Analysis of accuracy in photogrammetric roughness measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Olkowicz, Marcin; Dąbrowski, Marcin; Pluymakers, Anne

2017-04-01

Regarding permeability, one of the most important features of shale gas reservoirs is the effective aperture of cracks opened during hydraulic fracturing, both propped and unpropped. In a propped fracture, the aperture is controlled mostly by proppant size and its embedment, and fracture surface roughness only has a minor influence. In contrast, in an unpropped fracture aperture is controlled by the fracture roughness and the wall displacement. To measure fracture surface roughness, we have used the photogrammetric method since it is time- and cost-efficient. To estimate the accuracy of this method we compare the photogrammetric measurements with reference measurements taken with a White Light Interferometer (WLI). Our photogrammetric setup is based on high resolution 50 Mpx camera combined with a focus stacking technique. The first step for photogrammetric measurements is to determine the optimal camera positions and lighting. We compare multiple scans of one sample, taken with different settings of lighting and camera positions, with the reference WLI measurement. The second step is to perform measurements of all studied fractures with the parameters that produced the best results in the first step. To compare photogrammetric and WLI measurements we regrid both data sets onto a regular 10 μm grid and determined the best fit, followed by a calculation of the difference between the measurements. The first results of the comparison show that for 90 % of measured points the absolute vertical distance between WLI and photogrammetry is less than 10 μm, while the mean absolute vertical distance is 5 μm. This proves that our setup can be used for fracture roughness measurements in shales.

Effect of irrigation on surface roughness and fatigue resistance of controlled memory wire nickel-titanium instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, J-J; Tang, X-N; Ge, J-Y

2017-07-01

To investigate the effect of irrigation on the surface roughness and fatigue resistance of HyFlex and M3 controlled memory (CM) wire nickel-titanium instruments. Two new files of each brand were analysed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Then, the instruments were dynamically immersed in either 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) or 17% ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution for 10 min, followed by AFM analysis. The roughness average (Ra) and root mean square (RMS) values were analysed statistically using an independent sample t-test. Then, 36 files of each brand were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 12). Group 1 (the control group) was composed of new instruments. Groups 2 and 3 were dynamically immersed in 5.25% NaOCl and 17% EDTA solutions for 10 min, respectively. The number of rotations to failure for various groups was analysed using the one-way analysis of variance software. For M3 files, the Ra and RMS values significantly increased (P  0.05) NaOCl. The resistance to cyclic fatigue of both HyFlex and M3 files did not significantly decrease (P > 0.05) by immersing in 5.25% NaOCl and 17% EDTA solutions. Except the HyFlex files immersed in NaOCl, the surface roughness of other files exposed to irrigants increased. However, a change in the surface tomography of CM wire instruments caused by contact with irrigants for 10 min did not trigger a decrease in cyclic fatigue resistance. © 2016 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Studies of non-contact methods for roughness measurements on wood surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundberg, I.A.S.; Porankiewicz, B.

1995-01-01

The quality of wood surfaces after different kinds of machining processes is a property of great importance for the wood processing industries. Present work is a study, whose objective was to evaluate different non-contact methods, for measurement of the quality of the wood surfaces by correlating them with stylus tracing. A number of Scots Pine samples were prepared by different kinds of wood machining processing. Surface roughness measurements were performed, utilizing two optical noncontact methods. The results indicate that the laser scan method can measure surface roughness on sawn wood with a sufficient degree of accuracy. (author) [de

Unbiased roughness measurements: the key to better etch performance

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Andrew; Mack, Chris; Sirard, Stephen; Liang, Chen-wei; Yang, Liu; Jiang, Justin; Shamma, Nader; Wise, Rich; Yu, Jengyi; Hymes, Diane

2018-03-01

Edge placement error (EPE) has become an increasingly critical metric to enable Moore's Law scaling. Stochastic variations, as characterized for lines by line width roughness (LWR) and line edge roughness (LER), are dominant factors in EPE and known to increase with the introduction of EUV lithography. However, despite recommendations from ITRS, NIST, and SEMI standards, the industry has not agreed upon a methodology to quantify these properties. Thus, differing methodologies applied to the same image often result in different roughness measurements and conclusions. To standardize LWR and LER measurements, Fractilia has developed an unbiased measurement that uses a raw unfiltered line scan to subtract out image noise and distortions. By using Fractilia's inverse linescan model (FILM) to guide development, we will highlight the key influences of roughness metrology on plasma-based resist smoothing processes. Test wafers were deposited to represent a 5 nm node EUV logic stack. The patterning stack consists of a core Si target layer with spin-on carbon (SOC) as the hardmask and spin-on glass (SOG) as the cap. Next, these wafers were exposed through an ASML NXE 3350B EUV scanner with an advanced chemically amplified resist (CAR). Afterwards, these wafers were etched through a variety of plasma-based resist smoothing techniques using a Lam Kiyo conductor etch system. Dense line and space patterns on the etched samples were imaged through advanced Hitachi CDSEMs and the LER and LWR were measured through both Fractilia and an industry standard roughness measurement software. By employing Fractilia to guide plasma-based etch development, we demonstrate that Fractilia produces accurate roughness measurements on resist in contrast to an industry standard measurement software. These results highlight the importance of subtracting out SEM image noise to obtain quicker developmental cycle times and lower target layer roughness.

Influence of Surface Roughness on the Fatigue Life of Nickel-Titanium Rotary Endodontic Instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Hélio P; Elias, Carlos N; Vieira, Márcia V B; Vieira, Victor T L; de Souza, Letícia Chaves; Dos Santos, Alexander Lopes

2016-06-01

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the influence of surface grooves (peaks and valleys) resulting from machining during the manufacturing process of polished and unpolished nickel-titanium BR4C endodontic files on the fatigue life of the instruments. Ten electropolished and 10 unpolished endodontic files were provided by the manufacturer. Specimens were from the same batch, but the unpolished instruments were removed from the production line before surface treatment. The instruments were evaluated with a profilometer to quantify the surface roughness on the working part of the instruments. Then the files were subjected to rotating bending fatigue tests. Analysis with the profilometer showed that surface grooves were deeper on the unpolished instruments compared with their electropolished counterparts. In the rotating bending fatigue test, the mean and standard deviation for the number of cycles until fracture (NCF) were greater for instruments with less pronounced grooves. Student t test revealed significant differences in all tests (P instruments tested; the smaller the groove depth, the greater the NCF. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Skin friction measurements of mathematically generated roughness in the transitionally- to fully-rough regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, Julio; Schultz, Michael; Flack, Karen

2016-11-01

Engineering systems are affected by surface roughness which cause an increase in drag leading to significant performance penalties. One important question is how to predict frictional drag purely based upon surface topography. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, this has proven to be challenging. The present work takes a systematic approach by generating surface roughness in which surfaces parameters, such as rms , skewness, can be controlled. Surfaces were produced using the random Fourier modes method with enforced power-law spectral slopes. The surfaces were manufactured using high resolution 3D-printing. In this study three surfaces with constant amplitude and varying slope, P, were investigated (P = - 0 . 5 , - 1 . 0 , - 1 . 5). Skin-friction measurements were conducted in a high Reynolds number turbulent channel flow facility, covering a wide range of Reynolds numbers, from hydraulic-smooth to fully-rough regimes. Results show that some long wavelength roughness scales do not contribute significantly to the frictional drag, thus highlighting the need for filtering in the calculation of surface statistics. Upon high-pass filtering, it was found that krms is highly correlated with the measured ks.

Root surface smoothness or roughness following open debridement. An in vivo study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlageter, L; Rateitschak-Plüss, E M; Schwarz, J P

1996-05-01

Consensus has not been reached on the desired characteristics of the root surface following cleaning. It is also not clear what degree of roughness or smoothness results from use of different instruments. In the present human clinical study, various instruments for root surface cleaning were evaluated. 18 teeth destined for extraction for periodontal reasons were utilized. After reflection of soft tissue flaps, the 72 root surface aspects of the 18 teeth were uniformally treated with one of the following instruments: Gracey curette (GC), piezo ultrasonic scaler (PUS), Perioplaner curette (PPC), sonic scaler (SS), 75 microns diamond (75 D) and 15 microns diamond (15.D). The degree of roughness of each surface was measured after extraction. A planimetry apparatus was used to establish the average surface roughness (Ra) and the mean depth of the roughness profile (Rz). It was demonstrated that hand- and machine-driven curettes as well as very fine rotating diamonds created the smoothest root surfaces, while "vibrating" instruments such as sonic and ultrasonic scalers, as well as coarse diamonds, tended to roughen the root surface. Whether the root surface should be rough or smooth in order to enhance tissue healing remains an open question.

A Meta-Analysis: Acoustic Measurement of Roughness and Breathiness

Science.gov (United States)

v. Latoszek, Ben Barsties; Maryn, Youri; Gerrits, Ellen; De Bodt, Marc

2018-01-01

Purpose: Over the last 5 decades, many acoustic measures have been created to measure roughness and breathiness. The aim of this study is to present a meta-analysis of correlation coefficients (r) between auditory-perceptual judgment of roughness and breathiness and various acoustic measures in both sustained vowels and continuous speech. Method:…

A fast Gaussian filtering algorithm for three-dimensional surface roughness measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Y B; Piao, W Y; Xu, J B

2007-01-01

The two-dimensional (2-D) Gaussian filter can be separated into two one-dimensional (1-D) Gaussian filters. The 1-D Gaussian filter can be implemented approximately by the cascaded Butterworth filters. The approximation accuracy will be improved with the increase of the number of the cascaded filters. A recursive algorithm for Gaussian filtering requires a relatively small number of simple mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, so that it has considerable computational efficiency and it is very useful for three-dimensional (3-D) surface roughness measurements. The zero-phase-filtering technique is used in this algorithm, so there is no phase distortion in the Gaussian filtered mean surface. High-order approximation Gaussian filters are proposed for practical use to assure high accuracy of Gaussian filtering of 3-D surface roughness measurements

A fast Gaussian filtering algorithm for three-dimensional surface roughness measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Y. B.; Piao, W. Y.; Xu, J. B.

2007-07-01

The two-dimensional (2-D) Gaussian filter can be separated into two one-dimensional (1-D) Gaussian filters. The 1-D Gaussian filter can be implemented approximately by the cascaded Butterworth filters. The approximation accuracy will be improved with the increase of the number of the cascaded filters. A recursive algorithm for Gaussian filtering requires a relatively small number of simple mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, so that it has considerable computational efficiency and it is very useful for three-dimensional (3-D) surface roughness measurements. The zero-phase-filtering technique is used in this algorithm, so there is no phase distortion in the Gaussian filtered mean surface. High-order approximation Gaussian filters are proposed for practical use to assure high accuracy of Gaussian filtering of 3-D surface roughness measurements.

EDITORIAL: Advances in Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments for Production Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Wei; Takaya, Yasuhiro; Gao, Yongsheng; Krystek, Michael

2008-08-01

Measurement and instrumentation have long played an important role in Production Engineering, through supporting both the traditional field of manufacturing and the new field of micro/nano-technology. Papers published in this special feature were selected and updated from those presented at The 8th International Symposium on Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments (ISMTII 2007) held at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, on 24-27 September 2007. ISMTII 2007 was organized by ICMI (The International Committee on Measurements and Instrumentation), Japan Society for Precision Engineering (JSPE, Technical Committee of Intelligent Measurement with Nanoscale), Korean Society for Precision Engineering (KSPE), Chinese Society for Measurement (CSM) and Tohoku University. The conference was also supported by Center for Precision Metrology of UNC Charlotte and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology. A total of 220 papers, including four keynote papers, were presented at ISMTII 2007, covering a wide range of topics, including micro/nano-metrology, precision measurement, online & in-process measurement, surface metrology, optical metrology & image processing, biomeasurement, sensor technology, intelligent measurement & instrumentation, uncertainty, traceability & calibration, and signal processing algorithms. The guest editors recommended publication of updated versions of some of the best ISMTII 2007 papers in this special feature of Measurement Science and Technology. The first two papers were presented in ISMTII 2007 as keynote papers. Takamasu et al from The University of Tokyo report uncertainty estimation for coordinate metrology, in which methods of estimating uncertainties using the coordinate measuring system after calibration are formulated. Haitjema, from Mitutoyo Research Center Europe, treats the most often used interferometric measurement techniques (displacement interferometry and surface interferometry) and their major sources of errors. Among

Optical measurement of microroughness of pigment coatings on rough substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Elton, N. J.

2009-02-01

The optical determination of rms roughness at the sub-wavelength scale by measurement of specular intensity as a function of wavelength or angle of incidence is well known. The method is normally used for specimens that are macroscopically flat. However, important industrial materials such as coated paper and paint consist of microscopically rough pigment coatings on a macroscopically rough substrate. Numerical modelling is used to assess the applicability and limitations of optical measurement of microroughness for such materials. Experimental results are presented for a range of paints on substrates of various macroroughness. Model and data are in fair agreement and show that the presence of substrate macroroughness always leads to an underestimation of microroughness. Generally, optical measurements of microroughness are only comparable for substrates of similar macroroughness and a limiting value exists above which measurements may not be meaningful.

Optical measurement of microroughness of pigment coatings on rough substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elton, N J

2009-01-01

The optical determination of rms roughness at the sub-wavelength scale by measurement of specular intensity as a function of wavelength or angle of incidence is well known. The method is normally used for specimens that are macroscopically flat. However, important industrial materials such as coated paper and paint consist of microscopically rough pigment coatings on a macroscopically rough substrate. Numerical modelling is used to assess the applicability and limitations of optical measurement of microroughness for such materials. Experimental results are presented for a range of paints on substrates of various macroroughness. Model and data are in fair agreement and show that the presence of substrate macroroughness always leads to an underestimation of microroughness. Generally, optical measurements of microroughness are only comparable for substrates of similar macroroughness and a limiting value exists above which measurements may not be meaningful

An automated, noncontact laser profile meter for measuring soil roughness in situ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertuzzi, P.; Caussignac, J.M.; Stengel, P.; Morel, G.; Lorendeau, J.Y.; Pelloux, G.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a new optical technique for measuring in situ soil surface roughness profiles using a laser profile meter. The described method uses a low-power HeNe (helium-neon) laser as a laser source and a matrix-array detector, as the laser image. The matrix-array detector gives a defect-of-focus laser image of the soil. Soil elevation is measured by projecting a laser beam normally onto the soil surface and measuring the ratio (Ir/It) on the matrix-array detector between the referenced intensity of the return Laser beam (Ir), measured by the central cell of the detector and the total intensity (It), measured by all the cells of the detector. The measured profile leads to 1001 sampled values (volt, range 0 to 10 V) of the surface height profile, at a constant increment of 0.002 m, registered automatically on a microcomputer. A calibration is made in the laboratory in order to convert the electrical measurements into elevation data. The method is universal and can be adapted to different scales of soil surface roughness. Changing the scale is done by changing the lens. Tests were carried out to improve this method for field use and to compare this technique with a method of reference. This technique is considerably quicker and causes no disturbance to the soil. The accuracy on height measurement depends on the choice of the lens. The small focal lens is convenient for smooth soil surfaces. The accuracy on height measurement is less than 0.75 mm. The wide focal lens is convenient for rough soil surfaces. The accuracy on height measurement is estimated at about 1.0 to 1.5 mm

77 FR 37409 - Request for Domains, Instruments, and Measures for Development of a Standardized Instrument for...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-21

... experience as well. On both issues, CMS is interested in instruments and items which can measure quality of... Measures for Development of a Standardized Instrument for Use in Public Reporting of Enrollee Satisfaction..., communication, coordination of care, customer service), instruments, and measures for measuring the level of...

Development of material measures for performance verifying surface topography measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leach, Richard; Giusca, Claudiu; Rickens, Kai; Riemer, Oltmann; Rubert, Paul

2014-01-01

The development of two irregular-geometry material measures for performance verifying surface topography measuring instruments is described. The material measures are designed to be used to performance verify tactile and optical areal surface topography measuring instruments. The manufacture of the material measures using diamond turning followed by nickel electroforming is described in detail. Measurement results are then obtained using a traceable stylus instrument and a commercial coherence scanning interferometer, and the results are shown to agree to within the measurement uncertainties. The material measures are now commercially available as part of a suite of material measures aimed at the calibration and performance verification of areal surface topography measuring instruments

Non-Contact Surface Roughness Measurement by Implementation of a Spatial Light Modulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Aulbach

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The surface structure, especially the roughness, has a significant influence on numerous parameters, such as friction and wear, and therefore estimates the quality of technical systems. In the last decades, a broad variety of surface roughness measurement methods were developed. A destructive measurement procedure or the lack of feasibility of online monitoring are the crucial drawbacks of most of these methods. This article proposes a new non-contact method for measuring the surface roughness that is straightforward to implement and easy to extend to online monitoring processes. The key element is a liquid-crystal-based spatial light modulator, integrated in an interferometric setup. By varying the imprinted phase of the modulator, a correlation between the imprinted phase and the fringe visibility of an interferogram is measured, and the surface roughness can be derived. This paper presents the theoretical approach of the method and first simulation and experimental results for a set of surface roughnesses. The experimental results are compared with values obtained by an atomic force microscope and a stylus profiler.

Effect of measurement conditions on three-dimensional roughness values, and development of measurement standard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabre, A; Brenier, B; Raynaud, S

2011-01-01

Friction or corrosion behaviour, fatigue lifetime for mechanical components are influenced by their boundary and subsurface properties. The surface integrity is studied on mechanical component in order to improve the service behaviour of them. Roughness is one of the main geometrical properties, which is to be qualified and quantified. Components can be obtained using a complex process: forming, machining and treatment can be combined to realize parts with complex shape. Then, three-dimensional roughness is needed to characterize these parts with complex shape and textured surface. With contact or non-contact measurements (contact stylus, confocal microprobe, interferometer), three-dimensional roughness is quantified using the calculation of pertinent parameters defined by the international standard PR EN ISO 25178-2:2008. An analysis will identify the influence of measurement conditions on three-dimensional parameters. The purpose of this study is to analyse the variation of roughness results using contact stylus or optical apparatus. The second aim of this work is to develop a measurement standard well adapted to qualify the contact and non-contact apparatus.

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

Assessing and Mapping of Road Surface Roughness based on GPS and Accelerometer Sensors on Bicycle-Mounted Smartphones

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jie; Wan, Mi; Shi, Jiafeng

2018-01-01

The surface roughness of roads is an essential road characteristic. Due to the employed carrying platforms (which are often cars), existing measuring methods can only be used for motorable roads. Until now, there has been no effective method for measuring the surface roughness of un-motorable roads, such as pedestrian and bicycle lanes. This hinders many applications related to pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users. In recognizing these research gaps, this paper proposes a method for measuring the surface roughness of pedestrian and bicycle lanes based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and accelerometer sensors on bicycle-mounted smartphones. We focus on the International Roughness Index (IRI), as it is the most widely used index for measuring road surface roughness. Specifically, we analyzed a computing model of road surface roughness, derived its parameters with GPS and accelerometers on bicycle-mounted smartphones, and proposed an algorithm to recognize potholes/humps on roads. As a proof of concept, we implemented the proposed method in a mobile application. Three experiments were designed to evaluate the proposed method. The results of the experiments show that the IRI values measured by the proposed method were strongly and positively correlated with those measured by professional instruments. Meanwhile, the proposed algorithm was able to recognize the potholes/humps that the bicycle passed. The proposed method is useful for measuring the surface roughness of roads that are not accessible for professional instruments, such as pedestrian and cycle lanes. This work enables us to further study the feasibility of crowdsourcing road surface roughness with bicycle-mounted smartphones. PMID:29562731

Cheap and fast measuring roughness on big surfaces with an imprint method

Science.gov (United States)

Schopf, C.; Liebl, J.; Rascher, R.

2017-10-01

Roughness, shape and structure of a surface offer information on the state, shape and surface characteristics of a component. Particularly the roughness of the surface dictates the subsequent polishing of the optical surface. The roughness is usually measured by a white light interferometer, which is limited by the size of the components. Using a moulding method of surfaces that are difficult to reach, an imprint is taken and analysed regarding to roughness and structure. This moulding compound method is successfully used in dental technology. In optical production, the moulding compound method is advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). The "replica method" has been around in metal analysis and processing. Film is used in order to take an impression of a surface. Then, it is analysed for structures. In optical production, compound moulding seems advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). In preliminary trials, different glass samples with different roughness levels were manufactured. Imprints were taken from these samples (based on DIN 54150 "Abdruckverfahren für die Oberflächenprüfung"). The objective of these feasibility tests was to determine the limits of this method (smallest roughness determinable / highest roughness). The roughness of the imprint was compared with the roughness of the glass samples. By comparing the results, the uncertainty of the measuring method was determined. The spectrum for the trials ranged from rough grind (0.8 μm rms), over finishing grind (0.6 μm rms) to polishing (0.1 μm rms).

A multi-topographical-instrument analysis: the breast implant texture measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Garabédian, Charles; Delille, Rémi; Deltombe, Raphaël; Anselme, Karine; Atlan, Michael; Bigerelle, Maxence

2017-06-01

Capsular contracture is a major complication after implant-based breast augmentation. To address this tissue reaction, most manufacturers texture the outer breast implant surfaces with calibrated salt grains. However, the analysis of these surfaces on sub-micron scales has been under-studied. This scale range is of interest to understand the future of silicone particles potentially released from the implant surface and the aetiology of newly reported complications, such as Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. The surface measurements were accomplished by tomography and by two optical devices based on interferometry and on focus variation. The robustness of the measurements was investigated from the tissue scale to the cellular scale. The macroscopic pore-based structure of the textured implant surfaces is consistently measured by the three instruments. However, the multi-scale analyses start to be discrepant in a scale range between 50 µm and 500 µm characteristic of a finer secondary roughness regardless of the pore shape. The focus variation and the micro-tomography would fail to capture this roughness regime because of a focus-related optical artefact and of step-shaped artefact respectively.

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

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.)

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

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

Sustainability of road roughness measurements in countries with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A research project was carried out to establish a sustainable procedure for road roughness measurement applicable in developing countries. Out of many devices in use today, a vehicle mounted bump integrator (VMBI) was selected for the reasons that: a) the equipment is available in most developing countries and it has ...

Skin friction measurements of systematically-varied roughness: Probing the role of roughness amplitude and skewness

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, Julio; Flack, Karen; Schultz, Michael

2017-11-01

Real-world engineering systems which feature either external or internal wall-bounded turbulent flow are routinely affected by surface roughness. This gives rise to performance degradation in the form of increased drag or head loss. However, at present there is no reliable means to predict these performance losses based upon the roughness topography alone. This work takes a systematic approach by generating random surface roughness in which the surface statistics are closely controlled. Skin friction and roughness function results will be presented for two groups of these rough surfaces. The first group is Gaussian (i.e. zero skewness) in which the root-mean-square roughness height (krms) is varied. The second group has a fixed krms, and the skewness is varied from approximately -1 to +1. The effect of the roughness amplitude and skewness on the skin friction will be discussed. Particular attention will be paid to the effect of these parameters on the roughness function in the transitionally-rough flow regime. For example, the role these parameters play in the monotonic or inflectional nature of the roughness function will be addressed. Future research into the details of the turbulence structure over these rough surfaces will also be outlined. Research funded by U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Measurement of surface roughness changes of unpolished and polished enamel following erosion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Mullan

Full Text Available To determine if Sa roughness data from measuring one central location of unpolished and polished enamel were representative of the overall surfaces before and after erosion.Twenty human enamel sections (4x4 mm were embedded in bis-acryl composite and randomised to either a native or polishing enamel preparation protocol. Enamel samples were subjected to an acid challenge (15 minutes 100 mL orange juice, pH 3.2, titratable acidity 41.3mmol OH/L, 62.5 rpm agitation, repeated for three cycles. Median (IQR surface roughness [Sa] was measured at baseline and after erosion from both a centralised cluster and four peripheral clusters. Within each cluster, five smaller areas (0.04 mm2 provided the Sa roughness data.For both unpolished and polished enamel samples there were no significant differences between measuring one central cluster or four peripheral clusters, before and after erosion. For unpolished enamel the single central cluster had a median (IQR Sa roughness of 1.45 (2.58 μm and the four peripheral clusters had a median (IQR of 1.32 (4.86 μm before erosion; after erosion there were statistically significant reductions to 0.38 (0.35 μm and 0.34 (0.49 μm respectively (p<0.0001. Polished enamel had a median (IQR Sa roughness 0.04 (0.17 μm for the single central cluster and 0.05 (0.15 μm for the four peripheral clusters which statistically significantly increased after erosion to 0.27 (0.08 μm for both (p<0.0001.Measuring one central cluster of unpolished and polished enamel was representative of the overall enamel surface roughness, before and after erosion.

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.

