Effects of energy development on ground water quality: an overview and preliminary assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parker, W.M. III; Yin, S.C.L.; Davis, M.J.; Kutz, W.J.

1981-07-01

A preliminary national overview of the various effects on ground water quality likely to result from energy development. Based on estimates of present and projected energy-development activities, those regions of the country are identified where ground water quality has the potential for being adversely affected. The general causes of change in ground water quality are reviewed. Specific effects on ground water quality of selected energy technologies are discussed, and some case-history material is provided. A brief overview of pertinent legislation relating to the protection and management of ground water quality is presented. Six methodologies that have some value for assessing the potential effects on ground water quality of energy development activities are reviewed. A method of identifying regions in the 48 contiguous states where there is a potential for ground water quality problems is described and then applied

Changes in Soil Quality and Hydrological Connectivity Caused by the Abandonment of Terraces in a Mediterranean Burned Catchment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleix Calsamiglia

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Wildfires and agricultural activities are relevant factors affecting soil quality, hydrological cycle and sedimentary dynamics. Land abandonment leads to afforestation, which increases fire risk and land degradation. However, no studies have yet evaluated the effect of combining the two factors, which occur frequently in Mediterranean ecosystems. This study assessed the changes in soil quality caused by the abandonment of terraces in two microcatchments (<2.5 ha affected distinctly by wildfires (once and twice burned and in an unburned control microcatchment by analyzing soil quality parameters, biochemical indices and spatial patterns of hydrological and sediment connectivity. Soil samples were collected in thirty-six plots (25 m2 representing terraced and non-terraced areas within these microcatchments. Unburned non-terraced plots had higher organic matter content and higher microbiological and enzymatic activities than other plots. Plots in abandoned terraces had lower soil quality indices, regardless of the fire effect. Land abandonment induced changes in the spatial patterns of hydrological connectivity, leading to concentrated runoff, enhanced erosion and soil degradation. Fire also negatively affected soil quality in both terraced and non-terraced plots. However, microbiological communities had different positive post-fire recovery strategies (growth and activity, depending on the previous soil conditions and land uses, which is indicative of the resilience of Mediterranean soil ecosystems.

Cause-and-effect mapping of critical events.

Science.gov (United States)

Graves, Krisanne; Simmons, Debora; Galley, Mark D

2010-06-01

Health care errors are routinely reported in the scientific and public press and have become a major concern for most Americans. In learning to identify and analyze errors health care can develop some of the skills of a learning organization, including the concept of systems thinking. Modern experts in improving quality have been working in other high-risk industries since the 1920s making structured organizational changes through various frameworks for quality methods including continuous quality improvement and total quality management. When using these tools, it is important to understand systems thinking and the concept of processes within organization. Within these frameworks of improvement, several tools can be used in the analysis of errors. This article introduces a robust tool with a broad analytical view consistent with systems thinking, called CauseMapping (ThinkReliability, Houston, TX, USA), which can be used to systematically analyze the process and the problem at the same time. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of tear film dynamics on quality of vision.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Shizuka; Tung, Cynthia I; Inoue, Yasushi; Jhanji, Vishal

2018-06-15

The precorneal tear film is maintained by blinking and exhibits different phases in the tear cycle. The tear film serves as the most anterior surface of the eye and plays an important role as a first refractive component of the eye. Alterations in tear film dynamics may cause both vision-related and ocular surface-related symptoms. Although the optical quality associated with the tear film dynamics previously received little attention, objective measurements of optical quality using wavefront sensors have enabled us to quantify optical aberrations induced by the tear film. This has provided an objective method for assessing reduced optical quality in dry eye; thus, visual disturbances were included in the definition of dry eye disease in the 2007 Dry Eye Workshop report. In addition, sequential measurements of wavefront aberrations have provided us with valuable insights into the dynamic optical changes associated with tear film dynamics. This review will focus on the current knowledge of the mechanisms of wavefront variations that are caused by different aspects of tear film dynamics: specifically, quality, quantity and properties of the tear film, demonstrating the respective effects of dry eye, epiphora and instillation of eye drops on the quality of vision. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

No-Reference Video Quality Assessment Model for Distortion Caused by Packet Loss in the Real-Time Mobile Video Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiarun Song

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Packet loss will make severe errors due to the corruption of related video data. For most video streams, because the predictive coding structures are employed, the transmission errors in one frame will not only cause decoding failure of itself at the receiver side, but also propagate to its subsequent frames along the motion prediction path, which will bring a significant degradation of end-to-end video quality. To quantify the effects of packet loss on video quality, a no-reference objective quality assessment model is presented in this paper. Considering the fact that the degradation of video quality significantly relies on the video content, the temporal complexity is estimated to reflect the varying characteristic of video content, using the macroblocks with different motion activities in each frame. Then, the quality of the frame affected by the reference frame loss, by error propagation, or by both of them is evaluated, respectively. Utilizing a two-level temporal pooling scheme, the video quality is finally obtained. Extensive experimental results show that the video quality estimated by the proposed method matches well with the subjective quality.

The effect of antiresorptives on bone quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Recker, Robert R; Armas, Laura

2011-08-01

Currently, antiresorptive therapy in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis includes bisphosphonates, estrogen replacement, selective estrogen receptor modulators (raloxifene), and denosumab (a human antibody that inactivates RANKL). The original paradigm driving the development of antiresorptive therapy was that inhibition of bone resorption would allow bone formation to continue and correct the defect. However, it is now clear increases in bone density account for little of the antifracture effect of these treatments. We examined the antifracture benefit of antiresorptives deriving from bone quality changes. We searched the archive of nearly 30,000 articles accumulated over more than 40 years in our research center library using a software program (Refman™). Approximately 250 publications were identified in locating the 69 cited here. The findings document antiresorptive agents are not primarily anabolic. All cause a modest increase in bone density due to a reduction in the bone remodeling space; however, the majority of their efficacy is due to suppression of the primary cause of osteoporosis, ie, excessive bone remodeling not driven by mechanical need. All of them improve some element(s) of bone quality. Antiresorptive therapy reduces risk of fracture by improving bone quality through halting removal of bone tissue and the resultant destruction of microarchitecture of bone and, perhaps to some extent, by improving the intrinsic material properties of bone tissue. Information presented here may help clinicians to improve selection of patients for antiresorptive therapy by avoiding them in cases clearly not due to excessive bone remodeling.

Root-Cause Analysis of Persistently High Maternal Mortality in a Rural District of Indonesia: Role of Clinical Care Quality and Health Services Organizational Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmood, Mohammad Afzal; Mufidah, Ismi; Scroggs, Steven; Siddiqui, Amna Rehana; Raheel, Hafsa; Wibdarminto, Koentijo; Dirgantoro, Bernardus; Vercruyssen, Jorien; Wahabi, Hayfaa A

2018-01-01

Despite significant reduction in maternal mortality, there are still many regions in the world that suffer from high mortality. District Kutai Kartanegara, Indonesia, is one such region where consistently high maternal mortality was observed despite high rate of delivery by skilled birth attendants. Thirty maternal deaths were reviewed using verbal autopsy interviews, terminal event reporting, medical records' review, and Death Audit Committee reports, using a comprehensive root-cause analysis framework including Risk Identification, Signal Services, Emergency Obstetrics Care Evaluation, Quality, and 3 Delays. The root causes were found in poor quality of care, which caused hospital to be unprepared to manage deteriorating patients. In hospital, poor implementation of standard operating procedures was rooted in inadequate skills, lack of forward planning, ineffective communication, and unavailability of essential services. In primary care, root causes included inadequate risk management, referrals to facilities where needed services are not available, and lack of coordination between primary healthcare and hospitals. There is an urgent need for a shift in focus to quality of care through knowledge, skills, and support for consistent application of protocols, making essential services available, effective risk assessment and management, and facilitating timely referrals to facilities that are adequately equipped.

Effects of elevated ozone, carbon dioxide, and the combination of both on the grain quality of Chinese hybrid rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yunxia; Song, Qiling; Frei, Michael; Shao, Zaisheng; Yang, Lianxin

2014-01-01

The effects of CO 2 and/or O 3 elevation on rice grain quality were investigated in chamber experiments with gas fumigation performed from transplanting until maturity in 2011 and 2012. Compared with the control (current CO 2 and O 3 concentration), elevated CO 2 caused a tendency of an increase in grain chalkiness and a decrease in mineral nutrient concentrations. In contrast, elevated O 3 significantly increased grain chalkiness and the concentrations of essential nutrients, while changes in starch pasting properties indicated a trend of deterioration in the cooking and eating quality. In the combination of elevated CO 2 and O 3 treatment, only chalkiness degree was significantly affected. It is concluded that the O 3 concentration projected for the coming few decades will have more substantial effects on grain quality of Chinese hybrid rice than the projected high CO 2 concentration alone, and the combination of two gases caused fewer significant changes in grain quality than individual gas treatments. - Highlights: • We investigated the effects of carbon dioxide and/or ozone elevation on rice grain quality. • Elevated ozone concentration had substantial effects on grain quality under current carbon dioxide concentration. • Elevated carbon dioxide concentration mitigated the impact of elevated ozone concentration on rice grain quality. - Exposure of Chinese hybrid rice to elevated ozone and CO 2 during growth causes fewer changes in grain quality than ozone exposure alone

Effect of Gynostemma Pentaphyllum polysaccharide on boar spermatozoa quality following freezing-thawing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jian-Hong; Li, Qing-Wang; Zhang, Ting; Jiang, Zhong-Liang

2009-12-01

Gynostemma Pentaphyllum Polysaccharide (GPP) was added at concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/ml to the extenders used to freeze boar semen and its effects on the quality of frozen-thawed sperm were assessed. The sperm motility was significantly higher in the extenders containing 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml GPP, as compared to other groups (Pextender supplemented with 0.5 mg/ml GPP favored the highest intact membrane and intact acrosome percentages in comparison with other groups (Pextender supplemented with 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml GPP significantly improved SOD levels, compared to other groups (P>0.05). However, the extenders supplemented with GPP did not cause significant differences in levels of CAT and GSH-Px, compared to the control (P>0.05). In summary, GPP exhibited a dose-related response and the lower concentration produced greater protective effect. According to the standard semen quality parameters and antioxidant activities measured in this study, the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml GPP caused a beneficial cryoprotective effects on the quality of frozen-thawed boar semen. It is proposed that an extender containing 0.5 mg/ml GPP could be used as cryoprotective medium of better efficiency.

Chronic tattoo reactions cause reduced quality of life equaling cumbersome skin diseases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carlsen, Katrina Hutton; Serup, Jørgen

2015-01-01

applied to patients with chronic tattoo reactions, tattoo complaints and impact on quality of life that were comparable to patients presenting cumbersome dermatological disease such as psoriasis, eczema and pruritus, which often show widespread effects to the skin, were uncovered. In conclusion, chronic...... impacts, including the effect on quality of life, should be studied. Itch severity and influence on quality of life can be measured objectively. The Itch Severity Scale and Dermatology Life Quality Index scoring systems have been applied to different dermatological diseases. When ISS and DLQI scores were...... tattoo reactions should be ranked as a cumbersome dermatological disease and, accordingly, given priority attention and qualified treatment by the public health care system....

Quality management and quality assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pieroni, N.

1991-01-01

The main common difficulties are presented found in the implementation of effective Quality Management and Quality Assurance Programmes, based on the recommendations of the IAEA International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group, the information collected by the IAEA experts participating in its meetings, and the results of the IAEA Operational Safety Review Team missions. The difficulties were identified in several areas. The most relevant root causes can be characterized as lack of understanding of quality principles and difficulty in implementation by the responsible management. The IAEA programme is described attempting to provide advice and support in the implementation of an effective quality programme through a number of activities including: preparation of practical guidelines, training programmes for management personnel, assistance in building up qualified manpower, and promoting the quest for excellence through the exchange of experience in the implementation of effective Quality Management and Quality Assurance Programmes in nuclear power plants with good performance records. (Z.S.)

Effects of Sleep Hygiene Education on Subjective Sleep Quality and Academic Performance

OpenAIRE

Erkan Sahin

2014-01-01

Aim: Sleep problems are common in students with one third of university students reporting insufficient sleep. It is known that sleep quality and daytime sleepiness cause decrasing academic performans. For this reason we aimed to investigate the effects of a sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and academic performance of first year medical students. Material and Method: Self-reported sleep data and academic performance of 131 first grade medical students were collected. To all students e...

Root-Cause Analysis of Persistently High Maternal Mortality in a Rural District of Indonesia: Role of Clinical Care Quality and Health Services Organizational Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Afzal Mahmood

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Despite significant reduction in maternal mortality, there are still many regions in the world that suffer from high mortality. District Kutai Kartanegara, Indonesia, is one such region where consistently high maternal mortality was observed despite high rate of delivery by skilled birth attendants. Method. Thirty maternal deaths were reviewed using verbal autopsy interviews, terminal event reporting, medical records’ review, and Death Audit Committee reports, using a comprehensive root-cause analysis framework including Risk Identification, Signal Services, Emergency Obstetrics Care Evaluation, Quality, and 3 Delays. Findings. The root causes were found in poor quality of care, which caused hospital to be unprepared to manage deteriorating patients. In hospital, poor implementation of standard operating procedures was rooted in inadequate skills, lack of forward planning, ineffective communication, and unavailability of essential services. In primary care, root causes included inadequate risk management, referrals to facilities where needed services are not available, and lack of coordination between primary healthcare and hospitals. Conclusion. There is an urgent need for a shift in focus to quality of care through knowledge, skills, and support for consistent application of protocols, making essential services available, effective risk assessment and management, and facilitating timely referrals to facilities that are adequately equipped.

Causes for variation in pork quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wal, van der P.; Engel, B.; Hulsegge, B.

1997-01-01

Research was carried out on 260 pigs that were slaughtered in 12 batches in the slaughter facilities of ID-DLO at Zeist. The practical circumstances were highly standardized. The 'animals' meat quality was good with only little variation; 46 animals showed a 'slightly' aberrant quality and 6

Does Competition Have an Effect on Price and Quality in Physiotherapy?

Science.gov (United States)

Pekola, Piia; Linnosmaa, Ismo; Mikkola, Hennamari

2017-10-01

We estimate the effect of competition on quality and prices in physiotherapy organised and financed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland for disabled individuals. Within the physiotherapy market, firms participate in competitive bidding, prices are determined by the market, services are free at the point of use and firms are allowed to react to patient choice only by enhancing quality. Firm-level data (n = 854) regarding quality and price were analysed. Using 2SLS estimation techniques, we analysed the relationship between quality and competition, and price and competition. Our study found that competition has a negative (yet weak) effect on quality. Prices on the other hand are not affected by competition. The result is likely caused by imperfect information, because it seems that the Social Insurance Institution of Finland has provided too little information for patients to make adequate choices about proper service providers. We argue that by publishing quality information, it is possible to ease the decision-making of patients and influence the quality strategies of firms active in the physiotherapy market. Moreover, we found that competition appeared as an exogenous variable in this study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Theoretical Investigation For The Effect of Fuel Quality on Gas Turbine Power Plants

Science.gov (United States)

AbdulRazzak khudair, Omar; Alwan Abass, Khetam; Saadi Abed, Noor; Hussain Ali, Khalid; AbdulAziz, Saad; Chlaib Shaboot, Ali

2018-05-01

Gas turbine engine power generation is declined dramatically because of the reduction in thermodynamic parameters as a work of turbine, compressor ratio, compressor work, and air mass flow rate and fuel consumption. There are two main objectives of this work, the first is related with the effect of fuel kinds and their quality on the operation of fuel flow divider and its performance specifically gear pump displacement and fuel flow rate to the combustion chambers of gas power plant. AL-DORA gas turbine power plant 35MW was chosen to predict these effects on its performance MATLAB Software program is used to perform thermodynamic calculations. Fuel distribution stage before the process of combustion and as a result of the kind and its quality, chemical reaction will occur between the fuel and the parts of the gear system of each pump of the flow divider, which causes the erosion of the internal pump wall and the teeth of the gear system, thus hampering the pump operation in terms of fuel discharge. The discharge of fuel form the eight external gates of flow divider is decreased and varied when going to the combustion chambers, so that, flow divider does not give reliable mass flow rate due to absence of accurate pressure in each of eight exit pipes. The second objective deals with the stage of fuel combustion process inside the combustion chamber. A comparative study based upon performance parameters, such as specific fuel consumption for gas and gasoil and power generation. Fuel poor quality causes incomplete combustion and increased its consumption, so that combustion products are interacted with the surface of the turbine blades, causing the erosion and create surface roughness of the blade and disruption of gas flow. As a result of this situation, turbulence flow of these gases will increase causing the separation of gas boundary layers over the suction surface of the blade. Therefore the amount of extracted gas will decrease causing retreat work done by

Water quality degradation effects on freshwater availability: Impacts to human activities

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, N.E.; Meybeck, Michel

2000-01-01

The quality of freshwater at any point on the landscape reflects the combined effects of many processes along water pathways. Human activities on all spatial scales affect both water quality and quantity. Alteration of the landscape and associated vegetation has not only changed the water balance, but typically has altered processes that control water quality. Effects of human activities on a small scale are relevant to an entire drainage basin. Furthermore, local, regional, and global differences in climate and water flow are considerable, causing varying effects of human activities on land and water quality and quantity, depending on location within a watershed, geology, biology, physiographic characteristics, and climate. These natural characteristics also greatly control human activities, which will, in turn, modify (or affect) the natural composition of water. One of the most important issues for effective resource management is recognition of cyclical and cascading effects of human activities on the water quality and quantity along hydrologic pathways. The degradation of water quality in one part of a watershed can have negative effects on users downstream. Everyone lives downstream of the effects of some human activity. An extremely important factor is that substances added to the atmosphere, land, and water generally have relatively long time scales for removal or clean up. The nature of the substance, including its affinity for adhering to soil and its ability to be transformed, affects the mobility and the time scale for removal of the substance. Policy alone will not solve many of the degradation issues, but a combination of policy, education, scientific knowledge, planning, and enforcement of applicable laws can provide mechanisms for slowing the rate of degradation and provide human and environmental protection. Such an integrated approach is needed to effectively manage land and water resources.

Semen quality: variations among fathers and effects of moderate alcohol drinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trevor G Cooper

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Semen analysis results from over 750 fathers in the USA demonstrated marked differences in the quality of semen from men at different locations and of different ethnic groups. Another paper failed to demonstrate any effects of moderate alcohol consumption during the week before provision of an ejaculate on semen quality and few on serum hormones, of over 8300 men in Europe and the USA. While these observations are interesting, the reasons for regional and ethnic differences in semen quality of fathers are unclear. Although, there was no attempt to confirm the participant-provided level of alcohol consumption, an increase in serum testosterone in the men at the higher end of alcohol intake is compatible with an alcohol effect on liver metabolism, although whether alcohol intake was the cause of higher testosterone, or men with higher androgen levels consume more alcohol, is not known.

Effect of irradiation as quarantine treatment on citrus fruit quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Betancurt, Pablo; Montalban, Antonio; Arcia, Patricia; Borthagaray, Maria D.; Curutchet, Ana; Pica, Leticia; Soria, Alejandra; Abreu, Anibal V.; Ares, M. Ines

2009-01-01

Gamma radiations have been used to improve sanitation treatments without significant effects on fresh fruit quality. The objective of this work was to evaluate the fruit quality characteristics of citrus variety Valencia (Valencia Late), main variety produced and exported in Uruguay. All samples were stored at 3-5 deg C, 80% RH, for 20 and 40 days. Irradiation doses used were 0,35 kGy min. and 0,80 kGy max. (doses that also eliminate the fruit fly). Irradiation experiments were conducted using irradiation equipment from Atomic Center (CAE), year 1968, Co60 source, 800.000 Ci. The effects of irradiation on sensory qualities and physical characteristics were studied. The attributes evaluated were visual appearance (1- 4 hedonic scale, expert), overall acceptance (1-9 hedonic scale, consumers), texture (TAB Stevens, speed: 2m/s, distance: 2mm), yield of juice and colour (Hunter values). In general, no significant changes in these parameters were observed after irradiation. Quality was not significantly affected by doses usually applied to decrease the viability of pathogen that cause citrus Scab. This is an important contribution for the protocols that would allow citrus fruit exportation. (author)

On Q: Causing Quality in Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Seymour, Daniel T.

This book presents college and university education as a quality-oriented service with students, parents, and legislators as customers demanding quality. It attempts to blend the concept of strategic management of quality in industry with the latest thinking on the administration of higher education. The first chapter discusses the importance of…

Workplace aggression as cause and effect: Emergency nurses' experiences of working fatigued.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Lisa A; Perhats, Cydne; Delao, Altair M; Clark, Paul R

2017-07-01

Emergency nursing requires acute attention to detail to provide safe and effective care to potentially unstable or critically ill patients; this requirement may be significantly impaired by physical and mental fatigue. There is a lack of evidence regarding the effects of fatigue caused by factors other than a sleep deficit (e.g., emotional exhaustion). Fatigue affects nurses' ability to work safely in the emergency care setting and potentially impacts their health and quality of life outside of work. This was the qualitative arm of a mixed methods study; we used a qualitative exploratory design with focus group data from a sample of 16 emergency nurses. Themes were identified using an inductive approach to content analysis. The following themes were identified: "It's a weight on your back;" "Competitive nursing;" "It's never enough;" "You have to get away;" and "Engagement as a solution." Our participants reported high levels of fatigue, which compromised patient care, had a negative effect on their personal lives, and created a toxic unit environment. They reported lateral violence as both the cause and effect of mental and emotional fatigue, suggesting that unit culture affects nurses and the patients they care for. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research Project on CO2 Geological Storage and Groundwater Resources: Water Quality Effects Caused by CO2 Intrusion into Shallow Groundwater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birkholzer, Jens; Apps, John; Zheng, Liange; Zhang, Yingqi; Xu, Tianfu; Tsang, Chin-Fu

2008-10-01

One promising approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is injecting CO{sub 2} into suitable geologic formations, typically depleted oil/gas reservoirs or saline formations at depth larger than 800 m. Proper site selection and management of CO{sub 2} storage projects will ensure that the risks to human health and the environment are low. However, a risk remains that CO{sub 2} could migrate from a deep storage formation, e.g. via local high-permeability pathways such as permeable faults or degraded wells, and arrive in shallow groundwater resources. The ingress of CO{sub 2} is by itself not typically a concern to the water quality of an underground source of drinking water (USDW), but it will change the geochemical conditions in the aquifer and will cause secondary effects mainly induced by changes in pH, in particular the mobilization of hazardous inorganic constituents present in the aquifer minerals. Identification and assessment of these potential effects is necessary to analyze risks associated with geologic sequestration of CO{sub 2}. This report describes a systematic evaluation of the possible water quality changes in response to CO{sub 2} intrusion into aquifers currently used as sources of potable water in the United States. Our goal was to develop a general understanding of the potential vulnerability of United States potable groundwater resources in the event of CO{sub 2} leakage. This goal was achieved in two main tasks, the first to develop a comprehensive geochemical model representing typical conditions in many freshwater aquifers (Section 3), the second to conduct a systematic reactive-transport modeling study to quantify the effect of CO{sub 2} intrusion into shallow aquifers (Section 4). Via reactive-transport modeling, the amount of hazardous constituents potentially mobilized by the ingress of CO{sub 2} was determined, the fate and migration of these constituents in the groundwater was predicted, and the likelihood that drinking water

Quality management tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Tae Hun

2011-09-15

This book introduces basic conception of quality with characteristic, price, cost, and function, basic conception on quality management, introduction and operation of quality management, quality guaranteed and claim like handling of claim of goods, standards, and quality guaranteed method, basic tools of quality management such as Pareto diagram, characteristic diagram, cause-and-effect, fish born diagram check sheet histogram scatter diagram graph and stratification new seven tools of QC, quality deployment function and measurement system.

Quality management tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Tae Hun

2011-09-01

This book introduces basic conception of quality with characteristic, price, cost, and function, basic conception on quality management, introduction and operation of quality management, quality guaranteed and claim like handling of claim of goods, standards, and quality guaranteed method, basic tools of quality management such as Pareto diagram, characteristic diagram, cause-and-effect, fish born diagram check sheet histogram scatter diagram graph and stratification new seven tools of QC, quality deployment function and measurement system.

Effect of the patient-to-patient communication model on dysphagia caused by total laryngectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, L; An, R; Zhang, J; Sun, Y; Zhao, R; Liu, M

2017-03-01

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a patient-to-patient communication model on dysphagia in laryngeal cancer patients after total laryngectomy. Sixty-five patients who had undergone total laryngectomy were randomly divided into three groups: a routine communication group, a patient communication group (that received the patient-to-patient communication model) and a physician communication group. Questionnaires were used to compare quality of life and swallowing problems among all patient groups. The main factors causing dysphagia in total laryngectomy patients were related to fear and mental health. The patient communication group had improved visual analogue scale scores at one week after starting to eat. Quality of life in swallowing disorders questionnaire scores were significantly higher in the patient communication and physician communication groups than in the routine communication group. In addition, swallowing problems were much more severe in patients educated to high school level and above than in others. The patient-to-patient communication model can be used to resolve swallowing problems caused by psychological factors in total laryngectomy patients.

Weaknesses of the Quality Evaluation Process in the Spanish University: Causes, Consequences and Proposals for Improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clemente Rodríguez Sabiote

2003-05-01

Full Text Available The process of quality assessment going on in the Spanish university since the early nineties has generated undeniable advances. However, there have been detected a series of weaknesses which have affected the process with consequences unpredictable a priori. This article reviews some of the weaknesses, together with their possible causes and consequences. Suggestions are provided for improving the process of evaluating the quality of university institutions.

Effects of Applying Hydrotherapy on Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

OpenAIRE

Somayyeh Ghaffari; Fazlollah Ahmadi; Seyyed Masoud Nabavi; Anoushirvan Kazem-Nezhad

2008-01-01

Objective: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common chronic diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), which causes important changes patient’s life, specially in adults life. MS decreases the quality of life (QOL) of patients severely and led to disability gradually. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of applying hydrotherapy on quality of life of Multiple Sclerosis patients. Materials & Methods: In this Quasi-experimental study, 50 Multiple Sclerosis patients wer...

73. Surgical site infection after CABG: Root cause analysis and quality measures recommendation SSI quality improvement project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Arifi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Surgical site infection (SSI, is a preventable and devastating complication with significant morbidity after cardiac surgery. The reported SSI rate at our center, ranging from 3.4% to 11.2% (2007–2013. This rate is considered to be above the standardized rate recommended by the NHSN. Quality improvement project team to address the issue of SSI, (SCIP, where formed by the medical administration late 2014. The aim of the study was to identify SSI risk factors at our cardiac surgical unit, using evidence based practices while taking a local approach to problem solving. We performed Root Cause Analysis (RCA, and we applied other quality improvement tools to identify the area for potential improvement. Data include a Process Map of the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative factors that might contribute to SSI risk. We prospectively used the RCA form to investigate all the stages of the patient process map (pre, intra op, and post operatively. The data included the Patient related factors, the sterilization and the hygiene practice in the operating room, and the operating room traffic, and the compliance to the bundle of care. Figure represent the “Fishbone” diagram of the possible causes of SSI after cardiac surgery in our unit. Demographic features of patients with SSI were as follows: mean age-65 years; female 83%; time to infection (mean 101 days; range 1–36 days;. The root cause analysis identified a significant weakness in the compliance to the bundle of care to prevent SSI. Furthermore, the patient flow, the operating theatre cleaning and traffic was also identified as a contributing factor to SSI. Surgical site infection after cardiac surgery is a preventable complication. The application of the evidence based practice and structured way of thinking in problem solving, will help identify the potential risk factors. Focusing on solving the right patient process and visually represents the problem will help identifying the

ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOK AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION

OpenAIRE

Yuliia M. Shepetko

2011-01-01

The urgency of the material stated in article, is caused by requirements for use of information and communication technologies for educational process, in particular the electronic textbook which can facilitate perception of the information, diversify work forms, interest by technical possibilities. The article aims to proof the necessity of  electronic textbooks use as effective tool for improving the quality of education. Use of the electronic textbook at training will effectively and posit...

Effective quality auditing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivertsen, Terje

2004-01-01

The present report focuses on how to improve the effectiveness of quality audits and organization-wide quality management. It discusses several concepts related to internal quality auditing, includes guidelines on how to establish auditing as a key process of the organization, and exemplifies its application in the management of quality, strategy, and change. The report follows a line of research documented previously in the reports 'Continuous Improvement of Software Quality' (HWR-584) and 'ISO 9000 Quality Systems for Software Development' (HWR-629). In particular, the concepts of measurement programmes and process improvement cycles, discussed in HWR-584, form the basis for the approach advocated in the present report to the continual improvement of the internal quality audit process. Internal auditing is an important ingredient in ISO 9000 quality systems, and continual improvement of this process is consistent with the process-oriented view of the 2000 revision of the ISO 9000 family (HWR-629). The overall aim of the research is to provide utilities and their system vendors with better tools for quality management in digital I and C projects. The research results are expected to provide guidance to the choice of software engineering practices to obtain a system fulfilling safety requirements at an acceptable cost. For licensing authorities, the results are intended to make the review process more efficient through the use of appropriate measures (metrics), and to be of help in establishing requirements to software quality assurance in digital I and C projects. (Author)

Landslides - Cause and effect

Science.gov (United States)

Radbruch-Hall, D. H.; Varnes, D.J.

1976-01-01

Landslides can cause seismic disturbances; landslides can also result from seismic disturbances, and earthquake-induced slides have caused loss of life in many countries. Slides can cause disastrous flooding, particularly when landslide dams across streams are breached, and flooding may trigger slides. Slope movement in general is a major process of the geologic environment that places constraints on engineering development. In order to understand and foresee both the causes and effects of slope movement, studies must be made on a regional scale, at individual sites, and in the laboratory. Areal studies - some embracing entire countries - have shown that certain geologic conditions on slopes facilitate landsliding; these conditions include intensely sheared rocks; poorly consolidated, fine-grained clastic rocks; hard fractured rocks underlain by less resistant rocks; or loose accumulations of fine-grained surface debris. Field investigations as well as mathematical- and physical-model studies are increasing our understanding of the mechanism of slope movement in fractured rock, and assist in arriving at practical solutions to landslide problems related to all kinds of land development for human use. Progressive failure of slopes has been studied in both soil and rock mechanics. New procedures have been developed to evaluate earthquake response of embankments and slopes. The finite element method of analysis is being extensively used in the calculation of slope stability in rock broken by joints, faults, and other discontinuities. ?? 1976 International Association of Engineering Geology.

Effect of irradiation, packaging and storage on the quality of spices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langerak, D I; Stegeman, H

1983-09-29

Spices are contaminated by nature with microorganisms. The processing industry, however, requires 'clean' spices. The most applied technique has been fumigation with ethylene oxide. However, fumigation causes a number of difficulties; viz. the presence of residues and the possible forming of toxic compounds like ethylene chlorohydrine. The latest method is the decontamination by means of ionizing rays. Research on the effect of irradiation and packaging on the different quality aspects of spices proves that an irradiation dose of 3-8 kGy produces the same or better results with regard to decontamination effect as a fumigation treatment does. The applied dose has no adverse effect on the sensoric and chemical properties of the product. With respect to the wholesomeness, the irradiation process can be applied safely. Furthermore, this process offers the possibility to choose an optimal packaging for spices, thus preventing quality deterioration. 22 references, 8 tables.

Risk-based decision making to manage water quality failures caused by combined sewer overflows

Science.gov (United States)

Sriwastava, A. K.; Torres-Matallana, J. A.; Tait, S.; Schellart, A.

2017-12-01

Regulatory authorities set certain environmental permit for water utilities such that the combined sewer overflows (CSO) managed by these companies conform to the regulations. These utility companies face the risk of paying penalty or negative publicity in case they breach the environmental permit. These risks can be addressed by designing appropriate solutions such as investing in additional infrastructure which improve the system capacity and reduce the impact of CSO spills. The performance of these solutions is often estimated using urban drainage models. Hence, any uncertainty in these models can have a significant effect on the decision making process. This study outlines a risk-based decision making approach to address water quality failure caused by CSO spills. A calibrated lumped urban drainage model is used to simulate CSO spill quality in Haute-Sûre catchment in Luxembourg. Uncertainty in rainfall and model parameters is propagated through Monte Carlo simulations to quantify uncertainty in the concentration of ammonia in the CSO spill. A combination of decision alternatives such as the construction of a storage tank at the CSO and the reduction in the flow contribution of catchment surfaces are selected as planning measures to avoid the water quality failure. Failure is defined as exceedance of a concentration-duration based threshold based on Austrian emission standards for ammonia (De Toffol, 2006) with a certain frequency. For each decision alternative, uncertainty quantification results into a probability distribution of the number of annual CSO spill events which exceed the threshold. For each alternative, a buffered failure probability as defined in Rockafellar & Royset (2010), is estimated. Buffered failure probability (pbf) is a conservative estimate of failure probability (pf), however, unlike failure probability, it includes information about the upper tail of the distribution. A pareto-optimal set of solutions is obtained by performing mean

Causes of Indoor Air Quality Problems in Schools: Summary of Scientific Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bayer, C.W.

2001-02-22

In the modern urban setting, most individuals spend about 80% of their time indoors and are therefore exposed to the indoor environment to a much greater extent than to the outdoors (Lebowitz 1992). Concomitant with this increased habitation in urban buildings, there have been numerous reports of adverse health effects related to indoor air quality (IAQ) (sick buildings). Most of these buildings were built in the last two decades and were constructed to be energy-efficient. The quality of air in the indoor environment can be altered by a number of factors: release of volatile compounds from furnishings, floor and wall coverings, and other finishing materials or machinery; inadequate ventilation; poor temperature and humidity control; re-entrainment of outdoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and the contamination of the indoor environment by microbes (particularly fungi). Armstrong Laboratory (1992) found that the three most frequent causes of IAQ are (1) inadequate design and/or maintenance of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, (2) a shortage of fresh air, and (3) lack of humidity control. A similar study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH 1989) recognized inadequate ventilation as the most frequent source of IAQ problems in the work environment (52% of the time). Poor IAQ due to microbial contamination can be the result of the complex interactions of physical, chemical, and biological factors. Harmful fungal populations, once established in the HVAC system or occupied space of a modern building, may episodically produce or intensify what is known as sick building syndrome (SBS) (Cummings and Withers 1998). Indeed, SBS caused by fungi may be more enduring and recalcitrant to treatment than SBS from multiple chemical exposures (Andrae 1988). An understanding of the microbial ecology of the indoor environment is crucial to ultimately resolving many IAQ problems. The incidence of SBS related to multiple

Introduction to Indoor Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

... Offices Regional Offices Labs and Research Centers Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Contact Us Share Introduction to Indoor Air Quality Health Effects Primary Causes Identifying Problems Improving IAQ ...

Effect of Novel Quick Freezing Techniques Combined with Different Thawing Processes on Beef Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Seon-Mi; Han, Gui-Jung

2014-01-01

This study investigated the effect of various freezing and thawing techniques on the quality of beef. Meat samples were frozen using natural convection freezing (NF), individual quick freezing (IQF), or cryogenic freezing (CF) techniques, followed by natural convection thawing (NCT) or running water thawing (RT). The meat was frozen until the core temperature reached -12℃ and then stored at -24℃, followed by thawing until the temperature reached 5℃. Quality parameters, such as the pH, water binding properties, CIE color, shear force, and microstructure of the beef were elucidated. Although the freezing and thawing combinations did not cause remarkable changes in the quality parameters, rapid freezing, in the order of CF, IQF, and NF, was found to minimize the quality deterioration. In the case of thawing methods, NCT was better than RT and the meat quality was influence on the thawing temperature rather than the thawing rate. Although the microstructure of the frozen beef exhibited an excessive loss of integrity after the freezing and thawing, it did not cause any remarkable change in the beef quality. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CF and NCT form the best combination for beef processing; however, IQF and NCT may have practical applications in the frozen food industry. PMID:26761674

Absorbent products for incontinence: 'treatment effects' and impact on quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Getliffe, Kathryn; Fader, Mandy; Cottenden, Alan; Jamieson, Katharine; Green, Nicholas

2007-10-01

This study aimed to determine how the use and characteristics of absorbent products for incontinence impact on women's quality of life, and to examine the concept of 'treatment effects' in the context of pad use. Key pad performance characteristics were identified from the literature and focus group work. Semi-structured interviews with 99 women with light incontinence were used to investigate the impact of pad use on women's quality of life, including both positive and negative 'treatment effects', and to rank pad characteristics by their importance. Achieving effective and discrete containment of urine was the dominant factor impacting on women's lives. Sub-themes embraced physical effects, psychological impact and social functioning. The five pad characteristics ranked most important for day time use were: 'to hold urine, to contain smell, to stay in place, discreteness, and comfort when wet. For night use discreteness was replaced by to keep skin dry'. High levels of reported anxiety were associated with perceived risk of poor pad performance, lack of discreteness and need for complex regimes for pad management. Insufficient attention has been paid to the balance between the beneficial and negative treatment effects of absorbent pads to date. Existing continence-related quality of life measures are not designed for conditions where change in symptoms is not an outcome measure. The study findings provide the basis for developing a more sensitive, patient-oriented, quality of life measure for pad-users which can aid product selection, new product development and inform future evaluative comparisons between products/products and treatments. This paper illustrates the complex influence on quality of life caused by using absorbent pads to contain incontinence. It raises awareness of the importance of careful selection of the most appropriate pad for each individual to minimize unfavourable side effects, and the need for a new quality of life measure designed for pad-users.

Small cause - big effect: improvement in interface design results in improved data quality - a multicenter crossover study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlbrandt, Janko; Henrich, Michael; Hartmann, Bernd A; Bundschuh, Bettina B; Schwarz, Julia; Klasen, Joachim; Röhrig, Rainer

2012-01-01

In Germany the core data set for anesthesia version 3.0 was recently introduced for external quality assurance, which includes five surgical tracer procedures. We found a low rate of correctly documented tracers when compared to procedure data (OPS-Codes) documented separately. Examination revealed that the graphical user interface (GUI) contravened the dialogue principles as defined in EN ISO 9241-110. We worked with the manufacturer to implement small improvements and roll out the software. A crossover study was conducted at a university hospital and a municipal hospital chain with five hospitals. All study sites and surgical tracer procedures combined, we found an improvement from 42% to 65% (pbig effect small changes to the GUI can have on data quality. They also raise the question, if highly flexible and parameterized clinical documentation systems are suited to achieve high usability. Finding the right balance between GUIs designed by usability experts and the flexibility of parameterization by administrators will be a difficult task for the future and subject to further research.

Causes, Spectrum and Effects of Surgical Child Abuse and Neglect ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND: Children are dependent on parents/care givers for the quality of health care services received and in developing countries, where they are not protected against child abuse; many die as a result of denial of appropriate treatment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the causes, ...

Fuel quality and its effect on the design of power boilers in the USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotler, V.R.

1984-05-01

Statistical data, taken from Power, Proceedings of the American Power Conference and others, on developments since the 1950s in boiler design caused by the increasing use of lower quality fuel (subbituminous and lignite coals) are presented. The effect of pollution regulations in the USA on boiler design is discussed. The results of a 16 year study by the TVA on the decrease in coal quality fired in its boilers and its effect on boiler efficiency are presented. Methods of transport are surveyed. Descriptions and characteristics of several modern boilers designed by Babcock and Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, Foster-Wheeler and Riley Stoker are given. 13 references.

Comparative effects of gamma irradiation and phosphine fumigation on the quality of white ginseng

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, J.-H.Joong-Ho; Byun, M.-W.Myung-Woo; Kim, K.-S.Kang-Soo; Kang, I.-J.Il-Jun

2000-03-01

The hygienic, physicochemical, and organoleptic qualities of white ginseng were monitored during 6 months under accelerated conditions (40 deg. C, 90% r.h.) by observing its microbial populations, disinfestation, and some quality attributes following either gamma irradiation at 2.5-10 kGy or commercial phosphine (PH{sub 3}) fumigation. In a comparative study, both treatments were found to be effective for disinfecting the stored samples. Phosphine showed no appreciable decontaminating effects on microorganisms contaminated including coliforms, while 5 kGy irradiation was sufficient to control all microorganisms related to the quality of the packed samples. Irradiation at 5 kGy caused negligible changes in physicochemical attributes of the samples, such as ginsenosides, amino acids, fatty acids, and organoleptic properties, whereas phosphine fumigation was found detrimental to sensory flavor (P<0.01). Quality deterioration occurred in the commercially-packed samples was in the following order: the control, 10 kGy-, phosphine-, and 2.5-5 kGy-treated samples. Accordingly, irradiation at <5 kGy was found to be an effective alternative to phosphine fumigation for white ginseng. (author)

The effect of irradiation, packaging and storage on the quality of spices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langerak, D.I.; Stegeman, H.

1983-01-01

Spices are contaminated by nature with micro organisms. The processing industry, however, requires 'clean' spices. The most applied technique has been fumigation with ethylene oxide. However, fumigation causes a number of difficulties; viz. the presence of residues and the possible forming of toxic compounds like ethylene chlorohydrine. The latest method is the decontamination by means of ionizing rays. Research on the effect of irradiation and packaging on the different quality aspects of spices proves that an irradiation dose of 3-8 kGy produces the same or better results with regard to decontamination effect as a fumigation treatment does. The applied dose has no adverse effect on the sensoric and chemical properties of the product. With respect to the wholesomeness the irradiation process can be applied safely. Furthermore, this process offers the possibility to choose an optimal packaging for spices, thus preventing quality deterioration. (orig.)

The Effect of an Education Program Utilising PRECEDE Model on the Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Science.gov (United States)

Taghdisi, M. H.; Borhani, M.; Solhi, M.; Afkari, M. E.; Hosseini, F.

2012-01-01

Background and objective: The problems caused by diabetes have direct and indirect impacts on the quality of life of diabetic patients. An increase of these problems means a decrease in a patient's quality of life. This study was conducted to assess the effect of the educational programme based on the precede model in promoting quality of life of…

Creating the Total Quality Effective School.

Science.gov (United States)

Lezotte, Lawrence W.

This book shows how Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) theory for organizational management can be integrated with the effective-schools literature. Part 1 compares the 14 principles of TQM with the tenets of effective-schools research. The second part develops a blueprint for creating the total quality effective school. The conceptual…

Evaluating the Effect of Software Quality Characteristics on Health Care Quality Indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakineh Aghazadeh

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Various types of software are used in health care organizations to manage information and care processes. The quality of software has been an important concern for both health authorities and designers of Health Information Technology. Thus, assessing the effect of software quality on the performance quality of healthcare institutions is essential. Method: The most important health care quality indicators in relation to software quality characteristics are provided via an already performed literature review. ISO 9126 standard model is used for definition and integration of various characteristics of software quality. The effects of software quality characteristics and sub-characteristics on the healthcare indicators are evaluated through expert opinion analyses. A questionnaire comprising of 126 questions of 10-point Likert scale was used to gather opinions of experts in the field of Medical/Health Informatics. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results: Our findings showed that software Maintainability was rated as the most effective factor on user satisfaction (R2 =0.89 and Functionality as the most important and independent variable affecting patient care quality (R2 =0.98. Efficiency was considered as the most effective factor on workflow (R2 =0.97, and Maintainability as the most important factor that affects healthcare communication (R2 =0.95. Usability and Efficiency were rated as the most effectual factor affecting patient satisfaction (R2 =0.80, 0.81. Reliability, Maintainability, and Efficiency were considered as the main factors affecting care costs (R2 =0.87, 0.74, 0.87. Conclusion: We presented a new model based on ISO standards. The model demonstrates and weighs the relations between software quality characteristics and healthcare quality indicators. The clear relationships between variables and the type of the metrics and measurement methods used in the model make it a reliable method to assess

Measuring effectiveness of food quality management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spiegel, van der M.

2004-01-01

Keywords: effectiveness, food quality management, instrument, quality performance, contextual factors, agri-food production, conceptual model, performance measurement indicators, identification, validation, assessment, quality assurance systems, QA systems, HACCP, Hygiene code, ISO, BRC, GMP, bakery

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sensakovic, William F.; O'Dell, M.C.; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura

2016-01-01

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA"2 by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image processing

Prevalence, Causes and Effects of Academic Corruption in Rivers ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the prevalence, causes and effects of academic corruption in Rivers State universities, Nigeria. Data were collected from 400 respondents using a 'Prevalence, Causes and Effects of Academic Corruption Questionnaire' (PCEACQ). The data were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages.

Effects of Packaging and Storage Conditions on Quality of Spider ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development ... However, quality of spider plant seed is affected by one or more factors that cause negative ... The purpose of this research was to increase insight into how the seed quality of ...

Warm Dry Weather Conditions Cause of 2016 Fort McMurray Wild Forest Fire and Associated Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

de Azevedo, S. C.; Singh, R. P.; da Silva, E. A., Sr.

2016-12-01

The climate change is evident from the increasing temperature around the world, day to day life and increasing frequency of natural hazards. The warm and dry conditions are the cause of frequent forest fires around the globe. Forest fires severely affect the air quality and human health. Multi sensor satellites and dense network of ground stations provide information about vegetation health, meteorological, air quality and atmospheric parameters. We have carried out detailed analysis of satellite and ground data of wild forest fire that occurred in May 2016 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. This wild forest fire destroyed 10 per cent of Fort McMurray's housing and forced more than 90,000 people to evacuate the surrounding areas. Our results show that the warm and dry conditions with low rainfall were the cause of Fort McMurray wild fire. The air quality parameters (particulate matter, CO, ozone, NO2, methane) and greenhouse gases measured from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite show enhanced levels soon after the forest fire. The emissions from the forest fire affected health of population living in surrounding areas up to 300 km radius.

Effects of gamma irradiation on durum wheats and spaghetti quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Köksel, H.; Celik, S.; Tuncer, T.

