection limit to be 2.2 x 10/sup -2/ Bq/ml for a 300 s measurement time.

  11. Toward the next generation of air quality monitoring: Persistent organic pollutants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Hayley; MacLeod, Matthew; Guardans, Ramon; Scheringer, Martin; Barra, Ricardo; Harner, Tom; Zhang, Gan

    2013-12-01

    Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are global pollutants that can migrate over long distances and bioaccumulate through food webs, posing health risks to wildlife and humans. Multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Stockholm Convention on POPs, were enacted to identify POPs and establish the conditions to control their release, production and use. A Global Monitoring Plan was initiated under the Stockholm Convention calling for POP monitoring in air as a core medium; however long temporal trends (>10 years) of atmospheric POPs are only available at a few selected sites. Spatial coverage of air monitoring for POPs has recently significantly improved with the introduction and advancement of passive air samplers. Here, we review the status of air monitoring and modeling activities and note major uncertainties in data comparability, deficiencies of air monitoring and modeling in urban and alpine areas, and lack of emission inventories for most POPs. A vision for an internationally-integrated strategic monitoring plan is proposed which could provide consistent and comparable monitoring data for POPs supported and supplemented by global and regional transport models. Key recommendations include developing expertise in all aspects of air monitoring to ensure data comparability and consistency; partnering with existing air quality and meteorological networks to leverage synergies; facilitating data sharing with international data archives; and expanding spatial coverage with passive air samplers. Enhancing research on the stability of particle-bound chemicals is needed to assess exposure and deposition in urban areas, and to elucidate long-range transport. Conducting targeted measurement campaigns in specific source areas would enhance regional models which can be extrapolated to similar regions to estimate emissions. Ultimately, reverse-modeling combined with air measurements can be used to derive “emission” as an indicator to assess environmental

  12. Magnetic evaluation of TSP-filters for air quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castañeda-Miranda, Ana Gabriela; Böhnel, Harald N.; Molina-Garza, Roberto S.; Chaparro, Marcos A. E.

    2014-10-01

    We present the magnetic properties of the powders collected by high volume total suspended particle air samplers used to monitor atmospheric pollution in Santiago de Querétaro, a city of one million people in central Mexico. The magnetic measurements have been combined with scanning electron microscopy observations and analysis, in order to characterize the particles captured in the filters as natural and anthropogenic. The main goal of the study is to test if magnetic measurements on the sampled atmospheric dust can be effective, low-cost, proxy to qualitatively estimate the air quality, complementing the traditional analytical methods. The magnetic properties of the powder collected in the filters have been investigated measuring the low field magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis loops, thermomagnetic curves, and isothermal remanent magnetization. The rock magnetism data have been supplemented by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the main magnetic carrier is low-Ti magnetite in the PSD range with a contribution from SP particles, and small but significant contributions from hematite, maghemite and goethite particles. Total suspended particles in the atmosphere during the monitored days ranged between about 30 and 280 μg/m3. Magnetic susceptibility values are well correlated with the independently determined total suspended particles concentration (R = 0.93), but particle concentration does not correlate as well with IRM1T. This may be attributed to contributions from SP and paramagnetic particles to the susceptibility signal, but not to the remanence. The effects of climate in particle size, composition and concentration were considered in terms of precipitation and wind intensity, but they are actually minor. The main effect of climate appears to be the removal of SP particles during rainy days. There is a contribution to air pollution from natural mineral sources, which we attribute to low vegetation cover

  13. Methodology for calculating perception of the user experience of the quality of monitored integrated telecommunications operator services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2011-01-01

    The invention relates to a method for calculating perception of the user experience of the quality of monitored integrated telecommunications operator services. For this purpose, data from the monitoring of user services is used, along with questionnaires previously completed by a representative

  14. Bridging existing governance gaps: five evidence-based actions that boards can take to pursue high quality care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leggat, Sandra G; Balding, Cathy

    2017-11-13

    Objective To explore the impact of the organisational quality systems on quality of care in Victorian health services. Methods During 2015 a total of 55 focus groups were conducted with more than 350 managers, clinical staff and board members in eight Victorian health services to explore the effectiveness of health service quality systems. A review of the quality and safety goals and strategies outlined in the strategic and operating plans of the participating health services was also undertaken. Results This paper focuses on the data related to the leadership role of health service boards in ensuring safe, high-quality care. The findings suggest that health service boards are not fully meeting their governance accountability to ensure consistently high-quality care. The data uncovered major clinical governance gaps between stated board and executive aspirations for quality and safety and the implementation of these expectations at point of care. These gaps were further compounded by quality system confusion, over-reliance on compliance, and inadequate staff engagement. Conclusion Based on the existing evidence we propose five specific actions boards can take to close the gaps, thereby supporting improved care for all consumers. What is known about this topic? Effective governance is essential for high-quality healthcare delivery. Boards are required to play an active role in their organisation's pursuit of high quality care. What does this paper add? Recent government reports suggest that Australian health service boards are not fully meeting their governance requirements for high quality, safe care delivery, and our research pinpoints key governance gaps. What are the implications for practitioners? Based on our research findings we outline five evidence-based actions for boards to improve their governance of quality care delivery. These actions focus on an organisational strategy for high-quality care, with the chief executive officer held accountable for

  15. Operational monitoring and forecasting of bathing water quality through exploiting satellite Earth observation and models: The AlgaRisk demonstration service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shutler, J. D.; Warren, M. A.; Miller, P. I.; Barciela, R.; Mahdon, R.; Land, P. E.; Edwards, K.; Wither, A.; Jonas, P.; Murdoch, N.; Roast, S. D.; Clements, O.; Kurekin, A.

    2015-04-01

    Coastal zones and shelf-seas are important for tourism, commercial fishing and aquaculture. As a result the importance of good water quality within these regions to support life is recognised worldwide and a number of international directives for monitoring them now exist. This paper describes the AlgaRisk water quality monitoring demonstration service that was developed and operated for the UK Environment Agency in response to the microbiological monitoring needs within the revised European Union Bathing Waters Directive. The AlgaRisk approach used satellite Earth observation to provide a near-real time monitoring of microbiological water quality and a series of nested operational models (atmospheric and hydrodynamic-ecosystem) provided a forecast capability. For the period of the demonstration service (2008-2013) all monitoring and forecast datasets were processed in near-real time on a daily basis and disseminated through a dedicated web portal, with extracted data automatically emailed to agency staff. Near-real time data processing was achieved using a series of supercomputers and an Open Grid approach. The novel web portal and java-based viewer enabled users to visualise and interrogate current and historical data. The system description, the algorithms employed and example results focussing on a case study of an incidence of the harmful algal bloom Karenia mikimotoi are presented. Recommendations and the potential exploitation of web services for future water quality monitoring services are discussed.

  16. A Novel Method for Monitoring Data Quality in Electrical Impedance Tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adler, Andy; Mamatjan, Yasin; Grychtol, Bartłomiej; Gaggero, Pascal; Justiz, Jörn; Koch, Volker

    2013-01-01

    Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has the promise to help improve care for patients undergoing ventilation therapy by providing real-time bed-side information on the distribution of ventilation in their lungs. To realise this potential, it is important for an EIT system to provide a reliable and meaningful signal at all times, or alert clinicians when this is not possible. Because the reconstructed images in EIT are sensitive to system instabilities (including electrode connection problems) and artifacts caused by e.g. movement or sweat, there is a need for EIT systems to continuously monitor, recognize and, if possible, correct for such errors. Motivated by this requirement, our paper describes a novel approach to quantitatively measure EIT data quality suitable for online and offline applications. We used a publicly available data set of ventilation data from two pediatric patients with lung disease to evaluate the data quality on clinical data. Results suggest that the developed data quality could be a useful tool for real-time assessment of the quality of EIT data and, hence, to indicate the reliability of any derived physiological information.

  17. Advanced in-core monitoring system for high-power reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitin, V.I.; Alekseev, A.N.; Golovanov, M.N.; Zorin, A.V.; Kalinushkin, A.E.; Kovel, A.I.; Milto, N.V.; Musikhin, A.M.; Tikhonova, N.V.; Filatov, V.P.

    2006-01-01

    This paper encompasses such section as objective, conception and engineering solution for construction of advanced in-core instrumentation system for high power reactor, including WWER-1000. The ICIS main task is known to be an on-line monitoring of power distribution and functionals independently of design programs to avoid a common cause error. This paper shows in what way the recovery of power distribution has been carried out using the signals from in-core neutron detectors or temperature sensors. On the basis of both measured and processed data, the signals of preventive and emergency protection on local parameters (linear power of the maximum intensive fuel rods, departure from nucleate boiling ratio peaking factor) have been automatically generated. The paper presents a detection technology and processing methods for signals from SPNDs and TCs, ICIS composition and structure, computer hardware, system and applied software. Structure, composition and the taken decisions allow combining class IE and class B and C tasks in accordance with international standards of separation and safety category realization. Nowadays, ICIS-M is a system that is capable to ensure: monitoring, safety, information display and diagnostics function, which allow securing actual increase of quality, reliability and safety in operation of nuclear fuel and power units. Meanwhile, it reduce negative influence of human factor on thermal technical reliability in the operational process (Authors)

  18. A GPRS-Based Low Energy Consumption Remote Terminal Unit for Aquaculture Water Quality Monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    Xu , Dan; Li , Daoliang; Fei , Biaoqing; Wang , Yang; Peng , Fa

    2013-01-01

    International audience; The monitoring of water quality parameters such as DO, pH, salinity and temperature are necessary for the health of seafood such as sea cucumber. However, traditional monitoring system is based on cable data acquisition that has many disadvantages. Nowadays, GPRS is the most commonly accepted way for wireless transmission. Based on it, a type of low energy consumption RTU is developed and applied. In this paper, details of the design are introduced. In hardware design ...

  19. Application of quality risk management to set viable environmental monitoring frequencies in biotechnology processing and support areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandle, Tim

    2012-01-01

    Environmental monitoring programs are essential for pharmaceutical facilities in order to assess the level of environmental control. For biotechnology facilities there is little advice as to the frequency at which viable environmental monitoring should be conducted. This paper outlines an approach, based on the principles of quality risk management, for the development of a framework from which monitoring frequencies can be determined. This involved the identification of common hazards and the evaluation those hazards in terms of the severity of contamination and the probability of contamination occurring. These elements of risk were evaluated for different cleanrooms and the relative risks ranked. Once the risk scores were calculated, the methods for detecting risks within the cleanrooms were assessed. Risk filtering was then used to group different cleanrooms based on their relative risks and detection methods against predetermined monitoring frequencies. Through use of case study examples, the paper presents the model and describes how appropriate frequencies for the environmental monitoring of cleanrooms can be set. Cleanrooms in which biotechnology pharmaceutical processing takes place are subject to environmental monitoring. The frequency at which such monitoring should be performed can be difficult to determine. This paper uses quality risk assessment methods to construct a framework for determining monitoring frequencies and illustrates the suitability of the framework through a case study.

  20. A machine learning calibration model using random forests to improve sensor performance for lower-cost air quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Naomi; Presto, Albert A.; Kumar, Sriniwasa P. N.; Gu, Jason; Hauryliuk, Aliaksei; Robinson, Ellis S.; Robinson, Allen L.; Subramanian, R.

    2018-01-01

    Low-cost sensing strategies hold the promise of denser air quality monitoring networks, which could significantly improve our understanding of personal air pollution exposure. Additionally, low-cost air quality sensors could be deployed to areas where limited monitoring exists. However, low-cost sensors are frequently sensitive to environmental conditions and pollutant cross-sensitivities, which have historically been poorly addressed by laboratory calibrations, limiting their utility for monitoring. In this study, we investigated different calibration models for the Real-time Affordable Multi-Pollutant (RAMP) sensor package, which measures CO, NO2, O3, and CO2. We explored three methods: (1) laboratory univariate linear regression, (2) empirical multiple linear regression, and (3) machine-learning-based calibration models using random forests (RF). Calibration models were developed for 16-19 RAMP monitors (varied by pollutant) using training and testing windows spanning August 2016 through February 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA, US. The random forest models matched (CO) or significantly outperformed (NO2, CO2, O3) the other calibration models, and their accuracy and precision were robust over time for testing windows of up to 16 weeks. Following calibration, average mean absolute error on the testing data set from the random forest models was 38 ppb for CO (14 % relative error), 10 ppm for CO2 (2 % relative error), 3.5 ppb for NO2 (29 % relative error), and 3.4 ppb for O3 (15 % relative error), and Pearson r versus the reference monitors exceeded 0.8 for most units. Model performance is explored in detail, including a quantification of model variable importance, accuracy across different concentration ranges, and performance in a range of monitoring contexts including the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the US EPA Air Sensors Guidebook recommendations of minimum data quality for personal exposure measurement. A key strength of the RF approach is that

  1. Water Quality and River Plume Monitoring in the Great Barrier Reef: An Overview of Methods Based on Ocean Colour Satellite Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle J. Devlin

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available A strong driver of water quality change in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR is the pulsed or intermittent nature of terrestrial inputs into the GBR lagoon, including delivery of increased loads of sediments, nutrients, and toxicants via flood river plumes (hereafter river plumes during the wet season. Cumulative pressures from extreme weather with a high frequency of large scale flooding in recent years has been linked to the large scale reported decline in the health of inshore seagrass systems and coral reefs in the central areas of the GBR, with concerns for the recovery potential of these impacted ecosystems. Management authorities currently rely on remotely-sensed (RS and in situ data for water quality monitoring to guide their assessment of water quality conditions in the GBR. The use of remotely-sensed satellite products provides a quantitative and accessible tool for scientists and managers. These products, coupled with in situ data, and more recently modelled data, are valuable for quantifying the influence of river plumes on seagrass and coral reef habitat in the GBR. This article reviews recent remote sensing techniques developed to monitor river plumes and water quality in the GBR. We also discuss emerging research that integrates hydrodynamic models with remote sensing and in situ data, enabling us to explore impacts of different catchment management strategies on GBR water quality.

  2. High-quality compressive ghost imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Heyan; Zhou, Cheng; Tian, Tian; Liu, Dongqi; Song, Lijun

    2018-04-01

    We propose a high-quality compressive ghost imaging method based on projected Landweber regularization and guided filter, which effectively reduce the undersampling noise and improve the resolution. In our scheme, the original object is reconstructed by decomposing of regularization and denoising steps instead of solving a minimization problem in compressive reconstruction process. The simulation and experimental results show that our method can obtain high ghost imaging quality in terms of PSNR and visual observation.

  3. High-resolution Electrical Resistivity Tomography monitoring of a tracer test in a confined aquifer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson, P. B.; Meldrum, P. I.; Kuras, O.; Chambers, J. E.; Holyoake, S. J.; Ogilvy, R. D.