The measurement of surface roughness to determine the suitability of different methods for stone cleaning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vazquez-Calvo, Carmen; Alvarez de Buergo, Monica; Fort, Rafael; Varas-Muriel, Maria Jose

2012-01-01

The roughness of stone surface was measured, before and after bead blasting-based cleaning methods, to select the most efficient one to be used in masonry and stonework of specific areas of the Cathedral of Segovia (Spain). These types of cleaning methods can, besides the removal of soiling and surface deposits, leave a rougher surface, which would mean higher and more rapid water retention and deposit accumulation due to a specific surface increase, therefore accelerating stone decay. Or, in contrast, the cleaning method can be so aggressive that it can smooth the surface by reducing its roughness, a fact that usually corresponds to excessive material removal—soot and deposits–-but also part of the stone substrate. Roughness results were complemented with scanning electron microscopy observations and analyses and colour measurements. Finally, it was possible to select the best cleaning method among the six that were analysed, for different areas and different stone materials. Therefore, this study confirms the measurement of surface roughness as a reliable test to determine the suitability of stone cleaning methods; it is a non-destructive technique, portable and friendly to use, which can help us to rapidly assess—together with other techniques—the efficacy and aggressiveness of the stone cleaning method. (paper)

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

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

2D Spatial Frequency Considerations in Comparing 1D Power Spectral Density Measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takacs, P.Z.; Barber, S.; Church, E.L.; Kaznatcheev, K.; McKinney, W.R.; Yashchuk, V.Y.

2010-01-01

The frequency footprint of ID and 2D profiling instruments needs to be carefully considered in comparing ID surface roughness spectrum measurements made by different instruments. Contributions from orthogonal direction frequency components can not be neglected. The use of optical profiling instruments is ubiquitous in the measurement of the roughness of optical surfaces. Their ease-of-use and non-contact measurement method found widespread use in the optics industry for measuring the quality of delicate optical surfaces. Computerized digital data acquisition with these instruments allowed for quick and easy calculation of surface roughness statistics, such as root-mean-square (RMS) roughness. The computing power of the desktop computer allowed for the rapid conversion of spatial domain data into the frequency domain, enabling the application of sophisticated signal processing techniques to be applied to the analysis of surface roughness, the most powerful of which is the power spectral density (PSP) function. Application of the PSD function to surface statistics introduced the concept of 'bandwidth-limited' roughness, where the value of the RMS roughness depends critically upon the spatial frequency response of the instrument. Different instruments with different spatial frequency response characteristics give different answers when measuring the same surface.

Thickness and roughness measurements of nano thin films by interference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Sabzalipour

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In the standard optical interference fringes approach, by measuring shift of the interference fringes due to step edge of thin film on substrate, thickness of the layer has already been measured. In order to improve the measurement precision of this popular method, the interference fringes intensity curve was extracted and analyzed before and after the step preparation. By this method, one can measure a few nanometers films thickness. In addition, using the interference fringes intensity curve and its fluctuations, the roughness of surface is measured within a few nanometers accuracy. Comparison of our results with some direct methods of thickness and roughness measurements, i.e. using surface profilemeter and atomic force microscopy confirms the accuracy of the suggested improvements.

Surface Forces Apparatus measurements of interactions between rough and reactive calcite surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Dziadkowiec, Joanna; Javadi, Shaghayegh; Bratvold, Jon Einar; Nilsen, Ola; Røyne, Anja

2018-05-28

Nm-range forces acting between calcite surfaces in water affect macroscopic properties of carbonate rocks and calcite-based granular materials, and are significantly influenced by calcite surface recrystallization. We suggest that the repulsive mechanical effects related to nm-scale surface recrystallization of calcite in water could be partially responsible for the observed decrease of cohesion in calcitic rocks saturated with water. Using the Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA), we simultaneously followed the calcite reactivity and measured the forces in water in two surface configurations: between two rough calcite surfaces (CC), or between rough calcite and a smooth mica surface (CM). We used nm-scale rough, polycrystalline calcite films prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). We measured only repulsive forces in CC in CaCO 3 -saturated water, which was related to roughness and possibly to repulsive hydration effects. Adhesive or repulsive forces were measured in CM in CaCO 3 -saturated water depending on calcite roughness, and the adhesion was likely enhanced by electrostatic effects. The pull-off adhesive force in CM became stronger with time and this increase was correlated with a decrease of roughness at contacts, which parameter could be estimated from the measured force-distance curves. That suggested a progressive increase of real contact areas between the surfaces, caused by gradual pressure-driven deformation of calcite surface asperities during repeated loading-unloading cycles. Reactivity of calcite was affected by mass transport across nm to µm-thick gaps between the surfaces. Major roughening was observed only for the smoothest calcite films, where gaps between two opposing surfaces were nm-thick over µm-sized areas, and led to force of crystallization that could overcome confining pressures of the order of MPa. Any substantial roughening of calcite caused a significant increase of the repulsive mechanical force contribution.

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

Measuring adhesion on rough surfaces using atomic force microscopy with a liquid probe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan V. Escobar

2017-04-01

Full Text Available We present a procedure to perform and interpret pull-off force measurements during the jump-off-contact process between a liquid drop and rough surfaces using a conventional atomic force microscope. In this method, a micrometric liquid mercury drop is attached to an AFM tipless cantilever to measure the force required to pull this drop off a rough surface. We test the method with two surfaces: a square array of nanometer-sized peaks commonly used for the determination of AFM tip sharpness and a multi-scaled rough diamond surface containing sub-micrometer protrusions. Measurements are carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere to avoid water capillary interactions. We obtain information about the average force of adhesion between a single peak or protrusion and the liquid drop. This procedure could provide useful microscopic information to improve our understanding of wetting phenomena on rough surfaces.

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.

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

Friction factor in smooth and rough gas pipelines. An experimental study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sletfjerding, Elling

1999-01-01

Flow of high pressure natural gas in pipelines has been studied experimentally. Pipeline flow of natural gas is characterized by high Reynolds numbers due to the low viscosity and relatively high density of pressurized gas. Friction factor correlations for high Reynolds number flow in smooth and rough pipes were developed. To study the effect of wall roughness on pipe flow at high Reynolds numbers 8 test pipes with different wall roughness were fabricated. The wall roughness in 6 of the test pipes was varied by adding glass beads in an epoxy coating applied on the pipe wall. One test pipe was treated with a smooth epoxy coating and one was left untreated. The inner diameter of the test pipes was 150 mm. Measurements of the pressure drop in the pipes were made in a closed flow loop at line pressures of 25, 70, 95 and 120 bar. The Reynolds number of the flow was varied in the range 2-30 million. The wall roughness of the test pipes was measured with a stylus instrument. Correlations between the directly measured wall roughness and the friction factor at fully rough flow conditions were presented. To characterize the wall roughness of the test pipes a parameter combining a measure of the roughness height (R{sub q}) and the texture of the wall roughness was used. Due to the high Reynolds number of the flow, minute irregularities of the pipe wall had significant effect on the friction factor in the pipe. The measured wall roughness of the test pipes was in the range 1.4 < R{sub q} <31 (my)m. The flow experiments in test pipes was compared with data from operating pipelines in the North Sea. The offshore pipelines are coated with the same epoxy coating as used in the test pipes. The friction factor in coated offshore gas pipelines showed smooth behavior when the additional pressure drop due to welds were accounted for. The study of coated gas pipelines showed that the friction factor was significantly lower than predicted by standard correlations.

Within-footprint roughness measurements using ICESat/GLAS waveform and LVIS elevation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xiaolu; Xu, Kai; Xu, Lijun

2016-01-01

The surface roughness is an important characteristic over an ice sheet or glacier, since it is an identification of boundary-layer meteorology and is an important limiter on the accuracy of surface-height measurements. In this paper, we propose a simulation method to derive the within-footprint roughness (called simulation-derived roughness) using ICESat/GLAS echo waveform, laser vegetation imaging sensor (LVIS) elevations, and laser profile array (LPA) images of ICESat/GLAS. By dividing the within-footprint surface into several elements, a simulation echo waveform can be obtained as the sum of the elementary pulses reflected from each surface element. The elevation of the surface elements, which is utilized to get the return time of the elementary pulses, is implemented based on an LVIS interpolated elevation using a radial basis function (RBF) neural network. The intensity of the elementary pulses can be obtained from the thresholded LPA images. Based on the return time and the intensity of the elementary pulses, we used the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method to approximate the simulation waveform to the ICESat/GLAS echo waveform. The full width at half maximum) (FWHM) of the elementary pulse was extracted from the simulation waveform for estimating the simulation-derived roughness. By comparing with the elevation-derived roughness (derived from the elevation) and the waveform-derived roughness (derived from the ICESat/GLAS waveform), the proposed algorithm can exclude the slope effect from waveform width broadening for describing the roughness of the surface elements. (paper)

In situ surface roughness measurement using a laser scattering method

Science.gov (United States)

Tay, C. J.; Wang, S. H.; Quan, C.; Shang, H. M.

2003-03-01

In this paper, the design and development of an optical probe for in situ measurement of surface roughness are discussed. Based on this light scattering principle, the probe which consists of a laser diode, measuring lens and a linear photodiode array, is designed to capture the scattered light from a test surface with a relatively large scattering angle ϕ (=28°). This capability increases the measuring range and enhances repeatability of the results. The coaxial arrangement that incorporates a dual-laser beam and a constant compressed air stream renders the proposed system insensitive to movement or vibration of the test surface as well as surface conditions. Tests were conducted on workpieces which were mounted on a turning machine that operates with different cutting speeds. Test specimens which underwent different machining processes and of different surface finish were also studied. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of surface roughness measurement using the proposed method.

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

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

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

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

An objective device for measuring surface roughness of skin and scars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloemen, M.C.T.; van Gerven, M.S.; van der Wal, M.B.A.; Verhaegen, P.D.H.M.; Middelkoop, E.

2011-01-01

Background: Scar formation remains a major clinical problem; therefore, various therapies have been developed to improve scar quality. To evaluate the effectiveness of these therapies, objective measurement tools are necessary. An appropriate, objective measuring instrument for assessment of surface

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

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.

Spectroelectrochemical Instrument Measures TOC

Science.gov (United States)

Kounaves, Sam

2011-01-01

A spectroelectrochemical instrument has been developed for measuring the total organic carbon (TOC) content of an aqueous solution. Measurements of TOC are frequently performed in environmental, clinical, and industrial settings. Until now, techniques for performing such measurements have included, various ly, the use of hazardous reagents, ultraviolet light, or ovens, to promote reactions in which the carbon contents are oxidized. The instrument now being developed is intended to be a safer, more economical means of oxidizing organic carbon and determining the TOC levels of aqueous solutions and for providing a low power/mass unit for use in planetary missions.

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.

Rock discontinuity surface roughness variation with scale

Science.gov (United States)

Bitenc, Maja; Kieffer, D. Scott; Khoshelham, Kourosh

2017-04-01

hypothesize that roughness can increase or decrease with the joint size, depending on the large scale roughness (or waviness), which is entering the roughness calculation once the discontinuity size increases. Therefore, our objective is to characterize roughness at various spatial scales, rather than at changing surface size. Firstly, the rock surface is interpolated into a grid on which a Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is applied. The resulting surface components have different frequencies, or in other words, they have a certain physical scale depending on the decomposition level and input grid resolution. Secondly, the Grasselli Parameter is computed for the original and each decomposed surface. Finally, the relative roughness change is analyzed with respect to increasing roughness wavelength for four different rock samples. The scale variation depends on the sample itself and thus indicates its potential mechanical behavior. References: - Barton, N. and V. Choubey (1977). "The shear strength of rock joints in theory and practice." Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 10(1): 1-54. - Grasselli, G. (2001). Shear strength of rock joints based on quantified surface description. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Lausanne, EPFL. - Tatone, B. S. A. and G. Grasselli (2009). "A method to evaluate the three-dimensional roughness of fracture surfaces in brittle geomaterials." Review of Scientific Instruments 80(12) - Tatone, B. and G. Grasselli (2012). "An Investigation of Discontinuity Roughness Scale Dependency Using High-Resolution Surface Measurements." Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering: 1-25.

Polarized BRDF measurement of steel E235B in the near-infrared region: Based on a self-designed instrument with absolute measuring method

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yanlei; Yu, Kun; Liu, Zilong; Zhao, Yuejin; Liu, Yufang

2018-06-01

The spectral bidirectional reflectance distribution (BRDF) offers a complete description of the optical properties of the opaque material. Numerous studies on BRDF have been conducted for its important role in scientific research and industrial production. However, most of these studies focus on the visible region and unpolarized BRDF, and the spectral polarized BRDF in the near-infrared region is rarely reported. In this letter, we propose an absolute method to measure the spectral BRDF in the near-infrared region, and the detailed derivation is presented. A self-designed instrument is set up for the absolute measurement of BRDF. The reliability of this method is verified by comparing the experimental data of the three metal (aluminum, silver and gold) mirrors with the reference data. The in-plane polarized BRDF of steel E235B are measured, and the influence of incident angle and roughness on the BRDF are discussed. The degree of linear polarization (DOLP) are determined based on the polarized BRDF. The results indicate that both the roughness and incident angle have distinct influence on the BRDF and DOLP.

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

Development of retrieval, reservation and management system for measuring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuda, Kenzo; Ito, Emi.

1985-08-01

In order to computerize the lending and management of measuring instruments, at first, the specification of the software was examined, but thereafter, the development was begun. The largest aim of the computerization was the automation and labor saving of the lending works of diverse measuring instruments and the automatic management. From user side, it is desirable to know the specification and the state of use and reservation of measuring instruments and to be able to easily make reservation based on the information. Besides, from management side, it is desirable to know the location and the state of use and reservation of measuring instruments, to immediately prepare for lending and returning, and to automate the recording of lending and returning. So as to satisfy those conditions, the automatic reservation and management system for measuring instruments was developed. At the same time, the means to simply input required data such as specification, names of manufacturers and equipment number was developed. The input of data was carried out for three months from October, 1984, and the system was almost completed in December, 1984. The full scale operation was started in Junuary, 1985. (Kako, I.)

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

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.

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)

Surface excitation parameter for rough surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Da, Bo; Salma, Khanam; Ji, Hui; Mao, Shifeng; Zhang, Guanghui; Wang, Xiaoping; Ding, Zejun

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Instead of providing a general mathematical model of roughness, we directly use a finite element triangle mesh method to build a fully 3D rough surface from the practical sample. • The surface plasmon excitation can be introduced to the realistic sample surface by dielectric response theory and finite element method. • We found that SEP calculated based on ideal plane surface model are still reliable for real sample surface with common roughness. - Abstract: In order to assess quantitatively the importance of surface excitation effect in surface electron spectroscopy measurement, surface excitation parameter (SEP) has been introduced to describe the surface excitation probability as an average number of surface excitations that electrons can undergo when they move through solid surface either in incoming or outgoing directions. Meanwhile, surface roughness is an inevitable issue in experiments particularly when the sample surface is cleaned with ion beam bombardment. Surface roughness alters not only the electron elastic peak intensity but also the surface excitation intensity. However, almost all of the popular theoretical models for determining SEP are based on ideal plane surface approximation. In order to figure out whether this approximation is efficient or not for SEP calculation and the scope of this assumption, we proposed a new way to determine the SEP for a rough surface by a Monte Carlo simulation of electron scattering process near to a realistic rough surface, which is modeled by a finite element analysis method according to AFM image. The elastic peak intensity is calculated for different electron incident and emission angles. Assuming surface excitations obey the Poisson distribution the SEPs corrected for surface roughness are then obtained by analyzing the elastic peak intensity for several materials and for different incident and emission angles. It is found that the surface roughness only plays an

A comparison of root surface instrumentation using manual, ultrasonic and rotary instruments: an in vitro study using scanning electron microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Marda, Preeti; Prakash, Shobha; Devaraj, C G; Vastardis, S

2012-01-01

The commonly accepted idea concerning root planing is that excessive removal of cementum is not necessary for removal of endotoxins. The ideal instrument should enable the removal of all extraneous substances from the root surfaces, without causing any iatrogenic effects. To compare the remaining calculus, loss of tooth substance, and roughness of root surface after root planing with Gracey curette, ultrasonic instrument (Slimline insert FSI-SLI-10S), and DesmoClean rotary bur. The efficiency of calculus removal, the amount of lost tooth substance, and root surface roughness resulting from the use of hand curette, ultrasonic instrument, and rotary bur on 36 extracted mandibular incisors were examined by SEM. We used three indices to measure the changes: Remaining calculus index (RCI), Loss of tooth substance index (LTSI), and Roughness loss of tooth substance index (RLTSI). Twelve samples were treated with each instrument. The time required for instrumentation was also noted. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was used for multiple group comparisons and the Mann-Whitney test for group-wise comparisons. Analysis was carried out with SPSS software (version 13). The RCI and LTSI showed nonsignificant differences between the three groups. RLTSI showed a significant difference between Slimline and hand curette as well as Slimline and Desmo-Clean. Slimline showed the least mean scores for RCI, LTSI, and RLTSI. Thus, even though the difference was not statistically significant, Slimline insert was shown to be better than the other methods as assessed by the indices scores and the instrumentation time.

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.

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.

Monitoring tablet surface roughness during the film coating process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seitavuopio, Paulus; Heinämäki, Jyrki; Rantanen, Jukka

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change of surface roughness and the development of the film during the film coating process using laser profilometer roughness measurements, SEM imaging, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Surface roughness and texture changes developing during...... the process of film coating tablets were studied by noncontact laser profilometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An EDX analysis was used to monitor the magnesium stearate and titanium dioxide of the tablets. The tablet cores were film coated with aqueous hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and the film...... coating was performed using an instrumented pilot-scale side-vented drum coater. The SEM images of the film-coated tablets showed that within the first 30 minutes, the surface of the tablet cores was completely covered with a thin film. The magnesium signal that was monitored by SEM-EDX disappeared after...

Near Wall measurement in Turbulent Flow over Rough Wall using microscopic HPIV

Science.gov (United States)

Talapatra, Siddharth; Hong, Jiarong; Katz, Joseph

2009-11-01

Using holographic PIV, 3D velocity measurements are being performed in a turbulent rough wall channel flow. Our objective is to examine the contribution of coherent structures to the flow dynamics, momentum and energy fluxes in the roughness sublayer. The 0.45mm high, pyramid-shaped roughness is uniformly distributed on the top and bottom surfaces of a 5X20cm rectangular channel flow, where the Reτ is 3400. To facilitate recording of holograms through a rough plate, the working fluid is a concentrated solution of NaI in water, whose optical refractive index is matched with that of the acrylic rough plates. The test section is illuminated by a collimated laser beam from the top, and the sample volume extends from the bottom wall up to 7 roughness heights. After passing through the sample volume, the in-line hologram is magnified and recorded on a 4864X3248 pixels camera at a resolution of 0.74μm/pixel. The flow is locally seeded with 2μm particles. Reconstruction, spatial filtering and particle tracking provide the 3D velocity field. This approach has been successfully implemented recently, as preliminary data demonstrate.

Kilometer-Scale Topographic Roughness of Mercury: Correlation with Geologic Features and Units

Science.gov (United States)

Kreslavsky, Mikhail A.; Head, James W.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Zuber, Maria T.; Smith, David E.

2014-01-01

We present maps of the topographic roughness of the northern circumpolar area of Mercury at kilometer scales. The maps are derived from range profiles obtained by the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) instrument onboard the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission. As measures of roughness, we used the interquartile range of profile curvature at three baselines: 0.7 kilometers, 2.8 kilometers, and 11 kilometers. The maps provide a synoptic overview of variations of typical topographic textures. They show a dichotomy between the smooth northern plains and rougher, more heavily cratered terrains. Analysis of the scale dependence of roughness indicates that the regolith on Mercury is thicker than on the Moon by approximately a factor of three. Roughness contrasts within northern volcanic plains of Mercury indicate a younger unit inside Goethe basin and inside another unnamed stealth basin. These new data permit interplanetary comparisons of topographic roughness.

Measurement of International Roughness Index by Using Z-Axis Accelerometers and GPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuchuan Du

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The International Roughness Index (IRI is a well-recognized standard in the field of pavement management. Many different types of devices can be used to measure the IRI, but these devices are mainly mounted on a full-size automobile and are complicated to operate. In addition, these devices are expensive. The development of methods for IRI measurement is a prerequisite for pavement management systems and other parts of the road management industry. Based on the quarter-car model and the vehicle vibration caused by road roughness, there is a strong correlation between the in-car Z-axis acceleration and the IRI. The variation of speed of the car during the measurement process has a large influence on IRI estimation. A measurement system equipped with Z-axis accelerometers and a GPS device was developed. Using the self-designing measurement system based on the methodology proposed in this study, we performed a small-scale field test. We used a one-wheel linear model and two-wheel model to fit the variation of the Z-axis acceleration. The test results demonstrated that the low-cost measurement system has good accuracy and could enhance the efficiency of IRI measurement.

Time Resolved Tomographic PIV Measurements of Rough-Wall Turbulent Channel Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Miorini, Rinaldo; Zhang, Cao; Katz, Joseph

2013-11-01

Time resolved tomographic PIV is used to study flow structures in the outer region of a rough-wall turbulent boundary layer, focusing on imprints of the roughness on the outer layer. Measurements are performed in a transparent channel installed in the JHU optically index matched facility. The roughness consists of pyramids with height, k = 0.46 mm, and wavelength, λ = 3.2 mm, satisfying h/k = 55 (h = 25.4 mm is the channel half-height), k + = 64 and Re = 40000. The TPIV setup consists of four high-speed cameras operating at 3 kHz, which view the sample volume through acrylic prisms. The flow field is illuminated by an Nd:YLF laser. Following enhancement, calibration, and reconstruction, 643 voxels interrogation volumes with 0.75 overlap provide 3D velocity fields with spacing of 0.5883 mm3. Formation and transport of near-wall 3D U-shaped vortex structures, with base in front of the pyramids, and quasi-streamwise legs extending between pyramid crest lines are evident from the data. Extended streamwise regions of high wall-normal vorticity appear ``latched'' to the roughness elements close to the wall, but are transported downstream at higher elevations. Also evident are traveling streamwise low velocity streaks, which cover many roughness elements. Sponsored by NSF CBET and ONR.

Road roughness evaluation using in-pavement strain sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiming; Deng, Fodan; Huang, Ying; Bridgelall, Raj

2015-11-01

The international roughness index (IRI) is a characterization of road roughness or ride quality that transportation agencies most often report. The prevalent method of acquiring IRI data requires instrumented vehicles and technicians with specialized training to interpret the results. The extensive labor and high cost requirements associated with the existing approaches limit data collection to at most once per year for portions of the national highway system. Agencies characterize roughness only for some secondary roads but much less frequently, such as once every five years, resulting in outdated roughness information. This research developed a real-time roughness evaluation approach that links the output of durable in-pavement strain sensors to prevailing indices that summarize road roughness. Field experiments validated the high consistency of the approach by showing that it is within 3.3% of relative IRI estimates. After their installation and calibration during road construction, the ruggedized strain sensors will report road roughness continuously. Thus, the solution will provide agencies a real-time roughness monitoring solution over the remaining service life of road assets.

Three Dimensional Plenoptic PIV Measurements of a Turbulent Boundary Layer Overlying a Hemispherical Roughness Element

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kyle; Thurow, Brian; Kim, Taehoon; Blois, Gianluca; Christensen, Kenneth

2016-11-01

Three-dimensional, three-component (3D-3C) measurements were made using a plenoptic camera on the flow around a roughness element immersed in a turbulent boundary layer. A refractive index matched approach allowed whole-field optical access from a single camera to a measurement volume that includes transparent solid geometries. In particular, this experiment measures the flow over a single hemispherical roughness element made of acrylic and immersed in a working fluid consisting of Sodium Iodide solution. Our results demonstrate that plenoptic particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a viable technique to obtaining statistically-significant volumetric velocity measurements even in a complex separated flow. The boundary layer to roughness height-ratio of the flow was 4.97 and the Reynolds number (based on roughness height) was 4.57×103. Our measurements reveal key flow features such as spiraling legs of the shear layer, a recirculation region, and shed arch vortices. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis was applied to the instantaneous velocity and vorticity data to extract these features. Supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. 1235726.

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)

Surface Roughness and Gloss of Actual Composites as Polished With Different Polishing Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues-Junior, S A; Chemin, P; Piaia, P P; Ferracane, J L

2015-01-01

This in vitro study evaluated the effect of polishing with different polishing systems on the surface roughness and gloss of commercial composites. One hundred disk-shaped specimens (10 mm in diameter × 2 mm thick) were made with Filtek P-90, Filtek Z350 XT, Opallis, and Grandio. The specimens were manually finished with #400 sandpaper and polished by a single operator using three multistep systems (Superfix, Diamond Pro, and Sof-lex), one two-step system (Polidores DFL), and one one-step system (Enhance), following the manufacturer's instructions. The average surface roughness (μm) was measured with a surface profilometer (TR 200 Surface Roughness Tester), and gloss was measured using a small-area glossmeter (Novo-Curve, Rhopoint Instrumentation, East Sussex, UK). Data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance and Tukey's test (α=0.05). Statistically significant differences in surface roughness were identified by varying the polishing systems (pGloss was influenced by the composites (pone-step system, Enhance, produced the lowest gloss for all composites. Surface roughness and gloss were affected by composites and polishing systems. The interaction between both also influenced these surface characteristics, meaning that a single polishing system will not behave similarly for all composites. The multistep systems produced higher gloss, while the one-step system produced the highest surface roughness and the lowest gloss of all.

