The Development, Validity, and Reliability of a Psychometric Instrument Measuring Competencies in Student Affairs

Science.gov (United States)

Sriram, Rishi

2014-01-01

The study of competencies in student affairs began more than 4 decades ago, but no instrument currently exists to measure competencies broadly. This study builds upon previous research by developing an instrument to measure student affairs competencies. Results not only validate the competencies espoused by NASPA and ACPA, but also suggest adding…

Development and validation of a survey instrument to measure children's advertising literacy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rozendaal, E.; Opree, S.J.; Buijzen, M.A.

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a survey measurement instrument for children's advertising literacy. Based on the multidimensional conceptualization of advertising literacy by 0056"> Rozendaal, Lapierre, Van Reijmersdal, and Buijzen (2011), 39 items were created to measure two

Development of an instrument to measure organisational culture in community pharmacies in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Iuri; Willis, Sarah Caroline; Schafheutle, Ellen Ingrid; Hassell, Karen

2018-04-09

Purpose Organisational culture (OC) shapes individuals' perceptions and experiences of work. However, no instrument capable of measuring specific aspects of OC in community pharmacy exists. The purpose of this paper is to report the development and validation of an instrument to measure OC in community pharmacy in Great Britain (GB), and conduct a preliminary analysis of data collected using it. Design/methodology/approach Instrument development comprised three stages: Stage I: 12 qualitative interviews and relevant literature informed instrument design; Stage II: 30 cognitive interviews assessed content validity; and Stage III: a cross-sectional survey mailed to 1,000 community pharmacists in GB, with factor analysis for instrument validation. Statistical analysis investigated how community pharmacists perceived OC in their place of work. Findings Factor analysis produced an instrument containing 60 items across five OC dimensions - business and work configuration, social relationships, personal and professional development, skills utilisation, and environment and structures. Internal reliability for the dimensions was high (0.84 to 0.95); item-total correlations were adequate ( r=0.46 to r=0.76). Based on 209 responses, analysis suggests different OCs in community pharmacy, with some community pharmacists viewing the environment in which they worked as having a higher frequency of aspects related to patient contact and safety than others. Since these aspects are important for providing high healthcare standards, it is likely that differences in OC may be linked to different healthcare outcomes. Originality/value This newly developed and validated instrument to measure OC in community pharmacy can be used to benchmark existing OC across different pharmacies and design interventions for triggering change to improve outcomes for community pharmacists and patients.

Radiation monitoring and measuring instrument developed by Turkish Atomic Energy Authority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuecuekarslan, N.; Gueven, A.

2001-01-01

Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEA), Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, Nuclear Electronics Department is working on research, development and production of radiation monitoring and measuring instruments in the aims of TAEA to serve our Country. Advanced micro controller technology is used to cover problems of radiation measurement. Control by micro controller enables reliable, stable measurement and display of low level dose rate fields. It makes possible the simultaneous measurement of both dose and dose rate values

Development of an instrument to measure self-efficacy in caregivers of people with advanced cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ugalde, Anna; Krishnasamy, Meinir; Schofield, Penelope

2013-06-01

Informal caregivers of people with advanced cancer experience many negative impacts as a result of their role. There is a lack of suitable measures specifically designed to assess their experience. This study aimed to develop a new measure to assess self-efficacy in caregivers of people with advanced cancer. The development and testing of the new measure consisted of four separate, sequential phases: generation of issues, development of issues into items, pilot testing and field testing. In the generation of issues, 17 caregivers were interviewed to generate data. These data were analysed to generate codes, which were then systematically developed into items to construct the instrument. The instrument was pilot tested with 14 health professionals and five caregivers. It was then administered to a large sample for field testing to establish the psychometric properties, with established measures including the Brief Cope and the Family Appraisals for Caregiving Questionnaire for Palliative Care. Ninety-four caregivers completed the questionnaire booklet to establish the factor structure, reliability and validity. The factor analysis resulted in a 21-item, four-factor instrument, with the subscales being termed Resilience, Self-Maintenance, Emotional Connectivity and Instrumental Caregiving. The test-retest reliability and internal consistency were both excellent, ranging from 0.73 to 0.85 and 0.81 to 0.94, respectively. Six convergent and divergent hypotheses were made, and five were supported. This study has developed a new instrument to assess self-efficacy in caregivers of people with advanced cancer. The result is a four-factor, 21-item instrument with demonstrated reliability and validity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Instruments Measuring Integrated Care: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista, Mary Ann C; Nurjono, Milawaty; Lim, Yee Wei; Dessers, Ezra; Vrijhoef, Hubertus Jm

2016-12-01

Policy Points: Investigations on systematic methodologies for measuring integrated care should coincide with the growing interest in this field of research. A systematic review of instruments provides insights into integrated care measurement, including setting the research agenda for validating available instruments and informing the decision to develop new ones. This study is the first systematic review of instruments measuring integrated care with an evidence synthesis of the measurement properties. We found 209 index instruments measuring different constructs related to integrated care; the strength of evidence on the adequacy of the majority of their measurement properties remained largely unassessed. Integrated care is an important strategy for increasing health system performance. Despite its growing significance, detailed evidence on the measurement properties of integrated care instruments remains vague and limited. Our systematic review aims to provide evidence on the state of the art in measuring integrated care. Our comprehensive systematic review framework builds on the Rainbow Model for Integrated Care (RMIC). We searched MEDLINE/PubMed for published articles on the measurement properties of instruments measuring integrated care and identified eligible articles using a standard set of selection criteria. We assessed the methodological quality of every validation study reported using the COSMIN checklist and extracted data on study and instrument characteristics. We also evaluated the measurement properties of each examined instrument per validation study and provided a best evidence synthesis on the adequacy of measurement properties of the index instruments. From the 300 eligible articles, we assessed the methodological quality of 379 validation studies from which we identified 209 index instruments measuring integrated care constructs. The majority of studies reported on instruments measuring constructs related to care integration (33%) and patient

Instruments Measuring Integrated Care: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

Science.gov (United States)

BAUTISTA, MARY ANN C.; NURJONO, MILAWATY; DESSERS, EZRA; VRIJHOEF, HUBERTUS JM

2016-01-01

Policy Points: Investigations on systematic methodologies for measuring integrated care should coincide with the growing interest in this field of research.A systematic review of instruments provides insights into integrated care measurement, including setting the research agenda for validating available instruments and informing the decision to develop new ones.This study is the first systematic review of instruments measuring integrated care with an evidence synthesis of the measurement properties.We found 209 index instruments measuring different constructs related to integrated care; the strength of evidence on the adequacy of the majority of their measurement properties remained largely unassessed. Context Integrated care is an important strategy for increasing health system performance. Despite its growing significance, detailed evidence on the measurement properties of integrated care instruments remains vague and limited. Our systematic review aims to provide evidence on the state of the art in measuring integrated care. Methods Our comprehensive systematic review framework builds on the Rainbow Model for Integrated Care (RMIC). We searched MEDLINE/PubMed for published articles on the measurement properties of instruments measuring integrated care and identified eligible articles using a standard set of selection criteria. We assessed the methodological quality of every validation study reported using the COSMIN checklist and extracted data on study and instrument characteristics. We also evaluated the measurement properties of each examined instrument per validation study and provided a best evidence synthesis on the adequacy of measurement properties of the index instruments. Findings From the 300 eligible articles, we assessed the methodological quality of 379 validation studies from which we identified 209 index instruments measuring integrated care constructs. The majority of studies reported on instruments measuring constructs related to care

Patient perspective workshop: moving towards OMERACT guidelines for choosing or developing instruments to measure patient-reported outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirwan, John R; Fries, James F; Hewlett, Sarah E; Osborne, Richard H; Newman, Stanton; Ciciriello, Sabina; van de Laar, Mart A; Dures, Emma; Minnock, Patricia; Heiberg, Turid; Sanderson, Tessa C; Flurey, Caroline A; Leong, Amy L; Montie, Pamela; Richards, Pam

2011-08-01

The workshop Choosing or Developing Instruments held at the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) 10 meeting was designed to help participants think about the underlying methods of instrument development. Conference pre-reading material and 3 brief introductory presentations elaborated the issues, and participants broke into discussion groups before reconvening to share insights, engage in a more general discussion of the issues, and vote on recommendations. Tradeoffs between using current imperfect measures and the long and complex process of developing new instruments were considered, together with the need for rigor in patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument development. The main considerations for PRO instrument development were listed and a research agenda for action produced. As part of the agenda for action, it is recommended that researchers and patient partners work together to tackle these issues, and that OMERACT bring forward proposals for acceptable instrument development protocols that would meet an enhanced "Truth" statement in the OMERACT Filter.

Using and Developing Measurement Instruments in Science Education: A Rasch Modeling Approach. Science & Engineering Education Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiufeng

2010-01-01

This book meets a demand in the science education community for a comprehensive and introductory measurement book in science education. It describes measurement instruments reported in refereed science education research journals, and introduces the Rasch modeling approach to developing measurement instruments in common science assessment domains,…

Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load

Science.gov (United States)

Klepsch, Melina; Schmitz, Florian; Seufert, Tina

2017-01-01

Cognitive Load Theory is one of the most powerful research frameworks in educational research. Beside theoretical discussions about the conceptual parts of cognitive load, the main challenge within this framework is that there is still no measurement instrument for the different aspects of cognitive load, namely intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Hence, the goal of this paper is to develop a differentiated measurement of cognitive load. In Study 1 (N = 97), we developed and analyzed two strategies to measure cognitive load in a differentiated way: (1) Informed rating: We trained learners in differentiating the concepts of cognitive load, so that they could rate them in an informed way. They were asked then to rate 24 different learning situations or learning materials related to either high or low intrinsic, extraneous, or germane load. (2) Naïve rating: For this type of rating of cognitive load we developed a questionnaire with two to three items for each type of load. With this questionnaire, the same learning situations had to be rated. In the second study (N = between 65 and 95 for each task), we improved the instrument for the naïve rating. For each study, we analyzed whether the instruments are reliable and valid, for Study 1, we also checked for comparability of the two measurement strategies. In Study 2, we conducted a simultaneous scenario based factor analysis. The informed rating seems to be a promising strategy to assess the different aspects of cognitive load, but it seems not economic and feasible for larger studies and a standardized training would be necessary. The improved version of the naïve rating turned out to be a useful, feasible, and reliable instrument. Ongoing studies analyze the conceptual validity of this measurement with up to now promising results. PMID:29201011

Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load.

Science.gov (United States)

Klepsch, Melina; Schmitz, Florian; Seufert, Tina

2017-01-01

Cognitive Load Theory is one of the most powerful research frameworks in educational research. Beside theoretical discussions about the conceptual parts of cognitive load, the main challenge within this framework is that there is still no measurement instrument for the different aspects of cognitive load, namely intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Hence, the goal of this paper is to develop a differentiated measurement of cognitive load. In Study 1 ( N = 97), we developed and analyzed two strategies to measure cognitive load in a differentiated way: (1) Informed rating: We trained learners in differentiating the concepts of cognitive load, so that they could rate them in an informed way. They were asked then to rate 24 different learning situations or learning materials related to either high or low intrinsic, extraneous, or germane load. (2) Naïve rating: For this type of rating of cognitive load we developed a questionnaire with two to three items for each type of load. With this questionnaire, the same learning situations had to be rated. In the second study ( N = between 65 and 95 for each task), we improved the instrument for the naïve rating. For each study, we analyzed whether the instruments are reliable and valid, for Study 1, we also checked for comparability of the two measurement strategies. In Study 2, we conducted a simultaneous scenario based factor analysis. The informed rating seems to be a promising strategy to assess the different aspects of cognitive load, but it seems not economic and feasible for larger studies and a standardized training would be necessary. The improved version of the naïve rating turned out to be a useful, feasible, and reliable instrument. Ongoing studies analyze the conceptual validity of this measurement with up to now promising results.

Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melina Klepsch

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Cognitive Load Theory is one of the most powerful research frameworks in educational research. Beside theoretical discussions about the conceptual parts of cognitive load, the main challenge within this framework is that there is still no measurement instrument for the different aspects of cognitive load, namely intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Hence, the goal of this paper is to develop a differentiated measurement of cognitive load. In Study 1 (N = 97, we developed and analyzed two strategies to measure cognitive load in a differentiated way: (1 Informed rating: We trained learners in differentiating the concepts of cognitive load, so that they could rate them in an informed way. They were asked then to rate 24 different learning situations or learning materials related to either high or low intrinsic, extraneous, or germane load. (2 Naïve rating: For this type of rating of cognitive load we developed a questionnaire with two to three items for each type of load. With this questionnaire, the same learning situations had to be rated. In the second study (N = between 65 and 95 for each task, we improved the instrument for the naïve rating. For each study, we analyzed whether the instruments are reliable and valid, for Study 1, we also checked for comparability of the two measurement strategies. In Study 2, we conducted a simultaneous scenario based factor analysis. The informed rating seems to be a promising strategy to assess the different aspects of cognitive load, but it seems not economic and feasible for larger studies and a standardized training would be necessary. The improved version of the naïve rating turned out to be a useful, feasible, and reliable instrument. Ongoing studies analyze the conceptual validity of this measurement with up to now promising results.

Development of volumetric methane measurement instrument for laboratory scale anaerobic reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahito, A.R.

2015-01-01

In the present study, a newly developed VMMI (volumetric Methane-Measuring Instrument) for laboratory scale anaerobic reactors is presented. The VMMI is a reliable, inexpensive, easy to construct, easy to use, corrosion resistant device that does not need maintenance, can measure a wide flow range of gas at varying pressure and temperature. As per the results of the error analysis, the accuracy of the VMMI is unilateral, i.e. -6.91 %. The calibration of VMMI was investigated and a linear variation was found; hence, in situ calibration is recommended for this type of instrument. As per chromatographic analysis, it absorbs almost 100% of the carbon dioxide present in the biogas, results only the methane, and thus eliminates the need of cost intensive composition analysis of biogas through gas chromatograph. (author)

Development and validation of an instrument to measure nurse educator perceived confidence in clinical teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Van N B; Forbes, Helen; Mohebbi, Mohammadreza; Duke, Maxine

2017-12-01

Teaching nursing in clinical environments is considered complex and multi-faceted. Little is known about the role of the clinical nurse educator, specifically the challenges related to transition from clinician, or in some cases, from newly-graduated nurse to that of clinical nurse educator, as occurs in developing countries. Confidence in the clinical educator role has been associated with successful transition and the development of role competence. There is currently no valid and reliable instrument to measure clinical nurse educator confidence. This study was conducted to develop and psychometrically test an instrument to measure perceived confidence among clinical nurse educators. A multi-phase, multi-setting survey design was used. A total of 468 surveys were distributed, and 363 were returned. Data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The instrument was successfully tested and modified in phase 1, and factorial validity was subsequently confirmed in phase 2. There was strong evidence of internal consistency, reliability, content, and convergent validity of the Clinical Nurse Educator Skill Acquisition Assessment instrument. The resulting instrument is applicable in similar contexts due to its rigorous development and validation process. © 2017 The Authors. Nursing & Health Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Smart instrumentation development at Los Alamos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erkkila, B.

1984-01-01

For several years Los Alamos has incorporated microprocessors into instruments to expand the capability of portable survey type equipment. Beginning with portable pulse height analyzers, the developments have expanded to small dedicated instruments which handle the measurement and interpretation of various radiation fields. So far, instruments to measure gamma rays, neutrons, and beta particles have been produced. The computer capability built into these instruments provides significant computational power into the instruments. Capability unheard of a few years ago in small portable instruments is routine today. Large computer-based laboratory measurement systems which required much space and electrical power can now be incorporated in a portable hand-held instrument. The microprocessor developments at Los Alamos are now restricted to radiation monitoring equipment but can be expanded to chemical and biological applications as well. Applications for radiation monitoring equipment and others are discussed

Development of an Instrument to Measure Higher Order Thinking Skills in Senior High School Mathematics Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Tanujaya, Benidiktus

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research was to develop an instrument that can be used to measure higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in mathematics instruction of high school students. This research was conducted using a standard procedure of instrument development, from the development of conceptual definitions, development of operational definitions,…

Development an Instrument to Measure University Students' Attitude towards E-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Mehra, Vandana; Omidian, Faranak

2012-01-01

The study of student's attitude towards e-learning can in many ways help managers better prepare in light of e-learning for the future. This article describes the process of the development of an instrument to measure university students' attitude towards e-learning. The scale was administered to 200 University students from two countries (India…

Service quality in banking: developing and testing measurement instrument with Latvian sample data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Titko

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper highlights the importance of managing service quality in banking that can positively affect customer satisfaction. The goal of the given study is to develop an instrument for measuring service quality perceived by Latvian banks’ retail customers and to determine the most important contributors to customer satisfaction. To achieve this purpose, randomly selected customers of Latvian banks were surveyed, using the authors’ developed questionnaire. The proposed instrument was tested for reliability and validity, using techniques of confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five service quality dimensions (factors that allowed constructing customer satisfaction factor model EPICA: E – expenses, P – product, I – image, C – competence and emotional intellect, A – access. The subsequent correlation analysis revealed that the strongest relationship is between customer satisfaction and C factor. The results of the current research are crucially important for Latvian banks’ executives because the majority of previous studies in the related field offered measurement scales adequate for measuring service quality in other industries. Besides, the proposed questionnaire is exclusively developed for Latvia and considers Latvian banking sector specifics.

Developing a workplace resilience instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallak, Larry A; Yildiz, Mustafa

2016-05-27

Resilience benefits from the use of protective factors, as opposed to risk factors, which are associated with vulnerability. Considerable research and instrument development has been conducted in clinical settings for patients. The need existed for an instrument to be developed in a workplace setting to measure resilience of employees. This study developed and tested a resilience instrument for employees in the workplace. The research instrument was distributed to executives and nurses working in the United States in hospital settings. Five-hundred-forty completed and usable responses were obtained. The instrument contained an inventory of workplace resilience, a job stress questionnaire, and relevant demographics. The resilience items were written based on previous work by the lead author and inspired by Weick's [1] sense-making theory. A four-factor model yielded an instrument having psychometric properties showing good model fit. Twenty items were retained for the resulting Workplace Resilience Instrument (WRI). Parallel analysis was conducted with successive iterations of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Respondents were classified based on their employment with either a rural or an urban hospital. Executives had significantly higher WRI scores than nurses, controlling for gender. WRI scores were positively and significantly correlated with years of experience and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. An instrument to measure individual resilience in the workplace (WRI) was developed. The WRI's four factors identify dimensions of workplace resilience for use in subsequent investigations: Active Problem-Solving, Team Efficacy, Confident Sense-Making, and Bricolage.

Measuring Financial Literacy: Developing and Testing a Measurement Instrument with a Selected Group of South African Military Officers

Science.gov (United States)

Schwella, E.; van Nieuwenhuyzen, Bernard J.

2014-01-01

Are South Africans financially literate, and how can this be measured? Until 2009 there was no South African financial literacy measure and, therefore, the aim was to develop a South African measurement instrument that is scientific, socially acceptable, valid and reliable. To achieve this aim a contextual and conceptual analysis of financial…

DEVELOPMENT AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS E-LEARNING

OpenAIRE

Vandana MEHRA; Faranak OMIDIAN

2012-01-01

The study of student’s attitude towards e-learning can in many ways help managers better prepare in light of e-learning for the future. This article describes the process of the development of an instrument to measure university students’ attitude towards e-learning. The scale was administered to 200 University students from two countries (India and Iran) .The 83-item attitude towards e-learning scale was developed on six domains as Perceived usefulness ; Intention to adopt e-learning; Ease o...

From theory to 'measurement' in complex interventions: Methodological lessons from the development of an e-health normalisation instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finch Tracy L

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although empirical and theoretical understanding of processes of implementation in health care is advancing, translation of theory into structured measures that capture the complex interplay between interventions, individuals and context remain limited. This paper aimed to (1 describe the process and outcome of a project to develop a theory-based instrument for measuring implementation processes relating to e-health interventions; and (2 identify key issues and methodological challenges for advancing work in this field. Methods A 30-item instrument (Technology Adoption Readiness Scale (TARS for measuring normalisation processes in the context of e-health service interventions was developed on the basis on Normalization Process Theory (NPT. NPT focuses on how new practices become routinely embedded within social contexts. The instrument was pre-tested in two health care settings in which e-health (electronic facilitation of healthcare decision-making and practice was used by health care professionals. Results The developed instrument was pre-tested in two professional samples (N = 46; N = 231. Ratings of items representing normalisation ‘processes’ were significantly related to staff members’ perceptions of whether or not e-health had become ‘routine’. Key methodological challenges are discussed in relation to: translating multi-component theoretical constructs into simple questions; developing and choosing appropriate outcome measures; conducting multiple-stakeholder assessments; instrument and question framing; and more general issues for instrument development in practice contexts. Conclusions To develop theory-derived measures of implementation process for progressing research in this field, four key recommendations are made relating to (1 greater attention to underlying theoretical assumptions and extent of translation work required; (2 the need for appropriate but flexible approaches to outcomes

From theory to 'measurement' in complex interventions: methodological lessons from the development of an e-health normalisation instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Tracy L; Mair, Frances S; O'Donnell, Catherine; Murray, Elizabeth; May, Carl R

2012-05-17

Although empirical and theoretical understanding of processes of implementation in health care is advancing, translation of theory into structured measures that capture the complex interplay between interventions, individuals and context remain limited. This paper aimed to (1) describe the process and outcome of a project to develop a theory-based instrument for measuring implementation processes relating to e-health interventions; and (2) identify key issues and methodological challenges for advancing work in this field. A 30-item instrument (Technology Adoption Readiness Scale (TARS)) for measuring normalisation processes in the context of e-health service interventions was developed on the basis on Normalization Process Theory (NPT). NPT focuses on how new practices become routinely embedded within social contexts. The instrument was pre-tested in two health care settings in which e-health (electronic facilitation of healthcare decision-making and practice) was used by health care professionals. The developed instrument was pre-tested in two professional samples (N=46; N=231). Ratings of items representing normalisation 'processes' were significantly related to staff members' perceptions of whether or not e-health had become 'routine'. Key methodological challenges are discussed in relation to: translating multi-component theoretical constructs into simple questions; developing and choosing appropriate outcome measures; conducting multiple-stakeholder assessments; instrument and question framing; and more general issues for instrument development in practice contexts. To develop theory-derived measures of implementation process for progressing research in this field, four key recommendations are made relating to (1) greater attention to underlying theoretical assumptions and extent of translation work required; (2) the need for appropriate but flexible approaches to outcomes measurement; (3) representation of multiple perspectives and collaborative nature of

Virtual experiment instrument of nuclear pulse measuring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shan Jian; Zhao Xiuliang; Yu Hong; Zhang Meiqin

2009-01-01

Study on the scheme of application of virtual instrument(VI) technique in measuring of nuclear pulse. The system of Counter based on technology of LabVIEW and NI company's products USB-6009-DAQ is developed. Virtual nuclear instrument-Virtual Counter is realized. This system extends the application of technology of virtual instrument. The experimental results indicate that the system of Counter had the good counting measuring function of Nuclear Pulse. (authors)

Isotope-equipped measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyagawa, Kazuo; Amano, Hiroshi

1980-01-01

In the steel industry, though the investment in isotope-equipped measuring instruments is small as compared with that in machinery, they play important role in the moisture measurement in sintering and blast furnaces, the thickness measurement in rolling process and others in automatic control systems. The economic aspect of the isotope-equipped measuring instruments is described on the basis of the practices in Kimitsu Works of Nippon Steel Corporation: distribution of such instruments, evaluation of economic effects, usefulness evaluation in view of raising the accuracy, and usefulness evaluation viewed from the failure of the isotope instruments. The evaluation of economic effects was made under the premise that the isotope-equipped measuring instruments are not employed. Then, the effects of raising the accuracy are evaluated for a γ-ray plate thickness gauge and a neutron moisture gauge for coke in a blast furnace. Finally, the usefulness was evaluated, assuming possible failure of the isotope-equipped measuring instruments. (J.P.N.)

The development of an instrument to measure teachers' use of fear appeals in the GCSE classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Putwain, David W; Roberts, Christine M

2009-12-01

Previous work has suggested that teachers of General Certificate of Secondary Education classes may use fear appeals as a motivational device but these may have unwanted consequences by increasing examination-related anxiety in students. To facilitate future work in this area, an instrument was developed to measure teachers' use of fear appeals in the course of normal classroom instruction. Students in their final 2 years of compulsory schooling in England: 192 in Study 1 and 133 in Study 2. A construct validity approach was used in the development of this instrument. Study 1 reports the development and piloting of this measure. Study 2 reports refinement of this measure and relations with other constructs. A three-factor structure provided a reasonable model fit and all factors demonstrated acceptable reliability. Factors 1 and 2 described the perceived frequency of fear appeals made in relation to educational/occupational consequences and the third factor described the perceived threat of fear appeals. This instrument has demonstrated sufficient convergent and discriminant validity and reliability to be used in subsequent research, although the validation process should continue and it is hoped that the instrument will be adapted for use in other contexts.

Patient perspective: choosing or developing instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirwan, John R; Fries, James F; Hewlett, Sarah; Osborne, Richard H

2011-08-01

Previous Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) meetings recognized that patients view outcomes of intervention from a different perspective. This preconference position paper briefly sets out 2 patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument approaches, the PROMISE computer adaptive testing (CAT) system and development of a rheumatoid arthritis-specific questionnaire to measure fatigue; a tentative proposal for a PRO instrument development pathway is also made.

Development of measurement standards for verifying functional performance of surface texture measuring instruments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujii, A [Life and Industrial Product Development Department Olympus Corporation, 2951 Ishikawa-machi, Hachiouji-shi, Tokyo (Japan); Suzuki, H [Industrial Marketing and Planning Department Olympus Corporation, Shinjyuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjyuku 2-chome, Tokyo (Japan); Yanagi, K, E-mail: a_fujii@ot.olympus.co.jp [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka-shi, Niigata (Japan)

2011-08-19

A new measurement standard is proposed for verifying overall functional performance of surface texture measuring instruments. Its surface is composed of sinusoidal surface waveforms of chirp signals along horizontal cross sections of the material measure. One of the notable features is that the amplitude of each cycle in the chirp signal form is geometrically modulated so that the maximum slope is kept constant. The maximum slope of the chirp-like signal is gradually decreased according to movement in the lateral direction. We fabricated the measurement standard by FIB processing, and it was calibrated by AFM. We tried to evaluate the functional performance of Laser Scanning Microscope by this standard in terms of amplitude response with varying slope angles. As a result, it was concluded that the proposed standard can easily evaluate the performance of surface texture measuring instruments.

DEVELOPMENT AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS E-LEARNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vandana MEHRA

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The study of student’s attitude towards e-learning can in many ways help managers better prepare in light of e-learning for the future. This article describes the process of the development of an instrument to measure university students’ attitude towards e-learning. The scale was administered to 200 University students from two countries (India and Iran .The 83-item attitude towards e-learning scale was developed on six domains as Perceived usefulness ; Intention to adopt e-learning; Ease of e-learning use; Technical and pedagogical support; E-learning stressors ; Pressure to use e-learning.

Development of the instrument IMAQE-Food to measure effectiveness of quality management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spiegel, van der M.; Luning, P.A.; Ziggers, G.W.; Jongen, W.M.F.

2005-01-01

Purpose - Manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. However, their effectiveness cannot be assessed because an instrument does not exist. This article is based on a study that was set up to identify performance measurement indicators of an instrument that measures

Toward Development of a Generalized Instrument to Measure Andragogy

Science.gov (United States)

Holton, Elwood F., III; Wilson, Lynda Swanson; Bates, Reid A.

2009-01-01

Andragogy has emerged as one of the dominant frameworks for teaching adults during the past 40 years. A major and glaring gap in andragogy research is the lack of a measurement instrument that adequately measures both andragogical principles and process design elements. As a result, no definitive empirical test of the theory has been possible. The…

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE UNDERSTANDING OF PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES.

Science.gov (United States)

MCCORMICK, FLOYD G.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES IN FARM MANAGEMENT WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE. PRINCIPLES WERE IDENTIFIED FROM LITERATURE SELECTED BY AGRICULTURAL ECONOMISTS. FORTY-FIVE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS WERE REFINED ON THE BASIS OF RESULTS OF THREE PRETESTS AND…

Verification of the Indicating Measuring Instruments Taking into Account their Instrumental Measurement Uncertainty

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Zakharov Igor

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The specific features of the measuring instruments verification based on the results of their calibration are considered. It is noted that, in contrast to the verification procedure used in the legal metrology, the verification procedure for calibrated measuring instruments has to take into account the uncertainty of measurements into account. In this regard, a large number of measuring instruments, considered as those that are in compliance after verification in the legal metrology, turns out to be not in compliance after calibration. In this case, it is necessary to evaluate the probability of compliance of indicating measuring instruments. The procedure of compliance probability determination on the basis of the Monte Carlo method is considered. An example of calibration of a Vernier caliper is given.

Mixed field dose equivalent measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brackenbush, L.W.; McDonald, J.C.; Endres, G.W.R.; Quam, W.

1985-01-01

In the past, separate instruments have been used to monitor dose equivalent from neutrons and gamma rays. It has been demonstrated that it is now possible to measure simultaneously neutron and gamma dose with a single instrument, the tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC). With appropriate algorithms dose equivalent can also be determined from the TEPC. A simple ''pocket rem meter'' for measuring neutron dose equivalent has already been developed. Improved algorithms for determining dose equivalent for mixed fields are presented. (author)

Instrumental development and data processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franzen, J.

1978-01-01

A review of recent developments in mass spectrometry instrumentation is presented under the following headings: introduction (scope of mass spectrometry compared with neighbouring fields); ion sources and ionization techniques; spectrometers (instrumental developments); measuring procedures; coupling techniques; data systems; conclusions (that mass spectrometry should have a broader basis and that there would be mutual profit from a better penetration of mass spectrometry into fields of routine application). (U.K.)

The evolution and development of an instrument to measure essential professional nursing practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Marlene; Brewer, Barbara B; Halfer, Diana; Hnatiuk, Cynthia Nowicki; MacPhee, Maura; Schmalenberg, Claudia

2014-11-01

Nursing continues to evolve from a task-oriented occupation to a holistic professional practice. Increased professionalism requires accurate measurement of care processes and practice. Nursing studies often omit measurement of the relationship between structures in the work environment and processes of care or between processes of care and patient outcomes. Process measurement is integral to understanding and improving nursing practice. This article describes the development of an updated Essentials of Magnetism process measurement instrument for clinical nurses (CNs) practicing on inpatient units in hospitals. It has been renamed Essential Professional Nursing Practices: CN.

Introduction to instrumentation and measurements

CERN Document Server

Northrop, Robert B

2014-01-01

Weighing in on the growth of innovative technologies, the adoption of new standards, and the lack of educational development as it relates to current and emerging applications, the third edition of Introduction to Instrumentation and Measurements uses the authors' 40 years of teaching experience to expound on the theory, science, and art of modern instrumentation and measurements (I&M). What's New in This Edition: This edition includes material on modern integrated circuit (IC) and photonic sensors, micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) and nano-electro-mechanical (NEM) sensors, chemical and radiation sensors, signal conditioning, noise, data interfaces, and basic digital signal processing (DSP), and upgrades every chapter with the latest advancements. It contains new material on the designs of micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) sensors, adds two new chapters on wireless instrumentation and microsensors, and incorporates extensive biomedical examples and problems. Containing 13 chapters, this third edition: Describ...

A critical appraisal of instruments to measure outcomes of interprofessional education.

Science.gov (United States)

Oates, Matthew; Davidson, Megan

2015-04-01

Interprofessional education (IPE) is believed to prepare health professional graduates for successful collaborative practice. A range of instruments have been developed to measure the outcomes of IPE. An understanding of the psychometric properties of these instruments is important if they are to be used to measure the effectiveness of IPE. This review set out to identify instruments available to measure outcomes of IPE and collaborative practice in pre-qualification health professional students and to critically appraise the psychometric properties of validity, responsiveness and reliability against contemporary standards for instrument design. Instruments were selected from a pool of extant instruments and subjected to critical appraisal to determine whether they satisfied inclusion criteria. The qualitative and psychometric attributes of the included instruments were appraised using a checklist developed for this review. Nine instruments were critically appraised, including the widely adopted Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Validity evidence for instruments was predominantly based on test content and internal structure. Ceiling effects and lack of scale width contribute to the inability of some instruments to detect change in variables of interest. Limited reliability data were reported for two instruments. Scale development and scoring protocols were generally reported by instrument developers, but the inconsistent application of scoring protocols for some instruments was apparent. A number of instruments have been developed to measure outcomes of IPE in pre-qualification health professional students. Based on reported validity evidence and reliability data, the psychometric integrity of these instruments is limited. The theoretical test construction paradigm on which instruments have been developed may be contributing to the failure of some instruments to detect change in

Development of source range measurement instrument in Xi'an pulsed reactor

CERN Document Server

Wang Li

2002-01-01

Source range measurement instrument in Xi'an pulsed reactor is key equipment of low-side measuring in source range. At the same time, it is also weighty component of out-of-pile neutron-flux level observation system. The authors have done some researching and renovating based on the similar type devices used in nuclear reactor to improve the meter sensitivity, measuring range, noise proof features, reliability in running and maintainability which belong to the main performance index of the instrument. The design ideas, configurations, working principle, performance indexes, technique features and effect in utilizing are introduced briefly

Nuclear instrumentation for radiation measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madan, V.K.

2012-01-01

Nuclear radiation cannot be detected by human senses. Nuclear detectors and associated electronics facilitate detection and measurement of different types of radiation like alpha particles, beta particles, gamma radiation, and detection of neutrons. Nuclear instrumentation has evolved greatly since the discovery of radioactivity. There has been tremendous advancement in detector technology, electronics, computer technology, and development of efficient algorithms and methods for spectral processing to extract precisely qualitative and quantitative information of the radiation. Various types of detectors and nuclear instruments are presently available and are used for different applications. This paper describes nuclear radiation, its detection and measurement and associated electronics, spectral information extraction, and advances in these fields. The paper also describes challenges in this field

Development And Validation Of An Organisational Justice Measurement Instrument For A South African Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ophillia Ledimo

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Measuring organisational justice in a South African context is a concern as the concept is multi-dimensional and there is no comprehensive definition; therefore, an integrative and well-developed measure of organisational justice can advance the measurement and analysis of this concept. This study investigates the development and validity of an organisational justice measuring instrument (OJMI, and determines the relationships between the different dimensions of the concept organisational justice. Data was gathered from 289 participants, employed in a public service organisation. To analyse the data the descriptive and inferential statistics used are Cronbach alpha coefficient, means, the explanatory factor analysis (EFA and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. It was found that the model fitted the data well and the measurement of each dimension, namely strategic direction; distributive, procedural, interactional, informational, diversity management; customer relations; service delivery innovation as well as ethical leadership and management justice were confirmed to be statistically significant and positive. These results indicate that OJMI is a reliable and valid measure that organisations need in order to measure perceptions of fairness, and to monitor trends of fair practices. The validated measuring instrument for organisational justice and the conducted analysis of the interrelationships between the different dimensions of the concept will enable organisations to initiate proactive and reactive interventions to facilitate justice and fair practices.

Instrument for measuring fuel cladding strain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billeter, T.R.

1976-01-01

Development work to provide instrumentation for the continuous measurement of strain of material specimens such as nuclear fuel cladding has shown that a microwave sensor and associated instrumentation hold promise. The cylindrical sensor body enclosing the specimen results in a coaxial resonator absorbing microwave energy at frequencies dependent upon the diameter of the specimen. Diametral changes of a microinch can be resolved with use of the instrumentation. Very reasonable values of elastic strain were measured at 75 0 F and 1000 0 F for an internally pressurized 20 percent C.W. 316 stainless steel specimen simulating nuclear fuel cladding. The instrument also indicated the creep strain of the same specimen pressurized at 6500 psi and at a temperature of 1000 0 F for a period of 700 hours. Although the indicated strain appears greater than actual, the sensor/specimen unit experienced considerable oxidation even though an inert gas purge persisted throughout the test duration. By monitoring at least two modes of resonance, the measured strain was shown to be nearly independent of sensor temperature. To prevent oxidation, a second test was performed in which the specimen/sensor units were contained in an evacuated enclosure. The strain of the two prepressurized specimens as indicated by the microwave instrumentation agreed very closely with pre- and post-test measurements obtained with use of a laser interferometer

Current situation and prospect of market on the latest radiation measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Chang Ho; Kim, Wang Geum; Cho, Gyu Seong

2009-12-01

This book deals with current situation and prospect of market on the latest radiation measuring instrument. The contents of this book are basic of technology on radiation measuring instrument with basic principle of various measuring instrument, current situation of technology and prospect of radiation measuring instrument, effect of spreading and application field of radiation measuring instrument, facility for making and research and development of radiation measuring instrument, prospect of market about radiation measuring instrument, strategy for market entry with the latest radiation measuring instrument and general prospect for the future.

Mobile Instruments Measure Atmospheric Pollutants

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

As a part of NASA's active research of the Earth s atmosphere, which has included missions such as the Atmospheric Laboratory of Applications and Science (ATLAS, launched in 1992) and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS, launched on the Earth Probe satellite in 1996), the Agency also performs ground-based air pollution research. The ability to measure trace amounts of airborne pollutants precisely and quickly is important for determining natural patterns and human effects on global warming and air pollution, but until recent advances in field-grade spectroscopic instrumentation, this rapid, accurate data collection was limited and extremely difficult. In order to understand causes of climate change and airborne pollution, NASA has supported the development of compact, low power, rapid response instruments operating in the mid-infrared "molecular fingerprint" portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. These instruments, which measure atmospheric trace gases and airborne particles, can be deployed in mobile laboratories - customized ground vehicles, typically - to map distributions of pollutants in real time. The instruments must be rugged enough to operate rapidly and accurately, despite frequent jostling that can misalign, damage, or disconnect sensitive components. By measuring quickly while moving through an environment, a mobile laboratory can correlate data and geographic points, revealing patterns in the environment s pollutants. Rapid pollutant measurements also enable direct determination of pollutant sources and sinks (mechanisms that remove greenhouse gases and pollutants), providing information critical to understanding and managing atmospheric greenhouse gas and air pollutant concentrations.

A review of instruments developed to measure food neophobia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damsbo-Svendsen, Marie; Frøst, Michael Bom; Olsen, Annemarie

2017-01-01

Food choices are influenced by an individual's attitude towards foods. Food neophobia may be associated with less variety of diets, inadequate nutrient intake and high product failure rate for new food products entering the market. To quantify the extent of these challenges, instruments to measur...

Development of a field measurement instrument for nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP) based on signal transmission through fiber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Wenwu; Zhang Chuandong; Liu Yi; Chen Jiuchun; Fan Youwen

2007-01-01

This paper deals with design principles, development and performance of a field measurement instrument for nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) based on signal transmission through fiber. To determine the minimum band width this instrument needs, we analyze cutoff spectrum of a time domain double exponential signal, employing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and get its inverse transform signal. Then we design the circuit of laser device and the circuit of measuring device according to previous analysis. This instrument meets requirements of related regulations. Its specifications meet requirements of NEMP hazard protection research and can be of great significance to it. (authors)

Field instrumentation for hydrofracturing stress measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjarnason, Bjarni; Torikka, Arne.

1989-08-01

A recently developed system for rock stress measurements by the hydraulic fracturing method is documented in detail. The new equipment is intended for measurement in vertical or nearvertical boreholes, down to a maximum depth of 1000 m. The minimum borehole, diameter required is 56 mm. Downhole instrumentation comprises a straddle packer assembly for borehole fracturing, equipment for determination of fracture orientations and a pressure transducer. The downhole tools are operated by means of a multihose system, containing high pressure hydraulic tubings, signal cable and carrying wire into one hose unit. The surface components of the equipment include a system for generation and control of water pressures up to approximately 75 MPa, an hydraulically operated drum for the multihose and a data acquisition system. All surface instrumentation is permanently mounted on a truck, which also serves as power source for the instrumentation. In addition to the description of instrumentation, the theoretical fundament and the testing procedures associated with the hydraulic fracturing method are briefly outlined

Value-Personality Link Measured With Novel Instruments Developed With an Emic Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suna Tevrüz

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The first aim of this study is to investigate whether instruments developed with an emic approach in Turkey produce the same trait-value links obtained with studies using near universal instruments, and if emic traits and value concepts are composed under agency and communal conceptions. So, the first aim of this study is to inspect the conceptual similarities in the links between traits and values. The second aim is to examine the moderating effect of disposable income on the strength of the trait-value relationship. Undergraduate and graduate students (N = 595 from six universities in Istanbul responded to the Personality Profile Scale (PPS and the Life Goal Values (LGV questionnaire. Second order factor analysis indicated that indigenous value and trait items were representative of communal and agency conceptions. Furthermore, most of the value-trait links revealed with regression analysis, and the sinusoid relationships revealed with Pearson correlation coefficients were consistent with the findings measured with near universal instruments. Additionally found relationships between traits and especially conservation values can be interpreted as the instrumentality of agentic traits for personal as well for social focused values. Disposable income had a moderating effect on five trait-value relationships and three out of five were weaker in the low-income group.