    2010-04-01

    A permanent geoelectrical subsurface imaging system has been installed at a contaminated land site to monitor changes in groundwater quality after the completion of a remediation programme. Since the resistivities of earth materials are sensitive to the presence of contaminants and their break-down products, 4-dimensional resistivity imaging can act as a surrogate monitoring technology for tracking and visualising changes in contaminant concentrations at much higher spatial and temporal resolution than manual intrusive investigations. The test site, a municipal car park built on a former gasworks, had been polluted by a range of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dissolved phase contaminants. It was designated statutory contaminated land under Part IIA of the UK Environmental Protection Act due to the risk of polluting an underlying minor aquifer. Resistivity monitoring zones were established on the boundaries of the site by installing vertical electrode arrays in purpose-drilled boreholes. After a year of monitoring data had been collected, a tracer test was performed to investigate groundwater flow velocity and to demonstrate rapid volumetric monitoring of natural attenuation processes. A saline tracer was injected into the confined aquifer, and its motion and evolution were visualised directly in high-resolution tomographic images in near real-time. Breakthrough curves were calculated from independent resistivity measurements, and the estimated seepage velocities from the monitoring images and the breakthrough curves were found to be in good agreement with each other and with estimates based on the piezometric gradient and assumed material parameters.

  4. Water Quality Monitoring in the Execution of Canal Remediation Methods in the Florida Keys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serna, A.; Briceno, H.

    2016-02-01

    Monitoring data indicate relatively high nutrient concentrations in waters close to shore along the Florida Keys, and corresponding responses from the system, such as higher phytoplankton biomass, turbidity and light attenuation as well as lower oxygenation and lower salinities of the water column. These changes, associated to human impact, have become more obvious near canal mouths. Waters close to shore show characteristics closely related to those in residential canals, affected by quick movement of infiltrated runoff and wastewaters (septic tanks), tides and high water table. Many canals do not meet the minimum water quality (WQ) criteria established by the State of Florida and are a potential source of contaminants to near shore waters designated as Outstanding Florida Waters. Canal remediation is being conducted by the Monroe County targeting poor circulation and organic matter accumulation. The restoration technologies include reduction in weed wrack, enhanced circulation, organic removal and partial backfilling. The objective of WQ monitoring is to measure the status and trends of WQ parameters to evaluate progress toward achieving and maintaining WQ standards and protecting/restoring the living marine resources. Monitoring followed a Before-and-After-Control-Impact scheme (BACI). Field measurements, included diel observations and vertical profiles of physical-chemical properties (salinity, DO, %DO saturation, temperature and turbidity) and nutrient analysis. Comparing profiles between remediated and control canals indicated similar patterns in physicochemical properties, and suggesting larger seasonal than spatial variability. BACI diel observations, in surface and bottom waters of remediated canals indicated little difference for surface waters, but significant improvements for bottom waters. Most surface waters are well oxygenated, while bottom waters show a significant increase in DO following culvert installation.

  5. Assessment of the water quality monitoring network of the Piabanha River experimental watersheds in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using autoassociative neural networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villas-Boas, Mariana D; Olivera, Francisco; de Azevedo, Jose Paulo S

    2017-09-01

    Water quality monitoring is a complex issue that requires support tools in order to provide information for water resource management. Budget constraints as well as an inadequate water quality network design call for the development of evaluation tools to provide efficient water quality monitoring. For this purpose, a nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA) based on an autoassociative neural network was performed to assess the redundancy of the parameters and monitoring locations of the water quality network in the Piabanha River watershed. Oftentimes, a small number of variables contain the most relevant information, while the others add little or no interpretation to the variability of water quality. Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used for this purpose. However, conventional PCA is not able to capture the nonlinearities of water quality data, while neural networks can represent those nonlinear relationships. The results presented in this work demonstrate that NLPCA performs better than PCA in the reconstruction of the water quality data of Piabanha watershed, explaining most of data variance. From the results of NLPCA, the most relevant water quality parameter is fecal coliforms (FCs) and the least relevant is chemical oxygen demand (COD). Regarding the monitoring locations, the most relevant is Poço Tarzan (PT) and the least is Parque Petrópolis (PP).

  6. High resolution and simultaneous monitoring of airborne radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abe, T.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Muguntha Manikandan, N.; Komura, K.

    2005-01-01

    By using 11 extremely low background Ge detectors at Ogoya Underground Laboratory, it became possible to investigate temporal variations of airborne 212 Pb (T 1/2 =10.6 h) along with 210 Pb and 7 Be with order of magnitude higher time resolution. Then, we have measured airborne nuclides at three monitoring points, (1) roof of our laboratory (LLRL; 40 m ASL), (2) Shinshiku Plateau (640 m ASL) located about 8 km from LLRL as a comparison of vertical distribution, and (3) Hegura Island (10 m ASL) at about 50 km from Wajima located north of Noto Peninsula facing on the Sea of Japan (about 180 km to the north-northeast of LLRL), to investigate influence of Asian continent. Airborne nuclides were collected by high volume air samplers at intervals of a few hours at either two or three points simultaneously. In the same manner, high resolution monitoring was carried out also at the time of passage of typhoon and cold front. In this study, we observed drastic temporal variations of airborne radionuclides and correlations of multiple monitoring points. The results indicate that high resolution and simultaneous monitoring is very useful to understand dynamic state of variations of airborne nuclides due to short and long-term air-mass movement. (author)

  7. Monitoring quality in Israeli primary care: The primary care physicians' perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nissanholtz-Gannot Rachel

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 2000, Israel has had a national program for ongoing monitoring of the quality of the primary care services provided by the country's four competing non-profit health plans. Previous research has demonstrated that quality of care has improved substantially since the program's inception and that the program enjoys wide support among health plan managers. However, prior to this study there were anecdotal and journalistic reports of opposition to the program among primary care physicians engaged in direct service delivery; these raised serious questions about the extent of support among physicians nationally. Goals To assess how Israeli primary care physicians experience and rate health plan efforts to track and improve the quality of care. Method The study population consisted of primary care physicians employed by the health plans who have responsibility for the quality of care of a panel of adult patients. The study team randomly sampled 250 primary-care physicians from each of the four health plans. Of the 1,000 physicians sampled, 884 met the study criteria. Every physician could choose whether to participate in the survey by mail, e-mail, or telephone. The anonymous questionnaire was completed by 605 physicians – 69% of those eligible. The data were weighted to reflect differences in sampling and response rates across health plans. Main findings The vast majority of respondents (87% felt that the monitoring of quality was important and two-thirds (66% felt that the feedback and subsequent remedial interventions improved medical care to a great extent. Almost three-quarters (71% supported continuation of the program in an unqualified manner. The physicians with the most positive attitudes to the program were over age 44, independent contract physicians, and either board-certified in internal medicine or without any board-certification (i.e., residents or general practitioners. At the same time, support for the

  8. Application of refractometry to quality assurance monitoring of parenteral nutrition solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Wei-Kuo; Chao, You-Chen; Yeh, Ming-Kung

    2008-01-01

    Parenteral nutrition (PN) solution contains various concentrations of dextrose, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, electrolytes, and trace elements. Incorrect preparation of PN solution could lead to patient death. In this study we used the refractive index as a quality assurance tool to monitor the preparation of PN solution. Refractive indices of single nutrient components and PN solutions consisting of various concentrations of dextrose, amino acids, electrolytes, and lipids were measured. A mathematical equation and its linear plot were generated then used to predict the refractive index of the PN solution. The best-fit refractive index for PN solution (i.e., the predicted refractive index)=0.9798x(% dextrose)+1.2889x(% amino acids)+1.1017x(% lipids)+0.9440x(% sum of the electrolytes)+0.5367 (r2=0.99). This equation was validated by comparing the measured refractive indices of 500 clinical PN solutions to their predicted refractive indices. We found that 2 of the 500 prepared samples (0.4%) had less than the predicted refractive index (<95%). Refractive index can be used as a reliable quality assurance tool for monitoring PN preparation. Such information can be obtained at the bedside and used to confirm the accuracy of the PN solution composition.

  9. A quality assurance initiative for commercial-scale production in high-throughput cryopreservation of blue catfish sperm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, E; Liao, T W; Tiersch, T R

    2013-10-01

    Cryopreservation of fish sperm has been studied for decades at a laboratory (research) scale. However, high-throughput cryopreservation of fish sperm has recently been developed to enable industrial-scale production. This study treated blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) sperm high-throughput cryopreservation as a manufacturing production line and initiated quality assurance plan development. The main objectives were to identify: (1) the main production quality characteristics; (2) the process features for quality assurance; (3) the internal quality characteristics and their specification designs; (4) the quality control and process capability evaluation methods, and (5) the directions for further improvements and applications. The essential product quality characteristics were identified as fertility-related characteristics. Specification design which established the tolerance levels according to demand and process constraints was performed based on these quality characteristics. Meanwhile, to ensure integrity throughout the process, internal quality characteristics (characteristics at each quality control point within process) that could affect fertility-related quality characteristics were defined with specifications. Due to the process feature of 100% inspection (quality inspection of every fish), a specific calculation method, use of cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts, was applied to monitor each quality characteristic. An index of overall process evaluation, process capacity, was analyzed based on in-control process and the designed specifications, which further integrates the quality assurance plan. With the established quality assurance plan, the process could operate stably and quality of products would be reliable. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Effects on work ability, job strain and quality of life of monitoring depression using a self-assessment instrument in recurrent general practitioner consultations: A randomized controlled study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersson, E-L; Wikberg, C; Westman, J; Ariai, N; Nejati, S; Björkelund, C

    2018-05-01

    Depression reduces individuals' function and work ability and is associated with both frequent and long-term sickness absence. Investigate if monitoring of depression course using a self-assessment instrument in recurrent general practitioner (GP) consultations leads to improved work ability, decreased job strain, and quality of life among primary care patients. Primary care patients n = 183, who worked. In addition to regular treatment (control group), intervention patients received evaluation and monitoring and used the MADRS-S depression scale during GP visit at baseline and at visits 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Work ability, quality of life and job strain were outcome measures. Depression symptoms decreased in all patients. Significantly steeper increase of WAI at 3 months in the intervention group. Social support was perceived high in a significantly higher frequency in intervention group compared to control group. Monitoring of depression course using a self-assessment instrument in recurrent GP consultations seems to lead to improved self-assessed work ability and increased high social support, but not to reduced job strain or increased quality of life compared to TAU. Future studies concerning rehabilitative efforts that seek to influence work ability probably also should include more active interventions at the workplace.

  11. Corrosion monitoring using high-frequency guided waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fromme, P.

    2016-04-01

    Corrosion can develop due to adverse environmental conditions during the life cycle of a range of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the reduction of the strength and thus degradation of the structural integrity. The monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic wedge transducers with single sided access to the structure, guided wave modes were selectively generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. The wave propagation and interference of the different guided wave modes depends on the thickness of the structure. Laboratory experiments were conducted for wall thickness reduction due to milling of the steel structure. From the measured signal changes due to the wave mode interference the reduced wall thickness was monitored. Good agreement with theoretical predictions was achieved. The high frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

  12. Fabrication of high-quality brazed joints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orlov, A.V.

    1980-01-01

    Problem of ensuring of joint high-quality when brazing different parts in power engineering is considered. To obtain high-quality joints it is necessary to correctly design brazed joint and to choose a gap width, overlap length and fillet radius; to clean up carefully the surfaces to be brazed and fix them properly one relative to another; to apply a solder so as to provide its flowing into the gap and sticking in it; to exactly regulate thermal conditions of brazing. High quality and reliability of brazed joints are ensured by the application of solders based on noble metals, and cheap solders based on nickel, manganese and copper. Joints brazed with nickel base solders may operate at temperatures as high as 888 deg C

  13. Geostatistical uncertainty of assessing air quality using high-spatial-resolution lichen data: A health study in the urban area of Sines, Portugal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribeiro, Manuel C; Pinho, P; Branquinho, C; Llop, Esteve; Pereira, Maria J

    2016-08-15

    In most studies correlating health outcomes with air pollution, personal exposure assignments are based on measurements collected at air-quality monitoring stations not coinciding with health data locations. In such cases, interpolators are needed to predict air quality in unsampled locations and to assign personal exposures. Moreover, a measure of the spatial uncertainty of exposures should be incorporated, especially in urban areas where concentrations vary at short distances due to changes in land use and pollution intensity. These studies are limited by the lack of literature comparing exposure uncertainty derived from distinct spatial interpolators. Here, we addressed these issues with two interpolation methods: regression Kriging (RK) and ordinary Kriging (OK). These methods were used to generate air-quality simulations with a geostatistical algorithm. For each method, the geostatistical uncertainty was drawn from generalized linear model (GLM) analysis. We analyzed the association between air quality and birth weight. Personal health data (n=227) and exposure data were collected in Sines (Portugal) during 2007-2010. Because air-quality monitoring stations in the city do not offer high-spatial-resolution measurements (n=1), we used lichen data as an ecological indicator of air quality (n=83). We found no significant difference in the fit of GLMs with any of the geostatistical methods. With RK, however, the models tended to fit better more often and worse less often. Moreover, the geostatistical uncertainty results showed a marginally higher mean and precision with RK. Combined with lichen data and land-use data of high spatial resolution, RK is a more effective geostatistical method for relating health outcomes with air quality in urban areas. This is particularly important in small cities, which generally do not have expensive air-quality monitoring stations with high spatial resolution. Further, alternative ways of linking human activities with their

  14. Total Quality Management Simplified.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arias, Pam

    1995-01-01

    Maintains that Total Quality Management (TQM) is one method that helps to monitor and improve the quality of child care. Lists four steps for a child-care center to design and implement its own TQM program. Suggests that quality assurance in child-care settings is an ongoing process, and that TQM programs help in providing consistent, high-quality…

  15. A decision tree model to estimate the value of information provided by a groundwater quality monitoring network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khader, A. I.; Rosenberg, D. E.; McKee, M.