Soil surface roughness: comparing old and new measuring methods and application in a soil erosion model

Science.gov (United States)

Thomsen, L. M.; Baartman, J. E. M.; Barneveld, R. J.; Starkloff, T.; Stolte, J.

2015-04-01

Quantification of soil roughness, i.e. the irregularities of the soil surface due to soil texture, aggregates, rock fragments and land management, is important as it affects surface storage, infiltration, overland flow, and ultimately sediment detachment and erosion. Roughness has been measured in the field using both contact methods (such as roller chain and pinboard) and sensor methods (such as stereophotogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)). A novel depth-sensing technique, originating in the gaming industry, has recently become available for earth sciences: the Xtion Pro method. Roughness data obtained using various methods are assumed to be similar; this assumption is tested in this study by comparing five different methods to measure roughness in the field on 1 m2 agricultural plots with different management (ploughing, harrowing, forest and direct seeding on stubble) in southern Norway. Subsequently, the values were used as input for the LISEM soil erosion model to test their effect on the simulated hydrograph at catchment scale. Results show that statistically significant differences between the methods were obtained only for the fields with direct seeding on stubble; for the other land management types the methods were in agreement. The spatial resolution of the contact methods was much lower than for the sensor methods (10 000 versus at least 57 000 points per square metre). In terms of costs and ease of use in the field, the Xtion Pro method is promising. Results from the LISEM model indicate that especially the roller chain overestimated the random roughness (RR) values and the model subsequently calculated less surface runoff than measured. In conclusion, the choice of measurement method for roughness data matters and depends on the required accuracy, resolution, mobility in the field and available budget. It is recommended to use only one method within one study.

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

Generalizing roughness: experiments with flow-oriented roughness

Science.gov (United States)

Trevisani, Sebastiano

2015-04-01

Surface texture analysis applied to High Resolution Digital Terrain Models (HRDTMs) improves the capability to characterize fine-scale morphology and permits the derivation of useful morphometric indexes. An important indicator to be taken into account in surface texture analysis is surface roughness, which can have a discriminant role in the detection of different geomorphic processes and factors. The evaluation of surface roughness is generally performed considering it as an isotropic surface parameter (e.g., Cavalli, 2008; Grohmann, 2011). However, surface texture has often an anisotropic character, which means that surface roughness could change according to the considered direction. In some applications, for example involving surface flow processes, the anisotropy of roughness should be taken into account (e.g., Trevisani, 2012; Smith, 2014). Accordingly, we test the application of a flow-oriented directional measure of roughness, computed considering surface gravity-driven flow. For the calculation of flow-oriented roughness we use both classical variogram-based roughness (e.g., Herzfeld,1996; Atkinson, 2000) as well as an ad-hoc developed robust modification of variogram (i.e. MAD, Trevisani, 2014). The presented approach, based on a D8 algorithm, shows the potential impact of considering directionality in the calculation of roughness indexes. The use of flow-oriented roughness could improve the definition of effective proxies of impedance to flow. Preliminary results on the integration of directional roughness operators with morphometric-based models, are promising and can be extended to more complex approaches. Atkinson, P.M., Lewis, P., 2000. Geostatistical classification for remote sensing: an introduction. Computers & Geosciences 26, 361-371. Cavalli, M. & Marchi, L. 2008, "Characterization of the surface morphology of an alpine alluvial fan using airborne LiDAR", Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 323-333. Grohmann, C

Electronic instrumentation system for pulsed neutron measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burda, J.; Igielski, A.; Kowalik, W.

1982-01-01

An essential point of pulsed neutron measurement of thermal neutron parameters for different materials is the registration of the thermal neutron die-away curve after a fast neutron bursts have been injected into the system. An electronic instrumentation system which is successfully applied for pulsed neutron measurements is presented. An important part of the system is the control unit which has been designed and built in the Laboratory of Neutron Parameters of Materials. (author)

Roughness effects on the hydrogen signal in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapin, W.; Bousquet, B.; Lasue, J.

2017-01-01

On Mars, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) as performed by the ChemCam instrument can be used to measure the hydrogen content of targets in situ, under a low pressure CO2 atmosphere. However, unexpected variations observed in the Martian dataset suggest an effect related to target...... roughness. Here, we present a series of laboratory experiments that reproduce the effect observed on Mars and explore possible causes. We show that the hydrogen peak intensity increases significantly with increasing exposure of the target surface to the LIBS plasma, and that these variations are specific......, this effect should be taken into account for the quantification of hydrogen in any LIBS applications where the roughness of the target is significant....

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

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.

Defect propagation in NiTi rotary instruments: a noncontact optical profilometry analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, I; Ferreira, F; Scelza, P; Neff, J; Russano, D; Montagnana, M; Zaccaro Scelza, M

2018-04-10

To evaluate the presence and propagation of defects and their effects on surfaces of nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments using noncontact, three-dimensional optical profilometry, and to assess the accuracy of this method of investigation. The flute surface areas of instruments from two commercial instrumentation systems, namely Reciproc R25 (n = 5) and WaveOne Primary (n = 5), were assessed and compared before and after performing two instrumentation cycles in simulated root canals in clear resin blocks. All the analyses were conducted on areas measuring 211 × 211 μm, located 3 mm from the tips of the instruments. A quantitative analysis was conducted before and after the first and second instrumentation cycles, using the Sa (average roughness over the measurement field), Sq (root mean square roughness) and Sz (average height over the measurement field) amplitude parameters. All the data were submitted to statistical analysis at a 5% level of significance. There was a significant increase (P = 0.007) in wear in both groups, especially between baseline and the second instrumentation cycle, with significantly higher wear values being observed on WaveOne instruments (Sz median values = 33.68 and 2.89 μm, respectively, for WO and RP groups). A significant increase in surface roughness (P = 0.016 and P = 0.008, respectively, for Sa and Sq) was observed in both groups from the first to the second instrumentation cycle, mostly in WaveOne specimens. Qualitative analysis revealed a greater number of defects on the flute topography of all the instruments after use. More defects were identified in WaveOne Primary instruments compared to Reciproc R25, irrespective of the evaluation stage. The investigation method provided an accurate, repeatable and reproducible assessment of NiTi instruments at different time-points. © 2018 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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.

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

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.

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)

New portable hand-held radiation instruments for measurements and monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehlau, P.E.

1987-01-01

Hand-held radiation monitors are often used to search pedestrians and motor vehicles for special nuclear material (SNM) as part of a physical protection plan for nuclear materials. Recently, the Los Alamos Advanced Nuclear Technology group has commercialized an improved hand-held monitor that can be used for both physical-protection monitoring and verification measurements in nuclear material control and waste management. The new monitoring instruments are smaller and lighter; operate much longer on a battery charge; are available with NaI(Tl) or neutron and gamma-ray sensitive plastic scintillation detectors; and are less expensive than other comparable instruments. They also have a second operating mode for making precise measurements over counting times as long as 99 s. This mode permits making basic verification measurements that may be needed before transporting nuclear material or waste outside protected areas. Improved verification measurements can be made with a second new hand-held instrument that has a stabilized detector and three separate gamma-ray energy windows to obtain spectral information for SNM quantity, enrichment, or material-type verification

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

Thermo Scientific Ozone Analyzer Instrument Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Springston, S. R. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

2016-03-01

The primary measurement output from the Thermo Scientific Ozone Analyzer is the concentration of the analyte (O3) reported at 1-s resolution in units of ppbv in ambient air. Note that because of internal pneumatic switching limitations the instrument only makes an independent measurement every 4 seconds. Thus, the same concentration number is repeated roughly 4 times at the uniform, monotonic 1-s time base used in the AOS systems. Accompanying instrument outputs include sample temperatures, flows, chamber pressure, lamp intensities and a multiplicity of housekeeping information. There is also a field for operator comments made at any time while data is being collected.

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.

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.

On the relevance of spectral features for instrument classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Andreas Brinch; Sigurdsson, Sigurdur; Hansen, Lars Kai

2007-01-01

Automatic knowledge extraction from music signals is a key component for most music organization and music information retrieval systems. In this paper, we consider the problem of instrument modelling and instrument classification from the rough audio data. Existing systems for automatic instrument...... classification operate normally on a relatively large number of features, from which those related to the spectrum of the audio signal are particularly relevant. In this paper, we confront two different models about the spectral characterization of musical instruments. The first assumes a constant envelope...

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.

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.

Roughness coefficient and its uncertainty in gravel-bed river

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji-Sung Kim

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Manning's roughness coefficient was estimated for a gravel-bed river reach using field measurements of water level and discharge, and the applicability of various methods used for estimation of the roughness coefficient was evaluated. Results show that the roughness coefficient tends to decrease with increasing discharge and water depth, and over a certain range it appears to remain constant. Comparison of roughness coefficients calculated by field measurement data with those estimated by other methods shows that, although the field-measured values provide approximate roughness coefficients for relatively large discharge, there seems to be rather high uncertainty due to the difference in resultant values. For this reason, uncertainty related to the roughness coefficient was analyzed in terms of change in computed variables. On average, a 20% increase of the roughness coefficient causes a 7% increase in the water depth and an 8% decrease in velocity, but there may be about a 15% increase in the water depth and an equivalent decrease in velocity for certain cross-sections in the study reach. Finally, the validity of estimated roughness coefficient based on field measurements was examined. A 10% error in discharge measurement may lead to more than 10% uncertainty in roughness coefficient estimation, but corresponding uncertainty in computed water depth and velocity is reduced to approximately 5%. Conversely, the necessity for roughness coefficient estimation by field measurement is confirmed.

Ultrasound pulse-echo measurements on rough surfaces with linear array transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sjøj, Sidsel M. N.; Blanco, Esther N.; Wilhjelm, Jens E.

2012-01-01

The echo from planar surfaces with rms roughness, Rq, in the range from 0-155 μm was measured with a clinical linear array transducer at different angles of incidence at 6 MHz and 12 MHz. The echo-pulse from the surfaces was isolated with an equal sized window and the power of the echo-pulse was ......The echo from planar surfaces with rms roughness, Rq, in the range from 0-155 μm was measured with a clinical linear array transducer at different angles of incidence at 6 MHz and 12 MHz. The echo-pulse from the surfaces was isolated with an equal sized window and the power of the echo......-pulse was calculated. The power of the echo from the smooth surface (Rq = 0) is highly angle-dependent due to a high degree of specular reflection. Within the angular range considered here, -10° to 10°, the variation spans a range of 18 dB at both 6 MHz and 12 MHz. When roughness increases, the angle......-dependence decreases, as the echo process gradually changes from pure reflection to being predominantly governed by backscattering. The power of the echoes from the two roughest surfaces (Rq = 115 μm and 155 μm) are largely independent of angle at both 6 MHz and 12 MHz with a variation of 2 dB in the angular range...

Airflow resistivity instrument for in situ measurement on the earth's ground surface

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerwar, A. J.

1983-01-01

An airflow resistivity instrument features a novel specimen holder, especially designed for in situ measurement on the earth's ground surface. This capability eliminates the disadvantages of prior intrusive instruments, which necessitate the removal of a test specimen from the ground. A prototype instrument can measure airflow resistivities in the range 10-5000 cgs rayl/cm, at specimen depths up to 15.24 cm (6 in.), and at differential pressures up to 2490.8 dyn sq cm (1 in. H2O) across the specimen. Because of the close relationship between flow resistivity and acoustic impedance, this instrument should prove useful in acoustical studies of the earth's ground surface. Results of airflow resistivity measurements on an uncultivated grass field for varying values of moisture content are presented.

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

Digital instrument for reactivity measurements in a nuclear reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chwaszczewski, S [Institute of Nuclear Research, Warsaw (Poland)

1979-07-01

An instrument for digital determination of the reactivity in nuclear reactors is described. It is based on the CAMAC standard apparatus, suitable for the use of pulse or current type neutron detectors and operates with prompt response and an output signal proportional to the core neutron flux. The measured data of neutron flux and reactivity can be registered by a digital display unit, an indicator, or, by request of the operator, a paper type punch. The algorithms used for reactivity calculation are considered and the results of numerical studies on those algorithms are discussed. The instrument has been used for determining the reactivity of the control elements in the fast-thermal assembly ANNA and in the research reactor MARIA. Some results of these measurements are given.

An instrumentation for control and measurement of activated mineral samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skaarup, P.

1976-01-01

A description is given of an instrumentation for control of a pneumatic tube system used to transport mineral samples for activation in a reactor and from there to a detector arrangement. A possible content of uranium in the samples can be seen from the radiation measured. The instrumentation includes a PDP-11 computer and a CAMAC crate

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.

QNOTE: an instrument for measuring the quality of EHR clinical notes.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Harry B; Hoang, Albert; Becher, Dorothy; Fontelo, Paul; Liu, Fang; Stephens, Mark; Pangaro, Louis N; Sessums, Laura L; O'Malley, Patrick; Baxi, Nancy S; Bunt, Christopher W; Capaldi, Vincent F; Chen, Julie M; Cooper, Barbara A; Djuric, David A; Hodge, Joshua A; Kane, Shawn; Magee, Charles; Makary, Zizette R; Mallory, Renee M; Miller, Thomas; Saperstein, Adam; Servey, Jessica; Gimbel, Ronald W

2014-01-01

The outpatient clinical note documents the clinician's information collection, problem assessment, and patient management, yet there is currently no validated instrument to measure the quality of the electronic clinical note. This study evaluated the validity of the QNOTE instrument, which assesses 12 elements in the clinical note, for measuring the quality of clinical notes. It also compared its performance with a global instrument that assesses the clinical note as a whole. Retrospective multicenter blinded study of the clinical notes of 100 outpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who had been seen in clinic on at least three occasions. The 300 notes were rated by eight general internal medicine and eight family medicine practicing physicians. The QNOTE instrument scored the quality of the note as the sum of a set of 12 note element scores, and its inter-rater agreement was measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient. The Global instrument scored the note in its entirety, and its inter-rater agreement was measured by the Fleiss κ. The overall QNOTE inter-rater agreement was 0.82 (CI 0.80 to 0.84), and its note quality score was 65 (CI 64 to 66). The Global inter-rater agreement was 0.24 (CI 0.19 to 0.29), and its note quality score was 52 (CI 49 to 55). The QNOTE quality scores were consistent, and the overall QNOTE score was significantly higher than the overall Global score (p=0.04). We found the QNOTE to be a valid instrument for evaluating the quality of electronic clinical notes, and its performance was superior to that of the Global instrument. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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)

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.

Self-administered health literacy instruments for people with diabetes: systematic review of measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-09-01

The aims of this study were to identify all available self-administered instruments measuring health literacy in people with diabetes and to determine the current instrument that is the most appropriate for applying to this population in both practice and research. A systematic review of measurement properties. MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL electronic databases from their inception up to 28 March 2016. The methodological quality of each included study was assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments checklist. The reported results for measurement properties in the studies were assessed according to Terwee's quality criteria. Thirteen self-administered instruments measuring health literacy in people with diabetes were identified, of which six (44%) were diabetes-specific instruments. The instruments that covered the broadest contents of health literacy were the Health Literacy Scale and Health Literacy Questionnaire. The (test-retest) reliability, measurement error and responsiveness were not evaluated for any instrument, while internal consistency and hypothesis testing validity were the most frequently assessed measurement properties. With the current evidence, the Health Literacy Scale may be the most appropriate instrument for patients with diabetes in practice and research. However, the structural validity of this scale needs to be further established, particularly in other language versions. It is also recommended to use the Diabetes Numeracy Test-15 along with the Health Literacy Scale to complement the lack of numeracy measures in the Health Literacy Scale. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

Smartphone measurement engineering - Innovative challenges for science & education, instrumentation & training

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, D.; Dittrich, P.-G.; Duentsch, E.

2010-07-01

Smartphones have an enormous conceptual and structural influence on measurement science & education, instrumentation & training. Smartphones are matured. They became convenient, reliable and affordable. In 2009 worldwide 174 million Smartphones has been delivered. Measurement with Smartphones is ready for the future. In only 10 years the German vision industry tripled its global sales volume to one Billion Euro/Year. Machine vision is used for mobile object identification, contactless industrial quality control, personalized health care, remote facility and transport management, safety critical surveillance and all tasks which are too complex for the human eye or too monotonous for the human brain. Aim of the paper is to describe selected success stories for the application of Smartphones for measurement engineering in science and education, instrumentation and training.

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...

Software testing in roughness calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Y L; Hsieh, P F; Fu, W E

2005-01-01

A test method to determine the function quality provided by the software for roughness measurement is presented in this study. The function quality of the software requirements should be part of and assessed through the entire life cycle of the software package. The specific function, or output accuracy, is crucial for the analysis of the experimental data. For scientific applications, however, commercial software is usually embedded with specific instrument, which is used for measurement or analysis during the manufacture process. In general, the error ratio caused by the software would be more apparent especially when dealing with relatively small quantities, like the measurements in the nanometer-scale range. The model of 'using a data generator' proposed by NPL of UK was applied in this study. An example of the roughness software is tested and analyzed by the above mentioned process. After selecting the 'reference results', the 'reference data' was generated by a programmable 'data generator'. The filter function of 0.8 mm long cutoff value, defined in ISO 11562 was tested with 66 sinusoid data at different wavelengths. Test results from commercial software and CMS written program were compared to the theoretical data calculated from ISO standards. As for the filter function in this software, the result showed a significant disagreement between the reference and test results. The short cutoff feature for filtering at the high frequencies does not function properly, while the long cutoff feature has the maximum difference in the filtering ratio, which is more than 70% between the wavelength of 300 μm and 500 μm. Conclusively, the commercial software needs to be tested more extensively for specific application by appropriate design of reference dataset to ensure its function quality

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

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

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...

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)

Cell Attachment Following Instrumentation with Titanium and Plastic Instruments, Diode Laser, and Titanium Brush on Titanium, Titanium-Zirconium, and Zirconia Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Melissa S; Cerutis, D Roselyn; Miyamoto, Takanari; Nunn, Martha E

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the surface characteristics and gingival fibroblast adhesion of disks composed of implant and abutment materials following brief and repeated instrumentation with instruments commonly used in procedures for implant maintenance, stage-two implant surgery, and periimplantitis treatment. One hundred twenty disks (40 titanium, 40 titaniumzirconium, 40 zirconia) were grouped into treatment categories of instrumentation by plastic curette, titanium curette, diode microlaser, rotary titanium brush, and no treatment. Twenty strokes were applied to half of the disks in the plastic and titanium curette treatment categories, while half of the disks received 100 strokes each to simulate implant maintenance occurring on a repetitive basis. Following analysis of the disks by optical laser profilometry, disks were cultured with human gingival fibroblasts. Cell counts were conducted from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Differences in surface roughness across all instruments tested for zirconia disks were negligible, while both titanium disks and titaniumzirconium disks showed large differences in surface roughness across the spectrum of instruments tested. The rotary titanium brush and the titanium curette yielded the greatest overall mean surface roughness, while the plastic curette yielded the lowest mean surface roughness. The greatest mean cell counts for each disk type were as follows: titanium disks with plastic curettes, titanium-zirconium disks with titanium curettes, and zirconia disks with the diode microlaser. Repeated instrumentation did not result in cumulative changes in surface roughness of implant materials made of titanium, titanium-zirconium, or zirconia. Instrumentation with plastic implant curettes on titanium and zirconia surfaces appeared to be more favorable than titanium implant curettes in terms of gingival fibroblast attachment on these surfaces.

Design and construction of an instrument for measuring thermistor electrical characteristic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budiono; Yudi Herdiana

2007-01-01

In this work an instrument for measuring the electrical characteristic of thermistor has been designed and constructed. The instrument was constructed from main components i.e. a micro controller AT89C51, 3 ADC-0804, a LM35 temperature sensor and IC MAX 232. The IC MAX 232 component is used to connect the micro controller to the personal computer serially by using RS-232 standard. While ADC-0804 was used to convert the analog data (DC voltage) to the digital one so that the data was readable by the micro controller. Digital data from 3 ADC-0804 circuit which have been read by the micro controller was sent directly to the personal computer. The data from the measurement which have been stored in the personal computer was then processed to know the value of temperature and measured thermistor resistance. The processed data could be either stored in a data base or displayed in a monitor or printed in the form of table data and in the form a graph of thermistor resistance as the function of temperature. The result of measurement from measuring instrument of the characteristic of thermistor electric's had been made, being compared by measuring calibrated instrument, the deviation is about 0.33 %. (author)

Metrological Array of Cyber-Physical Systems. Part 7. Additive Error Correction for Measuring Instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuriy YATSUK

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Since during design it is impossible to use the uncertainty approach because the measurement results are still absent and as noted the error approach that can be successfully applied taking as true the nominal value of instruments transformation function. Limiting possibilities of additive error correction of measuring instruments for Cyber-Physical Systems are studied basing on general and special methods of measurement. Principles of measuring circuit maximal symmetry and its minimal reconfiguration are proposed for measurement or/and calibration. It is theoretically justified for the variety of correction methods that minimum additive error of measuring instruments exists under considering the real equivalent parameters of input electronic switches. Terms of self-calibrating and verification the measuring instruments in place are studied.

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.

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

Instrumentation and measurement method for the ATLAS test facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yun, Byong Jo; Chu, In Chul; Eu, Dong Jin; Kang, Kyong Ho; Kim, Yeon Sik; Song, Chul Hwa; Baek, Won Pil

2007-03-15

An integral effect test loop for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), the ATLAS is constructed by thermal-hydraulic safety research division in KAERI. The ATLAS facility has been designed to have the length scale of 1/2 and area scale of 1/144 compared with the reference plant, APR1400 which is a Korean evolution type nuclear reactors. A total 1300 instrumentations is equipped in the ATLAS test facility. In this report, the instrumentation of ATLAS test facility and related measurement methods were introduced.

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.

Influence of Finishing and Polishing Techniques and Abrasion on Transmittance and Roughness of Composite Resins.

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Pma; Ramos, T M; de Azevedo, C S; de Lima, E; de Souza, Shj; Turbino, M L; Cesar, P F; Matos, A B

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of finishing and polishing systems and toothbrush abrasion on transmittance (T) and surface roughness (Ra) of three composite resins (Filtek Z350 XT, Tetric N-Ceram, and IPS Empress Direct). Eighteen resin disks (10 mm diameter × 2 mm thick) finished by polyester strips had initial surface smoothness recorded, representing phase 1 (P1). Specimens were divided into three groups (n=6) according to the finishing/polishing instrument used (OneGloss, TopGloss, and Sof-Lex) to compose phase 2 samples (P2). Then specimens were subjected to 514 cycles of toothbrush simulation using a toothpaste slurry, with a constant load applied to soft bristles, and were then washed (phase 3=P3). After each phase, the specimens were examined by an optical profiler and spectrophotometer to measure Ra and T. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance, Tukey and Pearson tests. T values were statistically influenced by composite resin ( p=0.000) and phase of measurement ( p=0.000) factors, while the finishing/polishing system used ( p=0.741) did not affect T. On the other hand, Ra values were statistically affected by the factor finishing/polishing system ( p=0.000), but not by composite resin ( p=0.100) and phase of measurement ( p=0.451). Tetric N-Ceram and Empress Direct presented higher values of roughness when polished by OneGloss, while TopGloss and Sof-Lex showed a lower roughness. It can be concluded that composite resins transmitted more light after dental abrasion. Transmittance of composite resins was not modified by the distinct roughness created by finishing/polishing instruments.

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.

Roughness as classicality indicator of a quantum state

Science.gov (United States)

Lemos, Humberto C. F.; Almeida, Alexandre C. L.; Amaral, Barbara; Oliveira, Adélcio C.

2018-03-01

We define a new quantifier of classicality for a quantum state, the Roughness, which is given by the L2 (R2) distance between Wigner and Husimi functions. We show that the Roughness is bounded and therefore it is a useful tool for comparison between different quantum states for single bosonic systems. The state classification via the Roughness is not binary, but rather it is continuous in the interval [ 0 , 1 ], being the state more classic as the Roughness approaches to zero, and more quantum when it is closer to the unity. The Roughness is maximum for Fock states when its number of photons is arbitrarily large, and also for squeezed states at the maximum compression limit. On the other hand, the Roughness approaches its minimum value for thermal states at infinite temperature and, more generally, for infinite entropy states. The Roughness of a coherent state is slightly below one half, so we may say that it is more a classical state than a quantum one. Another important result is that the Roughness performs well for discriminating both pure and mixed states. Since the Roughness measures the inherent quantumness of a state, we propose another function, the Dynamic Distance Measure (DDM), which is suitable for measure how much quantum is a dynamics. Using DDM, we studied the quartic oscillator, and we observed that there is a certain complementarity between dynamics and state, i.e. when dynamics becomes more quantum, the Roughness of the state decreases, while the Roughness grows as the dynamics becomes less quantum.

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.

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...