Calibration of the geometrical characteristics of areal surface topography measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giusca, C L; Leach, R K; Helery, F; Gutauskas, T

2011-01-01

The use of areal surface topography measuring instruments has increased significantly over the past ten years as industry starts to embrace the use of surface structuring to affect the function of a component. This has led to a range of areal surface topography measuring instruments being developed and becoming available commercially. For such instruments to be used as part of quality control during production, it is essential for them to be calibrated according to international standards. The ISO 25178 suite of specification standards on areal surface topography measurement presents a series of tests that can be used to calibrate the metrological characteristics of an areal surface topography measuring instrument. Calibration artefacts and test procedures have been developed that are compliant with ISO 25178. The material measures include crossed gratings, resolution artefacts and pseudorandom surfaces. Traceability is achieved through the NPL Areal Instrument - a primary stylus-based instrument that uses laser interferometers to measure the displacement of the stylus tip. Good practice guides on areal calibration have also been drafted for stylus instruments, coherence scanning interferometers, scanning confocal microscopes and focus variation instruments.

Development of an instrument to measure internalized stigma in those with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Kenneth D; Moneyham, Linda; Tavakoli, Abbas

2011-01-01

Stigma has grave consequences for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Stigma hampers prevention of HIV transmission to sexual partners and to unborn babies, diagnosis, and early treatment, and negatively affects mental and physical health, quality of life, and life satisfaction. Internalized stigma of HIV/AIDS may have even more severe consequences than perceived or enacted stigma. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure internalized stigma in those with HIV/AIDS. Data were drawn from the Rural Women's Health Project. Research assistants administered structured interviews at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Instruments used in these analyses included a demographic data form, the Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Perceived Stigma Scale (PSS), and the Internalized Stigma of AIDS Tool (ISAT). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the ten items of the ISAT measure a single factor that explains 88% of the variance in the construct. Internal consistency was demonstrated by a Cronbach's alpha of .91 (Time 1), .92 (Time 2), and .92 (Time 3). Convergent validity was supported with significant positive correlations with the CES-D (rho = 0.33, p Stigma of AIDS Tool appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure internalization of the stigma of HIV/AIDS. It may be of value in research and clinical assessment.

77 FR 2982 - Request for Measures and Domains To Use in Development of a Standardized Instrument for Use in...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-20

... Measures and Domains To Use in Development of a Standardized Instrument for Use in Public Reporting of... Department of Health and Human Services with improving pediatric health care quality measures. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is soliciting the submission of instruments or domains (for example...

Development of an instrument designed to measure employees' perceptions of workplace breastfeeding support.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Sally W; Olson, Beth H

2008-09-01

Breastfeeding rates remain low in the United States, especially among working women. Unfortunately, no quantitative instrument exists to facilitate the examination of why women who return to work discontinue breastfeeding sooner than the general population. The objective of this study was to develop an instrument to measure female employees' perceptions of breastfeeding support in the workplace, which would be suitable for piloting with the target population. Examination of the literature, reviews with experts, and one-on-one interviews with women who had experience combining breastfeeding and work were used to create the instrument subscales and items. Examination of the literature was used to develop four subscales: company policies/work culture, manager support, co-worker support, and workflow. Expert review resulted in the addition of a fifth subscale, the physical environment of the breastfeeding space. One-on-one interviews were used to ensure that the item wording was appropriate for the target population. Eighteen items were added, and 15 were reworded based on comments from the expert review and from the interviews. The resulting survey contained 54 items that required either categorical yes/no or Likert scale responses. Results from this process indicate the survey subscales and items adequately reflect women's perceptions of breastfeeding support in the workplace and the instrument is appropriate for piloting with new mother employees.

Development of a portable instrument to measure ozone production rates in the troposphere

Science.gov (United States)

Sklaveniti, Sofia; Locoge, Nadine; Stevens, Philip; Kumar, Vinod; Sinha, Vinayak; Dusanter, Sébastien

2015-04-01

Ground-level ozone is a key species related to air pollution, causing respiratory problems, damaging crops and forests, and affecting the climate. Our current understanding of the tropospheric ozone-forming chemistry indicates that net ozone production occurs via reactions of peroxy radicals (HO2 + RO2) with NO producing NO2, whose photolysis leads to O3 formation. Production rates of tropospheric ozone, P(O3), depend on concentrations of oxides of nitrogen (NOx = NO + NO2) and Volatile Organic Compounds (V OCs), but also on production rates of ROx radicals (OH + HO2 + RO2). The formation of ozone follows a complex nonlinear chemistry that makes strategies for reducing ozone difficult to implement. In this context, atmospheric chemistry models are used to develop emission regulations, but there are still uncertainties associated with the chemical mechanisms used in these models. Testing the ozone formation chemistry in atmospheric models is needed, in order to ensure the development of effective strategies for ozone reduction. We will present the development of an instrument for direct measurements of ozone production rates (OPR) in ambient air. The OPR instrument is made of three components: (i) two quartz flow tubes to sample ambient air, one exposed to solar radiation and one covered by a UV filter, (ii) a NO2-to-O3 conversion unit, and (iii) an ozone analyzer. The total amount of ozone exiting each flow tube is conserved in the form of Ox = NO2 + O3. Ozone production rates P(O3) are derived from the difference in Ox concentration between the two flow tubes, divided by the exposure time of air inside the flow tubes. We will present studies that were carried out in the laboratory to characterize each part of the instrument and we will discuss the performances of the OPR instrument based on experiments carried out using synthetic air mixtures of known composition (NOx and V OCs). Chemical modeling will also be presented to assess the reliability of ozone

Development and evaluation of an instrument to measure parental satisfaction with quality of care in neonatal follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Butt, Michelle L; Pinelli, Janet; Boyle, Michael H; Thomas, Helen; Hunsberger, Mabel; Saigal, Saroj; Lee, David S; Fanning, Jamie K; Austin, Patricia

2009-02-01

The goal of this study was to develop and subsequently evaluate the psychometric properties of a new discriminative instrument to measure parental satisfaction with the quality of care provided in neonatal follow-up (NFU) programs. The methodological framework for developing and evaluating measurement scales described by Streiner and Norman (Health Measurement Scales: A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003) was used for the study. Informing the phases of the research was a sample of 24 health care professionals and 381 parents who use NFU services. A comprehensive list of items representing the construct, parental satisfaction with quality of care, was generated from published reliable and valid instruments, research studies, focus groups with health care experts, and focus groups with parents. Using a clinimetric approach, the 62 items generated were reduced to 39 items based on parents' ratings of importance and refinement of the items by the research team. After content validation and pretesting, the instrument was tested with parents and underwent item-analysis. The resulting 16-item instrument was composed of 2 subscales, Process and Outcomes. Evaluation of the instrument's psychometric properties indicated adequate test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.72) and internal consistency (Process subscale, alpha = 0.77; Outcomes subscale, alpha = 0.90; overall instrument, alpha = 0.90), as well as good content and construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the multidimensionality of the construct. This new instrument provides clinicians and policy-makers with a tool to assess parental satisfaction with the quality of care in NFU, so areas of dissatisfaction can be identified and changes implemented to optimize service provision.

Design and Implementation Content Validity Study: Development of an instrument for measuring Patient-Centered Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahid Zamanzadeh

2015-06-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Introduction: The importance of content validity in the instrument psychometric and its relevance with reliability, have made it an essential step in the instrument development. This article attempts to give an overview of the content validity process and to explain the complexity of this process by introducing an example. Methods: We carried out a methodological study conducted to examine the content validity of the patient-centered communication instrument through a two-step process (development and judgment. At the first step, domain determination, sampling (item generation and instrument formation and at the second step, content validity ratio, content validity index and modified kappa statistic was performed. Suggestions of expert panel and item impact scores are used to examine the instrument face validity. Results: From a set of 188 items, content validity process identified seven dimensions includes trust building (eight items, informational support (seven items, emotional support (five items, problem solving (seven items, patient activation (10 items, intimacy/friendship (six items and spirituality strengthening (14 items. Content validity study revealed that this instrument enjoys an appropriate level of content validity. The overall content validity index of the instrument using universal agreement approach was low; however, it can be advocated with respect to the high number of content experts that makes consensus difficult and high value of the S-CVI with the average approach, which was equal to 0.93. Conclusion: This article illustrates acceptable quantities indices for content validity a new instrument and outlines them during design and psychometrics of patient-centered communication measuring instrument.

Psychological ownership: Development of an instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chantal Olckers

2013-10-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure psychological ownership in a South African context. Motivation for the study: It was found that previous instruments for the measurement of psychological ownership lacked the ability to grasp the extensive reach of psychological ownership. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted on a non-probability convenience sample of 713 skilled, highly-skilled and professional employees from various organisations in both the private and public sectors in South Africa. Main findings: Although a 69-item measurement instrument was developed in order to capture the proposed seven-dimensional psychological ownership construct, it became evident when analysing the data that a four-factor model comprising 35 items was suitable. Practical/managerial implications: If a sense of psychological ownership toward an organisation could be established amongst its employees by addressing the factors as measured by the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire, organisations could become enhanced workplaces and, as a result, sustainable performance could be promoted and staff could be retained. Contribution/value-add: The instrument for measuring psychological ownership in a South African context could serve as a diagnostic tool that would allow human resource professionals and managers to determine employees’ sense of psychological ownership regarding their organisation and to focus specifically on weak dimensional areas that could be improved.

Measurement Invariance of Early Development Instrument (EDI) Domain Scores across Gender and ESL Status

Science.gov (United States)

Mousavi, Amin; Krishnan, Vijaya

2016-01-01

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a widely used teacher rating tool to assess kindergartners' developmental outcomes in Canada and a number of other countries. This paper examines the measurement invariance of EDI domains across ESL status and gender by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The results suggest evidence of…

Developments in analytical instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Petrie, G.

The situation regarding photogrammetric instrumentation has changed quite dramatically over the last 2 or 3 years with the withdrawal of most analogue stereo-plotting machines from the market place and their replacement by analytically based instrumentation. While there have been few new developments in the field of comparators, there has been an explosive development in the area of small, relatively inexpensive analytical stereo-plotters based on the use of microcomputers. In particular, a number of new instruments have been introduced by manufacturers who mostly have not been associated previously with photogrammetry. Several innovative concepts have been introduced in these small but capable instruments, many of which are aimed at specialised applications, e.g. in close-range photogrammetry (using small-format cameras); for thematic mapping (by organisations engaged in environmental monitoring or resources exploitation); for map revision, etc. Another innovative and possibly significant development has been the production of conversion kits to convert suitable analogue stereo-plotting machines such as the Topocart, PG-2 and B-8 into fully fledged analytical plotters. The larger and more sophisticated analytical stereo-plotters are mostly being produced by the traditional mainstream photogrammetric systems suppliers with several new instruments and developments being introduced at the top end of the market. These include the use of enlarged photo stages to handle images up to 25 × 50 cm format; the complete integration of graphics workstations into the analytical plotter design; the introduction of graphics superimposition and stereo-superimposition; the addition of correlators for the automatic measurement of height, etc. The software associated with this new analytical instrumentation is now undergoing extensive re-development with the need to supply photogrammetric data as input to the more sophisticated G.I.S. systems now being installed by clients, instead

Measuring instruments of corporate reputation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damir Grgić

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The subject of this paper is focused on the instruments for the measurement of corporate reputation. Recent research of the elements which influence the success of a company shows a growing interest in intangible values. Corporate reputation itself has been identified as one of the key intangible assets which create the company’s added value. Understanding of the importance of corporate reputation has been determined as a significant component of the company’s competitiveness, that is, of its competitive edge. Reputation is a normal part of our life and an integral part of our society. Our interest in the honesty and integrity of others is firmly established in all cultures and nowadays the focus of this interest is switching increasingly on companies. Corporate reputation can be acquired by means of strong, well-developed strategies, which are crucial for the opinion of stakeholders regarding future stability and competitive sustainability of the company. On the other hand, it should be emphasized that in order to manage it, corporate reputation has to be measured first. However, although the concept of corporate reputation is universally accepted and its significance has been recognized especially in the last two decades, the process of its measurement is still at an early stage and there is no universally accepted instrument for its measurement. Therefore, the author of this paper gives an overview of the instruments used for the measurement of corporate reputation which have gained a foothold through former practical usage.

The development of an instrument to measure global dimensions of maternal care in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, K; Howell, B R; Guzman, D; Villongco, C; Pears, K; Kim, H; Gunnar, M R; Sanchez, M M

2015-01-01

One of the strongest predictors of healthy child development is the quality of maternal care. Although many measures of observation and self-report exist in humans to assess global aspects of maternal care, such qualitative measures are lacking in nonhuman primates. In this study, we developed an instrument to measure global aspects of maternal care in rhesus monkeys, with the goal of complementing the individual behavioral data collected using a well-established rhesus macaque ethogram during the first months postpartum. The 22 items of the instrument were adapted from human maternal sensitivity assessments and a maternal Q-sort instrument already published for macaques. The 22 items formed four dimensions with high levels of internal reliability that represented major constructs of maternal care: (1) Sensitivity/Responsivity, (2) Protectiveness, (3) Permissiveness, and (4) Irritability. These dimensions yielded high construct validity when correlated with mother-infant frequency and duration behavior that was collected from focal observations across the first 3 postnatal months. In addition, comparisons of two groups of mothers (Maltreating vs. Competent mothers) showed significant differences across the dimensions suggesting that this instrument has strong concurrent validity, even after controlling for focal observation variables that have been previously shown to significantly differentiate these groups. Our findings suggest that this Instrument of Macaque Maternal Care has the potential to capture global aspects of the mother-infant relationship that complement individual behaviors collected through focal observations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Development of an Instrument to Measure Global Dimensions of Maternal Care in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, K.; Howell, B. R.; Guzman, D.; Villongco, C.; Pears, K.; Kim, H.; Gunnar, M.R.; Sanchez, M.M.

2014-01-01

One of the strongest predictors of healthy child development is the quality of maternal care. Although many measures of observation and self-report exist in humans to assess global aspects of maternal care, such qualitative measures are lacking in nonhuman primates. In this study we developed an instrument to measure global aspects of maternal care in rhesus monkeys, with the goal of complementing the individual behavioral data collected using a well-established rhesus macaque ethogram during the first months postpartum. The 22 items of the instrument were adapted from human maternal sensitivity assessments and a maternal Q-sort instrument already published for macaques. The 22 items formed four dimensions with high levels of internal reliability that represented major constructs of maternal care: 1) Sensitivity/Responsivity, 2) Protectiveness, 3) Permissiveness, and 4) Irritability. These dimensions yielded high construct validity when correlated with mother-infant frequency and duration behavior that was collected from focal observations across the first three postnatal months. In addition, comparisons of two groups of mothers (Maltreating versus Competent mothers), showed significant differences across the dimensions suggesting that this instrument has strong concurrent validity, even after controlling for focal observation variables that have been previously shown to significantly differentiate these groups. Our findings suggest that this Instrument of Macaque Maternal Care (IMMC) has the potential to capture global aspects of the mother-infant relationship that complement individual behaviors collected through focal observations. PMID:25066041

Measurement, instrumentation, and sensors handbook

CERN Document Server

Eren, Halit

2014-01-01

The Second Edition of the bestselling Measurement, Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook brings together all aspects of the design and implementation of measurement, instrumentation, and sensors. Reflecting the current state of the art, it describes the use of instruments and techniques for performing practical measurements in engineering, physics, chemistry, and the life sciences and discusses processing systems, automatic data acquisition, reduction and analysis, operation characteristics, accuracy, errors, calibrations, and the incorporation of standards for control purposes. Organized acco

A review of instruments to measure interprofessional team-based primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoemaker, Sarah J; Parchman, Michael L; Fuda, Kathleen Kerwin; Schaefer, Judith; Levin, Jessica; Hunt, Meaghan; Ricciardi, Richard

2016-07-01

Interprofessional team-based care is increasingly regarded as an important feature of delivery systems redesigned to provide more efficient and higher quality care, including primary care. Measurement of the functioning of such teams might enable improvement of team effectiveness and could facilitate research on team-based primary care. Our aims were to develop a conceptual framework of high-functioning primary care teams to identify and review instruments that measure the constructs identified in the framework, and to create a searchable, web-based atlas of such instruments (available at: http://primarycaremeasures.ahrq.gov/team-based-care/ ). Our conceptual framework was developed from existing frameworks, the teamwork literature, and expert input. The framework is based on an Input-Mediator-Output model and includes 12 constructs to which we mapped both instruments as a whole, and individual instrument items. Instruments were also reviewed for relevance to measuring team-based care, and characterized. Instruments were identified from peer-reviewed and grey literature, measure databases, and expert input. From nearly 200 instruments initially identified, we found 48 to be relevant to measuring team-based primary care. The majority of instruments were surveys (n = 44), and the remainder (n = 4) were observational checklists. Most instruments had been developed/tested in healthcare settings (n = 30) and addressed multiple constructs, most commonly communication (n = 42), heedful interrelating (n = 42), respectful interactions (n = 40), and shared explicit goals (n = 37). The majority of instruments had some reliability testing (n = 39) and over half included validity testing (n = 29). Currently available instruments offer promise to researchers and practitioners to assess teams' performance, but additional work is needed to adapt these instruments for primary care settings.

Nuclear instrumentation for the industrial measuring systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Normand, S.

2010-01-01

This work deals with nuclear instrumentation and its application to industry, power plant fuel reprocessing plant and finally with homeland security. The first part concerns the reactor instrumentation, in-core and ex-core measurement system. Ionization Uranium fission chamber will be introduced with their acquisition system especially Campbell mode system. Some progress have been done on regarding sensors failure foresee. The second part of this work deals with reprocessing plant and associated instrumentation for nuclear waste management. Proportional counters techniques will be discussed, especially Helium-3 counter, and new development on electronic concept for reprocessing nuclear waste plant (one electronic for multipurpose acquisition system). For nuclear safety and security for human and homeland will be introduce. First we will explain a new particular approach on operational dosimetric measurement and secondly, we will show new kind of organic scintillator material and associated electronics. Signal treatment with real time treatment is embedded, in order to make neutron gamma discrimination possible even in solid organic scintillator. Finally, the conclusion will point out future, with most trends in research and development on nuclear instrumentation for next years. (author) [fr

Measurement control program for NDA instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsue, S.T.; Marks, T.

1983-01-01

Measurement control checks for nondestructive assay instruments have been a constant and continuing concern at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This paper summarizes the evolution of the measurement control checks in the various high-resolution gamma systems we have developed. In-plant experiences with these systems and checks will be discussed. Based on these experiences, a set of measurement control checks is recommended for high-resolution gamma-ray systems

Evaluation of the measurement properties of symptom measurement instruments for atopic eczema: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerbens, L A A; Prinsen, C A C; Chalmers, J R; Drucker, A M; von Kobyletzki, L B; Limpens, J; Nankervis, H; Svensson, Å; Terwee, C B; Zhang, J; Apfelbacher, C J; Spuls, P I

2017-01-01

Symptoms have been identified as a core outcome domain for atopic eczema (AE) trials. Various instruments exist to measure symptoms in AE, but they vary in quality and there is a lack of standardization between clinical trials. Our objective was to systematically evaluate the quality of the evidence on the measurement properties of AE symptom instruments, thereby informing consensus discussions within the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative regarding the most appropriate instruments for the core outcome domain symptoms. Using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist and predefined criteria for good measurement properties on identified development and validation studies of AE symptom instruments, a best evidence synthesis was performed to draw an overall conclusion on quality of the instruments and to provide recommendations. Eighteen instruments were identified and evaluated. When the quality and results of the studies were considered, only five of these instruments had sufficient validation data to consider them for the core outcome set for the core outcome domain symptoms. These were the paediatric Itch Severity Scale (ISS), Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), Patient-Oriented SCOring Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD), Self-Administered Eczema Area and Severity Index (SA-EASI) and adapted SA-EASI. ISS (paediatric version), POEM, PO-SCORAD, SA-EASI and adapted SA-EASI are currently the most appropriate instruments and therefore have the potential to be recommended as core symptom instrument in future clinical trials. These findings will be utilized for the development of a core outcome set for AE. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality of local authority occupational therapy services: developing an instrument to measure the user's perspective.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calnan, S.; Sixma, H.J.; Calnan, M.W.; Groenewegen, P.P.

2000-01-01

The aims of this paper are threefold: (1) to describe the development of an instrument measuring quality of care from the specific perspective of the users of local authority occupational therapy services; (2) to present the results from a survey of users' views about the quality of services offered

Development of a nursing workload measurement instrument in burn care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, A.E.; Leeman, J.; Middelkoop, E.

2009-01-01

Existing workload measurement instruments fail to represent specific nursing activities in a setting where patients are characterized by a diversity of cause, location, extent and depth of burns, of age and of history. They also do not include educational levels and appropriate time standards. The

Development and validation of an instrument for measuring the quality of teamwork in teaching teams in postgraduate medical training (TeamQ)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slootweg, Irene A.; Lombarts, Kiki M. J. M. H.; Boerebach, Benjamin C. M.; Heineman, Maas Jan; Scherpbier, Albert J. J. A.; van der Vleuten, Cees P. M.

2014-01-01

Teamwork between clinical teachers is a challenge in postgraduate medical training. Although there are several instruments available for measuring teamwork in health care, none of them are appropriate for teaching teams. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument (TeamQ) for measuring

Instrument pre-development activities for FLEX

Science.gov (United States)

Pettinato, L.; Fossati, E.; Coppo, P. M.; Taiti, A.; Labate, D.; Capanni, A.; Taccola, M.; Bézy, J. L.; Francois, M.; Meynart, R.; Erdmann, L.; Triebel, P.

2017-09-01

The FLuorescence Imaging Spectrometer (FLORIS) is the payload of the FLuorescence Explorer Mission (FLEX) of the European Space Agency. The mission objective is to perform quantitative measurements of the solar induced vegetation fluorescence to monitor photosynthetic activity. FLORIS works in a push-broom configuration and it is designed to acquire data in the 500-780 nm spectral range, with a sampling of 0.1 nm in the oxygen bands (759-769 nm and 686- 697 nm) and 0.5-2.0 nm in the red edge, chlorophyll absorption and Photochemical Reflectance Index bands. FLEX will fly in formation with Sentinel-3 to benefit of the measurements made by the Sentinel-3 instruments OLCI and SLSTR, particularly for cloud screening, proper characterization of the atmospheric state and determination of the surface temperature. The instrument concept is based on a common telescope and two modified Offner spectrometers with reflective concave gratings both for the High Resolution (HR) and Low Resolution (LR) spectrometers. In the frame of the instrument pre-development Leonardo Company (I) has built and tested an elegant breadboard of the instrument consisting of the telescope and the HR spectrometer. The development of the LR spectrometer is in charge of OHB System AG (D) and is currently in the manufacturing phase. The main objectives of the activity are: anticipate the development of the instrument and provide early risk retirement of critical components, evaluate the system performances such as imaging quality parameters, straylight, ghost, polarization sensitivity and environmental influences, verify the adequacy of critical tests such as spectral characterization and straylight, define and optimize instrument alignment procedures. Following a brief overview of the FLEX mission, the paper will cover the design and the development of the optics breadboard with emphasis on the results obtained during the tests and the lessons learned for the flight unit.

Development of ultrasonic instrument 'UT1000 Series'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogura, Yukio; Ikeda, Toshimichi

1984-01-01

The ultrasonic flaw detectors with 'A-scope indication' have been frequently used as the means for confirming the soundness of structures and equipments, but there are problems in their operational, quantifying and recording capabilities. Recently, the digital ultrasonic measuring instrument of touch panel type ''UT 1000 Series'' has been developed, which resolves these problems by a single effort. This measuring instrument is that of portable type, which gives the digital output of measured results in real time only by lightly touching the peak point of an echo on the Brown tube. This instrument contains the rich software for measurement, and can measure the positions and dimensions of defects and the pressure on contact surfaces with high accuracy. 'A-scope indication' is the indication with an oscilloscope taking the intensity of echo and the propagation time of ultrasonic waves on the ordinate and abscissa, respectively. There are three types of the instrument, that is, for detecting defects, for measuring contact surface pressure and for both purposes. The size of the instrument is 240 mm width, 350 mm length and 175 mm height, and the weight is 8.5 kgf. The specification, function and features of the ultrasonic flaw detector, touch panel, gain setter, key board, microcomputer and others are reported. (Kako, I.)

Development of a new instrument for the measurement of the milk constituents based on the embedded system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Zhen; Wu Juan; Su Lijun; Li Zhonggang; Zhao Hong

2007-01-01

This paper presents a new way for measuring milk constituents. The new technology utilizes the scattered light to transmitted light ratio of laser light to determine the amount of protein and fat in milk. Fundamental theories of this new technology are discussed in detail and the design blueprint of an embedded system built based on this technology is outlined. Furthermore, the protein concentrations measured by the newly developed instrument are fit well with the authentic results from Dairy Quality Supervision and Inspection Center of the Country, indicating the instrument is feasible and has great potential for the application in dairy industry

Virtual Instrument for Emissions Measurement of Internal Combustion Engines

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Armando; Montero, Gisela; Coronado, Marcos; García, Conrado; Pérez, Rubén

2016-01-01

The gases emissions measurement systems in internal combustion engines are strict and expensive nowadays. For this reason, a virtual instrument was developed to measure the combustion emissions from an internal combustion diesel engine, running with diesel-biodiesel mixtures. This software is called virtual instrument for emissions measurement (VIEM), and it was developed in the platform of LabVIEW 2010® virtual programming. VIEM works with sensors connected to a signal conditioning system, and a data acquisition system is used as interface for a computer in order to measure and monitor in real time the emissions of O2, NO, CO, SO2, and CO2 gases. This paper shows the results of the VIEM programming, the integrated circuits diagrams used for the signal conditioning of sensors, and the sensors characterization of O2, NO, CO, SO2, and CO2. VIEM is a low-cost instrument and is simple and easy to use. Besides, it is scalable, making it flexible and defined by the user. PMID:27034893

Virtual Instrument for Emissions Measurement of Internal Combustion Engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Armando; Ramos, Rogelio; Montero, Gisela; Coronado, Marcos; García, Conrado; Pérez, Rubén

2016-01-01

The gases emissions measurement systems in internal combustion engines are strict and expensive nowadays. For this reason, a virtual instrument was developed to measure the combustion emissions from an internal combustion diesel engine, running with diesel-biodiesel mixtures. This software is called virtual instrument for emissions measurement (VIEM), and it was developed in the platform of LabVIEW 2010® virtual programming. VIEM works with sensors connected to a signal conditioning system, and a data acquisition system is used as interface for a computer in order to measure and monitor in real time the emissions of O2, NO, CO, SO2, and CO2 gases. This paper shows the results of the VIEM programming, the integrated circuits diagrams used for the signal conditioning of sensors, and the sensors characterization of O2, NO, CO, SO2, and CO2. VIEM is a low-cost instrument and is simple and easy to use. Besides, it is scalable, making it flexible and defined by the user.

Measurement properties of adult quality-of-life measurement instruments for eczema: protocol for a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Apfelbacher, Christian J; Heinl, Daniel; Prinsen, Cecilia A C; Deckert, Stefanie; Chalmers, Joanne; Ofenloch, Robert; Humphreys, Rosemary; Sach, Tracey; Chamlin, Sarah; Schmitt, Jochen

2015-04-16

Eczema is a common chronic or chronically relapsing skin disease that has a substantial impact on quality of life (QoL). By means of a consensus-based process, the Harmonising Outcome Measures in Eczema (HOME) initiative has identified QoL as one of the four core outcome domains to be assessed in all eczema trials (Allergy 67(9):1111-7, 2012). Various measurement instruments exist to measure QoL in adults with eczema, but there is a great variability in both content and quality (for example, reliability and validity) of the instruments used, and it is not always clear if the best instrument is being used. Therefore, the aim of the proposed research is a comprehensive systematic assessment of the measurement properties of the existing measurement instruments that were developed and/or validated for the measurement of patient-reported QoL in adults with eczema. This study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of patient-reported measures of QoL developed and/or validated for adults with eczema. Medline via PubMed and EMBASE will be searched using a selection of relevant search terms. Eligible studies will be primary empirical studies evaluating, describing, or comparing measurement properties of QoL instruments for adult patients with eczema. Eligibility assessment and data abstraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Evidence tables will be generated for study characteristics, instrument characteristics, measurement properties, and interpretability. The quality of the measurement properties will be assessed using predefined criteria. Methodological quality of studies will be assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best evidence synthesis will be undertaken if more than one study has investigated a particular measurement property. The proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing QoL instruments in

Measurement properties of adult quality-of-life measurement instruments for eczema: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinl, D; Prinsen, C A C; Deckert, S; Chalmers, J R; Drucker, A M; Ofenloch, R; Humphreys, R; Sach, T; Chamlin, S L; Schmitt, J; Apfelbacher, C

2016-03-01

The Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative has identified quality of life (QoL) as a core outcome domain to be evaluated in every eczema trial. It is unclear which of the existing QoL instruments is most appropriate for this domain. Thus, the aim of this review was to systematically assess the measurement properties of existing measurement instruments developed and/or validated for the measurement of QoL in adult eczema. We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed and Embase identifying studies on measurement properties of adult eczema QoL instruments. For all eligible studies, we assessed the adequacy of the measurement properties and the methodological quality with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best evidence synthesis summarizing findings from different studies was the basis to assign four degrees of recommendation (A-D). A total of 15 articles reporting on 17 instruments were included. No instrument fulfilled the criteria for category A. Six instruments were placed in category B, meaning that they have the potential to be recommended depending on the results of further validation studies. Three instruments had poor adequacy in at least one required adequacy criterion and were therefore put in category C. The remaining eight instruments were minimally validated and were thus placed in category D. Currently, no QoL instrument can be recommended for use in adult eczema. The Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis (QoLIAD) and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) are recommended for further validation research. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of an instrument for measuring moisture deep into solid materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westin, R.; Walletun, H.

1993-01-01

It is of value in some applications to be able to detect humidity rather deep into a solid material, for example when determining the moisture content in the frame of buildings, in insulation or in biofuels. Common to these measurement problems is that it is difficult to measure moisture in the bulk of a solid, in contrast to the surface layers. In this report is described the principle and the functioning of an instrument to measure moisture at larger depths than other instruments that are available today. It is intended for use primarily on solid materials, not on gases or liquids. Field experience is also reported here. The principle of the measuring technique is nuclear: we have utilized the ability of hydrogen atoms to moderate (or brake) high energy neutrons. If there is hydrogen in the sample, fast neutrons will interact with the hydrogen atoms and one may detect and count low energy, so called thermal neutrons. The intensity of the slow neutron flux is proportional to the water content, if one assumes that hydrogen atoms are water, i.e. moisture

Advanced Measuring (Instrumentation Methods for Nuclear Installations: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Qiu-kuan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The nuclear technology has been widely used in the world. The research of measurement in nuclear installations involves many aspects, such as nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, safety and security, nuclear accident, after action, analysis, and environmental applications. In last decades, many advanced measuring devices and techniques have been widely applied in nuclear installations. This paper mainly introduces the development of the measuring (instrumentation methods for nuclear installations and the applications of these instruments and methods.

Development of an Instrument to Measure Perceived Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Learning in Traditional and Virtual Classroom Higher Education Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Rovai, Alfred P.; Wighting, Mervyn J.; Baker, Jason D.; Grooms, Linda D.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a self-report instrument that can be used to measure learning in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. The study underwent three phases, each with its own data collection and analysis. Phase I featured the development, testing, and factor analysis of an 80-item instrument that…

Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Velayutham, Sunitadevi; Aldridge, Jill; Fraser, Barry

2011-10-01

Students' motivational beliefs and self-regulatory practices have been identified as instrumental in influencing the engagement of students in the learning process. An important aim of science education is to empower students by nurturing the belief that they can succeed in science learning and to cultivate the adaptive learning strategies required to help to bring about that success. This article reports the development and validation of an instrument to measure salient factors related to the motivation and self-regulation of students in lower secondary science classrooms. The development of the instrument involved identifying key determinants of students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning based on theoretical and research underpinnings. Once the instrument was developed, a pilot study involving 52 students from two Grade 8 science classes was undertaken. Quantitative data were collected from 1,360 students in 78 classes across Grades 8, 9, and 10, in addition to in-depth qualitative information gathered from 10 experienced science teachers and 12 Grade 8 students. Analyses of the data suggest that the survey has strong construct validity when used with lower secondary students. This survey could be practically valuable as a tool for gathering information that may guide classroom teachers in refocusing their teaching practices and help to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programmes.

Development of a Conceptual Model and Survey Instrument to Measure Conscientious Objection to Abortion Provision.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Florence Harris

Full Text Available Conscientious objection to abortion, clinicians' refusal to perform legal abortions because of their religious or moral beliefs, has been the subject of increasing debate among bioethicists, policymakers, and public health advocates in recent years. Conscientious objection policies are intended to balance reproductive rights and clinicians' beliefs. However, in practice, clinician objection can act as a barrier to abortion access-impinging on reproductive rights, and increasing unsafe abortion and related morbidity and mortality. There is little information about conscientious objection from a medical or public health perspective. A quantitative instrument is needed to assess prevalence of conscientious objection and to provide insight on its practice. This paper describes the development of a survey instrument to measure conscientious objection to abortion provision.A literature review, and in-depth formative interviews with stakeholders in Colombia were used to develop a conceptual model of conscientious objection. This model led to the development of a survey, which was piloted, and then administered, in Ghana.The model posits three domains of conscientious objection that form the basis for the survey instrument: 1 beliefs about abortion and conscientious objection; 2 actions related to conscientious objection and abortion; and 3 self-identification as a conscientious objector.The instrument is intended to be used to assess prevalence among clinicians trained to provide abortions, and to gain insight on how conscientious objection is practiced in a variety of settings. Its results can inform more effective and appropriate strategies to regulate conscientious objection.

Assessment of wind turbine load measurement instrumentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morfiadakis, E; Papadopoulos, K [CRES (Greece); Borg, N van der [ECN, Petten (Netherlands); Petersen, S M [Risoe, Roskilde (Denmark); Seifert, H [DEWI, Wilhelmshaven (Germany)

1999-03-01

In the framework of Sub-Task3 `Wind turbine load measurement instrumentation` of EU-project `European Wind Turbine Testing Procedure Development`, the load measurement techniques have been assessed by laboratory, full scale and numerical tests. The existing methods have been reviewed with emphasis on the strain gage application techniques on composite materials and recommendations are provided for the optimisation of load measurement techniques. (au) EU. 14 refs.

Industrial measurement instruments that use radioisotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monno, Asao

2004-01-01

An example of a large-scale system for controlling hot rolling, and recent developments for a gamma-ray thickness gauge for the inner-mill housing of a plate and a thickness gauge for a hot seamless tube mill are introduced. The dramatically higher speed response, versatile intelligent elements, larger data capacity and formation of a database are advantages of these instruments over conventional devices. Moreover, Fuji Electric's industrial measuring instruments that use radioisotopes are manufactured and marketed to be compatible with those of Hitachi, and we have already compiled a track record of many deliveries. (author)

Measurements with the new PHE neutron survey instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eakins, J.S.; Tanner, R.J.; Hager, L.G.

2014-01-01

A novel design of survey instrument has been developed to accurately estimate ambient dose equivalent from neutrons with energies in the range from thermal to 20 MeV. The device features moderating and attenuating layers to ease measurement of fast and intermediate energy neutrons, combined with guides that channel low-energy neutrons to the single, central detector. A prototype of this device has been constructed and exposed to a set of calibration fields: the resulting measured responses are presented and discussed here, and compared against Monte Carlo data. A simple simulated workplace neutron field has also been developed to test the device. Measured response data have been determined for a prototype design of neutron survey instrument, using facilities at PHE and NPL. In general, the results demonstrated good directional invariance and agreed well with data obtained by Monte Carlo modelling, raising confidence in the accuracy of the response characteristics expected for the device. A simple simulated workplace field has also been developed and characterised, and the performance of the device assessed in it: agreement between measured and modelled results suggests that the device would behave as anticipated in real workplace fields. These performances will be investigated further in the future, as the design makes the transition from a research prototype to a commercially available instrument. (authors)

Development of an instrument to measure the quality of documented nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes: the Q-DIO.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Staub, Maria; Lunney, Margaret; Odenbreit, Matthias; Needham, Ian; Lavin, Mary Ann; van Achterberg, Theo

2009-04-01

This paper aims to report the development stages of an audit instrument to assess standardised nursing language. Because research-based instruments were not available, the instrument Quality of documentation of nursing Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes (Q-DIO) was developed. Standardised nursing language such as nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes are being implemented worldwide and will be crucial for the electronic health record. The literature showed a lack of audit instruments to assess the quality of standardised nursing language in nursing documentation. A qualitative design was used for instrument development. Criteria were first derived from a theoretical framework and literature reviews. Second, the criteria were operationalized into items and eight experts assessed face and content validity of the Q-DIO. Criteria were developed and operationalized into 29 items. For each item, a three or five point scale was applied. The experts supported content validity and showed 88.25% agreement for the scores assigned to the 29 items of the Q-DIO. The Q-DIO provides a literature-based audit instrument for nursing documentation. The strength of Q-DIO is its ability to measure the quality of nursing diagnoses and related interventions and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Further testing of Q-DIO is recommended. Based on the results of this study, the Q-DIO provides an audit instrument to be used in clinical practice. Its criteria can set the stage for the electronic nursing documentation in electronic health records.

Radiation measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genrich, V.

1985-01-01

A highly sensitive and compactly structured radiation measuring instrument for detecting ionizing radiation, in particular for measuring dose rates and contamination. The laminar structure of the associated counter tube, using only a few, simple plastic parts and a highly elastic counter wire, makes it possible to use the simplest manufacturing techniques. The service life of the counter tube construction, which is completely and permanently sealed and filled with gas, is expected to be more than 12 years. The described counter tube can be adapted in optimal fashion to the available space in a pocket instrument if it is used in combination with a specialized high-voltage generator which is low in interference voltage and with a pulse evaluation circuit having a means of compensating for interference voltage

A measuring instrument for evaluation of quality systems.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, C.; Bakker, D.H. de; Groenewegen, P.P.

1999-01-01

Objective: To develop an instrument for provider organizations, consumers, purchasers, and policy makers to measure and compare the development of quality systems in provider organizations. Design: Cross-sectional study of provider organizations using a structured questionnaire to survey managers.

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Dysphagia: A Systematic Review of Instrument Development and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Dhyanesh A.; Sharda, Rohit; Hovis, Kristen L.; Nichols, Erin E.; Sathe, Nila; Penson, David F.; Feurer, Irene D.; McPheeters, Melissa L.; Vaezi, Michael F.; Francis, David O.

2017-01-01

Objective Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are commonly used to capture patient experience with dysphagia and to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Inappropriate application can lead to distorted results in clinical studies. A systematic review of the literature on dysphagia-related PRO measures was performed to 1) identify all currently available measures and 2) to evaluate each for the presence of important measurement properties that would affect their applicability. Design MEDLINE via the PubMed interface, the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and the Health and Psychosocial Instrument database were searched using relevant vocabulary terms and key terms related to PRO measures and dysphagia. Three independent investigators performed abstract and full text reviews. Each study meeting criteria was evaluated using an 18-item checklist developed a priori that assessed multiple domains: 1) conceptual model, 2) content validity, 3) reliability, 4) construct validity, 6) scoring and interpretation, and 7) burden and presentation. Results Of 4950 abstracts reviewed, a total of 34 dysphagia-related PRO measures (publication year 1987 – 2014) met criteria for extraction and analysis. Several PRO measures were of high quality (MADS for achalasia, SWAL-QOL and SSQ for oropharyngeal dysphagia, PROMIS-GI for general dysphagia, EORTC-QLQ-OG25 for esophageal cancer, ROMP-swallowing for Parkinson’s disease, DSQ-EoE for eosinophilic esophagitis, and SOAL for total laryngectomy-related dysphagia). In all, 17 met at least one criterion per domain. Thematic deficiencies in current measures were evident including: 1) direct patient involvement in content development, 2) empirically justified dimensionality, 3) demonstrable responsiveness to change, 4) plan for interpreting missing responses, and 5) literacy level assessment. Conclusion This is the first comprehensive systematic review assessing developmental properties of all available dysphagia

Proceedings of the OECD/CSNI specialist meeting on advanced instrumentation and measurement techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehner, J [comp.

