Field validation of protocols developed to evaluate in-line mastitis detection systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamphuis, C; Dela Rue, B T; Eastwood, C R

2016-02-01

This paper reports on a field validation of previously developed protocols for evaluating the performance of in-line mastitis-detection systems. The protocols outlined 2 requirements of these systems: (1) to detect cows with clinical mastitis (CM) promptly and accurately to enable timely and appropriate treatment and (2) to identify cows with high somatic cell count (SCC) to manage bulk milk SCC levels. Gold standard measures, evaluation tests, performance measures, and performance targets were proposed. The current study validated the protocols on commercial dairy farms with automated in-line mastitis-detection systems using both electrical conductivity (EC) and SCC sensor systems that both monitor at whole-udder level. The protocol for requirement 1 was applied on 3 commercial farms. For requirement 2, the protocol was applied on 6 farms; 3 of them had low bulk milk SCC (128×10(3) cells/mL) and were the same farms as used for field evaluation of requirement 1. Three farms with high bulk milk SCC (270×10(3) cells/mL) were additionally enrolled. The field evaluation methodology and results were presented at a workshop including representation from 7 international suppliers of in-line mastitis-detection systems. Feedback was sought on the acceptance of standardized performance evaluation protocols and recommended refinements to the protocols. Although the methodology for requirement 1 was relatively labor intensive and required organizational skills over an extended period, no major issues were encountered during the field validation of both protocols. The validation, thus, proved the protocols to be practical. Also, no changes to the data collection process were recommended by the technology supplier representatives. However, 4 recommendations were made to refine the protocols: inclusion of an additional analysis that ignores small (low-density) clot observations in the definition of CM, extension of the time window from 4 to 5 milkings for timely alerts for CM

Performance Analysis of Untraceability Protocols for Mobile Agents Using an Adaptable Framework

OpenAIRE

LESZCZYNA RAFAL; GORSKI Janusz Kazimierz

2006-01-01

Recently we had proposed two untraceability protocols for mobile agents and began investigating their quality. We believe that quality evaluation of security protocols should extend a sole validation of their security and cover other quality aspects, primarily their efficiency. Thus after conducting a security analysis, we wanted to complement it with a performance analysis. For this purpose we developed a performance evaluation framework, which, as we realised, with certain adjustments, can ...

Performance analysis of routing protocols for IoT

Science.gov (United States)

Manda, Sridhar; Nalini, N.

2018-04-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is an arrangement of advancements that are between disciplinary. It is utilized to have compelling combination of both physical and computerized things. With IoT physical things can have personal virtual identities and participate in distributed computing. Realization of IoT needs the usage of sensors based on the sector for which IoT is integrated. For instance, in healthcare domain, IoT needs to have integration with wearable sensors used by patients. As sensor devices produce huge amount of data, often called big data, there should be efficient routing protocols in place. To the extent remote systems is worried there are some current protocols, for example, OLSR, DSR and AODV. It additionally tosses light into Trust based routing protocol for low-power and lossy systems (TRPL) for IoT. These are broadly utilized remote directing protocols. As IoT is developing round the corner, it is basic to investigate routing protocols that and evaluate their execution regarding throughput, end to end delay, and directing overhead. The execution experiences can help in settling on very much educated choices while incorporating remote systems with IoT. In this paper, we analyzed different routing protocols and their performance is compared. It is found that AODV showed better performance than other routing protocols aforementioned.

On the network protocol performance evaluation for large scale communication system of nuclear plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, K. S.; Lee, T. H.; Kim, H. R.; Kim, D. H.; Ku, I. S.

1998-01-01

Computer technology has been dramatically advanced and it is now natural to apply digital network technology into nuclear plants. Communication architecture for nuclear plant defines the coordination of safety reactor control, balance of plant, subsystem utilities, and plant monitoring functions, and how they are connected and their user interface to guarantee plant performance and guarantee safety requirements. Therefore, to implement a digital network for control and monitoring systems of advanced nuclear plant needs systematic design and evaluation procedures because of responsive and hard real-time process characteristics of nuclear plant. In this paper, we evaluate several digital network protocols in terms of network delay, link failure effects to hard real-time requirements with full scale traffic

Simulation and Evaluation of CTP and Secure-CTP Protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Pecho

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses characteristics and qualities of two routing protocols – Collection Tree Protocol and its secure modification. The original protocol, as well as other protocols for wireless sensors, solves only problems of ra- dio communication and limited resources. Our design of the secure protocol tries to solve also the essential security ob- jectives. For the evaluation of properties of our protocol in large networks, a TOSSIM simulator was used. Our effort was to show the influence of the modification of the routing protocol to its behavior and quality of routing trees. We have proved that adding security into protocol design does not necessarily mean higher demands for data transfer, power consumption or worse protocol efficiency. In the paper, we manifest that security in the protocol may be achieved with low cost and may offer similar performance as the original protocol.

Performance evaluation of secured DICOM image communication with next generation internet protocol IPv6

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Fenghai; Zhang, Jianguo; Chen, Xiaomeng; Huang, H. K.

2005-04-01

Next Generation Internet (NGI) technology with new communication protocol IPv6 emerges as a potential solution for low-cost and high-speed networks for image data transmission. IPv6 is designed to solve many of the problems of the current version of IP (known as IPv4) with regard to address depletion, security, autoconfiguration, extensibility, and more. We choose CTN (Central Test Node) DICOM software developed by The Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology to implement IPv6/IPv4 enabled DICOM communication software on different operating systems (Windows/Linux), and used this DICOM software to evaluate the performance of the IPv6/IPv4 enabled DICOM image communication with different security setting and environments. We compared the security communications of IPsec with SSL/TLS on different TCP/IP protocols (IPv6/IPv4), and find that there are some trade-offs to choose security solution between IPsec and SSL/TLS in the security implementation of IPv6/IPv4 communication networks.

Performance modeling of neighbor discovery in proactive routing protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andres Medina

2011-07-01

Full Text Available It is well known that neighbor discovery is a critical component of proactive routing protocols in wireless ad hoc networks. However there is no formal study on the performance of proposed neighbor discovery mechanisms. This paper provides a detailed model of key performance metrics of neighbor discovery algorithms, such as node degree and the distribution of the distance to symmetric neighbors. The model accounts for the dynamics of neighbor discovery as well as node density, mobility, radio and interference. The paper demonstrates a method for applying these models to the evaluation of global network metrics. In particular, it describes a model of network connectivity. Validation of the models shows that the degree estimate agrees, within 5% error, with simulations for the considered scenarios. The work presented in this paper serves as a basis for the performance evaluation of remaining performance metrics of routing protocols, vital for large scale deployment of ad hoc networks.

Experimental Evaluation of Simulation Abstractions for Wireless Sensor Network MAC Protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. P. Halkes

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The evaluation of MAC protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs is often performed through simulation. These simulations necessarily abstract away from reality in many ways. However, the impact of these abstractions on the results of the simulations has received only limited attention. Moreover, many studies on the accuracy of simulation have studied either the physical layer and per link effects or routing protocol effects. To the best of our knowledge, no other work has focused on the study of the simulation abstractions with respect to MAC protocol performance. In this paper, we present the results of an experimental study of two often used abstractions in the simulation of WSN MAC protocols. We show that a simple SNR-based reception model can provide quite accurate results for metrics commonly used to evaluate MAC protocols. Furthermore, we provide an analysis of what the main sources of deviation are and thereby how the simulations can be improved to provide even better results.

Investigating And Evaluating Of Network Failures And Performance Over Distributed WAN In Application Protocol Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enoch Okoh Kofi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Experiment was done to find out network failures and application performance relationship over distributed Wide Area Net WAN. In order to access related application over the cloud there must be an internet connectivity which will help the respective workstations to access the remote server for applications being deployed over the network. Bandwidth improvement helps in reducing utilization over the network and it also helps in improving Application Efficiency of these Applications in terms of Response Time. Routers were configured under Enhance Interior Gateway Routing Protocol EIGRP to reduce utilization and to ensure load sharing over the network. Three scenarios were modeled and their performance efficiency was evaluated. A modeled computer Network with and without a fail Router under different scenarios and such Network was simulated with emphasis on the Application Performance. The Experiment was done for fifty workstations under three scenarios and these three scenarios were accessed and evaluated on experimental basis using Riverbed modeler to show the Effect of Application Network performance. The performance results show that increasing the bandwidth reduces utilization and also with the failure of one communication bandwidth users can still access Network Application with a minimal cost.

Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conover, David R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Crawford, Alasdair J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Fuller, Jason [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Viswanathan, Vilayanur [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Ferreira, Summer Rhodes [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Schoenwald, David A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rosewater, David Martin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-04-01

This Protocol provides a set of “best practices” for characterizing energy storage systems (ESSs) and measuring and reporting their performance. It serves as a basis for assessing how an ESS will perform with respect to key performance attributes relevant to different applications. It is intended to provide a valid and accurate basis for the comparison of different ESSs. By achieving the stated purpose, the Protocol will enable more informed decision-making in the selection of ESSs for various stationary applications. The Protocol identifies general information and technical specifications relevant in describing an ESS and also defines a set of test, measurement, and evaluation criteria with which to express the performance of ESSs that are intended for energy-intensive and/or power-intensive stationary applications. An ESS includes a storage device, battery management system, and any power conversion systems installed with the storage device. The Protocol is agnostic with respect to the storage technology and the size and rating of the ESS. The Protocol does not apply to single-use storage devices and storage devices that are not coupled with power conversion systems, nor does it address safety, security, or operations and maintenance of ESSs, or provide any pass/fail criteria.

A review on transport layer protocol performance for delivering video on an adhoc network

Science.gov (United States)

Suherman; Suwendri; Al-Akaidi, Marwan

2017-09-01

The transport layer protocol is responsible for the end to end data transmission. Transmission control protocol (TCP) provides a reliable connection and user datagram protocol (UDP) offers fast but unguaranteed data transfer. Meanwhile, the 802.11 (wireless fidelity/WiFi) networks have been widely used as internet hotspots. This paper evaluates TCP, TCP variants and UDP performances for video transmission on an adhoc network. The transport protocol - medium access cross-layer is proposed by prioritizing TCP acknowledgement to reduce delay. The NS-2 evaluations show that the average delays increase linearly for all the evaluated protocols and the average packet losses grow logarithmically. UDP produces the lowest transmission delay; 5.4% and 5.8% lower than TCP and TCP variant, but experiences the highest packet loss. Both TCP and TCP Vegas maintain packet loss as low as possible. The proposed cross-layer successfully decreases TCP and TCP Vegas delay about 0.12 % and 0.15%, although losses remain similar.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF INTEGRATED MACRO AND MICRO MOBILITY PROTOCOLS FOR WIDE AREA WIRELESS NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.Gunasundari

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The success of next generation wireless networks will rely much on advanced mechanisms for seamless mobility support among emerging heterogeneous technologies. Currently, Mobile IP is the most promising solution for mobility management in the Internet. Several IP micro mobility approaches have been proposed to enhance the performance of Mobile IP which supports quality of service, minimum packet loss, limited handoff delay and scalability and power conservation but they are not scalable for macro mobility. A practical solution would therefore require integration of Mobile IP and Micro mobility protocols where Mobile IP handles macro mobility and micro mobility protocols handles micro mobility. In this paper an integrated mobility management protocol for IP based wireless networks is proposed and analyzed. Simulation results presented in this paper are based on ns 2.

MANET Performance for Source and Destination Moving Scenarios Considering OLSR and AODV protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elis Kulla

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, a great interest is shown in MANETs potential usage and applications in several fields such as military activities, rescue operations and time-critical applications. In this work, we implement and analyse a MANET testbed considering AODV and OLSR protocols for wireless multi-hop networking. We investigate the effect of mobility and topology changing in MANET and evaluate the performance of the network through experiments in a real environment. The performance assessment of our testbed is done considering throughput, number of dropped packets and delay. We designed four scenarios: Static, Source Moving, Destination Moving and Source-Destination Moving. From our experimental results, we concluded that when the communicating nodes are moving and the routes change quickly, OLSR (as a proactive protocol performs better than AODV, which is a reactive protocol.

A Performance Study of LEACH and Direct Diffusion Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fakher, S.; Sharshar, K.; Moawad, M.I.; Shokair, M.

2016-01-01

The Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is composed of a large number of sensor nodes with limited computation communication, and battery facilities. One of the common applications of this network is environment monitoring through sensing motion, measuring temperature, humidity and radiation. One of the basic activities in WSN is data gathering which represents a great challenge. Many routing protocols are proposed for that network to collect and aggregate the data. The most popular ones are hierarchy and data centric routing protocols. The main goal of this study is to identify the most preferable routing protocol, to be used in each mobility model. This paper studies the performance of LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) from hierarchy routing protocol and direct diffusion from data centric routing protocol which is not clarified until now. Moreover, a comparison between LEACH and direct diffusion protocol using NS2 simulator will be made, and an analysis of these protocols will be conducted. The comparison includes packet delivery ratio, throughput, average energy ratio, average delay, network lifetime, and routing overhead. The performance is evaluated by varying the number of sensor nodes under three mobility models Reference Point Group Mobility Model (RPGM), Manhattan and random waypoint mobility model. Simulation results show that LEACH routing protocol has a good performance in RPGM and Manhattan than random waypoint mobility model. Direct diffusion has a good performance in random waypoint mobility model than in RPGM and Manhattan mobility model

Implementation of CAVENET and Its Usage for Performance Evaluation of AODV, OLSR and DYMO Protocols in Vehicular Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evjola Spaho

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Vehicle Ad-hoc Network (VANET is a kind of Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET that establishes wireless connection between cars. In VANETs and MANETs, the topology of the network changes very often, therefore implementation of efficient routing protocols is very important problem. In MANETs, the Random Waypoint (RW model is used as a simulation model for generating node mobility pattern. On the other hand, in VANETs, the mobility patterns of nodes is restricted along the roads, and is affected by the movement of neighbour nodes. In this paper, we present a simulation system for VANET called CAVENET (Cellular Automaton based VEhicular NETwork. In CAVENET, the mobility patterns of nodes are generated by an 1-dimensional cellular automata. We improved CAVENET and implemented some routing protocols. We investigated the performance of the implemented routing protocols by CAVENET. The simulation results have shown that DYMO protocol has better performance than AODV and OLSR protocols.

Chapter 15: Commercial New Construction Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Keates, Steven [ADM Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA (United States)

2017-10-09

This protocol is intended to describe the recommended method when evaluating the whole-building performance of new construction projects in the commercial sector. The protocol focuses on energy conservation measures (ECMs) or packages of measures where evaluators can analyze impacts using building simulation. These ECMs typically require the use of calibrated building simulations under Option D of the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP).

Experimental Evaluation of Simulation Abstractions for Wireless Sensor Network MAC Protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Halkes, G.P.; Langendoen, K.G.

2010-01-01

The evaluation ofMAC protocols forWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is often performed through simulation. These simulations necessarily abstract away from reality inmany ways. However, the impact of these abstractions on the results of the simulations has received only limited attention. Moreover,

Protocol for uniformly measuring and expressing the performance of energy storage systems.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferreira, Summer Kamal Rhodes; Rose, David Martin; Schoenwald, David A; Bray, Kathy; Conover, David; Kintner-Meyer, Michael; Viswanathan, Vilayanur

2013-08-01

The U.S. Department of Energys Energy Storage Systems (ESS) Program, through the support of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), facilitated the development of the protocol provided in this report. The focus of the protocol is to provide a uniform way of measuring, quantifying, and reporting the performance of ESSs in various applications; something that does not exist today and, as such, is hampering the consideration and use of this technology in the market. The availability of an application-specific protocol for use in measuring and expressing performance-related metrics of ESSs will allow technology developers, power-grid operators and other end-users to evaluate the performance of energy storage technologies on a uniform and comparable basis. This will help differentiate technologies and products for specific application(s) and provide transparency in how performance is measured. It also will assist utilities and other consumers of ESSs to make more informed decisions as they consider the potential application and use of ESSs, as well as form the basis for documentation that might be required to justify utility investment in such technologies.

Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bray, Kathryn L.; Conover, David R.; Kintner-Meyer, Michael CW; Viswanathan, Vijayganesh; Ferreira, Summer; Rose, David; Schoenwald, David

2012-10-01

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Storage Systems (ESS) Program, through the support of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), facilitated the development of the protocol provided in this report. The focus of the protocol is to provide a uniform way of measuring, quantifying, and reporting the performance of EESs in various applications; something that does not exist today and, as such, is hampering the consideration and use of this technology in the market. The availability of an application-specific protocol for use in measuring and expressing performance-related metrics of ESSs will allow technology developers, power-grid operators and other end-users to evaluate the performance of energy storage technologies on a uniform and comparable basis. This will help differentiate technologies and products for specific application(s) and provide transparency in how performance is measured. It also will assist utilities and other consumers of ESSs make more informed decisions as they consider the potential application and use of ESSs, as well as form the basis for documentation that might be required to justify utility investment in such technologies.

Tools for Performance Assessment of OLSR Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makoto Ikeda

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we evaluate the performance of Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR protocol by experimental and simulation results. The experiments are carried out by using our implemented testbed and the simulations by using ns-2 simulator. We also designed and implemented a new interface for the ad-hoc network testbed in order to make more easier the experiments. The comparison between experimental and simulation results shows that for the same parameters set, in the simulation we did not notice any packet loss. On the other hand, in the experiments we experienced packet loss because of the environment effects and traffic interference.

Standardizing the performance evaluation of short-term wind prediction models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henrik; Pinson, Pierre; Kariniotakis, G.

2005-01-01

Short-term wind power prediction is a primary requirement for efficient large-scale integration of wind generation in power systems and electricity markets. The choice of an appropriate prediction model among the numerous available models is not trivial, and has to be based on an objective...... evaluation of model performance. This paper proposes a standardized protocol for the evaluation of short-term wind-poser preciction systems. A number of reference prediction models are also described, and their use for performance comparison is analysed. The use of the protocol is demonstrated using results...... from both on-shore and off-shore wind forms. The work was developed in the frame of the Anemos project (EU R&D project) where the protocol has been used to evaluate more than 10 prediction systems....

Mean-field framework for performance evaluation of push–pull gossip protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakhshi, Rena; Cloth, L.; Fokkink, Wan; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

Gossip protocols are designed to operate in very large, decentralised networks. A node in such a network bases its decision to interact (gossip) with another node on its partial view of the global system. Because of the size of these networks, analysis of gossip protocols is mostly done using

Mean-field framework for performance evaluation of push-pull gossip protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakhshi, R.; Cloth, L.; Fokkink, W.J.; Haverkort, B.

2011-01-01

Gossip protocols are designed to operate in very large, decentralised networks. A node in such a network bases its decision to interact (gossip) with another node on its partial view of the global system. Because of the size of these networks, analysis of gossip protocols is mostly done using

Understanding the motivation and performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of health programmes in Kampala, Uganda: a realist evaluation protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Vareilles, Gaëlle; Pommier, Jeanine; Kane, Sumit; Pictet, Gabriel; Marchal, Bruno

2015-01-01

Introduction The recruitment of community health volunteers to support the delivery of health programmes is a well-established approach in many countries, particularly where health services are not readily available. However, studies on management of volunteers are scarce and current research on human resource management of volunteers faces methodological challenges. This paper presents the protocol of a realist evaluation that aims at identifying the factors influencing the performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of a Red Cross immunisation programme in Kampala (Uganda) with a specific focus on motivation. Methods and analysis The realist evaluation cycle structures the protocol. To develop the theoretical basis for the evaluation, the authors conducted interviews and reviewed the literature on community health volunteers’ performance, management and organisational behaviour. This led to the formulation of the initial programme theory, which links the intervention inputs (capacity-building strategies) to the expected outcomes (positive work behaviour) with mechanisms that point in the direction of drivers of motivation. The contextual elements include components such as organisational culture, resource availability, etc. A case study design will be adopted. We define a case as a Red Cross branch, run by a programme manager, and will select two cases at the district level in Kampala. Mixed methods will be used in data collection, including individual interviews of volunteers, participant observation and document review. The thematic analysis will be based on the initial programme theory and will seek for context-mechanism-outcome configurations. Findings from the two cases will be compared. Discussion We discuss the scope for applying realist evaluation and the methodological challenges we encountered in developing this protocol. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the Ethical Committee at Rennes University Hospital

Evaluation of video transmission of MAC protocols in wireless sensor network

Science.gov (United States)

Maulidin, Mahmuddin, M.; Kamaruddin, L. M.; Elsaikh, Mohamed

2016-08-01

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a wireless network which consists of sensor nodes scattered in a particular area which are used to monitor physical or environment condition. Each node in WSN is also scattered in sensor field, so an appropriate scheme of MAC protocol should have to develop communication link for data transferring. Video transmission is one of the important applications for the future that can be transmitted with low aspect in side of cost and also power consumption. In this paper, comparison of five different MAC WSN protocol for video transmission namely IEEE 802.11 standard, IEEE 802.15.4 standard, CSMA/CA, Berkeley-MAC, and Lightweight-MAC protocol are studied. Simulation experiment has been conducted in OMNeT++ with INET network simulator software to evaluate the performance. Obtained results indicate that IEEE 802.11 works better than other protocol in term of packet delivery, throughput, and latency.

IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs: Performance Analysis and Protocol Refinement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chatzimisios P.

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The IEEE 802.11 protocol is emerging as a widely used standard and has become the most mature technology for wireless local area networks (WLANs. In this paper, we focus on the tuning of the IEEE 802.11 protocol parameters taking into consideration, in addition to throughput efficiency, performance metrics such as the average packet delay, the probability of a packet being discarded when it reaches the maximum retransmission limit, the average time to drop a packet, and the packet interarrival time. We present an analysis, which has been validated by simulation that is based on a Markov chain model commonly used in the literature. We further study the improvement on these performance metrics by employing suitable protocol parameters according to the specific communication needs of the IEEE 802.11 protocol for both basic access and RTS/CTS access schemes. We show that the use of a higher initial contention window size does not considerably degrade performance in small networks and performs significantly better in any other scenario. Moreover, we conclude that the combination of a lower maximum contention window size and a higher retry limit considerably improves performance. Results indicate that the appropriate adjustment of the protocol parameters enhances performance and improves the services that the IEEE 802.11 protocol provides to various communication applications.

Performance Analysis of On-Demand Routing Protocols in Wireless Mesh Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arafatur RAHMAN

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs have recently gained a lot of popularity due to their rapid deployment and instant communication capabilities. WMNs are dynamically self-organizing, self-configuring and self-healing with the nodes in the network automatically establishing an adiej hoc network and preserving the mesh connectivity. Designing a routing protocol for WMNs requires several aspects to consider, such as wireless networks, fixed applications, mobile applications, scalability, better performance metrics, efficient routing within infrastructure, load balancing, throughput enhancement, interference, robustness etc. To support communication, various routing protocols are designed for various networks (e.g. ad hoc, sensor, wired etc.. However, all these protocols are not suitable for WMNs, because of the architectural differences among the networks. In this paper, a detailed simulation based performance study and analysis is performed on the reactive routing protocols to verify the suitability of these protocols over such kind of networks. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV, Dynamic Source Routing (DSR and Dynamic MANET On-demand (DYMO routing protocol are considered as the representative of reactive routing protocols. The performance differentials are investigated using varying traffic load and number of source. Based on the simulation results, how the performance of each protocol can be improved is also recommended.

Performance Evaluation of Security Protocols Specified in LySa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodei, Chiara; Curti, Michele; Degano, Pierpaolo

2005-01-01

We use a special operational semantics which drives us in inferring quantitative measures on system describing cryptographic protocols. The transitions of the system carry enhanced labels. We assign rates to transitions by only looking at these labels. The rates reflect the distributed architectu...

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Mobility Management Protocols: Limitations and Solutions for Future Mobile Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Carmona-Murillo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile Internet data traffic has experienced an exponential growth over the last few years due to the rise of demanding multimedia content and the increasing number of mobile devices. Seamless mobility support at the IP level is envisioned as a key architectural requirement in order to deal with the ever-increasing demand for data and to efficiently utilize a plethora of different wireless access networks. Current efforts from both industry and academia aim to evolve the mobility management protocols towards a more distributed operation to tackle shortcomings of fully centralized approaches. However, distributed solutions face several challenges that can result in lower performance which might affect real-time and multimedia applications. In this paper, we conduct an analytical and simulated evaluation of the main centralized and proposed Distributed Mobility Management (DMM solutions. Our results show that, in some scenarios, when users move at high speed and/or when the mobile node is running long-lasting applications, the DMM approaches incur high signaling cost and long handover latency.

Evaluation of training nurses to perform semi-automated three-dimensional left ventricular ejection fraction using a customised workstation-based training protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Guppy-Coles, Kristyan B; Prasad, Sandhir B; Smith, Kym C; Hillier, Samuel; Lo, Ada; Atherton, John J

2015-06-01

We aimed to determine the feasibility of training cardiac nurses to evaluate left ventricular function utilising a semi-automated, workstation-based protocol on three dimensional echocardiography images. Assessment of left ventricular function by nurses is an attractive concept. Recent developments in three dimensional echocardiography coupled with border detection assistance have reduced inter- and intra-observer variability and analysis time. This could allow abbreviated training of nurses to assess cardiac function. A comparative, diagnostic accuracy study evaluating left ventricular ejection fraction assessment utilising a semi-automated, workstation-based protocol performed by echocardiography-naïve nurses on previously acquired three dimensional echocardiography images. Nine cardiac nurses underwent two brief lectures about cardiac anatomy, physiology and three dimensional left ventricular ejection fraction assessment, before a hands-on demonstration in 20 cases. We then selected 50 cases from our three dimensional echocardiography library based on optimal image quality with a broad range of left ventricular ejection fractions, which was quantified by two experienced sonographers and the average used as the comparator for the nurses. Nurses independently measured three dimensional left ventricular ejection fraction using the Auto lvq package with semi-automated border detection. The left ventricular ejection fraction range was 25-72% (70% with a left ventricular ejection fraction nurses showed excellent agreement with the sonographers. Minimal intra-observer variability was noted on both short-term (same day) and long-term (>2 weeks later) retest. It is feasible to train nurses to measure left ventricular ejection fraction utilising a semi-automated, workstation-based protocol on previously acquired three dimensional echocardiography images. Further study is needed to determine the feasibility of training nurses to acquire three dimensional echocardiography

Protocol for VOC-Arid ID remediation performance characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tegner, B.J.; Hassig, N.L.; Last, G.V.

1994-09-01

The Volatile Organic Compound-Arid Integrated Demonstration (VOC-Arid ID) is a technology development program sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Office of Technology Development that is targeted to acquire, develop, demonstrate, and deploy new technologies for the remediation of VOC contaminants in the soils and groundwaters of arid DOE sites. Technologies cannot be adequately evaluated unless sufficient site characterization and technology performance data have been collection and analyzed. The responsibility for identifying these data needs has been placed largely on the Principal Investigators (PIs) developing the remediation technology, who usually are not experts in site characterization or in identification of appropriate sampling, analysis, and monitoring techniques to support the field testing. This document provides a protocol for planning the collection of data before, during, and after a test of a new technology. This generic protocol provides the PIs and project managers with a set of steps to follow. The protocol is based on a data collection planning process called the Data Quality Objectives (DQO) process, which was originally developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency and has been expanded by DOE to support site cleanup decisions. The DQO process focuses on the quality and quantity of data required to make decision. Stakeholders to the decisions must negotiate such key inputs to the process as the decision rules that will be used and the acceptable probabilities of making decision errors

Performance Evaluation of RIPng, EIGRPv6 and OSPFv3 for Real Time Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sama Salam Samaan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this modern Internet era and the transition to IPv6, routing protocols must adjust to assist this transformation. RIPng, EIGRPv6 and OSPFv3 are the dominant IPv6 IGRP (Interior Gateway Routing Protocols. Selecting the best routing protocol among the available is a critical task, which depends upon the network requirement and performance parameters of different real time applications. The primary motivation of this paper is to estimate the performance of these protocols in real time applications. The evaluation is based on a number of criteria including: network convergence duration, Http Page Response Time, DB Query Response Time, IPv6 traffic dropped, video packet delay variation and video packet end to end delay. After examining the simulation results, a conclusion will be extracted to reveal the findings of which protocol performs the best upon implementation within a IPv6 WAN. OPNET modeler simulator is used to evaluate the accomplishment of these protocols. To get the results, three scenarios are designed, one for each protocol.

Performance Analysis of an Optical CDMA MAC Protocol With Variable-Size Sliding Window

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Mohamed Aly A.; Shalaby, Hossam M. H.; Abdel-Moety El-Badawy, El-Sayed

2006-10-01

A media access control protocol for optical code-division multiple-access packet networks with variable length data traffic is proposed. This protocol exhibits a sliding window with variable size. A model for interference-level fluctuation and an accurate analysis for channel usage are presented. Both multiple-access interference (MAI) and photodetector's shot noise are considered. Both chip-level and correlation receivers are adopted. The system performance is evaluated using a traditional average system throughput and average delay. Finally, in order to enhance the overall performance, error control codes (ECCs) are applied. The results indicate that the performance can be enhanced to reach its peak using the ECC with an optimum number of correctable errors. Furthermore, chip-level receivers are shown to give much higher performance than that of correlation receivers. Also, it has been shown that MAI is the main source of signal degradation.

On the Performance of the Current MANET Routing Protocols for VoIP, HTTP, and FTP Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waheb A. Jabbar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The recent advances of ensemble mobile environment of smart devices with embedded sensors have enabled the MANET to play a key role in the smart cities as well as WSN and WMN. However, these smart devices are still limited in terms of energy, processor, and memory. Moreover, the efficient routing for reliable network connectivity at anytime, anywhere, and about everything is still a challenge in multihop wireless networks. This paper evaluates the QoS and energy efficiency of three active routing protocols: (i OLSRv2, a successor to OLSR, (ii DYMO, a successor to both DSR and AODV, and (iii MP-OLSR multipath extension to OLSRv2. In contrast to the related previous works which focused only on CBR traffic without considering the influence of specific traffic types on the performance of routing protocols, this work focused on this area from a different perspective. It evaluates the performance of three internet-based traffic types that can be used in the smart city applications: VoIP, HTTP, and FTP using different simulation models. The impact of the network density, load traffic, and nodes mobility on the considered protocols was evaluated by considering particular performance metrics for each traffic application. Based on the results, the study concludes by presenting useful recommendations for future work.

Evaluation of an app-based stress protocol

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Noeh Claudius

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Stress is a major influence on the quality of life in our fast-moving society. This paper describes a standardized and contemporary protocol that is capable of inducing moderate psychological stress in a laboratory setting. Furthermore, it evaluates its effects on physiological biomarkers. The protocol called “THM-Stresstest” mainly consists of a rest period (30 min, an app-based stress test under the surveillance of an audience (4 min and a regeneration period (32 min. We investigated 12 subjects to evaluate the developed protocol. We could show significant changes in heart rate variability, electromyography, electro dermal activity and salivary cortisol and α-amylase. From this data we conclude that the THM-Stresstest can serve as a psychobiological tool for provoking responses in the cardiovascular-, the endocrine and exocrine system as well as the sympathetic part of the central nervous system.

Asymptotic performance modelling of DCF protocol with prioritized channel access

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Woo-Yong

2017-11-01

Recently, the modification of the DCF (Distributed Coordination Function) protocol by the prioritized channel access was proposed to resolve the problem that the DCF performance worsens exponentially as more nodes exist in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs. In this paper, an asymptotic analytical performance model is presented to analyze the MAC performance of the DCF protocol with the prioritized channel access.

Comparison of Aerobic Performance Testing Protocols in Elite Male Wheelchair Basketball Players

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Molik Bartosz

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In wheelchair sports, aerobic performance is commonly assessed with the use of an arm crank ergometer (ACE, a wheelchair ergometer (WCE or a wheelchair treadmill (WCT. There are different protocols to identify peak oxygen uptake in wheelchair sports; however, only a few protocols have been applied to evaluate these conditions in wheelchair basketball players. The purpose of this study was to compare physiological responses during maximal exercise testing with the use of ACE and WCT in wheelchair basketball players. Twelve elite male wheelchair basketball players participated in this study. The research was performed during a training camp of the Polish National Wheelchair Basketball Team. The study participants were divided into two functional categories: A (players with class 1.0 - 2.5 and B (players with class 3.0 - 4.5. Two main maximal exercise tests, i.e. wheelchair treadmill stress test (WCT test and arm crank ergometer stress test (ACE test were used to evaluate aerobic performance of the players. There were no statistically significant differences in aerobic tests between the players from both groups. The comparison of results achieved in two aerobic tests performed on WCT and ACE did not reveal any significant differences between the analyzed variables (peak heart rate (HRpeak, peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak, minute ventilation (VE, anaerobic threshold (AT, lactate concentration (LApeak, and a drop in lactate concentration (%LA. Strong correlations between results achieved in WCT and ACE tests were found for VO2peak, VE and LApeak. The main conclusion of the study is that both WCT and ACE tests may be useful when determining aerobic capacity of wheelchair basketball players. Moreover, both protocols can be used by athletes regardless of their functional capabilities and types of impairment.

Performance Analysis of a Cluster-Based MAC Protocol for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

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Jesús Alonso-Zárate

2010-01-01

Full Text Available An analytical model to evaluate the non-saturated performance of the Distributed Queuing Medium Access Control Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks (DQMANs in single-hop networks is presented in this paper. DQMAN is comprised of a spontaneous, temporary, and dynamic clustering mechanism integrated with a near-optimum distributed queuing Medium Access Control (MAC protocol. Clustering is executed in a distributed manner using a mechanism inspired by the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF of the IEEE 802.11. Once a station seizes the channel, it becomes the temporary clusterhead of a spontaneous cluster and it coordinates the peer-to-peer communications between the clustermembers. Within each cluster, a near-optimum distributed queuing MAC protocol is executed. The theoretical performance analysis of DQMAN in single-hop networks under non-saturation conditions is presented in this paper. The approach integrates the analysis of the clustering mechanism into the MAC layer model. Up to the knowledge of the authors, this approach is novel in the literature. In addition, the performance of an ad hoc network using DQMAN is compared to that obtained when using the DCF of the IEEE 802.11, as a benchmark reference.

Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conover, David R.; Crawford, Aladsair J.; Viswanathan, Vilayanur V.; Ferreira, Summer; Schoenwald, David

2014-06-01

The Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems (PNNL-22010) was first issued in November 2012 as a first step toward providing a foundational basis for developing an initial standard for the uniform measurement and expression of energy storage system (ESS) performance. Its subsequent use in the field and review by the protocol working group and most importantly the users’ subgroup and the thermal subgroup has led to the fundamental modifications reflected in this update of the 2012 Protocol. As an update of the 2012 Protocol, this document (the June 2014 Protocol) is intended to supersede its predecessor and be used as the basis for measuring and expressing ESS performance. The foreword provides general and specific details about what additions, revisions, and enhancements have been made to the 2012 Protocol and the rationale for them in arriving at the June 2014 Protocol.

Performance Effects of Repetition Specific Gluteal Activation Protocols on Acceleration in Male Rugby Union Players

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Barry Lorna

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Warm-up protocols have the potential to cause an acute enhancement of dynamic sprinting performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of three repetition specific gluteal activation warm-up protocols on acceleration performance in male rugby union players. Forty male academy rugby union players were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups (control, 5, 10 or 15 repetition gluteal activation group and performed 10 m sprints at baseline and 30 s, 2, 4, 6 and 8 min after their specific intervention protocol. Five and ten meter sprint times were the dependent variable and dual-beam timing gates were used to record all sprint times. Repeated measures analysis of variance found no significant improvement in 5 and 10 m sprint times between baseline and post warm-up scores (p ≥ 0.05 for all groups. There were no reported significant differences between groups at any of the rest interval time points (p ≥ 0.05. However, when individual responses to the warm-up protocols were analyzed, the 15 repetition gluteal activation group had faster 10 m times post-intervention and this improvement was significant (p = 0.021. These results would indicate that there is no specific rest interval for any of the gluteal interventions that results in a potentiation effect on acceleration performance. However, the individual response analysis would seem to indicate that a 15 repetition gluteal activation warm-up protocol has a potentiating effect on acceleration performance provided that the rest interval is adequately and individually determined.

Performance Analysis of the IEEE 802.11p Multichannel MAC Protocol in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks.

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Song, Caixia

2017-12-12

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) employ multichannel to provide a variety of safety and non-safety applications, based on the IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 1609.4 protocols. The safety applications require timely and reliable transmissions, while the non-safety applications require efficient and high throughput. In the IEEE 1609.4 protocol, operating interval is divided into alternating Control Channel (CCH) interval and Service Channel (SCH) interval with an identical length. During the CCH interval, nodes transmit safety-related messages and control messages, and Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) mechanism is employed to allow four Access Categories (ACs) within a station with different priorities according to their criticality for the vehicle's safety. During the SCH interval, the non-safety massages are transmitted. An analytical model is proposed in this paper to evaluate performance, reliability and efficiency of the IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 1609.4 protocols. The proposed model improves the existing work by taking serval aspects and the character of multichannel switching into design consideration. Extensive performance evaluations based on analysis and simulation help to validate the accuracy of the proposed model and analyze the capabilities and limitations of the IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 1609.4 protocols, and enhancement suggestions are given.

Dynamic Channel Slot Allocation Scheme and Performance Analysis of Cyclic Quorum Multichannel MAC Protocol

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Xing Hu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In high diversity node situation, multichannel MAC protocol can improve the frequency efficiency, owing to fewer collisions compared with single-channel MAC protocol. And the performance of cyclic quorum-based multichannel (CQM MAC protocol is outstanding. Based on cyclic quorum system and channel slot allocation, it can avoid the bottleneck that others suffered from and can be easily realized with only one transceiver. To obtain the accurate performance of CQM MAC protocol, a Markov chain model, which combines the channel-hopping strategy of CQM protocol and IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF, is proposed. The results of numerical analysis show that the optimal performance of CQM protocol can be obtained in saturation bound situation. And then we obtain the saturation bound of CQM system by bird swarm algorithm. In addition, to improve the performance of CQM protocol in unsaturation situation, a dynamic channel slot allocation of CQM (DCQM protocol is proposed, based on wavelet neural network. Finally, the performance of CQM protocol and DCQM protocol is simulated by Qualnet platform. And the simulation results show that the analytic and simulation results match very well; the DCQM performs better in unsaturation situation.

Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conover, David R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Crawford, Aladsair J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Fuller, Jason C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gup [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Viswanathan, Vilayanur V. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Ferreira, Summer [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Schoenwald, David [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Rosewater, David [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-04-01

The Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems (PNNL-22010) was first issued in November 2012 as a first step toward providing a foundational basis for developing an initial standard for the uniform measurement and expression of energy storage system (ESS) performance. Based on experiences with the application and use of that document, and to include additional ESS applications and associated duty cycles, test procedures and performance metrics, a first revision of the November 2012 Protocol was issued in June 2014 (PNNL 22010 Rev. 1). As an update of the 2014 revision 1 to the Protocol, this document (the March 2016 revision 2 to the Protocol) is intended to supersede the June 2014 revision 1 to the Protocol and provide a more user-friendly yet more robust and comprehensive basis for measuring and expressing ESS performance.

The evaluation of MRI protocols for the quantification of adiposity in the obese

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagami, Hirotaka; Taki, Tomomi; Ueoro, Kouichi

1998-01-01

Obesity is a recognized risk factor for the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The individual risk of the obesity can not be evaluated merely by the body weight or body mass index. The fat distribution is a key to evaluate it. So far, the MRI protocols in the literature tested for the evaluation of the fat distribution were spin-echo and inversion-recovery images. We tested both protocols and couldn't get good images basically due to motion artifacts. Therefore, the field-echo (FE) protocol, a rapid scan protocol, was evaluated. The transverse fat distributions at umbilical level of 8 male obese volunteers were examined with MRI FE protocol and X-ray computed tomography (CT). The excellent images were obtained with FE protocol and correlation with CT images was also satisfactory. The FE protocols for the evaluation of the fat distribution is of use and reasonable tool for the clinical usage. (author)

Clinical Simulation: A Protocol for Evaluation of Mobile Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mather, Carey; Jensen, Sanne; Cummings, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

For mobile technology to be accepted at point of care in healthcare environments there is a need to demonstrate benefits whilst ameliorating the risks and challenges. To provide a standardised approach to evaluation of mobile technology a simulation protocol was developed to provide guidance for its use in healthcare environments. Simulated conditions provide the opportunity to assess intended and unintended consequences and identify potential workarounds when using technology. The protocol can also be used to demonstrate the importance of the development of digital professionalism by end-users prior to students entering the clinical practice setting. The mobile technology protocol was adapted from a health information systems protocol developed and used at the ITX Lab, Denmark for use in other simulation laboratories. Use case scenarios were developed to enable evaluation of mobile technology for mobile learning of nurses, nurse supervisors, students and patients. The scenarios can be used in a range of simulated environments including hospital bedside, outpatient clinic or community settings. A case study exemplar of a nurse and patient is included to demonstrate how the mobile technology protocol can be applied.

Performance Analysis of Secure and Private Billing Protocols for Smart Metering

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Tom Eccles

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Traditional utility metering is to be replaced by smart metering. Smart metering enables fine-grained utility consumption measurements. These fine-grained measurements raise privacy concerns due to the lifestyle information which can be inferred from the precise time at which utilities were consumed. This paper outlines and compares two privacy-respecting time of use billing protocols for smart metering and investigates their performance on a variety of hardware. These protocols protect the privacy of customers by never transmitting the fine-grained utility readings outside of the customer’s home network. One protocol favors complexity on the trusted smart meter hardware while the other uses homomorphic commitments to offload computation to a third device. Both protocols are designed to operate on top of existing cryptographic secure channel protocols in place on smart meters. Proof of concept software implementations of these protocols have been written and their suitability for real world application to low-performance smart meter hardware is discussed. These protocols may also have application to other privacy conscious aggregation systems, such as electronic voting.

Simulation-Based Performance Evaluation of Predictive-Hashing Based Multicast Authentication Protocol

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Seonho Choi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available A predictive-hashing based Denial-of-Service (DoS resistant multicast authentication protocol was proposed based upon predictive-hashing, one-way key chain, erasure codes, and distillation codes techniques [4, 5]. It was claimed that this new scheme should be more resistant to various types of DoS attacks, and its worst-case resource requirements were derived in terms of coarse-level system parameters including CPU times for signature verification and erasure/distillation decoding operations, attack levels, etc. To show the effectiveness of our approach and to analyze exact resource requirements in various attack scenarios with different parameter settings, we designed and implemented an attack simulator which is platformindependent. Various attack scenarios may be created with different attack types and parameters against a receiver equipped with the predictive-hashing based protocol. The design of the simulator is explained, and the simulation results are presented with detailed resource usage statistics. In addition, resistance level to various types of DoS attacks is formulated with a newly defined resistance metric. By comparing these results to those from another approach, PRABS [8], we show that the resistance level of our protocol is greatly enhanced even in the presence of many attack streams.

Automated extraction protocol for quantification of SARS-Coronavirus RNA in serum: an evaluation study

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Lui Wing-bong

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We have previously developed a test for the diagnosis and prognostic assessment of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS based on the detection of the SARS-coronavirus RNA in serum by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of automating the serum RNA extraction procedure in order to increase the throughput of the assay. Methods An automated nucleic acid extraction platform using the MagNA Pure LC instrument (Roche Diagnostics was evaluated. We developed a modified protocol in compliance with the recommended biosafety guidelines from the World Health Organization based on the use of the MagNA Pure total nucleic acid large volume isolation kit for the extraction of SARS-coronavirus RNA. The modified protocol was compared with a column-based extraction kit (QIAamp viral RNA mini kit, Qiagen for quantitative performance, analytical sensitivity and precision. Results The newly developed automated protocol was shown to be free from carry-over contamination and have comparable performance with other standard protocols and kits designed for the MagNA Pure LC instrument. However, the automated method was found to be less sensitive, less precise and led to consistently lower serum SARS-coronavirus concentrations when compared with the column-based extraction method. Conclusion As the diagnostic efficiency and prognostic value of the serum SARS-CoV RNA RT-PCR test is critically associated with the analytical sensitivity and quantitative performance contributed both by the RNA extraction and RT-PCR components of the test, we recommend the use of the column-based manual RNA extraction method.

A customised cold-water immersion protocol favours one-size-fits-all protocols in improving acute performance recovery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandvoort, Coen S.; de Zwart, Jelmer R.; van Keeken, Brenda L.; Viroux, Patrick J.F.; Tiemessen, Ivo J.H.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether a customised cold-water immersion (CWIc) protocol was more effective in enhancing acute performance recovery than a one-size-fits-all CWI (CWIs) or active recovery (AR) protocol. On three separate testing days, 10 healthy, physically

Shoulder muscle endurance: the development of a standardized and reliable protocol

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Roy Jean-Sébastien

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Shoulder muscle fatigue has been proposed as a possible link to explain the association between repetitive arm use and the development of rotator cuff disorders. To our knowledge, no standardized clinical endurance protocol has been developed to evaluate the effects of muscle fatigue on shoulder function. Such a test could improve clinical examination of individuals with shoulder disorders. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish a reliable protocol for objective assessment of shoulder muscle endurance. Methods An endurance protocol was developed on a stationary dynamometer (Biodex System 3. The endurance protocol was performed in isotonic mode with the resistance set at 50% of each subject's peak torque as measured for shoulder external (ER and internal rotation (IR. Each subject performed 60 continuous repetitions of IR/ER rotation. The endurance protocol was performed by 36 healthy individuals on two separate occasions at least two days apart. Maximal isometric shoulder strength tests were performed before and after the fatigue protocol to evaluate the effects of the endurance protocol and its reliability. Paired t-tests were used to evaluate the reduction in shoulder strength due to the protocol, while intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC and minimal detectable change (MDC were used to evaluate its reliability. Results Maximal isometric strength was significantly decreased after the endurance protocol (P 0.84. Conclusions Changes in muscular performance observed during and after the muscular endurance protocol suggests that the protocol did result in muscular fatigue. Furthermore, this study established that the resultant effects of fatigue of the proposed isotonic protocol were reproducible over time. The protocol was performed without difficulty by all volunteers and took less than 10 minutes to perform, suggesting that it might be feasible for clinical practice. This protocol could be used to induce

Performance analysis of simultaneous dense coding protocol under decoherence

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhiming; Zhang, Cai; Situ, Haozhen

2017-09-01

The simultaneous dense coding (SDC) protocol is useful in designing quantum protocols. We analyze the performance of the SDC protocol under the influence of noisy quantum channels. Six kinds of paradigmatic Markovian noise along with one kind of non-Markovian noise are considered. The joint success probability of both receivers and the success probabilities of one receiver are calculated for three different locking operators. Some interesting properties have been found, such as invariance and symmetry. Among the three locking operators we consider, the SWAP gate is most resistant to noise and results in the same success probabilities for both receivers.

Evaluation of Dogs with Border Collie Collapse, Including Response to Two Standardized Strenuous Exercise Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Susan; Shmon, Cindy; Su, Lillian; Epp, Tasha; Minor, Katie; Mickelson, James; Patterson, Edward; Shelton, G Diane

2016-01-01

Clinical and metabolic variables were evaluated in 13 dogs with border collie collapse (BCC) before, during, and following completion of standardized strenuous exercise protocols. Six dogs participated in a ball-retrieving protocol, and seven dogs participated in a sheep-herding protocol. Findings were compared with 16 normal border collies participating in the same exercise protocols (11 retrieving, five herding). Twelve dogs with BCC developed abnormal mentation and/or an abnormal gait during evaluation. All dogs had post-exercise elevations in rectal temperature, pulse rate, arterial blood pH, PaO2, and lactate, and decreased PaCO2 and bicarbonate, as expected with strenuous exercise, but there were no significant differences between BCC dogs and normal dogs. Electrocardiography demonstrated sinus tachycardia in all dogs following exercise. Needle electromyography was normal, and evaluation of muscle biopsy cryosections using a standard panel of histochemical stains and reactions did not reveal a reason for collapse in 10 dogs with BCC in which these tests were performed. Genetic testing excluded the dynamin-1 related exercise-induced collapse mutation and the V547A malignant hyperthermia mutation as the cause of BCC. Common reasons for exercise intolerance were eliminated. Although a genetic basis is suspected, the cause of collapse in BCC was not determined.

Evaluation of Protocol Uniformity Concerning Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in The Netherlands

Science.gov (United States)

Goossens, Richard H. M.; van Eijk, Daan J.; Lange, Johan F.

2008-01-01

Background Iatrogenic bile duct injury remains a current complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. One uniform and standardized protocol, based on the “critical view of safety” concept of Strasberg, should reduce the incidence of this complication. Furthermore, owing to the rapid development of minimally invasive surgery, technicians are becoming more frequently involved. To improve communication between the operating team and technicians, standardized actions should also be defined. The aim of this study was to compare existing protocols for laparoscopic cholecystectomy from various Dutch hospitals. Methods Fifteen Dutch hospitals were contacted for evaluation of their protocols for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All evaluated protocols were divided into six steps and were compared accordingly. Results In total, 13 hospitals responded—5 academic hospitals, 5 teaching hospitals, 3 community hospitals—of which 10 protocols were usable for comparison. Concerning the trocar positions, only minor differences were found. The concept of “critical view of safety” was represented in just one protocol. Furthermore, the order of clipping and cutting the cystic artery and duct differed. Descriptions of instruments and apparatus were also inconsistent. Conclusions Present protocols differ too much to define a universal procedure among surgeons in The Netherlands. The authors propose one (inter)national standardized protocol, including standardized actions. This uniform standardized protocol has to be officially released and recommended by national scientific associations (e.g., the Dutch Society of Surgery) or international societies (e.g., European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons). The aim is to improve patient safety and professional communication, which are necessary for new developments. PMID:18224485

An Accurate Link Correlation Estimator for Improving Wireless Protocol Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhiwei; Xu, Xianghua; Dong, Wei; Bu, Jiajun

2015-01-01

Wireless link correlation has shown significant impact on the performance of various sensor network protocols. Many works have been devoted to exploiting link correlation for protocol improvements. However, the effectiveness of these designs heavily relies on the accuracy of link correlation measurement. In this paper, we investigate state-of-the-art link correlation measurement and analyze the limitations of existing works. We then propose a novel lightweight and accurate link correlation estimation (LACE) approach based on the reasoning of link correlation formation. LACE combines both long-term and short-term link behaviors for link correlation estimation. We implement LACE as a stand-alone interface in TinyOS and incorporate it into both routing and flooding protocols. Simulation and testbed results show that LACE: (1) achieves more accurate and lightweight link correlation measurements than the state-of-the-art work; and (2) greatly improves the performance of protocols exploiting link correlation. PMID:25686314

Statistical performance evaluation of ECG transmission using wireless networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakhatreh, Walid; Gharaibeh, Khaled; Al-Zaben, Awad

2013-07-01

This paper presents simulation of the transmission of biomedical signals (using ECG signal as an example) over wireless networks. Investigation of the effect of channel impairments including SNR, pathloss exponent, path delay and network impairments such as packet loss probability; on the diagnosability of the received ECG signal are presented. The ECG signal is transmitted through a wireless network system composed of two communication protocols; an 802.15.4- ZigBee protocol and an 802.11b protocol. The performance of the transmission is evaluated using higher order statistics parameters such as kurtosis and Negative Entropy in addition to the common techniques such as the PRD, RMS and Cross Correlation.