What is the critical height of leading edge roughness for aerodynamics?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bak, Christian; Gaunaa, Mac; Olsen, Anders Smærup

2016-01-01

-C2-18 and at three different Reynolds numbers with two different leading edge roughness tape heights. Firstly, an analysis of the momentum thickness as function of Reynolds number was carried out based on the boundary layer theory by Thwaites. Secondly, the wind tunnel measurements combined......In this paper the critical leading edge roughness height is analyzed in two cases: 1) leading edge roughness influencing the lift-drag ratio and 2) leading edge roughness influencing the maximum lift. The analysis was based on wind tunnel measurements on the airfoils NACA0015, Risoe-B1-18 and Risoe...

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

Core outcome measurement instruments for clinical trials in nonspecific low back pain

Science.gov (United States)

Chiarotto, Alessandro; Boers, Maarten; Deyo, Richard A.; Buchbinder, Rachelle; Corbin, Terry P.; Costa, Leonardo O.P.; Foster, Nadine E.; Grotle, Margreth; Koes, Bart W.; Kovacs, Francisco M.; Lin, C.-W. Christine; Maher, Chris G.; Pearson, Adam M.; Peul, Wilco C.; Schoene, Mark L.; Turk, Dennis C.; van Tulder, Maurits W.; Terwee, Caroline B.; Ostelo, Raymond W.

2018-01-01

Abstract To standardize outcome reporting in clinical trials of patients with nonspecific low back pain, an international multidisciplinary panel recommended physical functioning, pain intensity, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as core outcome domains. Given the lack of a consensus on measurement instruments for these 3 domains in patients with low back pain, this study aimed to generate such consensus. The measurement properties of 17 patient-reported outcome measures for physical functioning, 3 for pain intensity, and 5 for HRQoL were appraised in 3 systematic reviews following the COSMIN methodology. Researchers, clinicians, and patients (n = 207) were invited in a 2-round Delphi survey to generate consensus (≥67% agreement among participants) on which instruments to endorse. Response rates were 44% and 41%, respectively. In round 1, consensus was achieved on the Oswestry Disability Index version 2.1a for physical functioning (78% agreement) and the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for pain intensity (75% agreement). No consensus was achieved on any HRQoL instrument, although the Short Form 12 (SF12) approached the consensus threshold (64% agreement). In round 2, a consensus was reached on an NRS version with a 1-week recall period (96% agreement). Various participants requested 1 free-to-use instrument per domain. Considering all issues together, recommendations on core instruments were formulated: Oswestry Disability Index version 2.1a or 24-item Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire for physical functioning, NRS for pain intensity, and SF12 or 10-item PROMIS Global Health form for HRQoL. Further studies need to fill the evidence gaps on the measurement properties of these and other instruments. PMID:29194127

Rough Finite State Automata and Rough Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Arulprakasam, R.; Perumal, R.; Radhakrishnan, M.; Dare, V. R.

2018-04-01

Sumita Basu [1, 2] recently introduced the concept of a rough finite state (semi)automaton, rough grammar and rough languages. Motivated by the work of [1, 2], in this paper, we investigate some closure properties of rough regular languages and establish the equivalence between the classes of rough languages generated by rough grammar and the classes of rough regular languages accepted by rough finite automaton.

Displacement, distance, and shape measurements of fast-rotating rough objects by two mutually tilted interference fringe systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Günther, Philipp; Kuschmierz, Robert; Pfister, Thorsten; Czarske, Jürgen W

2013-05-01

The precise distance measurement of fast-moving rough surfaces is important in several applications such as lathe monitoring. A nonincremental interferometer based on two mutually tilted interference fringe systems has been realized for this task. The distance is coded in the phase difference between the generated interference signals corresponding to the fringe systems. Large tilting angles between the interference fringe systems are necessary for a high sensitivity. However, due to the speckle effect at rough surfaces, different envelopes and phase jumps of the interference signals occur. At large tilting angles, these signals become dissimilar, resulting in a small correlation coefficient and a high measurement uncertainty. Based on a matching of illumination and receiving optics, the correlation coefficient and the phase difference estimation have been improved significantly. For axial displacement measurements of recurring rough surfaces, laterally moving with velocities of 5 m/s, an uncertainty of 110 nm has been attained. For nonrecurring surfaces, a distance measurement uncertainty of 830 nm has been achieved. Incorporating the additionally measured lateral velocity and the rotational speed, the two-dimensional shape of rotating objects results. Since the measurement uncertainty of the displacement, distance, and shape is nearly independent of the lateral surface velocity, this technique is predestined for fast-rotating objects, such as crankshafts, camshafts, vacuum pump shafts, or turning parts of lathes.

An atomic force microscopy-based method for line edge roughness measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fouchier, M.; Pargon, E.; Bardet, B. [CNRS/UJF-Grenoble1/CEA LTM, 17 avenue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble cedex 9 (France)

2013-03-14

With the constant decrease of semiconductor device dimensions, line edge roughness (LER) becomes one of the most important sources of device variability and needs to be controlled below 2 nm for the future technological nodes of the semiconductor roadmap. LER control at the nanometer scale requires accurate measurements. We introduce a technique for LER measurement based upon the atomic force microscope (AFM). In this technique, the sample is tilted at about 45 Degree-Sign and feature sidewalls are scanned along their length with the AFM tip to obtain three-dimensional images. The small radius of curvature of the tip together with the low noise level of a laboratory AFM result in high resolution images. Half profiles and LER values on all the height of the sidewalls are extracted from the 3D images using a procedure that we developed. The influence of sample angle variations on the measurements is shown to be small. The technique is applied to the study of a full pattern transfer into a simplified gate stack. The images obtained are qualitatively consistent with cross-section scanning electron microscopy images and the average LER values agree with that obtained by critical dimension scanning electron microscopy. In addition to its high resolution, this technique presents several advantages such as the ability to image the foot of photoresist lines, complex multi-layer stacks regardless of the materials, and deep re-entrant profiles.

A new peak shear strength criterion for rock joints which includes spectral parameters as roughness measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulatilake, P.H.S.W.; Shou, G.; Huang, T.H.

1996-01-01

Most of the natural rock joint surface profiles do not belong to the self similar fractal category. In general, roughness profiles of rock joints consist of non-stationary and stationary components. At the simplest level, only one parameter is sufficient to quantify non-stationary joint roughness. The average inclination angle I, along with the direction considered for the joint surface, is suggested to capture the non-stationary roughness. It is shown that even though the fractal dimension D is a useful parameter, it alone is insufficient to quantify the stationary roughness of non-self similar profiles

Microprocessor-controlled data-acquisition instrument for neutron-activation measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, B.A.

1981-01-01

This paper describes a microprocessor controlled data acquisition instrument designed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to provide experimenters with a diagnostic tool for measuring the performance of laser imploded fusion targets via neutron activation techniques. This instrument features the ability to count four independent inputs simultaneously while providing a front panel readout of these inputs, plus a time of day clock. A hardcopy printout of the data is also provided by a built-in thermal printer. All running modes and parameters are user selectable via a front panel keypad, and a complete set of internal self-testing diagnostics are available for debug

Development of an instrument for direct ozone production rate measurements: measurement reliability and current limitations

Science.gov (United States)

Sklaveniti, Sofia; Locoge, Nadine; Stevens, Philip S.; Wood, Ezra; Kundu, Shuvashish; Dusanter, Sébastien

2018-02-01

Ground-level ozone (O3) is an important pollutant that affects both global climate change and regional air quality, with the latter linked to detrimental effects on both human health and ecosystems. Ozone is not directly emitted in the atmosphere but is formed from chemical reactions involving volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) and sunlight. The photochemical nature of ozone makes the implementation of reduction strategies challenging and a good understanding of its formation chemistry is fundamental in order to develop efficient strategies of ozone reduction from mitigation measures of primary VOCs and NOx emissions. An instrument for direct measurements of ozone production rates (OPRs) was developed and deployed in the field as part of the IRRONIC (Indiana Radical, Reactivity and Ozone Production Intercomparison) field campaign. The OPR instrument is based on the principle of the previously published MOPS instrument (Measurement of Ozone Production Sensor) but using a different sampling design made of quartz flow tubes and a different Ox (O3 and NO2) conversion-detection scheme composed of an O3-to-NO2 conversion unit and a cavity attenuated phase shift spectroscopy (CAPS) NO2 monitor. Tests performed in the laboratory and in the field, together with model simulations of the radical chemistry occurring inside the flow tubes, were used to assess (i) the reliability of the measurement principle and (ii) potential biases associated with OPR measurements. This publication reports the first field measurements made using this instrument to illustrate its performance. The results showed that a photo-enhanced loss of ozone inside the sampling flow tubes disturbs the measurements. This issue needs to be solved to be able to perform accurate ambient measurements of ozone production rates with the instrument described in this study. However, an attempt was made to investigate the OPR sensitivity to NOx by adding NO inside the instrument

Ultrasonic backward radiation on painted rough interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Yong Gyu; Yoon, Seok Soo; Kwon, Sung Duck

2002-01-01

The angular dependence(profile) of backscattered ultrasound was measured for steel and brass specimens with periodical surface roughness (1-71μm). Backward radiations showed more linear dependency than normal profile. Direct amplitude increased and averaging amplitude decreased with surface roughness. Painting treatment improved the linearity in direct backward radiation below roughness of 0.03. Scholte and Rayleigh-like waves were observed in the spectrum of averaging backward radiation on periodically rough surface. Painting on periodically rough surface could be used in removing the interface mode effect by periodic roughness.

Suppression of intrinsic roughness in encapsulated graphene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Joachim Dahl; Gunst, Tue; Gregersen, Søren Schou

2017-01-01

Roughness in graphene is known to contribute to scattering effects which lower carrier mobility. Encapsulating graphene in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) leads to a significant reduction in roughness and has become the de facto standard method for producing high-quality graphene devices. We have...... fabricated graphene samples encapsulated by hBN that are suspended over apertures in a substrate and used noncontact electron diffraction measurements in a transmission electron microscope to measure the roughness of encapsulated graphene inside such structures. We furthermore compare the roughness...... of these samples to suspended bare graphene and suspended graphene on hBN. The suspended heterostructures display a root mean square (rms) roughness down to 12 pm, considerably less than that previously reported for both suspended graphene and graphene on any substrate and identical within experimental error...

Background for a new standard on pass-by measurement of combined roughness, track decay rate and vibroacoustic transfer functions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dittrich, M.G.; Létourneaux, F.; Dupuis, H.

2013-01-01

A measurement method for combined roughness, track decay rates and transfer functions derived from rail vibration during a train pass-by was initially developed in the late nineties [1]. This method has been then later implemented in software tools [2] and applied in several countries for various

Inner-outer interactions in a rough wall turbulent boundary layer over hemispherical roughness using PIV

Science.gov (United States)

Pathikonda, Gokul; Clark, Caitlyn; Christensen, Kenneth T.

2017-11-01

Inner-outer interactions over rough-wall boundary layer were investigated using high frame-rate, PIV measurements in a Refractive index-matched (RIM) facility. Flows over canonical smooth-wall and hexagonally-packed hemispherical roughness under transitionally rough flow conditions (and with Reτ 1500) were measured using a dual camera PIV system with different fields of view (FOVs) and operating simultaneously. The large FOV measures the large scales and boundary layer parameters, while the small FOV measures the small scales very close to the wall with high spatial ( 7y*) and temporal ( 2.5t*) resolutions. Conditional metrics were formulated to investigate these scale interactions in a spatio-temporal sense using the PIV data. It was found that the observations complement the interaction structure made via hotwire experiments and DNS in previous studies over both smooth and rough-wall flows, with a strong correlation between the large scales and small scale energies indicative of the amplitude modulation interactions. Additionally, frequency and scale modulations were also investigated with limited success. These experiments highlight the similarities and differences in these interactions between the smooth- and rough-wall flows.

D-Catch instrument : development and psychometric testing of a measurement instrument for nursing documentation in hospitals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paans, Wolter; Sermeus, Walter; Nieweg, Roos; van der Schans, Cees P.

AIM: This paper is a report of the development and testing of the psychometric properties of an instrument to measure the accuracy of nursing documentation in general hospitals. BACKGROUND: Little information is available about the accuracy of nursing documentation. None of the existing instruments

Experimental methodology of contact edge roughness on sub-100-nm pattern

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tae Yong; Ihm, Dongchul; Kang, Hyo Chun; Lee, Jun Bum; Lee, Byoung-Ho; Chin, Soo-Bok; Cho, Do-Hyun; Kim, Yang Hyong; Yang, Ho Dong; Yang, Kyoung Mo

2004-05-01

The measurement of edge roughness has become a hot issue in the semiconductor industry. Major vendors offer a variety of features to measure the edge roughness in their CD-SEMs. However, most of the features are limited by the applicable pattern types. For the line and space patterns, features such as Line Edge Roughness (LER) and Line Width Roughness (LWR) are available in current CD-SEMs. The edge roughness is more critical in contact process. However the measurement of contact edge roughness (CER) or contact space roughness (CSR) is more complicated than that of LER or LWR. So far, no formal standard measurement algorithm or definition of contact roughness measurement exists. In this article, currently available features are investigated to assess their representability for CER or CSR. Some new ideas to quantify CER and CSR were also suggested with preliminary experimental results.

Developing a TPACK measurement instrument for 21st century pre-service teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teemu Valtonen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available  Future skills, so-called 21st century skills, emphasise collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and especially ICT skills (Voogt & Roblin, 2012. Teachers have to be able to use various pedagogical approaches and ICT in order to support the development of their students’ 21st century skills (Voogt & Roblin, 2012. These skills, particularly ICT skills, pose challenges for teachers and teacher education. This paper focuses on developing an instrument for measuring pre-service teachers’ knowledge related to ICT in the context of 21st century skills.Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK; Mishra & Kohler, 2006 was used as a theoretical framework for designing the instrument. While the TPACK framework is actively used, the instruments used to measure it have proven challenging. This paper outlines the results of the development process of the TPACK-21 instrument. A new assessment instrument was compiled and tested on pre-service teachers in Study1 (N=94. Based on these results, the instrument was further developed and tested in Study2 (N=267. The data of both studies were analysed using multiple quantitative methods in order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instruments. The results provide insight into the challenges of the development process itself and also suggest new solutions to overcome these difficulties.

A digital instrument for reactivity measurements in a nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chwaszczewski, S.

1979-01-01

An instrument for digital determination of the reactivity in nuclear reactors is described. It is based on the CAMAC standard apparatus, suitable for the use of pulse or current type neutron detectors and operates with prompt response and an output signal proportional to the core neutron flux. The measured data of neutron flux and reactivity can be registered by a digital display unit, an indicator, or, by request of the operator, a paper type punch. The algorithms used for reactivity calculation are considered and the results of numerical studies on those algorithms are discussed. The instrument has been used for determining the reactivity of the control elements in the fast-thermal assembly ANNA and in the research reactor MARIA. Some results of these measurements are given. (author)

Restrictions on Measurement of Roughness of Textile Fabrics by Laser Triangulation: A Phenomenological Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berberi, Pellumb; Tabaku, Burhan

2010-01-01

Laser triangulation method is one of the methods used for contactless measurement of roughness of textile fabrics. Method is based on measurement of distance between the sensor and the object by imaging the light scattered from the surface. However, experimental results, especially for high values of roughness, show a strong dependence to duration of exposure time to laser pulses. Use of very short exposure times and long exposures times causes appearance on the surface of the scanned textile of pixels with Active peak heights. The number of Active peaks increases with decrease of exposure time down to 0.1 ms, and increases with increase of exposure time up to 100 ms. Appearance of Active peaks leads to nonrealistic increase of roughness of the surface both for short exposure times and long exposure times reaching a minimum somewhere in the region of medium exposure times, 1 to 2 ms. The above effect suggests a careful analysis of experimental data and, also, becomes an important restriction to the method. In this paper we attempt to make a phenomenological approach to the mechanisms leading to these effects. We suppose that effect is related both to scattering properties of scanned surface and to physical parameters of CCD sensors. The first factor becomes more important in the region of long exposure times, while second factor becomes more important in the region of short exposure times.

Reconstructing the Surface Permittivity Distribution from Data Measured by the CONSERT Instrument aboard Rosetta: Method and Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Plettemeier, D.; Statz, C.; Hegler, S.; Herique, A.; Kofman, W. W.

2014-12-01

One of the main scientific objectives of the Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission (CONSERT) aboard Rosetta is to perform a dielectric characterization of comet 67P/Chuyurmov-Gerasimenko's nucleus by means of a bi-static sounding between the lander Philae launched onto the comet's surface and the orbiter Rosetta. For the sounding, the lander part of CONSERT will receive and process the radio signal emitted by the orbiter part of the instrument and transmit a signal to the orbiter to be received by CONSERT. CONSERT will also be operated as bi-static RADAR during the descent of the lander Philae onto the comet's surface. From data measured during the descent, we aim at reconstructing a surface permittivity map of the comet at the landing site and along the path below the descent trajectory. This surface permittivity map will give information on the bulk material right below and around the landing site and the surface roughness in areas covered by the instrument along the descent. The proposed method to estimate the surface permittivity distribution is based on a least-squares based inversion approach in frequency domain. The direct problem of simulating the wave-propagation between lander and orbiter at line-of-sight and the signal reflected on the comet's surface is modelled using a dielectric physical optics approximation. Restrictions on the measurement positions by the descent orbitography and limitations on the instrument dynamic range will be dealt with by application of a regularization technique where the surface permittivity distribution and the gradient with regard to the permittivity is projected in a domain defined by a viable model of the spatial material and roughness distribution. The least-squares optimization step of the reconstruction is performed in such domain on a reduced set of parameters yielding stable results. The viability of the proposed method is demonstrated by reconstruction results based on simulated data.

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.

An inexpensive instrument for measuring wave exposure and water velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Figurski, J.D.; Malone, D.; Lacy, J.R.; Denny, M.

2011-01-01

Ocean waves drive a wide variety of nearshore physical processes, structuring entire ecosystems through their direct and indirect effects on the settlement, behavior, and survivorship of marine organisms. However, wave exposure remains difficult and expensive to measure. Here, we report on an inexpensive and easily constructed instrument for measuring wave-induced water velocities. The underwater relative swell kinetics instrument (URSKI) is a subsurface float tethered by a short (<1 m) line to the seafloor. Contained within the float is an accelerometer that records the tilt of the float in response to passing waves. During two field trials totaling 358 h, we confirmed the accuracy and precision of URSKI measurements through comparison to velocities measured by an in situ acoustic Doppler velocimeter and those predicted by a standard swell model, and we evaluated how the dimensions of the devices, its buoyancy, and sampling frequency can be modified for use in a variety of environments.

Towards predictive models for transitionally rough surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Abderrahaman-Elena, Nabil; Garcia-Mayoral, Ricardo

2017-11-01

We analyze and model the previously presented decomposition for flow variables in DNS of turbulence over transitionally rough surfaces. The flow is decomposed into two contributions: one produced by the overlying turbulence, which has no footprint of the surface texture, and one induced by the roughness, which is essentially the time-averaged flow around the surface obstacles, but modulated in amplitude by the first component. The roughness-induced component closely resembles the laminar steady flow around the roughness elements at the same non-dimensional roughness size. For small - yet transitionally rough - textures, the roughness-free component is essentially the same as over a smooth wall. Based on these findings, we propose predictive models for the onset of the transitionally rough regime. Project supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Instrumentation for electromagnetic field generation in biological measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malaric, K.; Malaric, R.; Tkalec, M.; Lenicek, I.; Sala, A.

2005-01-01

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are part of everyday life in modern world. Extremely low-frequency EMFs (50 Hz) are produced by most electric home appliance, electric power transmission and distribution lines. For the last ten years mobile phones have been widely used all around the world. They operate on the EMF frequencies from 400 MHz to 1900 MHz. The effects of EMFs on living organisms have been the subject of debate and research for the last thirty years. The instrumentation for generation of EMFs have been designed at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Zagreb, and can be used for controlled exposure to different EMFs. To study the effect of extremely low-frequency EMF, duckweed (Lemna minor) - the model plant in biological measurement, test setup was made for magnetic field in Helmholtz coil and for electric field between two parallel circle electrodes. For the effect of mobile phones frequencies, test setup with exposition to the electromagnetic field was done with Gigahertz Transversal Electromagnetic Mode (GTEM) cell. The research confirmed that instrumentation used in these experiments is suitable for evaluation of biological effects of EMFs. The effect of different field strengths, exposure times and modulation can be tested with these instrumentation.(author)

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)

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

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

Turbulence modifications in a turbulent boundary layer over a rough wall with spanwise-alternating roughness strips

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, H. L.; Kevin, Hutchins, N.; Monty, J. P.

2018-05-01

Turbulence modifications over a rough wall with spanwise-varying roughness are investigated at a moderate Reynolds number Reτ ≈ 2000 (or Reθ ≈ 6400), using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and hotwire anemometry. The rough wall is comprised of spanwise-alternating longitudinal sandpaper strips of two different roughness heights. The ratio of high- and low-roughness heights is 8, and the ratio of high- and low-roughness strip width is 0.5. PIV measurements are conducted in a wall-parallel plane located in the logarithmic region, while hotwire measurements are made throughout the entire boundary layer in a cross-stream plane. In a time-average sense, large-scale counter-rotating roll-modes are observed in the cross-stream plane over the rough wall, with downwash and upwash common-flows displayed over the high- and low-roughness strips, respectively. Meanwhile, elevated and reduced streamwise velocities occur over the high- and low-roughness strips, respectively. Significant modifications in the distributions of mean vorticities and Reynolds stresses are observed, exhibiting features of spatial preference. Furthermore, spatial correlations and conditional average analyses are performed to examine the alterations of turbulence structures over the rough wall, revealing that the time-invariant structures observed are resultant from the time-average process of instantaneous turbulent events that occur mostly and preferentially in space.

Instrumentation for Structure Measurements on Highly Non-equilibrium Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weber, Richard [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Benmore, Chris J [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Neuefeind, Joerg C [ORNL; Wilding, Martin C [ORNL

2011-01-01

Containerless techniques (levitation) completely eliminate contact with the sample. This unique sample environment allows deep supercooling of many liquids and avoids contamination of high temperature melts. Recent experiments at the APS high energy beamline 11 ID-C used aerodynamic levitation with laser beam heating and acoustic levitation with cryogenic cooling. By using these two methods, liquids were studied over much of the temperature range from -40 to +2500 C. This paper briefly describes the instrumentation and its use with an -Si area detector that allows fast, in-situ measurements. Use of the instruments is illustrated with examples of measurements on molten oxides and aqueous materials.

The effect of sidewall roughness on line edge roughness in top-down scanning electron microscopy images

Science.gov (United States)

Verduin, T.; Lokhorst, S. R.; Kruit, P.; Hagen, C. W.

2015-03-01

We have investigated in a numerical study the determination of sidewall roughness (SWR) from top down scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. In a typical metrology application, top-down SEM images are acquired in a (critical-dimension) SEM and the roughness is analyzed. However, the true size, shape and roughness characteristics of resist features are not fully investigated in the analysis of top-down SEM images. In reality, rough resist features are complex three-dimensional structures and the characterization naturally extends to the analysis of SWR. In this study we randomly generate images of rough lines and spaces, where the lines are made of PMMA on a silicon substrate. The lines that we study have a length of 2 µm, a width of 32nm and a height of 32 nm. The SWR is modeled by using the power spectral density (PSD) function of Palasantzas, which characterizes roughness by the standard deviation σ, correlation length ξ and roughness exponent α . The actual roughness is generated by application of the method of Thorsos in two dimensions. The images are constructed by using a home-built program for simulating electron-specimen interactions. The program that we have developed is optimized for complex arbitrary geometries and large number of incident low energy primary electrons by using multi-core CPUs and GPUs. The program uses the dielectric function model for inelastic scattering events and has an implementation specifically for low energy electrons. A satisfactory comparison is made between the secondary electron yields from the home-built program and another program found in literature. In order to reduce the risk of shrinkage, we use a beam energy of 300 eV and a spot size of 3 nm. Each pixel is exposed with 20 electrons on average (≍ 276 µC/cm2), following the Poisson distribution to account for illumination shot noise. We have assumed that the detection of electrons is perfect and does not introduce additional noise. We measure line edge

Micro PIV measurements of turbulent flow over 2D structured roughness

Science.gov (United States)

Hartenberger, Joel; Perlin, Marc

2015-11-01

We investigate the turbulent boundary layer over surfaces with 2D spanwise square and triangular protrusions having nominal heights of 100 - 300 microns for Reynolds numbers ranging from Reτ ~ 1500 through Reτ ~ 4500 using a high speed, high magnification imaging system. Micro PIV analysis gives finely resolved velocity fields of the flow (on the order of 10 microns between vectors) enabling a detailed look at the inner region as well as the flow in the immediate vicinity of the roughness elements. Additionally, planar PIV with lower resolution is performed to capture the remainder of the boundary layer to the freestream flow. Varying the streamwise distance between individual roughness elements from one to ten times the nominal heights allows investigation of k-type and d-type roughness in both the transitionally rough and fully rough regimes. Preliminary results show a shift in the mean velocity profile similar to the results of previous studies. Turbulent statistics will be presented also. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of NAVSEA which funded this project through the Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC).

