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Sample records for high-quality high-reliability evidence-based

Memorial Hermann: high reliability from board to bedside.

Science.gov (United States)

Shabot, M Michael; Monroe, Douglas; Inurria, Juan; Garbade, Debbi; France, Anne-Claire

2013-06-01

In 2006 the Memorial Hermann Health System (MHHS), which includes 12 hospitals, began applying principles embraced by high reliability organizations (HROs). Three factors support its HRO journey: (1) aligned organizational structure with transparent management systems and compressed reporting processes; (2) Robust Process Improvement (RPI) with high-reliability interventions; and (3) cultural establishment, sustainment, and evolution. The Quality and Safety strategic plan contains three domains, each with a specific set of measures that provide goals for performance: (1) "Clinical Excellence;" (2) "Do No Harm;" and (3) "Saving Lives," as measured by the Serious Safety Event rate. MHHS uses a uniform approach to performance improvement--RPI, which includes Six Sigma, Lean, and change management, to solve difficult safety and quality problems. The 9 acute care hospitals provide multiple opportunities to integrate high-reliability interventions and best practices across MHHS. For example, MHHS partnered with the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare in its inaugural project to establish reliable hand hygiene behaviors, which improved MHHS's average hand hygiene compliance rate from 44% to 92% currently. Soon after compliance exceeded 85% at all 12 hospitals, the average rate of central line-associated bloodstream and ventilator-associated pneumonias decreased to essentially zero. MHHS's size and diversity require a disciplined approach to performance improvement and systemwide achievement of measurable success. The most significant cultural change at MHHS has been the expectation for 100% compliance with evidence-based quality measures and 0% incidence of patient harm.
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
Simple and rapid preparation of [11C]DASB with high quality and reliability for routine applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeusler, D.; Mien, L.-K.; Nics, L.; Ungersboeck, J.; Philippe, C.; Lanzenberger, R.R.; Kletter, K.; Dudczak, R.; Mitterhauser, M.; Wadsak, W.

2009-01-01

[ 11 C]DASB combines all major prerequisites for a successful SERT-ligand, providing excellent biological properties and in-vivo behaviour. Thus, we aimed to establish a fully automated procedure for the synthesis and purification of [ 11 C]DASB with a high degree of reliability reducing the overall synthesis time while conserving high yields and purity. The optimized [ 11 C]DASB synthesis was applied in more than 60 applications with a very low failure rate (3.2%). We obtained yields up to 8.9 GBq (average 5.3±1.6 GBq). Radiochemical yields based on [ 11 C]CH 3 I, (corrected for decay) were 66.3±6.9% with a specific radioactivity (A s ) of 86.8±24.3 GBq/μmol (both at the end of synthesis, EOS). Time consumption was kept to a minimum, resulting in 43 min from end of bombardment to release of the product after quality control. Form our data, it is evident that the presented method can be implemented for routine preparations of [ 11 C]DASB with high reliability.
Simple and rapid preparation of [{sup 11}C]DASB with high quality and reliability for routine applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haeusler, D.; Mien, L.-K. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Nics, L. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Ungersboeck, J. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Philippe, C. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Lanzenberger, R.R. [Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Kletter, K.; Dudczak, R. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Mitterhauser, M. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Hospital Pharmacy of the General Hospital of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Wadsak, W. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna (Austria)], E-mail: wolfgang.wadsak@meduniwien.ac.at

2009-09-15

[{sup 11}C]DASB combines all major prerequisites for a successful SERT-ligand, providing excellent biological properties and in-vivo behaviour. Thus, we aimed to establish a fully automated procedure for the synthesis and purification of [{sup 11}C]DASB with a high degree of reliability reducing the overall synthesis time while conserving high yields and purity. The optimized [{sup 11}C]DASB synthesis was applied in more than 60 applications with a very low failure rate (3.2%). We obtained yields up to 8.9 GBq (average 5.3{+-}1.6 GBq). Radiochemical yields based on [{sup 11}C]CH{sub 3}I, (corrected for decay) were 66.3{+-}6.9% with a specific radioactivity (A{sub s}) of 86.8{+-}24.3 GBq/{mu}mol (both at the end of synthesis, EOS). Time consumption was kept to a minimum, resulting in 43 min from end of bombardment to release of the product after quality control. Form our data, it is evident that the presented method can be implemented for routine preparations of [{sup 11}C]DASB with high reliability.
Average effect estimates remain similar as evidence evolves from single trials to high-quality bodies of evidence: a meta-epidemiologic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gartlehner, Gerald; Dobrescu, Andreea; Evans, Tammeka Swinson; Thaler, Kylie; Nussbaumer, Barbara; Sommer, Isolde; Lohr, Kathleen N

2016-01-01

The objective of our study was to use a diverse sample of medical interventions to assess empirically whether first trials rendered substantially different treatment effect estimates than reliable, high-quality bodies of evidence. We used a meta-epidemiologic study design using 100 randomly selected bodies of evidence from Cochrane reports that had been graded as high quality of evidence. To determine the concordance of effect estimates between first and subsequent trials, we applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches. For quantitative assessment, we used Lin's concordance correlation and calculated z-scores; to determine the magnitude of differences of treatment effects, we calculated standardized mean differences (SMDs) and ratios of relative risks. We determined qualitative concordance based on a two-tiered approach incorporating changes in statistical significance and magnitude of effect. First trials both overestimated and underestimated the true treatment effects in no discernible pattern. Nevertheless, depending on the definition of concordance, effect estimates of first trials were concordant with pooled subsequent studies in at least 33% but up to 50% of comparisons. The pooled magnitude of change as bodies of evidence advanced from single trials to high-quality bodies of evidence was 0.16 SMD [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12, 0.21]. In 80% of comparisons, the difference in effect estimates was smaller than 0.5 SMDs. In first trials with large treatment effects (>0.5 SMD), however, estimates of effect substantially changed as new evidence accrued (mean change 0.68 SMD; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.86). Results of first trials often change, but the magnitude of change, on average, is small. Exceptions are first trials that present large treatment effects, which often dissipate as new evidence accrues. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Fuzzy method of recognition of high molecular substances in evidence-based biology

Science.gov (United States)

Olevskyi, V. I.; Smetanin, V. T.; Olevska, Yu. B.

2017-10-01

Nowadays modern requirements to achieving reliable results along with high quality of researches put mathematical analysis methods of results at the forefront. Because of this, evidence-based methods of processing experimental data have become increasingly popular in the biological sciences and medicine. Their basis is meta-analysis, a method of quantitative generalization of a large number of randomized trails contributing to a same special problem, which are often contradictory and performed by different authors. It allows identifying the most important trends and quantitative indicators of the data, verification of advanced hypotheses and discovering new effects in the population genotype. The existing methods of recognizing high molecular substances by gel electrophoresis of proteins under denaturing conditions are based on approximate methods for comparing the contrast of electrophoregrams with a standard solution of known substances. We propose a fuzzy method for modeling experimental data to increase the accuracy and validity of the findings of the detection of new proteins.
Automatic evidence quality prediction to support evidence-based decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarker, Abeed; Mollá, Diego; Paris, Cécile

2015-06-01

Evidence-based medicine practice requires practitioners to obtain the best available medical evidence, and appraise the quality of the evidence when making clinical decisions. Primarily due to the plethora of electronically available data from the medical literature, the manual appraisal of the quality of evidence is a time-consuming process. We present a fully automatic approach for predicting the quality of medical evidence in order to aid practitioners at point-of-care. Our approach extracts relevant information from medical article abstracts and utilises data from a specialised corpus to apply supervised machine learning for the prediction of the quality grades. Following an in-depth analysis of the usefulness of features (e.g., publication types of articles), they are extracted from the text via rule-based approaches and from the meta-data associated with the articles, and then applied in the supervised classification model. We propose the use of a highly scalable and portable approach using a sequence of high precision classifiers, and introduce a simple evaluation metric called average error distance (AED) that simplifies the comparison of systems. We also perform elaborate human evaluations to compare the performance of our system against human judgments. We test and evaluate our approaches on a publicly available, specialised, annotated corpus containing 1132 evidence-based recommendations. Our rule-based approach performs exceptionally well at the automatic extraction of publication types of articles, with F-scores of up to 0.99 for high-quality publication types. For evidence quality classification, our approach obtains an accuracy of 63.84% and an AED of 0.271. The human evaluations show that the performance of our system, in terms of AED and accuracy, is comparable to the performance of humans on the same data. The experiments suggest that our structured text classification framework achieves evaluation results comparable to those of human performance
Highly reliable TOFD UT Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acharya, G.D.; Trivedi, S.A.R.; Pai, K.B.

2003-01-01

The high performance of the time of flight diffraction technique (TOFD) with regard to the detection capabilities of weld defects such as crack, slag, lack of fusion has led to a rapidly increasing acceptance of the technique as a pre?service inspection tool. Since the early 1990s TOFD has been applied to several projects, where it replaced the commonly used radiographic testing. The use of TOM lead to major time savings during new build and replacement projects. At the same time the TOFD technique was used as base line inspection, which enables monitoring in the future for critical welds, but also provides documented evidence for life?time. The TOFD technique as the ability to detect and simultaneously size flows of nearly any orientation within the weld and heat affected zone. TOM is recognized as a reliable, proven technique for detection and sizing of defects and proven to be a time saver, resulting in shorter shutdown periods and construction project times. Thus even in cases where inspection price of TOFD per welds is higher, in the end it will result in significantly lower overall costs and improve quality. This paper deals with reliability, economy, acceptance criteria and field experience. It also covers comparative study between radiography technique Vs. TOFD. (Author)
Achieving High Reliability with People, Processes, and Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Candice L; Brennan, John A

2017-01-01

High reliability as a corporate value in healthcare can be achieved by meeting the "Quadruple Aim" of improving population health, reducing per capita costs, enhancing the patient experience, and improving provider wellness. This drive starts with the board of trustees, CEO, and other senior leaders who ingrain high reliability throughout the organization. At WellStar Health System, the board developed an ambitious goal to become a top-decile health system in safety and quality metrics. To achieve this goal, WellStar has embarked on a journey toward high reliability and has committed to Lean management practices consistent with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's definition of a high-reliability organization (HRO): one that is committed to the prevention of failure, early identification and mitigation of failure, and redesign of processes based on identifiable failures. In the end, a successful HRO can provide safe, effective, patient- and family-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable care through a convergence of people, processes, and technology.
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
Utilizing leadership to achieve high reliability in the delivery of perinatal care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parrotta C

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Carmen Parrotta,1 William Riley,1 Les Meredith21School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2Premier Insurance Management Services Inc, Charlotte, NC, USAAbstract: Highly reliable care requires standardization of clinical practices and is a prerequisite for patient safety. However, standardization in complex hospital settings is extremely difficult to attain and health care leaders are challenged to create care delivery processes that ensure patient safety. Moreover, once high reliability is achieved in a hospital unit, it must be maintained to avoid process deterioration. This case study examines an intervention to implement care bundles (a collection of evidence-based practices in four hospitals to achieve standardized care in perinatal units. The results show different patterns in the rate and magnitude of change within the hospitals to achieve high reliability. The study is part of a larger nationwide study of 16 hospitals to improve perinatal safety. Based on the findings, we discuss the role of leadership for implementing and sustaining high reliability to ensure freedom from unintended injury.Keywords: care bundles, evidence-based practice, standardized care, process improvement
Reliability of physical examination tests for the diagnosis of knee disorders: Evidence from a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Décary, Simon; Ouellet, Philippe; Vendittoli, Pascal-André; Desmeules, François

2016-12-01

Clinicians often rely on physical examination tests to guide them in the diagnostic process of knee disorders. However, reliability of these tests is often overlooked and may influence the consistency of results and overall diagnostic validity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to systematically review evidence on the reliability of physical examination tests for the diagnosis of knee disorders. A structured literature search was conducted in databases up to January 2016. Included studies needed to report reliability measures of at least one physical test for any knee disorder. Methodological quality was evaluated using the QAREL checklist. A qualitative synthesis of the evidence was performed. Thirty-three studies were included with a mean QAREL score of 5.5 ± 0.5. Based on low to moderate quality evidence, the Thessaly test for meniscal injuries reached moderate inter-rater reliability (k = 0.54). Based on moderate to excellent quality evidence, the Lachman for anterior cruciate ligament injuries reached moderate to excellent inter-rater reliability (k = 0.42 to 0.81). Based on low to moderate quality evidence, the Tibiofemoral Crepitus, Joint Line and Patellofemoral Pain/Tenderness, Bony Enlargement and Joint Pain on Movement tests for knee osteoarthritis reached fair to excellent inter-rater reliability (k = 0.29 to 0.93). Based on low to moderate quality evidence, the Lateral Glide, Lateral Tilt, Lateral Pull and Quality of Movement tests for patellofemoral pain reached moderate to good inter-rater reliability (k = 0.49 to 0.73). Many physical tests appear to reach good inter-rater reliability, but this is based on low-quality and conflicting evidence. High-quality research is required to evaluate the reliability of knee physical examination tests. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
High-Reliability Health Care: Getting There from Here

Science.gov (United States)

Chassin, Mark R; Loeb, Jerod M

2013-01-01

Context Despite serious and widespread efforts to improve the quality of health care, many patients still suffer preventable harm every day. Hospitals find improvement difficult to sustain, and they suffer “project fatigue” because so many problems need attention. No hospitals or health systems have achieved consistent excellence throughout their institutions. High-reliability science is the study of organizations in industries like commercial aviation and nuclear power that operate under hazardous conditions while maintaining safety levels that are far better than those of health care. Adapting and applying the lessons of this science to health care offer the promise of enabling hospitals to reach levels of quality and safety that are comparable to those of the best high-reliability organizations. Methods We combined the Joint Commission's knowledge of health care organizations with knowledge from the published literature and from experts in high-reliability industries and leading safety scholars outside health care. We developed a conceptual and practical framework for assessing hospitals’ readiness for and progress toward high reliability. By iterative testing with hospital leaders, we refined the framework and, for each of its fourteen components, defined stages of maturity through which we believe hospitals must pass to reach high reliability. Findings We discovered that the ways that high-reliability organizations generate and maintain high levels of safety cannot be directly applied to today's hospitals. We defined a series of incremental changes that hospitals should undertake to progress toward high reliability. These changes involve the leadership's commitment to achieving zero patient harm, a fully functional culture of safety throughout the organization, and the widespread deployment of highly effective process improvement tools. Conclusions Hospitals can make substantial progress toward high reliability by undertaking several specific
Modeling Sensor Reliability in Fault Diagnosis Based on Evidence Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaijuan Yuan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sensor data fusion plays an important role in fault diagnosis. Dempster–Shafer (D-R evidence theory is widely used in fault diagnosis, since it is efficient to combine evidence from different sensors. However, under the situation where the evidence highly conflicts, it may obtain a counterintuitive result. To address the issue, a new method is proposed in this paper. Not only the statistic sensor reliability, but also the dynamic sensor reliability are taken into consideration. The evidence distance function and the belief entropy are combined to obtain the dynamic reliability of each sensor report. A weighted averaging method is adopted to modify the conflict evidence by assigning different weights to evidence according to sensor reliability. The proposed method has better performance in conflict management and fault diagnosis due to the fact that the information volume of each sensor report is taken into consideration. An application in fault diagnosis based on sensor fusion is illustrated to show the efficiency of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method improves the accuracy of fault diagnosis from 81.19% to 89.48% compared to the existing methods.
Challenges and Ideas from a Research Program on High Quality, Evidence-Based Practice in School Mental Health

Science.gov (United States)

Weist, Mark D.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Stephan, Sharon; Lever, Nancy; Fowler, Johnathan; Taylor, Leslie; McDaniel, Heather; Chappelle, Lori; Paggeot, Samantha; Hoagwood, Kimberly

2013-01-01

Objective Reviews the progression of a research program designed to develop, implement and study the implementation of “achievable” evidence-based practices (EBPs) in schools. Reviews challenges encountered and ideas to overcome them to enhance this avenue of research. Method Presents two federally funded randomized controlled trials involving comparison of a four-component targeted intervention (Quality Assessment and Improvement, Family Engagement and Empowerment, Modular Evidence-Based Practice, Implementation Support) versus a comparison intervention focused on Personal Wellness. In both studies primary aims focused on changes in clinician attitudes and behavior, including the delivery of high quality, evidence-based practices and secondary aims focused on student level impacts. Results A number of challenges, many not reported in the literature are reviewed, and ideas for overcoming them are presented. Conclusions Given the reality that the majority of youth mental health services are delivered in schools and the potential of school mental health (SMH) services to provide a continuum of mental health care from promotion to intervention, it is critical that the field consider and address the logistical and methodological challenges associated with implementing and studying EBP implementation by clinicians. PMID:24063310
Reliability-based design optimization via high order response surface method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hong Shuang

2013-01-01

To reduce the computational effort of reliability-based design optimization (RBDO), the response surface method (RSM) has been widely used to evaluate reliability constraints. We propose an efficient methodology for solving RBDO problems based on an improved high order response surface method (HORSM) that takes advantage of an efficient sampling method, Hermite polynomials and uncertainty contribution concept to construct a high order response surface function with cross terms for reliability analysis. The sampling method generates supporting points from Gauss-Hermite quadrature points, which can be used to approximate response surface function without cross terms, to identify the highest order of each random variable and to determine the significant variables connected with point estimate method. The cross terms between two significant random variables are added to the response surface function to improve the approximation accuracy. Integrating the nested strategy, the improved HORSM is explored in solving RBDO problems. Additionally, a sampling based reliability sensitivity analysis method is employed to reduce the computational effort further when design variables are distributional parameters of input random variables. The proposed methodology is applied on two test problems to validate its accuracy and efficiency. The proposed methodology is more efficient than first order reliability method based RBDO and Monte Carlo simulation based RBDO, and enables the use of RBDO as a practical design tool.
High-reliability health care: getting there from here.

Science.gov (United States)

Chassin, Mark R; Loeb, Jerod M

2013-09-01

Despite serious and widespread efforts to improve the quality of health care, many patients still suffer preventable harm every day. Hospitals find improvement difficult to sustain, and they suffer "project fatigue" because so many problems need attention. No hospitals or health systems have achieved consistent excellence throughout their institutions. High-reliability science is the study of organizations in industries like commercial aviation and nuclear power that operate under hazardous conditions while maintaining safety levels that are far better than those of health care. Adapting and applying the lessons of this science to health care offer the promise of enabling hospitals to reach levels of quality and safety that are comparable to those of the best high-reliability organizations. We combined the Joint Commission's knowledge of health care organizations with knowledge from the published literature and from experts in high-reliability industries and leading safety scholars outside health care. We developed a conceptual and practical framework for assessing hospitals' readiness for and progress toward high reliability. By iterative testing with hospital leaders, we refined the framework and, for each of its fourteen components, defined stages of maturity through which we believe hospitals must pass to reach high reliability. We discovered that the ways that high-reliability organizations generate and maintain high levels of safety cannot be directly applied to today's hospitals. We defined a series of incremental changes that hospitals should undertake to progress toward high reliability. These changes involve the leadership's commitment to achieving zero patient harm, a fully functional culture of safety throughout the organization, and the widespread deployment of highly effective process improvement tools. Hospitals can make substantial progress toward high reliability by undertaking several specific organizational change initiatives. Further research
Contribution to high voltage matrix switches reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lausenaz, Yvan

2000-01-01

Nowadays, power electronic equipment requirements are important, concerning performances, quality and reliability. On the other hand, costs have to be reduced in order to satisfy the market rules. To provide cheap, reliability and performances, many standard components with mass production are developed. But the construction of specific products must be considered following these two different points: in one band you can produce specific components, with delay, over-cost problems and eventuality quality and reliability problems, in the other and you can use standard components in a adapted topologies. The CEA of Pierrelatte has adopted this last technique of power electronic conception for the development of these high voltage pulsed power converters. The technique consists in using standard components and to associate them in series and in parallel. The matrix constitutes high voltage macro-switch where electrical parameters are distributed between the synchronized components. This study deals with the reliability of these structures. It brings up the high reliability aspect of MOSFETs matrix associations. Thanks to several homemade test facilities, we obtained lots of data concerning the components we use. The understanding of defects propagation mechanisms in matrix structures has allowed us to put forwards the necessity of robust drive system, adapted clamping voltage protection, and careful geometrical construction. All these reliability considerations in matrix associations have notably allowed the construction of a new matrix structure regrouping all solutions insuring reliability. Reliable and robust, this product has already reaches the industrial stage. (author) [fr
High level issues in reliability quantification of safety-critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Man Cheol

2012-01-01

For the purpose of developing a consensus method for the reliability assessment of safety-critical digital instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power plants, several high level issues in reliability assessment of the safety-critical software based on Bayesian belief network modeling and statistical testing are discussed. Related to the Bayesian belief network modeling, the relation between the assessment approach and the sources of evidence, the relation between qualitative evidence and quantitative evidence, how to consider qualitative evidence, and the cause-consequence relation are discussed. Related to the statistical testing, the need of the consideration of context-specific software failure probabilities and the inability to perform a huge number of tests in the real world are discussed. The discussions in this paper are expected to provide a common basis for future discussions on the reliability assessment of safety-critical software. (author)
Challenges and ideas from a research program on high-quality, evidence-based practice in school mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Weist, Mark D; Youngstrom, Eric A; Stephan, Sharon; Lever, Nancy; Fowler, Johnathan; Taylor, Leslie; McDaniel, Heather; Chappelle, Lori; Paggeot, Samantha; Hoagwood, Kimberly

2014-01-01

This article reviews the progression of a research program designed to develop, implement, and study the implementation of "achievable" evidence-based practices (EBPs) in schools. We review challenges encountered and ideas to overcome them to enhance this avenue of research. The article presents two federally funded randomized controlled trials involving comparison of a four-component targeted intervention (Quality Assessment and Improvement, Family Engagement and Empowerment, Modular Evidence-Based Practice, Implementation Support) versus a comparison intervention focused on personal wellness. In both studies, primary aims focused on changes in clinician attitudes and behavior, including the delivery of high-quality EBPs and secondary aims focused on student-level impacts. A number of challenges, many not reported in the literature, are reviewed, and ideas for overcoming them are presented. Given the reality that the majority of youth mental health services are delivered in schools and the potential of school mental health services to provide a continuum of mental health care from promotion to intervention, it is critical that the field consider and address the logistical and methodological challenges associated with implementing and studying EBP implementation by clinicians.

Achieving High Reliability Operations Through Multi-Program Integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holly M. Ashley; Ronald K. Farris; Robert E. Richards

2009-04-01

Over the last 20 years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has adopted a number of operations and safety-related programs which has each periodically taken its turn in the limelight. As new programs have come along there has been natural competition for resources, focus and commitment. In the last few years, the INL has made real progress in integrating all these programs and are starting to realize important synergies. Contributing to this integration are both collaborative individuals and an emerging shared vision and goal of the INL fully maturing in its high reliability operations. This goal is so powerful because the concept of high reliability operations (and the resulting organizations) is a masterful amalgam and orchestrator of the best of all the participating programs (i.e. conduct of operations, behavior based safety, human performance, voluntary protection, quality assurance, and integrated safety management). This paper is a brief recounting of the lessons learned, thus far, at the INL in bringing previously competing programs into harmony under the goal (umbrella) of seeking to perform regularly as a high reliability organization. In addition to a brief diagram-illustrated historical review, the authors will share the INL’s primary successes (things already effectively stopped or started) and the gaps yet to be bridged.
Exact reliability quantification of highly reliable systems with maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bris, Radim, E-mail: radim.bris@vsb.c [VSB-Technical University Ostrava, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Applied Mathematics, 17. listopadu 15, 70833 Ostrava-Poruba (Czech Republic)

2010-12-15

When a system is composed of highly reliable elements, exact reliability quantification may be problematic, because computer accuracy is limited. Inaccuracy can be due to different aspects. For example, an error may be made when subtracting two numbers that are very close to each other, or at the process of summation of many very different numbers, etc. The basic objective of this paper is to find a procedure, which eliminates errors made by PC when calculations close to an error limit are executed. Highly reliable system is represented by the use of directed acyclic graph which is composed from terminal nodes, i.e. highly reliable input elements, internal nodes representing subsystems and edges that bind all of these nodes. Three admissible unavailability models of terminal nodes are introduced, including both corrective and preventive maintenance. The algorithm for exact unavailability calculation of terminal nodes is based on merits of a high-performance language for technical computing MATLAB. System unavailability quantification procedure applied to a graph structure, which considers both independent and dependent (i.e. repeatedly occurring) terminal nodes is based on combinatorial principle. This principle requires summation of a lot of very different non-negative numbers, which may be a source of an inaccuracy. That is why another algorithm for exact summation of such numbers is designed in the paper. The summation procedure uses benefits from a special number system with the base represented by the value 2{sup 32}. Computational efficiency of the new computing methodology is compared with advanced simulation software. Various calculations on systems from references are performed to emphasize merits of the methodology.
The Mentalization-Based Therapy Adherence and Quality Scale (MBT-AQS): Reliability in a clinical setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Sebastian; Juul, Sophie; Kongerslev, Mickey

2018-01-01

The Mentalization-Based Treatment Adherence and Quality Scale (MBT-AQS) is a 17-item measure of treatment adherence and quality of individual mentalization-based therapy (MBT). Until now, reliability research on the scale has primarily been conducted by highly experienced raters from the Norwegian...... MBT therapists in a clinical setting following a brief one-day training course. The overall reliabilities for six raters were good for adherence (.67) and for quality (.62). Thus, the MBT-AQS was found to be an appropriate MBT adherence rating instrument with clinical and educational utility outside...... MBT Quality Lab who were part of its development. Hence, it can be questioned whether only experts in research settings can achieve satisfying levels of reliability on the scale. In this study, we investigated whether a satisfying level of reliability on the MBT-AQS could be obtained by experienced...
Using social media for knowledge translation, promotion of evidence-based medicine and high-quality information on health.

Science.gov (United States)

Puljak, Livia

2016-02-02

Knowledge translation activities may be targeted towards all participants in healthcare practices, including patients, consumers, and policy makers. Hereby, use of social media, namely social network Facebook, as a tool for knowledge translation, promotion of evidence-based medicine and high-quality information on health is described. In March 2013, a Facebook page of the Croatian Cochrane Branch was created and its main content are translated plain language summaries (PLS) of the systematic reviews produced by The Cochrane Collaboration. Since the page was created it has gained 1441 followers, mostly from Croatia and neighboring countries with similar language. Most of the page followers are women aged 25 to 44 and the most popular content is related to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. Page followers are lay persons, health professionals and journalists, who further disseminate the page content. In summary, social media enables multiple possibilities to engage with target audience and to disseminate the evidence-based medicine content. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Patient safety in anesthesia: learning from the culture of high-reliability organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Suzanne M

2015-03-01

There has been an increased awareness of and interest in patient safety and improved outcomes, as well as a growing body of evidence substantiating medical error as a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. According to The Joint Commission, US hospitals demonstrate improvements in health care quality and patient safety. Although this progress is encouraging, much room for improvement remains. High-reliability organizations, industries that deliver reliable performances in the face of complex working environments, can serve as models of safety for our health care system until plausible explanations for patient harm are better understood. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
High-Reliable PLC RTOS Development and RPS Structure Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohn, H. S.; Song, D. Y.; Sohn, D. S.; Kim, J. H. [Enersys Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-04-15

One of the KNICS objectives is to develop a platform for Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) I and C(Instrumentation and Control) system, especially plant protection system. The developed platform is POSAFE-Q and this work supports the development of POSAFE-Q with the development of high-reliable real-time operating system(RTOS) and programmable logic device(PLD) software. Another KNICS objective is to develop safety I and C systems, such as Reactor Protection System(RPS) and Engineered Safety Feature-Component Control System(ESF-CCS). This work plays an important role in the structure analysis for RPS. Validation and verification(V and V) of the safety critical software is an essential work to make digital plant protection system highly reliable and safe. Generally, the reliability and safety of software based system can be improved by strict quality assurance framework including the software development itself. In other words, through V and V, the reliability and safety of a system can be improved and the development activities like software requirement specification, software design specification, component tests, integration tests, and system tests shall be appropriately documented for V and V.
High-Reliable PLC RTOS Development and RPS Structure Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, H. S.; Song, D. Y.; Sohn, D. S.; Kim, J. H.

2008-04-01

One of the KNICS objectives is to develop a platform for Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) I and C(Instrumentation and Control) system, especially plant protection system. The developed platform is POSAFE-Q and this work supports the development of POSAFE-Q with the development of high-reliable real-time operating system(RTOS) and programmable logic device(PLD) software. Another KNICS objective is to develop safety I and C systems, such as Reactor Protection System(RPS) and Engineered Safety Feature-Component Control System(ESF-CCS). This work plays an important role in the structure analysis for RPS. Validation and verification(V and V) of the safety critical software is an essential work to make digital plant protection system highly reliable and safe. Generally, the reliability and safety of software based system can be improved by strict quality assurance framework including the software development itself. In other words, through V and V, the reliability and safety of a system can be improved and the development activities like software requirement specification, software design specification, component tests, integration tests, and system tests shall be appropriately documented for V and V.
Reliable implementation of evidence: a qualitative study of antenatal corticosteroid administration in Ohio hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Heather C; Sherman, Susan N; Cleveland, Charlena; Goldenhar, Linda M; Lannon, Carole M; Bailit, Jennifer L

2016-03-01

Antenatal corticosteroids (ANCS) reduce complications of preterm birth; however, not all eligible women receive them. Many hospitals and providers do not have the right processes and conditions to enable ANCS administration with high reliability. The objective of this study was to understand conditions that enable delivery of ANCS with high reliability among hospitals participating in an Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative (OPQC) ANCS project. We conducted focus groups and semistructured interviews with members of the OPQC project team (n=27) and other care providers (n=70) using a purposeful sample of 6 sites involved in the OPQC ANCS project. Participants including nurses (n=57), attending obstetricians (n=17), physician trainees (n=21) and certified nurse midwives (n=2) were asked to reflect on their experiences and to identify factors contributing to optimal use of ANCS. Focus groups and interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed by a multidisciplinary team using an iterative approach that combined inductive and deductive methods to identify and categorise themes. Six major themes supporting reliable implementation of ANCS at these hospitals emerged including: (1) presence of a high reliability culture, (2) processes that emphasise high reliability, (3) timely and efficient administration process, (4) multiple disciplines are involved, (5) evidence of benefit supports ANCS use and (6) benefit is recognised at all levels of the care team. Our findings identify the key processes and supports needed to ensure delivery of ASCS with high reliability and are reinforced by implementation and reliability science. They are useful for foundation of the successful implementation of other evidence-based practices at high levels of reliability. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation: current and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Abella, Benjamin S

2016-06-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) represents the cornerstone of cardiac arrest resuscitation care. Prompt delivery of high-quality CPR can dramatically improve survival outcomes; however, the definitions of optimal CPR have evolved over several decades. The present review will discuss the metrics of CPR delivery, and the evidence supporting the importance of CPR quality to improve clinical outcomes. The introduction of new technologies to quantify metrics of CPR delivery has yielded important insights into CPR quality. Investigations using CPR recording devices have allowed the assessment of specific CPR performance parameters and their relative importance regarding return of spontaneous circulation and survival to hospital discharge. Additional work has suggested new opportunities to measure physiologic markers during CPR and potentially tailor CPR delivery to patient requirements. Through recent laboratory and clinical investigations, a more evidence-based definition of high-quality CPR continues to emerge. Exciting opportunities now exist to study quantitative metrics of CPR and potentially guide resuscitation care in a goal-directed fashion. Concepts of high-quality CPR have also informed new approaches to training and quality improvement efforts for cardiac arrest care.
Management systems for high reliability organizations. Integration and effectiveness; Managementsysteme fuer Hochzuverlaessigkeitsorganisationen. Integration und Wirksamkeit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayer, Michael

2015-03-09

The scope of the thesis is the development of a method for improvement of efficient integrated management systems for high reliability organizations (HRO). A comprehensive analysis of severe accident prevention is performed. Severe accident management, mitigation measures and business continuity management are not included. High reliability organizations are complex and potentially dynamic organization forms that can be inherently dangerous like nuclear power plants, offshore platforms, chemical facilities, large ships or large aircrafts. A recursive generic management system model (RGM) was development based on the following factors: systemic and cybernetic Asepcts; integration of different management fields, high decision quality, integration of efficient methods of safety and risk analysis, integration of human reliability aspects, effectiveness evaluation and improvement.
Effect of Clinically Discriminating, Evidence-Based Checklist Items on the Reliability of Scores from an Internal Medicine Residency OSCE

Science.gov (United States)

Daniels, Vijay J.; Bordage, Georges; Gierl, Mark J.; Yudkowsky, Rachel

2014-01-01

Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are used worldwide for summative examinations but often lack acceptable reliability. Research has shown that reliability of scores increases if OSCE checklists for medical students include only clinically relevant items. Also, checklists are often missing evidence-based items that high-achieving…
Identifying suitable substrates for high-quality graphene-based heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Banszerus, L.; Janssen, H.; Otto, M.; Epping, A.; Taniguchi, T.; Watanabe, K.; Beschoten, B.; Neumaier, D.; Stampfer, C.

2017-06-01

We report on a scanning confocal Raman spectroscopy study investigating the strain-uniformity and the overall strain and doping of high-quality chemical vapour deposited (CVD) graphene-based heterostuctures on a large number of different substrate materials, including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), transition metal dichalcogenides, silicon, different oxides and nitrides, as well as polymers. By applying a hBN-assisted, contamination free, dry transfer process for CVD graphene, high-quality heterostructures with low doping densities and low strain variations are assembled. The Raman spectra of these pristine heterostructures are sensitive to substrate-induced doping and strain variations and are thus used to probe the suitability of the substrate material for potential high-quality graphene devices. We find that the flatness of the substrate material is a key figure for gaining, or preserving high-quality graphene.
Human reliability in high dose rate afterloading radiotherapy based on FMECA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Jun; Fan Yaohua; Yue Baorong; Wei Kedao; Ren Fuli

2012-01-01

Objective: To put forward reasonable and feasible recommendations against the procedure with relative high risk during the high dose rate (HDR) afterloading radiotherapy, so as to enhance its clinical application safety, through studying the human reliability in the process of carrying out the HDR afterloading radiotherapy. Methods: Basic data were collected by on-site investigation and process analysis as well as expert evaluation. Failure mode, effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) employed to study the human reliability in the execution of HDR afterloading radiotherapy. Results: The FMECA model of human reliability for HDR afterloading radiotherapy was established, through which 25 procedures with relative high risk index were found,accounting for 14.1% of total 177 procedures. Conclusions: FMECA method in human reliability study for HDR afterloading radiotherapy is feasible. The countermeasures are put forward to reduce the human error, so as to provide important basis for enhancing clinical application safety of HDR afterloading radiotherapy. (authors)
Fix These First: How the World's Leading Companies Point the Way Toward High Reliability in the Military Health System.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauvais, Brad; Richter, Jason; Brezinski, Paul

The 2014 Military Health System Review calls for healthcare system leaders to implement effective strategies used by other high-performing organizations. The authors state, " the [military health system] MHS can create an optimal healthcare environment that focuses on continuous quality improvement where every patient receives safe, high-quality care at all times" (Military Health System, 2014, p. 1). Although aspirational, the document does not specify how a highly reliable health system is developed or what systemic factors are necessary to sustain highly reliable performance. Our work seeks to address this gap and provide guidance to MHS leaders regarding how high-performing organizations develop exceptional levels of performance.The authors' expectation is that military medicine will draw on these lessons to enhance leadership, develop exceptional organizational cultures, onboard and engage employees, build customer loyalty, and improve quality of care. Leaders from other segments of the healthcare field likely will find this study valuable given the size of the military healthcare system (9.6 million beneficiaries), the United States' steady progression toward population-based health, and the increasing need for highly reliable systems and performance.
Analysis of fatigue reliability for high temperature and high pressure multi-stage decompression control valve

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Long; Xu, Juanjuan; Zhang, Lifang; Xu, Xiaogang

2018-03-01

Based on stress-strength interference theory to establish the reliability mathematical model for high temperature and high pressure multi-stage decompression control valve (HMDCV), and introduced to the temperature correction coefficient for revising material fatigue limit at high temperature. Reliability of key dangerous components and fatigue sensitivity curve of each component are calculated and analyzed by the means, which are analyzed the fatigue life of control valve and combined with reliability theory of control valve model. The impact proportion of each component on the control valve system fatigue failure was obtained. The results is shown that temperature correction factor makes the theoretical calculations of reliability more accurate, prediction life expectancy of main pressure parts accords with the technical requirements, and valve body and the sleeve have obvious influence on control system reliability, the stress concentration in key part of control valve can be reduced in the design process by improving structure.
Examination of Operation Quality for High-frequent Railway Operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landex, Alex; Kaas, Anders H.

2009-01-01

take the first train in their direction. The article examines four different approaches to examine operation quality for high-frequent operation that are based on the experiences of the passengers. These approaches are the service frequency of the operation, travel time extension, a combination......The examination of operation quality for high-frequent operation requires other approaches than the typical evaluation of punctuality (trains on time) and reliability (operated trains). This is because passengers in high-frequent railway systems do not necessarily notice train delays as they just...... of the service frequency and travel time approaches, and passenger delays. The service frequency and travel time approaches are simple measurements with low complexity and complement each other. Therefore, the article recommends combining the service frequency and travel time approaches to get a more accurate...
Evidence-Based Healthcare: The Importance of Effective Interprofessional Working for High Quality Veterinary Services, a UK Example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tierney Kinnison

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: To highlight the importance of evidence-based research, not only for the consideration of clinical diseases and individual patient treatment, but also for investigating complex healthcare systems, as demonstrated through a focus on veterinary interprofessional working.Background:Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine (EBVM was developed due to concerns over inconsistent approaches to therapy being delivered by individuals. However, a focus purely on diagnosis and treatment will miss other potential causes of substandard care including the holistic system. Veterinary services are provided by interprofessional teams; research on these teams is growing.Evidentiary value:This paper outlines results from four articles, written by the current authors, which are unique in their focus on interprofessional practice teams in the UK. Through mixed methods, the articles demonstrate an evidence base of the effects of interprofessional working on the quality of service delivery.Results:The articles explored demonstrate facilitators and challenges of the practice system on interprofessional working and the outcomes, including errors. The results encourage consideration of interprofessional relationships and activities in veterinary organisations. Interprofessional working is an example of one area which can affect the quality of veterinary services.Conclusion: The papers presented on veterinary interprofessional working are an example of the opportunities for future research on various topics within evidence-based healthcare.Application:The results are pertinent to members of veterinary teams seeking to improve their service delivery, to educators looking to enhance their students’ understanding of interprofessional working, and to researchers, who will hopefully be encouraged to consider evidence-based healthcare more holistically.
Highly qualified does not equal high quality: A study of urban stakeholders' perceptions of quality in science teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Rommel Joseph

By employing qualitative methods, this study sought to determine the perceptions that urban stakeholders hold about what characteristics should distinguish a high school science teacher whom they would consider to demonstrate high quality in science teaching. A maximum variation sample of six science teachers, three school administrators, six parents and six students from a large urban public school district were interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interview techniques. From these data, a list of observable characteristics which urban stakeholders hold as evidence of high quality in science teaching was generated. Observational techniques were utilized to determine the extent to which six urban high school science teachers, who meet the NCLB Act criteria for being "highly qualified", actually possessed the characteristics which these stakeholders hold as evidence of high quality in science teaching. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the data set. The findings suggest that urban stakeholders perceive that a high school science teacher who demonstrates high quality in science teaching should be knowledgeable about their subject matter, their student population, and should be resourceful; should possess an academic background in science and professional experience in science teaching; should exhibit professionalism, a passion for science and teaching, and a dedication to teaching and student learning; should be skillful in planning and preparing science lessons and in organizing the classroom, in presenting the subject matter to students, in conducting a variety of hands-on activities, and in managing a classroom; and should assess whether students complete class goals and objectives, and provide feedback about grades for students promptly. The findings further reveal that some of the urban high school science teachers who were deemed to be "highly qualified", as defined by the NCLB Act, engaged in practices that threatened quality in science
Assessing high reliability via Bayesian approach and accelerated tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erto, Pasquale; Giorgio, Massimiliano

2002-01-01

Sometimes the assessment of very high reliability levels is difficult for the following main reasons: - the high reliability level of each item makes it impossible to obtain, in a reasonably short time, a sufficient number of failures; - the high cost of the high reliability items to submit to life tests makes it unfeasible to collect enough data for 'classical' statistical analyses. In the above context, this paper presents a Bayesian solution to the problem of estimation of the parameters of the Weibull-inverse power law model, on the basis of a limited number (say six) of life tests, carried out at different stress levels, all higher than the normal one. The over-stressed (i.e. accelerated) tests allow the use of experimental data obtained in a reasonably short time. The Bayesian approach enables one to reduce the required number of failures adding to the failure information the available a priori engineers' knowledge. This engineers' involvement conforms to the most advanced management policy that aims at involving everyone's commitment in order to obtain total quality. A Monte Carlo study of the non-asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators and a comparison with the properties of maximum likelihood estimators closes the work
How evidence-based are the recommendations in evidence-based guidelines?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finlay A McAlister

2007-08-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Treatment recommendations for the same condition from different guideline bodies often disagree, even when the same randomized controlled trial (RCT evidence is cited. Guideline appraisal tools focus on methodology and quality of reporting, but not on the nature of the supporting evidence. This study was done to evaluate the quality of the evidence (based on consideration of its internal validity, clinical relevance, and applicability underlying therapy recommendations in evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A cross-sectional analysis of cardiovascular risk management recommendations was performed for three different conditions (diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and hypertension from three pan-national guideline panels (from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Of the 338 treatment recommendations in these nine guidelines, 231 (68% cited RCT evidence but only 105 (45% of these RCT-based recommendations were based on high-quality evidence. RCT-based evidence was downgraded most often because of reservations about the applicability of the RCT to the populations specified in the guideline recommendation (64/126 cases, 51% or because the RCT reported surrogate outcomes (59/126 cases, 47%. CONCLUSIONS: The results of internally valid RCTs may not be applicable to the populations, interventions, or outcomes specified in a guideline recommendation and therefore should not always be assumed to provide high-quality evidence for therapy recommendations.

High power klystrons for efficient reliable high power amplifiers

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, M.

1980-11-01

This report covers the design of reliable high efficiency, high power klystrons which may be used in both existing and proposed troposcatter radio systems. High Power (10 kW) klystron designs were generated in C-band (4.4 GHz to 5.0 GHz), S-band (2.5 GHz to 2.7 GHz), and L-band or UHF frequencies (755 MHz to 985 MHz). The tubes were designed for power supply compatibility and use with a vapor/liquid phase heat exchanger. Four (4) S-band tubes were developed in the course of this program along with two (2) matching focusing solenoids and two (2) heat exchangers. These tubes use five (5) tuners with counters which are attached to the focusing solenoids. A reliability mathematical model of the tube and heat exchanger system was also generated.
Isolation of high quality RNA from pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) and other woody plants high in secondary metabolites.

Science.gov (United States)

Moazzam Jazi, Maryam; Rajaei, Saideh; Seyedi, Seyed Mahdi

2015-10-01

The quality and quantity of RNA are critical for successful downstream transcriptome-based studies such as microarrays and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). RNA isolation from woody plants, such as Pistacia vera, with very high amounts of polyphenols and polysaccharides is an enormous challenge. Here, we describe a highly efficient protocol that overcomes the limitations posed by poor quality and low yield of isolated RNA from pistachio and various recalcitrant woody plants. The key factors that resulted in a yield of 150 μg of high quality RNA per 200 mg of plant tissue include the elimination of phenol from the extraction buffer, raising the concentration of β-mercaptoethanol, long time incubation at 65 °C, and nucleic acid precipitation with optimized volume of NaCl and isopropyl alcohol. Also, the A260/A280 and A260/A230 of extracted RNA were about 1.9-2.1and 2.2-2.3, respectively, revealing the high purity. Since the isolated RNA passed highly stringent quality control standards for sensitive reactions, including RNA sequencing and real-time PCR, it can be considered as a reliable and cost-effective method for RNA extraction from woody plants.
High Electricity Demand in the Northeast U.S.: PJM Reliability Network and Peaking Unit Impacts on Air Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Farkas, Caroline M; Moeller, Michael D; Felder, Frank A; Henderson, Barron H; Carlton, Annmarie G

2016-08-02

On high electricity demand days, when air quality is often poor, regional transmission organizations (RTOs), such as PJM Interconnection, ensure reliability of the grid by employing peak-use electric generating units (EGUs). These "peaking units" are exempt from some federal and state air quality rules. We identify RTO assignment and peaking unit classification for EGUs in the Eastern U.S. and estimate air quality for four emission scenarios with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model during the July 2006 heat wave. Further, we population-weight ambient values as a surrogate for potential population exposure. Emissions from electricity reliability networks negatively impact air quality in their own region and in neighboring geographic areas. Monitored and controlled PJM peaking units are generally located in economically depressed areas and can contribute up to 87% of hourly maximum PM2.5 mass locally. Potential population exposure to peaking unit PM2.5 mass is highest in the model domain's most populated cities. Average daily temperature and national gross domestic product steer peaking unit heat input. Air quality planning that capitalizes on a priori knowledge of local electricity demand and economics may provide a more holistic approach to protect human health within the context of growing energy needs in a changing world.
Development of a highly reliable CRT processor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Tomoya; Saiki, Akira; Hirai, Kenji; Jota, Masayoshi; Fujii, Mikiya

1996-01-01

Although CRT processors have been employed by the main control board to reduce the operator's workload during monitoring, the control systems are still operated by hardware switches. For further advancement, direct controller operation through a display device is expected. A CRT processor providing direct controller operation must be as reliable as the hardware switches are. The authors are developing a new type of highly reliable CRT processor that enables direct controller operations. In this paper, we discuss the design principles behind a highly reliable CRT processor. The principles are defined by studies of software reliability and of the functional reliability of the monitoring and operation systems. The functional configuration of an advanced CRT processor is also addressed. (author)
How reliable are Functional Movement Screening scores? A systematic review of rater reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Robert W; Schneiders, Anthony G; Major, Katherine M; Sullivan, S John

2016-05-01

Several physical assessment protocols to identify intrinsic risk factors for injury aetiology related to movement quality have been described. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a standardised, field-expedient test battery intended to assess movement quality and has been used clinically in preparticipation screening and in sports injury research. To critically appraise and summarise research investigating the reliability of scores obtained using the FMS battery. Systematic literature review. Systematic search of Google Scholar, Scopus (including ScienceDirect and PubMed), EBSCO (including Academic Search Complete, AMED, CINAHL, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition), MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus. Studies meeting eligibility criteria were assessed by 2 reviewers for risk of bias using the Quality Appraisal of Reliability Studies checklist. Overall quality of evidence was determined using van Tulder's levels of evidence approach. 12 studies were appraised. Overall, there was a 'moderate' level of evidence in favour of 'acceptable' (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.6) inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for composite scores derived from live scoring. For inter-rater reliability of composite scores derived from video recordings there was 'conflicting' evidence, and 'limited' evidence for intra-rater reliability. For inter-rater reliability based on live scoring of individual subtests there was 'moderate' evidence of 'acceptable' reliability (κ≥0.4) for 4 subtests (Deep Squat, Shoulder Mobility, Active Straight-leg Raise, Trunk Stability Push-up) and 'conflicting' evidence for the remaining 3 (Hurdle Step, In-line Lunge, Rotary Stability). This review found 'moderate' evidence that raters can achieve acceptable levels of inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of composite FMS scores when using live ratings. Overall, there were few high-quality studies, and the quality of several studies was impacted by poor study reporting particularly in relation to
Methods for slow axis beam quality improvement of high power broad area diode lasers

Science.gov (United States)

An, Haiyan; Xiong, Yihan; Jiang, Ching-Long J.; Schmidt, Berthold; Treusch, Georg

2014-03-01

For high brightness direct diode laser systems, it is of fundamental importance to improve the slow axis beam quality of the incorporated laser diodes regardless what beam combining technology is applied. To further advance our products in terms of increased brightness at a high power level, we must optimize the slow axis beam quality despite the far field blooming at high current levels. The later is caused predominantly by the built-in index step in combination with the thermal lens effect. Most of the methods for beam quality improvements reported in publications sacrifice the device efficiency and reliable output power. In order to improve the beam quality as well as maintain the efficiency and reliable output power, we investigated methods of influencing local heat generation to reduce the thermal gradient across the slow axis direction, optimizing the built-in index step and discriminating high order modes. Based on our findings, we have combined different methods in our new device design. Subsequently, the beam parameter product (BPP) of a 10% fill factor bar has improved by approximately 30% at 7 W/emitter without efficiency penalty. This technology has enabled fiber coupled high brightness multi-kilowatt direct diode laser systems. In this paper, we will elaborate on the methods used as well as the results achieved.
X-real-time executive (X-RTE) an ultra-high reliable real-time executive for safety critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suresh Babu, R.M.

1995-01-01

With growing number of application of computers in safety critical systems of nuclear plants there has been a need to assure high quality and reliability of the software used in these systems. One way to assure software quality is to use qualified software components. Since the safety systems and control systems are real-time systems there is a need for a real-time supervisory software to guarantee temporal response of the system. This report describes one such software package, called X-Real-Time Executive (or X-RTE), which was developed in Reactor Control Division, BARC. The report describes all the capabilities and unique features of X-RTE and compares it with a commercially available operating system. The features of X-RTE include pre-emptive scheduling, process synchronization, inter-process communication, multi-processor support, temporal support, debug facility, high portability, high reliability, high quality, and extensive documentation. Examples have been used very liberally to illustrate the underlying concepts. Besides, the report provides a brief description about the methods used, during the software development, to assure high quality and reliability of X-RTE. (author). refs., 11 figs., tabs
High pressure, high current, low inductance, high reliability sealed terminals

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, John S [Oak Ridge, TN; McKeever, John W [Oak Ridge, TN

2010-03-23

The invention is a terminal assembly having a casing with at least one delivery tapered-cone conductor and at least one return tapered-cone conductor routed there-through. The delivery and return tapered-cone conductors are electrically isolated from each other and positioned in the annuluses of ordered concentric cones at an off-normal angle. The tapered cone conductor service can be AC phase conductors and DC link conductors. The center core has at least one service conduit of gate signal leads, diagnostic signal wires, and refrigerant tubing routed there-through. A seal material is in direct contact with the casing inner surface, the tapered-cone conductors, and the service conduits thereby hermetically filling the interstitial space in the casing interior core and center core. The assembly provides simultaneous high-current, high-pressure, low-inductance, and high-reliability service.
Creating High Reliability Teams in Healthcare through In situ Simulation Training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristi Miller RN

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The importance of teamwork on patient safety in healthcare has been well established. However, the theory and research of healthcare teams are seriously lacking in clinical application. While conventional team theory assumes that teams are stable and leadership is constant, a growing body of evidence indicates that most healthcare teams are unstable and lack constant leadership. For healthcare organizations to reduce error and ensure patient safety, the true nature of healthcare teams must be better understood. This study presents a taxonomy of healthcare teams and the determinants of high reliability in healthcare teams based on a series of studies undertaken over a five-year period (2005–2010.
Quality of evidence-based pediatric guidelines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boluyt, Nicole; Lincke, Carsten R.; Offringa, Martin

2005-01-01

Objective. To identify evidence-based pediatric guidelines and to assess their quality. Methods. We searched Medline, Embase, and relevant Web sites of guideline development programs and national pediatric societies to identify evidence-based pediatric guidelines. A list with titles of identified
Performance and reliability of TPE-2 device with pulsed high power source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Y.; Takeda, S.; Kiyama, S.

1987-01-01

The performance and the reliability of TPE-2 device with pulsed high power sources are described. To obtain the stable high beta plasma, the reproducibility and the reliability of the pulsed power sources must be maintained. A new power crowbar system with high efficiency and the switches with low jitter time are adopted to the bank system. A monitor system which always watches the operational states of the switches is developed too, and applied for the fast rising capacitor banks of TPE-2 device. The reliable operation for the bank has been realized, based on the data of switch monitor system
Quality and reliability management and its applications

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

Integrating development processes, policies, and reliability predictions from the beginning of the product development lifecycle to ensure high levels of product performance and safety, this book helps companies overcome the challenges posed by increasingly complex systems in today’s competitive marketplace. Examining both research on and practical aspects of product quality and reliability management with an emphasis on applications, the book features contributions written by active researchers and/or experienced practitioners in the field, so as to effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice and address new research challenges in reliability and quality management in practice. Postgraduates, researchers and practitioners in the areas of reliability engineering and management, amongst others, will find the book to offer a state-of-the-art survey of quality and reliability management and practices.
Assessment of microelectronics packaging for high temperature, high reliability applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uribe, F.

1997-04-01

This report details characterization and development activities in electronic packaging for high temperature applications. This project was conducted through a Department of Energy sponsored Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors. Even though the target application of this collaborative effort is an automotive electronic throttle control system which would be located in the engine compartment, results of this work are directly applicable to Sandia`s national security mission. The component count associated with the throttle control dictates the use of high density packaging not offered by conventional surface mount. An enabling packaging technology was selected and thermal models defined which characterized the thermal and mechanical response of the throttle control module. These models were used to optimize thick film multichip module design, characterize the thermal signatures of the electronic components inside the module, and to determine the temperature field and resulting thermal stresses under conditions that may be encountered during the operational life of the throttle control module. Because the need to use unpackaged devices limits the level of testing that can be performed either at the wafer level or as individual dice, an approach to assure a high level of reliability of the unpackaged components was formulated. Component assembly and interconnect technologies were also evaluated and characterized for high temperature applications. Electrical, mechanical and chemical characterizations of enabling die and component attach technologies were performed. Additionally, studies were conducted to assess the performance and reliability of gold and aluminum wire bonding to thick film conductor inks. Kinetic models were developed and validated to estimate wire bond reliability.
Product quality, service reliability and management of operations at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

High product quality, service reliability, and management of operations are key factors in business growth and sustainability. Analyzing “The Starbucks Experience” is a pedagogical approach to reinforcing the concepts of control and management of quality, service reliability, and efficient operations in action. The objective ...
Theory and practice of quality and reliability engineering in Asia industry

CERN Document Server

Goh, Thong

2017-01-01

This book discusses the application of quality and reliability engineering in Asian industries, and offers information for multinational companies (MNC) looking to transfer some of their operation and manufacturing capabilities to Asia and at the same time maintain high levels of reliability and quality. It is also provides small and medium enterprises (SME) in Asia with insights into producing high-quality and reliable products. It mainly comprises peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) Congress 2014 held in Singapore (August, 2014), which provides a platform for companies, especially those within Asia where rapid changes and growth in manufacturing are taking place, to present their quality and reliability practices. The book presents practical demonstrations of how quality and reliability methodologies can be modified for the unique Asian market, and as such is a valuable resource for students, academics, professionals and practitioners in the field of quality and r...
High reliability low jitter 80 kV pulse generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savage, Mark Edward; Stoltzfus, Brian Scott

2009-01-01

Switching can be considered to be the essence of pulsed power. Time accurate switch/trigger systems with low inductance are useful in many applications. This article describes a unique switch geometry coupled with a low-inductance capacitive energy store. The system provides a fast-rising high voltage pulse into a low impedance load. It can be challenging to generate high voltage (more than 50 kilovolts) into impedances less than 10 (Omega), from a low voltage control signal with a fast rise time and high temporal accuracy. The required power amplification is large, and is usually accomplished with multiple stages. The multiple stages can adversely affect the temporal accuracy and the reliability of the system. In the present application, a highly reliable and low jitter trigger generator was required for the Z pulsed-power facility [M. E. Savage, L. F. Bennett, D. E. Bliss, W. T. Clark, R. S. Coats,J. M. Elizondo, K. R. LeChien, H. C. Harjes, J. M. Lehr, J. E. Maenchen, D. H. McDaniel, M. F. Pasik, T. D. Pointon, A. C. Owen, D. B. Seidel, D. L. Smith, B. S. Stoltzfus, K.W. Struve, W.A. Stygar, L.K. Warne, and J. R. Woodworth, 2007 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Albuquerque, NM (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 2007), p. 979]. The large investment in each Z experiment demands low prefire probability and low jitter simultaneously. The system described here is based on a 100 kV DC-charged high-pressure spark gap, triggered with an ultraviolet laser. The system uses a single optical path for simultaneously triggering two parallel switches, allowing lower inductance and electrode erosion with a simple optical system. Performance of the system includes 6 ns output rise time into 5.6 (Omega), 550 ps one-sigma jitter measured from the 5 V trigger to the high voltage output, and misfire probability less than 10 -4 . The design of the system and some key measurements will be shown in the paper. We will discuss the design goals related to high reliability and low jitter. While
Recent progress in high performance and reliable n-type transition metal oxide-based thin film transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeon Kwon, Jang; Kyeong Jeong, Jae

2015-01-01

This review gives an overview of the recent progress in vacuum-based n-type transition metal oxide (TMO) thin film transistors (TFTs). Several excellent review papers regarding metal oxide TFTs in terms of fundamental electron structure, device process and reliability have been published. In particular, the required field-effect mobility of TMO TFTs has been increasing rapidly to meet the demands of the ultra-high-resolution, large panel size and three dimensional visual effects as a megatrend of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diodes and flexible displays. In this regard, the effects of the TMO composition on the performance of the resulting oxide TFTs has been reviewed, and classified into binary, ternary and quaternary composition systems. In addition, the new strategic approaches including zinc oxynitride materials, double channel structures, and composite structures have been proposed recently, and were not covered in detail in previous review papers. Special attention is given to the advanced device architecture of TMO TFTs, such as back-channel-etch and self-aligned coplanar structure, which is a key technology because of their advantages including low cost fabrication, high driving speed and unwanted visual artifact-free high quality imaging. The integration process and related issues, such as etching, post treatment, low ohmic contact and Cu interconnection, required for realizing these advanced architectures are also discussed. (invited review)
Impact of Loss Synchronization on Reliable High Speed Networks: A Model Based Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suman Kumar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Contemporary nature of network evolution demands for simulation models which are flexible, scalable, and easily implementable. In this paper, we propose a fluid based model for performance analysis of reliable high speed networks. In particular, this paper aims to study the dynamic relationship between congestion control algorithms and queue management schemes, in order to develop a better understanding of the causal linkages between the two. We propose a loss synchronization module which is user configurable. We validate our model through simulations under controlled settings. Also, we present a performance analysis to provide insights into two important issues concerning 10 Gbps high speed networks: (i impact of bottleneck buffer size on the performance of 10 Gbps high speed network and (ii impact of level of loss synchronization on link utilization-fairness tradeoffs. The practical impact of the proposed work is to provide design guidelines along with a powerful simulation tool to protocol designers and network developers.
Is Learner Self-Assessment Reliable and Valid in a Web-Based Portfolio Environment for High School Students?

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chi-Cheng; Liang, Chaoyun; Chen, Yi-Hui

2013-01-01

This study explored the reliability and validity of Web-based portfolio self-assessment. Participants were 72 senior high school students enrolled in a computer application course. The students created learning portfolios, viewed peers' work, and performed self-assessment on the Web-based portfolio assessment system. The results indicated: 1)…
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.

Transferring Aviation Practices into Clinical Medicine for the Promotion of High Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell-Dunford, Nicole; McPherson, Mark K; Pina, Joseph S; Gaydos, Steven J

2017-05-01

Aviation is a classic example of a high reliability organization (HRO)-an organization in which catastrophic events are expected to occur without control measures. As health care systems transition toward high reliability, aviation practices are increasingly transferred for clinical implementation. A PubMed search using the terms aviation, crew resource management, and patient safety was undertaken. Manuscripts authored by physician pilots and accident investigation regulations were analyzed. Subject matter experts involved in adoption of aviation practices into the medical field were interviewed. A PubMed search yielded 621 results with 22 relevant for inclusion. Improved clinical outcomes were noted in five research trials in which aviation practices were adopted, particularly with regard to checklist usage and crew resource-management training. Effectiveness of interventions was influenced by intensity of application, leadership involvement, and provision of staff training. The usefulness of incorporating mishap investigation techniques has not been established. Whereas aviation accident investigation is highly standardized, the investigation of medical error is characterized by variation. The adoption of aviation practices into clinical medicine facilitates an evolution toward high reliability. Evidence for the efficacy of the checklist and crew resource-management training is robust. Transference of aviation accident investigation practices is preliminary. A standardized, independent investigation process could facilitate the development of a safety culture commensurate with that achieved in the aviation industry.Powell-Dunford N, McPherson MK, Pina JS, Gaydos SJ. Transferring aviation practices into clinical medicine for the promotion of high reliability. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(5):487-491.
Delivering high performance BWR fuel reliably

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schardt, J.F.

