The effect of personalized versus standard patient protocols for radiostereometric analysis (RSA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Muharemovic, O; Troelsen, A; Thomsen, M G

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Increasing pressure in the clinic requires a more standardized approach to radiostereometric analysis (RSA) imaging. The aim of this study was to investigate whether implementation of personalized RSA patient protocols could increase image quality and decrease examination time...... imaging. Radiographers in the control group used a standard RSA protocol. RESULTS: At three months, radiographers in the case group significantly reduced (p .... No significant improvements were found in the control group at any time point. CONCLUSION: There is strong evidence that personalized RSA patient protocols have a positive effect on image quality and radiation dose savings. Implementation of personal patient protocols as a RSA standard will contribute...

The Virtual Insect Brain protocol: creating and comparing standardized neuroanatomy

Science.gov (United States)

Jenett, Arnim; Schindelin, Johannes E; Heisenberg, Martin

2006-01-01

Background In the fly Drosophila melanogaster, new genetic, physiological, molecular and behavioral techniques for the functional analysis of the brain are rapidly accumulating. These diverse investigations on the function of the insect brain use gene expression patterns that can be visualized and provide the means for manipulating groups of neurons as a common ground. To take advantage of these patterns one needs to know their typical anatomy. Results This paper describes the Virtual Insect Brain (VIB) protocol, a script suite for the quantitative assessment, comparison, and presentation of neuroanatomical data. It is based on the 3D-reconstruction and visualization software Amira, version 3.x (Mercury Inc.) [1]. Besides its backbone, a standardization procedure which aligns individual 3D images (series of virtual sections obtained by confocal microscopy) to a common coordinate system and computes average intensities for each voxel (volume pixel) the VIB protocol provides an elaborate data management system for data administration. The VIB protocol facilitates direct comparison of gene expression patterns and describes their interindividual variability. It provides volumetry of brain regions and helps to characterize the phenotypes of brain structure mutants. Using the VIB protocol does not require any programming skills since all operations are carried out at an intuitively usable graphical user interface. Although the VIB protocol has been developed for the standardization of Drosophila neuroanatomy, the program structure can be used for the standardization of other 3D structures as well. Conclusion Standardizing brains and gene expression patterns is a new approach to biological shape and its variability. The VIB protocol provides a first set of tools supporting this endeavor in Drosophila. The script suite is freely available at [2] PMID:17196102

Protocol Interoperability Between DDN and ISO (Defense Data Network and International Organization for Standardization) Protocols

Science.gov (United States)

1988-08-01

services and protocols above the transport layer are usually implemented as user- callable utilities on the host computers, it is desirable to offer them...Networks, Prentice-hall, New Jersey, 1987 [ BOND 87] Bond , John, "Parallel-Processing Concepts Finally Come together in Real Systems", Computer Design

The Virtual Insect Brain protocol: creating and comparing standardized neuroanatomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schindelin Johannes E

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the fly Drosophila melanogaster, new genetic, physiological, molecular and behavioral techniques for the functional analysis of the brain are rapidly accumulating. These diverse investigations on the function of the insect brain use gene expression patterns that can be visualized and provide the means for manipulating groups of neurons as a common ground. To take advantage of these patterns one needs to know their typical anatomy. Results This paper describes the Virtual Insect Brain (VIB protocol, a script suite for the quantitative assessment, comparison, and presentation of neuroanatomical data. It is based on the 3D-reconstruction and visualization software Amira, version 3.x (Mercury Inc. 1. Besides its backbone, a standardization procedure which aligns individual 3D images (series of virtual sections obtained by confocal microscopy to a common coordinate system and computes average intensities for each voxel (volume pixel the VIB protocol provides an elaborate data management system for data administration. The VIB protocol facilitates direct comparison of gene expression patterns and describes their interindividual variability. It provides volumetry of brain regions and helps to characterize the phenotypes of brain structure mutants. Using the VIB protocol does not require any programming skills since all operations are carried out at an intuitively usable graphical user interface. Although the VIB protocol has been developed for the standardization of Drosophila neuroanatomy, the program structure can be used for the standardization of other 3D structures as well. Conclusion Standardizing brains and gene expression patterns is a new approach to biological shape and its variability. The VIB protocol provides a first set of tools supporting this endeavor in Drosophila. The script suite is freely available at http://www.neurofly.de2

Comparison of test protocols for standard room/corner tests

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R. H. White; M. A. Dietenberger; H. Tran; O. Grexa; L. Richardson; K. Sumathipala; M. Janssens

1998-01-01

As part of international efforts to evaluate alternative reaction-to-fire tests, several series of room/comer tests have been conducted. This paper reviews the overall results of related projects in which different test protocols for standard room/corner tests were used. Differences in the test protocols involved two options for the ignition burner scenario and whether...

The effect of personalized versus standard patient protocols for radiostereometric analysis (RSA).

Science.gov (United States)

Muharemovic, O; Troelsen, A; Thomsen, M G; Kallemose, T; Gosvig, K K

2018-05-01

Increasing pressure in the clinic requires a more standardized approach to radiostereometric analysis (RSA) imaging. The aim of this study was to investigate whether implementation of personalized RSA patient protocols could increase image quality and decrease examination time and the number of exposure repetitions. Forty patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty were equally randomized to either a case or a control group. Radiographers in the case group were assisted by personalized patient protocols containing information about each patient's post-operative RSA imaging. Radiographers in the control group used a standard RSA protocol. At three months, radiographers in the case group significantly reduced (p RSA patient protocols have a positive effect on image quality and radiation dose savings. Implementation of personal patient protocols as a RSA standard will contribute to the reduction of examination time, thus ensuring a cost benefit for department and patient safety. Copyright © 2017 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Protocol Standards for Reporting Video Data in Academic Journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Pamela A; Ignacio, Romeo C; de Moya, Marc A

2016-04-01

Editors of biomedical journals have estimated that a majority (40%-90%) of studies published in scientific journals cannot be replicated, even though an inherent principle of publication is that others should be able to replicate and build on published claims. Each journal sets its own protocols for establishing "quality" in articles, yet over the past 50 years, few journals in any field--especially medical education--have specified protocols for reporting the use of video data in research. The authors found that technical and industry-driven aspects of video recording, as well as a lack of standardization and reporting requirements by research journals, have led to major limitations in the ability to assess or reproduce video data used in research. Specific variables in the videotaping process (e.g., camera angle), which can be changed or be modified, affect the quality of recorded data, leading to major reporting errors and, in turn, unreliable conclusions. As more data are now in the form of digital videos, the historical lack of reporting standards makes it increasingly difficult to accurately replicate medical educational studies. Reproducibility is especially important as the medical education community considers setting national high-stakes standards in medicine and surgery based on video data. The authors of this Perspective provide basic protocol standards for investigators and journals using video data in research publications so as to allow for reproducibility.

OPTIMISATION OF BUFFER SIZE FOR ENHANCING QOS OF VIDEO TRAFFIC USING CROSS LAYERED HYBRID TRANSPORT LAYER PROTOCOL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Matilda

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Video streaming is gaining importance, with the wide popularity of multimedia rich applications in the Internet. Video streams are delay sensitive and require seamless flow for continuous visualization. Properly designed buffers offer a solution to queuing delay. The diagonally opposite QoS metrics associated with video traffic poses an optimization problem, in the design of buffers. This paper is a continuation of our previous work [1] and deals with the design of buffers. It aims at finding the optimum buffer size for enhancing QoS offered to video traffic. Network-centric QoS provisioning approach, along with hybrid transport layer protocol approach is adopted, to arrive at an optimum size which is independent of RTT. In this combinational approach, buffers of routers and end devices are designed to satisfy the various QoS parameters at the transport layer. OPNET Modeler is used to simulate environments for testing the design. Based on the results of simulation it is evident that the hybrid transport layer protocol approach is best suited for transmitting video traffic as it supports the economical design.

Standardized CT protocols and nomenclature: better, but not yet there

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Sarabjeet; Kalra, Mannudeep K. [Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)

2014-10-15

Radiation dose associated with CT is an important safety concern in patient care, especially in children. Technical advancements in multidetector-row CT scanner technology offer several advantages for clinical applications; these advancements have considerably increased CT utilization and enhanced the complexity of CT scanning protocols. Furthermore there are several scan manufacturers spearheading these technical advancements, leading to different commercial names causing confusion among the users, especially at imaging sites with scanners from different vendors. Several scientific studies and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) have shown variation in CT radiation doses for same body region and similar scanning protocols. Therefore there is a need for standardization of scanning protocols and nomenclature of scan parameters. The following material reviews the status and challenges in standardization of CT scanning and nomenclature. (orig.)

A Novel Process Audit for Standardized Perioperative Handoff Protocols.

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Pallekonda, Vinay; Scholl, Adam T; McKelvey, George M; Amhaz, Hassan; Essa, Deanna; Narreddy, Spurthy; Tan, Jens; Templonuevo, Mark; Ramirez, Sasha; Petrovic, Michelle A

2017-11-01

A perioperative handoff protocol provides a standardized delivery of communication during a handoff that occurs from the operating room to the postanestheisa care unit or ICU. The protocol's success is dependent, in part, on its continued proper use over time. A novel process audit was developed to help ensure that a perioperative handoff protocol is used accurately and appropriately over time. The Audit Observation Form is used for the Audit Phase of the process audit, while the Audit Averages Form is used for the Data Analysis Phase. Employing minimal resources and using quantitative methods, the process audit provides the necessary means to evaluate the proper execution of any perioperative handoff protocol. Copyright © 2017 The Joint Commission. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SPIRIT 2013 Statement: defining standard protocol items for clinical trials.

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Chan, An-Wen; Tetzlaff, Jennifer M; Altman, Douglas G; Laupacis, Andreas; Gøtzsche, Peter C; Krle A-Jerić, Karmela; Hrobjartsson, Asbjørn; Mann, Howard; Dickersin, Kay; Berlin, Jesse A; Dore, Caroline J; Parulekar, Wendy R; Summerskill, William S M; Groves, Trish; Schulz, Kenneth F; Sox, Harold C; Rockhold, Frank W; Rennie, Drummond; Moher, David

2015-12-01

The protocol of a clinical trial serves as the foundation for study planning, conduct, reporting, and appraisal. However, trial protocols and existing protocol guidelines vary greatly in content and quality. This article describes the systematic development and scope of SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) 2013, a guideline for the minimum content of a clinical trial protocol. The 33-item SPIRIT checklist applies to protocols for all clinical trials and focuses on content rather than format. The checklist recommends a full description of what is planned; it does not prescribe how to design or conduct a trial. By providing guidance for key content, the SPIRIT recommendations aim to facilitate the drafting of high-quality protocols. Adherence to SPIRIT would also enhance the transparency and completeness of trial protocols for the benefit of investigators, trial participants, patients, sponsors, funders, research ethics committees or institutional review boards, peer reviewers, journals, trial registries, policymakers, regulators, and other key stakeholders.

A Standard Mutual Authentication Protocol for Cloud Computing Based Health Care System.

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Mohit, Prerna; Amin, Ruhul; Karati, Arijit; Biswas, G P; Khan, Muhammad Khurram

2017-04-01

Telecare Medical Information System (TMIS) supports a standard platform to the patient for getting necessary medical treatment from the doctor(s) via Internet communication. Security protection is important for medical records (data) of the patients because of very sensitive information. Besides, patient anonymity is another most important property, which must be protected. Most recently, Chiou et al. suggested an authentication protocol for TMIS by utilizing the concept of cloud environment. They claimed that their protocol is patient anonymous and well security protected. We reviewed their protocol and found that it is completely insecure against patient anonymity. Further, the same protocol is not protected against mobile device stolen attack. In order to improve security level and complexity, we design a light weight authentication protocol for the same environment. Our security analysis ensures resilience of all possible security attacks. The performance of our protocol is relatively standard in comparison with the related previous research.

Security analysis of standards-driven communication protocols for healthcare scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Masi, Massimiliano; Pugliese, Rosario; Tiezzi, Francesco

2012-12-01

The importance of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), that stores all healthcare-related data belonging to a patient, has been recognised in recent years by governments, institutions and industry. Initiatives like the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) have been developed for the definition of standard methodologies for secure and interoperable EHR exchanges among clinics and hospitals. Using the requisites specified by these initiatives, many large scale projects have been set up for enabling healthcare professionals to handle patients' EHRs. The success of applications developed in these contexts crucially depends on ensuring such security properties as confidentiality, authentication, and authorization. In this paper, we first propose a communication protocol, based on the IHE specifications, for authenticating healthcare professionals and assuring patients' safety. By means of a formal analysis carried out by using the specification language COWS and the model checker CMC, we reveal a security flaw in the protocol thus demonstrating that to simply adopt the international standards does not guarantee the absence of such type of flaws. We then propose how to emend the IHE specifications and modify the protocol accordingly. Finally, we show how to tailor our protocol for application to more critical scenarios with no assumptions on the communication channels. To demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of our protocols we have fully implemented them.

Development of a standard communication protocol for an emergency situation management in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Man Cheol, E-mail: charleskim@kaeri.re.k [Integrated Risk Assessment Center, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 150, Deokjin-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-353 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea [Integrated Risk Assessment Center, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 150, Deokjin-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-353 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hanjeom; Kim, Yoon Joong [YGN Nuclear Power Division Training Center, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company, 517 Kyemari, Hongnong-eup, Yeongkwang-gun, Chonnam 513-880 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-06-15

Correct communication between main control room (MCR) operators is an important factor in the management of emergency situations in nuclear power plants (NPPs). For this reason, a standard communication protocol for the management of emergency situations in NPPs has been developed, with the basic direction of enhancing the safety of NPPs and the standardization of communication protocols. To validate the newly developed standard communication protocol, validation experiments with 10 licensed NPP MCR operator teams was performed. From the validation experiments, it was found that the use of the standard communication protocol required more time, but it can contribute to the enhancement of the safety of NPPs by an operators' better grasp of the safety-related parameters and a more efficient and clearer communication between NPP operators, while imposing little additional workloads on the NPP MCR operators. The standard communication protocol is expected to be used to train existing NPP MCR operators without much aversion, as well as new operators.

A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models

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Grimm, Volker; Berger, Uta; Bastiansen, Finn; Eliassen, Sigrunn; Ginot, Vincent; Giske, Jarl; Goss-Custard, John; Grand, Tamara; Heinz, Simone K.; Huse, Geir; Huth, Andreas; Jepsen, Jane U.; Jorgensen, Christian; Mooij, Wolf M.; Muller, Birgit; Pe'er, Guy; Piou, Cyril; Railsback, Steven F.; Robbins, Andrew M.; Robbins, Martha M.; Rossmanith, Eva; Ruger, Nadja; Strand, Espen; Souissi, Sami; Stillman, Richard A.; Vabo, Rune; Visser, Ute; DeAngelis, Donald L.

2006-01-01

Simulation models that describe autonomous individual organisms (individual based models, IBM) or agents (agent-based models, ABM) have become a widely used tool, not only in ecology, but also in many other disciplines dealing with complex systems made up of autonomous entities. However, there is no standard protocol for describing such simulation models, which can make them difficult to understand and to duplicate. This paper presents a proposed standard protocol, ODD, for describing IBMs and ABMs, developed and tested by 28 modellers who cover a wide range of fields within ecology. This protocol consists of three blocks (Overview, Design concepts, and Details), which are subdivided into seven elements: Purpose, State variables and scales, Process overview and scheduling, Design concepts, Initialization, Input, and Submodels. We explain which aspects of a model should be described in each element, and we present an example to illustrate the protocol in use. In addition, 19 examples are available in an Online Appendix. We consider ODD as a first step for establishing a more detailed common format of the description of IBMs and ABMs. Once initiated, the protocol will hopefully evolve as it becomes used by a sufficiently large proportion of modellers.

A Mac Protocol Implementation for Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamila Bhar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available IEEE 802.15.4 is an important standard for Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LRWPAN. The IEEE 802.15.4 presents a flexible MAC protocol that provides good efficiency for data transmission by adapting its parameters according to characteristics of different applications. In this research work, some restrictions of this standard are explained and an improvement of traffic efficiency by optimizing MAC layer is proposed. Implementation details for several blocks of communication system are carefully modeled. The protocol implementation is done using VHDL language. The analysis gives a full understanding of the behavior of the MAC protocol with regard to backoff delay, data loss probability, congestion probability, slot effectiveness, and traffic distribution for terminals. Two ideas are proposed and tested to improve efficiency of CSMA/CA mechanism for IEEE 802.15.4 MAC Layer. Primarily, we dynamically adjust the backoff exponent (BE according to queue level of each node. Secondly, we vary the number of consecutive clear channel assessment (CCA for packet transmission. We demonstrate also that slot compensation provided by the enhanced MAC protocol can greatly avoid unused slots. The results show the significant improvements expected by our approach among the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC standards. Synthesis results show also hardware performances of our proposed architecture.

An approach to standardization of urine sediment analysis via suggestion of a common manual protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Dae-Hyun; Ji, Misuk; Kim, Sollip; Cho, Eun-Jung; Lee, Woochang; Yun, Yeo-Min; Chun, Sail; Min, Won-Ki

2016-01-01

The results of urine sediment analysis have been reported semiquantitatively. However, as recent guidelines recommend quantitative reporting of urine sediment, and with the development of automated urine sediment analyzers, there is an increasing need for quantitative analysis of urine sediment. Here, we developed a protocol for urine sediment analysis and quantified the results. Based on questionnaires, various reports, guidelines, and experimental results, we developed a protocol for urine sediment analysis. The results of this new protocol were compared with those obtained with a standardized chamber and an automated sediment analyzer. Reference intervals were also estimated using new protocol. We developed a protocol with centrifugation at 400 g for 5 min, with the average concentration factor of 30. The correlation between quantitative results of urine sediment analysis, the standardized chamber, and the automated sediment analyzer were generally good. The conversion factor derived from the new protocol showed a better fit with the results of manual count than the default conversion factor in the automated sediment analyzer. We developed a protocol for manual urine sediment analysis to quantitatively report the results. This protocol may provide a mean for standardization of urine sediment analysis.

Normalization of cortical thickness measurements across different T1 magnetic resonance imaging protocols by novel W-Score standardization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Jinyong; Yoo, Kwangsun; Lee, Peter; Kim, Chan Mi; Roh, Jee Hoon; Park, Ji Eun; Kim, Sang Joon; Seo, Sang Won; Shin, Jeong-Hyeon; Seong, Joon-Kyung; Jeong, Yong

2017-10-01

The use of different 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance (T1 MR) imaging protocols induces image incompatibility across multicenter studies, negating the many advantages of multicenter studies. A few methods have been developed to address this problem, but significant image incompatibility still remains. Thus, we developed a novel and convenient method to improve image compatibility. W-score standardization creates quality reference values by using a healthy group to obtain normalized disease values. We developed a protocol-specific w-score standardization to control the protocol effect, which is applied to each protocol separately. We used three data sets. In dataset 1, brain T1 MR images of normal controls (NC) and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from two centers, acquired with different T1 MR protocols, were used (Protocol 1 and 2, n = 45/group). In dataset 2, data from six subjects, who underwent MRI with two different protocols (Protocol 1 and 2), were used with different repetition times, echo times, and slice thicknesses. In dataset 3, T1 MR images from a large number of healthy normal controls (Protocol 1: n = 148, Protocol 2: n = 343) were collected for w-score standardization. The protocol effect and disease effect on subjects' cortical thickness were analyzed before and after the application of protocol-specific w-score standardization. As expected, different protocols resulted in differing cortical thickness measurements in both NC and AD subjects. Different measurements were obtained for the same subject when imaged with different protocols. Multivariate pattern difference between measurements was observed between the protocols. Classification accuracy between two protocols was nearly 90%. After applying protocol-specific w-score standardization, the differences between the protocols substantially decreased. Most importantly, protocol-specific w-score standardization reduced both univariate and multivariate differences in the images while

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

Science.gov (United States)

Benbenek, Daniel; Soloff, Jason; Lieb, Erica

2010-01-01

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

From Expert Protocols to Standardized Management of Infectious Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Lagier, Jean-Christophe; Aubry, Camille; Delord, Marion; Michelet, Pierre; Tissot-Dupont, Hervé; Million, Matthieu; Brouqui, Philippe; Raoult, Didier; Parola, Philippe

2017-08-15

We report here 4 examples of management of infectious diseases (IDs) at the University Hospital Institute Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, France, to illustrate the value of expert protocols feeding standardized management of IDs. First, we describe our experience on Q fever and Tropheryma whipplei infection management based on in vitro data and clinical outcome. Second, we describe our management-based approach for the treatment of infective endocarditis, leading to a strong reduction of mortality rate. Third, we report our use of fecal microbiota transplantation to face severe Clostridium difficile infections and to perform decolonization of patients colonized by emerging highly resistant bacteria. Finally, we present the standardized management of the main acute infections in patients admitted in the emergency department, promoting antibiotics by oral route, checking compliance with the protocol, and avoiding the unnecessary use of intravenous and urinary tract catheters. Overall, the standardization of the management is the keystone to reduce both mortality and morbidity related to IDs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Standardization of a Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Protocol to Investigate Dysphagia in Dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, R A; Grobman, M E; Allen, M J; Schachtel, J; Rawson, N E; Bennett, B; Ledyayev, J; Hopewell, B; Coates, J R; Reinero, C R; Lever, T E

2017-03-01

Videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) is the gold standard for diagnosis of dysphagia in veterinary medicine but lacks standardized protocols that emulate physiologic feeding practices. Age impacts swallow function in humans but has not been evaluated by VFSS in dogs. To develop a protocol with custom kennels designed to allow free-feeding of 3 optimized formulations of contrast media and diets that address limitations of current VFSS protocols. We hypothesized that dogs evaluated by a free-feeding VFSS protocol would show differences in objective swallow metrics based on age. Healthy juvenile, adult, and geriatric dogs (n = 24). Prospective, experimental study. Custom kennels were developed to maintain natural feeding behaviors during VFSS. Three food consistencies (thin liquid, pureed food, and dry kibble) were formulated with either iohexol or barium to maximize palatability and voluntary prehension. Dogs were evaluated by 16 swallow metrics and compared across age groups. Development of a standardized VFSS protocol resulted in successful collection of swallow data in healthy dogs. No significant differences in swallow metrics were observed among age groups. Substantial variability was observed in healthy dogs when evaluated under these physiologic conditions. Features typically attributed to pathologic states, such as gastric reflux, were seen in healthy dogs. Development of a VFSS protocol that reflects natural feeding practices may allow emulation of physiology resulting in clinical signs of dysphagia. Age did not result in significant changes in swallow metrics, but additional studies are needed, particularly in light of substantial normal variation. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Inter-laboratory variation in DNA damage using a standard comet assay protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Lykke; Ersson, Clara; Loft, Steffen

2012-01-01

determined the baseline level of DNA strand breaks (SBs)/alkaline labile sites and formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (FPG)-sensitive sites in coded samples of mononuclear blood cells (MNBCs) from healthy volunteers. There were technical problems in seven laboratories in adopting the standard protocol...... analysed by the standard protocol. The SBs and FPG-sensitive sites were measured in the same experiment, indicating that the large spread in the latter lesions was the main reason for the reduced inter-laboratory variation. However, it remains worrying that half of the participating laboratories obtained...

Protocol for Communication Networking for Formation Flying

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Esther; Okino, Clayton; Gao, Jay; Clare, Loren

2009-01-01

An application-layer protocol and a network architecture have been proposed for data communications among multiple autonomous spacecraft that are required to fly in a precise formation in order to perform scientific observations. The protocol could also be applied to other autonomous vehicles operating in formation, including robotic aircraft, robotic land vehicles, and robotic underwater vehicles. A group of spacecraft or other vehicles to which the protocol applies could be characterized as a precision-formation- flying (PFF) network, and each vehicle could be characterized as a node in the PFF network. In order to support precise formation flying, it would be necessary to establish a corresponding communication network, through which the vehicles could exchange position and orientation data and formation-control commands. The communication network must enable communication during early phases of a mission, when little positional knowledge is available. Particularly during early mission phases, the distances among vehicles may be so large that communication could be achieved only by relaying across multiple links. The large distances and need for omnidirectional coverage would limit communication links to operation at low bandwidth during these mission phases. Once the vehicles were in formation and distances were shorter, the communication network would be required to provide high-bandwidth, low-jitter service to support tight formation-control loops. The proposed protocol and architecture, intended to satisfy the aforementioned and other requirements, are based on a standard layered-reference-model concept. The proposed application protocol would be used in conjunction with conventional network, data-link, and physical-layer protocols. The proposed protocol includes the ubiquitous Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol to be used in the datalink layer. In addition to its widespread and proven use in

A Standardized Protocol for the Prospective Follow-Up of Cleft Lip and Palate Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Salimi, Negar; Jolanta, Aleksejūnienė; Edwin, Yen; Angelina, Loo

2018-01-01

To develop a standardized all-encompassing protocol for the assessment of cleft lip and palate patients with clinical and research implications. Electronic database searches were conducted and 13 major cleft centers worldwide were contacted in order to prepare for the development of the protocol. In preparation, the available evidence was reviewed and potential fistula-related risk determinants from 4 different domains were identified. No standardized protocol for the assessment of cleft patients could be found in any of the electronic database searches that were conducted. Interviews with representatives from several major centers revealed that the majority of centers do not have a standardized comprehensive strategy for the reporting and follow-up of cleft lip and palate patients. The protocol was developed and consisted of the following domains of determinants: (1) the sociodemographic domain, (2) the cleft defect domain, (3) the surgery domain, and (4) the fistula domain. The proposed protocol has the potential to enhance the quality of patient care by ensuring that multiple patient-related aspects are consistently reported. It may also facilitate future multicenter research, which could contribute to the reduction of fistula occurrence in cleft lip and palate patients.

Importance of Standardized DXA Protocol for Assessing Physique Changes in Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nana, Alisa; Slater, Gary J; Hopkins, Will G; Halson, Shona L; Martin, David T; West, Nicholas P; Burke, Louise M

2016-06-01

The implications of undertaking DXA scans using best practice protocols (subjects fasted and rested) or a less precise but more practical protocol in assessing chronic changes in body composition following training and a specialized recovery technique were investigated. Twenty-one male cyclists completed an overload training program, in which they were randomized to four sessions per week of either cold water immersion therapy or control groups. Whole-body DXA scans were undertaken with best practice protocol (Best) or random activity protocol (Random) at baseline, after 3 weeks of overload training, and after a 2-week taper. Magnitudes of changes in total, lean and fat mass from baseline-overload, overload-taper and baseline-taper were assessed by standardization (Δmean/SD). The standard deviations of change scores for total and fat-free soft tissue mass (FFST) from Random scans (2-3%) were approximately double those observed in the Best (1-2%), owing to extra random errors associated with Random scans at baseline. There was little difference in change scores for fat mass. The effect of cold water immersion therapy on baseline-taper changes in FFST was possibly harmful (-0.7%; 90% confidence limits ±1.2%) with Best scans but unclear with Random scans (0.9%; ±2.0%). Both protocols gave similar possibly harmful effects of cold water immersion therapy on changes in fat mass (6.9%; ±13.5% and 5.5%; ±14.3%, respectively). An interesting effect of cold water immersion therapy on training-induced changes in body composition might have been missed with a less precise scanning protocol. DXA scans should be undertaken with Best.

A Cross-Layer Duty Cycle MAC Protocol Supporting a Pipeline Feature for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Chon Kim

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Although the conventional duty cycle MAC protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs such as RMAC perform well in terms of saving energy and reducing end-to-end delivery latency, they were designed independently and require an extra routing protocol in the network layer to provide path information for the MAC layer. In this paper, we propose a new cross-layer duty cycle MAC protocol with data forwarding supporting a pipeline feature (P-MAC for WSNs. P-MAC first divides the whole network into many grades around the sink. Each node identifies its grade according to its logical hop distance to the sink and simultaneously establishes a sleep/wakeup schedule using the grade information. Those nodes in the same grade keep the same schedule, which is staggered with the schedule of the nodes in the adjacent grade. Then a variation of the RTS/CTS handshake mechanism is used to forward data continuously in a pipeline fashion from the higher grade to the lower grade nodes and finally to the sink. No extra routing overhead is needed, thus increasing the network scalability while maintaining the superiority of duty-cycling. The simulation results in OPNET show that P-MAC has better performance than S-MAC and RMAC in terms of packet delivery latency and energy efficiency.

Comparison of a fast 5-min knee MRI protocol with a standard knee MRI protocol. A multi-institutional multi-reader study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

FitzGerald Alaia, Erin; Beltran, Luis S.; Garwood, Elisabeth; Burke, Christopher J.; Gyftopoulos, Soterios [NYU Langone Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Musculoskeletal Division, New York, NY (United States); Benedick, Alex [Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH (United States); Obuchowski, Nancy A. [Cleveland Clinic, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland, OH (United States); Polster, Joshua M.; Schils, Jean; Subhas, Naveen [Cleveland Clinic, Department of Radiology, Musculoskeletal Division, Cleveland, OH (United States); Chang, I. Yuan Joseph [Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, TX (United States)

2018-01-15

To compare diagnostic performance of a 5-min knee MRI protocol to that of a standard knee MRI. One hundred 3 T (100 patients, mean 38.8 years) and 50 1.5 T (46 patients, mean 46.4 years) MRIs, consisting of 5 fast, 2D multi-planar fast-spin-echo (FSE) sequences and five standard multiplanar FSE sequences, from two academic centers (1/2015-1/2016), were retrospectively reviewed by four musculoskeletal radiologists. Agreement between fast and standard (interprotocol agreement) and between standard (intraprotocol agreement) readings for meniscal, ligamentous, chondral, and bone pathology was compared for interchangeability. Frequency of major findings, sensitivity, and specificity was also tested for each protocol. Interprotocol agreement using fast MRI was similar to intraprotocol agreement with standard MRI (83.0-99.5%), with no excess disagreement (≤ 1.2; 95% CI, -4.2 to 3.8%), across all structures. Frequency of major findings (1.1-22.4% across structures) on fast and standard MRI was not significantly different (p ≥ 0.215), except more ACL tears on fast MRI (p = 0.021) and more cartilage defects on standard MRI (p < 0.001). Sensitivities (59-100%) and specificities (73-99%) of fast and standard MRI were not significantly different for meniscal and ligament tears (95% CI for difference, -0.08-0.08). For cartilage defects, fast MRI was slightly less sensitive (95% CI for difference, -0.125 to -0.01) but slightly more specific (95% CI for difference, 0.01-0.5) than standard MRI. A fast 5-min MRI protocol is interchangeable with and has similar accuracy to a standard knee MRI for evaluating internal derangement of the knee. (orig.)

Comparison of a fast 5-min knee MRI protocol with a standard knee MRI protocol. A multi-institutional multi-reader study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

FitzGerald Alaia, Erin; Beltran, Luis S.; Garwood, Elisabeth; Burke, Christopher J.; Gyftopoulos, Soterios; Benedick, Alex; Obuchowski, Nancy A.; Polster, Joshua M.; Schils, Jean; Subhas, Naveen; Chang, I. Yuan Joseph

2018-01-01

To compare diagnostic performance of a 5-min knee MRI protocol to that of a standard knee MRI. One hundred 3 T (100 patients, mean 38.8 years) and 50 1.5 T (46 patients, mean 46.4 years) MRIs, consisting of 5 fast, 2D multi-planar fast-spin-echo (FSE) sequences and five standard multiplanar FSE sequences, from two academic centers (1/2015-1/2016), were retrospectively reviewed by four musculoskeletal radiologists. Agreement between fast and standard (interprotocol agreement) and between standard (intraprotocol agreement) readings for meniscal, ligamentous, chondral, and bone pathology was compared for interchangeability. Frequency of major findings, sensitivity, and specificity was also tested for each protocol. Interprotocol agreement using fast MRI was similar to intraprotocol agreement with standard MRI (83.0-99.5%), with no excess disagreement (≤ 1.2; 95% CI, -4.2 to 3.8%), across all structures. Frequency of major findings (1.1-22.4% across structures) on fast and standard MRI was not significantly different (p ≥ 0.215), except more ACL tears on fast MRI (p = 0.021) and more cartilage defects on standard MRI (p < 0.001). Sensitivities (59-100%) and specificities (73-99%) of fast and standard MRI were not significantly different for meniscal and ligament tears (95% CI for difference, -0.08-0.08). For cartilage defects, fast MRI was slightly less sensitive (95% CI for difference, -0.125 to -0.01) but slightly more specific (95% CI for difference, 0.01-0.5) than standard MRI. A fast 5-min MRI protocol is interchangeable with and has similar accuracy to a standard knee MRI for evaluating internal derangement of the knee. (orig.)

Multichannel MAC Layer In Mobile Ad—Hoc Network

Science.gov (United States)

Logesh, K.; Rao, Samba Siva

2010-11-01

This paper we presented the design objectives and technical challenges in Multichannel MAC protocols in Mobile Ad-hoc Network. In IEEE 802.11 a/b/g standards allow use of multiple channels, only a single channel is popularly used, due to the lack of efficient protocols that enable use of Multiple Channels. Even though complex environments in ad hoc networks require a combined control of physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers resources in order to optimize performance. And also we discuss the characteristics of cross-layer frame and give a multichannel MAC approach.

Physical layer simulation study for the coexistence of WLAN standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Howlader, M. K. [Marquette Univ., 222 Haggerty Hall, P. O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States); Keiger, C. [Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation, 9111 Cross Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37923 (United States); Ewing, P. D. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, MS-6006, P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Govan, T. V. [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, MS T-10-D20, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States)

2006-07-01

This paper presents the results of a study on the performance of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices in the presence of interference from other wireless devices. To understand the coexistence of these wireless protocols, simplified physical-layer-system models were developed for the Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), and Zigbee devices, all of which operate within the 2.4-GHz frequency band. The performances of these protocols were evaluated using Monte-Carlo simulations under various interference and channel conditions. The channel models considered were basic additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), Rayleigh fading, and site-specific fading. The study also incorporated the basic modulation schemes, multiple access techniques, and channel allocations of the three protocols. This research is helping the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) understand the coexistence issues associated with deploying wireless devices and could prove useful in the development of a technical basis for guidance to address safety-related issues with the implementation of wireless systems in nuclear facilities. (authors)

Physical layer simulation study for the coexistence of WLAN standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howlader, M. K.; Keiger, C.; Ewing, P. D.; Govan, T. V.

2006-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study on the performance of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices in the presence of interference from other wireless devices. To understand the coexistence of these wireless protocols, simplified physical-layer-system models were developed for the Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), and Zigbee devices, all of which operate within the 2.4-GHz frequency band. The performances of these protocols were evaluated using Monte-Carlo simulations under various interference and channel conditions. The channel models considered were basic additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), Rayleigh fading, and site-specific fading. The study also incorporated the basic modulation schemes, multiple access techniques, and channel allocations of the three protocols. This research is helping the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) understand the coexistence issues associated with deploying wireless devices and could prove useful in the development of a technical basis for guidance to address safety-related issues with the implementation of wireless systems in nuclear facilities. (authors)

Effect of a Standardized Protocol of Antibiotic Therapy on Surgical Site Infection after Laparoscopic Surgery for Complicated Appendicitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyoung-Chul; Kim, Min Jeong; Lee, Bong Hwa

Although it is accepted that complicated appendicitis requires antibiotic therapy to prevent post-operative surgical infections, consensus protocols on the duration and regimens of treatment are not well established. This study aimed to compare the outcome of post-operative infectious complications in patients receiving old non-standardized and new standard antibiotic protocols, involving either 5 or 10 days of treatment, respectively. We enrolled 1,343 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for complicated appendicitis between January 2009 and December 2014. At the beginning of the new protocol, the patients were divided into two groups; 10 days of various antibiotic regimens (between January 2009 and June 2012, called the non-standardized protocol; n = 730) and five days of cefuroxime and metronidazole regimen (between July 2012 and December 2014; standardized protocol; n = 613). We compared the clinical outcomes, including surgical site infection (SSI) (superficial and deep organ/space infections) in the two groups. The standardized protocol group had a slightly shorter operative time (67 vs. 69 min), a shorter hospital stay (5 vs. 5.4 d), and lower medical cost (US$1,564 vs. US$1,654). Otherwise, there was no difference between the groups. No differences were found in the non-standardized and standard protocol groups with regard to the rate of superficial infection (10.3% vs. 12.7%; p = 0.488) or deep organ/space infection (2.3% vs. 2.1%; p = 0.797). In patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for complicated appendicitis, five days of cefuroxime and metronidazole did not lead to more SSIs, and it decreased the medical costs compared with non-standardized antibiotic regimens.

Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.11e (EDCF) and IEEE 802.11(DCF) WLAN Incorporating Different Physical Layer Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, V.; Singh, H.; Malhotra, J.

2012-12-01

Medium access coordination function basically implements the distributed coordination function (DCF) which provides support to best effort services but limited to QoS services. Subsequently, a new standard, namely enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) is reported. The IEEE 802.11e (EDCA) defines MAC procedures to support QoS requirements which specifies distributed contention based access scheme to access the shared wireless media. This paper evaluates the performance of EDCA based IEEE 802.11 WLAN for various access categories (ACs) using OPNET™ Modeller 14.5. Further, the computed results are compared with DCF protocols in terms of QoS parameters. Furthermore, the simulative observation is reported at data rate of 54 Mbps using different physical layer protocols such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g to stumble on the best one to be implemented with EDCF to achieve improved QoS.

Biocoder: A programming language for standardizing and automating biology protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Ananthanarayanan, Vaishnavi; Thies, William

2010-11-08

Published descriptions of biology protocols are often ambiguous and incomplete, making them difficult to replicate in other laboratories. However, there is increasing benefit to formalizing the descriptions of protocols, as laboratory automation systems (such as microfluidic chips) are becoming increasingly capable of executing them. Our goal in this paper is to improve both the reproducibility and automation of biology experiments by using a programming language to express the precise series of steps taken. We have developed BioCoder, a C++ library that enables biologists to express the exact steps needed to execute a protocol. In addition to being suitable for automation, BioCoder converts the code into a readable, English-language description for use by biologists. We have implemented over 65 protocols in BioCoder; the most complex of these was successfully executed by a biologist in the laboratory using BioCoder as the only reference. We argue that BioCoder exposes and resolves ambiguities in existing protocols, and could provide the software foundations for future automation platforms. BioCoder is freely available for download at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/india/projects/biocoder/. BioCoder represents the first practical programming system for standardizing and automating biology protocols. Our vision is to change the way that experimental methods are communicated: rather than publishing a written account of the protocols used, researchers will simply publish the code. Our experience suggests that this practice is tractable and offers many benefits. We invite other researchers to leverage BioCoder to improve the precision and completeness of their protocols, and also to adapt and extend BioCoder to new domains.

Industrial wireless sensor networks applications, protocols, and standards

CERN Document Server

Güngör, V Çagri

2013-01-01

The collaborative nature of industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs) brings several advantages over traditional wired industrial monitoring and control systems, including self-organization, rapid deployment, flexibility, and inherent intelligent processing. In this regard, IWSNs play a vital role in creating more reliable, efficient, and productive industrial systems, thus improving companies' competitiveness in the marketplace. Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks: Applications, Protocols, and Standards examines the current state of the art in industrial wireless sensor networks and outline

Deficiency of Standard Effective-Medium Approximation for Ellipsometry of Layers of Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. G. Bortchagovsky

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Correct description of optical properties of layers of disordered interacting nanoparticles is the problem. Contrary to volumes of nanocomposites, when standard models of effective-medium approximations (EMA work well, two-dimensional case of layers has intrinsic anisotropy, which influences interparticle interactions. The deficiency of standard Maxwell-Garnett model in the application to the ellipsometry of layers of gold nanoparticles is demonstrated. It demands the modification of EMA models and one way of this is considered in this paper. Contrary to existing 2D models with phenomenological parameters, the proposed Green function approach uses the same number of parameters as standard 3D EMA models for explicit calculations of effective parameters of layers of disordered nanoparticles.

A Secure Key Establishment Protocol for ZigBee Wireless Sensor Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuksel, Ender; Nielson, Hanne Riis; Nielson, Flemming

2009-01-01

ZigBee is a wireless sensor network standard that defines network and application layers on top of IEEE 802.15.4’s physical and medium access control layers. In the latest version of ZigBee, enhancements are prescribed for the security sublayer but we show in this paper that problems persist....... In particular we show that the End-to-End Application Key Establishment Protocol is flawed and we propose a secure protocol instead. We do so by using formal verification techniques based on static program analysis and process algebras. We present a way of using formal methods in wireless network security......, and propose a secure key establishment protocol for ZigBee networks....

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

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Roy Jean-Sébastien

2011-01-01

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

Two-Layer Hierarchy Optimization Model for Communication Protocol in Railway Wireless Monitoring Networks

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Xiaoping Ma

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The wireless monitoring system is always destroyed by the insufficient energy of the sensors in railway. Hence, how to optimize the communication protocol and extend the system lifetime is crucial to ensure the stability of system. However, the existing studies focused primarily on cluster-based or multihop protocols individually, which are ineffective in coping with the complex communication scenarios in the railway wireless monitoring system (RWMS. This study proposes a hybrid protocol which combines the cluster-based and multihop protocols (CMCP to minimize and balance the energy consumption in different sections of the RWMS. In the first hierarchy, the total energy consumption is minimized by optimizing the cluster quantities in the cluster-based protocol and the number of hops and the corresponding hop distances in the multihop protocol. In the second hierarchy, the energy consumption is balanced through rotating the cluster head (CH in the subnetworks and further optimizing the hops and the corresponding hop distances in the backbone network. On this basis, the system lifetime is maximized with the minimum and balance energy consumption among the sensors. Furthermore, the hybrid particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm (PSO-GA are adopted to optimize the energy consumption from the two-layer hierarchy. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed CMCP is verified in the simulation. The performances of the proposed CMCP in system lifetime, residual energy, and the corresponding variance are all superior to the LEACH protocol widely applied in the previous research. The effective protocol proposed in this study can facilitate the application of the wireless monitoring network in the railway system and enhance safety operation of the railway.

Beyond communication: the role of standardized protocols in a changing health care environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Vardaman, James M; Cornell, Paul; Gondo, Maria B; Amis, John M; Townsend-Gervis, Mary; Thetford, Carol

2012-01-01

Communication errors have grave consequences in health care settings. The situation-background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) protocol has been theorized to improve communication by creating a common language between nurses and physicians in acute care situations. This practice is gaining acceptance across the health care field. However, as yet, there has been little investigation of the ways in which SBAR may have an impact on how health care professionals operate beyond the creation of a common language. The purposes of the study were to explore the implementation of the SBAR protocol and investigate the potential impact of SBAR on the day-to-day experiences of nurses. We performed a qualitative case study of 2 hospitals that were implementing the SBAR protocol. We collected data from 80 semistructured interviews with nurses, nurse manager, and physicians; observation of nursing and other hospital activities; and documents that pertained to the implementation of the SBAR protocol. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Our analysis revealed 4 dimensions of impact that SBAR has beyond its use as a communication tool: schema formation, development of legitimacy, development of social capital, and reinforcement of dominant logics. The results indicate that SBAR may function as more than a tool to standardize communication among nurses and physicians. Rather, the findings indicate that SBAR may aid in schema development that allows rapid decision making by nurses, provide social capital and legitimacy for less-tenured nurses, and reinforce a move toward standardization in the nursing profession. Our findings further suggest that standardized protocols such as SBAR may be a cost-effective method for hospital managers and administrators to accelerate the socialization of nurses, particularly new hires.

The impact of a new standard labor protocol on maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dingran; Ye, Shenglong; Tao, Liyuan; Wang, Yongqing

2017-12-01

To analyze the clinical outcomes following the implementation of a new standard labor procedure. This was a retrospective analysis that included a study group consisting of patients managed based on a new standard labor protocol and a control group comprising patients managed under an old standard labor protocol. The following maternal and perinatal outcomes were compared in the two groups: the indications for a cesarean section and the incidence of cesarean section, postpartum hemorrhage, fetal distress, neonatal asphyxia and pediatric intervention. We also compared the average number of days spent in the hospital, the incidence of medical disputes and hospitalization expenses. The cesarean section rates for the study and control groups were 19.29% (401/2079) and 33.53% (753/2246), respectively (P labor, fetal distress and intrapartum fever; the percentages of each indication were significantly different from those of the control group (P labor protocol reduced the cesarean section rate without negatively impacting maternal and neonatal outcomes. In practice, bed turnover and the hospital utilization rate should be better controlled, patient-doctor communication should be strengthened and the quality of obstetrical service should be improved.

Improving biofeedback for the treatment of fecal incontinence in women: implementation of a standardized multi-site manometric biofeedback protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Markland, A D; Jelovsek, J E; Whitehead, W E; Newman, D K; Andy, U U; Dyer, K; Harm-Ernandes, I; Cichowski, S; McCormick, J; Rardin, C; Sutkin, G; Shaffer, A; Meikle, S

2017-01-01

Standardized training and clinical protocols using biofeedback for the treatment of fecal incontinence (FI) are important for clinical care. Our primary aims were to develop, implement, and evaluate adherence to a standardized protocol for manometric biofeedback to treat FI. In a Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN) trial, participants were enrolled from eight PFDN clinical centers across the United States. A team of clinical and equipment experts developed biofeedback software on a novel tablet computer platform for conducting standardized anorectal manometry with separate manometric biofeedback protocols for improving anorectal muscle strength, sensation, and urge resistance. The training protocol also included education on bowel function, anal sphincter exercises, and bowel diary monitoring. Study interventionists completed online training prior to attending a centralized, standardized certification course. For the certification, expert trainers assessed the ability of the interventionists to perform the protocol components for a paid volunteer who acted as a standardized patient. Postcertification, the trainers audited interventionists during trial implementation to improve protocol adherence. Twenty-four interventionists attended the in-person training and certification, including 46% advanced practice registered nurses (11/24), 50% (12/24) physical therapists, and 4% physician assistants (1/24). Trainers performed audio audits for 88% (21/24), representing 84 audited visits. All certified interventionists met or exceeded the prespecified 80% pass rate for the audit process, with an average passing rate of 93%. A biofeedback protocol can be successfully imparted to experienced pelvic floor health care providers from various disciplines. Our process promoted high adherence to a standard protocol and is applicable to many clinical settings. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Improved 6LoWPAN Hierarchical Routing Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xue Li

2015-10-01

Full Text Available IETF 6LoWPAN working group is engaged in the IPv6 protocol stack research work based on IEEE802.15.4 standard. In this working group, the routing protocol is one of the important research contents. In the 6LoWPAN, HiLow is a well-known layered routing protocol. This paper puts forward an improved hierarchical routing protocol GHiLow by improving HiLow parent node selection and path restoration strategy. GHiLow improves the parent node selection by increasing the choice of parameters. Simutaneously, it also improves path recovery by analysing different situations to recovery path. Therefore, GHiLow contributes to the ehancement of network performance and the decrease of network energy consumption.

A Standardized and Reproducible Urine Preparation Protocol for Cancer Biomarkers Discovery

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Julia Beretov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A suitable and standardized protein purification technique is essential to maintain consistency and to allow data comparison between proteomic studies for urine biomarker discovery. Ultimately, efforts should be made to standardize urine preparation protocols. The aim of this study was to develop an optimal analytical protocol to achieve maximal protein yield and to ensure that this method was applicable to examine urine protein patterns that distinguish disease and disease-free states. In this pilot study, we compared seven different urine sample preparation methods to remove salts, and to precipitate and isolate urinary proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE profiles showed that the sequential preparation of urinary proteins by combining acetone and trichloroacetic acid (TCA alongside high speed centrifugation (HSC provided the best separation, and retained the most urinary proteins. Therefore, this approach is the preferred method for all further urine protein analysis.