Microscopic Holography for flow over rough plate

Science.gov (United States)

Talapatra, Siddharth; Hong, Jiarong; Lu, Yuan; Katz, Joseph

2008-11-01

Our objective is to measure the near wall flow structures in a turbulent channel flow over a rough wall. In-line microscopic holographic PIV can resolve the 3-D flow field in a small sample volume, but recording holograms through a rough surface is a challenge. To solve this problem, we match the refractive indices of the fluid with that of the wall. Proof of concept tests involve an acrylic plate containing uniformly distributed, closely packed 0.45mm high pyramids with slope angle of 22^^o located within a concentrated sodium iodide solution. Holograms recorded by a 4864 x 3248 pixel digital camera at 10X magnification provide a field of view of 3.47mm x 2.32mm and pixel resolution of 0.714 μm. Due to index matching, reconstructed seed particles can be clearly seen over the entire volume, with only faint traces with the rough wall that can be removed. Planned experiments will be performed in a 20 x 5 cm rectangular channel with the top and bottom plates having the same roughness as the sample plate.

Plan for the testing of radiation measurement instrumentation intended for use at an excavation site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gehrke, R.J.

1994-11-01

This plan describes performance tests to be made with ionizing radiation measurement instrumentation designed and built for in-field assay at an excavation site. One instrument measures gross gamma-ray and neutron fields and the other identifies gamma-ray emitting radionuclides and also is capable of assaying for selected hazardous materials. These instruments will be operationally tested to verify that original specifications have been met and performance tested to establish and verify that they have the potential to function as intended at an excavation site

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...

Polarimetry of light scattered by surface roughness and textured films and periodic structures in nanotechnologies: a new challenge in instrumentation and modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferrieu. F.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Exhaustive studies in the literature detail the Mueller matrices properties through decomposition, optical entropy and depolarization formalism. It has been applied for many years in rather different fields. In radar polarimetry, mathematical basis of depolarizing systems, have been first developed. In the visible range optics, standard diattenuation and retardance, decomposition is currently used in turbid organic media. The optical entropy concept, developed by S.R. Cloude, provides a very powerful analysis technique yielding important surface parameters such as depolarization, correlation and roughness. Complementary applications exist in scatterometry, for thin periodic grating films. With high capability polarimeters, such as the next generation of angle resolved polarimeters instruments, Polarimetry opens new fields of investigation for nanotechnologies materials as well as for gratings and photonics structures analysis: a program presently developed through a national consortium ANR08-NANO-020-03. With this instrumentation progress, simulation remains a key point to overpass as a challenge between future instruments. The theories for surfaces spectral power density (PSD and the random coupled wave approximation (RCWA in periodic structures are widely described in the literature. The implementation of some of these codes is described here for surface analysis and lithography scatterometry structures: grating overlay or double patterning.

Bulk velocity measurements by video analysis of dye tracer in a macro-rough channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghilardi, T; Franca, M J; Schleiss, A J

2014-01-01

Steep mountain rivers have hydraulic and morphodynamic characteristics that hinder velocity measurements. The high spatial variability of hydraulic parameters, such as water depth (WD), river width and flow velocity, makes the choice of a representative cross-section to measure the velocity in detail challenging. Additionally, sediment transport and rapidly changing bed morphology exclude the utilization of standard and often intrusive velocity measurement techniques. The limited technical choices are further reduced in the presence of macro-roughness elements, such as large, relatively immobile boulders. Tracer tracking techniques are among the few reliable methods that can be used under these conditions to evaluate the mean flow velocity. However, most tracer tracking techniques calculate bulk flow velocities between two or more fixed cross-sections. In the presence of intense sediment transport resulting in an important temporal variability of the bed morphology, dead water zones may appear in the few selected measurement sections. Thus a technique based on the analysis of an entire channel reach is needed in this study. A dye tracer measurement technique in which a single camcorder visualizes a long flume reach is described and developed. This allows us to overcome the problem of the presence of dead water zones. To validate this video analysis technique, velocity measurements were carried out on a laboratory flume simulating a torrent, with a relatively gentle slope of 1.97% and without sediment transport, using several commonly used velocity measurement instruments. In the absence of boulders, salt injections, WD and ultrasonic velocity profiler measurements were carried out, along with dye injection technique. When boulders were present, dye tracer technique was validated only by comparison with salt tracer. Several video analysis techniques used to infer velocities were developed and compared, showing that dye tracking is a valid technique for bulk velocity

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.

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

The effect of anode surface roughness on radiation output for diagnostic x-ray sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meghzifene, K.; Nowotny, R.; Aiginger, H.

2002-01-01

The calculation of entrance surface dose to patients in diagnostic radiology from tube output data is determined by often-unknown sources of inherent filtration. One of these sources is the roughness of the anode surface increasing with tube ageing. This effect increases the inherent filtration of the x-ray tube noticed by a reduced radiation output and increased half-value layers (HVL). To study this effect used rotating anodes were collected and the surface profile of 8 focal tracks was measured in radial direction using an instrument with a diamond tipped stylus (90 deg. tip, 1 μm radius). Surface roughness was determined as the arithmetic mean R a of the deviation in the profile from the centre line for 200 μm reference lengths ranging from 1.32 μm (sandblasted finish without surface degradation) to 5.22 μm (a track for a small focus). The surface profiles were then used to calculate x-ray spectra using a computer code. For each surface about 40000 spectra were calculated with the electrons entering the anode at random position and spectral parameters were then determined. The simulation showed that for rough surfaces the x-rays have to penetrate an additional absorbing layer of tungsten increasing in thickness with anode roughness. The anode with the roughest focal track (R a =5.22 μm) yields a mean additional absorber thickness in direction of the x-ray beam of about 18 μm. The corresponding loss in air kerma for this anode was about 20% at 70 kVp. The effect on mean photon energy is rather small but highest at 70 kVp (+1 keV at R a =5.22 μm) and lowest at 140 kVp (∼0 keV). This is due to the K-edge in the attenuation coefficients of tungsten at 69.5 keV. Beam hardening is thus reduced for higher voltages as absorption at lower photon energies is balanced by higher absorption above the K-edge while at lower voltages beam hardening is fully effective. The pattern of changes in HVL is more complex but in essence also reflects voltage, roughness and

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.

Standard practice for evaluating performance characteristics of ultrasonic Pulse-Echo testing instruments and systems without the use of electronic measurement instruments

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2011-01-01

1.1 This practice describes procedures for evaluating the following performance characteristics of ultrasonic pulse-echo examination instruments and systems: Horizontal Limit and Linearity; Vertical Limit and Linearity; Resolution - Entry Surface and Far Surface; Sensitivity and Noise; Accuracy of Calibrated Gain Controls. Evaluation of these characteristics is intended to be used for comparing instruments and systems or, by periodic repetition, for detecting long-term changes in the characteristics of a given instrument or system that may be indicative of impending failure, and which, if beyond certain limits, will require corrective maintenance. Instrument characteristics measured in accordance with this practice are expressed in terms that relate to their potential usefulness for ultrasonic testing. Instrument characteristics expressed in purely electronic terms may be measured as described in E1324. 1.2 Ultrasonic examination systems using pulsed-wave trains and A-scan presentation (rf or video) may be ev...

An intelligent instrument for measuring exhaust temperature of marine engine

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Nan-Qi; Su, Hua; Liu, Jun

2006-12-01

Exhaust temperature of the marine engine is commonly measured through thermocouple. Measure deviation will occur after using the thermocouple for some time due to nonlinearity of thermocouple itself, high temperature and chemical corrosion of measure point. Frequent replacement of thermocouple will increase the operating cost. This paper designs a new intelligent instrument for solving the above-mentioned problems of the marine engine temperature measurement, which combines the conventional thermocouple temperature measurement technology and SCM(single chip microcomputer). The reading of the thermocouple is simple and precise and the calibration can be made automatically and manually.

Surface roughness evaluation on mandrels and mirror shells for future X-ray telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Sironi, Giorgia; Spiga, D.

2008-07-01

More X-ray missions that will be operating in near future, like particular SIMBOL-X, e-Rosita, Con-X/HXT, SVOM/XIAO and Polar-X, will be based on focusing optics manufactured by means of the Ni electroforming replication technique. This production method has already been successfully exploited for SAX, XMM and Swift-XRT. Optical surfaces for X-ray reflection have to be as smooth as possible also at high spatial frequencies. Hence it will be crucial to take under control microroughness in order to reduce the scattering effects. A high rms microroughness would cause the degradation of the angular resolution and loss of effective area. Stringent requirements have therefore to be fixed for mirror shells surface roughness depending on the specific energy range investigated, and roughness evolution has to be carefully monitored during the subsequent steps of the mirror-shells realization. This means to study the roughness evolution in the chain mandrel, mirror shells, multilayer deposition and also the degradation of mandrel roughness following iterated replicas. Such a study allows inferring which phases of production are the major responsible of the roughness growth and could help to find solutions optimizing the involved processes. The exposed study is carried out in the context of the technological consolidation related to SIMBOL-X, along with a systematic metrological study of mandrels and mirror shells. To monitor the roughness increase following each replica, a multiinstrumental approach was adopted: microprofiles were analysed by means of their Power Spectral Density (PSD) in the spatial frequency range 1000-0.01 μm. This enables the direct comparison of roughness data taken with instruments characterized by different operative ranges of frequencies, and in particular optical interferometers and Atomic Force Microscopes. The performed analysis allowed us to set realistic specifications on the mandrel roughness to be achieved, and to suggest a limit for the

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.

Research and development of thermal-fluid measuring instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuzla, K.; Chen, J.C.

1991-01-01

The goal of this program is to develop an instrument to measure the time-fraction of liquid contact in the transition and film boiling regimes for flow within a vertical tube. The work was carried out at Lehigh University between February 15, 1989 to February 15, 1991. The instrument to measure time-fraction of liquid contact was successfully developed and tested

Characterisation of surface roughness for ultra-precision freeform surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Huifen; Cheung, C F; Lee, W B; To, S; Jiang, X Q

2005-01-01

Ultra-precision freeform surfaces are widely used in many advanced optics applications which demand for having surface roughness down to nanometer range. Although a lot of research work has been reported on the study of surface generation, reconstruction and surface characterization such as MOTIF and fractal analysis, most of them are focused on axial symmetric surfaces such as aspheric surfaces. Relative little research work has been found in the characterization of surface roughness in ultra-precision freeform surfaces. In this paper, a novel Robust Gaussian Filtering (RGF) method is proposed for the characterisation of surface roughness for ultra-precision freeform surfaces with known mathematic model or a cloud of discrete points. A series of computer simulation and measurement experiments were conducted to verify the capability of the proposed method. The experimental results were found to agree well with the theoretical results

Aquarius: The Instrument and Initial Results

Science.gov (United States)

Vine, David M Le; Lagerloef, G.S.E.; Ruf, C.; Wentz, F.; Yueh, S.; Piepmeier, J.; Lindstrom, E.; Dinnat, E.

2012-01-01

Aquarius was launched on June 10, 2011 aboard the Aquarius/SAC-D observatory and the instrument has been operating continuously since the initial turned-on was completed on August 25. The initial observed antenna temperatures were close to predicted and the first salinity map was released in September. In order to map the ocean salinity field, Aquarius includes several special features such as the inclusion of a scatterometer to provide a roughness correction, measurement of the third Stokes parameter to correct for Faraday rotation, and fast sampling to mitigate the effects of RFI. This paper provides an overview of the instrument and an example of initial results. Details are covered in subsequent papers in the session on Aquarius

Rough wall skin friction measurements using a high resolution surface balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krogstad, Per-Age; Efros, Vladislav

2010-01-01

This paper describes the design of a floating element friction balance which is based upon a commercially available micro force balance. The balance has a perfectly linear calibration function and was successfully applied to rough wall flows in a channel and a diffusor. Extrapolation of the turbulent shear stress measured by two component LDA to the wall matched very well the shear stress measured using the friction balance. Also, the wall shear stress obtained from the balance in the fully developed channel flow agreed with the stress that could be derived from the pressure gradient to within 3%.

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

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

Instrument for the measuring magnetic field characteristics of induction acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novikov, V.M.; Romasheva, P.I.

1976-01-01

An instrument for the measuring instantaneous values of variable and pulsed magnetic fields with an amplitide of 0.005-2.0 and duration of 5x10 -6 -2x10 -2 sec is described. Time resolution is not less than 0.5 musec, measuring accuracy is about 1%. Induction coils are used as sensors. A digital voltmeter serves as a secondary recorder

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.

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.

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.

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.

Smartphone measurement engineering - Innovative challenges for science and education, instrumentation and training

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hofmann, D; Dittrich, P-G; Duentsch, E [Senior Network Manager NEMO SpectroNet, Technologie- und Innovationspark Jena GmbH, Wildenbruchstrasse 15, D-07745 Jena (Germany)

2010-07-01

Smartphones have an enormous conceptual and structural influence on measurement science and education, instrumentation and training. Smartphones are matured. They became convenient, reliable and affordable. In 2009 worldwide 174 million Smartphones has been delivered. Measurement with Smartphones is ready for the future. In only 10 years the German vision industry tripled its global sales volume to one Billion Euro/Year. Machine vision is used for mobile object identification, contactless industrial quality control, personalized health care, remote facility and transport management, safety critical surveillance and all tasks which are too complex for the human eye or too monotonous for the human brain. Aim of the paper is to describe selected success stories for the application of Smartphones for measurement engineering in science and education, instrumentation and training.

Smartphone measurement engineering - Innovative challenges for science and education, instrumentation and training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, D; Dittrich, P-G; Duentsch, E

2010-01-01

Smartphones have an enormous conceptual and structural influence on measurement science and education, instrumentation and training. Smartphones are matured. They became convenient, reliable and affordable. In 2009 worldwide 174 million Smartphones has been delivered. Measurement with Smartphones is ready for the future. In only 10 years the German vision industry tripled its global sales volume to one Billion Euro/Year. Machine vision is used for mobile object identification, contactless industrial quality control, personalized health care, remote facility and transport management, safety critical surveillance and all tasks which are too complex for the human eye or too monotonous for the human brain. Aim of the paper is to describe selected success stories for the application of Smartphones for measurement engineering in science and education, instrumentation and training.

Standard test method for verifying the alignment of X-Ray diffraction instrumentation for residual stress measurement

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2010-01-01

1.1 This test method covers the preparation and use of a flat stress-free test specimen for the purpose of checking the systematic error caused by instrument misalignment or sample positioning in X-ray diffraction residual stress measurement, or both. 1.2 This test method is applicable to apparatus intended for X-ray diffraction macroscopic residual stress measurement in polycrystalline samples employing measurement of a diffraction peak position in the high-back reflection region, and in which the θ, 2θ, and ψ rotation axes can be made to coincide (see Fig. 1). 1.3 This test method describes the use of iron powder which has been investigated in round-robin studies for the purpose of verifying the alignment of instrumentation intended for stress measurement in ferritic or martensitic steels. To verify instrument alignment prior to stress measurement in other metallic alloys and ceramics, powder having the same or lower diffraction angle as the material to be measured should be prepared in similar fashion...

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.

Empirical model for estimating the surface roughness of machined ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Empirical model for estimating the surface roughness of machined ... as well as surface finish is one of the most critical quality measure in mechanical products. ... various cutting speed have been developed using regression analysis software.

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.

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)

Decreasing the amplitude deviation of Guassian filter in surface roughness measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bo; Wang, Yu

2008-12-01

A new approach for decreasing the amplitude characteristic deviation of Guassian filter in surface roughness measurements is presented in this paper. According to Central Limit Theorem, many different Guassian approximation filters could be constructed. By using first-order Butterworth filter and moving average filter to approximate Guassian filter, their directions of amplitude deviation are opposite, and their locations of extreme value are close. So the linear combination of them could reduce the amplitude deviation greatly. The maximum amplitude deviation is only about 0.11% through paralleling them. The algorithm of this new method is simple and its efficiency is high.

A New Instrument for the Measurement of the Waveform in X-Ray Units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez-Jimenez, Francisco J.; Martinez-Hernandez, Marco A.

2004-01-01

The experience gained in the quality control in X-ray units used in Radiology has demonstrated that the measurement of the waveform of the X-ray beam, measured as the response of a radiation detector is very helpful to decide if the unit fulfills the quality control requirements and also has been useful to define some kind of faults in the unit. Several instruments are available on the market to make this measurement but they need in general a storage or digital oscilloscope to see the waveform. In this work a stand alone new instrument is proposed in which the waveform is seen in a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The instrument is based in the X-ray response of a photo diode. The analog response depending on time is converted to digital numbers that are stored sequentially in a memory. The stored information is recovered with a microcontroller and reconstructed in the screen of the LCD. The instrument is able to measure in the mammographic range from 22 kV to 35 kV and in the conventional range from 40 kV to 120 kV in the different settings of current encountered on practical applications, the time range for the measurement of the X-ray shot is from 100 ms to 3 s. The instrument can be useful in quality control practices and in the verification and maintenance of X-ray units

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.

Roughness analysis of graphite surfaces of casting elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Wieczorowski

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In the paper profilometric measurements of graphite casting elements were described. Basic topics necessary to assess roughness of their surfaces and influence of asperities on various properties related to manufacturing and use were discussed. Stylus profilometer technique of surface irregularities measurements including its limits resulting from pickup geometry and its contact with measured object were ana-lyzed. Working principle of tactile profilometer and phenomena taking place during movement of a probe on a measured surface were shown. One of the important aspects is a flight phenomenon, which means movement of a pickup without contact with a surface during inspection resulting from too high scanning speed. results of comparison research for graphite elements of new and used mould and pin composing a set were presented. Using some surface roughness, waviness and primary profile parameters (arithmetical mean of roughness profile heights Ra, biggest roughness profile height Rz, maximum primary profile height Pt as well as maximum waviness profile height Wt a possibility of using surface asperities parameters as a measure of wear of chill graphite elements was proved. The most often applied parameter is Ra, but with a help of parameters from W and P family it was shown, that big changes occur not only for roughness but also for other components of surface irregularities.

The impact of climate and composition on playa surface roughness: Investigation of atmospheric mineral dust emission mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Tollerud, H. J.; Fantle, M. S.

2011-12-01

Atmospheric mineral dust has a wide range of impacts, including the transport of elements in geochemical cycles, health hazards from small particles, and climate forcing via the reflection of sunlight from dust particles. In particular, the mineral dust component of climate forcing is one of the most uncertain elements in the IPCC climate forcing summary. Mineral dust is also an important component of geochemical cycles. For instance, dust inputs to the ocean potentially affect the iron cycle by stimulating natural iron fertilization, which could then modify climate via the biological pump. Also dust can transport nutrients over long distances and fertilize nutrient-poor regions, such as island ecosystems or the Amazon rain forest. However, there are still many uncertainties in quantifying dust emissions from source regions. One factor that influences dust emission is surface roughness and texture, since a weak, unconsolidated surface texture is more easily ablated by wind than a strong, hard crust. We are investigating the impact of processes such as precipitation, groundwater evaporation, and wind on surface roughness in a playa dust source region. We find that water has a significant influence on surface roughness. We utilize ESA's Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument to measure roughness in the playa. A map of roughness indicates where the playa surface is smooth (on the scale of centimeters) and potentially very strong, and where it is rough and might be more sensitive to disturbance. We have analyzed approximately 40 ASAR observations of the Black Rock Desert from 2007-2011. In general, the playa is smoother and more variable over time relative to nearby areas. There is also considerable variation within the playa. While the playa roughness maps changed significantly between summers and between observations during the winters, over the course of each summer, the playa surface maintained essentially the same roughness pattern. This suggests that

A review of instruments to measure interprofessional collaboration for chronic disease management for community-living older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bookey-Bassett, Sue; Markle-Reid, Maureen; McKey, Colleen; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori

2016-01-01

It is acknowledged internationally that chronic disease management (CDM) for community-living older adults (CLOA) is an increasingly complex process. CDM for older adults, who are often living with multiple chronic conditions, requires coordination of various health and social services. Coordination is enabled through interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among individual providers, community organizations, and health sectors. Measuring IPC is complicated given there are multiple conceptualisations and measures of IPC. A literature review of several healthcare, psychological, and social science electronic databases was conducted to locate instruments that measure IPC at the team level and have published evidence of their reliability and validity. Five instruments met the criteria and were critically reviewed to determine their strengths and limitations as they relate to CDM for CLOA. A comparison of the characteristics, psychometric properties, and overall concordance of each instrument with salient attributes of IPC found the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool to be the most appropriate instrument for measuring IPC for CDM in CLOA.

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.

Developing and validating an instrument for measuring mobile computing self-efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-Shun; Wang, Hsiu-Yuan

2008-08-01

IT-related self-efficacy has been found to have a critical influence on system use. However, traditional measures of computer self-efficacy and Internet-related self-efficacy are perceived to be inapplicable in the context of mobile computing and commerce because they are targeted primarily at either desktop computer or wire-based technology contexts. Based on previous research, this study develops and validates a multidimensional instrument for measuring mobile computing self-efficacy (MCSE). This empirically validated instrument will be useful to researchers in developing and testing the theories of mobile user behavior, and to practitioners in assessing the mobile computing self-efficacy of users and promoting the use of mobile commerce systems.

Understanding and eliminating artifact signals from diffusely scattered pump beam in measurements of rough samples by time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Bo [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576 (Singapore); Koh, Yee Kan, E-mail: mpekyk@nus.edu.sg [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576 (Singapore); Centre of Advanced 2D Materials, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117542 (Singapore)

2016-06-15

Time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) is a pump-probe technique frequently applied to measure the thermal transport properties of bulk materials, nanostructures, and interfaces. One of the limitations of TDTR is that it can only be employed to samples with a fairly smooth surface. For rough samples, artifact signals are collected when the pump beam in TDTR measurements is diffusely scattered by the rough surface into the photodetector, rendering the TDTR measurements invalid. In this paper, we systemically studied the factors affecting the artifact signals due to the pump beam leaked into the photodetector and thus established the origin of the artifact signals. We find that signals from the leaked pump beam are modulated by the probe beam due to the phase rotation induced in the photodetector by the illumination of the probe beam. As a result of the modulation, artifact signals due to the leaked pump beam are registered in TDTR measurements as the out-of-phase signals. We then developed a simple approach to eliminate the artifact signals due to the leaked pump beam. We verify our leak-pump correction approach by measuring the thermal conductivity of a rough InN sample, when the signals from the leaked pump beam are significant. We also discuss the advantages of our new method over the two-tint approach and its limitations. Our new approach enables measurements of the thermal conductivity of rough samples using TDTR.

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....

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 ...

Instrument for measuring moisture in wood chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Werme, L

1980-06-01

A method to determine the moisture content in wood chips, in batch and on-line, has been investigated. The method can be used for frozen and non frozen chips. Samples of wood chips are thawn and dryed with microwaves. During the drying the sample is weighed continously and the rate of drying is measured. The sample is dried t 10 percent moisture content. The result is extrapolated to the drying rate zero. The acccuracy at the method is 1.6 to 1.7 percent for both frozen and non frozen chips. The accuracy of the method is considered acceptable, but sofisticated sampling equipment is necessary. This makes the method too complex to make the instrument marketable.

Simplified Approach to Predicting Rough Surface Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Robert J.; Stripf, Matthias

2009-01-01

Turbine vane heat transfer predictions are given for smooth and rough vanes where the experimental data show transition moving forward on the vane as the surface roughness physical height increases. Consiste nt with smooth vane heat transfer, the transition moves forward for a fixed roughness height as the Reynolds number increases. Comparison s are presented with published experimental data. Some of the data ar e for a regular roughness geometry with a range of roughness heights, Reynolds numbers, and inlet turbulence intensities. The approach ta ken in this analysis is to treat the roughness in a statistical sense , consistent with what would be obtained from blades measured after e xposure to actual engine environments. An approach is given to determ ine the equivalent sand grain roughness from the statistics of the re gular geometry. This approach is guided by the experimental data. A roughness transition criterion is developed, and comparisons are made with experimental data over the entire range of experimental test co nditions. Additional comparisons are made with experimental heat tran sfer data, where the roughness geometries are both regular as well a s statistical. Using the developed analysis, heat transfer calculatio ns are presented for the second stage vane of a high pressure turbine at hypothetical engine conditions.

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.

Determination of the manning coefficient from measured bed roughness in natural channels

Science.gov (United States)

Limerinos, John Thomas

1970-01-01

This report presents the results of a study to test the hypothesis that basic values of the Manning roughness coefficient of stream channels may be related to (1) some characteristic size of the streambed particles and to (2) the distribution of particle size. These two elements involving particle size can be combined into a single element by weighting characteristic particle sizes. The investigation was confined to channels with coarse bed material to avoid the complication of bed-form roughness that is associated with alluvial channels composed of fine bed material. Fifty current-meter measurements of discharge and appropriate field surveys were made at 11 sites on California streams for the purpose of computing the roughness coefficient, n, by the Manning formula. The test sites were selected to give a wide range in average size of bed material, and the discharge measurements and surveys were made at such times as to provide data covering a suitable range in stream depth. The sites selected were relatively free of the extraneous flow-retarding effects associated with irregular channel conformation and streambank vegetation. The characteristic bed-particle sizes used in the analyses were the 16,- 50,- and 84-percentile sizes as obtained from a cumulative frequency distribution of the diameters of randomly sampled surficial bed material. Separate distributions were computed for the minimum and intermediate values of the three diameters of a particle. The minimum diameters of the streambed particles were used in the study because a particle at rest on the bed invariably has its minimum diameter in the vertical position; this diameter is, therefore, the most representative measure of roughness height. The intermediate diameter was also studied because this is the diameter most easily measurable-either by sieve analysis or by photographic techniques--and--because it is the diameter that had been used in previous studies by other investigators. No significant

Turbulence Intensity and the Friction Factor for Smooth- and Rough-Wall Pipe Flow

OpenAIRE

Nils T. Basse

2017-01-01

Turbulence intensity profiles are compared for smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow measurements made in the Princeton Superpipe. The profile development in the transition from hydraulically smooth to fully rough flow displays a propagating sequence from the pipe wall towards the pipe axis. The scaling of turbulence intensity with Reynolds number shows that the smooth- and rough wall level deviates with increasing Reynolds number. We quantify the correspondence between turbulence intensity and th...