1998-09-01

In the last few years, tremendous advances in the local instrumentation technology for two-phase flow have been accomplished by the applications of new sensor techniques, optical or beam methods and electronic technology. The detailed measurements gave new insight to the true nature of local mechanisms of interfacial transfer between phases, interfacial structure and two-phase flow turbulent transfers. These new developments indicate that more accurate and reliable two-phase flow models can be obtained, if focused experiments are designed and performed by utilizing this advanced instrumentation. The purpose of this Specialist Meeting on Advanced Instrumentation and Measurement Techniques was to review the recent instrumentation developments and the relation between thermal-hydraulic codes and instrumentation capabilities. Four specific objectives were identified for this meeting: bring together international experts on instrumentation, experiments, and modeling; review recent developments in multiphase flow instrumentation; discuss the relation between modeling needs and instrumentation capabilities, and discuss future directions for instrumentation development, modeling, and experiments.

Proceedings of the OECD/CSNI specialist meeting on advanced instrumentation and measurement techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, J.

1998-09-01

In the last few years, tremendous advances in the local instrumentation technology for two-phase flow have been accomplished by the applications of new sensor techniques, optical or beam methods and electronic technology. The detailed measurements gave new insight to the true nature of local mechanisms of interfacial transfer between phases, interfacial structure and two-phase flow turbulent transfers. These new developments indicate that more accurate and reliable two-phase flow models can be obtained, if focused experiments are designed and performed by utilizing this advanced instrumentation. The purpose of this Specialist Meeting on Advanced Instrumentation and Measurement Techniques was to review the recent instrumentation developments and the relation between thermal-hydraulic codes and instrumentation capabilities. Four specific objectives were identified for this meeting: bring together international experts on instrumentation, experiments, and modeling; review recent developments in multiphase flow instrumentation; discuss the relation between modeling needs and instrumentation capabilities, and discuss future directions for instrumentation development, modeling, and experiments

Development and validation of climate change system thinking instrument (CCSTI) for measuring system thinking on climate change content

Science.gov (United States)

Meilinda; Rustaman, N. Y.; Firman, H.; Tjasyono, B.

2018-05-01

The Climate Change System Thinking Instrument (CCSTI) is developed to measure a system thinking ability in the concept of climate change. CCSTI is developed in four phase’s development including instrument draft development, validation and evaluation including readable material test, expert validation, and field test. The result of field test is analyzed by looking at the readability score in Cronbach’s alpha test. Draft instrument is tested on college students majoring in Biology Education, Physics Education, and Chemistry Education randomly with a total number of 80 college students. Score of Content Validation Index at 0.86, which means that the CCSTI developed are categorized as very appropriate with question indicators and Cronbach’s alpha about 0.605 which mean categorized undesirable to minimal acceptable. From 45 questions of system thinking, there are 37 valid questions spread in four indicators of system thinking, which are system thinking phase I (pre-requirement), system thinking phase II (basic), system thinking phase III (intermediate), and system thinking phase IV (coherent expert).

A systematic review of instruments that measure attitudes toward homosexual men.

Science.gov (United States)

Grey, Jeremy A; Robinson, Beatrice Bean E; Coleman, Eli; Bockting, Walter O

2013-01-01

Scientific interest in the measurement of homophobia and internalized homophobia has grown over the past 30 years, and new instruments and terms have emerged. To help researchers with the challenging task of identifying appropriate measures for studies in sexual-minority health, we reviewed measures of homophobia published in the academic literature from 1970 to 2012. Instruments that measured attitudes toward male homosexuals/homosexuality or measured homosexuals' internalized attitudes toward homosexuality were identified using measurement manuals and a systematic review. A total of 23 instruments met criteria for inclusion, and their features were summarized and compared. All 23 instruments met minimal criteria for adequate scale construction, including scale development, sampling, reliability, and evidence of validity. Validity evidence was diverse and was categorized as interaction with gay men, HIV/AIDS variables, mental health, and conservative religious or political beliefs. Homophobia was additionally correlated with authoritarianism and bias, gender ideology, gender differences, and reactions to homosexual stimuli. Internalized homophobia was validated by examining relationships with disclosing one's homosexuality and level of homosexual identity development. We hope this review will make the process of instrument selection more efficient by allowing researchers to easily locate, evaluate, and choose the proper measure based on their research question and population of interest.

Portable radiation instrumentation traceability of standards and measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiserman, A.; Walke, M.

1995-01-01

Portable radiation measuring instruments are used to estimate and control doses for workers. Calibration of these instruments must be sufficiently accurate to ensure that administrative and legal dose limits are not likely to be exceeded due to measurement uncertainties. An instrument calibration and management program is established which permits measurements made with an instrument to be traced to a national standard. This paper describes the establishment and maintenance of calibration standards for gamma survey instruments and an instrument management program which achieves traceability of measurement for uniquely identified field instruments. (author)

HTGR Measurements and Instrumentation Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, Sydney J.; Holcomb, David Eugene; Cetiner, Mustafa Sacit

2012-01-01

This report provides an integrated overview of measurements and instrumentation for near-term future high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). Instrumentation technology has undergone revolutionary improvements since the last HTGR was constructed in the United States. This report briefly describes the measurement and communications needs of HTGRs for normal operations, maintenance and inspection, fuel fabrication, and accident response. The report includes a description of modern communications technologies and also provides a potential instrumentation communications architecture designed for deployment at an HTGR. A principal focus for the report is describing new and emerging measurement technologies with high potential to improve operations, maintenance, and accident response for the next generation of HTGRs, known as modular HTGRs, which are designed with passive safety features. Special focus is devoted toward describing the failure modes of the measurement technologies and assessing the technology maturity.

Nondestructive assay instrument for measurement of plutonium in solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirk, D.G.; Hsue, F.; Li, T.K.; Canada, T.R.

1979-01-01

A nondestructive assay (NDA) instrument that measures the 239 Pu content in solutions, using a passive gamma-ray spectroscopy technique, has been developed and installed in the LASL Plutonium Processing Facility. A detailed evaluation of this instrument has been performed. The results show that the instrument can routinely determine 239 Pu concentrations of 1 to 500 g/l with accuracies of 1 to 5% and assay times of 1 to 2 x 10 3 s

Developing an instrument to measure effective factors on Clinical Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Dadgaran, Ideh; Shirazi, Mandana; Mohammadi, Aeen; Ravari, Ali

2016-07-01

Although nursing students spend a large part of their learning period in the clinical environment, clinical learning has not been perceived by its nature yet. To develop an instrument to measure effective factors on clinical learning in nursing students. This is a mixed methods study performed in 2 steps. First, the researchers defined "clinical learning" in nursing students through qualitative content analysis and designed items of the questionnaire based on semi-structured individual interviews with nursing students. Then, as the second step, psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated using the face validity, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency evaluated on 227 students from fourth or higher semesters. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and then, they were analyzed using Max Qualitative Data Analysis and all of qualitative data were analyzed using SPSS 14. To do the study, we constructed the preliminary questionnaire containing 102 expressions. After determination of face and content validities by qualitative and quantitative approaches, the expressions of the questionnaire were reduced to 45. To determine the construct validity, exploratory factor analysis was applied. The results indicated that the maximum variance percentage (40.55%) was defined by the first 3 factors while the rest of the total variance percentage (59.45%) was determined by the other 42 factors. Results of exploratory factor analysis of this questionnaire indicated the presence of 3 instructor-staff, students, and educational related factors. Finally, 41 expressions were kept in 3 factor groups. The α-Cronbach coefficient (0.93) confirmed the high internal consistency of the questionnaire. Results indicated that the prepared questionnaire was an efficient instrument in the study of the effective factors on clinical learning as viewed by nursing students since it involves 41 expressions and properties such as instrument design based

Developing an instrument to measure effective factors on clinical learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IDEH DADGARAN

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Although nursing students spend a large part of their learning period in the clinical environment, clinical learning has not been perceived by its nature yet. To develop an instrument to measure effective factors on clinical learning in nursing students. Methods: This is a mixed methods study performed in 2 steps. First, the researchers defined “clinical learning” in nursing students through qualitative content analysis and designed items of the questionnaire based on semi-structured individual interviews with nursing students. Then, as the second step, psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated using the face validity, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency evaluated on 227 students from fourth or higher semesters. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and then, they were analyzed using Max Qualitative Data Analysis and all of qualitative data were analyzed using SPSS 14. Results: To do the study, we constructed the preliminary questionnaire containing 102 expressions. After determination of face and content validities by qualitative and quantitative approaches, the expressions of the questionnaire were reduced to 45. To determine the construct validity, exploratory factor analysis was applied. The results indicated that the maximum variance percentage (40.55% was defined by the first 3 factors while the rest of the total variance percentage (59.45% was determined by the other 42 factors. Results of exploratory factor analysis of this questionnaire indicated the presence of 3 instructor-staff, students, and educational related factors. Finally, 41 expressions were kept in 3 factor groups. The α-Cronbach coefficient (0.93 confirmed the high internal consistency of the questionnaire. Conclusion: Results indicated that the prepared questionnaire was an efficient instrument in the study of the effective factors on clinical learning as viewed by nursing students since it

NOTE FOR EDITOR: Development An Instrument To Measure 
University Students' Attitude Towards E-Learning

OpenAIRE

MEHRA, Vandana; OMIDIAN, Faranak

2015-01-01

The study of student’s attitude towards e-learning can in many ways help managers better prepare in light of e-learning for the future. This article describes the process of the development of an instrument to measure university students’ attitude towards e-learning. The scale was administered to 200 University students from two countries (India and Iran) .The 83-item attitude towards e-learning scale was developed on six domains as Perceived usefulness ; Intention to adopt e-learning ; Ease...

NOTE FOR EDITOR: Development An Instrument To Measure 
University Students' Attitude Towards E-Learning

OpenAIRE

MEHRA, Vandana; OMIDIAN, Faranak

2012-01-01

The study of student’s attitude towards e-learning can in many ways help managers better prepare in light of e-learning for the future. This article describes the process of the development of an instrument to measure university students’ attitude towards e-learning. The scale was administered to 200 University students from two countries (India and Iran) .The 83-item attitude towards e-learning scale was developed on six domains as Perceived usefulness ; Intention to adopt e-learning ; Ease...

Assessing Ultraviolet Hazards Using Portable Measuring Instruments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ridyard, A

2000-07-01

The 'Erythemal Action Spectrum' shows an increase of 10{sup 3} in human skin sensitivity to UV radiation over only 30 nm of change of wavelength, from 328 nm to 298 nm. This represents a severe challenge to the manufacturing and calibration of a portable instrument which can measure the vanishingly small amounts of short wavelength UV from solarium tanning lamps, and to apply accurately an action spectra to be able to quantify the hazard presented by such lamps to skin. The classification of UV lamp types from their 'effective irradiance' requires very sharp discrimination between UV power contained in the short wavelength and the long wavelength parts of the UV spectra, so radiometers give misleading results. The only instrument suitable for making these measurements is the spectroradiometer. The development of such an instrument in a hand held portable form is described, with the difficulties associated with its calibration and such factors as stray light rejection. (author)

Assessing Ultraviolet Hazards Using Portable Measuring Instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ridyard, A.

2000-01-01

The 'Erythemal Action Spectrum' shows an increase of 10 3 in human skin sensitivity to UV radiation over only 30 nm of change of wavelength, from 328 nm to 298 nm. This represents a severe challenge to the manufacturing and calibration of a portable instrument which can measure the vanishingly small amounts of short wavelength UV from solarium tanning lamps, and to apply accurately an action spectra to be able to quantify the hazard presented by such lamps to skin. The classification of UV lamp types from their 'effective irradiance' requires very sharp discrimination between UV power contained in the short wavelength and the long wavelength parts of the UV spectra, so radiometers give misleading results. The only instrument suitable for making these measurements is the spectroradiometer. The development of such an instrument in a hand held portable form is described, with the difficulties associated with its calibration and such factors as stray light rejection. (author)

The measurement of collaboration within healthcare settings: a systematic review of measurement properties of instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Stephen John; Stern, Cindy; Robertson-Malt, Suzanne

2016-04-01

Register of Controlled Trials, Emerald Fulltext, MD Consult Australia, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, Informit Health Databases, Scopus, UpToDate and Web of Science. The search for unpublished studies included EThOS (Electronic Thesis Online Service), Index to Theses and ProQuest- Dissertations and Theses. The assessment of methodological quality of the included studies was undertaken using the COSMIN checklist which is a validated tool that assesses the process of design and validation of healthcare measurement instruments. An Excel spreadsheet version of COSMIN was developed for data collection which included a worksheet for extracting participant characteristics and interpretability data. Statistical pooling of data was not possible for this review. Therefore, the findings are presented in a narrative form including tables and figures to aid in data presentation. To make a synthesis of the assessments of methodological quality of the different studies, each instrument was rated by accounting for the number of studies performed with an instrument, the appraisal of methodological quality and the consistency of results between studies. Twenty-one studies of 12 instruments were included in the review. The studies were diverse in their theoretical underpinnings, target population/setting and measurement objectives. Measurement objectives included: investigating beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, perceptions and relationships associated with collaboration; measuring collaboration between different levels of care or within a multi-rater/target group; assessing collaboration across teams; or assessing internal participation of both teams and patients.Studies produced validity or interpretability data but none of the studies assessed all validity and reliability properties. However, most of the included studies produced a factor structure or referred to prior factor analysis. A narrative synthesis of the individual study factor structures was

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Amdur, Liron; Bertke, Elke; Freese, Jan; Marggraf, Rainer

2011-05-01

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public's preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments' contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use.

78 FR 23260 - Request for Measures and Domains To Use in Development of a Standardized Instrument for Use in...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-18

... Measures and Domains To Use in Development of a Standardized Instrument for Use in Public Reporting of the... AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION: Notice of request for measures... pediatric health care quality measures. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is requesting...

Towards an Enterprise Architecture Benefits Measurement Instrument

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr.ir. Raymond Slot; Henk Plessius; Marlies Steenbergen, van

2015-01-01

Author supplied: Based on the Enterprise Architecture Value Framework (EAVF) - a generic framework to classify benefits of Enterprise Architecture (EA) - a measurement instrument for EA benefits has been developed and tested in a survey with 287 respondents. In this paper we present the results of

Systematic review of measurement properties of self-reported instruments for evaluating self-care in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Matarese, Maria; Lommi, Marzia; De Marinis, Maria Grazia

2017-06-01

The aims of this study were as follows: to identify instruments developed to assess self-care in healthy adults; to determine the theory on which they were based; their validity and reliability properties and to synthesize the evidence on their measurement properties. Many instruments have been developed to assess self-care in many different populations and conditions. Clinicians and researchers should select the most appropriate self-care instrument based on the knowledge of their measurement properties. Systematic review of measurement instruments according to the protocol recommended by the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) panel. PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus and CINAHL databases were searched from inception to December 2015. Studies testing measurement properties of self-report instruments assessing self-care in healthy adults, published in the English language and in peer review journals were selected. Two reviewers independently appraised the methodological quality of the studies with the COSMIN checklist and the quality of results using specific quality criteria. Twenty-six articles were included in the review testing the measurement properties of nine instruments. Seven instruments were based on Orem's Self-care theory. Not all the measurement properties were evaluated for the identified instruments. No self-care instrument showed strong evidence supporting the evaluated measurement properties. Despite the development of several instruments to assess self-care in the adult population, no instrument can be fully recommended to clinical nurses and researchers. Further studies of high methodological quality are needed to confirm the measurement properties of these instruments. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

NCTM workshop splinter session, IR thermal measurement instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Herbert

1989-06-01

The splinter session dealing with commercial industrial thermal measurement state-of-the-hardware had a total attendance of 15. Two papers were presented in the splinter session as follows: (1) Development of an Infrared Imaging System for the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment, Alexander D. Pline, NASA LeRC; (2) A Space-qualified PtSi Thermal Imaging System, Robert W. Astheimer, Barnes Engineering Div., EDO Corp. In addition a brief description of SPRITE detector technology was presented by Richard F. Leftwich of Magnovox. As anticipated, the discussions were concerned mainly with thermal imaging figures of merit rather than those for point measurement instruments. The need for uniform guidelines whereby infrared thermal imaging instruments could be specified and evaluated was identified as most important, particularly where temperature measurements are required. Presently there are differences in the way different manufacturers present significant performance parameters in their instrument data sheets. Furthermore, the prospective user has difficulty relating these parameters to actual measurement needs, and procedures by which performance can be verified are poorly defined. The current availability of powerful thermal imaging diagnostic software was discussed.

Development of a disease-specific instrument to measure quality of life in patients with alopecia areata.

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Yuichiro; Miyachi, Yoshiki; Arakawa, Akiko

2012-01-01

Alopecia areata (AA) is a common hair loss disorder that frequently follows a chronic course. Although AA is apparently associated with disturbance of quality of life (QoL), no disease-specific instrument to measure the QoL has been developed. This study was conducted to develop a disease-specific self-administered instrument to measure AA patients' QoL (AAQ). A two-step cross-sectional study was conducted. Items were generated from qualitative interviews with five patients with AA (two men and three women, age 28±6.4 years). Then, a preliminary questionnaire was produced and delivered to the patients (n=122). The AAQ was examined in terms of statistical performance. The AAQ included 7 items in the following three subscales: 'restriction of activity', 'concealment' and 'adaptation'. The reliability of internal consistency was fair with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.59-81 for each subscale. Confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis demonstrated that the AAQ had good construct validity. Interestingly, the AAQ was only correlated with subjective severity scores as rated by the patients, but not with objective disease severity assessed by investigators.

Trends in instrumentation for environmental radiation measurements at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiebert, R.D.; Wolf, M.A.

1980-01-01

Recent instruments developed to fulfill radiation monitoring needs at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory are described. Laboratory instruments that measure tritium gas effluents alone, or in the presence of activated air from D-T fusion reactors are discussed. Fully portable systems for gamma, x-ray, and alpha analyses in the field are described. Also included are descriptions of survey instruments that measure low levels of transuranic contaminants and that measure pulsed-neutron dose rates

Patient-reported outcome measures in dysphagia: a systematic review of instrument development and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, D A; Sharda, R; Hovis, K L; Nichols, E E; Sathe, N; Penson, D F; Feurer, I D; McPheeters, M L; Vaezi, M F; Francis, David O

2017-05-01

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are commonly used to capture patient experience with dysphagia and to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Inappropriate application can lead to distorted results in clinical studies. A systematic review of the literature on dysphagia-related PRO measures was performed to (1) identify all currently available measures and (2) to evaluate each for the presence of important measurement properties that would affect their applicability. MEDLINE via the PubMed interface, the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and the Health and Psychosocial Instrument database were searched using relevant vocabulary terms and key terms related to PRO measures and dysphagia. Three independent investigators performed abstract and full text reviews. Each study meeting criteria was evaluated using an 18-item checklist developed a priori that assessed multiple domains: (1) conceptual model, (2) content validity, (3) reliability, (4) construct validity, (6) scoring and interpretation, and (7) burden and presentation. Of 4950 abstracts reviewed, a total of 34 dysphagia-related PRO measures (publication year 1987-2014) met criteria for extraction and analysis. Several PRO measures were of high quality (MADS for achalasia, SWAL-QOL and SSQ for oropharyngeal dysphagia, PROMIS-GI for general dysphagia, EORTC-QLQ-OG25 for esophageal cancer, ROMP-swallowing for Parkinson's Disease, DSQ-EoE for eosinophilic esophagitis, and SOAL for total laryngectomy-related dysphagia). In all, 17 met at least one criterion per domain. Thematic deficiencies in current measures were evident including: (1) direct patient involvement in content development, (2) empirically justified dimensionality, (3) demonstrable responsiveness to change, (4) plan for interpreting missing responses, and (5) literacy level assessment. This is the first comprehensive systematic review assessing developmental properties of all available dysphagia-related PRO measures. We

Instruments for measuring mental health recovery: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sklar, Marisa; Groessl, Erik J; O'Connell, Maria; Davidson, Larry; Aarons, Gregory A

2013-12-01

Persons in recovery, providers, and policymakers alike are advocating for recovery-oriented mental health care, with the promotion of recovery becoming a prominent feature of mental health policy in the United States and internationally. One step toward creating a recovery-oriented system of care is to use recovery-oriented outcome measures. Numerous instruments have been developed to assess progress towards mental health recovery. This review identifies instruments of mental health recovery and evaluates the appropriateness of their use including their psychometric properties, ease of administration, and service-user involvement in their development. A literature search using the Medline and Psych-INFO databases was conducted, identifying 21 instruments for potential inclusion in this review, of which thirteen met inclusion criteria. Results suggest only three instruments (25%) have had their psychometric properties assessed in three or more unique samples of participants. Ease of administration varied between instruments, and for the majority of instruments, development included service user involvement. This review updates and expands previous reviews of instruments to assess mental health recovery. As mental health care continues to transform to a recovery-oriented model of service delivery, this review may facilitate selection of appropriate assessments of mental health recovery for systems to use in evaluating and improving the care they provide. © 2013.

Developing the health, safety and environment excellence instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadfam, Iraj; Saraji, Gebraeil Nasl; Kianfar, Ali; Mahmoudi, Shahram

2013-01-07

Quality and efficiency are important issues in management systems. To increase quality, to reach best results, to move towards the continuous improvement of system and also to make the internal and external customers satisfied, it is necessary to consider the system performance measurement. In this study the Health, Safety and Environment Excellence Instrument was represented as a performance measurement tool for a wide range of health, safety and environment management systems. In this article the development of the instrument overall structure, its parts, and its test results in three organizations are presented. According to the results, the scores ranking was the managership organization, the manufacturing company and the powerhouse construction project, respectively. The results of the instrument test in three organizations show that, on the whole, the instrument has the ability to measure the performance of health, safety and environment management systems in a wide range of organizations.

Development, content validity, and piloting of an instrument designed to measure managers' attitude toward workplace breastfeeding support.

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Tan; Wolfe, Edward W; Olson, Beth H

2012-07-01

Manager attitude is influential in female employees' perceptions of workplace breastfeeding support. Currently, no instrument is available to assess manager attitude toward supporting women who wish to combine breastfeeding with work. We developed and piloted an instrument to measure manager attitudes toward workplace breastfeeding support entitled the "Managers' Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire," an instrument that measures four constructs using 60 items that are rated agree/disagree on a 4-point Likert rating scale. We established the content validity of the Managers' Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire measures through expert content review (n=22), expert assessment of item fit (n=11), and cognitive interviews (n=8). Data were collected from a purposive sample of 185 front-line managers who had experience supervising female employees, and responses were scaled using the Multidimensional Random Coefficients Multinomial Logit Model. Dimensionality analyses supported the proposed four-construct model. Reliability ranged from 0.75 to 0.86, and correlations between the constructs were moderately strong (0.47 to 0.71). Four items in two constructs exhibited model-to-data misfit and/or a low score-measure correlation. One item was revised and the other three items were retained in the Managers' Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire. Findings of this study suggest that the Managers' Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire measures are reliable and valid indicators of manager attitude toward workplace breastfeeding support, and future research should be conducted to establish external validity. The Managers' Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire could be used to collect data in a standardized manner within and across companies to measure and compare manager attitudes toward supporting breastfeeding. Organizations can subsequently develop targeted strategies to improve support for breastfeeding

Instruments measuring family or caregiver burden in severe mental illness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schene, A. H.; Tessler, R. C.; Gamache, G. M.

1994-01-01

The consequences of psychiatric disorders for family members, usually called family or caregiver burden, have been studied during the last 4 decades. During this period a variety of instruments have been developed to measure the impact of mental illness on family members, but not all instruments

Person-centred care in nurse-led outpatient rheumatology clinics: Conceptualization and initial development of a measurement instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Bala, Sidona-Valentina; Forslind, Kristina; Fridlund, Bengt; Samuelson, Karin; Svensson, Björn; Hagell, Peter

2018-06-01

Person-centred care (PCC) is considered a key component of effective illness management and high-quality care. However, the PCC concept is underdeveloped in outpatient care. In rheumatology, PCC is considered an unmet need and its further development and evaluation is of high priority. The aim of the present study was to conceptualize and operationalize PCC, in order to develop an instrument for measuring patient-perceived PCC in nurse-led outpatient rheumatology clinics. A conceptual outpatient PCC framework was developed, based on the experiences of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), person-centredness principles and existing PCC frameworks. The resulting framework was operationalized into the PCC instrument for outpatient care in rheumatology (PCCoc/rheum), which was tested for acceptability and content validity among 50 individuals with RA attending a nurse-led outpatient clinic. The conceptual framework focuses on the meeting between the person with RA and the nurse, and comprises five interrelated domains: social environment, personalization, shared decision-making, empowerment and communication. Operationalization of the domains into a pool of items generated a preliminary PCCoc/rheum version, which was completed in a mean (standard deviation) of 5.3 (2.5) min. Respondents found items easy to understand (77%) and relevant (93%). The Content Validity Index of the PCCoc/rheum was 0.94 (item level range, 0.87-1.0). About 80% of respondents considered some items redundant. Based on these results, the PCCoc/rheum was revised into a 24-item questionnaire. A conceptual outpatient PCC framework and a 24-item questionnaire intended to measure PCC in nurse-led outpatient rheumatology clinics were developed. The extent to which the questionnaire represents a measurement instrument remains to be tested. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Instrument development and evaluation for patient-related outcomes assessments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farnik M

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Małgorzata Farnik, Władysław PierzchałaDepartment of Pneumonology, Silesian University of Medicine, Katowice, PolandAbstract: Patient-related outcomes measures could provide important information for the current state of the art in medical care and even have an impact on macrodecisions in the health care system. Patient-related outcomes were initially defined as subjective health indicators that allow disability and illness to be assessed, based on patient, caregiver, or physician self-reports. As illness involves psychological and behavioral complex processes of care, a multidisciplinary approach in measuring patient-reported outcomes should be recommended, such as quality of life questionnaires. Patient-related outcomes measures should correspond to specific clinical situations and bring opportunities to improve quality of care. Objective measurements enable quantitative data to be collected and analyzed. Depending on the aim of the research, investigators can use existing methods or develop new tools. This publication presents a methodology for developing patient-related outcomes measures, based on a multistage procedure. The proper definition of specific study objectives and the methodology of instrument development are crucial for successfully transferring the study concept. The model of instrument development is the process of starting from the preliminary phase and includes questionnaire design and scaling, pilot testing (cognitive debriefing, revision of the preliminary version, evaluation of the new tool, and implementation. Validation of the new instrument includes reliability, reproducibility, internal consistency, and responsiveness. The process of designing the new tool should involve a panel of experts, including clinicians, psychologists (preliminary phase, and statisticians (scale development and scoring, and patients (cognitive debriefing. Implementation of a new tool should be followed by evaluation study – assessment of

Development and Validation of an Instrument for Measuring Attitudes and Beliefs about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM Use among Cancer Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun J. Mao

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Despite cancer patients' extensive use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM, validated instruments to measure attitudes, and beliefs predictive of CAM use are lacking. We aimed at developing and validating an instrument, attitudes and beliefs about CAM (ABCAM. The 15-item instrument was developed using the theory of planned behavior (TPB as a framework. The literature review, qualitative interviews, expert content review, and cognitive interviews were used to develop the instrument, which was then administered to 317 outpatient oncology patients. The ABCAM was best represented as a 3-factor structure: expected benefits, perceived barriers, and subjective norms related to CAM use by cancer patients. These domains had Eigenvalues of 4.79, 2.37, and 1.43, and together explained over 57.2% of the variance. The 4-item expected benefits, 7-item perceived barriers, and 4-item subjective norms domain scores, each had an acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.91, 0.76, and 0.75, respectively. As expected, CAM users had higher expected benefits, lower perceived barriers, and more positive subjective norms (all <0.001 than those who did not use CAM. Our study provides the initial evidence that the ABCAM instrument produced reliable and valid scores that measured attitudes and beliefs related to CAM use among cancer patients.

Instrumentation to Measure the Capacitance of Biosensors by Sinusoidal Wave Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavan Kumar KATHUROJU

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Micro Controller based instrumentation to measure the capacitance of biosensors is developed. It is based on frequency domain technique with sinusoidal wave input. Changes in the capacitance of biosensor because of the analyte specific reaction are calculated by knowing the current flowing through the sample. A dedicated 8-bit microcontroller (AT89C52 and its associated peripherals are employed for the hardware and application specific software is developed in ‘C’ language. The paper describes the methodology, instrumentation details along with a specific application to glucose sensing. The measurements are conducted with glucose oxidase based capacitance biosensor and the obtained results are compared with the conventional method of sugar measurements using the UV-Visible spectroscopy (Phenol-Sulphuric acid assay method. Measurement accuracy of the instrument is found to be ± 5 %. Experiments are conducted on glucose sensor with different bias voltages. It is found that for bias voltages varying from 0.5 to 0.7 Volt, the measurements are good for this application.

Initial development and psychometric testing of an instrument to measure the quality of children's end-of-life care.

Science.gov (United States)

Widger, Kimberley; Tourangeau, Ann E; Steele, Rose; Streiner, David L

2015-01-01

The field of pediatric palliative care is hindered by the lack of a well-defined, reliable, and valid method for measuring the quality of end-of-life care. The study purpose was to develop and test an instrument to measure mothers' perspectives on the quality of care received before, at the time of, and following a child's death. In Phase 1, key components of quality end-of-life care for children were synthesized through a comprehensive review of research literature. These key components were validated in Phase 2 and then extended through focus groups with bereaved parents. In Phase 3, items were developed to assess structures, processes, and outcomes of quality end-of-life care then tested for content and face validity with health professionals. Cognitive testing was conducted through interviews with bereaved parents. In Phase 4, bereaved mothers were recruited through 10 children's hospitals/hospices in Canada to complete the instrument, and psychometric testing was conducted. Following review of 67 manuscripts and 3 focus groups with 10 parents, 141 items were initially developed. The overall content validity index for these items was 0.84 as rated by 7 health professionals. Based on feedback from health professionals and cognitive testing with 6 parents, a 144-item instrument was finalized for further testing. In Phase 4, 128 mothers completed the instrument, 31 of whom completed it twice. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity were demonstrated for six subscales: Connect With Families, Involve Parents, Share Information With Parents, Share Information Among Health Professionals, Support Parents, and Provide Care at Death. Additional items with content validity were grouped in four domains: Support the Child, Support Siblings, Provide Bereavement Follow-up, and Structures of Care. Forty-eight items were deleted through psychometric testing, leaving a 95-item instrument. There is good initial evidence for the reliability and

Instrumentation development for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) borehole plugging program (BHP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, C.W.

1979-11-01

This report discusses the instrumentation development needs of the borehole testing program as it now exists. Although requirements may change as the program progresses, the items indicated are basic to any borehole plugging program. Instrumentation is discussed both for the plug environment and for the plug itself. For the plug environment, a probe for measuring the disturbed region and a coordinate logging tool are required. For the plug itself, instrumentation includes measurements above, within, and below the plug. Instrumentation for most measurements above the plug is currently available; for measurements within and below the plug, however, further development is required. Specifically, resistivity, induction, and acoustic probes; an in situ stressmeter; and a hardwire, feedthrough system need to be developed

Instrument for Airborne Measurement of Carbonyl Sulfide, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Southwest Sciences proposes to develop small, low power instrumentation for the real-time direct measurement of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) in the atmosphere, especially...

An instrument for X-ray set quality assurance measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willetts, R.J.; West, M.B.; Brydon, J.

1989-01-01

This paper describes a prototype electronic instrument for performing quality assurance (QA) measurements on diagnostic radiological equipment with a view to long-term performance assessment on a Regional basis. The instrument is based on a Tandy 200 laptop computer and has been developed primarily to include the assessment of image intensifier/TV systems in a general QA package. It is capable of accepting signals from the following sources: (1) a radiation detector (diode array); (2) a Keithley kV divider (Keithley Instruments, Inc.); (3) the video output of an image intensifier system. (author)

Study and development of an airborne instrument for collecting aerosols and for measuring radon 222 by its active deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filippi, Dominique

2000-01-01

The study and development of an airborne instrument designed to collect aerosols and measure radon 222 is detailed in this thesis. Having discussed the context of radon and introduced the methods of the measurement of radon 222 by its natural active deposition, the measurement of aerosols with the Sextant Avionique/LSCE dynamic iso-kinetic probe is quantified. These estimations of the efficiency of the probe were obtained during iso-axial simulations of the flow around the probe at different sub-sonic speeds, then by the calculation of trajectories of particles at the entrance to the probe for several debit coefficients. The effect of the attack angle is discussed along with the iso-kinetic criteria of pressure necessary for the functioning of this probe. To conclude this theoretical study, the author has estimated the deposits during aerosol transport in pipes. The instrument once constructed, (dubbed A VIRAD), is then itself presented, along with the technological aspects adopted for its use. The instrument was validated during an experimental aerial study STAAARTE 99. The measures obtained during these flights are presented in the conclusions. (author) [fr

Instrument for Airborne Measurement of Carbonyl Sulfide, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — In this Phase II SBIR program, Southwest Sciences will continue the development of small, low power instrumentation for real-time direct measurement of carbonyl...

Measurement and Instrumentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirkham, Harold

2018-01-02

This is a chapter for a book called the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineering. Though it is not obvious from the title, the book deals mainly with power engineering. The first chapter (not mine) is about the fundamental quantities used in measurement. This chapter is about the process and the instrumentation.

Process Skill Assessment Instrument: Innovation to measure student’s learning result holistically

Science.gov (United States)

Azizah, K. N.; Ibrahim, M.; Widodo, W.

2018-01-01

Science process skills (SPS) are very important skills for students. However, the fact that SPS is not being main concern in the primary school learning is undeniable. This research aimed to develop a valid, practical, and effective assessment instrument to measure student’s SPS. Assessment instruments comprise of worksheet and test. This development research used one group pre-test post-test design. Data were obtained with validation, observation, and test method to investigate validity, practicality, and the effectivenss of the instruments. Results showed that the validity of assessment instruments is very valid, the reliability is categorized as reliable, student SPS activities have a high percentage, and there is significant improvement on student’s SPS score. It can be concluded that assessment instruments of SPS are valid, practical, and effective to be used to measure student’s SPS result.

Legal control scenario applied to embedded software in measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, C.G. de; Brandao, P.C.; Leitao, F.O.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a scenario of legal control of software in measuring instruments. Such control is hampered by intrinsic problems related to software analysis and verification. To circumvent these difficulties, several projects are being developed to attack different stages of legal control, such as the model type approval, periodic verifications and metrological expertise. The proposals that will arise from these projects will be discussed among the parts and may be incorporated into the measuring instruments. (author)

Development of a portable instantaneous soil radon measurement instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yushuang; Ge Liangquan; Jiang Haijing; Lin Yanchang

2007-01-01

A dual-channel instantaneous soil radon measurement instrument based on the method of electrostatic collection is designed. It has the features of small size, low cost, and high sensitivity, etc. A single chip microcomputer is adopted as the data processing and control unit. The concentration of radon can be reported in field. The result is also corrected by the pressure sensing system. A double channel discriminator is used so that the detector can eliminate the interference from the progenies of radon except RaA. LCD and MCU based encoding keyboard are used to give users a friendly interface. Operating and function setting is easy. (authors)

Towards a measurement instrument for determinants of innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fleuren, M.A.H.; Paulussen, T.G.W.M.; van Dommelen, P.; van Buuren, S.

2014-01-01

Objective. To develop a short instrument to measure determinants of innovations that may affect its implementation. Design. We pooled the original data from eight empirical studies of the implementation of evidence-based innovations. The studies used a list of 60 potentially relevant determinants

Developing and evaluating a relevant and feasible instrument for measuring health literacy of Canadian high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Amery D; Begoray, Deborah L; Macdonald, Marjorie; Wharf Higgins, Joan; Frankish, Jim; Kwan, Brenda; Fung, Winny; Rootman, Irving

2010-12-01

Health literacy has come to play a critical role in health education and promotion, yet it is poorly understood in adolescents and few measurement tools exist. Standardized instruments to measure health literacy in adults assume it to be a derivative of general literacy. This paper reports on the development and the early-stage validation of a health literacy tool for high school students that measured skills to understand and evaluate health information. A systematic process was used to develop, score and validate items. Questionnaire data were collected from 275, primarily 10th grade students in three secondary schools in Vancouver, Canada that reflected variation in demographic profile. Forty-eight percent were male, and 69.1% spoke a language other than English. Bivariate correlations between background variables and the domain and overall health literacy scores were calculated. A regression model was developed using 15 explanatory variables. The R(2) value was 0.567. Key findings were that lower scores were achieved by males, students speaking a second language other than English, those who immigrated to Canada at a later age and those who skipped school more often. Unlike in general literacy where the family factors of mother's education and family affluence both played significant roles, these two factors failed to predict the health literacy of our school-aged sample. The most significant contributions of this work include the creation of an instrument for measuring adolescent health literacy and further emphasizing the distinction between health literacy and general literacy.

The development of NEdSERV: quantitative instrumentation to measure service quality in nurse education.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, P

1999-07-01

The political climate of health care provision and education for health care in the latter years of the 20th century is evolving from the uncertainty of newly created markets to a more clearly focused culture of collaboration, dissemination of good practice, with an increased emphasis on quality provision and its measurement. The need for provider units to prove and improve efficiency and effectiveness through evidence-based quality strategies in order to stay firmly in the market place has never been more necessary. The measurement of customer expectations and perceptions of delivered service quality is widely utilized as a basis for customer retention and business growth in both commercial and non-profit organizations. This paper describes the methodological development of NEdSERV--quantitative instrumentation designed to measure and respond to ongoing stakeholder expectations and perceptions of delivered service quality within nurse education.

Development of CAMAC and Fastbus instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venkateswaran, Aruna; Behere, Anita; Ghodgaonkar, M.D.; Bairi, B.R.

1987-01-01

This report describes the work being done towards the development of CAMAC and Fast Bus Instrumentation under the VII Five Year Plan Project 'Modernisation of Reactor Control Instrumentation and Development of CAMAC and FAST BUS Instrumentation'. The report summarises the goals, objectives, principles and concepts of CAMAC and Fast Bus Instrumentation. While emphasizing the motivation behind the development of CAMAC and Fast Bus Instrumentation, the report brings out the current status and future plans of this development program. (author)

Health Status Measurement Instruments in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Lacasse

1997-01-01

Full Text Available Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is associated with primary respiratory impairment, disability and handicap, as well as with secondary impairments not necessarily confined to the respiratory system. Because the primary goals of managing patients with COPD include relief of dyspnea and the improvement of health-related quality of life (HRQL, a direct measurement of HRQL is important. Fourteen disease-specific and nine generic questionnaires (four health profiles and five utility measures most commonly used to measure health status in patients with COPD were reviewed. The measures were classified according to their domain of interest, and their measurement properties - specifications, validity, reliability, responsiveness and interpretability - were described. This review suggests several findings. Currently used health status instruments usually refer to the patients’ perception of performance in three major domains of HRQL - somatic sensation, physical and occupational function, and psychological state. The choice of a questionnaire must be related to its purpose, with a clear distinction being made between its evaluative and discriminative function. In their evaluative function, only a few instruments fulfilled the criteria of responsiveness, and the interpretability of most questionnaires is limited. Generic questionnaires should not be used alone in clinical trials as evaluative instruments because of their inability to detect change over time. Further validation and improved interpretability of existing instruments would be of greater benefit to clinicians and scientists than the development of new questionnaires.

Geosciences research: development of techniques and instruments for investigation geological environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

In order to understand the geological environment in Japan, new investigation techniques have been developed. These include: 1) Geological techniques for fracture characterization, 2) Nondestructive investigation techniques for detailed geological structure, 3) Instruments for hydraulic characterization, 4) Instruments for hydrochemical characterization. Results so far obtained are: 1) Fractures can be classified by their patterns, 2) The applicability and limitations of conventional geophysical methods were defined, 3) Instruments for measuring very low permeability were successfully developed, 4) Instruments for sampling formation water without changing in-situ conditions were developed. (author)

Nuclear instrument engineering - the measuring and informative basis of nuclear science and technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matveev, V.V.; Krasheninnikov, I.S.; Murin, I.D.; Stas', K.N.

1977-01-01

The cornerstones of developing nuclear instrument engineering in the USSR are shortly discussed. The industry is based on a well developed theory. A system approach is a characteristic feature of the present-day measuring and control systems engineering. Major functions of reactor instruments measuring different types of ionizing radiation are discussed at greater length. Nuclear measuring and control instruments and methods are widely used in different fields of science and technoloay and in different industries in the USSR. The efficient and safe operation of a nuclear facility is underlined to depend strongly upon a correlation between a technological process and the information and control system of the facility

Development of a surface topography instrument for automotive textured steel plate

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhen; Wang, Shenghuai; Chen, Yurong; Xie, Tiebang

2010-08-01

The surface topography of automotive steel plate is decisive to its stamping, painting and image clarity performances. For measuring this kind of surface topography, an instrument has been developed based on the principle of vertical scanning white light microscopy interference principle. The microscopy interference system of this instrument is designed based on the structure of Linnik interference microscopy. The 1D worktable of Z direction is designed and introduced in details. The work principle of this instrument is analyzed. In measuring process, the interference microscopy is derived as a whole and the measured surface is scanned in vertical direction. The measurement accuracy and validity is verified by templates. Surface topography of textured steel plate is also measured by this instrument.

