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Sample records for pooled epidemiological analysis

  1. Melanocortin-1 receptor, skin cancer and phenotypic characteristics (M-SKIP project: study design and methods for pooling results of genetic epidemiological studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raimondi Sara

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background For complex diseases like cancer, pooled-analysis of individual data represents a powerful tool to investigate the joint contribution of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors to the development of a disease. Pooled-analysis of epidemiological studies has many advantages over meta-analysis, and preliminary results may be obtained faster and with lower costs than with prospective consortia. Design and methods Based on our experience with the study design of the Melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R gene, SKin cancer and Phenotypic characteristics (M-SKIP project, we describe the most important steps in planning and conducting a pooled-analysis of genetic epidemiological studies. We then present the statistical analysis plan that we are going to apply, giving particular attention to methods of analysis recently proposed to account for between-study heterogeneity and to explore the joint contribution of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors in the development of a disease. Within the M-SKIP project, data on 10,959 skin cancer cases and 14,785 controls from 31 international investigators were checked for quality and recoded for standardization. We first proposed to fit the aggregated data with random-effects logistic regression models. However, for the M-SKIP project, a two-stage analysis will be preferred to overcome the problem regarding the availability of different study covariates. The joint contribution of MC1R variants and phenotypic characteristics to skin cancer development will be studied via logic regression modeling. Discussion Methodological guidelines to correctly design and conduct pooled-analyses are needed to facilitate application of such methods, thus providing a better summary of the actual findings on specific fields.

  2. Melanocortin-1 receptor, skin cancer and phenotypic characteristics (M-SKIP) project: study design and methods for pooling results of genetic epidemiological studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background For complex diseases like cancer, pooled-analysis of individual data represents a powerful tool to investigate the joint contribution of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors to the development of a disease. Pooled-analysis of epidemiological studies has many advantages over meta-analysis, and preliminary results may be obtained faster and with lower costs than with prospective consortia. Design and methods Based on our experience with the study design of the Melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, SKin cancer and Phenotypic characteristics (M-SKIP) project, we describe the most important steps in planning and conducting a pooled-analysis of genetic epidemiological studies. We then present the statistical analysis plan that we are going to apply, giving particular attention to methods of analysis recently proposed to account for between-study heterogeneity and to explore the joint contribution of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors in the development of a disease. Within the M-SKIP project, data on 10,959 skin cancer cases and 14,785 controls from 31 international investigators were checked for quality and recoded for standardization. We first proposed to fit the aggregated data with random-effects logistic regression models. However, for the M-SKIP project, a two-stage analysis will be preferred to overcome the problem regarding the availability of different study covariates. The joint contribution of MC1R variants and phenotypic characteristics to skin cancer development will be studied via logic regression modeling. Discussion Methodological guidelines to correctly design and conduct pooled-analyses are needed to facilitate application of such methods, thus providing a better summary of the actual findings on specific fields. PMID:22862891

  3. A general framework for the regression analysis of pooled biomarker assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan; McMahan, Christopher; Gallagher, Colin

    2017-07-10

    As a cost-efficient data collection mechanism, the process of assaying pooled biospecimens is becoming increasingly common in epidemiological research; for example, pooling has been proposed for the purpose of evaluating the diagnostic efficacy of biological markers (biomarkers). To this end, several authors have proposed techniques that allow for the analysis of continuous pooled biomarker assessments. Regretfully, most of these techniques proceed under restrictive assumptions, are unable to account for the effects of measurement error, and fail to control for confounding variables. These limitations are understandably attributable to the complex structure that is inherent to measurements taken on pooled specimens. Consequently, in order to provide practitioners with the tools necessary to accurately and efficiently analyze pooled biomarker assessments, herein, a general Monte Carlo maximum likelihood-based procedure is presented. The proposed approach allows for the regression analysis of pooled data under practically all parametric models and can be used to directly account for the effects of measurement error. Through simulation, it is shown that the proposed approach can accurately and efficiently estimate all unknown parameters and is more computational efficient than existing techniques. This new methodology is further illustrated using monocyte chemotactic protein-1 data collected by the Collaborative Perinatal Project in an effort to assess the relationship between this chemokine and the risk of miscarriage. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Epidemiology of pediatric functional abdominal pain disorders: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korterink, Judith J; Diederen, Kay; Benninga, Marc A; Tabbers, Merit M

    2015-01-01

    We aimed to review the literature regarding epidemiology of functional abdominal pain disorders in children and to assess its geographic, gender and age distribution including associated risk factors of developing functional abdominal pain. The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsychInfo databases were systematically searched up to February 2014. Study selection criteria included: (1) studies of birth cohort, school based or general population samples (2) containing data concerning epidemiology, prevalence or incidence (3) of children aged 4-18 years (4) suffering from functional abdominal pain. Quality of studies was rated by a self-made assessment tool. A random-effect meta-analysis model was used to estimate the prevalence of functional abdominal pain in childhood. A total of 58 articles, including 196,472 children were included. Worldwide pooled prevalence for functional abdominal pain disorders was 13.5% (95% CI 11.8-15.3), of which irritable bowel syndrome was reported most frequently (8.8%, 95% CI 6.2-11.9). The prevalence across studies ranged widely from 1.6% to 41.2%. Higher pooled prevalence rates were reported in South America (16.8%) and Asia (16.5%) compared to Europe (10.5%). And a higher pooled prevalence was reported when using the Rome III criteria (16.4%, 95% CI 13.5-19.4). Functional abdominal pain disorders are shown to occur significantly more in girls (15.9% vs. 11.5%, pooled OR 1.5) and is associated with the presence of anxiety and depressive disorders, stress and traumatic life events. Functional abdominal pain disorders are a common problem worldwide with irritable bowel syndrome as most encountered abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorder. Female gender, psychological disorders, stress and traumatic life events affect prevalence.

  5. Epidemiology of pediatric functional abdominal pain disorders: a meta-analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith J Korterink

    Full Text Available We aimed to review the literature regarding epidemiology of functional abdominal pain disorders in children and to assess its geographic, gender and age distribution including associated risk factors of developing functional abdominal pain.The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsychInfo databases were systematically searched up to February 2014. Study selection criteria included: (1 studies of birth cohort, school based or general population samples (2 containing data concerning epidemiology, prevalence or incidence (3 of children aged 4-18 years (4 suffering from functional abdominal pain. Quality of studies was rated by a self-made assessment tool. A random-effect meta-analysis model was used to estimate the prevalence of functional abdominal pain in childhood.A total of 58 articles, including 196,472 children were included. Worldwide pooled prevalence for functional abdominal pain disorders was 13.5% (95% CI 11.8-15.3, of which irritable bowel syndrome was reported most frequently (8.8%, 95% CI 6.2-11.9. The prevalence across studies ranged widely from 1.6% to 41.2%. Higher pooled prevalence rates were reported in South America (16.8% and Asia (16.5% compared to Europe (10.5%. And a higher pooled prevalence was reported when using the Rome III criteria (16.4%, 95% CI 13.5-19.4. Functional abdominal pain disorders are shown to occur significantly more in girls (15.9% vs. 11.5%, pooled OR 1.5 and is associated with the presence of anxiety and depressive disorders, stress and traumatic life events.Functional abdominal pain disorders are a common problem worldwide with irritable bowel syndrome as most encountered abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorder. Female gender, psychological disorders, stress and traumatic life events affect prevalence.

  6. Semi-Professional Rugby League Players have Higher Concussion Risk than Professional or Amateur Participants: A Pooled Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Doug; Hume, Patria; Gissane, Conor; Clark, Trevor

    2017-02-01

    A combined estimate of injuries within a specific sport through pooled analysis provides more precise evidence and meaningful information about the sport, whilst controlling for between-study variation due to individual sub-cohort characteristics. The objective of this analysis was to review all published rugby league studies reporting injuries from match and training participation and report the pooled data estimates for rugby league concussion injury epidemiology. A systematic literature analysis of concussion in rugby league was performed on published studies from January 1990 to October 2015. Data were extracted and pooled from 25 studies that reported the number and incidence of concussions in rugby league match and training activities. Amateur rugby league players had the highest incidence of concussive injuries in match activities (19.1 per 1000 match hours) while semi-professional players had the highest incidence of concussive injuries in training activities (3.1 per 1000 training hours). This pooled analysis showed that, during match participation activities, amateur rugby league participants had a higher reported concussion injury rate than professional and semi-professional participants. Semi-professional participants had nearly a threefold greater concussion injury risk than amateur rugby league participants during match participation. They also had nearly a 600-fold greater concussion injury risk than professional rugby league participants during training participation.

  7. Health impact of disinfection by-products in swimming pools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina M. Villanueva

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article is focused on the epidemiological evidence on the health impacts related to disinfection by-products (DBPs in swimming pools, which is a chemical hazard generated as an undesired consequence to reduce the microbial pathogens. Specific DBPs are carcinogenic, fetotoxic and/or irritant to the airways according to experimental studies. Epidemiological evidence shows that swimming in pools during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of reproductive outcomes. An epidemiological study suggested an increased risk of bladder cancer with swimming pool attendance, although evidence is inconclusive. A higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms including asthma is found among swimming pool workers and elite swimmers, although the causality of this association is unclear. The body of evidence in children indicates that asthma is not increased by swimming pool attendance. Overall, the available knowledge suggests that the health benefits of swimming outweigh the potential health risks of chemical contamination. However, the positive effects of swimming should be enhanced by minimising potential risks.

  8. Modal analysis of pool door in water tank

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kang Soo; Jeong, Kyeong Hoon; Park, Chan Gook; Koo, In Soo [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-10-15

    A pool door is installed at the chase of the pool gate by means of an overhead crane in the building of a research reactor. The principal function of the pool door, which is located between the reactor pool and service pool, is to separate the reactor pool from the service pool for the maintenance and/or the removal of the equipment either in the reactor pool or service pool. The pool door consists of stainless steel plates supported by structural steel frames and sealing components. The pool door is equipped with double inflatable gaskets. The configuration of the pool door is shown in Figure 1. The FEM analysis and theoretical calculation by the formula were performed to evaluate the natural frequency for the pool door in the water. The results from the two methods were compared.

  9. Dairy foods, calcium, and colorectal cancer: A pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cho, E.; Smith-Warner, S.A.; Spiegelman, D.; Beeson, W.L.; Brandt, P.A. van den; Colditz, G.A.; Folsom, A.R.; Fraser, G.E.; Freudenheim, J.L.; Giovannucci, E.; Goldbohm, R.A.; Graham, S.; Miller, A.B.; Pietinen, P.; Potter, J.D.; Rohan, T.E.; Terry, P.; Toniolo, P.; Virtanen, M.J.; Willet, W.C.; Wolk, A.; Wu, K.; Yaun, S.-S.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, A.; Hunter, D.J.

    2004-01-01

    Background: Studies in animals have suggested that calcium may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. However, results from epidemiologic studies of intake of calcium or dairy foods and colorectal cancer risk have been inconclusive. Methods: We pooled the primary data from 10 cohort studies in five

  10. Vitamin D Pooling Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers brought together investigators from 10 cohorts to conduct a large prospective epidemiologic study of the association between vitamin D status and seven rarer cancers.

  11. Addressing data privacy in matched studies via virtual pooling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha-Chaudhuri, P; Weinberg, C R

    2017-09-07

    Data confidentiality and shared use of research data are two desirable but sometimes conflicting goals in research with multi-center studies and distributed data. While ideal for straightforward analysis, confidentiality restrictions forbid creation of a single dataset that includes covariate information of all participants. Current approaches such as aggregate data sharing, distributed regression, meta-analysis and score-based methods can have important limitations. We propose a novel application of an existing epidemiologic tool, specimen pooling, to enable confidentiality-preserving analysis of data arising from a matched case-control, multi-center design. Instead of pooling specimens prior to assay, we apply the methodology to virtually pool (aggregate) covariates within nodes. Such virtual pooling retains most of the information used in an analysis with individual data and since individual participant data is not shared externally, within-node virtual pooling preserves data confidentiality. We show that aggregated covariate levels can be used in a conditional logistic regression model to estimate individual-level odds ratios of interest. The parameter estimates from the standard conditional logistic regression are compared to the estimates based on a conditional logistic regression model with aggregated data. The parameter estimates are shown to be similar to those without pooling and to have comparable standard errors and confidence interval coverage. Virtual data pooling can be used to maintain confidentiality of data from multi-center study and can be particularly useful in research with large-scale distributed data.

  12. Structural analysis of the reactor pool for the RRRP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alberro, J.G.; Abbate, A.D.

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of the present document is to describe the structural design of the Reactor Pool relevant to the RRRP (Replacement Research Reactor Project) for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. The structural analysis required coordinated design, engineering, analysis, and fabrication efforts. The pool has been designed, manufactured, and inspected following as guideline the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which defines the requirements for the pool to withstand hydrostatic and mechanical forces, ensuring its integrity throughout its lifetime. Standard off-the-shelf finite element programs (Nastran and Ansys codes) were used to evaluate the pool and further qualify the design and its construction. Both global and local effect analyses were carried out. The global analysis covers the structural integrity of the pool wall (6 mm thick) considering the different load states acting on it, namely hydrostatic pressure, thermal expansion, and seismic event. The local analysis evaluates the structural behaviour of the pool at specific points resulting from the interaction among components. It is confirmed that maximum stresses and displacements fall below the allowable values required by the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. The water pressure analysis was validated by means of a hydrostatic test. (authors)

  13. [Dose-Response Dependences for Frequency of RET/PTC Gene Rearrangements in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma after Irradiation. Simple Pooling Analysis of Molecular Epidemiological Data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koterov, A N; Ushenkova, L N; Biryukov, A P

    2016-01-01

    On the basis of all possible publications on the theme included in the previously formed base of sources on molecular epidemiology of RET/PTC rearrangements in thyroid papillary carcinoma a pooled analysis ("simple pooling data") on determination of the dose-effect dependences for RET/PTC frequency in radiogenic carcinomas of various irradiated groups was performed. (They are groups subjected to radiotherapeutic exposure, residents near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP) and victims of nuclear bombing). The tendency to Pearson linear correlation (r = 0.746; p = 0.148) between the frequency of RET/PTC and the estimated dose on thyroid in the regions affected by the CNPP accident was revealed. But this tendency was recognized to be random owing to abnormally low values of the indicator for the most contaminated Gomel region. The method tentatively called "case-control" showed reliable differences in thyroid dose values for carcinomas with RET/PTC and without those. The versatility of changes was found: the lack of RET/PTC for radiotherapeutic impacts was associated with higher doses, whereas in case of the CNPP accident and for nuclear bombing victims it was the opposite. Probably, in the first case the "cellular cleaning" phenomenon after exposure to very high doses took place. Search of direct Pearson correlations between average/median thyroid doses on groups and RET/PTC frequency in carcinomas of these groups showed a high reliability for the dose-effect dependences- at the continuous dose scale (for RET/PTC in total and RET/PTC1 respectively: r = 0.830; p = 0.002 and r = 0.906; p = 0.0003); while there was no significant correlation received for RET/PTC3. When using the weighting least square regression analysis (proceeding from the number of carcinomas in samples), the specified regularities remained. Attempts to influence the strength of correlation by exception ofthe data of all the samples connected with the accident on the CNPP did not significantly

  14. Phase analysis in gated blood pool tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Tada, Akira; Taki, Junichi; Nanbu, Ichiro

    1984-01-01

    Phase analysis of gated blood pool study has been applied to detect the site of accessory conduction pathway (ACP) in the Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome; however, there was a limitation to detect the precise location of ACP by phase analysis alone. In this study, we applied phase analysis to gated blood pool tomography using seven pin hole tomography (7PT) and gated emission computed tomography (GECT) in 21 patients with WPW syndrome and 3 normal subjects. In 17 patients, the sites of ACPs were confirmed by epicardial mapping and the result of the surgical division of ACP. In 7PT, the site of ACP grossly agreed to the abnormal initial phase in phase image in 5 out of 6 patients with left cardiac type. In GECT, phase images were generated in short axial, vertical and horizontal long axial sections. In 8 out of 9 patients, the site of ACP was correctly identified by phase images, and in a patient who had two ACPs, initial phase corresponded to one of the two locations. Phase analysis of gated blood pool tomography has advantages for avoiding overlap of blood pools and for estimating three-dimensional propagation of the contraction, and can be a good adjunctive method in patients with WPW syndrome. (author)

  15. (Important hygienic aspects for swimming pools (author's transl))

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somosi, G

    1981-01-01

    The major epidemics which occurred in Hungary and originated from water in swimming pools are reported. The difficulties encountered in producing epidemiological evidence and in monitoring infections originating from water in swimming pools are mentioned. The possibilities of controlling the water quality in swimming pools and of preventing infections are discussed. Reference is made to the existing bacteriological limit values in Hungary to be observed in the recirculation of water in swimming pools.

  16. Analysis of sodium pool fire in SFEF for assessing the limiting pool fire

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mangarjuna Rao, P.; Ramesh, S.S.; Nashine, B.K.; Kasinathan, N.; Chellapandi, P.

    2011-01-01

    Accidental sodium leaks and resultant sodium fires in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) systems can create a threat to the safe operation of the plant. To avoid this defence-in depth approach is implemented from the design stage of reactor itself. Rapid detection of sodium leak and fast dumping of the sodium into the storage tank of a defective circuit, leak collection trays, adequate lining of load bearing structural concrete and extinguishment of the sodium fire are the important defensive measures in the design, construction and operation of a LMFBR for protection against sodium leaks and their resultant fires. Evaluation of sodium leak events and their consequences by conducting large scale engineering experiments is very essential for effective implementation of the above protection measures for sodium fire safety. For this purpose a Sodium Fire Experimental Facility (SFEF) is constructed at SED, IGCAR. SFEF is having an experimental hall of size 9 m x 6 m x 10 m with 540 m 3 volume and its design pressure is 50 kPa. It is a concrete structure and provided with SS 304 liner, which is fixed to the inside surfaces of walls, ceiling and floor. A leak tight door of size (1.8 m x 2.0 m) is provided to the experimental hall and the facility is provided with a sodium equipment hall and a control room. Experimental evaluation of sodium pool fire consequences is an important activity in the LMFBR sodium fire safety related studies. An experimental program has been planned for different types of sodium fire studies in SFEF. A prior to that numerical analysis have been carried out for enclosed sodium pool fires using SOFIRE-II sodium pool fire code for SFEF experimental hall configuration to evaluate the limiting pool fire. This paper brings out results of the analysis carried out for this purpose. Limiting pool fire of SFEF depends on the exposed surface area of the pool, amount of sodium in the pool, oxygen concentration and initial sodium temperature. Limiting

  17. LNG pool fire simulation for domino effect analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masum Jujuly, Muhammad; Rahman, Aziz; Ahmed, Salim; Khan, Faisal

    2015-01-01

    A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pool fire has been performed using ANSYS CFX-14. The CFD model solves the fundamental governing equations of fluid dynamics, namely, the continuity, momentum and energy equations. Several built-in sub-models are used to capture the characteristics of pool fire. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation for turbulence and the eddy-dissipation model for non-premixed combustion are used. For thermal radiation, the Monte Carlo (MC) radiation model is used with the Magnussen soot model. The CFD results are compared with a set of experimental data for validation; the results are consistent with experimental data. CFD results show that the wind speed has significant contribution on the behavior of pool fire and its domino effects. The radiation contours are also obtained from CFD post processing, which can be applied for risk analysis. The outcome of this study will be helpful for better understanding of the domino effects of pool fire in complex geometrical settings of process industries. - Highlights: • Simulation of pool fire using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. • Integration of CFD based pool fire model with domino effect. • Application of the integrated CFD based domino effect analysis

  18. Spent nuclear fuel storage pool thermal-hydraulic analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gay, R.R.

    1984-01-01

    Storage methods and requirements for spent nuclear fuel at U.S. commercial light water reactors are reviewed in Section 1. Methods of increasing current at-reactor storage capabilities are also outlined. In Section 2 the development of analytical methods for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of spent fuel pools is chronicled, leading up to a discussion of the GFLOW code which is described in Section 3. In Section 4 the verification of GFLOW by comparisons of the code's predictions to experimental data taken inside the fuel storage pool at the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant is presented. The predictions of GFLOW using 72, 224, and 1584 node models of the storage pool are compared to each other and to the experimental data. An example of thermal licensing analysis for Maine Yankee using the GFLOW code is given in Section 5. The GFLOW licensing analysis is compared to previous licensing analysis performed by Yankee Atomic using the RELAP-4 computer code

  19. UPDG: Utilities package for data analysis of Pooled DNA GWAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ho Daniel WH

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite being a well-established strategy for cost reduction in disease gene mapping, pooled DNA association study is much less popular than the individual DNA approach. This situation is especially true for pooled DNA genomewide association study (GWAS, for which very few computer resources have been developed for its data analysis. This motivates the development of UPDG (Utilities package for data analysis of Pooled DNA GWAS. Results UPDG represents a generalized framework for data analysis of pooled DNA GWAS with the integration of Unix/Linux shell operations, Perl programs and R scripts. With the input of raw intensity data from GWAS, UPDG performs the following tasks in a stepwise manner: raw data manipulation, correction for allelic preferential amplification, normalization, nested analysis of variance for genetic association testing, and summarization of analysis results. Detailed instructions, procedures and commands are provided in the comprehensive user manual describing the whole process from preliminary preparation of software installation to final outcome acquisition. An example dataset (input files and sample output files is also included in the package so that users can easily familiarize themselves with the data file formats, working procedures and expected output. Therefore, UPDG is especially useful for users with some computer knowledge, but without a sophisticated programming background. Conclusions UPDG provides a free, simple and platform-independent one-stop service to scientists working on pooled DNA GWAS data analysis, but with less advanced programming knowledge. It is our vision and mission to reduce the hindrance for performing data analysis of pooled DNA GWAS through our contribution of UPDG. More importantly, we hope to promote the popularity of pooled DNA GWAS, which is a very useful research strategy.

  20. Analgesic use and the risk of kidney cancer: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choueiri, Toni K.; Je, Youjin; Cho, Eunyoung

    2013-01-01

    Analgesics are the most commonly used over-the-counter drugs worldwide with certain analgesics having cancer prevention effect. The evidence for an increased risk of developing kidney cancer with analgesic use is mixed. Using a meta-analysis design of available observational epidemiologic studies, we investigated the association between analgesic use and kidney cancer risk. We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify eligible case-control or cohort studies published in English until June 2012 for 3 categories of analgesics: acetaminophen, aspirin or other Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). Study-specific effect estimates were pooled to compute an overall relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) using a random effects model for each category of the analgesics. We identified 20 studies (14 with acetaminophen, 13 with aspirin, and 5 with other NSAIDs) that were performed in 6 countries, including 8,420 cases of kidney cancer. Use of acetaminophen and non-aspirin NSAIDs were associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer (pooled RR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.44 and 1.25; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.46, respectively). For aspirin use, we found no overall increased risk (pooled RR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.28), except for non-US studies (5 studies, pooled RR=1.17, 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.33). Similar increases in risks were seen with higher analgesic intake. In this largest meta-analysis to date, we found that acetaminophen and non-aspirin NSAIDs are associated with a significant risk of developing kidney cancer. Further work is needed to elucidate biologic mechanisms behind these findings. PMID:23400756

  1. Pooling, meta-analysis, and the evaluation of drug safety

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leizorovicz Alain

    2002-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The "integrated safety report" of the drug registration files submitted to health authorities usually summarizes the rates of adverse events observed for a new drug, placebo or active control drugs by pooling the safety data across the trials. Pooling consists of adding the numbers of events observed in a given treatment group across the trials and dividing the results by the total number of patients included in this group. Because it considers treatment groups rather than studies, pooling ignores validity of the comparisons and is subject to a particular kind of bias, termed "Simpson's paradox." In contrast, meta-analysis and other stratified analyses are less susceptible to bias. Methods We use a hypothetical, but not atypical, application to demonstrate that the results of a meta-analysis can differ greatly from those obtained by pooling the same data. In our hypothetical model, a new drug is compared to 1 a placebo in 4 relatively small trials in patients at high risk for a certain adverse event and 2 an active reference drug in 2 larger trials of patients at low risk for this event. Results Using meta-analysis, the relative risk of experiencing the adverse event with the new drug was 1.78 (95% confidence interval [1.02; 3.12] compared to placebo and 2.20 [0.76; 6.32] compared to active control. By pooling the data, the results were, respectively, 1.00 [0.59; 1.70] and 5.20 [2.07; 13.08]. Conclusions Because these findings could mislead health authorities and doctors, regulatory agencies should require meta-analyses or stratified analyses of safety data in drug registration files.

  2. Outbreak of Zika virus infection in Singapore: an epidemiological, entomological, virological, and clinical analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-08-01

    An outbreak of Zika virus infection was detected in Singapore in August, 2016. We report the first comprehensive analysis of a national response to an outbreak of Zika virus infection in Asia. In the first phase of the outbreak, patients with suspected Zika virus infection were isolated in two national referral hospitals until their serum tested negative for the virus. Enhanced vector control and community engagement measures were deployed in disease clusters, including stepped-up mosquito larvicide and adulticide use, community participation in source reduction (destruction of mosquito breeding sites), and work with the local media to promote awareness of the outbreak. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected from patients with confirmed Zika virus infection during the first phase. In the second phase, admission into hospitals for isolation was stopped but vector control efforts continued. Mosquitoes were captured from areas with Zika disease clusters to assess which species were present, their breeding numbers, and to test for Zika virus. Mosquito virus strains were compared with human strains through phylogenetic analysis after full genome sequencing. Reproductive numbers and inferred dates of strain diversification were estimated through Bayesian analyses. From Aug 27 to Nov 30, 2016, 455 cases of Zika virus infection were confirmed in Singapore. Of 163 patients with confirmed Zika virus infection who presented to national referral hospitals during the first phase of the outbreak, Zika virus was detected in the blood samples of 97 (60%) patients and the urine samples of 157 (96%) patients. There were 15 disease clusters, 12 of which had high Aedes aegypti breeding percentages. Captured mosquitoes were pooled into 517 pools for Zika virus screening; nine abdomen pools (2%) were positive for Zika virus, of which seven head and thorax pools were Zika-virus positive. In the phylogenetic analysis, all mosquito sequences clustered within the outbreak lineage

  3. Indoor swimming pool attendance and respiratory and dermal health in schoolchildren: HITEA Catalonia.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Font-Ribera, L.; Villanueva, C.M.; Gracia-Lavedan, E.; Borràs-Santos, A.; Kogevinas, M.; Zock, J.P.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Health benefits of swimming in pools may outweigh adverse health outcomes in children, but evidence from epidemiological studies is scarce or inconclusive for different health outcomes. We evaluated the association between indoor swimming pool attendance during childhood and respiratory

  4. Seismic analysis of large pools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dong, R.G.; Tokarz, F.J.

    1976-11-17

    Large pools for storing spent, nuclear fuel elements are being proposed to augment present storage capacity. To preserve the ability to isolate portions of these pools, a modularization requirement appears desirable. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of modularization on earthquake resistance and to assess the adequacy of current design methods for seismic loads. After determining probable representative pool geometries, three rectangular pool configurations, all 240 x 16 ft and 40 ft deep, were examined. One was unmodularized; two were modularized into 80 x 40 ft cells in one case and 80 x 80 ft cells in the other. Both embedded and above-ground installations for a hard site and embedded installations for an intermediate hard site were studied. It was found that modularization was unfavorable in terms of reducing the total structural load attributable to dynamic effects, principally because one or more cells could be left unfilled. The walls of unfilled cells would be subjected to significantly higher loads than the walls of a filled, unmodularized pool. Generally, embedded installations were preferable to above-ground installations, and the hard site was superior to the intermediate hard site. It was determined that Housner's theory was adequate for calculating hydrodynamic effects on spent fuel storage pools. Current design methods for seismic loads were found to be satisfactory when results from these methods were compared with those from LUSH analyses. As a design method for dynamic soil pressure, we found the Mononobe-Okabe theory, coupled with correction factors as suggested by Seed, to be acceptable. The factors we recommend for spent fuel storage pools are tabulated.

  5. Seismic analysis of large pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, R.G.; Tokarz, F.J.

    1976-01-01

    Large pools for storing spent, nuclear fuel elements are being proposed to augment present storage capacity. To preserve the ability to isolate portions of these pools, a modularization requirement appears desirable. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of modularization on earthquake resistance and to assess the adequacy of current design methods for seismic loads. After determining probable representative pool geometries, three rectangular pool configurations, all 240 x 16 ft and 40 ft deep, were examined. One was unmodularized; two were modularized into 80 x 40 ft cells in one case and 80 x 80 ft cells in the other. Both embedded and above-ground installations for a hard site and embedded installations for an intermediate hard site were studied. It was found that modularization was unfavorable in terms of reducing the total structural load attributable to dynamic effects, principally because one or more cells could be left unfilled. The walls of unfilled cells would be subjected to significantly higher loads than the walls of a filled, unmodularized pool. Generally, embedded installations were preferable to above-ground installations, and the hard site was superior to the intermediate hard site. It was determined that Housner's theory was adequate for calculating hydrodynamic effects on spent fuel storage pools. Current design methods for seismic loads were found to be satisfactory when results from these methods were compared with those from LUSH analyses. As a design method for dynamic soil pressure, we found the Mononobe-Okabe theory, coupled with correction factors as suggested by Seed, to be acceptable. The factors we recommend for spent fuel storage pools are tabulated

  6. Validation analysis of pool fire experiment (Run-F7) using SPHINCS code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Akira; Tajima, Yuji

    1998-04-01

    SPHINCS (Sodium Fire Phenomenology IN multi-Cell System) code has been developed for the safety analysis of sodium fire accident in a Fast Breeder Reactor. The main features of the SPHINCS code with respect to the sodium pool fire phenomena are multi-dimensional modeling of the thermal behavior in sodium pool and steel liner, modeling of the extension of sodium pool area based on the sodium mass conservation, and equilibrium model for the chemical reaction of pool fire on the flame sheet at the surface of sodium pool during. Therefore, the SPHINCS code is capable of temperature evaluation of the steel liner in detail during the small and/or medium scale sodium leakage accidents. In this study, Run-F7 experiment in which the sodium leakage rate is 11.8 kg/hour has been analyzed. In the experiment the diameter of the sodium pool is approximately 60 cm and the maximum steel liner temperature was 616 degree C. The analytical results tell us the agreement between the SPHINCS analysis and the experiment is excellent with respect to the time history and spatial distribution of the liner temperature, sodium pool extension behavior, as well as atmosphere gas temperature. It is concluded that the pool fire modeling of the SPHINCS code has been validated for this experiment. The SPHINCS code is currently applicable to the sodium pool fire phenomena and the temperature evaluation of the steel liner. The experiment series are continued to check some parameters, i.e., sodium leakage rate and the height of sodium leakage. Thus, the author will analyze the subsequent experiments to check the influence of the parameters and applies SPHINCS to the sodium fire consequence analysis of fast reactor. (author)

  7. Association between exposure to noise and risk of hypertension: a meta-analysis of observational epidemiological studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Wenning; Wang, Chao; Zou, Li; Liu, Qiaoyan; Gan, Yong; Yan, Shijiao; Song, Fujian; Wang, Zhihong; Lu, Zuxun; Cao, Shiyi

    2017-12-01

    An increasing amount of original studies suggested that exposure to noise could be associated with the risk of hypertension, but the results remain inconsistent and inconclusive. We aimed to synthesize available epidemiological evidence about the relationship between various types of noise and hypertension, and to explore the potential dose-response relationship between them in an up-to-date meta-analysis. We conducted a literature search of PubMed and Embase from these databases' inception through December 2016 to identify observational epidemiological studies examining the association between noise and risk of hypertension. A random effects model was used to combine the results of included studies. Dose-response meta-analysis was conducted to examine the potential dose-response relationship. In total, 32 studies (five cohort studies, one case-control study, and 26 cross-section studies) involving 264 678 participants were eligible for inclusion. Pooled result showed that living or working in environment with noise exposure was significantly associated with increased risk of hypertension (odds ratio 1.62; 95% confidence interval: 1.40-1.88). We found no evidence of a curve linear association between noise and risk of hypertension. A dose-response analysis suggested that, for an increment of per 10 dB(A) of noise, the combined odds ratio of hypertension was 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.08). Integrated epidemiological evidence supports the hypothesis that exposure to noise may be a risk factor of hypertension, and there is a positive dose-response association between them.

  8. Analysis of the loss of pool cooling accident in a PWR spent fuel pool with MAAP5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Xiaoli; Li, Wei; Zhang, Yapei; Tian, Wenxi; Su, Guanghui; Qiu, Suizheng

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A PWR spent fuel pool was modeled by using MAAP5. • Loss of pool cooling severe accident scenarios were studied. • Loss of pool cooling accidents with two mitigation measures were analyzed. - Abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident shows that it is necessary to study potential severe accidents and corresponding mitigation measures for the spent fuel pool (SFP) of a nuclear power plant (NPP). This paper presents the analysis of loss of pool cooling accident scenarios and the discussion of mitigation measures for the SFP at a pressurized water reactor (PWR) NPP with the MAAP5 code. Analysis of uncompensated loss of water due to the loss of pool cooling with different initial pool water levels of 12.2 m (designated as a reference case) and 10.7 m have been performed based on a MAAP5 input model. Scenarios of the accident such as overheating of uncovered fuel assemblies, oxidation of claddings and hydrogen generation, loss of intactness of fuel rod claddings, and release of radioactive fission products were predicted with the assumption that mitigation measures were unavailable. The results covered a broad spectrum of severe accident evaluations in the SFP. Furthermore, as important mitigation measures, the effects of recovering the SFP cooling system and makeup water in SFP on the accident progressions have also been investigated respectively based on the events of pool water boiling and spent fuels uncovery. Based upon the reference case, three cases with the recovery of SFP cooling system and three other cases with makeup water in SFP have been studied. The results showed that, severe accident might happen if SFP cooling system was not restored timely before the spent fuels started to become uncovered; spent fuels could be completely submerged and severe accident might be avoided if SFP makeup water system provided water with a mass flow rate larger than the average evaporation rate defined as the division of pool water mass above the

  9. Swimming pool reactor reliability and safety analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Zhaohuan

    1997-01-01

    A reliability and safety analysis of Swimming Pool Reactor in China Institute of Atomic Energy is done by use of event/fault tree technique. The paper briefly describes the analysis model, analysis code and main results. Meanwhile it also describes the impact of unassigned operation status on safety, the estimation of effectiveness of defense tactics in maintenance against common cause failure, the effectiveness of recovering actions on the system reliability, the comparison of occurrence frequencies of the core damage by use of generic and specific data

  10. Analysis of radiation shields of BNPP spent fuel pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayoobian, N.; Hadad, K.; Nematollahi, M. R.

    2007-01-01

    Radioactive protection is one of the most important subjects in nuclear power plants safety. Analysis of BNPP spent fuel pool shielding , as a main source of energetic γ-rays was the main goal of this project. Firstly, we simulated the reactor core using WIMSD-4 neutronic code and the amount of fission product in the fuel assembly (FA) was calculated during the reactor operation. Then, by obtaining the results from the previous calculation and by using MCNP4C nuclear code , the intensity of γ-rays was obtained in layers of spent fuel pool shields. The results have shown that no significant γ-rays passed through these shields. Finally, an accident and resulting exposure dose above the pool was analyzed

  11. 3-dimensional thermohydraulic analysis of KALIMER reactor pool during unprotected accidents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Yong Bum; Hahn Do Hee

    2003-01-01

    During a normal reactor scram, the heat generation is reduced almost instantaneously while the coolant flow rate follows the pump coastdown. This mismatch between power and flow results in a situation where the core flow entering the hot pool is at a lower temperature than the temperature of the bulk pool sodium. This temperature difference leads to thermal stratification. Thermal stratification can occur in the hot pool region if the entering coolant is colder than the existing hot pool coolant and the flow momentum is not large enough to overcome the negative buoyancy force. Since the fluid of hot pool enters IHXs, the temperature distribution of hot pool can alter the overall system response. Hence, it is necessary to predict the pool coolant temperature distribution with sufficient accuracy to determine the inlet temperature conditions for the IHXs and its contribution to the net buoyancy head. Therefore, two-dimensional hot pool thermohydraulic model named HP2D has been developed. In this report code-to-code comparison analysis between HP2D and COMMIX-1AR/P has been performed in the case of steady-state and UTOP.

  12. Standard procedures for pooling health physics data for epidemiologic studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strom, D.J.; Beck, W.L.; Stansbury, P.S.; Tankersley, W.G.; Watson, J.E. Jr.

    1983-01-01

    The objectives of the study are: (1) to determine the availability of dosimetry data and supporting documentation at multiple facilities; (2) to develop criteria and methods for optimally retrieving data; (3) to evaluate and document the quality and completeness of data and dosimetry programs; (4) to put dosimetry data (e.g., external, whole body counting, and bioassay data) from various facilities in a single format for epidemiologic analysis; and (5) to document all work for peer review. To achieve these objectives, a ''Dosimetry Records and Radiation Hazards Questionnaire'' was developed to send to the facilities under study. Responses to this questionnaire are used to develop data retrieval criteria and methods, and to retrieve data. Dose data are reformatted into Standard Intermediate Dosimetry Files for editing and characterization. Evaluations of dosimetry programs are performed concurrently. Results of these steps are brought together and analysis files created. Status of this work in the context of the Department of Energy 5-Rem Study is reported. The standard procedures are applicable to single- as well as multiple-facility studies

  13. Mapping epidemiology's past to inform its future: metaknowledge analysis of epidemiologic topics in leading journals, 1974-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinquart, Ludovic; Galea, Sandro

    2015-07-15

    An empiric perspective on what epidemiology has studied over time might inform discussions about future directions for the discipline. We aimed to identify the main areas of epidemiologic inquiry and determine how they evolved over time in 5 high-impact epidemiologic journals. We analyzed the titles and abstracts of 20,895 articles that were published between 1974 and 2013. In 5 time periods that reflected approximately equal numbers of articles, we identified the main topics by clustering terms based on co-occurrence. Infectious disease and cardiovascular disease epidemiology were the prevailing topics over the 5 periods. Cancer epidemiology was a major topic from 1974 to 2001 but disappeared thereafter. Nutritional epidemiology gained relative importance from 1974 to 2013. Environmental epidemiology appeared during 1996-2001 and continued to be important, whereas 2 clusters related to methodology and meta-analysis in genetics appeared during 2008-2013. Several areas of epidemiology, including injury or psychiatric epidemiology, did not make an appearance as major topics at any time. In an ancillary analysis of 6 high-impact general medicine journals, we found patterns of epidemiologic articles that were overall consistent with the findings in epidemiologic journals. This metaknowledge investigation allowed identification of the dominant topics in and conversely those that were absent from 5 major epidemiologic journals. We discuss implications for the field. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Meta-analysis in epidemiology | Yach | South African Medical Journal

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Meta-analysis is the structured and systematic qualitative and quantitative integration of the results of several independent studies (Le. the epidemiology of results). As in any epidemiological study, a meta-analysis needs to start with clearly stated aims and objectives. Attention needs to be paid to selection bias in selecting ...

  15. Seismic analysis and design of spent subassembly storage bay (SSSB) pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdul Gani, H.I.; Ramanjaneyulu, K.V.S.; Pillai, C.S.; Chetal, S.C.

    2003-01-01

    Fuel bundles, after their specified stay in reactor core, are replaced by fresh fuel for sustaining power generation at rated levels. The irradiated fuel subassembly, removed fresh from core, known as spent fuel sub assembly, is radioactive and decay heat generating. It needs to be cooled before it becomes amenable for handling, either for reprocessing or for immobilisation. For this purpose, it is immersed in a pool of water, retained in a concrete structure referred as Spent Subassembly Storage Bay (SSSB) pool. The height of water column above fuel bundles is arrived from shielding considerations. SSSB pool is one of the nuclear safety related structures and warrants rigorous analysis and design. The SSSB pool, in case of PFBR 500 MW(e) is located in fuel building. It is a stainless steel lined. water retaining rectangular R.C.C. open tank of size 7.5 X 29.0 m, with a height of 11.0 m. This structure is analysed for two levels of site specific earthquakes taking in to account liquid structure interactions as per ASCE-4, 1998. The design of walls and bottom slab is carried out satisfying the AERB code for nuclear safety related structures. Analysis and design of SSSB pool of PFBR is presented in the following paper. (author)

  16. Epidemiological Characteristics of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) in the Middle-East and North-Africa (MENA) Region: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elshahidi, Mohamed H; Monir, Nada Y; Elzhery, Mohamed A; Sharaqi, Ahmed A; Haedaya, Hames; Awad, Basem I; Zaghloul, Khaled

    2018-04-01

    To systematically search the literature and to summarize current evidence pertaining to the epidemiology of SCI in the MENA region incidence, gender, age, type of the injury and etiology of the injury. Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost were systematically searched from their dates of inception till July 2017 for English and non-English language articles. Also, regional databases were searched. Data were extracted from eligible articles and pooled under the random effect model using R . References of the included articles were also screened for potentially relevant studies. We identified 29 articles from seven countries in the MENA region (Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar). The mean age of the cases at time of injury was 31.32 (95% CI: 28.74-33.91). The random pooled annual incidence of TSCI per million was 23.24 (95% CI: 5.64-49.21). Pooled proportion of male gender was 77% (95% CI 73-80%) of the cases. Complete paraplegia was the most common type of injury. Thoracic level injury predominated. Also, the most commonly affected age group was 20-29 then 30-39. Motor vehicle accidents were found to be the leading cause of injury, then falls, gunshot, violence and sports. Further meta-regression analysis showed no association between age and etiology of the injury. This review shows lack of evidence about SCI in most countries of the MENA region. More epidemiological studies are needed.

  17. Soyfood intake in the prevention of breast cancer risk in women: a meta-analysis of observational epidemiological studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Li-Qiang; Xu, Jia-Ying; Wang, Pei-Yu; Hoshi, Kazuhiko

    2006-12-01

    Many studies have suggested that the intake of soy products may protect against the occurrence of breast cancer because of the considerable amount of isoflavones they contain. To review the results of the observational studies, we performed this meta-analysis of the relevant literature. We searched Medline for reports that examined the association between soyfood consumption (or isoflavone intake) and breast cancer risk from January 1966 to April 2006. The random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled relative risk (RR). Twenty-one independent studies (14 case-control studies and 7 cohort studies) were included in the final analysis. The pooled RR of breast cancer for soyfood intake was 0.75 with a 95% CI of 0.59-0.95. As the main types of soyfood in Japan and China, tofu and miso showed clear protective effects. Isoflavone intake resulted in a 20% decrease in risk (RR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.67-0.99). The pooled RR varied little according to study stratification. When the studies published in Japanese and Chinese were added, the inverse associations between soyfood, tofu and breast cancer risk became slightly stronger. The weak association of miso was possibly due to the high concentration of salt in miso soup. In the present analysis, we did not find strong evidence for publication bias in the combination of the studies. This meta-analysis supported the hypotheses that soyfood intake may be associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer due to the isoflavones. Further epidemiological studies need to be conducted with more comprehensive information about the soyfood, and more accurate assessment of the isoflavones.

  18. MC1R variants as melanoma risk factors independent of at-risk phenotypic characteristics: a pooled analysis from the M-SKIP project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tagliabue E

    2018-05-01

    , University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 19Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Purpose: Melanoma represents an important public health problem, due to its high case-fatality rate. Identification of individuals at high risk would be of major interest to improve early diagnosis and ultimately survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MC1R variants predicted melanoma risk independently of at-risk phenotypic characteristics. Materials and methods: Data were collected within an international collaboration – the M-SKIP project. The present pooled analysis included data on 3,830 single, primary, sporadic, cutaneous melanoma cases and 2,619 controls from seven previously published case–control studies. All the studies had information on MC1R gene variants by sequencing analysis and on hair color, skin phototype, and freckles, ie, the phenotypic characteristics used to define the red hair phenotype. Results: The presence of any MC1R variant was associated with melanoma risk independently of phenotypic characteristics (OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.36–1.88. Inclusion of MC1R variants in a risk prediction model increased melanoma predictive accuracy (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve by 0.7% over a base clinical model (P=0.002, and 24% of participants were better assessed (net reclassification index 95% CI 20%–30%. Subgroup analysis suggested a possibly stronger role of MC1R in melanoma prediction for participants without the red hair phenotype (net reclassification index: 28% compared to paler skinned participants (15%. Conclusion: The authors suggest that measuring the MC1R genotype might result in a benefit for melanoma prediction. The results could be a valid starting point to guide the development of scientific protocols assessing melanoma risk prediction tools incorporating the MC1R genotype. Keywords: pooled analysis, genetic epidemiology, cutaneous melanoma

  19. Phase analysis in gated blood pool tomography. Detection of accessory conduction pathway

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Tada, Akira; Taki, Junichi; Nanbu, Ichiro (Kanazawa Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine)

    1984-02-01

    Phase analysis of gated blood pool study has been applied to detect the site of accessory conduction pathway (ACP) in the Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome; however, there was a limitation to detect the precise location of ACP by phase analysis alone. In this study, we applied phase analysis to gated blood pool tomography using seven pin hole tomography (7PT) and gated emission computed tomography (GECT) in 21 patients with WPW syndrome and 3 normal subjects. In 17 patients, the sites of ACPs were confirmed by epicardial mapping and the result of the surgical division of ACP. In 7PT, the site of ACP grossly agreed to the abnormal initial phase in phase image in 5 out of 6 patients with left cardiac type. In GECT, phase images were generated in short axial, vertical and horizontal long axial sections. In 8 out of 9 patients, the site of ACP was correctly identified by phase images, and in a patient who had two ACPs, initial phase corresponded to one of the two locations. Phase analysis of gated blood pool tomography has advantages for avoiding overlap of blood pools and for estimating three-dimensional propagation of the contraction, and can be a good adjunctive method in patients with WPW syndrome.

  20. [Causal analysis approaches in epidemiology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumas, O; Siroux, V; Le Moual, N; Varraso, R

    2014-02-01

    Epidemiological research is mostly based on observational studies. Whether such studies can provide evidence of causation remains discussed. Several causal analysis methods have been developed in epidemiology. This paper aims at presenting an overview of these methods: graphical models, path analysis and its extensions, and models based on the counterfactual approach, with a special emphasis on marginal structural models. Graphical approaches have been developed to allow synthetic representations of supposed causal relationships in a given problem. They serve as qualitative support in the study of causal relationships. The sufficient-component cause model has been developed to deal with the issue of multicausality raised by the emergence of chronic multifactorial diseases. Directed acyclic graphs are mostly used as a visual tool to identify possible confounding sources in a study. Structural equations models, the main extension of path analysis, combine a system of equations and a path diagram, representing a set of possible causal relationships. They allow quantifying direct and indirect effects in a general model in which several relationships can be tested simultaneously. Dynamic path analysis further takes into account the role of time. The counterfactual approach defines causality by comparing the observed event and the counterfactual event (the event that would have been observed if, contrary to the fact, the subject had received a different exposure than the one he actually received). This theoretical approach has shown limits of traditional methods to address some causality questions. In particular, in longitudinal studies, when there is time-varying confounding, classical methods (regressions) may be biased. Marginal structural models have been developed to address this issue. In conclusion, "causal models", though they were developed partly independently, are based on equivalent logical foundations. A crucial step in the application of these models is the

  1. Core disruptive accident and recriticality analysis with FX2-POOL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abramson, P.B.

    1976-01-01

    The current state of development of FX2-POOL, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic, thermodynamic and neutronic scoping model for Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident analysis is described. Checkout comparisons to VENUS for prompt burst conditions were good. Use of FX2-POOL to examine the importance of fuel to steel heat transfer during a prompt burst indicates that heat transfer plays no important role on that time scale. Scoping studies of material thermohydrodynamics for about 20 to 30 milliseconds following the prompt burst indicate that heat transfer is important on the time scale necessary for the CDA bubble to grow to the size of the original core. Preliminary results are presented for energetics of boiling fuel steel pools which are forced recritical by local surface pressurization

  2. One-Dimensional Analysis of Thermal Stratification in AHTR and SFR Coolant Pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haihua Zhao; Per F. Peterson

    2007-01-01

    Thermal stratification phenomena are very common in pool type reactor systems, such as the liquid-salt cooled Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) and liquid-metal cooled fast reactor systems such as the Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR). It is important to accurately predict the temperature and density distributions both for design optimation and accident analysis. Current major reactor system analysis codes such as RELAP5 (for LWR's, and recently extended to analyze high temperature reactors), TRAC (for LWR's), and SASSYS (for liquid metal fast reactors) only provide lumped-volume based models which can only give very approximate results and can only handle simple cases with one mixing source. While 2-D or 3-D CFD methods can be used to analyze simple configurations, these methods require very fine grid resolution to resolve thin substructures such as jets and wall boundaries, yet such fine grid resolution is difficult or impossible to provide for studying the reactor response to transients due to computational expense. Therefore, new methods are needed to support design optimization and safety analysis of Generation IV pool type reactor systems. Previous scaling has shown that stratified mixing processes in large stably stratified enclosures can be described using one-dimensional differential equations, with the vertical transport by free and wall jets modeled using standard integral techniques. This allows very large reductions in computational effort compared to three-dimensional numerical modeling of turbulent mixing in large enclosures. The BMIX++ (Berkeley mechanistic MIXing code in C++) code was originally developed at UC Berkeley to implement such ideas. This code solves mixing and heat transfer problems in stably stratified enclosures. The code uses a Lagrangian approach to solve 1-D transient governing equations for the ambient fluid and uses analytical or 1-D integral models to compute substructures. By including liquid salt properties, BMIX++ code is

  3. Extra-binomial variation approach for analysis of pooled DNA sequencing data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Chris

    2012-01-01

    Motivation: The invention of next-generation sequencing technology has made it possible to study the rare variants that are more likely to pinpoint causal disease genes. To make such experiments financially viable, DNA samples from several subjects are often pooled before sequencing. This induces large between-pool variation which, together with other sources of experimental error, creates over-dispersed data. Statistical analysis of pooled sequencing data needs to appropriately model this additional variance to avoid inflating the false-positive rate. Results: We propose a new statistical method based on an extra-binomial model to address the over-dispersion and apply it to pooled case-control data. We demonstrate that our model provides a better fit to the data than either a standard binomial model or a traditional extra-binomial model proposed by Williams and can analyse both rare and common variants with lower or more variable pool depths compared to the other methods. Availability: Package ‘extraBinomial’ is on http://cran.r-project.org/ Contact: chris.wallace@cimr.cam.ac.uk Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Online. PMID:22976083

  4. Sodium pool fire analysis of sodium-cooled fast reactor by calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Hong; Xu Mi; Jin Degui

    2002-01-01

    Theoretical models were established according to the characteristic of sodium pool fire, and the SPOOL code was created independently. Some transient processes in sodium pool fire were modeled, including chemical reaction of sodium and oxygen; sodium combustion heat transfer modes in several kids of media; production, deposition and discharge of sodium aerosol; mass and energy exchange between different media in different ventilating conditions. The important characteristic parameters were calculated, such as pressure and temperature of gas, temperature of building materials, mass concentration of sodium aerosol, and so on. The SPOOL code, which provided available safety analysis tool for sodium pool fire accidents in sodium-cooled fast reactor, was well demonstrated with experimental data

  5. Structural integrity assessment of HANARO pool cover

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Jeong Soo

    2001-11-01

    This report is for the seismic analysis and the structural integrity evaluation of HANARO Pool Cover in accordances with the requirement of the Technical Specification for Seismic Analysis of HANARO Pool Cover. For performing the seismic analysis and evaluating the structural integrity for HANARO Pool Cover, the finite element analysis model using ANSYS 5.7 was developed and the dynamic characteristics were analyzed. The seismic response spectrum analyses of HANARO Pool Cover under the design floor response spectrum loads of OBE and SSE were performed. The analysis results show that the stress values in HANARO Pool Cover for the seismic loads are within the ASME Code limits. It is also confirmed that the fatigue usage factor is less than 1.0. Therefore any damage on structural integrity is not expected when an HANARO Pool Cover is installed in the upper part of the reactor pool

  6. Monitoring organic loading to swimming pools by fluorescence excitation–emission matrix with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seredynska-Sobecka, Bozena; Stedmon, Colin; Boe-Hansen, Rasmus

    2011-01-01

    Fluorescence Excitation–Emission Matrix spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis was employed to monitor water quality and organic contamination in swimming pools. The fluorescence signal of the swimming pool organic matter was low but increased slightly through the day. The analysis...... revealed that the organic matter fluorescence was characterised by five different components, one of which was unique to swimming pool organic matter and one which was specific to organic contamination. The latter component had emission peaks at 420nm and was found to be a sensitive indicator of organic...... loading in swimming pool water. The fluorescence at 420nm gradually increased during opening hours and represented material accumulating through the day....

  7. A Probabilistic Analysis Methodology and Its Application to A Spent Fuel Pool System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Hyowon; Jae, Moosung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Ho G. [Daedeok R and D Center, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-05-15

    There was a similar accident occurring at the 2{sup nd} unit of PAKS nuclear power station in Hungary on the 10{sup th} April 2003. Insufficient cooling of spent fuel caused the spent fuel burn up or partly melting. There were many previous studies performed for analyzing and measuring the risk of spent fuel damage. In the 1980s, there are changes in conditions such as development of high density storage racks and new information concerning the possibility of cladding fires in the drained spent fuel pools. The US NRC assessed the spent fuel pool risk under the Generic Issue 82. In the 1990s, under the US NRC sponsorship, the risk assessment about the spent fuel pool at Susquehanna Steam Electric Station (SSES) has been performed and Analysis Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) has been organized for accumulating the reliability data. A methodology for assessing the risk associated with the spent fuel pool facility has been developed and is applied to the reference plant. It is shown that the methodology developed in this study might contribute to assessing these kinds of the SFP facilities. In this probabilistic risk analysis, the LINV Initial event results in the high frequent occurrence. The most dominant cut-sets include the human errors. The result of this analysis might contribute to identifying the weakness of the preventive and mitigating system in the SFP facility.

  8. Numerical analysis of weld pool oscillation in laser welding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Jung Ho [Chungbuk National University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of); Farson, Dave F [The Ohio State University, Columbus (United States); Hollis, Kendall; Milewski, John O. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos (United States)

    2015-04-15

    Volume of fluid (VOF) numerical simulation was used to investigate melt flow and volumetric oscillation of conduction-mode pulsed laser weld pools. The result is compared to high speed video stream of titanium laser spot welding experiment. The total simulation time is 10ms with the first 5 ms being heating and melting under constant laser irradiation and the remaining 5 ms corresponding to resolidification of the weld pool. During the melting process, the liquid pool did not exhibit periodic oscillation but was continually depressed by the evaporation recoil pressure. After the laser pulse, the weld pool was excited into volumetric oscillation by the release of pressure on its surface and oscillation of the weld pool surface was analyzed. The simulation model suggested adjusting thermal diffusivity to match cooling rate and puddle diameter during solidification which is distinguishable from previous weld pool simulation. The frequency continuously increased from several thousand cycles per second to tens of thousands of cycles per second as the weld pool solidified and its diameter decreased. The result is the first trial of investigation of small weld pool oscillation in laser welding although there have been several reports about arc welding.

  9. Flavonoids, Flavonoid Subclasses, and Esophageal Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Lingling; Liu, Xinxin; Tian, Yalan; Xie, Chen; Li, Qianwen; Cui, Han; Sun, Changqing

    2016-06-08

    Flavonoids have been suggested to play a chemopreventive role in carcinogenesis. However, the epidemiologic studies assessing dietary intake of flavonoids and esophageal cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results. This study was designed to examine the association between flavonoids, each flavonoid subclass, and the risk of esophageal cancer with a meta-analysis approach. We searched for all relevant studies with a prospective cohort or case-control study design published from January 1990 to April 2016, using PUBMED, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using fixed or random-effect models. In total, seven articles including 2629 cases and 481,193 non-cases were selected for the meta-analysis. Comparing the highest-intake patients with the lowest-intake patients for total flavonoids and for each flavonoid subclass, we found that anthocyanidins (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.49-0.74), flavanones (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.49-0.86), and flavones (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.95) were inversely associated with the risk of esophageal cancer. However, total flavonoids showed marginal association with esophageal cancer risk (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.59-1.04). In conclusion, our study suggested that dietary intake of total flavonoids, anthocyanidins, flavanones, and flavones might reduce the risk of esophageal cancer.

  10. Nonlinear analysis and evaluation of a reinforced concrete spent fuel storage pool for accidental thermal loads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kabir, A.F.; Bolourchi, S.

    1991-01-01

    A feasibility study was conducted for addition of consolidated fuel racks to an existing reinforced concrete spent fuel storage pool of a Mark I BWR plant. Nonlinear analysis of a detailed three-dimensional model of the fuel pool, considering cracking in concrete under gravity and thermal load conditions, showed that the pool has reserve capacities to carry the additional loads. (author)

  11. Numerical analysis on pool boiling using user defined function

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ryu, Sung Uk; Jeon, Byong Guk; Kim, Seok; Euh, Dong-Jin [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    PAFS (passive auxiliary feedwater system) adopted in the APR+ (Advanced Power Reactor Plus) of Korea is one such application. When PAFS is activated with an actuation signal, steam from the steam generator passes through heat exchanger tubes submerged in a water tank of the PAFS. Outside these heat exchanger tubes, nucleate boiling phenomena appears. In the present work, a numerical study is reported on three-dimensional transient state pool boiling of water having an immersed heat source. The velocity vector fields during the decrease in the water level are numerically investigated in a pool, and the accuracy of the results is checked by comparing the experimental results conducted using the PIV techniques by Kim et al. These numerical results can be used as basic research data for an analysis and prediction of the natural circulation phenomena in the cooling tank of the passive safety system in a nuclear power plant.

  12. Safety analysis of LWR irradiated fuel element pool storages before reprocessing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lefort, G.; Leclerc, J.; Hoffman, A.; Frejaville, C.; Domage, M.

    1984-01-01

    The protection of operators and environment requires imperatively that the safety must be taken into account as early as the design of the pools takes place and working conditions are defined. The analysis of criticality, irradiation, contamination, external or internal aggression hazards... allows to draw the main constraints which must be retained in the sizing of these pools: the criticality risk needs distances between fuel elements which results in a not very good utilization of the available area which leads to the utilization of neutron shieldings or requires a safe knowledge of the fuel elements burn up; the irradiation and contamination risks require a special quality of the pool water (temperature, activity, purity...) a good tightness of the basins to locate and to isolate the dubions fuel elements; the external or internal aggression risks such as earthquakes, missiles or loads drops, explosion, imply the civil engineering and involve the use of special technical devices. A brief presentation of the pool storages of the next UP2-800 and UP3 A reprocessing plants allows to show how the requirement drawn by safety analysis have been enforced, while carrying out civil engineering works without equivalent in the world, in this field. The foreseeable evolution of the uranium enrichment rate and burn-up of next PWR fuel elements have an effect upon the risk evaluations; a device apparatus, developed in CEA, for the measurement of burn up and cooling time is presented. At least, a short presentation of the mechanical structure durability studies of the reception and storage spent fuels installations are allowed to improve our knowledge in working conditions and in case of serious accidents

  13. Health effects from swimming training in chlorinated pools and the corresponding metabolic stress pathways.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang-Hua Li

    Full Text Available Chlorination is the most popular method for disinfecting swimming pool water; however, although pathogens are being killed, many toxic compounds, called disinfection by-products (DBPs, are formed. Numerous epidemiological publications have associated the chlorination of pools with dysfunctions of the respiratory system and with some other diseases. However, the findings concerning these associations are not always consistent and have not been confirmed by toxicological studies. Therefore, the health effects from swimming in chlorinated pools and the corresponding stress reactions in organisms are unclear. In this study, we show that although the growth and behaviors of experimental rats were not affected, their health, training effects and metabolic profiles were significantly affected by a 12-week swimming training program in chlorinated water identical to that of public pools. Interestingly, the eyes and skin are the organs that are more directly affected than the lungs by the irritants in chlorinated water; instead of chlorination, training intensity, training frequency and choking on water may be the primary factors for lung damage induced by swimming. Among the five major organs (the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys, the liver is the most likely target of DBPs. Through metabolomics analysis, the corresponding metabolic stress pathways and a defensive system focusing on taurine were presented, based on which the corresponding countermeasures can be developed for swimming athletes and for others who spend a lot of time in chlorinated swimming pools.

  14. Analysis of accidental loss of pool coolant due to leakage in a PWR SFP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Xiaoli; Li, Wei; Zhang, Yapei; Tian, Wenxi; Su, Guanghui; Qiu, Suizheng

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Accidental loss of pool coolant due to leakage in a PWR SFP was studied using MAAP5. • The effect of emergency ventilation on the accident progression was investigated. • The effect of emergency injection on the accident progression was discussed. - Abstract: A large loss of pool coolant/water accident may be caused by extreme accidents such as the pool wall or bottom floor punctures due to a large aircraft strike. The safety of SFP under this circumstance is very important. Large amounts of radioactive materials would be easily released into the environment if a severe accident happened in the SFP, because the spent fuel pool (SFP) in a PWR nuclear power station (NPS) is often located in the fuel handing building outside the reactor containment. To gain insight into the loss of pool coolant accident progression for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) SFP, a computational model was established by using the Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP5). Important factors such as Zr oxidation by air, air natural circulation and thermal radiation were considered for partial and complete drainage accidents without mitigation measures. The calculation indicated that even if the residual water level was in the active fuel region, there was a chance to effectively remove the decay heat through axial heat conduction (if the pool cooling system failed) or steam cooling (if the pool cooling system was working). For sensitivity study, the effects of emergency ventilation and water injection on the accident progression were analyzed. The analysis showed that for the current configuration of high-density storage racks, it was difficult to cool the spent fuels by air natural circulation. Enlarging the space between the adjacent assemblies was a way of increasing air natural circulation flow rate and maintaining the coolability of SFP. Water injection to the bottom of the SFP helped to recover water inventory, quenching the high temperature assemblies to prevent

  15. Epidemiology of Q fever in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis for estimating serological and molecular prevalence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zary Nokhodian

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Q fever is endemic in Iran, thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii among humans and animals in Iran. Materials and Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify all articles reporting C. burnetii prevalence in Iranian humans or animals, published from January 2000 to January 2015. Data from articles were extracted, and a pooled estimate of prevalence with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI was calculated using random effect method. Results: In this review, 27 papers were identified. The pooled seroprevalence of Q fever in animals was 27% (CI 95%: 23%–32%. The prevalence was 33% (CI 95%: 22%–45% in goats, 27% (CI 95%: 21%–32% in sheep, and 17% (CI 95%: 5%–28% in cattle. The bacterial DNA was detected in 5% (95% CI: 3%–9% of milk samples, and it was higher in cattle (10%; 95% CI: 6%–16% than sheep (2%; 95% CI: 0–7% and goats (4%; 95% CI: 0–12%. Conclusion:C. burnetii DNA or its antibody has been frequently detected among ruminants. Since these animals can transmit the infection to humans, Q fever could be a potential health problem in Iran.

  16. Analysis of loads and fluid-structure interactions in a condensation pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Timperi, A.; Paettikangas, T.; Niemi, J. [VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland (Finland)

    2007-04-15

    A simplified direct contact condensation model was implemented into the Volume of Fluid model of the Fluent CFD code. Transient three-dimensional test runs for the POOLEX experiments, where steam is blown into a water pool were performed. The model was found to provide too small condensation rate for steam when compared to experiments. In addition, the calculated back and forth oscillation of the steam water interface was much smaller than in the experiments. The model was found to be numerically quite robust. The discrepancies of the simulation, such as the too small condensation rate, could be to some extent cured by making improvements into the condensation model. As an alternative estimation method of thermohydraulic loads in condensation pools, the SILA code based on potential flow theory, was taken into use. SILA solves the pressure distribution caused by oscillating bubbles in a pool, and is easier to use and more flexible than Method of Images studied earlier. SILA has been modified for pools without an inner cylinder and test simulations for the POOLEX water pool were performed. The MpCCI FSI coupling software employs an explicit coupling scheme, which results in numerical instability in the case of the POOLEX facility. In order to improve stability, ways for implementing an implicit coupling scheme with MpCCI were examined. It was found that such a scheme is difficult to achieve without access to the source codes. An implicit coupling scheme is expected to be available with MpCCI in forthcoming years. A method was developed which can be used for analysing two-way FSI problems realistically by using only one-way coupling of CFD and structural analysis codes. In the method, the mass of the fluid is accounted for in the structural motion by adding the fluid to the structural model as an acoustic medium. Validity of the method was examined with promising results mathematically by an order of magnitude analysis and by comparing numerical results with a full

  17. Swimming attendance during childhood and development of asthma: Meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valeriani, Federica; Protano, Carmela; Vitali, Matteo; Romano Spica, Vincenzo

    2017-05-01

    The association between asthma and swimming pool attendance has not been demonstrated and currently there are conflicting results. In order to clarify the association between asthma diagnosis in children and swimming pool attendance, and to assess the consistency of the available epidemiological studies, we completed a literature analysis on the relationship between the exposure to disinfection by-products in indoor swimming pools during childhood and asthma diagnosis. Following the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by searching MEDLINE via PubMed, TOXNET, and Scopus databases (from inception to 20 April 2015) using the key word "Asthma" together with "swimming pool", "disinfection by-products", "indoor air pollution" and "children". Inclusion criteria were: English language, a complete analytic study design involving a cohort of children (0-16 years), a well-defined definition of exposure, and the presence of data on effect and variance. Studies on in vivo, in vitro or professional and accidental exposure were excluded. After a screening process, seven reports (n = 5851 subjects) were included out of a total of 2928 references. The reported OR of the association between swimming pool attendance and asthma prevalence ranged from 0.58 to 2.30. The present meta-analysis failed to identify a significant difference in asthma development between children attending swimming pools and controls (OR, 1.084; 95% CI: 0.89-1.31). Swimming in childhood does not increase the likelihood of doctor-diagnosed asthma. Based on this meta-analysis review, the association of the disease with indoor pool attendance is still unclear. © 2016 Japan Pediatric Society.

  18. [Eco-epidemiology: towards epidemiology of complexity].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bizouarn, Philippe

    2016-05-01

    In order to solve public health problems posed by the epidemiology of risk factors centered on the individual and neglecting the causal processes linking the risk factors with the health outcomes, Mervyn Susser proposed a multilevel epidemiology called eco-epidemiology, addressing the interdependence of individuals and their connection with molecular, individual, societal, environmental levels of organization participating in the causal disease processes. The aim of this epidemiology is to integrate more than a level of organization in design, analysis and interpretation of health problems. After presenting the main criticisms of risk-factor epidemiology focused on the individual, we will try to show how eco-epidemiology and its development could help to understand the need for a broader and integrative epidemiology, in which studies designed to identify risk factors would be balanced by studies designed to answer other questions equally vital to public health. © 2016 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

  19. An analysis of postulated accident for 49-2 Swimming Pool Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yongqing; Cu Shaochu; Wang Liugui; Zhang Zengqing

    1990-01-01

    The thermal hydrodynamic code RETRAN-02 is used for safety analysis of Swimming Pool Reactor. Accident of partial-loss of flow, loss of offsite electric power and unexpected reactivity insertion are analysed and discussed. These results will be helpful for operation safety of the reactor

  20. Analysis of the Processes in Spent Fuel Pools in Case of Loss of Heat Removal due to Water Leakage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Algirdas Kaliatka

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The safe storage of spent fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pools is very important. These facilities are not covered by leaktight containment; thus, the consequences of overheating and melting of fuel in the spent fuel pools can be very severe. On the other hand, due to low decay heat of fuel assemblies, the processes in pools are slow in comparison with processes in reactor core during LOCA accident. Thus, the accident management measures play a very important role in case of some accidents in spent fuel pools. This paper presents the analysis of possible consequences of fuel overheating due to leakage of water from spent fuel pool. Also, the accident mitigation measure, the late injection of water was evaluated. The analysis was performed for the Ignalina NPP Unit 2 spent fuel pool, using system thermal hydraulic code for severe accident analysis ATHLET-CD. The phenomena, taking place during such accident, are discussed. Also, benchmarking of results of the same accident calculation using ASTEC and RELAP/SCDAPSIM codes is presented here.

  1. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the epidemiology of polyautoimmunity in Sjögren's syndrome (secondary Sjögren's syndrome) focusing on autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alani, H; Henty, J R; Thompson, N L; Jury, E; Ciurtin, C

    2018-03-01

    The epidemiology of polyautoimmunity in Sjögren's syndrome (secondary Sjögren's syndrome - sSS) is not well defined and has not been investigated before using a systematic approach. We conducted a systematic review of the epidemiology of sSS associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, and myositis, assessing the prevalence rates (PRs) and clinical and serological features of sSS. A systematic literature search of PubMed and Embase databases (updated to March 2016) was performed to identify all published data on PR, demographic profile, clinical manifestations, laboratory features, and causes of death associated with sSS. The PR's of sSS were summarized with PRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The literature search identified 1639 citations, of which 42 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Only 19 studies were of moderate to good quality and were selected for the meta-analysis. According to a random-effects model, the pooled PR for sSS associated with RA was 19.5% (95% CI 11.2 to 27.8) and the pooled PR for sSS associated with SLE was 13.96% (95% CI 8.88 to 19.04). The female/male ratio of sSS in the RA population was 14.7 (95% CI 7.09 to 256) and in the SLE population was 16.82 (95% CI 1.22 to 32.4). Prevalence rates of sSS vary widely in different populations. Both meta-analyses conducted in the RA and SLE populations were characterized by a high degree of study heterogeneity. The results of this meta-analysis highlight the need for better quality population studies.