1996-01-01

The efficient control of insects in cereal grains has long been the main objective of processors who are always looking for safer and more economical methods. Gamma irradiation is a physical technique of food preservation that seems to have a potential to protect grains from insect infestation and microbial contamination during storage. It has been reported that gamma irradiation doses in the range of 0.2-1.0 kGy are effective in controlling insect infestation in cereals (IAEA 1991). Increasing the dose to 5 kGy totally kills the spores of many fungi surviving the lower doses (Murray 1990). Besides its protective role from insects and microorganisms, gamma irradiation also has important effects on various quality criteria of cereal grains. Experiments have been performed to study the effects of gamma irradiation on various aspects of wheat quality such as milling characteristics, dough properties, and baking quality (Lai et al 1959, Lee 1959, Fifield et al 1967, Rao et al 1975, Paredes-Lopez and Covarrubias-Alvarez 1984, MacArthur and D'Appolonia 1983, Ng et al 1989). It was reported that amylograph peak viscosity and falling number values of the flour decreased significantly as radiation levels increased (MacArthur and D'Appolonia 1983, Ng et al 1989). Rao et al (1975) showed that as radiation dose increased, amylograph peak height and dough stability decreased. At 10 kGy, loaf volume and crumb grain were impaired. Paredes-Lopez and Covarrubias-Alvarez (1984) found that the overall bread quality of wheat was greatly reduced at medium doses of radiation (1-10 kGy). At doses >5 kGy, irrespective of the baking formula used, loaf volume and baking quality deteriorated (Lai et al 1959). Irradiation of grain has also caused problems in noodle quality. Japanese noodles (udon) show increased cooking losses and inferior scores in sensory analysis when the bread wheats have been irradiated in the range of 0.2-1.0 kGy (Shibata et al 1974, Urbain 1986). However, no detailed

Causes And Effects Of Fast Food

OpenAIRE

Eman Al-Saad

2015-01-01

Fast food affects our life in many aspects. In fact There are many reasons that have been shown why people continuing eating fast food while they knew about its negative effects on their health and family because of eating fast food. The commercial advertisements play a major role in consuming fast food. In this research I will focus on causes and effects of eating fast food.

Effects of Sleep Hygiene Education on Subjective Sleep Quality and Academic Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erkan Sahin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: Sleep problems are common in students with one third of university students reporting insufficient sleep. It is known that sleep quality and daytime sleepiness cause decrasing academic performans. For this reason we aimed to investigate the effects of a sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and academic performance of first year medical students. Material and Method: Self-reported sleep data and academic performance of 131 first grade medical students were collected. To all students enrolled Pittsburg Sleep Quality Scale in the assessment of sleep quality and Epworth Sleepiness Scale for assessment of daytime sleepiness in the evaluation.The students were divided into two subgroups and the intervention group received a 30 minute structured sleep hygiene education. Global academic performance was assessed by grade point average at the end of the year. Results: Mean Pittsburgh sleep quality index score of the students was 7.9±3.5 and 106 (82.8% of then had a score %u22655.After intervention, .the worse the initial sleep quality, the more improvement by the sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and academic performance. Discussion: An education on sleep hygiene might improve subjective sleep quality and academic performance of medical students.

Disentangling the effects of date, individual, and territory quality on the seasonal decline in fitness.

Science.gov (United States)

Pärt, Tomas; Knape, Jonas; Low, Matthew; Öberg, Meit; Arlt, Debora

2017-08-01

The seasonal timing of reproduction is a major fitness factor in many organisms. Commonly, individual fitness declines with time in the breeding season. We investigated three suggested but rarely tested hypotheses for this seasonal fitness decline: (1) time per se (date hypothesis), (2) late breeders are of lower quality than early ones (individual quality hypothesis), and (3) late breeders are breeding at poorer territories than early breeders (territory quality hypothesis). We used Bayesian variance component analyses to examine reproductive output (breeding success, number fledged, and number of recruits) from repeated observations of female Northern Wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) and individual territories from a 20-yr population study. The major part of the observed seasonal decline in reproductive output seemed to be driven by date-related effects, whereas female age and territory type (i.e., known indicators of temporary quality) contributed to a smaller degree. Other, persistent effects linked to individual and territory identity did not show any clear patterns on the seasonal decline in reproductive output. To better disentangle the quality effects (persistent and temporary) of individual and territory from effects caused by the deterioration of the environment we suggest a protocol combining experimental manipulation of breeding time with a variance-covariance partitioning method used here. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Causes And Effects Of Fast Food

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eman Al-Saad

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Fast food affects our life in many aspects. In fact There are many reasons that have been shown why people continuing eating fast food while they knew about its negative effects on their health and family because of eating fast food. The commercial advertisements play a major role in consuming fast food. In this research I will focus on causes and effects of eating fast food.

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sensakovic, William F.; O' Dell, M.C.; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura [Florida Hospital, Imaging Administration, Orlando, FL (United States)

2016-10-15

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA{sup 2} by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sensakovic, William F; O'Dell, M Cody; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura

2016-10-01

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA(2) by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image

Wood quality changes caused by mineral fertilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Roberto Sette Jr

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The diverse and important use of wood from fast growth eucalyptus plantations requires the analysis of the effect of mineral fertilizers on wood quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anatomical characteristics and wood density from Eucalyptus grandis trees (3 m x 2 m spacing fertilized with potassium and sodium (at planting, 6 th and 12th month. Fifteen (15 6 years old eucalyptus trees were selected (5 trees/treatment, cut and wood samples at DBH (1,3 m were taken for anatomical characteristics (fiber and vessels and wood density analysis. Results showed that eucalyptus trees treated with mineral fertilizers did not show significant alteration in average wood density, with radial profile model common to all three treatments, characterized by a values increase in the region next to the pith, toward to bark. Mineral fertilization influenced wood anatomical characteristics: treatment with sodium was characterized by thinner walls and lumen larger diameter; in treatment with potassium, larger vessels were detected.

Effect of Some Sudanese Traditional Hot Iron Branding on Cattle Hide Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rehab Eltejani Abdelkarim

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study was designed in order to assess and evaluate the effect of hot iron branding on cattle hide quality. 62 shapes of hot iron branding were detected and classified. Branding damage was evaluated depending on: purpose of application, location in the animal body, branding area, tribe which applied and hide degree. The results showed that, Baggara tribes branding were causing the greater damage on cattle hides; where 71.4% of its brands placed in the abdominal and animal back area (middle of the hide; in proportion to Misseriya Zuraq tribes (68.4%. According to the location of branding, the less tribe that causing damages to the cattle hides were Darfur tribes (14.3%. In terms of branding area Darfur tribes were causing the most branding damages where 42.8% of its brands on cattle hides were between 20-30cm, followed by Baggara tribes where 57.1% of its brands were between 10-20cm then Misseriya Zuraq tribes by 52.6%, and finally North Kordofan tribes of 37.5%. grading of cattle hides depending on the presence of the brand marks the study revealed that, Misseriya Zuraq tribe's brands were obtained the highest percentage (89.4% of the rejected hides (Scarto= 4 and 5 grades, when compared with North Kordofan tribes (87.5%. For commercial reason brand's were mostly done in the area of 5-10cm but, their effect on cattle hide quality was greater, where 81% of the hides were classified as Scarto.

Effects of Artificial Supercooling Followed by Slow Freezing on the Microstructure and Qualities of Pork Loin

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effects of artificial supercooling followed by still air freezing (SSF) on the qualities of pork loin. The qualities of pork frozen by SSF were compared with the fresh control (CT, stored at 4℃ for 24 h), slow freezing (SAF, still air freezing) and rapid freezing (EIF, ethanol immersion freezing) treatments. Compared with no supercooling phenomena of SAF and EIF, the extent of supercooling obtained by SSF treatment was 1.4℃. Despite that SSF was conducted with the same method with SAF, application of artificial supercooling accelerated the phase transition (traverse from -0.6℃ to -5℃) from 3.07 h (SAF) to 2.23 h (SSF). The observation of a microstructure indicated that the SSF prevented tissue damage caused by ice crystallization and maintained the structural integrity. The estimated quality parameters reflected that SSF exhibited superior meat quality compared with slow freezing (SAF). SSF showed better water-holding capacity (lower thawing loss, cooking loss and expressible moisture) and tenderness than SAF, and these quality parameters of SSF were not significantly different with ultra-fast freezing treatment (EIF). Consequently, the results demonstrated that the generation of supercooling followed by conventional freezing potentially had the advantage of minimizing the quality deterioration caused by the slow freezing of meat. PMID:27857541

Effects of Artificial Supercooling Followed by Slow Freezing on the Microstructure and Qualities of Pork Loin.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yiseul; Hong, Geun-Pyo

2016-10-31

This study investigated the effects of artificial supercooling followed by still air freezing (SSF) on the qualities of pork loin. The qualities of pork frozen by SSF were compared with the fresh control (CT, stored at 4℃ for 24 h), slow freezing (SAF, still air freezing) and rapid freezing (EIF, ethanol immersion freezing) treatments. Compared with no supercooling phenomena of SAF and EIF, the extent of supercooling obtained by SSF treatment was 1.4℃. Despite that SSF was conducted with the same method with SAF, application of artificial supercooling accelerated the phase transition (traverse from -0.6℃ to -5℃) from 3.07 h (SAF) to 2.23 h (SSF). The observation of a microstructure indicated that the SSF prevented tissue damage caused by ice crystallization and maintained the structural integrity. The estimated quality parameters reflected that SSF exhibited superior meat quality compared with slow freezing (SAF). SSF showed better water-holding capacity (lower thawing loss, cooking loss and expressible moisture) and tenderness than SAF, and these quality parameters of SSF were not significantly different with ultra-fast freezing treatment (EIF). Consequently, the results demonstrated that the generation of supercooling followed by conventional freezing potentially had the advantage of minimizing the quality deterioration caused by the slow freezing of meat.

Guidance for modeling causes and effects in environmental problem solving

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Carl L.; Williamson, Samuel C.

1988-01-01

Environmental problems are difficult to solve because their causes and effects are not easily understood. When attempts are made to analyze causes and effects, the principal challenge is organization of information into a framework that is logical, technically defensible, and easy to understand and communicate. When decisionmakers attempt to solve complex problems before an adequate cause and effect analysis is performed there are serious risks. These risks include: greater reliance on subjective reasoning, lessened chance for scoping an effective problem solving approach, impaired recognition of the need for supplemental information to attain understanding, increased chance for making unsound decisions, and lessened chance for gaining approval and financial support for a program/ Cause and effect relationships can be modeled. This type of modeling has been applied to various environmental problems, including cumulative impact assessment (Dames and Moore 1981; Meehan and Weber 1985; Williamson et al. 1987; Raley et al. 1988) and evaluation of effects of quarrying (Sheate 1986). This guidance for field users was written because of the current interest in documenting cause-effect logic as a part of ecological problem solving. Principal literature sources relating to the modeling approach are: Riggs and Inouye (1975a, b), Erickson (1981), and United States Office of Personnel Management (1986).

Effect of Repeated Freeze-Thaw Cycles on Beef Quality and Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Mohammad Hafizur; Hossain, Mohammad Mujaffar; Rahman, Syed Mohammad Ehsanur; Hashem, Mohammad Abul

2014-01-01

The objectives of this study were to know the effect of repeated freeze-thaw cycles of beef on the sensory, physicochemical quality and microbiological assessment. The effects of three successive freeze-thaw cycles on beef forelimb were investigated comparing with unfrozen fresh beef for 75 d by keeping at −20±1℃. The freeze-thaw cycles were subjected to three thawing methods and carried out to know the best one. As the number of freeze-thaw cycles increased color and odor declined significantly before cook within the cycles and tenderness, overall acceptability also declined among the cycles after cook by thawing methods. The thawing loss increased and dripping loss decreased significantly (pcycles and then decreased. Cooking loss increased in cycle 1 and 3, but decreased in cycle 2. pH decreased significantly (pcycles. Moreover, drip loss, cooking loss and WHC were affected (pcycles. 2-Thiobarbituric acid (TBARS) value increased (pcycles and among the cycles by thawing methods. Total viable bacteria, total coliform and total yeast-mould count decreased significantly (pcycles in comparison to the initial count in repeated freeze-thaw cycles. As a result, repeated freeze-thaw cycles affected the sensory, physicochemical and microbiological qua- lity of beef, causing the deterioration of beef quality, but improved the microbiological quality. Although repeated freeze-thaw cycles did not affect much on beef quality and safety but it may be concluded that repeated freeze and thaw should be minimized in terms of beef color for commercial value and WHC and tenderness/juiciness for eating quality. PMID:26761286

Black-boxing and cause-effect power

Science.gov (United States)

Albantakis, Larissa; Tononi, Giulio

2018-01-01

Reductionism assumes that causation in the physical world occurs at the micro level, excluding the emergence of macro-level causation. We challenge this reductionist assumption by employing a principled, well-defined measure of intrinsic cause-effect power–integrated information (Φ), and showing that, according to this measure, it is possible for a macro level to “beat” the micro level. Simple systems were evaluated for Φ across different spatial and temporal scales by systematically considering all possible black boxes. These are macro elements that consist of one or more micro elements over one or more micro updates. Cause-effect power was evaluated based on the inputs and outputs of the black boxes, ignoring the internal micro elements that support their input-output function. We show how black-box elements can have more common inputs and outputs than the corresponding micro elements, revealing the emergence of high-order mechanisms and joint constraints that are not apparent at the micro level. As a consequence, a macro, black-box system can have higher Φ than its micro constituents by having more mechanisms (higher composition) that are more interconnected (higher integration). We also show that, for a given micro system, one can identify local maxima of Φ across several spatiotemporal scales. The framework is demonstrated on a simple biological system, the Boolean network model of the fission-yeast cell-cycle, for which we identify stable local maxima during the course of its simulated biological function. These local maxima correspond to macro levels of organization at which emergent cause-effect properties of physical systems come into focus, and provide a natural vantage point for scientific inquiries. PMID:29684020

Black-boxing and cause-effect power.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Marshall

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Reductionism assumes that causation in the physical world occurs at the micro level, excluding the emergence of macro-level causation. We challenge this reductionist assumption by employing a principled, well-defined measure of intrinsic cause-effect power-integrated information (Φ, and showing that, according to this measure, it is possible for a macro level to "beat" the micro level. Simple systems were evaluated for Φ across different spatial and temporal scales by systematically considering all possible black boxes. These are macro elements that consist of one or more micro elements over one or more micro updates. Cause-effect power was evaluated based on the inputs and outputs of the black boxes, ignoring the internal micro elements that support their input-output function. We show how black-box elements can have more common inputs and outputs than the corresponding micro elements, revealing the emergence of high-order mechanisms and joint constraints that are not apparent at the micro level. As a consequence, a macro, black-box system can have higher Φ than its micro constituents by having more mechanisms (higher composition that are more interconnected (higher integration. We also show that, for a given micro system, one can identify local maxima of Φ across several spatiotemporal scales. The framework is demonstrated on a simple biological system, the Boolean network model of the fission-yeast cell-cycle, for which we identify stable local maxima during the course of its simulated biological function. These local maxima correspond to macro levels of organization at which emergent cause-effect properties of physical systems come into focus, and provide a natural vantage point for scientific inquiries.

Quality assurance and human error effects on the structural safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertero, R.; Lopez, R.; Sarrate, M.

1991-01-01

Statistical surveys show that the frequency of failure of structures is much larger than that expected by the codes. Evidence exists that human errors (especially during the design process) is the main cause for the difference between the failure probability admitted by codes and the reality. In this paper, the attenuation of human error effects using tools of quality assurance is analyzed. In particular, the importance of the independent design review is highlighted, and different approaches are discussed. The experience from the Atucha II project, as well as the USA and German practice on independent design review, are summarized. (Author)

Effect of milk temperature during irradiation on total bacterial count and keeping quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabbour, M.M.; Dawod, A.H.; Newigy, N.A.; Wahab, G.A.M.

1989-01-01

Cows' and buffaloes' milk samples were exposed to different doses of gamma radiation (100, 200 and 300 Kr) at 10 and 30°C. Irradiation of milk at 10°C caused more reduction in total bacterial count than that occurred at 30°C. The rate of microbial destruction due to irradiation at 10°C was higher than that occurred at 30°C. The keeping quality was determined daily for 15 days by clot-on-boiling test for samples kept at room temperature and in a refrigerator. The keeping quality recorded for cows' and buffaloes' milk samples in the refrigerator was 4 days, while it was only 1 day at room temperature. Irradiation of milk at 10°C was more effective than irradiation at 30°C, to increase the keeping quality of irradiated milk kept at refrigeration. Irradiation of milk samples at 10°C by 200 Kr increased the keeping quality for two weeks in the refrigerator, i.e. such a treatment increased the keeping quality by 4 folds

Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jalali, A R; Nørgaard, P; Nielsen, M O

2010-01-01

Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage......Effect of forage quality in faeces from different ruminant species fed high and low quality forage...

Determination of effective irradiation dose to maintain quality of garlic cultivars during storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janagam, Venu Madhav; Sethi, Shruti; Kaur, Charanjit; Singh, Bhupinder; Pal, R.K.

2014-01-01

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is the second most widely cultivated allium vegetable next to onion. India is the second largest producer (4.46%) of garlic after China (81.02%). As freshly harvested garlic is available in the market for three to four months and there is urgent need to store huge quantity of garlic to fulfil the demand of the consumers during the off-season. The major causes of losses in garlic are sprouting, physiological loss in weight (PLW), decay and quality loss. Several investigators have proved the efficacy of the use of ionizing radiations to reduce the losses caused due to sprouting and other factors. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of irradiation on post harvest quality of garlic and to determine the irradiation dose for maximum quality retention. Two garlic varieties namely, Yamuna Safed (G-1) and Yamuna Safed-4 (G-323) were treated 120 days (just after dormancy break) postharvest with different doses of gamma irradiation (0.075, 0.01 and 0.15 kGy) and their quality parameters were studied upto 210 days at ambient conditions (18-32℃ and 55-65% RH). Effect of irradiation on physical, physiological and biochemical parameters during storage of both the varieties of garlic revealed that 0.1 kGy irradiation dose was most significant in checking sprouting, controlling decay, PLW, respiration rate and retention of total soluble solids (TSS), pyruvic acid, antioxidant activity, total phenols and amylase activity during storage in comparison to non-irradiated samples followed by 0.15 and 0.075 kGy. Among the two varieties studied, the variety G-323 performed better than G-1 with regard to changes in physiological and biochemical parameters during storage. (author)

Effects of political institutions on air quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernauer, Thomas; Koubi, Vally

2009-01-01

We empirically test existing theories on the provision of public goods, in particular air quality, using data on sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) concentrations from the Global Environment Monitoring Projects for 107 cities in 42 countries from 1971 to 1996. The results are as follows: First, we provide additional support for the claim that the degree of democracy has an independent positive effect on air quality. Second, we find that among democracies, presidential systems are more conducive to air quality than parliamentary ones. Third, in testing competing claims about the effect of interest groups on public goods provision in democracies we establish that labor union strength contributes to lower environmental quality, whereas the strength of green parties has the opposite effect. (author)

Effect of gamma radiation on honey quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bera, A.; Almeida-Muradian, L.B.; Sabato, S.F.

2009-01-01

Honey is one of the most complex substances produced by bees, mainly from the nectar of flowers. Gamma radiation is a technique that can be used to decrease the number of microbiological problems associated with food and increase the shelf life of certain products. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of gamma radiation with source of cobalto-60 (10 kGy) on some parameters used in honey quality control. Seven samples of pure honey were obtained from local markets in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2007. The methods used are in accordance with Brazilian Regulations. The physicochemical parameters analyzed were: moisture, HMF, free acidity, pH, sugars and ash. The results showed that gamma radiation, in the dose mentioned above, did not cause significant physicochemical alterations.

Effect of gamma radiation on honey quality control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bera, A. [Radiation Technology Center, IPEN-CNEN/SP, A. Lineu Prestes, 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil)], E-mail: berale@usp.br; Almeida-Muradian, L.B. [Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580-Cidade Universitaria, Sao Paulo (Brazil); Sabato, S.F. [Radiation Technology Center, IPEN-CNEN/SP, A. Lineu Prestes, 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil)], E-mail: sfsabato@ipen.br

2009-07-15

Honey is one of the most complex substances produced by bees, mainly from the nectar of flowers. Gamma radiation is a technique that can be used to decrease the number of microbiological problems associated with food and increase the shelf life of certain products. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of gamma radiation with source of cobalto-60 (10 kGy) on some parameters used in honey quality control. Seven samples of pure honey were obtained from local markets in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2007. The methods used are in accordance with Brazilian Regulations. The physicochemical parameters analyzed were: moisture, HMF, free acidity, pH, sugars and ash. The results showed that gamma radiation, in the dose mentioned above, did not cause significant physicochemical alterations.

Total Quality Management Analysis of LAMPS MK 1 Aviation Maintenance Data

Science.gov (United States)

1992-06-05

Qualit Control? The Japanese Way by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa translated by David J. Lu offers the Japanese version of Total Quality Management. Dr...causes to an effect or problem. It is called the Ishikawa Diagram after its inventor Kaoru Ishikawa , a pioneer in quality control. The name fishbone...pathways involved. 2) Cause and Effect Diagram (also known as an Ishikawa Diagram or a Fishbone Diagram). This diagram used to identify the causes, and

The Effect of Ambient Water Quality on Lakefront Property Values: Evidence from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, H.

2015-12-01

Climate warming is causing water temperatures to increase and subsequent changes in water quality. To develop innovative approaches for mitigating the possible negative social consequences of such changes, more research efforts are needed to investigate how people perceive and respond to ambient water quality. This research examines the amenity value of water quality in the areas centered on Lake Coeur d'Alene of Northern Idaho. Through a hedonic analysis, we find that two important water-quality variables have had significant effects on lakefront property values, including Secchi disc reading, a technical measure of water clarity, and the presence of Eurasian watermilfoil, an aquatic invasive species. We further explore the spatial heterogeneity of water-quality benefits along the urban-rural gradient and find that access to urban amenities has strengthened the water-quality benefits in the lakefront housing market. Our findings could be used to incentivize private property owners and stakeholders to commit time and funding to cope with the potential degradation of water quality under climate change.

Loneliness and sleep quality: dyadic effects and stress effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Segrin, Chris; Burke, Tricia J

2015-01-01

The aims of this investigation are to determine whether loneliness is associated with a person's own sleep quality and sleep quality of their partner, and to test stress as a potential mediator. Participants were 255 couples in married (75%) or cohabiting relationships who completed self-report measures of loneliness, sleep quality, stress, and depression. Results of Actor-Partner Interdependence analyses replicated findings in the literature showing an association between loneliness and poor sleep quality. The more lonely a male participant was, the lower his partner's sleep quality. In addition, the more lonely participants were, the higher they rated their partner's sleep disturbance. There were significant indirect effects of loneliness on poor sleep quality through increased stress, even after controlling for depression.

Optical sensors for water quality

Science.gov (United States)

Pellerin, Brian A.; Bergamaschi, Brian A.

2014-01-01

Shifts in land use, population, and climate have altered hydrologic systems in the United States in ways that affect water quality and ecosystem function. Water diversions, detention in reservoirs, increased channelization, and changes in rainfall and snowmelt are major causes, but there are also more subtle causes such as changes in soil temperature, atmospheric deposition, and shifting vegetation patterns. The effects on water quality are complex and interconnected, and occur at timeframes of minutes (e.g., flash floods) to decades (e.g., evolving management practices).

The effect of Buspirone on symptoms and quality of life in patients with functional dyspepsia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed masood Tabib

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD is a heterogeneous disorder of yet unknown etiology which causes a significant reduction in the quality of life. In this study, we compared the effect of buspirone as an agonist of serotonin 5HT1A receptor with amitriptyline and placebo on improving the symptoms and quality of life in patients with functional dyspepsia. Methods: This study was a double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial. Using a sequential sampling, patients with the diagnostic criteria of Rome 2 and normal gastrointestinal findings were selected. The subjects were randomly divided into three therapeutic groups receiving amitriptyline, buspirone, and placebo. We used Nepean Dyspepsia Inde (NDI to evaluate the quality of life before and after the treatment. Results: The mean age of subjects was 35.38±12.94 years. Symptom and quality of life scores of the three groups were equal at the beginning but at the end of treatment, these scores were different. Buspirone was more effective than both amitriptyline and placebo in reducing the symptom of early satiety. Buspirone showed a better improvement in quality of life compared to placebo. Both Buspirone and amitriptyline were more effective than placebo in decreasing the symptom of epigastric pain. Conclusion: Our study confirmed the positive effect of buspirone on the quality of life and symptoms (like early satiety and abdominal pain in patients with functional dyspepsia. Since the mechanism of action of buspirone and also the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia are still unknown, further studies are necessary to clarify every aspect of the disease and therapeutic effects of various treatments on it.

Effect of Strip Mining on Water Quality in Small Streams in Eastern Kentucky, 1967-1975

Science.gov (United States)

Kenneth L. Dyer; Willie R. Curtis

1977-01-01

Eight years of streamflow data are analyzed to show the effects of strip mining on chemical quality of water in six first-order streams in Breathitt County, Kentucky. All these watersheds were unmined in August, 1967, but five have since been strip mined. The accumulated data from this case history study indicate that strip mining causes large increases in the...

Effect of land cover, stream discharge, and precipitation on water quality in Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, J. S.; Uriarte, M.

2017-12-01

In 2015, Puerto Rico experienced one of the worst droughts in its history, causing widespread water rationing and sparking concerns for future resources. The drought represents precipitation extremes that provide valuable insight into the effects of land cover (LC), on modulating discharge and water quality indices at varying spatial scales. We used data collected from 38 water quality and 55 precipitation monitoring stations in Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2016, paired with a 2010 land cover map to (1) determine whether temporal variability in discharge, precipitation, or antecedent precipitation was a better predictor of water quality, (2) find the spatial scale where LC has the greatest impact on water quality, and (3) quantify impacts of LC on water quality indices, including dissolved oxygen (mg/L), total nitrogen (mg/L), phosphorous (mg/L), turbidity (NTRU), fecal coliforms (colony units/100mL) and instantaneous discharge (ft3/s). The resulting linear mixed effects models account for between 36-68% of the variance in water quality. Preliminary results indicate that phosphorous and nitrogen were best predicted from instantaneous stream discharge, the log of discharge was the better predictor for turbidity and fecal coliforms, and summed 2 and 14-day antecedent precipitation indices were better predictors for dissolved oxygen and discharge, respectively. Increased urban and pasture area reliably decreased water quality in relation to forest cover, while agriculture and wetlands had little or mixed effects. Turbidity and nitrogen responded to a watershed level LC, while phosphorous, fecal coliforms, and discharge responded to LC in 60 m riparian buffers at the watershed scale. Our results indicate that LC modulates changing precipitation regimes and the ensuing impacts on water quality at a range of spatial scales.

Rhizobium Impacts on Seed Productivity, Quality, and Protection of Pisum sativum upon Disease Stress Caused by Didymella pinodes: Phenotypic, Proteomic, and Metabolomic Traits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nima Ranjbar Sistani

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In field peas, ascochyta blight is one of the most common fungal diseases caused by Didymella pinodes. Despite the high diversity of pea cultivars, only little resistance has been developed until to date, still leading to significant losses in grain yield. Rhizobia as plant growth promoting endosymbionts are the main partners for establishment of symbiosis with pea plants. The key role of Rhizobium as an effective nitrogen source for legumes seed quality and quantity improvement is in line with sustainable agriculture and food security programs. Besides these growth promoting effects, Rhizobium symbiosis has been shown to have a priming impact on the plants immune system that enhances resistance against environmental perturbations. This is the first integrative study that investigates the effect of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viceae (Rlv on phenotypic seed quality, quantity and fungal disease in pot grown pea (Pisum sativum cultivars with two different resistance levels against D. pinodes through metabolomics and proteomics analyses. In addition, the pathogen effects on seed quantity components and quality are assessed at morphological and molecular level. Rhizobium inoculation decreased disease severity by significant reduction of seed infection level. Rhizobium symbiont enhanced yield through increased seed fresh and dry weights based on better seed filling. Rhizobium inoculation also induced changes in seed proteome and metabolome involved in enhanced P. sativum resistance level against D. pinodes. Besides increased redox and cell wall adjustments light is shed on the role of late embryogenesis abundant proteins and metabolites such as the seed triterpenoid Soyasapogenol. The results of this study open new insights into the significance of symbiotic Rhizobium interactions for crop yield, health and seed quality enhancement and reveal new metabolite candidates involved in pathogen resistance.

Measuring effectiveness of food quality management

OpenAIRE

Spiegel, van der, M.

2004-01-01

Keywords: effectiveness, food quality management, instrument, quality performance, contextual factors, agri-food production, conceptual model, performance measurement indicators, identification, validation, assessment, quality assurance systems, QA systems, HACCP, Hygiene code, ISO, BRC, GMP, bakery sector.In the last decade several incidents have occurred in the agri-food sector, such as the affairs of dioxin and BSE, whereas also the incidence of food-borne diseases and the production of hi...

Causes and effects of the corrosion of a plumbing galvanised steel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandre Sánchez, F. J.

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Hot dip galvanising life as a corrosion protective coatings on steel depends basically on three factors: coatings quality (thickness, correct installation of the galvanised article, and weathering effects. The aim of this research it is to study the decaying causes and effects of a plumbing installation made with hot dip galvanised steel tubes. The mentioned installation was of use during 30 years in the water supply system of the Parque Alcosa market (Sevilla, Spain. The research was divided in three parts: in the first one, shape analysis and XDR of internal decayed products was carried out: in the second one, physical properties were determined according to UNE 37- 505-89, corrosion morphology was conducted by metalographic microscopy, and it was evaluated also water quality: and finally, in the third one, diameter, section, and internal volume decrease was calculated in order to evaluate friction increase and pressure decrease in the installation. The results obtained show the correct plumbing installation according to quality requirements (UNE 37-509-89, so corrosion causes are mainly attributed to an aggressive environment for the hot dip galvanising.

La durabilidad de los galvanizados en caliente como recubrimientos protectores de la corrosión del acero dependen básicamente de tres factores: la calidad del recubrimiento (espesor, la correcta instalación del elemento galvanizado, y la agresividad del medio al que se encuentren expuestos. En este trabajo se estudian las causas y consecuencias del deterioro sufrido por una tubería de acero galvanizado, destinada durante unos 30 años a la conducción de agua potable de la red en el mercado del Parque Al cosa (Sevilla. La investigación se ha dividido en tres etapas: en la primera, se ha realizado el análisis formal y la caracterización mediante DRX de los productos de alteración generados en el interior del tubo: en la segunda, se han determinado las características f

Protective effects of imedeen on spermatogenic disorders caused by oxidative stress induction in cyclophosphamide-treated mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rezazadeh Y

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: One of the side effects of chemotherapy drugs is oxidative stress that can damage the sperm and decrease fertility potential. Antioxidant agents in Imedeen like Lycophence GS and Biomarine complex play important role in preventing the direct and indirect effects of free radicals. So, in this study, the inhibitory effects of Imedeen on the damage caused by cyclophosphamide were investigated. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 60 mature male mice were divided into six groups. The control group received physiological serum, the second group received CP with 12mg/kg/day dosage, the third group received Imedeen with 111µg/kg/day dosage, the fourth group received Imedeen with 222 µg/kg/day dosage, the fifth group received CP and Imedeen with one dosage and the last group received CP and Imedeen with double dosage. Sampling and studies on sperm quality were performed after 35 days. Results: The results obtained from the caudal epididymal sperm analysis revealed that treated with CP caused significant decrease in sperm count, motility, and viability, while abnormal sperms increased as compared to control gruop. These changes were associated with significant increase in DNA damage and chromatin abnormality in the caudal epididymal spermatozoa as evidenced by Acridine Orange and Aniline Blue staining respectively. Notably administration of Imedeen caused a considerable recovery in above-mentioned parameters. Conclusion: The results suggest that Imedeen as an antioxidant could diminish the side effects of cyclophosphamide in the reproductive system of male mice.

[Cause-of-death statistics and ICD, quo vadis?

Science.gov (United States)

Eckert, Olaf; Vogel, Ulrich

2018-07-01

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is the worldwide binding standard for generating underlying cause-of-death statistics. What are the effects of former revisions of the ICD on underlying cause-of-death statistics and which opportunities and challenges are becoming apparent in a possible transition process from ICD-10 to ICD-11?This article presents the calculation of the exploitation grade of ICD-9 and ICD-10 in the German cause-of-death statistics and quality of documentation. Approximately 67,000 anonymized German death certificates are processed by Iris/MUSE and official German cause-of-death statistics are analyzed.In addition to substantial changes in the exploitation grade in the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, regional effects become visible. The rate of so-called "ill-defined" conditions exceeds 10%.Despite substantial improvement of ICD revisions there are long-known deficits in the coroner's inquest, filling death certificates and quality of coding. To make better use of the ICD as a methodological framework for mortality statistics and health reporting in Germany, the following measures are necessary: 1. General use of Iris/MUSE, 2. Establishing multiple underlying cause-of-death statistics, 3. Introduction of an electronic death certificate, 4. Improvement of the medical assessment of cause of death.Within short time the WHO will release the 11th revision of the ICD that will provide additional opportunities for the development of underlying cause-of-death statistics and their use in science, public health and politics. A coordinated effort including participants in the process and users is necessary to meet the related challenges.

The effect of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in breast cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashani, Fahimeh; Kashani, Parisa

2014-03-01

Annually, about 6000 new cases are diagnosed with breast cancer in Iran. In Iran, more women are affected with breast cancer than a decade earlier in comparison with other countries, and 70% of them are diagnosed at an advanced phase. Insomnia is the most common disorder following breast cancer, and interference in sleep quality and rest causes changes in physiological functions and reduces the body's daily performance. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in patients with breast cancer. This clinical trial was conducted for about 1 month in a referral chemotherapy clinic of a teaching hospital in Isfahan, Iran. The participants consisted of 57 women with breast cancer who were selected by simple random sampling. They were randomly assigned to two groups of control and experimental. The control group was treated only by usual medical therapy, whereas the case group was treated by combined medical-massage therapy. Data collection tools were the validated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, paired t-test, and Student's t-test. The results showed significant differences in the mean scores of quality of sleep before and after the intervention in the case group, while no significant differences were observed in the mean scores of quality of sleep before and after the intervention in the control group. In addition, no significant differences were observed in the mean scores of quality of sleep before the intervention between case and control groups. However, significant differences were observed in the mean scores of quality of sleep after the intervention between case and control groups. According to the results of this study, learning and applying massage techniques by medical staff causes health promotion and improves the quality of sleep in cancer patients. Furthermore, massage therapy is suggested as a

Comparative effects of gamma irradiation and ozone treatment on hygienic quality of Korean red ginseng powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byun, Myung-Woo; Yook, Hong-Sun; Kang, Il-Jun; Chung, Cha-Kwon; Kwon, Joong-Ho; Choi, Kang-Ju

1998-01-01

For the purpose of improving hygienic quality of Korean red ginseng powder, the comparative effects of gamma irradiation and ozone treatment on the microbial and physicochemical properties were investigated. Gamma irradiation at 7.5 kGy resulted in sterilization of total aerobic bacteria, molds and coliforms below detective levels, while ozone treatment for 8 hours up to 18 ppm did not sufficiently eliminate the microorganisms of the red ginseng powder. Physicochemical properties including compositions of the red ginseng saponin (ginsenosides) and fatty acids, pH and hydrogen donating activity were not significantly changed by gamma irradiation, whereas, ozone treatment caused significant changes in fatty acid compositions, TBA value, pH, acidity and hydrogen donating activity. The results from this study led us to conclude that gamma irradiation was more effective than ozone treatment both for the improvement of hygienic quality and for the maintenance of physicochemical quality of red ginseng powder

Comparative effects of gamma irradiation and ozone treatment on hygienic quality of Korean red ginseng powder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byun, Myung-Woo; Yook, Hong-Sun; Kang, Il-Jun; Chung, Cha-Kwon; Kwon, Joong-Ho; Choi, Kang-Ju

1998-06-01

For the purpose of improving hygienic quality of Korean red ginseng powder, the comparative effects of gamma irradiation and ozone treatment on the microbial and physicochemical properties were investigated. Gamma irradiation at 7.5 kGy resulted in sterilization of total aerobic bacteria, molds and coliforms below detective levels, while ozone treatment for 8 hours up to 18 ppm did not sufficiently eliminate the microorganisms of the red ginseng powder. Physicochemical properties including compositions of the red ginseng saponin (ginsenosides) and fatty acids, pH and hydrogen donating activity were not significantly changed by gamma irradiation, whereas, ozone treatment caused significant changes in fatty acid compositions, TBA value, pH, acidity and hydrogen donating activity. The results from this study led us to conclude that gamma irradiation was more effective than ozone treatment both for the improvement of hygienic quality and for the maintenance of physicochemical quality of red ginseng powder.

Selecting Health Care Improvement Projects: A Methodology Integrating Cause-and-Effect Diagram and Analytical Hierarchy Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Testik, Özlem Müge; Shaygan, Amir; Dasdemir, Erdi; Soydan, Guray

It is often vital to identify, prioritize, and select quality improvement projects in a hospital. Yet, a methodology, which utilizes experts' opinions with different points of view, is needed for better decision making. The proposed methodology utilizes the cause-and-effect diagram to identify improvement projects and construct a project hierarchy for a problem. The right improvement projects are then prioritized and selected using a weighting scheme of analytical hierarchy process by aggregating experts' opinions. An approach for collecting data from experts and a graphical display for summarizing the obtained information are also provided. The methodology is implemented for improving a hospital appointment system. The top-ranked 2 major project categories for improvements were identified to be system- and accessibility-related causes (45%) and capacity-related causes (28%), respectively. For each of the major project category, subprojects were then ranked for selecting the improvement needs. The methodology is useful in cases where an aggregate decision based on experts' opinions is expected. Some suggestions for practical implementations are provided.

Analysis of cause-effect relationship of hip dysplasia in pre-school children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Rudenko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to analyze and scientifically substantiate peculiarities of cause-effect relationship of hip dysplasia in pre-school children. Material and Methods: analysis and systematization of scientific and methodological literature, medical histories, anamneses, interviews and questionings. Results: it is specified that failure to timely identify and eliminate the symptoms of hip dysplasia in pre-school children leads to negative consequences, namely limited amplitude of hip joint movements; lower limp muscle weakness; valgus and varus deformations of lower limp; increasing of L-lordosis; skewness of hip bones; scoliosis; claudication. Conclusions: the modern state of the problem of hip dysplasia in pre-school children is analyzed. The cause-effect relationship is defined, their mutual transition is projected. All cause-effect relationships are in direct proportion and in constant interaction: the cause the forms effect and the effect influences the cause

Mortality and causes of death in schizophrenic patients in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, P B; Juel, K

1990-01-01

effects from neuroleptics was increased. Mortality from some causes of death used as a measurement of the quality of medical care was found to be slightly increased. Further studies of the quality of the medical care provided to schizophrenic patients and of the association between neuroleptic medication......A cohort consisting of 6178 people that were psychiatric inpatients with a clinical schizophrenia diagnosis in 1957 were followed up from 1957 through 1986, and their cause-specific mortality was determined. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, gastrointestinal and urogenital...... disorders, accidents and suicide was increased, whereas mortality from cerebrovascular disorders was reduced. In the male patients cancer mortality was reduced whereas cancer mortality in the female patients was increased. Mortality from a number of causes that theoretically could be associated with side...

Effect of gamma irradiation and refrigeration storage on microbial, sensorial and chemical quality of fresh-cut lettuce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammad, A. A.; Taha, S. M.; Amal, S. M.; Gebreel, H. M.

2010-01-01

Fresh-cut lettuce samples were collected and examined for their microbial, sensory and chemical qualities. All the examined samples had high level of microbial load. All examined samples contained Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis (Ent. faecalis), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila), indicating that most these samples were unsatisfactory. Listeria monocytogenes (L monocytogenes) and Salmonella spp were not detected. Irradiation caused a great reduction in all microbial loads. During refrigerated storage, the counts of all microorganisms increased, but the rate of increase was slower in irradiated samples. Irradiation dose of 3 kGy was the optimum dose for preservation of fresh-cut lettuce which extended the refrigeration shelf-life up to 20 days and it was sufficient in eliminating all pathogenic bacteria without adverse effect on sensorial quality and slight effect on chemical quality.

Methods for Ensuring High Quality of Coding of Cause of Death. The Mortality Register to Follow Southern Urals Populations Exposed to Radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Startsev, N; Dimov, P; Grosche, B; Tretyakov, F; Schüz, J; Akleyev, A

2015-01-01

To follow up populations exposed to several radiation accidents in the Southern Urals, a cause-of-death registry was established at the Urals Center capturing deaths in the Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Sverdlovsk region since 1950. When registering deaths over such a long time period, quality measures need to be in place to maintain quality and reduce the impact of individual coders as well as quality changes in death certificates. To ensure the uniformity of coding, a method for semi-automatic coding was developed, which is described here. Briefly, the method is based on a dynamic thesaurus, database-supported coding and parallel coding by two different individuals. A comparison of the proposed method for organizing the coding process with the common procedure of coding showed good agreement, with, at the end of the coding process, 70  - 90% agreement for the three-digit ICD -9 rubrics. The semi-automatic method ensures a sufficiently high quality of coding by at the same time providing an opportunity to reduce the labor intensity inherent in the creation of large-volume cause-of-death registries.

Collaborative problem solving with a total quality model.

Science.gov (United States)

Volden, C M; Monnig, R

1993-01-01

A collaborative problem-solving system committed to the interests of those involved complies with the teachings of the total quality management movement in health care. Deming espoused that any quality system must become an integral part of routine activities. A process that is used consistently in dealing with problems, issues, or conflicts provides a mechanism for accomplishing total quality improvement. The collaborative problem-solving process described here results in quality decision-making. This model incorporates Ishikawa's cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagram, Moore's key causes of conflict, and the steps of the University of North Dakota Conflict Resolution Center's collaborative problem solving model.

Effects of Sleep Quality on Quality of Life in Patients with Osteoporosis

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Şule Şahin Onat

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Aim: The purpose of the study was to evaluate sleep quality in osteoporotic individuals, and to determine the associated factors with sleep quality and to investigate the relationship between quality of life and sleep quality Material and Methods: 154 patients with osteoporosis admitted to our outpatient clinic included in the study. A questionnaire that was including patients age, sex, marital status, education level, occupation, height, weight, alcohol use, smoking, physical activity level, milk consumption and previous fragility fracture was completed. DXA was used to determine bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and femoral neck. Thoracal and lumbar compression fractures were evaulated with thoracal and lumbar radiography.Visual analog scale was used to evaluate back pain. Pittsburgh sleep quality index was used to determine sleep quality and QUALEFFO was used to evaluate quality of life in the individuals. Results: A total of 154 individuals included in the study. 65 patients (42.2% had a sleep disorder and 89 patients (57.8% hadn’t a sleep disorder. Mean age, female gender, not being married, not working actively, illiteracy rates were higher; the mean of weekly consumption of milk were lower in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders. Vertebral compression fracture was more in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders. Both lumbar and femoral T and Z values, VAS values were significantly higher in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders (p<0.05. The value of all sub-parameters of quality of life scale QUALEFFO and total value were significantly higher in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders (p<0.05. Conclusion: Sleep disorders in patients with osteoporosis are releated to factors such as age, sex, marital status, education level and diet. Sleep disorders cause a further decrease in the quality of life of patients with osteoporosis. (Turkish Journal of

ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOK AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION

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Yuliia M. Shepetko

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The urgency of the material stated in article, is caused by requirements for use of information and communication technologies for educational process, in particular the electronic textbook which can facilitate perception of the information, diversify work forms, interest by technical possibilities. The article aims to proof the necessity of  electronic textbooks use as effective tool for improving the quality of education. Use of the electronic textbook at training will effectively and positively affect process of preparation of students taking into account the means of organization of educational process, structure, methodological requirements. Application of the electronic textbook at training will promote the further development of informative motivation of students.

Effects of Electrical Stimulation on Meat Quality of Lamb and Goat Meat

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Omer Cetin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Effect of various voltage of electrical stimulation (ES on meat quality of lamb and goat was investigated by using a total of 36 animals at 3–5 years old. Constant 50 Hz frequency and 50, 100, and 250 V, 90 sec of ES were administered to 1/2 carcasses and were examined according their textural, physicochemical, and sensorial characteristics. ES decreased the pH values of lamb and goat meat, and accelerated the rigor mortis (<0.05. Additionally, ES enhanced the water activity, water-holding capacity, and drip loss of both animals. Shear force varied between lamb and goat meat, and tenderness was improved depending on voltage range used (<0.001. ES caused difference in instrumental colour (CIE ∗, ∗, ∗ values of lamb and goat meat compared with the control groups (<0.05 during aging period at 4°C. Sensorial characteristics were also improved with various levels of ES treatments. In conclusion, ES had positive effects on meat quality of lamb and goat, in contrast to undesirable consumer preferences.

Quality Tools and TRIZ Based Quality Improvement Case Study at PT ‘X’ A Plastic Moulding Manufacturing Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Wirawan, Christina; Chandra, Fory

2016-02-01

Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is a creative encouraging problem solving method. TRIZ is prepared by Altshuller for product design. Altshuller prepared contradiction matrix and suggestion to solve contradictions usually occur in product design. This paper try to combine TRIZ with quality tools such as Pareto and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to solve contradiction in quality improvement problem, neither than product design problem. Pareto used to identify defect priority, FTA used to analysis and identify root cause of defect. When there is contradiction in solving defect causes, TRIZ used to find creative problem solving. As a case study, PT ’X’, a plastic molding manufacturing industry was taken. PT ‘X’ using traditional press machine to produce plastic thread cone. There are 5 defect types that might occur in plastic thread cone production, incomplete form, dirty, mottle, excessive form, rugged. Research about quality improvement effort using DMAIC at PT ‘X’ have been done by Fory Candra. From this research, defect types, priority, root cause from FTA, recommendation from FMEA. In this research, from FTA reviewed, contradictions found among causes troublesome quality improvement efforts. TRIZ used to solve the contradictions and quality improvement effort can be made effectively.