1998-01-01

Utilities are under intense pressure to reduce their production costs in order to compete in the increasingly deregulated marketplace. They need fuel, which can deliver high performance to meet demanding operating strategies. GE's latest BWR fuel design, GE14, provides that high performance capability. GE's product introduction process assures that this performance will be delivered reliably, with little risk to the utility. (author)
High reliability EPI-base radiation hardened power transistor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, L.E.; Saltich, J.L.

1978-01-01

A high-voltage power transistor is described which is able to withstand fluences as high as 3 x 10 14 neutrons per square centimeter and still be able to operate satisfactorily. The collector may be made essentially half as thick and twice as heavily doped as normally and its base is made in two regions which together are essentially four times as thick as the normal power transistor base region. The base region has a heavily doped upper region and a lower region intermediate the upper heavily doped region and the collector. The doping in the intermediate region is as close to intrinsic as possible, in any event less than about 3 x 10 15 impurities per cubic centimeter. The second base region has small width in comparison to the first base region, the ratio of the first to the second being at least about 5 to 1. The base region having the upper heavily doped region and the intermediate or lower low doped region contributes to the higher breakdown voltage which the transistor is able to withstand. The high doping of the collector region essentially lowers that portion of the breakdown voltage achieved by the collector region. Accordingly, it is necessary to transfer certain of this breakdown capability to the base region and this is achieved by using the upper region of heavily doped and an intermediate or lower region of low doping
Development of High Quality 4H-SiC Thick Epitaxy for Reliable High Power Electronics Using Halogenated Precursors

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-02

defects :=()llowed by a second buffer epilayer gro\\\\ th with ~: urn thickness with high n-type dopi:1g (- 5£17 cm-3) for the same C/Si ratio of ~1.4 at...gradient, pressure , etc.) can further reduce the parasitic deposition, especially in TFS-growth. • Thick epitaxy on-axis 4H-SiC Growth at High Growth...From - To) 08/02/2016 Final Technical Report 01-Apr-10 Through 31-Mar-14 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Development of High Quality 4H
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.
Delivering high performance BWR fuel reliably

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schardt, J.F. [GE Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, NC (United States)

1998-07-01

Utilities are under intense pressure to reduce their production costs in order to compete in the increasingly deregulated marketplace. They need fuel, which can deliver high performance to meet demanding operating strategies. GE's latest BWR fuel design, GE14, provides that high performance capability. GE's product introduction process assures that this performance will be delivered reliably, with little risk to the utility. (author)
Highly-reliable operation of 638-nm broad stripe laser diode with high wall-plug efficiency for display applications

Science.gov (United States)

Yagi, Tetsuya; Shimada, Naoyuki; Nishida, Takehiro; Mitsuyama, Hiroshi; Miyashita, Motoharu

2013-03-01

Laser based displays, as pico to cinema laser projectors have gathered much attention because of wide gamut, low power consumption, and so on. Laser light sources for the displays are operated mainly in CW, and heat management is one of the big issues. Therefore, highly efficient operation is necessitated. Also the light sources for the displays are requested to be highly reliable. 638 nm broad stripe laser diode (LD) was newly developed for high efficiency and highly reliable operation. An AlGaInP/GaAs red LD suffers from low wall plug efficiency (WPE) due to electron overflow from an active layer to a p-cladding layer. Large optical confinement factor (Γ) design with AlInP cladding layers is adopted to improve the WPE. The design has a disadvantage for reliable operation because the large Γ causes high optical density and brings a catastrophic optical degradation (COD) at a front facet. To overcome the disadvantage, a window-mirror structure is also adopted in the LD. The LD shows WPE of 35% at 25°C, highest record in the world, and highly stable operation at 35°C, 550 mW up to 8,000 hours without any catastrophic optical degradation.
Highly-reliable laser diodes and modules for spaceborne applications

Science.gov (United States)

Deichsel, E.

2017-11-01

Laser applications become more and more interesting in contemporary missions such as earth observations or optical communication in space. One of these applications is light detection and ranging (LIDAR), which comprises huge scientific potential in future missions. The Nd:YAG solid-state laser of such a LIDAR system is optically pumped using 808nm emitting pump sources based on semiconductor laser-diodes in quasi-continuous wave (qcw) operation. Therefore reliable and efficient laser diodes with increased output powers are an important requirement for a spaceborne LIDAR-system. In the past, many tests were performed regarding the performance and life-time of such laser-diodes. There were also studies for spaceborne applications, but a test with long operation times at high powers and statistical relevance is pending. Other applications, such as science packages (e.g. Raman-spectroscopy) on planetary rovers require also reliable high-power light sources. Typically fiber-coupled laser diode modules are used for such applications. Besides high reliability and life-time, designs compatible to the harsh environmental conditions must be taken in account. Mechanical loads, such as shock or strong vibration are expected due to take-off or landing procedures. Many temperature cycles with high change rates and differences must be taken in account due to sun-shadow effects in planetary orbits. Cosmic radiation has strong impact on optical components and must also be taken in account. Last, a hermetic sealing must be considered, since vacuum can have disadvantageous effects on optoelectronics components.
Column Grid Array Rework for High Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Atul C.; Bodie, Charles C.

2008-01-01

Due to requirements for reduced size and weight, use of grid array packages in space applications has become common place. To meet the requirement of high reliability and high number of I/Os, ceramic column grid array packages (CCGA) were selected for major electronic components used in next MARS Rover mission (specifically high density Field Programmable Gate Arrays). ABSTRACT The probability of removal and replacement of these devices on the actual flight printed wiring board assemblies is deemed to be very high because of last minute discoveries in final test which will dictate changes in the firmware. The questions and challenges presented to the manufacturing organizations engaged in the production of high reliability electronic assemblies are, Is the reliability of the PWBA adversely affected by rework (removal and replacement) of the CGA package? and How many times can we rework the same board without destroying a pad or degrading the lifetime of the assembly? To answer these questions, the most complex printed wiring board assembly used by the project was chosen to be used as the test vehicle, the PWB was modified to provide a daisy chain pattern, and a number of bare PWB s were acquired to this modified design. Non-functional 624 pin CGA packages with internal daisy chained matching the pattern on the PWB were procured. The combination of the modified PWB and the daisy chained packages enables continuity measurements of every soldered contact during subsequent testing and thermal cycling. Several test vehicles boards were assembled, reworked and then thermal cycled to assess the reliability of the solder joints and board material including pads and traces near the CGA. The details of rework process and results of thermal cycling are presented in this paper.
A high throughput DNA extraction method with high yield and quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Zhanguo

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Preparation of large quantity and high quality genomic DNA from a large number of plant samples is a major bottleneck for most genetic and genomic analyses, such as, genetic mapping, TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesion IN Genome, and next-generation sequencing directly from sheared genomic DNA. A variety of DNA preparation methods and commercial kits are available. However, they are either low throughput, low yield, or costly. Here, we describe a method for high throughput genomic DNA isolation from sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench] leaves and dry seeds with high yield, high quality, and affordable cost. Results We developed a high throughput DNA isolation method by combining a high yield CTAB extraction method with an improved cleanup procedure based on MagAttract kit. The method yielded large quantity and high quality DNA from both lyophilized sorghum leaves and dry seeds. The DNA yield was improved by nearly 30 fold with 4 times less consumption of MagAttract beads. The method can also be used in other plant species, including cotton leaves and pine needles. Conclusion A high throughput system for DNA extraction from sorghum leaves and seeds was developed and validated. The main advantages of the method are low cost, high yield, high quality, and high throughput. One person can process two 96-well plates in a working day at a cost of $0.10 per sample of magnetic beads plus other consumables that other methods will also need.
Development of the knee quality of life (KQoL-26) 26-item questionnaire: data quality, reliability, validity and responsiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Garratt, Andrew M; Brealey, Stephen; Robling, Michael; Atwell, Chris; Russell, Ian; Gillespie, William; King, David

2008-07-10

This article describes the development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire, the KQoL-26, that is based on the views of patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury of the knee that assesses the impact of their knee problem on the quality of their lives. Patient interviews and focus groups were used to derive questionnaire content. The instrument was assessed for data quality, reliability, validity, and responsiveness using data from a randomised trial and patient survey about general practitioners' use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury. Interview and focus group data produced a 40-item questionnaire designed for self-completion. 559 trial patients and 323 survey patients responded to the questionnaire. Following principal components analysis and Rasch analysis, 26 items were found to contribute to three scales of knee-related quality of life: physical functioning, activity limitations, and emotional functioning. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.60-0.82. Cronbach's alpha and test retest reliability estimates were 0.91-0.94 and 0.80-0.93 respectively. Hypothesised correlations with the Lysholm Knee Scale, EQ-5D, SF-36 and knee symptom questions were evidence for construct validity. The instrument produced highly significant change scores for 65 trial patients indicating that their knee was a little or somewhat better at six months. The new instrument had higher effect sizes (range 0.86-1.13) and responsiveness statistics (range 1.50-2.13) than the EQ-5D and SF-36. The KQoL-26 has good evidence for internal reliability, test-retest reliability, validity and responsiveness, and is recommended for use in randomised trials and other evaluative studies of patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury.
Development of the Knee Quality of Life (KQoL-26 26-item questionnaire: data quality, reliability, validity and responsiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atwell Chris

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This article describes the development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire, the KQoL-26, that is based on the views of patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury of the knee that assesses the impact of their knee problem on the quality of their lives. Methods Patient interviews and focus groups were used to derive questionnaire content. The instrument was assessed for data quality, reliability, validity, and responsiveness using data from a randomised trial and patient survey about general practitioners' use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury. Results Interview and focus group data produced a 40-item questionnaire designed for self-completion. 559 trial patients and 323 survey patients responded to the questionnaire. Following principal components analysis and Rasch analysis, 26 items were found to contribute to three scales of knee-related quality of life: physical functioning, activity limitations, and emotional functioning. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.60–0.82. Cronbach's alpha and test retest reliability estimates were 0.91–0.94 and 0.80–0.93 respectively. Hypothesised correlations with the Lysholm Knee Scale, EQ-5D, SF-36 and knee symptom questions were evidence for construct validity. The instrument produced highly significant change scores for 65 trial patients indicating that their knee was a little or somewhat better at six months. The new instrument had higher effect sizes (range 0.86–1.13 and responsiveness statistics (range 1.50–2.13 than the EQ-5D and SF-36. Conclusion The KQoL-26 has good evidence for internal reliability, test-retest reliability, validity and responsiveness, and is recommended for use in randomised trials and other evaluative studies of patients with a suspected ligamentous or meniscal injury.
Quality assurance and reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Normand, J.; Charon, M.

1975-01-01

Concern for obtaining high-quality products which will function properly when required to do so is nothing new - it is one manifestation of a conscientious attitude to work. However, the complexity and cost of equipment and the consequences of even temporary immobilization are such that it has become necessary to make special arrangements for obtaining high-quality products and examining what one has obtained. Each unit within an enterprise must examine its own work or arrange for it to be examined; a unit whose specific task is quality assurance is responsible for overall checking, but does not relieve other units of their responsibility. Quality assurance is a form of mutual assistance within an enterprise, designed to remove the causes of faults as far as possible. It begins very early in a project and continues through the ordering stage, construction, start-up trials and operation. Quality and hence reliability are the direct result of what is done at all stages of a project. They depend on constant attention to detail, for even a minor piece of poor workmanship can, in the case of an essential item of equipment, give rise to serious operational difficulties
Design and reliability analysis of high-speed and continuous data recording system based on disk array

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Changlong; Ma, Cheng; He, Ning; Zhang, Xugang; Wang, Chongyang; Jia, Huibo

2002-12-01

In many real-time fields the sustained high-speed data recording system is required. This paper proposes a high-speed and sustained data recording system based on the complex-RAID 3+0. The system consists of Array Controller Module (ACM), String Controller Module (SCM) and Main Controller Module (MCM). ACM implemented by an FPGA chip is used to split the high-speed incoming data stream into several lower-speed streams and generate one parity code stream synchronously. It also can inversely recover the original data stream while reading. SCMs record lower-speed streams from the ACM into the SCSI disk drivers. In the SCM, the dual-page buffer technology is adopted to implement speed-matching function and satisfy the need of sustainable recording. MCM monitors the whole system, controls ACM and SCMs to realize the data stripping, reconstruction, and recovery functions. The method of how to determine the system scale is presented. At the end, two new ways Floating Parity Group (FPG) and full 2D-Parity Group (full 2D-PG) are proposed to improve the system reliability and compared with the Traditional Parity Group (TPG). This recording system can be used conveniently in many areas of data recording, storing, playback and remote backup with its high-reliability.
Computer based workstation for development of software for high energy physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanchenko, I.M.; Sedykh, Yu.V.

1987-01-01

Methodical principles and results of a successful attempt to create on the base of IBM-PC/AT personal computer of effective means for development of programs for high energy physics experiments are analysed. The obtained results permit to combine the best properties and a positive materialized experience accumulated on the existing time sharing collective systems with a high quality of data representation, reliability and convenience of personal computer applications
High Reliability Oscillators for Terahertz Systems, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — To develop reliable THz sources with high power and high DC-RF efficiency, Virginia Diodes, Inc. will develop a thorough understanding of the complex interactions...
Optimization of a PCRAM Chip for high-speed read and highly reliable reset operations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoyun; Chen, Houpeng; Li, Xi; Wang, Qian; Fan, Xi; Hu, Jiajun; Lei, Yu; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Zhen; Song, Zhitang

2016-10-01

The widely used traditional Flash memory suffers from its performance limits such as its serious crosstalk problems, and increasing complexity of floating gate scaling. Phase change random access memory (PCRAM) becomes one of the most potential nonvolatile memories among the new memory techniques. In this paper, a 1M-bit PCRAM chip is designed based on the SMIC 40nm CMOS technology. Focusing on the read and write performance, two new circuits with high-speed read operation and highly reliable reset operation are proposed. The high-speed read circuit effectively reduces the reading time from 74ns to 40ns. The double-mode reset circuit improves the chip yield. This 1M-bit PCRAM chip has been simulated on cadence. After layout design is completed, the chip will be taped out for post-test.
Applying the High Reliability Health Care Maturity Model to Assess Hospital Performance: A VA Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Jennifer L; Rivard, Peter E; Shin, Marlena H; Rosen, Amy K

2016-09-01

The lack of a tool for categorizing and differentiating hospitals according to their high reliability organization (HRO)-related characteristics has hindered progress toward implementing and sustaining evidence-based HRO practices. Hospitals would benefit both from an understanding of the organizational characteristics that support HRO practices and from knowledge about the steps necessary to achieve HRO status to reduce the risk of harm and improve outcomes. The High Reliability Health Care Maturity (HRHCM) model, a model for health care organizations' achievement of high reliability with zero patient harm, incorporates three major domains critical for promoting HROs-Leadership, Safety Culture, and Robust Process Improvement ®. A study was conducted to examine the content validity of the HRHCM model and evaluate whether it can differentiate hospitals' maturity levels for each of the model's components. Staff perceptions of patient safety at six US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals were examined to determine whether all 14 HRHCM components were present and to characterize each hospital's level of organizational maturity. Twelve of the 14 components from the HRHCM model were detected; two additional characteristics emerged that are present in the HRO literature but not represented in the model-teamwork culture and system-focused tools for learning and improvement. Each hospital's level of organizational maturity could be characterized for 9 of the 14 components. The findings suggest the HRHCM model has good content validity and that there is differentiation between hospitals on model components. Additional research is needed to understand how these components can be used to build the infrastructure necessary for reaching high reliability.
Protocol: A simple phenol-based method for 96-well extraction of high quality RNA from Arabidopsis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Coustham Vincent

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many experiments in modern plant molecular biology require the processing of large numbers of samples for a variety of applications from mutant screens to the analysis of natural variants. A severe bottleneck to many such analyses is the acquisition of good yields of high quality RNA suitable for use in sensitive downstream applications such as real time quantitative reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real time qRT-PCR. Although several commercial kits are available for high-throughput RNA extraction in 96-well format, only one non-kit method has been described in the literature using the commercial reagent TRIZOL. Results We describe an unusual phenomenon when using TRIZOL reagent with young Arabidopsis seedlings. This prompted us to develop a high-throughput RNA extraction protocol (HTP96 adapted from a well established phenol:chloroform-LiCl method (P:C-L that is cheap, reliable and requires no specialist equipment. With this protocol 192 high quality RNA samples can be prepared in 96-well format in three hours (less than 1 minute per sample with less than 1% loss of samples. We demonstrate that the RNA derived from this protocol is of high quality and suitable for use in real time qRT-PCR assays. Conclusion The development of the HTP96 protocol has vastly increased our sample throughput, allowing us to fully exploit the large sample capacity of modern real time qRT-PCR thermocyclers, now commonplace in many labs, and develop an effective high-throughput gene expression platform. We propose that the HTP96 protocol will significantly benefit any plant scientist with the task of obtaining hundreds of high quality RNA extractions.
Next Generation High Quality Videoconferencing Service for the LHC

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

In recent times, we have witnessed an explosion of video initiatives in the industry worldwide. Several advancements in video technology are currently improving the way we interact and collaborate. These advancements are forcing tendencies and overall experiences: any device in any network can be used to collaborate, in most cases with an overall high quality. To cope with this technology progresses, CERN IT Department has taken the leading role to establish strategies and directions to improve the user experience in remote dispersed meetings and remote collaboration at large in the worldwide LHC communities. Due to the high rate of dispersion in the LHC user communities, these are critically dependent of videoconferencing technology, with a need of robustness and high quality for the best possible user experience. We will present an analysis of the factors that influenced the technical and strategic choices to improve the reliability, efficiency and overall quality of the LHC remote sessions. In particular, ...

Reliability and Failure in NASA Missions: Blunders, Normal Accidents, High Reliability, Bad Luck

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Harry W.

2015-01-01

NASA emphasizes crew safety and system reliability but several unfortunate failures have occurred. The Apollo 1 fire was mistakenly unanticipated. After that tragedy, the Apollo program gave much more attention to safety. The Challenger accident revealed that NASA had neglected safety and that management underestimated the high risk of shuttle. Probabilistic Risk Assessment was adopted to provide more accurate failure probabilities for shuttle and other missions. NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" initiative and government procurement reform led to deliberately dismantling traditional reliability engineering. The Columbia tragedy and Mars mission failures followed. Failures can be attributed to blunders, normal accidents, or bad luck. Achieving high reliability is difficult but possible.
Reliability of a Computerized Neurocognitive Test in Baseline Concussion Testing of High School Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, James; Duerson, Drew

2015-07-01

Baseline assessments using computerized neurocognitive tests are frequently used in the management of sport-related concussions. Such testing is often done on an annual basis in a community setting. Reliability is a fundamental test characteristic that should be established for such tests. Our study examined the test-retest reliability of a computerized neurocognitive test in high school athletes over 1 year. Repeated measures design. Two American high schools. High school athletes (N = 117) participating in American football or soccer during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. All study participants completed 2 baseline computerized neurocognitive tests taken 1 year apart at their respective schools. The test measures performance on 4 cognitive tasks: identification speed (Attention), detection speed (Processing Speed), one card learning accuracy (Learning), and one back speed (Working Memory). Reliability was assessed by measuring the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the repeated measures of the 4 cognitive tasks. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated as a secondary outcome measure. The measure for identification speed performed best (ICC = 0.672; 95% confidence interval, 0.559-0.760) and the measure for one card learning accuracy performed worst (ICC = 0.401; 95% confidence interval, 0.237-0.542). All tests had marginal or low reliability. In a population of high school athletes, computerized neurocognitive testing performed in a community setting demonstrated low to marginal test-retest reliability on baseline assessments 1 year apart. Further investigation should focus on (1) improving the reliability of individual tasks tested, (2) controlling for external factors that might affect test performance, and (3) identifying the ideal time interval to repeat baseline testing in high school athletes. Computerized neurocognitive tests are used frequently in high school athletes, often within a model of baseline testing
High reliability fuel in the US

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neuhold, R.J.; Leggett, R.D.; Walters, L.C.; Matthews, R.B.

1986-05-01

The fuels development program of the United States is described for liquid metal reactors (LMR's). The experience base, status and future potential are discussed for the three systems - oxide, metal and carbide - that have proved to have high reliability. Information is presented showing burnup capability of the oxide fuel system in a large core, e.g., FFTF, to be 150 MWd/kgM with today's technology with the potential for a capability as high as 300 MWd/kgM. Data provided for the metal fuel system show 8 at. % being routinely achieved as the EBR-II driver fuel with good potential for extending this to 15 at. % since special test pins have already exceeded this burnup level. The data included for the carbide fuel system are from pin and assembly irradiations in EBR-II and FFTF, respectively. Burnup to 12 at. % appears readily achievable with burnups to 20 at. % being demonstrated in a few pins. Efforts continue on all three systems with the bulk of the activity on metal and oxide
High reliability low jitter 80 kV pulse generator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. E. Savage

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Switching can be considered to be the essence of pulsed power. Time accurate switch/trigger systems with low inductance are useful in many applications. This article describes a unique switch geometry coupled with a low-inductance capacitive energy store. The system provides a fast-rising high voltage pulse into a low impedance load. It can be challenging to generate high voltage (more than 50 kilovolts into impedances less than 10 Ω, from a low voltage control signal with a fast rise time and high temporal accuracy. The required power amplification is large, and is usually accomplished with multiple stages. The multiple stages can adversely affect the temporal accuracy and the reliability of the system. In the present application, a highly reliable and low jitter trigger generator was required for the Z pulsed-power facility [M. E. Savage, L. F. Bennett, D. E. Bliss, W. T. Clark, R. S. Coats,J. M. Elizondo, K. R. LeChien, H. C. Harjes, J. M. Lehr, J. E. Maenchen, D. H. McDaniel, M. F. Pasik, T. D. Pointon, A. C. Owen, D. B. Seidel, D. L. Smith, B. S. Stoltzfus, K. W. Struve, W. A. Stygar, L. K. Warne, and J. R. Woodworth, 2007 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Albuquerque, NM (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 2007, p. 979]. The large investment in each Z experiment demands low prefire probability and low jitter simultaneously. The system described here is based on a 100 kV DC-charged high-pressure spark gap, triggered with an ultraviolet laser. The system uses a single optical path for simultaneously triggering two parallel switches, allowing lower inductance and electrode erosion with a simple optical system. Performance of the system includes 6 ns output rise time into 5.6 Ω, 550 ps one-sigma jitter measured from the 5 V trigger to the high voltage output, and misfire probability less than 10^{-4}. The design of the system and some key measurements will be shown in the paper. We will discuss the
Studies on the reliability of high-field intra-operative MRI in brain glioma resection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-jun SONG

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Objective To evaluate the reliability of high-field intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging(iMRI in detecting the residual tumors during glioma resection.Method One hundred and thirty-one cases of brain glioma(69 males and 62 females,aged from 7 to 79 years with mean of 39.6 years hospitalized from Nov.2009 to Aug.2010 were involved in present study.All the patients were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI before the operation.The tumors were resected under conventional navigation microscope,and the high-field iMRI was used for all the patients when the operators considered the tumor was satisfactorily resected,while the residual tumor was difficult to detect under the microscope,but resected after being revealed by high-field iMRI.Histopathological examination was performed.The patients without residual tumors recieved high-field MRI scan at day 4 or 5 after operation to evaluate the accuracy of high-field iMRI during operation.Results High quality intra-operative images were obtained by using high-field iMRI.Twenty-eight cases were excluded because their residual tumors were not resected due to their location too close to functional area.Combined with the results of intra-operative histopathological examination and post-operative MRI at the early recovery stage,the sensitivity of high-field iMRI in residual tumor diagnosis was 98.0%(49/50,the specificity was 94.3%(50/53,and the accuracy was 96.1%(99/103.Conclusion High-quality intra-operative imaging could be acquired by high-field iMRI,which maybe used as a safe and reliable method in detecting the residual tumors during glioma resection.
Highly reliable electro-hydraulic control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mande, Morima; Hiyama, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Makoto

1984-01-01

The unscheduled shutdown of nuclear power stations disturbs power system, and exerts large influence on power generation cost due to the lowering of capacity ratio; therefore, high reliability is required for the control system of nuclear power stations. Toshiba Corp. has exerted effort to improve the reliability of the control system of power stations, and in this report, the electro-hydraulic control system for the turbines of nuclear power stations is described. The main functions of the electro-hydraulic control system are the control of main steam pressure with steam regulation valves and turbine bypass valves, the control of turbine speed and load, the prevention of turbine overspeed, the protection of turbines and so on. The system is composed of pressure sensors and a speed sensor, the control board containing the electronic circuits for control computation and protective sequence, the oil cylinders, servo valves and opening detectors of the valves for control, a high pressure oil hydraulic machine and piping, the operating panel and so on. The main features are the adoption of tripling intermediate value selection method, the multiplying of protection sensors and the adoption of 2 out of 3 trip logic, the multiplying of power sources, the improvement of the reliability of electronic circuit hardware and oil hydraulic system. (Kako, I.)
Supercapacitors based on high-quality graphene scrolls

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Fanyan; Kuang, Yafei; Liu, Gaoqin; Liu, Rui; Huang, Zhongyuan; Fu, Chaopeng; Zhou, Haihui

2012-06-01

High-quality graphene scrolls (GSS) with a unique scrolled topography are designed using a microexplosion method. Their capacitance properties are investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrical impedance spectroscopy. Compared with the specific capacity of 110 F g-1 for graphene sheets, a remarkable capacity of 162.2 F g-1 is obtained at the current density of 1.0 A g-1 in 6 M KOH aqueous solution owing to the unique scrolled structure of GSS. The capacity value is increased by about 50% only because of the topological change of graphene sheets. Meanwhile, GSS exhibit excellent long-term cycling stability along with 96.8% retained after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A g-1. These encouraging results indicate that GSS based on the topological structure of graphene sheets are a kind of promising material for supercapacitors.
Fast High-Quality Noise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frisvad, Jeppe Revall; Wyvill, Geoff

2007-01-01

At the moment the noise functions available in a graphics programmer's toolbox are either slow to compute or they involve grid-line artifacts making them of lower quality. In this paper we present a real-time noise computation with no grid-line artifacts or other regularity problems. In other words......, we put a new tool in the box that computes fast high-quality noise. In addition to being free of artifacts, the noise we present does not rely on tabulated data (everything is computed on the fly) and it is easy to adjust quality vs. quantity for the noise. The noise is based on point rendering (like...... spot noise), but it extends to more than two dimensions. The fact that it is based on point rendering makes art direction of the noise much easier....
Seeking high reliability in primary care: Leadership, tools, and organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Robert R

2015-01-01

Leaders in health care increasingly recognize that improving health care quality and safety requires developing an organizational culture that fosters high reliability and continuous process improvement. For various reasons, a reliability-seeking culture is lacking in most health care settings. Developing a reliability-seeking culture requires leaders' sustained commitment to reliability principles using key mechanisms to embed those principles widely in the organization. The aim of this study was to examine how key mechanisms used by a primary care practice (PCP) might foster a reliability-seeking, system-oriented organizational culture. A case study approach was used to investigate the PCP's reliability culture. The study examined four cultural artifacts used to embed reliability-seeking principles across the organization: leadership statements, decision support tools, and two organizational processes. To decipher their effects on reliability, the study relied on observations of work patterns and the tools' use, interactions during morning huddles and process improvement meetings, interviews with clinical and office staff, and a "collective mindfulness" questionnaire. The five reliability principles framed the data analysis. Leadership statements articulated principles that oriented the PCP toward a reliability-seeking culture of care. Reliability principles became embedded in the everyday discourse and actions through the use of "problem knowledge coupler" decision support tools and daily "huddles." Practitioners and staff were encouraged to report unexpected events or close calls that arose and which often initiated a formal "process change" used to adjust routines and prevent adverse events from recurring. Activities that foster reliable patient care became part of the taken-for-granted routine at the PCP. The analysis illustrates the role leadership, tools, and organizational processes play in developing and embedding a reliable-seeking culture across an
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
Study on application of a high-speed trigger-type SFCL (TSFCL) for interconnection of power systems with different reliabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hye Ji; Yoon, Yong Tae

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Application of TSFCL to interconnect systems with different reliabilities is proposed. • TSFCL protects a grid by preventing detrimental effects from being delivered through the interconnection line. • A high-speed TSFCL with high impedance for transmission systems is required to be developed. - Abstract: Interconnection of power systems is one effective way to improve power supply reliability. However, differences in the reliability of each power system create a greater obstacle for the stable interconnection of power systems, as after interconnection a high-reliability system is affected by frequent faults in low reliability side systems. Several power system interconnection methods, such as the back-to-back method and the installation of either transformers or series reactors, have been investigated to counteract the damage caused by faults in the other neighboring systems. However, these methods are uneconomical and require complex operational management plans. In this work, a high-speed trigger-type superconducting fault current limiter (TSFCL) with large-impedance is proposed as a solution to maintain reliability and power quality when a high reliability power system is interconnected with a low reliability power system. Through analysis of the reliability index for the numerical examples obtained from a PSCAD/EMTDC simulator, a high-speed TSFCL with a large-impedance is confirmed to be effective for the interconnection between power systems with different reliabilities.
[Reliability theory based on quality risk network analysis for Chinese medicine injection].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zheng; Kang, Li-Yuan; Fan, Xiao-Hui

2014-08-01

A new risk analysis method based upon reliability theory was introduced in this paper for the quality risk management of Chinese medicine injection manufacturing plants. The risk events including both cause and effect ones were derived in the framework as nodes with a Bayesian network analysis approach. It thus transforms the risk analysis results from failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) into a Bayesian network platform. With its structure and parameters determined, the network can be used to evaluate the system reliability quantitatively with probabilistic analytical appraoches. Using network analysis tools such as GeNie and AgenaRisk, we are able to find the nodes that are most critical to influence the system reliability. The importance of each node to the system can be quantitatively evaluated by calculating the effect of the node on the overall risk, and minimization plan can be determined accordingly to reduce their influences and improve the system reliability. Using the Shengmai injection manufacturing plant of SZYY Ltd as a user case, we analyzed the quality risk with both static FMEA analysis and dynamic Bayesian Network analysis. The potential risk factors for the quality of Shengmai injection manufacturing were identified with the network analysis platform. Quality assurance actions were further defined to reduce the risk and improve the product quality.
How Quality Improvement Practice Evidence Can Advance the Knowledge Base.

Science.gov (United States)

OʼRourke, Hannah M; Fraser, Kimberly D

2016-01-01

Recommendations for the evaluation of quality improvement interventions have been made in order to improve the evidence base of whether, to what extent, and why quality improvement interventions affect chosen outcomes. The purpose of this article is to articulate why these recommendations are appropriate to improve the rigor of quality improvement intervention evaluation as a research endeavor, but inappropriate for the purposes of everyday quality improvement practice. To support our claim, we describe the differences between quality improvement interventions that occur for the purpose of practice as compared to research. We then carefully consider how feasibility, ethics, and the aims of evaluation each impact how quality improvement interventions that occur in practice, as opposed to research, can or should be evaluated. Recommendations that fit the evaluative goals of practice-based quality improvement interventions are needed to support fair appraisal of the distinct evidence they produce. We describe a current debate on the nature of evidence to assist in reenvisioning how quality improvement evidence generated from practice might complement that generated from research, and contribute in a value-added way to the knowledge base.
High reliability megawatt transformer/rectifier

Science.gov (United States)

Zwass, Samuel; Ashe, Harry; Peters, John W.

1991-01-01

The goal of the two phase program is to develop the technology and design and fabricate ultralightweight high reliability DC to DC converters for space power applications. The converters will operate from a 5000 V dc source and deliver 1 MW of power at 100 kV dc. The power weight density goal is 0.1 kg/kW. The cycle to cycle voltage stability goals was + or - 1 percent RMS. The converter is to operate at an ambient temperature of -40 C with 16 minute power pulses and one hour off time. The uniqueness of the design in Phase 1 resided in the dc switching array which operates the converter at 20 kHz using Hollotron plasma switches along with a specially designed low loss, low leakage inductance and a light weight high voltage transformer. This approach reduced considerably the number of components in the converter thereby increasing the system reliability. To achieve an optimum transformer for this application, the design uses four 25 kV secondary windings to produce the 100 kV dc output, thus reducing the transformer leakage inductance, and the ac voltage stresses. A specially designed insulation system improves the high voltage dielectric withstanding ability and reduces the insulation path thickness thereby reducing the component weight. Tradeoff studies and tests conducted on scaled-down model circuits and using representative coil insulation paths have verified the calculated transformer wave shape parameters and the insulation system safety. In Phase 1 of the program a converter design approach was developed and a preliminary transformer design was completed. A fault control circuit was designed and a thermal profile of the converter was also developed.
Improving the quality of the evidence base of health informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Talmon, Jan

2008-11-06

Evaluation of health informatics technology has had attention from quite a few researchers in health informatics in the last few decades. In the early nineties of the past century several working groups and research projects have discussed evaluation methods and methodologies. Despite these activities, evaluation of health informatics has not received the recognition it deserves. In this presentation we will reiterate the arguments put forward in the Declaration of Innsbruck to consider evaluation an essential element of the evidence base of health informatics. Not only are evaluation studies essential, it is also required that such studies are properly reported. A joint effort of the IMIA, EFMI and AMIA working groups on evaluation has resulted in a guideline for reporting the results of evaluation studies of health informatics applications (STARE-HI). STARE-HI is currently endorsed by EFMI. The general assembly of IMIA has adopted STARE-HI as an official IMIA document. Endorsement from AMIA is being sought. A pilot study in which STARE-HI was applied to assess the quality of current reporting clearly indicates that there is quite some room for improvement. Application of guidelines such as STARE-HI would contribute to a further improvement of the evidence base of health informatics and would open the road for high quality reviews and meta-analyses.
Custom high-reliability radiation-hard CMOS-LSI circuit design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnard, W.J.

1981-01-01

Sandia has developed a custom CMOS-LSI design capability to provide high reliability radiation-hardened circuits. This capability relies on (1) proven design practices to enhance reliability, (2) use of well characterized cells and logic modules, (3) computer-aided design tools to reduce design time and errors and to standardize design definition, and (4) close working relationships with the system designer and technology fabrication personnel. Trade-offs are made during the design between circuit complexity/performance and technology/producibility for high reliability and radiation-hardened designs to result. Sandia has developed and is maintaining a radiation-hardened bulk CMOS technology fabrication line for production of prototype and small production volume parts
Low-cost high-quality crystalline germanium based flexible devices

KAUST Repository

Nassar, Joanna M.

2014-06-16

High performance flexible electronics promise innovative future technology for various interactive applications for the pursuit of low-cost, light-weight, and multi-functional devices. Thus, here we show a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication of flexible metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) with high-κ/metal gate stack, using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) cost-effective technique to obtain a high-quality Ge channel. We report outstanding bending radius ~1.25 mm and semi-transparency of 30%.
Low-cost high-quality crystalline germanium based flexible devices

KAUST Repository

Nassar, Joanna M.; Hussain, Aftab M.; Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2014-01-01

High performance flexible electronics promise innovative future technology for various interactive applications for the pursuit of low-cost, light-weight, and multi-functional devices. Thus, here we show a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication of flexible metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) with high-κ/metal gate stack, using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) cost-effective technique to obtain a high-quality Ge channel. We report outstanding bending radius ~1.25 mm and semi-transparency of 30%.
High-reliability computing for the smarter planet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinn, Heather M.; Graham, Paul; Manuzzato, Andrea; Dehon, Andre

2010-01-01

The geometric rate of improvement of transistor size and integrated circuit performance, known as Moore's Law, has been an engine of growth for our economy, enabling new products and services, creating new value and wealth, increasing safety, and removing menial tasks from our daily lives. Affordable, highly integrated components have enabled both life-saving technologies and rich entertainment applications. Anti-lock brakes, insulin monitors, and GPS-enabled emergency response systems save lives. Cell phones, internet appliances, virtual worlds, realistic video games, and mp3 players enrich our lives and connect us together. Over the past 40 years of silicon scaling, the increasing capabilities of inexpensive computation have transformed our society through automation and ubiquitous communications. In this paper, we will present the concept of the smarter planet, how reliability failures affect current systems, and methods that can be used to increase the reliable adoption of new automation in the future. We will illustrate these issues using a number of different electronic devices in a couple of different scenarios. Recently IBM has been presenting the idea of a 'smarter planet.' In smarter planet documents, IBM discusses increased computer automation of roadways, banking, healthcare, and infrastructure, as automation could create more efficient systems. A necessary component of the smarter planet concept is to ensure that these new systems have very high reliability. Even extremely rare reliability problems can easily escalate to problematic scenarios when implemented at very large scales. For life-critical systems, such as automobiles, infrastructure, medical implantables, and avionic systems, unmitigated failures could be dangerous. As more automation moves into these types of critical systems, reliability failures will need to be managed. As computer automation continues to increase in our society, the need for greater radiation reliability is necessary
High-reliability computing for the smarter planet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, Heather M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Graham, Paul [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Manuzzato, Andrea [UNIV OF PADOVA; Dehon, Andre [UNIV OF PENN; Carter, Nicholas [INTEL CORPORATION

2010-01-01

The geometric rate of improvement of transistor size and integrated circuit performance, known as Moore's Law, has been an engine of growth for our economy, enabling new products and services, creating new value and wealth, increasing safety, and removing menial tasks from our daily lives. Affordable, highly integrated components have enabled both life-saving technologies and rich entertainment applications. Anti-lock brakes, insulin monitors, and GPS-enabled emergency response systems save lives. Cell phones, internet appliances, virtual worlds, realistic video games, and mp3 players enrich our lives and connect us together. Over the past 40 years of silicon scaling, the increasing capabilities of inexpensive computation have transformed our society through automation and ubiquitous communications. In this paper, we will present the concept of the smarter planet, how reliability failures affect current systems, and methods that can be used to increase the reliable adoption of new automation in the future. We will illustrate these issues using a number of different electronic devices in a couple of different scenarios. Recently IBM has been presenting the idea of a 'smarter planet.' In smarter planet documents, IBM discusses increased computer automation of roadways, banking, healthcare, and infrastructure, as automation could create more efficient systems. A necessary component of the smarter planet concept is to ensure that these new systems have very high reliability. Even extremely rare reliability problems can easily escalate to problematic scenarios when implemented at very large scales. For life-critical systems, such as automobiles, infrastructure, medical implantables, and avionic systems, unmitigated failures could be dangerous. As more automation moves into these types of critical systems, reliability failures will need to be managed. As computer automation continues to increase in our society, the need for greater radiation reliability is

Survey of industry methods for producing highly reliable software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, J.D.; Persons, W.L.

1994-11-01

The Nuclear Reactor Regulation Office of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is charged with assessing the safety of new instrument and control designs for nuclear power plants which may use computer-based reactor protection systems. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has evaluated the latest techniques in software reliability for measurement, estimation, error detection, and prediction that can be used during the software life cycle as a means of risk assessment for reactor protection systems. One aspect of this task has been a survey of the software industry to collect information to help identify the design factors used to improve the reliability and safety of software. The intent was to discover what practices really work in industry and what design factors are used by industry to achieve highly reliable software. The results of the survey are documented in this report. Three companies participated in the survey: Computer Sciences Corporation, International Business Machines (Federal Systems Company), and TRW. Discussions were also held with NASA Software Engineering Lab/University of Maryland/CSC, and the AIAA Software Reliability Project
Towards high-reliability organising in healthcare: a strategy for building organisational capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Aboumatar, Hanan J; Weaver, Sallie J; Rees, Dianne; Rosen, Michael A; Sawyer, Melinda D; Pronovost, Peter J

2017-08-01

In a high-reliability organisation (HRO), safety and quality (SQ) is an organisational priority, and all workforce members are engaged, continuously learning and improving their work. To build organisational capacity for SQ work, we have developed a role-tailored capacity-building framework that we are currently employing at the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality as part of an organisational strategy towards HRO. This framework considers organisation-wide competencies for SQ that includes all staff and faculty and is integrated into a broader organisation-wide operating management system for improving quality. In this framework, achieving safe, high-quality care is connected to healthcare workforce preparedness. Capacity-building efforts are tailored to the needs of distinct groups within the workforce that fall within three categories: (1) front-line providers and staff, (2) managers and local improvement personnel and (3) SQ leaders and experts. In this paper we describe this framework, our implementation efforts to date, challenges met and lessons learnt. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
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...
Student Writing Accepted as High-Quality Responses to Analytic Text-Based Writing Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Elaine; Matsumura, Lindsay Clare; Correnti, Richard

2018-01-01

Literacy standards increasingly emphasize the importance of analytic text-based writing. Little consensus exists, however, around what high-quality student responses should look like in this genre. In this study, we investigated fifth-grade students' writing in response to analytic text-based writing tasks (15 teachers, 44 writing tasks, 88 pieces…
High Quality Data for Grid Integration Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clifton, Andrew; Draxl, Caroline; Sengupta, Manajit; Hodge, Bri-Mathias

2017-01-22

As variable renewable power penetration levels increase in power systems worldwide, renewable integration studies are crucial to ensure continued economic and reliable operation of the power grid. The existing electric grid infrastructure in the US in particular poses significant limitations on wind power expansion. In this presentation we will shed light on requirements for grid integration studies as far as wind and solar energy are concerned. Because wind and solar plants are strongly impacted by weather, high-resolution and high-quality weather data are required to drive power system simulations. Future data sets will have to push limits of numerical weather prediction to yield these high-resolution data sets, and wind data will have to be time-synchronized with solar data. Current wind and solar integration data sets are presented. The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit is the largest and most complete grid integration data set publicly available to date. A meteorological data set, wind power production time series, and simulated forecasts created using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model run on a 2-km grid over the continental United States at a 5-min resolution is now publicly available for more than 126,000 land-based and offshore wind power production sites. The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is a similar high temporal- and spatial resolution database of 18 years of solar resource data for North America and India. The need for high-resolution weather data pushes modeling towards finer scales and closer synchronization. We also present how we anticipate such datasets developing in the future, their benefits, and the challenges with using and disseminating such large amounts of data.
Design and reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety analysis of a high availability quadruple vital computer system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ping TAN; Wei-ting HE; Jia LIN; Hong-ming ZHAO; Jian CHU

2011-01-01

With the development of high-speed railways in China,more than 2000 high-speed trains will be put into use.Safety and efficiency of railway transportation is increasingly important.We have designed a high availability quadruple vital computer (HAQVC) system based on the analysis of the architecture of the traditional double 2-out-of-2 system and 2-out-of-3 system.The HAQVC system is a system with high availability and safety,with prominent characteristics such as fire-new internal architecture,high efficiency,reliable data interaction mechanism,and operation state change mechanism.The hardware of the vital CPU is based on ARM7 with the real-time embedded safe operation system (ES-OS).The Markov modeling method is designed to evaluate the reliability,availability,maintainability,and safety (RAMS) of the system.In this paper,we demonstrate that the HAQVC system is more reliable than the all voting triple modular redundancy (AVTMR) system and double 2-out-of-2 system.Thus,the design can be used for a specific application system,such as an airplane or high-speed railway system.
The Berg Balance Scale has high intra- and inter-rater reliability but absolute reliability varies across the scale: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Downs, Stephen; Marquez, Jodie; Chiarelli, Pauline

2013-06-01

What is the intra-rater and inter-rater relative reliability of the Berg Balance Scale? What is the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale? Does the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale vary across the scale? Systematic review with meta-analysis of reliability studies. Any clinical population that has undergone assessment with the Berg Balance Scale. Relative intra-rater reliability, relative inter-rater reliability, and absolute reliability. Eleven studies involving 668 participants were included in the review. The relative intrarater reliability of the Berg Balance Scale was high, with a pooled estimate of 0.98 (95% CI 0.97 to 0.99). Relative inter-rater reliability was also high, with a pooled estimate of 0.97 (95% CI 0.96 to 0.98). A ceiling effect of the Berg Balance Scale was evident for some participants. In the analysis of absolute reliability, all of the relevant studies had an average score of 20 or above on the 0 to 56 point Berg Balance Scale. The absolute reliability across this part of the scale, as measured by the minimal detectable change with 95% confidence, varied between 2.8 points and 6.6 points. The Berg Balance Scale has a higher absolute reliability when close to 56 points due to the ceiling effect. We identified no data that estimated the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale among participants with a mean score below 20 out of 56. The Berg Balance Scale has acceptable reliability, although it might not detect modest, clinically important changes in balance in individual subjects. The review was only able to comment on the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale among people with moderately poor to normal balance. Copyright © 2013 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by .. All rights reserved.
Educational Management Organizations as High Reliability Organizations: A Study of Victory's Philadelphia High School Reform Work

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, David E.

2013-01-01

This executive position paper proposes recommendations for designing reform models between public and private sectors dedicated to improving school reform work in low performing urban high schools. It reviews scholarly research about for-profit educational management organizations, high reliability organizations, American high school reform, and…
Teaching Surgical Procedures with Movies: Tips for High-quality Video Clips

OpenAIRE

Jacquemart, Mathieu; Bouletreau, Pierre; Breton, Pierre; Mojallal, Ali; Sigaux, Nicolas

2016-01-01

Summary: Video must now be considered as a precious tool for learning surgery. However, the medium does present production challenges, and currently, quality movies are not always accessible. We developed a series of 7 surgical videos and made them available on a publicly accessible internet website. Our videos have been viewed by thousands of people worldwide. High-quality educational movies must respect strategic and technical points to be reliable.
Teaching Surgical Procedures with Movies: Tips for High-quality Video Clips.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacquemart, Mathieu; Bouletreau, Pierre; Breton, Pierre; Mojallal, Ali; Sigaux, Nicolas

2016-09-01

Video must now be considered as a precious tool for learning surgery. However, the medium does present production challenges, and currently, quality movies are not always accessible. We developed a series of 7 surgical videos and made them available on a publicly accessible internet website. Our videos have been viewed by thousands of people worldwide. High-quality educational movies must respect strategic and technical points to be reliable.
Effect of high-oxygen and high-carbon-dioxide atmospheres on strawberry flavor and other quality traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, A G; Sanz, C

2001-05-01

The effect of high-oxygen atmospheres on strawberry flavor was studied. Strawberry fruits (Fragariax ananassa Duch. cv. Camarosa) were stored at 8 degrees C in four different atmospheres: air, 5% O(2)/20% CO(2), 80% O(2)/20% CO(2), and 90% O(2)/10% CO(2). Changes in several quality parameters were evaluated. Atmospheres combining high O(2) and high CO(2) were the most effective in preventing fungal growth and enhancing strawberry firmness. Other quality parameters such as color, titrable acidity, sugars and organic acids distribution, off-flavor development, and aroma were only mildly affected by superatmospheric O(2) levels. After one week of storage, unexpected high contents of off-flavor related compounds were found in the 80% O(2)/20% CO(2) and 90% O(2)/10% CO(2) atmospheres. Evidence of an altered ester biosynthesis was also found in fruits stored under these high-O(2) atmospheres. Data obtained suggest that stress induced by high CO(2) and stress induced by high O(2) have an additive effect on strawberry flavor alteration.
Assessing mental health clinicians' intentions to adopt evidence-based treatments: reliability and validity testing of the evidence-based treatment intentions scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Nathaniel J

2016-05-05

Intentions play a central role in numerous empirically supported theories of behavior and behavior change and have been identified as a potentially important antecedent to successful evidence-based treatment (EBT) implementation. Despite this, few measures of mental health clinicians' EBT intentions exist and available measures have not been subject to thorough psychometric evaluation or testing. This paper evaluates the psychometric properties of the evidence-based treatment intentions (EBTI) scale, a new measure of mental health clinicians' intentions to adopt EBTs. The study evaluates the reliability and validity of inferences made with the EBTI using multi-method, multi-informant criterion variables collected over 12 months from a sample of 197 mental health clinicians delivering services in 13 mental health agencies. Structural, predictive, and discriminant validity evidence is assessed. Findings support the EBTI's factor structure (χ (2) = 3.96, df = 5, p = .556) and internal consistency reliability (α = .80). Predictive validity evidence was provided by robust and significant associations between EBTI scores and clinicians' observer-reported attendance at a voluntary EBT workshop at a 1-month follow-up (OR = 1.92, p adoption at a 12-month follow-up (R (2) = .17, p adopt EBTs. Discussion focuses on research and practice applications.
High Reliability Cryogenic Piezoelectric Valve Actuator, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Cryogenic fluid valves are subject to harsh exposure and actuators to drive these valves require robust performance and high reliability. DSM's piezoelectric...
Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaughey, Deirdre; Bruning, Nealia S

2010-05-26

Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial suggestions about how the EBDM/EBPM process can be
Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruning Nealia S

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. Discussion We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM and evidence-based policy making (EBPM because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. Summary In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial
Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. Discussion We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. Summary In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial suggestions about how the
Toward reliable and repeatable automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Zhenxin; Donald, Jason; Dutrow, Gavin; Roller, Justin; Ugurlu, Ozan; Verheijen, Martin; Bidiuk, Oleksii

2018-03-01

New materials and designs in complex 3D architectures in logic and memory devices have raised complexity in S/TEM metrology. In this paper, we report about a newly developed, automated, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) based, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDS) metrology method that addresses these challenges. Different methodologies toward repeatable and efficient, automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput are presented: we introduce the best known auto-EDS acquisition and quantification methods for robust and reliable metrology and present how electron exposure dose impacts the EDS metrology reproducibility, either due to poor signalto-noise ratio (SNR) at low dose or due to sample modifications at high dose conditions. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the STEM-EDS metrology technique and propose strategies to optimize the process both in terms of throughput and metrology reliability.
Asymmetric Programming: A Highly Reliable Metadata Allocation Strategy for MLC NAND Flash Memory-Based Sensor Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Min; Liu, Zhaoqing; Qiao, Liyan

2014-01-01

While the NAND flash memory is widely used as the storage medium in modern sensor systems, the aggressive shrinking of process geometry and an increase in the number of bits stored in each memory cell will inevitably degrade the reliability of NAND flash memory. In particular, it's critical to enhance metadata reliability, which occupies only a small portion of the storage space, but maintains the critical information of the file system and the address translations of the storage system. Metadata damage will cause the system to crash or a large amount of data to be lost. This paper presents Asymmetric Programming, a highly reliable metadata allocation strategy for MLC NAND flash memory storage systems. Our technique exploits for the first time the property of the multi-page architecture of MLC NAND flash memory to improve the reliability of metadata. The basic idea is to keep metadata in most significant bit (MSB) pages which are more reliable than least significant bit (LSB) pages. Thus, we can achieve relatively low bit error rates for metadata. Based on this idea, we propose two strategies to optimize address mapping and garbage collection. We have implemented Asymmetric Programming on a real hardware platform. The experimental results show that Asymmetric Programming can achieve a reduction in the number of page errors of up to 99.05% with the baseline error correction scheme. PMID:25310473
Asymmetric Programming: A Highly Reliable Metadata Allocation Strategy for MLC NAND Flash Memory-Based Sensor Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Huang

2014-10-01

Full Text Available While the NAND flash memory is widely used as the storage medium in modern sensor systems, the aggressive shrinking of process geometry and an increase in the number of bits stored in each memory cell will inevitably degrade the reliability of NAND flash memory. In particular, it’s critical to enhance metadata reliability, which occupies only a small portion of the storage space, but maintains the critical information of the file system and the address translations of the storage system. Metadata damage will cause the system to crash or a large amount of data to be lost. This paper presents Asymmetric Programming, a highly reliable metadata allocation strategy for MLC NAND flash memory storage systems. Our technique exploits for the first time the property of the multi-page architecture of MLC NAND flash memory to improve the reliability of metadata. The basic idea is to keep metadata in most significant bit (MSB pages which are more reliable than least significant bit (LSB pages. Thus, we can achieve relatively low bit error rates for metadata. Based on this idea, we propose two strategies to optimize address mapping and garbage collection. We have implemented Asymmetric Programming on a real hardware platform. The experimental results show that Asymmetric Programming can achieve a reduction in the number of page errors of up to 99.05% with the baseline error correction scheme.
Development of web-based reliability data base platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Seok Won; Lee, Chang Ju; Sung, Key Yong

2004-01-01

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is a systematic technique which estimates the degree of risk impacts to the public due to an accident scenario. Estimating the occurrence frequencies and consequences of potential scenarios requires a thorough analysis of the accident details and all fundamental parameters. The robustness of PSA to check weaknesses in a design and operation will allow a better informed and balanced decision to be reached. The fundamental parameters for PSA, such as the component failure rates, should be estimated under the condition of steady collection of the evidence throughout the operational period. However, since any single plant data does not sufficiently enough to provide an adequate PSA result, in actual, the whole operating data was commonly used to estimate the reliability parameters for the same type of components. The reliability data of any component type consists of two categories; the generic that is based on the operating experiences of whole plants, and the plant-specific that is based on the operation of a specific plant of interest. The generic data is highly essential for new or recently-built nuclear power plants (NPPs). Generally, the reliability data base may be categorized into the component reliability, initiating event frequencies, human performance, and so on. Among these data, the component reliability seems a key element because it has the most abundant population. Therefore, the component reliability data is essential for taking a part in the quantification of accident sequences because it becomes an input of various basic events which consists of the fault tree

Formation of high-quality self-assembled monolayers of conjugated dithiols on gold: base matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Valkenier, Hennie; Huisman, Everardus H; van Hal, Paul A; de Leeuw, Dago M; Chiechi, Ryan C; Hummelen, Jan C

2011-04-06

This Article reports a systematic study on the formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of conjugated molecules for molecular electronic (ME) devices. We monitored the deprotection reaction of acetyl protected dithiols of oligophenylene ethynylenes (OPEs) in solution using two different bases and studied the quality of the resulting SAMs on gold. We found that the optimal conditions to reproducibly form dense, high-quality monolayers are 9-15% triethylamine (Et(3)N) in THF. The deprotection base tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (Bu(4)NOH) leads to less dense SAMs and the incorporation of Bu(4)N into the monolayer. Furthermore, our results show the importance of the equilibrium concentrations of (di)thiolate in solution on the quality of the SAM. To demonstrate the relevance of these results for molecular electronics applications, large-area molecular junctions were fabricated using no base, Et(3)N, and Bu(4)NOH. The magnitude of the current-densities in these devices is highly dependent on the base. A value of β=0.15 Å(-1) for the exponential decay of the current-density of OPEs of varying length formed using Et(3)N was obtained. © 2011 American Chemical Society
A High Reliability Frequency Stabilized Semiconductor Laser Source, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Ultrastable, narrow linewidth, high reliability MOPA sources are needed for high performance LIDARs in NASA for, wind speed measurement, surface topography and earth...
The role of high cycle fatigue (HCF) onset in Francis runner reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagnon, M; Tahan, S A; Bocher, P; Thibault, D

2012-01-01

High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) plays an important role in Francis runner reliability. This paper presents a model in which reliability is defined as the probability of not exceeding a threshold above which HCF contributes to crack propagation. In the context of combined Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) and HCF loading, the Kitagawa diagram is used as the limit state threshold for reliability. The reliability problem is solved using First-Order Reliability Methods (FORM). A study case is proposed using in situ measured strains and operational data. All the parameters of the reliability problem are based either on observed data or on typical design specifications. From the results obtained, we observed that the uncertainty around the defect size and the HCF stress range play an important role in reliability. At the same time, we observed that expected values for the LCF stress range and the number of LCF cycles have a significant influence on life assessment, but the uncertainty around these values could be neglected in the reliability assessment.
Fracture Toughness and Reliability in High-Temperature Structural Ceramics and Composites: Prospects and Challenges for the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Sunil

1999-01-01

The importance of high fracture toughness and reliability in Si3N4, and SiC-based structural ceramics and ceramic matrix composites is reviewed. The potential of these ceramics and ceramic matrix composites for high temperature applications in defense and aerospace applications such as gas turbine engines, radomes, and other energy conversion hardware have been well recognized. Numerous investigations were pursued to improve fracture toughness and reliability by incorporating various reinforcements such as particulate-, whisker-, and continuous fiber into Si3N4 and SiC matrices. All toughening mechanisms, e.g. crack deflection, crack branching, crack bridging, etc., essentially redistribute stresses at the crack tip and increase the energy needed to propagate a crack through the composite material, thereby resulting in improved fracture toughness and reliability. Because of flaw insensitivity, continuous fiber reinforced ceramic composite (CFCC) was found to have the highest potential for higher operating temperature and longer service conditions. However, the ceramic fibers should display sufficient high temperature strength and creep resistance at service temperatures above 1000 'C. The greatest challenge to date is the development of high quality ceramic fibers with associate coatings able to maintain their high strength in oxidizing environment at high temperature. In the area of processing, critical issues are, preparation of optimum matrix precursors, precursor infiltration into fiber array, and matrix densification at a temperature, where grain crystallization and fiber degradation do not occur. A broad scope of effort is required for improved processing and properties with a better understanding of all candidate composite systems.
High-Value Consults: A Curriculum to Promote Point-of-Care, Evidence-Based Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Nandiwada, Deepa Rani; Kohli, Amar; McNamara, Megan; Smith, Kenneth J; Zimmer, Shanta; McNeil, Melissa; Spagnoletti, Carla; Rubio, Doris; Berlacher, Kathryn

2017-10-01

In an era when value-based care is paramount, teaching trainees to explicitly communicate the evidence behind recommendations fosters high-value care (HVC) in the consultation process. To implement an HVC consult curriculum highlighting the need for clear consult questions, evidence-based recommendations to improve consult teaching, clinical decision-making, and the educational value of consults. A pilot curriculum was implemented for residents on cardiology consult electives utilizing faculty and fellows as evidence-based medicine (EBM) coaches. The curriculum included an online module, an EBM teaching point template, EBM presentations on rounds, and "coach" feedback on notes. A total of 15 residents and 4 fellows on cardiology consults participated, and 87% (13 of 15) of residents on consults felt the curriculum was educationally valuable. A total of 80% (72 of 90) of residents on general medicine rotations responded to the survey, and 25 of 72 residents (35%) had a consult with the EBM template. General medicine teams felt the EBM teaching points affected clinical decision-making (48%, 12 of 25) and favored dissemination of the curriculum (90%, 72 of 80). Checklist-guided chart review showed a 22% improvement in evidence-based summaries behind recommendations (7 of 36 precurriculum to 70 of 146 charts postcurriculum, P = .015). The HVC consult curriculum during a cardiology elective was perceived by residents to influence clinical decision-making and evidence-based recommendations, and was found to be educationally valuable on both parties in the consult process.
Development of high-reliability control system for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asami, K.; Yanai, K.; Hirose, H.; Ito, T.

1983-01-01

In Japan, many nuclear power generating plants are in operation and under construction. There is a general awareness of the problems in connection with nuclear power generation and strong emphasis is put on achieving highly reliable operation of nuclear power plants. Hitachi has developed a new high-reliability control system. NURECS-3000 (NUclear Power Plant High-REliability Control System), which is applied to the main control systems, such as the reactor feedwater control system, the reactor recirculation control system and the main turbine control system. The NURECS-3000 system was designed taking into account the fact that there will be failures, but the aim is for the system to continue to function correctly; it is therefore a fault-tolerant system. It has redundant components which can be completely isolated from each other in order to prevent fault propagation. The system has a hierarchical configuration, with a main controller, consisting of a triplex microcomputer system, and sub-loop controllers. Special care was taken to ensure the independence of these subsystems. Since most of the redundant system failures are caused by common-mode failures and the reliability of redundant systems depends on the reliability of the common-mode parts, the aim was to minimize these parts. (author)
High quality digital holographic reconstruction on analog film

Science.gov (United States)

Nelsen, B.; Hartmann, P.