  2. Protecting Privacy of Shared Epidemiologic Data without Compromising Analysis Potential

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Cologne

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Ensuring privacy of research subjects when epidemiologic data are shared with outside collaborators involves masking (modifying the data, but overmasking can compromise utility (analysis potential. Methods of statistical disclosure control for protecting privacy may be impractical for individual researchers involved in small-scale collaborations. Methods. We investigated a simple approach based on measures of disclosure risk and analytical utility that are straightforward for epidemiologic researchers to derive. The method is illustrated using data from the Japanese Atomic-bomb Survivor population. Results. Masking by modest rounding did not adequately enhance security but rounding to remove several digits of relative accuracy effectively reduced the risk of identification without substantially reducing utility. Grouping or adding random noise led to noticeable bias. Conclusions. When sharing epidemiologic data, it is recommended that masking be performed using rounding. Specific treatment should be determined separately in individual situations after consideration of the disclosure risks and analysis needs.

  3. Protecting Privacy of Shared Epidemiologic Data without Compromising Analysis Potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cologne, J.; Nakashima, E.; Funamoto, S.; Grant, E.J.; Chen, Y.; Hiroaki Katayama, H.

    2012-01-01

    Objective. Ensuring privacy of research subjects when epidemiologic data are shared with outside collaborators involves masking (modifying) the data, but over masking can compromise utility (analysis potential). Methods of statistical disclosure control for protecting privacy may be impractical for individual researchers involved in small-scale collaborations. Methods. We investigated a simple approach based on measures of disclosure risk and analytical utility that are straightforward for epidemiologic researchers to derive. The method is illustrated using data from the Japanese Atomic-bomb Survivor population. Results. Masking by modest rounding did not adequately enhance security but rounding to remove several digits of relative accuracy effectively reduced the risk of identification without substantially reducing utility. Grouping or adding random noise led to noticeable bias. Conclusions. When sharing epidemiologic data, it is recommended that masking be performed using rounding. Specific treatment should be determined separately in individual situations after consideration of the disclosure risks and analysis needs

  4. Automated vessel segmentation using cross-correlation and pooled covariance matrix analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Jiang; Karimi, Afshin; Wu, Yijing; Korosec, Frank R; Grist, Thomas M; Mistretta, Charles A

    2011-04-01

    Time-resolved contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) provides contrast dynamics in the vasculature and allows vessel segmentation based on temporal correlation analysis. Here we present an automated vessel segmentation algorithm including automated generation of regions of interest (ROIs), cross-correlation and pooled sample covariance matrix analysis. The dynamic images are divided into multiple equal-sized regions. In each region, ROIs for artery, vein and background are generated using an iterative thresholding algorithm based on the contrast arrival time map and contrast enhancement map. Region-specific multi-feature cross-correlation analysis and pooled covariance matrix analysis are performed to calculate the Mahalanobis distances (MDs), which are used to automatically separate arteries from veins. This segmentation algorithm is applied to a dual-phase dynamic imaging acquisition scheme where low-resolution time-resolved images are acquired during the dynamic phase followed by high-frequency data acquisition at the steady-state phase. The segmented low-resolution arterial and venous images are then combined with the high-frequency data in k-space and inverse Fourier transformed to form the final segmented arterial and venous images. Results from volunteer and patient studies demonstrate the advantages of this automated vessel segmentation and dual phase data acquisition technique. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Fluid-structure interaction analysis of a water pool under loading caused by steam injection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timperi, A.; Paettikangas, T.; Niemi, J.; Ilvonen, M.

    2006-04-01

    CFD and structural analysis codes. MpCCI 3.0 was used for coupling Fluent CFD code with ABAQUS FE code. ES-FSI was used for coupling Star-CD CFD code with ABAQUS. FSI analyses, in which the calculation was carried out entirely in ABAQUS, were also performed. In this case, acoustic elements were used for the fluid and the acoustic and structural domains were coupled. FSI calculations were performed for simple test cases and for a test pool at Lappeenranta University of Technology. The Method of Images was studied as an alternative method for the analyses of the pool. Particularly, the determination of pressure source for the method was studied. Earlier work carried out with the homogenous two-phase model was continued by testing the model with Fluent. Calculation of condensation of steam in a water pool was tested with a new implementation. The two-directionally coupled simulations of the pool with MpCCI and ES-FSI were found to be numerically instable. It was concluded that an implicit coupling method may have to be used in order to avoid the instability. Calculations of the pool were finally performed by using one directional coupling. In the simulations with MpCCI, the incompressible and compressible VOF models of Fluent were used. With ES-FSI, the incompressible VOF model of Star-CD was used for modelling the beginning of a steam injection experiment. The magnitudes of pressure and stress peaks in the simulation and experiment were of comparable size. Otherwise, however, differences between the simulation and experiment were large due to the simplifications used in the simulation. Results obtained with the acoustic-structural FE analyses were compared to analytical and experimental results. The results indicated that the coupled acoustic-structural analysis can be used for calculating the coupled Eigenmodes of BWR pressure suppression pools. (au)

  6. Fluid-structure interaction analysis of a water pool under loading caused by steam injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Timperi, A.; Paettikangas, T.; Niemi, J.; Ilvonen, M. [VTT Technical Researc Centre of Finland (Finland)

    2006-04-15

    CFD and structural analysis codes. MpCCI 3.0 was used for coupling Fluent CFD code with ABAQUS FE code. ES-FSI was used for coupling Star-CD CFD code with ABAQUS. FSI analyses, in which the calculation was carried out entirely in ABAQUS, were also performed. In this case, acoustic elements were used for the fluid and the acoustic and structural domains were coupled. FSI calculations were performed for simple test cases and for a test pool at Lappeenranta University of Technology. The Method of Images was studied as an alternative method for the analyses of the pool. Particularly, the determination of pressure source for the method was studied. Earlier work carried out with the homogenous two-phase model was continued by testing the model with Fluent. Calculation of condensation of steam in a water pool was tested with a new implementation. The two-directionally coupled simulations of the pool with MpCCI and ES-FSI were found to be numerically instable. It was concluded that an implicit coupling method may have to be used in order to avoid the instability. Calculations of the pool were finally performed by using one directional coupling. In the simulations with MpCCI, the incompressible and compressible VOF models of Fluent were used. With ES-FSI, the incompressible VOF model of Star-CD was used for modelling the beginning of a steam injection experiment. The magnitudes of pressure and stress peaks in the simulation and experiment were of comparable size. Otherwise, however, differences between the simulation and experiment were large due to the simplifications used in the simulation. Results obtained with the acoustic-structural FE analyses were compared to analytical and experimental results. The results indicated that the coupled acoustic-structural analysis can be used for calculating the coupled Eigenmodes of BWR pressure suppression pools. (au)

  7. Analysis of Phenix End-of-Life asymmetry test with multi-dimensional pool modeling of MARS-LMR code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, H.-Y.; Ha, K.-S.; Choi, C.-W.; Park, M.-G.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Pool behaviors under asymmetrical condition in an SFR were evaluated with MARS-LMR. • The Phenix asymmetry test was analyzed one-dimensionally and multi-dimensionally. • One-dimensional modeling has limitation to predict the cold pool temperature. • Multi-dimensional modeling shows improved prediction of stratification and mixing. - Abstract: The understanding of complicated pool behaviors and its modeling is essential for the design and safety analysis of a pool-type Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor. One of the remarkable recent efforts on the study of pool thermal–hydraulic behaviors is the asymmetrical test performed as a part of Phenix End-of-Life tests by the CEA. To evaluate the performance of MARS-LMR code, which is a key system analysis tool for the design of an SFR in Korea, in the prediction of thermal hydraulic behaviors during an asymmetrical condition, the Phenix asymmetry test is analyzed with MARS-LMR in the present study. Pool regions are modeled with two different approaches, one-dimensional modeling and multi-dimensional one, and the prediction results are analyzed to identify the appropriateness of each modeling method. The prediction with one-dimensional pool modeling shows a large deviation from the measured data at the early stage of the test, which suggests limitations to describe the complicated thermal–hydraulic phenomena. When the pool regions are modeled multi-dimensionally, the prediction gives improved results quite a bit. This improvement is explained by the enhanced modeling of pool mixing with the multi-dimensional modeling. On the basis of the results from the present study, it is concluded that an accurate modeling of pool thermal–hydraulics is a prerequisite for the evaluation of design performance and safety margin quantification in the future SFR developments

  8. Epidemiologic research topics in Germany: a keyword network analysis of 2014 DGEpi conference presentations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter, Raphael Simon; Brehme, Torben; Völzke, Henry; Muche, Rainer; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Büchele, Gisela

    2016-06-01

    Knowledge of epidemiologic research topics as well as trends is useful for scientific societies, researchers and funding agencies. In recent years researchers recognized the usefulness of keyword network analysis for visualizing and analyzing scientific research topics. Therefore, we applied keyword network analysis to present an overview of current epidemiologic research topics in Germany. Accepted submissions to the 9th annual congress of the German Society for Epidemiology (DGEpi) in 2014 were used as data source. Submitters had to choose one of 19 subject areas, and were ask to provide a title, structured abstract, names of authors along with their affiliations, and a list of freely selectable keywords. Keywords had been provided for 262 (82 %) submissions, 1030 keywords in total. Overall the most common keywords were: "migration" (18 times), "prevention" (15 times), followed by "children", "cohort study", "physical activity", and "secondary data analysis" (11 times each). Some keywords showed a certain concentration under one specific subject area, e.g. "migration" with 8 of 18 in social epidemiology or "breast cancer" with 4 of 7 in cancer epidemiology. While others like "physical activity" were equally distributed over multiple subject areas (cardiovascular & metabolic diseases, ageing, methods, paediatrics, prevention & health service research). This keyword network analysis demonstrated the high diversity of epidemiologic research topics with a large number of distinct keywords as presented at the annual conference of the DGEpi.

  9. Sensitisation to common allergens and respiratory symptoms in endotoxin exposed workers: a pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basinas, Ioannis; Schlünssen, Vivi; Heederik, Dick; Sigsgaard, Torben; Smit, Lidwien A M; Samadi, Sadegh; Omland, Oyvind; Hjort, Charlotte; Madsen, Anne Mette; Skov, Simon; Wouters, Inge M

    2012-02-01

    To test the hypotheses that current endotoxin exposure is inversely associated with allergic sensitisation and positively associated with non-allergic respiratory diseases in four occupationally exposed populations using a standardised analytical approach. Data were pooled from four epidemiological studies including 3883 Dutch and Danish employees in veterinary medicine, agriculture and power plants using biofuel. Endotoxin exposure was estimated by quantitative job-exposure matrices specific for the study populations. Dose-response relationships between exposure, IgE-mediated sensitisation to common allergens and self-reported health symptoms were assessed using logistic regression and generalised additive modelling. Adjustments were made for study, age, sex, atopic predisposition, smoking habit and farm childhood. Heterogeneity was assessed by analysis stratified by study. Current endotoxin exposure was dose-dependently associated with a reduced prevalence of allergic sensitisation (ORs of 0.92, 0.81 and 0.66 for low mediate, high mediate and high exposure) and hay fever (ORs of 1.16, 0.81 and 0.58). Endotoxin exposure was a risk factor for organic dust toxic syndrome, and levels above 100 EU/m(3) significantly increased the risk of chronic bronchitis (pOccupational endotoxin exposure has a protective effect on allergic sensitisation and hay fever but increases the risk for organic dust toxic syndrome and chronic bronchitis. Endotoxin's protective effects are most clearly observed among agricultural workers.

  10. Analysis of closed-pool boilup using the TRANSIT-HYDRO code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graff, D.L.

    1983-01-01

    The benign termination of the transition phase of a hypothetical LMFBR accident rests on the avoidance of highly energetic recriticalities prior to escape of bottled molten core materials from the active core region. In scenarios where molten fuel is trapped due to axial blockages, the maintenance of subcritical configurations until radial flow paths develop requires stable boil-up of the molten fuel/steel mixture. This paper describes the analysis of an experiment investigating the behavior of closed boiling pools using the two-fluid hydrodynamics module of TRANSIT-HYDRO, a deterministic transition-phase analysis code

  11. Information-Pooling Bias in Collaborative Security Incident Correlation Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajivan, Prashanth; Cooke, Nancy J

    2018-03-01

    Incident correlation is a vital step in the cybersecurity threat detection process. This article presents research on the effect of group-level information-pooling bias on collaborative incident correlation analysis in a synthetic task environment. Past research has shown that uneven information distribution biases people to share information that is known to most team members and prevents them from sharing any unique information available with them. The effect of such biases on security team collaborations are largely unknown. Thirty 3-person teams performed two threat detection missions involving information sharing and correlating security incidents. Incidents were predistributed to each person in the team based on the hidden profile paradigm. Participant teams, randomly assigned to three experimental groups, used different collaboration aids during Mission 2. Communication analysis revealed that participant teams were 3 times more likely to discuss security incidents commonly known to the majority. Unaided team collaboration was inefficient in finding associations between security incidents uniquely available to each member of the team. Visualizations that augment perceptual processing and recognition memory were found to mitigate the bias. The data suggest that (a) security analyst teams, when conducting collaborative correlation analysis, could be inefficient in pooling unique information from their peers; (b) employing off-the-shelf collaboration tools in cybersecurity defense environments is inadequate; and (c) collaborative security visualization tools developed considering the human cognitive limitations of security analysts is necessary. Potential applications of this research include development of team training procedures and collaboration tool development for security analysts.

  12. Use of Sugammadex in Patients With Obesity: A Pooled Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monk, Terri G; Rietbergen, Henk; Woo, Tiffany; Fennema, Hein

    A growing proportion of patients undergoing surgical procedures are obese, providing anesthesiologists with numerous challenges for patient management. The current pooled analysis evaluated recovery times following sugammadex reversal of neuromuscular blockade by body mass index (BMI) in general, and in particular, in patients with BMIs ≥30 kg/m (defined as obese) and sugammadex doses for reversal of moderate [reappearance of the second twitch of the train-of-four (TOF); sugammadex 2 mg/kg] or deep (1-2 post-tetanic counts or 15 minutes after rocuronium; sugammadex 4 mg/kg) rocuronium- or vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade. All doses of sugammadex were administered based on actual body weight. The recovery time from sugammadex administration to a TOF ratio ≥0.9 was the primary efficacy variable in all individual studies and in the pooled analysis. This analysis comprised a total of 1418 adult patients treated with sugammadex; 267 (18.8%) of these patients had a BMI ≥30 kg/m. The average time to recovery of the TOF ratio to 0.9 was 1.9 minutes for rocuronium-induced blockade and 3.0 minutes for vecuronium-induced blockade. No clinically relevant correlation was observed between BMI and recovery time. The recommended sugammadex doses based on actual body weight provide rapid recovery from neuromuscular blockade in both obese and non-obese patients; no dose adjustments are required in the obese patient.

  13. Uncertainty analysis of suppression pool heating during an ATWS in a BWR-5 plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wulff, W.; Cheng, H.S.; Mallen, A.N.; Johnsen, G.W.; Lellouche, G.S.

    1994-03-01

    The uncertainty has been estimated of predicting the peak temperature in the suppression pool of a BWR power plant, which undergoes an NRC-postulated Anticipated Transient Without Scram (ATWS). The ATWS is initiated by recirculation-pump trips, and then leads to power and flow oscillations as they had occurred at the LaSalle-2 Power Station in March of 1988. After limit-cycle oscillations have been established, the turbines are tripped, but without MSIV closure, allowing steam discharge through the turbine bypass into the condenser. Postulated operator actions, namely to lower the reactor vessel pressure and the level elevation in the downcomer, are simulated by a robot model which accounts for operator uncertainty. All balance of plant and control systems modeling uncertainties were part of the statistical uncertainty analysis that was patterned after the Code Scaling, Applicability and Uncertainty (CSAU) evaluation methodology. The analysis showed that the predicted suppression-pool peak temperature of 329.3 K (133 degrees F) has a 95-percentile uncertainty of 14.4 K (26 degrees F), and that the size of this uncertainty bracket is dominated by the experimental uncertainty of measuring Safety and Relief Valve mass flow rates under critical-flow conditions. The analysis showed also that the probability of exceeding the suppression-pool temperature limit of 352.6 K (175 degrees F) is most likely zero (it is estimated as < 5-104). The square root of the sum of the squares of all the computed peak pool temperatures is 350.7 K (171.6 degrees F)

  14. Urate levels predict survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Analysis of the expanded Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS clinical trials database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paganoni, Sabrina; Nicholson, Katharine; Chan, James; Shui, Amy; Schoenfeld, David; Sherman, Alexander; Berry, James; Cudkowicz, Merit; Atassi, Nazem

    2018-03-01

    Urate has been identified as a predictor of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) survival in some but not all studies. Here we leverage the recent expansion of the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PRO-ACT) database to study the association between urate levels and ALS survival. Pooled data of 1,736 ALS participants from the PRO-ACT database were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate associations between urate levels at trial entry and survival. After adjustment for potential confounders (i.e., creatinine and body mass index), there was an 11% reduction in risk of reaching a survival endpoint during the study with each 1-mg/dL increase in uric acid levels (adjusted hazard ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.82-0.97, P ALS and confirms the utility of the PRO-ACT database as a powerful resource for ALS epidemiological research. Muscle Nerve 57: 430-434, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Multiplexed resequencing analysis to identify rare variants in pooled DNA with barcode indexing using next-generation sequencer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitsui, Jun; Fukuda, Yoko; Azuma, Kyo; Tozaki, Hirokazu; Ishiura, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Yuji; Goto, Jun; Tsuji, Shoji

    2010-07-01

    We have recently found that multiple rare variants of the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) confer a robust risk for Parkinson disease, supporting the 'common disease-multiple rare variants' hypothesis. To develop an efficient method of identifying rare variants in a large number of samples, we applied multiplexed resequencing using a next-generation sequencer to identification of rare variants of GBA. Sixteen sets of pooled DNAs from six pooled DNA samples were prepared. Each set of pooled DNAs was subjected to polymerase chain reaction to amplify the target gene (GBA) covering 6.5 kb, pooled into one tube with barcode indexing, and then subjected to extensive sequence analysis using the SOLiD System. Individual samples were also subjected to direct nucleotide sequence analysis. With the optimization of data processing, we were able to extract all the variants from 96 samples with acceptable rates of false-positive single-nucleotide variants.

  16. 13 CFR 120.611 - Pools backing Pool Certificates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Pools backing Pool Certificates. 120.611 Section 120.611 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Secondary Market Certificates § 120.611 Pools backing Pool Certificates. (a) Pool characteristics. As set...

  17. Trace element analysis at the Livermore pool-type reactor using neutron activation techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ragaini, R.C.; Ralston, R.; Garvis, D.

    1975-01-01

    The capabilities of trace element analysis at the Livermore Pool-Type Reactor (LPTR) using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) are discussed. A description is given of the technology and the methods employed, including sample preparation, irradiation, and analysis. Applications of the INAA technique in past and current projects are described. A computer program, GAMANAL, has been used for nuclide identification and quantification. (U.S.)

  18. Development of Lower Plenum Molten Pool Module of Severe Accident Analysis Code in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, Donggun; Kim, Dong-Ha; Park, Rae-Jun; Bae, Jun-Ho; Shim, Suk-Ku; Marigomen, Ralph

    2014-01-01

    To simulate a severe accident progression of nuclear power plant and forecast reactor pressure vessel failure, we develop computational software called COMPASS (COre Meltdown Progression Accident Simulation Software) for whole physical phenomena inside the reactor pressure vessel from a core heat-up to a vessel failure. As a part of COMPASS project, in the first phase of COMPASS development (2011 - 2014), we focused on the molten pool behavior in the lower plenum, heat-up and ablation of reactor vessel wall. Input from the core module of COMPASS is relocated melt composition and mass in time. Molten pool behavior is described based on the lumped parameter model. Heat transfers in between oxidic, metallic molten pools, overlying water, steam and debris bed are considered in the present study. The models and correlations used in this study are appropriately selected by the physical conditions of severe accident progression. Interaction between molten pools and reactor vessel wall is also simulated based on the lumped parameter model. Heat transfers between oxidic pool, thin crust of oxidic pool and reactor vessel wall are considered and we solve simple energy balance equations for the crust thickness of oxidic pool and reactor vessel wall. As a result, we simulate a benchmark calculation for APR1400 nuclear power plant, with assumption of relocated mass from the core is constant in time such that 0.2ton/sec. We discuss about the molten pool behavior and wall ablation, to validate our models and correlations used in the COMPASS. Stand-alone SIMPLE program is developed as the lower plenum molten pool module for the COMPASS in-vessel severe accident analysis code. SIMPLE program formulates the mass and energy balance for water, steam, particulate debris bed, molten corium pools and oxidic crust from the first principle and uses models and correlations as the constitutive relations for the governing equations. Limited steam table and the material properties are provided

  19. Thyroid Cancer after Childhood Exposure to External Radiation: An Updated Pooled Analysis of 12 Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veiga, Lene H. S.; Holmberg, Erik; Anderson, Harald; Pottern, Linda; Sadetzki, Siegal; Adams, M. Jacob; Sakata, Ritsu; Schneider, Arthur B.; Inskip, Peter; Bhatti, Parveen; Johansson, Robert; Neta, Gila; Shore, Roy; de Vathaire, Florent; Damber, Lena; Kleinerman, Ruth; Hawkins, Michael M.; Tucker, Margaret; Lundell, Marie; Lubin, Jay H.

    2016-01-01

    Studies have causally linked external thyroid radiation exposure in childhood with thyroid cancer. In 1995, investigators conducted relative risk analyses of pooled data from seven epidemiologic studies. Doses were mostly 50 Gy. We pooled data from 12 studies of thyroid cancer patients who were exposed to radiation in childhood (ages <20 years), more than doubling the data, including 1,070 (927 exposed) thyroid cancers and 5.3 million (3.4 million exposed) person-years. Relative risks increased supralinearly through 2–4 Gy, leveled off between 10–30 Gy and declined thereafter, remaining significantly elevated above 50 Gy. There was a significant relative risk trend for doses <0.10 Gy (P < 0.01), with no departure from linearity (P = 0.36). We observed radiogenic effects for both papillary and nonpapillary tumors. Estimates of excess relative risk per Gy (ERR/Gy) were homogeneous by sex (P = 0.35) and number of radiation treatments (P = 0.84) and increased with decreasing age at the time of exposure. The ERR/Gy estimate was significant within ten years of radiation exposure, 2.76 (95% CI, 0.94–4.98), based on 42 exposed cases, and remained elevated 50 years and more after exposure. Finally, exposure to chemotherapy was significantly associated with thyroid cancer, with results supporting a nonsynergistic (additive) association with radiation. PMID:27128740

  20. Safety analysis of a pool Genesis II irradiator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodrigues Junior, Ary de A.

    2011-01-01

    The Genesis II Irradiator manufactured by GRAT * STAR Inc. (USA) is a category III gamma irradiator in which the sealed source is contained in a water filled storage pool and is shielded permanently, i.e. the material has to move down to the source. Even though the pool is 5.6 m deep, what would happen if the water level lowered? There are a series of safety devices that will avoid this situation and calculations show that the water level has to be very low in order to deliver a significant dose; moreover, only in case a person remains at the border of the pool for a long time this would be risky. In conclusion, it is practically impossible for someone to be exposed to radiation from a Genesis II Irradiator source. (author)

  1. A genetic epidemiological mega analysis of smoking initiation in adolescents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maes, H.H.; Prom-Wormley, E.; Eaves, L.J.; Rhee, S.H.; Hewitt, J.K.; Young, S.; Corley, R.; McGue, M.K.; Iacono, W.G.; Legrand, L.; Samek, D.; Murrelle, E.L.; Silberg, J.L.; Miles, D.; Schieken, R.M.; Beunen, G.P.; Thomis, M.; Rose, R.J.; Dick, D.M.; Boomsma, D.I.; Bartels, M.; Vink, J.M.; Lichtenstein, P.; White, V.; Kaprio, J.; Neale, M.C.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction. Previous studies in adolescents were not adequately powered to accurately disentangle genetic and environmental influences on smoking initiation across adolescence. Methods. Mega-analysis of pooled genetically informative data on smoking initiation was performed, with structural

  2. Hepatitis C Virus Epidemiology in Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaabna, Karima; Kouyoumjian, Silva P; Abu-Raddad, Laith J

    2016-01-01

    To characterize hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemiology and assess country-specific population-level HCV prevalence in four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Reports of HCV prevalence were systematically reviewed as per PRISMA guidelines. Pooled HCV prevalence estimates in different risk populations were conducted when the number of measures per risk category was at least five. We identified 101 prevalence estimates. Pooled HCV antibody prevalence in the general population in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen was 0.9% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 0.3%-1.9%), 1.0% (95%CI: 0.3%-1.9%) and 1.9% (95%CI: 1.4%-2.6%), respectively. The only general population study from Djibouti reported a prevalence of 0.3% (CI: 0.2%-0.4%) in blood donors. In high-risk populations (e.g., haemodialysis and haemophilia patients), pooled HCV prevalence was 17.3% (95%CI: 8.6%-28.2%) in Sudan. In Yemen, three studies of haemodialysis patients reported HCV prevalence between 40.0%-62.7%. In intermediate-risk populations (e.g.. healthcare workers, in patients and men who have sex with men), pooled HCV prevalence was 1.7% (95%CI: 0.0%-4.9%) in Somalia and 0.6% (95%CI: 0.4%-0.8%) in Sudan. National HCV prevalence in Yemen appears to be higher than in Djibouti, Somalia, and Sudan as well as most other MENA countries; but otherwise prevalence levels in this subregion are comparable to global levels. The high HCV prevalence in patients who have undergone clinical care appears to reflect ongoing transmission in clinical settings. HCV prevalence in people who inject drugs remains unknown.

  3. Dietary fibre intake and risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Sumei; Chen, Yuanyuan; Ma, Shenglin; Zheng, Ruzhen; Zhao, Pengjun; Zhang, Lidan; Liu, Yuehua; Yu, Qingqing; Deng, Qinghua; Zhang, Ke

    2016-12-06

    Current evidence from randomised controlled trials on the effects of dietary fibre intake on breast cancer risk is inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of dietary fibre intake in reducing breast cancer risk. We searched for prospective and case-control studies on dietary fibre intake and breast cancer risk in the English language through March 2016. Twenty-four epidemiologic studies obtained through the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically reviewed. A random-effects model was used to compute the pooled risk estimates by extracting the risk estimate of the highest and lowest reported categories of intake from each study. The meta-analyses showed a 12% decrease in breast cancer risk with dietary fibre intake. The association between dietary fibre intake and breast cancer risk was significant when stratified according to Jadad scores, study types, and menopause status. Dose-response analysis showed that every 10 g/d increment in dietary fibre intake was associated with a 4% reduction in breast cancer risk, and little evidence of publication bias was found. Thus, dietary fibre consumption is significantly associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women.

  4. PDA: Pooled DNA analyzer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Chin-Yu

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Association mapping using abundant single nucleotide polymorphisms is a powerful tool for identifying disease susceptibility genes for complex traits and exploring possible genetic diversity. Genotyping large numbers of SNPs individually is performed routinely but is cost prohibitive for large-scale genetic studies. DNA pooling is a reliable and cost-saving alternative genotyping method. However, no software has been developed for complete pooled-DNA analyses, including data standardization, allele frequency estimation, and single/multipoint DNA pooling association tests. This motivated the development of the software, 'PDA' (Pooled DNA Analyzer, to analyze pooled DNA data. Results We develop the software, PDA, for the analysis of pooled-DNA data. PDA is originally implemented with the MATLAB® language, but it can also be executed on a Windows system without installing the MATLAB®. PDA provides estimates of the coefficient of preferential amplification and allele frequency. PDA considers an extended single-point association test, which can compare allele frequencies between two DNA pools constructed under different experimental conditions. Moreover, PDA also provides novel chromosome-wide multipoint association tests based on p-value combinations and a sliding-window concept. This new multipoint testing procedure overcomes a computational bottleneck of conventional haplotype-oriented multipoint methods in DNA pooling analyses and can handle data sets having a large pool size and/or large numbers of polymorphic markers. All of the PDA functions are illustrated in the four bona fide examples. Conclusion PDA is simple to operate and does not require that users have a strong statistical background. The software is available at http://www.ibms.sinica.edu.tw/%7Ecsjfann/first%20flow/pda.htm.

  5. Validation of Numerical Schemes in a Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis Code for a Natural Convection Heat Transfer of a Molten Pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Tae; Ha, Kwang Soon; Kim, Hwan Yeol; Park, Rae Joon; Song, Jin Ho

    2010-01-01

    It is postulated that a fuel of a water-cooled nuclear reactor can be melted during a hypothetical severe accident. There are two strategies for cooling the molten corium, which are in-vessel corium cooling and exvessel corium cooling. They can be chosen depending on cooling characteristics of the reactor. The coolability of the molten pool is determined by comparing the thermal load from the pool and the maximum heat flux removable by cooling mechanism such as radiative or boiling heat transfer on the pool boundaries. In order to evaluate the molten pool coolability, it is important to correctly expect the thermal load by a natural convection heat transfer of the corium pool. Many correlations have been developed by conducting experiments for the natural convection of a pool. The main parameters of the heat transfer by the natural convection are Rayleigh (Ra) number, Prandtl (Pr) number and the geometry of the pool. Sometimes, the use of the correlations for the evaluation of the thermal load from the molten pool is limited by a high Ra number of the pool and its different shape from the existing correlations. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used for the analysis of the heat transfer by a natural convection. In principle, CFD is applicable to the corium pool analysis. But unfortunately, some difficulties are encountered during the analysis, which are from numerical and physical instabilities. The physical instability is from turbulence fluctuation and inverted thermal layer near the upper surface of the volumetric-heated molten pool with a high Ra number. In order to resolve turbulent natural convection, buoyancy-modified two-equation turbulence models such as a k-e or k-w model with time-averaged Navier- Stokes equations are commonly used. Because an unsteadiness of a natural convection becomes nontrivial in a high Ra number pool, it is very difficult to get accurate heat flux on the pool surface with the time averaged turbulence model. Recently

  6. Analysis of a Mark II containment structure for hydrodynamic loads in suppression pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bedrosian, B.

    1978-01-01

    During pressure-relief modes of BWR plant operation forcing signals are introduced into the suppression pool at discrete locations: exit nozzles of SRV discharge pipes (quenchers or ramsheads). These forcing signals are transmitted through the water of the suppression pool and, after reaching the pool boundaries, act as loadings on the containment structure wetted perimeter. The response of the containment structure is influenced by the presence of water as it interacts with the structure during application of the load. An adequate analysis must account for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) effects. This paper presents an exact formulation for solving the problem. FSI effects may become significant for a given geometry if the time history of loading and the dynamic properties of the coupled fluid-structure system satisfy a defined (system related) relationship. Results of analyses and parametric/sensitivity studies performed for the steel containment structure of an 1100 Mwe BWR nuclear plant of Mark II configuration are presented. (Author)

  7. Importance and pitfalls of molecular analysis to parasite epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constantine, Clare C

    2003-08-01

    Molecular tools are increasingly being used to address questions about parasite epidemiology. Parasites represent a diverse group and they might not fit traditional population genetic models. Testing hypotheses depends equally on correct sampling, appropriate tool and/or marker choice, appropriate analysis and careful interpretation. All methods of analysis make assumptions which, if violated, make the results invalid. Some guidelines to avoid common pitfalls are offered here.

  8. Cardiothoracic ratio for prediction of left ventricular dilation: a systematic review and pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loomba, Rohit S; Shah, Parinda H; Nijhawan, Karan; Aggarwal, Saurabh; Arora, Rohit

    2015-03-01

    Increased cardiothoracic ratio noted on chest radiographs often prompts concern and further evaluation with additional imaging. This study pools available data assessing the utility of cardiothoracic ratio in predicting left ventricular dilation. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify studies comparing cardiothoracic ratio by chest x-ray to left ventricular dilation by echocardiography. Electronic databases were used to identify studies which were then assessed for quality and bias, with those with adequate quality and minimal bias ultimately being included in the pooled analysis. The pooled data were used to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of cardiomegaly in predicting left ventricular dilation. A total of six studies consisting of 466 patients were included in this analysis. Cardiothoracic ratio had 83.3% sensitivity, 45.4% specificity, 43.5% positive predictive value and 82.7% negative predictive value. When a secondary analysis was conducted with a pediatric study excluded, a total of five studies consisting of 371 patients were included. Cardiothoracic ratio had 86.2% sensitivity, 25.2% specificity, 42.5% positive predictive value and 74.0% negative predictive value. Cardiothoracic ratio as determined by chest radiograph is sensitive but not specific for identifying left ventricular dilation. Cardiothoracic ratio also has a strong negative predictive value for identifying left ventricular dilation.

  9. Programmed Ventricular Stimulation for Risk Stratification in the Brugada Syndrome: A Pooled Analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sroubek, Jakub; Probst, Vincent; Mazzanti, Andrea; Delise, Pietro; Hevia, Jesus Castro; Ohkubo, Kimie; Zorzi, Alessandro; Champagne, Jean; Kostopoulou, Anna; Yin, Xiaoyan; Napolitano, Carlo; Milan, David J.; Wilde, Arthur; Sacher, Frederic; Borggrefe, Martin; Ellinor, Patrick T.; Theodorakis, George; Nault, Isabelle; Corrado, Domenico; Watanabe, Ichiro; Antzelevitch, Charles; Allocca, Giuseppe; Priori, Silvia G.; Lubitz, Steven A.

    2016-01-01

    The role of programmed ventricular stimulation in identifying patients with Brugada syndrome at the highest risk for sudden death is uncertain. We performed a systematic review and pooled analysis of prospective, observational studies of patients with Brugada syndrome without a history of sudden

  10. The Epidemiology of Injuries in Mixed Martial Arts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lystad, Reidar P; Gregory, Kobi; Wilson, Juno

    2014-01-01

    Mixed martial arts (MMA) has experienced a surge in popularity since emerging in the 1990s, but the sport has also faced concomitant criticism from public, political, and medical holds. Notwithstanding the polarized discourse concerning the sport, no systematic review of the injury problems in MMA has been published to date. To systematically review the epidemiologic data on injuries in MMA and to quantitatively estimate injury incidence and risk factor effect sizes. Systematic review and meta-analysis; Level of evidence, 4. Electronic searching of PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, and SPORTDiscus databases to identify studies reporting on the epidemiology of injuries in MMA. Random-effects models were used to obtain pooled summary estimates of the injury incidence rate per 1000 athlete-exposures (IIRAE) and rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Heterogeneity was evaluated with the I (2) statistic. A total of 6 studies were eligible for inclusion in this review. The IIRAE summary estimate was found to be 228.7 (95% CI, 110.4-473.5). No studies reported injury severity. The most commonly injured anatomic region was the head (range, 66.8%-78.0%) followed by the wrist/hand (range, 6.0%-12.0%), while the most frequent injury types were laceration (range, 36.7%-59.4%), fracture (range, 7.4%-43.3%), and concussion (range, 3.8%-20.4%). The most notable risk factors pertained to the outcome of bouts. Losers incurred 3 times as many injuries as winners, and fighters in bouts ending with knockout or technical knockout incurred more than 2 times as many injuries as fighters in bouts ending with submission. Notwithstanding the paucity of data, the injury incidence in MMA appears to be greater than in most, if not all, other popular and commonly practiced combat sports. In general, the injury pattern in MMA is very similar to that in professional boxing but unlike that found in other combat sports such as judo and taekwondo. More epidemiologic research is

  11. Hepatitis C Virus Epidemiology in Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karima Chaabna

    Full Text Available To characterize hepatitis C virus (HCV epidemiology and assess country-specific population-level HCV prevalence in four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region: Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.Reports of HCV prevalence were systematically reviewed as per PRISMA guidelines. Pooled HCV prevalence estimates in different risk populations were conducted when the number of measures per risk category was at least five.We identified 101 prevalence estimates. Pooled HCV antibody prevalence in the general population in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen was 0.9% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 0.3%-1.9%, 1.0% (95%CI: 0.3%-1.9% and 1.9% (95%CI: 1.4%-2.6%, respectively. The only general population study from Djibouti reported a prevalence of 0.3% (CI: 0.2%-0.4% in blood donors. In high-risk populations (e.g., haemodialysis and haemophilia patients, pooled HCV prevalence was 17.3% (95%CI: 8.6%-28.2% in Sudan. In Yemen, three studies of haemodialysis patients reported HCV prevalence between 40.0%-62.7%. In intermediate-risk populations (e.g.. healthcare workers, in patients and men who have sex with men, pooled HCV prevalence was 1.7% (95%CI: 0.0%-4.9% in Somalia and 0.6% (95%CI: 0.4%-0.8% in Sudan.National HCV prevalence in Yemen appears to be higher than in Djibouti, Somalia, and Sudan as well as most other MENA countries; but otherwise prevalence levels in this subregion are comparable to global levels. The high HCV prevalence in patients who have undergone clinical care appears to reflect ongoing transmission in clinical settings. HCV prevalence in people who inject drugs remains unknown.

  12. Consistency of external dosimetry in epidemiologic studies of nuclear workers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fix, J.J.; Gilbert, E.S.

    1992-01-01

    Efforts are underway to pool data from epidemiologic studies of nuclear workers to obtain more precise estimates of radiation risk than would be possible from any single study. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is coordinating combined analyses of data from studies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) has established the Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) to provide investigators an opportunity to analyze data from several DOE laboratories. IARC investigators, in collaboration with those conducting the individual studies, have developed a dosimetry protocol for the international combined analyses. (author)

  13. Consistency of external dosimetry in epidemiologic studies of nuclear workers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fix, J.J.; Gilbert, E.S.

    1992-05-01

    Efforts are underway to pool data from epidemiologic studies of nuclear workers to obtain more precise estimates of radiation risk than would be possible from any single study. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is coordinating combined analyses of data from studies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In the US, the Department of Energy (DOE) has established the Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) to provide investigators an opportunity to analyze data from several DOE laboratories. IARC investigators, in collaboration with those conducting the individual studies, have developed a dosimetry protocol for the international combined analyses

  14. PWR core and spent fuel pool analysis using scale and nestle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, J. E.; Maldonado, G. I.; St Clair, R.; Orr, D.

    2012-01-01

    The SCALE nuclear analysis code system [SCALE, 2011], developed and maintained at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is widely recognized as high quality software for analyzing nuclear systems. The SCALE code system is composed of several validated computer codes and methods with standard control sequences, such as the TRITON/NEWT lattice physics sequence, which supplies dependable and accurate analyses for industry, regulators, and academia. Although TRITON generates energy-collapsed and space-homogenized few group cross sections, SCALE does not include a full-core nodal neutron diffusion simulation module within. However, in the past few years, the open-source NESTLE core simulator [NESTLE, 2003], originally developed at North Carolina State Univ. (NCSU), has been updated and upgraded via collaboration between ORNL and the Univ. of Tennessee (UT), so it now has a growingly seamless coupling to the TRITON/NEWT lattice physics [Galloway, 2010]. This study presents the methodology used to couple lattice physics data between TRITON and NESTLE in order to perform a three-dimensional full-core analysis employing a 'real-life' Duke Energy PWR as the test bed. The focus for this step was to compare the key parameters of core reactivity and radial power distribution versus plant data. Following the core analysis, following a three cycle burn, a spent fuel pool analysis was done using information generated from NESTLE for the discharged bundles and was compared to Duke Energy spent fuel pool models. The KENO control module from SCALE was employed for this latter stage of the project. (authors)

  15. PWR core and spent fuel pool analysis using scale and nestle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murphy, J. E.; Maldonado, G. I. [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-2300 (United States); St Clair, R.; Orr, D. [Duke Energy, 526 S. Church St, Charlotte, NC 28202 (United States)

    2012-07-01

    The SCALE nuclear analysis code system [SCALE, 2011], developed and maintained at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is widely recognized as high quality software for analyzing nuclear systems. The SCALE code system is composed of several validated computer codes and methods with standard control sequences, such as the TRITON/NEWT lattice physics sequence, which supplies dependable and accurate analyses for industry, regulators, and academia. Although TRITON generates energy-collapsed and space-homogenized few group cross sections, SCALE does not include a full-core nodal neutron diffusion simulation module within. However, in the past few years, the open-source NESTLE core simulator [NESTLE, 2003], originally developed at North Carolina State Univ. (NCSU), has been updated and upgraded via collaboration between ORNL and the Univ. of Tennessee (UT), so it now has a growingly seamless coupling to the TRITON/NEWT lattice physics [Galloway, 2010]. This study presents the methodology used to couple lattice physics data between TRITON and NESTLE in order to perform a three-dimensional full-core analysis employing a 'real-life' Duke Energy PWR as the test bed. The focus for this step was to compare the key parameters of core reactivity and radial power distribution versus plant data. Following the core analysis, following a three cycle burn, a spent fuel pool analysis was done using information generated from NESTLE for the discharged bundles and was compared to Duke Energy spent fuel pool models. The KENO control module from SCALE was employed for this latter stage of the project. (authors)

  16. Finding determinants of audit delay by pooled OLS regression analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Vuko, Tina; Čular, Marko

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate determinants of audit delay. Audit delay is measured as the length of time (i.e. the number of calendar days) from the fiscal year-end to the audit report date. It is important to understand factors that influence audit delay since it directly affects the timeliness of financial reporting. The research is conducted on a sample of Croatian listed companies, covering the period of four years (from 2008 to 2011). We use pooled OLS regression analysis, mode...

  17. Melt pool and keyhole behaviour analysis for deep penetration laser welding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fabbro, R

    2010-01-01

    One usually defines the main characteristic of the welding performances of a given laser system by its 'penetration curve' that corresponds to the welding depth as a function of the welding speed V w for a given set of operating parameters. Analysis of a penetration curve is interesting and gives very fruitful results. Coupled with high-speed video imaging of melt pool surface and ejected plume behaviour, the analysis of this penetration curve on a very large range of welding speeds, typically from 0 to 50 m min -1 , has allowed us to observe very different and characteristic regimes. These regimes are mainly characterized by the physical processes by which they impede the laser beam penetration inside the material. We show that it is only at rather high welding speeds that these limiting processes are reduced. Consequently, the scaling law of welding depth with welding speed is in agreement with adapted modelling of this process. On the other hand, as the welding speed is reduced, different effects depending on the weld pool dynamics and plume interaction strongly disturb the keyhole stability and are responsible for the deviation of the penetration curve from the previous modelling that agrees with a 1/V w scaling law. A corresponding criterion for the occurrence of this effect is defined.

  18. [EPIDEMIOLOGIC SITUATION BY NATURAL-FOCI INFECTIONS IN THE CRIMEA FEDERAL DISTRICT IN 2014-2015].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popova, A-Yu; Kulichenko, A N; Maletskaya, O V; Vasilenko, N F; Shaposhnikova, L I; Kotenev, E S; Dubyansky, V M; Volynkina, A S; Lisitskaya, Ya V; Samarina, I V; Penkovskaya, N A; Evstafiev, I L; Tovpinets, N N; Tsapko, N V; Belova, O A; Agapitov, D S; Samoded, T N; Nadolny, A A; Kovalenko, I S; Yakunin, S N; Shvarsalon, N K; Zinich, L S; Tikhonov, S N; Lyamkin, G I; Zharnikova, I V; Evchenko, Yu M

    2016-01-01

    Analysis of epidemic manifestations of natural-foci infections (NFI), clarification of spectrum of their causative agents, determination of epizootic activity of natural foci in the Crimea Federal District (KFD). Epizootologic examination of 10 administrative districts of KDF was carried out. 291 pools (2705 specimens) of ixodes ticks and 283 samples of organs of small mammals were studied by PCRmethod for the presence of DNA/RNA of causative agents of a number of NFI. Morbidity by NFI in KFD was registered by 6 nosologies: Lyme borreliosis, Marseilles fever, leptospirosis; tularemia, intestine yersiniosis and tick-borne viral encephalitis, wherein, transmissive infections made up 91.6%. Circulation of causative agents of Crimea hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, group of tick-borne spotted fever, Lyme borreliosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, West Nile fever, tularemia and leptospirosis was established. Due to activity of natural foci of NFI further monitoring of epidemiologic and epizootologic manifestations of these infections in the Crimea, including using genetic methods of analysis, is necessary for ensuring sanitary-epidemiologic welfare of KFD population.

  19. Mortality due to traumatic spinal cord injuries in Europe: a cross-sectional and pooled analysis of population-wide data from 22 countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majdan, Marek; Plancikova, Dominika; Nemcovska, Eva; Krajcovicova, Lenka; Brazinova, Alexandra; Rusnak, Martin

    2017-07-03

    Traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI) pose a significant burden globally, while existing epidemiological data-especially on population mortality-are limited. The aim of this study was to calculate the age-standardized population mortality rates attributable to TSCI in 22 European countries, along with the pooled age-standardized mortality rate attributable to TSCI in Europe. A descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted. Crude and age-standardized mortality rates attributable to TSCI for the year 2012 for 22 European countries were compared using data from death certificates provided by Eurostat. Pooled age-standardized mortality rates were calculated using the random effects model, and overall number of cases were estimated by extrapolating our findings to the populations of EU and Europe (48 countries), in 2012. A total of 1840 TSCI-related deaths were identified, of which 1084 (59%) were males. The pooled age-standardized TSCI-related mortality rate of 6.7 per million (95% CI: 5.2 to 8.2) overall, 9.4 (95% CI: 7.3 to 11.5) for males, and 4.5 (95% CI: 3.4 to 5.6) for females. Extrapolating our results, 3152 (95% CI: 2441 to 3915) deaths would occur in 2012 in the EU-28 and 4570 (95% CI: 3538 to 5675) deaths in the whole Europe. TSCI-related deaths contributed by 2% (95% CI: 1.8% to 2.2%) to the overall injury related mortality. 61% of fatal TSCI were located in the cervical spine area. To our knowledge, this is the largest study that reports TSCI-related population-based mortalities to date which brings valuable information that can inform further research or prevention strategies. Our study presents a comprehensive and large-scale overview of TSCI-related population mortality in Europe. With an estimated toll of nearly five thousand lives that could be potentially saved by prevention, our findings confirm TSCI as an important cause of injury related deaths in Europe. Further action towards harmonization of case ascertainment and towards

  20. Infertility and incident endometrial cancer risk: a pooled analysis from the epidemiology of endometrial cancer consortium (E2C2)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, H P; Cook, L S; Weiderpass, E; Adami, H-O; Anderson, K E; Cai, H; Cerhan, J R; Clendenen, T V; Felix, A S; Friedenreich, C M; Garcia-Closas, M; Goodman, M T; Liang, X; Lissowska, J; Lu, L; Magliocco, A M; McCann, S E; Moysich, K B; Olson, S H; Petruzella, S; Pike, M C; Polidoro, S; Ricceri, F; Risch, H A; Sacerdote, C; Setiawan, V W; Shu, X O; Spurdle, A B; Trabert, B; Webb, P M; Wentzensen, N; Xiang, Y-B; Xu, Y; Yu, H; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, A; Brinton, L A

    2015-01-01

    Background: Nulliparity is an endometrial cancer risk factor, but whether or not this association is due to infertility is unclear. Although there are many underlying infertility causes, few studies have assessed risk relations by specific causes. Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of 8153 cases and 11 713 controls from 2 cohort and 12 case-control studies. All studies provided self-reported infertility and its causes, except for one study that relied on data from national registries. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Nulliparous women had an elevated endometrial cancer risk compared with parous women, even after adjusting for infertility (OR=1.76; 95% CI: 1.59–1.94). Women who reported infertility had an increased risk compared with those without infertility concerns, even after adjusting for nulliparity (OR=1.22; 95% CI: 1.13–1.33). Among women who reported infertility, none of the individual infertility causes were substantially related to endometrial cancer. Conclusions: Based on mainly self-reported infertility data that used study-specific definitions of infertility, nulliparity and infertility appeared to independently contribute to endometrial cancer risk. Understanding residual endometrial cancer risk related to infertility, its causes and its treatments may benefit from large studies involving detailed data on various infertility parameters. PMID:25688738

  1. Hawaii ESI: POOLS (Anchialine Pool Points)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for anchialine pools in Hawaii. Anchialine pools are small, relatively shallow coastal ponds that occur...

  2. Australasian disasters of national significance: an epidemiological analysis, 1900-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradt, David A; Bartley, Bruce; Hibble, Belinda A; Varshney, Kavita

    2015-04-01

    A regional epidemiological analysis of Australasian disasters in the 20th century to present was undertaken to examine trends in disaster epidemiology; to characterise the impacts on civil society through disaster policy, practice and legislation; and to consider future potential limitations in national disaster resilience. A surveillance definition of disaster was developed conforming to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) criteria (≥10 deaths, ≥100 affected, or declaration of state emergency or appeal for international assistance). The authors then applied economic and legislative inclusion criteria to identify additional disasters of national significance. The surveillance definition yielded 165 disasters in the period, from which 65 emerged as disasters of national significance. There were 38 natural disasters, 22 technological disasters, three offshore terrorist attacks and two domestic mass shootings. Geographic analysis revealed that states with major population centres experienced the vast majority of disasters of national significance. Timeline analysis revealed an increasing incidence of disasters since the 1980s, which peaked in the period 2005-2009. Recent seasonal bushfires and floods have incurred the highest death toll and economic losses in Australasian history. Reactive hazard-specific legislation emerged after all terrorist acts and after most disasters of national significance. Timeline analysis reveals an increasing incidence in natural disasters over the past 15 years, with the most lethal and costly disasters occurring in the past 3 years. Vulnerability to disaster in Australasia appears to be increasing. Reactive legislation is a recurrent feature of Australasian disaster response that suggests legislative shortsightedness and a need for comprehensive all-hazards model legislation in the future. © 2015 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

  3. CFD aided analysis of a scaled down model of the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer, Fernando L.A.; Lima, Claubia P.B.; Costa, Antonella L.; Veloso, Maria A.F.

    2013-01-01

    Research reactors are commonly built inside deep pools that provide radiological and thermal protection and easy access to its core. Reactors with thermal power in the order of MW usually use an auxiliary thermal-hydraulic circuit at the top of its pool to create a purified hot water layer (HWL). Thermal-hydraulic analysis of the flow configuration in the pool and HWL is paramount to insure radiological protection. A useful tool for these analyses is the application of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). To obtain satisfactory results using CFD it is necessary the verification and validation of the CFD numerical model. Verification is divided in code and solution verifications. In the first one establishes the correctness of the CFD code implementation and in the former estimates the numerical accuracy of a particular calculation. Validation is performed through comparison of numerical and experimental results. This paper presents a dimensional analysis of the RMB (Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor) pool to determine a scaled down experimental installation able to aid in the HWL numerical investigation. Two CFD models were created one with the same dimensions and boundary conditions of the reactor prototype and the other with 1/10 proportion size and boundary conditions set to achieve the same inertial and buoyant forces proportions represented by Froude Number between the two models. Results comparing the HWL thickness show consistence between the prototype and the scaled down model behavior. (author)

  4. Sodium/water pool-deposit bed model of the CONACS code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peak, R.D.

    1983-01-01

    A new Pool-Bed model of the CONACS (Containment Analysis Code System) code represents a major advance over the pool models of other containment analysis code (NABE code of France, CEDAN code of Japan and CACECO and CONTAIN codes of the United States). This new model advances pool-bed modeling because of the number of significant materials and processes which are included with appropriate rigor. This CONACS pool-bed model maintains material balances for eight chemical species (C, H 2 O, Na, NaH, Na 2 O, Na 2 O 2 , Na 2 CO 3 and NaOH) that collect in the stationary liquid pool on the floor and in the desposit bed on the elevated shelf of the standard CONACS analysis cell

  5. Cash pooling

    OpenAIRE

    Lozovaya, Karina

    2009-01-01

    This work makes a mention of cash management. At next chapter describes two most known theoretical models of cash management -- Baumol Model and Miller-Orr Model. Principal part of work is about cash pooling, types of cash pooling, cash pooling at Czech Republic and influence of cash pooling over accounting and taxes.

  6. Design and Construction of Pool Door for Research Reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Kwangsub; Lee, Sangjin; Choi, Jinbok; Oh, Jinho; Lee, Jongmin [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    The pool door is a structure to isolate the reactor pool from the service pool for maintenance. The pool door is installed before the reactor pool is drained. The pool door consists of structural component and sealing component. The main structures of the pool door are stainless steel plates and side frames. The plates and frames are assembled by welded joints. Lug is welded at the top of the plate. The pool door is submerged in the pool water when it is used. Materials of the pool door should be resistive to corrosion and radiation. Stainless steel is used in structural components and air nozzle assemblies. Features of design and construction of the pool door for the research reactor are introduced. The pool door is designed to isolate the reactor pool for maintenance. Structural analysis is performed to evaluate the structural integrity during earthquake. Tests and inspections are also carried out during construction to identify the safety and function of the pool door.

  7. Design and Construction of Pool Door for Research Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Kwangsub; Lee, Sangjin; Choi, Jinbok; Oh, Jinho; Lee, Jongmin

    2016-01-01

    The pool door is a structure to isolate the reactor pool from the service pool for maintenance. The pool door is installed before the reactor pool is drained. The pool door consists of structural component and sealing component. The main structures of the pool door are stainless steel plates and side frames. The plates and frames are assembled by welded joints. Lug is welded at the top of the plate. The pool door is submerged in the pool water when it is used. Materials of the pool door should be resistive to corrosion and radiation. Stainless steel is used in structural components and air nozzle assemblies. Features of design and construction of the pool door for the research reactor are introduced. The pool door is designed to isolate the reactor pool for maintenance. Structural analysis is performed to evaluate the structural integrity during earthquake. Tests and inspections are also carried out during construction to identify the safety and function of the pool door

  8. Criticality analysis of the CAREM-25 reactor irradiated fuel elements storage pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albornoz, A.F.; Jatuff, F.E.; Gho, C.J.

    1993-01-01

    A criticality safety analysis of the irradiated fuel element pool storage of the CAREM-25 reactor was performed. The CAREM project is property of the Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica (CNEA) of Argentine, and it is being executed by INVAP S.E. difficult evaluation of the CAREM core (relatively high -3,4%- enriched U O 2 , Gd 2 O 3 burnable absorber in different densities, or criticality achievement with as few as 7 fuel elements is inherited by the pool storage. The lattice code CONDOR 1.1 was used for investigating the problem scene, and some results compared on the Monte Carlo codes MONK 5.0 and MONK 6.3. Circular and square tubes of 304-L stainless steel, borated steel and boral B 4 C in Al) were tested as suitable channels for fuel element containment, in square and hexagonal arrays; in addition, burnup, burnable absorber concentration, Sm and leakage credits were determined. It was found that the critical is strongly dependent on the separation of the fuel elements in the pool. Out-of-nominal conditions were investigated too, showing that the loss of coolant and the change in temperature and density conditions in the storage lead to an increase in reactivity, but the system's reactivity remains near the safety limits. (author)

  9. Analysis of small sample size studies using nonparametric bootstrap test with pooled resampling method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwivedi, Alok Kumar; Mallawaarachchi, Indika; Alvarado, Luis A

    2017-06-30

    Experimental studies in biomedical research frequently pose analytical problems related to small sample size. In such studies, there are conflicting findings regarding the choice of parametric and nonparametric analysis, especially with non-normal data. In such instances, some methodologists questioned the validity of parametric tests and suggested nonparametric tests. In contrast, other methodologists found nonparametric tests to be too conservative and less powerful and thus preferred using parametric tests. Some researchers have recommended using a bootstrap test; however, this method also has small sample size limitation. We used a pooled method in nonparametric bootstrap test that may overcome the problem related with small samples in hypothesis testing. The present study compared nonparametric bootstrap test with pooled resampling method corresponding to parametric, nonparametric, and permutation tests through extensive simulations under various conditions and using real data examples. The nonparametric pooled bootstrap t-test provided equal or greater power for comparing two means as compared with unpaired t-test, Welch t-test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and permutation test while maintaining type I error probability for any conditions except for Cauchy and extreme variable lognormal distributions. In such cases, we suggest using an exact Wilcoxon rank sum test. Nonparametric bootstrap paired t-test also provided better performance than other alternatives. Nonparametric bootstrap test provided benefit over exact Kruskal-Wallis test. We suggest using nonparametric bootstrap test with pooled resampling method for comparing paired or unpaired means and for validating the one way analysis of variance test results for non-normal data in small sample size studies. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Analysis of natural convection in volumetrically-heated melt pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sehgal, B.R.; Dinh, T.N.; Nourgaliev, R.R.

    1996-12-01

    Results of series of studies on natural convection heat transfer in decay-heated core melt pools which form in a reactor lower plenum during the progression of a core meltdown accident are described. The emphasis is on modelling and prediction of turbulent heat transfer characteristics of natural convection in a liquid pool with an internal energy source. Methods of computational fluid dynamics, including direct numerical simulation, were applied for investigation

  11. Risk of lung cancer and consumption of vegetables and fruit in Japanese: A pooled analysis of cohort studies in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakai, Kenji; Sugawara, Yumi; Tsuji, Ichiro; Tamakoshi, Akiko; Shimazu, Taichi; Matsuo, Keitaro; Nagata, Chisato; Mizoue, Tetsuya; Tanaka, Keitaro; Inoue, Manami; Tsugane, Shoichiro; Sasazuki, Shizuka

    2015-01-01

    International reviews have concluded that consumption of fruit and vegetables might decrease the risk of lung cancer. However, the relevant epidemiological evidence still remains insufficient in Japan. Therefore, we performed a pooled analysis of data from four population-based cohort studies in Japan with >200 000 participants and >1700 lung cancer cases. We computed study-specific hazard ratios by quintiles of vegetable and fruit consumption as assessed by food frequency questionnaires. Summary hazard ratios were estimated by pooling the study-specific hazard ratios with a fixed-effect model. In men, we found inverse associations between fruit consumption and the age-adjusted and area-adjusted risk of mortality or incidence of lung cancer. However, the associations were largely attenuated after adjustment for smoking and energy intake. The significant decrease in risk among men remained only for a moderate level of fruit consumption; the lowest summary hazard ratios were found in the third quintile of intake (mortality: 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.60–0.84; incidence: 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.70–0.98). This decrease in risk was mainly detected in ever smokers. Conversely, vegetable intake was positively correlated with the risk of incidence of lung cancer after adjustment for smoking and energy intake in men (trend P, 0.024); the summary hazard ratio for the highest quintile was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.05–1.50). However, a similar association was not detected for mortality from lung cancer. In conclusion, a moderate level of fruit consumption is associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer in men among the Japanese population. PMID:26033436

  12. Analysis of natural convection in volumetrically-heated melt pools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sehgal, B.R.; Dinh, T.N.; Nourgaliev, R.R. [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Div. of Nuclear Power Safety

    1996-12-01

    Results of series of studies on natural convection heat transfer in decay-heated core melt pools which form in a reactor lower plenum during the progression of a core meltdown accident are described. The emphasis is on modelling and prediction of turbulent heat transfer characteristics of natural convection in a liquid pool with an internal energy source. Methods of computational fluid dynamics, including direct numerical simulation, were applied for investigation. Refs, figs, tabs.

  13. 76 FR 72923 - Pool Corporation; Analysis To Aid Public Comment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-28

    ... manufacturers, warehouse them, and then resell the products to pool retail stores, pool service companies and.... ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the... 0115'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc...

  14. Tea consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer: A meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Xin; Wang, Jie; Pan, Shufen; Lu, Caijuan

    2017-06-06

    A large number of epidemiological studies have provided conflicting results about the relationship between tea consumption and ovarian cancer. This study aimed to clarify the association between tea consumption and ovarian cancer. A literature search of the MEDICINE, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases was performed in April 2016. A total of 18 (11 case-control and 7 cohort) studies, representing data for 701,857 female subjects including 8,683 ovarian cancer cases, were included in the meta-analysis. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to compute the pooled relative risks (RR), meta regression, and publication bias, and heterogeneity analyses were performed for the included trials. We found that tea consumption had a significant protective effect against ovarian cancer (relative risk [RR] = 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.76, 0.96). The relationship was confirmed particularly after adjusting for family history of cancer (RR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.97), menopause status (RR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.98), education (RR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.96), BMI (RR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.00) , smoking (RR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.93) and Jadad score of 3 (RR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.95) and 5 (RR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.89). The Begg's and Egger's tests (all P > 0.01) showed no evidence of publication bias. In conclusion, our meta-analysis showed an inverse association between tea consumption and ovarian cancer risk. High quality cohort-clinical trials should be conducted on different tea types and their relationship with ovarian cancer.

  15. Spent fuel pool thermal-hydraulic analysis using RELAP5-3D

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramos, M. C.; Fernandes, G.H.N.; Costa, A.L.; Pereira, F.; Pereira, C., E-mail: marc5663@gmail.com, E-mail: ghnfernandes@pq.cnpq.br, E-mail: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: antonella@nuclear.ufmg.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear

    2017-07-01

    In order to analyze the thermo-hydraulic behavior of spent fuel pools, and taking as reference a hypothetic PWR nuclear plant, a model of RELAP-3D for a spent fuel pool has been built. This model has been used to simulate a loss of coolant in SPF. This study focuses on the loss of coolant flow accident in spent fuel storage pool which is modelled by using RELAP5-3D code to observe the coolant level reduction and fuel uncovery because of decay heat generation of the spent fuel in the pool. The results have been compared with the available data. The developed model demonstrated that the RELAP5-3D is capable of reproduce the thermal behavior of SPF in a transient scenario. (author)

  16. Study of structural attachments of a pool type LMFBR vessel through seismic analysis of a simplified three dimensional finite element model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, H.; Ma, D.

    1979-01-01

    A simplified three dimensional finite element model of a pool type LMFBR in conjunction with the computer program ANSYS is developed and scoping results of seismic analysis are produced. Through this study various structural attachments of a pool type LMFBR like the reactor vessel skirt support, the pump support and reactor shell-support structure interfaces are studied. This study also provides some useful results on equivalent viscous damping approach and some improvements to the treatment of equivalent viscous damping are recommended. This study also sets forth pertinent guidelines for detailed three dimensional finite element seismic analysis of pool type LMFBR

  17. Tawny owl (Strix aluco) as a potential transmitter of Enterobacteriaceae epidemiologically relevant for forest service workers, nature protection service and ornithologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grzywaczewski, Grzegorz; Kowalczyk-Pecka, Danuta; Cios, Szymon; Bojar, Wiktor; Jankuszew, Andrzej; Bojar, Hubert; Kolejko, Marcin

    2017-03-31

    Established taxa within the Enterobacteriaceae wereisolated from cloacal swabs of Strix aluco chicks in nest boxes located at five research sites. ChromID ESBL medium (bioMerieux) was used to select a pool of Enterobacteriaceae strains producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Drug sensitivity of the chosen strains was determined from the full pool of Enterobacteriaceae to 6 chemotherapeutics of different mechanisms of action. The study evaluated the sensitivity of ESBL-synthesizing isolates to substances belonging to penicillins, cephalosporins, cephamycins, clavams, carbapenems and monobactams. Analysis of the results indicated a potential role of Strix aluco in the dissemination of epidemiologically-relevant Enterobacteriaceae, and, importantly, pose health risks to forest service workers, nature protection service and ornithologists. The results can also serve as the basis for further environmental studies.

  18. Solar swimming pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1985-01-01

    This report examines the feasibility of using solar collectors to heat the water in a previously unheated outdoor swimming pool. The solar system is used in conjunction with a pool blanket, to conserve heat when the pool is not in use. Energy losses through evaporation can be reduced by as much as 70% by a pool blanket. A total of 130 m{sup 2} of highly durable black synthetic collectors were installed on a support structure at a 30{degree} angle from the horizontal, oriented to the south. Circulation of pool water though the collectors, which is controlled by a differential thermostat, was done with the existing pool pump. Before installation the pool temperature averaged 16{degree}C; after installation it ranged from 20{degree} to 26{degree}C. It was hard to distinguish how much pool heating was due to the solar system and how much heat was retained by the pool blanket. However, the pool season was extended by five weeks and attendance tripled. 2 figs.

  19. Global foot-and-mouth disease research update and gap analysis: 2 - epidemiology, wildlife and economics

    Science.gov (United States)

    In 2014, the Global Foot-and-mouth disease Research ings in the fields of (i) epidemiology, (ii) wildlife and (iii) Alliance (GFRA) conducted a gap analysis of foot-and- economics. Although the three sections, epidemiology, wildlife and economics are presented as separate entities, the fields are ...

  20. Testing Homeopathy in Mouse Emotional Response Models: Pooled Data Analysis of Two Series of Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Bellavite

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Two previous investigations were performed to assess the activity of Gelsemium sempervirens (Gelsemium s. in mice, using emotional response models. These two series are pooled and analysed here. Gelsemium s. in various homeopathic centesimal dilutions/dynamizations (4C, 5C, 7C, 9C, and 30C, a placebo (solvent vehicle, and the reference drugs diazepam (1 mg/kg body weight or buspirone (5 mg/kg body weight were delivered intraperitoneally to groups of albino CD1 mice, and their effects on animal behaviour were assessed by the light-dark (LD choice test and the open-field (OF exploration test. Up to 14 separate replications were carried out in fully blind and randomised conditions. Pooled analysis demonstrated highly significant effects of Gelsemium s. 5C, 7C, and 30C on the OF parameter “time spent in central area” and of Gelsemium s. 5C, 9C, and 30C on the LD parameters “time spent in lit area” and “number of light-dark transitions,” without any sedative action or adverse effects on locomotion. This pooled data analysis confirms and reinforces the evidence that Gelsemium s. regulates emotional responses and behaviour of laboratory mice in a nonlinear fashion with dilution/dynamization.

  1. Analysis of implementing phase change materials in open-air swimming pools

    OpenAIRE

    Zsembinszki, Gabriel; Farid, Mohammed M.; Cabeza, Luisa F.

    2012-01-01

    Open-air swimming pools in Mediterranean climate regions are heated by direct solar radiation with no auxiliary heating systems. In order to extend the swimming season or improve comfort conditions, solar collectors or pool coverings may be used. In this paper, another approach was followed through the use of phase change materials (PCM). Two methods of introducing the PCM were considered: (1) encapsulated in the sidewalls and bottom of the pool, and (2) use the PCM in an external he...

  2. Technology for analysis of sodium pool fire characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Byung Ho; Jeong, K C; Jeong, J Y; Kim, T J; Choi, J H; Choi, Y D; Hwang, S T

    2000-09-01

    Basic and detail design for medium sodium fire test facility was carried out and medium sodium fire test facility was constructed. Design data is as follows. - Test cell material : Concrete with high strength - Test cell dimension ; 48m{sup 3} (3x4x4m) - Design temp. ; 700 deg C - Operation temp. ; 530 deg C - Design pressure ; 1 bar (max.) - Dimension(Inside) : 3 x 4 x 4(m) - Test cell thickness ; 45cm - Liner plate with (Thickness : 3mm) In this study, sodium fire characteristics was analyzed and data for validation of computer code was produced. Oxygen and sodium filled in pool pan didn't burns instantly, but pool fire occurred through pre-ignition. Distribution of temperature in test cell was divided by two parts, and temperature at upper position appeared to be higher than temperature at lower position. The temperature in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. The pressure in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. When the feed of sodium was 8kg, peak pressure was 0.075 bar. Peak temperature in sodium pool appeared to be 854 deg C regardless of the feed of sodium. Decrease of 1% in oxygen concentration showed the rise of 0.036bar in pressure.

  3. Technology for analysis of sodium pool fire characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Byung Ho; Jeong, K. C.; Jeong, J. Y.; Kim, T. J.; Choi, J. H.; Choi, Y. D.; Hwang, S. T.

    2000-09-01

    Basic and detail design for medium sodium fire test facility was carried out and medium sodium fire test facility was constructed. Design data is as follows. - Test cell material : Concrete with high strength - Test cell dimension ; 48m 3 (3x4x4m) - Design temp. ; 700 deg C - Operation temp. ; 530 deg C - Design pressure ; 1 bar (max.) - Dimension(Inside) : 3 x 4 x 4(m) - Test cell thickness ; 45cm - Liner plate with (Thickness : 3mm) In this study, sodium fire characteristics was analyzed and data for validation of computer code was produced. Oxygen and sodium filled in pool pan didn't burns instantly, but pool fire occurred through pre-ignition. Distribution of temperature in test cell was divided by two parts, and temperature at upper position appeared to be higher than temperature at lower position. The temperature in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. The pressure in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. When the feed of sodium was 8kg, peak pressure was 0.075 bar. Peak temperature in sodium pool appeared to be 854 deg C regardless of the feed of sodium. Decrease of 1% in oxygen concentration showed the rise of 0.036bar in pressure

  4. Technology for analysis of sodium pool fire characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Byung Ho; Jeong, K. C.; Jeong, J. Y.; Kim, T. J.; Choi, J. H.; Choi, Y. D.; Hwang, S. T

    2000-09-01

    Basic and detail design for medium sodium fire test facility was carried out and medium sodium fire test facility was constructed. Design data is as follows. - Test cell material : Concrete with high strength - Test cell dimension ; 48m{sup 3} (3x4x4m) - Design temp. ; 700 deg C - Operation temp. ; 530 deg C - Design pressure ; 1 bar (max.) - Dimension(Inside) : 3 x 4 x 4(m) - Test cell thickness ; 45cm - Liner plate with (Thickness : 3mm) In this study, sodium fire characteristics was analyzed and data for validation of computer code was produced. Oxygen and sodium filled in pool pan didn't burns instantly, but pool fire occurred through pre-ignition. Distribution of temperature in test cell was divided by two parts, and temperature at upper position appeared to be higher than temperature at lower position. The temperature in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. The pressure in test cell increased with the feed of sodium. When the feed of sodium was 8kg, peak pressure was 0.075 bar. Peak temperature in sodium pool appeared to be 854 deg C regardless of the feed of sodium. Decrease of 1% in oxygen concentration showed the rise of 0.036bar in pressure.