PRIORITIZING OF EFFECTIVE FACTORS IN SERVICE QUALITY OF AEROBIC CLUBS IN KARAJ

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Ali Benesbordi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was prioritizing of effective factors in service quality of aerobicclubs in Karaj. Nowadays service quality is one of successful factor in service organizations.Customers’ satisfaction from services causes to maintaining of customers that leads to successof organization. Method of the research is descriptive and solidarity kind. The statisticalpopulation was the members of aerobic clubs. 12 clubs were selected in a random cluster wayand totally 141 questionnaire were collected. In the research standard Liu questionnaire wasused that has been translated and its validity was subscribed by specialist teachers. Reliability ofquestionnaire also was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α= 0/87. Factor analysiswith Varimax rotation was used for analysis of data. The result showed empathy with loadfactor of 0/86; reliability with load factor of 0/85; assurance with load factor of 0/80;responsiveness with load factor of 0/78 and tangibles with load factor of 0/73 were sequentiallythe most important factors in service quality of aerobic clubs in Karaj.

Effect of different pretreatments on dried chilli (Capsicum annum L.) quality

Science.gov (United States)

Anoraga, S. B.; Sabarisman, I.; Ainuri, M.

2018-03-01

Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) has significant price fluctuation. When the chilli price is declined, it causes food waste from unsold chilli. Therefore, drying chilli is a solution for this condition. Futhermore, it can be processed for various product like chilli powder, chilli sauce, etc. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different pretreatments on dried chilli quality. Chilli was blenched with hot water and steam before drying. The purpose of this pretreatments is to inactivate enzyme that prevents color and vitamin C losses. The quality parameters were moisture content, colour, vitamin C content, and capsaicin. Changes were observed by gravimetri method for moisture content, chromameter in L* a * b * colour model, and iodine titration for vitamin C. After drying for 20 hours at 60°C, chilli with steam blanching pretreatment dried rapidly than other samples. Unpretreated chilli had higher vitamin C content and better color than blanched chilli.

Genetic effects on seed quality in diallel crosses of popcorn

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Pablo Diego Silva Cabral

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The failure to obtain the ideal stand is one of the causes of decreased crop yields, in this sense it is important to investigate the genetic effects related to seed quality. The aim of this study was to measure the general combining ability (GCA, the specific combining ability (SCA and the reciprocal effects (RE for popcorn seed quality in addition to evaluate the association between germination and vigor tests with field emergencein order to identify hybrids with better germination and vigour. Ten inbred lines were evaluated using a complete diallel cross with reciprocals. Seed quality was measured by germination tests (GT and by modified cold vigour tests (MCV. In the GT, the numbers of strong normal seedlings (SNS, weak normal (WNS, abnormal (AS and ungerminated seeds (UGS were counted. In the MCV, the numbers of normal seedlings (NPC, abnormal (ASC and ungerminated seeds (UGSC were counted, and the plants' dry matter (DM was measured. Analysis of variance for GCA, SCA and RE were significant for all variables. The quadratic components for SCA were higher than those for GCA for the SNS, AS, UGS, ASC and UGSC traits, which indicates higher significance for the non-additive effects. The most favourable GCA estimates, were found in lines P3 and L70. The best hybrids were P1xL70, P3xP6 and P8xL70. The RE results showed that L70 and P3 should be used as the female parent in the P1xL70 and P3xP6 hybrid crosses, respectively. The MCV was the test that was most strongly correlated with field emergence, with a magnitude of 0.667.

The effect of singing training on voice quality for people with quadriplegia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamplin, Jeanette; Baker, Felicity A; Buttifant, Mary; Berlowitz, David J

2014-01-01

Despite anecdotal reports of voice impairment in quadriplegia, the exact nature of these impairments is not well described in the literature. This article details objective and subjective voice assessments for people with quadriplegia at baseline and after a respiratory-targeted singing intervention. Randomized controlled trial. Twenty-four participants with quadriplegia were randomly assigned to a 12-week program of either a singing intervention or active music therapy control. Recordings of singing and speech were made at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months postintervention. These deidentified recordings were used to measure sound pressure levels and assess voice quality using the Multidimensional Voice Profile and the Perceptual Voice Profile. Baseline voice quality data indicated deviation from normality in the areas of breathiness, strain, and roughness. A greater percentage of intervention participants moved toward more normal voice quality in terms of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio; however, the improvements failed to achieve statistical significance. Subjective and objective assessments of voice quality indicate that quadriplegia may have a detrimental effect on voice quality; in particular, causing a perception of roughness and breathiness in the voice. The results of this study suggest that singing training may have a role in ameliorating these voice impairments. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of uncertainty components such as recalibration on the performance of quality control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2005-01-01

Uncertainty components (recalibration, new reagent lots, etc.) may be the source of random changes in the level of quality control (QC) values, thus causing false alarms. We propose a method for reducing false alarms.......Uncertainty components (recalibration, new reagent lots, etc.) may be the source of random changes in the level of quality control (QC) values, thus causing false alarms. We propose a method for reducing false alarms....

Effects of rootstocks and irrigation levels on grape quality of Vitis ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Moreover, T1 or T2 treatments caused an increase in TA, TP, AA, TSS, total sugar content, ash, and CIRG index values of grape samples in comparison to that of vines irrigated with T3, T4 and T5 levels. Grape quality response to irrigation levels was altered by rootstocks and quality of grapes harvested from vines grafted on ...

The radiotherapy effect on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sawada, Namie Okino; Dias, Adriana Marques; Zago, Marcia Maria Fontao

2006-01-01

In cases of head and neck cancer, surgical advances in combination with radiotherapy (RT) have brought an increase in patients' probability of cure. RT is widely used and aims to destroy cancer cells in order to reduce or eliminate a malignant tumor. However, RT also causes major changes in patients' quality of life during and after treatment. The current study aims to evaluate the side effects of RT in patients with head and neck cancer and its influence on quality of life. The study population included head and neck cancer patients submitted to RT at the University of Sao Paulo Hospital in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. Data were collected with the FACT H and N instrument and McMaster University's Questionnaire for head and neck RT and submitted to quantitative statistical analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The main side effects of RT that affected physical quality of life were related to salivation and nutritional problems, while the predominant emotional problems were depression and anxiety. (author)

Effect of community activities on water qualities of the Bangpakong River, Chachoengsao Province

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Paibulkichakul, C.

2006-03-01

Full Text Available The effect of community activities on water qualities of the Bangpakong River were investigated. Water from three different areas, Huasai temple, Thayai market and Sothorn temple, were sampled for quality monitoring for its physical, chemical and biological properties during July-September 2004. Analysis of variance was used for data analysis, and Duncan's Multiple Range Test was applied for means comparison at 95% confidence level.The results showed that ranges of dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and orthophosphatephosphorus in all stations were 4.10-6.35, 0.022-0.156, 0.012-0.050, 0.084-0.299 and 0.004-0.047 mg/L, res the large food market, had the lowest water quality. Sothorn temple, the well-known tourist temple, had water quality in the middle of the three stations. Huasai temple, the agricultural site, had the best water qualities. The differences of water quality may be caused by the differences of community activities. The other parameters of this study could not clearly indicate the resons for the difference on water qualities.However, water quality from three areas met the Surface Water Quality Standard, class 3. Bangpakong River, the main river of Chachoengsao Province, is not only the source of water supply for households consumption as well as agricultural and industrial activities, but also receives untreated waste water from households, markets and industrial estates. Consequently, unless wastewater has been treated properly before discharging into the Bangpakong River, there will be water pollution in the near future.

Thermoluminescent Signals Caused by Disturbing Effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

German, U.; Weinstein, M.; Ben-Shachar, B.

1999-01-01

One of the major sources of uncertainty in the measurement of low radiation doses by means of thermoluminescence dosemeters is the presence of disturbing thermoluminescence signals, especially luminescence caused by visible light, and by materials attached to the heated areas. Glow curves of thermoluminescence dosemeters contain useful information that can improve the accuracy and the reliability of the thermoluminescent measurements. The influence of the various disturbing effects can be recognised in the shape of the glow curves and can sometimes be separated from the exposure. Some examples are presented of signals arising from the two disturbing effects mentioned above, the signal contributed by Teflon used in the TLD-100 cards of Bicron/Harshaw and some abnormal glow curves due to dirt attached to the cards. Subtraction of the contributions due to these effects is suggested to obtain the net exposure signal. (author)

A Methodology for Performing Effects-Based Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

2006-03-01

can then be used to make assessments (Smith, 2002:384). 2.8 Cause-and-Effect Diagrams Developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa in the field of Quality Control...John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004. Ishikawa , Kaoru . Guide to Quality Control. White Plains NY: Asian Productivity Organization, 1989...various causes affecting product quality by sorting out and relating the causes. Cause-and-effect diagrams are sometimes called Ishikawa diagrams, or

Demonstrating a lack of brand/cause effects on point of sale donations

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Coleman Joshua T.

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Point of sale cause-related marketing has raised over $2 billion for charities over the past 30 years, yet the subject remains largely unexplored in academic literature. The subject of brand/cause fit, however, is prolific throughout extant research, with many studies showing that high congruence between a company and a charity is necessary to achieve philanthropic success. This paper challenges current marketing thinking both conceptually and empirically. Employing tests of no-effect hypotheses following the guidelines set out by Cortina and Folger (1998, it is established that, in the point of sale cause-related marketing context, the traditional effects of brand/cause fits do not apply. Across three studies involving experimental designs and over 500 respondents, the results of one-way ANOVA analyses consistently demonstrate that a low brand/cause fit can be just as effective as a high/brand cause fit. These findings contribute to a profound understanding of social efforts such as cause-related marketing may not be as simple or easily understood as was once thought.

Healthcare Access and Quality Index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2015 : a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barber, Ryan M.; Fullman, Nancy; Sorensen, Reed JD; Bollyky, Thomas; McKee, Martin; Nolte, Ellen; van Boven, Job; Murray, Christopher J L

2017-01-01

Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on

Effects of Low Light on Agronomic and Physiological Characteristics of Rice Including Grain Yield and Quality

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Qi-hua LIU

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Light intensity is one of the most important environmental factors that determine the basic characteristics of rice development. However, continuously cloudy weather or rainfall, especially during the grain-filling stage, induces a significant loss in yield and results in poor grain quality. Stress caused by low light often creates severe meteorological disasters in some rice-growing regions worldwide. This review was based on our previous research and related research regarding the effects of low light on rice growth, yield and quality as well as the formation of grain, and mainly reviewed the physiological metabolism of rice plants, including characteristics of photosynthesis, activities of antioxidant enzymes in rice leaves and key enzymes involved in starch synthesis in grains, as well as the translocations of carbohydrate and nitrogen. These characteristics include various grain yield and rice quality components (milling and appearance as well as cooking, eating and nutritional qualities under different rates of shading imposed at the vegetative or reproductive stages of rice plants. Furthermore, we discussed why grain yield and quality are reduced under the low light environment. Next, we summarized the need for future research that emphasizes methods can effectively improve rice grain yield and quality under low light stress. These research findings can provide a beneficial reference for rice cultivation management and breeding program in low light environments.

Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuying; Li, Guoxing; Liu, Liqun; Westerdahl, Dane; Jin, Xiaobin; Pan, Xiaochuan

2015-12-21

Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007-2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0-27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0-14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34) to extremely low temperature. People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

An effective quality model for evaluating mobile websites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan, W.U.; Nawaz, M.T.; Syed, T.H.; Naseem, A.

2015-01-01

The Evolution in Web development in recent years has caused emergence of new area of mobile computing, Mobile phone has been transformed into high speed processing device capable of doing the processes which were suppose to be run only on computer previously, Modem mobile phones now have capability to process data with greater speed then desktop systems and with the inclusion of 3G and 4G networks, mobile became the prime choice for users to send and receive data from any device. As a result, there is a major increase in mobile website need and development but due to uniqueness of mobile website usage as compared to desktop website, there is a need to focus on quality aspect of mobile website, So, to increase and preserve quality of mobile website, a quality model is required which has to be designed specifically to evaluate mobile website quality, To design a mobile website quality model, a survey based methodology is used to gather the information regarding website unique usage in mobile from different users. On the basis of this information, a mobile website quality model is presented which aims to evaluate the quality of mobile websites. In proposed model, some sub characteristics are designed to evaluate mobile websites in particular. The result is a proposed model aims to evaluate features of website which are important in context of its deployment and its usability in mobile platform. (author)

Causes of corruption: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Ato Forson

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study explores the causes of corruption in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1996 to 2013. The sources of corruption are grouped into three main thematic areas – historical roots, contemporary causes and institutional causes to make way for subjective and objective measures. The subjective measures allow for assessment of the effectiveness of anticorruption policies. Using pooled OLS, fixed-effect and instrumental-variable approaches, and focusing on the perceived level of corruption as the dependent variable, we find that ethnic diversity, resource abundance and educational attainment are markedly less associated with corruption. In contrast, wage levels of bureaucrats and anticorruption measures based on government effectiveness and regulatory quality breed substantial corruption. Press freedom is found to be variedly associated with corruption. On the basis of these findings, we recommend that the fight against corruption on the continent needs to be reinvented through qualitative and assertive institutional reforms. Anticorruption policy decisions should focus on existing educational systems as a conduit for intensifying awareness of the devastating effect of corruption on sustainable national development.

Air Pollution and Forest Health: Establishing Cause and Effect in the Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William J. Manning

2001-01-01

Full Text Available I participated in a NATO Advanced Research Workshop titled “Effects of Air Pollution on Forest Health and Biodiversity in Forests of the Carpathian Mountains,” in Stara Lesna, Slovakia from May 22–26, 2001. Researchers from Canada, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the U.S. met to present their results from a three-year cooperative study of tree health and air quality monitoring in forests of the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe. Much of the work reported related to assessing the crown condition of trees in permanent plots in natural or managed (planted forests in the mountains. The endpoint was tree condition, with results extrapolated to the forests in the Carpathian range. From this I learned that, of the 50,000 trees evaluated, European beech (Fagus sylvatica was the most healthy, while Norway spruce (Picea abies (the principal forest tree and white fir (Abies alba sustained crown defoliation of up to 12.8%. The cause of this crown defoliation and tree decline was usually attributed to “air pollution” as a generic term and an automatic assumption. It is well known that deposition of heavy metals and acidic sulfur and nitrogen compounds can cause tree decline and predispose affected trees to bark beetles and climatic damage. Chemical analyses can also be done to detect metals and sulfur compounds in trees and soils. Sometimes these analyses were done, but most often the assumption was that crown defoliation was caused by air pollution. The assumption was that given sufficient exposure to high enough concentrations of toxic elements, sooner or later there will be a visible adverse response.

Effectiveness of the stormwater quality devices to improve water quality at Putrajaya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidek, L M; Basri, H; Puad, A H Mohd; Noh, M N Md; Ainan, A

2013-01-01

Development of Putrajaya has changed the character of the natural landform by covering the land with impervious surfaces. Houses, office buildings, commercial place and shopping centres have provided places to live and work. The route between buildings is facilitated and encouraged by a complex network of roads and car parks. However, this change from natural landforms and vegetative cover to impervious surfaces has major effect on stormwater which are water quality (non-point source pollution). This paper describes the effectiveness of the stormwater quality devices to improve water quality at selected Putrajaya for demonstration in order to evaluate low cost storm inlet type devices in the Putrajaya Catchment. Five stormwater quality devices were installed and monitored during the study. The devices include Ultra Drain Guard Recycle model, Ultra Curb Guard Plus, Ultra Grate Guard, Absorbent Tarp and Ultra Passive Skimmer. This paper will provide information on the benefits and costs of these devices, including operations and maintenance requirements. Applicability of these devices in gas stations, small convenience stores, residential and small parking lots in the catchment are possible due to their low cost.

The reliability-quality relationship for quality systems and quality risk management.

Science.gov (United States)

Claycamp, H Gregg; Rahaman, Faiad; Urban, Jason M

2012-01-01

Engineering reliability typically refers to the probability that a system, or any of its components, will perform a required function for a stated period of time and under specified operating conditions. As such, reliability is inextricably linked with time-dependent quality concepts, such as maintaining a state of control and predicting the chances of losses from failures for quality risk management. Two popular current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) and quality risk management tools, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and root cause analysis (RCA) are examples of engineering reliability evaluations that link reliability with quality and risk. Current concepts in pharmaceutical quality and quality management systems call for more predictive systems for maintaining quality; yet, the current pharmaceutical manufacturing literature and guidelines are curiously silent on engineering quality. This commentary discusses the meaning of engineering reliability while linking the concept to quality systems and quality risk management. The essay also discusses the difference between engineering reliability and statistical (assay) reliability. The assurance of quality in a pharmaceutical product is no longer measured only "after the fact" of manufacturing. Rather, concepts of quality systems and quality risk management call for designing quality assurance into all stages of the pharmaceutical product life cycle. Interestingly, most assays for quality are essentially static and inform product quality over the life cycle only by being repeated over time. Engineering process reliability is the fundamental concept that is meant to anticipate quality failures over the life cycle of the product. Reliability is a well-developed theory and practice for other types of manufactured products and manufacturing processes. Thus, it is well known to be an appropriate index of manufactured product quality. This essay discusses the meaning of reliability and its linkages with quality

Effectiveness of trauma team on medical resource utilization and quality of care for patients with major trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chih-Jung; Yen, Shu-Ting; Huang, Shih-Fang; Hsu, Su-Chen; Ying, Jeremy C; Shan, Yan-Shen

2017-07-24

Trauma is one of the leading causes of death in Taiwan, and its medical expenditure escalated drastically. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of trauma team, which was established in September 2010, on medical resource utilization and quality of care among major trauma patients. This was a retrospective study, using trauma registry data bank and inpatient medical service charge databases. Study subjects were major trauma patients admitted to a medical center in Tainan during 2009 and 2013, and was divided into case group (from January, 2011 to August, 2013) and comparison group (from January, 2009 to August, 2010). Significant reductions in several items of medical resource utilization were identified after the establishment of trauma team. In the sub-group of patients who survived to discharge, examination, radiology and operation charges declined significantly. The radiation and examination charges reduced significantly in the subcategories of ISS = 16 ~ 24 and ISS > 24 respectively. However, no significant effectiveness on quality of care was identified. The establishment of trauma team is effective in containing medical resource utilization. In order to verify the effectiveness on quality of care, extended time frame and extra study subjects are needed.

The effect of air quality on sleep

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm-Tejsen, Peter; Wargocki, Pawel; Wyon, David Peter

2014-01-01

The effect of air quality on sleep was examined for occupants of 14 identical single-occupancy dormitory rooms. The subjects, half women, were exposed to two conditions (open/closed window), each for one week, resulting in night-time average CO2 levels of 660 and 2585 ppm, and air temperatures...... performance. Although no significant effects on the sleep quality scale or on next-day performance could be shown, there were significant and positive effects of a higher ventilation rate (open window) on the actigraph measured sleep latency and on the subjects’ assessment of the freshness of the air...... of 24.7 and 23.9°C, respectively. Sleep was assessed from movement data recorded on wristwatch-type actigraphs and from online morning questionnaires, including the Groningen Sleep Quality scale, questions about the sleep environment, next-day well-being, SBS symptoms, and two tests of mental...

Identification of Causes and Effects of Poor Communication in Construction Industry: A Theoretical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaser Gamil

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Construction industry is characterized in nature as complex, fragmented, dynamic and involves many parties therefore effective communication is essential to overcome these challenges. Many researchers found that the industry faces major challenge to ensure effective and successful communication throughout the lifecycle of the project which therefore resulted to project failure. Poor communication in construction industry had been addressed in previous research studies; however, this paper presents and examines the identification of causes and effects which lead to poor communication. Further investigations on previous literature were conducted to extract the causes and effects which contributed to poor communication in construction industry. Similarity technique was applied to avoid duplications in the identified causes and effect of poor communication. Using the frequency technique, from the 33 causes of poor communication it was found that the most dominant cause is lack of effective communication. Whereas, out of 21 effects from poor communication, it was found that highly repeated effect is time overrun. These findings will serve a good platform for further investigation on the relevancy of causes and effects to the local construction practitioners.

ASSESSMENT OF POWER QUALITY DISTURBANCE USING EXPERT SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

A.N.MALLESWARA RAO,; Dr. K.RAMESH REDDY,; Dr. B.V.SANKER RAM

2011-01-01

This paper describes a fuzzy expert system in order to understand and deal with power quality problems encountered in distribution systems in a better way. Because of the technology and software now available this monitoring is highly effective, the fuzzy expert system not only can provide information about the quality of the power and the causes of power system disturbances, but it can identify problem conditions throughout the system before they cause widespread customer complains and equip...

A Study on the Effects of Patellar Taping on Pain, Quality of Life, and Radiographic Findings in Patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Banan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS is the most common cause of anterior knee pain in adults. Patellar taping is used to correct patellar position and rehabilitate patients with PFPS. However, the effectiveness and clinical efficiency of this technique in the treatment of these patients are not fully determined. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of knee taping on patellar alignment, quality of life, and pain in patients with PFPS. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 25 PFPS patients within the age range of 20-50 years. McConnell taping technique was applied for patients during four weeks. Before and immediately after the treatment, quality of life (via KOOS questionnaire, patellar alignment (via skyline radiography of the knee, and pain intensity were measured. FINDINGS: After four weeks, McConnell taping technique caused a decline in pain intensity from 50.13±21.60 to 26.67±10.14 mm in patients with PFPS (P=0.001. However, this technique had no positive effects on quality of life (score on KOOS questionnaire or patellar angle/position (P<0.05. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings, independent use of McConnell taping technique is not sufficient for improving the quality of life in patients with PFPS or correcting the abnormal alignment of patella however, it can help reduce the induced pain.

Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuying Wang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. Methods: We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007–2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. Results: For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0–27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0–14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34 to extremely low temperature. Conclusion: People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

Water quality effects of intermittent water supply in Arraiján, Panama.

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, John J; Smith, Charlotte D; Goodridge, Amador; Nelson, Kara L

2017-05-01

Intermittent drinking water supply is common in low- and middle-income countries throughout the world and can cause water quality to degrade in the distribution system. In this study, we characterized water quality in one study zone with continuous supply and three zones with intermittent supply in the drinking water distribution network in Arraiján, Panama. Low or zero pressures occurred in all zones, and negative pressures occurred in the continuous zone and two of the intermittent zones. Despite hydraulic conditions that created risks for backflow and contaminant intrusion, only four of 423 (0.9%) grab samples collected at random times were positive for total coliform bacteria and only one was positive for E. coli. Only nine of 496 (1.8%) samples had turbidity >1.0 NTU and all samples had ≥0.2 mg/L free chlorine residual. In contrast, water quality was often degraded during the first-flush period (when supply first returned after an outage). Still, routine and first-flush water quality under intermittent supply was much better in Arraiján than that reported in a previous study conducted in India. Better water quality in Arraiján could be due to better water quality leaving the treatment plant, shorter supply outages, higher supply pressures, a more consistent and higher chlorine residual, and fewer contaminant sources near pipes. The results illustrate that intermittent supply and its effects on water quality can vary greatly between and within distribution networks. The study also demonstrated that monitoring techniques designed specifically for intermittent supply, such as continuous pressure monitoring and sampling the first flush, can detect water quality threats and degradation that would not likely be detected with conventional monitoring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EFFECT OF QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM ON AUDIT QUALITY WITH PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENTS AS A MODERATION VARIABLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramadhani R.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to test the effect of every element of Quality Control System (QCS that is leadership responsibilities for quality on audit, relevant ethical requirements, acceptance and continuance of client relationships and certain engagements, assignment of engagement team, engagement performance, monitoring, and documentation on audit quality as well as to test whether the professional commitment moderate effect of every element of QCS on audit quality. The population was the staff auditors working in public accounting firms domiciled in Jakarta City, especially Central Jakarta area with the drawing of 84 respondents. The statistical method used was SEM PLS with the help of SmartPLS application. The results of this study indicate that from seven elements of QCS, only relevant ethical requirements that affect on audit quality. Furthermore, the study also found that professional commitment cannot moderate the relationship between the seven elements of QCS on audit quality.

Effects of ionic and nonionic contrast media on cardiohemodynamics and quality of radiographic image during canine angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, H.; Kurata, M.; Haruta, K.; Takeda, K.

1994-01-01

Cardiovascular responses and radiographic image quality during cerebral angiography, aortofemoral angiography and left ventriculography with nonionic ioxilan, iohexol or iopamidol were compared with those of ionic sodium meglumine diatrizoate in pentobarbital anesthetized dogs. Injection of all contrast media caused cardiovascular changes to a greater or lesser degree, e.g., hypotension, bradycardia, tachycardia, a decrease in left ventricular pressure (LVP) and its first derivative (dP/dt), and prolongation of the P-Q and Q-T intervals. Ionic diatrizoate had a greater effect on cardiovascular parameters than nonionic contrast media during angiography in all areas. Moreover, diatrizoate produced cardiac arrhythmias and prominent changes in blood rheology concerned with blood viscosity and deformability of the erythrocyte. The cause of various effects of contrast media seemed to lie mainly in osmolality, viscosity and partially ionic additives. The radiographic image quality of all of the contrast media used was similar, but nonionic ioxilan and iohexol with lower iodine content and low osmolality gave better radio opacity than ionic diatrizoate in cerebral angiography. These results suggested that nonionic contrast media should be recommended as a diagnostic tool for both animals and human patients in poor health

Effect Of Light Qualities And Storage Periods On The Germination Of Pennisetum Polystachion Seeds*)

OpenAIRE

TJITROSEMITO, S

1992-01-01

Seeds of the yellowish inflorescence strain of Pennisetum polystachion, collected from the field in Indonesia, were kept in the dark for 30 days, then germinated in 12-h light and 24-h light under various light qualities, namely, white, black, blue, red and far-red. There was no effect of photo-period to seed germination. Percent of seed germination under white, red, far-red, blue and dark were 49, 43, 22, 11 and 2%, respectively. White and red light did not cause any diffe...

Effect of pilot-scale aseptic processing on tomato soup quality parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Colle, Ines J P; Andrys, Anna; Grundelius, Andrea; Lemmens, Lien; Löfgren, Anders; Buggenhout, Sandy Van; Loey, Ann; Hendrickx, Marc Van

2011-01-01

Tomatoes are often processed into shelf-stable products. However, the different processing steps might have an impact on the product quality. In this study, a model tomato soup was prepared and the impact of pilot-scale aseptic processing, including heat treatment and high-pressure homogenization, on some selected quality parameters was evaluated. The vitamin C content, the lycopene isomer content, and the lycopene bioaccessibility were considered as health-promoting attributes. As a structural characteristic, the viscosity of the tomato soup was investigated. A tomato soup without oil as well as a tomato soup containing 5% olive oil were evaluated. Thermal processing had a negative effect on the vitamin C content, while lycopene degradation was limited. For both compounds, high-pressure homogenization caused additional losses. High-pressure homogenization also resulted in a higher viscosity that was accompanied by a decrease in lycopene bioaccessibility. The presence of lipids clearly enhanced the lycopene isomerization susceptibility and improved the bioaccessibility. The results obtained in this study are of relevance for product formulation and process design of tomato-based food products. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

MDEP Generic Common Position No DICWG-01. Common position on the treatment of common cause failure caused by software within digital safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Common cause failures (CCF)2 have been a significant safety concern for nuclear power plant systems. The increasing dependence on software-in safety systems for nuclear power plants has increased the safety significance of CCF caused by software, when software in redundant channels or portions of safety systems has some common dependency. For example, the effect of systematic failures can lead to a loss of safety in many ways: unwanted actuations, a safety function is not provided when needed. Therefore, nuclear power plants should be systematically protected from the effects of common cause failures caused by software in DI and C safety systems. Software for nuclear power plant safety systems should be of the high quality necessary to help assure against the loss of safety (i.e. developed with high-quality engineering practices, commensurate quality assurance applied, with continuous improvement through corrective actions based on lessons learned from operating experience). However, demonstrating adequate software quality only through verification and validation activities and controls on the development process has proved to be problematic. Therefore, this common position provides guidance for the assessment of the potential for CCF for software. It is recognized that programmable logic devices do not execute software in the conventional sense; however, the application development process using these devices have many similarities with software development, and the deficiencies that may be introduced during the application development process may induce errors in the programmable logic devices that can result in common cause failures of these devices of a type similar to software common cause failure. Although deficiencies with the potential to give rise to software common cause failures can be introduced at all phases of the software life cycle, this common position will only consider the potential for software common cause failures within digital safety system

Side-gate modulation effects on high-quality BN-Graphene-BN nanoribbon capacitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yang; Chen, Xiaolong; Ye, Weiguang; Wu, Zefei; Han, Yu; Han, Tianyi; He, Yuheng; Cai, Yuan; Wang, Ning

2014-01-01

High-quality BN-Graphene-BN nanoribbon capacitors with double side-gates of graphene have been experimentally realized. The double side-gates can effectively modulate the electronic properties of graphene nanoribbon capacitors. By applying anti-symmetric side-gate voltages, we observed significant upward shifting and flattening of the V-shaped capacitance curve near the charge neutrality point. Symmetric side-gate voltages, however, only resulted in tilted upward shifting along the opposite direction of applied gate voltages. These modulation effects followed the behavior of graphene nanoribbons predicted theoretically for metallic side-gate modulation. The negative quantum capacitance phenomenon predicted by numerical simulations for graphene nanoribbons modulated by graphene side-gates was not observed, possibly due to the weakened interactions between the graphene nanoribbon and side-gate electrodes caused by the Ga + beam etching process

Diet Quality Scores and Prediction of All-Cause, Cardiovascular and Cancer Mortality in a Pan-European Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camille Lassale

Full Text Available Scores of overall diet quality have received increasing attention in relation to disease aetiology; however, their value in risk prediction has been little examined. The objective was to assess and compare the association and predictive performance of 10 diet quality scores on 10-year risk of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality in 451,256 healthy participants to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, followed-up for a median of 12.8y. All dietary scores studied showed significant inverse associations with all outcomes. The range of HRs (95% CI in the top vs. lowest quartile of dietary scores in a composite model including non-invasive factors (age, sex, smoking, body mass index, education, physical activity and study centre was 0.75 (0.72-0.79 to 0.88 (0.84-0.92 for all-cause, 0.76 (0.69-0.83 to 0.84 (0.76-0.92 for CVD and 0.78 (0.73-0.83 to 0.91 (0.85-0.97 for cancer mortality. Models with dietary scores alone showed low discrimination, but composite models also including age, sex and other non-invasive factors showed good discrimination and calibration, which varied little between different diet scores examined. Mean C-statistic of full models was 0.73, 0.80 and 0.71 for all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality. Dietary scores have poor predictive performance for 10-year mortality risk when used in isolation but display good predictive ability in combination with other non-invasive common risk factors.

Cancer Cachexia: Cause, Diagnosis, and Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattox, Todd W

2017-10-01

Patients with cancer frequently experience unintended weight loss due to gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction caused by the malignancy or treatment of the malignancy. However, others may present with weight loss related to other symptoms not clearly associated with identifiable GI dysfunction such as anorexia and early satiety. Cancer cachexia (CC) is a multifactorial syndrome that is generally characterized by ongoing loss of skeletal muscle mass with or without fat loss, often accompanied by anorexia, weakness, and fatigue. CC is associated with poor tolerance of antitumor treatments, reduced quality of life (QOL), and negative impact on survival. Symptoms associated with CC are thought to be caused in part by tumor-induced changes in host metabolism that result in systemic inflammation and abnormal neurohormonal responses. Unfortunately, there is no single standard treatment for CC. Nutrition consequences of oncologic treatments should be identified early with nutrition screening and assessment. Pharmacologic agents directed at improving appetite and countering metabolic abnormalities that cause inefficient nutrient utilization are currently the foundation for treating CC. Multiple agents have been investigated for their effects on weight, muscle wasting, and QOL. However, few are commercially available for use. Considerations for choosing the most appropriate treatment include effect on appetite, weight, QOL, risk of adverse effects, and cost and availability of the agent.

A Study of Air Quality and its Effect on Health: A Geographical Perspective of Lucknow city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dipak Prasad

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Erudite groups of people, scientists, planners, and policy-makers of different countries have come to realise that quality of environment is not necessarily a simple function of nature as in primitive earth. Today nature’s self-regulatory functions are inoperative. All the developed and developing countries are deeply concerned to make balance between their environmental anxiety and their economic development. Dreadful environmental conditions are affecting the biological segment of the ecosystem of these areas. Human being, ‘one of the most precious component in biosphere’, have regular predicament situation with accretion of sullied air, water, and soil degradation. Though water and land pollution is extremely dangerous, air pollution has its own peculiarities, due to its trans-boundary dispersion of pollutants over the entire world. The effect of air pollution on health is very complex as there are many different sources and their individual effect varying from one to other. It is not only the ambient air quality in the cities but also the indoor air quality in the rural and urban areas that are causing concern. The study is confined with the health impact of deteriorating air quality in Lucknow city. The aim of the present study is also to determine the consequences of ambient air quality on health of the people in the study area.

Effectiveness of Positive Thinking Training Program on Nurses' Quality of Work Life through Smartphone Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Motamed-Jahromi, Mohadeseh; Fereidouni, Zhila; Dehghan, Azizallah

2017-01-01

Job stress is a part of nurses' professional life that causes the decrease of the nurses' job satisfaction and quality of work life. This study aimed to determine the effect of positive thinking via social media applications on the nurses' quality of work life. This was a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study design with a control group. The samples were selected among the nurses in two hospitals in Fasa University of Medical Sciences and divided randomly into two interventional ( n = 50) and control ( n = 50) groups. Positive thinking training through telegrams was sent to the intervention group during a period of 3 months. Data were collected by using Brooks and Anderson's questionnaire of work life quality and analyzed by SPSS 18. The mean total scores of pretest and posttest in the intervention group improved noticeably and there were significant differences between mean scores of quality of work life in pretest and posttest scores in interventional groups ( p work life quality, home life ( p work design ( p work context ( p work world ( p = 0.003). This study concluded that positive thinking training via social media application enhanced nurses' quality of work life. This study is necessary to carry out on a larger sample size for generalizing findings better.

Quality of foraging material and the effect on hens feed intake, egg production and - quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steenfeldt, Sanna; Hammershøj, Marianne

2010-01-01

In a project with organic egg laying hens, the effect of different kind of foraging material was studied on feed intake, egg-production and -quality. Udgivelsesdato: August......In a project with organic egg laying hens, the effect of different kind of foraging material was studied on feed intake, egg-production and -quality. Udgivelsesdato: August...

Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

St-Onge, Marie-Pierre; Mikic, Anja; Pietrolungo, Cara E

2016-09-01

There is much emerging information surrounding the impact of sleep duration and quality on food choice and consumption in both children and adults. However, less attention has been paid to the effects of dietary patterns and specific foods on nighttime sleep. Early studies have shown that certain dietary patterns may affect not only daytime alertness but also nighttime sleep. In this review, we surveyed the literature to describe the role of food consumption on sleep. Research has focused on the effects of mixed meal patterns, such as high-carbohydrate plus low-fat or low-carbohydrate diets, over the short term on sleep. Such studies highlight a potential effect of macronutrient intakes on sleep variables, particularly alterations in slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep with changes in carbohydrate and fat intakes. Other studies instead examined the intake of specific foods, consumed at a fixed time relative to sleep, on sleep architecture and quality. Those foods, specifically milk, fatty fish, tart cherry juice, and kiwifruit, are reviewed here. Studies provide some evidence for a role of certain dietary patterns and foods in the promotion of high-quality sleep, but more studies are necessary to confirm those preliminary findings. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Effects of Main Pollution Sources on Parameters of Water Quality of the Prut River Within the Limits of Chernivtsi in the Last Seven Years and Consequent Environmental Impacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hrytsku V.S.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The results of the Prut River water quality monitoring in the last 7 years are dealt with. Attention is paid to situation of water quality worsening and to the reasons that caused it. Application of the method of water quality index’s integrated assessment has confirmed that it is not solely the degree of anthropogenic impact that affects the water quality, but also the effects of natural factors.

Noninvasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: effects on sleep quality and quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandoorne, Eva; Vrijsen, Bart; Belge, Catharina; Testelmans, Dries; Buyse, Bertien

2016-12-01

Little is known about the effects of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on sleep quality in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We aim to evaluate the long-term effects of NIV on sleep quality and quality of life in patients with ALS. In this prospective observational study, 13 ALS patients were followed for one year after initiating NIV. We evaluated sleep quality, quality of life and functional status with several questionnaires: Epworth sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI), Short Form 36 Health Questionnaire (SF-36), McGill Quality of Life questionnaire (McGillQoL) and revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale scores (ALSFRS-R). Median and interquartile range (IQR) at the start of NIV was 59 (53-65) years. The ALSFRS-R at start was 30 (24-37) (median, IQR), with three patients having severe bulbar impairment (ALSFRS-R-bulbar ≤ 9). The P a CO 2 at start of NIV treatment was 48 (43-52) mmHg (median, IQR). During the one-year follow-up period, a significant decrease in the ALSFRS-R was observed. The impact of NIV in a short term (1 month) revealed a statistically significant decrease in ESS, decrease in total PSQI and of four PSQI subscales and improvement of almost all subscales of the McGill questionnaire. Long-term analyses (9 months to 1 year) revealed that amelioration in ESS and total PSQI was sustained. We conclude that accurately titrated NIV in ALS patients can stabilize sleep quality and quality of life for at least one year, despite significant disease progression.

School quality and the educational effectiveness knowledge base

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheerens, Jaap; van Hoorn, Marjo

2014-01-01

Educational effectiveness is an important facet of educational quality. In this article educational effectiveness is used as the general term for instructional effectiveness, school level effectiveness and system effectiveness. Instructional (or teaching) effectiveness largely depends on teachers’

Improving quality and the assurance of quality in the design and construction of nuclear power plants: a report to Congress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altman, W.; Ankrum, T.; Brach, W.

1984-05-01

A study was conducted of existing and alternative programs for improving quality and the assurance of quality in the design and construction of commercial nuclear power plants. A primary focus of the study was to determine the underlying causes of major quality-related problems in the construction of some nuclear power plants and the untimely detection and correction of these problems. The study concluded that the root cause for major quality-related problems was the failure or inability of some utility managements to effectively implement a management system that ensured adequate control over all aspects of the project. These management shortcoming arose in part from inexperience on the part of some project teams in the construction of nuclear power plants. NRC's past licensing and inspection practices did not adequately screen construction permit applicants for overall capability to manage or provide effective management oversight over the construction project. The study recommends a number of improvements in industry and NRC programs. For industry, the study recommends self-imposed rising standards of excellence, treatment of quality assurance as a management tool, not a substitute for management, improved trend analysis and identification of root causes of quality problems, and a program of comprehensive third party audits of present and future construction projects. To improve NRC programs, the study recommends a heavier emphasis on team inspections and resident inspectors, an enhanced review of new applicant's capabilities to construct commercial nuclear power plants, more attention to management issues, improved diagnostic and trending capabilities, improved quality and quality assurance for operating reactors, and development of guidance to facilitate the prioritization of quality assurance measures commensurate with the importance of plant structures, systems, and components to the achievement of safety

Effect of boron on fruit quality in pineapple

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Changbin; Ma, Zhiling; Liu, Yuge; Qiao, Jian; Sun, Guangming

2018-04-01

Boron (B) is an important element for the plant. The aim of work was to study the effect of B on fruit quality of pineapple. The experiment was carried out with `Comte de paris' variety in pots. The results demonstrated that B had positive effect on fruit weight, TSS, the ratio of TSS/acidity, Vitamin C, the content of aroma volatile compounds. The B had no effect on the content of the three sugars (sucrose, fructose and glucose) and titrable acidity. There was a positive effect on fruit quality by application of B fertilizer in production of pineapple.

Ostrich (Struthio camellus carcass yield and meat quality parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Balog

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This article aimed at compiling recent studies on the main factors that influence ostrich meat quality and carcass yield. Few articles investigated the effect of subspecies, which generally are not even mentioned. There are important dietary effects, particularly those caused by dietary protein to energy ratio. Rigor mortis follow-up studies showed that there are no losses in meat quality when carcasses are hot-deboned. Age at slaughter influences some meat quality traits, such as tenderness and lipid content. Few effects of gender have been observed, and at the same age at slaughter, both male and female present the same meat quality traits.

Application of cause-and-effect analysis to potentiometric titration.

Science.gov (United States)

Kufelnicki, A; Lis, S; Meinrath, G

2005-08-01

A first attempt has been made to interpret physicochemical data from potentiometric titration analysis in accordance with the complete measurement-uncertainty budget approach (bottom-up) of ISO and Eurachem. A cause-and-effect diagram is established and discussed. Titration data for arsenazo III are used as a basis for this discussion. The commercial software Superquad is used and applied within a computer-intensive resampling framework. The cause-and-effect diagram is applied to evaluation of seven protonation constants of arsenazo III in the pH range 2-10.7. The data interpretation is based on empirical probability distributions and their analysis by second-order correct confidence estimates. The evaluated data are applied in the calculation of a speciation diagram including uncertainty estimates using the probabilistic speciation software Ljungskile.

climate change: causes, effects and mitigation measures-a review

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BARTH EKWUEME

Both natural and human causes of climate change including the earth's orbital changes, solar variations .... analysis supported by climate models have revealed that cloud ... clouds could actually exert a small cooling effect as temperature ...

Do Carpets Impair Indoor Air Quality and Cause Adverse Health Outcomes: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Becher, Rune; Øvrevik, Johan; Schwarze, Per E; Nilsen, Steinar; Hongslo, Jan K; Bakke, Jan Vilhelm

2018-01-23

Several earlier studies have shown the presence of more dust and allergens in carpets compared with non-carpeted floors. At the same time, adverse effects of carpeted floors on perceived indoor air quality as well as worsening of symptoms in individuals with asthma and allergies were reported. Avoiding extensive carpet use in offices, schools, kindergartens and bedrooms has therefore been recommended by several health authorities. More recently, carpet producers have argued that former assessments were obsolete and that modern rugs are unproblematic, even for those with asthma and allergies. To investigate whether the recommendation to be cautious with the use of carpets is still valid, or whether there are new data supporting that carpet flooring do not present a problem for indoor air quality and health, we have reviewed the literature on this matter. We have not found updated peer reviewed evidence that carpeted floor is unproblematic for the indoor environment. On the contrary, also more recent data support that carpets may act as a repository for pollutants which may become resuspended upon activity in the carpeted area. Also, the use of carpets is still linked to perception of reduced indoor air quality as well as adverse health effects as previously reported. To our knowledge, there are no publications that report on deposition of pollutants and adverse health outcomes associated with modern rugs. However, due to the three-dimensional structure of carpets, any carpet will to some extent act like a sink. Thus, continued caution should still be exercised when considering the use of wall-to-wall carpeted floors in schools, kindergartens and offices, as well as in children's bedrooms unless special needs indicate that carpets are preferable.

Quality circles: the nurse executive as mentor.

Science.gov (United States)

Flarey, D L

1991-12-01

Changes within and around the health care environment are forcing health care executives to reexamine their managerial and leadership styles to confront the resulting turbulence. The nurse executive is charged with the profound responsibility of directing the delivery of nursing care throughout the organization. Care delivered today must be of high quality. Declining financial resources as well as personnel shortages cause the executive to be an effective innovator in meeting the increasing demands. Quality circles offer the nurse executive an avenue of recourse. Circles have been effectively implemented in the health care setting, as has been consistently documented over time. By way of a participative management approach, quality circles may lead to increased employee morale and productivity, cost savings, and decreased employee turnover rates, as well as realization of socialization and self-actualization needs. A most effective approach to their introduction would be implementation at the first-line manager level. This promotes an acceptance of the concept at the management level as well as a training course for managers to implement the process at the unit level. The nurse executive facilitates the process at the first-line manager level. This facilitation will cause a positive outcome to diffuse throughout the entire organization. Quality circles offer the nurse executive the opportunity to challenge the existing environmental turmoil and effect a positive and lasting change.

What are the causes and consequences of impaired sleep quality during and following extended hospitalisation amongst older adults?

OpenAIRE

AISLINN FELICITY LALOR

2017-01-01

Sleep is essential to everyone's health and wellbeing. Between 30-40% of people experience impaired sleep and is most common in older adults. Older adults also experience a higher number of hospitalisations in comparison to any other age group. This thesis aimed to investigate the causes and consequences of impaired sleep quality for older adults during and following hospital admission. Over 80% of older adults with self-reported poor sleep do not discuss it with any health professionals. Thi...

The causal effect of institutional quality on outsourcing

OpenAIRE

H.J. Roelfsema; Zhang Yi

2009-01-01

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between institutional quality and outsourcing to developing economies. In contrast to cross-sectional studies on institutions, this paper uses panel data for 76 countries over 25 years (1980-2004). Employing panel data helps to show the causal relationship by controlling for the fixed effects and dynamic factors. Using within and IV estimations, we find that there is a positive effect of institutional quality on outsourcing in the lower-mid...

Survey the environmental effects of the household batteries on decreasing of compost quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davari, A.; Sharifan, Hamid Reza

2008-01-01

The household batteries consisted the heavy metals are one of the important pollutant for Environment. whereas Iran has no environmental policy for them and without environmental planning they input to urban waste solid so this study has surveyed effect of the household batteries in urban waste solid to decreasing of compost quality that produced in Karaj composting. For this research has sampled of compost production then analyzed for assess the heavy metal. In the laboratory the samples were grind then hair sieve to convert them to similar pieces. For the measuring metal concentration first they should be extract and finally measure by adsorption atomic spectroscope. The result show high concentration of heavy metal such as Ni, Cd, Zn, Hg, etc. that there were in produced compost. So major cause of law quality of this compost refer to concentration of heavy metals. Findings were in contrary to standard concentration for agriculture soil. It's obvious the heavy metals concentration depend to quantity of consumption the kinds of batteries

Identifying organizational deficiencies through root-cause analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuli, R.W.; Apostolakis, G.E.