2017-05-01

High quality real-time digital holographic reconstruction, i.e. at 30 Hz frame rates, has been at the forefront of research and has been hailed as the holy grail of display systems. While these efforts have produced a fascinating array of computer algorithms and technology, many applications of reconstructing high quality digital holograms do not require such high frame rates. In fact, applications such as 3D holographic lithography even require a stationary mask. Typical devices used for digital hologram reconstruction are based on spatial-light-modulator technology and this technology is great for reconstructing arbitrary holograms on the fly; however, it lacks the high spatial resolution achievable by its analog counterpart, holographic film. Analog holographic film is therefore the method of choice for reconstructing highquality static holograms. The challenge lies in taking a static, high-quality digitally calculated hologram and effectively writing it to holographic film. We have developed a theoretical system based on a tunable phase plate, an intensity adjustable high-coherence laser and a slip-stick based piezo rotation stage to effectively produce a digitally calculated hologram on analog film. The configuration reproduces the individual components, both the amplitude and phase, of the hologram in the Fourier domain. These Fourier components are then individually written on the holographic film after interfering with a reference beam. The system is analogous to writing angularly multiplexed plane waves with individual component phase control.
Establishment of quality, reliability and design standards for low, medium, and high power microwave hybrid microcircuits

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, E. A.

1973-01-01

Quality, reliability, and design standards for microwave hybrid microcircuits were established. The MSFC Standard 85M03926 for hybrid microcircuits was reviewed and modifications were generated for use with microwave hybrid microcircuits. The results for reliability tests of microwave thin film capacitors, transistors, and microwave circuits are presented. Twenty-two microwave receivers were tested for 13,500 unit hours. The result of 111,121 module burn-in and operating hours for an integrated solid state transceiver module is reported.
Design of piezoelectric transducer layer with electromagnetic shielding and high connection reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Lei; Yuan, Shenfang; Shi, Xiaoling; Huang, Tianxiang

2012-07-01

Piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and Lamb wave based structural health monitoring (SHM) method have been widely studied for on-line SHM of high-performance structures. To monitor large-scale structures, a dense PZTs array is required. In order to improve the placement efficiency and reduce the wire burden of the PZTs array, the concept of the piezoelectric transducers layer (PSL) was proposed. The PSL consists of PZTs, a flexible interlayer with printed wires and signal input/output interface. For on-line SHM on real aircraft structures, there are two main issues on electromagnetic interference and connection reliability of the PSL. To address the issues, an electromagnetic shielding design method of the PSL to reduce spatial electromagnetic noise and crosstalk is proposed and a combined welding-cementation process based connection reliability design method is proposed to enhance the connection reliability between the PZTs and the flexible interlayer. Two experiments on electromagnetic interference suppression are performed to validate the shielding design of the PSL. The experimental results show that the amplitudes of the spatial electromagnetic noise and crosstalk output from the shielded PSL developed by this paper are - 15 dB and - 25 dB lower than those of the ordinary PSL, respectively. Other two experiments on temperature durability ( - 55 °C-80 °C ) and strength durability (160-1600μɛ, one million load cycles) are applied to the PSL to validate the connection reliability. The low repeatability errors (less than 3% and less than 5%, respectively) indicate that the developed PSL is of high connection reliability and long fatigue life.
A new kind high-reliability digital reactivity meter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Feng; Jiang Zongbing

2001-01-01

The paper introduces a new kind of high-reliability Digital Reactivity Meter developed by the DRM developing group in designing department of Nuclear Power Institute of China. The meter has two independent measure channels, which can be set as either master-slave structure or working independently. This structure will ensure that the meter can continually fulfill its online measure task under the condition of single failure with it. It provides a solution for the conflict between nuclear station's extreme demand in DRM's reliability and instability of computer's business software platform. The instrument reaches both advance and reliability by covering a lot of kinds of complex functions in data process and display
The reliability-quality relationship for quality systems and quality risk management.

Science.gov (United States)

Claycamp, H Gregg; Rahaman, Faiad; Urban, Jason M

2012-01-01

Engineering reliability typically refers to the probability that a system, or any of its components, will perform a required function for a stated period of time and under specified operating conditions. As such, reliability is inextricably linked with time-dependent quality concepts, such as maintaining a state of control and predicting the chances of losses from failures for quality risk management. Two popular current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) and quality risk management tools, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and root cause analysis (RCA) are examples of engineering reliability evaluations that link reliability with quality and risk. Current concepts in pharmaceutical quality and quality management systems call for more predictive systems for maintaining quality; yet, the current pharmaceutical manufacturing literature and guidelines are curiously silent on engineering quality. This commentary discusses the meaning of engineering reliability while linking the concept to quality systems and quality risk management. The essay also discusses the difference between engineering reliability and statistical (assay) reliability. The assurance of quality in a pharmaceutical product is no longer measured only "after the fact" of manufacturing. Rather, concepts of quality systems and quality risk management call for designing quality assurance into all stages of the pharmaceutical product life cycle. Interestingly, most assays for quality are essentially static and inform product quality over the life cycle only by being repeated over time. Engineering process reliability is the fundamental concept that is meant to anticipate quality failures over the life cycle of the product. Reliability is a well-developed theory and practice for other types of manufactured products and manufacturing processes. Thus, it is well known to be an appropriate index of manufactured product quality. This essay discusses the meaning of reliability and its linkages with quality
Usability Evaluation and Implementation of a Health Information Technology Dashboard of Evidence-Based Quality Indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Schall, Mark Christopher; Cullen, Laura; Pennathur, Priyadarshini; Chen, Howard; Burrell, Keith; Matthews, Grace

2017-06-01

Health information technology dashboards that integrate evidence-based quality indicators can efficiently and accurately display patient risk information to promote early intervention and improve overall quality of patient care. We describe the process of developing, evaluating, and implementing a dashboard designed to promote quality care through display of evidence-based quality indicators within an electronic health record. Clinician feedback was sought throughout the process. Usability evaluations were provided by three nurse pairs and one physician from medical-surgical areas. Task completion times, error rates, and ratings of system usability were collected to compare the use of quality indicators displayed on the dashboard to the indicators displayed in a conventional electronic health record across eight experimental scenarios. Participants rated the dashboard as "highly usable" following System Usability Scale (mean, 87.5 [SD, 9.6]) and Poststudy System Usability Questionnaire (mean, 1.7 [SD, 0.5]) criteria. Use of the dashboard led to reduced task completion times and error rates in comparison to the conventional electronic health record for quality indicator-related tasks. Clinician responses to the dashboard display capabilities were positive, and a multifaceted implementation plan has been used. Results suggest application of the dashboard in the care environment may lead to improved patient care.
Percutaneous vertebroplasty with a high-quality rotational angiographic unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pedicelli, Alessandro [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: apedicelli@rm.unicatt.it; Rollo, Massimo [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: mrollo@rm.unicatt.it; Piano, Mariangela [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: mariangela.piano@gmail.com; Re, Thomas J. [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: tomjre@gmail.com; Cipriani, Maria C. [Department of Gerontology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: alexped@yahoo.com; Colosimo, Cesare [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: colosimo@rm.unicatt.it; Bonomo, Lorenzo [Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Policl. A.Gemelli, l.go Gemelli 1, 00168 Rome (Italy)], E-mail: lbonomo@rm.unicatt.it

2009-02-15

We evaluated the reliability of a rotational angiographic unit (RA) with flat-panel detector as a single technique to guide percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and for post-procedure assessment by 2D and 3D reformatted images. Fifty-five consecutive patients (104 vertebral bodies) were treated under RA fluoroscopy. Rotational acquisitions with 2D and 3D reconstruction were obtained in all patients for immediate post-procedure assessment. In complex cases, this technique was also used to evaluate the needle position during the procedure. All patients underwent CT scan after the procedure. RA and CT findings were compared. In all cases, a safe trans-pedicular access and an accurate control of the bone-cement injection were successfully performed with high-quality fluoroscopy, even at the thoracic levels and in case of vertebra plana. 2D and 3D rotational reconstructions permitted CT-like images that clearly showed needle position and were similar to CT findings in depicting intrasomatic implant-distribution. RA detected 40 cement leakages compared to 42 demonstrated by CT and showed overall 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity compared to CT for final post-procedure assessment. Our preliminary results suggest that high-quality RA is reliable and safe as a single technique for PVP guidance, control and post-procedure assessment. It permits fast and cost-effective procedures avoiding multi-modality imaging.
Reliability studies of high operating temperature MCT photoconductor detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Xu, Jintong; Zhang, Yan; Li, Xiangyang

2010-10-01

This paper concerns HgCdTe (MCT) infrared photoconductor detectors with high operating temperature. The near room temperature operation of detectors have advantages of light weight, less cost and convenient usage. Their performances are modest and they suffer from reliable problems. These detectors face with stability of the package, chip bonding area and passivation layers. It's important to evaluate and improve the reliability of such detectors. Defective detectors were studied with SEM(Scanning electron microscope) and microscopy. Statistically significant differences were observed between the influence of operating temperature and the influence of humidity. It was also found that humility has statistically significant influence upon the stability of the chip bonding and passivation layers, and the amount of humility isn't strongly correlated to the damage on the surface. Considering about the commonly found failures modes in detectors, special test structures were designed to improve the reliability of detectors. An accelerated life test was also implemented to estimate the lifetime of the high operating temperature MCT photoconductor detectors.
Advanced Functionalities for Highly Reliable Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

An, Yi

This thesis covers two research topics concerning optical solutions for networks e.g. avionic systems. One is to identify the applications for silicon photonic devices for cost-effective solutions in short-range optical networks. The other one is to realise advanced functionalities in order...... to increase the availability of highly reliable optical networks. A cost-effective transmitter based on a directly modulated laser (DML) using a silicon micro-ring resonator (MRR) to enhance its modulation speed is proposed, analysed and experimentally demonstrated. A modulation speed enhancement from 10 Gbit...... interconnects and network-on-chips. A novel concept of all-optical protection switching scheme is proposed, where fault detection and protection trigger are all implemented in the optical domain. This scheme can provide ultra-fast establishment of the protection path resulting in a minimum loss of data...
Design of piezoelectric transducer layer with electromagnetic shielding and high connection reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, Lei; Yuan, Shenfang; Shi, Xiaoling; Huang, Tianxiang

2012-01-01

Piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and Lamb wave based structural health monitoring (SHM) method have been widely studied for on-line SHM of high-performance structures. To monitor large-scale structures, a dense PZTs array is required. In order to improve the placement efficiency and reduce the wire burden of the PZTs array, the concept of the piezoelectric transducers layer (PSL) was proposed. The PSL consists of PZTs, a flexible interlayer with printed wires and signal input/output interface. For on-line SHM on real aircraft structures, there are two main issues on electromagnetic interference and connection reliability of the PSL. To address the issues, an electromagnetic shielding design method of the PSL to reduce spatial electromagnetic noise and crosstalk is proposed and a combined welding–cementation process based connection reliability design method is proposed to enhance the connection reliability between the PZTs and the flexible interlayer. Two experiments on electromagnetic interference suppression are performed to validate the shielding design of the PSL. The experimental results show that the amplitudes of the spatial electromagnetic noise and crosstalk output from the shielded PSL developed by this paper are − 15 dB and − 25 dB lower than those of the ordinary PSL, respectively. Other two experiments on temperature durability ( − 55 °C–80 °C ) and strength durability (160–1600με, one million load cycles) are applied to the PSL to validate the connection reliability. The low repeatability errors (less than 3% and less than 5%, respectively) indicate that the developed PSL is of high connection reliability and long fatigue life. (paper)
MALDI-TOF MS for quality control of high protein content sport supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

De Ceglie, Cristina; Calvano, Cosima D; Zambonin, Carlo G

2015-06-01

High protein content sport nutritional supplements are found as powder products containing, as ingredients, amino acids and proteins with important nutritional values as milk, soy and egg proteins. An EU Food Supplements Directive (2002) requires that supplements should be safe, both in dosages and in purity. It is important, then, to develop rapid and sensitive methods to be employed for the quality control of these substances. In this work, we apply, for the first time, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry as a fast, reproducible and sensitive method for the quality control of sport nutritional supplements based on proteins. To this aim, several commercial egg- and/or milk-based powder products have been processed by in gel or in solution digestion and analyzed in comparison to pure standard products. This strategy allowed to assess the reliability of the indications on proteins (as caseins, whey proteins and ovalbumin) declared in the label of several sport nutritional supplements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
On the design of high-rise buildings with a specified level of reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Dolganov, Andrey; Kagan, Pavel

2018-03-01

High-rise buildings have a specificity, which significantly distinguishes them from traditional buildings of high-rise and multi-storey buildings. Steel structures in high-rise buildings are advisable to be used in earthquake-proof regions, since steel, due to its plasticity, provides damping of the kinetic energy of seismic impacts. These aspects should be taken into account when choosing a structural scheme of a high-rise building and designing load-bearing structures. Currently, modern regulatory documents do not quantify the reliability of structures. Although the problem of assigning an optimal level of reliability has existed for a long time. The article shows the possibility of designing metal structures of high-rise buildings with specified reliability. Currently, modern regulatory documents do not quantify the reliability of high-rise buildings. Although the problem of assigning an optimal level of reliability has existed for a long time. It is proposed to establish the value of reliability 0.99865 (3σ) for constructions of buildings and structures of a normal level of responsibility in calculations for the first group of limiting states. For increased (construction of high-rise buildings) and reduced levels of responsibility for the provision of load-bearing capacity, it is proposed to assign respectively 0.99997 (4σ) and 0.97725 (2σ). The coefficients of the use of the cross section of a metal beam for different levels of security are given.
Reliable and repeatable bonding technology for high temperature automotive power modules for electrified vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Sang Won; Shiozaki, Koji; Glover, Michael D; Mantooth, H Alan

2013-01-01

This paper presents the feasibility of highly reliable and repeatable copper–tin transient liquid phase (Cu–Sn TLP) bonding as applied to die attachment in high temperature operational power modules. Electrified vehicles are attracting particular interest as eco-friendly vehicles, but their power modules are challenged because of increasing power densities which lead to high temperatures. Such high temperature operation addresses the importance of advanced bonding technology that is highly reliable (for high temperature operation) and repeatable (for fabrication of advanced structures). Cu–Sn TLP bonding is employed herein because of its high remelting temperature and desirable thermal and electrical conductivities. The bonding starts with a stack of Cu–Sn–Cu metal layers that eventually transforms to Cu–Sn alloys. As the alloys have melting temperatures (Cu 3 Sn: > 600 °C, Cu 6 Sn 5 : > 400 °C) significantly higher than the process temperature, the process can be repeated without damaging previously bonded layers. A Cu–Sn TLP bonding process was developed using thin Sn metal sheets inserted between copper layers on silicon die and direct bonded copper substrates, emulating the process used to construct automotive power modules. Bond quality is characterized using (1) proof-of-concept fabrication, (2) material identification using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis, and (3) optical analysis using optical microscopy and scanning acoustic microscope. The feasibility of multiple-sided Cu–Sn TLP bonding is demonstrated by the absence of bondline damage in multiple test samples fabricated with double- or four-sided bonding using the TLP bonding process. (paper)
System principles, mathematical models and methods to ensure high reliability of safety systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zaslavskyi, V.

2017-04-01

Modern safety and security systems are composed of a large number of various components designed for detection, localization, tracking, collecting, and processing of information from the systems of monitoring, telemetry, control, etc. They are required to be highly reliable in a view to correctly perform data aggregation, processing and analysis for subsequent decision making support. On design and construction phases of the manufacturing of such systems a various types of components (elements, devices, and subsystems) are considered and used to ensure high reliability of signals detection, noise isolation, and erroneous commands reduction. When generating design solutions for highly reliable systems a number of restrictions and conditions such as types of components and various constrains on resources should be considered. Various types of components perform identical functions; however, they are implemented using diverse principles, approaches and have distinct technical and economic indicators such as cost or power consumption. The systematic use of different component types increases the probability of tasks performing and eliminates the common cause failure. We consider type-variety principle as an engineering principle of system analysis, mathematical models based on this principle, and algorithms for solving optimization problems of highly reliable safety and security systems design. Mathematical models are formalized in a class of two-level discrete optimization problems of large dimension. The proposed approach, mathematical models, algorithms can be used for problem solving of optimal redundancy on the basis of a variety of methods and control devices for fault and defects detection in technical systems, telecommunication networks, and energy systems.

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.
Certifying leaders? high-quality management practices and healthy organisations: an ISO-9000 based standardisation approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Montano, Diego

2016-08-05

The present study proposes a set of quality requirements to management practices by taking into account the empirical evidence on their potential effects on health, the systemic nature of social organisations, and the current conceptualisations of management functions within the framework of comprehensive quality management systems. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses focusing on the associations between leadership and/or supervision and health in occupational settings are evaluated, and the core elements of an ISO 9001 standardisation approach are presented. Six major occupational health requirements to high-quality management practices are identified pertaining to communication processes, organisational justice, role clarity, decision making, social influence processes and management support. It is concluded that the quality of management practices may be improved by developing a quality management system of management practices that ensures not only conformity to product but also to occupational safety and health requirements. Further research may evaluate the practicability of the proposed approach.
Reliability of high power electron accelerators for radiation processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zimek, Z. [Department of Radiation Chemistry and Technology, Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw (Poland)

2011-07-01

Accelerators applied for radiation processing are installed in industrial facilities where accelerator availability coefficient should be at the level of 95% to fulfill requirements according to industry standards. Usually the exploitation of electron accelerator reviles the number of short and few long lasting failures. Some technical shortages can be overcome by practical implementation the experience gained in accelerator technology development by different accelerator manufactures. The reliability/availability of high power accelerators for application in flue gas treatment process must be dramatically improved to meet industrial standards. Support of accelerator technology dedicated for environment protection should be provided by governmental and international institutions to overcome accelerator reliability/availability problem and high risk and low direct profit in this particular application. (author)
Reliability of high power electron accelerators for radiation processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimek, Z.

2011-01-01

Accelerators applied for radiation processing are installed in industrial facilities where accelerator availability coefficient should be at the level of 95% to fulfill requirements according to industry standards. Usually the exploitation of electron accelerator reviles the number of short and few long lasting failures. Some technical shortages can be overcome by practical implementation the experience gained in accelerator technology development by different accelerator manufactures. The reliability/availability of high power accelerators for application in flue gas treatment process must be dramatically improved to meet industrial standards. Support of accelerator technology dedicated for environment protection should be provided by governmental and international institutions to overcome accelerator reliability/availability problem and high risk and low direct profit in this particular application. (author)
Reliability in perceptual analysis of voice quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bele, Irene Velsvik

2005-12-01

This study focuses on speaking voice quality in male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), who represent untrained and trained voice users, because we wanted to investigate normal and supranormal voices. In this study, both substantial and methodologic aspects were considered. It includes a method for perceptual voice evaluation, and a basic issue was rater reliability. A listening group of 10 listeners, 7 experienced speech-language therapists, and 3 speech-language therapist students evaluated the voices by 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. Two sets of voice signals were investigated: text reading (2 loudness levels) and sustained vowel (3 levels). The results indicated a high interrater reliability for most perceptual characteristics. Connected speech was evaluated more reliably, especially at the normal level, but both types of voice signals were evaluated reliably, although the reliability for connected speech was somewhat higher than for vowels. Experienced listeners tended to be more consistent in their ratings than did the student raters. Some vocal characteristics achieved acceptable reliability even with a smaller panel of listeners. The perceptual characteristics grouped in 4 factors reflected perceptual dimensions.
Study on highly reliable digital communication technology of reactor nuclear measuring equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Pengfei; Huang Xiaojin

2007-01-01

To meet the need of highly reliable of reactor nuclear measuring equipment, in allusion to the idiographic request of nuclear measuring equipment, the actual technical development and the application in industrial field, we design a kind of redundancy communication net based on PROFIBUS, and a kind of communication interface module based on redundancy PROFIBUS communication, which link the nuclear measuring equipment and PROFIBUS communication net, and also lay a foundation for advanced research. (authors)
Inter- and intrarater reliability of the Chicago Classification in pediatric high-resolution esophageal manometry recordings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Singendonk, M. M. J.; Smits, M. J.; Heijting, I. E.; van Wijk, M. P.; Nurko, S.; Rosen, R.; Weijenborg, P. W.; Abu-Assi, R.; Hoekman, D. R.; Kuizenga-Wessel, S.; Seiboth, G.; Benninga, M. A.; Omari, T. I.; Kritas, S.

2015-01-01

The Chicago Classification (CC) facilitates interpretation of high-resolution manometry (HRM) recordings. Application of this adult based algorithm to the pediatric population is unknown. We therefore assessed intra and interrater reliability of software-based CC diagnosis in a pediatric cohort.
To the problem of reliability of high-voltage accelerators for industrial purposes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al'bertinskij, B.I.; Svin'in, M.P.; Tsepakin, S.G.

1979-01-01

Statistical data characterizing the reliability of ELECTRON and AVRORA-2 type accelerators are presented. Used as a reliability index was the mean time to failure of the main accelerator units. The analysis of accelerator failures allowed a number of conclusions to be drawn. The high failure rate level is connected with inadequate training of the servicing personnel and a natural period of equipment adjustment. The mathematical analysis of the failure rate showed that the main responsibility for insufficient high reliability rests with selenium diodes which are employed in the high voltage power supply. Substitution of selenium diodes by silicon ones increases time between failures. It is shown that accumulation and processing of operational statistical data will permit more accurate prediction of the reliability of produced high-voltage accelerators, make it possible to cope with the problems of planning optimal, in time, preventive inspections and repair, and to select optimal safety factors and test procedures n time, preventive inspections and repair, and to select optimal safety factors and test procedures n time, prevent
Plasma-Induced Damage on the Reliability of Hf-Based High-k/Dual Metal-Gates Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weng, W.T.; Lin, H.C.; Huang, T.Y.; Lee, Y.J.; Lin, H.C.

2009-01-01

This study examines the effects of plasma-induced damage (PID) on Hf-based high-k/dual metal-gates transistors processed with advanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In addition to the gate dielectric degradations, this study demonstrates that thinning the gate dielectric reduces the impact of damage on transistor reliability including the positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) of n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (NMOSFETs) and the negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) of p-channel MOSFETs. This study shows that high-k/metal-gate transistors are more robust against PID than conventional SiO 2 /poly-gate transistors with similar physical thickness. Finally this study proposes a model that successfully explains the observed experimental trends in the presence of PID for high-k/metal-gate CMOS technology.
Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Penny Moss

Full Text Available Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot. Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%. Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18-56 years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92-0.95; pain rating r = 0.93-0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87-0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%. Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add
Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Moss, Penny; Whitnell, Jasmine; Wright, Anthony

2016-01-01

Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot). Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%). Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18-56) years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92-0.95; pain rating r = 0.93-0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87-0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%). Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add validity and
Pharmacists performing quality spirometry testing: an evidence based review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cawley, Michael J; Warning, William J

2015-10-01

The scope of pharmacist services for patients with pulmonary disease has primarily focused on drug related outcomes; however pharmacists have the ability to broaden the scope of clinical services by performing diagnostic testing including quality spirometry testing. Studies have demonstrated that pharmacists can perform quality spirometry testing based upon international guidelines. The primary aim of this review was to assess the published evidence of pharmacists performing quality spirometry testing based upon American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) guidelines. In order to accomplish this, the description of evidence and type of outcome from these services were reviewed. A literature search was conducted using five databases [PubMed (1946-January 2015), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970 to January 2015), Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews] with search terms including pharmacy, spirometry, pulmonary function, asthma or COPD was conducted. Searches were limited to publications in English and reported in humans. In addition, Uniform Resource Locators and Google Scholar searches were implemented to include any additional supplemental information. Eight studies (six prospective multi-center trials, two retrospective single center studies) were included. Pharmacists in all studies received specialized training in performing spirometry testing. Of the eight studies meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria, 8 (100%) demonstrated acceptable repeatability of spirometry testing based upon standards set by the ATS/ERS guidelines. Acceptable repeatability of seven studies ranged from 70 to 99% consistent with published data. Available evidence suggests that quality spirometry testing can be performed by pharmacists. More prospective studies are needed to add to the current evidence of quality spirometry testing performed by
Validity and Reliability of the Academic Resilience Scale in Turkish High School

Science.gov (United States)

Kapikiran, Sahin

2012-01-01

The present study aims to determine the validity and reliability of the academic resilience scale in Turkish high school. The participances of the study includes 378 high school students in total (192 female and 186 male). A set of analyses were conducted in order to determine the validity and reliability of the study. Firstly, both exploratory…
Reliable Exfoliation of Large-Area High-Quality Flakes of Graphene and Other Two-Dimensional Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yuan; Sutter, Eli; Shi, Norman N; Zheng, Jiabao; Yang, Tianzhong; Englund, Dirk; Gao, Hong-Jun; Sutter, Peter

2015-11-24

Mechanical exfoliation has been a key enabler of the exploration of the properties of two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, by providing routine access to high-quality material. The original exfoliation method, which remained largely unchanged during the past decade, provides relatively small flakes with moderate yield. Here, we report a modified approach for exfoliating thin monolayer and few-layer flakes from layered crystals. Our method introduces two process steps that enhance and homogenize the adhesion force between the outermost sheet in contact with a substrate: Prior to exfoliation, ambient adsorbates are effectively removed from the substrate by oxygen plasma cleaning, and an additional heat treatment maximizes the uniform contact area at the interface between the source crystal and the substrate. For graphene exfoliation, these simple process steps increased the yield and the area of the transferred flakes by more than 50 times compared to the established exfoliation methods. Raman and AFM characterization shows that the graphene flakes are of similar high quality as those obtained in previous reports. Graphene field-effect devices were fabricated and measured with back-gating and solution top-gating, yielding mobilities of ∼4000 and 12,000 cm(2)/(V s), respectively, and thus demonstrating excellent electrical properties. Experiments with other layered crystals, e.g., a bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) superconductor, show enhancements in exfoliation yield and flake area similar to those for graphene, suggesting that our modified exfoliation method provides an effective way for producing large area, high-quality flakes of a wide range of 2D materials.
Delivering high quality hip fracture rehabilitation: the perspective of occupational and physical therapy practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Leland, Natalie E; Lepore, Michael; Wong, Carin; Chang, Sun Hwa; Freeman, Lynn; Crum, Karen; Gillies, Heather; Nash, Paul

2018-03-01

The majority of post-acute hip fracture rehabilitation in the US is delivered in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Currently, there are limited guidelines that equip occupational and physical therapy practitioners with a summary of what constitutes evidence-based high quality rehabilitation. Thus, this study aimed to identify rehabilitation practitioners' perspectives on the practices that constitute high quality hip fracture rehabilitation. Focus groups were conducted with 99 occupational and physical therapy practitioners working in SNFs in southern California. Purposive sampling of facilities was conducted to capture variation in key characteristics known to impact care delivery for this patient population (e.g., financial resources, staffing, and patient case-mix). Questions aimed to elicit practitioners' perspectives on high quality hip fracture rehabilitation practices. Each session was audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were systematically analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Seven themes emerged: objectives of care; first 72 h; positioning, pain, and precautions; use of standardized assessments; episode of care practices; facilitating insight into progress; and interdisciplinary collaboration. Clinical guidelines are critical tools to facilitate clinical decision-making and achieve desired patient outcomes. The findings of this study highlight the practitioners' perspective on what constitutes high quality hip fracture rehabilitation. This work provides critical information to advance the development of stakeholder-driven rehabilitation clinical guidelines. Future research is needed to verify the findings from other stakeholders (e.g., patients), ensure the alignment of our findings with current evidence, and develop measures for evaluating their delivery and relationship to desired outcomes. Implications for Rehabilitation This study highlights occupational and physiotherapy therapy practitioners' perspectives on the cumulative best
Production of high quality water for oil sands application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beaudette-Hodsman, C.; Macleod, B. [Pall Corp., Mississauga, ON (Canada); Venkatadri, R. [Pall Corp., East Hills, NY (United States)

2008-10-15

This paper described a pressurized microfiltration membrane system installed at an oil sands extraction site in Alberta. The system was designed to complement a reverse osmosis (RO) system installed at the site to produce the high quality feed water required by the system's boilers. Groundwater in the region exhibited moderate total suspended solids and high alkalinity and hardness levels, and the RO system required feed water with a silt density index of 3 or less. The conventional pretreatment system used at the site was slowing down production due to the severe fouling of the RO membranes. The new microfiltration system contained an automated PVDF hollow fiber microfiltration membrane system contained in a trailer. Suspended particles and bacteria were captured within the filter, and permeate was sent to the RO unit. Within 6 hours of being installed, the unit was producing water with SDI values in the range of 1.0 to 2.5. It was concluded that the microfiltration system performed reliably regardless of wide variations in feed water quality and flow rates. 3 refs., 1 tab., 8 figs.
Improving patient safety: patient-focused, high-reliability team training.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeon, Leslie M; Cunningham, Patricia D; Oswaks, Jill S Detty

2009-01-01

Healthcare systems are recognizing "human factor" flaws that result in adverse outcomes. Nurses work around system failures, although increasing healthcare complexity makes this harder to do without risk of error. Aviation and military organizations achieve ultrasafe outcomes through high-reliability practice. We describe how reliability principles were used to teach nurses to improve patient safety at the front line of care. Outcomes include safety-oriented, teamwork communication competency; reflections on safety culture and clinical leadership are discussed.
Development of high speed and reliable data transmission system for industrial CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Fuqiang; Dong Yanli; Liu Guohua

2010-01-01

In order to meet the requirements of large capacity,high speed and high reliability of data transmission for industrial CT, a data transmission system based on USB 2.0 was designed. In the process of data transmission, FPGA was the main controller, and USB 2.0 CY7C68013A worked in slave FIFO mode. The system sent the data got from data acquisition system to host computer for image reconstruction. The testing results show that the transmission rate can reach 33 MB/s and the precision is 100%. The system satisfies the requirements of data transmission for industrial CT. (authors)
High-speed nuclear quality pulse height analyzer for synchrotron-based applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beche, Jean-Francois; Bucher, Jerome J.; Fabris, Lorenzo; Riot, Vincent J.

2001-01-01

A high throughput Pulse Height Analyzer system for synchrotron-based applications requiring high resolution, high processing speed and low dead time has been developed. The system is comprised of a 120ns 12-bit nuclear quality Analog to Digital converter with a self-adaptive fast peak detector-stretcher and a custom-made fast histogramming memory module that records and processes the digitized data. The histogramming module is packaged in a VME or VXI compatible interface. Data is transferred through a fast optical link from the memory interface to a computer. A dedicated data acquisition program matches the hardware characteristics of the histogramming memory module. The data acquisition system allows for two data collection modes: ''standard'' data acquisition mode where the data is accumulated and read in synchronization with an external trigger and ''live'' data acquisition mode where the system operates as a standard Pulse Height Analyzer. The acquisition, standard or live, can be performed on several channels simultaneously. A two-channel prototype has been demonstrated at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory accelerator in conjunction with an X-ray Fluorescence Absorption Spectroscopy experiment. A detailed description of the entire system is given and experimental data is shown
Evidence-Based Design Features Improve Sleep Quality Among Psychiatric Inpatients.

Science.gov (United States)

Pyrke, Ryan J L; McKinnon, Margaret C; McNeely, Heather E; Ahern, Catherine; Langstaff, Karen L; Bieling, Peter J

2017-10-01

The primary aim of the present study was to compare sleep characteristics pre- and post-move into a state-of-the-art mental health facility, which offered private sleeping quarters. Significant evidence points toward sleep disruption among psychiatric inpatients. It is unclear, however, how environmental factors (e.g., dorm-style rooms) impact sleep quality in this population. To assess sleep quality, a novel objective technology, actigraphy, was used before and after a facility move. Subjective daily interviews were also administered, along with the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Actigraphy revealed significant improvements in objective sleep quality following the facility move. Interestingly, subjective report of sleep quality did not correlate with the objective measures. Circadian sleep type appeared to play a role in influencing subjective attitudes toward sleep quality. Built environment has a significant effect on the sleep quality of psychiatric inpatients. Given well-documented disruptions in sleep quality present among psychiatric patients undergoing hospitalization, design elements like single patient bedrooms are highly desirable.

Improving low-performing high schools: searching for evidence of promise.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischman, Steve; Heppen, Jessica

2009-01-01

Noting that many of the nation's high schools are beset with major problems, such as low student reading and math achievement, high dropout rates, and an inadequate supply of effective teachers, Steve Fleischman and Jessica Heppen survey a range of strategies that educators have used to improve low-performing high schools. The authors begin by showing how the standards-based school reform movement, together with the No Child Left Behind Act requirement that underperforming schools adopt reforms supported by scientifically based research, spurred policy makers, educators, and researchers to create and implement a variety of approaches to attain improvement. Fleischman and Heppen then review a number of widely adopted reform models that aim to change "business as usual" in low-performing high schools. The models include comprehensive school reform programs, dual enrollment and early college high schools, smaller learning communities, specialty (for example, career) academies, charter high schools, and education management organizations. In practice, say the authors, many of these improvement efforts overlap, defying neat distinctions. Often, reforms are combined to reinforce one another. The authors explain the theories that drive the reforms, review evidence of their reforms' effectiveness to date, and suggest what it will take to make them work well. Although the reforms are promising, the authors say, few as yet have solid evidence of systematic or sustained success. In concluding, Fleischman and Heppen emphasize that the reasons for a high school's poor performance are so complex that no one reform model or approach, no matter how powerful, can turn around low-performing schools. They also stress the need for educators to implement each reform program with fidelity to its requirements and to support it for the time required for success. Looking to the future, the authors suggest steps that decision makers, researchers, and sponsors of research can take to promote
Efficiency criteria for high reliability measured system structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sal'nikov, N.L.

2012-01-01

The procedures of structural redundancy are usually used to develop high reliability measured systems. To estimate efficiency of such structures the criteria to compare different systems has been developed. So it is possible to develop more exact system by inspection of redundant system data unit stochastic characteristics in accordance with the developed criteria [ru
Adoption and impact of high quality bambara flour (HQBF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adoption and impact of high quality bambara flour (HQBF) technology in the ... consumer acceptability/quality of products, credit, availability of raw materials, and ... as a result of 12.5 per cent increase in demand for bambara-based products.
From evidence-based to evidence-reflected practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lystbæk, Christian Tang

“Knowledge” is of the utmost significance for professional practice and learning. Today, though, the established knowledge base is changing in all areas of the labour market (Alvesson, 2004). Work and society are dominated by commitment to demands for high levels of demonstrable accountability......, cost-efficiency and measurable quality. Thus, today, evidence-based practice has become an expectation and fashion, often used to emphasize the grounding of practice in research based knowledge that provides measurable evidence for best practice. But at the same time, there is a growing distrust...... of the supremacy of this kind of knowledge, and traditional monopolies of knowledge are challenged (Gabbay & May, 2010). In the literature, there is an on-going debate about professional knowledge enacted in diverse settings. This debate presents a wide range of epistemological terminologies and typologies, which...
Investigation on amorphous InGaZnO based resistive switching memory with low-power, high-speed, high reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fan, Yang-Shun [Department of Photonics and Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, ROC (China); Liu, Po-Tsun, E-mail: ptliu@mail.nctu.edu.tw [Department of Photonics and Display Institute, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, ROC (China); Hsu, Ching-Hui [Department of Photonics and Display Institute, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, ROC (China)

2013-12-31

Recently, non-volatile memory (NVM) has been widely used in electronic devices. Nowadays, the prevailing NVM is Flash memory. However, it is generally believed that the conventional Flash memory will approach its scaling limit within about a decade. The resistive random access memory (RRAM) is emerging as one of the potential candidates for future memory replacement because of its high storage density, low power consumption as well as simple structure. The purpose of this work is to develop a reliable a-InGaZnO based resistive switching memory. We investigate the resistive switching characteristics of TiN/Ti/IGZO/Pt structure and TiN/IGZO/Pt structure. The device with TiN/Ti/IGZO/Pt structure exhibits stable bipolar resistive switching. The impact of inserting a Ti interlayer is studied by material analyses. The device shows excellent resistive switching properties. For example, the DC sweep endurance can achieve over 1000 times; and the pulse induced switching cycles can reach at least 10,000 times. Furthermore, the impact of different sputtering ambience, the variable temperature measurement, and the conduction mechanisms are also investigated. According to our experiments, we propose a model to explain the resistive switching phenomenon observed in our devices.
Designing reliability into high-effectiveness industrial gas turbine regenerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valentino, S.J.

1979-01-01

The paper addresses the measures necessary to achieve a reliable regenerator design that can withstand higher temperatures (1000-1200 F) and many start and stop cycles - conditions encountered in high-efficiency operation in pipeline applications. The discussion is limited to three major areas: (1) structural analysis of the heat exchanger core - the part of the regenerator that must withstand the higher temperatures and cyclic duty (2) materials data and material selection and (3) a comprehensive test program to demonstrate the reliability of the regenerator. This program includes life-cycle tests, pressure containment in fin panels, core-to-core joint structural test, bellows pressure containment test, sliding pad test, core gas-side passage flow distribution test, and production test. Today's regenerators must have high cyclic life capability, stainless steel construction, and long fault-free service life of 120,000 hr
Evidence, Quality, and Waste: Solving the Value Equation in Neonatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dukhovny, Dmitry; Pursley, DeWayne M; Kirpalani, Haresh M; Horbar, Jeffrey H; Zupancic, John A F

2016-03-01

Rising health care costs challenge governments, payers, and providers in delivering health care services. Tremendous pressures result to deliver better quality care while simultaneously reducing costs. This has led to a wholesale re-examination of current practice methods, including explicit consideration of efficiency and waste. Traditionally, reductions in the costs of care have been considered as independent, and sometimes even antithetical, to the practice of high-quality, intensive medicine. However, it is evident that provision of evidence-based, locally relevant care can result in improved outcomes, lower resource utilization, and opportunities to reallocate resources. This is particularly relevant to the practice of neonatology. In the United States, 12% of the annual birth cohort is affected by preterm birth, and 3% is affected by congenital anomalies. Both of these conditions are associated with costly health care during, and often long after, the NICU admission. We will discuss how 3 drivers of clinical practice in neonatal care (evidence-based medicine, evidence-based economics, and quality improvement) can together optimize clinical and fiscal outcomes. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Emblems of Quality in Higher Education. Developing and Sustaining High-Quality Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Haworth, Jennifer Grant; Conrad, Clifton F.

This book proposes an "engagement" theory of program quality to evaluate and improve higher education programs at all degree levels. Based on interviews with 781 participants in a national study of Masters degree programs, it focuses on the interactive roles of students, faculty, and administrators in developing high-quality programs…
Learning Organizations in High Reliability Industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwalbe, D.; Wächter, C.

2016-01-01

Full text: Humans make mistakes. Sometimes we learn from them. In a high reliability organization we have to learn before an error leads to an incident (or even accident). Therefore the “human factor” is most important as most of the time the human is the last line of defense. The “human factor” is more than communication or leadership skills. At the end, it is the personal attitude. This attitude has to be safety minded. And this attitude has to be self-reflected continuously. Moreover, feedback from others is urgently needed to improve one’s personal skills daily and learn from our own experience as well as from others. (author
High-reliability, 4. pi. -scan, leakage-x-ray dosimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneko, T; Iida, H; Yoshida, T; Sugimoto, H [Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd., Kawasaki, Kanagawa (Japan). Tamagawa Works

1978-04-01

A world-wide movement is growing for the protection of living bodies against leakage radiations. In Japan, detailed regulations have been established for the enforcement of the law in regard to this problem. The substances of the measurement provided in the regulations are extremely diversified, much affecting the reliability and the economic efficiency of the equipment. Now a new 4..pi..-scan X-ray dosimeter with high reliability has been developed and proved to effect qualitative improvement of measurement as well as elevation of productivity.
Evidence-based medicine and quality of care.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickenson, Donna; Vineis, Paolo

2002-01-01

In this paper we set out to examine the arguments for and against the claim that Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) will improve the quality of care. In particular, we examine the following issues: 1. Are there hidden ethical assumptions in the methodology of EBM? 2. Is there a tension between the duty of care and EBM? 3. How can patient preferences be incorporated into quality guidelines and effectiveness studies? 4. Is there a tension between the quality of a particular intervention and overall quality of care? 5. Are certain branches of medicine and patient groups innately or prima facie disadvantaged by a shift to EBM? In addition we consider a case study in the ethics of EBM, on a clinical trial concerning the collection of umbilical cord blood in utero and ex utero, during or after labour in childbirth.
Cyberbullying Prevalence among United States Middle and High School Aged Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Quality Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Selkie, Ellen M.; Fales, Jessica L.; Moreno, Megan A.

2015-01-01

Background Cyberbullying has established links to physical and mental health problems including depression, suicidality, substance use, and somatic symptoms. Quality reporting of cyberbullying prevalence is essential to guide evidence-based policy and prevention priorities. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate study quality and reported prevalence among cyberbullying research studies conducted in populations of US adolescents of middle and high school age. Methods Searches of peer-reviewed literature published through June 2015 for “cyberbullying” and related terms were conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, and Web of Science. Included manuscripts reported cyberbullying prevalence in general populations of U.S. adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. Using a review tool based on the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement, reviewers independently scored study quality on study methods, results reporting, and reported prevalence. Results Search results yielded 1,447 manuscripts; 81 manuscripts representing 58 unique studies were identified as meeting inclusion criteria. Quality scores ranged between 12 and 37 total points out of a possible 42 points (M = 26.7, SD = 4.6). Prevalence rates of cyberbullying ranged as follows: perpetration, 1% to 41%; victimization, 3% to 72%; and overlapping perpetration and victimization, 2.3% to 16.7%. Conclusions Literature on cyberbullying in US middle and high school aged students is robust in quantity but inconsistent in quality and reported prevalence. Consistent definitions and evidence-based measurement tools are needed. PMID:26576821
Impact of policy support on uptake of evidence-based continuous quality improvement activities and the quality of care for Indigenous Australians: a comparative case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailie, Ross; Matthews, Veronica; Larkins, Sarah; Thompson, Sandra; Burgess, Paul; Weeramanthri, Tarun; Bailie, Jodie; Cunningham, Frances; Kwedza, Ru; Clark, Louise

2017-10-05

To examine the impact of state/territory policy support on (1) uptake of evidence-based continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities and (2) quality of care for Indigenous Australians. Mixed-method comparative case study methodology, drawing on quality-of-care audit data, documentary evidence of policies and strategies and the experience and insights of stakeholders involved in relevant CQI programmes. We use multilevel linear regression to analyse jurisdictional differences in quality of care. Indigenous primary healthcare services across five states/territories of Australia. 175 Indigenous primary healthcare services. A range of national and state/territory policy and infrastructure initiatives to support CQI, including support for applied research. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: (i) Trends in the consistent uptake of evidence-based CQI tools available through a research-based CQI initiative (the Audit and Best Practice in Chronic Disease programme) and (ii) quality of care (as reflected in adherence to best practice guidelines). Progressive uptake of evidence-based CQI activities and steady improvements or maintenance of high-quality care occurred where there was long-term policy and infrastructure support for CQI. Where support was provided but not sustained there was a rapid rise and subsequent fall in relevant CQI activities. Health authorities should ensure consistent and sustained policy and infrastructure support for CQI to enable wide-scale and ongoing improvement in quality of care and, subsequently, health outcomes. It is not sufficient for improvement initiatives to rely on local service managers and clinicians, as their efforts are strongly mediated by higher system-level influences. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Gearbox Reliability Collaborative High-Speed Shaft Calibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keller, J.; McNiff, B.

2014-09-01

Instrumentation has been added to the high-speed shaft, pinion, and tapered roller bearing pair of the Gearbox Reliability Collaborative gearbox to measure loads and temperatures. The new shaft bending moment and torque instrumentation was calibrated and the purpose of this document is to describe this calibration process and results, such that the raw shaft bending and torque signals can be converted to the proper engineering units and coordinate system reference for comparison to design loads and simulation model predictions.
Design for High Performance, Low Power, and Reliable 3D Integrated Circuits

CERN Document Server

Lim, Sung Kyu

2013-01-01

This book describes the design of through-silicon-via (TSV) based three-dimensional integrated circuits. It includes details of numerous “manufacturing-ready” GDSII-level layouts of TSV-based 3D ICs, developed with tools covered in the book. Readers will benefit from the sign-off level analysis of timing, power, signal integrity, and thermo-mechanical reliability for 3D IC designs. Coverage also includes various design-for-manufacturability (DFM), design-for-reliability (DFR), and design-for-testability (DFT) techniques that are considered critical to the 3D IC design process. Describes design issues and solutions for high performance and low power 3D ICs, such as the pros/cons of regular and irregular placement of TSVs, Steiner routing, buffer insertion, low power 3D clock routing, power delivery network design and clock design for pre-bond testability. Discusses topics in design-for-electrical-reliability for 3D ICs, such as TSV-to-TSV coupling, current crowding at the wire-to-TSV junction and the e...
The Toronto outcome measure for craniofacial prosthetics: reliability and validity of a condition-specific quality-of-life instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, James D; Johnston, Dennis A; Haugh, Gil S; Kiat-Amnuay, Sudarat; Gettleman, Lawrence

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to refine the Toronto Outcome Measure for Craniofacial Prosthetics (TOMCP), present evidence for its reliability and validity, and use the instrument to explore differences in quality of life between prostheses made with chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) (experimental) and silicone (control). As part of a multicenter prospective controlled randomized double-blind single-crossover clinical trial of the two materials, the TOMCP was administered at the start and end of two 4-month study arms, during which 42 patients wore prostheses made from one material then the other. Reliability was assessed at the crossover. To determine validity of the TOMCP, the Linear Analogue Self-Assessment (LASA-12) and the Short-Form 8 (SF-8) were also administered with the TOMCP. The TOMCP was reduced by removing items that were unreliable, had poorly distributed answers, showed increased internal consistency after their removal, or were too highly correlated with more than one other item. The tests of reliability and validity were then repeated. Finally, the reduced instrument was used to test for differences in quality of life between prostheses made of the two materials. The item reduction tactics pared the 52-item instrument down to 27 items. The correlations of both TOMCP versions with the LASA-12 and the SF-8 were found to be statistically significant, providing evidence of the validity of the TOMCP. The instrument revealed significantly better quality of life with silicone rather than CPE prostheses. Both versions of the TOMCP were found to be reliable and valid. The instrument was able to show differences in quality of life between two materials.
Sub-nanosecond jitter, repetitive impulse generators for high reliability applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krausse, G.J.; Sarjeant, W.J.

1981-01-01

Low jitter, high reliability impulse generator development has recently become of ever increasing importance for developing nuclear physics and weapons applications. The research and development of very low jitter (< 30 ps), multikilovolt generators for high reliability, minimum maintenance trigger applications utilizing a new class of high-pressure tetrode thyratrons now commercially available are described. The overall system design philosophy is described followed by a detailed analysis of the subsystem component elements. A multi-variable experimental analysis of this new tetrode thyratron was undertaken, in a low-inductance configuration, as a function of externally available parameters. For specific thyratron trigger conditions, rise times of 18 ns into 6.0-Ω loads were achieved at jitters as low as 24 ps. Using this database, an integrated trigger generator system with solid-state front-end is described in some detail. The generator was developed to serve as the Master Trigger Generator for a large neutrino detector installation at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility
Reliable on-line storage in the ALICE High-Level Trigger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kalcher, Sebastian; Lindenstruth, Volker [Kirchhoff Institute of Physics, University of Heidelberg (Germany)

2009-07-01

The on-line disk capacity within large computing clusters such as used in the ALICE High-Level Trigger (HLT) is often not used due to the inherent unreliability of the involved disks. With currently available hard drive capacities the total on-line capacity can be significant when compared to the storage requirements of present high energy physics experiments. In this talk we report on ClusterRAID, a reliable, distributed mass storage system, which allows to harness the (often unused) disk capacities of large cluster installations. The key paradigm of this system is to transform the local hard drive into a reliable device. It provides adjustable fault-tolerance by utilizing sophisticated error-correcting codes. To reduce the costs of coding and decoding operations the use of modern graphics processing units as co-processor has been investigated. Also, the utilization of low overhead, high performance communication networks has been examined. A prototype set up of the system exists within the HLT with 90 TB gross capacity.
Evidence-based clinical practice, [corrected] evidence-based medicine and the Cochrane collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Gambrill, E

1999-03-01

Encouraging professionals in training and later to consider practice-related research findings when making important clinical decisions is an on-going concern. Evidenced-Based Medicine (EBM) and the Cochrane Collaboration (CC) provide a source of tools and ideas for doing so, as well as a roster of colleagues who share this interest. Evidenced-based medicine involves integrating clinical expertise with the best available external evidence from systematic research as well as considering the values and expectations of patients/clients. Advantage can be taken of educational formats developed in EBM, such as problem-based learning and critical-appraisal workshops in which participants learn how to ask key answerable questions related to important clinical practice questions (e.g., regarding effectiveness, accuracy of assessment measures, prediction, prevention, and quality of clinical practice guidelines) and to access and critically appraise related research. The Cochrane Collaboration is a world-wide network of centers that prepare, maintain, and disseminate high-quality systematic reviews on the efficacy of healthcare. These databases allow access to evidence related to clinical practice decisions. Forging reciprocal working relationships with those involved in EBM reciprocal and the CC should contribute to the pursuit of shared goals such as basing clinical decisions on the best-available evidence and involving clients as informed consumers.
Journey Toward High Reliability: A Comprehensive Safety Program to Improve Quality of Care and Safety Culture in a Large, Multisite Radiation Oncology Department.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodhouse, Kristina Demas; Volz, Edna; Maity, Amit; Gabriel, Peter E; Solberg, Timothy D; Bergendahl, Howard W; Hahn, Stephen M

2016-05-01

High-reliability organizations (HROs) focus on continuous identification and improvement of safety issues. We sought to advance a large, multisite radiation oncology department toward high reliability through the implementation of a comprehensive safety culture (SC) program at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Radiation Oncology. In 2011, with guidance from safety literature and experts in HROs, we designed an SC framework to reduce radiation errors. All state-reported medical events (SRMEs) from 2009 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed and plotted on a control chart. Changes in SC grade were assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey. Outcomes measured included the number of radiation treatment fractions and days between SRMEs, as well as SC grade. Multifaceted safety initiatives were implemented at our main academic center and across all network sites. Postintervention results demonstrate increased staff fundamental safety knowledge, enhanced peer review with an electronic system, and special cause variation of SRMEs on control chart analysis. From 2009 to 2016, the number of days and fractions between SRMEs significantly increased, from a mean of 174 to 541 days (P safety framework. Our multifaceted initiatives, focusing on culture and system changes, can be successfully implemented in a large academic radiation oncology department to yield measurable improvements in SC and outcomes. Copyright © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A roadmap to high quality chemically prepared graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gengler, Regis Y N; Spyrou, Konstantinos; Rudolf, Petra, E-mail: r.gengler@rug.n, E-mail: p.rudolf@rug.n [Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747AG Groningen (Netherlands)

2010-09-22

Graphene was discovered half a decade ago and proved the existence of a two-dimensional system which becomes stable as a result of 3D corrugation. It appeared very quickly that this exceptional material had truly outstanding electronic, mechanical, thermal and optical properties. Consequently a broad range of applications appeared, as the graphene science speedily moved forward. Since then, a lot of effort has been devoted not only to the study of graphene but also to its fabrication. Here we review the chemical approaches to graphene production, their advantages as well as their downsides. Our aim is to draw a roadmap of today's most reliable path to high quality graphene via chemical preparation.
A roadmap to high quality chemically prepared graphene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gengler, Regis Y N; Spyrou, Konstantinos; Rudolf, Petra

2010-01-01

Graphene was discovered half a decade ago and proved the existence of a two-dimensional system which becomes stable as a result of 3D corrugation. It appeared very quickly that this exceptional material had truly outstanding electronic, mechanical, thermal and optical properties. Consequently a broad range of applications appeared, as the graphene science speedily moved forward. Since then, a lot of effort has been devoted not only to the study of graphene but also to its fabrication. Here we review the chemical approaches to graphene production, their advantages as well as their downsides. Our aim is to draw a roadmap of today's most reliable path to high quality graphene via chemical preparation.
Reliability and validity of non-radiographic methods of thoracic kyphosis measurement: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Eva; McCreesh, Karen; Lewis, Jeremy

2014-02-01

A wide array of instruments are available for non-invasive thoracic kyphosis measurement. Guidelines for selecting outcome measures for use in clinical and research practice recommend that properties such as validity and reliability are considered. This systematic review reports on the reliability and validity of non-invasive methods for measuring thoracic kyphosis. A systematic search of 11 electronic databases located studies assessing reliability and/or validity of non-invasive thoracic kyphosis measurement techniques. Two independent reviewers used a critical appraisal tool to assess the quality of retrieved studies. Data was extracted by the primary reviewer. The results were synthesized qualitatively using a level of evidence approach. 27 studies satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. The reliability, validity and both reliability and validity were investigated by sixteen, two and nine studies respectively. 17/27 studies were deemed to be of high quality. In total, 15 methods of thoracic kyphosis were evaluated in retrieved studies. All investigated methods showed high (ICC ≥ .7) to very high (ICC ≥ .9) levels of reliability. The validity of the methods ranged from low to very high. The strongest levels of evidence for reliability exists in support of the Debrunner kyphometer, Spinal Mouse and Flexicurve index, and for validity supports the arcometer and Flexicurve index. Further reliability and validity studies are required to strengthen the level of evidence for the remaining methods of measurement. This should be addressed by future research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The reliability assessment of the electromagnetic valve of high-speed electric multiple units braking system based on two-parameter exponential distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianwei Yang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In order to solve the reliability assessment of braking system component of high-speed electric multiple units, this article, based on two-parameter exponential distribution, provides the maximum likelihood estimation and Bayes estimation under a type-I life test. First of all, we evaluate the failure probability value according to the classical estimation method and then obtain the maximum likelihood estimation of parameters of two-parameter exponential distribution by performing and using the modified likelihood function. On the other hand, based on Bayesian theory, this article also selects the beta and gamma distributions as the prior distribution, combines with the modified maximum likelihood function, and innovatively applies a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to parameters assessment based on Bayes estimation method for two-parameter exponential distribution, so that two reliability mathematical models of the electromagnetic valve are obtained. Finally, through type-I life test, the failure rates according to maximum likelihood estimation and Bayes estimation method based on Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm are, respectively, 2.650 × 10−5 and 3.037 × 10−5. Compared with the failure rate of a electromagnetic valve 3.005 × 10−5, it proves that the Bayes method can use a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to estimate reliability for two-parameter exponential distribution and Bayes estimation is more closer to the value of electromagnetic valve. So, by fully integrating multi-source, Bayes estimation method can preferably modify and precisely estimate the parameters, which can provide a certain theoretical basis for the safety operation of high-speed electric multiple units.
Engineering high reliability, low-jitter Marx generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, L.X.; Lockwood, G.J.