  5. Flashing oscillation in pool water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takamasa, Tomoji; Kondo, Koichi; Hazuku, Tatsuya

    1996-01-01

    This paper presents an experimental study of high-pressure saturated water discharging into the pool water. The purpose of the experiment is to clarify the phenomena that occur in blow-down of high-pressure saturated water from the pressure vessel into the water-filled containment in the case of a wall-crack accident or a LOCA in an advanced reactor. The results revealed that a flashing oscillation (FO) occurs when high-pressure saturated water discharges into the pool water, under specified experimental settings. The range of the flashing oscillates between a point very close to and some distance from the vent hole. The pressures in the vent tube and pool water vary according to the flashing oscillation. The pressure oscillation and frequency of flashing position might be caused by the balancing action between the supply of saturated water, flashing at the control volume and its condensation on the steam-water interface. A linear analysis was conducted using a spherical flashing bubble model. The period of the flashing oscillation in the experiments can be explained by theoretical analysis

  6. Clinical and epidemiological aspects of feline leishmaniasis in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz da Silveira Neto

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Tegumentary and visceral leishmaniasis are severe and unfortunately common parasitic diseases in Brazil. Among domestic animals, dogs are considered the main urban reservoir of the protozoan parasites, however, there is evidence that infected cats can also contribute towards the disease pool. The number of cats diagnosed with leishmaniasis has greatly increased in the last few years, highlighting the importance of thorough investigations on the role of the cat in the epidemiological cycle of the disease and in public health related issues. The main clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis suffered by cats, even when infected with Leishmania chagasi, a viscerotropic species, are skin abnormalities, which can be confounded with multiple other diseases. Indirect ELISA should be used as a screening test in epidemiological investigations for being a sensitive technique, followed by more specific laboratory tests. The standardization and validation of rapid, economical and reproducible diagnostic methods, to be employed in epidemiological surveillance, are still required

  7. Post-accident cooling capacity analysis of the AP1000 passive spent fuel pool cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Xia

    2013-01-01

    The passive design is used in AP1000 spent fuel pool cooling system. The decay heat of the spent fuel is removed by heating-boiling method, and makeup water is provided passively and continuously to ensure the safety of the spent fuel. Based on the analysis of the post-accident cooling capacity of the spent fuel cooling system, it is found that post-accident first 72-hour cooling under normal refueling condition and emergency full-core offload condition can be maintained by passive makeup from safety water source; 56 hours have to be waited under full core refueling condition to ensure the safety of the core and the spent fuel pool. Long-term cooling could be conducted through reserved safety interface. Makeup measure is available after accident and limited operation is needed. Makeup under control could maintain the spent fuel at sub-critical condition. Compared with traditional spent fuel pool cooling system design, the AP1000 design respond more effectively to LOCA accidents. (authors)

  8. Upper arm circumference development in Chinese children and adolescents: a pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Fang; Fu, Tong

    2015-05-30

    Upper arm development in children is different in different ethnic groups. There have been few reports on upper arm circumference (UAC) at different stages of development in children and adolescents in China. The purpose of this study was to provide a reference for growth with weighted assessment of the overall level of development. Using a pooled analysis, an authoritative journal database search and reports of UAC, we created a new database on developmental measures in children. In conducting a weighted analysis, we compared reference values for 0~60 months of development according to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics considering gender and nationality and used Z values as interval values for the second sampling to obtain an exponential smooth curve to analyze the mean, standard deviation, and sites of attachment. Ten articles were included in the pooled analysis, and these articles included participants from different areas of China. The point of intersection with the WHO curve was 3.5 years with higher values at earlier ages and lower values at older ages. Boys curve was steeper after puberty. The curves in the studies had a merged line compatible. The Z values of exponential smoothing showed the curves were similar for body weight and had a right normal distribution. The integrated index of UAC in Chinese children and adolescents indicated slightly variations with regions. Exponential curve smoothing was suitable for assessment at different developmental stages.

  9. [Bibliometric analysis of scientific articles on epidemiological study of burns in China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, W F; Shen, Z A; Zhao, D X; Li, D W; Shang, Y R

    2017-04-20

    Objective: To analyze the current status of epidemiological study of burns in China, and to explore the related strategies. Methods: Retrospective or cross-sectional scientific articles in Chinese or English on epidemiological study of burns in China published from January 2005 to December 2015 were systemically retrieved from 4 databases. The databases include PubMed, Embase, China Biology Medicine disc, and Chinese Journals Full - text Database . From the results retrieved, data with regard to publication year, journal distribution, number of institutions participated in the study, affiliation of the first author and its location, and admission time span and age of patients in all the scientific articles were collected. Furthermore, the definition of age range and the grouping method of age of pediatric patients in English articles on epidemiological study of pediatric burns of China were recorded. Data were processed with descriptive statistical analysis. Results: A total of 256 scientific articles conforming to the study criteria were retrieved, among which 214 (83.59%) articles were in Chinese, and 42 (16.41%) articles were in English; 242 (94.53%) articles were retrospective studies, and 14 (5.47%) articles were cross-sectional studies. During the 11 years, the number of the relevant articles was fluctuant on the whole. The scientific articles were published in 130 journals, with 42 English articles in source journals for SCIENCE CITATION INDEX EXPANDED - JOURNAL LIST, accounting for 16.41%, and 116 Chinese articles in Source Journal for Chinese Scientific and Technical Papers, accounting for 45.31%. Totally 215 (83.98%) articles were single-center studies, and 29 (11.33%) articles were multicenter studies which were conducted by three or more centers. The number of affiliations of the first author of articles was 161 in total. The top 10 institutions regarding the article publishing number published 58 articles, accounting for 22.66%. Scientific articles on

  10. A pooling-LiNGAM algorithm for effective connectivity analysis of fMRI data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lele eXu

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The Independent Component Analysis - linear non-Gaussian acyclic model (LiNGAM, an algorithm that can be used to estimate the causal relationship among non-Gaussian distributed data, has the potential value to detect the effective connectivity of human brain areas. Under the assumptions that (a: the data generating process is linear, (b there are no unobserved confounders, and (c data have non-Gaussian distributions, LiNGAM can be used to discover the complete causal structure of data. Previous studies reveal that the algorithm could perform well when the data points being analyzed is relatively long. However, there are too few data points in most neuroimaging recordings, especially functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, to allow the algorithm to converge. Smith’s study speculates a method by pooling data points across subjects may be useful to address this issue (Smith et al., 2011. Thus this study focus on validating Smith’s proposal of pooling data points across subjects for the use of LiNGAM, and this method is named as pooling-LiNGAM (pLiNGAM. Using both simulated and real fMRI data, our current study demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of the pLiNGAM on the effective connectivity estimation.

  11. Dynamic Path Analysis in Life-Course Epidemiology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamborg, Michael Orland; Boje Jensen, Gorm; Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.

    2011-01-01

    it works through other risk factors. In this paper, the dynamic path analysis model is presented as a tool to analyze these dynamic mechanisms in life-course epidemiology. A key feature of dynamic path analysis is its ability to decompose the total effect of a risk factor into a direct effect (not mediated...... by other variables) and indirect effects (mediated through other variables). This is illustrated by examining the associations between repeated measurements of body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the risk of CHD in a sample of Danish men between 1976 and 2006. The effect of baseline...... BMI on the risk of CHD is decomposed into a direct effect and indirect effects going through later BMI, concurrent SBP, or later SBP. In conclusion, dynamic path analysis is a flexible tool that by the decomposition of effects can be used to increase the understanding of mechanisms that underlie...

  12. Probabilistic analysis of some safety aspects of a swimming pool reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lieber, K.; Nicolescu, T.

    1984-01-01

    A probabilistic risk analysis of some safety aspects without the investigation of radioactivity release has been performed for the 10 MW (thermal) swimming-pool research reactor SAPHIR. Our presentation is focused on the 7 internal initiating events found to be relevant with respect to accident sequences that could result with core melt due to loss of coolant or overcriticality. The results are given by the core melt frequencies for the investigated accident sequences. It could be demonstrated by our investigation that the core melt hazard of the reactor is extremely low. (author)

  13. Metastatic involvement of the pituitary gland: a systematic review with pooled individual patient data analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Wenzhuan; Chen, Fangxiang; Dalm, Brian; Kirby, Patricia A; Greenlee, Jeremy D W

    2015-02-01

    To report a rare case of pituitary metastasis (PM) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and help better understand the incidence of PM and its most common presenting symptoms through a pooled individual patient data analysis. Literature regarding PM was systematically reviewed with a pooled individual patient data analysis conducted. Pooled individual data analysis result is also compared with the result in a most recent systematic review. Our results demonstrate that the incidence of PM among all intracranial metastases is 0.87% (95% CI 0.56, 1.18); it is 1.9% (95% CI 1.46, 2.34) among all autopsied cancer cases; it is 11.56% (95% CI 7.08, 16.04) among all breast cancer patients who had hypophysectomies and 12.83% (95% CI 10.5, 15.16) among all autopsied breast cancer patients. The fixed effect model showed that the incidence of PM in breast cancer patients group is significantly higher (p anterior hypopituitarism (23.68 vs 39.66%, p = 0.015), visual deterioration (27.89 vs 41.38%, p = 0.039), cranial nerve palsies (21.58 vs 41.38%, p = 0.003) and headaches (15.79 vs 32.76%, p = 0.005) were reported significantly higher than previously described in the literature. Pituitary metastasis is rare in patients with cancer, and the pituitary gland is an uncommonly involved location in patients with intracranial metastases. With advanced diagnostic imaging techniques and increased awareness about the manifestation of sellar lesions, the incidence of cranial nerve palsies and anterior pituitarism are higher than reported. This information may allow earlier diagnosis of PM.

  14. Local flow distribution analysis inside the reactor pools of KALIMER-600 and PDRC performance test facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Ji Hwan; Hwang, Seong Won; Choi, Kyeong Sik

    2010-05-01

    In the study, 3-dimensional thermal hydraulic analysis was carried out focusing on the thermal hydraulic behavior inside the reactor pools for both KALIMER-600 and one-fifth scale-down test facility. STAR-CD, one of the commercial CFD codes, was used to analyze 3-dimensional incompressible steady-state thermal hydraulic behavior in both designs of KALIMER-600 and the scale-down test facility. In the KALIMER-600 CFD analysis, the pressure drops in the core and IHX gave a good agreement within 1% error range. It was found that the porous media model was appropriate to analyze the pressure distribution inside reactor core and IHX. Also, a validation analysis showed the pressure drop through the porous media under the condition of 80% flow rate and thermal power was calculated 64% less than in 100% condition giving a physically reasonable analytic result. Since the temperatures in the hot-side pool and cold-side pool were estimated to be very close to 540 and 390 .deg. C specified on the design values respectively, the CFD models of heat source and sink was confirmed. Through the study, the methodology of 3-dimensional CFD analysis about KALIMER-600 has been established and proven. Performed with the methodology, the analysis data such as flow velocity, temperature and pressure distribution were compared by normalizing those data for the actual sized modeling and scale-down modeling. As a result, the characteristics of thermal hydraulic behavior were almost identical for the actual sized modeling and scale-down modeling and the similarity scaling law used in the design of the sodium test facility by KAERI was found to be correct

  15. Dynamic simulation and thermo-economic analysis of a PhotoVoltaic/Thermal collector heating system for an indoor–outdoor swimming pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buonomano, Annamaria; De Luca, Giuseppina; Figaj, Rafal Damian; Vanoli, Laura

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A PV/T heating system for indoor–outdoor swimming pools is proposed. • A comparison among some thermal pool models available in literature is carried out. • Dynamic simulations of the thermal behavior of the swimming-pools are performed. • PV/T thermal energy is used to heat the swimming pool and for DHW production. • Energy and economic parametric analyses of the proposed system are presented. - Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of an innovative renewable energy plant serving an existing indoor/outdoor swimming pool located in Naples. The proposed solar hybrid system is designed in order to balance the remarkable energy demand of the swimming pool facility and to ensure suitable comfort conditions for swimmers. With the aim to accomplish such goals, the dynamic thermal behavior of the swimming pool was analyzed as a function of the thermo-hygrometric conditions of the indoor space and on the meteorological conditions of the pool site. In order to properly design and size the proposed renewable energy system, different thermal pool loss formulations for the calculation of the swimming pool thermal balance, in indoor and outdoor regimes, are adopted. The solar hybrid system consists of a water cooled photovoltaic/thermal collectors plant (PV/T), designed to meet a part of the facility demands of electricity and heat. Electricity is completely utilized by the facility, while the produced thermal energy is primarily used to meet the pool thermal demand and secondarily for sanitary hot water scopes. In order to carry out dynamic simulations and sensitivity analyses, the system performance is designed and dynamically simulated in TRNSYS environment. The developed simulation model enables the calculation of both the indoor and outdoor swimming pool thermal losses and the overall energy and economic system performance. Such results are obtained as a function of the thermo-hygrometric conditions of the environment, of the occupants and the

  16. Global stability analysis of epidemiological models based on Volterra–Lyapunov stable matrices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao Shu; Wang Jin

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Global dynamics of high dimensional dynamical systems. ► A systematic approach for global stability analysis. ► Epidemiological models of environment-dependent diseases. - Abstract: In this paper, we study the global dynamics of a class of mathematical epidemiological models formulated by systems of differential equations. These models involve both human population and environmental component(s) and constitute high-dimensional nonlinear autonomous systems, for which the global asymptotic stability of the endemic equilibria has been a major challenge in analyzing the dynamics. By incorporating the theory of Volterra–Lyapunov stable matrices into the classical method of Lyapunov functions, we present an approach for global stability analysis and obtain new results on some three- and four-dimensional model systems. In addition, we conduct numerical simulation to verify the analytical results.

  17. Pooling Data from Multiple Longitudinal Studies: The Role of Item Response Theory in Integrative Data Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curran, Patrick J.; Hussong, Andrea M.; Cai, Li; Huang, Wenjing; Chassin, Laurie; Sher, Kenneth J.; Zucker, Robert A.

    2010-01-01

    There are a number of significant challenges encountered when studying development over an extended period of time including subject attrition, changing measurement structures across group and developmental period, and the need to invest substantial time and money. Integrative data analysis is an emerging set of methodologies that overcomes many of the challenges of single sample designs through the pooling of data drawn from multiple existing developmental studies. This approach is characterized by a host of advantages, but this also introduces several new complexities that must be addressed prior to broad adoption by developmental researchers. In this paper we focus on methods for fitting measurement models and creating scale scores using data drawn from multiple longitudinal studies. We present findings from the analysis of repeated measures of internalizing symptomatology that were pooled from three existing developmental studies. We describe and demonstrate each step in the analysis and we conclude with a discussion of potential limitations and directions for future research. PMID:18331129

  18. Birth order and childhood type 1 diabetes risk: a pooled analysis of 31 observational studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cardwell, Chris R; Stene, Lars C; Joner, Geir

    2011-01-01

    The incidence rates of childhood onset type 1 diabetes are almost universally increasing across the globe but the aetiology of the disease remains largely unknown. We investigated whether birth order is associated with the risk of childhood diabetes by performing a pooled analysis of previous...

  19. Thermal analysis and modeling of a swimming pool heating system by utilizing waste energy rejected from a chiller unit of an ice rink

    OpenAIRE

    Kuyumcu Muhammed Enes; Yumrutaş Recep

    2017-01-01

    This study deals with the thermal analysis and modeling of a swimming pool heating system in which the waste energy rejected from the chiller unit of an ice rink is used as an energy source. The system consists of a swimming pool and an ice rink coupled by a chiller unit. The swimming pool and the ice rink both indoor types and were constructed in city of Gaziantep, Turkey. The thermal energy requirement for each section is determined by thermal analysis of each component of the system. Effec...

  20. DNA adducts and cancer risk in prospective studies: a pooled analysis and a meta-analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Veglia, Fabrizio; Loft, Steffen; Matullo, Giuseppe

    2008-01-01

    in which bulky DNA adducts have been measured in blood samples collected from healthy subjects (N = 1947; average follow-up 51-137 months). In addition, we have performed a meta-analysis by identifying all articles on the same subject published up to the end of 2006, including case-control studies......). The association was evident only in current smokers and was absent in former smokers. Also the meta-analysis, which included both lung and bladder cancers, showed a statistically significant association in current smokers, whereas the results in never smokers were equivocal; in former smokers, no association......Bulky DNA adducts are biomarkers of exposure to aromatic compounds and of the ability of the individual to metabolically activate carcinogens and to repair DNA damage. Their ability to predict cancer onset is uncertain. We have performed a pooled analysis of three prospective studies on cancer risk...

  1. Statistical evaluation of diagnostic performance topics in ROC analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Zou, Kelly H; Bandos, Andriy I; Ohno-Machado, Lucila; Rockette, Howard E

    2016-01-01

    Statistical evaluation of diagnostic performance in general and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis in particular are important for assessing the performance of medical tests and statistical classifiers, as well as for evaluating predictive models or algorithms. This book presents innovative approaches in ROC analysis, which are relevant to a wide variety of applications, including medical imaging, cancer research, epidemiology, and bioinformatics. Statistical Evaluation of Diagnostic Performance: Topics in ROC Analysis covers areas including monotone-transformation techniques in parametric ROC analysis, ROC methods for combined and pooled biomarkers, Bayesian hierarchical transformation models, sequential designs and inferences in the ROC setting, predictive modeling, multireader ROC analysis, and free-response ROC (FROC) methodology. The book is suitable for graduate-level students and researchers in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, biomedical engineering, radiology, medi...

  2. Thermal analyses of solar swimming pool heating in Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, I.

    2011-01-01

    Hotels and swimming clubs in Pakistan pay huge gas bills for heating Swimming pools in winter. Winter days in most parts of Pakistan remain sunny and unglazed low cost solar collectors may be used to extend the swimming season. Installing the pool in a wind-protected area, which receives unobstructed solar radiation, may further reduce the size of the solar collectors required to heat the swimming pools. The pools should be covered with plastic sheet to eliminate evaporative heat losses and to prevent dust and tree leaves falling in the pool. The results of the thermal analysis show that in some parts of the country, a solar exposed pool can maintain comfortable temperature simply by using a plastic sheet on the pool surface. On the other hand, there are cities where solar collector array equal to twice the surface area of the pool is required to keep desired temperature in winter. (author)

  3. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics of the MEK1/2 inhibitor, selumetinib, in Asian and Western healthy subjects: a pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dymond, Angela W; Elks, Cathy; Martin, Paul; Carlile, David J; Mariani, Gabriella; Lovick, Susan; Huang, Yifan; Lorch, Ulrike; Brown, Helen; So, Karen

    2017-06-01

    Emerging data on selumetinib, a MEK1/2 inhibitor in clinical development, suggest a possible difference in pharmacokinetics (PK) between Japanese and Western patients. This pooled analysis sought to assess the effect of ethnicity on selumetinib exposure in healthy Western and Asian subjects, and to identify any association between genetic variants in the UGT1A1, CYP2C19 and ABCG2 genes and observed differences in selumetinib PK. A pooled analysis of data from ten Phase I studies, one in Asian subjects (encompassing Japanese, non-Japanese Asian and Indian Asian subjects) and nine in Western subjects, was conducted. Key findings were derived from the collective exposure data across doses of 25, 35, 50 and 75 mg selumetinib; primary variables were dose-normalized AUC and C max . PK data from 308 subjects (10 studies) were available for the pooled analysis; genetic data from 87 subjects (3 studies) were available for the pharmacogenetic analysis. Dose-normalized AUC and C max were 35% (95% CI: 25-47%) and 39% (95% CI: 24-56%) higher in the pooled Asian group, respectively, compared with Western subjects. PK exposure parameters were similar between the Japanese, non-Japanese Asian and Indian groups. There was no evidence that the polymorphisms assessed in the genes UGT1A1, CYP2C19 and ABCG2 account for observed PK differences. Selumetinib exposure was higher in healthy Asian subjects compared with Western subjects, and these data provide valuable insight for clinicians to consider when treating patients of Asian ethnicity with selumetinib.

  4. Citalopram and escitalopram in the treatment of major depressive disorder: a pooled analysis of 3 clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Huafang; Li, Ting; Li, Guanjun; Luo, Jianfeng

    2014-11-01

    Pooled analysis is a powerful technique that is increasingly used to detect differences in efficacy between pharmacologic agents. Some studies have compared the efficacy and tolerability of citalopram and escitalopram, with contradictory results. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of citalopram and escitalopram in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) using pooled analyses. Data from 3 randomized, double-blind studies that compared citalopram (20 to 40 mg/d) and escitalopram (10 to 20 mg/d) were pooled and analyzed. The primary efficacy parameter was change from baseline in the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17) total score. Efficacy assessments were made at weeks 0 (baseline), 1, 2, 4, and 6. Based on the mean change from baseline in the HAM-D-17 at weeks 1, 2, 4, and 6, the efficacy of citalopram, 20 to 40 mg/d, was equivalent to escitalopram, 10 to 20 mg/d (P > .05). Similar results were seen for severely depressed patients, with a mean treatment difference of 13.9 (SE = 7.6) vs 15.9 (SE = 7.5). Response and remission rates at week 6 were similar (response, 72.4% for citalopram, compared with 73.5% for escitalopram; remission, 52.6% vs 54.5%, respectively). The pooled analysis showed that over a 6-week treatment period, citalopram, 20 to 40 mg/d, is equivalent to escitalopram, 10 to 20 mg/d, in both efficacy and tolerability.

  5. Spent fuel pool risk analysis for the Dukovany NPP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hust' ak, S.; Jaros, M.; Kubicek, J. [UJV Rez, a.s., Husinec-Rez (Czech Republic)

    2013-07-01

    UJV Rez, a.s. maintains a Living Probabilistic Safety Assessment (Living PSA) program for Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in the Czech Republic. This project has been established as a framework for activities related to risk assessment and to support for risk-informed decision making at this plant. The most extensively used PSA application at Dukovany NPP is risk monitoring of instantaneous (point-in-time) risk during plant operation, especially for the purpose of configuration risk management during plant scheduled outages to avoid risk significant configurations. The scope of PSA for Dukovany NPP includes also determination of a risk contribution from spent fuel pool (SFP) operation to provide recommendations for the prevention and mitigation of SFP accidents and to be applicable for configuration risk management. This paper describes the analysis of internal initiating events (IEs) in PSA for Dukovany NPP, which can contribute to the risk from SFP operation. The analysis of those IEs was done more thoroughly in the PSA for Dukovany NPP in order to be used in instantaneous risk monitoring. (orig.)

  6. Individual and combined effects of multiple global change drivers on terrestrial phosphorus pools: A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Kai; Yang, Wanqin; Peng, Yan; Peng, Changhui; Tan, Bo; Xu, Zhenfeng; Zhang, Li; Ni, Xiangyin; Zhou, Wei; Wu, Fuzhong

    2018-07-15

    Human activity-induced global change drivers have dramatically changed terrestrial phosphorus (P) dynamics. However, our understanding of the interactive effects of multiple global change drivers on terrestrial P pools remains elusive, limiting their incorporation into ecological and biogeochemical models. We conducted a meta-analysis using 1751 observations extracted from 283 published articles to evaluate the individual, combined, and interactive effects of elevated CO 2 , warming, N addition, P addition, increased rainfall, and drought on P pools of plant (at both single-plant and plant-community levels), soil and microbial biomass. Our results suggested that (1) terrestrial P pools showed the most sensitive responses to the individual effects of warming and P addition; (2) P pools were consistently stimulated by P addition alone or in combination with simultaneous N addition; (3) environmental and experimental setting factors such as ecosystem type, climate, and latitude could significantly influence both the individual and combined effects; and (4) the interactive effects of two-driver pairs across multiple global change drivers are more likely to be additive rather than synergistic or antagonistic. Our findings highlighting the importance of additive interactive effects among multiple global change drivers on terrestrial P pools would be useful for incorporating P as controls on ecological processes such as photosynthesis and plant growth into ecosystem models used to analyze effects of multiple drivers under future global change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Technical specification for fabrication of HANARO pool cover

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ryu, Jeong Soo; Woo, Sang Ik

    2001-06-01

    This technical specification details the requirements and the acceptance criteria for design, seismic analysis, function test, installation and quality assurance for HANARO pool cover which will be installed at the top of reactor pool. The pool cover is classified as non-nuclear safety, seismic category II and quality class T. The basic design of the pool cover for increasing HANARO applications has been carried out for supporting the driving devices which can load, unload and rotate the irradiation targets in the in-core and out-core vertical irradiation holes under on-power operation. The comments of HANARO user group related with irradiation tests have optimally considered in the process of design. The interference between fuel handling and control absorber units in the reactor pool and activities to load, unload and rotate the irradiation targets at the top of the reactor pool have been minimized. The pool cover can be moved for maintenance and can protect the reactor pool from unexpected drop of foreign materials. It provides the space to vertical access of driving devices for NTD, CT/IR and OR4/OR5 under on-power operation. And the pool cover assembly must maintain its structural integrity under seismic load. Based on the above design concept, the HANARO pool cover has been proposed as supporting structure of driving devices for NTD, fission moly and RI production under on-power operation.

  8. Participatory epidemiology: the contribution of participatory research to epidemiology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Bach

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Epidemiology has contributed in many ways to identifying various risk factors for disease and to promoting population health. However, there is a continuing debate about the ability of epidemiology not only to describe, but also to provide results which can be better translated into public health practice. It has been proposed that participatory research approaches be applied to epidemiology as a way to bridge this gap between description and action. A systematic account of what constitutes participatory epidemiology practice has, however, been lacking. Methods A scoping review was carried out focused on the question of what constitutes participatory approaches to epidemiology for the purpose of demonstrating their potential for advancing epidemiologic research. Relevant databases were searched, including both the published and non-published (grey literature. The 102 identified sources were analyzed in terms of comparing common epidemiologic approaches to participatory counterparts regarding central aspects of the research process. Exemplary studies applying participatory approaches were examined more closely. Results A highly diverse, interdisciplinary body of literature was synthesized, resulting in a framework comprised of seven aspects of the research process: research goal, research question, population, context, data synthesis, research management, and dissemination of findings. The framework specifies how participatory approaches not only differ from, but also how they can enhance common approaches in epidemiology. Finally, recommendations for the further development of participatory approaches are given. These include: enhancing data collection, data analysis, and data validation; advancing capacity building for research at the local level; and developing data synthesis. Conclusion The proposed framework provides a basis for systematically developing the emergent science of participatory epidemiology.

  9. A hierarchic sustainability dashboard to evaluate logistics pooling

    OpenAIRE

    Morana, Joëlle; Gonzalez-Feliu, Jesus

    2014-01-01

    Logistics pooling is now a major challenge in supply chain management, though it remains a little known activity in which the different actors involved use different approaches whose objectives are not always the same and with sometimes conflicting standpoints. This purpose of this article is to define, on the basis of a detailed analysis of the literature, a grid for interpreting and a dashboard for evaluating the sustainable performance of pooled delivery systems. Firstly, an analysis of th...

  10. Assessment of intercentre reproducibility and epidemiological concordance of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 genotyping by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fry, N K; Bangsborg, Jette Marie; Bernander, S

    2000-01-01

    The aims of this work were to assess (i) the intercentre reproducibility and epidemiological concordance of amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis for epidemiological typing of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, and (ii) the suitability of the method for standardisation and implementation...... by members of the European Working Group on Legionella Infections. Fifty coded isolates comprising two panels of well-characterised strains, a "reproducibility" panel (n=20) and an "epidemiologically related" panel (n=30), were sent to 13 centres in 12 European countries. Analysis was undertaken in each...... using gel analysis software yielded R=1.00 and E=1.00, with 12, 13 or 14 types. This method can be used as a simple, rapid screening tool for epidemiological typing of isolates of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. Results demonstrate that the method can be highly reproducible (R=1...

  11. 3D-QSAR comparative molecular field analysis on opioid receptor antagonists: pooling data from different studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Youyi; Keenan, Susan M; Zhang, Qiang; Kholodovych, Vladyslav; Welsh, William J

    2005-03-10

    Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models were constructed using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) on a series of opioid receptor antagonists. To obtain statistically significant and robust CoMFA models, a sizable data set of naltrindole and naltrexone analogues was assembled by pooling biological and structural data from independent studies. A process of "leave one data set out", similar to the traditional "leave one out" cross-validation procedure employed in partial least squares (PLS) analysis, was utilized to study the feasibility of pooling data in the present case. These studies indicate that our approach yields statistically significant and highly predictive CoMFA models from the pooled data set of delta, mu, and kappa opioid receptor antagonists. All models showed excellent internal predictability and self-consistency: q(2) = 0.69/r(2) = 0.91 (delta), q(2) = 0.67/r(2) = 0.92 (mu), and q(2) = 0.60/r(2) = 0.96 (kappa). The CoMFA models were further validated using two separate test sets: one test set was selected randomly from the pooled data set, while the other test set was retrieved from other published sources. The overall excellent agreement between CoMFA-predicted and experimental binding affinities for a structurally diverse array of ligands across all three opioid receptor subtypes gives testimony to the superb predictive power of these models. CoMFA field analysis demonstrated that the variations in binding affinity of opioid antagonists are dominated by steric rather than electrostatic interactions with the three opioid receptor binding sites. The CoMFA steric-electrostatic contour maps corresponding to the delta, mu, and kappa opioid receptor subtypes reflected the characteristic similarities and differences in the familiar "message-address" concept of opioid receptor ligands. Structural modifications to increase selectivity for the delta over mu and kappa opioid receptors have been predicted on the

  12. Predictors of migraine headache recurrence: A pooled analysis from the eletriptan database

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dodick, D.W.; Lipton, R.B.; Goadsby, P.J.

    2008-01-01

    Objective.-To identify clinical variables associated with risk of headache recurrence within 22 hours of initial successful treatment of a migraine attack (2-hour headache response), and to analyze the effect of eletriptan in reducing the incidence of recurrence. Methods.-Data were pooled from 10...... evaluable. A multivariable logistic regression analysis identified significant predictors of headache recurrence (return to moderate/severe pain intensity within 22 hours of initial headache response). Treatment response was assessed in two high-risk subgroups, defined by the presence of significant...

  13. Robotic cleaning of a spent fuel pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roman, H.T.; Marian, F.A.; Silverman, E.B.; Barkley, V.P.

    1987-01-01

    Spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants are not cleaned routinely, other than by purifying the water that they contain. Yet, debris can collect on the bottom of a pool and should be removed prior to fuel transfer. At Public Service Electric and Gas Company's Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant, a submersible mobile robot - ARD Corporation's SCAVENGER - was used to clean the bottom of the spent fuel pool prior to initial fuel loading. The robotic device was operated remotely (as opposed to autonomously) with a simple forward/reverse control, and it cleaned 70-80% of the pool bottom. This paper reports that a simple cost-benefit analysis shows that the robotic device would be less expensive, on a per mission basis, than other cleaning alternatives, especially if it were used for other similar cleaning operations throughout the plant

  14. 16 CFR 1000.26 - Directorate for Epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Directorate for Epidemiology. 1000.26... AND FUNCTIONS § 1000.26 Directorate for Epidemiology. The Directorate for Epidemiology, managed by the Associate Executive Director for Epidemiology, is responsible for the collection and analysis of data on...

  15. Sample distillation/graphitization system for carbon pool analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pohlman, J.W.; Knies, D.L.; Grabowski, K.S.; DeTurck, T.M.; Treacy, D.J.; Coffin, R.B.

    2000-01-01

    A facility at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC, has been developed to extract, trap, cryogenically distill and graphitize carbon from a suite of organic and inorganic carbon pools for analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The system was developed to investigate carbon pools associated with the formation and stability of methane hydrates. However, since the carbon compounds found in hydrate fields are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems, this apparatus is applicable to a number of oceanographic and environmental sample types. Targeted pools are dissolved methane, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), solid organic matrices (e.g., seston, tissue and sediments), biomarkers and short chained (C 1 -C 5 ) hydrocarbons from methane hydrates. In most instances, the extraction, distillation and graphitization events are continuous within the system, thus, minimizing the possibility of fractionation or contamination during sample processing. A variety of methods are employed to extract carbon compounds and convert them to CO 2 for graphitization. Dissolved methane and DIC from the same sample are sparged and cryogenically separated before the methane is oxidized in a high temperature oxygen stream. DOC is oxidized to CO 2 by 1200 W ultraviolet photo-oxidation lamp, and solids oxidized in sealed, evacuated tubes. Hydrocarbons liberated from the disassociation of gas hydrates are cryogenically separated with a cryogenic temperature control unit, and biomarkers separated and concentrated by preparative capillary gas chromatography (PCGC). With this system, up to 20 samples, standards or blanks can be processed per day

  16. Coffee consumption and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of eleven epidemiological studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bai K

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Kai Bai,* Qiucheng Cai,* Yi Jiang, Lizhi Lv Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Fuzong Clinical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Growing evidence has shown that coffee consumption is inversely related with the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. It is suggested that caffeine maintains strong antioxidative activity. With this property, coffee intake may lead to the inhibition of cell proliferation of liver cancer cells; also, some compounds contained in coffee can reduce the genotoxicity of aflatoxin B1 in vitro and lower the damage caused by some carcinogens. A computerized search was performed in PubMed to identify relevant articles published before August 2015. Eleven relevant studies were included with a total of 2,795 cases and 340,749 control subjects. According to the meta-analysis we performed, the pooled odds ratio (OR from all included studies was 0.49 (95% confidence interval [CI] =0.46–0.52. The subgroup analysis indicated that the pooled ORs for Asian studies and other populations were 0.27 (95% CI =0.23–0.31 and 0.82 (95% CI =0.77–0.87, respectively. The overall pooled OR for high consumption was decreased to 0.21 (95% CI =0.18–0.25 and significance was observed. Among other populations, the pooled OR of subjects with high coffee consumption was 0.65 (95% CI =0.56–0.73 compared to the nondrinker. The corresponding OR of five Asian studies was 0.13 (95% CI =0.09–0.17. The findings from this meta-analysis further confirmed the inverse association between the coffee consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma risk with quantitative evidence. The protective effect can be detected among healthy population and patients with chronic liver diseases, and the consumption can also prevent the development of liver cirrhosis. Keywords: hepatocarcinogenesis, meta-analysis, coffee, antioxidant

  17. Condensation in a two-phase pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duffey, R.B.; Hughes, E.D.

    1991-01-01

    We consider the case of vapor condensation in a liquid pool, when the heat transfer is controlled by heat losses through the walls. The analysis is based on drift flux theory for phase separation in the pool, and determines the two-phase mixture height for the pool. To our knowledge this is the first analytical treatment of this classic problem that gives an explicit result, previous work having established the result for the evaporative case. From conservation of mass and energy in a one-dimensional steady flow, together with a void relation between the liquid and vapor fluxes, we determine the increase in the mixture level from the base level of the pool. It can be seen that the thermal and hydrodynamic influences are separable. Thus, the thermal influence of the wall heat transfer appears through its effect on the condensing length L*, so that at high condensation rates the pool is all liquid, and at low rates overflows (the level swell or foaming effect). Similarly, the phase separation effect hydrodynamically determines the height via the relative velocity of the mixture to the entering flux. We examine some practical applications of this result to level swell in condensing flows, and also examine some limits in ideal cases

  18. Controlling pool depth during VAR of Alloy 718

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez, F.; Beaman, J.; Williamson, R.; Evans, D.

    2016-07-01

    A longtime goal of superalloy producers has been to control the geometry of the liquid pool in solidifying ingots. Accurate pool depth control at appropriate values is expected to result in ingots free of segregation defects. This article describes an industrial VAR experiment in which a 430mm (17 in) diameter Alloy 718 electrode was melted into a 510mm (20 in) ingot. In the experiment, the depth of the liquid pool at the mid-radius was controlled to three different set-points: 137 mm (nominal), 193 mm (deep) and 118 mm (shallow). At each level, the pool depth was marked by a power cutback of several minutes. The ingot was sectioned and longitudinal slices were cut out. Analysis of the photographed ingot revealed that accurate control was obtained for both the nominal and deep pool cases, while the third one was not conclusive.

  19. Anticipated corrosion in the Vermont Yankee spent fuel pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weeks, J.R.

    1977-06-01

    The report provides additional information relating to a proposed modification to the spent fuel pool at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS) and addresses corrosion of spent fuel pool storage materials and zircaloy, and provides an analysis of the effectiveness of the Boral sealing

  20. Exciting Pools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Bradford L.

    1975-01-01

    Advocates the creation of swimming pool oscillations as part of a general investigation of mechanical oscillations. Presents the equations, procedure for deriving the slosh modes, and methods of period estimation for exciting swimming pool oscillations. (GS)

  1. Application of neutron noise analysis to a swimming pool research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behringer, K.; Lescano, V.H.; Meier, F.; Phildius, J.; Winkler, H.

    1982-01-01

    This work is part of a programme of establishing practical applications of neutron noise techniques to a swimming pool research reactor and deals with two different items: (1) The identification of local boiling caused e.g. by a partial blockage of the coolant flow in a fuel element. Local boiling can easily lead to a burn-out situation. The onset of boiling can be detected by neutron noise analysis and a boiling detection system is presently under development. (2) The measurement of the time evolution of the reactivity induced by xenon after reactor shut-down by an on-line reactivity meter based on neutron noise analysis. From the data, the prompt neutron decay constant at delayed critical, the equilibrium xenon reactivity worth, and an estimate of the average steady-state power flux in the core before reactor shut-down were obtained. (author)

  2. Liquid sodium pool fires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Casselman, C [DSN/SESTR, Centre de Cadarache, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)

    1979-03-01

    Experimental sodium pool combustion results have led to a definition of the combustion kinetics, and have revealed the hazards of sodium-concrete contact reactions and the possible ignition of organic matter (paint) by hydration of sodium peroxide aerosols. Analysis of these test results shows that the controlling mechanism is sodium evaporation diffusion. (author)

  3. Liquid sodium pool fires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Casselman, C.

    1979-01-01

    Experimental sodium pool combustion results have led to a definition of the combustion kinetics, and have revealed the hazards of sodium-concrete contact reactions and the possible ignition of organic matter (paint) by hydration of sodium peroxide aerosols. Analysis of these test results shows that the controlling mechanism is sodium evaporation diffusion. (author)

  4. Peroral endoscopic myotomy for the treatment of esophageal achalasia: systematic review and pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, K; Abbassi-Ghadi, N; Markar, S; Kumar, S; Jethwa, P; Zaninotto, G

    2016-10-01

    Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a novel approach to performing esophageal myotomy for the treatment of achalasia. This review aims to assess subjective and objective metrics of achalasia treatment efficacy, perioperative adverse events and the incidence of postoperative gastroesophageal reflux disease in patients treated with POEM. Secondary aims include a pooled analysis comparison of the clinical outcomes and procedural safety of POEM versus laparoscopic Heller's myotomy (LHM). A systematic review of the literature, up to and including January 15, 2015, was conducted for studies reporting POEM outcomes. Studies comparing POEM to LHM were also included for the purpose of pooled analysis. Outcomes from 1122 POEM patients, from 22 studies, are reported in this systematic review. Minor operative adverse events included capno/pneumo-peritoneum (30.6%), capno/pneumo-thorax (11.0%) and subcutaneous emphysema (31.6%). Major operative adverse events included mediastinal leak (0.3%), postoperative bleeding (1.1%) and a single mortality (0.09%). There was an improvement in lower esophageal sphincter pressure and timed barium esophagram column height of 66% and 80% post-POEM, respectively. Symptom improvement was demonstrated with a pre- and post-POEM Eckardt score ± standard deviation of 6.8 ± 1.0 and 1.2 ± 0.6, respectively. Pre- and post-POEM endoscopy showed esophagitis in 0% and 19% of patients, respectively. The median (interquartile range) points scored for study quality was 15 (14-16) out of total of 32. Pooled analysis of three comparative studies between LHM and POEM showed similar results for adverse events, perforation rate, operative time and a nonsignificant trend toward a reduced length of hospital stay in the POEM group. In conclusion, POEM is a safe and effective treatment for achalasia, showing significant improvements in objective metrics and achalasia-related symptoms. Randomized comparative studies of LHM and POEM are required to determine the

  5. Human leukocyte antigen class I and II alleles and cervical adenocarcinoma: a pooled analysis of two epidemiologic studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahboobeh eSafaeian

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Associations between human leukocyte antigens (HLA alleles and cervical cancer are largely representative of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, the major histologic subtype. We evaluated the association between HLA class I (A, B, and C and class II (DRB1 and DQB1 loci and risk of cervical adenocarcinoma (ADC, a less common but aggressive histologic subtype.We pooled data from the Eastern and Western US cervical cancer studies, and evaluated the association between individual alleles and allele combinations and ADC (n=630 ADC; n=775 controls. Risk estimates were calculated for 11 a priori (based on known associations with cervical cancer regardless of histologic type and 38 non a priori common alleles, as odds ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals (CI, adjusted for age and study. In exploratory analysis, we compared the risk associations between subgroups with HPV16 or HPV18 DNA in ADC tumor tissues in the Western US study cases and controls. Three of the a priori alleles were significantly associated with decreased risk of ADC (DRB1*13:01 (OR=0.61; 95%CI:0.41-0.93, DRB1*13:02 (OR=0.49; 95%CI:0.31-0.77, and DQB1*06:03 (OR=0.64; 95%CI:0.42-0.95; one was associated with increased risk (B*07:02(OR=1.39; 95%CI:1.07-1.79. Among alleles not previously reported, DQB1*06:04 (OR=0.46; 95%CI: 0.27-0.78 was associated with decreased risk of ADC and C*07:02 (OR=1.41; 95%CI:1.09-1.81 was associated with increased risk. We did not observe a difference by histologic subtype. ADC was most strongly associated with increased risk with B*07:02/C*07:02 alleles (OR=1.33; 95%CI:1.01-1.76 and decreased risk with DRB1*13:02/DQB1*06:04 (OR=0.41; 95%CI:0.21-0.80. Results suggest that HLA allele associations with cervical ADC are similar to those for cervical SCC. An intriguing finding was the difference in risk associated with several alleles restricted to HPV16 or HPV18 related tumors, consistent with the hypothesis that HLA recognition is HPV type specific.

  6. A longitudinal evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) in a Rheumatoid Arthritis Population using Rasch Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Covic, Tanya; Pallant, Julie F; Conaghan, Philip G; Tennant, Alan

    2007-01-01

    Background The aim of this study was to test the internal validity of the total Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale using Rasch analysis in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) population. Methods CES-D was administered to 157 patients with RA over three time points within a 12 month period. Rasch analysis was applied using RUMM2020 software to assess the overall fit of the model, the response scale used, individual item fit, differential item functioning (DIF) and person separation. Results Pooled data across three time points was shown to fit the Rasch model with removal of seven items from the original 20-item CES-D scale. It was necessary to rescore the response format from four to three categories in order to improve the scale's fit. Two items demonstrated some DIF for age and gender but were retained within the 13-item CES-D scale. A new cut point for depression score of 9 was found to correspond to the original cut point score of 16 in the full CES-D scale. Conclusion This Rasch analysis of the CES-D in a longstanding RA cohort resulted in the construction of a modified 13-item scale with good internal validity. Further validation of the modified scale is recommended particularly in relation to the new cut point for depression. PMID:17629902

  7. A longitudinal evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D in a Rheumatoid Arthritis Population using Rasch Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tennant Alan

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to test the internal validity of the total Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D scale using Rasch analysis in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA population. Methods CES-D was administered to 157 patients with RA over three time points within a 12 month period. Rasch analysis was applied using RUMM2020 software to assess the overall fit of the model, the response scale used, individual item fit, differential item functioning (DIF and person separation. Results Pooled data across three time points was shown to fit the Rasch model with removal of seven items from the original 20-item CES-D scale. It was necessary to rescore the response format from four to three categories in order to improve the scale's fit. Two items demonstrated some DIF for age and gender but were retained within the 13-item CES-D scale. A new cut point for depression score of 9 was found to correspond to the original cut point score of 16 in the full CES-D scale. Conclusion This Rasch analysis of the CES-D in a longstanding RA cohort resulted in the construction of a modified 13-item scale with good internal validity. Further validation of the modified scale is recommended particularly in relation to the new cut point for depression.

  8. Research on Optimization of Pooling System and Its Application in Drug Supply Chain Based on Big Data Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, DengFeng; Mao, Hongyi

    2017-01-01

    Reform of drug procurement is being extensively implemented and expanded in China, especially in today's big data environment. However, the pattern of supply mode innovation lags behind procurement improvement. Problems in financial strain and supply break frequently occur, which affect the stability of drug supply. Drug Pooling System is proposed and applied in a few pilot cities to resolve these problems. From the perspective of supply chain, this study analyzes the process of setting important parameters and sets out the tasks of involved parties in a pooling system according to the issues identified in the pilot run. The approach is based on big data analysis and simulation using system dynamic theory and modeling of Vensim software to optimize system performance. This study proposes a theoretical framework to resolve problems and attempts to provide a valuable reference for future application of pooling systems.

  9. Quantification of wall motion and phase of contraction in tomographic gated blood pool studies using length-based Fourier analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Taki, Junichi; Nambu, Ichiro; Shiire, Yasushi; Tonami, Norihisa; Hisada, Kinichi; Tada, Akira; Kojima, Kazuhkio

    1985-03-01

    Length-based Fourier analysis, a new method for quantification of wall motion and timing of contraction, was applied to tomographic gated blood pool study. Two parameters, percent-length shortening (%LS) and length-based phase were calculated based on the time-length curves from a center to ventricular edges, and compared with the count-based method. In mathematical models for tomographic gated blood pool images, the severity of asynergy was easily determined by length-based method, and the accuracy of the parameters was good. As to the setting of the center, fixed center provided more reliable parameters than the method using movable center, i.e., when a center of gravity was determined in each frame. By length-based Fourier analysis, quantification of wall motion was easily performed, and the initial inward movement caused by the accessory conduction pathway was assessed in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Length-based approach was considered to be reasonable and effective because the movements of the ventricular edges are essential in tomographic gated blood pool images.

  10. Quantification of wall motion and phase of contraction in tomographic gated blood pool studies using length-based Fourier analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Taki, Junichi; Nambu, Ichiro; Shiire, Yasushi; Tonami, Norihisa; Hisada, Kinichi; Tada, Akira; Kojima, Kazuhiko.

    1985-01-01

    Length-based Fourier analysis, a new method for quantification of wall motion and timing of contraction, was applied to tomographic gated blood pool study. Two parameters, percent-length shortening (%LS) and length-based phase were calculated based on the time-length curves from a center to ventricular edges, and compared with the count-based method. In mathematical models for tomographic gated blood pool images, the severity of asynergy was easily determined by length-based method, and the accuracy of the parameters was good. As to the setting of the center, fixed center provided more reliable parameters than the method using movable center, i.e., when a center of gravity was determined in each frame. By length-based Fourier analysis, quantification of wall motion was easily performed, and the initial inward movement caused by the accessory conduction pathway was assessed in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Length-based approach was considered to be reasonable and effective because the movements of the ventricular edges are essential in tomographic gated blood pool images. (author)

  11. Implementation and reporting of causal mediation analysis in 2015: a systematic review in epidemiological studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shao-Hsien; Ulbricht, Christine M; Chrysanthopoulou, Stavroula A; Lapane, Kate L

    2016-07-20

    Causal mediation analysis is often used to understand the impact of variables along the causal pathway of an occurrence relation. How well studies apply and report the elements of causal mediation analysis remains unknown. We systematically reviewed epidemiological studies published in 2015 that employed causal mediation analysis to estimate direct and indirect effects of observed associations between an exposure on an outcome. We identified potential epidemiological studies through conducting a citation search within Web of Science and a keyword search within PubMed. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility. For eligible studies, one reviewer performed data extraction, and a senior epidemiologist confirmed the extracted information. Empirical application and methodological details of the technique were extracted and summarized. Thirteen studies were eligible for data extraction. While the majority of studies reported and identified the effects of measures, most studies lacked sufficient details on the extent to which identifiability assumptions were satisfied. Although most studies addressed issues of unmeasured confounders either from empirical approaches or sensitivity analyses, the majority did not examine the potential bias arising from the measurement error of the mediator. Some studies allowed for exposure-mediator interaction and only a few presented results from models both with and without interactions. Power calculations were scarce. Reporting of causal mediation analysis is varied and suboptimal. Given that the application of causal mediation analysis will likely continue to increase, developing standards of reporting of causal mediation analysis in epidemiological research would be prudent.

  12. Design of inventory pools in spare part support operation systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mo, Daniel Y.; Tseng, Mitchell M.; Cheung, Raymond K.

    2014-06-01

    The objective of a spare part support operation is to fulfill the part request order with different service contracts in the agreed response time. With this objective to achieve different service targets for multiple service contracts and the considerations of inventory investment, it is not only important to determine the inventory policy but also to design the structure of inventory pools and the order fulfilment strategies. In this research, we focused on two types of inventory pools: multiple inventory pool (MIP) and consolidated inventory pool (CIP). The idea of MIP is to maintain separated inventory pools based on the types of service contract, while CIP solely maintains a single inventory pool regardless of service contract. Our research aims to design the inventory pool analytically and propose reserve strategies to manage the order fulfilment risks in CIP. Mathematical models and simulation experiments would be applied for analysis and evaluation.

  13. Pooling job physical exposure data from multiple independent studies in a consortium study of carpal tunnel syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapellusch, Jay M.; Garg, Arun; Bao, Stephen S.; Silverstein, Barbara A.; Burt, Susan E.; Dale, Ann Marie; Evanoff, Bradley A.; Gerr, Frederic E.; Harris-Adamson, Carisa; Hegmann, Kurt T.; Merlino, Linda A.; Rempel, David M.

    2015-01-01

    Pooling data from different epidemiological studies of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is necessary to improve statistical power and to more precisely quantify exposure–response relationships for MSDs. The pooling process is difficult and time-consuming, and small methodological differences could lead to different exposure–response relationships. A subcommittee of a six-study research consortium studying carpal tunnel syndrome: (i) visited each study site, (ii) documented methods used to collect physical exposure data and (iii) determined compatibility of exposure variables across studies. Certain measures of force, frequency of exertion and duty cycle were collected by all studies and were largely compatible. A portion of studies had detailed data to investigate simultaneous combinations of force, frequency and duration of exertions. Limited compatibility was found for hand/wrist posture. Only two studies could calculate compatible Strain Index scores, but Threshold Limit Value for Hand Activity Level could be determined for all studies. Challenges of pooling data, resources required and recommendations for future researchers are discussed. PMID:23697792

  14. Meat intake and cause-specific mortality: a pooled analysis of Asian prospective cohort studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jung Eun; McLerran, Dale F; Rolland, Betsy; Chen, Yu; Grant, Eric J; Vedanthan, Rajesh; Inoue, Manami; Tsugane, Shoichiro; Gao, Yu-Tang; Tsuji, Ichiro; Kakizaki, Masako; Ahsan, Habibul; Ahn, Yoon-Ok; Pan, Wen-Harn; Ozasa, Kotaro; Yoo, Keun-Young; Sasazuki, Shizuka; Yang, Gong; Watanabe, Takashi; Sugawara, Yumi; Parvez, Faruque; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Chuang, Shao-Yuan; Ohishi, Waka; Park, Sue K; Feng, Ziding; Thornquist, Mark; Boffetta, Paolo; Zheng, Wei; Kang, Daehee; Potter, John; Sinha, Rashmi

    2013-10-01

    Total or red meat intake has been shown to be associated with a higher risk of mortality in Western populations, but little is known of the risks in Asian populations. We examined temporal trends in meat consumption and associations between meat intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Asia. We used ecological data from the United Nations to compare country-specific meat consumption. Separately, 8 Asian prospective cohort studies in Bangladesh, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan consisting of 112,310 men and 184,411 women were followed for 6.6 to 15.6 y with 24,283 all-cause, 9558 cancer, and 6373 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths. We estimated the study-specific HRs and 95% CIs by using a Cox regression model and pooled them by using a random-effects model. Red meat consumption was substantially lower in the Asian countries than in the United States. Fish and seafood consumption was higher in Japan and Korea than in the United States. Our pooled analysis found no association between intake of total meat (red meat, poultry, and fish/seafood) and risks of all-cause, CVD, or cancer mortality among men and women; HRs (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality from a comparison of the highest with the lowest quartile were 1.02 (0.91, 1.15) in men and 0.93 (0.86, 1.01) in women. Ecological data indicate an increase in meat intake in Asian countries; however, our pooled analysis did not provide evidence of a higher risk of mortality for total meat intake and provided evidence of an inverse association with red meat, poultry, and fish/seafood. Red meat intake was inversely associated with CVD mortality in men and with cancer mortality in women in Asian countries.

  15. Swimming-pool piles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trioulaire, M.

    1959-01-01

    In France two swimming-pool piles, Melusine and Triton, have just been set in operation. The swimming-pool pile is the ideal research tool for neutron fluxes of the order of 10 13 . This type of pile can be of immediate interest to many research centres, but its cost must be reduced and a break with tradition should be observed in its design. It would be an advantage: - to bury the swimming-pool; - to reject the experimental channel; - to concentrate the cooling circuit in the swimming-pool; - to carry out all manipulations in the water; - to double the core. (author) [fr

  16. Thermal analysis and modeling of a swimming pool heating system by utilizing waste energy rejected from a chiller unit of an ice rink

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuyumcu Muhammed Enes

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This study deals with the thermal analysis and modeling of a swimming pool heating system in which the waste energy rejected from the chiller unit of an ice rink is used as an energy source. The system consists of a swimming pool and an ice rink coupled by a chiller unit. The swimming pool and the ice rink both indoor types and were constructed in city of Gaziantep, Turkey. The thermal energy requirement for each section is determined by thermal analysis of each component of the system. Effects of different design parameters such as ceiling insulation thickness, ceiling emissivity, Carnot efficiency factor and size of the ice rink on the thermal energy requirements and coefficient of performance of the chiller unit are investigated. As a result of analyses of the system, the minimum ice rink area is determined in order to meet annual total heat energy demand of the olympic-sized swimming pool.

  17. Diclofenac topical solution compared with oral diclofenac: a pooled safety analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roth SH

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Sanford H Roth1, Philip Fuller21Arizona Research and Education, Arthritis Laboratory, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA; 2Medical Affairs, Covidien, Hazelwood, MO, USABackground: Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID formulations, which produce less systemic exposure compared with oral formulations, are an option for the management of osteoarthritis (OA. However, the overall safety and efficacy of these agents compared with oral or systemic therapy remains controversial.Methods: Two 12-week, double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, controlled, multicenter studies compared the safety and efficacy profiles of diclofenac topical solution (TDiclo with oral diclofenac (ODiclo. Each study independently showed that TDiclo had similar efficacy to ODiclo. To compare the safety profiles of TDiclo and ODiclo, a pooled safety analysis was performed for 927 total patients who had radiologically confirmed symptomatic OA of the knee. This pooled analysis included patients treated with TDiclo, containing 45.5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, and those treated with ODiclo. Safety assessments included monitoring of adverse events (AEs, recording of vital signs, dermatologic evaluation of the study knee, and clinical laboratory evaluation.Results: AEs occurred in 312 (67.1% patients using TDiclo versus 298 (64.5% of those taking ODiclo. The most common AE with TDiclo was dry skin at the application site (24.1% vs 1.9% with ODiclo; P < 0.0001. Fewer gastrointestinal (25.4% vs 39.0%; P < 0.0001 and cardiovascular (1.5% vs 3.5%; P = 0.055 AEs occurred with TDiclo compared with ODiclo. ODiclo was associated with significantly greater increases in liver enzymes and creatinine, and greater decreases in creatinine clearance and hemoglobin (P < 0.001 for all.Conclusions: These findings suggest that TDiclo represents a useful alternative to oral NSAID therapy in the management of OA, with a more favorable safety profile.Keywords: diclofenac, gastropathy

  18. Value of blood-pool subtraction in cardiac indium-111-labeled platelet imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Machac, J.; Vallabhajosula, S.; Goldman, M.E.; Goldsmith, S.J.; Palestro, C.; Strashun, A.; Vaquer, R.; Phillips, R.A.; Fuster, V. (Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY (USA))

    1989-09-01

    Blood-pool subtraction has been proposed to enhance {sup 111}In-labeled platelet imaging of intracardiac thrombi. We tested the accuracy of labeled platelet imaging, with and without blood-pool subtraction, in ten subjects with cardiac thrombi of varying age, eight with endocarditis being treated with antimicrobial therapy and ten normal controls. Imaging was performed early after labeled platelet injection (24 hr or less) and late (48 hr or more). Blood-pool subtraction was carried out. All images were graded subjectively by four experienced, blinded readers. Detection accuracy was measured by the sensitivity at three fixed levels of specificity estimated from receiver operator characteristic curve analysis and tested by three-way analysis of variance. Detection accuracy was generally improved on delayed images. Blood-pool subtraction did not improve accuracy. Although blood-pool subtraction increased detection sensitivity, this was offset by decreased specificity. For this population studied, blood-pool subtraction did not improve subjective detection of abnormal platelet deposition by 111In platelet imaging.

  19. Value of blood-pool subtraction in cardiac indium-111-labeled platelet imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Machac, J.; Vallabhajosula, S.; Goldman, M.E.; Goldsmith, S.J.; Palestro, C.; Strashun, A.; Vaquer, R.; Phillips, R.A.; Fuster, V.

    1989-01-01

    Blood-pool subtraction has been proposed to enhance 111 In-labeled platelet imaging of intracardiac thrombi. We tested the accuracy of labeled platelet imaging, with and without blood-pool subtraction, in ten subjects with cardiac thrombi of varying age, eight with endocarditis being treated with antimicrobial therapy and ten normal controls. Imaging was performed early after labeled platelet injection (24 hr or less) and late (48 hr or more). Blood-pool subtraction was carried out. All images were graded subjectively by four experienced, blinded readers. Detection accuracy was measured by the sensitivity at three fixed levels of specificity estimated from receiver operator characteristic curve analysis and tested by three-way analysis of variance. Detection accuracy was generally improved on delayed images. Blood-pool subtraction did not improve accuracy. Although blood-pool subtraction increased detection sensitivity, this was offset by decreased specificity. For this population studied, blood-pool subtraction did not improve subjective detection of abnormal platelet deposition by 111In platelet imaging

  20. Quantitative analysis of low-density SNP data for parentage assignment and estimation of family contributions to pooled samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henshall, John M; Dierens, Leanne; Sellars, Melony J

    2014-09-02

    While much attention has focused on the development of high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays, the costs of developing and running low-density assays have fallen dramatically. This makes it feasible to develop and apply SNP assays for agricultural species beyond the major livestock species. Although low-cost low-density assays may not have the accuracy of the high-density assays widely used in human and livestock species, we show that when combined with statistical analysis approaches that use quantitative instead of discrete genotypes, their utility may be improved. The data used in this study are from a 63-SNP marker Sequenom® iPLEX Platinum panel for the Black Tiger shrimp, for which high-density SNP assays are not currently available. For quantitative genotypes that could be estimated, in 5% of cases the most likely genotype for an individual at a SNP had a probability of less than 0.99. Matrix formulations of maximum likelihood equations for parentage assignment were developed for the quantitative genotypes and also for discrete genotypes perturbed by an assumed error term. Assignment rates that were based on maximum likelihood with quantitative genotypes were similar to those based on maximum likelihood with perturbed genotypes but, for more than 50% of cases, the two methods resulted in individuals being assigned to different families. Treating genotypes as quantitative values allows the same analysis framework to be used for pooled samples of DNA from multiple individuals. Resulting correlations between allele frequency estimates from pooled DNA and individual samples were consistently greater than 0.90, and as high as 0.97 for some pools. Estimates of family contributions to the pools based on quantitative genotypes in pooled DNA had a correlation of 0.85 with estimates of contributions from DNA-derived pedigree. Even with low numbers of SNPs of variable quality, parentage testing and family assignment from pooled samples are

  1. Molecular Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Survival Analysis and Algorithms Linking Phylogenies to Transmission Trees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenah, Eben; Britton, Tom; Halloran, M. Elizabeth; Longini, Ira M.

    2016-01-01

    Recent work has attempted to use whole-genome sequence data from pathogens to reconstruct the transmission trees linking infectors and infectees in outbreaks. However, transmission trees from one outbreak do not generalize to future outbreaks. Reconstruction of transmission trees is most useful to public health if it leads to generalizable scientific insights about disease transmission. In a survival analysis framework, estimation of transmission parameters is based on sums or averages over the possible transmission trees. A phylogeny can increase the precision of these estimates by providing partial information about who infected whom. The leaves of the phylogeny represent sampled pathogens, which have known hosts. The interior nodes represent common ancestors of sampled pathogens, which have unknown hosts. Starting from assumptions about disease biology and epidemiologic study design, we prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the possible assignments of interior node hosts and the transmission trees simultaneously consistent with the phylogeny and the epidemiologic data on person, place, and time. We develop algorithms to enumerate these transmission trees and show these can be used to calculate likelihoods that incorporate both epidemiologic data and a phylogeny. A simulation study confirms that this leads to more efficient estimates of hazard ratios for infectiousness and baseline hazards of infectious contact, and we use these methods to analyze data from a foot-and-mouth disease virus outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001. These results demonstrate the importance of data on individuals who escape infection, which is often overlooked. The combination of survival analysis and algorithms linking phylogenies to transmission trees is a rigorous but flexible statistical foundation for molecular infectious disease epidemiology. PMID:27070316

  2. Framework for the analysis of reactive power dispatch in energy pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salgado, R.S.; Irving, M.R.

    2004-01-01

    This paper proposes a framework for the simulation and analysis of the reactive power distribution in electric energy markets of the pool type. Firstly, the analytical formulation of the OPF problem, with three optional performance indexes for the reactive power dispatch, is discussed. These OPF objectives are used to determine the reactive power distribution for a given active power dispatch (obtained through merit-order strategy, for instance). An allocation strategy is used to assess the participation of each power system agent in the loss/reactive power distribution. This strategy uses the premise of co-operative game theory. Numerical results obtained with the Ward-Hale 6-bus test system illustrate the main aspects of the proposed methodology. (author)

  3. Models for Pooled Time-Series Cross-Section Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence E Raffalovich

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Several models are available for the analysis of pooled time-series cross-section (TSCS data, defined as “repeated observations on fixed units” (Beck and Katz 1995. In this paper, we run the following models: (1 a completely pooled model, (2 fixed effects models, and (3 multi-level/hierarchical linear models. To illustrate these models, we use a Generalized Least Squares (GLS estimator with cross-section weights and panel-corrected standard errors (with EViews 8 on the cross-national homicide trends data of forty countries from 1950 to 2005, which we source from published research (Messner et al. 2011. We describe and discuss the similarities and differences between the models, and what information each can contribute to help answer substantive research questions. We conclude with a discussion of how the models we present may help to mitigate validity threats inherent in pooled time-series cross-section data analysis.

  4. Impact and quantification of the sources of error in DNA pooling designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jawaid, A; Sham, P

    2009-01-01

    The analysis of genome wide variation offers the possibility of unravelling the genes involved in the pathogenesis of disease. Genome wide association studies are also particularly useful for identifying and validating targets for therapeutic intervention as well as for detecting markers for drug efficacy and side effects. The cost of such large-scale genetic association studies may be reduced substantially by the analysis of pooled DNA from multiple individuals. However, experimental errors inherent in pooling studies lead to a potential increase in the false positive rate and a loss in power compared to individual genotyping. Here we quantify various sources of experimental error using empirical data from typical pooling experiments and corresponding individual genotyping counts using two statistical methods. We provide analytical formulas for calculating these different errors in the absence of complete information, such as replicate pool formation, and for adjusting for the errors in the statistical analysis. We demonstrate that DNA pooling has the potential of estimating allele frequencies accurately, and adjusting the pooled allele frequency estimates for differential allelic amplification considerably improves accuracy. Estimates of the components of error show that differential allelic amplification is the most important contributor to the error variance in absolute allele frequency estimation, followed by allele frequency measurement and pool formation errors. Our results emphasise the importance of minimising experimental errors and obtaining correct error estimates in genetic association studies.

  5. Efficacy and safety of intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for malaria in African infants: a pooled analysis of six randomised, placebo-controlled trials

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aponte, John J.; Schellenberg, David; Egan, Andrea; Breckenridge, Alasdair; Carneiro, Ilona; Critchley, Julia; Danquah, Ina; Dodoo, Alexander; Kobbe, Robin; Lell, Bertrand; May, Jürgen; Premji, Zul; Sanz, Sergi; Sevene, Esperanza; Soulaymani-Becheikh, Rachida; Winstanley, Peter; Adjei, Samuel; Anemana, Sylvester; Chandramohan, Daniel; Issifou, Saadou; Mockenhaupt, Frank; Owusu-Agyei, Seth; Greenwood, Brian; Grobusch, Martin P.; Kremsner, Peter G.; Macete, Eusebio; Mshinda, Hassan; Newman, Robert D.; Slutsker, Laurence; Tanner, Marcel; Alonso, Pedro; Menendez, Clara

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) is a promising strategy for malaria control in infants. We undertook a pooled analysis of the safety and efficacy of IPT in infants (IPTi) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa. METHODS: We pooled data from six double-blind, randomised,

  6. Rivaroxaban for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty. Pooled analysis of four studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Turpie, A G G; Lassen, M R; Eriksson, Birgit

    2011-01-01

    Four phase III studies compared oral rivaroxaban with subcutaneous enoxaparin for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA or TKA). A pooled analysis of these studies compared the effect of rivaroxaban with enoxaparin on symptomatic VTE plus all-cau...

  7. Spent fuel storage pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murakami, Naoshi.

    1996-01-01

    Fences are disposed to a fuel exchange floor surrounding the upper surface of a fuel pool for preventing overflow of pool water. The fences comprise a plurality of flat boards arranged in parallel with each other in the longitudinal direction while being vertically inclined, and slits are disposed between the boards for looking down the pool. Further, the fences comprise wide boards and are constituted so as to be laid horizontally on the fuel exchange floor in a normal state and uprisen by means of the signals from an earthquake sensing device. Even if pool water is overflow from the fuel pool by the vibrations occurred upon earthquake and flown out to the floor of the fuel exchange floor, the overflow from the fuel exchange floor is prevented by the fences. An operator who monitors the fuel pool can observe the inside of the fuel pool through the slits formed to the fences during normal operation. The fences act as resistance against overflowing water upon occurrence of an earthquake thereby capable of reducing the overflowing amount of water due to the vibrations of pool water. The effect of preventing overflowing water can be enhanced. (N.H.)

  8. Sodium pool fire model for CONACS code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yung, S.C.

    1982-01-01

    The modeling of sodium pool fires constitutes an important ingredient in conducting LMFBR accident analysis. Such modeling capability has recently come under scrutiny at Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) within the context of developing CONACS, the Containment Analysis Code System. One of the efforts in the CONACS program is to model various combustion processes anticipated to occur during postulated accident paths. This effort includes the selection or modification of an existing model and development of a new model if it clearly contributes to the program purpose. As part of this effort, a new sodium pool fire model has been developed that is directed at removing some of the deficiencies in the existing models, such as SOFIRE-II and FEUNA

  9. Sediment transport through self-adjusting, bedrock-walled waterfall plunge pools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheingross, Joel S.; Lamb, Michael P.

    2016-05-01

    Many waterfalls have deep plunge pools that are often partially or fully filled with sediment. Sediment fill may control plunge-pool bedrock erosion rates, partially determine habitat availability for aquatic organisms, and affect sediment routing and debris flow initiation. Currently, there exists no mechanistic model to describe sediment transport through waterfall plunge pools. Here we develop an analytical model to predict steady-state plunge-pool depth and sediment-transport capacity by combining existing jet theory with sediment transport mechanics. Our model predicts plunge-pool sediment-transport capacity increases with increasing river discharge, flow velocity, and waterfall drop height and decreases with increasing plunge-pool depth, radius, and grain size. We tested the model using flume experiments under varying waterfall and plunge-pool geometries, flow hydraulics, and sediment size. The model and experiments show that through morphodynamic feedbacks, plunge pools aggrade to reach shallower equilibrium pool depths in response to increases in imposed sediment supply. Our theory for steady-state pool depth matches the experiments with an R2 value of 0.8, with discrepancies likely due to model simplifications of the hydraulics and sediment transport. Analysis of 75 waterfalls suggests that the water depths in natural plunge pools are strongly influenced by upstream sediment supply, and our model provides a mass-conserving framework to predict sediment and water storage in waterfall plunge pools for sediment routing, habitat assessment, and bedrock erosion modeling.

  10. Identifying sexual orientation health disparities in adolescents: analysis of pooled data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2005 and 2007.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustanski, Brian; Van Wagenen, Aimee; Birkett, Michelle; Eyster, Sandra; Corliss, Heather L

    2014-02-01

    We studied sexual orientation disparities in health outcomes among US adolescents by pooling multiple Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data sets from 2005 and 2007 for 14 jurisdictions. Here we describe the methodology for pooling and analyzing these data sets. Sexual orientation-related items assessed sexual orientation identity, gender of sexual contacts, sexual attractions, and harassment regarding sexual orientation. Wording of items varied across jurisdictions, so we created parallel variables and composite sexual minority variables. We used a variety of statistical approaches to address issues with the analysis of pooled data and to meet the aims of individual articles, which focused on a range of health outcomes and behaviors related to cancer, substance use, sexual health, mental health, violence, and injury.

  11. Experimental and computational analysis of the hot water layer for the radiological protection in swimming pool reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, Rogerio.