1996-01-01

All nuclear power plants incorporate root-cause analysis as an instrument to help identify and isolate key factors judged to be of significance following an incident or accident. Identifying the principal deficiencies can become very difficult when the event involves not only human and machine interaction, but possibly the underlying safety and quality culture of the organization. The current state of root-cause analysis is to conclude the investigation after identifying human and/or hardware failures. In this work, root-cause analysis is taken one step further by examining plant work processes and organizational factors. This extension is considered significant to the success of the analysis, especially when management deficiency is believed to contribute to the incident. The results of root-cause analysis can be most effectively implemented if the organization, as a whole, wishes to improve the overall operation of the plant by preventing similar incidents from occurring again. The study adds to the existing root-cause analysis the ability to localize the causes of undesirable events and to focus on those problems hidden deeply within the work processes that are routinely followed in the operation and maintenance of the facility

Assessment of the Vibrations Effects Caused by Technical Seismicity Due to the Railway traffic on High-sensitivity Machinery

Science.gov (United States)

Papán, Daniel; Valašková, Veronika; Demeterová, Katarína

2016-10-01

The numerical and experimental approach in structural dynamics problems is more and more current nowadays. This approach is applied and solved in many research and developing institutions of the all the world. Vibrations effect caused by passing trains used in manufacturing facilities can affect the quality of the production activity. This effect is possible to be solved by a numerical or an experimental way. Numerical solution is not so financially and time demanding. The main aim of this article is to focus on just experimental measurement of this problem. In this paper, the case study with measurement due to cramped conditions realized in situ is presented. The case study is located close to railway. The vibration effect caused by passing trains on the high-sensitivity machinery contained in this object were observed. The structure was a high-sensitivity machine that was placed in a construction process. For the measurements, the high-sensitivity standard vibrations equipment was used. The assessments of measurements’ results were performed for the technological conditions and Slovak Standard Criteria. Both of these assessments were divided to amplitude and frequency domain. The amplitude criterion is also divided to peak particle velocity and RMS (Root Mean Square). Frequency domain assessment were realised using the frequency response curves obtained from high-sensitivity machinery manufacturer. The frequency limits are established for each axis of triaxle system. The measurement results can be predicted if the vibration have to be reduced. Measurement implemented in the production hall should obtain materials to determine the seismic loading and response of production machinery caused by technical seismicity.

Healthcare Access and Quality Index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015: a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-15

National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r=0·88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r=0·83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r=0·77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This

The effects of thoracic surgery operations on quality of life: a multicenter study.

Science.gov (United States)

Öz, Gürhan; Solak, Okan; Metin, Muzaffer; Esme, Hıdır; Sayar, Adnan

2015-10-01

Some treatment modalities may cause losses in patients' life comfort because of the treatment process. Our aim is to determine the effects of thoracic surgery operations on patients' quality of life. This is a multicenter and prospective study. A hundred patients, who had undergone posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT) and/or lateral thoracotomy (LT), were included in the study. A quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) was used to determine the changes in life comfort. SF-36 was performed before the operation, on the first month, third month, sixth month and twelfth month after the operation. Seventy-two percent (n = 72) of the patients were male. PLT was performed in 66% (n = 66) of the patients, and LT was performed in 34% (n = 34) of the patients. The types of resections in patients were pneumonectomy in four patients, lobectomy in 59 patients and wedge resection in 11 patients. No resection was performed in 26 patients. Thoracotomy caused deteriorations in physical function (PF), physical role (RP), bodily pain (BP), health, vitality and social function scores. The deteriorations observed in the third month improved in the sixth and twelfth months. The PF, RP, BP and MH scores of the patients with lung resection were much more worsened compared with the patients who did not undergo lung resection. Thoracic surgery operations caused substantial dissatisfaction in life comfort especially in the third month postoperatively. The worsening in physical function, physical role, pain and mental health is much more in patients with resection compared with the patients who did not undergo resection. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Treatment of severe mitral regurgitation caused by lesions in both ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mitral valve plasty (MVP) is preferred over mitral valve replacement (MVR) for mitral regurgitation in humans because of its favorable effect on quality of life. In small dogs, it is difficult to repair multiple lesions in both leaflets using MVP. Herein, we report a case of severe mitral regurgitation caused by multiple severe lesions ...

A comprehensive approach to quality management of intensive care services.

Science.gov (United States)

Hariharan, Seetharaman; Dey, Prasanta Kumar

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework for improving intensive care unit performance. The study introduces a quality management framework by combining cause and effect diagram and logical framework. An intensive care unit was identified for the study on the basis of its performance. The reasons for not achieving the desired performance were identified using a cause and effect diagram with the stakeholder involvement. A logical framework was developed using information from the cause and effect diagram and a detailed project plan was developed. The improvement projects were implemented and evaluated. Stakeholders identified various intensive care unit issues. Managerial performance, organizational processes and insufficient staff were considered major issues. A logical framework was developed to plan an improvement project to resolve issues raised by clinicians and patients. Improved infrastructure, state-of-the-art equipment, well maintained facilities, IT-based communication, motivated doctors, nurses and support staff, improved patient care and improved drug availability were considered the main project outputs for improving performance. The proposed framework is currently being used as a continuous quality improvement tool, providing a planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating framework for the quality improvement measures on a sustainable basis. The combined cause and effect diagram and logical framework analysis is a novel and effective approach to improving intensive care performance. Similar approaches could be adopted in any intensive care unit. The paper focuses on a uniform model that can be applied to most intensive care units.

Cause and effect in childhood obesity: solutions for a national epidemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Wieting, J Michael

2008-10-01

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. As a result, children are at increased risk for myriad preventable acute and chronic medical problems--many of which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. In addition, childhood obesity has serious psychosocial consequences, such as low self-esteem, lower quality of life, and depression. The multifaceted causes and solutions to this pervasive health issue are discussed in the present review, as are pertinent health policy issues. Osteopathic physicians and other healthcare providers can play an important role in patient and family education, direct care, and advocacy.

Assessing Educational Processes Using Total-Quality-Management Measurement Tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Macchia, Peter, Jr.

1993-01-01

Discussion of the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) assessment tools in educational settings highlights and gives examples of fishbone diagrams, or cause and effect charts; Pareto diagrams; control charts; histograms and check sheets; scatter diagrams; and flowcharts. Variation and quality are discussed in terms of continuous process…

Quality assurance and organizational effectiveness in hospitals.

OpenAIRE

Hetherington, R W

1982-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore some aspects of a general theoretical model within which research on the organizational impacts of quality assurance programs in hospitals may be examined. Quality assurance is conceptualized as an organizational control mechanism, operating primarily through increased formalization of structures and specification of procedures. Organizational effectiveness is discussed from the perspective of the problem-solving theory of organizations, wherein effecti...

Effect of salinity on grain yield and grain quality of wheat (triticum aestivum l.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbas, G.; Saqib, M.; Rafique, Q.; Rahman, A.U.; Akhtar, J.; Haq, M.A.U.

2013-01-01

Salinity is one of the important stresses resulting in the reduction of growth and yield of different crops including wheat. In saline soils the concentration of Na/sup +/ and Cl/sup -/ is higher accompanied with the decreased K/sup +/: Na/sup +/ ratio thus severely affecting the growth and yield of crops. The effect of salinity on the growth and yield of wheat is well documented, whereas there is very little information about salinity tolerance and grain quality of wheat. Present study was conducted to assess the effect of salinity on yield components, ionic relations and grain quality and to understand the relationship among these parameters. A pot experiment was conducted using wheat genotype Pasban-90. There were two treatments i.e. non-saline (0.33 dS m/sup -1/) and saline (15 dS m/sup -1/) with five replications. Salinity resulted in a significant reduction of the grain protein, fat and fiber contents. Similarly yield components were significantly reduced. Maximum reduction was noted in case of number of tillers plant/sup -1/, followed by grain weight plant/sup -1/. High Na/sup +/ and low K/sup +/, P concentration and K/sup +/: Na/sup +/ ratio was observed in the shoot, root and grain. This disturbed ionic composition seems to be apparent cause of yield reduction and deterioration of wheat quality under salinity. (author)

A Synthesis of Sierran Forest Biomass Management Studies and Potential Effects on Water Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J. Weisberg

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The Lake Tahoe basin, located along the California and Nevada border between the Carson and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, represents a complex forested ecosystem consisting of numerous sub-watersheds and tributaries that discharge directly to Lake Tahoe. This synthesis focuses on historical and current nutrient pools and the effects of biomass management in watersheds of the basin relative to their potential impacts on nutrient (N, P related discharge water quality. An accumulating forest floor as a result of fire suppression has resulted in the build-up of large nutrient pools that now provide a “natural” source of long term nutrient availability to surface waters. As a consequence, stand and forest floor replacing wildfire may cause a large magnitude nutrient mobilization impact on runoff water quality. Hence, mechanical harvest and controlled burning have become popular management strategies. The most ecologically significant long-term effects of controlled fire appear to be the loss of C and N from the forest floor. Although the application of controlled fire may have some initial impact on overland/litter interflow nutrient loading, controlled burning in conjunction with mechanical harvest has the potential to improve runoff water quality by reducing N and P discharge and improving the overall health of forest ecosystems without the danger of a high intensity wildfire.

Effects of farm management practices and transport duration on stress response and meat quality traits of suckling goat kids.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcalde, M J; Suárez, M D; Rodero, E; Álvarez, R; Sáez, M I; Martínez, T F

2017-09-01

Studies aimed to assess up to what extent farming and transport previous to slaughtering might affect physiology and meat quality in young goat kids are needed, with the ultimate purpose of promoting practices that minimize stress in these animals. In this regard the effects of on-farm management and transport duration on some physiological responses and meat quality parameters in goat kids were assessed. Two farms representing 'high' and 'low' welfare-friendly management practices were selected. In total, 32 suckling kids were withdrawn from each farm, transported by road for 2 or 6 h, and then slaughtered. Blood samples were collected both on-farm and in the slaughterhouse, and biochemistry, cell counts and haematocrit were determined. After slaughtering, carcass quality parameters were measured. Longissimus dorsi muscle was dissected and pH, colour parameters, water holding capacity and shear force were measured throughout 8-day ageing period. Results indicate that, regardless its duration, transport caused significant effects on some blood parameters suggesting stress in live animals, like glucose, cortisol or creatine kinase. Despite the marked stress status in animals, this condition was not decisively reflected on L. dorsi quality parameters, but some effects were observed regarding fat cover in carcasses and colour parameters. The results suggest that postmortem changes throughout ageing were more decisive in terms of meat quality than stressful management either on-farm or during transport.

Quality effects caused by torrefaction of pellets made from Scots pine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shang, Lei; Nielsen, Niels Peter K.; Dahl, Jonas

2012-01-01

by mechanical compression was determined using a material tester and results showed a rapid decrease before torrefaction temperature reached 250°C. Slightly further decrease was observed when increasing the temperature up to 270°C. The strength loss was confirmed by determining the energy required for grinding...... the pellet samples in a bench scale disc mill. Particle size distribution measurements after grinding indicated a significant increase of small particles (diameterca. 2mm). To further analyze the effect on strength, the mechanical durability of pellets was tested according to wood pellet standards, EN 15210...

Root cause - A regulatory perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huey, F.R.

1990-01-01

During the past 3 yr, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) region V has been pursuing an initiative with region V power reactor licensees to provide improved and more consistent performance in event evaluation. The objectives of the initiative have been to encourage licensees to (a) develop improved skills within the plant organization for events evaluation, with particular emphasis on formal root-cause analysis, and (b) to increase the number of events subjected to root-cause analysis. The NRC's continuing effort now focuses on the need for more consistent quality of event evaluation by licensees. As current licensee programs continue to develop, the NRC will be paying additional attention to how well licensees maintain these programs as an effective and useful tool. Now that licensees have taken the initial steps to establish these programs, licensee management will need to provide continuing attention to ensure that the process does not become overly cumbersome. It is important that the final format for the root-cause programs be easy to use and recognized as being a valuable tool by all licensee personnel involved in the event evaluation process. This will become increasingly important as licensees expand the population of events requiring root-cause analysis and place additional responsibility on the line organization for the implementation of these programs

Social acceptance and quality of life of leprosy patient

Science.gov (United States)

Eyanoer, P. C.

2018-03-01

Some of the leprosy patients facing problems in many aspects such as social, economic, cultural and national security. Both the debilitating effects and disfigurements of leprosy, the society tends to stigmatize negatively those suffering from leprosy. The impact of negative stigma on society causes depression and problems in workplace cause difficulty in patient’s daily life. Neuropathic pain disturbs the quality of life of leprosy patients which could become so severe and significant. The neuropathic pain will lower their productivity which later caused difficulties in finding a job. This study was an analytical observational study to identify the correlation between neuropathic pain and quality of life in Leprosy Hospital of Scanning in Medan Belawan. The result showed that there is a correlation between neuropathic pain and disruption of quality of life (p=0.017). In conclusion, the milder the neuropathic pain experienced by persons with leprosy, the less the quality of life will be disturbed.

Effect of Vitamin E and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Cryopreserved Sperm Quality in Bos taurus Bulls Under Testicular Heat Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Losano, João D A; Angrimani, Daniel S R; Dalmazzo, Andressa; Rocha, Carolina C; Brito, Maíra M; Perez, Eduardo G A; Tsunoda, Roberta H; Góes, Paola A A; Mendes, Camilla M; Assumpção, Mayra E O A; Barnabe, Valquiria H; Nichi, Marcilio

2018-04-03

Taurine bulls are highly susceptible to heat stress, leading to increased oxidative stress (OS) and impaired sperm viability. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) supplementation can be an alternative to improve semen quality, which also results in more sperm susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. Moreover, this deleterious effect can be exacerbated in animals affected by heat stress. Vitamin E is a key antioxidant that counteracts lipid peroxidation of sperm membrane caused by OS. Thus, combining PUFAs with vitamin E may improve sperm quality. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of interaction between PUFAs and vitamin E on sperm quality in Bos taurus bulls under testicular heat stress. Sixteen taurine bulls under testicular heat stress were randomly assigned in four groups: Control, Vitamin E, PUFA, and PUFA + Vitamin E. All groups lasted for 60 days. Samples were cryopreserved/thawed and analyzed for motility variables (CASA), membrane and acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, susceptibility to oxidative stress, DNA integrity, and sperm-binding capacity. Results showed that vitamin E had a beneficial effect on some sperm characteristics, whereas PUFA supplementation had an adverse effect when the two treatments were evaluated separately. Finally, the association between PUFAs and vitamin E did not improve sperm quality.

The Effect of Multi Sensory Stimulation (MSS) on Cognitive Disturbances and Quality of Life of Male Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

OpenAIRE

Mahdi Mahboubinia; Asghar Dalvandi; Kian Nourozi; Nasrin Mahmoudi; Shadi Sadat Safavi; Samaneh Hosseinzadeh

2012-01-01

Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease causes many negative effects on the individual's physical, psychological and cognitive conditions. The multi sensory stimulation helps the patients to improve their physical, psychological and cognitive conditions. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of multi sensory stimulation on cognitive status and quality of life of the patients with Alzheimer’s disease which was resident in Nasimshahr elders' center. Methods: In this quasi-exp...

Do Carpets Impair Indoor Air Quality and Cause Adverse Health Outcomes: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rune Becher

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Several earlier studies have shown the presence of more dust and allergens in carpets compared with non-carpeted floors. At the same time, adverse effects of carpeted floors on perceived indoor air quality as well as worsening of symptoms in individuals with asthma and allergies were reported. Avoiding extensive carpet use in offices, schools, kindergartens and bedrooms has therefore been recommended by several health authorities. More recently, carpet producers have argued that former assessments were obsolete and that modern rugs are unproblematic, even for those with asthma and allergies. To investigate whether the recommendation to be cautious with the use of carpets is still valid, or whether there are new data supporting that carpet flooring do not present a problem for indoor air quality and health, we have reviewed the literature on this matter. We have not found updated peer reviewed evidence that carpeted floor is unproblematic for the indoor environment. On the contrary, also more recent data support that carpets may act as a repository for pollutants which may become resuspended upon activity in the carpeted area. Also, the use of carpets is still linked to perception of reduced indoor air quality as well as adverse health effects as previously reported. To our knowledge, there are no publications that report on deposition of pollutants and adverse health outcomes associated with modern rugs. However, due to the three-dimensional structure of carpets, any carpet will to some extent act like a sink. Thus, continued caution should still be exercised when considering the use of wall-to-wall carpeted floors in schools, kindergartens and offices, as well as in children’s bedrooms unless special needs indicate that carpets are preferable.

Root Cause Assessment for a Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Kalantri

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Root-cause identification for quality related problems are key issues for manufacturing processes. It has been a very challenging engineering problem particularly in a multistage manufacturing, where maximum number of processes and activities are performed. However, it may also be implemented with ease in each and every individual set up and activities in any manufacturing process. Kaizen is aimed towards reduction in different types of losses i.e. Failure Loss/ Breakdown Loss, Minor stoppage, idling loss, Setup and adjustment loss etc. So as to improve quality and productivity.In this report, root-cause identification methodology has been adopted to eliminate the rejection of product manufactured by the enterprise and improving the life of product. Brainstorming and other Root Cause Assesmenttools have been used to find out the reasons of tube failure and vibration in tubular strander. Solutions of these problems have also given in this report. Kaizen activities have reduced the time consumed in daily activities of cleaning, lubricating, inspection etc. A detailed study has illustrated the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

The Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Financing and Investment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Windy Angela

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analysis the effect of reporting quality on financing and investment. It is important for us to understand the relation among them in order to prepare Indonesian companies for ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. The study examines the effect of financial reporting quality on financing and investment of 15 Indonesian companies with large market capitalization based on the Standard and Poor’s Rating Services in its first survey of the major corporate credit trends in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN. Those companies may still be under-investing in relation to its regional peers. The results suggest that (1 financial reporting quality has negative effect on financing. (2 financial reporting quality has positive effect on investment among companies with higher likelihood of over-investing and negative effect on investment among those with higher likelihood of under-investing.DOI: 10.15408/etk.v16i1.4600 

The probable effect of integrated reporting on audit quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamer A. El Nashar

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines a probable effect of integrated reporting on improving the audit quality of organizations. I correlate the hypothesis of this paper in relation to the current trends of protecting the economies, the financial markets and the societies. I predict an improvement of the audit quality, as a result to an estimated percentage of organizations’ reliance on the integrated reporting in their accountability perspective. I used a decision tree and a Bayes’ theorem approach, to predict the probabilities of the significant effect on improving the auditing quality. I find the overall result of this paper, indicates that the probability of organizations to rely on the integrated reporting by a significant percentage, predicts also a significant improvement in audit quality.

Causes, Effects and Possible Solution of Seasonal Egg Gluts: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study was conducted to assess small holder poultry farmers' perspectives on the causes, effects and solution to the cyclical egg glut in Ejigbo, Nigeria using questionnaire for data collection and descriptive data analysis. Farmers interviewed agreed that government policies have a registered effect on drop of egg sales ...

The effects of hospital competition on inpatient quality of care.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutter, Ryan L; Wong, Herbert S; Goldfarb, Marsha G

2008-01-01

Existing empirical studies have produced inconclusive, and sometimes contradictory, findings on the effects of hospital competition on inpatient quality of care. These inconsistencies may be due to the use of different methodologies, hospital competition measures, and hospital quality measures. This paper applies the Quality Indicator software from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to the 1997 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases to create three versions (i.e., observed, risk-adjusted, and "smoothed") of 38 distinct measures of inpatient quality. The relationship between 12 different hospital competition measures and these quality measures are assessed, using ordinary least squares, two-step efficient generalized method of moments, and negative binomial regression techniques. We find that across estimation strategies, hospital competition has an impact on a number of hospital quality measures. However, the effect is not unidirectional: some indicators show improvements in hospital quality with greater levels of competition, some show decreases in hospital quality, and others are unaffected. We provide hypotheses based on emerging areas of research that could explain these findings, but inconsistencies remain.

Hair Loss: Common Causes and Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, T Grant; Slomiany, W Paul; Allison, Robert

2017-09-15

Hair loss is often distressing and can have a significant effect on the patient's quality of life. Patients may present to their family physician first with diffuse or patchy hair loss. Scarring alopecia is best evaluated by a dermatologist. Nonscarring alopecias can be readily diagnosed and treated in the family physician's office. Androgenetic alopecia can be diagnosed clinically and treated with minoxidil. Alopecia areata is diagnosed by typical patches of hair loss and is self-limited. Tinea capitis causes patches of alopecia that may be erythematous and scaly and must be treated systemically. Telogen effluvium is a nonscarring, noninflammatory alopecia of relatively sudden onset caused by physiologic or emotional stress. Once the precipitating cause is removed, the hair typically will regrow. Trichotillomania is an impulse-control disorder; treatment is aimed at controlling the underlying psychiatric condition. Trichorrhexis nodosa occurs when hairs break secondary to trauma and is often a result of hair styling or overuse of hair products. Anagen effluvium is the abnormal diffuse loss of hair during the growth phase caused by an event that impairs the mitotic activity of the hair follicle, most commonly chemotherapy. Physician support is especially important for patients in this situation.

The Effect of Hospital Service Quality on Patient's Trust.

Science.gov (United States)

Zarei, Ehsan; Daneshkohan, Abbas; Khabiri, Roghayeh; Arab, Mohammad

2015-01-01

The trust is meant the belief of the patient to the practitioner or the hospital based on the concept that the care provider seeks the best for the patient and will provide the suitable care and treatment for him/her. One of the main determinants of patient's trust is the service quality. This study aimed to examine the effect of quality of services provided in private hospitals on the patient's trust. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 969 patients were selected using the consecutive method from eight private general hospitals of Tehran, Iran, in 2010. Data were collected through a questionnaire containing 20 items (14 items for quality, 6 items for trust) and its validity and reliability were confirmed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression. The mean score of patients' perception of trust was 3.80 and 4.01 for service quality. Approximately 38% of the variance in patient trust was explained by service quality dimensions. Quality of interaction and process (P quality of the environment had no significant effect on the patients' degree of trust. The interaction quality and process quality were the key determinants of patient's trust in the private hospitals of Tehran. To enhance the patients' trust, quality improvement efforts should focus on service delivery aspects such as scheduling, timely and accurate doing of the service, and strengthening the interpersonal aspects of care and communication skills of doctors, nurses and staff.

Revisiting the Effect of Anthropomorphizing a Social Cause Campaign.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa A Williams

Full Text Available Recent research suggests that anthropomorphism can be harnessed as a tool to boost intentions to comply with social cause campaigns. Drawing on the human tendency to extend moral concern to entities portrayed as humanlike, it has been argued that adding personified features to a social campaign elevates anticipated guilt at failing to comply, and this subsequently boosts intentions to comply with that campaign. The present research aimed to extend extant research by disentangling the effects of emotional and non-emotional anthropomorphism, and differentiating amongst other emotional mechanisms of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect (namely, anticipated pride and anticipated regret. Experiment 1 (N = 294 compared the effectiveness of positive, negative, and emotionally-neutral anthropomorphized campaign posters for boosting campaign compliance intentions against non-anthropomorphized posters. We also measured potential mechanisms including anticipated guilt, regret, and pride. Results failed to support the anthropomorphism-compliance effect, and no changes in anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. Experiments 2 (N = 150 and 3 (N = 196 represented further tests of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect. Despite high statistical power and efforts to closely replicate the conditions under which the anthropomorphism-compliance effect had been previously observed, no differences in compliance intention or anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. A meta-analysis of the effects of anthropomorphism on compliance and anticipated emotion across the three experiments revealed effect size estimates that did not differ significantly from zero. The results of these three experiments suggest that the anthropomorphism-compliance effect is fragile and perhaps subject to contextual and idiographic influences. Thus, this research provides important insight and impetus for future research on the applied and theoretical

Revisiting the Effect of Anthropomorphizing a Social Cause Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Lisa A; Masser, Barbara; Sun, Jessie

2015-01-01

Recent research suggests that anthropomorphism can be harnessed as a tool to boost intentions to comply with social cause campaigns. Drawing on the human tendency to extend moral concern to entities portrayed as humanlike, it has been argued that adding personified features to a social campaign elevates anticipated guilt at failing to comply, and this subsequently boosts intentions to comply with that campaign. The present research aimed to extend extant research by disentangling the effects of emotional and non-emotional anthropomorphism, and differentiating amongst other emotional mechanisms of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect (namely, anticipated pride and anticipated regret). Experiment 1 (N = 294) compared the effectiveness of positive, negative, and emotionally-neutral anthropomorphized campaign posters for boosting campaign compliance intentions against non-anthropomorphized posters. We also measured potential mechanisms including anticipated guilt, regret, and pride. Results failed to support the anthropomorphism-compliance effect, and no changes in anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. Experiments 2 (N = 150) and 3 (N = 196) represented further tests of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect. Despite high statistical power and efforts to closely replicate the conditions under which the anthropomorphism-compliance effect had been previously observed, no differences in compliance intention or anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. A meta-analysis of the effects of anthropomorphism on compliance and anticipated emotion across the three experiments revealed effect size estimates that did not differ significantly from zero. The results of these three experiments suggest that the anthropomorphism-compliance effect is fragile and perhaps subject to contextual and idiographic influences. Thus, this research provides important insight and impetus for future research on the applied and theoretical utility of

Use of low-dose UV-C irradiation to control powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera aphanis on strawberry plants

Science.gov (United States)

Powdery mildew of strawberry plants, caused by Podoshaera aphanis, can cause severe losses by reducing fruit yield, quality and predisposing fruit to other diseases. Fungicides have been routinely used to control this disease. However, limitations mainly related to their effectiveness, re-entry pe...

The Effects of the Sleep Quality of 112 Emergency Health Workers in Kayseri, Turkey on Their Professional Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Senol, Vesile; Soyuer, Ferhan; Guleser, Gulsum Nihal; Argun, Mahmut; Avsarogullari, Levent

2014-12-01

Sleep adequacy is one of the major determinants of a successful professional life. The aim of this study is to determine the sleep quality of emergency health workers and analyze its effects on their professional and social lives. The study was carried out on 121 voluntary emergency health workers in 112 Emergency Aid Stations in Kayseri, Turkey, in 2011. The data was collected through the Socio-Demographics Form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and analyzed via SPSS 18.00. The statistical analysis involved percentage and frequency distributions, mean±standard deviations, a chi-square test, correlations, and logistic regression analysis. The mean score of the participants according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was 4.14±3.09, and 28.9% of participants had poor sleep quality. Being single and being a woman accounted for 11% (p=0.009, 95% CI: 0.111-0.726) and 7% (p=0.003, 95% CI: 0.065-0.564) of poor sleep quality respectively. There was a positive correlation between sleep quality scores and negative effects on professional and social life activities. Negative effects on professional activities included increased loss of attention and concentration (40.0%, p=0,016), increased failure to take emergency actions (57.9%, p=0.001), reduced motivation (46.2%, p=0.004), reduced performance (41.4%, p=0.024), and low work efficiency (48.1%, p=0.008). Poor sleep quality generally negatively affected the daily life of the workers (51.6%, p=0.004), restricted their social life activities (45.7%, p=0.034), and caused them to experience communication difficulties (34.7%, p=0.229). One third of the emergency health workers had poor sleep quality and experienced high levels of sleep deficiency. Being a woman and being single were the most important factors in low sleep quality. Poor sleep quality continuously affected daily life and professional life negatively by leading to a serious level of fatigue, loss of attention-concentration, and low levels of

Analyses of Blood Bank Efficiency, Cost-Effectiveness and Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Hwai-Tai Chen

In view of the increasing costs of hospital care, it is essential to investigate methods to improve the labor efficiency and the cost-effectiveness of the hospital technical core in order to control costs while maintaining the quality of care. This study was conducted to develop indices to measure efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and the quality of blood banks; to identify factors associated with efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality; and to generate strategies to improve blood bank labor efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Indices developed in this study for labor efficiency and cost-effectiveness were not affected by patient case mix and illness severity. Factors that were associated with labor efficiency were identified as managerial styles, and organizational designs that balance workload and labor resources. Medical directors' managerial involvement was not associated with labor efficiency, but their continuing education and specialty in blood bank were found to reduce the performance of unnecessary tests. Surprisingly, performing unnecessary tests had no association with labor efficiency. This suggested the existence of labor slack in blood banks. Cost -effectiveness was associated with workers' benefits, wages, and the production of high-end transfusion products by hospital-based donor rooms. Quality indices used in this study included autologous transfusion rates, platelet transfusion rates, and the check points available in an error-control system. Because the autologous transfusion rate was related to patient case mix, severity of illness, and possible inappropriate transfusion, it was not recommended to be used for quality index. Platelet-pheresis transfusion rates were associated with the transfusion preferences of the blood bank medical directors. The total number of check points in an error -control system was negatively associated with government ownership and workers' experience. Recommendations for improving labor efficiency and cost-effectiveness

Effect of nasal deviation on quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

de Lima Ramos, Sueli; Hochman, Bernardo; Gomes, Heitor Carvalho; Abla, Luiz Eduardo Felipe; Veiga, Daniela Francescato; Juliano, Yara; Dini, Gal Moreira; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

2011-07-01

Nasal deviation is a common complaint in otorhinolaryngology and plastic surgery. This condition not only causes impairment of nasal function but also affects quality of life, leading to psychological distress. The subjective assessment of quality of life, as an important aspect of outcomes research, has received increasing attention in recent decades. Quality of life is measured using standardized questionnaires that have been tested for reliability, validity, and sensitivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-related quality of life, self-esteem, and depression in patients with nasal deviation. Sixty patients were selected for the study. Patients with nasal deviation (n = 32) were assigned to the study group, and patients without nasal deviation (n = 28) were assigned to the control group. The diagnosis of nasal deviation was made by digital photogrammetry. Quality of life was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem/Federal University of São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina Scale; and the 20-item Self-Report Questionnaire. There were significant differences between groups in the physical functioning and general health subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (p < 0.05). Depression was detected in 11 patients (34.4 percent) in the study group and in two patients in the control group, with a significant difference between groups (p < 0.05). Nasal deviation is an aspect of rhinoplasty of which the surgeon should be aware so that proper psychological diagnosis can be made and suitable treatment can be planned because psychologically the patients with nasal deviation have significantly worse quality of life and are more prone to depression. Risk, II.(Figure is included in full-text article.).

Quality and Efficiency Improvement Tools for Every Radiologist.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudla, Alexei U; Brook, Olga R

2018-03-20

In an era of value-based medicine, data-driven quality improvement is more important than ever to ensure safe and efficient imaging services. Familiarity with high-value tools enables all radiologists to successfully engage in quality and efficiency improvement. In this article, we review the model for improvement, strategies for measurement, and common practical tools with real-life examples that include Run chart, Control chart (Shewhart chart), Fishbone (Cause-and-Effect or Ishikawa) diagram, Pareto chart, 5 Whys, and Root Cause Analysis. Copyright © 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microphone Handling Noise: Measurements of Perceptual Threshold and Effects on Audio Quality.

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Paul Kendrick

Full Text Available A psychoacoustic experiment was carried out to test the effects of microphone handling noise on perceived audio quality. Handling noise is a problem affecting both amateurs using their smartphones and cameras, as well as professionals using separate microphones and digital recorders. The noises used for the tests were measured from a variety of devices, including smartphones, laptops and handheld microphones. The signal features that characterise these noises are analysed and presented. The sounds include various types of transient, impact noises created by tapping or knocking devices, as well as more sustained sounds caused by rubbing. During the perceptual tests, listeners auditioned speech podcasts and were asked to rate the degradation of any unwanted sounds they heard. A representative design test methodology was developed that tried to encourage everyday rather than analytical listening. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR of the handling noise events was shown to be the best predictor of quality degradation. Other factors such as noise type or background noise in the listening environment did not significantly affect quality ratings. Podcast, microphone type and reproduction equipment were found to be significant but only to a small extent. A model allowing the prediction of degradation from the SNR is presented. The SNR threshold at which 50% of subjects noticed handling noise was found to be 4.2 ± 0.6 dBA. The results from this work are important for the understanding of our perception of impact sound and resonant noises in recordings, and will inform the future development of an automated predictor of quality for handling noise.

Assessment of frozen storage duration effect on quality characteristics of various horse muscles

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Pil Nam Seong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective The study aimed at assessing the effects of frozen storage duration on quality characteristics, lipid oxidation and sensory quality of various horse muscles. Methods Five representative muscles: longissimus dorsi (LD, gluteus medius (GM, semimembranosus (SM, biceps femoris (BF, and triceps brachii (TB at 24 h post-mortem obtained from 28-mo-old Jeju female breed horses (n = 8 were used in the present investigation. The muscles were vacuum-packaged and frozen at −20°C for 120, 240, and 360 days. All the samples were analyzed for thawing and cooking losses, pH, Warner–Bratzler shear forces (WBSF, color traits, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS and sensory traits. The muscle samples analyzed on day 0 of frozen storage (fresh, non-frozen were used for comparison. Results Results revealed that thawing and cooking losses significantly (p<0.05 increased in all the muscles after 120 days and then remained unchanged up to 360 days of frozen storage. The TBARS and TVBN contents significantly increased as increasing frozen storage time up to 360 days (p<0.05. While, significant decreases in WBSF values were observed for all the muscles with increased frozen storage time (p<0.05. Frozen storage variously affected the color traits of the muscles for instance; the redness of LD, GM, and BF muscles showed a decreasing tendency during frozen storage while it was not changed in TB and SM muscles. Furthermore, the frozen storage did not produce detrimental effects on sensory quality as it did not cause flavor and juiciness defects whereas it partially improved the tenderness of all the muscles studied. Conclusion Based on the results obtained from our work, it is concluded that frozen storage could be applied to increase the long-term shelf life of horsemeat while still retaining its sensory quality.

CAUSE AND EFFECT IN PROMOTING A PROJECT

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SEVERIAN-VLĂDUȚ IACOB

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For a project to be considered successful it is necessary, besides a proper coordination, to be also done a good and wide promotion. In view of communication, promotion and maintenance ensures the organization's image. Disturbances occurring in any type of project, as a result of poor promotion, affect the image of the team and highlight the weaknesses in its management. Therefore, the promotion should be permanently monitored and evaluated. Cause-effect analysis is one of the ways we can identify some of nonconformities of the promotion process within a project.

Space storms and radiation causes and effects

CERN Document Server

Schrijver, Carolus J

2010-01-01

Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific discipline that integrates studies of the Sun's variability, the surrounding heliosphere, and the environment and climate of planets. The Sun is a magnetically variable star and for planets with intrinsic magnetic fields, planets with atmospheres, or planets like Earth with both, there are profound consequences. This 2010 volume, the second in this series of three heliophysics texts, integrates the many aspects of space storms and the energetic radiation associated with them - from causes on the Sun to effects in planetary environments. It reviews t

Quality Control in Production Processes

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Prístavka Miroslav

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The tools for quality management are used for quality improvement throughout the whole Europe and developed countries. Simple statistics are considered one of the most basic methods. The goal was to apply the simple statistical methods to practice and to solve problems by using them. Selected methods are used for processing the list of internal discrepancies within the organization, and for identification of the root cause of the problem and its appropriate solution. Seven basic quality tools are simple graphical tools, but very effective in solving problems related to quality. They are called essential because they are suitable for people with at least basic knowledge in statistics; therefore, they can be used to solve the vast majority of problems.

POOR QUALITY OF PRODUCT DESIGN AS A CAUSE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS: A CASE STUDY

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Janko D. Jovanović

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Quality of product design, which is expected from manufacturers on world market these days, could be provided exclusively by integral approach to product design. Such approach aims to achievement of optimal design solution of product, which is in line with a number of requirements, conditions and limitations of functionality, technology, market and usage. Only those manufacturers who are able to provide such approach to product design have prospective on market. This paper deals with a case study of neglect of integral approach to product design and its consequencies, in order to spread awareness of necessity of its adoption. Scope of this case study is focused on bridge crane whose working vibrations are meant to be potential cause of occupational desease of spinal column of crane operator.

Reduced Stress and Improved Sleep Quality Caused by Green Tea Are Associated with a Reduced Caffeine Content

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Keiko Unno

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Caffeine, one of the main components in green tea, can interfere with sleep and block the effect of theanine. Since theanine, the main amino acid in tea leaves, has significant anti-stress effects in animals and humans, we examined the effects of green tea with lowered caffeine content, i.e., low-caffeine green tea (LCGT, on stress and quality of sleep of middle–aged individuals (n = 20, mean age 51.3 ± 6.7 years in a double-blind crossover design. Standard green tea (SGT was used as the control. These teas (≥300 mL/day, which were eluted with room temperature water, were consumed over a period of seven days after a single washout term. The level of salivary α-amylase activity (sAA, a stress marker, was significantly lower in participants that consumed LCGT (64.7 U/mL than in those that consumed SGT (73.9 U/mL. Sleep quality was higher in participants that consumed a larger quantity of LCGT. In addition, a self-diagnostic check for accumulated fatigue was significantly lower in those participants that consumed LCGT than SGT. These results indicate that LCGT intake can reduce stress in middle-aged individuals and improve their quality of sleep. The reduction in caffeine is suggested to be a valid reason for enhancing the anti-stress effect of green tea.

Reduced Stress and Improved Sleep Quality Caused by Green Tea Are Associated with a Reduced Caffeine Content.

Science.gov (United States)

Unno, Keiko; Noda, Shigenori; Kawasaki, Yohei; Yamada, Hiroshi; Morita, Akio; Iguchi, Kazuaki; Nakamura, Yoriyuki

2017-07-19

Caffeine, one of the main components in green tea, can interfere with sleep and block the effect of theanine. Since theanine, the main amino acid in tea leaves, has significant anti-stress effects in animals and humans, we examined the effects of green tea with lowered caffeine content, i.e., low-caffeine green tea (LCGT), on stress and quality of sleep of middle-aged individuals ( n = 20, mean age 51.3 ± 6.7 years) in a double-blind crossover design. Standard green tea (SGT) was used as the control. These teas (≥300 mL/day), which were eluted with room temperature water, were consumed over a period of seven days after a single washout term. The level of salivary α-amylase activity (sAA), a stress marker, was significantly lower in participants that consumed LCGT (64.7 U/mL) than in those that consumed SGT (73.9 U/mL). Sleep quality was higher in participants that consumed a larger quantity of LCGT. In addition, a self-diagnostic check for accumulated fatigue was significantly lower in those participants that consumed LCGT than SGT. These results indicate that LCGT intake can reduce stress in middle-aged individuals and improve their quality of sleep. The reduction in caffeine is suggested to be a valid reason for enhancing the anti-stress effect of green tea.

the effect of hypertension on neurocognitive functioning and quality ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Esem

survey domains. Conclusion: Quality of life seems to be more affected .... Relationship between Quality of Life and side effects of medication. ... swings, alertness, sleep disorders, performance at work, and relations with family. In many cases ...

Power quality in power systems and electrical machines

CERN Document Server

Fuchs, Ewald

2015-01-01

The second edition of this must-have reference covers power quality issues in four parts, including new discussions related to renewable energy systems. The first part of the book provides background on causes, effects, standards, and measurements of power quality and harmonics. Once the basics are established the authors move on to harmonic modeling of power systems, including components and apparatus (electric machines). The final part of the book is devoted to power quality mitigation approaches and devices, and the fourth part extends the analysis to power quality solutions for renewable

Cause-Effect Analysis: Improvement of a First Year Engineering Students' Calculus Teaching Model

Science.gov (United States)

van der Hoff, Quay; Harding, Ansie

2017-01-01

This study focuses on the mathematics department at a South African university and in particular on teaching of calculus to first year engineering students. The paper reports on a cause-effect analysis, often used for business improvement. The cause-effect analysis indicates that there are many factors that impact on secondary school teaching of…

Effects of nonindigenous invasive species on water quality and quantity

Science.gov (United States)

Frank H. McCormick; Glen C. Contreras; Sherri L. Johnson

2010-01-01

Physical and biological disruptions of aquatic systems caused by invasive species alter water quantity and water quality. Recent evidence suggests that water is a vector for the spread of Sudden Oak Death disease and Port-Orfordcedar root disease. Since the 1990s, the public has become increasingly aware of the presence of invasive species in the Nation’s waters. Media...

Causes of Indiscipline in the Family and Its Effect on the Child ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Causes of Indiscipline in the Family and Its Effect on the Child. ... Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. ... revealed causes of indiscipline in the home to include lack of attention/love from parents, poor parent-child relationship, ...

Cost-effectiveness of a pressure ulcer quality collaborative

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Bal Roland

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A quality improvement collaborative (QIC in the Dutch long-term care sector (nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home care used evidence-based prevention methods to reduce the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers (PUs. The collaborative consisted of a core team of experts and 25 organizational project teams. Our aim was to determine its cost-effectiveness from a healthcare perspective. Methods We used a non-controlled pre-post design to establish the change in incidence and prevalence of PUs in 88 patients over the course of a year. Staff indexed data and prevention methods (activities, materials. Quality of life (Qol weights were assigned to the PU states. We assessed the costs of activities and materials in the project. A Markov model was built based on effectiveness and cost data, complemented with a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. To illustrate the results of longer term, three scenarios were created in which change in incidence and prevalence measures were (1 not sustained, (2 partially sustained, and (3 completely sustained. Results Incidence of PUs decreased from 15% to 4.5% for the 88 patients. Prevalence decreased from 38.6% to 22.7%. Average Quality of Life (Qol of patients increased by 0.02 Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs in two years; healthcare costs increased by €2000 per patient; the Incremental Cost-effectiveness Ratio (ICER was between 78,500 and 131,000 depending on whether the changes in incidence and prevalence of PU were sustained. Conclusions During the QIC PU incidence and prevalence significantly declined. When compared to standard PU care, the QIC was probably more costly and more effective in the short run, but its long-term cost-effectiveness is questionable. The QIC can only be cost-effective if the changes in incidence and prevalence of PU are sustained.

Cost-effectiveness of a pressure ulcer quality collaborative.

Science.gov (United States)

Makai, Peter; Koopmanschap, Marc; Bal, Roland; Nieboer, Anna P

2010-06-01

A quality improvement collaborative (QIC) in the Dutch long-term care sector (nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home care) used evidence-based prevention methods to reduce the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers (PUs). The collaborative consisted of a core team of experts and 25 organizational project teams. Our aim was to determine its cost-effectiveness from a healthcare perspective. We used a non-controlled pre-post design to establish the change in incidence and prevalence of PUs in 88 patients over the course of a year. Staff indexed data and prevention methods (activities, materials). Quality of life (Qol) weights were assigned to the PU states. We assessed the costs of activities and materials in the project. A Markov model was built based on effectiveness and cost data, complemented with a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. To illustrate the results of longer term, three scenarios were created in which change in incidence and prevalence measures were (1) not sustained, (2) partially sustained, and (3) completely sustained. Incidence of PUs decreased from 15% to 4.5% for the 88 patients. Prevalence decreased from 38.6% to 22.7%. Average Quality of Life (Qol) of patients increased by 0.02 Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY)s in two years; healthcare costs increased by euro2000 per patient; the Incremental Cost-effectiveness Ratio (ICER) was between 78,500 and 131,000 depending on whether the changes in incidence and prevalence of PU were sustained. During the QIC PU incidence and prevalence significantly declined. When compared to standard PU care, the QIC was probably more costly and more effective in the short run, but its long-term cost-effectiveness is questionable. The QIC can only be cost-effective if the changes in incidence and prevalence of PU are sustained.

Effects of aromatherapy massage on the sleep quality and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

related concerns, unknown encounters after surgery, quality of sleep, restrictions in position after surgery is known to be serious. The study was conducted to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage on quality of sleep and physiological ...

Effects of T'ai Chi exercise on fibromyalgia symptoms and health-related quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Taggart, Helen M; Arslanian, Christine L; Bae, Sejong; Singh, Karan

2003-01-01

Fibromyalgia (FM), one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders, is associated with high levels of impaired health and inadequate or limited symptom relief. The cause of this complex syndrome is unknown, and there is no known cure. Numerous research results indicate that a combination of physical exercise and mind-body therapy is effective in symptom management. T'ai Chi, an ancient Chinese exercise, combines physical exercise with mindbody therapy. To investigate the effects of T'ai Chi exercise on FM symptoms and health-related quality of life. Pilot study, one group pre-to-post posttest design. Participants with FM (n = 39) formed a single group for 6 weeks of 1-hour, twice weekly T'ai Chi exercise classes. FM symptoms and health-related quality of life were measured before and after exercise. Twenty-one participants completed at least 10 of the 12 exercise sessions. Although the dropout rate was higher than expected, measurements on both the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) (Buckhardt, Clark, & Bennett, 1991) and the Short Form-36 (SE-36) (Ware & Sherbourne, 1992) revealed statistically significant improvement in symptom management and health-related quality of life. Knowledge of interventions to enhance health for the patient with musculoskeletal problems is a National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses priority. Tai Chi is potentially beneficial to patients with FM. Further research is needed to support evidence-based practice.

Effect of Processing on the Quality of Pineapple Juice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hounhouigan, M.H.; Linnemann, A.R.; Soumanou, M.M.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.

2014-01-01

Pineapple processing plays an important role in juice preservation. Because the quality of the pineapple juice is affected by the processing technology applied, the effects of pasteurization and other preservation methods on the overall juice quality were discussed. During juice processing,

Evidence for the adverse effect of starvation on bone quality: a review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Kueper, Janina; Beyth, Shaul; Liebergall, Meir; Kaplan, Leon; Schroeder, Josh E

2015-01-01

Malnutrition and starvation's possible adverse impacts on bone health and bone quality first came into the spotlight after the horrors of the Holocaust and the ghettos of World War II. Famine and food restrictions led to a mean caloric intake of 200-800 calories a day in the ghettos and concentration camps, resulting in catabolysis and starvation of the inhabitants and prisoners. Severely increased risks of fracture, poor bone mineral density, and decreased cortical strength were noted in several case series and descriptive reports addressing the medical issues of these individuals. A severe effect of severely diminished food intake and frequently concomitant calcium- and Vitamin D deficiencies was subsequently proven in both animal models and the most common cause of starvation in developed countries is anorexia nervosa. This review attempts to summarize the literature available on the impact of the metabolic response to Starvation on overall bone health and bone quality.