Unmanned Aerial ad Hoc Networks: Simulation-Based Evaluation of Entity Mobility Models’ Impact on Routing Performance

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Jean-Daniel Medjo Me Biomo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available An unmanned aerial ad hoc network (UAANET is a special type of mobile ad hoc network (MANET. For these networks, researchers rely mostly on simulations to evaluate their proposed networking protocols. Hence, it is of great importance that the simulation environment of a UAANET replicates as much as possible the reality of UAVs. One major component of that environment is the movement pattern of the UAVs. This means that the mobility model used in simulations has to be thoroughly understood in terms of its impact on the performance of the network. In this paper, we investigate how mobility models affect the performance of UAANET in simulations in order to come up with conclusions/recommendations that provide a benchmark for future UAANET simulations. To that end, we first propose a few metrics to evaluate the mobility models. Then, we present five random entity mobility models that allow nodes to move almost freely and independently from one another and evaluate four carefully-chosen MANET/UAANET routing protocols: ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV, optimized link state routing (OLSR, reactive-geographic hybrid routing (RGR and geographic routing protocol (GRP. In addition, flooding is also evaluated. The results show a wide variation of the protocol performance over different mobility models. These performance differences can be explained by the mobility model characteristics, and we discuss these effects. The results of our analysis show that: (i the enhanced Gauss–Markov (EGM mobility model is best suited for UAANET; (ii OLSR, a table-driven proactive routing protocol, and GRP, a position-based geographic protocol, are the protocols most sensitive to the change of mobility models; (iii RGR, a reactive-geographic hybrid routing protocol, is best suited for UAANET.

An Evaluation of Protocols for UAV Science Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, William D.; Stewart, David E.; Sullivan, Donald V.; Finch, Patrick E.

2012-01-01

This paper identifies data transport needs for current and future science payloads deployed on the NASA Global Hawk Unmanned Aeronautical Vehicle (UAV). The NASA Global Hawk communication system and operational constrains are presented. The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) mission is used to provide the baseline communication requirements as a variety of payloads were utilized in this mission. User needs and desires are addressed. Protocols are matched to the payload needs and an evaluation of various techniques and tradeoffs are presented. Such techniques include utilization rate-base selective negative acknowledgement protocols and possible use of protocol enhancing proxies. Tradeoffs of communication architectures that address ease-of-use and security considerations are also presented.

Performance evaluation of a high-speed switched network for PACS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Randy H.; Tao, Wenchao; Huang, Lu J.; Valentino, Daniel J.

1998-07-01

We have replaced our shared-media Ethernet and FDDI network with a multi-tiered, switched network using OC-12 (622 Mbps) ATM for the network backbone, OC3 (155 Mbps) connections to high-end servers and display workstations, and switched 100/10 Mbps Ethernet for workstations and desktop computers. The purpose of this research was to help PACS designers and implementers understand key performance factors in a high- speed switched network by characterizing and evaluating its image delivery performance, specifically, the performance of socket-based TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and DICOM 3.0 communications. A test network within the UCLA Clinical RIS/PACS was constructed using Sun UltraSPARC-II machines with ATM, Fast Ethernet, and Ethernet network interfaces. To identify performance bottlenecks, we evaluated network throughput for memory to memory, memory to disk, disk to memory, and disk to disk transfers. To evaluate the effect of file size, tests involving disks were further divided using sizes of small (514 KB), medium (8 MB), and large (16 MB) files. The observed maximum throughput for various network configurations using the TCP protocol was 117 Mbps for memory to memory and 88 MBPS for memory to disk. For disk to memory, the peak throughput was 98 Mbps using small files, 114 Mbps using medium files, and 116 Mbps using large files. The peak throughput for disk to disk became 64 Mbps using small files and 96 Mbps using medium and large files. The peak throughput using the DICOM 3.0 protocol was substantially lower in all categories. The measured throughput varied significantly among the tests when TCP socket buffer was raised above the default value. The optimal buffer size was approximately 16 KB or the TCP protocol and around 256 KB for the DICOM protocol. The application message size also displayed distinctive effects on network throughput when the TCP socket buffer size was varied. The throughput results for Fast Ethernet and Ethernet were expectedly

Energy Efficiency in Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs): Protocol Design and Performance Evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yan, Ying; Dittmann, Lars

2011-01-01

a suitable wakeup time scheduler at the Optical Line Terminal (OLT). A generic EPON system is considered, which is composed of an OLT and several ONUs that are EMM enabled. An energy consumption optimization problem aimed at saving energy is proposed and two heuristic sleep mode scheduling policies......As concerns about energy consumption grow, the power consumption of the EPON becomes a matter of increasing importance. In respect of energy efficiency, the current standard has no management protocols aiming to reduce power consumption in EPONs. In this paper, we propose an Energy Management...... and guaranteeing the network performance at the same time. Simulation results show that an EMM-based EPON with well designed scheduling disciplines is essential to achieving significant energy saving while meeting the delay constraint....

Assessing older drivers: a primary care protocol to evaluate driving safety risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Murden, Robert A; Unroe, Kathleen

2005-08-01

Most articles on elder drivers offer either general advice, or review testing protocols that divide drivers into two distinct groups: safe or unsafe. We believe it is unreasonable to expect any testing to fully separate drivers into just these two mutually exclusive groups, so we offer a protocol for a more practical approach. This protocol can be applied by primary care physicians. We review the justification for the many steps of this protocol, which have branches that lead to identifying drivers as low risk, high risk (for accidents) or needing further evaluation. Options for further evaluation are provided.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DISTINCT SECURED AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOLS USED IN THE RESOURCE CONSTRAINED PLATFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Prasanna

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Most of the e-commerce and m-commerce applications in the current e-business world, has adopted asymmetric key cryptography technique in their authentication protocol to provide an efficient authentication of the involved parties. This paper exhibits the performance analysis of distinct authentication protocol which implements the public key cryptography like RSA, ECC and HECC. The comparison is made based on key generation, sign generation and sign verification processes. The results prove that the performance achieved through HECC based authentication protocol is better than the ECC- and RSA based authentication protocols.

Performance evaluation of Siemens E.Cam® Spect System at Korle ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Performance evaluation of Siemens E.Cam® Spect System at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Ghana. ... The tests were performed according to National Electrical Manufac-turers Association protocols, and different measuring instruments and phantoms containing 99m-Tc were used. Extrinsic uniformity, System energy ...

Development of a research evaluation protocol for NSD research portfolios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gould, J.

1999-01-01

This report is concerned with developing and describing a research evaluation protocol for use by the Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD), in evaluating their various programmes of research; or aspects of those programmes. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been involved with research evaluation for some considerable time and NSD, as part of HSE, wishes to develop a protocol which, while it meets their needs, is also fully compatible with other HSE approaches. It is intended that the methodology developed by this project will be used for evaluation of the Probabilistic Safety Assessment Portfolio (as a separate project). The usefulness of the methodology will be reviewed in the light of this experience

Computational Methodologies for Developing Structure–Morphology–Performance Relationships in Organic Solar Cells: A Protocol Review

KAUST Repository

Do, Khanh

2016-09-08

We outline a step-by-step protocol that incorporates a number of theoretical and computational methodologies to evaluate the structural and electronic properties of pi-conjugated semiconducting materials in the condensed phase. Our focus is on methodologies appropriate for the characterization, at the molecular level, of the morphology in blend systems consisting of an electron donor and electron acceptor, of importance for understanding the performance properties of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. The protocol is formulated as an introductory manual for investigators who aim to study the bulk-heterojunction morphology in molecular details, thereby facilitating the development of structure morphology property relationships when used in tandem with experimental results.

Evaluation of protocolized angiography in performing the interventional procedure for hepatocellular carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Jianqiang; Shi Haibin; Liu Sheng; Yang Zhengqiang; Zhou Chungao; Zhou Weizhong

2010-01-01

Objective: To assess the clinical value of protocolized angiography,including the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), the celiac artery and the common hepatic artery angiography, in detecting the atypical tumor feeding arteries of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) procedure. Methods: The clinical data of all patients who received the initial TACE for HCC during the period of January 2005-December 2009 were collected and were retrospectively analyzed. Both the angiograms and procedure reports were reviewed. According to the angiography protocols used in interventional procedure the patients were divided into two groups. Group A included 526 patients who received the protocolized angiography, including the SMA, the celiac artery and the common hepatic artery, while Group B composed of 850 patients who underwent the routine angiography of the common hepatic artery. For all patients in both groups the atypical tumor feeding arteries were searched for when the tumor staining was incomplete. The anatomic variations of tumor feeding arteries were classified and were statistically analyzed. Results: The detection rate of tumor supply from the branches of SMA, left gastric artery, phrenic artery and celiac artery was 14.1%, 6.7%, 4.6% and 0.5% respectively in group A, while it was 8.9%, 3.3%, 2.6% and 0% respectively in group B. Significant difference in all above four detection rates existed between two groups (P 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with the conventional common hepatic arteriography during TACE, the diagnostic protocolized angiography, including the SMA, the celiac artery and the common hepatic artery, can markedly improve the detection rates of atypical tumor feeders of HCC, such as the accessory hepatic artery, which means that the tumor will be occluded more completely and be controlled more promptly. (authors)

On the Performance of the Cache Coding Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behnaz Maboudi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Network coding approaches typically consider an unrestricted recoding of coded packets in the relay nodes to increase performance. However, this can expose the system to pollution attacks that cannot be detected during transmission, until the receivers attempt to recover the data. To prevent these attacks while allowing for the benefits of coding in mesh networks, the cache coding protocol was proposed. This protocol only allows recoding at the relays when the relay has received enough coded packets to decode an entire generation of packets. At that point, the relay node recodes and signs the recoded packets with its own private key, allowing the system to detect and minimize the effect of pollution attacks and making the relays accountable for changes on the data. This paper analyzes the delay performance of cache coding to understand the security-performance trade-off of this scheme. We introduce an analytical model for the case of two relays in an erasure channel relying on an absorbing Markov chain and an approximate model to estimate the performance in terms of the number of transmissions before successfully decoding at the receiver. We confirm our analysis using simulation results. We show that cache coding can overcome the security issues of unrestricted recoding with only a moderate decrease in system performance.

Development of a comprehensive performance-testing protocol for competitive surfers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheppard, Jeremy M; Nimphius, Sophia; Haff, Greg G; Tran, Tai T; Spiteri, Tania; Brooks, Hedda; Slater, Gary; Newton, Robert U

2013-09-01

Appropriate and valid testing protocols for evaluating the physical performances of surfing athletes are not well refined. The purpose of this project was to develop, refine, and evaluate a testing protocol for use with elite surfers, including measures of anthropometry, strength and power, and endurance. After pilot testing and consultation with athletes, coaches, and sport scientists, a specific suite of tests was developed. Forty-four competitive junior surfers (16.2 ± 1.3 y, 166.3 ± 7.3 cm, 57.9 ± 8.5 kg) participated in this study involving a within-day repeated-measures analysis, using an elite junior group of 22 international competitors (EJG), to establish reliability of the measures. To reflect validity of the testing measures, a comparison of performance results was then undertaken between the EJG and an age-matched competitive junior group of 22 nationally competitive surfers (CJG). Percent typical error of measurement (%TEM) for primary variables gained from the assessments ranged from 1.1% to 3.0%, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from .96 to .99. One-way analysis of variance revealed that the EJG had lower skinfolds (P = .005, d = 0.9) than the CJG, despite no difference in stature (P = .102) or body mass (P = .827). The EJG were faster in 15-m sprint-paddle velocity (P < .001, d = 1.3) and had higher lower-body isometric peak force (P = .04, d = 0.7) and superior endurance-paddling velocity (P = .008, d = 0.9). The relatively low %TEM of these tests in this population allows for high sensitivity to detect change. The results of this study suggest that competitively superior junior surfers are leaner and possess superior strength, paddling power, and paddling endurance.

Quality assessment in in vivo NMR spectroscopy: V. Multicentre evaluation of prototype test objects and protocols for performance assessment in small bore MRS equipment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Howe, F.A.; Canese, R; Podo, F

1995-01-01

This paper reports the results of multicentre studies aimed at designing, constructing, and evaluating prototype test objects for performance assessment in small-bore MRS systems, by utilizing the test protocols already proposed by the EEC COMAC-BME Concerted Action for clinical MRS equipment...... using ISIS as volume localization sequence in 31P MRS. The results suggested the interest of adopting some of these prototypes for improving the comparison of spectroscopy data obtained from different sites, for providing useful means of quality assurance in experimental MRS, and facilitating....... Three classes of test objects were considered: (1) a multicompartment test object for 31P MRS measurements performed with slice-selective sequences; (2) a two-compartment test object for volume-selection 1H MRS; and (3) two-compartment test objects for assessing the performance of experimental systems...

Evaluation of VoIP QoS Performance in Wireless Mesh Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Tariq Meeran

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The main focus of this research article is the evaluation of selected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP solutions in wireless mesh network (WMN scenarios. While WMNs have self-healing, self-forming, and dynamic topology features, they still pose challenges for the implementation of multimedia applications such as voice in various scenarios. Therefore, various solutions to make WMN more suitable for VoIP application have been proposed in the scientific literature. In this work, we have extensively explored a set of applicable scenarios by conducting experiments by means of a network simulator. The following scenarios were selected as the most representatives for performance evaluation: first responders, flooded village, remote village, and platoon deployment. Each selected scenario has been studied under six sub-scenarios corresponding to various combinations of the IEEE 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11s, and 802.11e standards; the G.711 and G.729 codecs; and the ad hoc on demand distance vector (AODV and hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP routing protocols. The results in terms of quality of service (measured with the mean opinion score rating scale, supported by the analysis of delay, jitter and packet loss, show that 802.11g integration with both VoIP codecs and AODV routing protocol results in better VoIP performance as compared to most other scenarios. In case of 802.11g integration with 802.11s, VoIP performance decreases as compared to the other sub-scenarios without 802.11s. The results also show that 802.11n integration with 802.11e decreases VoIP performance in larger deployments. We conclude the paper with some recommendations in terms of combinations of those standards and protocols with a view to achieve a higher quality of service for the given scenarios.

Whole Building Cost and Performance Measurement: Data Collection Protocol Revision 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, Kimberly M.; Spees, Kathleen L.; Kora, Angela R.; Rauch, Emily M.; Hathaway, John E.; Solana, Amy E.

2009-03-27

This protocol was written for the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to be used by the public as a tool for assessing building cost and performance measurement. The primary audiences are sustainable design professionals, asset owners, building managers, and research professionals within the Federal sector. The protocol was developed based on the need for measured performance and cost data on sustainable design projects. Historically there has not been a significant driver in the public or private sector to quantify whole building performance in comparable terms. The deployment of sustainable design into the building sector has initiated many questions on the performance and operational cost of these buildings.

Dosimetric evaluation of cone beam computed tomography scanning protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, Maria Rosangela

2015-01-01

It was evaluated the cone beam computed tomography, CBCT scanning protocols, that was introduced in dental radiology at the end of the 1990's, and quickly became a fundamental examination for various procedures. Its main characteristic, the difference of medical CT is the beam shape. This study aimed to calculate the absorbed dose in eight tissues / organs of the head and neck, and to estimate the effective dose in 13 protocols and two techniques (stitched FOV e single FOV) of 5 equipment of different manufacturers of cone beam CT. For that purpose, a female anthropomorphic phantom was used, representing a default woman, in which were inserted thermoluminescent dosimeters at several points, representing organs / tissues with weighting values presented in the standard ICRP 103. The results were evaluated by comparing the dose according to the purpose of the tomographic image. Among the results, there is a difference up to 325% in the effective dose in relation to protocols with the same image goal. In relation to the image acquisition technique, the stitched FOV technique resulted in an effective dose of 5.3 times greater than the single FOV technique for protocols with the same image goal. In the individual contribution, the salivary glands are responsible for 31% of the effective dose in CT exams. The remaining tissues have also a significant contribution, 36%. The results drew attention to the need of estimating the effective dose in different equipment and protocols of the market, besides the knowledge of the radiation parameters and equipment manufacturing engineering to obtain the image. (author)

Evaluation of an adult insulin infusion protocol at an academic medical center.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrov, Katerina I; Burns, Tammy L; Drincic, Andjela

2012-05-01

Acknowledging evidence of possible detrimental effects of tightly controlled blood glucose levels, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Diabetes Association published a consensus statement recommending less strict control for most diabetic patients. As a result of these recommendations, our academic center at Creighton University Medical Center revised its adult insulin infusion protocol to target blood glucose levels ranging from 120 to 180 mg/dL for regular (standard) glycemic control and 80 to 120 mg/dL for tight control; previous targets had ranged from 80 to 180 mg/dL and 70 to 110 mg/dL, respectively. The primary objective was to evaluate the time that blood glucose values were within the target range for patients receiving the new protocol, compared with patients receiving the previous protocol. Our study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the revised protocol. Using a retrospective chart review, we collected data for 4 months from patients on the old insulin protocol (May to August 2009) and for 4 months from patients on the new protocol (September to December 2009). Secondary endpoints included the number of hypoglycemic episodes (blood glucose below 70 mg/dL) and severe hypoglycemic episodes (blood glucose 40 mg/dL or lower) experienced by patients receiving the new insulin protocol compared with those receiving the former protocol. Patient characteristics were similar at baseline. Blood glucose values stayed within the target range for a significantly shorter time with the new protocol than with the former protocol (44.6% vs. 56.8%, respectively; P protocol. No statistically significant differences in hypoglycemia were observed after the protocol was changed. Hypoglycemia occurred in 31% of the former-protocol patients compared with 18% of the revised-protocol patients. Severe hypoglycemia was experienced by 2.1% of patients on the old protocol and by 3.1% of patients on the new protocol. Rates of

A high performance totally ordered multicast protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Todd; Whetten, Brian; Kaplan, Simon

1995-01-01

This paper presents the Reliable Multicast Protocol (RMP). RMP provides a totally ordered, reliable, atomic multicast service on top of an unreliable multicast datagram service such as IP Multicasting. RMP is fully and symmetrically distributed so that no site bears un undue portion of the communication load. RMP provides a wide range of guarantees, from unreliable delivery to totally ordered delivery, to K-resilient, majority resilient, and totally resilient atomic delivery. These QoS guarantees are selectable on a per packet basis. RMP provides many communication options, including virtual synchrony, a publisher/subscriber model of message delivery, an implicit naming service, mutually exclusive handlers for messages, and mutually exclusive locks. It has commonly been held that a large performance penalty must be paid in order to implement total ordering -- RMP discounts this. On SparcStation 10's on a 1250 KB/sec Ethernet, RMP provides totally ordered packet delivery to one destination at 842 KB/sec throughput and with 3.1 ms packet latency. The performance stays roughly constant independent of the number of destinations. For two or more destinations on a LAN, RMP provides higher throughput than any protocol that does not use multicast or broadcast.

Electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, and indirect blood pressure evaluation in dogs subjected to different sedation protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Mondardo Cardoso

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of different sedation protocols on blood pressure and echocardiographic and electrocardiographic parameters in dogs. In total, 24 male mixed-breed dogs with a mean weight of 9.87±3.0kg were used.Animals were randomly divided into four groups (n=6, which were subjected to sedation using the following protocols: acepromazine (0.05mgkg-1 and butorphanol (0.3mgkg-1 (AB; acepromazine (0.05mgkg-1and methadone (0.5mgkg-1 (AM; acepromazine (0.03mgkg-1, methadone (0.5mgkg-1, and midazolam (0.3mgkg-1(MAM; and methadone only (0.5mgkg-1 (M. Indirect blood pressure (BP measurements and computerized electrocardiography (ECG and echocardiography (ECO were performed immediately before the application of the sedation protocol (baseline, and the same evaluations were repeated after 15 minutes. BP decreased in groups AB, MAM, and AM compared to baseline values. Electrocardiographic measurements showed decreased heart rates (HRs after sedation in all groups, and bradycardia was observed after sedation in two dogs from group M and one animal from group AM. The P-wave duration increased after sedation in groups AM and M. After sedation, no changes in cardiac dimensions were revealed byECO.Fractional shortening (FS decreased after sedation in the AM group, and dogs from group AB exhibited a smaller decrease in FS compared with the other groups. The cardiac index (CI was lower in groups AM and M than in the other groups. Animals from group AB were less resistant to examination and exhibited the most favorable sedation scores. It was concluded that the combination of acepromazine and butorphanol was the best sedation protocol for performing echocardiogram measurementsbecause dogs were less resistant to examinations and echocardiographic parameters of FS and CI remained stable.

Measurement protocols for performance testing of dosimetry services for external radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

In the Health and Safety Executive's ''Requirements for the Approval of Dosimetry Services under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985'', it is stipulated that dosimetry services seeking approval must show that they have successfully completed a performance test. The services must arrange for the tests to be carried out on application and thereafter every 18 months, by a laboratory which has received accreditation from the National Measurement Accreditation Service (NAMAS) for the whole performance testing activity. The performance tests must be carried out to published protocols and the purpose here is to provide protocols for external, whole body film and TLD dosimetry services, and for skin and extremity dosimetry services. (Author)

Evaluation of Interoperability Protocols in Repositories of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Science.gov (United States)

Hakimjavadi, Hesamedin; Masrek, Mohamad Noorman

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the status of eight interoperability protocols within repositories of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) as an introduction to further studies on feasibility of deploying these protocols in upcoming areas of interoperability. Design/methodology/approach: Three surveys of 266 ETD…

Enhanced just-in-time plus protocol for optical burst switching networks

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Joel J. P. C.; Gregório, José M. B.; Vasilakos, Athanasios V.

2010-07-01

We propose a new one-way resource reservation protocol for optical burst switching (OBS) networks, called Enhanced Just-in-Time Plus (E-JIT+). The protocol is described in detail, and its formal specification is presented, following an extended finite state machine approach. The performance evaluation of E-JIT+ is analyzed in comparison with other proposed OBS protocols (JIT+ and E-JIT) for the following network topologies: rings; degree-two, degree-three, and degree-four chordal rings; mesh-torus; NSFNET; ARPANET; FCCN-NET; and the European Optical Network. We evaluate and compare the performance of the different protocols in terms of burst loss probability, taking into account the most important OBS network parameters. It was shown that E-JIT+ performs better than available one-way resource reservation protocols for all the evaluated network topologies. Moreover, the scalability of E-JIT+ was observed, and when the network traffic increases, the burst loss probability also increases, leading to a worse network performance.

Evaluation of svr: a wireless sensor network routing protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baloch, J.; Khanzada, T.J.S.

2014-01-01

The advancement in technology has made it possible to create small in size, low cost sensor nodes. However, the small size and low cost of such nodes comesat at price that is, reduced processing power, low memory and significantly small battery energy storage. WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks) are inherently ad hoc in nature and are assumed to work in the toughest terrain. The network lifetime plays a pivotal role in a wireless sensor network. A long network lifetime, could be achieved by either making significant changes in these low cost devices, which is not a feasible solution or by improving the means of communication throughout the network. The communication in such networks could be improved by employing energy efficient routing protocols, to route the data throughout the network. In this paper the SVR (Spatial Vector Routing) protocol is compared against the most common WSN routing protocols, and from the results it could be inferred that the SVR protocol out performs its counterparts. The protocol provides an energy efficient means of communication in the network. (author)

Performance of Differential-Phase-Shift Keying Protocol Applying 1310 nm Up-Conversion Single-Photon Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen-Xu, Feng; Rong-Zhen, Jiao; Wen-Han, Zhang

2008-01-01

The performance of the differential-phase-shift keying (DPSK) protocol applying a 1310 nm up-conversion single-photon detector is analysed. The error rate and the communication rate as a function of distance for three quantum key distribution protocols, the Bennett–Brassard 1984, the Bennett–Brassard–Mermin 1992, and the DPSK, are presented. Then we compare the performance of these three protocols using the 1310nm up-conversion detector. We draw the conclusion that the DPSK protocol applying the detector has significant advantage over the other two protocols. Longer transmission distance and lower error rate can be achieved. (general)

Performance Analysis of an Enhanced PRMA-HS Protocol for LEO Satellite Communication

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHUO Yong-ning; YAN Shao-hu; WU Shi-qi

2005-01-01

The packet reservation multiple access with hindering state (PRMA-HS) is a protocol suitable for LEO satellite mobile communication. Although working well with light system payload (amount of user terminals), the protocol imposes high channel congestion on system with heavy payload, thus degrades the system's quality of service. To controlling the channel congestion, a scheme of enhanced PRMA-HS protocol is proposed, which aims to reduce the collision of voice packets by adopting a mechanism of access control. Through theoretic analysis, the system's mathematic model is presented and the packet drop probability of the scheme is deduced. To testify the performance of the scheme, a simulation is performed and the results support our analysis.

Performance evaluation of working standard NE2581 in comparison with reference standard NE2561 in the determination of absorbed dose to water using IAEA, HPA, NACP, AAPM, NCRP and ICRU protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolah, M.T.; Supian Samat; Taiman Kadni

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of NE 2581 in comparison with NE 2561 in the determination of the absorbed dose to water in a γ-ray beam using IAEA, HPA, NACP, AAPM, NCRP and ICRU protocols. 13 exposures of the γ-ray beams were used. This number of exposures yielded 26 chamber rate readings for NE 2581 (N=13) and for NE 2561 (N=13). From the 13 NE 2581 readings, 78 absorbed dose to water values were calculated for the IAEA (N=13), HPA (N=13), NACP (N=13), AAPM (N=13), NCRP (N=13) and ICRU (N=13) protocols. Similarly, from the 13 NE 2561 readings, 78 absorbed dose to water values were calculated for IAEA (N=13), HPA (N=13), NACP (N=13), AAPM (N=13), NCRP (N=13) and ICRU (N=13) protocols. From these 156 (=78 x 2) absorbed dose to water values, 78 percentage deviations between the NE 2581 and NE 2561 results were calculated for IAEA (N=13), HPA (N=13), NACP (N=13), AAPM (N=13), NCRP (N=13) and ICRU (N=13) protocols. For a single protocol, the mean μ and standard error σ+s+e of the percentage deviations (N=13) were calculated. results obtained in terms of [protocol, μ ± σ se ] were [IAEA,1.55 ± 0.12], [HPA, 0.98 ± 0.12], [NACP, 1.93 ± 0.12], [AAPM, -0.06 ± 0.12], [NCRP, 0.97 ± 0.12], [ICRU, 0.97 ± 0.12]. It can be seen that the range of percentage deviations is from -0.06 to 1.93. As the quoted IAEA acceptable limit of deviation is ± 3.0%, it was concluded that the working standard NE 2581 chamber has shown acceptable performance. In addition, the use of the AAPM protocol has enable NE 2581 to show a performance that is very similar like NE 2561. (Author)

Protocol for the process evaluation of interventions combining performance-based financing with health equity in Burkina Faso.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridde, Valéry; Turcotte-Tremblay, Anne-Marie; Souares, Aurélia; Lohmann, Julia; Zombré, David; Koulidiati, Jean Louis; Yaogo, Maurice; Hien, Hervé; Hunt, Matthew; Zongo, Sylvie; De Allegri, Manuela

2014-10-12

The low quality of healthcare and the presence of user fees in Burkina Faso contribute to low utilization of healthcare and elevated levels of mortality. To improve access to high-quality healthcare and equity, national authorities are testing different intervention arms that combine performance-based financing with community-based health insurance and pro-poor targeting. There is a need to evaluate the implementation of these unique approaches. We developed a research protocol to analyze the conditions that led to the emergence of these intervention arms, the fidelity between the activities initially planned and those conducted, the implementation and adaptation processes, the sustainability of the interventions, the possibilities for scaling them up, and their ethical implications. The study adopts a longitudinal multiple case study design with several embedded levels of analyses. To represent the diversity of contexts where the intervention arms are carried out, we will select three districts. Within districts, we will select both primary healthcare centers (n =18) representing different intervention arms and the district or regional hospital (n =3). We will select contrasted cases in relation to their initial performance (good, fair, poor). Over a period of 18 months, we will use quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical tools to study these cases including in-depth interviews, participatory observation, research diaries, and questionnaires. We will give more weight to qualitative methods compared to quantitative methods. Performance-based financing is expanding rapidly across low- and middle-income countries. The results of this study will enable researchers and decision makers to gain a better understanding of the factors that can influence the implementation and the sustainability of complex interventions aiming to increase healthcare quality as well as equity.

Design and Simulation of a High Performance Emergency Data Delivery Protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swartz, Kevin; Wang, Di

2007-01-01

The purpose of this project was to design a high performance data delivery protocol, capable of delivering data as quickly as possible to a base station or target node. This protocol was designed particularly for wireless network topologies, but could also be applied towards a wired system....... An emergency is defined as any event with high priority that needs to be handled immediately. It is assumed that this emergency event is important enough that energy efficiency is not a factor in our protocol. The desired effect is for fast as possible delivery to the base station for rapid event handling....

Evaluation protocol for amusia: Portuguese sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Peixoto, Maria Conceição; Martins, Jorge; Teixeira, Pedro; Alves, Marisa; Bastos, José; Ribeiro, Carlos

2012-12-01

Amusia is a disorder that affects the processing of music. Part of this processing happens in the primary auditory cortex. The study of this condition allows us to evaluate the central auditory pathways. To explore the diagnostic evaluation tests of amusia. The authors propose an evaluation protocol for patients with suspected amusia (after brain injury or complaints of poor musical perception), in parallel with the assessment of central auditory processing, already implemented in the department. The Montreal Evaluation of Battery of amusia was the basis for the selection of the tests. From this comprehensive battery of tests we selected some of the musical examples to evaluate different musical aspects, including memory and perception of music, ability concerning musical recognition and discrimination. In terms of memory there is a test for assessing delayed memory, adapted to the Portuguese culture. Prospective study. Although still experimental, with the possibility of adjustments in the assessment, we believe that this assessment, combined with the study of central auditory processing, will allow us to understand some central lesions, congenital or acquired hearing perception limitations.

Efficacy of pre-exercise low-level laser therapy on isokinetic muscle performance in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Cid André Fidelis de Paula; Leal-Junior, Ernesto Cesar Pinto; Biasotto-Gonzalez, Daniela Aparecida; El-Hage, Yasmin; Politti, Fabiano; Gonzalez, Tabajara de Oliveira; Dibai-Filho, Almir Vieira; de Oliveira, Adriano Rodrigues; Frigero, Marcelo; Antonialli, Fernanda Colella; Vanin, Adriane Aver; de Tarso Camillo de Carvalho, Paulo

2014-04-09

Type 2 diabetes, also known non-insulin-dependent diabetes, is the most prevalent type of the disease and involves defects in the secretion and action of insulin. The aim of the proposed study is to evaluate the efficacy of pre-exercise low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on muscle performance of the quadriceps femoris in individuals with type 2 diabetes. A double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial will be carried out in two treatment phases. In the first phase, quadriceps muscle performance will be evaluated using an isokinetic dynamometer and the levels of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase (biochemical markers of muscle damage) will be determined. The participants will then be allocated to four LLLT groups through a randomization process using opaque envelopes: Group A (4 Joules), Group B (6 Joules), Group C (8 Joules) and Group D (0 Joules; placebo). Following the administration of LLLT, the participants will be submitted to an isokinetic eccentric muscle fatigue protocol involving the quadriceps muscle bilaterally. Muscle performance and biochemical markers of muscle damage will be evaluated again immediately after as well as 24 and 48 hours after the experimental protocol. One week after the last evaluation the second phase will begin, during which Groups A, B and C will receive the LLLT protocol that achieved the best muscle performance in phase 1 for a period of 4 weeks. At the end of this period, muscle performance will be evaluated again. The protocol for this study is registered with the World Health Organization under Universal Trial Number U1111-1146-7109. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of pre-exercise LLLT on the performance of the quadriceps muscle (peak torque, total muscle work, maximum power and fatigue index - normalized by body mass) in individuals with DM-2. The study will support the practice of evidence-based to the use of LLLT in improving muscle performance in Individuals with DM-2

New approach to enhance and evaluate the performance of vehicle-infrastructure integration and its communication systems, final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

Initial research studied the use of wireless local area networks (WLAN) protocols in Inter-Vehicle Communications : (IVC) environments. The protocols performance was evaluated in terms of measuring throughput, jitter time and : delay time. This re...

An evaluation of the hemiplegic subject based on the Bobath approach. Part II: The evaluation protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Corriveau, H; Guarna, F; Dutil, E; Riley, E; Arsenault, A B; Drouin, G

1988-01-01

A protocol of evaluation of the hemiplegic patient based on the Bobath approach to treatment is presented. Six parameters are evaluated: sensorium, muscle tone, reflex activity, active movement, postural reactions and pain. The first and last of these are included because of their possible effects on the motor recovery process of the hemiplegic patient. The other four are directly borrowed from the Bobath modality of treatment. For each of these parameters, the procedures are given for its evaluation along with its respective rating scales. These scales are of an ordinal nature ranging from 0 to 3. It is suggested that this new evaluation protocol is fully compatible with the therapeutic modality developed by Bobath and as well is adequate to quantify patient progress in the principle aspects treated by this well used rehabilitation approach.

Comparison and uncertainty evaluation of different calibration protocols and ionization chambers for low-energy surface brachytherapy dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Candela-Juan, C., E-mail: ccanjuan@gmail.com [Radiation Oncology Department, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia 46026 (Spain); Vijande, J. [Department of Atomic, Molecular, and Nuclear Physics, University of Valencia, Burjassot 46100, Spain and Instituto de Física Corpuscular (UV-CSIC), Paterna 46980 (Spain); García-Martínez, T. [Radiation Oncology Department, Hospital La Ribera, Alzira 46600 (Spain); Niatsetski, Y.; Nauta, G.; Schuurman, J. [Elekta Brachytherapy, Veenendaal 3905 TH (Netherlands); Ouhib, Z. [Radiation Oncology Department, Lynn Regional Cancer Center, Boca Raton Community Hospital, Boca Raton, Florida 33486 (United States); Ballester, F. [Department of Atomic, Molecular, and Nuclear Physics, University of Valencia, Burjassot 46100 (Spain); Perez-Calatayud, J. [Radiation Oncology Department, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia 46026, Spain and Department of Radiotherapy, Clínica Benidorm, Benidorm 03501 (Spain)

2015-08-15

Purpose: A surface electronic brachytherapy (EBT) device is in fact an x-ray source collimated with specific applicators. Low-energy (<100 kVp) x-ray beam dosimetry faces several challenges that need to be addressed. A number of calibration protocols have been published for x-ray beam dosimetry. The media in which measurements are performed are the fundamental difference between them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surface dose rate of a low-energy x-ray source with small field applicators using different calibration standards and different small-volume ionization chambers, comparing the values and uncertainties of each methodology. Methods: The surface dose rate of the EBT unit Esteya (Elekta Brachytherapy, The Netherlands), a 69.5 kVp x-ray source with applicators of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 mm diameter, was evaluated using the AAPM TG-61 (based on air kerma) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) TRS-398 (based on absorbed dose to water) dosimetry protocols for low-energy photon beams. A plane parallel T34013 ionization chamber (PTW Freiburg, Germany) calibrated in terms of both absorbed dose to water and air kerma was used to compare the two dosimetry protocols. Another PTW chamber of the same model was used to evaluate the reproducibility between these chambers. Measurements were also performed with two different Exradin A20 (Standard Imaging, Inc., Middleton, WI) chambers calibrated in terms of air kerma. Results: Differences between surface dose rates measured in air and in water using the T34013 chamber range from 1.6% to 3.3%. No field size dependence has been observed. Differences are below 3.7% when measurements with the A20 and the T34013 chambers calibrated in air are compared. Estimated uncertainty (with coverage factor k = 1) for the T34013 chamber calibrated in water is 2.2%–2.4%, whereas it increases to 2.5% and 2.7% for the A20 and T34013 chambers calibrated in air, respectively. The output factors, measured with the PTW chambers

A False-name-Proof Double Auction Protocol for Arbitrary Evaluation Values

Science.gov (United States)

Sakurai, Yuko; Yokoo, Makoto

We develop a new false-name-proof double auction protocol called the Generalized Threshold Price Double auction (GTPD) protocol. False-name-proofness generalizes strategy-proofness by incorporating the possibility of false-name bids, e.g., bids submitted using multiple e-mail addresses. An existing protocol called TPD protocol is false-name-proof but can handle only the cases where marginal utilities of each agent always decrease, while our new GTPD protocol can handle arbitrary evaluation values. When marginal utilities can increase, some bids cannot be divided into a single unit (e.g., an all-or-nothing bid). Due to the existence of such indivisible bids, meeting supply/demand becomes difficult. Furthermore, a seller/buyer can submit a false-name-bid by pretending to be a potential buyer/seller to manipulate allocations and payments. In the GTPD protocol, the auctioneer is required to absorb the supply-demand imbalance up to a given upper-bound. Also, the GTPD incorporate a new false-name-proof one-sided auction protocol that is guaranteed to sell/buy a certain number of units. Simulation results show that when the threshold price is set appropriately, this protocol can obtain a good social surplus, and the number of absorbed units is much smaller than the given upper-bound.

Evaluating a protocol for testing fire-resistant oil-spill containment boom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, W.D.; Twilley, W.H.; Hiltabrand, R.R.; Mullin, J.V.

1998-01-01

A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate a protocol for testing the ability of fire-resistant booms to withstand both fire and waves. Most response plans for in situ burning of oil at sea require the use of a fire-resistant boom to contain the oil during a burn. For this study, a wave tank was designed and constructed to assess the capabilities of a 15 m section of a boom subjected to a 5 m diameter fire with 0.15 m high waves. Five typical fire-resistant oil-spill containment booms were tested. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the test procedure, therefore the overall performance of the boom was not evaluated on a pass-fail criterion. The two most important aspects of the test method were repeatability and reproducibility. Some of the parameters tested included the effect of wind, waves, fire size, and fire duration. Methods to constrain the booms were also tested. 7 refs., 6 tabs., 7 figs

Evaluation of a biodegradation screening protocol for contaminated soil from manufactured gas plant sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, D.J.; Battaglia, A.; Smith, J.R.; Middleton, A.C.; Nakles, D.V.; Linz, D.G.

1991-01-01

Bioremediation has been demonstrated to be a viable alternative for treating soils contaminated with PAHs. however, given the variability encountered in soils characteristics and contamination level, their susceptibility to biological treatment must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This paper discusses a new treatability protocol, the GRI Accelerated Treatability Protocol. The mainstay of the protocol, which is designed to quickly provide treatability data for a given contaminated soil is a bioslurry experiment, in which the contaminated soil is continuously stirred and provided with abundant oxygen, nutrients and water, to maximize biological activity and thus contaminant removal. The results of using such protocol on four soils, widely differing in physical characteristics and contamination levels, are compared to the results of traditional pan studies, and an empirical equation, describing the observed soil concentrations as a function of time in both slurry and pans, is presented. Similarities and differences between achievable endpoints and biodegradation rates are discussed, and the applicability of the GRI Accelerated Treatability Protocol to full-scale engineered systems is addressed. Results to date indicate that, for soils with less than 10% fines slurry and pan experiments yield approximately the same endpoint, so that for those soils the GRI Accelerated Treatability Protocol can be used to assess the viability of an unsaturated bioremediation system. For soils with more than 10% fines, the slurry treatment endpoints are better than the pans. For those soils a traditional pan study experiment should be performed to evaluate the potential capabilities of unsaturated bioremediation

Evaluating Management Information Systems, A Protocol for Automated Peer Review Systems

OpenAIRE

Black, Gordon C.

1980-01-01

This paper discusses key issues in evaluating an automated Peer Review System. Included are the conceptual base, design, steps in planning structural components, operation parameters, criteria, costs and a detailed outline or protocol for use in the evaluation.

Evaluation of condyle defects using different reconstruction protocols of cone-beam computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bastos, Luana Costa; Campos, Paulo Sergio Flores; Ramos-Perez, Flavia Maria de Moraes; Pontual, Andrea dos Anjos; Almeida, Solange Maria

2013-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate how well cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) can detect simulated cavitary defects in condyles, and to test the influence of the reconstruction protocols. Defects were created with spherical diamond burs (numbers 1013, 1016, 3017) in superior and / or posterior surfaces of twenty condyles. The condyles were scanned, and cross-sectional reconstructions were performed with nine different protocols, based on slice thickness (0.2, 0.6, 1.0 mm) and on the filters (original image, Sharpen Mild, S9) used. Two observers evaluated the defects, determining their presence and location. Statistical analysis was carried out using simple Kappa coefficient and McNemar’s test to check inter- and intra-rater reliability. The chi-square test was used to compare the rater accuracy. Analysis of variance (Tukey's test) assessed the effect of the protocols used. Kappa values for inter- and intra-rater reliability demonstrate almost perfect agreement. The proportion of correct answers was significantly higher than that of errors for cavitary defects on both condyle surfaces (p < 0.01). Only in identifying the defects located on the posterior surface was it possible to observe the influence of the 1.0 mm protocol thickness and no filter, which showed a significantly lower value. Based on the results of the current study, the technique used was valid for identifying the existence of cavities in the condyle surface. However, the protocol of a 1.0 mm-thick slice and no filter proved to be the worst method for identifying the defects on the posterior surface. (author)

Evaluation of condyle defects using different reconstruction protocols of cone-beam computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bastos, Luana Costa; Campos, Paulo Sergio Flores, E-mail: bastosluana@ymail.com [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Radiologia Oral e Maxilofacial; Ramos-Perez, Flavia Maria de Moraes [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Clinica e Odontologia Preventiva; Pontual, Andrea dos Anjos [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Camaragibe, PE (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Radiologia Oral; Almeida, Solange Maria [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Radiologia Oral

2013-11-15

This study was conducted to investigate how well cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) can detect simulated cavitary defects in condyles, and to test the influence of the reconstruction protocols. Defects were created with spherical diamond burs (numbers 1013, 1016, 3017) in superior and / or posterior surfaces of twenty condyles. The condyles were scanned, and cross-sectional reconstructions were performed with nine different protocols, based on slice thickness (0.2, 0.6, 1.0 mm) and on the filters (original image, Sharpen Mild, S9) used. Two observers evaluated the defects, determining their presence and location. Statistical analysis was carried out using simple Kappa coefficient and McNemar’s test to check inter- and intra-rater reliability. The chi-square test was used to compare the rater accuracy. Analysis of variance (Tukey's test) assessed the effect of the protocols used. Kappa values for inter- and intra-rater reliability demonstrate almost perfect agreement. The proportion of correct answers was significantly higher than that of errors for cavitary defects on both condyle surfaces (p < 0.01). Only in identifying the defects located on the posterior surface was it possible to observe the influence of the 1.0 mm protocol thickness and no filter, which showed a significantly lower value. Based on the results of the current study, the technique used was valid for identifying the existence of cavities in the condyle surface. However, the protocol of a 1.0 mm-thick slice and no filter proved to be the worst method for identifying the defects on the posterior surface. (author)

Developing the Fourth Evaluation Dimension: A Protocol for Evaluation of Video From the Patient's Perspective During Major Incident Exercises.

Science.gov (United States)

Haverkort, J J Mark; Leenen, Luke P H

2017-10-01

Presently used evaluation techniques rely on 3 traditional dimensions: reports from observers, registration system data, and observational cameras. Some of these techniques are observer-dependent and are not reproducible for a second review. This proof-of-concept study aimed to test the feasibility of extending evaluation to a fourth dimension, the patient's perspective. Footage was obtained during a large, full-scale hospital trauma drill. Two mock victims were equipped with point-of-view cameras filming from the patient's head. Based on the Major Incident Hospital's first experience during the drill, a protocol was developed for a prospective, standardized method to evaluate a hospital's major incident response from the patient's perspective. The protocol was then tested in a second drill for its feasibility. New insights were gained after review of the footage. The traditional observer missed some of the evaluation points, which were seen on the point-of-view cameras. The information gained from the patient's perspective proved to be implementable into the designed protocol. Use of point-of-view camera recordings from a mock patient's perspective is a valuable addition to traditional evaluation of trauma drills and trauma care. Protocols should be designed to optimize and objectify judgement of such footage. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:594-599).

Upper Limb Static-Stretching Protocol Decreases Maximal Concentric Jump Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo H. Marchetti

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the acute effects of an upper limb static-stretching (SS protocol on the maximal concentric jump performance. We recruited 25 young healthy, male, resistance trained individuals (stretched group, n = 15 and control group, n = 10 in this study. The randomized between group experimental protocol consisted of a three trials of maximal concentric jump task, before and after a SS of the upper limb. Vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF and surface electromyography (sEMG of both gastrocnemius lateralis (GL and vastus lateralis (VL were acquired. An extensive SS was employed consisting of ten stretches of 30 seconds, with 15 seconds of rest, and 70-90% of the point of discomfort (POD. ANOVA (2x2 (group x condition was used for shoulder joint range of motion (ROM, vGRF and sEMG. A significant interaction for passive ROM of the shoulder joint revealed significant increases between pre- and post-SS protocol (p < 0.001. A significant interaction demonstrated decreased peak force and an increased peak propulsion duration between pre- and post-stretching only for stretch group (p = 0.021, and p = 0.024, respectively. There was a significant main effect between groups (stretch and control for peak force for control group (p = 0.045. Regarding sEMG variables, there were no significant differences between groups (control versus stretched or condition (pre-stretching versus post-stretching for the peak amplitude of RMS and IEMG for both muscles (VL and GL. In conclusion, an acute extensive SS can increase the shoulder ROM, and negatively affect both the propulsion duration and peak force of the maximal concentric jump, without providing significant changes in muscle activation.

The ACCENT-protocol: a framework for benchmarking and model evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Grewe

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We summarise results from a workshop on "Model Benchmarking and Quality Assurance" of the EU-Network of Excellence ACCENT, including results from other activities (e.g. COST Action 732 and publications. A formalised evaluation protocol is presented, i.e. a generic formalism describing the procedure of how to perform a model evaluation. This includes eight steps and examples from global model applications which are given for illustration. The first and important step is concerning the purpose of the model application, i.e. the addressed underlying scientific or political question. We give examples to demonstrate that there is no model evaluation per se, i.e. without a focused purpose. Model evaluation is testing, whether a model is fit for its purpose. The following steps are deduced from the purpose and include model requirements, input data, key processes and quantities, benchmark data, quality indicators, sensitivities, as well as benchmarking and grading. We define "benchmarking" as the process of comparing the model output against either observational data or high fidelity model data, i.e. benchmark data. Special focus is given to the uncertainties, e.g. in observational data, which have the potential to lead to wrong conclusions in the model evaluation if not considered carefully.

The ACCENT-protocol: a framework for benchmarking and model evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Grewe, V.; Moussiopoulos, N.; Builtjes, P.; Borrego, C.; Isaksen, I. S. A.; Volz-Thomas, A.

2012-05-01

We summarise results from a workshop on "Model Benchmarking and Quality Assurance" of the EU-Network of Excellence ACCENT, including results from other activities (e.g. COST Action 732) and publications. A formalised evaluation protocol is presented, i.e. a generic formalism describing the procedure of how to perform a model evaluation. This includes eight steps and examples from global model applications which are given for illustration. The first and important step is concerning the purpose of the model application, i.e. the addressed underlying scientific or political question. We give examples to demonstrate that there is no model evaluation per se, i.e. without a focused purpose. Model evaluation is testing, whether a model is fit for its purpose. The following steps are deduced from the purpose and include model requirements, input data, key processes and quantities, benchmark data, quality indicators, sensitivities, as well as benchmarking and grading. We define "benchmarking" as the process of comparing the model output against either observational data or high fidelity model data, i.e. benchmark data. Special focus is given to the uncertainties, e.g. in observational data, which have the potential to lead to wrong conclusions in the model evaluation if not considered carefully.

Flow cytometry protocol to evaluate ionizing radiation effects on P-glycoprotein activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Neyliane Goncalves dos; Amaral, Ademir; Cavalcanti, Mariana Brayner . E-mail; Neves, Maria Amelia Batista; Machado, Cintia Gonsalves de Faria

2008-01-01

The aim of this work was to establish a protocol to evaluate ionizing radiation effects on P-glycoprotein (P-gp) activity. For this, human peripheral blood samples were irradiated in vitro with different doses and P-gp activity was analyzed for CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes through rhodamine123-efflux assay by flow cytometry. By simultaneous employment of percentage and mean fluorescence index parameters, subject-by-subject analysis pointed out changes in P-gp activity for some individuals and irradiated samples. Based on this work, the proposed protocol was considered adequate for evaluating P-gp activity on cells after radioactive stress. Besides, this research suggests that P-gp activity could be an important factor to define patient-specific protocols in combined chemo- and radiotherapy, particularly when radiation exposure precedes chemical treatment. (author)

Flow cytometry protocol to evaluate ionizing radiation effects on P-glycoprotein activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Neyliane Goncalves dos; Amaral, Ademir; Cavalcanti, Mariana Brayner [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE (Brazil). Dept. de Energia Nuclear]. E-mail; neylisantos@yahoo.com.br; Neves, Maria Amelia Batista; Machado, Cintia Gonsalves de Faria [Fundacao de Hematologia e Hemoterapia de Pernambuco, Recife, PE (Brazil). Unidade de Laboratorios Especializados. Lab. de Imunofenotipagem

2008-12-15

The aim of this work was to establish a protocol to evaluate ionizing radiation effects on P-glycoprotein (P-gp) activity. For this, human peripheral blood samples were irradiated in vitro with different doses and P-gp activity was analyzed for CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes through rhodamine123-efflux assay by flow cytometry. By simultaneous employment of percentage and mean fluorescence index parameters, subject-by-subject analysis pointed out changes in P-gp activity for some individuals and irradiated samples. Based on this work, the proposed protocol was considered adequate for evaluating P-gp activity on cells after radioactive stress. Besides, this research suggests that P-gp activity could be an important factor to define patient-specific protocols in combined chemo- and radiotherapy, particularly when radiation exposure precedes chemical treatment. (author)

Evaluation of angiography performed by radiographers and nurses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chalmers, N.; Conway, B.; Andrew, H.; Parkinson, A.; Butterfield, J.S.; Fawcitt, R. A.