    1995-01-01

    Pool reactors are research reactors, which allow easy access to the core and rare simple to operate. Reactors of this kind operating at power levels higher than about one megawatt need a hot water layer at the surface of the pool, in order to keep surface activity below acceptable levels and enable free access to the upper part of the reactor. An experimental apparatus was constructed to study the hot water layer stability. Thermocouples were used to measure the temperature field. A numerical analysis was conducted simultaneously. Regarding experimental results, representative temperature contour lines of the hot water layer were plotted. The temperature field was determined in the numerical analysis and temperature contour lines corresponding to those of the experimental results were plotted. The hot water layer kept stable for experimental and numerical results. Good agreement between the results for the hot water layer position and thickness has been obtained. (author). 21 refs., 40 figs., 15 tabs

  12. Global Epidemiology of Dengue Outbreaks in 1990–2015: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Congcong Guo

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Dengue is an arthropod-borne infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV infection and transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Approximately 50–100 million people are infected with DENV each year, resulting in a high economic burden on both governments and individuals. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize information regarding the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and serotype distribution and risk factors for global dengue outbreaks occurring from 1990 to 2015. We searched the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases through December 2016 using the term “dengue outbreak.” In total, 3,853 studies were identified, of which 243 studies describing 262 dengue outbreaks met our inclusion criteria. The majority of outbreak-associated dengue cases were reported in the Western Pacific Region, particularly after the year 2010; these cases were primarily identified in China, Singapore and Malaysia. The pooled mean age of dengue-infected individuals was 30.1 years; of the included patients, 54.5% were male, 23.2% had DHF, 62.0% had secondary infections, and 1.3% died. The mean age of dengue patients reported after 2010 was older than that of patients reported before 2010 (34.0 vs. 27.2 years; however, the proportions of patients who had DHF, had secondary infections and died significantly decreased after 2010. Fever, malaise, headache, and asthenia were the most frequently reported clinical symptoms and signs among dengue patients. In addition, among the identified clinical symptoms and signs, positive tourniquet test (OR = 4.86, ascites (OR = 13.91 and shock (OR = 308.09 were identified as the best predictors of dengue infection, DHF and mortality, respectively (both P < 0.05. The main risk factors for dengue infection, DHF and mortality were living with uncovered water container (OR = 1.65, suffering from hypotension (OR = 6.18 and suffering from diabetes mellitus (OR = 2.53, respectively (all P < 0.05. The

  13. Pooling data for the analysis of dynamic marketing systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Horvath, C.; Wieringa, J.E.

    Vector autoregressive (VAR) models have become popular in marketing literature for analyzing the behavior of competitive marketing systems. One drawback of these models is that the number of parameters can become very large, potentially leading to estimation problems. Pooling data for multiple

  14. Finding determinants of audit delay by pooled OLS regression analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tina Vuko

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate determinants of audit delay. Audit delay is measured as the length of time (i.e. the number of calendar days from the fiscal year-end to the audit report date. It is important to understand factors that influence audit delay since it directly affects the timeliness of financial reporting. The research is conducted on a sample of Croatian listed companies, covering the period of four years (from 2008 to 2011. We use pooled OLS regression analysis, modelling audit delay as a function of the following explanatory variables: audit firm type, audit opinion, profitability, leverage, inventory and receivables to total assets, absolute value of total accruals, company size and audit committee existence. Our results indicate that audit committee existence, profitability and leverage are statistically significant determinants of audit delay in Croatia.

  15. Malaria diagnosis from pooled blood samples: comparative analysis of real-time PCR, nested PCR and immunoassay as a platform for the molecular and serological diagnosis of malaria on a large-scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giselle FMC Lima

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Malaria diagnoses has traditionally been made using thick blood smears, but more sensitive and faster techniques are required to process large numbers of samples in clinical and epidemiological studies and in blood donor screening. Here, we evaluated molecular and serological tools to build a screening platform for pooled samples aimed at reducing both the time and the cost of these diagnoses. Positive and negative samples were analysed in individual and pooled experiments using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR, nested PCR and an immunochromatographic test. For the individual tests, 46/49 samples were positive by real-time PCR, 46/49 were positive by nested PCR and 32/46 were positive by immunochromatographic test. For the assays performed using pooled samples, 13/15 samples were positive by real-time PCR and nested PCR and 11/15 were positive by immunochromatographic test. These molecular methods demonstrated sensitivity and specificity for both the individual and pooled samples. Due to the advantages of the real-time PCR, such as the fast processing and the closed system, this method should be indicated as the first choice for use in large-scale diagnosis and the nested PCR should be used for species differentiation. However, additional field isolates should be tested to confirm the results achieved using cultured parasites and the serological test should only be adopted as a complementary method for malaria diagnosis.

  16. An international pooled analysis for obtaining a benchmark dose for environmental lead exposure in children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Budtz-Jørgensen, Esben; Bellinger, David; Lanphear, Bruce

    2013-01-01

    Lead is a recognized neurotoxicant, but estimating effects at the lowest measurable levels is difficult. An international pooled analysis of data from seven cohort studies reported an inverse and supra-linear relationship between blood lead concentrations and IQ scores in children. The lack...... of a clear threshold presents a challenge to the identification of an acceptable level of exposure. The benchmark dose (BMD) is defined as the dose that leads to a specific known loss. As an alternative to elusive thresholds, the BMD is being used increasingly by regulatory authorities. Using the pooled data...... yielding lower confidence limits (BMDLs) of about 0.1-1.0 μ g/dL for the dose leading to a loss of one IQ point. We conclude that current allowable blood lead concentrations need to be lowered and further prevention efforts are needed to protect children from lead toxicity....

  17. The analysis of the RA reactor irradiated fuel cooling in the spent fuel pool; Analiza hladjenja ozracenog goriva u bazenu za odlaganje reaktora RA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vrhovac, M; Afgan, N; Spasojevic, D; Jovic, V [Institute of nuclear sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

    1985-07-01

    According to the RA reactor exploitation plan the great quantity of the irradiated spent fuel will be disposed in the reactor spent fuel pool after each reactor campaign which will including the present spent fuel inventory increase the residual power level in the pool and will soon cause the pool capacity shortage. To enable the analysis of the irradiated fuel cooling the pool and characteristic spent fuel canister temperature distribution at the residual power maximum was done. The results obtained under the various spent fuel cooling conditions in the pit indicate the normal spent fuel thermal load even in the most inconvenient cooling conditions. (author)

  18. BWR MARK I pressure suppression pool mixing and stratification analysis using GOTHIC lumped parameter modeling methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozdemir, Ozkan Emre; George, Thomas L.

    2015-01-01

    As a part of the GOTHIC (GOTHIC incorporates technology developed for the electric power industry under the sponsorship of EPRI.) Fukushima Technical Evaluation project (EPRI, 2014a, b, 2015), GOTHIC (EPRI, 2014c) has been benchmarked against test data for pool stratification (EPRI, 2014a, b, Ozdemir and George, 2013). These tests confirmed GOTHIC’s ability to simulate pool mixing and stratification under a variety of anticipated suppression pool operating conditions. The multidimensional modeling requires long simulation times for events that may occur over a period of hours or days. For these scenarios a lumped model of the pressure suppression chamber is desirable to maintain reasonable simulation times. However, a lumped model for the pool is not able to predict the effects of pool stratification that can influence the overall containment response. The main objective of this work is on the development of a correlation that can be used to estimate pool mixing and stratification effects in a lumped modeling approach. A simplified lumped GOTHIC model that includes a two zone model for the suppression pool with controlled circulation between the upper and lower zones was constructed. A pump and associated flow connections are included to provide mixing between the upper and lower pool volumes. Using numerically generated data from a multidimensional GOTHIC model for the suppression pool, a correlation was developed for the mixing rate between the upper and lower pool volumes in a two-zone, lumped model. The mixing rate depends on the pool subcooling, the steam injection rate and the injection depth

  19. Operation and maintenance techniques of pool and pool water purification system in IMEF

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soong, Woong Sup

    1999-03-01

    IMEF pool is used pass way between pool and hot cell in order to inlet and outlet of fuel pin in cask. All operation is performed conforming with naked eyes. Therefore floating matter is filtered so as to easy under water handling. Also radioactivity in pool water is controlled according to the nuclear law, radioactivity ration maintained less than 15mR/hr on pool side. Perfect operation and maintenance can be achieved well trained operator. Result obtained from the perfection can give more influence over restrain, spreading contamination of radioactivity materials. This report describes operation and maintenance technique of pool water purification system in IMEF. (Author). 7 refs., 13 figs.

  20. Operation and maintenance techniques of pool and pool water purification system in IMEF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soong, Woong Sup

    1999-03-01

    IMEF pool is used pass way between pool and hot cell in order to inlet and outlet of fuel pin in cask. All operation is performed conforming with naked eyes. Therefore floating matter is filtered so as to easy under water handling. Also radioactivity in pool water is controlled according to the nuclear law, radioactivity ration maintained less than 15mR/hr on pool side. Perfect operation and maintenance can be achieved well trained operator. Result obtained from the perfection can give more influence over restrain, spreading contamination of radioactivity materials. This report describes operation and maintenance technique of pool water purification system in IMEF. (Author). 7 refs., 13 figs

  1. Reserve growth in oil pools of Alberta : model and forecast

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verma, M.; Cook, T. [United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States). Central Region

    2010-09-15

    This paper presented a reserve growth study that was conducted on oil pools in Alberta, Canada. Historical oil reserve data were evaluated to assess the potential for future reserve growth in both pools and fields, and reserve growth models and functions were developed to better forecast hydrocarbon volumes. The study also considered the sensitivity of reserve growth to such factors as pool size, porosity, and oil gravity. From 1960 to 2005, the reported known recoverable oil in Alberta, excluding the Athabasca oil sands and including only pools with adequate data, increased from 4.2 to 13.9 billion barrels of oil (BBO). New discoveries contributed 3.7 BBO and reserve growth added 6 BBO. Most reserve growth occurred in pools with more than 125,000 barrels of oil. Light-oil pools account for most of the total known oil volume and consequently showed the lowest growth. Pools with greater than 30 percent porosity grew more than pools with lower porosity reservoirs. Oil field growth was found to be almost twice that of pool growth, possibly because the analysis evaluated fields with two or more pools discovered in different years. The growth in oil volumes in Alberta pools is projected to be about 454 million barrels of oil in the period from 2006 to 2010. Over a 25-year period, the cumulative reserve growth in Alberta oil pools was substantially lower than other major petroleum-producing regions, but the growth at the field level compares well. 8 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs.

  2. Identification of dietary patterns using factor analysis in an epidemiological study in São Paulo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirce Maria Lobo Marchioni

    Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Diet and nutrition are environmental factors in health/disease relationships. From the epidemiological viewpoint, diet represents a complex set of highly correlated exposures. Our objective was to identify patterns of food intake in a group of individuals living in São Paulo, and to develop objective dietary measurements for epidemiological purposes. DESIGN AND LOCAL: Exploratory factor analysis of data in a case-control study in seven teaching hospitals in São Paulo. METHODS: The participants were 517 patients (260 oral cancer cases and 257 controls admitted to the study hospitals between November 1998 and March 2001. The weekly intake frequencies for dairy products, cereals, meat, processed meat, vegetables, pulses, fruits and sweets were assessed by means of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis, based on the intake of the eight food groups, using principal component analysis as an extraction method followed by varimax rotation. RESULTS: Factor analysis identified three patterns that accounted for 55% of the total variability within the sample. The first pattern ("prudent" was characterized by vegetable, fruit and meat intake; the second ("traditional" by cereals (mainly rice and pulses (mainly beans; and the third ("snacks" by dairy products and processed meat. CONCLUSION: This study identified food intake patterns through an a posteriori approach. Such analysis may be useful for nutritional intervention programs and, after computing scores for each individual according to the patterns identified, for establishing a relationship between diet and other epidemiological measurements of interest.

  3. Characteristics of fission product release from a molten pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, J.I.; Suh, K.Y.; Kang, C.S.

    2001-01-01

    The volatile fission products are released from the debris pool, while the less volatile fission products tend to remain as condensed phases because of their low vapor pressure. The release of noble gases and the volatile fission products is dominated by bubble dynamics. The release of the less volatile fission products from the pool can be analyzed based on mass transport through a liquid with the convection flow. The physico-numerical models were orchestrated from existing submodels in various disciplines of engineering to estimate the released fraction of fission products from a molten pool. It was assumed that the pool has partially filled hemispherical geometry. For the high pool pressure, the diameter of the bubbles at detachment was calculated utilizing the Cole and Shulman correlation with the effect of system pressure. Sensitivity analyses were performed and results of the numerical calculations were compared with analysis results for the TMI-2 accident. (author)

  4. Thermal-hydraulic analysis of the OSURR pool for power upgrade with natural convection core cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, J.J.; Aldemir, T.

    1988-01-01

    Natural convection mode core cooling will be maintained in the LEU conversion/power upgrade of The Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR) to 250-500 kW. The pool water will be cooled by a water-glycol-air and a water-water heat exchanger. A plume disperser will be installed in the pool to minimize evaporation from the pool top and to maintain the dose rate due to N-16 activity within allowable levels. The minimization of the pool heat removal system operation costs necessitates maximizing the inlet temperature to the water-glycol-air heat exchanger. For the maximization process, the change in the pool temperature and velocity fields have to be investigated as a function of: location and orientation of the heat removal system components and the plume disperser in the pool; mass flow rate through the plume disperser. The velocity and temperature fields in the pool are determined using COMMIX-1A. The computational system model accounts for the presence of all the pool components (i.e. core, thermal column, beam ports, ion chamber, guide tubes, rabbit, neutron source etc.). The results show that: (1) Both the heat removal system inlet point and the plume disperser have to be located close to the top of the core. (2) Using a disperser system consisting of several pipes may be more feasible than a single unit. (3) For high disperser flow, the disperser jet has to be almost parallel to the top of the core to prevent flow reversal in coolant channels. (4) More than one disperser system may be necessary to create an inversion layer in the pool

  5. Meat intake and cause-specific mortality: a pooled analysis of Asian prospective cohort studies123

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jung Eun; McLerran, Dale F; Rolland, Betsy; Chen, Yu; Grant, Eric J; Vedanthan, Rajesh; Inoue, Manami; Tsugane, Shoichiro; Gao, Yu-Tang; Tsuji, Ichiro; Kakizaki, Masako; Ahsan, Habibul; Ahn, Yoon-Ok; Pan, Wen-Harn; Ozasa, Kotaro; Yoo, Keun-Young; Sasazuki, Shizuka; Yang, Gong; Watanabe, Takashi; Sugawara, Yumi; Parvez, Faruque; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Chuang, Shao-Yuan; Ohishi, Waka; Park, Sue K; Feng, Ziding; Thornquist, Mark; Boffetta, Paolo; Zheng, Wei; Kang, Daehee; Potter, John; Sinha, Rashmi

    2013-01-01

    Background: Total or red meat intake has been shown to be associated with a higher risk of mortality in Western populations, but little is known of the risks in Asian populations. Objective: We examined temporal trends in meat consumption and associations between meat intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Asia. Design: We used ecological data from the United Nations to compare country-specific meat consumption. Separately, 8 Asian prospective cohort studies in Bangladesh, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan consisting of 112,310 men and 184,411 women were followed for 6.6 to 15.6 y with 24,283 all-cause, 9558 cancer, and 6373 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths. We estimated the study-specific HRs and 95% CIs by using a Cox regression model and pooled them by using a random-effects model. Results: Red meat consumption was substantially lower in the Asian countries than in the United States. Fish and seafood consumption was higher in Japan and Korea than in the United States. Our pooled analysis found no association between intake of total meat (red meat, poultry, and fish/seafood) and risks of all-cause, CVD, or cancer mortality among men and women; HRs (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality from a comparison of the highest with the lowest quartile were 1.02 (0.91, 1.15) in men and 0.93 (0.86, 1.01) in women. Conclusions: Ecological data indicate an increase in meat intake in Asian countries; however, our pooled analysis did not provide evidence of a higher risk of mortality for total meat intake and provided evidence of an inverse association with red meat, poultry, and fish/seafood. Red meat intake was inversely associated with CVD mortality in men and with cancer mortality in women in Asian countries. PMID:23902788

  6. Swimming pool granuloma

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001357.htm Swimming pool granuloma To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. A swimming pool granuloma is a long-term (chronic) skin ...

  7. Age-patterns of malaria vary with severity, transmission intensity and seasonality in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and pooled analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilona Carneiro

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: There is evidence that the age-pattern of Plasmodium falciparum malaria varies with transmission intensity. A better understanding of how this varies with the severity of outcome and across a range of transmission settings could enable locally appropriate targeting of interventions to those most at risk. We have, therefore, undertaken a pooled analysis of existing data from multiple sites to enable a comprehensive overview of the age-patterns of malaria outcomes under different epidemiological conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A systematic review using PubMed and CAB Abstracts (1980-2005, contacts with experts and searching bibliographies identified epidemiological studies with data on the age distribution of children with P. falciparum clinical malaria, hospital admissions with malaria and malaria-diagnosed mortality. Studies were allocated to a 3x2 matrix of intensity and seasonality of malaria transmission. Maximum likelihood methods were used to fit five continuous probability distributions to the percentage of each outcome by age for each of the six transmission scenarios. The best-fitting distributions are presented graphically, together with the estimated median age for each outcome. Clinical malaria incidence was relatively evenly distributed across the first 10 years of life for all transmission scenarios. Hospital admissions with malaria were more concentrated in younger children, with this effect being even more pronounced for malaria-diagnosed deaths. For all outcomes, the burden of malaria shifted towards younger ages with increasing transmission intensity, although marked seasonality moderated this effect. CONCLUSIONS: The most severe consequences of P. falciparum malaria were concentrated in the youngest age groups across all settings. Despite recently observed declines in malaria transmission in several countries, which will shift the burden of malaria cases towards older children, it

  8. Analysis of a total loss of pool water accident in MTR-type research reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yilmazer, A.; Yavuz, H.

    2004-01-01

    In this study, the transient in which the pool water is lost throughout one or more of the main coolant pipes which are supposed to be broken guillotine-like is investigated for the TR-2 research reactor in Istanbul. The applicability of the methods used for other similar types of research reactors is shown. Decrease of the pool water level until the top of the core, and from the top to the bottom of the core are examined as two successive phases of the accident. Finite difference scheme and integral methods are employed to solve energy equations and the results of both methods are compared. The finite difference solution uses an explicit form for the analysis of the first phase, and a moving boundary approach for the second phase. The integral method is based on the assumption that the temperatures appearing in the energy equations have the same profiles during the transient as the steady state ones. Analyses are done both for nominal and hot channel, and the results of both methods are observed to be in agreement. (orig.)

  9. Analysis of a total loss of pool water accident in MTR-type research reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yilmazer, A. [Hacettepe University, Ankara (Turkey). Nuclear Engineering Department; Yavuz, H. [Istanbul Technical University (Turkey). Energy Institute

    2004-08-01

    In this study, the transient in which the pool water is lost throughout one or more of the main coolant pipes which are supposed to be broken guillotine-like is investigated for the TR-2 research reactor in Istanbul. The applicability of the methods used for other similar types of research reactors is shown. Decrease of the pool water level until the top of the core, and from the top to the bottom of the core are examined as two successive phases of the accident. Finite difference scheme and integral methods are employed to solve energy equations and the results of both methods are compared. The finite difference solution uses an explicit form for the analysis of the first phase, and a moving boundary approach for the second phase. The integral method is based on the assumption that the temperatures appearing in the energy equations have the same profiles during the transient as the steady state ones. Analyses are done both for nominal and hot channel, and the results of both methods are observed to be in agreement. (orig.)

  10. Smoking and subsequent risk of acute myeloid leukaemia: A pooled analysis of 9 cohort studies in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ugai, Tomotaka; Matsuo, Keitaro; Oze, Isao; Ito, Hidemi; Wakai, Kenji; Wada, Keiko; Nagata, Chisato; Nakayama, Tomio; Liu, Rong; Kitamura, Yuri; Tamakoshi, Akiko; Tsuji, Ichiro; Sugawara, Yumi; Sawada, Norie; Sadakane, Atsuko; Tanaka, Keitaro; Mizoue, Tetsuya; Inoue, Manami; Tsugane, Shoichiro; Shimazu, Taichi

    2018-02-01

    Smoking has been identified as a significant risk factor for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). However, epidemiological evidence for the effect of smoking on the risk of AML among Asians is scarce. Here, we investigated the impact of smoking habits on the risk of AML by conducting a pooled analysis of 9 population-based prospective cohort studies in Japan. We analysed original data on smoking habits at baseline from 9 cohort studies. Hazard ratios (HRs) in the individual studies were calculated using a Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for potential confounders and combined using a random-effects model. During 4 808 175 person-years of follow-up for a total of 344 676 participants (165 567 men and 179 109 women), 245 AML cases (139 men and 106 women) were identified. For both sexes combined, current smokers had a marginally significant increased risk of AML compared to never smokers (HR = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97-2.14). Ever smokers with more than 30 pack-years had a statistically significant increased risk of AML compared to never smokers among both sexes combined (HR = 1.66, 95% CI, 1.06-2.63). By sex, this significant association was observed only among men, with an HR of 1.69 (95% CI, 1.00-2.87) for ever smokers with more than 30 pack-years relative to never smokers. In conclusion, this study confirmed that cigarette smoking increases the risk of AML in Japanese. This study provides important evidence that smoking increases the risk of AML among Asians, which has already been shown in Western populations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Swimming pool hydraulics and their significance for public pools. Bedeutung der Beckenhydraulik in oeffentlichen Schwimmbaedern

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gansloser, G

    1989-11-01

    The term of swimming pool hydraulics means the process of letting in and drawing off water to and from the pool while ensuring that no inadmissible water-borne contaminant concentrations will occur anywhere within the pool. Measurements were performed on a pool to study the significance of correct pool hydraulics. The author points out that a wrong water recirculation design will bring to nought the effects of an elaborate water treatment system; by contrast, poor pool water quality can be greatly improved by redesigning the pool water hydraulics approach. In principle, systems with with water inlet at one side and water outlet at the far side will fall short of hygienic requirements. (BWI).

  12. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of pancreatic cancer: Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael Z; Jacobs, Eric J; Arslan, Alan A; Qi, Dai; Patel, Alpa V; Helzlsouer, Kathy J; Weinstein, Stephanie J; McCullough, Marjorie L; Purdue, Mark P; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Snyder, Kirk; Virtamo, Jarmo; Wilkins, Lynn R; Yu, Kai; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Zheng, Wei; Albanes, Demetrius; Cai, Qiuyin; Harvey, Chinonye; Hayes, Richard; Clipp, Sandra; Horst, Ronald L; Irish, Lonn; Koenig, Karen; Le Marchand, Loic; Kolonel, Laurence N

    2010-07-01

    Results from epidemiologic studies examining pancreatic cancer risk and vitamin D intake or 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations (the best indicator of vitamin D derived from diet and sun) have been inconsistent. Therefore, the authors conducted a pooled nested case-control study of participants from 8 cohorts within the Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers (VDPP) (1974-2006) to evaluate whether prediagnostic circulating 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with the development of pancreatic cancer. In total, 952 incident pancreatic adenocarcinoma cases occurred among participants (median follow-up, 6.5 years). Controls (n = 1,333) were matched to each case by cohort, age, sex, race/ethnicity, date of blood draw, and follow-up time. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to calculate smoking-, body mass index-, and diabetes-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for pancreatic cancer. Clinically relevant 25(OH)D cutpoints were compared with a referent category of 50- or =100 nmol/L) was associated with a statistically significant 2-fold increase in pancreatic cancer risk overall (odds ratio = 2.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.23, 3.64). Given this result, recommendations to increase vitamin D concentrations in healthy persons for the prevention of cancer should be carefully considered.

  13. Occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers: meta-analysis in occupational epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petti, Stefano; Vitali, Matteo

    2017-07-13

    The occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers (DHCWs) is conjectured because of the risk of routine inhalation of potentially contaminated aerosols produced by the dental instruments. Nevertheless, occupational epidemiology studies are contrasting. This meta-analysis assessed the level of scientific evidence regarding the relative occupational risk for Legionella infection among DHCWs. Literature search was performed without time and language restrictions, using broad data banks (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, GOOGLE Scholar) and generic keywords ('legionella' AND 'dent*'). Analytical cross-sectional studies comparing prevalence of high serum Legionella antibody levels in DHCWs and occupationally unexposed individuals were considered. The relative occupational risk was assessed through prevalence ratio (PR) with 95% CI. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed (Cochran's Q test) and was used to choose the meta-analytic method. Study quality (modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale) and publication bias (Begg and Mazumdar's test, Egger and colleagues' test, trim and fill R 0 method) were assessed formally and considered for the sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis to study inclusion, subgroup analyses (dental staff categories; publication year, before vs after 1998, ie, 5 years after the release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the infection control guidelines in dental healthcare setting) were performed. Seven studies were included (2232 DHCWs, 1172 occupationally unexposed individuals). No evidence of publication bias was detected. The pooled PR estimate was statistically non-significant at 95% level (1.7; 95% CI 0.8 to 3.2), study-quality adjustment did not change the PR considerably (PR, 1.5; 95% CI 0.5 to 4.1). PR was statistically significant before 1998 and no longer significant after 1998. Subgroup analysis according to DHCW categories was inconclusive. There is no scientific evidence that DHCWs are

  14. 13 CFR 120.1706 - Pool Originator's retained interest in Pool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Pool Originator's retained interest in Pool. 120.1706 Section 120.1706 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Establishment of SBA Secondary Market Guarantee Program for First Lien Position 504 Loan...

  15. Snippets from the past: the evolution of Wade Hampton Frost's epidemiology as viewed from the American Journal of Hygiene/Epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morabia, Alfredo

    2013-10-01

    Wade Hampton Frost, who was a Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University from 1919 to 1938, spurred the development of epidemiologic methods. His 6 publications in the American Journal of Hygiene, which later became the American Journal of Epidemiology, comprise a 1928 Cutter lecture on a theory of epidemics, a survey-based study of tonsillectomy and immunity to Corynebacterium diphtheriae (1931), 2 papers from a longitudinal study of the incidence of minor respiratory diseases (1933 and 1935), an attack rate ratio analysis of the decline of diphtheria in Baltimore (1936), and a 1936 lecture on the age, time, and cohort analysis of tuberculosis mortality. These 6 American Journal of Hygiene /American Journal of Epidemiology papers attest that Frost's personal evolution mirrored that of the emerging "early" epidemiology: The scope of epidemiology extended beyond the study of epidemics of acute infectious diseases, and rigorous comparative study designs and their associated quantitative methods came to light.

  16. Analysis of an open-air swimming pool solar heating system by using an experimentally validated TRNSYS model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruiz, Elisa; Martinez, Pedro J. [Universidad Miguel Hernandez - Edificio Torreblanca, Avda. de la Universidad s/n, 03202 Elche (Spain)

    2010-01-15

    In the case of private outdoor swimming pools, seldom larger than 100 m{sup 2}, conventional auxiliary heating systems are being installed less and less. Solar heating is an option to extend the swimming season. The temperature evolution of an open-air swimming pool highly depends on the wind speed directly on the water surface, which at the same time is influenced by the surroundings of the pool. In this paper, the TRNSYS model of a private open-air pool with a 50-m{sup 2} surface was validated by registering the water temperature evolution and the meteorological data at the pool site. Evaporation is the main component of energy loss in swimming pools. Six different sets of constants found in literature were considered to evaluate the evaporative heat transfer coefficient with the purpose of finding the most suitable one for the TRNSYS pool model. In order to do that, the evolution of the pool water temperature predicted by the TRNSYS pool model was compared with the experimentally registered one. The simulation with TRNSYS of the total system, including the swimming pool and the absorber circuit integrated into the existing filter circuit, provided information regarding the increase of the pool temperature for different collector areas during the swimming season. This knowledge, together with the economic costs, support the decision about the absorber field size. (author)

  17. Development of a self-report physical function instrument for disability assessment: item pool construction and factor analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2013-09-01

    To build a comprehensive item pool representing work-relevant physical functioning and to test the factor structure of the item pool. These developmental steps represent initial outcomes of a broader project to develop instruments for the assessment of function within the context of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability programs. Comprehensive literature review; gap analysis; item generation with expert panel input; stakeholder interviews; cognitive interviews; cross-sectional survey administration; and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess item pool structure. In-person and semistructured interviews and Internet and telephone surveys. Sample of SSA claimants (n=1017) and a normative sample of adults from the U.S. general population (n=999). Not applicable. Model fit statistics. The final item pool consisted of 139 items. Within the claimant sample, 58.7% were white; 31.8% were black; 46.6% were women; and the mean age was 49.7 years. Initial factor analyses revealed a 4-factor solution, which included more items and allowed separate characterization of: (1) changing and maintaining body position, (2) whole body mobility, (3) upper body function, and (4) upper extremity fine motor. The final 4-factor model included 91 items. Confirmatory factor analyses for the 4-factor models for the claimant and the normative samples demonstrated very good fit. Fit statistics for claimant and normative samples, respectively, were: Comparative Fit Index=.93 and .98; Tucker-Lewis Index=.92 and .98; and root mean square error approximation=.05 and .04. The factor structure of the physical function item pool closely resembled the hypothesized content model. The 4 scales relevant to work activities offer promise for providing reliable information about claimant physical functioning relevant to work disability. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Predictors of Local Recurrence Following Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation: A Pooled Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, Chirag; Wilkinson, John Ben; Lyden, Maureen; Beitsch, Peter; Vicini, Frank A.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To analyze a pooled set of nearly 2,000 patients treated on the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS) Mammosite Registry Trial and at William Beaumont Hospital (WBH) to identify factors associated with local recurrence following accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). Methods and Materials: A total of 1,961 women underwent partial breast irradiation between April 1993 and November 2010 as part of the ASBS Registry Trial or at WBH. Rates of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), regional recurrence (RR), distant metastases (DM), disease-free survival (DFS), cause-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed for each group and for the pooled cohort. Clinical, pathologic, and treatment-related variables were analyzed including age, tumor stage/size, estrogen receptor status, surgical margins, and lymph node status to determine their association with IBTR. Results: The two groups weres similar, but WBH patients were more frequently node positive, had positive margins, and were less likely to be within the American Society for Radiation Oncology-unsuitable group. At 5 years, the rates of IBTR, RR, DM, DFS, CSS, and OS for the pooled group of patients were 2.9%, 0.5%, 2.4%, 89.1%, 98.5%, and 91.8%, respectively. The 5-year rate of true recurrence/marginal miss was 0.8%. Univariate analysis of IBTR found that negative estrogen receptor status (odds ratio [OR], 2.83, 95% confidence interval 1.55–5.13, p = 0.0007) was the only factor significantly associated with IBTR, while a trend was seen for age less than 50 (OR 1.80, 95% confidence interval 0.90–3.58, p = 0.10). Conclusions: Excellent 5-year outcomes were seen following APBI in over 1,900 patients. Estrogen receptor negativity was the only factor associated with IBTR, while a trend for age less than 50 was noted. Significant differences in factors associated with IBTR were noted between cohorts, suggesting that factors driving IBTR may be predicated based on the risk

  19. A pooled analysis of sequential therapies with sorafenib and sunitinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stenner, Frank; Chastonay, Rahel; Liewen, Heike; Haile, Sarah R; Cathomas, Richard; Rothermundt, Christian; Siciliano, Raffaele D; Stoll, Susanna; Knuth, Alexander; Buchler, Tomas; Porta, Camillo; Renner, Christoph; Samaras, Panagiotis

    2012-01-01

    To evaluate the optimal sequence for the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (rTKIs) sorafenib and sunitinib in metastatic renal cell cancer. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who had received sequential therapy with both rTKIs and integrated these results into a pooled analysis of available data from other publications. Differences in median progression-free survival (PFS) for first- (PFS1) and second-line treatment (PFS2), and for the combined PFS (PFS1 plus PFS2) were examined using weighted linear regression. In the pooled analysis encompassing 853 patients, the median combined PFS for first-line sunitinib and 2nd-line sorafenib (SuSo) was 12.1 months compared with 15.4 months for the reverse sequence (SoSu; 95% CI for difference 1.45-5.12, p = 0.0013). Regarding first-line treatment, no significant difference in PFS1 was noted regardless of which drug was initially used (0.62 months average increase on sorafenib, 95% CI for difference -1.01 to 2.26, p = 0.43). In second-line treatment, sunitinib showed a significantly longer PFS2 than sorafenib (average increase 2.66 months, 95% CI 1.02-4.3, p = 0.003). The SoSu sequence translates into a longer combined PFS compared to the SuSo sequence. Predominantly the superiority of sunitinib regarding PFS2 contributed to the longer combined PFS in sequential use. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  20. Pooled Analysis of Six Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Vasomotor Symptoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guthrie, Katherine A.; LaCroix, Andrea Z.; Ensrud, Kristine E.; Joffe, Hadine; Newton, Katherine M.; Reed, Susan D.; Caan, Bette; Carpenter, Janet S.; Cohen, Lee S.; Freeman, Ellen W.; Larson, Joseph C.; Manson, JoAnn E.; Rexrode, Kathy; Skaar, Todd C.; Sternfeld, Barbara; Anderson, Garnet L.

    2015-01-01

    Objective To describe the effects of six interventions for menopausal vasomotor symptoms relative to control in a pooled analysis, facilitating translation of the results for clinicians and symptomatic women. The MsFLASH (Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health) network tested these interventions in three randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Methods An analysis of pooled individual-level data from three RCTs is presented. Participants were 899 peri- and postmenopausal women with at least 14 bothersome vasomotor symptoms/week. Interventions included escitalopram 10–20 mg/day, non-aerobic yoga, aerobic exercise, 1.8 g/day omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, low-dose oral 17-beta-estradiol 0.5-mg/day, and low-dose venlafaxine XR 75-mg/day. The main outcome measures were changes from baseline in mean daily vasomotor symptoms frequency and bother during 8–12 weeks of treatment. Linear regression models estimated differences in outcomes between each intervention and corresponding control group, adjusted for baseline characteristics. Models included trial-specific intercepts, effects of the baseline outcome measure, and time. Results The 8-week reduction in vasomotor symptoms frequency from baseline relative to placebo was similar for escitalopram at −1.4/day (95% CI: −2.7 to −0.2), low-dose estradiol at −2.4 (95% CI: −3.4 to −1.3), and venlafaxine at −1.8 (95% CI: −2.8 to −0.8); vasomotor symptoms bother reduction was minimal and did not vary across these three pharmacologic interventions (means −0.2 to −0.3 relative to placebo). No effects on vasomotor symptoms frequency or bother were seen with aerobic exercise, yoga or omega-3 supplements. Conclusions These analyses suggest that escitalopram, low-dose estradiol, and venlafaxine provide comparable, modest reductions in vasomotor symptoms frequency and bother among women with moderate hot flushes. Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov, www

  1. Hydrodynamics and heat transfer characteristics of liquid pools with bubble agitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blottner, F.G.

    1979-11-01

    Estimates are given for the heat transfer coefficients at various interfaces which occur in molten pools on concrete. Previous simulant experiments and correlations are used to determine the hydrodynamic behavior of the pool and heat transfer coefficients for the liquids of interest. Other studies assume a gas film occurs between the concrete and molten pool, but the results of this investigation do not confirm this assumption. The results also indicate the significant influence the very viscous concrete slag has on the properties of the molten pool. Additional experiments and analysis are needed to improve the accuracy of the heat transfer coefficients estimated and to understand the behavior of the concrete slag at the interface between the pool and decomposing concrete

  2. Heat and fission product transport in molten core material pool with crust

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, J.I.; Suh, K.Y.; Kang, C.S.

    2005-01-01

    Heat transfer and fluid flow in a molten pool are influenced by internal volumetric heat generated from the radioactive decay of fission product species retained in the reactor vessel during a severe accident. The pool superheat is determined based on the overall energy balance that equates the heat production rate to the heat loss rate. Decay heat of fission products in the pool is estimated by product of the mass concentration and energy conversion factor of each fission product. Twenty-nine elements are chosen and classified by their chemical properties to calculate heat generation rate in the pool. The mass concentration of a fission product is obtained from released fraction and the tabular output of the ORIGEN 2 code. The initial core and pool inventories at each time can also be estimated using ORIGEN 2. The released fraction of each fission product is calculated based on the bubble dynamics and mass transport. Numerical analysis is performed for heat and fission product transport in a molten core material pool during the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident. The pool is assumed to be a partially filled hemisphere, whose change in geometry is neglected during the numerical calculation. Calculated results indicate that the peak temperature in the molten pool is significantly lowered, since a substantial amount of the volatile fission products is released from the molten pool during progression of the accident. The results may directly be applied to the existing severe accident analysis codes to more mechanistically determine the thermal load to the reactor vessel lower head during the in-vessel retention

  3. Parity and pancreatic cancer risk: a dose-response meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Bo Guan

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Previous epidemiologic studies have reported inconsistent results between parity and pancreatic cancer (PC risk. To our knowledge, a comprehensive and quantitative assessment of this association has not been conducted. METHODS: Relevant published studies of parity and PC were identified using MEDLINE (PubMed and Web of Science databases until November 2013. Two authors (H-BG and LW independently assessed eligibility and extracted data. Eleven prospective and 11 case-control studies reported relative risk (RR estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs of PC associated with parity. Fixed- and random-effects models were used to estimate the summary RR depending on the heterogeneity of effects. RESULTS: The summary RR for PC comparing the highest versus lowest parity was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.73-1.02; Q = 50.49, P<0.001, I2 = 58.4%. Significant inverse associations were also observed in the studies that adjusted for cigarette smoking (RR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68-0.98, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (RR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.75-0.93, and those that included all confounders or important risk factors (RR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.76-0.96. Additionally, in the dose-response analysis, the summary RR for per one live birth was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94-1.01; Q = 62.83, P<0.001, I2 = 69.8%, which also indicated a borderline statistically significant inverse effect of parity on PC risk. No evidence of publication bias and significant heterogeneity between subgroups were detected by meta-regression analyses. CONCLUSION: In summary, these findings suggest that higher parity is associated with a decreased risk of PC. Future large consortia or pooled studies are warranted to fully adjust for potential confounders to confirm this association.

  4. Benthic assemblages of rock pools in northern Portugal: seasonal and between-pool variability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iacopo Bertocci

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available We investigated the seasonal (winter vs summer and within season and spatial (between-pool variability of benthic assemblages of rock pools at mid-intertidal level along the shore of Viana do Castelo (North Portugal. Physical traits of rock pools, including size, depth and position along the shore, were also compared between pools. While pools did not differ for any of the examined physical traits, results indicated a clear seasonal difference in the structure of assemblages, including a total of 49 macroalgal and 13 animal taxa. This finding was driven by six taxa that are more abundant in winter (the reef-forming polychaete Sabellaria alveolata, the articulated coralline algae Corallina spp., the brown alga Bifurcaria bifurcata, the encrusting coralline alga Lithophyllum incrustans, the red alga Chondracanthus acicularis and the grazing snails Gibbula spp. and four algal taxa that are more abundant in summer (the invasive brown Sargassum muticum, the green Ulva spp., the kelp Laminaria ochroleuca and the filamentous red Ceramium spp.. These data provide a new contribution to the knowledge of rock pool systems and have potential implications for monitoring programmes aimed at assessing ecological modifications related to natural and anthropogenic disturbances and for identifying processes responsible for the variability of rock pool assemblages.

  5. Stabilization of reactor fuel storage pool-TTP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sevigny, G.

    1994-10-01

    The proposed work includes evaluating standard and improved technologies an designing an integrated demonstration system to clean the water and sludge the fuel storage pools. The water released would meet drinking water standards and tritium standards. The volume of radioactive sludge would be reduced by partial separation of the sludge and radionuclides and eventual solidification of the hazardous and radioactive waste. The scope of the wo includes a survey of needs and applicable technologies, system engineering evaluation, conceptual design, detailed design, fabrication of the integrat demonstration system, and testing of the system. The survey task will locate potential specific customers within the DOE complex, and outside of the DOE complex throughout the United States, that be able to utilize the narrowly focused technology to stabilize/shutdown reactor fuel storage pools, responsible parties will be located and asked respond to a survey about their specific process requirements. Literature searches will be run through technical and scientific databases to locate technologies that may be an improvement over the standard baselined technol for cleanup of radioactively-contaminated pools. Systems engineering will provide decision analysis support for the development, evaluation, design, test functions of the treatment of pool water and sludge

  6. Stabilization of reactor fuel storage pool-TTP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sevigny, G.

    1994-10-01

    The proposed work includes evaluating standard and improved technologies an designing an integrated demonstration system to clean the water and sludge the fuel storage pools. The water released would meet drinking water standards and tritium standards. The volume of radioactive sludge would be reduced by partial separation of the sludge and radionuclides and eventual solidification of the hazardous and radioactive waste. The scope of the wo includes a survey of needs and applicable technologies, system engineering evaluation, conceptual design, detailed design, fabrication of the integrat demonstration system, and testing of the system. The survey task will locate potential specific customers within the DOE complex, and outside of the DOE complex throughout the United States, that be able to utilize the narrowly focused technology to stabilize/shutdown reactor fuel storage pools, responsible parties will be located and asked respond to a survey about their specific process requirements. Literature searches will be run through technical and scientific databases to locate technologies that may be an improvement over the standard baselined technol for cleanup of radioactively-contaminated pools. Systems engineering will provide decision analysis support for the development, evaluation, design, test functions of the treatment of pool water and sludge.

  7. Statistical methods for the time-to-event analysis of individual participant data from multiple epidemiological studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thompson, Simon; Kaptoge, Stephen; White, Ian

    2010-01-01

    Meta-analysis of individual participant time-to-event data from multiple prospective epidemiological studies enables detailed investigation of exposure-risk relationships, but involves a number of analytical challenges....

  8. Influence of the arc plasma parameters on the weld pool profile in TIG welding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toropchin, A.; Frolov, V.; Pipa, A. V.; Kozakov, R.; Uhrlandt, D.

    2014-11-01

    Magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of the arc and fluid simulations of the weld pool can be beneficial in the analysis and further development of arc welding processes and welding machines. However, the appropriate coupling of arc and weld pool simulations needs further improvement. The tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process is investigated by simulations including the weld pool. Experiments with optical diagnostics are used for the validation. A coupled computational model of the arc and the weld pool is developed using the software ANSYS CFX. The weld pool model considers the forces acting on the motion of the melt inside and on the surface of the pool, such as Marangoni, drag, electromagnetic forces and buoyancy. The experimental work includes analysis of cross-sections of the workpieces, highspeed video images and spectroscopic measurements. Experiments and calculations have been performed for various currents, distances between electrode and workpiece and nozzle diameters. The studies show the significant impact of material properties like surface tension dependence on temperature as well as of the arc structure on the weld pool behaviour and finally the weld seam depth. The experimental weld pool profiles and plasma temperatures are in good agreement with computational results.

  9. Influence of the arc plasma parameters on the weld pool profile in TIG welding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toropchin, A; Frolov, V; Pipa, A V; Kozakov, R; Uhrlandt, D

    2014-01-01

    Magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of the arc and fluid simulations of the weld pool can be beneficial in the analysis and further development of arc welding processes and welding machines. However, the appropriate coupling of arc and weld pool simulations needs further improvement. The tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process is investigated by simulations including the weld pool. Experiments with optical diagnostics are used for the validation. A coupled computational model of the arc and the weld pool is developed using the software ANSYS CFX. The weld pool model considers the forces acting on the motion of the melt inside and on the surface of the pool, such as Marangoni, drag, electromagnetic forces and buoyancy. The experimental work includes analysis of cross-sections of the workpieces, highspeed video images and spectroscopic measurements. Experiments and calculations have been performed for various currents, distances between electrode and workpiece and nozzle diameters. The studies show the significant impact of material properties like surface tension dependence on temperature as well as of the arc structure on the weld pool behaviour and finally the weld seam depth. The experimental weld pool profiles and plasma temperatures are in good agreement with computational results

  10. Analysis of a molten pool natural convection in the APR1400 RPV at a severe accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Tae; Park, Rae Joon; Kim, Sang Baik

    2005-01-01

    During a hypothetical severe accident, reactor fuel rods and structures supporting them are melted and relocated in the lower head of the reactor vessel. These relocated molten materials could be separated by their density difference and construct metal/oxide stratified pools in the lower head. A decay heat generated from the fuel material is transferred to the vessel wall and upper structures remaining in the reactor vessel by natural convection. As shown in Fig. 1 two-layered stratified molten pool is developed in the reactor lower vessel. The oxidic pool usually constructed by the mixture of uranium oxide and zirconium oxide. The melting temperature of the oxidic material is very high compared to the steel vessel and metallic layer. And highly turbulent natural convection generated by the decay heat enhances heat transfer to the boundary of the oxidic pool. By this thermal mechanism, oxide curst is developed around the oxidic layer as shown in Fig. 1. The oxidic pool is bounded thermally and fluid-dynamically by the developed crust. By this boundedness, the heat transfer structure in the stratified oxidic/metallic pool can be solved separately. The thermal boundary condition of the oxidic pool is isothermal with constant melting temperature of the oxidic material. The decay heat is transfer to side wall and upper interface between oxidic and metallic layer. Turbulent natural convection is dominant heat transfer mechanism in the oxidic pool. The heat transferred from the bottom oxidic layer is imposed to the upper metallic layer. This transferred heat in the metallic pool is removed through side and upper surface, which is augmented also by natural convection developed in the pool. In this study, a molten pool natural convection in the APR1400 RPV during a severe accident is simulated using the Lilac code and the calculated heat flux distribution on the reactor vessel wall is compared with a lumped-parameter (LP) prediction

  11. Phase analysis of gated blood pool scintigraphy in traumatic myocardial contusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimaki, Hiroshi; Kobayashi, Akiyoshi

    1994-01-01

    It is not easy to make a diagnosis of myocardial contusion following blunt chest trauma, because most patients have many other concurrent injuries with diverse symptoms. The usefulness of phase analysis of gated blood pool scintigraphy (GBPS) for myocardial contusion following blunt chest trauma was evaluated. Thirty-eight patients who had been strongly suspected of having myocardial contusion from clinical symptoms and electrocardiograms underwent phase analysis of GBPS. The results of phase analysis were compared with those of two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D Echo) and CPK-MB fraction measurement in all patients, with those of 201 TlCl myocardial scintigraphy in 35 patients and with those of 99m Tc-pyrophosphate scintigraphy in 10 patients. In 29 patients (76.3%), the results of phase analysis matched those of 2-D Echo. Two patients (5.3%) who were judged as positive by 2-D Echo and as negative by phase analysis had only rupture of the chordae. Only one of two other patients who were judged as negative by 2-D Echo and as positive by phase analysis was judged as positive by 201 TlCl myocardial scintigraphy. The results of both 2-D Echo and phase analysis were not well correlated with those of CPK-MB fraction measurement and 99m Tc pyrophosphate scintigraphy. It is concluded that phase analysis of GBPS, as well as 2-D Echo, is useful for diagnosing myocardial contusion, and that phase analysis is most useful for diagnosing myocardial contusion in patients who cannot be examined by 2-D Echo because of the presence of pneumothorax and/or subcutaneous emphysema in the anterior chest wall. (author)

  12. Phase analysis of gated blood pool scintigraphy in traumatic myocardial contusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nishimaki, Hiroshi; Kobayashi, Akiyoshi (Kitasato Univ., Sagamihara, Kanagawa (Japan). School of Medicine)

    1994-01-01

    It is not easy to make a diagnosis of myocardial contusion following blunt chest trauma, because most patients have many other concurrent injuries with diverse symptoms. The usefulness of phase analysis of gated blood pool scintigraphy (GBPS) for myocardial contusion following blunt chest trauma was evaluated. Thirty-eight patients who had been strongly suspected of having myocardial contusion from clinical symptoms and electrocardiograms underwent phase analysis of GBPS. The results of phase analysis were compared with those of two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D Echo) and CPK-MB fraction measurement in all patients, with those of [sup 201]TlCl myocardial scintigraphy in 35 patients and with those of [sup 99m]Tc-pyrophosphate scintigraphy in 10 patients. In 29 patients (76.3%), the results of phase analysis matched those of 2-D Echo. Two patients (5.3%) who were judged as positive by 2-D Echo and as negative by phase analysis had only rupture of the chordae. Only one of two other patients who were judged as negative by 2-D Echo and as positive by phase analysis was judged as positive by [sup 201]TlCl myocardial scintigraphy. The results of both 2-D Echo and phase analysis were not well correlated with those of CPK-MB fraction measurement and [sup 99m]Tc pyrophosphate scintigraphy. It is concluded that phase analysis of GBPS, as well as 2-D Echo, is useful for diagnosing myocardial contusion, and that phase analysis is most useful for diagnosing myocardial contusion in patients who cannot be examined by 2-D Echo because of the presence of pneumothorax and/or subcutaneous emphysema in the anterior chest wall. (author).

  13. Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet and incident fractures: pooled analysis of observational evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunutsor, Setor K; Laukkanen, Jari A; Whitehouse, Michael R; Blom, Ashley W

    2018-06-01

    The Mediterranean diet is associated with decreased morbidity and mortality from various chronic diseases. Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet has been suggested to have protective effects on bone health and decreases the incidence of bone fractures, but the evidence is not clear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of available observational studies to quantify the association between adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet, as assessed by the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS), and the risk of fractures in the general population. Relevant studies were identified in a literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and reference lists of relevant studies to October 2016. Relative risks (RRS) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were aggregated using random-effects models. Five observational studies with data on 353,076 non-overlapping participants and 33,576 total fractures (including 6,881 hip fractures) were included. The pooled fully adjusted RR (95% CI) for hip fractures per 2-point increment in adherence to the MDS was 0.82 (0.71-0.96). Adherence to the MDS was not associated with the risk of any or total fractures based on pooled analysis of only two studies. Limited observational evidence supports a beneficial effect of adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet on the incidence of hip fractures. Well-designed intervention studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet and the risk of adverse bone health outcomes such as fractures.

  14. Estimation of heat transfer and heat source in a molten pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yun, J.I.; Suh, K.Y.; Kang, C.S. [Seoul National Univ., Dept. of Nuclear Engineering (Korea, Republic of)

    2001-07-01

    Heat transfer and fluid flow in a molten pool are influenced by internal volumetric heat generated from the radioactive decay of fission product species retained in the pool. The pool superheat is determined based on the overall energy balance that equates the heat production rate to the heat loss rate. Decay heat of fission products in the pool was estimated by product of the mass concentration and energy conversion factor of each fission product. For the calculation of heat generation rate in the pool, twenty-nine (29) elements were chosen and classified by their chemical properties. The mass concentration of a fission product is obtained from released fraction and the tabular output of the ORIGEN 2 code. The initial core and pool inventories at each time can also be estimated using ORIGEN 2. The released fraction of each fission product is calculated based on the bubble dynamics and mass transport. Numerical analysis was performed for the TMI-2 accident. The pool is assumed to be a partially filled hemispherical geometry, 1.45 m in radius and 32,700 kg in mass. The change of pool geometry during the numerical calculation was neglected. The peak temperature sizably decreased by about 60 K as the fission products were released from the pool. (author)

  15. Estimation of heat transfer and heat source in a molten pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, J.I.; Suh, K.Y.; Kang, C.S.

    2001-01-01

    Heat transfer and fluid flow in a molten pool are influenced by internal volumetric heat generated from the radioactive decay of fission product species retained in the pool. The pool superheat is determined based on the overall energy balance that equates the heat production rate to the heat loss rate. Decay heat of fission products in the pool was estimated by product of the mass concentration and energy conversion factor of each fission product. For the calculation of heat generation rate in the pool, twenty-nine (29) elements were chosen and classified by their chemical properties. The mass concentration of a fission product is obtained from released fraction and the tabular output of the ORIGEN 2 code. The initial core and pool inventories at each time can also be estimated using ORIGEN 2. The released fraction of each fission product is calculated based on the bubble dynamics and mass transport. Numerical analysis was performed for the TMI-2 accident. The pool is assumed to be a partially filled hemispherical geometry, 1.45 m in radius and 32,700 kg in mass. The change of pool geometry during the numerical calculation was neglected. The peak temperature sizably decreased by about 60 K as the fission products were released from the pool. (author)

  16. Big city consultants shut down our pool : a shocking community pool gets checked for stray voltage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lynch, P. [Power Line Systems Engineering Inc., Markham, ON (Canada)

    2009-12-15

    This article discussed an investigation conducted at a community pool where swimmers complained of receiving electrical shocks both in the pool and on the pool's deck area. Electrical measurements taken at the pool revealed current flows from the pool water to various points around the deck area. Measured current flow in the pool area was 30 amps even when the main pool service breaker was opened to shut off power to the entire facility. Thirty amps of primary neutral current was then measured on the primary side aerial neutral in front of the pool. A 10 amp primary feeder from the pool joined up with the complex's primary neutral wire to increase the neutral current to 40 amps. The combined 40 amps current then returned to the secondary side of a nearby utility transformer substation. The study showed that the underground wet low-resistance grounded surface area of the pool was attracting the 30 amps of utility current from the surrounding ground area. The local utility disconnected the primary and secondary neutral interconnection at the pool's main 600-volt step-down transformer. The pool deck was removed in order to install additional copper bonding grounds. In order to avert serious injuries, many experts propose that all electric utilities should be required by law to reconfigure their power systems to prevent primary power neutral currents from entering private buildings. 1 tab., 2 figs.

  17. poolHiTS: A Shifted Transversal Design based pooling strategy for high-throughput drug screening

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Woolf Peter J

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A key goal of drug discovery is to increase the throughput of small molecule screens without sacrificing screening accuracy. High-throughput screening (HTS in drug discovery involves testing a large number of compounds in a biological assay to identify active compounds. Normally, molecules from a large compound library are tested individually to identify the activity of each molecule. Usually a small number of compounds are found to be active, however the presence of false positive and negative testing errors suggests that this one-drug one-assay screening strategy can be significantly improved. Pooling designs are testing schemes that test mixtures of compounds in each assay, thereby generating a screen of the whole compound library in fewer tests. By repeatedly testing compounds in different combinations, pooling designs also allow for error-correction. These pooled designs, for specific experiment parameters, can be simply and efficiently created using the Shifted Transversal Design (STD pooling algorithm. However, drug screening contains a number of key constraints that require specific modifications if this pooling approach is to be useful for practical screen designs. Results In this paper, we introduce a pooling strategy called poolHiTS (Pooled High-Throughput Screening which is based on the STD algorithm. In poolHiTS, we implement a limit on the number of compounds that can be mixed in a single assay. In addition, we show that the STD-based pooling strategy is limited in the error-correction that it can achieve. Due to the mixing constraint, we show that it is more efficient to split a large library into smaller blocks of compounds, which are then tested using an optimized strategy repeated for each block. We package the optimal block selection algorithm into poolHiTS. The MATLAB codes for the poolHiTS algorithm and the corresponding decoding strategy are also provided. Conclusion We have produced a practical version

  18. Thermal analysis of the modified Hallum Nuclear Power Facility cask using experimentally obtained thermal boundary conditions corresponding to an engulfing open pool fire

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Longenbaugh, R.S.; Sanchez, L.C.; Gregory, J.J.

    1987-08-01

    This report presents the two-dimensional heat transfer analysis of an open pool fire surrounding a modified radioactive materials transport cask. The cask is an older cask that was used by the Hallum Nuclear Power Facility (HNPF). The HNPF cask did not have a neutron shielding region but was modified to include one for testing purposes. Analysis of the thermal effects of an engulfing open pool fire was performed with the use of the heat transfer code Q/TRAN, which had previously been used in thermal benchmarking problems for spent nuclear fuel casks. Boundary condition data for the analysis were derived from experimental open pool fire tests of large-scale calorimeter test articles performed at SNL that produced information about cask surface heat flux versus surface temperature relationships. Data analysis was directed toward a determination of the thermal response of the cask, particularly the extent of lead melt since lead is used within the HNPF cask's gamma-shielding region. Parameters, such as surface emissivity and internal heat generation rate, can affect the results of the thermal analysis which control the amount of lead melt. A parameter sensitivity analysis was performed using a one-dimensional model to describe how surface emissivity and internal heat generation rates affect the temperature distribution within the cask. The information from this analysis was used to determine the range of parameters for the two-dimensional thermal analysis. 13 refs., 57 figs., 8 tabs

  19. A pooled analysis of dietary sugar/carbohydrate intake and esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma incidence and survival in the USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Nan; Petrick, Jessica L; Steck, Susan E; Bradshaw, Patrick T; McClain, Kathleen M; Niehoff, Nicole M; Engel, Lawrence S; Shaheen, Nicholas J; Risch, Harvey A; Vaughan, Thomas L; Wu, Anna H; Gammon, Marilie D

    2017-12-01

    During the past 40 years, esophageal/gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (EA/GCA) incidence increased in Westernized countries, but survival remained low. A parallel increase in sugar intake, which may facilitate carcinogenesis by promoting hyperglycaemia, led us to examine sugar/carbohydrate intake in association with EA/GCA incidence and survival. We pooled 500 EA cases, 529 GCA cases and 2027 controls from two US population-based case-control studies with cases followed for vital status. Dietary intake, assessed by study-specific food frequency questionnaires, was harmonized and pooled to estimate 12 measures of sugar/carbohydrate intake. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] were calculated using multinomial logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression, respectively. EA incidence was increased by 51-58% in association with sucrose (ORQ5vs.Q1 = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.01-2.27), sweetened desserts/beverages (ORQ5vs.Q1 = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.06-2.27) and the dietary glycaemic index (ORQ5vs.Q1 = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.13-2.21). Body mass index (BMI) and gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) modified these associations (Pmultiplicative-interaction ≤ 0.05). For associations with sucrose and sweetened desserts/beverages, respectively, the OR was elevated for BMI desserts/beverages, and foods that contribute to a high glycaemic index, may be plausible EA risk reduction strategies. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the United States.

  20. Biophysical Interactions within Step-Pool Mountain Streams Following Wildfire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, A.; Chin, A.; O'Dowd, A. P.

    2014-12-01

    Recovery of riverine ecosystems following disturbance is driven by a variety of interacting processes. Wildfires pose increasing disturbances to riverine landscapes, with rising frequencies and magnitudes owing to warming climates and increased fuel loads. The effects of wildfire include loss of vegetation, elevated runoff and flash floods, erosion and deposition, and changing biological habitats and communities. Understanding process interactions in post-fire landscapes is increasingly urgent for successful management and restoration of affected ecosystems. In steep channels, steps and pools provide prominent habitats for organisms and structural integrity in high energy environments. Step-pools are typically stable, responding to extreme events with recurrence intervals often exceeding 50 years. Once wildfire occurs, however, intensification of post-fire flood events can potentially overpower the inherent stability of these systems, with significant consequences for aquatic life and human well-being downstream. This study examined the short-term response of step-pool streams following the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado. We explored interacting feedbacks among geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology in the post-fire environment. At selected sites with varying burn severity, we established baseline conditions immediately after the fire with channel surveys, biological assessment using benthic macroinvertebrates, sediment analysis including pebble counts, and precipitation gauging. Repeat measurements after major storm events over several years enabled analysis of the interacting feedbacks among post-fire processes. We found that channels able to retain the step-pool structure changed less and facilitated recovery more readily. Step habitats maintained higher percentages of sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa compared to pools through post-fire floods. Sites burned with high severity experienced greater reduction in the percentage of sensitive taxa. The decimation of

  1. Sample pooling for real-time PCR detection and virulence determination of the footrot pathogen Dichelobacter nodosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frosth, Sara; König, Ulrika; Nyman, Ann-Kristin; Aspán, Anna

    2017-09-01

    Dichelobacter nodosus is the principal cause of ovine footrot and strain virulence is an important factor in disease severity. Therefore, detection and virulence determination of D. nodosus is important for proper diagnosis of the disease. Today this is possible by real-time PCR analysis. Analysis of large numbers of samples is costly and laborious; therefore, pooling of individual samples is common in surveillance programs. However, pooling can reduce the sensitivity of the method. The aim of this study was to develop a pooling method for real-time PCR analysis that would allow sensitive detection and simultaneous virulence determination of D. nodosus. A total of 225 sheep from 17 flocks were sampled using ESwabs within the Swedish Footrot Control Program in 2014. Samples were first analysed individually and then in pools of five by real-time PCR assays targeting the 16S rRNA and aprV2/B2 genes of D. nodosus. Each pool consisted of four negative and one positive D. nodosus samples with varying amounts of the bacterium. In the individual analysis, 61 (27.1%) samples were positive in the 16S rRNA and the aprV2/B2 PCR assays and 164 (72.9%) samples were negative. All samples positive in the aprV2/B2 PCR-assay were of aprB2 variant. The pooled analysis showed that all 41 pools were also positive for D. nodosus 16S rRNA and the aprB2 variant. The diagnostic sensitivity for pooled and individual samples was therefore similar. Our method includes concentration of the bacteria before DNA-extraction. This may account for the maintenance of diagnostic sensitivity. Diagnostic sensitivity in the real-time PCR assays of the pooled samples were comparable to the sensitivity obtained for individually analysed samples. Even sub-clinical infections were able to be detected in the pooled PCR samples which is important for control of the disease. This method may therefore be implemented in footrot control programs where it can replace analysis of individual samples.

  2. Pool swell sub-scale testing and code comparison

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elisson, K.

    1981-01-01

    The main objective of the experiment was to investigate the pool swell dynamics in general and the forces on the lowered central part of the diaphragm between drywell and wetwell in particular. Apart from the high speed camera pressure transducers and strain gauges were used to monitor the transient. Data was recorded on a 14 channel FM recorder and then digitalised and plotted. In total more than one hundred tests were performed including parametric variations of for example geometry, break flow, initial drywell pressure and initial water level. In parallel to this experiment pool swell calculations have been performed with the computer codes COPTA and STEALTH. COPTA which is a lumped mass code for pressure suppression containment analysis has a slug pool swell mode. STEALTH which is a general purpose lagrangian hydrodynamics code has been used in a 2-D axisymmetric version. The STEALTH code has been used to calculate the radial variations in the vertical displacement and velocity of the pool surface and to predict the load on the lowered central part of the diaphragm. A comparison between the calculations and the experimental data indicates that both codes are sufficiently correct in their description of the pool swell transient. (orig.)

  3. Test Area North Pool Stabilization Project: Environmental assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-05-01

    The Test Area North (TAN) Pool is located within the fenced TAN facility boundaries on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The TAN pool stores 344 canisters of core debris from the March, 1979, Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 reactor accident; fuel assemblies from Loss-of-Fluid Tests (LOFT); and Government-owned commercial fuel rods and assemblies. The LOFT and government owned commercial fuel rods and assemblies are hereafter referred to collectively as open-quotes commercial fuelsclose quotes except where distinction between the two is important to the analysis. DOE proposes to remove the canisters of TMI core debris and commercial fuels from the TAN Pool and transfer them to the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) for interim dry storage until an alternate storage location other than at the INEL, or a permanent federal spent nuclear fuel (SNF) repository is available. The TAN Pool would be drained and placed in an industrially and radiologically safe condition for refurbishment or eventual decommissioning. This environmental assessment (EA) identifies and evaluates environmental impacts associated with (1) constructing an Interim Storage System (ISS) at ICPP; (2) removing the TMI and commercial fuels from the pool and transporting them to ICPP for placement in an ISS, and (3) draining and stabilizing the TAN Pool. Miscellaneous hardware would be removed and decontaminated or disposed of in the INEL Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). This EA also describes the environmental consequences of the no action alternative

  4. Profesi Epidemiologi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Buchari Lapau

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Makalah ini pertama kali menjelaskan perlu adanya profesi kesehatan masyarakat dalam rangka pembangunan kesehatan. Lalu dijelaskan apa profesi itu dan standar keberadaan profesi, atas dasar mana dapat ditetapkan bahwa pelayanan epidemiologi merupakan salah satu profesi. Dalam rangka pembinaan profesi kesehatan masyarakat, IAKMI dan APTKMI telah membentuk Majelis Kolegium Kesehatan Masyarakat Indonesia (MKKMI yang terdiri atas 8 kolegium antara lain Kolegium Epidemiologi, yang telah menyusun Standar Profesi Epidemiologi yang terdiri atas beberapa standar. Masing-masing standar dijelaskan mulai dari kurikulum, standar pelayanan epidmiologi, profil epidemiolog kesehatan, peran epidemiolog kesehatan, fungsi epidemiolog kesehatan, standar kompetensi epidemiologi, dan standar pendidikan profesi epidemiologi.

  5. Influenza epidemiology and influenza vaccine effectiveness during the 2014–2015 season: annual report from the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joan Puig-Barberà

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN has established a prospective, active surveillance, hospital-based epidemiological study to collect epidemiological and virological data for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres over several consecutive seasons. It focuses exclusively on severe cases of influenza requiring hospitalization. A standard protocol is shared between sites allowing comparison and pooling of results. During the 2014–2015 influenza season, the GIHSN included seven coordinating sites from six countries (St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russian Federation; Prague, Czech Republic; Istanbul, Turkey; Beijing, China; Valencia, Spain; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Here, we present the detailed epidemiological and influenza vaccine effectiveness findings for the Northern Hemisphere 2014–2015 influenza season.

  6. ORIGAMI Automator Primer. Automated ORIGEN Source Terms and Spent Fuel Storage Pool Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wieselquist, William A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Thompson, Adam B. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bowman, Stephen M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Peterson, Joshua L. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2016-04-01

    Source terms and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage pool decay heat load analyses for operating nuclear power plants require a large number of Oak Ridge Isotope Generation and Depletion (ORIGEN) calculations. SNF source term calculations also require a significant amount of bookkeeping to track quantities such as core and assembly operating histories, spent fuel pool (SFP) residence times, heavy metal masses, and enrichments. The ORIGEN Assembly Isotopics (ORIGAMI) module in the SCALE code system provides a simple scheme for entering these data. However, given the large scope of the analysis, extensive scripting is necessary to convert formats and process data to create thousands of ORIGAMI input files (one per assembly) and to process the results into formats readily usable by follow-on analysis tools. This primer describes a project within the SCALE Fulcrum graphical user interface (GUI) called ORIGAMI Automator that was developed to automate the scripting and bookkeeping in large-scale source term analyses. The ORIGAMI Automator enables the analyst to (1) easily create, view, and edit the reactor site and assembly information, (2) automatically create and run ORIGAMI inputs, and (3) analyze the results from ORIGAMI. ORIGAMI Automator uses the standard ORIGEN binary concentrations files produced by ORIGAMI, with concentrations available at all time points in each assembly’s life. The GUI plots results such as mass, concentration, activity, and decay heat using a powerful new ORIGEN Post-Processing Utility for SCALE (OPUS) GUI component. This document includes a description and user guide for the GUI, a step-by-step tutorial for a simplified scenario, and appendices that document the file structures used.

  7. Epidemiology of Zygomycosis: Analysis of National Data from Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Yuhko; Kume, Hikaru; Togano, Tomiteru; Ohto, Hitoshi

    2017-01-01

    To identify recent trends in the frequency of zygomycosis in autopsy cases, we conducted epidemiological analysis every four years from 1989 to 2009 using national data reported in the "Annual of Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan." 153,615 cases were autopsied, of which 6622 (4.3%) were found to have had mycosis. Among these, there were 243 cases (3.7%) of zygomycosis, which was the fourth most predominant causative agent of mycoses among the monopathogen mycoses. Of the complicated mycoses, zygomycosis accounted for 56 cases. A total of 299 cases with zygomycoses were observed. The frequency of zygomycosis appeared to be generally stable over the twenty-year period from 1989 to 2009, at around 4% of autopsy cases having mycosis. Younger patients tended to have severe and complicated infections that were characteristic of zygomycosis, compared with non-zygomycosis. The pulmonary and gastrointestinal (GI) systems were the most common foci in our analysis, reflecting the severity of zygomycosis in these sites. Hematological disease was the most frequent underlying disease, but there was a peak of neonatal infections in 2009, which was the first time that this was observed in our studies. These results of the epidemiological analysis of autopsy cases with mycosis demonstrate that clinicians should promptly recognize and treat zygomycosis.

  8. Macroinvertebrate community assembly in pools created during peatland restoration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, Lee E., E-mail: l.brown@leeds.ac.uk; Ramchunder, Sorain J.; Beadle, Jeannie M.; Holden, Joseph

    2016-11-01

    providing extensive new habitat that is largely equivalent to natural pools. More generally, we suggest that assembly theory could provide new benchmarks for planning and evaluating ecological restoration success. - Highlights: • We assessed the benefits of peatland pool restoration for aquatic biodiversity. • Biomonitoring metrics and community composition suggested different outcomes to restoration. • Null model approaches provided a clearer suggestion that restoration was successful. • Analysis of assembly processes should be used when planning and evaluating ecological restorations.

  9. Macroinvertebrate community assembly in pools created during peatland restoration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Lee E.; Ramchunder, Sorain J.; Beadle, Jeannie M.; Holden, Joseph

    2016-01-01

    providing extensive new habitat that is largely equivalent to natural pools. More generally, we suggest that assembly theory could provide new benchmarks for planning and evaluating ecological restoration success. - Highlights: • We assessed the benefits of peatland pool restoration for aquatic biodiversity. • Biomonitoring metrics and community composition suggested different outcomes to restoration. • Null model approaches provided a clearer suggestion that restoration was successful. • Analysis of assembly processes should be used when planning and evaluating ecological restorations.

  10. Pool scrubbing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez-Jimenez, J.; Herranz, J.; Escudero, M.J.; Espigares, M.M.; Peyres, V.; Polo, J.; Kortz, Ch.; Koch, M.K.; Brockmeier, U.; Unger, H.; Dutton, L.M.C.; Smedley, Ch.; Trow, W.; Jones, A.V.; Bonanni, E.; Calvo, M.; Alonso, A.