What causes the density effect in young forest plantations?; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbara J. Bond; Gary A. Ritchie

2002-01-01

In young forest plantations, trees planted at high densities frequently show more rapid height and diameter growth than those plants at lower densities. This positive growth response to density (the ''density effect'') often manifests long before seedlings are tall enough to shade one another, so it is not a simple response to shade. The mechanism(s) which trigger and sustain this growth enhancement are unknown. Our objectives were to document the temporal dynamics of positive growth response to increasing density in Douglas-fir plantations and to test two hypotheses as potential mechanisms for this response. The hypotheses are (1) a canopy boundary layer effect, and (2) alterations in the quality of light reflected from neighboring trees. The ''boundary layer'' hypotheses proposes that changes in atmospheric mixing occur in high-density plantations, promoting increased concentrations of CO(sub 2) and H(sub 2)O vapor during early morning hours, which in turn would enhance carbon assimilation. The ''light quality'' hypothesis proposes that the presence of neighbors alters the ratio of red to far red light in the canopy environment. Plant sensors detect this change in light quality, and growth and development is altered in response. We found that boundary layer conductance was higher, as we predicted, in low-density Douglas-fir stands than in high-density stands five years after planting. The changes in boundary conductance were accompanied by higher CO(sub 2) and H(sub 2)O vapor during early morning hours. However, we also found that the primary manifestation of the density effect in Douglas-fir occurs two to four years after planting, and we were not able to measure differences in boundary conductance in different densities at that time. Also, we found no difference in carbon isotope composition of wood cellulose formed in high- vs. low-density stands two to three years after planting. We conclude that although stand density may have a significant impact on

The Compatibility between Cause and Effect According to the Theologies Suggested by Sadra and TafkῙk

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MohammadMahdi Meshkati

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The question of why different events have occurred has always been in human being's mind and challenged his curiosity. The question word "why" is used to ask about the cause of a phenomenon,and if man was not aware of the law of causality and did not confirm that every phenomenon needed a cause, he could not imagine any questions with "why". About this law and its related subjects such as compatibility between cause and effect, many schools and theories have emerged, among which, the schools of TafkῙk(Segregation and MulāṢadrāare of special importance. The proponents of TafkῙk believe in the segregation of philosophical – theosophical instructions and religious contents. They reject many of the principles of philosophy by referring to Quran and Hadiths and conclude that philosophy is in contradiction with Quranic teachings. The school of MulāṢadrā however, has a comprehensive view and incudes as its principles all teachings gained from wisdom, texts, theosophy and reasoning. One of the controversial issues discussed by both schools is the subject of compatibility between cause and effect. It is obvious that every effect does not stem from any cause and even there is not always causal relation between concurrent and subsequent phenomena, rather the causality exists only between specific beings. In other words, there must be specialcongruencybetween cause and effect which is referred to as compatibility between cause and effect. Since cause is what brings about the existence of effect and gives it reality, then it itself should possess the existence which it gives to the effect. When one object lacks something, it cannot give it to the other. Because by giving existence to the effect, the existence of cause will not be negated, it becomes clear that cause possesses the existence in a perfect way so that the existence of effect is regarded as a beam of light radiated from cause. The scholars of the school of TafkῙkhowever, believe

Making stillbirths visible: a systematic review of globally reported causes of stillbirth.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinebrant, H E; Leisher, S H; Coory, M; Henry, S; Wojcieszek, A M; Gardener, G; Lourie, R; Ellwood, D; Teoh, Z; Allanson, E; Blencowe, H; Draper, E S; Erwich, J J; Frøen, J F; Gardosi, J; Gold, K; Gordijn, S; Gordon, A; Heazell, Aep; Khong, T Y; Korteweg, F; Lawn, J E; McClure, E M; Oats, J; Pattinson, R; Pettersson, K; Siassakos, D; Silver, R M; Smith, Gcs; Tunçalp, Ö; Flenady, V

2018-01-01

Stillbirth is a global health problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) application of the International Classification of Diseases for perinatal mortality (ICD-PM) aims to improve data on stillbirth to enable prevention. To identify globally reported causes of stillbirth, classification systems, and alignment with the ICD-PM. We searched CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, Global Health, and Pubmed from 2009 to 2016. Reports of stillbirth causes in unselective cohorts. Pooled estimates of causes were derived for country representative reports. Systems and causes were assessed for alignment with the ICD-PM. Data are presented by income setting (low, middle, and high income countries; LIC, MIC, HIC). Eighty-five reports from 50 countries (489 089 stillbirths) were included. The most frequent categories were Unexplained, Antepartum haemorrhage, and Other (all settings); Infection and Hypoxic peripartum (LIC), and Placental (MIC, HIC). Overall report quality was low. Only one classification system fully aligned with ICD-PM. All stillbirth causes mapped to ICD-PM. In a subset from HIC, mapping obscured major causes. There is a paucity of quality information on causes of stillbirth globally. Improving investigation of stillbirths and standardisation of audit and classification is urgently needed and should be achievable in all well-resourced settings. Implementation of the WHO Perinatal Mortality Audit and Review guide is needed, particularly across high burden settings. HR, SH, SHL, and AW were supported by an NHMRC-CRE grant (APP1116640). VF was funded by an NHMRC-CDF (APP1123611). Urgent need to improve data on causes of stillbirths across all settings to meet global targets. Background and methods Nearly three million babies are stillborn every year. These deaths have deep and long-lasting effects on parents, healthcare providers, and the society. One of the major challenges to preventing stillbirths is the lack of information about why they happen. In this study, we

Improving the accuracy of total quality management instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Bechtel, G A; Wood, D

1996-03-01

Total quality management (TQM) instruments are essential tools in defining concepts identified in an Ishikawa or ¿cause-and-effect¿ diagram. Collecting meaningful and accurate data using TQM instruments is imperative if productivity and quality of care are to be enhanced. This article provides managers with techniques and guidelines that will enhance the reliability and validity of TQM instruments, thereby promoting organization efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Effect of gamma radiation treatment on some fungi causing storage diseases of banana fruits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EL-Ashmawi, A.M.M.

1982-01-01

Banana is one of the most popular fruits in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. in recent years, the quality of egyptian banana markedly declined. A major factor contributing to this decline is the development of fruit rot, which is the most widely occurring disease either in the field or in storage. Different fungi attack banana fruits causing considerable losses. Most of the fungi responsible for post harvest rots of banana are usually carried from the field, on the surface of the fruit itself or in injured and rotting fruits causing severe rats during storage. These rots make the fruits difficult to handle and undesirable to the consumers. Botryodiplodia theobromae is known to be the most important pathogen responsible for the infection in storage

Effective Quality-of-Service Renegotiating Schemes for Streaming Video

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Hwangjun

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents effective quality-of-service renegotiating schemes for streaming video. The conventional network supporting quality of service generally allows a negotiation at a call setup. However, it is not efficient for the video application since the compressed video traffic is statistically nonstationary. Thus, we consider the network supporting quality-of-service renegotiations during the data transmission and study effective quality-of-service renegotiating schemes for streaming video. The token bucket model, whose parameters are token filling rate and token bucket size, is adopted for the video traffic model. The renegotiating time instants and the parameters are determined by analyzing the statistical information of compressed video traffic. In this paper, two renegotiating approaches, that is, fixed renegotiating interval case and variable renegotiating interval case, are examined. Finally, the experimental results are provided to show the performance of the proposed schemes.

Causes and effects of vital instrumentation and control power supply bus failures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhlheim, M.D.; Murphy, G.A.

1987-01-01

This article presents the results of a study in which the objective was to evaluate nuclear power-plant operating experience to identify the causes and the effects of vital instrumentation and control (I and C) power supply bus failures. Vital I and C power is normally provided to essential instrumentation and controls through either vital d-c or a-c power supply systems. The vital d-c power supply system generally provides control power for starting the diesel generators, for operating electrical circuit breakers, and for controlling various logic circuits. The vital d-c power system also supplies vital a-c power through an inverter. The vital a-c power supply system generally feeds the reactor protection system channels, the engineered safety features actuation system channels, and critical instrumentation in the control room. The leading cause of vital bus failures is inverter failures; other causes are human errors, battery charger failures, and miscellaneous failures. The effects of these failures are that the margin of safety can be degraded by (1) denying key information to the operators, (2) inducing plant transients, (3) causing safety injection actuations, and (4) causing the loss of shutdown cooling flow

Possible negative effects of inbreeding on semen quality in Shetland pony stallions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eldik, van P.; Waaij, van der E.H.; Ducro, B.J.; Kooper, A.W.; Stout, T.A.E.; Colenbrander, B.

2006-01-01

Inbreeding is widely believed to negatively affect reproductive performance. Indeed, in some species, high levels of inbreeding are thought to be the major cause of poor semen quality. It is, however, not clear whether inbreeding affects fertility in horses. In this study, the relationship between

Poor housing quality: Prevalence and health effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Emma; Lester, Laurence H; Bentley, Rebecca; Beer, Andrew

2016-01-01

Housing is a central component of productive, healthy, and meaningful lives, and a principle social determinant of health and well-being. Surprisingly, though, evidence on the ways that housing influences health in Australia is poorly developed. This stems largely from the fact that the majority of the population are accommodated in good quality housing. The dominance of a "good housing paradigm" means that households living in poor quality and unhealthy housing are doubly disadvantaged-by the quality of their housing and because policy makers in Australia do not acknowledge the health effects of housing. In this article, we examine the relationship between health outcomes and quality of housing. We base our analysis on data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, a panel dataset that is representative across Australia. We find a sizeable, policy-important, and to date under-acknowledged cohort of Australians whose health is influenced by poor-condition dwellings.

Effect of irradiation of sensory quality of cigarettes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Min; Zhu Jiating; Yang Ping; Wang Dening; Gu Guiqiang

2012-01-01

3 brands of cigarettes were irradiated and smoked to make sure the effect of irradiation on sensory qualities of cigarettes, luster, aroma, harmony, offensive taste, irritancy, after taste and total scores of irradiated cigarettes were studied. The results showed that, compared with each index of CK, some indexes changed after irradiation, sensory quality of cigarettes might be improved by suitable dose. The sensory qualities of cigarettes of different brands or different styles change differently, though they were irradiated by the same dose. There was no obvious relation between score of any index and irradiation dose, when cigarette of a same brand irradiated by different doses. Above all, the changes of sensory quality of cigarette may meet the requirements of different smokers on the palate. (authors)

An economic assessment of the health effects and crop yield losses caused by air pollution in mainland China.

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Weijie; Huang, Xin; Song, Yu

2017-06-01

Air pollution is severe in China, and pollutants such as PM 2.5 and surface O 3 may cause major damage to human health and crops, respectively. Few studies have considered the health effects of PM 2.5 or the loss of crop yields due to surface O 3 using model-simulated air pollution data in China. We used gridded outputs from the WRF-Chem model, high resolution population data, and crop yield data to evaluate the effects on human health and crop yield in mainland China. Our results showed that outdoor PM 2.5 pollution was responsible for 1.70-1.99 million cases of all-cause mortality in 2006. The economic costs of these health effects were estimated to be 151.1-176.9 billion USD, of which 90% were attributed to mortality. The estimated crop yield losses for wheat, rice, maize, and soybean were approximately 9, 4.6, 0.44, and 0.34 million tons, respectively, resulting in economic losses of 3.4 billion USD. The total economic losses due to ambient air pollution were estimated to be 154.5-180.3 billion USD, accounting for approximately 5.7%-6.6% of the total GDP of China in 2006. Our results show that both population health and staple crop yields in China have been significantly affected by exposure to air pollution. Measures should be taken to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and mitigate the economic loss. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Insight in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: relationship with behavior, mood and perceived quality of life, underlying causes and emerging treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lysaker, Paul H; Pattison, Michelle L; Leonhardt, Bethany L; Phelps, Scott; Vohs, Jenifer L

2018-02-01

Poor insight in schizophrenia is prevalent across cultures and phases of illness. In this review, we examine the recent research on the relationship of insight with behavior, mood and perceived quality of life, on its complex roots, and on the effects of existing and emerging treatments. This research indicates that poor insight predicts poorer treatment adherence and therapeutic alliance, higher symptom severity and more impaired community function, while good insight predicts a higher frequency of depression and demoralization, especially when coupled with stigma and social disadvantage. This research also suggests that poor insight may arise in response to biological, experiential, neuropsychological, social-cognitive, metacognitive and socio-political factors. Studies of the effects of existing and developing treatments indicate that they may influence insight. In the context of earlier research and historical models, these findings support an integrative model of poor insight. This model suggests that insight requires the integration of information about changes in internal states, external circumstances, others' perspectives and life trajectory as well as the multifaceted consequences and causes of each of those changes. One implication is that treatments should, beyond providing education, seek to assist persons with schizophrenia to integrate the broad range of complex and potentially deeply painful experiences which are associated with mental illness into their own personally meaningful, coherent and adaptive picture. © 2018 World Psychiatric Association.

Analysis of Antifungal Components in the Galls of Melaphis chinensis and Their Effects on Control of Anthracnose Disease of Chinese Cabbage Caused by Colletotrichum higginsianum

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Ping-Chung Kuo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Fungal pathogens caused various diseases which resulted in heavy yield and quality losses on plants of commercial interests such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers. In our preliminary experimental results, the methanol extracts of four species of medicinal plants Melaphis chinensis, Eugenia caryophyllata, Polygonum cuspidatum, and Rheum officinale possessed antifungal activity to causal agent of cabbage anthracnose, Colletotrichum higginsianum. Thus it was conducted to identify and quantify the chemical constituents in these herbs and to assess the antifungal effects of these compounds. Among the tested principles, the indicator compound methyl gallate from M. chinensis was the most effective one against the conidial germination. In addition, it exhibited significant effects of controlling anthracnose disease of Chinese cabbage caused by C. higginsianum PA-01 in growth chamber. These results indicate that M. chinensis may be potential for further development of plant-derived pesticides for control of anthracnose of cabbage and other cruciferous crops.

Estimates the Effects of Benthic Fluxes on the Water Quality of the Reservoir

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Lee, H.; Huh, I. A.; Park, S.; Choi, J. H.

2014-12-01

Reservoirs located in highly populated and industrialized regions receive discharges of nutrients and pollutants from the watershed that have great potential to impair water quality and threaten aquatic life. The Euiam reservoir is a multiple-purpose water body used for tourism, fishery, and water supply and has been reported as eutrophic since 1990s. The external nutrients loading is considered to be the main cause of eutrophication of water bodies, and control strategies therefore focus on its reduction. However, algae blooms often continue even after external nutrients loading has been controlled, being benthic nutrient loading the main source of nutrients in the water column. Attempts to quantify benthic nutrients fluxes and their role as a source of nutrients to the water column have produced ambiguous results. Benthic flux is dependent on the upward flow of pore water caused by hydrostatic pressure, molecular diffusion, and mixing of sediment and water. In addition, it is controlled by dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, pH values and temperature in the overlying water. Therefore, linking a benthic flux to a water quality model should give us more insight on the effects of benthic fluxes to better quantify nutrient concentration within an entire reservoir system where physical, chemical, biological properties are variable. To represent temporal and spatial variations in the nutrient concentrations of the reservoir, a three-dimensional time variable model, Generalized Longitudinal-Lateral-Vertical Hydrodynamic and Transport (GLLVHT) was selected. The GLLVHT model is imbedded within the Generalized Environmental Modeling System for Surface waters (GEMSS). The computational grid of the three-dimensional model was developed using the GIS. The horizontal grid is composed of 580 active cells at the surface layer with spacing varies from 54.2 m to 69.8 m. There are 15 vertical layers with uniform thickness of 1.9 m resolution. To calibrate the model, model prediction for

Health effects of air quality regulations in Delhi, India

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Andrew; Kumar, Naresh

2011-03-01

This, the first systematic study, quantifies the health effects of air quality regulations in Delhi, which adopted radical measures to improve air quality, including, for example, the conversion of all commercial vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG), and the closure of polluting industries in residential areas from 2000 to 2002. Air pollution data, collected at 113 sites (spread across Delhi and its neighboring areas) from July-December 2003, were used to compute exposure at the place of residence of 3989 subjects. A socio-economic and respiratory health survey was administered in 1576 households. This survey collected time-use, residence histories, demographic information, and direct measurements of lung function with subjects. The optimal interpolation methods were used to link air pollution and respiratory health data at the place of their residence. Resident histories, in combination with secondary data, were used to impute cumulative exposure prior to the air-quality interventions, and the effects of recent air quality measures on lung function were then evaluated. Three important findings emerge from the analysis. First, the interventions were associated with a significant improvement in respiratory health. Second, the effect of these interventions varied significantly by gender and income. Third, consistent with a causal interpretation of these results, effects were the strongest among those individuals who spend a disproportionate share of their time out-of-doors.

Managing Indoor Air Quality in Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolums, Jennifer

This publication examines the causes and effects of poor indoor air quality and provides information for reducing exposure to indoor contaminants in schools. It discusses the various indoor pollutants found in schools, including dust, chemical agents, gases, and volatile organic compounds; where they are found in schools; and their health effects…

The Effects of Development Team Skill on Software Product Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Beaver, Justin M.; Schiavone, Guy A.

2006-01-01

This paper provides an analysis of the effect of the skill/experience of the software development team on the quality of the final software product. A method for the assessment of software development team skill and experience is proposed, and was derived from a workforce management tool currently in use by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Using data from 26 smallscale software development projects, the team skill measures are correlated to 5 software product quality metrics from the ISO/IEC 9126 Software Engineering Product Quality standard. in the analysis of the results, development team skill is found to be a significant factor in the adequacy of the design and implementation. In addition, the results imply that inexperienced software developers are tasked with responsibilities ill-suited to their skill level, and thus have a significant adverse effect on the quality of the software product. Keywords: software quality, development skill, software metrics

Effect of interlayer bonding quality of asphalt layers on pavement performance

Science.gov (United States)

Jaskula, Piotr; Rys, Dawid

2017-09-01

The quality of interlayer bonding at the interfaces between the asphalt layers in flexible pavements affects the overall pavement performance. Lack or partial lack of interlayer bonding between asphalt layers can cause pavement’s premature failures such as rutting, slippage of the wearing course, cracking or simply a reduction in the calculated fatigue life of the pavement structure. This paper shows the case studies of investigation of actual or potential premature failure of newly reconstructed and constructed pavements where low quality of interlayer bonding has a dominant meaning. In situ and laboratory tests were performed and followed by analytical calculation of pavement structure where thicknesses of layers and maximum shear strengths obtained from the tests were used. During the investigation it was found out that a low quality of tack coat as well as the same aggregate gradation in the bonded asphalt mixtures were the main reasons behind the weak quality of interlayer bonding. Partial interlayer bonding has a strong influence on reduction of calculated fatigue life of pavement. The summary of the paper includes recommendations on how to avoid the low quality of interlayer bonding of asphalt layers.

Reed canary grass observations of effects on crop stand and fibre quality caused by infestation of Epicalamus phalaridis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. HELLQVIST

2008-12-01

Full Text Available A severe infestation of the gall midge Epicalamus phalaridis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidaeoccurred in a field of reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea in northern Sweden. The midge species has potential to become a serious pest on Phalaris grown for bioenergy or fibre production. Larvae of the midge feed beneath leaf sheaths and the crop lodges in late summer. Details are given on the biology of the midge. In the infested field, population densities of the midge were very high during three consecutive years. The crop was weakened and the occurrence of weeds increased. The dry matter yields declined markedly and were after three years of midge-attack about 50% of the average yield in the preceding years. The yield dropped comparatively more when the crop was harvested in the spring as opposed to harvest in late autumn and more at a nitrogen fertilisation at 100 kg compared to 200 kg N ha–1 per year. The effect of midge attack on fibre quality was studied. The fibre properties of midge-infested parts of internodes were poor, but as midge-damaged parts are brittle, they could probably be sorted out in a fractionation process. Undamaged parts of infested internodes had the same fibre properties as those from an uninfested crop.;

Development of Quality Management Systems: How Have Disruptive Technological Innovations in Quality Management Affected Organizations?

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Pasi Hellman

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This research investigates the history of quality and development of quality management systems. History of quality is investigated from Hammurabi’s law all the way to today’s reigning quality initiatives including ISO, Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing. In the last chapters the current state of quality management is being examined. The foresight method is also opened up and examined. The Innovator’s dilemma concept, originally presented by Clayton Christensen, is used to analyse how quality management systems have been evolved in the last 100 years. Special emphasis is placed on the US manufacturing in the 1970s and 1980s. Based on the literature, the concept of Innovator’s dilemma and the fall of US manufacturing are merged. The result is a prime example that the Innovator’s Dilemma is a universal phenomenon. The industry leader is trying to maintain its position and do everything right but still it is destined to fail. The causes and effects are being discussed in later chapters.

The Effectiveness of Hypnotherapy in Treating Depression, Anxiety and Sleep Disturbance Caused by Subjective Tinnitus

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Seyed Mahmoud Mirzamani

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Patients with tinnitus encounter many problems, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, increased sensitivity to sound, and negativity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hypnotherapy on the depression, anxiety, and insomnia caused by tinnitus. Materials and Methods: This study was a pilot research with a pretest-posttest and control design. The statistical population included individuals who suffered from tinnitus and its associated symptoms. Twenty patients with tinnitus were selected through available sampling. The subjects were divided randomly into two experimental and control groups. Both groups completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in both pretest and post-test phases. Only the experimental group received 10 sessions of hypnotherapy. In this study, independent and dependent t-tests were used to obtain the data.Results: The two groups were similar in terms of tinnitus severity and age range. The results of independent and dependent t-tests at p=0.05 level in all three variables of depression, anxiety, and insomnia showed a significant difference between the scores of pretest and post-test as well as the post-test scores of control and experimental groups.Conclusion: The results indicated the effectiveness and usefulness of hypnotherapy in the reduction and treatment of the depression, anxiety, and insomnia caused by tinnitus in the experimental group.

Effect of Ti interlayer on the bonding quality of W and steel HIP joint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Ji-Chao [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031 (China); Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230031 (China); Wang, Wanjing, E-mail: wjwang@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031 (China); Wei, Ran; Wang, Xingli; Sun, Zhaoxuan [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031 (China); Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230031 (China); Xie, Chunyi; Li, Qiang [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031 (China); Luo, Guang-Nan [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031 (China); Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230031 (China); Hefei Center for Physical Science and Technology, Hefei, 230022 (China); Hefei Science Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230027 (China)

2017-03-15

Tungsten (W) and steel bonding is one of the key technologies for blanket First Wall (FW) manufacture in thermal fusion reactor. The W/Steel joints are prone to fail without interlayer for the different thermo physical properties. To study the effect of titanium (Ti) interlayer on the bonding quality of W and steel joints, W/Steel Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) experiments with Ti interlayer were conducted under 930 °C, 100 MPa for 2 h. Intermetallics caused by atom interdiffusion would affect the bonding quality of W/Ti/Steel HIP joints, the bonding quality was evaluated by microstructure analysis and mechanical tests. All the HIP joints were well bonded and results showed no intermetallics occurred between W/Ti interfaces, meanwhile multiply phases were found between Ti/Steel interfaces. Shear tests indicated when Ti thickness was 100–500 μm, the maximum shear strength of W/Ti/Steel HIP joints would be up to around 151 MPa. Charpy impact tests showed the W/Ti/Steel HIP joints all broke in a brittle manner and the maximum Charpy impact energy was ∼0.192 J. Nano-indentation tests demonstrated W/Ti interfaces could be enhanced by solid solution hardening and formation of brittle phases has conducted high hardness across the Ti/Steel interfaces.

Evidence for the Adverse Effect of Starvation on Bone Quality: A Review of the Literature

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Janina Kueper

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Malnutrition and starvation’s possible adverse impacts on bone health and bone quality first came into the spotlight after the horrors of the Holocaust and the ghettos of World War II. Famine and food restrictions led to a mean caloric intake of 200–800 calories a day in the ghettos and concentration camps, resulting in catabolysis and starvation of the inhabitants and prisoners. Severely increased risks of fracture, poor bone mineral density, and decreased cortical strength were noted in several case series and descriptive reports addressing the medical issues of these individuals. A severe effect of severely diminished food intake and frequently concomitant calcium- and Vitamin D deficiencies was subsequently proven in both animal models and the most common cause of starvation in developed countries is anorexia nervosa. This review attempts to summarize the literature available on the impact of the metabolic response to Starvation on overall bone health and bone quality.

Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy in Improving Opiate Addicts’ Quality of Life

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P Porzoor

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy based on quality of life in improving opiate addicts’ quality of life. Method: A quasi experimental research design long with control group and pre-test, post-test and follow-up was employed for the conduct of this study. All the opiate addicts referring to treatment centers of Ardebil city in 2013 constituted the statistical population of the study and the number of 36 participants was selected as the sample via purposive sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Quality-of-life-based psychotherapy was conducted on the experimental group in 8 sessions while the control group received no intervention. Quality of life questionnaire was used for data collection purposes. Results: The results suggested the effectiveness of the intervention in quality of life. Conclusion: This intervention, which is formed from the combination positive psychology and cognitive-behavioral approach, can be used as an effective treatment method.

Effectiveness of UK provider financial incentives on quality of care: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandavia, Rishi; Mehta, Nishchay; Schilder, Anne; Mossialos, Elias

2017-11-01

Provider financial incentives are being increasingly adopted to help improve standards of care while promoting efficiency. To review the UK evidence on whether provider financial incentives are an effective way of improving the quality of health care. Systematic review of UK evidence, undertaken in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. MEDLINE and Embase databases were searched in August 2016. Original articles that assessed the relationship between UK provider financial incentives and a quantitative measure of quality of health care were included. Studies showing improvement for all measures of quality of care were defined as 'positive', those that were 'intermediate' showed improvement in some measures, and those classified as 'negative' showed a worsening of measures. Studies showing no effect were documented as such. Quality was assessed using the Downs and Black quality checklist. Of the 232 published articles identified by the systematic search, 28 were included. Of these, nine reported positive effects of incentives on quality of care, 16 reported intermediate effects, two reported no effect, and one reported a negative effect. Quality assessment scores for included articles ranged from 15 to 19, out of a maximum of 22 points. The effects of UK provider financial incentives on healthcare quality are unclear. Owing to this uncertainty and their significant costs, use of them may be counterproductive to their goal of improving healthcare quality and efficiency. UK policymakers should be cautious when implementing these incentives - if used, they should be subject to careful long-term monitoring and evaluation. Further research is needed to assess whether provider financial incentives represent a cost-effective intervention to improve the quality of care delivered in the UK. © British Journal of General Practice 2017.

Explaining variation in perceived team effectiveness: results from eleven quality improvement collaboratives.

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Strating, Mathilde M H; Nieboer, Anna P

2013-06-01

Explore effectiveness of 11 collaboratives focusing on 11 different topics, as perceived by local improvement teams and to explore associations with collaborative-, organisational- and team-level factors. Evidence underlying the effectiveness of quality improvement collaboratives is inconclusive and few studies investigated determinants of implementation success. Moreover, most evaluation studies on quality improvement collaboratives are based on one specific topic or quality problem, making it hard to compare across collaboratives addressing different topics. A multiple-case cross-sectional study. Quality improvement teams in 11 quality improvement collaboratives focusing on 11 different topics. Team members received a postal questionnaire at the end of each collaborative. Of the 283 improvement teams, 151 project leaders and 362 team members returned the questionnaire. Analysis of variance revealed that teams varied widely on perceived effectiveness. Especially, members in the Prevention of Malnutrition and Prevention of Medication Errors collaboratives perceived a higher effectiveness than other groups. Multilevel regression analyses showed that educational level of professionals, innovation attributes, organisational support, innovative culture and commitment to change were all significant predictors of perceived effectiveness. In total, 27·9% of the individual-level variance, 57·6% of the team-level variance and 80% of the collaborative-level variance could be explained. The innovation's attributes, organisational support, an innovative team culture and professionals' commitment to change are instrumental to perceived effectiveness. The results support the notion that a layered approach is necessary to achieve improvements in quality of care and provides further insight in the determinants of success of quality improvement collaboratives. Understanding which factors enhance the impact of quality improvement initiatives can help professionals to achieve

Beam quality improvement by population-dynamic-coupled combined guiding effect in end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser oscillator

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Yijie; Gong, Mali; Fu, Xing

2018-05-01

Beam quality improvement with pump power increasing in an end-pumped laser oscillator is experimentally realized for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The phenomenon is caused by the population-dynamic-coupled combined guiding effect, a comprehensive theoretical model of which has been well established, in agreement with the experimental results. Based on an 888 nm in-band dual-end-pumped oscillator using four tandem Nd:YVO4 crystals, the output beam quality of M^2= 1.1/1.1 at the pump power of 25 W is degraded to M^2 = 2.5/1.8 at 75 W pumping and then improved to M^2= 1.8/1.3 at 150 W pumping. The near-TEM_{00} mode is obtained with the highest continuous-wave output power of 72.1 W and the optical-to-optical efficiency of 48.1%. This work demonstrates great potential to further scale the output power of end-pumped laser oscillator while keeping good beam quality.

An Effective Time and Management Strategy in Quality Circles.

Science.gov (United States)

Halverson, Don E.

Contending that participation in quality circles enhances effective time management by school administrators and teachers, this guide provides both a theoretical briefing and practical recommendations for better time management. A pre- posttest prefaces a review of basic concepts of quality circles with reference to the work of Abraham Maslow,…

Evaluation of Valerians’ effect on sleep quantity and quality of menopausal women: cross-over clinical trial

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Mandana Mirmohammadali

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Menopause causes poor sleep quality in women, so that great throngs of menopausal women experience menopause-induced sleep disorders. This study was conducted to determine the effects of valerian extract on sleep quantity and quality of postmenopausal women. Methods: This triple-blind, randomized, cross-over clinical trial was performed on 144 eligible postmenopausal women. Participants were randomly classified into two groups to use either 700 mg valerian extract (group A or a placebo (group B for one month. After a 2-week washout period, the treatment regimens were reversed. Sleep quantity and quality were evaluated using Pittsburgh and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI questionnaires at baseline and after both phases of intervention. Results: Mean score of Pittsburgh scale was 10.93.6 at baseline. Valerian reduced this score to 7.83.4 and 7.43 at the first and the second phase of intervention, respectively (P<0.001. After the first phase of intervention, ISI score was reduced to 2.870.62 in group A (P<0.001. It was reduced to 4.020.5 in group B after the second phase of intervention (P<0.001. Conclusion: Daily consumption of 700 mg valerian improved sleep quantity and quality in postmenopausal women

Perceived Cause and Effect Relationship for Nutritional Anemia Among Adolescent Girls in Rural Puducherry

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Mayura S

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Background & Objectives: The prevalence of nutritional anemia among adolescent girls is high (47.6% to 90% as previously reported in the different parts of North India. Since there are limited studies on nutritional anemia at the sub-district level in the Southern part of India, there is a need to know the extent of the problem among adolescent girls to plan context specific interventions. With this background, the present study was done with the objectives 1 To find the prevalence of nutritional anemia among adolescent girls 2 To ‘qualitatively’ explore their perceptions of the causes and effects of nutritional anemia. Methods: The study was undertaken in two wards of Kallitheerthalkuppam village, the field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, SMVMCH, Puducherry. Mixed-methods design which includes quantitative (survey and qualitative (cause-effect diagram methods was used. A representative sample of 100 adolescent girls aged 12-19 years were the study participants. Data for quantitative (survey using a questionnaire and qualitative (cause-effect diagram methods were collected over the period of two months. Result: The prevalence of anemia among the study population was 58 per cent. In The cause and effect diagram exercise, girls linked deficiency of iron as the cause for tiredness, irregular menstrual cycles and low birth weight. They also linked deficiency of iron and the habit of not wearing footwear to tiredness, reduced intake of green leafy vegetables, and intestinal worm infections to giddiness and hookworm infections to peptic ulcer. Interpretation & Conclusions: The study found a gap between knowledge and practice as reflected in the cause and effect diagram. This result indicates the need to initiate an effective behavior change communication for improving the hemoglobin status of adolescent girls.

Complementary effect of patient volume and quality of care on hospital cost efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jeong Hoon; Park, Imsu; Jung, Ilyoung; Dey, Asoke

2017-06-01

This study explores the direct effect of an increase in patient volume in a hospital and the complementary effect of quality of care on the cost efficiency of U.S. hospitals in terms of patient volume. The simultaneous equation model with three-stage least squares is used to measure the direct effect of patient volume and the complementary effect of quality of care and volume. Cost efficiency is measured with a data envelopment analysis method. Patient volume has a U-shaped relationship with hospital cost efficiency and an inverted U-shaped relationship with quality of care. Quality of care functions as a moderator for the relationship between patient volume and efficiency. This paper addresses the economically important question of the relationship of volume with quality of care and hospital cost efficiency. The three-stage least square simultaneous equation model captures the simultaneous effects of patient volume on hospital quality of care and cost efficiency.

Internalizing Problems among Cyberbullying Victims and Moderator Effects of Friendship Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Aoyama, Ikuko; Saxon, Terrill F.; Fearon, Danielle D.

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and internalizing problems among the youth. Moderator effects of a friendship quality were also investigated to examine if higher friendship quality moderated the negative effects of cyberbullying on psychological states of students.…

Effect of bosentan on exercise capacity and quality of life in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease with and without Down's syndrome.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duffels, M.G.; Vis, J.C.; Loon, R.L. van; Nieuwkerk, P.T.; Dijk, A.P.J. van; Hoendermis, E.S.; Bruin-Bon, R.H. de; Bouma, B.J.; Bresser, P.; Berger, R.M.; Mulder, B.J.

2009-01-01

Pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease caused by systemic-to-pulmonary shunting was associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. In this retrospective study, the longer term treatment effect of bosentan on exercise capacity and quality of life (QoL) were

Effects of Meteorological Data Quality on Snowpack Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Havens, S.; Marks, D. G.; Robertson, M.; Hedrick, A. R.; Johnson, M.

2017-12-01

Detailed quality control of meteorological inputs is the most time-intensive component of running the distributed, physically-based iSnobal snow model, and the effect of data quality of the inputs on the model is unknown. The iSnobal model has been run operationally since WY2013, and is currently run in several basins in Idaho and California. The largest amount of user input during modeling is for the quality control of precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and wind direction inputs. Precipitation inputs require detailed user input and are crucial to correctly model the snowpack mass. This research applies a range of quality control methods to meteorological input, from raw input with minimal cleaning, to complete user-applied quality control. The meteorological input cleaning generally falls into two categories. The first is global minimum/maximum and missing value correction that could be corrected and/or interpolated with automated processing. The second category is quality control for inputs that are not globally erroneous, yet are still unreasonable and generally indicate malfunctioning measurement equipment, such as temperature or relative humidity that remains constant, or does not correlate with daily trends observed at nearby stations. This research will determine how sensitive model outputs are to different levels of quality control and guide future operational applications.

The effect of women's employment on children's quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roghayeh Ghanbari

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Quality of life in adolescence period determines individual's future. The effect of maternal employment on children's quality of life is important and undeniable issue. This study aimed to investigate and compare the quality of life among children of employed and housewife women. In this study, the participants included selected school children's employed and housewife mothers. The tools for data collection consisted of a questionnaire which was distributed among 671 middle-high school and high school students (304 have employed mothers and 367 have housewives mothers. In this study, the level of significance was considered. Results showed that the life quality of children of employed mothers and housewife mothers in the two groups is statistically significant. Quality of life in employed mothers in the mental, physical, social relations, emotional, religious, achieve life goals, leisure time and economic dimension were higher than housewife mothers but there was not any significant different among employed mothers' children and housewife mothers' children in dimensions of relationships with parents. Girls' quality of Life was more than boys, in the teacher mothers was higher than other occupations and in the exceptional talents school was more than other schools. This study found that maternal employment has effect on children's quality of life, so employed mothers' children have high quality of life.

Exploring delay causes of road construction projects in

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remon F. Aziz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Construction delays are a common phenomenon in civil engineering projects in Egypt including road construction projects. Therefore, it is essential to study and analyze causes of road construction delays. This paper studied a list of construction delay causes gathered from literature having different types of construction, different countries, different periods and different numbers of delay causes and delay groups. A questionnaire and personal interviews have formed the basis of this paper listing 293 delay causes. The questionnaire survey was distributed to 500 construction participants and 389 were received who represent consultants, contractors and site/design engineers excluding the owner representing the government in road projects as one party only. Relative Importance Index (RII is calculated and according to the highest values the top twenty and the least twenty delay causes of construction projects in Egypt are determined. A case study is analyzed and compared to the most important delay causes in the paper. The test results reveal good correlation of causes and groups between contractors and site/design engineers and between consultants and site design engineers and a somewhat low correlation between contractors and consultants. So there are no root causes that can be taking for granted to be most or least effective delay causes. Proposed model for predicting actual road construction project duration was developed; a real case study tested the accuracy of proposed model. According to the analysis of case study, the most contributing causes and groups to delays were discussed, and some future recommendations were proposed in order to control and minimize delays in road construction projects. These findings can be helpful for project managers to mitigate the road construction delays in Egypt. In order to effectively overcome the road construction delays in developing countries, suggestions are made for fundamental and large�

Effects of oils on feed mildew and quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jie; Qi, Ming; Huang, Yakuan; Guo, Jiao; Zhang, Jiacai; Li, Chong; Zhang, Niya; Sun, Lvhui; Qi, Desheng

2017-08-01

This study was performed to determine the effects of oils on feed mildew and feed quality. Under different moisture content conditions (10%, 13% and 16%), the basal feeds were supplemented with 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% soybean oil. In addition, at different moisture content levels (10%, 13% and 16%), the basal feed was supplemented with 12% of various types of oil (soybean, peanut, corn and fish). Subsequently, a mixed mold spore suspension was added. The feed samples were incubated at 28°C, and the total mold, water activity (Aw), moisture, acid value, crude protein (CP), crude lipid (CL), crude ash (CA) and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) levels were determined at 15, 30, 45 and 60 days. The results showed no significant variations in the feed moisture, CP, CL, CA and NEF contents. However, the acid value gradually increased in the feed samples with an extended incubation time and increasing initial moisture. The feed moisture content was a critical factor controlling feed mildew, and high levels of oil supplementation caused an elevated Aw. Additionally, peanut oil promoted mold growth in feed. These results provide a reference for the production and scientific management of formulated feed. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Effects of Increased Competition on Quality of Primary Care in Sweden

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dietrichson, Jens; Ellegård, Lina Maria; Kjellsson, Gustav

quality is scarce, in particular regarding primary care. This paper adds evidence from recent reforms of Swedish primary care that affected competition in municipal markets differently depending on the pre- reform market structure. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we demonstrate...... that the reforms led to substantially more entry of private care providers in municipalities where there were many patients per provider before the reforms. The effects on primary care quality in these municipalities are modest: we find small improvements in subjective measures of overall care quality......, but no significant effects on the rate of avoidable hospitalizations or patients’ satisfaction with access to care. We find no indications of quality reductions....

Effect of Ultrasound Technology on Food and Nutritional Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Ojha, Kumari S; Tiwari, Brijesh K; O'Donnell, Colm P

2018-01-01

Ultrasound technology has been successfully demonstrated for several food processing and preservation applications. The majority of food processing applications reported refer to liquid foods. Ultrasound has been applied to solid foods in some niche applications, e.g., tenderization of meat, mass transfer applications, and drying. Similar to any other technology, ultrasound also has some positive and negative effects on food quality depending on the application and processing conditions employed. This chapter outlines various applications of ultrasound to food and its effect on food and nutritional quality. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of antioxidant inclusion and oil quality on broiler performance, meat quality, and lipid oxidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavárez, M A; Boler, D D; Bess, K N; Zhao, J; Yan, F; Dilger, A C; McKeith, F K; Killefer, J

2011-04-01

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of antioxidant inclusion and oil quality on broiler performance, meat quality, shelf life, and tissue oxidative status. Ross 308 male broilers were allotted to a randomized complete block design in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Factors consisted of antioxidant (ethoxyquin and propyl gallate) inclusion at 2 levels (0 or 135 mg/kg) and oil quality (fresh soybean oil, control diet peroxide value dressing percentage (P = 0.906), breast yield (P = 0.708), or breast ultimate pH (P = 0.625) and had minimal effect on breast color. Antioxidant supplementation (P = 0.057) reduced breast thiobarbituric acid reactive substances after 7 d of display. Fresh oil decreased liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, whereas antioxidant inclusion increased serum and liver vitamin A and E concentration. The presence of an antioxidant in the feed protects lipids from further oxidizing, therefore increasing broiler performance and improving shelf life when using oxidized oil.

Rain events and their effect on effluent quality studied at a full scale activated sludge treatment plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilén, B M; Lumley, D; Mattsson, A; Mino, T

2006-01-01

The effect of rain events on effluent quality dynamics was studied at a full scale activated sludge wastewater treatment plant which has a process solution incorporating pre-denitrification in activated sludge with post-nitrification in trickling filters. The incoming wastewater flow varies significantly due to a combined sewer system. Changed flow conditions have an impact on the whole treatment process since the recirculation to the trickling filters is set by the hydraulic limitations of the secondary settlers. Apart from causing different hydraulic conditions in the plant, increased flow due to rain or snow-melting, changes the properties of the incoming wastewater which affects process performance and effluent quality, especially the particle removal efficiency. A comprehensive set of on-line and laboratory data were collected and analysed to assess the impact of rain events on the plant performance.

Influence of Machine Exploitation Effectiveness on Furniture Production Quality Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stasiak-Betlejewska Renata

2015-12-01

Full Text Available One of the most important factors determining the company‘s capacity to produce high quality products is the level of machinery operation effectiveness. Companies having modern machinery are characterized by high productivity. To obtain a high quality product, the equipment should be properly used, without any failure, which contributes significantly to the exploitation level increase. The modernity level and the exploitation effectiveness level for chosen machine producing furniture components in relation to the product quality level were analysed in the paper. As a result of the research findings analysis, proposals for corrective actions with regard to machinery maintenance and production processes were presented.

Effect of Resistance Training using Thera-Band on Muscular Strength and Quality of Life among the Elderly

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Fatemeh Pourtaghi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Lack of mobility and motor impairments can intensify mental health problems in the elderly. Muscle weakness is one of the most important cause of fall in the old individuals. Muscular performance is regarded as one of the significant components of quality of life in older adults. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effect of resistance training using Thera-Band on muscular strength and quality of life among the elderly. Method: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 70 elderly people referring to the health centers of Mashhad in 2016. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. The intervention group was subjected to lower- and upper-extremity resistance training with Thera-Band performed two thirty-minute sessions a week for six weeks. However, the control group did not receive any training. Data collection was performed using a dynamometer and the short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life. The data were analyzed in SPSS version 16 using independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, paired t-test, Chi-square test, and exact Chi-square. Results: The mean ages of the individuals in the intervention and control groups were 69.7±6.1 and 77.2±6.2 years, respectively. After intervention, the mean scores of quality of life (P>0.001 and muscular strength in the upper and lower extremities (P>0.001 were significantly higher in the intervention group than those in the control group. Implications for Practice: Resistance training with Thera-Band could enhance muscular strength and improve quality of life in the elderly. It was concluded that the promotion of this exercise program could have a positive effect on the muscular strength and quality of life among this population.

Indoor air pollution caused by geothermal gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durand, Michael

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the little-known but potentially serious indoor air quality problems that may occur where buildings are constructed on geothermal ground. The main problems are related to seepage of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, radon and other gases from soil cavities directly into indoor air through perforations in the structure. These gases present a health hazard, and hydrogen sulphide, which is particularly corrosive, may cause problems electrical and electronic systems. Counter-measures are not always effective, so developments in such areas should only be undertaken with a clear understanding of site-specific issues and their possible solutions. (author)

Subjective Evaluation of Vocal Quality in Nasal Polyposis

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Ziya Saltürk

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: Nose is a resonator organ in production of voice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of nasal obstruction caused by nasal polyposis on voice quality subjectively. Methods: Thirty-six patients diagnosed with nasal polyposis were included in the study. The 30-item voice handicap index 30 was used in order to evaluate subjective status of voice. Nasal endoscopy and computed tomography imaging of the paranasal sinuses were performed for each patient. Lund-Kennedy endoscopy scores and Lund-MacKay computed tomography scores were evaluated. Control group composed of 20 healthy subjects. Results: The mean voice handicap score in the patient group was 43.16 (SD 15.53 and it was 2.15 (SD 1.92 in control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.001. The mean Lund-Kennedy and Lund-Mackay scores were 8.58 (SD 2.5 and 17 (SD 5.52, respectively. It was found that increased severity of nasal polyposis was the cause for decreased satisfaction with voice quality. Conclusion: Nasal obstruction caused by nasal polyposis affects voice quality adversely and as the severity of nasal polyposis increases, satisfaction with voice quality decreases.

Studying the effect of optimizing the image quality in saliency regions at the expense of background content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alers, H.; Liu, H.; Redi, J.; Heynderickx, I.

2010-01-01

Manufacturers of commercial display devices continuously try to improve the perceived image quality of their products. By applying some post processing techniques on the incoming image signal, they aim to enhance the quality level perceived by the viewer. Applying such techniques may cause side

Cause-effect analysis on Fukushima accident reports. What did McMaster undergraduate students learn?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagasaki, Shinya

2016-01-01

In the ENG PHYS 4ES3 Course “Special Topics in Energy Systems (2014-2015)” in McMaster University, sixteen 4th-year undergraduate students studied the Fukushima accident, discussed the causes of accident and its impacts on the energy systems from the sustainability point of view, made the oral presentation and submitted the reports. In this paper, a cause-effect and causal-loop analysis was applied to the discussion in the reports, the diagram of cause-effect relationship was drawn, and the important problems were extracted from the diagram. It was found that the important problems and the diagram of cause-effect relationship McMaster undergraduate students considered were similar to the essential problems and the diagram Horii pointed out, although Interim Report of the Investigation Committee on the Accident at Fukushima Nuclear Stations of Tokyo Electric Power Company which Horii used was not adopted in the reports submitted by students. (author)

Effects of non-radioactive material around radioactive material on PET image quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toshimitsu, Shinya; Yamane, Azusa; Hirokawa, Yutaka; Kangai, Yoshiharu

2015-01-01

Subcutaneous fat is a non-radioactive material surrounding the radioactive material. We developed a phantom, and examined the effect of subcutaneous fat on PET image quality. We created a cylindrical non-radioactive mimic of subcutaneous fat, placed it around a cylindrical phantom in up to three layers with each layer having a thickness of 20 mm to reproduce the obesity caused by subcutaneous fat. In the cylindrical phantom, hot spheres and cold spheres were arranged. The radioactivity concentration ratio between the hot spheres and B.G. was 4:1. The radioactivity concentration of B.G. was changed as follows : 1.33, 2.65, 4.00, and 5.30 kBq/mL. 3D-PET image were collected during 10 minutes. When the thickness of the mimicked subcutaneous fat increased from 0 mm to 60 mm, noise equivalent count decreased by 58.9-60.9% at each radioactivity concentration. On the other hand, the percentage of background variability increased 2.2-5.2 times. Mimic subcutaneous fat did not decrease the percentage contrast of the hot spheres, and did not affect the cold spheres. Subcutaneous fat decreases the noise equivalent count and increases the percentage of background variability, which degrades PET image quality. (author)

THE USE OF ICT IN QUALITY EDUCATION MANAGEMENT IN PRIVATE GYMNASIUMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.V. Plish

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the peculiarities of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT in the process of the quality education management in private gynasiums. The social importance and the novelty of private education as well as the role of the education quality management and in the same time the lack of practical realization of the effective mechanisms caused the search of the effective technologies of the quality management. The structure of information education environment was proposed into the article. The main goal is to give opportunity to be effective and operative in the process of decision making. The positive influence on the education process was underlined.