Outcomes of Optimized over Standard Protocol of Rabbit Antithymocyte Globulin for Severe Aplastic Anemia: A Single-Center Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Meili; Shao, Yingqi; Huang, Jinbo; Huang, Zhendong; Zhang, Jing; Nie, Neng; Zheng, Yizhou

2013-01-01

Background Previous reports showed that outcome of rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) was not satisfactory as the first-line therapy for severe aplastic anemia (SAA). We explored a modifying schedule of administration of rATG. Design and Methods Outcomes of a cohort of 175 SAA patients, including 51 patients administered with standard protocol (3.55 mg/kg/d for 5 days) and 124 cases with optimized protocol (1.97 mg/kg/d for 9 days) of rATG plus cyclosporine (CSA), were analyzed retrospectively. Results Of all 175 patients, response rates at 3 and 6 months were 36.6% and 56.0%, respectively. 51 cases received standard protocol had poor responses at 3 (25.5%) and 6 months (41.2%). However, 124 patients received optimized protocol had better responses at 3 (41.1%, P = 0.14) and 6 (62.1%, P = 0.01). Higher incidences of infection (57.1% versus 37.9%, P = 0.02) and early mortality (17.9% versus 0.8%, P<0.001) occurred in patients received standard protocol compared with optimized protocol. The 5-year overall survival in favor of the optimized over standard rATG protocol (76.0% versus. 50.3%, P<0.001) was observed. By multivariate analysis, optimized protocol (RR = 2.21, P = 0.04), response at 3 months (RR = 10.31, P = 0.03) and shorter interval (<23 days) between diagnosis and initial dose of rATG (RR = 5.35, P = 0.002) were independent favorable predictors of overall survival. Conclusions Optimized instead of standard rATG protocol in combination with CSA remained efficacious as a first-line immunosuppressive regimen for SAA. PMID:23554855

Adaptive MAC-layer protocol for multiservice digital access via tree and branch communication networks

Science.gov (United States)

Sriram, Kotikalapudi; Li, Chia-Chang; Magill, Peter; Whitaker, Norman A.; Dail, James E.; Dajer, Miguel A.; Siller, Curtis A.

1995-11-01

Described here is an adaptive MAC-layer protocol that supports multiservice (STM and ATM) applications in the context of subscriber access to tree and branch (e.g., fiber-coaxial cable) networks. The protocol adapts to changing demands for a mix of circuit and cell mode applications, and efficiently allocates upstream and downstream bandwidth to a variety of bursty and isochronous traffic sources. In the case of a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network the protocol resides in customer premises equipment and a common head-end controller. A medium-access control (MAC) processor provides for dividing the time domain for a given digital bitstream into successive frames, each with multiple STM and ATM time slots. Within the STM region of a frame, variable length time slots are allocated to calls (e.g., telephony, video telephony) requiring different amounts of bandwidth. A contention access signaling channel is also provided in this region for call control and set-up requests. Within the ATM region fixed-length time slots accommodate one individual ATM cell. These ATM time slots may be reserved for a user for the duration of a call or burst of successive ATM cells, or shared via a contention process. At least one contention time slot is available for signaling messages related to ATM call control and set-up requests. Further, the fixed-length ATM time slots may be reserved by a user for the duration of a call, or shared through a contention process. This paper describes the MAC-layer protocol, its relation to circuit- and ATM- amenable applications, and its performance with respect to signaling throughput and latency, and bandwidth efficiency for several service scenarios.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Jeunet, Camille; Jahanpour, Emilie; Lotte, Fabien

2016-06-01

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

ANALISIS QOS PADA PEMBAGIAN BANDWIDTH DENGAN METODE LAYER 7 PROTOCOL, PCQ, HTB DAN HOTSPOT DI SMK SWASTA AL-WASHLIYAH PASAR SENEN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dian Kurnia

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Pada penelitian ini akan dilakukan analisis QoS Pada Pembagian Bandwidth menggunakan metode HTB (Hierarchical Tocken Bucket, PCQ(Per Connection Queue  dengan Layer 7 protocol sebagai limit file berekstensi, PCQ dan Hotspot. Pada HTB menggunakan teknik antrian queue tree, PCQ dengan Layer 7 protocol, PCQ menggunakan teknik antrian simple queue, hotspot menggunakan teknik antrian simple queue. Sehingga didapat perbandingan dari metode HTB (Hierarchical Tocken Bucket, PCQ dengan Layer 7 protocol, PCQ dan hotspot akan diterapkan pada mikrotik RB750GL. Hasil akhir penelitian ini diukur dengan parameter-parameter QoS throughput, delay (latency, jitter (variasi kedatangan paket, Packet loss. Adapun hasil pengujian dalam penelitian ini dilakukan pada trafik jam sibuk untuk mengetahui sejauh mana kinerja performansi management bandwidth dengan metode-metode tersebut. Dari hasil penelitian untuk performance QoS yang lebih baik untuk memanagement bandwidth di dapat nilai throughput, jitter dan delay terbaik yaitu menggunakan metode HTB.

Research and implementation of intelligent gateway driver layer based on Linux bus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Jian

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Currently,in the field of smart home,there is no relevant organization that yet has proposed an unified protocol standard.It increases the complexity and limitations of heterogeneous gateway software framework design that different vendor′s devices have different communication mode and protocol standards.In this paper,a serial of interfaces are provided by Linux kernel,and a virtual bus is registered under Linux.The physical device drivers are able to connect to the virtual bus.The detailed designs of the communication protocol are placed in the underlying adapters,making the integration of heterogeneous networks more natural.At the same time,designing the intelligent gateway system driver layer based on Linux bus can let the application layer be more unified and clear logical.And it also let the hardware access network become more convenient and distinct.

A Lightweight Protocol for Secure Video Streaming.

Science.gov (United States)

Venčkauskas, Algimantas; Morkevicius, Nerijus; Bagdonas, Kazimieras; Damaševičius, Robertas; Maskeliūnas, Rytis

2018-05-14

The Internet of Things (IoT) introduces many new challenges which cannot be solved using traditional cloud and host computing models. A new architecture known as fog computing is emerging to address these technological and security gaps. Traditional security paradigms focused on providing perimeter-based protections and client/server point to point protocols (e.g., Transport Layer Security (TLS)) are no longer the best choices for addressing new security challenges in fog computing end devices, where energy and computational resources are limited. In this paper, we present a lightweight secure streaming protocol for the fog computing "Fog Node-End Device" layer. This protocol is lightweight, connectionless, supports broadcast and multicast operations, and is able to provide data source authentication, data integrity, and confidentiality. The protocol is based on simple and energy efficient cryptographic methods, such as Hash Message Authentication Codes (HMAC) and symmetrical ciphers, and uses modified User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets to embed authentication data into streaming data. Data redundancy could be added to improve reliability in lossy networks. The experimental results summarized in this paper confirm that the proposed method efficiently uses energy and computational resources and at the same time provides security properties on par with the Datagram TLS (DTLS) standard.

Improving post-stroke dysphagia outcomes through a standardized and multidisciplinary protocol: an exploratory cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandolfi, Marialuisa; Smania, Nicola; Bisoffi, Giulia; Squaquara, Teresa; Zuccher, Paola; Mazzucco, Sara

2014-12-01

Stroke is a major cause of dysphagia. Few studies to date have reported on standardized multidisciplinary protocolized approaches to the management of post-stroke dysphagia. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the impact of a standardized multidisciplinary protocol on clinical outcomes in patients with post-stroke dysphagia. We performed retrospective chart reviews of patients with post-stroke dysphagia admitted to the neurological ward of Verona University Hospital from 2004 to 2008. Outcomes after usual treatment for dysphagia (T- group) were compared versus outcomes after treatment under a standardized diagnostic and rehabilitative multidisciplinary protocol (T+ group). Outcome measures were death, pneumonia on X-ray, need for respiratory support, and proportion of patients on tube feeding at discharge. Of the 378 patients admitted with stroke, 84 had dysphagia and were enrolled in the study. A significantly lower risk of in-hospital death (odds ratio [OR] 0.20 [0.53-0.78]), pneumonia (OR 0.33 [0.10-1.03]), need for respiratory support (OR 0.48 [0.14-1.66]), and tube feeding at discharge (OR 0.30 [0.09-0.91]) was recorded for the T+ group (N = 39) as compared to the T- group (N = 45). The adjusted OR showed no difference between the two groups for in-hospital death and tube feeding at discharge. Use of a standardized multidisciplinary protocolized approach to the management of post-stroke dysphagia may significantly reduce rates of aspiration pneumonia, in-hospital mortality, and tube feeding in dysphagic stroke survivors. Consistent with the study's exploratory purposes, our findings suggest that the multidisciplinary protocol applied in this study offers an effective model of management of post-stroke dysphagia.

Standard protocol for conducting pre-operational environmental surveillance around nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegde, A.G.; Verma, P.C.; Rajan, M.P.

2009-02-01

This document presents the standard procedures for evaluation of site specific environmental transfer factors around NPP sites. The scope of this document is to provide standard protocol to be followed for conducting pre-operational environmental surveillance around nuclear facilities. Such surveillances have been proposed to be carried out by university professionals under DAE-BRNS projects. This document contains a common methodology in terms of sampling, processing, measurements and analysis of elemental/radionuclides, while keeping the site specific requirements also in place. (author)

Standard protocol for conducting pre-operational environmental surveillance around nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hegde, A G; Verma, P C; Rajan, M P [Health Safety and Environment Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

2009-02-15

This document presents the standard procedures for evaluation of site specific environmental transfer factors around NPP sites. The scope of this document is to provide standard protocol to be followed for conducting pre-operational environmental surveillance around nuclear facilities. Such surveillances have been proposed to be carried out by university professionals under DAE-BRNS projects. This document contains a common methodology in terms of sampling, processing, measurements and analysis of elemental/radionuclides, while keeping the site specific requirements also in place. (author)

Asynchronous transfer mode and Local Area Network emulation standards, protocols, and security implications

OpenAIRE

Kirwin, John P.

1999-01-01

A complex networking technology called Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and a networking protocol called Local Area Network Emulation (LANE) are being integrated into many naval networks without any security-driven naval configuration guidelines. No single publication is available that describes security issues of data delivery and signaling relating to the transition of Ethernet to LANE and ATM. The thesis' focus is to provide: (1) an overview and security analysis of standardized protocols ...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Sefuba, Maria; Walingo, Tom; Takawira, Fambirai

2015-09-18

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

Comparison of different histological protocols for the preservation and quantification of the intestinal mucus layer in pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Röhe, Ilen; Hüttner, Friedrich Joseph; Plendl, Johanna; Drewes, Barbara; Zentek, Jürgen

2018-02-05

The histological characterization of the intestinal mucus layer is important for many scientific experiments investigating the interaction between intestinal microbiota, mucosal immune response and intestinal mucus production. The aim of this study was to examine and compare different fixation protocols for displaying and quantifying the intestinal mucus layer in piglets and to test which histomorphological parameters may correlate with the determined mucus layer thickness. Jejunal and colonal tissue samples of weaned piglets (n=10) were either frozen in liquid nitrogen or chemically fixed using methacarn solution. The frozen tissue samples were cryosectioned and subsequently postfixed using three different postfixatives: paraformaldehyde vapor, neutrally buffered formalin solution and ethanol solution. After dehydration, methacarn fixed tissues were embedded in paraffin wax. Both sections of cryopreserved and methacarn fixed tissue samples were stained with Alcian blue (AB)-PAS followed by the microscopically determination of the mucus layer thickness. Different pH values of the Alcian Blue staining solution and two mucus layer thickness measuring methods were compared. In addition, various histomorphological parameters of methacarn fixed tissue samples were evaluated including the number of goblet cells and the mucin staining area. Cryopreservation in combination with chemical postfixation led to mucus preservation in the colon of piglets allowing mucus thickness measurements. Mucus could be only partly preserved in cryosections of the jejunum impeding any quantitative description of the mucus layer thickness. The application of different postfixations, varying pH values of the AB solution and different mucus layer measuring methods led to comparable results regarding the mucus layer thickness. Methacarn fixation proved to be unsuitable for mucus depiction as only mucus patches were found in the jejunum or a detachment of the mucus layer from the epithelium was

Impact of Transport Layer Protocols on Reliable Information Access in Smart Grids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shahid, Kamal; Saeed, Aamir; Kristensen, Thomas le Fevre

2017-01-01

Time is critical for certain types of dynamic information (e.g. frequency control) in a smart grid scenario. The usefulness of such information depends upon the arrival within a specific frame of time, which in other case may not serve the purpose and effect controller’s performance....... The question is addressed by analyzing the performance of UDP and TCP over imperfect network conditions to show how the selection of transport layer protocol can dramatically affect controller’s performance. This analysis is based on a quality metric called mismatch probability that considers occurrence...

Network Layer Protocol Activation for Packet Data Access in UMTS WCDMA Laboratory Network

OpenAIRE

Lakkisto, Erkka

2011-01-01

The purpose of this Bachelor’s Thesis was to set up the UMTS WCDMA network in the laboratory environment of Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and to study the network layer protocol activation for packet data access. The development of 3G technology has been very rapid and it can be considered as one of the main technologies in telecommunication. Implementing the laboratory network in Metropolia enables teaching and researching of the modern network technology. Labora...

Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation: A Standardized Protocol for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Pedraza

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes present with voiding, sexual, and anorectal disturbances, which may be associated with one another, resulting in complex presentation. Thus, an integrated diagnosis and management approach may be required. Pelvic muscle rehabilitation (PMR is a noninvasive modality involving cognitive reeducation, modification, and retraining of the pelvic floor and associated musculature. We describe our standardized PMR protocol for the management of pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes. Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation Program. The diagnostic assessment includes electromyography and manometry analyzed in 4 phases: (1 initial baseline phase; (2 rapid contraction phase; (3 tonic contraction and endurance phase; and (4 late baseline phase. This evaluation is performed at the onset of every session. PMR management consists of 6 possible therapeutic modalities, employed depending on the diagnostic evaluation: (1 down-training; (2 accessory muscle isolation; (3 discrimination training; (4 muscle strengthening; (5 endurance training; and (6 electrical stimulation. Eight to ten sessions are performed at one-week intervals with integration of home exercises and lifestyle modifications. Conclusions. The PMR protocol offers a standardized approach to diagnose and manage pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes with potential advantages over traditional biofeedback, involving additional interventions and a continuous pelvic floor assessment with management modifications over the clinical course.

A Review of Communications Protocol for Intelligent Remote Terminal Unit Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Ruddin Ab. Ghani

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper reviewed all the possible interfacing communication protocols for remote terminal unit (RTU. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA system is a central station that can communicate with other network using the protocol. Fundamentally, the architectures of all networks are based on the seven layers of open system interconnection (OSI and International Standard Organization (ISO. The objective of designing the protocols is to check the status of all the input and output field devices and send the report according to that status. The corresponding protocol and communication parameters between the connecting devices will be included in designing a complex SCADA system. The available protocols to develop the communication of RTU are Modbus/ASCII, distributed network protocol (DNP3, controller area network (CAN, International Electro-technical Commission (IEC 60870, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP.

A Simple XML Producer-Consumer Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

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

2001-01-01

performance data. These standard protocols and representations must support tasks such as profiling parallel applications, monitoring the status of computers and networks, and monitoring the performance of services provided by a computational grid. This paper describes a proposed protocol and data representation for the exchange of events in a distributed system. The protocol exchanges messages formatted in XML and it can be layered atop any low-level communication protocol such as TCP or UDP Further, we describe Java and C++ implementations of this protocol and discuss their performance. The next section will provide some further background information. Section 3 describes the main communication patterns of our protocol. Section 4 describes how we represent events and related information using XML. Section 5 describes our protocol and Section 6 discusses the performance of two implementations of the protocol. Finally, an appendix provides the XML Schema definition of our protocol and event information.

Sub-Transport Layer Coding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jonas; Krigslund, Jeppe; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani

2014-01-01

Packet losses in wireless networks dramatically curbs the performance of TCP. This paper introduces a simple coding shim that aids IP-layer traffic in lossy environments while being transparent to transport layer protocols. The proposed coding approach enables erasure correction while being...... oblivious to the congestion control algorithms of the utilised transport layer protocol. Although our coding shim is indifferent towards the transport layer protocol, we focus on the performance of TCP when ran on top of our proposed coding mechanism due to its widespread use. The coding shim provides gains...

Anthropometric protocols for the construction of new international fetal and newborn growth standards: the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheikh Ismail, L; Knight, H E; Bhutta, Z; Chumlea, W C

2013-09-01

The primary aim of the INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project is to construct new, prescriptive standards describing optimal fetal and preterm postnatal growth. The anthropometric measurements include the head circumference, recumbent length and weight of the infants, and the stature and weight of the parents. In such a large, international, multicentre project, it is critical that all study sites follow standardised protocols to ensure maximal validity of the growth and nutrition indicators used. This paper describes, in detail, the selection of anthropometric personnel, equipment, and measurement and calibration protocols used to construct the new standards. Implementing these protocols at each study site ensures that the anthropometric data are of the highest quality to construct the international standards. © 2013 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Comparison of a new whole-body continuous-table-movement protocol versus a standard whole-body MR protocol for the assessment of multiple myeloma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weckbach, S.; Michaely, H.J.; Schoenberg, S.O.; Dinter, D.J.; Stemmer, A.

2010-01-01

To evaluate a whole body (WB) continuous-table-movement (CTM) MR protocol for the assessment of multiple myeloma (MM) in comparison to a step-by-step WB protocol. Eighteen patients with MM were examined at 1.5T using a WB CTM protocol (axial T2-w fs BLADE, T1-w GRE sequence) and a step-by-step WB protocol including coronal/sagittal T1-w SE and STIR sequences as reference. Protocol time was assessed. Image quality, artefacts, liver/spleen assessability, and the ability to depict bone marrow lesions less than or greater than 1 cm as well as diffuse infiltration and soft tissue lesions were rated. Potential changes in the Durie and Salmon Plus stage and the detectability of complications were assessed. Mean protocol time was 6:38 min (CTM) compared to 24:32 min (standard). Image quality was comparable. Artefacts were more prominent using the CTM protocol (P = 0.0039). Organ assessability was better using the CTM protocol (P < 0.001). Depiction of bone marrow and soft tissue lesions was identical without a staging shift. Vertebral fractures were not detected using the CTM protocol. The new protocol allows a higher patient throughput and facilitates the depiction of extramedullary lesions. However, as long as vertebral fractures are not detectable, the protocol cannot be safely used for clinical routine without the acquisition of an additional sagittal sequence. (orig.)

Protocol for Usability Testing and Validation of the ISO Draft International Standard 19223 for Lung Ventilators

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Background Clinicians, such as respiratory therapists and physicians, are often required to set up pieces of medical equipment that use inconsistent terminology. Current lung ventilator terminology that is used by different manufacturers contributes to the risk of usage errors, and in turn the risk of ventilator-associated lung injuries and other conditions. Human factors and communication issues are often associated with ventilator-related sentinel events, and inconsistent ventilator terminology compounds these issues. This paper describes our proposed protocol, which will be implemented at the University of Waterloo, Canada when this project is externally funded. Objective We propose to determine whether a standardized vocabulary improves the ease of use, safety, and utility as it relates to the usability of medical devices, compared to legacy medical devices from multiple manufacturers, which use different terms. Methods We hypothesize that usage errors by clinicians will be lower when standardization is consistently applied by all manufacturers. The proposed study will experimentally examine the impact of standardized nomenclature on performance declines in the use of an unfamiliar ventilator product in clinically relevant scenarios. Participants will be respiratory therapy practitioners and trainees, and we propose studying approximately 60 participants. Results The work reported here is in the proposal phase. Once the protocol is implemented, we will report the results in a follow-up paper. Conclusions The proposed study will help us better understand the effects of standardization on medical device usability. The study will also help identify any terms in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Draft International Standard (DIS) 19223 that may be associated with recurrent errors. Amendments to the standard will be proposed if recurrent errors are identified. This report contributes a protocol that can be used to assess the effect of

Standard protocol for evaluation of environmental transfer factors around NPP sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2009-01-01

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

A History of the Improvement of Internet Protocols Over Satellites Using ACTS

Science.gov (United States)

Allman, Mark; Kruse, Hans; Ostermann, Shawn

2000-01-01

This paper outlines the main results of a number of ACTS experiments on the efficacy of using standard Internet protocols over long-delay satellite channels. These experiments have been jointly conducted by NASAs Glenn Research Center and Ohio University over the last six years. The focus of our investigations has been the impact of long-delay networks with non-zero bit-error rates on the performance of the suite of Internet protocols. In particular, we have focused on the most widely used transport protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), as well as several application layer protocols. This paper presents our main results, as well as references to more verbose discussions of our experiments.

Standardized protocol for artery-only fingertip replantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Buntic, Rudolf F; Brooks, Darrell

2010-09-01

Artery-only fingertip replantation can be reliable if low-resistance flow through the replant is maintained until venous outflow is restored naturally. Injuring the tip of the replant to promote ongoing bleeding augmented with anticoagulation usually accomplishes this; however, such management results in prolonged hospitalization. In this study, we analyzed the outcomes of artery-only fingertip replantation using a standardized postoperative protocol consisting of dextran-40, heparin, and leech therapy. Between 2001 and 2008, we performed 19 artery-only fingertip replants for 17 patients. All patients had the replanted nail plate removed and received intravenous dextran-40, heparin, and aspirin to promote fingertip bleeding and vascular outflow. Anticoagulation was titrated to promote a controlled bleed until physiologic venous outflow was restored by neovascularization. We used medicinal leeches and mechanical heparin scrubbing for acute decongestion. By postoperative day 6, bleeding was no longer promoted. We initiated fluorescent dye perfusion studies to assess circulatory competence and direct further anticoagulant intervention if necessary. The absence of bleeding associated with an initial rise followed by an appropriate fall in fluorescent dye concentration would trigger a weaning of anticoagulation. All of the 19 replants survived. The average length of hospital stay was 9 days (range, 7-17 d). Eleven patients received blood transfusions. The average transfusion was 1.8 units (range, 0-9 units). All patients were happy with the decision to replant, and the cosmetic result. A protocol that promotes temporary, controlled bleeding from the fingertip is protective of artery-only replants distal to the distal interphalangeal joint until physiologic venous outflow is restored. The protocol described is both safe and reliable. The patient should be informed that such replant attempts may result in the need for transfusions and extended hospital stays, factors that

Comparison of different histological protocols for the preservation and quantification of the intestinal mucus layer in pigs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilen Röhe

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The histological characterization of the intestinal mucus layer is important for many scientific experiments investigating the interaction between intestinal microbiota, mucosal immune response and intestinal mucus production. The aim of this study was to examine and compare different fixation protocols for displaying and quantifying the intestinal mucus layer in piglets and to test which histomorphological parameters may correlate with the determined mucus layer thickness. Jejunal and colonal tissue samples of weaned piglets (n=10 were either frozen in liquid nitrogen or chemically fixed using methacarn solution. The frozen tissue samples were cryosectioned and subsequently postfixed using three different postfixatives: paraformaldehyde vapor, neutrally buffered formalin solution and ethanol solution. After dehydration, methacarn fixed tissues were embedded in paraffin wax. Both sections of cryopreserved and methacarn fixed tissue samples were stained with Alcian blue (AB-PAS followed by the microscopically determination of the mucus layer thickness. Different pH values of the Alcian Blue staining solution and two mucus layer thickness measuring methods were compared. In addition, various histomorphological parameters of methacarn fixed tissue samples were evaluated including the number of goblet cells and the mucin staining area. Cryopreservation in combination with chemical postfixation led to mucus preservation in the colon of piglets allowing mucus thickness measurements. Mucus could be only partly preserved in cryosections of the jejunum impeding any quantitative description of the mucus layer thickness. The application of different postfixations, varying pH values of the AB solution and different mucus layer measuring methods led to comparable results regarding the mucus layer thickness. Methacarn fixation proved to be unsuitable for mucus depiction as only mucus patches were found in the jejunum or a detachment of the mucus layer from

Improving treatment times for patients with in-hospital stroke using a standardized protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Koge, Junpei; Matsumoto, Shoji; Nakahara, Ichiro; Ishii, Akira; Hatano, Taketo; Sadamasa, Nobutake; Kai, Yasutoshi; Ando, Mitsushige; Saka, Makoto; Chihara, Hideo; Takita, Wataru; Tokunaga, Keisuke; Kamata, Takahiko; Nishi, Hidehisa; Hashimoto, Tetsuya; Tsujimoto, Atsushi; Kira, Jun-Ichi; Nagata, Izumi

2017-10-15

Previous reports have shown significant delays in treatment of in-hospital stroke (IHS). We developed and implemented our IHS alert protocol in April 2014. We aimed to determine the influence of implementation of our IHS alert protocol. Our implementation processes comprise the following four main steps: IHS protocol development, workshops for hospital staff to learn about the protocol, preparation of standardized IHS treatment kits, and obtaining feedback in a monthly hospital staff conference. We retrospectively compared protocol metrics and clinical outcomes of patients with IHS treated with intravenous thrombolysis and/or endovascular therapy between before (January 2008-March 2014) and after implementation (April 2014-December 2016). Fifty-five patients were included (pre, 25; post, 30). After the implementation, significant reductions occurred in the median time from stroke recognition to evaluation by a neurologist (30 vs. 13.5min, pvs. 26.5min, pvs. 16min, p=0.02). The median time from first neuroimaging to endovascular therapy had a tendency to decrease (75 vs. 53min, p=0.08). There were no differences in the favorable outcomes (modified Rankin scale score of 0-2) at discharge or the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage between the two periods. Our IHS alert protocol implementation saved time in treating patients with IHS without compromising safety. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-01-01

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

Latency-Optimized and Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks: A Cross-Layer Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Xiuzhen

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the energy constraint for fixed sensor nodes and the unacceptable long propagation delay, especially for latency sensitive applications of underwater acoustic sensor networks, we propose a MAC protocol that is latency-optimized and energy-efficient scheme and combines the physical layer and the MAC layer to shorten transmission delay. On physical layer, we apply convolution coding and interleaver for transmitted information. Moreover, dynamic code rate is exploited at the receiver side to accelerate data reception rate. On MAC layer, unfixed frame length scheme is applied to reduce transmission delay, and to ensure the data successful transmission rate at the same time. Furthermore, we propose a network topology: an underwater acoustic sensor network with mobile agent. Through fully utilizing the supper capabilities on computation and mobility of autonomous underwater vehicles, the energy consumption for fixed sensor nodes can be extremely reduced, so that the lifetime of networks is extended.

Standards-Based Wireless Sensor Networking Protocols for Spaceflight Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Raymond S.

2010-01-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have the capacity to revolutionize data gathering in both spaceflight and terrestrial applications. WSNs provide a huge advantage over traditional, wired instrumentation since they do not require wiring trunks to connect sensors to a central hub. This allows for easy sensor installation in hard to reach locations, easy expansion of the number of sensors or sensing modalities, and reduction in both system cost and weight. While this technology offers unprecedented flexibility and adaptability, implementing it in practice is not without its difficulties. Recent advances in standards-based WSN protocols for industrial control applications have come a long way to solving many of the challenges facing practical WSN deployments. In this paper, we will overview two of the more promising candidates - WirelessHART from the HART Communication Foundation and ISA100.11a from the International Society of Automation - and present the architecture for a new standards-based sensor node for networking and applications research.

A Survey on Application Layer Protocols for the Internet of Things

OpenAIRE

Karagiannis, Vasileios; Chatzimisios, Periklis; Vázquez-Gallego, Francisco; Alonso-Zárate, Jesús

2015-01-01

It has been more than fifteen years since the term Internet of Things (IoT) was introduced to the public. However, despite the efforts of research groups and innovative corporations, still today it is not possible to say that IoT is upon us. This is mainly due to the fact that a unified IoT architecture has not been yet clearly defined and there is no common agreement in defining protocols and standards for all IoT parts. The framework that current IoT platforms use consists mostly in technol...

Cross Layer Optimization and Simulation of Smart Grid Home Area Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lipi K. Chhaya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An electrical “Grid” is a network that carries electricity from power plants to customer premises. Smart Grid is an assimilation of electrical and communication infrastructure. Smart Grid is characterized by bidirectional flow of electricity and information. Smart Grid is a complex network with hierarchical architecture. Realization of complete Smart Grid architecture necessitates diverse set of communication standards and protocols. Communication network protocols are engineered and established on the basis of layered approach. Each layer is designed to produce an explicit functionality in association with other layers. Layered approach can be modified with cross layer approach for performance enhancement. Complex and heterogeneous architecture of Smart Grid demands a deviation from primitive approach and reworking of an innovative approach. This paper describes a joint or cross layer optimization of Smart Grid home/building area network based on IEEE 802.11 standard using RIVERBED OPNET network design and simulation tool. The network performance can be improved by selecting various parameters pertaining to different layers. Simulation results are obtained for various parameters such as WLAN throughput, delay, media access delay, and retransmission attempts. The graphical results show that various parameters have divergent effects on network performance. For example, frame aggregation decreases overall delay but the network throughput is also reduced. To prevail over this effect, frame aggregation is used in combination with RTS and fragmentation mechanisms. The results show that this combination notably improves network performance. Higher value of buffer size considerably increases throughput but the delay is also greater and thus the choice of optimum value of buffer size is inevitable for network performance optimization. Parameter optimization significantly enhances the performance of a designed network. This paper is expected to serve

A Standardized Shift Handover Protocol: Improving Nurses’ Safe Practice in Intensive Care Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javad Malekzadeh

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: For maintaining the continuity of care and improving the quality of care, effective inter-shift information communication is necessary. Any handover error can endanger patient safety. Despite the importance of shift handover, there is no standard handover protocol in our healthcare settings. Methods In this one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study conducted in spring and summer of 2011, we recruited a convenience sample of 56 ICU nurses. The Nurses’ Safe Practice Evaluation Checklist was used for data collection. The Content Validity Index and the inter-rater correlation coefficient of the checklist was 0.92 and 89, respectively. We employed the SPSS 11.5 software and the Mc Nemar and paired-samples t test for data analysis. Results: Study findings revealed that nurses’ mean score on the Safe Practice Evaluation Checklist increased significantly from 11.6 (2.7 to 17.0 (1.8 (P < 0.001. Conclusion: using a standard handover protocol for communicating patient’s needs and information improves nurses’ safe practice in the area of basic nursing care.

Lingual orthodontics for children and adolescents: improvement of the indirect bonding protocol

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Introduction Demineralization of the dental enamel is a finding associated with fixed orthodontic treatment. When an indirect bonding procedure is used in children and adolescents the area beneath the bracket base may be affected. Aim To evaluate if the addition of an extra layer of a hydrophilic resin, to a conventional indirect bonding protocol, can reduce the incidence of demineralization beneath the bracket base. Methods 40 patients under 18 years of age were treated with completely customized lingual appliances. Two different bonding protocols were used either with or without the application of an additional layer of hydrophilic resin. Demineralization beneath the bracket base, after de-bonding, was evaluated by standardized intra-oral photographs. Results The addition of an extra layer of a hydrophilic resin helps to reduce the number of demineralized areas beneath the bracket bases significantly (three times less). The severity of the few remaining defects were minor and without any clinical consequence. Conclusion When bonding a completely customized lingual appliance in children and adolescents, an extra layer of a hydrophilic resin should be added to the teeth. PMID:24025345

Report on the results of the FY1999 standardization for new standard interface protocol for electrical measuring use; 1999 nendo shinki sangyo ikusei sokkogata kokusai hyojun kaihatsu jigyo seika hokokusho. Denki keisokukiyo shinhyojun interface purotokoru no hyojunka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The purpose of this project is to create a new protocol for electric measuring instruments that use a built-in the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface which is no incorporated in PCs. This new interface will replace the existing GPIB interface (IEEE-488), which is currently used in electric measuring instruments as standard interface. Our goal is to create a protocol that will provide the same data rate as GPIB and better connectivity. To evaluate our new protocol, we create virtual instruments using evaluation boards for USB chips, as well as software, and performed transfer tests to isolate and solve problems found in the tests. We will make the protocol and the software available for general use, and register the protocol as a standard to the USB Developer's Forum, a body that manages USB standards, to make it as a de facto standard. Ultimately we are aiming at making it an international standard. (NEDO)

A Review of Protocol Implementations and Energy Efficient Cross-Layer Design for Wireless Body Area Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Chen

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The issues inherent in caring for an ever-increasing aged population has been the subject of endless debate and continues to be a hot topic for political discussion. The use of hospital-based facilities for the monitoring of chronic physiological conditions is expensive and ties up key healthcare professionals. The introduction of wireless sensor devices as part of a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN integrated within an overall eHealth solution could bring a step change in the remote management of patient healthcare. Sensor devices small enough to be placed either inside or on the human body can form a vital part of an overall health monitoring network. An effectively designed energy efficient WBAN should have a minimal impact on the mobility and lifestyle of the patient. WBAN technology can be deployed within a hospital, care home environment or in the patient’s own home. This study is a review of the existing research in the area of WBAN technology and in particular protocol adaptation and energy efficient cross-layer design. The research reviews the work carried out across various layers of the protocol stack and highlights how the latest research proposes to resolve the various challenges inherent in remote continual healthcare monitoring.

Multimode Communication Protocols Enabling Reconfigurable Radios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berlemann Lars

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the realization and application of a generic protocol stack for reconfigurable wireless communication systems. This focus extends the field of software-defined radios which usually concentrates on the physical layer. The generic protocol stack comprises common protocol functionality and behavior which are extended through specific parts of the targeted radio access technology. This paper considers parameterizable modules of basic protocol functions residing in the data link layer of the ISO/OSI model. System-specific functionality of the protocol software is realized through adequate parameterization and composition of the generic modules. The generic protocol stack allows an efficient realization of reconfigurable protocol software and enables a completely reconfigurable wireless communication system. It is a first step from side-by-side realized, preinstalled modes in a terminal towards a dynamic reconfigurable anymode terminal. The presented modules of the generic protocol stack can also be regarded as a toolbox for the accelerated and cost-efficient development of future communication protocols.

Protocol and Topology Issues for Wide-Area Satellite Interconnection of Terrestrial Optical LANs

Science.gov (United States)

Parraga, N.

2002-01-01

Apart from broadcasting, the satellite business is targeting niche markets. Wide area interconnection is considered as one of these niche markets, since it addresses operators and business LANs (B2B, business to business) in remote areas where terrestrial infrastructure is not available. These LANs - if high-speed - are typically based on optical networks such as SONET. One of the advantages of SONET is its architecture flexibility and capacity to transport all kind of applications including multimedia with a range of different transmission rates. The applications can be carried by different protocols among which the Internet Protocol (IP) or the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) are the most prominent ones. Thus, the question arises how these protocols can be interconnected via the satellite segment. The paper addresses several solutions for interworking with different protocols. For this investigation we distinguish first of all between the topology and the switching technology of the satellites. In case of a star network with transparent satellite, the satellite protocol consists of physical layer and data layer which can be directly interconnected with layer 2 interworking function to their terrestrial counterparts in the SONET backbone. For regenerative satellites the situation is more complex: here we need to distinguish the types of transport protocols being used in the terrestrial and satellite segment. Whereas IP, ATM, MPEG dominate in the terrestrial networks, satellite systems usually do not follow these standards. Some might employ minor additions (for instance, satellite specific packet headers), some might be completely proprietary. In general, interworking must be done for the data plane on top of layer 2 (data link layer), whereas for the signaling plane the interworking is on top of layer 3. In the paper we will discuss the protocol stacks for ATM, IP, and MPEG with a regenerative satellite system. As an example we will use the EuroSkyWay satellite

Use of a Microprocessor to Implement an ADCCP Protocol (Federal Standard 1003).

Science.gov (United States)

1980-07-01

results of other studies, to evaluate the operational and economic impact of incorporating various options in Federal Standard 1003. The effort...the LSI interface and the microprocessor; the LSI chip deposits bytes in its buffer as the producer, and the MPU reads this data as the consumer...on the interface between the MPU and the LSI protocol chip. This requires two main processes to be running at the same time--transmit and receive. The

Silanization of silica and glass slides for DNA microarrays by impregnation and gas phase protocols: A comparative study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phaner-Goutorbe, Magali; Dugas, Vincent; Chevolot, Yann; Souteyrand, Eliane

2011-01-01

Surface immobilization of oligonucleotide probes (oligoprobes) is a key issue in the development of DNA-chips. The immobilization protocol should guarantee good availability of the probes, low non-specific adsorption and reproducibility. We have previously reported a silanization protocol with tert-butyl-11-(dimethylamino)silylundecanoate performed by impregnation (Impregnation Protocol, IP) of silica substrates from dilute silane solutions, leading to surfaces bearing carboxylic groups. In this paper, the Impregnation protocol is compared with a Gas phase Protocol (GP) which is more suited to industrial requirements such as reliable and robust processing, cost efficiency, etc.... The morphology of the oligoprobe films at the nanoscale (characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy) and the reproducibility of subsequent oligoprobes immobilization steps have been investigated for the two protocols on thermal silica (Si/SiO 2 ) and glass slide substrates. IP leads to smooth surfaces whereas GP induces the formation of islands features suggesting a non-continuous silane layer. The reproducibility of the overall surface layer (18.75 mm 2 ) has been evaluated through the covalent immobilization of a fluorescent oligoprobes. Average fluorescent signals of 6 (a.u.) and 4 (a.u.) were observed for IP and GP, respectively, with a standard deviation of 1 for both protocols. Thus, despite a morphological difference of the silane layer at the nanometer scale, the density of the immobilized probes remained similar.

Selecting corporate political tactics: The Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Getz, K.A.

1991-01-01

This study examines factors influencing the choice of one set of tactics over others. The case of ozone depletion is used as the research context, and the data are drawn from US companies having a stake in this issue. A model is developed which suggests that a firm's choice of political tactics (dependent variable) is dependent on the targets of political activity and the nature of the issue of concern (independent variables), and a variety of organizational and industry factors (moderating variables). The paradigm of agency is used to systematically assess the relative importance of these factors. To test the relevance of the model, an empirical study was done. The case of the Montreal protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer was chosen as a setting; and 551 firms directly affected by policy intended to protect the ozone layer were surveyed. There were 151 usable responses. Generally, the findings were consistent with the model

Streetlight Control System Based on Wireless Communication over DALI Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Bellido-Outeiriño, Francisco José; Quiles-Latorre, Francisco Javier; Moreno-Moreno, Carlos Diego; Flores-Arias, José María; Moreno-García, Isabel; Ortiz-López, Manuel

2016-01-01

Public lighting represents a large part of the energy consumption of towns and cities. Efficient management of public lighting can entail significant energy savings. This work presents a smart system for managing public lighting networks based on wireless communication and the DALI protocol. Wireless communication entails significant economic savings, as there is no need to install new wiring and visual impacts and damage to the facades of historical buildings in city centers are avoided. The DALI protocol uses bidirectional communication with the ballast, which allows its status to be controlled and monitored at all times. The novelty of this work is that it tackles all aspects related to the management of public lighting: a standard protocol, DALI, was selected to control the ballast, a wireless node based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard with a DALI interface was designed, a network layer that considers the topology of the lighting network has been developed, and lastly, some user-friendly applications for the control and maintenance of the system by the technical crews of the different towns and cities have been developed. PMID:27128923

Streetlight Control System Based on Wireless Communication over DALI Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellido-Outeiriño, Francisco José; Quiles-Latorre, Francisco Javier; Moreno-Moreno, Carlos Diego; Flores-Arias, José María; Moreno-García, Isabel; Ortiz-López, Manuel

2016-04-27

Public lighting represents a large part of the energy consumption of towns and cities. Efficient management of public lighting can entail significant energy savings. This work presents a smart system for managing public lighting networks based on wireless communication and the DALI protocol. Wireless communication entails significant economic savings, as there is no need to install new wiring and visual impacts and damage to the facades of historical buildings in city centers are avoided. The DALI protocol uses bidirectional communication with the ballast, which allows its status to be controlled and monitored at all times. The novelty of this work is that it tackles all aspects related to the management of public lighting: a standard protocol, DALI, was selected to control the ballast, a wireless node based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard with a DALI interface was designed, a network layer that considers the topology of the lighting network has been developed, and lastly, some user-friendly applications for the control and maintenance of the system by the technical crews of the different towns and cities have been developed.

Evaluating Application-Layer Traffic Optimization Cost Metrics for P2P Multimedia Streaming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poderys, Justas; Soler, José

2017-01-01

To help users of P2P communication systems perform better-than-random selection of communication peers, Internet Engineering Task Force standardized the Application Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) protocol. The ALTO provided data-routing cost metric, can be used to rank peers in P2P communicati...

Vehicular Networks and Road Safety: an Application for Emergency/Danger Situations Management Using the WAVE/802.11p Standard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peppino Fazio

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Car-to-car communication makes possible offering many services for vehicular environment, mainly to improve the safety. The decentralized kind of these networks requires new protocols to distribute information. The advantages that it offers depend on the penetration rate, that will be enough only after years since the introduction, due to the longevity of the current cars. The V2X communication requires On-Board Units (OBUs in the vehicles, and Road-Side Units (RSUs on the roads. The proposed application uses the peculiarities of the VANETs to advise danger or emergency situations with V2V and V2I message exchange. IEEE 802.11p is standard on which the communication is based, that provides the physical and the MAC layers. The WAVE protocol uses this standard, implementing other protocols defined by the family of standards IEEE P1609 in the upper layers. They define security services, resource management, multichannel operations and the message exchange protocol in WAVE. The performance of the application will be evaluated through many simulations executed in different scenarios, to provide general data independent from them.

Standardizing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D data from four Nordic population samples using the Vitamin D Standardization Program protocols: Shedding new light on vitamin D status in Nordic individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cashman, Kevin D; Dowling, Kirsten G; Škrabáková, Zuzana

2015-01-01

for the European Union are of variable quality making it difficult to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency across member states. As a consequence of the widespread, method-related differences in measurements of serum 25(OH)D concentrations, the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) developed...... protocols for standardizing existing serum 25(OH)D data from national surveys around the world. The objective of the present work was to apply the VDSP protocols to existing serum 25(OH)D data from a Danish, a Norwegian, and a Finnish population-based health survey and from a Danish randomized controlled...

The need for LWR metrology standardization: the imec roughness protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Lorusso, Gian Francesco; Sutani, Takumichi; Rutigliani, Vito; van Roey, Frieda; Moussa, Alain; Charley, Anne-Laure; Mack, Chris; Naulleau, Patrick; Constantoudis, Vassilios; Ikota, Masami; Ishimoto, Toru; Koshihara, Shunsuke

2018-03-01

As semiconductor technology keeps moving forward, undeterred by the many challenges ahead, one specific deliverable is capturing the attention of many experts in the field: Line Width Roughness (LWR) specifications are expected to be less than 2nm in the near term, and to drop below 1nm in just a few years. This is a daunting challenge and engineers throughout the industry are trying to meet these targets using every means at their disposal. However, although current efforts are surely admirable, we believe they are not enough. The fact is that a specification has a meaning only if there is an agreed methodology to verify if the criterion is met or not. Such a standardization is critical in any field of science and technology and the question that we need to ask ourselves today is whether we have a standardized LWR metrology or not. In other words, if a single reference sample were provided, would everyone measuring it get reasonably comparable results? We came to realize that this is not the case and that the observed spread in the results throughout the industry is quite large. In our opinion, this makes the comparison of LWR data among institutions, or to a specification, very difficult. In this paper, we report the spread of measured LWR data across the semiconductor industry. We investigate the impact of image acquisition, measurement algorithm, and frequency analysis parameters on LWR metrology. We review critically some of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) metrology guidelines (such as measurement box length larger than 2μm and the need to correct for SEM noise). We compare the SEM roughness results to AFM measurements. Finally, we propose a standardized LWR measurement protocol - the imec Roughness Protocol (iRP) - intended to ensure that every time LWR measurements are compared (from various sources or to specifications), the comparison is sensible and sound. We deeply believe that the industry is at a point where it is

Standard Operational Protocols in professional nursing practice: use, weaknesses and potentialities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sales, Camila Balsero; Bernardes, Andrea; Gabriel, Carmen Silvia; Brito, Maria de Fátima Paiva; Moura, André Almeida de; Zanetti, Ariane Cristina Barboza

2018-01-01

to evaluate the use of Standard Operational Protocols (SOPs) in the professional practice of the nursing team based on the theoretical framework of Donabedian, as well as to identify the weaknesses and potentialities from its implementation. Evaluative research, with quantitative approach performed with nursing professionals working in the Health Units of a city of São Paulo, composed of two stages: document analysis and subsequent application of a questionnaire to nursing professionals. A total of 247 nursing professionals participated and reported changes in the way the interventions were performed. The main weaknesses were the small number of professionals, inadequate physical structure and lack of materials. Among the potentialities were: the standardization of materials and concern of the manager and professional related to patient safety. The reassessment of SOPs is necessary, as well as the adoption of a strategy of permanent education of professionals aiming at improving the quality of care provided.

A software defined RTU multi-protocol automatic adaptation data transmission method

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Huiying; Xu, Xingwu; Wang, Zhanfeng; Ma, Weijun; Li, Sheng; Su, Yong; Pan, Yunpeng

2018-02-01

Remote terminal unit (RTU) is the core device of the monitor system in hydrology and water resources. Different devices often have different communication protocols in the application layer, which results in the difficulty in information analysis and communication networking. Therefore, we introduced the idea of software defined hardware, and abstracted the common feature of mainstream communication protocols of RTU application layer, and proposed a uniformed common protocol model. Then, various communication protocol algorithms of application layer are modularized according to the model. The executable codes of these algorithms are labeled by the virtual functions and stored in the flash chips of embedded CPU to form the protocol stack. According to the configuration commands to initialize the RTU communication systems, it is able to achieve dynamic assembling and loading of various application layer communication protocols of RTU and complete the efficient transport of sensor data from RTU to central station when the data acquisition protocol of sensors and various external communication terminals remain unchanged.

Defining standardized protocols for determining the efficacy of a postmilking teat disinfectant following experimental exposure of teats to mastitis pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Schukken, Y H; Rauch, B J; Morelli, J

2013-04-01

The objective of this paper was to define standardized protocols for determining the efficacy of a postmilking teat disinfectant following experimental exposure of teats to both Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae. The standardized protocols describe the selection of cows and herds and define the critical points in performing experimental exposure, performing bacterial culture, evaluating the culture results, and finally performing statistical analyses and reporting of the results. The protocols define both negative control and positive control trials. For negative control trials, the protocol states that an efficacy of reducing new intramammary infections (IMI) of at least 40% is required for a teat disinfectant to be considered effective. For positive control trials, noninferiority to a control disinfectant with a published efficacy of reducing new IMI of at least 70% is required. Sample sizes for both negative and positive control trials are calculated. Positive control trials are expected to require a large trial size. Statistical analysis methods are defined and, in the proposed methods, the rate of IMI may be analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. The efficacy of the test product can be evaluated while controlling for important covariates and confounders in the trial. Finally, standards for reporting are defined and reporting considerations are discussed. The use of the defined protocol is shown through presentation of the results of a recent trial of a test product against a negative control. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using the ACR/NEMA standard with TCP/IP and Ethernet

Science.gov (United States)

Chimiak, William J.; Williams, Rodney C.

1991-07-01

There is a need for a consolidated picture archival and communications system (PACS) in hospitals. At the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University (BGSM), the authors are enhancing the ACR/NEMA Version 2 protocol using UNIX sockets and TCP/IP to greatly improve connectivity. Initially, nuclear medicine studies using gamma cameras are to be sent to PACS. The ACR/NEMA Version 2 protocol provides the functionality of the upper three layers of the open system interconnection (OSI) model in this implementation. The images, imaging equipment information, and patient information are then sent in ACR/NEMA format to a software socket. From there it is handed to the TCP/IP protocol, which provides the transport and network service. TCP/IP, in turn, uses the services of IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) to complete the connectivity. The advantage of this implementation is threefold: (1) Only one I/O port is consumed by numerous nuclear medicine cameras, instead of a physical port for each camera. (2) Standard protocols are used which maximize interoperability with ACR/NEMA compliant PACSs. (3) The use of sockets allows a migration path to the transport and networking services of OSIs TP4 and connectionless network service as well as the high-performance protocol being considered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) -- the Xpress Transfer Protocol (XTP). The use of sockets also gives access to ANSI's Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) as well as other high-speed network standards.

Difficulties in controlling mobilization pain using a standardized patient-controlled analgesia protocol in burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Andreas; Kalman, Sigga; Sonesson, Lena Karin; Arvidsson, Anders; Sjöberg, Folke

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate pain relief for patients with burns during rest and mobilization with morphine according to a standard protocol for patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Eighteen patients with a mean (SD) burned TBSA% of 26 (20) were studied for 10 days. Using a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0 = no pain and 10 = unbearable pain), patients were asked to estimate their acceptable and worst experienced pain by specifying a number on a scale and at what point they would like additional analgesics. Patients were allowed free access to morphine with a PCA pump device. Bolus doses were set according to age, (100 - age)/24 = bolus dose (mg), and 6 minutes lockout time. Degrees of pain, morphine requirements, doses delivered and demanded, oral intake of food, and antiemetics given were used as endpoints. Acceptable pain (mean [SD]) was estimated to be 3.8 (1.3) on the NRS, and additional treatment was considered necessary at scores of 4.3 (1.6) or more. NRS at rest was 2.7 (2.2) and during mobilization 4.7 (2.6). Required mean morphine per day was 81 (15) mg, and the number of doses requested increased during the first 6 days after the burn. The authors found no correlation between dose of morphine required and any other variables. Background pain can be controlled adequately with a standard PCA protocol. During mobilization, the pain experienced was too intense, despite having the already high doses of morphine increased. The present protocol must be refined further to provide analgesia adequate to cover mobilization as well.