    1996-12-01

    The Source Term Project in the Third Frame Work Programme of the European Union Was conducted under and important joined effort on pool scrubbing research. CIEMAT was the Task Manager of the project and several other organizations participated in it: JRC-Ispra, NNC Limited, RUB-NES and UPM. The project was divided into several tasks. A peer review of the models in the pool scrubbing codes SPARC90 and BUSCA-AUG92 was made, considering the different aspects in the hydrodynamic phenomenology, particle retention and fission product vapor abortions. Several dominant risk accident sequences were analyzed with MAAP, SPARC90 and BUSCA-AUG92 codes, and the predictions were compared. A churn-turbulent model was developed for the hydrodynamic behaviour of the pool. Finally, an experimental programme in the PECA facility of CIEMAT was conducted in order to study the decontamination factor under jet injection regime, and the experimental observations were compared with the SPARC and BUSCA codes. (Author)

  11. Applied immuno-epidemiological research: an approach for integrating existing knowledge into the statistical analysis of multiple immune markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genser, Bernd; Fischer, Joachim E; Figueiredo, Camila A; Alcântara-Neves, Neuza; Barreto, Mauricio L; Cooper, Philip J; Amorim, Leila D; Saemann, Marcus D; Weichhart, Thomas; Rodrigues, Laura C

    2016-05-20

    Immunologists often measure several correlated immunological markers, such as concentrations of different cytokines produced by different immune cells and/or measured under different conditions, to draw insights from complex immunological mechanisms. Although there have been recent methodological efforts to improve the statistical analysis of immunological data, a framework is still needed for the simultaneous analysis of multiple, often correlated, immune markers. This framework would allow the immunologists' hypotheses about the underlying biological mechanisms to be integrated. We present an analytical approach for statistical analysis of correlated immune markers, such as those commonly collected in modern immuno-epidemiological studies. We demonstrate i) how to deal with interdependencies among multiple measurements of the same immune marker, ii) how to analyse association patterns among different markers, iii) how to aggregate different measures and/or markers to immunological summary scores, iv) how to model the inter-relationships among these scores, and v) how to use these scores in epidemiological association analyses. We illustrate the application of our approach to multiple cytokine measurements from 818 children enrolled in a large immuno-epidemiological study (SCAALA Salvador), which aimed to quantify the major immunological mechanisms underlying atopic diseases or asthma. We demonstrate how to aggregate systematically the information captured in multiple cytokine measurements to immunological summary scores aimed at reflecting the presumed underlying immunological mechanisms (Th1/Th2 balance and immune regulatory network). We show how these aggregated immune scores can be used as predictors in regression models with outcomes of immunological studies (e.g. specific IgE) and compare the results to those obtained by a traditional multivariate regression approach. The proposed analytical approach may be especially useful to quantify complex immune

  12. Mixed convection and stratification phenomena in a heavy liquid metal pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tarantino, Mariano, E-mail: mariano.tarantino@enea.it [Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, C.R. ENEA Brasimone (Italy); Martelli, Daniele; Barone, Gianluca [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 1-56100 Pisa Italy (Italy); Di Piazza, Ivan [Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, C.R. ENEA Brasimone (Italy); Forgione, Nicola [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 1-56100 Pisa Italy (Italy)

    2015-05-15

    Highlights: • Results related to experiments reproducing PLOHS + LOF accident in CIRCE pool facility. • Vertical thermal stratification in large HLM pool. • Transition from forced to natural circulation in HLM pool under DHR conditions. • Heat transfer coefficient measurement in HLM pin bundle. • Nusselt numbers calculations and comparison with correlations. - Abstract: This work deals with an analysis of the first experimental series of tests performed to investigate mixed convection and stratification phenomena in CIRCE HLM large pool. In particular, the tests concern the transition from nominal flow to natural circulation regime, typical of decay heat removal (DHR) regime. To this purpose the CIRCE pool facility has been updated to host a suitable test section in order to reproduce the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of a HLM pool-type reactor. The test section basically consists of an electrical bundle (FPS) made up of 37 pins arranged in a hexagonal wrapped lattice with a pitch diameter ratio of 1.8. Along the FPS active length, three sections were instrumented to monitor the heat transfer coefficient along the bundle as well as the cladding temperatures at different ranks of the sub-channels. This paper reports the experimental data as well as a preliminary analysis and discussion of the results, focusing on the most relevant tests of the campaign, namely Test I (48 h) and Test II (97 h). Temperatures along three sections of the FPS and at inlet and outlet sections of the main components were reported and the Nusselt number in the FPS sub-channels was investigated together with the void fraction in the riser. Concerning the investigation of in-pool thermal stratification phenomena, the temperatures in the whole LBE pool were monitored at different elevations and radial locations. The analysis of experimental data obtained from Tests I and II underline the occurrence of thermal stratification phenomena in the region placed between the outlet sections of

  13. Volume-heated boiling pool behavior and application to transition phase accident conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ginsberg, T.; Jones, O.C. Jr.; Chen, J.C.

    1978-01-01

    Observations of two-phase flow fields in volume-heated boiling pools are reported. Photographic observations, together with pool-average void fraction measurements are presented. Flow regime transition criterial derived from the measurements are discussed. The churn-turbulent flow regime was the dominant regime for superficial vapor velocity. Within this range of conditions, a churn-turbulent drift flux model provides a reasonable prediction of the pool-average void fraction data. The results of the experiment and analysis are extrapolated to transition phase conditions. It is shown that intense pool boil-up could occur where the pool-average void fraction would be greater than 0.6 for steel vaporization rates equivalent to power levels greater than one percent of nominal LMFBR power density. (author)

  14. Quality control in the neutron activation analysis of biological markers for selenium in epidemiological investigations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morris, J.S.; Ngwenyama, R.A.; Guthrie, J.M.; Brockman, J.D.; Spate, V.L.; Robertson, J.D.

    2008-01-01

    Instrumental neutron activation analysis is routinely used at the MURR to quantify selenium in prospectively-collected biologic markers including blood serum and toenails. These specimens are typically collected from well-defined cohort populations participating in investigations assessing selenium intake and incidence of chronic disease endpoints. These epidemiological investigations, whether observational (case-control) or clinical (intervention), typically generate thousands of samples. The purpose of this paper is to assess, through evaluation of quality control results, if the achievable accuracy and precision in the measurement of selenium using NAA is adequate to determine a relative risk of 1.2 at high confidence in epidemiological studies. (author)

  15. Development of Methodology for Spent Fuel Pool Severe Accident Analysis Using MELCOR Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Won-Tae; Shin, Jae-Uk [RETech. Co. LTD., Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Kwang-Il [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    The general reason why SFP severe accident analysis has to be considered is that there is a potential great risk due to the huge number of fuel assemblies and no containment in a SFP building. In most cases, the SFP building is vulnerable to external damage or attack. In contrary, low decay heat of fuel assemblies may make the accident processes slow compared to the accident in reactor core because of a great deal of water. In short, its severity of consequence cannot exclude the consideration of SFP risk management. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has performed the consequence studies of postulated spent fuel pool accident. The Fukushima-Daiichi accident has accelerated the needs for the consequence studies of postulated spent fuel pool accidents, causing the nuclear industry and regulatory bodies to reexamine several assumptions concerning beyond-design basis events such as a station blackout. The tsunami brought about the loss of coolant accident, leading to the explosion of hydrogen in the SFP building. Analyses of SFP accident processes in the case of a loss of coolant with no heat removal have studied. Few studies however have focused on a long term process of SFP severe accident under no mitigation action such as a water makeup to SFP. USNRC and OECD have co-worked to examine the behavior of PWR fuel assemblies under severe accident conditions in a spent fuel rack. In support of the investigation, several new features of MELCOR model have been added to simulate both BWR fuel assembly and PWR 17 x 17 assembly in a spent fuel pool rack undergoing severe accident conditions. The purpose of the study in this paper is to develop a methodology of the long-term analysis for the plant level SFP severe accident by using the new-featured MELCOR program in the OPR-1000 Nuclear Power Plant. The study is to investigate the ability of MELCOR in predicting an entire process of SFP severe accident phenomena including the molten corium and concrete reaction. The

  16. Analytical real-time measurement of a three-dimensional weld pool surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, WeiJie; Zhang, YuMing; Wang, XueWu

    2013-01-01

    The ability to observe and measure weld pool surfaces in real-time is the core of the foundation for next generation intelligent welding that can partially imitate skilled welders who observe the weld pool to acquire information on the welding process. This study aims at the real-time measurement of the specular three-dimensional (3D) weld pool surface under a strong arc in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). An innovative vision system is utilized in this study to project a dot-matrix laser pattern on the specular weld pool surface. Its reflection from the surface is intercepted at a distance from the arc by a diffuse plane. The intercepted laser dots illuminate this plane producing an image showing the reflection pattern. The deformation of this reflection pattern from the projected pattern (e.g. the dot matrix) is used to derive the 3D shape of the reflection surface, i.e., the weld pool surface. Based on careful analysis, the underlying reconstruction problem is formulated mathematically. An analytic solution is proposed to solve this formulated problem resulting in the weld pool surface being reconstructed on average in 3.04 ms during welding experiments. A vision-based monitoring system is thus established to measure the weld pool surface in GTAW in real-time. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed reconstruction algorithm, first numerical simulation is conducted. The proposed algorithm is then tested on a spherical convex mirror with a priori knowledge of its geometry. The detailed analysis of the measurement error validates the accuracy of the proposed algorithm. Results from the real-time experiments verify the robustness of the proposed reconstruction algorithm. (paper)

  17. Regional variation in the biogeochemical and physical characteristics of natural peatland pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, T Edward; Billett, Michael F; Baird, Andy J; Chapman, Pippa J; Dinsmore, Kerry J; Holden, Joseph

    2016-03-01

    Natural open-water pools are a common feature of northern peatlands and are known to be an important source of atmospheric methane (CH4). Pool environmental variables, particularly water chemistry, vegetation community and physical characteristics, have the potential to exert strong controls on carbon cycling in pools. A total of 66 peatland pools were studied across three regions of the UK (northern Scotland, south-west Scotland, and Northern Ireland). We found that within-region variability of pool water chemistry was low; however, for many pool variables measured there were significant differences between regions. PCA analysis showed that pools in SW Scotland were strongly associated with greater vegetative cover and shallower water depth which is likely to increase dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mineralisation rates, whereas pools in N Scotland were more open and deeper. Pool water DOC, particulate organic carbon and dissolved CH4 concentrations were significantly different between regions. Pools in Northern Ireland had the highest concentrations of DOC (mean=14.5 mg L(-1)) and CH4 (mean=20.6 μg C L(-1)). Chloride and sulphate concentrations were significantly higher in the pools in N Scotland (mean values 26.3 and 2.40 mg L(-1), respectively) than elsewhere, due to a stronger marine influence. The ratio of UV absorbance at 465 nm to absorbance at 665 nm for pools in Northern Ireland indicated that DOC was sourced from poorly humified peat, potentially increasing the bioavailability and mineralisation of organic carbon in pools compared to the pools elsewhere. This study, which specifically aims to address a lack of basic biogeochemical knowledge about pool water chemistry, clearly shows that peatland pools are highly regionally variable. This is likely to be a reflection of significant regional-scale differences in peatland C cycling. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Code Development of Radioactive Aerosol Scrubbing in Pool-Injection Zone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jo, Hyun Joung; Ha, Kwang Soon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Dong Soon [Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    The pool scrubbing models were reviewed and an aerosol scrubbing code has been prepared to calculate decontamination factor through the injection zone. The developed code has been verified using the experimental results and evaluated parametrically on the input variables. In injection zone, the initial steam condensation was most effective mechanism for the aerosol removal, and the steam fraction and pool temperature were highly affected on the decontamination factor by initial steam condensation. The aerosol scrubbing code will be updated to evaluate the decontamination factor at rise zone and finally whole pool scrubber phenomena. If a severe accident occurs in a nuclear power plant (NPP), the aerosol and gaseous fission products might be produced in the reactor vessel, and then released to the environment after the containment failure. FCVS (Filtered Containment Venting System) is one of the severe accident mitigation systems for retaining the containment integrity by discharging the high-temperature and high-pressure fission products to the environment after passing through the filtration system. In general, the FCVS is categorized into two types, wet and dry types. The scrubbing pool could play an important role in the wet type FCVS because a large amount of aerosol is captured in the water pool. The pool scrubbing phenomena have been modelled and embedded in several computer codes, such as SPARC (Suppression Pool Aerosol Removal Code), BUSCA (BUbble Scrubbing Algorithm) and SUPRA (Suppression Pool Retention Analysis). These codes aim at simulating the pool scrubbing process and estimating the decontamination factors (DFs) of the radioactive aerosol and iodine gas in the water pool, which is defined as the ratio of initial mass of the specific radioactive material to final massy after passing through the water pool. The pool scrubbing models were reviewed and an aerosol scrubbing code has been prepared to calculate decontamination factor through the injection

  19. The incidence rate of female breast cancer in Saudi Arabia: an observational descriptive epidemiological analysis of data from Saudi Cancer Registry 2001–2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alghamdi IG

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Ibrahim G Alghamdi,1 Issam I Hussain,1 Mohamed S Alghamdi,2 Mohamed A El-Sheemy1,3 1University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, United Kingdom; 2Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Health Affairs Al-Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3Lincoln Hospital, Research and Development, United Lincolnshire Hospitals, National Health Service Trust, Lincoln, United Kingdom Background: This study presents descriptive epidemiological data related to breast cancer cases diagnosed from 2001 to 2008 among Saudi women, including the frequency and percentage of cases, the crude incidence rate (CIR, and the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR, adjusted by the region and year of diagnosis. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive epidemiological study of all Saudi female breast cancer cases from 2001 to 2008. The statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics, a linear regression model, and analysis of variance with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA. Results: A total of 6,922 female breast cancer cases were recorded in the Saudi Cancer Registry from 2001 to 2008. The highest overall percentages (38.6% and 31.2% of female breast cancer cases were documented in women who were 30–44 and 45–59 years of age, respectively. The eastern region of Saudi Arabia had the highest overall ASIR, at 26.6 per 100,000 women, followed by Riyadh at 20.5 and Makkah at 19.4. Jazan, Baha, and Asir had the lowest average ASIRs, at 4.8, 6.1, and 7.3 per 100,000 women, respectively. The region of Jouf (24.2%; CIR 11.2, ASIR 17.2 had the highest changes in CIR and ASIR from 2001 to 2008. While Qassim, Jazan and Tabuk recorded down-trending rates with negative values. Conclusion: There was a significant increase in the CIRs and ASIRs for female breast cancer between 2001 and 2008. The majority of breast cancer cases occurred among younger women. The region of Jouf had the greatest significant

  20. Whole genome sequencing options for bacterial strain typing and epidemiologic analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphism versus gene-by-gene-based approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schürch, A C; Arredondo-Alonso, S; Willems, R J L; Goering, R V

    2018-04-01

    Whole genome sequence (WGS)-based strain typing finds increasing use in the epidemiologic analysis of bacterial pathogens in both public health as well as more localized infection control settings. This minireview describes methodologic approaches that have been explored for WGS-based epidemiologic analysis and considers the challenges and pitfalls of data interpretation. Personal collection of relevant publications. When applying WGS to study the molecular epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, genomic variability between strains is translated into measures of distance by determining single nucleotide polymorphisms in core genome alignments or by indexing allelic variation in hundreds to thousands of core genes, assigning types to unique allelic profiles. Interpreting isolate relatedness from these distances is highly organism specific, and attempts to establish species-specific cutoffs are unlikely to be generally applicable. In cases where single nucleotide polymorphism or core gene typing do not provide the resolution necessary for accurate assessment of the epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, inclusion of accessory gene or plasmid sequences may provide the additional required discrimination. As with all epidemiologic analysis, realizing the full potential of the revolutionary advances in WGS-based approaches requires understanding and dealing with issues related to the fundamental steps of data generation and interpretation. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  1. Iron deficiency in chronic heart failure : An international pooled analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klip, IJsbrand T.; Comin-Colet, Josep; Voors, Adriaan A.; Ponikowski, Piotr; Enjuanes, Cristina; Banasiak, Waldemar; Lok, Dirk J.; Rosentryt, Piotr; Torrens, Ainhoa; Polonski, Lech; van Veldhuisen, Dirk J.; van der Meer, Peter; Jankowska, Ewa A.

    Background Iron deficiency (ID) is an emerging problem in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) and can be a potential therapeutic target. However, not much is known about the prevalence, predictors, and prognosis of ID in patients with chronic HF. Methods In an international pooled cohort

  2. Establishment and validation of the model of molten pool in fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Shufeng; Luo Rui; Wang Zhou; Shi Xiaobo; Yang Xianyong

    2007-01-01

    Running under the beyond design base accidental condition, sodium boiling and dry-out will soon be brought about in LMFBR. If not stopped timely, the fuel pins of the subassembly will be melt and broken to form a molten pool at the bottom of the subassembly. to present a reasonable analysis about the molten pool accident, a method of establishing model according to the mechanism is selected, by which an integral model of the molten pool is established. Validated on the three power groups of BF1 experiments which belong to the France SCARABEE series experimenters, the model shows good results. After compared with the models of GEYSER and BF2 experiments which had been validated before, some conclusions about mechanism of molten pool are derived. Moreover, through comparing the relative parameters such as the discharged heat and the increment of temperature etc., a reasonable analysis about the type of heat transfer is present, on the basis of which some conclusions are derived as well. (authors)

  3. Dietary sugar/starches intake and Barrett's esophagus: a pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Nan; Petrick, Jessica Leigh; Steck, Susan Elizabeth; Bradshaw, Patrick Terrence; McClain, Kathleen Michele; Niehoff, Nicole Michelle; Engel, Lawrence Stuart; Shaheen, Nicholas James; Corley, Douglas Allen; Vaughan, Thomas Leonard; Gammon, Marilie Denise

    2017-11-01

    Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the key precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma, a lethal cancer that has increased rapidly in westernized countries over the past four decades. Dietary sugar intake has also been increasing over time, and may be associated with these tumors by promoting hyperinsulinemia. The study goal was to examine multiple measures of sugar/starches intake in association with BE. This pooled analysis included 472 BE cases and 492 controls from two similarly conducted case-control studies in the United States. Dietary intake data, collected by study-specific food frequency questionnaires, were harmonized across studies by linking with the University of Minnesota Nutrient Database, and pooled based on study-specific quartiles. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for age, sex, race, total energy intake, study indicator, body mass index, frequency of gastro-esophageal reflux, and fruit/vegetable intake. In both studies, intake of sucrose (cases vs. controls, g/day: 36.07 vs. 33.51; 36.80 vs. 35.06, respectively) and added sugar (46.15 vs. 41.01; 44.18 vs. 40.68, respectively) were higher in cases than controls. BE risk was increased 79% and 71%, respectively, for associations comparing the fourth to the first quartile of intake of sucrose (OR Q4vs.Q1  = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.07-3.02, P trend  = 0.01) and added sugar (OR Q4vs.Q1  = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.05-2.80, P trend  = 0.15). Intake of sweetened desserts/beverages was associated with 71% increase in BE risk (OR Q4vs.Q1  = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.07-2.73, P trend  = 0.04). Limiting dietary intake of foods and beverages that are high in added sugar, especially refined table sugar, may reduce the risk of developing BE.

  4. How to use sequence analysis for life course epidemiology? An example on HIV-positive Sub-Saharan migrants in France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosselin, Anne; Desgrées du Loû, Annabel; Lelièvre, Eva

    2018-06-01

    Life course epidemiology is now an established field in social epidemiology; in sociodemography, the quantitative analysis of biographies recently experienced significant trend from event history analysis to sequence analysis. The purpose of this article is to introduce and adapt this methodology to a social epidemiology question, taking the example of the impact of HIV diagnosis on Sub-Saharan migrants' residential trajectories in the Paris region. The sample consists of 640 migrants born in Sub-Saharan Africa receiving HIV care. They were interviewed in healthcare facilities in the Paris region within the PARCOURS project, conducted from 2012 to 2013, using life event history calendars, which recorded year by year their health, family and residential histories. We introduce a two-step methodological approach consisting of (1) sequence analysis by optimal matching to build a typology of migrants' residential pathways before and after diagnosis, and (2) a Cox model of the probability to experience changes in the residential situation. The seven-clusters typology shows that for a majority, the HIV diagnosis did not entail changes in residential situation. However 30% of the migrants experienced a change in their residential situation at time of diagnosis. The Cox model analysis reveals that this residential change was in fact moving in with one's partner (HR 2.99, P<0.000) rather than network rejection. This original combination of sequence analysis and Cox models is a powerful process that could be applied to other themes and constitutes a new approach in the life course epidemiology toolbox. NCT02566148. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  5. Global Epidemiology of Dengue Outbreaks in 1990-2015: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Congcong; Zhou, Zixing; Wen, Zihao; Liu, Yumei; Zeng, Chengli; Xiao, Di; Ou, Meiling; Han, Yajing; Huang, Shiqi; Liu, Dandan; Ye, Xiaohong; Zou, Xiaoqian; Wu, Jing; Wang, Huanyu; Zeng, Eddy Y; Jing, Chunxia; Yang, Guang

    2017-01-01

    Dengue is an arthropod-borne infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV) infection and transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Approximately 50-100 million people are infected with DENV each year, resulting in a high economic burden on both governments and individuals. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize information regarding the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and serotype distribution and risk factors for global dengue outbreaks occurring from 1990 to 2015. We searched the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases through December 2016 using the term "dengue outbreak." In total, 3,853 studies were identified, of which 243 studies describing 262 dengue outbreaks met our inclusion criteria. The majority of outbreak-associated dengue cases were reported in the Western Pacific Region, particularly after the year 2010; these cases were primarily identified in China, Singapore and Malaysia. The pooled mean age of dengue-infected individuals was 30.1 years; of the included patients, 54.5% were male, 23.2% had DHF, 62.0% had secondary infections, and 1.3% died. The mean age of dengue patients reported after 2010 was older than that of patients reported before 2010 (34.0 vs. 27.2 years); however, the proportions of patients who had DHF, had secondary infections and died significantly decreased after 2010. Fever, malaise, headache, and asthenia were the most frequently reported clinical symptoms and signs among dengue patients. In addition, among the identified clinical symptoms and signs, positive tourniquet test ( OR = 4.86), ascites ( OR = 13.91) and shock ( OR = 308.09) were identified as the best predictors of dengue infection, DHF and mortality, respectively (both P dengue infection, DHF and mortality were living with uncovered water container ( OR = 1.65), suffering from hypotension ( OR = 6.18) and suffering from diabetes mellitus ( OR = 2.53), respectively (all P treatment.

  6. Relationship between lipid distribution and geochemical environment within Champagne Pool, Waiotapu, New Zealand

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaur, G.; Mountain, B.W.; Hopmans, E.C.; Pancost, R.D.

    2011-01-01

    The lipid biomarkers associated with various geothermal facies within Champagne Pool were investigated and compared with previous microbiological characterisation. Biomarker analysis revealed two distinct microbial communities spanning the margin of Champagne Pool: the first in the subaqueous domal

  7. Design of hydrotherapy exercise pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edlich, R F; Abidin, M R; Becker, D G; Pavlovich, L J; Dang, M T

    1988-01-01

    Several hydrotherapy pools have been designed specifically for a variety of aquatic exercise. Aqua-Ark positions the exerciser in the center of the pool for deep-water exercise. Aqua-Trex is a shallow underwater treadmill system for water walking or jogging. Swim-Ex generates an adjustable laminar flow that permits swimming without turning. Musculoskeletal conditioning can be accomplished in the above-ground Arjo shallow-water exercise pool. A hydrotherapy pool also can be custom designed for musculoskeletal conditioning in its shallow part and cardiovascular conditioning in a deeper portion of the pool. Regardless of the type of exercise, there is general agreement that the specific exercise conducted in water requires significantly more energy expenditure than when the same exercise is performed on land.

  8. Longevity of Wood-Forced Pools in an Old-Growth Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buffington, J. M.; Woodsmith, R. D.; Johnson, A. C.

    2009-12-01

    Wood debris plays an important role in scouring pools in forest channels and providing resultant habitat for aquatic organisms. We investigated the longevity of such pools in a gravel-bed river flowing through old-growth forest in southeastern Alaska by aging trees and “bear’s bread” fungi (Ganoderma applanatum, Fomitopsis pinicola) growing on pool-forming wood debris. Ages were determined by counting annual growth rings from cores and cross sections of trees and fungi growing on the wood debris. These ages are minimum values because they do not account for lag time between debris recruitment and seedling/spore establishment on the debris, nor do they account for flood scour that may periodically reset tree and fungi growth on the debris. The study stream has a gradient of about 1%, bankfull width and depth of 13.3 and 0.78 m, respectively, median grain size of 18 mm, a high wood loading (0.8 pieces/m), and a correspondingly low pool spacing (0.3 bankfull widths/pool), with 81% of the pools forced by wood debris. The size of wood debris in the study stream is large relative to the channel (average log length of 7.6 m and diameter of 0.35 m), rendering most debris immobile. Eighty-one pool-forming pieces of wood were dated over 1.2 km of stream length, with 28% of these pieces causing scour of more than one pool. In all, 122 wood-forced pools were dated, accounting for 38% of all pools at the site and 47% of the wood-forced pools. Fifty-three percent of the wood-forced pools lacked datable wood because these pieces either: were newly recruited; had been scoured by floods; or were contained below the active channel elevation, prohibiting vegetation establishment on the wood debris (the most common cause). The debris age distribution declined exponentially from 2 to 113 yrs., with a median value of 18 yrs. Similar exponential residence time distributions have been reported in other studies, but our analysis focused specifically on the ages of pool-forming wood

  9. Thermal analyses for the spend fuel pool of Taiwan BWR plants during the loss of cooling accident

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, B-Y.; Yeh, C-L.; Wei, W-C.; Chen, Y-S., E-mail: onepicemine@iner.gov.tw, E-mail: clinyeh@iner.gov.tw, E-mail: hn150456@iner.gov.tw, E-mail: yschen@iner.gov.tw [Inst. of Nuclear Energy Research, Longtan Township, Taoyuan County, Taiwan (China)

    2014-07-01

    After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the safety of the spent fuel pool has become an important concern. In this study, thermal analysis of the spent fuel pool under a loss of cooling accident is performed. The BWR spent fuel pools in Taiwan are investigated, including the Chinshan, Kuosheng, and Lungmen plants. The transient pool temperature and level behaviors are calculated based on lumped energy balance. After the pool level drops below the top of the fuel, the peak cladding temperature is predicted by the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. The influence to the cladding temperature of the uniform and checkboard fuel loading patterns is also investigated. (author)

  10. EGFR-TKI therapy for patients with brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of published data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fan Y

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Yun Fan,1,2 Xiaoling Xu,3 Conghua Xie4 1Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Department of Radiation Oncology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Chemotherapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Department of Radiation Oncology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China Introduction: Brain metastases are one of the leading causes of death from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC. The use of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs to treat brain metastases remains controversial. Thus, we performed a pooled analysis of published data to evaluate the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs in NSCLC patients with brain metastases, particularly for tumors with activating EGFR mutations. Methods: Several data sources were searched, including PubMed, Web of Science, and ASCO Annual Meetings databases. The end points were intracranial overall response rate (ORR, disease control rate (DCR, progression-free survival (PFS, overall survival (OS, and adverse events. The pooled ORR, DCR, PFS, and OS with 95% confidence intervals (CIs were calculated employing fixed- or random-effect models, depending on the heterogeneity of the included studies. Results: Sixteen published studies were included in this analysis, with a total of 464 enrolled patients. The EGFR mutational status was unknown for 362 (unselected group, and 102 had activating EGFR mutations. The pooled intracranial ORR and DCR were 51.8% (95% CI: 45.8%–57.8% and 75.7% (95% CI: 70.3%–80.5%, respectively. A higher ORR was observed in the EGFR mutation group than in the unselected group (85.0% vs 45.1%; a similar trend was observed for the DCR (94.6% vs 71.3%. The pooled median PFS and OS were 7.4 months (95% CI, 4.9–9.9 and 11.9 months (95% CI, 7.7–16.2, respectively, with longer PFS (12.3 months vs 5.9 months and OS (16.2 months vs

  11. Swimming pool cleaner poisoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swimming pool cleaner poisoning occurs when someone swallows this type of cleaner, touches it, or breathes in ... The harmful substances in swimming pool cleaner are: Bromine ... copper Chlorine Soda ash Sodium bicarbonate Various mild acids

  12. Efficient pooling designs for library screening

    OpenAIRE

    Bruno, William J.; Knill, Emanuel; Balding, David J.; Bruce, D. C.; Doggett, N. A.; Sawhill, W. W.; Stallings, R. L.; Whittaker, Craig C.; Torney, David C.

    1994-01-01

    We describe efficient methods for screening clone libraries, based on pooling schemes which we call ``random $k$-sets designs''. In these designs, the pools in which any clone occurs are equally likely to be any possible selection of $k$ from the $v$ pools. The values of $k$ and $v$ can be chosen to optimize desirable properties. Random $k$-sets designs have substantial advantages over alternative pooling schemes: they are efficient, flexible, easy to specify, require fewer pools, and have er...

  13. Analysis of those national analytic epidemiological studies that by obtention the exposure-response functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Molina, E.; Meneses, E.

    2003-01-01

    The Impact Pathway methodology, developed in the frame of Extern E project for estimating of the external costs or externalities of the energy use, has as one of their main steps the health impact evaluation. This evaluation is carried out through exposure-response functions. In previous estimates of the external costs of power generation in Cuba, functions obtained in international studies were used. The main objective of this work was to carry out a summarized critical analysis of those national analytic epidemiological studies that, according the exposed methodology, consider the main aspects specialized with views to the possible preliminary proposal of functions exposure-response (FER) based own in epidemiologic evidences. In agreement with the analysis, the results show that the great majority of the studies are not useful for the FER establishment, at least in their present form. A minority studies exists that contributes limited evidence and their reanalysis could increase their contribution to the propose purpose. Finally the main problems found in the studies are enumerated revision object

  14. 21 CFR 1250.89 - Swimming pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Swimming pools. 1250.89 Section 1250.89 Food and... SANITATION Sanitation Facilities and Conditions on Vessels § 1250.89 Swimming pools. (a) Fill and draw swimming pools shall not be installed or used. (b) Swimming pools of the recirculation type shall be...

  15. Study of mixed convection in sodium pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Zhou; Chen Yan

    1995-01-01

    The mixed convection phenomena in the sodium pool of fast reactor have been studied systematically by the two dimensional modeling method. A generalized concept of circumferential line in the cylindrical coordinates was proposed to overcome the three dimensional effect induced by the pool geometry in an analysis of two dimensional modeling. A method of sub-step in time was developed for solving the turbulent equations. The treatments on the boundary condition for the auxiliary velocity field have been proposed, and the explanation of allowing the flow function method to be used in the flow field in presence of a mass source term was given. As examples of verification, the experiments were conducted with water flow in a rectangular cavity. The results from theoretical analysis were applied to the numerical computation for the mixed convection in the cavity. The mechanism of stratified flow in the cavity was studied. A numerical calculation was carried out for the mixed convection in hot plenum of a typical fast reactor

  16. Diet and the risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis in the INHANCE consortium.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Chuang, Shu-Chun

    2012-01-01

    We investigated the association between diet and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk using data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium. The INHANCE pooled data included 22 case-control studies with 14,520 cases and 22,737 controls. Center-specific quartiles among the controls were used for food groups, and frequencies per week were used for single food items. A dietary pattern score combining high fruit and vegetable intake and low red meat intake was created. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the dietary items on the risk of HNC were estimated with a two-stage random-effects logistic regression model. An inverse association was observed for higher-frequency intake of fruit (4th vs. 1st quartile OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.43-0.62, p (trend) < 0.01) and vegetables (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.90, p (trend) = 0.01). Intake of red meat (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.13-1.74, p (trend) = 0.13) and processed meat (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.14-1.65, p (trend) < 0.01) was positively associated with HNC risk. Higher dietary pattern scores, reflecting high fruit\\/vegetable and low red meat intake, were associated with reduced HNC risk (per score increment OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84-0.97).

  17. Local level epidemiological analysis of TB in people from a high incidence country of birth

    OpenAIRE

    Massey Peter D; Durrheim David N; Stephens Nicola; Christensen Amanda

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Background The setting for this analysis is the low tuberculosis (TB) incidence state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Local level analysis of TB epidemiology in people from high incidence countries-of-birth (HIC) in a low incidence setting has not been conducted in Australia and has not been widely reported. Local level analysis could inform measures such as active case finding and targeted earlier diagnosis. The aim of this study was to use a novel approach to identify local ar...

  18. Analysis on the Role of RSG-GAS Pool Cooling System during Partial Loss of Heat Sink Accident

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susyadi; Endiah, P. H.; Sukmanto, D.; Andi, S. E.; Syaiful, B.; Hendro, T.; Geni, R. S.

    2018-02-01

    RSG-GAS is a 30 MW reactor that is mostly used for radioisotope production and experimental activities. Recently, it is regularly operated at half of its capacity for efficiency reason. During an accident, especially loss of heat sink, the role of its pool cooling system is very important to dump decay heat. An analysis using single failure approach and partial modeling of RELAP5 performed by S. Dibyo, 2010 shows that there is no significant increase in the coolant temperature if this system is properly functioned. However lessons learned from the Fukushima accident revealed that an accident can happen due to multiple failures. Considering ageing of the reactor, in this research the role of pool cooling system is to be investigated for a partial loss of heat sink accident which is at the same time the protection system fails to scram the reactor when being operated at 15 MW. The purpose is to clarify the transient characteristics and the final state of the coolant temperature. The method used is by simulating the system in RELAP5 code. Calculation results shows the pool cooling systems reduce coolant temperature for about 1 K as compared without activating them. The result alsoreveals that when the reactor is being operated at half of its rated power, it is still in safe condition for a partial loss of heat sink accident without scram.

  19. Simulating Nationwide Pandemics: Applying the Multi-scale Epidemiologic Simulation and Analysis System to Human Infectious Diseases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dombroski, M; Melius, C; Edmunds, T; Banks, L E; Bates, T; Wheeler, R

    2008-09-24

    This study uses the Multi-scale Epidemiologic Simulation and Analysis (MESA) system developed for foreign animal diseases to assess consequences of nationwide human infectious disease outbreaks. A literature review identified the state of the art in both small-scale regional models and large-scale nationwide models and characterized key aspects of a nationwide epidemiological model. The MESA system offers computational advantages over existing epidemiological models and enables a broader array of stochastic analyses of model runs to be conducted because of those computational advantages. However, it has only been demonstrated on foreign animal diseases. This paper applied the MESA modeling methodology to human epidemiology. The methodology divided 2000 US Census data at the census tract level into school-bound children, work-bound workers, elderly, and stay at home individuals. The model simulated mixing among these groups by incorporating schools, workplaces, households, and long-distance travel via airports. A baseline scenario with fixed input parameters was run for a nationwide influenza outbreak using relatively simple social distancing countermeasures. Analysis from the baseline scenario showed one of three possible results: (1) the outbreak burned itself out before it had a chance to spread regionally, (2) the outbreak spread regionally and lasted a relatively long time, although constrained geography enabled it to eventually be contained without affecting a disproportionately large number of people, or (3) the outbreak spread through air travel and lasted a long time with unconstrained geography, becoming a nationwide pandemic. These results are consistent with empirical influenza outbreak data. The results showed that simply scaling up a regional small-scale model is unlikely to account for all the complex variables and their interactions involved in a nationwide outbreak. There are several limitations of the methodology that should be explored in future

  20. Application of a two-pool model to soil carbon dynamics under elevated CO2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Groenigen, Kees Jan; Xia, Jianyang; Osenberg, Craig W; Luo, Yiqi; Hungate, Bruce A

    2015-12-01

    Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations increase plant productivity and affect soil microbial communities, with possible consequences for the turnover rate of soil carbon (C) pools and feedbacks to the atmosphere. In a previous analysis (Van Groenigen et al., 2014), we used experimental data to inform a one-pool model and showed that elevated CO2 increases the decomposition rate of soil organic C, negating the storage potential of soil. However, a two-pool soil model can potentially explain patterns of soil C dynamics without invoking effects of CO2 on decomposition rates. To address this issue, we refit our data to a two-pool soil C model. We found that CO2 enrichment increases decomposition rates of both fast and slow C pools. In addition, elevated CO2 decreased the carbon use efficiency of soil microbes (CUE), thereby further reducing soil C storage. These findings are consistent with numerous empirical studies and corroborate the results from our previous analysis. To facilitate understanding of C dynamics, we suggest that empirical and theoretical studies incorporate multiple soil C pools with potentially variable decomposition rates. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Kids can't float: epidemiology of paediatric drowning and near-drowning in Singapore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyebally, A; Ang, S Y

    2010-05-01

    The aim of this research was to study the epidemiology of paediatric near-drowning and drowning victims in Singapore so as to determine the risk factors that will guide drowning prevention strategies. A total of 38 children aged 0-16 years, who were managed in the Emergency Departments of the Singapore Health Services network or the Department of Forensic Medicine, Health Sciences Authority, for drowning and near-drowning between February 2002 and January 2004, were surveyed as part of the Childhood Injury Surveillance Project. Data on demographics, the location of injury, environmental factors and injury particulars was collected by means of questionnaire forms, review of the in-patient records and the coroner's reports. A total of 38 drowning or near-drowning cases in Singapore were reported during the study period, with nine deaths. The median age of the victims was 6.3 years. 52.6 percent of the incidents occurred in swimming pools. 60 percent of the swimming pools had a lifeguard on duty, and all the deaths that occurred in swimming pools were in those without a lifeguard. In 39.5 percent of the cases, no safety features were present at the site of the incident. Most of the deaths by drowning occurred in the sea (55.5 percent). Deaths by drowning are preventable, and appropriate environmental redesign, legislation and public education are necessary to reduce the rate of paediatric drowning. The important factors that are lacking include the absence of pool fencing and lifeguards at swimming pools and recreational beaches.

  2. Epidemiología de campo y epidemiología social Field epidemiology and social epidemiology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Segura del Pozo

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Mediante la comparación de la epidemiología de campo y la epidemiología social, se pretende reflexionar sobre los imaginarios no explícitos que operan en ambos ámbitos, necesariamente convergentes, sobre los obstáculos de la práctica epidemiológica actual para alcanzar su función social y sobre la necesidad de cambiar las bases epistemológicas, metodológicas y prácticas que operan en la epidemiología, empezando por la formación del epidemiólogo de campo. La epidemiología de campo tiende a la acción sin marco teórico. La epidemiología social, por el contrario, tiende a los desarrollos teóricos (reflexión e investigación sobre los determinantes sociales alejados de la acción, debido a los limitantes para cambiar las políticas públicas. Otras diferencias se sitúan en el nivel de intervención (micro/macroespacios, el objeto de intervención (control del brote frente a control de las desigualdades y en la forma de articular la comunicación con la sociedad. Se asemejan en la preocupación por el método, la predominancia de una orientación positivista y condicionada por la estadística, aunque en proceso de cierta apertura epistemológica, la tensión experimentada entre relacionarse con un mundo virtual de bases de datos o con la sociedad real, su situación en la periferia del sistema político-social-institucional-profesional y por estar abocadas a la frustración profesional. Finalmente, se formulan 10 interrogantes a los epidemiólogos de campo sobre su práctica actual, a través de los cuales se podría evaluar si están realizando una epidemiología social, y se sugieren cambios para introducir en la formación y práctica del epidemiólogo.Comparing field epidemiology and social epidemiology, we pretend to think about the no explicit images and meanings operating in both necessary convergent fields, about the obstacles present in epidemiological practice to fulfil its social function and about the necessity of

  3. Hydrodynamics of AHWR gravity driven water pool under simulated LOCA conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thangamani, I.; Verma, Vishnu; Ali, Seik Mansoor

    2015-01-01

    The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) employs a double containment concept with a large inventory of water within the Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP) located at a high elevation within the primary containment building. GDWP performs several important safety functions in a passive manner, and hence it is essential to understand the hydrodynamics that this pool will be subjected to in case of an accident such as LOCA. In this paper, a detailed thermal hydraulic analysis for AHWR containment transients is presented for postulated LOCA scenarios involving RIH break sizes ranging from 2% to 50%. The analysis is carried out using in-house containment thermal hydraulics code 'CONTRAN'. The blowdown mass and energy discharge data for each break size, along with the geometrical details of the AHWR containment forms the main input for the analysis. Apart from obtaining the pressure and temperature transients within the containment building, the focus of this work is on simulating the hydrodynamic phenomena of vent clearing and pool swell occurring in the GDWP. The variation of several key parameters such as primary containment V1 and V2 volume pressure, temperature and V1-V2 differential pressure with time, BOP rupture time, vent clearing velocity, effect of pool swell on the V2 air-space pressure, GDWP water level etc. are discussed in detail and important findings are highlighted. Further, the effect of neglecting the pool swell phenomenon on the containment transients is also clearly brought out by a comparative study. The numerical studies presented in this paper give insight into containment transients that would be useful to both the system designer as well as the regulator. (author)

  4. Analysis of pools of targeted Salmonella deletion mutants identifies novel genes affecting fitness during competitive infection in mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A Santiviago

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Pools of mutants of minimal complexity but maximal coverage of genes of interest facilitate screening for genes under selection in a particular environment. We constructed individual deletion mutants in 1,023 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium genes, including almost all genes found in Salmonella but not in related genera. All mutations were confirmed simultaneously using a novel amplification strategy to produce labeled RNA from a T7 RNA polymerase promoter, introduced during the construction of each mutant, followed by hybridization of this labeled RNA to a Typhimurium genome tiling array. To demonstrate the ability to identify fitness phenotypes using our pool of mutants, the pool was subjected to selection by intraperitoneal injection into BALB/c mice and subsequent recovery from spleens. Changes in the representation of each mutant were monitored using T7 transcripts hybridized to a novel inexpensive minimal microarray. Among the top 120 statistically significant spleen colonization phenotypes, more than 40 were mutations in genes with no previously known role in this model. Fifteen phenotypes were tested using individual mutants in competitive assays of intraperitoneal infection in mice and eleven were confirmed, including the first two examples of attenuation for sRNA mutants in Salmonella. We refer to the method as Array-based analysis of cistrons under selection (ABACUS.

  5. A Genetic Epidemiological Mega Analysis of Smoking Initiation in Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maes, Hermine H; Prom-Wormley, Elizabeth; Eaves, Lindon J; Rhee, Soo Hyun; Hewitt, John K; Young, Susan; Corley, Robin; McGue, Matt; Iacono, William G; Legrand, Lisa; Samek, Diana R; Murrelle, E Lenn; Silberg, Judy L; Miles, Donna R; Schieken, Richard M; Beunen, Gaston P; Thomis, Martine; Rose, Richard J; Dick, Danielle M; Boomsma, Dorret I; Bartels, Meike; Vink, Jacqueline M; Lichtenstein, Paul; White, Victoria; Kaprio, Jaakko; Neale, Michael C

    2017-04-01

    Previous studies in adolescents were not adequately powered to accurately disentangle genetic and environmental influences on smoking initiation (SI) across adolescence. Mega-analysis of pooled genetically informative data on SI was performed, with structural equation modeling, to test equality of prevalence and correlations across cultural backgrounds, and to estimate the significance and effect size of genetic and environmental effects according to the classical twin study, in adolescent male and female twins from same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs (N = 19 313 pairs) between ages 10 and 19, with 76 358 longitudinal assessments between 1983 and 2007, from 11 population-based twin samples from the United States, Europe, and Australia. Although prevalences differed between samples, twin correlations did not, suggesting similar etiology of SI across developed countries. The estimate of additive genetic contributions to liability of SI increased from approximately 15% to 45% from ages 13 to 19. Correspondingly, shared environmental factors accounted for a substantial proportion of variance in liability to SI at age 13 (70%) and gradually less by age 19 (40%). Both additive genetic and shared environmental factors significantly contribute to variance in SI throughout adolescence. The present study, the largest genetic epidemiological study on SI to date, found consistent results across 11 studies for the etiology of SI. Environmental factors, especially those shared by siblings in a family, primarily influence SI variance in early adolescence, while an increasing role of genetic factors is seen at later ages, which has important implications for prevention strategies. This is the first study to find evidence of genetic factors in liability to SI at ages as young as 12. It also shows the strongest evidence to date for decay of effects of the shared environment from early adolescence to young adulthood. We found remarkable consistency of twin correlations across

  6. Community analysis of plant biomass-degrading microorganisms from Obsidian Pool, Yellowstone National Park.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishnivetskaya, Tatiana A; Hamilton-Brehm, Scott D; Podar, Mircea; Mosher, Jennifer J; Palumbo, Anthony V; Phelps, Tommy J; Keller, Martin; Elkins, James G

    2015-02-01

    The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels can potentially be improved by employing robust microorganisms and enzymes that efficiently deconstruct plant polysaccharides at elevated temperatures. Many of the geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) are surrounded by vegetation providing a source of allochthonic material to support heterotrophic microbial communities adapted to utilize plant biomass as a primary carbon and energy source. In this study, a well-known hot spring environment, Obsidian Pool (OBP), was examined for potential biomass-active microorganisms using cultivation-independent and enrichment techniques. Analysis of 33,684 archaeal and 43,784 bacterial quality-filtered 16S rRNA gene pyrosequences revealed that archaeal diversity in the main pool was higher than bacterial; however, in the vegetated area, overall bacterial diversity was significantly higher. Of notable interest was a flooded depression adjacent to OBP supporting a stand of Juncus tweedyi, a heat-tolerant rush commonly found growing near geothermal features in YNP. The microbial community from heated sediments surrounding the plants was enriched in members of the Firmicutes including potentially (hemi)cellulolytic bacteria from the genera Clostridium, Anaerobacter, Caloramator, Caldicellulosiruptor, and Thermoanaerobacter. Enrichment cultures containing model and real biomass substrates were established at a wide range of temperatures (55-85 °C). Microbial activity was observed up to 80 °C on all substrates including Avicel, xylan, switchgrass, and Populus sp. Independent of substrate, Caloramator was enriched at lower (65 °C) temperatures.

  7. Numerical modeling of sodium fire – Part II: Pool combustion and combined spray and pool combustion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sathiah, Pratap; Roelofs, Ferry

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A CFD based method is proposed for the simulation of sodium pool combustion. • A sodium evaporation based model is proposed to model sodium pool evaporation. • The proposed method is validated against sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. • The results obtained using the proposed method are in good agreement with the experiments. - Abstract: The risk of sodium-air reaction has received considerable attention after the sodium-fire accident in Monju reactor. The fires resulting from the sodium-air reaction can be detrimental to the safety of a sodium fast reactor. Therefore, predicting the consequences of a sodium fire is important from a safety point of view. A computational method based on CFD is proposed here to simulate sodium pool fire and understand its characteristics. The method solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and uses a non-premixed mixture fraction based combustion model. The mass transfer of sodium vapor from the pool surface to the flame is obtained using a sodium evaporation model. The proposed method is then validated against well-known sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. The flame temperature and location predicted by the model are in good agreement with experiments. Furthermore, the trends of the mean burning rate with initial pool temperature and oxygen concentration are captured well. Additionally, parametric studies have been performed to understand the effects of pool diameter and initial air temperature on the mean burning rate. Furthermore, the sodium spray and sodium pool combustion models are combined to simulate simultaneous spray and pool combustion. Simulations were performed to demonstrate that the combined code could be applied to simulate this. Once sufficiently validated, the present code can be used for safety evaluation of a sodium fast reactor

  8. Numerical modeling of sodium fire – Part II: Pool combustion and combined spray and pool combustion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sathiah, Pratap, E-mail: pratap.sathiah78@gmail.com [Shell Global Solutions Ltd., Brabazon House, Concord Business Park, Threapwood Road, Manchester M220RR (United Kingdom); Roelofs, Ferry, E-mail: roelofs@nrg.eu [Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), Westerduinweg 3, 1755ZG Petten (Netherlands)

    2014-10-15

    Highlights: • A CFD based method is proposed for the simulation of sodium pool combustion. • A sodium evaporation based model is proposed to model sodium pool evaporation. • The proposed method is validated against sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. • The results obtained using the proposed method are in good agreement with the experiments. - Abstract: The risk of sodium-air reaction has received considerable attention after the sodium-fire accident in Monju reactor. The fires resulting from the sodium-air reaction can be detrimental to the safety of a sodium fast reactor. Therefore, predicting the consequences of a sodium fire is important from a safety point of view. A computational method based on CFD is proposed here to simulate sodium pool fire and understand its characteristics. The method solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and uses a non-premixed mixture fraction based combustion model. The mass transfer of sodium vapor from the pool surface to the flame is obtained using a sodium evaporation model. The proposed method is then validated against well-known sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. The flame temperature and location predicted by the model are in good agreement with experiments. Furthermore, the trends of the mean burning rate with initial pool temperature and oxygen concentration are captured well. Additionally, parametric studies have been performed to understand the effects of pool diameter and initial air temperature on the mean burning rate. Furthermore, the sodium spray and sodium pool combustion models are combined to simulate simultaneous spray and pool combustion. Simulations were performed to demonstrate that the combined code could be applied to simulate this. Once sufficiently validated, the present code can be used for safety evaluation of a sodium fast reactor.

  9. 10 CFR 36.63 - Pool water purity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Pool water purity. 36.63 Section 36.63 Energy NUCLEAR... § 36.63 Pool water purity. (a) Pool water purification system must be run sufficiently to maintain the conductivity of the pool water below 20 microsiemens per centimeter under normal circumstances. If pool water...

  10. Epidemiologic analysis: Prophylaxis and multidrug-resistance in surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solís-Téllez, H; Mondragón-Pinzón, E E; Ramírez-Marino, M; Espinoza-López, F R; Domínguez-Sosa, F; Rubio-Suarez, J F; Romero-Morelos, R D

    Surgical site infection is defined as an infection related to the surgical procedure in the area of manipulation occurring within the first 30 postoperative days. The diagnostic criteria include: purulent drainage, isolation of microorganisms, and signs of infection. To describe the epidemiologic characteristics and differences among the types of prophylactic regimens associated with hospital-acquired infections at the general surgery service of a tertiary care hospital. The electronic case records of patients that underwent general surgery at a tertiary care hospital within the time frame of January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014 were reviewed. A convenience sample of 728 patients was established and divided into the following groups: Group 1: n=728 for the epidemiologic study; Group 2: n=638 for the evaluation of antimicrobial prophylaxis; and Group 3: n=50 for the evaluation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in the intensive care unit. The statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS 19 program, using the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test. A total of 728 procedures were performed (65.9% were elective surgeries). Three hundred twelve of the patients were males and 416 were females. Only 3.98% of the patients complied with the recommended antimicrobial prophylaxis, and multidrug-resistant bacterial strains were found in the intensive care unit. A single prophylactic dose is effective, but adherence to this recommendation was not adequate. The prophylactic guidelines are not strictly adhered to in our environment. There was a significant association between the development of nosocomial infections from multidrug-resistant germs and admission to the intensive care unit. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

  11. Molten pool-lower head integrity. Heat transfer models including advanced numerical simulations (DNS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seiler, J.M.; Bonnet, J.M.; Bernaz, L. [CEA Grenoble (France)

    2001-07-01

    Extensive studies have been performed to investigate the heat transfer within a molten corium pool (homogeneous, stratified and with miscibility gap): Synthesis of heat transfer correlations in molten pool (homogeneous and stratified), Focusing effect in stratified metal layer, DNS analysis of Rayleigh Benard instabilities at the top boundary; interpretation of the different convection regimes and exponents affecting the Rayleigh number in the heat transfer correlations, Molten pool model for corium presenting a miscibility gap. Condition for de-stratification. (authors)

  12. Molten pool-lower head integrity. Heat transfer models including advanced numerical simulations (DNS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seiler, J.M.; Bonnet, J.M.; Bernaz, L.

    2001-01-01

    Extensive studies have been performed to investigate the heat transfer within a molten corium pool (homogeneous, stratified and with miscibility gap): Synthesis of heat transfer correlations in molten pool (homogeneous and stratified), Focusing effect in stratified metal layer, DNS analysis of Rayleigh Benard instabilities at the top boundary; interpretation of the different convection regimes and exponents affecting the Rayleigh number in the heat transfer correlations, Molten pool model for corium presenting a miscibility gap. Condition for de-stratification. (authors)

  13. Model of large pool fires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fay, J.A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)]. E-mail: jfay@mit.edu

    2006-08-21

    A two zone entrainment model of pool fires is proposed to depict the fluid flow and flame properties of the fire. Consisting of combustion and plume zones, it provides a consistent scheme for developing non-dimensional scaling parameters for correlating and extrapolating pool fire visible flame length, flame tilt, surface emissive power, and fuel evaporation rate. The model is extended to include grey gas thermal radiation from soot particles in the flame zone, accounting for emission and absorption in both optically thin and thick regions. A model of convective heat transfer from the combustion zone to the liquid fuel pool, and from a water substrate to cryogenic fuel pools spreading on water, provides evaporation rates for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic fires. The model is tested against field measurements of large scale pool fires, principally of LNG, and is generally in agreement with experimental values of all variables.

  14. Model of large pool fires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fay, J.A.

    2006-01-01

    A two zone entrainment model of pool fires is proposed to depict the fluid flow and flame properties of the fire. Consisting of combustion and plume zones, it provides a consistent scheme for developing non-dimensional scaling parameters for correlating and extrapolating pool fire visible flame length, flame tilt, surface emissive power, and fuel evaporation rate. The model is extended to include grey gas thermal radiation from soot particles in the flame zone, accounting for emission and absorption in both optically thin and thick regions. A model of convective heat transfer from the combustion zone to the liquid fuel pool, and from a water substrate to cryogenic fuel pools spreading on water, provides evaporation rates for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic fires. The model is tested against field measurements of large scale pool fires, principally of LNG, and is generally in agreement with experimental values of all variables

  15. Evolution of the pilot infrastructure of CMS towards a single glideinWMS pool

    CERN Document Server

    Gutsche, Oliver

    2013-01-01

    CMS production and analysis job submission is based largely on glideinWMS and pilot submissions. The transition from multiple different submission solutions like gLite WMS and HTCondor-based implementations was carried out over years and is coming now to a conclusion. The historically explained separate glideinWMS pools for different types of production jobs and analysis jobs are being unified into a single global pool. This enables CMS to benefit from global prioritization and scheduling possibilities. It also presents the sites with only one kind of pilots and eliminates the need of having to make scheduling decisions on the CE level. This paper provides an analysis of the benefits of a unified resource pool, as well as a description of the resulting global policy. It will explain the technical challenges moving forward and present solutions to some of them.

  16. Evolution of the pilot infrastructure of CMS: towards a single glideinWMS pool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belforte, S.; Gutsche, O.; Letts, J.; Majewski, K.; McCrea, A.; Sfiligoi, I.

    2014-06-01

    CMS production and analysis job submission is based largely on glideinWMS and pilot submissions. The transition from multiple different submission solutions like gLite WMS and HTCondor-based implementations was carried out over years and is coming now to a conclusion. The historically explained separate glideinWMS pools for different types of production jobs and analysis jobs are being unified into a single global pool. This enables CMS to benefit from global prioritization and scheduling possibilities. It also presents the sites with only one kind of pilots and eliminates the need of having to make scheduling decisions on the CE level. This paper provides an analysis of the benefits of a unified resource pool, as well as a description of the resulting global policy. It will explain the technical challenges moving forward and present solutions to some of them.

  17. Evolution of the pilot infrastructure of CMS: towards a single glideinWMS pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belforte, S; Gutsche, O; Majewski, K; Letts, J; McCrea, A; Sfiligoi, I

    2014-01-01

    CMS production and analysis job submission is based largely on glideinWMS and pilot submissions. The transition from multiple different submission solutions like gLite WMS and HTCondor-based implementations was carried out over years and is coming now to a conclusion. The historically explained separate glideinWMS pools for different types of production jobs and analysis jobs are being unified into a single global pool. This enables CMS to benefit from global prioritization and scheduling possibilities. It also presents the sites with only one kind of pilots and eliminates the need of having to make scheduling decisions on the CE level. This paper provides an analysis of the benefits of a unified resource pool, as well as a description of the resulting global policy. It will explain the technical challenges moving forward and present solutions to some of them.

  18. The Epidemiology of Injuries in Mixed Martial Arts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lystad, Reidar P.; Gregory, Kobi; Wilson, Juno

    2014-01-01

    Background: Mixed martial arts (MMA) has experienced a surge in popularity since emerging in the 1990s, but the sport has also faced concomitant criticism from public, political, and medical holds. Notwithstanding the polarized discourse concerning the sport, no systematic review of the injury problems in MMA has been published to date. Purpose: To systematically review the epidemiologic data on injuries in MMA and to quantitatively estimate injury incidence and risk factor effect sizes. Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Electronic searching of PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, and SPORTDiscus databases to identify studies reporting on the epidemiology of injuries in MMA. Random-effects models were used to obtain pooled summary estimates of the injury incidence rate per 1000 athlete-exposures (IIRAE) and rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Heterogeneity was evaluated with the I 2 statistic. Results: A total of 6 studies were eligible for inclusion in this review. The IIRAE summary estimate was found to be 228.7 (95% CI, 110.4-473.5). No studies reported injury severity. The most commonly injured anatomic region was the head (range, 66.8%-78.0%) followed by the wrist/hand (range, 6.0%-12.0%), while the most frequent injury types were laceration (range, 36.7%-59.4%), fracture (range, 7.4%-43.3%), and concussion (range, 3.8%-20.4%). The most notable risk factors pertained to the outcome of bouts. Losers incurred 3 times as many injuries as winners, and fighters in bouts ending with knockout or technical knockout incurred more than 2 times as many injuries as fighters in bouts ending with submission. Conclusion: Notwithstanding the paucity of data, the injury incidence in MMA appears to be greater than in most, if not all, other popular and commonly practiced combat sports. In general, the injury pattern in MMA is very similar to that in professional boxing but unlike that found in other combat sports

  19. Metaprop: a Stata command to perform meta-analysis of binomial data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyaga, Victoria N; Arbyn, Marc; Aerts, Marc

    2014-01-01

    Meta-analyses have become an essential tool in synthesizing evidence on clinical and epidemiological questions derived from a multitude of similar studies assessing the particular issue. Appropriate and accessible statistical software is needed to produce the summary statistic of interest. Metaprop is a statistical program implemented to perform meta-analyses of proportions in Stata. It builds further on the existing Stata procedure metan which is typically used to pool effects (risk ratios, odds ratios, differences of risks or means) but which is also used to pool proportions. Metaprop implements procedures which are specific to binomial data and allows computation of exact binomial and score test-based confidence intervals. It provides appropriate methods for dealing with proportions close to or at the margins where the normal approximation procedures often break down, by use of the binomial distribution to model the within-study variability or by allowing Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation to stabilize the variances. Metaprop was applied on two published meta-analyses: 1) prevalence of HPV-infection in women with a Pap smear showing ASC-US; 2) cure rate after treatment for cervical precancer using cold coagulation. The first meta-analysis showed a pooled HPV-prevalence of 43% (95% CI: 38%-48%). In the second meta-analysis, the pooled percentage of cured women was 94% (95% CI: 86%-97%). By using metaprop, no studies with 0% or 100% proportions were excluded from the meta-analysis. Furthermore, study specific and pooled confidence intervals always were within admissible values, contrary to the original publication, where metan was used.

  20. Salmonella testing of pooled pre-enrichment broth cultures for screening multiple food samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, W R; Olsen, R A; Hunter, J E

    1972-04-01

    A method has been described for testing multiple food samples for Salmonella without loss in sensitivity. The method pools multiple pre-enrichment broth cultures into single enrichment broths. The subsequent stages of the Salmonella analysis are not altered. The method was found applicable to several dry food materials including nonfat dry milk, dried egg albumin, cocoa, cottonseed flour, wheat flour, and shredded coconut. As many as 25 pre-enrichment broth cultures were pooled without apparent loss in the sensitivity of Salmonella detection as compared to individual sample analysis. The procedure offers a simple, yet effective, way to increase sample capacity in the Salmonella testing of foods, particularly where a large proportion of samples ordinarily is negative. It also permits small portions of pre-enrichment broth cultures to be retained for subsequent individual analysis if positive tests are found. Salmonella testing of pooled pre-enrichment broths provides increased consumer protection for a given amount of analytical effort as compared to individual sample analysis.

  1. Premium adjustment: actuarial analysis on epidemiological models ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this paper, we analyse insurance premium adjustment in the context of an epidemiological model where the insurer's future financial liability is greater than the premium from patients. In this situation, it becomes extremely difficult for the insurer since a negative reserve would severely increase its risk of insolvency, ...

  2. Analysis of epidemiological indicators: Bovine brucellosis on the Atlantic coast and Antioquia - Colombia, 2005-2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Misael Oviedo-Pastrana

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Describe the situation of the bovine brucellosis in the Atlantic Coast and Antioquia (CAA by analysis of epidemiological indicators during 2005-2013. Materials and methods. The data was obtained from epidemiological reports of the Colombian Agricultural Institute and the National Agricultural Census 2014. The annual departmental average of the variables studied was compared and it was performed a temporal analysis through graphical representation. Results. 44% of the positive farms were focused on the CAA; the positivity rate of farms in the CAA (27.9% was higher and statistically significant when related to the average rate in the country (24.8% being promoted by the least producing departments. Regarding to the cattle population, the CAA concentrated 47.0% of positive cattle in the country; however, the bovine positivity rate (5.8% was statistically equal to the national average (5.3%; yet, the departments with lower cattle population had the highest rates. The best surveillance for bovine brucellosis was observed between 2005 and 2009, in contrast, during 2010, 2011 and 2013 there was a considerable reduction in the number of diagnoses, in both farms and cattle. In the least producing departments the temporary distribution of epidemiological indicators favored more the presence of the disease. Conclusions. The National Prevention Control and Eradication Program of Bovine Brucellosis in the CAA presented promising results, however, the lack of continuity in the diagnostic surveillance during some years and mainly in the least producing departments affected negatively their development.

  3. Analysis of raft foundations for spent fuel pool in nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramanian, K.V.; Kashikar, A.V.; Nath, C.; Shintre, C.C.

    2005-01-01

    Foundation rafts are analysed as a plate on elastic foundation with the representation of the foundation media using the Winkler idealisation i.e. series of linear uncoupled springs. The elastic constant of the Winkler springs is derived using the sub-grade modulus. However, the Winkler approach has limitations due to incompatibility of the deflections at raft-soil interface. The deflection of the raft at the point of contact and the deformation of the foundation media at this point of contact are incompatible in this approach. This particularly influences flexible rafts and further if the foundation media is soil. This paper discusses the analysis of raft, in general, and the analysis of the foundation raft for a Spent Fuel pool facility using 'variable k approach' where deformations at a node and influencing nodes are computed using Boussinesq's theory. The limitations stated above are overcome in this approach. Some studies on the sensitivity of parameters were carried out in the form of variation of moduli of elasticity of concrete and deformation modulus of soil. Analysis is also performed with conventional method using 'Winkler' soil springs. It is concluded that the Winkler model does not correctly predict the behaviour of the mat both qualitatively and quantitatively and could lead to underestimation of soil pressures leading to unconservative design. The approach involving soil structure interaction like the one presented here is hence recommended for important structures like those involved in Nuclear facilities. (authors)

  4. Finding Biomarker Signatures in Pooled Sample Designs: A Simulation Framework for Methodological Comparisons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Telaar

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Detection of discriminating patterns in gene expression data can be accomplished by using various methods of statistical learning. It has been proposed that sample pooling in this context would have negative effects; however, pooling cannot always be avoided. We propose a simulation framework to explicitly investigate the parameters of patterns, experimental design, noise, and choice of method in order to find out which effects on classification performance are to be expected. We use a two-group classification task and simulated gene expression data with independent differentially expressed genes as well as bivariate linear patterns and the combination of both. Our results show a clear increase of prediction error with pool size. For pooled training sets powered partial least squares discriminant analysis outperforms discriminance analysis, random forests, and support vector machines with linear or radial kernel for two of three simulated scenarios. The proposed simulation approach can be implemented to systematically investigate a number of additional scenarios of practical interest.

  5. Analysis of key hardware factors and countermeasure for restricting 49-2 swimming pool reactor lifetime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yadong; Guo Yue; Yang Xiao; Wang Yiwei; Wang Zhanwen

    2013-01-01

    Safe operation is the most important factor to determine the lifetime of aged 49-2 swimming pool reactor. In this paper, the hardware factors of lifetime were analyzed, such as the pool concrete aging, corrosion of aluminum container and primary coolant system, and graphite swelling etc., and then the corresponding measures such as surveillance, prevention and maintenance were purposed. The results show that 49-2 swimming pool reactor can continue to operate safely due to that container is safe under 8 degree earthquake, the reactor is safe on flood level of once per millennium, adding dam break, and the ageing condition of primary coolant system and container is acceptable. (authors)

  6. Epidemiology of childhood asthma in mainland China (1988–2014): A meta-analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Xiaojing; Li, Zhuoying; Ling, Weijun; Long, Jianxiong; Su, Cuilin; Li, Jinglin

    2018-01-01

    Background: After the promotion of the two-child policy in recent years, the population of children in mainland China was bound to have a rapid growth, which would bring great challenges to public health. A number of cross-sectional studies on the epidemic of childhood asthma in mainland China were recently conducted, and varied prevalences were reported. Thus, knowing the epidemiology of childhood asthma in mainland China is of great necessity. Objective: Our study aimed to summarize the pooled prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China and its time trend, gender difference, regional distribution, and age structure. Methods: Studies that reported the prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China were identified via a systematic data base search through July 1, 2016. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalence of childhood asthma and its subgroups, including gender, age groups, years, and regions. The regional distribution of the prevalence was set by province with the help of a geographic mapping software. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict the current prevalence of asthma. Results: A total of 117 studies published from 1988 to 2014 in mainland China with a total sample size of 2,678,696 were included. The overall current prevalence and lifetime prevalence of childhood asthma was 2.112% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.977–2.247%) and 2.502% (95% CI, 2.166–2.838%), respectively. The difference of the prevalences between male and female patients was significant: odds ratio 1.54 (95% CI, 1.47–1.62) for the current prevalence and odds ratio 1.61 (95% CI, 1.47–1.77) for the lifetime prevalence. Conclusion: The prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China was low but has been increasing remarkably since 1998. Boys are more likely to have asthma throughout most of their childhood. Preschoolers (3–6 years old) showed a higher prevalence than the other age groups. The current prevalence of childhood asthma

  7. Pooled analysis of studies on DNA adducts and dietary vitamins

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Ragin, C.; Minor, A.; Agudo, A.; Farmer, P.; Garte, S.; Gonzales, C.; Kalina, I.; Matullo, G.; Popov, T.; Palli, D.; Peluso, M.; Ricceri, F.; Šrám, Radim; Vineis, P.; Taioli, E.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 705, č. 2 (2010), s. 77-82 ISSN 1383-5742 Grant - others:EU(XE) FOOD -CT-2005-513943 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50390512 Keywords : biomarkers * carcinogenicity * molecular epidemiology Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 8.741, year: 2010

  8. POOL WATER TREATMENT AND COOLING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    King, V.

    2000-01-01

    The Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System is located in the Waste Handling Building (WHB), and is comprised of various process subsystems designed to support waste handling operations. This system maintains the pool water temperature within an acceptable range, maintains water quality standards that support remote underwater operations and prevent corrosion, detects leakage from the pool liner, provides the capability to remove debris from the pool, controls the pool water level, and helps limit radiological exposure to personnel. The pool structure and liner, pool lighting, and the fuel staging racks in the pool are not within the scope of the Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System. Pool water temperature control is accomplished by circulating the pool water through heat exchangers. Adequate circulation and mixing of the pool water is provided to prevent localized thermal hotspots in the pool. Treatment of the pool water is accomplished by a water treatment system that circulates the pool water through filters, and ion exchange units. These water treatment units remove radioactive and non-radioactive particulate and dissolved solids from the water, thereby providing the water clarity needed to conduct waste handling operations. The system also controls pool water chemistry to prevent advanced corrosion of the pool liner, pool components, and fuel assemblies. Removal of radioactivity from the pool water contributes to the project ALARA (as low as is reasonably achievable) goals. A leak detection system is provided to detect and alarm leaks through the pool liner. The pool level control system monitors the water level to ensure that the minimum water level required for adequate radiological shielding is maintained. Through interface with a demineralized water system, adequate makeup is provided to compensate for loss of water inventory through evaporation and waste handling operations. Interface with the Site Radiological Monitoring System provides continuous

  9. Study on Dynamic Development of Three-dimensional Weld Pool Surface in Stationary GTAW

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jiankang; He, Jing; He, Xiaoying; Shi, Yu; Fan, Ding

    2018-04-01

    The weld pool contains abundant information about the welding process. In particular, the type of the weld pool surface shape, i. e., convex or concave, is determined by the weld penetration. To detect it, an innovative laser-vision-based sensing method is employed to observe the weld pool surface of the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). A low-power laser dots pattern is projected onto the entire weld pool surface. Its reflection is intercepted by a screen and captured by a camera. Then the dynamic development process of the weld pool surface can be detected. By observing and analyzing, the change of the reflected laser dots reflection pattern, for shape of the weld pool surface shape, was found to closely correlate to the penetration of weld pool in the welding process. A mathematical model was proposed to correlate the incident ray, reflected ray, screen and surface of weld pool based on structured laser specular reflection. The dynamic variation of the weld pool surface and its corresponding dots laser pattern were simulated and analyzed. By combining the experimental data and the mathematical analysis, the results show that the pattern of the reflected laser dots pattern is closely correlated to the development of weld pool, such as the weld penetration. The concavity of the pool surface was found to increase rapidly after the surface shape was changed from convex to concave during the stationary GTAW process.