Utility Assessment of Specificity in Upward Feedback Instruments for Leadership Development

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wardak, Theresa

2003-01-01

...) and the other is the recently developed, non-proprietary Upward Feedback Instrument (2002). The Upward Feedback Instrument was designed to measure leadership behaviors at a more specific level...

Neutron-multiplication measurement instrument

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nixon, K.V.; Dowdy, E.J.; France, S.W.; Millegan, D.R.; Robba, A.A.

1982-01-01

The Advanced Nuclear Technology Group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory is now using intelligent data-acquisition and analysis instrumentation for determining the multiplication of nuclear material. Earlier instrumentation, such as the large NIM-crate systems, depended on house power and required additional computation to determine multiplication or to estimate error. The portable, battery-powered multiplication measurement unit, with advanced computational power, acquires data, calculates multiplication, and completes error analysis automatically. Thus, the multiplication is determined easily and an available error estimate enables the user to judge the significance of results.

Neutron multiplication measurement instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nixon, K.V.; Dowdy, E.J.; France, S.W.; Millegan, D.R.; Robba, A.A.

1983-01-01

The Advanced Nuclear Technology Group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory is now using intelligent data-acquisition and analysis instrumentation for determining the multiplication of nuclear material. Earlier instrumentation, such as the large NIM-crate systems, depended on house power and required additional computation to determine multiplication or to estimate error. The portable, battery-powered multiplication measurement unit, with advanced computational power, acquires data, calculates multiplication, and completes error analysis automatically. Thus, the multiplication is determined easily and an available error estimate enables the user to judge the significance of results

Neutron-multiplication measurement instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nixon, K.V.; Dowdy, E.J.; France, S.W.; Millegan, D.R.; Robba, A.A.

1982-01-01

The Advanced Nuclear Technology Group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory is now using intelligent data-acquisition and analysis instrumentation for determining the multiplication of nuclear material. Earlier instrumentation, such as the large NIM-crate systems, depended on house power and required additional computation to determine multiplication or to estimate error. The portable, battery-powered multiplication measurement unit, with advanced computational power, acquires data, calculates multiplication, and completes error analysis automatically. Thus, the multiplication is determined easily and an available error estimate enables the user to judge the significance of results

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility (ACRF Instrumentation Status: New, Current, and Future)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

JW Voyles

2008-01-30

The purpose of this report is to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility instrumentation status. The report is divided into the following four sections: (1) new instrumentation in the process of being acquired and deployed, (2) existing instrumentation and progress on improvements or upgrades, (3) proposed future instrumentation, and (4) Small Business Innovation Research instrument development.

Development of an instrument to measure behavioral health function for work disability: item pool construction and factor analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Marfeo, Elizabeth E; Ni, Pengsheng; Haley, Stephen M; Jette, Alan M; Bogusz, Kara; Meterko, Mark; McDonough, Christine M; Chan, Leighton; Brandt, Diane E; Rasch, Elizabeth K

2013-09-01

To develop a broad set of claimant-reported items to assess behavioral health functioning relevant to the Social Security disability determination processes, and to evaluate the underlying structure of behavioral health functioning for use in development of a new functional assessment instrument. Cross-sectional. Community. Item pools of behavioral health functioning were developed, refined, and field tested in a sample of persons applying for Social Security disability benefits (N=1015) who reported difficulties working because of mental or both mental and physical conditions. None. Social Security Administration Behavioral Health (SSA-BH) measurement instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) specified that a 4-factor model (self-efficacy, mood and emotions, behavioral control, social interactions) had the optimal fit with the data and was also consistent with our hypothesized conceptual framework for characterizing behavioral health functioning. When the items within each of the 4 scales were tested in CFA, the fit statistics indicated adequate support for characterizing behavioral health as a unidimensional construct along these 4 distinct scales of function. This work represents a significant advance both conceptually and psychometrically in assessment methodologies for work-related behavioral health. The measurement of behavioral health functioning relevant to the context of work requires the assessment of multiple dimensions of behavioral health functioning. Specifically, we identified a 4-factor model solution that represented key domains of work-related behavioral health functioning. These results guided the development and scale formation of a new SSA-BH instrument. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Argonne National Laboratory's thermal plume measurements: instruments and techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Loon, L.S.; Frigo, A.A.; Paddock, R.A.

1977-12-01

Instrumentation and techniques were developed at Argonne National Laboratory for measuring the three-dimensional temperature structure of thermal plumes from power plants, along with the limnological, meteorological, and plant operating conditions affecting their behavior. The equipment and procedures were designed to provide field data for use in evaluating predictive models that describe thermal plume behavior, and over 100 sets of these data have been collected. The instrument systems and techniques employed in a typical thermal discharge survey are highly integrated. Continuous monitoring of ambient and plant conditions is coupled with plume mapping from a moving survey boat. The instantaneous location of the boat together with subsurface temperature measurements from a towed thermistor chain provide a quasisynoptic view of the plume structure. Real-time, onboard display of the boat path and vertical temperatures supply feedback to investigators for determining the extent and spatial resolution of measurements required. The unique design, reliability, accuracy, calibration, and historical development of the components of these integrated systems are described. Survey system interfaces with data handling and processing techniques are also explained. Special supportive studies to investigate plume dynamics, values of eddy diffusivities, time-temperature histories of water parcels in thermal plumes, and rapid changes in plume shape are also described along with instrumentation used

Developing an Instrument to Measure Autonomous Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change among Urban Households

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathryn R. Selm

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The capacity of households in urban environments to adapt and react to climate change can affect the resilience of the whole community, and instruments for systematically measuring that capacity are needed. We used Raleigh, NC as a case study to explore the dimensions of autonomous adaptive capacity of urban households and to create a scale and associated survey instrument to measure them. Our approach was guided by four capitals that support human livelihoods: social, human, physical, and financial. We surveyed 200 households in Raleigh, NC, and used a principal components analysis to test the scale and survey instrument. Results suggest the scale is a useful and concise tool. Three major dimensions were present among the scale items: financial capital, political awareness, and access to resources. Together, these three dimensions can be used to measure adaptive capacity among different households. These findings are supported by similar work illustrating the value of income inequality and political awareness as indicators of adaptive capacity. Our results also demonstrate that complex relationships among the livelihood capitals may confound our ability to measure financial, physical, and human capitals separately. This framework for assessing adaptive capacity of households, with further refinement and testing, may be used in urban areas to evaluate programs designed to impact resilience to climate change.

An intelligent instrument for measuring the dynamic parameters of groundwater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Guoping

2002-01-01

An intelligent instrument was developed for measuring direction and velocity of the groundwater, permeability coefficient, hydraulic transmitting coefficient, static level, hydraulic gradient and flow direction of each layer. The instrument can be widely applied for detecting seepage of abutment and river bank, exploitation of groundwater, conservation of water and soil, water surging in mine, survey of groundwater resource and environment protection etc

The Measurement of Sexual Harassment: Comparison of the Results of Three Different Instruments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Junger, Marianne

1990-01-01

This study examines the results of three instruments developed to measure sexual harassment. Two instruments were used in the Dutch national victimization survey: an oral interview and a written questionnaire. Three issues will be discussed: (1) do both instruments produce the same victimization

Measurement Properties of Instruments for Measuring of Lymphedema: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hidding, Janine T; Viehoff, Peter B; Beurskens, Carien H G; van Laarhoven, Hanneke W M; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G; van der Wees, Philip J

2016-12-01

Lymphedema is a common complication of cancer treatment, resulting in swelling and subjective symptoms. Reliable and valid measurement of this side effect of medical treatment is important. The purpose of this study was to provide best evidence regarding which measurement instruments are most appropriate in measuring lymphedema in its different stages. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were used, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Clinical studies on measurement instruments assessing lymphedema were reviewed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) scoring instrument for quality assessment. Data on reliability, concurrent validity, convergent validity, sensitivity, specificity, applicability, and costs were extracted. Pooled data showed good intrarater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) (.89) for bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) in the lower extremities and high intrarater and interrater ICCs for water volumetry, tape measurement, and perometry (.98-.99) in the upper extremities. In the upper extremities, the standard error of measurement was 3.6% (σ=0.7%) for water volumetry, 5.6% (σ=2.1%) for perometry, and 6.6% (σ=2.6%) for tape measurement. Sensitivity of tape measurement in the upper extremities, using different cutoff points, varied from 0.73 to 0.90, and specificity values varied from 0.72 to 0.78. No uniform definition of lymphedema was available, and a gold standard as a reference test was lacking. Items concerning risk of bias were study design, patient selection, description of lymphedema, blinding of test outcomes, and number of included participants. Measurement instruments with evidence for good reliability and validity were BIS, water volumetry, tape measurement, and perometry, where BIS can detect alterations in extracellular fluid in stage 1 lymphedema and the other measurement instruments can detect alterations in volume

Development of α and/or β activity aerosol instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Zhengyong; Li Aiwu; Gou Quanlu

1996-01-01

A radioactive aerosol instrumentation is developed recently for measuring the α and/or β activity of artificial radioactivity aerosols which are produced in nuclear facilities. The instrumentation has the function discriminating natural radioactivity aerosols resulted from radon and thoron daughters, and it is enabled in time and without delay to measure α and β artificial activity collected with a filter by pumping aerosols through this filter. The energy discrimination and compensation method is used for eliminating the influence of natural αradioactivity aerosols. To minimize the influence of natural β-radioactivity aerosols, the method measuring the ratio α/β of natural aerosols is also used in the instrument. The improved methods eliminating the influence of natural background α and β aerosols are used so that both α and β artificial activities in aerosol filter samples can be monitored simultaneously. The instrumentation is appropriate for monitoring α and/or β artificial radioactive aerosols

Instrumentation for two-phase flow measurements in code verification experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fincke, J.R.; Anderson, J.L.; Arave, A.E.; Deason, V.A.; Lassahn, G.D.; Goodrich, L.D.; Colson, J.B.; Fickas, E.T.

1981-01-01

The development of instrumentation and techniques for the measurement of mass flow rate in two-phase flows conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory during the past year is briefly described. Instruments discussed are the modular drag-disc turbine transducer, the gamma densitometers, the ultrasonic densitometer, Pitot tubes, and full-flow drag screens. Steady state air-water and transient steam-water data are presented

Cavity-enhanced quantum-cascade laser-based instrument for carbon monoxide measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Provencal, Robert; Gupta, Manish; Owano, Thomas G; Baer, Douglas S; Ricci, Kenneth N; O'Keefe, Anthony; Podolske, James R

2005-11-01

An autonomous instrument based on off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy has been developed and successfully deployed for measurements of carbon monoxide in the troposphere and tropopause onboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft. The instrument (Carbon Monoxide Gas Analyzer) consists of a measurement cell comprised of two high-reflectivity mirrors, a continuous-wave quantum-cascade laser, gas sampling system, control and data-acquisition electronics, and data-analysis software. CO measurements were determined from high-resolution CO absorption line shapes obtained by tuning the laser wavelength over the R(7) transition of the fundamental vibration band near 2172.8 cm(-1). The instrument reports CO mixing ratio (mole fraction) at a 1-Hz rate based on measured absorption, gas temperature, and pressure using Beer's Law. During several flights in May-June 2004 and January 2005 that reached altitudes of 41,000 ft (12.5 km), the instrument recorded CO values with a precision of 0.2 ppbv (1-s averaging time) and an accuracy limited by the reference CO gas cylinder (uncertainty < 1.0%). Despite moderate turbulence and measurements of particulate-laden airflows, the instrument operated consistently and did not require any maintenance, mirror cleaning, or optical realignment during the flights.

Calibration of solar radiation measuring instruments. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bahm, R J; Nakos, J C

1979-11-01

A review of solar radiation measurement of instruments and some types of errors is given; and procedures for calibrating solar radiation measuring instruments are detailed. An appendix contains a description of various agencies who perform calibration of solar instruments and a description of the methods they used at the time this report was prepared. (WHK)

Measurement properties of quality-of-life measurement instruments for infants, children and adolescents with eczema: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinl, D; Prinsen, C A C; Sach, T; Drucker, A M; Ofenloch, R; Flohr, C; Apfelbacher, C

2017-04-01

Quality of life (QoL) is one of the core outcome domains identified by the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative to be assessed in every eczema trial. There is uncertainty about the most appropriate QoL instrument to measure this domain in infants, children and adolescents. To systematically evaluate the measurement properties of existing measurement instruments developed and/or validated for the measurement of QoL in infants, children and adolescents with eczema. A systematic literature search in PubMed and Embase, complemented by a thorough hand search of reference lists, retrieved studies on measurement properties of eczema QoL instruments for infants, children and adolescents. For all eligible studies, we judged the adequacy of the measurement properties and the methodological study quality with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. Results from different studies were summarized in a best-evidence synthesis and formed the basis to assign four degrees of recommendation. Seventeen articles, three of which were found by hand search, were included. These 17 articles reported on 24 instruments. No instrument can be recommended for use in all eczema trials because none fulfilled all required adequacy criteria. With adequate internal consistency, reliability and hypothesis testing, the U.S. version of the Childhood Atopic Dermatitis Impact Scale (CADIS), a proxy-reported instrument, has the potential to be recommended depending on the results of further validation studies. All other instruments, including all self-reported ones, lacked significant validation data. Currently, no QoL instrument for infants, children and adolescents with eczema can be highly recommended. Future validation research should primarily focus on the CADIS, but also attempt to broaden the evidence base for the validity of self-reported instruments. © 2016 British Association of Dermatologists.

Portable instrumentation for quantitatively measuring radioactive surface contaminations, including 90Sr

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brodzinski, R.L.

1983-10-01

In order to measure the effectiveness of decontamination efforts, a quantitative analysis of the radiocontamination is necessary, both before and after decontamination. Since it is desirable to release the decontaminated material for unrestricted use or disposal, the assay equipment must provide adequate sensitivity to measure the radioactivity at or below the release limit. In addition, the instrumentation must be capable of measuring all kinds of radiocontaminants including fission products, activation products, and transuranic materials. Finally, the survey instrumentation must be extremely versatile in order to assay the wide variety of contaminated surfaces in many environments, some of which may be extremely hostile or remote. This communication describes the development and application of portable instrumentation capable of quantitatively measuring most transuranics, activation products, and fission products, including 90 Sr, on almost any contaminated surface in nearly any location

Measurement properties of quality of life measurement instruments for infants, children and adolescents with eczema: protocol for a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinl, Daniel; Prinsen, Cecilia A C; Drucker, Aaron M; Ofenloch, Robert; Humphreys, Rosemary; Sach, Tracey; Flohr, Carsten; Apfelbacher, Christian

2016-02-09

Eczema is a common chronic or chronically relapsing, inflammatory skin disease that exerts a substantial negative impact on quality of life (QoL). The Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative has used a consensus-based process which identified QoL as one of the four core outcome domains to be assessed in all eczema clinical trials. A number of measurement instruments exist to measure QoL in infants, children, and adolescents with eczema, and there is a great variability in both content and quality of the instruments used. Therefore, the objective of the proposed research is to comprehensively and systematically assess the measurement properties of the existing measurement instruments that were developed and/or validated for the measurement of patient-reported QoL in infants, children, and adolescents with eczema. This study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of patient-reported measures of QoL developed and/or validated for infants, children, and adolescents with eczema. A systematic literature search will be carried out in MEDLINE via PubMed and EMBASE using a selection of relevant search terms. Eligible studies will be primary empirical studies evaluating, describing, or comparing measurement properties of QoL instruments for infants, children, and adolescents with eczema. Two reviewers will independently perform eligibility assessment and data abstraction. Evidence tables will be used to record study characteristics, instrument characteristics, measurement properties, and interpretability. The adequacy of the measurement properties will be assessed using predefined criteria. The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist will be used to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies. A best evidence synthesis will be undertaken if more than one study has examined a particular measurement property. The proposed systematic review will yield a comprehensive assessment

A measurement instrument for bone mineral content of adult and children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shaofang

1996-01-01

The γ radiation source was used in bone mineral content measurement analysis of adult and children and a new instrument is developed successfully. It's precision is +2%. The advantage of this instrument is light, cheap and reliable. It can be used widely in medical science and clinic for diagnosis on certain diseases and research work

Ares I Scale Model Acoustic Tests Instrumentation for Acoustic and Pressure Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, Magda B.; Counter, Douglas D.

2011-01-01

The Ares I Scale Model Acoustic Test (ASMAT) was a development test performed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) East Test Area (ETA) Test Stand 116. The test article included a 5% scale Ares I vehicle model and tower mounted on the Mobile Launcher. Acoustic and pressure data were measured by approximately 200 instruments located throughout the test article. There were four primary ASMAT instrument suites: ignition overpressure (IOP), lift-off acoustics (LOA), ground acoustics (GA), and spatial correlation (SC). Each instrumentation suite incorporated different sensor models which were selected based upon measurement requirements. These requirements included the type of measurement, exposure to the environment, instrumentation check-outs and data acquisition. The sensors were attached to the test article using different mounts and brackets dependent upon the location of the sensor. This presentation addresses the observed effect of the sensors and mounts on the acoustic and pressure measurements.

Angle measurement with laser feedback instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wenxue; Zhang, Shulian; Long, Xingwu

2013-04-08

An instrument for angle measurement based on laser feedback has been designed. The measurement technique is based on the principle that when a wave plate placed into a feedback cavity rotates, its phase retardation varies. Phase retardation is a function of the rotating angle of the wave plate. Hence, the angle can be converted to phase retardation. The phase retardation is measured at certain characteristic points identified in the laser outputting curve that are then modulated by laser feedback. The angle of a rotating object can be measured if it is connected to the wave plate. The main advantages of this instrument are: high resolution, compact, flexible, low cost, effective power, and fast response.

Development Instruments Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA in Appropriate Intensity Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ari Saptono

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The research aims to develop the valid and reliable measurement instruments of entrepreneurship intention in vocational secondary school students. Multi stage random sampling was used as the technique to determine sample (300 respondents. The research method used research and development with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. Result of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA at the second order with robust maximum likelihood method shows that valid and reliable instrument with the acquisition value of loading factor is more than 0.5 (> 0,5 and a significance value of t is more than 1,96 (> 1,96. Reliability test results shows that the value of the combined construct reliability (CR of 0.97and a variance value extract (VE to 0.52 is greater than the limit of acceptance CR ≥ 0.70 and VE ≥ 0.50. The conclusion of the measurement instruments of entrepreneurship intention with three dimensions and 31 items met the standards of validity and reliability in accordance with the instrument development process.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ON-LINE, REAL-TIME ALPHA RADIATION MEASURING INSTRUMENT FOR LIQUID STREAMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) has expressed a need for an on-line, real-time instrument for assaying alpha-emitting radionuclides (uranium and the transuranics) in effluent waters leaving DOE sites to ensure compliance with regulatory limits. Due to the short range of alpha particles in water (approximately40 Tm), it is necessary now to intermittently collect samples of water and send them to a central laboratory for analysis. A lengthy and costly procedure is used to separate and measure the radionuclides from each sample. Large variations in radionuclide concentrations in the water may go undetected due to the sporadic sampling. Even when detected, the reading may not be representative of the actual stream concentration. To address these issues, Tecogen, a division of Thermo Power Corporation, a Thermo Electron company, is developing a real-time, field-deployable, alpha monitor based on a solid-state silicon wafer semiconductor (patent pending, to be assigned to the Department of Energy). The Thermo Alpha Monitor (TAM) will serve to monitor effluent water streams (Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area) and will be suitable for process control of remediation as well as decontamination and decommissioning operations, such as monitoring scrubber or rinse water radioactivity levels (Mixed Waste Focus Area and D and D Focus Area). It would be applicable for assaying other liquids, such as oil, or solids after proper preconditioning. Rapid isotopic alpha air monitoring is also possible using this technology. This instrument for direct counting of alpha-emitters in aqueous streams is presently being developed by Thermo Power under a development program funded by the DOE Environmental Management program (DOE-EM), administered by the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC). Under this contract, Thermo Power has demonstrated a solid-state, silicon-based semiconductor instrument, which uses a proprietary film-based collection system to quantitatively extract the

Development of instrumentation with application to sounding rocket electric and magnetic field measurements above thunderstorms

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Steven D.

1999-06-01

The thunderstorm campaigns led by Cornell University in 1981 and 1988 both measured large-amplitude (10 to 40 mV/m), long duration (1 ms) electric-field pulses parallel to the earth's magnetic field. To investigate the mechanism responsible for these pulses, the instrumentation bandwidth was increased from the VLF range to MF frequencies. The design for a Helmholtz coil developed to calibrate magnetometers from DC to 10 MHz is given in Chapter 3. This coil generates a spatially uniform field with for frequencies up to at least 10 MHz with amplitudes of up to 1.1 mA/m. Coincident with the need for higher bandwidth sensors, a burst-memory data acquisition system was developed to intelligently select the 1.25% of the available data to send to the telemetry encoder. This system uses the optical flash of the lightning as a trigger and has a back-up mode to ensure data is transmitted in the event no triggers occur. The higher-frequency instruments allowed the first rocket-borne measurement of nose- whistlers caused by the plasma frequency resonance (as opposed to the more common electron cyclotron frequency resonance), and what may have been the first observation of a TIPP at MF frequencies. Triggered emission from the second campaign, Thunderstorm-II, are identified as lower hybrid emissions. These emissions enhanced the whistler by several decibels in the lower hybrid frequency band and in bands above the emission. No emissions seen above the lower hybrid frequency. The Thunderstorm-III payloads also measured triggered emissions and long-duration pulses. The former were found in several altitude-independent frequency bands for which the source could not be identified. The long duration pulses, while of interest, have not been studied in sufficient depth for inclusion in this work.

Instrumentation development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1976-01-01

Areas being investigated for instrumentation improvement during low-level pollution monitoring include laser opto-acoustic spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, optical fluorescence spectroscopy, liquid crystal gas detectors, advanced forms of atomic absorption spectroscopy, electro-analytical chemistry, and mass spectroscopy. Emphasis is also directed toward development of physical methods, as opposed to conventional chemical analysis techniques for monitoring these trace amounts of pollution related to energy development and utilization

Pancreatitis Quality of Life Instrument: Development of a new instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wahid Wassef

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The goal of this project was to develop the first disease-specific instrument for the evaluation of quality of life in chronic pancreatitis. Methods: Focus groups and interview sessions were conducted, with chronic pancreatitis patients, to identify items felt to impact quality of life which were subsequently formatted into a paper-and-pencil instrument. This instrument was used to conduct an online survey by an expert panel of pancreatologists to evaluate its content validity. Finally, the modified instrument was presented to patients during precognitive testing interviews to evaluate its clarity and appropriateness. Results: In total, 10 patients were enrolled in the focus groups and interview sessions where they identified 50 items. Once redundant items were removed, the 40 remaining items were made into a paper-and-pencil instrument referred to as the Pancreatitis Quality of Life Instrument. Through the processes of content validation and precognitive testing, the number of items in the instrument was reduced to 24. Conclusions: This marks the development of the first disease-specific instrument to evaluate quality of life in chronic pancreatitis. It includes unique features not found in generic instruments (economic factors, stigma, and spiritual factors. Although this marks a giant step forward, psychometric evaluation is still needed prior to its clinical use.

Performance tests for instruments measuring radon activity concentration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, T.R.; Buchroeder, H.; Schmidt, V.

2009-01-01

Performance tests of electronic instruments measuring the activity concentration of 222 Rn have been carried out with respect to the standard IEC 61577-2. In total, 9 types of instrument operating with ionization chambers or electrostatic collection have been tested for the influence of different climatic and radiological factors on the measurement characteristics. It is concluded that all types of instrument, which are commercially available, are suitable for indoor radon measurements. Because of the dependence on climatic conditions, the outdoor use is partly limited.

Measuring Software Test Verification for Complex Workpieces based on Virtual Gear Measuring Instrument

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Yin Peili

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Validity and correctness test verification of the measuring software has been a thorny issue hindering the development of Gear Measuring Instrument (GMI. The main reason is that the software itself is difficult to separate from the rest of the measurement system for independent evaluation. This paper presents a Virtual Gear Measuring Instrument (VGMI to independently validate the measuring software. The triangular patch model with accurately controlled precision was taken as the virtual workpiece and a universal collision detection model was established. The whole process simulation of workpiece measurement is implemented by VGMI replacing GMI and the measuring software is tested in the proposed virtual environment. Taking involute profile measurement procedure as an example, the validity of the software is evaluated based on the simulation results; meanwhile, experiments using the same measuring software are carried out on the involute master in a GMI. The experiment results indicate a consistency of tooth profile deviation and calibration results, thus verifying the accuracy of gear measuring system which includes the measurement procedures. It is shown that the VGMI presented can be applied in the validation of measuring software, providing a new ideal platform for testing of complex workpiece-measuring software without calibrated artifacts.

Interference between work and nonwork roles: The development of a new South African instrument

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Eileen Koekemoer

2010-10-01

Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to, (1 develop new items for a more comprehensive work−nonwork interference instrument, (2 evaluate the newly developed items to retain those items that accurately capture the different dimensions and (3 eliminate undesirable items from the different subscales in the instrument. Motivation for the study: Although the interaction between work and personal life has received extensive attention in the work−family fields of research, various theoretical, empirical and measurement issues need to be addressed. Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. Main findings: Initially, 89 items were developed. During the pilot study among mineworkers (n = 245, 41 poor items were eliminated on the basis of descriptive statistics, inter-item correlations, item-total correlations and the qualitative investigation of items highly redundant in terms of wording. Thereafter, the instrument (48 items was administered to 366 support and academic personnel at a tertiary institution. Using Rasch analyses and item correlations, 18 additional items were eliminated, resulting in a 30-item instrument (15 items were retained to measure work-nonwork interference and 15 items to measure nonwork-work interference. Practical/managerial implications: A major theoretical limitation to the measurement of work−family interference relates to the dimensionality and inconsistent measurement of the directionality of interference. Contribution/value-add: With the development of this new instrument, several of the theoretical and measurement limitations voiced by previous researchers have been addressed, providing this instrument with distinct advantages over previous work−family instruments.

Effective dose measurement at workplaces within an instrumented anthropomorphic phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villagrasa, C.; Darreon, J.; Martin-Burtat, N.; Clairand, I.; Colin, J.; Fontbonne, J. M.

2011-01-01

The Laboratory of Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry of the IRSN (France) is developing an instrumented anthropomorphic phantom in order to measure the effective dose for photon fields at workplaces. This anthropomorphic phantom will be equipped with small active detectors located inside at chosen positions. The aim of this paper is to present the development of these new detectors showing the results of the characterisation of the prototype under metrological conditions. New evaluations of the effective dose for standard and non-homogenous irradiation configurations taking into account the real constraints of the project have been done validating the feasibility and utility of the instrument. (authors)

Assessing hospitals' clinical risk management: Development of a monitoring instrument

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Pfeiffer Yvonne

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical risk management (CRM plays a crucial role in enabling hospitals to identify, contain, and manage risks related to patient safety. So far, no instruments are available to measure and monitor the level of implementation of CRM. Therefore, our objective was to develop an instrument for assessing CRM in hospitals. Methods The instrument was developed based on a literature review, which identified key elements of CRM. These elements were then discussed with a panel of patient safety experts. A theoretical model was used to describe the level to which CRM elements have been implemented within the organization. Interviews with CRM practitioners and a pilot evaluation were conducted to revise the instrument. The first nationwide application of the instrument (138 participating Swiss hospitals was complemented by in-depth interviews with 25 CRM practitioners in selected hospitals, for validation purposes. Results The monitoring instrument consists of 28 main questions organized in three sections: 1 Implementation and organizational integration of CRM, 2 Strategic objectives and operational implementation of CRM at hospital level, and 3 Overview of CRM in different services. The instrument is available in four languages (English, German, French, and Italian. It allows hospitals to gather comprehensive and systematic data on their CRM practice and to identify areas for further improvement. Conclusions We have developed an instrument for assessing development stages of CRM in hospitals that should be feasible for a continuous monitoring of developments in this important area of patient safety.

Assessing hospitals' clinical risk management: Development of a monitoring instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Briner, Matthias; Kessler, Oliver; Pfeiffer, Yvonne; Wehner, Theo; Manser, Tanja

2010-12-13

Clinical risk management (CRM) plays a crucial role in enabling hospitals to identify, contain, and manage risks related to patient safety. So far, no instruments are available to measure and monitor the level of implementation of CRM. Therefore, our objective was to develop an instrument for assessing CRM in hospitals. The instrument was developed based on a literature review, which identified key elements of CRM. These elements were then discussed with a panel of patient safety experts. A theoretical model was used to describe the level to which CRM elements have been implemented within the organization. Interviews with CRM practitioners and a pilot evaluation were conducted to revise the instrument. The first nationwide application of the instrument (138 participating Swiss hospitals) was complemented by in-depth interviews with 25 CRM practitioners in selected hospitals, for validation purposes. The monitoring instrument consists of 28 main questions organized in three sections: 1) Implementation and organizational integration of CRM, 2) Strategic objectives and operational implementation of CRM at hospital level, and 3) Overview of CRM in different services. The instrument is available in four languages (English, German, French, and Italian). It allows hospitals to gather comprehensive and systematic data on their CRM practice and to identify areas for further improvement. We have developed an instrument for assessing development stages of CRM in hospitals that should be feasible for a continuous monitoring of developments in this important area of patient safety.

Development of a new multimedia instrument to measure cancer-specific quality of life in Portuguese-speaking patients with varying literacy skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Paiva, Carlos Eduardo; Siquelli, Felipe Augusto Ferreira; Zaia, Gabriela Rossi; de Andrade, Diocésio Alves Pinto; Borges, Marcos Aristoteles; Jácome, Alexandre A; Giroldo, Gisele Augusta Sousa Nascimento; Santos, Henrique Amorim; Hahn, Elizabeth A; Uemura, Gilberto; Paiva, Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro

2016-01-01

To develop and validate a new multimedia instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Portuguese-speaking patients with cancer. A mixed-methods study conducted in a large Brazilian Cancer Hospital. The instrument was developed along the following sequential phases: identification of HRQOL issues through qualitative content analysis of individual interviews, evaluation of the most important items according to the patients, review of the literature, evaluation by an expert committee, and pretesting. In sequence, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted (pilot testing, n = 149) to reduce the number of items and to define domains and scores. The psychometric properties of the IQualiV-OG-21 were measured in a large multicentre Brazilian study (n = 323). A software containing multimedia resources were developed to facilitate self-administration of IQualiV-OG-21; its feasibility and patients' preferences ("paper and pencil" vs. software) were further tested (n = 54). An exploratory factor analysis reduced the 30-item instrument to 21 items. The IQualiV-OG-21 was divided into 6 domains: emotional, physical, existential, interpersonal relationships, functional and financial. The multicentre study confirmed that it was valid and reliable. The electronic multimedia instrument was easy to complete and acceptable to patients. Regarding preferences, 61.1 % of them preferred the electronic format in comparison with the paper and pencil format. The IQualiV-OG-21 is a new valid and reliable multimedia HRQOL instrument that is well-understood, even by patients with low literacy skills, and can be answered quickly. It is a useful new tool that can be translated and tested in other cultures and languages.

The Construct Validity of an Instrument for Measuring Type 2 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. Purpose: To develop an instrument (DSCKQ-30) for measuring type 2 diabetic patients' knowledge of self-care practices. Methods: A 30-item questionnaire (DSCKQ-30) consisting of close ended questions was developed for this study. DSCKQ-30 was self administered to a cross-section of randomly selected 400 ...

Developing and testing an instrument to measure the presence of conditions for successful implementation of quality improvement collaboratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Dückers, Michel L A; Wagner, Cordula; Groenewegen, Peter P

2008-08-11

In quality improvement collaboratives (QICs) teams of practitioners from different health care organizations are brought together to systematically improve an aspect of patient care. Teams take part in a series of meetings to learn about relevant best practices, quality methods and change ideas, and share experiences in making changes in their own local setting. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring team organization, external change agent support and support from the team's home institution in a Dutch national improvement and dissemination programme for hospitals based on several QICs. The exploratory methodological design included two phases: a) content development and assessment, resulting in an instrument with 15 items, and b) field testing (N = 165). Internal consistency reliability was tested via Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Principal component analyses were used to identify underlying constructs. Tests of scaling assumptions according to the multi trait/multi-item matrix, were used to confirm the component structure. Three components were revealed, explaining 65% of the variability. The components were labelled 'organizational support', 'team organization' and 'external change agent support'. One item not meeting item-scale criteria was removed. This resulted in a 14 item instrument. Scale reliability ranged from 0.77 to 0.91. Internal item consistency and divergent validity were satisfactory. On the whole, the instrument appears to be a promising tool for assessing team organization and internal and external support during QIC implementation. The psychometric properties were good and warrant application of the instrument for the evaluation of the national programme and similar improvement programmes.

Developing and testing an instrument to measure the presence of conditions for successful implementation of quality improvement collaboratives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner Cordula

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In quality improvement collaboratives (QICs teams of practitioners from different health care organizations are brought together to systematically improve an aspect of patient care. Teams take part in a series of meetings to learn about relevant best practices, quality methods and change ideas, and share experiences in making changes in their own local setting. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring team organization, external change agent support and support from the team's home institution in a Dutch national improvement and dissemination programme for hospitals based on several QICs. Methods The exploratory methodological design included two phases: a content development and assessment, resulting in an instrument with 15 items, and b field testing (N = 165. Internal consistency reliability was tested via Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Principal component analyses were used to identify underlying constructs. Tests of scaling assumptions according to the multi trait/multi-item matrix, were used to confirm the component structure. Results Three components were revealed, explaining 65% of the variability. The components were labelled 'organizational support', 'team organization' and 'external change agent support'. One item not meeting item-scale criteria was removed. This resulted in a 14 item instrument. Scale reliability ranged from 0.77 to 0.91. Internal item consistency and divergent validity were satisfactory. Conclusion On the whole, the instrument appears to be a promising tool for assessing team organization and internal and external support during QIC implementation. The psychometric properties were good and warrant application of the instrument for the evaluation of the national programme and similar improvement programmes.

The Development of a Secondary-Level Solo Wind Instrument Performance Rubric Using the Multifaceted Rasch Partial Credit Measurement Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wesolowski, Brian C.; Amend, Ross M.; Barnstead, Thomas S.; Edwards, Andrew S.; Everhart, Matthew; Goins, Quentin R.; Grogan, Robert J., III; Herceg, Amanda M.; Jenkins, S. Ira; Johns, Paul M.; McCarver, Christopher J.; Schaps, Robin E.; Sorrell, Gary W.; Williams, Jonathan D.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the development of a valid and reliable rubric to assess secondary-level solo instrumental music performance based on principles of invariant measurement. The research questions that guided this study included (1) What is the psychometric quality (i.e., validity, reliability, and precision) of a scale…

Development and Validation of an Instrument Measuring Theory-Based Determinants of Monitoring Obesogenic Behaviors of Pre-Schoolers among Hispanic Mothers

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Paul Branscum

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Public health interventions are greatly needed for obesity prevention, and planning for such strategies should include community participation. The study’s purpose was to develop and validate a theory-based instrument with low-income, Hispanic mothers of preschoolers, to assess theory-based determinants of maternal monitoring of child’s consumption of fruits and vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB. Nine focus groups with mothers were conducted to determine nutrition-related behaviors that mothers found as most obesogenic for their children. Next, behaviors were operationally defined and rated for importance and changeability. Two behaviors were selected for investigation (fruits and vegetable and SSB. Twenty semi-structured interviews with mothers were conducted next to develop culturally appropriate items for the instrument. Afterwards, face and content validity were established using a panel of six experts. Finally, the instrument was tested with a sample of 238 mothers. Psychometric properties evaluated included construct validity (using the maximum likelihood extraction method of factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha. Results suggested that all scales on the instrument were valid and reliable, except for the autonomy scales. Researchers and community planners working with Hispanic families can use this instrument to measure theory-based determinants of parenting behaviors related to preschoolers’ consumption of fruits and vegetables, and SSB.

Recent developments in nuclear instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaidya, P.P.

2004-01-01

Full text : Nuclear Instrumentation is a field of vital importance for DAE. It has important applications in many areas of interest such as Reactor Monitoring and control, Accelerator based research, Laser and nuclear physics experiments, Health and environmental monitoring, Astrophysics experiments etc. It is a specialized field involving expertise in detection of radioactivity down to the level of few events per minute as well as processing and analysis of signals which can be as small as few hundred micro volts embedded in noise. Some applications involve digitizing and processing these signals with 0.001% accuracy and timing accuracies of a fraction of nano sec. Rapid developments in semiconductor related technologies have influenced the field of nuclear instrumentation. Development of FPGA's and ASIC's have made it possible to develop miniaturized smart and portable instruments for field applications. Advancements in field of computers, communications and various field buses have been successfully utilized for smart, portable and DSP based instrumentation. Smart sensor with detector and front-end electronics on a single silicon chip is now a reality. These instruments are also made intelligent by addition of fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks and expert systems. Electronics Division of BARC has made significant contribution to the field of nuclear instrumentation to achieve self-reliance in this area. This has also led to development of several new methods, which have been published in international journals and appreciated worldwide. As a step towards achieving complete self-reliance a programme for development of FPGA's, HMC's and ASIC's has been undertaken and is being followed with special emphasis. This also includes development of detector and front- end electronics on a single chip. This talk brings out details of these developments and describes the 'state of art' work done in India

Measurement techniques and instruments suitable for life-prediction testing of photovoltaic arrays. Interim report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noel, G.T.; Sliemers, F.A.; Deringer, G.C.; Wood, V.E.; Wilkes, K.E.; Gaines, G.B.; Carmichael, D.C.

1978-01-15

The validation of a service life of 20 years for low-cost photovoltaic arrays must be accomplished through accelerated life-prediction tests. A methodology for such tests has been developed in a preceding study. The results discussed consist of the initial identification and assessment of all known measurement techniques and instruments that might be used in these life-prediction tests. Array failure modes, relevant materials property changes, and primary degradation mechanisms are discussed as a prerequisite to identifying suitable measurement techniques and instruments. Candidate techniques and instruments are identified on the basis of extensive reviews of published and unpublished information. These methods are organized in six measurement categories--chemical, electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical, and ''other physicals''. Using specified evaluation criteria, the most promising techniques and instruments for use in life-prediction tests of arrays are then selected. These recommended techniques and their characteristics are described. Recommendations are made regarding establishment of the adequacy, particularly with respect to precision, of the more fully developed techniques for this application, and regarding the experimental evaluation of promising developmental techniques. Measurement needs not satisfied by presently available techniques/instruments are also identified.

Instrument for measuring flow velocities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffo, J.

1977-01-01

The design described here means to produce a 'more satisfying instrument with less cost' than comparable instruments known up to now. Instead of one single turbine rotor, two similar ones but with opposite blade inclination and sense of rotation are to be used. A cylindrical measuring body is carrying in its axis two bearing blocks whose shape is offering little flow resistance. On the shaft, supported by them, the two rotors run in opposite direction a relatively small axial distance apart. The speed of each rotor is picked up as pulse recurrence frequency by a transmitter and fed to an electronic measuring unit. Measuring errors as they are caused for single rotors by turbulent flow, profile distortion of the velocity, or viscous flow are to be eliminated by means of the contrarotating turbines and the subsequently added electronic unit, because in these cases the adulterating increase of the angular velocity of one rotor is compensated by a corresponding deceleration of the other rotor. The mean value then indicated by the electronic unit has high accurancy of measurement. (RW) [de

OECD/CSNI specialist meeting on advanced instrumentation and measurements techniques: summary and conclusions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This specialist meeting on Advanced Instrumentation and Measurements Techniques was held in Santa Barbara (USA) in 1997 and attracted some 70 participants in ten technical sessions and a session of the round table discussions, with a total of 41 papers. It was intended to bring together the international experts in multi-phase flow instrumentation, experiment and modeling to review the state-of-the-art of the two-phase flow instrumentation methods and to discuss the relation between modeling needs and instrumentation capabilities. The following topics were included: Modeling needs and future direction for improved constitutive relations, interfacial area transport equation, and multi-dimensional two-fluid model formulation; local instrumentation developments for void fraction, interfacial area, phase velocities, turbulence, entrainment, particle size, thermal non-equilibrium, shear stress, nucleation, condensation and boiling; global instrumentation developments for void fraction, mass flow, two-phase level, non-condensable concentration, flow regimes, low flow and break flow; relation between modeling needs and instrumentation capabilities, future directions for experiments focused on modeling needs and for instrumentation developments

A Practitioner's Instrument for Measuring Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs Surrounding Learner-Centered Classroom Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lischka, Alyson E; Garner, Mary

In this paper we present the development and validation of a Mathematics Teaching Pedagogical and Discourse Beliefs Instrument (MTPDBI), a 20 item partial-credit survey designed and analyzed using Rasch measurement theory. Items on the MTPDBI address beliefs about the nature of mathematics, teaching and learning mathematics, and classroom discourse practices. A Rasch partial credit model (Masters, 1982) was estimated from the pilot study data. Results show that item separation reliability is .96 and person separation reliability is .71. Other analyses indicate the instrument is a viable measure of secondary teachers' beliefs about reform-oriented mathematics teaching and learning. This instrument is proposed as a useful measure of teacher beliefs for those working with pre-service and in-service teacher development.