1985-01-01

Multimodule pulsed power accelerators typically require high module reliability and nanosecond regime simultaneity between modules. Energy storage using bipolar Marx generators can meet these requirements. Experience gained from computer simulations and the development of the DEMON II Marx generator has led to a fundamental understanding of the operation of these multistage devices. As a result of this research, significant improvements in erection time jitter and reliability have been realized in multistage, bipolar Marx generators. Erection time jitter has been measured as low as 2.5 nanoseconds for the 3.2MV, 16-stage PBFA I Marx and 3.5 nanoseconds for the 6.0MV, 30-stage PBFA II (DEMON II) Marx, while maintaining exceptionally low prefire rates. Performance data are presented from the DEMON II Marx research program, as well as discussions on the use of computer simulations in designing low-jitter Marx generators
Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL(©)): streamlining the systematic review process and creating utility for evidence-based health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Cindy; Boyd, Courtney; Jain, Shamini; Khorsan, Raheleh; Jonas, Wayne

2015-11-02

Systematic reviews (SRs) are widely recognized as the best means of synthesizing clinical research. However, traditional approaches can be costly and time-consuming and can be subject to selection and judgment bias. It can also be difficult to interpret the results of a SR in a meaningful way in order to make research recommendations, clinical or policy decisions, or practice guidelines. Samueli Institute has developed the Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL) SR process to address these issues. REAL provides up-to-date, rigorous, high quality SR information on health care practices, products, or programs in a streamlined, efficient and reliable manner. This process is a component of the Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH™) program developed by Samueli Institute, which aims at answering the question of "What works?" in health care. The REAL process (1) tailors a standardized search strategy to a specific and relevant research question developed with various stakeholders to survey the available literature; (2) evaluates the quantity and quality of the literature using structured tools and rulebooks to ensure objectivity, reliability and reproducibility of reviewer ratings in an independent fashion and; (3) obtains formalized, balanced input from trained subject matter experts on the implications of the evidence for future research and current practice. Online tools and quality assurance processes are utilized for each step of the review to ensure a rapid, rigorous, reliable, transparent and reproducible SR process. The REAL is a rapid SR process developed to streamline and aid in the rigorous and reliable evaluation and review of claims in health care in order to make evidence-based, informed decisions, and has been used by a variety of organizations aiming to gain insight into "what works" in health care. Using the REAL system allows for the facilitation of recommendations on appropriate next steps in policy, funding
Integration study of high quality teaching resources in universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Honglu Liu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The development level and quality of education depend on the merits and efficiency in the use of teaching resources, especially in the case of obvious contradiction between the demand and supply of teaching resources. So to integrate teaching resources, improve the efficiency in the use of high quality teaching resources, and take the road of content development to enhance the competitiveness of education has become very important and urgent.Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of analysis on the teaching resources of universities and the problems they faced, this paper introduced the basic concepts of cloud storage, and built the integration architecture of high quality teaching resources in universities based on the cloud storage.Findings and Originality/value: The HDFS-based cloud storage proposed in this paper is a dynamically adjustable and Internet-based storage solution, and the users can access storage targets using the network through a common and easy-to-use protocol and application programming interfaces. This new technology is useful for end users benefits. With the continuous development and improvement of cloud storage, it will necessarily result in more and more applications in the institutions of higher learning and education network.Originality/value: This paper introduced the cloud storage into the integration of high quality teaching resources in universities first and as a new form of service, it can be a good solution.
Centre-based day care for children younger than five years of age in high-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

van Urk, Felix C; Brown, Taylor W; Waller, Rebecca; Mayo-Wilson, Evan

2014-09-23

A large proportion of children younger than five years of age in high-income countries experience significant non-parental care. Centre-based day care services may influence the development of children and the economic situation of parents. To assess the effects of centre-based day care without additional interventions (e.g. psychological or medical services, parent training) on the development and well-being of children and families in high-income countries (as defined by the World Bank 2011). In April 2014, we searched CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and eight other databases. We also searched two trials registers and the reference lists of relevant studies. We included randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials of centre-based day care for children younger than five years of age. We excluded studies that involved co-interventions not directed toward children (e.g. parent programmes, home visits, teacher training). We included the following outcomes: child cognitive development (primary outcome), child psychosocial development, maternal and family outcomes and child long-term outcomes. Two review authors independently assessed the risk of bias and extracted data from the single included study. We contacted investigators to obtain missing information. We included in the review one trial, involving 120 families and 143 children. Risk of bias was high because of contamination between groups, as 63% of control group participants accessed day care services separate from those offered within the intervention. No evidence suggested that centre-based day care, rather than no treatment (care at home), improved or worsened children's cognitive ability (Griffiths Mental Development Scale, standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.01 to 0.69, 127 participants, 1 study, very low-quality evidence) or psychosocial development (parental report of abnormal development, risk ratio (RR
Efficacy of individual computer-based auditory training for people with hearing loss: a systematic review of the evidence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Henshaw

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Auditory training involves active listening to auditory stimuli and aims to improve performance in auditory tasks. As such, auditory training is a potential intervention for the management of people with hearing loss. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review (PROSPERO 2011: CRD42011001406 evaluated the published evidence-base for the efficacy of individual computer-based auditory training to improve speech intelligibility, cognition and communication abilities in adults with hearing loss, with or without hearing aids or cochlear implants. METHODS: A systematic search of eight databases and key journals identified 229 articles published since 1996, 13 of which met the inclusion criteria. Data were independently extracted and reviewed by the two authors. Study quality was assessed using ten pre-defined scientific and intervention-specific measures. RESULTS: Auditory training resulted in improved performance for trained tasks in 9/10 articles that reported on-task outcomes. Although significant generalisation of learning was shown to untrained measures of speech intelligibility (11/13 articles, cognition (1/1 articles and self-reported hearing abilities (1/2 articles, improvements were small and not robust. Where reported, compliance with computer-based auditory training was high, and retention of learning was shown at post-training follow-ups. Published evidence was of very-low to moderate study quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that published evidence for the efficacy of individual computer-based auditory training for adults with hearing loss is not robust and therefore cannot be reliably used to guide intervention at this time. We identify a need for high-quality evidence to further examine the efficacy of computer-based auditory training for people with hearing loss.
Sintered tantalum carbide coatings on graphite substrates: Highly reliable protective coatings for bulk and epitaxial growth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, Daisuke; Suzumura, Akitoshi; Shigetoh, Keisuke [Toyota Central R and D Labs., Inc., Nagakute, Aichi 480-1192 (Japan)

2015-02-23

Highly reliable low-cost protective coatings have been sought after for use in crucibles and susceptors for bulk and epitaxial film growth processes involving wide bandgap materials. Here, we propose a production technique for ultra-thick (50–200 μmt) tantalum carbide (TaC) protective coatings on graphite substrates, which consists of TaC slurry application and subsequent sintering processes, i.e., a wet ceramic process. Structural analysis of the sintered TaC layers indicated that they have a dense granular structure containing coarse grain with sizes of 10–50 μm. Furthermore, no cracks or pinholes penetrated through the layers, i.e., the TaC layers are highly reliable protective coatings. The analysis also indicated that no plastic deformation occurred during the production process, and the non-textured crystalline orientation of the TaC layers is the origin of their high reliability and durability. The TaC-coated graphite crucibles were tested in an aluminum nitride (AlN) sublimation growth process, which involves extremely corrosive conditions, and demonstrated their practical reliability and durability in the AlN growth process as a TaC-coated graphite. The application of the TaC-coated graphite materials to crucibles and susceptors for use in bulk AlN single crystal growth, bulk silicon carbide (SiC) single crystal growth, chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial SiC films, and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy of group-III nitrides will lead to further improvements in crystal quality and reduced processing costs.
Sintered tantalum carbide coatings on graphite substrates: Highly reliable protective coatings for bulk and epitaxial growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Daisuke; Suzumura, Akitoshi; Shigetoh, Keisuke

2015-01-01

Highly reliable low-cost protective coatings have been sought after for use in crucibles and susceptors for bulk and epitaxial film growth processes involving wide bandgap materials. Here, we propose a production technique for ultra-thick (50–200 μmt) tantalum carbide (TaC) protective coatings on graphite substrates, which consists of TaC slurry application and subsequent sintering processes, i.e., a wet ceramic process. Structural analysis of the sintered TaC layers indicated that they have a dense granular structure containing coarse grain with sizes of 10–50 μm. Furthermore, no cracks or pinholes penetrated through the layers, i.e., the TaC layers are highly reliable protective coatings. The analysis also indicated that no plastic deformation occurred during the production process, and the non-textured crystalline orientation of the TaC layers is the origin of their high reliability and durability. The TaC-coated graphite crucibles were tested in an aluminum nitride (AlN) sublimation growth process, which involves extremely corrosive conditions, and demonstrated their practical reliability and durability in the AlN growth process as a TaC-coated graphite. The application of the TaC-coated graphite materials to crucibles and susceptors for use in bulk AlN single crystal growth, bulk silicon carbide (SiC) single crystal growth, chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial SiC films, and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy of group-III nitrides will lead to further improvements in crystal quality and reduced processing costs
Environmental education curriculum evaluation questionnaire: A reliability and validity study

Science.gov (United States)

Minner, Daphne Diane

The intention of this research project was to bridge the gap between social science research and application to the environmental domain through the development of a theoretically derived instrument designed to give educators a template by which to evaluate environmental education curricula. The theoretical base for instrument development was provided by several developmental theories such as Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Developmental Systems Theory, Life-span Perspective, as well as curriculum research within the area of environmental education. This theoretical base fueled the generation of a list of components which were then translated into a questionnaire with specific questions relevant to the environmental education domain. The specific research question for this project is: Can a valid assessment instrument based largely on human development and education theory be developed that reliably discriminates high, moderate, and low quality in environmental education curricula? The types of analyses conducted to answer this question were interrater reliability (percent agreement, Cohen's Kappa coefficient, Pearson's Product-Moment correlation coefficient), test-retest reliability (percent agreement, correlation), and criterion-related validity (correlation). Face validity and content validity were also assessed through thorough reviews. Overall results indicate that 29% of the questions on the questionnaire demonstrated a high level of interrater reliability and 43% of the questions demonstrated a moderate level of interrater reliability. Seventy-one percent of the questions demonstrated a high test-retest reliability and 5% a moderate level. Fifty-five percent of the questions on the questionnaire were reliable (high or moderate) both across time and raters. Only eight questions (8%) did not show either interrater or test-retest reliability. The global overall rating of high, medium, or low quality was reliable across both coders and time, indicating
Service Station Evaluation Problem in Catering Service of High-Speed Railway: A Fuzzy QFD Approach Based on Evidence Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Wu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Catering Service of High-Speed Railway (CSHR starts at suppliers, includes distribution centers and service stations in cities, and ends at cabinets in high-speed trains. In Distribution System Design (DSD Problem for CSHR, it is critical to evaluate the alternatives of service stations, which is termed as Service Station Evaluation Problem in Catering Service of High-speed Railway (SSEP-CSHR. As a preparation work for DSD, SSEP-CSHR needs to be solved without detailed information and being accompanied with uncertainty. Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (F-QFD has been given in the literatures to deal with vagueness in Facility Location Evaluation (FLE. However, SSEP-CSHR that includes identifying and evaluating stations requires not only dealing with the vague nature of assessments but also confirming them. Based on evidence theory, this paper introduces the framework to give the truth of proposition “x is A.” Then it is incorporated into a two-phase F-QFD with an approximate reasoning to enable the truth of the decisions to be measured. A case study that refers to 85 alternative stations on Chinese high-speed railway will be carried out to verify the proposed method. Analysis shows that the proposed evaluation method enhances scientific credibility of FLE and allows decision makers to express how much is known.
Impact of High-Reliability Education on Adverse Event Reporting by Registered Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

McFarland, Diane M; Doucette, Jeffrey N

Adverse event reporting is one strategy to identify risks and improve patient safety, but, historically, adverse events are underreported by registered nurses (RNs) because of fear of retribution and blame. A program was provided on high reliability to examine whether education would impact RNs' willingness to report adverse events. Although the findings were not statistically significant, they demonstrated a positive impact on adverse event reporting and support the need to create a culture of high reliability.
Inter-rater reliability of nursing home quality indicators in the U.S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roy Jason

2003-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the US, Quality Indicators (QI's profiling and comparing the performance of hospitals, health plans, nursing homes and physicians are routinely published for consumer review. We report the results of the largest study of inter-rater reliability done on nursing home assessments which generate the data used to derive publicly reported nursing home quality indicators. Methods We sampled nursing homes in 6 states, selecting up to 30 residents per facility who were observed and assessed by research nurses on 100 clinical assessment elements contained in the Minimum Data Set (MDS and compared these with the most recent assessment in the record done by facility nurses. Kappa statistics were generated for all data items and derived for 22 QI's over the entire sample and for each facility. Finally, facilities with many QI's with poor Kappa levels were compared to those with many QI's with excellent Kappa levels on selected characteristics. Results A total of 462 facilities in 6 states were approached and 219 agreed to participate, yielding a response rate of 47.4%. A total of 5758 residents were included in the inter-rater reliability analyses, around 27.5 per facility. Patients resembled the traditional nursing home resident, only 43.9% were continent of urine and only 25.2% were rated as likely to be discharged within the next 30 days. Results of resident level comparative analyses reveal high inter-rater reliability levels (most items >.75. Using the research nurses as the "gold standard", we compared composite quality indicators based on their ratings with those based on facility nurses. All but two QI's have adequate Kappa levels and 4 QI's have average Kappa values in excess of .80. We found that 16% of participating facilities performed poorly (Kappa .75 on 12 or more QI's. No facility characteristics were related to reliability of the data on which Qis are based. Conclusion While a few QI's being used for public reporting
Combined microfluidization and ultrasonication: a synergistic protocol for high-efficient processing of SWCNT dispersions with high quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo, Sida, E-mail: s.luo@buaa.edu.cn [Beihang University, School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation (China); Liu, Tao, E-mail: tliu@fsu.edu [Florida State University, High-Performance Materials Institute (United States); Wang, Yong; Li, Liuhe [Beihang University, School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation (China); Wang, Guantao; Luo, Yun [China University of Geosciences, Center of Safety Research, School of Engineering and Technology (China)

2016-08-15

High-efficient and large-scale production of high-quality CNT dispersions is necessary for meeting the future needs to develop various CNT-based electronic devices. Herein, we have designed novel processing protocols by combining conventional ultrasonication process with a new microfluidization technique to produce high-quality SWCNT dispersions with improved processing efficiency. To judge the quality of SWCNT dispersions, one critical factor is the degree of exfoliation, which could be quantified by both geometrical dimension of the exfoliated nanotubes and percentage of individual tubes in a given dispersion. In this paper, the synergistic effect of the combined protocols was systematically investigated through evaluating SWCNT dispersions with newly developed characterization techniques, namely preparative ultracentrifuge method (PUM) and simultaneous Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy (SRSPL). The results of both techniques draw similar conclusions that as compared with either of the processes operated separately, a low-pass microfluidization followed by a reasonable duration of ultrasonication could substantially improve the processing efficiency to produce high-quality SWCNT dispersions with averaged particle length and diameter as small as ~600 and ~2 nm, respectively.Graphical abstract.
Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry based chemical profiling approach for the holistic quality control of complex Kang-Jing formula preparations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiao-Huan; Cheng, Xiao-Lan; Qin, Bing; Cai, Zhuo-Ya; Cai, Xiong; Liu, Shao; Wang, Qi; Qin, Yong

2016-05-30

The Kang-Jing (KJ) formula is a compound preparation made from 12 kinds of herbs. So far, four different methods (M1-M4) have been documented for KJ preparation, but the influence of preparation methods on the holistic quality of KJ have remained unknown. In this study, a strategy was proposed to investigate the influence of different preparation methods on the holistic quality of KJ using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) based chemical profiling. A total of 101 compounds mainly belonging to flavonoids, tanshinones, monoterpene glycosides, triterpenoid saponins, alkaloids, phenolic acids and volatile oils, were identified. Among these compounds, glaucine was detected only in M3/M4 samples, while two dehydrocorydaline isomers merely detected in M2/M3/M4 samples. Tetrahydrocolumbamine, ethylic lithospermic acid, salvianolic acid E and rosmarimic acid were only detected in M1/M3/M4 samples. In the subsequent quantitative analysis, 12 major compounds were determined by UHPLC-MS/MS. The proposed method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and recovery. It was found that the contents of marker compounds varied significantly in samples prepared by different methods. These results demonstrated that preparation method does significantly affect the holistic quality of KJ. UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS based chemical profiling approach is efficient and reliable for comprehensive quality evaluation of KJ. Collectively, this study provide the chemical evidence for revealing the material basis of KJ, and establish a simple and accurate chemical profiling method for its quality control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Web 2.0-based crowdsourcing for high-quality gold standard development in clinical natural language processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Haijun; Lingren, Todd; Deleger, Louise; Li, Qi; Kaiser, Megan; Stoutenborough, Laura; Solti, Imre

2013-04-02

A high-quality gold standard is vital for supervised, machine learning-based, clinical natural language processing (NLP) systems. In clinical NLP projects, expert annotators traditionally create the gold standard. However, traditional annotation is expensive and time-consuming. To reduce the cost of annotation, general NLP projects have turned to crowdsourcing based on Web 2.0 technology, which involves submitting smaller subtasks to a coordinated marketplace of workers on the Internet. Many studies have been conducted in the area of crowdsourcing, but only a few have focused on tasks in the general NLP field and only a handful in the biomedical domain, usually based upon very small pilot sample sizes. In addition, the quality of the crowdsourced biomedical NLP corpora were never exceptional when compared to traditionally-developed gold standards. The previously reported results on medical named entity annotation task showed a 0.68 F-measure based agreement between crowdsourced and traditionally-developed corpora. Building upon previous work from the general crowdsourcing research, this study investigated the usability of crowdsourcing in the clinical NLP domain with special emphasis on achieving high agreement between crowdsourced and traditionally-developed corpora. To build the gold standard for evaluating the crowdsourcing workers' performance, 1042 clinical trial announcements (CTAs) from the ClinicalTrials.gov website were randomly selected and double annotated for medication names, medication types, and linked attributes. For the experiments, we used CrowdFlower, an Amazon Mechanical Turk-based crowdsourcing platform. We calculated sensitivity, precision, and F-measure to evaluate the quality of the crowd's work and tested the statistical significance (Pcrowdsourced and traditionally-developed annotations. The agreement between the crowd's annotations and the traditionally-generated corpora was high for: (1) annotations (0.87, F-measure for medication names
A novel high reliability CMOS SRAM cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie Chengmin; Wang Zhongfang; Wu Longsheng; Liu Youbao, E-mail: hglnew@sina.com [Computer Research and Design Department, Xi' an Microelectronic Technique Institutes, Xi' an 710054 (China)

2011-07-15

A novel 8T single-event-upset (SEU) hardened and high static noise margin (SNM) SRAM cell is proposed. By adding one transistor paralleled with each access transistor, the drive capability of pull-up PMOS is greater than that of the conventional cell and the read access transistors are weaker than that of the conventional cell. So the hold, read SNM and critical charge increase greatly. The simulation results show that the critical charge is almost three times larger than that of the conventional 6T cell by appropriately sizing the pull-up transistors. The hold and read SNM of the new cell increase by 72% and 141.7%, respectively, compared to the 6T design, but it has a 54% area overhead and read performance penalty. According to these features, this novel cell suits high reliability applications, such as aerospace and military. (semiconductor integrated circuits)
A novel high reliability CMOS SRAM cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Chengmin; Wang Zhongfang; Wu Longsheng; Liu Youbao

2011-01-01

A novel 8T single-event-upset (SEU) hardened and high static noise margin (SNM) SRAM cell is proposed. By adding one transistor paralleled with each access transistor, the drive capability of pull-up PMOS is greater than that of the conventional cell and the read access transistors are weaker than that of the conventional cell. So the hold, read SNM and critical charge increase greatly. The simulation results show that the critical charge is almost three times larger than that of the conventional 6T cell by appropriately sizing the pull-up transistors. The hold and read SNM of the new cell increase by 72% and 141.7%, respectively, compared to the 6T design, but it has a 54% area overhead and read performance penalty. According to these features, this novel cell suits high reliability applications, such as aerospace and military. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

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....
Direct unavailability computation of a maintained highly reliable system

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Briš, R.; Byczanski, Petr

2010-01-01

Roč. 224, č. 3 (2010), s. 159-170 ISSN 1748-0078 Grant - others:GA Mšk(CZ) MSM6198910007 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30860518 Keywords : high reliability * availability * directed acyclic graph Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics http:// journals .pepublishing.com/content/rtp3178l17923m46/
[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.
Evidence for high inter-generational individual quality in yellow-eyed penguins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aviva M. Stein

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Longitudinal studies focusing on lifetime reproductive success (LRS have been used to measure individual breeding performance and identify commonalities among successful breeders. By extending the focus to subsequent generations we identify a proportion of high-quality individuals that contribute disproportionately to the population over multiple generations. We used 23 years of yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes breeding data from one breeding area to identify the proportion of individual birds that raised successful breeders, which in turn raised offspring. We explored which life-history components influenced LRS, as this knowledge would enable conservation resources to be focused on high-performing individuals in this endangered population. From 2,147 birds marked as chicks, 370 (17.2% survived to adulthood and recruited to their natal location, of which 219 (10.2% fledged offspring: 124 (56.6% of the 219 birds produced offspring that recruited as breeders. Only 102 birds (4.8% of 2,147 fledged first-generation offspring that in turn fledged offspring (second-generation offspring, or grand-offspring. We found that ∼25% of the birds that survived to breed had above-average LRS as well as above-average numbers of grand-offspring, and were more likely to have produced first-generation chicks that recruited and also produced above-average numbers of second-generation chicks. Our findings suggest that there is a core of “super-breeders” that contribute disproportionately to the population over successive generations. Lifespan and age-at-first-breeding were correlated with LRS. We suggest that traits of birds relating to longevity, health (e.g., immunocompetence and fitness could be examined to identify potential links with high LRS and inter-generational fecundity. “Super-breeders” appear to consistently achieve high LRS and long lifespans in a stochastic environment, demonstrating greater resilience in the face of extreme events.
Based on Weibull Information Fusion Analysis Semiconductors Quality the Key Technology of Manufacturing Execution Systems Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhi-Hui; Tang, Ying-Chun; Dai, Kai

2016-05-01

Semiconductor materials and Product qualified rate are directly related to the manufacturing costs and survival of the enterprise. Application a dynamic reliability growth analysis method studies manufacturing execution system reliability growth to improve product quality. Refer to classical Duane model assumptions and tracking growth forecasts the TGP programming model, through the failure data, established the Weibull distribution model. Combining with the median rank of average rank method, through linear regression and least squares estimation method, match respectively weibull information fusion reliability growth curve. This assumption model overcome Duane model a weakness which is MTBF point estimation accuracy is not high, through the analysis of the failure data show that the method is an instance of the test and evaluation modeling process are basically identical. Median rank in the statistics is used to determine the method of random variable distribution function, which is a good way to solve the problem of complex systems such as the limited sample size. Therefore this method has great engineering application value.
High-throughput GPU-based LDPC decoding

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yang-Lang; Chang, Cheng-Chun; Huang, Min-Yu; Huang, Bormin

2010-08-01

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) code is a linear block code known to approach the Shannon limit via the iterative sum-product algorithm. LDPC codes have been adopted in most current communication systems such as DVB-S2, WiMAX, WI-FI and 10GBASE-T. LDPC for the needs of reliable and flexible communication links for a wide variety of communication standards and configurations have inspired the demand for high-performance and flexibility computing. Accordingly, finding a fast and reconfigurable developing platform for designing the high-throughput LDPC decoder has become important especially for rapidly changing communication standards and configurations. In this paper, a new graphic-processing-unit (GPU) LDPC decoding platform with the asynchronous data transfer is proposed to realize this practical implementation. Experimental results showed that the proposed GPU-based decoder achieved 271x speedup compared to its CPU-based counterpart. It can serve as a high-throughput LDPC decoder.
The reliability of structural systems operating at high temperature: Replacing engineering judgement with operational experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevalier, M.J.; Smith, D.J.; Dean, D.W.

2012-01-01

Deterministic assessments are used to assess the integrity of structural systems operating at high temperature by providing a lower bound lifetime prediction, requiring considerable engineering judgement. However such a result may not satisfy the structural integrity assessment purpose if the results are overly conservative or conversely plant observations (such as failures) could undermine the assessment result if observed before the lower bound lifetime. This paper develops a reliability methodology for high temperature assessments and illustrates the impact and importance of managing the uncertainties within such an analysis. This is done by separating uncertainties into three classifications; aleatory uncertainty, quantifiable epistemic uncertainty and unquantifiable epistemic uncertainty. The result is a reliability model that can predict the behaviour of a structural system based upon plant observations, including failure and survival data. This can be used to reduce the over reliance upon engineering judgement which is prevalent in deterministic assessments. Highlights: ► Deterministic assessments are shown to be heavily reliant upon engineering judgment. ► Based upon the R5 procedure, a reliability model for a structural system is developed. ► Variables must be classified as either aleatory or epistemic to model their impact on reliability. ► Operation experience is then used to reduce reliance upon engineering judgment. ► This results in a model which can predict system behaviour and learn from operational experience.
Task-based statistical image reconstruction for high-quality cone-beam CT

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Hao; Webster Stayman, J.; Xu, Jennifer; Zbijewski, Wojciech; Sisniega, Alejandro; Mow, Michael; Wang, Xiaohui; Foos, David H.; Aygun, Nafi; Koliatsos, Vassilis E.; Siewerdsen, Jeffrey H.

2017-11-01

promising regularization method in MBIR by explicitly incorporating task-based imaging performance as the objective. The results demonstrate improved ICH conspicuity and support the development of high-quality CBCT systems.
High Resolution Eddy-Current Wire Testing Based on a Gmr Sensor-Array

Science.gov (United States)

Kreutzbruck, Marc; Allweins, Kai; Strackbein, Chris; Bernau, Hendrick

2009-03-01

Increasing demands in materials quality and cost effectiveness have led to advanced standards in manufacturing technology. Especially when dealing with high quality standards in conjunction with high throughput quantitative NDE techniques are vital to provide reliable and fast quality control systems. In this work we illuminate a modern electromagnetic NDE approach using a small GMR sensor array for testing superconducting wires. Four GMR sensors are positioned around the wire. Each GMR sensor provides a field sensitivity of 200 pT/√Hz and a spatial resolution of about 100 μm. This enables us to detect under surface defects of 100 μm in size in a depth of 200 μm with a signal-to-noise ratio of better than 400. Surface defects could be detected with a SNR of up to 10,000. Besides this remarkably SNR the small extent of GMR sensors results in a spatial resolution which offers new visualisation techniques for defect localisation, defect characterization and tomography-like mapping techniques. We also report on inverse algorithms based on either a Finite Element Method or an analytical approach. These allow for accurate defect localization on the urn scale and an estimation of the defect size.
Instrument reliability for high-level nuclear-waste-repository applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogue, F.; Binnall, E.P.; Armantrout, G.A.

1983-01-01

Reliable instrumentation will be needed to evaluate the characteristics of proposed high-level nuclear-wasted-repository sites and to monitor the performance of selected sites during the operational period and into repository closure. A study has been done to assess the reliability of instruments used in Department of Energy (DOE) waste repository related experiments and in other similar geological applications. The study included experiences with geotechnical, hydrological, geochemical, environmental, and radiological instrumentation and associated data acquisition equipment. Though this paper includes some findings on the reliability of instruments in each of these categories, the emphasis is on experiences with geotechnical instrumentation in hostile repository-type environments. We review the failure modes, rates, and mechanisms, along with manufacturers modifications and design changes to enhance and improve instrument performance; and include recommendations on areas where further improvements are needed
Improving high quality, equitable maternal health services in Malawi ...

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

Improving high quality, equitable maternal health services in Malawi (IMCHA) ... In response, the Ministry of Health implemented a Standards-Based Management and Recognition for Reproductive Health initiative to improve ... Total funding.
Demonstration of a diode-laser-based high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) for quantitative profiling of clouds and aerosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayman, Matthew; Spuler, Scott

2017-11-27

We present a demonstration of a diode-laser-based high spectral resolution lidar. It is capable of performing calibrated retrievals of aerosol and cloud optical properties at a 150 m range resolution with less than 1 minute integration time over an approximate range of 12 km during day and night. This instrument operates at 780 nm, a wavelength that is well established for reliable semiconductor lasers and detectors, and was chosen because it corresponds to the D2 rubidium absorption line. A heated vapor reference cell of isotopic rubidium 87 is used as an effective and reliable aerosol signal blocking filter in the instrument. In principle, the diode-laser-based high spectral resolution lidar can be made cost competitive with elastic backscatter lidar systems, yet delivers a significant improvement in data quality through direct retrieval of quantitative optical properties of clouds and aerosols.
Developing evidence-based maternity care in Iran: a quality improvement study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Kazem

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Current Iranian perinatal statistics indicate that maternity care continues to need improvement. In response, we implemented a multi-faceted intervention to improve the quality of maternity care at an Iranian Social Security Hospital. Using a before-and-after design our aim was to improve the uptake of selected evidence based practices and more closely attend to identified women's needs and preferences. Methods The major steps of the study were to (1 identify women's needs, values and preferences via interviews, (2 select through a process of professional consensus the top evidence-based clinical recommendations requiring local implementation (3 redesign care based on the selected evidence-based recommendations and women's views, and (4 implement the new care model. We measured the impact of the new care model on maternal satisfaction and caesarean birth rates utilising maternal surveys and medical record audit before and after implementation of the new care model. Results Twenty women's needs and requirements as well as ten evidence-based clinical recommendations were selected as a basis for improving care. Following the introduction of the new model of care, women's satisfaction levels improved significantly on 16 of 20 items (p Conclusion The introduction of a quality improvement care model improved compliance with evidence-based guidelines and was associated with an improvement in women's satisfaction levels and a reduction in rates of caesarean birth.
High beam quality and high energy short-pulse laser with MOPA

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Quanwei; Pang, Yu; Jiang, JianFeng; Tan, Liang; Cui, Lingling; Wei, Bin; Sun, Yinhong; Tang, Chun

2018-03-01

A high energy, high beam quality short-pulse diode-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) laser with two amplifier stages is demonstrated. The two-rod birefringence compensation was used as beam quality controlling methods, which presents a short-pulse energy of 40 mJ with a beam quality value of M2 = 1.2 at a repetition rate of 400Hz. The MOPA system delivers a short-pulse energy of 712.5 mJ with a pulse width of 12.4 ns.The method of spherical aberration compensation is improved the beam quality, a M2 factor of 2.3 and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 27.7% is obtained at the maximum laser out power.The laser obtained 1.4J out energy with polarization integration.
High quality transportation fuels from renewable feedstock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindfors, Lars Peter

2010-09-15

Hydrotreating of vegetable oils is novel process for producing high quality renewable diesel. Hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) are paraffinic hydrocarbons. They are free of aromatics, have high cetane numbers and reduce emissions. HVO can be used as component or as such. HVO processes can also be modified to produce jet fuel. GHG savings by HVO use are significant compared to fossil fuels. HVO is already in commercial production. Neste Oil is producing its NExBTL diesel in two plants. Production of renewable fuels will be limited by availability of sustainable feedstock. Therefore R and D efforts are made to expand feedstock base further.
Process service quality evaluation based on Dempster-Shafer theory and support vector machine.

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Feng-Que; Li, Dong-Bo; Tong, Yi-Fei; He, Fei

2017-01-01

Human involvement influences traditional service quality evaluations, which triggers an evaluation's low accuracy, poor reliability and less impressive predictability. This paper proposes a method by employing a support vector machine (SVM) and Dempster-Shafer evidence theory to evaluate the service quality of a production process by handling a high number of input features with a low sampling data set, which is called SVMs-DS. Features that can affect production quality are extracted by a large number of sensors. Preprocessing steps such as feature simplification and normalization are reduced. Based on three individual SVM models, the basic probability assignments (BPAs) are constructed, which can help the evaluation in a qualitative and quantitative way. The process service quality evaluation results are validated by the Dempster rules; the decision threshold to resolve conflicting results is generated from three SVM models. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SVMs-DS method.
Psiquiatria baseada em evidências Evidence-based psychiatry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurício S de Lima

2000-09-01

Full Text Available Em psiquiatria, observa-se grande variabilidade de práticas clínicas, muitas vezes desnecessária. Essas variações podem estar relacionadas à ausência de evidência científica confiável ou ao desconhecimento das evidências de boa qualidade disponíveis. A medicina baseada em evidências (MBE é uma combinação de estratégias que busca assegurar que o cuidado individual do paciente seja baseado na melhor informação disponível, a qual deve ser incorporada à prática clínica. Neste artigo, conceitos de MBE são discutidos com relação a aspectos e desafios no tratamento de pacientes com distimia, bulimia nervosa e esquizofrenia. A partir de resultados de três revisões sistemáticas recentemente publicadas, conclui-se que a prática de psiquiatria baseada em evidências acrescenta qualidade à prática psiquiátrica tradicional.The unnecessary variability often seen in the clinical practice can be related to both the absence of reliable evidence and unawareness of the existence of good quality evidence. Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM is a set of linked strategies designed to assist clinicians in keeping themselves up-to-date with the best available evidence. Such evidence must be incorporated into the clinical practice. EBM concepts are discussed here through common aspects and challenges doctors face when treating patients with dysthymia, bulimia nervosa, and schizophrenia. In the light of some results from three systematic reviews it is concluded that Evidence-Based Psychiatry strategies, rather than replacing the traditional ones, may be a valuable tool to improving quality in a good clinical practice.
The Behçet's Disease Quality of Life: Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Sang Won; Kim, Ji-Hae; Lim, Ki-Young; Bang, Dongsik; Lee, Sungnack

2008-01-01

Purpose The Behçet's Disease Quality of Life (BD-QoL) is a BD-specific measure developed in the UK. The aim of this study was to adapt the BD-QoL for use in Korea. Patients and Methods The translation was based on the guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation. A total of 201 Korean patients with BD participated in this study. To evaluate the psychometric properties, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were used. Factor analysis was performed to examine the construct validity. To provide further evidence for validity, the correlation of BD-QoL with the Clinical Activity Form for Korean Patients with BD (BDCAF-K) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scales was assessed. Results The Korean version had high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, 0.93) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.835). Factor analysis of the questionnaire revealed one interpretable factor as a general health-related quality of life factor. The Korean version significantly correlated with scores of CES-D (r = 0.749, p= 0.000), self-rating scale of well-being over the past 28 days (r = 0.446, p= 0.000), and BDCAF-K score (r = 0.502, p = 0.000). Conclusion Adaptation of the BD-QoL for use in Korea was successful. Together with the BDCAF-K, it may be a valuable tool for assessing the influence of interventions in BD patients and outcome in clinical trials. PMID:18972588
Test results of reliable and very high capillary multi-evaporators / condenser loop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Oost, S; Dubois, M; Bekaert, G [Societe Anonyme Belge de Construction Aeronautique - SABCA (Belgium)

1997-12-31

The paper present the results of various SABCA activities in the field of two-phase heat transport system. These results have been based on a critical review and analysis of the existing two-phase loop and of the future loop needs in space applications. The research and the development of a high capillary wick (capillary pressure up to 38 000 Pa) are described. These activities have led towards the development of a reliable high performance capillary loop concept (HPCPL), which is discussed in details. Several loop configurations mono/multi-evaporators have been ground tested. The presented results of various tests clearly show the viability of this concept for future applications. Proposed flight demonstrations as well as potential applications conclude this paper. (authors) 7 refs.
Test results of reliable and very high capillary multi-evaporators / condenser loop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Oost, S.; Dubois, M.; Bekaert, G. [Societe Anonyme Belge de Construction Aeronautique - SABCA (Belgium)

1996-12-31

The paper present the results of various SABCA activities in the field of two-phase heat transport system. These results have been based on a critical review and analysis of the existing two-phase loop and of the future loop needs in space applications. The research and the development of a high capillary wick (capillary pressure up to 38 000 Pa) are described. These activities have led towards the development of a reliable high performance capillary loop concept (HPCPL), which is discussed in details. Several loop configurations mono/multi-evaporators have been ground tested. The presented results of various tests clearly show the viability of this concept for future applications. Proposed flight demonstrations as well as potential applications conclude this paper. (authors) 7 refs.

Leadership in organizations with high security and reliability requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez, F.

2013-01-01

Developing leadership skills in organizations is the key to ensure the sustainability of excellent results in industries with high requirements safety and reliability. In order to have a model of leadership development specific to this type of organizations, Tecnatom in 2011, we initiated a project internal, to find and adapt a competency model to these requirements.
Validity and reliability of the patient assessment of constipation quality of life questionnaire for the Turkish population.

Science.gov (United States)

Bengi, Göksel; Yalçın, Mustafa; Akpınar, Hale; Keskinoğlu, Pembe; Ellidokuz, Hülya

2015-07-01

There are few specific evaluation forms for evaluating the quality of life among patients with chronic constipation. Our study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the translated Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) questionnaire for the Turkish population because evidence of its reliability and validity is required to justify its use in other studies and clinical practice. This study included 154 patients with constipation who were treated at the Department of Gastroenterology, Dokuz Eylül University Hospital between January and June 2012. The translated PAC-QOL questionnaire was completed by patients at the clinic and also at a 2-week follow-up to test its reliability. Cronbach's alpha coefficient (internal consistency) was 0.91 (good) for the translated PAC-QOL questionnaire. Time validity was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) method, and the ICC value for all questions was confirmed as 0.68 at the 2-week follow-up. The validity of the tool in the study group was evaluated using factor analysis, and the results were highly significant (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value: 0.857; Bartlett's test: p=0.001). Questions were categorized according to six factors based on the factor analysis, and these factors explained 65.1% of the total variation. For hypothesis verification of the tool, the correlation coefficient for PAC-QOL and PAC Symptoms (PAC-SYM) was r=0.577 (p<0.001), whereas the correlation coefficient for PAC-QOL and constipation severity score was r=0.457 (p<0.001). The PAC-QOL questionnaire was reliable, although not valid because of the limited sample group.
Analysis and recommendations for a reliable programming of software based safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez McLeod, J.; Nunez McLeod, J.E.; Rivera, S.S.

1997-01-01

The present paper summarizes the results of several studies performed for the development of high software on i486 microprocessors, towards its utilization for control and safety systems for nuclear power plants. The work is based on software programmed in C language. Several recommendations oriented to high reliability software are analyzed, relating the requirements on high level language to its influence on assembler level. Several metrics are implemented, that allow for the quantification of the results achieved. New metrics were developed and other were adapted, in order to obtain more efficient indexes for the software description. Such metrics are helpful to visualize the adaptation of the software under development to the quality rules under use. A specific program developed to assist the reliability analyst on this quantification is also present in the paper. It performs the analysis of an executable program written in C language, disassembling it and evaluating its inter al structures. (author)
Validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory in patients treated for infective endocarditis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Trine Bernholdt; Konradsen, Hanne; Dixon, Jane

2017-01-01

been validated in this patient population. The purpose of this study was thus to assess the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Danish Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI-DA) on patients treated for IE. METHODS: We evaluated the psychometric properties of the BIQLI-DA on data......: The BIQLI-DA may be applicable in healthcare research as it seems to be valid, reliable and responsive; however, evidence should be strengthened through further exploration of instrument performance, particularly regarding responsiveness.......: Participants were seventy patients with a mean age of 58 years and of which 83% were men. Results indicated convergent construct validity by confirming hypothesised associations to potentially related constructs. The BIQLI-DA was found to be highly internally consistent with a Cronbach's alpha of 0...
Synthesizing Quantitative Evidence for Evidence-based Nursing: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Eui Geum

2016-06-01

As evidence-based practice has become an important issue in healthcare settings, the educational needs for knowledge and skills for the generation and utilization of healthcare evidence are increasing. Systematic review (SR), a way of evidence generation, is a synthesis of primary scientific evidence, which summarizes the best evidence on a specific clinical question using a transparent, a priori protocol driven approach. SR methodology requires a critical appraisal of primary studies, data extraction in a reliable and repeatable way, and examination for validity of the results. SRs are considered hierarchically as the highest form of evidence as they are a systematic search, identification, and summarization of the available evidence to answer a focused clinical question with particular attention to the methodological quality of studies or the credibility of opinion and text. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an overview of the fundamental knowledge, principals and processes in SR. The focus of this paper is on SR especially for the synthesis of quantitative data from primary research studies that examines the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. To activate evidence-based nursing care in various healthcare settings, the best and available scientific evidence are essential components. This paper will include some examples to promote understandings. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Synthesizing Quantitative Evidence for Evidence-based Nursing: Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eui Geum Oh, PhD, RN

2016-06-01

Full Text Available As evidence-based practice has become an important issue in healthcare settings, the educational needs for knowledge and skills for the generation and utilization of healthcare evidence are increasing. Systematic review (SR, a way of evidence generation, is a synthesis of primary scientific evidence, which summarizes the best evidence on a specific clinical question using a transparent, a priori protocol driven approach. SR methodology requires a critical appraisal of primary studies, data extraction in a reliable and repeatable way, and examination for validity of the results. SRs are considered hierarchically as the highest form of evidence as they are a systematic search, identification, and summarization of the available evidence to answer a focused clinical question with particular attention to the methodological quality of studies or the credibility of opinion and text. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an overview of the fundamental knowledge, principals and processes in SR. The focus of this paper is on SR especially for the synthesis of quantitative data from primary research studies that examines the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. To activate evidence-based nursing care in various healthcare settings, the best and available scientific evidence are essential components. This paper will include some examples to promote understandings.
Statistical estimation Monte Carlo for unreliability evaluation of highly reliable system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Gang; Su Guanghui; Jia Dounan; Li Tianduo

2000-01-01

Based on analog Monte Carlo simulation, statistical Monte Carlo methods for unreliable evaluation of highly reliable system are constructed, including direct statistical estimation Monte Carlo method and weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo method. The basal element is given, and the statistical estimation Monte Carlo estimators are derived. Direct Monte Carlo simulation method, bounding-sampling method, forced transitions Monte Carlo method, direct statistical estimation Monte Carlo and weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo are used to evaluate unreliability of a same system. By comparing, weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo estimator has smallest variance, and has highest calculating efficiency
Introduction to quality and reliability engineering

CERN Document Server

Jiang, Renyan

2015-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in quality and reliability engineering from a product life cycle standpoint. Topics in reliability include reliability models, life data analysis and modeling, design for reliability and accelerated life testing, while topics in quality include design for quality, acceptance sampling and supplier selection, statistical process control, production tests such as screening and burn-in, warranty and maintenance. The book provides comprehensive insights into two closely related subjects, and includes a wealth of examples and problems to enhance reader comprehension and link theory and practice. All numerical examples can be easily solved using Microsoft Excel. The book is intended for senior undergraduate and post-graduate students in related engineering and management programs such as mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering and engineering management programs, as well as for researchers and engineers in the quality and reliability fields. D...
Risk-based methods for reliability investments in electric power distribution systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alvehag, Karin

2011-07-01

Society relies more and more on a continuous supply of electricity. However, while under investments in reliability lead to an unacceptable number of power interruptions, over investments result in too high costs for society. To give incentives for a socio economically optimal level of reliability, quality regulations have been adopted in many European countries. These quality regulations imply new financial risks for the distribution system operator (DSO) since poor reliability can reduce the allowed revenue for the DSO and compensation may have to be paid to affected customers. This thesis develops a method for evaluating the incentives for reliability investments implied by different quality regulation designs. The method can be used to investigate whether socio economically beneficial projects are also beneficial for a profit-maximizing DSO subject to a particular quality regulation design. To investigate which reinvestment projects are preferable for society and a DSO, risk-based methods are developed. With these methods, the probability of power interruptions and the consequences of these can be simulated. The consequences of interruptions for the DSO will to a large extent depend on the quality regulation. The consequences for the customers, and hence also society, will depend on factors such as the interruption duration and time of occurrence. The proposed risk-based methods consider extreme outage events in the risk assessments by incorporating the impact of severe weather, estimating the full probability distribution of the total reliability cost, and formulating a risk-averse strategy. Results from case studies performed show that quality regulation design has a significant impact on reinvestment project profitability for a DSO. In order to adequately capture the financial risk that the DSO is exposed to, detailed riskbased methods, such as the ones developed in this thesis, are needed. Furthermore, when making investment decisions, a risk
REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS WITH HIGH RELIABILITY IN CHANGJIANG WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Ma

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Remote sensing technology has been widely used in many fields. But most of the applications cannot get the information with high reliability and high accuracy in large scale, especially for the applications using automatic interpretation methods. We have designed an application-oriented technology system (PIR composed of a series of accurate interpretation techniques,which can get over 85 % correctness in Water Resource Management from the view of photogrammetry and expert knowledge. The techniques compose of the spatial positioning techniques from the view of photogrammetry, the feature interpretation techniques from the view of expert knowledge, and the rationality analysis techniques from the view of data mining. Each interpreted polygon is accurate enough to be applied to the accuracy sensitive projects, such as the Three Gorge Project and the South - to - North Water Diversion Project. In this paper, we present several remote sensing applications with high reliability in Changjiang Water Resource Management,including water pollution investigation, illegal construction inspection, and water conservation monitoring, etc.
Remote Sensing Applications with High Reliability in Changjiang Water Resource Management

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, L.; Gao, S.; Yang, A.

2018-04-01

Remote sensing technology has been widely used in many fields. But most of the applications cannot get the information with high reliability and high accuracy in large scale, especially for the applications using automatic interpretation methods. We have designed an application-oriented technology system (PIR) composed of a series of accurate interpretation techniques,which can get over 85 % correctness in Water Resource Management from the view of photogrammetry and expert knowledge. The techniques compose of the spatial positioning techniques from the view of photogrammetry, the feature interpretation techniques from the view of expert knowledge, and the rationality analysis techniques from the view of data mining. Each interpreted polygon is accurate enough to be applied to the accuracy sensitive projects, such as the Three Gorge Project and the South - to - North Water Diversion Project. In this paper, we present several remote sensing applications with high reliability in Changjiang Water Resource Management,including water pollution investigation, illegal construction inspection, and water conservation monitoring, etc.
Improving data retrieval quality: Evidence based medicine perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamalov, M; Dobrynin, V; Balykina, J; Kolbin, A; Verbitskaya, E; Kasimova, M

2015-01-01

The actively developing approach in modern medicine is the approach focused on principles of evidence-based medicine. The assessment of quality and reliability of studies is needed. However, in some cases studies corresponding to the first level of evidence may contain errors in randomized control trials (RCTs). Solution of the problem is the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Studies both in the fields of medicine and information retrieval are conducted for developing search engines for the MEDLINE database [1]; combined techniques for summarization and information retrieval targeted to solving problems of finding the best medication based on the levels of evidence are being developed [2]. Based on the relevance and demand for studies both in the field of medicine and information retrieval, it was decided to start the development of a search engine for the MEDLINE database search on the basis of the Saint-Petersburg State University with the support of Pavlov First Saint-Petersburg State Medical University and Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education. Novelty and value of the proposed system are characterized by the use of ranking method of relevant abstracts. It is suggested that the system will be able to perform ranking based on studies level of evidence and to apply GRADE criteria for system evaluation. The assigned task falls within the domain of information retrieval and machine learning. Based on the results of implementation from previous work [3], in which the main goal was to cluster abstracts from MEDLINE database by subtypes of medical interventions, a set of algorithms for clustering in this study was selected: K-means, K-means ++, EM from the sklearn (http://scikit-learn.org) and WEKA (http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/) libraries, together with the methods of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) [4] choosing the first 210 facts and the model "bag of words" [5] to represent clustered documents
[GRADE system: classification of quality of evidence and strength of recommendation].

Science.gov (United States)

Aguayo-Albasini, José Luis; Flores-Pastor, Benito; Soria-Aledo, Víctor

2014-02-01

The acquisition and classification of scientific evidence, and subsequent formulation of recommendations constitute the basis for the development of clinical practice guidelines. There are several systems for the classification of evidence and strength of recommendations; the most commonly used nowadays is the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system (GRADE). The GRADE system initially classifies the evidence into high or low, coming from experimental or observational studies; subsequently and following a series of considerations, the evidence is classified into high, moderate, low or very low. The strength of recommendations is based not only on the quality of the evidence, but also on a series of factors such as the risk/benefit balance, values and preferences of the patients and professionals, and the use of resources or costs. Copyright © 2013 AEC. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
Determination of validity and reliability of performance assessments tasks developed for selected topics in high school chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Zichittella, Gail Eberhardt

The primary purpose of this study was to validate performance assessments, which can be used as teaching and assessment instruments in high school science classrooms. This study evaluated the classroom usability of these performance instruments and establishes the interrater reliability of the scoring rubrics when used by classroom teachers. The assessment instruments were designed to represent two levels of scientific inquiry. The high level of inquiry tasks are relatively unstructured in terms of student directions; the low inquiry tasks provided more structure for the student. The tasks cover two content topics studied in chemistry (scientific observation and density). Students from a variety of Western New York school districts who were enrolled in chemistry classes and other science courses were involved in completion of the tasks at the two levels of inquiry. The chemistry students completed the NYS Regents Examination in Chemistry. Their classroom teachers were interviewed and completed a questionnaire to aid in the establishment their epistemological view on the inclusion of inquiry based learning in the science classroom. Data showed that the performance assessment tasks were reliable, valid and helpful for obtaining a more complete picture of the students' scientific understanding. The teacher participants reported no difficulty with the usability of the task in the high school chemistry setting. Collected data gave no evidence of gender bias with reference to the performance tasks or the NYS Regents Chemistry Examination. Additionally, it was shown that the instructors' classroom practices do have an effect upon the students' achievement on the performance tasks and the NYS Regents examination. Data also showed that achievement on the performance tasks was influenced by the number of years of science instruction students had received.
Evidence-based medicine: the fourth revolution in American medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Kevin C; Ram, Ashwin N

2009-01-01

The use of evidence has become a force in American medicine to improve the quality of health care. Funding decisions from payers will demand studies with high-level evidence to support many of the costly interventions in medicine. Plastic surgery is certainly not immune to this national tidal wave to revamp the health care system by embracing evidence-based medicine in our practices. In scientific contributions of plastic surgery research, application of evidence-based principles should enhance the care of all patients by relying on science rather than opinions. In this article, the genesis of evidence-based medicine is discussed to guide plastic surgery in this new revolution in American medicine.
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
Surviving the Lead Reliability Engineer Role in High Unit Value Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Reinaldo J.

2011-01-01

A project with a very high unit value within a company is defined as a project where a) the project constitutes one of a kind (or two-of-a-kind) national asset type of project, b) very large cost, and c) a mission failure would be a very public event that will hurt the company's image. The Lead Reliability engineer in a high visibility project is by default involved in all phases of the project, from conceptual design to manufacture and testing. This paper explores a series of lessons learned, over a period of ten years of practical industrial experience by a Lead Reliability Engineer. We expand on the concepts outlined by these lessons learned via examples. The lessons learned are applicable to all industries.
Assuring quality in high-consequence engineering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoover, Marcey L.; Kolb, Rachel R.

2014-03-01

In high-consequence engineering organizations, such as Sandia, quality assurance may be heavily dependent on staff competency. Competency-dependent quality assurance models are at risk when the environment changes, as it has with increasing attrition rates, budget and schedule cuts, and competing program priorities. Risks in Sandia's competency-dependent culture can be mitigated through changes to hiring, training, and customer engagement approaches to manage people, partners, and products. Sandia's technical quality engineering organization has been able to mitigate corporate-level risks by driving changes that benefit all departments, and in doing so has assured Sandia's commitment to excellence in high-consequence engineering and national service.
Concrete Waste Recycling Process for High Quality Aggregate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikura, Takeshi; Fujii, Shin-ichi

2008-01-01

Large amount of concrete waste generates during nuclear power plant (NPP) dismantling. Non-contaminated concrete waste is assumed to be disposed in a landfill site, but that will not be the solution especially in the future, because of decreasing tendency of the site availability and natural resources. Concerning concrete recycling, demand for roadbeds and backfill tends to be less than the amount of dismantled concrete generated in a single rural site, and conventional recycled aggregate is limited of its use to non-structural concrete, because of its inferior quality to ordinary natural aggregate. Therefore, it is vital to develop high quality recycled aggregate for general uses of dismantled concrete. If recycled aggregate is available for high structural concrete, the dismantling concrete is recyclable as aggregate for industry including nuclear field. Authors developed techniques on high quality aggregate reclamation for large amount of concrete generated during NPP decommissioning. Concrete of NPP buildings has good features for recycling aggregate; large quantity of high quality aggregate from same origin, record keeping of the aggregate origin, and little impurities in dismantled concrete such as wood and plastics. The target of recycled aggregate in this development is to meet the quality criteria for NPP concrete as prescribed in JASS 5N 'Specification for Nuclear Power Facility Reinforced Concrete' and JASS 5 'Specification for Reinforced Concrete Work'. The target of recycled aggregate concrete is to be comparable performance with ordinary aggregate concrete. The high quality recycled aggregate production techniques are assumed to apply for recycling for large amount of non-contaminated concrete. These techniques can also be applied for slightly contaminated concrete dismantled from radiological control area (RCA), together with free release survey. In conclusion: a technology on dismantled concrete recycling for high quality aggregate was developed
Reliability evaluation of high-performance, low-power FinFET standard cells based on mixed RBB/FBB technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tian; Cui, Xiaoxin; Ni, Yewen; Liao, Kai; Liao, Nan; Yu, Dunshan; Cui, Xiaole

2017-04-01

With shrinking transistor feature size, the fin-type field-effect transistor (FinFET) has become the most promising option in low-power circuit design due to its superior capability to suppress leakage. To support the VLSI digital system flow based on logic synthesis, we have designed an optimized high-performance low-power FinFET standard cell library based on employing the mixed FBB/RBB technique in the existing stacked structure of each cell. This paper presents the reliability evaluation of the optimized cells under process and operating environment variations based on Monte Carlo analysis. The variations are modelled with Gaussian distribution of the device parameters and 10000 sweeps are conducted in the simulation to obtain the statistical properties of the worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage for each cell. For comparison, a set of non-optimal cells that adopt the same topology without employing the mixed biasing technique is also generated. Experimental results show that the optimized cells achieve standard deviation reduction of 39.1% and 30.7% at most in worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage respectively while the normalized deviation shrinking in worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage can be up to 98.37% and 24.13%, respectively, which demonstrates that our optimized cells are less sensitive to variability and exhibit more reliability. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61306040), the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2015CB057201), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 4152020), and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2015A030313147).

Image Quality in High-resolution and High-cadence Solar Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Denker, C.; Dineva, E.; Balthasar, H.; Verma, M.; Kuckein, C.; Diercke, A.; González Manrique, S. J.

2018-03-01

Broad-band imaging and even imaging with a moderate bandpass (about 1 nm) provides a photon-rich environment, where frame selection (lucky imaging) becomes a helpful tool in image restoration, allowing us to perform a cost-benefit analysis on how to design observing sequences for imaging with high spatial resolution in combination with real-time correction provided by an adaptive optics (AO) system. This study presents high-cadence (160 Hz) G-band and blue continuum image sequences obtained with the High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI) at the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope, where the speckle-masking technique is used to restore images with nearly diffraction-limited resolution. The HiFI employs two synchronized large-format and high-cadence sCMOS detectors. The median filter gradient similarity (MFGS) image-quality metric is applied, among others, to AO-corrected image sequences of a pore and a small sunspot observed on 2017 June 4 and 5. A small region of interest, which was selected for fast-imaging performance, covered these contrast-rich features and their neighborhood, which were part of Active Region NOAA 12661. Modifications of the MFGS algorithm uncover the field- and structure-dependency of this image-quality metric. However, MFGS still remains a good choice for determining image quality without a priori knowledge, which is an important characteristic when classifying the huge number of high-resolution images contained in data archives. In addition, this investigation demonstrates that a fast cadence and millisecond exposure times are still insufficient to reach the coherence time of daytime seeing. Nonetheless, the analysis shows that data acquisition rates exceeding 50 Hz are required to capture a substantial fraction of the best seeing moments, significantly boosting the performance of post-facto image restoration.
Implementing eco friendly highly reliable upload feature using multi 3G service

Science.gov (United States)

Tanutama, Lukas; Wijaya, Rico

2017-12-01

The current trend of eco friendly Internet access is preferred. In this research the understanding of eco friendly is minimum power consumption. The devices that are selected have operationally low power consumption and normally have no power consumption as they are hibernating during idle state. To have the reliability a router of a router that has internal load balancing feature will provide the improvement of previous research on multi 3G services for broadband lines. Previous studies emphasized on accessing and downloading information files from Public Cloud residing Web Servers. The demand is not only for speed but high reliability of access as well. High reliability will mean mitigating both direct and indirect high cost due to repeated attempts of uploading and downloading the large files. Nomadic and mobile computer users need viable solution. Following solution for downloading information has been proposed and tested. The solution is promising. The result is now extended to providing reliable access line by means of redundancy and automatic reconfiguration for uploading and downloading large information files to a Web Server in the Cloud. The technique is taking advantage of internal load balancing feature to provision a redundant line acting as a backup line. A router that has the ability to provide load balancing to several WAN lines is chosen. The WAN lines are constructed using multiple 3G lines. The router supports the accessing Internet with more than one 3G access line which increases the reliability and availability of the Internet access as the second line immediately takes over if the first line is disturbed.
Review series: Examples of chronic care model: the home-based chronic care model: redesigning home health for high quality care delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Suter, Paula; Hennessey, Beth; Florez, Donna; Newton Suter, W

2011-01-01

Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) face significant challenges due to frequent distressing dyspnea and deficits related to activities of daily living. Individuals with COPD are often hospitalized frequently for disease exacerbations, negatively impacting quality of life and healthcare expenditure burden. The home-based chronic care model (HBCCM) was designed to address the needs of patients with chronic diseases. This model facilitates the re-design of chronic care delivery within the home health sector by ensuring patient-centered evidence-based care. This HBCCM foundation is Dr. Edward Wagner s chronic care model and has four additional areas of focus: high touch delivery, theory-based self management, specialist oversight and the use of technology. This article will describe this model in detail and outline how model use for patients with COPD can bring value to stakeholders across the health care continuum.
Key factors for a high-quality VR experience

Science.gov (United States)

Champel, Mary-Luc; Doré, Renaud; Mollet, Nicolas

2017-09-01

For many years, Virtual Reality has been presented as a promising technology that could deliver a truly new experience to users. The media and entertainment industry is now investigating the possibility to offer a video-based VR 360 experience. Nevertheless, there is a substantial risk that VR 360 could have the same fate as 3DTV if it cannot offer more than just being the next fad. The present paper aims at presenting the various quality factors required for a high-quality VR experience. More specifically, this paper will focus on the main three VR quality pillars: visual, audio and immersion.
Validating evidence based decision making in health care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nüssler, Emil Karl; Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Håkonsson, Dorthe Døjbak

Surgeons who perform prolapse surgeries face the dilemma of choosing to use mesh, with its assumed benefits, and the risks associated with mesh. In this paper, we examine whether decisions to use mesh is evidence based. Based on data of 30,398 patients from the Swedish National Quality Register o...... are highly influenced by the geographical placement of surgeons. Therfore, decisions to use mesh are boundedly rationality, rather than rational.......Surgeons who perform prolapse surgeries face the dilemma of choosing to use mesh, with its assumed benefits, and the risks associated with mesh. In this paper, we examine whether decisions to use mesh is evidence based. Based on data of 30,398 patients from the Swedish National Quality Register...... of Gynecological Surgery we examine factors related to decisions to use mesh. Our results indicate that decisions to use mesh are not evidence based, and cannot be explained neither by FDA safety communications, nor by medical conditions usually assumed to predict its usage. Instead, decisions to use mesh...
Reliability Evaluation on Creep Life Prediction of Alloy 617 for a Very High Temperature Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Woo-Gon; Hong, Sung-Deok; Kim, Yong-Wan; Park, Jae-Young; Kim, Seon-Jin

2012-01-01

This paper evaluates the reliability of creep rupture life under service conditions of Alloy 617, which is considered as one of the candidate materials for use in a very high temperature reactor (VHTR) system. A Z-parameter, which represents the deviation of creep rupture data from the master curve, was used for the reliability analysis of the creep rupture data of Alloy 617. A Service-condition Creep Rupture Interference (SCRI) model, which can consider both the scattering of the creep rupture data and the fluctuations of temperature and stress under any service conditions, was also used for evaluating the reliability of creep rupture life. The statistical analysis showed that the scattering of creep rupture data based on Z-parameter was supported by normal distribution. The values of reliability decreased rapidly with increasing amplitudes of temperature and stress fluctuations. The results established that the reliability decreased with an increasing service time.
Reliability of muscle strength assessment in chronic post-stroke hemiparesis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabelo, Michelle; Nunes, Guilherme S; da Costa Amante, Natália Menezes; de Noronha, Marcos; Fachin-Martins, Emerson

2016-02-01

Muscle weakness is the main cause of motor impairment among stroke survivors and is associated with reduced peak muscle torque. To systematically investigate and organize the evidence of the reliability of muscle strength evaluation measures in post-stroke survivors with chronic hemiparesis. Two assessors independently searched four electronic databases in January 2014 (Medline, Scielo, CINAHL, Embase). Inclusion criteria comprised studies on reliability on muscle strength assessment in adult post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis. We extracted outcomes from included studies about reliability data, measured by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and/or similar. The meta-analyses were conducted only with isokinetic data. Of 450 articles, eight articles were included for this review. After quality analysis, two studies were considered of high quality. Five different joints were analyzed within the included studies (knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, and elbow). Their reliability results varying from low to very high reliability (ICCs from 0.48 to 0.99). Results of meta-analysis for knee extension varying from high to very high reliability (pooled ICCs from 0.89 to 0.97), for knee flexion varying from high to very high reliability (pooled ICCs from 0.84 to 0.91) and for ankle plantar flexion showed high reliability (pooled ICC = 0.85). Objective muscle strength assessment can be reliably used in lower and upper extremities in post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis.
Evidence-Based Advances in Reptile Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Mark A; Perry, Sean M

2017-09-01

Evidence-based medicine allows veterinarians to practice high-quality medicine, because the basis for all decision making is quantitative, objective, and reproducible. Case reports and case series are limited in their scope and application. Cross-sectional studies, likewise, cannot provide answers to specific variable testing with a temporal application. It is essential for the reptile specialty to expand into case-control studies, cohort studies, and experimental/intervention studies. Unfortunately, much of the reptile literature remains limited to descriptive studies. This article reviews current evidence-based topics in reptile medicine and shares how everyone practicing in the field can contribute to improving this specialty. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Process service quality evaluation based on Dempster-Shafer theory and support vector machine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng-Que Pei

Full Text Available Human involvement influences traditional service quality evaluations, which triggers an evaluation's low accuracy, poor reliability and less impressive predictability. This paper proposes a method by employing a support vector machine (SVM and Dempster-Shafer evidence theory to evaluate the service quality of a production process by handling a high number of input features with a low sampling data set, which is called SVMs-DS. Features that can affect production quality are extracted by a large number of sensors. Preprocessing steps such as feature simplification and normalization are reduced. Based on three individual SVM models, the basic probability assignments (BPAs are constructed, which can help the evaluation in a qualitative and quantitative way. The process service quality evaluation results are validated by the Dempster rules; the decision threshold to resolve conflicting results is generated from three SVM models. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SVMs-DS method.
The Impact of the Reliability of Teleinformation Systems on the Quality of Transmitted Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stawowy Marek

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The work describes the impact the reliability of the information quality IQ for information and communication systems. One of the components of IQ is the reliability properties such as relativity, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, consistency, adequacy, accessibility, credibility, congruence. Each of these components of IQ is independent and to properly estimate the value of IQ, use one of the methods of modeling uncertainty. In this article, we used a hybrid method that has been developed jointly by one of the authors. This method is based on the mathematical theory of evidence know as Dempstera-Shafera (DS theory and serial links of dependent hybrid named IQ (hyb.
Health Service Quality Scale: Brazilian Portuguese translation, reliability and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, Luiz Roberto Martins; Veiga, Daniela Francescato; e Oliveira, Paulo Rocha; Song, Elaine Horibe; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

2013-01-17

The Health Service Quality Scale is a multidimensional hierarchical scale that is based on interdisciplinary approach. This instrument was specifically created for measuring health service quality based on marketing and health care concepts. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the Health Service Quality Scale into Brazilian Portuguese and to assess the validity and reliability of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument. We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study, with public health system patients in a Brazilian university hospital. Validity was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient to measure the strength of the association between the Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument and the SERVQUAL scale. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient; the intraclass (ICC) and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used for test-retest reliability. One hundred and sixteen consecutive postoperative patients completed the questionnaire. Pearson's correlation coefficient for validity was 0.20. Cronbach's alpha for the first and second administrations of the final version of the instrument were 0.982 and 0.986, respectively. For test-retest reliability, Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.89 and ICC was 0.90. The culturally adapted, Brazilian Portuguese version of the Health Service Quality Scale is a valid and reliable instrument to measure health service quality.
Universal and rapid salt-extraction of high quality genomic DNA for PCR-based techniques.