2002-01-01

AIM: To evaluate out-patient angiography performed by nurses and radiographers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A protocol for out-patient angiography performed by nurses and radiographers was drawn up and approved by the Trust's Risk Management Committee. Following training, two experienced radiographers and one nurse undertook elective peripheral or renal angiography according to the protocol on 187 patients. Angiograms were performed using a 3F catheter introduced into the abdominal aorta from a femoral approach. Patients were discharged after 2 hours and contacted by telephone the following morning. RESULTS: No patient refused consent for the procedure. One hundred and seventy-two patients underwent successful catheterization without assistance from a radiologist. Radiologist assistance was required with femoral puncture or catheter/guidewire manipulation in 15 cases (8%). Images were considered diagnostic by the reporting radiologist in all but one case. This patient was recalled for further aortogram and pressure measurements. There was a single puncture site complication due to transient stenosis of the common femoral artery at the puncture site. This is thought to have been the result of subintimal injection of local anaesthetic, and it resolved spontaneously over 30 minutes. There were no delayed complications. CONCLUSION: Experienced nurses and radiographers can rapidly acquire the skills to perform diagnostic angiography safely and efficiently. Chalmers, N. et al. (2002)

Messaging Performance of FIPA Interaction Protocols in Networked Embedded Controllers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

García JoséAPérez

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Agent-based technologies in production control systems could facilitate seamless reconfiguration and integration of mechatronic devices/modules into systems. Advances in embedded controllers which are continuously improving computational capabilities allow for software modularization and distribution of decisions. Agent platforms running on embedded controllers could hide the complexity of bootstrap and communication. Therefore, it is important to investigate the messaging performance of the agents whose main motivation is the resource allocation in manufacturing systems (i.e., conveyor system. The tests were implemented using the FIPA-compliant JADE-LEAP agent platform. Agent containers were distributed through networked embedded controllers, and agents were communicating using request and contract-net FIPA interaction protocols. The test scenarios are organized in intercontainer and intracontainer communications. The work shows the messaging performance for the different test scenarios using both interaction protocols.

Messaging Performance of FIPA Interaction Protocols in Networked Embedded Controllers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Jehovani López Orozco

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Agent-based technologies in production control systems could facilitate seamless reconfiguration and integration of mechatronic devices/modules into systems. Advances in embedded controllers which are continuously improving computational capabilities allow for software modularization and distribution of decisions. Agent platforms running on embedded controllers could hide the complexity of bootstrap and communication. Therefore, it is important to investigate the messaging performance of the agents whose main motivation is the resource allocation in manufacturing systems (i.e., conveyor system. The tests were implemented using the FIPA-compliant JADE-LEAP agent platform. Agent containers were distributed through networked embedded controllers, and agents were communicating using request and contract-net FIPA interaction protocols. The test scenarios are organized in intercontainer and intracontainer communications. The work shows the messaging performance for the different test scenarios using both interaction protocols.

Performance of a multi-disciplinary emergency department observation protocol for acetaminophen overdose.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchamp, Gillian A; Hart, Kimberly W; Lindsell, Christopher J; Lyons, Michael S; Otten, Edward J; Smith, Carol L; Ward, Michael J; Wright, Stewart W

2013-09-01

The availability of 20-h N-acetylcysteine (NAC) infusion for low-risk acetaminophen (APAP) overdose enabled our center to implement an Emergency Department observation unit (OU) protocol as an alternative to hospitalization. Our objective was to evaluate our early experience with this protocol. This retrospective cohort study included all patients treated for low-risk APAP overdose in our academic hospital between 2006 and 2011. Cases were identified using OU and pharmacy records. Successful OU discharge was defined as disposition with no inpatient admission. Differences in medians with 95 % confidence intervals were used for comparisons. One hundred ninety-six patients received NAC for APAP overdose with a mean age of 35 years (SD 14); 73 % were white, and 43 % were male. Twenty (10 %) received care in the OU; 3/20(15 %) met criteria for inclusion in the OU protocol and 13/20(65 %) were discharged successfully. Out of the 196 patients, 10 met criteria for inclusion in the OU protocol but instead received care in the inpatient setting. The median total length of stay from presentation to ED discharge was 41 h for all patients treated in the OU, compared to 68 h for ten patients who met criteria for inclusion in the OU protocol but who were admitted (difference 27 h, 95 % CI 18-72 h). ED observation for APAP overdose can be a viable alternative to inpatient admission. Most patients were successfully discharged from the OU. This evaluation identified both over- and under-utilization of the OU. OU treatment resulted in shorter median length of stay than inpatient admission.

Dual-energy CT for the characterization of urinary calculi: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a low-dose scanning protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, C.; Patschan, O.; Nagele, U.; Stenzl, A.; Ketelsen, D.; Tsiflikas, I.; Reimann, A.; Brodoefel, H.; Claussen, C.; Kopp, A.; Heuschmid, M.; Schlemmer, H.P.; Buchgeister, M.

2009-01-01

The efficiency and radiation dose of a low-dose dual-energy (DE) CT protocol for the evaluation of urinary calculus disease were evaluated. A low-dose dual-source DE-CT renal calculi protocol (140 kV, 46 mAs; 80 kV, 210 mAs) was derived from the single-energy (SE) CT protocol used in our institution for the detection of renal calculi (120 kV, 75 mAs). An Alderson-Rando phantom was equipped with thermoluminescence dosimeters and examined by CT with both protocols. The effective doses were calculated. Fifty-one patients with suspected or known urinary calculus disease underwent DE-CT. DE analysis was performed if calculi were detected using a dedicated software tool. Results were compared to chemical analysis after invasive calculus extraction. An effective dose of 3.43 mSv (male) and 5.30 mSv (female) was measured in the phantom for the DE protocol (vs. 3.17/4.57 mSv for the SE protocol). Urinary calculi were found in 34 patients; in 28 patients, calculi were removed and analyzed (23 patients with calcified calculi, three with uric acid calculi, one with 2,8-dihyxdroxyadenine-calculi, one patient with a mixed struvite calculus). DE analysis was able to distinguish between calcified and non-calcified calculi in all cases. In conclusion, dual-energy urinary calculus analysis is effective also with a low-dose protocol. The protocol tested in this study reliably identified calcified urinary calculi in vivo. (orig.)

Dual-energy CT for the characterization of urinary calculi: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a low-dose scanning protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, C; Patschan, O; Ketelsen, D; Tsiflikas, I; Reimann, A; Brodoefel, H; Buchgeister, M; Nagele, U; Stenzl, A; Claussen, C; Kopp, A; Heuschmid, M; Schlemmer, H-P

2009-06-01

The efficiency and radiation dose of a low-dose dual-energy (DE) CT protocol for the evaluation of urinary calculus disease were evaluated. A low-dose dual-source DE-CT renal calculi protocol (140 kV, 46 mAs; 80 kV, 210 mAs) was derived from the single-energy (SE) CT protocol used in our institution for the detection of renal calculi (120 kV, 75 mAs). An Alderson-Rando phantom was equipped with thermoluminescence dosimeters and examined by CT with both protocols. The effective doses were calculated. Fifty-one patients with suspected or known urinary calculus disease underwent DE-CT. DE analysis was performed if calculi were detected using a dedicated software tool. Results were compared to chemical analysis after invasive calculus extraction. An effective dose of 3.43 mSv (male) and 5.30 mSv (female) was measured in the phantom for the DE protocol (vs. 3.17/4.57 mSv for the SE protocol). Urinary calculi were found in 34 patients; in 28 patients, calculi were removed and analyzed (23 patients with calcified calculi, three with uric acid calculi, one with 2,8-dihyxdroxyadenine-calculi, one patient with a mixed struvite calculus). DE analysis was able to distinguish between calcified and non-calcified calculi in all cases. In conclusion, dual-energy urinary calculus analysis is effective also with a low-dose protocol. The protocol tested in this study reliably identified calcified urinary calculi in vivo.

Dual-energy CT for the characterization of urinary calculi: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a low-dose scanning protocol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, C. [University of Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany); Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany); Patschan, O.; Nagele, U.; Stenzl, A. [University of Tuebingen, Department of Urology, Tuebingen (Germany); Ketelsen, D.; Tsiflikas, I.; Reimann, A.; Brodoefel, H.; Claussen, C.; Kopp, A.; Heuschmid, M.; Schlemmer, H.P. [University of Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany); Buchgeister, M. [University of Tuebingen, Medical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Tuebingen (Germany)

2009-06-15

The efficiency and radiation dose of a low-dose dual-energy (DE) CT protocol for the evaluation of urinary calculus disease were evaluated. A low-dose dual-source DE-CT renal calculi protocol (140 kV, 46 mAs; 80 kV, 210 mAs) was derived from the single-energy (SE) CT protocol used in our institution for the detection of renal calculi (120 kV, 75 mAs). An Alderson-Rando phantom was equipped with thermoluminescence dosimeters and examined by CT with both protocols. The effective doses were calculated. Fifty-one patients with suspected or known urinary calculus disease underwent DE-CT. DE analysis was performed if calculi were detected using a dedicated software tool. Results were compared to chemical analysis after invasive calculus extraction. An effective dose of 3.43 mSv (male) and 5.30 mSv (female) was measured in the phantom for the DE protocol (vs. 3.17/4.57 mSv for the SE protocol). Urinary calculi were found in 34 patients; in 28 patients, calculi were removed and analyzed (23 patients with calcified calculi, three with uric acid calculi, one with 2,8-dihyxdroxyadenine-calculi, one patient with a mixed struvite calculus). DE analysis was able to distinguish between calcified and non-calcified calculi in all cases. In conclusion, dual-energy urinary calculus analysis is effective also with a low-dose protocol. The protocol tested in this study reliably identified calcified urinary calculi in vivo. (orig.)

A Performance Evaluation Model for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks and Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heng LUO

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Potential applications in areas such as military sites and disaster relief fields that are characterized by absence of prefixed infrastructure justify the development of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs and wireless sensor networks (WSNs. However, unfavorable wireless links and dynamic topology are still challenging, leading to the proposal of a collection of routing protocols for MANETs and WSNs. Nevertheless the performance of algorithms may vary with deployment scenario due to the application dependent philosophy behind algorithms. In this paper, the performance evaluation problem for MANETs and WSNs is investigated and a novel performance ranking model, termed AHP-SAW, is proposed. For simplicity but without loss of generality, the performance of two routing protocols DSDV and DSR are studies based on which ranking results are provided. Extensive simulations show that an overall 37.2 %, at most, gain may be achieved based on the AHP-SAW model.

Routing protocol extension for resilient GMPLS multi-domain networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manolova, Anna Vasileva; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Romeral, Ricardo

2010-01-01

This paper evaluates the performance of multi-domain networks under the Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching control framework in case of a single inter-domain link failure. We propose and evaluate a routing protocol extension for the Border Gateway Protocol, which allows domains to obtain...... two Autonomous System disjoint paths and use them efficiently under failure conditions. Three main applications for the protocol extension are illustrated: reducing traffic loss on existing connections by xploiting pre-selected backup paths derived with our proposal, applying multi-domain restoration...... as survivability mechanism in case of single link failure, and employing proper failure notification mechanisms for routing of future connection requests under routing protocol re-convergence. Via simulations we illustrate the benefits of utilizing the proposed routing protocol extension for networks employing...

Reactive Agility Performance in Handball; Development and Evaluation of a Sport-Specific Measurement Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Spasic, Miodrag; Krolo, Ante; Zenic, Natasa; Delextrat, Anne; Sekulic, Damir

2015-09-01

There is no current study that examined sport-specific tests of reactive-agility and change-of-direction-speed (CODS) to replicate real-sport environment in handball (team-handball). This investigation evaluated the reliability and validity of two novel tests designed to assess reactive-agility and CODS of handball players. Participants were female (25.14 ± 3.71 years of age; 1.77 ± 0.09 m and 74.1 ± 6.1 kg) and male handball players (26.9 ± 4.1 years of age; 1.90 ± 0.09 m and 93.90±4.6 kg). Variables included body height, body mass, body mass index, broad jump, 5-m sprint, CODS and reactive-agility tests. Results showed satisfactory reliability for reactive-agility-test and CODS-test (ICC of 0.85-0.93, and CV of 2.4-4.8%). The reactive-agility and CODS shared less than 20% of the common variance. The calculated index of perceptual and reactive capacity (P&RC; ratio between reactive-agility- and CODS-performance) is found to be valid measure in defining true-game reactive-agility performance in handball in both genders. Therefore, the handball athletes' P&RC should be used in the evaluation of real-game reactive-agility performance. Future studies should explore other sport-specific reactive-agility tests and factors associated to such performance in sports involving agile maneuvers. Key pointsReactive agility and change-of-direction-speed should be observed as independent qualities, even when tested over the same course and similar movement templateThe reactive-agility-performance of the handball athletes involved in defensive duties is closer to their non-reactive-agility-score than in their peers who are not involved in defensive dutiesThe handball specific "true-game" reactive-agility-performance should be evaluated as the ratio between reactive-agility and corresponding CODS performance.

Evaluation of angiography performed by radiographers and nurses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chalmers, N.; Conway, B.; Andrew, H.; Parkinson, A.; Butterfield, J.S.; Fawcitt, R. A

2002-04-01

AIM: To evaluate out-patient angiography performed by nurses and radiographers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A protocol for out-patient angiography performed by nurses and radiographers was drawn up and approved by the Trust's Risk Management Committee. Following training, two experienced radiographers and one nurse undertook elective peripheral or renal angiography according to the protocol on 187 patients. Angiograms were performed using a 3F catheter introduced into the abdominal aorta from a femoral approach. Patients were discharged after 2 hours and contacted by telephone the following morning. RESULTS: No patient refused consent for the procedure. One hundred and seventy-two patients underwent successful catheterization without assistance from a radiologist. Radiologist assistance was required with femoral puncture or catheter/guidewire manipulation in 15 cases (8%). Images were considered diagnostic by the reporting radiologist in all but one case. This patient was recalled for further aortogram and pressure measurements. There was a single puncture site complication due to transient stenosis of the common femoral artery at the puncture site. This is thought to have been the result of subintimal injection of local anaesthetic, and it resolved spontaneously over 30 minutes. There were no delayed complications. CONCLUSION: Experienced nurses and radiographers can rapidly acquire the skills to perform diagnostic angiography safely and efficiently. Chalmers, N. et al. (2002)

Persistent RCSMA: A MAC Protocol for a Distributed Cooperative ARQ Scheme in Wireless Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Alonso-Zárate

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The persistent relay carrier sensing multiple access (PRCSMA protocol is presented in this paper as a novel medium access control (MAC protocol that allows for the execution of a distributed cooperative automatic retransmission request (ARQ scheme in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. The underlying idea of the PRCSMA protocol is to modify the basic rules of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol to execute a distributed cooperative ARQ scheme in wireless networks in order to enhance their performance and to extend coverage. A closed formulation of the distributed cooperative ARQ average packet transmission delay in a saturated network is derived in the paper. The analytical equations are then used to evaluate the performance of the protocol under different network configurations. Both the accuracy of the analysis and the performance evaluation of the protocol are supported and validated through computer simulations.

FPGA implementation cost and performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11 protocol encryption security schemes

Science.gov (United States)

Sklavos, N.; Selimis, G.; Koufopavlou, O.

2005-01-01

The explosive growth of internet and consumer demand for mobility has fuelled the exponential growth of wireless communications and networks. Mobile users want access to services and information, from both internet and personal devices, from a range of locations without the use of a cable medium. IEEE 802.11 is one of the most widely used wireless standards of our days. The amount of access and mobility into wireless networks requires a security infrastructure that protects communication within that network. The security of this protocol is based on the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) scheme. Currently, all the IEEE 802.11 market products support WEP. But recently, the 802.11i working group introduced the advanced encryption standard (AES), as the security scheme for the future IEEE 802.11 applications. In this paper, the hardware integrations of WEP and AES are studied. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) device has been used as the hardware implementation platform, for a fair comparison between the two security schemes. Measurements for the FPGA implementation cost, operating frequency, power consumption and performance are given.

FPGA implementation cost and performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11 protocol encryption security schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sklavos, N; Selimis, G; Koufopavlou, O

2005-01-01

The explosive growth of internet and consumer demand for mobility has fuelled the exponential growth of wireless communications and networks. Mobile users want access to services and information, from both internet and personal devices, from a range of locations without the use of a cable medium. IEEE 802.11 is one of the most widely used wireless standards of our days. The amount of access and mobility into wireless networks requires a security infrastructure that protects communication within that network. The security of this protocol is based on the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) scheme. Currently, all the IEEE 802.11 market products support WEP. But recently, the 802.11i working group introduced the advanced encryption standard (AES), as the security scheme for the future IEEE 802.11 applications. In this paper, the hardware integrations of WEP and AES are studied. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) device has been used as the hardware implementation platform, for a fair comparison between the two security schemes. Measurements for the FPGA implementation cost, operating frequency, power consumption and performance are given

The Performance of a Second Generation Service Discovery Protocol In Response to Message Loss

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sundramoorthy, V.; van de Glind, G.J.; Hartel, Pieter H.; Scholten, Johan

We analyze the behavior of FRODO, a second generation service discovery protocol, in response to message loss in the network. Earlier protocols, like UPnP and Jini rely on underlying network layers to enhance their failure recovery. A comparison with UPnP and Jini shows that FRODO performs more

The Performance of a Second Generation Service Discovery Protocol In Response to Message Loss

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sundramoorthy, V.; van de Glind, G.J.; Hartel, Pieter H.; Scholten, Johan

We analyze the behavior of FRODO, a second generation service discovery protocol, in response to message loss in the network. First generation protocols, like UPnP and Jini rely on underlying network layers to enhance their failure recovery. A comparison with UPnP and Jini shows that FRODO performs

Performance Analysis of the Mobile IP Protocol (RFC 3344 and Related RFCS)

Science.gov (United States)

2006-12-01

field of 9 identifies the ICMP message as an adverstisement . Code Mobile IP home agents and foreign agents use the value of 16 to prevent any nodes...ANALYSIS OF THE MOBILE IP PROTOCOL (RFC 3344 AND RELATED RFCS) by Chin Chin Ng December 2006 Thesis Co-Advisors: George W. Dinolt J. D...December 2006 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Performance Analysis of the Mobile IP Protocol (RFC 3344 and

Criteria for Evaluating Alternative Network and Link Layer Protocols for the NASA Constellation Program Communication Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Benbenek, Daniel; Soloff, Jason; Lieb, Erica

2010-01-01

Selecting a communications and network architecture for future manned space flight requires an evaluation of the varying goals and objectives of the program, development of communications and network architecture evaluation criteria, and assessment of critical architecture trades. This paper uses Cx Program proposed exploration activities as a guideline; lunar sortie, outpost, Mars, and flexible path options are described. A set of proposed communications network architecture criteria are proposed and described. They include: interoperability, security, reliability, and ease of automating topology changes. Finally a key set of architecture options are traded including (1) multiplexing data at a common network layer vs. at the data link layer, (2) implementing multiple network layers vs. a single network layer, and (3) the use of a particular network layer protocol, primarily IPv6 vs. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN). In summary, the protocol options are evaluated against the proposed exploration activities and their relative performance with respect to the criteria are assessed. An architectural approach which includes (a) the capability of multiplexing at both the network layer and the data link layer and (b) a single network layer for operations at each program phase, as these solutions are best suited to respond to the widest array of program needs and meet each of the evaluation criteria.

Hybrid Long-Distance Entanglement Distribution Protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brask, J.B.; Rigas, I.; Polzik, E.S.

2010-01-01

We propose a hybrid (continuous-discrete variable) quantum repeater protocol for long-distance entanglement distribution. Starting from states created by single-photon detection, we show how entangled coherent state superpositions can be generated by means of homodyne detection. We show that near......-deterministic entanglement swapping with such states is possible using only linear optics and homodyne detectors, and we evaluate the performance of our protocol combining these elements....

Effects of 2 Types of Activation Protocols Based on Postactivation Potentiation on 50-m Freestyle Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuenca-Fernández, Francisco; Ruiz-Teba, Ana; López-Contreras, Gracia; Arellano, Raúl

2018-06-14

Cuenca-Fernández, F, Ruiz-Teba, A, López-Contreras, G, and Arellano, R. Effects of 2 types of activation protocols based on postactivation potentiation on 50-m freestyle performance. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-Postactivation potentiation (PAP) is a phenomenon which improves muscle contractility, strength, and speed in sporting performances through previously applied maximal or submaximal loads on the muscle system. This study aimed to assess the effects of 2 types of activation protocols based on PAP, on sprint swimming performance. A repeated-measures design was used to compare 3 different scenarios before a 50-m race. First, all of the participants performed a standard warm-up (SWU), consisting of a 400-m swim followed by dynamic stretching. This protocol acted as the control. Subsequently, the swimmers were randomly assigned into 2 groups: the swimmers in the first group performed the SWU followed by a PAP one-repetition maximum warm-up (RMWU), consisting of 3 "lunge" and 3 "arm stroke" repetitions, both at 85% of the one-repetition maximum. The swimmers in the second group performed the SWU followed by a PAP eccentric flywheel warm-up (EWU), consisting of one set of 4 repetitions of exercises of both the lower and upper limbs on an adapted eccentric flywheel at the maximal voluntary contraction. The time required for the swimmers to swim 5 and 10 m was shorter with the PAP protocols. The swimming velocity of the swimmers who underwent the EWU and RMWU protocols was faster at 5 and 10 m. The best total swimming time was not influenced by any of the protocols. When isolating swimming (excluding start performance and turn), best time was achieved with the SWU and RMWU compared with EWU (SWU: 20.86 ± 0.95 seconds; EWU: 21.25 ± 1.12 seconds; RMWU: 20.97 ± 1.22 seconds). In conclusion, a warm-up based on PAP protocols might exert an influence on performance in the first meters of a 50-m race. Nevertheless, other factors, such as fatigue, could

A FSA Model for Performance Evaluation over Mobile Ad Hoc Networks with Low Traffic Volume

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heng LUO

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A Mobile Ad hoc network (MANET, which is composed of nodes that are able to move arbitrarily, differs from a direct connection network in the way that it is multi-hopping and self- organizing and thus able to operate without the help of prefixed infrastructures. However, problems such as unfavorable wireless links and dynamic topology are challenging, resulting in the proposal of a collection of routing protocols for MANETs. Nevertheless the performance of protocols may deteriorate dramatically as deployment scenario changes due to the application dependent philosophy behind algorithms. In this paper, the performance evaluation problem for MANETs and is explored and a novel performance ranking model, termed FSA, is proposed. For simplicity but without loss of generality, the performance of two routing protocols DSDV and DSR are studies. The FSA is able to rank the performance of DSDV and DSR depending on the average value and standard deviation results. Extensive simulations show that an overall 20.74 %, at most, gain may be achieved based on the FSA model.

Human Schedule Performance, Protocol Analysis, and the "Silent Dog" Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Cabello, Francisco; Luciano, Carmen; Gomez, Inmaculada; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

2004-01-01

The purpose of the current experiment was to investigate the role of private verbal behavior on the operant performances of human adults, using a protocol analysis procedure with additional methodological controls (the "silent dog" method). Twelve subjects were exposed to fixed ratio 8 and differential reinforcement of low rate 3-s schedules. For…

The Accent-protocol: a framework for benchmarking and model evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Builtjes, P.J.H.; Grewe, V.; Moussiopoulos, N.; Borrego, C.; Isaksen, I.S.A.; Volz-Thomas, A.

2011-01-01

We summarise results from a workshop on “Model Benchmarking and Quality Assurance” of the EU-Network of Excellence ACCENT, including results from other activities (e.g. COST Action 732) and publications. A formalised evaluation protocol is presented, i.e. a generic formalism describing the procedure

Effects of carbohydrate and caffeine ingestion on performance during a rugby union simulation protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Simon P; Stokes, Keith A; Trewartha, Grant; Doyle, Jenny; Hogben, Patrick; Thompson, Dylan

2010-06-01

In this study, we investigated the effect of ingesting carbohydrate alone or with caffeine on performance of a rugby union-specific shuttle running protocol. On three occasions, at least one week apart in a counterbalanced trial order, eight male rugby union forwards ingested either placebo or carbohydrate (1.2 g x kg(-1) body mass x h(-1)) before and during a rugby union-specific protocol, with pre-exercise caffeine ingestion (4 mg x kg(-1)) before one of the carbohydrate trials (carbohydrate + caffeine). The intermittent exercise protocol included walking, jogging, and cruising at pre-determined intensities, simulated contact events, a sustained high-intensity test of speed and agility (Performance Test), and a 15-m sprint. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded every 5 min and a motor skills test was performed after each 21-min block. Performance Test times were not significantly different between trials but the likelihood of 2% improvements for carbohydrate + caffeine over placebo and carbohydrate were 98% and 44%, respectively. For carbohydrate + caffeine, 15-m sprints were faster than for placebo (P=0.05) and the motor skills test was performed faster in the carbohydrate + caffeine trial than the carbohydrate and placebo trials (P benefit to rugby performance following co-ingestion of carbohydrate and caffeine.

Evaluating Psychometric Characteristics of Detection Protocol of Malingering Stuttering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arsia Thaghva

2017-07-01

Conclusion According to the results, the detection protocol of malingering stuttering is of good internal consistency and concurrent validity. However, considering that the sample population was not large in the present study, it can be said that this study is a preliminary evaluation to find the psychometric features of the instruments, with the aim of laying the groundwork for further studies.

A Simple XML Producer-Consumer Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Warren; Gunter, Dan; Quesnel, Darcy; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

There are many different projects from government, academia, and industry that provide services for delivering events in distributed environments. The problem with these event services is that they are not general enough to support all uses and they speak different protocols so that they cannot interoperate. We require such interoperability when we, for example, wish to analyze the performance of an application in a distributed environment. Such an analysis might require performance information from the application, computer systems, networks, and scientific instruments. In this work we propose and evaluate a standard XML-based protocol for the transmission of events in distributed systems. One recent trend in government and academic research is the development and deployment of computational grids. Computational grids are large-scale distributed systems that typically consist of high-performance compute, storage, and networking resources. Examples of such computational grids are the DOE Science Grid, the NASA Information Power Grid (IPG), and the NSF Partnerships for Advanced Computing Infrastructure (PACIs). The major effort to deploy these grids is in the area of developing the software services to allow users to execute applications on these large and diverse sets of resources. These services include security, execution of remote applications, managing remote data, access to information about resources and services, and so on. There are several toolkits for providing these services such as Globus, Legion, and Condor. As part of these efforts to develop computational grids, the Global Grid Forum is working to standardize the protocols and APIs used by various grid services. This standardization will allow interoperability between the client and server software of the toolkits that are providing the grid services. The goal of the Performance Working Group of the Grid Forum is to standardize protocols and representations related to the storage and distribution of

Evaluation of the Cape Town Protocol for the isolation of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DRINIE

Available on website http://www.wrc.org.za. Short communication. Evaluation of the Cape Town Protocol for the isolation of. Campylobacter spp. from environmental waters. SM Diergaardt, SN Venter*, M Chalmers, J Theron and VS Brözel. Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, ...

Geographic variation in lumbar diskectomy: a protocol for evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, M; Kazandjian, V A

1992-03-01

In 1989 the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) began developing a protocol related to lumbar diskectomy, a procedure with widely reported geographic variation in its use. The MHA's Laminectomy Advisory Committee drafted three criteria for performance of lumbar diskectomy and also developed a data-collection instrument with which the eight hospitals participating in a pilot study could abstract the necessary data from medical records. Both individual hospital and aggregate results showed wide variation in compliance with the criteria. These findings suggest research and development activities such as refinement of the data-collection instrument, use of the protocol for bench-marking, further investigation of clinical and other determinants of rate variation, and study of the effect of new diagnostic technology on utilization rates for this procedure.

Optimizing a Treadmill Ramp Protocol to Evaluate Aerobic Capacity of Hemiparetic Poststroke Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernardes, Wendell L; Montenegro, Rafael A; Monteiro, Walace D; de Almeida Freire, Raul; Massaferri, Renato; Farinatti, Paulo

2018-03-01

Bernardes, WL, Montenegro, RA, Monteiro, WD, de Almeida Freire, R, Massaferri, R, and Farinatti, P. Optimizing a treadmill ramp protocol to evaluate aerobic capacity of hemiparetic poststroke patients. J Strength Cond Res 32(3): 876-884, 2018-A correct assessment of cardiopulmonary capacity is important for aerobic training within motor rehabilitation of poststroke hemiparetic patients (PSHPs). However, specific cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) for these patients are scarce. We proposed adaptations in a protocol originally developed for PSHPs by Ovando et al. (CPET1). We hypothesized that our adapted protocol (CPET2) would improve the original test, by preventing early fatigue and increasing patients' peak performance. Eleven PSHPs (52 ± 14 years, 10 men) performed both protocols. CPET2 integrated changes in final speed (100-120% vs. 140% maximal speed in 10-m walking test), treadmill inclination (final inclination of 5 vs. 10%), and estimated test duration (10 vs. 8 minutes) to smooth the rate of workload increment of CPET1. Peak oxygen uptake (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak) (20.3 ± 6.1 vs. 18.6 ± 5.0 ml·kg·min; p = 0.04), V[Combining Dot Above]O2 at gas exchange transition (V[Combining Dot Above]O2-GET) (11.5 ± 2.9 vs. 9.8 ± 2.0 ml·kg·min; p = 0.04), and time to exhaustion (10 ± 3 vs. 6 ± 2 minutes; p higher in CPET2 than in CPET1. Slopes and intercepts of regressions describing relationships between V[Combining Dot Above]O2 vs. workload, heart rate vs. workload, and V[Combining Dot Above]O2 vs. heart rate were similar between CPETs. However, standard errors of estimates obtained for regressions between heart rate vs. workload (3.0 ± 1.3 vs. 3.8 ± 1.0 b·min; p = 0.004) and V[Combining Dot Above]O2 vs. heart rate (6.0 ± 2.1 vs. 4.8 ± 2.4 ml·kg·min; p = 0.05) were lower in CPET2 than in CPET1. In conclusion, the present adaptations in Ovando's CPET protocol increased exercise tolerance of PSHPs, eliciting higher V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak

Measurement protocol for performance testing of the determination of tritium in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

In the Health and Safety Executive's ''Requirements for the Approval of Dosimetry Services under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985'', it is stipulated that dosimetry services seeking approval must show that they have successfully completed a performance test. The services must arrange for the tests to be carried out on application and thereafter every 18 months, by a laboratory which has received accreditation from the National Measurement Accreditation Service (NAMAS) for conducting the performance tests. Accreditation by NAMAS ensures that the laboratories carrying out the performance tests are of an appropriate standard. It includes requirements for quality control and audit procedures, to authenticate traceability to national standards, and to provide a reliable record keeping system for the performance tests. A list of laboratories which are accredited by NAMAS for carrying out HSE published performance tests will be maintained by the Secretary of the Dosimetry Services Panel. The performance tests must be carried out to published protocols. The results have to be expressed in terms of bias and random error, as defined in HSE's criteria for performance tests. The purpose here is to provide a protocol for laboratories to conduct performance tests on dosimetry services performing tritium determinations in urine. The test is deliberately not exhaustive, instead it is a simple test allowing the basic performance of a service to be assessed for approval. (author)

A lightweight neighbor-info-based routing protocol for no-base-station taxi-call system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xudong; Wang, Jinhang; Chen, Yunchao

2014-01-01

Since the quick topology change and short connection duration, the VANET has had unstable routing and wireless signal quality. This paper proposes a kind of lightweight routing protocol-LNIB for call system without base station, which is applicable to the urban taxis. LNIB maintains and predicts neighbor information dynamically, thus finding the reliable path between the source and the target. This paper describes the protocol in detail and evaluates the performance of this protocol by simulating under different nodes density and speed. The result of evaluation shows that the performance of LNIB is better than AODV which is a classic protocol in taxi-call scene.

A Study of Shared-Memory Mutual Exclusion Protocols Using CADP

Science.gov (United States)

Mateescu, Radu; Serwe, Wendelin

Mutual exclusion protocols are an essential building block of concurrent systems: indeed, such a protocol is required whenever a shared resource has to be protected against concurrent non-atomic accesses. Hence, many variants of mutual exclusion protocols exist in the shared-memory setting, such as Peterson's or Dekker's well-known protocols. Although the functional correctness of these protocols has been studied extensively, relatively little attention has been paid to their non-functional aspects, such as their performance in the long run. In this paper, we report on experiments with the performance evaluation of mutual exclusion protocols using Interactive Markov Chains. Steady-state analysis provides an additional criterion for comparing protocols, which complements the verification of their functional properties. We also carefully re-examined the functional properties, whose accurate formulation as temporal logic formulas in the action-based setting turns out to be quite involved.

Efficient Cooperative Protocols for Full-Duplex Relaying over Nakagami-m Fading Channels

KAUST Repository

Khafagy, Mohammad Galal

2015-02-24

In this work, efficient protocols are studied for full-duplex relaying (FDR) with loopback interference over Nakagami-m block fading channels. Recently, a selective decodeand- forward (DF) protocol was proposed for FDR, and was shown to outperform existing protocols in terms of outage over Rayleigh-fading channels. In this work, we propose an incremental selective DF protocol that offers additional power savings, yet yields the same outage performance. We evaluate their outage performance over independent non-identically distributed Nakagami-m fading links, and study their relative performance in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio cumulative distribution function via closed-form expressions. The offered diversity gain is also derived. In addition, we study their performance relative to their half-duplex counterparts, as well as known non-selective FDR protocols. We corroborate our theoretical results with simulation, and confirm that selective cooperation protocols outperform the known non-selective protocols in terms of outage. Finally, we show that depending on the loopback interference level, the proposed protocols can outperform their half-duplex counterparts when high spectral efficiencies are targeted.

Efficient Cooperative Protocols for Full-Duplex Relaying over Nakagami-m Fading Channels

KAUST Repository

Khafagy, Mohammad Galal; Tammam, Amr; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Aissa, Sonia

2015-01-01

In this work, efficient protocols are studied for full-duplex relaying (FDR) with loopback interference over Nakagami-m block fading channels. Recently, a selective decodeand- forward (DF) protocol was proposed for FDR, and was shown to outperform existing protocols in terms of outage over Rayleigh-fading channels. In this work, we propose an incremental selective DF protocol that offers additional power savings, yet yields the same outage performance. We evaluate their outage performance over independent non-identically distributed Nakagami-m fading links, and study their relative performance in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio cumulative distribution function via closed-form expressions. The offered diversity gain is also derived. In addition, we study their performance relative to their half-duplex counterparts, as well as known non-selective FDR protocols. We corroborate our theoretical results with simulation, and confirm that selective cooperation protocols outperform the known non-selective protocols in terms of outage. Finally, we show that depending on the loopback interference level, the proposed protocols can outperform their half-duplex counterparts when high spectral efficiencies are targeted.

Chapter 2: Commercial and Industrial Lighting Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gowans, Dakers [Left Fork Energy, Harrison, NY (United States); Telarico, Chad [DNV GL, Mahwah, NJ (United States)

2017-11-02

The Commercial and Industrial Lighting Evaluation Protocol (the protocol) describes methods to account for gross energy savings resulting from the programmatic installation of efficient lighting equipment in large populations of commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities. This protocol does not address savings resulting from changes in codes and standards, or from education and training activities. A separate Uniform Methods Project (UMP) protocol, Chapter 3: Commercial and Industrial Lighting Controls Evaluation Protocol, addresses methods for evaluating savings resulting from lighting control measures such as adding time clocks, tuning energy management system commands, and adding occupancy sensors.

Analyzing the effect of routing protocols on media access control protocols in radio networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrett, C. L. (Christopher L.); Drozda, M. (Martin); Marathe, A. (Achla); Marathe, M. V. (Madhav V.)

2002-01-01

We study the effect of routing protocols on the performance of media access control (MAC) protocols in wireless radio networks. Three well known MAC protocols: 802.11, CSMA, and MACA are considered. Similarly three recently proposed routing protocols: AODV, DSR and LAR scheme 1 are considered. The experimental analysis was carried out using GloMoSim: a tool for simulating wireless networks. The main focus of our experiments was to study how the routing protocols affect the performance of the MAC protocols when the underlying network and traffic parameters are varied. The performance of the protocols was measured w.r.t. five important parameters: (i) number of received packets, (ii) average latency of each packet, (iii) throughput (iv) long term fairness and (v) number of control packets at the MAC layer level. Our results show that combinations of routing and MAC protocols yield varying performance under varying network topology and traffic situations. The result has an important implication; no combination of routing protocol and MAC protocol is the best over all situations. Also, the performance analysis of protocols at a given level in the protocol stack needs to be studied not locally in isolation but as a part of the complete protocol stack. A novel aspect of our work is the use of statistical technique, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) to characterize the effect of routing protocols on MAC protocols. This technique is of independent interest and can be utilized in several other simulation and empirical studies.

Evaluating Management Information Systems, A Protocol for Automated Peer Review Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Gordon C.

1980-01-01

This paper discusses key issues in evaluating an automated Peer Review System. Included are the conceptual base, design, steps in planning structural components, operation parameters, criteria, costs and a detailed outline or protocol for use in the evaluation. At the heart of the Peer Review System is the criteria utilized for measuring quality. Criteria evaluation should embrace, as a minimum, appropriateness, validity and reliability, and completemess or comprehensiveness of content. Such an evaluation is not complete without determining the impact (clinical outcome) of the service system or the patient and the population served.

Advanced dementia pain management protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoro-Lorite, Mercedes; Canalias-Reverter, Montserrat

Pain management in advanced dementia is complex because of neurological deficits present in these patients, and nurses are directly responsible for providing interventions for the evaluation, management and relief of pain for people suffering from this health problem. In order to facilitate and help decision-makers, pain experts recommend the use of standardized protocols to guide pain management, but in Spain, comprehensive pain management protocols have not yet been developed for advanced dementia. This article reflects the need for an integrated management of pain in advanced dementia. From the review and analysis of the most current and relevant studies in the literature, we performed an approximation of the scales for the determination of pain in these patients, with the observational scale PAINAD being the most recommended for the hospital setting. In addition, we provide an overview for comprehensive management of pain in advanced dementia through the conceptual framework «a hierarchy of pain assessment techniques by McCaffery and Pasero» for the development and implementation of standardized protocols, including a four-phase cyclical process (evaluation, planning/performance, revaluation and recording), which can facilitate the correct management of pain in these patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a protocol for the non-operative management of perforated peptic ulcer.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, C; Ramaswamy, P; Bergin, F G; Rosenberg, I L; Leaper, D J

1999-01-01

The non-operative management of perforated peptic ulcer has previously been shown to be both safe and effective although it remains controversial. A protocol for non-operative management was set up in this hospital in 1989. Adherence to the guidelines in the protocol has been audited over a 6-year period with a review of outcome. The case-notes of patients with a diagnosis of perforated peptic ulcer were reviewed. Twelve guidelines from the protocol were selected for evaluation of compliance to the protocol. Forty-nine patients underwent non-operative treatment initially. Eight patients failed to respond and underwent operation. Complications included abscess formation (seven patients), renal failure (one), gastric ileus (one), chest infection (two), and cardiac failure and stroke (one). Four deaths occurred in this group. Adherence to certain protocol guidelines was poor, notably those concerning prevention of thromboembolism, use of antibiotics, use of contrast examination to confirm the diagnosis and referral for follow-up endoscopy. Two gastric cancers were detected on subsequent endoscopy. This experience demonstrates that non-operative treatment can be used successfully in a general hospital. Adherence to protocol guidelines was found to be variable and the protocol has therefore been simplified. This study highlights the need for an accurate diagnosis and the importance of follow-up endoscopy.

Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol to Enhance Performance of Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network: EECPEP-HWSN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santosh V. Purkar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Heterogeneous wireless sensor network (HWSN fulfills the requirements of researchers in the design of real life application to resolve the issues of unattended problem. But, the main constraint faced by researchers is the energy source available with sensor nodes. To prolong the life of sensor nodes and thus HWSN, it is necessary to design energy efficient operational schemes. One of the most suitable approaches to enhance energy efficiency is the clustering scheme, which enhances the performance parameters of WSN. A novel solution proposed in this article is to design an energy efficient clustering protocol for HWSN, to enhance performance parameters by EECPEP-HWSN. The proposed protocol is designed with three level nodes namely normal, advanced, and super, respectively. In the clustering process, for selection of cluster head we consider different parameters available with sensor nodes at run time that is, initial energy, hop count, and residual energy. This protocol enhances the energy efficiency of HWSN and hence improves energy remaining in the network, stability, lifetime, and hence throughput. It has been found that the proposed protocol outperforms than existing well-known LEACH, DEEC, and SEP with about 188, 150, and 141 percent respectively.

Who needs inpatient detox? Development and implementation of a hospitalist protocol for the evaluation of patients for alcohol detoxification.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, John R; Liles, E Allen; Dancel, Ria; Gilchrist, Michael; Kirsch, Jonathan; DeWalt, Darren A

2014-04-01

Clinicians caring for patients seeking alcohol detoxification face many challenges, including lack of evidence-based guidelines for treatment and high recidivism rates. To develop a standardized protocol for determining which alcohol dependent patients seeking detoxification need inpatient versus outpatient treatment, and to study the protocol's implementation. Review of best evidence by ad hoc task force and subsequent creation of standardized protocol. Prospective observational evaluation of initial protocol implementation. Patients presenting for alcohol detoxification. Development and implementation of a protocol for evaluation and treatment of patients requesting alcohol detoxification. Number of admissions per month with primary alcohol related diagnosis (DRG), 30-day readmission rate, and length of stay, all measured before and after protocol implementation. We identified one randomized clinical trial and three cohort studies to inform the choice of inpatient versus outpatient detoxification, along with one prior protocol in this population, and combined that data with clinical experience to create an institutional protocol. After implementation, the average number of alcohol related admissions was 15.9 per month, compared with 18.9 per month before implementation (p = 0.037). There was no difference in readmission rate or length of stay. Creation and utilization of a protocol led to standardization of care for patients requesting detoxification from alcohol. Initial evaluation of protocol implementation showed a decrease in number of admissions.

Performance evaluation of 8 CT scanners for clinical use in Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinto, I.; De Denaro, M.; Giribona, P.; Gicericin, C.; Bravar, D.

1988-01-01

In the past few years the use of CT scanners has widely spread in Italian care institutions. This methodology has thus become an important creates the need for an accurate study of the various aspects of the phenomenon, e.g. technological, diagnostic and economic. In order to evaluate the quality of the CT scanners used in our country, the majors suppliers of the Italian market were asked to provide us with a unit from their production. Six out of 7 companies complied with our request. A standard protocol was used to evaluate the performance of 8 CT scanners, currently used in Italy. The following parameters were evaluated: spatial resolution, contrast resolution, noise, slice thickness, uniformity, linearity and radiation dose. Five currently-used operating modalities were employed. The results allow an overall assessment of the performance of the 8 CT scanners

Protocol to Exploit Waiting Resources for UASNs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Ling Hung

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The transmission speed of acoustic waves in water is much slower than that of radio waves in terrestrial wireless sensor networks. Thus, the propagation delay in underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASN is much greater. Longer propagation delay leads to complicated communication and collision problems. To solve collision problems, some studies have proposed waiting mechanisms; however, long waiting mechanisms result in low bandwidth utilization. To improve throughput, this study proposes a slotted medium access control protocol to enhance bandwidth utilization in UASNs. The proposed mechanism increases communication by exploiting temporal and spatial resources that are typically idle in order to protect communication against interference. By reducing wait time, network performance and energy consumption can be improved. A performance evaluation demonstrates that when the data packets are large or sensor deployment is dense, the energy consumption of proposed protocol is less than that of existing protocols as well as the throughput is higher than that of existing protocols.

Performance Comparison of Wireless Sensor Network Standard Protocols in an Aerospace Environment: ISA100.11a and ZigBee

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Raymond S.; Barton, Richard J.

2011-01-01

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) can provide a substantial benefit in spacecraft systems, reducing launch weight and providing unprecedented flexibility by allowing instrumentation capabilities to grow and change over time. Achieving data transport reliability on par with that of wired systems, however, can prove extremely challenging in practice. Fortunately, much progress has been made in developing standard WSN radio protocols for applications from non-critical home automation to mission-critical industrial process control. The relative performances of candidate protocols must be compared in representative aerospace environments, however, to determine their suitability for spaceflight applications. In this paper, we will present the results of a rigorous laboratory analysis of the performance of two standards-based, low power, low data rate WSN protocols: ZigBee Pro and ISA100.11a. Both are based on IEEE 802.15.4 and augment that standard's specifications to build complete, multi-hop networking stacks. ZigBee Pro targets primarily the home and office automation markets, providing an ad-hoc protocol that is computationally lightweight and easy to implement in inexpensive system-on-a-chip components. As a result of this simplicity, however, ZigBee Pro can be susceptible to radio frequency (RF) interference. ISA100.11a, on the other hand, targets the industrial process control market, providing a robust, centrally-managed protocol capable of tolerating a significant amount of RF interference. To achieve these gains, a coordinated channel hopping mechanism is employed, which entails a greater computational complexity than ZigBee and requires more sophisticated and costly hardware. To guide future aerospace deployments, we must understand how well these standards relatively perform in analog environments under expected operating conditions. Specifically, we are interested in evaluating goodput -- application level throughput -- in a representative crewed environment

Diagnostic performance of the three-dimensional fast spin echo-Cube sequence in comparison with a conventional imaging protocol in evaluation of the lachrymal drainage system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jing; Chen, Lang; Wang, Qiu-Xia; Zhu, Wen-Zhen; Luo, Xin; Peng, Li; Liu, Rong; Xiong, Wei

2015-01-01

To compare the three-dimensional (3D)-fast spin-echo (FSE)-Cube with a conventional imaging protocol in evaluation of dacryostenosis. Thirty-three patients with epiphora underwent examinations using Cube magnetic resonance dacryocystography (MRD) and a conventional protocol, which included 3D fast-recovery fast spin-echo (FRFSE) MRD and two-dimensional (2D)-FSE sequences at 3.0 T. Using lachrymal endoscopic findings as the reference standard, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of both protocols for detecting lachrymal drainage system (LDS) obstruction and their accuracies in depicting the level of obstruction. Comparable coronal and axial images were selected for bot sequences. Two neuroradiologists graded paired images for blurring, artefacts, anatomic details, and overall image quality. The two methods showed no significant difference in sensitivity (89.5 % vs. 94.7 %; p =0.674), specificity (64.3 %; p =1) or accuracy (86.8 %; p =1) in detecting or depicting LDS obstruction. Blurring and artefacts were significantly better on 2D-FSE images (p 0.05). In comparison with the conventional protocol, Cube MRD demonstrates satisfactory image quality and similar diagnostic capability for cases of possible LDS disease. (orig.)

Two analytical models for evaluating performance of Gigabit Ethernet Hosts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salah, K.

2006-01-01

Two analytical models are developed to study the impact of interrupt overhead on operating system performance of network hosts when subjected to Gigabit network traffic. Under heavy network traffic, the system performance will be negatively affected due to interrupt overhead caused by incoming traffic. In particular, excessive latency and significant degradation in system throughput can be experienced. Also user application may livelock as the CPU power is mostly consumed by interrupt handling and protocol processing. In this paper we present and compare two analytical models that capture host behavior and evaluate its performance. The first model is based Markov processes and queuing theory, while the second, which is more accurate but more complex is a pure Markov process. For the most part both models give mathematically-equivalent closed-form solutions for a number of important system performance metrics. These metrics include throughput, latency and stability condition, CPU utilization of interrupt handling and protocol processing and CPU availability for user applications. The analysis yields insight into understanding and predicting the impact of system and network choices on the performance of interrupt-driven systems when subjected to light and heavy network loads. More, importantly, our analytical work can also be valuable in improving host performance. The paper gives guidelines and recommendations to address design and implementation issues. Simulation and reported experimental results show that our analytical models are valid and give a good approximation. (author)

Standardised test protocol (Constant Score) for evaluation of functionality in patients with shoulder disorders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ban, Ilija; Troelsen, Anders; Christiansen, David Høyrup

2013-01-01

INTRODUCTION: The Constant Score (CS), developed as a scoring system to evaluate overall functionality of patients with shoulder disorders, is widely used but has been criticised for relying on an imprecise terminology and for lack of a standardised methodology. A modified guideline was therefore...... differences. One of the authors of the modified CS approved both the English and the Danish test protocol. CONCLUSION: A simple test protocol of the modified CS was developed in both English and Danish. With precise terminology and definitions, the test protocol is the first of its kind. We suggest its use...

Peak oxygen uptake in a sprint interval testing protocol vs. maximal oxygen uptake in an incremental testing protocol and their relationship with cross-country mountain biking performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hebisz, Rafał; Hebisz, Paulina; Zatoń, Marek; Michalik, Kamil

2017-04-01

In the literature, the exercise capacity of cyclists is typically assessed using incremental and endurance exercise tests. The aim of the present study was to confirm whether peak oxygen uptake (V̇O 2peak ) attained in a sprint interval testing protocol correlates with cycling performance, and whether it corresponds to maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O 2max ) determined by an incremental testing protocol. A sample of 28 trained mountain bike cyclists executed 3 performance tests: (i) incremental testing protocol (ITP) in which the participant cycled to volitional exhaustion, (ii) sprint interval testing protocol (SITP) composed of four 30 s maximal intensity cycling bouts interspersed with 90 s recovery periods, (iii) competition in a simulated mountain biking race. Oxygen uptake, pulmonary ventilation, work, and power output were measured during the ITP and SITP with postexercise blood lactate and hydrogen ion concentrations collected. Race times were recorded. No significant inter-individual differences were observed in regards to any of the ITP-associated variables. However, 9 individuals presented significantly increased oxygen uptake, pulmonary ventilation, and work output in the SITP compared with the remaining cyclists. In addition, in this group of 9 cyclists, oxygen uptake in SITP was significantly higher than in ITP. After the simulated race, this group of 9 cyclists achieved significantly better competition times (99.5 ± 5.2 min) than the other cyclists (110.5 ± 6.7 min). We conclude that mountain bike cyclists who demonstrate higher peak oxygen uptake in a sprint interval testing protocol than maximal oxygen uptake attained in an incremental testing protocol demonstrate superior competitive performance.