Assessing medical professionalism: A systematic review of instruments and their measurement properties

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Honghe; Liu, Yang; Wen, Deliang

2017-01-01

Background Over the last three decades, various instruments were developed and employed to assess medical professionalism, but their measurement properties have yet to be fully evaluated. This study aimed to systematically evaluate these instruments’ measurement properties and the methodological quality of their related studies within a universally acceptable standardized framework and then provide corresponding recommendations. Methods A systematic search of the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO was conducted to collect studies published from 1990–2015. After screening titles, abstracts, and full texts for eligibility, the articles included in this study were classified according to their respective instrument’s usage. A two-phase assessment was conducted: 1) methodological quality was assessed by following the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist; and 2) the quality of measurement properties was assessed according to Terwee’s criteria. Results were integrated using best-evidence synthesis to look for recommendable instruments. Results After screening 2,959 records, 74 instruments from 80 existing studies were included. The overall methodological quality of these studies was unsatisfactory, with reasons including but not limited to unknown missing data, inadequate sample sizes, and vague hypotheses. Content validity, cross-cultural validity, and criterion validity were either unreported or negative ratings in most studies. Based on best-evidence synthesis, three instruments were recommended: Hisar’s instrument for nursing students, Nurse Practitioners’ Roles and Competencies Scale, and Perceived Faculty Competency Inventory. Conclusion Although instruments measuring medical professionalism are diverse, only a limited number of studies were methodologically sound. Future studies should give priority to systematically improving the performance of existing

Study on virtual instrument developing system based on intelligent virtual control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Baoping; Cheng Fabin; Qin Shuren

2005-01-01

The paper introduces a non-programming developing system of a virtual instrument (VI), i.e., a virtual measurement instrument developing system (VMIDS) based on intelligent virtual control (IVC). The background of the IVC-based VMIDS is described briefly, and the hierarchical message bus (HMB)-based software architecture of VMIDS is discussed in detail. The three parts and functions of VMIDS are introduced, and the process of non-programming developing VI is further described

Study on virtual instrument developing system based on intelligent virtual control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang Baoping; Cheng Fabin; Qin Shuren [Test Center, College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University , Chongqing 400030 (China)

2005-01-01

The paper introduces a non-programming developing system of a virtual instrument (VI), i.e., a virtual measurement instrument developing system (VMIDS) based on intelligent virtual control (IVC). The background of the IVC-based VMIDS is described briefly, and the hierarchical message bus (HMB)-based software architecture of VMIDS is discussed in detail. The three parts and functions of VMIDS are introduced, and the process of non-programming developing VI is further described.

Instruments to measure behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Linde, Rianne M; Stephan, Blossom C M; Dening, Tom; Brayne, Carol

2014-03-01

Reliable and valid measurement of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is important for research and clinical practice. Here we provide an overview of the different instruments and discuss issues involved in the choice of the most appropriate instrument to measure BPSD in research. A list of BPSD instruments was generated. For each instrument Pubmed and SCOPUS were searched for articles that reported on their use or quality. Eighty-three instruments that are used to measure BPSD were identified. Instruments differ in length and detail, whether the interview is with participants, informants or by observation, the target sample and the time frames for use. Reliability and validity is generally good, but reported in few independent samples. When choosing a BPSD instrument for research the research question should be carefully scrutinised and the symptoms of interest, population, quality, detail, time frame and practical issues should be considered. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and evaluation of an instrument to measure health-related quality of life in Cuban breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lugo, Josefina; Nápoles, Misleidy; Pérez, Inés; Ordaz, Niurka; Luzardo, Mario; Fernández, Leticia

2014-01-01

INTRODUCTION Although modern technology has extended the survival of breast cancer patients, treatment's adverse effects impact their health-related quality of life. Currently, no instrument exists capable of identifying the range of problems affecting breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy in Cuba's socioeconomic and cultural context. OBJECTIVES Construct and validate an instrument to measure the effects of breast cancer and radiotherapy on health-related quality of life in Cuban patients. METHODS The study was conducted at the Oncology and Radiobiology Institute, Havana, Cuba, from January 2010 through December 2011. Inclusion criteria were: adult female, histological diagnosis of breast cancer, treated with ambulatory radiotherapy, and written informed consent; patients unable to communicate orally or in writing, or who had neurologic or psychiatric conditions were excluded. Development phase: focus groups guided by a list of questions were carried out with 50 women. The patients reported 61 problems affecting their health-related quality-of-life. A nominal group (six oncologists and two nurses) identified the same problems. A syntactic analysis of the information was performed to create items for study and measurement scales. Content validity was determined by a nominal group of seven experts using professional judgment. Another 20 patients were selected to evaluate face validity. Validation phase: the instrument was applied to 230 patients at three different points: before radiotherapy, at the end of radiotherapy and four weeks after radiotherapy was concluded. Reliability, construct validity, discriminant validity, predictive validity, interpretability and response burden were evaluated. RESULTS The final instrument developed had 33 items distributed in 4 domains: physical functioning, psychological functioning, social and family relationships, and physical and emotional adverse effects of disease and treatment. There were two discrete items: perceived

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ON-LINE, REAL-TIME ALPHA RADIATION MEASURING INSTRUMENT FOR LIQUID STREAMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Unknown

1999-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has expressed a need for an on-line, real-time instrument for assaying alpha-emitting radionuclides (uranium and the transuranics) in effluent waters leaving DOE sites to ensure compliance with regulatory limits. Due to the short range of alpha particles in water (approximately40 Im), it is necessary now to intermittently collect samples of water and send them to a central laboratory for analysis. A lengthy and costly procedure is used to separate and measure the radionuclides from each sample. Large variations in radionuclide concentrations in the water may go undetected due to the sporadic sampling. Even when detected, the reading may not be representative of the actual stream concentration. To address these issues, the Advanced Technologies Group of Thermo Power Corporation (a Thermo Electron company) is developing a real-time, field-deployable alpha monitor based on a solid-state silicon wafer semiconductor (US Patent 5,652,013 and pending, assigned to the US Department of Energy). The Thermo Water Alpha Monitor will serve to monitor effluent water streams (Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area) and will be suitable for process control of remediation as well as decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) operations, such as monitoring scrubber or rinse water radioactivity levels (Mixed Waste, Plutonium, and D and D Focus Area). It would be applicable for assaying other liquids, such as oil, or solids after proper preconditioning. Rapid isotopic alpha air monitoring is also possible using this technology. This report details the program's accomplishments to date. Most significantly, the Alpha Monitoring Instrument was successfully field demonstrated on water 100X below the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed safe drinking water limit--down to under 1 pCi/1. During the Field Test, the Alpha Monitoring Instrument successfully analyzed isotopic uranium levels on a total of five different surface water, process water, and

Validating an instrument for measuring brand equity of CSR driven organizations in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Dara Singh Karpal

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to develop and propose a valid and reliable instrument to measure brand equity of CSR driven organizations in Malaysia. An instrument to measure brand equity was constructed with adaptations from two key sources, namely Yew Leh and Lee (2011 and Yoo and Donthu (2001. As such the study only focuses on the development and validation of an instrument to measure brand equity of CSR driven organizations. The usable sample population included 909 respondents from 12 states of West Malaysia which were selected using a quota sampling plan. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA and reliability analysis were carried out to test and validate the proposed brand equity instrument containing four components (brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty with a total of 13 items. Results from the CFA and reliability analysis indicated that all the items representing the four components were valid and can be used to measure the brand equity of organizations that are practicing CSR. The study tried to set an empirical basis for brand equity and CSR related research which could be used by future researchers in different industries and geographical locations. The study also implies the need for organizations to assess the success of their CSR efforts through the use of the proposed instrument in order to gauge whether all their CSR efforts translate to improved brand equity.

Pulse Wave Velocity Measuring System using Virtual Instrumentation on Mobile Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razvan Alin Ciobotariu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Virtual instrumentation is a concept that permits customizable modular software measurement and the development of the user-defined tools for control, process and visualization of data, creating versatile systems, using modular programming, intuitive and easy to use. In this paper we investigate a possibility of using virtual instrumentation in the development of two physiological parameters monitoring system, in order to assess a cardiovascular parameter, the Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV. We choose to monitor this parameter due to major incidence and impact of cardiovascular diseases (CVD.

Absolute measurement of LDR brachytherapy source emitted power: Instrument design and initial measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Martha J; Palmer, Benjamin R; DeWerd, Larry A

2016-02-01

Energy-based source strength metrics may find use with model-based dose calculation algorithms, but no instruments exist that can measure the energy emitted from low-dose rate (LDR) sources. This work developed a calorimetric technique for measuring the power emitted from encapsulated low-dose rate, photon-emitting brachytherapy sources. This quantity is called emitted power (EP). The measurement methodology, instrument design and performance, and EP measurements made with the calorimeter are presented in this work. A calorimeter operating with a liquid helium thermal sink was developed to measure EP from LDR brachytherapy sources. The calorimeter employed an electrical substitution technique to determine the power emitted from the source. The calorimeter's performance and thermal system were characterized. EP measurements were made using four (125)I sources with air-kerma strengths ranging from 2.3 to 5.6 U and corresponding EPs of 0.39-0.79 μW, respectively. Three Best Medical 2301 sources and one Oncura 6711 source were measured. EP was also computed by converting measured air-kerma strengths to EPs through Monte Carlo-derived conversion factors. The measured EP and derived EPs were compared to determine the accuracy of the calorimeter measurement technique. The calorimeter had a noise floor of 1-3 nW and a repeatability of 30-60 nW. The calorimeter was stable to within 5 nW over a 12 h measurement window. All measured values agreed with derived EPs to within 10%, with three of the four sources agreeing to within 4%. Calorimeter measurements had uncertainties ranging from 2.6% to 4.5% at the k = 1 level. The values of the derived EPs had uncertainties ranging from 2.9% to 3.6% at the k = 1 level. A calorimeter capable of measuring the EP from LDR sources has been developed and validated for (125)I sources with EPs between 0.43 and 0.79 μW.

"Atmospheric Measurements by Ultra-Light SpEctrometer" (AMULSE) dedicated to vertical profile measurements of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) under stratospheric balloons: instrumental development and field application.

Science.gov (United States)

Maamary, Rabih; Joly, Lilian; Decarpenterie, Thomas; Cousin, Julien; Dumelié, Nicolas; Grouiez, Bruno; Albora, Grégory; Chauvin, Nicolas; Miftah-El-Khair, Zineb; Legain, Dominique; Tzanos, Diane; Barrié, Joel; Moulin, Eric; Ramonet, Michel; Bréon, François-Marie; Durry, Georges

2016-04-01

Human activities disrupt natural biogeochemical cycles such as the carbon and contribute to an increase in the concentrations of the greenhouse gases (carbone dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere. The current atmospheric transport modeling (the vertical trade) still represents an important source of uncertainty in the determination of regional flows of greenhouse gases, which means that a good knowledge of the vertical distribution of CO2 is necessary to (1) make the link between the ground measurements and spatial measurements that consider an integrated concentration over the entire column of the atmosphere, (2) validate and if possible improve CO2 transport model to make the link between surface emissions and observed concentration. The aim of this work is to develop a lightweight instrument (based on mid-infrared laser spectrometry principles) for in-situ measuring at high temporal/spatial resolution (5 Hz) the vertical profiles of the CO2 and the CH4 using balloons (meteorological and BSO at high precision levels (costs and logistics flights. These laser spectrometers are built on recent instrumental developments. Several flights were successfully done in the region Champagne-Ardenne and in Canada recently. Aknowledgments: The authors acknowledge financial supports from CNES, CNRS défi instrumental and the region Champagne-Ardenne.

Automation by microcomputer of a geodetic distance measuring instrument: The distinvar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bain, G.; Bore, C.; Coosemans, W.; Dupont, J.; Fabre, J.P.; Gavaggio, R.; Peron, F.

1985-01-01

The distinvar is an instrument for the precision measurement of distances up to 50 m. This report describes the latest developments at CERN which have improved its resolution to 2 μm and increased its speed of use. Measurements are automated by incorporating a microcomputer programmed in BASIC. (orig.)

Automation by microprocessor of an geodesic distance measuring instrument: The distinvar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bain, G.; Bore, C.; Coosemans, W.; Dupont, J.; Fabre, J.P.; Gavaggio, R.; Peron, F.

1984-01-01

The distinvar is an instrument for the precision measurement of distances up to 50 m. This report describes the latest developments at CERN which have improved its resolution to 2 micrometers and increased its speed of use. Measurements are automated by incorporating a microcomputer programmed in BASIC. (orig.)

Instrument for measuring metal-thermoelectric semiconductor contact resistence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanxner, M.; Nechmadi, M.; Meiri, B.; Schildkraut, I.

1979-02-01

An instrument for measuring electrical, metal-thermoelectric semiconductor contact resistance is described. The expected errors of measurement are indicated. The operation of the instrument which is based on potential traversing perpendicularly to the contact plane is illustrated for the case of contacts of palladium and bismuth telluride-based thermoelectric material

Development of a portable ambient temperature radiometric assaying instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavietes, A.D.; McQuaid, J.H.; Ruhter, W.D.; Paulus, T.J.

1995-01-01

There is a strong need for portable radiometric instrumentation that can accurately confirm the presence of nuclear materials and allow isotopic analysis of radionuclides in the field. To fulfill this need, the authors are developing a hand-held, non-cryogenic, low-power gamma- and X-ray measurement and analysis instrument that can both search and then accurately verify the presence of nuclear materials. The authors report on the use of cadmium zinc telluride detectors, signal processing electronics, and the new field-portable instrument based on the MicroNOMAD Multichannel Analyzer from EG and G ORTEC. They will also describe the isotopic analysis that allows uranium enrichment measurements to be made accurately in the field. The benefits of this work are realized in a wide spectrum of applications that include Arms Control, Nuclear Safeguards, Environmental Management, Emergency Response, and Treaty Verification

Pre-validation methods for developing a patient reported outcome instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Castillo Mayret M

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Measures that reflect patients' assessment of their health are of increasing importance as outcome measures in randomised controlled trials. The methodological approach used in the pre-validation development of new instruments (item generation, item reduction and question formatting should be robust and transparent. The totality of the content of existing PRO instruments for a specific condition provides a valuable resource (pool of items that can be utilised to develop new instruments. Such 'top down' approaches are common, but the explicit pre-validation methods are often poorly reported. This paper presents a systematic and generalisable 5-step pre-validation PRO instrument methodology. Methods The method is illustrated using the example of the Aberdeen Glaucoma Questionnaire (AGQ. The five steps are: 1 Generation of a pool of items; 2 Item de-duplication (three phases; 3 Item reduction (two phases; 4 Assessment of the remaining items' content coverage against a pre-existing theoretical framework appropriate to the objectives of the instrument and the target population (e.g. ICF; and 5 qualitative exploration of the target populations' views of the new instrument and the items it contains. Results The AGQ 'item pool' contained 725 items. Three de-duplication phases resulted in reduction of 91, 225 and 48 items respectively. The item reduction phases discarded 70 items and 208 items respectively. The draft AGQ contained 83 items with good content coverage. The qualitative exploration ('think aloud' study resulted in removal of a further 15 items and refinement to the wording of others. The resultant draft AGQ contained 68 items. Conclusions This study presents a novel methodology for developing a PRO instrument, based on three sources: literature reporting what is important to patient; theoretically coherent framework; and patients' experience of completing the instrument. By systematically accounting for all items dropped

Developing an instrument to measure emotional behaviour abilities of meaningful learning through the Delphi technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadorin, Lucia; Bagnasco, Annamaria; Tolotti, Angela; Pagnucci, Nicola; Sasso, Loredana

2017-09-01

To identify items for a new instrument that measures emotional behaviour abilities of meaningful learning, according to Fink's Taxonomy. Meaningful learning is an active process that promotes a wider and deeper understanding of concepts. It is the result of an interaction between new and previous knowledge and produces a long-term change of knowledge and skills. To measure meaningful learning capability, it is very important in the education of health professionals to identify problems or special learning needs. For this reason, it is necessary to create valid instruments. A Delphi Study technique was implemented in four phases by means of e-mail. The study was conducted from April-September 2015. An expert panel consisting of ten researchers with experience in Fink's Taxonomy was established to identify the items of the instrument. Data were analysed for conceptual description and item characteristics and attributes were rated. Expert consensus was sought in each of these phases. An 87·5% consensus cut-off was established. After four rounds, consensus was obtained for validation of the content of the instrument 'Assessment of Meaningful learning Behavioural and Emotional Abilities'. This instrument consists of 56 items evaluated on a 6-point Likert-type scale. Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimension, Caring and Learning How to Learn were the six major categories explored. This content validated tool can help educators (teachers, trainers and tutors) to identify and improve the strategies to support students' learning capability, which could increase their awareness of and/or responsibility in the learning process. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact of instrument response variations on health physics measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armantrout, G.A.

1984-10-01

Uncertainties in estimating the potential health impact of a given radiation exposure include instrument measurement error in determining exposure and difficulty in relating this exposure to an effective dose value. Instrument error can be due to design or manufacturing deficiencies, limitations of the sensing element used, and calibration and maintenance of the instrument. This paper evaluates the errors which can be introduced by design deficiencies and limitations of the sensing element for a wide variety of commonly used survey instruments. The results indicate little difference among sensing element choice for general survey work, with variations among specific instrument designs being the major factor. Ion chamber instruments tend to be the best for all around use, while scintillator-based units should not be used where accurate measurements are required. The need to properly calibrate and maintain an instrument appears to be the most important factor in instrument accuracy. 8 references, 6 tables

Measuring primary teachers' attitudes toward teaching science: development of the dimensions of attitude toward science (DAS) instrument

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Aalderen-Smeets, Sandra; Walma van der Molen, Julie Henriëtte

2013-01-01

In this article, we present a valid and reliable instrument which measures the attitude of in-service and pre-service primary teachers toward teaching science, called the Dimensions of Attitude Toward Science (DAS) Instrument. Attention to the attitudes of primary teachers toward teaching science is

The Development of an Instrument to Measure the Work Capability of People with Limited Work Capacity (LWC).

Science.gov (United States)

van Ruitenbeek, Gemma M C; Zijlstra, Fred R H; Hülsheger, Ute R

2018-06-04

Purpose Participation in regular paid jobs positively affects mental and physical health of all people, including people with limited work capacities (LWC), people that are limited in their work capacity as a consequence of their disability, such as chronic mental illness, psychological or developmental disorder. For successful participation, a good fit between on one hand persons' capacities and on the other hand well-suited individual support and a suitable work environment is necessary in order to meet the demands of work. However, to date there is a striking paucity of validated measures that indicate the capability to work of people with LWC and that outline directions for support that facilitate the fit. Goal of the present study was therefore to develop such an instrument. Specifically, we adjusted measures of mental ability, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and coping by simplifying the language level of these measures to make the scales accessible for people with low literacy. In order to validate these adjusted self-report and observer measures we conducted two studies, using multi-source, longitudinal data. Method Study 1 was a longitudinal multi-source study in which the newly developed instrument was administered twice to people with LWC and their significant other. We statistically tested the psychometric properties with respect to dimensionality and reliability. In Study 2, we collected new multi-source data and conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results Studies yielded a congruous factor structure in both samples, internally consistent measures with adequate content validity of scales and subscales, and high test-retest reliability. The CFA confirmed the factorial validity of the scales. Conclusion The adjusted self-report and the observer scales of mental ability, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and coping are reliable measures that are well-suited to assess the work capability of people with LWC. Further research is needed to

Gene Expression Measurement Module (GEMM) - A Fully Automated, Miniaturized Instrument for Measuring Gene Expression in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Pohorille, Andrew; Peyvan, Kia; Karouia, Fathi; Ricco, Antonio

2012-01-01

The capability to measure gene expression on board spacecraft opens the door to a large number of high-value experiments on the influence of the space environment on biological systems. For example, measurements of gene expression will help us to understand adaptation of terrestrial life to conditions beyond the planet of origin, identify deleterious effects of the space environment on a wide range of organisms from microbes to humans, develop effective countermeasures against these effects, and determine the metabolic bases of microbial pathogenicity and drug resistance. These and other applications hold significant potential for discoveries in space biology, biotechnology, and medicine. Supported by funding from the NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development Program, we are developing a fully automated, miniaturized, integrated fluidic system for small spacecraft capable of in-situ measurement of expression of several hundreds of microbial genes from multiple samples. The instrument will be capable of (1) lysing cell walls of bacteria sampled from cultures grown in space, (2) extracting and purifying RNA released from cells, (3) hybridizing the RNA on a microarray and (4) providing readout of the microarray signal, all in a single microfluidics cartridge. The device is suitable for deployment on nanosatellite platforms developed by NASA Ames' Small Spacecraft Division. To meet space and other technical constraints imposed by these platforms, a number of technical innovations are being implemented. The integration and end-to-end technological and biological validation of the instrument are carried out using as a model the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus, known for its remarkable metabolic diversity and resilience to adverse conditions. Each step in the measurement process-lysis, nucleic acid extraction, purification, and hybridization to an array-is assessed through comparison of the results obtained using the instrument with

Development and psychometric testing of a new instrument to measure the caring behaviour of nurses in Italian acute care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Piredda, Michela; Ghezzi, Valerio; Fenizia, Elisa; Marchetti, Anna; Petitti, Tommasangelo; De Marinis, Maria Grazia; Sili, Alessandro

2017-12-01

To develop and psychometrically test the Italian-language Nurse Caring Behaviours Scale, a short measure of nurse caring behaviour as perceived by inpatients. Patient perceptions of nurses' caring behaviours are a predictor of care quality. Caring behaviours are culture-specific, but no measure of patient perceptions has previously been developed in Italy. Moreover, existing tools show unclear psychometric properties, are burdensome for respondents, or are not widely applicable. Instrument development and psychometric testing. Item generation included identifying and adapting items from existing measures of caring behaviours as perceived by patients. A pool of 28 items was evaluated for face validity. Content validity indexes were calculated for the resulting 15-item scale; acceptability and clarity were pilot tested with 50 patients. To assess construct validity, a sample of 2,001 consecutive adult patients admitted to a hospital in 2014 completed the scale and was split into two groups. Reliability was evaluated using nonlinear structural equation modelling coefficients. Measurement invariance was tested across subsamples. Item 15 loaded poorly in the exploratory factor analysis (n = 983) and was excluded from the final solution, positing a single latent variable with 14 indicators. This model fitted the data moderately. The confirmatory factor analysis (n = 1018) returned similar results. Internal consistency was excellent in both subsamples. Full scalar invariance was reached, and no significant latent mean differences were detected across subsamples. The new instrument shows reasonable psychometric properties and is a promising short and widely applicable measure of inpatient perceptions of nurse caring behaviours. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Software System for the Calibration of X-Ray Measuring Instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaytan-Gallardo, E.; Tovar-Munoz, V. M.; Cruz-Estrada, P.; Vergara-Martinez, F. J.; Rivero-Gutierrez, T.

2006-01-01

A software system that facilities the calibration of X-ray measuring instruments used in medical applications is presented. The Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) of the Nuclear Research National Institute in Mexico (ININ in Spanish), supports activities concerning with ionizing radiations in medical area. One of these activities is the calibration of X-ray measuring instruments, in terms of air kerma or exposure by substitution method in an X-ray beam at a point where the rate has been determined by means of a standard ionization chamber. To automatize this process, a software system has been developed, the calibration system is composed by an X-ray unit, a Dynalizer IIIU X-ray meter by RADCAL, a commercial data acquisition card, the software system and the units to be tested and calibrated. A quality control plan has been applied in the development of the software system, ensuring that quality assurance procedures and standards are being followed

LOFT advanced fuel rod instrumentation development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billeter, T.R.; Brown, R.L.; Chan, A.I.Y.; Day, C.K.; Meyers, S.C.; Sheen, E.M.; Stringer, J.L.

1978-01-01

Advanced fuel rod instrumentation for the Loss of Fluid Test (LOFT) reactor is being developed by the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This effort calls for development of sensors to measure fuel rod axial motion, fuel centerline temperature (to 2200 0 C), fuel rod plenum gas pressure (to 2500 psig), and plenum gas temperature (to 1500 0 F). A parallel test and evaluation of several modified commercial sensors was undertaken and will result in commercial availability of the final qualified sensors. Necessary test facilities were prepared for the development and evaluation effort. Tests to date indicate a three coil Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT), operated from temperature compensating signal source and processing electronics, will meet the desired requirements

Development of a versatile laser light scattering instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, William V.; Ansari, Rafat R.

1990-10-01

A versatile laser light scattering (LLS) instrument is developed for use in microgravity to measure microscopic particles of 30 A to above 3 microns. Since it is an optical technique, LLS does not affect the sample being studied. A LLS instrument built from modules allows several configurations, each optimized for a particular experiment. The multiangle LLS instrument can be mounted in the rack in the Space Shuttle and on Space Station Freedom. It is possible that a Space Shuttle glove-box and a lap-top computer containing a correlator card can be used to perform a number of experiments and to demonstrate the technology needed for more elaborate investigations. This offers simple means of flying a great number of experiments without the additional requirements of full-scale flight hardware experiments.

Acoustic emission measurement during instrumented impact tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crostack, H.A.; Engelhardt, A.H.

1983-01-01

Results of instrumented impact tests are discussed. On the one hand the development of the loading process at the hammer tup was recorded by means of a piezoelectric transducer. This instrumentation supplied a better representation of the load versus time than the conventional strain gauges. On the other hand the different types of acoustic emission occurring during a test could be separated. The acoustic emission released at the impact of the hammer onto the specimen is of lower frequency and its spectrum is strongly decreasing with increasing frequency. Plastic deformation also emits signals of lower frequency that are of quasi-continuous character. Both signal types can be discriminated by filtering. As a consequence typical burst signal were received afterwards that can be correlated with crack propagation. Their spectra exhibit considerable portions up to about 1.9 MHz. The development in time of the burst signals points to the kind of crack propagation resp. its sequence of appearance. However, definitive comparison between load and acoustic emission should become possible, only when the disadvantages of the common load measurement can be reduced, e.g. by determining the load directly at the specimen instead of the hammer tup

Development of an instrument to measure health center (HC) personnel's computer use, knowledge and functionality demand for HC computerized information system in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Kijsanayotin, Boonchai; Pannarunothai, Supasit; Speedie, Stuart

2005-01-01

Knowledge about socio-technical aspects of information technology (IT) is vital for the success of health IT projects. The Thailand health administration anticipates using health IT to support the recently implemented national universal health care system. However, the national knowledge associate with the socio-technical aspects of health IT has not been studied in Thailand. A survey instrument measuring Thai health center (HC) personnel's computer use, basic IT knowledge and HC computerized information system functionality needs was developed. The instrument reveals acceptable test-retest reliability and reasonable internal consistency of the measures. The future nation-wide demonstration study will benefit from this study.

Portable Instrument to Measure CDOM Light Absorption in Aquatic Systems: WPI Success Story

Science.gov (United States)

2001-01-01

World Precision Instruments, Inc. (WPI), of Sarasota, FL, in collaboration with NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, has developed an innovative instrument to accurately measure Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) absorption in the field. This successful collaboration has culminated in an exciting new device, called the UltraPath, now commercially available through WPI. Traditional methods of measuring absorption of dissolved materials require special handling and storage prior to measurement. Use of laboratory spectrophotometers as the measuring devices have proven time consuming, cumbersome, and delicate to handle. The UltraPath provides a low-cost, highly sensitive, rugged, portable system that is capable of high sensitivity measurements in widely divergent waters.

Validation of an instrument to measure students' motivation and self-regulation towards technology learning

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Pey-Yan; Kuo, Pei-Jung

2014-05-01

Background:Few studies have examined students' attitudinal perceptions of technology. There is no appropriate instrument to measure senior high school students' motivation and self-regulation toward technology learning among the current existing instruments in the field of technology education. Purpose:The present study is to validate an instrument for assessing senior high school students' motivation and self-regulation towards technology learning. Sample:A total of 1822 Taiwanese senior high school students (1020 males and 802 females) responded to the newly developed instrument. Design and method:The Motivation and Self-regulation towards Technology Learning (MSRTL) instrument was developed based on the previous instruments measuring students' motivation and self-regulation towards science learning. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were utilized to investigate the structure of the items. Cronbach's alpha was applied for measuring the internal consistency of each scale. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine gender differences. Results:Seven scales, including 'Technology learning self-efficacy,' 'Technology learning value,' 'Technology active learning strategies,' 'Technology learning environment stimulation,' 'Technology learning goal-orientation,' 'Technology learning self-regulation-triggering,' and 'Technology learning self-regulation-implementing' were confirmed for the MSRTL instrument. Moreover, the results also showed that male and female students did not present the same degree of preference in all of the scales. Conclusions:The MSRTL instrument composed of seven scales corresponding to 39 items was shown to be valid based on validity and reliability analyses. While male students tended to express more positive and active performance in the motivation scales, no gender differences were found in the self-regulation scales.

A digital, constant-frequency pulsed phase-locked-loop instrument for real-time, absolute ultrasonic phase measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Haldren, H. A.; Perey, D. F.; Yost, W. T.; Cramer, K. E.; Gupta, M. C.

2018-05-01

A digitally controlled instrument for conducting single-frequency and swept-frequency ultrasonic phase measurements has been developed based on a constant-frequency pulsed phase-locked-loop (CFPPLL) design. This instrument uses a pair of direct digital synthesizers to generate an ultrasonically transceived tone-burst and an internal reference wave for phase comparison. Real-time, constant-frequency phase tracking in an interrogated specimen is possible with a resolution of 0.000 38 rad (0.022°), and swept-frequency phase measurements can be obtained. Using phase measurements, an absolute thickness in borosilicate glass is presented to show the instrument's efficacy, and these results are compared to conventional ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight (ToF) measurements. The newly developed instrument predicted the thickness with a mean error of -0.04 μm and a standard deviation of error of 1.35 μm. Additionally, the CFPPLL instrument shows a lower measured phase error in the absence of changing temperature and couplant thickness than high-resolution cross-correlation ToF measurements at a similar signal-to-noise ratio. By showing higher accuracy and precision than conventional pulse-echo ToF measurements and lower phase errors than cross-correlation ToF measurements, the new digitally controlled CFPPLL instrument provides high-resolution absolute ultrasonic velocity or path-length measurements in solids or liquids, as well as tracking of material property changes with high sensitivity. The ability to obtain absolute phase measurements allows for many new applications than possible with previous ultrasonic pulsed phase-locked loop instruments. In addition to improved resolution, swept-frequency phase measurements add useful capability in measuring properties of layered structures, such as bonded joints, or materials which exhibit non-linear frequency-dependent behavior, such as dispersive media.

Measuring Primary Teachers' Attitudes toward Teaching Science: Development of the Dimensions of Attitude toward Science (DAS) Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

van Aalderen-Smeets, Sandra; Walma van der Molen, Juliette

2013-01-01

In this article, we present a valid and reliable instrument which measures the attitude of in-service and pre-service primary teachers toward teaching science, called the Dimensions of Attitude Toward Science (DAS) Instrument. Attention to the attitudes of primary teachers toward teaching science is of fundamental importance to the…

Vibration condition measure instrument of motor using MEMS accelerometer

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jun

2018-04-01

In this work, a novel vibration condition measure instrument of motor using a digital micro accelerometer is proposed. In order to reduce the random noise found in the data, the sensor modeling is established and also the Kalman filter (KMF) is developed. According to these data from KMF, the maximum vibration displacement is calculated by the integration algorithm with the DC bias removed. The high performance micro controller unit (MCU) is used in the implementation of controller. By the IIC digital interface port, the data are transmitted from sensor to controller. The hardware circuits of the sensor and micro controller are designed and tested. With the computational formula of maximum displacement and FFT, the high precession results of displacement and frequency are gotten. Finally, the paper presents various experimental results to prove that this instrument is suitable for application in electrical motor vibration measurement.

Neutron Measurement Instrumentation Development at KIT for the European ITER TBM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klix, A.; Fischer, U.; Raj, P.; Reimann, Th.; Szalkai, D.; Tian, K. [Association KIT-EURATOM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Angelone, M. [Associazione ENEA-EURATOM sulla Fusione, ENEA C.R., I-00044 Frascati (Italy); Gehre, D. [Technical University of Dresden, D-01069 Dresden (Germany); Lyoussi, A. [CEA, DEN, DER, Instrumentation Sensors and Dosimetry Laboratory, Cadarache, F-13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France)

2015-07-01

Fusion power reactors will rely on the internal production of the fuel tritium from lithium in the tritium breeding blanket. Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be installed in ITER with the aim to investigate the nuclear performance of different breeding blanket designs. Currently there is no fully qualified nuclear instrumentation available for the measurement of neutron fluxes and tritium production rates which would be able to withstand the harsh environment conditions in the TBM such as high temperature (>400 deg. C) and, depending on the operation scenario, intense radiation levels. As partner of the European Consortium on Nuclear Data and Measurement Techniques in the framework of several F4E specific grants and contracts, KIT and ENEA have jointly studied the possibility to develop and test detectors suitable to operate in ITER-TBMs. Here we present an overview of ongoing work on three types of neutron flux monitors under development for the TBMs with focus on the KIT activities. A neutron activation system (NAS) with pneumatic sample transport could provide absolute neutron flux measurements in selected positions. A test system for investigating activation materials with short half-lives was constructed at the DT neutron generator laboratory of Technical University of Dresden to investigate the neutronics aspects. Several irradiations have been performed with focus on the simultaneous measurement of the extracted activated probes. An engineering assessment of a TBM NAS in the conceptual design phase has been done which considered issues of design requirements and integration. Last but not least, a mechanical test bench is under construction at KIT which will address issues of driving the activation probes, solutions for loading the system etc. experimentally. Self-powered neutron detectors (SPND) are widely applied in fission reactor monitoring, and the commercially available SPNDs are sensitive to thermal neutrons. We are investigating novel materials for

Review of modern instrumentation for magnetic measurements at high pressure and low temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, X.; Kamenev, K.V.

2015-01-01

High-pressure magnetic susceptibility experiments can provide insights into the changes in magnetic behavior and electric properties which can accompany extreme compressions of material. Instrumentation plays an important role in the experimental work in this field since 1990s. Here we present a comprehensive review of the high-pressure instrumentation development for magnetic measurement from the engineering perspective in the last 20 years. Suitable nonmagnetic materials for high pressure cell are introduced initially. Then we focus on the existing cells developed for magnetic property measurement system (MPMS) SQUID magnetometer from Quantum Design (USA). Two categories of high pressure cells for this system are discussed in detail respectively. Some high pressure cells with built-in magnetic measurement system are also reviewed

Alberta Learning: Early Development Instrument Pilot Project Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Meaney, Wanda; Harris-Lorenze, Elayne

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) was designed by McMaster University to measure the outcomes of childrens early years as they influence their readiness to learn at school. The EDI was piloted in several Canadian cities in recent years through two national initiatives. Building on these initiatives, Alberta Learning piloted the EDI as a…

Precision and accuracy of blood glucose measurements using three different instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowotny, B; Nowotny, P J; Strassburger, K; Roden, M

2012-02-01

Assessment of insulin sensitivity by dynamic metabolic tests such as the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp critically relies on the reproducible and fast measurement of blood glucose concentrations. Although various instruments have been developed over the last decades, little is known as to the accuracy and comparability. We therefore compared the best new instrument with the former gold standard instruments to measure glucose concentrations in metabolic tests. Fasting blood samples of 15 diabetic and 10 healthy subjects were collected into sodium-fluoride tubes, spiked with glucose (0, 2.8, 6.9 and 11.1 mmol/l) and measured either as whole blood (range 3.3-26.3 mmol/l) or following centrifugation as plasma (range 3.9-32.0 mmol/l). Plasma samples were analyzed in the YSI-2300 STAT plus (YSI), EKF Biosen C-Line (EKF) and the reference method, Beckman Glucose analyzer-II (BMG), whole blood samples in EKF instruments with YSI as reference method. The average deviation of the EKF from the reference, BMG, was 3.0 ± 3.5% without any concentration-dependent variability. Glucose measurements by YSI were in good agreement with that by BMG (plasma) and EKF (plasma and whole blood) up to concentrations of 13.13 mmol/l (0.5 ± 3.7%), but deviation increased to -6.2 ± 3.8% at higher concentrations. Precision (n = 6) was ±2.2% (YSI), ±3.9% (EKF) and ±5.2% (BMG). The EKF instrument is comparable regarding accuracy and precision to the reference method BMG and can be used in metabolic tests, while the YSI showed a systematic shift at higher glucose concentrations. Based on these results we decided to replace BMG with EKF instrument in metabolic tests. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.

New developments in radiation protection instrumentation via active electronic methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umbarger, C.J.

1981-01-01

New developments in electronics and radiation detectors are improving on real-time data acquisition of radiation exposure and contamination conditions. Recent developments in low power circuit designs, hybrid and integrated circuits, and microcomputers have all contributed to smaller and lighter radiation detection instruments that are, at the same time, more sensitive and provide more information (e.g., radioisotope identification) than previous devices. New developments in radiation detectors, such as cadmium telluride, gas scintillation proportional counters, and imaging counters (both charged particle and photon) promise higher sensitivities and expanded uses over present instruments. These developments are being applied in such areas as health physics, waste management, environmental monitoring, in vivo measurements, and nuclear safeguards

Solar ultraviolet irradiance measurements, instrumentation, intercomparisons and interpretations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorseth, Trond Morten

2000-01-01

The thesis reports studies of stabile instruments that are capable of detecting small alterations in ultraviolet irradiation over a long period. A central theme in the work has been to improve the measuring systems for continuous research based monitoring of natural variations in the ultraviolet irradiation from the sun. Methods for controlling the stability and continually secure the quality of the collected data. The causes of measuring errors are mapped and methods for the correction of collected data are developed. The methods and measuring systems for collecting the data have been adapted to the Norwegian climate and geography. The work has lead to an increased understanding of the natural variation in the ultraviolet radiation from the sun and what factors in the atmosphere that influences the process. The collected data and the developed methods for the quality control have increased the understanding of the ultraviolet irradiation climate in Europe

Solar ultraviolet irradiance measurements, instrumentation, intercomparisons and interpretations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thorseth, Trond Morten

2000-07-01

The thesis reports studies of stabile instruments that are capable of detecting small alterations in ultraviolet irradiation over a long period. A central theme in the work has been to improve the measuring systems for continuous research based monitoring of natural variations in the ultraviolet irradiation from the sun. Methods for controlling the stability and continually secure the quality of the collected data. The causes of measuring errors are mapped and methods for the correction of collected data are developed. The methods and measuring systems for collecting the data have been adapted to the Norwegian climate and geography. The work has lead to an increased understanding of the natural variation in the ultraviolet radiation from the sun and what factors in the atmosphere that influences the process. The collected data and the developed methods for the quality control have increased the understanding of the ultraviolet irradiation climate in Europe.

Development of instrument for assessing students’ critical and creative thinking ability

Science.gov (United States)

Herpiana, R.; Rosidin, U.

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop instruments to measure critical thinking ability and creative students in the topics of physics simple harmonic motion. The research method used was research development with application of procedures including research and data collection, planning, and initial product development. The participants of the study were thirty-four tenth grade students and five physics teachers of physics who were selected randomly from schools in the province of Lampung. The data collected by using test and analyzed in quantitative descriptive. Initial data showed that students’ critical and creative thinking ability were still low and instruments to assess students’ critical thinking skills and creative students was not yet available. Most of assessment conducted focused on memorization. Thus, the researchers developed a draft of instrument in the form of the test description based on criteria that encouraged students’ activity in understanding the concepts, strategies and decision/solution in dealing with problems. The development of the instrument was conducted considering real-world phenomena in the form of pictures and stories, description of the situation, and verbal presentation.