OpenAIRE

Aljanabi, S M; Martinez, I

1997-01-01

A very simple, fast, universally applicable and reproducible method to extract high quality megabase genomic DNA from different organisms is described. We applied the same method to extract high quality complex genomic DNA from different tissues (wheat, barley, potato, beans, pear and almond leaves as well as fungi, insects and shrimps' fresh tissue) without any modification. The method does not require expensive and environmentally hazardous reagents and equipment. It can be performed even i...
Better Patient Care At High-Quality Hospitals May Save Medicare Money And Bolster Episode-Based Payment Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Thomas C; Greaves, Felix; Zheng, Jie; Orav, E John; Zinner, Michael J; Jha, Ashish K

2016-09-01

US policy makers are making efforts to simultaneously improve the quality of and reduce spending on health care through alternative payment models such as bundled payment. Bundled payment models are predicated on the theory that aligning financial incentives for all providers across an episode of care will lower health care spending while improving quality. Whether this is true remains unknown. Using national Medicare fee-for-service claims for the period 2011-12 and data on hospital quality, we evaluated how thirty- and ninety-day episode-based spending were related to two validated measures of surgical quality-patient satisfaction and surgical mortality. We found that patients who had major surgery at high-quality hospitals cost Medicare less than those who had surgery at low-quality institutions, for both thirty- and ninety-day periods. The difference in Medicare spending between low- and high-quality hospitals was driven primarily by postacute care, which accounted for 59.5 percent of the difference in thirty-day episode spending, and readmissions, which accounted for 19.9 percent. These findings suggest that efforts to achieve value through bundled payment should focus on improving care at low-quality hospitals and reducing unnecessary use of postacute care. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
Modeling high-Power Accelerators Reliability-SNS LINAC (SNS-ORNL); MAX LINAC (MYRRHA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitigoi, A. E.; Fernandez Ramos, P.

2013-01-01

Improving reliability has recently become a very important objective in the field of particle accelerators. The particle accelerators in operation are constantly undergoing modifications, and improvements are implemented using new technologies, more reliable components or redundant schemes (to obtain more reliability, strength, more power, etc.) A reliability model of SNS (Spallation Neutron Source) LINAC has been developed within MAX project and analysis of the accelerator systems reliability has been performed within the MAX project, using the Risk Spectrum reliability analysis software. The analysis results have been evaluated by comparison with the SNS operational data. Results and conclusions are presented in this paper, oriented to identify design weaknesses and provide recommendations for improving reliability of MYRRHA linear accelerator. The SNS reliability model developed for the MAX preliminary design phase indicates possible avenues for further investigation that could be needed to improve the reliability of the high-power accelerators, in view of the future reliability targets of ADS accelerators.
Reliability of an Automated High-Resolution Manometry Analysis Program across Expert Users, Novice Users, and Speech-Language Pathologists

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Corinne A.; Hoffman, Matthew R.; Geng, Zhixian; Abdelhalim, Suzan M.; Jiang, Jack J.; McCulloch, Timothy M.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate inter- and intrarater reliability among expert users, novice users, and speech-language pathologists with a semiautomated high-resolution manometry analysis program. We hypothesized that all users would have high intrarater reliability and high interrater reliability. Method: Three expert…
Low-quality birds do not display high-quality signals: The cysteine-pheomelanin mechanism of honesty

Science.gov (United States)

Galván, Ismael; Wakamatsu, Kazumasa; Camarero, Pablo R; Mateo, Rafael; Alonso-Alvarez, Carlos

2015-01-01

The mechanisms that make that the costs of producing high-quality signals are unaffordable to low-quality signalers are a current issue in animal communication. The size of the melanin-based bib of male house sparrows Passer domesticus honestly signals quality. We induced the development of new bibs while treating males with buthionine-sulfoximine (BSO), a substance that depletes the levels of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) and the amino acid cysteine, two elements that switch melanogenesis from eumelanin to pheomelanin. Final bib size is negatively related to pheomelanin levels in the bib feathers. BSO reduced cysteine and GSH levels in all birds, but improved phenotypes (bibs larger than controls) were only expressed by high-quality birds (BSO birds with largest bibs initially). Negative associations between final bib size and cysteine levels in erythrocytes, and between pheomelanin and cysteine levels, were observed in high-quality birds only. These findings suggest that a mechanism uncoupling pheomelanin and cysteine levels may have evolved in low-quality birds to avoid producing bibs of size not corresponding to their quality and greater relative costs. Indeed, greater oxidative stress in cells was not observed in low-quality birds. This may represent the first mechanism maintaining signal honesty without producing greater relative costs on low-quality signalers. PMID:25330349
High quality-factor optical resonators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henriet, Rémi; Salzenstein, Patrice; Coillet, Aurélien; Saleh, Khaldoun; Chembo, Yanne K; Ristic, Davor; Ferrari, Maurizio; Mortier, Michel; Rasoloniaina, Alphonse; Dumeige, Yannick; Féron, Patrice; Cibiel, Gilles; Llopis, Olivier

2014-01-01

Various resonators are investigated for microwave photonic applications. Micro-sphere, disk and fiber ring resonators were designed, realized and characterized. Obtained quality factors are as high as Q = 10 10 . (paper)
Anti-Stokes Luminescence in High Quality Quantum Wells

Science.gov (United States)

Vinattieri, A.; Bogani, F.; Miotto, A.; Ceccherini, S.

1997-11-01

We present a detailed investigation of the anti-Stokes (AS) luminescence which originates from exciton recombination when below gap excitation is used, in a set of high quality quantum well structures. We observe strong excitonic resonances in the AS signal as measured from photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectra. We demonstrate that neither the electromagnetic coupling between the wells nor the morphological disorder can explain this up-conversion effect. Time-resolved luminescence data after ps excitation and fs correlation spectroscopy results provide clear evidence of the occurrence of a two-step absorption which is assisted by the exciton population resonantly excited by the first photon.
Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease: evidence and guidance for management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chapman, M John; Ginsberg, Henry N; Amarenco, Pierre

2011-01-01

Even at low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal, patients with cardiometabolic abnormalities remain at high risk of cardiovascular events. This paper aims (i) to critically appraise evidence for elevated levels of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) and low levels of high......-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as cardiovascular risk factors, and (ii) to advise on therapeutic strategies for management. Current evidence supports a causal association between elevated TRL and their remnants, low HDL-C, and cardiovascular risk. This interpretation is based on mechanistic and genetic...
Structural reliability analysis under evidence theory using the active learning kriging model

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xufeng; Liu, Yongshou; Ma, Panke

2017-11-01

Structural reliability analysis under evidence theory is investigated. It is rigorously proved that a surrogate model providing only correct sign prediction of the performance function can meet the accuracy requirement of evidence-theory-based reliability analysis. Accordingly, a method based on the active learning kriging model which only correctly predicts the sign of the performance function is proposed. Interval Monte Carlo simulation and a modified optimization method based on Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions are introduced to make the method more efficient in estimating the bounds of failure probability based on the kriging model. Four examples are investigated to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

Systems Thinking Tools for Improving Evidence-Based Practice: A Cross-Case Analysis of Two High School Leadership Teams

Science.gov (United States)

Kensler, Lisa A. W.; Reames, Ellen; Murray, John; Patrick, Lynne

2012-01-01

Teachers and administrators have access to large volumes of data but research suggests that they lack the skills to use data effectively for continuous school improvement. This study involved a cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams' early stages of evidence-based practice development; differing forms of external support were…
Reliability of force-velocity relationships during deadlift high pull.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wei; Boyas, Sébastien; Jubeau, Marc; Rahmani, Abderrahmane

2017-11-13

This study aimed to evaluate the within- and between-session reliability of force, velocity and power performances and to assess the force-velocity relationship during the deadlift high pull (DHP). Nine participants performed two identical sessions of DHP with loads ranging from 30 to 70% of body mass. The force was measured by a force plate under the participants' feet. The velocity of the 'body + lifted mass' system was calculated by integrating the acceleration and the power was calculated as the product of force and velocity. The force-velocity relationships were obtained from linear regression of both mean and peak values of force and velocity. The within- and between-session reliability was evaluated by using coefficients of variation (CV) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results showed that DHP force-velocity relationships were significantly linear (R² > 0.90, p 0.94), mean and peak velocities showed a good agreement (CV reliable and can therefore be utilised as a tool to characterise individuals' muscular profiles.
Reliability and Maintainability Analysis of a High Air Pressure Compressor Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Safie, Fayssal M.; Ring, Robert W.; Cole, Stuart K.

2013-01-01

This paper discusses a Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) independent assessment conducted to support the refurbishment of the Compressor Station at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The paper discusses the methodologies used by the assessment team to derive the repair by replacement (RR) strategies to improve the reliability and availability of the Compressor Station (Ref.1). This includes a RAPTOR simulation model that was used to generate the statistical data analysis needed to derive a 15-year investment plan to support the refurbishment of the facility. To summarize, study results clearly indicate that the air compressors are well past their design life. The major failures of Compressors indicate that significant latent failure causes are present. Given the occurrence of these high-cost failures following compressor overhauls, future major failures should be anticipated if compressors are not replaced. Given the results from the RR analysis, the study team recommended a compressor replacement strategy. Based on the data analysis, the RR strategy will lead to sustainable operations through significant improvements in reliability, availability, and the probability of meeting the air demand with acceptable investment cost that should translate, in the long run, into major cost savings. For example, the probability of meeting air demand improved from 79.7 percent for the Base Case to 97.3 percent. Expressed in terms of a reduction in the probability of failing to meet demand (1 in 5 days to 1 in 37 days), the improvement is about 700 percent. Similarly, compressor replacement improved the operational availability of the facility from 97.5 percent to 99.8 percent. Expressed in terms of a reduction in system unavailability (1 in 40 to 1 in 500), the improvement is better than 1000 percent (an order of magnitude improvement). It is worthy to note that the methodologies, tools, and techniques used in the LaRC study can be used to evaluate
Health service quality scale: Brazilian Portuguese translation, reliability and validity

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The Health Service Quality Scale is a multidimensional hierarchical scale that is based on interdisciplinary approach. This instrument was specifically created for measuring health service quality based on marketing and health care concepts. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the Health Service Quality Scale into Brazilian Portuguese and to assess the validity and reliability of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study, with public health system patients in a Brazilian university hospital. Validity was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient to measure the strength of the association between the Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument and the SERVQUAL scale. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient; the intraclass (ICC) and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used for test-retest reliability. Results One hundred and sixteen consecutive postoperative patients completed the questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation coefficient for validity was 0.20. Cronbach's alpha for the first and second administrations of the final version of the instrument were 0.982 and 0.986, respectively. For test-retest reliability, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.89 and ICC was 0.90. Conclusions The culturally adapted, Brazilian Portuguese version of the Health Service Quality Scale is a valid and reliable instrument to measure health service quality. PMID:23327598
Capacity and reliability analyses with applications to power quality

Science.gov (United States)

Azam, Mohammad; Tu, Fang; Shlapak, Yuri; Kirubarajan, Thiagalingam; Pattipati, Krishna R.; Karanam, Rajaiah

2001-07-01

The deregulation of energy markets, the ongoing advances in communication networks, the proliferation of intelligent metering and protective power devices, and the standardization of software/hardware interfaces are creating a dramatic shift in the way facilities acquire and utilize information about their power usage. The currently available power management systems gather a vast amount of information in the form of power usage, voltages, currents, and their time-dependent waveforms from a variety of devices (for example, circuit breakers, transformers, energy and power quality meters, protective relays, programmable logic controllers, motor control centers). What is lacking is an information processing and decision support infrastructure to harness this voluminous information into usable operational and management knowledge to handle the health of their equipment and power quality, minimize downtime and outages, and to optimize operations to improve productivity. This paper considers the problem of evaluating the capacity and reliability analyses of power systems with very high availability requirements (e.g., systems providing energy to data centers and communication networks with desired availability of up to 0.9999999). The real-time capacity and margin analysis helps operators to plan for additional loads and to schedule repair/replacement activities. The reliability analysis, based on computationally efficient sum of disjoint products, enables analysts to decide the optimum levels of redundancy, aids operators in prioritizing the maintenance options for a given budget and monitoring the system for capacity margin. The resulting analytical and software tool is demonstrated on a sample data center.
Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group to play a leading role in guiding the production of informed high-quality, timely research evidence syntheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Garritty, Chantelle; Stevens, Adrienne; Gartlehner, Gerald; King, Valerie; Kamel, Chris

2016-10-28

Policymakers and healthcare stakeholders are increasingly seeking evidence to inform the policymaking process, and often use existing or commissioned systematic reviews to inform decisions. However, the methodologies that make systematic reviews authoritative take time, typically 1 to 2 years to complete. Outside the traditional SR timeline, "rapid reviews" have emerged as an efficient tool to get evidence to decision-makers more quickly. However, the use of rapid reviews does present challenges. To date, there has been limited published empirical information about this approach to compiling evidence. Thus, it remains a poorly understood and ill-defined set of diverse methodologies with various labels. In recent years, the need to further explore rapid review methods, characteristics, and their use has been recognized by a growing network of healthcare researchers, policymakers, and organizations, several with ties to Cochrane, which is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, systematic reviews. In this commentary, we introduce the newly established Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group developed to play a leading role in guiding the production of rapid reviews given they are increasingly employed as a research synthesis tool to support timely evidence-informed decision-making. We discuss how the group was formed and outline the group's structure and remit. We also discuss the need to establish a more robust evidence base for rapid reviews in the published literature, and the importance of promoting registration of rapid review protocols in an effort to promote efficiency and transparency in research. As with standard systematic reviews, the core principles of evidence-based synthesis should apply to rapid reviews in order to minimize bias to the extent possible. The Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group will serve to establish a network of rapid review stakeholders and provide a forum for discussion and training. By facilitating
The human factor in operation and maintenance of complex high-reliability systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, T.G.

1989-01-01

Human factors issues in probabilistic risk assessment (PRAs) of complex high-reliability systems are addressed. These PRAs influence system operation and technical support programs such as maintainability, test, and surveillance. Using the U.S. commercial nuclear power industry as the setting, the paper addresses the manner in which PRAs currently treat human performance, the state of quantification methods and source data for analyzing human performance, and the role of human factors specialist in the analysis. The paper concludes with a presentation of TALENT, an emerging concept for fully integrating broad-based human factors expertise into the PRA process, is presented. 47 refs
Design of high voltage power supply of miniature X-ray tube based on resonant Royer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Xiyao; Zeng Guoqiang; Tan Chengjun; Luo Qun; Gong Chunhui; Huang Rui

2013-01-01

Background: In recent years, X rays are widely used in various fields. With the rapid development of national economy, the demand of high quality, high reliability, and high stability miniature X-ray tube has grown rapidly. As an important core component of miniature X-ray tube, high voltage power supply has attracted wide attention. Purpose: To match miniature, the high voltage power supply should be small, lightweight, good quality, etc. Based on the basic performance requirements of existing micro-X-ray tube high voltage power supply, this paper designs an output from 0 to -30 kV adjustable miniature X-ray tube voltage DC power supply. Compared to half-bridge and full-bridge switching-mode power supply, its driving circuit is simple. With working on the linear condition, it has no switching noise. Methods: The main circuit makes use of DC power supply to provide the energy. The resonant Royer circuit supplies sine wave which drives to the high frequency transformer's primary winding with resultant sine-like high voltage appearing across the secondary winding. Then, the voltage doubling rectifying circuit would achieve further boost. In the regulator circuit, a feedback control resonant transistor base current is adopted. In order to insulate air, a silicone rubber is used for high pressure part packaging, and the output voltage is measured by the dividing voltage below -5 kV. Results: The stability of circuit is better than 0.2%/6 h and the percent of the output ripple voltage is less than 0.3%. Keeping the output voltage constant, the output current can reach 57 μA by changing the size of load resistor. This high voltage power supply based on resonant Royer can meet the requirement of miniature X-ray tube. Conclusions: The circuit can satisfy low noise, low ripple, low power and high voltage regulator power supply design. However, its efficiency is not high enough because of the linear condition. In the next design, to further reduce power consumption, we
Guidelines for preparing high school psychology teachers: course-based and standards-based approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Psychology is one of the most popular elective high school courses. The high school psychology course provides the foundation for students to benefit from psychological perspectives on personal and contemporary issues and learn the rules of evidence and theoretical frameworks of the discipline. The guidelines presented here constitute the second of two reports in this issue of the American Psychologist (January 2013) representing recent American Psychological Association (APA) policies that support high-quality instruction in the teaching of high school psychology. These guidelines, aligned to the standards presented in the preceding report, describe models for the preparation of preservice psychology teachers. The two reports together demonstrate the rigor and competency that should be expected in psychology instruction at the high school level.
Taphonomic evidence for high-speed adapted fins in thunniform ichthyosaurs

Science.gov (United States)

Lingham-Soliar, Theagarten; Plodowski, Gerhard

2007-01-01

Ichthyosaurs have been compared with the fast-swimming thunniform groups of marine vertebrates, tuna, lamnid sharks, and dolphins, based on similarity of shape of the body and locomotory organs. In addition to shape, high-tensile stiffness of the control surfaces has been shown to be essential in maximizing hydrodynamic efficiency in extant thunniform swimmers. To date, there has been no evidence of a stiffening support system for the dorsal fin and dorsal lobe of the caudal fin in ichthyosaurs, the sole stiffening structure of the ventral lobe being an extension of the vertebral column along its leading edge. Stenopterygius SMF 457 is arguably the best soft-tissue preserved ichthyosaur specimen known. Here, we examine soft-tissue preservation in this specimen in the control surfaces and provide the first evidence of a complex architecture of stiff fibers in the dorsal and caudal fins. We find by comparisons and by analogy that these fibers provided a remarkable mechanism for high tensile stiffness and efficiency of the locomotory organs virtually identical to that of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias. It is the first mechanostructural study of the control surfaces of a Jurassic ichthyosaur that adds essential evidence in support of the view that these forms were high-speed thunniform swimmers.
Analysis of high-quality modes in open chaotic microcavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, W.; Yamilov, A.; Cao, H.

2005-01-01

We present a numerical study of the high-quality modes in two-dimensional dielectric stadium microcavities. Although the classical ray mechanics is fully chaotic in a stadium billiard, all of the high-quality modes show a 'strong scar' around unstable periodic orbits. When the deformation (ratio of the length of the straight segments over the diameter of the half circles) is small, the high-quality modes correspond to whispering-gallery-type trajectories and their quality factors decrease monotonically with increasing deformation. At large deformation, each high-quality mode is associated with multiple unstable periodic orbits. Its quality factor changes nonmonotonically with the deformation, and there exists an optimal deformation for each mode at which its quality factor reaches a local maximum. This unusual behavior is attributed to the interference of waves propagating along different constituent orbits that could minimize light leakage out of the cavity
Improved linearity and reliability in GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors using nanolaminate La2O3/SiO2 gate dielectric

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Ching-Hsiang; Shih, Wang-Cheng; Lin, Yueh-Chin; Hsu, Heng-Tung; Hsu, Hisang-Hua; Huang, Yu-Xiang; Lin, Tai-Wei; Wu, Chia-Hsun; Wu, Wen-Hao; Maa, Jer-Shen; Iwai, Hiroshi; Kakushima, Kuniyuki; Chang, Edward Yi

2016-04-01

Improved device performance to enable high-linearity power applications has been discussed in this study. We have compared the La2O3/SiO2 AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MOS-HEMTs) with other La2O3-based (La2O3/HfO2, La2O3/CeO2 and single La2O3) MOS-HEMTs. It was found that forming lanthanum silicate films can not only improve the dielectric quality but also can improve the device characteristics. The improved gate insulation, reliability, and linearity of the 8 nm La2O3/SiO2 MOS-HEMT were demonstrated.
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN HIGH EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan SERİN, Alper AYTEKİN

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The approach of Total Quality Management (TQM has been even more common and most recently its use in high education has been discussed. Likewise the enterprises producing various products, universities have also inputs, processes, and outputs. Due to conditions of competition, universities have to improve the qualities of these inputs, processes, and outputs, according to satisfaction, demands, and expectations of internal and external customers. If the TQM has been implemented in the universities with a manner that aims for customer satisfaction (students, lecturers, public and private establishments, and families, supports constant development, ensures participatory approach, and encourages working in groups, it will provide universities with effectiveness, efficiency, dynamics, and economics. In this study, common problems of universities, definitions of quality and TQM in high education, customer concept at universities, and factors affecting the quality of education have been explained. Besides, in order TQM approach to be successfully implemented in the universities, various suggestions have been presented.
Reliability of supply of switchgear for auxiliary low voltage in substations extra high voltage to high voltage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perić Dragoslav M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Switchgear for auxiliary low voltage in substations (SS of extra high voltages (EHV to high voltage (HV - SS EHV/HV kV/kV is of special interest for the functioning of these important SS, as it provides a supply for system of protection and other vital functions of SS. The article addresses several characteristic examples involving MV lines with varying degrees of independence of their supply, and the possible application of direct transformation EHV/LV through special voltage transformers. Auxiliary sources such as inverters and diesel generators, which have limited power and expensive energy, are also used for the supply of switchgear for auxiliary low voltage. Corresponding reliability indices are calculated for all examples including mean expected annual engagement of diesel generators. The applicability of certain solutions of switchgear for auxiliary low voltage SS EHV/HV, taking into account their reliability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness is analyzed too. In particular, the analysis of applications of direct transformation EHV/LV for supply of switchgear for auxiliary low voltage, for both new and existing SS EHV/HV.
Soft X-ray generation via inverse compton scattering between high quality electron beam and high power laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masakazu Washio; Kazuyuki Sakaue; Yoshimasa Hama; Yoshio Kamiya; Tomoko Gowa; Akihiko Masuda; Aki Murata; Ryo Moriyama; Shigeru Kashiwagi; Junji Urakawa

2007-01-01

High quality beam generation project based on High-Tech Research Center Project, which has been approved by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 1999, has been conducted by advance research institute for science and engineering, Waseda University. In the project, laser photo-cathode RF-gun has been selected for the high quality electron beam source. RF cavities with low dark current, which were made by diamond turning technique, have been successfully manufactured. The low emittance electron beam was realized by choosing the modified laser injection technique. The obtained normalized emmitance was about 3 m.mrad at 100 pC of electron charge. The soft x-ray beam generation with the energy of 370 eV, which is in the energy region of so-called water window, by inverse Compton scattering has been performed by the collision between IR laser and the low emmitance electron beams. (Author)
Blueprint for action: steps toward a high-quality, high-value maternity care system.

Science.gov (United States)

Angood, Peter B; Armstrong, Elizabeth Mitchell; Ashton, Diane; Burstin, Helen; Corry, Maureen P; Delbanco, Suzanne F; Fildes, Barbara; Fox, Daniel M; Gluck, Paul A; Gullo, Sue Leavitt; Howes, Joanne; Jolivet, R Rima; Laube, Douglas W; Lynne, Donna; Main, Elliott; Markus, Anne Rossier; Mayberry, Linda; Mitchell, Lynn V; Ness, Debra L; Nuzum, Rachel; Quinlan, Jeffrey D; Sakala, Carol; Salganicoff, Alina

2010-01-01

Childbirth Connection hosted a 90th Anniversary national policy symposium, Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition, on April 3, 2009, in Washington, DC. Over 100 leaders from across the range of stakeholder perspectives were actively engaged in the symposium work to improve the quality and value of U.S. maternity care through broad system improvement. A multi-disciplinary symposium steering committee guided the strategy from its inception and contributed to every phase of the project. The "Blueprint for Action: Steps Toward a High Quality, High Value Maternity Care System", issued by the Transforming Maternity Care Symposium Steering Committee, answers the fundamental question, "Who needs to do what, to, for, and with whom to improve the quality of maternity care over the next five years?" Five stakeholder workgroups collaborated to propose actionable strategies in 11 critical focus areas for moving expeditiously toward the realization of the long term "2020 Vision for a High Quality, High Value Maternity Care System", also published in this issue. Following the symposium these workgroup reports and recommendations were synthesized into the current blueprint. For each critical focus area, the "Blueprint for Action" presents a brief problem statement, a set of system goals for improvement in that area, and major recommendations with proposed action steps to achieve them. This process created a clear sightline to action that if enacted could improve the structure, process, experiences of care, and outcomes of the maternity care system in ways that when anchored in the culture can indeed transform maternity care. Copyright 2010 Jacobs Institute of Women
Development of high-reliable real-time communication network protocol for SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Ki Sang; Kim, Young Sik [Korea National University of Education, Chongwon (Korea); No, Hee Chon [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea)

1999-04-01

In this research, we first define protocol subsets for SMART(System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) communication network based on the requirement of SMART MMIS transmission delay and traffic requirements and OSI(Open System Interconnection) 7 layers' network protocol functions. Also, current industrial purpose LAN protocols are analyzed and the applicability of commercialized protocols are checked. For the suitability test, we have applied approximated SMART data traffic and maximum allowable transmission delay requirement. With the simulation results, we conclude that IEEE 802.5 and FDDI which is an ANSI standard, is the most suitable for SMART. We further analyzed the FDDI and token ring protocols for SMART and nuclear plant network environment including IEEE 802.4, IEEE 802.5, and ARCnet. The most suitable protocol for SMART is FDDI and FDDI MAC and RMT protocol specifications have been verified with LOTOS and the verification results show that FDDI MAC and RMT satisfy the reachability and liveness, but does not show deadlock and livelock. Therefore, we conclude that FDDI MAC and RMT is highly reliable protocol for SMART MMIS network. After that, we consider the stacking fault of IEEE 802.5 token ring protocol and propose a fault tolerant MAM(Modified Active Monitor) protocol. The simulation results show that the MAM protocol improves lower priority traffic service rate when stacking fault occurs. Therefore, proposed MAM protocol can be applied to SMART communication network for high reliability and hard real-time communication purpose in data acquisition and inter channel network. (author). 37 refs., 79 figs., 39 tabs.
Reliability of microprocessor-based relay protection devices: Myths and reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gurevich Vladimir

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines four basic theses about the ostensibly extremely high reliability of microprocessor-based relay protection (MP touted by supporters of MP. Through detailed analysis based on many references it is shown that the basis of these theses are widespread myths, and actually MP reliability is lower than the reliability of electromechanical and electronic protective relays on discrete components.
Transmission electron microscopy study for investigating high-temperature reliability of Ti10W90-based and Ta-based diffusion barriers up to 600 C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budhiman, Nando; Schuermann, Ulrich; Kienle, Lorenz; Jensen, Bjoern; Chemnitz, Steffen; Wagner, Bernhard

2016-01-01

Abstractauthoren Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, including energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) (elemental mapping, line, and point measurements) and energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) methods, is applied to investigate the high temperature reliability, especially material diffusion, of two types of diffusion barriers: titanium-tungsten-based (Ti 10 W 90 -based) and tantalum-based (Ta-based), with nickel (Ni) layer on top. Both barriers were deposited as a form of stacked layers on sili-con (Si) wafers using the physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique. TEM analysis is performed on both barriers before and after annealing (at 600 C for 24 h inside a vacuum chamber). No diffusion of material into the Si substrate as observed. Additionally, only diffusion between the Ni and adjoining Ti 10 W 90 layers, and between Ni and adjoining Ta layers in the Ti 10 W 90 -based and Ta-based barriers, respectively, are observed due to annealing. (copyright 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
High reliable and Real-time Data Communication Network Technology for Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, K. I.; Lee, J. K.; Choi, Y. R.; Lee, J. C.; Choi, Y. S.; Cho, J. W.; Hong, S. B.; Jung, J. E.; Koo, I. S.

2008-03-01

As advanced digital Instrumentation and Control (I and C) system of NPP(Nuclear Power Plant) are being introduced to replace analog systems, a Data Communication Network(DCN) is becoming the important system for transmitting the data generated by I and C systems in NPP. In order to apply the DCNs to NPP I and C design, DCNs should conform to applicable acceptance criteria and meet the reliability and safety goals of the system. As response time is impacted by the selected protocol, network topology, network performance, and the network configuration of I and C system, DCNs should transmit a data within time constraints and response time required by I and C systems to satisfy response time requirements of I and C system. To meet these requirements, the DCNs of NPP I and C should be a high reliable and real-time system. With respect to high reliable and real-time system, several reports and techniques having influences upon the reliability and real-time requirements of DCNs are surveyed and analyzed

Top-Cited Articles in Problem-Based Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis and Quality of Evidence Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Azer, Samy A

2017-04-01

The aims of this study were to identify characteristics of the top-cited articles in problem-based learning (PBL) and assess the quality of evidence provided by these articles. The most frequently cited articles on PBL were searched in April 2015 in the Science Citation Index Expanded database (List A) and Google Scholar database (List B). Eligible articles identified were reviewed for key characteristics. The Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine guidelines were used in assessing the level of evidence. The number of citations varied (62 to 923 on List A and 218 to 2,859 on List B). Countries that contributed the majority of articles in both lists were the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Canada. No significant correlations were found between number of citations and number of years since published (p=0.451), number of authors (p=0.144), females in authorship (p=0.189), non-medical authors (p=0.869), number of institutions (p=0.452), and number of grants (p=0.143), but a strong correlation was found with number of countries involved (p=0.007). Application of the Oxford hierarchy of evidence showed that 36 articles were at levels 4 and 5 of evidence. This study found that research articles represented approximately one-third of PBL articles assessed and reported mainly on questionnaire-based studies. The most highly cited articles occupied top-ranking positions in the journals in which they were published. The lower level of evidence observed in most top-cited articles may reflect the significance of innovative ideas or content of these articles. These findings have implications for dental educators and dental researchers.
Mass lesions in chronic pancreatitis: benign or malignant? An "evidence-based practice" approach.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Gerstenmaier, Jan F

2012-02-01

The diagnosis of a pancreatic mass lesion in the presence of chronic pancreatitis can be extremely challenging. At the same time, a high level of certainty about the diagnosis is necessary for appropriate management planning. The aim of this study was to establish current best evidence about which imaging methods reliably differentiate a benign from a malignant lesion, and show how that evidence is best applied. A diagnostic algorithm based on Bayesian analysis is proposed.
Computer-aided control of high-quality cast iron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Pietrowski

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The study discusses the possibility of control of the high-quality grey cast iron and ductile iron using the author’s genuine computer programs. The programs have been developed with the help of algorithms based on statistical relationships that are said to exist between the characteristic parameters of DTA curves and properties, like Rp0,2, Rm, A5 and HB. It has been proved that the spheroidisation and inoculation treatment of cast iron changes in an important way the characteristic parameters of DTA curves, thus enabling a control of these operations as regards their correctness and effectiveness, along with the related changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of cast iron. Moreover, some examples of statistical relationships existing between the typical properties of ductile iron and its control process were given for cases of the melts consistent and inconsistent with the adopted technology.A test stand for control of the high-quality cast iron and respective melts has been schematically depicted.
High quality, high efficiency welding technology for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoki, Shigeyuki; Nagura, Yasumi

1996-01-01

For nuclear power plants, it is required to ensure the safety under the high reliability and to attain the high rate of operation. In the manufacture and installation of the machinery and equipment, the welding techniques which become the basis exert large influence to them. For the purpose of improving joint performance and excluding human errors, welding heat input and the number of passes have been reduced, the automation of welding has been advanced, and at present, narrow gap arc welding and high energy density welding such as electron beam welding and laser welding have been put to practical use. Also in the welding of pipings, automatic gas metal arc welding is employed. As for the welding of main machinery and equipment, there are the welding of the joints that constitute pressure boundaries, the build-up welding on the internal surfaces of pressure vessels for separating primary water from them, and the sealing welding of heating tubes and tube plates in steam generators. These weldings are explained. The welding of pipings and the state of development and application of new welding methods are reported. (K.I.)
Reliability and Characterization of High Voltage Power Capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

2014-03-01

in a Faraday cage to minimize external noise. In addition, electron microscopy could also be performed to identify the change in trap concentration...military bases in the United States. Energy product reliability affects the sustainability and cost- effectiveness of these systems, which must be tested...Energy product reliability affects the sustainability and cost- effectiveness of these systems, which must be tested by outside entities to ensure
Quasi-Optical Network Analyzers and High-Reliability RF MEMS Switched Capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Grichener, Alexander

The thesis first presents a 2-port quasi-optical scalar network analyzer consisting of a transmitter and receiver both built in planar technology. The network analyzer is based on a Schottky-diode mixer integrated inside a planar antenna and fed differentially by a CPW transmission line. The antenna is placed on an extended hemispherical high-resistivity silicon substrate lens. The LO signal is swept from 3-5 GHz and high-order harmonic mixing in both up- and down- conversion mode is used to realize the 15-50 GHz RF bandwidth. The network analyzer resulted in a dynamic range of greater than 40 dB and was successfully used to measure a frequency selective surface with a second-order bandpass response. Furthermore, the system was built with circuits and components for easy scaling to millimeter-wave frequencies which is the primary motivation for this work. The application areas for a millimeter and submillimeter-wave network analyzer include material characterization and art diagnostics. The second project presents several RF MEMS switched capacitors designed for high-reliability operation and suitable for tunable filters and reconfigurable networks. The first switched-capacitor resulted in a digital capacitance ratio of 5 and an analog capacitance ratio of 5-9. The analog tuning of the down-state capacitance is enhanced by a positive vertical stress gradient in the the beam, making it ideal for applications that require precision tuning. A thick electroplated beam resulted in Q greater than 100 at C to X-band frequencies, and power handling of 0.6-1.1 W. The design also minimized charging in the dielectric, resulting in excellent reliability performance even under hot-switched and high power (1 W) conditions. The second switched-capacitor was designed without any dielectric to minimize charging. The device was hot-switched at 1 W of RF power for greater than 11 billion cycles with virtually no change in the C-V curve. The final project presents a 7-channel
Development of improved processing and evaluation methods for high reliability structural ceramics for advanced heat engine applications Phase II. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pujari, V.J.; Tracey, D.M.; Foley, M.R. [and others

1996-02-01

The research program had as goals the development and demonstration of significant improvements in processing methods, process controls, and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) which can be commercially implemented to produce high reliability silicon nitride components for advanced heat engine applications at temperatures to 1370{degrees}C. In Phase I of the program a process was developed that resulted in a silicon nitride - 4 w% yttria HIP`ed material (NCX 5102) that displayed unprecedented strength and reliability. An average tensile strength of 1 GPa and a strength distribution following a 3-parameter Weibull distribution were demonstrated by testing several hundred buttonhead tensile specimens. The Phase II program focused on the development of methodology for colloidal consolidation producing green microstructure which minimizes downstream process problems such as drying, shrinkage, cracking, and part distortion during densification. Furthermore, the program focused on the extension of the process to gas pressure sinterable (GPS) compositions. Excellent results were obtained for the HIP composition processed for minimal density gradients, both with respect to room-temperature strength and high-temperature creep resistance. Complex component fabricability of this material was demonstrated by producing engine-vane prototypes. Strength data for the GPS material (NCX-5400) suggest that it ranks very high relative to other silicon nitride materials in terms of tensile/flexure strength ratio, a measure of volume quality. This high quality was derived from the closed-loop colloidal process employed in the program.
[Employees in high-reliability organizations: systematic selection of personnel as a final criterion].

Science.gov (United States)

Oubaid, V; Anheuser, P

2014-05-01

Employees represent an important safety factor in high-reliability organizations. The combination of clear organizational structures, a nonpunitive safety culture, and psychological personnel selection guarantee a high level of safety. The cockpit personnel selection process of a major German airline is presented in order to demonstrate a possible transferability into medicine and urology.
Schmitt-Trigger-based Recycling Sensor and Robust and High-Quality PUFs for Counterfeit IC Detection

OpenAIRE

Lin, Cheng-Wei; Jang, Jae-Won; Ghosh, Swaroop

2015-01-01

We propose Schmitt-Trigger (ST) based recycling sensor that are tailored to amplify the aging mechanisms and detect fine grained recycling (minutes to seconds). We exploit the susceptibility of ST to process variations to realize high-quality arbiter PUF. Conventional SRAM PUF suffer from environmental fluctuation-induced bit flipping. We propose 8T SRAM PUF with a back-to-back PMOS latch to improve robustness by 4X. We also propose a low-power 7T SRAM with embedded Magnetic Tunnel Junction (...
The use of citation indicators to identify and support high-quality research in Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilc, Andrzej

2008-01-01

In large, mostly English-speaking countries, where the "critical mass" of scientists working in different subfields of science is achieved, the peer review system may be sufficient to assess the quality of scientific research. However, in smaller countries, outside the Anglo-American circle, it is important to introduce different systems to identify research of high quality. In Poland, a parametric system for assessing the quality of research has been introduced. It was largely based on the impact factor of scientific journals. While the use of this indicator to assess research quality is highly questionable, the implementation of the system in the Polish reality is even worse. Therefore it is important to change and improve the system currently used by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education to both evaluate and, more importantly, finance science in Poland. Here, a system based on three factors, i.e. the impact factor, the institutional h-index, and the institutional number of citations, is proposed. The scientific quality of institutions in Division VI: Medical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences were evaluated and the results were compared with the existing system. Moreover, a method to identify high-quality researchers and institutions at the national level based on the quantity of highly cited papers is shown. Additionally, an attempt to identify the highest quality Polish research on an international level is proposed. This is based on the number of individual citations, the individual h-index, the number of publications, and the priority of the discovery.
Near-misses are an opportunity to improve patient safety: adapting strategies of high reliability organizations to healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Spall, Harriette; Kassam, Alisha; Tollefson, Travis T

2015-08-01

Near-miss investigations in high reliability organizations (HROs) aim to mitigate risk and improve system safety. Healthcare settings have a higher rate of near-misses and subsequent adverse events than most high-risk industries, but near-misses are not systematically reported or analyzed. In this review, we will describe the strategies for near-miss analysis that have facilitated a culture of safety and continuous quality improvement in HROs. Near-miss analysis is routine and systematic in HROs such as aviation. Strategies implemented in aviation include the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, which undertakes systematic analyses of near-misses, so that findings can be incorporated into Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Other strategies resulting from incident analyses include Crew Resource Management (CRM) for enhanced communication, situational awareness training, adoption of checklists during operations, and built-in redundancy within systems. Health care organizations should consider near-misses as opportunities for quality improvement. The systematic reporting and analysis of near-misses, commonplace in HROs, can be adapted to health care settings to prevent adverse events and improve clinical outcomes.
Highly uniform and reliable resistive switching characteristics of a Ni/WOx/p+-Si memory device

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tae-Hyeon; Kim, Sungjun; Kim, Hyungjin; Kim, Min-Hwi; Bang, Suhyun; Cho, Seongjae; Park, Byung-Gook

2018-02-01

In this paper, we investigate the resistive switching behavior of a bipolar resistive random-access memory (RRAM) in a Ni/WOx/p+-Si RRAM with CMOS compatibility. Highly unifrom and reliable bipolar resistive switching characteristics are observed by a DC voltage sweeping and its switching mechanism can be explained by SCLC model. As a result, the possibility of metal-insulator-silicon (MIS) structural WOx-based RRAM's application to Si-based 1D (diode)-1R (RRAM) or 1T (transistor)-1R (RRAM) structure is demonstrated.
Reliability of risk-adjusted outcomes for profiling hospital surgical quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Krell, Robert W; Hozain, Ahmed; Kao, Lillian S; Dimick, Justin B

2014-05-01

Quality improvement platforms commonly use risk-adjusted morbidity and mortality to profile hospital performance. However, given small hospital caseloads and low event rates for some procedures, it is unclear whether these outcomes reliably reflect hospital performance. To determine the reliability of risk-adjusted morbidity and mortality for hospital performance profiling using clinical registry data. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, 2009. Participants included all patients (N = 55,466) who underwent colon resection, pancreatic resection, laparoscopic gastric bypass, ventral hernia repair, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, and lower extremity bypass. Outcomes included risk-adjusted overall morbidity, severe morbidity, and mortality. We assessed reliability (0-1 scale: 0, completely unreliable; and 1, perfectly reliable) for all 3 outcomes. We also quantified the number of hospitals meeting minimum acceptable reliability thresholds (>0.70, good reliability; and >0.50, fair reliability) for each outcome. For overall morbidity, the most common outcome studied, the mean reliability depended on sample size (ie, how high the hospital caseload was) and the event rate (ie, how frequently the outcome occurred). For example, mean reliability for overall morbidity was low for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (reliability, 0.29; sample size, 25 cases per year; and event rate, 18.3%). In contrast, mean reliability for overall morbidity was higher for colon resection (reliability, 0.61; sample size, 114 cases per year; and event rate, 26.8%). Colon resection (37.7% of hospitals), pancreatic resection (7.1% of hospitals), and laparoscopic gastric bypass (11.5% of hospitals) were the only procedures for which any hospitals met a reliability threshold of 0.70 for overall morbidity. Because severe morbidity and mortality are less frequent outcomes, their mean
DJ-1 is a reliable serum biomarker for discriminating high-risk endometrial cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Cello, Annalisa; Di Sanzo, Maddalena; Perrone, Francesca Marta; Santamaria, Gianluca; Rania, Erika; Angotti, Elvira; Venturella, Roberta; Mancuso, Serafina; Zullo, Fulvio; Cuda, Giovanni; Costanzo, Francesco

2017-06-01

New reliable approaches to stratify patients with endometrial cancer into risk categories are highly needed. We have recently demonstrated that DJ-1 is overexpressed in endometrial cancer, showing significantly higher levels both in serum and tissue of patients with high-risk endometrial cancer compared with low-risk endometrial cancer. In this experimental study, we further extended our observation, evaluating the role of DJ-1 as an accurate serum biomarker for high-risk endometrial cancer. A total of 101 endometrial cancer patients and 44 healthy subjects were prospectively recruited. DJ-1 serum levels were evaluated comparing cases and controls and, among endometrial cancer patients, between high- and low-risk patients. The results demonstrate that DJ-1 levels are significantly higher in cases versus controls and in high- versus low-risk patients. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis shows that DJ-1 has a very good diagnostic accuracy in discriminating endometrial cancer patients versus controls and an excellent accuracy in distinguishing, among endometrial cancer patients, low- from high-risk cases. DJ-1 sensitivity and specificity are the highest when high- and low-risk patients are compared, reaching the value of 95% and 99%, respectively. Moreover, DJ-1 serum levels seem to be correlated with worsening of the endometrial cancer grade and histotype, making it a reliable tool in the preoperative decision-making process.
Reliability high cycle fatigue design of gas turbine blading system using probabilistic goodman diagram

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herman Shen, M.-H. [Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Aerospace Engineering and Aviation; Nicholas, T. [MLLN, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States). Air Force Research Lab.

2001-07-01

A framework for the probabilistic analysis of high cycle fatigue is developed. The framework will be useful to U.S. Air Force and aeroengine manufacturers in the design of high cycle fatigue in disk or compressor components fabricated from Ti-6Al-4V under a range of loading conditions that might be encountered during service. The main idea of the framework is to characterize vibratory stresses from random input variables due to uncertainties such as crack location, loading, material properties, and manufacturing variability. The characteristics of such vibratory stresses are portrayed graphically as histograms, or probability density function (PDF). The outcome of the probability measures associated with all the values of a random variable exceeding the material capability is achieved by a failure function g(X) defined by the difference between the vibratory stress and Goodman line or surface such that the probability of HCF failure is P{sub f} =P(g(X<0)). Design can then be based on a go-no go criterion based on an assumed risk. The framework can be used to facilitate the development of design tools for the prediction of inspection schedules and reliability in aeroengine components. Such tools could lead ultimately to improved life extension schemes in aging aircraft, and more reliable methods for the design and inspection of critical components. (orig.)
High-quality GaN epitaxially grown on Si substrate with serpentine channels

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Tiantian; Zong, Hua; Jiang, Shengxiang; Yang, Yue; Liao, Hui; Xie, Yahong; Wang, Wenjie; Li, Junze; Tang, Jun; Hu, Xiaodong

2018-06-01

A novel serpentine-channeled mask was introduced to Si substrate for low-dislocation GaN epitaxial growth and the fully coalesced GaN film on the masked Si substrate was achieved for the first time. Compared with the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) growth method, this innovative mask only requires one-step epitaxial growth of GaN which has only one high-dislocation region per mask opening. This new growth method can effectively reduce dislocation density, thus improving the quality of GaN significantly. High-quality GaN with low dislocation density ∼2.4 × 107 cm-2 was obtained, which accounted for about eighty percent of the GaN film in area. This innovative technique is promising for the growth of high-quality GaN templates and the subsequent fabrication of high-performance GaN-based devices like transistors, laser diodes (LDs), and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on Si substrate.
Technology Improvement for the High Reliability LM-2F Launch Vehicle

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

QIN Tong; RONG Yi; ZHENG Liwei; ZHANG Zhi

2017-01-01

The Long March 2F (LM-2F) launch vehicle,the only launch vehicle designed for manned space flight in China,successfully launched the Tiangong 2 space laboratory and the Shenzhou ll manned spaceship into orbits in 2016 respectively.In this study,it introduces the technological improvements for enhancing the reliability of the LM-2F launch vehicle in the aspects of general technology,control system,manufacture and ground support system.The LM2F launch vehicle will continue to provide more contributions to the Chinese Space Station Project with its high reliability and 100％ success rate.
Evaluations of methods for the isolation of high quality RNA from bovine and cervine hide biopsies for use in gene expression studies

Science.gov (United States)

Molecular investigations of the ruminant response to ectoparasites at the parasite-host interface are critically dependent upon the quality of RNA. The complexity of ruminant skin decreases the capacity to obtain high quality RNA from biopsy samples, which directly affects the reliability of data pr...
650-nm-band high-power and highly reliable laser diodes with a window-mirror structure

Science.gov (United States)

Shima, Akihiro; Hironaka, Misao; Ono, Ken-ichi; Takemi, Masayoshi; Sakamoto, Yoshifumi; Kunitsugu, Yasuhiro; Yamashita, Koji

1998-05-01

An active layer structure with 658 nm-emission at 25 degrees Celsius has been optimized in order to reduce the operating current of the laser diodes (LD) under high temperature condition. For improvement of the maximum output power and the reliability limited by mirror degradation, we have applied a zinc-diffused-type window-mirror structure which prevents the optical absorption at the mirror facet. As a result, the CW output power of 50 mW is obtained even at 80 degrees Celsius for a 650 micrometer-long window-mirror LD. In addition, the maximum light output power over 150 mW at 25 degrees Celsius has been realized without any optical mirror damage. In the aging tests, the LDs have been operating for over 2,500 - 5,000 hours under the CW condition of 30 - 50 mW at 60 degrees Celsius. The window-mirror structure also enables reliable 60 degree Celsius, 30 mW, CW operation of the LDs with 651 nm- emission at 25 degrees Celsius. Moreover, the maximum output power of around 100 mW even at 80 degrees Celsius and reliable 2,000-hour operation at 60 degrees Celsius, 70 mW have been realized for the first time by 659 nm LDs with a long cavity length of 900 micrometers.
High reliability solid refractive index matching materials for field installable connections in FTTH network

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Kotaro; Kihara, Mitsuru; Shimizu, Tomoya; Yoneda, Keisuke; Kurashima, Toshio

2015-06-01

We performed environmental and accelerated aging tests to ensure the long-term reliability of solid type refractive index matching material at a splice point. Stable optical characteristics were confirmed in environmental tests based on an IEC standard. In an accelerated aging test at 140 °C, which is very much higher than the specification test temperature, the index matching material itself and spliced fibers passing through it had steady optical characteristics. Then we performed an accelerated aging test on an index matching material attached to a built-in fiber before splicing it in the worst condition, which is different from the normal use configuration. As a result, we confirmed that the repeated insertion and removal of fiber for splicing resulted in failure. We consider that the repetition of adhesion between index matching material and fibers causes the splice to degrade. With this result, we used the Arrhenius model to estimate a median lifetime of about 68 years in a high temperature environment of 60 °C. Thus solid type index matching material at a splice point is highly reliable over long periods under normal conditions of use.

Reliability studies of a high-power proton accelerator for accelerator-driven system applications for nuclear waste transmutation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burgazzi, Luciano [ENEA-Centro Ricerche ' Ezio Clementel' , Advanced Physics Technology Division, Via Martiri di Monte Sole, 4, 40129 Bologna (Italy)]. E-mail: burgazzi@bologna.enea.it; Pierini, Paolo [INFN-Sezione di Milano, Laboratorio Acceleratori e Superconduttivita Applicata, Via Fratelli Cervi 201, I-20090 Segrate (MI) (Italy)

2007-04-15

The main effort of the present study is to analyze the availability and reliability of a high-performance linac (linear accelerator) conceived for Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) purpose and to suggest recommendations, in order both to meet the high operability goals and to satisfy the safety requirements dictated by the reactor system. Reliability Block Diagrams (RBD) approach has been considered for system modelling, according to the present level of definition of the design: component failure modes are assessed in terms of Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), reliability and availability figures are derived, applying the current reliability algorithms. The lack of a well-established component database has been pointed out as the main issue related to the accelerator reliability assessment. The results, affected by the conservative character of the study, show a high margin for the improvement in terms of accelerator reliability and availability figures prediction. The paper outlines the viable path towards the accelerator reliability and availability enhancement process and delineates the most proper strategies. The improvement in the reliability characteristics along this path is shown as well.
Reliability studies of a high-power proton accelerator for accelerator-driven system applications for nuclear waste transmutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgazzi, Luciano; Pierini, Paolo

2007-01-01

The main effort of the present study is to analyze the availability and reliability of a high-performance linac (linear accelerator) conceived for Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) purpose and to suggest recommendations, in order both to meet the high operability goals and to satisfy the safety requirements dictated by the reactor system. Reliability Block Diagrams (RBD) approach has been considered for system modelling, according to the present level of definition of the design: component failure modes are assessed in terms of Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), reliability and availability figures are derived, applying the current reliability algorithms. The lack of a well-established component database has been pointed out as the main issue related to the accelerator reliability assessment. The results, affected by the conservative character of the study, show a high margin for the improvement in terms of accelerator reliability and availability figures prediction. The paper outlines the viable path towards the accelerator reliability and availability enhancement process and delineates the most proper strategies. The improvement in the reliability characteristics along this path is shown as well
Validity and reliability of a Nigerian-Yoruba version of the stroke-specific quality of life scale 2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Odetunde, Marufat Oluyemisi; Akinpelu, Aderonke Omobonike; Odole, Adesola Christiana

2017-10-19

Psychometric evidence is necessary to establish scientific integrity and clinical usefulness of translations and cultural adaptations of the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life (SS-QoL) scale. However, the limited evidence on psychometrics of Yoruba version of SS-QoL 2.0 (SS-QoL(Y)) is a significant shortcoming. This study assessed the test-retest reliability, internal consistency, convergent, divergent, discriminant and known-group validity of the SS-QoL(Y). Yoruba version of the WHOQoL-BREF was used to test the convergent and divergent validity of the SS-QoL(Y) among 100 consenting stroke survivors. The WHOQoL-BREF and SS-QoL(Y) was administered randomly in order to eliminate bias. The test-retest reliability of the SS-QoL(Y) was carried out among 68 of the respondents within an interval of 7 days. All respondents were purposively recruited from selected secondary and tertiary health facilities in South-west Nigeria. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics of Spearman correlation, Cronbach's alpha, Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Independent t-test and One-way ANOVA. Alpha level was set at p validity of SS-QoL(Y) showed that items' r value ranged from 0.711 to 0.920 with their hypothesized domains. The scale demonstrated moderate to strong test-retest reliability with Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for the domains and overall scores (r = 0.47 to 0.81) and moderate to high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha =0.61 to 0.82) for domains scores. These correlations were also significant for the domains and overall scores (p validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the Yoruba version of the Stroke Specific Quality of Life 2.0 are adequate while the convergent and divergent validity are low but acceptable. The SS-QoL(Y) is recommended for assessing health-related quality of life among Yoruba stroke survivors.
Mechanical reliability of bulk high Tc superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freiman, S.W.

1990-01-01

Most prospective applications for high T c superconductors in bulk form, e.g. magnets, motors, will require appreciable mechanical strength. Work at NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] has begun to address issues related to mechanical reliability. For example, recent studies on Ba-Y-Cu-O have shown that the intrinsic crack growth resistance, K IC , of crystals of this material is even smaller than was first reported, less than that of window glass, and is sensitive to moisture. Processing conditions, particularly sintering and annealing atmosphere, have been shown to have a major influence on microstructure and internal stresses in the material. Large internal stresses result from the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transformation as well as the thermal expansion anisotropy in the grains of the ceramic. Because stress relief is absent, microcracks form which have a profound influence on strength
Analyzing Reliability and Performance Trade-Offs of HLS-Based Designs in SRAM-Based FPGAs Under Soft Errors

Science.gov (United States)

Tambara, Lucas Antunes; Tonfat, Jorge; Santos, André; Kastensmidt, Fernanda Lima; Medina, Nilberto H.; Added, Nemitala; Aguiar, Vitor A. P.; Aguirre, Fernando; Silveira, Marcilei A. G.

2017-02-01

The increasing system complexity of FPGA-based hardware designs and shortening of time-to-market have motivated the adoption of new designing methodologies focused on addressing the current need for high-performance circuits. High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools can generate Register Transfer Level (RTL) designs from high-level software programming languages. These tools have evolved significantly in recent years, providing optimized RTL designs, which can serve the needs of safety-critical applications that require both high performance and high reliability levels. However, a reliability evaluation of HLS-based designs under soft errors has not yet been presented. In this work, the trade-offs of different HLS-based designs in terms of reliability, resource utilization, and performance are investigated by analyzing their behavior under soft errors and comparing them to a standard processor-based implementation in an SRAM-based FPGA. Results obtained from fault injection campaigns and radiation experiments show that it is possible to increase the performance of a processor-based system up to 5,000 times by changing its architecture with a small impact in the cross section (increasing up to 8 times), and still increasing the Mean Workload Between Failures (MWBF) of the system.
When high-volume PCI operators in high-volume hospitals move to lower volume hospitals-Do they still maintain high volume and quality of outcomes?

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Tsung-Hsueh; Li, Sheng-Tun; Liang, Fu-Wen; Lee, Jo-Chi; Yin, Wei-Hsian

2017-10-31

The aim of this quasi-experimental study was to examine whether high-volume percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) operators still maintain high volume and quality of outcomes when they moved to lower volume hospitals. Systematic reviews have indicated that high-volume PCI operators and hospitals have higher quality outcomes. However, little is known on whether high PCI volume and high quality outcomes are mainly due to operator characteristics (i.e., skill and experience) and is portable across organizations or whether it is due to hospital characteristics (i.e., equipment, team, and management system) and is less portable. We used Taiwan National Health Insurance claims data 2000-2012 to identify 98 high-volume PCI operators, 10 of whom moved from one hospital to another during the study period. We compared the PCI volume, risk-adjusted mortality ratio, and major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) ratio before and after moving. Of the 10 high-volume operators who moved, 6 moved from high- to moderate- or low-volume hospitals, with median annual PCI volumes (interquartile range) of 130 (117-165) in prior hospitals and 54 (46-84) in subsequent hospitals (the hospital the operator moved to), and the remaining 4 moved from high to high-volume hospitals, with median annual PCI volumes (interquartile range) of 151 (133-162) in prior hospitals and 193 (178-239) in subsequent hospitals. No significant differences were observed in the risk-adjusted mortality ratios and MACE ratios between high-volume operators and matched controls before and after moving. High-volume operators cannot maintain high volume when they moved from high to moderate or low-volume hospitals; however, the quality of care is maintained. High PCI volume and high-quality outcomes are less portable and more hospital bound. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Accelerated life testing and reliability of high K multilayer ceramic capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Minford, W. J.

1981-01-01

The reliability of one lot of high K multilayer ceramic capacitors was evaluated using accelerated life testing. The degradation in insulation resistance was characterized as a function of voltage and temperature. The times to failure at a voltage-temperature stress conformed to a lognormal distribution with a standard deviation approximately 0.5.
High reliability - low noise radionuclide signature identification algorithms for border security applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangkyu

Illicit trafficking and smuggling of radioactive materials and special nuclear materials (SNM) are considered as one of the most important recent global nuclear threats. Monitoring the transport and safety of radioisotopes and SNM are challenging due to their weak signals and easy shielding. Great efforts worldwide are focused at developing and improving the detection technologies and algorithms, for accurate and reliable detection of radioisotopes of interest in thus better securing the borders against nuclear threats. In general, radiation portal monitors enable detection of gamma and neutron emitting radioisotopes. Passive or active interrogation techniques, present and/or under the development, are all aimed at increasing accuracy, reliability, and in shortening the time of interrogation as well as the cost of the equipment. Equally important efforts are aimed at advancing algorithms to process the imaging data in an efficient manner providing reliable "readings" of the interiors of the examined volumes of various sizes, ranging from cargos to suitcases. The main objective of this thesis is to develop two synergistic algorithms with the goal to provide highly reliable - low noise identification of radioisotope signatures. These algorithms combine analysis of passive radioactive detection technique with active interrogation imaging techniques such as gamma radiography or muon tomography. One algorithm consists of gamma spectroscopy and cosmic muon tomography, and the other algorithm is based on gamma spectroscopy and gamma radiography. The purpose of fusing two detection methodologies per algorithm is to find both heavy-Z radioisotopes and shielding materials, since radionuclides can be identified with gamma spectroscopy, and shielding materials can be detected using muon tomography or gamma radiography. These combined algorithms are created and analyzed based on numerically generated images of various cargo sizes and materials. In summary, the three detection
Reliability Estimation with Uncertainties Consideration for High Power IGBTs in 2.3 MW Wind Turbine Converter System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kostandyan, Erik; Ma, Ke

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the lifetime of high power IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors) used in large wind turbine applications. Since the IGBTs are critical components in a wind turbine power converter, it is of great importance to assess their reliability in the design phase of the turbine....... Minimum, maximum and average junction temperatures profiles for the grid side IGBTs are estimated at each wind speed input values. The selected failure mechanism is the crack propagation in solder joint under the silicon die. Based on junction temperature profiles and physics of failure model......, the probabilistic and determinist damage models are presented with estimated fatigue lives. Reliably levels were assessed by means of First Order Reliability Method taking into account uncertainties....
Quality Evaluation of Potentilla fruticosa L. by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Fingerprinting Associated with Chemometric Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei; Wang, Dongmei; Liu, Jianjun; Li, Dengwu; Yin, Dongxue

2016-01-01

The present study was performed to assess the quality of Potentilla fruticosa L. sampled from distinct regions of China using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting coupled with a suite of chemometric methods. For this quantitative analysis, the main active phytochemical compositions and the antioxidant activity in P. fruticosa were also investigated. Considering the high percentages and antioxidant activities of phytochemicals, P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were selected as the most valuable raw materials. Similarity analysis (SA) of HPLC fingerprints, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principle component analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis (DA) were further employed to provide accurate classification and quality estimates of P. fruticosa. Two principal components (PCs) were collected by PCA. PC1 separated samples from Kangding, Sichuan, capturing 57.64% of the variance, whereas PC2 contributed to further separation, capturing 18.97% of the variance. Two kinds of discriminant functions with a 100% discrimination ratio were constructed. The results strongly supported the conclusion that the eight samples from different regions were clustered into three major groups, corresponding with their morphological classification, for which HPLC analysis confirmed the considerable variation in phytochemical compositions and that P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were of high quality. The results of SA, HCA, PCA, and DA were in agreement and performed well for the quality assessment of P. fruticosa. Consequently, HPLC fingerprinting coupled with chemometric techniques provides a highly flexible and reliable method for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines.
Quality Evaluation of Potentilla fruticosa L. by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Fingerprinting Associated with Chemometric Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei; Wang, Dongmei; Liu, Jianjun; Li, Dengwu; Yin, Dongxue

2016-01-01

The present study was performed to assess the quality of Potentilla fruticosa L. sampled from distinct regions of China using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting coupled with a suite of chemometric methods. For this quantitative analysis, the main active phytochemical compositions and the antioxidant activity in P. fruticosa were also investigated. Considering the high percentages and antioxidant activities of phytochemicals, P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were selected as the most valuable raw materials. Similarity analysis (SA) of HPLC fingerprints, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principle component analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis (DA) were further employed to provide accurate classification and quality estimates of P. fruticosa. Two principal components (PCs) were collected by PCA. PC1 separated samples from Kangding, Sichuan, capturing 57.64% of the variance, whereas PC2 contributed to further separation, capturing 18.97% of the variance. Two kinds of discriminant functions with a 100% discrimination ratio were constructed. The results strongly supported the conclusion that the eight samples from different regions were clustered into three major groups, corresponding with their morphological classification, for which HPLC analysis confirmed the considerable variation in phytochemical compositions and that P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were of high quality. The results of SA, HCA, PCA, and DA were in agreement and performed well for the quality assessment of P. fruticosa. Consequently, HPLC fingerprinting coupled with chemometric techniques provides a highly flexible and reliable method for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines. PMID:26890416
76 FR 72203 - Voltage Coordination on High Voltage Grids; Notice of Reliability Workshop Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-22

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. AD12-5-000] Voltage Coordination on High Voltage Grids; Notice of Reliability Workshop Agenda As announced in the Notice of Staff..., from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to explore the interaction between voltage control, reliability, and economic...
Improved Yield, Performance and Reliability of High-Actuator-Count Deformable Mirrors, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The project team will conduct processing and design research aimed at improving yield, performance, and reliability of high-actuator-count micro-electro-mechanical...
High perfomance liquid chromatography fingerprint analysis for quality control of brotowali (Tinospora crispa)

Science.gov (United States)

Syarifah, V. B.; Rafi, M.; Wahyuni, W. T.