Streetlight Control System Based on Wireless Communication over DALI Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco José Bellido-Outeiriño

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Public lighting represents a large part of the energy consumption of towns and cities. Efficient management of public lighting can entail significant energy savings. This work presents a smart system for managing public lighting networks based on wireless communication and the DALI protocol. Wireless communication entails significant economic savings, as there is no need to install new wiring and visual impacts and damage to the facades of historical buildings in city centers are avoided. The DALI protocol uses bidirectional communication with the ballast, which allows its status to be controlled and monitored at all times. The novelty of this work is that it tackles all aspects related to the management of public lighting: a standard protocol, DALI, was selected to control the ballast, a wireless node based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard with a DALI interface was designed, a network layer that considers the topology of the lighting network has been developed, and lastly, some user-friendly applications for the control and maintenance of the system by the technical crews of the different towns and cities have been developed.

Fast and easy protocol for the purification of recombinant S-layer protein for synthetic biology applications

KAUST Repository

Norville, Julie E.

2011-06-17

A goal of synthetic biology is to make biological systems easier to engineer. One of the aims is to design, with nanometer-scale precision, biomaterials with well-defined properties. The surface-layer protein SbpA forms 2D arrays naturally on the cell surface of Lysinibacillus sphaericus, but also as the purified protein in solution upon the addition of divalent cations. The high propensity of SbpA to form crystalline arrays, which can be simply controlled by divalent cations, and the possibility to genetically alter the protein, make SbpA an attractive molecule for synthetic biology. To be a useful tool, however, it is important that a simple protocol can be used to produce recombinant wild-type and modified SbpA in large quantities and in a biologically active form. The present study addresses this requirement by introducing a mild and non-denaturing purification protocol to produce milligram quantities of recombinant, active SbpA.

Standard Operational Protocols in professional nursing practice: use, weaknesses and potentialities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila Balsero Sales

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the use of Standard Operational Protocols (SOPs in the professional practice of the nursing team based on the theoretical framework of Donabedian, as well as to identify the weaknesses and potentialities from its implementation. Method: Evaluative research, with quantitative approach performed with nursing professionals working in the Health Units of a city of São Paulo, composed of two stages: document analysis and subsequent application of a questionnaire to nursing professionals. Results: A total of 247 nursing professionals participated and reported changes in the way the interventions were performed. The main weaknesses were the small number of professionals, inadequate physical structure and lack of materials. Among the potentialities were: the standardization of materials and concern of the manager and professional related to patient safety. Conclusion: The reassessment of SOPs is necessary, as well as the adoption of a strategy of permanent education of professionals aiming at improving the quality of care provided.

A Real-Time GPP Software-Defined Radio Testbed for the Physical Layer of Wireless Standards

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schiphorst, Roelof; Hoeksema, F.W.; Slump, Cornelis H.

2005-01-01

We present our contribution to the general-purpose-processor-(GPP)-based radio. We describe a baseband software-defined radio testbed for the physical layer of wireless LAN standards. All physical layer functions have been successfully mapped on a Pentium 4 processor that performs these functions in

Mac protocols for wireless sensor network (wsn): a comparative study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arshad, J.; Akram, Q.; Saleem, Y.

2014-01-01

Data communication between nodes is carried out under Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol which is defined at data link layer. The MAC protocols are responsible to communicate and coordinate between nodes according to the defined standards in WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks). The design of a MAC protocol should also address the issues of energy efficiency and transmission efficiency. There are number of MAC protocols that exist in the literature proposed for WSN. In this paper, nine MAC protocols which includes S-MAC, T-MAC, Wise-MAC, Mu-MAC, Z-MAC, A-MAC, D-MAC, B-MAC and B-MAC+ for WSN have been explored, studied and analyzed. These nine protocols are classified in contention based and hybrid (combination of contention and schedule based) MAC protocols. The goal of this comparative study is to provide a basis for MAC protocols and to highlight different mechanisms used with respect to parameters for the evaluation of energy and transmission efficiency in WSN. This study also aims to give reader a better understanding of the concepts, processes and flow of information used in these MAC protocols for WSN. A comparison with respect to energy reservation scheme, idle listening avoidance, latency, fairness, data synchronization, and throughput maximization has been presented. It was analyzed that contention based MAC protocols are less energy efficient as compared to hybrid MAC protocols. From the analysis of contention based MAC protocols in term of energy consumption, it was being observed that protocols based on preamble sampling consume lesser energy than protocols based on static or dynamic sleep schedule. (author)

Standardizing data exchange for clinical research protocols and case report forms: An assessment of the suitability of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Operational Data Model (ODM).

Science.gov (United States)

Huser, Vojtech; Sastry, Chandan; Breymaier, Matthew; Idriss, Asma; Cimino, James J

2015-10-01

Efficient communication of a clinical study protocol and case report forms during all stages of a human clinical study is important for many stakeholders. An electronic and structured study representation format that can be used throughout the whole study life-span can improve such communication and potentially lower total study costs. The most relevant standard for representing clinical study data, applicable to unregulated as well as regulated studies, is the Operational Data Model (ODM) in development since 1999 by the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC). ODM's initial objective was exchange of case report forms data but it is increasingly utilized in other contexts. An ODM extension called Study Design Model, introduced in 2011, provides additional protocol representation elements. Using a case study approach, we evaluated ODM's ability to capture all necessary protocol elements during a complete clinical study lifecycle in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health. ODM offers the advantage of a single format for institutions that deal with hundreds or thousands of concurrent clinical studies and maintain a data warehouse for these studies. For each study stage, we present a list of gaps in the ODM standard and identify necessary vendor or institutional extensions that can compensate for such gaps. The current version of ODM (1.3.2) has only partial support for study protocol and study registration data mainly because it is outside the original development goal. ODM provides comprehensive support for representation of case report forms (in both the design stage and with patient level data). Inclusion of requirements of observational, non-regulated or investigator-initiated studies (outside Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation) can further improve future revisions of the standard. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Modelling the protocol stack in NCS with deterministic and stochastic petri net

Science.gov (United States)

Hui, Chen; Chunjie, Zhou; Weifeng, Zhu

2011-06-01

Protocol stack is the basis of the networked control systems (NCS). Full or partial reconfiguration of protocol stack offers both optimised communication service and system performance. Nowadays, field testing is unrealistic to determine the performance of reconfigurable protocol stack; and the Petri net formal description technique offers the best combination of intuitive representation, tool support and analytical capabilities. Traditionally, separation between the different layers of the OSI model has been a common practice. Nevertheless, such a layered modelling analysis framework of protocol stack leads to the lack of global optimisation for protocol reconfiguration. In this article, we proposed a general modelling analysis framework for NCS based on the cross-layer concept, which is to establish an efficiency system scheduling model through abstracting the time constraint, the task interrelation, the processor and the bus sub-models from upper and lower layers (application, data link and physical layer). Cross-layer design can help to overcome the inadequacy of global optimisation based on information sharing between protocol layers. To illustrate the framework, we take controller area network (CAN) as a case study. The simulation results of deterministic and stochastic Petri-net (DSPN) model can help us adjust the message scheduling scheme and obtain better system performance.

Standardized communication protocol for BAS (IEIEJ/p); BAS hyojun interface shiyo (IEIEJ/p)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toyoda, T. [Hitachi Building System Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2000-10-05

For the BEMS user, to construct his BEMS tinder the multiple vendors environment is very beneficial because he could choice the most appropriate vendor among many vendors about every subsystem for the view point of technique and cost at any time. The effective tool which makes the BEMS tinder the multiple environment possible is the BACnet protocol which had developed and been standardized by ANSI/ASHRAE of U.S.. Institute of Electrical Installation Engineers-of Japan (IEIEJ) offers IEIEJ/p based on BACnet as IEIEJ's standard which is added the function of autonomous decentralized control to enhance the BEMS reliability to fit the Japanese multiple vendors environment, In this paper I present the outline of it's specification and feature of IEIEJ/p. (author)

Interoperability and Reliability of Multiplatform MPLS VPN: Comparison of Traffic Engineering with RSVP-TE Protocol and LDP Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nanang Ismail

2017-10-01

48% of packet loss per 100 sent packets while on RSVP packet loss percentage is 35.5% per 100 sent packets. Both protocols have interoperability on the third layer of multiplatform MPLS VPN, but on heavy loaded traffic condition, RSVP protocol has better reliability than the LDP protocol.

A protocol using coho salmon to monitor Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan standards and guidelines for fish habitat.

Science.gov (United States)

M.D. Bryant; Trent McDonald; R. Aho; B.E. Wright; Michelle Bourassa Stahl

2008-01-01

We describe a protocol to monitor the effectiveness of the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) management standards for maintaining fish habitat. The protocol uses juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in small tributary streams in forested watersheds. We used a 3-year pilot study to develop detailed methods to estimate juvenile salmonid...

Introduction of a standardized multimodality image protocol for navigation-guided surgery of suspected low-grade gliomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Mert, Aygül; Kiesel, Barbara; Wöhrer, Adelheid; Martínez-Moreno, Mauricio; Minchev, Georgi; Furtner, Julia; Knosp, Engelbert; Wolfsberger, Stefan; Widhalm, Georg

2015-01-01

OBJECT Surgery of suspected low-grade gliomas (LGGs) poses a special challenge for neurosurgeons due to their diffusely infiltrative growth and histopathological heterogeneity. Consequently, neuronavigation with multimodality imaging data, such as structural and metabolic data, fiber tracking, and 3D brain visualization, has been proposed to optimize surgery. However, currently no standardized protocol has been established for multimodality imaging data in modern glioma surgery. The aim of this study was therefore to define a specific protocol for multimodality imaging and navigation for suspected LGG. METHODS Fifty-one patients who underwent surgery for a diffusely infiltrating glioma with nonsignificant contrast enhancement on MRI and available multimodality imaging data were included. In the first 40 patients with glioma, the authors retrospectively reviewed the imaging data, including structural MRI (contrast-enhanced T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and FLAIR sequences), metabolic images derived from PET, or MR spectroscopy chemical shift imaging, fiber tracking, and 3D brain surface/vessel visualization, to define standardized image settings and specific indications for each imaging modality. The feasibility and surgical relevance of this new protocol was subsequently prospectively investigated during surgery with the assistance of an advanced electromagnetic navigation system in the remaining 11 patients. Furthermore, specific surgical outcome parameters, including the extent of resection, histological analysis of the metabolic hotspot, presence of a new postoperative neurological deficit, and intraoperative accuracy of 3D brain visualization models, were assessed in each of these patients. RESULTS After reviewing these first 40 cases of glioma, the authors defined a specific protocol with standardized image settings and specific indications that allows for optimal and simultaneous visualization of structural and metabolic data, fiber tracking, and 3D brain

Communications standards

CERN Document Server

Stokes, A V

1986-01-01

Communications Standards deals with the standardization of computer communication networks. This book examines the types of local area networks (LANs) that have been developed and looks at some of the relevant protocols in more detail. The work of Project 802 is briefly discussed, along with a protocol which has developed from one of the LAN standards and is now a de facto standard in one particular area, namely the Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP). Factors that affect the usage of networks, such as network management and security, are also considered. This book is divided into three se

Standardized terminology for clinical trial protocols based on top-level ontological categories.

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, B; Herre, H; Lippoldt, K; Loeffler, M

2004-01-01

This paper describes a new method for the ontologically based standardization of concepts with regard to the quality assurance of clinical trial protocols. We developed a data dictionary for medical and trial-specific terms in which concepts and relations are defined context-dependently. The data dictionary is provided to different medical research networks by means of the software tool Onto-Builder via the internet. The data dictionary is based on domain-specific ontologies and the top-level ontology of GOL. The concepts and relations described in the data dictionary are represented in natural language, semi-formally or formally according to their use.

Accelerated rehabilitation compared with a standard protocol after distal radial fractures treated with volar open reduction and internal fixation: a prospective, randomized, controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brehmer, Jess L; Husband, Jeffrey B

2014-10-01

There are relatively few studies in the literature that specifically evaluate accelerated rehabilitation protocols for distal radial fractures treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). The purpose of this study was to compare the early postoperative outcomes (at zero to twelve weeks postoperatively) of patients enrolled in an accelerated rehabilitation protocol with those of patients enrolled in a standard rehabilitation protocol following ORIF for a distal radial fracture. We hypothesized that patients with accelerated rehabilitation after volar ORIF for a distal radial fracture would have an earlier return to function compared with patients who followed a standard protocol. From November 2007 to November 2010, eighty-one patients with an unstable distal radial fracture were prospectively randomized to follow either an accelerated or a standard rehabilitation protocol after undergoing ORIF with a volar plate for a distal radial fracture. Both groups began with gentle active range of motion at three to five days postoperatively. At two weeks, the accelerated group initiated wrist/forearm passive range of motion and strengthening exercises, whereas the standard group initiated passive range of motion and strengthening at six weeks postoperatively. Patients were assessed at three to five days, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, twelve weeks, and six months postoperatively. Outcomes included Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) scores (primary outcome) and measurements of wrist flexion/extension, supination, pronation, grip strength, and palmar pinch. The patients in the accelerated group had better mobility, strength, and DASH scores at the early postoperative time points (zero to eight weeks postoperatively) compared with the patients in the standard rehabilitation group. The difference between the groups was both clinically relevant and statistically significant. Patients who follow an accelerated rehabilitation

Link-layer Jamming Attacks on S-MAC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Law, Y.W.; Hartel, Pieter H.; den Hartog, Jeremy; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2004-01-01

We argue that among denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, link-layer jamming is a more attractive option to attackers than radio jamming is. By exploiting the semantics of the link-layer protocol (aka MAC protocol), an attacker can achieve better efficiency than blindly jamming the radio signals alone.

Link-layer jamming attacks on S-MAC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Law, Y.W.; Hartel, Pieter H.; den Hartog, Jeremy; Havinga, Paul J.M.

We argue that among denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, link-layer jamming is a more attractive option to attackers than radio jamming is. By exploiting the semantics of the link-layer protocol (aka MAC protocol), an attacker can achieve better efficiency than blindly jamming the radio signals alone.

The Network Protocol Analysis Technique in Snort

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Qing-Xiu

Network protocol analysis is a network sniffer to capture data for further analysis and understanding of the technical means necessary packets. Network sniffing is intercepted by packet assembly binary format of the original message content. In order to obtain the information contained. Required based on TCP / IP protocol stack protocol specification. Again to restore the data packets at protocol format and content in each protocol layer. Actual data transferred, as well as the application tier.

Standardization and Optimization of Computed Tomography Protocols to Achieve Low-Dose

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Cynthia; Cody, Dianna D.; Gupta, Rajiv; Hess, Christopher P.; Kalra, Mannudeep K.; Kofler, James M.; Krishnam, Mayil S.; Einstein, Andrew J.

2014-01-01

The increase in radiation exposure due to CT scans has been of growing concern in recent years. CT scanners differ in their capabilities and various indications require unique protocols, but there remains room for standardization and optimization. In this paper we summarize approaches to reduce dose, as discussed in lectures comprising the first session of the 2013 UCSF Virtual Symposium on Radiation Safety in Computed Tomography. The experience of scanning at low dose in different body regions, for both diagnostic and interventional CT procedures, is addressed. An essential primary step is justifying the medical need for each scan. General guiding principles for reducing dose include tailoring a scan to a patient, minimizing scan length, use of tube current modulation and minimizing tube current, minimizing-tube potential, iterative reconstruction, and periodic review of CT studies. Organized efforts for standardization have been spearheaded by professional societies such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Finally, all team members should demonstrate an awareness of the importance of minimizing dose. PMID:24589403

High-Performance CCSDS AOS Protocol Implementation in FPGA

Science.gov (United States)

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

2010-01-01

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

A Standard Data Access Layer for Fusion Devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neto, A.; Fernandes, H.; Valcarcel, D.; Varandas, C.; Vega, J.; Sanchez, E.; Pena, A.; Hron, M.

2006-01-01

Each EURATOM association stores data using proprietary schemes, usually developed by the research unit or using third party software. The temporary exchange of researchers between laboratories is a common practice nowadays. When the researchers returns to the home laboratory, usually there is the need to continue to follow the work started in the foreign country. The quantity of available data has also become enormous and the principal data index is changing from the shot number to time and events, where the shot number is just one of the most relevant. To solve these problems a common software layer between end-users and laboratories must exist. The components needed to create this software abstraction layer, between users and laboratories data, have already been developed using an universal and well known remote procedure call standard based on XML: XML-RPC. The library allows data retrieving using the same methods for all associations. Users are authenticated through the PAPI system (http://papi.rediris.es), allowing each organization to use its own authentication schema. Presently there are libraries and server implementations in Java and C++. These libraries have been included and tested in some of the most common data analysis programs like MatLab and IDL. The system is already being used in ISTTOK/PT and CASTOR/CZ. (author)

Distributed Cross-layer Monitoring in Wireless Mesh Networks

OpenAIRE

Panmin, Ye; Yong,

2009-01-01

Wireless mesh networks has rapid development over the last few years. However, due to properties such as distributed infrastructure and interference, which strongly affect the performance of wireless mesh networks, developing technology has to face the challenge of architecture and protocol design issues. Traditional layered protocols do not function efficiently in multi-hop wireless environments. To get deeper understanding on interaction of the layered protocols and optimize the performance...

A universal data access and protocol integration mechanism for smart home

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Pengfei; Yang, Qi; Zhang, Xuan

2013-03-01

With the lack of standardized or completely missing communication interfaces in home electronics, there is no perfect solution to address every aspect in smart homes based on existing protocols and technologies. In addition, the central control unit (CCU) of smart home system working point-to-point between the multiple application interfaces and the underlying hardware interfaces leads to its complicated architecture and unpleasant performance. A flexible data access and protocol integration mechanism is required. The current paper offers a universal, comprehensive data access and protocol integration mechanism for a smart home. The universal mechanism works as a middleware adapter with unified agreements of the communication interfaces and protocols, offers an abstraction of the application level from the hardware specific and decoupling the hardware interface modules from the application level. Further abstraction for the application interfaces and the underlying hardware interfaces are executed based on adaption layer to provide unified interfaces for more flexible user applications and hardware protocol integration. This new universal mechanism fundamentally changes the architecture of the smart home and in some way meets the practical requirement of smart homes more flexible and desirable.

An Advanced Encryption Standard Powered Mutual Authentication Protocol Based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography for RFID, Proven on WISP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaauldin Ibrahim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Information in patients’ medical histories is subject to various security and privacy concerns. Meanwhile, any modification or error in a patient’s medical data may cause serious or even fatal harm. To protect and transfer this valuable and sensitive information in a secure manner, radio-frequency identification (RFID technology has been widely adopted in healthcare systems and is being deployed in many hospitals. In this paper, we propose a mutual authentication protocol for RFID tags based on elliptic curve cryptography and advanced encryption standard. Unlike existing authentication protocols, which only send the tag ID securely, the proposed protocol could also send the valuable data stored in the tag in an encrypted pattern. The proposed protocol is not simply a theoretical construct; it has been coded and tested on an experimental RFID tag. The proposed scheme achieves mutual authentication in just two steps and satisfies all the essential security requirements of RFID-based healthcare systems.

Design and FPGA implementation for MAC layer of Ethernet PON

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zengxi; Lin, Rujian; Chen, Jian; Ye, Jiajun; Chen, Xinqiao

2004-04-01

Ethernet passive optical network (EPON), which represents the convergence of low-cost, high-bandwidth and supporting multiple services, appears to be one of the best candidates for the next-generation access network. The work of standardizing EPON as a solution for access network is still underway in the IEEE802.3ah Ethernet in the first mile (EFM) task force. The final release is expected in 2004. Up to now, there has been no standard application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip available which fulfills the functions of media access control (MAC) layer of EPON. The MAC layer in EPON system has many functions, such as point-to-point emulation (P2PE), Ethernet MAC functionality, multi-point control protocol (MPCP), network operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) and link security. To implement those functions mentioned above, an embedded real-time operating system (RTOS) and a flexible programmable logic device (PLD) with an embedded processor are used. The software and hardware functions in MAC layer are realized through programming embedded microprocessor and field programmable gate array(FPGA). Finally, some experimental results are given in this paper. The method stated here can provide a valuable reference for developing EPON MAC layer ASIC.

Development of high-reliable real-time communication network protocol for SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

1999-04-01

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

Energy Efficient Network Protocols for Wireless and Mobile Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sivalingam, Krishna

2001-01-01

... (also called power aware) network protocols for wireless and mobile networks. Battery power limitations are a very serious concern, and it is essential to study energy efficient protocol design at different layers of the network protocol stack...

Layering of IFRS and Dual Institutionality of Accounting Standards in Belarus

OpenAIRE

Alexander, David; Alon, Anna

2017-01-01

Submitted version of an article published in the journal Accounting in Europe. There is an ongoing debate about the applicability and efficacy of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in countries with diverse institutional infrastructures. We examine financial reporting in Belarus and factors that are shaping its development. In Belarus, IFRS has been adopted through layering where it is an additional requirement to the existing reporting specified by the national ac...

Study on Cloud Security Based on Trust Spanning Tree Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-09-01

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

Compact Modbus TCP/IP protocol for data acquisition systems based on limited hardware resources

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Q.; Jin, B.; Wang, D.; Wang, Y.; Liu, X.

2018-04-01

The Modbus TCP/IP has been a standard industry communication protocol and widely utilized for establishing sensor-cloud platforms on the Internet. However, numerous existing data acquisition systems built on traditional single-chip microcontrollers without sufficient resources cannot support it, because the complete Modbus TCP/IP protocol always works dependent on a full operating system which occupies abundant hardware resources. Hence, a compact Modbus TCP/IP protocol is proposed in this work to make it run efficiently and stably even on a resource-limited hardware platform. Firstly, the Modbus TCP/IP protocol stack is analyzed and the refined protocol suite is rebuilt by streamlining the typical TCP/IP suite. Then, specific implementation of every hierarchical layer is respectively presented in detail according to the protocol structure. Besides, the compact protocol is implemented in a traditional microprocessor to validate the feasibility of the scheme. Finally, the performance of the proposed scenario is assessed. The experimental results demonstrate that message packets match the frame format of Modbus TCP/IP protocol and the average bandwidth reaches to 1.15 Mbps. The compact protocol operates stably even based on a traditional microcontroller with only 4-kB RAM and 12-MHz system clock, and no communication congestion or frequent packet loss occurs.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-09-01

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

Adaptive behaviors of experts in following standard protocol in trauma management: implications for developing flexible guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Vankipuram, Mithra; Ghaemmaghami, Vafa; Patel, Vimla L

2012-01-01

Critical care environments are complex and dynamic. To adapt to such environments, clinicians may be required to make alterations to their workflows resulting in deviations from standard procedures. In this work, deviations from standards in trauma critical care are studied. Thirty trauma cases were observed in a Level 1 trauma center. Activities tracked were compared to the Advance Trauma Life Support standard to determine (i) if deviations had occurred, (ii) type of deviations and (iii) whether deviations were initiated by individuals or collaboratively by the team. Results show that expert clinicians deviated to innovate, while deviations of novices result mostly in error. Experts' well developed knowledge allows for flexibility and adaptiveness in dealing with standards, resulting in innovative deviations while minimizing errors made. Providing informatics solution, in such a setting, would mean that standard protocols would have be flexible enough to "learn" from new knowledge, yet provide strong support for the trainees.

South African Research Ethics Committee Review of Standards of Prevention in HIV Vaccine Trial Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Essack, Zaynab; Wassenaar, Douglas R

2018-04-01

HIV prevention trials provide a prevention package to participants to help prevent HIV acquisition. As new prevention methods are proven effective, this raises ethical and scientific design complexities regarding the prevention package or standard of prevention. Given its high HIV incidence and prevalence, South Africa has become a hub for HIV prevention research. For this reason, it is critical to study the implementation of relevant ethical-legal frameworks for such research in South Africa. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the practices and perspectives of eight members of South African research ethics committees (RECs) who have reviewed protocols for HIV vaccine trials. Their practices and perspectives are compared with ethics guideline requirements for standards of prevention.

A Scenario-Based Protocol Checker for Public-Key Authentication Scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Takamichi

Security protocol provides communication security for the internet. One of the important features of it is authentication with key exchange. Its correctness is a requirement of the whole of the communication security. In this paper, we introduce three attack models realized as their attack scenarios, and provide an authentication-protocol checker for applying three attack-scenarios based on the models. We also utilize it to check two popular security protocols: Secure SHell (SSH) and Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS).

MAC-layer protocol for TCP fairness in Wireless Mesh Networks

KAUST Repository

Nawab, Faisal

2012-08-01

In this paper we study the interactions of TCP and IEEE 802.11 MAC in Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs). We use a Markov chain to capture the behavior of TCP sessions, particularly the impact on network throughput performance due to the effect of queue utilization and packet relaying. A closed form solution is derived to numerically determine the throughput. Based on the developed model, we propose a distributed MAC protocol to alleviate the unfairness problem in WMNs. Our protocol uses the age of packet as a priority metric for packet scheduling. Simulation is conducted to validate our model and to illustrate the fairness characteristics of our proposed MAC protocol. We conclude that we can achieve fairness with only little impact on network capacity.

Difficulties in Controlling Mobilization Pain Using a Standardized Patient-Controlled Analgesia Protocol in Burns

OpenAIRE

Nilsson, Andreas; Kalman, Sigga; Arvidsson, Anders; Sjöberg, Folke

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate pain relief for patients with burns during rest and mobilization with morphine according to a standard protocol for patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Eighteen patients with a mean (SD) burned TBSA% of 26 (20) were studied for 10 days. Using a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0 = no pain and 10 = unbearable pain), patients were asked to estimate their acceptable and worst experienced pain by specifying a number on a scale and at what point they would like addi...

Protocol Fuel Mix reporting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-07-01

The protocol in this document describes a method for an Electricity Distribution Company (EDC) to account for the fuel mix of electricity that it delivers to its customers, based on the best available information. Own production, purchase and sale of electricity, and certificates trading are taken into account. In chapter 2 the actual protocol is outlined. In the appendixes additional (supporting) information is given: (A) Dutch Standard Fuel Mix, 2000; (B) Calculation of the Dutch Standard fuel mix; (C) Procedures to estimate and benchmark the fuel mix; (D) Quality management; (E) External verification; (F) Recommendation for further development of the protocol; (G) Reporting examples

Redundancy scheme for multi-layered accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauhan, Amit; Fatnani, Pravin

2009-01-01

The control system for SRS Indus-2 has three-layered architecture. There are VMEbus based stations at the lower two layers that are controlled by their respective CPU board. The 'Profibus' fieldbus standard is used for communication between these VME stations distributed in the field. There is a Profibus controller board at each station to implement the communication protocol. The mode of communication is master-slave (command-response) type. This paper proposes a scheme to implement redundancy at the lower two layers namely Layer-2 (Supervisory Layer / Profibus-master) and Layer-3 (Equipment Unit Interface Layer / Profibus-slave). The redundancy is for both the CPU and the communication board. The scheme uses two CPU boards and two Profi controller boards at each L-3 station. This helps in decreasing any downtime resulting either from CPU faults or communication board faults that are placed in the field area. Redundancy of Profi boards provides two active communication channels between the stations that can be used in different ways thereby increasing the availability on a communication link. Redundancy of CPU boards provides certain level of auto fault-recovery as one CPU remains active and the other CPU remains in standby mode, which takes over the control of VMEbus in case of any fault in the main CPU. (author)

A cross-layer communication framework for wireless networked control systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Israr, N.; Scanlon, W.G.; Irwin, G.W.

2009-01-01

This paper presents a robust, dynamic cross-layer wireless communication architecture for wireless networked control systems. Each layer in the proposed protocol architecture contributes to the overall goal of reliable, energy efficient communication. The protocol stack also features a

Comparison of National and International Standards of Good Egg Production Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GP Sousa

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Egg production is an important economic activity in Brazil, with about 697 million eggs produced annually. The conventional cage system is commonly used for egg production. However, there has been a growing concern for the welfare of laying hens around the world. In this context, many countries have issued laws, protocols, and other normative technical specifications to ensure the welfare of layers. This study aims at identifying similarities and differences between international standards and Brazilian protocols using the Comparative Law perspective. This article reports an analytical study of selected protocols, performing three analyses using the Comparative Law method. The research concludes that some items of the Brazilian protocols of good egg production practices, such as farm inspection, treatment of diseases, temperature, ventilation, beak trimming, feed and water supply, correspond to international specifications, whereas others, such as housing, freedom movement, use of equipment, and transport, are less strict.

Layer-by-layer assembly of patchy particles as a route to nontrivial structures

Science.gov (United States)

Patra, Niladri; Tkachenko, Alexei V.

2017-08-01

We propose a strategy for robust high-quality self-assembly of nontrivial periodic structures out of patchy particles and investigate it with Brownian dynamics simulations. Its first element is the use of specific patch-patch and shell-shell interactions between the particles, which can be implemented through differential functionalization of patched and shell regions with specific DNA strands. The other key element of our approach is the use of a layer-by-layer protocol that allows one to avoid the formation of undesired random aggregates. As an example, we design and self-assemble in silico a version of a double diamond lattice in which four particle types are arranged into bcc crystal made of four fcc sublattices. The lattice can be further converted to cubic diamond by selective removal of the particles of certain types. Our results demonstrate that by combining the directionality, selectivity of interactions, and the layer-by-layer protocol, a high-quality robust self-assembly can be achieved.

Establishment of standard x-ray qualities to be used in diagnostic level at SSDLs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A-Aziz, R.O.

2007-08-01

The objective of the present work is to modify x-ray machine (used by the secondary standard dosimetry laboratory in Sudan) to produce x-ray qualities suitable for the calibration at diagnostic level. It based on experimental evaluations. The importance of this study appears in development of protocols to calibrate the instruments used in diagnostic radiology in by good response of the instruments and low cost. In particular, the half value layer (HVL) values for the following qualities 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 and 150 were determined using various attenuation layers. Ionization chamber was used to determine the free air kerma rate at a distance of 100 cm from the x-ray generator. The obtained HVL values were compared with standard values of diagnostic levels. It was observed that the HVL of the present x-ray machine in most qualities are smaller than the standard ones. An approved method (described in the standard IEC 61267) was applied to determine the amount of additional filtration required to meet the standard values. The results show that the available cupper layers were not suitable for this purpose as most of the x-ray was absorbed in the material. Aluminum layers, on the other hand , show good performances to reduce the beams to the desired levels. The amount of additional filtration (from aluminum layers) needed in order to establish standard x-ray qualities to be used in diagnostic level were determined.(Author)

Standardized Duplex Ultrasound-Based Protocol for Early Diagnosis of Transplant Renal Artery Stenosis: Results of a Single-Institution Retrospective Cohort Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenzo Li Marzi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS is the most frequent vascular complication after kidney transplantation (KT and has been associated with potentially reversible refractory hypertension, graft dysfunction, and reduced patient survival. The aim of the study is to describe the outcomes of a standardized Duplex Ultrasound- (DU- based screening protocol for early diagnosis of TRAS and for selection of patients potentially requiring endovascular intervention. We retrospectively reviewed our prospectively collected database of KT from January 1998 to select patients diagnosed with TRAS. The follow-up protocol was based on a risk-adapted, dynamic subdivision of eligible KT patients in different risk categories (RC with different protocol strategies (PS. Of 598 patients included in the study, 52 (9% patients had hemodynamically significant TRAS and underwent percutaneous angioplasty (PTA and stent placement. Technical and clinical success rates were 97% and 90%, respectively. 7 cases of restenosis were recorded at follow-up and treated with re-PTA plus stenting. Both DU imaging and clinical parameters improved after stent placement. Prospective high-quality studies are needed to test the efficacy and safety of our protocol in larger series. Accurate trial design and standardized reporting of patient outcomes will be key to address the current clinical needs.

Miracle: The Multi-Interface Cross-Layer Extension of ns2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guerra Federico

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We present Miracle, a novel framework which extends ns2 to facilitate the simulation and the design of beyond 4G networks. Miracle enhances ns2 by providing an efficient and embedded engine for handling cross-layer messages and, at the same time, enabling the coexistence of multiple modules within each layer of the protocol stack. We also present a novel framework developed as an extension of Miracle called Miracle PHY and MAC. This framework facilitates the development of more realistic Channel, PHY and MAC modules, considering features currently lacking in most state-of-the-art simulators, while at the same time giving a strong emphasis on code modularity, interoperability and reusability. Finally, we provide an overview of the wireless technologies implemented in Miracle, discussing in particular the models for the IEEE 802.11, UMTS and WiMAX standards and for Underwater Acoustic Networks. We observe that, thanks to Miracle and its extensions, it is possible to carefully simulate complex network architectures at all the OSI layers, from the physical reception model to standard applications and system management schemes. This allows to have a comprehensive view of all the interactions among network components, which play an important role in many research areas, such as cognitive networking and cross-layer design.

Optimization and Verification of the TR-MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morshed, S.; Heijenk, Geert

2015-01-01

Energy-efficiency is an important requirement in the design of communication protocols for wireless sensor networks (WSN). TR-MAC is an energy-efficient medium access control (MAC) layer protocol for low power WSN that exploits transmitted-reference (TR) modulation in the physical layer. The

Data distribution architecture based on standard real time protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Vega, J.; Pereira, A.; Portas, A.

2009-01-01

Data distribution architecture (DDAR) has been designed conforming to new requirements, taking into account the type of data that is going to be generated from experiments in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The main goal of this architecture is to implement a system that is able to manage on line all data that is being generated by an experiment, supporting its distribution for: processing, storing, analysing or visualizing. The first objective is to have a distribution architecture that supports long pulse experiments (even hours). The described system is able to distribute, using real time protocol (RTP), stored data or live data generated while the experiment is running. It enables researchers to access data on line instead of waiting for the end of the experiment. Other important objective is scalability, so the presented architecture can easily grow based on actual necessities, simplifying estimation and design tasks. A third important objective is security. In this sense, the architecture is based on standards, so complete security mechanisms can be applied, from secure transmission solutions until elaborated access control policies, and it is full compatible with multi-organization federation systems as PAPI or Shibboleth.

Data distribution architecture based on standard real time protocol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, R. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda. Complutense No. 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain)], E-mail: rodrigo.castro@ciemat.es; Vega, J.; Pereira, A.; Portas, A. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda. Complutense No. 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2009-06-15

Data distribution architecture (DDAR) has been designed conforming to new requirements, taking into account the type of data that is going to be generated from experiments in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The main goal of this architecture is to implement a system that is able to manage on line all data that is being generated by an experiment, supporting its distribution for: processing, storing, analysing or visualizing. The first objective is to have a distribution architecture that supports long pulse experiments (even hours). The described system is able to distribute, using real time protocol (RTP), stored data or live data generated while the experiment is running. It enables researchers to access data on line instead of waiting for the end of the experiment. Other important objective is scalability, so the presented architecture can easily grow based on actual necessities, simplifying estimation and design tasks. A third important objective is security. In this sense, the architecture is based on standards, so complete security mechanisms can be applied, from secure transmission solutions until elaborated access control policies, and it is full compatible with multi-organization federation systems as PAPI or Shibboleth.

[Food Security in Europe: comparison between the "Hygiene Package" and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) & International Food Standard (IFS) protocols].

Science.gov (United States)

Stilo, A; Parisi, S; Delia, S; Anastasi, F; Bruno, G; Laganà, P

2009-01-01

The birth of Hygiene Package and of the Reg. CE no 2073/2005 in the food production field signalled a change in Italy. This process started in Italy in 1997 with the legislative decree no 155 on Self-control but in reality, it was implemented in the UK in 1990 with the promulgation of the Food Safety Act. This legal act was influenced by some basic rules corresponding to the application of HACCP standards. Since 1990 the British chains of distribution (Retailers) have involved all aspects of the food line in this type of responsibility. Due to this growing awareness for a need for greater regulation, a protocol, edited by British Retail Consortium was created in 1998. This protocol acted as a "stamp" of approval for food products and it is now known as the BRC Global Food Standard. In July 2008, this protocol became effective in its fifth version. After the birth of BRC, also French and German Retailers have established a standard practically equivalent and perhaps more pertinent to safety food, that is International Food Standard (IFS). The new approach is specific to the food field and strictly applies criteria which will ensure "safety, quality and legality" of food products, similarly to ISO 22000:2005 (mainly based on BRC & IFS past experiences). New standards aim to create a sort of green list with fully "proper and fit" Suppliers only, because of comprehensible exigencies of Retailers. It is expected, as we have shown, that Auditor authorities who are responsible for ensuring that inspections are now carried out like the Hygiene Package, will find these new standards useful. The advantages of streamlining this system is that it will allow enterprises to diligently enforce food safety practices without fear of upset or legal consequence, to improve the quality (HACCP) of management & traceability system; to restrict wastes, reprocessing and withdrawal of products. However some discordances about the interpretation of certain sub-field norms (e.g., water

Analysis of 855 upper extremity fistulas created using a standard protocol: the role of graft extension to achieve functional status.

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, Bassan J; Perez, Enrique R; Tabbara, Marwan

2013-06-01

The Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative (FFBI) has been one of the most important national programs to help achieve considerable improvements in the care of patients on chronic hemodialysis. FFBI has helped place guidelines to push practitioners to reduce the use of tunneled central venous catheters and to increase the rate of arteriovenous fistula use in patients requiring chronic hemodialysis access. However, despite current guidelines, no specific protocols exist for the creation and management of autogenous arteriovenous fistulas and outcomes at most centers are below national benchmarks. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of a standard protocol used at our institution for the creation of autogenous upper extremity fistulas for hemodialysis access in achieving early cannulation and early removal of tunneled dialysis catheters. Our review encompasses 855 consecutive autogenous fistulas created over a 10-year period. Our findings suggest that the use of a standard protocol for creation and management of autogenous fistulas can help increase the rate of functional accesses over national benchmarks. Additionally, extension/conversion of malfunctioning fistulas to grafts appears to be an excellent method to expedite removal of a tunneled dialysis catheter with concomitant preservation of a fistula.

DNA repair protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjergbæk, Lotte

In its 3rd edition, this Methods in Molecular Biology(TM) book covers the eukaryotic response to genomic insult including advanced protocols and standard techniques in the field of DNA repair. Offers expert guidance for DNA repair, recombination, and replication. Current knowledge of the mechanisms...... that regulate DNA repair has grown significantly over the past years with technology advances such as RNA interference, advanced proteomics and microscopy as well as high throughput screens. The third edition of DNA Repair Protocols covers various aspects of the eukaryotic response to genomic insult including...... recent advanced protocols as well as standard techniques used in the field of DNA repair. Both mammalian and non-mammalian model organisms are covered in the book, and many of the techniques can be applied with only minor modifications to other systems than the one described. Written in the highly...

FPGA based data-flow injection module at 10 Gbit/s reading data from network exported storage and using standard protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemouzy, B; Garnier, J-C; Neufeld, N

2011-01-01

The goal of the LHCb readout upgrade is to accelerate the DAQ to 40 MHz. Such a DAQ system will certainly employ 10 Gigabit or similar technologies and might also need new networking protocols such as a customized, light-weight TCP or more specialized protocols. A test module is being implemented to be integrated in the existing LHCb infrastructure. It is a multiple 10-Gigabit traffic generator, driven by a Stratix IV FPGA, and flexible enough to generate LHCb's raw data packets. Traffic data are either internally generated or read from external storage via the network. We have implemented a light-weight industry standard protocol ATA over Ethernet (AoE) and we present an outlook of using a file-system on these network-exported disk-drivers.

e-SCP-ECG+ Protocol: An Expansion on SCP-ECG Protocol for Health Telemonitoring—Pilot Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George J. Mandellos

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Standard Communication Protocol for Computer-assisted Electrocardiography (SCP-ECG provides standardized communication among different ECG devices and medical information systems. This paper extends the use of this protocol in order to be included in health monitoring systems. It introduces new sections into SCP-ECG structure for transferring data for positioning, allergies, and five additional biosignals: noninvasive blood pressure (NiBP, body temperature (Temp, Carbon dioxide (CO2, blood oxygen saturation (SPO2, and pulse rate. It also introduces new tags in existing sections for transferring comprehensive demographic data. The proposed enhanced version is referred to as e-SCP-ECG+ protocol. This paper also considers the pilot implementation of the new protocol as a software component in a Health Telemonitoring System.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry: protocol standardization and database expansion for rapid identification of clinically important molds.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Saikat; Singh, Pankaj; Rudramurthy, Shivaprakash M; Chakrabarti, Arunaloke; Ghosh, Anup K

2017-12-01

To standardize the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry protocols and expansion of existing Bruker Biotyper database for mold identification. Four different sample preparation methods (protocol A, B, C and D) were evaluated. On analyzing each protein extraction method, reliable identification and best log scores were achieved through protocol D. The same protocol was used to identify 153 clinical isolates. Of these 153, 123 (80.3%) were accurately identified by using existing database and remaining 30 (19.7%) were not identified due to unavailability in database. On inclusion of missing main spectrum profile in existing database, all 153 isolates were identified. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry can be used for routine identification of clinically important molds.

Establishment and intra-/inter-laboratory validation of a standard protocol of reactive oxygen species assay for chemical photosafety evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Onoue, Satomi; Hosoi, Kazuhiro; Wakuri, Shinobu; Iwase, Yumiko; Yamamoto, Toshinobu; Matsuoka, Naoko; Nakamura, Kazuichi; Toda, Tsuguto; Takagi, Hironori; Osaki, Naoto; Matsumoto, Yasuhiro; Kawakami, Satoru; Seto, Yoshiki; Kato, Masashi; Yamada, Shizuo; Ohno, Yasuo; Kojima, Hajime

2013-11-01

A reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay was previously developed for photosafety evaluation of pharmaceuticals, and the present multi-center study aimed to establish and validate a standard protocol for ROS assay. In three participating laboratories, two standards and 42 coded chemicals, including 23 phototoxins and 19 nonphototoxic drugs/chemicals, were assessed by the ROS assay according to the standardized protocol. Most phototoxins tended to generate singlet oxygen and/or superoxide under UV-vis exposure, but nonphototoxic chemicals were less photoreactive. In the ROS assay on quinine (200 µm), a typical phototoxic drug, the intra- and inter-day precisions (coefficient of variation; CV) were found to be 1.5-7.4% and 1.7-9.3%, respectively. The inter-laboratory CV for quinine averaged 15.4% for singlet oxygen and 17.0% for superoxide. The ROS assay on 42 coded chemicals (200 µm) provided no false negative predictions upon previously defined criteria as compared with the in vitro/in vivo phototoxicity, although several false positives appeared. Outcomes from the validation study were indicative of satisfactory transferability, intra- and inter-laboratory variability, and predictive capacity of the ROS assay. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ambient Layer-by-Layer ZnO Assembly for Highly Efficient Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Eita, Mohamed Samir; El Labban, Abdulrahman; Cruciani, Federico; Usman, Anwar; Beaujuge, Pierre; Mohammed, Omar F.

2015-01-01

The use of metal oxide interlayers in polymer solar cells has great potential because metal oxides are abundant, thermally stable, and can be used in fl exible devices. Here, a layer-by-layer (LbL) protocol is reported as a facile, room

Comparing Short Dental Implants to Standard Dental Implants: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Rokn, Amir Reza; Keshtkar, Abbasali; Monzavi, Abbas; Hashemi, Kazem; Bitaraf, Tahereh

2018-01-18

Short dental implants have been proposed as a simpler, cheaper, and faster alternative for the rehabilitation of atrophic edentulous areas to avoid the disadvantages of surgical techniques for increasing bone volume. This review will compare short implants (4 to 8 mm) to standard implants (larger than 8 mm) in edentulous jaws, evaluating on the basis of marginal bone loss (MBL), survival rate, complications, and prosthesis failure. We will electronically search for randomized controlled trials comparing short dental implants to standard dental implants in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov with English language restrictions. We will manually search the reference lists of relevant reviews and the included articles in this review. The following journals will also be searched: European Journal of Oral Implantology, Clinical Oral Implants Research, and Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research. Two reviewers will independently perform the study selection, data extraction and quality assessment (using the Cochrane Collaboration tool) of included studies. All meta-analysis procedures including appropriate effect size combination, sub-group analysis, meta-regression, assessing publication or reporting bias will be performed using Stata (Statacorp, TEXAS) version 12.1. Short implant effectiveness will be assessed using the mean difference of MBL in terms of weighted mean difference (WMD) and standardized mean difference (SMD) using Cohen's method. The combined effect size measures in addition to the related 95% confidence intervals will be estimated by a fixed effect model. The heterogeneity of the related effect size will be assessed using a Q Cochrane test and I2 measure. The MBL will be presented by a standardized mean difference with a 95% confidence interval. The survival rate of implants, prostheses failures, and complications will be reported using a risk

Radio protocols for LTE and LTE-advanced

CERN Document Server

Yi, SeungJune; Lee, YoungDae; Park, SungJun; Jung, SungHoon

2012-01-01

Provides a unique focus on radio protocols for LTE and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) Giving readers a valuable understanding of LTE radio protocols, this book covers LTE (Long-Term Evolution) Layer 2/3 radio protocols as well as new features including LTE-Advanced. It is divided into two sections to differentiate between the two technologies' characteristics. The authors systematically explain the design principles and functions of LTE radio protocols during the development of mobile handsets. The book also provides essential knowledge on the interaction between mobile networks a

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2002-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2001-01-01

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

Reproducibility of microbial mutagenicity assays. I. Tests with Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli using a standardized protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunkel, V.C.; Zeiger, E.; Brusick, D.; McCoy, E.; McGregor, D.; Mortelmans, K.; Rosenkranz, H.S.; Simmon, V.F.

1984-01-01

The Salmonella/microsome test developed by Ames and his coworkers has been widely used in the evaluation of chemicals for genotoxic potential. Although the value of this assay is well recognized, there have been no comprehensive studies on the interlaboratory reproducibility of the method using a standardized protocol. A program was therefore initiated to compare the results obtained in four laboratories from testing a series of coded mutagens and nonmutagens using a standardized protocol. Additional objectives of this study were to compare male Fisher 344 rat, B6C3F1 mouse, and Syrian hamster liver S-9 preparations for the activation of chemicals; to compare Aroclor 1254-induced liver S-9 from all three species with the corresponding non-induced liver S-9's; and to compare the response of Escherichia coli WP-2 uvrA with the Salmonella typhimurium tester strains recommended by Ames. Since a primary use of in vitro microbial mutagenesis tests is the identification of potential carcinogens by their mutagenicity, the authors decided to compare the animal species and strains used by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program (NCI/NTP) for animal carcinogenicity studies

Phase Transition in Protocols Minimizing Work Fluctuations

Science.gov (United States)

Solon, Alexandre P.; Horowitz, Jordan M.

2018-05-01

For two canonical examples of driven mesoscopic systems—a harmonically trapped Brownian particle and a quantum dot—we numerically determine the finite-time protocols that optimize the compromise between the standard deviation and the mean of the dissipated work. In the case of the oscillator, we observe a collection of protocols that smoothly trade off between average work and its fluctuations. However, for the quantum dot, we find that as we shift the weight of our optimization objective from average work to work standard deviation, there is an analog of a first-order phase transition in protocol space: two distinct protocols exchange global optimality with mixed protocols akin to phase coexistence. As a result, the two types of protocols possess qualitatively different properties and remain distinct even in the infinite duration limit: optimal-work-fluctuation protocols never coalesce with the minimal-work protocols, which therefore never become quasistatic.