Estimation of fracture roughness from the acoustic borehole televiewer image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Dae Soek; Kim, Chun Soo; Kim, Kyung Soo; Park, Byung Yoon; Koh, Yong Kweon

2000-12-01

Estimation of fracture roughness - as one of the basic hydraulic fracture parameters - is very important in assessing ground water flow described by using discrete fracture network modeling. Former manual estimation of the roughness for each fracture surface of drill cores is above all a tedious, time-consuming work and will often cause some ambiguities of roughness interpretation partly due to the subjective judgements of observers, and partly due to the measuring procedure itself. However, recently, indebt to the highly reliable Televiewer data for the fracture discrimination, it has led to a guess to develop a relationship between the traditional roughness method based on a linear profiles and the method from the Televiewer image based on a ellipsoidal profile. Hence, the aim of this work is to develop an automatic evaluation algorithm for measuring the roughness from the Televiewer images. A highly reliable software named 'FRAFA' has been developed and realized to the extent that its utility merits. In the developing procedure, various problems - such as the examination of a new base line(ellipsoidal) for measuring the unevenness of fracture, the elimination of overlapping fracture signatures or noise, the wavelet estimation according to the type of fractures and the digitalization of roughness etc. - were considered. With these consideration in mind, the newly devised algorithm for the estimation of roughness curves showed a great potential not only for avoiding ambiguities of roughness interpretation but also for the judgement of roughness classification

Effect of Blade Roughness on Transition and Wind Turbine Performance.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ehrmann, Robert S. [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); White, E. B. [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

2015-09-01

The real-world effect of accumulated surface roughness on wind-turbine power production is not well understood. To isolate specific blade roughness features and test their effect, field measurements of turbine-blade roughness were made and simulated on a NACA 633-418 airfoil in a wind tunnel. Insect roughness, paint chips, and erosion were characterized then manufactured. In the tests, these roughness configurations were recreated as distributed roughness, a forward-facing step, and an eroded leading edge. Distributed roughness was tested in three heights and five densities. Chord Reynolds number was varied between 0:8 to 4:8 × 10⁶. Measurements included lift, drag, pitching moment, and boundary-layer transition location. Results indicate minimal effect from paint-chip roughness. As distributed roughness height and density increase, the lift-curve slope, maximum lift, and lift-to-drag ratio decrease. As Reynolds number increases, natural transition is replaced by bypass transition. The critical roughness Reynolds number varies between 178 to 318, within the historical range. At a chord Reynolds number of 3:2 × 10⁶, the maximum lift-to-drag ratio decreases 40% for 140 μm roughness, corresponding to a 2.3% loss in annual energy production. Simulated performance loss compares well to measured performance loss of an in-service wind turbine.

Multi-Attribute Decision Making Based on Several Trigonometric Hamming Similarity Measures under Interval Rough Neutrosophic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Surapati Pramanik

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the sine, cosine and cotangent similarity measures of interval rough neutrosophic sets is proposed. Some properties of the proposed measures are discussed. We have proposed multi attribute decision making approaches based on proposed similarity measures. To demonstrate the applicability, a numerical example is solved.

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

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.

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

There is a growing call by consumers and governments for healthcare to adopt systems and approaches to care to improve patient safety. Collaboration within healthcare settings is an important factor for improving systems of care. By using validated measurement instruments a standardized approach to assessing collaboration is possible, otherwise it is only an assumption that collaboration is occurring in any healthcare setting. The objective of this review was to evaluate and compare measurement properties of instruments that measure collaboration within healthcare settings, specifically those which have been psychometrically tested and validated. Participants could be healthcare professionals, the patient or any non-professional who contributes to a patient's care, for example, family members, chaplains or orderlies. The term participant type means the designation of any one participant; for example 'nurse', 'social worker' or 'administrator'. More than two participant types was mandatory. The focus of this review was the validity of tools used to measure collaboration within healthcare settings. The types of studies considered for inclusion were validation studies, but quantitative study designs such as randomized controlled trials, controlled trials and case studies were also eligible for inclusion. Studies that focused on Interprofessional Education, were published as an abstract only, contained patient self-reporting only or were not about care delivery were excluded. The outcome of interest was validation and interpretability of the instrument being assessed and included content validity, construct validity and reliability. Interpretability is characterized by statistics such as mean and standard deviation which can be translated to a qualitative meaning. The search strategy aimed to find both published and unpublished studies. A three-step search strategy was utilized in this review. The databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Central

An Improved Semi-Empirical Model for Radar Backscattering from Rough Sea Surfaces at X-Band

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taekyeong Jin

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We propose an improved semi-empirical scattering model for X-band radar backscattering from rough sea surfaces. This new model has a wider validity range of wind speeds than does the existing semi-empirical sea spectrum (SESS model. First, we retrieved the small-roughness parameters from the sea surfaces, which were numerically generated using the Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum and measurement datasets for various wind speeds. Then, we computed the backscattering coefficients of the small-roughness surfaces for various wind speeds using the integral equation method model. Finally, the large-roughness characteristics were taken into account by integrating the small-roughness backscattering coefficients multiplying them with the surface slope probability density function for all possible surface slopes. The new model includes a wind speed range below 3.46 m/s, which was not covered by the existing SESS model. The accuracy of the new model was verified with two measurement datasets for various wind speeds from 0.5 m/s to 14 m/s.

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)

A study on deep geological environment for the radwaste disposal - Estimation of roughness for the quantitative analysis of fracture transmissivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jung Yul; Kim, J. Y.; Kim, Y. S.; Hyun, H. J. [Korea Institute of Geology, Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea)

2000-03-01

Estimation of fracture roughness-as one of the basic hydraulic fracture parameters - is very important in assessing ground water flow described by using discrete fracture network modeling. Former manual estimation of the roughness for each fracture surface of drill cores is above all a tedious, time-consuming work and will often cause some ambiguities of roughness interpretation partly due to the subjective judgements of observers, and partly due to the measuring procedure itself. However, recently, indebt to the highly reliable Televiewer data for the fracture discrimination, it has led to a guess to develop a relationship between the traditional roughness method based on a linear profiles and the method from the Televiewer image based on a ellipsoidal profile. Hence, the aim of this work is to develop an automatic evaluation algorithm for measuring the roughness from the Televiewer images. A highly reliable software named 'RAF' has been developed and realized to the extent that its utility merits. In the developing procedure, various problems - such as the examination of a new base line(ellipsoidal) for measuring the unevenness of fracture, the elimination of overlapping fracture signatures or noise, the wavelet estimation according to the type of fractures and the digitalization of roughness etc. - were considered. With these consideration in mind, the newly devised algorithm for the estimation of roughness curves showed a great potential not only for avoiding ambiguities of roughness interpretation but also for the judgement of roughness classification. 12 refs., 23 figs. (Author)

Systematic Review of Measurement Property Evidence for 8 Financial Management Instruments in Populations With Acquired Cognitive Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Lisa; Chui, Adora; Beaton, Dorcas E; Green, Robin E; Dawson, Deirdre R

2018-03-07

To critically appraise the measurement property evidence (ie, psychometric) for 8 observation-based financial management assessment instruments. Seven databases were searched in May 2015. Two reviewers used an independent decision-agreement process to select studies of measurement property evidence relevant to populations with adulthood acquired cognitive impairment, appraise the quality of the evidence, and extract data. Twenty-one articles were selected. This review used the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments review guidelines and 4-point tool to appraise evidence. After appraising the methodologic quality, the adequacy of results and volume of evidence per instrument were synthesized. Measurement property evidence with high risk of bias was excluded from the synthesis. The volume of measurement property evidence per instrument is low; most instruments had 1 to 3 included studies. Many included studies had poor methodologic quality per measurement property evidence area examined. Six of the 8 instruments reviewed had supporting construct validity/hypothesis-testing evidence of fair methodologic quality. There is a dearth of acceptable quality content validity, reliability, and responsiveness evidence for all 8 instruments. Rehabilitation practitioners assess financial management functions in adults with acquired cognitive impairments. However, there is limited published evidence to support using any of the reviewed instruments. Practitioners should exercise caution when interpreting the results of these instruments. This review highlights the importance of appraising the quality of measurement property evidence before examining the adequacy of the results and synthesizing the evidence. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Field instruments for real time in-situ crude oil concentration measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, C.B.; Bonner, J.S.; Page, C.A.; Arrambide, G.; Sterling, M.C.Jr.; Ojo, T.O.

2003-01-01

Accidental oil spills, contaminant release during resuspension, storms, and harmful algal blooms are all episodic events that can effect coastal margins. It is important to quantitatively describe water and ecological quality evolution and predict the impact to these areas by such events, but traditional sampling methods miss environmental activity during cyclical events. This paper presents a new sampling approach that involves continuous, real-time in-situ monitoring to provide data for development of comprehensive modeling protocols. It gives spill response coordinators greater assurance in making decisions using the latest visualization tools which are based on a good understanding of the physical processes at work in pulsed events. Five sensors for rapid monitoring of crude oil concentrations in aquatic systems were described. The in-situ and ex-situ sensors can measure plume transport and estimate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure concentrations to assess risk of toxicity. A brief description and evaluation of the following 5 sensors was provided: the LISST-100 by Sequoia Instrument, a submersible multi-angle laser scattering instrument; the AU-10 field fluorometer by Turner Designs, an ex-situ single wavelength fluorometer; the Flashlamp by WET Labs Inc., an in-situ single wavelength fluorometer; and, the ECO-FL3 and SAFire by WET Labs Inc., two in-situ multiple wavelength fluorometers. These instruments were used to analyze crude oil emissions of various concentrations. All of the instruments followed a linear response within the tested concentration range. At the lowest concentrations the LISST-100 was not as effective as the fluorometers because of limited particle volume for scatter. For the AU-10 field fluorometer, the highest concentrations tested were above the measurement range of the instrument. 6 refs., 5 figs

Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Lamandé, Mathieu

2017-01-01

coulter depth varied up to ±5 mm between the blocks. In addition, significant depth variations between the individual coulters were found. The mean depths varied between −14.2 and −25.9 mm for the eleven coulters. The mean shallowest coulter depth (−14.2 mm) was measured for the coulter running...... in the wheel track of the tractor. The power spectral densities (distribution) of the coulter depth oscillation frequencies showed that the majority of oscillations occurred below 0.5 Hz without any natural vibration frequency. The study concluded that the instrumentation concept was functional for on...

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.

More on neutrosophic soft rough sets and its modification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emad Marei

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to introduce and discuss anew mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainties, which is a combination of neutrosophic sets, soft sets and rough sets, namely neutrosophic soft rough set model. Also, its modification is introduced. Some of their properties are studied and supported with proved propositions and many counter examples. Some of rough relations are redefined as a neutrosophic soft rough relations. Comparisons among traditional rough model, suggested neutrosophic soft rough model and its modification, by using their properties and accuracy measures are introduced. Finally, we illustrate that, classical rough set model can be viewed as a special case of suggested models in this paper.

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)

International Roughness Index (IRI) measurement using Hilbert-Huang transform

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenjin; Wang, Ming L.

2018-03-01

International Roughness Index (IRI) is an important metric to measure condition of roadways. This index is usually used to justify the maintenance priority and scheduling for roadways. Various inspection methods and algorithms are used to assess this index through the use of road profiles. This study proposes to calculate IRI values using Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) algorithm. In particular, road profile data is provided using surface radar attached to a vehicle driving at highway speed. Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is used in this study because of its superior properties for nonstationary and nonlinear data. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) processes the raw data into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), representing various dominating frequencies. These various frequencies represent noises from the body of the vehicle, sensor location, and the excitation induced by nature frequency of the vehicle, etc. IRI calculation can be achieved by eliminating noises that are not associated with the road profile including vehicle inertia effect. The resulting IRI values are compared favorably to the field IRI values, where the filtered IMFs captures the most characteristics of road profile while eliminating noises from the vehicle and the vehicle inertia effect. Therefore, HHT is an effect method for road profile analysis and for IRI measurement. Furthermore, the application of HHT method has the potential to eliminate the use of accelerometers attached to the vehicle as part of the displacement measurement used to offset the inertia effect.

Lunar terrain mapping and relative-roughness analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rowan, Lawrence C.; McCauley, John F.; Holm, Esther A.

1971-01-01

Terrain maps of the equatorial zone (long 70° E.-70° W. and lat 10° N-10° S.) were prepared at scales of 1:2,000,000 and 1:1,000,000 to classify lunar terrain with respect to roughness and to provide a basis for selecting sites for Surveyor and Apollo landings as well as for Ranger and Lunar Orbiter photographs. The techniques that were developed as a result of this effort can be applied to future planetary exploration. By using the best available earth-based observational data and photographs 1:1,000,000-scale and U.S. Geological Survey lunar geologic maps and U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center LAC charts, lunar terrain was described by qualitative and quantitative methods and divided into four fundamental classes: maria, terrae, craters, and linear features. Some 35 subdivisions were defined and mapped throughout the equatorial zone, and, in addition, most of the map units were illustrated by photographs. The terrain types were analyzed quantitatively to characterize and order their relative-roughness characteristics. Approximately 150,000 east-west slope measurements made by a photometric technique (photoclinometry) in 51 sample areas indicate that algebraic slope-frequency distributions are Gaussian, and so arithmetic means and standard deviations accurately describe the distribution functions. The algebraic slope-component frequency distributions are particularly useful for rapidly determining relative roughness of terrain. The statistical parameters that best describe relative roughness are the absolute arithmetic mean, the algebraic standard deviation, and the percentage of slope reversal. Statistically derived relative-relief parameters are desirable supplementary measures of relative roughness in the terrae. Extrapolation of relative roughness for the maria was demonstrated using Ranger VII slope-component data and regional maria slope data, as well as the data reported here. It appears that, for some morphologically homogeneous

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.

Optical Performance of Breadboard Amon-Ra Imaging Channel Instrument for Deep Space Albedo Measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Won Hyun Park

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The AmonRa instrument, the primary payload of the international EARTHSHINE mission, is designed for measurement of deep space albedo from L1 halo orbit. We report the optical design, tolerance analysis and the optical performance of the breadborad AmonRa imaging channel instrument optimized for the mission science requirements. In particular, an advanced wavefront feedback process control technique was used for the instrumentation process including part fabrication, system alignment and integration. The measured performances for the complete breadboard system are the RMS 0.091 wave(test wavelength: 632.8 nm in wavefront error, the ensquared energy of 61.7%(in 14 μ m and the MTF of 35.3%(Nyquist frequency: 35.7 mm^{-1} at the center field. These resulting optical system performances prove that the breadboard AmonRa instrument, as built, satisfies the science requirements of the EARTHSHINE mission.

The newest precision measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jing Gu; Lee, Jong Dae

1974-05-01

This book introduces basic of precision measurement, measurement of length, limit gauge, measurement of angles, measurement of surface roughness, measurement of shapes and locations, measurement of outline, measurement of external and internal thread, gear testing, accuracy inspection of machine tools, three dimension coordinate measuring machine, digitalisation of precision measurement, automation of precision measurement, measurement of cutting tools, measurement using laser, and point of choosing length measuring instrument.

Influence of edge radius of sintered-carbide tip on roughness of machined surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Votava

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing of cutting speed and thus increasing labour productivity is observed as a current trend in engineering production. This effort results to development of new cutting materials which are more capable to resist increased requirements on machined surface as well as operating life of the instrument. Nowadays, the most widely used materials used for cutting instruments are sintered carbides which are alloyed by other metals. The goal of this paper is to analyse change in quality of machined surface depending on the change of cutting conditions. For cutting operation, there were used a milling cutter high-speed steel 90 (HSS and removable sintered-carbide tips with different radius. Steel 12 050 hardened for 17 HRC was used as a machined material. Firstly, hardness of machined as well as machining materials was analysed. Further, metallographic analysis and measurement of microhardness of the individual structure phases was processed. Cutting conditions of both instruments were selected depending on the machined material. Surface roughness indicates the quality of machined surface.

Design of an 8-40 GHz Antenna for the Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurements (WISM)

Science.gov (United States)

Durham, Timothy E.; Vanhille, Kenneth J.; Trent, Christopher R.; Lambert, Kevin M.; Miranda, Felix A.

2015-01-01

This poster describes the implementation of a 6x6 element, dual linear polarized array with beamformer that operates from about 8-40 GHz. It is implemented using a relatively new multi-layer microfabrication process. The beamformer includes baluns that feed dual-polarized differential antenna elements and reactive splitters that cover the full frequency range of operation. This fixed beam array (FBA) serves as the feed for a multi-band instrument designed to measure snow water equivalent (SWE) from an airborne platform known as the Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurements (WISM).

An instrument for measurement of 125I with automatic efficiency correction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holford, R.M.

1979-10-01

Counting efficiencies for 125 I are often uncertain because of self-absorption of the low-energy radiation. A special purpose instrument, AEP-5285, has been designed to simplify the measurement of 125 I activities using a known technique in which the observed counting rate is compensated for self-absorption and any other uncertainties in the counting efficiency by making use of the coicidence properties of the radiation. The instrument contains pulse amplifiers, discriminators to define the energy regions of interest, and operational amplifier circuits to perform the necessary calculations automatically, and it displays an estimate of the source activity in becquerels. (auth)

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.

Dissolution of minerals with rough surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

de Assis, Thiago A.; Aarão Reis, Fábio D. A.

2018-05-01

We study dissolution of minerals with initial rough surfaces using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and a scaling approach. We consider a simple cubic lattice structure, a thermally activated rate of detachment of a molecule (site), and rough surface configurations produced by fractional Brownian motion algorithm. First we revisit the problem of dissolution of initial flat surfaces, in which the dissolution rate rF reaches an approximately constant value at short times and is controlled by detachment of step edge sites. For initial rough surfaces, the dissolution rate r at short times is much larger than rF ; after dissolution of some hundreds of molecular layers, r decreases by some orders of magnitude across several time decades. Meanwhile, the surface evolves through configurations of decreasing energy, beginning with dissolution of isolated sites, then formation of terraces with disordered boundaries, their growth, and final smoothing. A crossover time to a smooth configuration is defined when r = 1.5rF ; the surface retreat at the crossover is approximately 3 times the initial roughness and is temperature-independent, while the crossover time is proportional to the initial roughness and is controlled by step-edge site detachment. The initial dissolution process is described by the so-called rough rates, which are measured for fixed ratios between the surface retreat and the initial roughness. The temperature dependence of the rough rates indicates control by kink site detachment; in general, it suggests that rough rates are controlled by the weakest microscopic bonds during the nucleation and formation of the lowest energy configurations of the crystalline surface. Our results are related to recent laboratory studies which show enhanced dissolution in polished calcite surfaces. In the application to calcite dissolution in alkaline environment, the minimal values of recently measured dissolution rate spectra give rF ∼10-9 mol/(m2 s), and the calculated rate

Rapid Prototyping of an Electrically-Small Antenna for Binaural-Hearing Instruments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruaro, Andrea; Thaysen, Jesper; Jakobsen, Kaj Bjarne

2015-01-01

Rapid prototyping is emerging as a technology that can provide detailed mechanical parts, e.g., for use in antenna mock-ups, in a short lead time. Nevertheless, one of the main issues associated with it is that the materials suitable for 3D printing are not characterized at radio frequencies (RF......). This study analyzes the main RF parameters (dielectric constant, loss tangent, surface roughness) and applies the results to the modeling of the prototype of an electrically small (ESA) antenna for binaural hearing instruments applications. After discussing the specific technology choices...... and their relevancies, it is shown how the analyzed parameters can be used to obtain good correlation between simulations and measurements....

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

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.

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.

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.)

Measuring the sizes of nanospheres on a rough surface by using atomic force microscopy and a curvature-reconstruction method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oikawa, Koudai; Kim, Hyonchol; Watanabe, Naoya; Shigeno, Masatsugu; Shirakawabe, Yoshiharu; Yasuda, Kenji

2007-01-01

One of the advantages of atomic force microscopy (AFM) is that it can accurately measure the heights of targets on flat substrates. It is difficult, however, to determine the shape of nanoparticles on rough surfaces. We therefore propose a curvature-reconstruction method that estimates the sizes of particles by fitting sphere curvatures acquired from raw AFM data. We evaluated this fitting estimation using 15-, 30-, and 50-nm gold nanoparticles on mica and confirmed that particle sizes could be estimated within 5% from 20% of their curvature measured using a carbon nanotube (CNT) tip. We also estimated the sizes of nanoparticles on the rough surface of dried cells and found we also can estimate the size of those particles within 5%, which is difficult when we only used the height information. The results indicate the size of nanoparticles even on rough surfaces can be measured by using our method and a CNT tip

Numerical Schemes for Rough Parabolic Equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deya, Aurelien, E-mail: deya@iecn.u-nancy.fr [Universite de Nancy 1, Institut Elie Cartan Nancy (France)

2012-04-15

This paper is devoted to the study of numerical approximation schemes for a class of parabolic equations on (0,1) perturbed by a non-linear rough signal. It is the continuation of Deya (Electron. J. Probab. 16:1489-1518, 2011) and Deya et al. (Probab. Theory Relat. Fields, to appear), where the existence and uniqueness of a solution has been established. The approach combines rough paths methods with standard considerations on discretizing stochastic PDEs. The results apply to a geometric 2-rough path, which covers the case of the multidimensional fractional Brownian motion with Hurst index H>1/3.

Virtual sensors for on-line wheel wear and part roughness measurement in the grinding process.

Science.gov (United States)

Arriandiaga, Ander; Portillo, Eva; Sánchez, Jose A; Cabanes, Itziar; Pombo, Iñigo

2014-05-19

Grinding is an advanced machining process for the manufacturing of valuable complex and accurate parts for high added value sectors such as aerospace, wind generation, etc. Due to the extremely severe conditions inside grinding machines, critical process variables such as part surface finish or grinding wheel wear cannot be easily and cheaply measured on-line. In this paper a virtual sensor for on-line monitoring of those variables is presented. The sensor is based on the modelling ability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for stochastic and non-linear processes such as grinding; the selected architecture is the Layer-Recurrent neural network. The sensor makes use of the relation between the variables to be measured and power consumption in the wheel spindle, which can be easily measured. A sensor calibration methodology is presented, and the levels of error that can be expected are discussed. Validation of the new sensor is carried out by comparing the sensor's results with actual measurements carried out in an industrial grinding machine. Results show excellent estimation performance for both wheel wear and surface roughness. In the case of wheel wear, the absolute error is within the range of microns (average value 32 μm). In the case of surface finish, the absolute error is well below Ra 1 μm (average value 0.32 μm). The present approach can be easily generalized to other grinding operations.

Fingerprinting the type of line edge roughness

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández Herrero, A.; Pflüger, M.; Scholze, F.; Soltwisch, V.

2017-06-01

Lamellar gratings are widely used diffractive optical elements and are prototypes of structural elements in integrated electronic circuits. EUV scatterometry is very sensitive to structure details and imperfections, which makes it suitable for the characterization of nanostructured surfaces. As compared to X-ray methods, EUV scattering allows for steeper angles of incidence, which is highly preferable for the investigation of small measurement fields on semiconductor wafers. For the control of the lithographic manufacturing process, a rapid in-line characterization of nanostructures is indispensable. Numerous studies on the determination of regular geometry parameters of lamellar gratings from optical and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) scattering also investigated the impact of roughness on the respective results. The challenge is to appropriately model the influence of structure roughness on the diffraction intensities used for the reconstruction of the surface profile. The impact of roughness was already studied analytically but for gratings with a periodic pseudoroughness, because of practical restrictions of the computational domain. Our investigation aims at a better understanding of the scattering caused by line roughness. We designed a set of nine lamellar Si-gratings to be studied by EUV scatterometry. It includes one reference grating with no artificial roughness added, four gratings with a periodic roughness distribution, two with a prevailing line edge roughness (LER) and another two with line width roughness (LWR), and four gratings with a stochastic roughness distribution (two with LER and two with LWR). We show that the type of line roughness has a strong impact on the diffuse scatter angular distribution. Our experimental results are not described well by the present modelling approach based on small, periodically repeated domains.