  10. Fission product concentration evolution in sodium pool following a fuel subassembly failure in an LMFBR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Natesan, K.; Velusamy, K.; Selvaraj, P.; Kasinathan, N.; Chellapandi, P.; Chetal, S.; Bhoje, S.

    2003-01-01

    During a fuel element failure in a liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactor, the fission products originating from the failed pins mix into the sodium pool. Delayed Neutron Detectors (DND) are provided in the sodium pool to detect such failures by way of detection of delayed neutrons emitted by the fission products. The transient evolution of fission product concentration is governed by the sodium flow distribution in the pool. Transient hydraulic analysis has been carried out using the CFD code PHOENICS to estimate fission product concentration evolution in hot pool. k- ε turbulence model and zero laminar diffusivity for the fission product concentration have been considered in the analysis. Times at which the failures of various fuel subassemblies (SA) are detected by the DND are obtained. It has been found that in order to effectively detect the failure of every fuel SA, a minimum of 8 DND in hot pool are essential

  11. A Mechanistic Model of Waterfall Plunge Pool Erosion into Bedrock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheingross, Joel S.; Lamb, Michael P.

    2017-11-01

    Landscapes often respond to changes in climate and tectonics through the formation and upstream propagation of knickzones composed of waterfalls. Little work has been done on the mechanics of waterfall erosion, and instead most landscape-scale models neglect waterfalls or use rules for river erosion, such as stream power, that may not be applicable to waterfalls. Here we develop a physically based model to predict waterfall plunge pool erosion into rock by abrasion from particle impacts and test the model against flume experiments. Both the model and experiments show that evolving plunge pools have initially high vertical erosion rates due to energetic particle impacts, and erosion slows and eventually ceases as pools deepen and deposition protects the pool floor from further erosion. Lateral erosion can continue after deposition on the pool floor, but it occurs at slow rates that become negligible as pools widen. Our work points to the importance of vertical drilling of successive plunge pools to drive upstream knickzone propagation in homogenous rock, rather than the classic mechanism of headwall undercutting. For a series of vertically drilling waterfalls, we find that upstream knickzone propagation is faster under higher combined water and sediment fluxes and for knickzones composed of many waterfalls that are closely spaced. Our model differs significantly from stream-power-based erosion rules in that steeper knickzones can retreat faster or more slowly depending on the number and spacing of waterfalls within a knickzone, which has implications for interpreting climatic and tectonic history through analysis of river longitudinal profiles.

  12. Epidemiological analysis of Salmonella clusters identified by whole genome sequencing, England and Wales 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waldram, Alison; Dolan, Gayle; Ashton, Philip M; Jenkins, Claire; Dallman, Timothy J

    2018-05-01

    The unprecedented level of bacterial strain discrimination provided by whole genome sequencing (WGS) presents new challenges with respect to the utility and interpretation of the data. Whole genome sequences from 1445 isolates of Salmonella belonging to the most commonly identified serotypes in England and Wales isolated between April and August 2014 were analysed. Single linkage single nucleotide polymorphism thresholds at the 10, 5 and 0 level were explored for evidence of epidemiological links between clustered cases. Analysis of the WGS data organised 566 of the 1445 isolates into 32 clusters of five or more. A statistically significant epidemiological link was identified for 17 clusters. The clusters were associated with foreign travel (n = 8), consumption of Chinese takeaways (n = 4), chicken eaten at home (n = 2), and one each of the following; eating out, contact with another case in the home and contact with reptiles. In the same time frame, one cluster was detected using traditional outbreak detection methods. WGS can be used for the highly specific and highly sensitive detection of biologically related isolates when epidemiological links are obscured. Improvements in the collection of detailed, standardised exposure information would enhance cluster investigations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Cannabis smoking and lung cancer risk: Pooled analysis in the International Lung Cancer Consortium

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, L.R.; Morgenstern, H.; Greenland, S.; Chang, S.C.; Lazarus, P.; Teare, M.D.; Woll, P.J.; Orlow, I.; Cox, B.; Brhane, Y.; Liu, G.; Hung, R.J.

    2015-01-01

    To investigate the association between cannabis smoking and lung cancer risk, data on 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls were pooled from 6 case-control studies in the US, Canada, UK, and New Zealand within the International Lung Cancer Consortium. Study-specific associations between cannabis smoking and lung cancer were estimated using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for sociodemographic factors, tobacco smoking status and pack-years; odds-ratio estimates were pooled usin...

  14. Pool scrubbing models for iodine components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fischer, K [Battelle Ingenieurtechnik GmbH, Eschborn (Germany)

    1996-12-01

    Pool scrubbing is an important mechanism to retain radioactive fission products from being carried into the containment atmosphere or into the secondary piping system. A number of models and computer codes has been developed to predict the retention of aerosols and fission product vapours that are released from the core and injected into water pools of BWR and PWR type reactors during severe accidents. Important codes in this field are BUSCA, SPARC and SUPRA. The present paper summarizes the models for scrubbing of gaseous Iodine components in these codes, discusses the experimental validation, and gives an assessment of the state of knowledge reached and the open questions which persist. The retention of gaseous Iodine components is modelled by the various codes in a very heterogeneous manner. Differences show up in the chemical species considered, the treatment of mass transfer boundary layers on the gaseous and liquid sides, the gas-liquid interface geometry, calculation of equilibrium concentrations and numerical procedures. Especially important is the determination of the pool water pH value. This value is affected by basic aerosols deposited in the water, e.g. Cesium and Rubidium compounds. A consistent model requires a mass balance of these compounds in the pool, thus effectively coupling the pool scrubbing phenomena of aerosols and gaseous Iodine species. Since the water pool conditions are also affected by drainage flow of condensate water from different regions in the containment, and desorption of dissolved gases on the pool surface is determined by the gas concentrations above the pool, some basic limitations of specialized pool scrubbing codes are given. The paper draws conclusions about the necessity of coupling between containment thermal-hydraulics and pool scrubbing models, and proposes ways of further simulation model development in order to improve source term predictions. (author) 2 tabs., refs.

  15. Pool scrubbing models for iodine components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, K.

    1996-01-01

    Pool scrubbing is an important mechanism to retain radioactive fission products from being carried into the containment atmosphere or into the secondary piping system. A number of models and computer codes has been developed to predict the retention of aerosols and fission product vapours that are released from the core and injected into water pools of BWR and PWR type reactors during severe accidents. Important codes in this field are BUSCA, SPARC and SUPRA. The present paper summarizes the models for scrubbing of gaseous Iodine components in these codes, discusses the experimental validation, and gives an assessment of the state of knowledge reached and the open questions which persist. The retention of gaseous Iodine components is modelled by the various codes in a very heterogeneous manner. Differences show up in the chemical species considered, the treatment of mass transfer boundary layers on the gaseous and liquid sides, the gas-liquid interface geometry, calculation of equilibrium concentrations and numerical procedures. Especially important is the determination of the pool water pH value. This value is affected by basic aerosols deposited in the water, e.g. Cesium and Rubidium compounds. A consistent model requires a mass balance of these compounds in the pool, thus effectively coupling the pool scrubbing phenomena of aerosols and gaseous Iodine species. Since the water pool conditions are also affected by drainage flow of condensate water from different regions in the containment, and desorption of dissolved gases on the pool surface is determined by the gas concentrations above the pool, some basic limitations of specialized pool scrubbing codes are given. The paper draws conclusions about the necessity of coupling between containment thermal-hydraulics and pool scrubbing models, and proposes ways of further simulation model development in order to improve source term predictions. (author) 2 tabs., refs

  16. Evolution of the pilot infrastructure of CMS towards a single glideinWMS pool

    OpenAIRE

    Gutsche, Oliver

    2013-01-01

    CMS production and analysis job submission is based largely on glideinWMS and pilot submissions. The transition from multiple different submission solutions like gLite WMS and HTCondor-based implementations was carried out over years and is coming now to a conclusion. The historically explained separate glideinWMS pools for different types of production jobs and analysis jobs are being unified into a single global pool. This enables CMS to benefit from global prioritization and scheduling pos...

  17. Efficacy of Alteplase® in a mouse model of acute ischemic stroke: a retrospective pooled analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orset, Cyrille; Haelewyn, Benoit; Allan, Stuart M.; Ansar, Saema; Campos, Francesco; Cho, Tae Hee; Durand, Anne; El Amki, Mohamad; Fatar, Marc; Garcia-Yébenes, Isaac; Gauberti, Maxime; Grudzenski, Saskia; Lizasoain, Ignacio; Lo, Eng; Macrez, Richard; Margaill, Isabelle; Maysami, Samaneh; Meairs, Stephen; Nighoghossian, Norbert; Orbe, Josune; Paramo, Jose Antonio; Parienti, Jean-Jacques; Rothwell, Nancy J.; Rubio, Marina; Waeber, Christian; Young, Alan R.

    2016-01-01

    Background and purpose The debate over the fact that experimental drugs proposed for the treatment of stroke fail in the translation to the clinical situation, has attracted considerable attention in the literature. In this context, we present a retrospective pooled analysis of a large dataset from pre-clinical studies, in order to examine the effects of early versus late administration of intravenous recombinant tissue type plasminogen activator (rt-PA). Methods We collected data from 26 individual studies from 9 international centers (13 researchers, 716 animals) that compared rt-PA to controls, in a unique mouse model of thromboembolic stroke induced by an in situ injection of thrombin into the middle cerebral artery. Studies were classified into early (<3h) versus late (≥3h) drug administration. Final infarct volumes, assessed by histology or MRI, were compared in each study and the absolute differences were pooled in a random-effect meta-analysis. The influence of time of administration was tested. Results When compared to saline controls, early rt-PA administration was associated with a significant benefit (absolute difference = −6.63 mm3; 95%CI, −9.08 to −4.17; I2=76%) whereas late rt-PA treatment showed a deleterious effect (+5.06 mm3; 95%CI, +2.78 to +7.34; I2=42%, Pint<0.00001). Results remained unchanged following subgroup analyses. Conclusion Our results provide the basis needed for the design of future pre-clinical studies on recanalization therapies using this model of thromboembolic stroke in mice. The power analysis reveals that a multi-center trial would require 123 animals per group instead of 40 for a single center trial. PMID:27032444

  18. Heat and Fission Product Transport in a Molten U-Zr-O Pool With Crust

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, J.I.; Suh, K.Y.; Kang, C.S.

    2002-01-01

    Heat transfer and fluid flow in a molten pool are influenced by internal volumetric heat generated from the radioactive decay of fission product species retained in the pool. The pool superheat is determined based on the overall energy balance that equates the heat production rate to the heat loss rate. Decay heat of fission products in the pool was estimated by product of the mass concentration and energy conversion factor of each fission product. For the calculation of heat generation rate in the pool, twenty-nine elements were chosen and classified by their chemical properties. The mass concentration of a fission product is obtained from released fraction and the tabular output of the ORIGEN 2 code. The initial core and pool inventories at each time can also be estimated using ORIGEN 2. The released fraction of each fission product is calculated based on the bubble dynamics and mass transport. Numerical analysis was performed for the TMI-2 accident. The pool is assumed to be a partially filled hemispherical geometry and the change of pool geometry during the numerical calculation was neglected. Results of the numerical calculation revealed that the peak temperature of the molten pool significantly decreased and most of the volatile fission products were released from the molten pool during the accident. (authors)

  19. Applications of artificial intelligence systems in the analysis of epidemiological data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flouris, Andreas D; Duffy, Jack

    2006-01-01

    A brief review of the germane literature suggests that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) statistical algorithms in epidemiology has been limited. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using AI systems in large-scale sets of epidemiological data to extract inherent, formerly unidentified, and potentially valuable patterns that human-driven deductive models may miss.

  20. Self-formed waterfall plunge pools in homogeneous rock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheingross, Joel S.; Lo, Daniel Y.; Lamb, Michael P.

    2017-01-01

    Waterfalls are ubiquitous, and their upstream propagation can set the pace of landscape evolution, yet no experimental studies have examined waterfall plunge pool erosion in homogeneous rock. We performed laboratory experiments, using synthetic foam as a bedrock simulant, to produce self-formed waterfall plunge pools via particle impact abrasion. Plunge pool vertical incision exceeded lateral erosion by approximately tenfold until pools deepened to the point that the supplied sediment could not be evacuated and deposition armored the pool bedrock floor. Lateral erosion of plunge pool sidewalls continued after sediment deposition, but primarily at the downstream pool wall, which might lead to undermining of the plunge pool lip, sediment evacuation, and continued vertical pool floor incision in natural streams. Undercutting of the upstream pool wall was absent, and our results suggest that vertical drilling of successive plunge pools is a more efficient waterfall retreat mechanism than the classic model of headwall undercutting and collapse in homogeneous rock.

  1. Patent pools: Intellectual property rights and competition.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rodriguez, V.F.

    2010-01-01

    Patent pools do not correct all problems associated with patent thickets. In this respect, patent pools might not stop the outsider problem from striking pools. Moreover, patent pools can be expensive to negotiate, can exclude patent holders with smaller numbers of patents or enable a group of major

  2. Analysis of natural convection heat transfer and flows in internally heated stratified liquid pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gubaidullin, A.A. Jr.; Dinh, T.N.; Sehgal, B.R.

    1999-01-01

    In this paper, natural convection flows and heat transfer in a liquid pool, with two superposed immiscible fluid layers, are analyzed. The objective of the study is to examine the effect of interfacial hydrodynamics and to develop a method which enables energy splitting to be evaluated in a stratified liquid pool. The thermal convection, with and without an internal heat source, in a rectangular cavity with different pairs of fluids was numerically simulated by a CFD code FLOW-3D. It was found that the code performs very well for prediction of heat transfer coefficients for different conditions. The hydrodynamic coupling between immiscible layers was found to have minor, if any, impact on the natural convection heat transfer for the conditions examined. Calculated results were used to develop, and validate, a new correlation for energy splitting and for heat transfer in stratified liquid pools

  3. Spatial epidemiological techniques in cholera mapping and analysis towards a local scale predictive modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasam, A. R. A.; Ghazali, R.; Noor, A. M. M.; Mohd, W. M. N. W.; Hamid, J. R. A.; Bazlan, M. J.; Ahmad, N.

    2014-02-01

    Cholera spatial epidemiology is the study of the spread and control of the disease spatial pattern and epidemics. Previous studies have shown that multi-factorial causation such as human behaviour, ecology and other infectious risk factors influence the disease outbreaks. Thus, understanding spatial pattern and possible interrelationship factors of the outbreaks are crucial to be explored an in-depth study. This study focuses on the integration of geographical information system (GIS) and epidemiological techniques in exploratory analyzing the cholera spatial pattern and distribution in the selected district of Sabah. Spatial Statistic and Pattern tools in ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel software were utilized to map and analyze the reported cholera cases and other data used. Meanwhile, cohort study in epidemiological technique was applied to investigate multiple outcomes of the disease exposure. The general spatial pattern of cholera was highly clustered showed the disease spread easily at a place or person to others especially 1500 meters from the infected person and locations. Although the cholera outbreaks in the districts are not critical, it could be endemic at the crowded areas, unhygienic environment, and close to contaminated water. It was also strongly believed that the coastal water of the study areas has possible relationship with the cholera transmission and phytoplankton bloom since the areas recorded higher cases. GIS demonstrates a vital spatial epidemiological technique in determining the distribution pattern and elucidating the hypotheses generating of the disease. The next research would be applying some advanced geo-analysis methods and other disease risk factors for producing a significant a local scale predictive risk model of the disease in Malaysia.

  4. Spatial epidemiological techniques in cholera mapping and analysis towards a local scale predictive modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasam, A R A; Ghazali, R; Noor, A M M; Mohd, W M N W; Hamid, J R A; Bazlan, M J; Ahmad, N

    2014-01-01

    Cholera spatial epidemiology is the study of the spread and control of the disease spatial pattern and epidemics. Previous studies have shown that multi-factorial causation such as human behaviour, ecology and other infectious risk factors influence the disease outbreaks. Thus, understanding spatial pattern and possible interrelationship factors of the outbreaks are crucial to be explored an in-depth study. This study focuses on the integration of geographical information system (GIS) and epidemiological techniques in exploratory analyzing the cholera spatial pattern and distribution in the selected district of Sabah. Spatial Statistic and Pattern tools in ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel software were utilized to map and analyze the reported cholera cases and other data used. Meanwhile, cohort study in epidemiological technique was applied to investigate multiple outcomes of the disease exposure. The general spatial pattern of cholera was highly clustered showed the disease spread easily at a place or person to others especially 1500 meters from the infected person and locations. Although the cholera outbreaks in the districts are not critical, it could be endemic at the crowded areas, unhygienic environment, and close to contaminated water. It was also strongly believed that the coastal water of the study areas has possible relationship with the cholera transmission and phytoplankton bloom since the areas recorded higher cases. GIS demonstrates a vital spatial epidemiological technique in determining the distribution pattern and elucidating the hypotheses generating of the disease. The next research would be applying some advanced geo-analysis methods and other disease risk factors for producing a significant a local scale predictive risk model of the disease in Malaysia

  5. Molecular epidemiology of human rhinoviruses

    OpenAIRE

    Savolainen-Kopra, Carita

    2006-01-01

    The first part of this work investigates the molecular epidemiology of a human enterovirus (HEV), echovirus 30 (E-30). This project is part of a series of studies performed in our research team analyzing the molecular epidemiology of HEV-B viruses. A total of 129 virus strains had been isolated in different parts of Europe. The sequence analysis was performed in three different genomic regions: 420 nucleotides (nt) in the VP4/VP2 capsid protein coding region, the entire VP1 capsid protein cod...

  6. Incidence rate of ovarian cancer cases in Saudi Arabia: an observational descriptive epidemiological analysis of data from Saudi Cancer Registry 2001–2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alghamdi IG

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Ibrahim G Alghamdi,1,2 Issam I Hussain,1 Mohamed S Alghamdi,3 Mansour M Alghamdi,4 Ahlam A Dohal,4 Mohammed A El-Sheemy51School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, UK; 2Al-Baha University, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia; 3Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Health Affairs, Al-Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 4King Fahad Specialist Hospital–Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Research and Development, Lincoln Hospital, United Lincolnshire Hospitals, National Health Service Trust, Lincoln, UKPurpose: This study provides descriptive epidemiological data, such as the percentage of cases diagnosed, crude incidence rate (CIR, and age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR of ovarian cancer in Saudi Arabia from 2001–2008. Patients and methods: A retrospective descriptive epidemiological analysis of all ovarian cancer cases recorded in the Saudi Cancer Registry (SCR from January 2001–December 2008 was performed. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance tests, Poisson regression, and simple linear modeling.Results: A total of 991 ovarian cancer cases were recorded in the SCR from January 2001–December 2008. The region of Riyadh had the highest overall ASIR at 3.3 cases per 100,000 women, followed by the Jouf and Asir regions at 3.13 and 2.96 cases per 100,000 women. However, Hail and Jazan had the lowest rates at 1.4 and 0.6 cases per 100,000 women, respectively. Compared to Jazan, the incidence rate ratio for the number of ovarian cancer cases was significantly higher (P<0.001 in the Makkah region at 6.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.13–9.83, followed by Riyadh at 6.3 (95% CI: 4.10–9.82, and the eastern region of Saudi Arabia at 4.52 (95% CI: 2.93–6.98. The predicted annual CIR and ASIR for ovarian cancer in Saudi Arabia could be defined by the equations 0.9 + (0.07× years and 1.71 + (0.09× years, respectively.Conclusion: We observed a slight increase in the CIRs and

  7. Measurement of argon concentrations in a TRIGA Mark-III pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simms, R [California State University, Northridge, CA (United States)

    1974-07-01

    Argon-41, the principal radioactive effluent from a pool type reactor during normal operation, is produced by the {sup 40}A (n,{gamma}) reaction. The reactant, {sup 40}A, is introduced into the pool water by contact with the air. Reduction in radioactive argon release can be accomplished by reducing the concentration of dissolved {sup 40}A and retaining the {sup 41}A within the pool. However, little data were available concerning the mechanisms of argon introduction, production, retention, and release from a reactor pool. Experiments have therefore been performed at the Torrey Pines TRIGA Mark-III Reactor to develop techniques to sample dissolved argon and to provide data on argon concentrations in the pool for release modeling studies. Significant results for argon dissolved at different pool depths can only be obtained if the water samples are sealed at the point of collection. A special handling tool was developed to perform this remote operation. Pool samples were counted for {sup 41}A soon after collection with a NaI spectrometer. After allowing one day for decay of {sup 41}A, the concentration of {sup 40}A in the water sample was determined by neutron activation analysis. In each case, the 1.29 MeV gamma-ray peak of {sup 41}A was used. Interference from the 1.37 MeV {sup 24}Na peak was considered and its effect subtracted after determining {sup 24}Na content from the 2.75 MeV {sup 24}Na peak and a sodium standard. A Ge(Li) detector was tried and found to eliminate the problem, but it introduced an unacceptable geometrical effect dependent on bubble size within the sample bottles. Samples were taken from the 27 ft deep TRIGA pool at various locations. Results were obtained for samples taken on several different days along the same vertical line about 3-1/2 ft from the reactor centerline. Temperature measurements along this vertical traverse indicated a sharp temperature gradient at about 15 ft below the surface ({approx}6 ft above the top of the reactor). The

  8. Evaluation of Decontamination Factor of Aerosol in Pool Scrubber according to Bubble Shape and Size

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jo, Hyun Joung; Ha, Kwang Soon; Jang, Dong Soon [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    The scrubbing pool could play an important role in the wet type FCVS because a large amount of aerosol is captured in the water pool. The pool scrubbing phenomena have been modelled and embedded in several computer codes, such as SPARC (Suppression Pool Aerosol Removal Code), BUSCA (BUbble Scrubbing Algorithm) and SUPRA (Suppression Pool Retention Analysis). These codes aim at simulating the pool scrubbing process and estimating the decontamination factors (DFs) of the radioactive aerosol and iodine gas in the water pool, which is defined as the ratio of initial mass of the specific radioactive material to final massy after passing through the water pool. The pool scrubbing models were reviewed and an aerosol scrubbing code has been prepared to calculate decontamination factor through the pool. The developed code has been verified using the experimental results and parametric studies the decontamination factor according to bubble shape and size. To evaluate the decontamination factor more accurate whole pool scrubber phenomena, the code was improved to consider the variety shape and size of bubbles. The decontamination factor were largely evaluated in ellipsoid bubble rather than in sphere bubble. The pool scrubbing models will be enhanced to apply more various model such as aerosol condensation of hygroscopic. And, it is need to experiment to measure to bubble shape and size distribution in pool to improve bubble model.

  9. Biomass production and energy source of thermophiles in a Japanese alkaline geothermal pool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Hiroyuki; Mori, Kousuke; Nashimoto, Hiroaki; Hattori, Shohei; Yamada, Keita; Koba, Keisuke; Yoshida, Naohiro; Kato, Kenji

    2010-02-01

    Microbial biomass production has been measured to investigate the contribution of planktonic bacteria to fluxations in dissolved organic matter in marine and freshwater environments, but little is known about biomass production of thermophiles inhabiting geothermal and hydrothermal regions. The biomass production of thermophiles inhabiting an 85 degrees C geothermal pool was measured by in situ cultivation using diffusion chambers. The thermophiles' growth rates ranged from 0.43 to 0.82 day(-1), similar to those of planktonic bacteria in marine and freshwater habitats. Biomass production was estimated based on cellular carbon content measured directly from the thermophiles inhabiting the geothermal pool, which ranged from 5.0 to 6.1 microg C l(-1) h(-1). This production was 2-75 times higher than that of planktonic bacteria in other habitats, because the cellular carbon content of the thermophiles was much higher. Quantitative PCR and phylogenetic analysis targeting 16S rRNA genes revealed that thermophilic H2-oxidizing bacteria closely related to Calderobacterium and Geothermobacterium were dominant in the geothermal pool. Chemical analysis showed the presence of H2 in gases bubbling from the bottom of the geothermal pool. These results strongly suggested that H2 plays an important role as a primary energy source of thermophiles in the geothermal pool.

  10. 13 CFR 120.1705 - Pool formation requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... requirements. SBA may adjust the Pool characteristics periodically based on program experience and market... a Pool involving a Pool Loan it does not own, it must purchase the Loan Interest it proposes to pool... purchase the Loan Interest and take it into inventory or settle the purchase of the Loan Interest through...

  11. 1968 Listing of Swimming Pool Equipment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Sanitation Foundation, Ann Arbor, MI. Testing Lab.

    An up-to-date listing of swimming pool equipment including--(1) companies authorized to display the National Sanitation Foundation seal of approval, (2) equipment listed as meeting NSF swimming pool equipment standards relating to diatomite type filters, (3) equipment listed as meeting NSF swimming pool equipment standard relating to sand type…

  12. THE SPOROZOITE ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY : APPLICATION IN MALARIA EPIDEMIOLOGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael J. Bangs

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent biotechnological breakthroughs have led to the development of various methods for detection and identification of human pathogens in their vectors. Monoclonal antibodies produced against malaria sporozoite antigens have permitted the development of several sensitive, species specific immunological tests (IFA, IRMA, ELIS A. One of these, a two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELIS A has been developed as a useful epidemiological tool in the identification of malaria-infected mosquitoes. This method employs highly species specific monoclonal antibodies that recognize the repetitive immunodominant epitope of the circumsporozoite (CS protein. Monoclonal antibodies have been developed for all four species of human malaria The key feature of the ELISA technique is the use of an enzyme indicator for an immunological reaction. The antigen capture or "sandwich" ELISA configuration uses the purified monoclonal both as the solid phase and, conjugated to enzyme, as a marker for the presence of CS protein in a mosquito homogenate incubated in the wells of a microtitration plate. This technology has shown advantages over other methods for epidemiological data collection. Mosquitoes can be caught, dried and stored until a time convenient for examination. The sporozoite rate by Plasmodium species can be identified easily, and when combined with the man-biting rate provides the sporozoite inoculation rate, an important entomologic estimate of the number of potential infective bites a person could expect over a given period of time. Presently, mosquitoes can be tested individually or pooled up to 20 anophe lines. The assay is sensitive enough to detect 1 infected mosquito per pool or as few as 25 sporozoites per 50 pi of mosquito extract. Basic principles and procedures are covered concerning solid substrate, adsorption to solid substrate, buffers and wash solutions, conjugates and enzyme substrates. The advantages and limitations of this technique

  13. A strategy for optimizing item-pool management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ariel, A.; van der Linden, Willem J.; Veldkamp, Bernard P.

    2006-01-01

    Item-pool management requires a balancing act between the input of new items into the pool and the output of tests assembled from it. A strategy for optimizing item-pool management is presented that is based on the idea of a periodic update of an optimal blueprint for the item pool to tune item

  14. Swimming Pools and Molluscum Contagiosum

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Travelers’ Health: Smallpox & Other Orthopoxvirus-Associated Infections Poxvirus Swimming Pools Recommend on Facebook Tweet Share Compartir The ... often ask if molluscum virus can spread in swimming pools. There is also concern that it can ...

  15. Pooling and correlated neural activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Rosenbaum

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Correlations between spike trains can strongly modulate neuronal activity and affect the ability of neurons to encode information. Neurons integrate inputs from thousands of afferents. Similarly, a number of experimental techniques are designed to record pooled cell activity. We review and generalize a number of previous results that show how correlations between cells in a population can be amplified and distorted in signals that reflect their collective activity. The structure of the underlying neuronal response can significantly impact correlations between such pooled signals. Therefore care needs to be taken when interpreting pooled recordings, or modeling networks of cells that receive inputs from large presynaptic populations. We also show that the frequently observed runaway synchrony in feedforward chains is primarily due to the pooling of correlated inputs.

  16. Method of measuring a liquid pool volume

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, G.V.; Carlson, N.M.; Donaldson, A.D.

    1991-03-19

    A method of measuring a molten metal liquid pool volume and in particular molten titanium liquid pools is disclosed, including the steps of (a) generating an ultrasonic wave at the surface of the molten metal liquid pool, (b) shining a light on the surface of a molten metal liquid pool, (c) detecting a change in the frequency of light, (d) detecting an ultrasonic wave echo at the surface of the molten metal liquid pool, and (e) computing the volume of the molten metal liquid. 3 figures.

  17. Analysis of SBO accident for a swimming pool reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Guimin; Li Weiwei; Li Ning; Guo Wenhui

    2015-01-01

    The RELAP5/MOD3.3 code was adopted to compute the SBO accident condition of a swimming pool reactor. The coolant flow reversal process was calculated, and the influence of parameters of the flow between the core leakage and components on the flow reversal in the SBO accident condition was analyzed. The calculated results show that in the situation the reactor loses all forced flow, the residual heat of the reactor can be removed by the natural circulation flow, and the fuel subassembly will not be damaged. (authors)

  18. The incidence rate of corpus uteri cancer among females in Saudi Arabia: an observational descriptive epidemiological analysis of data from Saudi Cancer Registry 2001–2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alghamdi IG

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Ibrahim G Alghamdi,1 Issam I Hussain,1 Mohamed S Alghamdi,2 Mohamed A El-Sheemy1,3 1University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, UK; 2Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Health Affairs, Al-Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3Research and Development, Lincoln Hospital, Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK Background: The present study reviews the epidemiological data on corpus uteri cancer among Saudi women, including its frequency, crude incidence rate, and age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR, adjusted by region and year of diagnosis. Methods: A retrospective, descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted of all the corpus uteri cancer cases recorded in the Saudi Cancer Registry between January 2001 and December 2008. The statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Poisson regression, and a simple linear model. Results: A total of 1,060 corpus uteri cancer cases were included. Women aged 60–74 years of age were most affected by the disease. The region of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia had the highest overall ASIR, at 4.4 cases per 100,000 female patients, followed by the eastern region, at 4.2, and Makkah, at 3.7. Jazan, Najran, and Qassim had the lowest average ASIRs, ranging from 0.8 to 1.4. A Poisson regression model using Jazan as the reference revealed that the corpus uteri cancer incidence rate ratio was significantly higher for the regions of Makkah, at 16.5 times (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.0–23.0, followed by Riyadh, at 16.0 times (95% CI: 9.0–22.0, and the eastern region, at 9.9 times (95% CI: 5.6–17.6. The northern region experienced the highest changes in ASIRs of corpus uteri cancer among female Saudi patients between 2001 and 2008. Conclusion: There was a slight increase in the crude incidence rates and ASIRs for corpus uteri cancer in Saudi Arabia between 2001 and 2008. Older Saudi women were most affected by the disease. Riyadh, the eastern region, and Makkah

  19. ANALYSIS OF THE INCIDENCE OF LYMPHOMAS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KHAKASSIA FOR 2014 AND ITS EPIDEMIOLOGICAL FEATURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Valentinovna Smirnova

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to study patterns in the incidence of lymphomas and its epidemiological characteristics in the Republic of Khakassia for 2014. The research was conducted by retrospective analysis. The following epidemiological features are revealed: NHL is more common; LGM often ill persons young and middle age, and the NHL people in the older age groups; incidence among men is higher than women’s; among refined morphological variants LGM disseminated sclerosis and nodular lymphoid predominance, among the NHL is most prevalent diffuse non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; it is noted that the NHL is more common in urban populations.

  20. Stability analysis on an economic epidemiological model with vaccination Pages : - , and.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avusuglo, Wisdom S; Abdella, Kenzu; Feng, Wenying

    2017-08-01

    In this paper, an economic epidemiological model with vaccination is studied. The stability of the endemic steady-state is analyzed and some bifurcation properties of the system are investigated. It is established that the system exhibits saddle-point and period-doubling bifurcations when adult susceptible individuals are vaccinated. Furthermore, it is shown that susceptible individuals also have the tendency of opting for more number of contacts even if the vaccine is inefficacious and thus causes the disease endemic to increase in the long run. Results from sensitivity analysis with specific disease parameters are also presented. Finally, it is shown that the qualitative behaviour of the system is affected by contact levels.

  1. Safety analysis methodology for Chinshan nuclear power plant spent fuel pool under Fukushima-like accident condition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Hao-Tzu [Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China). Research Atomic Energy Council; Li, Wan-Yun; Wang, Jong-Rong; Tseng, Yung-Shin; Chen, Hsiung-Chih; Shih, Chunkuan; Chen, Shao-Wen [National Tsing Hua Univ., HsinChu, Taiwan (China). Inst. of Nuclear Engineering and Science

    2017-03-15

    Chinshan nuclear power plant (NPP), a BWR/4 plant, is the first NPP in Taiwan. After Fukushima NPP disaster occurred, there is more concern for the safety of NPPs in Taiwan. Therefore, in order to estimate the safety of Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool (SFP), by using TRACE, MELCOR, CFD, and FRAPTRAN codes, INER (Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, R.O.C.) performed the safety analysis of Chinshan NPP SFP. There were two main steps in this research. The first step was the establishment of Chinshan NPP SFP models. And the transient analysis under the SFP cooling system failure condition (Fukushima-like accident) was performed. In addition, the sensitive study of the time point for water spray was also performed. The next step was the fuel rod performance analysis by using FRAPTRAN and TRACE's results. Finally, the animation model of Chinshan NPP SFP was presented by using the animation function of SNAP with MELCOR analysis results.

  2. Efficacy of Alteplase in a Mouse Model of Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Retrospective Pooled Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orset, Cyrille; Haelewyn, Benoit; Allan, Stuart M; Ansar, Saema; Campos, Francesco; Cho, Tae Hee; Durand, Anne; El Amki, Mohamad; Fatar, Marc; Garcia-Yébenes, Isaac; Gauberti, Maxime; Grudzenski, Saskia; Lizasoain, Ignacio; Lo, Eng; Macrez, Richard; Margaill, Isabelle; Maysami, Samaneh; Meairs, Stephen; Nighoghossian, Norbert; Orbe, Josune; Paramo, Jose Antonio; Parienti, Jean-Jacques; Rothwell, Nancy J; Rubio, Marina; Waeber, Christian; Young, Alan R; Touzé, Emmanuel; Vivien, Denis

    2016-05-01

    The debate over the fact that experimental drugs proposed for the treatment of stroke fail in the translation to the clinical situation has attracted considerable attention in the literature. In this context, we present a retrospective pooled analysis of a large data set from preclinical studies, to examine the effects of early versus late administration of intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator. We collected data from 26 individual studies from 9 international centers (13 researchers; 716 animals) that compared recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator with controls, in a unique mouse model of thromboembolic stroke induced by an in situ injection of thrombin into the middle cerebral artery. Studies were classified into early (stroke in mice. The power analysis reveals that a multicenter trial would require 123 animals per group instead of 40 for a single-center trial. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

  3. Nonlinear dynamic response of whole pool multiple spent fuel racks subject to three-dimensional excitations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Y.; Wilson, P.R.; Stevenson, J.D.

    1995-01-01

    The seismic evaluation of submerged free standing spent fuel storage racks is more complicated than most other nuclear structural systems. When subjected to three dimensional (3-D) floor seismic excitations the dynamic responses of racks in a pool are hydro dynamically coupled with each other, with the fuel assemblies water in gaps. The motion behavior of the racks is significantly different from that observed using a 3D single rack mode. Few seismic analyses using 3-D whole pool multiple rack models are available in the literature. I this paper an analysis was performed for twelve racks using potential theory for the fluid-structure interaction, and using a 3-D whole pool multi-rack finite element model developed herein. The analysis includes the potential nonlinear dynamic behavior of the impact of fuel-rack, rack-rack and rack-pool wall, the tilting or uplift and the frictional sliding of rack supports, and the impact of the rack supports to the pool floor. (author). 12 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

  4. The Age-Specific Quantitative Effects of Metabolic Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes: A Pooled Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farzadfar, Farshad; Stevens, Gretchen A.; Woodward, Mark; Wormser, David; Kaptoge, Stephen; Whitlock, Gary; Qiao, Qing; Lewington, Sarah; Di Angelantonio, Emanuele; vander Hoorn, Stephen; Lawes, Carlene M. M.; Ali, Mohammed K.; Mozaffarian, Dariush; Ezzati, Majid

    2013-01-01

    Background The effects of systolic blood pressure (SBP), serum total cholesterol (TC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and body mass index (BMI) on the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been established in epidemiological studies, but consistent estimates of effect sizes by age and sex are not available. Methods We reviewed large cohort pooling projects, evaluating effects of baseline or usual exposure to metabolic risks on ischemic heart disease (IHD), hypertensive heart disease (HHD), stroke, diabetes, and, as relevant selected other CVDs, after adjusting for important confounders. We pooled all data to estimate relative risks (RRs) for each risk factor and examined effect modification by age or other factors, using random effects models. Results Across all risk factors, an average of 123 cohorts provided data on 1.4 million individuals and 52,000 CVD events. Each metabolic risk factor was robustly related to CVD. At the baseline age of 55–64 years, the RR for 10 mmHg higher SBP was largest for HHD (2.16; 95% CI 2.09–2.24), followed by effects on both stroke subtypes (1.66; 1.39–1.98 for hemorrhagic stroke and 1.63; 1.57–1.69 for ischemic stroke). In the same age group, RRs for 1 mmol/L higher TC were 1.44 (1.29–1.61) for IHD and 1.20 (1.15–1.25) for ischemic stroke. The RRs for 5 kg/m2 higher BMI for ages 55–64 ranged from 2.32 (2.04–2.63) for diabetes, to 1.44 (1.40–1.48) for IHD. For 1 mmol/L higher FPG, RRs in this age group were 1.18 (1.08–1.29) for IHD and 1.14 (1.01–1.29) for total stroke. For all risk factors, proportional effects declined with age, were generally consistent by sex, and differed by region in only a few age groups for certain risk factor-disease pairs. Conclusion Our results provide robust, comparable and precise estimates of the effects of major metabolic risk factors on CVD and diabetes by age group. PMID:23935815

  5. Collaborative Car Pooling System

    OpenAIRE

    João Ferreira; Paulo Trigo; Porfírio Filipe

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes the architecture for a collaborative Car Pooling System based on a credits mechanism to motivate the cooperation among users. Users can spend the accumulated credits on parking facilities. For this, we propose a business model to support the collaboration between a car pooling system and parking facilities. The Portuguese Lisbon-s Metropolitan area is used as application scenario.

  6. A meta-analysis of soil salinization effects on nitrogen pools, cycles and fluxes in coastal ecosystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Minghua; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Vereecken, Harry; Brüggemann, Nicolas

    2017-03-01

    Salinity intrusion caused by land subsidence resulting from increasing groundwater abstraction, decreasing river sediment loads and increasing sea level because of climate change has caused widespread soil salinization in coastal ecosystems. Soil salinization may greatly alter nitrogen (N) cycling in coastal ecosystems. However, a comprehensive understanding of the effects of soil salinization on ecosystem N pools, cycling processes and fluxes is not available for coastal ecosystems. Therefore, we compiled data from 551 observations from 21 peer-reviewed papers and conducted a meta-analysis of experimental soil salinization effects on 19 variables related to N pools, cycling processes and fluxes in coastal ecosystems. Our results showed that the effects of soil salinization varied across different ecosystem types and salinity levels. Soil salinization increased plant N content (18%), soil NH 4 + (12%) and soil total N (210%), although it decreased soil NO 3 - (2%) and soil microbial biomass N (74%). Increasing soil salinity stimulated soil N 2 O fluxes as well as hydrological NH 4 + and NO 2 - fluxes more than threefold, although it decreased the hydrological dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) flux (59%). Soil salinization also increased the net N mineralization by 70%, although salinization effects were not observed on the net nitrification, denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium in this meta-analysis. Overall, this meta-analysis improves our understanding of the responses of ecosystem N cycling to soil salinization, identifies knowledge gaps and highlights the urgent need for studies on the effects of soil salinization on coastal agro-ecosystem and microbial N immobilization. Additional increases in knowledge are critical for designing sustainable adaptation measures to the predicted intrusion of salinity intrusion so that the productivity of coastal agro-ecosystems can be maintained or improved and the N losses and pollution of the natural

  7. Production of molten UO2 pools by internal heating: apparatus and preliminary experimental heat transfer results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chasanov, M.G.; Gunther, W.H.; Baker, L. Jr.

    1977-01-01

    The capability for removal of heat from a pool of molten fuel under postaccident conditions is an important consideration in liquid-metal fast breeder reactor safety analysis. No experimental data for pool heat transfer from molten UO 2 under conditions simulating internal heat generation by fission product decay have been reported previously in the literature. An apparatus to provide such data was developed and used to investigate heat transfer from pools containing up to 7.5 kg of UO 2 ; the internal heat generation rates and pool depths attained cover most of the ranges of interest for postaccident heat removal analysis. It was also observed in these studies that the presence of simulated fission products corresponding to approximately 150,000 kW-day/kg burnup had no significant effect on the observed heat transfer

  8. Sparse feature learning for instrument identification: Effects of sampling and pooling methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Yoonchang; Lee, Subin; Nam, Juhan; Lee, Kyogu

    2016-05-01

    Feature learning for music applications has recently received considerable attention from many researchers. This paper reports on the sparse feature learning algorithm for musical instrument identification, and in particular, focuses on the effects of the frame sampling techniques for dictionary learning and the pooling methods for feature aggregation. To this end, two frame sampling techniques are examined that are fixed and proportional random sampling. Furthermore, the effect of using onset frame was analyzed for both of proposed sampling methods. Regarding summarization of the feature activation, a standard deviation pooling method is used and compared with the commonly used max- and average-pooling techniques. Using more than 47 000 recordings of 24 instruments from various performers, playing styles, and dynamics, a number of tuning parameters are experimented including the analysis frame size, the dictionary size, and the type of frequency scaling as well as the different sampling and pooling methods. The results show that the combination of proportional sampling and standard deviation pooling achieve the best overall performance of 95.62% while the optimal parameter set varies among the instrument classes.

  9. mec-associated dru typing in the epidemiological analysis of ST239 MRSA in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghaznavi-Rad, E; Goering, R V; Nor Shamsudin, M; Weng, P L; Sekawi, Z; Tavakol, M; van Belkum, A; Neela, V

    2011-11-01

    The usefulness of mec-associated dru typing in the epidemiological analysis of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in Malaysia was investigated and compared with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and spa and SCCmec typing. The isolates studied included all MRSA types in Malaysia. Multilocus sequence type ST188 and ST1 isolates were highly clonal by all typing methods. However, the dru typing of ST239 isolates produced the clearest discrimination between SCCmec IIIa and III isolates, yielding more subtypes than any other method. Evaluation of the discriminatory power for each method identified dru typing and PFGE as the most discriminatory, with Simpson's index of diversity (SID) values over 89%, including an isolate which was non-typeable by spa, but dru-typed as dt13j. The discriminatory ability of dru typing, especially with closely related MRSA ST239 strains (e.g., Brazilian and Hungarian), underscores its utility as a tool for the epidemiological investigation of MRSA.

  10. Life cycle environmental implications of residential swimming pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrest, Nigel; Williams, Eric

    2010-07-15

    Ownership of private swimming pools in the U.S. grew 2 to 4% per annum from 1997 to 2007. The environmental implications of pool ownership are analyzed by hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) for nine U.S. cities. An operational model is constructed estimating consumption of chemicals, water, and energy for a typical residential pool. The model incorporates geographical climatic variations and upstream water and energy use from electricity and water supply networks. Results vary considerably by city: a factor of 5-6 for both water and energy use. Water use is driven by aridness and length of the swimming season, while energy use is mainly driven by length of the swimming season. Water and energy impacts of pools are significant, particularly in arid climates. In Phoenix for example pools account for 22% and 13% of a household's electricity and water use, respectively. Measures to reduce water and energy use in pools such as optimizing the pump schedule and covering the pool in winter can realize greater savings than many common household efficiency improvements. Private versus community pools are also compared. Community pools in Phoenix use 60% less swimming pool water and energy per household than subdivisions without community pools.

  11. The Complex Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacter Infections: A Multicenter Descriptive Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazarovitch, Tsilia; Amity, Keren; Coyle, Joseph R; Ackerman, Benjamin; Tal-Jasper, Ruthy; Ofer-Friedman, Hadas; Hayakawa, Kayoko; Bogan, Christopher; Lephart, Paul R; Kaplansky, Tamir; Maskit, Moran; Azouri, Tal; Zaidenstein, Ronit; Perez, Federico; Bonomo, Robert A; Kaye, Keith S; Marchaim, Dror

    2015-11-01

    The pandemic of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) was primarily due to clonal spread of bla KPC producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Thus, thoroughly studied CRE cohorts have consisted mostly of K. pneumoniae. To conduct an extensive epidemiologic analysis of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter spp. (CREn) from 2 endemic and geographically distinct centers. CREn were investigated at an Israeli center (Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, January 2007 to July 2012) and at a US center (Detroit Medical Center, September 2008 to September 2009). bla KPC genes were queried by polymerase chain reaction. Repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis were used to determine genetic relatedness. In this analysis, 68 unique patients with CREn were enrolled. Sixteen isolates (24%) were from wounds, and 33 (48%) represented colonization only. All isolates exhibited a positive Modified Hodge Test, but only 93% (27 of 29) contained bla KPC. Forty-three isolates (63%) were from elderly adults, and 5 (7.4%) were from neonates. Twenty-seven patients died in hospital (40.3% of infected patients). Enterobacter strains consisted of 4 separate clones from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center and of 4 distinct clones from Detroit Medical Center. In this study conducted at 2 distinct CRE endemic regions, there were unique epidemiologic features to CREn: (i) polyclonality, (ii) neonates accounting for more than 7% of cohort, and (iii) high rate of colonization (almost one-half of all cases represented colonization). Since false-positive Modified Hodge Tests in Enterobacter spp. are common, close monitoring of carbapenem resistance mechanisms (particularly carbapenemase production) among Enterobacter spp. is important.

  12. Methodology for thermal-hydraulics analysis of pool type MTR fuel research reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Umbehaun, Pedro Ernesto

    2000-01-01

    This work presents a methodology developed for thermal-hydraulic analysis of pool type MTR fuel research reactors. For this methodology a computational program, FLOW, and a model, MTRCR-IEAR1 were developed. FLOW calculates the cooling flow distribution in the fuel elements, control elements, irradiators, and through the channels formed among the fuel elements and among the irradiators and reflectors. This computer program was validated against experimental data for the IEA-R1 research reactor core at IPEN-CNEN/SP. MTRCR-IEAR1 is a model based on the commercial program Engineering Equation Solver (EES). Besides the thermal-hydraulic analyses of the core in steady state accomplished by traditional computational programs like COBRA-3C/RERTR and PARET, this model allows to analyze parallel channels with different cooling flow and/or geometry. Uncertainty factors of the variables from neutronic and thermalhydraulic calculation and also from the fabrication of the fuel element are introduced in the model. For steady state analyses MTRCR-IEAR1 showed good agreement with the results of COBRA-3C/RERTR and PARET. The developed methodology was used for the calculation of the cooling flow distribution and the thermal-hydraulic analysis of a typical configuration of the IEA-R1 research reactor core. (author)

  13. Risk of pneumonia with budesonide-containing treatments in COPD: an individual patient-level pooled analysis of interventional studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollis, Sally; Jorup, Carin; Lythgoe, Dan; Martensson, Gunnar; Regnell, Pontus; Eckerwall, Göran

    2017-01-01

    Concerns have been raised that treatment of COPD with inhaled corticosteroids may increase pneumonia risk. Responding to a request from the European Medicines Agency Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee, a pooled analysis of interventional studies compared pneumonia risk with inhaled budesonide-containing versus non-budesonide-containing treatments and the impact of other clinically relevant factors. AstraZeneca-sponsored, parallel-group, double-blind, randomized controlled trials meeting the following criteria were included: >8 weeks' duration; ≥60 patients with COPD; inhaled budesonide treatment arm (budesonide/formoterol or budesonide); and non-budesonide-containing comparator arm (formoterol or placebo). Primary and secondary outcomes were time to first pneumonia treatment-emergent serious adverse event (TESAE) and treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAEs), respectively, analyzed using Cox regression models stratified by study. Eleven studies were identified; 10,570 out of 10,574 randomized patients receiving ≥1 dose of study treatment were included for safety analysis (budesonide-containing, n=5,750; non-budesonide-containing, n=4,820). Maximum exposure to treatment was 48 months. The overall pooled hazard ratio (HR), comparing budesonide versus non-budesonide-containing treatments, was 1.15 for pneumonia TESAEs (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83, 1.57) and 1.13 for pneumonia TEAEs (95% CI: 0.94, 1.36). The annual incidence of pneumonia TESAEs was 1.9% and 1.5% for budesonide-containing and non-budesonide-containing treatments, respectively. Comparing budesonide/formoterol with non-budesonide-containing treatment, the HRs for pneumonia TESAEs and TEAEs were 1.00 (95% CI: 0.69, 1.44) and 1.21 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.57), respectively. For budesonide versus placebo, HRs were 1.57 for pneumonia TESAEs (95% CI: 0.90, 2.74) and 1.07 for pneumonia TEAEs (95% CI: 0.83, 1.38). This pooled analysis found no statistically significant increase in overall risk for

  14. Safety of natural radiation exposure. A meta-analysis of epidemiological studies on natural radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osaki, S.

    2000-01-01

    . Furthermore, the combine of these studies, a meta-analysis, is expected to decrease the confidence limit and to countervail the confounding factors. This study reviewed the epidemiological studies on natural radiation exposure and tried to combine their results to prove the safety of natural radiation exposure. (author)

  15. Simpson's paradox visualized: The example of the Rosiglitazone meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schumacher Martin

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Simpson's paradox is sometimes referred to in the areas of epidemiology and clinical research. It can also be found in meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. However, though readers are able to recalculate examples from hypothetical as well as real data, they may have problems to easily figure where it emerges from. Method First, two kinds of plots are proposed to illustrate the phenomenon graphically, a scatter plot and a line graph. Subsequently, these can be overlaid, resulting in a overlay plot. The plots are applied to the recent large meta-analysis of adverse effects of rosiglitazone on myocardial infarction and to an example from the literature. A large set of meta-analyses is screened for further examples. Results As noted earlier by others, occurrence of Simpson's paradox in the meta-analytic setting, if present, is associated with imbalance of treatment arm size. This is well illustrated by the proposed plots. The rosiglitazone meta-analysis shows an effect reversion if all trials are pooled. In a sample of 157 meta-analyses, nine showed an effect reversion after pooling, though non-significant in all cases. Conclusion The plots give insight on how the imbalance of trial arm size works as a confounder, thus producing Simpson's paradox. Readers can see why meta-analytic methods must be used and what is wrong with simple pooling.

  16. Structure for nuclear fuel storage pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebata, Sakae; Nichiei, Shinji.

    1979-01-01

    Purpose: To enable leak detection in nuclear fuel storage pools, as well as prevent external leakages while keeping the strength of the constructional structures. Constitution: Protection plates are provided around pool linear plates and a leak reception is provided to the bottom. Leakages are detected by leak detecting pipeways and the external leakages are prevented by collecting them in a detection area provided in the intermediate layer. Since ferro-reinforcements at the bottom wall of the pool are disconnected by the protection plate making it impossible to form the constructional body, body hunches are provided to the bottom wall of the pool for processing the ferro-reinforcements. (Yoshino, Y.)

  17. Chondrosarcoma of the Osseous Spine: An Analysis of Epidemiology, Patient Outcomes, and Prognostic Factors Using the SEER Registry From 1973 to 2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arshi, Armin; Sharim, Justin; Park, Don Y; Park, Howard Y; Bernthal, Nicholas M; Yazdanshenas, Hamed; Shamie, Arya N

    2017-05-01

    Retrospective analysis. To determine the epidemiology and prognostic indicators in patients with chondrosarcoma of the osseous spine. Chondrosarcoma of the spine is rare, with limited data on its epidemiology, clinicopathologic features, and treatment outcomes. Therapy centers on complete en bloc resection with radiotherapy reserved for subtotal resection or advanced disease. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Registry was queried for patients with chondrosarcoma of the osseous spine from 1973 to 2012. Study variables included age, sex, race, year of diagnosis, size, grade, extent of disease, and treatment modality. The search identified 973 cases of spinal chondrosarcoma. Mean age at diagnosis was 51.6 years, and 627% of patients were males. Surgical resection and radiotherapy were performed in 75.2% and 21.3% of cases, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) of 53% and 64%, respectively, at 5 years. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age (OS, P chondrosarcoma of the spine independent of extent of disease. Radiotherapy improves survival in patients with metastatic disease and worsens outcomes in patients with confined and locally invasive disease. 4.

  18. Prognostic role of acellular mucin pools in patients with rectal cancer after pathological complete response to preoperative chemoradiation: systematic review and meta-analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhatti, A.B.H.

    2017-01-01

    The prognostic implication of acellular mucin pools (AMP) in rectal cancer is controversial. There is no Level-I evidence regarding their prognostic impact. This systematic review was performed to determine the impact of AMP on survival in patients with rectal cancer, who demonstrate pathological complete response (PCR) to preoperative chemoradiation (CRT). A systematic literature review was performed by searching MEDLINE and EMBASE database. For overall survival, the overall random effect model favored mucin negative tumors (HR=2, 95% CI=0.8-4.8) with heterogeneity (I-squared=0, p=0.6). However, the pooled analysis was not significant due to small sample. For disease-free survival, four studies showed HR >1; however, the pooled random effect model indicated little difference in risk (HR=1.06, 95% CI=0.4-2.4) with heterogeneity (I-squared=49.5%, p=0.07). No definite prognostic role of AMP in rectal cancer patients with PCR was found. These results, however, should be interpreted with caution. (author)

  19. Distributed Technologies in a Data Pool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keiser, K.; Conover, H.; Graves, S.; He, Y.; Regner, K.; Smith, M.

    2004-12-01

    A Data Pool is an on-line repository providing interactive and programmatic access to data products through a variety of services. The University of Alabama in Huntsville has developed and deployed such a Data Pool in conjunction with the DISCOVER project, a collaboration with NASA and Remote Sensing Systems. DISCOVER provides long-term ocean and climate data from a variety of passive microwave satellite instruments, including such products as sea-surface temperature and wind, air temperature, atmospheric water vapor, cloud water and rain rate. The Data Pool provides multiple methods to access and visualize these products, including conventional HTTP and FTP access, as well as data services that provide for enhanced usability and interoperability, such as GridFTP, OPeNDAP, OpenGIS-compliant web mapping and coverage services, and custom subsetting and packaging services. This paper will focus on the distributed service technologies used in the Data Pool, which spans heterogeneous machines at multiple locations. For example, in order to provide seamless access to data at multiple sites, the Data Pool provides catalog services for all data products at the various data server locations. Under development is an automated metadata generation tool that crawls the online data repositories regularly to dynamically update the Data Pool catalog with information about newly generated data files. For efficient handling of data orders across distributed repositories, the Data Pool also implements distributed data processing services on the file servers where the data resides. Ontologies are planned to support automated service chaining for custom user requests. The UAH Data Pool is based on a configurable technology framework that integrates distributed data services with a web interface and a set of centralized database services for catalogs and order tracking. While this instantiation of the Data Pool was implemented to meet the needs of the DISCOVER project, the framework was

  20. [Occupational epidemiology: some methodological considerations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvear-Galindo, María Guadalupe; del Pilar Paz-Román, María

    2006-01-01

    During the last decade, occupational epidemiology has gained a great importance, not only because of the increase of pollutants and their noxiousness, but also because it has gone from the descriptive to the analytic level. The purpose of this work is to present what has been reported on epidemiological studies, different ways of characterizing and measuring occupational exposure, by emphasizing slants of exposure and selection measurement. In the reviewed studies, an interest in improving the exposure evaluation has been shown. The mainly reported measurement slants are the ways of measuring and classifying the exposure. The main designs were transversal with the use of matrixes to improve the evaluation of exposure. Conditions of hygiene and security were considered in order to control the quality of the information. This information was analyzed with different criteria. Some of the elements that hinder the research on occupational epidemiology are a mixed exposure, small populations, lack of exposure data, low levels of exposure and long periods of illness latency. Some breakthroughs in the strategies of epidemiological analysis and some other areas of knowledge have made possible a better understanding of work and health conditions of workers.

  1. Pretreatment Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor in Bladder Cancer and Metastatic or Unresectable Urothelial Carcinoma Patients: a Pooled Analysis of Comparative Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shuiqing; Zhao, Xiaokun; Wang, Yinhuai; Zhong, Zhaohui; Zhang, Lei; Cao, Jian; Ai, Kai; Xu, Ran

    2018-01-01

    Emerging studies have shown that the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a potential predictor in various tumors. Our study was conducted to assess the prognostic value of the pretreatment NLR in bladder cancer and metastatic or unresectable urothelial carcinoma (mUC or uUC) patients up to July 2017. The correlation between the pretreatment NLR and pathological characteristics was also evaluated in bladder cancer patients. The hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (CI) were extracted or calculated from the included studies for further pooled analysis. A total of 21 studies were included in a pooled analysis. The pooled results indicated that a high pretreatment NLR was associated with reduced overall survival (OS) (HR=1.27, 95% CI=1.12-1.43), relapse-free survival (RFS) (HR=1.41, 95% CI=1.23-1.60), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR=1.75, 95% CI=1.36-2.15), disease-specific survival (DSS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR=1.27, 95% CI=1.19-1.35) in the bladder cancer patients. Additionally, an elevated pretreatment NLR suggested a worse OS rate in the mUC or uUC patients (HR=1.63, 95% CI=1.34-1.91). The pooled ORs and 95% CIs showed that a high pretreatment NLR could be a risk indicator for certain pathological features, such as lymphovascular invasion, a positive margin status and advanced tumor stage. our results showed that a high pretreatment NLR predicted poor prognosis in bladder cancer, mUC and uUC patients. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

  2. A Pooled Analysis of 15 Prospective Cohort Studies on the Association between Fruit, Vegetable, and Mature Bean Consumption and Risk of Prostate Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petimar, Joshua; Wilson, Kathryn M; Wu, Kana; Wang, Molin; Albanes, Demetrius; van den Brandt, Piet A; Cook, Michael B; Giles, Graham G; Giovannucci, Edward L; Goodman, Gary E; Goodman, Phyllis J; Håkansson, Niclas; Helzlsouer, Kathy; Key, Timothy J; Kolonel, Laurence N; Liao, Linda M; Männistö, Satu; McCullough, Marjorie L; Milne, Roger L; Neuhouser, Marian L; Park, Yikyung; Platz, Elizabeth A; Riboli, Elio; Sawada, Norie; Schenk, Jeannette M; Tsugane, Shoichiro; Verhage, Bas; Wang, Ying; Wilkens, Lynne R; Wolk, Alicja; Ziegler, Regina G; Smith-Warner, Stephanie A

    2017-08-01

    Background: Relationships between fruit, vegetable, and mature bean consumption and prostate cancer risk are unclear. Methods: We examined associations between fruit and vegetable groups, specific fruits and vegetables, and mature bean consumption and prostate cancer risk overall, by stage and grade, and for prostate cancer mortality in a pooled analysis of 15 prospective cohorts, including 52,680 total cases and 3,205 prostate cancer-related deaths among 842,149 men. Diet was measured by a food frequency questionnaire or similar instrument at baseline. We calculated study-specific relative risks using Cox proportional hazards regression, and then pooled these estimates using a random effects model. Results: We did not observe any statistically significant associations for advanced prostate cancer or prostate cancer mortality with any food group (including total fruits and vegetables, total fruits, total vegetables, fruit and vegetable juice, cruciferous vegetables, and tomato products), nor specific fruit and vegetables. In addition, we observed few statistically significant results for other prostate cancer outcomes. Pooled multivariable relative risks comparing the highest versus lowest quantiles across all fruit and vegetable exposures and prostate cancer outcomes ranged from 0.89 to 1.09. There was no evidence of effect modification for any association by age or body mass index. Conclusions: Results from this large, international, pooled analysis do not support a strong role of collective groupings of fruits, vegetables, or mature beans in prostate cancer. Impact: Further investigation of other dietary exposures, especially indicators of bioavailable nutrient intake or specific phytochemicals, should be considered for prostate cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(8); 1276-87. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

  3. Birth order and childhood type 1 diabetes risk: a pooled analysis of 31 observational studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cardwell, Chris R; Stene, Lars C; Joner, Geir

    2010-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The incidence rates of childhood onset type 1 diabetes are almost universally increasing across the globe but the aetiology of the disease remains largely unknown. We investigated whether birth order is associated with the risk of childhood diabetes by performing a pooled analysis...... and after adjustment for confounders, and investigate heterogeneity. RESULTS: Data were available for 6 cohort and 25 case-control studies, including 11¿955 cases of type 1 diabetes. Overall, there was no evidence of an association prior to adjustment for confounders. After adjustment for maternal age...... at birth and other confounders, a reduction in the risk of diabetes in second- or later born children became apparent [fully adjusted OR¿=¿0.90 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-0.98; P¿=¿0.02] but this association varied markedly between studies (I(2)¿=¿67%). An a priori subgroup analysis showed...

  4. Spent fuel pool cleanup and stabilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, R.L.

    1987-06-01

    Each of the plutonium production reactors at Hanford had a large water-filled spent fuel pool to provide interim storage of irradiated fuel while awaiting shipment to the separation facilities. After cessation of reactor operations the fuel was removed from the pools and the water levels were drawn down to a 5- to 10-foot depth. The pools were maintained with the water to provide shielding and radiological control. What appeared to be a straightforward project to process the water, remove the sediments from the basin, and stabilize the contamination on the floors and walls became a very complex and time consuming operation. The sediment characteristics varied from pool to pool, the ion exchange system required modification, areas of hard-pack sediments were discovered on the floors, special arrangements to handle and package high dose rate items for shipment were required, and contract problems ensued with the subcontractor. The original schedule to complete the project from preliminary engineering to final stabilization of the pools was 15 months. The actual time required was about 25 months. The original cost estimate to perform the work was $2,651,000. The actual cost of the project was $5,120,000, which included $150,000 for payment of claims to the subcontractor. This paper summarizes the experiences associated with the cleanup and radiological stabilization of the 100-B, -C, -D, and -DR spent fuel pools, and discusses a number of lessons learned items

  5. Evaporation-preventive device for nuclear reactor pool water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurusu, Yoshihisa; Akabori, Shiro.

    1986-01-01

    Purpose: To prevent pool water from evaporating by a great amount in a reactor pool such as a spent fuel storing pool. Constitution: Air discharge and in-take ports are disposed just above the surface of the pool water and charge and discharge of airs are forcively carried out to form air curtains above the pool water. Water vapor evaporated from the surface of the pool water does not diffuse above the air curtains due to the air stream of the curtains, but is intaken into the intake port and then condensated into water by a steam condensator and re-supplied to the pool. Since diffusion of water vapor and radioactive materials are suppressed above the air curtains, the working circumstance in the pool chamber can be maintained desirably thereby keeping the radioactivity dose in the atmosphere. Further, incorporation of dusts from above into the pool can also be prevented by the air curtains to provide an effect for the prevention of radioactive contamination. Further, since covers are not used, visual observation can be insured. (Kawakami, Y.)

  6. Hospital hydrotherapy pools treated with ultra violet light: bad bacteriological quality and presence of thermophilic Naegleria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Jonckheere, J. F.

    1982-01-01

    The microbiological quality of eight halogenated and two u.v.-treated hydrotherapy pools in hospitals was investigated. The microbiological quality of halogenated hydrotherapy pools was comparable to halogenated public swimming pools, although in some Pseudomonas aeruginosa and faecal pollution indicators were more frequent due to bad management. On the other hand u.v.-treated hydrotherapy pools had very bad microbiological quality. Apart from faecal pollution indicators, P. aeruginosa was present in very high numbers. Halogenated hydrotherapy pools were not highly contaminated with amoebae, and Naegleria spp. were never detected. On the other hand u.v.-treated pools contained very high numbers of thermophilic Naegleria. The Naegleria isolated were identified as N. lovaniensis, a species commonly found in association with N. fowleri. Isoenzyme analysis showed a different type of N. lovaniensis was present in each of two u.v.-treated pools. Images Plate 1 PMID:7061835

  7. Systematic review with meta-analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roda, G; Narula, N; Pinotti, R

    2017-01-01

    and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies reporting on extension of ulcerative colitis to determine frequency of disease extension in patients with limited ulcerative colitis at diagnosis. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search to identify studies on disease extension of ulcerative colitis...... (UC) and predictors of disease progression. RESULTS: Overall, 41 studies were eligible for systematic review but only 30 for meta-analysis. The overall pooled frequency of UC extension was 22.8% with colonic extension being 17.8% at 5 years and 31% at 10 years. Extension was 17.8% (95% CI 11...... in patients from North America (37.8%) than from Europe (19.6%) (Pmeta-analysis, approximately one quarter of patients with limited UC extend over time with most extension occurring during the first 10 years. Rate of extension depends on age at diagnosis and geographic origin...

  8. Multicollinearity in Regression Analyses Conducted in Epidemiologic Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vatcheva, Kristina P; Lee, MinJae; McCormick, Joseph B; Rahbar, Mohammad H

    2016-04-01

    The adverse impact of ignoring multicollinearity on findings and data interpretation in regression analysis is very well documented in the statistical literature. The failure to identify and report multicollinearity could result in misleading interpretations of the results. A review of epidemiological literature in PubMed from January 2004 to December 2013, illustrated the need for a greater attention to identifying and minimizing the effect of multicollinearity in analysis of data from epidemiologic studies. We used simulated datasets and real life data from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort to demonstrate the adverse effects of multicollinearity in the regression analysis and encourage researchers to consider the diagnostic for multicollinearity as one of the steps in regression analysis.

  9. An Effective Method for Detecting Potential Woodland Vernal Pools Using High-Resolution LiDAR Data and Aerial Imagery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiusheng Wu

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Effective conservation of woodland vernal pools—important components of regional amphibian diversity and ecosystem services—depends on locating and mapping these pools accurately. Current methods for identifying potential vernal pools are primarily based on visual interpretation and digitization of aerial photographs, with variable accuracy and low repeatability. In this paper, we present an effective and efficient method for detecting and mapping potential vernal pools using stochastic depression analysis with additional geospatial analysis. Our method was designed to take advantage of high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR data, which are becoming increasingly available, though not yet frequently employed in vernal pool studies. We successfully detected more than 2000 potential vernal pools in a ~150 km2 study area in eastern Massachusetts. The accuracy assessment in our study indicated that the commission rates ranged from 2.5% to 6.0%, while the proxy omission rate was 8.2%, rates that are much lower than reported errors of previous vernal pool studies conducted in the northeastern United States. One significant advantage of our semi-automated approach for vernal pool identification is that it may reduce inconsistencies and alleviate repeatability concerns associated with manual photointerpretation methods. Another strength of our strategy is that, in addition to detecting the point-based vernal pool locations for the inventory, the boundaries of vernal pools can be extracted as polygon features to characterize their geometric properties, which are not available in the current statewide vernal pool databases in Massachusetts.

  10. An evidence-based analysis of epidemiologic associations between lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers and occupational exposure to gasoline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keenan, J J; Gaffney, S; Gross, S A; Ronk, C J; Paustenbach, D J; Galbraith, D; Kerger, B D

    2013-10-01

    The presence of benzene in motor gasoline has been a health concern for potential increased risk of acute myelogenous leukemia and perhaps other lymphatic/hematopoietic cancers for approximately 40 years. Because of the widespread and increasing use of gasoline by consumers and the high exposure potential of occupational cohorts, a thorough understanding of this issue is important. The current study utilizes an evidence-based approach to examine whether or not the available epidemiologic studies demonstrate a strong and consistent association between occupational exposure to gasoline and lymphatic/hematopoietic cancers. Among 67 epidemiologic studies initially identified, 54 were ranked according to specific criteria relating to the relevance and robustness of each study for answering the research question. The 30 highest-ranked studies were sorted into three tiers of evidence and were analyzed for strength, specificity, consistency, temporality, dose-response trends and coherence. Meta statistics were also calculated for each general and specific lymphatic/hematopoietic cancer category with adequate data. The evidence-based analysis did not confirm any strong and consistent association between occupational exposure to gasoline and lymphatic/hematopoietic cancers based on the epidemiologic studies available to date. These epidemiologic findings, combined with the evidence showing relatively low occupational benzene vapor exposures associated with gasoline formulations during the last three decades, suggest that current motor gasoline formulations are not associated with increased lymphatic/hematopoietic cancer risks related to benzene.

  11. Ripples in a superconducting tidal pool

    CERN Document Server

    Hudson, E

    2003-01-01

    The behaviour of electrons in a metal is often compared to that of water in a pool. An empty pool is like a material that has all of its electrons removed. As electrons are 'poured' into the metal, they first occupy the lowest energies available - the bottom of the pool - and eventually fill up to the Fermi energy, the top of the pool. At this point we no longer discuss electrons but quasiparticles. These are electrons that have modified properties due to their interactions within the material. Waves in a pool can be excited, and their properties will depend on the depth of the water. Similarly in a metal, quasiparticles behave like waves that have a material-dependent dispersion relation between their energy and their wavevector, which specifies their direction and wavelength. This simple analogy also hints at an indirect method of measuring the dispersion relation of a metal, and hence the myriad of properties that depend on it. (U.K.)