2017-05-01

Brotowali (Tinospora crispa) is widely used in Indonesia as ingredient of herbal medicine formulation. To ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of herbal medicine products, its chemical constituents should be continuously evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint is one of powerful technique for this quality control process. In this study, HPLC fingerprint analysis method was developed for quality control of brotowali. HPLC analysis was performed in C18 column and detection was performed using photodiode array detector. The optimum mobile phase for brotowali fingerprint was acetonitrile (ACN) and 0.1% formic acid in gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The number of peaks detected in HPLC fingerprint of brotowali was 32 peaks and 23 peaks for stems and leaves, respectively. Berberine as marker compound was detected at retention time of 20.525 minutes. Evaluation of analytical performance including precision, reproducibility, and stability prove that this HPLC fingerprint analysis was reliable and could be applied for quality control of brotowali.
Highly Efficient and Reliable Transparent Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Li-Chuan; Yan, Ding-Xiang; Liu, Xiaofeng; Ma, Rujun; Wu, Hong-Yuan; Li, Zhong-Ming

2018-04-11

Electromagnetic protection in optoelectronic instruments such as optical windows and electronic displays is challenging because of the essential requirements of a high optical transmittance and an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE). Herein, we demonstrate the creation of an efficient transparent EMI shielding film that is composed of calcium alginate (CA), silver nanowires (AgNWs), and polyurethane (PU), via a facile and low-cost Mayer-rod coating method. The CA/AgNW/PU film with a high optical transmittance of 92% achieves an EMI SE of 20.7 dB, which meets the requirements for commercial shielding applications. A superior EMI SE of 31.3 dB could be achieved, whereas the transparent film still maintains a transmittance of 81%. The integrated efficient EMI SE and high transmittance are superior to those of most previously reported transparent EMI shielding materials. Moreover, our transparent films exhibit a highly reliable shielding ability in a complex service environment, with 98 and 96% EMI SE retentions even after 30 min of ultrasound treatment and 5000 bending cycles (1.5 mm radius), respectively. The comprehensive performance that is associated with the facile fabrication strategy imparts the CA/AgNW/PU film with great potential as an optimized EMI shielding material in emerging optoelectronic devices, such as flexible solar cells, displays, and touch panels.
Evidence-based practice guidelines in OHS: are they agree-able?

Science.gov (United States)

Hulshof, Carel; Hoenen, John

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptance, validity, reliability and feasibility of the AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines and REsearch and Evaluation) instrument to assess the quality of evidence-based practice guidelines for occupational physicians. In total, 6 practice guidelines of the Netherlands Society of Occupational Medicine (NVAB) were appraised by 20 occupational health professionals and experts in guideline development or implementation. Although appraisers often disagreed on individual item scores, the internal consistency and interrater reliability for most domains was sufficient. The AGREE criteria were in general considered relevant and no major suggestions for additional items for use in the context of occupational health were brought up. The domain scores for the individual guidelines show a wide variety: 'applicability' had on average the lowest mean score (53%) while 'scope and purpose' had the highest one (87%). Low scores indicate where improvements are possible and necessary, e.g. by providing more information about the development. Key experts in occupational health report that AGREE is a relevant and easy to use instrument to evaluate quality aspects and the included criteria provide a good framework to develop or update evidence-based practice guidelines in the field of occupational health.
Long quantum channels for high-quality entanglement transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banchi, L; Apollaro, T J G; Cuccoli, A; Verrucchi, P; Vaia, R

2011-01-01

High-quality quantum-state and entanglement transfer can be achieved in an unmodulated spin bus operating in the ballistic regime, which occurs when the endpoint qubits A and B are nonperturbatively coupled to the chain by a suitable exchange interaction j 0 . Indeed, the transition amplitude characterizing the transfer quality exhibits a maximum for a finite optimal value j opt 0 (N), where N is the channel length. We show that j opt 0 (N) scales as N -1/6 for large N and that it ensures a high-quality entanglement transfer even in the limit of arbitrarily long channels, almost independently of the channel initialization. For instance, for any chain length the average quantum-state transmission fidelity exceeds 90% and decreases very little in a broad neighbourhood of j opt 0 (N). We emphasize that, taking the reverse point of view, should j 0 be experimentally constrained, high-quality transfer can still be obtained by adjusting the channel length to its optimal value. (paper)
A criterion of the performance of thermometric systems of high metrological reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sal'nikov, N.L.; Filimonov, E.V.

1995-01-01

Monitoring temperature regimes is an important part of ensuring the operational safety of a nuclear power plant. Therefore, high standards are imposed upon the reliability of the primary information on the heat field of the object obtained from different sensors, and it is urgent to develop methods of evaluating the metrological reliability of these sensors. THe main sources of thermometric information at nuclear power plants are contact temperature sensors, the most widely used of these being thermoelectric converters (TEC) and thermal resistance converters (TRC)
Barriers to Implementing Evidence-Based Intrapartum Care: A Descriptive Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Iravani, Mina; Janghorbani, Mohsen; Zarean, Ellahe; Bahrami, Masod

2016-02-01

Evidence based practice is an effective strategy to improve the quality of obstetric care. Identification of barriers to adaptation of evidence-based intrapartum care is necessary and crucial to deliver high quality care to parturient women. The current study aimed to explore barriers to adaptation of evidence-based intrapartum care from the perspective of clinical groups that provide obstetric care in Iran. This descriptive exploratory qualitative research was conducted from 2013 to 2014 in fourteen state medical training centers in Iran. Participants were selected from midwives, specialists, and residents of obstetrics and gynecology, with a purposive sample and snowball method. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed according to conventional content analysis. Data analysis identified twenty subcategories and four main categories. Main categories included barriers were related to laboring women, persons providing care, the organization environment and health system. The adoption of evidence based intrapartum care is a complex process. In this regard, identifying potential barriers is the first step to determine and apply effective strategies to encourage the compliance evidence based obstetric care and improves maternity care quality.
Reliability and validity of academic motivation scale for sports high school students’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haslofça Fehime

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study was designed to test validity and reliability of Academic Motivation Scale (AMS for sports high school students. The research conducted with 357 volunteered girls (n=117 and boys (n=240. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Chi square (χ2, degrees of freedom (df and χ2/df ratio were 1102.90, 341 and 3.234, respectively. Goodness of Fit Index, Comparative Fit Index, Non-normed Fit Index and Incremental Fit Index were between 0.92-0.95. Additionally, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index, An Average Errors Square Root and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation were 0.88, 0.070 and 0.079, respectively. Subscale reliability coefficients were between 0.77 and 0.86. Test-retest correlations of AMS were found between 0.79 and 0.91. Results showed that scale was suitable for determination of sports high school students’ academicals motivation levels.

Recent developments in high-quality drying of vegetables, fruits, and aquatic products.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Min; Chen, Huizhi; Mujumdar, Arun S; Tang, Juming; Miao, Song; Wang, Yuchuan

2017-04-13

Fresh foods like vegetables, fruits, and aquatic products have high water activity and they are highly heat-sensitive and easily degradable. Dehydration is one of the most common methods used to improve food shelf-life. However, drying methods used for food dehydration must not only be efficient and economic but also yield high-quality products based on flavor, nutrients, color, rehydration, uniformity, appearance, and texture. This paper reviews some new drying technologies developed for dehydration of vegetables, fruits, and aquatic products. These include: infrared drying, microwave drying, radio frequency drying, electrohydrodynamic drying, etc., as well as hybrid drying methods combining two or more different drying techniques. A comprehensive review of recent developments in high-quality drying of vegetables, fruits and aquatic products is presented and recommendations are made for future research.
High-performance work systems in health care management, part 2: qualitative evidence from five case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

McAlearney, Ann Scheck; Garman, Andrew N; Song, Paula H; McHugh, Megan; Robbins, Julie; Harrison, Michael I

2011-01-01

: A capable workforce is central to the delivery of high-quality care. Research from other industries suggests that the methodical use of evidence-based management practices (also known as high-performance work practices [HPWPs]), such as systematic personnel selection and incentive compensation, serves to attract and retain well-qualified health care staff and that HPWPs may represent an important and underutilized strategy for improving quality of care and patient safety. : The aims of this study were to improve our understanding about the use of HPWPs in health care organizations and to learn about their contribution to quality of care and patient safety improvements. : Guided by a model of HPWPs developed through an extensive literature review and synthesis, we conducted a series of interviews with key informants from five U.S. health care organizations that had been identified based on their exemplary use of HPWPs. We sought to explore the applicability of our model and learn whether and how HPWPs were related to quality and safety. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to qualitative analysis. : In each of the five organizations, we found emphasis on all four HPWP subsystems in our conceptual model-engagement, staff acquisition/development, frontline empowerment, and leadership alignment/development. Although some HPWPs were common, there were also practices that were distinctive to a single organization. Our informants reported links between HPWPs and employee outcomes (e.g., turnover and higher satisfaction/engagement) and indicated that HPWPs made important contributions to system- and organization-level outcomes (e.g., improved recruitment, improved ability to address safety concerns, and lower turnover). : These case studies suggest that the systematic use of HPWPs may improve performance in health care organizations and provide examples of how HPWPs can impact quality and safety in health care. Further research is needed to specify
Mobile Phone Apps to Improve Medication Adherence: A Systematic Stepwise Process to Identify High-Quality Apps.

Science.gov (United States)

Santo, Karla; Richtering, Sarah S; Chalmers, John; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Chow, Clara K; Redfern, Julie

2016-12-02

There are a growing number of mobile phone apps available to support people in taking their medications and to improve medication adherence. However, little is known about how these apps differ in terms of features, quality, and effectiveness. We aimed to systematically review the medication reminder apps available in the Australian iTunes store and Google Play to assess their features and their quality in order to identify high-quality apps. This review was conducted in a similar manner to a systematic review by using a stepwise approach that included (1) a search strategy; (2) eligibility assessment; (3) app selection process through an initial screening of all retrieved apps and full app review of the included apps; (4) data extraction using a predefined set of features considered important or desirable in medication reminder apps; (5) analysis by classifying the apps as basic and advanced medication reminder apps and scoring and ranking them; and (6) a quality assessment by using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a reliable tool to assess mobile health apps. We identified 272 medication reminder apps, of which 152 were found only in Google Play, 87 only in iTunes, and 33 in both app stores. Apps found in Google Play had more customer reviews, higher star ratings, and lower cost compared with apps in iTunes. Only 109 apps were available for free and 124 were recently updated in 2015 or 2016. Overall, the median number of features per app was 3.0 (interquartile range 4.0) and only 18 apps had ≥9 of the 17 desirable features. The most common features were flexible scheduling that was present in 56.3% (153/272) of the included apps, medication tracking history in 54.8% (149/272), snooze option in 34.9% (95/272), and visual aids in 32.4% (88/272). We classified 54.8% (149/272) of the included apps as advanced medication reminder apps and 45.2% (123/272) as basic medication reminder apps. The advanced apps had a higher number of features per app compared with the
Design of EAST LHCD high power supply feedback control system based on PLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Huaichuan; Shan Jiafang

2009-01-01

Design of EAST LHCD -35kV/5.6MW high power supply feedback control system based on PLC is described. Industrial computer and PLC are used to control high power supply in the system. PID arithmetic is adopted to achieve the feedback control of voltage of high power supply. Operating system is base on real-time operating system of QNX. Good controlling properties and reliable protective properties of the feedback control system are proved by the experiment results. (authors)
Can current analytical quality performance of UK clinical laboratories support evidence-based guidelines for diabetes and ischaemic heart disease?--A pilot study and a proposal.

Science.gov (United States)

Jassam, Nuthar; Yundt-Pacheco, John; Jansen, Rob; Thomas, Annette; Barth, Julian H

2013-08-01

The implementation of national and international guidelines is beginning to standardise clinical practice. However, since many guidelines have decision limits based on laboratory tests, there is an urgent need to ensure that different laboratories obtain the same analytical result on any sample. A scientifically-based quality control process will be a pre-requisite to provide this level of analytical performance which will support evidence-based guidelines and movement of patients across boundaries while maintaining standardised outcomes. We discuss the finding of a pilot study performed to assess UK clinical laboratories readiness to work to a higher grade quality specifications such as biological variation-based quality specifications. Internal quality control (IQC) data for HbA1c, glucose, creatinine, cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol were collected from UK laboratories participating in the Bio-Rad Unity QC programme. The median of the coefficient of variation (CV%) of the participating laboratories was evaluated against the CV% based on biological variation. Except creatinine, the other four analytes had a variable degree of compliance with the biological variation-based quality specifications. More than 75% of the laboratories met the biological variation-based quality specifications for glucose, cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. Slightly over 50% of the laboratories met the analytical goal for HBA1c. Only one analyte (cholesterol) had a performance achieving the higher quality specifications consistent with 5σ. Our data from IQC do not consistently demonstrate that the results from clinical laboratories meet evidence-based quality specifications. Therefore, we propose that a graded scale of quality specifications may be needed at this stage.
Implosion lessons from national security, high reliability spacecraft, electronics, and the forces which changed them

CERN Document Server

Temple, L Parker

2012-01-01

Implosion is a focused study of the history and uses of high-reliability, solid-state electronics, military standards, and space systems that support our national security and defense. This book is unique in combining the interdependent evolution of and interrelationships among military standards, solid-state electronics, and very high-reliability space systems. Starting with a brief description of the physics that enabled the development of the first transistor, Implosion covers the need for standardizing military electronics, which began during World War II and continu
Scalable shear-exfoliation of high-quality phosphorene nanoflakes with reliable electrochemical cycleability in nano batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Feng; Min, Huihua; Zhu, Chongyang; Xia, Weiwei; Li, Zhengrui; Li, Shengli; Yu, Kaihao; Sun, Litao; Ge, Binghui; Chen, Jing; Cui, Yiping; Nathan, Arokia; Xin, Linhuo L; Ma, Hongyu; Wu, Lijun; Zhu, Yimei

2016-01-01

Atomically thin black phosphorus (called phosphorene) holds great promise as an alternative to graphene and other two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, bulk black phosphorus (BP) suffers from rapid capacity fading and poor rechargeable performance. This work reports for the first time the use of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to construct nanoscale phosphorene LIBs. This enables direct visualization of the mechanisms underlying capacity fading in thick multilayer phosphorene through real-time capture of delithiation-induced structural decomposition, which serves to reduce electrical conductivity thus causing irreversibility of the lithiated phases. We further demonstrate that few-layer-thick phosphorene successfully circumvents the structural decomposition and holds superior structural restorability, even when subject to multi-cycle lithiation/delithiation processes and concomitant huge volume expansion. This finding provides breakthrough insights into thickness-dependent lithium diffusion kinetics in phosphorene. More importantly, a scalable liquid-phase shear exfoliation route has been developed to produce high-quality ultrathin phosphorene using simple means such as a high-speed shear mixer or even a household kitchen blender with the shear rate threshold of ∼1.25 × 10 4 s −1 . The results reported here will pave the way for industrial-scale applications of rechargeable phosphorene LIBs. (paper)
Automated high speed volume computed tomography for inline quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanke, R.; Kugel, A.; Troup, P.

2004-01-01

Increasing complexity of innovative products as well as growing requirements on quality and reliability call for more detailed knowledge about internal structures of manufactured components rather by 100 % inspection than just by sampling test. A first-step solution, like radioscopic inline inspection machines, equipped with automated data evaluation software, have become state of the art in the production floor during the last years. However, these machines provide just ordinary two-dimensional information and deliver no volume data e.g. to evaluate exact position or shape of detected defects. One way to solve this problem is the application of X-ray computed tomography (CT). Compared to the performance of the first generation medical scanners (scanning times of many hours), today, modern Volume CT machines for industrial applications need about 5 minutes for a full object scan depending on the object size. Of course, this is still too long to introduce this powerful method into the inline production quality control. In order to gain acceptance, the scanning time including subsequent data evaluation must be decreased significantly and adapted to the manufacturing cycle times. This presentation demonstrates the new technical set up, reconstruction results and the methods for high-speed volume data evaluation of a new fully automated high-speed CT scanner with cycle times below one minute for an object size of less than 15 cm. This will directly create new opportunities in design and construction of more complex objects. (author)
High quality transmission Kikuchi diffraction analysis of deformed alloys - Case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokarski, Tomasz; Cios, Grzegorz; Kula, Anna; Bała, Piotr

2016-01-01

Modern scanning electron microscopes (SEM) equipped with thermally assisted field emission guns (Schottky FEG) are capable of imaging with a resolution in the range of several nanometers or better. Simultaneously, the high electron beam current can be used, which enables fast chemical and crystallographic analysis with a higher resolution than is normally offered by SEM with a tungsten cathode. The current resolution that limits the EDS and EBSD analysis is related to materials' physics, particularly to the electron-specimen interaction volume. The application of thin, electron-transparent specimens, instead of bulk samples, improves the resolution and allows for the detailed analysis of very fine microstructural features. Beside the typical imaging mode, it is possible to use a standard EBSD camera in such a configuration that only transmitted and scattered electrons are detected. This modern approach was successfully applied to various materials giving rise to significant resolution improvement, especially for the light element magnesium based alloys. This paper presents an insight into the application of the transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) technique applied to the most troublesome, heavily-deformed materials. In particular, the values of the highest possible acquisition rates for high resolution and high quality mapping were estimated within typical imaging conditions of stainless steel and magnesium-yttrium alloy. - Highlights: •Monte Carlo simulations were used to simulate EBSD camera intensity for various measuring conditions. •Transmission Kikuchi diffraction parameters were evaluated for highly deformed, light and heavy elements based alloys. •High quality maps with 20 nm spatial resolution were acquired for Mg and Fe based alloys. •High speed TKD measurements were performed at acquisition rates comparable to the reflection EBSD.
Breeding and maintaining high-quality insects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kim; Kristensen, Torsten Nygård; Heckmann, Lars-Henrik

2017-01-01

Insects have a large potential for sustainably enhancing global food and feed production, and commercial insect production is a rising industry of high economic value. Insects suitable for production typically have fast growth, short generation time, efficient nutrient utilization, high...... reproductive potential, and thrive at high density. Insects may cost-efficiently convert agricultural and industrial food by-products into valuable protein once the technology is finetuned. However, since insect mass production is a new industry, the technology needed to efficiently farm these animals is still...... in a starting phase. Here, we discuss the challenges and precautions that need to be considered when breeding and maintaining high-quality insect populations for food and feed. This involves techniques typically used in domestic animal breeding programs including maintaining genetically healthy populations...
Teaching mathematical word problem solving: the quality of evidence for strategy instruction priming the problem structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Jitendra, Asha K; Petersen-Brown, Shawna; Lein, Amy E; Zaslofsky, Anne F; Kunkel, Amy K; Jung, Pyung-Gang; Egan, Andrea M

2015-01-01

This study examined the quality of the research base related to strategy instruction priming the underlying mathematical problem structure for students with learning disabilities and those at risk for mathematics difficulties. We evaluated the quality of methodological rigor of 18 group research studies using the criteria proposed by Gersten et al. and 10 single case design (SCD) research studies using criteria suggested by Horner et al. and the What Works Clearinghouse. Results indicated that 14 group design studies met the criteria for high-quality or acceptable research, whereas SCD studies did not meet the standards for an evidence-based practice. Based on these findings, strategy instruction priming the mathematics problem structure is considered an evidence-based practice using only group design methodological criteria. Implications for future research and for practice are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013.
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
High Reliability Prototype Quadrupole for the Next Linear Collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, Cherrill M

2001-01-01

The Next Linear Collider (NLC) will require over 5600 magnets, each of which must be highly reliable and/or quickly repairable in order that the NLC reach its 85% overall availability goal. A multidiscipline engineering team was assembled at SLAC to develop a more reliable electromagnet design than historically had been achieved at SLAC. This team carried out a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) on a standard SLAC quadrupole magnet system. They overcame a number of longstanding design prejudices, producing 10 major design changes. This paper describes how a prototype magnet was constructed and the extensive testing carried out on it to prove full functionality with an improvement in reliability. The magnet's fabrication cost will be compared to the cost of a magnet with the same requirements made in the historic SLAC way. The NLC will use over 1600 of these 12.7 mm bore quadrupoles with a range of integrated strengths from 0.6 to 132 Tesla, a maximum gradient of 135 Tesla per meter, an adjustment range of 0 to -20% and core lengths from 324 mm to 972 mm. The magnetic center must remain stable to within 1 micron during the 20% adjustment. A magnetic measurement set-up has been developed that can measure sub-micron shifts of a magnetic center. The prototype satisfied the center shift requirement over the full range of integrated strengths
Image Quality Assessment of High-Resolution Satellite Images with Mtf-Based Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Z.; Luo, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Guo, F.; He, L.

2018-04-01

A Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)-based fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was proposed in this paper for the purpose of evaluating high-resolution satellite image quality. To establish the factor set, two MTF features and seven radiant features were extracted from the knife-edge region of image patch, which included Nyquist, MTF0.5, entropy, peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), average difference, edge intensity, average gradient, contrast and ground spatial distance (GSD). After analyzing the statistical distribution of above features, a fuzzy evaluation threshold table and fuzzy evaluation membership functions was established. The experiments for comprehensive quality assessment of different natural and artificial objects was done with GF2 image patches. The results showed that the calibration field image has the highest quality scores. The water image has closest image quality to the calibration field, quality of building image is a little poor than water image, but much higher than farmland image. In order to test the influence of different features on quality evaluation, the experiment with different weights were tested on GF2 and SPOT7 images. The results showed that different weights correspond different evaluating effectiveness. In the case of setting up the weights of edge features and GSD, the image quality of GF2 is better than SPOT7. However, when setting MTF and PSNR as main factor, the image quality of SPOT7 is better than GF2.
Fast neutrons: Inexpensive and reliable tool to investigate high-LET particle radiobiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gueulette, J.; Slabbert, J.P.; Bischoff, P.; Denis, J.M.; Wambersie, A.; Jones, D.

2010-01-01

Radiation therapy with carbon ions as well as missions into outer space have boosted the interest for high-LET particle radiobiology. Optimization of treatments in accordance with technical developments, as well as the radioprotection of cosmonauts during long missions require that research in these domains continue. Therefore suitable radiation fields are needed. Fast neutrons and carbon ions exhibit comparable LET values and similar radiobiological properties. Consequently, the findings obtained with each radiation quality could be shared to benefit knowledge in all concerned domains. The p(66+Be) neutron therapy facilities of iThemba LABS (South Africa) and the p(65)+Be neutron facility of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) are in constant use to do radiobiological research for clinical applications with fast neutrons. These beams - which comply with all physical and technical requirements for clinical applications - are now fully reliable, easy to use and frequently accessible for radiobiological investigations. These facilities thus provide unique opportunities to undertake radiobiological experimentation, especially for investigations that require long irradiation times and/or fractionated treatments.
Differences in the quality of school-based assessment: Evidence in Grade 9 mathematics achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Surette van Staden

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This non-experimental, exploratory and descriptive study, using a qualitative case study approach, aims to investigate whether there is evidence of variance in the quality of school-based assessment (SBA in Grade 9 mathematics. Participants were purposefully selected from five schools in a district in the Northern Cape in South Africa. After questionnaires were completed, individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from the participating schools. Documents were collected and analysed to corroborate or contradict data from the questionnaires and interviews. Lack of adherence to policy, variation in classroom practice and inconsistent monitoring and moderation practices were identified as themes of possible sources of variation in SBA. An analysis of the interviews and document analysis revealed that most of the Heads of Department and principals lacked in-depth knowledge and understanding of their roles and functions in making SBA reliable, credible and valid. This was not only due to a lack of capacity to perform such functions, but was also due to a lack of effective induction and training by the district and provincial offices. Findings from the current study point to the necessary role that a periodic evaluation of SBA may play to ensure its effectiveness, credibility and reliability as part of successful assessment practices in a mostly developing context.
Quality assurance/quality control, reliability and availability of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kueffer, K.

1981-01-01

In a first part this lectures will present a survey on nuclear power production and plant performance in the Western World and discuss key parameters such as load factors and non-availability. Some main reasons for reliable performance of nuclear power plants are given. The second part of this lecture deals with the question how quality assurance and quality control measures do directly influence plant reliability, availability and, thus, economy. Derived from worldwide experience gained from operating nuclear power plants, it may be concluded that the implementation of an overall quality assurance programme does not only satisfy safety requirements set forth by the nuclear regulatory bodies, but has also a considerable impact on plant reliability and availability. A positive effect on these figures will be achieved if the established quality assurance programme provides for a coordinated approach to all activities affecting quality. It is discussed how the quality of a product should be controlled and what kind of quality assurance measures by performed examples are given to demonstrate that the expenditure for maintenance work on components will decrease if planned and systematic quality assurance actions have been implemented during all procurement stages. (orig./RW)
Two efficient methods for isolation of high-quality genomic DNA from entomopathogenic fungi.

Science.gov (United States)

Serna-Domínguez, María G; Andrade-Michel, Gilda Y; Arredondo-Bernal, Hugo C; Gallou, Adrien

2018-03-27

Conventional and commercial methods for isolation of nucleic acids are available for fungal samples including entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). However, there is not a unique optimal method for all organisms. The cell wall structure and the wide range of secondary metabolites of EPF can broadly interfere with the efficiency of the DNA extraction protocol. This study compares three commercial protocols: DNeasy® Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen), Wizard® Genomic DNA Purification Kit (Promega), and Axygen™ Multisource Genomic DNA Miniprep Kit (Axygen) and three conventional methods based on different buffers: SDS, CTAB/PVPP, and CTAB/β-mercaptoethanol versus three cell lysis procedures: liquid nitrogen homogenization and two bead-beating materials (i.e., tungsten-carbide and stainless-steel) for four representative species of EPF (i.e., Beauveria bassiana, Hirsutella citriformis, Isaria javanica, and Metarhizium anisopliae). Liquid nitrogen homogenization combined with DNeasy® Plant Mini Kit (i.e., QN) or SDS buffer (i.e., SN) significantly improved the yield with a good purity (~1.8) and high integrity (>20,000 bp) of genomic DNA in contrast with other methods, also, these results were better when compared with the two bead-beating materials. The purified DNA was evaluated by PCR-based techniques: amplification of translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF) and two highly sensitive molecular markers (i.e., ISSR and AFLP) with reliable and reproducible results. Despite a variation in yield, purity, and integrity of extracted DNA across the four species of EPF with the different DNA extraction methods, the SN and QN protocols maintained a high-quality of DNA which is required for downstream molecular applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Characteristics of primary care practices associated with high quality of care.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Haggerty, Jeannie; Tousignant, Pierre; Barnsley, Janet; Hogg, William; Geneau, Robert; Hudon, Éveline; Duplain, Réjean; Denis, Jean-Louis; Bonin, Lucie; Del Grande, Claudio; Dragieva, Natalyia

2013-09-03

No primary practice care model has been shown to be superior in achieving high-quality primary care. We aimed to identify the organizational characteristics of primary care practices that provide high-quality primary care. We performed a cross-sectional observational study involving a stratified random sample of 37 primary care practices from 3 regions of Quebec. We recruited 1457 patients who had 1 of 2 chronic care conditions or 1 of 6 episodic care conditions. The main outcome was the overall technical quality score. We measured organizational characteristics by use of a validated questionnaire and the Team Climate Inventory. Statistical analyses were based on multilevel regression modelling. The following characteristics were strongly associated with overall technical quality of care score: physician remuneration method (27.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] 19.0-35.0), extent of sharing of administrative resources (7.6; 95% CI 0.8-14.4), presence of allied health professionals (15.3; 95% CI 5.4-25.2) and/or specialist physicians (19.6; 95% CI 8.3-30.9), the presence of mechanisms for maintaining or evaluating competence (7.7; 95% CI 3.0-12.4) and average organizational access to the practice (4.9; 95% CI 2.6-7.2). The number of physicians (1.2; 95% CI 0.6-1.8) and the average Team Climate Inventory score (1.3; 95% CI 0.1-2.5) were modestly associated with high-quality care. We identified a common set of organizational characteristics associated with high-quality primary care. Many of these characteristics are amenable to change through practice-level organizational changes.
Final report: High current capacity high temperature superconducting film based tape for high field magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying Xin

2000-01-01

The primary goal of the program was to establish the process parameters for the continuous deposition of high quality, superconducting YBCO films on one meter lengths of buffered RABiTS tape using MOCVD and to characterize the potential utility of the resulting tapes in high field magnet applications

Improvement of the reliability and efficiency of the NPP operation by training high-skilled personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korolev, V.V.; Sereda, G.A.

1981-01-01

Nuclear power at the modern stage of development is characterized by utilization of large power commercial reactors high technical specifications and economic parameters of which can be provided only at high reliability of the equipment and high qualification of the personnel. Special educational institution - Institute of nuclear engineering is organized for education of the operation personnel of high qualification for modern NPPs. Discussed are some problems occurring in this connection [ru
High quality ceramic coatings sprayed by high efficiency hypersonic plasma spraying gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Sheng; Xu Binshi; Yao JiuKun

2005-01-01

This paper introduced the structure of the high efficiency hypersonic plasma spraying gun and the effects of hypersonic plasma jet on the sprayed particles. The optimised spraying process parameters for several ceramic powders such as Al 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , Cr 3 C 2 and Co-WC were listed. The properties and microstructure of the sprayed ceramic coatings were investigated. Nano Al 2 O 3 -TiO 2 ceramic coating sprayed by using the high efficiency hypersonic plasma spraying was also studied. Compared with the conventional air plasma spraying, high efficiency hypersonic plasma spraying improves greatly the ceramic coatings quality but at low cost. (orig.)
Quality of web-based family-building information for LGBTQ individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreines, Fabiana M; Farr, Alex; Chervenak, Frank A; Grünebaum, Amos

2018-02-01

The number of patients who seek health information on the internet is increasing. Rates are particularly high among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, due to health care barriers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and inclusivity of web-based information pertaining to LGBTQ family building. The first 100 US-based websites pertaining to LGBTQ family building were identified through a terminology-based internet search. After eliminating 45 websites, 55 websites were found to be eligible. The 2016 Website Information Reliability Evaluation Instrument (of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services) was used to analyse the quality of information on each website. Websites were analysed for inclusivity of important topics surrounding LGBTQ family building. A total of 46 websites (83.6%) belonged or were related to reproductive services and served as advertisements for their respective owners; nine websites (16.4%) belonged to third parties. No website met more than four of the six major reliability criteria, and 42 websites (76.4%) met only one or two of the six major reliability criteria. When inclusivity was considered, 29 websites (52.7%) mentioned options for transgender individuals and nine websites (16.4%) mentioned adoption. There is a lack of reliable web-based information for LGBTQ family building and a need for improvement in quality and scope. Improvements could lead to a shift in reproductive health care towards better inclusion of and catering to LGBTQ individuals.
Assessment of bird populations in a high quality savanna/woodland: a banding approach

Science.gov (United States)

Wilmore, Sandra L.; Glowacki, Gary A.; Grundel, Ralph

2005-01-01

Between 1999 and 2004, Save the Dunes Conservation Fund's Miller Woods Bird Banding Program monitored migrating and breeding bird populations within a high quality black oak, dry-mesic sand savanna/woodland with ridge and swale topography. The objectives of this program were to collect consistent and reliable demographic and abundance data on the bird populations, to investigate long-term population trends, and to contribute to improved land management decisions at regional and national scales. The technique employed involved capturing birds in mist nets that were deployed for set periods of time at 17 net sites in two banding areas in Miller Woods.
Gearbox Reliability Collaborative Investigation of High-Speed-Shaft Bearing Loads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keller, Jonathan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Guo, Yi [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-06-01

The loads and contact stresses in the bearings of the high speed shaft section of the Gearbox Reliability Collaborative gearbox are examined in this paper. The loads were measured though strain gauges installed on the bearing outer races during dynamometer testing of the gearbox. Loads and stresses were also predicted with a simple analytical model and higher-fidelity commercial models. The experimental data compared favorably to each model, and bearing stresses were below thresholds for contact fatigue and axial cracking.
Radiosynoviorthesis in the reflection of Evidence-based Medicine (EbM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kampen, W.U.

2006-01-01

This paper summarizes the literature on clinical efficacy of radiosynoviorthesis with respect to the criteria of evidence-based medicine (EbM). Each therapy has to face up to the success and the costs of other treatment modalities, especially in times of scarce financial resources of our health care system. For many physicians and scientists, evidence-based medicine, which means weighting clinical trials by several quality factors like randomization, blinding or comparison with a placebo seems to be the ''philosophers'stone'' to some extent. Concerning radiosynoviorthesis, the existence of clinical studies with a high quality according to the EbM is sometimes negated. However, this statement cannot be abided after extensive revision of the literature. The nuclear medicine physician practising radiosynoviorthesis should be provided with arguments from the literature supporting his personal experience for successful discussions with referring colleques. This is achieved by listing the respective papers especially of evidence classes Ib and IIa with a short summary of each of them. Some critical remarks on evidence-based medicine if used as the only basis of therapeutic practise complete this paper. (orig.)
An Intuitionistic Fuzzy Methodology for Component-Based Software Reliability Optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henrik; Grigore, Albeanu; Popenţiuvlǎdicescu, Florin

2012-01-01

Component-based software development is the current methodology facilitating agility in project management, software reuse in design and implementation, promoting quality and productivity, and increasing the reliability and performability. This paper illustrates the usage of intuitionistic fuzzy...... degree approach in modelling the quality of entities in imprecise software reliability computing in order to optimize management results. Intuitionistic fuzzy optimization algorithms are proposed to be used for complex software systems reliability optimization under various constraints....
Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jalali, A R; Nørgaard, P; Nielsen, M O

2010-01-01

Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage......Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage...
Quality assurance and reliability in the Japanese electronics industry

Science.gov (United States)

Pecht, Michael; Boulton, William R.

1995-02-01

Quality and reliability are two attributes required for all Japanese products, although the JTEC panel found these attributes to be secondary to customer cost requirements. While our Japanese hosts gave presentations on the challenges of technology, cost, and miniaturization, quality and reliability were infrequently the focus of our discussions. Quality and reliability were assumed to be sufficient to meet customer needs. Fujitsu's slogan, 'quality built-in, with cost and performance as prime consideration,' illustrates this point. Sony's definition of a next-generation product is 'one that is going to be half the size and half the price at the same performance of the existing one'. Quality and reliability are so integral to Japan's electronics industry that they need no new emphasis.
High-speed VCSEL-based optical interconnects

Science.gov (United States)

Ishak, Waguih S.

2001-11-01

Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) have made significant inroads into commercial realization especially in the area of data communications. Single VCSEL devices are key components in Gb Ethernet Transceivers. A multi-element VCSEL array is the key enabling technology for high-speed multi Gb/s parallel optical interconnect modules. In 1996, several companies introduced a new generation of fiber optic products based VCSEL technology such as multimode fiber transceivers for the ANSI Fiber Channel and Gigabit Ethernet IEEE 802.3 standards. VCSELs offer unique advantages over its edge-emitting counterparts in several areas. These include low-cost (LED-like) manufacturability, low current operation and array integrability. As data rates continue to increase, VCSELs offer the advantage of being able to provide the highest modulation bandwidth per milliamp of modulation current. Currently, most of the VCSEL-based products use short (780 - 980 nm) wavelength lasers. However, significant research efforts are taking place at universities and industrial research labs around the world to develop reliable, manufacturable and high-power long (1300 - 1550 nm) wavelength VCSELs. These lasers will allow longer (several km) transmission distances and will help alleviate some of the eye-safety issues. Perhaps, the most important advantage of VCSELs is the ability to form two-dimensional arrays much easier than in the case of edge-emitting lasers. These arrays (single and two-dimensional) will allow a whole new family of applications, specifically in very high-speed computer and switch interconnects.
Using software metrics and software reliability models to attain acceptable quality software for flight and ground support software for avionic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Stella

1992-01-01

This paper is concerned with methods of measuring and developing quality software. Reliable flight and ground support software is a highly important factor in the successful operation of the space shuttle program. Reliability is probably the most important of the characteristics inherent in the concept of 'software quality'. It is the probability of failure free operation of a computer program for a specified time and environment.
Health-related quality of life in children with high-functioning autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin, Marie-Christine; Snider, Laurie; Prelock, Patricia A; Wood-Dauphinee, Sharon; Kehayia, Eva

2015-01-01

The health-related quality of life of school-aged children with high-functioning autism is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to compare the health-related quality of life of children with high-functioning autism to that of typically developing peers and to compare child-self and parent-proxy reports of health-related quality of life of children. A cross-sectional study of children with high-functioning autism (n = 30) and peers (n = 31) was conducted using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales. Children with high-functioning autism had significantly poorer health-related quality of life than peers whether reported by themselves (p children and parental scores suggested variance in points of view. This study specifically investigated health-related quality of life in children with high-functioning autism as compared to a sample of peers, from the child's perspective. It strengthens earlier findings that children with high-functioning autism experience poorer health-related quality of life than those without this disorder and points to the importance of clinicians working with families to identify areas in a child's life that promote or hinder their sense of well-being. © The Author(s) 2013.
Improved reliability, accuracy and quality in automated NMR structure calculation with ARIA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mareuil, Fabien [Institut Pasteur, Cellule d' Informatique pour la Biologie (France); Malliavin, Thérèse E.; Nilges, Michael; Bardiaux, Benjamin, E-mail: bardiaux@pasteur.fr [Institut Pasteur, Unité de Bioinformatique Structurale, CNRS UMR 3528 (France)

2015-08-15

In biological NMR, assignment of NOE cross-peaks and calculation of atomic conformations are critical steps in the determination of reliable high-resolution structures. ARIA is an automated approach that performs NOE assignment and structure calculation in a concomitant manner in an iterative procedure. The log-harmonic shape for distance restraint potential and the Bayesian weighting of distance restraints, recently introduced in ARIA, were shown to significantly improve the quality and the accuracy of determined structures. In this paper, we propose two modifications of the ARIA protocol: (1) the softening of the force field together with adapted hydrogen radii, which is meaningful in the context of the log-harmonic potential with Bayesian weighting, (2) a procedure that automatically adjusts the violation tolerance used in the selection of active restraints, based on the fitting of the structure to the input data sets. The new ARIA protocols were fine-tuned on a set of eight protein targets from the CASD–NMR initiative. As a result, the convergence problems previously observed for some targets was resolved and the obtained structures exhibited better quality. In addition, the new ARIA protocols were applied for the structure calculation of ten new CASD–NMR targets in a blind fashion, i.e. without knowing the actual solution. Even though optimisation of parameters and pre-filtering of unrefined NOE peak lists were necessary for half of the targets, ARIA consistently and reliably determined very precise and highly accurate structures for all cases. In the context of integrative structural biology, an increasing number of experimental methods are used that produce distance data for the determination of 3D structures of macromolecules, stressing the importance of methods that successfully make use of ambiguous and noisy distance data.
A Highly Reliable and Cost-Efficient Multi-Sensor System for Land Vehicle Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Li

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a novel positioning solution for land vehicles which is highly reliable and cost-efficient. The proposed positioning system fuses information from the MEMS-based reduced inertial sensor system (RISS which consists of one vertical gyroscope and two horizontal accelerometers, low-cost GPS, and supplementary sensors and sources. First, pitch and roll angle are accurately estimated based on a vehicle kinematic model. Meanwhile, the negative effect of the uncertain nonlinear drift of MEMS inertial sensors is eliminated by an H∞ filter. Further, a distributed-dual-H∞ filtering (DDHF mechanism is adopted to address the uncertain nonlinear drift of the MEMS-RISS and make full use of the supplementary sensors and sources. The DDHF is composed of a main H∞ filter (MHF and an auxiliary H∞ filter (AHF. Finally, a generalized regression neural network (GRNN module with good approximation capability is specially designed for the MEMS-RISS. A hybrid methodology which combines the GRNN module and the AHF is utilized to compensate for RISS position errors during GPS outages. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed solution, road-test experiments with various scenarios were performed. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed system can achieve accurate and reliable positioning for land vehicles.
AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown on high-quality AlN template using MOVPE

KAUST Repository

Yan, Jianchang; Wang, Junxi; Zhang, Yun; Cong, Peipei; Sun, Lili; Tian, Yingdong; Zhao, Chao; Li, Jinmin

2015-01-01

In this article, we report the growth of high-quality AlN film using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. Three layers of middle-temperature (MT) AlN were introduced during the high-temperature (HT) AlN growth. During the MT-AlN layer growth, aluminum and nitrogen sources were closed for 6 seconds after every 5-nm MT-AlN, while H2 carrier gas was always on. The threading dislocation density in an AlN epi-layer on a sapphire substrate was reduced by almost half. AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes were further fabricated based on the AlN/sapphire template. At 20 mA driving current, the emitted peak wavelength is 284.5 nm and the light output power exceeds 3 mW.
AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown on high-quality AlN template using MOVPE

KAUST Repository

Yan, Jianchang

2015-03-01

In this article, we report the growth of high-quality AlN film using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. Three layers of middle-temperature (MT) AlN were introduced during the high-temperature (HT) AlN growth. During the MT-AlN layer growth, aluminum and nitrogen sources were closed for 6 seconds after every 5-nm MT-AlN, while H2 carrier gas was always on. The threading dislocation density in an AlN epi-layer on a sapphire substrate was reduced by almost half. AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes were further fabricated based on the AlN/sapphire template. At 20 mA driving current, the emitted peak wavelength is 284.5 nm and the light output power exceeds 3 mW.
Moderator/collimator for a proton/deuteron linac to produce a high-intensity, high-quality thermal neutron beam for neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singleterry, R.C. Jr.; Imel, G.R.; McMichael, G.E.

1995-01-01

Reactor based high resolution neutron radiography facilities are able to deliver a well-collimated (L/D ≥100) thermal flux of 10 6 n/cm 2 ·sec to an image plane. This is well in excess of that achievable with the present accelerator based systems such as sealed tube D-T sources, Van der Graaff's, small cyclotrons, or low duty factor linacs. However, continuous wave linacs can accelerate tens of milliamperes of protons to 2.5 to 4 MeV. The MCNP code has been used to analyze target/moderator configurations that could be used with Argonne's Continuous Wave Linac (ACWL). These analyses have shown that ACWL could be modified to generate a neutron beam that has a high intensity and is of high quality
Thai SF-36 health survey: tests of data quality, scaling assumptions, reliability and validity in healthy men and women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sleigh Adrian

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since its translation to Thai in 2000, the SF-36 Health Survey has been used extensively in many different clinical settings in Thailand. Its popularity has increased despite the absence of published evidence that the translated instrument satisfies scoring assumptions, the psychometric properties required for valid interpretation of the SF-36 summated ratings scales. The purpose of this paper was to examine these properties and to report on the reliability and validity of the Thai SF-36 in a non-clinical general population. Methods 1345 distance-education university students who live in all areas of Thailand completed a questionnaire comprising the Thai SF-36 (Version 1. Median age was 31 years. Psychometric tests recommended by the International Quality of Life Assessment Project were used. Results Data quality was satisfactory: questionnaire completion rate was high (97.5% and missing data rates were low ( Conclusion The summated ratings method can be used for scoring the Thai SF-36. The instrument was found to be reliable and valid for use in a general non-clinical population. Version 2 of the SF-36 could improve ceiling and floor effects in the role functioning scales. Further work is warranted to refine items that measure the concepts of social functioning, vitality and mental health to improve the reliability and discriminant validity of these scales.
High dose-rate brachytherapy source position quality assurance using radiochromic film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, M.D.C.; Devic, S.; Podgorsak, E.B.

2007-01-01

Traditionally, radiographic film has been used to verify high-dose-rate brachytherapy source position accuracy by co-registering autoradiographic and diagnostic images of the associated applicator. Filmless PACS-based clinics that do not have access to radiographic film and wet developers may have trouble performing this quality assurance test in a simple and practical manner. We describe an alternative method for quality assurance using radiochromic-type film. In addition to being easy and practical to use, radiochromic film has some advantages in comparison with traditional radiographic film when used for HDR brachytherapy quality assurance
Animated Cell Biology: A Quick and Easy Method for Making Effective, High-Quality Teaching Animations

Science.gov (United States)

O'Day, Danton H.

2006-01-01

There is accumulating evidence that animations aid learning of dynamic concepts in cell biology. However, existing animation packages are expensive and difficult to learn, and the subsequent production of even short animations can take weeks to months. Here I outline the principles and sequence of steps for producing high-quality PowerPoint…

Development of an evidence-based review with recommendations using an online iterative process.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L

2011-01-01

The practice of modern medicine is governed by evidence-based principles. Due to the plethora of medical literature, clinicians often rely on systematic reviews and clinical guidelines to summarize the evidence and provide best practices. Implementation of an evidence-based clinical approach can minimize variation in health care delivery and optimize the quality of patient care. This article reports a method for developing an "Evidence-based Review with Recommendations" using an online iterative process. The manuscript describes the following steps involved in this process: Clinical topic selection, Evidence-hased review assignment, Literature review and initial manuscript preparation, Iterative review process with author selection, and Manuscript finalization. The goal of this article is to improve efficiency and increase the production of evidence-based reviews while maintaining the high quality and transparency associated with the rigorous methodology utilized for clinical guideline development. With the rise of evidence-based medicine, most medical and surgical specialties have an abundance of clinical topics which would benefit from a formal evidence-based review. Although clinical guideline development is an important methodology, the associated challenges limit development to only the absolute highest priority clinical topics. As outlined in this article, the online iterative approach to the development of an Evidence-based Review with Recommendations may improve productivity without compromising the quality associated with formal guideline development methodology. Copyright © 2011 American Rhinologic Society-American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy, LLC.
Quality assurance during fabrication of high-damping rubber isolation bearings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Way, D.; Greaves, W.C. [Base Isolation Consultants, Inc., San Francisco, CA (United States)

1995-12-01

Successful implementation of a high-damping rubber (HDR) base isolation project requires the application of Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) methodology through all phases of the bearing fabrication process. HDR base isolation bearings must be fabricated with uniform physical characteristics while being produced in large quantities. To satisfy this requirement, manufacturing processes must be controlled. Prototype tests that include dynamic testing of small samples of rubber are necessary. Stringent full scale bearing testing must be carried out prior to beginning production, during which manufacturing is strictly regulated by small rubber sample and production bearing testing. All such activities should be supervised and continuously inspected by independent and experienced QA/QC personnel.
Supporting decision-making processes for evidence-based mental health promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jané-Llopis, Eva; Katschnig, Heinz; McDaid, David; Wahlbeck, Kristian

2011-12-01

The use of evidence is critical in guiding decision-making, but evidence from effect studies will be only one of a number of factors that will need to be taken into account in the decision-making processes. Equally important for policymakers will be the use of different types of evidence including implementation essentials and other decision-making principles such as social justice, political, ethical, equity issues, reflecting public attitudes and the level of resources available, rather than be based on health outcomes alone. This paper, aimed to support decision-makers, highlights the importance of commissioning high-quality evaluations, the key aspects to assess levels of evidence, the importance of supporting evidence-based implementation and what to look out for before, during and after implementation of mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention programmes.
Novel Low Cost, High Reliability Wind Turbine Drivetrain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chobot, Anthony; Das, Debarshi; Mayer, Tyler; Markey, Zach; Martinson, Tim; Reeve, Hayden; Attridge, Paul; El-Wardany, Tahany

2012-09-13

Clipper Windpower, in collaboration with United Technologies Research Center, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, developed a low-cost, deflection-compliant, reliable, and serviceable chain drive speed increaser. This chain and sprocket drivetrain design offers significant breakthroughs in the areas of cost and serviceability and addresses the key challenges of current geared and direct-drive systems. The use of gearboxes has proven to be challenging; the large torques and bending loads associated with use in large multi-MW wind applications have generally limited demonstrated lifetime to 8-10 years [1]. The large cost of gearbox replacement and the required use of large, expensive cranes can result in gearbox replacement costs on the order of $1M, representing a significant impact to overall cost of energy (COE). Direct-drive machines eliminate the gearbox, thereby targeting increased reliability and reduced life-cycle cost. However, the slow rotational speeds require very large and costly generators, which also typically have an undesirable dependence on expensive rare-earth magnet materials and large structural penalties for precise air gap control. The cost of rare-earth materials has increased 20X in the last 8 years representing a key risk to ever realizing the promised cost of energy reductions from direct-drive generators. A common challenge to both geared and direct drive architectures is a limited ability to manage input shaft deflections. The proposed Clipper drivetrain is deflection-compliant, insulating later drivetrain stages and generators from off-axis loads. The system is modular, allowing for all key parts to be removed and replaced without the use of a high capacity crane. Finally, the technology modularity allows for scalability and many possible drivetrain topologies. These benefits enable reductions in drivetrain capital cost by 10.0%, levelized replacement and O&M costs by 26.7%, and overall cost of
Offshore compression system design for low cost high and reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, Carlos J. Rocha de O.; Carrijo Neto, Antonio Dias; Cordeiro, Alexandre Franca [Chemtech Engineering Services and Software Ltd., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Special Projects Div.], Emails: antonio.carrijo@chemtech.com.br, carlos.rocha@chemtech.com.br, alexandre.cordeiro@chemtech.com.br

2010-07-01

In the offshore oil fields, the oil streams coming from the wells usually have significant amounts of gas. This gas is separated at low pressure and has to be compressed to the export pipeline pressure, usually at high pressure to reduce the needed diameter of the pipelines. In the past, this gases where flared, but nowadays there are a increasing pressure for the energy efficiency improvement of the oil rigs and the use of this gaseous fraction. The most expensive equipment of this kind of plant are the compression and power generation systems, being the second a strong function of the first, because the most power consuming equipment are the compressors. For this reason, the optimization of the compression system in terms of efficiency and cost are determinant to the plant profit. The availability of the plants also have a strong influence in the plant profit, specially in gas fields where the products have a relatively low aggregated value, compared to oil. Due this, the third design variable of the compression system becomes the reliability. As high the reliability, larger will be the plant production. The main ways to improve the reliability of compression system are the use of multiple compression trains in parallel, in a 2x50% or 3x50% configuration, with one in stand-by. Such configurations are possible and have some advantages and disadvantages, but the main side effect is the increase of the cost. This is the offshore common practice, but that does not always significantly improve the plant availability, depending of the previous process system. A series arrangement and a critical evaluation of the overall system in some cases can provide a cheaper system with equal or better performance. This paper shows a case study of the procedure to evaluate a compression system design to improve the reliability but without extreme cost increase, balancing the number of equipment, the series or parallel arrangement, and the driver selection. Two cases studies will be
TheClinical Research Tool: a high-performance microdialysis-based system for reliably measuring interstitial fluid glucose concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ocvirk, Gregor; Hajnsek, Martin; Gillen, Ralph; Guenther, Arnfried; Hochmuth, Gernot; Kamecke, Ulrike; Koelker, Karl-Heinz; Kraemer, Peter; Obermaier, Karin; Reinheimer, Cornelia; Jendrike, Nina; Freckmann, Guido

2009-05-01

A novel microdialysis-based continuous glucose monitoring system, the so-called Clinical Research Tool (CRT), is presented. The CRT was designed exclusively for investigational use to offer high analytical accuracy and reliability. The CRT was built to avoid signal artifacts due to catheter clogging, flow obstruction by air bubbles, and flow variation caused by inconstant pumping. For differentiation between physiological events and system artifacts, the sensor current, counter electrode and polarization voltage, battery voltage, sensor temperature, and flow rate are recorded at a rate of 1 Hz. In vitro characterization with buffered glucose solutions (c(glucose) = 0 - 26 x 10(-3) mol liter(-1)) over 120 h yielded a mean absolute relative error (MARE) of 2.9 +/- 0.9% and a recorded mean flow rate of 330 +/- 48 nl/min with periodic flow rate variation amounting to 24 +/- 7%. The first 120 h in vivo testing was conducted with five type 1 diabetes subjects wearing two systems each. A mean flow rate of 350 +/- 59 nl/min and a periodic variation of 22 +/- 6% were recorded. Utilizing 3 blood glucose measurements per day and a physical lag time of 1980 s, retrospective calibration of the 10 in vivo experiments yielded a MARE value of 12.4 +/- 5.7. Clarke error grid analysis resulted in 81.0%, 16.6%, 0.8%, 1.6%, and 0% in regions A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The CRT demonstrates exceptional reliability of system operation and very good measurement performance. The ability to differentiate between artifacts and physiological effects suggests the use of the CRT as a reference tool in clinical investigations. 2009 Diabetes Technology Society.
Development of a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies: reliability and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Andreas; Raphael, Karen G; Glaros, Alan; Axelsson, Susanna; Arima, Taro; Ernberg, Malin; Farella, Mauro; Lobbezoo, Frank; Manfredini, Daniele; Michelotti, Ambra; Svensson, Peter; List, Thomas

2013-01-01

To combine empirical evidence and expert opinion in a formal consensus method in order to develop a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies in systematic reviews. Tool development comprised five steps: (1) preliminary decisions, (2) item generation, (3) face-validity assessment, (4) reliability and discriminitive validity assessment, and (5) instrument refinement. The kappa value and phi-coefficient were calculated to assess inter-observer reliability and discriminative ability, respectively. Following preliminary decisions and a literature review, a list of 52 items to be considered for inclusion in the tool was compiled. Eleven experts were invited to join a Delphi panel and 10 accepted. Four Delphi rounds reduced the preliminary tool-Quality-Assessment Tool for Experimental Bruxism Studies (Qu-ATEBS)- to 8 items: study aim, study sample, control condition or group, study design, experimental bruxism task, statistics, interpretation of results, and conflict of interest statement. Consensus among the Delphi panelists yielded good face validity. Inter-observer reliability was acceptable (k = 0.77). Discriminative validity was excellent (phi coefficient 1.0; P reviews of experimental bruxism studies, exhibits face validity, excellent discriminative validity, and acceptable inter-observer reliability. Development of quality assessment tools for many other topics in the orofacial pain literature is needed and may follow the described procedure.
Features of high-speed and strength qualities development in young biathlonists aged 14–15 in the preparatory period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artem Burla

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to substantiate a methodology of high-speed and strength qualities development of young biathlonists aged 14–15 during the preparatory period. Material and Methods: young biathlonists aged 14–15 from control and experimental groups took part in the research. There were 12 athletes in each group. Pedagogical methods and methods of mathematical statistics were used in the work. Pedagogical methods of researches were used for level definition of high-speed and strength qualities development of young biathlonists. Results: reliable increase of motive qualities and polydynamometry results testing of young biathlonists from the experimental group due to implementation of the experimental methodology in the preparatory period is established. Conclusions: application of the developed complexes in the preparatory period in the experimental group of young biathlonists aged 14–15 allows to raise indices of motive qualities and polydynamometry testing statistically significantly.
HIGH QUALITY FACADE SEGMENTATION BASED ON STRUCTURED RANDOM FOREST, REGION PROPOSAL NETWORK AND RECTANGULAR FITTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Rahmani

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present a pipeline for high quality semantic segmentation of building facades using Structured Random Forest (SRF, Region Proposal Network (RPN based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN as well as rectangular fitting optimization. Our main contribution is that we employ features created by the RPN as channels in the SRF.We empirically show that this is very effective especially for doors and windows. Our pipeline is evaluated on two datasets where we outperform current state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, we quantify the contribution of the RPN and the rectangular fitting optimization on the accuracy of the result.
Droop-Free, Reliable, and High-Power InGaN/GaN Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes for Monolithic Metal-Optoelectronics

KAUST Repository

Zhao, Chao

2016-07-28

A droop-free nitride light-emitting diode (LED) with the capacity to operate beyond the “green gap” has been a subject of intense scientific and engineering interest. While several properties of nanowires on silicon make them promising for use in LED development, the high aspect ratio of individual nanowires and their laterally discontinuous features limit phonon transport and device performance. Here, we report on the monolithic integration of metal heat-sink and droop-free InGaN/GaN quantum-disks-in-nanowire LEDs emitting at ∼710 nm. The reliable operation of our uncooled nanowire-LEDs (NW-LEDs) epitaxially grown on molybdenum was evident in the constant-current soft burn-in performed on a 380 μm × 380 μm LED. The square LED sustained 600 mA electrical stress over an 8 h period, providing stable light output at maturity without catastrophic failure. The absence of carrier and phonon transport barriers in NW-LEDs was further inferred from current-dependent Raman measurements (up to 700 mA), which revealed the low self-heating. The radiative recombination rates of NW-LEDs between room temperature and 40 °C was not limited by Shockley–Read–Hall recombination, Auger recombination, or carrier leakage mechanisms, thus realizing droop-free operation. The discovery of reliable, droop-free devices constitutes significant progress toward the development of nanowires for practical applications. Our monolithic approach realized a high-performance device that will revolutionize the way high power, low-junction-temperature LED lamps are manufactured for solid-state lighting and for applications in high-temperature harsh environment.
degradable protein sources on performance of high-producing dairy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

with high-quality, low·degradable protein sources prOViding47% UDP is advocated for ... saliva and through the rumen wall (Waldo, 1968). Based on this type of ... of the feed industry, but is based on very little solid evidence. (Huber, 1984). Chalupa ...... of rumen fermentation in relation to ammonia concentration. Br. J. Nutr.
Product reliability and the reliability of its emanating operational processes.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sonnemans, P.J.M.; Geudens, W.H.J.M.

1999-01-01

This paper addresses the problem of proper reliability management in business operations today, facing increasing demands on essential business drivers such as time to market, quality and financial profit. In this paper a general method is described of how to achieve product quality in a highly
Mechanical Integrity Issues at MCM-Cs for High Reliability Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgenstern, H.A.; Tarbutton, T.J.; Becka, G.A.; Uribe, F.; Monroe, S.; Burchett, S.

1998-01-01

During the qualification of a new high reliability low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) multichip module (MCM), two issues relating to the electrical and mechanical integrity of the LTCC network were encountered while performing qualification testing. One was electrical opens after aging tests that were caused by cracks in the solder joints. The other was fracturing of the LTCC networks during mechanical testing. Through failure analysis, computer modeling, bend testing, and test samples, changes were identified. Upon implementation of all these changes, the modules passed testing, and the MCM was placed into production
Highly purified water production technology. The influence of water purity on steam quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganter, J.

1975-01-01

The fundamental question related to high-pressure steam generation, intended for powering steam turbines, concerns steam production conditions based on constant quality standards. The characteristics of water (salinity, silica concentration) are indicated for a given steam quality as a function of the pressure. Two processes for the purification of feedwater for high pressure boilers are described: a treatment using precoated cellulose or resin filters and a treatment using mixed-bed ion exchangers. When ultrapure water is required, the demineralized water is filtred using microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes [fr
[Study of the relationship between human quality and reliability].