Protocol and the post-human performativity of security techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Grady, Nathaniel

2016-07-01

This article explores the deployment of exercises by the United Kingdom Fire and Rescue Service. Exercises stage, simulate and act out potential future emergencies and in so doing help the Fire and Rescue Service prepare for future emergencies. Specifically, exercises operate to assess and develop protocol; sets of guidelines which plan out the actions undertaken by the Fire and Rescue Service in responding to a fire. In the article I outline and assess the forms of knowledge and technologies, what I call the 'aesthetic forces', by which the exercise makes present and imagines future emergencies. By critically engaging with Karen Barad's notion of post-human performativity, I argue that exercises provide a site where such forces can entangle with one another; creating a bricolage through which future emergencies are evoked sensually and representatively, ultimately making it possible to experience emergencies in the present. This understanding of exercises allows also for critical appraisal of protocol both as phenomena that are produced through the enmeshing of different aesthetic forces and as devices which premise the operation of the security apparatus on contingency.

Field Monitoring Protocol. Heat Pump Water Heaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sparn, B. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Earle, L. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Christensen, D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Maguire, J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wilson, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hancock, C. E. [Mountain Energy Partnership, Longmont, CO (United States)

2013-02-01

This document provides a standard field monitoring protocol for evaluating the installed performance of Heat Pump Water Heaters in residential buildings. The report is organized to be consistent with the chronology of field test planning and execution. Research questions are identified first, followed by a discussion of analysis methods, and then the details of measuring the required information are laid out. A field validation of the protocol at a house near the NREL campus is included for reference.

Field Monitoring Protocol: Heat Pump Water Heaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sparn, B.; Earle, L.; Christensen, D.; Maguire, J.; Wilson, E.; Hancock, E.

2013-02-01

This document provides a standard field monitoring protocol for evaluating the installed performance of Heat Pump Water Heaters in residential buildings. The report is organized to be consistent with the chronology of field test planning and execution. Research questions are identified first, followed by a discussion of analysis methods, and then the details of measuring the required information are laid out. A field validation of the protocol at a house near the NREL campus is included for reference.

High-Performance CCSDS AOS Protocol Implementation in FPGA

Science.gov (United States)

Clare, Loren P.; Torgerson, Jordan L.; Pang, Jackson

2010-01-01

The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS) space data link protocol provides a framing layer between channel coding such as LDPC (low-density parity-check) and higher-layer link multiplexing protocols such as CCSDS Encapsulation Service, which is described in the following article. Recent advancement in RF modem technology has allowed multi-megabit transmission over space links. With this increase in data rate, the CCSDS AOS protocol implementation needs to be optimized to both reduce energy consumption and operate at a high rate.

Evaluation of Introduction of a Delayed Cord Clamping Protocol for Premature Neonates in a High-Volume Maternity Center.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lilly Y; Feinglass, Joe M; Khan, Janine Y; Gerber, Susan E; Grobman, William A; Yee, Lynn M

2017-05-01

To evaluate adherence to a delayed cord clamping protocol for preterm births in the first 2 years after its introduction, perform a quality improvement assessment, and determine neonatal outcomes associated with protocol implementation and adherence. This is a retrospective cohort study of women delivering singleton neonates at 23-32 weeks of gestation in the 2 years before (preprotocol) and 2 years after (postprotocol) introduction of a 30-second delayed cord clamping protocol at a large-volume academic center. This policy was communicated to obstetric and pediatric health care providers and nurses and reinforced with intermittent educational reviews. Barriers to receiving delayed cord clamping were assessed using χ tests and multivariable logistic regression. Neonatal outcomes then were compared between all neonates in the preprotocol period and all neonates in the postprotocol period and between all neonates in the preprotocol period and neonates receiving delayed cord clamping in the postprotocol period using multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses. Of the 427 eligible neonates, 187 were born postprotocol. Of these, 53.5% (n=100) neonates received delayed cord clamping according to the protocol. The rate of delayed cord clamping preprotocol was 0%. Protocol uptake and frequency of delayed cord clamping increased over the 2 years after its introduction. In the postprotocol period, cesarean delivery was the only factor independently associated with failing to receive delayed cord clamping (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.96). In comparison with the preprotocol period, those who received delayed cord clamping in the postprotocol period had significantly higher birth hematocrit (β=2.46, P=.007) and fewer blood transfusions in the first week of life (adjusted OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.25-0.96). After introduction of an institutional delayed cord clamping protocol followed by continued health care provider education and

Evaluation of the performance of diagnosis monitors in use in Salvador city: pilot study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Igor; Geambastiani, Paulo; Ferreira, Mario; Macedo, Eric; Navarro, Marcus; Navarro, Valeria; Pereira, Lara; Jesus, Evandro de; Leite, Handerson Jorge Dourado

2016-01-01

Radiologically, the image quality is the accuracy of the representation of the patient's anatomy. Considering the importance of the performance of the monitors to the overall effectiveness of a practice of diagnostic imaging, the objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of diagnostic monitors in use, using the method described in the report 03 of the AAPA and Spanish protocol, using calibrated instrumentation traceable to NIST and to RBC. The results of the monitors evaluated to date show 100% compliance for geometric distortion tests and internal reflection and 0% compliance to the dependence of luminance test. (author)

A protocol avoiding allogeneic transfusion in joint arthroplasties.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, You-Sung; Nho, Jae-Hwi; Choi, Hyung-Suk; Ha, Yong-Chan; Park, Jong-Seok; Koo, Kyung-Hoi

2016-09-01

Arthroplasties of hip and knee are associated with blood loss, which may lead to adverse patient outcome. Performing arthroplasties in Jehovah's Witness patients who do not accept transfusion has been a matter of concern. We developed a protocol, which avoids transfusion in arthroplasties of Jehovah's Witness patients, and evaluated the feasibility and safety of the protocol. The target of preoperative hemoglobin was more than 10 g/dL. When preoperative hemoglobin was lower than 10 g/dL, 4000 U erythropoietin (3 times a week) and 100 mg iron supplement (every day) were administered until the hemoglobin reached 10 g/dL. When the preoperative hemoglobin was higher than 10 g/dL, 4000 U erythropoietin and 100 mg iron supplement were administered once, before operation. During the operation, cell saver was used. Postoperatively, erythropoietin and iron supplements were administered until the hemoglobin reached 10 g/dL, similar to the preoperative protocol. We evaluated the feasibility of our protocol, perioperative complications and hematologic changes. From 2002 to 2014, 186 Witness patients visited our department. In 179 patients (96.2 %), 77 total knee arthroplasties, 69 bipolar hemiarthroplasties and 33 total hip arthroplasties were performed. The mean hemoglobin level was 12.3 g/dL preoperatively, 9.4 g/dL on postoperative day 3 and 10.3 g/dL on postoperative day 7. One patient died immediately after the arthroplasty and the remaining 178 patients survived. Total joint arthroplasty could be done without transfusion using this protocol in most of our patients. The rates of infection and mortality were similar with known infection and mortality rates of arthroplasties. In patients who do not want allogeneic transfusions, our protocol is a safe alternative to perform joint arthroplasties.

The characteristics and prognosis of patients fulfilling the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol in a medical admission unit; a prospective observational study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brabrand, Mikkel; Knudsen, Torben; Hallas, Jesper

2011-01-01

To examine the prognostic significance of fulfilling at least one of the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) criteria.......To examine the prognostic significance of fulfilling at least one of the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) criteria....

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT STRETCHING PROTOCOLS ON VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emre Serin

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to examine the effect of different stretching exercises on vertical jump performance. A total of 14 national male athletes sporting in the elite level took part in the study. The age average of the participants was 20.25±1.03 year, the average height was 1.80±.08 m, the average body weight was 77.14±18.91 kg, average of sporting age was 9.87±3.31 year and the average number of participation in international games was 10.0±3.31. As stretching protocol: Method 1 (5 minutes of jogging and 2 minutes of active rest followed by Method 2 (static stretching for 4 different muscle groups 3 repetitions for 15 seconds of static stretching, rest for 10 seconds between groups and then consecutively, Method 3 (Dynamic stretching exercises with 3 repetitions for 15 seconds and 10 seconds rest between different muscle groups were applied in the study. The vertical jump performance before and after different stretching exercises of the participants was determined by means of the vertical jump test using the smart speed lite system. Before and after the training of all athletes, HR was recorded with a heart rate monitor (RS 800, Polar Vantage NV, Polar Electro Oy, Finland with 5 seconds intervals. Before the study, the chest band of the heartbeat monitor was placed on the chest of the athlete and the HR was recorded from the monitor. SPSS 15.0 statistical package program was used for evaluation and calculation of the data. In this study in addition to descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation paired samples t-test was used to determine the difference between the vertical jump performance of the participants before and after different stretching exercises. As a result, this study showed that; applying the dynamic and static stretching exercises consecutively affected the vertical jump performance 4.5 cm positively (p<.05. It is suggested that different dynamic and static stretching exercises should be included in the vertical jump.

Evaluation of Extraction Protocols for Simultaneous Polar and Non-Polar Yeast Metabolite Analysis Using Multivariate Projection Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas P. Tambellini

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Metabolomic and lipidomic approaches aim to measure metabolites or lipids in the cell. Metabolite extraction is a key step in obtaining useful and reliable data for successful metabolite studies. Significant efforts have been made to identify the optimal extraction protocol for various platforms and biological systems, for both polar and non-polar metabolites. Here we report an approach utilizing chemoinformatics for systematic comparison of protocols to extract both from a single sample of the model yeast organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three chloroform/methanol/water partitioning based extraction protocols found in literature were evaluated for their effectiveness at reproducibly extracting both polar and non-polar metabolites. Fatty acid methyl esters and methoxyamine/trimethylsilyl derivatized aqueous compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry to evaluate non-polar or polar metabolite analysis. The comparative breadth and amount of recovered metabolites was evaluated using multivariate projection methods. This approach identified an optimal protocol consisting of 64 identified polar metabolites from 105 ion hits and 12 fatty acids recovered, and will potentially attenuate the error and variation associated with combining metabolite profiles from different samples for untargeted analysis with both polar and non-polar analytes. It also confirmed the value of using multivariate projection methods to compare established extraction protocols.

An in vitro evaluation of the degree of pulp tissue dissolution through different root canal irrigation protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Massimo; Pantaleo, Giuseppe; Abtellatif, Dina; Blasi, Andrea; Gagliani, Massimo; Iandolo, Alfredo

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate in vitro , using artificial lateral canals, the rate of dissolution of the pulp tissue through different protocols of canal irrigation. One hundred artificial canals provided with lateral canals have been used. Each lateral canal was filled with pulp tissue and calibrated to 0.002 mg. All canals were irrigated using five different protocols. Five groups have been used for the experiment: Group A, distilled water (control); Group B, preheated NaOCl; Group C, NaOCl heated inside the canal; Group D, NaOCl ultrasonically activated; and Group E, NaOCl heated inside the canal with ultrasonic activation. All samples were weighed through professional microbalance in three different phases: before insertion of the pulp tissue into the lateral canal, after insertion of the pulp tissue and, finally, after different protocols of irrigation. A statistical analysis with Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney test was performed. The partial dissolution of the pulp tissue inside the artificial lateral canal occurs only using the protocol with NaOCl heated inside the canal with ultrasonic activation. Other irrigation protocols are not able to dissolve the pulp tissue. The main objective of endodontic therapy is the removal of damaged tissues and bacteria. Modern literature highlights that it is impossible to remove all the pulp tissues and bacteria from the whole endodontic space. Hence, to achieve excellence and get positive results in the short and long term, it is necessary to use techniques and technologies that may increase the degree of root canal detersion.

Standard protocol for evaluation of environmental transfer factors around NPP sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegde, A.G.; Verma, P.C.; Rao, D.D.

2009-01-01

This document presents the standard procedures for evaluation of site specific environmental transfer factors around NPP sites. The scope of this document is to provide standard protocol to be followed for evaluation of environmental transfer factors around NPP sites. The studies on transfer factors are being carried out at various NPP sites under DAE-BRNS projects for evaluation of site specific transfer factors for radionuclides released from power plants. This document contains a common methodology in terms of sampling, processing, measurements and analysis of elemental/radionuclides, while keeping the site specific requirements also in place. (author)

A slotted access control protocol for metropolitan WDM ring networks

Science.gov (United States)

Baziana, P. A.; Pountourakis, I. E.

2009-03-01

In this study we focus on the serious scalability problems that many access protocols for WDM ring networks introduce due to the use of a dedicated wavelength per access node for either transmission or reception. We propose an efficient slotted MAC protocol suitable for WDM ring metropolitan area networks. The proposed network architecture employs a separate wavelength for control information exchange prior to the data packet transmission. Each access node is equipped with a pair of tunable transceivers for data communication and a pair of fixed tuned transceivers for control information exchange. Also, each access node includes a set of fixed delay lines for synchronization reasons; to keep the data packets, while the control information is processed. An efficient access algorithm is applied to avoid both the data wavelengths and the receiver collisions. In our protocol, each access node is capable of transmitting and receiving over any of the data wavelengths, facing the scalability issues. Two different slot reuse schemes are assumed: the source and the destination stripping schemes. For both schemes, performance measures evaluation is provided via an analytic model. The analytical results are validated by a discrete event simulation model that uses Poisson traffic sources. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol manages efficient bandwidth utilization, especially under high load. Also, comparative simulation results prove that our protocol achieves significant performance improvement as compared with other WDMA protocols which restrict transmission over a dedicated data wavelength. Finally, performance measures evaluation is explored for diverse numbers of buffer size, access nodes and data wavelengths.

Enhancing MAC performance of DCF protocol for IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Woo-Yong

2017-01-01

The DCF (Distributed Coordination Function) is the basic MAC (Medium Access Control) protocol of IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and compatible with various IEEE 802.11 PHY extensions. The performance of the DCF degrades exponentially as the number of nodes participating in the DCF transmission procedure increases. To deal with this problem, we propose a simple, however efficient modification of the DCF by which the performance of the DCF is greatly enhanced.

Chapter 6: Residential Lighting Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dimetrosky, Scott [Apex Analytics, LLC, Boulder, CO (United States); Parkinson, Katie [Apex Analytics, LLC, Boulder, CO (United States); Lieb, Noah [Apex Analytics, LLC, Boulder, CO (United States)

2017-10-19

Given new regulations, increased complexity in the market, and the general shift from CFLs to LEDs, this evaluation protocol was updated in 2017 to shift the focus of the protocols toward LEDs and away from CFLs and to resolve evaluation uncertainties affecting residential lighting incentive programs.

ARQ Protocols in Cognitive Decode-and-Forward Relay Networks: Opportunities Gain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zongsheng Zhang

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, two novel automatic-repeat-request (ARQ based protocols were proposed, which exploit coop- eration opportunity inherent in secondary retransmission to create access opportunities. If the signal was not decoded correctly in destination, another user can be acted as a relay to reduce retransmission rounds by relaying the signal. For comparison, we also propose a Direct ARQ Protocol. Specif- ically, we derive the exact closed-form outage probability of three protocols, which provides an effective means to evalu- ate the effects of several parameters. Moreover, we propose a new metric to evaluate the performance improvement for cognitive networks. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations were presented to validate the theory analysis, and a comparison is made among the three protocols.

Evaluation of image quality and dose in renal colic: comparison of different spiral-CT protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rimondini, A.; Mucelli, R.P.; Dalla Palma, L.; De Denaro, M.; Bregant, P.

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to test different technical spiral-CT parameters to obtain optimal image quality with reduced X-ray dose. Images were acquired with a spiral-CT system Philips Tomoscan AVE1, using 250 mA, 120 kV, and 1-s rotational time. Three protocols were tested: protocol A with 5-mm thickness, pitch 1.6, slice reconstruction every 2.5 mm; protocol B with 3-mm thickness, pitch 1.6, slice reconstruction every 1.5 mm; and protocol C with 3-mm thickness, pitch 2, slice reconstruction every 1.5 mm. Two phantoms were employed to evaluate the image quality. Axial images were acquired, then sagittal and coronal images were reconstructed. Finally, the absorbed X-ray dose for each protocol was measured. Regarding image quality, 5-mm-thick images (protocol A) showed greater spatial resolution and lower noise compared with 3-mm-thick images (protocols B and C) on the axial plane; 3-mm reconstructed sagittal and coronal images (protocols B and C) showed an improved image quality compared with 5-mm reformatted images (protocol A). Concerning X-ray dose, the mean dose was: protocol A 19.6±0.8 mGy; protocol B 14.4±0.6 mGy; protocol C 12.5±1.0 mGy. Our study supports the use of thin slices (3 mm) combined with pitch of 1.6 or 2 in renal colic for X-ray dose reduction to the patient and good image quality. (orig.)

Protocol of plain radiographs, hip ultrasound, and triple phase bone scans in the evaluation of the painful pediatric hip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, J.E.; Seibert, J.J.; Aronson, J.; Williamson, S.L.; Glasier, C.M.; Rodgers, A.B.; Corbitt, S.L.

1988-01-01

A useful protocol for the evaluation of hip pain in the pediatric patient, using a combination of plain radiographs, hip ultrasound (US), and triple phase radionuclide bone scans is presented. Patients with hip pain were initially evaluated by plain radiographs of the pelvis and hips. If no diagnosis was reached, the hips were studied for effusions by real-time hip ultrasonography. If an effusion was present, the joint was aspirated for diagnosis. If no effusion was present by US or if no diagnosis was reached by aspiration, triple phase radionuclide bone scans were performed. Fifty patients were evaluated by this prospective protocol, and the diagnosis was reached in 48 of the 50 cases (10 by plain radiographs, 16 by US, and aspiration of the joint, and 22 by triple phase bone scans). Hip effusions were found in 20 patients by US, with no false positives or false negatives. Previous studies for detecting effusions by US have emphasized absolute measurements of the capsular width, but we report a typical appearance of the hip capsule when fluid is present (a bulging convex capsule). When no effusion is present, the capsule is concave and parallels the long axis of the femoral neck

Body surface posture evaluation: construction, validation and protocol of the SPGAP system (Posture evaluation rotating platform system).

Science.gov (United States)

Schwertner, Debora Soccal; Oliveira, Raul; Mazo, Giovana Zarpellon; Gioda, Fabiane Rosa; Kelber, Christian Roberto; Swarowsky, Alessandra

2016-05-04

Several posture evaluation devices have been used to detect deviations of the vertebral column. However it has been observed that the instruments present measurement errors related to the equipment, environment or measurement protocol. This study aimed to build, validate, analyze the reliability and describe a measurement protocol for the use of the Posture Evaluation Rotating Platform System (SPGAP, Brazilian abbreviation). The posture evaluation system comprises a Posture Evaluation Rotating Platform, video camera, calibration support and measurement software. Two pilot studies were carried out with 102 elderly individuals (average age 69 years old, SD = ±7.3) to establish a protocol for SPGAP, controlling the measurement errors related to the environment, equipment and the person under evaluation. Content validation was completed with input from judges with expertise in posture measurement. The variation coefficient method was used to validate the measurement by the instrument of an object with known dimensions. Finally, reliability was established using repeated measurements of the known object. Expert content judges gave the system excellent ratings for content validity (mean 9.4 out of 10; SD 1.13). The measurement of an object with known dimensions indicated excellent validity (all measurement errors reality. To verify the images of objects with known dimensions the values for the width and height were, respectively, CV 0.88 (width) and 2.33 (height), SD 0.22 (width) and 0.35 (height), minimum and maximum values 24.83-25.2 (width) and 14.56 - 15.75 (height). In the analysis of different images (similar) of an individual, greater discrepancies were observed in the values found. The cervical index, for example, presented minimum and maximum values of 15.38 and 37.5, a coefficient of variation of 0.29 and a standard deviation of 6.78. The SPGAP was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument for the quantitative analysis of body posture with applicability and

An evaluation of business implications of the Kyoto Protocol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torvanger, Asbjoern

2001-12-01

This report has been commissioned by Norsk Hydro ASA and written in November-December 2001. The aim of the report is to present and analyze the newest developments in the climate negotiations, particularly the seventh Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention in Marrakech, Morocco, in October/November 2001, and to provide an evaluation of what the finalized Kyoto Protocol means for business. The report is organized as a collection of slides with supporting text explaining the background and contents of each slide. (author)

Wireless Power Transfer Protocols in Sensor Networks: Experiments and Simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotiris Nikoletseas

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Rapid technological advances in the domain of Wireless Power Transfer pave the way for novel methods for power management in systems of wireless devices, and recent research works have already started considering algorithmic solutions for tackling emerging problems. In this paper, we investigate the problem of efficient and balanced Wireless Power Transfer in Wireless Sensor Networks. We employ wireless chargers that replenish the energy of network nodes. We propose two protocols that configure the activity of the chargers. One protocol performs wireless charging focused on the charging efficiency, while the other aims at proper balance of the chargers’ residual energy. We conduct detailed experiments using real devices and we validate the experimental results via larger scale simulations. We observe that, in both the experimental evaluation and the evaluation through detailed simulations, both protocols achieve their main goals. The Charging Oriented protocol achieves good charging efficiency throughout the experiment, while the Energy Balancing protocol achieves a uniform distribution of energy within the chargers.

Performance evaluation of enzyme immunoassay for voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring with automated clinical chemistry analyzers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Yongbum; Han, Minje; Han, Eun Young; Lee, Kyunghoon; Song, Junghan; Song, Sang Hoon

2017-08-01

Voriconazole is a triazole antifungal developed for the treatment of fungal infectious disease, and the clinical utility of its therapeutic drug monitoring has been evaluated. Recently, a new assay for analyzing the serum voriconazole concentration with an automated clinical chemistry analyzer was developed. We evaluated the performance of the new assay based on standardized protocols. The analytical performance of the assay was evaluated according to its precision, trueness by recovery, limit of quantitation, linearity, and correlation with results from liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The evaluation was performed with the same protocol on two different routine chemistry analyzers. All evaluations were performed according to CLSI Guidelines EP15, EP17, EP6, and EP9 [1-4]. Coefficients of variation for within-run and between-day imprecision were 3.2-5.1% and 1.5-3.0%, respectively, on the two different analyzers for pooled serum samples. The recovery rates were in the range of 95.4-102.2%. The limit of blank was 0.0049 μg/mL, and the limit of detection of the samples was 0.0266-0.0376 μg/mL. The percent recovery at three LoQ levels were 67.9-74.6% for 0.50 μg/mL, 75.5-80.2% for 0.60 μg/mL, and 89.9-96.6% for 0.70 μg/mL. A linear relationship was demonstrated between 0.5 μg/mL and 16.0 μg/mL ( R 2 =0.9995-0.9998). The assay correlated well with LC-MS/MS results ( R 2 =0.9739-0.9828). The assay showed acceptable precision, trueness, linearity, and limit of quantification, and correlated well with LC-MS/MS. Therefore, its analytical performance is satisfactory for monitoring the drug concentration of voriconazole.

Use of limited MR protocol (coronal STIR) in the evaluation of patients with hip pain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoury, N.J.; Birjawi, G.A.; Hourani, M.H.; Chaaya, M.

2003-01-01

To assess the role of a limited MR protocol (coronal STIR) as the initial part of the MR examination in patients with hip pain. Eighty-five patients presenting with hip pain, and normal radiographs of the pelvis, and who underwent our full MR protocol for hips were included retrospectively in the study. The full protocol consists of coronal T1-weighted and short tau inversion-recovery (STIR), and axial T2-weighted sequences. Ninety-three MR examinations were performed. Two radiologists interpreted the STIR (limited) examinations and the full studies separately, masked to each other's findings and to the final diagnosis. Comparison between the two protocols was then undertaken. For both readers, all normal MR examinations on the coronal STIR limited protocol were normal on the full protocol, with an interobserver reliability of 0.96. The STIR protocol was able to detect the presence or absence of an abnormality in 100% of cases (sensitivity). The STIR-only protocol provided a specific diagnosis in only 65% of cases (specificity). A normal coronal STIR study of the hips in patients with hip pain and normal radiographs precludes the need for further pelvic MR sequences. Any abnormality detected on this limited protocol should be further assessed by additional MR sequences. (orig.)

Protocol compliance of administering parenteral medication in Dutch hospitals: an evaluation and cost-estimation of the implementation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schilp, J.; Boot, S.; Blok, C. de; Spreeuwenberg, P.; Wagner, C.

2014-01-01

Objectives: Preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) are closely related to administration processes of parenteral medication. The Dutch Patient Safety Program provided a protocol for administering parenteral medication to reduce the amount of ADEs. The execution of the protocol was evaluated and a

Acute Effects of Back Squats on Countermovement Jump Performance Across Multiple Sets of A Contrast Training Protocol in Resistance-Trained Males.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Pascal; Sansone, Pierpaolo; Mitter, Benedikt; Makivic, Bojan; Seitz, Laurent B; Tschan, Harald

2018-01-03

The present study was designed to evaluate the voluntary post-activation potentiation (PAP) effects of moderate (MI) or high intensity (HI) back squat exercises on countermovement jump (CMJ) performance across multiple sets of a contrast training protocol. Sixty resistance-trained male subjects (age, 23.3 ± 3.3 y; body mass, 86.0 ± 13.9 kg; parallel back squat 1-repetition maximum [1-RM], 155.2 ± 30.0 kg) participated in a randomized, cross-over study. After familiarization, the subjects visited the laboratory on three separate occasions. They performed a contrast PAP protocol comprising three sets of either MI (6×60% of 1-RM) or HI back squats (4x90% of 1-RM) or 20 s of recovery (CTRL) alternated with seven CMJs that were performed at 15 s, and 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 min after the back squats or recovery. Jump height and relative peak power output recorded with a force platform during MI and HI conditions were compared to those recorded during control condition to calculate the voluntary PAP effect. CMJ performance was decreased immediately after the squats but increased across all three sets of MI and HI between 3 - 7 minutes post-recovery. However, voluntary PAP effects were small or trivial and no difference between the three sets could be found. These findings demonstrate that practitioners can use MI and HI back squats to potentiate CMJs across a contrast training protocol, but a minimum of 3 min of recovery after the squats is needed to benefit from voluntary PAP.

Engaging evaluation research: Reflecting on the process of sexual assault/domestic violence protocol evaluation research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mavis Morton

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In keeping within the theme of CU Expo 2013, ‘Engaging Shared Worlds’, this case study examines and reflects on a complex community-university partnership which developed to conceptualise, design, conduct and communicate evaluation research on one community’s sexual assault and domestic violence protocol. As community-university partners coming together for the first time, we reflect on the purpose of our engagement, the characteristics and principles which define our partnership and our potential to teach graduate students how to undertake community-engaged scholarship. Keywords: Community-engaged research, evaluation research, complex community-university partnerships, scholarship of engagement, practice research

A Hierarchical Energy Efficient Reliable Transport Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prabhudutta Mohanty

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The two important requirements for many Wireless Senor Networks (WSNs are prolonged network lifetime and end-to-end reliability. The sensor nodes consume more energy during data transmission than the data sensing. In WSN, the redundant data increase the energy consumption, latency and reduce reliability during data transmission. Therefore, it is important to support energy efficient reliable data transport in WSNs. In this paper, we present a Hierarchical Energy Efficient Reliable Transport Protocol (HEERTP for the data transmission within the WSN. This protocol maximises the network lifetime by controlling the redundant data transmission with the co-ordination of Base Station (BS. The proposed protocol also achieves end-to-end reliability using a hop-by-hop acknowledgement scheme. We evaluate the performance of the proposed protocol through simulation. The simulation results reveal that our proposed protocol achieves better performance in terms of energy efficiency, latency and reliability than the existing protocols.

Effects of carbohydrate and caffeine ingestion on performance during a rugby union simulation protocol

OpenAIRE

Roberts, Simon P; Stokes, Keith A; Trewartha, Grant; Doyle, J; Hogben, P; Thompson, Dylan

2010-01-01

In this study, we investigated the effect of ingesting carbohydrate alone or with caffeine on performance of a rugby union-specific shuttle running protocol. On three occasions, at least one week apart in a counterbalanced trial order, eight male rugby union forwards ingested either placebo or carbohydrate (1.2g center dot kg-1 body mass center dot h-1) before and during a rugby union-specific protocol, with pre-exercise caffeine ingestion (4mg center dot kg-1) before one of the carbohydrate ...

Design and analysis of communication protocols for quantum repeater networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Cody; Kim, Danny; Rakher, Matthew T; Ladd, Thaddeus D; Kwiat, Paul G

2016-01-01

We analyze how the performance of a quantum-repeater network depends on the protocol employed to distribute entanglement, and we find that the choice of repeater-to-repeater link protocol has a profound impact on entanglement-distribution rate as a function of hardware parameters. We develop numerical simulations of quantum networks using different protocols, where the repeater hardware is modeled in terms of key performance parameters, such as photon generation rate and collection efficiency. These parameters are motivated by recent experimental demonstrations in quantum dots, trapped ions, and nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. We find that a quantum-dot repeater with the newest protocol (‘MidpointSource’) delivers the highest entanglement-distribution rate for typical cases where there is low probability of establishing entanglement per transmission, and in some cases the rate is orders of magnitude higher than other schemes. Our simulation tools can be used to evaluate communication protocols as part of designing a large-scale quantum network. (paper)

A STRONG SECURITY PROTOCOL AGAINST FINGERPRINT DATABASE ATTACKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Latha

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The Biometric data is subject to on-going changes and create a crucial problem in fingerprint database. To deal with this, a security protocol is proposed to protect the finger prints information from the prohibited users. Here, a security protocol is proposed to protect the finger prints information. The proposed system comprised of three phases namely, fingerprint reconstruction, feature extraction and development of trigon based security protocol. In fingerprint reconstruction, the different crack variance level finger prints images are reconstructed by the M-band Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DTCWT. After that features are extracted by binarization. A set of finger print images are utilized to evaluate the performance of security protocol and the result from this process guarantees the healthiness of the proposed trigon based security protocol. The implementation results show the effectiveness of proposed trigon based security protocol in protecting the finger print information and the achieved improvement in image reconstruction and the security process.

A USER－DEPENDENT PERFECT－SCHEDULING MULTIPLE ACCESS PROTOCOL FOR VOICE－DATA INTEGRATION IN WIRELESS NETWORKDS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2002-01-01

A novel Multiple Access Control(MAC) protocol-User-dependent Perfect-scheduling Multiple Access(UPMA) protocol,which supports joint transmission of voice and data packets,is proposed.By this protocol,the bandwidth can be allocated dynamically to the uplink and downlink traffic with on-demand assignment and the transmission of Mobile Terminals(MTs) can be perfectly scheduled by means of polling.Meanwhile.a unique frame stucture is designed to guarantee Quality of Service(QoS) in voice traffic supporting.An effective colision resolution algorthm is also proposed to guarantee rapid channel access for activated MTs.Finally,performance of UPMA protocol is evaluated by simulation and compared with MPRMA protocol.Simulation results show that UPMA protocol has better performance.

A USER-DEPENDENT PERFECT-SCHEDULING MULTIPLE ACCESS PROTOCOL FOR VOICE-DATA INTEGRATION IN WIRELESS NETWORKS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhou Yajian; Li Jiandong; Liu Kai

2002-01-01

A novel Multiple Access Control (MAC) protocol - User-dependent Perfect-scheduling Multiple Access (UPMA) protocol, which supports joint transmission of voice and data packets,is proposed. By this protocol, the bandwidth can be allocated dynamically to the uplink and downlink traffic with on-demand assignment and the transmission of Mobile Terminals (MTs)can be perfectly scheduled by means of polling. Meanwhile, a unique frame structure is designed to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) in voice traffic supporting. An effective collision resolution algorithm is also proposed to guarantee rapid channel access for activated MTs. Finally, performance of UPMA protocol is evaluated by simulation and compared with MPRMA protocol.Simulation results show that UPMA protocol has better performance.

Using semantics for representing experimental protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Giraldo, Olga; García, Alexander; López, Federico; Corcho, Oscar

2017-11-13

An experimental protocol is a sequence of tasks and operations executed to perform experimental research in biological and biomedical areas, e.g. biology, genetics, immunology, neurosciences, virology. Protocols often include references to equipment, reagents, descriptions of critical steps, troubleshooting and tips, as well as any other information that researchers deem important for facilitating the reusability of the protocol. Although experimental protocols are central to reproducibility, the descriptions are often cursory. There is the need for a unified framework with respect to the syntactic structure and the semantics for representing experimental protocols. In this paper we present "SMART Protocols ontology", an ontology for representing experimental protocols. Our ontology represents the protocol as a workflow with domain specific knowledge embedded within a document. We also present the S ample I nstrument R eagent O bjective (SIRO) model, which represents the minimal common information shared across experimental protocols. SIRO was conceived in the same realm as the Patient Intervention Comparison Outcome (PICO) model that supports search, retrieval and classification purposes in evidence based medicine. We evaluate our approach against a set of competency questions modeled as SPARQL queries and processed against a set of published and unpublished protocols modeled with the SP Ontology and the SIRO model. Our approach makes it possible to answer queries such as Which protocols use tumor tissue as a sample. Improving reporting structures for experimental protocols requires collective efforts from authors, peer reviewers, editors and funding bodies. The SP Ontology is a contribution towards this goal. We build upon previous experiences and bringing together the view of researchers managing protocols in their laboratory work. Website: https://smartprotocols.github.io/ .

An Evaluation Methodology for Protocol Analysis Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2007-03-01

Main Memory Requirement NS: Needham-Schroeder NSL: Needham-Schroeder-Lowe OCaml : Objective Caml POSIX: Portable Operating System...methodology is needed. A. PROTOCOL ANALYSIS FIELD As with any field, there is a specialized language used within the protocol analysis community. Figure...ProVerif requires that Objective Caml ( OCaml ) be installed on the system, OCaml version 3.09.3 was installed. C. WINDOWS CONFIGURATION OS

Feasibility of Automatic Extraction of Electronic Health Data to Evaluate a Status Epilepticus Clinical Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Hafeez, Baria; Paolicchi, Juliann; Pon, Steven; Howell, Joy D; Grinspan, Zachary M

2016-05-01

Status epilepticus is a common neurologic emergency in children. Pediatric medical centers often develop protocols to standardize care. Widespread adoption of electronic health records by hospitals affords the opportunity for clinicians to rapidly, and electronically evaluate protocol adherence. We reviewed the clinical data of a small sample of 7 children with status epilepticus, in order to (1) qualitatively determine the feasibility of automated data extraction and (2) demonstrate a timeline-style visualization of each patient's first 24 hours of care. Qualitatively, our observations indicate that most clinical data are well labeled in structured fields within the electronic health record, though some important information, particularly electroencephalography (EEG) data, may require manual abstraction. We conclude that a visualization that clarifies a patient's clinical course can be automatically created using the patient's electronic clinical data, supplemented with some manually abstracted data. Future work could use this timeline to evaluate adherence to status epilepticus clinical protocols. © The Author(s) 2015.

Performance Evaluation of AODV, DSR, DYMO & ZRP in Cost 231 Walfisch-Ikegami Path Loss Propagation Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachit JAIN

2011-07-01

Full Text Available A Mobile Ad hoc NETwork is a kind of wireless ad-hoc network, and is a self configuring network of mobile routers connected by wireless links. Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET is a wireless network without infrastructure. Self configurability and easy deployment feature of the MANET resulted in numerous applications in this modern era. Efficient routing protocols will make MANETs reliable. Various research communities are working in field of MANET and trying to adopt the protocols and technology in other applications as well. In this work, we present investigations on the behavior of various routing protocol of MANET with a Cost 231 Walfisch-Ikegami Propagation Model. We evaluate the performance of four different ad-hoc routing protocols on four performance metrics such as Average Jitter, Average End-to-End Delay, Throughput, and Packet Delivery Fraction with varying Pause Time. From the simulation results it is concluded that DSR is better in transmission of packets per unit time and maximum number of packets reached their destination successfully with some delays, i.e. PDF & Throughput is more and Average jitter & end-to-end delay is less. Whereas AODV & ZRP having almost same values in all of the performance metrics, they transmit packets with very less delay but transmits less packets to their destination as compare to DSR

In silico toxicology protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Myatt, Glenn J; Ahlberg, Ernst; Akahori, Yumi; Allen, David; Amberg, Alexander; Anger, Lennart T; Aptula, Aynur; Auerbach, Scott; Beilke, Lisa; Bellion, Phillip; Benigni, Romualdo; Bercu, Joel; Booth, Ewan D; Bower, Dave; Brigo, Alessandro; Burden, Natalie; Cammerer, Zoryana; Cronin, Mark T D; Cross, Kevin P; Custer, Laura; Dettwiler, Magdalena; Dobo, Krista; Ford, Kevin A; Fortin, Marie C; Gad-McDonald, Samantha E; Gellatly, Nichola; Gervais, Véronique; Glover, Kyle P; Glowienke, Susanne; Van Gompel, Jacky; Gutsell, Steve; Hardy, Barry; Harvey, James S; Hillegass, Jedd; Honma, Masamitsu; Hsieh, Jui-Hua; Hsu, Chia-Wen; Hughes, Kathy; Johnson, Candice; Jolly, Robert; Jones, David; Kemper, Ray; Kenyon, Michelle O; Kim, Marlene T; Kruhlak, Naomi L; Kulkarni, Sunil A; Kümmerer, Klaus; Leavitt, Penny; Majer, Bernhard; Masten, Scott; Miller, Scott; Moser, Janet; Mumtaz, Moiz; Muster, Wolfgang; Neilson, Louise; Oprea, Tudor I; Patlewicz, Grace; Paulino, Alexandre; Lo Piparo, Elena; Powley, Mark; Quigley, Donald P; Reddy, M Vijayaraj; Richarz, Andrea-Nicole; Ruiz, Patricia; Schilter, Benoit; Serafimova, Rositsa; Simpson, Wendy; Stavitskaya, Lidiya; Stidl, Reinhard; Suarez-Rodriguez, Diana; Szabo, David T; Teasdale, Andrew; Trejo-Martin, Alejandra; Valentin, Jean-Pierre; Vuorinen, Anna; Wall, Brian A; Watts, Pete; White, Angela T; Wichard, Joerg; Witt, Kristine L; Woolley, Adam; Woolley, David; Zwickl, Craig; Hasselgren, Catrin

2018-04-17

The present publication surveys several applications of in silico (i.e., computational) toxicology approaches across different industries and institutions. It highlights the need to develop standardized protocols when conducting toxicity-related predictions. This contribution articulates the information needed for protocols to support in silico predictions for major toxicological endpoints of concern (e.g., genetic toxicity, carcinogenicity, acute toxicity, reproductive toxicity, developmental toxicity) across several industries and regulatory bodies. Such novel in silico toxicology (IST) protocols, when fully developed and implemented, will ensure in silico toxicological assessments are performed and evaluated in a consistent, reproducible, and well-documented manner across industries and regulatory bodies to support wider uptake and acceptance of the approaches. The development of IST protocols is an initiative developed through a collaboration among an international consortium to reflect the state-of-the-art in in silico toxicology for hazard identification and characterization. A general outline for describing the development of such protocols is included and it is based on in silico predictions and/or available experimental data for a defined series of relevant toxicological effects or mechanisms. The publication presents a novel approach for determining the reliability of in silico predictions alongside experimental data. In addition, we discuss how to determine the level of confidence in the assessment based on the relevance and reliability of the information. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Thoraco-abdominal high-pitch dual-source CT angiography: Experimental evaluation of injection protocols with an anatomical human vascular phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puippe, Gilbert D., E-mail: gilbert.puippe@usz.ch [Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Winklehner, Anna [Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Hasenclever, Peter; Plass, André [Division of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Frauenfelder, Thomas; Baumueller, Stephan [Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zurich (Switzerland)

2012-10-15

Objective: To experimentally evaluate three different contrast injection protocols at thoraco-abdominal high-pitch dual-source computed tomography angiography (CTA), with regard to level and homogeneity of vascular enhancement at different cardiac outputs. Materials and methods: A uniphasic, a biphasic as well as an individually tailored contrast protocol were tested using a human vascular phantom. Each protocol was scanned at 5 different cardiac outputs (3–5 L/min, steps of 0.5 L/min) using an extracorporeal cardiac pump. Vascular enhancement of the thoraco-abdominal aorta was measured every 5 cm. Overall mean enhancement of each protocol and mean enhancement for each cardiac output within each protocol were calculated. Enhancement homogeneity along the z-axis was evaluated for each cardiac output and protocol. Results: Overall mean enhancement was significantly higher in the uniphasic than in the other two protocols (all p < .05), whereas the difference between the biphasic and tailored protocol was not significant (p = .76). Mean enhancement among each of the 5 cardiac outputs within each protocol was significantly different (all p < .05). Only within the tailored protocol mean enhancement differed not significantly at cardiac outputs of 3.5 L/min vs. 5 L/min (484 ± 25 HU vs. 476 ± 19 HU, p = .14) and 4 vs. 5 L/min (443 ± 49 HU vs. 476 ± 19 HU, p = .05). Both, uniphasic and tailored protocol yielded homogenous enhancement at all cardiac outputs, whereas the biphasic protocol failed to achieve homogenous enhancement. Conclusion: This phantom study suggests that diagnostic and homogenous enhancement at thoraco-abdominal high-pitch dual-source CTA is feasible with either a uniphasic or an individually tailored contrast protocol.

An electronic specimen collection protocol schema (eSCPS). Document architecture for specimen management and the exchange of specimen collection protocols between biobanking information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Eminaga, O; Semjonow, A; Oezguer, E; Herden, J; Akbarov, I; Tok, A; Engelmann, U; Wille, S

2014-01-01

The integrity of collection protocols in biobanking is essential for a high-quality sample preparation process. However, there is not currently a well-defined universal method for integrating collection protocols in the biobanking information system (BIMS). Therefore, an electronic schema of the collection protocol that is based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) is required to maintain the integrity and enable the exchange of collection protocols. The development and implementation of an electronic specimen collection protocol schema (eSCPS) was performed at two institutions (Muenster and Cologne) in three stages. First, we analyzed the infrastructure that was already established at both the biorepository and the hospital information systems of these institutions and determined the requirements for the sufficient preparation of specimens and documentation. Second, we designed an eSCPS according to these requirements. Finally, a prospective study was conducted to implement and evaluate the novel schema in the current BIMS. We designed an eSCPS that provides all of the relevant information about collection protocols. Ten electronic collection protocols were generated using the supplementary Protocol Editor tool, and these protocols were successfully implemented in the existing BIMS. Moreover, an electronic list of collection protocols for the current studies being performed at each institution was included, new collection protocols were added, and the existing protocols were redesigned to be modifiable. The documentation time was significantly reduced after implementing the eSCPS (5 ± 2 min vs. 7 ± 3 min; p = 0.0002). The eSCPS improves the integrity and facilitates the exchange of specimen collection protocols in the existing open-source BIMS.

Cross-Layer Protocol as a Better Option in Wireless Mesh Network with Respect to Layered-Protocol

OpenAIRE

Ahmed Abdulwahab Al-Ahdal; Dr. V. P. Pawar; G. N. Shinde

2014-01-01

The Optimal way to improve Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) performance is to use a better network protocol, but whether layered-protocol design or cross-layer design is a better option to optimize protocol performance in WMNs is still an on-going research topic. In this paper, we focus on cross-layer protocol as a better option with respect to layered-protocol. The layered protocol architecture (OSI) model divides networking tasks into layers and defines a pocket of services for each layer to b...

EVALUATION OF THE PROTOCOL FOR THE NATURAL ATTENUATION OF CHLORINATED SOLVENTS: CASE STUDY AT THE TWIN CITIES ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT

Science.gov (United States)

At the request of staff in the EPA Regions, EPA?s Office of Research and Development carried out an independent evaluation of the Technical Protocol for Evaluating Natural Attenuation of Chlorinated Solvents in Ground Water (EPA/600/R-98/128). The Protocol was developed around c...

A two-hop based adaptive routing protocol for real-time wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Rachamalla, Sandhya; Kancherla, Anitha Sheela

2016-01-01

One of the most important and challenging issues in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to optimally manage the limited energy of nodes without degrading the routing efficiency. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient adaptive routing mechanism for WSNs, which saves energy of nodes by removing the much delayed packets without degrading the real-time performance of the used routing protocol. It uses the adaptive transmission power algorithm which is based on the attenuation of the wireless link to improve the energy efficiency. The proposed routing mechanism can be associated with any geographic routing protocol and its performance is evaluated by integrating with the well known two-hop based real-time routing protocol, PATH and the resulting protocol is energy-efficient adaptive routing protocol (EE-ARP). The EE-ARP performs well in terms of energy consumption, deadline miss ratio, packet drop and end-to-end delay.

Radon in large buildings: The development of a protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, D.L.; Dudney, C.S.; Gammage, R.B.

1993-01-01

Over the past several years, considerable research has been devoted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and others to develop radon sampling protocols for single family residences and schools. However, very little research has been performed on measuring radon in the work place. To evaluate possible sampling protocols, 833 buildings throughout the United States were selected for extensive radon testing. The buildings tested (warehouses, production plants and office buildings) were representative of commercial buildings across the country both in design, size and use. Based on the results, preliminary radon sampling protocols for the work place have been developed

Computational Methodologies for Developing Structure–Morphology–Performance Relationships in Organic Solar Cells: A Protocol Review

KAUST Repository

Do, Khanh; Ravva, Mahesh Kumar; Wang, Tonghui; Bredas, Jean-Luc

2016-01-01

We outline a step-by-step protocol that incorporates a number of theoretical and computational methodologies to evaluate the structural and electronic properties of pi-conjugated semiconducting materials in the condensed phase. Our focus

Performance comparison of secure comparison protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerschbaum, F.; Biswas, D.; Hoogh, de S.J.A.

2009-01-01

Secure multiparty computation (SMC) has gained tremendous importance with the growth of the Internet and e-commerce, where mutually untrusted parties need to jointly compute a function of their private inputs. However, SMC protocols usually have very high computational complexities, rendering them

Evaluation of the articular cartilage of the knee joint: value of adding a T2 mapping sequence to a routine MR imaging protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Kijowski, Richard; Blankenbaker, Donna G; Munoz Del Rio, Alejandro; Baer, Geoffrey S; Graf, Ben K

2013-05-01

To determine whether the addition of a T2 mapping sequence to a routine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging protocol could improve diagnostic performance in the detection of surgically confirmed cartilage lesions within the knee joint at 3.0 T. This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. The study group consisted of 150 patients (76 male and 74 female patients with an average age of 41.2 and 41.5 years, respectively) who underwent MR imaging and arthroscopy of the knee joint. MR imaging was performed at 3.0 T by using a routine protocol with the addition of a sagittal T2 mapping sequence. Images from all MR examinations were reviewed in consensus by two radiologists before surgery to determine the presence or absence of cartilage lesions on each articular surface, first by using the routine MR protocol alone and then by using the routine MR protocol with T2 maps. Each articular surface was then evaluated at arthroscopy. Generalized estimating equation models were used to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the routine MR imaging protocol with and without T2 maps in the detection of surgically confirmed cartilage lesions. The sensitivity and specificity in the detection of 351 cartilage lesions were 74.6% and 97.8%, respectively, for the routine MR protocol alone and 88.9% and 93.1% for the routine MR protocol with T2 maps. Differences in sensitivity and specificity were statistically significant (P T2 maps to the routine MR imaging protocol significantly improved the sensitivity in the detection of 24 areas of cartilage softening (from 4.2% to 62%, P T2 mapping sequence to a routine MR protocol at 3.0 T improved sensitivity in the detection of cartilage lesions within the knee joint from 74.6% to 88.9%, with only a small reduction in specificity. The greatest improvement in sensitivity with use of the T2 maps was in the identification of early cartilage degeneration. © RSNA

DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF PROTOCOLS FOR EVALUATION OF OIL SPILL BIOREMEDIATION (RESEARCH BRIEF)

Science.gov (United States)

Protocols were developed and evaluated to assess the efficacy and environmental safety of commercial oil spill bioremediation agents (CBAs). Test systems that simulate oil slicks on open water or oiled sandy beaches were used to test the effectiveness of CBAs. Gravimetric and gas...

Carboplatin hypersensitivity: evaluation and successful desensitization protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruchim, Ilan; Goldberg, Arnon; Fishman, Ami; Confino-Cohen, Ronit

2014-01-01

Carboplatin-induced immediate hypersensitivity reactions are relatively common among patients with gynecological malignancies. Once this occurs, the patient might be at risk for future carboplatin-induced reactions. This study evaluated the efficacy of allergic consultation, carboplatin skin testing and desensitization as a single intervention strategy in this population. Patients with a well-documented immediate reaction to carboplatin were offered allergy consultation, carboplatin skin testing and a desensitization plan in a single visit between scheduled chemotherapy sessions. Fifty-five patients with an immediate reaction were evaluated. After allergist assessment, 44 (89%) of 49 patients skin tested had a positive result. A total of 207 carboplatin desensitization cycles were administered to 49 women. Among them, 10 patients had a mild immediate hypersensitivity reaction during desensitization. Five patients subsequently tolerated carboplatin administered in the prolonged desensitization protocol. In the data presented, we propose a strategy that is both cost effective and very convenient for the patient. The diagnostic procedure, including allergist consultation and skin test, can be completed in less than 2 h. In most cases where carboplatin is indispensable, desensitization can be administered without overnight hospitalization.

Optimistic protocol for partitioned distributed database systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, S.B.