    2013-05-01

    Groundwater contaminated with nitrate poses a serious health risk to infants when this contaminated water is used for culinary purposes. To avoid this health risk, people need to know whether their culinary water is contaminated or not. Therefore, there is a need to design an effective groundwater monitoring network, acquire information on groundwater conditions, and use acquired information to inform management options. These actions require time, money, and effort. This paper presents a method to estimate the value of information (VOI) provided by a groundwater quality monitoring network located in an aquifer whose water poses a spatially heterogeneous and uncertain health risk. A decision tree model describes the structure of the decision alternatives facing the decision-maker and the expected outcomes from these alternatives. The alternatives include (i) ignore the health risk of nitrate-contaminated water, (ii) switch to alternative water sources such as bottled water, or (iii) implement a previously designed groundwater quality monitoring network that takes into account uncertainties in aquifer properties, contaminant transport processes, and climate (Khader, 2012). The VOI is estimated as the difference between the expected costs of implementing the monitoring network and the lowest-cost uninformed alternative. We illustrate the method for the Eocene Aquifer, West Bank, Palestine, where methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) is the main health problem associated with the principal contaminant nitrate. The expected cost of each alternative is estimated as the weighted sum of the costs and probabilities (likelihoods) associated with the uncertain outcomes resulting from the alternative. Uncertain outcomes include actual nitrate concentrations in the aquifer, concentrations reported by the monitoring system, whether people abide by manager recommendations to use/not use aquifer water, and whether people get sick from drinking contaminated water. Outcome costs