PROTOCOLS FOR INCREASING THE LIFETIME OF NODES OF AD HOC WIRELESS NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.Malarkodi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Power consumption of nodes in ad hoc networks is a critical issue as they predominantly operate on batteries. In order to improve the lifetime of an ad hoc network, all the nodes must be utilized evenly and the power required for connections must be minimized. Energy management deals with the process of managing energy resources by means of controlling the battery discharge, adjusting the transmission power and scheduling of power sources so as to increase the lifetime of the nodes of an ad hoc wireless network. In this paper, two protocols are proposed to improve the lifetime of the nodes. The first protocol assumes smart battery packages with L cells and uses dynamic programming (DP to optimally select the set of cells used to satisfy a request for power. The second one proposes a MAC layer protocol denoted as Power Aware medium Access Control (PAMAC protocol which enables the network layer to select a route with minimum total power requirement among the possible routes between a source and a destination provided all nodes in the routes have battery capacity above a threshold. The life time of the nodes using the DP based scheduling policy is found through simulation and compared with that obtained using the techniques reported in the literature. It is found that DP based policy increases the lifetime of the mobile nodes by a factor of 1.15 to 1.8. The life expectancy, the average power consumption and throughput of the network using PAMAC protocol are computed through simulation and compared with that of the other MAC layer protocols 802.11, MACA, and CSMA. Besides this, the life expectancy and average power consumption of the network for different values of threshold are also compared. From the simulation results, it is observed that PAMAC consumes the least power and provides the longest lifetime among the various MAC Layer protocols. Moreover, using PAMAC as the MAC layer protocol, the performance obtained using different routing layer

RadNet: Open network protocol for radiation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rees, B.; Olson, K.; Beckes-Talcott, J.; Kadner, S.; Wenderlich, T.; Hoy, M.; Doyle, W.; Koskelo, M.

1998-01-01

Safeguards instrumentation is increasingly being incorporated into remote monitoring applications. In the past, vendors of radiation monitoring instruments typically provided the tools for uploading the monitoring data to a host. However, the proprietary nature of communication protocols lends itself to increased computer support needs and increased installation expenses. As a result, a working group of suppliers and customers of radiation monitoring instruments defined an open network protocol for transferring packets on a local area network from radiation monitoring equipment to network hosts. The protocol was termed RadNet. While it is now primarily used for health physics instruments, RadNet's flexibility and strength make it ideal for remote monitoring of nuclear materials. The incorporation of standard, open protocols ensures that future work will not render present work obsolete; because RadNet utilizes standard Internet protocols, and is itself a non-proprietary standard. The use of industry standards also simplifies the development and implementation of ancillary services, e.g. E-main generation or even pager systems

A robust ECC based mutual authentication protocol with anonymity for session initiation protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehmood, Zahid; Chen, Gongliang; Li, Jianhua; Li, Linsen; Alzahrani, Bander

2017-01-01

Over the past few years, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is found as a substantial application-layer protocol for the multimedia services. It is extensively used for managing, altering, terminating and distributing the multimedia sessions. Authentication plays a pivotal role in SIP environment. Currently, Lu et al. presented an authentication protocol for SIP and profess that newly proposed protocol is protected against all the familiar attacks. However, the detailed analysis describes that the Lu et al.'s protocol is exposed against server masquerading attack and user's masquerading attack. Moreover, it also fails to protect the user's identity as well as it possesses incorrect login and authentication phase. In order to establish a suitable and efficient protocol, having ability to overcome all these discrepancies, a robust ECC-based novel mutual authentication mechanism with anonymity for SIP is presented in this manuscript. The improved protocol contains an explicit parameter for user to cope the issues of security and correctness and is found to be more secure and relatively effective to protect the user's privacy, user's masquerading and server masquerading as it is verified through the comprehensive formal and informal security analysis.

A robust ECC based mutual authentication protocol with anonymity for session initiation protocol.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahid Mehmood

Full Text Available Over the past few years, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP is found as a substantial application-layer protocol for the multimedia services. It is extensively used for managing, altering, terminating and distributing the multimedia sessions. Authentication plays a pivotal role in SIP environment. Currently, Lu et al. presented an authentication protocol for SIP and profess that newly proposed protocol is protected against all the familiar attacks. However, the detailed analysis describes that the Lu et al.'s protocol is exposed against server masquerading attack and user's masquerading attack. Moreover, it also fails to protect the user's identity as well as it possesses incorrect login and authentication phase. In order to establish a suitable and efficient protocol, having ability to overcome all these discrepancies, a robust ECC-based novel mutual authentication mechanism with anonymity for SIP is presented in this manuscript. The improved protocol contains an explicit parameter for user to cope the issues of security and correctness and is found to be more secure and relatively effective to protect the user's privacy, user's masquerading and server masquerading as it is verified through the comprehensive formal and informal security analysis.

Is a New Protocol for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Research or Standard Therapy?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dekking, SAS; van der Graaf, R; de Vries, Martine; Bierings, MB; van Delden, JJM; Kodish, Eric; Lantos, John

2015-01-01

In the United States, doctors generally develop new cancer chemotherapy for children by testing innovative chemotherapy protocols against existing protocols in prospective randomized trials. In the Netherlands, children with leukemia are treated by protocols that are agreed upon by the Dutch

Power Saving MAC Protocols for WSNs and Optimization of S-MAC Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simarpreet Kaur

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Low power MAC protocols have received a lot of consideration in the last few years because of their influence on the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. Since, sensors typically operate on batteries, replacement of which is often difficult. A lot of work has been done to minimize the energy expenditure and prolong the sensor lifetime through energy efficient designs, across layers. Meanwhile, the sensor network should be able to maintain a certain throughput in order to fulfill the QoS requirements of the end user, and to ensure the constancy of the network. This paper introduces different types of MAC protocols used for WSNs and proposes S‐MAC, a Medium‐Access Control protocol designed for Wireless Sensor Networks. S‐MAC uses a few innovative techniques to reduce energy consumption and support selfconfiguration. A new protocol is suggested to improve the energy efficiency, latency and throughput of existing MAC protocol for WSNs. A modification of the protocol is then proposed to eliminate the need for some nodes to stay awake longer than the other nodes which improves the energy efficiency, latency and throughput and hence increases the life span of a wireless sensor network.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Raymond S.; Barton, Richard J.

2011-01-01

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

Cross-Layer Active Predictive Congestion Control Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yinfeng Wu

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In wireless sensor networks (WSNs, there are numerous factors that may cause network congestion problems, such as the many-to-one communication modes, mutual interference of wireless links, dynamic changes of network topology and the memory-restrained characteristics of nodes. All these factors result in a network being more vulnerable to congestion. In this paper, a cross-layer active predictive congestion control scheme (CL-APCC for improving the performance of networks is proposed. Queuing theory is applied in the CL-APCC to analyze data flows of a single-node according to its memory status, combined with the analysis of the average occupied memory size of local networks. It also analyzes the current data change trends of local networks to forecast and actively adjust the sending rate of the node in the next period. In order to ensure the fairness and timeliness of the network, the IEEE 802.11 protocol is revised based on waiting time, the number of the node‟s neighbors and the original priority of data packets, which dynamically adjusts the sending priority of the node. The performance of CL-APCC, which is evaluated by extensive simulation experiments. is more efficient in solving the congestion in WSNs. Furthermore, it is clear that the proposed scheme has an outstanding advantage in terms of improving the fairness and lifetime of networks.

Cross-layer active predictive congestion control protocol for wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Jiangwen; Xu, Xiaofeng; Feng, Renjian; Wu, Yinfeng

2009-01-01

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), there are numerous factors that may cause network congestion problems, such as the many-to-one communication modes, mutual interference of wireless links, dynamic changes of network topology and the memory-restrained characteristics of nodes. All these factors result in a network being more vulnerable to congestion. In this paper, a cross-layer active predictive congestion control scheme (CL-APCC) for improving the performance of networks is proposed. Queuing theory is applied in the CL-APCC to analyze data flows of a single-node according to its memory status, combined with the analysis of the average occupied memory size of local networks. It also analyzes the current data change trends of local networks to forecast and actively adjust the sending rate of the node in the next period. In order to ensure the fairness and timeliness of the network, the IEEE 802.11 protocol is revised based on waiting time, the number of the node's neighbors and the original priority of data packets, which dynamically adjusts the sending priority of the node. The performance of CL-APCC, which is evaluated by extensive simulation experiments. is more efficient in solving the congestion in WSNs. Furthermore, it is clear that the proposed scheme has an outstanding advantage in terms of improving the fairness and lifetime of networks.

SPP: A data base processor data communications protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Fishwick, P. A.

1983-01-01

The design and implementation of a data communications protocol for the Intel Data Base Processor (DBP) is defined. The protocol is termed SPP (Service Port Protocol) since it enables data transfer between the host computer and the DBP service port. The protocol implementation is extensible in that it is explicitly layered and the protocol functionality is hierarchically organized. Extensive trace and performance capabilities have been supplied with the protocol software to permit optional efficient monitoring of the data transfer between the host and the Intel data base processor. Machine independence was considered to be an important attribute during the design and implementation of SPP. The protocol source is fully commented and is included in Appendix A of this report.

Shortened screening method for phosphorus fractionation in sediments A complementary approach to the standards, measurements and testing harmonised protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pardo, Patricia; Rauret, Gemma; Lopez-Sanchez, Jose Fermin

2004-01-01

The SMT protocol, a sediment phosphorus fractionation method harmonised and validated in the frame of the standards, measurements and testing (SMT) programme (European Commission), establishes five fractions of phosphorus according to their extractability. The determination of phosphate extracted is carried out spectrophotometrically. This protocol has been applied to 11 sediments of different origin and characteristics and the phosphorus extracted in each fraction was determined not only by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, but also by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The use of these two determination techniques allowed the differentiation between phosphorus that was present in the extracts as soluble reactive phosphorus and as total phosphorus. From the comparison of data obtained with both determination techniques a shortened screening method, for a quick evaluation of the magnitude and importance of the fractions given by the SMT protocol, is proposed and validated using two certified reference materials

Ad hoc mobile wireless networks principles, protocols, and applications

CERN Document Server

Sarkar, Subir Kumar

2013-01-01

The military, the research community, emergency services, and industrial environments all rely on ad hoc mobile wireless networks because of their simple infrastructure and minimal central administration. Now in its second edition, Ad Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks: Principles, Protocols, and Applications explains the concepts, mechanism, design, and performance of these highly valued systems. Following an overview of wireless network fundamentals, the book explores MAC layer, routing, multicast, and transport layer protocols for ad hoc mobile wireless networks. Next, it examines quality of serv

Emulation Platform for Cyber Analysis of Wireless Communication Network Protocols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Leeuwen, Brian P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Eldridge, John M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-11-01

Wireless networking and mobile communications is increasing around the world and in all sectors of our lives. With increasing use, the density and complexity of the systems increase with more base stations and advanced protocols to enable higher data throughputs. The security of data transported over wireless networks must also evolve with the advances in technologies enabling more capable wireless networks. However, means for analysis of the effectiveness of security approaches and implementations used on wireless networks are lacking. More specifically a capability to analyze the lower-layer protocols (i.e., Link and Physical layers) is a major challenge. An analysis approach that incorporates protocol implementations without the need for RF emissions is necessary. In this research paper several emulation tools and custom extensions that enable an analysis platform to perform cyber security analysis of lower layer wireless networks is presented. A use case of a published exploit in the 802.11 (i.e., WiFi) protocol family is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the described emulation platform.

LHCb: FPGA based data-flow injection module at 10 Gbit/s reading data from network exported storage and using standard protocols

CERN Multimedia

Lemouzy, B; Garnier, J-C

2010-01-01

The goal of the LHCb readout upgrade is to speed up the DAQ to 40 MHz. Such a DAQ system will certainly employ 10 Gigabit or similar technologies and might also need new networking protocols such as a customized, light-weight TCP or more specialised protocols. A test module is being implemented, which integrates in the existing LHCb infrastructure. It is a multiple 10-Gigabit traffic generator, driven by a Stratix IV FPGA, which is flexibile enough to either generate LHCb's raw data packets internally or read them from external storage via the network. For reading the data we have implemented a light-weight industry standard protocol ATA over Ethernet (AoE) and we present an outlook of using a filesystem on these network-exported disk-drivers.

CPM Test-Retest Reliability: "Standard" vs "Single Test-Stimulus" Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Granovsky, Yelena; Miller-Barmak, Adi; Goldstein, Oren; Sprecher, Elliot; Yarnitsky, David

2016-03-01

Assessment of pain inhibitory mechanisms using conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is relevant clinically in prediction of pain and analgesic efficacy. Our objective is to provide necessary estimates of intersession CPM reliability, to enable transformation of the CPM paradigm into a clinical tool. Two cohorts of young healthy subjects (N = 65) participated in two dual-session studies. In Study I, a Bath-Thermode CPM protocol was used, with hot water immersion and contact heat as conditioning- and test-stimuli, respectively, in a classical parallel CPM design introducing test-stimulus first, and then the conditioning- and repeated test-stimuli in parallel. Study II consisted of two CPM protocols: 1) Two-Thermodes, one for each of the stimuli, in the same parallel design as above, and 2) single test-stimulus (STS) protocol with a single administration of a contact heat test-stimulus, partially overlapped in time by a remote shorter contact heat as conditioning stimulus. Test-retest reliability was assessed within 3-7 days. The STS-CPM had superior reliability intraclass correlation (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.59) over Bath-Thermode (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.34) or Two-Thermodes (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.21) protocols. The hand immersion conditioning pain had higher reliability than thermode pain (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.76 vs ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.16). Conditioned test-stimulus pain scores were of good (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.62) or fair (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.43) reliability for the Bath-Thermode and the STS, respectively, but not for the Two-Thermodes protocol (ICC 2 ,: 1  = 0.20). The newly developed STS-CPM paradigm was more reliable than other CPM protocols tested here, and should be further investigated for its clinical relevance. It appears that large contact size of the conditioning-stimulus and use of single rather than dual test-stimulus pain contribute to augmentation of CPM reliability. © 2015 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e

Impact of a standardized nurse observation protocol including MEWS after Intensive Care Unit discharge.

Science.gov (United States)

De Meester, K; Das, T; Hellemans, K; Verbrugghe, W; Jorens, P G; Verpooten, G A; Van Bogaert, P

2013-02-01

Analysis of in-hospital mortality after serious adverse events (SAE's) in our hospital showed the need for more frequent observation in medical and surgical wards. We hypothesized that the incidence of SAE's could be decreased by introducing a standard nurse observation protocol. To investigate the effect of a standard nurse observation protocol implementing the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) and a color graphic observation chart. Pre- and post-intervention study by analysis of patients records for a 5-day period after Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge to 14 medical and surgical wards before (n=530) and after (n=509) the intervention. For the total study population the mean Patient Observation Frequency Per Nursing Shift (POFPNS) during the 5-day period after ICU discharge increased from .9993 (95% C.I. .9637-1.0350) in the pre-intervention period to 1.0732 (95% C.I. 1.0362-1.1101) (p=.005) in the post-intervention period. There was an increased risk of a SAE in patients with MEWS 4 or higher in the present nursing shift (HR 8.25; 95% C.I. 2.88-23.62) and the previous nursing shift (HR 12.83;95% C.I. 4.45-36.99). There was an absolute risk reduction for SAE's within 120h after ICU discharge of 2.2% (95% C.I. -0.4-4.67%) from 5.7% to 3.5%. The intervention had a positive impact on the observation frequency. MEWS had a predictive value for SAE's in patients after ICU discharge. The drop in SAE's was substantial but did not reach statistical significance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distributed Processing System for Restoration of Electric Power Distribution Network Using Two-Layered Contract Net Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Kodama, Yu; Hamagami, Tomoki

Distributed processing system for restoration of electric power distribution network using two-layered CNP is proposed. The goal of this study is to develop the restoration system which adjusts to the future power network with distributed generators. The state of the art of this study is that the two-layered CNP is applied for the distributed computing environment in practical use. The two-layered CNP has two classes of agents, named field agent and operating agent in the network. In order to avoid conflicts of tasks, operating agent controls privilege for managers to send the task announcement messages in CNP. This technique realizes the coordination between agents which work asynchronously in parallel with others. Moreover, this study implements the distributed processing system using a de-fact standard multi-agent framework, JADE(Java Agent DEvelopment framework). This study conducts the simulation experiments of power distribution network restoration and compares the proposed system with the previous system. We confirmed the results show effectiveness of the proposed system.

Development of standardized bioassay protocols for the toxicity assessment of waste, manufactured products, and effluents in Latin America: Venezuela, a Case Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriquez-Grau, J.

1993-01-01

The present status of the toxicity assessment of industrial products in Latin America is well below North America/EC standards. As an example, most of Latin America regulatory laws regarding effluent discharge are still based upon concentration limits of certain major pollutants, and BOD/COD measurements; no reference is made to the necessity of aquatic bioassay toxicity data. Aware of this imperative need, the Venezuelan Petroleum Industry (PDVSA), through its R ampersand D Corporative branch (INTEVEP) gave priority to the development of standardized acute/sublethal toxicity test protocols as sound means of evaluating their products and wastes. Throughout this presentation, the Venezuelan case will be studied, showing strategies undertaken to accelerate protocol development. Results will show the assessment of 14 different protocols encompassing a variety of species of aquatic/terrestrial organisms, and a series of toxicity test endpoints including mortality, reproductive, biological and immunological measurements, most of which are currently in use or being developed. These protocols have already yielded useful results in numerous cases where toxicity assessment was required, including evaluations of effluent, oil dispersants, drilling fluids, toxic wastes, fossil fuels and newly developed products. The Venezuelan case demonstrates that the integration of Industry, Academia and Government, which is an essential part of SETAC's philosophy, is absolutely necessary for the successful advancement of environmental scientific/regulatory issues

Protocol independent transmission method in software defined optical network

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuze; Li, Hui; Hou, Yanfang; Qiu, Yajun; Ji, Yuefeng

2016-10-01

With the development of big data and cloud computing technology, the traditional software-defined network is facing new challenges (e.i., ubiquitous accessibility, higher bandwidth, more flexible management and greater security). Using a proprietary protocol or encoding format is a way to improve information security. However, the flow, which carried by proprietary protocol or code, cannot go through the traditional IP network. In addition, ultra- high-definition video transmission service once again become a hot spot. Traditionally, in the IP network, the Serial Digital Interface (SDI) signal must be compressed. This approach offers additional advantages but also bring some disadvantages such as signal degradation and high latency. To some extent, HD-SDI can also be regard as a proprietary protocol, which need transparent transmission such as optical channel. However, traditional optical networks cannot support flexible traffics . In response to aforementioned challenges for future network, one immediate solution would be to use NFV technology to abstract the network infrastructure and provide an all-optical switching topology graph for the SDN control plane. This paper proposes a new service-based software defined optical network architecture, including an infrastructure layer, a virtualization layer, a service abstract layer and an application layer. We then dwell on the corresponding service providing method in order to implement the protocol-independent transport. Finally, we experimentally evaluate that proposed service providing method can be applied to transmit the HD-SDI signal in the software-defined optical network.

TULIP: A Link-Level Protocol for Improving TCP over Wireless Links

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Parsa, Christina; Garcia-Luna-Aceves, J. J

1999-01-01

We present the transport unaware link improvement protocol (TULIP), which dramatically improves the performance of TCP over lossy wireless links, without competing with or modifying the transport- or network-layer protocols...

Network Coding to Enhance Standard Routing Protocols in Wireless Mesh Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pahlevani, Peyman; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani; Fitzek, Frank

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a design and simulation of a locally optimized network coding protocol, called PlayNCool, for wireless mesh networks. PlayN-Cool is easy to implement and compatible with existing routing protocols and devices. This allows the system to gain from network coding capabilities i...

Optimizing the high-resolution manometry (HRM) study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, A; Ding, A; Mirza, F; Gyawali, C P

2015-02-01

Intolerance of the esophageal manometry catheter may prolong high-resolution manometry (HRM) studies and increase patient distress. We assessed the impact of obtaining the landmark phase at the end of the study when the patient has acclimatized to the HRM catheter. 366 patients (mean age 55.4 ± 0.8 years, 62.0% female) undergoing esophageal HRM over a 1-year period were studied. The standard protocol consisted of the landmark phase, 10 5 mL water swallows 20-30 s apart, and multiple rapid swallows where 4-6 2 mL swallows were administered in rapid succession. The modified protocol consisted of the landmark phase at the end of the study after test swallows. Study duration, technical characteristics, indications, and motor findings were compared between standard and modified protocols. Of the 366 patients, 89.6% underwent the standard protocol (study duration 12.9 ± 0.3 min). In 10.4% with poor catheter tolerance undergoing the modified protocol, study duration was significantly longer (15.6 ± 1.0 min, p = 0.004) despite similar duration of study maneuvers. Only elevated upper esophageal sphincter basal pressures at the beginning of the study segregated modified protocol patients. The 95th percentile time to landmark phase in the standard protocol patients was 6.1 min; as many as 31.4% of modified protocol patients could not obtain their first study maneuver within this period (p = 0.0003). Interpretation was not impacted by shifting the landmark phase to the end of the study. Modification of the HRM study protocol with the landmark phase obtained at the end of the study optimizes study duration without compromising quality. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of Protocol Uniformity Concerning Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in The Netherlands

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-01-01

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

Summary Report Panel 1: The Need for Protocols and Standards in Research on Underwater Noise Impacts on Marine Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Erbe, Christine; Ainslie, Michael A; de Jong, Christ A F; Racca, Roberto; Stocker, Michael

2016-01-01

As concern about anthropogenic noise and its impacts on marine fauna is increasing around the globe, data are being compared across populations, species, noise sources, geographic regions, and time. However, much of the raw and processed data are not comparable due to differences in measurement methodology, analysis and reporting, and a lack of metadata. Common protocols and more formal, international standards are needed to ensure the effectiveness of research, conservation, regulation and practice, and unambiguous communication of information and ideas. Developing standards takes time and effort, is largely driven by a few expert volunteers, and would benefit from stakeholders' contribution and support.

CBHRP: A Cluster Based Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network

OpenAIRE

Rashed, M. G.; Kabir, M. Hasnat; Rahim, M. Sajjadur; Ullah, Sk. Enayet

2012-01-01

A new two layer hierarchical routing protocol called Cluster Based Hierarchical Routing Protocol (CBHRP) is proposed in this paper. It is an extension of LEACH routing protocol. We introduce cluster head-set idea for cluster-based routing where several clusters are formed with the deployed sensors to collect information from target field. On rotation basis, a head-set member receives data from the neighbor nodes and transmits the aggregated results to the distance base station. This protocol ...

A Comparison Between the OSI Reference Model and the B-ISDN Protocol Reference Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staalhagen, Lars

1996-01-01

This article aims at comparing the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model (RM) and the broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) Protocol Reference Model (PRM). According to the International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunications Sector (ITU-T), the exact...... relationship between the lower layers of the OSI RM and the B-ISDN PRM is for further study. It is therefore the intention of this article to present some views on these relationships which hopefully could facilitate an interconnection between B-ISDN and data networks conforming to the OSI standards....

Is the standard compliance check protocol a valid measure of the accessibility of tobacco to underage smokers?

Science.gov (United States)

DiFranza, J.; Savageau, J.; Bouchard, J.

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVE—To determine if the standard compliance check protocol is a valid measure of the experience of underage smokers when purchasing tobacco in unfamiliar communities.
SETTING—160 tobacco outlets in eight Massachusetts communities where underage tobacco sales laws are vigorously enforced.
PROCEDURE—Completed purchase rates were compared between underage smokers who behaved normally and inexperienced non-smoking youths who were not allowed to lie or present proof of age (ID).
RESULTS—The "smoker protocol" increased the likelihood of a sale nearly sixfold over that for the non-smokers (odds ratio (OR) 5.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5 to 22). When the youths presented an ID with an underage birth date, the odds of a completed sale increased dramatically (OR 27, 95% CI 3.4 to 212). Clerks judged to be under 21 years of age were seven times more likely to make an illegal sale (OR 7.6, 95% CI 2.4 to 24.0).
CONCLUSIONS—Commonly used compliance check protocols are too artificial to reflect accurately the experience of underage smokers. The validity of compliance checks might be improved by having youths present ID, and by employing either tobacco users, or non-tobacco users who are sufficiently experienced to mimic the self confidence exhibited by tobacco users in this situation. Consideration should be given to prohibiting the sale of tobacco by individuals under 21 years of age.


Keywords: compliance check protocol; underage smokers PMID:11544386

Utilizing Cross-Layer Information to Improve Performance in JPEG2000 Decoding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannes Persson

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We focus on wireless multimedia communication and investigate how cross-layer information can be used to improve performance at the application layer, using JPEG2000 as an example. The cross-layer information is in the form of soft information from the physical layer. The soft information, which is supplied by a soft decision demodulator, yields reliability measures for the received bits and is fed into two soft input iterative JPEG2000 image decoders. When errors are detected with the error detecting mechanisms in JPEG2000, the decoders utilize the soft information to point out likely transmission errors. Hence, the decoders can correct errors and increase the image quality without making time-consuming retransmissions. We believe that the proposed decoding method utilizing soft information is suitable for a general IP-based network and that it keeps the principles of a layered structure of the protocol stack intact. Further, experimental results with images transmitted over a simulated wireless channel show that a simple decoding algorithm that utilizes soft information can give high gains in image quality compared to the standard hard-decision decoding.

Multiparametric multidetector computed tomography scanning on suspicion of hyperacute ischemic stroke: validating a standardized protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Torres Pacheco

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT scanning has enabled the early diagnosis of hyperacute brain ischemia. We aimed at validating a standardized protocol to read and report MDCT techniques in a series of adult patients. The inter-observer agreement among the trained examiners was tested, and their results were compared with a standard reading. No false positives were observed, and an almost perfect agreement (Kappa>0.81 was documented when the CT angiography (CTA and cerebral perfusion CT (CPCT map data were added to the noncontrast CT (NCCT analysis. The inter-observer agreement was higher for highly trained readers, corroborating the need for specific training to interpret these modern techniques. The authors recommend adding CTA and CPCT to the NCCT analysis in order to clarify the global analysis of structural and hemodynamic brain abnormalities. Our structured report is suitable as a script for the reproducible analysis of the MDCT of patients on suspicion of ischemic stroke.

Ambient Layer-by-Layer ZnO Assembly for Highly Efficient Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Eita, Mohamed Samir

2015-02-04

The use of metal oxide interlayers in polymer solar cells has great potential because metal oxides are abundant, thermally stable, and can be used in fl exible devices. Here, a layer-by-layer (LbL) protocol is reported as a facile, room-temperature, solution-processed method to prepare electron transport layers from commercial ZnO nanoparticles and polyacrylic acid (PAA) with a controlled and tunable porous structure, which provides large interfacial contacts with the active layer. Applying the LbL approach to bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells with an optimized ZnO layer thickness of H25 nm yields solar cell power-conversion effi ciencies (PCEs) of ≈6%, exceeding the effi ciency of amorphous ZnO interlayers formed by conventional sputtering methods. Interestingly, annealing the ZnO/PAA interlayers in nitrogen and air environments in the range of 60-300 ° C reduces the device PCEs by almost 20% to 50%, indicating the importance of conformational changes inherent to the PAA polymer in the LbL-deposited fi lms to solar cell performance. This protocol suggests a new fabrication method for solution-processed polymer solar cell devices that does not require postprocessing thermal annealing treatments and that is applicable to fl exible devices printed on plastic substrates.

Effects of Adding an Internet-Based Pain Coping Skills Training Protocol to a Standardized Education and Exercise Program for People With Persistent Hip Pain (HOPE Trial): Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennell, Kim L; Rini, Christine; Keefe, Francis; French, Simon; Nelligan, Rachel; Kasza, Jessica; Forbes, Andrew; Dobson, Fiona; Abbott, J Haxby; Dalwood, Andrew; Vicenzino, Bill; Harris, Anthony; Hinman, Rana S

2015-10-01

Persistent hip pain in older people is usually due to hip osteoarthritis (OA), a major cause of pain, disability, and psychological dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether adding an Internet-based pain coping skills training (PCST) protocol to a standardized intervention of education followed by physical therapist-instructed home exercise leads to greater reductions in pain and improvements in function. An assessor-, therapist-, and participant-blinded randomized controlled trial will be conducted. The study will be conducted in a community setting. The participants will be 142 people over 50 years of age with self-reported hip pain consistent with hip OA. Participants will be randomly allocated to: (1) a control group receiving a 24-week standardized intervention comprising an 8-week Internet-based education package followed by 5 individual physical therapy exercise sessions plus home exercises (3 times weekly) or (2) a PCST group receiving an 8-week Internet-based PCST protocol in addition to the control intervention. Outcomes will be measured at baseline and 8, 24, and 52 weeks, with the primary time point at 24 weeks. Primary outcomes are hip pain on walking and self-reported physical function. Secondary outcomes include health-related quality-of-life, participant-perceived treatment response, self-efficacy for pain management and function, pain coping attempts, pain catastrophizing, and physical activity. Measurements of adherence, adverse events, use of health services, and process measures will be collected at 24 and 52 weeks. Cost-effectiveness will be assessed at 52 weeks. A self-reported diagnosis of persistent hip pain will be used. The findings will help determine whether adding an Internet-based PCST protocol to standardized education and physical therapist-instructed home exercise is more effective than education and exercise alone for persistent hip pain. This study has the potential to guide clinical practice toward innovative

ATM and Internet protocol

CERN Document Server

Bentall, M; Turton, B

1998-01-01

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a protocol that allows data, sound and video being transferred between independent networks via ISDN links to be supplied to, and interpreted by, the various system protocols.ATM and Internet Protocol explains the working of the ATM and B-ISDN network for readers with a basic understanding of telecommunications. It provides a handy reference to everyone working with ATM who may not require the full standards in detail, but need a comprehensive guide to ATM. A substantial section is devoted to the problems of running IP over ATM and there is some discussion o

Protocol design and analysis for cooperative wireless networks

CERN Document Server

Song, Wei; Jin, A-Long

2017-01-01

This book focuses on the design and analysis of protocols for cooperative wireless networks, especially at the medium access control (MAC) layer and for crosslayer design between the MAC layer and the physical layer. It highlights two main points that are often neglected in other books: energy-efficiency and spatial random distribution of wireless devices. Effective methods in stochastic geometry for the design and analysis of wireless networks are also explored. After providing a comprehensive review of existing studies in the literature, the authors point out the challenges that are worth further investigation. Then, they introduce several novel solutions for cooperative wireless network protocols that reduce energy consumption and address spatial random distribution of wireless nodes. For each solution, the book offers a clear system model and problem formulation, details of the proposed cooperative schemes, comprehensive performance analysis, and extensive numerical and simulation results that validate th...

Emulation of Industrial Control Field Device Protocols

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-01

today. The protocol operates at the application layer of the open systems interconnection ( OSI ) model, meaning it operates independently of the...the OSI model. Their job is to receive serial data from an MTU in the Modbus RTU or ASCII protocol, encapsulate and transmit the data to another modem...facing connection and out-of-band logging capabilities over the other LAN -facing connection. Despite the fact that the hardware configuration of the

Anthropometric standardisation and quality control protocols for the construction of new, international, fetal and newborn growth standards: the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheikh Ismail, L; Knight, H E; Ohuma, E O; Hoch, L; Chumlea, W C

2013-09-01

The primary aim of the INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project is to construct new, prescriptive standards describing optimal fetal and preterm postnatal growth. The anthropometric measurements include the head circumference, recumbent length and weight of the infants, and the stature and weight of the parents. In such a large, international, multicentre project, it is critical that all study sites follow standardised protocols to ensure maximal validity of the growth and nutrition indicators used. This paper describes in detail the anthropometric training, standardisation and quality control procedures used to collect data for these new standards. The initial standardisation session was in Nairobi, Kenya, using newborns, which was followed by similar sessions in the eight participating study sites in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, UK and USA. The intraobserver and inter-observer technical error of measurement values for head circumference range from 0.3 to 0.4 cm, and for recumbent length from 0.3 to 0.5 cm. These standardisation protocols implemented at each study site worldwide ensure that the anthropometric data collected are of the highest quality to construct international growth standards. © 2013 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

A collaborative study on a Nordic standard protocol for detection and enumeration of thermotolerant Campylobacter in food (NMKL 119, 3. Ed., 2007)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosenquist, Hanne; Bengtsson, Anja; Hansen, Tina Beck

2007-01-01

A Nordic standard protocol for detection and enumeration of thermotolerant Campylobacter in food has been elaborated (NMKL 119, 3. Ed., 2007). Performance and precision characteristics of this protocol were evaluated in a collaborative study with participation of 14 laboratories from seven European...... jejuni (SLV-542). Expected concentrations (95% C.I.) (cfu g(-1) or ml(-1)) of both strains in matrices were 0.6-1.4 and 23-60 for qualitative detection, and 0.6-1.4; 23-60; and 420-1200 for semi-quantitative detection. For quantitative determination, the expected concentrations of C. jejuni/C. coli were...

Optimization of Saanen sperm genes amplification: evaluation of standardized protocols in genetically uncharacterized rural goats reared under a subtropical environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbour, Elie K; Saade, Maya F; Sleiman, Fawwak T; Hamadeh, Shady K; Mouneimne, Youssef; Kassaifi, Zeina; Kayali, Ghazi; Harakeh, Steve; Jaber, Lina S; Shaib, Houssam A

2012-10-01

The purpose of this research is to optimize quantitatively the amplification of specific sperm genes in reference genomically characterized Saanen goat and to evaluate the standardized protocols applicability on sperms of uncharacterized genome of rural goats reared under subtropical environment for inclusion in future selection programs. The optimization of the protocols in Saanen sperms included three production genes (growth hormone (GH) exons 2, 3, and 4, αS1-casein (CSN1S1), and α-lactalbumin) and two health genes (MHC class II DRB and prion (PrP)). The optimization was based on varying the primers concentrations and the inclusion of a PCR cosolvent (Triton X). The impact of the studied variables on statistically significant increase in the yield of amplicons was noticed in four out of five (80%) optimized protocols, namely in those related to GH, CSN1S1, α-lactalbumin, and PrP genes (P 0.05). The applicability of the optimized protocols of Saanen sperm genes on amplification of uncharacterized rural goat sperms revealed a 100% success in tested individuals for amplification of GH, CSN1S1, α-lactalbumin, and MHC class II DRB genes and a 75% success for the PrP gene. The significant success in applicability of the Saanen quantitatively optimized protocols to other uncharacterized genome of rural goats allows for their inclusion in future selection, targeting the sustainability of this farming system in a subtropical environment and the improvement of the farmers livelihood.

Communicating systems with UML 2 modeling and analysis of network protocols

CERN Document Server

Barrera, David Garduno

2013-01-01

This book gives a practical approach to modeling and analyzing communication protocols using UML 2. Network protocols are always presented with a point of view focusing on partial mechanisms and starting models. This book aims at giving the basis needed for anybody to model and validate their own protocols. It follows a practical approach and gives many examples for the description and analysis of well known basic network mechanisms for protocols.The book firstly shows how to describe and validate the main protocol issues (such as synchronization problems, client-server interactions, layer

Cross-Layer Design in Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shadmand A

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We consider a dynamic spectrum sharing system consisting of a primary user, whose licensed spectrum is allowed to be accessed by a secondary user as long as it does not violate the prescribed interference limit inflicted on the primary user. Assuming the Nakagami- block-fading environment, we aim at maximizing the performance of secondary user's link in terms of average spectral efficiency (ASE and error performance under the specified packet error rate (PER and average interference limit constraints. To this end, we employ a cross-layer design policy which combines adaptive power and coded discrete M-QAM modulation scheme at the physical layer with a truncated automatic repeat request (ARQ protocol at the data link layer, and simultaneously satisfies the aforementioned constraints. Numerical results affirm that the secondary link of spectrum sharing system combining ARQ with adaptive modulation and coding (AMC achieves significant gain in ASE depending on the maximum number of retransmissions initiated by the ARQ protocol. The results further indicate that the ARQ protocol essentially improves the packet loss rate performance of the secondary link.

Real-time communication protocols: an overview

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hanssen, F.T.Y.; Jansen, P.G.

2003-01-01

This paper describes several existing data link layer protocols that provide real-time capabilities on wired networks, focusing on token-ring and Carrier Sense Multiple Access based networks. Existing modifications to provide better real-time capabilities and performance are also described. Finally

Simple algorithm for improved security in the FDDI protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Lundy, G. M.; Jones, Benjamin

1993-02-01

We propose a modification to the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) protocol based on a simple algorithm which will improve confidential communication capability. This proposed modification provides a simple and reliable system which exploits some of the inherent security properties in a fiber optic ring network. This method differs from conventional methods in that end to end encryption can be facilitated at the media access control sublayer of the data link layer in the OSI network model. Our method is based on a variation of the bit stream cipher method. The transmitting station takes the intended confidential message and uses a simple modulo two addition operation against an initialization vector. The encrypted message is virtually unbreakable without the initialization vector. None of the stations on the ring will have access to both the encrypted message and the initialization vector except the transmitting and receiving stations. The generation of the initialization vector is unique for each confidential transmission and thus provides a unique approach to the key distribution problem. The FDDI protocol is of particular interest to the military in terms of LAN/MAN implementations. Both the Army and the Navy are considering the standard as the basis for future network systems. A simple and reliable security mechanism with the potential to support realtime communications is a necessary consideration in the implementation of these systems. The proposed method offers several advantages over traditional methods in terms of speed, reliability, and standardization.

Metabolomics Workbench: An international repository for metabolomics data and metadata, metabolite standards, protocols, tutorials and training, and analysis tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Sud, Manish; Fahy, Eoin; Cotter, Dawn; Azam, Kenan; Vadivelu, Ilango; Burant, Charles; Edison, Arthur; Fiehn, Oliver; Higashi, Richard; Nair, K Sreekumaran; Sumner, Susan; Subramaniam, Shankar

2016-01-04

The Metabolomics Workbench, available at www.metabolomicsworkbench.org, is a public repository for metabolomics metadata and experimental data spanning various species and experimental platforms, metabolite standards, metabolite structures, protocols, tutorials, and training material and other educational resources. It provides a computational platform to integrate, analyze, track, deposit and disseminate large volumes of heterogeneous data from a wide variety of metabolomics studies including mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) data spanning over 20 different species covering all the major taxonomic categories including humans and other mammals, plants, insects, invertebrates and microorganisms. Additionally, a number of protocols are provided for a range of metabolite classes, sample types, and both MS and NMR-based studies, along with a metabolite structure database. The metabolites characterized in the studies available on the Metabolomics Workbench are linked to chemical structures in the metabolite structure database to facilitate comparative analysis across studies. The Metabolomics Workbench, part of the data coordinating effort of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Common Fund's Metabolomics Program, provides data from the Common Fund's Metabolomics Resource Cores, metabolite standards, and analysis tools to the wider metabolomics community and seeks data depositions from metabolomics researchers across the world. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Smart maintenance of riverbanks using a standard data layer and Augmented Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Pierdicca, Roberto; Frontoni, Emanuele; Zingaretti, Primo; Mancini, Adriano; Malinverni, Eva Savina; Tassetti, Anna Nora; Marcheggiani, Ernesto; Galli, Andrea

2016-10-01

Linear buffer strips (BS) along watercourses are commonly adopted to reduce run-off, accumulation of bank-top sediments and the leaking of pesticides into fresh-waters, which strongly increase water pollution. However, the monitoring of their conditions is a difficult task because they are scattered over wide rural areas. This work demonstrates the benefits of using a standard data layer and Augmented Reality (AR) in watershed control and outlines the guideline of a novel approach for the health-check of linear BS. We designed a mobile environmental monitoring system for smart maintenance of riverbanks by embedding the AR technology within a Geographical Information System (GIS). From the technological point of view, the system's architecture consists of a cloud-based service for data sharing, using a standard data layer, and of a mobile device provided with a GPS based AR engine for augmented data visualization. The proposed solution aims to ease the overall inspection process by reducing the time required to run a survey. Indeed, ordinary operational survey conditions are usually performed basing the fieldwork on just classical digitized maps. Our application proposes to enrich inspections by superimposing information on the device screen with the same point of view of the camera, providing an intuitive visualization of buffer strip location. This way, the inspection officer can quickly and dynamically access relevant information overlaying geographic features, comments and other contents in real time. The solution has been tested in fieldwork to prove at what extent this cutting-edge technology contributes to an effective monitoring over large territorial settings. The aim is to encourage officers, land managers and practitioners toward more effective monitoring and management practices.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Raymond S.; Barton, Richard J.

2011-01-01

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

Advertisement-Based Energy Efficient Medium Access Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Surjya Sarathi

One of the main challenges that prevents the large-scale deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is providing the applications with the required quality of service (QoS) given the sensor nodes' limited energy supplies. WSNs are an important tool in supporting applications ranging from environmental and industrial monitoring, to battlefield surveillance and traffic control, among others. Most of these applications require sensors to function for long periods of time without human intervention and without battery replacement. Therefore, energy conservation is one of the main goals for protocols for WSNs. Energy conservation can be performed in different layers of the protocol stack. In particular, as the medium access control (MAC) layer can access and control the radio directly, large energy savings is possible through intelligent MAC protocol design. To maximize the network lifetime, MAC protocols for WSNs aim to minimize idle listening of the sensor nodes, packet collisions, and overhearing. Several approaches such as duty cycling and low power listening have been proposed at the MAC layer to achieve energy efficiency. In this thesis, I explore the possibility of further energy savings through the advertisement of data packets in the MAC layer. In the first part of my research, I propose Advertisement-MAC or ADV-MAC, a new MAC protocol for WSNs that utilizes the concept of advertising for data contention. This technique lets nodes listen dynamically to any desired transmission and sleep during transmissions not of interest. This minimizes the energy lost in idle listening and overhearing while maintaining an adaptive duty cycle to handle variable loads. Additionally, ADV-MAC enables energy efficient MAC-level multicasting. An analytical model for the packet delivery ratio and the energy consumption of the protocol is also proposed. The analytical model is verified with simulations and is used to choose an optimal value of the advertisement period

Estimation of the Thurstonian model for the 2-AC protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Rune Haubo Bojesen; Lee, Hye-Seong; Brockhoff, Per B.

2012-01-01

. This relationship makes it possible to extract estimates and standard errors of δ and τ from general statistical software, and furthermore, it makes it possible to combine standard regression modelling with the Thurstonian model for the 2-AC protocol. A model for replicated 2-AC data is proposed using cumulative......The 2-AC protocol is a 2-AFC protocol with a “no-difference” option and is technically identical to the paired preference test with a “no-preference” option. The Thurstonian model for the 2-AC protocol is parameterized by δ and a decision parameter τ, the estimates of which can be obtained...... by fairly simple well-known methods. In this paper we describe how standard errors of the parameters can be obtained and how exact power computations can be performed. We also show how the Thurstonian model for the 2-AC protocol is closely related to a statistical model known as a cumulative probit model...

A concept to standardize raw biosignal transmission for brain-computer interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Breitwieser, Christian; Neuper, Christa; Müller-Putz, Gernot R

2011-01-01

With this concept we introduced the attempt of a standardized interface called TiA to transmit raw biosignals. TiA is able to deal with multirate and block-oriented data transmission. Data is distinguished by different signal types (e.g., EEG, EOG, NIRS, …), whereby those signals can be acquired at the same time from different acquisition devices. TiA is built as a client-server model. Multiple clients can connect to one server. Information is exchanged via a control- and a separated data connection. Control commands and meta information are transmitted over the control connection. Raw biosignal data is delivered using the data connection in a unidirectional way. For this purpose a standardized handshaking protocol and raw data packet have been developed. Thus, an abstraction layer between hardware devices and data processing was evolved facilitating standardization.

Methodological Study to Develop Standard Operational Protocol on Oral Drug Administration for Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Bijarania, Sunil Kumar; Saini, Sushma Kumari; Verma, Sanjay; Kaur, Sukhwinder

2017-05-01

To develop standard operational protocol (SOP) on oral drug administration and checklist to assess the implementation of the developed SOP. In this prospective methodological study, SOPs were developed in five phases. In the first phase, the preliminary draft of SOPs and checklists were prepared based on literature review, assessment of current practices and focus group discussion (FGD) with bedside working nurses. In the second phase, content validity was checked with the help of Delphi technique (12 experts). Total four drafts were prepared in stages and necessary modifications were made as per suggestions after each Delphi round. Fourth Delphi round was performed after conducting a pilot study. In the fourth phase, all bedside nurses were trained as per SOPs and asked to practice accordingly and observation of thirty oral drug administrations in children was done to check reliability of checklists for implementation of SOPs. In Phase-V, 7 FGDs were conducted with bedside nurses to assess the effectiveness of SOPs. The Content Validity Index (CVI) of SOP and checklists was 99.77%. Overall standardized Cronbach's alpha was calculated as 0.94. All the nurses felt that the SOP is useful. Valid and feasible SOP for drug administration to children through oral route along with valid and reliable checklist were developed. It is recommended to use this document for drug administration to children.

Secure Protocol and IP Core for Configuration of Networking Hardware IPs in the Smart Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Urbina

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the incorporation and constant evolution of communication networks in the electricity sector have given rise to the so-called Smart Grid, which is why it is necessary to have devices that are capable of managing new communication protocols, guaranteeing the strict requirements of processing required by the electricity sector. In this context, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs with network architectures are currently available to meet the communication, real-time processing and interoperability requirements of the Smart Grid. The new generation IEDs include an Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA, to support specialized networking switching architectures for the electric sector, as the IEEE 1588-aware High-availability Seamless Redundancy/Parallel Redundancy Protocol (HSR/PRP. Another advantage to using an FPGA is the ability to update or reconfigure the design to support new requirements that are being raised to the standards (IEC 61850. The update of the architecture implemented in the FPGA can be done remotely, but it is necessary to establish a cyber security mechanism since the communication link generates vulnerability in the case the attacker gains physical access to the network. The research presented in this paper proposes a secure protocol and Intellectual Property (IP core for configuring and monitoring the networking IPs implemented in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA. The FPGA based implementation proposed overcomes this issue using a light Layer-2 protocol fully implemented on hardware and protected by strong cryptographic algorithms (AES-GCM, defined in the IEC 61850-90-5 standard. The proposed secure protocol and IP core are applicable in any field where remote configuration over Ethernet is required for IP cores in FPGAs. In this paper, the proposal is validated in communications hardware for Smart Grids.

Diurnal Dynamics of Standard Deviations of Three Wind Velocity Components in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Science.gov (United States)

Shamanaeva, L. G.; Krasnenko, N. P.; Kapegesheva, O. F.

2018-04-01

Diurnal dynamics of the standard deviation (SD) of three wind velocity components measured with a minisodar in the atmospheric boundary layer is analyzed. Statistical analysis of measurement data demonstrates that the SDs for x- and y-components σx and σy lie in the range from 0.2 to 4 m/s, and σz = 0.1-1.2 m/s. The increase of σx and σy with the altitude is described sufficiently well by a power law with exponent changing from 0.22 to 1.3 depending on time of day, and σz increases by a linear law. Approximation constants are determined and errors of their application are estimated. It is found that the maximal diurnal spread of SD values is 56% for σx and σy and 94% for σz. The established physical laws and the obtained approximation constants allow the diurnal dynamics of the SDs for three wind velocity components in the atmospheric boundary layer to be determined and can be recommended for application in models of the atmospheric boundary layer.

Age and gender leucocytes variances and references values generated using the standardized ONE-Study protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kverneland, Anders H.; Streitz, Mathias; Geissler, Edward

2016-01-01

blood flow cytometry. The performance of our protocols was challenged here by profiling samples from healthy volunteers to reveal age- and gender-dependent differences and to establish a standardized reference cohort for use in clinical trials. Whole blood samples from two different cohorts were...... analyzed (first cohort: n = 52, second cohort: n = 46, both 20–84 years with equal gender distribution). The second cohort was run as a validation cohort by a different operator. The “ONE Study” panels were applied to analyze expression of >30 different surface markers to enumerate proportional...... cohort. Thus, we have proven the utility of our strategy and generated reproducible reference ranges accounting for age- and gender-dependent differences, which are crucial for a better patient monitoring and individualized therapy....

Step-height standards based on the rapid formation of monolayer steps on the surface of layered crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komonov, A.I. [Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISP SBRAS), pr. Lavrentieva 13, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Prinz, V.Ya., E-mail: prinz@isp.nsc.ru [Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISP SBRAS), pr. Lavrentieva 13, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Seleznev, V.A. [Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISP SBRAS), pr. Lavrentieva 13, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Kokh, K.A. [Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IGM SB RAS), pr. Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Shlegel, V.N. [Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (NIIC SB RAS), pr. Lavrentieva 3, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation)

2017-07-15

Highlights: • Easily reproducible step-height standard for SPM calibrations was proposed. • Step-height standard is monolayer steps on the surface of layered single crystal. • Long-term change in surface morphology of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} and ZnWO{sub 4} was investigated. • Conducting surface of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} crystals appropriate for calibrating STM. • Ability of robust SPM calibrations under ambient conditions were demonstrated. - Abstract: Metrology is essential for nanotechnology, especially for structures and devices with feature sizes going down to nm. Scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) permits measurement of nanometer- and subnanometer-scale objects. Accuracy of size measurements performed using SPMs is largely defined by the accuracy of used calibration measures. In the present publication, we demonstrate that height standards of monolayer step (∼1 and ∼0.6 nm) can be easily prepared by cleaving Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} and ZnWO{sub 4} layered single crystals. It was shown that the conducting surface of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} crystals offers height standard appropriate for calibrating STMs and for testing conductive SPM probes. Our AFM study of the morphology of freshly cleaved (0001) Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} surfaces proved that such surfaces remained atomically smooth during a period of at least half a year. The (010) surfaces of ZnWO{sub 4} crystals remained atomically smooth during one day, but already two days later an additional nanorelief of amplitude ∼0.3 nm appeared on those surfaces. This relief, however, did not further grow in height, and it did not hamper the calibration. Simplicity and the possibility of rapid fabrication of the step-height standards, as well as their high stability, make these standards available for a great, permanently growing number of users involved in 3D printing activities.