1982-01-01

A protocol for transaction processing during partition failures is presented which guarantees mutual consistency between copies of data-items after repair is completed. The protocol is optimistic in that transactions are processed without restrictions during the failure; conflicts are detected at repair time using a precedence graph and are resolved by backing out transactions according to some backout strategy. The protocol is then evaluated using simulation and probabilistic modeling. In the simulation, several parameters are varied such as the number of transactions processed in a group, the type of transactions processed, the number of data-items present in the database, and the distribution of references to data-items. The simulation also uses different backout strategies. From these results we note conditions under which the protocol performs well, i.e., conditions under which the protocol backs out a small percentage of the transaction run. A probabilistic model is developed to estimate the expected number of transactions backed out using most of the above database and transaction parameters, and is shown to agree with simulation results. Suggestions are then made on how to improve the performance of the protocol. Insights gained from the simulation and probabilistic modeling are used to develop a backout strategy which takes into account individual transaction costs and attempts to minimize total backout cost. Although the problem of choosing transactions to minimize total backout cost is, in general, NP-complete, the backout strategy is efficient and produces very good results

Cost estimation of Kyoto Protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Giulio, Enzo

2005-01-01

This article proposes a reflection on important aspects in the costs determination performance of Kyoto Protocol. The evaluation of the main models evidence possible impacts on the economies. A key role in the determination of the cost is represented by the relative hypothesis to emission trading and the projects CDM-JI and from the political capacity at the cost negative or equal to zero [it

Measurement-Based Evaluation of Installed Filtration System Performance in Single-Family Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Wanyu Rengie; Singer, Brett C.

2014-04-03

This guide discusses important study design issues to consider when conducting an on-site evaluation of filtration system performance. The two most important dichotomies to consider in developing a study protocol are (1) whether systems are being evaluated in occupied or unoccupied homes and (2) whether different systems are being compared in the same homes or if the comparison is between systems installed in different homes. This document provides perspective and recommendations about a suite of implementation issues including the choice of particle measurement devices, selection of sampling locations, ways to control and/or monitor factors and processes that can impact particle concentrations, and data analysis approaches.

Using Green Star Metrics to Optimize the Greenness of Literature Protocols for Syntheses

Science.gov (United States)

Duarte, Rita C. C.; Ribeiro, M. Gabriela T. C.; Machado, Adélio A. S. C.

2015-01-01

A procedure to improve the greenness of a synthesis, without performing laboratory work, using alternative protocols available in the literature is presented. The greenness evaluation involves the separate assessment of the different steps described in the available protocols--reaction, isolation, and purification--as well as the global process,…

ACUTE EFFECTS OF TWO DIFFERENT WARM-UP PROTOCOLS ON FLEXIBILITY AND LOWER LIMB EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE IN MALE AND FEMALE HIGH LEVEL ATHLETES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charilaos Tsolakis

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined the effects of two different warm-up protocols on lower limb power and flexibility in high level athletes. Twenty international level fencers (10 males and 10 females performed two warm-up protocols that included 5-min light jogging and either short (15s or long (45s static stretching exercises for each of the main leg muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstrings and triceps surae, followed by either 3 sets of 3 (short stretching treatment, or 3 sets of 5 tuck jumps (long stretching treatment, in a randomized crossover design with one week between treatments. Hip joint flexion was measured with a Lafayette goniometer before and after the 5-min warm-up, after stretching and 8 min after the tuck jumps, while counter movement jump (CMJ performance was evaluated by an Ergojump contact platform, before and after the stretching treatment, as well as immediately after and 8 minutes after the tuck jumps. Three way ANOVA (condition, time, gender revealed significant time (p < 0.001 and gender (p < 0.001 main effects for hip joint flexion, with no interaction between factors. Flexibility increased by 6. 8 ± 1.1% (p < 0.01 after warm-up and by another 5.8 ± 1.6% (p < 0.01 after stretching, while it remained increased 8 min after the tuck jumps. Women had greater ROM compared with men at all time points (125 ± 8° vs. 94 ± 4° p<0.01 at baseline, but the pattern of change in hip flexibility was not different between genders. CMJ performance was greater in men compared with women at all time points (38.2 ± 1.9 cm vs. 29.8 ± 1.2 cm p < 0.01 at baseline, but the percentage of change CMJ performance was not different between genders. CMJ performance remained unchanged throughout the short stretching protocol, while it decreased by 5.5 ± 0.9% (p < 0.01 after stretching in the long stretching protocol However, 8 min after the tuck jumps, CMJ performance was not different from the baseline value (p = 0.075. In conclusion, lower limb power may

Managing symptoms during cancer treatments: evaluating the implementation of evidence-informed remote support protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stacey Dawn

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Management of cancer treatment-related symptoms is an important safety issue given that symptoms can become life-threatening and often occur when patients are at home. With funding from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a pan-Canadian steering committee was established with representation from eight provinces to develop symptom protocols using a rigorous methodology (CAN-IMPLEMENT©. Each protocol is based on a systematic review of the literature to identify relevant clinical practice guidelines. Protocols were validated by cancer nurses from across Canada. The aim of this study is to build an effective and sustainable approach for implementing evidence-informed protocols for nurses to use when providing remote symptom assessment, triage, and guidance in self-management for patients experiencing symptoms while undergoing cancer treatments. Methods A prospective mixed-methods study design will be used. Guided by the Knowledge to Action Framework, the study will involve (a establishing an advisory knowledge user team in each of three targeted settings; (b assessing factors influencing nurses’ use of protocols using interviews/focus groups and a standardized survey instrument; (c adapting protocols for local use, ensuring fidelity of the content; (d selecting intervention strategies to overcome known barriers and implementing the protocols; (e conducting think-aloud usability testing; (f evaluating protocol use and outcomes by conducting an audit of 100 randomly selected charts at each of the three settings; and (g assessing satisfaction with remote support using symptom protocols and change in nurses’ barriers to use using survey instruments. The primary outcome is sustained use of the protocols, defined as use in 75% of the calls. Descriptive analysis will be conducted for the barriers, use of protocols, and chart audit outcomes. Content analysis will be conducted on interviews/focus groups and usability testing

Performance evaluation of the CT component of the IRIS PET/CT preclinical tomograph

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Panetta, Daniele [CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC-CNR), v. G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa (Italy); Belcari, Nicola [Department of Physics “E. Fermi”, University of Pisa, L.go B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Tripodi, Maria [CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC-CNR), v. G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa (Italy); Burchielli, Silvia [Fondazione CNR/Toscana “G. Monasterio” – FTGM, v. G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa (Italy); Salvadori, Piero A. [CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC-CNR), v. G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa (Italy); Del Guerra, Alberto [Department of Physics “E. Fermi”, University of Pisa, L.go B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)

2016-01-01

In this paper, we evaluate the physical performance of the CT component of the IRIS scanner, a novel combined PET/CT scanner for preclinical imaging. The performance assessment is based on phantom measurement for the determination of image quality parameters (spatial resolution, linearity, geometric accuracy, contrast to noise ratio) and reproducibility in dynamic (4D) imaging. The CTDI{sub 100} has been measured free in air with a pencil ionization chamber, and the animal dose was calculated using Monte Carlo derived conversion factors taken from the literature. The spatial resolution at the highest quality protocol was 6.9 lp/mm at 10% of the MTF, using the smallest reconstruction voxel size of 58.8 μm. The accuracy of the reconstruction voxel size was within 0.1%. The linearity of the CT numbers as a function of the concentration of iodine was very good, with R{sup 2}>0.996 for all the tube voltages. The animal dose depended strongly on the scanning protocol, ranging from 158 mGy for the highest quality protocol (2 min, 80 kV) to about 12 mGy for the fastest protocol (7.3 s, 80 kV). In 4D dynamic modality, the maximum scanning rate reached was 3.1 frames per minute, using a short-scan protocol with 7.3 s of scan time per frame at the isotropic voxel size of 235 μm. The reproducibility of the system was high throughout the 10 frames acquired in dynamic modality, with a standard deviation of the CT values of all frames <8 HU and an average spatial reproducibility within 30% of the voxel size across all the field of view. Example images obtained during animal experiments are also shown.

Performance evaluation of the CT component of the IRIS PET/CT preclinical tomograph

Science.gov (United States)

Panetta, Daniele; Belcari, Nicola; Tripodi, Maria; Burchielli, Silvia; Salvadori, Piero A.; Del Guerra, Alberto

2016-01-01

In this paper, we evaluate the physical performance of the CT component of the IRIS scanner, a novel combined PET/CT scanner for preclinical imaging. The performance assessment is based on phantom measurement for the determination of image quality parameters (spatial resolution, linearity, geometric accuracy, contrast to noise ratio) and reproducibility in dynamic (4D) imaging. The CTDI100 has been measured free in air with a pencil ionization chamber, and the animal dose was calculated using Monte Carlo derived conversion factors taken from the literature. The spatial resolution at the highest quality protocol was 6.9 lp/mm at 10% of the MTF, using the smallest reconstruction voxel size of 58.8 μm. The accuracy of the reconstruction voxel size was within 0.1%. The linearity of the CT numbers as a function of the concentration of iodine was very good, with R2>0.996 for all the tube voltages. The animal dose depended strongly on the scanning protocol, ranging from 158 mGy for the highest quality protocol (2 min, 80 kV) to about 12 mGy for the fastest protocol (7.3 s, 80 kV). In 4D dynamic modality, the maximum scanning rate reached was 3.1 frames per minute, using a short-scan protocol with 7.3 s of scan time per frame at the isotropic voxel size of 235 μm. The reproducibility of the system was high throughout the 10 frames acquired in dynamic modality, with a standard deviation of the CT values of all frames <8 HU and an average spatial reproducibility within 30% of the voxel size across all the field of view. Example images obtained during animal experiments are also shown.

Performance evaluation of the CT component of the IRIS PET/CT preclinical tomograph

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panetta, Daniele; Belcari, Nicola; Tripodi, Maria; Burchielli, Silvia; Salvadori, Piero A.; Del Guerra, Alberto

2016-01-01

In this paper, we evaluate the physical performance of the CT component of the IRIS scanner, a novel combined PET/CT scanner for preclinical imaging. The performance assessment is based on phantom measurement for the determination of image quality parameters (spatial resolution, linearity, geometric accuracy, contrast to noise ratio) and reproducibility in dynamic (4D) imaging. The CTDI_1_0_0 has been measured free in air with a pencil ionization chamber, and the animal dose was calculated using Monte Carlo derived conversion factors taken from the literature. The spatial resolution at the highest quality protocol was 6.9 lp/mm at 10% of the MTF, using the smallest reconstruction voxel size of 58.8 μm. The accuracy of the reconstruction voxel size was within 0.1%. The linearity of the CT numbers as a function of the concentration of iodine was very good, with R"2>0.996 for all the tube voltages. The animal dose depended strongly on the scanning protocol, ranging from 158 mGy for the highest quality protocol (2 min, 80 kV) to about 12 mGy for the fastest protocol (7.3 s, 80 kV). In 4D dynamic modality, the maximum scanning rate reached was 3.1 frames per minute, using a short-scan protocol with 7.3 s of scan time per frame at the isotropic voxel size of 235 μm. The reproducibility of the system was high throughout the 10 frames acquired in dynamic modality, with a standard deviation of the CT values of all frames <8 HU and an average spatial reproducibility within 30% of the voxel size across all the field of view. Example images obtained during animal experiments are also shown.

The Functional Task Test (FTT): An Interdisciplinary Testing Protocol to Investigate the Factors Underlying Changes in Astronaut Functional Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, J. J.; Lawrence, E. L.; Arzeno, N. M.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts. S. H.;

What does it cost to deliver information using position-based beaconless forwarding protocols?

KAUST Repository

Bader, Ahmed

2012-04-01

Beaconless position-based forwarding protocols have recently evolved as a promising solution for packet forwarding in wireless sensor networks. Quite a few variants of this class of forwarding protocols have been proposed over the years. One common observation is that they have all been evaluated from the perspective of a single node. Although useful, but a solid understanding of the end-to-end performance is still necessary. In this paper, we shed light on the end-to-end performance of beaconless position-based protocols along three distinct dimensions: energy, latency, and back-off probability. The latter is used as a direct indicator of the network\\'s transport capacity. Consequently, we are able to provide an elaborate response to the question: what does it really cost to deliver a packet in a wireless sensor network using position-based beaconless forwarding protocols? In responding to this question, we highlighted the different performance tradeoffs inherent to beaconless position-based protocols. Furthermore, some operational recommendations are also provided. © 2012 IEEE.

What does it cost to deliver information using position-based beaconless forwarding protocols?

KAUST Repository

Bader, Ahmed; Abed-Meraim, Karim; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2012-01-01

Beaconless position-based forwarding protocols have recently evolved as a promising solution for packet forwarding in wireless sensor networks. Quite a few variants of this class of forwarding protocols have been proposed over the years. One common observation is that they have all been evaluated from the perspective of a single node. Although useful, but a solid understanding of the end-to-end performance is still necessary. In this paper, we shed light on the end-to-end performance of beaconless position-based protocols along three distinct dimensions: energy, latency, and back-off probability. The latter is used as a direct indicator of the network's transport capacity. Consequently, we are able to provide an elaborate response to the question: what does it really cost to deliver a packet in a wireless sensor network using position-based beaconless forwarding protocols? In responding to this question, we highlighted the different performance tradeoffs inherent to beaconless position-based protocols. Furthermore, some operational recommendations are also provided. © 2012 IEEE.

On the Performance of One Stage Massive Random Access Protocols in 5G Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahmood, Nurul Huda; Pratas, Nuno; Jacobsen, Thomas

2016-01-01

use case. Smart utility meters, automated sensors in farms, and vehicle tracking nodes for logistics monitoring are all examples of emerging mMTC devices. Ensuring efficient mechanisms to access the wireless channel for such a massive number of densely deployed devices is a key challenge posed by m......MTC applications. A framework for the comparative analysis of the one-stage massive access protocol with respect to important performance metrics for mMTC services is proposed in this paper. The proposed framework allows us to determine the scenarios where the relative simple one-stage protocol can sufficiently...

Measurement and protocol for evaluating video and still stabilization systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, Etienne; Cao, Frédéric; Guichard, Frédéric; Viard, Clément

2013-01-01

This article presents a system and a protocol to characterize image stabilization systems both for still images and videos. It uses a six axes platform, three being used for camera rotation and three for camera positioning. The platform is programmable and can reproduce complex motions that have been typically recorded by a gyroscope mounted on different types of cameras in different use cases. The measurement uses a single chart for still image and videos, the texture dead leaves chart. Although the proposed implementation of the protocol uses a motion platform, the measurement itself does not rely on any specific hardware. For still images, a modulation transfer function is measured in different directions and is weighted by a contrast sensitivity function (simulating the human visual system accuracy) to obtain an acutance. The sharpness improvement due to the image stabilization system is a good measurement of performance as recommended by a CIPA standard draft. For video, four markers on the chart are detected with sub-pixel accuracy to determine a homographic deformation between the current frame and a reference position. This model describes well the apparent global motion as translations, but also rotations along the optical axis and distortion due to the electronic rolling shutter equipping most CMOS sensors. The protocol is applied to all types of cameras such as DSC, DSLR and smartphones.

Analysis of Pervasive Mobile Ad Hoc Routing Protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Qadri, Nadia N.; Liotta, Antonio

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are a fundamental element of pervasive networks and therefore, of pervasive systems that truly support pervasive computing, where user can communicate anywhere, anytime and on-the-fly. In fact, future advances in pervasive computing rely on advancements in mobile communication, which includes both infrastructure-based wireless networks and non-infrastructure-based MANETs. MANETs introduce a new communication paradigm, which does not require a fixed infrastructure - they rely on wireless terminals for routing and transport services. Due to highly dynamic topology, absence of established infrastructure for centralized administration, bandwidth constrained wireless links, and limited resources in MANETs, it is challenging to design an efficient and reliable routing protocol. This chapter reviews the key studies carried out so far on the performance of mobile ad hoc routing protocols. We discuss performance issues and metrics required for the evaluation of ad hoc routing protocols. This leads to a survey of existing work, which captures the performance of ad hoc routing algorithms and their behaviour from different perspectives and highlights avenues for future research.

Evaluation of radiation doses delivered in different chest CT protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorycki, Tomasz; Lasek, Iwona; Kamiński, Kamil; Studniarek, Michał

2014-01-01

There are differences in the reference diagnostic levels for the computed tomography (CT) of the chest as cited in different literature sources. The doses are expressed either in weighted CT dose index (CTDI VOL ) used to express the dose per slice, dose-length product (DLP), and effective dose (E). The purpose of this study was to assess the radiation dose used in Low Dose Computer Tomography (LDCT) of the chest in comparison with routine chest CT examinations as well as to compare doses delivered in low dose chest CT with chest X-ray doses. CTDI VOL and DLP doses were taken to analysis from routine CT chest examinations (64 MDCT TK LIGHT SPEED GE Medical System) performed in 202 adult patients with FBP reconstruction: 51 low dose, 106 helical, 20 angio CT, and 25 high resolution CT protocols, as well as 19 helical protocols with iterative ASIR reconstruction. The analysis of chest X-ray doses was made on the basis of reports from 44 examinations. Mean values of CTDI VOL and DLP were, respectively: 2.1 mGy and 85.1 mGy·cm, for low dose, 9.7 mGy and 392.3 mGy·cm for helical, 18.2 mGy and 813.9 mGy·cm for angio CT, 2.3 mGy and 64.4 mGy·cm for high resolution CT, 8.9 mGy. and 317.6 mGy·cm for helical ASIR protocols. Significantly lower CTDI VOL and DLP values were observed for low dose and high resolution CT versus the remaining CT protocols; doses delivered in CT ASIR protocols were also lower (80–81%). The ratio between medial doses in low dose CT and chest X-ray was 11.56. Radiation dose in extended chest LDCT with parameters allowing for identification of mediastinal structures and adrenal glands is still much lower than that in standard CT protocols. Effective doses predicted for LDCT may exceed those used in chest X-ray examinations by a factor of 4 to 12, depending on LDCT scan parameters. Our results, as well as results from other authors, suggest a possibility of reducing the dose by means of iterative reconstruction. Efforts towards further dose

Improving International-Level Chess Players' Performance with an Acceptance-Based Protocol: Preliminary Findings

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Francisco J.; Luciano, Carmen

2012-01-01

This study compared an individual, 4-hr intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) versus a no-contact control condition in improving the performance of international-level chess players. Five participants received the brief ACT protocol, with each matched to another chess player with similar characteristics in the control…

Diagnostic efficacy of a modified low-dose acquisition protocol for the preoperative evaluation of mini-implant sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tadinada, Aditya; Marczak, Alana; Yadav, Sumit [University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington (United States)

2017-09-15

The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of surgical mini-implant placement when potential mini-implant sites were scanned using a lower-dose 180° acquisition protocol versus a conventional 360° acquisition protocol. Ten dentate human skulls were used to provide sites for potential mini-implant placement. The sites were randomly divided into 2 groups: 360° and 180° cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition protocols. A small-volume 180° CBCT scan and a 360° CBCT scan of each site were acquired using a Morita Accuitomo-170 CBCT machine and then a mini-implant was placed. A follow-up 360° CBCT scan was done as a gold standard to evaluate the location of the mini-implant and root perforation. Two raters evaluated the scans. Ninety-eight percent of the mini-implants placed did not perforate any root structure. Two percent of the sites had an appearance suggestive of perforation. On a Likert scale, both raters agreed that their subjective evaluation of the diagnostic quality of the protocols, ability to make and read measurements of the sites, and preferences for the specified diagnostic task were comparable. The Cohen kappa showed high inter-rater and intra-rater agreement. In this ex vivo study, we found that the 180° rotational acquisition was as effective as the conventional 360° rotational acquisition for the preoperative evaluation of potential mini-implant sites.

SU-E-P-49: Evaluation of Image Quality and Radiation Dose of Various Unenhanced Head CT Protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, L; Khan, M; Alapati, K; Hsieh, M; Barry, K

2015-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic value of various unenhanced head CT protocols and predicate acceptable radiation dose level for head CT exam. Methods: Our retrospective analysis included 3 groups, 20 patients per group, who underwent clinical routine unenhanced adult head CT examination. All exams were performed axially with 120 kVp. Three protocols, 380 mAs without iterative reconstruction and automAs, 340 mAs with iterative reconstruction without automAs, 340 mAs with iterative reconstruction and automAs, were applied on each group patients respectively. The images were reconstructed with H30, J30 for brain window and H60, J70 for bone window. Images acquired with three protocols were randomized and blindly reviewed by three radiologists. A 5 point scale was used to rate each exam The percentage of exam score above 3 and average scores of each protocol were calculated for each reviewer and tissue types. Results: For protocols without automAs, the average scores of bone window with iterative reconstruction were higher than those without iterative reconstruction for each reviewer although the radiation dose was 10 percentage lower. 100 percentage exams were scored 3 or higher and the average scores were above 4 for both brain and bone reconstructions. The CTDIvols are 64.4 and 57.8 mGy of 380 and 340 mAs, respectively. With automAs, the radiation dose varied with head size, resulting in 47.5 mGy average CTDIvol between 39.5 and 56.5 mGy. 93 and 98 percentage exams were scored great than 3 for brain and bone windows, respectively. The diagnostic confidence level and image quality of exams with AutomAs were less than those without AutomAs for each reviewer. Conclusion: According to these results, the mAs was reduced to 300 with automAs OFF for head CT exam. The radiation dose was 20 percentage lower than the original protocol and the CTDIvol was reduced to 51.2 mGy

Comparing Voice-Therapy and Vocal-Hygiene Treatments in Dysphonia Using a Limited Multidimensional Evaluation Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Parra, Maria J.; Adrian, Jose A.; Casado, Juan C.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study evaluates the effectiveness of two different programs of voice-treatment on a heterogeneous group of dysphonic speakers and the stability of therapeutic progress for longterm follow-up post-treatment period, using a limited multidimensional protocol of evaluation. Method: Forty-two participants with voice disorders were…

Effectiveness of a Rapid Lumbar Spine MRI Protocol Using 3D T2-Weighted SPACE Imaging Versus a Standard Protocol for Evaluation of Degenerative Changes of the Lumbar Spine.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayah, Anousheh; Jay, Ann K; Toaff, Jacob S; Makariou, Erini V; Berkowitz, Frank

2016-09-01

Reducing lumbar spine MRI scanning time while retaining diagnostic accuracy can benefit patients and reduce health care costs. This study compares the effectiveness of a rapid lumbar MRI protocol using 3D T2-weighted sampling perfection with application-optimized contrast with different flip-angle evolutions (SPACE) sequences with a standard MRI protocol for evaluation of lumbar spondylosis. Two hundred fifty consecutive unenhanced lumbar MRI examinations performed at 1.5 T were retrospectively reviewed. Full, rapid, and complete versions of each examination were interpreted for spondylotic changes at each lumbar level, including herniations and neural compromise. The full examination consisted of sagittal T1-weighted, T2-weighted turbo spin-echo (TSE), and STIR sequences; and axial T1- and T2-weighted TSE sequences (time, 18 minutes 40 seconds). The rapid examination consisted of sagittal T1- and T2-weighted SPACE sequences, with axial SPACE reformations (time, 8 minutes 46 seconds). The complete examination consisted of the full examination plus the T2-weighted SPACE sequence. Sensitivities and specificities of the full and rapid examinations were calculated using the complete study as the reference standard. The rapid and full studies had sensitivities of 76.0% and 69.3%, with specificities of 97.2% and 97.9%, respectively, for all degenerative processes. Rapid and full sensitivities were 68.7% and 66.3% for disk herniation, 85.2% and 81.5% for canal compromise, 82.9% and 69.1% for lateral recess compromise, and 76.9% and 69.7% for foraminal compromise, respectively. Isotropic SPACE T2-weighted imaging provides high-quality imaging of lumbar spondylosis, with multiplanar reformatting capability. Our SPACE-based rapid protocol had sensitivities and specificities for herniations and neural compromise comparable to those of the protocol without SPACE. This protocol fits within a 15-minute slot, potentially reducing costs and discomfort for a large subgroup of

Evaluation of accuracy in implant site preparation performed in single- or multi-step drilling procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Marheineke, Nadine; Scherer, Uta; Rücker, Martin; von See, Constantin; Rahlf, Björn; Gellrich, Nils-Claudius; Stoetzer, Marcus

2018-06-01

Dental implant failure and insufficient osseointegration are proven results of mechanical and thermal damage during the surgery process. We herein performed a comparative study of a less invasive single-step drilling preparation protocol and a conventional multiple drilling sequence. Accuracy of drilling holes was precisely analyzed and the influence of different levels of expertise of the handlers and additional use of drill template guidance was evaluated. Six experimental groups, deployed in an osseous study model, were representing template-guided and freehanded drilling actions in a stepwise drilling procedure in comparison to a single-drill protocol. Each experimental condition was studied by the drilling actions of respectively three persons without surgical knowledge as well as three highly experienced oral surgeons. Drilling actions were performed and diameters were recorded with a precision measuring instrument. Less experienced operators were able to significantly increase the drilling accuracy using a guiding template, especially when multi-step preparations are performed. Improved accuracy without template guidance was observed when experienced operators were executing single-step versus multi-step technique. Single-step drilling protocols have shown to produce more accurate results than multi-step procedures. The outcome of any protocol can be further improved by use of guiding templates. Operator experience can be a contributing factor. Single-step preparations are less invasive and are promoting osseointegration. Even highly experienced surgeons are achieving higher levels of accuracy by combining this technique with template guidance. Hereby template guidance enables a reduction of hands-on time and side effects during surgery and lead to a more predictable clinical diameter.

Clinical utility of a complete diagnostic protocol for the ocular evaluation of free-living raptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Labelle, Amber L; Whittington, Julia K; Breaux, Carrie B; Labelle, Philippe; Mitchell, Mark A; Zarfoss, Mitzi K; Schmidt, Stephanie A; Hamor, Ralph E

2012-01-01

  To describe a protocol for the examination of free-living raptors and report the ophthalmic examination findings of seven raptor species native to central Illinois, namely the barred owl, Cooper's hawk, eastern screech owl, great horned owl, American kestrel, red-tailed hawk, and turkey vulture and to determine if the findings relative to visual prognosis affected eligibility for future release.   Seventy-nine free-living raptors.   Under manual restraint, complete ophthalmic examination including slit-lamp biomicroscopy and indirect funduscopy, applanation tonometry, rebound tonometry, ocular morphometrics, B-mode ultrasound, and electroretinography (ERG) were performed on each bird. Histopathology of enucleated globes was performed after euthanasia or death in selected cases.   The examination protocol was easily performed using manual restraint alone on all birds. Ocular lesions were detected in 48.1% of birds, with 47.3% affected unilaterally and 52.6% affected bilaterally. Ocular lesions were considered to be vision threatening in 29.0% of the unilaterally affected birds and 29.0% of the bilaterally affected birds. The most common case outcomes were discharge from hospital to rehabilitation facility (45.6%) followed by euthanasia (43.0%). The presence of an ocular lesion or a vision-threatening ocular lesion was not significantly associated with outcome. Reference ranges are reported for B-mode ultrasound, ocular morphometrics, and horizontal corneal diameter in all species.   Complete ophthalmic examination can be supplemented by the use of ocular morphometrics, ultrasound, and ERG in the manually restrained raptor. These advanced diagnostic techniques may be useful in developing more objective criteria for evaluating eligibility for release following rehabilitation of free-living birds of prey. © 2011 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

Performance analysis of signaling protocols on OBS switches

Science.gov (United States)

Kirci, Pinar; Zaim, A. Halim

2005-10-01

In this paper, Just-In-Time (JIT), Just-Enough-Time (JET) and Horizon signalling schemes for Optical Burst Switched Networks (OBS) are presented. These signaling schemes run over a core dWDM network and a network architecture based on Optical Burst Switches (OBS) is proposed to support IP, ATM and Burst traffic. In IP and ATM traffic several packets are assembled in a single packet called burst and the burst contention is handled by burst dropping. The burst length distribution in IP traffic is arbitrary between 0 and 1, and is fixed in ATM traffic at 0,5. Burst traffic on the other hand is arbitrary between 1 and 5. The Setup and Setup ack length distributions are arbitrary. We apply the Poisson model with rate λ and Self-Similar model with pareto distribution rate α to identify inter-arrival times in these protocols. We consider a communication between a source client node and a destination client node over an ingress and one or more multiple intermediate switches.We use buffering only in the ingress node. The communication is based on single burst connections in which, the connection is set up just before sending a burst and then closed as soon as the burst is sent. Our analysis accounts for several important parameters, including the burst setup, burst setup ack, keepalive messages and the optical switching protocol. We compare the performance of the three signalling schemes on the network under as burst dropping probability under a range of network scenarios.

Testing protocols for evaluating monolithic waste forms containing mixed wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilliam, T.M.; Sams, T.L.; Pitt, W.W.

1986-01-01

Test protocols have been presented which can be used as a guide in cement-based grout formulation development studies. Based on experience at ORNL, these six tests are generally sufficient to develop a grout product which will meet all applicable DOE, NRC, and EPA performance criteria. As such, these tests can be used to minimize the time required to tailor a grout to be compatible with both the waste stream and the process disposal scenario. 9 refs

Construction of an Anthropomorphic Phantom for Use in Evaluating Pediatric Airway Digital Tomosynthesis Protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nima Kasraie

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Interpretation of radiolucent foreign bodies (FBs is a common task charged to pediatric radiologists. The use of a motion compensated technique to decrease breathing motion on images would greatly decrease overall exposure to ionizing radiation and increase access to treatment yielding a great impact on clinical care. This study reports on the methodology and materials used to construct an in-house anthropomorphic phantom for investigating image quality in digital tomosynthesis protocols for volumetric imaging of the pediatric airway. Availability and cost of possible substitute materials were considered and simplifying assumptions were made. Two different modular phantoms were assembled in coronal slab layers using materials designed to approximate a one- and three-year-old thorax at diagnostic photon energies for use with digital tomosynthesis protocols such as those offered on GE’s VolumeRAD application. Exposures were made using both phantoms with inserted food particles inside an oscillating airway. The goal of the phantom is to help evaluate (1 whether the currently used protocol is sufficient to image the airway despite breathing motion and (2 whether it is not, to find the optimal protocol by testing various commercially available protocols using this phantom. The affordable construction of the pediatric sized phantom aimed at optimizing GE’s VolumeRAD protocol for airway foreign body imaging is demonstrated in this study which can be used to test VolumeRAD’s ability to image the airways with and without a low-density foreign body within the airways.

Evaluation of pregnancy rates of Bos indicus cows subjected to different synchronization ovulation protocols using injectable progesterone or an intravaginal device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jefferson Tadeu Campos

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study evaluated the pregnancy rate in Nelore cows (Bos indicus that were subjected to fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI using different protocols consisting of injectable progesterone (P4 or an intravaginal device (impregnated with P4. Multiparous cows 72-84 months in age, 30-45 days postpartum, were selected on the basis of the absence of a corpus luteum (CL and follicles < 8 mm after transrectal palpation and ultrasound examinations. On a random day of the estrus cycle (D0, the selected animals (n = 135 were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups (n = 45 each. Group I (injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours received 250 mg of injectable P4 and 2 mg EB on D0; on D7, they received 500 µg of cloprostenol; on D8, 300 IU of eCG and 1 mg of EB were administered; and finally, FTAI was performed 36 hours after the application of EB. Group II (injectable P4/FTAI 48 hours received the same protocol as Group I, except that the FTAI was performed 48 hours after ovulation induction. The animals of Group III (Control/CIDR received a conventional protocol for FTAI using an intravaginal device (D0: P4 and 2 mg EB; D8: device removal, 500 µg cloprostenol, 300 IU eCG, 1 mg EB; and FTAI performed 48 hours after removal of the device. The results showed that cows synchronized with the conventional protocol for FTAI (Control/CIDR had a higher pregnancy rate (60 %, 27/45 than those synchronized with an injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours (33.33 %; 15/45, P = 0.010. However, the group receiving injectable P4 group/FTAI 48 hours had a similar pregnancy rate (48.9 %; 22/45; P = 0.290 when compared to both the group receiving the conventional protocol and that receiving injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours (P = 0.134. Although the injectable P4 may affect pregnancy rate with the FTAI performed in 36 hours, we found similar pregnancy rates from cows inseminated 48 hours after induction ovulation, considering injectable or intravaginal P4. Therefore, we suggest that

An adaptive toolkit for image quality evaluation in system performance test of digital breast tomosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guozhi; Petrov, Dimitar; Marshall, Nicholas; Bosmans, Hilde

2017-03-01

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a relatively new diagnostic imaging modality for women. Currently, various models of DBT systems are available on the market and the number of installations is rapidly increasing. EUREF, the European Reference Organization for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services, has proposed a preliminary Guideline - protocol for the quality control of the physical and technical aspects of digital breast tomosynthesis systems, with an ultimate aim of providing limiting values guaranteeing proper performance for different applications of DBT. In this work, we introduce an adaptive toolkit developed in accordance with this guideline to facilitate the process of image quality evaluation in DBT performance test. This toolkit implements robust algorithms to quantify various technical parameters of DBT images and provides a convenient user interface in practice. Each test is built into a separate module with configurations set corresponding to the European guideline, which can be easily adapted to different settings and extended with additional tests. This toolkit largely improves the efficiency for image quality evaluation of DBT. It is also going to evolve with the development of protocols in quality control of DBT systems.

Chapter 23: Combined Heat and Power Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Simons, George [Itron, Davis, CA (United States); Barsun, Stephan [Itron, Davis, CA (United States)

2017-11-06

The main focus of most evaluations is to determine the energy-savings impacts of the installed measure. This protocol defines a combined heat and power (CHP) measure as a system that sequentially generates both electrical energy and useful thermal energy from one fuel source at a host customer's facility or residence. This protocol is aimed primarily at regulators and administrators of ratepayer-funded CHP programs; however, project developers may find the protocol useful to understand how CHP projects are evaluated.

Cheating and Anti-Cheating in Gossip-Based Protocol: An Experimental Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Xin; Shi, Yuanchun; Tang, Yun; Zhang, Nan

During recent years, there has been a rapid growth in deployment of gossip-based protocol in many multicast applications. In a typical gossip-based protocol, each node acts as dual roles of receiver and sender, independently exchanging data with its neighbors to facilitate scalability and resilience. However, most of previous work in this literature seldom considered cheating issue of end users, which is also very important in face of the fact that the mutual cooperation inherently determines overall system performance. In this paper, we investigate the dishonest behaviors in decentralized gossip-based protocol through extensive experimental study. Our original contributions come in two-fold: In the first part of cheating study, we analytically discuss two typical cheating strategies, that is, intentionally increasing subscription requests and untruthfully calculating forwarding probability, and further evaluate their negative impacts. The results indicate that more attention should be paid to defending cheating behaviors in gossip-based protocol. In the second part of anti-cheating study, we propose a receiver-driven measurement mechanism, which evaluates individual forwarding traffic from the perspective of receivers and thus identifies cheating nodes with high incoming/outgoing ratio. Furthermore, we extend our mechanism by introducing reliable factor to further improve its accuracy. The experiments under various conditions show that it performs quite well in case of serious cheating and achieves considerable performance in other cases.

Performance evaluation of a retrofit digital detector-based mammography system.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Nicholas W; van Ongeval, Chantal; Bosmans, Hilde

2016-02-01

A retrofit flat panel detector was integrated with a GE DMR+ analog mammography system and characterized using detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Technical system performance was evaluated using the European Guidelines protocol, followed by a limited evaluation of clinical image quality for 20 cases using image quality criteria in the European Guidelines. Optimal anode/filter selections were established using signal difference-to-noise ratio measurements. Only small differences in peak DQE were seen between the three anode/filter settings, with an average value of 0.53. For poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thicknesses above 60 mm, the Rh/Rh setting was the optimal anode/filter setting. The system required a mean glandular dose of 0.54 mGy at 30 kV Rh/Rh to reach the Acceptable gold thickness limit for 0.1 mm details. Imaging performance of the retrofit unit with the GE DMR+ is notably better than of powder based computed radiography systems and is comparable to current flat panel FFDM systems. Copyright © 2016 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EVA Human Health and Performance Benchmarking Study Overview and Development of a Microgravity Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Norcross, Jason; Jarvis, Sarah; Bekdash, Omar; Cupples, Scott; Abercromby, Andrew

2017-01-01

The primary objective of this study is to develop a protocol to reliably characterize human health and performance metrics for individuals working inside various EVA suits under realistic spaceflight conditions. Expected results and methodologies developed during this study will provide the baseline benchmarking data and protocols with which future EVA suits and suit configurations (e.g., varied pressure, mass, center of gravity [CG]) and different test subject populations (e.g., deconditioned crewmembers) may be reliably assessed and compared. Results may also be used, in conjunction with subsequent testing, to inform fitness-for-duty standards, as well as design requirements and operations concepts for future EVA suits and other exploration systems.

Methodology for evaluating gloves in relation to the effects on hand performance capabilities: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dianat, Iman; Haslegrave, Christine M; Stedmon, Alex W

2012-01-01

The present study was conducted to review the literature on the methods that have been considered appropriate for evaluation of the effects of gloves on different aspects of hand performance, to make recommendations for the testing and assessment of gloves, and to identify where further research is needed to improve the evaluation protocols. Eighty-five papers meeting the criteria for inclusion were reviewed. Many studies show that gloves may have negative effects on manual dexterity, tactile sensitivity, handgrip strength, muscle activity and fatigue and comfort, while further research is needed to determine glove effects on pinch strength, forearm torque strength and range of finger and wrist movements. The review also highlights several methodological issues (including consideration of both task type and duration of glove use by workers, guidance on the selection and allocation of suitable glove(s) for particular tasks/jobs, and glove design features) that need to be considered in future research. Practitioner Summary: The relevant literature on the effects of protective gloves on different aspects of hand performance was reviewed to make recommendations for the testing and assessment of gloves, and to improve evaluation protocols. The review highlights research areas and methodological issues that need to be considered in future research.

Understanding the performance and impact of public knowledge translation funding interventions: protocol for an evaluation of Canadian Institutes of Health Research knowledge translation funding programs.

Science.gov (United States)

McLean, Robert K D; Graham, Ian D; Bosompra, Kwadwo; Choudhry, Yumna; Coen, Stephanie E; Macleod, Martha; Manuel, Christopher; McCarthy, Ryan; Mota, Adrian; Peckham, David; Tetroe, Jacqueline M; Tucker, Joanne

2012-06-22

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has defined knowledge translation (KT) as a dynamic and iterative process that includes the synthesis, dissemination, exchange, and ethically-sound application of knowledge to improve the health of Canadians, provide more effective health services and products, and strengthen the healthcare system. CIHR, the national health research funding agency in Canada, has undertaken to advance this concept through direct research funding opportunities in KT. Because CIHR is recognized within Canada and internationally for leading and funding the advancement of KT science and practice, it is essential and timely to evaluate this intervention, and specifically, these funding opportunities. The study will employ a novel method of participatory, utilization-focused evaluation inspired by the principles of integrated KT. It will use a mixed methods approach, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, and will elicit participation from CIHR funded researchers, knowledge users, KT experts, as well as other health research funding agencies. Lines of inquiry will include an international environmental scan, document/data reviews, in-depth interviews, targeted surveys, case studies, and an expert review panel. The study will investigate how efficiently and effectively the CIHR model of KT funding programs operates, what immediate outcomes these funding mechanisms have produced, and what impact these programs have had on the broader state of health research, health research uptake, and health improvement. The protocol and results of this evaluation will be of interest to those engaged in the theory, practice, and evaluation of KT. The dissemination of the study protocol and results to both practitioners and theorists will help to fill a gap in knowledge in three areas: the role of a public research funding agency in facilitating KT, the outcomes and impacts KT funding interventions, and how KT can best be evaluated.

Generalized routing protocols for multihop relay networks

KAUST Repository

Khan, Fahd Ahmed

2011-07-01

Performance of multihop cooperative networks depends on the routing protocols employed. In this paper we propose the last-n-hop selection protocol, the dual path protocol, the forward-backward last-n-hop selection protocol and the forward-backward dual path protocol for the routing of data through multihop relay networks. The average symbol error probability performance of the schemes is analysed by simulations. It is shown that close to optimal performance can be achieved by using the last-n-hop selection protocol and its forward-backward variant. Furthermore we also compute the complexity of the protocols in terms of number of channel state information required and the number of comparisons required for routing the signal through the network. © 2011 IEEE.

Evaluation of ovsynch protocols for timed artificial insemination in water buffaloes in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoque, M.N.; Talukder, A.K.; Akter, M.; Shamsuddin, M.

2016-01-01

Full text: A total of 65 water buffaloes (groups A, B, and C) at =>60 days postpartum with a body condition score (BCS) of =>2.5 were selected to evaluate ovsynch protocols for timed artificial insemination (TAI). The group A buffaloes (n = 25) were treated with a simple ovsynch protocol (GnRH - Day 7 - PGF alpha - Day 2 - GnRH - 16 h - TAI). The group B buffaloes (n = 22) received PGF2 alpha treatment 12 days before the initiation of simple ovsynch (PGF2 alpha at Day -12 + simple ovsynch; modified ovsynch). The group C buffaloes (n = 18) were treated with a double ovsynch protocol (GnRH - Day 7 - PGF2 alpha - Day 3 - GnRH - Day 7 - GnRH - Day 7 - PGF2 alpha - 48 h - GnRH - 16 h - TAI). Milk P4 ELISA was used for tracking ovulation and conception rates. Ovulation rates were higher in buffaloes that received the double ovsynch treatment (group C; 83.3%) than those with simple ovsynch (group A; 72.0%; P < 0.05). The group C cows (44.4%) achieved a higher concentration rate than the cows of groups A (28.0%) and B (36.4%) (P < 0.05) and multiparous buffaloes having BCS of =>3.5 responded better to the ovsynch treatments than the primiparous ones (P < 0.05). The double ovsynch protocol increases both ovulation and conception rates in comparison to the simple and modified ovsynch protocols and is more effective in multiparous cows than in primiparous ones. (author)

Evaluation of sample preparation protocols for spider venom profiling by MALDI-TOF MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Bočánek, Ondřej; Šedo, Ondrej; Pekár, Stano; Zdráhal, Zbyněk

2017-07-01

Spider venoms are highly complex mixtures containing biologically active substances with potential for use in biotechnology or pharmacology. Fingerprinting of venoms by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization - Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a thriving technology, enabling the rapid detection of peptide/protein components that can provide comparative information. In this study, we evaluated the effects of sample preparation procedures on MALDI-TOF mass spectral quality to establish a protocol providing the most reliable analytical outputs. We adopted initial sample preparation conditions from studies already published in this field. Three different MALDI matrixes, three matrix solvents, two sample deposition methods, and different acid concentrations were tested. As a model sample, venom from Brachypelma albopilosa was used. The mass spectra were evaluated on the basis of absolute and relative signal intensities, and signal resolution. By conducting three series of analyses at three weekly intervals, the reproducibility of the mass spectra were assessed as a crucial factor in the selection for optimum conditions. A sample preparation protocol based on the use of an HCCA matrix dissolved in 50% acetonitrile with 2.5% TFA deposited onto the target by the dried-droplet method was found to provide the best results in terms of information yield and repeatability. We propose that this protocol should be followed as a standard procedure, enabling the comparative assessment of MALDI-TOF MS spider venom fingerprints. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance Evaluation of Relay Selection Schemes in Beacon-Assisted Dual-Hop Cognitive Radio Wireless Sensor Networks under Impact of Hardware Noises.

Science.gov (United States)

Hieu, Tran Dinh; Duy, Tran Trung; Dung, Le The; Choi, Seong Gon

2018-06-05

To solve the problem of energy constraints and spectrum scarcity for cognitive radio wireless sensor networks (CR-WSNs), an underlay decode-and-forward relaying scheme is considered, where the energy constrained secondary source and relay nodes are capable of harvesting energy from a multi-antenna power beacon (PB) and using that harvested energy to forward the source information to the destination. Based on the time switching receiver architecture, three relaying protocols, namely, hybrid partial relay selection (H-PRS), conventional opportunistic relay selection (C-ORS), and best opportunistic relay selection (B-ORS) protocols are considered to enhance the end-to-end performance under the joint impact of maximal interference constraint and transceiver hardware impairments. For performance evaluation and comparison, we derive the exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of outage probability (OP) and throughput (TP) to provide significant insights into the impact of our proposed protocols on the system performance over Rayleigh fading channel. Finally, simulation results validate the theoretical results.

Mac protocols for cyber-physical systems

CERN Document Server

Xia, Feng

2015-01-01

This book provides a literature review of various wireless MAC protocols and techniques for achieving real-time and reliable communications in the context of cyber-physical systems (CPS). The evaluation analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 for CPS therein will give insights into configuration and optimization of critical design parameters of MAC protocols. In addition, this book also presents the design and evaluation of an adaptive MAC protocol for medical CPS, which exemplifies how to facilitate real-time and reliable communications in CPS by exploiting IEEE 802.15.4 based MAC protocols. This book wil

[Multidisciplinary protocol for computed tomography imaging and angiographic embolization of splenic injury due to trauma: assessment of pre-protocol and post-protocol outcomes].

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, M; Sabaté, A; Magalló, P; García, M A; Domínguez, J; de Lama, M E; López, S

2011-11-01

To assess conservative treatment of splenic injury due to trauma, following a protocol for computed tomography (CT) and angiographic embolization. To quantify the predictive value of CT for detecting bleeding and need for embolization. The care protocol developed by the multidisciplinary team consisted of angiography with embolization of lesions revealed by contrast extravasation under CT as well as embolization of grade III-V injuries observed, or grade I-II injuries causing hemodynamic instability and/or need for blood transfusion. We collected data on demographic variables, injury severity score (ISS), angiographic findings, and injuries revealed by CT. Pre-protocol and post-protocol outcomes were compared. The sensitivity and specificity of CT findings were calculated for all patients who required angiographic embolization. Forty-four and 30 angiographies were performed in the pre- and post-protocol periods, respectively. The mean (SD) ISSs in the two periods were 25 (11) and 26 (12), respectively. A total of 24 (54%) embolizations were performed in the pre-protocol period and 28 (98%) after implementation of the protocol. Two and 7 embolizations involved the spleen in the 2 periods, respectively; abdominal laparotomies numbered 32 and 25, respectively, and 10 (31%) vs 4 (16%) splenectomies were performed. The specificity and sensitivity values for contrast extravasation found on CT and followed by embolization were 77.7% and 79.5%. The implementation of this multidisciplinary protocol using CT imaging and angiographic embolization led to a decrease in the number of splenectomies. The protocol allows us to take a more conservative treatment approach.

Economic evaluation of an intensive group training protocol compared with usual care physiotherapy in patients with chronic low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Roer, Nicole; van Tulder, Maurits; van Mechelen, Willem; de Vet, Henrica

2008-02-15

Economic evaluation from a societal perspective conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial with a follow-up of 52 weeks. To evaluate the cost effectiveness and cost utility of an intensive group training protocol compared with usual care physiotherapy in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain. The intensive group training protocol combines exercise therapy, back school, and behavioral principles. Two studies found a significant reduction in absenteeism for a graded activity program in occupational health care. This program has not yet been evaluated in a primary care physiotherapy setting. Participating physical therapists in primary care recruited 114 patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain. Eligible patients were randomized to either the protocol group or the guideline group. Outcome measures included functional status (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire), pain intensity (11-point numerical rating scale), general perceived effect and quality of life (EuroQol-5D). Cost data were measured with cost diaries and included direct and indirect costs related to low back pain. After 52 weeks, the direct health care costs were significantly higher for patients in the protocol group, largely due to the costs of the intervention. The mean difference in total costs amounted to [Euro sign] 233 (95% confidence interval: [Euro sign] -2.185; [Euro sign] 2.764). The cost-effectiveness planes indicated no significant differences in cost effectiveness between the 2 groups. The results of this economic evaluation showed no difference in total costs between the protocol group and the guideline group. The differences in effects were small and not statistically significant. At present, national implementation of the protocol is not recommended.

[The intervention mapping protocol: A structured process to develop, implement and evaluate health promotion programs].

Science.gov (United States)

Fassier, J-B; Lamort-Bouché, M; Sarnin, P; Durif-Bruckert, C; Péron, J; Letrilliart, L; Durand, M-J

2016-02-01

Health promotion programs are expected to improve population health and reduce social inequalities in health. However, their theoretical foundations are frequently ill-defined, and their implementation faces many obstacles. The aim of this article is to describe the intervention mapping protocol in health promotion programs planning, used recently in several countries. The challenges of planning health promotion programs are presented, and the six steps of the intervention mapping protocol are described with an example. Based on a literature review, the use of this protocol, its requirements and potential limitations are discussed. The intervention mapping protocol has four essential characteristics: an ecological perspective (person-environment), a participative approach, the use of theoretical models in human and social sciences and the use of scientific evidence. It comprises six steps: conduct a health needs assessment, define change objectives, select theory-based change techniques and practical applications, organize techniques and applications into an intervention program (logic model), plan for program adoption, implementation, and sustainability, and generate an evaluation plan. This protocol was used in different countries and domains such as obesity, tobacco, physical activity, cancer and occupational health. Although its utilization requires resources and a critical stance, this protocol was used to develop interventions which efficacy was demonstrated. The intervention mapping protocol is an integrated process that fits the scientific and practical challenges of health promotion. It could be tested in France as it was used in other countries, in particular to reduce social inequalities in health. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

SU-F-207-16: CT Protocols Optimization Using Model Observer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tseng, H; Fan, J; Kupinski, M

2015-01-01

Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate the performance of different CT protocols using task-based measures of image quality. This work studies the task of size and the contrast estimation of different iodine concentration rods inserted in head- and body-sized phantoms using different imaging protocols. These protocols are designed to have the same dose level (CTDIvol) but using different X-ray tube voltage settings (kVp). Methods: Different concentrations of iodine objects inserted in a head size phantom and a body size phantom are imaged on a 64-slice commercial CT scanner. Scanning protocols with various tube voltages (80, 100, and 120 kVp) and current settings are selected, which output the same absorbed dose level (CTDIvol). Because the phantom design (size of the iodine objects, the air gap between the inserted objects and the phantom) is not ideal for a model observer study, the acquired CT images are used to generate simulation images with four different sizes and five different contracts iodine objects. For each type of the objects, 500 images (100 x 100 pixels) are generated for the observer study. The observer selected in this study is the channelized scanning linear observer which could be applied to estimate the size and the contrast. The figure of merit used is the correct estimation ratio. The mean and the variance are estimated by the shuffle method. Results: The results indicate that the protocols with 100 kVp tube voltage setting provides the best performance for iodine insert size and contrast estimation for both head and body phantom cases. Conclusion: This work presents a practical and robust quantitative approach using channelized scanning linear observer to study contrast and size estimation performance from different CT protocols. Different protocols at same CTDIvol setting could Result in different image quality performance. The relationship between the absorbed dose and the diagnostic image quality is not linear

SU-F-207-16: CT Protocols Optimization Using Model Observer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tseng, H [University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Fan, J [CT Systems Engineering, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wisconsin (United States); Kupinski, M [Univ Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate the performance of different CT protocols using task-based measures of image quality. This work studies the task of size and the contrast estimation of different iodine concentration rods inserted in head- and body-sized phantoms using different imaging protocols. These protocols are designed to have the same dose level (CTDIvol) but using different X-ray tube voltage settings (kVp). Methods: Different concentrations of iodine objects inserted in a head size phantom and a body size phantom are imaged on a 64-slice commercial CT scanner. Scanning protocols with various tube voltages (80, 100, and 120 kVp) and current settings are selected, which output the same absorbed dose level (CTDIvol). Because the phantom design (size of the iodine objects, the air gap between the inserted objects and the phantom) is not ideal for a model observer study, the acquired CT images are used to generate simulation images with four different sizes and five different contracts iodine objects. For each type of the objects, 500 images (100 x 100 pixels) are generated for the observer study. The observer selected in this study is the channelized scanning linear observer which could be applied to estimate the size and the contrast. The figure of merit used is the correct estimation ratio. The mean and the variance are estimated by the shuffle method. Results: The results indicate that the protocols with 100 kVp tube voltage setting provides the best performance for iodine insert size and contrast estimation for both head and body phantom cases. Conclusion: This work presents a practical and robust quantitative approach using channelized scanning linear observer to study contrast and size estimation performance from different CT protocols. Different protocols at same CTDIvol setting could Result in different image quality performance. The relationship between the absorbed dose and the diagnostic image quality is not linear.