  16. Monitoring and data quality assessment of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter

    CERN Document Server

    Aad, Georges; Abbott, Brad; Abdallah, Jalal; Abdel Khalek, Samah; Abdinov, Ovsat; Aben, Rosemarie; Abi, Babak; Abolins, Maris; AbouZeid, Ossama; Abramowicz, Halina; Abreu, Henso; Abulaiti, Yiming; Acharya, Bobby Samir; Adamczyk, Leszek; Adams, David; Addy, Tetteh; Adelman, Jahred; Adomeit, Stefanie; Adye, Tim; Agatonovic-Jovin, Tatjana; Aguilar-Saavedra, Juan Antonio; Agustoni, Marco; Ahlen, Steven; Ahmadov, Faig; Aielli, Giulio; Åkesson, Torsten Paul Ake; Akimoto, Ginga; Akimov, Andrei; Albert, Justin; Albrand, Solveig; Alconada Verzini, Maria Josefina; Aleksa, Martin; Aleksandrov, Igor; Alexa, Calin; Alexander, Gideon; Alexandre, Gauthier; Alexopoulos, Theodoros; Alhroob, Muhammad; Alimonti, Gianluca; Alio, Lion; Alison, John; Allbrooke, Benedict; Allison, Lee John; Allport, Phillip; Allwood-Spiers, Sarah; Almond, John; Aloisio, Alberto; Alon, Raz; Alonso, Alejandro; Alonso, Francisco; Alpigiani, Cristiano; Altheimer, Andrew David; Alvarez Gonzalez, Barbara; Alviggi, Mariagrazia; Amako, Katsuya; Amaral Coutinho, Yara; Amelung, Christoph; Ammosov, Vladimir; Amor Dos Santos, Susana Patricia; Amorim, Antonio; Amoroso, Simone; Amram, Nir; Amundsen, Glenn; Anastopoulos, Christos; Ancu, Lucian Stefan; Andari, Nansi; Andeen, Timothy; Anders, Christoph Falk; Anders, Gabriel; Anderson, Kelby; Andreazza, Attilio; Andrei, George Victor; Anduaga, Xabier; Angelidakis, Stylianos; Anger, Philipp; Angerami, Aaron; Anghinolfi, Francis; Anisenkov, Alexey; Anjos, Nuno; Annovi, Alberto; Antonaki, Ariadni; Antonelli, Mario; Antonov, Alexey; Antos, Jaroslav; Anulli, Fabio; Aoki, Masato; Aperio Bella, Ludovica; Apolle, Rudi; Arabidze, Giorgi; Aracena, Ignacio; Arai, Yasuo; Araque, Juan Pedro; Arce, Ayana; Arguin, Jean-Francois; Argyropoulos, Spyridon; Arik, Metin; Armbruster, Aaron James; Arnaez, Olivier; Arnal, Vanessa; Arslan, Ozan; Artamonov, Andrei; Artoni, Giacomo; Asai, Shoji; Asbah, Nedaa; Ashkenazi, Adi; Ask, Stefan; Åsman, Barbro; Asquith, Lily; Assamagan, Ketevi; Astalos, Robert; Atkinson, Markus; Atlay, Naim Bora; Auerbach, Benjamin; Auge, Etienne; Augsten, Kamil; Aurousseau, Mathieu; Avolio, Giuseppe; Azuelos, Georges; Azuma, Yuya; Baak, Max; Bacci, Cesare; Bach, Andre; Bachacou, Henri; Bachas, Konstantinos; Backes, Moritz; Backhaus, Malte; Backus Mayes, John; Badescu, Elisabeta; Bagiacchi, Paolo; Bagnaia, Paolo; Bai, Yu; Bailey, David; Bain, Travis; Baines, John; Baker, Oliver Keith; Baker, Sarah; Balek, Petr; Balli, Fabrice; Banas, Elzbieta; Banerjee, Swagato; Bangert, Andrea Michelle; Bannoura, Arwa A E; Bansal, Vikas; Bansil, Hardeep Singh; Barak, Liron; Baranov, Sergei; Barber, Tom; Barberio, Elisabetta Luigia; Barberis, Dario; Barbero, Marlon; Barillari, Teresa; Barisonzi, Marcello; Barklow, Timothy; Barlow, Nick; Barnett, Bruce; Barnett, Michael; Barnovska, Zuzana; Baroncelli, Antonio; Barone, Gaetano; Barr, Alan; Barreiro, Fernando; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, João; Bartoldus, Rainer; Barton, Adam Edward; Bartos, Pavol; Bartsch, Valeria; Bassalat, Ahmed; Basye, Austin; Bates, Richard; Batkova, Lucia; Batley, Richard; Battistin, Michele; Bauer, Florian; Bawa, Harinder Singh; Beau, Tristan; Beauchemin, Pierre-Hugues; Beccherle, Roberto; Bechtle, Philip; Beck, Hans Peter; Becker, Anne Kathrin; Becker, Sebastian; Beckingham, Matthew; Becot, Cyril; Beddall, Andrew; Beddall, Ayda; Bedikian, Sourpouhi; Bednyakov, Vadim; Bee, Christopher; Beemster, Lars; Beermann, Thomas; Begel, Michael; Behr, Katharina; Belanger-Champagne, Camille; Bell, Paul; Bell, William; Bella, Gideon; Bellagamba, Lorenzo; Bellerive, Alain; Bellomo, Massimiliano; Belloni, Alberto; Belotskiy, Konstantin; Beltramello, Olga; Benary, Odette; Benchekroun, Driss; Bendtz, Katarina; Benekos, Nektarios; Benhammou, Yan; Benhar Noccioli, Eleonora; Benitez Garcia, Jorge-Armando; Benjamin, Douglas; Bensinger, James; Benslama, Kamal; Bentvelsen, Stan; Berge, David; Bergeaas Kuutmann, Elin; Berger, Nicolas; Berghaus, Frank; Berglund, Elina; Beringer, Jürg; Bernard, Clare; Bernat, Pauline; Bernius, Catrin; Bernlochner, Florian Urs; Berry, Tracey; Berta, Peter; Bertella, Claudia; Bertolucci, Federico; Besana, Maria Ilaria; Besjes, Geert-Jan; Bessidskaia, Olga; Besson, Nathalie; Betancourt, Christopher; Bethke, Siegfried; Bhimji, Wahid; Bianchi, Riccardo-Maria; Bianchini, Louis; Bianco, Michele; Biebel, Otmar; Bieniek, Stephen Paul; Bierwagen, Katharina; Biesiada, Jed; Biglietti, Michela; Bilbao De Mendizabal, Javier; Bilokon, Halina; Bindi, Marcello; Binet, Sebastien; Bingul, Ahmet; Bini, Cesare; Black, Curtis; Black, James; Black, Kevin; Blackburn, Daniel; Blair, Robert; Blanchard, Jean-Baptiste; Blazek, Tomas; Bloch, Ingo; Blocker, Craig; Blum, Walter; Blumenschein, Ulrike; Bobbink, Gerjan; Bobrovnikov, Victor; Bocchetta, Simona Serena; Bocci, Andrea; Boddy, Christopher Richard; Boehler, Michael; Boek, Jennifer; Boek, Thorsten Tobias; Bogaerts, Joannes Andreas; Bogdanchikov, Alexander; Bogouch, Andrei; Bohm, Christian; Bohm, Jan; Boisvert, Veronique; Bold, Tomasz; Boldea, Venera; Boldyrev, Alexey; Bolnet, Nayanka Myriam; Bomben, Marco; Bona, Marcella; Boonekamp, Maarten; Borisov, Anatoly; Borissov, Guennadi; Borri, Marcello; Borroni, Sara; Bortfeldt, Jonathan; Bortolotto, Valerio; Bos, Kors; Boscherini, Davide; Bosman, Martine; Boterenbrood, Hendrik; Boudreau, Joseph; Bouffard, Julian; Bouhova-Thacker, Evelina Vassileva; Boumediene, Djamel Eddine; Bourdarios, Claire; Bousson, Nicolas; Boutouil, Sara; Boveia, Antonio; Boyd, James; Boyko, Igor; Bozovic-Jelisavcic, Ivanka; Bracinik, Juraj; Branchini, Paolo; Brandt, Andrew; Brandt, Gerhard; Brandt, Oleg; Bratzler, Uwe; Brau, Benjamin; Brau, James; Braun, Helmut; Brazzale, Simone Federico; Brelier, Bertrand; Brendlinger, Kurt; Brennan, Amelia Jean; Brenner, Richard; Bressler, Shikma; Bristow, Kieran; Bristow, Timothy Michael; Britton, Dave; Brochu, Frederic; Brock, Ian; Brock, Raymond; Bromberg, Carl; Bronner, Johanna; Brooijmans, Gustaaf; Brooks, Timothy; Brooks, William; Brosamer, Jacquelyn; Brost, Elizabeth; Brown, Gareth; Brown, Jonathan; Bruckman de Renstrom, Pawel; Bruncko, Dusan; Bruneliere, Renaud; Brunet, Sylvie; Bruni, Alessia; Bruni, Graziano; Bruschi, Marco; Bryngemark, Lene; Buanes, Trygve; Buat, Quentin; Bucci, Francesca; Buchholz, Peter; Buckingham, Ryan; Buckley, Andrew; Buda, Stelian Ioan; Budagov, Ioulian; Buehrer, Felix; Bugge, Lars; Bugge, Magnar Kopangen; Bulekov, Oleg; Bundock, Aaron Colin; Burckhart, Helfried; Burdin, Sergey; Burghgrave, Blake; Burke, Stephen; Burmeister, Ingo; Busato, Emmanuel; Büscher, Volker; Bussey, Peter; Buszello, Claus-Peter; Butler, Bart; Butler, John; Butt, Aatif Imtiaz; Buttar, Craig; Butterworth, Jonathan; Butti, Pierfrancesco; Buttinger, William; Buzatu, Adrian; Byszewski, Marcin; Cabrera Urbán, Susana; Caforio, Davide; Cakir, Orhan; Calafiura, Paolo; Calderini, Giovanni; Calfayan, Philippe; Calkins, Robert; Caloba, Luiz; Calvet, David; Calvet, Samuel; Camacho Toro, Reina; Cameron, David; Caminada, Lea Michaela; Caminal Armadans, Roger; Campana, Simone; Campanelli, Mario; Campoverde, Angel; Canale, Vincenzo; Canepa, Anadi; Cantero, Josu; Cantrill, Robert; Cao, Tingting; Capeans Garrido, Maria Del Mar; Caprini, Irinel; Caprini, Mihai; Capua, Marcella; Caputo, Regina; Cardarelli, Roberto; Carli, Tancredi; Carlino, Gianpaolo; Carminati, Leonardo; Caron, Sascha; Carquin, Edson; Carrillo-Montoya, German D; Carter, Janet; Carvalho, João; Casadei, Diego; Casado, Maria Pilar; Castaneda-Miranda, Elizabeth; Castelli, Angelantonio; Castillo Gimenez, Victoria; Castro, Nuno Filipe; Catastini, Pierluigi; Catinaccio, Andrea; Catmore, James; Cattai, Ariella; Cattani, Giordano; Caughron, Seth; Cavaliere, Viviana; Cavalli, Donatella; Cavalli-Sforza, Matteo; Cavasinni, Vincenzo; Ceradini, Filippo; Cerio, Benjamin; Cerny, Karel; Santiago Cerqueira, Augusto; Cerri, Alessandro; Cerrito, Lucio; Cerutti, Fabio; Cerv, Matevz; Cervelli, Alberto; Cetin, Serkant Ali; Chafaq, Aziz; Chakraborty, Dhiman; Chalupkova, Ina; Chan, Kevin; Chang, Philip; Chapleau, Bertrand; Chapman, John Derek; Charfeddine, Driss; Charlton, Dave; Chau, Chav Chhiv; Chavez Barajas, Carlos Alberto; Cheatham, Susan; Chegwidden, Andrew; Chekanov, Sergei; Chekulaev, Sergey; Chelkov, Gueorgui; Chelstowska, Magda Anna; Chen, Chunhui; Chen, Hucheng; Chen, Karen; Chen, Liming; Chen, Shenjian; Chen, Xin; Chen, Yujiao; Cheng, Hok Chuen; Cheng, Yangyang; Cheplakov, Alexander; Cherkaoui El Moursli, Rajaa; Chernyatin, Valeriy; Cheu, Elliott; Chevalier, Laurent; Chiarella, Vitaliano; Chiefari, Giovanni; Childers, John Taylor; Chilingarov, Alexandre; Chiodini, Gabriele; Chisholm, Andrew; Chislett, Rebecca Thalatta; Chitan, Adrian; Chizhov, Mihail; Chouridou, Sofia; Chow, Bonnie Kar Bo; Christidi, Ilektra-Athanasia; Chromek-Burckhart, Doris; Chu, Ming-Lee; Chudoba, Jiri; Chytka, Ladislav; Ciapetti, Guido; Ciftci, Abbas Kenan; Ciftci, Rena; Cinca, Diane; Cindro, Vladimir; Ciocio, Alessandra; Cirkovic, Predrag; Citron, Zvi Hirsh; Citterio, Mauro; Ciubancan, Mihai; Clark, Allan G; Clark, Philip James; Clarke, Robert; Cleland, Bill; Clemens, Jean-Claude; Clement, Benoit; Clement, Christophe; Coadou, Yann; Cobal, Marina; Coccaro, Andrea; Cochran, James H; Coffey, Laurel; Cogan, Joshua Godfrey; Coggeshall, James; Cole, Brian; Cole, Stephen; Colijn, Auke-Pieter; Collins-Tooth, Christopher; Collot, Johann; Colombo, Tommaso; Colon, German; Compostella, Gabriele; Conde Muiño, Patricia; Coniavitis, Elias; Conidi, Maria Chiara; Connell, Simon Henry; Connelly, Ian; Consonni, Sofia Maria; Consorti, Valerio; Constantinescu, Serban; Conta, Claudio; Conti, Geraldine; Conventi, Francesco; Cooke, Mark; Cooper, Ben; Cooper-Sarkar, Amanda; Cooper-Smith, Neil; Copic, Katherine; Cornelissen, Thijs; Corradi, Massimo; Corriveau, Francois; Corso-Radu, Alina; Cortes-Gonzalez, Arely; Cortiana, Giorgio; Costa, Giuseppe; Costa, María José; Costanzo, Davide; Côté, David; Cottin, Giovanna; Cowan, Glen; Cox, Brian; Cranmer, Kyle; Cree, Graham; Crépé-Renaudin, Sabine; Crescioli, Francesco; Crispin Ortuzar, Mireia; Cristinziani, Markus; Crosetti, Giovanni; Cuciuc, Constantin-Mihai; Cuhadar Donszelmann, Tulay; Cummings, Jane; Curatolo, Maria; Cuthbert, Cameron; Czirr, Hendrik; Czodrowski, Patrick; Czyczula, Zofia; D'Auria, Saverio; D'Onofrio, Monica; Da Cunha Sargedas De Sousa, Mario Jose; Da Via, Cinzia; Dabrowski, Wladyslaw; Dafinca, Alexandru; Dai, Tiesheng; Dale, Orjan; Dallaire, Frederick; Dallapiccola, Carlo; Dam, Mogens; Daniells, Andrew Christopher; Dano Hoffmann, Maria; Dao, Valerio; Darbo, Giovanni; Darlea, Georgiana Lavinia; Darmora, Smita; Dassoulas, James; Davey, Will; David, Claire; Davidek, Tomas; Davies, Eleanor; Davies, Merlin; Davignon, Olivier; Davison, Adam; Davison, Peter; Davygora, Yuriy; Dawe, Edmund; Dawson, Ian; Daya-Ishmukhametova, Rozmin; De, Kaushik; de Asmundis, Riccardo; De Castro, Stefano; De Cecco, Sandro; de Graat, Julien; De Groot, Nicolo; de Jong, Paul; De La Taille, Christophe; De la Torre, Hector; De Lorenzi, Francesco; De Nooij, Lucie; De Pedis, Daniele; De Salvo, Alessandro; De Sanctis, Umberto; De Santo, Antonella; De Vivie De Regie, Jean-Baptiste; De Zorzi, Guido; Dearnaley, William James; Debbe, Ramiro; Debenedetti, Chiara; Dechenaux, Benjamin; Dedovich, Dmitri; Degenhardt, James; Deigaard, Ingrid; Del Peso, Jose; Del Prete, Tarcisio; Deliot, Frederic; Deliyergiyev, Maksym; Dell'Acqua, Andrea; Dell'Asta, Lidia; Dell'Orso, Mauro; Della Pietra, Massimo; della Volpe, Domenico; Delmastro, Marco; Delsart, Pierre-Antoine; Deluca, Carolina; Demers, Sarah; Demichev, Mikhail; Demilly, Aurelien; Denisov, Sergey; Derendarz, Dominik; Derkaoui, Jamal Eddine; Derue, Frederic; Dervan, Paul; Desch, Klaus Kurt; Deterre, Cecile; Deviveiros, Pier-Olivier; Dewhurst, Alastair; Dhaliwal, Saminder; Di Ciaccio, Anna; Di Ciaccio, Lucia; Di Domenico, Antonio; Di Donato, Camilla; Di Girolamo, Alessandro; Di Girolamo, Beniamino; Di Mattia, Alessandro; Di Micco, Biagio; Di Nardo, Roberto; Di Simone, Andrea; Di Sipio, Riccardo; Di Valentino, David; Diaz, Marco Aurelio; Diehl, Edward; Dietrich, Janet; Dietzsch, Thorsten; Diglio, Sara; Dimitrievska, Aleksandra; Dingfelder, Jochen; Dionisi, Carlo; Dita, Petre; Dita, Sanda; Dittus, Fridolin; Djama, Fares; Djobava, Tamar; Barros do Vale, Maria Aline; Do Valle Wemans, André; Doan, Thi Kieu Oanh; Dobos, Daniel; Dobson, Ellie; Doglioni, Caterina; Doherty, Tom; Dohmae, Takeshi; Dolejsi, Jiri; Dolezal, Zdenek; Dolgoshein, Boris; Donadelli, Marisilvia; Donati, Simone; Dondero, Paolo; Donini, Julien; Dopke, Jens; Doria, Alessandra; Dova, Maria-Teresa; Doyle, Tony; Dris, Manolis; Dubbert, Jörg; Dube, Sourabh; Dubreuil, Emmanuelle; Duchovni, Ehud; Duckeck, Guenter; Ducu, Otilia Anamaria; Duda, Dominik; Dudarev, Alexey; Dudziak, Fanny; Duflot, Laurent; Duguid, Liam; Dührssen, Michael; Dunford, Monica; Duran Yildiz, Hatice; Düren, Michael; Durglishvili, Archil; Dwuznik, Michal; Dyndal, Mateusz; Ebke, Johannes; Edson, William; Edwards, Nicholas Charles; Ehrenfeld, Wolfgang; Eifert, Till; Eigen, Gerald; Einsweiler, Kevin; Ekelof, Tord; El Kacimi, Mohamed; Ellert, Mattias; Elles, Sabine; Ellinghaus, Frank; Ellis, Nicolas; Elmsheuser, Johannes; Elsing, Markus; Emeliyanov, Dmitry; Enari, Yuji; Endner, Oliver Chris; Endo, Masaki; Engelmann, Roderich; Erdmann, Johannes; Ereditato, Antonio; Eriksson, Daniel; Ernis, Gunar; Ernst, Jesse; Ernst, Michael; Ernwein, Jean; Errede, Deborah; Errede, Steven; Ertel, Eugen; Escalier, Marc; Esch, Hendrik; Escobar, Carlos; Esposito, Bellisario; Etienvre, Anne-Isabelle; Etzion, Erez; Evans, Hal; Fabbri, Laura; Facini, Gabriel; Fakhrutdinov, Rinat; Falciano, Speranza; Faltova, Jana; Fang, Yaquan; Fanti, Marcello; Farbin, Amir; Farilla, Addolorata; Farooque, Trisha; Farrell, Steven; Farrington, Sinead; Farthouat, Philippe; Fassi, Farida; Fassnacht, Patrick; Fassouliotis, Dimitrios; Favareto, Andrea; Fayard, Louis; Federic, Pavol; Fedin, Oleg; Fedorko, Wojciech; Fehling-Kaschek, Mirjam; Feigl, Simon; Feligioni, Lorenzo; Feng, Cunfeng; Feng, Eric; Feng, Haolu; Fenyuk, Alexander; Fernandez