Gene Expression Measurement Module (GEMM) - a fully automated, miniaturized instrument for measuring gene expression in space

Science.gov (United States)

Karouia, Fathi; Ricco, Antonio; Pohorille, Andrew; Peyvan, Kianoosh

2012-07-01

The capability to measure gene expression on board spacecrafts opens the doors to a large number of experiments on the influence of space environment on biological systems that will profoundly impact our ability to conduct safe and effective space travel, and might also shed light on terrestrial physiology or biological function and human disease and aging processes. Measurements of gene expression will help us to understand adaptation of terrestrial life to conditions beyond the planet of origin, identify deleterious effects of the space environment on a wide range of organisms from microbes to humans, develop effective countermeasures against these effects, determine metabolic basis of microbial pathogenicity and drug resistance, test our ability to sustain and grow in space organisms that can be used for life support and in situ resource utilization during long-duration space exploration, and monitor both the spacecraft environment and crew health. These and other applications hold significant potential for discoveries in space biology, biotechnology and medicine. Accordingly, supported by funding from the NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development Program, we are developing a fully automated, miniaturized, integrated fluidic system for small spacecraft capable of in-situ measuring microbial expression of thousands of genes from multiple samples. The instrument will be capable of (1) lysing bacterial cell walls, (2) extracting and purifying RNA released from cells, (3) hybridizing it on a microarray and (4) providing electrochemical readout, all in a microfluidics cartridge. The prototype under development is suitable for deployment on nanosatellite platforms developed by the NASA Small Spacecraft Office. The first target application is to cultivate and measure gene expression of the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus, i.e. a cyanobacterium known to exhibit remarkable metabolic diversity and resilience to adverse conditions

[The development of an oral biomechanical testing instrument].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, X H; Sun, X D; Lin, Z

2000-03-01

An oral biomechanical testing instrument, which is portable, powered with batteries and controlled by single chip microcomputer, was described. The instrument was characterized by its multichannel, high accuracy, low power dissipation, wide rage of force measurement and stable performance. It can be used for acquisiting, displaying and storing data. And it may be expected to be an ideal instrument for oral biomechanical measurements.

Development and evaluation of the Korean Health Literacy Instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Soo Jin; Lee, Tae Wha; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K; Kim, Gwang Suk; Won, Hee Kwan

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the Korean Health Literacy Instrument, which measures the capacity to understand and use health-related information and make informed health decisions in Korean adults. In Phase 1, 33 initial items were generated to measure functional, interactive, and critical health literacy with prose, document, and numeracy tasks. These items included content from health promotion, disease management, and health navigation contexts. Content validity assessment was conducted by an expert panel, and 11 items were excluded. In Phase 2, the 22 remaining items were administered to a convenience sample of 292 adults from community and clinical settings. Exploratory factor and item difficulty and discrimination analyses were conducted and four items with low discrimination were deleted. In Phase 3, the remaining 18 items were administered to a convenience sample of 315 adults 40-64 years of age from community and clinical settings. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the construct validity of the instrument. The Korean Health Literacy Instrument has a range of 0 to 18. The mean score in our validation study was 11.98. The instrument exhibited an internal consistency reliability coefficient of 0.82, and a test-retest reliability of 0.89. The instrument is suitable for screening individuals who have limited health literacy skills. Future studies are needed to further define the psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Korean Health Literacy Instrument.

Construction and Validation of a Measurement Instrument for Attitudes towards Teamwork

Science.gov (United States)

Mendo-Lázaro, Santiago; Polo-del-Río, María I.; Iglesias-Gallego, Damián; Felipe-Castaño, Elena; León-del-Barco, Benito

2017-01-01

Cooperative, collaborative learning and other forms of group learning methods are increasingly used in classrooms. Knowing students’ attitudes toward teamwork has great value since they influence the students’ learning results as well as their social development. So it is necessary to have robust instruments to provide a better understanding of these attitudes and preferences concerning teamwork. Such instruments also help to identify the factors that promote positive or negative attitudes within the context of group activities. Using a sample of 750 first and second year university students studying a degree in Kindergarten, Primary and Social Education, an instrument measuring attitudes toward team learning has been developed. Two distinct factors were obtained through various factorial analyses and structural equations: Academic attitudes and Social and emotional attitudes. Our study reveals that the instrument is both valid and reliable. Its application is both simple and fast and it has important implications for planning teaching and learning activities that contribute to an improvement in attitudes as well as the practice of teaching in the context of learning through teamwork. PMID:28676775

Construction and Validation of a Measurement Instrument for Attitudes towards Teamwork

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santiago Mendo-Lázaro

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Cooperative, collaborative learning and other forms of group learning methods are increasingly used in classrooms. Knowing students’ attitudes toward teamwork has great value since they influence the students’ learning results as well as their social development. So it is necessary to have robust instruments to provide a better understanding of these attitudes and preferences concerning teamwork. Such instruments also help to identify the factors that promote positive or negative attitudes within the context of group activities. Using a sample of 750 first and second year university students studying a degree in Kindergarten, Primary and Social Education, an instrument measuring attitudes toward team learning has been developed. Two distinct factors were obtained through various factorial analyses and structural equations: Academic attitudes and Social and emotional attitudes. Our study reveals that the instrument is both valid and reliable. Its application is both simple and fast and it has important implications for planning teaching and learning activities that contribute to an improvement in attitudes as well as the practice of teaching in the context of learning through teamwork.

Designing an Instrument to Measure the QoS of a Spanish Virtual Store

Science.gov (United States)

de Abajo, Beatriz Sainz; de La Torre Díez, Isabel; Salcines, Enrique García; Fernández, Javier Burón; Pernas, Francisco Díaz; Coronado, Miguel López; de Castro Lozano, Carlos

This article describes the development of an instrument, in the form of a survey, which is distributed to users of a B2C website selling electronic books in order to ascertain their satisfaction. The opinions compiled from a pilot sample and the exploratory factor analysis carried out point to factors that best summarise the quality of the application analysed here. Analysis of the initial survey, with a total of 40 items, shaped the final instrument, encompassing 18 items divided into 6 dimensions, which measure the perceptions of users of the application in order to improve the contents of the website. Subsequently, a confirmatory factorial analysis is performed, ensuring the reliability of the study and which confirms that the structure of the instrument developed truly measures service quality in accordance with the requirements of the website in terms of offering a space that fulfils consumer expectations in the Information Society.

30 CFR 75.1719-3 - Methods of measurement; light measuring instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... being measured and a sufficient distance from the surface to allow the light sensing element in the... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Methods of measurement; light measuring... § 75.1719-3 Methods of measurement; light measuring instruments. (a) Compliance with § 75.1719-1(d...

Local high precision 3D measurement based on line laser measuring instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Renwei; Liu, Wei; Lu, Yongkang; Zhang, Yang; Ma, Jianwei; Jia, Zhenyuan

2018-03-01

In order to realize the precision machining and assembly of the parts, the geometrical dimensions of the surface of the local assembly surfaces need to be strictly guaranteed. In this paper, a local high-precision three-dimensional measurement method based on line laser measuring instrument is proposed to achieve a high degree of accuracy of the three-dimensional reconstruction of the surface. Aiming at the problem of two-dimensional line laser measuring instrument which lacks one-dimensional high-precision information, a local three-dimensional profile measuring system based on an accurate single-axis controller is proposed. First of all, a three-dimensional data compensation method based on spatial multi-angle line laser measuring instrument is proposed to achieve the high-precision measurement of the default axis. Through the pretreatment of the 3D point cloud information, the measurement points can be restored accurately. Finally, the target spherical surface is needed to make local three-dimensional scanning measurements for accuracy verification. The experimental results show that this scheme can get the local three-dimensional information of the target quickly and accurately, and achieves the purpose of gaining the information and compensating the error for laser scanner information, and improves the local measurement accuracy.

Instrumentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Decreton, M

2001-04-01

SCK-CEN's research and development programme on instrumentation involves the assessment and the development of sensitive measurement systems used within a radiation environment. Particular emphasis is on the assessment of optical fibre components and their adaptability to radiation environments. The evaluation of ageing processes of instrumentation in fission plants, the development of specific data evaluation strategies to compensate for ageing induced degradation of sensors and cable performance form part of these activities. In 2000, particular emphasis was on in-core reactor instrumentation applied to fusion, accelerator driven and water-cooled fission reactors. This involved the development of high performance instrumentation for irradiation experiments in the BR2 reactor in support of new instrumentation needs for MYRRHA, and for diagnostic systems for the ITER reactor.

Instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decreton, M.

2001-01-01

SCK-CEN's research and development programme on instrumentation involves the assessment and the development of sensitive measurement systems used within a radiation environment. Particular emphasis is on the assessment of optical fibre components and their adaptability to radiation environments. The evaluation of ageing processes of instrumentation in fission plants, the development of specific data evaluation strategies to compensate for ageing induced degradation of sensors and cable performance form part of these activities. In 2000, particular emphasis was on in-core reactor instrumentation applied to fusion, accelerator driven and water-cooled fission reactors. This involved the development of high performance instrumentation for irradiation experiments in the BR2 reactor in support of new instrumentation needs for MYRRHA, and for diagnostic systems for the ITER reactor

Teaching Behaviour and Well-Being in Students: Development and Concurrent Validity of an Instrument to Measure Student-Reported Teaching Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Pössel

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching behavior has important implications for students’ emotional well-being. Multiple models suggest students’ perceptions of teaching behaviors are more critical than other measures for predicting well-being, yet student-report instruments that measure concrete and specific teaching behavior are limited. The purpose of the present studies is to develop an instrument to assess students’ perceptions of concrete and specific teaching behavior and to test which teaching behavior is associated students’ well-being. Construct validity and internal consistency for the 37-item Teaching Behavior Questionnaire (TBQ-S, composed of instructional, negative teaching, socioemotional, and organizational behavior were examined using data from two independent samples (Study 1: n = 703; Study 2: n = 822. The factor structure was stable across both samples and internal consistencies ranged from .77 to .97. Results indicated student-ratings of teaching behavior were associated with positive and negative affect in students.

EM TASK 24 - DEVELOPMENT OF AN IN SITU INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING MERCURY IN A GAS STREAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laudal, Dennis L.

2001-01-01

As part of its overall Environmental Management Program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed thermal and incineration processes for treating hazardous mixed wastes. These mixed wastes often contain mercury that is released into the atmosphere during the incineration process. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as many states, clearly views mercury emissions from incinerators and combustion systems as a potential human health problem (1). Although validated batch measurement methods such as EPA Method 29, the Ontario Hydro mercury speciation method, and EPA Method 101A exist for total and specialted mercury, they are difficult and costly to perform. In addition, the data are not available for use until several days later. Continuous emission monitors (CEMs) are a very attractive option because the data are in near real-time, allowing the data to be used as feedback control for mercury control strategies. Also, a properly designed analyzer should require minimal operator input. However, based on the current state of the art, mercury CEMs are not without problems, as demonstrated in recent field tests (2). In addition, they are often bulky and costly to purchase. Sensor Research and Development Corporation (SRD) was contracted by DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory (formerly the Federal Energy Technology Center [FETC]) to develop a prototype instrument for thermal treatment process continuous emission monitoring applications. The work by SRD for DOE on the mercury CEM was conducted under two different contracts. Work under the first contract began October 1, 1997, and ended June 2000, with a second contract continuing until June 2001. The SRD process has the potential to be the basis for a very low-cost mercury CEM. The initial cost estimates provided by SRD are an order of magnitude lower than any other proposed mercury CEM. Although the instrument will be low-cost, it still has the potential to detect low limits of mercury

Comparison of nanoparticle measurement instruments for occupational health applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leskinen, J.; Joutsensaari, J.; Lyyränen, J.; Koivisto, J.; Ruusunen, J.; Järvelä, M.; Tuomi, T.; Hämeri, K.; Auvinen, A.; Jokiniemi, J.

2012-01-01

Nanoparticles are used in many applications because of their novel properties compared to bulk material. A growing number of employees are working with nanomaterials and their exposure to nanoparticles trough inhalation must be evaluated and monitored continuously. However, there is an ongoing debate in the scientific literature about what are the relevant parameters to measure to evaluate exposure to level. In this study, three types of nanoparticles (ammonium sulphate, synthesised TiO 2 agglomerates and aerosolised TiO 2 powder, modes in a range of 30–140 nm mobility size) were measured with commonly used aerosol measurement instruments: scanning and fast mobility particle sizers (SMPS, FMPS), electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI), condensation particle counter (CPC) together with nanoparticle surface area monitor (NSAM) to achieve information about the interrelations of the outputs of the instruments. In addition, the ease of use of these instruments was evaluated. Differences between the results of different instruments can mainly be attributed to the nature of test particles. For spherical ammonium sulphate nanoparticles, the data from the instruments were in good agreement while larger differences were observed for particles with more complex morphology, the TiO 2 agglomerates and powder. For instance, the FMPS showed a smaller particle size, a higher number concentration and a narrower size distribution compared with the SMPS for TiO 2 particles. Thus, the type of the nanoparticle was observed to influence the data obtained from these different instruments. Therefore, care and expertise are essential when interpreting results from aerosol measurement instruments to estimate nanoparticle concentrations and properties.

Measurement of sexual functioning after spinal cord injury: preferred instruments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alexander, Marcalee Sipski; Brackett, Nancy L; Bodner, Donald

2009-01-01

into male and female sexual function, male reproductive function, and female reproductive function. The instruments that have been used most frequently to measure these aspects of sexual function over the past 5 years were identified by expert consensus. Finally, these instruments were subjected...... to a critical review. RESULTS: The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), measurement of vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), and the measurement of ejaculatory function and semen quality were considered appropriate measures to assess sexual responses......BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To determine the utility of certain instruments to assess sexuality and fertility after SCI, an expert panel identified key areas to study and evaluated available instruments. These were rated according to certain predefined criteria. METHODS: The authors divided sexual issues...

The development of an instrument to measure quality of vision: the Quality of Vision (QoV) questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

McAlinden, Colm; Pesudovs, Konrad; Moore, Jonathan E

2010-11-01

To develop an instrument to measure subjective quality of vision: the Quality of Vision (QoV) questionnaire. A 30-item instrument was designed with 10 symptoms rated in each of three scales (frequency, severity, and bothersome). The QoV was completed by 900 subjects in groups of spectacle wearers, contact lens wearers, and those having had laser refractive surgery, intraocular refractive surgery, or eye disease and investigated with Rasch analysis and traditional statistics. Validity and reliability were assessed by Rasch fit statistics, principal components analysis (PCA), person separation, differential item functioning (DIF), item targeting, construct validity (correlation with visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, total root mean square [RMS] higher order aberrations [HOA]), and test-retest reliability (two-way random intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC] and 95% repeatability coefficients [R(c)]). Rasch analysis demonstrated good precision, reliability, and internal consistency for all three scales (mean square infit and outfit within 0.81-1.27; PCA >60% variance explained by the principal component; person separation 2.08, 2.10, and 2.01 respectively; and minimal DIF). Construct validity was indicated by strong correlations with visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and RMS HOA. Test-retest reliability was evidenced by a minimum ICC of 0.867 and a minimum 95% R(c) of 1.55 units. The QoV Questionnaire consists of a Rasch-tested, linear-scaled, 30-item instrument on three scales providing a QoV score in terms of symptom frequency, severity, and bothersome. It is suitable for measuring QoV in patients with all types of refractive correction, eye surgery, and eye disease that cause QoV problems.

Inflammatory bowel disease-specific health-related quality of life instruments: a systematic review of measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin-Lin; Zhong, Liang-Huan; Wen, Yi; Liu, Tian-Wen; Li, Xiao-Ying; Hou, Zheng-Kun; Hu, Yue; Mo, Chuan-Wei; Liu, Feng-Bin

2017-09-15

This review aims to critically appraise and compare the measurement properties of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-specific health-related quality of life instruments. Medline, EMBASE and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched from their inception to May 2016. IBD-specific instruments for patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or IBD were enrolled. The basic characteristics and domains of the instruments were collected. The methodological quality of measurement properties and measurement properties of the instruments were assessed. Fifteen IBD-specific instruments were included, which included twelve instruments for adult IBD patients and three for paediatric IBD patients. All of the instruments were developed in North American and European countries. The following common domains were identified: IBD-related symptoms, physical, emotional and social domain. The methodological quality was satisfactory for content validity; fair in internal consistency, reliability, structural validity, hypotheses testing and criterion validity; and poor in measurement error, cross-cultural validity and responsiveness. For adult IBD patients, the IBDQ-32 and its short version (SIBDQ) had good measurement properties and were the most widely used worldwide. For paediatric IBD patients, the IMPACT-III had good measurement properties and had more translated versions. Most methodological quality should be promoted, especially measurement error, cross-cultural validity and responsiveness. The IBDQ-32 was the most widely used instrument with good reliability and validity, followed by the SIBDQ and IMPACT-III. Further validation studies are necessary to support the use of other instruments.

A Secure System Architecture for Measuring Instruments in Legal Metrology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Peters

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Embedded systems show the tendency of becoming more and more connected. This fact combined with the trend towards the Internet of Things, from which measuring instruments are not immune (e.g., smart meters, lets one assume that security in measuring instruments will inevitably play an important role soon. Additionally, measuring instruments have adopted general-purpose operating systems to offer the user a broader functionality that is not necessarily restricted towards measurement alone. In this paper, a flexible software system architecture is presented that addresses these challenges within the framework of essential requirements laid down in the Measuring Instruments Directive of the European Union. This system architecture tries to eliminate the risks general-purpose operating systems have by wrapping them, together with dedicated applications, in secure sandboxes, while supervising the communication between the essential parts and the outside world.

Non-invasive measuring instrument of kVp, R/M and exposure time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laan, Flavio T. van der; Elbern, Alwin W.

1996-01-01

The development of an instrument for fast measurement of essential parameters related to quality control of X-ray equipment is described. The unit is designed with a 80 C31 micro controller, a function keyboard, an αnumeric display and a probe with PV diodes. Testing and calibration in this non-invasive instrument has been done at the X-rays equipment for the Santa Rita Hospital in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

The Karen instruments for measuring quality of nursing care: construct validity and internal consistency.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindgren, Margareta; Andersson, Inger S

2011-06-01

Valid and reliable instruments for measuring the quality of care are needed for evaluation and improvement of nursing care. Previously developed and evaluated instruments, the Karen-patient and the Karen-personnel based on Donabedian's Structure-Process-Outcome triad (S-P-O triad) had promising content validity, discriminative power and internal consistency. The objective of this study was to further develop the instruments with regard to construct validity and internal consistency. This prospective study was carried out in medical and surgical wards at a hospital in Sweden. A total of 95 patients and 120 personnel were included. The instruments were tested for construct validity by performing factor analyses in two steps and for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The first confirmatory factor analyses, with a pre-determined three-factor solution did not load well according to the S-P-O triad, but the second exploratory factor analysis with a six-factor solution appeared to be more coherent and the distribution of variables seemed to be logical. The reliability, i.e. internal consistency, was good in both factor analyses. The Karen-patient and the Karen-personnel instruments have achieved acceptable levels of construct validity. The internal consistency of the instruments is good. This indicates that the instruments may be suitable to use in clinical practice for measuring the quality of nursing care.

Assessing Minimum Competencies of Beginning Teachers: Instrumentation, Measurement Issues, Legal Concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellett, Chad D.

An overview is presented of a performance-based assessment system, Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI), developed by the Teacher Assessment Project at the University of Georgia to measure competencies of beginning teachers for initial professional certification. To clearly separate the preparation and certification functions within…

Large Instrument Development for Radio Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, J. Richard; Warnick, Karl F.; Jeffs, Brian D.; Norrod, Roger D.; Lockman, Felix J.; Cordes, James M.; Giovanelli, Riccardo

2009-03-01

This white paper offers cautionary observations about the planning and development of new, large radio astronomy instruments. Complexity is a strong cost driver so every effort should be made to assign differing science requirements to different instruments and probably different sites. The appeal of shared resources is generally not realized in practice and can often be counterproductive. Instrument optimization is much more difficult with longer lists of requirements, and the development process is longer and less efficient. More complex instruments are necessarily further behind the technology state of the art because of longer development times. Including technology R&D in the construction phase of projects is a growing trend that leads to higher risks, cost overruns, schedule delays, and project de-scoping. There are no technology breakthroughs just over the horizon that will suddenly bring down the cost of collecting area. Advances come largely through careful attention to detail in the adoption of new technology provided by industry and the commercial market. Radio astronomy instrumentation has a very bright future, but a vigorous long-term R&D program not tied directly to specific projects needs to be restored, fostered, and preserved.

Development and evaluation of an instrument to measure community pharmacists' self-efficacy beliefs about communicating with Spanish-speaking patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Henry N; Hwang, Monica J; Dilworth, Thomas J; Mott, David; Cox, Elizabeth D; Moreno, Megan A

2011-12-01

Hispanics are the largest growing population in the United States, and their use of prescription medications can be influenced by the education and counseling they receive from pharmacists. However, little is known about pharmacists' communication with patients who speak Spanish or factors that can influence such communication. The objective of the study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure pharmacists' self-efficacy in communicating with Spanish-speaking patients. An initial pool of 15 items developed from previous research and suggestions from communication experts and practicing pharmacists was subjected to cognitive interviewing. Nine retained items were administered to 1022 licensed pharmacists by mail survey. Summary statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were conducted. Retained factors were determined by the examination of eigenvalues and scree test results. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to assess internal consistency. A total of 540 community pharmacists completed the survey. Item means ranged from 2.93±1.47 to 1.58±0.88 based on a 5-point scale (1: not at all confident to 5: extremely confident). EFA resulted in a 2-factor solution, accounting for 71% of the variance. The 2 factors consisted of health and drug information (alpha=0.92) and opening the encounter (alpha=0.75). The alpha for the overall scale was 0.88. The results provide evidence to support the reliability and validity of an instrument to measure pharmacists' self-efficacy beliefs about communicating with Spanish-speaking patients in community practice. Practitioners and researchers may use this instrument to inform pharmacy education, pharmacy practice improvement, and research efforts around communicating with Spanish-speaking clients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umminger, K.

2008-01-01

A proper measurement of the relevant single and two-phase flow parameters is the basis for the understanding of many complex thermal-hydraulic processes. Reliable instrumentation is therefore necessary for the interaction between analysis and experiment especially in the field of nuclear safety research where postulated accident scenarios have to be simulated in experimental facilities and predicted by complex computer code systems. The so-called conventional instrumentation for the measurement of e. g. pressures, temperatures, pressure differences and single phase flow velocities is still a solid basis for the investigation and interpretation of many phenomena and especially for the understanding of the overall system behavior. Measurement data from such instrumentation still serves in many cases as a database for thermal-hydraulic system codes. However some special instrumentation such as online concentration measurement for boric acid in the water phase or for non-condensibles in steam atmosphere as well as flow visualization techniques were further developed and successfully applied during the recent years. Concerning the modeling needs for advanced thermal-hydraulic codes, significant advances have been accomplished in the last few years in the local instrumentation technology for two-phase flow by the application of new sensor techniques, optical or beam methods and electronic technology. This paper will give insight into the current state of instrumentation technology for safety-related thermohydraulic experiments. Advantages and limitations of some measurement processes and systems will be indicated as well as trends and possibilities for further development. Aspects of instrumentation in operating reactors will also be mentioned.

Diabetes-related emotional distress instruments: a systematic review of measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jiyeon; Lee, Eun-Hyun; Kim, Chun-Ja; Moon, Seung Hei

2015-12-01

The objectives of this study were to identify all available diabetes-related emotional distress instruments and evaluate the evidence regarding their measurement properties to help in the selection of the most appropriate instrument for use in practice and research. A systematic literature search was performed. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched systematically for articles on diabetes-related emotional distress instruments. The Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments checklist was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the identified studies. The quality of results with respect to the measurement properties of each study was evaluated using Terwee's quality criteria. An ancillary meta-analysis was performed. Of the 2345 articles yielded by the search, 19 full-text articles evaluating 6 diabetes-related emotional distress instruments were included in this study. No instrument demonstrated evidence for all measurement properties. The Problem Areas in Diabetes scale (PAID) was the most frequently studied and the best validated of the instruments. Pooled summary estimates of the correlation coefficient between the PAID and serum glycated hemoglobin revealed a positive but weak correlation. No diabetes-related emotional distress instrument demonstrated evidence for all measurement properties. No instrument was better than another, although the PAID was the best validated and is thus recommended for use. Further psychometric studies of the diabetes-related emotional distress instruments with rigorous methodologies are required. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decreton, M.

2002-01-01

SCK-CEN's R and D programme on instrumentation involves the development of advanced instrumentation systems for nuclear applications as well as the assessment of the performance of these instruments in a radiation environment. Particular emphasis is on the use of optical fibres as umbilincal links of a remote handling unit for use during maintanance of a fusion reacor, studies on the radiation hardening of plasma diagnostic systems; investigations on new instrumentation for the future MYRRHA accelerator driven system; space applications related to radiation-hardened lenses; the development of new approaches for dose, temperature and strain measurements; the assessment of radiation-hardened sensors and motors for remote handling tasks and studies of dose measurement systems including the use of optical fibres. Progress and achievements in these areas for 2001 are described

Instrumentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Decreton, M

2002-04-01

SCK-CEN's R and D programme on instrumentation involves the development of advanced instrumentation systems for nuclear applications as well as the assessment of the performance of these instruments in a radiation environment. Particular emphasis is on the use of optical fibres as umbilincal links of a remote handling unit for use during maintanance of a fusion reacor, studies on the radiation hardening of plasma diagnostic systems; investigations on new instrumentation for the future MYRRHA accelerator driven system; space applications related to radiation-hardened lenses; the development of new approaches for dose, temperature and strain measurements; the assessment of radiation-hardened sensors and motors for remote handling tasks and studies of dose measurement systems including the use of optical fibres. Progress and achievements in these areas for 2001 are described.

Repairing method of color TV with measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

This book concentrates on repairing method of color TV with measuring instrument, which deals with direction and sorts of measuring instrument for service, application and basic technique of an oscilloscope and a synchroscope, constituent of TV and wave reading, everything for test skill for service man, service technique by electronic voltmeter, service technique by sweep generator and maker generator, dot-bar generator and support skill for color TV and color bar generator and application technology of color circuit.

Developing a theory-based instrument to assess the impact of continuing professional development activities on clinical practice: a study protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rousseau Michel

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Continuing professional development (CPD is one of the principal means by which health professionals (i.e. primary care physicians and specialists maintain, improve, and broaden the knowledge and skills required for optimal patient care and safety. However, the lack of a widely accepted instrument to assess the impact of CPD activities on clinical practice thwarts researchers' comparisons of the effectiveness of CPD activities. Using an integrated model for the study of healthcare professionals' behaviour, our objective is to develop a theory-based, valid, reliable global instrument to assess the impact of accredited CPD activities on clinical practice. Methods Phase 1: We will analyze the instruments identified in a systematic review of factors influencing health professionals' behaviours using criteria that reflect the literature on measurement development and CPD decision makers' priorities. The outcome of this phase will be an inventory of instruments based on social cognitive theories. Phase 2: Working from this inventory, the most relevant instruments and their related items for assessing the concepts listed in the integrated model will be selected. Through an e-Delphi process, we will verify whether these instruments are acceptable, what aspects need revision, and whether important items are missing and should be added. The outcome of this phase will be a new global instrument integrating the most relevant tools to fit our integrated model of healthcare professionals' behaviour. Phase 3: Two data collections are planned: (1 a test-retest of the new instrument, including item analysis, to assess its reliability and (2 a study using the instrument before and after CPD activities with a randomly selected control group to explore the instrument's mere-measurement effect. Phase 4: We will conduct individual interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders to identify anticipated barriers and enablers for implementing the

IASI instrument: technical description and measured performances

Science.gov (United States)

Hébert, Ph.; Blumstein, D.; Buil, C.; Carlier, T.; Chalon, G.; Astruc, P.; Clauss, A.; Siméoni, D.; Tournier, B.

2017-11-01

IASI is an infrared atmospheric sounder. It will provide meteorologist and scientific community with atmospheric spectra. The IASI system includes 3 instruments that will be mounted on the Metop satellite series, a data processing software integrated in the EPS (EUMETSAT Polar System) ground segment and a technical expertise centre implemented in CNES Toulouse. The instrument is composed of a Fourier transform spectrometer and an associated infrared imager. The optical configuration is based on a Michelson interferometer and the interferograms are processed by an on-board digital processing subsystem, which performs the inverse Fourier transforms and the radiometric calibration. The infrared imager co-registers the IASI soundings with AVHRR imager (AVHRR is another instrument on the Metop satellite). The presentation will focus on the architectures of the instrument, the description of the implemented technologies and the measured performance of the first flight model. CNES is leading the IASI program in association with EUMETSAT. The instrument Prime is ALCATEL SPACE.

With hiccups and bumps: the development of a Rasch-based instrument to measure elementary students' understanding of the nature of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Peoples, Shelagh M; O'Dwyer, Laura M; Shields, Katherine A; Wang, Yang

2013-01-01

This research describes the development process, psychometric analyses and part validation study of a theoretically-grounded Rasch-based instrument, the Nature of Science Instrument-Elementary (NOSI-E). The NOSI-E was designed to measure elementary students' understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). Evidence is provided for three of the six validity aspects (content, substantive and generalizability) needed to support the construct validity of the NOSI-E. A future article will examine the structural and external validity aspects. Rasch modeling proved especially productive in scale improvement efforts. The instrument, designed for large-scale assessment use, is conceptualized using five construct domains. Data from 741 elementary students were used to pilot the Rasch scale, with continuous improvements made over three successive administrations. The psychometric properties of the NOSI-E instrument are consistent with the basic assumptions of Rasch measurement, namely that the items are well-fitting and invariant. Items from each of the five domains (Empirical, Theory-Laden, Certainty, Inventive, and Socially and Culturally Embedded) are spread along the scale's continuum and appear to overlap well. Most importantly, the scale seems appropriately calibrated and responsive for elementary school-aged children, the target age group. As a result, the NOSI-E should prove beneficial for science education research. As the United States' science education reform efforts move toward students' learning science through engaging in authentic scientific practices (NRC, 2011), it will be important to assess whether this new approach to teaching science is effective. The NOSI-E can be used as one measure of whether this reform effort has an impact.

Fiber Optics Instrumentation Development

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Patrick Hon Man; Parker, Allen R., Jr.; Richards, W. Lance

2010-01-01

This is a general presentation of fiber optics instrumentation development work being conducted at NASA Dryden for the past 10 years and recent achievements in the field of fiber optics strain sensors.

Instruments to assess integrated care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyngsø, Anne Marie; Godtfredsen, Nina Skavlan; Høst, Dorte

2014-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Although several measurement instruments have been developed to measure the level of integrated health care delivery, no standardised, validated instrument exists covering all aspects of integrated care. The purpose of this review is to identify the instruments concerning how to mea...... was prevalent. It is uncertain whether development of a single 'all-inclusive' model for assessing integrated care is desirable. We emphasise the continuing need for validated instruments embedded in theoretical contexts.......INTRODUCTION: Although several measurement instruments have been developed to measure the level of integrated health care delivery, no standardised, validated instrument exists covering all aspects of integrated care. The purpose of this review is to identify the instruments concerning how...... to measure the level of integration across health-care sectors and to assess and evaluate the organisational elements within the instruments identified. METHODS: An extensive, systematic literature review in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Web of Science for the years 1980-2011. Selected...

Development of the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) for Cluster

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Jack; Christensen, John L. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) is a new technique for measuring electric fields in space by detecting the effect on weak beams of test electrons. This U.S. portions of the technique, flight hardware, and flight software were developed for the Cluster mission under this contract. Dr. Goetz Paschmann of the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany, was the Principle Investigator for Cluster EDI. Hardware for Cluster was developed in the U.S. at the University of New Hampshire, Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, and University of California, San Diego. The Cluster satellites carrying the original EDI instruments were lost in the catastrophic launch failure of first flight of the Arianne-V rocket in 1996. Following that loss, NASA and ESA approved a rebuild of the Cluster mission, for which all four satellites were successfully launched in the Summer of 2000. Limited operations of EDI were also obtained on the Equator-S satellite, which was launched in December, 1997. A satellite failure caused a loss of the Equator-S mission after only 5 months, but these operations were extremely valuable in learning about the characteristics and operations of the complex EDI instrument. The Cluster mission, satellites, and instruments underwent an extensive on-orbit commissioning phase in the Fall of 2000, carrying over through January 2001. During this period all elements of the instruments were checked and careful measurements of inter-experiments interferences were made. EDI is currently working exceptionally well in orbit. Initial results verify that all aspects of the instrument are working as planned, and returning highly valuable scientific information. The first two papers describing EDI on-orbit results have been submitted for publication in April, 2001. The principles of the EDI technique, and its implementation on Cluster are described in two papers by Paschmann et al., attached as Appendices A and B. The EDI presentation at the formal Cluster Commissioning

Evaluation of the measurement properties of self-reported health-related work-functioning instruments among workers with common mental disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Abma, Femke I; van der Klink, Jac J L; Terwee, Caroline B; Amick, Benjamin C; Bültmann, Ute

2012-01-01

During the past decade, common mental disorders (CMD) have emerged as a major public and occupational health problem in many countries. Several instruments have been developed to measure the influence of health on functioning at work. To select appropriate instruments for use in occupational health practice and research, the measurement properties (eg, reliability, validity, responsiveness) must be evaluated. The objective of this study is to appraise critically and compare the measurement properties of self-reported health-related work-functioning instruments among workers with CMD. A systematic review was performed searching three electronic databases. Papers were included that: (i) mainly focused on the development and/or evaluation of the measurement properties of a self-reported health-related work-functioning instrument; (ii) were conducted in a CMD population; and (iii) were fulltext original papers. Quality appraisal was performed using the consensus-based standards for the selection of health status measurement instruments (COSMIN) checklist. Five papers evaluating measurement properties of five self-reported health-related work-functioning instruments in CMD populations were included. There is little evidence available for the measurement properties of the identified instruments in this population, mainly due to low methodological quality of the included studies. The available evidence on measurement properties is based on studies of poor-to-fair methodological quality. Information on a number of measurement properties, such as measurement error, content validity, and cross-cultural validity is still lacking. Therefore, no evidence-based decisions and recommendations can be made for the use of health-related work functioning instruments. Studies of high methodological quality are needed to properly assess the existing instruments' measurement properties.

Instrumentation-related uncertainty of reflectance and transmittance measurements with a two-channel spectrophotometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Peest, Christian; Schinke, Carsten; Brendel, Rolf; Schmidt, Jan; Bothe, Karsten

2017-01-01

Spectrophotometers are operated in numerous fields of science and industry for a variety of applications. In order to provide confidence for the measured data, analyzing the associated uncertainty is valuable. However, the uncertainty of the measurement results is often unknown or reduced to sample-related contributions. In this paper, we describe our approach for the systematic determination of the measurement uncertainty of the commercially available two-channel spectrophotometer Agilent Cary 5000 in accordance with the Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurements. We focus on the instrumentation-related uncertainty contributions rather than the specific application and thus outline a general procedure which can be adapted for other instruments. Moreover, we discover a systematic signal deviation due to the inertia of the measurement amplifier and develop and apply a correction procedure. Thereby we increase the usable dynamic range of the instrument by more than one order of magnitude. We present methods for the quantification of the uncertainty contributions and combine them into an uncertainty budget for the device.

Occupational stress among Thai emergency department nurses : Development and validation of an instrument for measuring stressors in emergency departments

OpenAIRE

Yuwanich, Nuttapol

2017-01-01

Working at an emergency department has some characteristics, which may generate stress. In this thesis, the stressors for emergency nurses were evaluated and an instrument was developed for measuring their impact. In order to gain a deeper understanding regarding the occupational stress among emergency nurses, a descriptive qualitative design with semi-structured interviews were used in two studies (I, II), one at a private and the other at a public hospital in Thailand. Three main categories...

Noise evaluation of a point autofocus surface topography measuring instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Maculotti, Giacomo; Feng, Xiaobing; Galetto, Maurizio; Leach, Richard

2018-06-01

In this work, the measurement noise of a point autofocus surface topography measuring instrument is evaluated, as the first step towards establishing a route to traceability for this type of instrument. The evaluation is based on the determination of the metrological characteristics for noise as outlined in draft ISO specification standards by using a calibrated optical flat. The static noise and repeatability of the autofocus sensor are evaluated. The influence of environmental disturbances on the measured surface topography and the built-in software to compensate for such influences are also investigated. The instrument was found to have a measurement noise of approximately 2 nm or, when expressed with the measurement bandwidth, 0.4 nm for a single-point measurement.

Development of Instrumentation for Direct Validation of Regional Carbon Flux Estimates

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We are pursuing three tasks under internal research and development: 1) procure a state-of-the-art, commercial instrument for measuring atmospheric methane (CH4) in...

Development of an alpha scattering instrument for heavy element detection in surface materials. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turkevich, A.L.; Economou, T.; Blume, E.; Anderson, W.

1974-12-01

The development and characteristics of a portable instrument for detecting and measuring the amounts of lead in painted surfaces are discussed. The instrument is based on the ones used with the alpha scattering experiment on the Surveyor lunar missions. The principles underlying the instrument are described. It is stated that the performance tests of the instrument were satisfactory. (auth)

The Development of an Instrument to Measure the Project Competences of College Students in Online Project-Based Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chien-Liang

2018-01-01

This study sought to develop a self-report instrument to be used in the assessment of the project competences of college students engaged in online project-based learning. Three scales of the KIPSSE instrument developed for this study, namely, the knowledge integration, project skills, and self-efficacy scales, were based on related theories and…

QUOTE-gene(ca): development of a counselee-centered instrument to measure needs and preferences in genetic counseling for hereditary cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Pieterse, Arwen; van Dulmen, Sandra; Ausems, Margreet; Schoemaker, Angela; Beemer, Frits; Bensing, Jozien

2005-05-01

Counselees' motives for seeking genetic counseling for hereditary cancer have already been investigated, however not using instruments based on counselees' perspective. In addition, expectations regarding the process of counseling have scarcely been assessed. This article describes the construction and psychometric properties of the QUOTE-gene(ca), a counselee-centered instrument intended to measure needs and preferences in genetic counseling for hereditary cancer. Formulation of the items involved input from counselees and the instrument was derived from a conceptual framework for measuring patient satisfaction. Two-hundred new counselees completed a questionnaire containing the instrument and measures of coping style (TMSI), generalized anxiety (STAI) and cancer-related stress reactions (IES), prior to their first consultation. Results showed that the instrument captures relevant issues of concern with high internal consistency, and was associated, as expected, with validated measures of coping style and distress. Responses showed that major concerns prior to counseling relate to: receiving information about risk and preventive strategies; the procedure of counseling; and preferences on how the interaction with the counselor proceeds. Receiving emotional support and discussing emotional aspects were considered relatively less important. Increasing insight into individual needs may help counselors in better addressing these concerns, potentially increasing the likelihood of successful counseling. Copyright (c) 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Measurement noise of a point autofocus surface topography instrument

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feng, Xiaobing; Quagliotti, Danilo; Maculotti, Giacomo

Optical instruments for areal topography measurement can be especially sensitive to noise when scanning is required. Such noise has different sources, including those internally generated and external sources from the environment.......Optical instruments for areal topography measurement can be especially sensitive to noise when scanning is required. Such noise has different sources, including those internally generated and external sources from the environment....

Meteorological Instrumentation and Measurements Open Resource Training Modules for Undergraduate and Graduate Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rockwell, A.; Clark, R. D.; Stevermer, A.

2017-12-01

The National Center for Atmospheric Research Earth Observing Laboratory, Millersville University and The COMET Program are collaborating to produce a series of nine online modules on the the topic of meteorological instrumentation and measurements. These interactive, multimedia educational modules can be integrated into undergraduate and graduate meteorology courses on instrumentation, measurement science, and observing systems to supplement traditional pedagogies and enhance blended instruction. These freely available and open-source training tools are designed to supplement traditional pedagogies and enhance blended instruction. Three of the modules are now available and address the theory and application of Instrument Performance Characteristics, Meteorological Temperature Instrumentation and Measurements, and Meteorological Pressure Instrumentation and Measurements. The content of these modules is of the highest caliber as it has been developed by scientists and engineers who are at the forefront of the field of observational science. Communicating the availability of these unique and influential educational resources with the community is of high priority. These modules will have a profound effect on the atmospheric observational sciences community by fulfilling a need for contemporary, interactive, multimedia guided education and training modules integrating the latest instructional design and assessment tools in observational science. Thousands of undergraduate and graduate students will benefit, while course instructors will value a set of high quality modules to use as supplements to their courses. The modules can serve as an alternative to observational research training and fill the void between field projects or assist those schools that lack the resources to stage a field- or laboratory-based instrumentation experience.