Publication trends of study protocols in rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jesus, Tiago S; Colquhoun, Heather L

2017-09-04

Growing evidence points for the need to publish study protocols in the health field. To observe whether the growing interest in publishing study protocols in the broader health field has been translated into increased publications of rehabilitation study protocols. Observational study using publication data and its indexation in PubMed. Not applicable. Not applicable. PubMed was searched with appropriate combinations of Medical Subject Headings up to December 2014. The effective presence of study protocols was manually screened. Regression models analyzed the yearly growth of publications. Two-sample Z-tests analyzed whether the proportion of Systematic Reviews (SRs) and Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) among study protocols differed from that of the same designs for the broader rehabilitation research. Up to December 2014, 746 publications of rehabilitation study protocols were identified, with an exponential growth since 2005 (r2=0.981; p<0.001). RCT protocols were the most common among rehabilitation study protocols (83%), while RCTs were significantly more prevalent among study protocols than among the broader rehabilitation research (83% vs. 35.8%; p<0.001). For SRs, the picture was reversed: significantly less common among study protocols (2.8% vs. 9.3%; p<0.001). Funding was more often reported by rehabilitation study protocols than the broader rehabilitation research (90% vs. 53.1%; p<0.001). Rehabilitation journals published a significantly lower share of rehabilitation study protocols than they did for the broader rehabilitation research (1.8% vs.16.7%; p<0.001). Identifying the reasons for these discrepancies and reverting unwarranted disparities (e.g. low rate of publication for rehabilitation SR protocols) are likely new avenues for rehabilitation research and its publication. SRs, particularly those aggregating RCT results, are considered the best standard of evidence to guide rehabilitation clinical practice; however, that standard can be improved

Cross-layer cluster-based energy-efficient protocol for wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mammu, Aboobeker Sidhik Koyamparambil; Hernandez-Jayo, Unai; Sainz, Nekane; de la Iglesia, Idoia

2015-04-09

Recent developments in electronics and wireless communications have enabled the improvement of low-power and low-cost wireless sensors networks (WSNs). One of the most important challenges in WSNs is to increase the network lifetime due to the limited energy capacity of the network nodes. Another major challenge in WSNs is the hot spots that emerge as locations under heavy traffic load. Nodes in such areas quickly drain energy resources, leading to disconnection in network services. In such an environment, cross-layer cluster-based energy-efficient algorithms (CCBE) can prolong the network lifetime and energy efficiency. CCBE is based on clustering the nodes to different hexagonal structures. A hexagonal cluster consists of cluster members (CMs) and a cluster head (CH). The CHs are selected from the CMs based on nodes near the optimal CH distance and the residual energy of the nodes. Additionally, the optimal CH distance that links to optimal energy consumption is derived. To balance the energy consumption and the traffic load in the network, the CHs are rotated among all CMs. In WSNs, energy is mostly consumed during transmission and reception. Transmission collisions can further decrease the energy efficiency. These collisions can be avoided by using a contention-free protocol during the transmission period. Additionally, the CH allocates slots to the CMs based on their residual energy to increase sleep time. Furthermore, the energy consumption of CH can be further reduced by data aggregation. In this paper, we propose a data aggregation level based on the residual energy of CH and a cost-aware decision scheme for the fusion of data. Performance results show that the CCBE scheme performs better in terms of network lifetime, energy consumption and throughput compared to low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) and hybrid energy-efficient distributed clustering (HEED).

Cross-Layer Cluster-Based Energy-Efficient Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aboobeker Sidhik Koyamparambil Mammu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in electronics and wireless communications have enabled the improvement of low-power and low-cost wireless sensors networks (WSNs. One of the most important challenges in WSNs is to increase the network lifetime due to the limited energy capacity of the network nodes. Another major challenge in WSNs is the hot spots that emerge as locations under heavy traffic load. Nodes in such areas quickly drain energy resources, leading to disconnection in network services. In such an environment, cross-layer cluster-based energy-efficient algorithms (CCBE can prolong the network lifetime and energy efficiency. CCBE is based on clustering the nodes to different hexagonal structures. A hexagonal cluster consists of cluster members (CMs and a cluster head (CH. The CHs are selected from the CMs based on nodes near the optimal CH distance and the residual energy of the nodes. Additionally, the optimal CH distance that links to optimal energy consumption is derived. To balance the energy consumption and the traffic load in the network, the CHs are rotated among all CMs. In WSNs, energy is mostly consumed during transmission and reception. Transmission collisions can further decrease the energy efficiency. These collisions can be avoided by using a contention-free protocol during the transmission period. Additionally, the CH allocates slots to the CMs based on their residual energy to increase sleep time. Furthermore, the energy consumption of CH can be further reduced by data aggregation. In this paper, we propose a data aggregation level based on the residual energy of CH and a cost-aware decision scheme for the fusion of data. Performance results show that the CCBE scheme performs better in terms of network lifetime, energy consumption and throughput compared to low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH and hybrid energy-efficient distributed clustering (HEED.

Critical Response Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Ellingson, Charlene; Roehrig, Gillian; Bakkum, Kris; Dubinsky, Janet M.

2016-01-01

This article introduces the Critical Response Protocol (CRP), an arts-based technique that engages students in equitable critical discourse and aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standards" vision for providing students opportunities for language learning while advancing science learning (NGSS Lead States 2013). CRP helps teachers…

A Weak Value Based QKD Protocol Robust Against Detector Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Troupe, James

2015-03-01

We propose a variation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol that utilizes the properties of weak values to insure the validity of the quantum bit error rate estimates used to detect an eavesdropper. The protocol is shown theoretically to be secure against recently demonstrated attacks utilizing detector blinding and control and should also be robust against all detector based hacking. Importantly, the new protocol promises to achieve this additional security without negatively impacting the secure key generation rate as compared to that originally promised by the standard BB84 scheme. Implementation of the weak measurements needed by the protocol should be very feasible using standard quantum optical techniques.

An Enhanced LoRaWAN Security Protocol for Privacy Preservation in IoT with a Case Study on a Smart Factory-Enabled Parking System.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Ilsun; Kwon, Soonhyun; Choudhary, Gaurav; Sharma, Vishal; Seo, Jung Taek

2018-06-08

The Internet of Things (IoT) utilizes algorithms to facilitate intelligent applications across cities in the form of smart-urban projects. As the majority of devices in IoT are battery operated, their applications should be facilitated with a low-power communication setup. Such facility is possible through the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN), but at a constrained bit rate. For long-range communication over LPWAN, several approaches and protocols are adopted. One such protocol is the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which is a media access layer protocol for long-range communication between the devices and the application servers via LPWAN gateways. However, LoRaWAN comes with fewer security features as a much-secured protocol consumes more battery because of the exorbitant computational overheads. The standard protocol fails to support end-to-end security and perfect forward secrecy while being vulnerable to the replay attack that makes LoRaWAN limited in supporting applications where security (especially end-to-end security) is important. Motivated by this, an enhanced LoRaWAN security protocol is proposed, which not only provides the basic functions of connectivity between the application server and the end device, but additionally averts these listed security issues. The proposed protocol is developed with two options, the Default Option (DO) and the Security-Enhanced Option (SEO). The protocol is validated through Burrows⁻Abadi⁻Needham (BAN) logic and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. The proposed protocol is also analyzed for overheads through system-based and low-power device-based evaluations. Further, a case study on a smart factory-enabled parking system is considered for its practical application. The results, in terms of network latency with reliability fitting and signaling overheads, show paramount improvements and better performance for the proposed protocol compared with the two

An Enhanced LoRaWAN Security Protocol for Privacy Preservation in IoT with a Case Study on a Smart Factory-Enabled Parking System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilsun You

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT utilizes algorithms to facilitate intelligent applications across cities in the form of smart-urban projects. As the majority of devices in IoT are battery operated, their applications should be facilitated with a low-power communication setup. Such facility is possible through the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN, but at a constrained bit rate. For long-range communication over LPWAN, several approaches and protocols are adopted. One such protocol is the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN, which is a media access layer protocol for long-range communication between the devices and the application servers via LPWAN gateways. However, LoRaWAN comes with fewer security features as a much-secured protocol consumes more battery because of the exorbitant computational overheads. The standard protocol fails to support end-to-end security and perfect forward secrecy while being vulnerable to the replay attack that makes LoRaWAN limited in supporting applications where security (especially end-to-end security is important. Motivated by this, an enhanced LoRaWAN security protocol is proposed, which not only provides the basic functions of connectivity between the application server and the end device, but additionally averts these listed security issues. The proposed protocol is developed with two options, the Default Option (DO and the Security-Enhanced Option (SEO. The protocol is validated through Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN logic and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA tool. The proposed protocol is also analyzed for overheads through system-based and low-power device-based evaluations. Further, a case study on a smart factory-enabled parking system is considered for its practical application. The results, in terms of network latency with reliability fitting and signaling overheads, show paramount improvements and better performance for the proposed protocol compared with

The effect of a standardized protocol for iron supplementation to blood donors low in hemoglobin concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Magnussen, Karin; Bork, Nanna; Asmussen, Lisa

2008-04-01

Iron deficiency leading to low hemoglobin concentration (cHb) is a common problem for blood donors as well as for blood banks. A standardized protocol offering iron supplementation based on P-ferritin determination may help to reduce the problem and retain donors. This was a prospective study where 879 blood donors, presenting with cHb at or below the limit of acceptance for donation, were included. The predonation cHb result was read after donation. The donors received 50 iron tablets (JernC or Ferrochel, 100 or 25 mg elemental iron, respectively), and samples for P-ferritin, mean corpuscular volume, and control of cHb were secured. Based on a P-ferritin level of less than 60 microg per L, 20 iron tablets were offered after all following donations. Mean cHb was 7.6 mmol per L (122 g/L) and 8.2 mmol per L (132 g/L) in women and men, respectively. In 80 percent of the women and 48 percent of the men, iron stores were low (P-ferritin protocol offering iron supplementation and simple oral and written advice based on P-ferritin measurements is effective in normalizing cHb and retaining donors presenting with cHb at or below the limit of acceptance for donation.

Samples and Sampling Protocols for Scientific Investigations | Joel ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... from sampling, through sample preparation, calibration to final measurement and reporting. This paper, therefore offers useful information on practical guidance on sampling protocols in line with best practice and international standards. Keywords: Sampling, sampling protocols, chain of custody, analysis, documentation ...

Abbreviated Combined MR Protocol: A New Faster Strategy for Characterizing Breast Lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Moschetta, Marco; Telegrafo, Michele; Rella, Leonarda; Stabile Ianora, Amato Antonio; Angelelli, Giuseppe

2016-06-01

The use of an abbreviated magnetic resonance (MR) protocol has been recently proposed for cancer screening. The aim of our study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of an abbreviated MR protocol combining short TI inversion recovery (STIR), turbo-spin-echo (TSE)-T2 sequences, a pre-contrast T1, and a single intermediate (3 minutes after contrast injection) post-contrast T1 sequence for characterizing breast lesions. A total of 470 patients underwent breast MR examination for screening, problem solving, or preoperative staging. Two experienced radiologists evaluated both standard and abbreviated protocols in consensus. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy for both protocols were calculated (with the histological findings and 6-month ultrasound follow-up as the reference standard) and compared with the McNemar test. The post-processing and interpretation times for the MR images were compared with the paired t test. In 177 of 470 (38%) patients, the MR sequences detected 185 breast lesions. Standard and abbreviated protocols obtained sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, PPV, and NPV values respectively of 92%, 92%, 92%, 68%, and 98% and of 89%, 91%, 91%, 64%, and 98% with no statistically significant difference (P < .0001). The mean post-processing and interpretation time were, respectively, 7 ± 1 minutes and 6 ± 3.2 minutes for the standard protocol and 1 ± 1.2 minutes and 2 ± 1.2 minutes for the abbreviated protocol, with a statistically significant difference (P < .01). An abbreviated combined MR protocol represents a time-saving tool for radiologists and patients with the same diagnostic potential as the standard protocol in patients undergoing breast MRI for screening, problem solving, or preoperative staging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optimized UAV Communication Protocol Based on Prior Locations

OpenAIRE

Sboui, Lokman; Rabah, Abdullatif

2015-01-01

In this paper, we adopt a new communication protocol between the UAV and fixed on-ground nodes. This protocol tends to reduce communication power consumption by stopping communication if the channel is not good to communicate (i.e. far nodes, obstacles, etc.) The communication is performed using the XBee 868M standard and Libelium wapsmotes. Our designed protocol is based on a new communication model that we propose in this paper. The protocole decides wether to communicate or not after compu...

TOOL: The Open Opinion Layer

OpenAIRE

Masum, Hassan

2002-01-01

Shared opinions drive society: what we read, how we vote, and where we shop are all heavily influenced by the choices of others. However, the cost in time and money to systematically share opinions remains high, while the actual performance history of opinion generators is often not tracked. This article explores the development of a distributed open opinion layer, which is given the generic name of TOOL. Similar to the evolution of network protocols as an underlying layer for many comput...

Technical Analysis of SSP-21 Protocol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bromberger, S. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-06-09

As part of the California Energy Systems for the Twenty-First Century (CES-21) program, in December 2016 San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) contracted with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to perform an independent verification and validation (IV&V) of a white paper describing their Secure SCADA Protocol for the Twenty-First Century (SSP-21) in order to analyze the effectiveness and propriety of cryptographic protocol use within the SSP-21 specification. SSP-21 is designed to use cryptographic protocols to provide (optional) encryption, authentication, and nonrepudiation, among other capabilities. The cryptographic protocols to be used reflect current industry standards; future versions of SSP-21 will use other advanced technologies to provide a subset of security services.

Principles of the new quantum cryptography protocols building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurochkin, V.; Kurochkin, Yu.

2009-01-01

The main aim of the quantum cryptography protocols is the maximal secrecy under the conditions of the real experiment. This work presents the result of the new protocol building with the use of the secrecy maximization. While using some well-known approaches this method has allowed one to achieve completely new results in quantum cryptography. The process of the protocol elaboration develops from the standard BB84 protocol upgrading to the building of completely new protocol with arbitrary large bases number. The secrecy proofs of the elaborated protocol appear to be natural continuation of the protocol building process. This approach reveals possibility to reach extremely high parameters of the protocol. It suits both the restrictions of contemporary technologies and requirements for high bit rate while being absolutely secret

Simultaneous validation of the SunTech CT40 automated blood pressure measurement device by the 1993 British Hypertension Society protocol and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/International Organization for Standardization 81060-2: 2013 standard.

Science.gov (United States)

Polo Friz, Hernan; Punzi, Veronica; Petri, Francesco; Orlandi, Riccardo; Maggiolini, Daniele; Polo Friz, Melisa; Primitz, Laura; Vighi, Giuseppe

2017-10-01

This study aimed to perform a simultaneous, third-party, independent validation of the oscillometric SunTech CT40 device for blood pressure (BP) measurement, according to the 1993 protocol of the British Hypertension Society and the standard of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)/the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 81060-2:2013. Patient recruitment, study procedures, and data analysis followed the recommendations stated by the protocols. The study was approved by the institutional review board. A total of 94 participants were included, 52 (55.3%) women, mean±SD age: 63.1±18.0 years, mean±SD arm circumference: 35.0±9.0 cm. The average of observers' entry BPs was 146.9±37.2 mmHg for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 82.2±22.1 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Differences between the standard measurement and the test device within 5, 10, and 15 mmHg, for the better observer, were 79.4, 96.5, and 100.0% for SBP and 82.6, 97.5, and 100.0% for DBP, respectively. The mean±SD differences between the readings obtained using the test device and those obtained by the observers (AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 standard criterion 1) were 0.3±5.0 mmHg (SBP) and -0.8±4.3 mmHg (DBP), and the mean±SD differences between average of reference readings and average of test device readings in each patient (criterion 2) were 0.3±3.9 and -0.8±3.5 mmHg for SBP and DBP, respectively. The CT40 BP device achieved A/A grade of the British Hypertension Society protocol and fulfilled the requirements (criteria 1 and 2) of the AAMI/ISO standard. CT40 can be recommended for BP measurement in adults.

The CCSDS Next Generation Space Data Link Protocol (NGSLP)

Science.gov (United States)

Kazz, Greg J.; Greenberg, Edward

2014-01-01

next leap in performance for space link communications. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) provide the capability to incorporate high performance forward error correcting codes implemented within software transponders providing improved performance in data transfer, ranging, link security, and time correlation. Given these synergistic technological breakthroughs, the time has come to take advantage of them in applying them to both on going (e.g., command, telemetry) and emerging (e.g., space link security, optical communication) space link applications. However one of the constraining factors within the Data Link Layer in realizing these performance gains is the lack of a generic transfer frame format and common supporting services amongst the existing CCSDS link layer protocols. Currently each of the four CCSDS link layer protocols (TM, TC, AOS, and Proximity-1) have unique formats and services which prohibits their reuse across the totality of all space link applications of CCSDS member space agencies. For example, Mars missions. These missions implement their proximity data link layer using the Proximity-1 frame format and the services it supports but is still required to support the direct from Earth (TC) protocols and the Direct To Earth (AOS/TM) protocols. The prime purpose of this paper, is to describe a new general purpose CCSDS Data Link layer protocol, the NGSLP that will provide the required services along with a common transfer frame format for all the CCSDS space links (ground to/from space and space to space links) targeted for emerging missions after a CCSDS agency-wide coordinated date. This paper will also describe related options that can be included for the Coding and Synchronization sub-layer of the Data Link layer to extend the capacities of the link and additionally provide an independence of the transfer frame sub-layer from the coding sublayer. This feature will provide missions the option of running either the currently performed

Effectiveness of individualized physiotherapy on pain and functioning compared to a standard exercise protocol in patients presenting with clinical signs of subacromial impingement syndrome. A randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Bie Rob A

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Shoulder impingement syndrome is a common musculoskeletal complaint leading to significant reduction of health and disability. Physiotherapy is often the first choice of treatment although its effectiveness is still under debate. Systematic reviews in this field highlight the need for more high quality trials to investigate the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome. Methods/Design This randomized controlled trial will investigate the effectiveness of individualized physiotherapy in patients presenting with clinical signs and symptoms of subacromial impingement, involving 90 participants aged 18-75. Participants are recruited from outpatient physiotherapy clinics, general practitioners, and orthopaedic surgeons in Germany. Eligible participants will be randomly allocated to either individualized physiotherapy or to a standard exercise protocol using central randomization. The control group will perform the standard exercise protocol aiming to restore muscular deficits in strength, mobility, and coordination of the rotator cuff and the shoulder girdle muscles to unload the subacromial space during active movements. Participants of the intervention group will perform the standard exercise protocol as a home program, and will additionally be treated with individualized physiotherapy based on clinical examination results, and guided by a decision tree. After the intervention phase both groups will continue their home program for another 7 weeks. Outcome will be measured at 5 weeks and at 3 and 12 months after inclusion using the shoulder pain and disability index and patients' global impression of change, the generic patient-specific scale, the average weekly pain score, and patient satisfaction with treatment. Additionally, the fear avoidance beliefs questionnaire, the pain catastrophizing scale, and patients' expectancies of treatment effect are assessed. Participants

The Singapore protocol [for quantum cryptography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Englert, B.

2005-01-01

The qubit protocol for quantum key distribution presented in this talk is fully tomographic and more efficient than other tomographic protocols. Under ideal circumstances the efficiency is log 2 (4/3) = 0.415 key bits per qubit sent, which is 25% more than the efficiency of 1/3 = 0.333 for the standard 6-state protocol. One can extract 0.4 key bits per qubit by a simple two-way communication scheme, and can so get close to the information-theoretical limit. The noise thresholds for secure key bit generation in the presence of unbiased noise will be reported and discussed. (author)

On consensus through communication without a commonly known protocol

OpenAIRE

Tsakas Elias; Voorneveld Mark

2010-01-01

The present paper extends the standard model of pairwise communication among Bayesianagents to cases where the structure of the communication protocol is not commonly known.We show that, even under strict conditions on the structure of the protocols and the nature of the transmitted signals, a consensus may never be reached if very little asymmetric information about the protocol is introduced.

A standard data access layer for fusion devices R and D programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neto, A. [Associacao Euratom/IST, Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Av. Rovisco Pais, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Fernandes, H. [Associacao Euratom/IST, Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Av. Rovisco Pais, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)], E-mail: hf@cfn.ist.utl.pt; Alves, D.; Valcarcel, D.F.; Carvalho, B.B.; Ferreira, J. [Associacao Euratom/IST, Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Av. Rovisco Pais, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Vega, J.; Sanchez, E.; Pena, A. [Asociacion Euratom/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Hron, M. [Asociace EURATOM IPP.CR, Prague (Czech Republic); Varandas, C.A.F. [Associacao Euratom/IST, Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Av. Rovisco Pais, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2007-10-15

Each EURATOM Association stores data using proprietary schemes, usually developed by the research unit or using third party software. The temporary exchange of researchers between laboratories is a common practice nowadays. When the researchers returns to the home laboratory, there is usually the need to follow the work. The amount of available data is becoming enormous and the main data index is changing from shot number to time and events, where the pulse number is just one among the most relevant events against data is catalogued. These difficulties can be overcome by using a common software layer between end-users and laboratories. The components needed to create this software abstraction layer, between users and laboratories data, have already been developed using a universal and well known remote procedure call standard (RPC) based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML): XML-RPC. The library allows data retrieval using the same methods for all associations. Users are authenticated through the PAPI system ( (http://papi.rediris.es)), allowing each organization to use its own authentication schema. Presently there are libraries and server implementations in Java and C++. These libraries have been included and tested in some of the most common data analysis programs such as MatLab and IDL. The system is already being used in ISTTOK/PT and CASTOR/CZ.

A standard data access layer for fusion devices R and D programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neto, A.; Fernandes, H.; Alves, D.; Valcarcel, D.F.; Carvalho, B.B.; Ferreira, J.; Vega, J.; Sanchez, E.; Pena, A.; Hron, M.; Varandas, C.A.F.

2007-01-01

Each EURATOM Association stores data using proprietary schemes, usually developed by the research unit or using third party software. The temporary exchange of researchers between laboratories is a common practice nowadays. When the researchers returns to the home laboratory, there is usually the need to follow the work. The amount of available data is becoming enormous and the main data index is changing from shot number to time and events, where the pulse number is just one among the most relevant events against data is catalogued. These difficulties can be overcome by using a common software layer between end-users and laboratories. The components needed to create this software abstraction layer, between users and laboratories data, have already been developed using a universal and well known remote procedure call standard (RPC) based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML): XML-RPC. The library allows data retrieval using the same methods for all associations. Users are authenticated through the PAPI system ( (http://papi.rediris.es)), allowing each organization to use its own authentication schema. Presently there are libraries and server implementations in Java and C++. These libraries have been included and tested in some of the most common data analysis programs such as MatLab and IDL. The system is already being used in ISTTOK/PT and CASTOR/CZ

Protocols for pressure ulcer prevention: are they evidence-based?

Science.gov (United States)

Chaves, Lidice M; Grypdonck, Mieke H F; Defloor, Tom

2010-03-01

This study is a report of a study to determine the quality of protocols for pressure ulcer prevention in home care in the Netherlands. If pressure ulcer prevention protocols are evidence-based and practitioners use them correctly in practice, this will result a reduction in pressure ulcers. Very little is known about the evidence-based content and quality of the pressure ulcer prevention protocols. In 2008, current pressure ulcer prevention protocols from 24 home-care agencies in the Netherlands were evaluated. A checklist developed and validated by two pressure ulcer prevention experts was used to assess the quality of the protocols, and weighted and unweighted quality scores were computed and analysed using descriptive statistics. The 24 pressure ulcer prevention protocols had a mean weighted quality score of 63.38 points out of a maximum of 100 (sd 5). The importance of observing the skin at the pressure points at least once a day was emphasized in 75% of the protocols. Only 42% correctly warned against the use of materials that were 'less effective or that could potentially cause harm'. Pressure ulcer prevention commands a reasonable amount of attention in home care, but the incidence of pressure ulcers and lack of a consistent, standardized document for use in actual practice indicate a need for systematic implementation of national pressure ulcer prevention standards in the Netherlands to ensure adherence to the established protocols.

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : status of ITS communication standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Denial of Service Attacks on 802.1X Security Protocol

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ozan, Orhan

2004-01-01

... infrastructure, such as military and administrative government LANs. The IEEE 802.11 wireless standard specifies both an authentication service and encryption protocol, but research has demonstrated that these protocols are severely flawed...

Analysing Password Protocol Security Against Off-line Dictionary Attacks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corin, R.J.; Doumen, J.M.; Etalle, Sandro; Busi, Nadia; Gorrieri, Roberto; Martinelli, Fabio

We study the security of password protocols against off-line dictionary attacks. In addition to the standard adversary abilities, we also consider further cryptographic advantages given to the adversary when considering the password protocol being instantiated with particular encryption schemes. We

Catalyst layers for PEMFC manufactured by flexography printing process: performances and structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bois, C.; Blayo, A.; Chaussy, D. [Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Graphic Arts (LGP2) (UMR 5518 CNRS-CTP-INPG), Grenoble Institute of Technology (INP Grenoble - PAGORA), St Martin d' Heres (France); Vincent, R.; Mercier, A.G.; Nayoze, C. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA)/DRT/LITEN, Laboratoire des Composants Piles a Combustible, Electrolyse et Modelisation (LCPEM), Grenoble (France)

2012-04-15

This article focuses on the potential of a classic printing process, flexography, for manufacturing proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) are produced by deposition of a water-based catalyst ink on a gas diffusion layer (GDL). The affinity between the ink and the GDL is quantified. Thus, the strong hydrophobic character of the GDL and the poor printability of the ink are demonstrated. However, the permeability of the GDL allows developing a multilayer protocol. The deposition by superimposition of ink layers allows control of the platinum amount and to obtain catalyst layers with a similar density of platinum nanoparticles to coated samples. At similar platinum loading, flexography and coating made catalyst layers offer similar performances, which confirm the relevance of flexography in catalyst layer manufacturing. Structural characterization shows that manufacturing protocol and process has an influence on catalyst layer microstructure. However, catalyst layer cracking and aggregation are increased with the catalyst layer thickness, diminishing the charge and gas diffusion into the catalyst layer resulting in performance degradation. Consequently, a catalyst layer with 0.46 mgPt cm{sup -2} reaches similar performances to catalyst layers with 1.77 and 2.01 times less platinum loading. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

A critical analysis of a locally agreed protocol for clinical practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owen, A.; Hogg, P.; Nightingale, J.

2004-01-01

Within the traditional scope of radiographic practice (including advanced practice) there is a need to demonstrate effective patient care and management. Such practice should be set within a context of appropriate evidence and should also reflect peer practice. In order to achieve such practice the use of protocols is encouraged. Effective protocols can maximise care and management by minimising inter- and intra-professional variation; they can also allow for detailed procedural records to be kept in case of legal claims. However, whilst literature exists to encourage the use of protocols there is little published material available to indicate how to create, manage and archive them. This article uses an analytical approach to propose a suitable method for protocol creation and archival, it also offers suggestions on the scope and content of a protocol. To achieve this an existing clinical protocol for radiographer reporting barium enemas is analysed to draw out the general issues. Proposals for protocol creation, management, and archival were identified. The clinical practice described or inferred in the protocol should be drawn from evidence, such evidence could include peer-reviewed material, national standards and peer practice. The protocol should include an explanation of how to proceed when the radiographers reach the limit of their ability. It should refer to the initial training required to undertake the clinical duties as well as the on-going continual professional updating required to maintain competence. Audit of practice should be indicated, including the preferred audit methodology, and associated with this should be a clear statement about standards and what to do if standards are not adequately met. Protocols should be archived, in a paper-based form, for lengthy periods in case of legal claims. On the archived protocol the date it was in clinical use should be included

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijie Han

2018-01-01

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

Do we need 3D tube current modulation information for accurate organ dosimetry in chest CT? Protocols dose comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Rendon, Xochitl; Zhang, Guozhi; Coudyzer, Walter; Develter, Wim; Bosmans, Hilde; Zanca, Federica

2017-11-01

To compare the lung and breast dose associated with three chest protocols: standard, organ-based tube current modulation (OBTCM) and fast-speed scanning; and to estimate the error associated with organ dose when modelling the longitudinal (z-) TCM versus the 3D-TCM in Monte Carlo simulations (MC) for these three protocols. Five adult and three paediatric cadavers with different BMI were scanned. The CTDI vol of the OBTCM and the fast-speed protocols were matched to the patient-specific CTDI vol of the standard protocol. Lung and breast doses were estimated using MC with both z- and 3D-TCM simulated and compared between protocols. The fast-speed scanning protocol delivered the highest doses. A slight reduction for breast dose (up to 5.1%) was observed for two of the three female cadavers with the OBTCM in comparison to the standard. For both adult and paediatric, the implementation of the z-TCM data only for organ dose estimation resulted in 10.0% accuracy for the standard and fast-speed protocols, while relative dose differences were up to 15.3% for the OBTCM protocol. At identical CTDI vol values, the standard protocol delivered the lowest overall doses. Only for the OBTCM protocol is the 3D-TCM needed if an accurate (<10.0%) organ dosimetry is desired. • The z-TCM information is sufficient for accurate dosimetry for standard protocols. • The z-TCM information is sufficient for accurate dosimetry for fast-speed scanning protocols. • For organ-based TCM schemes, the 3D-TCM information is necessary for accurate dosimetry. • At identical CTDI vol , the fast-speed scanning protocol delivered the highest doses. • Lung dose was higher in XCare than standard protocol at identical CTDI vol .

Patient controlled sedation using a standard protocol for dressing changes in burns: patients' preference, procedural details and a preliminary safety evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Andreas; Steinvall, Ingrid; Bak, Zoltan; Sjöberg, Folke

2008-11-01

Patient controlled sedation (PCS) enables patients to titrate doses of drugs by themselves during different procedures involving pain or discomfort. We studied it in a prospective crossover design using a fixed protocol without lockout time to examine it as an alternative method of sedation for changing dressings in burned patients. Eleven patients with >10% total burn surface area (TBSA) had their dressings changed, starting with sedation by an anaesthetist (ACS). The second dressing change was done with PCS (propofol/alfentanil) and the third time the patients had to choose ACS or PCS. During the procedures, data on cardiopulmonary variables, sedation (bispectral index), pain intensity (VAS), procedural details, doses of drugs, and patients' preferences were collected to compare the two sedation techniques. The study data indicated that wound care in burned patients is feasible with a standardized PCS protocol. The patients preferred PCS to ACS on the basis of self-control, and because they had less discomfort during the recovery period. Wound care was also considered adequate by the staff during PCS. No respiratory (respiratory rate/transcutaneous PCO(2)) or cardiovascular (heart rate/blood pressure) adverse events were recorded at any time during any of the PCS procedures. The doses of propofol and alfentanil and BIS index decrease were less during PCS than ACS. Procedural pain was higher during PCS but lower after the procedure. We suggest that PCS using a standard protocol is an interesting alternative to anaesthetist-provided sedation during dressing changes. It seems effective, saves resources, is safe, and at same time is preferred by the patients. The strength of these conclusions is, however, hampered by the small size of this investigation and therefore further studies are warranted.

Control System For Cryogenic THD Layering At The National Ignition Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedorov, M.; Blubaugh, J.; Edwards, O.; Mauvais, M.; Sanchez, R.; Wilson, B.

2011-01-01

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world largest and most energetic laser system for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). In 2010, NIF began ignition experiments using cryogenically cooled targets containing layers of the tritium-hydrogen-deuterium (THD) fuel. The 75 (micro)m thick layer is formed inside of the 2 mm target capsule at temperatures of approximately 18 K. The ICF target designs require sub-micron smoothness of the THD ice layers. Formation of such layers is still an active research area, requiring a flexible control system capable of executing the evolving layering protocols. This task is performed by the Cryogenic Target Subsystem (CTS) of the NIF Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS). The CTS provides cryogenic temperature control with the 1 mK resolution required for beta-layering and for the thermal gradient fill of the capsule. The CTS also includes a 3-axis x-ray radiography engine for phase contrast imaging of the ice layers inside of the plastic and beryllium capsules. In addition to automatic control engines, CTS is integrated with the Matlab interactive programming environment to allow flexibility in experimental layering protocols. The CTS Layering Matlab Toolbox provides the tools for layer image analysis, system characterization and cryogenic control. The CTS Layering Report tool generates qualification metrics of the layers, such as concentricity of the layer and roughness of the growth boundary grooves. The CTS activities are automatically coordinated with other NIF controls in the carefully orchestrated NIF Shot Sequence.

The depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabogal Nelson

2000-01-01

The protection of the Earth's ozone layer is of the highest importance to mankind. The dangers of its destruction are by now well known. The depletion of that layer has reached record levels. The Antarctic ozone hole covered this year a record area. The ozone layer is predicted to begin recovery in the next one or two decades and should be restored to pre-1980 levels by 2050. This is the achievement of the regime established by the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The regime established by these two agreements has been revised, and made more effective in London (1990), Copenhagen (1992), Vienna (1995), and Beijing (1999)

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick DL

2006-01-01

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

Cluster Based Hierarchical Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network

OpenAIRE

Rashed, Md. Golam; Kabir, M. Hasnat; Rahim, Muhammad Sajjadur; Ullah, Shaikh Enayet

2012-01-01

The efficient use of energy source in a sensor node is most desirable criteria for prolong the life time of wireless sensor network. In this paper, we propose a two layer hierarchical routing protocol called Cluster Based Hierarchical Routing Protocol (CBHRP). We introduce a new concept called head-set, consists of one active cluster head and some other associate cluster heads within a cluster. The head-set members are responsible for control and management of the network. Results show that t...

A Pattern Language for Designing Application-Level Communication Protocols and the Improvement of Computer Science Education through Cloud Computing

OpenAIRE

Lascano, Jorge Edison

2017-01-01

Networking protocols have been developed throughout time following layered architectures such as the Open Systems Interconnection model and the Internet model. These protocols are grouped in the Internet protocol suite. Most developers do not deal with low-level protocols, instead they design application-level protocols on top of the low-level protocol. Although each application-level protocol is different, there is commonality among them and developers can apply lessons learned from one prot...

Test Protocols for Advanced Inverter Interoperability Functions - Appendices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Jay Dean [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gonzalez, Sigifredo [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ralph, Mark E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ellis, Abraham [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Broderick, Robert Joseph [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2013-11-01

Distributed energy resources (DER) such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, when deployed in a large scale, are capable of influencing significantly the operation of power systems. Looking to the future, stakeholders are working on standards to make it possible to manage the potentially complex interactions between DER and the power system. In 2009, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) initiated a large industry collaborative to identify and standardize definitions for a set of DER grid support functions. While the initial effort concentrated on grid-tied PV inverters and energy storage systems, the concepts have applicability to all DER. A partial product of this on-going effort is a reference definitions document (IEC TR 61850-90-7, Object models for power converters in distributed energy resources (DER) systems) that has become a basis for expansion of related International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, and is supported by US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). Some industry-led organizations advancing communications protocols have also embraced this work. As standards continue to evolve, it is necessary to develop test protocols to independently verify that the inverters are properly executing the advanced functions. Interoperability is assured by establishing common definitions for the functions and a method to test compliance with operational requirements. This document describes test protocols developed by SNL to evaluate the electrical performance and operational capabilities of PV inverters and energy storage, as described in IEC TR 61850-90-7. While many of these functions are not now required by existing grid codes or may not be widely available commercially, the industry is rapidly moving in that direction. Interoperability issues are already apparent as

The effect of the introduction of a standard monitoring protocol on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-03-07

Mar 7, 2011 ... management protocol had had any effect on the metabolic and nonmetabolic .... Ages were not recorded. ..... of happiness and wealth.14 Three-quarters of the girls associated ... Information on lifestyle and advice to reduce.

Dynamic federations: storage aggregation using open tools and protocols

CERN Document Server

Fabrizio Furano, F F; Ricardo Brito da Rocha, R R; Adrien Devresse, A D; Oliver Keeble, O K; Alejandro Alvarez Ayllon, A A

2012-01-01

A number of storage elements now offer standard protocol interfaces like NFS 4.1/pNFS and WebDAV, for access to their data repositories, in line with the standardization effort of the European Middleware Initiative (EMI). Also the LCG FileCatalogue (LFC) can offer such features. Here we report on work that seeks to exploit the federation potential of these protocols and build a system that offers a unique view of the storage and metadata ensemble and the possibility of integration of other compatible resources such as those from cloud providers. The challenge, here undertaken by the providers of dCache and DPM, and pragmatically open to other Grid and Cloud storage solutions, is to build such a system while being able to accommodate name translations from existing catalogues (e.g. LFCs), experiment- based metadata catalogues, or stateless algorithmic name translations, also known as ”trivial file catalogues”. Such so-called storage federations of standard protocols-based storage elements give a unique vie...

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : feedback to standards development organizations - security

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-12

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

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

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

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

Development of a manualized protocol of massage therapy for clinical trials in osteoarthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Ather

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical trial design of manual therapies may be especially challenging as techniques are often individualized and practitioner-dependent. This paper describes our methods in creating a standardized Swedish massage protocol tailored to subjects with osteoarthritis of the knee while respectful of the individualized nature of massage therapy, as well as implementation of this protocol in two randomized clinical trials. Methods The manualization process involved a collaborative process between methodologic and clinical experts, with the explicit goals of creating a reproducible semi-structured protocol for massage therapy, while allowing some latitude for therapists’ clinical judgment and maintaining consistency with a prior pilot study. Results The manualized protocol addressed identical specified body regions with distinct 30- and 60-min protocols, using standard Swedish strokes. Each protocol specifies the time allocated to each body region. The manualized 30- and 60-min protocols were implemented in a dual-site 24-week randomized dose-finding trial in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, and is currently being implemented in a three-site 52-week efficacy trial of manualized Swedish massage therapy. In the dose-finding study, therapists adhered to the protocols and significant treatment effects were demonstrated. Conclusions The massage protocol was manualized, using standard techniques, and made flexible for individual practitioner and subject needs. The protocol has been applied in two randomized clinical trials. This manualized Swedish massage protocol has real-world utility and can be readily utilized both in the research and clinical settings. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00970008 (18 August 2009

Energy consumption and quality of service in WBAN: A performance evaluation between cross-layer and IEEE802.15.4

OpenAIRE

Correa-Chica, Juan Camilo; Botero-Vega, Juan Felipe; Gaviria-Gómez, Natalia

2017-01-01

Abstract Different communication schemes for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) pretend to achieve a fair tradeoff between efficient energy consumption and the accomplishment of performance metrics. Among those schemes are the Cross-layer protocols that constitute a good choice to achieve the aforementioned tradeoff by introducing novel protocol techniques which are away from the traditional communications model. In this work we assessed the performance of a WBAN cross-layer protocol stack by...

Multi-area layered multicast scheme for MPLS networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yajie; Yang, Zongkai; Wang, Yuming; Chen, Jingwen

2005-02-01

Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is multiprotocols both at layer 2 and layer 3. It is suggested to overcome the shortcomings of performing complex longest prefix matching in layer 3 routing by using short, fixed length labels. The MPLS community has put more effort into the label switching of unicast IP traffic, but less in the MPLS multicast mechanism. The reasons are the higher label consumption, the dynamical mapping of L3 multicast tree to L2 LSPs and the 20-bit shim header which is much fewer than the IPv4 IP header. On the other hand, heterogeneity of node capability degrades total performance of a multicast group. In order to achieve the scalability as well as the heterogeneity in MPLS networks, a novel scheme of MPLS-based Multi-area Layered Multicast Scheme (MALM) is proposed. Unlike the existing schemes which focus on aggregating the multicast stream, we construct the multicast tree based on the virtual topology aggregation. The MPLS area is divided into different sub-areas to form the hierarchical virtual topology and the multicast group is reconstructed into multiple layers according to the node capability. At the same time, the label stack is used to save the label space. For stability of the MALM protocol, a multi-layer protection scheme is also discussed. The experiment results show that the proposed scheme saves label space and decrease the Multicast Forwarding Table in much degree.

A standardized imaging protocol for the endoscopic prediction of dysplasia within sessile serrated polyps (with video).

Science.gov (United States)

Tate, David J; Jayanna, Mahesh; Awadie, Halim; Desomer, Lobke; Lee, Ralph; Heitman, Steven J; Sidhu, Mayenaaz; Goodrick, Kathleen; Burgess, Nicholas G; Mahajan, Hema; McLeod, Duncan; Bourke, Michael J

2018-01-01

Dysplasia within sessile serrated polyps (SSPs) is difficult to detect and may be mistaken for an adenoma, risking incomplete resection of the background serrated tissue, and is strongly implicated in interval cancer after colonoscopy. The use of endoscopic imaging to detect dysplasia within SSPs has not been systematically studied. Consecutively detected SSPs ≥8 mm in size were evaluated by using a standardized imaging protocol at a tertiary-care endoscopy center over 3 years. Lesions suspected as SSPs were analyzed with high-definition white light then narrow-band imaging. A demarcated area with a neoplastic pit pattern (Kudo type III/IV, NICE type II) was sought among the serrated tissue. If this was detected, the lesion was labeled dysplastic (sessile serrated polyp with dysplasia); if not, it was labeled non-dysplastic (sessile serrated polyp without dysplasia). Histopathology was reviewed by 2 blinded specialist GI pathologists. A total of 141 SSPs were assessed in 83 patients. Median lesion size was 15.0 mm (interquartile range 10-20), and 54.6% were in the right side of the colon. Endoscopic evidence of dysplasia was detected in 36 of 141 (25.5%) SSPs; of these, 5 of 36 (13.9%) lacked dysplasia at histopathology. Two of 105 (1.9%) endoscopically designated non-dysplastic SSPs had dysplasia at histopathology. Endoscopic imaging, therefore, had an accuracy of 95.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 90.1%-97.6%) and a negative predictive value of 98.1% (95% CI, 92.6%-99.7%) for detection of dysplasia within SSPs. Dysplasia within SSPs can be detected accurately by using a simple, broadly applicable endoscopic imaging protocol that allows complete resection. Independent validation of this protocol and its dissemination to the wider endoscopic community may have a significant impact on rates of interval cancer. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT03100552.). Copyright © 2018 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

Visualization of the internal globus pallidus: sequence and orientation for deep brain stimulation using a standard installation protocol at 3.0 Tesla.

Science.gov (United States)

Nölte, Ingo S; Gerigk, Lars; Al-Zghloul, Mansour; Groden, Christoph; Kerl, Hans U

2012-03-01

Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) of the internal globus pallidus (GPi) has shown remarkable therapeutic benefits for treatment-resistant neurological disorders including dystonia and Parkinson's disease (PD). The success of the DBS is critically dependent on the reliable visualization of the GPi. The aim of the study was to evaluate promising 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for pre-stereotactic visualization of the GPi using a standard installation protocol. MRI at 3.0 T of nine healthy individuals and of one patient with PD was acquired (FLAIR, T1-MPRAGE, T2-SPACE, T2*-FLASH2D, susceptibility-weighted imaging mapping (SWI)). Image quality and visualization of the GPi for each sequence were assessed by two neuroradiologists independently using a 6-point scale. Axial, coronal, and sagittal planes of the T2*-FLASH2D images were compared. Inter-rater reliability, contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for the GPi were determined. For illustration, axial T2*-FLASH2D images were fused with a section schema of the Schaltenbrand-Wahren stereotactic atlas. The GPi was best and reliably visualized in axial and to a lesser degree on coronal T2*-FLASH2D images. No major artifacts in the GPi were observed in any of the sequences. SWI offered a significantly higher CNR for the GPi compared to standard T2-weighted imaging using the standard parameters. The fusion of the axial T2*-FLASH2D images and the atlas projected the GPi clearly in the boundaries of the section schema. Using a standard installation protocol at 3.0 T T2*-FLASH2D imaging (particularly axial view) provides optimal and reliable delineation of the GPi.

QoS-aware self-adaptation of communication protocols in a pervasive service middleware

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Weishan; Hansen, Klaus Marius; Fernandes, João

2010-01-01

Pervasive computing is characterized by heterogeneous devices that usually have scarce resources requiring optimized usage. These devices may use different communication protocols which can be switched at runtime. As different communication protocols have different quality of service (Qo......S) properties, this motivates optimized self-adaption of protocols for devices, e.g., considering power consumption and other QoS requirements, e.g. round trip time (RTT) for service invocations, throughput, and reliability. In this paper, we present an extensible approach for self-adaptation of communication...... protocols for pervasive web services, where protocols are designed as reusable connectors and our middleware infrastructure can hide the complexity of using different communication protocols to upper layers. We also propose to use Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to find optimized configurations at runtime...

Protecting the ozone layer.

Science.gov (United States)

Munasinghe, M; King, K

1992-06-01

Stratospheric ozone layer depletion has been recognized as a problem by the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol (MP). The ozone layer shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV-B), which is more pronounced at the poles and around the equator. Industrialized countries have contributed significantly to the problem by releasing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons into the atmosphere. The effect of these chemicals, which were known for their inertness, nonflammability, and nontoxicity, was discovered in 1874. Action to deal with the effects of CFCs and halons was initiated in 1985 in a 49-nation UN meeting. 21 nations signed a protocol limiting ozone depleting substances (ODS): CFCs and halons. Schedules were set based on each country's use in 1986; the target phaseout was set for the year 2000. The MP restricts trade in ODSs and weights the impact of substances to reflect the extent of damage; i.e., halons are 10 times more damaging than CFCs. ODS requirements for developing countries were eased to accommodate scarce resources and the small fraction of ODS emissions. An Interim Multilateral Fund under the Montreal Protocol (IMFMP) was established to provide loans to finance the costs to developing countries in meeting global environmental requirements. The IMFMP is administered by the World Bank, the UN Environmental Program, and the UN Development Program. Financing is available to eligible countries who use .3 kg of ODS/person/year. Rapid phaseout in developed countries has occurred due to strong support from industry and a lower than expected cost. Although there are clear advantages to rapid phaseout, there were no incentives included in the MP for rapid phaseout. Some of the difficulties occur because the schedules set minimum targets at the lowest possible cost. Also, costs cannot be minimized by a country-specific and ODS-specific process. The ways to improve implementation in scheduling and

Formalizing and proving a typing result for security protocols in Isabelle/HOL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hess, Andreas Viktor; Modersheim, Sebastian

2017-01-01

or the positive output of a verification tool. However several of these works have used a typed model, where the intruder is restricted to "well-typed" attacks. There also have been several works that show that this is actually not a restriction for a large class of protocols, but all these results so far...... are again pen-and-paper proofs. In this work we present a formalization of such a typing result in Isabelle/HOL. We formalize a constraint-based approach that is used in the proof argument of such typing results, and prove its soundness, completeness and termination. We then formalize and prove the typing...... result itself in Isabelle. Finally, to illustrate the real-world feasibility, we prove that the standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake satisfies the main condition of the typing result....

The importance of the Montreal Protocol in protecting climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velders, G.J.M.; Andersen, S.O.; Daniel, J.S.; Fahey, D.W.; McFarland, M.