Perez, Sonia; Fernando, Waruna; Ferrag, Samir; Ferrando, James; Ferrara, Valentina; Ferrari, Arnaud; Ferrari, Pamela; Ferrari, Roberto; Ferreira de Lima, Danilo Enoque; Ferrer, Antonio; Ferrere, Didier; Ferretti, Claudio; Ferretto Parodi, Andrea; Fiascaris, Maria; Fiedler, Frank; Filipčič, Andrej; Filipuzzi, Marco; Filthaut, Frank; Fincke-Keeler, Margret; Finelli, Kevin Daniel; Fiolhais, Miguel; Fiorini, Luca; Firan, Ana; Fischer, Julia; Fisher, Matthew; Fisher, Wade Cameron; Fitzgerald, Eric Andrew; Flechl, Martin; Fleck, Ivor; Fleischmann, Philipp; Fleischmann, Sebastian; Fletcher, Gareth Thomas; Fletcher, Gregory; Flick, Tobias; Floderus, Anders; Flores Castillo, Luis; Florez Bustos, Andres Carlos; Flowerdew, Michael; Formica, Andrea; Forti, Alessandra; Fortin, Dominique; Fournier, Daniel; Fox, Harald; Fracchia, Silvia; Francavilla, Paolo; Franchini, Matteo; Franchino, Silvia; Francis, David; Franklin, Melissa; Franz, Sebastien; Fraternali, Marco; French, Sky; Friedrich, Conrad; Friedrich, Felix; Froidevaux, Daniel; Frost, James; Fukunaga, Chikara; Fullana Torregrosa, Esteban; Fulsom, Bryan Gregory; Fuster, Juan; Gabaldon, Carolina; Gabizon, Ofir; Gabrielli, Alessandro; Gabrielli, Andrea; Gadatsch, Stefan; Gadomski, Szymon; Gagliardi, Guido; Gagnon, Pauline; Galea, Cristina; Galhardo, Bruno; Gallas, Elizabeth; Gallo, Valentina Santina; Gallop, Bruce; Gallus, Petr; Galster, Gorm Aske Gram Krohn; Gan, KK; Gandrajula, Reddy Pratap; Gao, Jun; Gao, Yongsheng; Garay Walls, Francisca; Garberson, Ford; García, Carmen; García Navarro, José Enrique; Garcia-Sciveres, Maurice; Gardner, Robert; Garelli, Nicoletta; Garonne, Vincent; Gatti, Claudio; Gaudio, Gabriella; Gaur, Bakul; Gauthier, Lea; Gauzzi, Paolo; Gavrilenko, Igor; Gay, Colin; Gaycken, Goetz; Gazis, Evangelos; Ge, Peng; Gecse, Zoltan; Gee, Norman; Geerts, Daniël Alphonsus Adrianus; Geich-Gimbel, Christoph; Gellerstedt, Karl; Gemme, Claudia; Gemmell, Alistair; Genest, Marie-Hélène; Gentile, Simonetta; George, Matthias; George, Simon; Gerbaudo, Davide; Gershon, Avi; Ghazlane, Hamid; Ghodbane, Nabil; Giacobbe, Benedetto; Giagu, Stefano; Giangiobbe, Vincent; Giannetti, Paola; Gianotti, Fabiola; Gibbard, Bruce; Gibson, Stephen; Gilchriese, Murdock; Gillam, Thomas; Gillberg, Dag; Gingrich, Douglas; Giokaris, Nikos; Giordani, MarioPaolo; Giordano, Raffaele; Giorgi, Francesco Michelangelo; Giraud, Pierre-Francois; Giugni, Danilo; Giuliani, Claudia; Giulini, Maddalena; Giunta, Michele; Gjelsten, Børge Kile; Gkialas, Ioannis; Gladilin, Leonid; Glasman, Claudia; Glatzer, Julian; Glaysher, Paul; Glazov, Alexandre; Glonti, George; Goblirsch-Kolb, Maximilian; Goddard, Jack Robert; Godfrey, Jennifer; Godlewski, Jan; Goeringer, Christian; Goldfarb, Steven; Golling, Tobias; Golubkov, Dmitry; Gomes, Agostinho; Gomez Fajardo, Luz Stella; Gonçalo, Ricardo; Goncalves Pinto Firmino Da Costa, Joao; Gonella, Laura; González de la Hoz, Santiago; Gonzalez Parra, Garoe; Gonzalez Silva, Laura; Gonzalez-Sevilla, Sergio; Goossens, Luc; Gorbounov, Petr Andreevich; Gordon, Howard; Gorelov, Igor; Gorini, Benedetto; Gorini, Edoardo; Gorišek, Andrej; Gornicki, Edward; Goshaw, Alfred; Gössling, Claus; Gostkin, Mikhail Ivanovitch; Gouighri, Mohamed; Goujdami, Driss; Goulette, Marc Phillippe; Goussiou, Anna; Goy, Corinne; Gozpinar, Serdar; Grabas, Herve Marie Xavier; Graber, Lars; Grabowska-Bold, Iwona; Grafström, Per; Grahn, Karl-Johan; Gramling, Johanna; Gramstad, Eirik; Grancagnolo, Francesco; Grancagnolo, Sergio; Grassi, Valerio; Gratchev, Vadim; Gray, Heather; Graziani, Enrico; Grebenyuk, Oleg; Greenwood, Zeno Dixon; Gregersen, Kristian; Gregor, Ingrid-Maria; Grenier, Philippe; Griffiths, Justin; Grillo, Alexander; Grimm, Kathryn; Grinstein, Sebastian; Gris, Philippe Luc Yves; Grishkevich, Yaroslav; Grivaz, Jean-Francois; Grohs, Johannes Philipp; Grohsjean, Alexander; Gross, Eilam; Grosse-Knetter, Joern; Grossi, Giulio Cornelio; Groth-Jensen, Jacob; Grout, Zara Jane; Grybel, Kai; Guan, Liang; Guescini, Francesco; Guest, Daniel; Gueta, Orel; Guicheney, Christophe; Guido, Elisa; Guillemin, Thibault; Guindon, Stefan; Gul, Umar; Gumpert, Christian; Gunther, Jaroslav; Guo, Jun; Gupta, Shaun; Gutierrez, Phillip; Gutierrez Ortiz, Nicolas Gilberto; Gutschow, Christian; Guttman, Nir; Guyot, Claude; Gwenlan, Claire; Gwilliam, Carl; Haas, Andy; Haber, Carl; Hadavand, Haleh Khani; Haddad, Nacim; Haefner, Petra; Hageboeck, Stephan; Hajduk, Zbigniew; Hakobyan, Hrachya; Haleem, Mahsana; Hall, David; Halladjian, Garabed; Hamacher, Klaus; Hamal, Petr; Hamano, Kenji; Hamer, Matthias; Hamilton, Andrew; Hamilton, Samuel; Hamnett, Phillip George; Han, Liang; Hanagaki, Kazunori; Hanawa, Keita; Hance, Michael; Hanke, Paul; Hansen, Jørgen Beck; Hansen, Jorn Dines; Hansen, Peter Henrik; Hara, Kazuhiko; Hard, Andrew; Harenberg, Torsten; Harkusha, Siarhei; Harper, Devin; Harrington, Robert; Harris, Orin; Harrison, Paul Fraser; Hartjes, Fred; Harvey, Alex; Hasegawa, Satoshi; Hasegawa, Yoji; Hasib, A; Hassani, Samira; Haug, Sigve; Hauschild, Michael; Hauser, Reiner; Havranek, Miroslav; Hawkes, Christopher; Hawkings, Richard John; Hawkins, Anthony David; Hayashi, Takayasu; Hayden, Daniel; Hays, Chris; Hayward, Helen; Haywood, Stephen; Head, Simon; Heck, Tobias; Hedberg, Vincent; Heelan, Louise; Heim, Sarah; Heim, Timon; Heinemann, Beate; Heinrich, Lukas; Heisterkamp, Simon; Hejbal, Jiri; Helary, Louis; Heller, Claudio; Heller, Matthieu; Hellman, Sten; Hellmich, Dennis; Helsens, Clement; Henderson, James; Henderson, Robert; Hengler, Christopher; Henrichs, Anna; Henriques Correia, Ana Maria; Henrot-Versille, Sophie; Hensel, Carsten; Herbert, Geoffrey Henry; Hernández Jiménez, Yesenia; Herrberg-Schubert, Ruth; Herten, Gregor; Hertenberger, Ralf; Hervas, Luis; Hesketh, Gavin Grant; Hessey, Nigel; Hickling, Robert; Higón-Rodriguez, Emilio; Hill, John; Hiller, Karl Heinz; Hillert, Sonja; Hillier, Stephen; Hinchliffe, Ian; Hines, Elizabeth; Hirose, Minoru; Hirschbuehl, Dominic; Hobbs, John; Hod, Noam; Hodgkinson, Mark; Hodgson, Paul; Hoecker, Andreas; Hoeferkamp, Martin; Hoffman, Julia; Hoffmann, Dirk; Hofmann, Julia Isabell; Hohlfeld, Marc; Holmes, Tova Ray; Hong, Tae Min; Hooft van Huysduynen, Loek; Hostachy, Jean-Yves; Hou, Suen; Hoummada, Abdeslam; Howard, Jacob; Howarth, James; Hrabovsky, Miroslav; Hristova, Ivana; Hrivnac, Julius; Hryn'ova, Tetiana; Hsu, Pai-hsien Jennifer; Hsu, Shih-Chieh; Hu, Diedi; Hu, Xueye; Huang, Yanping; Hubacek, Zdenek; Hubaut, Fabrice; Huegging, Fabian; Huffman, Todd Brian; Hughes, Emlyn; Hughes, Gareth; Huhtinen, Mika; Hülsing, Tobias Alexander; Hurwitz, Martina; Huseynov, Nazim; Huston, Joey; Huth, John; Iacobucci, Giuseppe; Iakovidis, Georgios; Ibragimov, Iskander; Iconomidou-Fayard, Lydia; Ideal, Emma; Iengo, Paolo; Igonkina, Olga; Iizawa, Tomoya; Ikegami, Yoichi; Ikematsu, Katsumasa; Ikeno, Masahiro; Iliadis, Dimitrios; Ilic, Nikolina; Inamaru, Yuki; Ince, Tayfun; Ioannou, Pavlos; Iodice, Mauro; Iordanidou, Kalliopi; Ippolito, Valerio; Irles Quiles, Adrian; Isaksson, Charlie; Ishino, Masaya; Ishitsuka, Masaki; Ishmukhametov, Renat; Issever, Cigdem; Istin, Serhat; Iturbe Ponce, Julia Mariana; Ivashin, Anton; Iwanski, Wieslaw; Iwasaki, Hiroyuki; Izen, Joseph; Izzo, Vincenzo; Jackson, Brett; Jackson, John; Jackson, Matthew; Jackson, Paul; Jaekel, Martin; Jain, Vivek; Jakobs, Karl; Jakobsen, Sune; Jakoubek, Tomas; Jakubek, Jan; Jamin, David Olivier; Jana, Dilip; Jansen, Eric; Jansen, Hendrik; Janssen, Jens; Janus, Michel; Jarlskog, Göran; Javůrek, Tomáš; Jeanty, Laura; Jeng, Geng-yuan; Jen-La Plante, Imai; Jennens, David; Jenni, Peter; Jentzsch, Jennifer; Jeske, Carl; Jézéquel, Stéphane; Ji, Haoshuang; Ji, Weina; Jia, Jiangyong; Jiang, Yi; Jimenez Belenguer, Marcos; Jin, Shan; Jinaru, Adam; Jinnouchi, Osamu; Joergensen, Morten Dam; Johansson, Erik; Johansson, Per; Johns, Kenneth; Jon-And, Kerstin; Jones, Graham; Jones, Roger; Jones, Tim; Jongmanns, Jan; Jorge, Pedro; Joshi, Kiran Daniel; Jovicevic, Jelena; Ju, Xiangyang; Jung, Christian; Jungst, Ralph Markus; Jussel, Patrick; Juste Rozas, Aurelio; Kaci, Mohammed; Kaczmarska, Anna; Kado, Marumi; Kagan, Harris; Kagan, Michael; Kajomovitz, Enrique; Kama, Sami; Kanaya, Naoko; Kaneda, Michiru; Kaneti, Steven; Kanno, Takayuki; Kantserov, Vadim; Kanzaki, Junichi; Kaplan, Benjamin; Kapliy, Anton; Kar, Deepak; Karakostas, Konstantinos; Karastathis, Nikolaos; Karnevskiy, Mikhail; Karpov, Sergey; Karthik, Krishnaiyengar; Kartvelishvili, Vakhtang; Karyukhin, Andrey; Kashif, Lashkar; Kasieczka, Gregor; Kass, Richard; Kastanas, Alex; Kataoka, Yousuke; Katre, Akshay; Katzy, Judith; Kaushik, Venkatesh; Kawagoe, Kiyotomo; Kawamoto, Tatsuo; Kawamura, Gen; Kazama, Shingo; Kazanin, Vassili; Kazarinov, Makhail; Keeler, Richard; Kehoe, Robert; Keil, Markus; Keller, John; Keoshkerian, Houry; Kepka, Oldrich; Kerševan, Borut Paul; Kersten, Susanne; Kessoku, Kohei; Keung, Justin; Khalil-zada, Farkhad; Khandanyan, Hovhannes; Khanov, Alexander; Khodinov, Alexander; Khomich, Andrei; Khoo, Teng Jian; Khoriauli, Gia; Khoroshilov, Andrey; Khovanskiy, Valery; Khramov, Evgeniy; Khubua, Jemal; Kim, Hee Yeun; Kim, Hyeon Jin; Kim, Shinhong; Kimura, Naoki; Kind, Oliver; King, Barry; King, Matthew; King, Robert Steven Beaufoy; King, Samuel Burton; Kirk, Julie; Kiryunin, Andrey; Kishimoto, Tomoe; Kisielewska, Danuta; Kiss, Florian; Kitamura, Takumi; Kittelmann, Thomas; Kiuchi, Kenji; Kladiva, Eduard; Klein, Max; Klein, Uta; Kleinknecht, Konrad; Klimek, Pawel; Klimentov, Alexei; Klingenberg, Reiner; Klinger, Joel Alexander; Klinkby, Esben; Klioutchnikova, Tatiana; Klok, Peter; Kluge, Eike-Erik; Kluit, Peter; Kluth, Stefan; Kneringer, Emmerich; Knoops, Edith; Knue, Andrea; Kobayashi, Tomio; Kobel, Michael; Kocian, Martin; Kodys, Peter; Koevesarki, Peter; Koffas, Thomas; Koffeman, Els; Kogan, Lucy Anne; Kohlmann, Simon; Kohout, Zdenek; Kohriki, Takashi; Koi, Tatsumi; Kolanoski, Hermann; Koletsou, Iro; Koll, James; Komar, Aston; Komori, Yuto; Kondo, Takahiko; Köneke, Karsten; König, Adriaan; König, Sebastian; Kono, Takanori; Konoplich, Rostislav; Konstantinidis, Nikolaos; Kopeliansky, Revital; Koperny, Stefan; Köpke, Lutz; Kopp, Anna Katharina; Korcyl, Krzysztof; Kordas, Kostantinos; Korn, Andreas; Korol, Aleksandr; Korolkov, Ilya; Korolkova, Elena; Korotkov, Vladislav; Kortner, Oliver; Kortner, Sandra; Kostyukhin, Vadim; Kotov, Vladislav; Kotwal, Ashutosh; Kourkoumelis, Christine; Kouskoura, Vasiliki; Koutsman, Alex; Kowalewski, Robert Victor; Kowalski, Tadeusz; Kozanecki, Witold; Kozhin, Anatoly; Kral, Vlastimil; Kramarenko, Viktor; Kramberger, Gregor; Krasnopevtsev, Dimitriy; Krasny, Mieczyslaw Witold; Krasznahorkay, Attila; Kraus, Jana; Kravchenko, Anton; Kreiss, Sven; Kretz, Moritz; Kretzschmar, Jan; Kreutzfeldt, Kristof; Krieger, Peter; Kroeninger, Kevin; Kroha, Hubert; Kroll, Joe; Kroseberg, Juergen; Krstic, Jelena; Kruchonak, Uladzimir; Krüger, Hans; Kruker, Tobias; Krumnack, Nils; Krumshteyn, Zinovii; Kruse, Amanda; Kruse, Mark; Kruskal, Michael; Kubota, Takashi; Kuday, Sinan; Kuehn, Susanne; Kugel, Andreas; Kuhl, Andrew; Kuhl, Thorsten; Kukhtin, Victor; Kulchitsky, Yuri; Kuleshov, Sergey; Kuna, Marine; Kunkle, Joshua; Kupco, Alexander; Kurashige, Hisaya; Kurochkin, Yurii; Kurumida, Rie; Kus, Vlastimil; Kuwertz, Emma Sian; Kuze, Masahiro; Kvita, Jiri; La Rosa, Alessandro; La Rotonda, Laura; Labarga, Luis; Lacasta, Carlos; Lacava, Francesco; Lacey, James; Lacker, Heiko; Lacour, Didier; Lacuesta, Vicente Ramón; Ladygin, Evgueni; Lafaye, Remi; Laforge, Bertrand; Lagouri, Theodota; Lai, Stanley; Laier, Heiko; Lambourne, Luke; Lammers, Sabine; Lampen, Caleb; Lampl, Walter; Lançon, Eric; Landgraf, Ulrich; Landon, Murrough; Lang, Valerie Susanne; Lange, Clemens; Lankford, Andrew; Lanni, Francesco; Lantzsch, Kerstin; Laplace, Sandrine; Lapoire, Cecile; Laporte, Jean-Francois; Lari, Tommaso; Lassnig, Mario; Laurelli, Paolo; Lavorini, Vincenzo; Lavrijsen, Wim; Law, Alexander; Laycock, Paul; Le, Bao Tran; Le Dortz, Olivier; Le Guirriec, Emmanuel; Le Menedeu, Eve; LeCompte, Thomas; Ledroit-Guillon, Fabienne Agnes Marie; Lee, Claire Alexandra; Lee, Hurng-Chun; Lee, Jason; Lee, Shih-Chang; Lee, Lawrence; Lefebvre, Guillaume; Lefebvre, Michel; Legger, Federica; Leggett, Charles; Lehan, Allan; Lehmacher, Marc; Lehmann Miotto, Giovanna; Lei, Xiaowen; Leister, Andrew Gerard; Leite, Marco Aurelio Lisboa; Leitner, Rupert; Lellouch, Daniel; Lemmer, Boris; Leney, Katharine; Lenz, Tatjana; Lenzen, Georg; Lenzi, Bruno; Leone, Robert; Leonhardt, Kathrin; Leontsinis, Stefanos; Leroy, Claude; Lester, Christopher; Lester, Christopher Michael; Levêque, Jessica; Levin, Daniel; Levinson, Lorne; Levy, Mark; Lewis, Adrian; Lewis, George; Leyko, Agnieszka; Leyton, Michael; Li, Bing; Li, Bo; Li, Haifeng; Li, Ho Ling; Li, Shu; Li, Xuefei; Liang, Zhijun; Liao, Hongbo; Liberti, Barbara; Lichard, Peter; Lie, Ki; Liebal, Jessica; Liebig, Wolfgang; Limbach, Christian; Limosani, Antonio; Limper, Maaike; Lin, Simon; Linde, Frank; Lindquist, Brian Edward; Linnemann, James; Lipeles, Elliot; Lipniacka, Anna; Lisovyi, Mykhailo; Liss, Tony; Lissauer, David; Lister, Alison; Litke, Alan; Liu, Bo; Liu, Dong; Liu, Jianbei; Liu, Kun; Liu, Lulu; Liu, Miaoyuan; Liu, Minghui; Liu, Yanwen; Livan, Michele; Livermore, Sarah; Lleres, Annick; Llorente Merino, Javier; Lloyd, Stephen; Lo Sterzo, Francesco; Lobodzinska, Ewelina; Loch, Peter; Lockman, William; Loddenkoetter, Thomas; Loebinger, Fred; Loevschall-Jensen, Ask Emil; Loginov, Andrey; Loh, Chang Wei; Lohse, Thomas; Lohwasser, Kristin; Lokajicek, Milos; Lombardo, Vincenzo Paolo; Long, Jonathan; Long, Robin Eamonn; Lopes, Lourenco; Lopez Mateos, David; Lopez Paredes, Brais; Lorenz, Jeanette; Lorenzo Martinez, Narei; Losada, Marta; Loscutoff, Peter; Losty, Michael; Lou, XinChou; Lounis, Abdenour; Love, Jeremy; Love, Peter; Lowe, Andrew; Lu, Feng; Lubatti, Henry; Luci, Claudio; Lucotte, Arnaud; Luehring, Frederick; Lukas, Wolfgang; Luminari, Lamberto; Lundberg, Olof; Lund-Jensen, Bengt; Lungwitz, Matthias; Lynn, David; Lysak, Roman; Lytken, Else; Ma, Hong; Ma, Lian