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

Reliability of the Q Force; a mobile instrument for measuring isometric quadriceps muscle strength

OpenAIRE

Schans, van der, C.P.; Zijlstra, W.; Regterschot, G.R.H.; Krijnen, W.P.; Douma, K.W.; Slager, G.E.C.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: The ability to generate muscle strength is a pre-requisite for all human movement. Decreased quadriceps muscle strength is frequently observed in older adults and is associated with a decreased performance and activity limitations. To quantify the quadriceps muscle strength and to monitor changes over time, instruments and procedures with a sufficient reliability are needed. The Q Force is an innovative mobile muscle strength measurement instrument suitable to measure in various d...

Experimental study of contact edge roughness on sub-100 nm various circular shapes

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tae Y.; Ihm, Dongchul; Kang, Hyo C.; Lee, Jum B.; Lee, Byoung H.; Chin, Soo B.; Cho, Do H.; Song, Chang L.

2005-05-01

The measurement of edge roughness has become a hot issue in the semiconductor industry. Especially the contact roughness is being more critical as design rule shrinks. Major vendors offer a variety of features to measure the edge roughness in their CD-SEMs. For the line and space patterns, features such as Line Edge Roughness (LER) and Line Width Roughness (LWR) are available in current CD-SEMs. However the features currently available in commercial CD-SEM cannot provide a proper solution in monitoring the contact roughness. We had introduced a new parameter R, measurement algorithm and definition of contact edge roughness to quantify CER and CSR in previous paper. The parameter, R could provide an alternative solution to monitor contact or island pattern roughness. In this paper, we investigated to assess optimum number of CD measurement (1-D) and fitting method for CER or CSR. The study was based on a circular contact shape. Some new ideas to quantify CER or CSR were also suggested with preliminary experimental results.

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.

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.

Rough mill simulator version 3.0: an analysis tool for refining rough mill operations

Science.gov (United States)

Edward Thomas; Joel Weiss

2006-01-01

ROMI-3 is a rough mill computer simulation package designed to be used by both rip-first and chop-first rough mill operators and researchers. ROMI-3 allows users to model and examine the complex relationships among cutting bill, lumber grade mix, processing options, and their impact on rough mill yield and efficiency. Integrated into the ROMI-3 software is a new least-...

Sub-Patch Roughness in Earthquake Rupture Investigations

KAUST Repository

Zielke, Olaf; Mai, Paul Martin

2016-01-01

Fault geometric complexities exhibit fractal characteristics over a wide range of spatial scales (<µm to >km) and strongly affect the rupture process at corresponding scales. Numerical rupture simulations provide a framework to quantitatively investigate the relationship between a fault's roughness and its seismic characteristics. Fault discretization however introduces an artificial lower limit to roughness. Individual fault patches are planar and sub-patch roughness –roughness at spatial scales below fault-patch size– is not incorporated. Does negligence of sub-patch roughness measurably affect the outcome of earthquake rupture simulations? We approach this question with a numerical parameter space investigation and demonstrate that sub-patch roughness significantly modifies the slip-strain relationship –a fundamental aspect of dislocation theory. Faults with sub-patch roughness induce less strain than their planar-fault equivalents at distances beyond the length of a slipping fault. We further provide regression functions that characterize the stochastic effect sub-patch roughness.

Sub-Patch Roughness in Earthquake Rupture Investigations

KAUST Repository

Zielke, Olaf

2016-02-13

Fault geometric complexities exhibit fractal characteristics over a wide range of spatial scales (<µm to >km) and strongly affect the rupture process at corresponding scales. Numerical rupture simulations provide a framework to quantitatively investigate the relationship between a fault\\'s roughness and its seismic characteristics. Fault discretization however introduces an artificial lower limit to roughness. Individual fault patches are planar and sub-patch roughness –roughness at spatial scales below fault-patch size– is not incorporated. Does negligence of sub-patch roughness measurably affect the outcome of earthquake rupture simulations? We approach this question with a numerical parameter space investigation and demonstrate that sub-patch roughness significantly modifies the slip-strain relationship –a fundamental aspect of dislocation theory. Faults with sub-patch roughness induce less strain than their planar-fault equivalents at distances beyond the length of a slipping fault. We further provide regression functions that characterize the stochastic effect sub-patch roughness.

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

Progress in the specification of optical instruments for the measurement of surface form and texture

Science.gov (United States)

de Groot, Peter J.

2014-05-01

Specifications for confocal microscopes, optical interferometers and other methods of measuring areal surface topography can be confusing and misleading. The emerging ISO 25178 standards, together with the established international vocabulary of metrology, provide a foundation for improved specifications for 3D surface metrology instrumentation. The approach in this paper links instrument specifications to metrological characteristics that can influence a measurement, using consistent definitions of terms, and reference to verification procedures.

In core instrumentation for online nuclear heating measurements of material testing reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynard, C.; Andre, J.; Brun, J.; Carette, M.; Janulyte, A.; Merroun, O.; Zerega, Y.; Lyoussi, A.; Bignan, G.; Chauvin, J-P.; Fourmentel, D.; Glayse, W.; Gonnier, C.; Guimbal, P.; Iracane, D.; Villard, J.-F.

2010-01-01

The present work focuses on nuclear heating. This work belongs to a new advanced research program called IN-CORE which means 'Instrumentation for Nuclear radiations and Calorimetry Online in REactor' between the LCP (University of Provence-CNRS) and the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) - Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) program. This program started in September 2009 and is dedicated to the conception and the design of an innovative mobile experimental device coupling several sensors and ray detectors for on line measurements of relevant physical parameters (photonic heating, neutronic flux ...) and for an accurate parametric mapping of experimental channels in the JHR Core. The work presented below is the first step of this program and concerns a brief state of the art related to measurement methods of nuclear heating phenomena in research reactor in general and MTR in particular. A special care is given to gamma heating measurements. A first part deals with numerical codes and models. The second one presents instrumentation divided into various kinds of sensor such as calorimeter measurements and gamma ionization chamber measurements. Their basic principles, characteristics such as metrological parameters, operating mode, disadvantages/advantages, ... are discussed. (author)

Empirical model for estimating the surface roughness of machined ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Michael Horsfall

one of the most critical quality measure in mechanical products. In the ... Keywords: cutting speed, centre lathe, empirical model, surface roughness, Mean absolute percentage deviation ... The factors considered were work piece properties.

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 of a Computerized Multifunctional Form and Position Measurement Instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, P; Tian, W Y

2006-01-01

A model machine of multifunctional form and position measurement instrument controlled by a personal computer has been successfully developed. The instrument is designed in rotary table type with a high precision air bearing and the radial rotation error of the rotary table is 0.08 μm. Since a high precision vertical sliding carriage supported by an air bearing is used for the instrument, the straightaway motion error of the carriage is 0.3 μm/200 mm and the parallelism error of the motion of the carriage relative to the rotation axis of the rotary table is 0.4 μm/200 mm. The mathematical models have been established for assessing planar and spatial straightness, flatness, roundness, cylindricity, and coaxality errors. By radial deviation measurement, the instrument can accurately measure form and position errors of such workpieces as shafts, round plates and sleeves of medium or small dimensions with the tolerance grades mostly used in industry

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...

Rugged optical mirrors for the operation of Fourier-Transform Spectrometers in rough environments

Science.gov (United States)

Feist, Dietrich G.

2014-05-01

The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) operate a growing number of Fourier-Transform Spectrometers (FTS) that measure the total column of several atmospheric trace gases. For these measurements, the sun is used as a light source. This is typically achieved by a solar tracker that uses a pair of optical mirrors to guide the sunlight into the instrument. There is a growing demand to operate these instruments in remote locations that fill the gaps in the global observation network. Besides the logistical challenges of running a remote site, the environment at these locations can be very harsh compared to the sheltered environment of the instruments' home institutions. While the FTS itself is usually well protected inside a building or container, the solar tracker and especially its mirrors are exposed to the environment. There they may suffer from - temperature fluctuations - high humidity - sea salt corrosion at coastal sites - dirt and dust - air pollution from anthropogenic sources - deposition from plants or animals The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) operates a TCCON station on Ascension Island, about 200 m from the sea. Under the rough conditions at this site, typical optical mirrors that are made for laboratory conditions are destroyed by sea salt spray within a few weeks. Besides, typical gold-coated mirrors cannot be cleaned as their soft surface is easily scratched or damaged. To overcome these problems, the MPI-BGC has developed optical mirrors that - offer good reflectivity in the near and mid infrared - are highly resistant to salt and chlorine - have a hard surface so that they can be cleaned often and easily - are not affected by organic solvents - last for months in very harsh environments - can be reused after polishing These mirrors could be applied to most TCCON and NDACC sites. This way, the network could be expanded to regions where operation

Designing Chemistry Practice Exams for Enhanced Benefits: An Instrument for Comparing Performance and Mental Effort Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Knaus, Karen J.; Murphy, Kristen L.; Holme, Thomas A.

2009-01-01

The design and use of a chemistry practice exam instrument that includes a measure for student mental effort is described in this paper. Use of such an instrument can beneficial to chemistry students and chemistry educators as well as chemical education researchers from both a content and cognitive science perspective. The method for calculating…

Rough multiple objective decision making

CERN Document Server

Xu, Jiuping

2011-01-01

Rough Set TheoryBasic concepts and properties of rough sets Rough Membership Rough Intervals Rough FunctionApplications of Rough SetsMultiple Objective Rough Decision Making Reverse Logistics Problem with Rough Interval Parameters MODM based Rough Approximation for Feasible RegionEVRMCCRMDCRM Reverse Logistics Network Design Problem of Suji Renewable Resource MarketBilevel Multiple Objective Rough Decision Making Hierarchical Supply Chain Planning Problem with Rough Interval Parameters Bilevel Decision Making ModelBL-EVRM BL-CCRMBL-DCRMApplication to Supply Chain Planning of Mianyang Co., LtdStochastic Multiple Objective Rough Decision Multi-Objective Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling UnderRough Random EnvironmentRandom Variable Stochastic EVRM Stochastic CCRM Stochastic DCRM Multi-Objective rc-PSP/mM/Ro-Ra for Longtan Hydropower StationFuzzy Multiple Objective Rough Decision Making Allocation Problem under Fuzzy Environment Fuzzy Variable Fu-EVRM Fu-CCRM Fu-DCRM Earth-Rock Work Allocation Problem.

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

Heat transfer from rough surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.

1977-01-01

Artificial roughness is often used in nuclear reactors to improve the thermal performance of the fuel elements. Although these are made up of clusters of rods, the experiments to measure the heat transfer and friction coefficients of roughness are performed with single rods contained in smooth tubes. This work illustrated a new transformation method to obtain data applicable to reactor fuel elements from these annulus experiments. New experimental friction data are presented for ten rods, each with a different artificial roughness made up of two-dimensional rectangular ribs. For each rod four tests have been performed, each in a different outer smooth tube. For two of these rods, each for two different outer tubes, heat transfer data are also given. The friction and heat transfer data, transformed with the present method, are correlated by simple equations. In the paper, these equations are applied to a case typical for a Gas Cooled Fast Reactor fuel element. (orig.) [de

The Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI: design, execution, and early results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. M. Piters

2012-02-01

Full Text Available From June to July 2009 more than thirty different in-situ and remote sensing instruments from all over the world participated in the Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI. The campaign took place at KNMI's Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR in the Netherlands. Its main objectives were to determine the accuracy of state-of-the-art ground-based measurement techniques for the detection of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (both in-situ and remote sensing, and to investigate their usability in satellite data validation. The expected outcomes are recommendations regarding the operation and calibration of such instruments, retrieval settings, and observation strategies for the use in ground-based networks for air quality monitoring and satellite data validation. Twenty-four optical spectrometers participated in the campaign, of which twenty-one had the capability to scan different elevation angles consecutively, the so-called Multi-axis DOAS systems, thereby collecting vertical profile information, in particular for nitrogen dioxide and aerosol. Various in-situ samplers and lidar instruments simultaneously characterized the variability of atmospheric trace gases and the physical properties of aerosol particles. A large data set of continuous measurements of these atmospheric constituents has been collected under various meteorological conditions and air pollution levels. Together with the permanent measurement capability at the CESAR site characterizing the meteorological state of the atmosphere, the CINDI campaign provided a comprehensive observational data set of atmospheric constituents in a highly polluted region of the world during summertime. First detailed comparisons performed with the CINDI data show that slant column measurements of NO₂, O₄ and HCHO with MAX-DOAS agree within 5 to 15%, vertical profiles of NO₂ derived from several independent

An intermittency model for predicting roughness induced transition

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Xuan; Durbin, Paul

2014-11-01

An extended model for roughness-induced transition is proposed based on an intermittency transport equation for RANS modeling formulated in local variables. To predict roughness effects in the fully turbulent boundary layer, published boundary conditions for k and ω are used, which depend on the equivalent sand grain roughness height, and account for the effective displacement of wall distance origin. Similarly in our approach, wall distance in the transition model for smooth surfaces is modified by an effective origin, which depends on roughness. Flat plate test cases are computed to show that the proposed model is able to predict the transition onset in agreement with a data correlation of transition location versus roughness height, Reynolds number, and inlet turbulence intensity. Experimental data for a turbine cascade are compared with the predicted results to validate the applicability of the proposed model. Supported by NSF Award Number 1228195.

Turbulent flow velocity distribution at rough walls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumann, W.

1978-08-01

Following extensive measurements of the velocity profile in a plate channel with artificial roughness geometries specific investigations were carried out to verify the results obtained. The wall geometry used was formed by high transverse square ribs having a large pitch. The measuring position relative to the ribs was varied as a parameter thus providing a statement on the local influence of roughness ribs on the values measured. As a fundamental result it was found that the gradient of the logarithmic rough wall velocity profiles, which differs widely from the value 2.5, depends but slightly on the measuring position relative to the ribs. The gradients of the smooth wall velocity profiles deviate from 2.5 near the ribs, only. This fact can be explained by the smooth wall shear stress varying with the pitch of the ribs. (orig.) 891 GL [de

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...

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 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.

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.

Roughness characterization of EUV multilayer coatings and ultra-smooth surfaces by light scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Trost, M.; Schröder, S.; Lin, C. C.; Duparré, A.; Tünnermann, A.

2012-09-01

Optical components for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) face stringent requirements for surface finish, because even small amounts of surface and interface roughness can cause significant scattering losses and impair image quality. In this paper, we investigate the roughness evolution of Mo/Si multilayers by analyzing the scattering behavior at a wavelength of 13.5 nm as well as taking atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements before and after coating. Furthermore, a new approach to measure substrate roughness is presented, which is based on light scattering measurements at 405 nm. The high robustness and sensitivity to roughness of this method are illustrated using an EUV mask blank with a highspatial frequency roughness of as low as 0.04 nm.

Surface correlations of hydrodynamic drag for transitionally rough engineering surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Thakkar, Manan; Busse, Angela; Sandham, Neil

2017-02-01

Rough surfaces are usually characterised by a single equivalent sand-grain roughness height scale that typically needs to be determined from laboratory experiments. Recently, this method has been complemented by a direct numerical simulation approach, whereby representative surfaces can be scanned and the roughness effects computed over a range of Reynolds number. This development raises the prospect over the coming years of having enough data for different types of rough surfaces to be able to relate surface characteristics to roughness effects, such as the roughness function that quantifies the downward displacement of the logarithmic law of the wall. In the present contribution, we use simulation data for 17 irregular surfaces at the same friction Reynolds number, for which they are in the transitionally rough regime. All surfaces are scaled to the same physical roughness height. Mean streamwise velocity profiles show a wide range of roughness function values, while the velocity defect profiles show a good collapse. Profile peaks of the turbulent kinetic energy also vary depending on the surface. We then consider which surface properties are important and how new properties can be incorporated into an empirical model, the accuracy of which can then be tested. Optimised models with several roughness parameters are systematically developed for the roughness function and profile peak turbulent kinetic energy. In determining the roughness function, besides the known parameters of solidity (or frontal area ratio) and skewness, it is shown that the streamwise correlation length and the root-mean-square roughness height are also significant. The peak turbulent kinetic energy is determined by the skewness and root-mean-square roughness height, along with the mean forward-facing surface angle and spanwise effective slope. The results suggest feasibility of relating rough-wall flow properties (throughout the range from hydrodynamically smooth to fully rough) to surface

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)

A New Multi-Gaussian Auto-Correlation Function for the Modeling of Realistic Shot Peened Random Rough Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan, W.; Blodgett, M.

2006-01-01

Shot peening is the primary surface treatment used to create a uniform, consistent, and reliable sub-surface compressive residual stress layer in aero engine components. A by-product of the shot peening process is random surface roughness that can affect the measurements of the resulting residual stresses and therefore impede their NDE assessment. High frequency eddy current conductivity measurements have the potential to assess these residual stresses in Ni-base super alloys. However, the effect of random surface roughness is expected to become significant in the desired measurement frequency range of 10 to 100 MHz. In this paper, a new Multi-Gaussian (MG) auto-correlation function is proposed for modeling the resulting pseudo-random rough profiles. Its use in the calculation of the Apparent Eddy Current Conductivity (AECC) loss due to surface roughness is demonstrated. The numerical results presented need to be validated with experimental measurements

Effect of surface roughness on the aerodynamic characteristics of a symmetrical airfoil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chakroun, W.; Al-Mesri, I.; Al-Fahad, S.

2005-07-01

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of surface roughness by varying the roughness size and location on the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil. Test were conducted on the symmetrical airfoil models NACA 0012 in which the nature of the surface was varied from smooth to very rough and at a chord Reynolds number of 1.5*10{sup 5}. Different airfoil models with various roughness sizes and roughness locations were tested for different angles of attack. Lift, drag and pressure coefficients were measured and velocity profiles were determined for the smooth and grit 36 roughened models. It is shown that as the surface roughness increases, the minimum drag also increases due to the increase of the skin friction and the lift decreases. Surface roughness is seen to delay the stall angle and also increase the lift in the stall region. The airfoil model with the roughness located at the trailing edge shows minimum drag and maximum lift up to the stall angle compared to the other cases of different roughness locations. It is confirmed that, for the rough surface, a turbulent boundary layer exists where the laminar boundary layer is encountered for the smooth surface at the same Reynolds number. The measured skin friction for the rough surface is larger than that for the smooth surface. (author)

Development of performance assessment instrument based contextual learning for measuring students laboratory skills

Science.gov (United States)

Susilaningsih, E.; Khotimah, K.; Nurhayati, S.

2018-04-01

The assessment of laboratory skill in general hasn’t specific guideline in assessment, while the individual assessment of students during a performance and skill in performing laboratory is still not been observed and measured properly. Alternative assessment that can be used to measure student laboratory skill is use performance assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the performance assessment instrument that the result of research can be used to assess basic skills student laboratory. This research was conducted by the Research and Development. The result of the data analysis performance assessment instruments developed feasible to implement and validation result 62.5 with very good categories for observation sheets laboratory skills and all of the components with the very good category. The procedure is the preliminary stages of research and development stages. Preliminary stages are divided in two, namely the field studies and literature studies. The development stages are divided into several parts, namely 1) development of the type instrument, 2) validation by an expert, 3) a limited scale trial, 4) large-scale trials and 5) implementation of the product. The instrument included in the category of effective because 26 from 29 students have very high laboratory skill and high laboratory skill. The research of performance assessment instrument is standard and can be used to assess basic skill student laboratory.

An evaluation of Brix refractometry instruments for measurement of colostrum quality in dairy cattle.

Science.gov (United States)

Bielmann, V; Gillan, J; Perkins, N R; Skidmore, A L; Godden, S; Leslie, K E

2010-08-01

Acquisition of high quality colostrum is an important factor influencing neonatal calf health. Many methods have been used to assess the Ig concentration of colostrum; however, improved, validated evaluation tools are needed. The aims of this study were to evaluate both optical and digital Brix refractometer instruments for the measurement of Ig concentration of colostrum as compared with the gold standard radial immunodiffusion assay laboratory assessment and to determine the correlation between Ig measurements taken from fresh and frozen colostrum samples for both Brix refractometer instruments. This research was completed using 288 colostrum samples from 3 different farms. It was concluded that the optical and digital Brix refractometers were highly correlated for both fresh and frozen samples (r=0.98 and r=0.97, respectively). Correlation between both refractometer instruments for fresh and frozen samples and the gold standard radial immunodiffusion assay were determined to be very similar, with a correlation coefficient between 0.71 and 0.74. Both instruments exhibited excellent test characteristics, indicating an appropriate cut-off point of 22% Brix score for the identification of good quality colostrum. Copyright (c) 2010 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

FJ-2207 measuring instrument detection pipe surface a level of pollution method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jiangong

2010-01-01

On the pipe surface contamination were detected α level of pollution is a frequently encountered dose-detection work. Because the pipeline surface arc, while the measuring probe for the plane, which for accurate measurement difficult. In this paper, on the FJ-2207-type pipe surface contamination measuring instrument measuring pollution levels in the α method was studied. Introduced the FJ-2207 measuring instrument detection pipe surface α pollution levels. Studied this measuring instrument on the same sources of surface, plane α level of radioactivity measured differences in the results obtained control of the apparatus when the direct measurement of the surface correction factor, and gives 32-216 specifications commonly used pipe direct measurement of the amendment factor. Convenient method, test results are reliable for the accurate measurement of pipe pollution levels in the surface of α as a reference and learning. (authors)

Effects of vacuum ultraviolet photons, ion energy and substrate temperature on line width roughness and RMS surface roughness of patterned 193 nm photoresist

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titus, M J; Graves, D B; Yamaguchi, Y; Hudson, E A

2011-01-01

We present a comparison of patterned 193 nm photoresist (PR) line width roughness (LWR) of samples processed in a well characterized argon (Ar) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system to RMS surface roughness and bulk chemical modification of blanket 193 nm PR samples used as control samples. In the ICP system, patterned and blanket PR samples are irradiated with Ar vacuum ultraviolet photons (VUV) and Ar ions while sample temperature, photon flux, ion flux and ion energy are controlled and measured. The resulting chemical modifications to bulk 193 nm PR (blanket) and surface roughness are analysed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). LWR of patterned samples are measured with scanning electron microscopy and blanket portions of the patterned PRs are measured with AFM. We demonstrate that with no RF-bias applied to the substrate the LWR of 193 nm PR tends to smooth and correlates with the smoothing of the RMS surface roughness. However, both LWR and RMS surface roughness increases with simultaneous high-energy (≥70 eV) ion bombardment and VUV-irradiation and is a function of exposure time. Both high- and low-frequency LWR correlate well with the RMS surface roughness of the patterned and blanket 193 nm PR samples. LWR, however, does not increase with temperatures ranging from 20 to 80 deg. C, in contrast to the RMS surface roughness which increases monotonically with temperature. It is unclear why LWR remains independent of temperature over this range. However, the fact that blanket roughness and LWR on patterned samples, both scale similarly with VUV fluence and ion energy suggests a similar mechanism is responsible for both types of surface morphology modifications.

Effects of vacuum ultraviolet photons, ion energy and substrate temperature on line width roughness and RMS surface roughness of patterned 193 nm photoresist

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Titus, M J; Graves, D B [Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Yamaguchi, Y; Hudson, E A, E-mail: graves@berkeley.edu [Lam Research Corporation, 4400 Cushing Parkway, Freemont, CA 94538 (United States)

2011-03-02

We present a comparison of patterned 193 nm photoresist (PR) line width roughness (LWR) of samples processed in a well characterized argon (Ar) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system to RMS surface roughness and bulk chemical modification of blanket 193 nm PR samples used as control samples. In the ICP system, patterned and blanket PR samples are irradiated with Ar vacuum ultraviolet photons (VUV) and Ar ions while sample temperature, photon flux, ion flux and ion energy are controlled and measured. The resulting chemical modifications to bulk 193 nm PR (blanket) and surface roughness are analysed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). LWR of patterned samples are measured with scanning electron microscopy and blanket portions of the patterned PRs are measured with AFM. We demonstrate that with no RF-bias applied to the substrate the LWR of 193 nm PR tends to smooth and correlates with the smoothing of the RMS surface roughness. However, both LWR and RMS surface roughness increases with simultaneous high-energy ({>=}70 eV) ion bombardment and VUV-irradiation and is a function of exposure time. Both high- and low-frequency LWR correlate well with the RMS surface roughness of the patterned and blanket 193 nm PR samples. LWR, however, does not increase with temperatures ranging from 20 to 80 deg. C, in contrast to the RMS surface roughness which increases monotonically with temperature. It is unclear why LWR remains independent of temperature over this range. However, the fact that blanket roughness and LWR on patterned samples, both scale similarly with VUV fluence and ion energy suggests a similar mechanism is responsible for both types of surface morphology modifications.