  12. Methodological exploratory study applied to occupational epidemiology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carneiro, Janete C.G. Gaburo; Vasques, MOnica Heloisa B.; Fontinele, Ricardo S.; Sordi, Gian Maria A. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: janetegc@ipen.br

    2007-07-01

    The utilization of epidemiologic methods and techniques has been object of practical experimentation and theoretical-methodological reflection in health planning and programming process. Occupational Epidemiology is the study of the causes and prevention of diseases and injuries from exposition and risks in the work environment. In this context, there is no intention to deplete such a complex theme but to deal with basic concepts of Occupational Epidemiology, presenting the main characteristics of the analysis methods used in epidemiology, as investigate the possible determinants of exposition (chemical, physical and biological agents). For this study, the social-demographic profile of the IPEN-CNEN/SP work force was used. The knowledge of this reference population composition is based on sex, age, educational level, marital status and different occupations, aiming to know the relation between the health aggravating factors and these variables. The methodology used refers to a non-experimental research based on a theoretical methodological practice. The work performed has an exploratory character, aiming a later survey of indicators in the health area in order to analyze possible correlations related to epidemiologic issues. (author)

  13. Methodological exploratory study applied to occupational epidemiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carneiro, Janete C.G. Gaburo; Vasques, MOnica Heloisa B.; Fontinele, Ricardo S.; Sordi, Gian Maria A.

    2007-01-01

    The utilization of epidemiologic methods and techniques has been object of practical experimentation and theoretical-methodological reflection in health planning and programming process. Occupational Epidemiology is the study of the causes and prevention of diseases and injuries from exposition and risks in the work environment. In this context, there is no intention to deplete such a complex theme but to deal with basic concepts of Occupational Epidemiology, presenting the main characteristics of the analysis methods used in epidemiology, as investigate the possible determinants of exposition (chemical, physical and biological agents). For this study, the social-demographic profile of the IPEN-CNEN/SP work force was used. The knowledge of this reference population composition is based on sex, age, educational level, marital status and different occupations, aiming to know the relation between the health aggravating factors and these variables. The methodology used refers to a non-experimental research based on a theoretical methodological practice. The work performed has an exploratory character, aiming a later survey of indicators in the health area in order to analyze possible correlations related to epidemiologic issues. (author)

  14. Calcium Intake and the Risk of Ovarian Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Xingxing; Li, Zongyao; Ji, Xinqiang; Zhang, Dongfeng

    2017-06-30

    Several epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between calcium intake and the risk of ovarian cancer. However, the results of these studies remain controversial. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to explore the association between calcium intake and the risk of ovarian cancer. Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for eligible publications up to April 2017. Pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model. Small-study effect was estimated using Egger's test and the funnel plot. Among 15 epidemiological studies involving 493,415 participants and 7453 cases eligible for this meta-analysis, 13 studies were about dietary calcium intake, 4 studies about dairy calcium intake and 7 studies about dietary plus supplemental calcium intake. When comparing the highest with the lowest intake, the pooled RRs of ovarian cancer were 0.80 (95% CI 0.72-0.89) for dietary calcium, 0.80 (95% CI 0.66-0.98) for dairy calcium and 0.90 (95% CI 0.65-1.24) for dietary plus supplemental calcium, respectively. Dietary calcium was significantly associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer among cohort studies (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-0.99) and among case-control studies ( RR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.64-0.89). In subgroup analysis by ovarian cancer subtypes, we found a statistically significant association between the dietary calcium ( RR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.69-0.88) and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This meta-analysis indicated that increased calcium intake might be inversely associated with the risk of ovarian cancer; this still needs to be confirmed by larger prospective cohort studies.

  15. Swimming pools as heat sinks for air conditioners: Model design and experimental validation for natural thermal behavior of the pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woolley, Jonathan; Harrington, Curtis; Modera, Mark [University of California Davis, Western Cooling Efficiency Center, 1450 Drew Avenue, Suite 100, Davis, CA 95618 (United States)

    2011-01-15

    Swimming pools as thermal sinks for air conditioners could save approximately 40% on peak cooling power and 30% of overall cooling energy, compared to standard residential air conditioning. Heat dissipation from pools in semi-arid climates with large diurnal temperature shifts is such that pool heating and space cooling may occur concurrently; in which case heat rejected from cooling equipment could directly displace pool heating energy, while also improving space cooling efficiency. The performance of such a system relies on the natural temperature regulation of swimming pools governed by evaporative and convective heat exchange with the air, radiative heat exchange with the sky, and conductive heat exchange with the ground. This paper describes and validates a model that uses meteorological data to accurately predict the hourly temperature of a swimming pool to within 1.1 C maximum error over the period of observation. A thorough review of literature guided our choice of the most appropriate set of equations to describe the natural mass and energy exchange between a swimming pool and the environment. Monitoring of a pool in Davis, CA, was used to confirm the resulting simulations. Comparison of predicted and observed pool temperature for all hours over a 56 day experimental period shows an R-squared relatedness of 0.967. (author)

  16. Generalizing Pooling Functions in CNNs: Mixed, Gated, and Tree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Chen-Yu; Gallagher, Patrick; Tu, Zhuowen

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we seek to improve deep neural networks by generalizing the pooling operations that play a central role in the current architectures. We pursue a careful exploration of approaches to allow pooling to learn and to adapt to complex and variable patterns. The two primary directions lie in: (1) learning a pooling function via (two strategies of) combining of max and average pooling, and (2) learning a pooling function in the form of a tree-structured fusion of pooling filters that are themselves learned. In our experiments every generalized pooling operation we explore improves performance when used in place of average or max pooling. We experimentally demonstrate that the proposed pooling operations provide a boost in invariance properties relative to conventional pooling and set the state of the art on several widely adopted benchmark datasets. These benefits come with only a light increase in computational overhead during training (ranging from additional 5 to 15 percent in time complexity) and a very modest increase in the number of model parameters (e.g., additional 1, 9, and 27 parameters for mixed, gated, and 2-level tree pooling operators, respectively). To gain more insights about our proposed pooling methods, we also visualize the learned pooling masks and the embeddings of the internal feature responses for different pooling operations. Our proposed pooling operations are easy to implement and can be applied within various deep neural network architectures.

  17. Causal diagrams in systems epidemiology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joffe Michael

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Methods of diagrammatic modelling have been greatly developed in the past two decades. Outside the context of infectious diseases, systematic use of diagrams in epidemiology has been mainly confined to the analysis of a single link: that between a disease outcome and its proximal determinant(s. Transmitted causes ("causes of causes" tend not to be systematically analysed. The infectious disease epidemiology modelling tradition models the human population in its environment, typically with the exposure-health relationship and the determinants of exposure being considered at individual and group/ecological levels, respectively. Some properties of the resulting systems are quite general, and are seen in unrelated contexts such as biochemical pathways. Confining analysis to a single link misses the opportunity to discover such properties. The structure of a causal diagram is derived from knowledge about how the world works, as well as from statistical evidence. A single diagram can be used to characterise a whole research area, not just a single analysis - although this depends on the degree of consistency of the causal relationships between different populations - and can therefore be used to integrate multiple datasets. Additional advantages of system-wide models include: the use of instrumental variables - now emerging as an important technique in epidemiology in the context of mendelian randomisation, but under-used in the exploitation of "natural experiments"; the explicit use of change models, which have advantages with respect to inferring causation; and in the detection and elucidation of feedback.

  18. Causal diagrams in systems epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joffe, Michael; Gambhir, Manoj; Chadeau-Hyam, Marc; Vineis, Paolo

    2012-03-19

    Methods of diagrammatic modelling have been greatly developed in the past two decades. Outside the context of infectious diseases, systematic use of diagrams in epidemiology has been mainly confined to the analysis of a single link: that between a disease outcome and its proximal determinant(s). Transmitted causes ("causes of causes") tend not to be systematically analysed.The infectious disease epidemiology modelling tradition models the human population in its environment, typically with the exposure-health relationship and the determinants of exposure being considered at individual and group/ecological levels, respectively. Some properties of the resulting systems are quite general, and are seen in unrelated contexts such as biochemical pathways. Confining analysis to a single link misses the opportunity to discover such properties.The structure of a causal diagram is derived from knowledge about how the world works, as well as from statistical evidence. A single diagram can be used to characterise a whole research area, not just a single analysis - although this depends on the degree of consistency of the causal relationships between different populations - and can therefore be used to integrate multiple datasets.Additional advantages of system-wide models include: the use of instrumental variables - now emerging as an important technique in epidemiology in the context of mendelian randomisation, but under-used in the exploitation of "natural experiments"; the explicit use of change models, which have advantages with respect to inferring causation; and in the detection and elucidation of feedback.

  19. Herd-level interpretation of test results for epidemiologic studies of animal diseases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Jette; Gardner, Ian A.

    2000-01-01

    Correct classification of the true status of herds is an important component of epidemiologic studies and animal disease-control programs. We review theoretical aspects of herd-level testing through consideration of test performance (herd-level sensitivity, specificity and predictive values......), the factors affecting these estimates, and available software for calculations. We present new aspects and considerations concerning the effect of precision and bias in estimation of individual-test performance on herd-test performance and suggest methods (pooled testing, targeted sampling of subpopulations...... with higher prevalence, and use of combinations of tests) to improve herd-level sensitivity when the expected within-herd prevalence is low....

  20. The epidemiology of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV: A cross-region global cohort analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy L Slogrove

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Globally, the population of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (APHs continues to expand. In this study, we pooled data from observational pediatric HIV cohorts and cohort networks, allowing comparisons of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in "real-life" settings across multiple regions. We describe the geographic and temporal characteristics and mortality outcomes of APHs across multiple regions, including South America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.Through the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER, individual retrospective longitudinal data from 12 cohort networks were pooled. All children infected with HIV who entered care before age 10 years, were not known to have horizontally acquired HIV, and were followed up beyond age 10 years were included in this analysis conducted from May 2016 to January 2017. Our primary analysis describes patient and treatment characteristics of APHs at key time points, including first HIV-associated clinic visit, antiretroviral therapy (ART start, age 10 years, and last visit, and compares these characteristics by geographic region, country income group (CIG, and birth period. Our secondary analysis describes mortality, transfer out, and lost to follow-up (LTFU as outcomes at age 15 years, using competing risk analysis. Among the 38,187 APHs included, 51% were female, 79% were from sub-Saharan Africa and 65% lived in low-income countries. APHs from 51 countries were included (Europe: 14 countries and 3,054 APHs; North America: 1 country and 1,032 APHs; South America and the Caribbean: 4 countries and 903 APHs; South and Southeast Asia: 7 countries and 2,902 APHs; sub-Saharan Africa, 25 countries and 30,296 APHs. Observation started as early as 1982 in Europe and 1996 in sub-Saharan Africa, and continued until at least 2014 in all regions. The median (interquartile range [IQR] duration of

  1. The epidemiology of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV: A cross-region global cohort analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slogrove, Amy L; Schomaker, Michael; Davies, Mary-Ann; Williams, Paige; Balkan, Suna; Ben-Farhat, Jihane; Calles, Nancy; Chokephaibulkit, Kulkanya; Duff, Charlotte; Eboua, Tanoh François; Kekitiinwa-Rukyalekere, Adeodata; Maxwell, Nicola; Pinto, Jorge; Seage, George; Teasdale, Chloe A; Wanless, Sebastian; Warszawski, Josiane; Wools-Kaloustian, Kara; Yotebieng, Marcel; Timmerman, Venessa; Collins, Intira J; Goodall, Ruth; Smith, Colette; Patel, Kunjal; Paul, Mary; Gibb, Diana; Vreeman, Rachel; Abrams, Elaine J; Hazra, Rohan; Van Dyke, Russell; Bekker, Linda-Gail; Mofenson, Lynne; Vicari, Marissa; Essajee, Shaffiq; Penazzato, Martina; Anabwani, Gabriel; Q Mohapi, Edith; N Kazembe, Peter; Hlatshwayo, Makhosazana; Lumumba, Mwita; Goetghebuer, Tessa; Thorne, Claire; Galli, Luisa; van Rossum, Annemarie; Giaquinto, Carlo; Marczynska, Magdalena; Marques, Laura; Prata, Filipa; Ene, Luminita; Okhonskaia, Liubov; Rojo, Pablo; Fortuny, Claudia; Naver, Lars; Rudin, Christoph; Le Coeur, Sophie; Volokha, Alla; Rouzier, Vanessa; Succi, Regina; Sohn, Annette; Kariminia, Azar; Edmonds, Andrew; Lelo, Patricia; Ayaya, Samuel; Ongwen, Patricia; Jefferys, Laura F; Phiri, Sam; Mubiana-Mbewe, Mwangelwa; Sawry, Shobna; Renner, Lorna; Sylla, Mariam; Abzug, Mark J; Levin, Myron; Oleske, James; Chernoff, Miriam; Traite, Shirley; Purswani, Murli; Chadwick, Ellen G; Judd, Ali; Leroy, Valériane

    2018-03-01

    Globally, the population of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (APHs) continues to expand. In this study, we pooled data from observational pediatric HIV cohorts and cohort networks, allowing comparisons of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in "real-life" settings across multiple regions. We describe the geographic and temporal characteristics and mortality outcomes of APHs across multiple regions, including South America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Through the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER), individual retrospective longitudinal data from 12 cohort networks were pooled. All children infected with HIV who entered care before age 10 years, were not known to have horizontally acquired HIV, and were followed up beyond age 10 years were included in this analysis conducted from May 2016 to January 2017. Our primary analysis describes patient and treatment characteristics of APHs at key time points, including first HIV-associated clinic visit, antiretroviral therapy (ART) start, age 10 years, and last visit, and compares these characteristics by geographic region, country income group (CIG), and birth period. Our secondary analysis describes mortality, transfer out, and lost to follow-up (LTFU) as outcomes at age 15 years, using competing risk analysis. Among the 38,187 APHs included, 51% were female, 79% were from sub-Saharan Africa and 65% lived in low-income countries. APHs from 51 countries were included (Europe: 14 countries and 3,054 APHs; North America: 1 country and 1,032 APHs; South America and the Caribbean: 4 countries and 903 APHs; South and Southeast Asia: 7 countries and 2,902 APHs; sub-Saharan Africa, 25 countries and 30,296 APHs). Observation started as early as 1982 in Europe and 1996 in sub-Saharan Africa, and continued until at least 2014 in all regions. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) duration of adolescent follow

  2. Arc-weld pool interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glickstein, S.S.

    1978-08-01

    The mechanisms involved in arc-weld pool interactions are extremely complex and no complete theory is presently available to describe much of the phenomena observed during welding. For the past several years, experimental and analytical studies have been undertaken at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory to increase basic understanding of the gas tungsten arc welding process. These studies have included experimental spectral analysis of the arc in order to determine arc temperature and analytical modeling of the arc and weld puddle. The investigations have been directed toward determining the cause and effects of variations in the energy distribution incident upon the weldment. In addition, the effect of weld puddle distortion on weld penetration was investigated, and experimental and analytical studies of weld process variables have been undertaken to determine the effects of the variables upon weld penetration and configuration. A review of the results and analysis of these studies are presented

  3. Sociodemographic Differences Between Alcohol Use and Sickness Absence: Pooled Analysis of Four Cohort Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ervasti, Jenni; Kivimäki, Mika; Head, Jenny; Goldberg, Marcel; Airagnes, Guillaume; Pentti, Jaana; Oksanen, Tuula; Salo, Paula; Suominen, Sakari; Jokela, Markus; Vahtera, Jussi; Zins, Marie; Virtanen, Marianna

    2018-01-01

    We examined differences in sickness absence in relation to at-risk drinking and abstinence, taking into account potential changes in consumption. We used individual-participant data (n = 46,514) from four prospective cohort studies from Finland, France and the UK. Participants responded to a survey on alcohol use at two time points 4-6 years apart, and were linked to records of sickness absence for an ~6-year follow-up after the latter survey. Abstainers were those reporting no alcohol use in either survey. At-risk drinkers at T1 were labelled as 'former', at-risk drinkers at T2 as 'current' and at-risk drinkers at both times as 'consistent' at-risk drinkers. The reference group was low-risk drinkers at both times. Study-specific analyses were stratified by sex and socioeconomic status (SES) and the estimates were pooled using meta-analysis. Among men (n = 17,285), abstainers (6%), former (5%), current (5%) and consistent (7%) at-risk drinkers had an increased risk of sickness absence compared with consistent low-risk drinkers (77%). Among women (n = 29,229), only abstainers (12%) had a higher risk of sickness absence compared to consistent low-risk drinkers (74%). After adjustment for lifestyle and health, abstaining from alcohol was associated with sickness absence among people with intermediate and high SES, but not among people with low SES. The U-shaped alcohol use-sickness absence association is more consistent in men than women. Abstinence is a risk factor for sickness absence among people with higher rather than lower SES. Healthy worker effect and health selection may partly explain the observed differences. In a pooled analysis from four cohort studies from three European countries, we demonstrated a U-shaped association between alcohol use and sickness absence, particularly among men. Abstinence from alcohol was associated with increased sickness absenteeism among both sexes and across socioeconomic strata, except those with low SES. © The Author 2017

  4. Analysis of epidemiological indices of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the adult population of Moscow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Fedorovna Kalashnikova

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Diabetes mellitus is a disease that presents a global medical problem. It is necessary to implement an in-depth analysis of the epidemiological situation of type 2 diabetes mellitus for planning and organizing specialized medical help to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.AimTo rate the basic epidemiological indices of type 2 diabetes mellitus in actual clinical practice using the informational database of national registry of diabetic patients.Materials and methodsEpidemiological analyses were performed in two administrative districts of Moscow. From 1999 to 2011 48978 adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were aged 18 years and older were registered. We used methods of clinical, analytical and statistical epidemiology with elements of descriptive research.ResultsThe prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 1590 per hundred thousand, most patients were in the 60–64 and 70–74 age groups, and approximately 80% of patients were older than 55 years. The morbidity rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 138,72 per hundred thousand and was found to be higher in women at 1,89. The mortality rate of adult patients with diabetes mellitus was 0,83, mostly in men of all ages. Cardiovascular diseases accounted for most of the registered cases of deaths (34,4%. The average life expectancy appeared to be 75,24±0,45 years, although women lived 6 years longer than men. The average duration of the disease was 10,04±0,34 years. A total of 0,4% of patients underwent hospital treatment and the average length of treatment was 17–18 days. The total number of days of disablement was an average of 307,33±30,13 days (80% of patients were older than 55 years. In the study group, a mean grade of НbА1c <7% was observed in 56,6% of patients. The prevalence rate of detected chronic complications was considerably lower compared to other epidemiological studies.ConclusionsOur epidemiological analyses revealed a number of features and consistent

  5. The role of epidemiological cutoff values (ECVs/ECOFFs) in antifungal susceptibility testing and interpretation for uncommon yeasts and moulds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinel-Ingroff, Ana; Turnidge, John

    2016-01-01

    The role of antimicrobial susceptibility testing is to aid in selecting the best agent for the treatment of bacterial and fungal diseases. This has been best achieved by the setting of breakpoints by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) for prevalent Candida spp. versus anidulafungin, caspofungin, micafungin, fluconazole, and voriconazole. The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) also has set breakpoints for prevalent and common Candida and Aspergillus species versus amphotericin B, itraconazole, and posaconazole. Recently, another interpretive category, the epidemiological cut off value, could aid in the early identification of strains with acquired resistance mechanisms. CLSI has postulated that epidemiological cut off values may, with due caution, aid physicians in managing mycosis by species where breakpoints are not available. This review provides (1) the criteria and statistical approach to establishing and estimating epidemiological cut off values (ECVs), (2) the role of the epidemiological cut off value in establishing breakpoints, (3) the potential role of epidemiological cut off values in clinical practice, (4) and the wide range of CLSI-based epidemiological cut off values reported in the literature as well as EUCAST and Sensititre Yeast One-ECVs. Additionally, we provide MIC/MEC (minimal inhibitory concentrations/minimum effective concentrations) ranges/modes of each pooled distribution used for epidemiological cut off value calculation. We focus on the epidemiological cut off value, the new interpretive endpoint that will identify the non-wild type strains (defined as potentially harboring resistance mechanisms). However, we emphasize that epidemiological cut off values will not categorize a fungal isolate as susceptible or resistant as breakpoints do, because the former do not account for the pharmacology of the antifungal agent or the findings from clinical outcome studies. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Espa

  6. Bayesian Estimation of Fish Disease Prevalence from Pooled Samples Incorporating Sensitivity and Specificity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Christopher J.; Moffitt, Christine M.

    2003-03-01

    An important emerging issue in fisheries biology is the health of free-ranging populations of fish, particularly with respect to the prevalence of certain pathogens. For many years, pathologists focused on captive populations and interest was in the presence or absence of certain pathogens, so it was economically attractive to test pooled samples of fish. Recently, investigators have begun to study individual fish prevalence from pooled samples. Estimation of disease prevalence from pooled samples is straightforward when assay sensitivity and specificity are perfect, but this assumption is unrealistic. Here we illustrate the use of a Bayesian approach for estimating disease prevalence from pooled samples when sensitivity and specificity are not perfect. We also focus on diagnostic plots to monitor the convergence of the Gibbs-sampling-based Bayesian analysis. The methods are illustrated with a sample data set.

  7. TFOS DEWS II Epidemiology Report

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stapleton, Fiona; Alves, Monica; Bunya, Vatinee Y.; Jalbert, Isabelle; Lekhanont, Kaevalin; Malet, Florence; Na, Kyung-Sun; Schaumberg, Debra; Uchino, Miki; Vehof, Jelle; Viso, Eloy; Vitale, Susan; Jones, Lyndon

    The subcommittee reviewed the prevalence, incidence, risk factors, natural history, morbidity and questionnaires reported in epidemiological studies of dry eye disease (DED). A meta-analysis of published prevalence data estimated the impact of age and sex. Global mapping of prevalence was

  8. Decontamination of outdoor school swimming pools in Fukushima

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saegusa, Jun

    2013-01-01

    After the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake, many school swimming pools in Fukushima have suspended water discharge, due to concerns that pool water which contains radioactive fallout is discharged into a river or waterway for agricultural use. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency conducted researches and examinations on the existing absorbent method and the flocculation method as ways for decontaminating pool water. By reviewing and improving these methods through decontamination demonstrations at eight pools in Fukushima, a practical decontamination method for outdoor pools has been established. This report summarizes the methods and results of the decontamination demonstrations carried out at the schools. Also, the surface density of fallout estimated at one of the pools is also presented and discussed in connection with the overall collection ratio of radiocesium at the pool. (author)

  9. 48 CFR 873.114 - Best value pool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Best value pool. 873.114... SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH-CARE RESOURCES 873.114 Best value pool... solicitation. These vendors constitute the best value pool. This determination is within the sole discretion of...

  10. Factors influencing repeated teenage pregnancy: a review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maravilla, Joemer C; Betts, Kim S; Couto E Cruz, Camila; Alati, Rosa

    2017-11-01

    Existing evidence of predictors of repeated teenage pregnancy has not been assessed rigorously. This systematic review provides a comprehensive evaluation of protective and risk factors that are associated with repeated teenage pregnancy through a metaanalytical consensus. We used PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, ProQuest, PsychINFO, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from 1997-2015 and the reference list of other relevant research papers and related reviews. Eligibility criteria included (1) epidemiologic studies that analyzed factors associated with repeated pregnancy or birth among adolescents pregnancy, and (2) experimental studies with an observational component that was adjusted for the intervention. We performed narrative synthesis of study characteristics, participant characteristics, study results, and quality assessment. We also conducted random-effects and quality-effects metaanalyses with meta-regression to obtain pooled odds ratios of identified factors and to determine sources of between-study heterogeneity. Twenty-six eligible epidemiologic studies, most from the United States (n=24), showed >47 factors with no evidence of publication bias for each metaanalysis. Use of contraception (pooled odds ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-1.02), particularly long-acting reversible contraceptives (pooled odds ratio, 0.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.45), considerably reduced repeated teenage pregnancy risk. Among studies about contraception, the number of follow-up visits (adjusted coefficient, 0.72; P=.102) and country of study (unadjusted coefficient, 2.57; permuted P=.071) explained between-study heterogeneity. Education-related factors, which included higher level of education (pooled odds ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.60-0.91) and school continuation (pooled odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.84), were found to be protective. Conversely, depression (pooled odds ratio, 1.46; 95% confidence interval, 1

  11. Pressure suppression pool hydrodynamic studies for horizontal vent exit of Indian PHWR containment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohan, N.; Bajaj, S.S.; Saha, P.

    1994-01-01

    The standard Indian PHWR incorporates a pressure suppression type of containment system with a suppression pool.The design of KAPS (Kakrapar Atomic Power Station) suppression pool system adopts a modified system of downcomers having horizontal vents as compared to vertical vents of NAPS (Narora Atomic Power Station). Hydrodynamic studies for vertical vents have been reported earlier. This paper presents hydrodynamic studies for horizontal type vent system during LOCA. These studies include the phenomenon of vent clearing (where the water slug standing in downcomer initially is injected to wetwell due to rapid pressurization of drywell) followed by pool swell (elevation of pool water due to formation of bubbles due to air mass entering pool at the exit of horizontal vents from drywell). The analysis performed for vent clearing and pool swell is based on rigorous thermal hydraulic calculation consisting of conservation of air-steam mixture mass, momentum and thermal energy and mass of air. Horizontal vent of downcomer is modelled in such a way that during steam-air flow, variation of flow area due to oscillating water surface in downcomer could be considered. Calculation predicts that the vent gets cleared in about 1.0 second and the corresponding downward slug velocity in the downcomer is 4.61 m/sec. The maximum pool swell for a conservative lateral expansion is calculated to be 0.56 m. (author). 3 refs., 12 figs

  12. Oxidation kinetics of corium pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sulatsky, A.A.; Smirnov, S.A.; Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B.; Krushinov, E.V.; Vitol, S.A.; Kotova, S.Yu.; Fischer, M.; Hellmann, S.; Tromm, W.; Miassoedov, A.; Bottomley, D.; Piluso, P.; Barrachin, M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • The analysis of experimental data on molten corium oxidation was been carried out. • The analysis has revealed the main factors influencing the oxidation kinetics. • The analysis was used for developing a qualitative analytical model. • The numerical modeling has confirmed the results of experimental data analysis. -- Abstract: Experimental, theoretical and numerical studies of oxidation kinetics of an open surface corium pool have been reported. The experiments have been carried out within OECD MASCA program and ISTC METCOR, METCOR-P and EVAN projects. It has been shown that the melt oxidation is controlled by an oxidant supply to the melt free surface from the atmosphere, not by the reducer supply from the melt. The project experiments have not detected any input of the zirconium oxidation kinetics into the process chemistry. The completed analysis puts forward a simple analytical model, which gives an explanation of the main features of melt oxidation process. The numerical modeling results are in good agreement with experimental data and theoretical considerations

  13. Oxidation kinetics of corium pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sulatsky, A.A., E-mail: andrei314@mail.ru [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Smirnov, S.A. [D.V. Efremov Scientific Research Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus (NIIEFA), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B.; Krushinov, E.V.; Vitol, S.A.; Kotova, S.Yu. [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Fischer, M.; Hellmann, S. [AREVA NP GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Tromm, W.; Miassoedov, A. [Forschungzentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), Karlsruhe (Germany); Bottomley, D. [EUROPÄISCHE KOMMISSION, Joint Research Centre Institut für Transurane (ITU), Karlsruhe (Germany); Piluso, P. [CEA Cadarache-DEN/DTN/STRI, St.Paul-lez-Durance (France); Barrachin, M. [Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire, St.Paul-lez-Durance (France)

    2013-09-15

    Highlights: • The analysis of experimental data on molten corium oxidation was been carried out. • The analysis has revealed the main factors influencing the oxidation kinetics. • The analysis was used for developing a qualitative analytical model. • The numerical modeling has confirmed the results of experimental data analysis. -- Abstract: Experimental, theoretical and numerical studies of oxidation kinetics of an open surface corium pool have been reported. The experiments have been carried out within OECD MASCA program and ISTC METCOR, METCOR-P and EVAN projects. It has been shown that the melt oxidation is controlled by an oxidant supply to the melt free surface from the atmosphere, not by the reducer supply from the melt. The project experiments have not detected any input of the zirconium oxidation kinetics into the process chemistry. The completed analysis puts forward a simple analytical model, which gives an explanation of the main features of melt oxidation process. The numerical modeling results are in good agreement with experimental data and theoretical considerations.

  14. Coffee consumption and risk of esophageal cancer incidence: A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Juan; Zhou, Bin; Hao, Chuanzheng

    2018-04-01

    In epidemiologic studies, association between coffee consumption and esophageal cancer risk is inconsistent. The aim of tjis study was to evaluate the effect of coffee on esophageal cancer by combining several similar studies. We conducted a meta-analysis for association of coffee intake and esophageal cancer incidence. Eleven studies, including 457,010 participants and 2628 incident cases, were identified. A relative risk (RR, for cohort study) or odds ratio (OR, for case-control study) of heavy coffee drinkers was calculated, compared with light coffee drinkers or non-drinkers. The analysis was also stratified by cancer types (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma), sex, and geographic region. The summarized OR of having esophageal cancer in heavy coffee drinkers was 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73-1.12), compared with light coffee drinkers. When stratified by sex, pathologic type of esophageal cancer, and type of epidemiologic study, we did not find any association of coffee consumption and esophageal cancer incidence. However, an inverse association between coffee consumption and incidence of esophageal cancer was found in East Asia participants with OR of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.44-0.83), but not in Euro-America participants (OR = 1.05; 95% CI: 0.81-1.29). There is a protective role of coffee consumption against esophageal cancer in East Asians, but not in Euro-Americans.

  15. Maternal age at birth and childhood type 1 diabetes: a pooled analysis of 30 observational studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cardwell, Chris R; Stene, Lars C; Joner, Geir

    2009-01-01

    for potential confounders. Meta-analysis techniques were used to derive combined odds ratios and to investigate heterogeneity among studies. RESULTS: Data were available for 5 cohort and 25 case-control studies, including 14,724 cases of type 1 diabetes. Overall, there was, on average, a 5% (95% CI 2......OBJECTIVE: The aim if the study was to investigate whether children born to older mothers have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes by performing a pooled analysis of previous studies using individual patient data to adjust for recognized confounders. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Relevant studies...... published before June 2009 were identified from MEDLINE, Web of Science, and EMBASE. Authors of studies were contacted and asked to provide individual patient data or conduct prespecified analyses. Risk estimates of type 1 diabetes by maternal age were calculated for each study, before and after adjustment...

  16. Cosmetic talc as a risk factor for pleural mesothelioma: a weight of evidence evaluation of the epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finley, Brent L; Benson, Stacey M; Marsh, Gary M

    2017-03-01

    Due to some historical (and inaccurate) reports that asbestos might be present in some cosmetic talc products, questions are occasionally raised regarding the potential pleural mesothelioma risks associated with cosmetic talc products. Our objective was to determine the incidence of pleural mesothelioma of individuals exposed to cosmetic talc. We conducted a systematic review of the epidemiological literature for cosmetic talc miners and millers and found three occupational cohort studies that evaluated pleural mesothelioma incidence in workers in Italy, Norway, France, and Austria. We conducted a second literature review to evaluate the incidence and mortality of pleural mesothelioma among patients who received talc pleurodesis treatments before 1965 and found retrospective clinical studies including over 300 patients with follow-up ranging from 14 to 40 years. There were no mesotheliomas reported in any of the cosmetic talc miner and miller cohorts. A pooled analysis of data from the cohort mortality studies indicated that four mesothelioma deaths would have been expected from the 90,022 person-years of observation, and this was associated with 84% and 67% statistical power to observe a 3-fold or 2.5-fold increase in pleural mesothelioma mortality, respectively. None of the patients who received talc pleurodesis treatments developed mesothelioma. We conclude that there is no epidemiological evidence to support the hypothesis that exposure to cosmetic talc is associated with the development of pleural mesothelioma.

  17. Baseline micronuclei frequency in children: estimates from meta- and pooled analyses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neri, Monica; Ceppi, Marcello; Knudsen, Lisbeth E

    2005-01-01

    the statistical power of studies and to assess the quality of data. In this article, we provide estimates of the baseline frequency of MN in children, conducting a meta-analysis of MN frequency reported by field studies in children and a pooled analysis of individual data [available from published studies...

  18. Prevalence of Violence Against Women in Ethiopia: A Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassa, Getachew Mullu; Abajobir, Amanuel Alemu

    2018-01-01

    Violence against women (VAW) is a major public health problem globally, particularly in developing countries including Ethiopia. Accordingly, sustainable development goal (SDG) 5 (by United Nation) prioritizes VAW and calls for the design and implementation of programs relevant to its elimination by 2030. However, little is known about the epidemiology of VAW as all estimates from few, cross-sectional studies so far are inconsistent and inconclusive. This study, therefore, was conducted to determine the pooled national prevalence of VAW in Ethiopia. Databases including PUBMED, MEDLINE, Cochrane review, CINAHL, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar were reviewed, using relevant search engines. The meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 14 software, and forest plots were used to present the pooled estimates of VAW. The Cochran Q, I 2 statistics, and Egger's test were used to test heterogeneity and publication bias of the included studies. A total of 36 published articles, 23,782 participants, were included in the meta-analysis. The overall pooled lifetime and the past 12 months VAW prevalence was 46.93% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [39.96, 54.00]) and 37.02% (95% CI [26.47, 47.56]), respectively. The pooled lifetime physical, sexual, and psychological violence were 38.15%, 39.33%, and 39.51%, respectively. Pooled lifetime prevalence of rape was 13.02%. Overall, nearly half of Ethiopian women experience lifetime VAW, with substantial levels of physical, sexual, or psychological violence. The country should work toward enhancing gender equality, coupled with addressing risk factors at multiple levels, using community- and institution-based approaches to prevent VAW and to specifically achieve SDG 5 of eliminating VAW by 2030.

  19. Analysis of epidemiological indices of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the adult population of Moscow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Fedorovna Kalashnikova

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Diabetes mellitus is a disease that presents a global medical problem. It is necessary to implement an in-depth analysis of the epidemiological situation of type 2 diabetes mellitus for planning and organizing specialized medical help to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Aim. To rate the basic epidemiological indices of type 2 diabetes mellitus in actual clinical practice using the informational database of national registry of diabetic patients. Materials and methods. Epidemiological analyses were performed in two administrative districts of Moscow. From 1999 to 2011 48978 adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were aged 18 years and older were registered. We used methods of clinical, analytical and statistical epidemiology with elements of descriptive research. Results. The prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 1590 per hundred thousand, most patients were in the 60?64 and 70?74 age groups, and approximately 80% of patients were older than 55 years. The morbidity rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 138,72 per hundred thousand and was found to be higher in women at 1,89. The mortality rate of adult patients with diabetes mellitus was 0,83, mostly in men of all ages. Cardiovascular diseases accounted for most of the registered cases of deaths (34,4%. The average life expectancy appeared to be 75,24?0,45 years, although women lived 6 years longer than men. The average duration of the disease was 10,04?0,34 years. A total of 0,4% of patients underwent hospital treatment and the average length of treatment was 17?18 days. The total number of days of disablement was an average of 307,33?30,13 days (80% of patients were older than 55 years. In the study group, a mean grade of НbА1c

  20. Analysis of epidemiological situation of iodine deficiency in Tomsk region from 1998 to 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samoilova, Y. G.; Oleynik, O. A.; Yurchenko, E. V.; Zinchuk, S. F.; Sivolobova, T. V.; Rotkank, M. A.; Mazhitova, D. S.

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of the present research is the comparative analysis of the epidemiological situation of iodine deficiency in the Tomsk region from 1998 to 2014. There were examined 9901 and 15174 children of the school age including within the medical examination of the children’s population in 1998 and 2014 in Tomsk. At all school pupils there were analyzed anamnestic data and carried out anthropometrical measurements, ultrasonography of the thyroid gland was carried out using the portable scanner "Aloka SSD 500" with the linear sensor of 7,5 MHz frequency in the real time, the thyroid volume was evaluated according to Delange (1997). The excretion of inorganic iodine was determined at 264 in 1998 and at 120 children in 2014, respectively, in a one-time portion of urine by the cerium-arsenic method. There was additionally carried out the analysis of results of determination of TSH at 10717 in 1998, and at 15091 in 2014 in a spot of the whole blood at newborn children on the 4-5 day after birth at full-term and on the 7-14 day at prematurely born children. Neonatal TSH in the dried-up samples of capillary blood was determined by the method of the fluorometric immune-ferment analysis with the use of sets of TSH-Neonatal: Delfia, Finland. Statistical processing of the data obtained was carried out with the use of the applied software package pspp. The descriptive analysis included calculation of the median for the quantitative and the calculation of frequencies for qualitative data. The comparative analysis included calculation of distinctions reliability by the Mann-Whitney criterion for independent and to Wilcoxon’s criterion for dependent data. The comparative analysis of epidemiological situation of iodine deficiency in Tomsk and the Tomsk region in 1998 and 2014 specifies decreasing the iodine deficiency diseases in the Tomsk region, increasing the iodine provision of the population within 15 years by 27%, decreasing neonatal hyperthyroidism by 1.5 times.

  1. Epidemiological Distribution and Subtype Analysis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Syndromes and Symptoms Based on TCM Theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingqi Qiao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available We performed an epidemiological investigation of subjects with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD to identify the clinical distribution of the major syndromes and symptoms. The pathogenesis of PMDD mainly involves the dysfunction of liver conveyance and dispersion. Excessive liver conveyance and dispersion are associated with liver-qi invasion syndrome, while insufficient liver conveyance and dispersion are expressed as liver-qi depression syndrome. Additionally, a nonconditional logistic regression was performed to analyze the symptomatic features of liver-qi invasion and liver-qi depression. As a result of this analysis, two subtypes of PMDD are proposed, namely, excessive liver conveyance and dispersion (liver-qi invasion syndrome and insufficient liver conveyance and dispersion (liver-qi depression syndrome. Our findings provide an epidemiological foundation for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of PMDD based on the identification of different types.

  2. Comparison of fecal pooling strategies for detection of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna, S L B; Ritter, C; Dohoo, I; Keefe, G P; Barkema, H W

    2018-05-23

    In herds with typical moderate to low within-herd prevalence, testing for Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP), the infectious agent of Johne's disease, will be more cost-effective if individual fecal samples are cultured in composite pools. However, sensitivity to classify a pool containing 1 or more positive individual samples as positive may depend on pool size and number of individual positive samples within a pool. Fecal samples collected from 994 dairy cows sampled at slaughter were cultured to detect MAP. Culturing was done both individually and as composite pooled samples using the TREK ESP Culture System II broth medium (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Trek Diagnostic Systems Inc., Cleveland, OH). Composite samples consisted of pools containing feces from 3, 5, 8, 10, or 15 cows. The number of individual fecal culture-positive cows within each pool ranged from 0 to 4. Culture of individual fecal samples detected MAP in 36 (3.6%) of the 994 cows. Individual samples that were detected within the first 50 d by TREK ESP Culture System II were more likely to lead to a positive pool result. In total, 840 pooled fecal samples were examined for presence of MAP, and of those, 272 pools actually contained feces from fecal culture-positive cows. The crude sensitivity (proportion of pools that contained at least 1 fecal-positive cow that tested positive) for pools of 3, 5, 8, 10, and 15 was 47, 67, 44, 59, and 39%, respectively. Across pools, an increase of the number of fecal culture-positive samples from 1 to 2 enhanced overall crude sensitivity from 44 to 71%. However, sensitivity did not further increase for pools with 3 or 4 fecal culture-positive samples (63 and 60%, respectively). Additionally, a simulation analysis assessing probability of pooled fecal samples being positive in herds of 50 and 100 cows was conducted. The simulation assumed that 1, 2, or 5 cows per herd were MAP fecal culture-positive and that pools of 5 and 10 were used. This low

  3. Delineating probabilistic species pools in ecology and biogeography

    OpenAIRE

    Karger, Dirk Nikolaus; Cord, Anna F; Kessler, Michael; Kreft, Holger; Kühn, Ingolf; Pompe, Sven; Sandel, Brody; Sarmento Cabral, Juliano; Smith, Adam B; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Tuomisto, Hanna; Weigelt, Patrick; Wesche, Karsten

    2016-01-01

    Aim To provide a mechanistic and probabilistic framework for defining the species pool based on species-specific probabilities of dispersal, environmental suitability and biotic interactions within a specific temporal extent, and to show how probabilistic species pools can help disentangle the geographical structure of different community assembly processes. Innovation Probabilistic species pools provide an improved species pool definition based on probabilities in conjuncti...

  4. Pool water cleaning facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshikawa, Kazuhiro; Kinoshita, Shoichiro [Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Asano, Takashi

    1998-05-29

    Only one system comprising a suppression poor water cleaning system (SPCU) and a filtration desalting tower (F/D) is connected for a plurality of nuclear power plants. Pipelines/valves for connecting the one system of the SPCU pump, the F/D and the plurality of nuclear power plants are disposed, and the system is used in common with the plurality of nuclear power plants. Pipelines/valves for connecting a pipeline for passing SP water to the commonly used SPCU pump and a skimmer surge tank are disposed, and fuel pool water is cooled and cleaned by the commonly used SPCU pump and the commonly used F/D. The number of SPCU pumps and the F/D facilities can be reduced, and a fuel pool water cooling operation mode and a fuel pool water cleaning operation mode which were conducted by an FPC pump so far are conducted by the SPCU pump. (N.H.)

  5. Feasibility study on large pool-type LMFBR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-01-01

    A feasibility study has been conducted from 1981 FY to 1983 FY, in order to evaluate the feasibility of a large pool-type LMFBR under the Japanese seismic design condition and safety design condition, etc. This study was aimed to establish an original reactor structure concept which meets those design conditions especially required in Japan. In the first year, preceding design concepts had been reviewed and several concepts were originated to be suitable to Japan. For typical two of them being selected by preliminary analysis, test programs were planned. In the second year, more than twenty tests with basic models had been conducted under severe conditions, concurrently analytical approaches were promoted. In the last year, larger model tests were conducted and analytical methods have been verified concerning hydrodynamic effects on structure vibration, thermo-hydraulic behaviours in reactor plena and so on. Finally the reactor structure concepts for a large pool-type LMFBR have been acknowledged to be feasible in Japan. (author)

  6. Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in Brussels, 2010-2013.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christelle Vluggen

    Full Text Available The tuberculosis (TB incidence rate in Brussels-Capital Region is 3-fold higher than in Belgium as a whole. Eight years after the realization of initial prospective population-based molecular epidemiology investigations in this Region, a similar study over the period 2010-2013 was conducted. TB strains isolated from 945 patients were submitted to genotyping by standardized 24-locus-MIRU-VNTR typing and spoligotyping. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the LAM (16.7% and Haarlem (15.7% branches are the two most prevalent TB lineages circulating in Brussels. Analysis of the MDR subgroup showed an association with Beijing strains (39.9% and patients native of Eastern Europe (40.7%. Genotyping detected 113 clusters involving 321 patients, giving a recent transmission index of 22.9%. Molecular-guided epidemiological investigations and routine surveillance activities revealed family transmission or social contact for patients distributed over 34 clusters. Most of the patients were foreign-born (75.7%. However, cluster analysis revealed only limited trans-national transmission. Comparison with the previous study shows a stable epidemiological situation except for the mean age difference between Belgian-born and foreign-born patients which has disappeared. This study confirms that molecular epidemiology has become an important determinant for TB control programs. However, sufficient financial means need to be available to perform all required epidemiological investigations.

  7. An efficient modeling method for thermal stratification simulation in a BWR suppression pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haihua Zhao; Ling Zou; Hongbin Zhang; Hua Li; Walter Villanueva; Pavel Kudinov

    2012-09-01

    The suppression pool in a BWR plant not only is the major heat sink within the containment system, but also provides major emergency cooling water for the reactor core. In several accident scenarios, such as LOCA and extended station blackout, thermal stratification tends to form in the pool after the initial rapid venting stage. Accurately predicting the pool stratification phenomenon is important because it affects the peak containment pressure; and the pool temperature distribution also affects the NPSHa (Available Net Positive Suction Head) and therefore the performance of the pump which draws cooling water back to the core. Current safety analysis codes use 0-D lumped parameter methods to calculate the energy and mass balance in the pool and therefore have large uncertainty in prediction of scenarios in which stratification and mixing are important. While 3-D CFD methods can be used to analyze realistic 3D configurations, these methods normally require very fine grid resolution to resolve thin substructures such as jets and wall boundaries, therefore long simulation time. For mixing in stably stratified large enclosures, the BMIX++ code has been developed to implement a highly efficient analysis method for stratification where the ambient fluid volume is represented by 1-D transient partial differential equations and substructures such as free or wall jets are modeled with 1-D integral models. This allows very large reductions in computational effort compared to 3-D CFD modeling. The POOLEX experiments at Finland, which was designed to study phenomena relevant to Nordic design BWR suppression pool including thermal stratification and mixing, are used for validation. GOTHIC lumped parameter models are used to obtain boundary conditions for BMIX++ code and CFD simulations. Comparison between the BMIX++, GOTHIC, and CFD calculations against the POOLEX experimental data is discussed in detail.

  8. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Ethiopia: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eshetie, Setegn; Tarekegn, Fentahun; Moges, Feleke; Amsalu, Anteneh; Birhan, Wubet; Huruy, Kahsay

    2016-11-21

    The burden of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a major public health concern worldwide; however the overall epidemiology of multidrug resistant strains is neither coordinated nor harmonized, particularly in developing countries including Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the burden of methicillin resistant Staphylococcos aureus and its antibiotic resistance pattern in Ethiopia at large. PubMed, Google Scholar, and lancet databases were searched and a total of 20 studies have been selected for meta-analysis. Six authors have independently extracts data on the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. Statistical analysis was achieved by using Open meta-analyst (version 3.13) and Comprehensive meta-analysis (version 3.3) softwares. The overall prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and its antibiotic resistance pattern were pooled by using the forest plot, table and figure with 95% CI. The pooled prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 32.5% (95% CI, 24.1 to 40.9%). Moreover, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains were found to be highly resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, and amoxicillin, with a pooled resistance ratio of 99.1, 98.1, 97.2 and 97.1%, respectively. On the other hand, comparably low levels of resistance ratio were noted to vancomycin, 5.3%. The overall burden of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is considerably high, besides these strains showed extreme resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin and amoxicillin. In principle, appropriate use of antibiotics, applying safety precautions are the key to reduce the spread of multidrug resistant strains, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in particular.

  9. Demographic and epidemiological characteristics of HIV ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria ... Methods: Analysis of data extracted from electronic records of 17, 312 .... system for the purpose of privacy and confidentiality of.

  10. Current operating practices of nuclear insurance pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Connell, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    This paper discusses the nuclear pooling system and co-operation between the pools, present practice and capacity, with a breakdown of the limits for third party liability and material damage. The author also describes the relationship between the pools and the nuclear operators (the policyholders), and concludes that the nuclear pools have been successful in serving the interests of their member companies, their policyholders and the governments as they have provided a stable insurance market by making available capacity in amounts that had never before been assembled and placed at risk in a single location. 2 tabs

  11. Heat transfer from internally heated hemispherical pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gabor, J.D.; Ellsion, P.G.; Cassulo, J.C.

    1980-01-01

    Experiments were conducted on heat transfer from internally heated ZnSO 4 -H 2 O pools to the walls of hemispherical containers. This experimental technique provides data for a heat transfer system that has to date been only theoretically treated. Three different sizes of copper hemispherical containers were used: 240, 280, 320 mm in diameter. The pool container served both as a heat transfer surface and as an electrode. The opposing electrode was a copper disk, 50 mm in diameter located at the top of the pool in the center. The top surface of the pool was open to the atmosphere

  12. Habitat characteristics and environmental parameters influencing fish assemblages of karstic pools in southern Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Eugenia Vega-Cendejas

    Full Text Available Fish assemblage structure was evaluated and compared among 36 karstic pools located within protected areas of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (southern Mexico and unprotected adjacent areas beyond the Reserve. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS, indicator species analysis (ISA, and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA were used to identify which environmental factors reflected local influences and to evaluate the correlation of these variables with fish assemblages structure. Thirty-one species were encountered in these karstic pools, some for the first time within the Reserve. These aquatic environments were separated into three groups based on physico-chemical characteristics. Although CCA identified significant associations between several fish species (based on their relative abundance and environmental variables (K, NH4, NO3, and conductivity, the most abundant species (Astyanax aeneus, Poecilia mexicana, and Gambusia sexradiata occur in most pools and under several environmental conditions. Baseline data on fish diversity along with a continued monitoring program are essential in order to evaluate the conservation status of fish assemblages and their habitats, as well as to measure the influence of anthropogenic impacts on pristine habitats such as the karstic pools of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

  13. Recruitment and Participation of Recreational Runners in a Large Epidemiological and Genetic Research Study: Retrospective Data Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manzanero, Silvia; Kozlovskaia, Maria; Vlahovich, Nicole; Hughes, David C

    2018-05-23

    With the increasing capacity for remote collection of both data and samples for medical research, a thorough assessment is needed to determine the association of population characteristics and recruitment methodologies with response rates. The aim of this research was to assess population representativeness in a two-stage study of health and injury in recreational runners, which consisted of an epidemiological arm and genetic analysis. The cost and success of various classical and internet-based methods were analyzed, and demographic representativeness was assessed for recruitment to the epidemiological survey, reported willingness to participate in the genetic arm of the study, actual participation, sample return, and approval for biobank storage. A total of 4965 valid responses were received, of which 1664 were deemed eligible for genetic analysis. Younger age showed a negative association with initial recruitment rate, expressed willingness to participate in genetic analysis, and actual participation. Additionally, female sex was associated with higher initial recruitment rates, and ethnic origin impacted willingness to participate in the genetic analysis (all P<.001). The sharp decline in retention through the different stages of the study in young respondents suggests the necessity to develop specific recruitment and retention strategies when investigating a young, physically active population. ©Silvia Manzanero, Maria Kozlovskaia, Nicole Vlahovich, David C Hughes. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.05.2018.

  14. Cooling device for reactor suppression pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Togasaki, Susumu; Kato, Kiyoshi.

    1994-01-01

    In a cooling device of a reactor suppression pool, when a temperature of pool water is abnormally increased and a heat absorbing portion is heated by, for example, occurrence of an accident, coolants are sent to the outside of the reactor container to actuates a thermally operating portion by the heat energy of coolants and drive heat exchanging fluids of a secondary cooling system. If the heat exchanging fluids are sent to a cooling portion, the coolants are cooled and returned to the heat absorbing portion of the suppression pool water. If the heat absorbing portion is heat pipes, the coolants are evaporated by heat absorbed from the suppression pool water, steams are sent to the thermally operating portion, then coolants are liquefied and caused to return to the heat absorbing portion. If the thermal operation portion is a gas turbine, the gas turbine is operated by the coolants, and it is converted to a rotational force to drive heat exchanging fluids by pumps. By constituting the cooling portion with a condensator, the coolants are condensed and liquefied and returned to the heat absorbing portion of the suppression pool water. (N.H.)

  15. Structure of pool in reactor building

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yokoyama, Shigeki.

    1997-01-01

    Shielding walls made of iron-reinforced concrete having a metal liner including two body walls rigidly combined to the upper surface of a reactor container are disposed at least to one of an equipment pool or spent fuel storage pool in a reactor building. A rack for temporarily placing an upper lattice plate is detachably attached at least above one of a steam dryer or a gas/liquid separator temporarily placed in the temporary pool, and the height from the bottom portion to the upper end of the shielding wall is determined based on the height of an upper lattice plate temporary placed on the rack and the water depth required for shielding radiation from the upper lattice plate. An operator's exposure on the operation floor can be reduced by the shielding wall, and radiation dose from the spent fuels is reduced. The increase of the height of a pool guarder enhances bending resistance as a ceiling. In addition, the total height of them is made identical with the depth of the spent fuel storage pool thereby enabling to increase storage area for spent fuels. (N.H.)

  16. An Innovative Hybrid Loop-Pool SFR Design and Safety Analysis Methods: Today and Tomorrow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hongbin Zhang; Haihua Zhao; Vincent Mousseau

    2008-01-01

    Investment in commercial sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plants will become possible only if SFRs achieve economic competitiveness as compared to light water reactors and other Generation IV reactors. Toward that end, we have launched efforts to improve the economics and safety of SFRs from the thermal design and safety analyses perspectives at Idaho National Laboratory. From the thermal design perspective, an innovative hybrid loop-pool SFR design has been proposed. This design takes advantage of the inherent safety of a pool design and the compactness of a loop design to further improve economics and safety. From the safety analyses perspective, we have initiated an effort to develop a high fidelity reactor system safety code

  17. Design and computational analysis of passive siphon breaker for 49-2 swimming pool reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yue Zhiting; Song Yunpeng; Liu Xingmin; Zou Yao; Wu Yuanyuan

    2014-01-01

    Based on safety considerations, a passive siphon breaker will be added to the primary cooling system of 49-2 Swimming Pool Reactor (SPR). With the breaker location determined, the capability of siphon breakers with diameters of 1.5 cm and 2.0 cm was calculated and analyzed respectively by RELAP5/MOD3.3 code. The results show that in the condition of large break loss of coolant accident these two sizes of siphon breakers are able to break the siphon phenomena, and maintain the pool water level above the reactor core when the reactor and the pump are shutdown. In the end, to be conservative, the siphon breaker with diameter of 2.0 cm is adopted. (authors)

  18. On heat transfer characteristics of real and simulant melt pool experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dinh, T.N.; Nourgaliev R.R.; Sehgal, B.R. [Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden)

    1995-09-01

    The paper presents results of analytical studies of natural convection heat transfer in scaled and/or simulant melt pool experiments related to the PWR in-vessel melt retention issue. Specific reactor-scale effects of a large decay-heated core melt pool in the reactor pressure vessel lower plenum are first reviewed, and then the current analytical capability of describing physical processes under prototypical situations is examined. Experiments and experimental approaches are analysed by focusing on their ability to represent prototypical situations. Calculations are carried out in order to assess the significance of some selected effects, including variations in melt properties, pool geometry and heating conditions. Rayleigh numbers in the present analysis are limited to 10{sup 12}, where uncertainties in turbulence modeling are not overriding other uncertainties. The effects of fluid Prandtl number on heat transfer to the lowermost part of cooled pool walls are examined for square and semicircular cavities. Calculations are performed also to explore limitations of using side-wall heating and direct electrical heating in reproducing the physical picture of interest. Needs for further experimental and analytical efforts are discussed as well.

  19. A Study on Rack Thickness Effect for Spent Fuel Pool Storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Mi Jin; Lee, Hee-Jae; Sohn, Dong-Seong

    2015-01-01

    For the effective storage of used fuel, the development of high performance neutron absorbing materials is needed. One of the major concern for the used fuel storage is the assurance to keep subcriticality of the storage rack and the high performance neutron absorbing material is the vital part to assure this requirement. According to NRC guide line, the k-effective of the spent fuel storage racks must not exceed 0.95. To ensure its safety, subcriticality analysis is required. Subcriticality analysis of the used storage in spent fuel pool have been performed by different authors. Criticality calculations for light water reactor spent fuel storage rack were carried out by Jae et al. They used AMPX-KENO IV code and considered the effect of rack pitch and rack thickness for consolidated fuel. The criticality analysis has performed at Gd 0.2 and 1 wt% according to thickness change. As thickness increases, the volume of the spent fuel pool rack increases. Therefore, absorbing material also increases according to thickness

  20. A Study on Rack Thickness Effect for Spent Fuel Pool Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Mi Jin; Lee, Hee-Jae; Sohn, Dong-Seong [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    For the effective storage of used fuel, the development of high performance neutron absorbing materials is needed. One of the major concern for the used fuel storage is the assurance to keep subcriticality of the storage rack and the high performance neutron absorbing material is the vital part to assure this requirement. According to NRC guide line, the k-effective of the spent fuel storage racks must not exceed 0.95. To ensure its safety, subcriticality analysis is required. Subcriticality analysis of the used storage in spent fuel pool have been performed by different authors. Criticality calculations for light water reactor spent fuel storage rack were carried out by Jae et al. They used AMPX-KENO IV code and considered the effect of rack pitch and rack thickness for consolidated fuel. The criticality analysis has performed at Gd 0.2 and 1 wt% according to thickness change. As thickness increases, the volume of the spent fuel pool rack increases. Therefore, absorbing material also increases according to thickness.

  1. Epidemiological analysis of data for scrapie in Great Britain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hagenaars, T.H.J.; Donnelly, C.; Ferguson, N.M.

    2006-01-01

    In recent years, the control or eradication of scrapie and any other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) possibly circulating in the sheep population has become a priority in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. A better understanding of the epidemiology of scrapie would greatly aid the

  2. Red and processed meat intake and risk of colorectal adenomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aune, D.; Chan, D.S.M.; Vieira, A.; Navarro Rosenblatt, D.; Vieira, R.; Greenwood, D.C.; Kampman, E.; Norat, T.

    2013-01-01

    Background Current evidence indicates that red and processed meat intake increases the risk of colorectal cancer; however, the association with colorectal adenomas is unclear. Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies of red and processed meat intake and

  3. What’s old is new again: yeast mutant screens in the era of pooled segregant analysis by genome sequencing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Curtin

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available While once de-rigueur for identification of genes involved in biological processes, screening of chemically induced mutant populations is an approach that has largely been superseded for model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Availability of single gene deletion/overexpression libraries and combinatorial synthetic genetic arrays provide yeast researchers more structured ways to probe genetic networks. Furthermore, in the age of inexpensive DNA sequencing, methodologies such as mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL by pooled segregant analysis and genome-wide association enable the identification of multiple naturally occurring allelic variants that contribute to polygenic phenotypes of interest. This is, however, contingent on the capacity to screen large numbers of individuals and existence of sufficient natural phenotypic variation within the available population. The latter cannot be guaranteed and non-selectable, industrially relevant phenotypes, such as production of volatile aroma compounds, pose severe limitations on the use of modern genetic techniques due to expensive and time-consuming downstream analyses. An interesting approach to overcome these issues can be found in Den Abt et al.[1] (this issue of Microbial Cell, where a combination of repeated rounds of chemical mutagenesis and pooled segregant analysis by whole genome sequencing was applied to identify genes involved in ethyl acetate formation, demonstrating a new path for industrial yeast strain development and bringing classical mutant screens into the 21st century.

  4. Pool gateway seal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starr, J.A.; Steinert, L.A.

    1983-01-01

    A device for sealing a gateway between interconnectable pools in a nuclear facility comprising a frame supporting a liquid impermeable sheet positioned in a u-shaped gateway between the pools. An inflatable tube carried in a channel in the periphery of the frame and adjoining the gateway provides a seal therebetween when inflated. A restraining arrangement on the bottom edge of the frame is releasably engagable with an adjacent portion of the gateway to restrict the movement of the frame in the u-shaped gateway upon inflation of the tube, thereby enhancing the seal. The impermeable sheet is formed of an elastomer and thus is conformable to a liquid permeable supportive wall upon application of liquid pressure to the side of the sheet opposite the wall

  5. Estimation of the algal-available phosphorus pool in sediments of a large, shallow eutrophic lake (Taihu, China) using profiled SMT fractional analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Mengyuan; Zhu Guangwei; Li Wei; Zhang Yunlin; Zhao Linlin; Gu Zhao

    2013-01-01

    Because large, shallow lakes are heavily influenced by wind–wave disturbance, it is difficult to estimate internal phosphorus load using traditional methods. To estimate the potential contribution of phosphorus from sediment to overlying water in eutrophic Lake Taihu, phosphorus fractions of surface and deep layer sediments were quantified and analyzed for algal bloom potential using a Standard Measurements and Testing (SMT) sequential extraction method and incubation experiments. Phosphorus bound to Fe, Al and Mn oxides and hydroxides (Fe–P) and organic phosphorus (OP) were to be found bioactive. The difference in Fe–P and OP contents between surface and deep layers equates to the sediment pool of potentially algal-available phosphorus. This pool was estimated at 5168 tons for the entire lake and was closely related to pollution input and algal blooms. Profiled SMT fractionation analysis is thus a potentially useful tool for estimating internal phosphorus loading in large, shallow lakes. - Highlights: ► We used profiled sediment P activity by SMT fractionation to evaluate the P release potential in large and shallow lakes. ► We built the relationship between sediment SMT fractionations of P and the P release by algal bloom degradation process. ► We discussed the supporting mechanism of sediment P release to Microcystis algal bloom in a large and shallow lake. ► We discussed the nutrient control strategy of algal bloom in shallow lakes in highly human activities disturbance catchment. - Profiled SMT fractional analysis of internal phosphorus pool in large, shallow lake.

  6. Recent advances in probabilistic species pool delineations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirk Nikolaus Karger

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available A species pool is the set of species that could potentially colonize and establish within a community. It has been a commonly used concept in biogeography since the early days of MacArthur and Wilson’s work on Island Biogeography. Despite their simple and appealing definition, an operational application of species pools is bundled with a multitude of problems, which have often resulted in arbitrary decisions and workarounds when defining species pools. Two recently published papers address the operational problems of species pool delineations, and show ways of delineating them in a probabilistic fashion. In both papers, species pools were delineated using a process-based, mechanistical approach, which opens the door for a multitude of new applications in biogeography. Such applications include detecting the hidden signature of biotic interactions, disentangling the geographical structure of community assembly processes, and incorporating a temporal extent into species pools. Although similar in their conclusions, both ‘probabilistic approaches’ differ in their implementation and definitions. Here I give a brief overview of the differences and similarities of both approaches, and identify the challenges and advantages in their application.

  7. Flashing of high-pressure saturated water into the pool water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takamasa, Tomoji; Kondo, Koichi; Aya, Izuo.

    1997-01-01

    This paper presents an experimental study on a saturated high-pressure water discharging into a water pool. The purpose of the experiment is to clarify the phenomena that occur by a blow-down of the water from the pressure vessel into the water-filled containment in the case of a wall-crack accident or a LOCA in a passive safety reactor. The results show that a flashing oscillation (FO) occurs when the water discharges into the pool, under specified experimental conditions. The range of the flashing location oscillates between a point very close to and some distance away from the vent hole. The pressures in the vent tube and water pool constantly fluctuate due to the flashing oscillation. The pressure oscillation and alternating flashing location might be caused by the balancing action between the supply of saturated water, flashing at the control volume and steam condensation on the steam-water interface. The frequencies of FO, or frequencies of pressure oscillation and alternating flashing location, increased as water subcooling increased, and as discharging pressure and vent hole diameter decreased. A linear analysis was conducted using a spherical flashing bubble model in which the motion of bubble is controlled by steam condensation. The effects of these parameters on the period of FO in the experiments can be predicted well by the analysis. (author)

  8. Bioreactor scale up and protein product quality characterization of piggyBac transposon derived CHO pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajendra, Yashas; Balasubramanian, Sowmya; Peery, Robert B; Swartling, James R; McCracken, Neil A; Norris, Dawn L; Frye, Christopher C; Barnard, Gavin C

    2017-03-01

    Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells remain the most popular host for the production of biopharmaceutical drugs, particularly monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), bispecific antibodies, and Fc-fusion proteins. Creating and characterizing the stable CHO clonally-derived cell lines (CDCLs) needed to manufacture these therapeutic proteins is a lengthy and laborious process. Therefore, CHO pools have increasingly been used to rapidly produce protein to support and enable preclinical drug development. We recently described the generation of CHO pools yielding mAb titers as high as 7.6 g/L in a 16 day bioprocess using piggyBac transposon-mediated gene integration. In this study, we wanted to understand why the piggyBac pool titers were significantly higher (2-10 fold) than the control CHO pools. Higher titers were the result of a combination of increased average gene copy number, significantly higher messenger RNA levels and the homogeneity (i.e. less diverse population distribution) of the piggyBac pools, relative to the control pools. In order to validate the use of piggyBac pools to support preclinical drug development, we then performed an in-depth product quality analysis of purified protein. The product quality of protein obtained from the piggyBac pools was very similar to the product quality profile of protein obtained from the control pools. Finally, we demonstrated the scalability of these pools from shake flasks to 36L bioreactors. Overall, these results suggest that gram quantities of therapeutic protein can be rapidly obtained from piggyBac CHO pools without significantly changing product quality attributes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:534-540, 2017. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  9. Spatial evolutionary epidemiology of spreading epidemics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lion, S; Gandon, S

    2016-10-26

    Most spatial models of host-parasite interactions either neglect the possibility of pathogen evolution or consider that this process is slow enough for epidemiological dynamics to reach an equilibrium on a fast timescale. Here, we propose a novel approach to jointly model the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured host and pathogen populations. Starting from a multi-strain epidemiological model, we use a combination of spatial moment equations and quantitative genetics to analyse the dynamics of mean transmission and virulence in the population. A key insight of our approach is that, even in the absence of long-term evolutionary consequences, spatial structure can affect the short-term evolution of pathogens because of the build-up of spatial differentiation in mean virulence. We show that spatial differentiation is driven by a balance between epidemiological and genetic effects, and this quantity is related to the effect of kin competition discussed in previous studies of parasite evolution in spatially structured host populations. Our analysis can be used to understand and predict the transient evolutionary dynamics of pathogens and the emergence of spatial patterns of phenotypic variation. © 2016 The Author(s).

  10. Chinese nuclear insurance and Chinese nuclear insurance pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong Zhiqi

    2000-01-01

    Chinese Nuclear Insurance Started with Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, PICC issued the insurance policy. Nuclear insurance cooperation between Chinese and international pool's organizations was set up in 1989. In 1996, the Chinese Nuclear Insurance Pool was prepared. The Chinese Nuclear Insurance Pool was approved by The Chinese Insurance Regulatory Committee in May of 1999. The principal aim is to centralize maximum the insurance capacity for nuclear insurance from local individual insurers and to strengthen the reinsurance relations with international insurance pools so as to provide the high quality insurance service for Chinese nuclear industry. The Member Company of Chinese Nuclear Pool and its roles are introduced in this article

  11. Guide for decontaminating swimming pool at schools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuhashi, Shimpei; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Yasuda, Ryo; Takano, Takao; Seko, Noriaki; Naganawa, Hirochika; Kuroki, Ryota; Saegusa, Jun

    2012-07-01

    Because of TEPCO Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, a huge amount of radioactive materials was widely dispersed and precipitated into the environment. Swimming pools in Fukushima prefectures were contaminated with the radioactives. We JAEA carried out several demonstration tests to decontaminate the radioactives and discharge the pool water safely. We concluded the results obtained from the tests as 'Guide for decontaminating Swimming Pool at School' and released it quickly. Following this, we also released the guide in English. This manuscript, as an experimental report of the swimming pool water decontamination, is consisted from the guide in Japanese and English prepared. (author)

  12. Guide for decontaminating swimming pool at schools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuhashi, Shimpei; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Yasuda, Ryo; Takano, Takao; Seko, Noriaki; Naganawa, Hirochika; Kuroki, Ryota; Saegusa, Jun

    2012-07-15

    Because of TEPCO Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, a huge amount of radioactive materials was widely dispersed and precipitated into the environment. Swimming pools in Fukushima prefectures were contaminated with the radioactives. We JAEA carried out several demonstration tests to decontaminate the radioactives and discharge the pool water safely. We concluded the results obtained from the tests as 'Guide for decontaminating Swimming Pool at School' and released it quickly. Following this, we also released the guide in English. This manuscript, as an experimental report of the swimming pool water decontamination, is consisted from the guide in Japanese and English prepared. (author)

  13. The epidemiological modelling of dysthymia: application for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charlson, Fiona J; Ferrari, Alize J; Flaxman, Abraham D; Whiteford, Harvey A

    2013-10-01

    In order to capture the differences in burden between the subtypes of depression, the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study for the first time estimated the burden of dysthymia and major depressive disorder separately from the previously used umbrella term 'unipolar depression'. A global summary of epidemiological parameters are necessary inputs in burden of disease calculations for 21 world regions, males and females and for the year 1990, 2005 and 2010. This paper reports findings from a systematic review of global epidemiological data and the subsequent development of an internally consistent epidemiological model of dysthymia. A systematic search was conducted to identify data sources for the prevalence, incidence, remission and excess-mortality of dysthymia using Medline, PsycINFO and EMBASE electronic databases and grey literature. DisMod-MR, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, was used to check the epidemiological parameters for internal consistency and to predict estimates for world regions with no or few data. The systematic review identified 38 studies meeting inclusion criteria which provided 147 data points for 30 countries in 13 of 21 world regions. Prevalence increases in the early ages, peaking at around 50 years. Females have higher prevalence of dysthymia than males. Global pooled prevalence remained constant across time points at 1.55% (95%CI 1.50-1.60). There was very little regional variation in prevalence estimates. There were eight GBD world regions for which we found no data for which DisMod-MR had to impute estimates. The addition of internally consistent epidemiological estimates by world region, age, sex and year for dysthymia contributed to a more comprehensive estimate of mental health burden in GBD 2010. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Convective heat transfer the molten metal pool heated from below and cooled by two-phase flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, J. S.; Suh, K. Y.; Chung, C. H.; Park, R. J.; Kim, S. B.

    1998-01-01

    During a hypothetical servere accident in the nuclear power plant, a molten core material may form stratified fluid layers. These layers may be composed of high temperature molten debris pool and water coolant in the lower plenum of the reactor vessel or in the reactor cavity. This study is concerned with the experimental test and numerical analysis on the heat transfer and solidification of the molten metal pool with overlying coolant with boiling. This work examines the crust formation and the heat transfer characteristics of the molten metal pool immersed in the boiling coolant. The metal pool is heated from the bottom surface and coolant is injected onto the molten metal pool. The simulant molten pool material is tin (Sn) with the melting temperature of 232 .deg. C. Demineralized water is used as the working coolant. Tests were performed under the condition of the bottom surface heating in the test section and the forced convection of the coolant being injected onto the molten metal pool. The constant temperature and constant heat flux conditions are adopted for the bottom heating. The test parameters included the heated bottom surface temperature of the molten metal pool, the input power to the heated bottom surface of the test section, and the coolant injection rate. Numerical analyses were simultaneously performed in a two-dimensional rectangular domain of the molten metal pool to check on the measured data. The numerical program has been developed using the enthalpy method, the finite volume method and the SIMPLER algorithm. The experimental results of the heat transfer show general agreement with the calculated values. In this study, the relationship between the Nusselt number and Rayleigh number in the molten metal pool region was estimated and compared with the dry experiment without coolant nor solidification of the molten metal pool, and with the crust formation experiment with subcooled coolant, and against other correlations. In the experiments, the

  15. Structural integrity evaluation of FTL in-pool piping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, J. Y

    1998-05-01

    HANARO fuel test loop will be equipped in HANARO to obtain the development betterment of advanced fuel and materials through the irradiation test. The object of this study is to evaluate the structural integrity of FTL in-pool piping by investigating a dynamic analysis of the loop containing a postulated rupture section. The method to perform the dynamic analysis and structural integrity evaluation caused by the pipe whip in water environment can be a reference for a similar structural integrity evaluation. (author). 7 refs., 39 tabs., 34 figs.