Liang; Maccarrone, Giovanni; Macchiolo, Anna; Maček, Boštjan; Machado Miguens, Joana; Macina, Daniela; Madaffari, Daniele; Madar, Romain; Maddocks, Harvey Jonathan; Mader, Wolfgang; Madsen, Alexander; Maeno, Mayuko; Maeno, Tadashi; Magradze, Erekle; Mahboubi, Kambiz; Mahlstedt, Joern; Mahmoud, Sara; Maiani, Camilla; Maidantchik, Carmen; Maio, Amélia; Majewski, Stephanie; Makida, Yasuhiro; Makovec, Nikola; Mal, Prolay; Malaescu, Bogdan; Malecki, Pawel; Maleev, Victor; Malek, Fairouz; Mallik, Usha; Malon, David; Malone, Caitlin; Maltezos, Stavros; Malyshev, Vladimir; Malyukov, Sergei; Mamuzic, Judita; Mandelli, Beatrice; Mandelli, Luciano; Mandić, Igor; Mandrysch, Rocco; Maneira, José; Manfredini, Alessandro; Manhaes de Andrade Filho, Luciano; Manjarres Ramos, Joany Andreina; Mann, Alexander; Manning, Peter; Manousakis-Katsikakis, Arkadios; Mansoulie, Bruno; Mantifel, Rodger; Mapelli, Livio; March, Luis; Marchand, Jean-Francois; Marchese, Fabrizio; Marchiori, Giovanni; Marcisovsky, Michal; Marino, Christopher; Marques, Carlos; Marroquim, Fernando; Marsden, Stephen Philip; Marshall, Zach; Marti, Lukas Fritz; Marti-Garcia, Salvador; Martin, Brian; Martin, Brian Thomas; Martin, Tim; Martin, Victoria Jane; Martin dit Latour, Bertrand; Martinez, Homero; Martinez, Mario; Martin-Haugh, Stewart; Martyniuk, Alex; Marx, Marilyn; Marzano, Francesco; Marzin, Antoine; Masetti, Lucia; Mashimo, Tetsuro; Mashinistov, Ruslan; Masik, Jiri; Maslennikov, Alexey; Massa, Ignazio; Massol, Nicolas; Mastrandrea, Paolo; Mastroberardino, Anna; Masubuchi, Tatsuya; Matsunaga, Hiroyuki; Matsushita, Takashi; Mättig, Peter; Mättig, Stefan; Mattmann, Johannes; Maurer, Julien; Maxfield, Stephen; Maximov, Dmitriy; Mazini, Rachid; Mazzaferro, Luca; Mc Goldrick, Garrin; Mc Kee, Shawn Patrick; McCarn, Allison; McCarthy, Robert; McCarthy, Tom; McCubbin, Norman; McFarlane, Kenneth; Mcfayden, Josh; Mchedlidze, Gvantsa; Mclaughlan, Tom; McMahon, Steve; McPherson, Robert; Meade, Andrew; Mechnich, Joerg; Medinnis, Michael; Meehan, Samuel; Meera-Lebbai, Razzak; Mehlhase, Sascha; Mehta, Andrew; Meier, Karlheinz; Meineck, Christian; Meirose, Bernhard; Melachrinos, Constantinos; Mellado Garcia, Bruce Rafael; Meloni, Federico; Mendoza Navas, Luis; Mengarelli, Alberto; Menke, Sven; Meoni, Evelin; Mercurio, Kevin Michael; Mergelmeyer, Sebastian; Meric, Nicolas; Mermod, Philippe; Merola, Leonardo; Meroni, Chiara; Merritt, Frank; Merritt, Hayes; Messina, Andrea; Metcalfe, Jessica; Mete, Alaettin Serhan; Meyer, Carsten; Meyer, Christopher; Meyer, Jean-Pierre; Meyer, Jochen; Middleton, Robin; Migas, Sylwia; Mijović, Liza; Mikenberg, Giora; Mikestikova, Marcela; Mikuž, Marko; Miller, David; Mills, Corrinne; Milov, Alexander; Milstead, David; Milstein, Dmitry; Minaenko, Andrey; Miñano Moya, Mercedes; Minashvili, Irakli; Mincer, Allen; Mindur, Bartosz; Mineev, Mikhail; Ming, Yao; Mir, Lluisa-Maria; Mirabelli, Giovanni; Mitani, Takashi; Mitrevski, Jovan; Mitsou, Vasiliki A; Mitsui, Shingo; Miucci, Antonio; Miyagawa, Paul; Mjörnmark, Jan-Ulf; Moa, Torbjoern; Mochizuki, Kazuya; Moeller, Victoria; Mohapatra, Soumya; Mohr, Wolfgang; Molander, Simon; Moles-Valls, Regina; Mönig, Klaus; Monini, Caterina; Monk, James; Monnier, Emmanuel; Montejo Berlingen, Javier; Monticelli, Fernando; Monzani, Simone; Moore, Roger; Mora Herrera, Clemencia; Moraes, Arthur; Morange, Nicolas; Morel, Julien; Moreno, Deywis; Moreno Llácer, María; Morettini, Paolo; Morgenstern, Marcus; Morii, Masahiro; Moritz, Sebastian; Morley, Anthony Keith; Mornacchi, Giuseppe; Morris, John; Morvaj, Ljiljana; Moser, Hans-Guenther; Mosidze, Maia; Moss, Josh; Mount, Richard; Mountricha, Eleni; Mouraviev, Sergei; Moyse, Edward; Muanza, Steve; Mudd, Richard; Mueller, Felix; Mueller, James; Mueller, Klemens; Mueller, Thibaut; Mueller, Timo; Muenstermann, Daniel; Munwes, Yonathan; Murillo Quijada, Javier Alberto; Murray, Bill; Musto, Elisa; Myagkov, Alexey; Myska, Miroslav; Nackenhorst, Olaf; Nadal, Jordi; Nagai, Koichi; Nagai, Ryo; Nagai, Yoshikazu; Nagano, Kunihiro; Nagarkar, Advait; Nagasaka, Yasushi; Nagel, Martin; Nairz, Armin Michael; Nakahama, Yu; Nakamura, Koji; Nakamura, Tomoaki; Nakano, Itsuo; Namasivayam, Harisankar; Nanava, Gizo; Narayan, Rohin; Nattermann, Till; Naumann, Thomas; Navarro, Gabriela; Nayyar, Ruchika; Neal, Homer; Nechaeva, Polina; Neep, Thomas James; Negri, Andrea; Negri, Guido; Negrini, Matteo; Nektarijevic, Snezana; Nelson, Andrew; Nelson, Timothy Knight; Nemecek, Stanislav; Nemethy, Peter; Nepomuceno, Andre Asevedo; Nessi, Marzio; Neubauer, Mark; Neumann, Manuel; Neusiedl, Andrea; Neves, Ricardo; Nevski, Pavel; Newman, Paul; Nguyen, Duong Hai; Nickerson, Richard; Nicolaidou, Rosy; Nicquevert, Bertrand; Nielsen, Jason; Nikiforou, Nikiforos; Nikiforov, Andriy; Nikolaenko, Vladimir; Nikolic-Audit, Irena; Nikolics, Katalin; Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos; Nilsson, Paul; Ninomiya, Yoichi; Nisati, Aleandro; Nisius, Richard; Nobe, Takuya; Nodulman, Lawrence; Nomachi, Masaharu; Nomidis, Ioannis; Norberg, Scarlet; Nordberg, Markus; Nowak, Sebastian; Nozaki, Mitsuaki; Nozka, Libor; Ntekas, Konstantinos; Nunes Hanninger, Guilherme; Nunnemann, Thomas; Nurse, Emily; Nuti, Francesco; O'Brien, Brendan Joseph; O'grady, Fionnbarr; O'Neil, Dugan; O'Shea, Val; Oakham, Gerald; Oberlack, Horst; Obermann, Theresa; Ocariz, Jose; Ochi, Atsuhiko; Ochoa, Ines; Oda, Susumu; Odaka, Shigeru; Ogren, Harold; Oh, Alexander; Oh, Seog; Ohm, Christian; Ohman, Henrik; Ohshima, Takayoshi; Okamura, Wataru; Okawa, Hideki; Okumura, Yasuyuki; Okuyama, Toyonobu; Olariu, Albert; Olchevski, Alexander; Olivares Pino, Sebastian Andres; Oliveira Damazio, Denis; Oliver Garcia, Elena; Olivito, Dominick; Olszewski, Andrzej; Olszowska, Jolanta; Onofre, António; Onyisi, Peter; Oram, Christopher; Oreglia, Mark; Oren, Yona; Orestano, Domizia; Orlando, Nicola; Oropeza Barrera, Cristina; Orr, Robert; Osculati, Bianca; Ospanov, Rustem; Otero y Garzon, Gustavo; Otono, Hidetoshi; Ouchrif, Mohamed; Ouellette, Eric; Ould-Saada, Farid; Ouraou, Ahmimed; Oussoren, Koen Pieter; Ouyang, Qun; Ovcharova, Ana; Owen, Mark; Ozcan, Veysi Erkcan; Ozturk, Nurcan; Pachal, Katherine; Pacheco Pages, Andres; Padilla Aranda, Cristobal; Pagáčová, Martina; Pagan Griso, Simone; Paganis, Efstathios; Pahl, Christoph; Paige, Frank; Pais, Preema; Pajchel, Katarina; Palacino, Gabriel; Palestini, Sandro; Pallin, Dominique; Palma, Alberto; Palmer, Jody; Pan, Yibin; Panagiotopoulou, Evgenia; Panduro Vazquez, William; Pani, Priscilla; Panikashvili, Natalia; Panitkin, Sergey; Pantea, Dan; Papadopoulou, Theodora; Papageorgiou, Konstantinos; Paramonov, Alexander; Paredes Hernandez, Daniela; Parker, Michael Andrew; Parodi, Fabrizio; Parsons, John; Parzefall, Ulrich; Pasqualucci, Enrico; Passaggio, Stefano; Passeri, Antonio; Pastore, Fernanda; Pastore, Francesca; Pásztor, Gabriella; Pataraia, Sophio; Patel, Nikhul; Pater, Joleen; Patricelli, Sergio; Pauly, Thilo; Pearce, James; Pedersen, Maiken; Pedraza Lopez, Sebastian; Pedro, Rute; Peleganchuk, Sergey; Pelikan, Daniel; Peng, Haiping; Penning, Bjoern; Penwell, John; Perepelitsa, Dennis; Perez Codina, Estel; Pérez García-Estañ, María Teresa; Perez Reale, Valeria; Perini, Laura; Pernegger, Heinz; Perrino, Roberto; Peschke, Richard; Peshekhonov, Vladimir; Peters, Krisztian; Peters, Yvonne; Petersen, Brian; Petersen, Jorgen; Petersen, Troels; Petit, Elisabeth; Petridis, Andreas; Petridou, Chariclia; Petrolo, Emilio; Petrucci, Fabrizio; Petteni, Michele; Pettersson, Nora Emilia; Pezoa, Raquel; Phillips, Peter William; Piacquadio, Giacinto; Pianori, Elisabetta; Picazio, Attilio; Piccaro, Elisa; Piccinini, Maurizio; Piec, Sebastian Marcin; Piegaia, Ricardo; Pignotti, David; Pilcher, James; Pilkington, Andrew; Pina, João Antonio; Pinamonti, Michele; Pinder, Alex; Pinfold, James; Pingel, Almut; Pinto, Belmiro; Pires, Sylvestre; Pizio, Caterina; Pleier, Marc-Andre; Pleskot, Vojtech; Plotnikova, Elena; Plucinski, Pawel; Poddar, Sahill; Podlyski, Fabrice; Poettgen, Ruth; Poggioli, Luc; Pohl, David-leon; Pohl, Martin; Polesello, Giacomo; Policicchio, Antonio; Polifka, Richard; Polini, Alessandro; Pollard, Christopher Samuel; Polychronakos, Venetios; 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Dean; Scharf, Veit; Schegelsky, Valery; Scheirich, Daniel; Schernau, Michael; Scherzer, Max; Schiavi, Carlo; Schieck, Jochen; Schillo, Christian; Schioppa, Marco; Schlenker, Stefan; Schmidt, Evelyn; Schmieden, Kristof; Schmitt, Christian; Schmitt, Christopher; Schmitt, Sebastian; Schneider, Basil; Schnellbach, Yan Jie; Schnoor, Ulrike; Schoeffel, Laurent; Schoening, Andre; Schoenrock, Bradley Daniel; Schorlemmer, Andre Lukas; Schott, Matthias; Schouten, Doug; Schovancova, Jaroslava; Schramm, Steven; Schreyer, Manuel; Schroeder, Christian; Schuh, Natascha; Schultens, Martin Johannes; Schultz-Coulon, Hans-Christian; Schulz, Holger; Schumacher, Markus; Schumm, Bruce; Schune, Philippe; Schwartzman, Ariel; Schwegler, Philipp; Schwemling, Philippe; Schwienhorst, Reinhard; Schwindling, Jerome; Schwindt, Thomas; Schwoerer, Maud; Sciacca, Gianfranco; Scifo, Estelle; Sciolla, Gabriella; Scott, Bill; Scuri, Fabrizio; Scutti, Federico; Searcy, Jacob; Sedov, George; Sedykh, Evgeny; Seidel, Sally; Seiden, Abraham; Seifert, Frank; Seixas, José; Sekhniaidze, Givi; Sekula, Stephen; Selbach, Karoline Elfriede; Seliverstov, Dmitry; Sellers, Graham; Semprini-Cesari, Nicola; Serfon, Cedric; Serin, Laurent; Serkin, Leonid; Serre, Thomas; Seuster, Rolf; Severini, Horst; Sforza, Federico; Sfyrla, Anna; Shabalina, Elizaveta; Shamim, Mansoora; Shan, Lianyou; Shank, James; Shao, Qi Tao; Shapiro, Marjorie; Shatalov, Pavel; Shaw, Kate; Sherwood, Peter; Shimizu, Shima; Shimmin, Chase Owen; Shimojima, Makoto; Shiyakova, Mariya; Shmeleva, Alevtina; Shochet, Mel; Short, Daniel; Shrestha, Suyog; Shulga, Evgeny; Shupe, Michael; Shushkevich, Stanislav; Sicho, Petr; Sidorov, Dmitri; Sidoti, Antonio; Siegert, Frank; Sijacki, Djordje; Silbert, Ohad; Silva, José; Silver, Yiftah; Silverstein, Daniel; Silverstein, Samuel; Simak, Vladislav; Simard, Olivier; Simic, Ljiljana; Simion, Stefan; Simioni, Eduard; Simmons, Brinick; Simoniello, Rosa; Simonyan, Margar; Sinervo, Pekka; Sinev, Nikolai; Sipica, Valentin; Siragusa, Giovanni; 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Stahlman, Jonathan; Stamen, Rainer; Stanecka, Ewa; Stanek, Robert; Stanescu, Cristian; Stanescu-Bellu, Madalina; Stanitzki, Marcel Michael; Stapnes, Steinar; Starchenko, Evgeny; Stark, Jan; Staroba, Pavel; Starovoitov, Pavel; Staszewski, Rafal; Stavina, Pavel; Steele, Genevieve; Steinberg, Peter; Stelzer, Bernd; Stelzer, Harald Joerg; Stelzer-Chilton, Oliver; Stenzel, Hasko; Stern, Sebastian; Stewart, Graeme; Stillings, Jan Andre; Stockton, Mark; Stoebe, Michael; Stoerig, Kathrin; Stoicea, Gabriel; Stolte, Philipp; Stonjek, Stefan; Stradling, Alden; Straessner, Arno; Strandberg, Jonas; Strandberg, Sara; Strandlie, Are; Strauss, Emanuel; Strauss, Michael; Strizenec, Pavol; Ströhmer, Raimund; Strom, David; Stroynowski, Ryszard; Stucci, Stefania Antonia; Stugu, Bjarne; Styles, Nicholas Adam; Su, Dong; Su, Jun; Subramania, Halasya Siva; Subramaniam, Rajivalochan; Succurro, Antonella; Sugaya, Yorihito; Suhr, Chad; Suk, Michal; Sulin, Vladimir; Sultansoy, Saleh; Sumida, Toshi; Sun, Xiaohu; Sundermann, Jan Erik; 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Testa, Marianna; Teuscher, Richard; Therhaag, Jan; Theveneaux-Pelzer, Timothée; Thoma, Sascha; Thomas, Juergen; Thomas-Wilsker, Joshuha; Thompson, Emily; Thompson, Paul; Thompson, Peter; Thompson, Stan; Thomsen, Lotte Ansgaard; Thomson, Evelyn; Thomson, Mark; Thong, Wai Meng; Thun, Rudolf; Tian, Feng; Tibbetts, Mark James; Tikhomirov, Vladimir; Tikhonov, Yury; Timoshenko, Sergey; Tiouchichine, Elodie; Tipton, Paul; Tisserant, Sylvain; Todorov, Theodore; Todorova-Nova, Sharka; Toggerson, Brokk; Tojo, Junji; Tokár, Stanislav; Tokushuku, Katsuo; Tollefson, Kirsten; Tomlinson, Lee; Tomoto, Makoto; Tompkins, Lauren; Toms, Konstantin; Topilin, Nikolai; Torrence, Eric; Torres, Heberth; Torró Pastor, Emma; Toth, Jozsef; Touchard, Francois; Tovey, Daniel; Tran, Huong Lan; Trefzger, Thomas; Tremblet, Louis; Tricoli, Alessandro; Trigger, Isabel Marian; Trincaz-Duvoid, Sophie; Tripiana, Martin; Triplett, Nathan; Trischuk, William; Trocmé, Benjamin; Troncon, Clara; Trottier-McDonald, Michel; Trovatelli, Monica; 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Wright, Michael; Wu, Sau Lan; Wu, Xin; Wu, Yusheng; Wulf, Evan; Wyatt, Terry Richard; Wynne, Benjamin; Xella, Stefania; Xiao, Meng; Xu, Da; Xu, Lailin; Yabsley, Bruce; Yacoob, Sahal; Yamada, Miho; Yamaguchi, Hiroshi; Yamaguchi, Yohei; Yamamoto, Akira; Yamamoto, Kyoko; Yamamoto, Shimpei; Yamamura, Taiki; Yamanaka, Takashi; Yamauchi, Katsuya; Yamazaki, Yuji; Yan, Zhen; Yang, Haijun; Yang, Hongtao; Yang, Un-Ki; Yang, Yi; Yanush, Serguei; Yao, Liwen; Yao, Weiming; Yasu, Yoshiji; Yatsenko, Elena; Yau Wong, Kaven Henry; Ye, Jingbo; Ye, Shuwei; Yen, Andy L; Yildirim, Eda; Yilmaz, Metin; Yoosoofmiya, Reza; Yorita, Kohei; Yoshida, Rikutaro; Yoshihara, Keisuke; Young, Charles; Young, Christopher John; Youssef, Saul; Yu, David Ren-Hwa; Yu, Jaehoon; Yu, Jiaming; Yu, Jie; Yuan, Li; Yurkewicz, Adam; Zabinski, Bartlomiej; Zaidan, Remi; Zaitsev, Alexander; Zaman, Aungshuman; Zambito, Stefano; Zanello, Lucia; Zanzi, Daniele; Zaytsev, Alexander; Zeitnitz, Christian; Zeman, Martin; Zemla, Andrzej; Zengel, Keith; Zenin, Oleg; Ženiš, Tibor; Zerwas, Dirk; Zevi della Porta, Giovanni; Zhang, Dongliang; Zhang, Fangzhou; Zhang, Huaqiao; Zhang, Jinlong; Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Xueyao; Zhang, Zhiqing; Zhao, Zhengguo; Zhemchugov, Alexey; Zhong, Jiahang; Zhou, Bing; Zhou, Lei; Zhou, Ning; Zhu, Cheng Guang; Zhu, Hongbo; Zhu, Junjie; Zhu, Yingchun; Zhuang, Xuai; Zibell, Andre; Zieminska, Daria; Zimine, Nikolai; Zimmermann, Christoph; Zimmermann, Robert; Zimmermann, Simone; Zimmermann, Stephanie; Zinonos, Zinonas; Ziolkowski, Michael; Zitoun, Robert; Zobernig, Georg; Zoccoli, Antonio; zur Nedden, Martin; Zurzolo, Giovanni; Zutshi, Vishnu; Zwalinski, Lukasz