2007-01-01

The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is a landmark agreement that has successfully reduced the global production, consumption, and emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). ODSs are also greenhouse gases that contribute to the radiative forcing of climate

Results of ERAS protocol in patients with colorectal cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. O. Rasulov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: explore the use of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer, evaluate its efficacy and safety.Materials and methods. Prospective, single-site, randomized study for the implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery in patients with colorectal cancer has been conducted from October 2014 till the present time. All patients after laparoscopic surgeries undergo treatment according to ERAS protocol, patients after open surgeries are randomized (1:1 in groups of the standard treatment or treatment according to ERAS protocol. The study included patients with localized and locally disseminated colorectal cancer aged from 18 to 75 years, ECOG score ≤ 2. The primary evaluated parameters were the following: the number of postoperative complications (according to Clavien– Dindo classification, postoperative hospital days, incidence of complications and mortality in the 30-day period, timing of activation.Results. Up to date, the study includes 105 patients: laparoscopic group – 51 patients, open-surgery group of patients treated by ERAS protocol – 27 patients, open-surgery group of patients with the standard post-op treatment – 26 patients. Complications requiring emergency surgery for anastomotic leak (p = 0.159 developed in 3.7 % of patients with the standard post-op treatment and in 3.9 % of patients after laparoscopic surgery, while 1 patient required repeat hospitalization. The total number of complications was significantly lower in opensurgery group of patients treated by ERAS protocol compared with the standard post-op treatment (p = 0.021. However, there were no differences between laparoscopic and open-surgery group with the standard post-op treatment (p = 0.159. An average hospitalization stay in patients with the standard post-op treatment was equal to 10 days compared to 7 days in patients treated by ERAS protocol (p = 0.067 and 6 days after laparoscopic

Standardization and optimization of arthropod inventories-the case of Iberian spiders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bondoso Cardoso, Pedro Miguel

2009-01-01

and optimization of sampling protocols, especially for mega-diverse arthropod taxa. This study had two objectives: (1) propose guidelines and statistical methods to improve the standardization and optimization of arthropod inventories, and (2) to propose a standardized and optimized protocol for Iberian spiders......, by finding common results between the optimal options for the different sites. The steps listed were successfully followed in the determination of a sampling protocol for Iberian spiders. A protocol with three sub-protocols of varying degrees of effort (24, 96 and 320 h of sampling) is proposed. I also...

Effects of standard training in the use of closed-circuit televisions in visually impaired adults: design of a training protocol and a randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Rens Ger HMB

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reading problems are frequently reported by visually impaired persons. A closed-circuit television (CCTV can be helpful to maintain reading ability, however, it is difficult to learn how to use this device. In the Netherlands, an evidence-based rehabilitation program in the use of CCTVs was lacking. Therefore, a standard training protocol needed to be developed and tested in a randomized controlled trial (RCT to provide an evidence-based training program in the use of this device. Methods/Design To develop a standard training program, information was collected by studying literature, observing training in the use of CCTVs, discussing the content of the training program with professionals and organizing focus and discussion groups. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated in an RCT, to obtain an evidence-based training program. Dutch patients (n = 122 were randomized into a treatment group: normal instructions from the supplier combined with training in the use of CCTVs, or into a control group: instructions from the supplier only. The effect of the training program was evaluated in terms of: change in reading ability (reading speed and reading comprehension, patients' skills to operate the CCTV, perceived (vision-related quality of life and tasks performed in daily living. Discussion The development of the CCTV training protocol and the design of the RCT in the present study may serve as an example to obtain an evidence-based training program. The training program was adjusted to the needs and learning abilities of individual patients, however, for scientific reasons it might have been preferable to standardize the protocol further, in order to gain more comparable results. Trial registration http://www.trialregister.nl, identifier: NTR1031

Superposition Attacks on Cryptographic Protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Funder, Jakob Løvstad; Nielsen, Jesper Buus

2011-01-01

of information. In this paper, we introduce a fundamentally new model of quantum attacks on classical cryptographic protocols, where the adversary is allowed to ask several classical queries in quantum superposition. This is a strictly stronger attack than the standard one, and we consider the security......Attacks on classical cryptographic protocols are usually modeled by allowing an adversary to ask queries from an oracle. Security is then defined by requiring that as long as the queries satisfy some constraint, there is some problem the adversary cannot solve, such as compute a certain piece...... of several primitives in this model. We show that a secret-sharing scheme that is secure with threshold $t$ in the standard model is secure against superposition attacks if and only if the threshold is lowered to $t/2$. We use this result to give zero-knowledge proofs for all of NP in the common reference...

Energy efficient routing protocols for wireless sensor networks: comparison and future directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loganathan Murukesan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor network consists of nodes with limited resources. Hence, it is important to design protocols or algorithms which increases energy efficiency in order to improve the network lifetime. In this paper, techniques used in the network layer (routing of the internet protocol stack to achieve energy efficiency are reviewed. Usually, the routing protocols are classified into four main schemes: (1 Network Structure, (2 Communication Model, (3 Topology Based, and (4 Reliable Routing. In this work, only network structure based routing protocols are reviewed due to the page constraint. Besides, this type of protocols are much popular among the researchers since they are fairly simple to implement and produce good results as presented in this paper. Also, the pros and cons of each protocols are presented. Finally, the paper concludes with possible further research directions.

Advanced dementia pain management protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoro-Lorite, Mercedes; Canalias-Reverter, Montserrat

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

Biologic comparison of partial breast irradiation protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenstein, Barry S.; Lymberis, Stella C.; Formenti, Silvia C.

2004-01-01

Purpose: To analyze the dose/fractionation schedules currently used in ongoing clinical trials of partial breast irradiation (PBI) by comparing their biologically effective dose (BED) values to those of three standard whole breast protocols commonly used after segmental mastectomy in the treatment of breast cancer. Methods and materials: The BED equation derived from the linear-quadratic model for radiation-induced cell killing was used to calculate the BEDs for three commonly used whole breast radiotherapy regimens, in addition to a variety of external beam radiotherapy, as well as high-dose-rate and low-dose-rate brachytherapy, PBI protocols. Results: The BED values of most PBI protocols resulted in tumor control BEDs roughly equivalent to a 50-Gy standard treatment, but consistently lower than the BEDs for regimens in which the tumor bed receives a total dose of either 60 Gy or 66 Gy. The BED values calculated for the acute radiation responses of erythema and desquamation were nearly all lower for the PBI schedules, and the late-response BEDs for most PBI regimens were in a similar range to the BEDs for the standard treatments. Conclusion: Biologically effective dose modeling raises the concern that inadequate doses might be delivered by PBI to ensure optimal in-field tumor control

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : feedback to ITS standards development organizations communications.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Relevant Standards

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

.86: Ethernet over LAPS. Standard in China and India. G.7041: Generic Framing Procedure (GFP). Supports Ethernet as well as other data formats (e.g., Fibre Channel); Protocol of ... IEEE 802.3x for flow control of incoming Ethernet data ...

In silico toxicology protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-04-17

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

Do we need 3D tube current modulation information for accurate organ dosimetry in chest CT? Protocols dose comparisons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez-Rendon, Xochitl; Develter, Wim [KU Leuven, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Division of Medical Physics and Quality Assessment, Leuven (Belgium); Zhang, Guozhi; Coudyzer, Walter; Zanca, Federica [University Hospitals of the KU Leuven, Department of Radiology, Leuven (Belgium); Bosmans, Hilde [KU Leuven, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Division of Medical Physics and Quality Assessment, Leuven (Belgium); University Hospitals of the KU Leuven, Department of Radiology, Leuven (Belgium)

2017-11-15

To compare the lung and breast dose associated with three chest protocols: standard, organ-based tube current modulation (OBTCM) and fast-speed scanning; and to estimate the error associated with organ dose when modelling the longitudinal (z-) TCM versus the 3D-TCM in Monte Carlo simulations (MC) for these three protocols. Five adult and three paediatric cadavers with different BMI were scanned. The CTDI{sub vol} of the OBTCM and the fast-speed protocols were matched to the patient-specific CTDI{sub vol} of the standard protocol. Lung and breast doses were estimated using MC with both z- and 3D-TCM simulated and compared between protocols. The fast-speed scanning protocol delivered the highest doses. A slight reduction for breast dose (up to 5.1%) was observed for two of the three female cadavers with the OBTCM in comparison to the standard. For both adult and paediatric, the implementation of the z-TCM data only for organ dose estimation resulted in 10.0% accuracy for the standard and fast-speed protocols, while relative dose differences were up to 15.3% for the OBTCM protocol. At identical CTDI{sub vol} values, the standard protocol delivered the lowest overall doses. Only for the OBTCM protocol is the 3D-TCM needed if an accurate (<10.0%) organ dosimetry is desired. (orig.)

Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance Angiography at 3 Tesla Using a Hybrid Protocol in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, Yousef W.; Eiberg, Jonas P.; Logager, Vibeke B.; Schroeder, Torben V.; Just, Sven; Thomsen, Henrik S.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic performance of 3T whole-body magnetic resonance angiography (WB-MRA) using a hybrid protocol in comparison with a standard protocol in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). In 26 consecutive patients with PAD two different protocols were used for WB-MRA: a standard sequential protocol (n = 13) and a hybrid protocol (n = 13). WB-MRA was performed using a gradient echo sequence, body coil for signal reception, and gadoterate meglumine as contrast agent (0.3 mmol/kg body weight). Two blinded observers evaluated all WB-MRA examinations with regard to presence of stenoses, as well as diagnostic quality and degree of venous contamination in each of the four stations used in WB-MRA. Digital subtraction angiography served as the method of reference. Sensitivity for detecting significant arterial disease (luminal narrowing ≥ 50%) using standard-protocol WB-MRA for the two observers was 0.63 (95%CI: 0.51-0.73) and 0.66 (0.58-0.78). Specificities were 0.94 (0.91-0.97) and 0.96 (0.92-0.98), respectively. In the hybrid protocol WB-MRA sensitivities were 0.75 (0.64-0.84) and 0.70 (0.58-0.8), respectively. Specificities were 0.93 (0.88-0.96) and 0.95 (0.91-0.97). Interobserver agreement was good using both the standard and the hybrid protocol, with κ = 0.62 (0.44-0.67) and κ = 0.70 (0.59-0.79), respectively. WB-MRA quality scores were significantly higher in the lower leg using the hybrid protocol compared to standard protocol (p = 0.003 and p = 0.03, observers 1 and 2). Distal venous contamination scores were significantly lower with the hybrid protocol (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, observers 1 and 2). In conclusion, hybrid-protocol WB-MRA shows a better diagnostic performance than standard protocol WB-MRA at 3 T in patients with PAD.

Automatic Traffic-Based Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Model Generation for ns-3

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

more protocols (especially at different layers of the OSI model ), implementing an inference engine to extract inter- and intrapacket dependencies, and...ARL-TR-7543 ● DEC 2015 US Army Research Laboratory Automatic Traffic-Based Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Model ...ICMP) Model Generation for ns-3 by Jaime C Acosta and Felipe Jovel Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate, ARL Felipe Sotelo and Caesar

Intelligent Local Avoided Collision (iLAC) MAC Protocol for Very High Speed Wireless Network

Science.gov (United States)

Hieu, Dinh Chi; Masuda, Akeo; Rabarijaona, Verotiana Hanitriniala; Shimamoto, Shigeru

Future wireless communication systems aim at very high data rates. As the medium access control (MAC) protocol plays the central role in determining the overall performance of the wireless system, designing a suitable MAC protocol is critical to fully exploit the benefit of high speed transmission that the physical layer (PHY) offers. In the latest 802.11n standard [2], the problem of long overhead has been addressed adequately but the issue of excessive colliding transmissions, especially in congested situation, remains untouched. The procedure of setting the backoff value is the heart of the 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) to avoid collision in which each station makes its own decision on how to avoid collision in the next transmission. However, collision avoidance is a problem that can not be solved by a single station. In this paper, we introduce a new MAC protocol called Intelligent Local Avoided Collision (iLAC) that redefines individual rationality in choosing the backoff counter value to avoid a colliding transmission. The distinguishing feature of iLAC is that it fundamentally changes this decision making process from collision avoidance to collaborative collision prevention. As a result, stations can avoid colliding transmissions with much greater precision. Analytical solution confirms the validity of this proposal and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional algorithms by a large margin.

Performance Improvement Based Authentication Protocol for Intervessel Traffic Service Data Exchange Format Protocol Based on U-Navigation System in WoT Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byunggil Lee

2014-01-01

Full Text Available International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA is developing the standard intersystem VTS exchange format (IVEF protocol for exchange of navigation and vessel information between VTS systems and between VTS and vessels. VTS (vessel traffic system is an important marine traffic monitoring system which is designed to improve the safety and efficiency of navigation and the protection of the marine environment. And the demand of Inter-VTS networking has been increased for realization of e-Navigation as shore side collaboration for maritime safety. And IVEF (inter-VTS data exchange format for inter-VTS network has become a hot research topic of VTS system. Currently, the IVEF developed by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA does not include any highly trusted certification technology for the connectors. The output of standardization is distributed as the IALA recommendation V-145, and the protocol is implemented with an open source. The IVEF open source, however, is the code used to check the functions of standard protocols. It is too slow to be used in the field and requires a large memory. And the vessel traffic information requires high security since it is highly protected by the countries. Therefore, this paper suggests the authentication protocol to increase the security of the VTS systems using the main certification server and IVEF.

Reactive GTS Allocation Protocol for Sporadic Events Using the IEEE 802.15.4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mukhtar Azeem

2014-01-01

by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The proposed control protocol ensures that a given offline sporadic schedule can be adapted online in a timely manner such that the static periodic schedule has not been disturbed and the IEEE 802.15.4 standard compliance remains intact. The proposed protocol is simulated in OPNET. The simulation results are analyzed and presented in this paper to prove the correctness of the proposed protocol regarding the efficient real-time sporadic event delivery along with the periodic event propagation.

INTERGROWTH-21st Gestational Dating and Fetal and Newborn Growth Standards in Peri-Urban Nairobi, Kenya: Quasi-Experimental Implementation Study Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, Kathryn; Patel, Suha; Munson, Meghan; Vesel, Linda; Subbiah, Shalini; Jones, Rachel M; Little, Sarah; Papageorghiou, Aris T; Villar, Jose; Wegner, Mary Nell; Pearson, Nick; Muigai, Faith; Ongeti, Catherine; Langer, Ana

2018-06-22

The burden of preterm birth, fetal growth impairment, and associated neonatal deaths disproportionately falls on low- and middle-income countries where modern obstetric tools are not available to date pregnancies and monitor fetal growth accurately. The INTERGROWTH-21 st gestational dating, fetal growth monitoring, and newborn size at birth standards make this possible. To scale up the INTERGROWTH-21 st standards, it is essential to assess the feasibility and acceptability of their implementation and their effect on clinical decision-making in a low-resource clinical setting. This study protocol describes a pre-post, quasi-experimental implementation study of the standards at Jacaranda Health, a maternity hospital in peri-urban Nairobi, Kenya. All women with viable fetuses receiving antenatal and delivery services, their resulting newborns, and the clinicians caring for them from March 2016 to March 2018 are included. The study comprises a 12-month preimplementation phase, a 12-month implementation phase, and a 5-month post-implementation phase to be completed in August 2018. Quantitative clinical and qualitative data collected during the preimplementation and implementation phases will be assessed. A clinician survey was administered eight months into the implementation phase, month 20 of the study. Implementation outcomes include quantitative and qualitative analyses of feasibility, acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, fidelity, and penetration of the standards. Clinical outcomes include appropriateness of referral and effect of the standards on clinical care and decision-making. Descriptive analyses will be conducted, and comparisons will be made between pre- and postimplementation outcomes. Qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic coding and compared across time. The study was approved by the Amref Ethics and Scientific Review Committee (Kenya) and the Harvard University Institutional Review Board. Study results will be shared with stakeholders

Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Raymond J

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Index 1. General techniques 1.1. Stress and safety equipment 1.2. Left ventricular (LV structure and function module 1.3. Right ventricular (RV structure and function module 1.4. Gadolinium dosing module. 1.5. First pass perfusion 1.6. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE 2. Disease specific protocols 2.1. Ischemic heart disease 2.1.1. Acute myocardial infarction (MI 2.1.2. Chronic ischemic heart disease and viability 2.1.3. Dobutamine stress 2.1.4. Adenosine stress perfusion 2.2. Angiography: 2.2.1. Peripheral magnetic resonance angiography (MRA 2.2.2. Thoracic MRA 2.2.3. Anomalous coronary arteries 2.2.4. Pulmonary vein evaluation 2.3. Other 2.3.1. Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy 2.3.2. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC 2.3.3. Congenital heart disease 2.3.4. Valvular heart disease 2.3.5. Pericardial disease 2.3.6. Masses

UV Impacts Avoided by the Montreal Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Paul; McKenzie, Richard

2010-01-01

Temporal and geographical variabilities in the future "World Expected" UV environment are compared with the "World Avoided", which would have occurred without the Montreal Protocol on protection of the ozone layer and its subsequent amendments and adjustments. Based on calculations of clear-sky UV irradiances, the effects of the Montreal Protocol have been hugely beneficial to avoid the health risks, such as skin cancer, which are associated with high UV, while there is only a small increase in health risks, such as vitamin D deficiency, that are associated with low UV. However, interactions with climate change may lead to changes in cloud and albedo, and possibly behavioural changes which could also be important.

The FEROL40, a microTCA card interfacing custom point-to-point links and standard TCP/IP

CERN Document Server

Gigi, Dominique; Behrens, Ulf; Branson, James; Chaze, Olivier; Cittolin, Sergio; Contescu, Cristian; da Silva Gomes, Diego; Darlea, Georgiana-Lavinia; Deldicque, Christian; Demiragli, Zeynep; Dobson, Marc; Doualot, Nicolas; Erhan, Samim; Fulcher, Jonathan Richard; Gladki, Maciej; Glege, Frank; Gomez-Ceballos, Guillelmo; Hegeman, Jeroen; Holzner, Andre; Janulis, Mindaugas; Lettrich, Michael; Meijers, Frans; Meschi, Emilio; Mommsen, Remigius K; Morovic, Srecko; O'Dell, Vivian; Orn, Samuel Johan; Orsini, Luciano; Papakrivopoulos, Ioannis; Paus, Christoph; Petrova, Petia; Petrucci, Andrea; Pieri, Marco; Rabady, Dinyar; Racz, Attila; Reis, Thomas; Sakulin, Hannes; Schwick, Christoph; Simelevicius, Dainius; Vazquez Velez, Cristina; Vougioukas, Michail; Zejdl, Petr

2017-01-01

In order to accommodate new back-end electronics of upgraded CMS sub-detectors, a new FEROL40 card in the microTCA standard has been developed. The main function of the FEROL40 is to acquire event data over multiple point-to-point serial optical links, provide buffering, perform protocol conversion, and transmit multiple TCP/IP streams (4x10Gbps) to the Ethernet network of the aggregation layer of the CMS DAQ (data acquisition) event builder. This contribution discusses the design of the FEROL40 and experience from operation.

National protocol framework for the inventory and monitoring of bees

Science.gov (United States)

Droege, Sam; Engler, Joseph D.; Sellers, Elizabeth A.; Lee O'Brien,

2016-01-01

This national protocol framework is a standardized tool for the inventory and monitoring of the approximately 4,200 species of native and non-native bee species that may be found within the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). However, this protocol framework may also be used by other organizations and individuals to monitor bees in any given habitat or location. Our goal is to provide USFWS stations within the NWRS (NWRS stations are land units managed by the USFWS such as national wildlife refuges, national fish hatcheries, wetland management districts, conservation areas, leased lands, etc.) with techniques for developing an initial baseline inventory of what bee species are present on their lands and to provide an inexpensive, simple technique for monitoring bees continuously and for monitoring and evaluating long-term population trends and management impacts. The latter long-term monitoring technique requires a minimal time burden for the individual station, yet can provide a good statistical sample of changing populations that can be investigated at the station, regional, and national levels within the USFWS’ jurisdiction, and compared to other sites within the United States and Canada. This protocol framework was developed in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the USFWS, and a worldwide network of bee researchers who have investigated the techniques and methods for capturing bees and tracking population changes. The protocol framework evolved from field and lab-based investigations at the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland starting in 2002 and was refined by a large number of USFWS, academic, and state groups. It includes a Protocol Introduction and a set of 8 Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs and adheres to national standards of protocol content and organization. The Protocol Narrative

Clinical trials of CCLSG L874 and I874 protocols without cranial irradiation for standard-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia in childhood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koizumi, Shoichi; Fujimoto, Takeo; Tsurusawa, Masahito

1992-01-01

In the CCLSG-874 protocol for children with low-risk (LR) and intermediate-risk (IR) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), two regimens with or without cranial irradiation (CI) were compared with respect to their ability to prevent central nervous system (CNS) leukemia and to improve overall outcome of ALL. From 1987 to 1990, 82 and 109 evaluable patients were registered into L874 and I874 protocols for LR and IR patients, respectively. All responders to induction therapy were randomized to treatment with 18 Gy of CI plus intrathecal methotrexate (MTX it) or to treatment with high-dose MTX plus MTX it. Patients were then treated with standard maintenance regimens of L874 and I874. At a median follow-up of 39 months (range 14-58 months) there was no difference in the rate of hematologic relapse between the CI group and MTX group. The rate of CNS relapse in the MTX group seemed to be higher (3 of 39 in L874 and 2 of 54 in I874) than that in the CI group (1 of 43 in L874 and 0 of 55 in I874), but these data were not statistically significant. The rates of 4-year event-free survival (EFS) in L874 were 81.1±7.6% (mean±SE) and 75.2±7.9% (ns) for the CI and MTX group, respectively, and the rates of EFS in I874 were 70.0±13.6% and 70.0±9.0% (ns) for the CI and MTX group, respectively. These data suggest that MTX alone may be as effective as CI to prolong disease-free survival in LR and IR ALL although further continuous studies are needed. Analysis of serial CCLSG protocols for ALL from 1981 revealed that the rate of EFS of ALL allover including all risk groups has gradually been increasing from 44.2±3.6% for 811 protocol and 53.1±3.5% for 841 to 65.5±3.6% for the present 874 protocol. (author)

Aligning research assessment in the Humanities to the national Standard Evaluation Protocol Challenges and developments in the Dutch research landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prins, A.; Spaapen, J.; Van Vree, F

2016-07-01

The purpose of this session is a debate about innovation in comprehensive methods for the assessment of humanities research. Input will come from preliminary outcomes of an ongoing project in the Netherlands to find adequate indicators for humanities research that will fit in the national Standard Evaluation Protocol. The project includes processes of ‘bottom up’ data collection (that is, with input coming from the research community) and discussion with Humanities researchers, investigating the specific characteristics of publication and communication cultures in the Humanities, and the prospects for the use of quantitative and qualitative indicators. (Author)

Optimised cross-layer synchronisation schemes for wireless sensor networks

Science.gov (United States)

Nasri, Nejah; Ben Fradj, Awatef; Kachouri, Abdennaceur

2017-07-01

This paper aims at synchronisation between the sensor nodes. Indeed, in the context of wireless sensor networks, it is necessary to take into consideration the energy cost induced by the synchronisation, which can represent the majority of the energy consumed. On communication, an already identified hard point consists in imagining a fine synchronisation protocol which must be sufficiently robust to the intermittent energy in the sensors. Hence, this paper worked on aspects of performance and energy saving, in particular on the optimisation of the synchronisation protocol using cross-layer design method such as synchronisation between layers. Our approach consists in balancing the energy consumption between the sensors and choosing the cluster head with the highest residual energy in order to guarantee the reliability, integrity and continuity of communication (i.e. maximising the network lifetime).

Identifying Opportunities for Exploiting Cross-Layer Interactions in Adaptive Wireless Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy Weingart

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The flexibility of cognitive and software-defined radio heralds an opportunity for researchers to reexamine how network protocol layers operate with respect to providing quality of service aware transmission among wireless nodes. This opportunity is enhanced by the continued development of spectrally responsive devices—ones that can detect and respond to changes in the radio frequency environment. Present wireless network protocols define reliability and other performance-related tasks narrowly within layers. For example, the frame size employed on 802.11 can substantially influence the throughput, delay, and jitter experienced by an application, but there is no simple way to adapt this parameter. Furthermore, while the data link layer of 802.11 provides error detection capabilities across a link, it does not specify additional features, such as forward error correction schemes, nor does it provide a means for throttling retransmissions at the transport layer (currently, the data link and transport layer can function counterproductively with respect to reliability. This paper presents an analysis of the interaction of physical, data link, and network layer parameters with respect to throughput, bit error rate, delay, and jitter. The goal of this analysis is to identify opportunities where system designers might exploit cross-layer interactions to improve the performance of Voice over IP (VoIP, instant messaging (IM, and file transfer applications.

Automated Planning Enables Complex Protocols on Liquid-Handling Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehead, Ellis; Rudolf, Fabian; Kaltenbach, Hans-Michael; Stelling, Jörg

2018-03-16

Robotic automation in synthetic biology is especially relevant for liquid handling to facilitate complex experiments. However, research tasks that are not highly standardized are still rarely automated in practice. Two main reasons for this are the substantial investments required to translate molecular biological protocols into robot programs, and the fact that the resulting programs are often too specific to be easily reused and shared. Recent developments of standardized protocols and dedicated programming languages for liquid-handling operations addressed some aspects of ease-of-use and portability of protocols. However, either they focus on simplicity, at the expense of enabling complex protocols, or they entail detailed programming, with corresponding skills and efforts required from the users. To reconcile these trade-offs, we developed Roboliq, a software system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) methods to integrate (i) generic formal, yet intuitive, protocol descriptions, (ii) complete, but usually hidden, programming capabilities, and (iii) user-system interactions to automatically generate executable, optimized robot programs. Roboliq also enables high-level specifications of complex tasks with conditional execution. To demonstrate the system's benefits for experiments that are difficult to perform manually because of their complexity, duration, or time-critical nature, we present three proof-of-principle applications for the reproducible, quantitative characterization of GFP variants.

Field Monitoring Protocol. Heat Pump Water Heaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2013-02-01

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

Field Monitoring Protocol: Heat Pump Water Heaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2013-02-01

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

Cross-Layer Handover Scheme for Multimedia Communications in Next Generation Wireless Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Chun-Cheng

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve seamless handover for real-time applications in the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS of next generation network, a multiprotocol combined handover mechanism is proposed in this paper. We combine SIP (Session Initiation Protocol, FMIP (Fast Mobile IPv6 Protocol, and MIH (Media Independent Handover protocols by cross-layer design and optimize those protocols' signaling flows to improve the performance of vertical handover. Theoretical analysis and simulation results illustrate that our proposed mechanism performs better than the original SIP and MIH combined handover mechanism in terms of service interruption time and packet loss.

The international protocol for the dosimetry of external radiotherapy beams based on standards of absorbed dose to water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreo, P.

2001-01-01

An International Code of Practice (CoP, or dosimetry protocol) for external beam radiotherapy dosimetry based on standards of absorbed dose to water has been published by the IAEA on behalf of IAEA, WHO, PAHO and ESTRO. The CoP provides a systematic and internationally unified approach for the determination of the absorbed dose to water in reference conditions with radiotherapy beams. The development of absorbed-dose-to-water standards for high-energy photons and electrons offers the possibility of reducing the uncertainty in the dosimetry of radiotherapy beams. Many laboratories already provide calibrations at the radiation quality of 60Co gamma-rays and some have extended calibrations to high-energy photon and electron beams. The dosimetry of kilovoltage x-rays, as well as that of proton and ion beams can also be based on these standards. Thus, a coherent dosimetry system based on the same formalism is achieved for practically all radiotherapy beams. The practical use of the CoP as simple. The document is formed by a set of different CoPs for each radiation type, which include detailed procedures and worksheets. All CoPs are based on ND,w chamber calibrations at a reference beam quality Qo, together with radiation beam quality correction factors kQ preferably measured directly for the user's chamber in a standards laboratory. Calculated values of kQ are provided together with their uncertainty estimates. Beam quality specifiers are 60Co, TPR20,10 (high-energy photons), R50 (electrons), HVL and kV (x-rays) and Rres (protons and ions) [es

Wireless networking for the dental office: current wireless standards and security protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Mupparapu, Muralidhar; Arora, Sarika

2004-11-15

Digital radiography has gained immense popularity in dentistry today in spite of the early difficulty for the profession to embrace the technology. The transition from film to digital has been happening at a faster pace in the fields of Orthodontics, Oral Surgery, Endodontics, Periodontics, and other specialties where the radiographic images (periapical, bitewing, panoramic, cephalometric, and skull radiographs) are being acquired digitally, stored within a server locally, and eventually accessed for diagnostic purposes, along with the rest of the patient data via the patient management software (PMS). A review of the literature shows the diagnostic performance of digital radiography is at least comparable to or even better than that of conventional radiography. Similarly, other digital diagnostic tools like caries detectors, cephalometric analysis software, and digital scanners were used for many years for the diagnosis and treatment planning purposes. The introduction of wireless charged-coupled device (CCD) sensors in early 2004 (Schick Technologies, Long Island City, NY) has moved digital radiography a step further into the wireless era. As with any emerging technology, there are concerns that should be looked into before adapting to the wireless environment. Foremost is the network security involved in the installation and usage of these wireless networks. This article deals with the existing standards and choices in wireless technologies that are available for implementation within a contemporary dental office. The network security protocols that protect the patient data and boost the efficiency of modern day dental clinics are enumerated.

Evaluation of video transmission of MAC protocols in wireless sensor network

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-08-01

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

On the security of the Mobile IP protocol family

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, Ulrike; Tschofenig, Hannes; Karagiannis, Georgios; Devetsikiotis, M.; Michailidis, G.

2007-01-01

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has worked on network layer mobility for more than 10 years and a number of RFCs are available by now. Although the IETF mobility protocols are not present in the Internet infrastructure as of today, deployment seems to be imminent since a number of

Simultaneous validation of the Grandway MD2301 digital automatic blood pressure monitor by the British Hypertension Society and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/the International Organization for Standardization protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jinhua; Wang, Yun; Liu, Zhaoying; Wang, Yuling

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of the Grandway MD2301 digital automatic blood pressure monitor by the British Hypertension Society (BHS) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)/the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocols. A total of 85 participants were included for evaluation based on the requirements of the BHS and the AAMI/ISO protocols. The validation procedure and data analysis followed the protocols precisely. The device achieved A/A grading for the BHS protocol and maintained A/A grading throughout the low, medium and high blood pressure ranges. The device also fulfilled the requirement of the AAMI/ISO protocol with device-observer differences of -0.9±5.6 and 0.8±5.2 mmHg for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, for criterion 1, and -0.9±4.7 and 0.8±4.2 mmHg, respectively, for criterion 2. The Grandway MD2301 digital automatic blood pressure monitor achieved A/A grade of the BHS protocol and passed the requirements of the AAMI/ISO protocol in adults.

A SURVEY ON MULTICAST ROUTING PROTOCOLS FOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Suruliandi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Multicast is a process used to transfer same message to multiple receivers at the same time. This paper presents the simulation and analysis of the performance of six different multicast routing protocols for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN. They are On Demand Multicast Routing Protocol (ODMRP, Protocol for Unified Multicasting through Announcement (PUMA, Multicast Adhoc On demand Distance Vector Protocol (MAODV, Overlay Boruvka-based Adhoc Multicast Protocol (OBAMP, Application Layer Multicast Algorithm (ALMA and enhanced version of ALMA (ALMA-H for WSN. Among them, ODMRP, MAODV and PUMA are reactive protocols while OBAMP, ALMA and ALMA-H are proactive protocols. This paper compares the performance of these protocols with common parameters such as Throughput, Reliability, End-to-End delay and Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR with increasing the numbers of nodes and increasing the speed of the nodes. The main objective of this work is to select the efficient multicast routing protocol for WSN among six multicast routing protocol based on relative strength and weakness of each protocol. The summary of above six multicast routing protocols is presented with a table of different performance characteristics. Experimental result shows that ODMRP attains higher throughput, reliability and higher packet delivery ratio than other multicast routing protocol, while incurring far less end-to-end delay.

Experimental Evaluation of Simulation Abstractions for Wireless Sensor Network MAC Protocols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. P. Halkes

2010-01-01

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

Equation Chapter 1 Section 1Cross Layer Design for Localization in Large-Scale Underwater Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanfeng ZHANG

2014-02-01

Full Text Available There are many technical challenges for designing large-scale underwater sensor networks, especially the sensor node localization. Although many papers studied for large-scale sensor node localization, previous studies mainly study the location algorithm without the cross layer design for localization. In this paper, by utilizing the network hierarchical structure of underwater sensor networks, we propose a new large-scale underwater acoustic localization scheme based on cross layer design. In this scheme, localization is performed in a hierarchical way, and the whole localization process focused on the physical layer, data link layer and application layer. We increase the pipeline parameters which matched the acoustic channel, added in MAC protocol to increase the authenticity of the large-scale underwater sensor networks, and made analysis of different location algorithm. We conduct extensive simulations, and our results show that MAC layer protocol and the localization algorithm all would affect the result of localization which can balance the trade-off between localization accuracy, localization coverage, and communication cost.

Test Protocols for Advanced Inverter Interoperability Functions – Main Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Jay Dean [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gonzalez, Sigifredo [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ralph, Mark E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ellis, Abraham [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Broderick, Robert Joseph [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2013-11-01

Distributed energy resources (DER) such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, when deployed in a large scale, are capable of influencing significantly the operation of power systems. Looking to the future, stakeholders are working on standards to make it possible to manage the potentially complex interactions between DER and the power system. In 2009, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) initiated a large industry collaborative to identify and standardize definitions for a set of DER grid support functions. While the initial effort concentrated on grid-tied PV inverters and energy storage systems, the concepts have applicability to all DER. A partial product of this on-going effort is a reference definitions document (IEC TR 61850-90-7, Object models for power converters in distributed energy resources (DER) systems) that has become a basis for expansion of related International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, and is supported by US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). Some industry-led organizations advancing communications protocols have also embraced this work. As standards continue to evolve, it is necessary to develop test protocols to independently verify that the inverters are properly executing the advanced functions. Interoperability is assured by establishing common definitions for the functions and a method to test compliance with operational requirements. This document describes test protocols developed by SNL to evaluate the electrical performance and operational capabilities of PV inverters and energy storage, as described in IEC TR 61850-90-7. While many of these functions are not currently required by existing grid codes or may not be widely available commercially, the industry is rapidly moving in that direction. Interoperability issues are already

A cross-platform survey of CT image quality and dose from routine abdomen protocols and a method to systematically standardize image quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favazza, Christopher P; Duan, Xinhui; Zhang, Yi; Yu, Lifeng; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James M; Bruesewitz, Michael R; McCollough, Cynthia H

2015-01-01

Through this investigation we developed a methodology to evaluate and standardize CT image quality from routine abdomen protocols across different manufacturers and models. The influence of manufacturer-specific automated exposure control systems on image quality was directly assessed to standardize performance across a range of patient sizes. We evaluated 16 CT scanners across our health system, including Siemens, GE, and Toshiba models. Using each practice’s routine abdomen protocol, we measured spatial resolution, image noise, and scanner radiation output (CTDI vol ). Axial and in-plane spatial resolutions were assessed through slice sensitivity profile (SSP) and modulation transfer function (MTF) measurements, respectively. Image noise and CTDI vol values were obtained for three different phantom sizes. SSP measurements demonstrated a bimodal distribution in slice widths: an average of 6.2  ±  0.2 mm using GE’s ‘Plus’ mode reconstruction setting and 5.0  ±  0.1 mm for all other scanners. MTF curves were similar for all scanners. Average spatial frequencies at 50%, 10%, and 2% MTF values were 3.24  ±  0.37, 6.20  ±  0.34, and 7.84  ±  0.70 lp cm −1 , respectively. For all phantom sizes, image noise and CTDI vol varied considerably: 6.5–13.3 HU (noise) and 4.8–13.3 mGy (CTDI vol ) for the smallest phantom; 9.1–18.4 HU and 9.3–28.8 mGy for the medium phantom; and 7.8–23.4 HU and 16.0–48.1 mGy for the largest phantom. Using these measurements and benchmark SSP, MTF, and image noise targets, CT image quality can be standardized across a range of patient sizes. (paper)

A cross-platform survey of CT image quality and dose from routine abdomen protocols and a method to systematically standardize image quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Favazza, Christopher P; Duan, Xinhui; Zhang, Yi; Yu, Lifeng; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James M; Bruesewitz, Michael R; McCollough, Cynthia H

2015-11-07

Through this investigation we developed a methodology to evaluate and standardize CT image quality from routine abdomen protocols across different manufacturers and models. The influence of manufacturer-specific automated exposure control systems on image quality was directly assessed to standardize performance across a range of patient sizes. We evaluated 16 CT scanners across our health system, including Siemens, GE, and Toshiba models. Using each practice's routine abdomen protocol, we measured spatial resolution, image noise, and scanner radiation output (CTDIvol). Axial and in-plane spatial resolutions were assessed through slice sensitivity profile (SSP) and modulation transfer function (MTF) measurements, respectively. Image noise and CTDIvol values were obtained for three different phantom sizes. SSP measurements demonstrated a bimodal distribution in slice widths: an average of 6.2  ±  0.2 mm using GE's 'Plus' mode reconstruction setting and 5.0  ±  0.1 mm for all other scanners. MTF curves were similar for all scanners. Average spatial frequencies at 50%, 10%, and 2% MTF values were 3.24  ±  0.37, 6.20  ±  0.34, and 7.84  ±  0.70 lp cm(-1), respectively. For all phantom sizes, image noise and CTDIvol varied considerably: 6.5-13.3 HU (noise) and 4.8-13.3 mGy (CTDIvol) for the smallest phantom; 9.1-18.4 HU and 9.3-28.8 mGy for the medium phantom; and 7.8-23.4 HU and 16.0-48.1 mGy for the largest phantom. Using these measurements and benchmark SSP, MTF, and image noise targets, CT image quality can be standardized across a range of patient sizes.

Protocol for characterization of clay as a backfill and coverage layers for surface repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Daisy M.M.; Tello, Clédola C.O.

2017-01-01

The Radioactive Waste Management includes the operations since generation of the waste until its storage in repository, ensuring the protection of human beings and the environment from the possible negative impacts. The radioactive waste is segregated, treated, conditioned in suitable packages for posterior storage or disposal in repository. The 'RBMN Project' objective is to implement the repository for the disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes generated by nuclear activities in Brazil, proposing a definitive solution for their storage. Engineered and natural barriers as the backfill and coverage layers will compose the disposal system of a near surface repository, concept proposed by the 'RBMN Project'. The use of these barriers aims to avoid or restrict the release of radionuclides from the waste to the human beings and environment. The waterproofing barriers are composed of clays. Certainly, for the national repository, will be used those clays existing in the place where it will be constructed. Them some basic tests will have to be carried out to verify the suitability of these clays as barriers. These tests were determined and performed with reference clay, a Brazilian bentonite constituted of 67.2% montmorillonite. The results were compared with national and international literature of materials with similar mineralogical features. The values found with 95% of confidence interval were 9.73±0,35 μm for granulometric size; 13,3±0,6% for the moisture content and 816±9 mmol.kg -1 for the capacity of cationic exchange. A protocol for characterization of clay was elaborated presenting these tests for it future use. (author)

Protocol for characterization of clay as a backfill and coverage layers for surface repository

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Daisy M.M.; Tello, Clédola C.O., E-mail: marymarchezini@gmail.com, E-mail: tellocc@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2017-07-01

The Radioactive Waste Management includes the operations since generation of the waste until its storage in repository, ensuring the protection of human beings and the environment from the possible negative impacts. The radioactive waste is segregated, treated, conditioned in suitable packages for posterior storage or disposal in repository. The 'RBMN Project' objective is to implement the repository for the disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes generated by nuclear activities in Brazil, proposing a definitive solution for their storage. Engineered and natural barriers as the backfill and coverage layers will compose the disposal system of a near surface repository, concept proposed by the 'RBMN Project'. The use of these barriers aims to avoid or restrict the release of radionuclides from the waste to the human beings and environment. The waterproofing barriers are composed of clays. Certainly, for the national repository, will be used those clays existing in the place where it will be constructed. Them some basic tests will have to be carried out to verify the suitability of these clays as barriers. These tests were determined and performed with reference clay, a Brazilian bentonite constituted of 67.2% montmorillonite. The results were compared with national and international literature of materials with similar mineralogical features. The values found with 95% of confidence interval were 9.73±0,35 μm for granulometric size; 13,3±0,6% for the moisture content and 816±9 mmol.kg{sup -1} for the capacity of cationic exchange. A protocol for characterization of clay was elaborated presenting these tests for it future use. (author)

Variation in radiographic protocols in paediatric interventional cardiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFadden, S L; Hughes, C M; Winder, R J

2013-01-01

The aim of this work is to determine current radiographic protocols in paediatric interventional cardiology (IC) in the UK and Ireland. To do this we investigated which imaging parameters/protocols are commonly used in IC in different hospitals, to identify if a standard technique is used and illustrate any variation in practice. A questionnaire was sent to all hospitals in the UK and Ireland which perform paediatric IC to obtain information on techniques used in each clinical department and on the range of clinical examinations performed. Ethical and research governance approval was sought from the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland and the individual trusts. A response rate of 79% was achieved, and a wide variation in technique was found between hospitals. The main differences in technique involved variations in the use of an anti-scatter grid and the use of additional filtration to the radiation beam, frame rates for digital acquisition and pre-programmed projections/paediatric specific programming in the equipment. We conclude that there is no standard protocol for carrying out paediatric IC in the UK or Ireland. Each hospital carries out the IC procedure according to its own local protocols resulting in a wide variation in radiation dose. (paper)

Variation in radiographic protocols in paediatric interventional cardiology.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, S L; Hughes, C M; Winder, R J

2013-06-01

The aim of this work is to determine current radiographic protocols in paediatric interventional cardiology (IC) in the UK and Ireland. To do this we investigated which imaging parameters/protocols are commonly used in IC in different hospitals, to identify if a standard technique is used and illustrate any variation in practice. A questionnaire was sent to all hospitals in the UK and Ireland which perform paediatric IC to obtain information on techniques used in each clinical department and on the range of clinical examinations performed. Ethical and research governance approval was sought from the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland and the individual trusts. A response rate of 79% was achieved, and a wide variation in technique was found between hospitals. The main differences in technique involved variations in the use of an anti-scatter grid and the use of additional filtration to the radiation beam, frame rates for digital acquisition and pre-programmed projections/paediatric specific programming in the equipment. We conclude that there is no standard protocol for carrying out paediatric IC in the UK or Ireland. Each hospital carries out the IC procedure according to its own local protocols resulting in a wide variation in radiation dose.

Efficacy of Low-Dose Protocol in Follow-Up of Lymphoproliferative Disorders - Preliminary Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popic-Ramac, J.; Brnic, Z.; Klasic, B.; Hebrang, A.; Knezevic, Z.

2011-01-01

Most medically-related radiation is caused by diagnostic examinations, in particular by computed tomography (CT). The purpose of this research is to reduce radiation doses faced by the population frequently exposed to such procedures-those with lymphoproliferative disorders. The research was conducted comparing radiation-exposition doses received by the radiosensitive organs (thyroid, lens, breast and gonad) using the standard thoracic CT protocol with the radiation received using the low-dose protocol, while maintaining display quality. The standard-dose thoracic protocol implies 120 kV and 150 mAs. The low-dose protocol was conducted on the same device using 120 kV and 30 mAs. We confirmed the hypothesis that the use of the low-dose thoracic CT protocol leads to a reduction in radiation dose without compromising display quality. It is further expected that a reduction in doses will reduce the risk of radiation-related mutations. (author)

A Survey on Multimedia-Based Cross-Layer Optimization in Visual Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Daniel G.; Guedes, Luiz Affonso

2011-01-01

Visual sensor networks (VSNs) comprised of battery-operated electronic devices endowed with low-resolution cameras have expanded the applicability of a series of monitoring applications. Those types of sensors are interconnected by ad hoc error-prone wireless links, imposing stringent restrictions on available bandwidth, end-to-end delay and packet error rates. In such context, multimedia coding is required for data compression and error-resilience, also ensuring energy preservation over the path(s) toward the sink and improving the end-to-end perceptual quality of the received media. Cross-layer optimization may enhance the expected efficiency of VSNs applications, disrupting the conventional information flow of the protocol layers. When the inner characteristics of the multimedia coding techniques are exploited by cross-layer protocols and architectures, higher efficiency may be obtained in visual sensor networks. This paper surveys recent research on multimedia-based cross-layer optimization, presenting the proposed strategies and mechanisms for transmission rate adjustment, congestion control, multipath selection, energy preservation and error recovery. We note that many multimedia-based cross-layer optimization solutions have been proposed in recent years, each one bringing a wealth of contributions to visual sensor networks. PMID:22163908

Tuning plasmons layer-by-layer for quantitative colloidal sensing with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, William J; Nowinska, Kamila; Hutter, Tanya; Mahajan, Sumeet; Fischlechner, Martin

2018-04-19

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is well known for its high sensitivity that emerges due to the plasmonic enhancement of electric fields typically on gold and silver nanostructures. However, difficulties associated with the preparation of nanostructured substrates with uniform and reproducible features limit reliability and quantitation using SERS measurements. In this work we use layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly to incorporate multiple functional building blocks of collaborative assemblies of nanoparticles on colloidal spheres to fabricate SERS sensors. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are packaged in discrete layers, effectively 'freezing nano-gaps', on spherical colloidal cores to achieve multifunctionality and reproducible sensing. Coupling between layers tunes the plasmon resonance for optimum SERS signal generation to achieve a 10 nM limit of detection. Significantly, using the layer-by-layer construction, SERS-active AuNP layers are spaced out and thus optically isolated. This uniquely allows the creation of an internal standard within each colloidal sensor to enable highly reproducible self-calibrated sensing. By using 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) as the internal standard adenine concentrations are quantified to an accuracy of 92.6-99.5%. Our versatile approach paves the way for rationally designed yet quantitative colloidal SERS sensors and their use in a variety of sensing applications.

Experimental investigation of Cu-based, double-layered, microchannel heat exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Bin; Meng, W J; Mei, Fanghua

2013-01-01

Cu-based, single- and double-layered, microchannel heat exchangers (MHEs) were fabricated and assembled. Comparative measurements on liquid flow characteristics and heat transfer performance were conducted on these devices. Results were compared at the individual microchannel level as well as at the device level. The present results demonstrate that double-layered MHEs exhibit similar heat transfer performance while suffering a much lower pressure drop penalty compared to single-layered MHEs. Another Cu-based, double-layered, liquid–liquid counter-flow MHE was fabricated, assembled and tested. Results show that a low-volume, multilayered, high-performance, liquid-to-liquid MHE is achievable following the manufacturing protocols of the present double-layered, liquid–liquid counter-flow MHE. (paper)

Identification of a research protocol to study orthodontic tooth movement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annalisa Dichicco

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Aim: The orthodontic movement is associated with a process of tissue remodeling together with the release of several chemical mediators in periodontal tissues. Each mediator is a potential marker of tooth movement and expresses biological processes as: tissue inflammation and bone remodeling. Different amounts of every mediator are present in several tissues and fluids of the oral cavity. Therefore, there are different methods that allow sampling with several degrees of invasiveness. Chemical mediators are also substances of different molecular nature, and multiple kind of analysis methods allow detection. The purpose of this study was to draft the best research protocol for an optimal study on orthodontic movement efficiency. Methods: An analysis of the international literature have been made, to identify the gold standard of each aspect of the protocol: type of mediator, source and method of sampling and analysis method. Results: From the analysis of the international literature was created an original research protocol for the study and the assessment of the orthodontic movement, by using the biomarkers of the tooth movement. Conclusions: The protocol created is based on the choice of the gold standard of every aspect already analyzed in the literature and in existing protocols for the monitoring of orthodontic tooth movement through the markers of tooth movement. Clinical trials re required for the evaluation and validation of the protocol created.

An improved network layer protocol based on mobile IPv6

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

The mobile [Pv6 proposed by the IETF aims at providing mobility support on the next generation Internet. First, the authors described the basic principle of mobile lPv6 in brief and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of it, presented a new idea of allocating a specific address space for mobile node ( MN ) and developed a new extension header and two ICMP message types for mobile IPv6. Lastly the authors proposed an optimization strategy, for mobile IPv6 based on these extensions of protocol, which has the following advantages:1 ) It is more convenient to manage the MNs because MN can be judged from its IP address; 2) When the correspondent node (CN) is not actively communicating with a MN, the MN and its home agent (HA) need not send Binding Update to tire CN, and the CN need not send Binding Request to the MN. Only when the CN really wants to send a packet to the MN, will the CN voluntarily send a MN Discover Request message to acquire the MN's care-of address. In this way, the transmission of Binding Update and Binding Request is greatly reduced, consequently the network overhead is also decreased; 3) While sending packets, the CN simply uses a MN Home Address Extension Header without using IPinlP encapsulation and routing header, which can reduce the redundant information in the packet and the message delay; 4) All the packets sent by the CN can be directly routed to the MN and the triangle routing can be completely avoided. By using these protocol extensions, the overhead of the network is greatly reduced and the network quality of services (QoS) is improved.