Problems in developing an instrument for the rapid assessment of personality status.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Horn, E; Manley, C; Leddy, D; Cicchetti, D; Tyrer, P

2000-06-01

To assess the validity of a quick assessment instrument (10 minutes) for assessing personality status, the Rapid Personality Assessment Schedule (PAS-R). The PAS-R was evaluated in psychotic patients recruited in one of the centres involved in a multicentre randomised controlled trial of intensive vs standard case management (the UK700 case management trial). Patients were assessed using both a full version of the PAS (PAS-I - ICD version) and the PAS-R. The weighted kappa statistic was used to gauge the (criterion-related) validity of the PAS-R using the PAS-I as the gold standard. Both measure code personality status using a four-point rating of severity in addition to recording individual categories of personality disorder. One hundred fifty-five (77%) of 201 patients recruited were assessed with both instruments. The weighted kappa statistic was 0.31, suggesting only moderate agreement between the PAS-I and PAS-R instruments under the four-point rating format, and 0.39 for the dichotomous personality disorder/no disorder separation. The sensitivity (64%) and specificity (82%) of the PAS-R in predicting PAS-I personality disorder were as satisfactory as for other screening instruments but still somewhat disappointing, and the PAS-R had an overall diagnostic accuracy of 78%. The PAS-R is a quick and rough method of detecting personality abnormality but is not a substitute for a fuller assessment.

Standard practice of calibration of force-measuring instruments for verifying the force indication of testing machines

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2006-01-01

1.1 The purpose of this practice is to specify procedures for the calibration of force-measuring instruments. Procedures are included for the following types of instruments: 1.1.1 Elastic force-measuring instruments, and 1.1.2 Force-multiplying systems, such as balances and small platform scales. Note 1Verification by deadweight loading is also an acceptable method of verifying the force indication of a testing machine. Tolerances for weights for this purpose are given in Practices E 4; methods for calibration of the weights are given in NIST Technical Note 577, Methods of Calibrating Weights for Piston Gages. 1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. Other metric and inch-pound values are regarded as equivalent when required. 1.3 This practice is intended for the calibration of static force measuring instruments. It is not applicable for dynamic or high speed force calibrations, nor can the results of calibrations performed in accordance with this practice be assumed valid for...

Effect of coarse grinding, overglazing, and 2 polishing systems on the flexural strength, surface roughness, and phase transformation of yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi-Bassir, Mahshid; Babasafari, Mansoure; Rezvani, Mohammad Bagher; Jamshidian, Mahdieh

2017-11-01

Limited information is available for the best polishing systems and methods to obtain minimally abrasive monolithic zirconia surfaces after contouring and occlusal adjustment. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of grinding and polishing procedures on the flexural strength, quality and quantity of surface roughness, topography, and phase transformation of a zirconia-based ceramic system. Fifty bar-shaped yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide specimens (20×4×2 mm) were cut from presintered zirconia blanks. The specimens were wet-polished and divided into 5 groups (n=10): standard polishing without any surface treatment (group SP); grinding with a diamond rotary instrument (group Gr); grinding with a diamond rotary instrument (DRI) and over-glazing (group Gl); grinding with a DRI and polishing with an intraoral zirconia polishing kit in a 2-step procedure (group BP); and grinding with a DRI and polishing with an intraoral polishing kit (group MP). The Ra and Rz surface roughness values (μm) were measured with a profilometer. One specimen of each group was subjected to x-ray diffraction (XRD) to estimate the monoclinic phase and evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface topography. The 3-point flexural strength of the bars was measured in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The mean flexural strength (MPa) and surface roughness values were calculated, and the results were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA and Tukey honest significant difference tests (α=.05). Statistically significant differences were noted among the experimental groups for Ra, Rz (Pgrinding that were smoothened by glazing and polishing. Roughness increased significantly after grinding, but polishing and glazing similarly diminished it. Glazing after grinding significantly decreased the flexural strength values, but polishing did not. Copyright © 2017 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier

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

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

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.

Qualitative internal surface roughness classification using acoustic emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Hafizi Zohari; Mohd Hanif Saad

2009-04-01

This paper describes a novel new nondestructive method of qualitative internal surface roughness classification for pipes utilizing Acoustic Emission (AE) signal. Two different flowrate are introduced in a pipe obstructed using normally available components (e.g.: valve). The AE signal at suitable location from the obstruction are obtained and the peak amplitudes, RMS amplitude and energy of the AE signal are obtained. A dimensionless number, the Bangi Number, AB, is then calculated as a ratio of the AE parameters (peak amplitude, RMS amplitude or energy) in low flowrate measurement compared to the AE parameters in high flowrate measurement. It was observed that the Bangi Number, AB obtained can then be used to successfully discriminate between rough and smooth internal surface roughness. (author)

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

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

Track sensitivity and the surface roughness measurements of CR-39 with atomic force microscope

CERN Document Server

Yasuda, N; Amemiya, K; Takahashi, H; Kyan, A; Ogura, K

1999-01-01

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been applied to evaluate the surface roughness and the track sensitivity of CR-39 track detector. We experimentally confirmed the inverse correlation between the track sensitivity and the roughness of the detector surface after etching. The surface of CR-39 (CR-39 doped with antioxidant (HARZLAS (TD-1)) and copolymer of CR-39/NIPAAm (TNF-1)) with high sensitivity becomes rough by the etching, while the pure CR-39 (BARYOTRAK) with low sensitivity keeps its original surface clarity even for the long etching.

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.

Roughness Sensitivity Comparisons of Wind Turbine Blade Sections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilcox, Benjamin J. [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Aerospace Engineering; White, Edward B. [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Aerospace Engineering; Maniaci, David Charles [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Wind Energy Technologies Dept.

2017-10-01

One explanation for wind turbine power degradation is insect roughness. Historical studies on insect-induced power degradation have used simulation methods which are either un- representative of actual insect roughness or too costly or time-consuming to be applied to wide-scale testing. Furthermore, the role of airfoil geometry in determining the relations between insect impingement locations and roughness sensitivity has not been studied. To link the effects of airfoil geometry, insect impingement locations, and roughness sensitivity, a simulation code was written to determine representative insect collection patterns for different airfoil shapes. Insect collection pattern data was then used to simulate roughness on an NREL S814 airfoil that was tested in a wind tunnel at Reynolds numbers between 1.6 x 10⁶ and 4.0 x 10⁶. Results are compared to previous tests of a NACA 63₃ -418 airfoil. Increasing roughness height and density results in decreased maximum lift, lift curve slope, and lift-to-drag ratio. Increasing roughness height, density, or Reynolds number results in earlier bypass transition, with critical roughness Reynolds numbers lying within the historical range. Increased roughness sensitivity on the 25% thick NREL S814 is observed compared to the 18% thick NACA 63 3 -418. Blade-element-momentum analysis was used to calculate annual energy production losses of 4.9% and 6.8% for a NACA 63₃ -418 turbine and an NREL S814 turbine, respectively, operating with 200 μm roughness. These compare well to historical field measurements.

Urban roughness mapping validation techniques and some first results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bottema, M; Mestayer, PG

1998-01-01

Because of measuring problems related to evaluation of urban roughness parameters, a new approach using a roughness mapping tool has been tested: evaluation of roughness length z(o) and zero displacement z(d) from cadastral databases. Special attention needs to be given to the validation of the

Instrument for benzene and toluene emission measurements of glycol regenerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanyecz, Veronika; Szabó, Gábor; Mohácsi, Árpád; Puskás, Sándor; Vágó, Árpád

2013-01-01

We introduce an in-field and in-explosive atmosphere useable instrument, which can measure the benzene and toluene concentration in two gas and two glycol samples produced by natural gas dehydration units. It is a two-phase, on-line gas chromatograph with a photoacoustic spectroscopy based detector. The time resolution is 10 min per cycle and the minimum detectable concentrations are 2 mg m −3 for benzene, 3 mg m −3 for toluene in natural gas, and 5 g m −3 for benzene and 6 g m −3 for toluene in glycol. Test measurements were carried out at a dehydration plant belonging to MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Company. Benzene and toluene emissions of gas dehydration unit are calculated from the measured values based on mass balance of a glycol regenerator. The relationship between the outdoor temperature and the measured concentration was observed which is caused by temperature-dependent operation of the whole dehydration unit. Emission decreases with increase of outdoor temperature. (paper)

Assessment of the measurement control program for solution assay instruments at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldman, A.S.

1985-05-01

This report documents and reviews the measurement control program (MCP) over a 27-month period for four solution assay instruments (SAIs) Facility. SAI measurement data collected during the period January 1982 through March 1984 were analyzed. The sources of these data included computer listings of measurements emanating from operator entries on computer terminals, logbook entries of measurements transcribed by operators, and computer listings of measurements recorded internally in the instruments. Data were also obtained from control charts that are available as part of the MCP. As a result of our analyses we observed agreement between propagated and historical variances and concluded instruments were functioning properly from a precision aspect. We noticed small, persistent biases indicating slight instrument inaccuracies. We suggest that statistical tests for bias be incorporated in the MCP on a monthly basis and if the instrument bias is significantly greater than zero, the instrument should undergo maintenance. We propose the weekly precision test be replaced by a daily test to provide more timely detection of possible problems. We observed that one instrument showed a trend of increasing bias during the past six months and recommend a randomness test be incorporated to detect trends in a more timely fashion. We detected operator transcription errors during data transmissions and advise direct instrument transmission to the MCP to eliminate these errors. A transmission error rate based on those errors that affected decisions in the MCP was estimated as 1%. 11 refs., 10 figs., 4 tabs

A Rough Set Approach for Customer Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prabha Dhandayudam

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Customer segmentation is a process that divides a business's total customers into groups according to their diversity of purchasing behavior and characteristics. The data mining clustering technique can be used to accomplish this customer segmentation. This technique clusters the customers in such a way that the customers in one group behave similarly when compared to the customers in other groups. The customer related data are categorical in nature. However, the clustering algorithms for categorical data are few and are unable to handle uncertainty. Rough set theory (RST is a mathematical approach that handles uncertainty and is capable of discovering knowledge from a database. This paper proposes a new clustering technique called MADO (Minimum Average Dissimilarity between Objects for categorical data based on elements of RST. The proposed algorithm is compared with other RST based clustering algorithms, such as MMR (Min-Min Roughness, MMeR (Min Mean Roughness, SDR (Standard Deviation Roughness, SSDR (Standard deviation of Standard Deviation Roughness, and MADE (Maximal Attributes DEpendency. The results show that for the real customer data considered, the MADO algorithm achieves clusters with higher cohesion, lower coupling, and less computational complexity when compared to the above mentioned algorithms. The proposed algorithm has also been tested on a synthetic data set to prove that it is also suitable for high dimensional data.

Investigation on Surface Roughness in Cylindrical Grinding

Science.gov (United States)

Rudrapati, Ramesh; Bandyopadhyay, Asish; Pal, Pradip Kumar

2011-01-01

Cylindrical grinding is a complex machining process. And surface roughness is often a key factor in any machining process while considering the machine tool or machining performance. Further, surface roughness is one of the measures of the technological quality of the product and is a factor that greatly influences cost and quality. The present work is related to some aspects of surface finish in the context of traverse-cut cylindrical grinding. The parameters considered have been: infeed, longitudinal feed and work speed. Taguchi quality design is used to design the experiments and to identify the significantly import parameter(s) affecting the surface roughness. By utilization of Response Surface Methodology (RSM), second order differential equation has been developed and attempts have also been made for optimization of the process in the context of surface roughness by using C- programming.

ASRDI oxygen technology survey. Volume 5: Density and liquid level measurement instrumentation for the cryogenic fluids oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen

Science.gov (United States)

Roder, H. M.

1974-01-01

Information is presented on instrumentation for density measurement, liquid level measurement, quantity gauging, and phase measurement. Coverage of existing information directly concerned with oxygen was given primary emphasis. A description of the physical principle of measurement for each instrumentation type is included. The basic materials of construction are listed if available from the source document for each instrument discussed. Cleaning requirements, procedures, and verification techniques are included.

Instrument for thickness measuring of a workpiece with the help of ultrasonic waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, F.H.; Martin, R.

1978-01-01

The proposed ultrasonic measuring instrument has a generator for pulsed ultrasonic signals, a detector as well as a contact arrangement that connects both with the work piece. The transportation lag of the signals through the contact arrangements amounts to at least five times the transportation lag of the signals due to the thickness of a work piece. Furthermore there is an arrangement for the measurement of the delay between two successive echos from the back of the work piece with the help of a zero passage detector for the generation of a time-reference value on each echo signal. This permits an exact time control of the pulses which range in the field around nano seconds. The instrument is explained with 8 drawings and a detailed description. (RW) [de

Roughness Effects on Organized Motions in a Wall Shear Layer Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Haigermoser, Christian; Vesely, Lukas; Lapolla, Massimillano; Onorato, Michele

2006-11-01

Turbulent boundary layer measurements on a zero-pressure gradient flat plate with two different roughness, a 2D and a 3D roughness, were carried out. The main object of the study was to investigate the impact of the wall roughness on the turbulent flow structures. The momentum thickness Reynolds number for the smooth wall was Reθ˜ 1900. PIV measurements were taken in the streamwise wall-normal plane. The PIV images covered the whole logarithmic region and the major part of the outer layer. The instant flow images for the two roughness show features similar to the one expected in a smooth wall turbulent boundary layer, as described by Adrian et al. (JFM 2000). Statistical analysis was performed to enlighten quantitative differences between the different flow fields. For instance, two point streamwise velocity correlations show that the major effect of the roughness is to tilt the inclination of the hairpin vortex packets towards the wall normal direction; being the 3D roughness more effective in producing this displacement. Full results will be shown and discussed during the presentation.

An instrument for the high-statistics measurement of plastic scintillating fibers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buontempo, S.; Ereditato, A.; Marchetti-Stasi, F.; Riccardi, F.; Strolin, P.

1994-01-01

There is today widespread use of plastic scintillating fibers in particle physics, mainly for calorimetric and tracking applications. In the case of calorimeters, we have to cope with very massive detectors and a large quantity of scintillating fibers. The CHORUS Collaboration has built a new detector to search for ν μ -ν τ oscillations in the CERN neutrino beam. A crucial task of the detector is ruled by the high-energy resolution calorimeter. For its construction more than 400 000 scintillating plastic fibers have been used. In this paper we report on the design and performance of a new instrument for the high-statistics measurement of the fiber properties, in terms of light yield and light attenuation length. The instrument has been successfully used to test about 3% of the total number of fibers before the construction of the calorimeter. ((orig.))

Present status of ambient dose equivalent rate and radioactive substance concentration measurements in working environment. (3) Measuring instruments for ionizing radiation in working environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsubara, Shohei

2006-01-01

In order to measure the airborne radioactive substance concentration in working environments, some kinds of sampler such as dust sampler and iodine sampler, measuring instruments (alpha and beta spectrometer, and liquid scintillation counter), monitor (dust-, iodine- and gas-monitor), survey meter for measuring gamma ray dose rate are stated. The measurement method of α, β and γ-ray nuclides and ambient dose-equivalent at 10 mm was explained. Some examples of the list of dust sampler, filter, tritium sampler, dust monitor, iodine monitor, gas monitor, and survey meter on the market are shown. There are so many kinds of measuring instruments for ionizing radiation in working environment that the best instrument for measurement should be selected. The environment conditions such as sample form, temperature and humidity have to be considered in order to evaluate the measurement values. (S.Y.)

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.

Informal caregiving in COPD: A systematic review of instruments and their measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Joana; Marques, Alda; Machado, Ana; O'Hoski, Sachi; Goldstein, Roger; Brooks, Dina

2017-07-01

Increasing symptoms and activity restriction associated with COPD progression greatly impact on the lives of their informal caregivers, who play a vital role in maintaining their health. An understanding of this impact is important for clinicians to support caregivers and maintain a viable patient environment at home. This systematic review aimed to identify the instruments commonly used to assess informal caregiving in COPD and describe their measurement properties in this population. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and PsycINFO and in references of key articles, until November 2016 (PROSPERO: CRD42016041401). Instruments used to assess the impact of COPD on caregivers were identified and their properties described. Quality of studies was rated using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. Quality of the measurement properties of instruments was rated as 'positive', 'negative' or 'indeterminate'. Patients cared for, had moderate to very severe COPD and the sample of caregivers ranged from 24 to 406. Thirty-five instruments were used in fifty studies to assess caregivers' psychological status and mood (9 instruments), burden/distress (12 instruments), quality of life (5 instruments) or other (9 instruments). Eighteen studies assessed the measurement properties of 21 instruments, most commonly hypothesis testing (known validity) and internal consistency. Study quality varied from 'poor' to 'fair' and with many properties rated as 'indeterminate'. Although several instruments have been used to assess the impact of COPD on caregivers, an increased understanding of their properties is needed before their widespread implementation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Unexpected but Most Welcome: Mixed Methods for the Validation and Revision of the Participatory Evaluation Measurement Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Daigneault, Pierre-Marc; Jacob, Steve

2014-01-01

Although combining methods is nothing new, more contributions about why and how to mix methods for validation purposes are needed. This article presents a case of validating the inferences drawn from the Participatory Evaluation Measurement Instrument, an instrument that purports to measure stakeholder participation in evaluation. Although the…

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)

Measuring participants' immersion in healthcare simulation: the development of an instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagiwara, Magnus Andersson; Backlund, Per; Söderholm, Hanna Maurin; Lundberg, Lars; Lebram, Mikael; Engström, Henrik

2016-01-01

Immersion is important for simulation-based education; however, questionnaire-based instruments to measure immersion have some limitations. The aim of the present work is to develop a new instrument to measure immersion among participants in healthcare simulation scenarios. The instrument was developed in four phases: trigger identification, content validity scores, inter-rater reliability analysis and comparison with an existing immersion measure instrument. A modified Delphi process was used to develop the instrument and to establish validity and reliability. The expert panel consisted of 10 researchers. All the researchers in the team had previous experience of simulation in the health and/or fire and rescue services as researchers and/or educators and simulation designers. To identify triggers, the panel members independently screened video recordings from simulation scenarios. Here, a trigger is an event in a simulation that is considered a sign of reduced or enhanced immersion among simulation participants. The result consists of the Immersion Score Rating Instrument (ISRI). It contains 10 triggers, of which seven indicate reduced and three enhanced immersion. When using ISRI, a rater identifies trigger occurrences and assigns them strength between 1 and 3. The content validity analysis shows that all the 10 triggers meet an acceptable content validity index for items (I-CVI) standard. The inter-rater reliability (IRR) among raters was assessed using a two-way mixed, consistency, average-measures intra-class correlation (ICC). The ICC for the difference between weighted positive and negative triggers was 0.92, which indicates that the raters are in agreement. Comparison with results from an immersion questionnaire mirrors the ISRI results. In conclusion, we present a novel and non-intrusive instrument for identifying and rating the level of immersion among participants in healthcare simulation scenarios.

Analytical fitting model for rough-surface BRDF.

Science.gov (United States)

Renhorn, Ingmar G E; Boreman, Glenn D

2008-08-18

A physics-based model is developed for rough surface BRDF, taking into account angles of incidence and scattering, effective index, surface autocovariance, and correlation length. Shadowing is introduced on surface correlation length and reflectance. Separate terms are included for surface scatter, bulk scatter and retroreflection. Using the FindFit function in Mathematica, the functional form is fitted to BRDF measurements over a wide range of incident angles. The model has fourteen fitting parameters; once these are fixed, the model accurately describes scattering data over two orders of magnitude in BRDF without further adjustment. The resulting analytical model is convenient for numerical computations.

Comparison of methods and instruments for 222Rn/220Rn progeny measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yanyang; Shang Bing; Wu Yunyun; Zhou Qingzhi

2012-01-01

In this paper, comparisons were made among three methods of measurement (grab measurement, continuous measurement and integrating measurement) and also measurement of different instruments for a radon/thoron mixed chamber. Taking the optimized five-segment method as a comparison criterion, for the equilibrium-equivalent concentration of 222 Rn, measured results of Balm and 24 h integrating detectors are 31% and 29% higher than the criterion, the results of Wl x, however, is 20% lower; and for 220 Rn progeny, the results of Fiji-142, Kf-602D, BWLM and 24 h integrating detector are 86%, 18%, 28% and 36% higher than the criterion respectively, except that of WLx, which is 5% lower. For the differences shown, further research is needed. (authors)

Friction Factors in Rough Rod Bundles Estimated from Experiments in Partially Rough Annuli - Effects of Dissimilarities in the Shear Stress and Turbulence Distributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kjellstroem, B

1968-12-15

Experiments with rough surface friction and heat transfer are often made in an annulus with rough inner surface and smooth outer surface. Utilization of data from such experiments for calculation of rough rod bundle fuel elements requires a transformation of the data. For this purpose the method of WB Hall is frequently used. The errors introduced by two of the assumptions on which this method is based, namely the assumptions of zero shear at the radius of maximum velocity and the assumption of no turbulence exchange between the subchannels, are discussed, and the magnitude of the errors is estimated on basis of experiments in a partially rough annulus. It is found that the necessary corrections does not amount to more than about + 10 % for the friction factor and + 15 % for the Reynolds number and the equivalent diameter. The correction for the turbulence exchange alone is of the order of 2-3 %. A comparison of friction factors measured in a rough 48-rod bundle and predicted from measurements in a partially rough annulus was also made. The prediction was 5 % high instead of about 10 % low which could have been expected from the considerations earlier in the report. Explanations for this can be found in the effect of the channel shape or inaccuracies in the rod bundle experiment. Annulus experiments which will allow comparisons with other rod bundle experiments will be run to clarify this.

Influence of Roughness-Induced Slip on Colloid Transport: Experimental and Modelling Insights

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmuson, J. A.; Johnson, W. P.

2017-12-01

A limitation of classic colloid filtration theory is that it applies only to smooth surfaces, yet most natural surfaces present some degree of nano- to micro-scale roughness. A large volume of research has been dedicated to understanding the effects of roughness on particle attachment at the nano-scale since these interactions dictate field scale transport behavior. It has been previously demonstrated that roughness imposes a finite slip vector at the surface that causes particles to experience higher near-surface velocities than would be expected over a smooth surface. Slip near a rough surface can affect two primary mechanisms of particle attenuation: 1) interception of the surface (finding a landing spot) and 2) arrest on the surface (sticking the landing). However, a clear designation on how slip affects particle transport near rough surfaces is missing. The goal of this study was to provide a guide for the height of the slip layer and contact surface in reference to the mean-plane for rough surfaces. Direct observation was used to measure near-surface velocities of particles translating near surfaces of varying roughness spanning three orders of magnitude. The influence of roughness on particle transport was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling with rough surfaces measured with atomic force microscopy (AFM). The CFD and experimental results were used to calibrate a Lagrangian particle transport model that utilizes simple modifications to the flow field for a smooth surface using statistically based roughness parameters. Advantages of the Lagrangian model are significantly decreased computation times and applicability to a wide range of natural surfaces without explicitly simulating individual asperities. The results suggest that the no-slip boundary should be placed at the bottom of the maximum asperity valleys, and that the contact surface should be placed at the root mean square (RMS) roughness above the mean plane. Collector

Automatic Recognition Method for Optical Measuring Instruments Based on Machine Vision

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

SONG Le; LIN Yuchi; HAO Liguo

2008-01-01

Based on a comprehensive study of various algorithms, the automatic recognition of traditional ocular optical measuring instruments is realized. Taking a universal tools microscope (UTM) lens view image as an example, a 2-layer automatic recognition model for data reading is established after adopting a series of pre-processing algorithms. This model is an optimal combination of the correlation-based template matching method and a concurrent back propagation (BP) neural network. Multiple complementary feature extraction is used in generating the eigenvectors of the concurrent network. In order to improve fault-tolerance capacity, rotation invariant features based on Zernike moments are extracted from digit characters and a 4-dimensional group of the outline features is also obtained. Moreover, the operating time and reading accuracy can be adjusted dynamically by setting the threshold value. The experimental result indicates that the newly developed algorithm has optimal recognition precision and working speed. The average reading ratio can achieve 97.23%. The recognition method can automatically obtain the results of optical measuring instruments rapidly and stably without modifying their original structure, which meets the application requirements.

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

A comparative review of measurement instruments to inform and evaluate effectiveness of disability inclusive development.

Science.gov (United States)

Goujon, Nicolas; Devine, Alexandra; Baker, Sally M; Sprunt, Beth; Edmonds, Tanya J; Booth, Jennifer K; Keeffe, Jill E

2014-01-01

A review of existing measurement instruments was conducted to examine their suitability to measure disability prevalence and assess quality of life, protection of disability rights and community participation by people with disabilities, specifically within the context of development programs in low and middle-income countries. From a search of PubMed and the grey literature, potentially relevant measurement instruments were identified and examined for their content and psychometric properties, where possible. Criteria for inclusion were: based on the WHO's International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF), used quantitative methods, suitable for population-based studies of disability inclusive development in English and published after 1990. Characteristics of existing instruments were analysed according to components of the ICF and quality of life domains. Ten instruments were identified and reviewed according to the criteria listed above. Each version of instruments was analysed separately. Only three instruments included a component on quality of life. Domains from the ICF that were addressed by some but not all instruments included the environment, technology and communication. The measurement instruments reviewed covered the range of elements required to measure disability-inclusion within development contexts. However no single measurement instrument has the capacity to measure both disability prevalence and changes in quality of life according to contemporary disability paradigms. The review of measurement instruments supports the need for developing an instrument specifically intended to measure disability inclusive practice within development programs. Implications for Rehabilitation Surveys and tools are needed to plan disability inclusive development. Existing measurement tools to determine prevalence of disability, wellbeing, rights and access to the community were reviewed. No single validated tool exists for population