The effect of slicing type on drying kinetics and quality of dried carrot

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M Naghipour zadeh mahani

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Carrot is one of the most common vegetables used for human nutrition because of its high vitamin and fiber contents. Drying improves the product shelf life without addition of any chemical preservative and reduces both the size of package and the transport cost. Drying also aidsto reduce postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables especially, which can be as high as 70%. Dried carrots are used in dehydrated soups and in the form of powder in pastries and sauces. The main aim of drying agricultural products is decrease the moisture content to a level which allows safe storage over an extended period. Many fruits and vegetables can be sliced before drying.because of different tissue of a fruit or vegetable, cutting them in different direction and shape created different tissue slices. Due to drying is the exiting process of the moisture from internal tissue so different tissue slices caused different drying kinetics. Therefore, the study on effect of cutting parameters on drying is necessary. Materials and Methods: Carrots (Daucus carota L. were purchased from the local market (Kerman, Iran and stored in a refrigerator at 5°C. The initial moisture contents of the Carrot samples were determined by the oven drying method. The sample was dried in an oven at 105±2°C about 24 hours. The carrots cut by 3 models blade at 3 directions. The samples were dried in an oven at 70°C. Moisture content of the carrot slices were determined by weighting of samples during drying. Volume changes because of sample shrinkage were measured by a water displacement method. Rehydration experiment was performed by immersing a weighted amount of dried samples into hot water 50 °C for 30 min. In this study the effect of some cutting parameters was considered on carrot drying and the quality of final drying product. The tests were performed as a completely random design. The effects of carrot thickness at two levels (3 and 6 mm, blade in 3 models (flat blade

Effect of Comprehensive Health Promotion Program on Quality of Life, Weight, and Physical Activity among Iranian Overweight School-age Girls

OpenAIRE

Saeedeh Jafarzadeh; Sima Mohammad Khan Kermanshahi; Ali Khani Jeihooni

2017-01-01

Background Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and its trend in recent years has taken a worrying figure. Overweight in childhood is the most important cause of adulthood obesity. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect ofcomprehensive health program on quality of life, weight and physical activity in Iranian overweight school-age girls. Materials and Methods In this quasi-experimental study, 80 overweight girls participated in a comprehensive health program ...

Cost effectiveness of adopted quality requirements in hospital laboratories.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamza, Alneil; Ahmed-Abakur, Eltayib; Abugroun, Elsir; Bakhit, Siham; Holi, Mohamed

2013-01-01

The present study was designed in quasi-experiment to assess adoption of the essential clauses of particular clinical laboratory quality management requirements based on international organization for standardization (ISO 15189) in hospital laboratories and to evaluate the cost effectiveness of compliance to ISO 15189. The quality management intervention based on ISO 15189 was conceded through three phases; pre - intervention phase, Intervention phase and Post-intervention phase. In pre-intervention phase the compliance to ISO 15189 was 49% for study group vs. 47% for control group with P value 0.48, while the post intervention results displayed 54% vs. 79% for study group and control group respectively in compliance to ISO 15189 and statistically significant difference (P value 0.00) with effect size (Cohen's d) of (0.00) in pre-intervention phase and (0.99) in post - intervention phase. The annual average cost per-test for the study group and control group was 1.80 ± 0.25 vs. 1.97 ± 0.39, respectively with P value 0.39 whereas the post-intervention results showed that the annual average total costs per-test for study group and control group was 1.57 ± 0.23 vs 2.08 ± 0.38, P value 0.019 respectively, with cost-effectiveness ratio of (0.88) in pre -intervention phase and (0.52) in post-intervention phase. The planned adoption of quality management requirements (QMS) in clinical laboratories had great effect to increase the compliance percent with quality management system requirement, raise the average total cost effectiveness, and improve the analytical process capability of the testing procedure.

Neuroticism and quality of life: Multiple mediating effects of smartphone addiction and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Tingting; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Zhang, Han; Zhang, Zhao; Mei, Songli

2017-12-01

The purposes of this study were to investigate the mediating effect of smartphone addiction and depression on neuroticism and quality of life. Self-reported measures of neuroticism, smart-phone addiction, depression, and quality of life were administered to 722 Chinese university students. Results showed smartphone addiction and depression were both significantly affected neuroticism and quality of life. The direct effect of neuroticism on quality of life was significant, and the chain-mediating effect of smartphone addiction and depression was also significant. In conclusion, neuroticism, smartphone addiction, and depression are important variables that worsen quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

General review on climate change problems: causes, potential effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martellet, J.

1991-01-01

Greenhouse gases and greenhouse effect principles are reviewed and climate changes due to the human activities are discussed: identification of gases, human or natural causes, composition evolution in the atmosphere and relative roles of greenhouse gases. The various tools and calculations methods for evaluating the climate change due to greenhouse effect are presented. Several problems are stated: evolution of the climate structure in 2030, variations of the climatic extremes and the extreme phenomena, augmentation or diminution of the storms on a warmed planet, long term evolution of the climate. Some consequences of a climate change are reviewed: sea level raising, climate change effects on ecosystems. Precision and validity of these predictions are discussed; recommendations for diminishing the uncertainties are proposed

Effects of temperature and irradiance level on carbohydrate content and keeping quality of Christmas begonia (Begonia x cheimantha Everett)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fjeld, T.

1992-01-01

The carbohydrate content and keeping quality of Christmas begonia were determined in a factorial experiment in which the plants were subjected to irradiance levels of 15, 30 and 60 μmol m −2 s −1 and to temperature levels of 15, 18 and 21°C for the last part of the growing period. This period lasted from 11 to 24 days depending on irradiance level and temperature. The contents of sucrose, glucose and starch were determined at the marketing stage. The keeping quality of the plants was determined after 3 weeks in a simulated interior climate. Increase in temperature and irradiance level both enhanced the development of flowers during the later part of the growing period. The temperature did not have any effect on plant quality at the marketing stage nor on the carbohydrate content, but high temperature caused an increase in flower stem height after 3 weeks in interior climate. Increase in irradiance level caused a significant increase in the content of starch at the marketing stage. Percent increase in new flowers during the interior holding period was highly correlated with the contents of sucrose and starch in the inflorescences and with the content of starch in the leaves. A large starch pool in the inflorescences and in the leaves at the marketing stage reduced the abscission rate during the interior holding period. (author)

Effects of Quality Improvement System for Child Care Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xin; Shen, Jianping; Kavanaugh, Amy; Lu, Xuejin; Brandi, Karen; Goodman, Jeff; Till, Lance; Watson, Grace

2011-01-01

Using multiple years of data collected from about 100 child care centers in Palm Beach County, Florida, the authors studied whether the Quality Improvement System (QIS) made a significant impact on quality of child care centers. Based on a pre- and postresearch design spanning a period of 13 months, QIS appeared to be effective in improving…

The Effect of Auditor Quality on the Follow-Up of Audit Recommendation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dyah Setyaningrum

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to measure auditor quality of The Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK and investigates the effect of auditor quality on the follow-up of audit recommendation. This study uses sample of local government financial statements in Indonesia from 2010-2012. Using principle component analysis method, the result shows that there are four components extracted that form auditor quality which is experience, training, motivation, and education. All four components are then combined into a single auditor quality index that represents comprehensive measure of auditor quality. The test result shows positive effect between auditor quality and follow-up of audit recommendation. This indicates that high quality auditor is able to produce appropriate recommendations that can be easily followed up by the auditee. The more recommendations are acted upon, the better the quality of local government financial statements.

The effect of voice quality on hiring decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lea Tylečková

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the effect of voice quality on hiring decisions. Considering voice quality an important tool in an individual’s self-presentation in the job market, it may very well enhance his/her job prospects, while some voice qualities may affect employers’ judgments in a negative way. Five men and five women were recorded reading four different utterances representing answers to job interviewers’ questions in four different phonation guises: modal, breathy, creaky and pressed. 38 professional employment interviewers recorded the speakers’ hireability and personality ratings (likeability, self-confidence and trustworthiness on 7-point semantic differential scales based on the speakers’ voice. The results revealed a significant effect of the phonation guises on the speakers’ ratings with the modal voice being superior to the cluster of non-modal voices. Interestingly, the non-modal guises were evaluated in a very similar way, except for the self-confidence category with the breathy voice getting the lowest scores on the one hand and the pressed voice correlating with high self-confidence ratings on the other.

The 7 basic tools of quality applied to radiological safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez F, J.A.

1991-01-01

This work seeks to establish a series of correspondences among the search of the quality and the optimization of the doses received by the occupationally exposed personnel. There are treated about the seven basic statistic tools of the quality: the Pareto technique, Cause effect diagrams, Stratification, Verification sheet, Histograms, Dispersion diagrams and Graphics and control frames applied to the Radiological Safety

Beyond yields: Climate change effects on specialty crop quality and agroecological management

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Selena Ahmed

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Climate change is impacting the sustainability of food systems through shifts in natural and human dimensions of agroecosystems that influence farmer livelihoods, consumer choices, and food security. This paper highlights the need for climate studies on specialty crops to focus not only on yields, but also on quality, as well as the ability of agroecological management to buffer climate effects on quality parameters. Crop quality refers to phytonutrient and secondary metabolite profiles and associated health and sensory properties that influence consumer buying decisions. Through two literature reviews, we provide examples of specialty crops that are vulnerable to climate effects on quality and examples of climate-resilient agroecological strategies. A range of specialty crops including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, stimulants, and herbs were identified to respond to climate variables with changes in quality. The review on climate-resilient strategies to mitigate effects on crop quality highlighted a major gap in the literature. However, agricultural diversification emerged as a promising strategy for climate resilience more broadly and highlights the need for future research to assess the potential of diversified agroecosystems to buffer climate effects on crop quality. We integrate the concepts from our literature review within a socio-ecological systems framework that takes into account feedbacks between crop quality, consumer responses, and agroecosystem management. The presented framework is especially useful for two themes in agricultural development and marketing, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and terroir, for informing the design of climate-change resilient specialty crop systems focused on management of quality and other ecosystem services towards promoting environmental and human wellbeing.

Effects of competition on hospital quality: an examination using hospital administrative data.

Science.gov (United States)

Palangkaraya, Alfons; Yong, Jongsay

2013-06-01

This paper investigates the effects of competition on hospital quality using hospital administration data from the State of Victoria, Australia. Hospital quality is measured by 30-day mortality rates and 30-day unplanned readmission rates. Competition is measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman index and the numbers of competing public and private hospitals. The paper finds that hospitals facing higher competition have lower unplanned admission rates. However, competition is related negatively to hospital quality when measured by mortality, albeit the effects are weak and barely statistically significant. The paper also finds that the positive effect of competition on quality as measured by unplanned readmission differs greatly depending on whether the hospital is publicly or privately owned.

[Effect and regulation of drying on quality of traditional Chinese medicine pills].

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Ya-Ru; Li, Yuan-Hui; Han, Li; Wu, Zhen-Feng; Yue, Peng-Fei; Wang, Xue-Cheng; Xiong, Yao-Kun; Yang, Ming

2017-06-01

The dry quality of traditional Chinese medicine pills is the hot spot of pills research, because their quality has a crucial effect on the efficacy and development of dosage forms. Through literature research and statistical analysis, we would review the current problems on the drying of traditional Chinese medicine pills in this paper, and surrounding the evaluation system for traditional Chinese medicine pills, analyze the characteristics of common drying equipment and processes as well as their effect on quality of pills, discuss the problems in drying equipment and process as well as quality, and put forward the corresponding strategies, hoping to provide new ideas and new methods for the quality improvement of traditional Chinese medicine pills and quality standards. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Causes and effects of Romania deepening financial crisis. Short term means

OpenAIRE

Tudor Florin

2011-01-01

Deepening and expanding financial crisis triggered in October 2008 in the U.S. and other countries is the event that has caused the utmost concern of the policy makers in the economy and society. Forecasts for Romania show a slowdown in economy. As the current global status indicates the likelihood of a major global economic crisis, we attempt through this study to identify the real causes of this deepening crisis in Romania. As well as public policy priorities to counteract the effects of th...

Effectiveness of energy healing on Quality of Life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Christina Gundgaard; Johannessen, Helle; Hjelmborg, Jacob V B

2014-01-01

and alternative medicine (CAM), and faith/spirituality at baseline, 1 week, and 2 months post-intervention. They also indicated, at baseline, whether they considered QoL, depressive symptoms, mood, and sleep quality as important outcomes to them. Results: Multilevel linear models revealed no overall effect......Purpose: Our aim was to explore the effectiveness of energy healing, a commonly used complementary and alternative therapy, on well-being in cancer patients while assessing the possible influence on the results of participating in a randomized controlled trial. Methods: 247 patients treated...... of healing on QoL (p = 0.156), depressive symptoms (p = 0.063), mood (p = 0.079), or sleep quality (p = 0.346) in the intervention groups (RH, SH) compared with control (SC). Effects of healing on mood were only found for patients who had a positive attitude toward CAM and considered the outcome in question...

Effects of enzymes to improve sensory quality of frozen dough bread and analysis on its mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuan; Pei, Dudu; Teng, Yuefei; Liang, Jianfen

2018-01-01

Baking quality of frozen dough is negatively affected by dough weakening and by a reduction in both yeast viability and activity during freezing and frozen storage. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of different enzymes, such as α-amylase, xylanase, celluase, glucose oxidase, and lipase on the texture and sensory quality of bread after frozen storage, as well as on dough properties, in terms of fermentation characteristics, freezable water contents and microstructure. Except for α-amylase, other enzymes improved the bread sensory quality and got higher overall acceptability, especially xylanase. Dough fermentative behavior showed that the maximum heights of frozen dough were increased by 33.2, 19.7 and 7.4%, respectively with xylanase, cellulase and lipase. Cellulase lowered gas holding ability of dough. Thermodynamic properties indicated that addition of enzyme decreased the freezable water contents in frozen dough. Scanning electronic microscopy revealed that freezing and frozen storage disrupted dough gluten network causing separation of starch granules from the gluten matrix. Inclusion of cellulase, xylanase and lipase made the frozen dough having a more continuous gluten network and smoother surface, and glucose oxidase increased the stability of the gluten work.

[Crabtree effect caused by ketoses in isolated rat hepatocytes].

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, P; Carrascosa, J M; Núñez de Castro, I

1982-01-01

Oxygen uptake and glycolytic activity were studied in hepatocytes isolated from fed rats. The addition of fructose or tagatose resulted in a 38% and 31% inhibition of cellular respiration respectively. The addition of 10 mM D-glyceraldehyde caused a slight Crabtree effect. Glucose, L-sorbose, or glycerol failed to modify oxygen consumption. Only incubation in the presence of fructose showed a high aerobic glycolysis measured by lactate production.

Towards a conceptual model to measure effectiveness of food quality systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2003-01-01

In the food industry quality assurance (QA) systems such as GMP, HACCP, ISO and BRC, are applied for assuring food quality. However, it is still unknown to what extent these QA systems contribute to the realization of quality. Therefore, an instrument is required that measures the effectiveness of

Content and effects of news stories about uncertain cancer causes and preventive behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Lee, Theodore; Robbins, Rebecca; Kim, Hye Kyung; Kresovich, Alex; Kirshenblat, Danielle; Standridge, Kimberly; Clarke, Christopher E; Jensen, Jakob; Fowler, Erika Franklin

2014-01-01

This article presents findings from two studies that describe news portrayals of cancer causes and prevention in local TV and test the effects of typical aspects of this coverage on cancer-related fatalism and overload. Study 1 analyzed the content of stories focused on cancer causes and prevention from an October 2002 national sample of local TV and newspaper cancer coverage (n = 122 television stations; n = 60 newspapers). Informed by results from the content analysis, Study 2 describes results from a randomized experiment testing effects of the volume and content of news stories about cancer causes and prevention (n = 601). Study 1 indicates that local TV news stories describe cancer causes and prevention as comparatively more certain than newspapers but include less information about how to reduce cancer risk. Study 2 reveals that the combination of stories conveying an emerging cancer cause and prevention behavior as moderately certain leads to an increased sense of overload, while a short summary of well-established preventive behaviors mitigates these potentially harmful beliefs. We conclude with a series of recommendations for health communication and health journalism practice.

Did Eucalyptus contribute to environment degradation? Implications from a dispute on causes of severe drought in Yunnan and Guizhou, China

OpenAIRE

WenJun Zhang

2012-01-01

Various viewpoints were proposed to explain the causes of recent years' severe drought occurred in Yunnan and Guizhou, China. In general there are two parties of viewpoints, the Eucalyptus cause and climate change cause. I think Yunnan-Guizhou drought has been mainly caused by abnormal climate change. Eucalyptus was not significant in the formation of Yunnan-Guizhou drought. However, the forestation effect of Eucalyptus in China was not good. Environment quality and biodiversity in Eucalyptus...

Effects of undetected data quality issues on climatological analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hunziker

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Systematic data quality issues may occur at various stages of the data generation process. They may affect large fractions of observational datasets and remain largely undetected with standard data quality control. This study investigates the effects of such undetected data quality issues on the results of climatological analyses. For this purpose, we quality controlled daily observations of manned weather stations from the Central Andean area with a standard and an enhanced approach. The climate variables analysed are minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation. About 40 % of the observations are inappropriate for the calculation of monthly temperature means and precipitation sums due to data quality issues. These quality problems undetected with the standard quality control approach strongly affect climatological analyses, since they reduce the correlation coefficients of station pairs, deteriorate the performance of data homogenization methods, increase the spread of individual station trends, and significantly bias regional temperature trends. Our findings indicate that undetected data quality issues are included in important and frequently used observational datasets and hence may affect a high number of climatological studies. It is of utmost importance to apply comprehensive and adequate data quality control approaches on manned weather station records in order to avoid biased results and large uncertainties.

Survey the effect of Zumba training on sleep quality in overweight girls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Zar

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Poor quality sleep impairs the function of different parts of the body. Some studies have shown that physical activity can effect on the quality of sleep. Objective: The aim of study was to investigate the effect of Zumba training on sleep quality in obese girls. Methods: This cross - sectional study was conducted on 30 volunteered overweight girls participated in Zumba training in Shiraz Arta Club in summer 2016. Information via demographic characteristics questionnaire and standard questionnaire Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI were collected. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and independent t-test (α=0.05 were used to analyze the data. Findings: The results showed that active overweight girls compared to inactive were in a better position in measures of sleep quality (P=0.01, delays in falling asleep (P=0.02, go to sleep duration (P=0.02, effective sleep (P=0.03, sleep disorders (P=0.01, the hypnotic drug consumption (P=0.04, dysfunction in the morning (P=0.03, the overall quality of sleep (P=0.01. Conclusion: In general, this study showed that Zumba training improves the quality of sleep in overweight girls. Therefore, the use of zumba training for overweight girls is recommended as a non-drug therapy to improve sleep quality.

Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Castellar, Juarez I; Fernandes, César A; Tosta, C Eduardo

2014-07-01

Breast cancer survivors frequently present long-lasting impairments, caused either by the disease or its treatment, capable of compromising their emotional health and quality of life. Meditation appears to be a valuable complementary measure for overcoming some of these impairments. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the effect of pranic meditation on the quality of life and mental health of breast cancer survivors. This study was a prospective single-arm observational study using before and after measurements. The subjects were 75 women submitted either to breast cancer therapy or to posttherapy control who agreed to practice pranic meditation for 20 minutes, twice a day, during 8 weeks, after receiving a formal training. The quality of life of the practitioners was assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and EORTC BR-023 questionnaires, and the mental health status by the Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire. After 8 weeks of pranic meditation practice, the subjects showed a significant improvement of their quality of life scores that included physical (P = .0007), role (P = .01), emotional (P = .002), and social functioning (P = .004), as well as global health status (P = .005), fatigue (P meditation was associated with improvement of the mental health parameters of the practitioners that included psychic stress (P = .001), death ideation (P = .02), performance diffidence (P = .001), psychosomatic disorders (P = .02), and severity of mental disorders (P = .0003). The extension of the meditation period from 8 to 15 weeks caused no substantial extra benefits in practitioners. The results of this pilot study showed that breast cancer survivors presented significant benefits related to their mental health and quality of life scores after a short period of practice of pranic meditation, consisting of simple and easy-to-learn exercises. However, because of the limitations of the study, further

Chemical and physical pretreatments of fruits and vegetables: Effects on drying characteristics and quality attributes - a comprehensive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Li-Zhen; Mujumdar, Arun S; Zhang, Qian; Yang, Xu-Hai; Wang, Jun; Zheng, Zhi-An; Gao, Zhen-Jiang; Xiao, Hong-Wei

2017-12-20

Pretreatment is widely used before drying of agro-products to inactivate enzymes, enhance drying process and improve quality of dried products. In current work, the influence of various pretreatments on drying characteristics and quality attributes of fruits and vegetables is summarized. They include chemical solution (hyperosmotic, alkali, sulfite and acid, etc.) and gas (sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and ozone) treatments, thermal blanching (hot water, steam, super heated steam impingement, ohmic and microwave heating, etc), and non-thermal process (ultrasound, freezing, pulsed electric field, and high hydrostatic pressure, etc). Chemical pretreatments effectively enhance drying kinetics, meanwhile, it causes soluble nutrients losing, trigger food safety issues by chemical residual. Conventional hot water blanching has significant effect on inactivating various undesirable enzymatic reactions, destroying microorganisms, and softening the texture, as well as facilitating drying rate. However, it induces undesirable quality of products, e.g., loss of texture, soluble nutrients, pigment and aroma. Novel blanching treatments, such as high-humidity hot air impingement blanching, microwave and ohmic heat blanching can reduce the nutrition loss and are more efficient. Non-thermal technologies can be a better alternative to thermal blanching to overcome these drawbacks, and more fundamental researches are needed for better design and scale up.

Equity and Quality Dimensions in Educational Effectiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kyriakides, L.; Creemers, B.P.M.; Charalambous, E.

2018-01-01

This book aims to make a contribution to the theory, research and practice on quality and equity in education by providing a comprehensive overview of these two dimensions of educational effectiveness and proposing a methodological instrument that may be used to measure the contribution that each

Quality and effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

However, the SEA also achieved significant successes in terms of 'indirect outputs', such as a more holistic approach to water management, facilitated more effective public participation and contributed to broader strategic planning in the department. The paper concludes by making recommendations to improve the quality ...

FAILURE MODE EFFECTS AND CRITICALITY ANALYSIS (FMECA AS A QUALITY TOOL TO PLAN IMPROVEMENTS IN ULTRASONIC MOULD CLEANING SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiano Fragassa

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Inside the complex process used for tire production, ultrasonic cleaning treatment probably represents the best solution to preserve the functionality of tire moulds, by removing residuals from moulds and keeping an unaltered quality for their surfaces. Ultrasonic Mould Cleaning Systems (UMCS is, however, a complicated technology that combines ultrasonic waves, high temperature and a succession of acid and basic attacks. At the same time, an UMCS plant, as part of a long productive chain, has to guarantee the highest productivity reducing failures and maintenances. This article describes the use of Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA as a methodology for improving quality in cleaning process. In particular, FMECA was utilized to identify potential defects in the original plant design, to recognize the inner causes of some failures actually occurred during operations and, finally, to suggest definitive re-design actions. Changes were implemented and the new UMCS offers a better quality in term of higher availability and productivity.

Product Quality and Worker Quality

OpenAIRE

Abowd, John M; Kramarz, Francis

1995-01-01

We study the relation between product quality and worker quality using an economic model that, under certain conditions, provides a direct link between product price, product quality and work-force quality. Our measures of product quality are the evolution in the detailed product price relative to its product group, and the level of the product price relative to this group. Our worker quality measures are the firm's average person effect and personal characteristics effect from individual wag...

Product Quality and Worker Quality

OpenAIRE

John M. ABOWD; Françis KRAMARZ; Antoine MOREAU

1996-01-01

We study the relation between product quality and worker quality using an economic model that, under certain conditions, provides a direct link between product price, product quality and work force quality. Our measures of product quality are the evolution in the detailed product price relative to its product group and the level of the product price relative to this group. Our worker quality measures are the firm's average person effect and personal characteristics effect from individual wage...

Effect of corticosteroid therapy in acute pain edema caused by ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To evaluate the curative effect of corticosteroids in the treatment of acute pain, local edema, and skin lesions caused by herpes zoster, and to develop some pertinent therapeutic guidelines. Methods: A total of 48 cases of patients diagnosed with herpes zoster from 2010 to 2011 in the dermatology clinic of Shan ...

Causes and Solutions of the Trampoline Effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Miwa, Masamiki; Ota, Noboru; Ando, Chiyono; Miyazaki, Yukio

2015-01-01

A trampoline effect may occur mainly when a buttonhole tract and the vessel flap fail to form a straight line. Certain findings, however, suggest another cause is when the vessel flap is too small. The frequency of the trampoline effect, for example, is lower when a buttonhole tract is created by multiple punctures of the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) vessel than when it is done by one-time puncture of the vessel. Lower frequency of the trampoline effect with multiple punctures of the AVF vessel may be due to enlargement of the initial puncture hole on the vessel every time the vessel is punctured with a sharp needle. Even if aiming at exactly the same point on the AVF vessel every time, the actual puncture point shifts slightly at every puncture, which potentially results in enlargement of the initial hole on the AVF vessel. Moreover, in some patients, continued use of a buttonhole tract for an extended period of time increases the frequency of the trampoline effect. In such cases, reduction of the incidence of the trampoline effect can be achieved by one buttonhole cannulation using a new dull needle with sharp side edges that is used to enlarge the vessel flap. Such single buttonhole cannulation may suggest that the increased frequency of the trampoline effect also potentially occurs in association with gradually diminishing flap size. As a final observation, dull needle insertion into a vessel flap in the reverse direction has been more smoothly achieved than insertion into a vessel flap in the conventional direction. A vessel flap in the reverse direction can be adopted clinically. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Venous Thromboembolism Quality Measures Fail to Accurately Measure Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Brandyn D; Streiff, Michael B; Pronovost, Peter J; Haut, Elliott R

2018-03-20

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is 1 of the most common causes of preventable harm for patients in hospitals. Consequently, the Joint Commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the United Kingdom Care Quality Commission, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, and the American College of Surgeons have prioritized measuring and reporting VTE outcomes with the goal of reducing the incidence of and preventable harm from VTE. We developed a rubric for defect-free VTE prevention, graded each organizational VTE quality measure, and found that none of the current VTE-related quality measures adequately characterizes VTE prevention efforts or outcomes in hospitalized patients. Effective VTE prevention is multifactorial: clinicians must assess patients' risk for VTE and prescribe therapy appropriate for each patient's risk profile, patients must accept the prescribed therapy, and nurses must administer the therapy as prescribed. First, an ideal, defect-free VTE prevention process measure requires: (1) documentation of a standardized VTE risk assessment; (2) prescription of optimal, risk-appropriate VTE prophylaxis; and (3) administration of all risk-appropriate VTE prophylaxis as prescribed. Second, an ideal VTE outcome measure should define potentially preventable VTE as VTE that developed in patients who experienced any VTE prevention process failures. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Measuring the effect of managerial ability on earning quality

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Jamal Bahri Sales

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to measure the effect of managerial ability on earning quality on selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2007-2013. The proposed study uses data envelopment analysis to measure the relative efficiency of selected firms where Sales is considered as output and Cost of goods (COGS, Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A, Net Property Plant and Equipment (PPE, Net operating Leases (OpsLease, Research & Development (R&D, Purchased Good will (Goodwill and Other intangible assets (OtherIntan are considered as inputs. Earning quality in this survey consists of three parts of quality of accruals, earnings and earnings forecast persistence. The results of our survey have indicated that managerial ability influences positively on earning quality.

Quantification of the effects of quality investment on the Cost of Poor Quality: A quasi-experimental study

Science.gov (United States)

Tamimi, Abdallah Ibrahim

Quality management is a fundamental challenge facing businesses. This research attempted to quantify the effect of quality investment on the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) in an aerospace company utilizing 3 years of quality data at United Launch Alliance, a Boeing -- Lockheed Martin Joint Venture Company. Statistical analysis tools, like multiple regressions, were used to quantify the relationship between quality investments and COPQ. Strong correlations were evident by the high correlation coefficient R2 and very small p-values in multiple regression analysis. The models in the study helped produce an Excel macro that based on preset constraints, optimized the level of quality spending to minimize COPQ. The study confirmed that as quality investments were increased, the COPQ decreased steadily until a point of diminishing return was reached. The findings may be used to develop an approach to reduce the COPQ and enhance product performance. Achieving superior quality in rocket launching enhances the accuracy, reliability, and mission success of delivering satellites to their precise orbits in pursuit of knowledge, peace, and freedom while assuring safety for the end user.

Water Quality vs. Sanitation Accessibility: What is the most effective intervention point for preventing cholera in Dhaka, Bangladesh?

Science.gov (United States)

Majumder, M. S.; Gute, D.; Faruque, A. S.

2011-12-01

Every year, 3 to 5 million individuals contract cholera, an acute diarrheal infection that is caused by the ingestion of food or water containing the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. Because cholera is a waterborne disease, it can be transmitted quickly in environments with inadequate water and sanitation systems where infected waste can easily pollute drinking water. Today, Bangladesh continues to struggle with endemic cholera. Donor organizations address water and sanitation via localized initiatives, including the installation of community water collection sites (i.e. tubewells; water-boiling points; etc.). At this small-scale level, water quality and sanitation accessibility can be improved independently of one another, and when resources are limited, donors must invest in the most effective disease prevention options. This study used laboratory-confirmed cholera incidence data (2000-2009) collected by the International Centre of Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh at their on-site hospital to compare the efficacy of interventions addressing water quality versus sanitation accessibility in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data regarding use of sanitary latrines and boiling of drinking water were extracted from sequential patient interviews conducted at the Dhaka facility and used as surrogate variables for sanitation accessibility and water quality respectively. Our analysis indicates that boiling water is 10 times more effective at preventing cholera than the use of a sanitary latrine. This finding suggests that regulating water quality is perhaps more critical to cholera prevention than increasing sanitation accessibility in an urban environment like that of Dhaka. At present, WaterAid - one of Bangladesh's most significant water and sanitation donor organizations - invests the majority of its budget on improving sanitation accessibility. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals also prioritize sanitation accessibility. However, in

Public Management and Organizational Performance: The Effect of Managerial Quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O'Toole, Laurence J.; Meier, Kenneth J.

2002-01-01

This paper presents the first large study of public management quality and its effect on program performance. Using 5 years of data from more than 1000 Texas school districts, the authors measure quality as the additional salary paid to school superintendents over and above the normal determinants

Hypoxemia in patients with COPD: cause, effects, and disease progression.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Kent, Brian D

2012-02-01

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death and disability internationally. Alveolar hypoxia and consequent hypoxemia increase in prevalence as disease severity increases. Ventilation\\/perfusion mismatch resulting from progressive airflow limitation and emphysema is the key driver of this hypoxia, which may be exacerbated by sleep and exercise. Uncorrected chronic hypoxemia is associated with the development of adverse sequelae of COPD, including pulmonary hypertension, secondary polycythemia, systemic inflammation, and skeletal muscle dysfunction. A combination of these factors leads to diminished quality of life, reduced exercise tolerance, increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity, and greater risk of death. Concomitant sleep-disordered breathing may place a small but significant subset of COPD patients at increased risk of these complications. Long-term oxygen therapy has been shown to improve pulmonary hemodynamics, reduce erythrocytosis, and improve survival in selected patients with severe hypoxemic respiratory failure. However, the optimal treatment for patients with exertional oxyhemoglobin desaturation, isolated nocturnal hypoxemia, or mild-to-moderate resting daytime hypoxemia remains uncertain.

Iridescence in Meat Caused by Surface Gratings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Kemal Yetisen

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The photonic structure of cut muscle tissues reveals that the well-ordered gratings diffract light, producing iridescent colours. Cut fibrils protruding from the muscle surface create a two-dimensional periodic array, which diffract light at specific wavelengths upon illumination. However, this photonic effect misleads consumers in a negative way to relate the optical phenomenon with the quality of the product. Here we discuss the fundamentals of this optical phenomenon and demonstrate a methodology for quantitatively measuring iridescence caused by diffraction gratings of muscle tissue surface of pork (Sus scrofa domesticus using reflection spectrophotometry. Iridescence was discussed theoretically as a light phenomenon and spectral measurements were taken from the gratings and monitored in real time during controlled drying. The findings show that the intensity of diffraction diminishes as the surface grating was dried with an air flow at 50 °C for 2 min while the diffracted light wavelength was at 585 ± 9 nm. Our findings indicate that the diffraction may be caused by a blazed surface grating. The implications of the study include providing guidelines to minimise the iridescence by altering the surface microstructure, and in consequence, removing the optical effect.

Effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons

Science.gov (United States)

Baik, Jong-Jin; Kwak, Kyung-Hwan; Park, Seung-Bu; Ryu, Young-Hee

2012-12-01

Building roof greening is a successful strategy for improving urban thermal environment. It is of theoretical interest and practical importance to study the effects of building roof greening on urban air quality in a systematic and quantitative way. In this study, we examine the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that includes the thermodynamic energy equation and the transport equation of passive, non-reactive pollutants. For simplicity, building roof greening is represented by specified cooling. Results for a simple building configuration with a street canyon aspect ratio of one show that the cool air produced due to building roof greening flows into the street canyon, giving rise to strengthened street canyon flow. The strengthened street canyon flow enhances pollutant dispersion near the road, which decreases pollutant concentration there. Thus, building roof greening improves air quality near the road. The degree of air quality improvement near the road increases as the cooling intensity increases. In the middle region of the street canyon, the air quality can worsen when the cooling intensity is not too strong. Results for a real urban morphology also show that building roof greening improves air quality near roads. The degree of air quality improvement near roads due to building roof greening depends on the ambient wind direction. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for constructing green roofs for the purpose of improving air quality near roads or at a pedestrian level as well as urban thermal environment. Further studies using a CFD model coupled with a photochemistry model and a surface energy balance model are required to evaluate the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons in a more realistic framework.

Protective and therapeutic effects of fucoxanthin against sunburn caused by UV irradiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mio Matsui

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Mild exposure to ultraviolet (UV radiation is also harmful and hazardous to the skin and often causes a photosensitivity disorder accompanied by sunburn. To understand the action of UV on the skin we performed a microarray analysis to isolate UV-sensitive genes. We show here that UV irradiation promoted sunburn and downregulated filaggrin (Flg; fucoxanthin (FX exerted a protective effect. In vitro analysis showed that UV irradiation of human dermal fibroblasts caused production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS without cellular toxicity. ROS production was diminished by N-acetylcysteine (NAC or FX, but not by retinoic acid (RA. In vivo analysis showed that UV irradiation caused sunburn and Flg downregulation, and that FX, but not NAC, RA or clobetasol, exerted a protective effect. FX stimulated Flg promoter activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Flg promoter deletion and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that caudal type homeo box transcription factor 1 (Cdx1 was a key factor for Flg induction. Cdx1 was also downregulated in UV-exposed skin. Therefore, our data suggested that the protective effects of FX against UV-induced sunburn might be exerted by promotion of skin barrier formation through induction of Flg, unrelated to quenching of ROS or an RA-like action.

Effect of HMM Glutenin Subunits on Wheat Quality Attributes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Horvat

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Glutenin is a group of polymeric gluten proteins. Glutenin molecules consist of glutenin subunits linked together with disulphide bonds and having higher (HMM-GS and lower (LMM-GS molecular mass. The main objective of this study is the evaluation of the influence of HMM-GS on flour processing properties. Seven bread wheat genotypes with contrasting quality attributes and different HMM-GS composition were analyzed during three years. The composition and quantity of HMM-GS were determined by SDS-PAGE and RP-HPLC, respectively. The quality diversity among genotypes was estimated by the analysis of wheat grain, and flour and bread quality parameters. The presence of HMM glutenin subunits 1 and 2* at Glu-A1 and the subunits 5+10 at Glu-D1 loci, as well as a higher proportion of total HMM-GS, had a positive effect on wheat quality. Cluster analysis of the three groups of data (genotype and HMM-GS, flour and bread quality, and dough rheology yielded the same hierarchical structure for the first top three levels, and similarity of the corresponding dendrograms was proved by the principal eigenvalues of the corresponding Euclidian distance matrices. The obtained similarity in classification based on essentially different types of measurements reflects strong natural association between genetic data, product quality and physical properties. Principal component analysis (PCA was applied to effectively reduce large data set into lower dimensions of latent variables amenable for the analysis. PCA analysis of the total set of data (15 variables revealed a very strong interrelationship between the variables. The first three PCA components accounted for 96 % of the total variance, which was significant to the level of 0.05 and was considered as the level of experimental error. These data imply that the quality of wheat cultivars can be contributed to HMM-GS data and should be taken into account in breeding programs assisted by computer models with the aim to

Introduction of quality management (1978)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-03-01

This book indicates quality management explaining way of dealing data, population, sample and data, table of frequency distribution and histogram, data and qualification scale, process capability diagram cause and effect diagram, Parrot's diagram, and check sheet. It deals with control chart using of control chart, way to read the control chart, writing of control chart and sampling check such as application, sorts, use basic repairs of sampling check.

Effects of operative treatment for muscular asthenopia caused by esophoria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Zeng

2016-05-01

Full Text Available AIM:To observe the effects of operative treatment for muscular asthenopia caused by esophoria. METHODS:Twenty-one cases(42 eyeswith muscular asthenopia caused by esophoria were included. After examination of refraction, phoria and fusion function, all cases were given operative treatment to correct esophoria. RESULTS:At 1wk after surgery, clinical symptoms were improved evidently in all cases, such as headache, diplopia and eye swelling. After followed up for 1a, no recrudescence was found. Before surgery, at 1wk and 1a after surgery, esophoria in the distance were 20.3△±6.3△,-3.1△±1.4△,0.7△±1.6△ respectively and esophoria in the near distance were 10.5△±3.1△,-1.3△±0.6△,1.5△±0.8△ respectively. By comparison of esophoria before and after surgery in different stages separately, the differences were statistically(PP>0.05. CONCLUSION:Esophoria operation may relieve obviously muscular asthenopia caused by esophoria without changing fusion function.

Adverse effects of increasing drought on air quality via natural processes

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuxuan; Xie, Yuanyu; Dong, Wenhao; Ming, Yi; Wang, Jun; Shen, Lu

2017-10-01

Drought is a recurring extreme of the climate system with well-documented impacts on agriculture and water resources. The strong perturbation of drought to the land biosphere and atmospheric water cycle will affect atmospheric composition, the nature and extent of which are not well understood. Here we present observational evidence that US air quality is significantly correlated with drought severity. Severe droughts during the period of 1990-2014 were found associated with growth-season (March-October) mean enhancements in surface ozone and PM2.5 of 3.5 ppbv (8 %) and 1.6 µg m-3 (17 %), respectively. The pollutant enhancements associated with droughts do not appear to be affected by the decreasing trend of US anthropogenic emissions, indicating natural processes as the primary cause. Elevated ozone and PM2.5 are attributed to the combined effects of drought on deposition, natural emissions (wildfires, biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), and dust), and chemistry. Most climate-chemistry models are not able to reproduce the observed correlations of ozone and PM2.5 to drought severity. The model deficiencies are partly attributed to the lack of drought-induced changes in land-atmosphere exchanges of reactive gases and particles and misrepresentation of cloud changes under drought conditions. By applying the observed relationships between drought and air pollutants to climate model projected drought occurrences, we estimate an increase of 1-6 % for ground-level O3 and 1-16 % for PM2.5 in the US by 2100 compared to the 2000s due to increasing drought alone. Drought thus poses an important aspect of climate change penalty on air quality, and a better prediction of such effects would require improvements in model processes.

The effect of quality circles on job satisfaction and quality of work-life of staff in emergency medical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseinabadi, Reza; Karampourian, Arezou; Beiranvand, Shoorangiz; Pournia, Yadollah

2013-10-01

Quality circles, as a participatory management technique, offer one alternative for dealing with frustration and discontent of today's workers. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of implementation of quality circles on nurses' quality of work-life and job satisfaction. In this study, two emergency medical services (EMS) of Hamedan province were selected and randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups. After the experimental group was trained and quality circles were established in this group, the levels of quality of work-life and job satisfaction were measured in the two groups. Then, the statistical analyses were performed using t-test. After the intervention, the results showed significant differences between the scores of motivational factors (p=0.001), the total scores of job satisfaction (p=0.003), and the scores of some quality of work life (QWL) conceptual categories including the use and development of capacities (p=0.008), the total space of life (p=0.003), and the total scores of QWL (p=0.031) in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. This study confirms the effectiveness of quality circles in improving quality of work-life and job satisfaction of nurses working in EMS, and offers their application as a management method that can be used by EMS managers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sleep quality of endometrial cancer survivors and the effect of treatments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tolgay Tuyan İlhan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective Sleep disorders affect 54.9% of gynaecologic cancer survivors. The effect of treatment methods on sleep quality is not clear. This study evaluated the sleep quality of survivors of endometrial cancer and compared the effects of different treatments on sleep quality. Materials and Methods Patients were categorised as surgery (group 1, surgery + brachytherapy (BRT (group 2, surgery + external beam radiation therapy (EBRT (group 3, and surgery + EBRT + BRT + chemotherapy (group 4. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI questionnaire. The PSQI was completed by the participants before surgery, 1, 3, and 6 months after each treatment was completed. The PSQI scores were compared between the different measurement times and different study groups. Results This study enrolled 114 patients with a mean age of 58.1±11 years. The number of participants in each group was 53 (46.5%, 14 (12.3%, 12 (10.5%, and 35 (30.7%, respectively. At baseline, 28 (24.6% patients reported poor sleep quality. The mean PSQI score reached the maximum level at the second measurement and decreased slightly during follow-up and the change in the PSQI score was significant (p=0.001. Group 3 and group 4 had significantly higher scores from baseline (p<0.008. At time point 3, the differences between the groups were significant. At time point 4, the most prominent effect of treatment on sleep quality was observed in patients with combined chemo-radiotherapy when compared with the other study groups. Conclusion Most survivors of endometrial cancer are affected by poor sleep quality during their treatment. To improve these patients’ quality of life, this disorder must be considered at each visit and tailored care plans should be developed to meet the women’s needs. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term results of sleep quality on patients with endometrial cancer.

Influence of Customer Quality Perception on the Effectiveness of Commercial Stimuli for Electronic Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrido-Morgado, Álvaro; González-Benito, Óscar; Martos-Partal, Mercedes

2016-01-01

Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality, and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers' quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality-linked to the brand-and intrinsic quality-related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i) cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name) is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii) different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe's largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due to the use of a brand name

Effects of thermal discomfort in an office on perceived air quality, SBS symptoms, physiological responses and human performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lan, Li; Wargocki, Pawel; Wyon, David Peter

2011-01-01

The effects of thermal discomfort on health and human performance were investigated in an office, in an attempt to elucidate the physiological mechanisms involved. Twelve subjects (six men and six women) performed neurobehavioral tests and tasks typical of office work while thermally neutral (at 22......, and were less willing to exert effort. Task performance decreased when the subjects felt warm. Their heart rate, respiratory ventilation, and end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide increased significantly, and their arterial oxygen saturation decreased. Tear film quality was found to be significantly...... reduced at the higher temperature when they felt warm. No effects were observed on salivary biomarkers (alpha-amylase and cortisol). The present results imply that the negative effects on health and performance that occur when people feel thermally warm at raised temperatures are caused by physiological...

Effects of processing on nutritional composition and quality

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The effects of processing on the nutritional composition and quality evaluation of ... P ≤ 0.01 ) differences in total dry matter and total sugar content between samples, ... Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Department of Nutrition, ...

Cost-Effective Adjustments to Nursing Home Staffing to Improve Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowblis, John R; Roberts, Amy Restorick

2018-06-01

Health care providers face fixed reimbursement rates from government sources and need to carefully adjust staffing to achieve the highest quality within a given cost structure. With data from the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (1999-2015), this study holistically examined how staffing levels affect two publicly reported measures of quality in the nursing home industry, the number of deficiency citations and the deficiency score. While higher staffing consistently yielded better quality, the largest quality improvements resulted from increasing administrative registered nurses and social service staffing. After adjusting for wages, the most cost-effective investment for improving overall deficiency outcomes was increasing social services. Deficiencies related to quality of care were improved most by increasing administrative nursing and social service staff. Quality of life deficiencies were improved most by increasing social service and activities staff. Approaches to improve quality through staffing adjustments should target specific types of staff to maximize return on investment.