    2014-01-01

    The liquid argon calorimeter is a key component of the ATLAS detector installed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The primary purpose of this calorimeter is the measurement of electrons and photons. It also provides a crucial input for measuring jets and missing transverse momentum. An advanced data monitoring procedure was designed to quickly identify issues that would affect detector performance and ensure that only the best quality data are used for physics analysis. This article presents the validation procedure developed during the 2011 and 2012 LHC data-taking periods, in which more than 98% of the proton–proton luminosity recorded by ATLAS at a centre-of-mass energy of 7–8 TeV had calorimeter data quality suitable for physics analysis.

  17. Design and Implementation of the Intensive Care Unit Quality Management Registry: Monitoring Quality and Cost of an Adult Intensive Care Unit in a Greek State Hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosmidis, Dimitrios; Koutsouki, Sotiria; Lampiri, Klairi; Nagy, Eva Ottilia; Papaioannou, Vasilios; Pneumatikos, Ioannis; Anastassopoulos, George

    2017-11-01

    Intensive care electronic registries have been instrumental in quality measurement, improvement, and assurance of intensive care. In this article, the development and pilot implementation of the Intensive Care Unit Quality Management Registry are described, with a particular focus on monitoring the quality and operational cost in an adult ICU at a northern Greek state hospital. A relational database was developed for a hospital ICU so that qualitative and financial data are recorded for further analysis needed for planning quality care improvement and enhanced efficiency. Key features of this database registry were low development cost, user friendliness, maximum data security, and interoperability in existing hospital information systems. The database included patient demographics, nursing and medical parameters, and quality and performance indicators as established in many national registries worldwide. Cost recording was based on a mixed approach: at patient level ("bottom-up" method) and at department level ("top-down" method). During the pilot phase of the database operation, regular monitoring of quality and cost data revealed several fields of quality excellence, while indicating room for improvement for others. Parallel recording and trending of multiple parameters showed that the database can be utilized for optimum ICU quality and cost management and also for further research purposes by nurses, physicians, and administrators.

  18. Plant operation state monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakai, Masanori; Babuchi, Katsumi; Arato, Toshiaki

    1994-01-01

    The system of the present invention accurately monitors a plant operation state of a plant, such as a nuclear power plant and a thermal power plant by using high temperature water, based on water quality informations. That is, water quality informations for the objective portion by using an electrochemical water quality sensor disposed in the objective portion to be monitored in the plant are continuously extracted for a predetermined period of time. Water quality is evaluated based on the extracted information. Obtained results for water quality evaluation and predetermined reference values of the plant operation handling are compared. Necessary part among the results of the measurement is displayed or recorded. The predetermined period of time described above is a period that the water quality information reaches at least a predetermined value or a period that the predetermined value is estimated by the water quality information, and it is defined as a period capable of measuring the information for three months continuously. The measurement is preferably conducted continuously in a period up to each periodical inspection on about every one year. (I.S.)

  19. Incorporating wind availability into land use regression modelling of air quality in mountainous high-density urban environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yuan; Lau, Kevin Ka-Lun; Ng, Edward

    2017-08-01

    Urban air quality serves as an important function of the quality of urban life. Land use regression (LUR) modelling of air quality is essential for conducting health impacts assessment but more challenging in mountainous high-density urban scenario due to the complexities of the urban environment. In this study, a total of 21 LUR models are developed for seven kinds of air pollutants (gaseous air pollutants CO, NO 2 , NO x , O 3 , SO 2 and particulate air pollutants PM 2.5 , PM 10 ) with reference to three different time periods (summertime, wintertime and annual average of 5-year long-term hourly monitoring data from local air quality monitoring network) in Hong Kong. Under the mountainous high-density urban scenario, we improved the traditional LUR modelling method by incorporating wind availability information into LUR modelling based on surface geomorphometrical analysis. As a result, 269 independent variables were examined to develop the LUR models by using the "ADDRESS" independent variable selection method and stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR). Cross validation has been performed for each resultant model. The results show that wind-related variables are included in most of the resultant models as statistically significant independent variables. Compared with the traditional method, a maximum increase of 20% was achieved in the prediction performance of annual averaged NO 2 concentration level by incorporating wind-related variables into LUR model development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Field monitoring of column shortenings in a high-rise building during construction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Se Woon; Kim, Yousok; Kim, Jong Moon; Park, Hyo Seon

    2013-10-24

    The automatic monitoring of shortenings of vertical members in high-rise buildings under construction is a challenging issue in the high-rise building construction field. In this study, a practical system for monitoring column shortening in a high-rise building under construction is presented. The proposed monitoring system comprises the following components: (1) a wireless sensing system and (2) the corresponding monitoring software. The wireless sensing system comprises the sensors and energy-efficient wireless sensing units (sensor nodes, master nodes, and repeater nodes), which automate the processes for measuring the strains of vertical members and transmitting the measured data to the remote server. The monitoring software enables construction administrators to monitor real-time data collected by the server via an Internet connection. The proposed monitoring system is applied to actual 66-floor and 72-floor high-rise buildings under construction. The system enables automatic and real-time measurements of the shortening of vertical members, which can result in more precise construction.

  1. Monitoring SLAC High Performance UNIX Computing Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lettsome, Annette K.

    2005-01-01

    Knowledge of the effectiveness and efficiency of computers is important when working with high performance systems. The monitoring of such systems is advantageous in order to foresee possible misfortunes or system failures. Ganglia is a software system designed for high performance computing systems to retrieve specific monitoring information. An alternative storage facility for Ganglia's collected data is needed since its default storage system, the round-robin database (RRD), struggles with data integrity. The creation of a script-driven MySQL database solves this dilemma. This paper describes the process took in the creation and implementation of the MySQL database for use by Ganglia. Comparisons between data storage by both databases are made using gnuplot and Ganglia's real-time graphical user interface

  2. High accuracy digital aging monitor based on PLL-VCO circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yuejun; Jiang Zhidi; Wang Pengjun; Zhang Xuelong

    2015-01-01

    As the manufacturing process is scaled down to the nanoscale, the aging phenomenon significantly affects the reliability and lifetime of integrated circuits. Consequently, the precise measurement of digital CMOS aging is a key aspect of nanoscale aging tolerant circuit design. This paper proposes a high accuracy digital aging monitor using phase-locked loop and voltage-controlled oscillator (PLL-VCO) circuit. The proposed monitor eliminates the circuit self-aging effect for the characteristic of PLL, whose frequency has no relationship with circuit aging phenomenon. The PLL-VCO monitor is implemented in TSMC low power 65 nm CMOS technology, and its area occupies 303.28 × 298.94 μm 2 . After accelerating aging tests, the experimental results show that PLL-VCO monitor improves accuracy about high temperature by 2.4% and high voltage by 18.7%. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  3. Continuous water quality monitoring for the hard clam industry in Florida, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergquist, Derk C; Heuberger, David; Sturmer, Leslie N; Baker, Shirley M

    2009-01-01

    In 2000, Florida's fast-growing hard clam aquaculture industry became eligible for federal agricultural crop insurance through the US Department of Agriculture, but the responsibility for identifying the cause of mortality remained with the grower. Here we describe the continuous water quality monitoring system used to monitor hard clam aquaculture areas in Florida and show examples of the data collected with the system. Systems recording temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, water depth, turbidity and chlorophyll at 30 min intervals were installed at 10 aquaculture lease areas along Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Six of these systems sent data in real-time to a public website, and all 10 systems provided data for web-accessible archives. The systems documented environmental conditions that could negatively impact clam survival and productivity and identified biologically relevant water quality differences among clam aquaculture areas. Both the real-time and archived data were used widely by clam growers and nursery managers to make management decisions and in filing crop loss insurance claims. While the systems were labor and time intensive, we recommend adjustments that could reduce costs and staff time requirements.

  4. Identification of Homogeneous Stations for Quality Monitoring Network of Mashhad Aquifer Based on Nitrate Pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moslem Akbarzadeh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: For water resources monitoring, Evaluation of groundwater quality obtained via detailed analysis of pollution data. The most fundamental analysis is to identify the exact measurement of dangerous zones and homogenous station identification in terms of pollution. In case of quality evaluation, the monitoring improvement could be achieved via identifying homogenous wells in terms of pollution. Presenting a method for clustering is essential in large amounts of quality data for aquifer monitoring and quality evaluation, including identification of homogeneous stations of monitoring network and their clustering based on pollution. In this study, with the purpose of Mashhad aquifer quality evaluation, clustering have been studied based on Euclidean distance and Entropy criteria. Cluster analysis is the task of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster are more similar (in some sense or another to each other than to those in other groups (clusters. SNI as a combined entropy measure for clustering calculated from dividing mutual information of two values (pollution index values to the joint entropy. These measures apply as similar distance criteria for monitoring stations clustering. Materials and Methods: First, nitrate data (as pollution index and electrical conductivity (EC (as covariate collected from the related locational situation of 287 wells in statistical period 2002 to 2011. Having identified the outlying data and estimating non-observed points by spatial-temporal Kriging method and then standardizes them, the clustering process was carried out. A similar distance of wells calculated through a clustering process based on Euclidean distance and Entropy (SNI criteria. This difference explained by characteristics such as the location of wells (longitude & latitude and the pollution index (nitrate. Having obtained a similar distance of each well to others, the hierarchical clustering

  5. Education quality monitoring in a comprehensive secondary institution with the use of modern IT-based means

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Оксана Николаевна Ромашкова

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In the article one can find an example of the Balanced Score Card (BSC development for a comprehensive secondary organization. The idea of using the BSC for the education quality monitoring is justified. The interrelation between the modern IT-based means introduction and the educational process quality improvement in a comprehensive secondary organization has been set.

  6. Monitoring of environmental radioactivity in the European Communities inventory of methods and development of data quality objectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raes, F.

    1991-01-01

    A review is given of the procedures for environmental monitoring in the 12 Member States of the European Community. Detailed information of sampling and measuring methods for radioactivity in air, deposition, water, milk and for ambient gamma dose rate are presented in tables and figures. Some sample results of environmental radioactivity monitoring indicate problems with intercomparability of data reported by different EC countries. A review is given of international and national programmes and proposals for Quality Assurance and Control. There is a large but rather uncoordinated activity in this field; only a few countries within the EC have a well structured and comprehensive approach to QA and regularly join international programmes. Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) are developed for environmental radioactivity monitoring. They include the definition of the accuracy and repeatability of the measurements, and the definition of recording and detection levels. The recording levels, are based on a de minimis annual dose of 0.005 mSv. Based on these DQO's, the current problems with intercomparability are put into perspective, and proposals for future integration of national data into an overall European picture made. There is a need to improve quality of environmental monitoring in order to arrive at a meaningful and transparent picture of the overall radiological situation in the EC. Proposals are made for CEC initiatives in the field of QA/QC. The three most important deal with: - reporting of national data in a European context, - intercomparisons of analytical techniques among the 12 EC countries, - organization of a European network for monitoring levels actually prevailing in the environment

  7. Potential of integrated continuous surveys and quality management to support monitoring, evaluation, and the scale-up of health interventions in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Alexander K

    2009-06-01

    Well-funded initiatives are challenging developing countries to increase health intervention coverage and show impact. Despite substantial resources, however, major obstacles include weak health systems, a lack of reasonably accurate monitoring data, and inadequate use of data for managing programs. This report discusses how integrated continuous surveys and quality management (I-Q), which are well-recognized approaches in wealthy countries, could support intervention scale-up, monitoring and evaluation, quality control for commodities, capacity building, and implementation research in low-resource settings. Integrated continuous surveys are similar to existing national cross-sectional surveys of households and health facilities, except data are collected over several years by permanent teams, and most results are reported monthly at the national, province, and district levels. Quality management involves conceptualizing work as processes, involving all workers in quality improvement, monitoring quality, and teams that improve quality with "plan-do-study-act" cycles. Implementing and evaluating I-Q in a low-income country would provide critical information on the value of this approach.