Development of an instrument for fast monitoring of radiotherapy equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoury, H.J.; Almeida Melo, F. de; Patriota, J.H.; Oliveira Lira, C.B. de

1990-01-01

Radiation therapy machines need a constant monitoring to assure tumoral dose accuracy. Special attention must be given to linear accelerators which should be checked frequently. By this reason, an instrument was developed at the Nuclear Instrumentation Laboratory DEN/UFPE to measure the output energy and beam symmetry. This instrument use three silicon photodiodes as radiation detectors. Two of then were localized at 5cm and 10cm depht at the central axis and one at 5 cm from the center, at the lateral irradiated field. Changes in the photon spectrum are detected by the ratio of upper to lower photodiode response. The radiation field uniformity is checked by the lateral photodiode. (author) [pt

Instrument maintenance of ultrasonic influences parameters measurement in technological processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomal V. S.

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The contact and non-contact vibration meters for intermittent and continuous control of the vibration amplitude in the ultrasonic technological equipment have been developed. And in order to estimate the cavitation intensity in liquids the authors have developed cavitation activity indicators and cavitation sensitivity meters, allowing to measure the magnitude of the signal level in the range of maximum spectral density of cavitation noise. The developed instruments allow to improve the quality of products, reduce the defect rate and power consumption of equipment by maintaining optimum conditions of the process.

Development of Interactive Monitoring System for Neutron Scattering Instrument

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

So, Ji Yong [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Neutron scattering instruments in HANARO research reactor have been contributed to various fields of basic science and material engineering. These instruments are open to publics and researchers can apply beam-time and do experiments with instrument scientists. In most cases, these instruments run for several weeks without stopping, and therefore instrument scientist wants to see the instrument status and receive information if the instruments have some problem. This is important for the safety. However, it is very hard to get instrument information outside of instruments. Access from external site is strongly forbidden in the institute due to the network safety, I developed another way to send instrument status information using commercial short messaging service(SMS). In this presentation, detailed features of this system will be shown. As a prototype, this system is being developed for the single instrument: Disk-chopper time-of-flight instruments (DC-TOF). I have successfully developed instruments and operate for several years. This information messaging system can be used for other neutron scattering instruments.

Development of an instrument to measure the concentration of noncondensable gases in geothermal discharges. Final report, October 1, 1978-September 30, 1979

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blair, C.K.; Harrison, R.F.

1980-01-01

Reported herein is a summary of a project to design, construct, and test a device which will continuously measure the vapor phase concentration of noncendensable gases in saturated steam/water geothermal discharges. Descriptions of the design, operating procedures, measurement accuracy, and limitations of the device are included. Also presented are results of laboratory testing and of field demonstration of the instrument. Recommendations for further refinement and development of the apparatus are discussed.

Impact of and correction for instrument sensitivity drift on nanoparticle size measurements by single-particle ICP-MS

Science.gov (United States)

El Hadri, Hind; Petersen, Elijah J.; Winchester, Michael R.

2016-01-01

The effect of ICP-MS instrument sensitivity drift on the accuracy of NP size measurements using single particle (sp)ICP-MS is investigated. Theoretical modeling and experimental measurements of the impact of instrument sensitivity drift are in agreement and indicate that drift can impact the measured size of spherical NPs by up to 25 %. Given this substantial bias in the measured size, a method was developed using an internal standard to correct for the impact of drift and was shown to accurately correct for a decrease in instrument sensitivity of up to 50 % for 30 nm and 60 nm gold nanoparticles. PMID:26894759

Assessment of the measurement properties of the post stroke motor function instruments available in Brazil: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Elaine; Teixeira-Salmela, Luci F; Simões, Luan; Guerra, Ana C C; Lemos, Andrea

2016-03-15

While there are several instruments in Brazil that measure motor function in patients after stroke, it is unknown whether the measurement properties of these instruments are appropriate. To identify the motor function instruments available in Brazil for patients after stroke. To assess the methodological quality of the studies and the results related to the measurement properties of these instruments. Two independent reviewers conducted searches on PubMed, LILACS, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies that aimed to cross-culturally adapt an existing instrument or create a Brazilian instrument and test at least one measurement property related to motor function in patients after stroke were included. The methodological quality of these studies was checked by the COSMIN checklist with 4-point rating scale and the results of the measurement properties were analyzed by the criteria developed by Terwee et al. A total of 11 instruments were considered eligible, none of which were created in Brazil. The process of cross-cultural adaptation was inadequate in 10 out of 11 instruments due to the lack of back-translation or due to inappropriate target population. All of the instruments presented flaws in the measurement properties, especially reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity. The flaws observed in both cross-cultural adaptation process and testing measurement properties make the results inconclusive on the validity of the available instruments. Adequate procedures of cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of these instruments are strongly needed.

Assessment of the measurement properties of the post stroke motor function instruments available in Brazil: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Lima

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background While there are several instruments in Brazil that measure motor function in patients after stroke, it is unknown whether the measurement properties of these instruments are appropriate. Objective To identify the motor function instruments available in Brazil for patients after stroke. To assess the methodological quality of the studies and the results related to the measurement properties of these instruments. Method Two independent reviewers conducted searches on PubMed, LILACS, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies that aimed to cross-culturally adapt an existing instrument or create a Brazilian instrument and test at least one measurement property related to motor function in patients after stroke were included. The methodological quality of these studies was checked by the COSMIN checklist with 4-point rating scale and the results of the measurement properties were analyzed by the criteria developed by Terwee et al. Results A total of 11 instruments were considered eligible, none of which were created in Brazil. The process of cross-cultural adaptation was inadequate in 10 out of 11 instruments due to the lack of back-translation or due to inappropriate target population. All of the instruments presented flaws in the measurement properties, especially reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity. Conclusion The flaws observed in both cross-cultural adaptation process and testing measurement properties make the results inconclusive on the validity of the available instruments. Adequate procedures of cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of these instruments are strongly needed.

Understanding and Measuring Evaluation Capacity: A Model and Instrument Validation Study

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor-Ritzler, Tina; Suarez-Balcazar, Yolanda; Garcia-Iriarte, Edurne; Henry, David B.; Balcazar, Fabricio E.

2013-01-01

This study describes the development and validation of the Evaluation Capacity Assessment Instrument (ECAI), a measure designed to assess evaluation capacity among staff of nonprofit organizations that is based on a synthesis model of evaluation capacity. One hundred and sixty-nine staff of nonprofit organizations completed the ECAI. The 68-item…

Fusion instrumentation and control: a development strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, P.Y.; Greninger, R.C.; Longhurst, G.R.; Madden, P.

1981-01-01

We have examined requirements for a fusion instrumentation and control development program to determine where emphasis is needed. The complex, fast, and closely coupled system dynamics of fusion reactors reveal a need for a rigorous approach to the development of instrumentation and control systems. A framework for such a development program should concentrate on three principal need areas: the operator-machine interface, the data and control system architecture, and fusion compatible instruments and sensors. System dynamics characterization of the whole fusion reactor system is also needed to facilitate the implementation process in each of these areas. Finally, the future need to make the instrumentation and control system compatible with the requirements of a commercial plant is met by applying transition technology. These needs form the basis for the program tasks suggested

WATCH: Warwick Assessment insTrument for Clinical teacHing: Development and testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Haider, Sonia Ijaz; Johnson, Neil; Thistlethwaite, Jill Elizabeth; Fagan, Gay; Bari, Muhammad Furqan

2015-03-01

Medical education and teaching skills are core competencies included in the generic curriculum for specialty training. To support the development of these skills, there is need for a validated instrument. This study aims to develop and test an instrument to measure the attributes of specialty trainees as effective teachers. The study was conducted in two phases. In first phase, the content of the instrument was generated from the literature and tested using the Delphi technique. In second phase, the instrument was field tested for validity and reliability using factor analysis and generalizability study. Feasibility was calculated by the time taken to complete the instrument. Acceptability and educational impact were determined by qualitative analysis of written feedback. Attributes of specialty trainees were assessed by clinical supervisors, peers, and students. The Delphi study produced consensus on 15 statements which formed the basis of the instrument. In field study, a total of 415 instruments were completed. Factor analysis demonstrated a three-factor solution ('learning-teaching milieu', 'teaching skills', and 'learner-orientated'). A generalizability coefficient was 0.92. Mean time to complete the instrument was five minutes. Feedback indicated that it was an acceptable and useful method of assessment. This new instrument provides valid, reliable, feasible, and acceptable assessment of clinical teaching.

The Thirty Gigahertz Instrument Receiver for the QUIJOTE Experiment: Preliminary Polarization Measurements and Systematic-Error Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco J. Casas

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents preliminary polarization measurements and systematic-error characterization of the Thirty Gigahertz Instrument receiver developed for the QUIJOTE experiment. The instrument has been designed to measure the polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation from the sky, obtaining the Q, U, and I Stokes parameters of the incoming signal simultaneously. Two kinds of linearly polarized input signals have been used as excitations in the polarimeter measurement tests in the laboratory; these show consistent results in terms of the Stokes parameters obtained. A measurement-based systematic-error characterization technique has been used in order to determine the possible sources of instrumental errors and to assist in the polarimeter calibration process.

Measuring the Quality of Service in the Financial Area of a Public University: Development and Validation of the Instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Manuel Alcantar Enríquez

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research, consisting of a descriptive study with a non-experimental design, involved an analysis to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument composed of seventeen items aimed at assessing the quality of service in the financial area of a public university by means of four variables: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness and empathy. The methodological strategy included the design of the measuring instrument; verification of the validity of content and construct; and analysis of internal consistency by means of Cronbach’s alpha. The instrument was applied to 152 users of the service, attaining a reliability coefficient of 0.943. The results show that with respect to specific concepts, the questions were clear; nevertheless we found it necessary to relocate items and rename variables, which resulted in a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the quality of service in the context under study.

Developing a theoretical model and questionnaire survey instrument to measure the success of electronic health records in residential aged care.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ping; Qian, Siyu

2018-01-01

Electronic health records (EHR) are introduced into healthcare organizations worldwide to improve patient safety, healthcare quality and efficiency. A rigorous evaluation of this technology is important to reduce potential negative effects on patient and staff, to provide decision makers with accurate information for system improvement and to ensure return on investment. Therefore, this study develops a theoretical model and questionnaire survey instrument to assess the success of organizational EHR in routine use from the viewpoint of nursing staff in residential aged care homes. The proposed research model incorporates six variables in the reformulated DeLone and McLean information systems success model: system quality, information quality, service quality, use, user satisfaction and net benefits. Two variables training and self-efficacy were also incorporated into the model. A questionnaire survey instrument was designed to measure the eight variables in the model. After a pilot test, the measurement scale was used to collect data from 243 nursing staff members in 10 residential aged care homes belonging to three management groups in Australia. Partial least squares path modeling was conducted to validate the model. The validated EHR systems success model predicts the impact of the four antecedent variables-training, self-efficacy, system quality and information quality-on the net benefits, the indicator of EHR systems success, through the intermittent variables use and user satisfaction. A 24-item measurement scale was developed to quantitatively evaluate the performance of an EHR system. The parsimonious EHR systems success model and the measurement scale can be used to benchmark EHR systems success across organizations and units and over time.

Development of a near-infrared spectroscopy instrument for applications in urology.

Science.gov (United States)

Macnab, Andrew J; Stothers, Lynn

2008-10-01

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an established technology using photons of light in the near infrared spectrum to monitor changes in tissue of naturally occurring chromophores, including oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin. Technology and methodology have been validated for measurement of a range of physiologic parameters. NIRS has been applied successfully in urology research; however current instruments are designed principally for brain and muscle study. To describe development of a NIRS instrument specifically designed for monitoring changes in chromophore concentration in the bladder detrusor in real time, to facilitate research to establish the role of this non-invasive technology in the evaluation of patients with voiding dysfunction The portable continuous wave NIRS instrument has a 3 laser diode light source (785, 808 and 830 nanometers), fiber optic cables for light transmission, a self adhesive patient interface patch with an emitter and sensor, and software to detect the difference between the light transmitted and received by the instrument. Software incorporated auto-attenuates the optical signals and converts raw optical data into chromophore concentrations displayed graphically. The prototype was designed, tested, and iteratively developed to achieve optimal suprapubic transcutaneous monitoring of the detrusor in human subjects during bladder filling and emptying. Evaluation with simultaneous invasive urodynamic measurement in men and women indicates good specificity and sensitivity of NIRS chromophore concentration changes by receiver operator curve analysis, and correlation between NIRS data and urodynamic pressures. Urological monitoring with this NIRS instrument is feasible and generates data of potential diagnostic value.

Detecting charging state of ultra-fine particles: instrumental development and ambient measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Laakso

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of ion-induced nucleation in the lower atmosphere has been discussed for a long time. In this article we describe a new instrumental setup – Ion-DMPS – which can be used to detect contribution of ion-induced nucleation on atmospheric new particle formation events. The device measures positively and negatively charged particles with and without a bipolar charger. The ratio between "charger off" to "charger on" describes the charging state of aerosol particle population with respect to equilibrium. Values above one represent more charges than in an equilibrium (overcharged state, and values below unity stand for undercharged situation, when there is less charges in the particles than in the equilibrium. We performed several laboratory experiments to test the operation of the instrument. After the laboratory tests, we used the device to observe particle size distributions during atmospheric new particle formation in a boreal forest. We found that some of the events were clearly dominated by neutral nucleation but in some cases also ion-induced nucleation contributed to the new particle formation. We also found that negative and positive ions (charged particles behaved in a different manner, days with negative overcharging were more frequent than days with positive overcharging.

The quality of systematic reviews of health-related outcome measurement instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Terwee, C B; Prinsen, C A C; Ricci Garotti, M G; Suman, A; de Vet, H C W; Mokkink, L B

2016-04-01

Systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments are important tools for the selection of instruments for research and clinical practice. Our aim was to assess the quality of systematic reviews of health-related outcome measurement instruments and to determine whether the quality has improved since our previous study in 2007. A systematic literature search was performed in MEDLINE and EMBASE between July 1, 2013, and June 19, 2014. The quality of the reviews was rated using a study-specific checklist. A total of 102 reviews were included. In many reviews the search strategy was considered not comprehensive; in only 59 % of the reviews a search was performed in EMBASE and in about half of the reviews there was doubt about the comprehensiveness of the search terms used for type of measurement instruments and measurement properties. In 41 % of the reviews, compared to 30 % in our previous study, the methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. In 58 %, compared to 55 %, the quality of the included instruments was assessed. In 42 %, compared to 7 %, a data synthesis was performed in which the results from multiple studies on the same instrument were somehow combined. Despite a clear improvement in the quality of systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments in comparison with our previous study in 2007, there is still room for improvement with regard to the search strategy, and especially the quality assessment of the included studies and the included instruments, and the data synthesis.

IAEA safeguards instrumentation: Development, implementation and control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rundquist, D.E.

1983-01-01

Extensive development efforts over the last 5 years have produced a number of new instruments to help the IAEA meet its safeguards obligations. Implementation of these new instruments is proceeding at a necessarily slower pace. To optimize the performance and reliability of the instrumentation systems when used in safeguards applications, increasing attention is needed to be spent on performance monitoring and control of the instruments. (author)

Development of Real-Time Coal Monitoring Instrument

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajan Gurjar, Ph.D.

2010-06-17

Relying on coal for energy requires optimizing the extraction of heat content from various blends of coal fuel and reducing harmful constituents and byproducts. Having a real-time measurement instrument provides relevant information about toxic constituents released in the atmosphere from burning coal and optimizes the performance of a power plant. A few commercial instruments exist and have been in operation for more than a decade. However, most of these instruments are based on radioactive sources and are bulky, expensive and time-consuming. The proposed instrument is based on the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). The advantage of LIBS is that it is a standoff instrument, does not require sample preparation and provides precise information about sample constituents.

Measuring Food Brand Awareness in Australian Children: Development and Validation of a New Instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Laura; Kelly, Bridget; Boyland, Emma; Bauman, Adrian E

2015-01-01

Children's exposure to food marketing is one environmental determinant of childhood obesity. Measuring the extent to which children are aware of food brands may be one way to estimate relative prior exposures to food marketing. This study aimed to develop and validate an Australian Brand Awareness Instrument (ABAI) to estimate children's food brand awareness. The ABAI incorporated 30 flashcards depicting food/drink logos and their corresponding products. An abbreviated version was also created using 12 flashcards (ABAI-a). The ABAI was presented to 60 primary school aged children (7-11 yrs) attending two Australian after-school centres. A week later, the full-version was repeated on approximately half the sample (n=27) and the abbreviated-version was presented to the remaining half (n=30). The test-retest reliability of the ABAI was analysed using Intra-class correlation coefficients. The concordance of the ABAI-a and full-version was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. The 'nomological' validity of the full tool was investigated by comparing children's brand awareness with food marketing-related variables (e.g. television habits, intake of heavily promoted foods). Brand awareness increased with age (pbrand awareness. It was shown to be a valid and reliable tool and may allow quantification of brand awareness as a proxy measure for children's prior food marketing exposure.

Development of an instrument to measure patient perception of the quality of nursing care and related hospital services at the national hospital of sri lanka.

Science.gov (United States)

Senarat, Upul; Gunawardena, Nalika S

2011-06-01

This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to measure patient perception of quality of nursing care and related hospital services in a tertiary care setting. We compiled an instrument with 72 items that patients may perceive as quality of nursing care and related hospital services, following an extensive literature search, discussions with patients and care pro-I viders and a brainstorming session with an expert panel. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. A sample (n = 120) of patients stayed in general surgical or medical units responded to the interviewer administered instrument upon discharge. Item analysis and principal component factor analysis were performed to assess validity, and internal consistency was calculated to measure reliability. Of the 72 items, 18 had greater than 20% of responses as 'not relevant'. A further 11 items were eliminated since item-total correlations were less than .2. Factor analysis was performed on remaining 43 items which resulted in 36 items classifying into eight factors accounting for 71% of the variation. Factor loadings in the final solution after Varimax rotation were interpersonal aspects (.68-.85), efficiency (.62-.79), competency (.66-.68), comfort (.60-.84), physical environment (.65-.82), cleanliness (.81-.85), personalized information (.76-.83), and general instructions (.61-.78). The instrument had high Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .91). We developed a comprehensive, reliable and valid, 36-item instrument that may be used to measure patient perception of quality of nursing care in tertiary care settings. Copyright © 2011 Korean Society of Nursing Science. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Astrbiology Science and Technology for Instrument Development (ASTID)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Astrobiology Science and Technology for Instrument Development (ASTID) develops instrumentation capabilities to help meet Astrobiology science requirements on...

Introduction to meteorological measurements and data handling for solar energy applications. Task IV. Development of an isolation handbook and instrument package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-01-01

The following are covered: the Sun and its radiation, solar radiation and atmospheric interaction, solar radiation measurement methods, spectral irradiance measurements of natural sources, the measurement of infrared radiation, the measurement of circumsolar radiation, some empirical properties of solar radiation and related parameters, duration of sunshine, and meteorological variables related to solar energy. Included in appendices are manufacturers and distributors of solar radiation measuring instruments and an approximate method for quality control of solar radiation instruments. (MHR)

Radioisotope instrument for measuring the position of interface of two liquid media with similar density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afanas'ev, V.N.; Kolyada, A.N.; Krejndlin, I.I.; Pakhunkov, Yu.I.

1977-01-01

A gamma level indicator is developed for automatic and continuous remote measuring the location of the interface of two liquids with close densities in closed and open containers. The density of the upper (light) medium is 1.0-1.2 g/cm 3 . The instrument incorporates a transmitter-receiver unit, a relay regulator, a power amplifier and a secondary instrument. The operating principle of the level indicator is based on the detection of gamma-radiation scattered by a controlled medium; the alternations in gamma radiation flux serve to automatically set the transmitter-receiver unit on the interface of two media. The specially developed small transmitter-receiver with an Am 241 gamma radiation source is very sensible to little medium density changes and stable against perturbing factor action. The level indicator developed may be used to measure and regulate the level of liquid contacting with an air (gas) medium. The specifications of the instrument are presented

Development of a Blood Pressure Measurement Instrument with Active Cuff Pressure Control Schemes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chung-Hsien Kuo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an oscillometric blood pressure (BP measurement approach based on the active control schemes of cuff pressure. Compared with conventional electronic BP instruments, the novelty of the proposed BP measurement approach is to utilize a variable volume chamber which actively and stably alters the cuff pressure during inflating or deflating cycles. The variable volume chamber is operated with a closed-loop pressure control scheme, and it is activated by controlling the piston position of a single-acting cylinder driven by a screw motor. Therefore, the variable volume chamber could significantly eliminate the air turbulence disturbance during the air injection stage when compared to an air pump mechanism. Furthermore, the proposed active BP measurement approach is capable of measuring BP characteristics, including systolic blood pressure (SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP, during the inflating cycle. Two modes of air injection measurement (AIM and accurate dual-way measurement (ADM were proposed. According to the healthy subject experiment results, AIM reduced 34.21% and ADM reduced 15.78% of the measurement time when compared to a commercial BP monitor. Furthermore, the ADM performed much consistently (i.e., less standard deviation in the measurements when compared to a commercial BP monitor.

New developments in instrumentation at the W. M. Keck Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Adkins, Sean M.; Armandroff, Taft E.; Fitzgerald, Michael P.; Johnson, James; Larkin, James E.; Lewis, Hilton A.; Martin, Christopher; Matthews, Keith Y.; Prochaska, J. X.; Wizinowich, Peter

2014-07-01

The W. M. Keck Observatory continues to develop new capabilities in support of our science driven strategic plan which emphasizes leadership in key areas of observational astronomy. This leadership is a key component of the scientific productivity of our observing community and depends on our ability to develop new instrumentation, upgrades to existing instrumentation, and upgrades to supporting infrastructure at the observatory. In this paper we describe the as measured performance of projects completed in 2014 and the expected performance of projects currently in the development or construction phases. Projects reaching completion in 2014 include a near-IR tip/tilt sensor for the Keck I adaptive optics system, a new center launch system for the Keck II laser guide star facility, and NIRES, a near-IR Echelle spectrograph for the Keck II telescope. Projects in development include a new seeing limited integral field spectrograph for the visible wavelength range called the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, a deployable tertiary mirror for the Keck I telescope, upgrades to the spectrograph detector and the imager of the OSIRIS instrument, and an upgrade to the telescope control systems on both Keck telescopes.

Model SH intelligent instrument for thickness measuring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Juntao; Jia Weizhuang; Zhao Yunlong

1995-01-01

The authors introduce Model SH Intelligent Instrument for thickness measuring by using principle of beta back-scattering and its application range, features, principle of operation, system design, calibration and specifications

Development of a Coding Instrument to Assess the Quality and Content of Anti-Tobacco Video Games

Science.gov (United States)

Alber, Julia M.; Watson, Anna M.; Barnett, Tracey E.; Mercado, Rebeccah

2015-01-01

Abstract Previous research has shown the use of electronic video games as an effective method for increasing content knowledge about the risks of drugs and alcohol use for adolescents. Although best practice suggests that theory, health communication strategies, and game appeal are important characteristics for developing games, no instruments are currently available to examine the quality and content of tobacco prevention and cessation electronic games. This study presents the systematic development of a coding instrument to measure the quality, use of theory, and health communication strategies of tobacco cessation and prevention electronic games. Using previous research and expert review, a content analysis coding instrument measuring 67 characteristics was developed with three overarching categories: type and quality of games, theory and approach, and type and format of messages. Two trained coders applied the instrument to 88 games on four platforms (personal computer, Nintendo DS, iPhone, and Android phone) to field test the instrument. Cohen's kappa for each item ranged from 0.66 to 1.00, with an average kappa value of 0.97. Future research can adapt this coding instrument to games addressing other health issues. In addition, the instrument questions can serve as a useful guide for evidence-based game development. PMID:26167842

Development of a Coding Instrument to Assess the Quality and Content of Anti-Tobacco Video Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Alber, Julia M; Watson, Anna M; Barnett, Tracey E; Mercado, Rebeccah; Bernhardt, Jay M

2015-07-01

Previous research has shown the use of electronic video games as an effective method for increasing content knowledge about the risks of drugs and alcohol use for adolescents. Although best practice suggests that theory, health communication strategies, and game appeal are important characteristics for developing games, no instruments are currently available to examine the quality and content of tobacco prevention and cessation electronic games. This study presents the systematic development of a coding instrument to measure the quality, use of theory, and health communication strategies of tobacco cessation and prevention electronic games. Using previous research and expert review, a content analysis coding instrument measuring 67 characteristics was developed with three overarching categories: type and quality of games, theory and approach, and type and format of messages. Two trained coders applied the instrument to 88 games on four platforms (personal computer, Nintendo DS, iPhone, and Android phone) to field test the instrument. Cohen's kappa for each item ranged from 0.66 to 1.00, with an average kappa value of 0.97. Future research can adapt this coding instrument to games addressing other health issues. In addition, the instrument questions can serve as a useful guide for evidence-based game development.

Proposal for a Universal Test Mirror for Characterization of Slope Measuring Instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yashchuk, Valeriy V.; McKinney, Wayne R.; Warwick, Tony; Noll, Tino; Siewert, Frank; Zeschke, Thomas; Geckeler, Ralf D.

2007-01-01

The development of third generation light sources like the Advanced Light Source (ALS) or BESSY II brought to a focus the need for high performance synchrotron optics with unprecedented tolerances for slope error and micro roughness. Proposed beam lines at Free Electron Lasers (FEL) require optical elements up to a length of one meter, characterized by a residual slope error in the range of 0.1mu rad (rms),and rms values of 0.1 nm for micro roughness. These optical elements must be inspected by highly accurate measuring instruments, providing a measurement uncertainty lower than the specified accuracy of the surface under test. It is essential that metrology devices in use at synchrotron laboratories be precisely characterized and calibrated to achieve this target. In this paper we discuss a proposal for a Universal Test Mirror (UTM) as a realization of a high performance calibration instrument. The instrument would provide an ideal calibration surface to replicate a redundant surface under test of redundant figure. The application of a sophisticated calibration instrument will allow the elimination of the majority of the systematic error from the error budget of an individual measurement of a particular optical element. We present the limitations of existing methods, initial UTM design considerations, possible calibration algorithms, and an estimation of the expected accuracy

Research and Development on a Public Attitude Instrument for Stuttering

Science.gov (United States)

St. Louis, Kenneth O.

2012-01-01

This paper summarizes research associated with the development of the "Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering" ("POSHA-S"), a survey instrument designed to provide a worldwide standard measure of public attitudes toward stuttering. Pilot studies with early experimental prototypes of the "POSHA-S" are summarized that relate to…

Quality of prenatal care questionnaire: instrument development and testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Heaman, Maureen I; Sword, Wendy A; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori; Bradford, Amanda; Tough, Suzanne; Janssen, Patricia A; Young, David C; Kingston, Dawn A; Hutton, Eileen K; Helewa, Michael E

2014-06-03

Utilization indices exist to measure quantity of prenatal care, but currently there is no published instrument to assess quality of prenatal care. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a new instrument, the Quality of Prenatal Care Questionnaire (QPCQ). Data for this instrument development study were collected in five Canadian cities. Items for the QPCQ were generated through interviews with 40 pregnant women and 40 health care providers and a review of prenatal care guidelines, followed by assessment of content validity and rating of importance of items. The preliminary 100-item QPCQ was administered to 422 postpartum women to conduct item reduction using exploratory factor analysis. The final 46-item version of the QPCQ was then administered to another 422 postpartum women to establish its construct validity, and internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the QPCQ to 46 items, factored into 6 subscales, which subsequently were validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Construct validity was also demonstrated using a hypothesis testing approach; there was a significant positive association between women's ratings of the quality of prenatal care and their satisfaction with care (r = 0.81). Convergent validity was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation (r = 0.63) between the "Support and Respect" subscale of the QPCQ and the "Respectfulness/Emotional Support" subscale of the Prenatal Interpersonal Processes of Care instrument. The overall QPCQ had acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96), as did each of the subscales. The test-retest reliability result (Intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.88) indicated stability of the instrument on repeat administration approximately one week later. Temporal stability testing confirmed that women's ratings of their quality of prenatal care did not change as a result of giving birth or between the early postpartum

Quality of prenatal care questionnaire: instrument development and testing

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Utilization indices exist to measure quantity of prenatal care, but currently there is no published instrument to assess quality of prenatal care. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a new instrument, the Quality of Prenatal Care Questionnaire (QPCQ). Methods Data for this instrument development study were collected in five Canadian cities. Items for the QPCQ were generated through interviews with 40 pregnant women and 40 health care providers and a review of prenatal care guidelines, followed by assessment of content validity and rating of importance of items. The preliminary 100-item QPCQ was administered to 422 postpartum women to conduct item reduction using exploratory factor analysis. The final 46-item version of the QPCQ was then administered to another 422 postpartum women to establish its construct validity, and internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Results Exploratory factor analysis reduced the QPCQ to 46 items, factored into 6 subscales, which subsequently were validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Construct validity was also demonstrated using a hypothesis testing approach; there was a significant positive association between women’s ratings of the quality of prenatal care and their satisfaction with care (r = 0.81). Convergent validity was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation (r = 0.63) between the “Support and Respect” subscale of the QPCQ and the “Respectfulness/Emotional Support” subscale of the Prenatal Interpersonal Processes of Care instrument. The overall QPCQ had acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.96), as did each of the subscales. The test-retest reliability result (Intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.88) indicated stability of the instrument on repeat administration approximately one week later. Temporal stability testing confirmed that women’s ratings of their quality of prenatal care did not change as a result of giving

Requirements for a quality measurement instrument for semantic standards

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Folmer, E.J.A.; Krukkert, D.; Oude Luttighuis, P.; Hillegersberg van, J. van

2010-01-01

This study describes requirements for an instrument to measure the quality of semantic standards. A situational requirements engineering method was used, resulting in a goal-tree in which requirements are structured. This structure shows requirements related to the input of the instrument; stating

The Development of an Instrument to Measure the Project Competences of College Students in Online Project-Based Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chien-Liang

2018-02-01

This study sought to develop a self-report instrument to be used in the assessment of the project competences of college students engaged in online project-based learning. Three scales of the KIPSSE instrument developed for this study, namely, the knowledge integration, project skills, and self-efficacy scales, were based on related theories and the analysis results of three project advisor interviews. Those items of knowledge integration and project skill scales focused on the integration of different disciplines and technological skills separately. Two samples of data were collected from information technology-related courses taught with an online project-based learning strategy over different semesters at a college in southern Taiwan. The validity and reliability of the KIPSSE instrument were confirmed through item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling of two samples of students' online response sets separately. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the entire instrument was 0.931; for each scale, the alpha ranged from 0.832 to 0.907. There was also a significant correlation ( r = 0.55, p < 0.01) between the KIPSSE instrument results and the students' product evaluation scores. The findings of this study confirmed the validity and reliability of the KIPSSE instrument. The confirmation process and related implications are also discussed.

Proceedings of the symposium on advanced measurement techniques and instrumentation: abstract book

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kale, Y.B.; Kushwaha, M.; Somkuwar, S.P.; Ajayakumar, S.; Sampathkumar, R.

2011-01-01

In order to consolidate the existing knowledge base and further to focus on the future directions of the field of advanced measurement techniques and instrumentation, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has organized a three-day symposium on 'Advanced Measurement Techniques and Instrumentation' at Multi Purpose Hall, Training School Hostel, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai during February 02-04, 2011. The symposium is aimed at providing a forum to discuss the emerging trends and challenges ahead in the important area of measurement science and technology. This is a unique symposium, which brings together scientists and engineers from all disciplines and provides them a platform for close interaction to exchange ideas, methodologies and expertise, which is extremely important for synergic growth of this field. The symposium consists of 27 talks, which include keynote address, plenary and invited talks, and 63 contributory papers. The abstracts of these papers are brought to you in this volume. Readers may observe that the scientific programme of the symposium covers a wide ranging issues including advanced scientific concepts in measurements, instrumentation strategies, mathematical techniques and development of devices for applications in fundamental physics, astrophysics, fusion plasmas, nuclear reactors, accelerators, environment, chemical and biological sciences, and national security. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

A high sensitivity momentum flux measuring instrument for plasma thruster exhausts and diffusive plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Michael D; Charles, Christine; Boswell, Rod W

2009-05-01

A high sensitivity momentum flux measuring instrument based on a compound pendulum has been developed for use with electric propulsion devices and radio frequency driven plasmas. A laser displacement system, which builds upon techniques used by the materials science community for surface stress measurements, is used to measure with high sensitivity the displacement of a target plate placed in a plasma thruster exhaust. The instrument has been installed inside a vacuum chamber and calibrated via two different methods and is able to measure forces in the range of 0.02-0.5 mN with a resolution of 15 microN. Measurements have been made of the force produced from the cold gas flow and with a discharge ignited using argon propellant. The plasma is generated using a Helicon Double Layer Thruster prototype. The instrument target is placed about 1 mean free path for ion-neutral charge exchange collisions downstream of the thruster exit. At this position, the plasma consists of a low density ion beam (10%) and a much larger downstream component (90%). The results are in good agreement with those determined from the plasma parameters measured with diagnostic probes. Measurements at various flow rates show that variations in ion beam velocity and plasma density and the resulting momentum flux can be measured with this instrument. The instrument target is a simple, low cost device, and since the laser displacement system used is located outside the vacuum chamber, the measurement technique is free from radio frequency interference and thermal effects. It could be used to measure the thrust in the exhaust of other electric propulsion devices and the momentum flux of ion beams formed by expanding plasmas or fusion experiments.

The manometric sorptomat—an innovative volumetric instrument for sorption measurements performed under isobaric conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kudasik, Mateusz

2016-01-01

The present paper discusses the concept of measuring the process of sorption by means of the volumetric method, developed in such a way as to allow measurements performed under isobaric conditions. On the basis of the concept in question, a prototype of a sorption instrument was built: the manometric sorptomat. The paper provides a detailed description of the idea of the instrument, and of the way it works. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the device in sorption measurements carried out under laboratory conditions, comparative studies were conducted, during which the results of sorption measurements obtained with the developed instrument were compared with the results Mateusz obtained with a reference device. The objects of comparison were the sorption capacities of hard coal samples, calculated on the basis of the established courses of the methane sorption process. The results were regarded as compatible if the compared values fell within the range of the measurement uncertainty of the two devices. For the sake of the comparative studies, fifteen granular samples of hard coal—representing the 0.20–0.25 mm grain fraction and coming from various mines of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin—were used. After comparing the results obtained with the original manometric sorptomat with the results obtained with the gravimetric reference device, it was observed that the compatibility of measurements of sorption capacities was over 90%, based on the defined criterion of the measurement compatibility. (paper)

[Development and reliability evaluation of an instrument to measure health-related quality of life in independent elderly].

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Maria José Barbosa de; Portela, Margareth Crisóstomo

2010-08-01

This study presents an instrument, the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) profile for independent elderly, to measure the health-related quality of life of the functionally independent elderly assisted in the outpatient setting, based on the adaptation of four validated scales: Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Duke-UNC Health Profile (DUHP), Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). The study also evaluates the instrument's reliability based on its use by two different observers with a 15-day interval. The instrument includes five dimensions (health perception, symptoms, physical function, psychological function, and social function) and 45 items. Reliability evaluation of the QUASI instrument was based on interviews with 142 elderly outpatients in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prevalence-adjusted kappa statistic was used to assess all 45 items. Correlation was also calculated between overall scores and scores on individual dimensions. In the reliability evaluation, 39 of the 45 items showed prevalence-adjusted kappa greater than 0.60.

Status of safeguards instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higinbotham, W.A.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is performing safeguards at some nuclear power reactors, 50 bulk processing facilities, and 170 research facilities. Its verification activities require the use of instruments to measure nuclear materials and of surveillance instruments to maintain continuity of knowledge of the locations of nuclear materials. Instruments that are in use and under development to measure weight, volume, concentration, and isotopic composition of nuclear materials, and the major surveillance instruments, are described in connection with their uses at representative nuclear facilities. The current status of safeguards instrumentation and the needs for future development are discussed

Holdup Measures on an SRNL Mossbauer Spectroscopy Instrument

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dewberry, R.; Brown, T.; Salaymeh, S.

2010-05-05

Gamma-ray holdup measurements of a Mossbauer spectroscopy instrument are described and modeled. In the qualitative acquisitions obtained in a low background area of Savannah River National Laboratory, only Am-241 and Np-237 activity were observed. The Am-241 was known to be the instrumental activation source, while the Np-237 is clearly observed as a source of contamination internal to the instrument. The two sources of activity are modeled separately in two acquisition configurations using two separate modeling tools. The results agree well, demonstrating a content of (1980 {+-} 150) {mu}Ci Am-241 and (110 {+-} 50) {mu}Ci of Np-237.

The superTIGER instrument: Measurement of elemental abundances of ultra-heavy galactic cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Binns, W. R.; Bose, R. G.; Braun, D. L.; Dowkontt, P. F.; Israel, M. H.; Moore, P.; Murphy, R. P.; Olevitch, M. A.; Rauch, B. F. [Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States); Brandt, T. J.; Daniels, W. M.; Fitzsimmons, S. P.; Hahne, D. J.; Hams, T.; Link, J. T.; Mitchell, J. W.; Sakai, K. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Klemic, J.; Labrador, A. W.; Mewaldt, R. A., E-mail: wrb@wustl.edu [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); and others

2014-06-10

The SuperTIGER (Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) instrument was developed to measure the abundances of galactic cosmic-ray elements from {sub 10}Ne to {sub 40}Zr with individual element resolution and the high statistics needed to test models of cosmic-ray origins. SuperTIGER also makes exploratory measurements of the abundances of elements with 40 < Z ≤ 60 and measures the energy spectra of the more abundant elements for Z ≤ 30 from about 0.8 to 10 GeV/nucleon. This instrument is an enlarged and higher resolution version of the earlier TIGER instrument. It was designed to provide the largest geometric acceptance possible and to reach as high an altitude as possible, flying on a standard long-duration 1.11 million m{sup 3} balloon. SuperTIGER was launched from Williams Field, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on 2012 December 8, and made about 2.7 revolutions around the South Pole in 55 days of flight, returning data on over 50 × 10{sup 6} cosmic-ray nuclei with Z ≥ 10, including ∼1300 with Z > 29 and ∼60 with Z > 49. Here, we describe the instrument, the methods of charge identification employed, the SuperTIGER balloon flight, and the instrument performance.

Maintenance of nuclear medicine instruments in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

This report reviews the current nature and severity of the problems related to nuclear medicine instruments in developing countries and gives the recommendations of the Advisory Group on the development of improved strategies to assure that the instruments are effectively maintained while in use. A compilation of data from the Register of Medical Radioisotope Units (IAEA-167) on medical radioisotope instrumentation installed in developing countries and some comments and suggestions contained in reports of Agency Technical Assistance Experts are also presented

Intercomparison of different instruments for measuring radon concentration in air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimo, Michikuni; Iida, Takao

1990-01-01

An intercomparison of different instruments for measurement of radon concentration was carried out. The instruments include an ionization chamber, the charcoal-trap method, a flow-type ionization chamber (pulse-counting method), a two-filter method, an electrostatic collection method and a passive integration radon monitor. All instruments except for the passive radon monitor have been calibrated independently. Measurements were performed over a concentration range from about 3.5 Bq·m -3 (in outdoor air) to 110 Bq·m -3 (in indoor air). The results obtained by these techniques, except the two-filter technique, are comparable. Radon daughter concentration measured using a filter-sampling method was about 52% of radon concentration. (author)

Intercomparison of different instruments that measure radon concentration in air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimo, M.; Iida, T.; Ikebe, Y.

1987-01-01

An intercomparison of different instruments for measurement of radon concentration was carried out. The instruments include an ionization chamber, the charcoal-trap technique, a flow-type ionization chamber (pulse-counting technique), a two-filter method, an electrostatic collection method and a passive integrating radon monitor. All instruments except for the passive radon monitor have been calibrated independently. Measurements were performed over a concentration range from about 3.5 Bq/m/sup 3/ (in outdoor air) to 110 Bq/m/sup 3/ (in indoor air). The results obtained from these techniques, except the two-filter technique, are comparable. Radon daughter concentration measured using a filter-sampling technique was about 52% of radon concentrations

Sentinel-5 instrument: status of design, performance, and development

Science.gov (United States)

Gühne, T.; Keim, C.; Bartsch, P.; Weiß, S.; Melf, M.; Seefelder, W.

2017-09-01

The Sentinel-5 instrument is currently under development by a consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space in the frame of the European Union Copernicus program. It is a customer furnished item to the MetOp Second Generation satellite platform, which will provide operational meteorological data for the coming decades. Mission objective of the Sentinel-5 is to monitor the composition of the Earth atmosphere for Copernicus Atmosphere Services by taking measurements of trace gases and aerosols impacting air quality and climate with high resolution and daily global coverage. Therefore the Sentinel-5 provides five dispersive spectrometers covering the UV-VIS (270…500 nm), NIR (685 …773 nm) and SWIR (1590…1675 and 2305…2385 nm) spectral bands with resolutions <=1nm. Spatially the Sentinel-5 provides a 108° field of view with a ground sampling of 7.5 x 7 km2 at Nadir. The development program is post PDR and the build-up of the industrial team is finalised. We report on the instrument architecture and design derived from the driving requirements, the predicted instrument performance, and the general status of the program.