Performance evaluation of Siemens E.CAM(R) SPECT system at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Ghana)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sosu, E.K.; Hasford, F.; Amuasi, J.H.

2011-01-01

Performance evaluation tests on Siemens e.cam(R) Signature Series Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)System at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Ghana) were conducted for compliance with Manufacturer's specifications and user's requirements. The tests were performed according to National Electrical Manufacturer's Association protocols, and different measuring instruments and phantoms containing 99m-Tc were used. Extrinsic uniformity, system energy resolution, system spatial resolution (without scattering), detector shield leakage and system planar sensitivity were evaluated. The system energy resolution measured was 9.38 % as against manufacturer's specification of ≤ 9.9 %, Planar sensitivity value measured was 232.92 c/min/mCi while manufacturers' specification was 202 c/min/mCi, and detector shield leakage values measured were 0.001 %, 0.002 % and 0.025 % against an accepted value of < 1 %. The performance evaluation confirmed that the system met requirements for clinical nuclear medicine imaging, and the values could be used as database for future quality control measurements. (au)

Evaluation and comparison of four protein extraction protocols for mono- and two-dimensional electrophoresis in Mytilus galloprovincialis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Ceruso

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, four protein extraction protocols from Mytilus galloprovincialis were evaluated with the aim to identify the most practical, efficient and reproducible method. Four extraction protocols frequently used for mussels and organic matrices were selected and compared. The methods were based on the use of: i TRIzol reagent; ii Lysis buffer; iii phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride; iv trichloroacetic acid-acetone. Protein concentration was measured by the Bradford method. Three specimens of mussels were studied and the analysis was conducted in triplicate for each of the four protocols. Results indicated that the four methods could extract significantly different protein profiles. The highest number of protein spots resolved in 2DE gels and the best reproducibility was obtained using trichloroacetic acid-acetone protocol. Results afforded the selection of a suitable extraction protocol to be used for ecotoxicoproteomics studies from mussels and for other proteomic studies conducted by particularly complex tissues such as Mytilus galloprovincialis.

RESULTS OF ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA TREATMENT WITH INTENSIVE CHEMOTHERAPY IN CHILDREN IN ST.-PETERSBURG: RETROSPECTIVE EVALUATION OF TWO VERSIONS OF COALL-92 PROTOCOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.G. Boichenko

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Regardless the success gained in treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, several problems still remain to be solved, such as: overcoming primary drug resistance and minimizing the amount of relapses as well as decreasing of chemotherapy toxicity without detriment to the final outcome of the treatment. Development of an optimal chemotherapeutical strategy still remains a hot issue. Objective: to evaluate an efficacy of two modifications of German protocol COALL-92 in treatment of ALL in children in St.-Petersburg. Methods: the retrospective analysis of results of treatment in patients under 18 years old with ALL was performed. The diagnosis was confirmed according to international criteria. The treatment was performed via protocols PECO-92 and COALL-St.-Petersburg-92. Results: 438 initial patients with ALL were treated in St.-Petersburg clinics during the period from 01.01.1993 to 01.01.2007. At the time of analysis the probability of event-free survival (pEFS was 60% in group of PECO-92 protocol and 70% — in COALL group (plog-rank = 0,048, probability of relapse-free survival (рRFS was 65 and 74% (plog-rank = 0,002, probability of overall survival was (pOS 78 and 70%, correspondingly (plog-rank = 0,079. Conclusion: inclusion of protocol treatment in practice of St.-Petersburg hospitals resulted in significant improvement of treatment results in children with ALL. The problem of both versions of COALL protocol is high rate of postremission mortality due to high toxicity of intensive stage if chemotherapy.Key words: children, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, intensive chemotherapy.(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. 2011; 10 (3: 33–42

Evaluation of the analytic performance of laboratories: inter-laboratorial study of the spectroscopy of atomic absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong Wong, S. M.

1996-01-01

The author made an inter-laboratorial study, with the participation of 18 national laboratories, that have spectrophotometer of atomic absorption. To evaluate the methods of analysis of lead, sodium, potasium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, and iron, in the ambit of mg/l. The samples, distributed in four rounds to the laboratories, were prepared from primary patterns, deionized and distilled water. The study evaluated the homogeneity and stability, and verified its concentration, using as a reference method, the spectrometry method of Inductively Coupled Plasma emission (1CP). To obtain the characteristics of analytic performance, it applied the norm ASTM E 691. To evaluated the analytic performance, it used harmonized protocol of the International Union of Pure and applied chemistry (IUPAC). The study obtained the 29% of the laboratories had a satisfactory analytic performance, 9% had a questionable performance and 62% made an unsatisfactory analytic performance, according to the IUPAC norm. The results of the values of the characteristic performance method, show that there is no intercomparability between the laboratories, which is attributed to the different methodologies of analysis. (S. Grainger)

Performance Evaluation Of Macro amp Micro Mobility In HMIP Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osama Ali Abdelgadir

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Changing the location of mobile node during transmission or receiving of data always caused changing of the address of the mobile node which results in packet loss as well as delay in time taken to locate the new address of the Mobile Node therefore delay of data receiving is caused this problem was known as micro-mobility issue. To resolve this problem and ascurrently mobile IP is the most promising solution for mobility management in the Internet. Several IP micro mobility approaches have been proposed to enhance the performance of mobile IP which supports quality of service minimum packet loss limited handoff delay and scalability and power conservation but they are not scalable for macro mobility. A practical solution would therefore require integration of mobile IP and micro mobility protocols where mobile IP handles macro mobility and HMIP cellular IP HAWAII handles micro mobility. In this paper an integrated mobility management protocol for IP based wireless networks is proposed and analyzed.HIERARCHICAL MICRO MOBILITY PROTOCOL is used. To identify the impact of micro-mobility in IP based Wireless Network to implement selected micro-mobility model of Hierarchal Micro Mobility Protocol in network simulator and for more analysis and measurements results and for the purpose of performance comparison between both Macro and Micro mobility Protocol Management.. Simulation results presented in this paper are based on ns 2

An Experimental Protocol for Assessing the Performance of New Ultrasound Probes Based on CMUT Technology in Application to Brain Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Matrone, Giulia; Ramalli, Alessandro; Savoia, Alessandro Stuart; Quaglia, Fabio; Castellazzi, Gloria; Morbini, Patrizia; Piastra, Marco

2017-09-24

The possibility to perform an early and repeatable assessment of imaging performance is fundamental in the design and development process of new ultrasound (US) probes. Particularly, a more realistic analysis with application-specific imaging targets can be extremely valuable to assess the expected performance of US probes in their potential clinical field of application. The experimental protocol presented in this work was purposely designed to provide an application-specific assessment procedure for newly-developed US probe prototypes based on Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) technology in relation to brain imaging. The protocol combines the use of a bovine brain fixed in formalin as the imaging target, which ensures both realism and repeatability of the described procedures, and of neuronavigation techniques borrowed from neurosurgery. The US probe is in fact connected to a motion tracking system which acquires position data and enables the superposition of US images to reference Magnetic Resonance (MR) images of the brain. This provides a means for human experts to perform a visual qualitative assessment of the US probe imaging performance and to compare acquisitions made with different probes. Moreover, the protocol relies on the use of a complete and open research and development system for US image acquisition, i.e. the Ultrasound Advanced Open Platform (ULA-OP) scanner. The manuscript describes in detail the instruments and procedures involved in the protocol, in particular for the calibration, image acquisition and registration of US and MR images. The obtained results prove the effectiveness of the overall protocol presented, which is entirely open (within the limits of the instrumentation involved), repeatable, and covers the entire set of acquisition and processing activities for US images.

Breaking bad news-what patients want and what they get: evaluating the SPIKES protocol in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Seifart, C; Hofmann, M; Bär, T; Riera Knorrenschild, J; Seifart, U; Rief, W

2014-03-01

Evaluation of the SPIKES protocol, a recommended guideline for breaking bad news, is sparse, and information about patients' preferences for bad-news delivery in Germany is lacking. Being the first actual-theoretical comparison of a 'breaking bad news' guideline, the present study evaluates the recommended steps of the SPIKES protocol. Moreover, emotional consequences and quality of bad-news delivery are investigated. A total of 350 cancer patients answered the MABBAN (Marburg Breaking Bad News Scale), a questionnaire representing the six SPIKES subscales, asking for the procedure, perception and satisfaction of the first cancer disclosure and patient's assign to these items. Only 46.2% of the asked cancer patients are completely satisfied with how bad news had been broken to them. The overall quality is significantly related to the emotional state after receiving bad news (r = -0.261, P bad news were delivered, and the resulting rang list of patients' preferences indicates that the SPIKES protocol do not fully meet the priorities of cancer patients in Germany. It could be postulated that the low satisfaction of patients observed in this study reflects the highly significant difference between patients' preferences and bad-news delivery. Therefore, some adjunctions to the SPIKES protocol should be considered, including a frequent reassurance of listeners' understanding, the perpetual possibility to ask question, respect for prearrangement needs and the conception of bad-news delivery in a two-step procedure.

Performance evaluation of the micro PET focus 120 with the 11C, 13N, and 18F radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trejo B, F.; Ortega L, N.; Ojeda F, R.; Avila R, M. A.

2010-01-01

The aim of this work is to evaluate the characteristics involved in the data acquisition and image reconstruction of a micro PET Focus 120 system. Energy resolution, spatial resolution, sensitivity, count rate and image quality characteristics were evaluated using different phantoms with three conventional positron emitter radionuclides used in PET imaging ( 11 C, 13 N and 18 F). Some tests performed in this work are from the new protocol Nema NU4 - 2008. (Author)

Evaluation of a focussed protocol for hand-held echocardiography and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease in scholars.

Science.gov (United States)

Zühlke, Liesl J; Engel, Mark E; Nkepu, Simpiwe; Mayosi, Bongani M

2016-08-01

Introduction Echocardiography is the diagnostic test of choice for latent rheumatic heart disease. The utility of echocardiography for large-scale screening is limited by high cost, complex diagnostic protocols, and time to acquire multiple images. We evaluated the performance of a brief hand-held echocardiography protocol and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease with or without pathological murmur. A total of 27 asymptomatic patients with latent rheumatic heart disease based on the World Heart Federation criteria and 66 healthy controls were examined by standard cardiac auscultation to detect pathological murmur. Hand-held echocardiography using a focussed protocol that utilises one view - that is, the parasternal long-axis view - and one measurement - that is, mitral regurgitant jet - and a computer-assisted auscultation utilising an automated decision tool were performed on all patients. The sensitivity and specificity of computer-assisted auscultation in latent rheumatic heart disease were 4% (95% CI 1.0-20.4%) and 93.7% (95% CI 84.5-98.3%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the focussed hand-held echocardiography protocol for definite rheumatic heart disease were 92.3% (95% CI 63.9-99.8%) and 100%, respectively. The test reliability of hand-held echocardiography was 98.7% for definite and 94.7% for borderline disease, and the adjusted diagnostic odds ratios were 1041 and 263.9 for definite and borderline disease, respectively. Computer-assisted auscultation has extremely low sensitivity but high specificity for pathological murmur in latent rheumatic heart disease. Focussed hand-held echocardiography has fair sensitivity but high specificity and diagnostic utility for definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in asymptomatic patients.

Evaluation and development the routing protocol of a fully functional simulation environment for VANETs

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Azhar Tareq; Warip, Mohd Nazri Mohd; Yaakob, Naimah; Abduljabbar, Waleed Khalid; Atta, Abdu Mohammed Ali

2017-11-01

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) is an area of wireless technologies that is attracting a great deal of interest. There are still several areas of VANETS, such as security and routing protocols, medium access control, that lack large amounts of research. There is also a lack of freely available simulators that can quickly and accurately simulate VANETs. The main goal of this paper is to develop a freely available VANETS simulator and to evaluate popular mobile ad-hoc network routing protocols in several VANETS scenarios. The VANETS simulator consisted of a network simulator, traffic (mobility simulator) and used a client-server application to keep the two simulators in sync. The VANETS simulator also models buildings to create a more realistic wireless network environment. Ad-Hoc Distance Vector routing (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Dynamic MANET On-demand (DYMO) were initially simulated in a city, country, and highway environment to provide an overall evaluation.

An efficient multi-carrier position-based packet forwarding protocol for wireless sensor networks

KAUST Repository

Bader, Ahmed

2012-01-01

Beaconless position-based forwarding protocols have recently evolved as a promising solution for packet forwarding in wireless sensor networks. However, as the node density grows, the overhead incurred in the process of relay selection grows significantly. As such, end-to-end performance in terms of energy and latency is adversely impacted. With the motivation of developing a packet forwarding mechanism that is tolerant to variation in node density, an alternative position-based protocol is proposed in this paper. In contrast to existing beaconless protocols, the proposed protocol is designed such that it eliminates the need for potential relays to undergo a relay selection process. Rather, any eligible relay may decide to forward the packet ahead, thus significantly reducing the underlying overhead. The operation of the proposed protocol is empowered by exploiting favorable features of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) at the physical layer. The end-to-end performance of the proposed protocol is evaluated against existing beaconless position-based protocols analytically and as well by means of simulations. The proposed protocol is demonstrated in this paper to be more efficient. In particular, it is shown that for the same amount of energy the proposed protocol transports one bit from source to destination much quicker. © 2012 IEEE.

Autonomous Power Control MAC Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Battery energy limitation has become a performance bottleneck for mobile ad hoc networks. IEEE 802.11 has been adopted as the current standard MAC protocol for ad hoc networks. However, it was developed without considering energy efficiency. To solve this problem, many modifications on IEEE 802.11 to incorporate power control have been proposed in the literature. The main idea of these power control schemes is to use a maximum possible power level for transmitting RTS/CTS and the lowest acceptable power for sending DATA/ACK. However, these schemes may degrade network throughput and reduce the overall energy efficiency of the network. This paper proposes autonomous power control MAC protocol (APCMP, which allows mobile nodes dynamically adjusting power level for transmitting DATA/ACK according to the distances between the transmitter and its neighbors. In addition, the power level for transmitting RTS/CTS is also adjustable according to the power level for DATA/ACK packets. In this paper, the performance of APCMP protocol is evaluated by simulation and is compared with that of other protocols.

A Geographical Heuristic Routing Protocol for VANETs

Science.gov (United States)

Urquiza-Aguiar, Luis; Tripp-Barba, Carolina; Aguilar Igartua, Mónica

2016-01-01

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) leverage the communication system of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Recently, Delay-Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocols have increased their popularity among the research community for being used in non-safety VANET applications and services like traffic reporting. Vehicular DTN protocols use geographical and local information to make forwarding decisions. However, current proposals only consider the selection of the best candidate based on a local-search. In this paper, we propose a generic Geographical Heuristic Routing (GHR) protocol that can be applied to any DTN geographical routing protocol that makes forwarding decisions hop by hop. GHR includes in its operation adaptations simulated annealing and Tabu-search meta-heuristics, which have largely been used to improve local-search results in discrete optimization. We include a complete performance evaluation of GHR in a multi-hop VANET simulation scenario for a reporting service. Our study analyzes all of the meaningful configurations of GHR and offers a statistical analysis of our findings by means of MANOVA tests. Our results indicate that the use of a Tabu list contributes to improving the packet delivery ratio by around 5% to 10%. Moreover, if Tabu is used, then the simulated annealing routing strategy gets a better performance than the selection of the best node used with carry and forwarding (default operation). PMID:27669254

Community Development and Divergent Forces in Philippine State Universities and Colleges: Developing a Protocol in Evaluating Extension Projects Towards Community Empowerment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dexter S. Ontoy

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Divergent paradigms operate in State Universities and Colleges SUCs, which influence the performance of extension projects towards attainment of full empowerment as the ultimate goal implied by the universally-accepted definition of community development. In particular, a livelihood and environment project of Cebu Normal University (CNU implemented in Caputatan Norte, Medillin, Cebu, Philippines was assessed based on five (5 primary parameters and two (2 secondary parameters. A novel protocol using Delphi Method shows was developed and used for this particular study, which could be adapted in evaluating the performance of community extension projects. In this particular case, the performance of CNU livelihood and environment project falls between ―demonstration‖ and ―community organizing‖. The evaluation shows that there is still a need to reinforce activities to the ultimate goal. However, it is also implied that the secondary parameters are more robust indicators in assessing the outcomes of the project implementation towards full community empowerment.

Improvement of burn pain management through routine pain monitoring and pain management protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hyeong Tae; Hur, Giyeun; Kwak, In-Suk; Yim, Haejun; Cho, Yong Suk; Kim, Dohern; Hur, Jun; Kim, Jong Hyun; Lee, Boung Chul; Seo, Cheong Hoon; Chun, Wook

2013-06-01

Pain management is an important aspect of burn management. We developed a routine pain monitoring system and pain management protocol for burn patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of our new pain management system. From May 2011 to November 2011, the prospective study was performed with 107 burn patients. We performed control group (n=58) data analysis and then developed the pain management protocol and monitoring system. Next, we applied our protocol to patients and performed protocol group (n=49) data analysis, and compared this to control group data. Data analysis was performed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) of background pain and procedural pain, Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale (STAIS), and Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale (HRSS). The NRS of background pain for the protocol group was significantly decreased compared to the control group (2.8±2.0 versus 3.9±1.9), and the NRS of procedural pain of the protocol group was significantly decreased compared to the control group (4.8±2.8 versus 3.7±2.5). CAPS and HDRS were decreased in the protocol group, but did not have statistical significance. STAIS and HRSS were decreased in the protocol group, but only the STAIS had statistical significance. Our new pain management system was effective in burn pain management. However, adequate pain management can only be accomplished by a continuous and thorough effort. Therefore, pain control protocol and pain monitoring systems need to be under constant revision and improvement using creative ideas and approaches. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Energy-Aware RFID Anti-Collision Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Arjona, Laura; Simon, Hugo Landaluce; Ruiz, Asier Perallos

2018-06-11

The growing interest in mobile devices is transforming wireless identification technologies. Mobile and battery-powered Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers, such as hand readers and smart phones, are are becoming increasingly attractive. These RFID readers require energy-efficient anti-collision protocols to minimize the tag collisions and to expand the reader's battery life. Furthermore, there is an increasing interest in RFID sensor networks with a growing number of RFID sensor tags. Thus, RFID application developers must be mindful of tag anti-collision protocols. Energy-efficient protocols involve a low reader energy consumption per tag. This work presents a thorough study of the reader energy consumption per tag and analyzes the main factor that affects this metric: the frame size update strategy. Using the conclusion of this analysis, the anti-collision protocol Energy-Aware Slotted Aloha (EASA) is presented to decrease the energy consumption per tag. The frame size update strategy of EASA is configured to minimize the energy consumption per tag. As a result, EASA presents an energy-aware frame. The performance of the proposed protocol is evaluated and compared with several state of the art Aloha-based anti-collision protocols based on the current RFID standard. Simulation results show that EASA, with an average of 15 mJ consumed per tag identified, achieves a 6% average improvement in the energy consumption per tag in relation to the strategies of the comparison.

Toward Fairness in Assessing Student Groupwork: A Protocol for Peer Evaluation of Individual Contributions

Science.gov (United States)

Fellenz, Martin R.

2006-01-01

A key challenge for management instructors using graded groupwork with students is to find ways to maximize student learning from group projects while ensuring fair and accurate assessment methods. This article presents the Groupwork Peer-Evaluation Protocol (GPEP) that enables the assessment of individual contributions to graded student…

A Business Evaluation Of The Next Generation Ipv6 Protocol In Fixed And Mobile Communication Services

OpenAIRE

Pau, Louis-François

2002-01-01

textabstractThis paper gives an analytical business model of the Internet IPv4 and IPv6 protocols ,focussing on the business implications of intrinsic technical properties of these protocols .The technical properties modeled in business terms are : address space, payload, autoconfiguration, IP mobility , security, and flow label. Three operational cash flow focussed performance indexes are defined for respectively an Internet operator or ISP, for the address domain owner, and for the end user...

Effect of variation in active route timeout and my route timeout on the performance of AODV-ETX protocol in mobile adhoc network

Science.gov (United States)

Purnomo, A.; Widyawan; Najib, W.; Hartono, R.; Hartatik

2018-03-01

Mobile adhoc network (MANET) consists of nodes that are independent. A node can communicate each other without the presence of network infrastructure. A node can act as a transmitter and receiver as well as a router. This research has been variation in active route timeout and my route timeout on the performance of AODV-ETX protocol in MANET. The AODV-ETX protocol is the AODV protocol that uses the ETX metric. Performance testing is done on the static node topology with 5 m x 5 m node grid model where the distance between nodes is 100 m and node topology that consists of 25 nodes moves randomly with a moving speed of 1.38 m/s in an area of 1500 m x 300 m. From the test result, on the static node, AODV protocol-ETX shows optimal performance at a value MRT and ART of 10 s and 15 s, but showed a stable performance in the value of MRT and ART ≥60 s, while in randomly moved node topology shows stable performance in the value of MRT and ART ≥80 s.

40 CFR 63.2354 - What performance tests, design evaluations, and performance evaluations must I conduct?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... evaluations, and performance evaluations must I conduct? 63.2354 Section 63.2354 Protection of Environment... tests, design evaluations, and performance evaluations must I conduct? (a)(1) For each performance test... procedures specified in subpart SS of this part. (3) For each performance evaluation of a continuous emission...

One Sample, One Shot - Evaluation of sample preparation protocols for the mass spectrometric proteome analysis of human bile fluid without extensive fractionation.

Science.gov (United States)

Megger, Dominik A; Padden, Juliet; Rosowski, Kristin; Uszkoreit, Julian; Bracht, Thilo; Eisenacher, Martin; Gerges, Christian; Neuhaus, Horst; Schumacher, Brigitte; Schlaak, Jörg F; Sitek, Barbara

2017-02-10

The proteome analysis of bile fluid represents a promising strategy to identify biomarker candidates for various diseases of the hepatobiliary system. However, to obtain substantive results in biomarker discovery studies large patient cohorts necessarily need to be analyzed. Consequently, this would lead to an unmanageable number of samples to be analyzed if sample preparation protocols with extensive fractionation methods are applied. Hence, the performance of simple workflows allowing for "one sample, one shot" experiments have been evaluated in this study. In detail, sixteen different protocols implying modifications at the stages of desalting, delipidation, deglycosylation and tryptic digestion have been examined. Each method has been individually evaluated regarding various performance criteria and comparative analyses have been conducted to uncover possible complementarities. Here, the best performance in terms of proteome coverage has been assessed for a combination of acetone precipitation with in-gel digestion. Finally, a mapping of all obtained protein identifications with putative biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC) revealed several proteins easily detectable in bile fluid. These results can build the basis for future studies with large and well-defined patient cohorts in a more disease-related context. Human bile fluid is a proximal body fluid and supposed to be a potential source of disease markers. However, due to its biochemical composition, the proteome analysis of bile fluid still represents a challenging task and is therefore mostly conducted using extensive fractionation procedures. This in turn leads to a high number of mass spectrometric measurements for one biological sample. Considering the fact that in order to overcome the biological variability a high number of biological samples needs to be analyzed in biomarker discovery studies, this leads to the dilemma of an unmanageable number of

Influence of Whitening Gel Application Protocol on Dental Color Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taciana Marco Ferraz Caneppele

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. To evaluate the influence of different whitening protocols on the efficacy of 35% hydrogen peroxide (HP tooth whitening and gel pH and concentration. Material and Methods. Eighty-four enamel/dentin discs from bovine incisors were used. The baseline color was measured with a spectrophotometer. Two sessions of in-office whitening with 35% HP were performed under different protocols: G1: 3 applications of HP (10 min each per session; G2: 1 application of 30 min per session; G3: 1 application of 40 min per session, with no gel replenishment within session for groups 2 and 3. HP titration and pH evaluation at baseline, after 10, 30, and 40 min were also performed. The final color was measured 24 h after the 1st and 2nd whitening sessions. Data were submitted to Repeated Measures ANOVA and Tukey’s test. Results. For color evaluation, no differences were observed among groups after two sessions. HP titration showed no drop on concentration after 10, 30, or 40 min. The pH was 5.54 at baseline and 5.41 after 40 min. Conclusion. Replenishment or extended application time of in-office whitening gel does not affect gel pH and concentration, a fact that supports the similar effectiveness of whitening observed among the tested protocols.

ABORt: Acknowledgement-Based Opportunistic Routing Protocol for High Data Rate Multichannel WSNs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamadoun Tall

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The ease of deployment and the auto-configuration capabilities of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs make them very attractive in different domains like environmental, home automation or heath care applications. The use of multichannel communications in WSNs helps to improve the overall performance of the network. However, in heavy traffic scenarios, routing protocols should be adapted to allow load balancing and to avoid losing data packets due to congestion and queue overflow. In this paper, we present an Acknowledgement-Based Opportunistic Routing (ABORt protocol designed for high data rate multichannel WSNs. It is a low overhead protocol that does not rely on synchronization for control traffic exchange during the operational phase of the network. ABORt is an opportunistic protocol that relies on link layer acknowledgements to disseminate routing metrics, which helps to reduce overhead. The performance of ABORt is evaluated using the Cooja simulator and the obtained results show that ABORt has a high packet delivery ratio with reduced packet end-to-end delay compared to two single channel routing protocols and two multichannel routing protocols that use number of hops and expected transmission count as routing metrics.

Performance evaluation of enzyme immunoassay for voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring with automated clinical chemistry analyzers

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Yongbum Jeon

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: Voriconazole is a triazole antifungal developed for the treatment of fungal infectious disease, and the clinical utility of its therapeutic drug monitoring has been evaluated. Recently, a new assay for analyzing the serum voriconazole concentration with an automated clinical chemistry analyzer was developed. We evaluated the performance of the new assay based on standardized protocols. Methods: The analytical performance of the assay was evaluated according to its precision, trueness by recovery, limit of quantitation, linearity, and correlation with results from liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS. The evaluation was performed with the same protocol on two different routine chemistry analyzers. All evaluations were performed according to CLSI Guidelines EP15, EP17, EP6, and EP9 [1–4]. Results: Coefficients of variation for within-run and between-day imprecision were 3.2–5.1% and 1.5–3.0%, respectively, on the two different analyzers for pooled serum samples. The recovery rates were in the range of 95.4–102.2%. The limit of blank was 0.0049 μg/mL, and the limit of detection of the samples was 0.0266–0.0376 μg/mL. The percent recovery at three LoQ levels were 67.9–74.6% for 0.50 μg/mL, 75.5–80.2% for 0.60 μg/mL, and 89.9–96.6% for 0.70 μg/mL. A linear relationship was demonstrated between 0.5 μg/mL and 16.0 μg/mL (R2=0.9995–0.9998. The assay correlated well with LC-MS/MS results (R2=0.9739–0.9828. Conclusions: The assay showed acceptable precision, trueness, linearity, and limit of quantification, and correlated well with LC-MS/MS. Therefore, its analytical performance is satisfactory for monitoring the drug concentration of voriconazole. Keywords: Voriconazole, Antifungal agents, Therapeutic drug monitoring

Implementation of a rapid chest pain protocol in the emergency department: A quality improvement project.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunch, Azalea Marie; Leasure, A Renee; Carithers, Cathrin; Burnette, Robert E; Berryman, Michael Scott

2016-02-01

The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project is to compare the effectiveness of a rapid 90-min chest pain screening and evaluation protocol to a 120-min screening and evaluation protocol in determining patient readiness for hospital admission or discharge home. The existing chest pain protocol utilized in the emergency department (ED) was revised based on a review of current research changing initial screening and reevaluation times from 120 to 90 min. A prospective comparative study of patients presenting to the ED with chest pain was performed comparing the existing chest pain protocol of 120 min (standard care) with a rapid screening evaluation protocol of 90 min. A total of 128 patients presenting to an ED in Texas with chest pain comprised the sample for this study. There was a significant difference in the number of minutes between the groups for readiness for disposition. The average time from chest pain evaluation to readiness for disposition home, observation, or admission decreased from an average of 191 min in the standard care group to an average of 118 min in the rapid screening group. Use of the rapid screening and evaluation protocol decreased the time to disposition by an average of 73 min, which enhanced ED flow without influencing disposition and patient safety. ©2015 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Performance Comparison of Wireless Sensor Network Standard Protocols in an Aerospace Environment: ISA100.11a and ZigBee Pro

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Raymond S.; Barton, Richard J.

2011-01-01

Standards-based wireless sensor network (WSN) protocols are promising candidates for spacecraft avionics systems, offering unprecedented instrumentation flexibility and expandability. Ensuring reliable data transport is key, however, when migrating from wired to wireless data gathering systems. In this paper, we conduct a rigorous laboratory analysis of the relative performances of the ZigBee Pro and ISA100.11a protocols in a representative crewed aerospace environment. Since both operate in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency (RF) band shared by systems such as Wi-Fi, they are subject at times to potentially debilitating RF interference. We compare goodput (application-level throughput) achievable by both under varying levels of 802.11g Wi-Fi traffic. We conclude that while the simpler, more inexpensive ZigBee Pro protocol performs well under moderate levels of interference, the more complex and costly ISA100.11a protocol is needed to ensure reliable data delivery under heavier interference. This paper represents the first published, rigorous analysis of WSN protocols in an aerospace environment that we are aware of and the first published head-to-head comparison of ZigBee Pro and ISA100.11a.

Real-Time Performance of Hybrid Mobile Robot Control Utilizing USB Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacek Augustyn

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the problem of usability of the USB 2.0 protocol in the area of real-time control of a mobile robot. Optimization methods of data transfer handling were proposed. The impact of the optimization results on the entire system's performance was examined in practice. As a test-bed, a hybrid system composed of two devices communicating by direct USB connection was implemented. The first of the mentioned devices was a 32-bit SoC micro-system serving as a direct control unit, and the second one was an off-the-shelf PDA providing supervisory control and logging. Due to this design, the system meets regimes of the real-time constraints and maintains continuity of a data stream at a large bandwidth. The real-time performances of subsystems and the entire system were experimentally examined depending on various operating conditions. Thanks to the performed experiments, the dependency of real-time limits on operational parameters has been determined.

Deployment Strategies and Clustering Protocols Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chérif Diallo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks face significant design challenges due to limited computing and storage capacities and, most importantly, dependence on limited battery power. Energy is a critical resource and is often an important issue to the deployment of sensor applications that claim to be omnipresent in the world of future. Thus optimizing the deployment of sensors becomes a major constraint in the design and implementation of a WSN in order to ensure better network operations. In wireless networking, clustering techniques add scalability, reduce the computation complexity of routing protocols, allow data aggregation and then enhance the network performance. The well-known MaxMin clustering algorithm was previously generalized, corrected and validated. Then, in a previous work we have improved MaxMin by proposing a Single- node Cluster Reduction (SNCR mechanism which eliminates single-node clusters and then improve energy efficiency. In this paper, we show that MaxMin, because of its original pathological case, does not support the grid deployment topology, which is frequently used in WSN architectures. The unreliability feature of the wireless links could have negative impacts on Link Quality Indicator (LQI based clustering protocols. So, in the second part of this paper we show how our distributed Link Quality based d- Clustering Protocol (LQI-DCP has good performance in both stable and high unreliable link environments. Finally, performance evaluation results also show that LQI-DCP fully supports the grid deployment topology and is more energy efficient than MaxMin.

Mean-Field Analysis for the Evaluation of Gossip Protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakshi, Rena; Cloth, L.; Fokkink, Wan; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

Gossip protocols are designed to operate in very large, decentralised networks. A node in such a network bases its decision to interact (gossip) with another node on its partial view of the global system. Because of the size of these networks, analysis of gossip protocols is mostly done using

Mean-field analysis for the evaluation of gossip protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakhshi, Rena; Cloth, L.; Fokkink, Wan; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

2008-01-01

Gossip protocols are designed to operate in very large, decentralised networks. A node in such a network bases its decision to interact (gossip) with another node on its partial view of the global system. Because of the size of these networks, analysis of gossip protocols is mostly done using

FuGeF: A Resource Bound Secure Forwarding Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Umar, Idris Abubakar; Mohd Hanapi, Zurina; Sali, A; Zulkarnain, Zuriati A

2016-06-22

Resource bound security solutions have facilitated the mitigation of spatio-temporal attacks by altering protocol semantics to provide minimal security while maintaining an acceptable level of performance. The Dynamic Window Secured Implicit Geographic Forwarding (DWSIGF) routing protocol for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) has been proposed to achieve a minimal selection of malicious nodes by introducing a dynamic collection window period to the protocol's semantics. However, its selection scheme suffers substantial packet losses due to the utilization of a single distance based parameter for node selection. In this paper, we propose a Fuzzy-based Geographic Forwarding protocol (FuGeF) to minimize packet loss, while maintaining performance. The FuGeF utilizes a new form of dynamism and introduces three selection parameters: remaining energy, connectivity cost, and progressive distance, as well as a Fuzzy Logic System (FLS) for node selection. These introduced mechanisms ensure the appropriate selection of a non-malicious node. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed FuGeF protocol as compared to DWSIGF variants. The simulation results show that the proposed FuGeF outperforms the two DWSIGF variants (DWSIGF-P and DWSIGF-R) in terms of packet delivery.

Performance Analysis of AODV Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network based Smart Metering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farooq, Hasan; Jung, Low Tang

2013-01-01

Today no one can deny the need for Smart Grid and it is being considered as of utmost importance to upgrade outdated electric infrastructure to cope with the ever increasing electric load demand. Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is considered a promising candidate for internetworking of smart meters with the gateway using mesh topology. This paper investigates the performance of AODV routing protocol for WSN based smart metering deployment. Three case studies are presented to analyze its performance based on four metrics of (i) Packet Delivery Ratio, (ii) Average Energy Consumption of Nodes (iii) Average End-End Delay and (iv) Normalized Routing Load.

Study on Cloud Security Based on Trust Spanning Tree Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yingxu; Liu, Zenghui; Pan, Qiuyue; Liu, Jing

2015-09-01

Attacks executed on Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) expose the weakness of link layer protocols and put the higher layers in jeopardy. Although the problems have been studied for many years and various solutions have been proposed, many security issues remain. To enhance the security and credibility of layer-2 network, we propose a trust-based spanning tree protocol aiming at achieving a higher credibility of LAN switch with a simple and lightweight authentication mechanism. If correctly implemented in each trusted switch, the authentication of trust-based STP can guarantee the credibility of topology information that is announced to other switch in the LAN. To verify the enforcement of the trusted protocol, we present a new trust evaluation method of the STP using a specification-based state model. We implement a prototype of trust-based STP to investigate its practicality. Experiment shows that the trusted protocol can achieve security goals and effectively avoid STP attacks with a lower computation overhead and good convergence performance.

Automatic Validation of Protocol Narration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodei, Chiara; Buchholtz, Mikael; Degano, Pierpablo

2003-01-01

We perform a systematic expansion of protocol narrations into terms of a process algebra in order to make precise some of the detailed checks that need to be made in a protocol. We then apply static analysis technology to develop an automatic validation procedure for protocols. Finally, we...

Defining robustness protocols: a method to include and evaluate robustness in clinical plans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGowan, S E; Albertini, F; Lomax, A J; Thomas, S J

2015-01-01

We aim to define a site-specific robustness protocol to be used during the clinical plan evaluation process. Plan robustness of 16 skull base IMPT plans to systematic range and random set-up errors have been retrospectively and systematically analysed. This was determined by calculating the error-bar dose distribution (ebDD) for all the plans and by defining some metrics used to define protocols aiding the plan assessment. Additionally, an example of how to clinically use the defined robustness database is given whereby a plan with sub-optimal brainstem robustness was identified. The advantage of using different beam arrangements to improve the plan robustness was analysed. Using the ebDD it was found range errors had a smaller effect on dose distribution than the corresponding set-up error in a single fraction, and that organs at risk were most robust to the range errors, whereas the target was more robust to set-up errors. A database was created to aid planners in terms of plan robustness aims in these volumes. This resulted in the definition of site-specific robustness protocols. The use of robustness constraints allowed for the identification of a specific patient that may have benefited from a treatment of greater individuality. A new beam arrangement showed to be preferential when balancing conformality and robustness for this case. The ebDD and error-bar volume histogram proved effective in analysing plan robustness. The process of retrospective analysis could be used to establish site-specific robustness planning protocols in proton therapy. These protocols allow the planner to determine plans that, although delivering a dosimetrically adequate dose distribution, have resulted in sub-optimal robustness to these uncertainties. For these cases the use of different beam start conditions may improve the plan robustness to set-up and range uncertainties. (paper)

Defining robustness protocols: a method to include and evaluate robustness in clinical plans

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, S. E.; Albertini, F.; Thomas, S. J.; Lomax, A. J.

2015-04-01

We aim to define a site-specific robustness protocol to be used during the clinical plan evaluation process. Plan robustness of 16 skull base IMPT plans to systematic range and random set-up errors have been retrospectively and systematically analysed. This was determined by calculating the error-bar dose distribution (ebDD) for all the plans and by defining some metrics used to define protocols aiding the plan assessment. Additionally, an example of how to clinically use the defined robustness database is given whereby a plan with sub-optimal brainstem robustness was identified. The advantage of using different beam arrangements to improve the plan robustness was analysed. Using the ebDD it was found range errors had a smaller effect on dose distribution than the corresponding set-up error in a single fraction, and that organs at risk were most robust to the range errors, whereas the target was more robust to set-up errors. A database was created to aid planners in terms of plan robustness aims in these volumes. This resulted in the definition of site-specific robustness protocols. The use of robustness constraints allowed for the identification of a specific patient that may have benefited from a treatment of greater individuality. A new beam arrangement showed to be preferential when balancing conformality and robustness for this case. The ebDD and error-bar volume histogram proved effective in analysing plan robustness. The process of retrospective analysis could be used to establish site-specific robustness planning protocols in proton therapy. These protocols allow the planner to determine plans that, although delivering a dosimetrically adequate dose distribution, have resulted in sub-optimal robustness to these uncertainties. For these cases the use of different beam start conditions may improve the plan robustness to set-up and range uncertainties.

Performance of Implementation IBR-DTN and Batman-Adv Routing Protocol in Wireless Mesh Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Yuliandoko

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Wireless mesh networks is a network which has high mobility and flexibility network. In Wireless mesh networks nodes are free to move and able to automatically build a network connection with other nodes. High mobility, heterogeneous condition and intermittent network connectivity cause data packets drop during wireless communication and it becomes a problem in the wireless mesh networks. This condition can happen because wireless mesh networks use connectionless networking type such as IP protocol which it is not tolerant to delay. To solve this condition it is needed a technology to keep data packets when the network is disconnect. Delay tolerant technology is a technology that provides store and forward mechanism and it can prevent packet data dropping during communication. In our research, we proposed a test bed wireless mesh networks implementation by using proactive routing protocol and combining with delay tolerant technology. We used Batman-adv routing protocol and IBR-DTN on our research. We measured some particular performance aspect of networking such as packet loss, delay, and throughput of the network. We identified that delay tolerant could keep packet data from dropping better than current wireless mesh networks in the intermittent network condition. We also proved that IBR-DTN and Batman-adv could run together on the wireless mesh networks. In The experiment throughput test result of IBR-DTN was higher than Current TCP on the LoS (Line of Side and on environment with obstacle. Keywords: Delay Tolerant, IBR-DTN, Wireless Mesh, Batman-adv, Performance

Performance analysis for a QoS-aware hybrid token-CDMA MAC protocol

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Liu, YS

2007-09-01

Full Text Available ) 20000 Bad state duration ( i badτ ) 3.2 ms Bad state ibadPEP 1.0 Good state igoodPEP Holtzman’s approximation WTRP Channel bit rate 1.28 Mbps Signal to Noise Rato (SNR) 8 dB .... INTRODUCTION d hoc and wireless mesh networks (WMNs) [1] are commonly known to implement IEEE 802.11 related schemes as their medium access control (MAC) protocols. It is known from [2,3] that with the 802.11 based scheme; the performance is degraded...

Direct data access protocols benchmarking on DPM

Science.gov (United States)

Furano, Fabrizio; Devresse, Adrien; Keeble, Oliver; Mancinelli, Valentina

2015-12-01

The Disk Pool Manager is an example of a multi-protocol, multi-VO system for data access on the Grid that went though a considerable technical evolution in the last years. Among other features, its architecture offers the opportunity of testing its different data access frontends under exactly the same conditions, including hardware and backend software. This characteristic inspired the idea of collecting monitoring information from various testbeds in order to benchmark the behaviour of the HTTP and Xrootd protocols for the use case of data analysis, batch or interactive. A source of information is the set of continuous tests that are run towards the worldwide endpoints belonging to the DPM Collaboration, which accumulated relevant statistics in its first year of activity. On top of that, the DPM releases are based on multiple levels of automated testing that include performance benchmarks of various kinds, executed regularly every day. At the same time, the recent releases of DPM can report monitoring information about any data access protocol to the same monitoring infrastructure that is used to monitor the Xrootd deployments. Our goal is to evaluate under which circumstances the HTTP-based protocols can be good enough for batch or interactive data access. In this contribution we show and discuss the results that our test systems have collected under the circumstances that include ROOT analyses using TTreeCache and stress tests on the metadata performance.

Estimation of the radiation exposure of a chest pain protocol with ECG-gating in dual-source computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketelsen, Dominik; Luetkhoff, Marie H.; Thomas, Christoph; Werner, Matthias; Tsiflikas, Ilias; Reimann, Anja; Kopp, Andreas F.; Claussen, Claus D.; Heuschmid, Martin; Buchgeister, Markus; Burgstahler, Christof

2009-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate radiation exposure of a chest pain protocol with ECG-gated dual-source computed tomography (DSCT). An Alderson Rando phantom equipped with thermoluminescent dosimeters was used for dose measurements. Exposure was performed on a dual-source computed tomography system with a standard protocol for chest pain evaluation (120 kV, 320 mAs/rot) with different simulated heart rates (HRs). The dose of a standard chest CT examination (120 kV, 160 mAs) was also measured. Effective dose of the chest pain protocol was 19.3/21.9 mSv (male/female, HR 60), 17.9/20.4 mSv (male/female, HR 80) and 14.7/16.7 mSv (male/female, HR 100). Effective dose of a standard chest examination was 6.3 mSv (males) and 7.2 mSv (females). Radiation dose of the chest pain protocol increases significantly with a lower heart rate for both males (p = 0.040) and females (p = 0.044). The average radiation dose of a standard chest CT examination is about 36.5% that of a CT examination performed for chest pain. Using DSCT, the evaluated chest pain protocol revealed a higher radiation exposure compared with standard chest CT. Furthermore, HRs markedly influenced the dose exposure when using the ECG-gated chest pain protocol. (orig.)

Aging evaluation of active components by using performance evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, S. K.; Jin, T. E.; Kim, J. S.; Jung, I. S.; Kim, T. R.

2003-01-01

Risk analysis and performance evaluation methodology were applied to the aging evaluation of active components in the periodic safety review of Wolsung unit 1. We conclude that evaluation of performance is more effective to discriminate the aging degradation of active component than the evaluation of aging mechanism. It is essential to analyze the common cause failures of low performance components to evaluate the properness of present maintenance system. Past 10 years failure history is used for establishing the performance criteria. Past 2 years failure history is used for the evaluating the recent performance condition. We analyze the failure mode of the components to improve the maintenance system. Performance evaluation methodology is useful for the quantitative evaluation of aging degradation of active components. Analysis on the repeated failures can be useful for the feedback to maintenance plan and interval

Chapter 18: Variable Frequency Drive Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romberger, Jeff [SBW Consulting, Inc., Bellevue, WA (United States)

2017-06-21

An adjustable-speed drive (ASD) includes all devices that vary the speed of a rotating load, including those that vary the motor speed and linkage devices that allow constant motor speed while varying the load speed. The Variable Frequency Drive Evaluation Protocol presented here addresses evaluation issues for variable-frequency drives (VFDs) installed on commercial and industrial motor-driven centrifugal fans and pumps for which torque varies with speed. Constant torque load applications, such as those for positive displacement pumps, are not covered by this protocol.

International Performance Measurement & Verification Protocol: Concepts and Practices for Improved Indoor Environmental Quality, Volume II (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2002-03-01

This protocol serves as a framework to determine energy and water savings resulting from the implementation of an energy efficiency program. It is also intended to help monitor the performance of renewable energy systems and to enhance indoor environmental quality in buildings.

Evaluating Protocol Lifecycle Time Intervals in HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials

Science.gov (United States)

Schouten, Jeffrey T.; Dixon, Dennis; Varghese, Suresh; Cope, Marie T.; Marci, Joe; Kagan, Jonathan M.

2014-01-01

Background Identifying efficacious interventions for the prevention and treatment of human diseases depends on the efficient development and implementation of controlled clinical trials. Essential to reducing the time and burden of completing the clinical trial lifecycle is determining which aspects take the longest, delay other stages, and may lead to better resource utilization without diminishing scientific quality, safety, or the protection of human subjects. Purpose In this study we modeled time-to-event data to explore relationships between clinical trial protocol development and implementation times, as well as identify potential correlates of prolonged development and implementation. Methods We obtained time interval and participant accrual data from 111 interventional clinical trials initiated between 2006 and 2011 by NIH’s HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks. We determined the time (in days) required to complete defined phases of clinical trial protocol development and implementation. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to assess the rates at which protocols reached specified terminal events, stratified by study purpose (therapeutic, prevention) and phase group (pilot/phase I, phase II, and phase III/ IV). We also examined several potential correlates to prolonged development and implementation intervals. Results Even though phase grouping did not determine development or implementation times of either therapeutic or prevention studies, overall we observed wide variation in protocol development times. Moreover, we detected a trend toward phase III/IV therapeutic protocols exhibiting longer developmental (median 2 ½ years) and implementation times (>3years). We also found that protocols exceeding the median number of days for completing the development interval had significantly longer implementation. Limitations The use of a relatively small set of protocols may have limited our ability to detect differences across phase groupings. Some timing effects

Taking stock: protocol for evaluating a family planning supply chain intervention in Senegal.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavallaro, Francesca L; Duclos, Diane; Baggaley, Rebecca F; Penn-Kekana, Loveday; Goodman, Catherine; Vahanian, Alice; Santos, Andreia C; Bradley, John; Paintain, Lucy; Gallien, Jérémie; Gasparrini, Antonio; Hasselback, Leah; Lynch, Caroline A

2016-04-21

In Senegal, only 12% of women of reproductive age in union (WRAU) were using contraceptives and another 29% had an unmet need for contraceptives in 2010-11. One potential barrier to accessing contraceptives is the lack of stock availability in health facilities where women seek them. Multiple supply chain interventions have been piloted in low- and middle-income countries with the aim of improving contraceptive availability in health facilities. However, there is limited evidence on the effect of these interventions on contraceptive availability in facilities, and in turn on family planning use in the population. This evaluation protocol pertains to a supply chain intervention using performance-based contracting for contraceptive distribution that was introduced throughout Senegal between 2012 and 2015. This multi-disciplinary research project will include quantitative, qualitative and economic evaluations. Trained researchers in the different disciplines will implement the studies separately but alongside each other, sharing findings throughout the project to inform each other's data collection. A non-randomised study with stepped-wedge design will be used to estimate the effect of the intervention on contraceptive stock availability in health facilities, and on the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among women in Senegal, compared to the current pull-based distribution model used for other commodities. Secondary data from annual Service Provision Assessments and Demographic and Health Surveys will be used for this study. Data on stock availability and monthly family planning consultations over a 4-year period will be collected from 200 health facilities in five regions to perform time series analyses. A process evaluation will be conducted to understand the extent to which the intervention was implemented as originally designed, the acceptability of third-party logisticians within the health system and potential unintended consequences. These will be assessed

Evaluation of forensic DNA mixture evidence: protocol for evaluation, interpretation, and statistical calculations using the combined probability of inclusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Bieber, Frederick R; Buckleton, John S; Budowle, Bruce; Butler, John M; Coble, Michael D

2016-08-31

The evaluation and interpretation of forensic DNA mixture evidence faces greater interpretational challenges due to increasingly complex mixture evidence. Such challenges include: casework involving low quantity or degraded evidence leading to allele and locus dropout; allele sharing of contributors leading to allele stacking; and differentiation of PCR stutter artifacts from true alleles. There is variation in statistical approaches used to evaluate the strength of the evidence when inclusion of a specific known individual(s) is determined, and the approaches used must be supportable. There are concerns that methods utilized for interpretation of complex forensic DNA mixtures may not be implemented properly in some casework. Similar questions are being raised in a number of U.S. jurisdictions, leading to some confusion about mixture interpretation for current and previous casework. Key elements necessary for the interpretation and statistical evaluation of forensic DNA mixtures are described. Given the most common method for statistical evaluation of DNA mixtures in many parts of the world, including the USA, is the Combined Probability of Inclusion/Exclusion (CPI/CPE). Exposition and elucidation of this method and a protocol for use is the focus of this article. Formulae and other supporting materials are provided. Guidance and details of a DNA mixture interpretation protocol is provided for application of the CPI/CPE method in the analysis of more complex forensic DNA mixtures. This description, in turn, should help reduce the variability of interpretation with application of this methodology and thereby improve the quality of DNA mixture interpretation throughout the forensic community.