  16. Studies of thermal stratification in water pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verma, P.K.; Chandraker, D.K.; Nayak, A.K.; Vijayan, P.K.

    2015-01-01

    Large water pools are used as a heat sink for various cooling systems used in industry. In context of advance nuclear reactors like AHWR, it is used as ultimate heat sink for passive systems for decay heat removal and containment cooling. This system incorporates heat exchangers submerged in the large water pool. However, heat transfer by natural convection in pool poses a problem of thermal stratification. Due to thermal stratification hot layers of water accumulate over the relatively cold one. The heat transfer performance of heat exchanger gets deteriorated as a hot fluid envelops it. In the nuclear reactors, the walls of the pool are made of concrete and it may subject to high temperature due to thermal stratification which is not desirable. In this paper, a concept of employing shrouds around the heat source is studied. These shrouds provide a bulk flow in the water pool, thereby facilitating mixing of hot and cold fluid, which eliminate stratification. The concept has been applied to the a scaled model of Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP) of AHWR in which Isolation Condensers (IC) tubes are submerged for decay heat removal of AHWR using ICS and thermal stratification phenomenon was predicted with and without shrouds. To demonstrate the adequacy of the effectiveness of shroud arrangement and to validate the simulation methodology of RELAP5/Mod3.2, experiments has been conducted on a scaled model of the pool with and without shroud. (author)

  17. On the neutronics of spent fuel storage pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caro, R.; Martinez-Val, J.M.; Donoso, E.

    1980-01-01

    The neutron physics of light-water-reactor fuel elements storage is analyzed for reviewing the calculation methodologies and pointing out its characteristics, specially those related to the safety analysis report. Some numerical results are presented, involving both clean and poisoned storage pools. Besides the conventional criticality calculations in nominal and accidental circumstances, the so-called optimum moderation phenomenon is dealt with special emphasis. (author)

  18. Reduction of the pool-top radiation level in HANARO

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Choong-Sung; Park, Sang-Jun; Kim, Heonil; Park, Yong-Chul; Choi, Young-San

    1999-01-01

    HANARO is an open-tank-in-pool type reactor. Pool water is the only shielding to minimize the pool top radiation level. During the power ascension test of HANARO, the measured pool top radiation level was higher than the design value because some of the activation products in the coolant reached the pool surface. In order to suppress this rising coolant, the hot water layer system (HWL) was designed and installed to maintain l.2 meter-deep hot water layer whose temperature is 5degC higher than that of the underneath pool surface. After the installation of the HWL system, however, the radiation level of the pool-top did not satisfy the design value. The operation modes of the hot water layer system and the other systems in the reactor pool, which had an effect on the formation of the hot water layer, were changed to reduce pool-top radiation level. After the above efforts, the temperature and the radioactivity distribution in the pool was measured to confirm whether this system blocked the rising coolant. The radiation level at the pool-top was significantly reduced below one tenth of that before installing the HWL and satisfied the design value. It was also confirmed by calculation that this hot water layer system would significantly reduce the release of fission gases to the reactor hall and the environment during the hypothetical accident as well. (author)

  19. 17 CFR 4.22 - Reporting to pool participants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ..., the financial statements are not required to include consolidated information for all series. (7) For... event that the International Financial Reporting Standards require consolidated financial statements for... reporting pool's consolidated financial statements. (ii) The commodity pool operator of a pool that meets...

  20. Behavior of spent nuclear fuel in water pool storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, A.B. Jr.

    1977-09-01

    Storage of irradiated nuclear fuel in water pools (basins) has been standard practice since nuclear reactors first began operation approximately 34 years ago. Pool storage is the starting point for all other fuel storage candidate processes and is a candidate for extended interim fuel storage until policy questions regarding reprocessing and ultimate disposal have been resolved. This report assesses the current performance of nuclear fuel in pool storage, the range of storage conditions, and the prospects for extending residence times. The assessment is based on visits to five U.S. and Canadian fuel storage sites, representing nine storage pools, and on discussions with operators of an additional 21 storage pools. Spent fuel storage experience from British pools at Winfrith and Windscale and from a German pool at Karlsruhe (WAK) also is summarized

  1. Design of the Demineralized Water Make-up Line to Maintain the Normal Pool Water Level of the Reactor Pool in the Research Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Hyun Gi; Choi, Jung Woon; Yoon, Ju Hyeon; Chi, Dae Young

    2012-01-01

    In many research reactors, hot water layer system (HWLS) is used to minimize the pool top radiation level. Reactor pool divided into the hot water layer at the upper part of pool and the cold part below the hot water layer with lower temperature during normal operation. Water mixing between these layers is minimized because the hot water layer is formed above cold water. Therefore the hot water layer suppresses floatation of cold water and reduces the pool top radiation level. Pool water is evaporated form the surface to the building hall because of high temperature of the hot water layer; consequently the pool level is continuously fallen. Therefore, make-up water is necessary to maintain the normal pool level. There are two way to supply demineralized water to the pool, continuous and intermittent methods. In this system design, the continuous water make-up method is adopted to minimize the disturbance of the reactor pool flow. Also, demineralized water make-up is connected to the suction line of the hot water layer system to raise the temperature of make-up water. In conclusion, make-up demineralized water with high temperature is continuously supplied to the hot water layer in the pool

  2. Welding pool measurement using thermal array sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Chia-Hung; Hsieh, Yi-Chen; Chen, Hsin-Yi

    2015-08-01

    Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technology that uses a high-power laser beam to melt metal powder in chamber of inert gas. The process starts by slicing the 3D CAD data as a digital information source into layers to create a 2D image of each layer. Melting pool was formed by using laser irradiation on metal powders which then solidified to consolidated structure. In a selective laser melting process, the variation of melt pool affects the yield of a printed three-dimensional product. For three dimensional parts, the border conditions of the conductive heat transport have a very large influence on the melt pool dimensions. Therefore, melting pool is an important behavior that affects the final quality of the 3D object. To meet the temperature and geometry of the melting pool for monitoring in additive manufacturing technology. In this paper, we proposed the temperature sensing system which is composed of infrared photodiode, high speed camera, band-pass filter, dichroic beam splitter and focus lens. Since the infrared photodiode and high speed camera look at the process through the 2D galvanometer scanner and f-theta lens, the temperature sensing system can be used to observe the melting pool at any time, regardless of the movement of the laser spot. In order to obtain a wide temperature detecting range, 500 °C to 2500 °C, the radiation from the melting pool to be measured is filtered into a plurality of radiation portions, and since the intensity ratio distribution of the radiation portions is calculated by using black-body radiation. The experimental result shows that the system is suitable for melting pool to measure temperature.

  3. [Epidemiological data for uterine fibroids in France in 2010-2012 in medical center--analysis from the French DRG-based information system (PMSI)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, H; Chabbert-Buffet, N; Koskas, M; Nazac, A

    2014-10-01

    Uterine fibroids are a common disorder, responsible for menorrhagia/metrorrhagia and pelvic pain and remain the leading reason for hysterectomy in France. Although it is common disorder, French epidemiological data are locking. The objective of this study was to realize an epidemiological analysis from the medicalized information system program (PMSI). The diagnosis codes were selected from 10th version of the International Classification Disease. The medical procedures concerning uterine fibroids were selected (so called: procedures listed). A descriptive analysis was performed from hospitals stays, patients' characteristics and medical procedures (mean, standard distribution, median, range, quartile). In 2012, 46,126 patients (median age: 46 years old) were admitted in hospital (public or private hospitals) due to uterine fibroid corresponding to 47,690 hospital stays (hospital stays for surgery: 32,397). Diagnosis of anemia was reported in approximately 8% of patients and 7.1% of patients hospitalized in 2012 had already been hospitalized between 2004-2012. The median length of hospital stay was 4 days. In 2012, 16,070 hospital stays were reported for total or subtotal hysterectomy, 16,384 hospitals stays for myomectomy and 1376 hospital stays for embolization. In terms of management care, among 46,126 patients with uterine fibroids (principal or related diagnosis), 31,846 patients received a procedure listed in a surgical diagnostic related groups (DRG). To conclude, the study permits to update the epidemiological data concerning uterine fibroid management between 2010-2011-2012 in final. Because the PMSI collects partially information regarding epidemiological data, a clear epidemiological study is needed either with database from health insurance or with dedicated study. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  4. Analysis of dose rates received around the storage pool for irradiated control rods in a BWR nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodenas, J.; Abarca, A.; Gallardo, S.

    2011-01-01

    BWR control rods are activated by neutron reactions in the reactor. The dose produced by this activity can affect workers in the area surrounding the storage pool, where activated rods are stored. Monte Carlo (MC) models for neutron activation and dose assessment around the storage pool have been developed and validated. In this work, the MC models are applied to verify the expected reduction of dose when the irradiated control rod is hanged in an inverted position into the pool.

  5. Evaluating alternative offering strategies for wind producers in a pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahimiyan, Morteza; Morales, Juan M.; Conejo, Antonio J.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Out-of-sample analysis allows comparing diverse offers using real-world data. → Offering the best production forecast is not optimal for a wind producer. → Stochastic programming offers lead to maximum expected profit. → Offering the best production forecast is not generally optimal for risk control. → Stochastic programming offers lead to the best tradeoff profit versus risk. -- Abstract: As wind power technology matures and reaches break-even cost, wind producers find it increasingly attractive to participate in pool markets instead of being paid feed-in tariffs. The key issue is then how a wind producer should offer in the pool markets to achieve maximum profit while controlling the variability of such profit. This paper compares two families of offering strategies based, respectively, on a naive use of wind production forecasts and on stochastic programming models. These strategies are compared through a comprehensive out-of-sample chronological analysis based on real-world data. A number of relevant conclusions are then duly drawn.

  6. A skeleton for distributed work pools in Eden

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dieterle, Mischa; Berthold, Jost; Loogen, Rita

    2010-01-01

    We present a flexible skeleton for implementing distributed work pools in our parallel functional language Eden. The skeleton manages a pool of tasks (work pool) in a distributed manner using a demand-driven work stealing approach for load balancing. All coordination is done locally within...

  7. Sustainability of common pool resources

    OpenAIRE

    Timilsina, Raja Rajendra; Kotani, Koji; Kamijo, Yoshio

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability has become a key issue in managing natural resources together with growing concerns for capitalism, environmental and resource problems. We hypothesize that the ongoing modernization of competitive societies, which we refer to as "capitalism," affects human nature for utilizing common pool resources, thus compromising sustainability. To test this hypothesis, we design and implement a set of dynamic common pool resource games and experiments in the following two types of Nepales...

  8. The Nuclear Insurance Pools: Operations and Covers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tetley, M.

    2008-01-01

    Nuclear insurance pools have provided insurance for the nuclear industry for over fifty years and it is fair to say that the development of civil nuclear power would not have been possible without the support of the commercial insurance market. The unknown risks presented by the nascent nuclear power industry in the 1950s required a leap of faith by insurers who developed specialist pooled insurance capacity to ensure adequate capacity to back up the operators' compensation obligations. Since then, nuclear insurance pools have evolved to become comprehensive suppliers of most types of insurance for nuclear plant globally. This paper will outline the structure, development, products and current operations of nuclear insurance pools.(author)

  9. Shedding Light on Dark Liquidity Pools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Degryse, H.A.; van Achter, M.; Wuyts, G.

    2008-01-01

    This article reviews the recent developments on dark liquidity pools starting from the theoretical and empirical academic literature. The number of dark liquidity pools as well as their trading volume has grown substantially in the last couple of years. We highlight the incentives of providers as

  10. Sensory impairments of the lower limb after stroke: a pooled analysis of individual patient data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyson, Sarah F; Crow, J Lesley; Connell, Louise; Winward, Charlotte; Hillier, Susan

    2013-01-01

    To obtain more generalizable information on the frequency and factors influencing sensory impairment after stroke and their relationship to mobility and function. A pooled analysis of individual data of stroke survivors (N = 459); mean (SD) age = 67.2 (14.8) years, 54% male, mean (SD) time since stroke = 22.33 (63.1) days, 50% left-sided weakness. Where different measurement tools were used, data were recorded. Descriptive statistics described frequency of sensory impairments, kappa coefficients investigated relationships between sensory modalities, binary logistic regression explored the factors influencing sensory impairments, and linear regression assessed the impact of sensory impairments on activity limitations. Most patients' sensation was intact (55%), and individual sensory modalities were highly associated (κ = 0.60, P sensory impairment (P analysis showed sensation of the lower limb is grossly preserved in most stroke survivors but, when present, it affects function. Sensory modalities are highly interrelated; interventions that treat the motor system during functional tasks may be as effective at treating the sensory system as sensory retraining alone.

  11. Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis of 19 Trials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrelli, Fausto; Comito, Tiziana; Ghidini, Antonio; Torri, Valter; Scorsetti, Marta; Barni, Sandro

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Although surgery is the standard of care for resectable pancreatic cancer (PC), standard-dose chemoradiation therapy and chemotherapy alone are suitable for patients with unresectable disease. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an alternative, focused local therapy that delivers high radiation doses within a few fractions to the cancer, sparing the surrounding critical tissue. We performed a systematic review and pooled analysis of published trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this emerging treatment modality. Methods and Materials: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, the Web of Science, and CINAHL for publications regarding SBRT for locally advanced PC. The 1-year overall survival (OS) rate was the primary endpoint, and the median OS, 2-year OS rate, 1-year locoregional control (LRC) rate, and grade 3 to 4 toxicities were the secondary endpoints. A multivariate random-effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate the aggregated OS rates at 1 and 2 years and the 1-year LRC rate. Results: A total of 19 studies, encompassing 1009 patients, were included in the present analysis. The pooled 1-year OS was 51.6% in 13 trials with data available. The median OS ranged from 5.7 to 47 months (median 17). The LRC rate at 1 year was 72.3%. Overall, the occurrence of severe adverse events did not exceed 10%. LRC appeared to correlate with the total SBRT dose and the number of fractions. Conclusions: The advantages of SBRT in terms of treatment time, satisfactory OS, and LRC indicate that it is an effective option for inoperable PC. However, a definitive validation of this treatment modality in large randomized studies is required, owing to the nonrandomized nature of the included studies and the limitations of small single-center series that include mixed populations.

  12. Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis of 19 Trials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petrelli, Fausto, E-mail: faupe@libero.it [Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology, ASST Bergamo Ovest, Treviglio (Italy); Comito, Tiziana [Department of Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy, Istituto Clinico Humanitas Cancer Center and Research Hospital, Milan (Italy); Ghidini, Antonio [Oncology Unit, Igea Hospital, Milan (Italy); Torri, Valter [Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University and Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery Department-Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan (Italy); Scorsetti, Marta [Department of Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy, Istituto Clinico Humanitas Cancer Center and Research Hospital, Milan (Italy); Barni, Sandro [Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology, ASST Bergamo Ovest, Treviglio (Italy)

    2017-02-01

    Purpose: Although surgery is the standard of care for resectable pancreatic cancer (PC), standard-dose chemoradiation therapy and chemotherapy alone are suitable for patients with unresectable disease. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an alternative, focused local therapy that delivers high radiation doses within a few fractions to the cancer, sparing the surrounding critical tissue. We performed a systematic review and pooled analysis of published trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this emerging treatment modality. Methods and Materials: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, the Web of Science, and CINAHL for publications regarding SBRT for locally advanced PC. The 1-year overall survival (OS) rate was the primary endpoint, and the median OS, 2-year OS rate, 1-year locoregional control (LRC) rate, and grade 3 to 4 toxicities were the secondary endpoints. A multivariate random-effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate the aggregated OS rates at 1 and 2 years and the 1-year LRC rate. Results: A total of 19 studies, encompassing 1009 patients, were included in the present analysis. The pooled 1-year OS was 51.6% in 13 trials with data available. The median OS ranged from 5.7 to 47 months (median 17). The LRC rate at 1 year was 72.3%. Overall, the occurrence of severe adverse events did not exceed 10%. LRC appeared to correlate with the total SBRT dose and the number of fractions. Conclusions: The advantages of SBRT in terms of treatment time, satisfactory OS, and LRC indicate that it is an effective option for inoperable PC. However, a definitive validation of this treatment modality in large randomized studies is required, owing to the nonrandomized nature of the included studies and the limitations of small single-center series that include mixed populations.

  13. NACUBO's Guide to Unitizing Investment Pools. Second Edition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Mary S.

    2011-01-01

    The National Association of College and University Business Officers' (NACUBO's) "Guide to Unitizing Investment Pools" addresses the principles and concepts for administering a consolidated investment pool. Unitization is the mechanism by which investment funds are pooled to maximize investment efficiencies and provide information for donors,…

  14. Investigation of the condition of spent-fuel pool components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kustas, F.M.; Bates, S.O.; Opitz, B.E.; Johnson, A.B. Jr.; Perez, J.M. Jr.; Farnsworth, R.K.

    1981-09-01

    It is currently projected that spent nuclear fuel, which is discharged from the reactor and then stored in water pools, may remain in those pools for several decades. Other studies have addressed the expected integrity of the spent fuel during extended water storage; this study assesses the integrity of metallic spent fuel pool components. Results from metallurgical examinations of specimens taken from stainless steel and aluminum components exposed in spent fuel pools are presented. Licensee Event Reports (LERs) relating to problems with spent fuel components were assessed and are summarized to define the types of operational problems that have occurred. The major conclusions of this study are: aluminum and stainless steel spent fuel pool components have a good history of performance in both deionized and borated water pools. Although some operational problems involving pool components have occurred, these problems have had minimal impacts

  15. Investigation of the condition of spent-fuel pool components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kustas, F.M.; Bates, S.O.; Opitz, B.E.; Johnson, A.B. Jr.; Perez, J.M. Jr.; Farnsworth, R.K.

    1981-09-01

    It is currently projected that spent nuclear fuel, which is discharged from the reactor and then stored in water pools, may remain in those pools for several decades. Other studies have addressed the expected integrity of the spent fuel during extended water storage; this study assesses the integrity of metallic spent fuel pool components. Results from metallurgical examinations of specimens taken from stainless steel and aluminum components exposed in spent fuel pools are presented. Licensee Event Reports (LERs) relating to problems with spent fuel components were assessed and are summarized to define the types of operational problems that have occurred. The major conclusions of this study are: aluminum and stainless steel spent fuel pool components have a good history of performance in both deionized and borated water pools. Although some operational problems involving pool components have occurred, these problems have had minimal impacts.

  16. Health insurance in South Africa: an empirical analysis of trends in risk-pooling and efficiency following deregulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söderlund, N; Hansl, B

    2000-12-01

    This paper reports an empirical investigation into the pattern of private health insurance coverage in South Africa before and after deregulation of the health insurance industry. More specifically, we sought to measure trends in risk-pooling over the period 1985-95, and to assess the impact of risk pooling on the costs of health insurance cover over this period. South African mutual health insurers (Medical Schemes) have existed for over 100 years, and have been regulated under a specific Act since 1967. Up until 1989, health insurers were required by law to community rate their premiums, and were not allowed to exclude high-risk enrolees from cover. In 1989 these regulations were removed, effectively allowing health insurers to risk-rate the cover which they provided, and exclude 'medically uninsurables'. Data were obtained from the office of the health insurance regulator (the Registrar of Medical Schemes) for the period 1985-95, and consisted of the statutory returns from all registered medical schemes for each year during the study period. Multiple regression methods were used to assess the determinants of changes in the risk pools of insurers, and their costs. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal models were estimated. Unadjusted data suggest changes in risk-pooling since the deregulation period after 1985. Health insurers with open enrolment had worse than average risk profiles in the 1980s, but this reversed by the early 1990s, leaving them with significantly better risk profiles by 1995. Worsening risk profiles were associated with decreasing fund size, higher loss-ratios and past premium increases. Most models showed that risk rating of premiums was consistently associated with higher premiums, after adjustment for risk, quality, scale and other environmental differences between insurers. Likely explanations include the additional costs required for marketing and underwriting risk-rated policies, insufficient incentives to use cost-control techniques

  17. Swimming-pool piles; Piles piscines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Trioulaire, M [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France).Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1959-07-01

    In France two swimming-pool piles, Melusine and Triton, have just been set in operation. The swimming-pool pile is the ideal research tool for neutron fluxes of the order of 10{sup 13}. This type of pile can be of immediate interest to many research centres, but its cost must be reduced and a break with tradition should be observed in its design. It would be an advantage: - to bury the swimming-pool; - to reject the experimental channel; - to concentrate the cooling circuit in the swimming-pool; - to carry out all manipulations in the water; - to double the core. (author) [French] En France, deux piles piscines, Melusine et Triton, viennent d'entrer en service. La pile piscine est l'outil de recherche ideal pour des flux de neutrons de l'ordre de 10{sup 13}. Ce type de pile peut interesser des maintenant de nombreux centres de recherches mais il faut reduire son prix de revient et rompre avec le conformisme de sa conception. Il y a avantage: - a enterrer la piscine; - a supprimer les canaux experimentaux; - a concentrer le circuit de refrigeration dans la piscine; - a effectuer toutes les manipulations dans l'eau; - a doubler le coeur. (auteur)

  18. Electricity supply and demand scenarios for the Southern African power pool

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Spalding-Fecher, R

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The study presents long-term electricity supply and demand scenarios for the twelve countries in the Southern African Power Pool, based on detailed bottom-up demand analysis for all countries and a set of internally consistent development scenarios...

  19. Analysis of the LBLOCAs in the HANARO pool for the 3-pin fuel test loop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, S. K.; Chi, D. Y.; Sim, B. S.; Park, K. N.; Ahn, S. H.; Lee, J. M.; Lee, C. Y.; Kim, Y. J.

    2004-12-01

    The Fuel Test Loop(FTL) has been developed to meet the increasing demand on fuel irradiation and burn up test required the development of new fuels in Korea. It is designed to provide the test conditions of high pressure and temperature like the commercial PWR and CANDU power plants. And also the FTL have the cooling capability to sufficiently remove the thermal power of the in-pile test section for normal operation, Anticipated Operational Occurrences(AOOs), and Design Basis Accidents(DBAs). This report deals with the Large Break Loss of Coolant Accidents (LBLOCAs) in HANARO pool for the 3-pin fuel test loop. The MARS code has been used for the prediction of the emergency core cooling capability of the FTL and the peak cladding temperature of the test fuels for the LBLOCAs. The location of the pipe break is assumed at the hill taps connecting the cold and hot legs in HANARO pool to the inlet and outlet nozzles of the In-Pile test Section (IPS). Double ended guillotine break is assumed for the large break loss of coolant accidents. The discharge coefficients of 0.1, 0.33, 0.67, 1.0 are investigated for the LBLOCAs. The test fuels for PWR and CANDU test modes are not heated up for the LBLOCAs caused by the double ended guillotine break in the HANARO pool. The reason is that the sufficient emergency cooling water to cool down the test fuels is supplied continuously to the in-pile test section. Therefore the PCTs for the LBLOCAs in the HANARO pool meet the design criterion of commercial PWR fuel that maximum PCT is lower than 1204 .deg. C

  20. Comments on Brodsky's statistical methods for evaluating epidemiological results, and reply by Brodsky, A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frome, E.L.; Khare, M.

    1980-01-01

    Brodsky's paper 'A Statistical Method for Testing Epidemiological Results, as applied to the Hanford Worker Population', (Health Phys., 36, 611-628, 1979) proposed two test statistics for use in comparing the survival experience of a group of employees and controls. This letter states that both of the test statistics were computed using incorrect formulas and concludes that the results obtained using these statistics may also be incorrect. In his reply Brodsky concurs with the comments on the proper formulation of estimates of pooled standard errors in constructing test statistics but believes that the erroneous formulation does not invalidate the major points, results and discussions of his paper. (author)

  1. Modelling of the spent fuel heat-up in the spent fuel pools using one-dimensional system codes and CFD codes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grazevicius, Audrius; Kaliatka, Algirdas [Lithuanian Energy Institute, Kaunas (Lithuania). Lab. of Nuclear Installation Safety

    2017-07-15

    The main functions of spent fuel pools are to remove the residual heat from spent fuel assemblies and to perform the function of biological shielding. In the case of loss of heat removal from spent fuel pool, the fuel rods and pool water temperatures would increase continuously. After the saturated temperature is reached, due to evaporation of water the pool water level would drop, eventually causing the uncover of spent fuel assemblies, fuel overheating and fuel rods failure. This paper presents an analysis of loss of heat removal accident in spent fuel pool of BWR 4 and a comparison of two different modelling approaches. The one-dimensional system thermal-hydraulic computer code RELAP5 and CFD tool ANSYS Fluent were used for the analysis. The results are similar, but the local effects cannot be simulated using a one-dimensional code. The ANSYS Fluent calculation demonstrated that this three-dimensional treatment allows to avoid the need for many one-dimensional modelling assumptions in the pool modelling and enables to reduce the uncertainties associated with natural circulation flow calculation.

  2. Plant diversity associated with pools in natural and restored peatlands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Fontaine

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This study describes plant assemblages associated with the edges of peatland pools. We conducted inventories in six natural peatlands in the province of Québec (Canada in order to measure the contribution of pools to species diversity in climatic regions where peatlands are used for peat extraction. We also carried out vegetation surveys in a peatland that has been restored after peat extraction/harvesting to determine whether pool vegetation establishes along the edges of created pools when dry surface restoration techniques only are used. Pools enhanced plant species richness in natural peatlands. Around created pools, species associated with natural pools were still absent, and non-bog species were present, six years after restoration. On this basis, we emphasise the importance of preserving natural peatlands with pools. In order to restore fully the plant diversity associated with peatlands at harvested sites, it may be necessary to modify pool excavation techniques so that created pools resemble more closely those in natural peatlands. Active introduction of the plant species or communities associated with natural pools may also be needed; candidate species for North America include Andromeda glaucophylla, Cladopodiella fluitans, Carex limosa, Eriophorum virginicum, Rhynchospora alba and Sphagnum cuspidatum.

  3. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome components in young adults: A pooled analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul B. Nolan

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn represents a clustering of different metabolic abnormalities. MetSyn prevalence is present in approximately 25% of all adults with increased prevalence in advanced ages. The presence of one component of MetSyn increases the risk of developing MetSyn later in life and likely represents a high lifetime burden of cardiovascular disease risk. Therefore we pooled data from multiple studies to establish the prevalence of MetSyn and MetSyn component prevalence across a broad range of ethnicities. PubMed, SCOPUS and Medline databases were searched to find papers presenting MetSyn and MetSyn component data for 18–30 year olds who were apparently healthy, free of disease, and MetSyn was assessed using either the harmonized, National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII, American Heart Association/National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute (AHA/NHBLI, or International Diabetes Federation (IDF definitions of MetSyn. After reviewing returned articles, 26,609 participants' data from 34 studies were included in the analysis and the data were pooled. MetSyn was present in 4.8–7% of young adults. Atherogenic dyslipidaemia defined as low high density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol was the most prevalent MetSyn component (26.9–41.2%, followed by elevated blood pressure (16.6–26.6%, abdominal obesity (6.8–23.6%, atherogenic dyslipidaemia defined as raised triglycerides (8.6–15.6%, and raised fasting glucose (2.8–15.4%. These findings highlight that MetSyn is prevalent in young adults. Establishing the reason why low HDL is the most prevalent component may represent an important step in promoting primary prevention of MetSyn and reducing the incidence of subsequent clinical disease.

  4. Pool size measurements facilitate the determination of fluxes at branching points in nonstationary metabolic flux analysis: The case of Arabidopsis thaliana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert eHeise

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Pool size measurements are important for the estimation of absolute intracellular fluxes in particular scenarios based on data from heavy carbon isotope experiments. Recently, steady-state fluxes estimates were obtained for central carbon metabolism in an intact illuminated rosette of Arabidopsis thaliana grown photoautotrophically (Szecowka et al., 2013; Heise et al., 2014. Fluxes were estimated therein by integrating mass-spectrometric data of the dynamics of the unlabeled metabolic fraction, data on metabolic pool sizes, partitioning of metabolic pools between cellular compartments and estimates of photosynthetically inactive pools, with a simplified model of plant central carbon metabolism. However, the fluxes were determined by treating the pool sizes as fixed parameters. Here we investigated whether and, if so, to what extent the treatment of pool sizes as parameters to be optimized in three scenarios may affect the flux estimates. The results are discussed in terms of benchmark values for canonical pathways and reactions, including starch and sucrose synthesis as well as the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylation and oxygenation reactions. In addition, we discuss pathways emerging from a divergent branch point for which pool sizes are required for flux estimation, irrespective of the computational approach used for the simulation of the observable labelling pattern. Therefore, our findings indicate the necessity for development of techniques for accurate pool size measurements to improve the quality of flux estimates from nonstationary flux estimates in intact plant cells in the absence of alternative flux measurements.

  5. Grundfoss: Chlorination of Swimming Pools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjorth, Poul G.; Hogan, John; Andreassen, Viggo

    1998-01-01

    Grundfos asked for a model, describing the problem of mixing chemicals, being dosed into water systems, to be developed. The application of the model should be dedicated to dosing aqueous solution of chlorine into swimming pools.......Grundfos asked for a model, describing the problem of mixing chemicals, being dosed into water systems, to be developed. The application of the model should be dedicated to dosing aqueous solution of chlorine into swimming pools....

  6. Livestock Grazing as a Driver of Vernal Pool Ecohydrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michaels, J.; McCarten, N. F.

    2017-12-01

    Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that host rare plant communities of high conservation priority. Plant community composition is largely driven by pool hydroperiod. A previous study found that vernal pools grazed by livestock had longer hydroperiods compared with pools excluded from grazing for 10 years, and suggests that livestock grazing can be used to protect plant diversity. It is important to assess whether observed differences are due to the grazing or due to water balance variables including upland discharge into or out of the pools since no a priori measurements were made of the hydrology prior to grazing. To address this question, in 2016 we compared 15 pools that have been grazed continuously and 15 pools that have been fenced off for over 40 years at a site in Sacramento County. We paired pools based on abiotic characteristics (size, shape, slope, soil type) to minimize natural variation. We sampled vegetation and water depth using Solinst level loggers. We found that plant diversity and average hydroperiod was significantly higher in the grazed pools. We are currently measuring groundwater connectivity and upland inputs in order to compare the relative strength of livestock grazing as a driver of hydroperiod to these other drivers.

  7. The Role of Nuclear Insurance Pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reitsma, S. M. S.

    2006-01-01

    Since fifty years insurers respond to the need of both governments and the electricity industry to provide financial protection to cover the perils presented by the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This paper aims at explaining what difficulties had to be solved in order to enable insurers to provide such protection, that as a solution to these difficulties Nuclear Insurance Pools were formed, how such pools operate and what security they provide. Thereby not only a number of universal principles underlying nuclear pool insurance will be explained, but also some differences in the characteristics of such insurance per group of countries. (author)

  8. Chin Shan analyses show advantages of whole pool multi-rack approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, K.P.; Soler, A.I.

    1991-01-01

    Nuclear fuel storage racks are essentially thin-walled, cellular structures of prismatic cross-section. Although the details of design vary from one supplier to another, certain key physical attributes are common to all designs. For example, all racks feature square cells of sufficient opening size and height to enable insertion and withdrawal of the fuel assembly. The array of cells is positioned in a vertical orientation and is supported off the pool slab surface by four or more support legs. The spent fuel pool is filled with the individual fuel racks. The plenum created by the support legs is essential for proper cooling of the fuel assemblies stored in the rack, which relies on natural convective cooling to extract the heat emitted by the spent fuel. However, it has the insalutary effect of making it kinematically less stable. Regulatory authorities require careful and comprehensive analysis of the response of the racks under the seismic motions postulated for the pool slab. Results from whole pool multi-rack (WPMR) analyses at the Chin Shan and Oyster Creek nuclear plants point up the potential inadequacies of single rack 3D analyses, and show just how important it is to carry out WPMR simulations, despite their abstruseness and high cost. (author)

  9. Swimming Pool Safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Spread the Word Shop AAP Find a Pediatrician Safety & Prevention Immunizations All Around At Home At Play ... Español Text Size Email Print Share Swimming Pool Safety Page Content ​What is the best way to ...

  10. Nuclear Insurance Pools: World-wide Practice and Prospective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reitsma, S. M. S.

    2000-01-01

    The following paper explains why Nuclear Insurance Pools were established, how they operate and what insurance protection they offer to the operations of nuclear installations. It will be shown that the clear interrelationship of the Pool-insurance operations, both on a national and an international level, has resulted in a transparency of each individual Pool-Member's exposure, which enables him to make the highest possible commitment to nuclear risks. Finally, some views will be given as regards the future prospective for the long proven method of pooling this particularly sensitive class of business. (author)

  11. Evaluation of epidemiological studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Breckow, J.

    1995-01-01

    The publication is intended for readers with a professional background in radiation protection who are not experts in the field of epidemiology. The potentials and the limits of epidemiology are shown and concepts and terminology of radioepidemilogic studies as well as epidemiology in general are explained, in order to provide the necessary basis for understanding or performing evaluations of epidemiologic studies. (orig./VHE) [de

  12. Epidemiological Paradox or Immigrant Vulnerability? Obesity Among Young Children of Immigrants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Elizabeth H.; Rendall, Michael S.; Weden, Margaret M.

    2015-01-01

    According to the “immigrant epidemiological paradox,” immigrants and their children enjoy health advantages over their U.S.-born peers—advantages that diminish with greater acculturation. We investigated child obesity as a potentially significant deviation from this paradox for second-generation immigrant children. We evaluated two alternate measures of mother's acculturation: age at arrival in the United States and English language proficiency. To obtain sufficient numbers of second-generation immigrant children, we pooled samples across two related, nationally representative surveys. Each included measured (not parent-reported) height and weight of kindergartners. We also estimated models that alternately included and excluded mother's pre-pregnancy weight status as a predictor. Our findings are opposite to those predicted by the immigrant epidemiological paradox: children of U.S.-born mothers were less likely to be obese than otherwise similar children of foreign-born mothers; and the children of the least-acculturated immigrant mothers, as measured by low English language proficiency, were the most likely to be obese. Foreign-born mothers had lower (healthier) pre-pregnancy weight than U.S.-born mothers, and this was protective against their second-generation children's obesity. This protection, however, was not sufficiently strong to outweigh factors associated or correlated with the mothers' linguistic isolation and marginal status as immigrants. PMID:26111970

  13. Estrogen receptor beta rs1271572 polymorphism and invasive ovarian carcinoma risk: pooled analysis within the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galina Lurie

    Full Text Available The association of ovarian carcinoma risk with the polymorphism rs1271572 in the estrogen receptor beta (ESR2 gene was examined in 4946 women with primary invasive ovarian carcinoma and 6582 controls in a pooled analysis of ten case-control studies within the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC. All participants were non-Hispanic white women. Odds ratios (ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs were estimated using unconditional logistic regression adjusted for site and age. Women with the TT genotype were at increased risk of ovarian carcinoma compared to carriers of the G allele (OR = 1.10; 95%; CI: 1.01-1.21; p = 0.04; the OR was 1.09 (CI: 0.99-1.20; p = 0.07 after excluding data from the center (Hawaii that nominated this SNP for OCAC genotyping A stronger association of rs1271572 TT versus GT/GG with risk was observed among women aged ≤50 years versus older women (OR = 1.35; CI: 1.12-1.62; p = 0.002; p for interaction = 0.02 that remained statistically significant after excluding Hawaii data (OR = 1.34; CI: 1.11-1.61; p = 0.009. No heterogeneity of the association was observed by study, menopausal status, gravidity, parity, use of contraceptive or menopausal hormones, tumor histological type, or stage at diagnosis. This pooled analysis suggests that rs1271572 might influence the risk of ovarian cancer, in particular among younger women.

  14. Simulation of Thermal Stratification in BWR Suppression Pools with One Dimensional Modeling Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haihua Zhao; Ling Zou; Hongbin Zhang

    2014-01-01

    The suppression pool in a boiling water reactor (BWR) plant not only is the major heat sink within the containment system, but also provides the major emergency cooling water for the reactor core. In several accident scenarios, such as a loss-of-coolant accident and extended station blackout, thermal stratification tends to form in the pool after the initial rapid venting stage. Accurately predicting the pool stratification phenomenon is important because it affects the peak containment pressure; the pool temperature distribution also affects the NPSHa (available net positive suction head) and therefore the performance of the Emergency Core Cooling System and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System pumps that draw cooling water back to the core. Current safety analysis codes use zero dimensional (0-D) lumped parameter models to calculate the energy and mass balance in the pool; therefore, they have large uncertainties in the prediction of scenarios in which stratification and mixing are important. While three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods can be used to analyze realistic 3-D configurations, these methods normally require very fine grid resolution to resolve thin substructures such as jets and wall boundaries, resulting in a long simulation time. For mixing in stably stratified large enclosures, the BMIX++ code (Berkeley mechanistic MIXing code in C++) has been developed to implement a highly efficient analysis method for stratification where the ambient fluid volume is represented by one-dimensional (1-D) transient partial differential equations and substructures (such as free or wall jets) are modeled with 1-D integral models. This allows very large reductions in computational effort compared to multi-dimensional CFD modeling. One heat-up experiment performed at the Finland POOLEX facility, which was designed to study phenomena relevant to Nordic design BWR suppression pool including thermal stratification and mixing, is used for

  15. Numerical analysis of weld pool for galvanized steel with lap joint in GTAW

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeong, Hunchul; Park, Kyungbae; Kim, Yougjun; Cho, Jungho [Chungbuk National University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Dong-Yoon; Kang, Moon-Jin [Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-06-15

    Galvanized steel is widely used and its demand is growing in automotive industry due to high quality requirement for corrosion resistance. Although there are a lot of demands on using galvanized steel as automotive parts especially for outer body, it has a grave flaw in its welding process. The difficulty is low weldability due to various defects such as porosities and blow holes in weldment, which occurred during welding. A solution to prevent these defects is using hybrid welding process, with two more welding processes. One of the hybrid solutions is using Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) as leading position in order to remove the zinc (Zn) coating on the surface before the followed practical fusion welding process. In this research, a numerical analysis model which can predict the eliminated Zn coated layers and the area of Fusion zone (FZ). Developed numerical analysis model was validated through comparing experiment to simulation. Basically, arc heat flux, arc pressure, electromagnetic force and Marangoni flow were employed as the boundary conditions and body force terms. Governing equations such as the continuity, momentum, Volume of fluid (VOF) and energy equations were adopted as usual. In addition to previous model, concentrated arc heat flux and contact thermal conductance models are newly suggested and showed successful result. They are adopted to realize edge concentrated arc and interfacial thermal conductance in lap joint fillet arc welding. Developed numerical analysis model successfully simulated the weld pool and temperature profile therefore the predicted Zn removed area considerably coincided with experimental result.

  16. Numerical analysis of weld pool for galvanized steel with lap joint in GTAW

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Hunchul; Park, Kyungbae; Kim, Yougjun; Cho, Jungho; Kim, Dong-Yoon; Kang, Moon-Jin

    2017-01-01

    Galvanized steel is widely used and its demand is growing in automotive industry due to high quality requirement for corrosion resistance. Although there are a lot of demands on using galvanized steel as automotive parts especially for outer body, it has a grave flaw in its welding process. The difficulty is low weldability due to various defects such as porosities and blow holes in weldment, which occurred during welding. A solution to prevent these defects is using hybrid welding process, with two more welding processes. One of the hybrid solutions is using Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) as leading position in order to remove the zinc (Zn) coating on the surface before the followed practical fusion welding process. In this research, a numerical analysis model which can predict the eliminated Zn coated layers and the area of Fusion zone (FZ). Developed numerical analysis model was validated through comparing experiment to simulation. Basically, arc heat flux, arc pressure, electromagnetic force and Marangoni flow were employed as the boundary conditions and body force terms. Governing equations such as the continuity, momentum, Volume of fluid (VOF) and energy equations were adopted as usual. In addition to previous model, concentrated arc heat flux and contact thermal conductance models are newly suggested and showed successful result. They are adopted to realize edge concentrated arc and interfacial thermal conductance in lap joint fillet arc welding. Developed numerical analysis model successfully simulated the weld pool and temperature profile therefore the predicted Zn removed area considerably coincided with experimental result.

  17. Mitigating the impact of swimming pools on domestic water demand

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    need to implement desalination schemes by ensuring water is used in in a 'fit for purpose' manner. This study therefore aims to better understand the impact that pools have on residential water demand through the analysis of metered water demand records and end-use modelling. The study site was the Liesbeek.

  18. 13 CFR 120.1708 - Pool Certificates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... United States. (c) SBA purchase of a Loan Interest. SBA will determine whether to purchase a Loan... reserves the right to purchase a Loan Interest from a Pool at any time. (d) Self-liquidating. A Pool... market conditions and program experience, and will publish any such change in the Federal Register. (h...

  19. Structural analysis of a reflux pool-boiler solar receiver

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoffman, E.L.; Stone, C.M.

    1991-06-01

    Coupled thermal-structural finite element calculations of a reflux pool-boiler solar receiver were performed to characterize the operating stresses and to address issues affecting the service life of the receiver. Analyses performed using shell elements provided information for receiver material selection and design optimization. Calculations based on linear elastic fracture mechanics principles were performed using continuum elements to assess the vulnerability of a seam-weld to fatigue crack growth. All calculations were performed using ABAQUS, a general purpose finite element code, and elements specifically formulated for coupled thermal-structural analysis. Two materials were evaluated: 316L SS and Haynes 230 alloys. The receiver response was simulated for a combination of structural and thermal loads that represent the startup and operating conditions of the receiver. For both materials, maximum stresses in the receiver developed shortly after startup due to uneven temperature distribution across the receiver surface. The largest effective stress was near yield in the 316L SS receiver and below 39 percent of yield in the Haynes 230 receiver. The calculations demonstrated that stress reductions of over 25 percent could be obtained by reducing the aft dome thickness to one closer to the absorber. The fatigue calculations demonstrated that the stress distribution near the seam-weld notch depends primarily on the structural load created by internal pressurization of the receiver rather than the thermal, indicating that the thermal loads can be neglected when assessing the stress intensity near the seam-weld notch. The stress intensity factor, computed using the J-integral method and crack opening-displacement field equations, was significantly below the fatigue threshold for most steels. The calculations indicated that the weld notch was always loaded in compression, a condition which is not conducive to fatigue crack growth. 15 refs., 30 figs., 3 tabs.

  20. Birth order and childhood type 1 diabetes risk: a pooled analysis of 31 observational studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardwell, Chris R; Stene, Lars C; Joner, Geir; Bulsara, Max K; Cinek, Ondrej; Rosenbauer, Joachim; Ludvigsson, Johnny; Svensson, Jannet; Goldacre, Michael J; Waldhoer, Thomas; Jarosz-Chobot, Przemyslawa; Gimeno, Suely Ga; Chuang, Lee-Ming; Roberts, Christine L; Parslow, Roger C; Wadsworth, Emma Jk; Chetwynd, Amanda; Brigis, Girts; Urbonaite, Brone; Sipetic, Sandra; Schober, Edith; Devoti, Gabriele; Ionescu-Tirgoviste, Constantin; de Beaufort, Carine E; Stoyanov, Denka; Buschard, Karsten; Radon, Katja; Glatthaar, Christopher; Patterson, Chris C

    2011-04-01

    The incidence rates of childhood onset type 1 diabetes are almost universally increasing across the globe but the aetiology of the disease remains largely unknown. We investigated whether birth order is associated with the risk of childhood diabetes by performing a pooled analysis of previous studies. Relevant studies published before January 2010 were identified from MEDLINE, Web of Science and EMBASE. Authors of studies provided individual patient data or conducted pre-specified analyses. Meta-analysis techniques were used to derive combined odds ratios (ORs), before and after adjustment for confounders, and investigate heterogeneity. Data were available for 6 cohort and 25 case-control studies, including 11,955 cases of type 1 diabetes. Overall, there was no evidence of an association prior to adjustment for confounders. After adjustment for maternal age at birth and other confounders, a reduction in the risk of diabetes in second- or later born children became apparent [fully adjusted OR = 0.90 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-0.98; P = 0.02] but this association varied markedly between studies (I² = 67%). An a priori subgroup analysis showed that the association was stronger and more consistent in children birth order, particularly in children aged < 5 years. This finding could reflect increased exposure to infections in early life in later born children.

  1. Simplified analysis of trasients in pool type liquid metal reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Botelho, D.A.

    1987-01-01

    The conceptual design of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor will require a great effort of development in several technical disciplines. One of them is the thermal-hydraulic design of the reactor and of the heat and fluid transport components inside the reactor vessel. A simplified model to calculate the maximum sodium temperatures is presented in this paper. This model can be used to optimize the layout of components inside the reactor vessel and was easily programmed in a small computer. Illustrative calculations of two transients of a typical hot pool type fast reactor are presented and compared with the results of other researchers. (author) [pt

  2. Tiotropium HandiHaler® and Respimat® in COPD: a pooled safety analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Halpin DMG

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available David MG Halpin,1 Ronald Dahl,2 Christoph Hallmann,3 Achim Mueller,3 Donald Tashkin4 1NHS SW, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, Devon, England, UK; 2Allergy Centre, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 3Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany; 4Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USAIntroduction: Tiotropium is prescribed for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD and delivered via HandiHaler® (18 µg once daily or Respimat® Soft Mist™ inhaler (5 µg once daily. The recent TIOtropium Safety and Performance In Respimat® (TIOSPIR™ study demonstrated that both exhibit similar safety profiles. This analysis provides an updated comprehensive safety evaluation of tiotropium® using data from placebo-controlled HandiHaler® and Respimat® trials.Methods: Pooled analysis of adverse event (AE data from tiotropium HandiHaler® 18 µg and Respimat® 5 µg randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, clinical trials in patients with COPD (treatment duration ≥4 weeks. Incidence rates, rate ratios (RRs, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs were determined for HandiHaler® and Respimat® trials, both together and separately.Results: In the 28 HandiHaler® and 7 Respimat® trials included in this analysis, 11,626 patients were treated with placebo and 12,929 with tiotropium, totaling 14,909 (12,469 with HandiHaler®; 2,440 with Respimat® patient-years of tiotropium exposure. Mean age was 65 years, and mean prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 was 1.16 L (41% predicted. The risk (RR [95% CI] of AEs (0.90 [0.87, 0.93] and of serious AEs (SAEs (0.94 [0.89, 0.99] was significantly lower in the tiotropium than in the placebo group (HandiHaler® and Respimat® pooled results, and there was a numerically lower risk of fatal AEs (FAEs (0.90 [0.79, 1.01]. The risk of cardiac AEs (0.93 [0.85, 1.02] was numerically

  3. ENERGY SAVING AT OPERATION OF OUTDOOR SWIMMING POOLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. F. Ivin

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Energy saving is a major problem in modern power engineering and various energy-consuming devices. They include outdoor swimming pools. In order to maintain them in working condition, especially in winter period, it takes significant amount of thermal energy. Task of heat loss substantial decrease in open swimming pools is considered in the article (on DNURT example. Methodology. The method of determining the mass and heat loss on the basis of criteria equations of heat and mass transfer theory is used. Findings. Calculations of the actual DNURT pool heat loss for different seasons, as for natural convection both for air forced motion above the free water surface are performed. It is shown that for the adiabatic evaporation conditions of water from the pool in winter during blow-off with wind the heat loss can be up to 2 kW/m2 on surface. To reduce these losses it is offered to cover water surface in a pool with a special material with low thermal conductivity on the basis of porous polyethylene during the time when the pool is not used for other purposes. It is shown that the implementation of these standards will reduce the actual heat loss, at least 5-6 times. Originality. The solution of important environmental and energy problem thanks to reducing heat losses by the pool in different times of a year and correspondingly lower emissions of power generating enterprises. Practical value. It is shown that the coating surface of the pool with poorly heat-conducting and easy to install coating will let, at a minimum, to reduce the actual heat loss on 5-6 times and reduce the emissions of power plants generating energy for pool heating.

  4. [Epidemiology of psoriasis in Germany--analysis of secondary health insurance data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schäfer, I; Rustenbach, S J; Radtke, M; Augustin, J; Glaeske, G; Augustin, M

    2011-05-01

    In Germany, population-based data on the epidemiology of psoriasis are still rare. This study aims to assess the prevalence of psoriasis in the total population as well as for subgroups relevant to health care. As further epidemiological parameters the severity and regional distribution of psoriasis were analysed. A secondary analysis of data collected routinely for the members of a nationwide statutory health insurance company was conducted. Prevalences were calculated for a closed cohort of continuously insured persons in 2005. Defined criteria for the existence of psoriasis were at least one diagnoses of psoriasis (ICD-10) relating to ambulatory or hospital treatment or disability. 33,981 of the 1,344,071 continuously insured persons in 2005 were diagnosed with psoriasis, thus the one-year-prevalence in this cohort was 2.53%. Up to the age of 80 years the prevalence rate was increasing with increasing age and highest for the age groups from 50 to 79 years (range: 3.99-4.18%). Insured persons up to 20 years had a prevalence of 0.73%. Regional differences showed up after stratification for broad categories (1 digit) of ZIP codes: Lowest prevalence rates were seen in the south (2.17%) and highest (2.78%) in the north and western regions of Germany. If the prevalence rate of 2.5% assessed in this study is applied to the total resident population, 2 million people are treated because of psoriasis in Germany. Routine data from health insurance companies are a relevant and suitable data source to assess the prevalence of chronic diseases (under medical treatment) in the population. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  5. CDC Study Finds Fecal Contamination in Pools

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Communication (404) 639-3286 CDC study finds fecal contamination in pools A study of public pools done ... The E. coli is a marker for fecal contamination. Finding a high percentage of E. coli-positive ...

  6. Pool scrubbing and hydrodynamic experiments on jet injection regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peyres, V.; Espigares, M.M.; Polo, J.; Escudero, M.J.; Herranz, L.E.; Lopez-Jimenez, J.

    1995-01-01

    Plant analyses have shown that pool scrubbing can play an important role in source term during PWR risk dominant sequences. An examination ofboundary conditions governing fission products and aerosols transport through aqueous beds revealed that most of radioactivity is discharged into the pool under jet injection regime. This fact and the lack of experimental data under such conditions pointed the need of setting out an experimental programme which provided reliable experimental data to validate code models. In this report the major results of a pool scrubbing experimental programme carried out in PECA facility are presented. One of the major findings was that a remarkable fraction of particle absorption was not a function of the residence time of bubbles rising through the pool. Such a contribution was assumed to be associated to aerosol removal mechanisms acting at the pool entrance. As a consequence, a hydrodynamic experimental plan was launched to examine the gas behaviour during the initial stages in the pool. Size and shape of gas nuclei the pool were measured and fitted to a long normal distribution. Particularly, size was found to be quite sensitive to inletgas flow and at minor extent to gas composition and pool temperature. SPARC90 and BUSCA-AUG92 were used to simulate the retention tests. Whereas SPARC90 showed a pretty good agreement with experimental data, BUSCA-AUG92 results were far away from measurements in all the cases. SPARC90consistency apparently pointed out the important role of fission products and aerosols retention at the injection zone; nonetheless, a peer examination of pool scrubbing phenomenology at the pool entrance should be carried out to test both hydrodynamic and removal models. Hence, one of the major highlights drawn from this work was the need of further research under representative severe accident conditions (i.e., saturated pools, jet injection regimes, etc.), as well as separate effect tests to validate, improve and

  7. Pool scrubbing and hydrodynamic experiment on jet injection regime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peyres, V.; Espigares, M.M.; Polo, J.; Escudero, M.J.; Herranz, L.E.; Lopez, J.

    1995-07-01

    Plant analyses nave shown that pool scrubbing can play an important role in source term during PWR risk dominant sequences. An examination of boundary conditions governing fission products and aerosols transport through aqueous beds revealed that most of radioactivity is discharged into the pool under jet injection regime. This fact and the lack of experimental data under such conditions pointed the need of setting out an experimental programme which provided reliable experimental data to validate code models. In this report the major results of a pool scrubbing experimental programme carried out in PECA facility are presented. One of the major findings was that a remarkable fraction of particle absorption was not a function of the residence time of bubbles rising through the pool. Such a contribution was assumed to be associated to aerosol removal mechanism acting at the pool entrance. As a consequence. a hydrodynamic experimental plan was launched to examine the gas behaviour during the initial stages in the pool. Size and shape of gas nuclei in the pool were measured and fitted to a lognormal distribution. Particularly, size was found to be quite sensitive to inlet gas flow and at minor extent to gas composition and pool temperature. SPARC90 and BUSCA-AUG92 were used to simulate the retention tests. Whereas SPARC90 showed a pretty good agreement with experimental data, BUSCA-AUG92 results were far away from measurements in all the cases. SPARC90 consistency apparently pointed out the important role of fission products and aerosols retention at the injection zone; nonetheless, a peer examination of pool scrubbing phenomenology at the pool entrance should be carried out to test both hydrodynamic and removal models. Hence, one of the major high lights drawn from this work was the need of further research under representative severe accident conditions (i.e., saturated pools, jet injection regimes, etc.), as well as separate effect tests to validate, improve and

  8. Pool scrubbing and hydrodynamic experiment on jet injection regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peyres, V.; Espigares, M.M.; Polo, J.; Escudero, M.J.; Herranz, L.E.; Lopez, J.

    1995-01-01

    Plant analyses nave shown that pool scrubbing can play an important role in source term during PWR risk dominant sequences. An examination of boundary conditions governing fission products and aerosols transport through aqueous beds revealed that most of radioactivity is discharged into the pool under jet injection regime. This fact and the lack of experimental data under such conditions pointed the need of setting out an experimental programme which provided reliable experimental data to validate code models. In this report the major results of a pool scrubbing experimental programme carried out in PECA facility are presented. One of the major findings was that a remarkable fraction of particle absorption was not a function of the residence time of bubbles rising through the pool. Such a contribution was assumed to be associated to aerosol removal mechanism acting at the pool entrance. As a consequence. a hydrodynamic experimental plan was launched to examine the gas behaviour during the initial stages in the pool. Size and shape of gas nuclei in the pool were measured and fitted to a lognormal distribution. Particularly, size was found to be quite sensitive to inlet gas flow and at minor extent to gas composition and pool temperature. SPARC90 and BUSCA-AUG92 were used to simulate the retention tests. Whereas SPARC90 showed a pretty good agreement with experimental data, BUSCA-AUG92 results were far away from measurements in all the cases. SPARC90 consistency apparently pointed out the important role of fission products and aerosols retention at the injection zone; nonetheless, a peer examination of pool scrubbing phenomenology at the pool entrance should be carried out to test both hydrodynamic and removal models. Hence, one of the major high lights drawn from this work was the need of further research under representative severe accident conditions (i.e., saturated pools, jet injection regimes, etc.), as well as separate effect tests to validate, improve and

  9. Standardization of clinical enzyme analysis using frozen human serum pools with values assigned by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine reference measurement procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Qing; Chen, Baorong; Zhang, Rui; Zuo, Chang

    Variation in clinical enzyme analysis, particularly across different measuring systems and laboratories, represents a critical but long-lasting problem in diagnosis. Calibrators with traceability and commutability are imminently needed to harmonize analysis in laboratory medicine. Fresh frozen human serum pools were assigned values for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) by six laboratories with established International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine reference measurement procedures. These serum pools were then used across 76 laboratories as a calibrator in the analysis of five enzymes. Bias and imprecision in the measurement of the five enzymes tested were significantly reduced by using the value-assigned serum in analytical systems with open and single-point calibration. The median (interquartile range) of the relative biases of ALT, AST, GGT, CK and LDH were 2.0% (0.6-3.4%), 0.8% (-0.8-2.3%), 1.0% (-0.5-2.0%), 0.2% (-0.3-1.0%) and 0.2% (-0.9-1.1%), respectively. Before calibration, the interlaboratory coefficients of variation (CVs) in the analysis of patient serum samples were 8.0-8.2%, 7.3-8.5%, 8.1-8.7%, 5.1-5.9% and 5.8-6.4% for ALT, AST, GGT, CK and LDH, respectively; after calibration, the CVs decreased to 2.7-3.3%, 3.0-3.6%, 1.6-2.1%, 1.8-1.9% and 3.3-3.5%, respectively. The results suggest that the use of fresh frozen serum pools significantly improved the comparability of test results in analytical systems with open and single-point calibration.

  10. p-STAT3 in luminal breast cancer: Integrated RNA-protein pooled analysis and results from the BIG 2-98 phase III trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonnenblick, Amir; Salgado, Roberto; Brohée, Sylvain; Zahavi, Tamar; Peretz, Tamar; Van den Eynden, Gert; Rouas, Ghizlane; Salmon, Asher; Francis, Prudence A; Di Leo, Angelo; Crown, John P A; Viale, Giuseppe; Daly, Laura; Javdan, Bahar; Fujisawa, Sho; De Azambuja, Evandro; Lieveke, Ameye; Piccart, Martine J; Bromberg, Jacqueline F; Sotiriou, Christos

    2018-02-01

    In the present study, in order to investigate the role of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer prognosis, we evaluated the phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) status and investigated its effect on the outcome in a pooled analysis and in a large prospective adjuvant trial. By using the TCGA repository, we developed gene signatures that reflected the level of p-STAT3. Using pooled analysis of the expression data from luminal breast cancer patients, we assessed the effects of the p-STAT3 expression signature on prognosis. We further validated the p-STAT3 prognostic effect using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence staining of p-STAT3 tissue microarrays from a large randomised prospective trial. Our analysis demonstrated that p-STAT3 expression was elevated in luminal A-type breast cancer (Kruskal-Wallis test, PBIG 2-98 randomised trial. With a median follow-up of 10.1 years, p-STAT3 was associated with a reduced risk of recurrence in ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer (Cox univariate HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.44-0.98; P=0.04). On the whole, our data indicate that p-STAT3 is associated with an improved outcome in ER-positive breast cancer.

  11. Exposure to pesticides as risk factor for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and hairy cell leukemia: pooled analysis of two Swedish case-control studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardell, Lennart; Eriksson, Mikael; Nordstrom, Marie

    2002-05-01

    Increased risk for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) following exposure to certain pesticides has previously been reported. To further elucidate the importance of phenoxyacetic acids and other pesticides in the etiology of NHL a pooled analysis was performed on two case-control studies, one on NHL and another on hairy cell leukemia (HCL), a rare subtype of NHL. The studies were population based with cases identified from cancer registry and controls from population registry. Data assessment was ascertained by questionnaires supplemented over the telephone by specially trained interviewers. The pooled analysis of NHL and HCL was based on 515 cases and 1141 controls. Increased risks in univariate analysis were found for subjects exposed to herbicides (OR 1.75, CI 95% 1.26-2.42), insecticides (OR 1.43, CI 95% 1.08-1.87), fungicides (OR 3.11, CI 95% 1.56-6.27) and impregnating agents (OR 1.48, CI 95% 1.11-1.96). Among herbicides, significant associations were found for glyphosate (OR 3.04, CI 95% 1.08-8.52) and 4-chloro-2-methyl phenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) (OR 2.62, CI 95% 1.40-4.88). For several categories of pesticides the highest risk was found for exposure during the latest decades before diagnosis. However, in multivariate analyses the only significantly increased risk was for a heterogeneous category of other herbicides than above.

  12. Stability analysis of NbTi-Ta-based high field conductor cooled by pool boiling below 4 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, W.Y.; Alcorn, J.S.; Hsu, Y.H.; Purcell, J.R.

    1980-09-01

    Stability analysis has been performed for cabled NbTi-Ta-based superconductors intended for the high field (12 T) toroidal field coils for a large scale tokamak device such as ETF. Ternary NbTi-Ta was selected as the superconductor because of its superior critical current density at high field as compared to the binary alloy NbTi. The operating temperature was chosen to be 2.5 K or below to optimize the performance of the superconductor. A cabled conductor was selected to minimize the pulsed field losses. The conductor is cooled by pool boiling in a subcooled (approx. 2.5 K, 0.25 atm) bath, or in a superfluid helium (He-II) bath (approx. 1.8 K, 0.02 atm). The analysis was based on numerically simulating the evolution of a normal zone in the conductor. Appropriate superconductor properties and heat transfer characteristics were utilized in the simulation

  13. Low dose epidemiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tirmarche, M.; Hubert, P.

    1992-01-01

    Actually, epidemiological studies have to establish if the assessment of cancer risk can be verified at low chronic radiation doses. The population surveillance must be very long, the side effects and cancers of such radiation appearing much later. In France, this epidemiological study on nuclear workers have been decided recently. Before describing the experiment and french projects in epidemiology of nuclear workers, the authors present the main english and american studies

  14. Turbulence model for melt pool natural convection heat transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kelkar, K.M.; Patankar, S.V.

    1994-01-01

    Under severe reactor accident scenarios, pools of molten core material may form in the reactor core or in the hemispherically shaped lower plenum of the reactor vessel. Such molten pools are internally heated due to the radioactive decay heat that gives rise to buoyant flows in the molten pool. The flow in such pools is strongly influenced by the turbulent mixing because the expected Rayleigh numbers under accidents scenarios are very high. The variation of the local heat flux over the boundaries of the molten pools are important in determining the subsequent melt progression behavior. This study reports results of an ongoing effort towards providing a well validated mathematical model for the prediction of buoyant flow and heat transfer in internally heated pool under conditions expected in severe accident scenarios

  15. Controls on Filling and Evacuation of Sediment in Waterfall Plunge Pools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheingross, J. S.; Lamb, M. P.

    2014-12-01

    Many waterfalls are characterized by the presence of deep plunge pools that experience periods of sediment fill and evacuation. These cycles of sediment fill are a first order control on the relative magnitude of lateral versus vertical erosion at the base of waterfalls, as vertical incision requires cover-free plunge pools to expose the bedrock floor, while lateral erosion can occur when pools are partially filled and plunge-pool walls are exposed. Currently, there exists no mechanistic model describing sediment transport through waterfall plunge pools, limiting our ability to predict waterfall retreat. To address this knowledge gap, we performed detailed laboratory experiments measuring plunge-pool sediment transport capacity (Qsc_pool) under varying waterfall and plunge-pool geometries, flow hydraulics, and sediment size. Our experimental plunge-pool sediment transport capacity measurements match well with a mechanistic model we developed which combines existing waterfall jet theory with a modified Rouse profile to predict sediment transport capacity as a function of water discharge and suspended sediment concentration at the plunge-pool lip. Comparing the transport capacity of plunge pools to lower gradient portions of rivers (Qsc_river) shows that, for transport limited conditions, plunge pools fill with sediment under modest water discharges when Qsc_river > Qsc_pool, and empty to bedrock under high discharges when Qsc_pool > Qsc_river. These results are consistent with field observations of sand-filled plunge pools with downstream boulder rims, implying filling and excavation of plunge pools over single-storm timescales. Thus, partial filling of waterfall plunge pools may provide a mechanism to promote lateral undercutting and retreat of waterfalls in homogeneous rock in which plunge-pool vertical incision occurs during brief large floods that expose bedrock, whereas lateral erosion may prevail during smaller events.

  16. Investigations of new cardiac functional imaging using Fourier analysis of gated blood-pool study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maeda, H.; Takeda, K.; Nakagawa, T.; Yamaguchi, N.; Taguchi, M.; Konishi, T.; Hamada, M.

    1982-01-01

    A new cardiac functional imaging, using temporal Fourier analysis of 28-frame gated cardiac blood-pool studies, was developed. A time-activity curve of each pixel was approximated by its Fourier series. Approximation by the sum for terms to the 3rd frequency of its Fourier series was considered to be most reasonable because of having the least aberration due to statistical fluctuation and close agreement between the global left ventricular curve and the regional fitted curves in normal subjects. To evaluate the ventricular systolic and diastolic performances, 9 parameters were analyzed from thus fitted curves on a pixel-by-pixel basis and displayed on a colour CRT in 64x64 matrix form. In patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and other cardiac lesions, detailed information on the regional ventricular systolic and diastolic performances was clearly visualized by this method, which was difficult to obtain from the usual functional images of phase and amplitude at the fundamental frequency alone

  17. System seismic analysis of an innovative primary system for a large pool type LMFBR plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan, Y.C.; Wu, T.S.; Cha, B.K.; Burelbach, J.; Seidensticker, R.

    1984-01-01

    The system seismic analysis of an innovative primary system for a large pool type liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) plant is presented. In this primary system, the reactor core is supported in a way which differs significantly from that used in previous designs. The analytical model developed for this study is a three-dimensional finite element model including one-half of the primary system cut along the plane of symmetry. The model includes the deck and deck mounted components,the reactor vessel, the core support structure, the core barrel, the radial neutron shield, the redan, and the conical support skirt. The sodium contained in the primary system is treated as a lumped mass appropriately distributed among various components. The significant seismic behavior as well as the advantages of this primary system design are discussed in detail

  18. Deoxyribonucleotide pool analysis: functional association of thymidylate synthase with the other enzymes of DNA biosynthesis in mammalian cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reddy, G.P.V.; Christiansen, E.

    1986-01-01

    Allosteric interaction between thymidylate synthase (TS) and the other enzymes of DNA biosynthesis was suggested from the authors observation that inhibitors of ribonucleotide reductase, topoisomerase of DNA polymerase-α inhibit TS in intact S phase CHEF/18 cells, but not in their soluble extracts. In addition the authors observed that 4'-(9-acridinylamino)-methanesulfon-m-anisidide (m-AMSA), a poison of topoisomerase II, had similar effects on TS activity in mammalian cells. They have examined if the inhibitory effects of these antimetabolites on TS is due to the accumulation of thymidine nucleotide(s) in intact cells, rather than to an allosteric interaction in the replitase complex. A novel method of nucleotide pool analysis revealed that in the presence of these antimetabolites the incorporation of radioactivity from 3 H-deoxyuridine (dUrd) into thymidine nucleotide pools inside the cell did not increase as compared to the control. Furthermore, TS activity as measured in-vitro was not inhibited by supraphysiological concentrations (50μM) of thymidine mono- or tri-phosphates. None of these antimetabolites dramatically influenced the uptake of dUrd and its subsequent phosphorylation to deoxyuridine monophosphate. Therefore, they suggest that the inhibitory effect of these antimetabolites is due to the functional association of their target enzymes with TS

  19. Red meat intake, NAT2, and risk of colorectal cancer: A pooled analysis of 11 studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ananthakrishnan, Ashwin N.; Du, Mengmeng; Berndt, Sonja I.; Brenner, Hermann; Caan, Bette J.; Casey, Graham; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Duggan, David; Fuchs, Charles S.; Gallinger, Steven; Giovannucci, Edward L.; Harrison, Tabitha A.; Hayes, Richard B.; Hoffmeister, Michael; Hopper, John L.; Hou, Lifang; Hsu, Li; Jenkins, Mark A.; Kraft, Peter; Ma, Jing; Nan, Hongmei; Newcomb, Polly A.; Ogino, Shuji; Potter, John D.; Seminara, Daniela; Slattery, Martha L.; Thornquist, Mark; White, Emily; Wu, Kana; Peters, Ulrike; Chan, Andrew T.

    2014-01-01

    Background Red meat intake has been associated with risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), potentially mediated through heterocyclic amines. The metabolic efficiency of N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) required for the metabolic activation of such amines is influenced by genetic variation. The interaction between red meat intake, NAT2 genotype, and CRC has been inconsistently reported. Methods We used pooled individual-level data from the Colon Cancer Family Registry (CCFR) and the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO). Red meat intake was collected by each study. We inferred NAT2 phenotype based on polymorphism at rs1495741, highly predictive of enzyme activity. Interaction was assessed using multiplicative interaction terms in multivariate-adjusted models. Results From 11 studies, 8,290 CRC cases and 9,115 controls were included. The highest quartile of red meat intake was associated with increased risk of CRC compared to the lowest quartile (OR 1.41, 95%CI 1.29 – 1.55). However, a significant association was observed only for studies with retrospective diet data, not for studies with diet prospectively assessed before cancer diagnosis. Combining all studies, high red meat intake was similarly associated with CRC in those with a rapid/intermediate NAT2 genotype (OR 1.38, 95%CI 1.20 – 1.59) as with a slow genotype (OR 1.43, 95%CI 1.28 – 1.61) (p- interaction=0.9). Conclusion We found that high red meat intake was associated with increased risk of CRC only from retrospective case-control studies and not modified by NAT2 enzyme activity. Impact Our results suggest no interaction between NAT2 genotype and red-meat intake in mediating risk of CRC. PMID:25342387

  20. Sensitisation to common allergens and respiratory symptoms in endotoxin exposed workers: a pooled analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Basinas, I.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/313908206; Schlünssen, V.; Heederik, D.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072910542; Sigsgaard, T.; Smit, L.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/311470882; Samadi, S.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304838551; Omland, O.; Hjort, C.; Madsen, A.M.; Skov, S.; Wouters, I.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/274156652

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To test the hypotheses that current endotoxin exposure is inversely associated with allergic sensitisation and positively associated with non-allergic respiratory diseases in four occupationally exposed populations using a standardised analytical approach. METHODS: Data were pooled from