Surgical improvement of speech disorder caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Saigusa, Hideto; Yamaguchi, Satoshi; Nakamura, Tsuyoshi; Komachi, Taro; Kadosono, Osamu; Ito, Hiroyuki; Saigusa, Makoto; Niimi, Seiji

2012-12-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive debilitating neurological disease. ALS disturbs the quality of life by affecting speech, swallowing and free mobility of the arms without affecting intellectual function. It is therefore of significance to improve intelligibility and quality of speech sounds, especially for ALS patients with slowly progressive courses. Currently, however, there is no effective or established approach to improve speech disorder caused by ALS. We investigated a surgical procedure to improve speech disorder for some patients with neuromuscular diseases with velopharyngeal closure incompetence. In this study, we performed the surgical procedure for two patients suffering from severe speech disorder caused by slowly progressing ALS. The patients suffered from speech disorder with hypernasality and imprecise and weak articulation during a 6-year course (patient 1) and a 3-year course (patient 2) of slowly progressing ALS. We narrowed bilateral lateral palatopharyngeal wall at velopharyngeal port, and performed this surgery under general anesthesia without muscle relaxant for the two patients. Postoperatively, intelligibility and quality of their speech sounds were greatly improved within one month without any speech therapy. The patients were also able to generate longer speech phrases after the surgery. Importantly, there was no serious complication during or after the surgery. In summary, we performed bilateral narrowing of lateral palatopharyngeal wall as a speech surgery for two patients suffering from severe speech disorder associated with ALS. With this technique, improved intelligibility and quality of speech can be maintained for longer duration for the patients with slowly progressing ALS.

Effects of working posture and exposure to traffic pollutants on sperm quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Boggia, B; Carbone, U; Farinaro, E; Zarrilli, S; Lombardi, G; Colao, A; De Rosa, N; De Rosa, M

2009-05-01

An increasing difficulty of couples in achieving pregnancy related to male infertility has been reported. Several factors have been implicated as possible causes of this decrease, including the exposure to the endocrine disruptors and the environmental toxicants, the changes in lifestyle and the exposure to heat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of working posture when associated to nitrogen oxides exposure. Three hundred and seven male workers, employed in a motorway company, were enrolled into the study, underwent a complete physical examination and laboratory evaluations, endocrine screening and sperm analysis. Taking into account the exposure to fuel combustion gases and the working posture, sitting or free, the study population was divided in 4 groups. In the subjects occupationally exposed to NO2, a significant lower sperm total motility was observed than in not exposed workers. In the workers with obliged sitting working posture, lower sperm motility was also observed than in the workers with free working posture. Differences in sperm quality were strong when chemical and postural risk factors were associated. The findings of this study confirmed detrimental effects of nitrogen dioxide as a marker of traffic pollutants, showing alterations of sperm quality even if the environmental concentration of gas is very low according to the limits established by the Italian legislation. They suggest, also, the possible interaction between chemical exposure and obliged sitting position.

The effect of xerostomia and hyposalivation on the quality of life of patients with type II diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Molania, Tahereh; Alimohammadi, Mona; Akha, Ozra; Mousavi, Jaber; Razvini, Ramin; Salehi, Maedeh

2017-11-01

. Hyposalivation possibility increases in diabetic patients with low metabolic control which can cause more severe side effects in relation to oral health. Xerostomia in diabetic patients has negative effects on oral health related quality of life. Diabetic control and patients' oral problem improvement is effective in their quality of life promotion.

[MEASURING THE EFFECT OF MULTI-SENSORY STIMULATION IN THE SNOEZELEN ROOM ON SLEEP QUALITY OF ALZHEIMER PATIENTS USING ACTIGRAPH].

Science.gov (United States)

Todder, Doron; Levartovsky, Meital; Dwolatzky, Tzvi

2016-12-01

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. The major manifestation of the disease is the cognitive impairment which appears at the onset of the disease. In addition to the cognitive impairment there are behavioral dysfunctions such as apathy, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances. The treatment for the manifestations of Alzheimer is currently pharmacological and behavioral. One of the newest behavioral treatments for Alzheimer is the multi-sensory treatment using the Snoezelen room. The study group included 16 hospitalized Alzheimer patients. A device called the ActiGraph, which reads movement level, was placed on the subjects' non-dominant wrist. The measurements took place continually for five nights: two nights before snoezelen treatment, the day of treatment and two nights after the treatment. This protocol was repeated after a week of rest. The results showed that snoezelen treatment has a positive effect on the quality of sleep during the first week but not on the second week. Snoezelen treatment should be considered as part of the treatment regimen of Alzheimer patients, in addition to the pharmacological treatments in order to improve their quality of sleep and quality of life. Larger sample size and longer periods of time are needed to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.

Effects of Soil Quality Enhancement on Pollinator-Plant Interactions

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Yasmin J. Cardoza

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Both biotic and abiotic factors can affect soil quality, which can significantly impact plant growth, productivity, and resistance to pests. However, the effects of soil quality on the interactions of plants with beneficial arthropods, such as pollinators, have not been extensively examined. We studied the effects of vermicompost (earthworm compost, VC soil amendment on behavioral and physiological responses of pollinators to flowers and floral resources, using cucumbers, Cucumis sativus, as our model system. Results from experiments conducted over three field seasons demonstrated that, in at least two out of three years, VC amendment significantly increased visit length, while reducing the time to first discovery. Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens workers that fed on flowers from VC-amended plants had significantly larger and more active ovaries, a measure of nutritional quality. Pollen fractions of flowers from VC-grown plants had higher protein compared to those of plants grown in chemically fertilized potting soil. Nectar sugar content also tended to be higher in flowers from VC-grown plants, but differences were not statistically significant. In conclusion, soil quality enhancement, as achieved with VC amendment in this study, can significantly affect plant-pollinator interactions and directly influences pollinator nutrition and overall performance.

Most oxidative stress response in water samples comes from unknown chemicals: the need for effect-based water quality trigger values.

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Escher, Beate I; van Daele, Charlotte; Dutt, Mriga; Tang, Janet Y M; Altenburger, Rolf

2013-07-02

The induction of adaptive stress response pathways is an early and sensitive indicator of the presence of chemical and non-chemical stressors in cells. An important stress response is the Nrf-2 mediated oxidative stress response pathway where electrophilic chemicals or chemicals that cause the formation of reactive oxygen species initiate the production of antioxidants and metabolic detoxification enzymes. The AREc32 cell line is sensitive to chemicals inducing oxidative stress and has been previously applied for water quality monitoring of organic micropollutants and disinfection byproducts. Here we propose an algorithm for the derivation of effect-based water quality trigger values for this end point that is based on the combined effects of mixtures of regulated chemicals. Mixture experiments agreed with predictions by the mixture toxicity concept of concentration addition. The responses in the AREc32 and the concentrations of 269 individual chemicals were quantified in nine environmental samples, ranging from treated effluent, recycled water, stormwater to drinking water. The effects of the detected chemicals could explain less than 0.1% of the observed induction of the oxidative stress response in the sample, affirming the need to use effect-based trigger values that account for all chemicals present.

Investigation of the Effects of Marble Material Properties on the Surface Quality

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Sümeyra Cevheroğlu Çıra

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the effects of material properties of marble on surface roughness and glossiness. For this purpose, four types of limestones were investigated. Physicomechanical properties of samples were determined through laboratory measurements. Mineralogical and petrographical characterizations were made using thin-section analysis. X-ray fluorescence (XRF semiquantitative method was used for chemical analysis. Six different grinding-polishing tests for each marble unit were done under fixed operational conditions using the same abrasive series. Relationship between the material properties and the surface quality was investigated. Although the polishing-grinding tests were conducted under the same operational conditions, different levels of roughness and glossiness were observed on different samples. Data obtained from the study proved that the main cause of this difference is textural and chemical composition variations of the marble specimen. Moreover, statistical evaluations showed that porosity, uniaxial compressive strength, and indirect tensile strength have strong effects on the surface roughness and glossiness of the marble specimen. The presence of an inverse relationship between the glossiness and roughness levels was determined as the result of this study as well.

Hypothyroidism and obesity: Cause or Effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, A.; Jayaraman, M.; Kumar, Hari K.V.S.; Modi, Kirtikumar D.

2008-01-01

Objective was to establish relationship between obesity and hypothyroidism and to analyze the frequency of primary hypothyroidism in obese patients and frequency of obesity in primary hypothyroidism patients. We conducted this retrospective, observational study in Department of Endocrinology and Obesity Clinic, Medwin Hospital, Hyderabad, India in March 2008. In the last 18 months (between September 2006 to February 2008), data on 625 consecutive primary hypothyroidism patients (Group I) and 450 patients from obesity clinic (Group II) were analyzed. Frequency difference between the 2 groups was assessed by Chi-square test. In Group I, 278/625 (44%) had body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m2. Obesity was higher (46% versus 34%) in overt hypothyroidism than in subclinical hypothyroidism (p=0.21). More patients were overweight in overt hypothyroidism group than in subclinical hypothyroidism group (p=0.02). In obesity patients, overt hypothyroidism was present in 33% and subclinical hypothyroidism in 11% patients. Overall thyroid dysfunction was found more in obese individuals with varying degree of significance. Detailed studies are required to assess the cause and effect relation between obesity and hypothyroidism. (author)

Faculty Perceptions of Online Teaching Effectiveness and Indicators of Quality

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Christine Frazer

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Online education programs in nursing are increasing rapidly. Faculty need to be competent in their role and possess the skills necessary to positively impact student outcomes. Existing research offers effective teaching strategies for online education; however, there may be some disconnect in the application of these strategies and faculty perceptions of associated outcomes. Focus groups were formed to uncover how nursing faculty in an online program define and describe teaching effectiveness and quality indicators in an asynchronous online environment. A semistructured interview format guided group discussion. Participants (n=11 included nurse educators from an online university with an average of 15 years of experience teaching in nursing academia and 6 years in an online environment. Teaching effectiveness, indicators of quality, and student success were three categories that emerged from the analysis of data. What materialized from the analysis was an overarching concept of a “dance” that occurs in the online environment. Effective online teachers facilitate, connect, lead, and work in synchrony with students to obtain indicators of quality such as student success, student improvement over time, and student application of knowledge to the professional role.

Qualities of effective secondary science teachers: Perspectives of university biology students

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, Madelon J.

This research was an attempt to hear the student voice concerning secondary science teacher effectiveness and to share that voice with those who impact the educational process. It was a snapshot of university freshmen biology students' opinions of the qualities of effective secondary science teachers based on their high school science experiences. The purpose of this study was to compile a list of effective secondary science teacher qualities as determined through a purposeful sampling of university second semester biology students and determine the role of the secondary science teacher in promoting interest and achievement in science, as well as the teacher's influence on a students' choice of a science career. The research was a mixed methods design using both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through the use of a 24 question electronic survey. There were 125 participants who provided information concerning their high school science teachers. Respondents provided information concerning the qualities of effective secondary science teachers and influences on the students' present career choice. The quantitative data was used to construct a hierarchy of qualities of effective secondary science teachers, divided into personal, professional, and classroom management qualities. The qualitative data was used to examine individual student responses to questions concerning secondary science teacher effectiveness and student career choice. The results of the research indicated that students highly value teachers who are both passionate about the subject taught and passionate about their students. High school science students prefer teachers who teach science in a way that is both interesting and relevant to the student. It was determined that the greatest influence on a secondary student's career choice came from family members and not from teachers. The secondary teacher's role was to recognize the student's interest in the career and provide encouragement

Effect of Continuous Application of Commercial Organic Manure on Farmland Quality and Vegetable Yield

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YANG Wen-ye

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Field plot trials were carried out with cabbage, brassica chinensis and corn involving 3 different fertilization schemes including non-fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer with organic manure to investigate the effects of the fertilization schemes on farmland quality as well as vegetable yield. The results showed that the fertilization scheme of organic manure caused accumulation of arsenic, lead and chromium, and the accumulation increased with organic manure amount;pH of alkaline soil was decreased by organic manure;the chemical fertilizer with organic manure significantly increased the content of soil organic matter, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium, as well as the yield of cabbage, brassica chinensis and corn, which indicated the increasing of soil fertility and vegetable field were based on fertilizer inputs.

The Anthropogenic "Greenhouse Effect": Greek Prospective Primary Teachers' Ideas about Causes, Consequences and Cures

Science.gov (United States)

Ikonomidis, Simos; Papanastasiou, Dimitris; Melas, Dimitris; Avgoloupis, Stavros

2012-01-01

This study explores the ideas of Greek prospective primary teachers about the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, particularly about its causes, consequences and cures. For this purpose, a survey was conducted: 265 prospective teachers completed a closed-form questionnaire. The results showed serious misconceptions in all areas (causes, consequences…

Integrating Product Water Quality Effects In Holistic Assessments Of Water Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rygaard, Martin

2011-01-01

economic assessment of water quality effects, production costs and environmental costs (water abstraction and CO2-emissions). Considered water quality issues include: health (dental caries, cardiovascular diseases, eczema), corrosion (lifetime of appliances, pipes), consumption of soap, and bottled water...

Perceived service quality's effect on patient satisfaction and behavioural compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Bahari; Azizan, Noor Azlinna

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to advance healthcare service quality research using hierarchical component models. This study used a quantitative approach with cross-sectional design as a survey method, combining cluster and convenience sampling and partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate the research model and test the hypotheses. The study extends health service quality literature by showing that: patient satisfaction (PS) is dominant, significant and indirect determinant of behavioural compliance (BC); perceived service quality has the strongest effect on BC via PS. Only one hospital was evaluated. The study provides managers with a service quality model for conducting integrated service delivery systems analysis and design. Overall, the study makes a significant contribution to healthcare organizations, better health outcomes for patients and better quality of life for the community.

Protective and therapeutic effects of fucoxanthin against sunburn caused by UV irradiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsui, Mio; Tanaka, Kosuke; Higashiguchi, Naoki; Okawa, Hisato; Yamada, Yoichi; Tanaka, Ken; Taira, Soichiro; Aoyama, Tomoko; Takanishi, Misaki; Natsume, Chika; Takakura, Yuuki; Fujita, Norihisa; Hashimoto, Takeshi; Fujita, Takashi

2016-09-01

Mild exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is also harmful and hazardous to the skin and often causes a photosensitivity disorder accompanied by sunburn. To understand the action of UV on the skin we performed a microarray analysis to isolate UV-sensitive genes. We show here that UV irradiation promoted sunburn and downregulated filaggrin (Flg); fucoxanthin (FX) exerted a protective effect. In vitro analysis showed that UV irradiation of human dermal fibroblasts caused production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) without cellular toxicity. ROS production was diminished by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or FX, but not by retinoic acid (RA). In vivo analysis showed that UV irradiation caused sunburn and Flg downregulation, and that FX, but not NAC, RA or clobetasol, exerted a protective effect. FX stimulated Flg promoter activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Flg promoter deletion and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that caudal type homeo box transcription factor 1 (Cdx1) was a key factor for Flg induction. Cdx1 was also downregulated in UV-exposed skin. Therefore, our data suggested that the protective effects of FX against UV-induced sunburn might be exerted by promotion of skin barrier formation through induction of Flg, unrelated to quenching of ROS or an RA-like action. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of farming activities on seasonal variation of water quality of Bonsma Dam, KwaZulu-Natal

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Ayanda N. Shabalala

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Agriculture has both direct and indirect effects on the quality of surface water and groundwater and is among the leading causes of water quality degradation, mainly as a result of the excessive use of agrochemicals. Water samples were collected in a selected catchment area (Bonsma Dam in KwaZulu-Natal and analysed for physicochemical variables. The concentrations of most of the elements and total dissolved solids, as well as the pH and electrical conductivity values, met the water quality requirements for domestic, agricultural, livestock and aquatic ecosystem uses. However, the inlet streams feeding the dam were found to be eutrophic during the wet season. Analysis of nitrate in the water body of the study area indicated that agricultural applications of manure and fertilisers may be a potential source of nitrate contamination. Most elements were more concentrated in the dam during the wet season. The overall ionic conductivity values were also higher in the wet season, while the pH was lower. The outcome of this work links the concentrations of physicochemical variables to land use, agricultural practice and local geomorphology. Seasonal patterns in the concentration of physicochemical variables occur, as land use, rainfall and farming activities change seasonally, and these concentrations should therefore be determined periodically.

Differences of Rotavirus Vaccine Effectiveness by Country: Likely Causes and Contributing Factors

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Ulrich Desselberger

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Rotaviruses are a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide and in many other mammalian and avian host species. Since 2006, two live-attenuated rotavirus vaccines, Rotarix® and RotaTeq®, have been licensed in >100 countries and are applied as part of extended program of vaccination (EPI schemes of childhood vaccinations. Whereas the vaccines have been highly effective in high-income countries, they were shown to be considerably less potent in low- and middle-income countries. Rotavirus-associated disease was still the cause of death in >200,000 children of <5 years of age worldwide in 2013, and the mortality is concentrated in countries of sub-Saharan Africa and S.E. Asia. Various factors that have been identified or suggested as being involved in the differences of rotavirus vaccine effectiveness are reviewed here. Recognition of these factors will help to achieve gradual worldwide improvement of rotavirus vaccine effectiveness.

Effect of Gait Retraining on Balance, Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life and Depression in Stroke Patients

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Majid Farhadian

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Stroke is one of the most common neurological disease and it is the main cause of physical and mental disability and staying in house. Gait difficulties have high incidence in patients with stroke. So the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gait retraining on balance, activities of daily living, quality of life and depressionin stroke patients. Methods: This study was a clinical trial without control group. Sampling was performed by convenience sampling method and 18 patients participated. After recording demographic data, Berg Balance Scale, Barthel Index, SF36 questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory-II used in pre-test and post-test to assess balance, activities of daily living, quality of life and depression, respectively .Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and paired T-test. Results: The results showed statistically significant correlation in pre-test and difference between mean score of the all instruments before and after the intervention. Discussion: According to high prevalence of gait difficulties in stroke patients, it seems interventions in this area is necessary. Statistical results showed that the gait retraining intervention may have a positive effect on improving balance, activities of daily living, quality of life and depression of these patients. According to lack of information in this area, further research is needed.

Effectiveness of Quality Improvement Strategies for the Management of CKD: A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Samuel A; Bell, Chaim M; Chertow, Glenn M; Shah, Prakesh S; Shojania, Kaveh; Wald, Ron; Harel, Ziv

2017-10-06

Quality improvement interventions have enhanced care for other chronic illnesses, but their effectiveness for patients with CKD is unknown. We sought to determine the effects of quality improvement strategies on clinical outcomes in adult patients with nondialysis-requiring CKD. We conducted a systematic review of randomized trials, searching Medline and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care database from January of 2003 to April of 2015. Eligible studies evaluated one or more of 11 prespecified quality improvement strategies, and prespecified study outcomes included at least one process of care measure, surrogate outcome, or hard clinical outcome. We used a random effects model to estimate the pooled risk ratio (RR; dichotomous data) or the mean difference (continuous data). We reviewed 15 patient-level randomized trials ( n =3298 patients), and six cluster-randomized trials ( n =30,042 patients). Quality improvement strategies reduced dialysis incidence (seven trials; RR, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.74 to 0.97) and LDL cholesterol concentrations (four trials; mean difference, -17.6 mg/dl; 95% CI, -28.7 to -6.5), and increased the likelihood that patients received renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (nine trials; RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.27). We did not observe statistically significant effects on mortality, cardiovascular events, eGFR, glycated hemoglobin, and systolic or diastolic BP. Quality improvement interventions yielded significant beneficial effects on three elements of CKD care. Estimates of the effectiveness of quality improvement strategies were limited by study number and adherence to quality improvement principles. This article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2017_09_06_CJASNPodcast_17_10.mp3. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Effect of light on the quality of beverages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perscheid, M.; Zuern, F.

1979-01-01

It has long been known that the quality of beverages is influenced by light. Such light-induced changes are dependent on the kind of container, since its light permeability determines the energy and intensity of radiation which causes the change. In previous investigations we studied the influence of light on wine. We found a positive correlation between the transmission spectrum of the bottle glass and the degree of change in the wine. A theoretic discussion is given on the influence of light on fruit juices, furthermore, experiments are suggested, which in our opinion are suitable to investigate the influence of light on beverages. We propose the use of a special xenon gas-discharge lamp as radiation source to obtain fast and reproducible results. (orig.) [de

Simulation of defoliation caused by Black Sigatoka in the yield and quality of banana 'Nanica ' fruits

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Juliana Domingues Lima

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Defoliation caused by Black Sigatoka in yield and quality of banana 'Nanica' was stimulated in this study. A completely randomized 2x8 factorial design with six repetitions was used, in which period of bunch formation and number of leaves at flowering were established as factors. Plants for defoliation were selected on 04/05/2013 (Period 1, and on 07/01/2014 (Period 2. Six to to 13 leaves remained per plant by removing those with more than 50% of blade with injury or senescence. More appropriate climatic conditions before and after flowering, promoted greater mass accumulation in the bunch in Period 2. The increased number of leaves at flowering increased the length of the fruit and the mass of 4th hand, as well as the bunch mass and postharvest period. Defoliation is suggested only for non-functional leaves as well as the maintenance of at least 10 leaves per plant, independent of the period of bunch formation.

The effect of quality of electronic banking services on agility of a bank

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Hooman Pourmohammad

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Studies have shown that in service organizations, quality can have a growth in customer satisfaction as its consequence, and when it regards the banking services, factors are brought up with regard to the quality of banking services, which include the speed in responding, providing products proportionate to the customer needs, and gaining competence. These concepts are shared by the issue of organizational agility; hence, the qualities as well as the bank's agility of the banking system embrace these concepts in common. Therefore, the study aims at studying the effect of the quality of electronic banking services on the bank's agility, and assesses the role of two mediator variables of the quality of service system and personnel behavior quality. Using a questionnaire comprised of 76 items about the above components and asking the line personnel in Bank Saderat Iran (BSI in the branches both inside and outside of Iran, the research data was collected, and stratified random sampling was used. To analyze the data, the Structural Equation Model (SEM was used and the PLS software was employed to perform the computations. Results indicated that the model of the study has a high Goodness of Fit, and the quality of the electronic banking services had a significant effect on the bank's agility. In addition, the quality of electronic banking services affects the service system quality. The system service quality, also affects the employees' behavior. Therefore, it can be said that the electronic services quality and the bank's agility affect the personnel behavior quality through the mediated effect of the service system quality. The results of the present study can help the bank's executives to promote their bank's agility and the personnel behavior quality.

Effects of stocking density on growth performance, meat quality and tibia development of Pekin ducks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ya Ru; Zhang, Lu Shuang; Wang, Zhong; Liu, Yang; Li, Fu Huang; Yuan, Jian Min; Xia, Zhao Fei

2018-06-01

This study was performed to investigate the effects of stocking density on performance, meat quality and tibia development in Pekin ducks reared on a plastic wire floor. A total of 372 healthy, 21-day-old, male ducks with similar body weight (BW) were randomly allotted to stocking densities of five (low), eight (medium) and 11 (high) birds/m 2 . Each group had six replicates. Results showed that compared with the low density group, medium and high stocking density caused a decrease in final BW at 42 days old, and in average daily gain, European performance index (p study, the stocking density of male Pekin ducks should be adjusted between five and eight birds/m 2 . © 2018 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Air quality models and unusually large ozone increases: Identifying model failures, understanding environmental causes, and improving modeled chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Couzo, Evan A.

Several factors combine to make ozone (O3) pollution in Houston, Texas, unique when compared to other metropolitan areas. These include complex meteorology, intense clustering of industrial activity, and significant precursor emissions from the heavily urbanized eight-county area. Decades of air pollution research have borne out two different causes, or conceptual models, of O 3 formation. One conceptual model describes a gradual region-wide increase in O3 concentrations "typical" of many large U.S. cities. The other conceptual model links episodic emissions of volatile organic compounds to spatially limited plumes of high O3, which lead to large hourly increases that have exceeded 100 parts per billion (ppb) per hour. These large hourly increases are known to lead to violations of the federal O 3 standard and impact Houston's status as a non-attainment area. There is a need to further understand and characterize the causes of peak O 3 levels in Houston and simulate them correctly so that environmental regulators can find the most cost-effective pollution controls. This work provides a detailed understanding of unusually large O 3 increases in the natural and modeled environments. First, we probe regulatory model simulations and assess their ability to reproduce the observed phenomenon. As configured for the purpose of demonstrating future attainment of the O3 standard, the model fails to predict the spatially limited O3 plumes observed in Houston. Second, we combine ambient meteorological and pollutant measurement data to identify the most likely geographic origins and preconditions of the concentrated O3 plumes. We find evidence that the O3 plumes are the result of photochemical activity accelerated by industrial emissions. And, third, we implement changes to the modeled chemistry to add missing formation mechanisms of nitrous acid, which is an important radical precursor. Radicals control the chemical reactivity of atmospheric systems, and perturbations to

Developing effective urban air quality management systems in the United Kingdom. Case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elsom, D.M.; Crabbe, H. [Oxford Brookes Univ. (United Kingdom). Geography Unit

1995-12-31

During the past few years an increasing number of local authorities have expressed concern about the ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene and fine particulates that residents may be experiencing in traffic-congested parts of towns and cities. Although recent legislation is intended to reduce vehicle emissions (e.g. stricter exhaust emission standards requiring new cars to be equipped with catalytic converters), the growth in the number of motor vehicles, their frequency of use and the congestion they are causing in urban centres have resulted in little or no improvement in air quality. Although total vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are expected to fall significantly during the next ten years, air quality will still remain a problem in some urban areas. Clearly, not all local air quality problems can be eliminated by the use of national legislation. For several years, local authorities and environmental organisations (e.g. National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection) have argued for local authorities to be given a statutory duty, together with appropriate funding from central government, to produce local air quality management plans which assess the seriousness of any air quality problems and which, if necessary, set out how poor air quality can be improved. This presentation examines the progress towards urban air quality management in the UK. (author)

Developing effective urban air quality management systems in the United Kingdom. Case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elsom, D M; Crabbe, H [Oxford Brookes Univ. (United Kingdom). Geography Unit

1996-12-31

During the past few years an increasing number of local authorities have expressed concern about the ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene and fine particulates that residents may be experiencing in traffic-congested parts of towns and cities. Although recent legislation is intended to reduce vehicle emissions (e.g. stricter exhaust emission standards requiring new cars to be equipped with catalytic converters), the growth in the number of motor vehicles, their frequency of use and the congestion they are causing in urban centres have resulted in little or no improvement in air quality. Although total vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are expected to fall significantly during the next ten years, air quality will still remain a problem in some urban areas. Clearly, not all local air quality problems can be eliminated by the use of national legislation. For several years, local authorities and environmental organisations (e.g. National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection) have argued for local authorities to be given a statutory duty, together with appropriate funding from central government, to produce local air quality management plans which assess the seriousness of any air quality problems and which, if necessary, set out how poor air quality can be improved. This presentation examines the progress towards urban air quality management in the UK. (author)

Influence of customer quality perception on the effectiveness of commercial stimuli for electronic products

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Álvaro eGarrido-Morgado

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers’ quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality –linked to the brand– and intrinsic quality –related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe’s largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due

Effect of power quality on windings temperature of marine induction motors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gnacinski, P. [Gdynia Maritime University, Department of Ship Electrical Power Engineering, Morska Str. 83, 81-225 Gdynia (Poland)], E-mail: piotrg@am.gdynia.pl

2009-10-15

Marine induction machines are exposed to various power quality disturbances appearing simultaneously in ship power systems: frequency and voltage rms value deviation, voltage unbalance and voltage waveform distortions. As a result, marine induction motors can be seriously overheated due to lowered supply voltage quality. Improvement of the protection of marine induction machines requires an appropriate method of power quality assessment and modification of the power quality regulations of ship classification societies. This paper presents an analytical model of an induction cage machine supplied with voltage of lowered quality, used in part II of the work (effect of power quality on windings temperature of marine induction motors. Part II. Results of investigations and recommendations for related regulations) for power quality assessment in ship power systems, and for justification of the new power quality regulations proposal. The presented model is suitable for implementation in an on-line measurement system.

Evaluation of thermal effects on the beam quality of disk laser with unstable resonator

Science.gov (United States)

Shayganmanesh, Mahdi; Beirami, Reza

2017-01-01

In this paper thermal effects of the disk active medium and associated effects on the beam quality of laser are investigated. Using Collins integral and iterative method, transverse mode of an unstable resonator including a Yb:YAG active medium in disk geometry is calculated. After that the beam quality of the laser is calculated based on the generalized beam characterization method. Thermal lensing of the disk is calculated based on the OPD (Optical Path Difference) concept. Five factors influencing the OPD including temperature gradient, disk thermal expansion, photo-elastic effect, electronic lens and disk deformation are considered in our calculations. The calculations show that the effect of disk deformation factor on the quality of laser beam in the resonator is strong. However the total effect of all the thermal factors on the internal beam quality is fewer. Also it is shown that thermal effects degrade the output power, beam profile and beam quality of the output laser beam severely. As well the magnitude of each of affecting factors is evaluated distinctly.

The Effect of Fit and Company’s Motivation on Consumers’ Evaluation of Cause Related Marketing

OpenAIRE

CHEN, YUN-PING

2011-01-01

Cause Related Marketing has increasingly became a prevalent and meaningful part of a company’s marketing plan. A successful Cause Related Marketing campaign can create a win-win-win situation for companies, customers and non-profit organisations. It has been found that whether company and cause is compatible with each other and perceived company motives are two key determinants of the effectiveness of Cause Related Marketing campaigns. Most of research has shown that a high fit partnersh...

Effect of Storage on the Quality and Safety of Grains in Tharaka ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The contribution of grains to food security is limited by deterioration during storage and as such it was necessary to document the effect of storage on their quality and safety. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of storage on the quality and safety of grains in Maragua and Gikingo locations, Tharaka District, ...

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT USING STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL TOOLS IN GLASS BOTTLES MANUFACTURING COMPANY

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Yonatan Mengesha Awaj

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In order to survive in a competitive market, improving quality and productivity of product or process is a must for any company. This study is about to apply the statistical process control (SPC tools in the production processing line and on final product in order to reduce defects by identifying where the highest waste is occur at and to give suggestion for improvement. The approach used in this study is direct observation, thorough examination of production process lines, brain storming session, fishbone diagram, and information has been collected from potential customers and company's workers through interview and questionnaire, Pareto chart/analysis and control chart (p-chart was constructed. It has been found that the company has many problems; specifically there is high rejection or waste in the production processing line. The highest waste occurs in melting process line which causes loss due to trickle and in the forming process line which causes loss due to defective product rejection. The vital few problems were identified, it was found that the blisters, double seam, stone, pressure failure and overweight are the vital few problems. The principal aim of the study is to create awareness to quality team how to use SPC tools in the problem analysis, especially to train quality team on how to held an effective brainstorming session, and exploit these data in cause-and-effect diagram construction, Pareto analysis and control chart construction. The major causes of non-conformities and root causes of the quality problems were specified, and possible remedies were proposed. Although the company has many constraints to implement all suggestion for improvement within short period of time, the company recognized that the suggestion will provide significant productivity improvement in the long run.

Adolescent Sleepiness: Causes and Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Shana L; Capener, Dale; Daly, Christopher

2017-09-01

Insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality are common among adolescents. The multidimensional causes of insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality include biological, health-related, environmental, and lifestyle factors. The most common direct consequence of insufficient and/or poor sleep quality is excessive daytime sleepiness, which may contribute to poor academic performance, behavioral health problems, substance use, and drowsy driving. Evaluation of sleepiness includes a detailed sleep history and sleep diary, with polysomnography only required for the assessment of specific sleep disorders. Management involves encouraging healthy sleep practices such as having consistent bed and wake times, limiting caffeine and electronics at night before bed, and eliminating napping, in addition to treating any existing sleep or medical disorders. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(9):e340-e344.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Effect of acute heat stress and slaughter processing on poultry meat quality and postmortem carbohydrate metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, R H; Liang, R R; Lin, H; Zhu, L X; Zhang, Y M; Mao, Y W; Dong, P C; Niu, L B; Zhang, M H; Luo, X

2017-03-01

This study investigated the effects of acute heat stress and slaughter processing on poultry meat quality and carbohydrate metabolism. Broilers (200) were randomly divided into 2 groups receiving heat stress (HS; 36°C for one h), compared to a non-stressed control (C). At slaughter, each group was further divided into 2 groups for slaughter processing (L = laboratory; F = commercial factory). L group breasts were removed immediately after bleeding without carcass scalding or defeathering, and stored at 4°C. F group broilers were scalded (60°C, 45 s) after bleeding and defeathering. Then the breasts were removed and cooled in ice water until the core temperature was ≤4°C. Rates of Pectoralis core temperature and pH decline were changed by slaughter processing, but only HS affected ultimate pH in group L. HS muscles had higher L* values (P  0.05). Sarcoplasmic protein solubility was higher in F processed birds (P < 0.05). HS decreased the solubility of myofibrillar and total protein in the L-slaughtered birds. Thus, HS caused a higher frequency of accelerated muscle glycolysis than controls. Factory processing (chilling) could not completely eliminate the effects of accelerated glycolysis caused by pre-slaughter HS. © 2016 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Effect of rectus recession combined with the rear suspension scleral fixation in patients with restrictive strabismus caused by thyroid associated ophthalmopathy

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Hai-Hua Qian

2016-04-01

Full Text Available AIM: To investigate the therapeutic effect of rectus recession combined with the rear suspension scleral fixation for patients with restrictive strabismus caused by thyroid associated ophthalmopathy(TAO. METHODS: The clinical data of 48 patients(71 eyeswith severe TAO were retrospective analyzed from January 2013 to January 2015.The patients with severe TAO were divided into the exophthalmos(EMgroup with 25 patients(35 eyes, compressive optic neuropathy(CONgroup with 12 patients(20 eyesand exposure keratopathy(EKgroup with 11 patients(16 eyes.The rectus recession combined with rear suspension scleral fixation treatment was performed in all patients. The visual acuity, clinical activity score(CAS, and diplopia situation of each group were recorded and compared preoperatively and at 6mo postoperatively. RESULTS: The postoperative best corrected visual acuity(BCVAof the three groups were significantly higher than those before operation(PPPPPCONCLUSION: Rectus recession combined with the rear suspension scleral fixation can help improve the restrictive strabismus caused by TAO, visual acuity, eyeballs to roll back, eliminate the diplopia and to improve the life quality of patients.

Peristomal skin complications: causes, effects, and treatments

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Doctor K

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Kimberly Doctor, Dorin T Colibaseanu Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA Abstract: Enterostomal formation remains a necessary part of multiple types of surgeries. Stomal difficulties can be a source of frustration for patients; however, a properly functioning stoma in a patient educated in its care can result in a highly functional individual, with a high quality of life, comparable to a person without a stoma. Correct surgical technique is vital to creating a stoma that is sufficiently everted, and in a good anatomical location. Loop ileostomies have a higher chance of complications, thus care in their formation is especially important. Systemic disease (inflammatory conditions, and autoimmune diseases especially as well as local conditions (pyoderma gangrenosum, infections, and fistulas, among others can be the causes for difficult-to-treat peristomal complications. Accurate diagnosis is essential in order to be able to address the underlying disease. Choosing the appropriate products to care for the stoma is often a process of trial and error, and is best done under the guidance of an enterostomal therapist. This is especially true for stomas in overweight individuals or stomas that have become flush with the skin with time and changing body habitus. Inattention to care can result in problems that range from simple mucocutaneous separations (separation of the bowel edge from the surrounding skin to large and difficult-to-heal ulcers. This article provides a systematic review of the most common challenges that patients with stoma are faced with, and offers solutions based on up-to-date review of the literature. Keywords: stoma care, stoma complications, stoma wound

Demographic, social, and economic effects on Mexican causes of death in 1990.

Science.gov (United States)

Pick, J B; Butler, E W

1998-01-01

This study examined spatial geographic patterns of cause of death and 28 demographic and socioeconomic influences on causes of death for 31 Mexican states plus the Federal District for 1990. Mortality data were obtained from the state death registration system and are age standardized. The 28 socioeconomic variables were obtained from Census records. Analysis included 2 submodels: one with all 28 socioeconomic variables in a stepwise regression, and one with each of the 4 groups of factors. The conceptual model is based on epidemiological transition theory and empirical findings. There are 4 stages in mortality decline. Effects are grouped as demographic, sociocultural, economic prosperity, and housing, health, and crime factors. Findings indicate that cancer and cardiovascular disease were strongly correlated and consistently high in border areas as well as the Federal District and Jalisco. Respiratory mortality had higher values in the Federal District, Puebla, and surrounding states, as well as Jalisco. The standardized total mortality rate was only in simple correlations associated inversely with underemployment. All cause specific mortality was associated with individual factors. Respiratory mortality was linked with manufacturing work force. Cardiovascular and cancer mortality were associated with socioeconomic factors. In submodel I, cause specific mortality was predicted by crowding, housing characteristics, marriage and divorce, and manufacturing work force. In submodel II, economic group factors had the strongest model fits explaining 33-60% of the "r" square. Hypothesized effects were only partially validated.

Effect of 1-methylcyclopropene on shelf life, visual quality and nutritional quality of netted melon.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Y; Wang, B L; Shui, D J; Cao, L L; Wang, C; Yang, T; Wang, X Y; Ye, H X

2015-04-01

The effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on shelf life, fruit visual quality and nutritional quality were investigated. Netted melons were treated with air (control) and 0.6 µl l(-1) 1-MCP at 25 ℃ for 24 h, and then stored at 25 ℃ or 10 ℃ for 10 days. 1-MCP significantly extended the shelf life, inhibited weight loss and delayed firmness decline of melon fruits. Ethylene production was also inhibited and respiration rate was declined. 1-MCP retarded 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) increases and inhibited ACC synthase and ACC oxidase activity. Moreover, 1-MCP treatment reduced the decrease in total soluble solids and titratable acidity, as well as the decrease of the content of sugars (sucrose, fructose and glucose). These results indicated that 1-MCP treatment is a good method to extend melon shelf life and maintain fruit quality, and the combination of 1-MCP and low temperature storage resulted in more acceptable fruit quality. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Causal Mechanism Graph - A new notation for capturing cause-effect knowledge in software dependability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Fuqun; Smidts, Carol

2017-01-01

Understanding cause-effect relations between concepts in software dependability engineering is fundamental to various research or industrial activities. Cognitive maps are traditionally used to elicit and represent such knowledge; however they seem incapable of accurately representing complex causal mechanisms in dependability engineering. This paper proposes a new notation called Causal Mechanism Graph (CMG) to elicit and represent the cause-effect domain knowledge embedded in experts’ minds or described in the literature. CMG contains a new set of symbols elicited from domain experts to capture the recurring interaction mechanisms between multiple concepts in software dependability engineering. Furthermore, compared to major existing graphic methods, CMG is particularly robust and suitable for mental knowledge elicitation: it allows one to represent the full range of cause-effect knowledge, accurately or fuzzily as one sees fit depending on the depth of knowledge he/she has. This feature combined with excellent reliability and validity poses CMG as a promising method that has the potential to be used in various areas, such as software dependability requirement elicitation, software dependability assessment and dependability risk control. - Highlights: • A new notation CMG for capturing cause-effect conceptual knowledge in software dependability. • CMG is particularly robust and suitable for mental knowledge representation. • CMG is a visual representation that bridges mental knowledge, natural and mathematical language. • CMG possesses excellent representation capability, validity and inter-coder reliability. • CMG is a fundamental method for various areas in dependability engineering.

Effect of the Combination Hot Water - Calcium Chloride on the In Vitro Growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and the Postharvest Quality of Infected Papaya

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Lidia Elena Ayón-Reyna

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Anthracnose of papaya fruit caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is one of the most economically important postharvest diseases. Hot water immersion (HW and calcium chloride (Ca treatments have been used to control papaya postharvest diseases; however, the effect of the combination HW-Ca on the pathogen growth and the development of the disease in infected papaya fruit has been scarcely studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the HW-Ca treatment on the in vitro growth of C. gloesporioides conidia and the quality of infected papaya. In vitro, the HW-Ca treated conidia showed reduced mycelial growth and germination. In vivo, the HW-Ca treatment of infected papaya delayed for 5 days the onset of the anthracnose symptoms and improved the papaya postharvest quality. The combined treatment HW-Ca was better than any of the individual treatments to inhibit the in vitro development of C. gloeosporioides and to reduce the negative effects of papaya anthracnose.

Effect of classic massage in quality of life of university students

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Nuno Miguel Lopes de Oliveira

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction : Due to often excessive academic activities, some university students are affected by stress, anxiety and depression, which can negatively influence quality of life. The classical massage was tested as a strategy for improving quality of life, since it presents psychogenic effects that contribute to this. Objective : To evaluate the effects of classical massage on quality of life, in stress, anxiety, depression and cardiorespiratory variables of university students. Methods : The sample consisted of an intervention group and a control group. While the intervention group (n = 10 received ten massage sessions, twice a week, for 30 minutes in the region of the cervical and thoracic spine, the control group (n = 12 received no intervention. For evaluating psychological variables, the Quality of Life Scale, the Lipp Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used. To assess cardiorespiratory variables, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate were measured. Results : There was a significant improvement in quality of life and significant decrease in cardiorespiratory variables. Conclusion : The classic massage can be a strategy for the improvement of quality of life in university students who present symptoms of stress, anxiety, elevation of blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate.

Quality assurance and quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1987-01-01

The practice of nuclear diagnostic imaging requires an appropriate quality assurance program to attain high standards of efficiency and reliability. The International Atomic Energy Agency defines the term quality assurance as ''the closeness with which the outcome of a given procedure approaches some ideal, free from all errors and artifacts.'' The term quality control is used in reference to the specific measures taken to ensure that one particular aspect of the procedure is satisfactory. Therefore, quality assurance is a hospital-wide concept that should involve all aspects of clinical practice. Quality control is concerned with the submission of requests for procedures; the scheduling of patients; the preparation and dispensing of radiopharmaceuticals; the protection of patients, staff, and the general public against radiation hazards and accidents caused by radioactive materials or by faulty equipment; the setting up, use, and maintenance of electronic instruments; the methodology of the actual procedures; the analysis and interpretation of data; the reporting of results; and, finally, the keeping of records. The chapter discusses each of these areas

The Effect of Auditor Ethics, Auditor Experience, Audit Fees and Auditor Motivation on Audit Quality

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Yeni Kuntari

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine the effect of auditor ethics, auditor experience, audit fees, and auditor motivation on audit quality of public accounting firm in Semarang. The populations in this study were auditors who work on public accounting firm in Semarang. The total population of public accounting firm in Semarang according to Indonesian Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 2016 was 98 respondents from 14 public accounting firms. Questionnaires were distributed to auditors in all those public accounting firm. This study used purposive sampling judgement with criteria of sample were they have worked and experienced in public accounting firm for one year. A total sample of this study is 30 respondents. Using multiple linier regression analysis the results show that auditor ethics had a significant positive effect on audit quality; auditor experience had a significant positive effect on audit quality; audit fees had a significant positive effect on audit quality; and auditor motivation had a significant positive effect on audit quality. Ethics, experience, fees and motivation of auditor had a significant positive effect on audit quality.

Health Related Quality of Life in Patients with Side-Effects after Antimuscarinic Treatment for Overactive Bladder.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Aram; Lee, Kyu-Sung; Jung, Rangrhee; Na, Selee; Kim, Joon-Chul; Kim, Hyeong Gon; Choo, Myung-Soo

2017-09-01

Drug therapy is the mainstay of treatment for overactive bladder (OAB), but antimuscarinic agents possess side-effects. These side-effects decrease the patients' quality of life. We therefore assessed the impact of side-effects on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) through an analysis of EQ-5D questionnaire. This study was designed to investigate the patients' satisfaction by quality weight of health status as affected by the side-effects of OAB medications. Patients who had OAB symptoms lasting longer than 3 months and have experienced side-effects after any antimuscarinic treatments filled in the EQ-5D questionnaire. The enrolled patients had two EQ-5D questionnaires for two different health statuses, i.e., presence or absence of side-effects. Quality weight was calculated using the ED-5D health status score with Korean tariff. One hundred patients were enrolled and completed the HR-QoL questionnaire. The most prevalent side-effect was dry mouth (61%) and 28% patients had dry mouth and constipation concurrently. Most of the patients with side-effects tried to endure and overcome these side-effects (79%), but 10% desired a change in medication, and 6% stopped medication altogether. The quality weight of EQ-5D without side-effects was 0.863, while the quality weight with side-effects was 0.666 (P effects and 57 in those with side-effects, supporting the results of quality weight assessment. Overactive bladder patients may enjoy a better quality of life if side-effects associated with antimuscarinic therapy are fewer. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Potential impacts of changing supply-water quality on drinking water distribution: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Gang; Zhang, Ya; Knibbe, Willem-Jan; Feng, Cuijie; Liu, Wentso; Medema, Gertjan; van der Meer, Walter

2017-06-01

Driven by the development of water purification technologies and water quality regulations, the use of better source water and/or upgraded water treatment processes to improve drinking water quality have become common practices worldwide. However, even though these elements lead to improved water quality, the water quality may be impacted during its distribution through piped networks due to the processes such as pipe material release, biofilm formation and detachment, accumulation and resuspension of loose deposits. Irregular changes in supply-water quality may cause physiochemical and microbiological de-stabilization of pipe material, biofilms and loose deposits in the distribution system that have been established over decades and may harbor components that cause health or esthetical issues (brown water). Even though it is clearly relevant to customers' health (e.g., recent Flint water crisis), until now, switching of supply-water quality is done without any systematic evaluation. This article reviews the contaminants that develop in the water distribution system and their characteristics, as well as the possible transition effects during the switching of treated water quality by destabilization and the release of pipe material and contaminants into the water and the subsequent risks. At the end of this article, a framework is proposed for the evaluation of potential transition effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[An analysis of the effectiveness of external quality assurance programmes using changes in quality indicators of individual hospitals].

Science.gov (United States)

Lack, Nicholas; Gerhardinger, Ursula

2010-01-01

Judging the effectiveness of external quality assurance programmes by comparing current performance with unadjusted regional or national crude averages is misleading because the influence of the actual size of the populations under consideration as well as the variance of performance between hospitals is underestimated. Not only do these artefacts lead to a general overestimation of changes in regional averages. They also may lead to a ranking confounded by regional size. An assessment at unit level circumvents these difficulties. The differential grading of degree of departure of a unit's performance from national targets available from funnel plots allows, in addition, for the discrimination between effects due to the monitoring institution and achievements attributable to the hospital under surveillance. A central role is played by the scoring system adopted for evaluating incremental changes of performance indicator values in successive years. The following proposal is intended to both assist the assessment of effectiveness of quality assurance programmes and identify areas requiring urgent improvement. Bavarian quality assurance data (BAQ 1995) are used to illustrate the method. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Integrating Product Water Quality Effects In Holistic Assessments Of Water Systems

OpenAIRE

Rygaard, Martin

2011-01-01

While integrated assessments of sustainability of water systems are largely focused on quantity issues, chemical use, and energy consumption, effects of the supplied water quality are often overlooked. Drinking water quality affects corrosion rates, human health, applicability of water and aesthetics. Even small changes in the chemical composition of water may accumulate large impacts on city scale. Here, a method for integrated assessment of water quality is presented. Based on dose-response...