[Appropriateness admissions to the Department of Internal Medicine of the Hospital de Santa Luzia (Elvas) evaluated by the AEP (Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol)].

Science.gov (United States)

Cordero, A; Aguila, J; Massalana, A; Escoto, V; Lopes, L; Susano, R

2004-01-01

The authors analyse the appropriateness admissions to the Internal Medicine ward of the Hospital de Santa Luzia (Elvas). A retrospective study was performed during 6 months of 2001, using the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP). Non-appropriateness admissions were found in 19% (CI95%: 16-22), and this group of patients had less mean age (63 + 16 vs 69 + 16; p <0.01), and less mean days of admission (7.1 + 6 vs 9.3 + 7; p <0.01) than group with appropriateness admissions. Appropriateness admissions were mainly found in patients admitted from the emergency room (86% vs 49%; p <0.001). Most of patients with non-appropriate admissions were admitted to undergo diagnostic tests (44%; CI95%: 35-53), or to be referred to other medical centres for specialized study and/or treatment (12%; CI95%: 6-18).

Lung Ultrasonography in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Evaluation of a Simplified Protocol With High-Resolution Computed Tomographic Correlation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vassalou, Evangelia E; Raissaki, Maria; Magkanas, Eleftherios; Antoniou, Katerina M; Karantanas, Apostolos H

2018-03-01

To compare a simplified ultrasonographic (US) protocol in 2 patient positions with the same-positioned comprehensive US assessments and high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) findings in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Twenty-five consecutive patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis were prospectively enrolled and examined in 2 sessions. During session 1, patients were examined with a US protocol including 56 lung intercostal spaces in supine/sitting (supine/sitting comprehensive protocol) and lateral decubitus (decubitus comprehensive protocol) positions. During session 2, patients were evaluated with a 16-intercostal space US protocol in sitting (sitting simplified protocol) and left/right decubitus (decubitus simplified protocol) positions. The 16 intercostal spaces were chosen according to the prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis-related changes on high-resolution CT. The sum of B-lines counted in each intercostal space formed the US scores for all 4 US protocols: supine/sitting and decubitus comprehensive US scores and sitting and decubitus simplified US scores. High-resolution CT-related Warrick scores (J Rheumatol 1991; 18:1520-1528) were compared to US scores. The duration of each protocol was recorded. A significant correlation was found between all US scores and Warrick scores and between simplified and corresponding comprehensive scores (P idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The 16-intercostal space simplified protocol in the lateral decubitus position correlated better with high-resolution CT findings and was less time-consuming compared to the sitting position. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Development and layout of a protocol for the field performance of concrete deck and crack sealers.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

The main objective of this project was to develop and layout a protocol for the long-term monitoring and assessment of the performance of concrete deck and crack sealants in the field. To accomplish this goal, a total of six bridge decks were chosen ...

Evaluating the effectiveness of a tailored multifaceted performance feedback intervention to improve the quality of care: protocol for a cluster randomized trial in intensive care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Westert Gert P

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Feedback is potentially effective in improving the quality of care. However, merely sending reports is no guarantee that performance data are used as input for systematic quality improvement (QI. Therefore, we developed a multifaceted intervention tailored to prospectively analyzed barriers to using indicators: the Information Feedback on Quality Indicators (InFoQI program. This program aims to promote the use of performance indicator data as input for local systematic QI. We will conduct a study to assess the impact of the InFoQI program on patient outcome and organizational process measures of care, and to gain insight into barriers and success factors that affected the program's impact. The study will be executed in the context of intensive care. This paper presents the study's protocol. Methods/design We will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial with intensive care units (ICUs in the Netherlands. We will include ICUs that submit indicator data to the Dutch National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE quality registry and that agree to allocate at least one intensivist and one ICU nurse for implementation of the intervention. Eligible ICUs (clusters will be randomized to receive basic NICE registry feedback (control arm or to participate in the InFoQI program (intervention arm. The InFoQI program consists of comprehensive feedback, establishing a local, multidisciplinary QI team, and educational outreach visits. The primary outcome measures will be length of ICU stay and the proportion of shifts with a bed occupancy rate above 80%. We will also conduct a process evaluation involving ICUs in the intervention arm to investigate their actual exposure to and experiences with the InFoQI program. Discussion The results of this study will inform those involved in providing ICU care on the feasibility of a tailored multifaceted performance feedback intervention and its ability to accelerate systematic and local quality

Optical code-division multiple-access protocol with selective retransmission

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Mohamed A. A.; Shalaby, Hossam M. H.; El-Badawy, El-Sayed A.

2006-05-01

An optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) protocol based on selective retransmission technique is proposed. The protocol is modeled using a detailed state diagram and is analyzed using equilibrium point analysis (EPA). Both traditional throughput and average delay are used to examine its performance for several network parameters. In addition, the performance of the proposed protocol is compared to that of the R3T protocol, which is based on a go-back-n technique. Our results show that a higher performance is achieved by the proposed protocol at the expense of system complexity.

Cactus and Visapult: A case study of ultra-high performance distributed visualization using connectionless protocols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shalf, John; Bethel, E. Wes

2002-05-07

This past decade has seen rapid growth in the size, resolution, and complexity of Grand Challenge simulation codes. Many such problems still require interactive visualization tools to make sense of multi-terabyte data stores. Visapult is a parallel volume rendering tool that employs distributed components, latency tolerant algorithms, and high performance network I/O for effective remote visualization of massive datasets. In this paper we discuss using connectionless protocols to accelerate Visapult network I/O and interfacing Visapult to the Cactus General Relativity code to enable scalable remote monitoring and steering capabilities. With these modifications, network utilization has moved from 25 percent of line-rate using tuned multi-streamed TCP to sustaining 88 percent of line rate using the new UDP-based transport protocol.

Energy Efficient Medium Access Control Protocol for Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks with Adaptive Cross-Layer Scheduling.

Science.gov (United States)

Sefuba, Maria; Walingo, Tom; Takawira, Fambirai

2015-09-18

This paper presents an Energy Efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for clustered wireless sensor networks that aims to improve energy efficiency and delay performance. The proposed protocol employs an adaptive cross-layer intra-cluster scheduling and an inter-cluster relay selection diversity. The scheduling is based on available data packets and remaining energy level of the source node (SN). This helps to minimize idle listening on nodes without data to transmit as well as reducing control packet overhead. The relay selection diversity is carried out between clusters, by the cluster head (CH), and the base station (BS). The diversity helps to improve network reliability and prolong the network lifetime. Relay selection is determined based on the communication distance, the remaining energy and the channel quality indicator (CQI) for the relay cluster head (RCH). An analytical framework for energy consumption and transmission delay for the proposed MAC protocol is presented in this work. The performance of the proposed MAC protocol is evaluated based on transmission delay, energy consumption, and network lifetime. The results obtained indicate that the proposed MAC protocol provides improved performance than traditional cluster based MAC protocols.

The Dutch 'Focus on Strength' intervention study protocol: programme design and production, implementation and evaluation plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ten Hoor, G A; Kok, G; Rutten, G M; Ruiter, R A C; Kremers, S P J; Schols, A M J W; Plasqui, G

2016-06-10

Overweight youngsters are better in absolute strength exercises than their normal-weight counterparts; a physiological phenomenon with promising psychological impact. In this paper we describe the study protocol of the Dutch, school-based program 'Focus on Strength' that aims to improve body composition of 11-13 year old students, and with that to ultimately improve their quality of life. The development of this intervention is based on the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol, which starts from a needs assessment, uses theory and empirical research to develop a detailed intervention plan, and anticipates program implementation and evaluation. This novel intervention targets first year students in preparatory secondary vocational education (11-13 years of age). Teachers are the program implementers. One part of the intervention involves a 30 % increase of strength exercises in the physical education lessons. The other part is based on Motivational Interviewing, promoting autonomous motivation of students to become more physically active outside school. Performance and change objectives are described for both teachers and students. The effectiveness of the intervention will be tested in a Randomized Controlled Trial in 9 Dutch high schools. Intervention Mapping is a useful framework for program planning a school-based program to improve body composition and motivation to exercise in 11-13 year old adolescents by a "Focus on Strength". NTR5676 , registered 8 February 2016 (retrospectively registered).

Evaluation of the Efficiency of Two Different Freezing Media and Two Different Protocols to Preserve Human Spermatozoa from Cryoinjury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gemma Fabozzi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is universally recognized that cryopreservation impairs sperm quality. In order to improve postthawing sperm survival and motility, media of different composition and different protocols have been proposed. However, no clear evidence is available to understand which are the most efficient protocol and medium for sperm cryopreservation. The present study evaluates the efficiency of two different cryopreservation protocols and two common freezing media (FM containing different cryoprotectants (CPs, TEST Yolk Buffer (TYB and Sperm Freeze (SF, to preserve human sperm quality. Our data suggest that TYB is better than SF both in terms of postthaw viability and in terms of progressive motility, while the direct addition of FM to the sperm sample resulted in the most efficient protocol in terms of postthaw viability but not in terms of progressive motility.

Development and validation of a remote home safety protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Sergio; Lee, Mi Jung; Simic, Ivana; Levy, Charles; Sanford, Jon

2018-02-01

Environmental assessments and subsequent modifications conducted by healthcare professionals can enhance home safety and promote independent living. However, travel time, expense and the availability of qualified professionals can limit the broad application of this intervention. Remote technology has the potential to increase access to home safety evaluations. This study describes the development and validation of a remote home safety protocol that can be used by a caregiver of an elderly person to video-record their home environment for later viewing and evaluation by a trained professional. The protocol was developed based on literature reviews and evaluations from clinical and content experts. Cognitive interviews were conducted with a group of six caregivers to validate the protocol. The final protocol included step-by-step directions to record indoor and outdoor areas of the home. The validation process resulted in modifications related to safety, clarity of the protocol, readability, visual appearance, technical descriptions and usability. Our final protocol includes detailed instructions that a caregiver should be able to follow to record a home environment for subsequent evaluation by a home safety professional. Implications for Rehabilitation The results of this study have several implications for rehabilitation practice The remote home safety evaluation protocol can potentially improve access to rehabilitation services for clients in remote areas and prevent unnecessary delays for needed care. Using our protocol, a patient's caregiver can partner with therapists to quickly and efficiently evaluate a patient's home before they are released from the hospital. Caregiver narration, which reflects a caregiver's own perspective, is critical to evaluating home safety. In-home safety evaluations, currently not available to all who need them due to access barriers, can enhance a patient's independence and provide a safer home environment.

Evaluation of the appropriate use of a CIWA-Ar alcohol withdrawal protocol in the general hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Eloma, Amanda S; Tucciarone, Jason M; Hayes, Edmund M; Bronson, Brian D

2018-01-01

The Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment-Alcohol, Revised (CIWA-Ar) is an assessment tool used to quantify alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) severity and inform benzodiazepine treatment for alcohol withdrawal. To evaluate the prescribing patterns and appropriate use of the CIWA-Ar protocol in a general hospital setting, as determined by the presence or absence of documented AWS risk factors, patients' ability to communicate, and provider awareness of the CIWA-Ar order. This retrospective chart review included 118 encounters of hospitalized patients placed on a CIWA-Ar protocol during one year. The following data were collected for each encounter: patient demographics, admitting diagnosis, ability to communicate, and admission blood alcohol level; and medical specialty of the clinician ordering CIWA-Ar, documentation of the presence or absence of established AWS risk factors, specific parameters of the protocol ordered, service admitted to, provider documentation of awareness of the active protocol within 48 h of initial order, total benzodiazepine dose equivalents administered and associated adverse events. 57% of patients who started on a CIWA-Ar protocol had either zero or one documented risk factor for AWS (19% and 38% respectively). 20% had no documentation of recent alcohol use. 14% were unable to communicate. 19% of medical records lacked documentation of provider awareness of the ordered protocol. Benzodiazepine associated adverse events were documented in 15% of encounters. The judicious use of CIWA-Ar protocols in general hospitals requires mechanisms to ensure assessment of validated alcohol withdrawal risk factors, exclusion of patients who cannot communicate, and continuity of care during transitions.

A Novel UDT-Based Transfer Speed-Up Protocol for Fog Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijie Han

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Fog computing is a distributed computing model as the middle layer between the cloud data center and the IoT device/sensor. It provides computing, network, and storage devices so that cloud based services can be closer to IOT devices and sensors. Cloud computing requires a lot of bandwidth, and the bandwidth of the wireless network is limited. In contrast, the amount of bandwidth required for “fog computing” is much less. In this paper, we improved a new protocol Peer Assistant UDT-Based Data Transfer Protocol (PaUDT, applied to Iot-Cloud computing. Furthermore, we compared the efficiency of the congestion control algorithm of UDT with the Adobe’s Secure Real-Time Media Flow Protocol (RTMFP, based on UDP completely at the transport layer. At last, we built an evaluation model of UDT in RTT and bit error ratio which describes the performance. The theoretical analysis and experiment result have shown that UDT has good performance in IoT-Cloud computing.

A protocol for patients with cardiovascular implantable devices undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): should defibrillation threshold testing be performed post-(MRI).

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Peter Thomas; Ghanbari, Hamid; Alexander, Patrick B; Shaw, Michael K; Daccarett, Marcos; Machado, Christian

2010-06-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices (CIED) has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Recent data suggests MRI as a relative rather than absolute contraindication in CIED patients. Recently, the American Heart Association has recommended defibrillation threshold testing (DFTT) in implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients undergoing MRI. We evaluated the feasibility and safety of a protocol for MRI in CIED patients, incorporating the new recommendations on DFTT. Consecutive patients with CIED undergoing MRI were included. The protocol consisted of continuous monitoring during imaging, device interrogation pre- and post-MRI, reprogramming of the pacemaker to an asynchronous mode in pacemaker-dependent (PMD) patients and a non-tracking/sensing mode for non-PMD patients. All tachyarrhythmia therapies were disabled. Devices were interrogated for lead impedance, battery life, pacing, and sensing thresholds. All patients with ICD underwent DFTT/defibrillator safety margin testing (DSMT) post-MRI. A total of 92 MRI's at 1.5 Tesla were performed in 38 patients. A total of 13 PMD patients, ten ICD patients, four cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) patients, and 11 non-PMD patients were scanned from four major manufacturers. No device circuitry damage, programming alterations, inappropriate shocks, failure to pace, or changes in sensing, pacing, or defibrillator thresholds were found on single or multiple MRI sessions. Our protocol for MRI in CIED patients appears safe, feasible, and reproducible. This is irrespective of the type of CIED, pacemaker dependancy or multiple 24-h scanning sessions. Our protocol addresses early detection of potential complications and establishes a response system for potential device-related complications. Our observation suggests that routine DFTT/DSMT post-MRI may not be necessary.

Effective dose comparison between protocols stitched and usual protocols in dental cone beam CT for complete arcade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, M. R.; Maia, A. F.; Batista, W. O. G.; Lara, P. A.

2014-08-01

To visualization a complete dental radiology dental lives together with two separate proposals: [1] protocols diameter encompassing the entire arch (single) or [2] protocol with multiple fields of view (Fov) which together encompass the entire arch (stitched Fov s). The objective of this study is to evaluate effective dose values in examination protocols for all dental arcade available in different outfits with these two options. For this, a female anthropomorphic phantom manufactured by Radiology Support Devices twenty six thermoluminescent dosimeters inserted in relevant bodies and positions was used. Irradiate the simulator in the clinical conditions. The protocols were averaged and compared: [a] 14.0 cm x 8.5 cm and [b] 8.5 cm x 8.5 cm (Gendex Tomography GXCB 500), [c] protocol stitched for jaw combination of three volumes of 5.0 cm x 3.7 cm (Kodak 9000 3D scanner) [d] protocol stitched Fov s 5.0 cm x 8.0 cm (Planmeca Pro Max 3D) and [e] single technical Fov 14 cm x 8 cm (i-CAT Classical). Our results for the effective dose were: a range between 43.1 and 111.1 micro Sv for technical single Fov and 44.5 and 236.2 for technical stitched Fov s. The protocol presented the highest estimated effective dose was [d] and showed that lowest index was registered [a]. These results demonstrate that the protocol stitched Fov generated in Kodak 9000 3D machine applied the upper dental arch has practically equal value effective dose obtained by protocol extended diameter of, [a], which evaluates in a single image upper and lower arcade. It also demonstrates that the protocol [d] gives an estimate of five times higher than the protocol [a]. Thus, we conclude that in practical terms the protocol [c] stitched Fov s, not presents dosimetric advantages over other protocols. (Author)

Effective dose comparison between protocols stitched and usual protocols in dental cone beam CT for complete arcade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soares, M. R.; Maia, A. F. [Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Departamento de Fisica, Cidade Universitaria Prof. Jose Aloisio de Campos, Marechal Rondon s/n, Jardim Rosa Elze, 49-100000 Sao Cristovao, Sergipe (Brazil); Batista, W. O. G. [Instituto Federal da Bahia, Rua Emidio dos Santos s/n, Barbalho, Salvador, 40301015 Bahia (Brazil); Lara, P. A., E-mail: wilsonottobatista@gmail.com [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares / CNEN, Av. Lineu Prestes 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2014-08-15

To visualization a complete dental radiology dental lives together with two separate proposals: [1] protocols diameter encompassing the entire arch (single) or [2] protocol with multiple fields of view (Fov) which together encompass the entire arch (stitched Fov s). The objective of this study is to evaluate effective dose values in examination protocols for all dental arcade available in different outfits with these two options. For this, a female anthropomorphic phantom manufactured by Radiology Support Devices twenty six thermoluminescent dosimeters inserted in relevant bodies and positions was used. Irradiate the simulator in the clinical conditions. The protocols were averaged and compared: [a] 14.0 cm x 8.5 cm and [b] 8.5 cm x 8.5 cm (Gendex Tomography GXCB 500), [c] protocol stitched for jaw combination of three volumes of 5.0 cm x 3.7 cm (Kodak 9000 3D scanner) [d] protocol stitched Fov s 5.0 cm x 8.0 cm (Planmeca Pro Max 3D) and [e] single technical Fov 14 cm x 8 cm (i-CAT Classical). Our results for the effective dose were: a range between 43.1 and 111.1 micro Sv for technical single Fov and 44.5 and 236.2 for technical stitched Fov s. The protocol presented the highest estimated effective dose was [d] and showed that lowest index was registered [a]. These results demonstrate that the protocol stitched Fov generated in Kodak 9000 3D machine applied the upper dental arch has practically equal value effective dose obtained by protocol extended diameter of, [a], which evaluates in a single image upper and lower arcade. It also demonstrates that the protocol [d] gives an estimate of five times higher than the protocol [a]. Thus, we conclude that in practical terms the protocol [c] stitched Fov s, not presents dosimetric advantages over other protocols. (Author)

Energy-Efficient Cluster Based Routing Protocol in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Using Network Coding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srinivas Kanakala

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In mobile ad hoc networks, all nodes are energy constrained. In such situations, it is important to reduce energy consumption. In this paper, we consider the issues of energy efficient communication in MANETs using network coding. Network coding is an effective method to improve the performance of wireless networks. COPE protocol implements network coding concept to reduce number of transmissions by mixing the packets at intermediate nodes. We incorporate COPE into cluster based routing protocol to further reduce the energy consumption. The proposed energy-efficient coding-aware cluster based routing protocol (ECCRP scheme applies network coding at cluster heads to reduce number of transmissions. We also modify the queue management procedure of COPE protocol to further improve coding opportunities. We also use an energy efficient scheme while selecting the cluster head. It helps to increase the life time of the network. We evaluate the performance of proposed energy efficient cluster based protocol using simulation. Simulation results show that the proposed ECCRP algorithm reduces energy consumption and increases life time of the network.

48 CFR 436.604 - Performance evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Performance evaluation... Performance evaluation. Preparation of performance evaluation reports. (a) In addition to the requirements of FAR 36.604, performance evaluation reports shall be prepared for indefinite-delivery type contracts...

A Conscious Sedation Protocol for Videolaryngostroboscopy in Pediatric Patients

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Samantha Anne

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To determine best sedation protocol for videolaryngostroboscopy in children unable to tolerate non-sedated evaluation. Materials and Methods. Consecutive case series of 10 children with voice disturbances, unable to tolerate nonsedated videolaryngostroboscopy at an academic tertiary care children’s hospital. Flexible fiberoptic videolaryngostroboscopy was performed and interpreted by pediatric otolaryngologist and speech and language pathologist. Sedation was administered with newly described protocol that allowed functional portion of evaluation. Main Outcome Measures: ability to follow commands and tolerate flexible fiberoptic videolaryngostroboscopy. Secondary Outcome Measures: total phonation time, complications, need for subsequent videolaryngostroboscopic attempts, clinical outcomes, and follow-up. Results. 10 children underwent procedure under conscious sedation. 9/10 children were able to perform simple tasks and maintain adequate phonation time to complete stroboscopic exam. 1/10 patients failed to complete exam because of crying during entire exam. Mean exam time was 2 minutes 52 seconds (SD 86 seconds, phonation time is 1 minute 44 seconds (SD 60 seconds, and number of tasks completed was 10.5 (SD 8.6. Conclusions. Conscious sedation for videolaryngostroboscopy can be safely and effectively performed in children unable to comply with nonsedated examination. Such studies provide valuable diagnostic information to make a diagnosis and to devise a treatment plan.

Evaluation of Implant Communication with Polarisation and Unslotted CSMA/CA Protocol in Wireless Body Area Networks

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Kyung Sup Kwak

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The performance of the implant inside a human body with polarisation, distance, and different power settings at the base-station is presented. In addition, the unslotted CSMA/CA protocol is studied for a heterogeneous WBAN.

Laryngoscopy evaluation protocol for the differentiation of essential and dystonic voice tremor.

Science.gov (United States)

Moraes, Bruno Teixeira de; Biase, Noemi Grigoletto de

2016-01-01

Although syndromes that cause voice tremor have singular characteristics, the differential diagnosis of these diseases is a challenge because of the overlap of the existing signs and symptoms. To develop a task-specific protocol to assess voice tremor by means of nasofibrolaryngoscopy and to identify those tasks that can distinguish between essential and dystonic tremor syndromes. Cross-sectional study. The transnasal fiberoptic laryngoscopy protocol, which consisted of the assessment of palate, pharynx and larynx tremor during the performance of several vocal and non-vocal tasks with distinct phenomenological characteristics, was applied to 19 patients with voice tremor. Patients were diagnosed with essential or dystonic tremor according to the phenomenological characterization of each group. Once they were classified, the tasks associated with the presence of tremor in each syndrome were identified. The tasks that significantly contributed to the differential diagnosis between essential and dystonic tremor were /s/ production, continuous whistling and reduction of tremor in falsetto. These tasks were phenomenologically different with respect to the presence of tremor in the two syndromes. The protocol of specific tasks by means of transnasal fiberoptic laryngoscopy is a viable method to differentiate between essential and dystonic voice tremor syndromes through the following tasks: /s/ production, continuous whistling and reduction of tremor in falsetto. Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Traffic Adaptive MAC Protocols in Wireless Body Area Networks

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Farhan Masud

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs, every healthcare application that is based on physical sensors is responsible for monitoring the vital signs data of patient. WBANs applications consist of heterogeneous and dynamic traffic loads. Routine patient’s observation is described as low-load traffic while an alarming situation that is unpredictable by nature is referred to as high-load traffic. This paper offers a thematic review of traffic adaptive Medium Access Control (MAC protocols in WBANs. First, we have categorized them based on their goals, methods, and metrics of evaluation. The Zigbee standard IEEE 802.15.4 and the baseline MAC IEEE 802.15.6 are also reviewed in terms of traffic adaptive approaches. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the protocols is made and their performances are analyzed in terms of delay, packet delivery ratio (PDR, and energy consumption. The literature shows that no review work has been done on traffic adaptive MAC protocols in WBANs. This review work, therefore, could add enhancement to traffic adaptive MAC protocols and will stimulate a better way of solving the traffic adaptivity problem.

Evaluation of a strict protocol approach in managing women with severe disease due to hypertension in pregnancy: A before and after study

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Backer Fèbè

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To evaluate whether the introduction of a strict protocol based on the systemic evaluation of critically ill pregnant women with complications of hypertension affected the outcome of those women. Method Study group: Indigent South African women managed in the tertiary hospitals of the Pretoria Academic Complex. Since 1997 a standard definition of women with severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM, also referred to as a Nearmiss, has been used in the Pretoria Academic Complex. All cases of SAMM and maternal deaths (MD were entered on the Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Audit System programme (MaMMAS. A comparison of outcome of severely ill women who had complications of hypertension in pregnancy was performed between 1997–1998 (original protocol and 2002–2003 (strict protocol. Data include women referred from outside the Pretoria Academic Complex area to the tertiary hospitals. Results Between 1997–1998 there were 79 women with SAMM and 18 maternal deaths due to complications of hypertension, compared with 91 women with SAMM and 13 maternal deaths in 2002–2003. The mortality index (MI declined from 18.6% to 12.5% (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.27–1.45. Statistically significant fewer women had renal failure (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.21 – 0.66 and cerebral complications (RR 0.52, 95%CI 0.34 – 0.81 during the second period, and liver dysfunction (RR 0.27 95%CI 0.06 – 1.25 tended to be lower. However, there tended to be an increase in the number of women, who had immune system failure (RR 4.2 95%CI 0.93 – 18.94 and respiratory failure (RR 1.42 95%CI 0.88 – 2.29 although it did not reach significance. Cardiac failure remained constant (RR 0.84 95%CI 0.54 – 1.30. Conclusion The strict protocol approach based on the systemic evaluation of severely ill pregnant women with complications of hypertension and an intensive, regular feedback mechanism has been associated with a reduction in the number of patients with renal failure and

Fracture Strength of Indirect Resin Composite Laminates to Teeth with Existing Restorations : An Evaluation of Conditioning Protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mese, Ayse; Ozcan, Mutlu

2009-01-01

Purpose: This study evaluated the fracture strength and failure types of indirect resin-based composite laminates bonded to teeth with aged Class III composite restorations that were conditioned according to various protocols. Materials and Methods: Maxillary central incisors (N = 60) with

A process evaluation of implementing a vocational enablement protocol for employees with hearing difficulties in clinical practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gussenhoven, A.H.M.; Singh, A.S.; Goverts, S.T.; van Til, M.; Anema, J.R.; Kramer, S.E.

2015-01-01

A multidisciplinary vocational rehabilitation programme, the Vocational Enablement Protocol (VEP) was developed to address the specific needs of employees with hearing difficulties. In the current study we evaluated the process of implementing the VEP in audiologic care among employees with hearing

Abbreviated protocol for breast MRI: Are multiple sequences needed for cancer detection?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mango, Victoria L.; Morris, Elizabeth A.; David Dershaw, D.; Abramson, Andrea; Fry, Charles; Moskowitz, Chaya S.; Hughes, Mary; Kaplan, Jennifer; Jochelson, Maxine S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Abbreviated breast MR demonstrates high sensitivity for breast carcinoma detection. • Time to perform/interpret the abbreviated exam is shorter than a standard MRI exam. • An abbreviated breast MRI could reduce costs and make MRI screening more available. - Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the ability of an abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol, consisting of a precontrast T1 weighted (T1W) image and single early post-contrast T1W image, to detect breast carcinoma. Materials and methods: A HIPAA compliant Institutional Review Board approved review of 100 consecutive breast MRI examinations in patients with biopsy proven unicentric breast carcinoma. 79% were invasive carcinomas and 21% were ductal carcinoma in situ. Four experienced breast radiologists, blinded to carcinoma location, history and prior examinations, assessed the abbreviated protocol evaluating only the first post-contrast T1W image, post-processed subtracted first post-contrast and subtraction maximum intensity projection images. Detection and localization of tumor were compared to the standard full diagnostic examination consisting of 13 pre-contrast, post-contrast and post-processed sequences. Results: All 100 cancers were visualized on initial reading of the abbreviated protocol by at least one reader. The mean sensitivity for each sequence was 96% for the first post-contrast sequence, 96% for the first post-contrast subtraction sequence and 93% for the subtraction MIP sequence. Within each sequence, there was no significant difference between the sensitivities among the 4 readers (p = 0.471, p = 0.656, p = 0.139). Mean interpretation time was 44 s (range 11–167 s). The abbreviated imaging protocol could be performed in approximately 10–15 min, compared to 30–40 min for the standard protocol. Conclusion: An abbreviated breast MRI protocol allows detection of breast carcinoma. One pre and post-contrast T1W sequence may be adequate for detecting

Abbreviated protocol for breast MRI: Are multiple sequences needed for cancer detection?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mango, Victoria L., E-mail: vlm2125@columbia.edu [Columbia University Medical Center, Herbert Irving Pavilion, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10032 (United States); Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Morris, Elizabeth A., E-mail: morrise@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); David Dershaw, D., E-mail: dershawd@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Abramson, Andrea, E-mail: abramsoa@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Fry, Charles, E-mail: charles_fry@nymc.edu [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); New York Medical College, 40 Sunshine Cottage Rd, Valhalla, NY 10595 (United States); Moskowitz, Chaya S. [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Hughes, Mary, E-mail: hughesm@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Kaplan, Jennifer, E-mail: kaplanj@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Jochelson, Maxine S., E-mail: jochelsm@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast and Imaging Center, 300 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 (United States)

2015-01-15

Highlights: • Abbreviated breast MR demonstrates high sensitivity for breast carcinoma detection. • Time to perform/interpret the abbreviated exam is shorter than a standard MRI exam. • An abbreviated breast MRI could reduce costs and make MRI screening more available. - Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the ability of an abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol, consisting of a precontrast T1 weighted (T1W) image and single early post-contrast T1W image, to detect breast carcinoma. Materials and methods: A HIPAA compliant Institutional Review Board approved review of 100 consecutive breast MRI examinations in patients with biopsy proven unicentric breast carcinoma. 79% were invasive carcinomas and 21% were ductal carcinoma in situ. Four experienced breast radiologists, blinded to carcinoma location, history and prior examinations, assessed the abbreviated protocol evaluating only the first post-contrast T1W image, post-processed subtracted first post-contrast and subtraction maximum intensity projection images. Detection and localization of tumor were compared to the standard full diagnostic examination consisting of 13 pre-contrast, post-contrast and post-processed sequences. Results: All 100 cancers were visualized on initial reading of the abbreviated protocol by at least one reader. The mean sensitivity for each sequence was 96% for the first post-contrast sequence, 96% for the first post-contrast subtraction sequence and 93% for the subtraction MIP sequence. Within each sequence, there was no significant difference between the sensitivities among the 4 readers (p = 0.471, p = 0.656, p = 0.139). Mean interpretation time was 44 s (range 11–167 s). The abbreviated imaging protocol could be performed in approximately 10–15 min, compared to 30–40 min for the standard protocol. Conclusion: An abbreviated breast MRI protocol allows detection of breast carcinoma. One pre and post-contrast T1W sequence may be adequate for detecting

Human Performance Evaluation System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardwick, R.J. Jr.

1985-01-01

Operating nuclear power plants requires high standards of performance, extensive training and responsive management. Despite our best efforts inappropriate human actions do occur, but they can be managed. An extensive review of License Event Reports (LERs) was conducted which indicated continual inadequacy in human performance and in evaluation of root causes. Of some 31,000 LERs, about 5,000 or 16% were directly attributable to inappropriate actions. A recent analysis of 87 Significant Event Reports (issued by INPO in 1983) identified inappropriate actions as being the most frequent root cause (44% of the total). A more recent analysis of SERs issued in 1983 and 1984 indicate that 52% of the root causes were attributed to human performance. The Human Performance Evaluation System (HPES) is a comprehensive, coordinated utility/industry system for evaluating and reporting human performance situtations. HPES is a result of the realization that current reporting system provide limited treatment of human performance and rarely provide adequate information about root causes of inappropriate actions by individuals. The HPES was implemented to identify and eliminate root causes of inappropriate actions

Chapter 19: HVAC Controls (DDC/EMS/BAS) Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Romberger, Jeff [SBW Consulting, Inc., Bellevue, WA (United States)

2017-10-09

The HVAC Controls Evaluation Protocol is designed to address evaluation issues for direct digital controls/energy management systems/building automation systems (DDC/EMS/BAS) that are installed to control heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment in commercial and institutional buildings. (This chapter refers to the DDC/EMS/BAS measure as HVAC controls.) This protocol may also be applicable to industrial facilities such as clean rooms and labs, which have either significant HVAC equipment or spaces requiring special environmental conditions.

Efficient MAC Protocol for Hybrid Wireless Network with Heterogeneous Sensor Nodes

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Md. Nasre Alam

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Although several Directional Medium Access Control (DMAC protocols have been designed for use with homogeneous networks, it can take a substantial amount of time to change sensor nodes that are equipped with an omnidirectional antenna for sensor nodes with a directional antenna. Thus, we require a novel MAC protocol for use with an intermediate wireless network that consists of heterogeneous sensor nodes equipped with either an omnidirectional antenna or a directional antenna. The MAC protocols that have been designed for use in homogeneous networks are not suitable for use in a hybrid network due to deaf, hidden, and exposed nodes. Therefore, we propose a MAC protocol that exploits the characteristics of a directional antenna and can also work efficiently with omnidirectional nodes in a hybrid network. In order to address the deaf, hidden, and exposed node problems, we define RTS/CTS for the neighbor (RTSN/CTSN and Neighbor Information (NIP packets. The performance of the proposed MAC protocol is evaluated through a numerical analysis using a Markov model. In addition, the analytical results of the MAC protocol are verified through an OPNET simulation.

48 CFR 2936.604 - Performance evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Performance evaluation... Performance evaluation. (a) The HCA must establish procedures to evaluate architect-engineer contractor... reports must be made using Standard Form 1421, Performance Evaluation (Architect-Engineer) as prescribed...

48 CFR 236.604 - Performance evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Performance evaluation... Architect-Engineer Services 236.604 Performance evaluation. (a) Preparation of performance reports. Use DD Form 2631, Performance Evaluation (Architect-Engineer), instead of SF 1421. (2) Prepare a separate...

Fast magnetic resonance imaging of the knee using a parallel acquisition technique (mSENSE): a prospective performance evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kreitner, K.F.; Romaneehsen, Bernd; Oberholzer, Katja; Dueber, Christoph; Krummenauer, Frank; Mueller, L.P.

2006-01-01

The performance of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging strategy that uses multiple receiver coil elements and integrated parallel imaging techniques (iPAT) in traumatic and degenerative disorders of the knee and to compare this technique with a standard MR imaging protocol was evaluated. Ninety patients with suspected internal derangements of the knee joint prospectively underwent MR imaging at 1.5 T. For signal detection, a 6-channel array coil was used. All patients were investigated with a standard imaging protocol consisting of different turbo spin-echo sequences proton density (PD), T 2 -weighted turbo spin echo (TSE) with and without fat suppression in three imaging planes. All sequences were repeated with an integrated parallel acquisition technique (iPAT) using the modified sensitivity encoding (mSENSE) algorithm with an acceleration factor of 2. Two radiologists independently evaluated and scored all images with regard to overall image quality, artefacts and pathologic findings. Agreement of the parallel ratings between readers and imaging techniques, respectively, was evaluated by means of pairwise kappa coefficients that were stratified for the area of evaluation. Agreement between the parallel readers for both the iPAT imaging and the conventional technique, respectively, as well as between imaging techniques was found encouraging with inter-observer kappa values ranging between 0.78 and 0.98 for both imaging techniques, and the inter-method kappa values ranging between 0.88 and 1.00 for both clinical readers. All pathological findings (e.g. occult fractures, meniscal and cruciate ligament tears, torn and interpositioned Hoffa's cleft, cartilage damage) were detected by both techniques with comparable performance. The use of iPAT lead to a 48% reduction of acquisition time compared with standard technique. Parallel imaging using mSENSE proved to be an efficient and economic tool for fast musculoskeletal MR imaging of the knee joint with comparable

13 CFR 304.4 - Performance evaluations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Performance evaluations. 304.4... ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS § 304.4 Performance evaluations. (a) EDA shall evaluate the management... of at least one (1) other District Organization in the performance evaluation on a cost-reimbursement...

Methods for the evaluation of hospital cooperation activities (Systematic review protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rotter Thomas

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hospital partnerships, mergers and cooperatives are arrangements frequently seen as a means of improving health service delivery. Many of the assumptions used in planning hospital cooperatives are not stated clearly and are often based on limited or poor scientific evidence. Methods This is a protocol for a systematic review, following the Cochrane EPOC methodology. The review aims to document, catalogue and synthesize the existing literature on the reported methods for the evaluation of hospital cooperation activities as well as methods of hospital cooperation. We will search the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and bibliographic databases including PubMed (via NLM, Web of Science, NHS EED, Business Source Premier (via EBSCO and Global Health for publications that report on methods for evaluating hospital cooperatives, strategic partnerships, mergers, alliances, networks and related activities and methods used for such partnerships. The method proposed by the Cochrane EPOC group regarding randomized study designs, controlled clinical trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series will be followed. In addition, we will also include cohort, case-control studies, and relevant non-comparative publications such as case reports. We will categorize and analyze the review findings according to the study design employed, the study quality (low versus high quality studies and the method reported in the primary studies. We will present the results of studies in tabular form. Discussion Overall, the systematic review aims to identify, assess and synthesize the evidence to underpin hospital cooperation activities as defined in this protocol. As a result, the review will provide an evidence base for partnerships, alliances or other fields of cooperation in a hospital setting. PROSPERO

Indirect MR venography: contrast medium protocols, postprocessing and combination in diagnosing pulmonary emboli with MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kluge, A.; Bachmann, G.; Rominger, M.; Schoenburg, M.

2004-01-01

Purpose: Integration of MR venography in a comprehensive MR imaging protocol in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and evaluation of contrast media dosage, timing and postprocessing for diagnostic accuracy. Materials and Methods: Fortyeight consecutive inpatients with suspected PE or deep vein thrombosis were examined by MR venography according to one of the following protocols: protocol I: MR venography only, 0.25 mmol/kg bodyweight (BW) Gadopentate dimeglumine(Gd-DTPA) as single dose, bolus timing; protocol II: MR angiography of pulmonary arteries with a cumulative dosage of 0.25 mmol/kg contrast media, modification of coil setting for MR venography without further contrast media application; protocol III: as protocol II but with 0.125 mmol/kg BW, followed by MR venography. Signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, number of definable vascular segments and image quality were evaluated. The results were compared to conventional bilateral venography. Results: All MR venography examinations were of diagnostic quality and the examination time was below 10 min. MR venography could be performed in all 48 patients comparted to 43 of 48 patients for conventional venography. Significantly more superficial and deep veins of the leg could be visualized by MR venography (94% compared to 83% for conventional venography). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 92%, respectively. Quality differed significantly between 0.125 mmol/kg (protocol III) and 0.25 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA (protocols I and II) while timing did not influence quality (protocol I vs. II). (orig.) [de

3D-CT vascular setting protocol using computer graphics for the evaluation of maxillofacial lesions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CAVALCANTI Marcelo de Gusmão Paraiso

2001-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present the aspect of a mandibular giant cell granuloma in spiral computed tomography-based three-dimensional (3D-CT reconstructed images using computer graphics, and demonstrate the importance of the vascular protocol in permitting better diagnosis, visualization and determination of the dimensions of the lesion. We analyzed 21 patients with maxillofacial lesions of neoplastic and proliferative origins. Two oral and maxillofacial radiologists analyzed the images. The usefulness of interactive 3D images reconstructed by means of computer graphics, especially using a vascular setting protocol for qualitative and quantitative analyses for the diagnosis, determination of the extent of lesions, treatment planning and follow-up, was demonstrated. The technique is an important adjunct to the evaluation of lesions in relation to axial CT slices and 3D-CT bone images.

3D-CT vascular setting protocol using computer graphics for the evaluation of maxillofacial lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavalcanti, M G; Ruprecht, A; Vannier, M W

2001-01-01

In this paper we present the aspect of a mandibular giant cell granuloma in spiral computed tomography-based three-dimensional (3D-CT) reconstructed images using computer graphics, and demonstrate the importance of the vascular protocol in permitting better diagnosis, visualization and determination of the dimensions of the lesion. We analyzed 21 patients with maxillofacial lesions of neoplastic and proliferative origins. Two oral and maxillofacial radiologists analyzed the images. The usefulness of interactive 3D images reconstructed by means of computer graphics, especially using a vascular setting protocol for qualitative and quantitative analyses for the diagnosis, determination of the extent of lesions, treatment planning and follow-up, was demonstrated. The technique is an important adjunct to the evaluation of lesions in relation to axial CT slices and 3D-CT bone images.

Evaluation of a dedicated MDCT protocol using iterative image reconstruction after cervical spine trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Geyer, L L; Körner, M; Hempel, R; Deak, Z; Mueck, F G; Linsenmaier, U; Reiser, M F; Wirth, S

2013-07-01

To evaluate radiation exposure for 64-row computed tomography (CT) of the cervical spine comparing two optimized protocols using filtered back projection (FBP) and adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR), respectively. Sixty-seven studies using FBP (scanner 1) were retrospectively compared with 80 studies using ASIR (scanner 2). The key scanning parameters were identical (120 kV dose modulation, 64 × 0.625 mm collimation, pitch 0.531:1). In protocol 2, the noise index (NI) was increased from 5 to 25, and ASIR and the high-definition (HD) mode were used. The scan length, CT dose index (CTDI), and dose-length product (DLP) were recorded. The image quality was analysed subjectively by using a three-point scale (0; 1; 2), and objectively by using a region of interest (ROI) analysis. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon's test were used. In the FBP group, the mean CTDI was 21.43 mGy, mean scan length 186.3 mm, and mean DLP 441.15 mGy cm. In the ASIR group, the mean CTDI was 9.57 mGy, mean scan length 195.21 mm, and mean DLP 204.23 mGy cm. The differences were significant for CTDI and DLP (p 0.05). The estimated mean effective dose decreased from 2.38 mSv (FBP) to 1.10 mSv (ASIR). The radiation dose of 64-row MDCT can be reduced to a level comparable to plain radiography without loss of subjective image quality by implementation of ASIR in a dedicated cervical spine trauma protocol. These results might contribute to an improved relative risk-to-benefit ratio and support the justification of CT as a first-line imaging tool to evaluate cervical spine trauma. Copyright © 2013 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a dedicated MDCT protocol using iterative image reconstruction after cervical spine trauma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyer, L.L.; Körner, M.; Hempel, R.; Deak, Z.; Mueck, F.G.; Linsenmaier, U.; Reiser, M.F.; Wirth, S.

2013-01-01

Aim: To evaluate radiation exposure for 64-row computed tomography (CT) of the cervical spine comparing two optimized protocols using filtered back projection (FBP) and adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR), respectively. Materials and methods: Sixty-seven studies using FBP (scanner 1) were retrospectively compared with 80 studies using ASIR (scanner 2). The key scanning parameters were identical (120 kV dose modulation, 64 × 0.625 mm collimation, pitch 0.531:1). In protocol 2, the noise index (NI) was increased from 5 to 25, and ASIR and the high-definition (HD) mode were used. The scan length, CT dose index (CTDI), and dose–length product (DLP) were recorded. The image quality was analysed subjectively by using a three-point scale (0; 1; 2), and objectively by using a region of interest (ROI) analysis. Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon's test were used. Results: In the FBP group, the mean CTDI was 21.43 mGy, mean scan length 186.3 mm, and mean DLP 441.15 mGy cm. In the ASIR group, the mean CTDI was 9.57 mGy, mean scan length 195.21 mm, and mean DLP 204.23 mGy cm. The differences were significant for CTDI and DLP (p 0.05). The estimated mean effective dose decreased from 2.38 mSv (FBP) to 1.10 mSv (ASIR). Conclusion: The radiation dose of 64-row MDCT can be reduced to a level comparable to plain radiography without loss of subjective image quality by implementation of ASIR in a dedicated cervical spine trauma protocol. These results might contribute to an improved relative risk-to-benefit ratio and support the justification of CT as a first-line imaging tool to evaluate cervical spine trauma

Analysis of NASA communications (Nascom) II network protocols and performance

Science.gov (United States)

Omidyar, Guy C.; Butler, Thomas E.

1991-01-01

The NASA Communications (Nascom) Division of the Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate is to undertake a major initiative to develop the Nascom II (NII) network to achieve its long-range service objectives for operational data transport to support the Space Station Freedom Program, the Earth Observing System, and other projects. NII is the Nascom ground communications network being developed to accommodate the operational traffic of the mid-1990s and beyond. The authors describe various baseline protocol architectures based on current and evolving technologies. They address the internetworking issues suggested for reliable transfer of data over heterogeneous segments. They also describe the NII architecture, topology, system components, and services. A comparative evaluation of the current and evolving technologies was made, and suggestions for further study are described. It is shown that the direction of the NII configuration and the subsystem component design will clearly depend on the advances made in the area of broadband integrated services.

I-123 IBZM-SPECT: improved acquisition protocol with HR-collimator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandrock, D.; Ivancevic, V.; Dopichaj-Menge, U.; Gruber, D.; Munz, D.

2002-01-01

Aim: Aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different acquisition and reconstruction protocols on the quality of SPECT diagnostics with I-123 IBZM in patients with diseases of the dopaminergic system. Material and Methods: Overall, 30 patients (19 men, 11 women, aged 22 - 80 years) were studied with SPECT after i.v. injection of 5 mCi (185 MBq) I-123 IBZM. Acquisition was performed 60 min p.i. (protocol A) using a medium energy collimator, a 64 x 64 matrix, 64 projections, step and shoot technique, 5.6 0 and 20 seconds per step with a MultiSPECT2 double-head gamma camera (Siemens). Immediately afterwards, a second acquisition (protocol B, 90 min p.i.) using a high resolution collimator, a 128 x 128 matrix, 60 projections, step and shoot technique, 3 0 and 30 seconds per step was performed. The reconstruction was done in filtered backprojection technique and a Butterworth filter of order 7, in protocol A using a cutoff of 0.5 and in protocol B of 0.4. Finally, the net count ratios of the basal ganglia to the frontal lobe(s) were calculated and compared with the clinical diagnosis. Results: The visual analysis yielded - as expected -a better image quality for protocol B (concordant impression of 3 independent observers) with more accurate delineation of the basal ganglia. The count ratios with protocol B were (mean) 0.19 higher (equivalent to 13 %) than with protocol A. In the group of patients with count ratios > 1.55 there was the highest (and significant) difference between protocols A and B with (mean count ratio difference) 0.32 (equivalent to 20 %). Protocol B also allowed a better differentiation between patients clinically staged normal and abnormal. In patients with unilateral disease, this difference between normal and abnormal was more prominent (in comparison to the contralateral side as well as compared to the reference value [1.5]). The comparison of the count ratios with the clinical data revealed 7 patients with borderline results with

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a non-contrast screening MRI protocol for vestibular schwannoma in patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowson, Matthew G.; Rocke, Daniel J.; Kaylie, David M.; Hoang, Jenny K.; Weissman, Jane L.

2017-01-01

We aimed to determine if a non-contrast screening MRI is cost-effective compared to a full MRI protocol with contrast for the evaluation of vestibular schwannomas. A decision tree was constructed to evaluate full MRI and screening MRI strategies for patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss. If a patient were to have a positive screening MRI, s/he received a full MRI. Vestibular schwannoma prevalence, MRI specificity and sensitivity, and gadolinium anaphylaxis incidence were obtained through literature review. Institutional charge data were obtained using representative patient cohorts. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were completed to determine CE model threshold points for MRI performance characteristics and charges. The mean charge for a full MRI with contrast was significantly higher than a screening MRI ($4089 ± 1086 versus $2872 ± 741; p < 0.05). The screening MRI protocol was more cost-effective than a full MRI protocol with a willingness-to-pay from $0 to 20,000 USD. Sensitivity analyses determined that the screening protocol dominated when the screening MRI charge was less than $4678, and the imaging specificity exceeded 78.2%. The screening MRI protocol also dominated when vestibular schwannoma prevalence was varied between 0 and 1000 in 10,000 people. A screening MRI protocol is more cost-effective than a full MRI with contrast in the diagnostic evaluation of a vestibular schwannoma. A screening MRI likely also confers benefits of shorter exam time and no contrast use. Further investigation is needed to confirm the relative performance of screening protocols for vestibular schwannomas. (orig.)

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a non-contrast screening MRI protocol for vestibular schwannoma in patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crowson, Matthew G.; Rocke, Daniel J.; Kaylie, David M. [Duke University Medical Center, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Durham, NC (United States); Hoang, Jenny K. [Duke University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Durham, NC (United States); Weissman, Jane L. [Oregon Health Sciences University, Professor Emerita of Diagnostic Radiology, Portland, OR (United States)

2017-08-15

We aimed to determine if a non-contrast screening MRI is cost-effective compared to a full MRI protocol with contrast for the evaluation of vestibular schwannomas. A decision tree was constructed to evaluate full MRI and screening MRI strategies for patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss. If a patient were to have a positive screening MRI, s/he received a full MRI. Vestibular schwannoma prevalence, MRI specificity and sensitivity, and gadolinium anaphylaxis incidence were obtained through literature review. Institutional charge data were obtained using representative patient cohorts. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were completed to determine CE model threshold points for MRI performance characteristics and charges. The mean charge for a full MRI with contrast was significantly higher than a screening MRI ($4089 ± 1086 versus $2872 ± 741; p < 0.05). The screening MRI protocol was more cost-effective than a full MRI protocol with a willingness-to-pay from $0 to 20,000 USD. Sensitivity analyses determined that the screening protocol dominated when the screening MRI charge was less than $4678, and the imaging specificity exceeded 78.2%. The screening MRI protocol also dominated when vestibular schwannoma prevalence was varied between 0 and 1000 in 10,000 people. A screening MRI protocol is more cost-effective than a full MRI with contrast in the diagnostic evaluation of a vestibular schwannoma. A screening MRI likely also confers benefits of shorter exam time and no contrast use. Further investigation is needed to confirm the relative performance of screening protocols for vestibular schwannomas. (orig.)