Science.gov (United States)

Long, S; Wang, C; Wang, L i; Yuan, J; Liu, H; Jiao, X

1997-02-01

To clarify the relationship between human quality and reliability, 1925 experiments in 20 subjects were carried out to study the relationship between disposition character, digital memory, graphic memory, multi-reaction time and education level and simulated aircraft operation. Meanwhile, effects of task difficulty and enviromental factor on human reliability were also studied. The results showed that human quality can be predicted and evaluated through experimental methods. The better the human quality, the higher the human reliability.
Systems reliability in high risk situations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunns, D.M.

1974-12-01

A summary is given of five papers and the discussion of a seminar promoted by the newly-formed National Centre of Systems Reliability. The topics covered include hazard analysis, reliability assessment, and risk assessment in both nuclear and non-nuclear industries. (U.K.)
Providing high-quality care in primary care settings: how to make trade-offs.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Geneau, Robert; Del Grande, Claudio; Denis, Jean-Louis; Hudon, Eveline; Haggerty, Jeannie L; Bonin, Lucie; Duplain, Réjean; Goudreau, Johanne; Hogg, William

2014-05-01

To gain a deeper understanding of how primary care (PC) practices belonging to different models manage resources to provide high-quality care. Multiple-case study embedded in a cross-sectional study of a random sample of 37 practices. Three regions of Quebec. Health care professionals and staff of 5 PC practices. Five cases showing above-average results on quality-of-care indicators were purposefully selected to contrast on region, practice size, and PC model. Data were collected using an organizational questionnaire; the Team Climate Inventory, which was completed by health care professionals and staff; and 33 individual interviews. Detailed case histories were written and thematic analysis was performed. The core common feature of these practices was their ongoing effort to make trade-offs to deliver services that met their vision of high-quality care. These compromises involved the same 3 areas, but to varying degrees depending on clinic characteristics: developing a shared vision of high-quality care; aligning resource use with that vision; and balancing professional aspirations and population needs. The leadership of the physician lead was crucial. The external environment was perceived as a source of pressure and dilemmas rather than as a source of support in these matters. Irrespective of their models, PC practices' pursuit of high-quality care is based on a vision in which accessibility is a key component, balanced by appropriate management of available resources and of external environment expectations. Current PC reforms often create tensions rather than support PC practices in their pursuit of high-quality care. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Standard high-reliability integrated circuit logic packaging. [for deep space tracking stations

Science.gov (United States)

Slaughter, D. W.

1977-01-01

A family of standard, high-reliability hardware used for packaging digital integrated circuits is described. The design transition from early prototypes to production hardware is covered and future plans are discussed. Interconnections techniques are described as well as connectors and related hardware available at both the microcircuit packaging and main-frame level. General applications information is also provided.
High School Start Times and the Impact on High School Students: What We Know, and What We Hope to Learn

Science.gov (United States)

Morgenthaler, Timothy I.; Hashmi, Sarah; Croft, Janet B.; Dort, Leslie; Heald, Jonathan L.; Mullington, Janet

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: Several organizations have provided recommendations to ensure high school starts no sooner than 08:30. However, although there are plausible biological reasons to support such recommendations, published recommendations have been based largely on expert opinion and a few observational studies. We sought to perform a critical review of published evidence regarding the effect of high school start times on sleep and other relevant outcomes. Methods: We performed a broad literature search to identify 287 candidate publications for inclusion in our review, which focused on studies offering direct comparison of sleep time, academic or physical performance, behavioral health measures, or motor vehicular accidents in high school students. Where possible, outcomes were combined for meta-analysis. Results: After application of study criteria, only 18 studies were suitable for review. Eight studies were amenable to meta-analysis for some outcomes. We found that later school start times, particularly when compared with start times more than 60 min earlier, are associated with longer weekday sleep durations, lower weekday-weekend sleep duration differences, reduced vehicular accident rates, and reduced subjective daytime sleepiness. Improvement in academic performance and behavioral issues is less established. Conclusions: The literature regarding effect of school start time delays on important aspects of high school life suggests some salutary effects, but often the evidence is indirect, imprecise, or derived from cohorts of convenience, making the overall quality of evidence weak or very weak. This review highlights a need for higher-quality data upon which to base important and complex public health decisions. Citation: Morgenthaler TI, Hashmi S, Croft JB, Dort L, Heald JL, Mullington J. High school start times and the impact on high school students: what we know, and what we hope to learn. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(12):1681–1689. PMID:27855730
Factors Influencing the Reliability of the Glasgow Coma Scale: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Reith, Florence Cm; Synnot, Anneliese; van den Brande, Ruben; Gruen, Russell L; Maas, Andrew Ir

2017-06-01

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) characterizes patients with diminished consciousness. In a recent systematic review, we found overall adequate reliability across different clinical settings, but reliability estimates varied considerably between studies, and methodological quality of studies was overall poor. Identifying and understanding factors that can affect its reliability is important, in order to promote high standards for clinical use of the GCS. The aim of this systematic review was to identify factors that influence reliability and to provide an evidence base for promoting consistent and reliable application of the GCS. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL from 1974 to July 2016. Studies assessing the reliability of the GCS in adults or describing any factor that influences reliability were included. Two reviewers independently screened citations, selected full texts, and undertook data extraction and critical appraisal. Methodological quality of studies was evaluated with the consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments checklist. Data were synthesized narratively and presented in tables. Forty-one studies were included for analysis. Factors identified that may influence reliability are education and training, the level of consciousness, and type of stimuli used. Conflicting results were found for experience of the observer, the pathology causing the reduced consciousness, and intubation/sedation. No clear influence was found for the professional background of observers. Reliability of the GCS is influenced by multiple factors and as such is context dependent. This review points to the potential for improvement from training and education and standardization of assessment methods, for which recommendations are presented. Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

A peripheral component interconnect express-based scalable and highly integrated pulsed spectrometer for solution state dynamic nuclear polarization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Yugui; Liu, Chaoyang, E-mail: chyliu@wipm.ac.cn [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); State Key Laboratory of Magnet Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); Feng, Jiwen; Wang, Dong; Chen, Fang; Liu, Maili [State Key Laboratory of Magnet Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); Zhang, Zhi; Wang, Chao [State Key Laboratory of Magnet Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100048 (China)

2015-08-15

High sensitivity, high data rates, fast pulses, and accurate synchronization all represent challenges for modern nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, which make any expansion or adaptation of these devices to new techniques and experiments difficult. Here, we present a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)-based highly integrated distributed digital architecture pulsed spectrometer that is implemented with electron and nucleus double resonances and is scalable specifically for broad dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhancement applications, including DNP-magnetic resonance spectroscopy/imaging (DNP-MRS/MRI). The distributed modularized architecture can implement more transceiver channels flexibly to meet a variety of MRS/MRI instrumentation needs. The proposed PCIe bus with high data rates can significantly improve data transmission efficiency and communication reliability and allow precise control of pulse sequences. An external high speed double data rate memory chip is used to store acquired data and pulse sequence elements, which greatly accelerates the execution of the pulse sequence, reduces the TR (time of repetition) interval, and improves the accuracy of TR in imaging sequences. Using clock phase-shift technology, we can produce digital pulses accurately with high timing resolution of 1 ns and narrow widths of 4 ns to control the microwave pulses required by pulsed DNP and ensure overall system synchronization. The proposed spectrometer is proved to be both feasible and reliable by observation of a maximum signal enhancement factor of approximately −170 for {sup 1}H, and a high quality water image was successfully obtained by DNP-enhanced spin-echo {sup 1}H MRI at 0.35 T.
Inequality in Preschool Quality? Community-Level Disparities in Access to High-Quality Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Bassok, Daphna; Galdo, Eva

2016-01-01

In recent years, unequal access to high-quality preschool has emerged as a growing public policy concern. Because of data limitations, it is notoriously difficult to measure disparities in access to early learning opportunities across communities and particularly challenging to quantify gaps in access to "high-quality" programs. Research…
Interventions for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Are Practice Guidelines Based on Systematic Reviews?

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsley, Kristina; Li, Tianjing; Ssemanda, Elizabeth; Virgili, Gianni; Dickersin, Kay

2016-04-01

Are existing systematic reviews of interventions for age-related macular degeneration incorporated into clinical practice guidelines? High-quality systematic reviews should be used to underpin evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and clinical care. We examined the reliability of systematic reviews of interventions for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and described the main findings of reliable reviews in relation to clinical practice guidelines. Eligible publications were systematic reviews of the effectiveness of treatment interventions for AMD. We searched a database of systematic reviews in eyes and vision without language or date restrictions; the database was up to date as of May 6, 2014. Two authors independently screened records for eligibility and abstracted and assessed the characteristics and methods of each review. We classified reviews as reliable when they reported eligibility criteria, comprehensive searches, methodologic quality of included studies, appropriate statistical methods for meta-analysis, and conclusions based on results. We mapped treatment recommendations from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Preferred Practice Patterns (PPPs) for AMD to systematic reviews and citations of reliable systematic reviews to support each treatment recommendation. Of 1570 systematic reviews in our database, 47 met inclusion criteria; most targeted neovascular AMD and investigated anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) interventions, dietary supplements, or photodynamic therapy. We classified 33 (70%) reviews as reliable. The quality of reporting varied, with criteria for reliable reporting met more often by Cochrane reviews and reviews whose authors disclosed conflicts of interest. Anti-VEGF agents and photodynamic therapy were the only interventions identified as effective by reliable reviews. Of 35 treatment recommendations extracted from the PPPs, 15 could have been supported with reliable systematic reviews; however, only 1
High Brightness Injectors Based On Photocathode DC Gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

B. Yunn

2001-01-01

Sample results of new injector design method based on a photocathode dc gun are presented, based on other work analytically proving the validity of the emittance compensation scheme for the case even when beam bunching is involved. We have designed several new injectors appropriate for different bunch charge ranges accordingly. Excellent beam quality produced by these injectors clearly shows that a photocathode dc gun can compete with a rf gun on an equal footing as the source of an electron beam for the bunch charge ranging up to 2 nano Coulomb (nC). This work therefore elevates a dc gun based injector to the preferred choice for many ongoing high brightness accelerator projects considering the proven operational stability and high average power capability of the dc gun
Development of a high-quality cut-off wall using electrophoresis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawachi, T.; Murahashi, H.

1991-01-01

Techniques to build a high-quality cut-off wall have been developed for storage facilities of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) as an emergency measures to prevent leakages. The cut-off wall is highly impermeable, nucleid-adsorptive and have long-term durability. Electrophoresis is used to form impermeable membrane of bentonite as main features of the cut-off wall. First of all, laboratory tests have been conducted to study ways of building barriers on site and to collect data on the barriers properties. Afterwards, on-site construction tests of a high-quality cut-off wall have been carried out. In this paper, we describe the process and results on the studies of the high-quality cut-off wall using electrophoresis
High throughput electrospinning of high-quality nanofibers via an aluminum disk spinneret

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Guokuo

In this work, a simple and efficient needleless high throughput electrospinning process using an aluminum disk spinneret with 24 holes is described. Electrospun mats produced by this setup consisted of fine fibers (nano-sized) of the highest quality while the productivity (yield) was many times that obtained from conventional single-needle electrospinning. The goal was to produce scaled-up amounts of the same or better quality nanofibers under variable concentration, voltage, and the working distance than those produced with the single needle lab setting. The fiber mats produced were either polymer or ceramic (such as molybdenum trioxide nanofibers). Through experimentation the optimum process conditions were defined to be: 24 kilovolt, a distance to collector of 15cm. More diluted solutions resulted in smaller diameter fibers. Comparing the morphologies of the nanofibers of MoO3 produced by both the traditional and the high throughput set up it was found that they were very similar. Moreover, the nanofibers production rate is nearly 10 times than that of traditional needle electrospinning. Thus, the high throughput process has the potential to become an industrial nanomanufacturing process and the materials processed by it may be used as filtration devices, in tissue engineering, and as sensors.
The development and chemistry of high efficiency combined cycle plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svoboda, Robert

1999-01-01

This paper presents a boiler concept based on the combination of a low-pressure drum-type boiler with high-pressure once-through boiler and the appropriate water/steam cycle. An all volatile treatment is used in the low-pressure boiler and oxygenated treatment for the once-through high pressure system. Impurity control is achieved by adapted system design and materials, high quality make-up, an appropriate cleanliness concept and clean-up procedures for a cold start. Cycle refreshing is realized by blowdown from the high-pressure water-separator. This concept utilizes simper and less equipment than traditional solutions, resulting in increased power plant reliability and less requirement on maintenance and on capital cost [it
High School Start Times and the Impact on High School Students: What We Know, and What We Hope to Learn.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgenthaler, Timothy I; Hashmi, Sarah; Croft, Janet B; Dort, Leslie; Heald, Jonathan L; Mullington, Janet

2016-12-15

Several organizations have provided recommendations to ensure high school starts no sooner than 08:30. However, although there are plausible biological reasons to support such recommendations, published recommendations have been based largely on expert opinion and a few observational studies. We sought to perform a critical review of published evidence regarding the effect of high school start times on sleep and other relevant outcomes. We performed a broad literature search to identify 287 candidate publications for inclusion in our review, which focused on studies offering direct comparison of sleep time, academic or physical performance, behavioral health measures, or motor vehicular accidents in high school students. Where possible, outcomes were combined for meta-analysis. After application of study criteria, only 18 studies were suitable for review. Eight studies were amenable to meta-analysis for some outcomes. We found that later school start times, particularly when compared with start times more than 60 min earlier, are associated with longer weekday sleep durations, lower weekday-weekend sleep duration differences, reduced vehicular accident rates, and reduced subjective daytime sleepiness. Improvement in academic performance and behavioral issues is less established. The literature regarding effect of school start time delays on important aspects of high school life suggests some salutary effects, but often the evidence is indirect, imprecise, or derived from cohorts of convenience, making the overall quality of evidence weak or very weak. This review highlights a need for higher-quality data upon which to base important and complex public health decisions. © 2016 American Academy of Sleep Medicine
An Energy-Efficient and High-Quality Video Transmission Architecture in Wireless Video-Based Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasaman Samei

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Technological progress in the fields of Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS and wireless communications and also the availability of CMOS cameras, microphones and small-scale array sensors, which may ubiquitously capture multimedia content from the field, have fostered the development of low-cost limited resources Wireless Video-based Sensor Networks (WVSN. With regards to the constraints of videobased sensor nodes and wireless sensor networks, a supporting video stream is not easy to implement with the present sensor network protocols. In this paper, a thorough architecture is presented for video transmission over WVSN called Energy-efficient and high-Quality Video transmission Architecture (EQV-Architecture. This architecture influences three layers of communication protocol stack and considers wireless video sensor nodes constraints like limited process and energy resources while video quality is preserved in the receiver side. Application, transport, and network layers are the layers in which the compression protocol, transport protocol, and routing protocol are proposed respectively, also a dropping scheme is presented in network layer. Simulation results over various environments with dissimilar conditions revealed the effectiveness of the architecture in improving the lifetime of the network as well as preserving the video quality.
An Energy-Efficient and High-Quality Video Transmission Architecture in Wireless Video-Based Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Aghdasi, Hadi S; Abbaspour, Maghsoud; Moghadam, Mohsen Ebrahimi; Samei, Yasaman

2008-08-04

Technological progress in the fields of Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and wireless communications and also the availability of CMOS cameras, microphones and small-scale array sensors, which may ubiquitously capture multimedia content from the field, have fostered the development of low-cost limited resources Wireless Video-based Sensor Networks (WVSN). With regards to the constraints of videobased sensor nodes and wireless sensor networks, a supporting video stream is not easy to implement with the present sensor network protocols. In this paper, a thorough architecture is presented for video transmission over WVSN called Energy-efficient and high-Quality Video transmission Architecture (EQV-Architecture). This architecture influences three layers of communication protocol stack and considers wireless video sensor nodes constraints like limited process and energy resources while video quality is preserved in the receiver side. Application, transport, and network layers are the layers in which the compression protocol, transport protocol, and routing protocol are proposed respectively, also a dropping scheme is presented in network layer. Simulation results over various environments with dissimilar conditions revealed the effectiveness of the architecture in improving the lifetime of the network as well as preserving the video quality.
Evidence-based dentistry for planning restorative treatments: barriers and potential solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Afrashtehfar, K I; Eimar, H; Yassine, R; Abi-Nader, S; Tamimi, F

2017-11-01

Evidence-based dentistry (EBD) can help provide the best treatment option for every patient, however, its implementation in restorative dentistry is very limited. This study aimed at assessing the barriers preventing the implementation of EBD among dental undergraduate and graduate students in Montreal, and explore possible solutions to overcome these barriers. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by means of a paper format self-administrated questionnaire distributed among dental students. The survey assessed the barriers and potential solutions for implementation of an evidence-based practice. Sixty-one students completed the questionnaire. Forty-one percent of respondents found evidence-based literature to be the most reliable source of information for restorative treatment planning, however, only 16% used it. They considered that finding reliable information was difficult and they sometimes encountered conflicting information when consulting different sources. Dental students had positive attitudes towards the need for better access to evidence-based literature to assist learning and decision making in restorative treatment planning and to improve treatment outcomes. Even for dentists trained in EBD, online searching takes too much time, and even though it can provide information of better quality than personal intuition, it might not be enough to identify the best available evidence. Even though dental students are aware of the importance of EBD in restorative dentistry they rarely apply the concept, mainly due to time constraints. For this reason, implementation of EBD would probably require faster access to evidence-based knowledge. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Highly reliable field electron emitters produced from reproducible damage-free carbon nanotube composite pastes with optimal inorganic fillers

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Woo; Jeong, Jin-Woo; Kang, Jun-Tae; Choi, Sungyoul; Ahn, Seungjoon; Song, Yoon-Ho

2014-02-01

Highly reliable field electron emitters were developed using a formulation for reproducible damage-free carbon nanotube (CNT) composite pastes with optimal inorganic fillers and a ball-milling method. We carefully controlled the ball-milling sequence and time to avoid any damage to the CNTs, which incorporated fillers that were fully dispersed as paste constituents. The field electron emitters fabricated by printing the CNT pastes were found to exhibit almost perfect adhesion of the CNT emitters to the cathode, along with good uniformity and reproducibility. A high field enhancement factor of around 10 000 was achieved from the CNT field emitters developed. By selecting nano-sized metal alloys and oxides and using the same formulation sequence, we also developed reliable field emitters that could survive high-temperature post processing. These field emitters had high durability to post vacuum annealing at 950 °C, guaranteeing survival of the brazing process used in the sealing of field emission x-ray tubes. We evaluated the field emitters in a triode configuration in the harsh environment of a tiny vacuum-sealed vessel and observed very reliable operation for 30 h at a high current density of 350 mA cm-2. The CNT pastes and related field emitters that were developed could be usefully applied in reliable field emission devices.
Leadership Strategies in Implementation of High-School Standards-Based Grading Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pritzl, Jerome

2016-01-01

This multi-site case study examined leadership strategies used during successful implementation of standards-based grading systems in three Wisconsin high schools. It found that leaders' reported commitment, patience, and persistence showed evidence of sustainable, high-functioning systems. It drew two main conclusions: first, school leaders need…
Linking Quality Assurance to Performance Improvement to Produce a High Reliability Organization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvey, Andrea B.; Warrick, Louise H.

2008-01-01

Three basic change management models are currently used in healthcare to produce and sustain quality improvement. We have presented the context to determine where any particular organization stands within these paradigms. We also have introduced a change-management tool used to assess, plan, and monitor leadership effort and commitment to quality improvement and culture change activities, tracked as 'momentum for change.' This 'momentum' is measured at eight discrete levels, from recognizing a performance gap to officially implementing changes intended to improve quality
Corporate Governance Quality and Earnings Management: Evidence from Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinan S. Abbadi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effect of corporate governance quality on earnings management in Jordan. Using a panel data set of all industrial and service firms listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE during the period 2009-2013; this paper provides evidence that earnings management is affected negatively by corporate governance quality. In particular; the results show that earnings management is affected negatively by overall categories of governance index represented by board of director, board meeting, Audit and nomination and compensation committee. Furthermore, results suggest that corporate governance quality has increased over time. Thus, its ability to constrain earnings management has also increased. It is recommended to industrial and service companies to boost their compliance with corporate governance code to improve the integrity and reliability of financial reports. This paper fills a gap in the literature by providing evidence about the effect of corporate governance quality on earnings management in Jordan as an emerging economy.
Development of high-average-power-laser medium based on silica glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimoto, Yasushi; Nakatsuka, Masahiro

2000-01-01

We have developed a high-average-power laser material based on silica glass. A new method using Zeolite X is effective for homogeneously dispersing rare earth ions in silica glass to get a high quantum yield. High quality medium, which is bubbleless and quite low refractive index distortion, must be required for realization of laser action, and therefore, we have carefully to treat the gelation and sintering processes, such as, selection of colloidal silica, pH value of for hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate, and sintering history. The quality of the sintered sample and the applications are discussed. (author)
Real-Time Acquisition of High Quality Face Sequences from an Active Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haque, Mohammad A.; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Moeslund, Thomas B.

2013-01-01

-based real-time high-quality face image acquisition system, which utilizes pan-tilt-zoom parameters of a camera to focus on a human face in a scene and employs a face quality assessment method to log the best quality faces from the captured frames. The system consists of four modules: face detection, camera...... control, face tracking, and face quality assessment before logging. Experimental results show that the proposed system can effectively log the high quality faces from the active camera in real-time (an average of 61.74ms was spent per frame) with an accuracy of 85.27% compared to human annotated data.......Traditional still camera-based facial image acquisition systems in surveillance applications produce low quality face images. This is mainly due to the distance between the camera and subjects of interest. Furthermore, people in such videos usually move around, change their head poses, and facial...
Quality and reliability control on assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, H.

1976-01-01

Taking as an example electronic assemblies in printed circuit board engineering, quality control during manufacture is dealt with. After giving a survey of four phases of quality and reliability control, some specific methods of quality control are dealt with by means of a flowchart, and by some examples the necessity and the success of these measures are shown. (RW) [de
Towards sensitive, high-throughput, biomolecular assays based on fluorescence lifetime

Science.gov (United States)

Ioanna Skilitsi, Anastasia; Turko, Timothé; Cianfarani, Damien; Barre, Sophie; Uhring, Wilfried; Hassiepen, Ulrich; Léonard, Jérémie

2017-09-01

Time-resolved fluorescence detection for robust sensing of biomolecular interactions is developed by implementing time-correlated single photon counting in high-throughput conditions. Droplet microfluidics is used as a promising platform for the very fast handling of low-volume samples. We illustrate the potential of this very sensitive and cost-effective technology in the context of an enzymatic activity assay based on fluorescently-labeled biomolecules. Fluorescence lifetime detection by time-correlated single photon counting is shown to enable reliable discrimination between positive and negative control samples at a throughput as high as several hundred samples per second.
Awareness and use of evidence-based medicine information among patients in Croatia: a nation-wide cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nejašmić, Danijel; Miošić, Ivana; Vrdoljak, Davorka; Permozer Hajdarović, Snježana; Tomičić, Marion; Gmajnić, Rudika; Diminić Lisica, Ines; Sironić Hreljanović, Jelena; Pleh, Vlatka; Cerovečki, Venija; Tomljenović, Anita; Bekić, Sanja; Jerčić, Minka; Tuđa, Karla; Puljak, Livia

2017-08-31

To determine the use of evidence-based medicine (EBM) information and the level of awareness and knowledge of EBM among patients in Croatia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 987 patients in 10 family medicine practices in Croatia. Patients from both urban (n=496) and rural (n=482) areas were surveyed. A 27-item questionnaire was used to collect data about sources that patients searched for medical information, patient awareness and use of Cochrane systematic reviews and other EBM resources, and their demographic characteristics. Half of the patients searched for medical information from sources other than physician. Internet was the most common place they searched for information. Very few patients indicated using EBM sources for medical information; one fifth of patients heard of EBM and 4% of the patients heard of the Cochrane Collaboration. Patients considered physician's opinion as the most reliable source of medical information. A logistic regression model showed that educational level and urban vs rural residence were the predictors of awareness about EBM and systematic reviews (P<0.001 for both). Our finding that patients consider a physician's opinion to be the most reliable source of health-related information could be used for promotion of high-quality health information among patients. More effort should be devoted to the education of patients in rural areas and those with less formal education. New avenues for knowledge translation and dissemination of high-quality health information among patients are necessary.

Quality Assurance Strategy for Existing Homes: Final Quality Management Primer for High Performing Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Del Bianco, M.; Taggart, J.; Sikora, J.; Wood, A.

2012-12-01

This guide is designed to help Building America (BA) Teams understand quality management and its role in transitioning from conventional to high performance home building and remodeling. It explains what quality means, the value of quality management systems, the unique need for QMS when building high performing homes, and the first steps to a implementing a comprehensive QMS. This document provides a framework and context for BA teams when they encounter builders and remodelers.
Quality Assurance Strategy for Existing Homes. Final Quality Management Primer for High Performing Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Del Bianco, M. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Taggart, J. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Sikora, J. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Wood, A. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

2012-12-01

This guide is designed to help Building America (BA) teams understand quality management and its role in transitioning from conventional to high performance home building and remodeling. It explains what quality means, the value of quality management systems, the unique need for QMS when building high performing homes, and the first steps to a implementing a comprehensive QMS. This document provides a framework and context for BA teams when they encounter builders and remodelers.
Development of highly reliable power and communication system for essential instruments under severe accidents in NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Bo Hwan; Jang, Gi Chan; Shin, Sung Min; Kang, Hyun Gook; Rim, Chun Taek [Dept. of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Soo Ill [I and C Group, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd, Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

This article proposes a highly reliable power and communication system that guarantees the protection of essential instruments in a nuclear power plant under a severe accident. Both power and communication lines are established with not only conventional wired channels, but also the proposed wireless channels for emergency reserve. An inductive power transfer system is selected due to its robust power transfer characteristics under high temperature, high pressure, and highly humid environments with a large amount of scattered debris after a severe accident. A thermal insulation box and a glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are proposed to protect the essential instruments, including vulnerable electronic circuits, from extremely high temperatures of up to 627 .deg. C and pressure of up to 5 bar. The proposed wireless power and communication system is experimentally verified by an inductive power transfer system prototype having a dipole coil structure and prototype Zigbee modules over a 7-m distance, where both the thermal insulation box and the glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are fabricated and tested using a high-temperature chamber. Moreover, an experiment on the effects of a high radiation environment on various electronic devices is conducted based on the radiation test having a maximum accumulated dose of 27 Mrad.
Development of Highly Reliable Power and Communication System for Essential Instruments Under Severe Accidents in NPP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Hwan Choi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a highly reliable power and communication system that guarantees the protection of essential instruments in a nuclear power plant under a severe accident. Both power and communication lines are established with not only conventional wired channels, but also the proposed wireless channels for emergency reserve. An inductive power transfer system is selected due to its robust power transfer characteristics under high temperature, high pressure, and highly humid environments with a large amount of scattered debris after a severe accident. A thermal insulation box and a glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are proposed to protect the essential instruments, including vulnerable electronic circuits, from extremely high temperatures of up to 627°C and pressure of up to 5 bar. The proposed wireless power and communication system is experimentally verified by an inductive power transfer system prototype having a dipole coil structure and prototype Zigbee modules over a 7-m distance, where both the thermal insulation box and the glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are fabricated and tested using a high-temperature chamber. Moreover, an experiment on the effects of a high radiation environment on various electronic devices is conducted based on the radiation test having a maximum accumulated dose of 27 Mrad.
Development of highly reliable power and communication system for essential instruments under severe accidents in NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Bo Hwan; Jang, Gi Chan; Shin, Sung Min; Kang, Hyun Gook; Rim, Chun Taek; Lee, Soo Ill

2016-01-01

This article proposes a highly reliable power and communication system that guarantees the protection of essential instruments in a nuclear power plant under a severe accident. Both power and communication lines are established with not only conventional wired channels, but also the proposed wireless channels for emergency reserve. An inductive power transfer system is selected due to its robust power transfer characteristics under high temperature, high pressure, and highly humid environments with a large amount of scattered debris after a severe accident. A thermal insulation box and a glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are proposed to protect the essential instruments, including vulnerable electronic circuits, from extremely high temperatures of up to 627 .deg. C and pressure of up to 5 bar. The proposed wireless power and communication system is experimentally verified by an inductive power transfer system prototype having a dipole coil structure and prototype Zigbee modules over a 7-m distance, where both the thermal insulation box and the glass-fiber reinforced plastic box are fabricated and tested using a high-temperature chamber. Moreover, an experiment on the effects of a high radiation environment on various electronic devices is conducted based on the radiation test having a maximum accumulated dose of 27 Mrad
Statistical reconstruction for cone-beam CT with a post-artifact-correction noise model: application to high-quality head imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dang, H; Stayman, J W; Sisniega, A; Xu, J; Zbijewski, W; Siewerdsen, J H; Wang, X; Foos, D H; Aygun, N; Koliatsos, V E

2015-01-01

Non-contrast CT reliably detects fresh blood in the brain and is the current front-line imaging modality for intracranial hemorrhage such as that occurring in acute traumatic brain injury (contrast ∼40–80 HU, size > 1 mm). We are developing flat-panel detector (FPD) cone-beam CT (CBCT) to facilitate such diagnosis in a low-cost, mobile platform suitable for point-of-care deployment. Such a system may offer benefits in the ICU, urgent care/concussion clinic, ambulance, and sports and military theatres. However, current FPD-CBCT systems face significant challenges that confound low-contrast, soft-tissue imaging. Artifact correction can overcome major sources of bias in FPD-CBCT but imparts noise amplification in filtered backprojection (FBP). Model-based reconstruction improves soft-tissue image quality compared to FBP by leveraging a high-fidelity forward model and image regularization. In this work, we develop a novel penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) image reconstruction method with a noise model that includes accurate modeling of the noise characteristics associated with the two dominant artifact corrections (scatter and beam-hardening) in CBCT and utilizes modified weights to compensate for noise amplification imparted by each correction. Experiments included real data acquired on a FPD-CBCT test-bench and an anthropomorphic head phantom emulating intra-parenchymal hemorrhage. The proposed PWLS method demonstrated superior noise-resolution tradeoffs in comparison to FBP and PWLS with conventional weights (viz. at matched 0.50 mm spatial resolution, CNR = 11.9 compared to CNR = 5.6 and CNR = 9.9, respectively) and substantially reduced image noise especially in challenging regions such as skull base. The results support the hypothesis that with high-fidelity artifact correction and statistical reconstruction using an accurate post-artifact-correction noise model, FPD-CBCT can achieve image quality allowing reliable detection of
Real-World Solutions for Developing High-Quality PHP Frameworks and Applications

CERN Document Server

Bergmann, Sebastian

2011-01-01

Learn to develop high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP Packed with in-depth information and step-by-step guidance, this book escorts you through the process of creating, maintaining and extending sustainable software of high quality with PHP. World-renowned PHP experts present real-world case studies for developing high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP that can easily be adapted to changing business requirements. . They offer different approaches to solving typical development and quality assurance problems that every developer needs to know and master.Details the process
Organizational learning in high risk technologies: Evidence from the nuclear power industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, A.; Bromiley, P.; Nichols, M.

1990-01-01

Technologies where catastrophe is possible pose dangers not only to the immediate victims, but also to innocent bystanders and to future generations who have no control over the system. The question has been raised as to whether organization theory can be extended to such high risk technologies; for, after all, this theory is based on organizations that do not have catastrophic potential. It has been argued that there may be special features of high risk technologies, for example the need to combine structured and disciplined organizational forms with decentralization to deal with unplanned interactions, that makes the application of organization theory especially difficult. Furthermore, there has been relatively little empirical work on the management of high risk technologies (with regard to the nuclear power industry the exceptions are noted); and much of what is known comes from case analyses. This paper attempts to respond to these challenges, first, by taking a concept from organizational theory and applying it to a high risk technology, and second, by trying to empirically relate measures of this concept to measures of safety. The concept is organizational learning. The authors wish to determine if there is evidence of learning in the nuclear power industry, and, if there is evidence of learning, what form this learning takes
Space Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

elements (five SMGTs) for the S2E2 Mobile Ground System. SBIRS Block Buy (GEO 5-6) The GEO 5-6 Tech Refresh (TR) Engineering Change Proposal was...Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) RCS: DD-A&T(Q&A)823-210 Space Based Infrared System High ( SBIRS High) As of FY 2017 President’s Budget Defense...Acquisition Management Information Retrieval (DAMIR) March 23, 2016 11:24:26 UNCLASSIFIED SBIRS High December 2015 SAR March 23, 2016 11:24:26
Theory of high-Tc superconducting cuprates based on experimental evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrikosov, A. A.

1999-01-01

A model of superconductivity in layered high-temperature superconducting cuprates is proposed, based on the extended saddle point singularities in the electron spectrum, weak screening of the Coulomb interaction and phonon-mediated interaction between electrons plus a small short-range repulsion of Hund's, or spin-fluctuation, origin. This permits to explain the large values of Tc, features of the isotope effect on oxygen and copper, the existence of two types of the order parameter, the peak in the inelastic neutron scattering, the positive curvature of the upper critical field, as function of temperature etc
An overview of the reliability prediction related aspects of high power IGBTs in wind power applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Busca, Christian; Teodorescu, Remus; Blaabjerg, Frede

2011-01-01

Reliability is becoming more and more important as the size and number of installed Wind Turbines (WTs) increases. Very high reliability is especially important for offshore WTs because the maintenance and repair of such WTs in case of failures can be very expensive. WT manufacturers need...
Adaptation and validation of the Evidence-Based Practice Belief and Implementation scales for French-speaking Swiss nurses and allied healthcare providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Verloo, Henk; Desmedt, Mario; Morin, Diane

2017-09-01

To evaluate two psychometric properties of the French versions of the Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scales, namely their internal consistency and construct validity. The Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scales developed by Melnyk et al. are recognised as valid, reliable instruments in English. However, no psychometric validation for their French versions existed. Secondary analysis of a cross sectional survey. Source data came from a cross-sectional descriptive study sample of 382 nurses and other allied healthcare providers. Cronbach's alpha was used to evaluate internal consistency, and principal axis factor analysis and varimax rotation were computed to determine construct validity. The French Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scales showed excellent reliability, with Cronbach's alphas close to the scores established by Melnyk et al.'s original versions. Principal axis factor analysis showed medium-to-high factor loading scores without obtaining collinearity. Principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation of the 16-item Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs scale resulted in a four-factor loading structure. Principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation of the 17-item Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scale revealed a two-factor loading structure. Further research should attempt to understand why the French Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scale showed a two-factor loading structure but Melnyk et al.'s original has only one. The French versions of the Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scales can both be considered valid and reliable instruments for measuring Evidence-Based Practice beliefs and implementation. The results suggest that the French Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation scales are valid and reliable and can therefore be used to
The use of Bayesian networks to assess the quality of evidence from research synthesis: 1.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gavin B Stewart

Full Text Available The grades of recommendation, assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE approach is widely implemented in systematic reviews, health technology assessment and guideline development organisations throughout the world. A key advantage to this approach is that it aids transparency regarding judgments on the quality of evidence. However, the intricacies of making judgments about research methodology and evidence make the GRADE system complex and challenging to apply without training.We have developed a semi-automated quality assessment tool (SAQAT l based on GRADE. This is informed by responses by reviewers to checklist questions regarding characteristics that may lead to unreliability. These responses are then entered into the Bayesian network to ascertain the probabilities of risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision and publication bias conditional on review characteristics. The model then combines these probabilities to provide a probability for each of the GRADE overall quality categories. We tested the model using a range of plausible scenarios that guideline developers or review authors could encounter.Overall, the model reproduced GRADE judgements for a range of scenarios. Potential advantages over standard assessment are use of explicit and consistent weightings for different review characteristics, forcing consideration of important but sometimes neglected characteristics and principled downgrading where small but important probabilities of downgrading are accrued across domains.Bayesian networks have considerable potential for use as tools to assess the validity of research evidence. The key strength of such networks lies in the provision of a statistically coherent method for combining probabilities across a complex framework based on both belief and evidence. In addition to providing tools for less experienced users to implement reliability assessment, the potential for sensitivity analyses and automation may be
Performance and reliability of the Y-Balance TestTM in high school athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Laura J; Creps, James R; Bean, Ryan; Rodda, Becky; Alsalaheen, Bara

2017-11-07

Lower extremity injuries account for 32.9% of the overall injuries in high school athletes. Previous research has suggested that asymmetry greater than 4cm using the Y-Balance TestTM Lower Quarter (YBT-LQ) in the anterior direction is predictive of non- contact injuries in adults and collegiate athletes. The prevalence of asymmetries or abnormal YBT-LQ performance is not well documented for adolescents. The primary purposes of this study are: 1) to characterize the prevalence of YBT-LQ asymmetries and performance in a cross-sectional sample of adolescents, 2) to examine possible differences in performance on the YBT-LQ between male and female adolescents, and 3) to describe the test-retest reliability of the YBT-LQ in a subsample of adolescents. Observational cross-sectional study. High-school athletes completed the YBT-LQ as main outcome measure. 51 male, 59 female high-school athletes participated in this study. Asymmetries greater than 4cm in the posteromedial (PM) reach direction were most prevalent for male (54.9%) and female (50.8%) participants. Females presented with slightly higher composite scores. Good reliability (ICC = 0.89) was found for the anterior (ANT) direction, and moderate reliability with 0.76 for posterolateral (PL) and 0.63 for PM directions. The MDC95 for the ANT direction was 6% and 12% for both the PL and PM directions. The YBT-LQ performance can be beneficial in assessing recovery in an injured extremity compared to the other limb. However, due to the large MDC95, noted in the PM and PL directions, the differences between sequential testing cannot be attributed to true change in balance unless they exceed the MDC95. In this study, 79% of the athletes presented with at least one asymmetry in YBT-LQ reach distances. Moderate reliability in the PL and PM directions warrants reexamination of the definition of asymmetry in these directions.
Quality assurance and evidence in career guidance in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plant, Peter

2011-01-01

Quality assurance and evidence in career guidance in Europe is based on a particular, positivtic model. Other approaches are largely neglected.......Quality assurance and evidence in career guidance in Europe is based on a particular, positivtic model. Other approaches are largely neglected....
Evidence-based medicine and hospital reform: tracing origins back to Florence Nightingale.

Science.gov (United States)

Aravind, Maya; Chung, Kevin C

2010-01-01

The use of reliable evidence to evaluate health care interventions has gained strong support within the medical community and in the field of plastic surgery in particular. Evidence-based medicine aims to improve health care and reduce costs through the use of sound clinical evidence in evaluating treatments, procedures, and outcomes. The field is hardly new, however, and most trace its origins back to the work of Cochrane in the 1970s and Sackett in the 1990s. Though she wouldn't know it, Florence Nightingale was applying the concepts of evidence-based reform to the medical profession more than a century before. She used medical statistics to reveal the nature of infection in hospitals and on the battlefield. Moreover, Nightingale marshaled data and evidence to establish guidelines for health care reform. Tracing the origins of evidence-based medicine back to Nightingale underscores how critical this movement is to improving the quality and effectiveness of patient care today.
Mass Spectrometry-based Assay for High Throughput and High Sensitivity Biomarker Verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Xuejiang; Tang, Keqi

2017-06-14

Searching for disease specific biomarkers has become a major undertaking in the biomedical research field as the effective diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of many complex human diseases are largely determined by the availability and the quality of the biomarkers. A successful biomarker as an indicator to a specific biological or pathological process is usually selected from a large group of candidates by a strict verification and validation process. To be clinically useful, the validated biomarkers must be detectable and quantifiable by the selected testing techniques in their related tissues or body fluids. Due to its easy accessibility, protein biomarkers would ideally be identified in blood plasma or serum. However, most disease related protein biomarkers in blood exist at very low concentrations (<1ng/mL) and are “masked” by many none significant species at orders of magnitude higher concentrations. The extreme requirements of measurement sensitivity, dynamic range and specificity make the method development extremely challenging. The current clinical protein biomarker measurement primarily relies on antibody based immunoassays, such as ELISA. Although the technique is sensitive and highly specific, the development of high quality protein antibody is both expensive and time consuming. The limited capability of assay multiplexing also makes the measurement an extremely low throughput one rendering it impractical when hundreds to thousands potential biomarkers need to be quantitatively measured across multiple samples. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based assays have recently shown to be a viable alternative for high throughput and quantitative candidate protein biomarker verification. Among them, the triple quadrupole MS based assay is the most promising one. When it is coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) separation and electrospray ionization (ESI) source, a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in a special selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode
A pulse shape discriminator with high precision of neutron and gamma ray selection at high counting rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bialkowski, J.; Moszynski, M.; Wolski, D.

1989-01-01

A pulse shape discriminator based on the zero-crossing principle is described. Due to dc negative feedback loops stabilizing the shaping amplifier and the zero-crossing discriminator, the working of the circuit is not affected by the high counting rate and the temperature variations. The pileup rejection circuit built into the discriminator improves the quality of the n-γ separation at high counting rates. A full γ-ray rejection is obtained for a recoil energy of electrons down to 25 keV. At high counting rates the remaining γ-ray contribution is evidently due to the pileup effect which is equal to about 2% at 4x10 5 counts/s. (orig.)
Evaluating the state of quality-improvement science through evidence synthesis: insights from the closing the quality gap series.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Kathryn M; Schultz, Ellen M; Chang, Christine

2013-01-01

The Closing the Quality Gap series from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality summarizes evidence for eight high-priority health care topics: outcomes used in disability research, bundled payment programs, public reporting initiatives, health care disparities, palliative care, the patient-centered medical home, prevention of health care-associated infections, and medication adherence. To distill evidence from this series and provide insight into the "state of the science" of quality improvement (QI). We provided common guidance for topic development and qualitatively synthesized evidence from the series topic reports to identify cross-topic themes, challenges, and evidence gaps as related to QI practice and science. Among topics that examined effectiveness of QI interventions, we found improvement in some outcomes but not others. Implementation context and potential harms from QI activities were not widely evaluated or reported, although market factors appeared important for incentive-based QI strategies. Patient-focused and systems-focused strategies were generally more effective than clinician-focused strategies, although the latter approach improved clinician adherence to infection prevention strategies. Audit and feedback appeared better for targeting professionals and organizations, but not patients. Topic reviewers observed heterogeneity in outcomes used for QI evaluations, weaknesses in study design, and incomplete reporting. Synthesizing evidence across topics provided insight into the state of the QI field for practitioners and researchers. To facilitate future evidence synthesis, consensus is needed around a smaller set of outcomes for use in QI evaluations and a framework and lexicon to describe QI interventions more broadly, in alignment with needs of decision makers responsible for improving quality.
Reliability of spring interconnects for high channel-count polyimide electrode arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Sharif; Ordonez, Juan Sebastian; Stieglitz, Thomas

2018-05-01

Active neural implants with a high channel-count need robust and reliable operational assembly for the targeted environment in order to be classified as viable fully implantable systems. The discrete functionality of the electrode array and the implant electronics is vital for intact assembly. A critical interface exists at the interconnection sites between the electrode array and the implant electronics, especially in hybrid assemblies (e.g. retinal implants) where electrodes and electronics are not on the same substrate. Since the interconnects in such assemblies cannot be hermetically sealed, reliable protection against the physiological environment is essential for delivering high insulation resistance and low defusibility of salt ions, which are limited in complexity by current assembly techniques. This work reports on a combination of spring-type interconnects on a polyimide array with silicone rubber gasket insulation for chronically active implantable systems. The spring design of the interconnects on the backend of the electrode array compensates for the uniform thickness of the sandwiched gasket during bonding in assembly and relieves the propagation of extrinsic stresses to the bulk polyimide substrate. The contact resistance of the microflex-bonded spring interconnects with the underlying metallized ceramic test vehicles and insulation through the gasket between adjacent contacts was investigated against the MIL883 standard. The contact and insulation resistances remained stable in the exhausting environmental conditions.

Using Web 2.0 technologies to enhance evidence-based medical information.

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Miriam J; Flanagin, Andrew J

2011-01-01

This article invokes research on information seeking and evaluation to address how providers of evidence-based medical information can use Web 2.0 technologies to increase access to, enliven users' experiences with, and enrich the quality of the information available. In an ideal scenario, evidence-based medical information can take appropriate advantage of community intelligence spawned by Web 2.0 technologies, resulting in the ideal combination of scientifically sound, high-quality information that is imbued with experiential insights from a multitude of individuals. To achieve this goal, the authors argue that people will engage with information that they can access easily, and that they perceive as (a) relevant to their information-seeking goals and (b) credible. The authors suggest the utility of Web 2.0 technologies for engaging stakeholders with evidence-based medical information through these mechanisms, and the degree to which the information provided can and should be trusted. Last, the authors discuss potential problems with Web 2.0 information in relation to decision making in health contexts, and they conclude with specific and practical recommendations for the dissemination of evidence-based health information via Web 2.0 technologies.
Cooking and the human commitment to a high-quality diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Carmody, R N; Wrangham, R W

2009-01-01

For our body size, humans exhibit higher energy use yet reduced structures for mastication and digestion of food compared to chimpanzees, our closest living relatives. This suite of features suggests that humans are adapted to a high-quality diet. Although increased consumption of meat during human evolution certainly contributed to dietary quality, meat-eating alone appears to be insufficient to support the evolution of these traits, because modern humans fare poorly on raw diets that include meat. Here, we suggest that cooking confers physical and chemical benefits to food that are consistent with observed human dietary adaptations. We review evidence showing that cooking facilitates mastication, increases digestibility, and otherwise improves the net energy value of plant and animal foods regularly consumed by humans. We also address the likelihood that cooking was adopted more than 250,000 years ago (kya), a period that we believe is sufficient in length for the proposed adaptations to have occurred. Additional experimental work is needed to help discriminate the relative contributions of cooking, meat eating, and other innovations such as nonthermal food processing in supporting the human transition toward dietary quality.
Evidence-based approach for continuous improvement of occupational health.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoli, Lamberto; Sotgiu, Giovanni; Magnavita, Nicola; Durando, Paolo

2015-01-01

It was recognized early on that an Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) approach could be applied to Public Health (PH), including the area of Occupational Health (OH). The aim of Evidence-Based Occupational Health (EBOH) is to ensure safety, health, and well-being in the workplace. Currently, high-quality research is necessary in order to provide arguments and scientific evidence upon which effective, efficient, and sustainable preventive measures and policies are to be developed in the workplace in Western countries. Occupational physicians need to integrate available scientific evidence and existing recommendations with a framework of national employment laws and regulations. This paper addresses the state of the art of scientific evidence available in the field (i.e., efficacy of interventions, usefulness of education and training of workers, and need of a multidisciplinary strategy integrated within the national PH programs) and the main critical issues for their implementation. Promoting good health is a fundamental part of the smart, inclusive growth objectives of Europe 2020 - Europe's growth strategy: keeping people healthy and active for longer has a positive impact on productivity and competitiveness. It appears clear that health quality and safety in the workplace play a key role for smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth in Western countries.
Reliable high-power diode lasers: thermo-mechanical fatigue aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Klumel, Genady; Gridish, Yaakov; Szafranek, Igor; Karni, Yoram

2006-02-01

High power water-cooled diode lasers are finding increasing demand in biomedical, cosmetic and industrial applications, where repetitive cw (continuous wave) and pulsed cw operation modes are required. When operating in such modes, the lasers experience numerous complete thermal cycles between "cold" heat sink temperature and the "hot" temperature typical of thermally equilibrated cw operation. It is clearly demonstrated that the main failure mechanism directly linked to repetitive cw operation is thermo-mechanical fatigue of the solder joints adjacent to the laser bars, especially when "soft" solders are used. Analyses of the bonding interfaces were carried out using scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that intermetallic compounds, formed already during the bonding process, lead to the solders fatigue both on the p- and n-side of the laser bar. Fatigue failure of solder joints in repetitive cw operation reduces useful lifetime of the stacks to hundreds hours, in comparison with more than 10,000 hours lifetime typically demonstrated in commonly adopted non-stop cw reliability testing programs. It is shown, that proper selection of package materials and solders, careful design of fatigue sensitive parts and burn-in screening in the hard pulse operation mode allow considerable increase of lifetime and reliability, without compromising the device efficiency, optical power density and compactness.
Large scale commercial fabrication of high quality graphene-based assays for biomolecule detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lerner, Mitchell; Gao, Yingning; Goldsmith, Brett; Barron, Francie

Large numbers of high quality graphene transistors with mobility approximately 5000 cm2 / V * s were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition and packaged into ceramic carriers with an open cavity design. The ceramic carrier is compatible with standard electronics assembly, enabling the readout of graphene properties on the benchtop without large, expensive probing systems. After chemical functionalization, these sensors demonstrate sensitivity in the pM range and selectivity to many classes of biomolecules as a three terminal liquid-gated field effect transistor. High precision measurements of protein kinetics captured using this technology, commercially known as AGILE R100, are comparable and can exceed the capabilities of state-of-the-art biomolecule characterization tools. Recently published in Sensors and Actuators B
Measuring earnings quality: Evidence from New Zealand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Nurul Houqe

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We utilize two basic approaches to measure the quality of earnings which control two different dimensions of earnings management. The research design is structured primary on the basis of calculating two different measures of the quality of earnings on the industry level and on the company level. We calculate earnings quality for New Zealand public firms from the OSIRIS (http://www.osiris.com database for 2004-2007. This research concludes that various stakeholders should apply more than one measure for the quality of earning in order to have strong evidence about the level of quality before taking any corrective action or making any decision related to that company. If one company is having low quality of earning according to one technique and high quality of earnings according to another, the stakeholders cannot have a final conclusion about that company and they need more investigations and analysis to assess the quality of earnings
A G-function-based reliability-based design methodology applied to a cam roller system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, W.; Sui, P.; Wu, Y.T.

1996-01-01

Conventional reliability-based design optimization methods treats the reliability function as an ordinary function and applies existing mathematical programming techniques to solve the design problem. As a result, the conventional approach requires nested loops with respect to g-function, and is very time consuming. A new reliability-based design method is proposed in this paper that deals with the g-function directly instead of the reliability function. This approach has the potential of significantly reducing the number of calls for g-function calculations since it requires only one full reliability analysis in a design iteration. A cam roller system in a typical high pressure fuel injection diesel engine is designed using both the proposed and the conventional approach. The proposed method is much more efficient for this application
Validity evidence as a key marker of quality of technical skill assessment in OTL-HNS.

Science.gov (United States)

Labbé, Mathilde; Young, Meredith; Nguyen, Lily H P

2018-01-13

Quality monitoring of assessment practices should be a priority in all residency programs. Validity evidence is one of the main hallmarks of assessment quality and should be collected to support the interpretation and use of assessment data. Our objective was to identify, synthesize, and present the validity evidence reported supporting different technical skill assessment tools in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OTL-HNS). We performed a secondary analysis of data generated through a systematic review of all published tools for assessing technical skills in OTL-HNS (n = 16). For each tool, we coded validity evidence according to the five types of evidence described by the American Educational Research Association's interpretation of Messick's validity framework. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted. All 16 tools included in our analysis were supported by internal structure and relationship to variables validity evidence. Eleven articles presented evidence supporting content. Response process was discussed only in one article, and no study reported on evidence exploring consequences. We present the validity evidence reported for 16 rater-based tools that could be used for work-based assessment of OTL-HNS residents in the operating room. The articles included in our review were consistently deficient in evidence for response process and consequences. Rater-based assessment tools that support high-stakes decisions that impact the learner and programs should include several sources of validity evidence. Thus, use of any assessment should be done with careful consideration of the context-specific validity evidence supporting score interpretation, and we encourage deliberate continual assessment quality-monitoring. NA. Laryngoscope, 2018. © 2018 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.
Standard semiconductor packaging for high-reliability low-cost MEMS applications

Science.gov (United States)

Harney, Kieran P.

2005-01-01

Microelectronic packaging technology has evolved over the years in response to the needs of IC technology. The fundamental purpose of the package is to provide protection for the silicon chip and to provide electrical connection to the circuit board. Major change has been witnessed in packaging and today wafer level packaging technology has further revolutionized the industry. MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology has created new challenges for packaging that do not exist in standard ICs. However, the fundamental objective of MEMS packaging is the same as traditional ICs, the low cost and reliable presentation of the MEMS chip to the next level interconnect. Inertial MEMS is one of the best examples of the successful commercialization of MEMS technology. The adoption of MEMS accelerometers for automotive airbag applications has created a high volume market that demands the highest reliability at low cost. The suppliers to these markets have responded by exploiting standard semiconductor packaging infrastructures. However, there are special packaging needs for MEMS that cannot be ignored. New applications for inertial MEMS devices are emerging in the consumer space that adds the imperative of small size to the need for reliability and low cost. These trends are not unique to MEMS accelerometers. For any MEMS technology to be successful the packaging must provide the basic reliability and interconnection functions, adding the least possible cost to the product. This paper will discuss the evolution of MEMS packaging in the accelerometer industry and identify the main issues that needed to be addressed to enable the successful commercialization of the technology in the automotive and consumer markets.
A high reliability oxygen deficiency monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parry, R.; Claborn, G.; Haas, A.; Landis, R.; Page, W.; Smith, J.

1993-05-01

The escalating use of cryogens at national laboratories in general and accelerators in particular, along with the increased emphasis placed on personnel safety, mandates the development and installation of oxygen monitoring systems to insure personnel safety in the event of a cryogenic leak. Numerous vendors offer oxygen deficiency monitoring systems but fail to provide important features and/or flexibility. This paper describes a unique oxygen monitoring system developed for the Magnet Test Laboratory (MTL) at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory (SSCL). Features include: high reliability, oxygen cell redundancy, sensor longevity, simple calibration, multiple trip points, offending sensor audio and visual indication, global alarms for building evacuation, local and remote analog readout, event and analog data logging, EMAIL event notification, phone line voice status system, and multi-drop communications network capability for reduced cable runs. Of particular importance is the distributed topology of the system which allows it to operate in a stand-alone configuration or to communicate with a host computer. This flexibility makes it ideal for small applications such as a small room containing a cryogenic dewar, as well as larger systems which monitor many offices and labs in several buildings
A high reliability oxygen deficiency monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parry, R.; Claborn, G.; Haas, A.; Landis, R.; Page, W.; Smith, J.

1993-01-01

The escalating use of cryogens at national laboratories in general and accelerators in particular, along with the increased emphasis placed on personnel safety, mandates the development and installation of oxygen monitoring systems to insure personnel safety in the event of a cryogenic leak. Numerous vendors offer oxygen deficiency monitoring systems but fail to provide important features and/or flexibility. This paper describes a unique oxygen monitoring system developed for the Magnet Test Laboratory (MTL) at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory (SSCL). Features include: high reliability, oxygen cell redundancy, sensor longevity, simple calibration, multiple trip points, offending sensor audio and visual indication, global alarms for building evacuation, local and remote analog readout, event and analog data logging, EMAIL event notification, phone line voice status system, and multi-drop communications network capability for reduced cable runs. Of particular importance is the distributed topology of the system which allows it to operate in a stand-alone configuration or to communicate with a host computer. This flexibility makes it ideal for small applications such as a small room containing a cryogenic dewar, as well as larger systems which monitor many offices and labs in several buildings
High-quality AlN films grown on chemical vapor-deposited graphene films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Bin-Hao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We report the growth of high-quality AlN films on graphene. The graphene films were synthesized by CVD and then transferred onto silicon substrates. Epitaxial aluminum nitride films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on both graphene as an intermediate layer and silicon as a substrate. The structural characteristics of the AlN films and graphene were investigated. Highly c-axis-oriented AlN crystal structures are investigated based on the XRDpatterns observations.
A novel, fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI) for air quality assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Sowlat, Mohammad Hossein; Gharibi, Hamed; Yunesian, Masud; Tayefeh Mahmoudi, Maryam; Lotfi, Saeedeh

2011-04-01

The ever increasing level of air pollution in most areas of the world has led to development of a variety of air quality indices for estimation of health effects of air pollution, though the indices have their own limitations such as high levels of subjectivity. Present study, therefore, aimed at developing a novel, fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI ) to handle such limitations. The index developed by present study is based on fuzzy logic that is considered as one of the most common computational methods of artificial intelligence. In addition to criteria air pollutants (i.e. CO, SO 2, PM 10, O 3, NO 2), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and 1,3-butadiene were also taken into account in the index proposed, because of their considerable health effects. Different weighting factors were then assigned to each pollutant according to its priority. Trapezoidal membership functions were employed for classifications and the final index consisted of 72 inference rules. To assess the performance of the index, a case study was carried out employing air quality data at five different sampling stations in Tehran, Iran, from January 2008 to December 2009, results of which were then compared to the results obtained from USEPA air quality index (AQI). According to the results from present study, fuzzy-based air quality index is a comprehensive tool for classification of air quality and tends to produce accurate results. Therefore, it can be considered useful, reliable, and suitable for consideration by local authorities in air quality assessment and management schemes. Fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI).
Thai SF-36 health survey: tests of data quality, scaling assumptions, reliability and validity in healthy men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Lynette L-Y; Seubsman, Sam-Ang; Sleigh, Adrian

2008-07-18

Since its translation to Thai in 2000, the SF-36 Health Survey has been used extensively in many different clinical settings in Thailand. Its popularity has increased despite the absence of published evidence that the translated instrument satisfies scoring assumptions, the psychometric properties required for valid interpretation of the SF-36 summated ratings scales. The purpose of this paper was to examine these properties and to report on the reliability and validity of the Thai SF-36 in a non-clinical general population. 1345 distance-education university students who live in all areas of Thailand completed a questionnaire comprising the Thai SF-36 (Version 1). Median age was 31 years. Psychometric tests recommended by the International Quality of Life Assessment Project were used. Data quality was satisfactory: questionnaire completion rate was high (97.5%) and missing data rates were low (Vitality scale correlated better with the Mental Health scale than with itself, possibly because a healthy mental state is central to the concept of vitality in Thailand. The summated ratings method can be used for scoring the Thai SF-36. The instrument was found to be reliable and valid for use in a general non-clinical population. Version 2 of the SF-36 could improve ceiling and floor effects in the role functioning scales. Further work is warranted to refine items that measure the concepts of social functioning, vitality and mental health to improve the reliability and discriminant validity of these scales.
Evidence-based practice of periodontics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cobb, Charles M; MacNeill, Simon R; Satheesh, Keerthana

2010-01-01

Evidence-based practice involves complex and conscientious decision making based not only on the available evidence but also on patient characteristics, situations, and preferences. It recognizes that care is individualized and ever-changing and involves uncertainties and probabilities. The specialty of periodontics has abundant high-level evidence upon which treatment decisions can be determined. This paper offers a brief commentary and overview of the available evidence commonly used in the private practice of periodontics.
The contribution of quality assurance to safety and reliability in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raisic, N.