  8. Corrosion monitoring using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fromme, Paul

    2014-02-01

    Corrosion develops due to adverse environmental conditions during the life cycle of a range of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the structural integrity. The nondestructive detection and monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, guided wave modes were generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. The wave propagation and interference of the different guided wave modes depends on the thickness of the structure. Laboratory experiments were conducted and the wall thickness reduced by consecutive milling of the steel structure. Further measurements were conducted using accelerated corrosion in a salt water bath and the damage severity monitored. From the measured signal change due to the wave mode interference the wall thickness reduction was monitored. The high frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

  9. Participative approach to elicit water quality monitoring needs from stakeholder groups - An application of integrated watershed management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behmel, S; Damour, M; Ludwig, R; Rodriguez, M J

    2018-07-15

    Water quality monitoring programs (WQMPs) must be based on monitoring objectives originating from the real knowledge needs of all stakeholders in a watershed and users of the resource. This paper proposes a participative approach to elicit knowledge needs and preferred modes of communication from citizens and representatives of organized stakeholders (ROS) on water quality and quantity issues. The participative approach includes six steps and is adaptable and transferable to different types of watersheds. These steps are: (1) perform a stakeholder analysis; (2) conduct an adaptable survey accompanied by a user-friendly public participation geographical information system (PPGIS); (3) hold workshops to meet with ROS to inform them of the results of the survey and PPGIS; discuss attainment of past monitoring objectives; exchange views on new knowledge needs and concerns on water quality and quantity; (4) meet with citizens to obtain the same type of input (as from ROS); (5) analyze the data and information collected to identify new knowledge needs and modes of communication and (6) identify, in collaboration with the individuals in charge of the WQMPs, the short-, medium- and long-term monitoring objectives and communication strategies to be pursued. The participative approach was tested on two distinct watersheds in the province of Quebec, Canada. It resulted in a series of optimization objectives of the existing WQMPs, new monitoring objectives and recommendations regarding communication strategies of the WQMPs' results. The results of this study show that the proposed methodology is appreciated by all parties and that the outcomes and monitoring objectives are acceptable. We also conclude that successful integrated watershed management is a question of scale, and that every aspect of integrated watershed management needs to be adapted to the surface watershed, the groundwater watershed (aquifers) and the human catchment area. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All

  10. Availability of high quality weather data measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Elsa; Johansen, Jakob Berg; Furbo, Simon

    In the period 2016-2017 the project “Availability of high quality weather data measurements” is carried out at Department of Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark. The aim of the project is to establish measured high quality weather data which will be easily available...... for the building energy branch and the solar energy branch in their efforts to achieve energy savings and for researchers and students carrying out projects where measured high quality weather data are needed....

  11. A longitudinal, randomized, and prospective study of nocturnal monitoring in children and adolescents with epilepsy: Effects on quality of life and sleep.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borusiak, Peter; Bast, Thomas; Kluger, Gerhard; Weidenfeld, Andrea; Langer, Thorsten; Jenke, Andreas C W; Wiegand, Gert

    2016-08-01

    Most studies on seizure detection systems focus more on the effectiveness of devices than on their practicability in and impact on everyday life. Our study investigated the impact of a technical monitoring system on subjective quality of sleep and the lives of affected families. Furthermore, we evaluated the impact of anxiety levels on seizure monitoring and vice versa. Forty-three patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy were included. Initially, the families decided whether they did (group 1, n=27) or did not (group 2, n=16) want to use a monitoring device. In group 1, patients were randomly assigned to using Epi-Care® (group 1A, n=14) or an audio baby monitor (group 1B, n=13). Quality of life was assessed at two points (t1, at the start of the study and t2, at 5-7months of follow-up) using the SF-12, Kindl-R, and "Familien-Belastungs-Fragebogen" (German version of the "Impact on Family Scale"). In addition, parental anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety-Inventory, and subjective quality of sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Statistical analysis focused on the possible differences between groups 1 and 2 that may influence parents' decisions and the effects of the presence and types of technical monitoring over time. Anxiety levels were not significantly different between the groups with and without monitoring (group 1 vs. group 2). We also found no statistically significant, substantial baseline differences between the Epi-Care® and audio baby monitor groups, with at least medium effect sizes (group 1A vs. group 1B). Parents' health-related mental quality of life measured via the SF-12 increased significantly over time in all groups. By tendency, the fear of further seizures as well as the frequency of cosleeping arrangements in the monitoring group decreased during the study and approached the stable values of the control group. Individual parental anxiety levels are not crucial in the decision regarding the use of a

  12. Quality monitoring methods of initial and terminal manufacture of LiFePO4 based lithium ion batteries by capillary electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Xia; Yang, Yang; Zhou, Henghui; Li, Meixian; Zhu, Zhiwei

    2018-03-01

    Magnetic impurities of lithium ion battery degrade both the capacity and cycling rates, even jeopardize the safety of the battery. During the material manufacture of LiFePO 4 , two opposite and extreme cases (trace impurity Fe(II) with high content of Fe(III) background in FePO 4 of initial end and trace Fe(III) with high content of Fe(II) background in LiFePO 4 of terminal end) can result in the generation of magnetic impurities. Accurate determination of impurities and precise evaluation of raw material or product are necessary to ensure reliability, efficiency and economy in lithium ion battery manufacture. Herein, two kinds of rapid, simple, and sensitive capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods are proposed for quality monitoring of initial and terminal manufacture of LiFePO 4 based lithium ion batteries. The key to success includes the smart use of three common agents 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), EDTA and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) in sample solution or background electrolyte (BGE), as well as sample stacking technique of CE feature. Owing to the combination of field-enhanced sample injection (FESI) technique with high stacking efficiency, detection limits of 2.5nM for Fe(II) and 0.1μM for Fe(III) were obtained corresponding to high content of Fe(III) and Fe(II), respectively. The good recoveries and reliability demonstrate that the developed methods are accurate approaches for quality monitoring of LiFePO 4 manufacture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Monitoring of the water quality of the Surata River in the mining area of Vetas and California

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomez, Vladimir Illich

    2004-01-01

    The regional autonomous corporation for the defense of the Bucaramanga plateau, environmental authority in the area of influence of the Mining District of Vetas and California, exercises among other activities, the pursuit and control to the auriferous exploitations. Two of the components of this pursuit are: the monitoring of the water quality of the Surata River, final receiver of the effusions coming from of the mineral benefit and the discharges control of cyanidation sand or cyanidation lines, by means of the monthly programming of daily discharges for mining company; in order to diminish the events of high cyanide concentrations in the hydraulic averages and to reduce the cyanide consumptions for the recovery of gold. The mining exploitations of the municipality pour their residuals to the Vetas River, while those of the Municipality of California, pour them to the gulch La Baja, flowing of the Vetas River who in turn is flowing of the Surata River, that supplies a part of the system of aqueduct of the Bucaramanga Municipality. The water quality of mining effusions is determined in three monitored points on the gulch La Baja, the Vetas River and the Surata River; additionally it is made a sampling and analysis of silts in four points on the same currents. The sampling frequency for the water quality is monthly, while for the silts analysis is biweekly. This monitoring is carried out from the year 1988, although it has suffered some interruptions in the time. The technique of water sampling is punctual, integrated to the wide of the bed and without seating capacity, the taking of silts is punctual and integrated to the wide of the bed and without seating capacity, these samples are preserved and transported to the laboratory of waters and soils of the CDMB, where the following parameters are analyzed: for the water sample, mercury, free cyanide and total cyanide, suspended solids, turbidity, pH and conductivity; for the sample of silts only mercury is analyzed

  14. Optimal spatio-temporal design of water quality monitoring networks for reservoirs: Application of the concept of value of information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maymandi, Nahal; Kerachian, Reza; Nikoo, Mohammad Reza

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents a new methodology for optimizing Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) networks of reservoirs and lakes using the concept of the value of information (VOI) and utilizing results of a calibrated numerical water quality simulation model. With reference to the value of information theory, water quality of every checkpoint with a specific prior probability differs in time. After analyzing water quality samples taken from potential monitoring points, the posterior probabilities are updated using the Baye's theorem, and VOI of the samples is calculated. In the next step, the stations with maximum VOI is selected as optimal stations. This process is repeated for each sampling interval to obtain optimal monitoring network locations for each interval. The results of the proposed VOI-based methodology is compared with those obtained using an entropy theoretic approach. As the results of the two methodologies would be partially different, in the next step, the results are combined using a weighting method. Finally, the optimal sampling interval and location of WQM stations are chosen using the Evidential Reasoning (ER) decision making method. The efficiency and applicability of the methodology are evaluated using available water quantity and quality data of the Karkheh Reservoir in the southwestern part of Iran.

  15. Environmental and Water Quality Operational Studies. General Guidelines for Monitoring Contaminants in Reservoirs

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-02-01

    espacially trte for the topics of sampling and analytical methods, statistical considerations, and the design of general water quality monitoring networks. For...and to the establishment and habitat differentiation of biological populations within reservoirs. Reservoir operatirn, esp- cially the timing...8217 % - - % properties of bottom sediments, as well as specific habitat associations of biological populations of reservoirs. Thus, such heterogeneities

  16. Letter Report Yucca Mountain Environmental Monitoring Systems Initiative - Air Quality Scoping Study for Caliente, Lincoln County, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engelbrecht, J.; Kavouras, I.; Campbell, D.; Campbell, S.; Kohl, S.; Shafer, D.

    2009-01-01

    The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is performing a scoping study as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Environmental Monitoring Systems Initiative (EMSI). The main objective is to obtain baseline air quality information for Yucca Mountain and an area surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Air quality and meteorological monitoring and sampling equipment housed in a mobile trailer (shelter) is collecting data at eight sites outside the NTS, including Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Beatty, Sarcobatus Flats, Rachel, Caliente, Pahranagat NWR, Crater Flat, and Tonopah Airport, and at four sites on the NTS (Engelbrecht et al., 2007a-d). The trailer is stationed at any one site for approximately eight weeks at a time. This letter report provides a summary of air quality and meteorological data, on completion of the site's sampling program

  17. CONCEPT AND STRUCTURE OF AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR MONITORING STUDENT LEARNING QUALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Yu. Kataev

    2017-01-01

    organization and management of the learning process in a higher educational institution. The factors that affect the level of student knowledge obtained during training are shown. On this basis, the determining factors in assessing the level of knowledge are highlighted. It is offered to build the managing of individual training at any time interval on the basis of a calculation of the generalized criterion which consists of students’ current progress, their activity and time spent for training.The block structure of the automated program system of continuous monitoring of achievements of each student is described. All functional blocks of system are interconnected with educational process. The main advantage of this system is that students have continuous access to materials about own individual achievements and mistakes; from passive consumers of information they turn into active members of the education, and thus, they can achieve bigger effectiveness of personal vocational training. It is pointed out that information base of such system has to be available not only to students and teachers, but also future employers of university graduates.Practical significance. The concept of automated system for education results monitoring and technique of processing of collected material presented in the article are based on a simple and obvious circumstance: a student with high progress spends more time on training and leads active lifestyle in comparison with fellow students; therefore, that student with high probability will be more successful in the chosen profession. Thus, for ease of use, complete, fully detailed and digitized information on individual educational achievements of future expert is necessary not only for effective management of educational process in higher education institutions, but also for employers interested in well-prepared, qualified and hard-working staff intended to take responsibility for labour duties.

  18. The data quality monitoring challenge at CMS experience from first collisions and future plans

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2069172

    2015-01-01

    The Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) Software is a central tool in the CMS experiment. Its robustness and flexibility is critical for monitoring detector performance and providing fast and comprehensive feedback centrally for the experiment in real-time (Online DQM), after a full event processing with fine-grained analysis (Offline DQM), and as a validation tool to validate both the CMS software (CMSSW), calibration and alignment scenarios and extensive simulations. The entire DQM framework has undergone fundamental changes, and the first performance results of this newly updated system will be presented in the context of the first proton-proton collisions for CERNs Large Hadron Collider at a center of mass energy of 13 TeV. These results will encapsulate the performance of the CMS detector in the context of the upgraded DQM system that makes available more sophisticated methods for evaluating data quality, as well as a dedicated review of the technical challenges and improvements specific to the DQM framework i...

  19. Audit Monitoring For Quality Management System (QMS) In Malaysian Nuclear Agency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fazila Said; Nurul Huda Mudri; Nurul Zusyakirah Ishak

    2013-01-01

    Auditing for Quality Management System (QMS) is a tool that helps an organization to enhance the quality performance. The audit was performed to check, maintain and improve the QMS practice. It is a compulsory for an organization to undergo series of audit in order to maintain the certification based on standard. In Malaysian Nuclear Agency, audit activities is monitored by Research and Innovation Management Centre (RIMC) that manage and ensure the internal and external audit are performed effectively. This paper will discuss the audit status of the processes that implement MS ISO 9001 and laboratories that accredited with MS ISO/ IEC 17025 for consecutive five years from year 2008 till 2012. Among the factors that show the effectiveness of QMS are cumulative of non-conformance (nc) according to duration of certification, frequency of nc by clause and comparison of non conformance and conformance clause within five years. The improvement plans from RIMC are also have been discussed according to four factors; internal audit quality, organizational setting, management support and auditee attributes. (author)

  20. Wavelet analysis deformation monitoring data of high-speed railway bridge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, ShiHua; Huang, Qing; Zhou, Conglin; Xu, HongWei; Liu, YinTao; Li, FeiDa

    2015-12-01

    Deformation monitoring data of high-speed railway bridges will inevitably be affected because of noise pollution, A deformation monitoring point of high-speed railway bridge was measurd by using sokkia SDL30 electronic level for a long time,which got a large number of deformation monitoring data. Based on the characteristics of the deformation monitoring data of high-speed railway bridge, which contain lots of noise. Based on the MATLAB software platform, 120 groups of deformation monitoring data were applied to analysis of wavelet denoising.sym6,db6 wavelet basis function were selected to analyze and remove the noise.The original signal was broken into three layers wavelet,which contain high frequency coefficients and low frequency coefficients.However, high frequency coefficient have plenty of noise.Adaptive method of soft and hard threshold were used to handle in the high frequency coefficient.Then,high frequency coefficient that was removed much of noise combined with low frequency coefficient to reconstitute and obtain reconstruction wavelet signal.Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Signal-To-Noise Ratio (SNR) were regarded as evaluation index of denoising,The smaller the root mean square error and the greater signal-to-noise ratio indicate that them have a good effect in denoising. We can surely draw some conclusions in the experimental analysis:the db6 wavelet basis function has a good effect in wavelet denoising by using a adaptive soft threshold method,which root mean square error is minimum and signal-to-noise ratio is maximum.Moreover,the reconstructed image are more smooth than original signal denoising after wavelet denoising, which removed noise and useful signal are obtained in the original signal.Compared to the other three methods, this method has a good effect in denoising, which not only retain useful signal in the original signal, but aiso reach the goal of removing noise. So, it has a strong practical value in a actual deformation monitoring