Evaluation of a new system for chest tomosynthesis: aspects of image quality of different protocols determined using an anthropomorphic phantom

Science.gov (United States)

Sundin, A; Aspelin, P; Båth, M; Nyrén, S

2015-01-01

Objective: To compare the image quality obtained with the different protocols in a new chest digital tomosynthesis (DTS) system. Methods: A chest phantom was imaged with chest X-ray equipment with DTS. 10 protocols were used, and for each protocol, nine acquisitions were performed. Four observers visually rated the quality of the reconstructed section images according to pre-defined quality criteria in four different classes. The data were analysed with visual grading characteristics (VGC) analysis, using the vendor-recommended protocol [12-s acquisition time, source-to-image distance (SID) 180 cm] as reference, and the area under the VGC curve (AUCVGC) was determined for each protocol and class of criteria. Results: Protocols with a smaller swing angle resulted in a lower image quality for the classes of criteria “disturbance” and “homogeneity in nodule” but a higher image quality for the class “structure”. The class “demarcation” showed little dependency on the swing angle. All protocols but one (6.3 s, SID 130 cm) obtained an AUCVGC significantly <0.5 (indicating lower quality than reference) for at least one class of criteria. Conclusion: The study indicates that the DTS protocol with 6.3 s yields image quality similar to that obtained with the vendor-recommended protocol (12 s) but with the clinically important advantage for patients with respiratory impairment of a shorter acquisition time. Advances in knowledge: The study demonstrates that the image quality may be strongly affected by the choice of protocol and that the vendor-recommended protocol may not be optimal. PMID:26118300

Longitudinal Evaluation of Transition Services (“LETS Study”: Protocol for outcome evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsybina Irina

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Because of advances in medical treatment, most children with physical disabilities can expect to achieve near normal life spans. Typically, coordinated teams of health care providers in specialized pediatric settings care for these children. As these children reach adulthood, however, the availability of services and expertise changes because the adult health care system has different processes designed to meet their specialized needs. Gaps in continuity of care during the transition from pediatric to adult services, and associated poor health outcomes are well documented. In response, new models of care are being introduced to address the complex process of health care transition. This paper describes a study protocol of a client-centred, prospective, longitudinal, mixed-method evaluation of linked model of health care across the lifespan (the LIFEspan Model, offered by a pediatric rehabilitation centre and an adult rehabilitation centre. Method This project will include a process and an outcome evaluation of the LIFEspan Model. The process evaluation will detail the specific service delivery that occurs with respect to preparation for transition and transfer of care through chart audits of pediatric medical records and qualitative interviews with LIFEspan staff. The outcome evaluation will measure the effect of the model on: 1 maintaining continuity within the health care system from pediatric to adult care; and 2 secondary outcomes related to health, well-being, social participation, transition readiness, and health care utilization of youth with cerebral palsy and acquired brain injury. Standardized instruments will include Health Utilities Inventory, Assessment of Life Habits, Arc’s Self-Determination, Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life, Partners in Health Questionnaire, Social Support Questionnaire, and Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease. Discussion The LETS study will be original in its undertaking

Multipath Activity Based Routing Protocol for Mobile ‎Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shereen Omar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive radio networks improve spectrum utilization by ‎sharing licensed spectrum with cognitive radio devices. In ‎cognitive radio ad hoc networks the routing protocol is one ‎of the most challenging tasks due to the changes in ‎frequency spectrum and the interrupted connectivity ‎caused by the primary user activity. In this paper, a multi‎path activity based routing protocol for cognitive radio ‎network (MACNRP is proposed. The protocol utilizes ‎channel availability and creates multiple node-disjoint ‎routes between the source and destination nodes. The ‎proposed protocol is compared with D2CARP and FTCRP ‎protocols. The performance evaluation is conducted ‎through mathematical analysis and using OPNET ‎simulation. The performance of the proposed protocol ‎achieves an increase in network throughput; besides it ‎decreases the probability of route failure due to node ‎mobility and primary user activity. We have found that the ‎MACNRP scheme results in 50% to 75% reduction in ‎blocking probability and 33% to 78% improvement in ‎network throughput, with a reasonable additional routing ‎overhead and average packet delay. Due to the successful ‎reduction of collision between primary users and ‎cognitive users, the MACNRP scheme results in decreasing ‎the path failure rate by 50% to 87%.‎

BAVP: Blockchain-Based Access Verification Protocol in LEO Constellation Using IBE Keys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Songjie Wei

2018-01-01

Full Text Available LEO constellation has received intensive research attention in the field of satellite communication. The existing centralized authentication protocols traditionally used for MEO/GEO satellite networks cannot accommodate LEO satellites with frequent user connection switching. This paper proposes a fast and efficient access verification protocol named BAVP by combining identity-based encryption and blockchain technology. Two different key management schemes with IBE and blockchain, respectively, are investigated, which further enhance the authentication reliability and efficiency in LEO constellation. Experiments on OPNET simulation platform evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness, reliability, and fast-switching efficiency of the proposed protocol. For LEO networks, BAVP surpasses the well-known existing solutions with significant advantages in both performance and scalability which are supported by theoretical analysis and simulation results.

Evaluating performance in sweat testing in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Aralica, Merica; Krleza, Jasna Lenicek

2017-02-15

Sweat test has a diagnostic role in evaluation of cystic fibrosis. Its performance includes sweat stimulation, collection and analysis. All listed may be sources of inconsistencies in everyday practice. The aim of this study was an evaluation of external quality assessment (EQA) of sweat chloride measurement including sweat test performance in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia. EQA for sweat chloride measurement was provided by Croatian Centre for Quality Assessment in Laboratory Medicine (CROQALM) in five consecutive exercises to medical biochemistry laboratories (MBL) that offered sweat testing. A questionnaire regarding all phases of testing was mailed to involved MBL (N = 10). Survey results were compared to current guidelines for sweat test performance. Reported results of EQA in 2015 exercises showed coefficients of variation (CV) from 28.9%, 29.0% to 35.3%, respectively. An introduction of uniform sweat chloride measurement protocol resulted in CV of 15.5% and 14.7% reported in following two exercises in 2016. All MBL included in this study replied to the questionnaire. Results reported by MBL indicated: lack of patient information policy (7/10), use of unacceptable electrodes (6/9), misuse of minimum of acceptable sweat weight (6/9), lack of internal quality assessment (5/9) and recommended reference ranges (5/9 and 4/9). Agreements to guidelines were found in approach to unsuitable patients (9/10) and sweat collection (8/9). Presented results indicate major weak points of current practice in sweat test performance in Croatian MBL and stress the need for its standardization on a national level.

Security analysis of session initiation protocol

OpenAIRE

Dobson, Lucas E.

2010-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited The goal of this thesis is to investigate the security of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). This was accomplished by researching previously discovered protocol and implementation vulnerabilities, evaluating the current state of security tools and using those tools to discover new vulnerabilities in SIP software. The CVSS v2 system was used to score protocol and implementation vulnerabilities to give them a meaning that was us...

Chapter 3: Commercial and Industrial Lighting Controls Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Carlson, Stephen [DNV GL, Madison, WI (United States)

2017-10-04

This Commercial and Industrial Lighting Controls Evaluation Protocol (the protocol) describes methods to account for energy savings resulting from programmatic installation of lighting control equipment in large populations of commercial, industrial, government, institutional, and other nonresidential facilities. This protocol does not address savings resulting from changes in codes and standards, or from education and training activities. When lighting controls are installed in conjunction with a lighting retrofit project, the lighting control savings must be calculated parametrically with the lighting retrofit project so savings are not double counted.

Economic evaluation of an intensive group training protocol compared with usual care physiotherapy in patients with chronic low back pain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Roer, N.; van Tulder, M.; van Mechelen, W.; de Vet, H.C.W.

2008-01-01

STUDY DESIGN. Economic evaluation from a societal perspective conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial with a follow-up of 52 weeks. OBJECTIVE. To evaluate the cost effectiveness and cost utility of an intensive group training protocol compared with usual care physiotherapy in patients with

Families of quantum fingerprinting protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Lovitz, Benjamin; Lütkenhaus, Norbert

2018-03-01

We introduce several families of quantum fingerprinting protocols to evaluate the equality function on two n -bit strings in the simultaneous message passing model. The original quantum fingerprinting protocol uses a tensor product of a small number of O (logn ) -qubit high-dimensional signals [H. Buhrman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 167902 (2001), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.167902], whereas a recently proposed optical protocol uses a tensor product of O (n ) single-qubit signals, while maintaining the O (logn ) information leakage of the original protocol [J. M. Arazola and N. Lütkenhaus, Phys. Rev. A 89, 062305 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevA.89.062305]. We find a family of protocols which interpolate between the original and optical protocols while maintaining the O (logn ) information leakage, thus demonstrating a tradeoff between the number of signals sent and the dimension of each signal. There has been interest in experimental realization of the recently proposed optical protocol using coherent states [F. Xu et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 8735 (2015), 10.1038/ncomms9735; J.-Y. Guan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 240502 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.240502], but as the required number of laser pulses grows linearly with the input size n , eventual challenges for the long-time stability of experimental setups arise. We find a coherent state protocol which reduces the number of signals by a factor 1/2 while also reducing the information leakage. Our reduction makes use of a simple modulation scheme in optical phase space, and we find that more complex modulation schemes are not advantageous. Using a similar technique, we improve a recently proposed coherent state protocol for evaluating the Euclidean distance between two real unit vectors [N. Kumar et al., Phys. Rev. A 95, 032337 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevA.95.032337] by reducing the number of signals by a factor 1/2 and also reducing the information leakage.

Accuracy of prehospital triage protocols in selecting severely injured patients: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

van Rein, Eveline A J; Houwert, R Marijn; Gunning, Amy C; Lichtveld, Rob A; Leenen, Luke P H; van Heijl, Mark

2017-08-01

Prehospital trauma triage ensures proper transport of patients at risk of severe injury to hospitals with an appropriate corresponding level of trauma care. Incorrect triage results in undertriage and overtriage. The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma recommends an undertriage rate below 5% and an overtriage rate below 50% for prehospital trauma triage protocols. To find the most accurate prehospital trauma triage protocol, a clear overview of all currently available protocols and corresponding outcomes is necessary. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature on all available prehospital trauma triage protocols and determine accuracy of protocol-based triage quality in terms of sensitivity and specificity. A search of Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed to identify all studies describing prehospital trauma triage protocols before November 2016. The search terms included "trauma," "trauma center," or "trauma system" combined with "triage," "undertriage," or "overtriage." All studies describing protocol-based triage quality were reviewed. To assess the quality of these type of studies, a new critical appraisal tool was developed. In this review, 21 articles were included with numbers of patients ranging from 130 to over 1 million. Significant predictors for severe injury were: vital signs, suspicion of certain anatomic injuries, mechanism of injury, and age. Sensitivity ranged from 10% to 100%; specificity from 9% to 100%. Nearly all protocols had a low sensitivity, thereby failing to identify severely injured patients. Additionally, the critical appraisal showed poor quality of the majority of included studies. This systematic review shows that nearly all protocols are incapable of identifying severely injured patients. Future studies of high methodological quality should be performed to improve prehospital trauma triage protocols. Systematic review, level III.

A Novel Smart Routing Protocol for Remote Health Monitoring in Medical Wireless Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. V. P. Sundararajan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In a Medical Wireless Network (MWN, sensors constantly monitor patient's physiological condition and movement. Inter-MWN communications are set up between the Patient Server and one or more Centralized Coordinators. However, MWNs require protocols with little energy consumption and the self-organizing attribute perceived in ad-hoc networks. The proposed Smart Routing Protocol (SRP selects only the nodes with a higher residual energy and lower traffic density for routing. This approach enhances cooperation among the nodes of a Mobile Ad Hoc Network. Consequently, SRP produces better results than the existing protocols, namely Conditional Min-Max Battery Cost Routing, Min-Max Battery Cost Routing and AdHoc On-demand Distance Vector in terms of network parameters. The performance of the erstwhile schemes for routing protocols is evaluated using the network simulator Qualnet v 4.5.

48 CFR 36.604 - Performance evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Performance evaluation. 36.604 Section 36.604 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL... Performance evaluation. See 42.1502(f) for the requirements for preparing past performance evaluations for...

Performance evaluation and financial market runs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, W.B.

2013-01-01

This paper develops a model in which performance evaluation causes runs by fund managers and results in asset fire sales. Performance evaluation nonetheless is efficient as it disciplines managers. Optimal performance evaluation combines absolute and relative components in order to make runs less

Performance Evaluations in Audit Firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riise Johansen, Thomas; Christoffersen, Jeppe

2017-01-01

Previous research has only minimally examined the association between the behaviour and performance evaluations of individual auditors beyond the use of efficiency-focused evaluations. We examine the association between dysfunctional auditor behaviour and three evaluation foci: an efficiency focus......, a client focus and a quality focus. Our results, which are based on questionnaire responses from 196 auditors, demonstrate that an efficiency focus is not associated with dysfunctional behaviour. A client focus is found to be associated with dysfunctional behaviour. Finally, and perhaps most importantly......, our results show that it seems possible to limit dysfunctional behaviours through a quality focus in performance evaluations. Our results provide insights of use to practitioners and regulators on how performance evaluations may not only induce but also reduce dysfunctional auditor behaviours....

The influence of evaluation protocol on time spent exercising at a high level of oxygen uptake during continuous cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Merry, K L; Glaister, M; Howatson, G; Van Someren, K

2015-10-01

This study evaluated the effects of protocol variation on the time spent exercising at ≥95% V̇O2max during cycle ergometer trials performed at the exercise intensity associated with V̇O2max (iV̇O2max). Nine male triathletes (age: 32±10 years; body mass: 73.3±6.1 kg; stature: 1.79±0.07 m; V̇O2max: 3.58±0.45 L.min(-1)) performed four exercise tests. During tests 1 and 2, participants performed a maximal incremental cycle ergometer test using different stage durations (1 min and 3 min) for the determination of iV̇O2max (1 min) and iV̇O2max (3 min). During tests 3 and 4, participants performed a continuous bout of exhaustive cycling at iV̇O2max (1 min) (CONT1) and iV̇O2max (3 min) (CONT3). iV̇O2max (1 min) was significantly greater (Pexercising continuously at iV̇O2max, time spent at ≥95% V̇O2max is influenced by the initial measurement of iV̇O2max.

International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol: Concepts and Options for Determining Energy and Water Savings, Volume I (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2002-03-01

This protocol serves as a framework to determine energy and water savings resulting from the implementation of an energy efficiency program. It is also intended to help monitor the performance of renewable energy systems and to enhance indoor environmental quality in buildings.

The Simplest Protocol for Oblivious Transfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chou, Tung; Orlandi, Claudio

2015-01-01

Oblivious Transfer (OT) is the fundamental building block of cryptographic protocols. In this paper we describe the simplest and most efficient protocol for 1-out-of-n OT to date, which is obtained by tweaking the Diffie-Hellman key-exchange protocol. The protocol achieves UC-security against...... active and adaptive corruptions in the random oracle model. Due to its simplicity, the protocol is extremely efficient and it allows to perform m 1-out-of-n OTs using only: - Computation: (n+1)m+2 exponentiations (mn for the receiver, mn+2 for the sender) and - Communication: 32(m+1) bytes (for the group...... optimizations) is at least one order of magnitude faster than previous work. Category / Keywords: cryptographic protocols / Oblivious Transfer, UC Security, Elliptic Curves, Efficient Implementation...

A Protocol Layer Trust-Based Intrusion Detection Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Wang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a protocol layer trust-based intrusion detection scheme for wireless sensor networks. Unlike existing work, the trust value of a sensor node is evaluated according to the deviations of key parameters at each protocol layer considering the attacks initiated at different protocol layers will inevitably have impacts on the parameters of the corresponding protocol layers. For simplicity, the paper mainly considers three aspects of trustworthiness, namely physical layer trust, media access control layer trust and network layer trust. The per-layer trust metrics are then combined to determine the overall trust metric of a sensor node. The performance of the proposed intrusion detection mechanism is then analyzed using the t-distribution to derive analytical results of false positive and false negative probabilities. Numerical analytical results, validated by simulation results, are presented in different attack scenarios. It is shown that the proposed protocol layer trust-based intrusion detection scheme outperforms a state-of-the-art scheme in terms of detection probability and false probability, demonstrating its usefulness for detecting cross-layer attacks.

Connectivity-Based Reliable Multicast MAC Protocol for IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woo-Yong Choi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We propose the efficient reliable multicast MAC protocol based on the connectivity information among the recipients. Enhancing the BMMM (Batch Mode Multicast MAC protocol, the reliable multicast MAC protocol significantly reduces the RAK (Request for ACK frame transmissions in a reasonable computational time and enhances the MAC performance. By the analytical performance analysis, the throughputs of the BMMM protocol and our proposed MAC protocol are derived. Numerical examples show that our proposed MAC protocol increases the reliable multicast MAC performance for IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs.

A multi-laboratory evaluation of a common in vitro pepsin digestion assay protocol used in assessing the safety of novel proteins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomas, K.; Aalbers, M.; Bannon, G. A.; Bartels, M.; Dearman, R. J.; Esdaile, D. J.; Fu, T. J.; Glatt, C. M.; Hadfield, N.; Hatzos, C.; Hefle, S. L.; Heylings, J. R.; Goodman, R. E.; Henry, B.; Herouet, C.; Holsapple, M.; Ladics, G. S.; Landry, T. D.; MacIntosh, S. C.; Rice, E. A.; Privalle, L. S.; Steiner, H. Y.; Teshima, R.; van Ree, R.; Woolhiser, M.; Zawodny, J.

2004-01-01

Rationale. Evaluation of the potential allergenicity of proteins derived from genetically modified foods has involved a weight of evidence approach that incorporates an evaluation of protein digestibility in pepsin. Currently, there is no standardized protocol to assess the digestibility of proteins

A Secure Cluster-Based Multipath Routing Protocol for WMSNs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamal N. Al-Karaki

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The new characteristics of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network (WMSN and its design issues brought by handling different traffic classes of multimedia content (video streams, audio, and still images as well as scalar data over the network, make the proposed routing protocols for typical WSNs not directly applicable for WMSNs. Handling real-time multimedia data requires both energy efficiency and QoS assurance in order to ensure efficient utility of different capabilities of sensor resources and correct delivery of collected information. In this paper, we propose a Secure Cluster-based Multipath Routing protocol for WMSNs, SCMR, to satisfy the requirements of delivering different data types and support high data rate multimedia traffic. SCMR exploits the hierarchical structure of powerful cluster heads and the optimized multiple paths to support timeliness and reliable high data rate multimedia communication with minimum energy dissipation. Also, we present a light-weight distributed security mechanism of key management in order to secure the communication between sensor nodes and protect the network against different types of attacks. Performance evaluation from simulation results demonstrates a significant performance improvement comparing with existing protocols (which do not even provide any kind of security feature in terms of average end-to-end delay, network throughput, packet delivery ratio, and energy consumption.

Dry Process Fuel Performance Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Myung Seung; Song, K. C.; Moon, J. S. and others

2005-04-15

The objective of the project is to establish the performance evaluation system of DUPIC fuel during the Phase II R and D. In order to fulfil this objectives, irradiation test of DUPIC fuel was carried out in HANARO using the non-instrumented and SPND-instrumented rig. Also, the analysis on the in-reactor behavior analysis of DUPIC fuel, out-pile test using simulated DUPIC fuel as well as performance and integrity assessment in a commercial reactor were performed during this Phase. The R and D results of the Phase II are summarized as follows : - Performance evaluation of DUPIC fuel via irradiation test in HANARO - Post irradiation examination of irradiated fuel and performance analysis - Development of DUPIC fuel performance code (modified ELESTRES) considering material properties of DUPIC fuel - Irradiation behavior and integrity assessment under the design power envelope of DUPIC fuel - Foundamental technology development of thermal/mechanical performance evaluation using ANSYS (FEM package)

Dry Process Fuel Performance Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Myung Seung; Song, K. C.; Moon, J. S. and others

2005-04-01

The objective of the project is to establish the performance evaluation system of DUPIC fuel during the Phase II R and D. In order to fulfil this objectives, irradiation test of DUPIC fuel was carried out in HANARO using the non-instrumented and SPND-instrumented rig. Also, the analysis on the in-reactor behavior analysis of DUPIC fuel, out-pile test using simulated DUPIC fuel as well as performance and integrity assessment in a commercial reactor were performed during this Phase. The R and D results of the Phase II are summarized as follows : - Performance evaluation of DUPIC fuel via irradiation test in HANARO - Post irradiation examination of irradiated fuel and performance analysis - Development of DUPIC fuel performance code (modified ELESTRES) considering material properties of DUPIC fuel - Irradiation behavior and integrity assessment under the design power envelope of DUPIC fuel - Foundamental technology development of thermal/mechanical performance evaluation using ANSYS (FEM package)

Caffeine increases anaerobic work and restores cycling performance following a protocol designed to lower endogenous carbohydrate availability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos David Silva-Cavalcante

Full Text Available The purpose this study was to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion on performance and energy expenditure (anaerobic and aerobic contribution during a 4-km cycling time trial (TT performed after a carbohydrate (CHO availability-lowering exercise protocol. After preliminary and familiarization trials, seven amateur cyclists performed three 4-km cycling TT in a double-blind, randomized and crossover design. The trials were performed either after no previous exercise (CON, or after a CHO availability-lowering exercise protocol (DEP performed in the previous evening, followed by either placebo (DEP-PLA or 5 mg.kg(-1 of caffeine intake (DEP-CAF 1 hour before the trial. Performance was reduced (-2.1% in DEP-PLA vs CON (421.0±12.3 vs 412.4±9.7 s. However, performance was restored in DEP-CAF (404.6±17.1 s compared with DEP-PLA, while no differences were found between DEP-CAF and CON. The anaerobic contribution was increased in DEP-CAF compared with both DEP-PLA and CON (67.4±14.91, 47. 3±14.6 and 55.3±14.0 W, respectively, and this was more pronounced in the first 3 km of the trial. Similarly, total anaerobic work was higher in DEP-CAF than in the other conditions. The integrated electromyographic activity, plasma lactate concentration, oxygen uptake, aerobic contribution and total aerobic work were not different between the conditions. The reduction in performance associated with low CHO availability is reversed with caffeine ingestion due to a higher anaerobic contribution, suggesting that caffeine could access an anaerobic "reserve" that is not used under normal conditions.

Caffeine Increases Anaerobic Work and Restores Cycling Performance following a Protocol Designed to Lower Endogenous Carbohydrate Availability

Science.gov (United States)

Silva-Cavalcante, Marcos David; Correia-Oliveira, Carlos Rafaell; Santos, Ralmony Alcantara; Lopes-Silva, João Paulo; Lima, Hessel Marani; Bertuzzi, Romulo; Duarte, Marcos; Bishop, David John; Lima-Silva, Adriano Eduardo

2013-01-01

The purpose this study was to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion on performance and energy expenditure (anaerobic and aerobic contribution) during a 4-km cycling time trial (TT) performed after a carbohydrate (CHO) availability-lowering exercise protocol. After preliminary and familiarization trials, seven amateur cyclists performed three 4-km cycling TT in a double-blind, randomized and crossover design. The trials were performed either after no previous exercise (CON), or after a CHO availability-lowering exercise protocol (DEP) performed in the previous evening, followed by either placebo (DEP-PLA) or 5 mg.kg−1 of caffeine intake (DEP-CAF) 1 hour before the trial. Performance was reduced (−2.1%) in DEP-PLA vs CON (421.0±12.3 vs 412.4±9.7 s). However, performance was restored in DEP-CAF (404.6±17.1 s) compared with DEP-PLA, while no differences were found between DEP-CAF and CON. The anaerobic contribution was increased in DEP-CAF compared with both DEP-PLA and CON (67.4±14.91, 47. 3±14.6 and 55.3±14.0 W, respectively), and this was more pronounced in the first 3 km of the trial. Similarly, total anaerobic work was higher in DEP-CAF than in the other conditions. The integrated electromyographic activity, plasma lactate concentration, oxygen uptake, aerobic contribution and total aerobic work were not different between the conditions. The reduction in performance associated with low CHO availability is reversed with caffeine ingestion due to a higher anaerobic contribution, suggesting that caffeine could access an anaerobic “reserve” that is not used under normal conditions. PMID:23977198

Why standard brain-computer interface (BCI) training protocols should be changed: an experimental study

Science.gov (United States)

Jeunet, Camille; Jahanpour, Emilie; Lotte, Fabien

2016-06-01

Objective. While promising, electroencephaloraphy based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are barely used due to their lack of reliability: 15% to 30% of users are unable to control a BCI. Standard training protocols may be partly responsible as they do not satisfy recommendations from psychology. Our main objective was to determine in practice to what extent standard training protocols impact users’ motor imagery based BCI (MI-BCI) control performance. Approach. We performed two experiments. The first consisted in evaluating the efficiency of a standard BCI training protocol for the acquisition of non-BCI related skills in a BCI-free context, which enabled us to rule out the possible impact of BCIs on the training outcome. Thus, participants (N = 54) were asked to perform simple motor tasks. The second experiment was aimed at measuring the correlations between motor tasks and MI-BCI performance. The ten best and ten worst performers of the first study were recruited for an MI-BCI experiment during which they had to learn to perform two MI tasks. We also assessed users’ spatial ability and pre-training μ rhythm amplitude, as both have been related to MI-BCI performance in the literature. Main results. Around 17% of the participants were unable to learn to perform the motor tasks, which is close to the BCI illiteracy rate. This suggests that standard training protocols are suboptimal for skill teaching. No correlation was found between motor tasks and MI-BCI performance. However, spatial ability played an important role in MI-BCI performance. In addition, once the spatial ability covariable had been controlled for, using an ANCOVA, it appeared that participants who faced difficulty during the first experiment improved during the second while the others did not. Significance. These studies suggest that (1) standard MI-BCI training protocols are suboptimal for skill teaching, (2) spatial ability is confirmed as impacting on MI-BCI performance, and (3) when faced

Licensee Performance Evaluation: Phase II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakoff, H.E.; Speaker, D.M.; Thompson, S.R.; Cohen, S.C.

1979-08-01

This report details work performed during the second phase of a two-phase contract to develop methodology for Licensee Performance Evaluation. The Phase I report, NUREG/CR-0110 details initial efforts on the contract. The model developed in Phase I was used to evaluate nine additional facilities for this report. Performance indicators from noncompliance data were also evaluated. Methodology was developed employing the noncompliance indicators and used for 12 case studies. It was found that licensee event report indicators could be more easily identified and utilized than noncompliance indicators based on presently available data systems. However, noncompliance data, appropriately related to cause, could provide real insight into why performance was what it was

A Novel and Validated Protocol for Performing MIC Tests to Determine the Susceptibility of Piscirickettsia salmonis Isolates to Florfenicol and Oxytetracycline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Contreras-Lynch

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a validated protocol, using a novel, specifically formulated medium, to perform broth microdilution antimicrobial susceptibility assays of the salmonid bacterial pathogen Piscirickettsia salmonis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC for florfenicol and oxytetracycline against 58 P. salmonis isolates recovered from various outbreaks occurred in Chilean salmonid farms were determined using this protocol. Normalized resistance interpretation (NRI analysis was applied to these data to calculate appropriate protocol-specific epidemiological cut-off values. These cut-off values allow the isolates to be categorized as either fully susceptible wild type (WT members of this species, or as manifesting reduced susceptibility non-wild type (NWT. The distribution of MIC values of florfenicol was bimodal and the distribution of the normalized values for the putative WT observation had a standard deviation of 0.896 log2 μg mL-1. This analysis calculated a cut-off value of ≤0.25 μg mL-1 and categorized 33 (56% of the isolates as manifesting reduced susceptibility to florfenicol. For the oxytetracycline MIC data the NRI analysis also treated the distribution as bimodal. The distribution of the normalized values for the putative WT observation had a standard deviation of 0.951 log2 μg mL-1. This analysis gave a cut-off value of ≤0.5 μg mL-1 and categorized five isolates (9% as manifesting reduced susceptibility to oxytetracycline. The susceptibility testing protocol developed in this study was capable of generating MIC data from all the isolates tested. On the basis of the precision of the data it generated, and the degree of separation of values for WT and NWT it achieved, it is argued that this protocol has the performance characteristics necessary for it to be considered as a standard protocol.

The comparative cost analysis of EAP Re-authentication Protocol and EAP TLS Protocol

OpenAIRE

Seema Mehla; Bhawna Gupta

2010-01-01

the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is a generic framework supporting multiple types of authentication methods. In systems where EAP is used for authentication, it is desirable to not repeat the entire EAP exchange with another authenticator. The EAP reauthentication Protocol provides a consistent, methodindependentand low-latency re-authentication. It is extension to current EAP mechanism to support intradomain handoff authentication. This paper analyzed the performance of the EAP r...

Global Land Product Validation Protocols: An Initiative of the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation to Evaluate Satellite-derived Essential Climate Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Guillevic, P. C.; Nickeson, J. E.; Roman, M. O.; camacho De Coca, F.; Wang, Z.; Schaepman-Strub, G.

2016-12-01

The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has specified the need to systematically produce and validate Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) and in particular its subgroup on Land Product Validation (LPV) is playing a key coordination role leveraging the international expertise required to address actions related to the validation of global land ECVs. The primary objective of the LPV subgroup is to set standards for validation methods and reporting in order to provide traceable and reliable uncertainty estimates for scientists and stakeholders. The Subgroup is comprised of 9 focus areas that encompass 10 land surface variables. The activities of each focus area are coordinated by two international co-leads and currently include leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), vegetation phenology, surface albedo, fire disturbance, snow cover, land cover and land use change, soil moisture, land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity. Recent additions to the focus areas include vegetation indices and biomass. The development of best practice validation protocols is a core activity of CEOS LPV with the objective to standardize the evaluation of land surface products. LPV has identified four validation levels corresponding to increasing spatial and temporal representativeness of reference samples used to perform validation. Best practice validation protocols (1) provide the definition of variables, ancillary information and uncertainty metrics, (2) describe available data sources and methods to establish reference validation datasets with SI traceability, and (3) describe evaluation methods and reporting. An overview on validation best practice components will be presented based on the LAI and LST protocol efforts to date.

Implementation of a Rapid, Protocol-based TIA Management Pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarhult, Susann J; Howell, Melissa L; Barnaure-Nachbar, Isabelle; Chang, Yuchiao; White, Benjamin A; Amatangelo, Mary; Brown, David F; Singhal, Aneesh B; Schwamm, Lee H; Silverman, Scott B; Goldstein, Joshua N

2018-03-01

Our goal was to assess whether use of a standardized clinical protocol improves efficiency for patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms of transient ischemic attack (TIA). We performed a structured, retrospective, cohort study at a large, urban, tertiary care academic center. In July 2012 this hospital implemented a standardized protocol for patients with suspected TIA. The protocol selected high-risk patients for admission and low/intermediate-risk patients to an ED observation unit for workup. Recommended workup included brain imaging, vascular imaging, cardiac monitoring, and observation. Patients were included if clinical providers determined the need for workup for TIA. We included consecutive patients presenting during a six-month period prior to protocol implementation, and those presenting between 6-12 months after implementation. Outcomes included ED length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, use of neuroimaging, and 90-day risk of stroke or TIA. From 01/2012 to 06/2012, 130 patients were evaluated for TIA symptoms in the ED, and from 01/2013 to 06/2013, 150 patients. The final diagnosis was TIA or stroke in 45% before vs. 41% after (p=0.18). Following the intervention, the inpatient admission rate decreased from 62% to 24% (pTIA among those with final diagnosis of TIA was 3% for both periods. Implementation of a TIA protocol significantly reduced ED LOS and total hospital LOS.

Design and Analysis of Optimization Algorithms to Minimize Cryptographic Processing in BGP Security Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Sriram, Vinay K; Montgomery, Doug

2017-07-01

The Internet is subject to attacks due to vulnerabilities in its routing protocols. One proposed approach to attain greater security is to cryptographically protect network reachability announcements exchanged between Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routers. This study proposes and evaluates the performance and efficiency of various optimization algorithms for validation of digitally signed BGP updates. In particular, this investigation focuses on the BGPSEC (BGP with SECurity extensions) protocol, currently under consideration for standardization in the Internet Engineering Task Force. We analyze three basic BGPSEC update processing algorithms: Unoptimized, Cache Common Segments (CCS) optimization, and Best Path Only (BPO) optimization. We further propose and study cache management schemes to be used in conjunction with the CCS and BPO algorithms. The performance metrics used in the analyses are: (1) routing table convergence time after BGPSEC peering reset or router reboot events and (2) peak-second signature verification workload. Both analytical modeling and detailed trace-driven simulation were performed. Results show that the BPO algorithm is 330% to 628% faster than the unoptimized algorithm for routing table convergence in a typical Internet core-facing provider edge router.

Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging protocol for endoscopic cranial base image-guided surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Grindle, Christopher R; Curry, Joseph M; Kang, Melissa D; Evans, James J; Rosen, Marc R

2011-01-01

Despite the increasing utilization of image-guided surgery, no radiology protocols for obtaining magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of adequate quality are available in the current literature. At our institution, more than 300 endonasal cranial base procedures including pituitary, extended pituitary, and other anterior skullbase procedures have been performed in the past 3 years. To facilitate and optimize preoperative evaluation and assessment, there was a need to develop a magnetic resonance protocol. Retrospective Technical Assessment was performed. Through a collaborative effort between the otolaryngology, neurosurgery, and neuroradiology departments at our institution, a skull base MR image-guided (IGS) protocol was developed with several ends in mind. First, it was necessary to generate diagnostic images useful for the more frequently seen pathologies to improve work flow and limit the expense and inefficiency of case specific MR studies. Second, it was necessary to generate sequences useful for IGS, preferably using sequences that best highlight that lesion. Currently, at our institution, all MR images used for IGS are obtained using this protocol as part of preoperative planning. The protocol that has been developed allows for thin cut precontrast and postcontrast axial cuts that can be used to plan intraoperative image guidance. It also obtains a thin cut T2 axial series that can be compiled separately for intraoperative imaging, or may be fused with computed tomographic images for combined modality. The outlined protocol obtains image sequences effective for diagnostic and operative purposes for image-guided surgery using both T1 and T2 sequences. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of warm-up duration on physical performance and psychological perceptions in handball players.

Science.gov (United States)

Romaratezabala, Estibaliz; Nakamura, Fábio Yuzo; Castillo, Daniel; Gorostegi-Anduaga, Ilargi; Yanci, Javier

2018-01-01

The purpose of the study was to analyse the effect of two warm-up protocols of different duration on physical performance, perceived load and perception of being ready for a match in handball players. Eighteen handball players were randomly divided into two groups (Wup 34min , warm-up protocol of 34 min, Wup 17min , warm-up protocol of 17 min). Before and after the warm-up protocols, they performed a battery of physical tests and recorded their perception of feeling ready for a match. At the end of the warm-up protocols, all the players evaluated their differentiated perceived effort (dRPE). The results showed that neither of the protocols significantly modified (p > 0.05) the players' physical performance. However, the Wup 34min group showed higher values in the differentiated warm-up perceived load (dRPE-WL) (p warm-up protocols significantly modified the players' physical performance, a greater perceived muscular load may cause a greater decrease in acceleration capacity.

A Practice-Based Evaluation of Distress Screening Protocol Adherence and Medical Service Utilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Zebrack, Brad; Kayser, Karen; Bybee, Deborah; Padgett, Lynne; Sundstrom, Laura; Jobin, Chad; Oktay, Julianne

2017-07-01

Background: This study examined the extent to which cancer programs demonstrated adherence to their own prescribed screening protocol, and whether adherence to that protocol was associated with medical service utilization. The hypothesis is that higher rates of service utilization are associated with lower rates of adherence to screening protocols. Methods: Oncology social workers at Commission on Cancer-accredited cancer programs reviewed electronic health records (EHRs) in their respective cancer programs during a 2-month period in 2014. Rates of overall adherence to a prescribed distress screening protocol were calculated based on documentation in the EHR that screening adherence and an appropriate clinical response had occurred. We examined documentation of emergency department (ED) use and hospitalization within 2 months after the screening visit. Results: Review of 8,409 EHRs across 55 cancer centers indicated that the overall adherence rate to screening protocols was 62.7%. The highest rates of adherence were observed in Community Cancer Programs (76.3%) and the lowest rates were in NCI-designated Cancer Centers (43.3%). Rates of medical service utilization were significantly higher than expected when overall protocol adherence was lacking. After controlling for patient and institutional characteristics, risk ratios for ED use (0.82) and hospitalization (0.81) suggest that when overall protocol adherence was documented, 18% to 19% fewer patients used these medical services. Conclusions: The observed associations between a mandated psychosocial care protocol and medical service utilization suggest opportunities for operational efficiencies and costs savings. Further investigations of protocol integrity, as well as the clinical care models by which psychosocial care is delivered, are warranted. Copyright © 2017 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Analysis of transmission speed of AX.25 Protocol implemented in satellital earth station UPTC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Fernando Vera Cely

2015-11-01

Full Text Available One of the important parameters for the proper functioning of satellital ground station projected on Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC is the efficiency in transmission speed on communications protocol. This paper shows the results of analysis of the transmission speed of the AX.25 protocol implemented in the communication system of the satellital ground station UPTC. It begins with a brief description of the implemented hardware; the behavior of the transmission rate is evaluated using a theoretical analysis based on equations to estimate this parameter in the operation of the protocol, then tests are performed using the hardware that the satellital ground station UPTC has and finally, the conclusions are presented. Based on comparison of the theoretical analysis results obtained experimentally, it became apparent that AX.25 protocol efficiency is higher when increasing the number of frames.

Evaluation and Adaptation of a Laboratory-Based cDNA Library Preparation Protocol for Retrospective Sequencing of Archived MicroRNAs from up to 35-Year-Old Clinical FFPE Specimens.

Science.gov (United States)

Loudig, Olivier; Wang, Tao; Ye, Kenny; Lin, Juan; Wang, Yihong; Ramnauth, Andrew; Liu, Christina; Stark, Azadeh; Chitale, Dhananjay; Greenlee, Robert; Multerer, Deborah; Honda, Stacey; Daida, Yihe; Spencer Feigelson, Heather; Glass, Andrew; Couch, Fergus J; Rohan, Thomas; Ben-Dov, Iddo Z

2017-03-14

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens, when used in conjunction with patient clinical data history, represent an invaluable resource for molecular studies of cancer. Even though nucleic acids extracted from archived FFPE tissues are degraded, their molecular analysis has become possible. In this study, we optimized a laboratory-based next-generation sequencing barcoded cDNA library preparation protocol for analysis of small RNAs recovered from archived FFPE tissues. Using matched fresh and FFPE specimens, we evaluated the robustness and reproducibility of our optimized approach, as well as its applicability to archived clinical specimens stored for up to 35 years. We then evaluated this cDNA library preparation protocol by performing a miRNA expression analysis of archived breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) specimens, selected for their relation to the risk of subsequent breast cancer development and obtained from six different institutions. Our analyses identified six miRNAs (miR-29a, miR-221, miR-375, miR-184, miR-363, miR-455-5p) differentially expressed between DCIS lesions from women who subsequently developed an invasive breast cancer (cases) and women who did not develop invasive breast cancer within the same time interval (control). Our thorough evaluation and application of this laboratory-based miRNA sequencing analysis indicates that the preparation of small RNA cDNA libraries can reliably be performed on older, archived, clinically-classified specimens.

Performances of different protocols for exocellular polysaccharides extraction from milk acid gels: Application to yogurt.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, An Thi-Binh; Nigen, Michaël; Jimenez, Luciana; Ait-Abderrahim, Hassina; Marchesseau, Sylvie; Picart-Palmade, Laetitia

2018-01-15

Dextran or xanthan were used as model exocellular polysaccharides (EPS) to compare the extraction efficiency of EPS from skim milk acid gels using three different protocols. Extraction yields, residual protein concentrations and the macromolecular properties of extracted EPS were determined. For both model EPS, the highest extraction yield (∼80%) was obtained when samples were heated in acidic conditions at the first step of extraction (Protocol 1). Protocols that contained steps of acid/ethanol precipitation without heating (Protocols 2 and 3) show lower extraction yields (∼55%) but allow a better preservation of the EPS macromolecular properties. Changing the pH of acid gels up to 7 before extraction (Protocol 3) improved the extraction yield of anionic EPS without effect on the macromolecular properties of EPS. Protocol 1 was then applied for the quantification of EPS produced during the yogurt fermentation, while Protocol 3 was dedicated to their macromolecular characterization. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trauma surgeon becomes consultant: evaluation of a protocol for management of intermediate-level trauma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallon, Sara C; Delemos, David; Christopher, Daniel; Frost, Mary; Wesson, David E; Naik-Mathuria, Bindi

2014-01-01

At our level 1 pediatric trauma center, 9-54 intermediate-level ("level 2") trauma activations are received per month. Previously, the surgery team was required to respond to and assume responsibility for all patients who had "level 2" trauma activations. In 8/2011, we implemented a protocol where the emergency room (ER) physician primarily manages these patients with trauma consultation for surgical evaluation or admission. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the effects of the new protocol to ensure that patient safety and quality of care were maintained. We compared outcomes of patients treated PRE-implementation (10/2010-7/2011) and POST-implementation (9/2011-5/2012), including surgeon consultation rate, utilization of imaging and laboratory testing, ER length of stay, admission rate, and missed injuries or readmissions. Statistical analysis included chi-square and Student's t-test. We identified 472 patients: 179 in the PRE and 293 in the POST period. The populations had similar baseline clinical characteristics. The surgical consultation rate in the POST period was only 42%, with no missed injuries or readmissions. The ER length of stay did not change. However, in the POST period there were significant decreases in the admission rate (73% to 44%) and the mean number of CT scans (1.4 to 1), radiographs (2.4 to 1.7), and laboratory tests (5.1 to 3.3) ordered in the emergency room (all p<0.001). Intermediate-level pediatric trauma patients can be efficiently and safely managed by pediatric emergency room physicians, with surgical consultation only as needed. The protocol change improved resource utilization by decreasing testing and admissions and streamlining resident utilization in an era of reduced duty hours. © 2014.

Evaluating the Performance of IPTV over Fixed WiMAX

Science.gov (United States)

Hamodi, Jamil; Salah, Khaled; Thool, Ravindra

2013-12-01

IEEE specifies different modulation techniques for WiMAX; namely, BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAM. This paper studies the performance of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) over Fixed WiMAX system considering different combinations of digital modulation. The performance is studied taking into account a number of key system parameters which include the variation in the video coding, path-loss, scheduling service classes different rated codes in FEC channel coding. The performance study was conducted using OPNET simulation. The performance is studied in terms of packet lost, packet jitter delay, end-to-end delay, and network throughput. Simulation results show that higher order modulation and coding schemes (namely, 16 QAM and 64 QAM) yield better performance than that of QPSK.

Secure Certificateless Authentication and Road Message Dissemination Protocol in VANETs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haowen Tan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As a crucial component of Internet-of-Thing (IoT, vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs have attracted increasing attentions from both academia and industry fields in recent years. With the extensive VANETs deployment in transportation systems of more and more countries, drivers’ driving experience can be drastically improved. In this case, the real-time road information needs to be disseminated to the correlated vehicles. However, due to inherent wireless communicating characteristics of VANETs, authentication and group key management strategies are indispensable for security assurance. Furthermore, effective road message dissemination mechanism is of significance. In this paper, we address the above problems by developing a certificateless authentication and road message dissemination protocol. In our design, certificateless signature and the relevant feedback mechanism are adopted for authentication and group key distribution. Subsequently, message evaluating and ranking strategy is introduced. Security analysis shows that our protocol achieves desirable security properties. Additionally, performance analysis demonstrates that the proposed protocol is efficient compared with the state of the art.

Prospective evaluation of a protocol for using transabdominal ultrasound to screen for short cervix.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandipati, Santosh; Combs, C Andrew; Fishman, Alan; Lee, Sarah Y; Mallory, Kimberly; Ianovich, Francesca

2015-07-01

We sought to evaluate a recently proposed protocol whereby transabdominal ultrasound of the cervix might be used as a prescreen to select women to undergo or to forgo measurement of cervical length via transvaginal ultrasound (CLvag). This was a prospective cohort study. Measurements of cervical length via transabdominal ultrasound (CLabd) and CLvag were made in women with singleton pregnancy during routine obstetrical ultrasound examination at 18(0/7) to 23(6/7) weeks of gestation. The transabdominal screen was considered positive if CLabd was ≤36 mm with the maternal bladder full or ≤35 mm with the bladder empty, or adequate imaging of the cervix could not be obtained. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios of a positive screen to detect a short cervix (CLvag ≤25 mm) were calculated. An interim analysis identified several technical problems with CLabd measurements, so the protocol was extensively revised. Under the revised protocol, 1580 women were included. Adequate views of the cervix were obtained via transabdominal imaging in 46% of subjects with the bladder empty and 56% with the bladder full. The correlation between CLabd and CLvag was poor (r = 0.38). Of the 17 patients with a short cervix, 15 had suboptimal transabdominal exams (screen positive) and 2 had CLabd ≤35 mm with bladder empty (screen positive). Sensitivity of the screen was 100% (95% confidence interval, 80.5-100%) but specificity was only 32.2% (95% confidence interval, 29.9-34.6%) and screen positive rate was 66.3%. Several technical problems and limitations of transabdominal imaging of the cervix are shown. Using modern, high-resolution ultrasound equipment, we were unable to adequately image the cervix via transabdominal ultrasound in half the cases. Although we confirmed that a CLabd cutoff value of 35-36 mm is appropriate for detection of short cervix, the technique for measuring CLabd is fraught with technical problems. Practitioners must validate the

Energy consumption and quality of service in WBAN: A performance evaluation between cross-layer and IEEE802.15.4

OpenAIRE

Correa-Chica, Juan Camilo; Botero-Vega, Juan Felipe; Gaviria-Gómez, Natalia

2017-01-01

Abstract Different communication schemes for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) pretend to achieve a fair tradeoff between efficient energy consumption and the accomplishment of performance metrics. Among those schemes are the Cross-layer protocols that constitute a good choice to achieve the aforementioned tradeoff by introducing novel protocol techniques which are away from the traditional communications model. In this work we assessed the performance of a WBAN cross-layer protocol stack by...

A secure distributed logistic regression protocol for the detection of rare adverse drug events.

Science.gov (United States)

El Emam, Khaled; Samet, Saeed; Arbuckle, Luk; Tamblyn, Robyn; Earle, Craig; Kantarcioglu, Murat

2013-05-01

There is limited capacity to assess the comparative risks of medications after they enter the market. For rare adverse events, the pooling of data from multiple sources is necessary to have the power and sufficient population heterogeneity to detect differences in safety and effectiveness in genetic, ethnic and clinically defined subpopulations. However, combining datasets from different data custodians or jurisdictions to perform an analysis on the pooled data creates significant privacy concerns that would need to be addressed. Existing protocols for addressing these concerns can result in reduced analysis accuracy and can allow sensitive information to leak. To develop a secure distributed multi-party computation protocol for logistic regression that provides strong privacy guarantees. We developed a secure distributed logistic regression protocol using a single analysis center with multiple sites providing data. A theoretical security analysis demonstrates that the protocol is robust to plausible collusion attacks and does not allow the parties to gain new information from the data that are exchanged among them. The computational performance and accuracy of the protocol were evaluated on simulated datasets. The computational performance scales linearly as the dataset sizes increase. The addition of sites results in an exponential growth in computation time. However, for up to five sites, the time is still short and would not affect practical applications. The model parameters are the same as the results on pooled raw data analyzed in SAS, demonstrating high model accuracy. The proposed protocol and prototype system would allow the development of logistic regression models in a secure manner without requiring the sharing of personal health information. This can alleviate one of the key barriers to the establishment of large-scale post-marketing surveillance programs. We extended the secure protocol to account for correlations among patients within sites through

Extraction protocols for orthodontic treatment: A retrospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaishnevi N Thirunavukkarasu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Various extraction protocols have been followed for successful orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extraction protocols in patients who had previously undergone orthodontic treatment and also who had reported for continuing orthodontic treatment from other clinics. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty eight patients who registered for orthodontic treatment at the Faculty of Dentistry were divided into 10 extraction protocols based on the Orthodontic treatment protocol given by Janson et al. and were evaluated for statistical significance. Results: The descriptive statistics of the study revealed a total of 40 (29% patients in protocol 1, 43 (31.2% in protocol 2, 18 (13% in protocol 3, 16 (11.6% in protocol 5, and 12 (8.7% in Type 3 category of protocol 9. The Type 3 category in protocol 9 was statistically significant compared to other studies. Midline shift and collapse of the arch form were noticed in these individuals. Conclusion: Extraction of permanent teeth such as canine and lateral incisors without rational reasons could have devastating consequences on the entire occlusion. The percentage of cases wherein extraction of permanent teeth in the crowded region was adopted as a treatment option instead of orthodontic treatment is still prevalent in dental practice. The shortage of orthodontists in Malaysia, the long waiting period, and lack of subjective need for orthodontic treatment at an earlier age group were the reasons for the patient's to choose extraction of the mal-aligned teeth such as the maxillary canine or maxillary lateral incisors.

An evidence based blunt trauma protocol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vugt, R. van; Kool, D.R.; Lubeek, S.F.K.; Dekker, H.M.; Brink, M.; Deunk, J.; Edwards, M.J.R.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Currently CT is rapidly implemented in the evaluation of trauma patients. In anticipation of a large international multicentre trial, this study's aim was to evaluate the clinical feasibility of a new diagnostic protocol, used for the primary radiological evaluation in adult blunt

Defining standardized protocols for determining the efficacy of a postmilking teat disinfectant following experimental exposure of teats to mastitis pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Schukken, Y H; Rauch, B J; Morelli, J

2013-04-01

The objective of this paper was to define standardized protocols for determining the efficacy of a postmilking teat disinfectant following experimental exposure of teats to both Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae. The standardized protocols describe the selection of cows and herds and define the critical points in performing experimental exposure, performing bacterial culture, evaluating the culture results, and finally performing statistical analyses and reporting of the results. The protocols define both negative control and positive control trials. For negative control trials, the protocol states that an efficacy of reducing new intramammary infections (IMI) of at least 40% is required for a teat disinfectant to be considered effective. For positive control trials, noninferiority to a control disinfectant with a published efficacy of reducing new IMI of at least 70% is required. Sample sizes for both negative and positive control trials are calculated. Positive control trials are expected to require a large trial size. Statistical analysis methods are defined and, in the proposed methods, the rate of IMI may be analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. The efficacy of the test product can be evaluated while controlling for important covariates and confounders in the trial. Finally, standards for reporting are defined and reporting considerations are discussed. The use of the defined protocol is shown through presentation of the results of a recent trial of a test product against a negative control. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.