Formal Specification and Description Language and Message Sequence Chart to Model and Validate Session Initiation Protocol Services

OpenAIRE

Sa'ed Abed; Mohammad H. Al Shayeji; Ovais Ahmed; Sahel Alouneh

2016-01-01

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling layer protocol for building, adjusting and ending sessions among participants including Internet conferences, telephone calls and multimedia distribution. SIP facilitates user movement by proxying and forwarding requests to the present location of the user. In this paper, we provide a formal Specification and Description Language (SDL) and Message Sequence Chart (MSC) to model and define the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) SIP protocol a...

Efficacy of 2 finishing protocols in the quality of orthodontic treatment outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Gregory J; McNamara, James A; Baccetti, Tiziano

2011-11-01

The objectives of this prospective clinical study were to evaluate the quality of treatment outcomes achieved with a complex orthodontic finishing protocol involving serpentine wires and a tooth positioner, and to compare it with the outcomes of a standard finishing protocol involving archwire bends used to detail the occlusion near the end of active treatment. The complex finishing protocol sample consisted of 34 consecutively treated patients; 1 week before debonding, their molar bands were removed, and serpentine wires were placed; this was followed by active wear of a tooth positioner for up to 1 month after debonding. The standard finishing protocol group consisted of 34 patients; their dental arches were detailed with archwire bends and vertical elastics. The objective grading system of the American Board of Orthodontics was used to quantify the quality of the finish at each time point. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare changes in the complex finishing protocol; the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare changes between groups. The complex finishing protocol group experienced a clinically significant improvement in objective grading system scores after treatment with the positioner. Mild improvement in posterior space closure was noted after molar band removal, but no improvement in the occlusion was observed after placement of the serpentine wires. Patients managed with the complex finishing protocol also had a lower objective grading system score (14.7) at the end of active treatment than did patients undergoing the standard finishing protocol (23.0). Tooth positioners caused a clinically significant improvement in interocclusal contacts, interproximal contacts, and net objective grading system score; mild improvement in posterior band space was noted after molar band removal 1 week before debond. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Audit protocol of compliance test on x-ray and interventional radiodiagnostic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endang Kunarsih; Fitria Sandra

2011-01-01

Testing protocol is a document that defined and implemented by the testing agency in conducting compliance testing to ensure that quality of testing implementation is planned and controlled in accordance with applicable regulations and standards. Testing protocol is required in filing an application to be a qualified testing agency. Auditors will review the testing protocol document to assess adequacy of the acceptance criteria before proceed to the next process. This paper presents the acceptance criteria required in an audit of the testing protocol document from the applicant of testing agency. (author)

Effect of Duration of Irrigation with Sodium Hypochlorite in Clinical Protocol of MTAD on Removal of Smear Layer and Creating Dentinal Erosion

Science.gov (United States)

Lotfi, Mehrdad; Moghaddam, Negar; Vosoughhosseini, Sepideh; Zand, Vahid; Saghiri, Mohammad Ali

2012-01-01

Background and aims The aim of the present study was to compare 1.3% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in MTAD (mixture of tetracycline isomer, acid, and detergent) for the removal of the smear layer and induction of canal erosion. Materials and methods 38 maxillary incisors were divided in three experimental groups of 10 and two positive and negative control groups of each 4 teeth, and prepared using rotary files. In test groups, 1.3% NaOCl was used for 5, 10 and 20 minutes during preparation followed by MTAD as the final rinse. In negative control group, 5.25% NaOCl was used for 10 minutes followed by 17% Ethylenediamine Tetra-Acetic Acid (EDTA) as the final rinse. In positive control group, dis-tilled water was used for 10 minutes during preparation and then as the final rinse. The samples were examined under scan-ning electron microscope, and the smear layer and dentinal erosion scores were recorded. Results Five and 10 min groups had significant differences with 20 min group (p < 0.05). In apical third, 5 and 10 min groups had also significant differences with 20 min (p < 0.05). In the coronal thirds, when the time of irrigation with 1.3% NaOCl increased from 5 min to 20 min, erosion also increased significantly. However, 5 and 10 min groups had no signifi-cant differences with negative control group. Conclusion The use of 1.3% sodium hypochlorite for 5 and 10 minutes in the MTAD protocol removes the smear layer in the coronal and middle thirds but does not induce erosion. PMID:22991642

Delineation of upper urinary tract segments at MDCT urography in patients with extra-urinary mass lesions: retrospective comparison of standard and low-dose protocols for the excretory phase of imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller-Lisse, Ulrike L. [University of Munich, Department of Urology, Munich (Germany); University of Munich Medical School, Department of Urology, Muenchen (Germany); Coppenrath, Eva M.; Meindl, Thomas; Degenhart, Christoph; Scherr, Michael K.; Reiser, Maximilian F.; Mueller-Lisse, Ullrich G. [University of Munich, Department of Radiology, Munich (Germany); Stief, Christian G. [University of Munich, Department of Urology, Munich (Germany)

2011-02-15

Excretory-phase CT urography (CTU) may replace excretory urography in patients without urinary tumors. However, radiation exposure is a concern. We retrospectively compared upper urinary tract (UUT) delineation in low-dose and standard CTU. CTU (1-2 phases, 120 KV, 4 x 2.5 mm, pitch 0.875, i.v. non-ionic contrast media, iodine 36 g) was obtained with standard (14 patients, n = 27 UUTs, average 175.6 mAs/slice, average delay 16.8 min) or low-dose (26 patients, n = 86 UUTs, 29 mAs/slice, average delay 19.6 min) protocols. UUT was segmented into intrarenal collecting system (IRCS), upper, middle, and lower ureter (UU,MU,LU). Two independent readers (R1,R2) graded UUT segments as 1-not delineated, 2-partially delineated, 3-completely delineated (noisy margins), 4-completely delineated (clear margins). Chi-square statistics were calculated for partial versus complete delineation and complete delineation (clear margins), respectively. Complete delineation of UUT was similar in standard and low-dose CTU (R1, p > 0.15; R2, p > 0.2). IRCS, UU, and MU clearly delineated similarly often in standard and low-dose CTU (R1, p > 0.25; R2, p > 0.1). LU clearly delineated more often in standard protocols (R1, 18/6 standard, 38/31 low-dose, p > 0.1; R2 18/6 standard, 21/48 low-dose, p < 0.05). Low-dose CTU sufficiently delineated course of UUT and may locate obstruction/dilation, but appears unlikely to find intraluminal LU lesions. (orig.)

A novel protocol for dispatcher assisted CPR improves CPR quality and motivation among rescuers-A randomized controlled simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Stinne Eika; Nebsbjerg, Mette Amalie; Krogh, Lise Qvirin; Bjørnshave, Katrine; Krogh, Kristian; Povlsen, Jonas Agerlund; Riddervold, Ingunn Skogstad; Grøfte, Thorbjørn; Kirkegaard, Hans; Løfgren, Bo

2017-01-01

Emergency dispatchers use protocols to instruct bystanders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Studies changing one element in the dispatcher's protocol report improved CPR quality. Whether several changes interact is unknown and the effect of combining multiple changes previously reported to improve CPR quality into one protocol remains to be investigated. We hypothesize that a novel dispatch protocol, combining multiple beneficial elements improves CPR quality compared with a standard protocol. A novel dispatch protocol was designed including wording on chest compressions, using a metronome, regular encouragements and a 10-s rest each minute. In a simulated cardiac arrest scenario, laypersons were randomized to perform single-rescuer CPR guided with the novel or the standard protocol. a composite endpoint of time to first compression, hand position, compression depth and rate and hands-off time (maximum score: 22 points). Afterwards participants answered a questionnaire evaluating the dispatcher assistance. The novel protocol (n=61) improved CPR quality score compared with the standard protocol (n=64) (mean (SD): 18.6 (1.4)) points vs. 17.5 (1.7) points, pCPR. A novel bundle of care protocol improved CPR quality score and motivation among rescuers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of the G.LAB MD2200 wrist blood pressure monitor according to the European Society of Hypertension, the British Hypertension Society, and the International Organization for Standardization Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ze-Yu; Zhang, Qing-Han; Ye, Xiao-Lei; Liu, Da-Peng; Cheng, Kang; Zhang, Chun-Hai; Wan, Yi

2017-04-01

To validate the G.LAB MD2200 automated wrist blood pressure (BP) monitors according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol (ESH-IP) revision 2010, the British Hypertension Society (BHS), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 81060-2:2013 protocols. The device was assessed on 33 participants according to the ESH requirements and was then tested on 85 participants according to the BHS and ISO 81060-2:2013 criteria. The validation procedures and data analysis followed the protocols precisely. The G.LAB MD2200 devices passed all parts of ESH-IP revision 2010 for both systolic and diastolic BP, with a device-observer difference of 2.15±5.51 and 1.51±5.16 mmHg, respectively. The device achieved A/A grading for the BHS protocol and it also fulfilled the criteria of ISO 81060-2:2013, with mean differences of systolic and diastolic BP between the device and the observer of 2.19±5.21 and 2.11±4.70 mmHg, respectively. The G.LAB MD2200 automated wrist BP monitor passed the ESH-IP revision 2010 and the ISO 81060-2:2013 protocol, and achieved the A/A grade of the BHS protocol, which can be recommended for self-measurement in the general population.

Implementation of a Rapid, Protocol-based TIA Management Pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarhult, Susann J; Howell, Melissa L; Barnaure-Nachbar, Isabelle; Chang, Yuchiao; White, Benjamin A; Amatangelo, Mary; Brown, David F; Singhal, Aneesh B; Schwamm, Lee H; Silverman, Scott B; Goldstein, Joshua N

2018-03-01

Our goal was to assess whether use of a standardized clinical protocol improves efficiency for patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms of transient ischemic attack (TIA). We performed a structured, retrospective, cohort study at a large, urban, tertiary care academic center. In July 2012 this hospital implemented a standardized protocol for patients with suspected TIA. The protocol selected high-risk patients for admission and low/intermediate-risk patients to an ED observation unit for workup. Recommended workup included brain imaging, vascular imaging, cardiac monitoring, and observation. Patients were included if clinical providers determined the need for workup for TIA. We included consecutive patients presenting during a six-month period prior to protocol implementation, and those presenting between 6-12 months after implementation. Outcomes included ED length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, use of neuroimaging, and 90-day risk of stroke or TIA. From 01/2012 to 06/2012, 130 patients were evaluated for TIA symptoms in the ED, and from 01/2013 to 06/2013, 150 patients. The final diagnosis was TIA or stroke in 45% before vs. 41% after (p=0.18). Following the intervention, the inpatient admission rate decreased from 62% to 24% (pTIA among those with final diagnosis of TIA was 3% for both periods. Implementation of a TIA protocol significantly reduced ED LOS and total hospital LOS.

Network protocols. Special issue; Netwerkprotocollen. Themanummer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jansen, G.A. [RTB Van Heugten, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Rooijakkers, G.W.J. [GTI Building Automation, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Peterse, A. [Regel Partners, Hoevelaken (Netherlands); Smits, P. [Konnex Nederland, Valkenswaard (Netherlands); Hamers, E.P. [Van Dorp Installaties, Breda (Netherlands); Van der Velden, J.A.J. [Kropman, Rijswijk (Netherlands); Van Lingen, G.; Wijn, D.M. [Engineer Johnson Controls, Gorinchem (Netherlands); Deckere, W.J.M.A. [Deerns raadgevende ingenieurs, Rijswijk (Netherlands); Driessen, B. [Saia Burgess, Gouda (Netherlands); Van Olst, K. [K en R Consultants, Deventer (Netherlands); Mosterman, F. [Wago Building Technology, Harderwijk (Netherlands); Staub, R. [BUS-House, Zuerich (Switzerland); Meiring, O.B.; Hut, W.H. [Sauter Building Control Nederland, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tukker, A. [Webeasy Products, Sliedrecht (Netherlands); Bakker, L.G.; Soethout, L.L.; Elkhuizen, P.A. [TNO Bouw en Ondergrond, Delft (Netherlands); Haeseler, U. [TAC GmbH, Berlin (Germany); Kerdel, J.F. [Siemens Building Technologies, Zoetermeer (Netherlands); Lugt, G.L.; Draijer, G.W.

2007-11-15

In 20 articles attention is paid to several aspects of network protocols by means of which building automation systems can exchange data: building automation and management, history of technical installations management, the open communication standard BACnet (Building Automation and Control network), the so-called ISO/IEC domotics and communication standard KNX or Konnex, the integration of electrotechnical and engineering installations by the LonWorks technology, other standard protocols as Modbus, M-bus, OPC (OLE for Process Control), an outline of TCP/IP, smart design of networks, automation and networks and building owners, the use of BACnet and Ethernet in a renovated office building, the use of an open management network in buildings, wireless open integrated systems, terminology in network communication, the use of BACnet in combination with KNX, the impact of BACnet on building automation, the role of the installation sector in the ICT-environment, knowledge of building automation and management, regulations with respect to building automation, and BACnet MSTP (Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol) [Dutch] In 20 artikelen wordt in dit themanummer aandacht besteed aan diverse aspecten m.b.t. netwerkprotocollen waarmee verschillende automatiseringssystemen gegevens met elkaar uitwisselen: gebouwautomatisering en beheer, geschiedenis van technisch installatie beheer, de open communicatie standaard BACnet (Building Automation and Control network), de zogenaamde ISO/IEC domotica en communicatie standaard KNX of Konnex, de integratie van electrotechnische en werktuigbouwkundige installaties met behulp van de LonWorks technologie, andere standaard protocollen zoals Modbus, M-bus, OPC (OLE for Process Control), uitleg over TCP/IP, slim ontwerpen van netwerken, gebouweigenaren over automatisering en netwerken, het gebruik van BACnet en Ethernet in een tot kantoorgebouw gerenoveerd monumentaal gebouw, het gebruik van een open management netwerk in gebouwen, draadloos met

Ad-Hoc vs. Standardized and Optimized Arthropod Diversity Sampling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Cardoso

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The use of standardized and optimized protocols has been recently advocated for different arthropod taxa instead of ad-hoc sampling or sampling with protocols defined on a case-by-case basis. We present a comparison of both sampling approaches applied for spiders in a natural area of Portugal. Tests were made to their efficiency, over-collection of common species, singletons proportions, species abundance distributions, average specimen size, average taxonomic distinctness and behavior of richness estimators. The standardized protocol revealed three main advantages: (1 higher efficiency; (2 more reliable estimations of true richness; and (3 meaningful comparisons between undersampled areas.

Variability in donation after cardiac death protocols: a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Fugate, Jennifer E; Stadtler, Maria; Rabinstein, Alejandro A; Wijdicks, Eelco F M

2011-02-27

As donation after cardiac death practices expand, the number of institutional policies is increasing. We contacted organ procurement organizations throughout the United States and requested protocols in hospitals in their donor service areas. Sixty-four protocols were obtained with representation from 16 different states. The terminology and recommended practices varied substantially. The methods for death determination were not specified in 28 (44%) protocols. Most adhered to a 2- to 5-min observation time between circulatory arrest and organ procurement, but 10 (16%) provided no information. This variability reveals a need to define a uniform standard in donation after cardiac death protocols and death determination practices.

[Protocol for the study of bone tumours and standardization of pathology reports].

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, Isidro; Pozo, José Juan; Marcilla, David; Cruz, Julia; Tardío, Juan C; Astudillo, Aurora; Bagué, Sílvia

Primary bone neoplasms represent a rare and heterogeneous group of mesenchymal tumours. The prevalence of benign and malignant tumours varies; the latter (sarcomas) account for less than 0.2% of all malignant tumours. Primary bone neoplasms are usually diagnosed and classified according to the criteria established and published by the World Health Organization (WHO 2013). These criteria are a result of advances in molecular pathology, which complements the histopathological diagnosis. Bone tumours should be diagnosed and treated in referral centers by a multidisciplinary team including pathologists, radiologists, orthopedic surgeons and oncologists. We analyzed different national and international protocols in order to provide a guide of recommendations for the improvement of pathological evaluation and management of bone tumours. We include specific recommendations for the pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical phases, as well as protocols for gross and microscopic pathology. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Anatomía Patológica. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Cross-Layer Design of Source Rate Control and Congestion Control for Wireless Video Streaming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Zhu

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Cross-layer design has been used in streaming video over the wireless channels to optimize the overall system performance. In this paper, we extend our previous work on joint design of source rate control and congestion control for video streaming over the wired channel, and propose a cross-layer design approach for wireless video streaming. First, we extend the QoS-aware congestion control mechanism (TFRCC proposed in our previous work to the wireless scenario, and provide a detailed discussion about how to enhance the overall performance in terms of rate smoothness and responsiveness of the transport protocol. Then, we extend our previous joint design work to the wireless scenario, and a thorough performance evaluation is conducted to investigate its performance. Simulation results show that by cross-layer design of source rate control at application layer and congestion control at transport layer, and by taking advantage of the MAC layer information, our approach can avoid the throughput degradation caused by wireless link error, and better support the QoS requirements of the application. Thus, the playback quality is significantly improved, while good performance of the transport protocol is still preserved.

Acute effects of various weighted bat warm-up protocols on bat velocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, G Francis; Dolny, Dennis

2009-10-01

Although research has provided evidence of increased muscular performance following a facilitation set of resistance exercise, this has not been established for use prior to measuring baseball bat velocity. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of selected weighted bat warm-up protocols to enhance bat velocity in collegiate baseball players. Nineteen collegiate baseball players (age = 20.15 +/- 1.46 years) were tested for upper-body strength by a 3-repetition maximum (RM) bench press (mean = 97.98 +/- 14.54 kg) and mean bat velocity. Nine weighted bat warm-up protocols, utilizing 3 weighted bats (light = 794 g; standard = 850 g; heavy = 1,531 g) were swung in 3 sets of 6 repetitions in different orders. A control trial involved the warm-up protocol utilizing only the standard bat. Pearson product correlation revealed a significant relationship between 3RM strength and pretest bat velocity (r = 0.51, p = 0.01). Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant treatment effects of warm-up protocol on bat velocity. However, the order of standard, light, heavy bat sequence resulted in the greatest increase in bat velocity (+6.03%). These results suggest that upper-body muscle strength influences bat velocity. It appears that the standard, light, heavy warm-up order may provide the greatest benefit to increase subsequent bat velocity and may warrant use in game situations.

Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Assessment: Literature Review and Laboratory Protocol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butner, R. Scott; Reid, Douglas J.; Hoffman, Michael G.; Sullivan, Greg; Blanchard, Jeremy

2013-07-01

To evaluate the accuracy of NILM technologies, a literature review was conducted to identify any test protocols or standardized testing approaches currently in use. The literature review indicated that no consistent conventions were currently in place for measuring the accuracy of these technologies. Consequently, PNNL developed a testing protocol and metrics to provide the basis for quantifying and analyzing the accuracy of commercially available NILM technologies. This report discusses the results of the literature review and the proposed test protocol and metrics in more detail.

Network protocol 'EPAP'; Network protokoru 'EPAP'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kobori, T.; Fujita, F.; Iwamoto, S. [Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Toyo (Japan)

2000-10-10

The Ethernet, a standard of information networks, has begun to be applied to the control local area network (LAN). To apply the Ethernet to the field level, Fuji Electric has newly developed the communication protocol 'Ethernet precision access protocol (EPAP)' in which a command/response method is structured on the user datagram protocol (UDP) to realize real time and high reliability. Further, we have implemented the EPAP on the bus interface module of the open PIO. This paper outlines the EPAP and its implementation. (author)

Telemetry Standards, RCC Standard 106-17, Chapter 27, RF Network Access Layer

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-01

to the physical media (i.e., the wireless RF network). On the transmission side, it is responsible for framing IP packets for physical transmission ...resolution bandwidth of 30 kHz. It was measured during the steady power condition during a burst transmission . Telemetry Standards, RCC Standard... power levels available for modulated burst transmission . Table 27-1. Transceiver Phase Noise Mask dBc/Hz Frequency Offset −30 dBc/Hz 10 Hz −60 dBc

Backup key generation model for one-time password security protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyanthi, N.; Kundu, Sourav

2017-11-01

The use of one-time password (OTP) has ushered new life into the existing authentication protocols used by the software industry. It introduced a second layer of security to the traditional username-password authentication, thus coining the term, two-factor authentication. One of the drawbacks of this protocol is the unreliability of the hardware token at the time of authentication. This paper proposes a simple backup key model that can be associated with the real world applications’user database, which would allow a user to circumvent the second authentication stage, in the event of unavailability of the hardware token.

Protocol for the building construction process with regard to the implementation trajectory protocols EWN and EUN. Manual for commissioners, contractors, building management offices and energy efficiency standard advisors; Handleiding opnameprotocollen EWN en EUN. Voor opdrachtgevers, aannemers, bouwmanagementbureaus en EPN-adviseurs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neeleman, J. [DWA installatie- en energieadvies, Duitslandweg 4, Postbus 274, 2410 AG Bodegraven (Netherlands)

2013-04-15

In the year 2012 it was foreseen to base the energy label for new buildings on the Energy Efficiency Coefficient (EPC in Dutch). This is a protocol for residential and utility buildings, with the aim to check whether and to what extent buildings were constructed according the EPC and to determine the realized EPC. In order to gain experience with the new protocols and the voluntary ventilation test the Protocol for the Energy Label for New Houses (EWN in Dutch) and the Protocol for the Energy Label for New Utility Buildings (EUN in Dutch) were conducted in 12 newly built housing projects and 5 projects in the utility building sector. With this manual you can realize energy efficient houses and/or utility buildings that meet the standards [Dutch] In het jaar 2012 was voorzien om het nieuwbouwlabel te baseren op de EPC (Energie Prestatie Coefficient). Hiervoor is een opnameprotocol opgesteld voor de woningbouw en de utiliteitsbouw, met als doel te controleren of en in hoeverre conform de EPC is gebouwd en om de gerealiseerde EPC te bepalen. Om ervaring op te doen met de nieuwe opnameprotocollen en de vrijwillige ventilatietoets werden het Opnameprotocol Energielabel Woningen Nieuwbouw (EWN) en Opnameprotocol Energielabel Utiliteitsgebouwen Nieuwbouw (EUN) uitgevoerd bij 12 nieuwbouwprojecten in de woningbouw en 5 projecten in de utiliteitsbouw. Met deze handleiding realiseert u energiezuinige woningen en/of utiliteitsgebouwen die aan de verwachtingen voldoen.

Standardization of a protocol to obtain genomic DNA for the quantification of 5mC in epicormics buds of Tectona grandis L.

OpenAIRE

Elisa Quiala; Luis Valledor; Rodrigo Hazbun; Raúl Barbón; Manuel de Feria; Maité Chávez

2008-01-01

The present investigation was carried out with the objective of defining an extraction and purification method that it provided deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) appropriate to determine the percentage of 5mC in the genomic DNA of epicormics buds of Tectona grandis L. During the standardization of the protocol four methods were compared: 1 -classic based on saline shock solution with CTAB (hexadecil trimetil ammonium bromide), 2 - Kit of extraction of DNA plants DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (QIAGEN) accor...

A Web Resource for Standardized Benchmark Datasets, Metrics, and Rosetta Protocols for Macromolecular Modeling and Design.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shane Ó Conchúir

Full Text Available The development and validation of computational macromolecular modeling and design methods depend on suitable benchmark datasets and informative metrics for comparing protocols. In addition, if a method is intended to be adopted broadly in diverse biological applications, there needs to be information on appropriate parameters for each protocol, as well as metrics describing the expected accuracy compared to experimental data. In certain disciplines, there exist established benchmarks and public resources where experts in a particular methodology are encouraged to supply their most efficient implementation of each particular benchmark. We aim to provide such a resource for protocols in macromolecular modeling and design. We present a freely accessible web resource (https://kortemmelab.ucsf.edu/benchmarks to guide the development of protocols for protein modeling and design. The site provides benchmark datasets and metrics to compare the performance of a variety of modeling protocols using different computational sampling methods and energy functions, providing a "best practice" set of parameters for each method. Each benchmark has an associated downloadable benchmark capture archive containing the input files, analysis scripts, and tutorials for running the benchmark. The captures may be run with any suitable modeling method; we supply command lines for running the benchmarks using the Rosetta software suite. We have compiled initial benchmarks for the resource spanning three key areas: prediction of energetic effects of mutations, protein design, and protein structure prediction, each with associated state-of-the-art modeling protocols. With the help of the wider macromolecular modeling community, we hope to expand the variety of benchmarks included on the website and continue to evaluate new iterations of current methods as they become available.

Early Appropriate Care: A Protocol to Standardize Resuscitation Assessment and to Expedite Fracture Care Reduces Hospital Stay and Enhances Revenue.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallier, Heather A; Dolenc, Andrea J; Moore, Timothy A

2016-06-01

We hypothesized that a standardized protocol for fracture care would enhance revenue by reducing complications and length of stay. Prospective consecutive series. Level 1 trauma center. Two hundread and fifty-three adult patients with a mean age of 40.7 years and mean Injury Severity Score of 26.0. Femur, pelvis, or spine fractures treated surgically. Hospital and professional charges and collections were analyzed. Fixation was defined as early (<36 hours) or delayed. Complications and hospital stay were recorded. Mean charges were US $180,145 with a mean of US $66,871 collected (37%). The revenue multiplier was US $59,882/$6989 (8.57), indicating hospital collection of US $8.57 for every professional dollar, less than half of which went to orthopaedic surgeons. Delayed fracture care was associated with more intensive care unit (4.5 vs. 9.4) and total hospital days (9.4 vs. 15.3), with mean loss of actual revenue US $6380/patient delayed (n = 47), because of the costs of longer length of stay. Complications were associated with the highest expenses: mean of US $291,846 charges and US $101,005 collections, with facility collections decreased by 5.1%. An uncomplicated course of care was associated with the most favorable total collections: (US $60,017/$158,454 = 38%) and the shortest mean stay (8.7 days). Facility collections were nearly 9 times more than professional collections. Delayed fixation was associated with more complications, and facility collections decreased 5% with a complication. Furthermore, delayed fixation was associated with longer hospital stay, accounting for US $300K more in actual costs during the study. A standardized protocol to expedite definitive fixation enhances the profitability of the trauma service line. Economic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Implementation and Evaluation of Four Interoperable Open Standards for the Internet of Things

Science.gov (United States)

Jazayeri, Mohammad Ali; Liang, Steve H. L.; Huang, Chih-Yuan

2015-01-01

Recently, researchers are focusing on a new use of the Internet called the Internet of Things (IoT), in which enabled electronic devices can be remotely accessed over the Internet. As the realization of IoT concept is still in its early stages, manufacturers of Internet-connected devices and IoT web service providers are defining their proprietary protocols based on their targeted applications. Consequently, IoT becomes heterogeneous in terms of hardware capabilities and communication protocols. Addressing these heterogeneities by following open standards is a necessary step to communicate with various IoT devices. In this research, we assess the feasibility of applying existing open standards on resource-constrained IoT devices. The standard protocols developed in this research are OGC PUCK over Bluetooth, TinySOS, SOS over CoAP, and OGC SensorThings API. We believe that by hosting open standard protocols on IoT devices, not only do the devices become self-describable, self-contained, and interoperable, but innovative applications can also be easily developed with standardized interfaces. In addition, we use memory consumption, request message size, response message size, and response latency to benchmark the efficiency of the implemented protocols. In all, this research presents and evaluates standard-based solutions to better understand the feasibility of applying existing standards to the IoT vision. PMID:26402683

Implementation and Evaluation of Four Interoperable Open Standards for the Internet of Things.

Science.gov (United States)

Jazayeri, Mohammad Ali; Liang, Steve H L; Huang, Chih-Yuan

2015-09-22

Recently, researchers are focusing on a new use of the Internet called the Internet of Things (IoT), in which enabled electronic devices can be remotely accessed over the Internet. As the realization of IoT concept is still in its early stages, manufacturers of Internet-connected devices and IoT web service providers are defining their proprietary protocols based on their targeted applications. Consequently, IoT becomes heterogeneous in terms of hardware capabilities and communication protocols. Addressing these heterogeneities by following open standards is a necessary step to communicate with various IoT devices. In this research, we assess the feasibility of applying existing open standards on resource-constrained IoT devices. The standard protocols developed in this research are OGC PUCK over Bluetooth, TinySOS, SOS over CoAP, and OGC SensorThings API. We believe that by hosting open standard protocols on IoT devices, not only do the devices become self-describable, self-contained, and interoperable, but innovative applications can also be easily developed with standardized interfaces. In addition, we use memory consumption, request message size, response message size, and response latency to benchmark the efficiency of the implemented protocols. In all, this research presents and evaluates standard-based solutions to better understand the feasibility of applying existing standards to the IoT vision.

Protocol for the management of psychiatric patients with psychomotor agitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieta, Eduard; Garriga, Marina; Cardete, Laura; Bernardo, Miquel; Lombraña, María; Blanch, Jordi; Catalán, Rosa; Vázquez, Mireia; Soler, Victòria; Ortuño, Noélia; Martínez-Arán, Anabel

2017-09-08

Psychomotor agitation (PMA) is a state of motor restlessness and mental tension that requires prompt recognition, appropriate assessment and management to minimize anxiety for the patient and reduce the risk for escalation to aggression and violence. Standardized and applicable protocols and algorithms can assist healthcare providers to identify patients at risk of PMA, achieve timely diagnosis and implement minimally invasive management strategies to ensure patient and staff safety and resolution of the episode. Spanish experts in PMA from different disciplines (psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses) convened in Barcelona for a meeting in April 2016. Based on recently issued international consensus guidelines on the standard of care for psychiatric patients with PMA, the meeting provided the opportunity to address the complexities in the assessment and management of PMA from different perspectives. The attendees worked towards producing a consensus for a unified approach to PMA according to the local standards of care and current local legislations. The draft protocol developed was reviewed and ratified by all members of the panel prior to its presentation to the Catalan Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health, the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry (SEPB) and the Spanish Network Centre for Research in Mental Health (CIBERSAM) for input. The final protocol and algorithms were then submitted to these organizations for endorsement. The protocol presented here provides guidance on the appropriate selection and use of pharmacological agents (inhaled/oral/IM), seclusion, and physical restraint for psychiatric patients suspected of or presenting with PMA. The protocol is applicable within the Spanish healthcare system. Implementation of the protocol and the constituent algorithms described here should ensure the best standard of care of patients at risk of PMA. Episodes of PMA could be identified earlier in their clinical course and patients could be managed in

Report on the behalf of the Foreign Affairs Commission on the bill project authorizing the approval of the amendment to the Montreal protocol of 16 September 1987 related to substances which impoverish the ozone layer, and its Annexe: text of the foreign affairs Commission. Nr 415

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Pompeo, Christophe

2017-01-01

The objective of the Montreal protocol, adopted in 1987, was to banish the chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used as refrigerants since the 1930's, as they are responsible for the impoverishment of the ozone layer. While this objective has been met (the ozone layer is progressively restored), substitutes to CFC have been developed; however some of these substitutes, hydro-fluorocarbons, have been proved to be powerful greenhouse gases. The banishment of HFCs has thus been decided, leading to the Kigali amendment to the Montreal protocol. This report explains the CFC and HFC context and issues in details, and presents its examination by the French Commission of Foreign Affairs. The full text of the report is included (in an annex) at the end of the report

A novel quantum information hiding protocol based on entanglement swapping of high-level Bell states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Shu-Jiang; Wang Lian-Hai; Chen Xiu-Bo; Niu Xin-Xin; Yang Yi-Xian

2015-01-01

Using entanglement swapping of high-level Bell states, we first derive a covert layer between the secret message and the possible output results of the entanglement swapping between any two generalized Bell states, and then propose a novel high-efficiency quantum information hiding protocol based on the covert layer. In the proposed scheme, a covert channel can be built up under the cover of a high-level quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) channel for securely transmitting secret messages without consuming any auxiliary quantum state or any extra communication resource. It is shown that this protocol not only has a high embedding efficiency but also achieves a good imperceptibility as well as a high security. (paper)

Application of low-dose radiation protocols in survey CT scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu Qiang; Liu Ting; Lu Tao; Xu Ke; Zhang Lin

2009-01-01

Objective: To characterize the protocols with low-dose radiation in survey CT scans for localization. Methods: Eighty standard adult patients, head and body phantoms were recruited. Default protocols provided by operator's manual setting were that all the tube voltage for head, chest, abdomen and lumbar was 120 kV; the tube currents were 20,10,20 and 40 mA, respectively. Values of kV and mA in the low-dose experiments were optimized according to the device options. For chest and abdomen, the tube position were compared between default (0 degree) and 180 degree. Phantoms were scanned with above protocols, and the radiation doses were measured respectively. Paired t-test were used for comparisons of standard deviation in CT value, noise and exposure surface dose (ESD) between group with default protocols and group with optimized protocols. Results: The optimized protocols in low-dose CT survey scans were 80 kV, 10 mA for head, 80 kV, 10 mA for chest, 80 kV, 10 mA for abdomen and 100 kV, 10 mA for lumbar. The values of ESD for phantom scan in default and optimized protocols were 0.38 mGy/0.16 mGy in head, 0.30 mGy/0.20 mGy in chest, 0.74 mGy/0.30 mGy in abdomen and 0.81 mGy/0.44 mGy in lumbar, respectively. Compared with default protocols, the optimized protocols reduced the radiation doses 59%, 33%, 59% and 46% in head, chest, abdomen and lumbar. When tube position changed from 0 degree to 180 degree, the ESD were 0.24 mGy/0.20 mGy for chest; 0.37 mGy/0.30 mGy for abdomen, and the radiation doses were reduced 20% and 17%. Conclusion: A certain amount of image noise is increased in low-dose protocols, but image quality is still acceptable without problem in CT localization. The reduction of radiation dose and the radiation harm to patients are the superiority. (authors)

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-02-01

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

AR-RBFS: Aware-Routing Protocol Based on Recursive Best-First Search Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farzad Kiani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Energy issue is one of the most important problems in wireless sensor networks. They consist of low-power sensor nodes and a few base station nodes. They must be adaptive and efficient in data transmission to sink in various areas. This paper proposes an aware-routing protocol based on clustering and recursive search approaches. The paper focuses on the energy efficiency issue with various measures such as prolonging network lifetime along with reducing energy consumption in the sensor nodes and increasing the system reliability. Our proposed protocol consists of two phases. In the first phase (network development phase, the sensors are placed into virtual layers. The second phase (data transmission is related to routes discovery and data transferring so it is based on virtual-based Classic-RBFS algorithm in the lake of energy problem environments but, in the nonchargeable environments, all nodes in each layer can be modeled as a random graph and then begin to be managed by the duty cycle method. Additionally, the protocol uses new topology control, data aggregation, and sleep/wake-up schemas for energy saving in the network. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol is optimal in the network lifetime and packet delivery parameters according to the present protocols.

New Acquisition Protocol of 18F-Choline PET/CT in Prostate Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature about Methodology and Proposal of Standardization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotirios Chondrogiannis

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. (1 To evaluate a new acquisition protocol of 18F-choline (FCH PET/CT for prostate cancer patients (PC, (2 to review acquisition 18F-choline PET/CT methodology, and (3 to propose a standardized acquisition protocol on FCH PET/CT in PC patients. Materials. 100 consecutive PC patients (mean age 70.5 years, mean PSA 21.35 ng/mL were prospectively evaluated. New protocol consisted of an early scan of the pelvis immediately after the injection of the tracer (1 bed position of 4 min followed by a whole body scan at one 1 hour. Early and 1 hour images were compared for interfering activity and pathologic findings. Results. The overall detection rate of FCH PET/CT was 64%. The early static images of the pelvis showed absence of radioactive urine in ureters, bladder, or urethra which allowed a clean evaluation of the prostatic fossae. Uptake in the prostatic region was better visualized in the early phase in 26% (7/30 of cases. Other pelvic pathologic findings (bone and lymph nodes were visualized in both early and late images. Conclusion. Early 18F-choline images improve visualization of abnormal uptake in prostate fossae. All pathologic pelvic deposits (prostate, lymph nodes, and bone were visualized in both early and late images.

Remote Memory Access Protocol Target Node Intellectual Property

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, Omar

2013-01-01

The MagnetoSpheric Multiscale (MMS) mission had a requirement to use the Remote Memory Access Protocol (RMAP) over its SpaceWire network. At the time, no known intellectual property (IP) cores were available for purchase. Additionally, MMS preferred to implement the RMAP functionality with control over the low-level details of the design. For example, not all the RMAP standard functionality was needed, and it was desired to implement only the portions of the RMAP protocol that were needed. RMAP functionality had been previously implemented in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, but the IP core was not available for purchase. The RMAP Target IP core is a VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language description of a digital logic design suitable for implementation in an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) that parses SpaceWire packets that conform to the RMAP standard. The RMAP packet protocol allows a network host to access and control a target device using address mapping. This capability allows SpaceWire devices to be managed in a standardized way that simplifies the hardware design of the device, as well as the development of the software that controls the device. The RMAP Target IP core has some features that are unique and not specified in the RMAP standard. One such feature is the ability to automatically abort transactions if the back-end logic does not respond to read/write requests within a predefined time. When a request times out, the RMAP Target IP core automatically retracts the request and returns a command response with an appropriate status in the response packet s header. Another such feature is the ability to control the SpaceWire node or router using RMAP transactions in the extended address range. This allows the SpaceWire network host to manage the SpaceWire network elements using RMAP packets, which reduces the number of protocols that the network host needs to support.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2009-01-01

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

The Internet of Things Key Applications and Protocols

CERN Document Server

Hersent, Olivier; Elloumi, Omar

2011-01-01

An all-in-one reference to the major Home Area Networking, Building Automation and AMI protocols, including 802.15.4 over radio or PLC, 6LowPAN/RPL, ZigBee 1.0 and Smart Energy 2.0, Zwave, LON, BACNet, KNX, ModBus, mBus, C.12 and DLMS/COSEM, and the new ETSI M2M system level standard. In-depth coverage of Smart-grid and EV charging use cases. This book describes the Home Area Networking, Building Automation and AMI protocols and their evolution towards open protocols based on IP such as 6LowPAN and ETSI M2M. The authors discuss the approach taken by service providers to interconnect the protoc

Non operative management of blunt splenic trauma: a prospective evaluation of a standardized treatment protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Brillantino, A; Iacobellis, F; Robustelli, U; Villamaina, E; Maglione, F; Colletti, O; De Palma, M; Paladino, F; Noschese, G

2016-10-01

The advantages of the conservative approach for major spleen injuries are still debated. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of NOM in the treatment of minor (grade I-II according with the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma; AAST) and severe (AAST grade III-V) blunt splenic trauma, following a standardized treatment protocol. All the hemodynamically stable patients with computer tomography (CT) diagnosis of blunt splenic trauma underwent NOM, which included strict clinical and laboratory observation, 48-72 h contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) follow-up and splenic angioembolization, performed both in patients with admission CT evidence of vascular injuries and in patients with falling hematocrit during observation. 87 patients [32 (36.7 %) women and 55 (63.2 %) men, median age 34 (range 14-68)] were included. Of these, 28 patients (32.1 %) had grade I, 22 patients (25.2 %) grade II, 20 patients (22.9 %) grade III, 11 patients (12.6 %) grade IV and 6 patients (6.8 %) grade V injuries. The overall success rate of NOM was 95.4 % (82/87). There was no significant difference in the success rate between the patients with different splenic injuries grade. Of 24 patients that had undergone angioembolization, 22 (91.6 %) showed high splenic injury grade. The success rate of embolization was 91.6 % (22/24). No major complications were observed. The minor complications (2 pleural effusions, 1 pancreatic fistula and 2 splenic abscesses) were successfully treated by EAUS or CT guided drainage. The non operative management of blunt splenic trauma, according to our protocol, represents a safe and effective treatment for both minor and severe injuries, achieving an overall success rate of 95 %. The angiographic study could be indicated both in patients with CT evidence of vascular injuries and in patients with high-grade splenic injuries, regardless of CT findings.

New Normative Database of Inner Macular Layer Thickness Measured by Spectralis OCT Used as Reference Standard for Glaucoma Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieves-Moreno, María; Martínez-de-la-Casa, José M; Bambo, María P; Morales-Fernández, Laura; Van Keer, Karel; Vandewalle, Evelien; Stalmans, Ingeborg; García-Feijoó, Julián

2018-02-01

This study examines the capacity to detect glaucoma of inner macular layer thickness measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) using a new normative database as the reference standard. Participants ( N = 148) were recruited from Leuven (Belgium) and Zaragoza (Spain): 74 patients with early/moderate glaucoma and 74 age-matched healthy controls. One eye was randomly selected for a macular scan using the Spectralis SD-OCT. The variables measured with the instrument's segmentation software were: macular nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), and inner plexiform layer (IPL) volume and thickness along with circumpapillary RNFL thickness (cpRNFL). The new normative database of macular variables was used to define the cutoff of normality as the fifth percentile by age group. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of each macular measurement and of cpRNFL were used to distinguish between patients and controls. Overall sensitivity and specificity to detect early-moderate glaucoma were 42.2% and 88.9% for mRNFL, 42.4% and 95.6% for GCL, 42.2% and 94.5% for IPL, and 53% and 94.6% for RNFL, respectively. The best macular variable to discriminate between the two groups of subjects was outer temporal GCL thickness as indicated by an AUROC of 0.903. This variable performed similarly to mean cpRNFL thickness (AUROC = 0.845; P = 0.29). Using our normative database as reference, the diagnostic power of inner macular layer thickness proved comparable to that of peripapillary RNFL thickness. Spectralis SD-OCT, cpRNFL thickness, and individual macular inner layer thicknesses show comparable diagnostic capacity for glaucoma and RNFL, GCL, and IPL thickness may be useful as an alternative diagnostic test when the measure of cpRNFL shows artifacts.

Energy-Aware RFID Anti-Collision Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-06-11

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

Frame Transmission Efficiency-Based Cross-Layer Congestion Notification Scheme in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Huaguang; Li, Taoshen; Feng, Luting; Ye, Jin

2017-07-15

Different from the traditional wired network, the fundamental cause of transmission congestion in wireless ad hoc networks is medium contention. How to utilize the congestion state from the MAC (Media Access Control) layer to adjust the transmission rate is core work for transport protocol design. However, recent works have shown that the existing cross-layer congestion detection solutions are too complex to be deployed or not able to characterize the congestion accurately. We first propose a new congestion metric called frame transmission efficiency (i.e., the ratio of successful transmission delay to the frame service delay), which describes the medium contention in a fast and accurate manner. We further present the design and implementation of RECN (ECN and the ratio of successful transmission delay to the frame service delay in the MAC layer, namely, the frame transmission efficiency), a general supporting scheme that adjusts the transport sending rate through a standard ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification) signaling method. Our method can be deployed on commodity switches with small firmware updates, while making no modification on end hosts. We integrate RECN transparently (i.e., without modification) with TCP on NS2 simulation. The experimental results show that RECN remarkably improves network goodput across multiple concurrent TCP flows.

Performance Evaluation of Security Protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodei, Chiara; Buchholtz, Mikael; Curti, Michele

2005-01-01

We use a special operational semantics which drives us in inferring quantitative measures on systems describing cryptographis cryptographic protocols. We assign rates to transitions by only looking at these labels. The rates reflect the distributed architecture running applications and the use...... of possibly different cryptosystems. We then map transition systems to Markov chains and evaluate performance of systems, using standard tools....

An Improved Cross-Layering Design for IPv6 Fast Handover with IEEE 802.16m Entry Before Break Handover

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ronny Yongho; Jung, Inuk; Kim, Young Yong

IEEE 802.16m is an advanced air interface standard which is under development for IMT-Advanced systems, known as 4G systems. IEEE 802.16m is designed to provide a high data rate and a Quality of Service (QoS) level in order to meet user service requirements, and is especially suitable for mobilized environments. There are several factors that have great impact on such requirements. As one of the major factors, we mainly focus on latency issues. In IEEE 802.16m, an enhanced layer 2 handover scheme, described as Entry Before Break (EBB) was proposed and adopted to reduce handover latency. EBB provides significant handover interruption time reduction with respect to the legacy IEEE 802.16 handover scheme. Fast handovers for mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6) was standardized by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in order to provide reduced handover interruption time from IP layer perspective. Since FMIPv6 utilizes link layer triggers to reduce handover latency, it is very critical to jointly design FMIPv6 with its underlying link layer protocol. However, FMIPv6 based on new handover scheme, EBB has not been proposed. In this paper, we propose an improved cross-layering design for FMIPv6 based on the IEEE 802.16m EBB handover. In comparison with the conventional FMIPv6 based on the legacy IEEE 802.16 network, the overall handover interruption time can be significantly reduced by employing the proposed design. Benefits of this improvement on latency reduction for mobile user applications are thoroughly investigated with both numerical analysis and simulation on various IP applications.

[Research and implementation of the TLS network transport security technology based on DICOM standard].

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xiaoqi; Wang, Lei; Zhao, Jianfeng

2012-02-01

With the development of medical information, Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), Hospital Information System/Radiology Information System(HIS/RIS) and other medical information management system become popular and developed, and interoperability between these systems becomes more frequent. So, these enclosed systems will be open and regionalized by means of network, and this is inevitable. If the trend becomes true, the security of information transmission may be the first problem to be solved. Based on the need for network security, we investigated the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Standard and Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol, and implemented the TLS transmission of the DICOM medical information with OpenSSL toolkit and DCMTK toolkit.

Computer Program Re-layers Engineering Drawings

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Dewey C., III

1990-01-01

RULCHK computer program aids in structuring layers of information pertaining to part or assembly designed with software described in article "Software for Drawing Design Details Concurrently" (MFS-28444). Checks and optionally updates structure of layers for part. Enables designer to construct model and annotate its documentation without burden of manually layering part to conform to standards at design time.

Cross-Layer Design Approach for Power Control in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Sarfaraz Ahmed

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In mobile ad hoc networks, communication among mobile nodes occurs through wireless medium The design of ad hoc network protocol, generally based on a traditional “layered approach”, has been found ineffective to deal with receiving signal strength (RSS-related problems, affecting the physical layer, the network layer and transport layer. This paper proposes a design approach, deviating from the traditional network design, toward enhancing the cross-layer interaction among different layers, namely physical, MAC and network. The Cross-Layer design approach for Power control (CLPC would help to enhance the transmission power by averaging the RSS values and to find an effective route between the source and the destination. This cross-layer design approach was tested by simulation (NS2 simulator and its performance over AODV was found to be better.

Ocean fertilization, carbon credits and the Kyoto Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Westley, M. B.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2008-12-01

Commercial interest in ocean fertilization as a carbon sequestration tool was excited by the December 1997 agreement of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits industrialized countries to caps on net greenhouse gas emissions and allows for various flexible mechanisms to achieve these caps in the most economically efficient manner possible, including trade in carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions or enhance sinks. The carbon market was valued at 64 billion in 2007, with the bulk of the trading (50 billion) taking place in the highly regulated European Union Emission Trading Scheme, which deals primarily in emission allowances in the energy sector. A much smaller amount, worth $265 million, was traded in the largely unregulated "voluntary" market (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). As the voluntary market grows, so do calls for its regulation, with several efforts underway to set rules and standards for the sale of voluntary carbon credits using the Kyoto Protocol as a starting point. Four US-based companies and an Australian company currently seek to develop ocean fertilization technologies for the generation of carbon credits. We review these plans through the lens of the Kyoto Protocol and its flexible mechanisms, and examine whether and how ocean fertilization could generate tradable carbon credits. We note that at present, ocean sinks are not included in the Kyoto Protocol, and that furthermore, the Kyoto Protocol only addresses sources and sinks of greenhouse gases within national boundaries, making open-ocean fertilization projects a jurisdictional challenge. We discuss the negotiating history behind the limited inclusion of land use, land use change and forestry in the Kyoto Protocol and the controversy and eventual compromise concerning methodologies for terrestrial carbon accounting. We conclude that current technologies for measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration following ocean fertilization

Architecture Design Approaches and Issues in Cross Layer Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cattoni, Andrea Fabio; Sørensen, Troels Bundgaard; Mogensen, Preben

2012-01-01

the traditional protocol stack design methodology. However, Cross Layer also carries a risk due to possibly unexpected and undesired effects. In this chapter we want to provide architecture designers with a set of tools and recommendations synthesized from an analysis of the state of art, but enriched...