1978-01-01

The potential contribution of quality assurance to nuclear power plant safety and reliability is analysed. An attempt is made to establish a relationship between quality and reliability. The reliability may be expressed in quantitative terms as ''the probability that an item will perform a required function for a stated period of time''. Quality, however, cannot be expressed in simple quantitative terms but only as a set of required properties which an item should have for a specific application. The achievement of quality and additional reliability objectives is a task of project activities such as design, construction, installation, operation, etc. The elements of a quality assurance system and its functions in nuclear power projects are presented in some detail. Confidence in plant quality, which should be a basis for the regulatory body issuing the construction permit or operation licence, should be based on the capability of quality assurance activities to prevent errors and correct deficiencies in nuclear power plants. An analysis is made of those errors in plant design, manufacture, construction and operation which contribute most frequently to plant outages. It is concluded that these errors can be avoided or corrected by strict adherence to quality assurance principles and by the efficient functioning of quality assurance systems. In fact, quality assurance may be considered an effective defence against common cause failures originating in errors in the design, manufacture, installation or operation of a nuclear power plant
Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J; Burchinal, Margaret R; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2013-08-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were highest among children who experienced high-quality care in both the infant-toddler and preschool periods, somewhat lower among children who experienced high-quality child care during only 1 of these periods, and lowest among children who experienced low-quality care during both periods. Irrespective of the care received during infancy-toddlerhood, high-quality preschool care was related to better language and preacademic outcomes at the end of the preschool period; high-quality infant-toddler care, irrespective of preschool care, was related to better memory skills at the end of the preschool period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
High Speed Simulation Framework for Reliable Logic Programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Wan-Bok; Kim, Seog-Ju

2006-01-01

This paper shows a case study of designing a PLC logic simulator that was developed to simulate and verify PLC control programs for nuclear plant systems. The nuclear control system requires strict restrictions rather than normal process control system does, since it works with nuclear power plants requiring high reliability under severe environment. One restriction is the safeness of the control programs which can be assured by exploiting severe testing. Another restriction is the simulation speed of the control programs, that should be fast enough to control multi devices concurrently in real-time. To cope with these restrictions, we devised a logic compiler which generates C-code programs from given PLC logic programs. Once the logic program was translated into C-code, the program could be analyzed by conventional software analysis tools and could be used to construct a fast logic simulator after cross-compiling, in fact, that is a kind of compiled-code simulation
Improving ELM-Based Service Quality Prediction by Concise Feature Extraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhai Zhao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Web services often run on highly dynamic and changing environments, which generate huge volumes of data. Thus, it is impractical to monitor the change of every QoS parameter for the timely trigger precaution due to high computational costs associated with the process. To address the problem, this paper proposes an active service quality prediction method based on extreme learning machine. First, we extract web service trace logs and QoS information from the service log and convert them into feature vectors. Second, by the proposed EC rules, we are enabled to trigger the precaution of QoS as soon as possible with high confidence. An efficient prefix tree based mining algorithm together with some effective pruning rules is developed to mine such rules. Finally, we study how to extract a set of diversified features as the representative of all mined results. The problem is proved to be NP-hard. A greedy algorithm is presented to approximate the optimal solution. Experimental results show that ELM trained by the selected feature subsets can efficiently improve the reliability and the earliness of service quality prediction.
Producing high-quality slash pine seeds

Science.gov (United States)

James Barnett; Sue Varela

2003-01-01

Slash pine is a desirable species. It serves many purposes and is well adapted to poorly drained flatwoods and seasonally flooded areas along the lower Coastal Plain of the Southeastern US. The use of high-quality seeds has been shown to produce uniform seedlings for outplanting, which is key to silvicultural success along the Coastal Plain and elsewhere. We present...

Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with High-Functioning Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin, Marie-Christine; Snider, Laurie; Prelock, Patricia A.; Wood-Dauphinee, Sharon; Kehayia, Eva

2015-01-01

The health-related quality of life of school-aged children with high-functioning autism is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to compare the health-related quality of life of children with high-functioning autism to that of typically developing peers and to compare child-self and parent-proxy reports of health-related quality of…
High Quality RNA Isolation from Leaf, Shell, Root Tissues and Callus of Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Khosravi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Extraction of high quality RNA is a critical step in molecular genetics studies. Hazelnut is one of the most important nuts plants in the world. The presence of the taxol and other taxanes in hazelnut plant necessitates explaining their biosynthesis pathway and identifying the candidate genes. Therefore, an easy and practical method is necessary for RNA extraction from hazelnuts. Hazelnut has high levels of phenolic compounds. High amounts of polyphenolic and polysaccharide compounds in plants could be causing problems in RNA extraction procedures. To avoid these problems, a simple and efficient method can be used based on cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB extraction buffer and lithium chloride for extraction of high quality RNA from different parts of hazelnut plant. Using this method, a high-quality RNA sample (light absorbed in the A260/A280 was 2.04
Use of PFU protozoan community structural and functional characteristics in assessment of water quality in a large, highly polluted freshwater lake in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Muqi; Cao, Hong; Xie, Ping; Deng, Daogui; Feng, Weisong; Xu, Jian

2005-07-01

Structural and functional parameters of protozoan communities colonizing on PFU (polyurethane foam unit) artificial substrate were assessed as indicators of water quality in the Chaohu Lake, a large, shallow and highly polluted freshwater lake in China. Protozoan communities were sampled 1, 3, 6, 9 and 14 days after exposure of PFU artificial substrate in the lake during October 2003. Four study stations with the different water quality gradient changes along the lake were distinguishable in terms of differences in the community's structural (species richness, individual abundance, etc.) and functional parameters (protozoan colonization rates on PFU). The concentrations of TP, TN, COD and BOD as the main chemical indicators of pollution at the four sampling sites were also obtained each year during 2002-2003 for comparison with biological parameters. The results showed that the species richness and PFU colonization rate decreased as pollution intensity increased and that the Margalef diversity index values calculated at four sampling sites also related to water quality. The three functional parameters based on the PFU colonization process, that is, S(eq), G and T90%, were strongly related to the pollution status of the water. The number of protozoan species colonizing on PFU after exposure of 1 to 3 days was found to give a clear comparative indication of the water quality at the four sampling stations. The research provides further evidence that the protozoan community may be utilized effectively in the assessment of water quality and that the PFU method furnishes rapid, cost-effective and reliable information that may be useful for measuring responses to pollution stress in aquatic ecosystems.
Quantification of the occurrence of common-mode faults in highly reliable protective systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aitken, A.

1978-10-01

The report first covers the investigation, definition and classification of common mode failure (CMF) based on an extensive study of the nature of CMF. A new classification of CMF is proposed, based on possible causes of failures. This is used as a basis for analysing data from reported failures of reactor safety systems and aircraft systems. Design and maintenance errors are shown to be predominant cause of CMF. The estimated CMF rates for the highly reliable nuclear power plant automatic protection system (APS) and for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) are 2.8.10 -2 CMF/sub-system-year and 3.3.10 -2 CMF/sub-system-year respectively. For comparison, the data from the aircraft accident records have shown a CMF rate for total flight control system (FCS), 2.1.10 -5 CMF/sub-system-year. The analysis has laid the grounds for work on relating CMF modelling and defences
SUGAR: graphical user interface-based data refiner for high-throughput DNA sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Yukuto; Kojima, Kaname; Nariai, Naoki; Yamaguchi-Kabata, Yumi; Kawai, Yosuke; Takahashi, Mamoru; Mimori, Takahiro; Nagasaki, Masao

2014-08-08

Next-generation sequencers (NGSs) have become one of the main tools for current biology. To obtain useful insights from the NGS data, it is essential to control low-quality portions of the data affected by technical errors such as air bubbles in sequencing fluidics. We develop a software SUGAR (subtile-based GUI-assisted refiner) which can handle ultra-high-throughput data with user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and interactive analysis capability. The SUGAR generates high-resolution quality heatmaps of the flowcell, enabling users to find possible signals of technical errors during the sequencing. The sequencing data generated from the error-affected regions of a flowcell can be selectively removed by automated analysis or GUI-assisted operations implemented in the SUGAR. The automated data-cleaning function based on sequence read quality (Phred) scores was applied to a public whole human genome sequencing data and we proved the overall mapping quality was improved. The detailed data evaluation and cleaning enabled by SUGAR would reduce technical problems in sequence read mapping, improving subsequent variant analysis that require high-quality sequence data and mapping results. Therefore, the software will be especially useful to control the quality of variant calls to the low population cells, e.g., cancers, in a sample with technical errors of sequencing procedures.
High quality voice synthesis middle ware; Kohinshitsu onsei gosei middle war

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Toshiba Corp. newly developed a natural voice synthesis system, TOS Drive TTS (TOtally speaker Driven Text-To-Speech) system, in which natural high-quality read-aloud is greatly improved, and also developed as its application a voice synthesis middle ware. In the newly developed system, using as a model a narrator's voice recorded preliminarily, a metrical control dictionary is automatically learned that reproduces the characteristics of metrical patters such as intonation or rhythm of a human voice, as is a voice bases dictionary that reproduces the characteristics of a voice quality, enabling natural voice synthesis to be realized that picks up human voice characteristics. The system is high quality and also very compact, while the voice synthesis middle ware utilizing this technology is adaptable to various platforms such as MPU or OS. The system is very suitable for audio response in the ITS field having car navigation systems as the core; besides, expanded application is expected to an audio response system that used to employ a sound recording and reproducing system. (translated by NEDO)
National guidelines for high-cost drugs in Brazil: achievements and constraints of an innovative national evidence-based public health policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Picon, Paulo D; Beltrame, Alberto; Banta, David

2013-04-01

The translation of best evidence into practice has become an important purpose of policy making in health care. In Brazil, a country of continental dimensions with widespread regional and social inequalities, the dissemination and use of the best-evidence in policy making is a critical issue for the healthcare system. The main purpose of this study is to describe an evidence-based public health policy with special emphasis on guidelines creation for high-cost medicines. We also describe how that strategy was diffused to the judiciary system and to other parts of the healthcare system. We present an 11-year follow-up of a national project for creating and updating guidelines for high-cost medicines in Brazil. A total of 109 national guidelines were published (new or updated versions) for 66 selected diseases, the first such effort in Brazilian history. The project influenced the Brazilian legislature, which has recently established a Federal Law requiring national guidelines for any new technology listed for payment by the Brazilian public healthcare system. We were able to involve many different stakeholders in a partnership between academia and policy makers, which made possible the widespread dissemination of the clinical practice guidelines. Problems and constraints were also encountered. This evolving public health strategy might be useful for other developing countries.
Spectroscopic studies of sulfite-based polyoxometalates at high temperature and high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quesada Cabrera, Raul; Firth, Steven; Blackman, Christopher S.; Long, De-Liang; Cronin, Leroy; McMillan, Paul F.

2012-01-01

Structural changes occurring within non-conventional Dawson-type [α/β-Mo 18 O 54 (SO 3 ) 2 ] 4− polyanions in the form of tetrapentylammonium salts were studied by a combination of IR, Raman and visible spectroscopy at high temperature and high pressure. Evidence of the formation of bronze-type materials above 400 K and also upon pressurization to 8 GPa is presented. This conclusion is suggested to be a general result for polyoxometalate compounds subjected to extreme conditions and it opens opportunities for the design of new materials with interesting optical and electronic properties. - Graphical abstract: Structural changes occurring within non-conventional Dawson-type [α/β-Mo 18 O 54 (SO 3 ) 2 ] 4− polyanions in the form of tetrapentylammonium salts were studied by a combination of IR, Raman and visible spectroscopy at high temperature and high pressure. Evidence of the formation of bronze-type materials above 400 K and also upon pressurization to 8 GPa is presented. This conclusion is suggested to be a general result for polyoxometalate compounds subjected to extreme conditions and it opens opportunities for the design of new materials with interesting optical and electronic properties. Highlights: ► Spectroscopy studies of non-conventional Wells–Dawson polyoxometalates (POMs) at high temperature and high pressure. ► Discussion on the stability of two POM isomers. ► Local formation of bronze-like materials: possibilities for a new synthetic method at high pressure from POM precursors.
Experimental evidence for shape changes at high spin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Twin, P.J.

1985-01-01

Recent experimental evidence obtained with TESSA for shape changes at high spin is presented. Continuum γ-ray spectroscopy data indicates the co-existence of both prolate and oblate shapes in N = 90 nuclei and lifetime data in 152 Dy shows that the super deformed decays are very enhanced. (orig.)
The Healthcare Improvement Scotland evidence note rapid review process: providing timely, reliable evidence to inform imperative decisions on healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Heather M; Calvert, Julie; Macpherson, Karen J; Thompson, Lorna

2016-06-01

Rapid review has become widely adopted by health technology assessment agencies in response to demand for evidence-based information to support imperative decisions. Concern about the credibility of rapid reviews and the reliability of their findings has prompted a call for wider publication of their methods. In publishing this overview of the accredited rapid review process developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we aim to raise awareness of our methods and advance the discourse on best practice. Healthcare Improvement Scotland produces rapid reviews called evidence notes using a process that has achieved external accreditation through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Key components include a structured approach to topic selection, initial scoping, considered stakeholder involvement, streamlined systematic review, internal quality assurance, external peer review and updating. The process was introduced in 2010 and continues to be refined over time in response to user feedback and operational experience. Decision-makers value the responsiveness of the process and perceive it as being a credible source of unbiased evidence-based information supporting advice for NHSScotland. Many agencies undertaking rapid reviews are striving to balance efficiency with methodological rigour. We agree that there is a need for methodological guidance and that it should be informed by better understanding of current approaches and the consequences of different approaches to streamlining systematic review methods. Greater transparency in the reporting of rapid review methods is essential to enable that to happen.
Validity and reliability of the novel thyroid-specific quality of life questionnaire, ThyPRO

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Watt, Torquil; Hegedüs, Laszlo; Groenvold, Mogens

2010-01-01

Background Appropriate scale validity and internal consistency reliability have recently been documented for the new thyroid-specific quality of life (QoL) patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure for benign thyroid disorders, the ThyPRO. However, before clinical use, clinical validity and test......-retest reliability should be evaluated. Aim To investigate clinical ('known-groups') validity and test-retest reliability of the Danish version of the ThyPRO. Methods For each of the 13 ThyPRO scales, we defined groups expected to have high versus low scores ('known-groups'). The clinical validity (known......-groups validity) was evaluated by whether the ThyPRO scales could detect expected differences in a cross-sectional study of 907 thyroid patients. Test-retest reliability was evaluated by intra-class correlations of two responses to the ThyPRO 2 weeks apart in a subsample of 87 stable patients. Results On all 13...
Quality appraisal of generic self-reported instruments measuring health-related productivity changes: a systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Health impairments can result in disability and changed work productivity imposing considerable costs for the employee, employer and society as a whole. A large number of instruments exist to measure health-related productivity changes; however their methodological quality remains unclear. This systematic review critically appraised the measurement properties in generic self-reported instruments that measure health-related productivity changes to recommend appropriate instruments for use in occupational and economic health practice. Methods PubMed, PsycINFO, Econlit and Embase were systematically searched for studies whereof: (i) instruments measured health-related productivity changes; (ii) the aim was to evaluate instrument measurement properties; (iii) instruments were generic; (iv) ratings were self-reported; (v) full-texts were available. Next, methodological quality appraisal was based on COSMIN elements: (i) internal consistency; (ii) reliability; (iii) measurement error; (iv) content validity; (v) structural validity; (vi) hypotheses testing; (vii) cross-cultural validity; (viii) criterion validity; and (ix) responsiveness. Recommendations are based on evidence syntheses. Results This review included 25 articles assessing the reliability, validity and responsiveness of 15 different generic self-reported instruments measuring health-related productivity changes. Most studies evaluated criterion validity, none evaluated cross-cultural validity and information on measurement error is lacking. The Work Limitation Questionnaire (WLQ) was most frequently evaluated with moderate respectively strong positive evidence for content and structural validity and negative evidence for reliability, hypothesis testing and responsiveness. Less frequently evaluated, the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS) showed strong positive evidence for internal consistency and structural validity, and moderate positive evidence for hypotheses testing and criterion validity. The
Quality and reliability of technical systems. 2. rev. and enlarged ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birolini, A.

1988-01-01

The work comprises, besides the definition of fundamentals, mathematical methods and tables, a detailed compilation of theory, practice and management in the field of quality assurance and reliability. Complete chapters are dedicated in particular to the reliability analyses, selection and qualification of electronic components, maintenance analyses in the development phase, quality assurance of the software, reliability and availability of repairable visual display units, statistical quality control as well as the improvement of the quality and reliability in the production phase of electronic components. (DG) With 152 figs., 58 tabs., 92 examples [de
High-picture quality industrial CT scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoji, Takao; Nishide, Akihiko; Fujii, Masashi.

1989-01-01

Industrial X-ray-CT-scanners, which provide cross-sectional images of a tested sample without destroying it, are attracting attention as a new nondestructive inspection device. In 1982, Toshiba commenced the development of industrial CT scanners, and introduced the 'TOSCANER' -3000 and-4000 series. Now, the state of the art 'TOSCANER'-20000 series of CT systems has been developed incorporating the latest computer tomography and image processing technology, such as the T9506 image processor. One of the advantages of this system is its applicability to a wide range of X-ray energy . The 'TOSCANER'-20000 series can be utilized for inspecting castings and other materials with relatively low-transparency to X-rays, as well as ceramics, composite materials and other materials with high X-ray transparency. A further feature of the new system is its high-picture quality, with a high-spatial resolution resulting from a pixel size of 0.2x0.2(mm). (author)
Exome sequencing generates high quality data in non-target regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Yan

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exome sequencing using next-generation sequencing technologies is a cost efficient approach to selectively sequencing coding regions of human genome for detection of disease variants. A significant amount of DNA fragments from the capture process fall outside target regions, and sequence data for positions outside target regions have been mostly ignored after alignment. Result We performed whole exome sequencing on 22 subjects using Agilent SureSelect capture reagent and 6 subjects using Illumina TrueSeq capture reagent. We also downloaded sequencing data for 6 subjects from the 1000 Genomes Project Pilot 3 study. Using these data, we examined the quality of SNPs detected outside target regions by computing consistency rate with genotypes obtained from SNP chips or the Hapmap database, transition-transversion (Ti/Tv ratio, and percentage of SNPs inside dbSNP. For all three platforms, we obtained high-quality SNPs outside target regions, and some far from target regions. In our Agilent SureSelect data, we obtained 84,049 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 65,231 SNPs inside target regions (a 129% increase. For our Illumina TrueSeq data, we obtained 222,171 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 95,818 SNPs inside target regions (a 232% increase. For the data from the 1000 Genomes Project, we obtained 7,139 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 1,548 SNPs inside target regions (a 461% increase. Conclusions These results demonstrate that a significant amount of high quality genotypes outside target regions can be obtained from exome sequencing data. These data should not be ignored in genetic epidemiology studies.
Toward High Altitude Airship Ground-Based Boresight Calibration of Hyperspectral Pushbroom Imaging Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aiwu Zhang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The complexity of the single linear hyperspectral pushbroom imaging based on a high altitude airship (HAA without a three-axis stabilized platform is much more than that based on the spaceborne and airborne. Due to the effects of air pressure, temperature and airflow, the large pitch and roll angles tend to appear frequently that create pushbroom images highly characterized with severe geometric distortions. Thus, the in-flight calibration procedure is not appropriate to apply to the single linear pushbroom sensors on HAA having no three-axis stabilized platform. In order to address this problem, a new ground-based boresight calibration method is proposed. Firstly, a coordinate’s transformation model is developed for direct georeferencing (DG of the linear imaging sensor, and then the linear error equation is derived from it by using the Taylor expansion formula. Secondly, the boresight misalignments are worked out by using iterative least squares method with few ground control points (GCPs and ground-based side-scanning experiments. The proposed method is demonstrated by three sets of experiments: (i the stability and reliability of the method is verified through simulation-based experiments; (ii the boresight calibration is performed using ground-based experiments; and (iii the validation is done by applying on the orthorectification of the real hyperspectral pushbroom images from a HAA Earth observation payload system developed by our research team—“LanTianHao”. The test results show that the proposed boresight calibration approach significantly improves the quality of georeferencing by reducing the geometric distortions caused by boresight misalignments to the minimum level.
The Multi-energy High precision Data Processor Based on AD7606

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Chen; Zhang, Yanchi; Xie, Da

2017-11-01

This paper designs an information collector based on AD7606 to realize the high-precision simultaneous acquisition of multi-source information of multi-energy systems to form the information platform of the energy Internet at Laogang with electricty as its major energy source. Combined with information fusion technologies, this paper analyzes the data to improve the overall energy system scheduling capability and reliability.
A Novel Reliability Enhanced Handoff Method in Future Wireless Heterogeneous Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang YuPeng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available As the demand increases, future networks will follow the trends of network variety and service flexibility, which requires heterogeneous type of network deployment and reliable communication method. In practice, most communication failure happens due to the bad radio link quality, i.e., high-speed users suffers a lot on the problem of radio link failure, which causes the problem of communication interrupt and radio link recovery. To make the communication more reliable, especially for the high mobility users, we propose a novel communication handoff mechanism to reduce the occurrence of service interrupt. Based on computer simulation, we find that the reliability on the service is greatly improved.
Quality management manual for production of high quality cassava flour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dziedzoave, Nanam Tay; Abass, Adebayo Busura; Amoa-Awua, Wisdom K.

The high quality cassava flour (HQCF) industry has just started to evolve in Africa and elsewhere. The sustainability of the growing industry, the profitability of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) that are active in the industry and good-health of consumers can best be guaranteed through...... the adoption of proper quality and food safety procedures. Cassava processing enterprises involved in the productionof HQCF must therefore be commited to the quality and food safety of the HQCF. They must have the right technology, appropriate processing machhinery, standard testing instruments...... and the necessary technical expertise. This quality manual was therefore developed to guide small- to medium-scale cassava in the design and implematation of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and Good manufacturing Practices (GMP) plans for HQCF production. It describes the HQCF production...
A single lithium-ion battery protection circuit with high reliability and low power consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Jinguang; Li Sen

2014-01-01

A single lithium-ion battery protection circuit with high reliability and low power consumption is proposed. The protection circuit has high reliability because the voltage and current of the battery are controlled in a safe range. The protection circuit can immediately activate a protective function when the voltage and current of the battery are beyond the safe range. In order to reduce the circuit's power consumption, a sleep state control circuit is developed. Additionally, the output frequency of the ring oscillation can be adjusted continuously and precisely by the charging capacitors and the constant-current source. The proposed protection circuit is fabricated in a 0.5 μm mixed-signal CMOS process. The measured reference voltage is 1.19 V, the overvoltage is 4.2 V and the undervoltage is 2.2 V. The total power is about 9 μW. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Evidence-based treatment of metabolic myopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan LIN

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Objective To evaluate the current treatments and possible adverse reactions of metabolic myopathy, and to develop the best solution for evidence-based treatment. Methods Taking metabolic myopathy, mitochondrial myopathy, lipid storage myopathy, glycogen storage diseases, endocrine myopathy, drug toxicity myopathy and treatment as search terms, retrieve in databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, ClinicalKey database, National Science and Technology Library (NSTL, in order to collect the relevant literature database including clinical guidelines, systematic reviews (SR, randomized controlled trials (RCT, controlled clinical trials, retrospective case analysis and case study. Jadad Scale was used to evaluate the quality of literature. Results Twenty-eight related articles were selected, including 6 clinical guidelines, 5 systematic reviews, 10 randomized controlled trials and 7 clinical controlled trials. According to Jadad Scale, 23 articles were evaluated as high-quality literature (≥ 4, and the remaining 5 were evaluated as low-quality literature (< 4. Treatment principles of these clinical trials, efficacy of different therapies and drug safety evaluation suggest that: 1 Acid α-glycosidase (GAA enzyme replacement therapy (ERT is the main treatment for glycogen storage diseases, with taking a high-protein diet, exercising before taking a small amount of fructose orally and reducing the patient's physical activity gradually. 2 Carnitine supplementation is used in the treatment of lipid storage myopathy, with carbohydrate and low fat diet provided before exercise or sports. 3 Patients with mitochondrial myopathy can take coenzyme Q10, vitamin B, vitamin K, vitamin C, etc. Proper aerobic exercise combined with strength training is safe, and it can also enhance the exercise tolerance of patients effectively. 4 The first choice to treat the endocrine myopathy is treating primary affection. 5 Myopathies due to drugs and toxins should
Reliable detection of fluence anomalies in EPID-based IMRT pretreatment quality assurance using pixel intensity deviations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gordon, J. J.; Gardner, J. K.; Wang, S.; Siebers, J. V.

2012-01-01

Purpose: This work uses repeat images of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) fields to quantify fluence anomalies (i.e., delivery errors) that can be reliably detected in electronic portal images used for IMRT pretreatment quality assurance. Methods: Repeat images of 11 clinical IMRT fields are acquired on a Varian Trilogy linear accelerator at energies of 6 MV and 18 MV. Acquired images are corrected for output variations and registered to minimize the impact of linear accelerator and electronic portal imaging device (EPID) positioning deviations. Detection studies are performed in which rectangular anomalies of various sizes are inserted into the images. The performance of detection strategies based on pixel intensity deviations (PIDs) and gamma indices is evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: Residual differences between registered images are due to interfraction positional deviations of jaws and multileaf collimator leaves, plus imager noise. Positional deviations produce large intensity differences that degrade anomaly detection. Gradient effects are suppressed in PIDs using gradient scaling. Background noise is suppressed using median filtering. In the majority of images, PID-based detection strategies can reliably detect fluence anomalies of ≥5% in ∼1 mm 2 areas and ≥2% in ∼20 mm 2 areas. Conclusions: The ability to detect small dose differences (≤2%) depends strongly on the level of background noise. This in turn depends on the accuracy of image registration, the quality of the reference image, and field properties. The longer term aim of this work is to develop accurate and reliable methods of detecting IMRT delivery errors and variations. The ability to resolve small anomalies will allow the accuracy of advanced treatment techniques, such as image guided, adaptive, and arc therapies, to be quantified.
Generating high-quality single droplets for optical particle characterization with an easy setup

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jie; Ge, Baozhen; Meng, Rui

2018-06-01

The high-performance and micro-sized single droplet is significant for optical particle characterization. We develop a single-droplet generator (SDG) based on a piezoelectric inkjet technique with advantages of low cost and easy setup. By optimizing the pulse parameters, we achieve various size single droplets. Further investigations reveal that SDG generates single droplets of high quality, demonstrating good sphericity, monodispersity and a stable length of several millimeters.
Enhancing thermal reliability of fiber-optic sensors for bio-inspired applications at ultra-high temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Donghoon; Kim, Heon-Young; Kim, Dae-Hyun

2014-07-01

The rapid growth of bio-(inspired) sensors has led to an improvement in modern healthcare and human-robot systems in recent years. Higher levels of reliability and better flexibility, essential features of these sensors, are very much required in many application fields (e.g. applications at ultra-high temperatures). Fiber-optic sensors, and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors in particular, are being widely studied as suitable sensors for improved structural health monitoring (SHM) due to their many merits. To enhance the thermal reliability of FBG sensors, thermal sensitivity, generally expressed as αf + ξf and considered a constant, should be investigated more precisely. For this purpose, the governing equation of FBG sensors is modified using differential derivatives between the wavelength shift and the temperature change in this study. Through a thermal test ranging from RT to 900 °C, the thermal sensitivity of FBG sensors is successfully examined and this guarantees thermal reliability of FBG sensors at ultra-high temperatures. In detail, αf + ξf has a non-linear dependence on temperature and varies from 6.0 × 10-6 °C-1 (20 °C) to 10.6 × 10-6 °C-1 (650 °C). Also, FBGs should be carefully used for applications at ultra-high temperatures due to signal disappearance near 900 °C.
Evidence-based emergency medicine. Creating a system to facilitate translation of evidence into standardized clinical practice: a preliminary report.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Stewart W; Trott, Alexander; Lindsell, Christopher J; Smith, Carol; Gibler, W Brian

2008-01-01

The Institute of Medicine, through its landmark report concerning errors in medicine, suggests that standardization of practice through systematic development and implementation of evidence-based clinical pathways is an effective way of reducing errors in emergency systems. The specialty of emergency medicine is well positioned to develop a complete system of innovative quality improvement, incorporating best practice guidelines with performance measures and practitioner feedback mechanisms to reduce errors and therefore improve quality of care. This article reviews the construction, ongoing development, and initial impact of such a system at a large, urban, university teaching hospital and at 2 affiliated community hospitals. The Committee for Procedural Quality and Evidence-Based Practice was formed within the Department of Emergency Medicine to establish evidence-based guidelines for nursing and provider care. The committee measures the effect of such guidelines, along with other quality measures, through pre- and postguideline patient care medical record audits. These measures are fed back to the providers in a provider-specific, peer-matched "scorecard." The Committee for Procedural Quality and Evidence-Based Practice affects practice and performance within our department. Multiple physician and nursing guidelines have been developed and put into use. Using asthma as an example, time to first nebulizer treatment and time to disposition from the emergency department decreased. Initial therapeutic agent changed and documentation improved. A comprehensive, guideline-driven, evidence-based approach to clinical practice is feasible within the structure of a department of emergency medicine. High-level departmental support with dedicated personnel is necessary for the success of such a system. Internet site development (available at http://www.CPQE.com) for product storage has proven valuable. Patient care has been improved in several ways; however, consistent and
Optimization of nitridation conditions for high quality inter-polysilicon dielectric layers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klootwijk, J.H.; Bergveld, H.J.; van Kranenburg, H.; Woerlee, P.H.; Wallinga, Hans

1996-01-01

Nitridation of deposited high temperature oxides (HTO) was studied to form high quality inter-polysilicon dielectric layers for embedded non volatile memories. Good quality dielectric layers were obtained earlier by using an optimized deposition of polysilicon and by performing a post-dielectric
Core components for effective infection prevention and control programmes: new WHO evidence-based recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie Storr

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health care-associated infections (HAI are a major public health problem with a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. They represent also an important economic burden to health systems worldwide. However, a large proportion of HAI are preventable through effective infection prevention and control (IPC measures. Improvements in IPC at the national and facility level are critical for the successful containment of antimicrobial resistance and the prevention of HAI, including outbreaks of highly transmissible diseases through high quality care within the context of universal health coverage. Given the limited availability of IPC evidence-based guidance and standards, the World Health Organization (WHO decided to prioritize the development of global recommendations on the core components of effective IPC programmes both at the national and acute health care facility level, based on systematic literature reviews and expert consensus. The aim of the guideline development process was to identify the evidence and evaluate its quality, consider patient values and preferences, resource implications, and the feasibility and acceptability of the recommendations. As a result, 11 recommendations and three good practice statements are presented here, including a summary of the supporting evidence, and form the substance of a new WHO IPC guideline.
Audit quality and the audit partner effect : Evidence from European listed companies

OpenAIRE

Buuren, van, J.P.

2009-01-01

The main objective of this study is to provide evidence on the differences in audit quality amongst audit partners. I attribute these dissimilarities to (i) differences in the audit risk perception and the risk appetite of individual audit partners and (ii) to differences in the personal business case of audit partners. As a result, three audit partner archetypes have been identified: liberal, high quality and conservative. This paper will provide evidence that 50% of the audit partners (53% ...
Reliability of medical audit in quality assessment of medical care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camacho Luiz Antonio Bastos

1996-01-01

Full Text Available Medical audit of hospital records has been a major component of quality of care assessment, although physician judgment is known to have low reliability. We estimated interrater agreement of quality assessment in a sample of patients with cardiac conditions admitted to an American teaching hospital. Physician-reviewers used structured review methods designed to improve quality assessment based on judgment. Chance-corrected agreement for the items considered more relevant to process and outcome of care ranged from low to moderate (0.2 to 0.6, depending on the review item and the principal diagnoses and procedures the patients underwent. Results from several studies seem to converge on this point. Comparisons among different settings should be made with caution, given the sensitivity of agreement measurements to prevalence rates. Reliability of review methods in their current stage could be improved by combining the assessment of two or more reviewers, and by emphasizing outcome-oriented events.
Developing Cognitive Test Based on the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy on The Structure and Cell Function Material for XI Grade Students in Senior High School of Tarakan City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zulfadli Zulfadli

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This research was to develop a cognitive test tool based on Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study aimed to determine the quality of the test based on experts assessment, to measure the level of validity, reliability, and to determine the difficulty levels of the questions, discrimination power, and distractors. This research employed Research and Development (R&D method. The development test model used was the 4D procedure which was modified into three steps: define, design, and develop. The subjects were the Science students of XI grade at SMAN 2 Tarakan and SMA Muhammadiyah Tarakan. The results of the study were: (1 the experts validation analysis showed that the cognitive test has been categorized as valid which the value was 4.28 (2 The quality of cognitive test were: (A the 90% items were valid, while 10% were invalid. (B the reliability value was 0.79 (highly reliable (C the levels of difficulty were: easy (27%, moderate (53%, difficult (20%. (Dthe test discrimination index were: weak (10%, sufficient (33%, good (53%, and either once (3%. (E distractors effectiveness: effective category (85%, ineffective (15%. Assessment results from expert validators and empirical tests indicate that this cognitive test device is feasible to use and apply. The uniformity of this level of difficulty makes the quality of items were good to use. The discrimination power of these test tool, which has good value, indicate that the high diversity of items is able to measure students' abilities.
Designing high availability systems DFSS and classical reliability techniques with practical real life examples

CERN Document Server

Taylor, Zachary

2014-01-01

A practical, step-by-step guide to designing world-class, high availability systems using both classical and DFSS reliability techniques Whether designing telecom, aerospace, automotive, medical, financial, or public safety systems, every engineer aims for the utmost reliability and availability in the systems he, or she, designs. But between the dream of world-class performance and reality falls the shadow of complexities that can bedevil even the most rigorous design process. While there are an array of robust predictive engineering tools, there has been no single-source guide to understan
Evaluation of mobile ad hoc network reliability using propagation-based link reliability model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padmavathy, N.; Chaturvedi, Sanjay K.

2013-01-01

A wireless mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a collection of solely independent nodes (that can move randomly around the area of deployment) making the topology highly dynamic; nodes communicate with each other by forming a single hop/multi-hop network and maintain connectivity in decentralized manner. MANET is modelled using geometric random graphs rather than random graphs because the link existence in MANET is a function of the geometric distance between the nodes and the transmission range of the nodes. Among many factors that contribute to the MANET reliability, the reliability of these networks also depends on the robustness of the link between the mobile nodes of the network. Recently, the reliability of such networks has been evaluated for imperfect nodes (transceivers) with binary model of communication links based on the transmission range of the mobile nodes and the distance between them. However, in reality, the probability of successful communication decreases as the signal strength deteriorates due to noise, fading or interference effects even up to the nodes' transmission range. Hence, in this paper, using a propagation-based link reliability model rather than a binary-model with nodes following a known failure distribution to evaluate the network reliability (2TR m , ATR m and AoTR m ) of MANET through Monte Carlo Simulation is proposed. The method is illustrated with an application and some imperative results are also presented
Characterization, integration and reliability of HfO2 and LaLuO3 high-κ/metal gate stacks for CMOS applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichau, Alexander

2013-01-01

. A lower limit found was EOT=5 Aa for Al doping inside TiN. The doping of TiN on LaLuO 3 is proven by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) studies to modify the interfacial silicate layer to La-rich silicates or even reduce the layer. The oxide quality in Si/HfO 2 /TiN gate stacks is characterized by charge pumping and carrier mobility measurements on 3d MOSFETs a.k.a. FinFETs. The oxide quality in terms of the number of interface (and oxide) traps on top- and sidewall of FinFETs is compared for three different annealing processes. A high temperature anneal of HfO 2 improves significantly the oxide quality and mobility. The gate oxide integrity (GOI) of gate stacks below 1 nm EOT is determined by time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) measurements on FinFETs with HfO 2 /TiN gate stacks. A successful EOT scaling has always to consider the oxide quality and resulting reliability. Degraded oxide quality leads to mobility degradation and earlier soft-breakdown, i.e. leakage current increase.
The production of the heavy pig for high quality processed products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Bosi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The review discusses the topics presented below, with experimental data and more evidence for some aspects which areproblematic for the pig producer. To obtain high quality processed pig products, heavy pig production in Italy is subjectedto rules fixed by several Consortia, on the basis of the experience of producers and the results from scientific research.Slaughter animals of at least 9 months of age and 160 kg live weight are required to provide heavy cuts with excellentmeat. Breeds are limited to Italian Large White and Landrace, selected for specific parameters such as loss at 1st saltingof the ham, and their crosses. Crosses with Duroc and hybrids can be used if obtained from selection and crossingschemes that fit the objectives of Italian selection. Backfat thickness must be “sufficient” to obtain retailed fresh hamswith fat cover ranging from 20 to 30 mm, depending on ham weight, and the content of linoleic acid in ham fat covercannot exceed 15%. Fat quantity and quality in feeds should be carefully controlled to satisfy the quality of fat in theham. The feeding level is also relevant, due to the imposed minimum age at slaughter. Feed restriction is a necessarypractice to respect the rules for ham production. For castrate males of medium genetic value, the restriction shouldreduce fat deposition, but the diet composition can be adapted to maintain the maximum growth of protein. For strainswith high lean deposition potential and particularly for gilts, protein deposition should also be limited to maintain a sufficientfat cover of ham.
Improving Access to Quality Care in Family Planning: WHO's Four Cornerstones of Evidence-based Guidance

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Shang-chun WU; Yan ZOU; K Church; O Meirik

2007-01-01

The four cornerstones of guidance in technique service of family planning are established by WHO based on high quality evidences. They have been updated according to the appearing new evidences, and the consensuses were reached by the international experts in this field. The four documents include Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use, Decision-making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers and The Global Handbook for Family Planning Providers. The first two documents mainlyface to the policy-makers and programme managers and were treated as the important references for creating the local guideline. The other two documents were developed for the front-line health-care and family planning providers at different levels, which include plenty of essential technical information to help providers improve their ability in service delivery and counselling. China paid great attention to the introduction and application of WHO guidelines. As soon as the newer editions of these documents were available, the Chinese version would be followed. WHO guidelines have been primarily adapted with the newly issued national guideline, The Clinical Practical Skill Guidelines- Family Planning Part, which was established by China Medical Association. At the same time, the WHO guidelines have been introduced to some of the linicians and family planning providers at different levels. In the future, more special training courses will be introduced to the township level based on the needs of grassroot providers.
Conceptual design of high resolution and reliable density measurement system on helical reactor FFHR-d1 and demonstration on LHD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akiyama, T.; Yasuhara, R.; Isobe, M.; Sakamoto, R.; Goto, T.; Kawahata, K.; Sagara, A.; Nakayama, K.; Okajima, S.

2014-10-01

This paper describes a conceptual design of the density measurement system on the helical reactor FFHR-d1 based on its quantitative operation scenario. The density measurement is required to meet the reactor design, and to have a high density resolution of the order of 10 17 m -3 with a time resolution of 10 ms and high reliability (no fringe jump). “A dispersion interferometer” is designed and a prototype is tested and installed on LHD, which can realize a demo relevant density plasma. The prototype demonstrates the feasibility on a demo reactor. (author)
Assessment of reproductive and developmental effects of DINP, DnHP and DCHP using quantitative weight of evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Dekant, Wolfgang; Bridges, James

2016-11-01

Quantitative weight of evidence (QWoE) methodology utilizes detailed scoring sheets to assess the quality/reliability of each publication on toxicity of a chemical and gives numerical scores for quality and observed toxicity. This QWoE-methodology was applied to the reproductive toxicity data on diisononylphthalate (DINP), di-n-hexylphthalate (DnHP), and dicyclohexylphthalate (DCHP) to determine if the scientific evidence for adverse effects meets the requirements for classification as reproductive toxicants. The scores for DINP were compared to those when applying the methodology DCHP and DnHP that have harmonized classifications. Based on the quality/reliability scores, application of the QWoE shows that the three databases are of similar quality; but effect scores differ widely. Application of QWoE to DINP studies resulted in an overall score well below the benchmark required to trigger classification. For DCHP, the QWoE also results in low scores. The high scores from the application of the QWoE methodology to the toxicological data for DnHP represent clear evidence for adverse effects and justify a classification of DnHP as category 1B for both development and fertility. The conclusions on classification based on the QWoE are well supported using a narrative assessment of consistency and biological plausibility. Copyright Â© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Validity and reliability of instruments aimed at measuring Evidence-Based Practice in Physical Therapy: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Domínguez, Juan Carlos; Sesé-Abad, Albert; Morales-Asencio, Jose Miguel; Oliva-Pascual-Vaca, Angel; Salinas-Bueno, Iosune; de Pedro-Gómez, Joan Ernest

2014-12-01

Our goal is to compile and analyse the characteristics - especially validity and reliability - of all the existing international tools that have been used to measure evidence-based clinical practice in physiotherapy. A systematic review conducted with data from exclusively quantitative-type studies synthesized in narrative format. An in-depth search of the literature was conducted in two phases: initial, structured, electronic search of databases and also journals with summarized evidence; followed by a residual-directed search in the bibliographical references of the main articles found in the primary search procedure. The studies included were assigned to members of the research team who acted as peer reviewers. Relevant information was extracted from each of the selected articles using a template that included the general characteristics of the instrument as well as an analysis of the quality of the validation processes carried out, by following the criteria of Terwee. Twenty-four instruments were found to comply with the review screening criteria; however, in all cases, they were found to be limited as regards the 'constructs' included. Besides, they can all be seen to be lacking as regards comprehensiveness associated to the validation process of the psychometric tests used. It seems that what constitutes a rigorously developed assessment instrument for EBP in physical therapy continues to be a challenge. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Efficient data replication for the delivery of high-quality video content over P2P VoD advertising networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Chien-Peng; Yu, Jen-Yu; Lee, Suh-Yin

2011-12-01

Recent advances in modern television systems have had profound consequences for the scalability, stability, and quality of transmitted digital data signals. This is of particular significance for peer-to-peer (P2P) video-on-demand (VoD) related platforms, faced with an immediate and growing demand for reliable service delivery. In response to demands for high-quality video, the key objectives in the construction of the proposed framework were user satisfaction with perceived video quality and the effective utilization of available resources on P2P VoD networks. This study developed a peer-based promoter to support online advertising in P2P VoD networks based on an estimation of video distortion prior to the replication of data stream chunks. The proposed technology enables the recovery of lost video using replicated stream chunks in real time. Load balance is achieved by adjusting the replication level of each candidate group according to the degree-of-distortion, thereby enabling a significant reduction in server load and increased scalability in the P2P VoD system. This approach also promotes the use of advertising as an efficient tool for commercial promotion. Results indicate that the proposed system efficiently satisfies the given fault tolerances.
Developing and Implementing Inquiry-Based, Water Quality Laboratory Experiments for High School Students to Explore Real Environmental Issues Using Analytical Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Mandler, Daphna; Blonder, Ron; Yayon, Malka; Mamlok-Naaman, Rachel; Hofstein, Avi

2014-01-01

This paper describes the rationale and the implementation of five laboratory experiments; four of them, intended for high-school students, are inquiry-based activities that explore the quality of water. The context of water provides students with an opportunity to study the importance of analytical methods and how they influence our everyday…

Air quality high resolution simulations of Italian urban areas with WRF-CHIMERE

Science.gov (United States)

Falasca, Serena; Curci, Gabriele

2017-04-01

The new European Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (2008/50/EC) encourages the use of modeling techniques to support the observations in the assessment and forecasting of air quality. The modelling system based on the combination of the WRF meteorological model and the CHIMERE chemistry-transport model is used to perform simulations at high resolution over the main Italian cities (e.g. Milan, Rome). Three domains covering Europe, Italy and the urban areas are nested with a decreasing grid size up to 1 km. Numerical results are produced for a winter month and a summer month of the year 2010 and are validated using ground-based observations (e.g. from the European air quality database AirBase). A sensitivity study is performed using different physics options, domain resolution and grid ratio; different urban parameterization schemes are tested using also characteristic morphology parameters for the cities considered. A spatial reallocation of anthropogenic emissions derived from international (e.g. EMEP, TNO, HTAP) and national (e.g. CTN-ACE) emissions inventories and based on the land cover datasets (Global Land Cover Facility and GlobCover) and the OpenStreetMap tool is also included. Preliminary results indicate that the introduction of the spatial redistribution at high-resolution allows a more realistic reproduction of the distribution of the emission flows and thus the concentrations of the pollutants, with significant advantages especially for the urban environments.
Systematic evaluation of the teaching qualities of Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty: reliability and validity of the SETQ tools.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renée van der Leeuw

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The importance of effective clinical teaching for the quality of future patient care is globally understood. Due to recent changes in graduate medical education, new tools are needed to provide faculty with reliable and individualized feedback on their teaching qualities. This study validates two instruments underlying the System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities (SETQ aimed at measuring and improving the teaching qualities of obstetrics and gynecology faculty. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This cross-sectional multi-center questionnaire study was set in seven general teaching hospitals and two academic medical centers in the Netherlands. Seventy-seven residents and 114 faculty were invited to complete the SETQ instruments in the duration of one month from September 2008 to September 2009. To assess reliability and validity of the instruments, we used exploratory factor analysis, inter-item correlation, reliability coefficient alpha and inter-scale correlations. We also compared composite scales from factor analysis to global ratings. Finally, the number of residents' evaluations needed per faculty for reliable assessments was calculated. A total of 613 evaluations were completed by 66 residents (85.7% response rate. 99 faculty (86.8% response rate participated in self-evaluation. Factor analysis yielded five scales with high reliability (Cronbach's alpha for residents' and faculty: learning climate (0.86 and 0.75, professional attitude (0.89 and 0.81, communication of learning goals (0.89 and 0.82, evaluation of residents (0.87 and 0.79 and feedback (0.87 and 0.86. Item-total, inter-scale and scale-global rating correlation coefficients were significant (P<0.01. Four to six residents' evaluations are needed per faculty (reliability coefficient 0.60-0.80. CONCLUSIONS: Both SETQ instruments were found reliable and valid for evaluating teaching qualities of obstetrics and gynecology faculty. Future research should examine improvement of
Highly Resolved Paleoclimatic Aerosol Records

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kettner, Ernesto

soluble aerosols can be analysed for concentration changes only, insoluble aeolian dust can reveal additional information on its atmospheric residence time via changes in the mean grain sizes. Volumes of particulate matter in ice cores are most reliably determined with Coulter counters, but since...... a Coulter counter performs measurements on discrete samples, it cannot be connected to a CFA system. Attenuation sensors, on the other hand, can be integrated into a CFA set-up, but are known to yield poor dust size records. The dilemma between high quality sizing and high depth resolution was found...
Co3O4 based non-enzymatic glucose sensor with high sensitivity and reliable stability derived from hollow hierarchical architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Liangliang; He, Gege; Cai, Yanhua; Wu, Shenping; Su, Yongyao; Yan, Hengqing; Yang, Cong; Chen, Yanling; Li, Lu

2018-02-01

Inspired by kinetics, the design of hollow hierarchical electrocatalysts through large-scale integration of building blocks is recognized as an effective approach to the achievement of superior electrocatalytic performance. In this work, a hollow, hierarchical Co3O4 architecture (Co3O4 HHA) was constructed using a coordinated etching and precipitation (CEP) method followed by calcination. The resulting Co3O4 HHA electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity in terms of high sensitivity (839.3 μA mM-1 cm-2) and reliable stability in glucose detection. The high sensitivity could be attributed to the large specific surface area (SSA), ample unimpeded penetration diffusion paths and high electron transfer rate originating from the unique two-dimensional (2D) sheet-like character and hollow porous architecture. The hollow hierarchical structure also affords sufficient interspace for accommodation of volume change and structural strain, resulting in enhanced stability. The results indicate that Co3O4 HHA could have potential for application in the design of non-enzymatic glucose sensors, and that the construction of hollow hierarchical architecture provides an efficient way to design highly active, stable electrocatalysts.
Argumentation Quality of Socio-scientific Issue between High School Students and Postgraduate Students about Cancer

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Anisa, A.; Widodo, A.; Riandi, R.

2017-09-01

Argumentation is one factor that can help improve critical thinking skills. Arguing means to defend statements with the various data, denials, evidence, and reinforcement that support the statement. The research aimed to capture the quality of argument skills by students in grade 12 high school students and in postgraduate student on social-scientific issues of cancer. Both group subjects are not in the same school or institution, chosen purposively with the subject of 39 high school students of grade 12 in one district of West Java and 13 students of Biology education postgraduate in one of University in West Java - Indonesia. The results of the quality structure of arguments in both subject groups show the same pattern, which is claim - warrant - and ground, with the quality of counterclaim aspects on the postgraduate students look better than grade 12 students. This provides an illustration that the ability in argumentation between students and teachers in the socio-scientific issue of cancer should be evaluate so that the learning process would be more refined in schools.
The Use of Questionnaires in Safety Culture Studies in High Reliability Organizations. Literature Review and an Application in the Spanish Nuclear Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

German, S.; Navajas, J.; Silla, I.

2014-01-01

This report examines two aspects related to the use of questionnaires in safety culture research conducted in high reliability organizations. First, a literature review of recent studies that address safety culture through questionnaires is presented. Literature review showed that most studies used only questionnaires as a research technique, were cross-sectional, applied paper-based questionnaires, and were conducted in one type of high reliability organization. Second, a research project on safety culture that used electronic surveys in a sample of experts on safety culture is discussed. This project, developed by CISOT-CIEMAT research institute, was carry out in the Spanish nuclear sector and illustrates relevant aspects of the methodological design and administration processes that must be considered to encourage participation in the study.. (Author)
Emergency diesel generator reliability analysis high flux isotope reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merryman, L.; Christie, B.

1993-01-01

A program to apply some of the techniques of reliability engineering to the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) was started on August 8, 1992. Part of the program was to track the conditional probabilities of the emergency diesel generators responding to a valid demand. This was done to determine if the performance of the emergency diesel generators (which are more than 25 years old) has deteriorated. The conditional probabilities of the diesel generators were computed and trended for the period from May 1990 to December 1992. The calculations indicate that the performance of the emergency diesel generators has not deteriorated in recent years, i.e., the conditional probabilities of the emergency diesel generators have been fairly stable over the last few years. This information will be one factor than may be considered in the decision to replace the emergency diesel generators
Gencat Psychometric Properties of Scale of Quality of Life in a Sample of Homeless

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva María BENITO HERRÁEZ

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this research is to analyse the psychometric properties of the Scale Gencat of Quality of Life in a sample of 72 people users of the Municipal Office of Attention for homeless people in the city of Lleida. The analysis of the 69 items was based on Classical Test Theory and in the Item Response Theory. The results obtained with Cronbach’s alpha show appropiate values ranging between .749 and .853. According to the Rating Scale Model reliability is high, with values higher than .95 in all dimensions. The majority of items fit the model. The most important limitation in the study is the sample size, which reduced its reliability. Despite this, it can be concluded that the scale has sufficient evidence of reliability to evaluate the quality of life for homeless.
Practical considerations for obtaining high quality quantitative computed tomography data of the skeletal system.

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Troy, Karen L; Edwards, W Brent

2018-05-01

Quantitative CT (QCT) analysis involves the calculation of specific parameters such as bone volume and density from CT image data, and can be a powerful tool for understanding bone quality and quantity. However, without careful attention to detail during all steps of the acquisition and analysis process, data can be of poor- to unusable-quality. Good quality QCT for research requires meticulous attention to detail and standardization of all aspects of data collection and analysis to a degree that is uncommon in a clinical setting. Here, we review the literature to summarize practical and technical considerations for obtaining high quality QCT data, and provide examples of how each recommendation affects calculated variables. We also provide an overview of the QCT analysis technique to illustrate additional opportunities to improve data reproducibility and reliability. Key recommendations include: standardizing the scanner and data acquisition settings, minimizing image artifacts, selecting an appropriate reconstruction algorithm, and maximizing repeatability and objectivity during QCT analysis. The goal of the recommendations is to reduce potential sources of error throughout the analysis, from scan acquisition to the interpretation of results. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Prediction of bread-making quality using size exclusion high ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Variation in the distribution of protein molecular weight in wheat (Triticum aestivum), influences breadmaking quality of wheat cultivars, resulting in either poor or good bread. The objective of this study was to predict breadmaking quality of wheat cultivars using size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography.
Microstructural characteristics of high-temperature oxidation in nickel-base superalloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalid, F.A.

1997-01-01

Superalloys are used for aerospace and nuclear applications where they can withstand high-temperature and severe oxidizing conditions. High-temperature oxidation behavior of a nickel-base superalloy is examined using optical and scanning electron microscopical techniques. The morphology of the oxide layers developed is examined, and EDX microanalysis reveals diffusion of the elements across the oxide-metal interface. Evidence of internal oxidation is presented, and the role of structural defects is considered. The morphology of the oxide-metal interface formed in the specimens exposed in steam and air is examined to elucidate the mechanism of high-temperature oxidation
Evidence Support and Guidelines for Using Heated, Humidified, High-Flow Nasal Cannulae in Neonatology: Oxford Nasal High-Flow Therapy Meeting, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Roehr, Charles C; Yoder, Bradley A; Davis, Peter G; Ives, Kevin

2016-12-01

Nasal high-flow therapy (nHFT) has become a popular form of noninvasive respiratory support in neonatal intensive care units. A meeting held in Oxford, UK, in June 2015 examined the evidence base and proposed a consensus statement. In summary, nHFT is effective for support of preterm infants following extubation. There is growing evidence evaluating its use in the primary treatment of respiratory distress. Further study is needed to assess which clinical conditions are most amenable to nHFT support, the most effective flow rates, and escalation and weaning strategies. Its suitability as first-line treatment needs to be further evaluated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A high Reliability Module with Thermoelectric Device by Molding Technology for M2M Wireless Sensor Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, K; Tanaka, T; Suzuki, T

2014-01-01

This paper presents the fabrication of a new energy harvesting module that used the thermoelectric device (TED) by using molding technology. The output voltage per heater temperature of the TED module at 20 °C ambient temperature is 8mV/K and similar to the result with the aluminium heat sink which is almost the same fin size as the TED module. The accelerated environmental tests are performed on damp heat test that is an aging test under high temperature and high humidity, cold test and highly accelerated temperature and humidity stress test (HAST) for the purpose of evaluating the electrical reliability in harsh environments. Every result of tests indicates that the TED and circuit board can be properly protected from harsh temperature and humidity by using molding technology, because the output voltage of after tested modules is reduced by less than 5%.This study presents a novel fabrication method for a high reliability TED-installed module appropriate for Machine to Machine wireless sensor networks
Reliability assessment using Bayesian networks. Case study on quantative reliability estimation of a software-based motor protection relay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helminen, A.; Pulkkinen, U.

2003-06-01

In this report a quantitative reliability assessment of motor protection relay SPAM 150 C has been carried out. The assessment focuses to the methodological analysis of the quantitative reliability assessment using the software-based motor protection relay as a case study. The assessment method is based on Bayesian networks and tries to take the full advantage of the previous work done in a project called Programmable Automation System Safety Integrity assessment (PASSI). From the results and experiences achieved during the work it is justified to claim that the assessment method presented in the work enables a flexible use of qualitative and quantitative elements of reliability related evidence in a single reliability assessment. At the same time the assessment method is a concurrent way of reasoning one's beliefs and references about the reliability of the system. Full advantage of the assessment method is taken when using the method as a way to cultivate the information related to the reliability of software-based systems. The method can also be used as a communicational instrument in a licensing process of software-based systems. (orig.)
Reliability-based assessment of polyethylene pipe creep lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khelif, Rabia; Chateauneuf, Alaa; Chaoui, Kamel

2007-01-01

Lifetime management of underground pipelines is mandatory for safe hydrocarbon transmission and distribution systems. The use of high-density polyethylene tubes subjected to internal pressure, external loading and environmental variations requires a reliability study in order to define the service limits and the optimal operating conditions. In service, the time-dependent phenomena, especially creep, take place during the pipe lifetime, leading to significant strength reduction. In this work, the reliability-based assessment of pipe lifetime models is carried out, in order to propose a probabilistic methodology for lifetime model selection and to determine the pipe safety levels as well as the most important parameters for pipeline reliability. This study is enhanced by parametric analysis on pipe configuration, gas pressure and operating temperature
Reliability-based assessment of polyethylene pipe creep lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khelif, Rabia [LaMI-UBP and IFMA, Campus de Clermont-Fd, Les Cezeaux, BP 265, 63175 Aubiere Cedex (France); LR3MI, Departement de Genie Mecanique, Universite Badji Mokhtar, BP 12, Annaba 23000 (Algeria)], E-mail: rabia.khelif@ifma.fr; Chateauneuf, Alaa [LGC-University Blaise Pascal, Campus des Cezeaux, BP 206, 63174 Aubiere Cedex (France)], E-mail: alaa.chateauneuf@polytech.univ-bpclermont.fr; Chaoui, Kamel [LR3MI, Departement de Genie Mecanique, Universite Badji Mokhtar, BP 12, Annaba 23000 (Algeria)], E-mail: chaoui@univ-annaba.org

2007-12-15

Lifetime management of underground pipelines is mandatory for safe hydrocarbon transmission and distribution systems. The use of high-density polyethylene tubes subjected to internal pressure, external loading and environmental variations requires a reliability study in order to define the service limits and the optimal operating conditions. In service, the time-dependent phenomena, especially creep, take place during the pipe lifetime, leading to significant strength reduction. In this work, the reliability-based assessment of pipe lifetime models is carried out, in order to propose a probabilistic methodology for lifetime model selection and to determine the pipe safety levels as well as the most important parameters for pipeline reliability. This study is enhanced by parametric analysis on pipe configuration, gas pressure and operating temperature.
Reliability of the imaging software in the preoperative planning of the open-wedge high tibial osteotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yong Seuk; Kim, Min Kyu; Byun, Hae Won; Kim, Sang Bum; Kim, Jin Goo

2015-03-01

The purpose of this study was to verify a recently developed picture-archiving and communications system-photoshop method by comparing reliabilities between real-size paper template and the PACS-photoshop methods in preoperative planning of open-wedge high tibial osteotomy. A prospective case series was conducted, including patients with medial osteoarthritis undergoing open-wedge high tibial osteotomy. In the preoperative planning, the picture-archiving and communications system-photoshop method and real-size paper template method were used simultaneously in all patients. Preoperative hip-knee-ankle angle, height, and angle of the osteotomy were evaluated. The reliability of this newly devised method was evaluated, and the consistency between the two methods was also evaluated using intra-class correlation coefficient. Using the picture-archiving and communications system-photoshop method, the mean correction angle and height of osteotomy gap of rater-1 were 11.7° ± 3.6° and 10.7 ± 3.6 mm, respectively. The mean correction angle and height of osteotomy gap of rater-2 were 12.0 ± 2.6 and 10.8 ± 3.6, respectively. The inter- and intra-rater reliabilities of the correction angle were 0.956 ~ 0.979 and 0.980 ~ 0.992, respectively. The inter- and intra-rater reliabilities of the height of the osteotomy gap were 0.968 ~ 0.985 and 0.971 ~ 0.994, respectively (p photoshop method, mean values of the correction angle and height of the osteotomy gap were 11.9° ± 3.6° and 10.8 ± 3.6 mm, respectively. Consistency between the two methods by comparing the means of the correction angle and the height of the osteotomy gap were 0.985 and 0.985, respectively (p photoshop method enables direct measurement of the height of the osteotomy gap with high reliability.
High quality flux control system for electron gun evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Appelbloom, A.M.; Hadley, P.; van der Marel, D.; Mooij, J.E.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on a high quality flux control system for electron gun evaporation developed and tested for the MBE growth of high temperature superconductors. The system can be applied to any electron gun without altering the electron gun itself. Essential elements of the system are a high bandwidth mass spectrometer, control electronics and a high voltage modulator to sweep the electron beam over the melt at high frequencies. the sweep amplitude of the electron beam is used to control the evaporation flux at high frequencies. The feedback loop of the system has a bandwidth of over 100 Hz, which makes it possible to grow superlattices and layered structures in a fast and precisely controlled manner
Enhancing thermal reliability of fiber-optic sensors for bio-inspired applications at ultra-high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Donghoon; Kim, Heon-Young; Kim, Dae-Hyun

2014-01-01

The rapid growth of bio-(inspired) sensors has led to an improvement in modern healthcare and human–robot systems in recent years. Higher levels of reliability and better flexibility, essential features of these sensors, are very much required in many application fields (e.g. applications at ultra-high temperatures). Fiber-optic sensors, and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors in particular, are being widely studied as suitable sensors for improved structural health monitoring (SHM) due to their many merits. To enhance the thermal reliability of FBG sensors, thermal sensitivity, generally expressed as α f + ξ f and considered a constant, should be investigated more precisely. For this purpose, the governing equation of FBG sensors is modified using differential derivatives between the wavelength shift and the temperature change in this study. Through a thermal test ranging from RT to 900 °C, the thermal sensitivity of FBG sensors is successfully examined and this guarantees thermal reliability of FBG sensors at ultra-high temperatures. In detail, α f + ξ f has a non-linear dependence on temperature and varies from 6.0 × 10 −6 °C −1 (20 °C) to 10.6 × 10 −6 °C −1 (650 °C). Also, FBGs should be carefully used for applications at ultra-high temperatures due to signal disappearance near 900 °C. (paper)
Managing quality inside a high-technology project organization

OpenAIRE

Jokinen, T. (Tauno)

2004-01-01

Abstract This action research addresses the deployment of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in a high-technology new product development organisation. During the period of study, the organisation grew fast. High-technology product development and hypergrowth provided a unique combination of extreme conditions for the study. The existing concepts of TQM are presented as an organised map enabling strategic analysis for an implementation plan. The history of TQM dates back to the ...

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