The relation of vocal fold lesions and voice quality to voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, R.; Marres, H.A.; de Jong, F.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Voice disorders have a multifactorial genesis and may be present in various ways. They can cause a significant communication handicap and impaired quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of vocal fold lesions and voice quality on voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being.

Effects of Lavender Essential Oil and Methyl Salicylate on Gray Mold Control and Postharvest Quality of Strawberry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Sayyari

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Strawberry (fragaria×ananassa Duch. fruit characterized by short storage life, often estimated last less than one week even under optimum conditions at 8°C. The loss of fruit quality is often caused by gray mold (Botrytis cinerea that is the most frequent reported postharvest disease in strawberry during storage (6. In recent years, considerable attention has given to elimination of synthetic chemical and fungicides application and development of various alternative strategies for controlling fruit and vegetables diseases (2. One strategy is replacement of natural products with plant origin such as essential oil and methyl salicylate (MeSA. Essential oils are volatile, natural and complex compounds characterized by a strong odor formed by aromatic plants in form of secondary metabolites. In nature, essential similar oils that extract from lavender (Lavandula angustifolia play an important role in protection of the plants against pathogen incidence that can be replaced by synthetic fungicides (1, 4 and 14. MeSA is also a volatile natural compound synthesized from salicylic acid which has an important role in the plant defense-mechanism, as well as plant growth and development (5, 19 and 20. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to study the effects of MeSA and lavender essential oil (LEO on decay control caused by Botrytis cinerea as well as post-harvest quality indices of strawberry fruits during cold storage. Material and Methods: First, antifungal activity was studied by using a contact assay (in vitro, which produces hyphal growth inhibition. Briefly, potato dextrose agar (PDA plates were prepared using 8 cm diameter glass petri dishes and inhibitory percentage was determined. For in-vivo assessment of LEO and MeSA effects on Botrytis-caused fungal disease control, the experiment was conducted as factorial in completely randomized design (CRD with 3 replicates. The treatments were 3 concentration of LEO including

Environmental cause/effect phenomena relating to technological development in the Canadian Arctic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eedy, E

1974-01-01

The environmental cause/effect interrelationships observed as a consequence of man-mediated disruptions in Canadian Arctic regions are summarized. Sulfur dioxide pollution has destroyed vegetation in Southern Canada. Lichens are particularly vulnerable and have no defense mechanism against pollutants. In Fairbanks, ice fogs and stagnant air collect very high concentrations of pollutants, with the worst conditions arising from fossil fuel combustion and vehicle exhaust. In Yellowknife (Mackenzie) thermal inversions cause high local deposition of arsenic arising from smelter fumes. Concentrations are reported as high as 3 ppM. Fogs cause problems in the Edmonton (Alberta) air. Stable smoke clouds drifted north from a southern forest fire and reduced the solar radiation by 25 percent. Similar problems can occur with the plumes of industrial or thermoelectric stacks. (Air Pollut. Abstr.)

Industrial PM2.5 cause pulmonary adverse effect through RhoA/ROCK pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Junyan; Lai, Chia-Hsiang; Lung, Shih-Chun Candice; Chen, Chongjun; Wang, Wen-Cheng; Huang, Pin-I; Lin, Chia-Hua

2017-12-01

According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, industrial pollution-induced health impacts have been the leading cause of death in China. While industrial fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is associated with adverse health effects, the major action mechanisms of different compositions of PM 2.5 are currently unclear. In this study, we treated normal human lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells with industrial organic and water-soluble PM 2.5 extracts under daily alveolar deposition dose to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying adverse pulmonary effects induced by PM 2.5 , including oxidative damage, inflammatory response, lung epithelial barrier dysfunction, and the recruitment of macrophages. We found that water-soluble PM 2.5 extracts caused more severe cytotoxic effects on BEAS-2B cells compared with that of organic extracts. Both organic and water-soluble PM 2.5 extracts induced activation of the RhoA/ROCK pathway. Inflammatory response, epithelial barrier dysfunction, and the activation of NF-кB caused by both PM 2.5 extracts were attenuated by ROCK inhibitor Y-27632. This indicated that both PM 2.5 extracts could cause damage to epithelial cells through RhoA/ROCK-dependent NF-кB activation. Furthermore, the upregulation of macrophage adhesion induced by both PM 2.5 extracts was also attenuated by Y-27632 in a co-culture model of macrophages and the epithelial cells. Therefore, our results support that industrial PM 2.5 extracts-induced activation of the RhoA/ROCK-dependent NF-кB pathway induces pulmonary adverse effect. Thus, pharmacological inhibition of ROCK activation might have therapeutic potential in preventing lung disease associated with PM 2.5 . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The assessment of quality of products using selected quality instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edyta Kardas

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The quality parameters of products should be controlled at every stage of the production process, since it allows detection of any problems even in the initial stages of production processes and removes their causes during manufacturing. Final control of products is intended to capture non-conforming products that did not go to the customers. The results of such controls should constantly be analysed. Such analysis can help to detect the most common problems, determine some dependences or identify the causes of such situations. A lot of different instruments that can support improvement of processes can be used for this kind of analysis. The paper presents the possibility of using some tools which can be utilized to support the analysis and assessment of quality of products at different stages of the production process. The quality analysis of exemplary products using selected quality methods and tolls is carried out. Metal sleeve, that is part of electronic control subassembly of anti-blocking system of ABS, which was the research component being studied.

Effect of Modified Pre-Milking Sanitizing Approaches on Raw Milk Quality Obtained from the Dairy Farmers of Tawau Area, Sabah

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Sim Kheng Yuen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to investigate the raw milk hygiene and quality among the small holder dairy farmers in Tawau area. A total of 216 samples were collected from the respective dairy farmers and milk collecting centre located at Mile 15, Tawau. Preliminary results indicated that the quality of the raw milks obtained at farm level contained were inferior with high bacteria load (> than 107 CFU/ml. The total coliform (2.9-3.8 CFU/mL and Staphylococcus count (2.3-3.6 CFU/mL were relatively high in certain samples. However, none of the food borne pathogens was found. Trace back study revealed that the causes of contamination were attributed by poor hygienic handling among the dairy farmers and insufficient for immediate chilling of raw milk. A significant reduction in bacteria load was observed if the raw milk chilled immediately at farm. The implementation of modified pre-milking sanitizing practices improved the microbiology quality of the raw milks obtained from respective dairy farms. Future study will focus more on the effect of prolong storage towards the microbiological quality of raw milk.

How the factoid of wind turbines causing 'vibroacoustic disease' came to be 'irrefutably demonstrated'.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Simon; St George, Alexis

2013-06-01

In recent years, claims have proliferated in cyberspace that wind turbines cause a large variety of symptoms and diseases. One of these, "vibroacoustic disease" (VAD) is frequently mentioned. The aim of this study is to examine the quality of the evidence on how VAD came to be associated with wind turbine exposure by wind farm opponents. Searches of the web (Google advanced) and major research databases for papers on VAD and wind turbines. Self-citation analysis of research papers on VAD. Google returned 24,700 hits for VAD and wind turbines. Thirty-five research papers on VAD were found, none reporting any association between VAD and wind turbines. Of the 35 papers, 34 had a first author from a single Portuguese research group. Seventy-four per cent of citations to these papers were self-citations by the group. Median self-citation rates in science are around 7%. Two unpublished case reports presented at conferences were found asserting that VAD was "irrefutably demonstrated" to be caused by wind turbines. The quality of these reports was abject. VAD has received virtually no scientific recognition beyond the group who coined and promoted the concept. There is no evidence of even rudimentary quality that vibroacoustic disease is associated with or caused by wind turbines. The claim that wind turbines cause VAD is a factoid that has gone 'viral' in cyberspace and may be contributing to nocebo effects among those living near turbines. © 2013 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2013 Public Health Association of Australia.

Tolerance, quality and storability of gamma-irradiated Egyptian rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail, F.A.; El-Wakeil, F.A.; El-Dash, S.M.

1978-01-01

The effect of gamma irradiation on some organoleptic and physico-chemical properties and the storability of Egyptian rice was investigated. Radiation up to 50krad was chosen as an adequate dose causing non-significant changes in eating and cooking qualities. The effect of irradiation on degradation of starch and protein molecules is demonstrated on the basis of studies on the viscosity and solubility of rice paste. Irradiation at relatively low dose levels up to 50krad did not affect the chemical and nutritional qualities of rice regarding amino acids and B vitamins. It was also found that irradiation maintains better storability of rice under ambient temperature. (author)

Management assessments of Quality Assurance Program implementation effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, D.A.

1984-01-01

This paper describes a method currently being used by UNC Nuclear Industries, Richland, Washington, to help assure the effectiveness of Quality Assurance (QA) Program implementation. Assessments are conducted annually by management in each department, and the results summarized to the president and his staff. The purpose of these assessments is to review the adequacy of the department's implementing procedures, training/instruction on implementing procedures, and procedure implementation effectiveness. The primary purpose is to assess effectiveness and take improvement action where the need is indicated. The QA organization provides only general guidance in conducting the assessments

Effect of exercise on the quality of life in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Hong; Li, Guichen; Zhang, Ping; Xu, Duo; Chen, Li

2017-03-01

Diabetic patients tend to have a poor quality of life. A sedentary lifestyle is considered to be a modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes and an independent predictor of poor quality of life. Exercise is a key treatment for people living with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review to assess the effect of exercise on the quality of life of people with type 2 diabetes. We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and three Chinese databases were searched for studies published until January 2016. The review included all clinical trials that evaluated the effect of exercise on quality of life compared with that of usual care for people with type 2 diabetes. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of all the included studies, by using the Downs and Black Quality Index (QI). Thirty studies met inclusion criteria, with 2785 participants. We divided the exercise into four modes: aerobic, resistance, a combination of aerobic and resistance and yoga. Aerobic exercise showed a significant effect between groups. Resistance and combined exercise showed mixed results. Yoga also showed good intervention effects on quality of life. The effect of aerobic exercise on the quality of life in people with type 2 diabetes was safe and effective. Then, most of the studies on aerobic exercise were of good methodological quality. The effects of resistance exercise and combined exercise on the quality of life in people with type 2 diabetes were mixed, and the effect of yoga on quality of life still need more research.

The effects of teaching stress management skills on the quality of life in ICU nurses

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FARIBA GHODSBIN

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Job stress is one of the main factors in decreasing productivity in organizations and the leading cause of psychosomatic disorders in personnel. Since job stress of nurses working in Intensive Care Units (ICUs is considered as an important segment in health and medical systems, it significantly affects the quality of care and the nurse’s quality of life. To this end, the purpose of this research is to examine the effects of teaching stress management skills on the quality of life of the nurses working at ICU of the hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The subjects of the study consisted of 60 ICU nurses with the average stress score in Osipow job stress exam working at the hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups (30 in the case and 30 in the control group. The intervention was performed as a teaching stress management workshop for eight hours throughout two-days (four hours per day, and the nurses were followed up for two months. The data were collected through a two part questionnaire including demographic characteristics and WHO Quality of life BREF and were analyzed in SPSS software using paired t test, and t-test. Results: The findings showed that the nurses of both the case and control groups were homogeneous considering the demographic data such as age, sex, marital status, number of children, shift position, job satisfaction, number of working hours per week, work experience and the amount of income. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the mean score of the life quality before the intervention in both groups. But after the intervention, a significant increase was revealed in the mean score of the life quality of the case group as compared to that of the control group (P<0.0001. Conclusion: The findings revealed the efficacy of the stress management workshop in improving the life quality of ICU

The Effect of Occasional Alcohol Drinking on Semen Quality and Sperm Morphology among Young and Healthy Polish Men

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Felicja Lwow

2017-10-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Background: Ethanol (EtOH is an agent that seems to exert an especially harmful effect on male fertility. The impact of high EtOH intake on fertility was demonstrated in numerous researches, with data suggesting that this effect may have been due to decreased semen quality; however, similar negative effects were not identified among occasional EtOH drinkers. There are currently no recommendations for alcohol consumption for men who plan to have a child other than avoiding high EtOH intake. Thus, studies on the effect of moderate and occasional EtOH drinking on semen quality are needed to develop appropriate recommendations for men planning to have a child in the future. The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in semen quality parameters and sperm morphology occur in healthy young men who occasionally exceed the WHO-recommended weekly dose of EtOH but are not alcohol dependent and do not frequently consume high amounts of EtOH. Methods: The study sample consisted of 172 young men residing in urban areas. The semen quality and morphology of men who consumed more than 140 g of ethanol (high-risk group, HR, n=44 weekly was compared with that of low-risk group members (LR, n=128 who reported lower alcohol consumption. Results: The only between-group difference in semen characteristics was the identification of a higher percentage of macrocephalic sperm in the HR group (P=0.011. Alcohol intake was the sole factor influencing the percentage of macrocephalic sperm (b=0.171, P=0.025, multiple linear regression. Conclusions: We concluded that occasional alcohol consumption did not alter fertility but caused the accumulation of macrocephalic sperm potentially containing damaged DNA. Therefore, we recommend that men who plan to father children stop drinking alcohol at least 3 months before engaging in sexual intercourse that may lead to pregnancy.

INSURANCE OF KNITTED PRODUCTS QUALITY THROUGH THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF NON-QUALITY DURING THE OPERATIONS IN THE CUTTING ROOM

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LUTIC Liliana

2014-05-01

Full Text Available n a knitting- confection profile factory, any activity oriented toward evaluation, maintenance or improvement of products quality level is based on measuring and examining the product quality characteristics, in order to establish conformity to the quality specifications and/or naming the non-quality characteristics (establishing defects and fabrication deficiencies. We can consider non-quality as complementary to quality, although a definitive distinction cannot always be made between the two categories or states. Cutting holds a key role in insuring shape precision and pieces dimensions, determining the quality of the confection process, its structure and manual stages frequency. The quality of the cutting operation, appreciated through the precision and aspect of cut contours, existence and precision of markings, is directly reflected in the finite product’s quality, which entails knowledge of cutting instrument - fabric interactions. In compliance of the technological regime during the operations in the cutting room can determine: incorrect marking, spreading, sectioning or cutting. Non-quality of intermediate products obtained in the cutting department can be evaluated and controlled through defectologic control methods.The De – Ca – Re method (defect-cause-remedy correlation, applied in this paper, allows establishing the most important causes that generate defects, as well as preventive and corrective actions to eliminate these causes. This paper systematically presents the main defects that may occur during operations in the cutting room, causes that generate these defects, along with their preventive and corrective actions.

The role of individual accountability in promoting quality management systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turusbekova, N.; Broekhuis, Manda; Emans, B.J.M.; Molleman, E.

2007-01-01

Workers sometimes violate, more or less deliberately, Quality Management System ( QMS) procedures and rules, and two of the most essential causes of such violations are the attitude and motivation of the workers. The effectiveness of a QMS may therefore benefit from management tools aimed at

The effects of gamma irradiation on the quality of ready-to-cook meatballs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karadağ, Ayşe; Güneş, Gürbüz

2008-01-01

The effects of gamma irradiation on microbial quality, lipid oxidation, and sensory characteristics of meatballs were studied, and these effects were compared with the effects on ground beef. Meat samples were irradiated at 0, 3, 6, and 9 kGy, then stored at 4 ± 1 ºC for 14 days. Irradiation resulted in greater microbial inactivation, lower lipid oxidation, and less adverse effects on sensory characteristics in meatballs compared to ground beef. Irradiation of meatballs at 3 kGy resulted in about a 4-log reduction in total microbial count without significantly affecting the quality of the product during the first 3 days of storage. Higher doses or longer storage in air resulted in quality degradation, which could be controlled by proper modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Thus, irradiation doses approved for ground beef can be safely used with meatballs without significant quality degradation. Further studies combining irradiation and MAP are needed to determine the shelf-life of irradiated meatballs. (author) [tr

Effect of Fermentation Time and Leavening Agent on the Quality of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evaluation of production techniques, quality of market samples and effects of fermentation times (6 and 8hrs), leavening agents (yeasts and baking powder) and shelf life (fresh and 24h) on the quality of masa were carried out through interviews, processing operations, laboratory analyses and sensory studies. Statistical ...

Cause Related Marketing and its Effects on Employees

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Victor Quiñones

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Research is lacking concerning the perspectives professional accountants and the administrative staffs working for a global firm strongly involved in social causes have concerning cause-related (CRM. This paper discusses internal customers’ (employees feelings towards cause-related marketing activities sponsored by their employer at an important accounting firm located in Puerto Rico. The results show that internal customers strongly favor the firms’ involvement in cause-related activities and that such activities not only increases the public perception of the firm, but in addition, the way the firm is perceived as an employer, by both the business and non-business communities. The main driving force supporting internal customers responses appear to be an increased awareness of worthy causes throughout our society, as well as employees urge in making significant contributions to their surrounding environment or community of which they are also part of.

76 FR 64017 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; South Carolina; Update to...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-17

... of Air Quality Implementation Plans; South Carolina; Update to Materials Incorporated by Reference... the ``good cause'' exemption in section 553(b)(3)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) which... also finds that there is good cause under APA section 553(d)(3) for this correction to become effective...

Aluminium-Induced Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis and Alterations in Testicular Tissue and Sperm Quality in Wistar Rats: Ameliorative Effects of Curcumin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebrahim Cheraghi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background Reproductive toxicity is a major challenge associated with aluminum (Al exposure. No studies have evaluated the possible effects of curcumin (CUR on Al-induced reproductive dysfunction. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of CUR treatment on Al-induced reproductive damage. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, 40 male Wistar rats were allocated to the five groups (n=8 based on the treatment they received: no treatment (control, solvent [dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO or distilled water], CUR 10 mg/kg body weight (BW, Al chloride 10 mg/kg BW, and CUR+Al chloride (10 mg/kg BW/each alone. Treatments were performed by intraperitoneal (IP injections for 28 days. The left testis was assessed for histopathological analysis as well as the incidence of germ cell apoptosis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s test was used. P<0.05 was considered significant. A value of P<0.05 was considered significant. Results Significant reductions in body and testis weight; plasma testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels; sperm count, motility, morphology, and viability; germinal epithelium thickness; seminiferous tubules diameter; as well as, superoxide dismutase activity were observed in rats treated with Al. Moreover, Al exposure caused significant increments in the lumen diameter of tubules, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL-positive cells and malondialdehyde (MDA levels compared to the control group. However, in rats receiving CUR+Al, CUR significantly reversed the adverse effects of Al on testis and sperm quality. No significant differences in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH levels and nuclear diameter of spermatogonia were detected among all groups. Conclusion It can be concluded that Al causes reproductive dysfunction by creating oxidative damage. CUR, on the other hand, reduces the toxic effects of Al and improves the antioxidant status and sperm quality in male rats.

Haemostatic disorders in reproductive age women with menorrhagia and effects on quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Hacioglu, Sibel; Karabulut, Aysun; Sari, Ismail; Keskin, Ali

2016-11-01

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of haemostatic abnormalities in women with menorrhagia and to evaluate their effect on quality of life (QoL). The study population was composed of patients with menorrhagia seen in the outpatient clinic, having a score of >185 with a pictorial blood assessment chart. Structured questionnaires were used in the assessment of demographic characteristics and QoL, and patients were tested for bleeding disorders. Ninety women were recruited for the study. Bleeding disorders were detected in 40% of them: 11.1% had von Willebrand disease, 2.2% had low von Willebrand factor and 26.7% had platelet function disorders (PFD). In 22 (91.6%) cases with PFD the, defect was non-specific and impaired aggregation response to ristocetine (37.5%) was the most commonly detected problem. Bleeding disorders were not associated with any significant reduction in QoL (p > .05). Hereditary bleeding disorders may be the cause of unexplained menorrhagia even in the middle-aged women, but they had no prominent effect on QoL.

Validation of the instrument IMAQE-Food to measure effectiveness of food quality management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2007-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show that manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. This paper aims to describe the validation of IMAQE-Food - an instrument that measures effectiveness of food quality systems. Design/methodology/approach - Generalisability,

Influence of Customer Quality Perception on the Effectiveness of Commercial Stimuli for Electronic Products

Science.gov (United States)

Garrido-Morgado, Álvaro; González-Benito, Óscar; Martos-Partal, Mercedes

2016-01-01

Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality, and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers' quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality—linked to the brand—and intrinsic quality—related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i) cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name) is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii) different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe's largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due to the use of a brand

Qualities of an effective teacher: what do medical teachers think?

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Simerjit; Pai, Dinker R; Sinha, Nirmal K; Kaur, Avneet; Soe, Htoo Htoo Kyaw; Barua, Ankur

2013-09-17

Effective teaching in medicine is essential to produce good quality doctors. A number of studies have attempted to identify the characteristics of an effective teacher. However, most of literature regarding an effective medical teacher includes student ratings or expert opinions. Furthermore, interdisciplinary studies for the same are even fewer. We did a cross-sectional study of the characteristics of effective teachers from their own perspective across medicine and dentistry disciplines. A questionnaire comprising of 24 statements relating to perceived qualities of effective teachers was prepared and used. The study population included the faculty of medicine and dentistry at the institution. Respondents were asked to mark their response to each statement based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. These statements were grouped these into four main subgroups, viz. Class room behaviour/instructional delivery, interaction with students, personal qualities and professional development, and analysed with respect to discipline, cultural background, gender and teaching experience using SPSS v 13.0. For bivariate analysis, t-test and one way ANOVA were used. Multiple linear regression for multivariate analysis was used to control confounding variables. The top three desirable qualities of an effective teacher in our study were knowledge of subject, enthusiasm and communication skills. Faculty with longer teaching experienced ranked classroom behaviour/instructional delivery higher than their less experienced counterparts. There was no difference of perspectives based on cultural background, gender or discipline (medicine and dentistry). This study found that the faculty perspectives were similar, regardless of the discipline, gender and cultural background. Furthermore, on review of literature similar findings are seen in studies done in allied medical and non-medical fields. These findings support common teacher training programs

Effect of dietary vitamin E on broiler meat qualities, color, water-holding capacity and shear force value, under heat stress conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hashizawa, Yoshinori; Kubota, Masatoshi; Kadowaki, Motoni; Fujimura, Shinobu

2013-11-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary vitamin E (VE) on broiler meat quality, especially focused on PSE (pale color, soft and exudative), under chronic heat stress (HS) conditions. Twenty-eight-day-old female Ross broilers were kept in independent cages with a controlled temperature of 24°C (normal temperature: NT) or 30°C (high temperature: HT). The NT chickens were fed basal feed. The HT chickens were fed basal feed (HT) or VE (200 mg/kg) added feed (HT + E). Broilers were weighed and slaughtered at 38 days old. The breast muscle was removed immediately and then the samples were used for determination of meat color, pH, water holding capacity (WHC) and shear force value (SFV). Body weight gain and feed intake were significantly decreased in the HT and HT + E groups compared to the NT group. VE supplementation did not affect the growth performance. Chronic HS at 30°C for 10 days may cause deterioration of meat quality such as PSE. The effects of chronic HS on meat quality were most significant in the toughness of broiler breast meat. Supplementation of VE in broiler feed would be effective to prevent the extent of PSE on broiler meat by chronic HS. © 2013 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Modeling Effects of Groundwater Basin Closure, and Reversal of Closure, on Groundwater Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Pauloo, R.; Guo, Z.; Fogg, G. E.

2017-12-01

Population growth, the expansion of agriculture, and climate uncertainties have accelerated groundwater pumping and overdraft in aquifers worldwide. In many agricultural basins, a water budget may be stable or not in overdraft, yet disconnected ground and surface water bodies can contribute to the formation of a "closed" basin, where water principally exits the basin as evapotranspiration. Although decreasing water quality associated with increases in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) have been documented in aquifers across the United States in the past half century, connections between water quality declines and significant changes in hydrologic budgets leading to closed basin formation remain poorly understood. Preliminary results from an analysis with a regional-scale mixing model of the Tulare Lake Basin in California indicate that groundwater salinization resulting from open to closed basin conversion can operate on a decades-to-century long time scale. The only way to reverse groundwater salinization caused by basin closure is to refill the basin and change the hydrologic budget sufficiently for natural groundwater discharge to resume. 3D flow and transport modeling, including the effects of heterogeneity based on a hydrostratigraphic facies model, is used to explore rates and time scales of groundwater salinization and its reversal under different water and land management scenarios. The modeling is also used to ascertain the extent to which local and regional heterogeneity need to be included in order to appropriately upscale the advection-dispersion equation in a basin scale groundwater quality management model. Results imply that persistent managed aquifer recharge may slow groundwater salinization, and complete reversal may be possible at sufficiently high water tables.

Common cause failures of reactor pressure components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mankamo, T.

1978-01-01

The common cause failure is defined as a multiple failure event due to a common cause. The existence of common failure causes may ruin the potential advantages of applying redundancy for reliability improvement. Examples relevant to large mechanical components are presented. Preventive measures against common cause failures, such as physical separation, equipment diversity, quality assurance, and feedback from experience are discussed. Despite the large number of potential interdependencies, the analysis of common cause failures can be done within the framework of conventional reliability analysis, utilizing, for example, the method of deriving minimal cut sets from a system fault tree. Tools for the description and evaluation of dependencies between components are discussed: these include the model of conditional failure causes that are common to many components, and evaluation of the reliability of redundant components subjected to a common load. (author)

The effects of "The Work" meditation (Byron Katie) on psychological symptoms and quality of life--a pilot clinical study.

Science.gov (United States)

Smernoff, Eric; Mitnik, Inbal; Kolodner, Ken; Lev-Ari, Shahar

2015-01-01

"The Work" is a meditative technique that enables the identification and investigation of thoughts that cause an individual stress and suffering. Its core is comprised of four questions and turnarounds that enable the participant to experience a different interpretation of reality. We assessed the effect of "The Work" meditation on quality of life and psychological symptoms in a non-clinical sample. This study was designed as a single-group pilot clinical trial (open label). Participants (n = 197) enrolled in a nine-day training course ("The School for The Work") and completed a set of self-administered measures on three occasions: before the course (n = 197), after the course (n = 164), and six months after course completion (n = 102). Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI), Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR16), Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ-45.2), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). A mixed models analysis revealed significant positive changes between baseline compared to the end of the intervention and six-month follow-up in all measures: BDI-II (t = 10.24, P Work" meditation technique as an effective intervention for improvement in psychological state and quality of life in the general population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A 2-1-1 research collaboration: participant accrual and service quality indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Eddens, Katherine S; Alcaraz, Kassandra I; Kreuter, Matthew W; Rath, Suchitra; Greer, Regina

2012-12-01

In times of crises, 2-1-1 serves as a lifeline in many ways. These crises often cause a spike in call volume that can challenge 2-1-1's ability to meet its service quality standards. For researchers gathering data through 2-1-1s, a sudden increase in call volume might reduce accrual as 2-1-1 has less time to administer study protocols. Research activities imbedded in 2-1-1 systems may affect directly 2-1-1 service quality indicators. Using data from a 2-1-1 research collaboration, this paper examines the impact of crises on call volume to 2-1-1, how call volume affects research participant accrual through 2-1-1, and how research recruitment efforts affect 2-1-1 service quality indicators. t-tests were used to examine the effect of call volume on research participant accrual. Linear and logistic regressions were used to examine the effect of research participant accrual on 2-1-1 service quality indicators. Data were collected June 2010-December 2011; data were analyzed in 2012. Findings from this collaboration suggest that crises causing spikes in call volume adversely affect 2-1-1 service quality indicators as well as accrual of research participants. Administering a brief (2-3 minute) health risk assessment did not affect service quality negatively, but administering a longer (15-18 minute) survey had a modest adverse effect on these indicators. In 2-1-1 research collaborations, both partners need to understand the dynamic relationship among call volume, research accrual, and service quality and adjust expectations accordingly. If research goals include administering a longer survey, increased staffing of 2-1-1 call centers may be needed to avoid compromising service quality. Copyright © 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The interactive effects of transportation and lairage time on welfare indicators, carcass and meat quality traits in slaughter pigs

Science.gov (United States)

Čobanović, N.; Vasilev, D.; Dimitrijević, M.; Teodorović, V.; Parunović, N.; Betić, N.; Karabasil, N.

2017-09-01

This study assessed the effects of transportation and lairage time and their interaction on welfare, carcass and meat quality traits in slaughter pigs under commercial conditions. The study was conducted on 120 pigs with a live weight of approximately 115 kg and about six months old. A complete blood picture was measured in pigs to assess pre-slaughter stress. Also, nine different carcass quality parameters including live weight, hot and cold carcass weights, cooling loss, dressing percentage, backfat thickness, meatiness and skin lesions score were measured. The pH and temperature measurements were performed 45 minutes post-mortem. The results showed that short transportation time and slaughtering without lairaging and long transportation time and overnight lairaging negatively influenced the hematological parameters, which meant that the animal welfare was seriously compromised under these pre-slaughter conditions. Long transportation time and overnight lairaging reduced live and carcass weights and increased the incidence of skin lesions on the carcass and DFD pork. In addition, short transportation time and slaughtering without lairaging caused a significant deterioration in pork quality. It can be concluded that, from the standpoint of animal welfare, carcass and meat quality, the above-mentioned pre-slaughter conditions are not recommended to the farmers and/or pork producers.

Effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide pathway and semen quality

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S. Eskiocak

2006-05-01

Full Text Available It has been reported that mental stress causes abnormality of spermiogram parameters. We investigated the effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO pathway. Semen samples were collected from 29 healthy fourth semester medical students just before (stress and 3 months after (non-stress the final examinations. Psychological stress was measured by the State Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. After standard semen analysis, arginase activity and NO concentration were measured spectrophotometrically in the seminal plasma. Measurements were made in duplicate. During the stress period, sperm concentration (41.28 ± 3.70 vs 77.62 ± 7.13 x 10(6/mL, rapid progressive motility of spermatozoa (8.79 ± 1.66 vs 20.86 ± 1.63% and seminal plasma arginase activity (0.12 ± 0.01 vs 0.22 ± 0.01 U/mL were significantly lower than in the non-stress situation, whereas seminal plasma NO (17.28 ± 0.56 vs 10.02 ± 0.49 µmol/L was higher compared to the non-stress period (P < 0.001 for all. During stress there was a negative correlation between NO concentration and sperm concentration, the percentage of rapid progressive motility and arginase activity (r = -0.622, P < 0.01; r = -0.425, P < 0.05 and r = -0.445, P < 0.05, respectively. These results indicate that psychological stress causes an increase of NO level and a decrease of arginase activity in the L-arginine-NO pathway. Furthermore, poor sperm quality may be due to excessive production of NO under psychological stress. In the light of these results, we suggest that the arginine-NO pathway, together with arginase and NO synthase, are involved in semen quality under stress conditions.

Air quality management in Botswana

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Modupe O. Akinola

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines air pollution situation and the history of air quality management in Botswana. The current air quality management in Botswana is still largely underpinned by the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act of 1971, supplemented by the more recently enacted legislations such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA Act of 2010 and the Ambient Air Quality - Limits for Common Pollutants of 2012 published by the Botswana Bureau of Standards. Though commendable efforts have been made toward legislating against air and other forms of pollution, these have not yielded expected results in view of the prevailing levels of air pollutants like sulphur dioxide and fine particulate matters in the country’s atmospheric environment. Legislation as a sole measure may not be effective in tackling this challenge. Rather, government should also address some root-causes of the problem by making policies and programmes that will reduce unemployment and increase the earning capacity of citizenry. This will, among other things, effectively check poverty-induced biomass burning in the country. The paper looks at some other challenges of air pollution management and suggestions are made to tackle the identified problems.

Effect of exercise supplementation on dipyridamole thallium-201 image quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stern, S.; Greenberg, I.D.; Corne, R.

1991-01-01

To determine the effect of different types of exercise supplementation on dipyridamole thallium image quality, 78 patients were prospectively randomized to one of three protocols: dipyridamole infusion alone, dipyridamole supplemented with isometric handgrip, and dipyridamole with low-level treadmill exercise. Heart-to-lung, heart-to-liver, and heart-to-adjacent infradiaphragmatic activity ratios were generated from anterior images acquired immediately following the test. Additionally, heart-to-total infradiaphragmatic activity was graded semiquantitatively. Results showed a significantly higher ratio of heart to subdiaphragmatic activity in the treadmill group as compared with dipyridamole alone (p less than 0.001) and dipyridamole supplemented with isometric handgrip exercise (p less than 0.001). No significant difference was observed between patients receiving the dipyridamole infusion, and dipyridamole supplemented with isometric handgrip exercise. The authors conclude that low-level treadmill exercise supplementation of dipyridamole infusion is an effective means of improving image quality. Supplementation with isometric handgrip does not improve image quality over dipyridamole alone

Fire in Ghana's dry forest: Causes, frequency, effects and management interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Sandra Opoku Agyemang; Michael Muller; Victor Rex Barnes

2015-01-01

This paper describes the number of fires, area burned, causes and seasonality of fires over a ten year period from 2002-2012 and investigates different fire management strategies and their effectiveness in the Afram headwaters forest reserve in Ghana. Data were collected from interviews of stakeholders in two communities adjacent to the reserve, and from 2002-2012 fire...

Effect of L-carnitine supplementation on drake semen quality

African Journals Online (AJOL)

sp3

2014-01-30

Jan 30, 2014 ... This study was conducted to determine the effect on semen quality traits of supplementing the diets of. Iraqi drakes with L-carnitine. ... Keywords: Carnitine, ducks, reproductive performance ..... clinical result. Drug Exp. Clin.

FIELD SURVEY REPORT OF TSUNAMI EFFECTS CAUSED BY THE AUGUST 2012 OFFSHORE EL SALAVADOR EARTHQUAKE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Gavidia-Medina

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This report describes the field survey of the western zone of El Salvador conducted by an international group of scientists and engineers following the earthquake and tsunami of 27 August 2012 (04:37 UTC, 26 August 10:37 pm local time. The earthquake generated a tsunami with a maximum height of ~ 6 m causing inundation of up to 300 m inland along a 40 km section of coastline in eastern El Salvador. * (Note: Presentation from the 6th International Tsunami Symposium of Tsunami Society International in Costa Rica in Sept. 2014 - based on the Field Survey Report of the tsunami effects caused by the August 2012 Earthquake which were compiled in a report by Jose C. Borrero of the University of California Tsunami Research Center. Contributors to that report and field survey participants included Hermann M. Fritz of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Francisco Gavidia-Medina, Jeniffer Larreynaga-Murcia, Rodolfo Torres-Cornejo, Manuel Diaz-Flores and Fabio Alvarad: of the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales de El Salvador (MARN, Norwin Acosta: of the Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales( INOTER, Julie Leonard of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID, OFDA, Nic Arcos of the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC and Diego Arcas of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (NOAA – PMEL The figures of this paper are from the report compiled by Jose C. Borrero and are numbered out of sequence out of sequence from the compiled joint report. The quality of figures 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 is rather poor and the reader is referred to the original report, as shown in the references.

Is the increase in allergic respiratory disease caused by a cohort effect?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linneberg, A; Nielsen, N H; Madsen, F

2002-01-01

-sectional studies have shown that the prevalence of allergic sensitization decreases with increasing age. This could reflect the natural course of allergic sensitization. Alternatively, this could reflect that the increase in sensitization is caused by a cohort effect, i.e. an increase among subjects born during...... by a cohort effect. Thus, changes in lifestyle or environmental factors that occurred around or after 1960 may have contributed to this increase....

Effects of freezing conditions on quality changes in blueberries.

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Cao, Xuehui; Zhang, Fangfang; Zhao, Dongyu; Zhu, Danshi; Li, Jianrong

2018-03-12

Freezing preservation is one of the most effective methods used to maintain the flavour and nutritional value of fruit. This research studied the effects of different freezing conditions, -20 °C, -40 °C, -80 °C, and immersion in liquid nitrogen, on quality changes of freeze-thawed blueberries. The water distribution estimates of blueberries were measured based on low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) analysis. The pectin content, drip loss, and fruit texture were also detected to evaluate quality changes in samples. The freezing curves of blueberry showed super-cooling points at -20 °C and - 40 °C, whereas super-cooling points were not observed at -80 °C or in liquid nitrogen. After freeze-thaw treatment, the relaxation time of the cell wall water (T 21 ), cytoplasm water and extracellular space (T 22 ), and vacuole water (T 23 ) were significantly shortened compared to fresh samples, which suggested a lower liquidity. Although the freezing speed for samples immersed in liquid nitrogen was faster than other treatments, samples treated at -80 °C showed better quality regarding vacuole water holding, drip loss, and original pectin content retention. This study contributed to understanding how freezing temperature affects the qualities of blueberries. The super-fast freezing rate might injure fruit, and an appropriate freezing rate could better preserve blueberries. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of inulin on dough and biscuit quality produced from different flours

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Maria S. Blanco Canalis

2017-04-01

Full Text Available One of the methods of improving the nutritional profile of baked-goods is the incorporation of dietary fibre (DF to the formulation. However, DF retains more water than wheat flour, which affects dough rheological properties and thus the final product quality. Flour is the main ingredient in biscuits and contributes to the baked texture and shape of biscuits. There are large differences in quality among the flours from wheat cultivars and among non-wheat flours used for biscuit production. In previous works, different dietary fibres were tested and inulin was found to have a positive quality  effect on biscuits made from an all-purpose wheat flour without the need of introducing significant changes in dough properties. To know whether these results are extended to different types of flours that can be used for biscuit production, this paper aimed to analyse the effects of different levels of inulin incorporation on dough and biscuits quality made from three different wheat flours and one triticale flour. Chemical and physic-chemical characterization of the flour samples was performed and compared (moisture, ashes, gluten, solvent retention capacity (SRC and protein content. Inulin was incorporated to biscuits formulation in two levels: 6 and 12% (wheat replacement. Dough and biscuits quality was measured by spread rate during baking and biscuit factor, texture and surface colour. Inulin incorporation increased dough spreading and biscuit factor and decreased biscuit hardness. The enhancing effect of inulin was observed in all flour. The results confirmed the effect of inulin on biscuits obtained with all flour assayed, despite the differences in flour quality that was tested.

Effects of ozone-vegetation coupling on surface ozone air quality via biogeochemical and meteorological feedbacks

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Sadiq, Mehliyar; Tai, Amos P. K.; Lombardozzi, Danica; Martin, Maria Val

2017-02-01

Tropospheric ozone is one of the most hazardous air pollutants as it harms both human health and plant productivity. Foliage uptake of ozone via dry deposition damages photosynthesis and causes stomatal closure. These foliage changes could lead to a cascade of biogeochemical and biogeophysical effects that not only modulate the carbon cycle, regional hydrometeorology and climate, but also cause feedbacks onto surface ozone concentration itself. In this study, we implement a semi-empirical parameterization of ozone damage on vegetation in the Community Earth System Model to enable online ozone-vegetation coupling, so that for the first time ecosystem structure and ozone concentration can coevolve in fully coupled land-atmosphere simulations. With ozone-vegetation coupling, present-day surface ozone is simulated to be higher by up to 4-6 ppbv over Europe, North America and China. Reduced dry deposition velocity following ozone damage contributes to ˜ 40-100 % of those increases, constituting a significant positive biogeochemical feedback on ozone air quality. Enhanced biogenic isoprene emission is found to contribute to most of the remaining increases, and is driven mainly by higher vegetation temperature that results from lower transpiration rate. This isoprene-driven pathway represents an indirect, positive meteorological feedback. The reduction in both dry deposition and transpiration is mostly associated with reduced stomatal conductance following ozone damage, whereas the modification of photosynthesis and further changes in ecosystem productivity are found to play a smaller role in contributing to the ozone-vegetation feedbacks. Our results highlight the need to consider two-way ozone-vegetation coupling in Earth system models to derive a more complete understanding and yield more reliable future predictions of ozone air quality.

[Problems of the effective energy used as a quality expression of diagnostic X-ray].

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Hideki; Hayashi, Naoki; Suzuki, Shoichi; Ando, Sho; Miyamoto, Mami; Wakasugi, Nao; Suzuki, Shizuma

2011-01-01

The effective energy has been generally used as a method of handily expressing an X-ray quality by one numerical value. The effective energy is a concept derived from "Half Value Layer (HVL)" that is the expressing parameter of beam quality based on the attenuation of the primary X-ray by a material. When beam quality is expressed by using HVL and / or the effective energy, it is necessary to describe the tube potential, the rectification method, and the homogeneity coefficient, etc. in parallel. However, recently feelings are that the effective energy should be handled like an absolute numerical value to physical characteristics of X-rays. In this paper, it was theoretically clarified that the effective energy had a different value depending on the absorber material used for the HVL measurement. In addition, the errors when physical characteristics of the X-rays were evaluated using the effective energy was also examined. Physical characteristics, such as interactions to the material of mono-energetic X-ray, are not equal to that of X-rays with a wide energy spectrum. It is not an easy comparison to express the quality of the diagnostic X-rays, and to calculate physical characteristics of the X-rays by using the effective energy. It is necessary to design a new method of expressing the quality of X-rays that takes the place of the "effective energy."

Impact of coherent synchrotron radiation on beam qualities in a Chicane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Dao; Huang Wenhui; He Xiaozhong

2004-01-01

When the bunch goes through a Chicane, the energy will be redistributed within the bunch due to CSR (coherent synchrotron radiation), which would cause nonlinearity. Present theory states that this nonlinearity would add a huge amount to emittance growth. Based on simulation results, this paper would point out that the theory is only valid under an ideal condition that the bunch initially has no nonlinearity and under some given parameters there could be a cancellation between the nonlinearity caused by CSR and the initial nonlinearity. So under these circumstances authors can expect CSR to improve the beam quality. This paper provides a brief information about CSR and a full estimation of effects of CSR on beam qualities

Causes, Effects, and Remedies in Conflict Management

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Kamran Khan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available While workplace conflicts have been widely studied in the literature, this researchprovides a holistic view of the causes and effects of such, and how managers or amanagement can resolve the conflicts among their teams and organization througha detailed, multidimensional framework carried out on one of the biggest textilefirms of Pakistan. With an initial sample of 145 respondents, 37 questionnaireswere dropped because of invalid and incomplete answers; therefore, the studywas carried out on 108 respondents. Conflicts are a part of human nature, butmanagement should play an important role in dealing with these issues, as therecan be enormous chances of conflicts due to a diverse workforce. Conflict alsoresults in poor work performance and low productivity; therefore, it’s suggestedto create teams or groups which may encourage a competitive culture in theorganization. Additionally, a few remedies are identified, which may resolve someissues; managers must look at those techniques for a better culture. 

Effects of Cultivar and Maternal Environment on Seed Quality in Vicia sativa

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rong; Chen, Lijun; Wu, Yanpei; Zhang, Rui; Baskin, Carol C.; Baskin, Jerry M.; Hu, Xiaowen

2017-01-01

Production of high quality seeds is of fundamental importance for successful crop production. However, knowledge of the effects of increased temperature resulting from global warming on seed quality of alpine species is limited. We investigated the effect of maternal environment on seed quality of three cultivars of the leguminous forage species Vicia sativa, giving particular attention to temperature. Plants of each cultivar were grown at 1700 and 3000 m a.s.l., and mass, germination, electrical conductivity (EC) of leakage and longevity were determined for mature seeds. Seeds of all three cultivars produced at the low elevation had a significantly lower mass and longevity but higher EC of leachate than those produced at the high elevation, suggesting that increased temperatures decreased seed quality. However, seed viability did not differ between elevations. The effects of maternal environment on seed germination strongly depended on cultivar and germination temperature. At 10 and 15°C, seeds of “Lanjian 3” produced at high elevation germinated to higher percentages and rates than those produced at low elevation, but the opposite trend was observed at 20°C. However, for seeds of “Lanjian 1” and “Lanjian 2,” no significant effect of elevation was observed in germination percentage. Our results indicate that the best environment for the production of high quality seeds (e.g., high seed mass, low EC, high seed longevity) of V. sativa is one in which temperatures are relatively low during seed development. PMID:28861096

The effect of image quality, repeated study, and assessment method on anatomy learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenesi, Barbara; Mackinnon, Chelsea; Cheng, Lucia; Kim, Joseph A; Wainman, Bruce C

2017-06-01

The use of two-dimensional (2D) images is consistently used to prepare anatomy students for handling real specimen. This study examined whether the quality of 2D images is a critical component in anatomy learning. The visual clarity and consistency of 2D anatomical images was systematically manipulated to produce low-quality and high-quality images of the human hand and human eye. On day 0, participants learned about each anatomical specimen from paper booklets using either low-quality or high-quality images, and then completed a comprehension test using either 2D images or three-dimensional (3D) cadaveric specimens. On day 1, participants relearned each booklet, and on day 2 participants completed a final comprehension test using either 2D images or 3D cadaveric specimens. The effect of image quality on learning varied according to anatomical content, with high-quality images having a greater effect on improving learning of hand anatomy than eye anatomy (high-quality vs. low-quality for hand anatomy P = 0.018; high-quality vs. low-quality for eye anatomy P = 0.247). Also, the benefit of high-quality images on hand anatomy learning was restricted to performance on short-answer (SA) questions immediately after learning (high-quality vs. low-quality on SA questions P = 0.018), but did not apply to performance on multiple-choice (MC) questions (high-quality vs. low-quality on MC questions P = 0.109) or after participants had an additional learning opportunity (24 hours later) with anatomy content (high vs. low on SA questions P = 0.643). This study underscores the limited impact of image quality on anatomy learning, and questions whether investment in enhancing image quality of learning aids significantly promotes knowledge development. Anat Sci Educ 10: 249-261. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Effects of stunning with different carbon dioxide concentrations and exposure times on suckling lamb meat quality.

Science.gov (United States)