About the Design of QUIC Firefox Transport Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vraj Pandya

2017-07-01

Full Text Available QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections Chrome is an experimental transport layer network protocol designed by Jim Roskind at Google, initially implemented in 2012 and announced publicly in 2013. One of the QUIC's goals is to improve performance of connection-oriented web applications that are currently using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP. To do that, QUIC achieves a reduced latency and a better stream-multiplexing support to avoid network congestion. In 2015, Firefox Mozilla started to work on an equivalent QUIC transport protocol for their browser. This idea was motivated by the differences between Chrome and Firefox. Despite the fact that Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are both web browser engines, there are some significant differences between them, such as file hierarchy, open source policies (Firefox is completely, while Chrome is only partial, tabs design, continuous integration, and more. Likewise QUIC Chrome, QUIC Firefox is a new multiplexed and secure transport based on User Datagram Protocol (UDP, designed from the ground up and optimized for Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol 2 (HTTP/2 semantics. While built with HTTP/2 as the primary application protocol, QUIC builds on decades of transport and security experience, and implements mechanisms that make it attractive as a modern general-purpose transport. In addition to describing the main design of QUIC Firefox, this paper will compare Firefox with QUIC Firefox. Our preliminary experimental results support that QUIC Firefox has a faster execution time, less latency time, and a better throughput time than the traditional Firefox.  

Preston and Park-Sanders protocols adapted for semi-quantitative isolation of thermotolerant Campylobacter from chicken rinse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Josefsen, Mathilde Hartmann; Lübeck, Peter Stephensen; Aalbaek, B.

2003-01-01

Human campylobacteriosis has become the major cause of foodborne gastrointestinal diseases in several European countries. In order to implement effective control measures in the primary production, and as a tool in risk assessment studies, it is necessary to have sensitive and quantitative...... detection methods. Thus, semi-quantitative detection of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in 20 naturally contaminated chicken rinse samples was carried out using the two most common standard protocols: Preston and Park-Sanders, as proposed by Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL) and International...... Standard Organization (ISO), respectively. For both protocols, the chicken rinse samples were prepared in 500 ml buffered peptone water, as recommended in the ISO protocol no. 6887-2. The results indicated that the Preston protocol was superior to the Park-Sanders protocol in supporting growth...

Data transmission protocol for Pi-of-the-Sky cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Uzycki, J.; Kasprowicz, G.; Mankiewicz, M.; Nawrocki, K.; Sitek, P.; Sokolowski, M.; Sulej, R.; Tlaczala, W.

2006-10-01

The large amount of data collected by the automatic astronomical cameras has to be transferred to the fast computers in a reliable way. The method chosen should ensure data streaming in both directions but in nonsymmetrical way. The Ethernet interface is very good choice because of its popularity and proven performance. However it requires TCP/IP stack implementation in devices like cameras for full compliance with existing network and operating systems. This paper describes NUDP protocol, which was made as supplement to standard UDP protocol and can be used as a simple-network protocol. The NUDP does not need TCP protocol implementation and makes it possible to run the Ethernet network with simple devices based on microcontroller and/or FPGA chips. The data transmission idea was created especially for the "Pi of the Sky" project.

Analysis of the Implementation of Standardized Clinical Protocol «Diabetes Mellitus Type 2» by Quality Indicators in Institutions of Kyiv Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.I. Tkachenko

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In Ukraine, a standardized clinical protocol (SCP to provide medical care in diabetes mellitus type 2 (order of the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine dated 21.12.2012 № 1118, which identifies 4 quality indicators, is being implemented. The objective of research — to analyze the implementation of SCP based on monitoring of quality indicators in the institutions of the Kyiv region. Materials and Methods. Technique for assessing the quality of diabetes care, one element of which is the monitoring of quality indicators specified in SCP, has been developed and applied. Collection and analysis of information was carried out by forms of primary records № 025/030 and 030/o, forms of statistical reporting № 12 and 20. Statistical analysis was performed using Excel 2007, SPSS. Results. Today, primary health care institutions in Kyiv region developed local protocols that confirms the implementation of the first quality indicator, in accordance with the desired level of the indicator value by SCP. The second indicator — the percentage of patients who were defined the level of glycated hemoglobin in the reporting period amounted to 12.2 %, which is higher than in 2012 (8.84 %, but remains low. The third quality indicator — the percentage of patients who were admitted to hospital for diabetes mellitus and its complications during the reporting period amounted to 15.01 %, while in 2012 it stood at 8.66 %. For comparison, this figure in 2007 was 9.37 %. Conclusions. The quality of care at an early stage of implementation is not enough, partly due to the lack of awareness by physicians of major provisions of the protocol, lack of equipment, the need of payment by a patient for medical services specified in the protocol, lack of doctors’ understanding of the characteristics of different types of medical and technological documents and difficulties in the development and implementation of local protocols, particularly. The obtained results are

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

KAUST Repository

Bader, Ahmed

2012-01-01

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

Targeted full energy and protein delivery in critically ill patients: a study protocol for a pilot randomised control trial (FEED Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Fetterplace

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Current guidelines for the provision of protein for critically ill patients are based on incomplete evidence, due to limited data from randomised controlled trials. The present pilot randomised controlled trial is part of a program of work to expand knowledge about the clinical effects of protein delivery to critically ill patients. The primary aim of this pilot study is to determine whether an enteral feeding protocol using a volume target, with additional protein supplementation, delivers a greater amount of protein and energy to mechanically ventilated critically ill patients than a standard nutrition protocol. The secondary aims are to evaluate the potential effects of this feeding strategy on muscle mass and other patient-centred outcomes. Methods This prospective, single-centred, pilot, randomised control trial will include 60 participants who are mechanically ventilated and can be enterally fed. Following informed consent, the participants receiving enteral nutrition in the intensive care unit (ICU will be allocated using a randomisation algorithm in a 1:1 ratio to the intervention (high-protein daily volume-based feeding protocol, providing 25 kcal/kg and 1.5 g/kg protein or standard care (hourly rate-based feeding protocol providing 25 kcal/kg and 1 g/kg protein. The co-primary outcomes are the average daily protein and energy delivered to the end of day 15 following randomisation. The secondary outcomes include change in quadriceps muscle layer thickness (QMLT from baseline (prior to randomisation to ICU discharge and other nutritional and patient-centred outcomes. Discussion This trial aims to examine whether a volume-based feeding protocol with supplemental protein increases protein and energy delivery. The potential effect of such increases on muscle mass loss will be explored. These outcomes will assist in formulating larger randomised control trials to assess mortality and morbidity. Trial registration

A Protocol for Advanced Psychometric Assessment of Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Squires, Janet E.; Hayduk, Leslie; Hutchinson, Alison M.; Cranley, Lisa A.; Gierl, Mark; Cummings, Greta G.; Norton, Peter G.; Estabrooks, Carole A.

2013-01-01

Background and Purpose. In this paper, we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessments of surveys based on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. We use the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey to which this protocol can be applied. Methods. Data mapping, acceptability, reliability, and validity are addressed. Acceptability is assessed with missing data frequencies and the time required to complete the survey. Reliability is assessed with internal consistency coefficients and information functions. A unitary approach to validity consisting of accumulating evidence based on instrument content, response processes, internal structure, and relations to other variables is taken. We also address assessing performance of survey data when aggregated to higher levels (e.g., nursing unit). Discussion. In this paper we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessment of survey data using the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey; application of the protocol to the ACT survey is underway. Psychometric assessment of any survey is essential to obtaining reliable and valid research findings. This protocol can be adapted for use with any nursing survey. PMID:23401759

Benchmarking pediatric cranial CT protocols using a dose tracking software system: a multicenter study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bondt, Timo de; Parizel, Paul M. [Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp, Department of Radiology, Antwerp (Belgium); Mulkens, Tom [H. Hart Hospital, Department of Radiology, Lier (Belgium); Zanca, Federica [GE Healthcare, DoseWatch, Buc (France); KU Leuven, Imaging and Pathology Department, Leuven (Belgium); Pyfferoen, Lotte; Casselman, Jan W. [AZ St. Jan Brugge-Oostende AV Hospital, Department of Radiology, Brugge (Belgium)

2017-02-15

To benchmark regional standard practice for paediatric cranial CT-procedures in terms of radiation dose and acquisition parameters. Paediatric cranial CT-data were retrospectively collected during a 1-year period, in 3 different hospitals of the same country. A dose tracking system was used to automatically gather information. Dose (CTDI and DLP), scan length, amount of retakes and demographic data were stratified by age and clinical indication; appropriate use of child-specific protocols was assessed. In total, 296 paediatric cranial CT-procedures were collected. Although the median dose of each hospital was below national and international diagnostic reference level (DRL) for all age categories, statistically significant (p-value < 0.001) dose differences among hospitals were observed. The hospital with lowest dose levels showed smallest dose variability and used age-stratified protocols for standardizing paediatric head exams. Erroneous selection of adult protocols for children still occurred, mostly in the oldest age-group. Even though all hospitals complied with national and international DRLs, dose tracking and benchmarking showed that further dose optimization and standardization is possible by using age-stratified protocols for paediatric cranial CT. Moreover, having a dose tracking system revealed that adult protocols are still applied for paediatric CT, a practice that must be avoided. (orig.)

A protocol for lifetime energy and environmental impact assessment of building insulation materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrestha, Som S.; Biswas, Kaushik; Desjarlais, Andre O.

2014-01-01

This article describes a proposed protocol that is intended to provide a comprehensive list of factors to be considered in evaluating the direct and indirect environmental impacts of building insulation materials, as well as detailed descriptions of standardized calculation methodologies to determine those impacts. The energy and environmental impacts of insulation materials can generally be divided into two categories: (1) direct impact due to the embodied energy of the insulation materials and other factors and (2) indirect or environmental impacts avoided as a result of reduced building energy use due to addition of insulation. Standards and product category rules exist, which provide guidelines about the life cycle assessment (LCA) of materials, including building insulation products. However, critical reviews have suggested that these standards fail to provide complete guidance to LCA studies and suffer from ambiguities regarding the determination of the environmental impacts of building insulation and other products. The focus of the assessment protocol described here is to identify all factors that contribute to the total energy and environmental impacts of different building insulation products and, more importantly, provide standardized determination methods that will allow comparison of different insulation material types. Further, the intent is not to replace current LCA standards but to provide a well-defined, easy-to-use comparison method for insulation materials using existing LCA guidelines. - Highlights: • We proposed a protocol to evaluate the environmental impacts of insulation materials. • The protocol considers all life cycle stages of an insulation material. • Both the direct environmental impacts and the indirect impacts are defined. • Standardized calculation methods for the ‘avoided operational energy’ is defined. • Standardized calculation methods for the ‘avoided environmental impact’ is defined

Pulmonary CT angiography protocol adapted to the hemodynamic effects of pregnancy.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ridge, Carole A

2012-02-01

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the image quality of a standard pulmonary CT angiography (CTA) protocol with a pulmonary CTA protocol optimized for use in pregnant patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five consecutive pregnant patients with suspected PE were retrospectively included in the study: 25 patients (group A) underwent standard-protocol pulmonary CTA and 20 patients (group B) were imaged using a protocol modified for pregnancy. The modified protocol used a shallow inspiration breath-hold and a high concentration, high rate of injection, and high volume of contrast material. Objective image quality and subjective image quality were evaluated by measuring pulmonary arterial enhancement, determining whether there was transient interruption of the contrast bolus by unopacified blood from the inferior vena cava (IVC), and assessing diagnostic adequacy. RESULTS: Objective and subjective image quality were significantly better for group B-that is, for the group who underwent the CTA protocol optimized for pregnancy. Mean pulmonary arterial enhancement and the percentage of studies characterized as adequate for diagnosis were higher in group B than in group A: 321 +\\/- 148 HU (SD) versus 178 +\\/- 67 HU (p = 0.0001) and 90% versus 64% (p = 0.05), respectively. Transient interruption of contrast material by unopacified blood from the IVC was observed more frequently in group A (39%) than in group B (10%) (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: A pulmonary CTA protocol optimized for pregnancy significantly improved image quality by increasing pulmonary arterial opacification, improving diagnostic adequacy, and decreasing transient interruption of the contrast bolus by unopacified blood from the IVC.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-04-01

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

Self-assembled Nano-layering at the Adhesive interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Y; Yoshihara, K; Nagaoka, N; Hayakawa, S; Torii, Y; Ogawa, T; Osaka, A; Meerbeek, B Van

2012-04-01

According to the 'Adhesion-Decalcification' concept, specific functional monomers within dental adhesives can ionically interact with hydroxyapatite (HAp). Such ionic bonding has been demonstrated for 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP) to manifest in the form of self-assembled 'nano-layering'. However, it remained to be explored if such nano-layering also occurs on tooth tissue when commercial MDP-containing adhesives (Clearfil SE Bond, Kuraray; Scotchbond Universal, 3M ESPE) were applied following common clinical application protocols. We therefore characterized adhesive-dentin interfaces chemically, using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and ultrastructurally, using (scanning) transmission electron microscopy (TEM/STEM). Both adhesives revealed nano-layering at the adhesive interface, not only within the hybrid layer but also, particularly for Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray), extending into the adhesive layer. Since such self-assembled nano-layering of two 10-MDP molecules, joined by stable MDP-Ca salt formation, must make the adhesive interface more resistant to biodegradation, it may well explain the documented favorable clinical longevity of bonds produced by 10-MDP-based adhesives.

A round-robin gamma stereotactic radiosurgery dosimetry interinstitution comparison of calibration protocols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drzymala, R. E., E-mail: drzymala@wustl.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 (United States); Alvarez, P. E. [Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core Houston, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030 (United States); Bednarz, G. [Radiation Oncology Department, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15232 (United States); Bourland, J. D. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157 (United States); DeWerd, L. A. [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States); Ma, L. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 (United States); Meltsner, S. G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710 (United States); Neyman, G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195 (United States); Novotny, J. [Medical Physics Department, Hospital Na Homolce, Prague 15030 (Czech Republic); Petti, P. L. [Gamma Knife Center, Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont, California 94538 (United States); Rivard, M. J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111 (United States); Shiu, A. S. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033 (United States); Goetsch, S. J. [San Diego Medical Physics, Inc., La Jolla, California 92037 (United States)

2015-11-15

Purpose: Absorbed dose calibration for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery is challenging due to the unique geometric conditions, dosimetry characteristics, and nonstandard field size of these devices. Members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 178 on Gamma Stereotactic Radiosurgery Dosimetry and Quality Assurance have participated in a round-robin exchange of calibrated measurement instrumentation and phantoms exploring two approved and two proposed calibration protocols or formalisms on ten gamma radiosurgery units. The objectives of this study were to benchmark and compare new formalisms to existing calibration methods, while maintaining traceability to U.S. primary dosimetry calibration laboratory standards. Methods: Nine institutions made measurements using ten gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units in three different 160 mm diameter spherical phantoms [acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, Solid Water, and liquid water] and in air using a positioning jig. Two calibrated miniature ionization chambers and one calibrated electrometer were circulated for all measurements. Reference dose-rates at the phantom center were determined using the well-established AAPM TG-21 or TG-51 dose calibration protocols and using two proposed dose calibration protocols/formalisms: an in-air protocol and a formalism proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) working group for small and nonstandard radiation fields. Each institution’s results were normalized to the dose-rate determined at that institution using the TG-21 protocol in the ABS phantom. Results: Percentages of dose-rates within 1.5% of the reference dose-rate (TG-21 + ABS phantom) for the eight chamber-protocol-phantom combinations were the following: 88% for TG-21, 70% for TG-51, 93% for the new IAEA nonstandard-field formalism, and 65% for the new in-air protocol. Averages and standard deviations for dose-rates over all measurements relative to the TG-21 + ABS

Building America House Simulation Protocols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendron, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Engebrecht, Cheryn [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2010-09-01

The House Simulation Protocol document was developed to track and manage progress toward Building America's multi-year, average whole-building energy reduction research goals for new construction and existing homes, using a consistent analytical reference point. This report summarizes the guidelines for developing and reporting these analytical results in a consistent and meaningful manner for all home energy uses using standard operating conditions.

A Universal Standard for the Validation of Blood Pressure Measuring Devices: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/European Society of Hypertension/International Organization for Standardization (AAMI/ESH/ISO) Collaboration Statement.

Science.gov (United States)

Stergiou, George S; Alpert, Bruce; Mieke, Stephan; Asmar, Roland; Atkins, Neil; Eckert, Siegfried; Frick, Gerhard; Friedman, Bruce; Graßl, Thomas; Ichikawa, Tsutomu; Ioannidis, John P; Lacy, Peter; McManus, Richard; Murray, Alan; Myers, Martin; Palatini, Paolo; Parati, Gianfranco; Quinn, David; Sarkis, Josh; Shennan, Andrew; Usuda, Takashi; Wang, Jiguang; Wu, Colin O; O'Brien, Eoin

2018-03-01

In the past 30 years, several organizations, such as the US Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the British Hypertension Society, the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Blood Pressure (BP) Monitoring, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), have developed protocols for clinical validation of BP measuring devices. However, it is recognized that science, as well as patients, consumers, and manufacturers, would be best served if all BP measuring devices were assessed for accuracy according to an agreed single validation protocol that had global acceptance. Therefore, an international initiative was taken by the AAMI, ESH, and ISO experts who agreed to develop a universal standard for device validation. This statement presents the key aspects of a validation procedure, which were agreed by the AAMI, ESH, and ISO representatives as the basis for a single universal validation protocol. As soon as the AAMI/ESH/ISO standard is fully developed, this will be regarded as the single universal standard and will replace all other previous standards/protocols. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc., and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

A Two-Layered Mobility Architecture Using Fast Mobile IPv6 and Session Initiation Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nursimloo DeeyaS

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper proposes an integrated mobility scheme that combines the procedures of fast handover for Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6 and session initiation protocol (SIP mobility for realtime communications. This integrated approach is based on the context of the applications utilized. Furthermore, to reduce system redundancies and signaling loads, several functionalities of FMIPv6 and SIP have been integrated to optimize the integrated mobility scheme. The proposed scheme aims at reducing the handover latency and packet loss for an ongoing realtime traffic. Using ns-2 simulation, we analyze the performance of the proposed integrated scheme and compare it with the existing protocols for a VoIP and for a video stream traffic. This mobility architecture achieves lower handover delay and less packet loss than using either FMIPv6 or SIP and hence presents a powerful handover mobility scheme for next generation IP-based wireless systems.

A Two-Layered Mobility Architecture Using Fast Mobile IPv6 and Session Initiation Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deeya S. Nursimloo

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an integrated mobility scheme that combines the procedures of fast handover for Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6 and session initiation protocol (SIP mobility for realtime communications. This integrated approach is based on the context of the applications utilized. Furthermore, to reduce system redundancies and signaling loads, several functionalities of FMIPv6 and SIP have been integrated to optimize the integrated mobility scheme. The proposed scheme aims at reducing the handover latency and packet loss for an ongoing realtime traffic. Using ns-2 simulation, we analyze the performance of the proposed integrated scheme and compare it with the existing protocols for a VoIP and for a video stream traffic. This mobility architecture achieves lower handover delay and less packet loss than using either FMIPv6 or SIP and hence presents a powerful handover mobility scheme for next generation IP-based wireless systems.

User-oriented end-to-end transport protocols for the real-time distribution of telemetry data from NASA spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Hooke, A. J.

1979-01-01

A set of standard telemetry protocols for downlink data flow facilitating the end-to-end transport of instrument data from the spacecraft to the user in real time is proposed. The direct switching of data by autonomous message 'packets' that are assembled by the source instrument on the spacecraft is discussed. The data system consists thus of a format on a message rather than word basis, and such packet telemetry would include standardized protocol headers. Standards are being developed within the NASA End-to-End Data System (NEEDS) program for the source packet and transport frame protocols. The source packet protocol contains identification of both the sequence number of the packet as it is generated by the source and the total length of the packet, while the transport frame protocol includes a sequence count defining the serial number of the frame as it is generated by the spacecraft data system, and a field specifying any 'options' selected in the format of the frame itself.

A Fair Cooperative MAC Protocol in IEEE 802.11 WLAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Davoud Mousavi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Cooperative communication techniques have recently enabled wireless technologies to overcome their challenges. The main objective of these techniques is to improve resource allocation. In this paper, we propose a new protocol in medium access control (MAC of the IEEE 802.11 standard. In our new protocol, which is called Fair Cooperative MAC (FC-MAC, every relay node participates in cooperation proportionally to its provided cooperation gain. This technique improves network resource allocation by exploiting the potential capacity of all relay candidates. Simulation results demonstrate that the FC-MAC protocol presents better performance in terms of throughput, fairness, and network lifetime.

Retinal nerve fiber layer assessment by scanning laser polarimetry and standardized photography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niessen, A. G.; van den Berg, T. J.; Langerhorst, C. T.; Greve, E. L.

1996-01-01

To determine whether, in a clinical setting, scanning laser polarimetry and retinal nerve fiber layer photography provide equivalent information on the retinal nerve fiber layer. We prospectively studied 60 patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension and 24 healthy subjects. With scanning laser

Multiprofissional electronic protocol in ophtalmology with enfasis in strabismus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHRISTIE GRAF RIBEIRO

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to create and validate an electronic database in ophthalmology focused on strabismus, to computerize this database in the form of a systematic data collection software named Electronic Protocol, and to incorporate this protocol into the Integrated System of Electronic Protocols (SINPE(c. Methods: this is a descriptive study, with the methodology divided into three phases: (1 development of a theoretical ophthalmologic database with emphasis on strabismus; (2 computerization of this theoretical ophthalmologic database using SINPE(c and (3 interpretation of the information with demonstration of results to validate the protocol. We inputed data from the charts of fifty patients with known strabismus through the Electronic Protocol for testing and validation. Results: the new electronic protocol was able to store information regarding patient history, physical examination, laboratory exams, imaging results, diagnosis and treatment of patients with ophthalmologic diseases, with emphasis on strabismus. We included 2,141 items in this master protocol and created 20 new specific electronic protocols for strabismus, each with its own specifics. Validation was achieved through correlation and corroboration of the symptoms and confirmed diagnoses of the fifty included patients with the diagnostic criteria for the twenty new strabismus protocols. Conclusion: a new, validated electronic database focusing on ophthalmology, with emphasis on strabismus, was successfully created through the standardized collection of information, and computerization of the database using proprietary software. This protocol is ready for deployment to facilitate data collection, sorting and application for practitioners and researchers in numerous specialties.

Design and Development of Layered Security: Future Enhancements and Directions in Transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Shahzad, Aamir; Lee, Malrey; Kim, Suntae; Kim, Kangmin; Choi, Jae-Young; Cho, Younghwa; Lee, Keun-Kwang

2016-01-01

Today, security is a prominent issue when any type of communication is being undertaken. Like traditional networks, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems suffer from a number of vulnerabilities. Numerous end-to-end security mechanisms have been proposed for the resolution of SCADA-system security issues, but due to insecure real-time protocol use and the reliance upon open protocols during Internet-based communication, these SCADA systems can still be compromised by security challenges. This study reviews the security challenges and issues that are commonly raised during SCADA/protocol transmissions and proposes a secure distributed-network protocol version 3 (DNP3) design, and the implementation of the security solution using a cryptography mechanism. Due to the insecurities found within SCADA protocols, the new development consists of a DNP3 protocol that has been designed as a part of the SCADA system, and the cryptographically derived security is deployed within the application layer as a part of the DNP3 stack. PMID:26751443

Design and Development of Layered Security: Future Enhancements and Directions in Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aamir Shahzad

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Today, security is a prominent issue when any type of communication is being undertaken. Like traditional networks, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA systems suffer from a number of vulnerabilities. Numerous end-to-end security mechanisms have been proposed for the resolution of SCADA-system security issues, but due to insecure real-time protocol use and the reliance upon open protocols during Internet-based communication, these SCADA systems can still be compromised by security challenges. This study reviews the security challenges and issues that are commonly raised during SCADA/protocol transmissions and proposes a secure distributed-network protocol version 3 (DNP3 design, and the implementation of the security solution using a cryptography mechanism. Due to the insecurities found within SCADA protocols, the new development consists of a DNP3 protocol that has been designed as a part of the SCADA system, and the cryptographically derived security is deployed within the application layer as a part of the DNP3 stack.

Psychometric Properties of a Standardized Observation Protocol to Quantify Pediatric Physical Therapy Actions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sonderer, Patrizia; Ziegler, Schirin Akhbari; Oertle, Barbara Gressbach; Meichtry, Andre; Hadders-Algra, Mijna

Purpose: Pediatric physical therapy (PPT) is characterized by heterogeneity. This blurs the evaluation of effective components of PPT. The Groningen Observation Protocol (GOP) was developed to quantify contents of PPT. This study assesses the reliability and completeness of the GOP. Methods: Sixty

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamadoun Tall

2017-10-01

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

Challenges in standardization of blood pressure measurement at the population level.

Science.gov (United States)

Tolonen, Hanna; Koponen, Päivikki; Naska, Androniki; Männistö, Satu; Broda, Grazyna; Palosaari, Tarja; Kuulasmaa, Kari

2015-04-10

Accurate blood pressure measurements are needed in clinical practice, intervention studies and health examination surveys. Blood pressure measurements are sensitive: their accuracy can be affected by measurement environment, behaviour of the subject, measurement procedures, devices used for the measurement and the observer. To minimize errors in blood pressure measurement, a standardized measurement protocol is needed. The European Health Examination Survey (EHES) Pilot project was conducted in 2009-2012. A pilot health examination survey was conducted in 12 countries using a standardized protocol. The measurement protocols used in each survey, training provided for the measurers, measurement data, and observations during site visits were collected and evaluated to assess the level of standardization. The EHES measurement protocol for blood pressure was followed accurately in all 12 pilot surveys. Most of the surveys succeeded in organizing a quiet and comfortable measurement environment, and staff instructed survey participants appropriately before examination visits. In all surveys, blood pressure was measured three times, from the right arm in a sitting posture. The biggest variation was in the device used for the blood pressure measurement. It is possible to reach a high level of standardization for blood pressure measurements across countries and over time. A detailed, standardized measurement protocol, and adequate training and monitoring during the fieldwork and centrally organized quality assessment of the data are needed. The recent EU regulation banning the sale of mercury sphygmomanometer in European Union Member States has set new challenges for the standardization of measurement devices since the validity of oscillometric measurements is device-specific and performance of aneroid devices depends very much on calibration.

Comparison of absorbed dose determinations using the IAEA dosimetry protocol and the ferrous sulphate dosimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattsson, Olof

1988-01-01

In 1985 a comparison of different revised protocols for the dosimetry of high-energy photon and electron beams was published (Mattsson, 1985). The conclusions were that the agreement in absorbed dose to water determined using the different protocols is very good and that the agreement between ionization chamber and ferrous sulphate dosimetry is generally good. For electron beams the differences obtained with the ionization chamber and ferrous sulphate dosimeters were up to about 2%. The influence of the energy and angular distribution of the electron beams on the ionization chamber dosimetry is not fully considered in the dosimetry protocols. The basis for the ionization chamber dosimetry has recently been changed when the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) in 1986 changed the air-kerma standard. The reason was the adaption of the new stopping-power values reported in the ICRU Report No. 37. To achieve consistency in the ionization chamber dosimetry the interaction coefficients and correction factors given in the dosimetry protocols should also be based on the same set of stopping-power values. This is not the case with the protocols included in the comparison made by Mattsson. However, in the international code of practice by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, 1987) the new stopping-power values have been used. The formalism is the same as in most of the previous protocols. Mattsson et al. (1989) have shown that the differences in the various steps cancel out for the protocols published by NACP (1980) and by IAEA (1987) for cobalt-60 gamma quality. However, it is also of interest to investigate the influence of the new air-kerma standard and the new values on coefficients and factors given in the IAEA protocol for other beam qualities. Therefore, the data given by Mattsson (1985) have been recalculated using the new air-kerma standard and the IAEA protocol

Diagnostic Accuracy of Spectralis SD OCT Automated Macular Layers Segmentation to Discriminate Normal from Early Glaucomatous Eyes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pazos, Marta; Dyrda, Agnieszka Anna; Biarnés, Marc; Gómez, Alicia; Martín, Carlos; Mora, Clara; Fatti, Gianluca; Antón, Alfonso

2017-08-01

To evaluate the accuracy of the macular retinal layer segmentation software of the Spectralis spectral-domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) device (Heidelberg Engineering, Inc., Heidelberg, Germany) to discriminate between healthy and early glaucoma (EG) eyes. Prospective, cross-sectional study. Forty EG eyes and 40 healthy controls were included. All participants were examined using the standard posterior pole and the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) protocols of the Spectralis OCT device. Using an Early Treatment Diagnostic Retinopathy Study circle at the macular level, the automated retinal segmentation software was applied to determine thicknesses of the following parameters: total retinal thickness, inner retinal layer (IRL), macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL), macular inner plexiform layer (mIPL), macular inner nuclear layer (mINL), macular outer plexiform layer (mOPL), macular outer nuclear layer (mONL), photoreceptors (PR), and retinal pigmentary epithelium (RPE). The ganglion cell complex (GCC) was determined by adding the mRNFL, mGCL, and mIPL parameters and the ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer (mGCL-IPL) was determined by combining the mGCL and mIPL parameters. Thickness of each layer was compared between the groups, and the layer and sector with the best area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were identified. Comparison of pRNFL, IRL, mRNFL, mGCL, mIPL, mGCC, mGCL-IPL, mINL, mOPL, mONL, PR, and RPE parameters and total retinal thicknesses between groups for the different areas and their corresponding AUCs. Peripapillary RNFL was significantly thinner in the EG group globally and in all 6 sectors assessed (P < 0.0005). For the macular variables, retinal thickness was significantly reduced in the EG group for total retinal thickness, mIRL, mRNFL, mGCL, and mIPL. The 2 best isolated parameters to discriminate between the 2 groups were pRNFL (AUC, 0.956) and

SPIRIT 2013 explanation and elaboration: guidance for protocols of clinical trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, An-Wen; Tetzlaff, Jennifer M; Gøtzsche, Peter C; Altman, Douglas G; Mann, Howard; Berlin, Jesse A; Dickersin, Kay; Hróbjartsson, Asbjørn; Schulz, Kenneth F; Parulekar, Wendy R; Krleza-Jeric, Karmela; Laupacis, Andreas; Moher, David

2013-01-08

High quality protocols facilitate proper conduct, reporting, and external review of clinical trials. However, the completeness of trial protocols is often inadequate. To help improve the content and quality of protocols, an international group of stakeholders developed the SPIRIT 2013 Statement (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials). The SPIRIT Statement provides guidance in the form of a checklist of recommended items to include in a clinical trial protocol. This SPIRIT 2013 Explanation and Elaboration paper provides important information to promote full understanding of the checklist recommendations. For each checklist item, we provide a rationale and detailed description; a model example from an actual protocol; and relevant references supporting its importance. We strongly recommend that this explanatory paper be used in conjunction with the SPIRIT Statement. A website of resources is also available (www.spirit-statement.org). The SPIRIT 2013 Explanation and Elaboration paper, together with the Statement, should help with the drafting of trial protocols. Complete documentation of key trial elements can facilitate transparency and protocol review for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Vienna Agreement law 15.986 it approve Vienna Agreement for Protection ozone layer and annex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The Agreement of Vienna is approved with respect to the protection of the Layer of Ozono, definitions,general duties, research and observations systematics, co-operation in the Spheres Scientific Juridical, and information, Technological Conference, transmission from the protocols, amends, secretariat, adoption to the agreement or the protocols, adoption and amendment of controversy, signing, ratify, approve annexes, solution or vote, relation approving, adhesion, rights between the present agreement and its protocols, entrance in vigor, reserves, retirement, deposition, exchange of information [es

75 FR 4323 - Additional Quantitative Fit-testing Protocols for the Respiratory Protection Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-27

...-mask and full face piece respirators are normally considered two different types of air purifying... article published in a peer-reviewed industrial-hygiene journal describing the protocol and explaining how... article from an industrial- hygiene journal describing the accuracy and reliability of these proposed...

Survey of protocols for the manual segmentation of the hippocampus: preparatory steps towards a joint EADC-ADNI harmonized protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Boccardi, Marina; Ganzola, Rossana; Bocchetta, Martina; Pievani, Michela; Redolfi, Alberto; Bartzokis, George; Camicioli, Richard; Csernansky, John G; de Leon, Mony J; deToledo-Morrell, Leyla; Killiany, Ronald J; Lehéricy, Stéphane; Pantel, Johannes; Pruessner, Jens C; Soininen, H; Watson, Craig; Duchesne, Simon; Jack, Clifford R; Frisoni, Giovanni B

2011-01-01

Manual segmentation from magnetic resonance imaging (MR) is the gold standard for evaluating hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nonetheless, different segmentation protocols provide up to 2.5-fold volume differences. Here we surveyed the most frequently used segmentation protocols in the AD literature as a preliminary step for international harmonization. The anatomical landmarks (anteriormost and posteriormost slices, superior, inferior, medial, and lateral borders) were identified from 12 published protocols for hippocampal manual segmentation ([Abbreviation] first author, publication year: [B] Bartzokis, 1998; [C] Convit, 1997; [dTM] deToledo-Morrell, 2004; [H] Haller, 1997; [J] Jack, 1994; [K] Killiany, 1993; [L] Lehericy, 1994; [M] Malykhin, 2007; [Pa] Pantel, 2000; [Pr] Pruessner, 2000; [S] Soininen, 1994; [W] Watson, 1992). The hippocampi of one healthy control and one AD patient taken from the 1.5T MR ADNI database were segmented by a single rater according to each protocol. The accuracy of the protocols' interpretation and translation into practice was checked with lead authors of protocols through individual interactive web conferences. Semantically harmonized landmarks and differences were then extracted, regarding: (a) the posteriormost slice, protocol [B] being the most restrictive, and [H, M, Pa, Pr, S] the most inclusive; (b) inclusion [C, dTM, J, L, M, Pr, W] or exclusion [B, H, K, Pa, S] of alveus/fimbria; (c) separation from the parahippocampal gyrus, [C] being the most restrictive, [B, dTM, H, J, Pa, S] the most inclusive. There were no substantial differences in the definition of the anteriormost slice. This survey will allow us to operationalize differences among protocols into tracing units, measure their impact on the repeatability and diagnostic accuracy of manual hippocampal segmentation, and finally develop a harmonized protocol.

The Importance of the Montreal Protocol in Protecting the Earth's Hydroclimate

Science.gov (United States)

Seager, R.; Wu, Y.; Polvani, L. M.

2012-12-01

The 1987 Montreal Protocol regulating emissions of ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was motivated primarily by the harm to human health and ecosystems arising from increased exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation associated with depletion from the ozone layer. It is now known that the Montreal Protocol has reduced global warming since CFCs are greenhouse gases (GHGs). In this paper we show that the Montreal Protocol also significantly protects the Earth's hydroclimate, even though this was also not a motivating factor in the decision-making that led to the Protocol. General Circulation Model (GCM) results show that in the coming decade (2020-29), under the 'World Avoided' scenario of no regulations on CFC emissions, the subtropical dry zones would in general get drier, and the middle and high latitude regions wetter. This change is similar, in both pattern and magnitude, to that in the coming decade caused by projected increases in carbon dioxide concentrations. This implies that because of the Montreal Protocol, and the ozone depletion and global warming associated with CFCs thus avoided, the hydrological cycle changes in the coming decade will be significantly less than what they otherwise would have been.

Reduction of cancer risk by optimization of Computed Tomography head protocols: far eastern Cuban experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller Clemente, R.; Adame Brooks, D.; Lores Guevara, M.; Perez Diaz, M.; Arias Garlobo, M. L.; Ortega Rodriguez, O.; Nepite Haber, R.; Grinnan Hernandez, O.; Guillama Llosas, A.

2015-01-01

The cancer risk estimation constitutes one way for the evaluation of the public health, regarding computed tomography (CT) exposures. Starting from the hypothesis that the optimization of CT protocols would reduce significantly the added cancer risk, the purpose of this research was the application of optimization strategies regarding head CT protocols, in order to reduce the factors affecting the risk of induced cancer. The applied systemic approach included technological and human components, represented by quantitative physical factors. the volumetric kerma indexes, compared with respect to standard, optimized and reference values, were evaluated with multiple means comparison method. The added cancer risk resulted from the application of the methodology for biological effects evaluation, at low doses with low Linear Energy Transfer. Human observers in all scenarios evaluated the image quality. the reduced dose was significantly lower than for standard head protocols and reference levels, where: (1) for pediatric patients, by using an Automatic Exposure Control system, a reduction of 31% compared with standard protocol and ages range of 10-14, and (2) adults, using a Bilateral Filter for images obtained at low doses of 62% from those of standard head protocol. The risk reduction was higher than 25%. The systemic approach used allows the effective identification of factors involved on cancer risk related with exposures to CT. The combination of dose modulation and image restoration with Bilateral Filter, provide a significantly reduction of cancer risk, with acceptable diagnostic image quality. (Author)

Informatics and Standards for Nanomedicine Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Dennis G.; Klaessig, Fred; Harper, Stacey L.; Fritts, Martin; Hoover, Mark D.; Gaheen, Sharon; Stokes, Todd H.; Reznik-Zellen, Rebecca; Freund, Elaine T.; Klemm, Juli D.; Paik, David S.; Baker, Nathan A.

2011-01-01

There are several issues to be addressed concerning the management and effective use of information (or data), generated from nanotechnology studies in biomedical research and medicine. These data are large in volume, diverse in content, and are beset with gaps and ambiguities in the description and characterization of nanomaterials. In this work, we have reviewed three areas of nanomedicine informatics: information resources; taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and ontologies; and information standards. Informatics methods and standards in each of these areas are critical for enabling collaboration, data sharing, unambiguous representation and interpretation of data, semantic (meaningful) search and integration of data; and for ensuring data quality, reliability, and reproducibility. In particular, we have considered four types of information standards in this review, which are standard characterization protocols, common terminology standards, minimum information standards, and standard data communication (exchange) formats. Currently, due to gaps and ambiguities in the data, it is also difficult to apply computational methods and machine learning techniques to analyze, interpret and recognize patterns in data that are high dimensional in nature, and also to relate variations in nanomaterial properties to variations in their chemical composition, synthesis, characterization protocols, etc. Progress towards resolving the issues of information management in nanomedicine using informatics methods and standards discussed in this review will be essential to the rapidly growing field of nanomedicine informatics. PMID:21721140

Handbook of Carbon Offset Programs. Trading Systems, Funds, Protocols and Standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kollmuss, Anja; Lazarus, Michael; Lee, Carrie; Polycarp, Clifford (SEI-US (United States)); LeFranc, Maurice (US EPA (United States))

2010-03-15

Greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets have long been promoted as an important element of a comprehensive climate policy approach. Offset programs can reduce the overall cost of achieving a given emission goal by enabling emission reductions to occur where costs are lower. Offsets have the potential to deliver sustainability co-benefits, through technology development and transfer. They can also develop human and institutional capacity for reducing emissions in sectors and locations not included in a cap and trade or a mandatory government policy. However, offsets can pose a risk to the environmental integrity of climate actions, especially if issues surrounding additionality, permanence, leakage, quantification and verification are not adequately addressed. The challenge is to design offset programs and policies that can maximize their potential benefits while minimizing their potential risks. This handbook provides a systematic and comprehensive review of existing offset programs. It looks are what offsets are, how offset mechanisms function, and the successes and pitfalls they have encountered. Coverage includes offset programs across the full swath of applications including mandatory and voluntary systems, government regulated and private markets, carbon offset funds, and accounting and reporting protocols such as the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol and ISO 14064. Learning from the successes and failures of these programs will be essential to crafting effective climate policy. A reference for regulators, policy makers, business leaders and NGOs concerned with the design and operation of GHG offset programs world-wide

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2014-06-01

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

75 FR 43059 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Calculation of Available Transfer Capability, Capacity...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-23

... Standards for Business Practices and Communications Protocols for Public Utilities July 15, 2010. AGENCY... Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities. Order No. 729-B Order on Rehearing and..., Order No. 729-A, 131 FERC ] 61,109 (2010). \\2\\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication...

Aldefluor protocol to sort keratinocytes stem cells from skin

OpenAIRE

Noronha, Samuel Marcos Ribeiro; Gragnani, Alfredo; Pereira, Thiago Antônio Calado; Correa, Silvana Aparecida Alves; Bonucci, Jessica; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the use Aldefluor® and N, N - Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB) to design a protocol to sort keratinocyte stem cells from cultured keratinocytes from burned patients. Methods: Activated Aldefluor® aliquots were prepared and maintained at temperature between 2 to 8°C, or stored at -20°C. Next, the cells were collected following the standard protocol of sample preparation. Results: Best results were obtained with Aldefluor® 1.5µl and DEAB 15 µl for 1 x 106 c...

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2015-01-15

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

Surface and subsurface cleanup protocol for radionuclides, Gunnison, Colorado, UMTRA project processing site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-09-01

Surface and subsurface soil cleanup protocols for the Gunnison, Colorado, processing sits are summarized as follows: In accordance with EPA-promulgated land cleanup standards (40 CFR 192), in situ Ra-226 is to be cleaned up based on bulk concentrations not exceeding 5 and 15 pCi/g in 15-cm surface and subsurface depth increments, averaged over 100-m 2 grid blocks, where the parent Ra-226 concentrations are greater than, or in secular equilibrium with, the Th-230 parent. A bulk interpretation of these EPA standards has been accepted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and while the concentration of the finer-sized soil fraction less than a No. 4 mesh sieve contains the higher concentration of radioactivity, the bulk approach in effect integrates the total sample radioactivity over the entire sample mass. In locations where Th-230 has differentially migrated in subsoil relative to Ra-226, a Th-230 cleanup protocol has been developed in accordance with Supplemental Standard provisions of 40 CFR 192 for NRC/Colorado Department of Health (CDH) approval for timely implementation. Detailed elements of the protocol are contained in Appendix A, Generic Protocol from Thorium-230 Cleanup/Verification at UMTRA Project Processing Sites. The cleanup of other radionuclides or nonradiological hazards that pose a significant threat to the public and the environment will be determined and implemented in accordance with pathway analysis to assess impacts and the implications of ALARA specified in 40 CFR 192 relative to supplemental standards

WE-FG-207B-11: Objective Image Characterization of Spectral CT with a Dual-Layer Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozguner, O; Halliburton, S; Dhanantwari, A; Utrup, S; Wen, G; Jordan, D

2016-01-01

Purpose: To obtain objective reference data for the spectral performance on a dual-layer detector CT platform (IQon, Philips) and compare virtual monoenergetic to conventional CT images. Methods: Scanning was performed using the hospital’s clinical adult body protocol: helical acquisition at 120kVp, with CTDIvol=15mGy. Multiple modules (591, 515, 528) of a CATPHAN 600 phantom and a 20 cm diameter cylindrical water phantom were scanned. No modifications to the standard protocol were necessary to enable spectral imaging. Both conventional and virtual monoenergetic images were generated from acquired data. Noise characteristics were assessed through Noise Power Spectra (NPS) and pixel standard deviation from water phantom images. Spatial resolution was evaluated using Modulation Transfer Functions (MTF) of a tungsten wire as well as resolution bars. Low-contrast detectability was studied using contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of a low contrast object. Results: MTF curves of monoenergetic and conventional images were almost identical. MTF 50%, 10%, and 5% levels for monoenergetic images agreed with conventional images within 0.05lp/cm. These observations were verified by the resolution bars, which were clearly resolved at 7lp/cm but started blurring at 8lp/cm for this protocol in both conventional and 70 keV images. NPS curves indicated that, compared to conventional images, the noise power distribution of 70 keV monoenergetic images is similar (i.e. noise texture is similar) but exhibit a low frequency peak at keVs higher and lower than 70 keV. Standard deviation measurements show monoenergetic images have lower noise except at 40 keV where it is slightly higher. CNR of monoenergetic images is mostly flat across keV values and is superior to that of conventional images. Conclusion: Values for standard image quality metrics are the same or better for monoenergetic images compared to conventional images. Results indicate virtual monoenergetic images can be used without

WE-FG-207B-11: Objective Image Characterization of Spectral CT with a Dual-Layer Detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozguner, O [Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States); Halliburton, S; Dhanantwari, A; Utrup, S [Philips Healthcare, Highland Heights, OH (United States); Wen, G [The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States); Jordan, D [University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To obtain objective reference data for the spectral performance on a dual-layer detector CT platform (IQon, Philips) and compare virtual monoenergetic to conventional CT images. Methods: Scanning was performed using the hospital’s clinical adult body protocol: helical acquisition at 120kVp, with CTDIvol=15mGy. Multiple modules (591, 515, 528) of a CATPHAN 600 phantom and a 20 cm diameter cylindrical water phantom were scanned. No modifications to the standard protocol were necessary to enable spectral imaging. Both conventional and virtual monoenergetic images were generated from acquired data. Noise characteristics were assessed through Noise Power Spectra (NPS) and pixel standard deviation from water phantom images. Spatial resolution was evaluated using Modulation Transfer Functions (MTF) of a tungsten wire as well as resolution bars. Low-contrast detectability was studied using contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of a low contrast object. Results: MTF curves of monoenergetic and conventional images were almost identical. MTF 50%, 10%, and 5% levels for monoenergetic images agreed with conventional images within 0.05lp/cm. These observations were verified by the resolution bars, which were clearly resolved at 7lp/cm but started blurring at 8lp/cm for this protocol in both conventional and 70 keV images. NPS curves indicated that, compared to conventional images, the noise power distribution of 70 keV monoenergetic images is similar (i.e. noise texture is similar) but exhibit a low frequency peak at keVs higher and lower than 70 keV. Standard deviation measurements show monoenergetic images have lower noise except at 40 keV where it is slightly higher. CNR of monoenergetic images is mostly flat across keV values and is superior to that of conventional images. Conclusion: Values for standard image quality metrics are the same or better for monoenergetic images compared to conventional images. Results indicate virtual monoenergetic images can be used without

Use of a standardized JaCVAM in vivo rat comet assay protocol to assess the genotoxicity of three coded test compounds; ampicillin trihydrate, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride, and N-nitrosodimethylamine.

Science.gov (United States)

McNamee, J P; Bellier, P V

2015-07-01

As part of the Japanese Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (JaCVAM)-initiative international validation study of the in vivo rat alkaline comet assay (comet assay), our laboratory examined ampicillin trihydrate (AMP), 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (DMH), and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDA) using a standard comet assay validation protocol (v14.2) developed by the JaCVAM validation management team (VMT). Coded samples were received by our laboratory along with basic MSDS information. Solubility analysis and range-finding experiments of the coded test compounds were conducted for dose selection. Animal dosing schedules, the comet assay processing and analysis, and statistical analysis were conducted in accordance with the standard protocol. Based upon our blinded evaluation, AMP was not found to exhibit evidence of genotoxicity in either the rat liver or stomach. However, both NDA and DMH were observed to cause a significant increase in % tail DNA in the rat liver at all dose levels tested. While acute hepatoxicity was observed for these compounds in the high dose group, in the investigators opinion there were a sufficient number of consistently damaged/measurable cells at the medium and low dose groups to judge these compounds as genotoxic. There was no evidence of genotoxicity from either NDA or DMH in the rat stomach. In conclusion, our laboratory observed increased DNA damage from two blinded test compounds in rat liver (later identified as genotoxic carcinogens), while no evidence of genotoxicity was observed for the third blinded test compound (later identified as a non-genotoxic, non-carcinogen). This data supports the use of a standardized protocol of the in vivo comet assay as a cost-effective alternative genotoxicity assay for regulatory testing purposes. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Equilibrium stability of strained epitaxial layers on a rigid substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granato, E.; Kosterlitz, J.M.; Ying, S.C.

1987-07-01

A simple theory of the equilibrium stability of an strained epitaxial layer on a rigid substrate is presented. We generalise the Frankvan der Merwe model of a single layer and consider N layers of adsorbate on a substrate. Continuum elasticity theory is used to describe each layer, but the coupling between layers is treated ina discrete fashion. Our method interpolates between a few layers and the thick film limit of standard dislocation theory, and in this limit the standard results are obtained. In addition, we developed a variational approach which agrees well with our exact calculations. The advantage of our method over previous ores is that it allows to perform stability analyses of arbitrary superlattice configurations. (author) [pt

MOS-Based Multiuser Multiapplication Cross-Layer Optimization for Mobile Multimedia Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shoaib Khan

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a cross-layer optimization strategy that jointly optimizes the application layer, the data-link layer, and the physical layer of a wireless protocol stack using an application-oriented objective function. The cross-layer optimization framework provides efficient allocation of wireless network resources across multiple types of applications run by different users to maximize network resource usage and user perceived quality of service. We define a novel optimization scheme based on the mean opinion score (MOS as the unifying metric over different application classes. Our experiments, applied to scenarios where users simultaneously run three types of applications, namely voice communication, streaming video and file download, confirm that MOS-based optimization leads to significant improvement in terms of user perceived quality when compared to conventional throughput-based optimization.

Evaluation of an app-based stress protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noeh Claudius

2016-09-01

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