To IO-3 type instrument for measuring relative deviation of mean frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albats, Ya.Eh.; Bitite, Ya.A.; Ivanov, G.M.; Karpel'tseva, L.P.; Tesnavs, Eh.R.; Shuvtsan, Ya.V.

1979-01-01

A description is given of the 10-3 instrument intended for automatic measurement of a relative deviation of the pulse flow mean frequency from the preset value with digital presentation of measurement results, and also for the conversion of this relative deviation into an electric coded signal and in an analogue voltage signal. The 10-3 instrument comprises a master pulse generator, two preliminary scalers, two electronic switches, two storage pulse counters, control devices, a counter digital volume setter, a rewriting device, an internal storage, a digital display, and a digital-to-analog converter. The principle of the instrument operation consists in counting the pulses of measured and reference pulse flows by two storage counters. Basic performances of the instrument are given. The main advantage of the 10-3 instrument lies in the fact that it presents the results of measuring by a digital radioisotope instrument directly in physical units of the measured parameter, and that, in turn, obviates the necessity for additional mathematical operations when data processing [ru

Developing and evaluating an instrument to measure Recovery After INtensive care: the RAIN instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergbom, Ingegerd; Karlsson, Veronika; Ringdal, Mona

2018-01-01

Measuring and evaluating patients' recovery, following intensive care, is essential for assessing their recovery process. By using a questionnaire, which includes spiritual and existential aspects, possibilities for identifying appropriate nursing care activities may be facilitated. The study describes the development and evaluation of a recovery questionnaire and its validity and reliability. A questionnaire consisting of 30 items on a 5-point Likert scale was completed by 169 patients (103 men, 66 women), 18 years or older (m=69, SD 12.5) at 2, 6, 12 or 24 months following discharge from an ICU. An exploratory factor analysis, including a principal component analysis with orthogonal varimax rotation, was conducted. Ten initial items, with loadings below 0.40, were removed. The internal item/scale structure obtained in the principal component analysis was tested in relation to convergent and discrimination validity with a multi-trait analysis. Items consistency and reliability were assessed by Cronbach's alpha and internal item consistency. Test of scale quality, the proportion of missing values and respondents' scoring at maximum and minimum levels were also conducted. A total of 20 items in six factors - forward looking, supporting relations, existential ruminations, revaluation of life, physical and mental strength and need of social support were extracted with eigen values above one. Together, they explained 75% of the variance. The half-scale criterion showed that the proportion of incomplete scale scores ranged from 0% to 4.3%. When testing the scale's ability to differentiate between levels of the assessed concept, we found that the observed range of scale scores covered the theoretical range. Substantial proportions of respondents, who scored at the ceiling for forward looking and supporting relations and at floor for the need of social support, were found. These findings should be further investigated. The factor analysis, including discriminant validity

Development of a New Radiation Measuring Instrument for the Column Scanning Technique - NibraS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benahmed, A.; Alami, R.

2013-06-01

The radiation measuring instrument, called Nibras, associated to a special data processing software for Column scanning is a new data acquisition system. It was developed to scan and to plot density profiles, inside a distillation column, which illustrates the activity of the radiations able to cross the contents of the column. Nibras is an autonomous data logger with very low power consumption, using only 4 batteries of 1.5 V and can be operated for more than 120 hours continuously; this presents an ecological and economic importance. Another particularity of Nibras consists in its dual functionality to display counting rates indicating the existence and the intensity of radiation; and to perform a real-time control in industrial plant particularly in oil distillation columns, due to its user-friendly software. This last provides essential data to optimize the performance of the columns, extend column run times, track the performance-deteriorating effects of fouling and solids deposition, and to identify maintenance requirements well in advance of scheduled turnarounds. This on-line knowledge can reduce repair downtime significantly. (authors)

Development and validation of an instrument for measuring the quality of teamwork in teaching teams in postgraduate medical training (TeamQ).

Science.gov (United States)

Slootweg, Irene A; Lombarts, Kiki M J M H; Boerebach, Benjamin C M; Heineman, Maas Jan; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

2014-01-01

Teamwork between clinical teachers is a challenge in postgraduate medical training. Although there are several instruments available for measuring teamwork in health care, none of them are appropriate for teaching teams. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument (TeamQ) for measuring teamwork, to investigate its psychometric properties and to explore how clinical teachers assess their teamwork. To select the items to be included in the TeamQ questionnaire, we conducted a content validation in 2011, using a Delphi procedure in which 40 experts were invited. Next, for pilot testing the preliminary tool, 1446 clinical teachers from 116 teaching teams were requested to complete the TeamQ questionnaire. For data analyses we used statistical strategies: principal component analysis, internal consistency reliability coefficient, and the number of evaluations needed to obtain reliable estimates. Lastly, the median TeamQ scores were calculated for teams to explore the levels of teamwork. In total, 31 experts participated in the Delphi study. In total, 114 teams participated in the TeamQ pilot. The median team response was 7 evaluations per team. The principal component analysis revealed 11 factors; 8 were included. The reliability coefficients of the TeamQ scales ranged from 0.75 to 0.93. The generalizability analysis revealed that 5 to 7 evaluations were needed to obtain internal reliability coefficients of 0.70. In terms of teamwork, the clinical teachers scored residents' empowerment as the highest TeamQ scale and feedback culture as the area that would most benefit from improvement. This study provides initial evidence of the validity of an instrument for measuring teamwork in teaching teams. The high response rates and the low number of evaluations needed for reliably measuring teamwork indicate that TeamQ is feasible for use by teaching teams. Future research could explore the effectiveness of feedback on teamwork in follow up measurements.

Protocol of the COSMIN study: COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick DL

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Choosing an adequate measurement instrument depends on the proposed use of the instrument, the concept to be measured, the measurement properties (e.g. internal consistency, reproducibility, content and construct validity, responsiveness, and interpretability, the requirements, the burden for subjects, and costs of the available instruments. As far as measurement properties are concerned, there are no sufficiently specific standards for the evaluation of measurement properties of instruments to measure health status, and also no explicit criteria for what constitutes good measurement properties. In this paper we describe the protocol for the COSMIN study, the objective of which is to develop a checklist that contains COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments, including explicit criteria for satisfying these standards. We will focus on evaluative health related patient-reported outcomes (HR-PROs, i.e. patient-reported health measurement instruments used in a longitudinal design as an outcome measure, excluding health care related PROs, such as satisfaction with care or adherence. The COSMIN standards will be made available in the form of an easily applicable checklist. Method An international Delphi study will be performed to reach consensus on which and how measurement properties should be assessed, and on criteria for good measurement properties. Two sources of input will be used for the Delphi study: (1 a systematic review of properties, standards and criteria of measurement properties found in systematic reviews of measurement instruments, and (2 an additional literature search of methodological articles presenting a comprehensive checklist of standards and criteria. The Delphi study will consist of four (written Delphi rounds, with approximately 30 expert panel members with different backgrounds in clinical medicine, biostatistics, psychology, and epidemiology. The final checklist will

Validation of an Instrument to Measure High School Students' Attitudes toward Fitness Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Mercier, Kevin; Silverman, Stephen

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to develop an instrument that has scores that are valid and reliable for measuring students' attitudes toward fitness testing. Method: The method involved the following steps: (a) an elicitation study, (b) item development, (c) a pilot study, and (d) a validation study. The pilot study included 427…

Measuring Food Brand Awareness in Australian Children: Development and Validation of a New Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Boyland, Emma; Bauman, Adrian E.

2015-01-01

Background Children’s exposure to food marketing is one environmental determinant of childhood obesity. Measuring the extent to which children are aware of food brands may be one way to estimate relative prior exposures to food marketing. This study aimed to develop and validate an Australian Brand Awareness Instrument (ABAI) to estimate children’s food brand awareness. Methods The ABAI incorporated 30 flashcards depicting food/drink logos and their corresponding products. An abbreviated version was also created using 12 flashcards (ABAI-a). The ABAI was presented to 60 primary school aged children (7-11yrs) attending two Australian after-school centres. A week later, the full-version was repeated on approximately half the sample (n=27) and the abbreviated-version was presented to the remaining half (n=30). The test-retest reliability of the ABAI was analysed using Intra-class correlation coefficients. The concordance of the ABAI-a and full-version was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. The ‘nomological’ validity of the full tool was investigated by comparing children’s brand awareness with food marketing-related variables (e.g. television habits, intake of heavily promoted foods). Results Brand awareness increased with age (plevels of brand awareness. It was shown to be a valid and reliable tool and may allow quantification of brand awareness as a proxy measure for children’s prior food marketing exposure. PMID:26222624

The iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire: A Standardized Instrument for Measuring and Valuing Health-Related Productivity Losses.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouwmans, Clazien; Krol, Marieke; Severens, Hans; Koopmanschap, Marc; Brouwer, Werner; Hakkaart-van Roijen, Leona

2015-09-01

Productivity losses often contribute significantly to the total costs in economic evaluations adopting a societal perspective. Currently, no consensus exists on the measurement and valuation of productivity losses. We aimed to develop a standardized instrument for measuring and valuing productivity losses. A group of researchers with extensive experience in measuring and valuing productivity losses designed an instrument suitable for self-completion, building on preknowledge and evidence on validity. The instrument was designed to cover all domains of productivity losses, thus allowing quantification and valuation of all productivity losses. A feasibility study was performed to check the questionnaire's consistency and intelligibility. The iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ) includes three modules measuring productivity losses of paid work due to 1) absenteeism and 2) presenteeism and productivity losses related to 3) unpaid work. Questions for measuring absenteeism and presenteeism were derived from existing validated questionnaires. Because validated measures of losses of unpaid work are scarce, the questions of this module were newly developed. To enhance the instrument's feasibility, simple language was used. The feasibility study included 195 respondents (response rate 80%) older than 18 years. Seven percent (n = 13) identified problems while filling in the iPCQ, including problems with the questionnaire's instructions and routing (n = 6) and wording (n = 2). Five respondents experienced difficulties in estimating the time that would be needed for other people to make up for lost unpaid work. Most modules of the iPCQ are based on validated questions derived from previously available instruments. The instrument is understandable for most of the general public. Copyright © 2015 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Control device intended for a gamma radiation measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

This invention concerns a monitoring device for a gamma radiation measuring instrument or radiation meter, in which the radiation to be measured brings about, inter alia, the ionisation of a gas and the generation of current pulses. The dial of this meter is generally calibrated in roentgens per hour, i.e. in radiation rate units. This instrument of very simple design is remarkable for its operating reliability. Preferably placed at the inlet to a radioactive area, it enables every user of a ratemeter to check, over the entire measuring range of this instrument, its proper operation prior to entering the area. To this effect, the monitoring device in question has a thick wall lead castle, having an internal cavity in which is mounted a radioactive source delivering a gamma radiation with given constant characteristics, through a measurement window closed by a calibrated plug. Lead doors articulated on the castle can be superimposed on this window to bring about a given attenuation of the radiation coming from the source and delivered to the exterior of the castle [fr

High resolution tomographic instrument development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

Our recent work has concentrated on the development of high-resolution PET instrumentation reflecting in part the growing importance of PET in nuclear medicine imaging. We have developed a number of positron imaging instruments and have the distinction that every instrument has been placed in operation and has had an extensive history of application for basic research and clinical study. The present program is a logical continuation of these earlier successes. PCR-I, a single ring positron tomograph was the first demonstration of analog coding using BGO. It employed 4 mm detectors and is currently being used for a wide range of biological studies. These are of immense importance in guiding the direction for future instruments. In particular, PCR-II, a volume sensitive positron tomograph with 3 mm spatial resolution has benefited greatly from the studies using PCR-I. PCR-II is currently in the final stages of assembly and testing and will shortly be placed in operation for imaging phantoms, animals and ultimately humans. Perhaps the most important finding resulting from our previous study is that resolution and sensitivity must be carefully balanced to achieve a practical high resolution system. PCR-II has been designed to have the detection characteristics required to achieve 3 mm resolution in human brain under practical imaging situations. The development of algorithms by the group headed by Dr. Chesler is based on a long history of prior study including his joint work with Drs. Pelc and Reiderer and Stearns. This body of expertise will be applied to the processing of data from PCR-II when it becomes operational

High resolution tomographic instrument development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-08-01

Our recent work has concentrated on the development of high-resolution PET instrumentation reflecting in part the growing importance of PET in nuclear medicine imaging. We have developed a number of positron imaging instruments and have the distinction that every instrument has been placed in operation and has had an extensive history of application for basic research and clinical study. The present program is a logical continuation of these earlier successes. PCR-I, a single ring positron tomograph was the first demonstration of analog coding using BGO. It employed 4 mm detectors and is currently being used for a wide range of biological studies. These are of immense importance in guiding the direction for future instruments. In particular, PCR-II, a volume sensitive positron tomograph with 3 mm spatial resolution has benefited greatly from the studies using PCR-I. PCR-II is currently in the final stages of assembly and testing and will shortly be placed in operation for imaging phantoms, animals and ultimately humans. Perhaps the most important finding resulting from our previous study is that resolution and sensitivity must be carefully balanced to achieve a practical high resolution system. PCR-II has been designed to have the detection characteristics required to achieve 3 mm resolution in human brain under practical imaging situations. The development of algorithms by the group headed by Dr. Chesler is based on a long history of prior study including his joint work with Drs. Pelc and Reiderer and Stearns. This body of expertise will be applied to the processing of data from PCR-II when it becomes operational.

High resolution tomographic instrument development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-01-01

Our recent work has concentrated on the development of high-resolution PET instrumentation reflecting in part the growing importance of PET in nuclear medicine imaging. We have developed a number of positron imaging instruments and have the distinction that every instrument has been placed in operation and has had an extensive history of application for basic research and clinical study. The present program is a logical continuation of these earlier successes. PCR-I, a single ring positron tomograph was the first demonstration of analog coding using BGO. It employed 4 mm detectors and is currently being used for a wide range of biological studies. These are of immense importance in guiding the direction for future instruments. In particular, PCR-II, a volume sensitive positron tomograph with 3 mm spatial resolution has benefited greatly from the studies using PCR-I. PCR-II is currently in the final stages of assembly and testing and will shortly be placed in operation for imaging phantoms, animals and ultimately humans. Perhaps the most important finding resulting from our previous study is that resolution and sensitivity must be carefully balanced to achieve a practical high resolution system. PCR-II has been designed to have the detection characteristics required to achieve 3 mm resolution in human brain under practical imaging situations. The development of algorithms by the group headed by Dr. Chesler is based on a long history of prior study including his joint work with Drs. Pelc and Reiderer and Stearns. This body of expertise will be applied to the processing of data from PCR-II when it becomes operational.

Characterization of a traceable profiler instrument for areal roughness measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomsen-Schmidt, P

2011-01-01

A two-dimensional profiler instrument was designed and realized at the PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt). The main function of the instrument is to provide traceable results in the field of roughness measurement. It is equipped with a linear moving stylus which is guided by precision air bearings. The moving part of the stylus has weight around 1 g and is carried by a magnetic field. The contacting force of the tip onto the surface under test is controlled by a small voice coil actuator in a closed control loop. Vertical movements of the stylus are captured by two different, completely independent measurement systems, covering a range of 100 µm. The first one is an interferometer, which provides a traceable signal, and the second one is an inductive measurement system. The signal from the inductive measurement system is calibrated by the interferometer. The sample under test is carried within the x–y-plane by a linear guided table with low noise air bearings. These air bearings are preloaded by vacuum and a constant gap is achieved by gas pressure controllers. Both axes of the table are driven by linear voice coil actuators and their movement in the plane is measured by linear encoders. The sample carrier is equipped with two axes tilt compensation, by which the sample under test can be levelled automatically using the measurement system of the stylus. Real-time data acquisition, manual handling and automated procedures are managed by a programmable controller and proprietary software written in LabVIEW. After measurement, data from the system can be directly transferred into the smd- or sdf-format. Results of measurements on different samples to characterize the metrological behaviour of the instrument will be reported. To characterize the uncertainty of the instrument, a model is applied, which is in accordance with approved rules for contact stylus instruments

Development and Validation of Teaching Practice Evaluation Instrument for Assessing Chemistry Students' Teaching Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Ezeudu, F. O.; Chiaha, G. T. U.; Eze, J. U.

2013-01-01

The study was designed to develop and factorially validate an instrument for measuring teaching practice skills of chemistry student-teachers in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Two research questions guided the study. The design of the study was instrumentation. All the chemistry student-teachers in the Department of Science Education, University…

UPTF test instrumentation. Measurement system identification, engineering units and computed parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarkar, J.; Liebert, J.; Laeufer, R.

1992-11-01

This updated version of the previous report /1/ contains, besides additional instrumentation needed for 2D/3D Programme, the supplementary instrumentation in the inlet plenum of SG simulator and hot and cold leg of broken loop, the cold leg of intact loops and the upper plenum to meet the requirements (Test Phase A) of the UPTF Programme, TRAM, sponsored by the Federal Minister of Research and Technology (BMFT) of the Federal Republic of Germany. For understanding, the derivation and the description of the identification codes for the entire conventional and advanced measurement systems classifying the function, and the equipment unit, key, as adopted in the conventional power plants, have been included. Amendments have also been made to the appendices. In particular, the list of measurement systems covering the measurement identification code, instrument, measured quantity, measuring range, band width, uncertainty and sensor location has been updated and extended to include the supplementary instrumentation. Beyond these amendments, the uncertainties of measurements have been precisely specified. The measurement identification codes which also stand for the identification of the corresponding measured quantities in engineering units and the identification codes derived therefrom for the computed parameters have been adequately detailed. (orig.)

The development process and tendency of nuclear instruments applied in industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji Changsong

2005-01-01

The development process of nuclear technique application in industry may be divided into three stages: early stage--density, thickness and level measurement; middle stage--neutron moisture, ash content and X-ray fluorescence analysis; recent state--container inspection and industrial CT, nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron capture and non-elastic collision analysis techniques. The development tendency of nuclear instruments applied in industry is: spectrum measurement; detector array and image technique; nuclide analysis and new kinds of nuclear detectors are widely adopted. (authors)

Development and validation of an instrument to assess job satisfaction in eye-care personnel.

Science.gov (United States)

Paudel, Prakash; Cronjé, Sonja; O'Connor, Patricia M; Khadka, Jyoti; Rao, Gullapalli N; Holden, Brien A

2017-11-01

The aim was to develop and validate an instrument to measure job satisfaction in eye-care personnel and assess the job satisfaction of one-year trained vision technicians in India. A pilot instrument for assessing job satisfaction was developed, based on a literature review and input from a public health expert panel. Rasch analysis was used to assess psychometric properties and to undertake an iterative item reduction. The instrument was then administered to vision technicians in vision centres of Andhra Pradesh in India. Associations between vision technicians' job satisfaction and factors such as age, gender and experience were analysed using t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Rasch analysis confirmed that the 15-item job satisfaction in eye-care personnel (JSEP) was a unidimensional instrument with good fit statistics, measurement precisions and absence of differential item functioning. Overall, vision technicians reported high rates of job satisfaction (0.46 logits). Age, gender and experience were not associated with high job satisfaction score. Item score analysis showed non-financial incentives, salary and workload were the most important determinants of job satisfaction. The 15-item JSEP instrument is a valid instrument for assessing job satisfaction among eye-care personnel. Overall, vision technicians in India demonstrated high rates of job satisfaction. © 2016 Optometry Australia.

Developing an instrument to assess information technology staff motivation

OpenAIRE

Belfo, Fernando Paulo; Sousa, Rui Dinis

2011-01-01

Motivation is a key factor that influences individual effort, which, in turn, affects individual and organizational performance. Nevertheless, motivation at work depends on the organizational rewards and incentives, according to individual goals. This paper reports on the development of an instrument designed to measure the motivation of Information Technology people at their workplace. Psychology theories and work addressing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have been studied. Some motivati...

Design and development of an instrument to measure radiative absorption of seawater. Sumarad

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fasano, G.; Materassi, A.

2003-01-01

In the present work, a low-cost instrument is presented that provides the ratio between underwater radiation and radiation outside water for the four spectral ranges fundamental for photosynthetic activity (Sub Marine Radiometer). The instrument essentially consists of two radiometers which operate in the same four bands: one acquires radiation outside the water, the other underwater radiation at a pre-established depth. The two acquisition systems are synchronized when the instrument is turned on and then, in the course of data elaboration, the ratio is obtained between underwater and outside water radiation for each spectral band, at any determined moment, at a predetermined depth. This ratio, in accordance with the Beer-Lambert equation, represents the transmittance of the medium crossed by radiation. By applying the Linke equation to collected data, it is also possible to determine the turbidity of the considered medium. The system can acquire as many as 1,472 data, with programmable temporal scanning, and can operate at depths up to 50 meters. Applications of this instrument are already in progress in studies concerning the relationship between solar radiation and photosynthetic activity of Posidonia oceanica. The proposed instrument has a relatively low cost, when compared with that of other instruments currently on the market, making it particularly suitable for applications that require numerous instruments to monitor sea, lacustrine or fluvial water in various points at the same time [it

ISOMAX: a balloon-borne instrument to measure cosmic ray isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hof, M.; Bremerich, M.; Goebel, H.; Hams, T.; Menn, W.; Simon, M.; Barbier, L.M.; Christian, E.R.; Geier, S.; Gupta, S.K.; Krizmanic, J.F.; Mitchell, J.W.; Ormes, J.F.; Streitmatter, R.E.; Davis, A.J.; Nolfo, G.A. de; Mewaldt, R.A.; Schindler, S.M.

2000-01-01

The Isotope Magnet Experiment (ISOMAX) is a new balloon-borne instrument developed to measure the isotopic composition of the light elements in the cosmic radiation, in particular to obtain the ratio of the radioactive 10 Be to stable 9 Be. ISOMAX was first flown in August 4-5, 1998, from Lynn Lake, Manitoba, Canada. ISOMAX has a geometry factor of 450 cm 2 sr and was configured for this flight with a large, Helmholtz-like, superconducting magnet in combination with a drift-chamber tracking system, a state-of-the-art time-of-flight system and two aerogel Cherenkov detectors to measure light isotopes with a mass resolution of better than 0.25 amu. In the 1998 flight the obtained maximum detectable rigidity of the magnetic spectrometer was 970 GeV/c for helium at 60% of the full magnetic field. ISOMAX took data for more than 16 h at float altitudes above 36 km. We here present the performance of the individual detectors and initial isotopic results of the instrument

Thickness measurement instrument with memory storage of multiple calibrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lieber, S.; Schlesinger, J.; Lieber, D.; Baker, A.

1979-01-01

An improved backscatter instrument for the nondestructive measurement of coatings on a substrate is described. A memory having selectable memory areas, each area having stored intelligence available which is determinative of the shape of a functional plot of coating thickness versus backscatter counts per minute unique for each particular combination of emitting isotope, substrate material, coating material and physical characteristics of the measuring instrument. A memory selector switch connects a selected area of memory to a microprocessor operating under program control whereby the microprocessor reads the intelligence stored at the selected area and converts the backscattered count of the coating being measured into indicia of coating thickness

Assessment of sexual difficulties associated with multi-modal treatment for cervical or endometrial cancer: A systematic review of measurement instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Isabella D; Sangha, Amrit; Lucas, Grace; Wiseman, Theresa

2016-12-01

Practitioners and researchers require an outcome measure that accurately identifies the range of common treatment-induced changes in sexual function and well-being experienced by women after cervical or endometrial cancer. This systematic review critically appraised the measurement properties and clinical utility of instruments validated for the measurement of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in this clinical population. A bibliographic database search for questionnaire development or validation papers was completed and methodological quality and measurement properties of selected studies rated using the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instrument (COSMIN) checklist. 738 articles were screened, 13 articles retrieved for full text assessment and 7 studies excluded, resulting in evaluation of 6 papers; 2 QoL and 4 female sexual morbidity measures. Five of the six instruments omitted one or more dimension of female sexual function and only one instrument explicitly measured distress associated with sexual changes as per DSM V (APA 2013) diagnostic criteria. None of the papers reported measurement error, responsiveness data was available for only two instruments, three papers failed to report on criterion validity, and test-retest reliability reporting was inconsistent. Heterosexual penile-vaginal intercourse remains the dominant sexual activity focus for sexual morbidity PROMS terminology and instruments lack explicit reference to solo or non-coital sexual expression or validation in a non-heterosexual sample. Four out of six instruments included mediating treatment or illness items such as vaginal changes, menopause or altered body image. Findings suggest that the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) remains the most robust sexual morbidity outcome measure, for research or clinical use, in sexually active women treated for cervical or endometrial cancer. Development of an instrument that measures sexual dysfunction in women who are

Development of nuclear imaging instrument and software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jang Hee; Chung Jae Myung; Nam, Sang Won; Chang, Hyung Uk

1999-03-01

In the medical diagnosis, the nuclear medical instrument using the radioactive isotope are commonly utilized. In the foreign countries, the medical application and development of the most advanced nuclear medical instrument such as Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (SPECT) and position emission tomograph (PET), have been extensively carried out. However, in Korea, such highly expensive instruments have been all, imported, paying foreign currency. Since 1997, much efforts, the development of the radio nuclide medical instrument, the drive of the domestic production, etc. have been made to establish our own technologies and to balance the international payments under the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology. At present time, 180 nuclear imaging instruments are now in operation and 60 of them are analog camera. In analog camera, the vector X-Y monitor is need for are image display. Since the analog camera, signal can not be process in the digital form, we have difficulties to transfer and store the image data. The image displayed at the monitor must be stored in the form of polaroid or X ray film. In order to discard these disadvantages, if we developed the computer interface system, the performance analog camera will be comparable with that of the digital camera. The final objective of the research is that using the interface system developed in this research, we reconstruct the image data transmitted to the personal computer in the form of the generalized data file

Development of Reasoning Test Instruments Based on TIMSS Framework for Measuring Reasoning Ability of Senior High School Student on the Physics Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Muslim; Suhandi, A.; Nugraha, M. G.

2017-02-01

The purposes of this study are to determine the quality of reasoning test instruments that follow the framework of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) as a development results and to analyse the profile of reasoning skill of senior high school students on physics materials. This research used research and development method (R&D), furthermore the subject were 104 students at three senior high schools in Bandung selected by random sampling technique. Reasoning test instruments are constructed following the TIMSS framework in multiple choice forms in 30 questions that cover five subject matters i.e. parabolic motion and circular motion, Newton’s law of gravity, work and energy, harmonic oscillation, as well as the momentum and impulse. The quality of reasoning tests were analysed using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and classic test analysis include the validity of item, level of difficulty, discriminating power, reliability and Ferguson’s delta. As for the students’ reasoning skills profiles were analysed by the average score of achievements on eight aspects of the reasoning TIMSS framework. The results showed that reasoning test have a good quality as instruments to measure reasoning skills of senior high school students on five matters physics which developed and able to explore the reasoning of students on all aspects of reasoning based on TIMSS framework.

Perception of competence in middle school physical education: instrument development and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Scrabis-Fletcher, Kristin; Silverman, Stephen

2010-03-01

Perception of Competence (POC) has been studied extensively in physical activity (PA) research with similar instruments adapted for physical education (PE) research. Such instruments do not account for the unique PE learning environment. Therefore, an instrument was developed and the scores validated to measure POC in middle school PE. A multiphase design was used consisting of an intensive theoretical review, elicitation study, prepilot study, pilot study, content validation study, and final validation study (N=1281). Data analysis included a multistep iterative process to identify the best model fit. A three-factor model for POC was tested and resulted in root mean square error of approximation = .09, root mean square residual = .07, goodness offit index = .90, and adjusted goodness offit index = .86 values in the acceptable range (Hu & Bentler, 1999). A two-factor model was also tested and resulted in a good fit (two-factor fit indexes values = .05, .03, .98, .97, respectively). The results of this study suggest that an instrument using a three- or two-factor model provides reliable and valid scores ofPOC measurement in middle school PE.

Instruments to assess patients with rotator cuff pathology: a systematic review of measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Umile Giuseppe; Saris, Daniël; Poolman, Rudolf W; Berton, Alessandra; Denaro, Vincenzo

2012-10-01

The aims of this study were to obtain an overview of the methodological quality of studies on the measurement properties of rotator cuff questionnaires and to describe how well various aspects of the design and statistical analyses of studies on measurement properties are performed. A systematic review of published studies on the measurement properties of rotator cuff questionnaires was performed. Two investigators independently rated the quality of the studies using the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments checklist. This checklist was developed in an international Delphi consensus study. Sixteen studies were included, in which two measurement instruments were evaluated, namely the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index and the Rotator Cuff Quality-of-Life Measure. The methodological quality of the included studies was adequate on some properties (construct validity, reliability, responsiveness, internal consistency, and translation) but need to be improved on other aspects. The most important methodological aspects that need to be developed are as follows: measurement error, content validity, structural validity, cross-cultural validity, criterion validity, and interpretability. Considering the importance of adequate measurement properties, it is concluded that, in the field of rotator cuff pathology, there is room for improvement in the methodological quality of studies measurement properties. II.

Application of expert system in measurement instrument instrumentation's maintenance on a acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinastiko, W.S.

1997-01-01

Expert system is a part of the artificial intelligence, a solution software for complicated problems, which solving the problems need experiences and knowledge. This paper discussed about the research's result, that is a design of expert system to help instrumentation's maintenance on a data acquisition system. By using application of expert system, the system can do health monitoring, automatic trouble trouble tracing ang gives advise toward the trouble. this instrumentation's maintenance system is a tool which has an analytic and inference ability toward th trouble. This smart system is a very useful tool to get a good data acquisition system quality. the model system also can be developed to be a specific application as a remote instrumentation's management system

INSTRUMENTATION FOR MEASURING AND TRANSMISSION THE SOLAR RADIATION THROUGH EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Dan Toma

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The Sun's energy is distributed over a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum and Sun behaves approximately like a "blackbody" radiating at a temperature of about 5800 K with maximum output in the green-yellow part of the visible spectrum, around 500 nm. Not all solar radiation reaching the top of the atmosphere reaches Earth's surface due to a various optical phenomena in regard to solar radiation crossing the Earth’s atmosphere. In order to investigate them, there are two general categories of instruments used to measure the transmission of solar radiation through Earth's atmosphere: instruments that measure radiation from the entire sky and instruments that measure only direct solar radiation. Within each of these categories, instruments can be further subdivided into those that measure radiation over a broad range of wavelengths and those that measure only specific wavelengths.

Development of the Multi-Angle Stratospheric Aerosol Radiometer (MASTAR) Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

DeLand, M. T.; Colarco, P. R.; Kowalewski, M. G.; Gorkavyi, N.; Ramos-Izquierdo, L.

2017-12-01

Aerosol particles in the stratosphere ( 15-25 km altitude), both produced naturally and perturbed by volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic emissions, continue to be a source of significant uncertainty in the Earth's energy budget. Stratospheric aerosols can offset some of the warming effects caused by greenhouse gases. These aerosols are currently monitored using measurements from the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. In order to improve the sensitivity and spatial coverage of these aerosol data, we are developing an aerosol-focused compact version of the OMPS LP sensor called Multi-Angle Stratospheric Aerosol Radiometer (MASTAR) to fly on a 3U Cubesat satellite, using a NASA Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) grant. This instrument will make limb viewing measurements of the atmosphere in multiple directions simultaneously, and uses only a few selected wavelengths to reduce size and cost. An initial prototype version has been constructed using NASA GSFC internal funding and tested in the laboratory. Current design work is targeted towards a preliminary field test in Spring 2018. We will discuss the scientific benefits of MASTAR and the status of the project.

System for calibration of instruments of x-ray measurement (CIR-X) applying the PGCS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaytan G, E.; Rivero G, T.; Cruz E, P.; Tovar M, V.M.; Vergara M, F.J.

2007-01-01

The Department of Metrology of Ionizing Radiations of the ININ carries out calibration of instruments for X-ray measurement that determine the operation parameters in X-ray diagnostic machines of the health and private sectors. To facilitate this task, the Department of Automation and Instrumentation developed a system for acquisition and signals processing coming from a reference voltage divider with traceability at NIST that is connected directly to the X-rays tube. The system is integrated by the X-ray unit, the X-ray measurement equipment Dynalizer IIIU of RADCAL, a data acquisition card, a personal computer and the acquisition software and signals processing. (Author)

Policy instruments for pollution control in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskeland, G S; Jimenez, E

1992-07-01

Economic development in developing countries must be accomplished in a manner that does not harm the environment with pollution. Pollution harms human health and productivity. Thus appropriate strategies must be developed that promote growth, reduce poverty, and protect the environment. A review of the current literature is performed with attention paid to cost-effective interventions i.e., comparisons of regulatory and fiscal instruments that can reduce pollution. Both direct instruments (like effluent charges, tradable permits, deposit refund systems, emission regulations and regulatory agency funding for purification, cleanup, waste disposal, and enforcement) and indirect instruments (like input/output taxes and subsidies, substitution subsidies, abatement inputs, regulation of equipment and processes, and development of clean technologies) are examined. Examples are used to show how indirect instruments can be successful when monitoring and enforcement is too costly. A careful examination of distributive concerns illustrate how the effect on the poor may need particular consideration and how groups with vested interests can help evaluate the probable success of such interventions.

Calibration Base Lines for Electronic Distance Measuring Instruments (EDMI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — A calibration base line (CBL) is a precisely measured, straight-line course of approximately 1,400 m used to calibrate Electronic Distance Measuring Instruments...

Phonation Quotient in Women: A Measure of Vocal Efficiency Using Three Aerodynamic Instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Ashwini; Watts, Christopher R

2017-03-01

The purpose of this study was to examine measures of vital capacity and phonation quotient across three age groups in women using three different aerodynamic instruments representing low-tech and high-tech options. This study has a prospective, repeated measures design. Fifteen women in each age group of 25-39 years, 40-59 years, and 60-79 years were assessed using maximum phonation time and vital capacity obtained from three aerodynamic instruments: a handheld analog windmill type spirometer, a handheld digital spirometer, and the Phonatory Aerodynamic System (PAS), Model 6600. Phonation quotient was calculated using vital capacity from each instrument. Analyses of variance were performed to test for main effects of the instruments and age on vital capacity and derived phonation quotient. Pearson product moment correlation was performed to assess measurement reliability (parallel forms) between the instruments. Regression equations, scatterplots, and coefficients of determination were also calculated. Statistically significant differences were found in vital capacity measures for the digital spirometer compared with the windmill-type spirometer and PAS across age groups. Strong positive correlations were present between all three instruments for both vital capacity and derived phonation quotient measurements. Measurement precision for the digital spirometer was lower than the windmill spirometer compared with the PAS. However, all three instruments had strong measurement reliability. Additionally, age did not have an effect on the measurement across instruments. These results are consistent with previous literature reporting data from male speakers and support the use of low-tech options for measurement of basic aerodynamic variables associated with voice production. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Belgium and France join forces in measuring instrument research. SCK-CEN and CEA are jointly developing an innovative type of gamma detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vermeeren, L.

2011-01-01

Real-time monitoring is extremely important to accurately interpret irradiation experiments in research reactors. SCK-CEN has years of expertise in developing sensors to monitor neutron flux, temperature, gamma radiation, etc. It has been collaborating with the CEA since 2006. Both partners share research and research results in the Laboratoire Commun de Instrumentation. Recently, a joint patent application was made for a new type of sensor to measure gamma rays.

A new radiometric instrument designed to measure the parameters of bituminous coal on transport belts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubicek, P.

1993-01-01

A new radiometric instrument developed in Czechoslovakia, for the measurement of ash content of bituminous coal, and for the determination of approximate values of moisture and weight is described. (Author)

Instrument development in the measurement of unsupported arm exercise endurance in normal adult subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Breslin, E H; Adams, E; Lutz, A; Roy, C

1993-06-01

Many daily activities, from basic grooming to employment tasks, require adequate unsupported arm endurance (UAE). We developed an electromechanical device to measure UAE endurance. The purpose of this study was to standardize the instrument for two rates of arm motion, moderate and slow, in 18 normal adult subjects (FEVI = 3.7L +/- .78, FVC = 4.2L +/- .74, FEV1/FVC = 1.1 +/- .08). Exercise endurance limits, and the following metabolic, ventilatory, and sensation responses were determined at rest prior to exercise and at end-exercise limits for both rates of UAE:minute ventilation (Ve), tidal volume (VT), respiratory rate (RR), duty cycle (Ti/Ttot), oxygen uptake (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2), inspiratory flow (VT/Ti), heart rate (HR), and visual analog scale measurements (VAS) of dyspnea (D), respiratory effort (RE), and arm fatigue (AF). Significance increases from baseline rest were shown at the endurance limits for both rates of UAE in: VO2, VCO2, Ve, VT, RR, VT/Ti, HR, VAS-D, VAS-RE, and VAS-AF. There were no changes in Ti/Ttot and SaO2 with UAE. Peak VO2, RR, Ve, VT/Ti, and VAS-D with moderate exercise were significantly greater than slow UAE; and there was a trend increase in peak HR for moderate as opposed to slow rate UAE. Despite these differences, the endurance time between the two rates of UAE were similar. These data provide standards against which UAE in COPD can be evaluated.

The Development and Evaluation of a Novel Instrument Assessing Residents' Discharge Summaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Hommos, Musab S; Kuperman, Ethan F; Kamath, Aparna; Kreiter, Clarence D

2017-04-01

To develop and determine the reliability of a novel measurement instrument assessing the quality of residents' discharge summaries. In 2014, the authors created a discharge summary evaluation instrument based on consensus recommendations from national regulatory bodies and input from primary care providers at their institution. After a brief pilot, they used the instrument to evaluate discharge summaries written by first-year internal medicine residents (n = 24) at a single U.S. teaching hospital during the 2013-2014 academic year. They conducted a generalizability study to determine the reliability of the instrument and a series of decision studies to determine the number of discharge summaries and raters needed to achieve a reliable evaluation score. The generalizability study demonstrated that 37% of the variance reflected residents' ability to generate an adequate discharge summary (true score variance). The decision studies estimated that the mean score from six discharge summary reviews completed by a unique rater for each review would yield a reliability coefficient of 0.75. Because of high interrater reliability, multiple raters per discharge summary would not significantly enhance the reliability of the mean rating. This evaluation instrument reliably measured residents' performance writing discharge summaries. A single rating of six discharge summaries can achieve a reliable mean evaluation score. Using this instrument is feasible even for programs with a limited number of inpatient encounters and a small pool of faculty preceptors.

Aerodynamics support of research instrument development

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, L. Scott

1990-09-01

A new velocimetry system is currently being developed at NASA LaRC. The device, known as a Doppler global velocimeter (DGV), can record three velocity components within a plane simultaneously and in near real time. To make measurements the DGV, like many other velocimetry systems, relies on the scattering of light from numerous small particles in a flow field. The particles or seeds are illuminated by a sheet of laser light and viewed by two CCD cameras. The scattered light from the particles will have a frequency which is a function of the source laser light frequency, the viewing angle, and most importantly the seed velocities. By determining the scattered light intensity the velocity can be measured at all points within the light sheet simultaneously. Upon completion of DGV component construction and initial check out a series of tests in the Basic Aerodynamic Research (wind) Tunnel (BART) are scheduled to verify instrument operation and accuracy. If the results are satisfactory, application of the DGV to flight measurements on the F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) are planned. The DGV verification test in the BART facility will utilize a 75 degree swept delta wing model. A major task undertaken this summer included evaluation of previous results for this model. A specific series of tests matching exactly the previous tests and exploring new DGV capabilities were developed and suggested. Another task undertaken was to study DGV system installation possibilities in the F-18 HARV aircraft. In addition, a simple seeding system modification was developed and utilized to make Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) measurements in the BART facility.

Development of an atmospheric 214Bi measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

Part of the radiation environment encountered during airborne gamma ray surveys is produced by 214 Bi existing in the atmosphere. The 214 Bi atmospheric concentration changes with time and location, and should be measured to process the acquired data correctly. Three methods of atmospheric 214 Bi measurement are evaluated in this work. These are: (1) an 11 1 / 2 '' dia. x 4'' thick NaI(Tl) crystal shielded from ground radiation, (2) a negatively charged wire to collect radioactive ions, and (3) a high volume air sampler collecting particulate matter on filter paper. The shielded detector and filter paper methods yield good results with the shielded detector producing a factor of about 10 times higher counting rate. The charged wire method gave very low counting rates where the shielded detector counting rates were about a factor of 100 times higher, and the results did not correlate with the 214 Bi atmospheric concentration as determined by the other two methods. The theory necessary to understand the collection and decay of the airborne radioactivity using the charged wire and filter paper methods is developed